#universe rambles

[todisturbtheuniverse]

hello hello!

it's been a long while since i posted here. but i am playing The Game, and as a result have been inevitably thinking about this place, and missing it. i'm really looking forward to reading everyone's thoughts once i've finished it. i'm still muddling along somewhere in Act 2 - if i hadn't already known my life has changed dramatically since Inquisition came out, this would be the final proof, lol.

i hope you're all well, or as well as can be expected, given recent events. maybe more dragon age talk here soon. ❤️

(unrelated: i clearly need to brush up on how tumblr even works these days. all the old tags i used to organize stuff on this blog appear to go exactly nowhere. 😅)

[universefulloflove]

have some pics of my dog enjoying a snow day today in these trying times

[prlssprfctn]

I actually need some fanfic, where Bruce and Jason are in the middle of some argument, and a casual (and a well-practiced with Dick before) sentence leaves his mouth, something along the lines "How old do you think you are?!", meaning that he is acting childishly. And because Jason is irritated, and his tongue runs loose in his anger, he screams back that he is nineteen, and Bruce just freezes, because... Oh. Jason is nineteen. He is a fucking kid - his kid - that lost years of his teenhood, and was forced back without anyone giving him a space to catch up, with everyone else already treating him like an adult... When he isn't.

[spocks-husband]

In Bruce's phone, he keeps the contact photos for all his kids as their baby pictures (or the closest approximation that he has).

Dick's is a photo of him when he'd first designed his Robin costumes, smiling ear to ear as he proudly showed off his first hand-sewn prototype.

Jason's is a picture Alfred got of the boy sitting on Bruce's shoulders while they went over a case.

Tim is him fast asleep in the middle of taking notes on his first real mission (he wanted to impress Bruce really bad).

Damian is a polaroid he got from Talia of him when he was about a year old, teething on a mango seed as he sat on the floor of his mother's room.

Cass is entirely blacked out except for her big bright eyes that can be seen in the darkness-- Bruce thinks it's the cutest photo ever.

Even Babs has hers set to a photo of her with her first computer, grinning happy as she probably hacked into a federal database somewhere. He got that photo from Jim.

Likewise, of course, Alfred's (very bareboned) smartphone that he barely uses has Bruce's contact set with a photo of him playing in the snow as a little boy.

[pussyeater8000]

Kon: Would you still love me if I was a worm?

Tim:

Tim: Well that depends, were you already a worm in this particular situation or did you get turned into one? How did you get turned into a worm? Was it magic? If it was magic I'd have to ask Zatanna or Constantine for help but im sure i could find a way to turn you back.

Kon: I-

Tim: Unless of course you don't wanna turn back. Maybe you just want to stay a worm for the rest of your life. I mean i don't know why you would but I'd still respect your decision

Tim: Would you even know you're a worm? Would you still have your memories from before you were one or would your mind also change into that of a worm? Hey how unethical would it be to date a worm anyway?

Kon: I am deeply in love with you.

[philsmeatylegss]

As someone who is studying history with a big interest in 1940-1980, it is insane to see the crack down on the college protests. History does nothing but repeat itself. It happened with protests against segregation, against the Vietnam War, against the Iraq war… and how we view it looking back is always the same. People always ask why studying history is important. This is exactly why.

[nugatorysheep]

Moments in Steven Universe that live in my head rent fucking free

[spicy-apple-pie]

Bruce says that his "true self" is his disguise. But Dick doesn't believe him.

Bruce keeps saying how important it is to notice the little details. And Dick does. He notices how Bruce's shoulders relax when they make it home after patrol, the slight change in tone as he tells Dick to wash up and head to bed. He notices how Bruce rolls his eyes at his puns, with a slight smirk that he tries to hide. How he ruffles Dick's hair and calls him "chum". Whatever the hell that means.

Most damning of all, Dick knows how Bruce peaks in on him after he's done in the Batcave. It scared Dick at first, for this... stranger to watch him while he slept. But one night, Dick decided to stay up a bit longer to finish a chapter in his psychology textbook Bruce made him read. If he finished it tonight, then he would have the next day free from Bruce's homework.

He startled a bit when the door creaked open. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Bruce whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Bruce shrugged. "I just... saw the light on and wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." Dick reassured.

"Okay. Not too much longer though." Bruce quietly shut the door behind him.

"Batman's the mask, huh?" Dick thought to himself, turning back to the last paragraph. "Yeah, right."

