#that's what happens when you start a story as a kid & just keep retconning it over the years. things start to get a bit fucky & silly

[raiiny-bay]

thinking about it & genuinely i don't think i could have picked a better name for kel if i tried. that guy is a kelly through & through

[cephalog0d]

Okay, but like. There's the whole joke about Bruce recruiting children to be his sidekicks, but honestly there's only really one that fits that.

And it's Jason. And the whole story there is, frankly, unhinged. Aaaaand then he died.

(I'm specifically talking about "first post-crisis origin stories" here because Jason and Dick, in particular, have both had multiple major retcons and revisions over the years, and some of them dramatically change how things happened.)

Like okay. Going backwards, you've got Duke who joined/led a whole Robin-based gang at a time when Bruce wasn't even Batman. You've got Damian and Cass, who were both literally born into the world of masks and capes and heroes and villains, so they weren't ever really not going to be part of it. Steph might have taken inspiration from previous heroes but she made her own identity and repeatedly refused to stop involving herself in the vigilante lifestyle. Tim, obviously, basically strong-armed Batman into letting him be Robin, despite Batman's protests.

Dick's a little more complicated just because there's so many versions, because that's what 80 years of comics and multiple universe reboots will do, and there's kind of a general trend that earlier pre-crisis versions were more of Batman being like "hello, child, would you like to be my sidekick" and later versions have leaned harder and harder into the idea that Dick was absolutely going to do this anyway, regardless of what Batman had to say about it. But even in the first post-crisis version, the flashback in Batman Year 3, Dick says he wants to find a way to keep people like that from hurting others again. When Alfred questions Bruce's offer to train him, Bruce says that Dick should learn to do things the right way if he's going to do it. It's not hard to extrapolate that, much like later versions of the origin story, Dick was going to get himself into this one way or another. (Batman (1940) #437)

And then there's Jason. Whose backstory has also had a lot of (sometimes major) revisions over the years (remember when his adoption was, like, some kind of Joker-originated long con? Fucken Nu52, man). But the original post-crisis version is pretty straightforward. Steals Batman's tires, gets caught and sent to Ma Gunn's Secret Criminal School, intervenes when Batman goes to investigate, immediately gets offered the chance to be Robin based entirely on that.

Which is itself kind of unhinged. That Bruce saw this kid who was living on his own stealing tires and went "Hey you would make a good Robin" as his very first instinct.

But if you've never read Jason's post-crisis origin, or it's been a while, it's honestly even more unhinged than that because that arc starts with Dick getting "fired" as Robin specifically for the reason that he got shot by Joker and Bruce freaked out about how the Robin identity has too many enemies and therefore Dick, a legal adult with approximately a decade of training and experience, should not use the identity anymore.

(And it's specifically about the Robin identity, in this version, because when Dick says he's not going to stop the crime fighting thing Bruce's response is basically "I know and I didn't expect you to". Honestly I could also say a lot about this version of the Robin/Nightwing transition vs. later ones and how this one definitely feels like the Heavy Hand of DC Editorial in the fact that they had no contact for so long afterwards, because the interaction really doesn't feel like it warrants that in this case compared to some later versions, but that's a whole other too-long ramble.) (Batman (1940) #408)

And then a few weeks later Bruce turns around and picks up a random kid, a literal child, and goes "Hey you would make a good Robin!"

And I think a lot about how fucking wild that is. And it's not like the people writing just didn't notice. Dick's big argument with Bruce when he finally comes back to Gotham and meets Jason isn't about the fact that Bruce took in another kid, or even necessarily about Dick feeling proprietary over the Robin identity, the thing he's angry about is that Bruce said it was too dangerous for him, an adult, someone who has trained with Batman for a decade and was already highly physically trained before that for his whole life, to be Robin, and now Bruce has turned around and painted that target onto some random new kid. He pushes, repeatedly, trying to get Bruce to justify himself and this absolutely irresponsible decision, and Bruce gives a lot of answers about how Jason was on a bad path and needed this outlet and eventually just admits that he missed having a partner. (Batman (1940) #416)

And like. Dick's right, is the thing. He is 1000% in the right in this argument. If he can't be Robin anymore because of the danger, how in the hell is it anything like a good idea to hand it over to someone way younger, way less trained, way less experienced, and expect that that wouldn't end in tragedy?

And then it did.

And yeah, Bruce, it is kinda a lot of your fault.

[dlartistanon]

Do we know much about Muelsyse's history, outside of being the first to join Rhine?

She has a degree in Ecological Studies, was among the founding members and has known Saria and Kristen for like 20+ years, but the game is really bad (read: inconsistent) when it comes to her backstory because what was originally established in Dorothy's Vision was that she had been alive long enough to witness the landscape change over hundreds of years.

Mountains crumbling--assuming nothing else disturbs them--can take millions of years to happen. I don't think Mumu is that old, but she is old. If we take into consideration rapid industrialization and environmental pollution, it's more plausible that this can be shorted to centuries instead of millennia.

In the same scene, it mentions her vividly remembering her mother speaking to her. But in LT, she says she grew up in an orphanage and "never knew her parents". Which is... directly contradicting the above screenshot. She could've lost her parents when she was a little older, sure. But I just disagree with her having lived as an orphan because the DV scene has her alone with her thoughts, with no one else around to see or hear her. And that would be the "realest" Muelsyse. You're your true self in isolation if you don't have to put on some kind of curated act in front of other people.

Instead of keeping it consistent, Lone Trail decides to go with "nah, she's quite young, actually! She was underage when Kristen and Saria filed to start up Rhine Lab!"

I just can't see her being young as real, especially because some people have bent over backwards trying to explain this inconsistency like "well young people can be sad and lonely and depressed, have you seen today's kids?" or claiming her supposed youth explains her "naivete" in some ways regarding Kristen and Saria and that’s how she gets along so well with Ifrit, and I'm just??? Maybe some adults are just Good with kids? Mumu doesn’t have to have a “stunted” development to treat and/or understand Iffy well. Stop infantilizing this Elf.

And I can just as easily say it’s because Elves are reclusive and she only fairly recently moved to Columbia/a more urban area and, despite living for a long time, hasn’t gotten used to dealing with a lifestyle so drastically different from what she knows. Her inherent nature means she wasn't suited for the cutthroat Columbian politics/culture and not even other characters understood Saristen well, so it's not like Muelsyse is unique in that regard, even for as long as they've known each other. And you can even include that while Saria and Kristen knew each other, they didn't know each other.

There are some parts of Muelsyse's backstory introduced post-DV that I like, such as there being a mass gravesite for Elves and that's where her parents are, and Elves being related to Feranmut. However, it can't be argued, nor any more apparent, that they just retconned parts of her history in order to give her a bigger sob story to make her more "palatable" and "waifuable".

[iamafanofcartoons]

Hey, what are your thoughts on the whole 'Qrow is Ruby's father' theory? Genuine answer, please.

Okay, let's look at it this way.

We all know vaccines don't cause autism. But anti-vaxxers repeatedly claim its a lie, a conspiracy, and refuse to listen to the CDC.

