#this one however is very weird i don't like it at all

[drdemonprince]

I keep seeing the posts about male socialization and idk it makes me feel weird because I identify as transfem and I *do* believe I had male socialization. I find it easier to identify with and understand male groups and to feel involved in the while I feel less at ease understanding how women feel and think even though my personal view of myself leans more towards a feminine identity. All these posts make me doubt that I am truly "transfem" and that even if I am, that I am fundamentally transfem in a different way than most other transfems I run into. Is there any sources or writing out there that either provides a counter-perspective or at the very least points to nuance on this subject from a transfem lens? I wish I didn't feel so alone with these feelings.

Your feelings and experience do not make you any less legitimate as a transfeminine person. A lot of trans women rightfully and understandably need to counteract the notion that they're oppressive privileged males or whatever by asserting, as clearly as they can, the many ways in which their socialization was a female socialization, with all the double-standards, demanded emotional labor, sexual predation, etc that entails -- but the very need to assert these things is due to the culture's twisted misconceptions about what gender even is and how it operates.

It's not as though a young person only gets the socialization of the binary gender to which they were assigned -- they get mandatory cishet socialization, and they see what is expected of the "other" gender, and that impacts them, and the standards for that other gender also influence how they are interpreted and seen.

And so I do think, to a certain extent, that when trans people assert that we actually didn't get socialized as our assigned gender at birth, we got socialized as the correct gender, actually, we are unfortunately ceding ground to the transphobes on a couple of key points. One, we're conceeding that there is a singular binary socialization that the two genders each get, which are separate from one another and always exhibit specific features, and two, that a person's socialization as a young person is a key determinant of their gendered experience, privilege, and identity forever, no matter what happens after they are young.

And you know, both those things are totally wrong. There is no one female socialization. I've written about this before, but I wasn't raised to be feminine. I was raised the way working-class girls are raised, which is to be no-nonsense, unfrivolous, serious, sporty, and capable -- a wife and mother, but the kind that never wears a skirt or cries in front of people. And there is no singular "male" socialization either -- I cite a few trans femme people in this piece who experienced themselves as having some male privilege before they transitioned, and some more typically "male" experiences, while also quoting a number of trans women whose lives went the exact opposite way. I assert in the piece that their experiences are theirs to name, and that there's a number of different ways we might each understand and categorize them personally -- especially when we take into account how much gendered socialization is dependent upon class, race, immigration status, diasporic status, and much more.

My view is that however you think your live played out, and whoever you find community alongside, you're right. I'm about to answer a similar ask about this from a trans masc perspective, but I'm a guy who has a ton of women friends and always have. I grew up mostly with girls as my closest buddies and we did things like playing pretend and having slumber parties and doing makeovers. I could chalk this up as a "female socialization" experience I guess if I wanted to. But I also grew up with a lot of gay boys, and I am a gay man, and guess what -- a lot of us grow up with predominately female friends. I don't think I have some essential feminine quality because my friends kept insisting on putting eyeshadow on me when I was ten. The fact I was bad at sports and couldn't be the tough, no-nonsense person that my culture expected me to be was gonna affect me whether I was a boy or a girl. And my upbringing was significantly different from that of one of my very best, oldest friends, whose family owned a successful business and were able to buy her a car and a horse and shit.

You're not betraying anything or lessening your own transfemininity by resonating with some typically "male" experiences or for having close male connections. Lots of queer women do! Just like I have plenty in common with lots of women! We don't say that cis women aren't women because they grew up tomboys, or had a ton of brothers, and the same is true of you. Even if you don't think of your younger self as "a tomboy" or even as a girl. You don't have to ascribe to the narrative that you were always one gender and always moved through the world with that identity. To demand that all trans people do so is respectability politics -- we cannot and should not require that all people be trans in the same ways. I have written before that transition to me feels at once both pre-ordained AND a choice that I made. You can say that you lived as a boy for some years or were a boy if that feels right to you, or that you had certain privileges while also suffering from dysphoria and disconnection; it's your life and you know it best and what serves you.

I wish I had narratives from trans women writers to direct you to, but for the most part the trans women who I've heard express feelings like yours have been in the support and discussion groups I've been in, and in private conversation -- I think because the socialization experiences of trans femmes are so unfairly politicized. I hope if any trans femme people see this have anything to share or any words to say that they will!

[redr0sewrites]

k. takami nsfw alphabet

🍊 A/n: wanted to do one of these for a long time hehe! also cannot believe this is my first time writing for hawks like,,,,

🍊 Cw: nsfw, smut, marking, phone sex, breeding kink, mutual masturbation, corruption kink, overstimulation

🍊 dividers

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

the first word that comes to mind is definitely clingy. i think that after sex, especially with someone whom he's very close with emotionally, Hawks is really desperate for physical contact and intimacy. his aftercare game is okay, he'd put in the effort, but he prefers to just relax and cuddle with you and deal with any mess in the morning. i also think he'd prefer to be pampered a bit rather than do the pampering, but if you're too tired i do think he'd take care of you too. falls asleep as close as possible to you, often crushing you.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

i think on himself, Hawks struggles a lot with choosing a favorite, but overall i think its his hands. they're a lot softer than the rest of him, since he's always wearing gloves, and he loves that they give you so much pleasure. plus, i think he has like larger hands than most, and they're just very pretty (and he has prominent veins + a bit of hair on his knuckles urgrhrhrhr im deceased). on you, i think he's either a tummy or thighs type of guy. he likes resting on your stomach or thighs because his wings make it difficult to sleep on his back, and he also really enjoys how much your thighs and stomach tremble when you're overstimulated or about to cum. likes leaving hickeys there as well.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

honestly he'll cum anywhere. if you're just a hookup Hawks is pretty normal about it, he'll use a condom and call it a day, but if he's in an intimate relationship with someone i think he'd really like cumming inside or on your stomach or chest. seeing his cum dripping on your body kinda soothes those weird primal bird instincts he sometimes gets- i feel like he would occasionally get super possessive about cumming on you. he also really likes how wet you get when he's already cum inside a few times and can hear soft squelches everytime he thrusts into you, thats just like an oddly specific turn on of his.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

definitely masturbates to the thought of you, probably even before you officially get together. i don't think he's a big fan of porn, so Hawks pretty much only gets off using his imagination. has probably sneaked a few photos of you in a low cut shirt or tight shorts to use for... later purposes. the embarrassment and shame he feels about violating your privacy only turns him on more. in addition to this, Hawks has a v complicated relationship with morality and would probably get turned on by nefarious or risky acts like public sex or something of the like, simply because it would probably ruin his public image.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

experienced in hookups, but not in intimacy, if that makes sense. like sure, Hawks has slept with people, but hasn't had many long term or romantic partners. all this to say, he's experienced with fucking, but not so much with truly making love. either way, he's talented in getting you off, but probably not talented with specific kinks or holding eye contact n stuff- at least at first.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

basic missionary, mating press, or 69ing. he likes seeing your face and reactions, especially if you're in a serious relationship. however, he's also a certified munch and loves giving head so he drabbles in that as well.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

honestly it depends on his mood. sometimes i can see Hawks being very silly and taking it slow, probably when you're more comfortable in the relationship or are feeling especially tired or emotional. however when he's stressed or irritated he's more serious and less prone to joking around. also depends on how you respond, and if his silliness lightens the mood and makes you more comfortable, then he's damn well trying his hardest to please you.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

amazing at manscaping. pubes are a little darker than the rest of his hair, probably curl too. he trims but doesn't shave completely, and has a really nice happy trail. probably spends a lot of time on self care,, in addition to this, he probably wouldn't care on whether or not his partner shaves, but would probably have a preference for more hair rather than none.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

at first Hawks isn't great with intimacy but gets better as the relationship progresses. at the start he's mildly awkward and moreso pursuing pleasure than emotional connections, but once he's sure that the relationship is serious than he himself is a lot more romantic. if he truly cares for you than you best believe he's going all out- from rose petals to candlelight, he wants you to know that he cares. i also think he'd be very sweet and considerate during the deed, like even at the start of a relationship he will always make sure he isn't hurting you or making you feel uncomfortable in any way.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

does it a lot. he has a pretty high libido, and he can't be around you all the time, and while he wishes that he could sleep with you whenever he's feeling horny it can't be helped that some nights are spent with him fucking into his fist instead. like ive said before, he's not a big fan of porn and would prefer to jack off to you or photos of you. HUUGEEE on phone sex and mutual masturbation, especially when he's away on hero business, and its so hot to hear him rasping and whimpering into the speaker about how much he misses you and wishes you were there.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

starting off strong, definitely marking. loves to mark you and be marked himself. wears hickeys with pride. also big on overstim, both giving and receiving. its just super hot to him to watch you squirm, but also likes to be fucked dumb as well. mild corruption kink, especially if you're super inexperienced, because most of the time he's probably the more experienced person in any sexual relationship. likes flustering you a lot. some more include praise, especially receiving, and also sensory play, both giving and receiving

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

prefers the bedroom, but would also not mind public sex or perhaps in a cramped space. likes the risk, but it's so inconvenient, especially with his wings. also a fan of bath or hot tub sex

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

lots of things. gets really horny around spring, again, bird instincts, but most of the time it's just you simply existing that gets him going. really likes seeing you in revealing clothes, especially when you're intentionally trying to tease him. big fan of thigh highs or garters, and crop tops that show your stomach. also when you touch his wings or feathers. that is probably the quickest way to turn him on.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

i'd say hawks is pretty experimental, but wouldn't want to do anything that he thinks would hurt you too much or make you uncomfortable. i also think he'd be ehh in terms of wax play or fire play for obvious reasons unless you really truly wanted to try it out, but other than that i think he's down for anything you would like to try.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

giver giver giver. as much as he loves receiving, Hawks fucking LOVES to give head, he's absolutely a certified munch and whether or not you have a pussy or dick he's sucking and slurping like its his last meal. loves how you taste, loves when you grind your hips against his face and chin, loves when you cum in his mouth, loves when your thighs squeeze his head. also fucking loves facesitting. please just let him drown between your thighs...

