#ok so this was actually WAY more things than I was expecting

[mychlapci]

Ok extension to my previous pervert Primus ask because I can't stop thinking about it and I developed a whole-ass continuation

The war starts and Cybertron is currently alive so Primus is still able to be a horny nuisance

Optimus has been captured by the Decepticons and Primus is, unfortunately, bored, and decides now is a good time for sex

Megatron is monologuing or something and initially thinks he's Winning Intimidation when Optimus starts squirming

And then Optimus's panels open and he moans

It is not long before he's tied down in the rec room (unnecessarily so, Primus is pushing so much charge into him he can't do more than writhe in need) and all the Cons are taking turns fragging his mouth, valve, and servos (and each other when it's taking too long)

(The Autobots are fine and all, but some of them are just so weird about interfacing, but few cons would pass up the chance to pin and frag the Prime. Of course Primus takes advantage of so many of them being around!)

While Optimus is being checked over in Autobot Medbay (and resigning himself to having to carry a massive litter again because Primus would never let him abort, even with the war on), Soundwave discreetly contacts Jazz to ask "what the fuck"

Jazz says that happens sometimes and decides that offering repeat performances is a great way to try for a ceasefire. Soundwave says it will be considered.

(Jazz asks around if anyone knows any good ways of praying to Primus. Someone makes a suggestion they swear works it's not a kink thing it actually works. No I don't know what it is. Jazz shrugs, why not, and tells Primus that there's a way the war will end and asks that once it does, he encourages Optimus again. Jazz is suddenly writhing on the floor in overload. That's probably a good sign, right? [Primus misses pilgrimages and Optimus is so stubborn about not leaving the war for that length of time.])

Anyway, a treaty is signed, and Optimus immediately doubles over, all his panels opening at once. Sexy chaos ensues.

Anyway now we get to the part I really can't stop thinking about

A while after the war ends, they're still rebuilding, there have been some more orgies, everyone is generally happy. And then Optimus disappears on a pilgrimage. Megatron is asking where the fuck he went, he finally gets an answer that he went to the core on a pilgrimage and won't be back for...a while, who knows how long. Don't worry about it.

Megatron is Displeased and goes to the core (Soundwave gave him the information so he would leave him alone), expecting to find him doing something stupid or hiding from duties and finds Optimus being thoroughly fragged by tentacles and spikes coming out of the walls and floor

The entry closes behind him and the spike in Optimus's throat pulls out and Primus speaks through him

"Megatron, dearest Megatron... I had hoped you would visit."

Megatron struggles as he's restrained and lifted by more tentacles, a spike entering his mouth when he opens it to yell.

"Optimus and I both love you so. If you had journeyed down back then, I would have gladly given you the Matrix and transformed you to be even more beautiful than you have already become. Broader shoulders, longer legs, a spike to make any mech cry...and a soft, sensitive valve, just for me. And perhaps your little Orion. But they gave me him instead, and how gorgeous he is."

Megatron moans as his panels are coaxed open and a spike larger than he should be able to take without prep is slid into his valve.

"I can't make you as perfect as I would have then, but I can still make you better if you open for me..."

Optimus's chest plates open to reveal his spark, still encased in the Matrix of Leadership, and Megatron finds his own opening too as he's brought closer.

"Relax, dearest Megatron..."

He is quickly overwhelmed with pleasure and the next thing he knows he's lying on the floor with Optimus, his entire array throbbing, his joints feeling stretched out, and a heavy weight in his forge. (Primus likes eggs.)

Now whenever Optimus is given divine horniness it overflows into Megatron and now they both must sex

a horny old man saves the day once again.... it was really Primus himself who knew exactly what Optimus and Megatron need to get over their silly differences.

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

As a NB, Taash is a huge blow to non-binary representation. Yeah, give the non-binary rep to the rudest, most emotionally immature, hypocritical companion. Make their personal quest about them getting all defensive when their mom reasonably asks about what being non-binary is, because oh my God how dare Mom be ignorant to this super abstract concept that is difficult to articulate to someone who does not perceive the world that way, cancel her with death. Make Taash coded autistic to give them the excuse for being a poorly socialized brat that gives you no option to tell them to shut the fuck up like any reasonable person in the real world would tell them to do because autism is no excuse for rudeness and casual disregard for other peoples’ feelings.