We all know the earth is round, not flat. But flat-earthers refuse to listen to NASA and treat it as a conspiracy.

How does that relate to Qrow theorists?

Monty Oum said, before Volume 2 Chapter 6? That Ruby and Yang are half-sisters. Not Step-Sisters. Half-sisters.

What do the "Monty's vision" and Qrow theorists say? "Monty meant step-sisters" "Monty was hiding the truth" "CRWBY has already retconned Adam Taurus and the show, so they should retcon this" "Monty is dead, so M&K don't have to follow this"

The very man that RWBY Critics put on a pedestal and claim to be some man whose work was ruined, but everything that comes out his mouth or tweets gets ignored and despised.

Yang talks about how Summer and Tai raised Ruby and Yang together as kids. Qrow theorists: "Yang was too young, her memory is spotty" "Qrow gave Ruby to Tai to raise after Summer's death" They literally ignore EVERYTHING that Yang said. Eruptionfang , the biggest Adam Taurus dickrider, made specifically suer to completely ignore the entire scene in his theory video which made sure to try to paint Monty as a liar.

Tai reads a bedtime story to Ruby and Yang about the Warrior in the Woods?

"Its not canon" "It was after Summer's death, so here's how Qrow can still be Ruby's father"

Now...how about specific things in question.

A girl named Anna masters was so in love with the theory, that when evidence disproving the theory came about, she used the R-Slur.

Another girl, Rose, kept claiming it was monty's vision, but when the mods of the facebook group showed her monty's tweet? And showed her that she could NOT use "Monty's vision" to support her claim? She started badmouthing Monty....because that's what Qrow theorists are like.

A third girl I dealt with happened to be a member of the WomenforVic movement of the vic micnogna defenders.

She had managed to get Vic Micnogna to say "Ruby, I am your father" at her camera, and she used that to claim that anything monty said was meaningless because Qrow's va , at the time, did a joke.

When Miles Luna shut down the theory on reddit and claimed that Qrow was a role model and father figure, but NOT ruby's father in any way shape or form?

The Qrow theorists immediately showed their true colors by doing mental gymnastics trying to twist Miles' words, or flat out calling him a liar and claiming that he was "Ruining monty's vision"

Anti-vaxxers. Flat Earthers. and Qrow theorists.

For these people, truth is not what is actually true. Truth for these people is what they decide to be true.

They reject reality, and substitute their own.

And if you try to show them that they're wrong, they hate you and call you toxic or other unsavory names, because these people wish to keep their delusions. They find their delusions better than reality.

Its the same way Adam Taurus fanfic writers get furious because their headcanons that they decided was somehow the actual show was debunked by the actual show. So they claim it was a retcon or character assassination.

Just ask these theorists about their thoughts of Qrow being Bi for Clover? Their responses will be full of bigotry.

But at the end of the day? There is no god. Vaccines do not cause autism. The earth is not flat. And Qrow is not and never will be Ruby's Father.

[jq37]

Little bittersweet that this might be Fig's swan song. There's like this "six seasons and a movie" mentality that makes me feel like Senior Year is the finish line, so just stick it out for one more. But, if creatively Emily doesn't feel like she can get any more out of the character, then that's that. It's best to move on rather than force it. Or not. It's the end of her time at Aguefort, doesn't mean it's the end of her time with the Bad Kids. The school part of these characters being high schoolers only really came into play this season, so let's wait and see. Emily considered retiring Fig at the start of this season and changed her mind. It could happen again.

On to the fun stuff:

-Gorgug didn't get a last hit on Porter, but he did get a clutch assist in with a narratively satisfying move that uses his Artificer class instead of his Barbarian class, helping drive the last nail in on Porters coffin. *chefs kiss* Going out of Rage while doing it was a perfect way to twist the knife.

-Riz's kill line on KP was stone cold.

-Everyone else's contributions were valuable but none more so than the newest Bad Kid, The Lava. Taking out five major threats during the battle. What a trooper and a strong candidate for Honor Roll.

-I came around on Mary Anne too. I get why some of the Intrepid Heroes were so obsessed with flipping her allegiances.

There's a lot this season that gives a strong finale vibe, but besides that hook at the end there's another thing that keeps going unresolved. Sol and his church keep fucking around and it's about damn time they find out. I don't think Senior Year will be a full-on religious crusade, but it doesn't feel like that plot point should be off the table. And what the fuck is Kalinas deal? So she was never loyal to Cass?

I hope we don't have to wait another 4 years for the next chapter of Fantasy High to get an answer to those questions.

Fig honestly would prob go to school more if she wasn't required to so it's absolutely an Emily decision more than it is a story decision. It's hard to picture FH without her but I'm sure she'll come up with something fun if she's still feeling like retiring Fig whenever they get around to Senior Year.

I think it's arguably MORE fitting that Gorgug didn't get the last hit in and instead got him with a gadget that didn't even do damage. It's like, he got Porter and not even in a way that Porter would respect because it wasn't rageful and violent. That's gotta suck more than if Gorgug had just punched him hard and KO'd him.

The lava was just so so good. It's like when you're a warlock and technically you could do other stuff but spamming Eldritch Blast just gets you the most bang for your buck so you keep doing it. Once they figured out the lava strat, they basically had to keep using it. Lava MVP for sure.

Mary Ann being so checked out for the whole evil plot even while participating in it is so funny. Honestly, queen shit.

I really think that if Kalina is actually bad then that's a retcon from Brennan because that's never been how familiars work and Kalina did try to help them consistently throughout the season with the Spy's Tongue Curse clue. She only attacked them when she got hit with a rage crystal and that was godly interference.

I agree that there are a lot of loose ends re: The Church of Sol (Buddy, Bobby and Sandra Lynn, Helio's lack of a chosen one, Bucky's whole deal, the Helioic pantheon shakeup--how crazy is it that Cass never talks to any of her celestial sibs?). I hope that if we explore that we get to see more about the actual people of the church rather than just the gods because there was a huge god focus in back to back seasons and, as I've mentioned before, if Spyre rules mean that gods are a reflection of their followers, their followers are honestly more interesting. I can't really be mad at Sol for being what he is when his chill level is determined by Bobby Dawn and co, you know? He has limited agency as an entity. Cut out the middle man and let's chase down Bobby directly.

