bardhobibi

[bardhobibi]

yeahyeahyeah booty

clothing refs

[bardhobibi]

I love learning more about their real life references omg!!!

PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT BOOTHILL'S PLANET'S CLOTHING REF I WANNA KNOW WHAT IT'S INSPIRED BY AND EVERYTHING I THIRST FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE 🙏🙏

of course!! just a note: i’m not knowledgeable at all about native american culture, most of this stuff came from other ppl!!

main thing is that his clothing was mostly taken from the Haudenosaunee people which came from a commenter on my twt who referred me to them! iirc they said that boothill is also Algonquin which is a region close to the Haudenosaunee people, who are also known as Iroquoios.

uhhh honestly that’s all the useful stuff i have lol i just took that info and dug around for some clothing refs. i did find this pretty useful pdf for Haudenosausee clothing that i’ll attach below:

[bardhobibi]

Boothill, Aventurine and the IPC: Survivors of genocide and colonisation, loss of identity, loneliness and racial discrimination

CONTENT WARNING FOR GENOCIDE AND COLONIZATION DISCUSSION, PEJORATIVE TERMS USED FOR THE ROMA PEOPLE, CULTURAL ERASURE AND RACISM

First, I want to apologise for the English. It's not my first, not even my third, language, and I originally wrote this in my first native language and then translated it with Collins. I have tried to correct it as much as possible, but maybe there are errors.

Very bad introduction

I am going to start by explaining a crucial thing in political studies: neither of them is a war survivor.

For a war to be considered as such, it has to be between two armies that are moderately equal in strength and technological power: The two World Wars; the Peloponnesian War between the Greek city-states between 431 - 404 BC; the Hundred Years' War between 1337 and 1453 that pitted two French and English houses against each other, etc. These are wars. And wars are a kind of military and violent conflict. But not all military or violent conflicts are wars. And as a curiosity, a violent conflict between an occupying force and an occupied territory can NOT be considered a war.

So let's remember the origin of these two characters, and above all, what they have in common. Which is a lot, and for this we will also have to take into account later on which peoples, very real, both are inspired.

Sigonia-IV

Aventurine in lore comes from a planet called Sigonia-IV, mainly desert and with a small population. The native peoples all have the same language, however, they have been divided into clans and wars and conflicts are common. At some point, the IPC arrived on the planet, and Oswaldo Schneider, leader of the Marketing Development Department, managed to reach a treaty with the clans called "Sigonian Sovereignty", according to which all the clans were united in a single political entity. However, among these clans, there was a marked prejudice towards two specific clans: the Katicans and the Avgins. To such an extent that there were prejudices against these clans that the rest decided to leave them out of the treaty of Sigonian sovereignty, and it was voted in parliament to expel both clans to the most desert areas, also giving the Avgins autonomy.

It is important to mention that the Katicans and the Avgins were already minoritarian clans due to a first near-extinction event that took place in the past due to a conflict between the two, and that "hatred" between the two clans continued in the present day. Banishing them together to an even more deserted area had no way it would end well, and in fact, it ended terribly badly. The conflict between the two clans escalated, and eventually, the Katicans decided to carry out a planned extermination against the Avgin population. The Avgins, knowing that this was a possibility, asked the IPC for help, who agreed to send aid if the conflict worsened. Finally, the day of the Avgin’s Kakava religious festival arrived, and the population came out to celebrate, believing themselves to be safe. However, the Katicans took the opportunity to attack, and the IPC did not appear to help. The result was 6,728 Avgins dead and 3,452 missing. The IPC announced this event as a "small rebellion" caused by "the Katican insurgents, who had a long history of hatred towards the IPC". They even go so far as to announce:

“The clan launched a massive attack on the Avgin , who where under the protection of the IPC […] The spokeperson expresses his deepest condolences for this devastating humanitarian disaster, at the same time delivering an important message on this matter to all the interplanetary citizens. Finally he proclaims: “The hammer of Preservation will fall on all beings, regardless of life and death, regardless of race, regardless of ideology, to uphold the basic rights we inherently possess” (The Life Of Aventurine Summarized | Penacony Trailblaze Mission Cutscenes | Honkai Star Rail 2.1)

The only known survivor was Kakavasha, a young orphan who until then lived with his sister in a poor tent and wagons in the desert and who must not have been more than ten years old the day of the attack. After the event, he was sold and tattooed as a slave, until he finally killed his owner and managed to rise in the IPC to the Aventurine we know, where he would receive constant complaints from other workers racially motivated by concern that he was Avgin. But it is important to mention the last complaint that the worker mentions about Kakavasha:

"And let's not forget the letters from the councillors of the Sigonian Sovereignty. They denounce his tribe for once breaking agreements and sowing discord, leading to significant changes in the balance of peace between the tribes, resulting in repeated delays in the signing of agreements between Sigonia and IPC. Allowing such an employee to join at the IPC would be a severe detriment to public relations…"

Whether or not it's true what the Sigonians say about the Avgin's alleged conflictive nature, I don't care. There is still a component of racial prejudice. Let us remember that these same councillors were the ones who voted, PARLIAMENTARY, to displace the Avgin people to even more desert areas, condemning them to famine, and forcing them to political independence so that they would not have responsibility for their security. That, in hindsight, the councillors complain that an Avgin, the last known one left and who was only a child when his people suffered a genocide, has a position of power, reveals a level of prejudice that clearly discredits, in my opinion, any criticism they had of the Avgin. Fuck, that his ethnic background is a "detriment to IPC public relations" is pure racism.

So let's take a good look at the Avgin conflict and genocide as if you were my students:

If we are left with only the story sold internationally within the game the result is this: A conflictive clan has been exterminated by another conflictive clan and the IPC did not arrive in time to prevent it, but no one is going to be very sad because they were conflictive people who did not contribute anything anyway *sad face*. This is fk bullshit. The Avgin genocide was orchestrated and premeditated. Both by the Sigonians and by the IPC.

Let's remember one very important thing: The Katicans. All we know of this clan is that they were rivals of the Avgins, had a first near-extinction event between them in the past, and that the rest of Sigonia hated them as much as the Avgin, and there were also strong prejudices towards them. We don't know what prejudices existed towards them other than being a violent clan, but we know there were more. Enough to displace them equally to the desert. What's the problem with this? It was a premeditated step knowing what was going to happen between the two, and the intention was to cause a second Katican-Avgin extinction event. They could have displaced both clans to two different deserts. But they didn't. Lock two hungry animals in an empty room. Let's see if they become friends. No. The reality is that only one will come out alive, if not both of them dead.

