#I also don’t trust fanon to write them

[betterthanbatman1]

bman and jason have a seriously strained relationship as is, and our braindead coma patients at DC have no interest in fixing it because Drama Sells, so what do you think would genuinely help these two get back to something real?

Ooh, great question, Anon! Thank you :)

So, right if the bat (pun intended) we know that Bruce and Jason don’t get along well, specifically because of their dissimilar morals.

In DC comics, Bruce only sees in a black or white, this or that way of thinking. It’s either ‘continue to fight crime and leave the rest to the justice system’ OR ‘focus on controlling crime and killing criminals to protect others’. Jason on the other hand sees both of these as opposing morals, and he also recognizes that there is a middle ground which is ‘get rid of the absolute worst of them’. Because Jason understands Bruce, he knows that nothing will make Bruce take a life or do things differently (I mean, his own death didn’t make a difference to Bruce’s morals), but Jason also believes that Bruce doesn’t have to change who he is, he just needs to accept that Jason’s methods are right for Gotham. Ultimately Bruce killing Joker for Jason would have helped their relationship, because Jason would have known that he was loved and his life was worth more than the clown’s. And in UTRH Jason says “I’m not talking about cobblepot or riddler or Dent… I’m talking about him, just him” Bare with me, I know that Jason says this regarding Bruce killing Joker for a different reason being -Joker’s crime was a lot more personal. However I still feel like regardless if Joker hadn’t killed Jason, Jason would still feel the same way about Joker- meaning he’d still think Joker deserves to die because of the sheer brutality and sadism and absolute power the clown has on Gotham & it’s people. (More than any other Gotham city rogues!)

So back to the point, if Bruce acknowledged (like Jason does!) the middle ground of killing the worst of the worst, then that would bring the two closer together.

Listen, I get that Bruce killing would forever change ‘The Batman’, but Bruce doesn’t have to kill people to accept the ideology because he knows Jason is right, he knows crime is down because of Jason. But NO!, DC has to make him beat the shit out of his son instead of having a fucking conversation.

Which brings me to this point. For some reason DC seems to think that these two have to fight no matter what. If they went to have soup with Alfred they’d still end up punching each other for whatever reason. It’s ridiculous. Is this what they think readers want? I completely agree with you, Anon. Drama sells, unfortunately.

The next point is that Bruce needs to actually have faith in his son because guess what?, Jason needs his father’s support to do good. Actual good. Bruce second guessing Jason and not trusting him with missions is exactly what gets Jason frustrated, causing him to feel inferior, worthless, or unlovable in Bruce’s eyes. From a psychological perspective, if Bruce trusted Jason and told him he trusted him, Jason would feel so much better about himself and their relationship. It’s so much better for a child to prove their parents are right for trusting them (motivating them positively) than having a child strive to prove their parents wrong (motivating them negatively). Bruce needs to stop being so condescending and Jason will finally feel heard. Bruce treats him like a child which is just so wrong and demeaning.

Last point is that Bruce needs to spend more time with Jason as Bruce and not as Batman. Sometimes Jason needs his father and that’s okay. It’s up to Bruce to be there for him. Whether Jason is an adult or not, he should be able to feel like he can call or visit or ask for help from Bruce without Bruce getting angry or telling him he’s off the mission.

At this point DC just needs to get the whole family seeing some therapists.

In conclusion, things that would help mend Bruce and Jason’s relationship:

Finding a common middle ground among their morals

Bruce should not beat his sons regardless if they are ‘criminals’ in his eyes or not

Bruce killing the Joker (this would bring Jason closer to Bruce, but it does cause some changes in Bruce’s character).

COMMUNICATION (this is the first step in therapy probably)

Having them be partners and act like partners. Bruce needs to get off his high horse and stop being so condescending to Jason.

Similar to the above-Bruce needs to trust Jason and make sure Jason knows Bruce trusts him.