Like why are we feeding into the stereotype that NB people are immature brats who expect the world to freeze when they’re misgendered and for people to flagellate themselves with stupid performative punishments when they slip up or don’t immediately grasp the concept? This is literally how Republicans and conservatives see us. These are the jokes they make about us to invalidate us because they think that’s how we behave, and then you have Veilguard literally say “Yeah we’re like that lol”. If it’s some sort of subtle attempt at satire, it’s a shitty one that I’m not laughing at because it’s a waste of NB rep just to be ironic. If it’s sincere, it’s an embarrassing power fantasy that only the lamest and most miserable person on earth would find cathartic.

Imagine if Emmrich was the non-binary companion. Keep his personality and appearance (ok tweak it so it looks far less modern), but you learn in his romance ‘actually gender is not that much of a concern for me. In death we are all the same.’ and the reason he looks like *that* is because he likes it. You could add more depth to his fear of death with the question of “Have I lived as my most authentic self? Am I truly who I am, or have I fallen into the trap of reflecting what society expects of someone born with the body that I have?’ because there is this worry that some NB people like myself have where we’re not outwardly “NB” enough, like we don’t practice what we preach. Most importantly, Emmrich would never use the term “non-binary” to describe himself. He would have a term or phrase he would use to describe his feelings that someone of that setting would use to represent how queer people would characterize and conceptualize their gender and sexuality for themselves before they had access to all the precise modern labelling. He could call himself some untranslatable word that he’s transcribed from some foreign language—Tevene, Qunlat—or he gleaned from some epitaph while working with the Mourn Watch, an epitaph for a Planasene tribe member who was given the designation that roughly translated to “neutral” for referenced sex (gender and sex being interchangeable to these ancient peoples). SOMETHING cool like that. Something thoughtful and full of far more depth than thunk “I’m non-binary”.

Personally to me, non-binary is a political philosophy as much as it can be personal expression. You can dress “binary” and be non-binary because the point is that it doesn’t matter, and that is the beauty of it. There’s freedom in that nihilism and exploration, and Emmrich would’ve been a cool gateway to that sort of ‘live as you wish because we’ll be dust eventually’, especially from an older man. We have very little queer older men rep in media, and far, far less rep of NB individuals over 30 just in general. Being NB is seen as a phase dominated by young people. Emmrich would be that bridge and perhaps even that door for older individuals who might not have considered they were non-binary because it’s a young person thing or what have you.

And you know we could explore these ideas more if Veilguard had, I don’t know, extensive dialogue trees and opportunities to talk to our companions outside of demarcated “hey I need to talk to you” events, shitty banters, and lil intramurals between the companions that Rook is just a bystander to like a camp counselor or head of HR.

[azaharinflames]

Hi! Can I say something controversial?

I think I’m the only person who doesn’t feel dissatisfied with bucks queer arc.

1. 911 is not queer media, it’s trying to be or seem like it’s progressive but it is what it is at the end of the day. It just won’t show us step by step coming out arc.

2. I’ll try to put it right, not to offend anyone, because I really don’t think that ppl are wrong and have every right to a good representation.

But sometimes it feels like there are boxes to be checked? You have to do research, you have to go to places, you have to find new queer friends, you have to label yourself., you have to struggle, you have to question. And it’s starting to feel like a job interview. But all my life Ive heard that there is not one right way to be queer.

And my story is pretty much. I’m bi? Cool. Like I read a thing here or there, or go to a place if the chance occurs and I feel like it. But not on purpose. I’m out to a couple of friends and coworkers but that’s it.

I’m not sure which Kinsey scale I am (sometimes I feel like 1, sometimes like 2,and on a rare occasion like 3). But I know who I am as a person and I’ll cross any issue that comes with being queer when I cross that bridge.

Maybe it seems like projection but my point is: it’s ok to want buck to go through a journey of self discovery but lately it feels like there is only one right way to do it. (Idk maybe I’m reading into it too much) And it kinda hurts.

