#yes it sucks. obviously. it fucking sucks.

[bitterrobin]

wrt the early Damian era (2006-2009~) and how “family” and “parents” as concepts are explored w him (or not at all) - I’ve always thought that Damian’s existence as a child was pretty depressing and lonely when you get down to it. Neither of his parents raised him growing up (Talia according to Morrison, didn’t meet him until he was 8, Bruce obviously didn’t meet him until he was 10 and then died) and Ras al Ghul definitely wasn’t written to have an actual hand in raising him either (as pertains to RoRAG, where he basically meets him for the first time and calls him an “it”).

Until his childhood gets fleshed out more and sorta retconned by Tomasi, Damian is very alone. All we can guess is that he was definitely taught in the League, and subsequently “raised” by them as an organization but didn’t have any real connection to the people who would be his family.

I know it’s not an intended reading from most writers, and if it is, probably only on Talia’s side of things re: her villainization and character assassination (she thinks of Damian both as her son and a tool). Anyway, I bring this up bc I feel it exemplifies how little DC actually cared about Damian as a character back then.

Damian barely had an on-page good relationship with Dick, Tim, Stephanie etc early on when he first showed up in Gotham during Bruce’s death. I really don’t get where people think he had the goodwill and leeway to be considered family enough to oust Tim or villainize Dick as a “bad brother.” Tim ofc found him annoying and wanted him gone, Dick explicitly didn’t like him in RoRAG, Barbara didn’t trust him, and Stephanie also found him annoying. They all eventually warmed up to him, but it took work, and even then, Damian doesn’t actually interact with them super often besides Dick and Alfred.

People go on and on about Damian’s ego and arrogance and how entitled he is, and while yes he is arrogant to a degree abnormal for a usual comic book kid - he’s not a normal kid. Everyone disregards the fact that he was manipulated and abused by adults who weren’t even his parents growing up, and then barely had time with his actual parents anyway. You think that makes a well adjusted 10 yr old? (On top of the killing and cultish League?)

I also don’t get people saying that Damian and Bruce had a good enough relationship to be “pushing” Tim out of way either — when they barely knew each other. Additionally, Bruce fucking sucked as a dad for the day and a half that he knew Damian.

Until 2010 came around and Damian got actual exploration of his character (B&R, R:SOB) I fully believe that a big theme of his was: not being able to rely on adults, and especially not on his parents. It’s also pretty obvious that Damian is insecure in his position as a family member early on, and desperate for acceptance and attention. That also means that he’s not going to cope w his emotions and express them by crying or being openly emotional bc of the environment he grew up in, and the inherent abnormality of being a child vigilante.

Damian may be “entitled” but as far as he knows, his parents (who didn’t raise him, and if they did, not well) are the only ones that make him as an individual “worth” being alive. Of course he decides that being biologically related to his heroic father is the only thing he's got going for him. He literally has nothing else -- not his mother, not his grandfather, technically not a great relationship to his father, not any siblings (in the true sense relationship-wise), no friends, no permanent home. Of course he places importance on his skills and talent, again, he doesn't have anything else. He has no relationships to draw upon and give him worth beyond "child genius/assassin."

He’s not treated as a full character by DC’s narrative at that time too — at best he’s a supporting character, at worst a plot device. His lack of autonomy and “worth” as himself (not just as the son of Bruce and Talia) is eventually proven by his death in Batman Inc. He dies saving Dick and Ellie, but he’s only in that position bc he’s a tool being used by Talia and is literally given up on by Bruce based on that stupid Batman 666 nightmare.

[uneatenclient]

murderbot tv show ep 6 reactions/spoilers under cut. i'm so late 😭 but goddamn this ep

oh my god. i really do love sanctuary moon.

BIG MOOD

everyone needs a little warmth. the cheese might kill me omg

no dopamine is tragic

CUTE LAUGH??? help

omg it's freaked out too

uh oh

BECAUSE I HAD TO

SO SERIOUS

SEASON 19 SRS BUSINESS

LMFAOOOO

book mb has learned not to do this but i can definitely see tv rebellious teenage mb having to learn in real time not to delete mission info while still on the mission