The initial plan might seem simple: gather them in the desert and hope they will kill each other if they don't starve to death first. Both options worked. But the reality was more complicated and insidious. Let's remember that the Sigonians gave independence to the Avgin clan mainly so that they would not have to take care of them: if they die of hunger or something happens to them, it is their problem. But why didn't they give it to the Katicans (it is mentioned that independence was given to the Avgin specifically, but no mention to the Katicans, so for now I will assume that they did not have it) despite also being in the same situation? It would seem obvious to give independence to both clans and let them kill each other. Sigonia would have no responsibility. Easy. Because they also wanted to get rid of the Katicans. They knew that this clan would attack the Avgin because they were stronger. But if they were also independent, the Sigonians could do nothing to punish them and they didn't want a strong clan having political independence. However, if the Katicans were still Sigonians, and attacked a "foreign" people, it means that Sigonia had the ability to legally judge the Katicans for war crimes and justify the prejudices they already had against them. I'm not going to take the blame off the Katicans for the Avgin genocide, be careful. They shouldn't have to do it, and they were ultimately guilty of this crime. But lately I am going to recognize that, even as victimizers, they were victims: they were sent to starve to death in the desert, they were deprived of political freedom and suffered institutional racism, and they were expected to commit genocide as an excuse to increase the iron fist against them and ensure their future confinement in the desert and that they end up starving for real. The genocide was orchestrated to ensure the extinction of the two clans without even having to touch them: The Sigonians and the IPC would have their hands clean of blood.

And did the IPC actively participate in this plan, you may ask? But of course :D

We know that the IPC has no problem getting blood on its hands, as we will see later in the case of Boothill and Aeragan-Epharshel. But if they can manipulate the situation and come out with clean hands? Obviously they are going to do it. The Sigonian Sovereignty was completely in agreement with collaborating with the IPC, so "why not do them a small favor and eliminate the two dissident clans?" When the Sigonian counsellors gave autonomy to the Avgin and sent them into the desert, the Avgin ended up asking the IPC for help in case the Katicans attacked, but we know that when they did, they did not appear. This is the only and greatest evidence of the IPC's active participation in the Avgin-Katican extinction plan. By being "autonomous", the Avgins could not ask for help from the Sigonians, so they went to the IPC, who, by accepting, would be the good guys in the story. And the Sigonians would know this, because by promising the IPC's help, the Avgins would make a tragic mistake: relax. It was the only missing piece to allow the Katicans attack to succeed. What the IPC would have to do was simply "not have time to show up." This is why the Avgin were given autonomy and not the Katicans, because they knew that they would be the victims of the impending genocide. Sigonia would then not be to blame for the death of the Avgin, nor had the responsibility for the Katicans attacking, as it was their decision, a decision that would reinforce their confinement in the desert and mark them as enemies of the IPC for attacking one of their "protégés". And so you have a perfect genocide plan for two clans:

Send two enemy clans to the desert, where they are going to starve to death and tensions between them are going to increase.

Give autonomy to the Avgins so that Sigonia is not to blame for what happens to them, cutting them from political and social proteccion, so that they have to ask the IPC for help.

When the Katicans attack, the IPC, the only help the Avgin had, should not arrive in time and let them all die.

Legally judge the surviving Katicans for war crimes because they still are Sigonians, to mark them as enemies of the IPC, and to reinforce their confinement in the desert.

The only part of this plan that we could say I have "invented" is point 4, about the fate of the Katicans since at the moment in the game nothing is mentioned about it. But it is not necessary either. It is the next logical step.

Aeragan-Epharshel

Boothill comes from a continent called Aeragan-Epharshel, where he was educated as a cowboy. It is unknown what happened to his biological parents, but it is known that his adoptive parents found him as a baby in the snow, and his original name in the local ancient language meant "loaded gun". Aeragan-Epharshel is described as a prosperous and resource-rich continent, large and with livestock and agricultural trade. It presumably has a tribal society, as at the very least Boothill describes its home society by that name. But the main resource they had; I do not dare to say how much knowledge the native population had about it; it was an underground black metal that caught the attention of the IPC as it was used for the construction of heavy weapons and/or weapons of mass destruction. The IPC, upon discovering the large settlements of this black metal in Aeragan-Epharshel arrived, and without even trying to negotiate with the local tribes (as they actually did in Sigonia-IV), they began a massive excavation project that displaced entire tribes from their lands, being humiliated with abusive purchases and insults to their beliefs. I hope there is no need to explain why this is textbook colonisation. Because of this, the local populations would organise themselves as guerrillas to fight against the IPC, without success due to the disproportionate difference in armament strength. Not even knowledge of the terrain was giving them an advantage. Boothill would decide to disguise himself and sneak into the main ship to look for the man who was running the entire operation and thus end the problem at its root. He would not find him. Instead, he would discover something worse, the words of, allegedly, Oswaldo Schneider, leader of the Marketing Development Department:

“Aeragan-Epharshel contains crucial strategic resources. He who claims it first will take great advantage in departmental competition. As these savage and uncivilised cowboys are unwilling to cooperate with the Marketing Development Department, we have no choice but to assume administration of this world on their behalf. We are running out of time. You are permitted to use military force and bring civilisation to this world”

The following would happen very quickly. Boothill would try to flee the ship, but by the time he reached his home, it was too late. Everything had been engulfed in flames, not even the ashes of his family were left and his entire tribe was completely annihilated. What little population of other tribes remained was minimal and they ended up separated in tiny reserves that are smaller every year (i.e. they face very real extinction).

I want to stop here and ask you to reread the words of Oswaldo Schneider. Come on, read them again.

Very well done, baby.

Have you analysed well what it implies? Yes, wow, he's a bad person, he's racist, he's called them savages and uncivilised, he's a coloniser... Etc. That's the obvious part. What may not seem so obvious (or yes, lol) is how this message reveals the IPC's real strategy for the Aeragan-Epharshel continent, and it's much worse. Colonisation and occupation are not simply about forcibly entering a territory and seizing power. There are always strategies in place to control native populations both physically and psychologically: violent repression, displacement of populations and finally the destruction of their native identity. But there is also a psychological event happening in the minds of the colonisers: they will always look for excuses to turn the rhetoric in their favour and become victims or saviours. Words have the power to change history and move armies towards criminal acts through the dehumanisation of native populations.

Notice how Schneider speaks of the native population not "COOPERATING": What these words imply is that "the actions of the IPC are valid and necessary, that they have come in peace, and that they were expected to cooperate as if nothing had happened, being surprised that there was resistance." It's the same shitty logic that when a cop in the Police TV shows suddenly chases someone innocent on the street, the person runs away and then throws in his face a "why were you running away if you're innocent". I don't know, why were you chasing him when you know you can't trust a policeman in almost any country, much less there? They assume the desire for cooperation because they consider themselves a higher authority figure.

Which comes to us in Schneider's following words: as "THEY HAVE NO CHOICE" but to take over the administration of this world "IN THEIR PLACE". The "we have no choice" implies that it is their "last option", that "oh what a shame to have to go to this extreme, but you have left us no other option", that they have "tried everything previously, but their patience has run out". With these words, "we have no choice," he is blaming, consciously or unconsciously, the native tribes for his own death. It is a "if we attack you, it is your fault for not cooperating, we did not want to". And finally, it continues with a colonialist infantilization towards the capacity for self-government of the natives. There is an assumption that "they are violent because they have not let us take resources from their lands" = "they are savages, without diplomatic and political capacity and they cannot take care of themselves, so we have to come and take care of them so that they do not kill each other". If you say I'm exaggerating, let's remember Schneider's last words: "They can use military force and CIVILIZE THIS WORLD." He says so himself. These are his words. It could not be clearer. Schneider considers it a disgustingly paternalistic responsibility to care for this "infantilized" society. I wouldn't be surprised to hear Schneider say in a future verbatim: "We teach them culture and a language, I don't know what they're complaining about.”

