#we had a little convo

[ramp-it-up]

There are voices and songs that evoke such strong memories, such strong memories of dopamine highs, that you are transported back instantly to that time.

[nidbaesenpai]

Dare you say this love could just save you

[your-unfriendlyghost]

thinkin’ about Darry and Soda

(not my usual stuff, but they’re on my mind I guess)

d’you think that before their parents died, Soda was scared of Darry going off to college and leaving him behind? Of Darry growing up and not coming back? I can’t speak from experience here, being the oldest of my siblings, but my little sister tells me that she’s sad and scared about me going to college and all the changes that’ll come with it…I bet Soda felt like that for a while, y’know? I bet he hated the thought of Darry growing up too fast and getting out of Tulsa. Of his older brother not being around anymore.

But then after Mr. and Mrs. Curtis passed, Soda realized that Darry being forced to grow up for real hurt so much more than the fear of Darry just leaving for college…That he wishes Darry could leave, because seeing Darry working as hard as he does is so much worse…

(Or hell, maybe a guilty, selfish part of Soda is glad Darry can’t leave just yet. Idk, there’s definitely some interesting depth you could explore there if ya wanted to)

god, I dunno. poor Darry. I don’t think I’d ever have it in me to do what he did, honestly. I don’t think about him much, but maybe that’s because it makes me uncomfortable how scary and depressing his circumstances are whenever I think about it too hard…

[sigsfigs]

sorry for no art was too busy MEETING BRENNAN ZAC AND ERIKA????????

[leqclerc]

Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc talking in the media pen post-Spanish Grand Prix 2019

[thehalfbloodfreak]

On Jedha if Merrin watches Cal meditate she comments on it and it’s the cutest thing ever—

Merrin: You look peaceful when you do that.

Cal *probably blushing*: You were watching me?

Merrin: Yes.

[ratatatastic]

local man haunts (me) open practise yet again more news at 11

[ragnarokhound]

puts this on your list of things to do

Skcnwksks *adds another stone atop the mountain, and the world sinks another inch closer to hell

But okay fr. I actually read Knight Terrors: Robin today, and with the enormous grain of salt that I am working mostly with fandom osmosis, esp re: their established relationship, I think they alllllmost wrote something that worked. Almost. Long rambling nitpicks under the cut:

I think if they had about three more pages they could have established Tim and Jason's relationship and their problems with working together a little better; and either cut Babs out as the middle man who introduced their individual issues to the audience, or used her more effectively as a mediator.

They very clearly wanted to showcase two problems: Tim is working himself to death trying to save everyone, and Jason is suffering by insisting on working alone. Good! I like this concept. It's annoying to me that Babs is the one who tries to reach out to both of them about these issues, gets rebuffed, and then is never heard from again. I'd much prefer it if they tried to talk to each other on their own and it went poorly at first, only to be forced to open up in the nightmare realm. It would tighten up their combined arc if they'd had one single conversation before the Inciting Incident occurs.

Like, don't get me wrong. I am waffling about this because Babs is a good entry voice to help introduce our primary actors. She is the person they have in common, and by having her be the voice in their ear, we see that other people in their support networks are worried about them.

But man, why not just have Tim monologue to himself about being ready to wrap up his third bust of the night and consider hitting up Jason to see if he needs help on the intergang drug bust he's in the middle of. It could be on Tim's way to the next place he's going, demonstrating that he's stretching himself thin and looking for even more to do; even with people like Jason who he isn't all that close with. And then Tim and Jason have their own snarky conversation (with some veiled flirting) about not needing each other's help or each other's nagging, and that's when the nightmare mist hits.

Because the story is only tangentially about people other than Jason and Tim. They're both too wrapped up in their own problems to notice other people reaching out to them about their fucked behavior. So Babs could have been used as a yardstick for each of them - Tim dismissed her fears at first, Jason hung up on her outright - but only if she comes back.

If Babs had also been there at the end to check in with them, yeah, it might have lessened the impact of Jason's plea for help and getting only Tim in response, but it would have been the indicator that they were now ready to hear the worries expressed by their loved ones. A very *clear* indicator of what has changed in the narrative that justifies Babs' involvement in the first place. You could have her come in right as Tim and Jason are catching up after the initial plea, having just escaped her own nightmare (*editors note: see Babs' knight terrors issue, lmao). She could groggily direct them to someone who needs help. All three of them are working together now, Tim and Jason are on their way to opening up to more people; huzzah

And hell. If you want to justify why Tim knows stuff about Jason he shouldn't - or why Jason might know something about Tim that he shouldn't for that matter - a little extra time spent together in the nightmare zone is great for that. Make them see each other's worst memories. Make them see each other's defining moments. Make it the twisted, terrible, self-directed-blame version of events that exists in their heads, and then they can separately call bullshit.

