#reductive rambling

[rambyol]

Analysis - The Joker’s cards for Bruce and what they suggest:

We shouldn’t take Handwriting psychology literally as it’s very subjective but it’s definitely fascinating what we can learn or pull from a characters penmanship.

1. The Card from the Church

Between the two cards, this one is my favourite because it has the most personality in it.

This card shows up after the events at Wayne Tower where Joker and Harley unleash the Virus (Gas Bomb) and during Batman, Iman, and Tiffany’s search for the next Bomb.

Right off the bat, the penmanship on this card is messy. The letters are jagged, some misaligned, and some have varying degrees of pressure to them.

Writing with a lot of pressure can be a sign of attention seeking behaviour and Joker is trying to get Batman’s attention, obviously, but more notably the pressure on the letters mimic Johns/Jokers speech. John has a habit of subverting and exaggerating certain words in his speech. For instance when talking about Harley potentially setting off the bombs on the bridge (if you choose to trust John), John describes that hypothetical as ‘exciting’. It’s no surprise that writing can reflect our speech but as I mention below it’s a sign of being unfiltered.

It’s evident that Joker isn’t dwelling on presentation here, much like his fashion sense, there’s a disheveled appearance to his writing.

The scribble in the bottom left corner where you can see Joker was checking to see if the pen was still working is kind of endearing since this letter was intended for Batman and the scribble indicated a lack of filter, as is observed through Villain Jokers personality. V Joker is arguably the least filtered out of all 3 in my opinion and naturally that would reflect in every facet of him down to his writing. I mean even his attempt to scribble out the joke at the end seems half hearted, because we can still see it clearly.

In addition we’ve got the doodles of a heart and a mystery doodle which Batman has his thumb covering (I wonder what it is 0_o). Doodles display playfulness and of course that childish is pretty consistent to Johns character regardless if he goes down the Vigilante or Villain route.

Jokers handwriting here is relatively ‘bad’ but without going into detail (I want to wrap this one up) we can see that theres a struggle for consistency in his lettering and strokes, which mirrors his personality in way. John was/and Joker is very muddled at times because his motives are all over place and it’s hard to determine what he wants. Now sometimes I think people see inconsistency in characters as ‘bad writing’ but I see it as making them more believable/complex. So yes, ‘unstable’ writing comes as no surprise.

2. The Card from Joker’s Funhouse

Now this one’s shorter but it’s much more presentable. The lettering is mostly level and although there’s the mix between capital and lower case letters within the same word it’s overall more thought out. Even the doodles of the diamonds (?) on top of the ‘i’ are consistent. There’s a bluntness to this that otherwise isn’t seen in the first letter, the sentence are short and concise almost as if Joker has more control here. And he does, Bruce sees this letter after being shocked unconscious by Joker. He’s not in his Batsuit and he’s being led towards the games that Joker is going to force him to play before ‘dinner’.

I know this is written with a different pen, clearly a marker and that can effect penmanship, I know I write better with a certain type of pen (thicker ball points) but I like to think there’s more certainty in Joker at this point in the story about what he’s doing, since before this, John was a part of other peoples plans.

Also this one reads more intimately than the other for obvious reasons like with the use of the term ‘our secret’ and the domestic connotations of ‘dinner’ but that of course goes into the bigger scheme of this being presented as a dinner party. What I think is most important in this letter is how the heart ❤️ has no arrow in it. Unlike the first card which did;

According to Google:

A heart symbol pierced with an arrow, symbolizing romantic love (being lovestruck, or the pain of lovesickness) A typical depiction of the Sacred Heart (often shown with other attributes, e.g. surmounted by a cross, pierced by nails or swords, etc.)

Okay maybe the first one was more intimate?

But from what I could find about a plain heart and what it could potentially mean, the closest I could really find was ‘unromantic but sincere love’. And with what we know about Joker’s determination and certainty that he is the ‘villain’ of Batmans/Bruces dreams (a term could definitely be a stand in for other things) I think that certainty comes off here too. Bruce never questions or entertains the thought that Joker would have taken his suit off in front of others or had his henchmen do it, it’s clearly implied with how committed Joker is to not exposing Batmans identity that it was HIM who removed the batsuit off Bruce’s unconscious body. Point is, there’s this mutual/unspoken assuredness between them that this is in fact THEIR secret.