What is tremendously terrible is the manipulation that these words reveal. He complains that they do not cooperate, and that they have been left no choice but to almost exterminate them and assume power in the place. It's fucking gaslighting. Manipulation at a tremendous, insidious level. The reality is that the IPC arrived dehumanising the native populations so much that they did not even bother to negotiate with them and entered by force and with violence. They provoked the local population, and when they logically defended themselves, they played the victim. I don't know if you understand how repulsive this is. It is difficult to understand the helplessness that Boothill, the only survivor of his tribe, suffers, being aware of how the history of his world has been sold, and how they have been villainised.

Racial discrimination and loss of identity

What Boothill and Aventurine survived was not a war. They were survivors of a violent colonising conflict and planned genocides. And they are also victims of racial discrimination. Yes, in the game they are both white as milk, one is blonde and the other has white hair. We know how the gamecompany is, it is a little difficult for them to put skins of other colors. But that doesn't change anything. Canonically, they suffer racism within the game itself, and in real life, they would suffer it as well. The skin is not the only indicator of being able to suffer racism.

Boothill, as far as I remember, in the current game, there is no mention of any direct insult or discrimination towards him, but mainly because he does not make relation to anyone who is prejudiced towards the people of Aeragan-Epharshel. But canonically, as we could well hear Oswaldo Schneider say, the tribes of Aeragan-Epharshel were "savages without civilization from whom it is not necessary to ask permission to extract resources from their lands and with whom genocide is justified, and those who survive, to be displaced from their lands of origin and grouped in reserves where they can be re-educated and civilized." This is canon. I'm not making it up. It is said as it is within the game.

With Aventurine it's even more obvious. The genocide against the Aeragan-Epharshel tribes was caused directly by the IPC for two reasons: 1) they did not bother to negotiate with them because they considered them so inferior, and 2) there were no conflicts (as far as we know and the rapidly united) between tribes as notorious as in Sigonia-IV. Sigonia's problem, and what suited the IPC very well, was the long history of conflict and prejudice that existed between clans and that they exploited. They didn't need to get blood on their hands, they just had to pull a couple of strings and that's it.

But also something that the Avgins were known for was their physical appearance: they are described as extremely attractive, and with very striking eyes like Aventurine's, something specific to them and that racially marks Aventurine, differentiating him from non-Avgins.

However, this was mixed with big negative stereotypes: they were considered a clan of cheaters, liars, social manipulators and thieves. This defamation was not unique to his home planet. In his story (Character Story: Part I), we discover that when he started working for the IPC, other workers sent formal and informal complaints, mainly "concerns about his origin", and his eyes are mentioned:

"It's complaints about him, both formal and informal. My mailbox has been flooded with them like countless pieces of paper. I wonder... if it's worth reconsidering his inclusion in the Strategic Investment Department.”

"What do these complaints say?”

"Mostly about his origins. Those eyes of his…"

The conversation goes on to mention two cases in which Kakavasha (he still used this name) allegedly deceived the IPC by guiding them to false resources, although the other person later reminds him that those were nothing more than rumors. Let's face it, these rumours wouldn't have existed if he wasn't Avgin, and they would have treated it as "mistakes." His presence was also considered an "IPC public relations problem", solely because of his ancestry, as the Sigonian Sovereignty had complained about it. Even today, we know that Aventurine continues to suffer some degree of disguised discrimination, only cut short by the fact that he is now someone with power within the IPC.

Another thing, in this section, and which both have in common, is the loss of identity. Both are the last survivors of their respective tribes/clans. Yes, in Aeragan-Epharshel there are still natives on the reservations, but we know that from his specific tribe, he is the last. The same with Aventurine. There are still many Sigonians. Avgins? As far as we know, only him.

In the case of Bothill there are two essential things that we do not know: whether all the tribes had the same language, and if his tribe consisted of all the inhabitants of Aeragan-Epharshel as a continent or if there were several tribes, among which his own? Since it has been directly mentioned that in Sigonia everyone had the same language, but this has not been mentioned for Aeragan-Epharshel, we can assume they were different languages. We do know, however, that there was in the past at least one common ancient language in Aeragan-Epharshel, which leads me to understand that it could be a situation like Latin, and that it has subsequently been divided into multiple languages, or has evolved so much that the old and new languages are too different.

“The child had a striking and beautiful name that in the ancient language of Aeragan-Epharshel meant "loaded gun.”” (Character Story: Part I)

No matter the case, for Boothill, his language is in danger of extinction in the same way as his people. In a few generations, there will be no one left who speaks his language, if there is even anyone left who speaks it, as far as we know, the other tribes that remain could have other languages. If that is the case, it’s highly likely, the language of his specific tribe is already extinct. But even if this was not the case, there is another detail to take into account: the native populations of Aeragan-Epharshel that remain alive are all gathered in small reserves, and that the IPC intended to “civilise” these populations. Honestly, does anyone seriously believe that they are allowed to continue speaking their original languages? We all know that this is not the case. Even if there is anyone left who spoke the original language of Boothill or had knowledge of the ancient language of Aeragan-Epharshel, in two or three generations, they will be forgotten. We, as players, are not even left to know his real name. The one that had a beautiful meaning in the ancient language of Aeragan-Epharshel, and within the game, is the same. No one is going to call him anymore by the name that previous generations gave him, or know what it means. No one is going to celebrate his tribe's festivities with him again. No one is going to sing to him the songs that his father sang to him in his childhood and he inherited to sing to his daughter, nor will they ever hear the guitar rhythms he grew up with the moment he dies. Because his tribe's culture has disappeared into the flames, and he is the last one left.

Aventurine is the same. While we know his original name, Kakavasha, he has since stopped using it. Aventurine, sadly, is a name that opens many more doors for him, while Kakavasha is a name that puts a target on his back without people even needing to see his eyes to identify him as Avgin. Because Kakavasha is also a name with a marked cultural influence: it is derived from an Avgin holiday that he can no longer celebrate. While the Avgin religion was mainly celebrated in private, the Kakava was one of the few, and as far as we know, the only, public and common celebration of the Avgin due to its importance. And there is no one left to celebrate it as it should be. In community. Faith in Gaiathra Triclops has been reduced to the memories and privacy of a single person who does not even have the possibility of celebrating it properly.

Both are alone, their community's cultural identity extinct, and yet they still suffer discrimination because of their origins.

"Inspirations" from real etnias

I cannot continue this work without taking into account something very important. The real ethnic and cultural inspiration behind these two characters. At the moment it's pretty obvious, especially Boothill, who I'm going to start with. It is clearly inspired by a mix between cowboys and Native American people. But to what extent is it inspired? Well, let me tell you one thing: "inspired" is an understatement. Canonically, within the game itself, Boothill is Algonquin Apache. And I don't say "inspired," "referenced," "pseudo-canon," "feels," "based," or any other word meant to justify the denial that he is Algonquin Apache specifically. I'm talking about the game itself, within the lore itself, the word Algonquin Apache is used to define Boothill's native continent. I know what you will think, when was that? Because in the anglo-speaking translation of the game this does not appear anywhere. And you are right in fact.

