#this was originally gonna be a comic but i've been putting it off for too long so here it is

[stealingyourbones]

Question! I have been getting into DC comics cuz of dpxdc, and I saw your tags on frank Miller on a recent post. One of my irl friends told me to read the dark knight returns and while it was occasionally hard to follow I assumed that was a result of when it was written rather than who wrote it? But I did overall enjoy it.

I guess what I'm asking is why you say frank Miller is a bad writer when it seems like the dark knight returns was so acclaimed?

(I saw the nazi thing too but that's something I can google so while it's news to me it's not my main question)

ok so. A lot of this is my personal opinion and I'm not too equipped to say shit about this because I'm not very political but I'm going to give it my best shot. Put under a cut so folks who don't want to hear about comic ranting can simply scroll past

I’m just gonna write a quick thing for the Nazi stuff, He isn't exactly a Nazi but boy oh boY does he set off many warning flags. Frank Miller is also the writer of the comic 300, if that sounds familiar that's because the movie you're probably thinking of is indeed based off these comics. The Spartan's ideology helped create the baselines of Fascism. Fascism is a pretty leading cause of commentary in Frank Millers work. In Batman: The Dark Knight he is a fascist. In Hard Boiled there's swastikas in the background every so often. (I even went back to reread it just to make sure and yep. they definitely were there) In 300 there's a shitton of Fascism... I could go on but still. His comics are incredibly gorey, have a discussion about a world gone wrong that can only be changed using force and weaponry (the whole Dark Knight "I am a surgeon" monologue for example), and the fact that he has Fascism as the main point of nearly all of the comics he's written... it doesn't sit right with me and it's a consistent pattern.

Now, onto the bad writing. I must firstly preface that these are my own opinions and that I didn't grow up reading Frank Miller's work. I think he was a good writer but isn't one anymore. His writing did incredible things for DC and you can see his influence in Batman even today. Works I've read and enjoyed of his are: Daredevil, Batman Year One, and Dark Knight. Nowadays you'll see many folks like myself talk about how Frank Miller has fallen off the deep end. A vast majority of Frank Miller's comics have reoccurring themes: politics, fascism, extreme violence, and so so much weaponry. Politics is in every comic book. There is no unpolitical comic, there ARE comics that are batshit wild with their politics and that's what I'm talking about. I'll get back to this later. He wrote many good comics, ones that first come to mind are Daredevil , Wolverine, Batman: Dark Knight, Batman: Year One, Sin City, Ronin, and 300. All of these comics are still credited by folks as amazing comics and hell, I recommend folks to read them go and check them out. Then 9/11 happened. That along with rampant alcoholism. Those reoccurring themes I mentioned? They become exponentially more blatant in his works. Especially on the political angle. You can see the difference between his works from pre and post 9/11. If you read Dark Knight and Dark Knight 2 back to back. It's night and day. He even made a comic during the post 9/11 panic called Holy Terror. The comic's title was originally pitched as Holy Terror, Batman! with the Gotham hero himself as the main character but it swiftly denied by DC, denied being published by DC, and changed to what it is now. The basic plot of this comic: A Vigilante named The Fixer fights Al-Qaeda after attacking Empire City. He doesn't even mention the word Al-Qaeda until 80 pages into a 150 page comic. The comic is some INCREDIBLY blatant post 9/11 propaganda that's ridiculously Islamophobic and anti-muslim. That isn't even my opinion, Frank Miller has said that's what this comic was. It is scattered with a ridiculous amount of hate speech written by a hate fueled man in 2007. Now onto comics that you'd more likely read. All Star Batman and Robin (2005). Oh boy. Let's compare shall we? Batman Dark Knight Returns (1986)

All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder #1 (2005)

mind you this is as Dick is being driven to GCPD for questioning RIGHT AFTER HIS PARENTS DIED. He gets kidnapped by Bruce out of the police car. Not calmed in his arms after the murder and brought to the manor. Kidnapped. All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder #2 (2005)

( a brief intermission of this sickass pose of a shirtless Alfred Pennyworth comforting Vicky Vale)

now back to the kidnapping:

[Skipping Bruce getting chased by the GCPD, Jumping the Batmobile ONTOP of a GCPD car, and laughing and talking to his car all the while Dick is absolutely terrified. They then use boosters that propel the Batmobile into the sky.]

Smashcut to #4 where they actually enter the Batcave.

I don't even think I need to explain myself. This is Spider-Man: One More Day levels of mischaracterization. Like seriously. Bruce kidnapping Dick after his parents were killed? Calling him a retard and hitting him during the aftermath (we can go on about how in 2005, the r slur was used commonly but this was just out of pocket), Leaving him in the cold batcave and told to eat rats? Frank Miller used to write some incredible works. Nowadays his writing is as decent as Rob Liefeld's art.

[synergysilhouette]

"Batman: Caped Crusader" review

Binge-watched this show, and I wanted to be one of many people to share my thoughts on this--plus I was spurred on by getting a wish of mine granted from the show. Make sure to check out the show if you can!

The animation is beautiful--I know this is a weird comparison, but soemthing about the animation reminds me of 2010s Scooby Doo animated films, and I kind of adore that.

The voice acting was...fine--I can't tell if it was poor performances or poor direction; Hamish's Bruce Wayne sounds too raspy/rugged some of the time, like he's still playing Batman, and many of the other actors felt like they were just reading lines rather than performing lines, not enough emotion. IDK if they're more used to live-action work, but voice-acting is a different ballgame, since your voice is all you have to convey the character. A lot of performances fell flat for me, but it wasn't 100% unbearable, just underwhelming. I have some people I'd recommend instead (both familiar to the role and otherwise), but I don't wanna start anything.

LOVED Harley (but not her costume)--Jamie Chung had one of the better performances in the group, and I really LOVED the angle they did for Harley; I feel like the media often flanderizes her as the goofy crazy chick, so seeing her actually utilize her psychology skills (like I've been asking for!) is so satisfying. That said, the outfit has GOT TO GO. Gold and black is gorgeous, but it ples in comparison to her black and red look. And a weird nit-pick; when I first saw the stills, I was under the impression she was wearing a carnival-esque mask rather than face paint, and I find that idea a lot creepier. I wish we'd gotten more of Harley's antics--and even seeing her get close to Bruce in the way she did with Barbara and Renee--before revealing her as a big bad to the public. And I appreciate that she isn't 100% evil; she is doing what she believes is a noble cause, just doing it in an illegal and unethical way. I needed a backstory!

Not enough Batman--Maybe it's just me, but it definitely felt like there were some episodes where Bruce and Batman were supporting characters and more focus was on the GCPD. While I don't mind it too much, I enjoy superhero shows for the superheroes, not the heroes; this is why I had a love/hate relationship with "Gotham."

Batman (and Bruce) isn't quite likeable enough--In earlier incarnations, Batman was more kind and caring before becoming more emotionally closed off with time, but here he's that way from the get-go. Not to mention that Bruce Wayne puts on a facade around everyone, even people he trusts (he probably did that anyway; I can't remember), and his session with Harleen really frustrated me because I don't expect his walls to come down immediately, I don't expect them to be this high this early. I wanted him to be a bit warmer and transparent, rather than curt and cold like he's usually seen in the show. I feel like this is an issue often seen in comics, too; people prioritize Batman's "coolness" and thus push his feelings to the wayside.

Using underrated and familiar villains--I'm sure the real experts are gonna chew me out for this one, but as someone who got into comics in the 2010s and didn't catch up on the acclaimed 90s series, it was fun to see villains I loved and villains I didn't know; one of the best things a popular property can do is use underrated characters, since it helps the show feel original and fresh (thus why "Teen Titans" is so enjoyable; the whole franchise is underrated).

Too modern for the 1940s--I can't put my fingers on it exactly, but the vibes feel too modern; I assume the 1940s was for aesthetics, but since everything else feels updated (from the way people talk to Harley and Renee seemingly being open about their feelings for each other), I don't think it was a wise choice to have it both ways. I see no reason not to have it in modern-day, but I suppose you'd have to get more creative with technology.

Barbara and the Robins--First off, I should've gambled with someone that Jason would be a redhead; I'd have made SO MUCH money. Secondly, I'm not crazy about how all four kids are orphans; If I recall correctly, both Carrie and Stephanie's parents were alive when they joined the Batfamily. In any case, I'm confused on why Barbara is significantly older than them when they're all supposed to be within the same age bracket (I think; someone has told me otherwise since posting this, so I could be wrong). Not to mention, a part of me worries that because of the quartet's young ages and Barbara getting so much screentime as a lawyer, we won't get any of them as Robins or Batgirls unless something drastic happens, and/or we get a time jump.

Overall, I think my biggest gripes are the voice acting and how Batman/Bruce Wayne is written. That said, I enjoyed the show overall. IDK why HBO Max dropped it. Hopefully season 2 will introduce Poison Ivy, Catman, Tim Drake, Ghostmaker, and Gardener, since the finale already showed us a certain someone who IS coming to Gotham.

[strange0-0storm]

hello! hope im not disturbing or anything- just wanted to ask, do you know how to make an SMG4 oc??? couse I've made ones before but they never made it to my server (like- they never became actual OC's), and they never looked officila even in the slightest.

also, NEW FAN!! I've seen your channel just today but im intrigued by the 888 thingy and Smg7 and 8 (i think its 7 and 8-)

sorry for the long message and have a good day/night

YOU'RE NOT DISTURBING ME NOT AT ALL! (IM SORRY IM LATE TOO THIS It's been in my drafts due to my whole procreate sitch)

For my ocs SMG8 and SMG7, I pretty much looked at SMG4 and SMG3 for reference‼️

Ugh these pathetic men, LORD. But that's just for like my SMGs. I used the style of the models to make my own separate style for like SMG4 characters. I tried too make my characters LOOK like they'd be seen as a model.

As for making them fully, I added different character elements for their personalities and built off of that.

First SMG8 I knew I wanted him too be based around MUSIC, and I originally based him more off of me in appearance. He still kept the curly hair, that both SMG8 and SMG7 share because I have curly hair.

But I settled on an eccentric funky villian man.

For SMG7 I knew I wanted him too be the complete opposite of SMG8, originally he was gonna be a timid, shy character, but then I settled on the angry, easily annoyed character. I knew I wanted him too be more reserved, enjoying the activities of reading and writing.

I built their appearance off of their personalities, SMG8 being a crazy all over the place funky character ended him with the split multicolor outfit, while SMG7 was left with a semetrical, neatly put together outfit too show his more serious and organized personality

THIS IS JUST MY PROCESS IN DESIGNING THESE CHARACTERS.