End!

Phew! Idk if this made sense or even coherent but I just found the letters really cool and wanted to talk about them. Let me know if I should go into more detail or pls add to this in the notes I’d love to hear your ideas!

[lazylittledragon]

Love how it's established in your jayvik lore that Jayce has had top surgery but he still has the juiciest chest. Man is so destined to have bahoongas that they grew back

OBVIOUSLY viktor needs his pillow :3

[turtleblogatlast]

AU where Leo is trapped in the Prison Dimension for months instead of minutes and the only way he gets by with his sanity intact is through recording himself talking to his wrist comm.

When they finally manage to get Leo back and make him rest up to heal, Donnie can’t help but listen to the recordings left behind.

He’s not sure what exactly he’s expecting, only that his subconscious is screaming at him that it has to be heartbreaking, that it has to be torturous.

Instead, what Donnie is subject to is a full thousand hours’ worth of Jupiter Jim and Lou Jitsu crossover fanfiction. More than one part in the series. Spanning well over a million words.

(The worst part is that it’s actually good.)

[chronicowboy]

i can't see you (the light is in my face) | 15.6k (E)

"What are we drinking today?" Eddie asks as he carries the teapot over to the kitchen table from the counter. He sets it down on the woven grass placemat in the centre of the table and slides into the seat opposite his abuela.

"Blue tea," she says, pushing her teacup towards him.

"And why do they call it that?" He raises an eyebrow at her before picking the teapot back up again to pour her some. He flushes when it comes out a dazzling blue. Abuela just rolls her eyes at him, a glint of amusement sparkling there.

"Rosa from book club gave me some," she tells him, lifting her cup and inhaling some of its steam. "She said it's made from butterfly pea flowers, so it tastes very floral."

Eddie pours himself a cup, watches the blue pool against the white porcelain and thinks of Buck. They'd talked briefly on the drive between the station and his abuela's. But Buck had been late for lunch with Bobby, and Eddie had let him go even though he'd wanted to sink his nails into the phantom of Buck's voice.

"Oh, hey, wait there." Eddie drifts back to the kitchen counter and picks a lemon from the fruit bowl. He slices it into wedges and takes two of them with him back to the table. "Buck told me about this stuff. I think he tried every tea under the sun after his coma. Did a bunch of research on all the different health benefits of them. I'll have to ask him for recommendations." He drops back into his seat and sets a wedge of lemon onto Abuela's saucer. "Says a chemical in the lemon is supposed to..." He squeezes the juice into his tea and grins as it begins to react. "Ah! Purple tea!" He tilts his cup just enough for Abuela to catch a glimpse of it.

"Oh!" She clasps her hands together, eyes lighting up, before reaching for her own wedge of lemon.

Eddie watches her stir the purple into her blue tea with a childlike glee, lets his own frivolous joy spread through him like hot tea. Accepts it for what it is. Little blessings, his abuela used to say. Life is full of little blessings. And Eddie is learning to welcome them without guilt. He pulls his phone out under the table and taps out a quick text:

Having blue tea with Abuela. Your lemon trick worked! But now she thinks you're a witch that's corrupted me with the dark arts :/

"Eddito?" Abuela pokes him in the shoulder with her teaspoon, and Eddie slips his phone back into his pocket like he's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Do you like it?"

"Oh, um." He picks his cup up for the first time, convinces himself it's just the rising steam that has a flush bleeding through his cheeks as he takes a sip. He wrinkles his nose. "It's... Very blue?"

"Mm." She nods, tight-lipped. "Not the best we've had. But the lemon definitely made it better."

"And some honey might make it tolerable," Eddie says as he plucks the jar from the small tea caddy against the wall. His phone buzzes in his pocket, and he pulls it out greedily as he stirs the honey into his tea.

eddie tell her that blue tea helps heart and brain health and that the lemon boosts your immune system so if i am a witch i'm at least a nice holistic witch

tell her eddie tell her

:(

"Who is that?" Abuela asks, raising an eyebrow at his phone.