Let's remember what his continent is called "Aeragan-Epharshel". This means nothing by itself. But it's important to remember that the game's original language is Chinese. The screenwriters are Chinese. And "Aeragan-Epharshel" is a pseudo phonetic anglo-translation of the original Chinese 阿尔冈-阿帕歇. However, the literal translation of 阿尔冈-阿帕歇 is, in fact, Algonquin-Apache. If you translate the original Chinese wiki, 阿尔冈-阿帕歇, it will be translated as "Algonquin-Apache".

And in real life, the Algonquin are the most widespread Native American group left in North America, especially in Canada and to a lesser extent in the United States, and it is a grouping defined by its linguistic root, which are the Algonquian languages. The Apache are another well-known Native American group, which is distributed in the southwestern part of the United States, also with his own language.

Out of curiosity I went to an online translator of proto-Algonquin to search for "loaded gun". I didn't get anything from the combination, BUT "gun", according to this translator, is said "paᐧškesikani" (I don't know to what extent this is true or not to the language), and in Apache gun, according to the translator I used, would be "bee ídiltʼohé", so if you follow the language rule, maybe its original name is something like that. Another interesting detail is that its current name, Boothill, comes from the expression "Boot Hill", a real term to refer to cemeteries for unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. Him, wearing in his cibord body the same black metal for which the IPC killed all his tribe, and naming himself like a "burial for unknown people", is pretty poetic, and fucking sad.

In a very summarized way, I hope that we all know what was the fate suffered by the native communities of North America. The european settlers did not seek integration with the local tribes and were treated as foreigners in their own territory, they were displaced from their own lands, attempts were made to re-educate them by forcing them into a new language and religion with punishments for using their original languages and faith, and today many live on pseudo-autonomous reservations where the current governments (USA and Canada) are not responsible for them condemning them to a tremendous insecurity, legal, physical and social, causing hate crimes against them not to be properly judged and unable to defend themselves against disproportionate institutional discrimination.

And now Aventurine. My dear Aventurine. It makes me sad because there is so much denial about the real people in which he is inspired. In fact, as a curiosity, the same thing happens to Boothill. Their ethnicity is canonical within the game itself in a slightly different way, but the same in spirit.

His planet, Sigonia-IV, is, to a lesser extent, a poorly done phonetic translation (but not as badly as Aeragan-Epharshel) of the original (simplified) Chinese: 茨冈尼亚-IV. In English, the letters have been changed so that the name is not recognized, which, in Chinese, is written practically as it is. 茨冈尼亚-IV., translated into English, is literally Tsigonia-IV. Some of you will see where this is going. The word 茨冈尼亚-IV. is basically a "compound" word: they have taken the name of an ethnicity and added -ia at the end to make the name of the planet/state, such as France (Country of the French/Franks). 茨冈, the first half, is the one we are interested in: it literally means "tzigane", and 尼亚, the second half, the "nia". It is literally, planet of tziganes. But who are the tziganes in real life? Well, the Roma people. The "gypsies". In fact, if you translate 茨冈 in any translator, you will get "gypsy", but pronounced in Chinese as "Cígāng".

Gypsy is basically a pejorative word (so avoid using it) with which the Roma people have historically been called. So at the very least, canonically within the game, Aventurine's original ethnic nationality is “Tzigane” aka "Gypsy" aka “Roma".

But it is not the only "reference". The name of their original clan, "Avgin", within the game and in the Sigonian language, means honey. But in fact, in real life, Avgin also means honey in the Romani language, coming from the Persian angabīn (انگبین). Another instance is the religious event that the Avgin celebrate and where the genocide took place: Kakava, which we can in fact, recognise as the basis for Aventurine's original name, KAKAVAsha, having been born on this day. The fact is that the Kakava religious holiday exists in real life, and it is a religious holiday called exactly the same celebrated by the Roma-Turkish people in Turkey.

An extra detail are the details in the design of Aventurine that are reminiscent of a peacock, an animal from the Indian subcontinent, the same place where the Romani people also theoretically come from before their migrations.

Aventurine is Roma. And unfortunately, his history is a reflection of the real life of these people. People stigmatised for centuries as "thieves and violent liars", who have been physically and legally removed from the states in which they have tried to settle. People that has also suffered a real genocide attempt by Nazi Germany. It is not known exactly how many were killed, but it is estimated that between 25% and 50% of the total Roma population died, and this genocide was not recognised until 1982, so they did not receive justice in time either. And today, in addition, they continue to be victims of severe institutional discrimination. I do not know their situation in North America. But in Europe? The racism that this community suffers is one of the worst, mainly because its discrimination is minimised and, above all, normalised even by people who do not present active racism towards other people. Their integration is prevented in the states where they live, but they are criticized for not being integrated. It is a vicious circle of discrimination from which it is not easy to escape.

So, if you are interested, reread this entire analysis, but now change the words for their real translations.

Read how a corporation organised the Algonquin, Apache, and Roma genocide. How the Algonquins and Apaches have been called "savages without civilization", and how the Roma have been called "liars and thieves". How the governing capacity of the Algonquin and Apache peoples has been infantilized and the few who remain have been sent to reservations stripped of their liberties. How people complain about a Roma person working with them in the same company.

Read, and learn how Boothill and Aventurine would suffer active and normalised institutional discrimination in our real and very present world, and think about who the IPC would be. 

(P.D. Damn this was long and this is the resumé… I feel like I left a lot of things out and this is still 11 pages)

[bardhobibi]

Boothill x Argenti x Robin

I want to make a fanfic but I'm going to start throwing ideas around here because I love them so much. SO how did the three of them come to date? EASY.

Robin and Argenti staring at Boothill from afar.

Argenti: My dear singing angel… Do we both agree that our silver cowboy looks especially beautiful tonight?

Robin: Absolutely… - she literally doesn't take his eyes off Boothill.

Argenti (who is not stupid and has realized it a while ago): Do you like Mr. Boothill?

Robin: Ajam…

Argenti: We share good taste then, my angel.

Robin: Do you like him too?

Argenti: A lot. But I think he likes you.

Robin: Nah... He likes you.

(silence)

Robin: What if we ask him together?

Argenti: That's a great idea, my sweet angel. He deserves all the love in the world.

And they proceed to basically adopt Boothill in a polycule in order to pamper the sh?t out of this man and make him happy as forkeroni.

[bardhobibi]

Why are there still people saying "oh Dan Heng did nothing in Amphoreus he's such a fraud" like my sibling in Kephale that's the point. Avoidance is his number one character flaw. When the Luofu was emotionally abusing him, he told himself "this is what you deserve" and didn't do anything until he was way past the breaking point. When Blade was hunting him down, Dan Heng never confronted him, never tried to understand why, he just ran away over and over again. When he joined the Express, he never told them about his past until he could no longer stop it from catching up to him. On Amphoreus, he watched the Trailblazer die. It is 100% in-character for him to not say a word and keep his distance from them in the naïve hope that if he doesn't acknowledge it, it might go away.

One of Dan Heng's biggest problems is that he doesn't do anything until he no longer has a choice.

[bardhobibi]

HSR Bothill x Argenti x Robin IS MY OTP

Why fight over a ship when you could have one of the most BEAUTIFULL TRIOS in existence. These 3 compliment each other SO WELL, if you don't see it you have no vision, here, I said it. They are very different characters, with different motivations and objectives, but at the same time SO PAINFULLY SIMILAR they could understand each other in so much levels. LET ME EXPLAIN.

