#the bat fam as quotes from my friends

[thebatfamasquotesfrommyfriends]

Babs to Stephanie after a rough™️ time.

Steph: I’m just sorry you all had to deal with that.

Babs: (Hand on shoulder, all compassion and seriousness) I would walk backwards into hell and fight the devil if you ask.

Jason to his Mcdonalds.

Jason: Aww yeah they gave me a large!

[missingn000]

this is an incredibly random series of thoughts borne of me spinning tpg 42-4 around in my brain (as one does) i am so sorry for how disorganized this is going to get

[edit: i am so sorry for how long this got 😭😭]

“Taken over?” Nanami parrots, and he’s got a bad, bad feeling about this. “By what?”

it's so interesting that nanami uses 'what' rather than 'who' in tpg 42's first question about sukuna, because that framing kinda ties into the fact that until bullying sukuna club starts, the ff perceives him as a monster, a villain from a fairy tale -- and understandably so, because that's all his actions have shown. and this snippet reinforces this idea:

What can Nanami even say? Calling Sukuna a monster is beyond the word pointless.

because at this point, all sukuna is is the one who's nearly killed both his sons and his best friend's husband

“To hear the helpless screams of burning lungs, watching weak insects abandon others in attempt to save themselves...then of course, the really annoying ones try to save everyone.” Sukuna’s hyena grin turns bitter. “I hate heroes.”

OOOOH this is interesting. hold on im gonna talk/theorize more about this later

so. in 42 and 43, all we see are what sukuna says and does, tying into him being mostly framed as either a monster or a comic relief-type character/the butt of the joke; there are hints of sukuna's Tragic Backstory present, but they're fairly vague so far

and then. 44. aka the one where we actually get into sukuna's head. before i even begin pointing out specific quotes, it's so interesting how you've managed to completely flip the readers' perceptive on sukuna, from something that matches the ff's to a more nuanced? view, where the effects of the tragedy that made him who he is today are more clearly visible

Sukuna is stronger than him, of course, and their circumstances aren’t entirely alike, but they’re similar enough to make Sukuna’s skin crawl. And it’s not even his own skin.   The man is too naive. If he ain’t careful, history’s gonna repeat itself.

this terrifies me, but it's also making me think of some of the Backstory Theories from the tpg discord hmmmmmmm [sound of thoughts bouncing around my brain like the dvd logo]

‘He’s here! Everyone run! I’ll hold him off!’ ‘But you’ll die!’ ‘Just go!’

OHHHHHH this reminds me of this quote from getou pov in tpg 22:

‘Please,’ one of them had begged, clutching the hem of his crimson-soaked pants. ‘You can kill me, but please spare my son--’

which i think is particularly interesting for two reasons: 1) getou and sukuna parallels 2) idk if this was intentional (knowing you it probably was) but a significant portion of getou's arc past that point ^ has to do with his son, and his own concept of son-hood (is that a word 💀) in regards to both his birth parents and touji. is it possible that sukuna's backstory/future character development has to do with the concept of heroism?

DONT APOLOGIZEEEE I LOVE LONG COMMENTS AND LONG MESSAGES AND EVERYTHING especially when it's about sukuna. i could deadass talk about him for DAYS and it wouldnt be enough. hes my special.

anyway--

you hit on a lot of interesting points here!! framing sukuna as "what" rather than "who" in nanami's first question was deliberate, a way to contrast how unexpected sukuna's incarnation was. "who" usually indicates some degree of sentience or personification, something almost every curse severely lacks. so right off the bat, the fam wasn't ready for what was about to befall them.

nanami's perception of sukuna is exceptionally bad, especially since his sons were sukuna's major victims. but he realized that in order for toge to stop being afraid of his own brother, a somewhat, uh, unconventional approach would be necessary: thus, bullying sukuna club was born.

it's also important to note that despite treating him like a joke and laughing at his dramatic, violent declarations, the fam actually does still very much see him as a monster. they're doing this because they know it's the only way they can actually get to him, especially since fear and others' terrified perceptions of him are part of what makes him so damn strong. so they laugh at him because it's far better than the alternative -- that said, if one doesn't think about the fact that he's actually carried out the atrocities he colorfully monologues about, they are kinda funny.

.......aaaand then we see the inside of sukuna's head and realize oh no, this is an incredibly self-aware, sad, wet man who desperately needs a hug but would kill (almost) anyone who actually tried to give him one. yet there are still traces of that monster in his thoughts, since that's what Tragic Backstory made him become.

also aughh yeah, getou and sukuna parallels were DEFINITELY intentional. those two have a lot in common, and as 43 revealed there are many parallels with gojo too. you were right to pick up on the notes of sukuna's revulsion towards heroics: perhaps it's something he struggled with in the past. we shall see.......

while getou's redemption arc had much to do with atonement, i'd say sukuna's is about healing. this man has really, really been thru it. sometimes i wonder if his backstory is too sad but at this point we're in too deep

[moon--mama]

Thank you so much for discussing this too! 🥺 you never know if someone will actually engage in discourse. I enjoyed this series but it definitely has its problematic moments…and now that I read CC, I’ve been analyzing both series for clues about what’s next for my favorite characters. 😅 Great points about Nesta still having a long way to go—I agree that the ending was super rushed! SJM’s endings are typically a mess of plot points and emotional gut-punches, but in ACOSF it was way worse than normal because of the trash pregnancy subplot.

I think Nesta’s “strength” isn’t about physically being able to hold her own in a battle. The physical training seemed to be more about overcoming her depression. Exercise is generally good for physical and mental health. Since depression sometimes causes one to give up on physical health, it made sense to me that the IC set up part of her intervention to include physical training. Plus, the bat boys seem to fight out their anger and aggression, so they probably saw Nesta’s vicious temper and figured she just needed to punch it out too. One of the issues she keeps coming up against is a mental block in her physical training. Her increased belief in her physical abilities helps her have more trust in her mental abilities. It’s not about being able to win a fistfight.

Her real moment of strength happens on the mountain. Yes, she’s able to keep herself and her friends alive for a few days. She climbs the mountain and helps her friends win the whole damn thing. Nesta starts trusting herself and her powers on the mountain, using them to deal with Bryllian and take the Crown. Then she turns around and uses her powers to save Feyre. It’s implied that the Mother is satisfied with Nesta’s character growth and allows her to keep some of that power. Now, with the Dread Trove only able to be used by Nesta, she’s become one of the most powerful characters in play. Several characters comment that others in history who have used items from the Trove have gone crazy or died. She can access the Trove despite wards, too. I think the number of times that she introduces herself as a “witch” or people refer to her as a witch isn’t an accident. Then they discuss witches when the bat boys take her to the Bog. Witches exist in other SJM series, so that’s why I think Nesta’s story will head in that direction somehow!

And I think the message about being worthy doesn’t mean that she needs to be worthy of her father’s love. He’s dead. She’s saying that she always believed the worst of him and never had the chance to reconcile with him when he did something “right.” Even when Nesta rejected her father, he loved her unconditionally. He was the first person “holding out his hand” for her, but she never took it. Nesta is saying that she wants to find purpose in her life. At the beginning of SF, she’s drifting. With the cliche gravestone scene, she decides that she wants to do something with her life that would have made her father proud. At the same time, he showed her before he died that he had always been proud of her. I suppose the line you quoted about her being “worthy” indicates that Nesta wants to figure out her own self-worth—I don’t think she’d define that based on her value to other people. Since she was raised to judge people’s value and see herself as a marriage commodity, self-worth is probably something she will struggle with a long time.

I think she sees some of Cassian’s flaws, too! She can tell when he’s vulnerable, she gets mad at him and calls him out for things…she certainly doesn’t change herself FOR him. She lets him in completely on her own terms.

When I think about ACOMAF, the “plot” is Feyre’s recovery after UTM, her love story with Rhysand, the transformation of the Archeron fam, and the emerging war against Hybern. ACOSF’s plot is Nesta’s recovery after ACOWAR, her love story with Cassian, Feysand’s pregnancy plot, and the finding of the Dread Trove. SJM seems to lay out these plot lines in a pretty standard pattern. ACOMAF is a “mental health” book too technically. Plot-wise they’re almost the same book—Feyre and Nesta both face “trials” on their road to self-actualization. At the end of ACOMAF, Nesta and Elain get new bodies. At the end of ACOSF, Nesta and Feyre get new pelvic bones. Did Feyre’s “healing journey” fall flat in ACOMAF?

‘Everything in her life, from the moment she was born, had been controlled by other people. Things happened to her; anytime she tried to exert control, she’d been thwarted at every turn—and she hated that even more than the King of Hybern.’

so sjm is gonna write this paragraph. and then have nesta end up in an environment where her life is under constant control. end up around people who do nothing but control her. end up with a man who feels more than comfortable controlling her.

she doesn’t have a job. she doesn’t get paid. sjm never gave her financial independence even though i (personally) believe it’s one of the MOST important things nesta needed in her life. she’s been controlled through finances her entire life. she’s depended on others for finances her entire life. you’re telling me she’s just okay with depending on c*ssian for it now? i just don’t understand how silver flames was a book dedicated to healing and nesta finding herself. i really don’t.

she can’t even leave her house easily? she needs to either ask someone to get her out or TAKE 10,000 STEPS! how does nesta not despise living there. how does she not despise having her weapons taken from her and controlled by others. how does she not despise waking up every morning to train just because c*ssian told her to! when she was literally threatened into it!

how are you supposed to take nesta’s ‘healing arc’ seriously when she’s ended up in a position that old her would’ve despised. every time i reread this nightmare i find more quotes that make no sense even being in the book when you know how it ends and it makes me just as mad as i was when this book was released.

[secretlystephaniebrown]

what do you think people often get the most wrong about steph? i ask this as a fic writer myself bc im afraid to write her cause i think i havent read enough of her comics and dont understand her character well enough. i really love your fics and your one of my fav writers and i would really love to get some advice on steph!

Oh boy so this is actually really tricky

Characterization is obviously a sliding scale. In certain situations, a character will behave in different ways. "My" Steph ranges from a reformed assassin to a Blue Lantern to a Crime Lord, and while obviously things have changed over the years, I think the core of my writing for her has stayed the same. If your pitch is good, your idea solid, your justification in place, and your writing able to deliver on it? Just about anything can work. All the things I'm about to say? You can find a way to invalidate them in the right scenario.

