#fan content: meta

[sixdegreesofstarwars]

From the 6DOSW Archives: Sam's "Fix the Prequels Romance" Manifesto

I used to spend a lot of time bopping around on Quora (I do not recommend doing so now), and one of the answers I gave was for this question:

How would you write the love story between Anakin and Padme in the prequels if you had the power to choose the directing and dialogue?

In light of our new episode, y'all are getting the resultant manifesto for posterity, and I hope you appreciate the essay you’re about to get, because even if I only have the power to change the love story, and not the entirety of the plot, there is a lot I want to tinker with.

Obviously if you've listened to the episode, you know that I'm already pretty ride or die for Anidala, but I am also something of a writer myself (with 2 degrees in theatre), so this was an exercise as much in communicating to the audience authorial intent more clearly as it was flexing my creative brain muscles.

May the Force Be With You, Sam Grand Master of the Order of Six Degrees of Star Wars

One change I would make would be to push Anakin’s age up slightly to make him 11 in The Phantom Menace to Padmé’s 14, thus reducing their age difference slightly and meaning that in the 10-year jump ahead for Attack of the Clones, Anakin would now be 21, while keeping Padmé at 24. I know that this is close to Lucas’ original concept, where Anakin was 12, but then aged down to 9 in order to make the separation from his mother even more pointed, but I think that’s an indication of weakness as a writer that he couldn’t find a way to make that work with the 12-year-old. But in all honesty, this is also so I don't have to keep hearing "Padmé is a cougar" jokes from here to eternity. To the people who make those jokes, you're not funny, and moreover, you're wrong.

Other than that change, however, I would keep most of the setup in their story the same. The concept of Anakin being the one who’s more willing to articulate the attraction, while Padmé has more reservations about it is one that I think works really well, because of how their backstories set them up in The Phantom Menace: Anakin, who grew up enslaved, sees the people he loves as the most precious thing in the world and does not want to waste time with them. This makes him direct and forthright about his feelings. Padmé, meanwhile, was raised in privilege and comfort but has been in public service from a young age. Because of this, she is more likely to push down her own feelings in the name of serving the greater good, and so it makes sense that she’s the one who isn’t willing to act on the feelings she and Anakin share.

A lot of the issues with dialogue in the prequels has to do with how seriously everything is delivered— there are moments of levity where the connection Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen had as friends/romantic interests does shine through, and I think the main issue comes from George Lucas trying to keep the courtly formality in their delivery. So a big change I would make in the writing would be to allow them a more casual tone when they’re in private, with no eyes on them, as part of a demonstration of how their walls are coming down (contractions are your friend, George).

So what would I change?

Well, I’d add back in the scenes that were deleted, available at the following timecodes-

4:32 - Anakin and Padmé talking in the courtyard of the royal palace

9:26 - Anakin meeting Padmé’s family and bonding further with her and them

13:42 - Meeting with Dooku, followed by the “trial” with Poggle the Lesserhttps://youtu.be/5vPvyV7xznc

I don’t see any need to make real changes to these scenes, and yes, they are mostly to Padmé’s benefit because they let her play off people other than Anakin and add more depth to her character, but it also benefits the romance because it shows a deeper contrast between how they act in a professional setting versus a private one (from a certain point of view). And the trial and capture scene could be used to replace a shortened version of the scene in the factory (which I have never much enjoyed, and feel is largely superfluous action).

Now, onto the scenes that are in the movie that need adjustment.

The packing scene:

Most of this scene is okay in theory, I think it only really needs the following adjustments:

There needs to be a beat (a pause) where Padmé considers Anakin before telling him he’s grown up. In general, George isn’t the best at making use of the moments when people are not talking, and that’s probably due to him copying the golden age of Hollywood dialogue that relies so thoroughly on quick retorts.

The moment that ends the scene. The filmed version of the scene dialogue goes:

Padmé: Please don’t look at me like that. Anakin: Why not? Padmé: It makes me feel uncomfortable. [A beat as she walks away, Anakin looking at her with a smile on his face] Anakin: Sorry, m’lady.

The version of the script available on IMSDB has it going as follows:

Padmé: Please don’t look at me like that. Anakin: Why not? Padmé: Because I can see what you're thinking. Anakin (laughing): Ahh... so, you have Jedi powers too? [DORME is watching with concern.] Padmé: It makes me feel uncomfortable. Anakin: Sorry, m’lady. [ANAKIN backs away as PADME turns and goes back to her packing.]

Here’s how I would adjust it.

Padmé: Please don’t look at me like that. Anakin: Like what? [Padmé glances over her shoulder at Dormé, then back at Anakin] Padmé: Like this. [Padmé gives Anakin the same intense gaze he’s been giving her, he becomes flustered and drops the Force remote he’s been using, ducking to the ground to retrieve it, smiling to himself] Anakin: Sorry… [pauses and looks up, remembering Dormé is watching them, becoming more formal] m’lady. [Padmé awkwardly returns to Dormé, but she and Anakin are now both glancing back at each other]

I made these adjustments because while the draft version of the script makes it seem to me that Padmé was claiming the look made her uncomfortable to save face in front of Dormé, the filmed version can come off as creepy because the scene basically forgets that Dormé is there, and while Anakin and Padmé should do that as they get lost in their attraction to one another, the audience shouldn’t.