Spend more time outside of crime fighting. Idk go watch a baseball game or go fishing. Have some family dinners and talk about the times when things were easy and fun and silly, before everything went to shit. Jason deserves his dad and Bruce deserves his son.

Therapy (The whole family would benefit).

[starry-bi-sky]

Ugh im writing this on mobile but i’ve been thinking about it nonstop for an hour and I’m just- mmmmm thinking about Clone Danny and his wardrobe choice as Phantom. Cuz like, he doesn’t have any powers, right? He has no built-in secret identity and suit that he can change into in a flash of blinding circular light. If a ghost shows up he’s just got what he’s got on, and whatever he has in his bag.

And I’m just. I have a lot of thoughts about him and his canon self, thoughts that i dont think i can all fit on my phone and im. Thinking about the dichotomy between him and his canon counterpart. From an in-universe perspective, the halfa Danny Phantom looks remarkably human-like. Especially compared to the ghosts he fights, all of whom are unnatural colors, shapes, and sizes. From flaming hair to glowing eyes and pointed claws, there’s nothing about them that doesn’t scream “ghost!” “Inhuman!” “Unnatural!”

And then you look at Danny Phantom, the ghost boy fighting them. And he just… looks like a glowing human boy. The only unnatural thing about him is his white hair and green eyes - and green eyes is a natural human color. Maybe not the shade it’s in, but it occurs in human genetics. He’s about as close to human as he can get.

Think about that from an in-universe perspective, and then think about it with the idea that ghosts take pride in their ‘ghostly’ look. They pride themselves on looking scary; unnatural; inhuman. It’s a showcase of being unique, of their own individuality, of their interests and wants. Looking ‘scary’ is part of ghost culture, and if not scary, then unique and ‘inhuman’. They don’t want to fit in, they want to stand out.

And you look at Danny Phantom, as his canon self without any of the fanon customizations, and he’s none of that. He’s about as human-looking as a ghost can get. He’s got human-like skin, hell he’s even tanner than he is as a human! His hair is normal, his eyes are green but normal, his hands? Soft and round, not a claw in sight, and his teeth are blunt and ears are round.

His suit is all black, it doesn’t even tell you anything about him other than he probably died in a lab accident, and he looks like he’s straight out of a b-rate comic book. There’s no story to tell about him, he’s a book with the pages all blacked out in ink.

His name, if you take it as him only calling himself “Phantom” isn’t even all that unique. It’s a generic ghost term that you can find by googling ‘ghost’ and looking at its synonyms.

And then look at his behavior: yeah he fights ghosts, and fighting is all about ghost behavior. Its one of their social activities- but its clear from Phantom that he’s not being social. He’s being aggressive, he’s doing it for the sake of the living (which while fair, doesn’t make him look good in the context of everything else). Then he comes into the ghost zone, he doesn’t do much to integrate himself into the culture, and yeah he makes allies but it still doesn’t feel enough. He’s not participating in anything, he’s alienating himself.

All in all, Phantom looks like a ghost trying to pretend he’s human, that he’s still alive. And for a ghost culture that prides itself on not being alive? It’s insulting.

And then let’s circle back around to that human thing, but from a different angle. Probably one that’s more mindset than outside looking in. But Danny’s alienated by the rest of the town for ages despite helping them. And while him looking human likely has to do with his own mindset of viewing himself as “living, but with ghost powers” and thus reflects back as a ghost, it also makes it look like he’s trying to fit in with the humans.

“I am not a ghost” he says, with his human skin and blunt teeth. “I am human like you, see? See? I look like you.”

He’s making himself look approachable, friendly. ‘You can trust me, I’m not a ghost. I’m not like them. I’m not scary. I look just like you. I’m different.’ He looks about as harmless as a human child could be. He’s trying to be relatable. And in turn he’s giving his fellow ghosts a cold shoulder - i’m not like you, i’m better. I’m different. I’m not ghost. I may be dead, but I’m no ghost.