Hope you understood what I tried to say. English is not my first and some thoughts could be lost in translation.

Hi, Nonnie! Your English was perfect, don’t sweat it. It’s not my first language either so I get it haha but you’re more than good.

I see your point! I definitely feel like there shouldn’t be any boxes to be checked when it comes to sexuality and identifying with something. I do understand what you’re trying to say, and with that I agree.

However-

I think the main issue here (at the very least, the main issue for me) is that they did build sort of the base of something in regards of Buck questioning his sexuality further, yet we all expect nothing to come of it, because (most likely) the show won’t ever do something about it or actually explore it.

Let me explain:

-Season 7 gave us an incredibly well done arc regarding Buck’s sexuality. He went through a small phase of thinking what it meant for him but it wasn’t something he over worried about. He’s bisexual (even when that is never explicitly stated in the show), he really likes Tommy (and they made an amazing point of showing how Buck likes him because of his masculinity, and not despite of it), and he’s dating him. By the end of the season, we see him comfortably flirting with his boyfriend.

And yet-

-806 painted a weird image. Because we see a Buck who has done no research (and hey, it’s not that weird in general! But it is weird if we take into consideration who Buck is as a character), a Buck that doesn’t even know what Tommy identifies as, a Buck that seems to just have realized he’s in a queer relationship almost. A Buck that still six months in is incapable of saying out loud he’s on a date, or that he’s bi. And I’m all for being unlabeled if that’s your preference. But I don’t think that’s the message wanting to be portrayed.

The issue overall (and again, my opinion. Please don’t hesitate to correct me if you think I’m wrong), the main issue, is that it feels like Buck regressed for no apparent or good reason at all. Yes, one can go through different cycles (in life and in relationships, regardless of gender or sexuality, it’s rather normal).

The issue is that just one episode before this regression wasn’t even hinted at. And I understand they wanted the break-up to ‘hurt’ (something I maintain was unnecessarily cruel, but oh well), but it was 1. whiplash and 2. just plain bad storytelling and writing. The issue, to say it bluntly, is that 806 felt like an AU, like some badly written one-shot that did not take into consideration anything that had happened before.

Overall - I do agree we should not expect 911 to be queer media. But I don’t think the main issue was us expecting that and them failing to deliver. At the end of the day, my opinion is that they failed to deliver a good storyline and one that felt true to the character(s), and that’s why everyone is so upset still.

And yeah, I’m not ignoring everyone’s also upset because they chose to give an unfairly sad and cruel ending to a queer character that had been hated on by a group of homophobic, misogynistic assholes for months. And at the end of an already very sad week and very sad few months. Their treatment of this queer character and couple was the straw that broke the camel’s back for a lot of people.

But overall? I don’t think people were mainly mad for 911 not being queer media. They were mad because of how the show played them and how cruel it all felt.

(Sorry if my rant at any point sounded a bit aggressive btw! Not directed at you if you felt that. I’m just passionate about this lmao. Also sorry bc it got long)

anyway! Love to receive controversial takes, so thank you. my inbox is open for ranting, venting, giving your opinions (popular or unpopular ones) and even confessions!

Take care <3

ps: week was crazy, but tomorrow i promise to go over some posts i have on my drafts hehe 🫶🏻

[everytimewetouch-dot-mp3]

Okay WHAT is Oh look it's Gilgamesh

wip game post here!

oooouuugh yay ok i was hoping someone would ask about this one. it’s a modern au binggeyuan inspired by this post i made a billion years ago.

i’m in the exploratory phase of this one too, but i’ve been putting a lot more work into it lately bc it has become my 2025 writing goal lmao. i’ll talk abt it under the cut :D

…so i just finished writing and it’s a little longer than i anticipated. tl;dr: what if satan from the actual literal bible crawled out of hell and told the pope that he wanted to be friends now because there’s something much worse than himself down there.