The 3 are very work centered and traveling optimistic stubborn justice seeking people:

Argenti whole thing is the fact he is traveling in the cosmos in order to find Idrila, but also helping people in need in Beauty name. "The Knights of Beauty now find themselves traveling the cosmos and helping those in need, regularly finding themselves in battles [...] and many Knights would also assist others in improving their personal lives." Even with little things as self-image and cleanness. There are very little Knights of Beauty remaining after Idrilla's disappearance, but Argenti, stubborn as he is, didn't falter, and his faith is still strong in the missing aeon (KoB consider Idrila missing, not fallen, highlighting their hope).

Robin is a caged bird, singning for others pleasure, but travelling to other planets as some kind of charity organization. She helps children in need, poverty, war or famine. Her music is not the help, but the medium that she uses to reach places where her influence can help. And she is absolutely okay with putting herself in danger in more conflicted planets, as we can see by the fact that she was shoot in the neck and she still continues travelling. That traumatic event, instead of sheltering her, made her even more stubborn in her objectives.

Apart of his personal vengeance Boothill is very much centered in his work in the Galaxy Rangers, who describes themselves as a "voluntarily formed righteous group that believes the goodness and justice of the universe must be served through the actions of individuals". Even with his very much traumatic past he still sees good in the world worth fighting for.

And also the 3 of them have surprinsingly similar backstories. The 3 are survivors. Robin from a Stellaron catastrophe, Argenti is a war survivor, and Boothill is a gen0c1de survivor. Robin and Argenti were children, Boothill a little bit older (he had his adopted daughter by that point).

If Robin is the representation of music in the trio, Argenti and Boothill also have in some way that in common. Boothill used to sing with his parents when he was little and had made a little wooden guitar for his daugther (so we can assume he knew to play it). I could perfectly headcannon that he finds some peace in music (and we know from his mission with DJ Robin that he likes to dance). And then Argenti. OMG Argenti and his relationship with music. It's... BEAUTIFULL AND TRAGIC. When he was little and sought refuge underground during the war he found and ocarina, but he was terrible using it. This would repeat when he was older, and he tried multiple times but music wasn't his forte: the music he produced was "terrible". Still, he finally found beauty in that "terrible" beauty. Beauty is "personal", and even if other person found his music insuferable, for him, that is beautiful. He definitly would find peace in music, as it was the first thing he learned how to see as truly beautiful, even with his faults. Argenti would find Robin signing purelly and sincerely beautiful, not in a fanatic way, and Boothill could easily find peace and security in hearing her, or participating, let go and relax if she return to her DJ Queen era.

Now, Argenti is the security of the trio. No physical, but mental. We know he finds almost everything beautiful in his own way. He also is the most vocal. Yes, Boothill and Robin are very much defined by their voices, BUT, he is the most sincere, and he doesn't care about others opinions. He loves without judgement, and that's something both Robin and Boothill needs with desperation. Robin is a music star. She is constantly being watched, judged, she suffers from an attention she never wanted. Yes, she is constantly being flattered by her fans, but it's fanatism. They don't know her, it's not sincere. She literally cannot binge eating without being demonized, and dear god if she had a secret boyfriend, all hell would break loose. She HAS to be perfect. And you could ask me, how is Argenti different? Preciselly because he doesn't judge. Argenti loves the inherent beauty of things, not the beauty forced into others. He could see Robin binge eating, having hoarse voice, being herself and not the perfect Robin, and he would still find her beautiful. She could be herself, free, and Argenti would find her still as a parangon of beauty. Boothill on the other hand I don't think he his really insecure about his body, but the decision to make himself a cyborg was very much motivated by rage and desperation, and that's something he for sure knows. Maybe he mourns his flesh body the same way he mourns for his tribe, but at least this change was HIS decision. We know Boothill is not the most fanatic person of flattery, which could be seen as ironic giving the fact he has a very flashy personality, I could say even more than Argenti, but inside we know he is a little bit shy and bashful. I know for a fact that acting secure is not the same thing as being secure. I don't think he is insecure, but I also don't think he sees himself as something "beautiful" due to the "why" of his new body existence.

¿Can you imagine Robin and Argenti, two characters that see beauty in almost everything, teaming up to make Boothill blush? I would FORKING PASS AWAY FROM CUTENESS. And we all know they would do it. Both are very defined by their sincerelly loving personality and bonds.

And finally Boothill it's liberty, specially for Robin. She was all her life a caged bird. If with Argenti she could relax and still be considered beautiful, with Boothill she can simply let go. Maybe Boothill don't find her beautiful one day because she has a terrible flu, or she had bad sleep. ¿But who cares? He still loves her. Her imperfections make her who she really is. She could look like a "cute air rat" after climbing from a sewer sh1t covered because who knows why, or she could sound like a seagull because the flu, and maybe he wouldn't find it beautiful the same way Argenti does, but the thing is he wouldn't care, and she also wouldn't care. Because he would still love her that way. If Argenti would find her imperfections beautiful, Boothill wouldn't care about them, and he would still love her unconditionally, which would give her very much security in the relationship.

And with Argenti it would be a little complex, but very interesting. Boothill represents also liberty, but in more of a political way. His search for vengeance, which Argenti would find beautiful, but what he would love even more is his commitement to the Galaxy Rangers and his motivations for liberty, goodness, and justice. Boothill himself says that Argenti and him are very similar: "Finding someone in this vast universe with such similar taste ain't easy y'know, both of us clad in silver, both packin' heat… And the cherry on top, we're both oozing with righteousness."

And the thing that unites the trio is preciselly something I already commented, and is their sense of justice and need to help others. They travel the world, they understand that about each other. So maybe even if they are separated for months, their live missions are so similar that that separation would not be something bad, but actually it would work PERFECTLY for them. Yes, they would yearn for each other, but their work and objectives are essential in their understanding of each other. From time to time they can reunite, tell each other what happened in those months, how many people they helped, etc. They NEED to help other people. They know it would be unjust to have somebody waiting for them when they would be absent. ¿But with somebody equal to them in way of living? ¿Traveling the world, helping others, craving liberty and justice? ¿Being able to separate path without guilt knowing they would reencounter in the future and each other would have their own mission? It would be PERFECT.

This polycule could be platonic or romantic. I don't care. Either way they would adore each other like five Hozier songs. But this post fall short for everything i could analyse in their relationship but i think they compliment each other very well and I need fanfics of this trio or I would pass way.

[bardhobibi]

The cautionary tale of Jason Todd, a not so Little Red Riding Hood

TW: Discussions about trauma and violence, child endangerment, very fast mention of non-related SA

Introduction

Jason Todd is, as many of you know, one of my favorite characters. And as many of you may have noticed, the only thing I do in my day to day is to overanalyze. So since I've hardly seen any comparative between Jason Todd and the Little Red Riding Hood, HERE I AM DOING THE HARD WORK.

First of all I'm sorry because English is not my first language, and even tho I have a C1 this was long, I was sleep deprived writing this in my native language and I used Google translate in some parts so even tho I tried to correct everything there going to be gramatical errors, and maybe the basis of this is incorrect but I like opening some debate. SO let's start.