Danny is trying to tie his ghost self in with the living as much as possible - he wants them to think he’s almost human. The same way he wants to think that himself. He’s distancing himself from his ghost half and the ghostly qualities the others have. Whether intentional or not, he’s doing it.

He shows his face and goes ‘see? See? I’m just like you.’

And then lets look at clone Danny, mister not-a-halfa. Who doesn’t have his canon offensive capabilities, who only has his ghost sense and the ability to hit ghosts without gear, his scary eyes and pointed ears, and the ability to see weaker ghosts not visible to the mortal eye.

He has no ghost form, no powers. And yet the first time he goes out as Phantom, he wears a mask that looks like a skull. Instead of distancing himself from ghosts, he’s distancing himself from humans. And at first it stems from the need to be unrecognizable, the last thing he wants is for his parents to find out that he’s ghost hunting. To do that, he needs to hide his face. That’s the first step.

The next step is to act in such a way that people couldn’t possibly tie him back to Danny Fenton. He’s not distancing himself from ghosts, he’s distancing himself from humans. To do that, he acts inhuman. He wears his mask and wears baggy, shapeless clothes - his hoodie and his pants - and he learns how to act unsettling. His eyes glow green, unnatural and shining through his sunken-in, skull-like mask. But it’s not enough on its own. He must do more.

He wants to be the thing someone sees at night and turns the other way. See me and run, he says, crouched on all fours and crawling across a beam like a monster you see in a movie. Twisting his body in unnatural, fluid ways, like he’s not quite sure how having only four limbs work.

Run. He says, dead green eyes glowing through his mask, piercing through black night from the rooftop. I am wild thing. Come no closer, look no closer. I am not like you. I am not your friend. I bite. Run.

You cannot see my face. This is my face, I am not alive. I am not like you. I am an animal about to pounce.

He doesn’t want people to think he’s human, he doesn’t want them to think he’s anywhere close to it. Anything to prevent his parents from figuring out its him.

And the thing is, he doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have to appear ghost-like or inhuman to keep his identity safe, wearing a mask and wearing unidentifiable clothes is enough. But he’s choosing to act ghost-like; unsettling; scary.

And in doing so, he unintentionally participates in ghost culture. And while his clothes are not anything unique, or outstanding, his mask is. His clothes don’t tell anything about him, but that’s okay.

Imagine meeting this boy from a ghost perspective. This annoying, fleshy human boy who jumps into fights to stop you and catch you. You’ve heard stories of human ghost hunters, you know there are hunters on the other side. You have heard the horror stories, you have seen the scars.

And then this boy catches you. This human, fleshy boy who yells quips at you, who puns and insults you, who wears an unsettling mask and acts ghosty. He catches you, and you think you will be the next one on the chopping board.

And then you end up in the ghost zone, untouched. Unharmed. And you tell someone about it. You were caught and released by a human child who feels touched by death. And then you hear that the ones who’d been caught were freed by a fleshy human boy who was touched by death, and a boy who they call “Phantom”.

And, isn’t that the name of the child you fought?

And he talks to you, but then he’s in the daytime. There are living around. He doesn’t speak to them - he ignores them outright. He keeps his distance, he stays away. If he talks, it’s with his hands. They will not hear his voice.

I may be alive but I am no human.

And its just — ????? So good to think about. I’ll reblog later with more thoughts when I have my laptop, but god i just needed to get that out there.

[spaceagebachelormann]

hii can i request headcanons of how finnick odair would be as a bf? maybe if ur also a victor

finnick odair and victor frankenstein as bfs !

✧ warnings: spoilers for thg and frankenstein maybe?

✧ additional info: erm i didn’t know if u meant i could do victor if i wanted 😔 so i js did anyway cause i will use any excuse to write for someone from that masterlist!! if u did mean i could put victor if i wanted ily and pls send more victor reqs i barely get any for classic monsters in general <3 erm aleo i haven’t watched thg in ages so finnick might be ooc

✧ m.list — nav.