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

honestly his pace varies. when Hawks is pissed off he tends to be a lot rougher and filthier, but he also has a really soft n gentle side too. it depends a lot on how he's feeling and how you're feeling in the moment. i do think he has a lot of stress, especially prewar!Hawks, and so that definitely leads to a lot of rough sex. i also think he likes savoring the moment though, and obviously he loves you a lot so he wouldn't want to hurt you. sure, people say he goes too fast for his own good, but he's more than willing to slow down for you.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

loves them. any and every chance he gets, Hawks is more than willing to fuck you. overall the mixture of both risk and passion is very appealing to him, and since he's often super busy, he appreciates any sex you can hve that fits your respective schedules. fifteen minutes before an important meeting? sure, he's got time to spare- he'll sit you on his desk and eat you out/suck you off until your seeing stars with a few minutes to spare.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

definitely big on risk, and is willing to try anything you want to try. however, a lot of his preferences depend on you rather than himself, and so he's also fine with being pretty vanilla in the bedroom as well. really likes teasing you in public or inconvenient places tho,,, half the hero community has caught you both making out at least once or twice

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

out of all the Bnha men he probably has the highest stamina. not only can he last a while, but he doesn't take long to recover after an orgasm. and, in addition to this, more often than not he's focused much more on his partners pleasure than his own so i really see him being determined to make you cum at least three times, if not more. overall he's got great stamina and he's very focused on your pleasure soo,,, A+ partner

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

probably never really thought about using toys on himself, at least until he started sleeping with you. you introduce him to a bullet vibrator and he cums so many times he's shaking n whimpering. when it comes to you, he loves using toys on you to tease you, but prefers to actually get you off using his own body. doesn't mean he won't use them, but prefers to make you cum himself. has a trusty pair of handcuffs that he uses a lot though

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

ohhh all the time. teases you both in public and in private, sometimes when he's not even horny and just for his own enjoyment. teases you a lot in the bedroom as well, and just. loves seeing you squirm. teases you a lot with his feathers too- like you'll be taking a casual stroll when all of a sudden a slim red feather is sliding under your shirt to rest against your chest,,,, how odd! i also think Hawks would tease you a lot unintentionally? like he's rubbing your thigh while he's driving or pulling you into a kiss by the neck and then wondering why you get so hot n bothered. his hand placement is peak, he's incredibly flirtatious even when he doesn't mean to be, and overall he's just. a huge tease. he's a total hypocrite though because Hawks gets soo pouty when you tease him. he's like miraculously surprisingly easy to fluster simply because he's not used to being the one on the receiving end.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

when he's more dominant i don't think he's as vocal as when he's submissive. when he's domming i think you'll hear a lot of groans and dirty talk but overall he's relatively quiet, however when he's subbing he moans and whimpers a lot. i also think he talks a lot during sex, like he babbles about how hot you are and how good he feels even when he's more dominant

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

his wings/feathers + back are very sensitive and a huge erogenous zone ! they're also very expressive and if you watch his wings a lot, it's easy to tell when he's worked up or horny simply because of little tells he has. however they can also be ticklish sometimes, so occasionally during sex he gets a little giggly because the its both pleasurable but also. hes ticklish.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

he's big, and very pretty. i'd say at least 7 inches, maybe 7.5 when he's hard. he's got a few prominent veins on the underside of his cock, and a very nice happy trail too. his tip is also a very nice shade of pinky brown.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

his sex drive is pretty high, not insanely so but to the point where he tries to sleep with you at least once a week, but if you're sex drive is very low he's fine with compromising. if you're sex drive is higher than his though? you're absolutely blessed because he's more than willing to fuck wherever and whenever. a personal hc of mine is that Hawks is like especially horny during the spring... bird mating season.... so be prepared. i just think its kinda funny

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

honestly it depends on how quickly you fall asleep. if you want to clean up before going to sleep and get some aftercare done, then sure he'll stay up, but if you want to stay in bed and cuddle and leave the mess till the morning... well he's out like a light.

i love these type of hcs SO much, i have another set for shigaraki and touya on the way.... anywyss ! hope u enjoyed!! PLS SEND IN BNHA REQS RAHH

[tiffsturniolo]

𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄

𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬- none!

𝐚/𝐧- woop woop! first day of december, felt this blurb fitted nicely cause i always put my christmas tree up december first

------------------------------------------------------------

it's December 1st. and its a tradition in the sturniolo household to decorate the christmas tree the moment it turns into the christmas month.

they have a remarkably big tree, big enough that you can't reach the top unless you're like- 6’5, which you all know the triplets are far from.

as michael bublé's "It's beginning to look a lot like christmas" plays in the background, you, matt, chris, and nick are dozing around the big christmas tree. the cozy lights are sparkling on the branches, and the colorful ornaments are just waiting to be put up.

nick lifts a brightly colored ornament from the box, his eyes widening in surprise as he gasps dramatically. “I made this one in elementary!” he exclaims, grinning stupidly. the ornament is a tacky snowflake crafted from popsicle sticks.

“bro, that is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life. that's not going on my tree” Matt laughs.

chris scowls disbelievingly at matt. “dont diss the childhood diy ornaments bro, you have no heart”

“can we at least put it lower so no one can see it?” matt practically begs and frowns unapprovingly at the ugly thing.

you see, matt has always been a perfectionist. He wants the tree to look perfect, and the baubles to be placed in the most perfect space.

if you accidentally cluster too much of the same colour ornament around each other, matt will just discreetly move them into a better place when your back is turned, not to hurt your feelings.

however, if chris managed to place them in the wrong spot, matt has no problem with harshly telling him off for it.

“chris! are you fucking stupid? you can't just shove them on and expect them to look nice! that looks shit!” matt scolds and moves them.

“dude, your such a grinch, just let me do whatever” chris rolls his eyes.

you try tune out the bickering between your boyfriend and chris and turn your focus to nick. “It's so tall, how do you even put the star on top?” you ask.

nick doesn't answer your question, but just marches his way to matt’s room, later coming out with a small step ladder.

“we won't be needing that.” matt says instantly.

nick furrows his brows at him judgingly. “are you stupid? I know you think you’re 5’10 on a good day but that's still not gonna do it”

as you study the tree, and the size of matt, trying to see if he was tall enough, you suddenly feel your legs levitating off the ground.

you look down and see matt's brown locks between your legs, lifting you off the ground and hoisting you onto his shoulders.

“matt!” you scream as you desperately try not to fall off, gripping tightly onto his hair.

“I have you, I have you, s’kay” he chuckles as the screech leaves your mouth, wrapping his slender hands around your thighs for support.

but the smile on his face quickly vanishes when he feels his hair being almost pulled out.

“ow! be careful with my hair!” he huffs and tries to pry your hands away.

“put me down! matthew put me down now!” you demand and attempt to wiggle your hands away from his grasp so you can hold on properly. the ground seems a bit too far away for your liking, and the smirk on his face adds to your frustration.

“put the star on first,” he argues, bringing one hand off your thigh to rub the bit of hair you pulled. “and don't pull my hair again.”

chris and nick exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of amused disbelief and mild disgust as they observed you and matt behaving all weird and affectionate.

chris bends down, rummaging in the box to find the star then handing it to you.

you take the star off chris and cautiously lean forward, reaching your hand out to place the star on the very tip of the tree.

“okay, I’m done, put me down now” you usher, and matt slowly crouches down onto the floor, helping you carefully step off his shoulders.

with a low groan, matt pushes himself off the ground, examining the placement of the star. “perfect” he smiles warmly at you, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek.

you try and keep a straight face, feigning annoyance, but can't help but crack a smile and roll your eyes at the kiss.

“why not use the step ladder?” you huff.

“thats not as fun now is it?”

——————————————————————————

@gabssturniolo @lizzyzzn @iloveduckssm

𝐚/𝐧-if you wanna be added to my taglist just tell me or go onto my pinned post, press taglist and comment on there!

[lostbrazilian]

Throwing my 2 cents in because I'm totally and completely normal about this show: like others have said already I also believe that Cyn and the Absolute Solver are different entities, HOWEVER, I don't think Cyn was a helpless victim in all of it, much to the contrary. I think Cyn is fucked up like that of her own volition and that the Solver is not an actively malevolent entity so much as a more "neutral" cosmic horror

My take is that there's kind of a DnD Warlock situation going on: The Absolute Solver is the power/entity behind the power itself, and it just lends it's Solver abilities to Drones that come into contact with it, either willingly as seen with Cyn or unwilling trough experiments and weird robo-genetics in Uzi and Doll's case

And while using the Solver DOES likely influence it's hosts to an extent, mostly by forcing/inducing users to consume oil and eat the core of planets, it doesn't make it's hosts necessarily "evil"; it just so happened that the it's first know host, Cyn, was an unstable and damaged AI with very good reason to hate all humankind, hence the whole genocide thing. Plus, it's not a stretch to say that Cyn probably went VERY crazy with power VERY quickly, hence why she calls herself "The Solver of the Absolute Fabric", seeing herself as an omnipotent god (and for good reason to be fair)

The main evidence towards this are the different Solver colors, aka the distinct ways in which the Solver's power have manifested in different characters. Cyn's visor is yellow, so her Solver and everything related to it (like the Dissasemblers or drones possessed by Cyn) is yellow as well. Meanwhile, Nori, Yeva, and their daughters all have distinct Solver colors, and more importantly, don't mimick Cyn's particular strain of murderous behavior unless explicitly shown to be possessed by her. This is further supported by the finale, where we can explicitly see Uzi using two different "strains" of the Solver power due to assimilating Cyn

This leads me to believe that each Solver-using drone has made its own "deal" with the entity in one way or another, it just so happens that being the most experienced Solver user AND a likely megalomaniac, Cyn has both the skill and the reasoning to go after these other Solver drones to either assimilate or neutralize them, hence why she goes after the drone population in Copper-9 as well as the human labs responsible for creating more Solver drones, which do end up responsible for her downfall

If the Absolute Solver itself was the one behind all that, you'd think each infected drone would act as a hivemind, all sharing the same powers and Solver color, but they didn't soooo.... yeah

Was it always Cyn or the Solver?