The Lake scene:

I love the lake scene and I wouldn’t change anything… up until the moment they kiss. See, I think it would be better if their first kiss took a little more time, so I’d let them lean in, and then make the following change:

Padmé [pulling back just before they make contact]: No… we can’t. Anakin: But I thought… Padmé: I know. I’m sorry. [a beat as they stare at one another] I should go unpack. [She leaves the terrace. Anakin, now standing alone, looks out at the water again, slowly bringing his hand to his lips]

This would be buildup of tension that would be raised further by the picnic scene, which really does not need to be changed in text, but the delivery of Anakin’s infamous ‘well if it works’ that became a meme needs to be adjusted slightly (even if I do enjoy the memes on some level). Again, let’s look at the IMSDB version of the script:

PADME: That sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me. [A mischievious little grin creeps across his face.] ANAKIN: Well, if it works... [Padmé stares at ANAKIN. He looks back at her, straight-faced, and can't hold a smile.] PADME: You're making fun of me. ANAKIN (sarcastic): On no, I'd be much too frightened to tease a Senator.

The version that ended up in the film feels more threatening and ominous, which, yes, works if you’re considering that this is the guy who’s going to be Darth Vader one day, but it also undermines the levity that’s supposed to let Padmé bypass the red flag and see this as a joke. I’d direct closer to the way it’s written in the script.

The dinner and fireplace scenes:

Since we’ve changed it so that they have not kissed yet, this is the pair of scenes that requires the most changes. Most of the dinner scene is fine, so let’s just go straight to its end/segue into the fireplace scene.

[Anakin floats a piece of the shuura fruit to Padmé, who catches it and laughs, getting up from the table, and crossing to the sitting room. As she leaves, he checks his communicator for any message from Obi-Wan, then follows her through. Padmé has removed her wrap and is now sitting by the fire and eating the fruit slice, he hangs at the door, watching her.] Padmé: Has there been any word? Anakin: Not yet. I’m sure he’ll contact us as soon as he knows something. It hasn’t been that long. Padmé: I just hate not being able to do anything, not being able to act, to do what I know needs to happen. [Anakin crosses over to sit next to her] Anakin: I remember you worried like this when we met. Padmé: [laughing slightly] And you were there to protect me then too. Anakin: I’d gladly do it forever. [Padmé blushes and looks away from him, Anakin ducks his head in realizing his mistake.] I only meant— Padmé: No, you didn’t. Anakin: You said we can’t. Padmé: I know. Anakin: But that’s not the same thing as you don’t want to. Padmé: What we want doesn’t change who we are, Ani. I’m still a Senator. You’re still going to be a Jedi. It could never work, we’d be destroying our futures, maybe even our lives. Anakin: What if I don’t care? What if you matter more to me than being a Jedi? [The two of them have gotten closer and are once more inches apart, staring at each other intensely.] Padmé: Then I have to be the one who says no. For both our sakes. Anakin: Is that really what you want? Have you ever actually done something for yourself instead of for everyone else? If you could just be Padmé, not a queen, not a senator, just you, what would— [Padmé cuts Anakin off by closing the distance and kissing him. Anakin seems shocked at first but returns the kiss before Padmé pulls back, covering her mouth in horror at her loss of control. She gets up, moving to leave] Padmé: I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. Anakin: If we feel the same way— Padmé: We don’t have the luxury of ignoring the real world. No matter how much we want to. This can’t happen again. I won’t let this happen again. I’m sorry, Anakin. I truly am. But I’m doing this because I care about you. And I won’t let you destroy yourself for me. [Padmé leaves before Anakin can form a response.]

We can keep the scene on the terrace after his nightmare relatively the same, as well as the scenes leading up to Anakin’s departure from the Lars homestead to rescue his mother.

Now we get to the scene after he finds his mother. I’ve gone on the record stating that I don’t think the scene is as nonsensical as some people make it out to be; there’s a logic to why Padmé reacts the way she does to Anakin’s confession of what happened, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to be improved. It’s here that we need to look at a different source link I have for the script that has a few lines of dialogue that ended up missing from the final version. I’ll bold the missing lines for emphasis:

[ANAKIN hurls the wrench across the garage. It CLATTERS to the floor. He looks at his trembling hands. PADMÉ stares at him, shocked.] PADMÉ: Annie, what's wrong? ANAKIN: I... I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead, every single one of them... [ANAKIN focuses on her like someone returning from far away.] ANAKIN: Not just the men, but the women and the children too. They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals... I hate them! [There is silence for a moment, then ANAKIN breaks down, sobbing. PADMÉ takes him into her arms.] ANAKIN: Why do I hate them? I didn't... I couldn't... I couldn't control myself. I... I don't want to hate them... But I just can't forgive them. PADMÉ: To be angry is to be human. ANAKIN: To control your anger is to be a Jedi. PADMÉ: Ssshhh... you're human. ANAKIN: No, I'm a Jedi. I know I'm better than this. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! PADMÉ: You're like everyone else... [PADMÉ rocks him, and ANAKIN weeps.]

Put those lines back in, allow the emotions to come through in the performance, and the scene can work a lot better.

[ADDENDUM: do not under any circumstances misinterpret this as me condoning what Anakin does. It is 100% an atrocity, and even with this amendment I’m suggesting, the scene still needs some work to more fully grapple with the moral and ethical questions of what’s just happened.]