ೃ༄ finnick odair

he’s very sweet and calm and overall js like amazing to be around and have as a bf <3

despite the fact bro is majestic and could have 6 girlfriends or boyfriends or whateverfriends if he wanted he’s very loyal and respectful of u

doesn’t even dare to look at anyone else while with u

also very willing to take things slowly if that’s what u prefer

it’s honestly what he prefers too

yk because of everything the capital put him through

he js prefers taking his time to get to know u before anything

but he will take u on the cutest dates ever even before reaching first base

will wrestle ur date preferences out of u. not literally. by that i mean he tricks u into telling him what u would wanna do then surprising u

he’s also like so soft and nice with everyone but with u it’s like 10x more

bro can be literally screaming at someone if needed at one moment and then braiding ur hair for u the next

also he’d LOVE braiding ur hair

u don’t even have to ask he js puts ur head on his chest and plays with it

also he’s still v flirty with u for funsies

esp if u get embarrassed easily

he thinks it’s funny (cute) that’s why <3

and i feel like he’s oddly good at singing

like he js taught himself how to sing once because he was bored and needed smth to do

so he was like “yk what imma learn to sing”

and holy fucking shit is he good at it!!

his voice in general is rlly calming

and he knows it is so he likes reading to u and singing to u or js talking to u and literally anything where he can use his voice

i don’t think he’d be very huge on pet names but he’d def call u honey more than anything (cause this is gn)

ik because im his gf actually!! /j

and shit like beautiful and gorgeous if ur fem don’t tell me he wouldn’t yk he would

and he loves kissing ur face

also if ur fem or js have lipstick he’d let u leave lipstick marks on his face <3

i rlly feel like he’d wanna be with someone who he knows well and feels like he can trust

especially if he’s known them for a few years

and he genuinely doesn’t care abt looks!!

go get urself a finnick odair

ALSO THIS MAN CAN COOK!!

AND BAKE!!

and his food is genuinely the most scrumptious shit u will ever taste

ೃ༄ victor frankenstein

ugh this bitch

he’s definitely very loyal to u and wouldn’t even think about other people but he’s kinda. neglectful.

he doesn’t do it on purpose and always makes up for it but there’s long periods of time where he’s sorta cold and rude to u and distant

but he feels bad after and always makes it up to u

he also would wanna be with someone who he’s known for awhile, but that’s because his dumbass would realize his feelings rlly late

but based on his canon AND fanon love interests he seems like he’d want someone who’s rlly compassionate and nice

unfortunately he might care abt looks

erm anyway!!

probably just calls u by ur name but will throw in a my love here and there if he’s in a rlly good mood

because he’s sorta neglectful he doesn’t rlly kiss u a lot because he’s never actually near u alot

but when he is he likes kissing ur shoulders and forehead and hands and wrists n shit

he’s like cold to everyone else but soft with u <3 (when he’s actually with u)

and he’d love it if u got along well with his family and henry and elizabeth

especially his brothers

and would love it if ur nice to justine because typically people wouldn’t be nice to her cause she’s a maid (/lh ily justine u deserved better)

pls let him yap to u

sometimes he js wants to rant abt his day or ideas to someone and would love it if u sat there and listened

and if u let him yap after he makes his creation and it starts slaughtering everybody he’d love it if u were understanding

after elizabeth dies he becomes 12x more protective of u to the point where he won’t even let u be alone by urself cause he left elizabeth alone for 5 mins and she died (they’re js friends here obv)

his love language is gift giving <3 he likes making u little handmade gifts everytime he sees u

also quality time. whenever he can he likes going on picnics and walks

he’s also not the best at comforting but he’s a very good listener and will let u rant to him

his presence in general is comforting

i’m laughing my ass off at this but he wakes u up to show u bugs in the middle of the night

“victor wtf is that” “goliath beetle :)” “put it back before i make u move in with it.”