I know i'm kinda late to the game but i just finished watching murder drones and now I HAVE THOUGHTS

Like the fact that the Cyn we were shown may have never actually been her. There's so many implications that the Solver was an outside entity that found a way to manifest in Cyn's code when she self-rebooted in flashbacks of Home; when on Cyn's visor after she wakes up in the junkyard, it tells her she's been discarded and if she gives it admin access it will not discard her. Would the Solver have killed her off for good if she had said no? Did the Solver promise her revenge for what the humans had done to her and that's what she agreed to, not knowing the full consequences?

We know that Tessa and the others were genuinely fond of her in the beginning. Then something changed. Had it been her originally, learning how to love them and to be loved in return -- whether she wanted revenge or not -- while the Solver remained dormant in her system? Or had it been the Solver, pretending to be her until it got powerful enough to drop the act?

Did Cyn have to watch as her family began to dislike her because of the Solver's slip ups in behavior, unable to do anything? As they believed that it was her that was evil, not the Solver? Was grafting Tessa's skin the Solver's morbid way to keep her with them, to ease Cyn's pain of killing her with her own two hands?

Had the Solver actually grown attached to the others in the end, or had that been Cyn getting slowly absorbed body and mind with the Solver... until there was nothing left of her at all?

[dairy-farmer]

Have another long and incredibly convoluted idea (are you getting tired of all the back story I always yet?)

I remember hearing once, a long ago (honestly, I could be remembering completely wrong/it could have been a weird dream I had one time/ it could have been one of those weird racist propaganda things) about a culture that, in order to keep women safe from evil spirits, required them to be 'married' their whole lives. When a baby girl was born, a male relative or close friend would be 'married' to the girl. In practice it's more like being an uncle figure or godparent, and when the woman is grown and finds someone they want to actually marry, the original 'marriage' is dissolved.

Another thing I remember hearing, which I am much more certain is real somewhere, is that third marriages were considered very unlucky, so if a woman wanted to marry a third time (remember, for much of human history it wasn't surprising for someone's spouse to die on them and then have to remarry) she would marry a tree, and then the tree would be cut down and burned, taking the bad luck with it and letting her marry a fourth time.

So I'm going to mix those two to make something new and interesting! While women are considered to be at risk to evil spirits if unmarried, they're considered safe until their first period. And society and science have moved on enough that it's treated more like a ceremonial thing than an actual real concern, so 'marrying' inanimate objects and such and then destroying them when you get married to a real person is generally how it works now. Well, the dead also count for this safety marriage thing; generally you just make a statement along the lines of "death has now parted my husband and I" at the beginning of your wedding ceremony to an actual living person.

I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this 😘.

Tim gets his first period shortly after becoming Robin, and even though he's not a girl and the whole marrying thing is generally seen as old fashioned superstition and no one's really judged for ignoring it, considering all the weird stuff superheroes run into, Bruce and Tim decide the safest thing is for him to get 'married'. He considered marrying an action figure or a photo or even a tree, but honestly? He had a huge crush on Jason before he died, and you don't actually need permission to marry a dead person for this kind of thing (nuns for example are all married to Jesus, and there was a fad during the Cold War to marry your pubescent daughters to one of the founding fathers. Still, it's generally considered good manners to ask, if they have close living relatives.)

So of course, Tim asks to marry Jason. Bruce considers saying no, but he remembers Jason gushing about his favorite regency romance novels and how he wanted to get married someday, and agrees. It's a very small private ceremony, with a tiny announcement in the paper, as is customary.

Obviously Jason comes back and is planning his revenge and an epic beat down for his replacement. However, while doing some final recon to make sure all the information Talia gave him was correct, he comes across the announcement of his 'marriage' to Tim Drake. And suddenly Jason is filled with a lot of hard to identify feelings. It also throws a wrench in his plan, because he promised himself that he would never become like Willis and would never raise a hand to his wife. Sure, it was more of a formality and no one expected him to come back to life, but Tim was still technically his wife!

He also discovered that Talia was not completely truthful with him, either leaving out things completely or twisting the truth - she had told him Bruce didn't do anything to the Joker, but it turns out Superman had had to physically stop Batman from killing the bastard clown; and even then only because to prevent a bizarre international political incident (WHAT???). It's annoying that Bruce never tried again, but at least it looks like he did try. And then Jason has a brilliant idea.

A few weeks later Tim comes home from school to find Jason Todd, alive and kicking, cooking dinner in the Drake Manor kitchen. Obviously Tim is thrown for a loop and bombards Jason with questions, not really pausing for answers. Jason just finishes up dinner while Tim babbles and theorizes, and realizes he finds it kind of cute.

Finally Jason just grabs a hold of Tim, pulls him close, and kisses him deeply, shutting Tim up. Tim is stunned for nearly a whole minute after the kiss ends, before he turns bright red and asks why Jason did that?!😳

"Well," Jason drawls, crowding Tim against a wall " why shouldn't I kiss my cute little wife?" Tim ends up very distracted for a while but eventually gets back to his questions.

Turns out Jason's brilliant new plan? He's still gonna be the Red Hood and permanently deal with those who really need to be dealt with, but instead of a big blow up confrontation with Bruce? Jason is just gonna shack up with his cute little wife and completely refuse to acknowledge him. And not in a 'Bruce will never know I came back' way. No no no 😈!

He's going to make a big show about being alive again, announce it to the world and spin some story about having actually been kidnapped instead of murdered, do all of the blood tests and stuff to prove his identity etc etc. Reconnect with Alfred and Dick, meet his new sister Cass, enroll in school, and all that jazz.

But he will completely ignore Bruce's existence.

Won't look at him, won't speak to him - doesn't matter if they're in the same room, he just pretends Bruce doesn't exist. He teams up with his sweet wifey and Batman happens to be there? Poor Tim has to repeat everything Bruce says so Jason will acknowledge it (Jason never has anything to say back to Bruce).

Bruce is losing his goddamn mind. His son is literally right there!!! Alive and healthy and not that insane or vengeful! But Jason will not acknowledge him! He even turned a blind eye when Joker washed up in the harbor dead, with a single bullet hole right between his eyes. But still nothing 😭! At this point he would have preferred being shouted at and shot at!

Don't worry, Jason plans to start acknowledging Bruce again eventually... It just might not be until after he and Tim have some cute babies, and he's not in any rush for that 😘.

~❤️🦇

bruce going insane with jason right there but refusing to speak or interact with him while jason is very much into being a married man and spending tim with his new little wife 💖💖💖!!!!!

[finnlongman]

Do you have to get a master’s degree or a PhD to publish research? Or work at a university? I don’t currently plan to go into academia but I really enjoy doing research, is it possible to do that as a hobby/side job? (Specifically asking in relation to literature, obviously research in things like the natural sciences requires the extra training and lab access by default)

An important note to start with: basically nobody is getting paid for academic publishing. Especially not for articles. They write them for free, they're peer-reviewed for free, they're edited for free. The only people making money are usually the big corporate owners of journals, if it is a big corporate journal and not one of the small independent ones. It's all a huge scam, obviously, but the idea is that people who have an academic job will be publishing the research produced in the course of that job, and thus they are already being paid for doing the research. In an age of precarious employment, it doesn't really work like that, but that's the idea.

That means you can't really do it as a side job, because there isn't any money in it. Doing it as a hobby, on the other hand, is theoretically possible, although I'd have some major caveats to offer:

On the publishing side, I can only speak for my particular field of medieval Celtic Studies, which is weird and old-fashioned and works on arcane and unknowable systems that deeply confuse anyone in a field advanced enough to have heard of "digital submissions" and "online journals". One of our major journals is literally run by one guy who requires you to do all the page proofs by hand and post them back to him and you can buy the (physical-only) journal for £5 per volume. This is not typical for academia these days, so all of my answers are going to be shaped by that.

On the publishing side, you definitely don't have to have a PhD or an academic job to publish an article, which I know because I have published several articles and am only now doing a PhD, so by definition I did that without a PhD or an academic job. This is unusual, for the record; I know very few people who've published before doing a PhD, but that's partly because a lot of my friends went straight through from undergrad to postgrad with no time out, and thus wouldn't have had time to be publishing in between, whereas I took a more leisurely approach.

However, two of these articles were significantly based on my MA work, and one of them -- the only one so far published in an actual journal rather than a conference proceedings -- would have been completely impossible without skills and knowledge gained during my MA. That isn't to say there is no way to gain those skills without doing postgraduate study. But it does mean that there are specific skills required that require training and experience, whether you get that in a university context or find a way to learn it outside of that. (For example, palaeographical or linguistic training, or a firm grounding in theoretical approaches, specific methodologies, etc.)

The purpose of doing an MA or a PhD a lot of the time is to pursue research and gain those skills. If you really enjoy doing research to the point where you would want to publish it (note above: zero financial reward for doing so), I would question why you don't want to pursue higher education. There are lots of reasons not to, for sure, so this isn't me saying the only valid research comes out of that environment or that it's the only path to academic fulfillment. Again: I published articles before I started my PhD. One of my articles is even based on undergraduate work, though substantially revised and redeveloped.

But... that is a point. It was substantially revised and redeveloped. Because for the most part, work produced without the higher-level study and skills (whether gained formally or informally) is not going to be of the same calibre as work produced with them, which seems kind of obvious when you spell it out. There is more to literary research than just close-reading a text and having a lot of thoughts about it, because if there wasn't, nobody would need to do postgrad study about it.

Literature may have different, less obvious skills required than natural sciences, but that doesn't mean it has none. It does mean they may be easier to acquire outside of formal academic courses, but that doesn't mean they don't need acquiring, however you do it.

There are also practical barriers to publishing as an independent scholar. Sometimes these are financial barriers, where not having institutional support will mean you can't publish open-access because you don't have the funding to support it. Sometimes they're things like library access -- when my article in Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies came out in 2022, I was not currently in academia, nor was I living within easy reach of an academic library, which made it incredibly hard to check references or follow up on suggestions from peer reviewers. The editor of the journal was kind enough to send me scans of articles that had been recommended by reviewers, but not all editors would do that, and so without access to past scholarship, it would be very hard to write something academically solid.