so the idea is that luo binghe is a mythological figure somewhat like gilgamesh or odysseus but ‘evil.’ he’s a heavenly demon who, after countless cruelties, decided to take his revenge on the world by inflicting that cruelty a thousandfold. the stories go that he was born in a bid to broker peace between the demons and the humans, but huan hua’s palace master tried to sabotage sxy’s pregnancy and wound up killing her. tlj, in his grief, allowed himself to be captured by human cultivators so that he could plot his revenge in peace.

then we get lbh’s life, being cast into the abyss, coming back and taking his revenge. just when he and his father are about to merge the realms, the human cultivators sacrificed themselves to seal him, his father, and the entire demonic realm behind impossibly powerful arrays. the abyss and demon realm have merged, but the human realm is safe. to protect humanity, the few remaining cultivators hid knowledge of the jianghu and the secrets of cultivation, which explains why there are no immortal cultivators anymore.

there are legends and books and movies and operas retelling this story, always celebrating the heroic cultivators who sacrificed their lives for the rest of humanity and vilifying the endless cruelty of the demons. shen yuan has heard these stories since he was a little kid. you know how some kids have their ancient egypt phase? sy had a ‘myths about luo binghe’ phase, and it never ended. when the story starts, he’s a doctoral candidate writing his dissertation reconstructing luo binghe as a real historical person (which he was) and finding the real events that inspired the myths. he’s been officially working on it for five years at this point, but the dude really started when he was like 12. he kind of despises some of the retellings of luo binghe’s story, because they all vilify him with no compassion, and he feels binghe’s story is less a triumph of humanity and more a tragedy on all sides.

there is no retelling he hates more than proud immortal demon way. the author caricaturizes luo binghe and uses his story to sell shitty porn cranked out at an inhuman pace, and shen yuan thinks it’s despicable. he has to read every chapter just so he knows what this piece of shit author is doing to his favorite character. that’s the only reason why.

at one point, shen yuan is interviewing some people associated with the supposed descendants of the four great sects in the legends, and while he’s there, there’s an earthquake. someone rushes in wielding an actual real life sword? a real sword. that’s glowing a little bit? maybe shen yuan got hit on the head… but no that sword is definitely glowing a little bit. and he says ‘the seal has cracked.’

suddenly the stories aren’t stories anymore, and shen yuan doesn’t know how to keep his nose out of things—he wants to be there if/when luo binghe comes out. right now it’s just monsters, and it turns out the so-called cultivators were…real cultivators. and they’re fighting abyssal beasts.

they expect luo binghe to emerge commanding armies of demons and beasts as he demands his revenge on humanity, but instead he fights his way out, a crazed look in his eye, and insists that he’s going to help the cultivators seal the rift. he won’t take no for an answer. he refuses to allow those beasts to destroy humanity.

[ghouljams]

So- I bet you didn’t expect to be playing sexed teacher over the last few days, but I thank you immensely.

Also- to add onto the virginity thing from your last post.

There are some people who care about their virginity and want to save themselves for their future spouse.

Im one of them-

My religion is mainly what that’s based in, but also, I’m afraid of being vulnerable in that way with a man. I have a history of trauma and any assurance is comforting.

THAT SAID-

The idea that random people care so much about virginity is stupid- SO stupid to me. I have a value, I uphold it. You have different values, you uphold those. As long as no one is getting hurt- WHO CARES WHAT YOU DO?

GO FORTH AND PROSPER- GET DICK OR PUSSY- HAVE FUN.

Also- I thought it was the norm (or at least expected) for afab people to shave? Now I’m hearing is pedophilic? I’m so confused-

OK!!!! First I love playing sex ed teacher, it's one of my special interests. I'm just gonna run down the list hear to keep myself from rambling:

I think "saving" yourself for your spouse is fine, it's a personal decision whether or not to have sex. My only problem would be the language that we have surrounding virginity and the way that this can color how we view sex. I think it's really beautiful that you want to have something just between you and your partner. I think the idea that you're "saving" yourself like a good that'll go bad if you take the packaging off can impact the way people think about virginity. You get what I'm say?