"Just Buck."

But she'll just think you've bewitched me into saying it. Which you basically did.

"Ah, Buck," she says sagely.

are you calling me bewitching diaz?

i might have gone with beguiling but whatever

Eddie snorts, tucks his phone under his thigh and takes another sip of his tea.

"It's definitely better with the honey," he says. Abuela just stares at him, her head cocked slightly to the left the way it is whenever she's stuck on a sudoku puzzle. "What?"

"Nothing." She shrugs. "How is Buck?"

(OR: eddie makes a new friend, she makes some assumptions, eddie spirals about it in his patented life-ruining way)

[maradevi]

After the latest remaster episode, I genuinely question if there’s really any optimism for a nicer depiction of Evil Paper/DID systems in general at this point. I understand that they can’t deviate from II1’s original basis too much and, at its basis, EP is always going to be a problematic stereotype in of itself - but at this point it actually feels like they have very little intent of redoing *anything* beyond removing certain scenes.

I think it doesn’t help that Paper’s trauma with Idiotic Island is *still* being played for laughs, or at bare minimum their emotional breakdown definitely isn’t written with the same weight Suitcase’s arc or similar had in II2. I get that a serious depiction isn’t what II1 is for, but it’s kinda hurtful to see Paper still get treated like a chore or big overreactor by the plot (see: Baseball). It’s different from other situations in II where the ableism from other characters is actually taken seriously and called out. Here it feels like we’re still supposed to laugh and agree with Baseball that yes, Paper is making a big deal out of nothing! What a loser!

It doesn’t particularly help that remastered Paper’s voice direction is still referred to as “Paper’s evil side.” Evil Paper is in their name, but I think it’s different when it’s from the perspective of a staff member still calling Paper’s trauma arc “evil.” It makes me worried that II truly hasn’t improved much at all in writing characters with disabilities, despite the repeated promises to get better. I don’t know. Maybe other Paper fans have a different take on this. Sigh.

[egonkula]

my worst trait I think is that im a sheldon cooper lover. love that stupid freak. idc. that show is so unfunny, but sheldon cooper is my friend and I will sit through endless hours of bad comedy to hang out with him.

[murderenjoyer]

"He knows what he wants but not what he needs!"

Who says what he wants and what he needs isn't one in the same? You? Who are you to tell him what he does and doesn't need?

This man is 240 years old he is a grown ass adult who knows what is best for himself. He isn't just making a random, impulsive decision. Do you not think he's had a real long, hard think about the situation? Obviously he has! Anyone would! This choice will shape what his life is going to be forever. Forever.

He isn't considering ascension frivolously, he isn't doing it purely as a spur of the moment mindless emotional reaction. It is a calculated decision keeping every important factor about his and his loved one's well-being and happiness in mind.

"He has trauma he can't make sound decisions!"

If you ever come into this house infantalizing the mentally ill like that again I'll start throwing hands. Suffering from C-PTSD does not mean he can't have rational thoughts. It doesn't mean he is an invalid child that needs someone to make all his decisions for him, "for his own good."

The ableism LEPT out with a ROAR on that take holee shit.

[rambyol]

Analysis: The Blood🩸& Lipstick 💄 💋

Let’s look at the symbolism, subtext, and suggestions behind Bruce’s blood stained shirt and John’s ‘borrowed’ lipstick from Harley.

1) 🩸 Blood on Bruce 🩸

Symbolism

John and Bruce’s much anticipated confrontation in the Bonus Brothers Carnival ends with a pivotal question, which is, does Bruce trust John? John who is covered in blood, surrounding by bodies, and acting erratically. If you pick ‘Yes’, John embraces Bruce which leaves the vigilante with a bloodied shirt.

Many people have picked up on how Telltale utilises visual storytelling to indicate the shift in the narrative here, and more so the shift in Bruce’s character. Bruce has ‘blood on his hands’ both literally and figuratively— now this symbolism alone depends on how you interpret John’s character as a whole in addition to what you think actually took place off screen between John and the Agents.

But aside from the idea that the bloodied shirt symbolises how Bruce is now complicit with John’s crimes (‘murder’) I thought about how it also plays into the ‘same stitch’ mantra which John says throughout the narrative.