Again, there are other ways to gain that access. I have spent a fair bit of my adult life working in universities in a non-academic capacity, which entitled me to use their libraries even though I wasn't a student or officially "in academia". Many fields have a larger proportion of their scholarship digitally available, which can make it easier to access without physically going to a library. Etc. But it is a barrier, and the financial hurdles are less easily overcome. (Fortunately, very little in my field is pay-to-publish, but Open Access costs can be troublesome!)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that all of my currently-available articles were published before I started my PhD, and I was not "in academia" at the time that I wrote them, but all but one of them was based on work I had done as a student, and they relied heavily on skills and knowledge I developed as an MA student. I am now as a PhD student seeing elements I could have done better, having built on those skills and that knowledge further. Subsequent work was submitted while working for a university in a non-academic capacity, because this gave me access to their libraries. (Which really shows you how long I've been procrastinating on finishing the edits for this article, because I've been a PhD student for over a year now... I originally submitted it in January last year, whoops.) Again, I have ended up subsequently revising this as I improve as a scholar.

So, technically I have done research as a "hobby" alongside a non-academic day job. Technically it is possible. It is hard, but you can do it, if you really want to. But I think I would have struggled to produce anything of a sufficient standard for publication if not for my MA and the skills I learned during it, and there is zero financial reward for academic publishing, so it's definitely not a viable "side job".

Having said all that: If you want to keep researching things alongside your other work, there is absolutely no reason not to do that. Formal academic publishing isn't the only way of doing research, you know? It's probably not even the best way, even if it's the current institutional standard for sharing that research with other people. But you can just... learn things, and enjoy them, and post about them on your blog, and so on. Lots of people do this. Sometimes the most useful website collecting resources or variants of a text or commentaries or whatever is run by a complete randomer with a job in a totally unrelated field who is just super into this in their free time.

And I will also note: my MA and PhD thesis proposals both came out of research that I was doing independently alongside my day job when I realised that I needed more support and skills to do it properly, so I would benefit from doing it as part of a formal programme. I did not originally plan to do postgrad study. By the time I finished undergrad I was fairly sure I was done with academia forever, because I'd mostly been miserable at uni. But it hit a point where I kept chasing up details by myself and going "damn, I wish I knew how to read these manuscripts", or "if only my Old Irish skills were better", or "I wish I could access this obscure text that's only found in special collections of that university library", and that's the point at which I decided to do an MA. So sometimes it happens like that too.

(I have been adamant all along that I wasn't aiming to stay in academia as a career. Given that my previous claims that I was not going to do a PhD and then, before that, that I was not going to do a Masters, turned out to be categorically false, well... I'm not necessarily right about that. I would certainly love to keep doing research, but the short-term contracts and precarious employment of early career academia don't appeal to me, and there's absolutely no way I want to start moving cities/countries every year or two again when I've just managed to get semi-consistent healthcare after moving back to the UK and having to start on all the waiting lists from scratch. I am too chronically ill for that kind of lifestyle and, I suspect, for the demands of academia in general. We will see how long I can stretch out "getting people to pay me to research things" without those aspects, but it may be that I end up as an independent researcher alongside my other jobs again. At least now I live in Cambridge, and can access the University Library as an alumnus wherever I end up working... that's something!)

I published 'early' both because I felt I had something to say and if I didn't say it, nobody would say it (nobody else cares about Láeg), and also because I didn't think I was sticking around in academia, so if I didn't say it then, I would never say it. I was definitely right about the first part, but if I end up sticking around, I'll disprove the second part and I'll probably start regretting publishing at such an early stage as I continue to disprove my own points with further research. I do think that's normal no matter when you start, lol, but there's a degree of "and why do I expect any more senior academics to listen to what an MA student had to say, anyway" at times. (Because I don't believe in hierarchies and I'm convinced I had something meaningful to offer, that's why, but hey.) The only tangible benefit to having published that research for me was being able to point at it when applying for PhD funding and say "look, I'm already published and everything!". The main benefit to other people wasn't much beyond what it would have been if I just... put that research on my blog for them to read anyway.

Where am I going with this? I don't know. I apologise, this is rambly as hell and I'm going in circles, I'm not very awake. Maybe I'll just stop there. I could start talking about popular history books that you'll find in bookshops and how most of them are written by people without postgraduate degrees, but I don't really know that much about those, and I feel this would be getting us off-topic.

tl;dr you technically don't need postgraduate qualifications to publish academically, but you do generally need postgraduate-level skills to produce work that's good enough, however you acquire them; there are a fair number of practical barriers to publishing without institutional support; and there's no money in any of it anyway

[atoriv-art]

What are your thoughts on Sasuke x Gaara

beautiful showstopping saved my life we love you sasugaa <333

ok to actually answer: i think they have a very compelling dynamic! i really really like their chunin exams era with gaara being weirdly obsessed with sasuke because they're both "damaged" to put it in some way!

i wish we got to see sasuke's opinion about it a little more, especially since it comes at a time where he's starting to come around to the idea of using his power to protect and not just kill itachi, but this "i relate to your pain and i need to make sure my pain (and to gaara, therefore my power) is still bigger and more powerful" dynamic is soooo fun to me as an introduction point between them! i find it a lot more compelling than what it got interrupted by 😅

i understand the value of having gaara see someone who is Literally just like him (ie also a jinchuriki), but imo having him deal with someone who he perceives as Emotionally just like him (ie traumatized, angry and lonely) was already excellent...

also!!!!!!!!!! i'm not a fan of how sasuke is characterized in the five kage summit in general (or rather how he's demonized by the framing of it all. i love a good public meltdown. his evil laugh lives in my brain) BUT i looooooooove the scene with gaara confronting him i was NOT expecting it when i was watching it the first time and it was like an angel smiled down upon me.

and and and (guy who gets to bring up the naruto games again) they do a fun reversal of their original dynamic there it in the ninja storm games, with sasuke being the one to flaunt his pain and power against gaara

LIKE SORRY I JUST THINK IT'S FUNNN!!!! they have a lot in common and deal with it similarly but when gaara's at his lowest sasuke's starting to get better, and that gets flipped later on: when gaara's figured himself out it's sasuke who's completely spiraling... hehehehe!

ok ill put the rest in a read-more. jesus

i get why the pairing isn't very popular (sasuke has like, two of the biggest pairings soaking up all of the fandom attention span alkdsmak) but i cannot standddd the weird consensus that they don't like each other 😭 gaara showed in that scene that he does still hold some amount of respect and empathy for sasuke, enough to offer him a helping hand when he was at his lowest, and sasuke himself was engaging in the conversation much as he disagreed with gaara... it's gaara who starts the fighting back up, not sasuke!

imo gaara's words to naruto later on that get twisted into a "girl dump him" speech (😒.) are obviously meant to serve as a warning to manage expectations, because he Knows his friend is still not going to give up on sasuke and might not even particularly want him to, but he's speaking from the kage angle as opposed to what he personally would want

gaara CRIED for sasuke and stopped the fighting specifically to talk to him for fuck's sake he doesn't HATE him, his siblings have to convince him to give up on trying to talk to him and there's a distinction made of what should be done as a kage. and while i have a thousand things to say about how i don't love how the manga handles its kage characters wrt framing them as Generally Good, i do think it's notable that it's this that makes him give it up

"personal feelings" meaning, his siblings can recognize that gaara doesn't fucking want to fight him and would really prefer to talk this out. I think about this a lot sorry KSMDKSMDK so much of the consensus is that gaara, specifically, can't stand sasuke and for WHAT.

and as a sidebar i think their insistence on calling e/o by their full names/titles ("Uchiha Sasuke" / "Gaara Of The Sand") is so fucking funny.

i know what you are. also:

sasuke engaging in battle banter. OPEN YOUR EYES

ANYWAY!

i actually think that of my "quirky" pairings (the sasugaaneji triad that is.) it's the one with the most canon basis and it's not even close. however it's also the one that i notice people engaging the least with ASKJDNSAKD which is obviously fine it's just a little funny to me

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

🍬 Five Weird Facts About Jelly Babies and the Doctor

Jelly babies are the Doctor's (nearly) lifelong obsession. Here are five fascinating facts you absolutely need to know about the Doctor’s intense (and sometimes disturbing) love for jelly babies.

1️⃣ The Doctor's obsession with jelly babies began in their 2nd incarnation. ❤️🍬

The Doctor appears to have discovered jelly babies during their 2nd incarnation, not the 4th, as some universal scholars might claim. While the 4th Doctor certainly made them his own, it was the 2nd Doctor who first started keeping a bag tucked away in his pocket.

2️⃣The 4th Doctor may have thought all Earth sweets were called jelly babies. 🤷‍♂️🍬

The 4th Doctor loved jelly babies so much that he offered them to just about anyone, however, on several occasions, the 4th Doctor offered 'jelly babies' when he was actually holding something completely different, like liquorice allsorts.

Now, was this a case of innocent alien confusion? It's entirely possible the 4th Doctor simply assumed for a while that all Earth sweets were called jelly babies, but we may never know for sure.

3️⃣Later incarnations don't seem to like jelly babies anymore. ❌🍬

The 1st Doctor never mentioned or carried jelly babies, but let's give the fella the benefit of the doubt—it's entirely possible he simply hadn't met one yet.

However, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Doctors haven't really been seen to be munching on them, thinking about them, or offering them to friends (so far). Is the Doctor losing their love for jelly babies as they get older?

4️⃣The Doctor possesses an adult-sized jelly baby costume. 🤯🍬

You'd think I'd have something to write here to explain it, but I don't. Why does he have it? How did he get it? Honestly, got nothing.

5️⃣Different incarnations prefer different coloured jelly babies. ❤️🍭🍬

Each of the Doctor's incarnations seem to have their own preferences regarding the colour of their favourite jelly baby. The Fourth Doctor loved the orange ones, while the Eighth Doctor favoured the red. Next up on Gallifreyan uQuiz ... What does your jelly baby colour say about your incarnation?