That said I think the weight that people place on virginity is absolutely bonkers. Have sex or don't it's nobody's business but your own. There's no magical transformation that happens once you have sex, you just have sex, you're still the same person afterwards. Society puts so many rules on afab bodies, and I find myself constantly asking "who give a shit?" I certainly don't

It's not the "norm" for vagina owners to shave, it's just talked about more prevalently, it's actually more common for people to go all natural. This is again where media has a huge part to play in our perceptions of our bodies, most people don't shave their bush but you wouldn't know that if you were only exposed to female bodies through porn/movies/media propaganda.

The pedophilic argument was one I saw ages ago that was a direct reactionary backlash against the people(men) who were demanding afab people shave their bush in order to be attractive. People(terfs) claimed that the act of shaving, or having a shaved pussy, was somehow harkening back to kids because they don't have pubic hair so anyone who prefers pussy without hair must be a pedophile. Which is just so fucking stupid. I shave for no reason other than I like the way it feels when I wear silk panties. 10/10 would recommend.

But anyway this is what I'm talking about (the shaving thing) when I say I think a lot of sexuality stuff we see today being blasted into our brains by reactionaries on tiktok/twitter/insta is a direct result of early 2000s culture. There's also a lot of "loudest voice from the smallest minority" that happens when we talk about sex. Certain groups will make what sounds like good points, and people will go "yeah that sounds right" without examining what motives this group has.

People talking about porn addictions are often trying to sell you some brand of "you're not doing a good enough job as a woman pleasing your man" or else spit some weird bullshit about "sex workers are bad and evil and they're corrupting our god fearing men." People who talk about how going down on men is demeaning are trying to draw a line in the sand to make you ashamed of your sexuality for one reason or another. People who talk about virginity in terms of "this is an important part of your body" are usually trying to make afab folks ashamed of their body(notice how virginity doesn't really apply to men).

My MO has always been: your body, your choice. Do whatever you want to yourself and your sexuality it's not my business and I do not care.

[tea-cat-arts]

Being a haters exhausting. Here’s some things I actually liked in the recent chapters:

Seele and Senti! They are perfect and can do no wrong. They also make a surprisingly good comedic duo

Kiana and Durandal being sisters. This is one of the few times I’m actually really glad Mihoyo went down the no-angst route. I think it would’ve been really easy and cheap to have made Durandal resent Kiana in some way for taking over her life (I’ve seen other media do that), so I found it incredibly refreshing to have Durandal take the mature route, acknowledge none of that was Kiana’s fault, and immediately accept her as her sister.

The environment design. The moon base is a pain to walk through, but an absolute Easter egg hunt of tiny details. It’s also always nice to head back to the deep and saint freya. The project stigma space is also very neat to look at

Kevin and Fu Hua’s conversations. It might just be because they’re two of my favorite characters in the game, but I really found the scenes of these two former friends asking the other to back down or join them while having this silent resignation, knowing that nothing they can say will work, genuinely heartbreaking. Man, I just want my blorbos to be ok 😭

Seeing Siegfried and Theresa hang out. I always kinda forget that those two have been friends for a long time, so it’s nice to actually see that friendship in action (also, hoyo, why do you keep making these very fun to play male characters that are only available for one chapter)

The attempt to make project stigma more nuanced. Though I don’t think they really succeeded, I appreciate them trying to expand project stigma to more than just a shitty vaccine (for those who are still confused about what project stigma does, it takes everyone without an awakened stigmata and puts them in a dream. Those dreams are all slowly merging into the collective consciousness. Once they’re in the consciousness, the original person effectively dies and is reborn into a being like Hare {or at least this is what I’ve gathered}). I think this makes more sense than just straight up killing 90% of the population, and I can kinda get why people would support it or see it as a better alternative to death.