Blood holds a lot of meaning; It can symbolise tight connections between people, for example when we refer to terms like 'blood pact/blood oath' as gestures of trust, loyalty, and commitment. These associations are very intimate and how they link to John's mantra is through the very forced nature in which the blood is transferred onto Bruce. John pulls Bruce in for a hug, taking him by surprise, as is evident by Bruce's stiff posture. And that's important because from the very minute we meet John, we see how he ‘pushes’ idea's onto Bruce, or subtly forces him to make tough decision. (relative to how you play Bruce, in this case, I mean when you play Bruce as a 'good' guy).

Let's look at Lucius's funeral; John tries to pressure Bruce into meeting his 'friends' by either guilting him into it, “Please, I’ve got a lot riding on this.” or incentivising Bruce to do so via the reveal that John has links to Riddler, “I’ve got this enemy. Calls himself, the Riddler”.

In a way, the blood on Bruce's shirt is also an attempt to reaffirm John's belief that they are “two threads in the same stitch”.

Theories - Was it an accident or was it intentional?

I've thought about how John may have deliberately hugged Bruce so that the blood on him would imply that he was also involved with 'killing' the agents, and you could see it that way when rewatching the scene. Especially with the above image (left) where we get that shot of John's face. That expression occurs directly after he apologises for getting blood on Bruce.

John's expression doesn't look apologetic and we know how he looks when he genuinely regrets an action, or is in a tough position.

So his face looks otherwise neutral to me. Or at least the shot seems to linger just slightly. To top it off, there's no response from Bruce because John quickly reminds Bruce that they need to catch Harley, which is interesting because every other option during the Hug scene seems to take its time, and there's no sense of urgency from John like there is in that moment.

So maybe it was intentional.

However, since it's never brought up by Waller, or has any real consequences to the plot, I just consider it a fun theory. Mainly because I think it could've also been a genuine moment - John looks visibly surprised when Bruce says, "I believe you" and it seems like a knee jerk response from him especially considering how often the game makes you doubt John by making so much of his words and actions look ominous. (Although that could all still very well be true, that he isn't always to be trusted) For the sake of Bruce and John's dynamic, I like to believe it was a genuine moment of tenderness between them, especially if you choose the option where Bruce apologises for doubting John during their hug.

2) 💄 Shared lipstick 💄

When John goes down the Villain path, the events on the bridge is where his transformation occurs, hence the lipstick he gets from kissing Harley.

It even foreshadows Joker’s look. [refer to this.]

Now, one interpretation I had of this scene was that John and Harley were finally on the same page because throughout their time together there was always this uncertainty surrounding their relationship, John himself questions whether his relationship with Harley is contingent upon whether or not she succeeds to get the virus.

In another sense, this could also be seen as the moment John steps away from Harley’s influence. John is the one who initiates the kiss with Harley here, and in contrast to when they make out during episode 5 at the dinner party, Joker doesn’t have residual lipstick from Harley there, so I like to think that he was more forceful on the bridge with her to intentionally get lipstick on him.

Since he’s been second to Harley and her plans so far in the narrative, I like to view the kiss/lipstick as an act of independence - a sort of taking - from Harley, and reclaiming a sense of identity for John.

[tonydaddingham]

aziraphale constantly expresses his admiration and adoration for crowley by telling him he's nice, and good, and thanks him for what he does for him, calls him all the time to tell him things, "our car" and "our bookshop". and then dear, sweet crowley, who cannot go a single minute without doing something for aziraphale, driving him around everywhere, looking after and tidying the bookshop, indulging him in his earthly pleasures and quaint little hobbies, saving him even when he doesn't necessarily ask to be saved, "little demonic miracle of my own" and "alright, I'll do that one, my treat."

their methods of communicating their - friendship, affection, love - are set.

let's look at the bandstand, where crowley offers to magic them away, away from earth and the loom of armageddon, and aziraphale retaliates with stating that they're not friends and he's doesn't even like him. let's look at the So Did I argument, where crowley offers to whisk gabriel away and dump him on the moors so aziraphale doesnt have to deal with it and is no longer under threat from the former archangel, and aziraphale practically begs crowley to stay, that he'd "love [him] to help [him]".