What is a cautionary tale? Well, let's start by defining that a children tale, especially a fairy tale, is a narrative sub-genre existing since the foundation of humanity aimed at the little ones, generally transmitted orally in its origin and so, in its written versions, there are variations of the same tale. For example, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. Now, a very common fairy tale sub-genre are cautionary tales. What are cautionary tales, those of you who don't know will ask again? EASY: These are those stories whose moral is to expose the consequences of bad actions to children. The greatest example of an existing cautionary tale, in my opinion, is Little Red Riding Hood.

In this story, a little girl, dressed in a red hooded cloak, decides to go alone to her sick grandmother's house to bring her food in a basket. Problem? She has to go through the entire forest to get there. So her mother lets her go on one condition: She must not talk to strangers and cannot get out of the way. What ends up happening? Just that. A big bad wolf crosses her path and tricks her into telling her where her grandmother lives and convinces her to take another route that is actually longer because there are beautiful flowers there for her grandma. We cannot forget that the Little Red Riding Hood is still a young and naïve girl who trusts people. This causes the wolf to arrive at the grandmother's house first, devour her, disguise himself as her, and when Little Red Riding Hood arrives, devour her too. In the end, somehow, they are usually saved by a hunter who was passing by and opened the the big bad wolf's belly to get them out, and a happy ending. Moral? Listen to your parents and above all, do not talk to strangers.

The original story is quite straightforward. It gives a very clear message to children that is scary enough to make them understand the point, but not so realistic as to truly terrify them. Because you can't tell a young child, "Don't talk to strangers because they might SA you and/or murder you." And this has unfortunately been a reality since the beginning of time. It is a story as old as time itself. But now let me ask you... Doesn't this plot sound like anything? I'm trying to create some tension and mystery, but let's face it, everyone here already knows what I mean. It is, point by point, Jason Todd story.

I am fully aware that the figure of Red Hood already existed long before Jason, he is only one of its several bearers, but it is today with whom he is most related. And I don't know to what extent the writers did it thinking about the allegory with the original children story, but without a doubt, they hit the nail on the head. Because it is an ABSOLUTE reflection of his story.

Jason Todd didn't start out as Red Hood, that's important to establish. He was a boy who lived on the streets of Gotham, with a drug-addicted mother and a criminal father, and that Batman, already with Dick Grayson independent of the figure of Robin to become Nightwing, found stealing the tires of the Batmobile in Crime Alley on the anniversary of his parents' deaths. In a very short way, Batman was amused, and since he is someone who does not know how to work alone (and I am not joking when I say this) he decided to adopt him as the new Robin. The story of this second Robin is quite tragic not only in its plot, but in the reception of the public. He is a character forced to live in the shadow of the original, first being a clone of Dick and later being known as "The Violent Robin" or "Rebel", which is not entirely true, but it was an unfair comparison with the "perfect original Robin". Part of the plot was Batman trying to manage a child who was too active and excited and unprepared for the mantle he had been given. This resulted in the canonical events of Batman's story and would affect the history and development of the entire Batfamily and all of DC in a way that no one would expect.

The death of Jason Todd

It is important to note that, on the part of the writers, this event was not intended in its origin in Jason's plot. It was a decision made due to the poor reception of the character, and to get rid of it they decided to do a telephone survey to the public of yes or no, being the question if they killed him. In the end, as it's easy to guess, the fate of a young Jason Todd was set in stone when the result was a discouraging YES.

As an anecdote, apparently he only won this option because a person had a special hatred for him and used a telephone repeater to send I don't remember how many times the YES from the same phone (if I catch him...).

Opinions were also extremely divided and it was a close result. So the writers took paper, pen, and got to work to get rid of that character that no one wanted, resulting in the infamous comic “Batman: A Death in the Family” in 1988.

In this story, in short, Jason discovers that who he thought was his biological mother is not, and he embarks on a journey in search of his real biological mother, whom he finds, after several previous options, in Ethiopia. However, this is synchronized with the Joker's escape from Arkham and his association with Jason's biological mother, who decides to betray and sell her own son to the Joker. This results in the Joker torturing the boy before locking him and his mother in a warehouse and blowing them up. Batman, unfortunately, would not arrive in time to save his son.

This event would mark a before and after in DC. Jason had died, but his influence on the plot had only begun, and it would never stop. The writers would squeeze like a good quality lemon the boy's death to put character development into Batman and his entourage as much as they could. Because there was no other choice. People didn’t liked him alive, but they would make sure that being dead he will not be forgotten. Without Jason's death, Tim, the next Robin, would never show up, as it was a consequential event. And so on after the fact. Until, years later, in the 2000s, the authors, rummaging through their drawer of abandoned plots to give somme sauce to the comics, found a perfect character to revive. Jason Todd. And that's how between 2002 and 2003 he appears revived for the first time in Batman: Hush, but it would still take a couple of more years to him to take command of Red Hood, a character that already existed previously like several criminals, but that he would appropriate and stay as his alias forever. His motive as an antihero would be to take revenge on the Joker for murdering him and on Batman for not avenging him by killing the Joker. Obviously I'm skipping a LOT of details, but this is the best summary I can think of now. And I suppose that many of you will see the parallels better, and if not, I will explain them anyway.

A Not So Little Red Hood

Let's start with the simple: The protagonists of this story.

Although Jason Todd would not receive the mantle of Red Hood until much later, the character is the same. A small, innocent, cheerful and naïve child, who has to cross an unknown place; the forest / half the world; to look for a relative; his grandmother/ bio mother; and both have a father figure; his mother/Batman; trying to instill in them the responsibility not to be careless. And in the end they make the same mistake: Trusting those they shouldn't, both resulting in their death and subsequent resurrection. The big bad wolf now takes the form of Joker, although poetically for his laughter he remembers me an equally terrifying hyena feeding on the remains of his victims. In fact, I consider the hyena an interesting parallel with the Joker, but that's another story. In both stories the Joker is presented with the same role: A charming adult in an unknown and dangerous world, manipulating, attacking and murdering a minor and a biological relative taking advantage of the child's naivety and his affection for the family figure he seeks on his journey. The objective of the trip is also, as I have just clarified, the same: the search for a relative, either his grandmother or mother, who are the same character, despite the fact that in one he is a positive figure, and in the other, negative. And last but not least, the responsible father figure: The mother/Batman, who here is mixed with the figure of the hunter as an avenging and righteous figure.

Batman's main conflict with the second Robin was precisely "responsibility". Jason was presented as a much more violent teenager than Batman was used to with Dick. In their battles he struck harder than Batman wanted, and their methods and visions were constantly in clash, something to be expected since neither of them has seen the city in the same way: One saw it from above, wrapped in luxury and away from poverty, while the other suffered it on the ground, incapable of taking flight from a destiny marked by the social inequality of the place. For Batman, control was responsibility. His education and way of seeing the city have marked that. What happened to his parents is undoubtedly a trauma and an injustice. No child should have to suffer from something like this and it is normal for them to have suffered a long trauma. But his relationship with Jason reminds me a lot of something I once read out there: "The rich can afford revenge for a single injustice, the poor live tragedies every day and are considered criminals if they lose their cool once."