he also has the most entertaining days for no fucking reason and has a crazy story to tell u all the time

and his hands are fucking freezing. that’s all bye ily

[saintsenara]

are you still doing ur asks abt the ships? if u are what r ur thoughts on wolfstar? if not have a very good day!

thank you very much for the ask anon - and thank you in particular for leading me into danger...

my answer to this is going to be - and wolfstar shippers keep calm please - similar to my jegulus one, which means the tldr is: write what you want, but i’m unlikely to read it, especially if you don’t acknowledge the difference between canon and fanon.

i have no aversion to wolfstar coming up as a background ship (let them be happy while harry/anyone are having drama, i’m all for it) but i generally don’t search out fics in which wolfstar is (one of) the central pairing(s) and tend only to read wolfstar-centric stuff if it’s written or recommended by someone whose opinion i trust. 

this isn’t because i think the pairing is unfeasible (the canonical sirius and remus very much have the vibes of people who have enjoyed each other’s bodies…) but because the community which has built up around wolfstar, both among ‘original wolfstar, y’know, like in canon’ fans and their sworn enemies ‘marauders fandom, canon who?’ fans, largely expects certain tropes and characterisations which divorce the characters from what i personally think is interesting about them.

the most egregious of these tropes, in my opinion, is the fact that wolfstar which purports to be canon-compliant or which follows the canon timeline deals so infrequently with the fact that both remus and sirius have such little trust in each other that they believed utterly sincerely that the other was a death eater.

it’s crucial that we understand the profundity of this suspicion and - therefore - what it says about the fragility of the loyalty between them prior to 1980-81. this is not a brief flash of distrust in a high-pressure couple of days at the end of october. the evidence of canon is that we’re talking about a period of months - if not a full year - in which remus and sirius not only think it justifiable to doubt the other’s loyalties, but also seem to be acting on that doubt to try to get the other in trouble.

harry is born in july 1980, at a point when voldemort has all but won the war. severus snape defects to the order at some point relatively soon after this, when voldemort decides that the potters are the family referred to in the prophecy. peter pettigrew then defects to the death eaters in the autumn of 1980 (sirius says in prisoner of azkaban that he was spying for a full year before voldemort’s fall).

snape then evidently tells dumbledore that there is a spy in the order - although he clearly doesn’t, despite a common accusation levelled against him, know this is pettigrew, since the voldemort of the first war has apparently heard of operational security, unlike his resurrected counterpart - and this leads dumbledore to demand a restriction on james and lily’s movements until - by august 1981 (the plausible date of lily’s letter to sirius) - they are basically under house arrest. the implication of canon is that, by this summer at the very latest, james and lily are aware they’re being spied on, from which i think it’s reasonable to infer three things: that dumbledore has begun to suspect that sirius is the spy over the opening half of 1981; that remus, who canonically always trusts dumbledore’s judgements, uses this to confirm his own suspicions about sirius; and that sirius, whose canonical relationship with dumbledore has an undercurrent of unease, especially in order of the phoenix, picks up on this and assumes remus is briefing dumbledore against him. i think it’s also reasonable to infer that the only person convinced there isn’t a spy among his close friends is james.

peter visits the potters’ safe-house and is aware of its address, so we can assume remus and sirius are the same. by october 1981, however, there are clearly concerns that james and lily’s whereabouts are known to the death eaters - perhaps also accompanied by information from snape that voldemort, who loves a bit of symbolism, has selected halloween as the day he will strike - which trigger dumbledore’s advice that they perform the fidelius charm. dumbledore’s unease when james picks sirius as secret keeper is confirmation that he had identified sirius as the spy. that remus is never suggested as a potential candidate is confirmation that sirius believes him to be the spy - and possibly also that james is beginning to think his best friend might be onto something (i always wonder if remus’ bitterness when accusing james of being too trusting in deathly hallows is a flash of self-loathing about the fact that james didn’t trust him). sirius then persuades james to use peter and, within a week of the charm being performed, james and lily are dead, peter has disappeared, and sirius is in azkaban.