That being said, don't be afraid to write a character! My first Bat Fam fic, I'd read three comics, and had no idea who any of these characters were, besides Dick and Jason. I did some quick research, looked up some panels to give me some dialogue flavor, and then boom. I was writing. The fic is still my most kudosed fic on Ao3. I mispelled Damian and Barbara's names for the first few chapters.

But okay.

The thing that will always make me back out of a Stephanie Brown fic is treating her as one-dimensional. It is very easy, especially given the proliferation of quips, one-liners, and incorrect quote blogs, to pigeon-whole characters into "the x one". Steph isn't just funny or just stubborn or just angry or just sunshine and daisies and waffles. She's a complex, layered character, and her relationships reflect that. She loves Bruce and Tim, but she also resents them for their treatment of her. She's good friends with Cass, but she's not immune to lashing out at her in frustration or refusing to communicate.

Steph isn't a manic-pixie-dream girlfriend. That one also pops up a lot.

Steph's competent. Steph is good at what she does! She's not a Cass-level fighter, but she's smart, she's tough, and she's experienced. She's not stupid, either. (Neither is Cass. That one's even worse.) Fandom and comics and society as a whole are fascinated with the idea of "geniuses" and prodigies and IQ, when, like most things, intelligence is situational, and a lot of our traditional measures of it are based off racist, colonial, outdated systems. And also myths. That's not to say Steph can't lose, or fuck up, or make mistakes, or be wrong, but it's a balancing act. She can hold her own, she runs with the Bats for a reason.

Other things that people get wrong (that I've gotten wrong myself in the past!)

Steph actually lived in a suburb of Gotham, Manchester, for most of her original run as Spoiler.

Steph's comfort food is mashed potatoes. She prefers to wear green clothes over purple.

Steph chased Cass down to the airport after Cass left her the Batgirl suit.

Steph didn't break under the Black Mask's torture. She told him irrelevant information to throw it in his face. The Black Mask's assault on the Clocktower was because Hush told him.

Steph dropped out of high school, and was studying for her GED when she became Robin.

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

A Wound to Heal finale

Yeah it hurt me too, fam. I promise it has a happy ending, though. This is me we’re talking about, after all.

tw: blood, major character almost-death

also yes I used a quote from Peter Pan. It’s my favorite thing in the whole world and I can and will fight God about it.

---

“Jaskier, please!”

The bard did not wake. 

His eyes did not open. 

He did not crack a joking, tired smile and apologize for being such a hassle on the road nowadays. 

He remained stock-still and barely breathing; he lay like a life-sized porcelain doll in the Witcher’s unusually tender embrace, his head lolling back and cascading his hair across his forehead. If they were not in such dire circumstances, Geralt might have paused his rush to observe and appreciate how such a tall, muscular man could look so dainty and fragile at any given moment. 

But they were in dire circumstances, so Geralt whistled for Roach to follow and made his way quickly to the edge of the woods, where he could look after his injured companion without the threat of anyone else attempting to intervene. 

He needed to get Jaskier stabilized. Needed to keep him from bleeding out. Needed to...he needed to… Fucking hells, there’s no way he’s going to die like this. Not like this; Jaskier deserves to go out old and surrounded by family, knowing how loved he is. Geralt steeled himself and made a quick decision, he needs to know how loved he is now, before he disappears forever or loses the will to hold on.

“I love you!” Geralt blurted. He pressed a few quick kisses to the bard’s brow as he broke through the treeline and into the forest proper. “You can’t die on me yet, bard. Not until I get to say it to your face.”

“You did,” Jaskier breathed. It was barely a hint of a sound. Without his Witcher senses, Geralt probably wouldn’t have heard his companion’s comment at all. “Now I can go out of this world with a happy spirit.”

The Witcher released a pent-up, feral snarl of emotion and clutched the bard tightly against his chest. His hand accidentally pressed against the knife-wound and Jaskier cried out, his shoulder wrenching up and away from the unexpected flash of pain. Geralt froze in place, his eyes wide and apologetic as he panicked. 

Why did he always seem to hurt the people he loved most!? 

He dropped to his knees and laid Jaskier against the base of a large oak. His hands fluttered around the man’s shoulder as a trickle of blood leaked from the soaking bandage. “Let me go, Geralt.”

“I can’t!” the Witcher practically shrieked. He was broken, panicking, and his heart was aching so strongly he felt as if...as if… Geralt looked up into his best friend and companion’s heavily-lidded blue eyes and asked: “Am I the one who broke your heart, Jaskier?”

The bard smiled sadly. He moved one unsteady hand up to unwrap the bandages from around his own injury, weakly batting Geralt’s hands away when the concerned Witcher tried to stop him. “It’s no use, dear heart. I am as good as a ghost.”

“Jaskier, please,” the Witcher begged. He was babbling pleas and prayers and perhaps even spells under his breath as he rushed to change the dressings. “Please don’t leave me. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if you were gone.”

“You’ll be fine,” Jaskier whispered. His lids had begun to droop closed again. The bright, summery shade of blue in his irises was fading; the light behind his eyes was flickering out. Every inward breath seemed to rattle his chest and every exhale seemed to pain him somehow. Still, he was breathing, and that meant he could be saved. He patted Geralt’s arm comfortingly and smiled. “Kiss me goodbye?”

Geralt did as he was asked, gathering the bard onto his lap and supporting the back of his head with one enormous palm. He leaned down and pressed their lips together, tasting death as it came for his bard. “Don’t say goodbye, Jaskier. I know how you feel about saying goodbye.”

“Saying goodbye means leaving, leaving means going away, and going away means forgetting,” the bard winked. It was a quote he used often when they parted ways. He always insisted that Geralt say until next time instead. It gave them both a sense of peace even if their reunion wasn’t always guaranteed. 

A Witcher’s life was one of uncertainty. The only real certainty they did have was of a gruesome and lonely death. 

Geralt pressed a hungrier, far more urgent kiss to the bard’s yielding pink lips and found Jaskier smiling back, using whatever little energy he still had to tell his Witcher how much he loved and cared for him. Even in the throes of death, Jaskier did his best to be selfless.

A single tear dropped from Geralt’s golden eye and landed in the hollow at the base of the bard’s throat. Jaskier felt it land and his eyes sprang open again. “Geralt...can Witchers cry?”

“No. It’s impossible.”

“Then how...”

“I love you. Love can do the impossible, isn’t that what you’re always writing about in ballads?” the white-haired Witcher growled out. He felt like he was going to throw up. How could Jaskier be so calm and accepting?

“For me, the impossible was staying by your side for decades even when you loved Yen more. When you loved Essi more. When you showed affection to Triss, who manipulated and hurt you, but not to me who had stayed by your side and endured torture and ridicule for you. I have done the impossible every day and it has broken my heart a thousand different ways but Geralt...”

The bard’s pointer finger dipped beneath the Witcher’s chin and tilted his tear-streaked face up again. He kissed the frown-creased forehead of his only true love and beamed encouragingly. 

“Geralt, it’s healing.”

“Wh-What?”

“My heart is healing, now. And so is my arm.”

Jaskier was right. The death-smell in the air was gone. The bard’s heart was beating more firmly in his chest. His breathing already sounded easier. 

“It was me? All you needed this whole time to heal was...me?”

“It’s always been you, Geralt of Rivia. My White Wolf. My handsome and caring and courteous and knightly and stoic Sir Witcher. My love.”

“And may I...may I have you?”

“Just as it has always been you for me, my dearest heart, I have always been for you.”

And they kissed again. And again. And again.

For years and years.

[triviasghost]

Incorrect Batfam Quarantine Quotes From Things My Fam Has Said In The Past Month Part 2

Part 1

Dick: I got 42 bottles of wine for $300...

Bruce: 42?!

Dick: I didn't mean to!

Bruce: You didn't mean to?!

-

Tim: Maybe you're not bi, straight, gay...maybe you're just a caterpillar.

-

Bruce: Dick, send me a selfie.

Dick: Why?

Bruce: My daily Wayne Enterprises encouragement email is about you.

Dick, confused: And my new mullet?

-

Steph: I wanna get shanked by a lesbian commune.

-

Damian: Am I allowed to drink alcohol?

*simultaneously*

Tim: Will it make you a nicer person?

Bruce: Yes.

-

Steph: A 'b' is an upside down 'q'.

Duke: A 'b' is an upside down 'q'?

Damian, sighing: This is why we cannot have normal conversations around here.

-

Kate, 11pm during a family board game: Rainbows are symbols of justice and truth!

Bruce: Kate, you haven't even started drinking yet.

Kate: Oh, Bruce, I started drinking at five.

-

Jason: Are you...washing the eggs?

Dick: Yeah, why?

Jason: It just doesn't feel right...

-

Damian: I have better boundaries than you do.

Duke: Mmm, no, you're just more of an asshole.

-

Dick: *says something stupid*

Tim: Hey, Jason, can we appreciate the fact that you just looked at yourself in the mirror like Jim on the Office?

Jason: Yeah, I do that now.

-

Bruce: Remember when we were planning on having socratic seminars at dinner? Now every night is just, 'Ah, how are we going to SURVIVE?'

-

Dick: Our family could logic ourselves out of breathing.

Steph: I literally did that last night.

-

—Bonus that I couldn't assign to any bat—

My mom's friend over zoom: ...and then there's the 32 round clergy death match.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Honestly, Squiggles I share you annoyance with Volume 8 only lasting 1 to 2 days. I was really looking forward to Oscar and Oz bonding and reconnecting. Maybe we would even get a flashback of Oscar on the farm and actually see his family. Sadly, we wont since too much will be going on for anyone to feel anything, apparently. I expected this story to go on for months so we can Witness Oscar and Ruby missing each other. I WAS hoping that Ruby would actually feel bad for what she did.

Thanks Dagger. I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only person not really feeling the aster from this new RWBY news. To be more frank, I’m more feeling the mode (to quote Robin and Impulse from Young Justice). I’m not sure if you saw my last response post to @keyenuta​ but after some more thought, I’m starting to see the 1-2 days decision as being not too bad. At least, it’s not so bad when I think about it from the perspective of what if…the CRWBY Writers pulled an Avenger’s Endgame at the very start of V8?

I’m starting to dig the concept of…what if…V8 began with our heroes learning of Oscar’s presumed death from the start leading to them spending the volume dealing with the impact of his death on the team; particularly the members closest to Oscar (meaning Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren).