[jpeg-dot-jpeg]

jpeg my beloved, i am here with ask game emojis! 🥤🍄🪐🏜️🪲

also to tell you that the pic of your puppy with painted nails is SO cute!!! humbly requesting puppy's name as well pls 🥺

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

searching faces by Take_Me_To_Your_Fragile_Dreams (Explicit, 76.8k words, 16/? chapters) is a work of fucking Art. primo outlaws content. incredible joker junior/tim characterization. its so angsty but also so hopeful. 10/10 would recommend

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

i'm not sure if this counts bc its not a ship thing, but as a pair, i am a twins!Jason&Cass truther. Jason who is dosed with a truth serum at some point but,,, it does nothing. He finds out he has a natural resistance to truth serum. a... Genetic predisposition. you know what's funny? Lady Shiva was dosed with serum when she told batman and robin she'd never had a kid (obviously this is because cass cain as a character didnt exist yet yada yada retcon yada yada WHATEVER i do what i want)

ANYWAY further genetic testing reveals that jason and cass are siblings. after shiva gets tracked down, she reveals that she had twins with David Cain, but he only wanted one kid to experiment on. he took cass because, ironically, jason was the runt. shiva drops jason on Willis Todd, former associate (romantic? sexual? criminal? personal? whose to say)

Catherine, who decided not to have bio kids because she didnt want to pass on a genetic disease that caused many of her family to die young (*jaws theme song*), went '🥺 free baby? can we keep him? 🥺' and the rest is history

Jason's whole world is rocked when he discovers this. Cass is like '??? you are Already brother.' and jason is like 'ITS DIFFERENT' and cass is like 'incorrect.' despite finding out they are twins, cass relentlessly refers to him as baby brother.

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

No debt 🤘

I've started collecting lego minifigures of batman characters and i love them <3

Currently planning a trip to nyc in december! i've never been!!

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

I love getting comments that really engage with me as a writer, e.g. asking questions about the story, predicting what will happen next, etc. I also LOVE getting off the walls bonkers shit. No greater compliment than someone being deranged about my work.

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

honestly, thank you, i really needed a little kick on this one. I added a couple paragraphs to the next chapter of Very Special Clone Boy which i am going to finish on GOD

Kon spared a moment to consider the civilians in the house behind him, the maybe-probably-not-but-possibly future in-laws he’d put in danger with nothing more than his general proximity. His soulmate who he’d put in danger. Maybe. Possibly. That, or just some randos who happened to have the same last name as his soulmate, which wasn’t really any better.

This is Finley, she's a 6 year old boston terrier, and I yearn to commit war crimes on her behalf.

[anonymous-dentist]

saw that you had some discussion about the pepito retconning and otipep. i was very surprised to see people hating it so much, and am disappointed by it being retconned.

i read the situation as pepito throwing a tantrum, because pepito is a small child and small children do stuff like that all the time. not pepito not actually wanting roier as a parent. little kids are dramatic all the time.

otipep does not exist and never existed, regardless of retcon. it was the explanation roier made to explain to himself why his child was having a tantrum because he wasn’t in a place where he could deal with it. it’s not reality, they’re not separate characters. it’s just pepito.

You see, the thing about Otipep is that he directly insulted the streamer, and he refuse to "Yes-And" with him, and that's the number one thing in any kind of improv storytelling. They were a different admin from what the audience and Roier were used to, and that's fine, we're used to it. What isn't fine is that Otipep refused to work with Roier and insulted him and ignored him and walked away every time ccRoier tried explaining what he and Admin 07's Pepito had been doing for the past few days. Call it a tantrum, that's fine, but it's also a dick move when it's your literal job to work with the streamers to tell a story. Look at the way other eggs have thrown tantrums, and then look at Otipep.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a Hispanic fan that actually liked the Otipep Day and that's because Otipep came in and immediately and actively destroyed days' worth of storytelling and wrecked a cc's attempts at a story to the point of the cc giving up on the rp for the day and going to build and even getting off the server a little earlier than planned because like? Okay? Sure, destroy yet another one of Roier's planned Lores, it's not like people have been doing that since the first week of the server.

The only people that I've seen defending Otipep at all have been English-Onlies who saw Otipep's English sign and bed basically screaming to the world "ROIER IS A TERRIBLE FATHER AND SOMEONE NEEDS TO ADOPT ME! PREFERABLY SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I TYPED THIS SIGN IN! NOT THE LANGUAGE ANY OF MY PARENTS SPEAK!"

And what happened after people saw that sign? Well, English fans all went "Well this obviously proves that Roier is a terrible father and that Bad should adopt Pepito instead. He's been a bad father all along, and he's just as evil and insane as Cellbit is." This, in turn, started the process of the Hispanic fandom yet again losing a character on the server; at this point, it's legit just Roier and Quackity because Pol isn't allowed online for Lore Reasons and qMaxo is dead and everybody else just doesn't log on as often. Do you see the problem here?

Roier describing Otipep to Richarlyson legit made Richas' admin go "WHAT????" because that was Not professional behavior on Otipep's Admin's part. And that's the biggest thing here, I think: the lack of professionalism at play when you're hired to play your part and work with people "in the spotlight" (aka the streamers) but you aren't cooperating at all. It's like going to work at a grocery store and being told you're working the registers that day and going "No, actually, I'm going to stock shelves". You don't do that at work, and you definitely don't do that live on stream in front of 10k+ viewers.

I work in childcare. I know a tantrum when I see it, and Otipep could be seen as one. But you have to keep in mind the meta aspects here and think, wow, this is fucked up from a meta perspective! Going out of your way to ruin the fun of someone else just because you want the story to go a certain way? Not to be tolerated in any kind of collaborative setting. My dnd groups have kicked people from the table for less.

It got to the point where Quackity himself has to say it isn't canon, and, well. I think we can see that there was a genuine problem.

[gold-rhine]

If it's not too much trouble, could you expand on Diluc's "already incoherent characterization" you mentioned in one of your recent posts? I'm just curious cause I also feel that there's something off about him writing-wise but I can't put my finger on it.

sigh. so, at the start of the game hoyo wrote diluc as super aggressive and negative towards kaeya specifically and knights in general, and all of their interactions are very hostile. they are having bitch fights every time they are in the same room.

like, fandom likes to pretend that diluc has guilt, bc of like some anonymous message on a public board that sounds like it's diluc feeling bad, which hoyo back-wrote. but they can't gaslight me, i just recently replayed start of the game content on my new account. like first time diluc appears is in kaeya's domain after traveler and kaeya cleared it, and diluc bitches at kaeya for no fucking reason and kaeya is v passive aggressive back at him. they have bitch fight in venti's quest. diluc's entire quest is about him trying to keep kaeya from discovering he's darknight hero and he specifically makes it known that kaeya is unwelcome every time he shows up in the tavern. and he sounds negative when bringing up kaeya for any reason.

and then hoyo started to back-pedal. idk what happened, maybe the direction of the plot shifted. maybe the writer who was writing them in this conflict vein quit. maybe at the start they only had vague idea of like brothers at war with each other, and once they started to flesh it out and add nuance, they've realized that like, burning your baby brothers' eye out might be understandable in the moment of trauma and shock, but then acting like you're on high horse and treating him like garbage for YEARS after is a bit of a psycho behavior.

quick aside bc i know there are ppl who think that, um, kaeya "deserved" it and like. he was what, not older than 10 when he was left at the winery. and he was about 17 when he confessed. he was a traumatized kid who kept a secret bc his bio father told him that the fate of his entire country depends on it. get a grip. but as i said, with the same logic, diluc was also in shock and trauma, and i do not fault him the fight itself. what doesn't track is how diluc acts years LATER, when he had time to think.