GASP mensah how could you say that about sanctuary moon

agree to disagree mb that's surprisingly diplomatic you really do like mensah

awww. it's acknowledging that it has feelings. terrible that those feelings are p much only negative

wtf that fluid is so. metallic looking. like obviously it would be but you know what i mean

ratthi wtf is that

aww he just wants to help

so much cool stuff bharadwaj i love you

it be like that sometimes

okay

okay plz don't

lbb i need you to not. ESPECIALLY bc you're being extra sus today

STOP

jesus fucking christ

oh mb no

MB NO

it's trying so hard but it's SO BAD at being reassuring

anxiety IS contagious you're so right

trying SO HARD i love it sm

ghsdfjkulahndiuhdsuadhsfjouhndas

adsfujohnk

I'M

THE SINGING HELP ME

mensah please

causes synchronized breathing

dear lord every tiny sanctuary moon lore drop feels like an acid trip

"that's sad" "yes" i'm having so many emotions

IT'S CANON

goddddddd it really helps it and she finally sees that it's trying to help her oh my godddddddd

uh oh

it really shouldn't be leaking like that cuz its shit seals automatically when it gets hurt but also. mb how did you not fucking notice

DON'T TOUCH

god every time it says that i explode w pride

the way its swaying and making confused sounds

"i'm fine!" in the most unconvincing tone ever heard b4

mb i'm begging

i mean it's right but this is not one of the things that wouldn't incapacitate it WOOPS

gurathin's fucking expression

DEBT

gurathin omg

once more i'm team gurathin

sdfughiujksbnf

gurathin you're right about corporates you're so right but mb being free of its gov mod lets it hate them just as much

AHA

ME AND GURATHIN KNEW IT

'it's a gun.' GURATHIN

lmfaooooo mb

where armor? armor gone?

EXCUSE ME

IN TRANSPORTS??

in the books art specifically doesn't have human neural tissue and i'm gonna be sad if it does in the show but all the same ART? ART HINT???

oh armor gone for surgery got it

time to cut jfc

she's gonna fucking pass out

pass out twinsies episode??

HEY

YOU'RE RIGHT BUT HEY

adsbifghjuyaksfgdnlfnadfgs

sdighjbsjfhnadl

STOP

STOOPPPP

yeah sure him too

ugh that wound opened way too wide from such a small cut jfc

RATTHI

me too arada

just for one scene can this polycule all be comfortable with each other. just once. plz

non threatening vibe. big same

oh man gurathin about to climb out of his skin

YOU DON'T HAVE TO EAT ME

mb that's not the pOINT

OH FUCK NO

oof mensah that's pretty bad you right

oh ick

YUCKY

uh. mb. your spine's kinda

out

GOOD TIMES???

he won't

gurathin won't. YOU'RE TOUGHER THAN THIS GURA

they're all frozen in the same position holding hands im

DAMN ARADA

ratthi secunits #1 fan

uh oh

worst thing to say to gurathin

YEAH MAN

FUCKING HELL YEAH MAN

BADASS SEC UNIT FRONT AND CENTER WOO

it really is baby. older mb wouldnt have let her know it was there b4 it exploded her head

YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME

THERE WAS A CHANCE YES

"hostile subdued" i mean. you right.

mensah, faintly: oh no

I'M RELIEVED AND I'M CHEERING

SORRY YOU CAN'T HEAR ME BUT I'M CHEERING

aww man. awwwwww man. it really did save them. from its pov it did good and they should be happy or at least not displeased. and it protected them which is the part of its function it likes!!! god this sucks

all aboard the trauma express

god. if they ever get around to mentioning how mb doesn't want its humans to be afraid of it i won't recover

what a transition

every sanctuary moon actor is playing this so fucking straight and it's so goddamn funny and good

damn. commands from inside and commands from outside. oh nooooo im so

you sure did mb

and good job

HELL YEAH

HELL YEAH IT DID WOOOOOOO

oh my godddd thank fuck they mentioned that it enjoys killing when it has a reason and choice to kill

hoo boy. that was a lot. they packed so many emotions into 20 mins.

[mynameismckenziemae]

Every once in a while, I love living in a small community. But most of the time I hate it.

A few months ago, it came out that a friend of mine (we’re not super close but her child and my child are friends, I frequent her business, she helped me out after my husband’s accident, etc.) had an affair.

It fucking sucks. I like her and her (soon to be) ex-husband, but I didn’t live in their house and I’m not apart of their relationship. There is obviously a lot of hurt, but both are being mature about it and co-parenting well.

But the way she has been blacklisted (even her business has been affected) by this town, really bothers me. ESPECIALLY since when it’s the man that cheats never gets treated this same way.