Here’s how I’m looking at it:

What if…in the first chapter of V8, the volume kicks off exactly where the last season left us. Salem has officially arrived in Atlas and is demanding that the kingdom be surrendered to her or face destruction. Let’s say in the wake of Salem making her assault on Atlas, our heroes get wind of Qrow and Robyn being imprisoned and taken to Atlas Prison. This is after Jaune also informs the group that Oscar went off to do something on his own and didn’t come back which just sends red flags to Jaune who is more or less having Pyrhha flashbacks.

Therefore…what if… RWBY V8 CH1 throws us straight into a rescue mission where our heroes decide to take a chance to return to Atlas with their goal being to rescue their captured comrades---using Ironwood dealing with Salem’s arrival as a distraction.

At the start of Endgame, we began the movie with our heroes learning of Thanos’ whereabouts and in the first few minutes of the movie, we got them tracking Thanos down, apprehending him---realising that he had destroyed the Infinity Stones and their last chance of saving their loved ones lost to “the snap”, all culminating in Thor killing Thanos by decapitation. As the audience, we got all of that within the first few scenes of the movie before the title sequence.

So I like the concept of V8 beginning with a similar feel. First episode is our heroes seeing that Salem has arrived alongside discovering that three of their allies were captured. So the story for the first episode is focused on the rescue mission to save Qrow, Robyn and Oscar. I’ve started to dig the idea of V8 starting like this right off the bat and by the end of the very first episode, much like in Endgame, the chapter ends with Ruby and friends learning that they failed to save Oscar since their actions lead to Ironwood “killing” Oscar as a result of their betrayal of his trust.

Perhaps it can even conclude similarly to how the first portion of Endgame concluded---upon learning that Oscar was dead---it’s a case where everything goes blurry for everyone involved---Ruby especially. Basically picture a moment where Ironwood announce that Oscar is dead and it leads into a moment where time practically stops for Ruby---everything becomes blurry for her to the point that she doesn’t even realize that the group had run out of time for their little rescue mission and needed to leave. It basically takes both Yang and Weiss grabbing Ruby and dragging her away for her to finally move.

Part of the reason why I’ve been anticipating the reactions of the group learning of Oscar’s “death” is to see Ruby’s reaction most of all since a part of me strongly believes that this could be a really good segway for the PLOT to delve into Ruby’s repressed emotions of losing her mother and finally address how her death has affected her both emotionally and psychologically.

Given how it was briefly mentioned by Yang way back in V2 how young Ruby took to her mother’s death and given how we had that scene from last season where Ruby practically fell apart at the mere mention of her mother by Salem---I would very much like for V8 to finally address this lingering elephant in the room and the alleged loss of Oscar would’ve been a good parallel to lead into that. At least in my opinion.

This is why I’m now very, VERY curious to see how V8 will start. Because now that I think about it, regardless of whether or not the story for the season will take place over 1-2 days; there is still a chance for it to more or less hit all the emotional benchmarks that some of us Pineheads and Rosegardening Pineheads wish to see in respect to the growing bond between our two smaller, more honest souls.

For all we know, V8 could be just like V6 in terms of time line. As I’ll reiterate, V6 took place over the span of 4 days after a time jump of 2 weeks. So…who’s to say something similar won’t be done for V8? As far as I know, the only thing that was confirmed by the CRWBY is that the events of V8 will take place over 1-2 days.

Will those 1-2 days happen AFTER another brief time jump like in V6? That’s what I’ll wait to see confirmed or not.

Personally I’m willing to let the whole 1-2 days decision slide if another momentary time jump was done AFTER where V7 left things off. Just like V6. Let V8 kick off where V7 ended. Let us have the failed rescue mission resulting in the team learning of Oscar’s death while Atlas falls to Salem. Then from V8CH2, let the actual story kick off after a time jump of a couple of weeks. I’m hoping it’s something like that and that’s the small inkling of hope I’m going to cling to for now.

Other than that, I think the whole Ruby and Oscar missing each other can still be done for you, Dagger. Think of it like this, fam. Imagine…part of Ruby’s development for next season involving her as our so-called indomitable spark of hope being forced to lead her team in the wake of Atlas and its people falling prey to Salem and her army all the while repressing her feelings over Oscar’s “death” just as how she repressed her feelings over her mother’s death?

Imagine…watching Ruby be all nonchalant over her grief to the point beginning to affect her actions---making her more reckless and moodly---only for her to ultimately suffer a meltdown at some point because of it?

And imagine if…at the same time Ruby is having her breakdown over her feelings of losing Oscar mixed in with her feelings over her mother, let’s say…somewhere in another part of Mantle; Oscar is having his own little meltdown moment as being on his own is starting to make him lose hope as well.

In the Little Prince story, there is a point in the tale where the Prince discovers a rose garden which causes him to abandon his feelings for his rose. Perhaps….there could be a point in both Ruby and Oscar’s respective stories where both children lose themselves in their emotions sparked by their feelings for each other and in that moment, they both simultaneously either realize just how much they truly meant to each other.

I can probably say more about this but bottom-line, what I’m mostly saying is that the Rosebuds realizing their feelings for each other can still be done Dagger. It might be done differently than we anticipated but…I think it can still be done. I want to believe it can still be done.

Despite the part of me that’s peeved by this writing decision by the CRWBY Writers---nevertheless, after more thought, I think things can still be done especially if it’s done like Endgame. While I wanted to have the team learn of Oscar’s death later in the volume, I actually think it wouldn’t be so bad if the volume starts off with our heroes already learning of Oscar’s death and we spent the season seeing how it has impacted them; particularly those closest to Oscar (i.e. Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren).

We’ll have to wait and actually see how V8 kicks off but in the meantime, that’s how this squiggle meister is going to look at it from now on. I hope this alternative perspective can help you feel a bit more optimistic fam.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[artgurusauce]

So, how was Pokemon Shield?

Before I start, this is going to cover the main game, not post-game. Sorry, no talk about Dickhead Swordward and Shieldbert. Also, if it wasn’t obvious already, massive spoilers ahead. 

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED, DO NOT READ THIS POST

I’m not going to ramble for hours about this, because to be honest, my thoughts about this are much briefer than they are for gen 7/Alola. Not to say there’s not much going on in this game, just that if you were expecting a super professional and profound review of the game from me, you may or may not be disappointed.

I will do my best to be articulate, though.

I’ll start with the rivals, the most obvious choice the begin with being: Hop.

Hop is definitely not like Hau like so many people were desperate to make me believe pre-release. In fact, while their arcs are similar, there’s a biiig difference. That difference, to me, is their changes in character. Hau had a big ass crash, yes, but his character change was pretty damn gradual. With Hop, after Bede puts him down, well, you can pretty much tell he’s not the same guy right off the bat the next time you talk to him. I absolutely adore Hope and I’m glad he got as much screen time and focus as he did. His arc was fantastically written and beautifully handled all the way to the end. All I can say is, another cinnamon roll for the collection.

Then there’s...Marnie.

Now, I don’t hate her, far from it. I adore her very much as well. The problem is that it seems she doesn’t get much time to flesh out like Hop did. A problem that goes both ways between her and Bede. Of course when I got to the seventh gym and met big brother Piers I actually did like the dynamic they were going for. Buuut I really wish they had given Marnie just a little more time to herself before that. I just didn’t feel like they did enough with her and...that’s a damn shame considering how popular she was upon her first reveal. Of course, again, this isn’t to say I don’t think she’s still just the cutest little punk goth button ever.

Sigh...and now it’s time for me to talk about Bede.

Look, from what I could tell, half the fandom was nuts for him, the other half was sick to death of a generic douchebag rival that adds no flavor to the table. But I’m a little torn on this one. Like I said, him and Marnie share an awful side effect of Hop’s arc being the most prominent...they don’t get enough time or everything that happens in their arcs feels...rushed, by comparison, at least in my opinion. So the thing is, when Bede gets disowned by Chairman Rose, of course my first reaction is “You had it coming, you were being a shit.” But then Opal...takes him in? And...acts as though Oleana manipulated him? I guess I could perhaps see what they were going for here, and, I’ll admit it, I kind of adored their dynamic, albeit a short interaction between them. And I did find it rather cute at the League when he was all flustered about being trained by Opal, having to continue training because everyone was cheering for him. But the thing is...his arc is kind of...broken? Like, I want to feel bad for him, and I want to feel invested in Opal taking him in and showing him the ropes of the Fairy Gym but...it just doesn’t work like it should. Which is odd considering Bede gets considerably more time to flesh his arc than Marnie, at least, that’s how it seemed to me. I do think the general story and Hop’s own arc really just forced the writing’s hand in sweeping Bede’s arc by as fast as possible. He could’ve been an interesting diversion of expectation, but...oh well.

Speaking of gyms, how do I feel about the gym leaders?

Well, Milo is a fucking cinnamon roll, and I do think I’ve settled on shipping him with Nessa because...I mean...c’mon now. Short bean boy, toll ocean gal? Perfect for each other ♥

I don’t really...feel anything towards Kabu. His design is bland, his personality didn’t stick out to me at all, but I guess they can’t all be iconic gems when you think about it.

Then...there’s my baby boy Allister. And lawd, my dudes, if Hop ain’t my new son well then Allister sure as fuck is. I did HC that he was mute like Red before the game came out and, well, his personality and dialogue are pretty good despite not being what I was hoping. I mean, c’mon, how can you not love that adorable little face? Or that he’s so socially introverted he keeps a collection of masks to make absolute sure his face is hidden? I am going to be quoting “Crumbs, that’s aces” forever now.

Opal was an interesting woman, I definitely think there could’ve been more to her relationship with Bede but I already discussed that. My dad thought she was kinda scary and creepy but she reminds me of that old lady from Spirited Away so I ain’t bothered all that much lol. She was nice enough, I do like her humbleness and that she’s willing to admit it’s definitely time for her to call it quits. And yes, I have seen that official art of her when she was younger. She is a fucking QUEEN  ♥ ♥ ♥

Then comes Melony...hoooo boy my lesbian ass is fallin’ so hard it physically hurts me in ways you will never imagine in your life. Wicke wishes she was this thicc. In all seriousness though, I am pretty curious about that son of hers. I heard you can meet him in Sword but I’ll have to wait and see that for myself. Aside from being the newest love of my life, she’s absolutely adorable and wholesome. I know her card reveres her as strict, but, she just looks like a cinnamon roll.