their methods of communicating their - friendship, affection, love - are being rejected; they're not working.

let's look at 1967, where aziraphale gives in to giving crowley the holy water, but refuses the lift to anywhere he wants to go, and crowley offers to thank aziraphale, but refuses to hear aziraphale's verbal concerns about the danger it poses to him, "you told me what you think - 105 years ago." let's look at the final fifteen, where aziraphale offers to restore crowley to what he thinks crowley has always been yearning for, and crowley tries to tell aziraphale exactly what he means to him, put it into words what he hopes aziraphale will see through and understand.

their methods of communicating their - friendship, affection, love - are swapped, and break them apart altogether.

swapping those methods, in a guesswork effort to reach the other person better, isn't the answer. the action, and what is being said, is what needs to change. crowley offers things that aziraphale doesn't want, or goes against who he is fundamentally, and aziraphale says things that wound crowley deeply, reducing what they are to nothing in a few sharp words. so instead crowley tries to use words, and aziraphale tries to offer an act of devotion; but this doesn't work either - arguably, it's worse!

what they communicate needs to be clearer, not how. crowley needs to stay with aziraphale when he promises that he will, and not attempt to solve problems by running from what he doesn't want to face, threatening to abandon him in the process. aziraphale needs to express outright, plainly, what crowley needs to hear; that exactly as he is, everything that he is, is everything that aziraphale wants and respects and loves. and to be able to do that, they need start by giving each other the respect of acknowledging their respective boundaries, their fears, and what principles are important to them.

they've had their methods right all along, but what they're currently saying with them doesn't make sense. it's the french all over again; the words can be translated, "but you understood me!", but that doesn't mean that it makes any sense.

[viktorarcanedeservesbetter]

As a Floridian (currently living elsewhere) I cannot tell you how devastating these NOAA cuts have been. Many meteorologists have noted how hard it has been to track storms. The new FEMA chief claimed to not know there was such as thing as hurricane seasons.

I know it's easy to make fun of people goofing off during hurricanes. I know it's easy to laugh at people making videos and tik toks and tweets and Instagram about hurricane parties. Hell, I know it's easy to make fun of Floridians (and I know Hurricanes effect other states, and have done horrific damage in other states) but let me remind people:

Hurricanes kill people. They do. Wind, flooding, diseases in the water, drowning, lack of access to emergency medical care, destruction. Hell, people have died of dehydration because they lost access to clean water in just a few days.

It's hurricane season right now. June to November, half a year of these storms forming. We don't even need to mention global warming to point out that the storms get more devastating year after year. Hell, last year (my first in a different state) my town got destroyed. We're still recovering.

A hurricane can and will kill. Unhoused people who cannot seek shelter will die-and how can they know when to seek shelter (if available) when no one can tell them when a storm that cannot be stuck-out in comparison to a typical storm is coming? How can hospitals prep when the biggest warning is only a day? How can schools and buildings that are shelters prepare if only given hours?

How can people find out where to go if they live in an evacuation zone? Hell, how will they know when to evacuate?

I tend not to talk about politics here-I try to make this a space away from it all since I do stay informed in other manners-but every day this week it's stormed bad-worse than a typical thunderstorm-for a few hours every day.

It's infuriating, for many reasons beyond cut funding, that this current government is so focused on just...I don't even know how to describe it. Anti intellectualism?

IDK. I'm just tired.

[hammyham-o-o]

some fanart of vi from arcane :] uncoloured version under the cut!

[wereh0gz]

A take I've seen a couple times is that Sonic is supposed to be fairy-like and like an embodiment of good itself, not a character who should feel "human" (as human as anthro hedgehogs can get ig)

And like. I'm sorry but that's a really boring interpretation of his character that diminishes a lot of his most appealing traits imo

Bc one of his biggest appeals for me is that he's flawed. And it's not a question whether he is or isn't, he IS flawed in canon

You CAN say that Sonic is more "fairy-like" in the earlier classic era, but by the time the modern era rolls around (pun not intended) he started to shift to a more shonen protag-esque character, with a side of late 90's early 2000's cool radical attitude (that part starts to mellow out as the games progress but he'll always have a little bit of that specific kind of cool factor in my eyes)