[as an aside here, i don’t love the amount of dumbledore bashing in wolfstar, and i think it’s worth doing some dumbledore defence: sirius’ internment in azkaban without trial - a reference to an actual historical event, if you were thinking it sounded far-fetched - is not dumbledore’s fault. the wizengamot acts on dumbledore’s credible belief that sirius was the secret keeper, while sirius - who is cackling his head off the whole time - refuses to speak in his own defence. similarly, dumbledore does not deny sirius access to harry (via hagrid) when he arrives, distraught, in godric’s hollow because he’s contrived a machiavellian plan to keep harry alone and unloved with the dursleys instead of with his true family, but because all the evidence he has available to him is that harry’s life is in danger at sirius’ hands.]

so sirius spends the next twelve years in azkaban, with remus clearly nowhere near his mind. that he stays in prison, and only escapes when he has an unimpeachable chance to get his revenge and protect harry, is because he - like his narrative mirror, snape - is so haunted by his role (indirect, but he canonically thinks that he essentially cast the killing curse himself) in the death of someone he fiercely loved that he considers azkaban a punishment he deserves. 

this links to the next issue i have with a lot of wolfstar: that the defining force in both remus and sirius’ lives is james, not each other. the dynamic of the marauders is frequently reduced to the following: wolfstar, who are best friends and lovers it would take the heat-death of the universe to pull apart; james and whatever romantic partner the story wishes to pair him with, who are the same; and peter, who is either there and completely futile, or is replaced with a fanonised female character (dorcas, marlene, alice etc. - none of whom, may i say, it makes sense to have in the same school year as the marauders, dumbledore is not actually running the order as a gang of child soldiers) or a woobiefied death eater (regulus black, barty crouch jr., evan rosier etc.).

but in canon, a different dynamic is clear. james is the lynchpin of the marauders’ world, the anchoring point to all their sense of self; and the moment he is out of the picture no bonds of loyalty remain among the other three. (it’s tempting to think that remus always harbours a belief that sirius is innocent, but i think that this would be less due to an unconditional affection for his friend and more due to the fact that his own self-loathing needs to believe that he couldn’t have stopped james and lily dying; which he should have done if sirius really was the culprit, since he clearly suspected he was a death eater). 

if you asked remus, sirius, and peter, clearly each of them would describe james as their best friend (even though james’ eyes are only for sirius - he only has one best man, and harry only has one godfather), but their relationships with each other outside of james are less clearly defined, at least before sirius and remus are the only two left.

this doesn’t prevent pre-1981 (or james lives au) wolfstar - your boyfriend and your best friend being different people is fine, obviously - but it is going to change the dynamic between them in ways i think are significant and which i would like to see explored more, particularly in ways which acknowledge that - for remus and sirius - this dynamic might not lead to the healthiest relationship…

for example, during their schooldays, wolfstar are likely to talk to each other through james, rather than james being surplus to the flirtatious dynamic between them; remus is likely to feel awkward or insecure about the fact that sirius - whose personality is closer to james’ than his - is so happy and gregarious in james’ company; sirius is likely to resent remus’ tendency to stay out of the action, since the fact that he and james mutually encourage each other in their exploits is key to their relationship; remus is likely to resent the fact that sirius is treated by the potters as a second son, while he isn’t, and so on.

during the first war, even if we remove the fact they suspect each other of spying from the equation, they will clash over how to protect james, and remus will undoubtedly take this to mean that sirius cares more for james than for him. during the second war, the long shadow of james - so painful that remus can still barely talk about him, while sirius wants to do nothing but - will hover over everything.

and this leads on to the third reason i generally don’t enjoy wolfstar: that the complicated threads of their canon personalities are removed or reduced to irrelevance to make them fit fanon which has no basis in the books.