And I just built their character after they got created, more SMG8 right now due too his comic "The Arrival" under the tag #smg8's arrival

I've been building SMG7 a lot in the background, and I plan to make a comic for him as well once I finish up The Arrival

AND ACTUALLY. FUN FACT IM NOT A NEW FAN, I just haven't been into SMG4 for about 4 years, I just got back into it 2 months ago.

I've been watching sinceeee the Freddy's Spaghettiria video, sooo 9 years ago DAMN

I never made fanart till now though, I mean I PROBABLY did, but I was like 7-8 years old and no one wants too see THAT. AHHAHSHS

But ANYWAYS IM SO GLAD TOO HEAR THAT SMG8 AND SMG7 PEAKED YOUR INTREST as well as 8's night club The 888 HEHEHHE ALSO THIS LET ME RAMBLE SOME AHSHHE

[edgepunk]

Earth-2710 thoughts yapfest

I've been mulling over the idea of Peter having the symbiote permanently and I think I'm gonna go with it in this AU. It's mainly from pettiness, because the comics refuse to give Peter any new powers, or anything to shake up the status quo. Meanwhile some of the other heroes get neat gadgets or powers.

I've talked about this, but I can't find the original post, so anyway - I got the idea from the ps5 game where the symbiote left remnants in Peter's body when he wore it for a longer time, and it was starting to bond with him on a cellular level. However, in this AU he was completely unaware of the remnants. They are dormant and slowly growing inside of Peter’s body, using some of his tissue and nutrients to get stronger. This symbiote is its own entity, now. It's not the Venom symbiote anymore (Eddie is Venom ofc).

Fast forward about 8 months later when Peter notices his super strength is a little wack. At first, he thinks he's just being careless, but after he accidentally sends a couple of thugs into the hospital, he starts getting worried. It's driving him a little insane, thinking that he doesn't know how to hold his strength back anymore. It causes him a lot of stress and he has trouble sleeping. He becomes more careless and makes a lot of mistakes during fights. All the stress and sleep deprivation catches up to him during an intense fight with the Sinister Six. He's anxious, tired and he can't keep up with them. They defeat him.

They carry Spider-Man's unconscious body to Times Square and hijack the billboards, livestreaming his defeat. They wanted to do this to humiliate him in front of all the citizens he promised to protect. However, it's not enough for Doc Ock and he has other plans. He wants to kill him and make sure all of NYC sees it. The other villains try to stop him, but one of his tentacles pierces right through Peter’s chest.

Side note: Peter and Otto weren't close at all in this AU. However, Peter used to look up to him and his scientific achievements when he was in high school. That is until Otto became a villain, of course.

So, you've probably put two and two together - when Otto killed Peter, the symbiote fully awakened and revived him. Peter is freaking out that he somehow has the black suit again, but shifts his focus to send the Sinister Six back to jail. Then, he tries to remove the symbiote, but it hurts him so bad that he collapses and is physically unable to do anything. He seeks help from Reed Richards who does a full body scan and finds out the symbiote is a part of Peter - removing it would kill him.

Peter is in full freak out mode, unable to think clearly. He goes home and has a breakdown. Days pass, his stress levels are off the charts, but he tries his best to keep it together. MJ is there to keep an eye on him, she's scared for him. The last time Peter had the symbiote, it almost turned him into something unrecognizable. MJ doesn't want to lose him this way.

All the stress and lack of sleep isn't doing Peter any favors - he's getting more aggressive and sending thugs into the hospital left and right, and he starts isolating himself from everyone. And he completely loses it, he goes feral and turns into this spidery humanoid alien amalgam.

ngl I'm not good with monster(-ish) designs but here's a rough doodle of feral symbiote Peter with regular Peter for scale. I've never liked him turning into big muscular Venom, I think that should be Eddie's thing. Peter should be more spidery imo

With the power of love, Peter turns back and spends weeks learning to control the symbiote. And then we'll get the Hybrid Suit, which IS the symbiote but Peter made it look like an edgier version of the classic suit.

Peter still has the lingering fear of turning into that thing again, but tries his best to control his anger since removing the symbiote is impossible without killing him. Sometimes he gets a little too agitated, though. But it would require a lot more stress/anger for him to turn again.

[genericpuff]

Big steps are scary, but not moving forward is scarier u.u

So I've been sitting on this post for a little while now, I had planned to post it a few days ago but then I crashed for a nap and woke up to the news of LO ending so wound up using that as another excuse LOL

The last few months have been, to put it lightly, brutal. It's not that anything has happened, it's more like nothing is happening - the usual slow season in tattooing has been especially long, with especially less clients coming through the door, so while it's given me loads of free time to prepare for my conventions and work on other projects, it also means I'm not making as much as I'd usually make. And what I usually make is typically what supports everything I do here.

This has basically been me for the last half a year:

(riding it out, just riiiding it out, whoof)

I'm very fortunate to have a job that satisfies my dream of making a living off art, controlling my own schedule, and making money doing it to boot - but the caveat to it all is that it's a luxury service that relies on the economy around me doing well, and the economy around me right now is very much NOT doing well. I'm also very fortunate that my savings are capable of supporting me, but that's all they are, savings - if I'm not making anything, they'll burn up eventually. I'm not sure how physically capable I would be of going back into retail / food service, and it's honestly just not something I want to do after coming this far as a tattoo artist.

I've also learned how valuable and necessary collaboration is during projects like these. Not just to supplement the quality of the work itself, but to supplement the working experience as a whole. Working with an assistant has been an eye-opening experience in that regard.

When I set out to make this account, it was for the purpose of LO shitposting, edits, essays, and nothing much more than that. I wanted to keep it separate for the sake of my mental health and for the sake of my separate audiences, because when I started here, it just... wasn't a popular opinion in the slightest to have opinions about LO and comics like it outside of the positive norm. I had a lot of fear for a long time built up in my head over it, but as time has gone on, I've fortunately had mostly positive experiences and even when they aren't positive... I've proven to myself that I'm capable of moving forward through it all with my head held high and that these scary experiences aren't as scary as they tend to seem in my head. That's really just the funny thing about fear over any sort of 'risky' endeavor.

That said, I've also branched out a lot more from this blog's original purpose. I've talked about the process of making webcomics, Webtoons as a platform, offered alternatives to creators seeking refuge from the more corporate platforms, given out writing and art advice, discussed topics concerning Greek myth, shared my own original works, and basically just naturally progressed into talking about and doing other things because LO will end eventually and I don't want to restrict myself to talking about the same comic forever LOL

This is a crossroads that I've been at for a few months now. And I know nothing will change unless I take a step forward. It might wind up not being in the right direction in the end, but it's forward, and that's all that really matters to me, because staying in the same place forever isn't good for anyone.

So, I guess I'm gonna stop yapping and just show y'all what I've been working on! I brought this up in a Twitch stream the other day and people in the chat were all very supportive and optimistic, so I'm hoping those of you who follow me here will be too ╭( ･ㅂ･)و (and if not, well, you can kick my ass in my inbox later LOL)

I've applied for my genericpuff account on Twitch to become an Affiliate channel and am just waiting on the approval process. Assuming everything goes through well enough, y'all will be able to subscribe to my channel or support it with bits. If I do get approved I'll be doing a rehaul of the channel design and offering some fun lil' goodies for the chat, and I'll be trying to stream at least twice a week.

So please go follow my Twitch account if you haven't yet! It's the best way to get early sneak peeks of Rekindled, as I'm usually working on new episodes, but we're usually also chatting about LO, webtoons related stuff, and other fun topics ٩(｡•ω•｡)و

But now for the biggest new addition - I've started a Patreon account specifically for my genericpuff stuff ! Normally I would redirect anyone who asked to my main Patreon, but it's not as active nowadays simply due to my original projects being on hiatus. And it's not exactly the best space to share any bonus goodies related to my genericpuff account.

That said, I want to make it clear that I will still be putting limitations on what I offer on this page. Anything related to early access sneak peeks will still be free for all. This will be a glorified tip jar first and foremost, most of what I will be offering as bonus goodies and incentives will be stuff like time lapses of pages, art tutorials, original character designs, critique requests, early access adoptables, deleted scenes, etc.

Basically it'll be stuff that I'm already making (or want to make) but will be exclusive to patrons that won't be tied exclusively to the reading experience of Rekindled. The comic will always be free to read, not just because of the legal stipulations of it being a fan project, but because I want it to be.

Alternatively, if you want to access the stuff I have planned for my original work that I will be posting as early access to my Patreon once it rolls out, you can support that Patreon here!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much for supporting what I do here, in all of its niche craziness. Building this little community over the past year has been life-changing, and I don't say that lightly. I've worked very hard to maintain what I'm doing here, and I'm going to continue doing so - it's a privilege to write and draw for you all week after week, and I appreciate any and all support you can give so I can keep managing what I do.

And if you can't, that's okay! The best way you can support my work is to read it, share it, and engage with it! Remember that reblogs will always be more beneficial than likes, and please don't ever be afraid to pop in to our streams or into our Discord to say hello! It would be a joy to have you ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

Thank you all so much. This has been a big barrier to overcome on a mental level, my anxiety is through the ROOF right now, but I'm so grateful and glad I have such a wonderful circle of readers, community members, and friends who have offered their reassurance through this slow season and process of seeking support. Whether or not this is a step in the right direction, it's at least forward <3 And whatever comes of it, we'll see. But I'll be riding it out all the same ~

[jccatstudios]

I have been following your soc comic adaptation and it just so good!!! I love how you draw them!

I have just one question: Why did you not include Inej's opening musings about Kaz on the first page? (Kaz Brekker didn't need a reason etc) I actually really like how there is not text on the first two pages, it's really atmospheric and moody so this really is not a criticism, I don't want to insult you. I guess I was just wondering what the thought process behind that was?

Oh, I've been wanting to talk about this for a while! Buckle up, this is gonna be one of my long comic rants. (Also, no offense taken at all! Anyone's welcome to question my artistic choices and I'm always happy to take critique, even though that isn't your intention.)

So, the thing is I actually planned on including that first paragraph into the comic! Here's when I first shared the thumbnails on here. Just for the sake of this post, I'll insert them here too.

The boxes are meant to be where excerpts of that introduction would go. When I was creating the thumbnails, I was thinking about how iconic these lines were and how well they introduce the world and characters. I even finished the pages with the intention to include those lines. This is from my original csp file.

When I lettered it all out, I felt like something wasn't right...? Hard to explain. I wanted silence for the opening and the narration took that away. I then thought about the reader who'd go into this without reading the novel first, wondering if they'd be thinking, Who's this Kaz Brekker guy? Is it this character on the page? It's clearer in the book, but I didn't think it paired well with what I drew. I didn't want any confusion. It's also Inej's chapter, and while Kaz's parts take up most of it, I still wanted it to feel like her POV and her story. We can hold off officially meeting Kaz until page four.