Moving on, we work through the re-added Geonosis scenes, and now we’re at the confession scene in the halls of the Arena. Since the leadup has changed, I’ll provide another full rewrite:

[In the gloomy tunnel, ANAKIN and PADME are tossed into an open cart. The murmur of a vast crowd is heard offscreen. GUARDS extend their arms along the framework and tie them so that they stand facing each other. The DRIVER gets up onto his seat.] Anakin: I’m sorry. I was meant to protect you and I failed. Padmé: I don’t think I did any better of a job protecting you. Anakin: It’s not the same. Padmé: Maybe not, but I don’t want you to blame yourself, or have any regrets. I want to own my choices in the time I have left. And my feelings. Anakin: Padmé— Padmé: I love you. And I’m sorry that it took this for me to say it, I was just—Anakin: I know. It’s alright. Padmé: I had a whole speech— Anakin: If this is all the time we have left, just let us be Padmé and Anakin. Not a Senator and a future Jedi. Just two people who love each other. Padmé: From the moment you came back into my life until my last. [They kiss as the cart begins to pull them out into the arena]

And from there… well, there’s not much left to change in Attack of the Clones, and not much I’d want to change anyway. And since I’m not allowed to change anything that’s not related to the romance, I can’t really advocate for restoring the Seeds of Rebellion arc, since that’s Padmé’s journey outside of her marriage and it only briefly intersects with her marriage as an indication of the widening gap between her and Anakin (BUT IT SHOULD STILL BE PUT BACK IN, JUSTICE FOR MY GIRL). There is a deleted scene of Obi-Wan talking to Padmé about her relationship with Anakin that I would kill to have more proof of, but sadly the best I can do is this screenshot that’s part of a larger Tumblr post (OP, I don't know where you are, but please know that this gifset haunts my dreams):

Yes, you read that right, I wouldn’t even change the veranda scene with the ‘you are so beautiful’ exchange, I don’t care if you think it’s corny, it’s absolutely on brand for two people who have been married for three years but barely get to see each other, and one of them asked the other if she was an angel when he first saw her. It’s okay to be cheesy sometimes.

And that’s my modifications for the love story of Anakin and Padmé. Hope you enjoyed all that.

[sixdegreesofstarwars]

#the way that fear of others is portrayed as the most toxic and evil force a society can suffer from (via strawberry----lemonade)

also the way that the nimona movie showed that hate is a taught behavior?? the way that gloreth, the hero worshipped for slaying monsters, was fully accepting of nimona until her mother told her what to believe? until that generational bigotry was passed down? the way the director’s motive wasn’t even power like most evil government figureheads in media, but rather a fear of monsters destroying the kingdom because that hate had been instilled in her too, like it had in gloreth? the way ballister was also indoctrinated into hatred of “monsters” until he was just as outcast as one? because only then was he willing to change and learn?? and how even people with good hearts and good intentions like ballister and ambriosius and even the queen herself are still capable of perpetuating bigotry and unnecessary violence when they don’t take the time to understand or learn about the “others” they supposedly hate????????? i need to lie down

[ineachretelling]

We have a Letterboxd list! Follow us to keep track of everything we cover!

[bruciemilf]

Anyway. Frustrated reminder that if artists pour time, energy, passion, thought, and skill into their piece, it’s their right to do whatever the fuck they want with it. Fandom is a playground and you can do what you want always

[ineachretelling]

#I'VE BEEN SAYING THOUGH #WHENEVER ATROCITIES ARE COMMITTED THERE ARE ALWAYS PEOPLE WHO WANT TO HELP #GOD WHAT A GREAT STORY

thinking about how the hunger games were designed to prove that without society, order, government, someone to rule, we devolve into little more than animals, and how the games themselves prove over and over again that this is not true. We see it in every single game we witness.

Katniss placing flowers around Rue's body in the arena. Thresh sparing Katniss because she was kind to Rue, even though he was making it that much harder for himself to win.

Haymitch going back for Maysilee after hearing her scream even though their alliance had been broken. Haymitch holding her as she dies the same way Katniss did Rue.

Coral's "I can't have killed them all for nothing" when she realizes she's not going home. Lamina cutting down Marcus at great personal risk. And, my favorite moment in tbosas, Reaper collecting the bodies of his fellow tributes, his peers, even the ones who tried to kill him, into a pile. Taking the weapons from their hands. Closing their eyes and crossing their arms in the best approximation of a proper burial he can manage, covering them with the Capitol flag as a makeshift shroud.

The Games bring out the worst in people, yes. But despite the extreme circumstances, despite the exterior pressure of the Capitol, despite the fact that it could mean pain and heartbreak and death, it also shows that people have an enormous capacity for goodness. That even in a situation purposefully designed to make empathy impossible, people can't help but have it anyway.

Snow looks at the Games and all he can see is what's inside himself-- this pure animalistic drive to conquer and defeat. He kills and it feels good and he thinks that everyone else must feel that way too. He doesn't realize (maybe can't realize) that he is the exception, not the rule. He cannot see outside himself, outside his own warped perspective, to realize that the fact that people do show humanity in the games proves his entire worldview wrong.