so they started to drastically soften diluc AND back-writing retcons. Hidden Strife letters are all about it. They were like oh, brothers were always in contact! Diluc is not a maniac, he was polite to the knights and he told kaeya to take care :) :) :) this creates new set of problems. not only it gives diluc personality split where he was incredibly aggressive to kaeya in person, but apparently normal in the letters. But also, we have letters from Kaeya that make it obvious he knew immediately that diluc is a darknight hero and they both were chill about it. But like! diluc's entire story quest is about him trying to keep kaeya from learning that! like, come on! why then diluc did all these stupid scooby doo shenanigans with slimes and shit???

now i think they are trying to shift responsibility for reconciliation from diluc to kaeya, which is the only issue that affects kaeya's own characterization. bc they are very hard going into "all servants at winery ADORE kaeya and treat him like family and welcome him!!" and fandom like, extends it to diluc now, like diluc is welcoming kaeya too and kaeya is a silly goose who has his hang ups and refuses to visit. as if getting your eye burned off, trying to reach out first and getting "ugh, its you" treatment when you show up at your brother's tavern is just like. a lil awkward situation that kaeya himself should get over without any effort on diluc's side and he should just ~realize~ that he's still part of the family lol. and ppl justify it like "well we don't know how diluc actually feels, he probably feels guilt (anon message) and wants to reconcile". which like. so we don't know, but kaeya is supposed to figure out and reach out AGAIN, when diluc at any time could've just told him that he's welcomed.

and now in kaeya's hangout we learn more about their childhoods which tbh hurts diluc even more. like how are we gonna be pretending that diluc cares about kaeya when he returned to mond and found his baby brother, who was apparently the sweetest gentlest child in the world, his loyal shadow for entire childhood, couldn't lie, was taking punishments for diluc, and see him now becoming a high functioning alcoholic with brazenly unhealthy persona of liar and manipulator, and like NOT get worried and try to reach out. which i don't think it was hoyo's intention, they just wanted to add the tragic sweetie uwu to kaeya's characterization, but they did not think how it reflect on diluc in global context

so now diluc's characterization flip flopped in several directions, and he doesn't really has an arc or plotline going. he's kinda just there now, more of symbol than character, and hoyo just writes whatever they want for him without any regard for any previous lore

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Can you elaborate more on how Amelie is indulgent with Felix?

In Felix (the episode), after Felix does all that awful stuff including trying to make Adrien's friend's hate him via impersonating him, we get this:

Adrien: That video you sent to my friends... Unforgivable, Félix. (Félix doesn't look him in the eye, only looks down, upset and ashamed) Amelie: Now that his father isn't here to stop him from getting into mischief - (Félix stops her.) Félix: I don't deserve to be forgiven, mom. I put my favorite cousin in danger. He's right. No apology can ever be enough.

Now, we don't know exactly what Amelie was about to say, but Felix's interruption makes it pretty clear that she was about to defend everything he did or at least downplay it. Otherwise why would he say that he didn't deserve to be forgive and that Adrien was right?

This is further supported by the next scene in which we see Felix and Amilie. They get on the train and what does Amelie do?

Félix: I've got a surprise for you, mom. (He reaches behind her ear and pulls out Gabriel's ring.) Amelie: (gasps) But Gabriel refused to hand it over to me! And after everything that happened - (reaches out and cups his face) My little magician. I can never understand how you always manage to get what you want. (closes her hand over his) Keep it. It's yours now. Félix: But... you wanted it so much. Amelie: Only to give it to you. You've always been so fascinated by them. How many times have you asked me to tell you the story of the Graham de Vanily twin rings, huh? (she kisses his forehead) I'm glad it's back in the family where it truly belongs. (She winks at him and then rests her eyes. Félix smiles deviously out the window.)

She praises him for stealing and doesn't say a single word about all of the messed up things he did. If this were my kid, we would be talking about his actions were and trying to get him to explain why he did all of that. We'd also be discussing his punishment.

We also learn that Amelie only demanded that her recently widowed and still grieving brother-in-law give up his wedding ring because Felix wanted it. Even though, arguably, the rings should go to Adrien or at least stay with Gabriel until someone in the family is ready to marry. Amelie had no need for them other than "baby wants it, baby gets it."

This was before the sentireveal, so it's debatable if the original intent was to take it this far or if this is just another victim of the retcon, but it's canon now and the writers claim to have planned it all from the start, so I'm going to treat it as fully intentional and discuss the sentistuff, too.

We never see Felix or Amelie learn that the rings are Adrien's amoks, but Felix very clearly knew that's what the ring he had was. Based on that, it's not illogical to conclude that Amelie knew that she was asking for Adrien's amok and didn't care. Baby wants his cousin's controls, baby gets it.

Moving on!

The start of season five sees Ladybug and Chat Noir try to track down Felix since he knows Monarch's identity and gave him all of the miraculous. Kinda a big deal. When they get to London, this happens:

Amelie: My son wasn't here this morning, when I woke up. I didn't worry though, because I thought he might have gone to see his cousin Adrien in Paris. Those two are so fond of each other, but Félix wasn't returning my calls, though I contacted his uncle Gabriel; he told me he hadn't seen him. Cosmobug: And yet he was in Paris I talked to him. Amelie: Oh, Cosmobug, Astrocat, I hope nothing's happened to him! Cosmobug: Don't worry, ma'am. He'll probably end up at his uncle's. Astrocat: Or he might already be on his way back home to London. Amelie: Thanks so much to the two of you for your support!

Then the heroes leave. At the end of the episode, we cut back to London and see this:

Amelie: Tea break. (Félix comes out of the room holding a laptop and follows Amelie to the main hall. Amelie pours tea into a cup, while Félix sits on a sofa and works on his laptop.) Amelie: (putting her hand on Félix's head) Don’t worry, my Félix. Mom is here to protect you from those superheroes who think you’re a villain.

Who cares about saving Paris from a terrorist? If her baby wants to hide away, then Amelie will help him hide away.

Also, if she had forced Felix to talk to the heroes here, then Gabriel wouldn't have died because this is before Destruction. Not saying that his death is her fault, but Amelie did inadvertently let to her nephew be orphaned because she didn't want Felix to face the consequences of his own actions. Remember that as you read this next bit.

And then we have Emotion, which sees Amelie storm into the diamond dance and cause a massive, confusing scene:

Amelie Graham de Vanily: (struggles to make her way in through the guards) Gabriel! My son Félix has been missing for weeks now! (storms towards them) Not only have you and your friends been no help with the search! But now I'm not even invited to the ball?! You haven't been the same since my sister Emilie disappeared! Why are you rejecting us? Gabriel: This is not the place nor the time, Amelie. Nathalie will see you out. (Nathalie begins to walk towards Amelie, and grabs her by the wrist, walking her outside of the ball) Amelie: I don't understand how Gabriel could've become so cruel, let alone why you're still complacent in his actions. Nathalie: Sorry, Amelie. I have no choice. (hands Amelie to the guards) Amelie: There's always a choice, Nathalie.