Both have in common the traumatic loss of their parents, but only one of them had the resources to be able to do something. Batman I don't know to what extent he is aware of this inequality, but at least he is highly aware of one thing: His actions require responsibility. He cannot take justice into his own hands. That would be too easy, and it would give free rein for others to imitate him but do not have the same sense of justice as he does. Because Batman is not a judge. What he has decided to do as a result of the loss of his family he himself knows is serious and it is very easy to lose his composure. That's why, seeing himself reflected in Jason, he fears that he will lose and become even more impulsive and end up really hurting someone or, worse, himself. Batman fears that Jason will take the law into his own hands. That he ends up becoming an anti-hero instead of a vigilante. And it is very easy to get lost in that situation believing that one is absolutely right. There is a quote, in the film Conclave of this year of the Lord 2025 very apt for this case (dead you catch me before I stop quoting this wonderful film) "Certainty is the enemy of tolerance". In the context of Batman and Jason and responsibility, Batman is the bearer of "doubt." He knows that he can make mistakes. He knows that it is not in his power to judge. Jason, however, is someone who is very “certain” in his opinions. He's has seen the worst of Gotham, he's been born into it. ¿How, unfortunately, is he should not be certain that he wants to take justice into his own hands, when he himself has been a constant victim of a terrible world? This certainty is something that Jason would actually carry over to his future self. Like a Little Red Riding Hood who doesn't want to be a victim of the Big Bad Wolf again and doesn't want anyone else to go through what he did, becoming the figure of the hunter when Batman didn't do it for him. Because, and in this I agree with Jason, a victim should never have the responsibility to deal with his victimizer. Unfortunately Jason puts this responsibility, in my opinion, on the wrong person, Batman. Bruce Wayne. His father. Someone who is emotionally affected by his loss, and who, by extension, does not want to and cannot and should not be involved in it. But Jason sees in his father the only option for justice for his crime, because, let's face it, the system has failed him from the moment he was born.

The court system in Gotham is FUCKING SHIT. It is a bottomless pit of injustice, insecurity, corruption and poverty in which the geniuses who should be the future hope of the city become villains and in which a privileged few can afford to fight for what they consider to be correct. So Jason, who has lived in this swarm of chemicals and drugs forever, knows that injustice more than anyone. He knows that he cannot trust the judicial system.

And that is why he wants the only person who has been by his side until the end, who has given him security, paternal affection and a genuine education, his father, to avenge him. Because for him there is no difference between that revenge and justice. ¿Why is it that as someone who has never known true justice, can he differentiate it from revenge? ¿How, if for Jason Todd the hunter is the judge of the forest?

And it is precisely in this relationship that we can also see another feeling of responsibility, and that is paternal responsibility. Bruce, let's make this clear, is traumatized. The murder in an armed robbery of his parents is a horrific event. But I'm repeating myself. What I mean is that it's normal for Batman to appear as he appeared. And Robin's existence as a companion is just one more symptom of the trauma he carries. If Bruce shares the loss of his parents with Jason, this was no different with Dick Grayson, who saw his parents die in front of him in a terrible way at a very young age. Bruce, in his mind, could not help but take a step forward and would end up taking the boy as a ward and future adopted son. As we can see, Jason's story is almost a copy of Dick's, but with a couple of substantial differences. Dick was Robin before he was Robin. ¿What do I mean by this? Dick belonged to a circus. Robin was already a previous nickname basically because in the circus he literally flew with his parents. Damn, they were known as the Flying Graysons. He already had previous physical training and a sense of justice educated by parents and a community present who loved him and gave him security. In that he was very much like Bruce. He was privileged. Jason, on the other hand, lacked just that. Jason wasn't Robin before he was Robin. He was not prepared, physically and even less mentally, to inherit a title that did not belong to Batman to give in the first place. But Bruce needed someone by his side. A companion not only to protect, but who will outlive him, just as he outlived his own parents, and prevent that child from becoming what he almost becomes himself due to the grief of his parents' deaths. Despite his conflict with Dick, Bruce managed to raise him the way he wanted. He managed, in a way, to fulfill his responsibility as a father to keep him "safe", but because only Dick already came with that previous mentality. With Jason he could not repeat it, because he made the mistake of many parents do which is to think that the second child "will be easier". “I’ve done it once before, this one could do better”. But he failed to take into account that Jason came with a very different emotional baggage than Dick. And let's face it, even if it hadn't been, having children in the second line of fire was still dangerous. The thing is, Jason was NOT Dick. Jason was NOT Robin. Batman tried. Things as they are. He wanted to be a good father to Jason. And the mere fact that he tried to do so already puts points in his favor. And he wanted to teach him not to trust strangers, not to separate from him, not to go down dangerous paths. To not be careless. But just like in Little Red Riding Hood, a child is easy to manipulate. And even more so Jason, lost as he was in constant mourning for the injustice suffered all his life. Batman, like the mother in the story, failed to take this into account. And Jason, as in the story, failed into believing himself to be much more adult than he really was.

Because one would believe that seeing Jason's childhood and his attitude as Robin he would be much more suspicious of strangers than Dick. That he would be more mature. However, I think that here we fail to understand that in the absence of a normal family, with a totally lost childhood, Jason is easier to cling to whoever shows him some genuine affection, in this case, Bruce. And if there is one thing that defines the relationship between Jason and Bruce, it is unfortunately, love, and for that very reason, it is a tragedy. Bruce tried to protect him as much as he could and still failed, because sometimes things get out of hand. Jason wouldn't feel so utterly betrayed by Batman if he didn't love him. Because in Jason's eyes it is seeing the father he loves do nothing to avenge him. Jason's fury as Red Hood is motivated by the hope that the only father figure he has left will love him, and the naivety that he will avenge him. And I say naivety, because Jason knows Bruce. He knows his father. He knows what his ideals are. And yet he maintains a childish hope, a naivety that the Joker knew how to abuse, that Bruce is going to change. But deep down he knows that this is not the case. Because Jason Todd is someone who loves too much. That he trusted the adults around him and consequently, himself. Because he was a good kid who just wanted to do good when he was given tools he didn’t know how to use and got too excited.

Conclusion

Little Red Riding Hood is a cautionary tale for children to not to talk to strangers. But I think that also, although it is not taken into account, it is a cautionary tale for parents. No matter how much you try to educate your child not to trust strangers, a child is a child and makes mistakes. Because you can't, as a parent, trust that one day he will not be separated from your hand by accident, and a big bad wolf will take him directly by force instead of trying to manipulate him first. Yes, Jason was old enough to make his own decisions and he screwed up. But he wasn't solely responsible for his own safety, and he wasn't prepared to walk alone in the woods, any more than Little Red Riding Hood was prepared either. In his death they all failed him. The system, his mother, his father who tried everything and that make it worse. Everybody.

And this is how Jason Todd was the victim of a ferocious hyena that fed on the trauma he left in his blood trail, which unlike the big bad wolf, a hunter never came to avenge him, having to crawl himself out of his stomach with the trauma that this entailed.

So let me ask you, dear reader, ¿would you tell Jason Todd's story as a cautionary tale? If that so, to the children or the parents?

[bardhobibi]

Thorin when he said "I will not part a single coin! Not one piece!" and then gave Mithril's shirt to Bilbo, he wasn't making an exception for him.