[fannedandflawless]

The Veritaserum Paradox: When One Drop Became a Flood

He told Harry that a single drop was enough. "Veritaserum. A powerful truth potion. Three drops, and you would answer any question put to you." The implication? Lethal precision. Controlled power.

And yet—when the time came to extract the truth from Barty Crouch Jr., Severus Snape tipped the entire vial into his mouth. Not a drop. Not three. All of it.

Was it a contradiction? A mistake? A forgotten line? Perhaps.

But if you look closer—if you know Snape—perhaps not.

🖤 Theory 1: Tactical Intimidation

The "drop" line was never about dosage. It was theatre. Psychological warfare. When Snape speaks, it’s not just for information��it’s for effect. With Harry, it was a warning dressed as education. With Barty Jr., it was certainty dressed as silence.

He didn’t need to empty the vial. But Snape never takes chances. Not when the truth is this dangerous.

🧪 Theory 2: Variable Potency

Veritaserum isn’t static. The dose depends on the strength of the subject’s Occlumency, their magical resistance, and even their mental state.

Harry, a 14-year-old boy? A drop might do. Barty Crouch Jr.? A trained Death Eater with a gift for deception?

You drown liars. You don't drizzle on them.

🎭 Theory 3: Alan Rickman knew what looked good on camera

Let's be honest. A single dainty drop would not have carried the same visual weight. The steady, deliberate pour? The silence? The glint of the vial?

Rickman performed Snape as someone who embodied gravitas. He didn’t administer truth. He delivered judgement.

—

So was it a contradiction?

Maybe.

But more likely—it was Snape doing what he always does: Choosing precision when possible. Certainty when necessary. And theatre, always.

[necrotic-nephilim]

@sasheneskywalker i love when you enable me to ramble about things because oh my god do i have thoughts.

so recently, i made a post discussing the phenomena of DC x DP and DC x MLB crossovers and why they exist and part of that post was discussing how largely speaking, at least half, if not more of the Batfamily fandom doesn't read the comics. if they interact with canon DC material, it's adaptations that are their own sequestered universes and oftentimes not remotely comic accurate or seeking to be. the most obvious example is the Young Justice cartoon. i'm adding a cut to this post because it just got so long i'm so sorry.

a lot of times, when people are discussing the "why" of this oversaturation of fanon-only fandom, they blame Wayne Family Adventures. and i think, to a point, i agree WFA is responsible for a boom in this fandom. but as someone who's been in the fandom long before we had WFA, to me it's the other way around. WFA was DC's way of meeting the demand for this easy-to-get-into, easy-to-consume content about the Batfamily that predicates itself on the comics just enough to be vaguely the same characters, but has a more sitcom, slice-of-life sort of vibe so DC could profit off of this section of the fanbase that otherwise wasn't consuming its primary material. and well, it's definitely worked. not only that, but i have a weird theory that the decline in the MCU also led to the rise in the Batfamily fandom. when you consider the fan content that made the MCU popular within fandom, it's that 2012 "they all live in Avengers Tower and Thor is eating poptarts and Clint is in the vents and there are movie nights every Friday" sort of vibe. those were the fics that were a hallmark of the fandom. and as the MCU has strayed from well... quality content in general, but specifically well-thought-out crossover content where characters can have their own arcs but also exist in a wider story where they clearly care about each other, that fandom was sort of homeless. so where do you go, if you like a superhero found family where you can have villains for angst but also stick them all in one big family-like home for silly crack and have a plethora of options for gay ships? well. you go to the Batfamily. if you write a crack/fluff Batfamily genfic with silly vibes and low stakes instead of say, a fic about a very specific comic issue even if it's a popular comic, you're *going* to get more traction for the former. because the fanbase largely just isn't reading the comics.

and i feel... complicated about this. because on one hand, Don't Like Don't Read has been a tenet of my fandom experience. i'm very pro-fandom and that includes fandom content i don't like. and to an extent, i do think this sort of should apply to Batfamily fanon. i enjoy having my moments with other comic purists, giggling over exceptionally painful OOC headcanons or even facepalming in pain over some content but it is on me to not interact with that content. you don't make fandom a better place by being hostile to fans who engage with canon in ways you don't approve of. and frankly? we as comic readers are not going to get non-comic fans to read the comics by being asshats to them. no one is going to want to pick up any comic if we get a superiority complex about it. and also, i feel like we're all lying to ourselves a little bit insisting comics are so, so easy to get into. they're not. we can just all agree, they're really not. i've been single-handedly helping my sister get into comics, specifically Wonder Woman and no matter how simple i make it, i watch her get frustrated trying to understand what pre-Crisis and post-Crisis and New-52 and Flashpoint and all these things mean and what a retcon vs a reboot is and what a Crisis Event is and what the hell Diana's current backstory even *is*. sure, you can give someone a beginner list of comics to start with and slowly dip their toes in the water but sooner or later, *something* is going to confuse them. comics as a medium straight up aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea. and if someone *just* wants to read silly fluffy fanfiction about the Batfamily, i can't entirely begrudge them for not wanting to take the hours and hours out of their day to understand this medium. it's not an accessible medium to get into. "read this and this, but this run is out of print and this run wasn't collected in trades at all but also make sure you read that event in order and this is a good comic but the backstory in it is retconned and you *have* to read this it's so important but it's also really bad because the author kind of sucks" sounds. ridiculous for someone who like. just wants to read some stuff about Nightwing. sometimes, we all make reading comics sort of sound like a chore, not a hobby.