But the main reason I took it out comes down to my philosophy when it comes to comic adaptations. I believe that an adaptation should use the original story in the best way for the secondary medium. A comic adaptation should play to the strength of comics, not the original source material.

Time and time again, I see a lot of comic adaptations of books try to use a book's strength instead of a comic's. When that happens, you get pages upon pages of narration boxes and exposition that could've easily been told in a single panel's image. If you want to read excerpts from the original novel, go do that! They're beautiful and well-crafted and you should be reading the original anyway! If you're making a comic adaptation, make a comic, not an illustrated version of the novel (that's a whole field of its own).

This whole thing really ties well into what I'm doing for Chapter 3. Kaz is such an internal character, his chapters have a lot more exposition that isn't setting description or character actions. I've had to do a lot more of my own writing for this chapter than the last just to turn that exposition into his own voice as an internal monologue. Sometimes, it's just a change from "he" to "I," but there are other times I've had to write new dialogue and find ways to naturally flow between thoughts. If I didn't do the work to adapt the expository text and instead just put in narration boxes of text from the book, there would be a greater disconnect between the reader and Kaz. Third-person limited works great in books and doesn't separate the readers from the story, but in comics, first-person internal dialogue keeps the readers inside the scene better.

If I were to redo Chapter 2, I think I would try to find a way to incorporate the information from the chapter intro better. I think by losing the intro I initially planned to include, I didn't establish certain ideas very well. Ketterdam and Kerch are established later on pages 4 and 5, but I don't think I ever go back and mention The Barrel. Also, the idea that Kaz is deliberate, even if his reputation says otherwise, is important too. I've made sure to fix this kind of issue in Chapter 3 and keep record of what kind of information I'm losing as I adapt it.

[egg-emperor]

Hello! I hope you're doing well! I wanted to pick your brain over Eggman in Frontiers to hear your perspective.

I honestly found Eggman lacklustre in Frontiers. I was disappointed. I have a few questions to see if I'm missing anything and if you can put my mind at ease.

What were Eggman's motives for booting up the Ancients' technology? He mentions secrets but what for? Any other game story is a motive for world domination. How will the Ancients enable this?

I saw the relationship he and Sage had as uwu and sappy. I can't visualise Eggman as a father. I certainly saw him act paternal towards Sage. It's not to my liking haha. I preferred the original ending where he had to fight for his personal victory and bring Sage back online.

Why was Eggman laughing at Sonic being corrupted? I assumed he personally wants to finish Sonic off. I think of Sonic 2 8 bit in Underground Zone where he saves Sonic to finish him off.

Thank you in advance and I look forward to hearing your analysis.

Hello! I'm doing pretty good thanks, much more positive now I'm no longer struggling with the difficulty of the update XD Feels like I've been needing to recover though because I've been tired af! Hope you're doing well too ^^

He definitely deserved to do a lot more. Final Horizon improved by giving him a bit of action but he was still sidelined hard. I still feel so teased by the MC texture pack of Eggman and Sage in Wyvern, that would've been so metal in game lol. Even having even just a side boss is always better than none. The more action the better! It's not boring for him to be a boss and the villain he is and get some action. Especially since they easily could've incorporated the Titans by having Eggman take control, or he could've at least been a mini boss.

But I actually like everything we did get and I'll be getting into a lot of why here! And I appreciate the interest and you asking me for my take on it. I hope I can possibly offer a new perspective but either way, thanks for hearing me out. ^^ But buckle up because it's gonna be a big one lol, I decided to really dig in!

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

"What were Eggman's motives for booting up the Ancients' technology? He mentions secrets but what for? Any other game story is a motive for world domination. How will the Ancients enable this?"

His interest in The Ancients is just the classic story finding about an ancient power and checking it out to see what he can do with it. He knew there was a civilization with impressive and valuable technology that was attracting the emeralds, and understandably went to check it out. The prequel comic sets it up like this:

While his initial discovery wasn't revealed, he learned about the islands where an ancient civilization possessed advanced technology and it started attracting the emeralds. So he goes on a trip there, looks around and sets stuff up as we see traces of his presence left behind with ships on each one and Death Egg robot on Chaos Island where he was farming geothermal energy from the volcano.

He came across the Cyber Space structure as a piece of that tech that intrigues him so he wants to override their cyber security to access and take control of it for himself, so he had Sage downloaded to the data pad thingy and uploaded her to it to do so. He was then was supposed to get tech like their soldiers and Titans under control and use them in his plans, then he could discover more of their secrets and find a way to use all of their advanced tech he finds as a tool for world domination.

Immediately upon merging Sage with Cyber Space to try to get past that security, it summons the soldiers and the Giganto is seen in the back, so there you already have potential new power for him to take control of so he was correct. If he did succeed in harnessing and utilizing it and uncovered all their secrets in his surveying of it, he could have total control of the islands, get himself new minions, and discover more about their technology with Cyber Space and all and use their power for his selfish gain.

But of course it didn't go quite as planned as it seems that Sage sensed the danger and decided to seal Eggman in Cyber Space as a protective measure, so he gets trapped in there instead.

When trapped in Cyber Space he's fascinated by how advanced it is to the point he admits it's more than what he's dabbled in before. He continues his analysis of what he sees and throughout the memos, he finds out he was right to be curious and with all the research he gathers about the capabilities of Cyber Space and begins questioning how he can use this power and knowledge to his selfish benefit. Classic Eggman 💜

Sage was also able to somewhat control the Titans, it's just something was blocking her from taking full control but she was able to use them against Sonic and Eggman was very pleased. I'm assuming this was part of his initial plan, to take control of their power and use it against Sonic, then explore the capabilities of the rest of the tech on the islands to utilize for his bigger plan in world domination.

He was always planning on taking control of their creations and using them against Sonic and exploring the islands, uncovering their secrets and analyzing and learning about them like the scientist he is, then using that knowledge to figure out how he can use it in his schemes.

He finds out there's even more about their tech that could be useful with the capabilities of Cyber Space throughout. And he starts taking interest in The End when he learns about it being an even greater more powerful force for being able to wipe them out despite their own impressive power and creations. Which had even more potential if could've found a way to handle it, like he displayed a willingness and confidence in being able to do because of his genius and skill.

( Gotta love how he spits in the face of The Ancients' being wiped out by thinking he can do better. Sure is super sympathetic towards them huh ;D )

So had he not been trapped in Cyber Space, he could've used The Ancients' soldiers, Titans, and The End and if had utilized them successfully, I'm sure he would've had a lot of power that could help him take over the world with some plan. He clearly believes they could've done so themselves, to him it's just a question of why they didn't go ahead beyond a few "piddly" islands because of course he'd do so in a heartbeat.

It's funny because it's also another example of how he's incapable of considering that they might not have that same greed and desire for world domination like him, he can't fathom it lol

So he already knew enough to be aware that they possessed power that he could use in his plans, so he went there to check it out and take control of their tech. Then he was going to find out what else he could do to use their tech to his advantage to achieve world domination. While a lot of this unfortunately fell apart, he still spends his time uncovering more and analyzing everything he finds out while trapped inside Cyber Space too, as we learn about in the memos.

It really shows how during the entire main game and even in the update with the island conversations, he was thinking about what he could do with their power. People saying he's morally gray in this game confuse me because of his obvious villainy and desire to scheme with the only things stopping him being trapped in Cyber Space and then in danger of The End. The intent and desire is still there from beginning to end!

And the potential was there too. Eggman had a reason to be interested in The Ancients' secrets and I would've loved to see him actually put all this knowledge to use. It feels like they teased it waaay too much to never have him actually do anything with everything he learned... so I wonder if there's a chance he'll actually do so in the future?

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

"I saw the relationship he and Sage had as uwu and sappy. I can't visualise Eggman as a father. I certainly saw him act paternal towards Sage. It's not to my liking haha. I preferred the original ending where he had to fight for his personal victory and bring Sage back online."

I don't think the game did too bad of a job at showing what the real true dynamic of Eggman and Sage really is, ever since I paid closer attention in my second playthrough. I regret letting fandom influence how I thought and felt during my first because it ruined my first experience and made me believe things that weren't true. But now I love it because it's way different to fanon!

The most important thing to consider is the entire basis of Eggman's side of the dynamic and the specific reasons he comes to value and praise her at all, all said in his own words in the memos:

What kind of normal good wholesome caring parent brags that their child would be "loyal" and "perfectly effective"? Exactly. Those aren't things selfless, good hearted, good intentioned, genuinely caring parents expect of their child and that's the point. Eggman is already fucked up for that alone. Then to hammer it home, BOOM there it is:

The reason he recognizes, praises, and values these things in Sage as much as he does besides all the ways he benefits from them- is that he can take pride in being the one that made it all possible as she's a reflection of his genius- praising her is praising himself as her creator. And this is why Flynn said it was unsettling and that he warmed up to her for all the wrong reasons.

It's important to remember and consider this when analyzing absolutely every interaction between the two in this story.

In the prequel comic we see he specifically built Sage to protect him and he wishes aloud for a creation that will just once make him proud:

Upon hearing this, it may have prompted Sage to try extra hard to please him on top of her programming. And he was already calling her his "latest and greatest" like he does all his creations lol. So she also may have felt the need to try extra hard to live up to that high standard and expectation too.

Anyway, whether that's Sage's intention or if she's going purely by her stated programming, she does live up to fulfilling her programmed function and Eggman's wishes for a creation that will fill him with pride. She's loyal, efficient, and protects him multiple times throughout main story and Final Horizon.

Eggman takes note of her efficiency and her being crucial in his survival in the memos.

She shows true loyalty, efficiency in serving and protecting him as created, and prioritizes his safety and desires. She talks about saving him and the world for him to rule specifically, which he smiles smugly at like "finally somebody here understands it's all about me >:D"

All the times he praises her highly throughout the entire game are for doing exactly as she was created and asked to do, or surpassing those expectations in pleasant ways. But then every time she does something he doesn't want her to, even in cases where his best interests are still in mind, he snaps at her for it not being exactly what he wants: (Click through for better view/open in new tab on desktop, I don't wanna make the post even longer)

Also there's also him suddenly switching to being appalled, jealous, and pissed at her just for admiring Sonic

This all shows how conditional it is. He'll snap and yell at her and thump the Egg Mobile when she doesn't do what he wants in the exact way he wants one second, and praises her highly when she does the next. It's really represented best by these scenes:

First he was yelling at her for daring to suggest something he doesn't want to do, smashing his fist against the Egg Mobile in anger, and flying off. Then he was in danger of the G.U.N helicopters, she jumped in and saved him, and then he immediately switched to praising her highly and saying he was proud of her. What makes this especially significant is that you can get the second scene to play immediately after the other, if you trigger them right with the unlocking of the emeralds. Literally changes like the weather between her doing something he hates to something he wants.