I’ve gotten some nasty looks just for talking to her. I can’t imagine how she feels. Yes, what she did was very wrong. No, I do not condone cheating. Yes, I I was disappointed to hear it. No, I don’t think she’s the worst person in the world. But what happened was between them, and she is paying for it with the loss of her marriage. She is still a person with feelings and is still my friend, as is her spouse. She doesn’t deserve to be treated poorly. At least IMO.

[lastofthewardens]

okay fuck it i wasn’t going to post this but i'm having a moment.

i know we kind of know nothing at this point. a lot of filming has been away from the public eye since there are actors who haven’t been seen on set that we know for sure are in the show. plus anything we have seen is out of context. so really any assumptions would be jumping the gun a little bit, which means this is my disclaimer that i hope i'm completely wrong about what i'm saying and look very stupid later but.

it’s looking more and more like this show completely fumbled foggy nelson and kirsten mcduffie and just gave their roles to karen? which is crazy because as much as i love the OG show they already did that to ben urich (which they were criticized for by comic fans) and then of course there are the many debates about elektra among various sections of fandom. but repeating the ben mistake with foggy while also doing it 20x worse to a character that's even worse to do it to and then just giving kirsten NOTHING to work with is fucking crazy.

and as someone who also ships k*redevil, thought they had a real chance at something after s3, always imagined they would've been together in canon by the end of the OG 5 seasons they originally wanted, and wanted them to be endgame (because sadly and unfortunately, neither show was ever going to make foggy and matt happen lol), this is so insanely off-putting to me, to the point that it may start putting me off things i previously liked if that’s what they did come next year when s2 comes out.

the way karen was originally ignored by this new show is wild and stupid, but i really don’t think the reverse should be happening like this or that karen should be getting literally everything now, all at the expense of the entire rest of the comic book cast, particularly dd’s most important longest running supporting character foggy and arguably matt’s best comic book love interest kirsten (she's SO much more than that too obviously, but like.. the new show isn't letting her be those things either?)

karen has been dead in the comics for a long time. i've always thought her show version should survive and that they shouldn’t kill her, and i stand by that, and i was impressed and glad when they subverted it in s3. but they could’ve kept karen alive and kept her a main character and gave her all the importance she deserves and even had a k*redevil endgame without it being done like this.

there's absolutely a world where they respect foggy's place and importance in matt's life and keep him included and alive, kirsten is treated as the badass she is and gets to do all kinds of law stuff with matt and foggy (and be a supportive friend, if they didn't want to do love interest, because they could still honor the spirit of their relationship), and karen still gets to be everything that was already awesome about her in the OG show.

the writing for this show (yes, even in the new episodes by the new team) is not good enough to justify the decisions being made or the disrespect to almost literally every character.

if you want to diverge from the comics, you don’t solve the issue of karen not being alive anymore by just deleting everyone else's relevancy and replacing every other character that exists with her so you can prop her up. she doesn't even need that, the character the OG show created in her was already awesome. you create new stories and show what having her around would’ve added. you bring back older stories she was in and recontextualize them. you respect the other characters that matter instead of taking things away.

you definitely DON'T antagonize and dismiss and disappoint fans of the source material who care about this stuff just to push your agenda. and this will just turn some fans even more against the ship and the character when they already had a hill to climb with some parts of this fandom. which sucks because i originally hoped that in a world where this show was good that people would change their minds about it, but now i just can't blame them anymore. in the words of matt (apparently), 'fuck it'.

this new show is literally like a dark twisted mirror version of the series i love, like the ultimate be careful what you wish for, and i’m so sad about it today. wish it just stayed cancelled at this point.

[utilitycaster]

Ok I'm probably going to regret reinventing 17th century European religious philosophy here but:

Ludinus's issue with the gods as stated to Imogen and Fearne (and I will state right now that we know he was lying or deliberately misleading at points in that conversation so I don't exactly take him at his word, but let's assume he does mean this) is that they did not prevent the Calamity. I have the following questions.

Does he have any loyalty/feelings about the Titans given that they would have killed all the people in the era of the Schism, ie, the gods averted that Calamity? My guess is no, which means that whole avenue of discussing the Titans was something of a dead end.

How should Calamity have been averted? The Prime Deities during the Age of Arcanum largely let people do what they wanted, which is what led to one of those mortals releasing the Betrayer Gods. Should the gods have struck down Vespin Chloras before he actually did anything, Minority Report style? Can the gods even predict based on the actions of a single individual or small group, because my guess is they can't, particularly since within the current stream of gameplay they absolutely cannot [ie, the reason the Changebringer can't tell FCG to stay or run is because Matt Mercer is the Changebringer and he doesn't know how people will roll; you do need to consider the medium here]. But if they could: so you think they should strike down mortals on the basis of thoughtcrimes? Or control them? In that case, why is Aeor a problem? There's a lot you can argue is justified once you permit the gods to override free will and kill people over mere potential for catastrophe.