Ignoring the massively hypocritical "you're still complacent in his actions" line, this is a weird scene. Amelie waltzed right into the mansion back in Felix (the episode). If she wanted to talk to Gabriel about the fact that Felix was missing, why not do that again? It's not like this is urgent. She's apparently waited weeks to come talk to him. Why now?

Cut to the end of the episode and we get our answer:

Amelie: You were right: I did everything you told me to and Gabriel didn't do or say anything to help me. He despises me. He's a monster! They're all monsters! Argos: Hold my feather. (He de-transforms into Félix and goes to hug Amelie) Félix: Not all of them. (smiles)

So Amelie was just doing what every good mom does: blindly follows her child's instructions.

What were you expecting Gabriel to do, hon? Stop the event? This is such a weird test to pull. It'd be different if Felix had just gone missing, but she literally says "weeks". Why is she shocked that Gabriel correctly said "this is not the place nor the time, Amelie"?

I don't like to give Gabriel points, but he gets them here. I wouldn't cancel my event either. I'd tell her to come talk to me tomorrow or ask an assistant to talk to her. Of course, I'd also have been helping with the search before this, but that brings us to the second issue: Felix isn't missing.

What have the search efforts been? What does Amelie want Gabriel to do? No one has ever mentioned an ongoing search and our heroes would absolutely be involved in that since Felix, you know, aided a terrorist, but they're not so this all feels like a shit test.

Also, please remember, this is right after Felix snapped humanity out of existence as Argos and he detransforms in front of his mother. Either Amelie was living in a bubble or she saw everything her son did and was just like, "That's cool, baby! Mommy loves you! Go commit genocide! Your song was so good!"

This is all probably Amelie overcompensating for Colt's abuse, but you asked this in response to another post where I said that Amelie and Andre are the same, so that excuse doesn't really hold water. Andre spoils Chloe for the exact same reason. Aubrey's abuse may have looked different, but it was still abuse.

The only difference between Amelie and Andre is that Andre abuses his mayoral power for Chloe's sake and Amelie doesn't do anything like that. But then, Amelie doesn't have that type of power to abuse. If she did, then I have no doubt that she'd do the exact same thing, so I'm not giving her that point. She is exactly the same: overly indulgent to the point that she's made her child rotten.

Overly indulging an abused person like this isn't going to help them get over their abuse. That's what therapy is for. I adore the magical power of love, but only when it comes to magical threats. Love is not enough to fix anyone's mental health. You can't love away things like PTSD.

[highfiveheroes]

⭐️ tell us about any section from now I breathe flames>:)

AAAH OKAY

listen this isn't my FAVORITE section but it certainly means a lot to me because i had to work So Hard On It. canon being fictionalized..........and fucking bleem making it So much harder for me because he didn't give us ANY behind the scenes.......

it's fine. i'm proud of this.

What are you trying to forget, Kipperlilly? It’s been too long since she had checked up on the Bad Kids. Oh, she’ll be in for it later, when she realizes—they must know something. Fuck, they must know something, and no wonder Jace has been texting her nonstop to stop being so sloppy— What are you trying to forget, Kipperlilly? Why are you so mad, Kip? "It's really nice how charmed everyone is," she says, the words tumbling out in her sudden fury. She doesn’t know what her face betrays, but every inch of her is tensed as she tries to keep herself at the brink. She asked for this rage, and that means she can’t let it get away from her. Fuck, she can’t let it get out of control, not now, not now— "It’s really nice how charmed everyone is by how little you fucking care." Her smile is fixed in place. She feels like a porcelain doll, cracking at the edges, and she needs to walk away—she gets a message from Oisin saying as much, in fact, but she doesn’t turn as they approach behind her. "I guess egg on my face for wanting something." "What do you want?" Kristen asks. As if she cares. As if this whole candidacy wasn’t a fucking joke to her from day one. As if Kristen fucking Applebees hadn’t just waltzed in with three dead gods on her hand and decided to ruin Kipperlilly’s whole life, her whole future, on the whimsical decision that Kipperlilly’s energy had been wrong. As if Kipperlilly was nothing more than a silly little stock character in the story of the Bad Kids, one never made to be fleshed out beyond her first appearance— "I want you to go fuck yourself," she says suddenly. Behind her, she can feel Oisin’s anger pulse in tandem with the rest of the party’s. Idiot. There’s something of an uproar; Fabian Seacaster starts yelling, Kristen jumps behind a few people, and that imbecile Figerouth Faeth starts acting like a fucking guard dog again. Kipperlilly can barely see past the red screen of anger now. She misses everything else that happens; she hears hissing, and she sees them talk to Mary Ann, and she sees them all making jokes and trying to square up, but it bounces off her entirely. Magic overcomes her, probably for the best—she can’t imagine what Porter would say if she lost it here in the cafeteria, if she forced their hands too early— Oisin casts dominate person on her, and they all leave with little incident. Mary Ann gets her soda, carrying a plush from—somewhere—and—and—god, it’s so hard to think when she’s this mad— "Go home," Oisin tells her as he drops the spell. Somehow, they’ve made it to the front of the school—just the two of them. "Go home, Kipperlilly." "What?" she says. Her voice is lilting funny. She thinks she’s dizzy. "Go home." He casts something else—and for a moment, she’s okay with listening to him. "Right," she says lightly. "I’ll see you at home."

because. okay listen. LISTEN. for this chapter i basically had to take this scene and work fucking backwards. like, based on what we can gather (that the rat grinders didn't actually use the devil's honey???) why would this be the thing that makes her snap? and beyond that, where does kipperlilly go for the rest of the scene???? that whole bit of narration reads not all in one interaction, but then they retcon it to be all the same interaction, so the fact that kipperlilly is just. Gone, and doesn't say a word??? this is also a BIIIIIG part of the changing of the tides—it sort of foreshadows the oisin second in command reveal a few scenes later, because he's the one doing damage control and he's the one trying to get kipperlilly back on track and he's the one who has to dominate person so she doesn't ruin the plan and he's the one that has that one anime stress mark on his temple every time kipperlilly so much as opens her mouth. anyway!! mad kipperlilly is So fucking fun to write!! i absolutely adore her and her stupid flawed way of thinking, because it's so removed from how literally everyone else sees the world. the thing about kipperlilly is that she's an unreliable narrator, especially when she's mad. she jumps to conclusions that don't make sense and she decides things that are fundamentally not true and can be disproven if she had a Single braincell devoted to rational thought!!! anyway i love her, and this scene was. such a fuckin trip to write, because it's one of the only rat grinder scenes we see on screen that i felt like i needed to completely rehash for the sake of "behind the scenes" <3333

[la-hannya]

Been keeping away from the drama cause I'm mostly tired, want to mostly focus on the original series, and I can't wait for this fanfic to completely die truly from the death drag is doing since it's long overdue; but after reading this— it needed to be addressed. Saw some copium going on about it already.