so my point is, i do extend some grace to Batfamily fanon for existing. i think my biggest gripe is, as i said in my other post, misuse of tags (if you're not creating content about comics, maybe you don't need the comics fandom tag on Ao3, just the all media types umbrella tag) and my far bigger gripe: when panels are taken out of context to support fanon only headcanons. if i could impart *anything* onto the Batfamily fandom as a comic fan it'd be this: if you haven't *read* the comic, don't spread the panel. if you don't even know what comic it's *from*, don't spread the panel. it's fine to use comic panels to discuss your headcanons, but so often i see someone spreading a comic panel from a comic they haven't read, and when asked where it's from, they can't source it. a silly example that comes to mind is a post going around, taking a panel where Dick, in his internal monologue goes "here comes the sun. do do do do." and the post is claiming it's from him getting buried alive. when that panel comes from Nightwing (1996) #140, and he gets buried alive in Nightwing (1996) #127, two completely different moments frankensteined together. if you're going to not read the comics, that's completely fine, but unless you're sure of the source and the context, panels shouldn't be spread around. i'm sick of this specifically happening to Red Robin (2009), with ppl claiming Tim has totally killed people because he blew up some of Ra's' bases, when those panels within context, make it clear he gave everyone time to escape. and in a later arc in that very comic, Tim grapples with the idea of murdering Captain Boomerang, and *specifically chooses not to*, because he doesn't agree with murder, even against the person who has hurt him the most. if you'd like to write fanfiction where Tim is pro-murder and has done some sketch things, i'm totally on board and would probably like to read it. but there's no need to pretend it's canon from a few panels you saw out of context.

beyond that, i think it's not *entirely* correct to say that fanon is harmless. whenever i see very WFA-positive posts, they often default to the argument that WFA is fun and silly, and comic fans are killjoys for not liking it. which. i think is complicated because the issue is, WFA and fanon don't exist in a vacuum. if you like WFA power to you, i don't think it's the worst thing ever, but i do think it's degrading to these characters because honestly? they feel incompetent in the webtoon. it's one thing if WFA was solely a slice-of-life sort of deal, just having silly episodes where Bruce is taking on a PTA mom or they're all fighting for the last cookie. but when WFA attempts to take on more serious plots with these characters, it *fundamentally* falls flat in understanding them. i get it, Bruce comforting Jason having a panic attack because a noise reminded him of the crowbar felt cute in a microcosm, but i'm so serious when i say that storyline destroyed how like. half of this fandom understands Jason Todd's relationship to his trauma. it doesn't understand how he reacts when he's triggered, what coping mechanisms he seeks out, and how he would handle Bruce comforting him. even if i can believe for a brief moment Jason *would* be triggered by something like that, him running and trying to hide and then getting a hug from Bruce to make it okay is just. painful. WFA needs everything to be wrapped up in a nice, neat little bow. so even when it starts to tackle interesting concepts, it makes them fall flat with its need to be soft, low stakes, hurt/comfort. there was a two-parter episode that dealt with the complicated mutual hatred/jealousy between Tim and Damian that *almost* really interested me because for once, it felt like the webtoon wanted to explore canon messy dynamics. but of course, it had to be fixed with one conversation and a hug. you don't mend the *years* of issues these characters have like that. WFA isn't in character because these characters are hyperbole cartoonified versions of themselves to fit within the medium and be a cute happy family.

because that right there, is the crux of it. the Batfamily fanon seeks to simplify the Batfamily and force them into a nuclear family. there are so many fantastic posts on here discussing how the nuclear family-ification of the Batfam is eroding decades worth of complex histories so i won't go too far into that. but what i will say is that there's this need, in the Batfamily fandom, for the Batfamily to exist as a unit. they are a *family*. (honestly i think calling it the Batfamily is a misnomer and has been for years but we're in too deep now.) they exist to each other first, and any teams or friends they have come secondary to this family unit. you can *specifically* see this demonstrated in what headcanons are becoming popular these days. i have an entire lengthy meta in my drafts about how i *loathe* the "the Batfamily meets the Justice League" genre of fanfic because it makes no *sense*. in order to have this genre of fic exist, you must operate under the assumption that no one in the League, or adjacent to the League, knows the Batfamily exists and are thus utterly shocked to discover Batman has kids. and to make *that* work, you have to strip *every single Batfamily member* of such important dynamics and friendships so you can lock them all in Gotham for their whole lives. Dick can't have the Titans, Tim can't have Young Justice, Duke & Cass can't have the Outsiders, Jason can't have the Outlaws, Damian can't have the Supersons, Babs can't have the Birds of Prey, and so on. because if they had these relationships, they would be known to the League. the Batfamily fandom doesn't care about this, it's just "silly fanfiction", it's not trying to be serious. but how can you say you like Dick Grayson as a character if you don't understand the Titans *are* his family? at some points of his life, moreso than the Batfamily even is. it is constantly repeated to us in most comics with Dick how much the Titans mean to him. he *needs* them to be who he is. the same extends to every other Batfamily member, most of which have been full League members at this point. but in fanon, that doesn't matter. the Batfamily are a sequestered unit first, and all of those side relationships are secondary and easy to toss away, if it makes your fanfic work better.