[liimonadas]

randomly rememebered a very silly maya content creator AU i came up with like 2 years ago. its just dumb fun haha

[dreamingaboutsakuratrees]

[During a white elephant gifts exchange]

Steph: A metro card? no way!

Tim: From me! Unlimited rides

Jason: Oh, unlimited rides? Is that what your tramp stamp says?

Tim:

Tim: I was gonna get mad, but that was a damn good one

[todisturbtheuniverse]

i've finished The Game, and now i'm going to go on a weird tangent. here are some thoughts. the Veilguard spoilers are vague. this is also about the book Somewhere Beyond the Sea, for some reason, so spoilers for that, too.

i finished reading Somewhere Beyond the Sea last week. honestly, 10% in i did not think i was going to keep going. i pushed through because i rarely DNF a book, and i figured it was just taking me a minute to get from one fictional place (the last book i'd read) to another (this one).

that was probably part of it. the other part was this book was so relentlessly positive. against impossible odds, our main cast of characters triumphs. i don't think there was ever any doubt in my mind that that was how it would go. i knew enough about this author and this particular story to know that.

and by the time i closed the book (or whatever it is you do with an ebook, yeet it into the digital void or whatever), i thought, well, that was nice, but it would never happen.

my own brain kind of took me aback, in that moment. it's...a fantasy story. there are many layers of it would never happen, here. what the hell does that matter?

i just kept mulling it over and over until i went to bed. it would never happen. everyone was too nice. too many people stood up for the right thing. good triumphed over evil. the government was beaten back, at least for now. the heroes are safe, and loved, and fed, and housed, and unafraid.

on the one hand, i understand my reaction. i need a lot of salt in my sweet. i want to see the heroes get bloodied (physically or metaphorically, not picky). i want them to lose something to make the eventual victory feel earned. i don't think that's what this book was intending to do, and that's completely fine--it's subjective, whether that's what you'd like at the moment or not. i do think the characters certainly go through a lot, it just wasn't enough for me.

on the other hand, it feels a little like i've allowed the general state of things to twist me into a more cynical version of my usual self, one who doesn't believe good things happen. i'm definitely talking about the world at large here (climate change, AI, american politics, many more things). though personally, i've also had a...dip...these last few years. and this is even though, personally, lots of good things have happened to me! it's just that some bad stuff has happened, too, and it's definitely been a trial working my way out. to some extent, every time i get some breathing room, something else happens. it's exhausting. but it's like i sort of expect that now, for me and everybody else, to be continually ground down. i don't exactly like that, but it is where i am. i see the angle i'm approaching everything from, at least.

so. Veilguard. i thought a lot while i played about how everyone in the group is too nice to each other. the friction is limited and short-lived. i wanted a lot more of it. there were parts of the game that really hit for me, to the point that i'd probably call it a 7/10, but i kept coming back to how nice everyone was. i've always liked Hawke's messy Kirkwall crew best, so it's understandable that i'm annoyed about the lack of drawn-out hissy fits amongst the Veilguard.

but i also get wanting that. wanting people to be nice, kind, understanding, empathetic. to have their own shit together enough to understand your shit. it's not necessarily for me, for whatever reason, but it's not inherently bad. i can make up more friction for fanfiction.

i also think that, first time through, i probably missed some muted friction that comes through in party banter. is it a dragon age game if all the banter just doesn't trigger often enough and you miss half of it? a good example is Harding and Lucanis. early in my second run i heard some banter from them that i just did not get the first time, Harding being so suspicious of him, reserving a special arrow for him, etc. i saved Minrathous the first time through, so i didn't even get the quest where Spite takes Rook into Lucanis's head and a version of Harding is there, suspiciously looking out. it's not super overt, her suspicions and concerns are reasonable, but i hadn't seen that distrust in my first run of the game, so their later conversation over coffee didn't hit the same. that's going to be a feature of a game in this style and this size, that there is so much content and sometimes you miss some of it, especially when most of the folks on the team seem to be real adult-adults and are more muted about their issues with each other.

i said this was going to be a tangent. anyway. loved pretty much all the Solas stuff. the moment-to-moment gameplay was fun in both classes i've played so far. i'm midway through my second run and have been able to take my time and explore more, since i'm not co-piloting with my husband and i'm not driven by the frantic urge to know how it ends, and the bits and pieces you find out in the world are pretty cool. the lore drops, also largely fascinating. i get a little deflated by those answers to huge, long-time worldbuilding questions, but only because i love the journey and hate that it's over, lol. that in some way, some possibilities have ceased to be.

i definitely wanted more romance content, but i'm liking the Harding romance a lot more than i liked Neve (sorry, Neve) and looking forward to romancing some others on the team in the future.

it wasn't my favorite dragon age game, but i'm glad we got it, finally. and i hope it's good enough that they'll get to make another one, whatever that looks like.