I also want to bring up the flashback montage:

It shows Eggman doesn't actually do anything selflessly nice. All he does praise her for what she was created to do and she just applied love that she learned from watching Sonic and friends to those initiatives of loyalty and protection she was programmed with, the way Eggman praised her for fulfilling them, and to any likeness to family like him as her creator and Orbot and Cubot as his too, the idea of having a home, etc.

Eggman's side really is shown to be shallow, self-centered, and with his own interests and benefits in mind all along, while Sage's is more professional at first but becomes much deeper and more meaningful over time, as she witnesses what it means to be a family born of love from Sonic and co interacting. She looks to Eggman as her creator for that dynamic and applies the feelings of love she learned from them to it, even though their master creator and servant creation dynamic is much different to that. She doesn't have that but wishes she did.

Sage also clearly has doubts about him caring for her when she has to ask Sonic if he really thinks Eggman does, and it shows in her songs as she questions whether he'll be mad at her, or if she's asking for too much just to be with him, as I talked about here. This also shows that Eggman hasn't given her enough to convince her and we can really see that in the scenes. Even Sonic mumbles that Eggman "cares" for her "in his own way" because even he knows he isn't capable of loving and caring about people in the traditional conventional expected way.

They played some moments for the cuteness factor as they knew it'd appeal to a wider audience and it sure did but that part has no appeal to me. I instead like how the unsettling undertones are still there and make it interesting to analyze. And with the specific ways he praised her in the memos and the specific circumstances in mind, it makes sense as they're always the reasons that Eggman's side of the dynamic is built on.

It makes sense for Eggman not to trash her, he said she was crucial to his survival. Sure she pissed him off but so do Orbot and Cubot all the time and he keeps them around because ultimately they're useful and do their jobs (plus I also think he enjoys getting to boss them around and discipline them harshly as he does because it gives him a sense of power and control over others). And so does Sage, but with genuine enthusiasm, loyalty, and much more efficiency, and has his best interests in mind and a genuine desire to protect him. So why would he get rid of her and then not want to bring her back after her sacrifice? That would make no sense.

And it makes sense for him to praise her and be proud of her too. It's just like him being proud of Gamma. In fact, the way the scene of him yelling at her comes right before the one where he's saved and praises her highly and says he's proud of her, is a parallel to this scene where he was yelling at all the E Series calling them all dummies but then immediately changing his tune when he saw Gamma and saying he's proud of him for doing exactly what he wanted. I did a whole comparison here.

And it makes sense for him to take pride in her as an impressive life like creation, which he finds superior to organic natural life for it, and the ways he can benefit from her loyalty and efficiency. He can also take pride in her for being her creator/father, as she's a reflection of his genius and scientific skill and is useful to him. And by calling himself her father, it's also appealing to her desires for a familial bond which will also give her even more enthusiasm to serve him.

Eggman doesn't do any of this in ways that don't suit his character. He's valuing, praising her, and acting paternal on these conditions specifically, which is the only way it can work with his narcissism, ego, and selfishness intact. It's great that they didn't change him and instead found a way to further develop and solidify his already existing traits, by showing how a father daughter dynamic can work with these things in mind. It serves an an example rather than an exception to them, and this is what a lot of people are missing.

I also like The Final Horizon's ending as Eggman isn't the overly physically affectionate gushing and throwing arms around people type, it doesn't suit his demeanor and behavior and I'm glad to see that hasn't been suddenly forced with Sage. This isn't over the top and uncomfortable OOC like fanon.

It's a subtle and small gesture, extending his arm with hand out to her but looking away and forward. He's quiet, solemn, and reserved. His demeanor and body language is important. He takes a breath that seems like a "sigh well, here goes" kind of way then mumbles it, not much, just small words of praise towards her doing the very things he created and praised her for before- doing what he wants her to and serving her purpose as his protector like she protected him in the fight, and calling her his daughter also has the same effect in encouraging her and he knows it, as well as how it's appealing to him for his pride as he said in the memo.

It's very important to acknowledge he's not shy at all, that's the last word to describe him. He has the highest self esteem, self love, and confidence and it's all genuine. It's just that hyper affectionate super warm and mushy gushy-ness, be it through feelings, words, or actions isn't his thing. The most he's ever going to hype someone up close to it is in a performative manipulative way to urge them to continue doing what pleases him, and he forces it in some cases more than others, you get varying degrees.

But I like how it's on the more subtle side here a lot because it's even more telling of his true character. When he's acting like this it aligns with that reasoning again but with a new look at his style of showing it in a physical subtle manner, with his behavior being similar to the scene where she saved him in Cyber Space and said he was proud of her for it- only it was only through words then. We've now seen how he can show this verbally and physically and I like it a lot, it's the only way this can work and they did it.

I truly believe he doesn't feel the typical conventional idea of "love" for anyone but himself because he is the biggest egotist and narcissist in all of existence and is extremely selfish and people seem to be forgetting what that entails for his behavior and personality feelings, and mindset with his self absorption and low empathy. There are no sudden exceptions to this, Sage is literally just another perfect example of it, nothing has changed with him.

Also, think about the terms of which he's praising her in all of their "cutest" moments together:

Eggman is delighted that Sage has succeeded in getting Sonic's ass beat and hearing the battle reports. She's proving herself to be very useful and efficient, so he decides to take full advantage of that by properly giving her control of the Eggnet which is a huge promotion. So he uses it to butter her up to make it all the more inviting.

(again click/open in new tab for full view)

She is indeed a good change of pace from Orbot and Cubot as they're often less efficient and don't have the same enthusiasm. Sage brings everything they do but better in appealing to Eggman's interests and serving him well. And at first he takes a dig at them as he hates them immensely without an ounce of fondness but when Sage displays interest in them as being like family, he decides to play along with it and it pleases her, which is also going to make it even more inviting.

But when he first praises her most highly to her face beyond the offhand mumbling of her actions being "commendable" by saying he's proud of her, it's right after he was saved by her from the G.U.N helicopters. Then in The Final Horizon ending where he says she did good and held her hand, it's because he's saying she did a good job in protecting him from the line of fire in the final boss, helping him in destroying The End, and saving the world for him to conquer. Same goes for the original ending for the latter half, for him to revive her and say "that's my girl"

She's done exactly as asked, and he's praising her for it because it genuinely is a job well done and is exactly what he wanted and him reacting with praise encourages that. It's always because he got something out of it. It's not selfless, it's not sweet for the sake of it because he's just feeling sweet and fatherly and kind-hearted. There's always a reason in it where he has benefitted from it. It can be considered emotionally manipulative for that and very conditional too. She goes to great lengths with her actions and he rewards her with mere words- except for when it comes to her biggest accomplishment in The Final Horizon, he takes it a bit further. And what does he offer then? Just a small simple hand hold, while he looks away, seeming quiet and reserved. But it's enough for Sage and it works. It keeps her loyal and loving, he'll need to encourage it to keep her useful and enthusiastic in it.

These are all the specific reasons he praises and warms up to her, also for how calling himself her father is another way to take pride in her as her genius creator, as he said in the Egg Memos. It's all for selfish, self serving, self praising reasons. I like that a lot, it's very in character that way and how it's possible for such a dynamic to exist with his narcissism. Sage is the one giving things to him, protecting him, serving him, and showing loyalty, support, and respect for his desires while Eggman just takes. She does exactly what he wants as she’s created for and is willing and enthusiastic unlike a lot of creations of his. Eggman still hasn’t done shit for Sage, except praise her when she does what he wants but then becomes grumpy and snaps at her every time she does something he doesn’t.

So that's why, while I don't care for the cutesy way they're framed, I can see why Eggman would act that way to appeal to her desire for the family dynamic and encourage her to stay loyal and efficient. So now when it comes to the dynamic, I realized that I shouldn't just write off the entire concept as OOC. The question doesn't lie in "would this situation make sense for Eggman to do at all?", instead it's in "does this have in character reasons and basis for this to happen?" and in my opinion, it absolutely does, so it works.

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

"Why was Eggman laughing at Sonic being corrupted? I assumed he personally wants to finish Sonic off. I think of Sonic 2 8 bit in Underground Zone where he saves Sonic to finish him off."

He does really want to be the one personally finish Sonic off. XD He does say this in the English version and in the Japanese version he says he wishes he could've been the one who bury him.

I absolutely love this scene because it really emphasizes that he does hate Sonic as he says, despite any respect he also has and any credit he gives where it's due for him being a formidable adversary. And it's the funniest moment in the game hehe 💕

I think he'll be happy about Sonic dying in any way, as long as it's not being stolen from him from someone else like the Deadly Six for example, so he saved him at Lava Mountain so he could destroy him with his Eggrobo instead. In the Sonic 2 8 bit, I imagine it's because him simply falling into lava also would've been an unsatisfying demise.

In cases where he wasn't the one to directly finish him off, if he still has some hand in it, he can accept it. This doesn't apply when just almost falling into lava like Sonic 2 8 bit or when lackeys of his almost succeed in killing him when they're no longer on his side, like the Zeti breaking the bridge and Sonic almost falling into the lava, so he saved him both times so he could try to kill him himself after.

But in this game, since he helped kick off everything, he's partially responsible for the corruption and can at least settle for that. While he celebrates his supposed demise, he voices that his only regret is that he couldn't finish him off with his own hands for the ultimate satisfaction. Still, it's good to have him out of the way either way, a victory is a victory.

Exactly when and how he wants him to die tends to change a lot though, it's like it depends on his mood lol. Like how sometimes he will very clearly try to kill him during battles as he threatens his life and yells at him to die, how he tried to shoot the capsule out into space, and how he even wants creations or lackeys to actually try to kill him. I guess as long as it's by his orders he can settle for that but again, I think he'd be slightly disappointed that he couldn't do it by his own hands after the fact.

It's kind of like how we know that Eggman would prefer to show him his completed empire before "banishing" him (definitely meant killing) in Forces, which is why he actually kept him alive and imprisoned for six months. Yet he'll always very clearly be out for blood during battles and want him dead there and then. So I feel it depends on how desperate he's feeling to get rid of him in the moment and maybe in the case of Frontiers, for at least one good thing to come out of it. But ultimately, he'll always celebrate his demise if he has some hand in it at all and gets to finally succeed in his goal!

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

I love Frontiers Eggman so much. 🥰💜 I love his characterization and what he did actually get to do and I'm really glad I gave him another chance after my initial disappointment. The only things I'd change are a couple of English lines because they didn't make sense or would've been more in character rephrased but in most of those cases JP fixed it- and I'd give him more action, though the update improved on it a bit and gave him a chance to go up against the boss. But I really enjoy the new directions they took him in as new interesting ways to further explore and solidify his already existing character. It made it a lot of fun for me to analyze too!