You can say stuff like "he is a yōkai", "he was always like that", "he is too good to lower himself to the standards and morals of humans", "retcons can happen" "you see? Rumiko is supervising now", "You weren't paying attention to the story" "the translation should say this instead of this" etc etc. Sure. of course, Jan. All that shit is bs as shown in the source material a thousand times already. Ok, moving on.

but AGAIN this Sesshomaru is just not the same one. Not the same to the original anime and not the same og manga either. This is like a completely different character than what we've been shown before. Nope. Ken Narita said it best and knew it.

This one is a completely regressed version and you can die on the hill after punching me in the face "that it's the same one, it's canon" but the original one wouldn't let crap like this slide. Oh yes, I know he's not a fucking prince charming; for sure! WE ALL KNOW. But Sesshomaru had already grown enough that he gave a fuk at least about those around him. Even if he's a person who barely expresses himself. So, much so, that no matter how you view the relationship of him and Rin— you know he was still coming to see and make sure he was okay even when she was in a village that might as well be safe 💯% thanks to his brother along his wife + inugang and others. He took care of Kohaku after Kikyo died! He regretted not leaving Rin in a village earlier when she lost her life again. Here, he's whole family are accessories. You got even Shippo weirdly being his servant all of a sudden. You can measure the regression with a ruler 📐

The vibes Rumiko Takahashi is giving me at this point are: A) she doesn't give a fuk because the og story is FINISHED as she has talked before (tbh this woman didn't give a fuck starting the last half of the series cause you can look up her interviews on Rumic World/Furinkan, and she was half ass winging it by the end cause that's how much she stopped vibin with her "Magnum Opus". Thanks Sunrise) and since she doesn't give a fuk, she doesn't want to even bother looking at her own source material. This is why I've gone mostly "Death of the author" with her at this point.

B) The other thing could be as well that she's fuking this thing on purpose. "But, Gene she's supervi—" no shut up. And stop snorting the copium. You'd think if this was canon she'd be truly wanting to sell the story and this ship, but it's like she wants to make sure he along everything else is the worst possible every chapter. If she truly is supervising, cause honestly she still feels like she quickly looks over sht, goes "whatever, I'm done with this" and goes back to doing Inuyasha revamp *cough* I mean MAO. Though, it's quite understandable why she was so reluctant to allow this in the first place.

And let me tell you, the "Character becomes terrible parental unit when the next generation is born, so their past growth is thrown out the window" trope. It's OVERUSED GARBAGE that fuks up good stories 🗑️🚮 You got characters that are really similar to Sessh that are doing better in other animes for Pete's sake. LIKE "THE VILLAIN" OF YASHAHIME: KIRINMARU 🦄🤡

It's pitiful really. I dunno how anyone can still enjoy this because "uWu it gives me crumbs". Nah, have some standards. Other people can do better stories. Other people can write this better while still respecting the original story. And I'm not saying you can't enjoy some things from it, because you can (like Moroha, Kirin, the Mirsan kids, whatever). But this could've been better done. Peace.

[ruegarding]

Hey, I read your post about your opinion on Chalice of the Gods and how you preferred it if Rick left it at TOA, so I was just wondering what your thoughts were on the series. Was there anything you disliked or enjoyed the most out of those books?

quick disclaimer: i haven't read toa cover-to-cover and i'm probably never going to. that being said, i think toa works much better as a standalone story than hoo, but still has the same issues when looking at it as an extension of pjo.

let's start w the good

the scene where apollo kills commodus lives in my head rent free. that was some of the most inspired shit rick has written ever tf

there are actual stakes and characters die for real (the bar is on the floor)

the comparisons of meg and nero vs apollo and zeus work well within this story

the general theme of a god connecting to humanity is cool and well done and consistent throughout the story

rick remembered grover exists

artemis helping her brother similar to how apollo helped percy and co w transportation in ttc

styx appearance was cool i love that wish something actually happened when gods broke their oaths

meg and apollo platonic relationship focus????????? woah

the bad

frank's curse...why are we allergic to narrative consequence

this might be an unpopular opinion but i dislike the power-scaling in hoo and toa. i love narrative consequence. i love when powers have drawbacks that dissuade reliance on them. i have a post that sorta talks abt it here.

my biggest issue is the bastardization of pjo (which is why i think toa works as a standalone and not as part of the universe). w every book rick writes the entirety of pjo matters less. every death achieved nothing bc toa ends w "but zeus will always be a big meanie and nothing will change." this is why i will probably never read toa bc what is the point when rick is so afraid of changing the status quo and ends up reducing zeus to an emotionless tyrant when that was not at all how he was characterized in pjo

like there are so many inconsistencies in the universe that u can have textual evidence to support wildly contradicting claims. i shouldn't have to turn my brain off in order to enjoy a series bc the author can't keep his own books consistent

this was an issue i had when i was the exact target age range for rick's books so the argument that "it's for kids" doesn't even work. however it is funny to think the critical thinking expansion pack is age-locked

mostly i just want the universe to close so that things can stop being retconned to death and ending w the defeatist "nothing changes" that's required to keep it going

[bi4pan-polls]

I would like to present, for your consideration, Stephanie Lauter and Peter Spankoffski from Hatchetfield.

Steph has been confirmed to be canonically pan by her actress, Pete has huge bi vibes (and is sorta implied to be transmasc?)

Hatchetfield is a horror anthology series. So far there are three musicals and eight episodes of a webshow, and everything but the most recent musical is currently available for free on YouTube. Steph and Pete have two major appearances.

The first is in the web episode Abstinence Camp, a Friday the 13th spoof. At the start of the episode, they're both forced to attend a Christian summer camp, an idea that they hate bond over. They've got a bit of banter and hit it off well. Highlights include Steph giving him contraband chocolate bars when the counselors don't care about his lowering blood sugar, Pete agreeing she got the short end of the stick in her situation, and the both of them being generally pretty snarky together.

There's a scene where Steph decides to test the camp's rules (and get some privacy) by showering in the boys' washroom. Pete is the only one there, and his first instinct is to do the respectful thing and let her be in there alone, only staying to finish cleaning when she insists it's okay if he's in there. (They have more banter, she finds out just how hot he is when you actually get a good look at him. He's described as jacked in this scene, but due to a recast, this is most certainly retconned. Still a cute moment between them). It culminates in them deciding to test the ghost story running around the camp that doing anything remotely sexy will get you killed by a spirit living in the woods, but are caught before anything can happen. Between getting into trouble and the audience knowing that there have already been other deaths, it's for the best that Steph plans to make an escape. What's sweet, though, is that she makes a point to get Pete to come too.

Throughout the whole climax of the story they both actively try to protect each other. Pete yells at the Axe-Man to leave Steph alone, she shields him from harm when he accidentally breaks his leg. By the end of the story they're both still alive, and are actively aware they're the only ones who know just how fucked up the camp is. It's implied they keep protecting each other that whole summer.

(If there are any Hatchetfans reading this and you haven't seen NPMD yet, here is your spoiler warning.)