Piers...oh Piers, where do I even begin? His design is fucking on point, for one thing. And his relationship with his sister Marnie is just so cute and so much fun to watch. As unfortunately left field as it was for me, I did like his arc about not being a good Gym Leader and wanting his sister to take over for him. It was sweet and kinda sad but I just love him so much. For the first Dark Type Gym Leader, not bad guys, not bad at all. Also omg Piers slay me with your metal, king plsssss

Finally, there’s Raihan and...omg he’s so great. This mother fucker not only takes selfies in the middle of a match, not only bombards you with weather effects therefore making him a fun and challenging opponent, but this dude is also beefin’ with our head champ? SIGN ME UP, FAM. For real though, like, I loved battling with Raihan the most out of anybody that I fought. I definitely haven’t felt this much fun battling a Gym Leader in years. And I will forever be torn as to whether or not I want to ship him with Leon >3>

Speaking of the chadster, I ain’t talked about ‘im yet. Or Sonia, for that matter. Honestly, they’re both pretty great. 

But Leon is the fuckin’ MVP this gen, I’ll tell you what. He’s such a bro he tells Rose his “Day of Destiny” bullshit can fuck off til our match is over. Of course, I do like his ditzy and dorky sides too. Like his snapback collection or how easily he gets lost seriously Leon it’s just a straight fucking line to your house how do you fuck that up. But he ain’t just a bro to the main character, naw, he a bro to his actual bro, Hop. And I fuckin’ love it. Their interactions are so investing and entertaining and wonderful to watch. It’s almost kind of magical, in a way. I think he is without a doubt my number one favorite Champion of all time now. 

But as for Sonia, well, I dunno...maybe I’m nitpicky or remembering things wrong but she seemed to drop her disdain for researching the legend of the “Darkest Day” like a hat at some point. Granted, I still think her character arc while it wasn’t even needed was very well done. I loved listening to her dork out about the legends, her research, all of it. It was spectacular. And ever since I first found out she was childhood friends with Leon before the game even came out, ladies and gents, these two have dun been my OTP. The only one still challenging that notion is Raihan at this point, lol.

And now...we get to Oleana and Chairman Rose.

Oleana is just...kind of a nothing character for me, personally. Even after knowing about her Garbardor and all that, sorry fam, she ain’t doin’ it for me. She was a red herring so overblown and obvious it has since been laughable that anybody thought she was gonna be this gen’s Lusamine. She is just...some really crazy lady who happens to be passionate about her job. Ok.

Rose, however, is an absolute bastard. And I love it. However, I do have a problem with this, as it sort of connects to my earlier point with Bede. His relationship with Bede is...I don’t even know if I could call it a father-son relationship. I mean, yeah, he basically adopted him, but he disowns him at the drop of a hat. Granted, what Bede did was wrong, but...really? I guess that’s just how much of a dick he is, but, there’s no closure to that. Even after finding out what a horrible, deplorable man Rose is, Bede never talks to him after he’s disowned. Maybe this was meant to be a “Well it’s better he moves on to the next chapter of his life as soon as possible” sort of thing. But his sudden taking under Opal’s wing did not accomplish that feeling with me. So it feels sort of...hollow, to me. There’s no conclusion, follow-up, it’s almost as if Bede didn’t even know who Rose was anymore after Opal scooped him up. And yeah, Bede says “Everything has gone wrong since I met you” but...here’s the problem; That’s as much as he goes into being affected by Rose. It’s not too important, I guess, but it’s something that bothered me, personally. Rose’s motivations seem...ok, I guess. It’s about what I was expecting. Seriously though, his battle theme has no business being that good.

Those are all my thoughts on the characters, at least any that were all that worth talking about. Without further ado: Allow me to introduce y’all to my babies...

As I mentioned on Monday, my team consists of an Appletun, Centiskorch, Greedent, Hatterene, Inteleon, and an Eiscue. And I only just now realize like 5 out of 6 of them have names that start with a “C” lmao.

First up, we have my very first darling: Chastity

There’s a few things one should know about this slick little bitch:

Big shock, she was a huuuge cry baby as a Sobble. Like, mortified of pretty much everybody. Total mama’s girl. But as a Drizzile she was just a total grump goth binch. The only one of my Pokemon in my camp she would give the time of day is her dear friend Chariot, who at the time was a Hattrem. They pretty much grew up together and they’re besties now.

But now that Chastity is fully grown, well...she’s a little...flirtatious. Oh, no, not with the boys on her team. No no no. Every camp we step onto she’s just flirtin’ like a mad woman. She even managed to seduce my dad’s Cinderace who was already a huge playboy

Still, I can’t stay mad at this cute little brat. She’s still a total mama’s girl at heart and I love her to death. Btw, her Snipe Shot is ridiculously strong, though that’s probably because she’s still holding a Mystic Water haha

Up next is our resident lady in waiting: Chariot

I found Chariot in the Motostoke Outskirts and she has always been a picky snob even as a Hattena. She only ate small portions unless it was Whipped Cream Curry. Though nowadays I’m sure she only eats in such small portions to maintain her figure...

As I said before, she and Chastity have pretty much always been best friends. I definitely love to imagine her always hassling Chastity for her less than lady-like behavior though, haha. Chariot was weirdly sleepy as a Hattrem, though. Like...she dozed off a lot. She must’ve been getting plenty of beauty sleep for her evolution lol. 

I used to have a Toxtricity on my team named Ripper before I found an Eiscue for the League, and she seemed quite enamored with him. At least for the long period he was with us, she talked to him 50% of the time when I stopped for a little break. It was incredibly adorable, though I fear what might happen if I leave them alone at a daycare for too long...  <(⚆_⚆;)>

As a grown Hatterene, she’s rather dainty and conversative. I’m actually surprised, lately she’s starting to talk to some of her other fellow team mates lately. I suppose she’s not as stuck-up as she pretends to be, haha.

Up next we have our looonnnggg boy: Mushu

I picked up Mushu at Kabu’s gym. He was pretty shy as a tiny Sizzlipede and often avoided talking to most of his team mates. He was pretty spooked by a lot of them, actually, particularly Ripper for reasons I never quite understood. I guess when Ripper was still a baby, Mushu didn’t understand why he cried so much and was terrified of the loud noises he made lol.

However, he grew into a long boi rather quickly and he’s pulled us through some pretty tough spots in the gym challenges so I like to spoil him with lots of play time. He’s got a Jolly nature and honestly, it shows a lot more now that he’s all grown up. He loves to play and races with his team mates pretty much all the time. Rip Caramel, your utter annihilation will not be forgotten. He’s a very sweet and almost gentle boy and I honestly feel bad for all the battering he’s had to take before because I was a little too eager to take on opponents way out of my league.

A couple of fun facts about him before we move on:

His favorite curry in the curry dex is Smoked Tail Curry, which he always eats in gigantic portions. He freaking loves camping on Route 6 or in Stow-On-Side, I guess he really loves the heat.

Up next is my precious dumpling baby: Caramel

I first caught Caramel on Route 5, and I love love looove my baby apple pie. He’s such a chill and adorkable little dragon and I’m not one to pick favorites but...oh, who am I kidding? He’s totally my favorite.

As an Applin he was just too cute. He was a little slow and none of his team mates seemed to understand him so they tended to leave him by himself. So I ended up having to give him lots of attention so he wasn’t too lonely. And gosh was he just the cutest little baby apple. Of course, he wasn’t an Applin for very long, so there’s not much to speak of regarding his early stages.

However, once he evolved, he became a fucking tank. Caramel can take hits like a freaking champ and since I gave him Draco Meteor he’s practically an unstoppable beast. Of course, by heart, he’s a Lax boyo and enjoys the littlest things in life: Like the nice breezes in the Wild Area, or his Apple Curry, even if it’s snowing something fierce outside he’s all about it. And I just- argh he’s so fuckin’ cute!  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Up next we’ve got the chunky cheeked baby: Peter Griffin Conker

Conker is a Gentle boy who’s been with me since the very beginning at Route 1, and it fits since objectively he’s probably the weakest Pokemon I’ve got on my team. But that’s ok, because he’s definitely scored us a couple of hard gym challenges just like Mushu has. He was definitely useful for buying some time when I needed it, that’s for sure.

He was pretty chattery as a Skwovet, even if some of his team mates weren’t all that talkative looking at you, Chastity. This probably comes as no surprise, but he’s always had a bottomless stomach. Seriously, he’s eaten large portions even as a baby Skwovet and it baffles me. Guess he’s just a really hungy boy, lol.

As a fully grown, chunky Greedent, he’s pretty slow. Like, really slow. Even when he runs it’s like a snail tracking through peanut butter and molasses. And it’s too cute to watch. I really wish I could give him belly rubs tbh, he looks like the type that’d enjoy those, haha. These days he’s best friends with my Eiscue, Cubert. They usually race each other after they have lunch.

And finally, one of my greatest MVP’s: Cubert

Cubert joined us very late in the game on Route 10. And while unfortunately he ended up taking Ripper’s place, I knew he’d be a good addition to the team. I’ve given him Hail and Aurora Veil, which is super useful for battle prep. It’s pretty lucky I was able to find this little guy waddlin’ around up there on my way to Wyndon.

As I said before, he was pretty anti-social with everybody at first. Though I’m sure that’s because he was so new by the time we got to the League. Thankfully, Conker got him out of his shell and they’re best friends. He still seems a little shy around the others, and even myself, but I’m just glad he’s got somebody to talk to. Not much to say about him unfortunately, since he’s so reserved and tends to keep to himself, but I’m sure that’ll change eventually with time.

Now that’s everyone that’s on my current team, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my boy Ripper at all, so, allow me to introduce an old friend who’s been livin’ in retirement for the past few days:

I first picked up Ripper at a Nursery while I was omw over to Hulburry, I believe. So Ripper was with us for a damn long time until I picked up Cubert. Initially I had hoped he’d be a High Key Toxtricity, but I’ll take what I get. Besides, he was more than helpful with quite a lot of battles, especially Opal’s gym.

He was pretty loud as a Toxel, which should come as no surprise. Always throwing tantrums and never really seemed to eat anything bigger than a small portion of whatever curry I cooked, so he was picky just like Chariot was. All around a bastard baby, really. He didn’t really start getting onto the battle field until he evolved, in all honesty.

But once he did, hoo boy, he was killin’ the competition like a pro. I feel pretty bad I didn’t take him into the League with me, but I felt like Cubert would’ve been more useful so I swapped ‘im out. I’ve been pulling him back out of the PC box for some more training lately to help him catch up to make up for it, though. And he seems pretty happy about it, so bygones are bygones I suppose.