[universefulloflove]

she is honestly one of the most beautiful dogs

[gothamundernightlight]

I know we as a fandom don’t talk enough about the Batkids acknowledging how old Bruce is getting, but something I think we talk about EVEN LESS is the Batkids acknowledging Dick getting older.

Like Dick is pushing 30 in canon at this point, and realistically cannot do the same things he was doing as a kid. There is a reason a lot of athletes retire young, and Dick’s life has been brutal on his body, so eventually it’ll catch up with him.

Imagine if you will some random new JL/Titans recruit meeting Nightwing and asking “Is it true you can do a quadruple somersault?”

And Dick has to wince and say “I used to, but not anymore.”

Imagine the Batkids hearing that? Imagine everyone who saw him grow up hearing Dick acknowledge he is getting older and can’t do the same things he did in his youth. Imagine how they feel about their own age. Imagine the grief Dick must feel at knowing he’s losing the gifts his parents bestowed upon him, and the fact he’s out-aged them both.

Imagine Bruce painfully acknowledge (in his head because it’s illegal for him to emote aloud) that not only is he getting older, but his first child, his SON, is now the same age he was when Bruce took Dick in.

Imagine Dick picking the smaller option out on ice cream trips because his body can’t handle sugar the way it used to, or eating less in general because his metabolism has slowed down.

Imagine the Batkids sparring and Dick has to tap out because he can’t keep up with them all for as long anymore. Like he can’t keep still do a lot, and handle himself in a fight, but he is not showing off with flips the same way he used to.

Imagine the day one of the Batkids spots gray hair on Dick’s head, or realize that the lines on his face are just a little deeper than they used to be?

Babs keeps calling him the Boy Wonder as a private joke, but the boyish charm that Dick once had has since faded. He’s a grown man, and while at heart he still is the kid that brought light back to Gotham, his outside reflects the life they’ve lived and shared together, which didn’t just pass by in the blink of an eye.

And Jason pretends he doesn’t care, but realizes that Dick isn’t the same 16-year old kid that Bruce put on a pedestal. That he, out of all their siblings, saw Dick the most when he was in his prime, and that his older brother is just a little more fragile than he used to be.

And Tim thinks back to the days of him stalking Batman and Robin before, pulling out those old photos and realizing just how much Dick has aged. When did that happen, he wonders, and how much more will Dick change as he gets older?

Cass, Steph, and Duke acknowledge that Dick Grayson grew up, and left behind a legacy for them to fill, but they’ll always wonder what he was like when he was younger, and wonder how much longer he’ll be around. Bruce has been doing this vigilante schtick for 20+ years, but will Dick still be doing this when he’s Bruce’s age?

Damian takes it the hardest. He can’t look at Dick without thinking of him as the same Grayson who was his Batman, but the truth is, he’s not the same. His old portraits of Dick bear witness to that, with each one just a little different because time is not frozen to Dick the way it is with Ra’s and Talia. Damian privately grieves everyone he comes to care about in advance because death has surrounded him his whole life and eventually despite Dick’s promises that he’ll always be there for Damian, a day is coming when that promise will be broken.

But yeah. Older Dick Grayson. I have thoughts on this.

(Anyways don’t mind me. Just coming to terms with being the same age canonically as my childhood hero.)

[spocks-husband]

If you ask Bruce why his training routine is so regimented and heavy he'll tell you that it's because he needs to make sure his body is in peak condition to battle for justice or whatever the fuck-- and that was true when he was like. 19. But now? Yeah, no.

You wanna know the real reason he works out so much?

It's because he can't stand the idea of not being able to pick up any of his kids.

And Jason is getting REALLY heavy.

(side note, all the Batkids and occasionally BatSpouses [I'll be nice and keep this ship neutral lol] get a random text confirming how much they weigh at any given time and they're all totally used to it because that just means he's about to start working out and he needs to check to make sure everything is accurate.)

[veryloudgroan]

boy get down from there

[prlssprfctn]

Do you ever sit down here for a minute and start thinking that technically Jason asks from Bruce the only thing Bruce can not give him (to kill Joker or to let him kill him), but for Jason it is the only thing he had ever asked from Bruce at all?