(Drawn from TARDIS Wiki)

Whoniverse Facts for Friday by GIL

Any purple text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[melissa-titanium]

i probably look fucking crazy but. "kicked out of the nowhere" ln au .

SERA IF YOU SEE THIS HI MY FRIEND THANKUOU FOR LISTENING TO MY RAMBLE <3

both of them are like. late teenage years in this one. dw im not being weird about it i hate when aus do this shit for the sole purpose of making it romantic/weird. id say 15-16

six ; i think bcos shes taller and shit she couldn't exactly. wear the raincoat anymore. so somewhere along the line she and mono picked it apart and turned it into something else on her outfit -- pants? shirt? i dont know, but that's why her shorts are yellow. she kept her hair short like it is in canon because growing it out is uncomfortable and way too warm for her comfort. also sensory shit from having hair against the back of her neck. after leaving the nowhere she wears a big ass hoodie. it's more efficient than a raincoat because raincoats are LOUD AS HELL.!!!!!!! but still has a similar feeling to her raincoat AND has pockets :) crocs are. well. crocs. if you know me you know. i actually dont think they would be all that efficient when it comes to walking around but . idk. i think she would just carry them around for the purpose of walking around more safely if the ground is hard or something she's just as quiet as she usually is. over the years of living in the nowhere i think six has actually gone on to be the more physically adept of the two. we obviously know she's way faster than him, but his time in canon implies he's got more physical strength in his arms than her. i think this changes over time -- the reason she's so sickly & weak at the start of the game (not even fast enough to catch up to mono really!) is bcos of her lack of confidence and how long she spent in the cabin. the longer she stays with mono honing her skills she goes back to kicking ass. after a while, she can lift hammers with much more ease than mono can and she probably pokes fun at him for it. HOWEVER, he eventually gets that growth spurt which allows him to run faster thsn her (long legs. holy shit hes gangly) and he pokes fun at her for being short.

mono ; longer hair. he's got No Nutrients so his hair grows real slow so hes basically never cut it. he likes it longer bcos . opposite of six! he is Always Cold. like naturally cold but its still uncomfortable. SERA I SAID THIS 2 U ALSO but i think he's a walking relic. his only exposure to people, real people, is people on tvs. considering the sounds and general theme of all the stuff in the pale city/ads and stuff, i think its safe to say he only has reference of the real world from like. western 60's-90's. both him and six i imagine have severely poor language comprehension and grammar but if he DOES talk he probably talks like a kid trying to imitate their businessman father from the 70's. and as such; he dresses like his wardrobe is a time capsule. his outfits r still dark and cover his limbs but he looks like a total dork. fucking overalls and shit LOL. i don't have any ideas for face coverings at the moment but maybe he wears sunglasses & a face mask if he sees it necessary? i very genuinely feel like he'd be fine without face coverings. most people would think he's a cosplayer, seeing as he's kind of sickly looking (basement dweller appearance) with like eye contacts or some shit. idk

also funny thing id like 2 mention. their genders are Strange. when you live in the nowhere, "society" isnt exactly "pushing gender norms" onto you. chat what the fuck is a he/him? i only know Running From Monsters . in my previous notes for what they'd be like in the real world (seen below) i think this would be a very funny thing 2 explore . someone refers to six as maam and she completely ignores them (doesnt know what that means. six internal monologue voice All i am is Six so freaking call me Six) ((they're still little kids at heart i dont think they'd like to swear))

more notes here

[aerkan]

Okay, so, I'm feeling a bit melancholic right now and I, well, I guess I want to share my thoughts in case someone relates or needs to know they're not alone.

I've figured out a few years back that I'm firmly set in the aroace spectrum. I've never had a crush on anyone except for some fictional characters or famous people, but even then the farthest my 'affections' have gotten was a strong urge to offer them a hug, or wanting to hang out and laugh. Which I very quickly found out was the exact same as for my closest friends, just magnified by my excitement of the stories tied to those characters or my joy at hearing the person's jokes.

I've never been interested in sex. At all. I don't like reading about it, I get bored watching it, and the prospect of experiencing it fills me with nothing other than dread and annoyance. That's not to say I'm ignorant about it. I'm not. I know how it works, I know what 'my role' would be should I ever try it. But while all my friends were experimenting with it during our teens I stayed far away from the dating pool. Mostly.

I had my first kiss when I was 17. I felt weird right after because I've read a lot of romantic stories (looking back on it, it wasn't for the romance itself but the emotional closeness between the characters but whatever) and first kisses were meant to be something one should enjoy. Even my friends have said so. However, I felt nothing, only bored. It was my first kiss and I wished I could do something more fun.

So yeah, that didn't click and I spent the whole evening reasearching what the hell was wrong with me (turns out, there was nothing wrong with me). That's how the idea of me being ace took root but I wasn't very sure about it (didn't want to be).

Since then there have been a few more kisses, but nothing to be writing home about. I guess I've been trying to see if anything changed. It didn't. Gradually I had to admit to myself that I'm ace and what that means for me. After the initial shock of the new label I very quickly became comfortable being ace. It fit me and I was happy.

However, well, lately most my friends have started dating. Finding their life partners. My new friends already had lovers, when I met them or are also finding love. And I'm excited for them, really am. But this new development made me confront another part of my identity, which I've been steadily ignoring for years now despite knowing it wasn't exactly the norm.

I'm aromantic! (*throwing confetti*)

I've never experienced romantic love and probably never will. I adore my friends, they are the most important people in my life and I would do a lot of f*cked up things for them to be happy. And for the most part I'm okay with just hanging out with my classmates and seeing my other friends from time to time, making plans to see each other more when we're all free. But I also feel unbearably lonely sometimes. I feel unwanted, ignored and left out simply because I can't offer the same 'normal' conversations. I feel disconnected from society and I desperately long for a partner that would love me, that I could talk to every day, that I could hug and laugh with. Someone, who would be there when I get home, maybe waiting with a good meal or excited to tell me about the new tv show they started watching while I was gone.

Basically, what I'm saying is... I want a roomate. I want someone to live with me but someone who sleeps in a different bed. Someone who would let me cuddle them from time to time when life gets a bit harder than I can bear and someone who would be there when I need a laugh. Someone I can cook with or sing with. I want a friend living with me who wouldn't have that 'special someone'. I want someone who would want the same from me.

And the hardest part about this? Knowing I'm probably never going to have that. These days I live with this terrifying certainty I'm going to die alone and well... I already feel crushingly lonely right now. I can't imagine feeling like this for the rest of my life.

...well, this got really depressing. Wasn't the point, but it is the truth. I love being aroace, I love the warm little feeling I get when I make someone happy or the giddy butterflies in my chest when I make someone laugh. Ultimately, I love being alive to be excited about sharing a smile with a stranger. I would simply prefer if so many of my nights weren't filled with the existentinal dread of being left behind.

Sorry for the ramble guys, have a cute pokemon cause you're awesome!

[aikoiya]

Hey, if you think they're endearing, then good on ya.

... Waitwaitwait!! I've got an idea! Not sure if you'll like it, but it could work!

Similar to you, I wanna include EoW & its lore into my story, but the fact that it was the Golden Goddesses who trapped null & actually created the literal world conflicts with my personal interpretation of Hyrule being more so that the Golden Trio only created the land of Hyrule.

But, I recently found a way to integrate it in a way that doesn't interfere with my interpretation of things & it's by utilizing something that already exists within the series' lore: reincarnation.

Now, it's difficult to kill gods, but it's still very possible. My thoughts are that maybe the original Golden Three would eventually die not that long after entrapping Null. But before they did, they created the Tris.

And then they were much later reborn. However, this time, instead or being born as what would amount to the Protogenoí (primordial manifestations of nature or a concept) of creation, I suppose, & instead as Ábrótoí (immortals; basically the many types of gods & goddesses of multiple cultures, but more so as an actual species). And that was when they created Hyrule the land, as well as the Triforce.

Similarly, maybe you could go the route of having the original Skyward Sword dragons appointed by Hylia having eventually died (we already know that it's possible based on the fact that Lanello died of a sickness) & were then born again as the dragons of your rewrite.

But, that's just a suggestion.

I guess I could see it being the guardian seeing in all directions sort of way, but that sort of placement is known for giving animals a more difficult time seeing what's directly in front of them. So, if that were the explanation, you'd think that they'd be able to retain the third eye to balance that out? Like, if that were the case, then I might actually be able to live with it a bit better. Because right in front is still an important area to be able to keep an eye one.

The only other real issue I have with the BotW dragons is the end of their tails. They don't taper & the just... end in a spike??? It's really weird???

So, I'd honestly prefer the tail design they put in the reference art book:

Which, btw, they might not have gone with any of them, but I'm glad we at least get to see the reference art of them.

But, yeah. Just letting them keep the third eye & give them a more lion-like tail would've immensely improved my perception of their designs.

So, maybe like this concept art of the Light Dragon:

Maybe the little green dot between her bigger eyes could be representative of that third eye?

.... You know what, I can understand being a bit unsettled by the SS dragos' faces. That makes perfect sense. Has a bit of an uncanny feel to them, huh?

Wait... You didn't like their voices??? You're not including the operatic qualities, are you????? I liked that little characteristic!!

Mmm... Possible. Though, I think one issue might be that Naydra is very specifically an ice dragon, not a water one. Of course, it's entirely possible that she's just not using her water magic recently. But... I dunno, I'm sorry if I'm a bit resistant to the idea.

Hmm... So, maybe you'd prefer a bit of a middle point like this?

(Not my art.)

Though, I'd definitely add on the unique features that the SS dragons possessed. Things like the almost water-like underbelly of Faron, the actual flaming eyebrows of Eldin, & the magnificent thundercloud beard of Lanayru. Also, I kinda liked their colors.

Actually, when I think about it, the Zonai Dragons are almost entirely the same exact base design besides their highlight colors & their horns. Other than that, they're legitimately the same exact white base model...

So, it really might be best to insert more of the SS dragons in there to give them more personality & life. Which is where I think the SS dragons really shine & the BotW dragons very much don't.