And it seems he’s still very much taken with Chariot. Sigh, young love, so adorable. Anyways, respects to the OG madhouse that got me through some toughies, you did good out there buddy. ;w;

Alright, well, that’s just about all I have to discuss, for now. I hope this wasn’t too droning of a post or anything. But before you head out, I’ve got a little surprise. Since this was such an interesting experience, I’m opening a new Tumblr based on my journey that will follow my Trainer OC Luna and her adventures through Galar. If you’re curious to check it out, click here. I don’t really have an upload schedule, so just keep your eye out for any posts in the future. Hope you guys enjoy it!

[fireflythecinnamonjollyrancher]

it’s time for ~a year in review~

JANUARY

ya bitch went to paris and became like good, like REALLY good friends with my current roommates!!! we got to see some really beautiful sights, do some STRANGE things like watch a french indie movie and get fucked up at a french gay party club in the basement of our hostel. i apparently shaved my head again (per the use lets be real)

FEBRUARY

accidentally started my Com capstone like a total moron but took it like a mf champ. got to party at a friends place and watch all of “dont hug me im scared”. made a friend try a grap for the first time (he was a sophomore in college). studied a lot with kelli -- and by studying i mean we mostly bullied each other. WENT TO SEE WATSKY with a super dope friend (sad we fell out of touch but she’s living her best life and im happy for her). also like got to meet george watsky uhm WHAT wild. bullied my college in the snow and also manically shoveled the walk. was a bootlicker for the college and dressed in a taco suit

MARCH

WOOF i got pretty fucked up for capstones cast party and this is where the beginning of the end was for some of my friendships. however, other friendships were being built so im grateful for that. ran lights for a really awesome slam poet. FOUND THE KEY THAT WAS MISSING FROM THE THEATRE (turns out it was Sab whoops). spent a lot of time with someone who is no longer a friend -- her choice, certainly not mine. went home for spring break and took so many pictures of my cat. got selected as stage manager for comedy of errors which was a nightmare of a production but certainly not the worst.

APRIL

became a vegetarian!!!! joined/started the flat earth cult because of comedy. helped randi film her weird videos, which was so much fun! the bat came back to the theatre and Basil and I both saw them. comedy of errors opened and it was intense and i really hated every second. ranted about being in a scene for directing, which means i’d been in it for a second. that shit sucked bros oh my god????? he was never on time, he was so disorganized and didn’t understand his own character. organized a dinner for the cast because they had missed a campus dinner for the show. celebrated my best friends birthday!!!! “I can read!” was on the news with two others for comedy. also presented my capstone research for academic showcase day (i still can’t believe people listened to me rant about birth order)

MAY

more videos! this one was zak bagel bites with again my best friends. was elected president for APO and i couldn’t be more grateful. did a research proposal with a friend and i cannot BELIEVE we’re still friends after it because we really could have killed each other. physically fought the MONSTER that is jess (didn’t actually, really should have). helped two friends fall in love on accident/purpose. was elected as KPY president (damn) and forcibly elected as parliamentarian for LPH. ended my junior year. started work immediately after going home for my dad. mostly answered phones, worked 7:30-5 every day for the whole summer yikes. managed to pass junior year with a 4.0!!!

JUNE

 learned a lil how to quote and did NOT enjoy it. went to PRIDE with my wife and bought my first ace flag. it was actually petrifying to buy and wear, but i have one now which is awesome. holy shit got my first tattoo!!! it has faded a bit now but still looked awesome. it was the beginning of an addiction. picked up an internship at my old theatre company and... deeply regretted it as it pushed my 12 hour days to almost 18 hours. literally fell in love with the music director. 

JULY

a random woman complimented me??? so that was fun. watched after my old band directors kids (they were a nightmare i literally never want kids). got to hike and do all that fun stuff. went to the local county fair

AUGUST

my mom admitted to loving brooke more than me on her birthday (fair). got a card from my office team to celebrate my 21st a lil early. went back for SENIOR YEAR BOYS. got drunk at an old friends place. did marching band. moved in with two of my BEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. took improv with friends which was lit. we even did a whole performance. met a new friend! my other roommate brought in a new kitten (which became a whole thing holy shit). used school sanctioned ipads to dick around. shaved my head againnnn. was sober at a party (woof why). got the drunkest i have ever been and puked everywhere and passed out on the stairs. have not ever reached that level again. also cracked my phone. fully assumed position as president of two clubs. started rhetoric (yucky) and theatre and diversity (also ick but for different reasons)

SEPTEMBER

became NOT sober literally the next day nice. started the MASH group i think??? which is like the only thing im proud of. it was around here. had to pick up a friend whos car broke down. went to pride in a local town with friends!!! that was fun. turned 21!! couldn’t celebrate bc school and stage management, but my two roommates still made sure i had a good time. marching band boys! we did a LONG ASS parade with my cute lil section. did mixers for KPY and APO! had our first football game. held a band rehearsal in the dark because the lights didn’t work which was funny and SO weird. walked to the trains with some really awesome friends. broke into the cemetery and stole a traffic cone and put it on a statue on campus bc mania. went to a friends musical career takeoff and ran her merch table bc the person who was supposed to run it showed up almost an hour late. someone showed up at the lib while i was closing with a friend asking for a place to stay. i hope hes good now. tried omegle again for whatever reason. tried to go to a local diner and was DENIED bc they went from 24 hours to closing at 10pm so i had a mental breakdown in my car at 2am in a McDonalds parking lot. FINALLY got to celebrate my birthday and go to the bars!!! well bar singular. but had a really good time even if those people aren’t really my friends any more

OCTOBER

homecoming boysssss!!!! also ace pride. worked the WORST thing I have ever had to operate in the chapel but the people were nice about it so i was kinda okay. also got to be a part of the dopest percussion show and ran lights and sound for it. rhetoric ended thank christ and i never want to talk about anti-war messages in MASH ever again. finally learned that my best friend has a partner and was ECSTATIC. worked a haunted house which literally sucked so hard but we made bank on it so im okay with it. were robbed (i still have suspicions who did it but ill keep my mouth shut). dressed up as a newsie for halloween, and my roommates and i all took pictures which was awesome. started my internship and movement and stage

NOVEMBER

LAST FOOTBALL GAME got drunk too often probably lol. got an impulse tattoo with my roommates. went to a soccer game. went to the trains drunk and also olive garden. did trauma training so i got to act hysterical (act?). did some KPY bonding. had a hella long saturday with a concert and everything. shot my shot and MISSED. did greek thanksgiving. played DD for someones birthday bc expired license. got my NEW license. had a horrible time driving to and from thanksgiving break. got to hang with my WIFE

DECEMBER

made it home somehow?? did box office for the children’s show as well as publicity which was a lot of work tbh. went on a double date with my roommates and their partner. did the filming for the college christmas card. had an awesome party at our place and i regret nothing. celebrated the moving out of our 4th roommate. worked my last gig at the museum. managed to scrape by again with a 4.0. threw a great party at my place for like 5 days straight (jesus christ). did a horrible puzzle. tried an edible (suffered for it). hiked in the mountains a lil. caught up with high school friends by drinking which was AWESOME. saw Frozen 2. went out with my fam bam. had a great christmas. also threw a new years party (what??? that just got over) and felt like a pretty good hostess (i just provided alcohol lol but it worked) and got to catch up with some great great awesome friends and keep people safe and off the roads for new years. 

all in all a damn good year. its crazy how quickly things change, but im grateful for the place that i am in. can’t wait to graduate this year and see what happens next!!!

[thebatfamasquotesfrommyfriends]

Jason: Do any of you guys know someone named Norm? I wanna know a norm.

Damian: No.

Tim: Nah.

Jason: I wanna meet a norm.

Tim: Wait - did you say Jamal?

Jason: WHAT?

Damian: How did you hear Jamal from Norm?

Tim: I don’t know!

Dick: When I was a kid my aunt dated a guy named Norm for awhile. I remember distinctly because I got in trouble from my mom because I said that he looked like the ring leader of a carnival.

Jason:

Dick: She said I can’t tell anyone, but that it was very funny.

Jason:

Tim:

Damian:

Dick: Huh. I didn’t realize I had repressed that memory.

[allwhoponder]

Joker winds up dead and everybody's looking at Jason, meanwhile Thomas is trying to hide the smell of gunsmoke from his blazer.

Thomas ends up funding Mr. Freeze's research to save Nora and Victor starts helping Lucius invent new gadgets for the Fam.

Martha joins Oracle in the role of Coms and Support and finally lets Babs sleep.

Thomas and Martha end up organizing the Bat Fam into an anti-crime family, complete with hustling for territory and turf wars. Thomas Wayne makes a point to quote The Godfather as many times as possible without being noticed when operating in this regard. His favorite is "Say Hello to my little friend" when Damian enters the scene.

IMAGINE AN AU WHERE THOMAS AND MARTHA COME BACK TO LIFE??? No magic explains it. No science CAN.

Tim is wrecking his brains trying to find a logical, sane reason as to why his dead grandparents (who aren't dead - for the time being) are currently sitting in the living room, eating Alfred's cookies, and looking around for Bruce

" Chum?! Chum! It's dad! Come here! Who's this in our living room?"

" Bruce! Mommy's home! I'm sorry for being gone for so long, but that movie was just so long, I-"

Tim freezes. They think Bruce is still eight.

And Bruce walks in; drawn by the noise and Alfred's attempts to sit the pair down.

More wound than man, drowning in a dark shirt and sweatpants, eyes punched purple and dark red and bruised to hell and back;

His arm is broken, his leg too, and Tim knows for a fact he shouldn't be walking around with those five broken ribs. But God, - he's never seen his dad look so tiny before; So glassy-eyed and shaken.

For the love of all that's holy let Martha Wayne gently frame Bruce's face with her hands and stare at him, dusting off time with her eyes, and let Thomas do the same.

"...Mama?"

" ...BRUCE?!"

LET THOMAS AND MARTHA BE PROTECTIVE AS FUCK OVER THEIR SON! LET THEM MEET THEIR GRANDKIDS! Let Thomas " Catch These Hands" Wayne and Jason " Catch This Murder" Todd BOND.

" Look, I know what you're going to say, Gramps. I shouldn't blame dad for not wanting to kill Joker,"

" Yes, but that's behind us, big guy"

" And that murder isn't the answer and that I should just move on, but,-"

" Oh, no! That guy's a monster and we need to put him down. What's his address?"