and because they have to be a unit first, you have these forced relationships that dump years of actual canon material for the sake of making them get along. the Batfamily fandom has its favorites and well. it's no secret it's usually the boys. Jason and Tim by *far* stand out as fandom faves so, their dynamic is a heavily explored one. it does matter that in canon they don't tend to get along and especially don't see each other as family. what matters is that you can push dynamics onto them. and so fanon gets all twisted up about which Robin Tim actually idolized as a kid (Dick) and what member of the Batfamily is pro-murder but still an older sibling figure to him and looks out for him (Helena, or if you want the dynamic of once tried to harm Tim but they've reconciled, Jean-Paul) in favor of who's the most popular. Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian are always going to be the standouts for popularity, but it's specifically Jason and Tim who are getting fanonized the most. and that's because really, we don't have much canon content of Tim that *isn't* the comics. for Dick you've got Young Justice (tv), for Damian you've got the DCAMU, for Jason you've sort of got the Under The Red Hood movie, but Tim sort of lingers in this limbo. (yes, he's in Young Justce (tv) and Titans (live action) but in neither is he the main character nor given much depth) so, he gets a *lot* projected onto him and has become fanonized. and even with Jason's animated movies, you don't see him interact with Tim, so people build it from the ground up how they want to see it, disregarding of canon comics. i think it's what makes him so popular in the first place- he's malleable into whatever you want or need him to be.

and of course, the fanon ignores other characters in the Batfamily it doesn't know about. i feel like you could create a tier list of Batfamily characters by their popularity, going from the fandom main characters: Tim, Jason, Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Damian. to the underrated: Steph, Duke, Babs, Cass. to the forgotten about unless they're convenient for a story: Kate, the Foxes, Helena Wayne, Carrie, Selina, Harper Row, Maps, Minhkhoa Khan. to the absolutely unknown: Helena Bertinelli, Jean-Paul Valley, Onyx Adams, the Clovers, Julia Pennyworth. it's not lost on me that the ignored characters tend to be women and people of color. which is both a canon and fanon problem, DC will continue adding interesting characters to the Batfamily, play with them for a few years, then drop them to default to the "Batboys" again. and it's a vicious cycle of the fandom only caring about the "Batboys", and thus people entering the fandom via fanon osmosis won't have content about the other characters, therefore, they won't be interested in those characters enough to create it, and it's just this ouroboros consuming itself, no matter how much canon content we have of these other characters. and it's ridiculous just how large the Batfamily is becoming because of this, which is why i'm a pre-Flashpoint fan, because then the Batfamily was contained enough to actually feel like a family with every character having nuances relationships with each other, but i digress because those thoughts could be their own post.

and the thing about fanon is it doesn't exist in a vacuum. DC has started turning the comics to accommodate for what fans are asking for, because fans will beg and beg for content they're not going to consume. Tim Drake: Robin had Tim as a coffee drinker because that's the fanon accepted headcanon. and the resolution of the recent Gotham War arc was for Bruce to buy this new manor for everyone to move in and call him. nevermind that most of these characters have their own homes and have zero reason to be moving in with Bruce. Tim had his marina in Tim Drake: Robin, Dick has Bludhaven, Cass and Steph have their little side of town in Batgirls (2022), and so on. these characters are being forced together as a unit, as one big happy family living together, to appease what non-comic fans want and it's damaging comic relationships. Robin: Knight Terrors saw Jason and Tim team up and working together, which i've seen varying opinions on but i personally despised. their interactions made zero sense for any of their canon history, but it appeases them being this close sibling relationship that fanon acts like they are. also the fears they faced in their respective knight terrors didn't make sense for either character and *only* worked as a moment of bringing them together so they could reassure each other and have this weird dreamscape bonding moment. the canon is bending itself to the will of fanon rather than building on the pre-existing complex relationships. Tim barely even gets along with his most important team in Dark Crisis: Young Justice because it seems the only important relationships the Batfamily can have is with each other. and when we do see them outside of the Batfamily, it only seems to be to relive the glory days like with World's Finest: Teen Titans, instead of developing them as they currently exist. this isn't recent in the comics, it feels like you can trace it back to the New-52, but it does feel a *lot* worse over the recent years. WFA is fine when it exists in its own bubble, but the simple truth is, DC content never exists on its own. the adaptations will reflect back onto the comics. (the damage the Young Justice cartoon has done to some characters should honestly be studied) and so it does frustrate me a bit when fanon-only or adaptation-only fans act like we're being nothing but killjoys for being frustrated with this. since they don't read the comics, they don't see how the comics are suffering as a result of this.

people argue about what's out of character for the comics they don't even read. i'm sorry, but "bad dad Bruce" is consistently canon. that man is just kind of shitty. when you take someone who has the drive he has, who has this need for the Mission first, who needs a teenager in spandex next to him to keep him off the ledge, that guy is sort of going to be a shitty father figure. he just is. not on purpose or with malice, but when you compare him to any other dad in a big DC family, he sure takes the cake. it's why characters like Oliver Queen tend to *really* fucking hate Bruce for how he treats his kids. Bruce loves fiercely, but he doesn't do well with putting that love first. and his love is a controlling one, he is very particular about controlling how others in the Batfamily are "allowed" to operate. it's what drives the wedge between him and Dick, it's why Steph is never a true daughter to him. (besides the reason of her needing to be a love interest to Tim first, anyway-) i've never understood the massive outcry of people reacting to Bruce kinda being shitty in comics they're not reading. there are some moments that get ridiculously OOC with how cartoonishly evil he is (the whole Gotham War arc and that... complicated mess with Jason) but largely if you want sitcom loving nuclear father Bruce, you have to accept that is a fanon thing, not a canon one. the Batfamily being a nuclear family in *general* is fanon. most of the "Batkids" don't actually see Bruce in a particularly fatherly light and begging for moments where he calls them his kids or they call him dad outside of incredibly specific circumstances is just OOC.

