#older character representation

[welcometogrouchland]

I love Steph's origin as told in the Secret Origins 80 page giant- I just overall think it strengthens her character by giving her a lot of pathos and adding to her heroism (which isn't something writers were focused on in her actual intro in detective comics #647 since she was just meant to act as a plot device back then) BUT there is one tiny detail in it i will begrudge, and that is the portrayal of her having a minor love at first sight moment for tim

Secret origins 80 page giant, ID in alt

(or well, technically this was their second meeting in that story (the brick was the first) so...love at second sight?)

Mostly because Stephanie showed no interest in her introduction and only showed romantic feelings towards Tim AFTER this moment here:

Robin (1993) #4, ID in alt

Straight up the progression here goes:

The adventure in 'tec where they first meet -> Tim investigating the same crime scene as Steph -> she beats him up not knowing it's him at first, apologizes but says he shouldn't have scared her -> he remembers her/the moniker she goes by -> they talk about plot for a few pages -> Stephanie starts flirting

Robin (1993) #4, ID in alt

Which...is so fascinating to me and says so much about Stephanie. She highlights the fact that Tim "remembered" her. Like. Steph. Girl. This is our bar? It's sweet but kind of speaks to how much Stephanie is ignored at home/how little and sporadically she's shown interacting with her peers (and rarely ever the same kids twice). Her idea of peak romance is just...being on someone's mind even when you're not there.

Kind of also adds layers to Steph's proclivity towards jealousy later on, a manifestation of her insecurity and loneliness (though don't get it twisted, she's not written this way bc Dixon and co think it's an interesting character flaw, they wrote it bc they think it's an inherent character flaw of (particularly young) women/girls, which is very apparent in how he approaches Ariana's character as well from what I've read)

Also the fact that Steph becomes so smitten for Tim almost immediately after this is (a few issues later she aggressively flirts with him during AN ACTIVE HOSTAGE SITUATION. WHERE SHE'S THE HOSTAGE) again is kind of a mixture of kind of funny and sad. One boy is nice to her once and she's fully ready to wife him. Girl you are deranged (affectionate) (concerned)

[greenvillainredemption]

One thing I love about mutant mayhem is that Leo has a crush on an April who’s not conventionally attractive. It almost feels like, because of the turtles’ isolated upbringing* he hasn’t been influenced by the popular western beauty ideals and just thinks this ordinary human is beautiful! And I think that’s really cool! Because she is!

*though they’ve clearly been exposed to celebrities and other pop culture so ?? idk lol

[frogayyyy]

just some ramblings on the rise of rebranded homophobia in relation to shipping and fandom etc (i watched lotr yesterday)

the way people will say "healthy friendships between men are important and we need representation!!!!" (this is true) in response to shipping as if there's an abundance of mlm relationships in media and yknow. homophobia hasn't existed??

“>:[ us men aren't allowed to be just friends anymore!!!! because of the homophobia!!!! that we created!!!!!!”

i've definitely seen this sentiment grow more again over the last few years as the number of canonical mlm relationships (often badly written or lacking any substance) increases.

before it was just a blatant "no homo" or something but it's now becoming a bit more subtle and "how dare you imply this character could be gay? do you hate men being friends?! go back to your handful of bland designated Gay Characters that we so generously gave you" from the same people who have spent years adding to the very same toxic masculinity and homophobia that stopped them from having deep and healthy friendships with other men in the first place. dare i say gaslighting?

(and just to be extra clear i am not talking about ace/aro people, or characters who are headcanoned as ace/aro, or qprs, etc. or even anyone interpreting a relationship as 'just' platonic. i'm only referring to that specific "no homo" kind of argument against shipping)

[disventure-rewrite-takes]

i would have put more emphasis on lakes sexuality in her original season. We only know she’s a lesbian because of a pride post. It would have been cool to see her talking about it with Rosa maria or maggy. About how she doesn’t want to get married to this guy because she isn’t attracted to men, but doesn’t have the words to describe it. Maybe Rosa and maggy help her realize that being same sex attracted is normal and nothing wrong with it. (Maggy autocorrected to maggot like 4 times wtf)

fr like i think besides jaiden, season 2 had no mention/hint of queerness and then BAM half the cast shows up in the pride post. uhhh thanks for the half-assed representation from unbearable/boring characters that we will never see again i guess! you’re so progressive ONC!

[eliounora]

red white and royal blue was so cheesy and predictable I enjoyed it thoroughly. making banal queer romantic comedies is hard but necessary work

[blossoms-and-petrichor]

as much as i love heartstopper, I really wish they had kept in Elle's line about wanting to visit her extended family in Egypt but being worried to because because of the the transphobia she might experience there. While heartstopper does an amazing job capturing the nuances of queer existence (joys, struggles, community, self-expression) and mental health issues (charlie's struggle with an ed, ocd, and self-harm is one of the best representations of those issues i can think of) i always feel like racism and xenophobia are basically absent for characters in the show in a way that feels a little uncanny. Especially when queerphobia is given so much texture.

Many of these experiences are very intersectional, and I know Alice Oseman is capable of writing this (loveless, i was born for this). I also think its awesome there's more media where poc characters are just free to just be and have fun, but just like with the representations of queer joy in the show, it's also possible to show the joy of the poc characters without defaulting to an optimistically colorblind environment. Its just a weird contrast with all the nuanced relevant social commentary on queerness, family, and mental health

[meat-loving-meat]

Songmaster is so interesting to me because it’s absolutely DRIPPING with queer desire despite being written by notorious homophobe Orson Scott Card. It was one of those novels I read as a confused tween who was extremely interested in anything queer (but who couldn’t yet understand the source of that fascination), and it truly left twelve-year-old me completely baffled.