GIVE ME BRUCE AND MARTHA PLAYING PIANO TOGETHER WHILE CASS FORCES DAMIAN INTO A DANCE WITH HER! GIVE ME MARTHA MAKING DICK BLUSH BY ASKING ABOUT " this pretty Kori girl in your phone"

Most importantly, give me Thomas and Martha Wayne trying to convince Bruce to give up Batman. Thomas says it'd be an easy enough job, someone else can do it! Bruce pouts, " Try doing it, then"

Thomas almost breaks his back by pretending to be Batman for like a night and becomes the new meme of Gotham when he steals a shotgun from Alfred and just patrols with it

[solemncadaver]

Friendsim Trolls According to my Girlfriend who hasn’t played Friendsim

Ardata (Cobalt): w... who took bites out of her horns? Can and will kill you in your sleep. Plotting evil plans 23/7 (the 24th hour is for drinking coffee with LOTS of milk and sugar)

Diemen (Rust): Always eating food (why is that hot dog bun GREEN-), will never call you by your name, only nicknames like bro, dude, man etc, probably owns a skateboard but can't drive it

Cirava (Gold): Oo funky! Has a horrible backstory and doesn't talk about it EVER, is chill all the time, likes 70s-80s fashion and actually wears it with style! Is as extra as the fact they've got 4 horns

Amisia (Indigo): definitely an artist! The "weird kid", has not slept in 5 days because she just HAD to finish that one painting, cuts her own hair with scissors not meant for cutting hair yet it looks amazingly good! Probably either super pure and nice or will kill you if you breathe in her direction

Bronya (Jade): The cool big sister, helps you do your makeup and dye your hair, if you hurt one of her friends those boots will land in your face, probably has a tumblr with aesthetic images

Skylla (Bronze): Yeehaw howdy pardner! Isn't only from a ranch, she OWNS one! Can and will punch you for no reason, makes you do her chores if you wanna stay at her place, has never seen a hairbrush in her life

Tagora (Teal): Tries his best to be edgy and frightening, sometimes almost fails at that, could be in one of those "barber: say no more fam" memes, thinks he's an evil overlord but is actually just a delinquent, probably doesn't get a redemption arc and only like 2 people are mad about that

Vikare (Bronze): Wants to be a pilot/is a pilot but DON'T TRUST THEM WITH AN AIRPLANE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, pretends wearing that pilot hat is a fashion choice when in reality they can't take it off again with those horns, nobody has ever seen them sleep and people are concerned

Polypa (Olive): The most feral being (or she fell down the stairs and is mad about it), problems balancing with only one eye able to see, could claw out your heart and not bat an eye, the hole in her horn is from when someone tried to take her out, nobody has ever seen that person afterwards

Zebruh (Indigo): Looks like an ASSHOLE. What are his horns doing they're not pointed that's not how horns should work, very smug! Has a shitty job and is pretentious about it to people w/o a job, looks like the cryptic bartender in a stereotypical drama thriller that the detective has to interview to know who killed the rich guy's wife

Elwurd (Cobalt): Look at those extra af horns! Def owns a motorcycle, flirty but has never received actual affection, has a mental breakdown every 2 days but pretends EVERYTHING'S FINE, makes 5 puns a minute

Folykl & Kuprum (Gold): What a goal: Carry your bud around in your giant ass backpack! I......don't know who is who tbh but! They both have cool spider looking horns! The best evidence for 'opposites attract', the only friends they have are each other, secretly planning to overthrow the government

Remele (Cobalt): The x on her left eye symbolizes that she has found her next victim. It's you. Run. Could probably use her horn as a climbing hook, v passive aggressive, makes her own clothes, works out a lot and is stronger than she looks

Konyyl (Olive): My fight, flight or flirt instincts have been activated. Could snap you in half by looking at you yet can be super soft if she wants to (you gotta be REAL close to her though), likes matcha ice cream and yells at it when it melts, is NOT tidy

Chixie (Bronze): Shy babey. Will probably be interrupted 3 times when trying to speak because she's just so quiet, has been left on her own and now has no idea how to survive yet is too shy to ask for the way. Someone come help her please.

Tyzias (Teal): Bored college student. Will NOT help you in an emergency so don't even ask. Secretly likes cryptids, is Done (tm), nobody has ever seen her outside of campus, roasts people in the most monotone voice ever

Chahut (Purple): F-... fear ':)? Eh, that's probably just paint! Right? Right???... Is probably being forced to do horrible things, can't remember their childhood, looks scary but only unintentionally, I'd still smooch tbh

Azdaja (Gold): Reminds me of that ching prince from FMA:B tbh, has a weird aesthetic going on, has the upper hand everywhere without trying, probably has 3 fake names, is always cool but can slip up and make goofy remarks

Zebede (Gold): Smol round boi! Probably played soccer in 5th grade, now makes v interesting and functional machines from Lego, probably owned a pet hamster at some point, has no sense of danger

Tegiri (Teal): Is that a KATANA-.... Still not out of his weeb phase, is VERY devoted to his aesthetic, talks either in one word sentences or dramatic quotes from a show nobody has seen, shop owner who sells you weapons

Mallek (Cobalt): Oh look it your hubby! He looks like a trickster tbh yet all the fanart looks sweet and pure!? (Also how do you pierce horns-) how many piercings has he though? Is there fanart- 👀... anyways he kinda looks like the popular kid and the emo kid combined, but like in a good way!?! Probably has a secret key for the whole town that he shouldn't have, can store everything in that hoodie pocket (it's like Hermione's bag :3!)

Lynera (Jade): Looks like the weird art/music teacher, v nice though! Has a lot of weird hobbies that her friends politely decline to join, likes to bake for everyone, likes children or absolutely loathes them

Galekh (Indigo): Is this Roman from Sanders Sides? Jdhdkd he looks like the strict angry teacher, will absolutely refuse giving help and does not allow any flaws (both in you and in himself) can spot someone doing illegal things from a mile away, is not afraid to call people out

Tirona (Teal): Look at that spider hair! Looks good 👉👉, is probs v shy and awkward but tries to talk to everyone anyways, has some exotic pets that she doesn't tell anyone about bc someone once said it's weird, just wants to be accepted, clumsy af

Boldir (Olive): Hiding ..... something ...., private but not stealthy investigator, is distracted way too easily, is the detective I mentioned back at Zebruh's, v loyal, will absolutely get you arrested if you're *in the way*

Stelsa (Teal): Looks like a cool but bitchy mom, probably gets a manicure every week, she looks just like my mom which is scary wth, will not hesitate to roast Karen at the school bake sale, those lemon bars are horrible KAREN, why didn't you let your third husband help K A R E N

Karako (Purple): What- ?

I-.... I'm confused! But okay!

Never makes sense, nobody has ever seen them eat or sleep, appears in your room at 2 am when you have sleep paralysis

Marsti (Rust): Probably is like the classic mechanic, can weld 👌👏👉👉👍, is done with everyone's bullshit but will still try to help (occasionally), drinks too many energy drinks and not enough water, everyone asks her for favors and she is having none of it

Charun (Olive): Peaceful gardener, don't stand in their sun and they won't bother whatever you do, just wants a little farm house near a small town with his pet cat, don't walk on their vegetables or they'll chase you with a rake

Wanshi (Jade): Just a nice person. A total sweetheart. Just wants to have fun, very optimistic, the most functional person you'll ever meet, drinks a lot of green tea and hot chocolate

Fozzer (Rust): Nice person but not very bright, doesn't know how electronics work, has a flip phone from like 2006 and that's enough for him, has a lot of houseplants but can't really keep them alive

Marvus (Purple): 👀👀👀 You know how I think about him (😭🍀😏😎🍀💖🌾❤ 11/10 best ti🅱🅱y window would allow him to stab me)

Daraya (Jade): Smol but will fight you. Is super done and will not help you, but also won't stop you. Probably has 2-4 knifes somewhere on her body at all time.

Nihkee (Indigo): Looks like a pirate captain + professional wrestler in one, like! Probably drinks their coffee black just so people respect them more, will show off every trophy they have (a lot) if someone decides to listen to them

Lanque (Jade): 👀👀👀👍 the most dramatic and salty being alive, v stylish, takes 2 hours a day just to get ready, probably has 16 meetings a day, could work as a model, will cut anyone and everyone that says he should change something about him

Soleil (Purple): Ah yes, the obligatory twins. Probably cursed by a spiteful witch at birth, have never been seen seperate, occasionally like to scare people by pretending to be the twins from shining

I’m crying

[kalamxs-archived]

1, 5 & 11? :3ccc

salty mun [ACCEPTING]

1. What’s the worst role playing experience you’ve had?5. have you ever had to block someone or cut off contact with them?11. have you ever received anon hate? 

[putting under read more bc these will become long and pretty fuckin petty tbh]

[ok so first of all fam i could write a BOOK with the list of Bad Experiences i had lmao,,as for now, the first i remember is about this One Boy from the Facebook RP days. back then i had this oc who was like, a young girl, at least from the outside. yknow the type, 2498237 years old in a 14 years old body, but mostly because i was deep in my anime phase. i was also a minor so as youd expect i dont want anything lewd]

[THIS FREAKIN’ GUY APPEARS. i’ve met him while playing as rouge the bat, so i’m all flirty but his character is the Silent Cool type, right? so he doesnt budge, that’s fun. he asks me about more of my characters, i of course play 99% boys and only rouge and this one little girl as females and he wants to interact only with them, and that’s already a red flag but yknow.im dumb and smol and im just happy someone is starting rps with me so i don’t complain, besides his character is cool and nice and overall a good g-

NOPE FUCK THAT SHIT he introduces me to another of his guys, the. yknow. jock fuckhead who flirts with anything that has a pair of tits.my girl happened to have those.

mind you, as immortal as she could be, SHE LOOKS AND ACTS LIKE A 14 YEARS OLD. THIS GUY’S CHARACTER IS 20+.and he fuckin KEEPS FLIRTING and TRIES TO TOUCH HER and in the meantime ooc he’s flirting with me and im groaning in PAIN. by then i wasnt w/ silv yet but in the moment he went for the “hey wanna become more than friends ;)” i instantly go I GOT A GIRLFRIEND.

he didn’t speak to me for an entire year.when he came back he tried to flirt with rouge but i blatantly ignored him lmao-]

[and that’s mostly why i didn’t have to outright block him, instead of someone else.i wanted to talk about him in the worst rper section as well, but yknow at least his italian was decent. not saying he didn’t try to do bad stuff but.

welp.

so when i started rping i had this BOYFRIEND right :) we lasted for two month and then i broke up with him, but i was like “Hey let’s remain friends” bc i mean, he was still nice. the break up happened mostly bc i was 14 and didn’t understand much of that nonsense and he was waaay too sappy for my own liking - i’m talking about writing poems to me every morning - and he was ok with it.…and that’s why he proceeded to- have his character i shipped mine with cheat on her right away, just to complain when i made her break up with him- try to follow me in the facebook pokemon rp as a terribly ooc misty, again trying to flirt with my character (i was playing silver)- made up a 12 years old girl character to flirt with my 11 years old girl oc that one time, that was so gross- but never as gross as the time i rped a 16 years old gay boy and he tried to flirt his way into his heart with his 12 years old girl who acted like your stereotypical tsundere, who kept insulting him at best and beating him up at worst.

so fuck you and your friendship asshole have fun with your loli fetish i guess?]