The shift to making Grey Serpent the main antagonist. So uh, past his introduction arc, Kevin just doesn’t make a good antagonist. He’s kinda disconnected from most of the main conflicts and the vast majority of the time we’ve seen him (be it him, his sim, or the Kaslana stigmata), he’s been on the protagonists side. Grey Serpent on the other hand- that guy has pissed EVERYONE off at some point or another. Even Seele is wary around him. I think if Mihoyo doesn’t want to do morally grey antagonists anymore, then going with the Disney villain is a better choice than demonizing another victim

Any time Li Shushang and Susannah are on screen together. Mihoyo really said “if you don’t know what to do with this side character, then make interesting by giving her a girlfriend,” and they were so right

Mei’s little amusement park space. I can’t really think of why I liked this section, I just did. It was fun

[landfilloftrash]

seeing ghosts everywhere you go?

are they all in your head or are they here causing that chill in your bones?

[nullians]

It’s actually insane how fandom in general has become so scared of making weird and dark and ugly works. Like I look at myself and see how I have also subconsciously adapted this instinct to self censor and make things “marketable” and it’s making me want to crawl out of my skin. I need to get weirder and worse and more off-putting hello

[svtskneecaps]

yea once again i am really hoping it's not a full blown server, i sincerely do not think qstudios is ready for that kind of undertaking and ngl i'm not either. like as much as i go fucking wild for the multilingual communications, even if by some miracle they completely fixed the legal side of things there's some other stuff that's raising some red flags for me so uh.......

.......can i rant about time zones i just want to rant about time zones i've been sitting on this for like half a year and getting more and more like ??!?!?!!?!?!!!?!!?!!!?!!?!!?

like first of all there have been europeans since the fucking first day of the server and yet very rarely were events scheduled at euro-friendly times and when they WERE it felt like it was because the french fans beat the studio into doing it, which they obviously should not have to do and it would have been SO easy to just hold a couple events at euro friendly times instead yknow trade it off like shared custody because we have the update accounts and if it's on a weekend some americans can just wake up before noon and still catch it live. it would have been so easy i don't get why the euro fans had to fight so hard for this.

secondly why in the fuck would you invite people to a server that is entirely about collaboration without making sure there would be people online during their usual hours and YES this is about the koreans, why in god's name would that not be included as a consideration? the only reason yd interacted with as many people as she did was because she fucked up her sleep schedule like that shouldn't be a requirement. i can think of a couple "blue sky" (i.e. idealistic with no regard for real feasibility) solutions, like "invite a few people from an existing language that stream in that time frame" or "invite another language group in that rough time zone", but honestly i'm flabbergasted. did we not consider this or did we just decide we didn't care?? there's a fucking half day difference between the prioritized server timezone and korea. sorry, but it's a multicultural server; you can't prioritize america forever, even if the server owner is from there

third and less importantly but why in god's name was pepito going to be given a european admin. most of pepito's parents don't come online before midnight in europe. that's fucking insane. that was doomed to fail from the beginning. obviously this is small potatoes in terms of pepito but what the fuck was that. who fucking signed off on that.

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

i'm kind of amazed how most of the stardew marriage candidates just want you to be their manic pixie dream whatever by agreeing with everything they like and plying them with compliments or praise or whatever (which is fine but a bit. Much) but for shane his romance is just you being there for him while he figures his own shit out... dunno why i never wanted to romance him before he's so good

[autisticlee]

no one knows just how hard I work at things. how I have to work 1000000x more than the average person to compensate for being autistic and adhd and probably other things i'm working out with therapist, and having a sort of physical disability i've not received any help or treatment for. everyone assumes I don't try or give up too soon. they think I just started, need more practice. they think I expect everything handed to me immediately with no work or effort and don't acknowledge the multiple years i've put into things. they think I have no right to be upset about still failing to get where I want even after working my entire life to get there, while watching people around me surpass even my meager goals within a fraction of the time and work i've out into the same thing. constantly getting surpassed by everyone around me who seem to barely do any work to get there compared to me. it's all handed to them and falls into their lap so easily. all because they don't have the extra obstacles to overcome and work around that I do. while they go from point A to Z immediately with no major stops in between, I have to go through every single letter and then some, often getting sent back to the start. but it's always *my* fault, according to everyone. it's not the fault of those around me who ignore me, don't support me, don't help me, don't believe in me, etc. it's my fault they don't do those things. because doing the work of 10 people in one isn't enough, just because it's me. and not reaching Z as fast as everyone else means I don't deserve any of the support or help or anything else and means i'm not trying hard enough. it doesn't matter that I *need* to work harder than 100 "normal" people combined to get even half the result! Just because I can't reach what they do means i'm not trying hard enough! ugh.