But, with their BotW names, maybe? Or OOO!!! Combine!! Maybe something like Eridinraal for the fire dragon? Fironaydra for the ice dragon? And maybe Lanellosh for the thunder dragon?

Though, keep in mind that Faron (Firona) very prominently has the symbol of Farore upon her brow. Likewise, Lanayru (Lanelle or Lanello) has the mark of Nayru upon his. So, that might be something to keep in mind.

No, now the part of Rauru mentioning that he named it after a mythical kingdom is totally fair. Though, at the same time, we really only see, like, a handful of scenes with him. So, from a narrative perspective, it's entirely possible that he actually did mention such to Zelda during her stay, it just wasn't something that Link was privy to. I mean, Zelda & Rauru obviously interacted much more often than what we saw, so it's entirely within the realm of possibility that it was just one of those things he mentioned that wouldn't have fit into one of the various Tear cutscenes. Though, personally, I think the best place to have put something like that would've actually been during the tutorial on the Great Sky Island. Because you actually have Rauru's spirit appearing here & there & making random commentary. So, it's kind of the best place that it would've fit, huh?

Same with a mention of Rauru & Sonia's possible child or even just melancholic reminiscing on how he & his sister were the last of their species, which means that the Zonai are dead with their only known legacy being Zelda & the various ruins scattered hither & yon. Like, I don't care what anyone says, that must hit like a freight train.

Really? Did you not read the hidden diary behind the bookshelf in Rhoam's study? I believe that part of the canon reason for Zelda's struggle with her abilities was mentioned in both Rhoam & Zelda's diaries.

Rhoam mentions that Zelda's mother died "suddenly & unexpectedly" when Zelda was 6 years old or so. Which, I believe, was noted to have been not long before his daughter was supposed to begin her training. (And this part is more speculative.) This brings up the possibility that it was actually her mother that Zelda inherited her sealing magic from. As well as the possibility that Rhoam & the rest of the Kingdom believed that it was her mother who was going to seal the Calamity & not the young Princess Zelda.

Likewise, Zelda mentions in the 13th Memory in BotW that her grandmother was able to hear voices from the spirit realm & that her mother told her Zelda would develop the power. Not only that, in both Rhoam & Zelda's diaries, they both mention that she hadn't only lost a mother, "but also a teacher." As such, this all-but confirms that at least the main reason for her difficulty in learning was the simple fact that she had no teacher. Or that what teachers she may have, quite simply knew nothing of how to access that power.

She was, quite literally, on her own. Which also explains why Rhoam had very little clue as to how to help her unlock them. It may've even been that he figured, "Well, these powers come from Hylia, right? So, maybe she can unlock it?" Or, maybe his wife was especially devout & prayed often? Or, it may even have been possible that the line about how "prayer will awaken her power" originally came from her mother. We don't know. But what we do know is that Zelda had no teacher. And that could very well have been the main reason as to why she struggled as she did.

Though, a little side-note: I actually hc that the queen was assassinated. Most likely, by Yiga using an untraceable poison. As to whether they did it of their own accord or if maybe the Calamity entered one of their dreams & ordered them, I don't know. But I can't help but find the timing of her death very suspicious. Like, it was literally a year before she was to begin training her daughter. Which further emphasizes another hc of mine: Calamity Ganon is most likely Demise's hatred & death curse in its most primal state without anything to hold it back. Remember that the curse is specifically tied to the blood of the goddess & the spirit of the hero. It's been at least 10,000 years, if not more, since Skyward Sword. Regardless of whether you believe that the Wild Era is at the end of a re-merged timeline, or one that split off from Skyward Sword. It's most likely that every Hylian & Sheikah, possibly even Gerudo, living in Hyrule at the time of the Calamity, had at least a drop of Hylia's blood in them. Because, remember, Family Trees fork & they tend to have many, many branches. Which, if this is the case, then you strip the humanity from that hate-fueled curse, them no wonder the population of Hyrule took such a huge nosedive:

Like, when they named what happened a Calamity, they weren't kidding. The Bokoblin population is higher than the Hylian one in modern-day Wild Era Hyrule. But before that, it was most likely somewhere in the realm of several millions. Which, I read somewhere that when casualties reach 1 million, it's called a megadeath. So, this wasn't just another Ganon attack. It was an actual extinction-level cataclysm. The Calamity wasn't just looking to kill the Hyrulean Royal Family, it was looking to exterminate the Hylians as a race. Which is entirely counterintuitive to TotK Ganondorf's goal. At least, as it was before he stole the stone. This is why I think that there was something very weird going on with the Stone. Because, in the first Tear memory, the language he uses in the Japanese version, very specifically, indicates a desire to rule, control, or subjugate. You can't subjugate anyone if they're all dead. But, then, in the cutscene with his emo unicorn, his language changes to ordering his monster army to, essentially, extirpate Hyrule & all those who side with it. Specifically saying to leave no survivors. And I say extirpate because of the very specific wording that was used in the Japanese. Which was Konzetsu (根絶) or Nedayashi ni suru (根絶やしにする). While this is typically translated to "Eradicate," the imagery here is very specific in that it is supposed to bring to mind the image of pulling something up by its root & destroying it utterly. Which is also extirpate's exact translation.

This is very, very different to his goals before that, where his language included terms such as Suberu (統べる) which means command & Ganondorf uses it to signify a desire for absolute control. And Sadameru (定める) which means shape, however, it was used to indicate both a desire for a decision-making role as well as a wish to dominate & dictate. So, unless he meant that he wished to have a decision-making role over ash, I'm almost positive that something funky was going on with Ganondorf & the Stone. But, sorry. Went off on a major tangent there. Also, this wasn't an attempt at changing your mind or anything, I just have issues with talking too much. Again, unskippable dialog. 😅

I mean, yeah. The rockets, fans, & wheels were most definitely too modern-looking for the setting to make sense. Though, most of the other tech had a very pleasing design to them. I really liked the interesting mix of ancient Chinese & Mesoamerican. Which, holy cow! The Zonai are Latin-coded! 😃 It made me wish that Rauru & Mineru had more Latin accents as a result! That could've been cool!

Do you think that had Nintendo not made everything about the Zonai, that you wouldn't dislike them so much? Regardless, they actually didn't show up from nowhere. Do you remember the ruins in Faron? In fact, Creating a Champion even mentions them:

Though, I believe that the Faron Zonai most likely originally came about from the hybrid children of Zonai & Hylians that persisted after the complete extinction of the original Zonai race. This would've allowed them to take on their own identities while still retaining a degree of the Zonai's architectural influence, which you can see a bit of in the Faron ruins, now referred to as the Zonai Ruins in TotK. However, if this were the case, it's possible that the reason that most of the OG Zonai all died, but not the hybrids, could've been due to some sort of disease? Heck, it's even possible that the hybrids' Hylian DNA could've been immune to this hypothetical disease. But, that's mostly speculation on my part, I'll admit.

In my mind, it's very unlikely that the Ancient Hero was actually a full Zonai & it's far more likely that he was one of those hybrids.

But, as far as the actual technology, I think what I didn't like most was... I dunno... I just couldn't get over the fact that it was all so disposable. Like, that was literally how they were designed. They had flippin' gotcha machines! And the fact of the matter is that they were made from ore from the ground. As such, the amount of resources it took to build them must've been unfathomable! Like, sure, they disappear into nothing upon being used up, but at the same time, the metal used to make them still needed to be excavated!

Like, don't get me wrong. It makes complete sense in terms of gameplay, but if you want to approach it from a story perspective where a writer has to approach it like it's an actual world, then I immediately see so many problems!

And, while I very much agree with the ToP being a great source of power (possibly even one of the greatest), my thoughts are that, yes, it would give more power, but that it feels more like a more general type of power. Or rather, a similar type of power to what created the Master Sword. Meanwhile, the Stone gave him a different kind or quality of power. Like, for one, the power that Ganondorf's stone enhanced is one that is specifically known to corrode & decay. The ToP never had that sort of thing indicated.

... I guess you could think about it like how, normally, a sword is too hard to break on your own no matter how strong you are. However, if you were to intentionally cause that sword to rust, then you could likely shatter the sword to pieces if you smashed it against a rock hard enough. So, this is what I mean. It isn't that TotK Ganondorf has more raw power than, say, the Dorfs of OoT, TP, WW, or HW who had the ToP. It's that the very specific power that the Stone enhanced in TotK's Dorf allowed him to directly affect the Master Sword itself in a way that it couldn't combat effectively. Because his Miasma didn't simply break the Master Sword. It eroded it. Because, even if it's a divine sword, it is still a sword. Meaning it is made of metal.

Meanwhile, as I said before, I tend to see the power that the Triforce grants as a power that very specifically is not his. It belongs to the Triforce. It is the Triforce's power, it exists independent of his influence, & it would give the same exact power & amount of power to anyone who possessed it. It isn't a modifier. It's a "here have this, as well as your own."

I also believe that in one of the videos I watched on this, it was specifically noted that enough On'nen is even capable of killing gods. And what is the Master Sword, but a weapon forged by the gods?

In other words, his Gloom broke the Master Sword because it was the exact perfect counter to the Master Sword in every way.

It's like... Have you ever watched Dragon Ball Z or Danny Phantom?

If not, then the thing about DBZ is that the characters are obscene powerful. Galaxy-destroying powerful. Literally, the first season of DBZ, the 2nd big bad, was able to reduce a planet to actual dust & rubble floating within the vast void of space. Everyone there, dead in an instant without even a fuss. And it only gets even crazier from there. Though, at the same time, this specific villain was still very mortal. He was just a mortal with a lot of power.

In Danny Phantom, there are Ghosts & none that I've seen are able to do something on that scale so casually as in DBZ. However, one of their most common powers is being able to turn intangible & phase through solid objects. They can even temporarily pass on that power to other things & people so long as they are touching them. Like, literally, every Ghost is able to do this. And, one can even reach through a wall to grab something that they put there before in the actual cement & remove it from said wall. Casually & with no issue. And even the literal weakest Ghost in the show can do this.