Their most recent appearance is in the newest Musical, Nerdy Prudes Must Die. NPMD is also a slasher spoof, but with a twist: the nerds are in danger and the rebellios and popular "bad kids" are on the killer's good side.

The whole show happens because in this timeline, Steph and Pete meet when she asks to cheat off of his bio test.

Two things to note about that. 1. Despite Steph being the most popular girl and Pete being one of the most unpopular kids in all of Hatchetfield High, she already knows his name. 2. It does not take much convincing for him to agree. They get caught, and are sent to detention. Pete freaks out, not because he got in trouble, but because now he's in with a popular girl (the mayor's daughter, no less) and it's going to get him unwanted attention from the kids that pick on him. They have more banter, like in AC, to the point Pete doesn't know how well it's going until Steph says that he's funny and admits she likes funny guys. This sticks with Pete enough he decides to wear nicer clothes and crack jokes more often, even when just with his friends. They even ask if he's trying to impress someone.

Steph calls him. From a payphone.

For someone who never gave Pete a second thought before, she sure did already know is name AND number. Are we sure you didn't already have an eye on him, Steph?

She asks him to give a proper study session, and he agrees, in part due to his friends telling him that sparks were flying. He ends up singing a whole song about wondering if he's really cool enough to hang out with her.

Pete ends up getting beat up by his biggest bully (Max Jagerman) on the way, and when Steph finds out, she gets VERY righteous. She says she's not going to let Pete put up with bullying anymore and offers to step in (even though Pete doesn't think it will do much). Before they really have a chance to do anything, another student (Grace Chasity) offers up her own revenge plan that inadvertently ends up killing Max. Max ends up coming back as a ghost with a grudge against nerds, since everyone that was there when he died (besides Steph) was an unpopular nerd.

They share a lot of banter up until the first death, when things become more serious by necessity. Still, they both do a pretty bad job of covering up their crushes, and end up having a duet arguing over who has the bigger crush and why a relationship would never work between them the way things are right now (note: Pete says he felt almost seduced by her, Steph admits she's into smart guys and knows he's an intellectual type).

As the show goes on, Steph is actively protecting him like in AC, encouraging him to stay behind her in case something happens.

Steph, Pete, and Grace end up being the last three survivors of the main cast, and strike a deal with beings called The Lords in Black. The Lords will take Max to the afterlife for good if one of the teens gives up what they cherish most. Pete and Steph have a crisis, because now they have to admit to each other that okay maybe they are sorta in love, and have to decide who will die for the other. Pete insists that he do something worthwhile for once and save everybody by being the sacrifice. And Steph, despite her heartbreak, agrees.

LUCKILY Grace prevents that by saving the day in the funniest way possible. Too amazing to spoil (and also because I've barely gone into her subplot this whole time). But Steph and Pete make it out together. And they're grateful for it. And they even get to go to homecoming together.

By then end, they've decided they can make it work and have a song about being able to bring out the best in each other. (Special shoutout to the lyrics "I’m the best of you / And you’re the best of me / And together we are free / To run around" and "Its like you knew me / Before you knew me / Its like you saw me / Before you saw me")

(Hatchetfans, spoilers end here)

In conclusion, stan Lautski

(sorry for putting a whole essay in your inbox, op)

Was given permission to post this*

They seem. So hecking cool honesty love this for them I will also encourage other people to submit them

Propaganda for Stephanie Lauter and Peter Spankoffski from Hatchetfield.

[littlemissmitsukihorenake]

Star Wars has gotten soft.

Well, it started off hard and then got soft. And that's why people keep complaining about little details and lightsabers changing colors.

I think a lot of people have heard something about a magic system when it comes to fiction. Namely, the difference between a hard magic system and a soft magic system. A "hard" system tends to focus on the details of the world the fiction takes place. Think of it like the science of the world. Avatar the Last Airbender would be a hard system, with rules and systems in place about as many aspects of bending as possible. A "soft" system tends to leave the details at the door, aiming toward a more ambiguous just-go-with-the-flow kind of powerset. The Lord of the Rings is a soft system series, where all the magical abilities in the series can be boiled down to "whatever makes the plot work".

Usually, a fictional world gives the viewer a general idea of what kind of system that they're going to be running on. Likewise, the viewer knows how to temper their expectations in terms of all the powers that can be used. That tends to boil down to "don't ask hard system questions in a soft system fiction" and vice versa. For example, were you ever wondering why the eagles in LotR didn't just come in and fly Frodo to the mountain and save everyone the trouble? That is a hard system question for a soft system fiction. Likewise, a soft system question for a hard system is essentially asking for a scientific answer in a fictional world. For example, "can nonbenders learn how to bend?" The answer for that ends up being an entire plot point of the Legend of Korra, with a bunch of details explaining how in the world nonbenders suddenly learned how to bend and all the life changes that come as a result of that.

Now, with that out of the way, let's take a look at Star Wars. Star Wars had started as a hard system, leaning into the "science" aspect of science fiction. There's an entire timeline of the universe before the movies ever started. Each part of a lightsaber has been broken down and named, even going so far as to explain where you'd get those parts if you wanted to build your own. Remember midi-chlorians? That was straight up a "rule" in the hard magic system, specifically to explain how people found Force users to be trained at their academy. The original expanded universe only built up on these hard details, which honestly are too numerous to explain here. The fact that all of that got retconned is a moot point. The thing is that the original fans of Star Wars were raised to believe that Star Wars runs on a hard magic system, with laid out rules and hard coded scientific facts that can be replicated, studied, and mimicked.

So what happens when Disney bought Star Wars from Lucasfilms? Well, they immediately turned it into a soft magic system. Things will just happen for the sake of the story and the plot. Holdo can now ram through a whole starfleet because damn that CGI is nice. A lightsaber can now be corrupted and turn red because damn isn't that a nice visual. The Force can now be used to heal wounds because I guess we wanted this Reylo ship to happen for a few minutes. Why couldn't the First Order have found a way to weaponize ramming starfleets and take over the galaxy? Eh, don't worry about it, it's rare so it's not worth looking into. Why didn't Anakin's lightsaber turn red when he slaughtered all those children at the academy? Well, fuck them kids, that's why. Why didn't Luke heal his father when he was fatally wounded all those years ago? Eh, he's a robot, probably wouldn't have worked.

For the people who probably weren't all that deep into Star Wars prior to this? They walked into this franchise thinking it was a soft magic system, or even more cynically, happy that this nerd thing has essentially softened the tracks so that they could get on and enjoy the ride. But for the hardcore fans that have been here since the beginning? Reading all their extended universe and played all the games and got immersed in the lore and science and mechanics of a galaxy far far away? I have to believe that they feel massively ignored, or even thrown to the side. The new people at the reigns don't care to keep this hard system going, and are essentially throwing it all away and catering to the new fans that are coming in. The first sequel movie came out in 2015. If you were a teenager when this came out, that means that your entire Star Wars history would involve seeing Star Wars as a soft magic system franchise. You probably don't really care that "the lore was wrong", because you were never taught to care about that in the first place. Disney sure as hell didn't want you to. That way, they can make up whatever they want with the Force and have it sell.