He was keeping his word.

Bilbo was like a coin in his mind. And it was the only part of his treasure made of flesh and blood and could be LITERALLY PARTED INTO PIECES. He was using his treasure to protect a portion of it.

There was no difference between using a chest to protect coins and covering Bilbo with the shirt. Bilbo was not so special that Thorin would make an exception for him. Bilbo was as much a part of his obsession with dragon disease as any other coin.

That is why Bilbo's betrayal affected him much more than any betrayal of his family. He expected it from them: They were burglars. Not Bilbo's (the literal burglar): Because he was part of his hoard.

And that's why I love Thorin with Dragon Disease. Because for a moment he was no different than Smaug. Luckily, what caused Thorin's return to reality was, precisely, obsessing over a being with its own consciousness. Smaug only had objects. Bilbo was never one to begin with.

He was never a coin to not be parted. But for a moment, he didn't knew it.

[bardhobibi]

TW: Discussions about trauma

I come from my video in TikTok because LIMIT CHARACTERS, and I need to get out of my mouth how much I love this young man even if English is not my first language.

Jason Todd is one of my favorite characters in history and my favorite DC character. Is my comfort character? Devastation character? Both.

His story is one of the greatest tragedies ever written and one of the most unjust, and he as a person is someone extremely interesting in my opinion, and that is why I am fascinated (negatively) by the mischaracterization he suffers both by his writers and by some readers. He is known as the "Violent Robin", "Batman's Disappointment", and many other nicknames that do not justify him, and something interesting is that many of these opinions do not treat him as his own person, but inherently relate him to other people. Because unfortunately Jason's story has always been written in relation to others, and not in himself. He was the violent Robin (which I can still debate here and now) just because of an unfair comparison with Richard. Batman's disappointment is a relationship with his father figure. But he is almost never treated as an independent human being, mainly because his traumas, which are unfortunately the basis of his character in many areas, are most intrinsically related to other people and their betrayal. Even when it doesn't, something happens that causes the trauma to end up being appropriated by someone else. His own death, for example. I rarely see it explored, properly speaking, how dying has affected HIM, AS A PERSON, rather than how it has affected others or their relationship to others. Which is just as interesting, but he is rarely approached as an independent person. Because Jason's character, or his own death, exists in the plot to haunt the narrative (while Richard Grayson haunt the narrative in the same way but with his life, because he exists, they are two sides of the same coin, on another day I will talk about it because I adore him too)

And in many subjects, he is for me a very comforting and devastating character at the same time. How his traumas are not taken seriously, how he wants to scream to make himself heard but is ignored or labeled as dramatic despite having all the damn right in the world to fall to his knees and cry for days because every event that has happened to him has been injustice after injustice. How he stands up and keeps fighting when others can't.

And that problem I feel, happens in many aspects of Jason's life. One of the things I like about Jason is how terribly complicated and easy he is at the same time. As his main emotional conflict is very easy to describe: His father did not avenge him. And since that is nothing more than a tremendous SIMPLIFICATION of all the weight he carries on him, and it is the betrayal, CONSTANT, of those who genuinely love him. A betrayal can come from someone you trust but who doesn't love you, but it's a hundred times worse when it comes from someone who genuinely loves you and has STILL betrayed you.

Jason is a character very loaded with physical and emotional traumas. Physical, because I feel that people forget to what extent physical pain, being kidnapped and tortured, being taken away from your own autonomy (being literally immobilized and then murdered) at such a young age, is in itself a mental trauma. That physical pain is something that will recur in his memory forever, and it is something that ONLY he can feel. Because it's HIS trauma, and no one else's. Obviously others can establish a connection with him. Barbara herself I feel that she is the one who has that capacity the most. Being tortured and removed from their autonomy not for something personal against them but for screwing over another person, as collateral damage, is something they have very much in common. But it is important to establish that it is NOT the same trauma. And I will never say that one is worse than the other. Because although they are similar, each person experiences and suffers them in different ways. Because each trauma is part of each different person. And emotional, because this type of trauma unfortunately (and I mean emotional trauma as trauma not caused by a physical event), Jason has been carrying them since he was born.

He carries both his own trauma, and those of others. And he is so much more than just his traumas. But, and I say this from experience, traumas cannot be separated from their personality. It's something that's fused into it at the cellular level. It is part of their way of being. It is a trait of hers as much as he likes to read. And I feel that the opinion of him is very much given because we have not met a pre-trauma Jason. You'll tell me "Jason Robin is pre-trauma Jason" and I'll tell you "no baby, Jason Robin already had previous trauma from his childhood. It was only easier to put up with him because he smiled and was young." And maybe there's that image of Violent Robin, which is given by the fact that precisely this Robin came from a very unfair environment, literally from the streets. His childhood is a trauma in itself. He was born into that trauma. He has simply learned to navigate that hell until a greater trauma arises. His own death. Here I am going to say something from my own experience and many years of trial and error in my own mind: No one can take traumas away from you, they are part of you and you cannot pretend to move on from them or try to forget them, but they do not define every aspect of your life, and little by little, you can let go. Each person is different, but it is what I see as most appropriate in most cases. And Jason hasn't gotten over his trauma, I doubt, he never quite will. But that doesn't mean you can't move on with your life. That one day he sees a crowbar, and sees it as a mere instrument instead of relating it to his trauma.

So I'm not going to say that "he's never done anything wrong," or "he's totally justified in his actions," etc. Because be careful, he has done many things, in my opinion, wrong. It would be simplifying its character. He is, after all, an anti-hero and that is what makes him such a wonderful and interesting character. He need a redemption? In my opinion, no. Especially if this "redemption" involves making peace with the family, because it involves reaching an agreement on who is right about whether to kill the clown or not. And it's not something that can be agreed to because in my genuine opinion, both sides are right: Jason for wanting Batman to kill him, Batman for refusing. His redemption cannot happen because of that, in my opinion it would be betraying both his character and Batman's.

But he is much more than his traumas. He is Jason Todd. A little school genius. An attentive child. Fanciful, who likes to read and get lost in classic stories. Someone who loves their loved ones too much. Impulsive and somewhat naïve. That he trusts too much. Someone attentive to the injustices of others. That takes role models and turns them into gods to follow. Bruce and Richard. Like after his death, deep down, he is still a bit of all that. Because although the waters of Lazarus have changed him at the molecular level, he is still Jason Todd. An attentive, analytical young man, a genius considered a danger to Gotham. A fantastical young man, who because of his excessive love for his loved ones, feels even more betrayed by them. Traumas change a person, but they never stop being who they were, no matter how much their attitude may change. And as one of his main defining traits is, in fact, the love he feels for others. For Bruce, for Richard, for their mothers (both of them, despite what one did), for Gotham.

And part of how my favorite character is is that. How, although many do not realize it, it is still the same person deep down. As even though his actions have changed considerably, and surely his young self is disappointed to see what he has become, he is still him. Jason Robin and Jason Red Hood are STILL the same person.

In conclusion, I FK LOVE JASON TODD. Someday maybe I will do something with Richard because he is my second favorite, and his dynamic with Jason is incredible for me.

(and I could say EVEN more because UFFFF, don't get me started on Jason's simultaneous infantilization AND adultification and the parallelisms with certain cautionary children story)