[..phew.]

[…at least the only type of quote-unquote “hate” i got wasn’t in the rpc, nor was too big.so, eh. it’s not even worth mentioning it.]

[shootymcshoot]

allura!

favorite thing about themhow strong she is despite everything that happened to her? she’s literally the most tragic character in this story and yet she manages to work through it and endure all of the hardships that came with it and i admire it about her so much? i love her. 

least favorite thing about themmmmm actually im not sure? i didnt like when she drilled the paladins in season one at first but looking at it from perspective of time it was completely justified. 

favorite line“everyone depends on me. the universe depends on me, but… i cant control everything. i… i need your help”  BECAUSE MY GURL RIght THERE OPENING UP. TO HER LION. AND MAKING THEM BOTH WORK TOGETHER. im crying mmMMMM. allura had many inspirational quotes but this one is just so important, like??? she let her walls down, even if a little bit and im getting so emotional while thinking about it i was so proud of her mmMMMM. 

brOTPbesides the obvious allura + coran:allura + keith + lance, because 1)allura gets to be reckless 2)i want to see her and keith get a long So Much 3)lance as mom friend genuinely makes me Cry from laughter also allura and hunk! like, he showed her road trip games? they both apparently can bake??? and i think they would positively influence each other? allura reassuring hunk and hunk letting her just chill. + they’d definitely be gossip buddies

OTPshayllura hunayllura and hallura! i also like nyallura and shaymallura a lot? 

nOTPsh@llura and k@llura 

random headcanonshe’s actually pretty reckless from nature? i think if given the opportunity to do so she’d probably get into lots of shenanigans, especially with pidge and keith. she knows she has to be poised as a princess but internally she’d just Love to sneak out somewhere and just have as much fun as possible. 

unpopular opinionshe was Not ready to be a BP in s3 ? like, she seemed like an obvious choice to everyone but i genuinely feel like it would damage her in long run if black chose her right of the bat. like, this situation gave her the opportunity to get closer to the paladins and for once she doesn’t have to be a pillar for all of them. she’s only a teen like the rest of them and i think that going into leading right after waking up as a princess put a huge strain on her, mentally, and being a bp right off the bat in s3 would only make it all worse and i really Need her to open up to the rest of the paladins with her feelings. she started to do it with blue in s3 and she’s beenslowly opening up since then and made Huge progress in s4 and i wait for more friendshippy moments with her and the rest of the voltron fam in incoming season. i want to cherish these moments because i think its a great opportunity to get to know her better as a character. 

song i associate with them“papa, can you hear me?” by Barbra Streisand 

favorite picture of them

[sage-nebula]

I have to say I'm learning a lot about my self from loving Keith. I've learned that I would be the type of parent to yell at anyone who hurt my son, including the other children. I'm so salty at team Voltron right now, and I will continue to be until i see them apologize. I kinda hope Keith and Lotor get along though.

Fam, you have no idea how salty I am at Team Voltron right now. I’m pretty much Done™ with every single one of them at this point.

Let’s make one thing clear right off the bat: It’s clear that Keith, however much he is expressive and is pretty blunt and honest with what he says, has difficulties connecting with others and communicating with them therefore. I’ve talked before about how Keith seems to have C-PTSD, and how this is more than likely the root cause of difficulties he personally has communicating and connecting with his teammates (and regulating his emotions), given that difficulties forming and keeping interpersonal relationships is one of the symptoms of C-PTSD (as is difficulty with emotional regulation, which doesn’t help things either). If he does have C-PTSD as a result of past abuse / neglect (which as I talk about in that post, has been implied by Steven Yeun at the very least), then it would also explain things such as his tendency to be extremely independent, his tendency to close himself off, et cetera. It would especially explain if he doesn’t realize that he’s doing these things in the moment, and that it really only occurs to him if he takes the time to reflect upon it later. (At which point he’s completely overwhelmed and overcome by this trauma that he has no tools to deal with, i.e., his vlog.)

All of that said, I have difficulty blaming Keith for his “part” in this, because while it is true that he isn’t great at communicating or working with others, the reason he isn’t great is because he has a metric ton of childhood / adolescent trauma that he is dealing with and, as far as we know, has never received help with. There is so much of Keith’s backstory that we don’t know, and part of me wonders if we’ll ever even find out (something tells me Dreamworks won’t allow Joaquim and Lauren to show child abuse on screen, but we’ll see), but at the very least, the Galaxy Garrison doesn’t really seem to be the type of place to have therapists on staff (and since they’re a U.S. based military organization, and mental health care is not something we do for our vets … yeah, I highly doubt they do), and we know that there aren’t any therapists at the Castle. I mention in the linked post above that Shiro seems to have helped Keith at least with the emotional regulation part of it by teaching him the “patience yields focus” mantra, and either Lauren or Joaquim have mentioned before that, on top of being an older brother figure for Keith, Shiro was Keith’s “grounding pillar,” which also lends to the idea that he has done his best to help Keith recover and heal from his trauma, despite not being a therapist himself. (But he was a teacher, a commanding officer, and a mentor to Keith at the very least, on top of probably being found family, so he was still able to help some.) But despite Shiro helping some, that doesn’t change the fact that—again, as far as we know—Keith never received any sort of professional help in recovering from his trauma. This is trauma that spanned adolescence, through his formative years; this is trauma that shaped who Keith is as a person, and how he views the world, and while it is possible to learn techniques that can help one overcome the barriers that C-PTSD hardwires into their brain (speaking from experience), if Keith—an eighteen-year-old boy—has never been taught those techniques, I find it really goddamn difficult to blame him for the difficulties he has communicating and forming relationships with others, especially when it is blatantly obvious that he is trying very hard with what he has, that he’s doing his fucking best, and the others aren’t even trying to meet him halfway.

Because that’s the thing: they aren’t, or at least, most of them aren’t. Shiro did in the first two seasons, and presumably the time that they spent together pre-canon. We see Shiro reach out to Keith with genuine care and support multiple times in the first two seasons, just as Keith reaches out to Shiro. (We also have some choice words from Keith to hint at their relationship prior to canon: “If it wasn’t for you, my life would have been a lot different.” […] “Shiro was the only one who never gave up on me …”) Allura was also the only one who was able to reach Keith when he was grieving Shiro at the start of S3; she was the only one to offer him true support and encouragement for being the new pilot of the Black Lion at multiple points in S3 (and was the only one, iirc, to not berate or drag him in 3x03); and she was also the one who tried to reach out to him at the start of S4, both when she told him that they needed him, and when she questioned—sounding aghast—if the reason why he was pulling away from them was because he didn’t feel fit to be a leader. Both S1/S2!Shiro and Allura have, at the very least, seemingly tried to reach out to him.

But as for the rest? Lance is the absolute worst; I’ve talked about it in other posts before and so I won’t go on and on about it now, but Lance has hated Keith from before day one based purely on an image of Keith he had built up in his head as an arrogant, cocky rival. He has never tried to actually understand or get to know Keith, instead preferring to view him as an obstacle standing between Lance and his desires (which are to be the best, and to be acknowledge by Shiro). The only time this even starts to change is in S3, when Shiro is gone (and Shireplica hasn’t really settled in yet); only then does Lance start to wash away his image of Keith as an obstacle and rival, and start to truly treat him as a comrade and potential friend. However, thanks to Shireplica coming back (and everyone believing that Shireplica = Shiro), that seems to have been completely rewound (again) in S4. Once again, Keith is someone Lance grouses and complains at, someone he doesn’t want to get to know or support. Everything Keith does is automatically wrong, in Lance’s eyes. In fact, there’s a Parks and Recreation quote that works perfectly as an incorrect Voltron: Legendary Defender quote. Here we are:

LANCE: “I wasn’t listening, but I strongly disagree with Keith.”

Building on that, it’s fair to say that Lance’s insistence on viewing Keith as an antagonistic obstacle, someone unlikable and unworthy of getting to know, also strongly influenced Pidge’s and Hunk’s perceptions of him from the get-go. In fact, we know for a fact that this is the case with Hunk, because Tyler Labine said so in an interview following S2:

“I think before I kinda took the side of Lance where I was like you’re … you’re kinda a hotshot, hothead, whatever, you know, and Lance doesn’t like him so I don’t like him, right?Not don’t like him, we get along because we have to, but you know he’s not our favourite person.”

Hunk straight up disliked Keith from the outset because Lance disliked him, and it wasn’t until 2x09 that Hunk’s opinion changed (and even then, he rationalized it by saying that it was Galra!Keith that he liked, rather than just Keith, according to Tyler). While we don’t (as far as I know) have a similar quote on Pidge, it’s worth it to note that Pidge and Keith have never really been shown bonding on-screen, but instead, Pidge was one of the most vocal in S3 and S4 when it came to berating and yelling at Keith, responding very harshly to his leadership when they first fought Lotor at the end of 3x02 (“We need an actual plan!” she screams, when this is Keith’s first official attempt at leadership, they were ambushed, and she doesn’t have a plan either), and never letting up throughout the rest of the episodes, either. On top of this, there have been numerous hints throughout all of the seasons that Pidge has a crush on Lance. Therefore, I think it’s very possible that Pidge—who we know thanks to her, “Wait, who’s Keith?!” remarks in 1x01 never met Keith before the first episode—has taken the approach of, “Lance doesn’t like Keith, but I like Lance, and Lance must have a good reason for not liking Keith, so I’m going to view everything Keith does through a lens of ‘why doesn’t Lance agree with this’.” It’s not the most mature approach to take, but Pidge is a fifteen-year-old girl with a crush on a boy. Even teenage prodigies can be a bit childish and illogical at times.