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Eyes and Ears

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: An AU where Barbara finds Jason instead of Bruce.

It's March and Jason's fifteen in this chapter.

Chapters: 27/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Sheila Haywood, Original Character(s)

Relationship(s): Jason Todd/Original Character(s), Past Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson

Additional Tags: Canon Divergent AU, Older SIbling Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd-centric, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Jason Todd is NOT Robin, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd Has a Crush, Adopted Siblings

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Spring Break

As the years went on, Barbara gifted Jason a computer of his own, and he took the PSAT's for the first time. To celebrate his results, Jim allowed Jason to go up to Metropolis with his friends. "Got your—." Barbara pointed to her ear to see if Jason had comms with him. Jason nodded. "Heated blanket? Extra socks? Phone charger? Kryptonite? Headphones?"

"Whoa! Hold on, Kryptonite? Why would I need Kryptonite? I'm not meeting Superman, and if I was gonna meet Superman, I definitely wouldn't want to attack him," Jason chuckled. Barbara smiled.

"Just keeping you on your toes," Barbara replied as she opened her arms and hugged him. "You're so grown up. I can't believe you're gonna be sixteen this year!"

"Barb?" Jason whispered.

"Yeah?" she answered, feeling a little more emotional than she was used to.

"You're cutting off my air supply," Jason strained, and she let go and punched his shoulder. "And I'm not that grown up. It's just my PSAT score. Next year is when I get to take the real thing. I think by then, I'll be all caught up with you."

"Don't act like you aren't excited about this trip," Barbara teased. Jason chuckled.

"I am excited... It's the first time I've ever left Gotham. I hate that I was too scared to do Lenaea this year... But maybe that was a good thing. That's a little too far too soon, don't you think?" Jason asked. Barbara pouted playfully. "I'm asking the wrong person. You think I'm old enough to go across the country for a school trip but not old enough to work under your supervision." She pinched his cheek.

"Your chances of dying in Oregon would've been low. Let's leave it there for now," Barbara replied.

"For now?" Jason asked.

"We'll see how you do on your driver's test on your birthday," Barbara whispered as she straightened out his jacket. Jason grabbed her hands.

"Babs, you're joking... You're kidding, right?" Jason asked. Barbara shook her head, and he embraced her.

"Okay, now go put your shoes on. Mr. Polishuk and Number Five will be here any minute," Barbara smiled.

"Oh, you're not gonna believe this. Reese and A.J. like this one. Her name's Emma... And get this, I found out she's having a girl," Jason replied, "But that's a secret. She told me on accident at A.J.'s birthday party. I haven't told Reese or A.J. or Dad, just you." Barbara messed up his hair.

"How is A.J.?" Barbara asked.

"Oh, he's good. He and Mason are going out," Jason replied, "But that's also a secret because Reese and Mason are mad at each other."

"Look at you, the keeper of secrets," Barbara teased. Jason shrugged playfully as the doorbell rang.

"I got it! I got it!" Jim yelled. Jason waved at Barbara as he took his suitcase to the living room and slipped on his shoes. Jason smiled and stood next to Jim for a moment before embracing him. "Be good, okay?" Jason smiled and nodded.

"Love you, Dad. I'll see you Saturday, and I swear I'll take tons of pictures," Jason promised. Jason waved one last time as he followed the Polishuks down to their van. Once they were on the freeway, all the kids started to talk amongst themselves, except Reese, who went straight to sleep.

"Do you think it's finally gonna happen?" A.J. asked Jason.

Jason's ears grew hot, and he shook his head. "Oh, I dunno. I know it's weird that I still haven't kissed him, but it's like every time we go in for a kiss, something horrible happens. Remember at the beach I tried to kiss him, and my nose started bleeding? Or when he went in to kiss me at the spring carnival and threw up over my shoulder? I think we're doomed to never kiss," Jason replied. Reese started to snore, and A.J. laughed.

"You're waiting for a perfect moment, and with Reese, that's never gonna come. He had his first kiss in seventh grade—."

Reese stretched out. "Ignore that. I'm gonna kiss you when we get to the Daily Planet. I've already decided," Reese smiled with his eyes closed. Jason turned to give Reese a peck on the cheek just as Reese turned his head, and they kissed. Jason let out a scream. Everyone else shrieked in surprise.

"What are you screaming for?" Casey yelled as she tried to calm herself back down.

A.J. laughed so hard he started to cry. "The irony," A.J. laughed.

Jason pulled his shirt up to his forehead out of embarrassment. "Please unlock the doors so I can end it all," Jason groaned. Reese held back a laugh as he tried to get Jason to show his face.

"It wasn't bad. I definitely have to say it was worth the wait even if it was an accident," Reese reassured him. Jason revealed his face, and Reese kissed him on the cheek.

They all went back to talking and laughing before the boys drifted off to sleep. The girls continued to talk to each other in the very back of the car. Jason was in and out of sleep for most of the ride there, and he finally awakened to look out the window. "Are we there?" Jason asked. Mr. Polishuk chuckled.

"We're there," he answered. Mr. Polishuk pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. Reese and A.J. woke up and elbowed each other playfully. "Come on, kids. Let's get settled in, and then I'll let you all go."

Everyone piled out of the car and got their bags, and Reese dropped everything to help Emma get her things. Mr. Polishuk went ahead of them to get checked in, and he came back with the keys. She smiled and whispered something to him, and Reese smiled. "Love you too, Emma," Reese replied as he carried both his bags and hers up to their hotel rooms. They all put their bags in the rooms, and they promised Emma and Mr. Polishuk they'd be back before dinnertime. Jason went with Reese straight to the park and hung around eating hot dogs and waiting for a Superman sighting.

"Jason, do you think we'll still be together when we're in our twenties?" Reese asked.

"I think so... But we don't have to worry about that now. That's years from now," Jason replied, "What'd you get on yours?" Jason pointed to the hot dog Reese had.

"Wanna try?" Reese asked as he held it up to Jason's face, and Jason took a bite.

"Mm!" Jason exclaimed as he finished chewing and went in for another bite. "Is that ham? On a hot dog?"

Reese kissed Jason's cheek and went to get two more of the same hot dog. "You should consider entering the school hot dog eating contest this year," Reese teased as Jason took a sip of water.

"Are the hot dogs any good?" Jason asked. Reese laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, they're delicious. Kind of plain, though," Reese replied. Jason started on another one.

"What does the winner get?" Jason asked.

"It's for charity, so it's like one hundred a hot dog for the charity of your choice, and like at the pep rally, a person in a hot dog suit gives you a sash and a crown," Reese laughed.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget the prestigious hot dog coronation," Jason grinned, "Hm... Maybe I'll do it."

"How many hot dogs can you eat? Like realistically speaking," Reese asked. Jason finished chewing before he looked over at Reese.

"Like in one sitting, I'd say maybe like nine if I was on an empty stomach and they were plain. I could probably hold down ten and a half, but no more than that," Jason answered casually.

"Where does the food go?" Reese teased.

"Shut up," Jason laughed. Reese snuck a bite. They both sat and talked until they finished eating, and they got up and walked to the bus stop. Jason checked his phone.

The bus hit a bump in the road, and Reese stumbled a little. Jason looked up from his phone and placed a steadying hand on Reese's arm. "Thanks," Reese whispered, "What's going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing serious right now," Jason whispered. Reese kissed the top of Jason's head. "It's just a dead end."

"Are you still looking for your mom?" Reese asked. Jason nodded.

"Yeah, but it's not looking good. Every time I think I've found my mom, it ends up being a dead end. I try not to look for her too much," Jason whispered.

"Why? Don't you wanna find her?" Reese asked.

"I don't know," Jason replied.

[tuulikannel]

That poll I reblogged, about having another name than your birth name, led me to think about my online nick... I can't remember for sure when it was, but I think it might have been around the year 2000 when I discovered fanfiction.net and started reading fanfics. And then I figured I should come up with some consistent nick to sign my (anon) reviews.

I've never really had any nicknames, so at first I didn't have a clue what to use. Then I thought that maybe something from Finnish mythology would be nice, and in the end ended up with Tuulikki. Tuuli means wind, -kki is an ancient ending for female names. It was also my mother's middle name, and I think this was relatively soon after her death (which means it'd have been in 2001). That made the choice pretty obvious to me.

Honestly, back then I had no idea I was picking a name I'd be using for years to come, everywhere online. ^^; I just wanted something with which to sign my reviews... After a while I dropped off the -kki ending (Tuulikki is very prone to being misspelled by non-Finns, I noticed ^^;;) and so I ended up with Tuuli. As both Tuuli and Tuulikki are often taken, I sometimes use other variations, like tuuli-chan (heh) back in the old days of LJ, or tuulikannel (wind harp) here on tumblr. That latter one's fitting also in the sense that I play kannel (or kantele as it's more commonly called. A Finnish traditional instrument.) Sometimes I've also used tuulentupa which literally means wind's cottage and figuratively, castle in the air. (We're not that fancy here, we just have cottages, no castles XD)

Another reason I like the name tuulikannel is that there is a poem by Eino Leino by that name. It made a great impact on me when I first read it, and only way later I've fully understood why. I did see myself in it. I have no idea what the poem really is about, but the beauty of poetry is that you can have your own interpretation... and I see someone aroace in it. But I think I'll put the rest of my poetry analysis behind a cut, cause I feel like I'm really going off on a tangent here, I was just gonna make a short post about my username... XD

Here's the first verse of that poem, in original Finnish followed by my extremely literal, not-even-attempting-to-rhyme translation:

Muut sydämen saivat, ma kantelen, muut murehti, nautti, ma en, ma en, en kurja ma elää, en kuolla voi, kun sykä ei syömeni, soi, vaan soi!

Others got a heart, I, a harp, others sorrowed, enjoyed, but not me, I, poor wretch, cannot live, nor die, as my heart doesn't beat, it only rings!

This makes me so strongly think about that comic about an aroace girl whose heart is blue, not red like everyone else's. (This one.) That feeling that there's something wrong with your heart - with you - when you can't feel what others feel. That feeling of being different, and the loneliness it brings.

Third verse (it's a longish poem, I'm not going to go through it all)

Mun syömeni tuulikannel on, sen kielissä laulu on lakkaamaton, se yössä, päivässä, yksinään soi ilmahan ijäti väräjävään.

My heart is a harp of the wind, in its strings an unending song, in the day, in the night, all alone, it echoes in the shivering air.

From the aroace pov, this is interesting to me. There is a song in the heart, but it sings it alone. Should the heart have a rhythm then, rather than a melody? A rhythm it could share with someone (two hearts beating as one...) But why is rhythm more important than melody? Or is the problem the loneliness of the heart? Perhaps the heart is longing for another one to join the song. Or perhaps it has simply been conditioned to feel that way, by the surrounding society. A lonely heart isn't a good thing, we all know that, right? And if you're alone, you got to be lonely! But surely the song of a single heart can be beautiful, too.