If you don't really get the annoyance of it, consider this one example. Imagine if, during one episode, Mako suddenly started earthbending during a fight. The only explanation you end up getting is "eh, he has earth bending blood from his dad, he got it there". Given how hard coded the rules of bending is for the Avatar series, this is a HUGE violation of what the franchise has built up and established. And yet, you could get away with it by, well, softening the system up. It would be a hell of a nice visual of a dude duel bending, wouldn't it? Yeah, by defying all known laws of bending science. But anything for that rule of cool, I guess.

[onbearfeet]

5 please!

"How did you figure out your OC's identity?"

Well, Maggie was easy; she more or less punched me in the face with her bisexuality, like she does almost everything else, while I was writing her initial profile in my notes. After that, the only question was whether/how to bring it up, since the first book really didn't have room for a romance and Maggie tends to keep her personal info to herself by default. So there was a possibility that Maggie's orientation wouldn't be mentioned at all, simply because she had no reason to bring it up or even think about it in narration. I didn't want to leave it for later, though, for fear it would seem like a retcon.

Hilariously, Gabe solved that problem for me.

Gabe was more difficult to figure out. I knew from the start that I wanted to connect him deeply to queer history in general and Black queer history in particular. His role in the story requires a lot of historical context; he's sort of a window into the past of the world we inhabit. As a kid, I always liked it when older heroes or legacy heroes showed up in comics--your Justice Society or Invaders teams, for example--because it made the world feel more lived in, like there was an ordinary kind of history to it. Sure, we know Captain America punched Hitler, but I always liked that we might also see a character dig through a box of their grandfather's junk and find a 1930s gas gun next to some snapshots of unfortunate hairstyles. I liked that ordinary-ness, so I knew Gabe would be connected in a very ordinary, human way to some older characters--one in particular, actually. He's the guy who digs through the boxes.

However, since the series is predicated on the idea that marginalized heroes have always existed, I knew the history Gabe connected to had to include that marginalization. I had already decided that Gabe's superhero forbear would have been (in his secret identity) an investigative reporter from the 1930s or 40s who ended up being murdered for his journalism rather than his masked activities, so I decided to place that journalist within the history of excellent but overlooked Black journalists of the period.

And THEN I watched a documentary about Bayard Rustin, and somehow that long-ago journalist became a gay man in my head, and I started researching Black queer history in New York. (There are these amazing journals in a university archive--long story.)

Now, Gabe was closely connected to this dead journalist in a way I can't describe due to spoilers, and I knew Gabe himself would be some variety of queer, but he didn't feel gay in my head, if that makes sense? I tried a few identities on him, noodling around in drafts and exercises, but it wasn't until I sat down to write a scene in an early chapter that he made himself known. If Maggie punched me in the face, Gabe murmured in my ear.

Quick note about how I write scenes: my usual method is, for lack of a better description, to hit play on a movie in my head, play a few seconds, and then pause to write down what I've seen. I don't have very much control over what happens in the movie--at least, not consciously--so sometimes I write something and I'm just as surprised as you are. This is one of those times.

This scene required Maggie and Gabe to climb a whole bunch of stairs, and Maggie had to go first for reasons. Having known Gabe for all of ten minutes and being someone who doesn't trust easily, she told him she'd stab him if she caught him staring at her ass, groping her, etc.

And Gabe, cinnamon roll that he is, asked why anyone would do that.

And that's how I knew Gabe was ace--because I'm acespec, and that's the kind of question I asked a lot at his age. So I let him explain himself on the page. Gabe has a certain wholesomeness about him that's oddly disarming, even to me (and makes the twist in his story later on a lot of fun), and that's how Maggie ended up explaining her bisexuality to him in the kind of "Oh, thank God, another queer" interaction I think most of us have had at some point.

And so, much as Maggie booting a Nazi in the head in Chapter 1 established the politics of this book up front, there's a conversation somewhere around Chapter 3 that clears up who's what and why and how. I am not usually this organized.

There's also a third lead character who is ALSO queer, but I'm leaving their story a mystery for now. Gender-wise, they're probably nonbinary, but if you asked them their sexual orientation, they'd probably just give you a Look. That blank on my notes is currently just "???????". Maybe they'll figure it out when they're not actively having an existential crisis. As to how I figured it out ... I tried on a few gender identities, and they just sort of sat there in my head, staring at me, until I backed off and they picked up they/them pronouns without further explanation.

I understand that some writers actually plan out things like their characters' LGBTQIA identities in advance. That sounds wonderfully relaxing. I'll have to try it someday.

[davekat-sucks]

The last anon made me think about how long between each project has taken the material further and further away from the source. Yiffany was for sure a late addition that 'looked cool' but ultimately was a joke. The audience has taken a wild turn in lauding the new updates and JR's team even if half of them can't answer a question coherently in an AMA. I don't get it. The writing is just BAD, I've seen better fan comics than this piece of trash.

I thought maybe my sense of humour had changed, but I still find Homestuck OG to be entertaining if not outdated in its language.

I think we're all expecting something different from the other person with HS2, for example myself there's a core story complete and available to read with a wiki full of canon material they could have used. And by used, I mean kept the characters in line with what we expect.

I think this whole story would be better if it wasn't Homestuck, as it is now the story could swap to some alternate earth D and it wouldn't do anything to the story or to what timeline we're in. The kids in Candy were unnecessary, we already had the Beta kids we don't need another 4-kid teen journey. John could have realized the retcon was a glitch they would reverse. Accept some deaths from alternate timelines and take control away from the Cherubs. Make something cathartic and along the way that's worth looking forward to. Make the story about the EXISTING CHARACTERS AS WE LEFT THEM IN THE COMIC.

The epilogues were a mistake, the toblerone wish was a mistake, and this is what happens when you crowd source a project to unhinged mental illness and just say 'yes' to everything like a shit parent.

I wouldn't say the author(s) are bad, I just think this reeks of clout chasing. Like JR is fishing in Hussie's trash for just a lick of a discarded soda. Like he can wrangle the same fanbase and energy instead of taking an adult step back and ask themselves "what could be better. Where should we start. What is our GOAL." So Dirk is the Villain and Calliope too, but what are the true stakes, are they even doing anything?

I'll be charitable and posit this project is too big for the current directors and their talent. Instead we get a mess of fan demands in a disaster of media. Even when Homestuck was falling apart it wasn't this bad.

Adding in with Jane as a villain, that it makes THREE people the story needs to focus on as well. I can't even say Karkat trying to protect his race is meaningful if we BARELY see him interact with other trolls. What is even his role in Earth C besides being Dave's boyfriend? He's not like The Signless since apparently he, the narrative, or Hussie says Karkat GAVE UP on fulfilling his ancestor's role. So he can't be a leader leader in that sense prior to the war. They really could have just left it after the credits and let people decide their own ending. They could have handled the license with Viz Media better when they were publishing the physical books to keep some relevance. But instead, it became an empty shell of its former self.