On that note, Laerryn both was an unwitting architect of the Calamity (shorted on energy and then killed the Tree of Names, which served as a core planar defense system) but also averted the worst of it. Did the lives she saved by preventing the rise of Rau'shan and Ka'Mort outweigh the lives she took by destroying the Tree of Names? How should the gods have reacted?

Should, perhaps, the gods have all sealed themselves away earlier - perhaps post-Schism? If so, then the issue isn't the Divine Gate, now is it? Should the gods intervene or not intervene? Should they remove themselves or no? It feels like the issue isn't that they distanced themselves so that they can do less in the world, particularly if you wish to kill them, but that you really want to fucking kill them and they made that somewhat more difficult.

How do we know the gods (for example) didn't save Laudna? She was hanged and she's still alive; Morri would probably count this as saving her and I don't see the same desire to wipe out all Archfey. [real talk I find most discussion of Laudna specifically to be...incomprehensibly ignorant in its refusal to acknowledge that everything about it is player agency related, whether it's the story that the cast played out for Vox Machina or the decisions Marisha specifically made in creating the character, ie, do you think Matt should have said "well you can't play a Hollow One because that would mean the gods didn't save you" not to mention the fact that again, we are playing this within a game system where the existence Deus Ex Machina would in fact fucking suck ass; but even setting aside those reasons why this argument is stupid, it's still stupid. It's like a layer cake of stupid.] Again: do you want more intervention or less? Killing them guarantees less.

I'm assuming the problem with the Calamity is the vast loss of life, in which case, what's the math on how many people have been killed by the Vanguard or Imperium in the pursuit of unleashing Predathos? How many more will die?

If the release of Predathos doesn't result in the immediate demise of all the gods, and the Divine Gate is down, why isn't this a recipe for Calamity 2? What was the motivation for killing the gods again?

Should we kill mortal diviners who do not do all within their power to stop terrible things that may come to pass? If the issue is that some people have power without working for it, why haven't we killed all the sorcerers?

Should we be listening to a single word from someone who consumes random fey to live longer, and that's just the start of the CVS receipt of atrocities?

Is there a point where one's deeply held beliefs due to one's own personal trauma become invalidated due to one's actions as a result of that trauma? If so, why is the limit for Orym "is okay with killing people who are trying, directly, to kill you (which, frankly, isn't even a trauma response, that's just called not wanting to die, which I highly recommend as a personal philosophy), and gets upset when people defend those knowingly collaborating with his family's murderers" and the limit for Vanguard generals "family abandonment/just. buckets of murder of innocents./child soldier recruitment in multiple different contexts/eating fey as biohacking/destroying an entire city and the surrounding forest for hundreds of years (ongoing)/imperialism in multiple different contexts/I was going to make a gallows humor joke about how while neither exist in-world they've violated the Geneva Convention AND the IRB for testing on human subjects multiple times over but actually those both are in fact written in a lot of the same blood/probably some others that I'm forgetting"

[smartzelda]

Sometimes it's frustrating having worked in video game retail and knowing anything about game/console prices and deals watching people just. Say things online

"Look at this nintendo add for the SNES you could get the console and super mario world for like $100! Companies never do that anymore they're so greedy hahaha"

Yes, companies still bundle consoles with games. And yes, often this means the games come at a reduced price. (Mario Kart World for Switch 2 is $50 in the bundle versus the $80 for physical. When Gamestop was bundling games and controllers with new ps5s to keep away scalpers in like 2022, the games included often would be discounted between $10 and $20 for that bundle.)

Don't get me wrong. Of course less than $200 for a console and a first party game would be swell these days BUT. When you decided to get up in arms over prices these days, did you adjust for inflation? (Because like. It's one thing if the new console you're doing comparisons with the old one is much more expensive even when factoring in inflation. But also like some of those old consoles adjusted for inflation are worth about the same if not more than a switch 2, then it's like...okay? At that point the prices aren't the problem. The root issue is the companies not paying you in accordance with rising inflation.)