So right from the get-go, Lance didn’t like Keith because he had built up an image of Keith in his head as being some terrible obstacle that he had to overcome, and Hunk and Pidge never gave Keith a fair shake either because Lance didn’t like him. Considering the fact that Steven Yeun has said that Keith is the only one whose “difficult family history” has affected the way that he is, we can reasonably assume that none of them have the same C-PTSD-induced problems with emotional regulation and forming interpersonal relationships that Keith does. In fact, we know they don’t, or else they’d have the same difficulties connecting with others that he does, and they very obviously don’t. So instead of having their brains wired in a way that makes it actually difficult for them to reach out to and connect with others as a result of prolonged trauma throughout childhood and adolescence, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk are refusing to make attempts to bridge the gap and connect with Keith because they simply don’t want to.

Then we have the others. As established, Shiro did make these attempts in the first two seasons. However, in S3 and S4, “Shiro” doesn’t. He’s dismissive of Keith, uses emotionally abusive language (“I’m sorry I had to step in back there”), and even when he seems like he’s going to support him, he takes it back almost immediately (e.g. “Yes, you can [be a leader]” … “You’ll get there someday” — like, which is it? Make up your damn mind). Rather than trying to talk to Keith about why he’s spending more time with the Blade of Marmora in S4, he instead just scolds him for it like he’s a disobedient child, because Keith’s feelings and motivations don’t matter to him (anymore). Keith’s results are all that matter to him. And yes, this is a stark contrast from how Shiro used to treat him previously, because in 2x08 Shiro asked Keith why he yelled at everyone back at the Castle. (“What happened back there?”) He cared about Keith’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations then. Now, he doesn’t. He says he’ll support Keith, but he doesn’t exactly care to listen to Keith’s reasons. Half the time he won’t even spare him the courtesy of looking at him. This is why I find it so immensely difficult to believe that this is the real Shiro, and why I say “Shiro would never treat Keith like this,” because it is a direct contrast to how Shiro used to treat him. And if Dreamworks comes out and says that this is the real Shiro, and that this is supposedly IC? First of all, that’s nonsense, but second of all, I’m livid, because of all the people in that Castle, Shiro is the only one who (presumably) knows Keith’s history, and therefore should know how to talk to Keith, how to reach him, and why it’s important to do so. Hell, even Shireplica supposedly has Shiro’s memories, so he should know as well. The fact that he knows and apparently doesn’t care is a huge problem to me, and a huge impediment to me liking him, but regardless, I’d rather it be Shireplica than Shiro. I’d rather not believe that the real Shiro cares more about results than reasons, that the real Shiro cares more about piloting the Black Lion than he does whether or not Keith feels like he’s part of the team. Either way, the “Shiro” in S3 and S4 clearly doesn’t want to try to reach Keith, either. He makes absolutely no attempt to truly reach out to him, at all. Because trust me, if he did? If he did genuinely try to listen to Keith instead of shutting him down time and again? Keith would have responded. In fact, Keith tried multiple times to talk to “Shiro” and was rebuffed every time. The problem wasn’t Keith in this particular relationship. The problem was “Shiro”.

As for Allura and Coran, well, I can’t remember ever seeing Keith and Coran so much as have a conversation, much less bond. Allura did try, as mentioned above. Even in that fake af goodbye scene (more on that in a second), she questioned if the reason why he pulled away was because he felt he wasn’t worthy of being the leader. She wanted to hear what he was thinking and feeling. She tried to reach out to him, she clearly did care (as also demonstrated in 4x01 when she saw him in the crowd and her face just falls with sadness and worry) … but because their relationship has been on such a slow burn, Allura still doesn’t know him very well yet either. This is particularly true since they went through such a rough patch in S2, when Allura’s prejudices made her act coldly toward him for a while after she found out about his heritage. (Though before anyone starts hating on Allura, remember that she learned and grew from that, so don’t hate on her, thanks.) Thus, though she does try to reach out to him in S4, she can’t do so from a standpoint of a strong and familiar bond. She’s not someone that Keith has really opened up to yet. He does answer her question genuinely, but it’s too late, and she recognizes that.

And yeah, that goodbye scene was fake as hell. Pidge says that they’re going to miss him, but since when? Again, we’ve never seen Keith and Pidge bond, and Pidge was one of the most vocal team members when it came to shredding him for his leadership decisions. Lance says, “Who am I going to make fun of?” as if that would ever be a reason to get anyone to stay, and as if Lance himself didn’t make it pretty clear near the end of S3 that the only reason why he’d choose to spend any time talking to Keith alone is because Keith was the leader, not because they were friends. “Shiro” says that they’re always there for him, and Keith does accept this with a smile, but considering the fact that “Shiro” has been shutting him down and refusing to listen to him ever since his “return”, I find that hard to believe (especially since Keith himself feels that he’s not needed, and didn’t remember any of them when he was about to sacrifice himself in 4x06). And while I can’t say anything about what Hunk and Allura said (and Coran didn’t say anything), I can point out that not a single goddamn one of them missed him AT ALL in the episodes that followed. Setting aside how they were all very willing to let him go off on a mission that could last for weeks or more without a fight, we didn’t get one single instance of them thinking about or mentioning Keith in the episodes that followed. Pidge didn’t mention him at all to Matt when she was showing him around the Castle (when a, “Oh … and this was Keith’s room” downcast moment would have put more truth behind her “we’re really going to miss you” statement from the goodbye). Allura seemed genuinely disgruntled about having to play Keith in the stupid show, and Coran said “just be really moody” as if that summed up Keith’s entire personality. None of them said anything to him (and he didn’t have any dialogue either) when they were talking to Kolivan and Keith in 4x05. Like, say what you will about the four episodes that Shiro wasn’t present in S3, but he was constantly being brought up, the team was constantly talking about how they missed him. By contrast, not a single damn member of Team Voltron gave a fucking fuck that Keith was gone. Allura, Coran, “Shiro”, Pidge, Lance, Hunk—none of them missed him at all. And yeah, all things considered, that really pisses me off.

Because again: I can understand why Keith has difficulties communicating and connecting with the rest of the team, but he also tries regardless. In 1x01 he says “it’s been an honor flying with you boys” despite barely knowing any of them outside of Shiro. In 1x05 (I think—might have been 1x04) he was genuinely upset when Lance walked back their “bonding moment” because he thought they were really going to make progress as teammates and potential friends. He genuinely and warmly welcomes Pidge back to the team, he tries to protect Allura from the Arusian’s “strongest warrior”, he laughs with Hunk at the party, he encourages Hunk in the Weblum (despite Hunk making microaggressions against his galran heritage for the entire episode), he seems genuinely disappointed when Lance says that he has only come to talk to Keith because Keith is the leader now in S3, and so on and so forth. Yes, Keith has difficulties connecting and communicating as a result of prolonged trauma in his formative years that have shaped how he has grown as a person, and yes, as far as we know he has never been taught how to deal with this. However, he’s still trying, he’s still doing his best, he makes legitimate efforts to connect with Team Voltron.

But they do not give him that same courtesy. Lance refuses to like him right from the start, and Hunk and Pidge follow his lead. Allura tries to balance friendship with being the princess / commander, and her relationship with Keith hits a brief rough patch when she learns of his heritage (that she then tries to work through). Coran and Keith are never in the same room alone together from what I recall, and while Shiro did try in S1 and S2, when he “returns” in S3, that effort is completely gone. He no longer wants to listen to what Keith has to say until Keith says he is leaving, and only then does he decide not to argue it (whereas all of Keith’s attempts at leadership were met with disagreement and shut downs, hmmm …). 

So yeah, I’m pissed as all hell at Team Voltron. To be quite honest, they don’t fucking deserve Keith at this point. Especially considering the farcical nonsense in 4x04, he’s too good for them, and I hope he stays with the Blade of Marmora for a while. At least Kolivan shows him some basic respect and consideration. And I, too, hope that Keith and Lotor end up getting along. The last thing I want is for Lotor to join the coalition since the coalition seems to have Shireplica in the commander’s seat, but I do think it’d be neat as all hell to see him join the Blade of Marmora, and to have Keith be one of the Marmorites testing him. That would finally give us our Keith vs. Lotor swordfight, too.

We’ll have to see what happens, but yeah. At this point, I think Team Voltron owes Keith six apologies. They sure as hell better line the fuck up.

(don’t reblog this, please. I do NOT want Discourse™, at all, thanks.)

[ilyalivegirl]

i always feel an "outsider" everywhere i go. i just dont fit in. kahit na mag-adjust ako for them, it doesn't work out. magpaka-totoo ako o hindi, i just dont belong. so the loneliness has always been with me, mapa-fam or friends. i even started going to a christian church thinking that i'd get better when i start believing in God but everything i do just wont feel right. pero i still believed i'd get better. kaso ilang years ko ng dinadala, bat ganon, it gets better just for me to feel worse

hey, anon. i’m sorry you’re feeling this way. i know what it’s like to feel like you’re always outside looking in. i know it can be lonely. i think what helped me through it is learning more about who i am, and spending time with myself. maybe question where all the need to “fit in” comes from? why do i treat love & friendships as rewards to my “hardwork”/“adjustment”? why do i give up parts of myself that i assume people will dislike about me? what clicked for me is realizing that i define myself w things outside of myself. “if i’m loved, then i’m lovable. if i’m left behind, then i’m unlovable.” unlearning this helped me build a healthy relationship with myself and to find comfort in being alone. anon, i wish i knew the right words, but here is a quote that helped me:

“As long as you imagine that the outside world will one day deliver to you the external rewards you need to feel happy, you will always perceive your survival as exhausting and perceive your life as a long slog to nowhere. Instead, you have to savor the tiny struggles of the day: The cold glass of water after a long run. The hot bath after hours of digging through the dirt. The satisfaction of writing a good sentence, a good paragraph. You MUST feel these things, because these aren’t small rewards on the path to some big reward; these tiny things are everything. Savoring these things requires tuning in to your feelings, and it requires loving yourself instead of shoving your nose into your own question marks hour after hour, day after day.”

this quote is from this article wc also helped me in the past: https://www.thecut.com/2016/04/ask-polly-why-should-i-keep-going.html read it whenever u can 💙

anw, it’s been a tiring day but you did well today! give urself credit for reaching out and working hard 💙