Jumping to the end of the poem, now:

Kiro katkera, julmuus jumalien: Itse orja, ma vapautta veisailen, itse lemmetön, lemmestä laulan ma, itse tunnoton, viritän tunteita!

A bitter curse, the cruelty of gods: I, a slave, hum freedom, I, loveless, sing about love, I, unfeeling, evoke emotions!

This ending. I've always felt it pretty strongly. Sure, I don't write much romance, but it does exist in my stories too. Yet it is something I personally know nothing about, and never will. I would not call this a bitter curse, though, but I do understand that view. Again, I'm think of that girl in the comic... I can understand how this could feel like a curse to some.

I first used tuulikannel for my writing journal on livejournal, and this poem was pretty much the reason why. It felt so perfect, back then. I do connect to it now, too, but I would like to give the poet a hug. ^^ Let your heart sing its songs! I do rather have a kantele as my heart than a drum, anyway. ^^

[14muffinz]

Asking some writers/artists I follow:

Is there anything in your fic/comic that you as the author know about, but won't end up in the actual story?

oh for sure

i'll start with the TMNT stuff first because of your PFP, but we gonna be here a while.

[lab rats stuff at the bottom]

warning: fic spoilers galore

In WIBE, one of the characters we meet is Yuichi Usagi, who works at the human ROTM. He also works in the original ROTM. He was robbed while on a trip to the Hidden City, and is originally from a different city entirely. Hueso is doing his best to help him out, but it'll likely be a long time before Yuichi gets to go home.

Some other WIBE background characters in WIBE include: MM!Kendra, MM!Robyn O'Neil, MM!Irma, & MM!Casey Jones. I don't have a lot to say abt Kendra and Irma, since it's been a long time since I wrote any of it down, but I can give it my best shot with Robyn and Casey.

Robyn has been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety disorder for a few years pre-fic. She's in her first year of college which is out-of-state, and does her best to check up on her family via phone call at least every other week. She's also sort of invested in all of April's new drama, but she won't admit it.

Casey's been playing hockey for as long as he can remember, and intends to keep at it for as long as he's physically able. He's also got a knack for engineering, and I'd gamble that sometime not long after the ending of WIBE, he'd start up the Casey Jones vigilante batshittery. His parents are divorced, but he spends most of his time with his Jewish mother, and while he's never been actually taught much about his religion he accepts it as a part of his identity, and if people don't like that then they shouldn't be around him in the first place. He finds the existence of the turtles to be one of the coolest things ever, but after actually getting to know Raph and the others, it doesn't impress him as much as it used to. (If I had time, I'd add in a tiny crush on Raph, but I'm an aro with WAY too many ideas for this tiny fic)

Then there's experienced fighters, where the main thing is me ALWAYS knowing what song is playing in the background. I really love how much music is in MM, and I love being able to say hey! here's the musical vibes of the environment!

sort of on that topic, i've got a hc that any song with even small references to space are songs that rise, 2k12, and MM leo are more likely to enjoy. they don't realize these patterns, but they sure are there.

and to end off the music rant, one of these days i'm gonna make a playlist of songs that I think the rise crew all collectively agree are good enough (this is what space feels like, goodie bag, punk tactics, etc. etc.)

there's also two in one, which is based off an au by @blackfire-fanfiction. I have to be real cautious abt what I put in there, because a lot of people are looking at it instead of the extended context of the real thing, not to mention how many Thoughts that aren't really canon I have about it. For instance: today I had a good 30 minute daydreaming session abt the concept of rise!Donnie reading leonardo's notebook while he's comatose post-rise movie and finding out about the switching

in dimension desync, I poke a bit at my head canons about peni parker's movie universe and her mental health at home, and have expanded on this even further in an abandoned draft. this is going to be LONG, so here we go: Gwen Stacy and Richard Parker were around in Peni's universe before she herself was, each piloting a mech of their own [Ven#m and Sp//DR]. A few months after Peni's mother is pregnant with her, Richard dies in action, and a few months later, Ven#m sort of devours Gwen (go read the comics because it's really fucked up but idk how to describe it) So then the role of SP//DR is forcefully thrust upon Peni at the age of eleven, and her connection with SP//DR isn't exactly... perfect.

in my team blue universe, I'm fleshing the hell out of Sam-13 and Shadowcat (both from earth 65). Sam was created by corrupt parts of SHIELD (that have yet to have been identified as corrupt) but now is just a regular agent. Cap returned to their dimension when he was 14 and has been in charge of training him ever since. Cap is stubborn to a fault and is def being manipulated by the corrupt agents, but none of the kids have gotten close to that bigger picture yet. Meanwhile, Kitty was inducted into the weapon x program (or 65's equivalent of it, I don't remember much of the wolverine origin story) at the age of 8, and despite odds survived. Wolverine took her in, and she's been helping him bounty hunt since about 13, even though he's trying to stop her.

team blue is also starting to extend to universes that the spider-verse movies don't really deal with through plants that have yet to be explained. but miguel's spite at e-199999 has definitely transferred, which means that, if they were ever to interact, not many of the main team would like the mcu-vengers

in my very obscure mech-x4 series, Olivia (who is only referenced by name once in the show) is veracity's little sister, who is 7 years old. This series is more of a set of vaguely connected oneshots, but still.

i could go ON AND ON about Oliver in all of my mighty med/lab rats fics, but in short: arcturion made his hair start growing in blonde, which he hates. Horace is his adopted dad and so it sucks ass when he dies. Oliver also comes with built in hypothermia! This is also definitely a headcanon, but I think that in EF once the rats have the upgraded chips, Chase's laser bō is green instead of blue, and his super senses are togglerable (to a degree) I also like to imagine Kaz's lil bro Kyle is his number one fan and nobody in his family listens to him when he claims that Kaz is one of the bionic guys on the news.

... yeah I think that's enough for now

[kinopioa]

900th Adventure notes (not much about Ian and Evan!)

-Nigel Kitching, from Sonic the Comic, interestingly returns. His writing is more dramatic at first, but it was all a ploy to distract Metal and ease off the effects of the Topaz

His mannerisms are a little snappier, which given StC makes sense, same for brief descriptions cuz he British. Sadly Knuckles didn't do anything, but I like Sonic's characterization. He's cheeky, but not obnoxiously dissing like Flynn's, and his ploy exposes a good context intelligence unlike most of IDW

The art's weird. Apparently both Fonseca and Rik Mack worked on it, and while I see Fonseca's influence, it deviates from his still at bits. Not bad, though Knux's anger seemsmore exaggerated than what the writer intended

-Daniel Barnes has Sonic a bit more mouthy to Eggman/bots specifically. I like the idea that Eggman's testing out mechas in remote locations. If they fail, he won't be penalized. His mecha also is actually new, about time! Oddly, the city seems to be based on OVA...

Sonic noticeably isn't too bothered by the bots, and his priority of the Topaz over Eggman is seen. Only fault I can think of is fans misreading this as him not taking Eggman seriously out of context (note this further shows that Sonic can deal with Eggman not existing unlike Boom)

Art by Min Ho Kim (Dee Gee Min) once again is very detailed both drawing and rendering. .

-Aaron Hammerstrom. So the first thing I noticed, Cream!

She's been weirdly absent before this for Blaze use, you know, Blaze's first friend. That said, don't like the >told me I shouldn't help cuz dangerous. Feels counter to both games and that Annual, but this is IDW so bleh

Despite Rush refs, noticed Zero Gravity here. Also the first Aaron draw Sonic from the front

Also not a fond of the "Blaze be solo" retread. Brief, but still bleh

Shame, I love Aaron's art, especially with Foundraine coloring. Sonic's characterization is also better than Ian's, so double shame Cream got the short end of things initially, and Blaze too

Caleb

first, yikes. No offense to Abby Bulmer, but her art...isn't too good for chars and color. First I've seen their name though, for a 900th adventure issue special that's...odd. Wonder if this was done last minute...

That said, BG and perspectives are nice, and action/flow is good

As for writing, I like how Caleb references this even art BG wise (issue 15)

The scuffle with the Rogues is more comedic (also hey, Storm actually has a say here unlike Summer special), though I like this note

Of Rouge actually wanting to save the world, with treasure being secondary. Too often fans and Ian flanderize the treasure love

Shadow also is mostly decent, though I hated this. This is obnoxiously egotistic

In tune with Rivals though otherwise; He doesn't hate Sonic, but will not be afraid to beat him for the greater good

He also accepts Sonic making an option 3 (very much Sonic to say fuck da limits), and beats the Rogues from attempting to chase after they insult him. A little juvenile at bits, but "muh mandates" are further proven to be horseshit

So the end is Ian, and I won't talk much cuz it's basically Sonic putting the Topaz in its original spot, but this

Kinda cute in a "muh senpai" kind of way. Now if only I can forget how much Starline quickly soured

So overall, interesting filler, worst of Flynn didn't bog it down. Now here's the actual problem

It's filler

For a hyped 900th Adventure special, the fact it boiled down to "Sonic met friends and scuffled very briefly while running to an end" is...kinda nothing. There are other issues

-Eggman is here! So is this after or before IDW 57-60 arc?

-Richard Elton for cover made me think he was gonna do inner art too. Sadly no

-Same for Yardley

-IDW Sonic's continued tradition of lack of page numbers

-Knux again did nothing

-Rip Amy

Though a pro

-Credits are actually specified

-No OCs!

-ABT despite ehhh art for once isn't having chars weirdly talk when they shouldn't (the the yeah last page being closed mouth is hmm...). Actions are easier to read too!

It's overall ok as an anniversary filler story, but sadly is hyped to be much more

[kitkatopinions]

RWBY has been nitpicked to the bone by now. I suppose there's volume 9 but lets be honest not alot of meat to work with there, lots of gristle though. But here's my take. The end where the team arrives at Vacuo doesn't fill me with anticipation like an ending should. I feel more confused than intrigued. Likewise the same for the template preview at RTX. So many unanswered questions and considering the next volume isn't guaranteed, many will likely remain unanswered.

Ah, see, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on nitpicks. I feel like I still have plenty of nitpicking left in me for RWBY. XD

But I completely agree with you on the ending of V9 when they're in Vacuo. First of all, they went where and when they're needed the most, but... Why are they needed? By the look of things, Vacuo is doing way better than expected (because natural consequences don't exist in this show lol,) and honestly the writers have done an incredibly poor job of explaining why these five specific kids who aren't of graduation age and essentially were given their hunter badges because of nepotism and protagonist armor are needed in the war against Salem. Shouldn't they logically have gone somewhere that was in desperate need of any Hunter with a weapon like a village outside of the kingdoms? Or a place dealing with devastating Grimm attacks that a Silver Eyed Warrior could help with? Also, I've been mostly against time travel plots, but 'when you're needed the most' implies that the Tree goddess literally was doing time stuff and dude, when Team RWBY now is needed the most is probably pre-V3 so they can... You know, stop the devastating attack on Beacon that launched the whole war.

