#so this is actually as valid as a ship as damirae

[thecagedbird666]

to be clear, the comic that @devine-fem is referring to is, to my understanding, a damijon comic. The kondami pairing is only there for the plot.

The purpose of the story (again this is how I've interpreted it) is to show Damian learning and understanding who he is independent of Jon before realizing that the feelings he's been having for Jon his whole life were not just platonic love but romantic love as well. (remember not everyone loses their virginity to their first love, this is a more realistic version of events honestly)

I know the idea of the age gap between Damian and Conner can seem jarring but keep in mind we really don't even know how old Conner even is anymore after being written back into existence. Also ages in comics tend to be very vague and flexible due to inconsistent writing from the source material.

As people constantly attacked for an age gap within our own ship, let's try not to be hypocrites, as this just opens the door for more hate towards us later.

I understand if kondami is not your cup of tea, just do the mature thing and block the kondami tag.

You guys, don’t let Kondami be a consistent thing in fandom. Jesus 😭

[tarisilmarwen]

1, 3, 6 for Teen Titans. :) Gimme the salty Tari takes!

1. the character everyone gets wrong

Red X. No one seems to understand that his identity wasn't the point. It didn't matter who was underneath the mask. He wasn't anyone. He wasn't supposed to be anyone. Not anyone significant or familiar anyways.

He was just a random ass kid who liked the thrill of the heist, decided on a whim to break into Titans Tower, and lucked into the biggest score of his career. He doesn't need any more deep backstory than that.

People always go the laziest stalest most boring route and make him Jason Todd anyway, despite how that would absolutely never work in the TT continuity.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

It's a good thing we're limiting this to Tumblr because boooooooooy did I see some bullshit back in the day, lol.

Probably the worst bit of fanwank on Tumblr for the TT fandom is the mindless endless, "BBRae is abusive and toxic!!!!" whinging.

No they're not, they're friends whose personalities can sometimes clash very abrasively but when the chips are down they'd do anything for each other, it's fine if you don't like their dynamic but not every tiny bit of conflict or disagreement or not getting along between characters is automatically a toxic relationship.

Oh and there was also the time RobRae shippers tried to kickstart their own Zutara-esque, "We were supposed to be endgame the whole time guys, the creators totally said so, promise!" conspiracy.

And the time fandom tried to incorporate Teen Titans into the "Cartoon Network cancels superhero shows because too many girls watch them!" nonsense.

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

[See aforementioned previous note about which shipper base tried to start a Zutara-esque "We were the original endgame!" conspiracy.]

It's a lot less now, now that they've essentially been subsumed and absorbed almost entirely by the DamiRae shipbase (and that's a rant for another day lololol) but the TT fandom was baby Tari's first shipwar and introduced me to so many ~*wonderful*~ concepts like:

Slutshaming the female rival is a totally valid argument, and not base misogyny at all.

Reducing the rival ship to its most surface level characteristics is okay when we do it.

Canon ships having any kind of relationship progress or development is "forced".

"Chemistry" means "the ship dynamic I like".

Wanting to pull someone out of their clearly-narratively-depicted self-destructive habits is bad actually.

Shipping fanon is a subversive act of rebellion and revolution against oppressive unfair norms. (AKA "Shipping is Social Justice Activism" before that was a thing.)

Fanon shippers are just naturally smarter and better than people who enjoy the canon romance as presented.

And many other highlights!

Yeah, I don't miss that drama and that's one of the reasons I don't want a revival or a Season Six, because then I'd have to deal with these idiots all over again.

Choose violence ask game.

[grapefrutjuce]

Is it just me or is Dani looking more shiny and clean than usual in the rooftop clip haha

I have many mixed feelings on this story line. I’m an Arab Muslim but I’ve lived almost my entire life in the US, and I’m not very knowledgeable on the more religious accuracy aspects. Besides that, I’m just not sure what the takeaway of this relationship is supposed to be.

Long meaningless rambling under the cut.

I’ve only seen the OG SKAM before this, so I can only compare to that version of Yousana. But my impression was that Yousef and Sana were very strong on a few fronts - cultural context, history, and shared values. The conflict was over religion as a practice or moral philosophy. Things conclude on a fairly positive open ended note, despite this.

So how does that compare to Damira? Dani doesn’t have a shared cultural context with Amira, at least when it comes to her religion and background. Not much evidence he is actively trying to remedy some of his ignorance. Or at least, evidence that he is eager to do so.

He does have an established friendship and history with her, but I feel the show wants us to accept that as fact rather than show us many meaningful examples. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt there, though.

To be honest, I’m not sure at all if Dani and Amira have many shared values. Yousef made a point of taking a hit for Sana when it came to her parents suspecting drinking. So far, I don’t think Dani has taken any hits on Amira’s behalf, and that’s not for lack of opportunity. She continues to shoulder much of the burden.