it's getting harder and harder to exist peacefully in this fandom it feels like, if you don't comply to the standard fanon has set. i'm happy people are having fun with their blorbos, even if in ways i dislike, but that "harmless fandom fun" does ripple it's way back to canon, eventually. so i end up pretty tangled with my feelings because are fans at fault for DC making these poor decisions? probably not, but it certainly feels like an unfortunate cause-and-effect situation whether at the end of the day, nobody is happy. and of course, i know some fanon-only fans are striving to be more canon accurate and care about canon dynamics more than others, but for them it's always going to be an uphill battle with the above-mentioned out-of-context panels thrown around and ever-pervasive fanon overtaking anything that's truly seeking to be canon compliant. so really, it sometimes feels like we're all losing.

[waywardsunlight]

Ok so it is known I am a huge fan of Belos because I am talking about him often. Baffled by fandom conversations about Belos not getting enough sympathy/forgiveness when the Collector went up to him, forgave him, and then turned around and Belos shot a giant death beam at their back. On the meta side, like, I don't think they made Belos pure evil in the end, I think Belos's feelings (which are . shown and addressed, we get scenes of him talking to Caleb the episode before, and TTT does a lot for his backstory), ultimately do not matter because his negative impact on the world negates any reason to care about them. Belos can have childhood trauma and also him committing genocide kinda stops making us care about that in the long run. That's why I think Papa tells Luz it doesn't matter. It's not that Belos's past doesn't effect his actions, it literally means that no matter what Caleb did or didn't do 300+ years ago, Belos is committing genocide NOW. It's really not insane to say his opinion/motive doesn't matter anymore, like you cannot repeatedly harm people and still expect anyone to care about why you're doing it.

I also think it's pretty telling that a pretty loud group of people have been on about this for years now. Belos has a more traditional protagonist story and he's a skinny white man with blue eyes. Belos is a subversion of traditional tropes/pro-colonial narratives/hero stories which makes him very cool but also I think the way people act like he's helpless or he shouldn't be held accountable, is a result of systemic sexism and popular white supremacy narratives. Belos didn't get a "hear me out" at the end because he already had one, he's had it for hundreds of years, and the Owl House attempts to topple colonial narratives rather than support them.

Also, you can just watch or read anything from the thousands of years backlog of stories that have people like Belos as the protagonist. The Owl House centers a neurodivergent girl of color and other characters who have traditionally villain roles (ei. Eda as the evil witch in the woods, King as a power-hungry demon). Yeah they're fighting the traditional "im gonna save my family and stop the evil demons" white man. that's the point.

[ineachretelling]

The first real conversation Katniss has with Peeta is when he tells her that he wants to die as himself, that he doesn't want the games to change him into something he's not, and that he wants to keep his identity and prove he's more than just a piece in their games because that's the only thing he has left to care about.

The first time we see Lucy Gray she sings a song that basically says that nothing they could take from her was worth keeping. "Can't take my past. Can't take my history... You can't take my charm. You can't take my health."

The capitol has taken everything from them both, but at the same time, they could never take away who they are.

They are both likeable charismatic and funny, with the kindest hearts, and incredibly loyal to the people they care about.

At the same time, everything they do before the games, and during is calculated. Lucy Gray singing a love song and winning the hearts of the capitol. Peeta confesses he's in love with his district partner, therefore cementing her identity as desirable. Both of them know how to sway people with words, how to charm people, and how to manipulate crowds. Neither of them has any problem doing so to keep themselves, and the people they love safe.

Lucy Gray's song The Old Therebefore, about learning how to love and live her life to the fullest before death, a final and calculated stroke in a last-ditch effort to save herself from the arena. This evokes enough emotion in the watchers to get them to rise to their feet and plead for her life alongside Snow.

Snow, watching the 74th and preparing for the 75th Hunger Games sees Lucy Gray in Katniss. A young girl, from the 12th district. Unafraid at the reaping. Selling a false love story, manipulating a boy who loves her in order to get out and supporting the revolution with the mockingjay as her symbol.

He threatens her family to get her to sell that she and Peeta are in love, to prevent the revolution, because obviously, she's pretending. He's had experience with a girl just like her before. He has no doubt that she has the acting ability to sell this story because clearly, she manipulated the first Hunger Games in her favor, the same way Lucy Gray manipulated him.

Watching the interviews for the 75th Hunger Games he realizes-

Katniss is just an impulsive girl, in a Mockingjay dress she didn't know about, made by someone who supports the revolution.