Second off, wasn't getting any semblance of an army together even to fight Salem a sure sign of how evil and controlling and oppressive Ironwood was? And yet the sight of ships overhead in Vacuo is supposed to fill us with hope?

Third off, the entire RTX original end for V9 was so bad that it's literally comical. Winter going on about the poor giving martyrs that wanted so much and did so much, Willow hiding out in her little sun hat being mistreated by mean poor people, the little 'remember her message' grafitti as if Ruby said something more than a bunch of confusing stuff and then a half-baked 'everything will be fine' platitude, Qrow being weirdly fine after the supposed death of his beloved nieces... All of it was just so badly done.

And yeah, it's possible that we might not get V10, but I think we probably will. I just don't know if we'll get anything more than V10, so I'm anticipating a major rush job that tries to jam pack in way too much while completely forgetting about tons of things. Then we're going to get a bunch of hate from anti-rwders blaming us and not acknowledging RT's terrible history, the RWBY writers' poorly done work and bad planning, or the fndm putting other people from other fandoms off of rwby as possible reasons why the show didn't last for another ten years. XD

[foibles-fables]

tag game (Horizon)

stolen from @hellcheercaine!!! Thanks for the excuse to put off starting work for another few minutes.

1.ride or die ship (your otp): Aloy/Talanah. my rotten soldiers my sweet cheeses my good-time gals

2. most annoying ship: nah you know I don't play that game <3

3. second favourite ship: Aloy/Yarra

4. favourite platonic relationship: Aloy and Erend, Talanah and Milu, Aloy and Sylens

5. underrated ship: gonna say Aloy/Yarra here too. Also Fashav/Kotallo, Beta/Milu, Alva/Seyka (thoughts of an angsty Loyalist!Federa fic won't leave my brain ALONE)

6. overrated ship: see question 2 bls

7. one thing i would change in canon: Oh man. There are...many things, lmao. The clear and obvious one is having Talanah join the base (as we now know was the original intention [rolling_in_the_deep.mp3]). But since that one is a given--completely toss the Zeniths out of HFW. Ground the narrative conflict in gathering the subfunctions, the collapsing biosphere, and Regalla's rebellion instead. Bring GAIA back only at the very end. Save the Zeniths for the major H3 antagonist instead, negating the need for Nemesis as the Bigger Fish. How absolutely baller would it have been if the Beta reveal came as a post-credits stinger instead? (Gerard's voice: "Are you ready to finally make yourself useful, Beta?" and then a camera pan over the face of a Sobeck clone, GOD)

8. something canon did right: The entirety of "Deep Secrets of the Earth" in HZD was a masterclass in storytelling. Every part of exploring PZD HQ was remarkable. The datapoints, the juxtaposition of "The Bad News" with "The Good News," the latter of which as the culminating reveal of the mystery that's been building throughout the entire narrative--it's pretty much perfection.

9. a thing i'm proud of creating for the fandom PLEASE BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF I WANT TO SEE/READ YOUR ART: may I present to y'all my AO3 trashpile

10. a character who is perfect to me (wouldn't change a thing): ALVA. My personal shining star amongst the HFW companions. I'm also contractually obligated to say Talanah here, even if I want to shake her by the shoulders sometimes (affectionate)

11. the character i relate to the most and why: This is a tough one. I see pieces of myself in a number of the characters, but I'm not sure if there's one that I'm like, yes, that is ME. I could prrooobably say Alva again? But it's not a definitely one-to-one.

12. character(-s) i hate the most and why: All the homies hate Ted Faro, that's for sure. But that's low-hanging fruit. So I'll give Amadis as well, though not for the seemingly-obvious reason--I cannot stand the sole purpose for which he was written, from the comic all the way through his weird unsatisfying ending in HFW. He's a repeated character with a repeated conflict that was already handled much more compellingly through Nil and is rendered useless and storyless by the end of Need to Know. Bringing him back in H3 would be the sorest mistake the narrative could make aside from a sacrificial ending for Aloy. He's just unneeded character bloat in an already-admittedly-bloated cast.

13. something i've learned from the fandom: You will make some of your very best friends here. Everyone is creative and hilarious and so smart. We all connect to the Horizon universe in a different way, and sharing your enthusiasm with others is what just makes the world feel even richer than what you could have imagined.

14. three tags i seek out on ao3: I typically don't browse AO3 directly!

15. a song i strongly associate with my otp/favourite character: you're gonna make me pick ONE?? oh man, okay. so this changes by the day, and today I'll say Oceanator's "I Would Find You" is THEE Hawk and Thrush anthem.

tagging: since I stole this untagged, I challenge YOU to do the same! Choose your fandom and talk about it!

[sentientgopro]

I've been thinking about representation again and the forms it can take and classifying them, and kinda just want to organise my thoughts here. Don't mind if I ramble for a bit, using a few examples.

From what I've seen so far, representation tends to take 3 main forms, and ALL OF THEM HAVE A PURPOSE.

Understated and insignificant, a slight mention

Meaningful and a fairly important part of the character

the character is an exaggeration of the thing they represent

So, first off, the "shallow" rep. Y'know, the kind people call "shoehorning" or whatever. This one can be a bit of a hot topic, and I feel like most people act like it's more of a problem than it actually is. However, in some cases it actually becomes very beneficial to the message the representation is trying to add.

For this one, I'm going to use Rainbow Six Siege as an example. Bear with me. For those who don't know about Rainbow Six, as in the original concept, not necessarily just the game, the idea is to have a global unit of the world's best soldiers, from as many different countries and backgrounds as possible, so that you always have a local expert on any situation and someone to provide a different view. The whole point of team Rainbow IS diversity, and always has been, but it more means diverse nationality.

However, Siege does add little tidbits of Sexual and gender diversity; a few gay characters, bi, trans, and Enby. However, this information is only mentioned briefly in the bios of the characters, regarded as a very insignificant detail. While this could come across as shallow representation, I think it really serves the game's message well. It does not matter who these people are or what their background is, they can do all the same cool operator shit as everyone else. There are trans people in the military, bis, enbies, and so on, and alot of people are against that, but Rainbow presents the message that it does not matter and they belong there.

Moving onto rep where it's a meaningful part of the character, or the media uses one to one metaphors to represent the identity (what I mean by one to one will make more sense later). This is where most "good rep" falls, and the example I'm using here, because it's one of the characters I know best, is Gwen Poole, AKA Gwenpool. Gwen's Aroace identity is still a fairly recent addition, with her having a several comic arc dedicated to learning about it. It would take far too long to delve into the deep details of Gwen's story and why she acts the way she does, but in short, she often tries to "put on a show", do things because she thinks shes supposed to in order to be interesting and relevant to avoid her comics being cancelled and fading into obscurity. In this comic arc, her appearances in Marvel's Love Unlimited series, she attempts to start an interesting romance to be interesting and stay relevant. She goes through attempt after attempt, trying different things, stopping on being gay/bi for a bit and seeing if that works, before things fall apart and she realises her identity. What I mean by a "one-to-one metaphor" here is how she forces things to happen to be an interesting character and because she feels like she's supposed to, which parallels how alot of Aspec people force themselves into relationships because they feel like it's normal and what they're meant to do.

And the third category, the exaggeration. This part is when "one to one" is going to make more sense. The exaggeration normally exists in a fantasy setting, where you can more clearly and outwardly display the complex inner workings of a person's mind. This is different to one-to-one where a character experiences those feelings as normal and just talks about them, as opposed to the media exaggerating and clearly displaying those feelings.

The example I'm gonna use for this is Jordan from Gen V, a spinoff of The Boys. (For those who don't know much about the boys and thinks its just that show edgy teens watch, its not. Theyre both very leftist shows, both in being supportive of marginalised groups and a larger criticism of capitalism and the right wing, especially with anti-immigration politics.)

Anyway, Jordan's power is to switch between being a man and woman in an instant, and having different powers depending on which they are. (For the purposes of this character, I am going to talk about gender as a binary, because that is how their power works.)

The show's target audience aren't exactly the kind of people who are going to pick up on nuanced ideas of gender identity, dysphoria, and such, so it isn't exactly subtle with that it's trying to say. Masc Jordan's power is being indestructable and immovable, and fem Jordan's power is some form of shockwave power, so their fight dynamic is attack as a girl and switch when they need to take a hit. I'm not gonna talk about the obvious implications of being a man to take hits and feel strong, it'd be a waste of time.

So that covers why they switch in fights, but which identity do they use out of fights?

The show makes 3 things clear: Jordan grew up as a boy before discovering their powers, and prefers being a girl and feels more confortable that way. So why do they ever present masc?

It's when they want to impress people, appear respectable/ traditional, appear strong and intimidating, or generally do not feel safe/comfortable, especially around their unsupportive parents. It's almost all based around internalized misogony.

So while the obvious interpretation to take about this character's identity is gender fluidity, I don't think that's the case, and this is where the exaggeration idea comes in. Jordan's power acts as an exaggeration of how they feel like they should present, as opposed to their actual identity. Having an instant and clear switch makes it easier for the audience to understand their feelings and comprehend what's going on identity wise. I believe Jordan's story much more closely resembles that of a trans woman, and the fluidity is just a way of showing their feelings.

I don't feel like I'm explaining this the best, but the exaggerated form of representation can make it clearer for the audience to understand emotions that are usually very subconscious and deep down. I recently cracked when I realised that most of the time, I was subconsciously viewing myself as more feminine and as a girl. I started questioning being NB or Fluid when I noticed sometimes I felt it was right to be more masc, but Jordan was there to exaggerate and clearly display those feelings to make them easier to interpret, and I realised I was in a similar situation and felt the same way.

So, in summary:

Subtle rep is designed to show that we're really all the same, and should be treated as equal.

One-to-one rep is designed to be directly relatable.

Exaggerated rep is designed to make it easier to interpret compex ideas and subconscious feelings to get a better understanding.

I hope this all makes sense, thanks if you read all the way to the end, I'd love to hear any thoughts you have.