I had no idea what to make of it—it was the first novel I read that devoted more than a sentence to the actual act of gay sex, yet at the same time the narrative seemed morally opposed to any kind of sexual desire? Characters who expressed any sexuality at all were often executed, tortured, castrated, and even pushed to suicide. It was violent, it was bleak, and it seemed to revel in exploring the ways that imbalances of power manifest sexually (everything is about sex etc. etc.). At age twelve I kind of just shrugged and moved on with life—some books were just weird—but now I’m really tempted to give it a reread because what the actual fuck was going on in that novel

[stairset]

My position on Ben Reilly in Across the Spider-Verse is that it's not an accurate portrayal of Ben Reilly as a character and if anything would probably fit Kaine more but it IS an accurate affectionate parody of edgy 90s comics in general and it's hilarious so it gets a pass

[tsnbrainrot]

[armandjolras]

white ladies from the American South who were raised by Black maids should be required to take a sensitivity training before they’re allowed to write a novel about it. (Stephen King doesn't fit this category but should also be required to take this training)

[dragonsdendoodles]

There’s nothing quite like waking up hours before you normally do next to your absolutely wonderful boyfriend and turning to him and saying “I had a dream we Fantastic Voyage-d you.”

Anyone who has heard of that movie will know how horrible of a statement that is.

[shiroselia]

I've been scrolling thru my archive for a bit today and encountering pictures of the old characters really has me going "Wow we used to live like this!?" as if the new character hasn't been out for not even two months and that I've played with the old characters for 11,5 Years

[ghostypetrainer]

remembered I never posted the picrews I made awhile back of Azora, Mary, and Char from the Zoroark possession AU... obviously they’re not perfect representations of the characters but they are close enough!!!

Azora (made using this picrew)

Mary (made using this picrew)

Char (made using this picrew)

[bluejaybytes]

Nemona from Pokemon is actually autistic. I am in shock and awe. They don't use the exact word "autistic" (its still a Nintendo game lmao), but she the most blatantly autistic coded character I have seen in a WHILE. Genuinely I am over the moon about this

[ruhrohrichie]

hellbike au where mike and dustin go to the same college together and dustin gets obsessed with this local metal band called corroded coffin, and he drags mike to one of their basement shows a few weeks later.

mike likes the music, he's usually more of a pop music guy honestly but if dustin thinks it's cool he's down to listen to it with him. he's not super looking forward to the show, as he's not the biggest fan of crowds, or strangers, but he doesn't want dustin going alone, and it's not like he's doing anything better with his time on a friday night.

sure enough, it's super crowded, and mike is holding his drink to his chest trying desperately not to spill it. at least dustin agreed to stand near the side with him so neither of them would get crushed in the mosh pit---dustin may have been able to handle that, but neither of them were under any illusion that mike would do well in one, so dustin mercifully agrees to stay around the edges of the crowd. they manage to get right up against the stage while still remaining outside the pit, which has a ring of people well over six-foot standing shoulder to shoulder, ready to throw people back in or pick people up if they fall, as well as serving to make sure no unwilling participants would be pulled in.

dustin starts freaking out as soon as the band comes out, which at least makes mike feel like standing here surrounded by all these people is worth it. mike's only heard their music, never seen them, and he figured they'd look about like that, all decked in black denim and ripped t-shirts and leather jackets. the front man, he had to admit, was pretty cute, and he was doing a whole shtick that was surprisingly theatrical, and, even more surprisingly, kinda hot.

mike is so deeply into him by the second song. he can barely tell what words he's saying half the time, but the long frizzy hair works for him, and the way he talks between songs just does something to mike. it doesn't hurt that occasionally he'll grind against the mic stand in a way that had mike's breath catching in his throat.

after the third song, the singer---eddie, as he's introduced himself---shrugs off his leather jacket and tosses it onto the side of the stage, right where mike and dustin are. but mike only knows that because he hears it land; his eyes are glued to eddie, glued to the shape of him that's just been revealed with the ditched layer, and when he looks up at eddie's face again, the guy winks at him. which strikes mike absolutely dumb, his cheeks bright red.

eddie works the stage for the rest of the night, occasionally making eyes at mike, and mike catches him every single time, because he can't stop staring at him. and when they leave the stage, the drummer tosses his drum sticks into the crowd, but as eddie's leaving, he takes the bandana from his back pocket, wipes the sweat off his face, and shoves the bandana right into mike's chest as he walks off the stage. mike would've been so grossed out in any other instance, but with eddie looking at him like that, it just gives him the most confusing boner of his life.

he's more than happy to indulge dustin in his request to hang around and try to talk to the band after the show.

[daydream-reblog]

Yeah, it's a PERMANENT THING on your body (if you really want, get a shirt, a temporary tattoo, or body paint of it). Have it be influential and impactful, and be something that you loved for many years now. And recommended to better make sure that the creator isn't in many controversies (as Harry Potter with J.K. Rowling) and is a good person.

in general i dont think fandom tattoos are a bad idea but i think u need to at least give yourself like a two year buffer from the end of that piece of media before you commit. like if someone told me "yeah im obsessed with hazbin hotel rn so im gonna get a hazbin hotel tattoo" id be like woah okay maybe put a pin in that idea for later. but if someone told me "yeah i read homestuck in its prime and i still love it so im gonna get a homestuck tattoo" id be like well fair enough its been like eight years. if you still like it now you'll probably still have fond memories of it in 20 years. you do you.