now, i’m not going to get into appearance discourse here, although yes, i prefer a tall sirius who tends to wear wizarding clothing and has never heard a single cool piece of muggle music in his life, and i prefer a hollowed and world-weary remus who doesn’t have visible scars. i think background discourse is slightly more important: a great deal of sirius is lost if he is turned into someone who likes being pureblood, who feels more comfortable around his ‘own kind’, or who aspires to sit on the hereditary wizengamot; a great deal of remus is lost if he is turned into someone who didn’t grow up in a loving home with parents who did their best, but whose inability to give him the childhood he really deserved in the face of the prejudice against werewolves in the wizarding world encouraged his absurd gratitude towards anyone who made even a half-hearted effort to act in his interests.

all of my preferred aspects of characterisation are canon-compliant. but deviating from total canon compliance is not a moral failing. the term is more flexible than some of its defenders acknowledge, and people are at perfect liberty to imagine that characters look, identify, or behave differently than they do in the canon narrative without that automatically bringing accusations of writing them out-of-character (after all, it’s clear in the books that both harry and hermione are white, but art and fics which portray them as a different race can still meaningfully be described as canon-compliant if that's an aim they're written to have). 

similarly, rejecting canon compliance entirely is just as fine - i think you should indicate to your readers if you’re doing that, but i’m capable of using the back button and moving on with my life if you don’t.

the only hard and fast rule is don’t seek out people who do things differently to you and insult them directly, although i would also suggest that it’s worthwhile to spend a bit of time in introspection about how lots of popular wolfstar and the fandom around it - like the fandom around all slash ships - portrays queerness in ways which are heteronormative (i.e. exclusively equating bottoming with femininity) and portrays women in ways which are misogynistic (i.e. how tonks is often treated in wolfstar discourse).

however, with this said, i think there is a difference between rejecting canon compliance and yet still writing the characters in ways which feel connected in interesting ways to their complex canon selves, and just writing original characters named sirius black and remus lupin. 

because i just cannot get on board with a remus who is written as the cleverest one of the four, as assertive and direct instead of avoidant and passive-aggressive, as anything other than incredibly selfish, as anything other than an extreme people-pleaser, as being soft and sensitive (his mild manner hides the fact that he is incredibly cold and calculating - this is a man who is prepared to execute wormtail in front of three children mere minutes after learning he’s still alive), as majorly regretting the snape-versus-werewolf incident (he loves it! snape is terrified of him! he downplays it constantly!), or as functioning as the moral heart of the marauders (when sirius says in order of the phoenix that remus tried to restrain their bullying of snape, he is doing it to make remus - who is incapable of self-criticism - feel better in the face of harry’s anger) when he is in fact quite morally cowardly.

and i cannot get on board with a sirius who is written as a goofy himbo, as a constant flirt and womaniser (more grey-ace sirius, i would like to see it), as the world’s wokest king (a man who’s upset his slave isn’t sufficiently deferential to him isn’t someone who’s going to speak in queer theory buzzwords - this, of course, doesn’t prevent sirius being written as queer, non-binary, trans, femme, and so on, it just means that authors have to deal with the fact that sirius’ way of existing as any of these things will be human, rather than perfect), as a small bean unable to take care of himself (he escapes from prison and swims across the north sea! he charges into danger at the drop of a hat!), as anything other than incandescently loyal to james and harry, as - after james’ death - anything other than completely wrecked by guilt over the fact he caused it, as best friends with his brother and his gang of slytherins, or as lacking the fundamental arrogance and cruelty which make him so interesting.

and wolfstar can work, absolutely, when these things are taken into account. i find the idea of second war remus and sirius, stuck in grimmauld place together, buying harry a joint christmas present, the last survivors in a generation completely hollowed out by loss, incredibly moving. remus' choice to self-destruct in half-blood prince - having lost sirius so soon after having found him again - does, i think, justifiably indicate a change in their relationship during order of the phoenix which can be seen as romantic. i find the idea of first war remus and sirius, each in love with a man they think is a spy, wonderfully bittersweet. i find the idea of school-aged remus pining desperately for a friend who is head-over-heels in love with james to be, quite frankly, canon. 

and i also think that two original characters called sirius black and remus lupin can do whatever they want - i’ll just be closing my eyes, pretending i cannot see, and leaving them to it.