But, like I said, he's flawed. He's impulsive and reckless, and can sometimes be just as selfish as he is selfless. He does what he believes is right, no matter what others think and even if he's actually in the wrong. And sometimes, rarely, he lets his emotions get the better of him. He also has a disregard for authority, and can be pretty rude and sometimes a bit arrogant, too

The only reason he's considered a hero is bc in spite of his flaws, he's still kind at heart (and, usually, what he believes is right still aligns with what is considered good). He doesn't even consider himself a hero, that's a title mostly put on him by other people. He doesn't think of himself as anything special, just "a guy who loves adventure"

THAT'S what's appealing to me about Sonic. He's just a guy. He's a person, idealized as he may be, who still has flaws and still makes mistakes, but is generally still really fucking cool. I think humanizing him a little more by exploring his flaws isn't a bad thing either and makes for more interesting stories

Anyway, I don't think Sonic could be described as an embodiment of good itself. Hell he'd probably tell you to cut it out if you told him that to his face (he's got an ego but he's not THAT bad). He'd say something like "I just do what I gotta do, that's all" before moving on to kick Eggman's ass again, or something

That's just my take, anyway

[bluiex]

So happy rn!!!! Found them at a Vintage Stock near me

[rovermcfly]

I really thought by deleting every browser and social media/social media-adjacent app from my phone I would be plunged into total chaos and agony. I expected calamity in my mind and in my life.

instead literally nothing happened. frankly I barely even noticed it. I mean to be fair I already did a lot of work to reduce my screen time before and it wasn't like going cold turkey from 12 hour screentime days, but still. I expected a little more... distress. or at least the overwhelming joy of experiencing life outside of constant internet access at my fingertips.

I can't even tell a cool story about how quitting phone-based internet changed my life. it really didn't. maybe it's because everyone around me has normal smartphones still, maybe it's really just my months of preparing in other ways. whatever it is, it was silly to wait so long to do it.

so if you're waiting for a sign to switch to a dumbphone or dumb down your smartphone- this is it. it's easier than you think right now.

[rambyol]

BEAR WITH ME HERE!

Maybe it’s just me but Bruce Wayne in the Telltale games has a very ‘feminine’ look to him and I mean that in the broadest sense.

(I’m sort of struggling with how to go about this because masculinity and femininity are vague terms that carry a lot of nuance with them so take this with a grain of salt.)

Other iterations of Bruce have always made him masculine and he is still in this game but idk, there’s this feminine aura to him, mainly his facial expressions, and how comfortable he is expressing emotion (when safe to do so). Masculinity and stoicism are associated with each other the same way femininity and emotional expressiveness are. And now I don’t mean to say a man being expressive with his face automatically makes him feminine.

In Bruce’s case, when you play him as a good, compassionate, and curious person rather than a cruel, cold, and calculated one, he (naturally) has this softness to him.

In this Universe, like in many, he’s the billionaire playboy and wealth is at times associated with innocence because of how it can protect you from the cruel reality of the world.

This might be a dumb/cringe comparison but you know whenever a female character comes from wealth/royalty their mostly, if not always, portrayed as innocent, naive, ‘must be shielded at all costs’ etc., (like Disney Princesses if we’re really trying to stretch this) but with male characters it’s their arrogant, pretentious, have a superiority complex (that is if they’re intended to be portrayed badly); Bruce is sort of treated with that ‘must be protected’ mentality—we see how Alfred shields him from the reality of his family, and how Bruce naively assumes he isn’t “corrupted” by money. And upon learning such a devastating truth he, IN SPITE OF IT chooses to continue his DUTY as Batman and I think that drive born out of compassion and atonement reaffirms that feminine aura for me.

[smokeys-house]

its really specific and kind of petty but I hate being able to do something cool but because I'm not a conventionally attractive cis woman if I posted a video of me doing it it'd get like ten notes but if I was 5'4" with a full chest and a slim figure it'd be at like 140k notes. Part of me is like yeah Idc I don't want the attention but another part of me is like well I'm mad that if I did it wouldn't go anywhere bc of that.