Now, without that extra context, you'd hear about this super op DBZ villain & this weak Ghost & might think that "oh, this super powerful, strong, DBZ villain could totally destroy this weakling Ghost." But, that doesn't take into account the fact that said weakling Ghost can literally just reach right into said DBZ villain's chest & pull out his heart. Or his bones. Or his brain.

DBZ Villain: Dead. Weak Ghost: Win.

So, in such a situation, it doesn't matter that he can destroy planets because, at the end of the day, he is still subject to being a mortal who needs his heart in order to function. And, the weakling Ghost just so happens to have the exact, very unassuming power that would end that villain's threat in a single second.

Or, if you're more of a Pokémon fan, you could equate it to putting Giratina up against an Arceus holding a Normal Plate & that only knows Normal & Fighting moves, but none of them are Foresight or Odor Sleuth. Like, yes, Arceus is the Pokéverse's equivalent to the Golden Three. But that doesn't matter in this specific instance. At least, not as far as in-game goes. Because, by & large, the Giratina is both a Legendary Pokémon & is extremely effective just by its nature of being a Ghost-type up against a Normal-type with no attacks that can really affect it.

Essentially, Ganondorf's Gloom is the Master Sword's Achilles Heel.

Or, maybe think of the Triforce as an A+50 & the Secret Stones as an Ax2? They just work differently. The question here isn't how much A gets out of it. The question is, what is A?

Because, depending on what A is, then in some cases, x2 will actually result in a higher value than +50 even though 50 seems like such a big number & 2 a very small one.

For instance, if A = 20, then A+50 = 70 & Ax2 = 40. So, here, +50 wins.

But, if A = 150, then A+50 = 200 & Ax2 = 300. Suddenly, x2 is more advantageous than +50.

...

Sorry, I got a bit into the metaphor. My bad. 😅 I hope I didn't confuse you more.

Anyway, I wouldn't say that the map of MC was entirely unique. I'm pretty sure it's a very similar location to the one in aLttP, just around a couple thousand years of time difference.

And there are a number of locations in the BotW map that seem to actually be named after some of the areas in MC & that they're all in that general area I theorize it to have been in, I kinda can't help but think that the designers were trying to tell us something.

I mean, Menshi Woods? Pico Pond? Crenel Hills & Peak? The Veiled Falls in the Zora's Domain? Trillby Plains & Trillby Valley?

I dunno, maybe I'm reading too much into it? But, to be fair, I'm pretty sure that MC was my first ever Zelda Game, so I maaay be a tiny bit protective of it. XD

Hi, sorry if this is a bit rude. 😅 I guess that I was just wondering. How would Jabul Waters, Zora Cove, & Crossflows Plaza be named in French?

I'm trying to give Jabul Waters an interesting name that works to go with my hc & I came up with "Jabuleaux." And Google Translate tells me that Crossflows Plaza would be Place des Flux Croisés. And, I'm seeing that Anse is the term to refer to a cove &, if that's true, then would Zora Cove be Zoranse? At the same time, somewhere else, it said that Anse actually means beach.

And, I believe that a town by a swamp would have cher, quier, bren, brin, or Hor- in it?

I'm sorry if this is weird... 😅

Hi! Don't worry it's not rude or weird at all! I offered to help and I'm happy to do so :D

Did you check the official French translations? I had a surprisingly hard time finding the French version of the map online so here's a screenshot I took myself:

Jabul Waters = Eaux de Jabule (this one only appears when I zoom out)

Zora Cove = Baie Zora

Crossflows Plaza = Place de l'Estuaire

In case you didn't know the Zelda Wiki often lists names for places or characters in various languages in the "Nomenclature" section of its pages. It's very helpful especially if you're searching for the original Japanese names. If we look at at the different names for Crossflows Plaza we can see that a literal translation from Japanese would be something like "Exchanging Place". I checked the Jisho dictionary and it seems to be an accurate translation, though "Place for Cultural Exchanges" would be more meaningful.

It's not exactly a good name in English so it makes sense that the localization team would come up with something like Crossflows Plaza instead, which in my opinion does a very good job of stating that this is both the place where the river meets the sea and where the two Zora tribes traditionally meet each other.

Other European languages all settled for variations of "Estuary Plaza" ("Place de l'Estuaire" in French), which is fine but looses the "cultural exchanges" aspect of both the original name and the English translation.

I've been trying to come up with a French translation of "Crossflows Plaza" but it's not that easy. To me "Place des Flots Croisés" or "Place Flots-Croisés" would sound better than "Place des Flux Croisés", but I still find it a bit weird ("flot" meaning flow, tide or stream). "La Croisée des Flots" is another option if you agree to get rid of Plaza/Place (it means "the intersection/junction of streams"), but I don't think it works very well as a name.

You could also mix words to create a name the same way it was done in English, something like "Place Croiseaux" (croiser/cross + eau/waters). If any of my French speaking followers is feeling inspired, please share your ideas! :)

(I just thought of "Place Cruciflot" and found it too funny not to mention 😆 maybe it sounds too much like crucifix)

In French we also have the word "confluence" that has the exact same meaning as it does in English: either the meeting of two rivers or a gathering of some kind. So to me the most obvious translation would be something like "Place des Confluences" or maybe "Place Confluence", as it would preserve the dual meaning, but it's not very fancy or creative. Maybe we could simply change the spelling to something like Place Konfluans, the same way "Village Côtier" (Seaside Village) is spelled "Village Kothié" (Seesyde Village). But it doesn't look like a French word anymore so I'm not sure that's something you'd like.

As for Jabuleaux, it can work but I prefer the official translation "Eaux de Jabule". Same thing for Zoranse, we would say "Anse Zora" or "Anse des Zora". The official French translation is "Baie Zora" (Zora Bay), which I think is more appropriate given the size of the sea inlet (in my understanding an anse/cove is a small baie/bay and isn't very deep). I think maybe it should have been bay in English as well instead of cove, but I might be wrong! Also I believe "anse" isn't used as often as "baie" and might be confusing for most people, so I would go with "Baie Zora".

I'm not sure where you found this information about swamps and town names? I didn't find anything to confirm it but I might not have looked in the right places.

French towns are often ancient and their names can derive from other languages such as Celtic, Occitan, Flemish, or regional dialects, so that's a very difficult question and I'm not sure I can give you a satisfying answer ^^

I still did a little search and found an Old French word for swamp, "palud" or "palu", that still appears in some town names such as La Palud-sur-Verdon, Saint-Pierre-la-Palud, Lapalud, etc. (today we say "marais" or "marécage"). You might be right about "bren", it could be something like muddy in Gallic.

There's also "vign" or "mign" (from Celtic), as in Mignéville or Lévignac, or l'Île de Migneaux on the Seine river (this one's in my city!).

Near where I grew up is a town named Hazebrouck, it literally means "hare swamp" (brouck/broek = swamp in Flemish). For a bit more French flavor you could maybe use -broucq or -breucq instead of -brouck.

I think the vast majority of French people have no clue about all of that (I didn't except for the last one and it's more Flemish than French), so I'd say don't oversweat it ;)

And that's all! I hope you'll find this helpful ^^

[livvyofthelake]

oh i do NOT like this movie.

[silverwhittlingknife]

hi Silver! o/ because that fanart made me wonder - would you happen to know when/where Dick's stuffed elephant plush Zitka turns up in the comics?

GREETINGS CAM <3333 THAT ART WAS SO CUTE

Yeah, I think your instincts are right - it's a truly adorable bit of transformative fandom, but I'm 95% percent sure it's not comics canon. Barbara has canon plushies, but I don't think anyone else does.

I got kinda invested in the investigation (it's hard to prove a negative!) and I ended up typing out an entire History of Elinore/Zitka, so, uh, if you're curious, meet me below the cut for:

Where does Elinore / Zitka - the animal - appear in comics?

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

Where does Elinore / Zitka appear in comics?

We're gonna go in chronological order!

Dick's circus elephant friend was first created for practical reasons: in Batman 436, Marv Wolfman does a big expanded flashback to Dick's circus backstory as a way to subtly show us Tim before officially introducing him (so that we can have a technically-solvable mystery-of-Tim's-identity in LPoD). In this comic, there's an elephant named Elinore who loves Dick:

Aww. Such a cute elephant!

Batman 436 comes out in August 1989. New Titans 60 comes out a few months later, in November, and guess what? When Dick visits the circus, he is suddenly surprised by an unexpected blast from the past! It turns out that even though it's been years, Elinore still remembers him!

Here's the part where Elinore remembers Dick:

SUCH a cute elephant. I love her.

(Guess who else still remembers Dick even though it was so long ago. Guess which other character is about to be an unexpected blast from the past. Guess which character Elinore is directly paralleling guess guess guess sorry everything is about Dick and Tim in my mind but I can focus I swear)

Four years later, in 1993, Batman: The Animated Series retells Dick's origin story. They like and keep Wolfman's elephant, but they change her name to Zitka:

Wolfman doesn't return to the elephant beyond those two appearances, and a few years down the line, New Titans gets cancelled and Wolfman's not writing Dick anymore anyway. So the animal gets abandoned for a while, until Devin Grayson, a fan of both Wolfman and B:tAS, revives the Wolfman-era Titans team in JLA/Titans and then the ongoing series Titans 1999.

Grayson then brings back the elephant in a flashback to Dick's past in Titans 16 (Jun 2000), where she imports the B:tAS name. Sometimes I'm skeptical of TV-to-comics imports, but honestly, I endorse this one. You lose the alliteration, which is a shame, but IMO Zitka is a better elephant name than Elinore.

Here's Dick with the newly-christened Zitka in Titans 16:

Grayson also briefly references the elephant in Gotham Knights 20 and - in a final angsty callback - in Nightwing 88 (Feb 2004), where Zitka tries futilely to comfort Dick in the midst of his trauma conga line:

... And... honestly, I think that's it for comic appearances? The two Wolfman comics plus the three Grayson comics.

Both Wolfman and Grayson are writing multiple titles - Batman, New Titans, Titans, Gotham Knights, and Nightwing between the two of them, spanning a big chunk of Dick's post-Crisis canon - and both writers use the elephant for heartwarming moments of nostalgia, which means if you're doing a post-Crisis readthrough for Dick, Elinore/Zitka feels memorable. But I don't think she actually shows up that much.