Peeta is a boy who has the ability to move people with just his words. He made Katniss desirable, he was the one who sold the love story, and he was the one to make their romance seem real. Katniss only started the revolution because she would rather risk dying with him than live without him. A concept President Snow was completely unfamiliar with. And it is with all these realizations crashing around him Peeta drops the baby bomb. He knows the baby's not real, and so does Snow. But it evokes enough emotion in the watchers to get them to rise to their feet and plead for the lives of the tributes.

Is it Lucy Gray or Peeta?

By the time Snow realizes he's made a mistake, it's too late.

Peeta is still charming and manipulating the capitol. Katniss is in love.

He goes up against a kindhearted boy expecting to beat Sejanus again, only to find out that it's Lucy Gray he's fighting; knowing he will never be able to escape their ghosts.

-from a conversation i had with @grandtyphoonpoetry breaking down every character in the hunger games.

[clfixationstation]

I think this may be an unpopular opinion, but Mikasa kissing Eren's severed head is actually probably my favorite aspect of eremika. Something about the simplicity of Mikasa's unfettered love contrasted against the visceral gore of Eren's corpse

Just perfectly encapsulates their relationship and the theme of cruelty and beauty that Mikasa embodies

Cruel world, and her beautiful love, inseparable

[kittydragondraws]

Why You Shouldn't Worry About The Finale

I've seen a lot of people fear that Murder Drones will end up like Meta Runner, shafted and forgotten, relegated only to cameos and waxing poetic about the good old days.

However, I think that is far from the case. Why?

People actually like Murder Drones.

Meta Runner is hardly popular. With most of episodes only having around 1 - 1.5 million views, and most of the later episodes not even having 1 million.

Compare that with Murder Drones, whose episodes consistently reach 10 - 20+ million views without even breaking a sweat.

All the money they must be making from ad revenue alone probably blows any profit they got off of MR out of the water, not to mention merch sales and just general fandom hype.

Murder Drones is way to popular and profitable of an IP, it was literally the series that put GLITCH on the map and made people recognize them as a real studio. It would be stupid to just shaft it entirely.

Even if we don't get a second season (at the very least not anytime soon) I wouldn't be surprised if we got some more media with the characters.

Liam himself said that he knew there was more to explore in this world, so I wouldn't be surprised if we got more media coming from the series, even if it isn't as high-budget or even animated.

Even if we don't get, say, continuous merch drops or consistent content, I have a feeling Murder Drones will be alive in some way, shape, or form for a long, long time.

[kingofanemptyworld]

Wbk doesn't focus on Sakura enough

I… don’t quite know what to respond with here. I personally think the series focuses on Sakura the right amount. He’s the main character, and we’re primed to expect a great, sprawling backstory from the get-go with MCs (Naruto tells us everything we need to know about his past pretty early on). But the focus is on Sakura’s growth as a character, and as other blogs have pointed out more eloquently than I ever could, he’s not in a place to dissect his past right now. You can make some good guesses at what he’s been through — in broad strokes — based on his behavior, his lack of social skills, the fact that he barely knows how to text. I think that’s enough for now, because I don’t think Sakura would handle everything from his childhood coming to light well.

Plus, I like ensemble casts. I like other characters getting their time in the spotlight. It’s personal preference and I enjoy getting to know other characters besides the MC. So I’m sorry if that’s how you feel but tbh I just don’t agree.

[ineachretelling]

#AND IN THE OPENING #THE DAISY THAT ASTER DREW #IS REACHING FOR THE CONSTELLATION #BUT IT CAN'T REACH IT #BECAUSE ITS ROOTS ARE TOO FIRM #THIS MOVIE

alice wu cant be touched

[quinnblrhq]

imagine having so much you could actually genuinely critique about dc's treatment of harley quinn and instead of focusing on the current questionable stereotyping, the fucking fetish comic, letting Todd Philips have creative control over any adaptation of her, esc, you just wanna bitch about the "deadpoolification" she's "gone through" and act as though the big issue here is writers having her break the fourth wall and have internal conversations with herself when that's shit she had in her characteristics before deadpool. she's been doing that stuff longer than I've been alive! you're the one who clearly doesn't know her !!!

[its-no-biggie]

easily the funniest thing restoration did though was hand us a perfect explanation for why it isnt canon. like oh, epsilon ran hundreds of simulations before he destroyed himself, and even he doesnt know if this one is real or not? well then, obviously. it isnt real. you would know how easy it is to write something off as not canon, wouldnt you? uno reverse motherfucker, i do not accept your fanfiction as canon. this was clearly a simulation and not even a good one

[mangocurist]

Yknow I'm genuinely curious is Parrotx2 that bad of a writer or is it just with his character and other characters close to him?

- @kaed-khaos

id say hes a good writer in the way that jk rowling is a good writer: unintentionally, only looking from a very specific lense, and only if you lack critical thinking skills and aren't invested in anyone else besides him. ill say for the record i honestly probably wouldnt have noticed it if not for me being a wifies fan- and its like, i can give him a little bit of leeway for making everything skewed in his favor because he was a lifestealer. thats what theyre best at, painting themselves in a good light and everyone else in a bad one. but in a series like uu, where we Never get Any objective content because its always seen from the mcs perspective and most side characters are limited to only one mc as well as have their lines and roles scripted by their respective mc, parrots ls mentality is what really leads to his storytelling downfall. because he cant help but make himself look good always, at the cost of his and other side characters depth