Believe it or not YES. Nintendo still does console deals where you can buy their most recent home console with a first party game added in for free! (Listen to me. Listen. In 2021 and 2022 for Christmas it was possible to walk into a video game store and buy a $300 switch bundle that included Mario Kart 8 deluxe and like 3 months free Nintendo Online. In like 2022/2023 for Christmas they also did $350 switch oled bundles that included Mario Kart 8 deluxe and 3 months nintendo online for free. The price of a console for a $60 video game and 3 months of the online service. This isn't some mythic business practice that stopped happening in like 2005 or something. I promise.)

Yes obviously the companies are greedy. They use deals to pull you in to get you to spend more than you expected. They also often have more sales than you're even aware of because they benefit more from people paying full price. They underpay people and they use whatever excuses needed oftentimes to raise prices to keep that profit rising. But it does no one any real good other than allow people to get pissed off to lie or assume things which aren't true. There are so many reasons to dislike companies (esp. Nintendo), you don't need to rely on acting like things used to be so much better in cases that they're not, or treating things that are industry wide standards/issues as something one company is the sole perpetrator of.

Moral of the story, maybe perhaps like do a bit a research instead of assuming whatever thing that pisses you off greatly is 100% true, and direct your ire in the right direction. Ground yourself emotionally and mentally, know what's going on. Be pissed at corporations. You're allowed to be fuckin pissed at corporations. Just please know what tf you're talking about and what exactly the root issue is

[69thatstheweednumber]

hot lilo and stitch remake take why the fuck are you expecting these hollow cynical entirely brand-name-recognition profit driven live action remakes by a trillion dollar corporation to have any artistic value whatsoever and also why are you acting like the entirely predictable failures and shortcomings of these works are some sinister malicious plot with ulterior motives beyond "brand name recognition minimum effort recognizable ip cash grab"

[queerofthedagger]

that goddamn post of "women just stop being insecure you're annoying" post is going around and oh my god some of y'all are such compassionless little fuckers it's utterly unbearable

[tenrose]

Finished Deadhouse Gates and I'm proud to announce that I still don't understand how the Warrens work.

[lithi]

Was trying to like. Imagine how a step-mother Penelope/step-daughter Athanasia AU would work. Claude would either never know about Penelope’s affair (or at least does not suspect about the pregnancy. Somehow) or would be so blinded by grief after Diana’s death that he would just pathetically accept Penelope back.

Obviously she could not pass Jennette as Claude’s so ..?? She would probably huh. Keep her as her forever dirty little secret or eventual pawn to use (maybe she is passed off as countess rosalia’s daughter?).

Her relationship with Athanasia would depend a lot on whether Athy is still reincarnated or not but I guess Penelope would either roll with Claude’s mistreatment of her (and probably have him disinherit her because she is, after all, his low-born bastard) or play the kind step-mother for politics (and the rest would also depend on whether or not they do have children together later on. maybe Anastasius using her as his black magic baby machine fucked her body up). Just imagine. The drama

Anyways this is what inspired the brainworms lol

[scentedinksandwhackedseals]

random idea: in the tags, type every letter in alphabetical order, one at a time and put the tags that come up

[frogaroundandfindout]

Dick holds a meeting about the titans performance against the Hive. Kory argues that he’s reprimanding them like military but doesn’t want her to act like a soldier. Dick says she had no right to kill Adeline and Kory says they don’t know what it’s like to suffer like she has.

Garth mentions getting back to his wife and dick makes a dig about marriages of convenience. Kory throws a starbolt at dick for it, but he dodges.

Victor compares their behavior to Gar and Terra’s back in the day and Gar gets upset and says it’s like he doesn’t even know Vic anymore. Victor quits the titans but dick says he can’t because he made a deal with the JLA to keep Vic out of STAR labs by having the titans watch over him. Vic grabs dick by the neck until flash and Donna hold him back. Dick explains this was major reason for him starting the titans again and Vic walks away with a final dig aimed at dick starting the titans so they could stop him from becoming like Bruce.

Flash tries to leave and dick orders jesse to stop him. Dick tells him that they all have questions about him and that he doesn’t need to come back from the JLA meeting.

Dick asks the rest of the titans if they can afford to commit to the team and they all leave citing various excuses. Dick is left alone with the jr members argent, damage, and Jesse.

Titans #13

[octopanko]

guys is it possible to like a media that is controversial in some aspects and like. have media literacy and not ignore the bad parts but consume media critically while also not directly supporting the creators bc you very legally watch it on very legal websites instead and also not like the parts that are bad so you make your own like interpretations of those parts that make them not bad or just not interact with those parts entirely or am I just crazy and stupid and selfish

worded very badly cuz I’m half asleep and anxious