[genericpuff]

Hi! So first things first happy belated new year!(sorry it's my first time interacting with your blog and I thought I'd start off on a positive note) second things second I wanted you to know I am ~besotted~ with your lore rekindled content , I love the art and how it resembles rachel's old style but most importantly I love the way you depicted persephone , she seems much more feisty and spunky ,she also possesses the agency many fans of the original LO claimed the OG persephone did (but never cared to show why that was the case whenever I asked them) as it is clearly shown, a good example of this is her " "meet cute" with hades at the party where SHE'S the one who approaches HIM, in the OG webtoon it was the opposite and the way hades gawked at her physical attractiveness while she was depicted as alone and vulnerable felt extremely predatory and not at all romantic (the "actual" first time they met with 18 year old or possibly younger persephone being naked on top of a drunk hades wasn't any better sadly:( ) also I'd like to ask a question if it doesn't bother you, (I don't know if you've been asked this before or not)Is persephone still going to be 19 years old in your comic? Or is she closer in age to hades ?I'd be grateful if you answered ! Have a good one❤👋🏻

Awww this was such a nice message to wake up to! Happy belated New Year! But now I wonder what your version of starting off your interactions on my blog with a negative note would have been like? 😈 Bring me allll your salt! (if there is any, I'm also just being a dick LMAO)

Thanks so much for your kind words, I'm glad you're enjoying Rekindled! It's wild to me how people are already loving it this much when like... I've barely put anything out? I think I've mentioned this before but I'm used to putting out like, 40-60 panels worth of stuff on a weekly basis (as Rekindled isn't my main comic project) so the fact y'all have been so sweet to the handfuls of panels I've put out for Rekindled already is like... absolutely wild to me. It blows me away :' 0

As for your question, I'm definitely gonna be age'ing up Persephone, not just because of the questionable age gap but also because her being 19 in LO serves absolutely no narrative purpose. The issue with the 19 year old age gap thing isn't just the fact that the age gap exists, that alone would be fine on its own because there would still be an age gap even if she were 100 or 200 or 500 or whatever have you. The issue is that 1.) 19 is a very specific age to use that has a lot of real world equivalencies to "barely legal" and "robbing the cradle" culture, there are FAR too many real life examples of rich 40 year old men exclusively dating 19 year old girls (Leo DiCaprio, hello?) and taking advantage of them in worst case scenarios and it makes it hard not to draw those parallels with LO when Hades is literally coded as a 40 year old man and Persephone is such a 'mortal' age like 19; and 2.) Persephone is very often framed as being some innocent virgin "valley girl" archetype which is, again, very common when it comes to the May December romance. A lot of gross older man will often specifically target younger women because they can play out their fantasies of "deflowering" a young woman or whatnot.

It's hard not to take issue with the Persephone/Hades age gap when they're constantly being drawn like this:

"Art experts" will argue that it's Rachel trying to make Persephone look "small" to convey the mood but if that's the case, she's failing miserably at it, she doesn't just look 'small', she looks like a literal infant. It also always seems to be happening in real time and outside Persephone's head which makes it come across more as other people seeing her that way, not herself.

Compare it to (and I hate that I'm about to use this as a comparison because I also can't stand this webtoon for how infantalizing it is) Let's Play which does a MUCH better job showing characters' inner emotions through the literal personification of their emotions.

Point is, you can convey how a character might feel compared to those around them WITHOUT making them look ridiculous in the story's own setting and universe.

And that's not even getting to how Persephone is treated by both the people around her and the way the comic frames her, there's a LOT of exaggeration put on how "young and innocent" she is and the fact that the comic will take any opportunity it can to draw Persephone in some Vogue magazine like pose even when the scene doesn't call for it is... creepy and distracting, to say the least.

(this is not the look of a person who is 'lonely', at least not the way she's describing it LMAO)

Anyways. This got off topic. It's taken me like, 3 hours to formulate a response to this because I've had my brain split between like 4 different things today LMAO but yes, Rekindled will be ageing up Persephone, at least just to get her away from the real life touchiness of her being a literal 19 year old girl in a relationship with a 40-coded man. I don't mind or think there's much wrong with reasonable age gaps in relationships, but it's a whole other thing when you make your immortal god character an incredibly relatable age like 19 and then also proceed to overly sexualize them/objectify them/infantalize them every chance you get.

And ultimately, they're gods. Their ages really shouldn't matter as 'age' is a concept that shouldn't apply to immortal beings, Rachel's mistake was making it matter with Hecate/Hera calling out Hades for being into a 19 year old girl. If we're not supposed to raise an eyebrow at it, don't have your in-universe characters call it out either, y'know? That just establishes the rule in the story that age gaps are something even the gods would get upset over LMAO It's just not gonna be a focus in Rekindled because it serves no narrative purpose besides pushing Rachel's gross pro-shipping/DDLG fetish.

And, y'know... I kinda don't wanna encourage any more of this shit:

[ahopelessprincessreincarnation]

Hey there, my name(or more so an internet alias currently at the very least)is Emanuel Marco aka Daniel, Julian or Edgar and welcome to my official alternative and somewhat not-exactly-secretive more diary-type internet journal space known as my blog on my brand new Tumblr Dot Com blog(aka where you are right now). I am a teenager and soon to be adult in my real physical life that's not on the interwebs, but I feel more as if I am some sort of childish adult, or atleast have felt grown up for awhile now due to stress. I guess you could say I'm "mature for my age" but that's barely the case to be honest with you and besides, I've sort of come to associate that term with creepy older men attempting to chat inappropriately in private direct messaging or whatever. Lmfao anyways, while I do want to keep my age a little vague for the reasoning being of an attempt at interweb safety(despite how far too late it seems considering other stuff at the moment), what I can say more in depth is that I am a neurodivergent person who is professionally diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum along with ADHD. I am considering that I may have other neurological conditions/disorders but I don't really know or care too much at the moment, by the way, I am also a white-latino who is bilingual in both English and Latin-American Spanish despite how I may struggle with the language along with attempting to reconnect with apart of my culture. I am an LGBTQIAPlus/Queer community member and supporter of other identities that I may not even fall under completly, though specifically I am a genderfluid bisexual aceflux person who uses both he/she pronouns(please don't use they for me unless I specifically asked to, thank you). I used to identify as a transgender male(ftm)but due to realizing the amount of harm being inflicted on women of both cis and trans due to violence and misogyny, I thought the most correct thing to do morally would be to stop being such and to instead just lean into more masculine types of gendernonconformity(I am still pretty feminine though so it's just an idea I guess lol(Please know that there's nothing inherently wrong with transitioning from female to male or something male-ajacent or whatever, I know it's probably more complex than just "all men are bad" like no duh but still, it's been really hurting my heart that I could possibly be giving off the idea that misandry is real or something roflmao. Sorry if that explanation is stupid, but I'm not the best at phrasing stuff sometimes♡).

For what I am going to be posting on here, it's probably gonna be different from my main page and other social media platforms but at the very least I wanna keep my alternative/side-blog more clean and organized when it comes to my interests and other stuff relating to my thoughts and ideas for different types of subject matters. While I am am an admittedly mostly digital artist and animator who intends to make more stuff involving my inspirations such as making more gay yuri anime and bara yaoi manga style graphic novels/comics, I want to use my alternative page/side blog to write not only fictional stories involving my original characters and even fanfiction, but also stuff about my life almost as if they were written storytime videos that would usually he formatted visually on my YouTube Channel. To be honest with you, I've been looking more into stuff involving the subjects of alterhumanity, soulbonding, therianthropy, fictionkin and just otherkin over all on here atleast. I don't know how much more I can possibly explain without falling asleep since it's night where I am on the planet Earth at the moment, so this is probably just gonna remain as a temporary pin but please keep in mind that updates are probably going to come soon♡.

I know nowadays on the interwebs and most public mainstream social media platforms, users usually put some sort of "before you follow" and "do not interact" criteria as a set of boundaries specific for those who want to support their account and become mutuals with them. Since I want to avoid any sort of needless drama situations or scenarios involving meaningless discourse, I am just going to leave my simple requests here for those who care enough to read through my little ideas of what I consider to call my own boundaries♡:

•Obviously, first and foremost, please just be normal as you would not using the computer or phone infront of you which means...use basic common sense and maybe possibly even kindness perhaps I don't even know anymore. This specifically means no racism, xenophobia, ableism, queerphobia/LGBTQIAPhobia and so on. If I do something that's considered any of the above, I can assure you that it was an accident and to please educate me on whatever I have done that may be offensive or wrong since I recognize I do have certain privilege♡.

•Secondly, please do not come to me if you support problematic fictional media or internet communities such as lolicons/shotacons/kodocons, radqueers, pro-paraphiles, fujoshis/fudanshis or himejoshis/himedanshis, proshippers/comshippers/profiction/darkshippers or whatever other name these groups go by nowadays atleast or enjoyers/condoners of feral nsfw content. I am against these groups due to the harrassment, sexualization/fetishization and grooming that runs rampant in these specific internet spaces though please don't attack any minor users in these communities. Many of the younger ones are traumatized children who don't have many healthy coping mechanisms and while these habits should absolutely not be encouraged, they still should be guided and helped into the right direction by others who know better atleast♡.

•Thirdly, If you are apart of other insensitive and hurtful groups such as endogenic/non-traumagenic "systems"(that's not how being a system works dummy), if you support mspec lesbians or male-lesbians aka "lesboys"(you literally cannot be attracted to men while being a lesbian or be a man and also identify as a lesbian so please stop making non-men loving women and the rest of the LGBTQIAPlus community look bad because you're literally just scared to admit you're straight or bisexual or something I don't know???) and others who use marginalized communities in order to hurt others by disregarding their concerns♡.

•Fourth, my last but not least important request, is for you to leave my alternative/side-blog(and other social media platforms if you know who I am yet somehow)if you support the unneeded cyberbullying towards those who may seem "cringeworthy" but in reality are harmless and at worst cheesy on their own(Examples being neopronoun/xenogender users, alterhumans/therians/fictionkin/otherkin/soulbonders etc or furries and cosplayers). Humanity can be very beautiful when using all of our differences for good and not for evil, otherwise we end up creating a very ugly and nasty pathetic excuse of a community for us all to reside in. We all have a story to tell, whether we're comfortable sharing or not and at the very least we should attempt to be understanding of others despite how cheesy such a thing sounds I know. Just please bare with me here)♡.

So it seems I've gotten atleast almost all thw words of what my brain wanted me to pour out onto the screen as I sometimes carry concepts that are hard to explain with me even through textpost lol. For those who care, my DMs are open 24/7 though sometimes I may not be motivated to reply exactly on time(again, please bare with me here. I know it sounds dumb but still-), now I'm gonna be signing off until something pops into my mind and makes me attempt to come up with a coherent post again, yours truly ~AHopelessPrincessReincarnation.

(P.S:Thank you to the kind internet strangers on here who have happened to wander onto my post somehow[maybe through the tags listed below]and were able to read through my whole, long and crushed up pinned introductory textpost. It means a lot to me that certain people on here are interested in what I have to say, so your support is very much not only appreciated but cherished! You all really do rock)♡.

Have a great day or night wherever you may be in the world right now and please never be afraid to check in and stay tuned for more>:]♡.