You literally put them into a shared mind palace!! Why did Tim know that about Sheila? Because he just saw it in Jason's head. How does Jason know Tim has a savior complex too big to shoulder? Same deal. IMO, this would have made their insistence that the other person is better than they think much more natural. It's not an empty sentiment because 'I've literally seen what you think of yourself and I am telling you that it isn't true'. (They're in a shared mindscape. Why not imply that they are seeing what the other is seeing too. That they're having a shared experience and are privy to each other's thoughts, emotions, and memories? Easy to do. "I feel like I'm walking to class in the 10th grade...but when I was that age, I was 6 feet under." "And I'm positive I'm picking up ammo for a gun I don't own. I think it's safe to say we're sharing a dream.")

I'm also ??? about why the nightmare zone let them talk at all?? Maybe that's something that we don't have time to explain/ it doesn't need explaining, but if I were a terrible nightmare creature and I was menacing two people at once, I simply wouldn't let them exist in the same space. Isolation is key to breaking someone's will. If you let them talk to each other they could help each other. Fool. Buffoon. Literally the only reason to let them talk to each other is if you think they'll make each other worse lmao.

There was a clever visual trick in which Jason hits the void barrier and Tim sees the ripples he makes - but iirc that is the closest we get to an explanation of how they might be breaking through to each other. And it happened after they were almost done with their second conversation. Too little, too late, IMO.

Arguments could be made that they were able to break through because they were approaching a hard limit. Jason hears Tim again when he yells at his double to shut up, when Jason himself is just about ready to throw in the towel. The moment of deepest despair, the realization for both of them that they're not cut out to solve the problem with their current method. Something something, breaking the pattern - but why let them, unless the nightmare can't do anything about it? I do like a monster with a secret weakness, so I'm willing to let it slide now that I've talked it out lol but still. It feels like an unearned conversation when the only convo they had before was mostly exposition.

Anyway. Tldr; if the writers had a few more pages and shown us Tim and Jason's conflict with each other rather than water it down via Babs (OR BROUGHT HER BACK TO TIE IT ALL UP WITH A BOW) it would have been a tighter & more interesting story.

[birken-rocks]

does anyone else wish Sparrow turning into a love wolf for the first time in 20-30 years felt a little more impactful and dramatic

[dykedvonte]

I think the most baffling thing about the Tulpar as a vessel to me is the fact that the ship really did only have a one way communication system.

I know it was cheap but even the most basic of vessels regarding major transport would have some way, shape or form for outside communication. Not only that but there was absolutely no form of innate emergency signal to show they may have been offline or in trouble despite clearly having a system to dock credits if they went off course. It's another factor that really shows that bad situations are made to get worse by design. One person who is required to relay all information to the crew and make all the choices without feedback. No way to update or call for help in case of a dire situation. No way to inform of inner personal conflicts and acquire procedures accordingly.

It really is like they are all in some sort of fucked up solitary confinement. They have their own world with strict roles that are meaningless in the end, as long as the cargo makes it, it doesn't matter what happens on that ship to the company. They don't want to hear anything and will come to conclusions on what happened based on how much pay they can withhold from the workers. Even what they do send is short, sterile and corporate to the extent it was likely written and sent out with a command by some random unmanned computer in an office.

There's something to be said about how unfair it is to force absolute power and control onto one person when you as an entity could do so much more to offload it but I've said it many times before so I won't again.

[cattewife]

lmao i am DYING my best friend who i told about the fet the other month completely missed that it was a fetish for ME and thought i was doing niche work for a found community or smthing x,,,,D

so anyway we had to go into confession part TWO today where we gently (wayyyy more prepared and less panicky this time) had to be like "ok no this is my fetish, i'm not doing research into a kink to draw for it, i'm writing/drawing for ME because /I/ like it" >///o///<

[hood-ex]

Thoughts on Nightwing #119?

[the-one-who-lambs]

putting you and payasita and bamsara in a room together to see what incredible narilamb thoughts you make together.. you're my favorite fic authors :]

We're already all mutuals askfjdkhgkljshd here is real footage of us discussing the best way for lamb to erode Narinder's loneliness and how deep his trauma runs

[ak4rin]

gege resolving akari's motives to "ah yes she's a delinquent but she's always wanted to become a manager, also how convenient of a job since her little brother is about to become a student" as if they didn't live in two different cities and unless he told us we wouldn't even know about arata

[nomairuins]

i like overthink everything now it makes me feel so dumb. i used 2 be able to just talk 2 ppl but nowadays every single thing im like Is that actually going to make them hate me. Yes probably. and then i just dont respond which makes ppl hate me. this is how it is

[transannabeth]

hi. for people who saw gatsby: an american myth. do you remember mckee asking nick for lunch. and then gatsby in like the next scene inviting nick for lunch. because i remember.