[the-busy-ghost]

Anybody want to tell me why writing <500 word cover letters is somehow more agonising and difficult than writing a 15,000 word dissertation

[seaofreverie]

First day back at the university and I still suck at this exactly as much as I did 4 years ago

[roobylavender]

(Really long ask ahead i’m sorry!) I think your thoughts on dick and his similarities vs differences to bruce are so interesting! Personally i’m wondering how much of NTT played an influence on this kind of characterization bc i’ve never fully finished ntt but i read like nearly all the pre-80s batman 1940 issues lol and dick very much was portrayed as more idealistic than bruce in some ways while more no-nonsense (? For lack of better word) in other ways, like when it comes to batman easing up a little on selina for romance reasons LOL. Though ofc dick totally turns into - well, a dick - in team books, as i grow older i find myself far more compelled by a potential story of an 18 yr old who seemed to have the whole weight of the world on his shoulders (by his own perception) and breaking under his own impractically strong sense of duty and sky-high expectations for others, then realizing as he grows older that it doesn’t have to be that way esp after seeing the perspectives of characters like kory, wally, joey, roy, etc. Like personally as someone who never really had a huge interest in NTT anyway, i’m surprised at how desperately people want to hold on to the characterization of dick when he was 18-19 and never letting him grow past that, like it’s so difficult for me to believe that at age 25 he would be the same uptight controlling kid that he was at 19. Maybe i’m biased though bc i was like one of those insufferable INTJ internet stereotypes as a teenager, and while that worldview did bring me achievements i’m proud of like the fact that i’m in med school rn studying what i love, i still know that at age 22 i have changed SO much from when i was 18 and i can’t imagine any reasonably mature or normally-functioning person (let alone someone high-functioning like dick) not doing the same lol. Especially since dick is the kind of person who would literally die if he’s not constantly growing and evolving past his faults bc of his insufferable perfectionism, idk how he’d be willfully blind to the negative effects of his worldview in early NTT and refuse to grow from there. He even has a quote that’s like “i’ve spent years as a student of my own behavior” which i always found highly encouraging bc i know he really does want to improve himself even at his worst. It reminds me of that Marcus Aurelius quote: “if someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, i shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone; the harm is to persist in one’s own self-deception and ignorance.” But what are your thoughts? (Thank you for reading all this 🥹)

oh i absolutely agree! i cannot tell you how many times i think about the person i was a couple years ago and who i am now like i cringe so much omg.. maturity is an ever persistent process even if we don't recognize its effects immediately and it absolutely is crazy to think that anyone would remain in such a static state of mind for several years on end. esp when like you said dick is someone who wants to be better! so despite his several hypocrisies it is nonetheless in his best interests to look internally and analyze and evolve. and i feel like that very much could have happened had there been any actual segue between dick's breakup with kory and his re-entry into the batfam. i don't think there was much of a connection between these two sets of writers at all and so what you got is what felt like two very distinct parts of dick's life that didn't necessarily reveal a bridge point. so it's not entirely unrealistic that dick may grow to be the person (at least to some extent) that bat canon portrayed him to be in the years that followed but i certainly think as it stands it felt unearned and like all of his issues explored in ntt were conveniently swept to the side without any semblance of closure (albeit i do think some of these issues are addressed in outsiders '03 but in that dickheaded way that winick explores things generally. so i'm not sure it's the kind of closure people actually want). it's very sad and ig that's what people cling to more than anything. it's not that they're opposed to him growing to be a better person but that they're opposed to a version of dick who feels like he sprung out of nothing

[lab-gr0wn-lambs]

Out of all the things that threw me through a loop in the mario movie, the bros taking their gloves off was the most oddly jarring. I said out loud “they have flesh hAnds!-”

[villanele]

Why the fuck do people expect me to be a literal fucking angel just because I like wearing colorful outfits and hair accessories and am autistic 😭😭😭😭