Additionally, I really don’t jive with the concept of befriending people who treat others badly. It’s not even like most of his friends were respectful and polite, it’s that most of them were not. What does that say about Dani? That his concern is chiefly with how his friends treat him rather than how they treat others? What exactly does he value from these friendships? And as many people have pointed out, his joke about the kid still hasn’t been properly addressed. Does that mean we shouldn’t perceive this as a possible mismatch of his and Amira’s values?

Finally, the conflict aspect is different this time around. This is probably the only realm I think could be an interesting ‘benefit’ of choosing the Dani route for Yousef. In the OG, Yousef seems to have had his experiences with organized religion and definitively chosen to discontinue participation. For Dani, he has also had his own experiences with organized religion, but perhaps hasn’t felt any particular need to really commit one way or another. In fact, it seems that Amira’s own conviction in her faith is part of his attraction to her (note: they need to be very careful with this). Maybe he has found some sort of kinship with her on some level, in a way that encourages him to think about things differently.

So, where Yousef made a conscious decision to leave religion, here is a chance for Dani to make a conscious decision to join it. His relative ambiguity allows Amira to explicitly say that conversion would eventually be on the table, if they pursued a relationship. Why not explore this route, then? Not converting solely for Amira’s sake, but being inspired by her to start that kind of spiritual introspection within himself. I wish the dialogue would hint that maybe the reason Dani began to consider Amira in this light was because these were things that he did think about, but couldn’t share with other people he knew.

Some might say that this isn’t realistic. Why not? And why is Amira’s relationship confined to strict 'realism’? How many people in real life actually marry their high school sweetheart? Yet there are no problems with accepting other ships as 'endgame’ for all intents and purposes (within the show canon). I don’t think it’s fair that those relationships are portrayed as strong or developed enough to go the distance (these are still just a bunch of teens) but a Sana relationship is too challenging or 'mature’ to maintain.

If a lot of these ships can be fanfic-y or wish-fulfillment flavored, why not give Amira a relationship that isn’t painted as DOA (this is of course, notwithstanding the giant missed opportunity w/Kasim, but I’m not even going to go there)? Yes, Amira wants different things from a relationship than other characters. And perhaps she is satisfied being single. My issue is giving her the possibility of a loving relationship that respects her boundaries only to take it away from her, like she was asking too much. I know 21 year old white guys like Dani will have difficulties with this different style of relationship. But if it ends badly, to me it will almost read as a cautionary tale. If it’s so obviously an exercise in futility, why should I be invested at all?

I want the show to say that Dani believes Amira is absolutely worth it, not 'eh I was celibate for a few weeks and I’m not feeling it.’ That would also make both Dani and Amira look incredibly naive, if both acknowledge that they can only interact physically after marriage, yet still start dating now (doubt they plan to marry any time soon). So does the show mean to punish Amira for this naivety? I would much rather they provide a hopeful resolution, even if people say it’s 'unrealistic.’ 

Obviously pursuit of a relationship shouldn’t be the sole motivating factor of a major lifestyle or behavioral shift. But careful framing of Dani’s decision making and helpful insights into his mindset could avoid this. I know it would be perfectly fair for him to conclude he isn’t ready to commit to anything serious at this stage in his life. But…being that this IS a fictional story written by real people (with their own biases and preconceptions), there is a message that could be interpreted there…that Amira is, in fact, not worth the effort.

I’m also not sure what Dani’s expression meant when he was watching Amira take a drink from the bottle. I think it was a look of realization, but I’m not convinced that was necessarily realization of love or respect or something like that. I know it’s supposed to basically mirror the OG breaking fast scene, but the circumstances are different enough that I can’t assume Dani feels like OG Yousef did. Often times I get the vibe that Dani doth protest too much when he reassures Amira.

True, the season is only half over so my opinion could change. It’s just that, I don’t doubt that Dani and Amira have chemistry, enjoy each other’s company, and are very comfortable with each other. But I doubt the… substance? Content? Of Dani’s feelings for Amira. And I don’t even know if that’s intentional, or me being overly suspicious of the writing or what.

For me to think there is potential for real love at some point, I would need to feel that these two people very much want to protect each other and look out for each other’s well being. For Dani to merely accept or even admire Amira’s faith isn’t enough to sustain anything. It’s not just about being content in your own bubble, but about being partners and reinforcing that bond outside of it. I’m just trying to contextualize Dani’s approach to and motivations for this relationship, and at the same time validate Amira’s own wishes for herself and ensure that Dani is capable of fulfilling those needs.

I really like Damira. I am *really, really* rooting for them to work. I think they have a lot of untapped potential and a great tender affection for one another. That’s what makes me nervous that the show will pull out the rug from under me.