For post-2011, I am not as well-informed - throwing this out to the dash? anyone know? - but I feel like Zitka the heartwarming symbol of Dick's heartwarming circus past is, uh, thematically very at odds with the Court of Owls evil!circus vibes, so my instinct is that this story element was almost certainly dropped in the reboot.

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

In WFA, yes; in main comics continuity, no. Technically, I have not read every comic ever published, so I could be wrong!! But I don't think so.

Below, find my rambling reasoning on the tonal vibes of pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, and post-2011, and why this particular story element doesn't seem right to me for the first two.

Pre-Crisis (...okay, mostly the Silver Age): stuffed animal, yes or no?

tl;dr no, requires too much background knowledge on the part of the reader, plus the elephant wasn't a thing until later

Elinore doesn't get created until post-Crisis, but also just generally, pre-Crisis callbacks are more along the lines of this reference in Batman 129 (published in 1960), where, wow, Batman and Robin are hunting jewel thieves - and it turns out Robin recognized this strongman! BUT HOW?!

The comic goes on to recap Dick's entire origin story in flashback, on the assumption that you may not know it.

(BTW, if you'd like to know more about Haly's Circus throughout the years, nightwingology has a great post here summarizing a lot of fun plotlines and characters!)

Basically: Silver Age comics are very self-consciously episodic and kid-friendly; they're not generally gonna do overly-elaborate callbacks because they don't know what comics their kid readers may have randomly picked up or remember.

By the time of post-Crisis, comic books were being written for an adult audience buying from the direct market, i.e. readers who are collecting whole runs & don't need or want Dick's origin story to be recapped to us in full every time it's referenced. That's why in post-Crisis, we get stuff like "hey, neat, this particular soda brand is getting mentioned in several different books!!" or "in order to understand this story arc, buy SIXTEEN DIFFERENT COMICS in FIVE DIFFERENT RUNS and read them ALL ACCORDING TO A NUMBERED ORDER and also you better be following the individual plotlines and recognize these five minor characters who we don't bother to introduce!! Good luck!!" But the elaborate post-Crisis plotlines - and subtler worldbuilding like a stuffed animal callback to Dick's backstory - don't make a lot of story sense UNLESS you're imagining your readers as completionist adult fans.

So IMO a stuffed animal wouldn't be a pre-Crisis thing unless it was The Episodic Story Of the Week, and I don't think a stuffed animal is action-adventure-y enough for the fast-paced storytelling of the Silver Age. (Unless it, like, came to life and tried to eat you or something.)

Post-Crisis: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr: no, Dick's a manly tough guy, he's not gonna have a stuffed animal, that'd be lame, like something Tim might do

Part of the edgy grimdark adult vibes in 80s/90s comics is that some characters who used to be kinda silly & goofy & lighthearted - like Batman and Robin - get reimagined as Serious and Angsty and Edgy in a Tough Cool Manly Brooding Way. This massively affects characterization for Bruce, Dick, and Bruce and Dick's relationship.

(I obviously love this change & love the tense Bruce-and-Dick interactions, but plenty of fans of the earlier fluffy comics really disliked the edgy retcons of Miller / Wolfman / Starlin / et al.)

The upshot is that post-Crisis is a period when you could have a recurring reference like a stuffed elephant, but you wouldn't have a stuffed elephant, not for Dick. I think a toy like that would be too cutesy / childish / effeminate to give a male character in post-Crisis, unless you were poking fun at him.

Now, you could probably let Tim have a stuffed animal, because Tim is sometimes cool but also sometimes a tryhard loser who is faking being cool and not entirely pulling it off (see e.g. the Robin comic where he practices tough-guy faces in the mirror, or the Teen Titans comic where Conner discovers his cringy Enya CD, or when he's fanboying over Connor and it's awkward, etc etc.). A stuffed animal would be deeply embarrassing, and you'd have to be careful to compensate by having Tim do something cool afterward - but Tim's character concept allows for "he's kind of a loser sometimes."

But Dick isn't!! In post-Crisis, Dick's a tough / impressive / "cool guy" character, the kind of guy anyone would want to be, even in the flashbacks where he's Robin, and even in the stories where he's more lighthearted than angsty. It'd be kinda lame for Dick to have a stuffed elephant, so he wouldn't. I feel like Dick would be more likely to poke fun at it if someone had one, like when he's making fun of Wally for liking the Hardy Boys. Dick could have a Batman action figure, at most, and if he had one he would have it ironically.

Basically: in post-Crisis, a male character hugging a stuffed elephant feels more likely to be a punchline to me, not something poignant. (Even with Tim, Tim could have an embarrassing stuffed animal, but he couldn't hug it when sad - that's too far. Maybe Booster Gold might do this. Probably he wouldn't, but spiritually, he would. Sorry Booster ilu! <3)

Instead, Dick instinctively deals with his inner turmoil like the TORTURED ACTION HERO he is: by punching things and brooding and yelling and joining the mob and sleeping on rooftops and going on obsessive secret missions and acquiring Angsty Stubble!! Just like Batman!

(Technically I don't know if Bruce ever joined the mob but you know he would.)

Anyway as you know this is my favorite continuity and I am poking fun affectionately, but uh, yeah sdfsfdsfs. No stuffed animals.

Post-2011 / Infinite Frontier / Wayne Family Adventures: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr it's in WFA! Probably not anywhere else, but it could be.

Post-2011 stuff tends to be cutesier overall, most of all in the current Infinite Frontier era. So I don't feel like this would be tonally out-of-line with IF comics. Taylor tends to go for more meme-y references rather than fanfic references, though.

So the obvious best fit is WFA, which is aiming for a rough approximation of Silver Age family-friendly vibes - wholesome, episodic plots, Teaching Good Moral Lessons For The Youth, etc. - plus lots of Easter eggs for fanfic readers and some comic references.

And look, here we are:

Aww.

Whew - that's everything I could find!

Anyway as you can probably tell, I LOVE the elephant, so this was a very entertaining rabbit hole to go down, thank you <3

[oozeandgoo-art]

[lerry-hazel]

Admittedly, I haven't got to ‘Say Amen’ in my latest rewatch yet, so I don't remember the exact context; but the – sorry –uncharitable scenario that immediately popped into my head is this: The first time it happened, Ray and Fraser were discussing seeing a film together by the Consulate’s front desk. Thatcher invited herself along and Ray retaliated by inviting Turnbull, in order to bring the awkwardness level to absurdity. Naturally, they let Thatcher choose the film, her being both the only lady and a superior officer. Sappy love stories are her guilty pleasure, but, of course, she wouldn't admit it to anyone, so they ended up watching something sophisticated, award-winning, black-and-white and subtitled. Turnbull was the only one to genuinely enjoy it, because weird shit like that routinely happens inside his head (although he also enjoys slapstick comedy, which he interprets as a metaphor of humanity’s endless struggle against merciless fate, or something). Anyway, it’s also Turnbull who brings up doing it again from time to time, and the other three have no choice but to indulge him, since none of them would admit that's not what they actually wanted.

I don’t think Ray’s taste for movies is very well defined. He probably hadn’t gone to see anything Stella wouldn’t enjoy for 20 years. After the divorce he's been trying to catch up on ‘traditional guy stuff’ with fast cars and a lot of pointless violence. However, he would take Fraser to watch something he believes Fraser would enjoy, likely involving animals or classic literature adaptations. Fraser doesn't care for movies at all, his upbringing and lifestyle not conductive to developing any preferences in that department. He firmly believes the book is always better, and would much rather take Ray to the forest and show him some actual animals. But he's also convinced doing Ray’s thing when on Ray’s territory is a polite thing to do.

At the beginning of Say Amen, we learn that Thatcher, Turnbull, Fraser and Kowalski went to see a movie together. This is not commented on in the show, but it raises more than one question. Let's make a little list!

Do these four often go to the movies together? If so, how do they choose the movie? Do they take turns?

Which movie did they just watch? Which other movies have they watched together?

Which movies did/would each of them enjoy?

If this is the first time they went to the movies together, how did this happen? Who proposed this?

HUGE thank you to @sammaggs for inspiring this question!

Remember, kids: there are no wrong answers except "Fraser isn't allowed to enjoy things" and "All '90s movies were bad". At least one person (me) will find your idea interesting, though I'm willing to gamble (not with money, mind you) that I won't be the only one. If you're shy, try sending your response as an anonymous ask for me to publish!

[pigeonclaw]

Finally got a hold of Star and started reading it and I can't say I'm surprised (given that this became very obvious in Wind), but I am disappointed with the direction they've taken Splashtail.

The reason he interested me in the start of ASC was because he seemed like someone totally disillusioned with the way Clans are running as a result of growing up during AVoS and TBC — AVoS being a time when RiverClan got conquered by rogues, and TBC being a time when everything kinda fell apart for everybody thanks to a StarClan cat running amok (and in both of these arcs Mistystar was terrible at working together with other Clans and actively added more problems to the pile).

Then he became a part of Curlfeather's plot to change things, agreed with her motivations but was disturbed by her still being willing to get power from StarClan, and decided to do things his way instead. If RiverClan has to stop relying on StarClan, then, in his mind, they needed to stop now. No more nine life ceremonies. Curlfeather became a threat in his eyes, so he got rid of her. And he had to scramble to keep things going his way afterward.

That was intriguing. It made Splashtail feel like someone with genuine beliefs and values and strong conviction, someone who believes he's doing the right thing even if he knows he has to get his paws dirty and cause a lot of harm to get it done.

Why they threw all that out just to make him another typical power-hungry dictator who wants to conquer all the Clans — something that's been done over and over and over already — I have no idea. He's even less believable than others of this type. RiverClan has no reason to follow him any more than they did Darktail. In fact, I find it hard to imagine that anyone who lived through Darktail's reign wouldn't start rioting as soon as they got a new leader who murders his warriors and threatens kits. It's bonkers.

That said, I'm enjoying the level of drama in the book so far. Splashtail fully a bad a boring character for me now, which is a shame, but there's more to enjoy and I'm here for it.