[heliza24]

Simon doesn't repress his emotions, actually

There seems to be a widely held fanon understanding of Simon that goes something like this: Simon hides and represses his emotions, and his relationship with Wilhelm is what opens him up. I disagree with this characterization. In fact, I think Simon is actually very in touch with his emotions, and expresses them openly to his family and friends. Wilhelm and August are much better examples of emotional repression than Simon is, and if anything, the show is commenting on how the restrictive class system that raised Wilhelm and August fosters emotional repression. 

I can think of lots of examples where Simon is very open with people he loves and trusts, even when that openness might lead to conflict. I think he is really pretty open with Sara in a lot of ways. Their argument towards the end of season 1 is such a perfect encapsulation of this. He expresses how much he loves Sara and wants a good relationship with her, and also how frustrated he is by how she is pulling away from the family. 

He is also consistently open and unguarded with Rosh and Ayub. He tells them about how he’s feeling about his relationship with Wilhelm in season 1, about how he feels during the fallout from the sex tape, about his changing feelings about Marcus in season 2, and about the prospect of getting back together with Wilhelm.  The scene where Simon falls asleep on the phone with Ayub is one of the most tender, emotionally open scenes I’ve ever seen on television. 

Simon also channels his emotions into his music, which is a healthy and appropriate way to deal with the heartache he’s experiencing. We see him slowly crafting his song over the course of season 2, and returning to the keyboard when he’s feeling especially distraught. Creation of art like this requires self introspection, and I think Simon has that in spades.

What Simon doesn’t do, especially in season 2, is confide in Wilhelm. But this isn’t because Simon is afraid to talk about his feelings at all. He’s making the conscious decision to withdraw from Wilhelm, because Wilhelm deeply hurt Simon and betrayed his confidence at the end of Season 1. Drawing conscious boundaries like that also requires self introspection; working to keep yourself emotionally safe is not the same thing as repressing your emotions.

I think it’s easy to interpret Simon not talking to Wilhelm as Simon squashing his emotions because Wilhelm is the protagonist of the show, so we naturally see the world of Young Royals through his eyes. So when Simon doesn’t share with Wilhelm, it feels like he is also refusing to share with us, the viewer. But that’s why Lisa and the writers chose to create Rosh and Ayub, so that Simon would have confidants that he trusted, that were outside of the hostile class system of Hillerska. They are great characters, but they’re also devices that allow Simon to show the audience how he is truly feeling. 

In my post about Simon and radical acceptance, I talked about how I see Simon’s arc in season 2 being about accepting that he is still in love with Wilhelm. I should maybe make it clear that I don’t think that he doesn’t understand or express how he’s feeling at the beginning of season 2. He tells Rosh and Ayub that he is still stuck on Wilhelm, and he starts writing his song to express his heartbreak. But at the beginning of season 2 he is trying to move on from those feelings, and leave the drama with Wilhelm behind.  The change comes in the way that he accepts that he is in love with Wilhelm by the end of season 2, and decides that it is worth walking towards their relationship, even if it could lead to him getting hurt.  I think as a fandom we need to be careful not to reduce all of Simon’s emotions to whether or not he is actively pursuing Wilhelm. He is a complete character who expresses his emotions whether or not he’s with Wilhelm.

It kind of baffles me that Simon gets brought up when we talk about emotional repression, but Wilhelm and August are never mentioned. Both were raised in families where stoicism is valued above all else. (This is especially true in the Royal Family). Both are grieving (Wilhelm for Erik, and August for Erik and his dad), but we hardly hear them talk about this after the initial loss, even as it continues to motivate their actions. Both have physical manifestations of the emotions they are trying to repress (Wilhelm has physical symptoms of anxiety; August punishes his body through disordered eating in an attempt to maintain control of his emotions.)  Wilhelm is eventually able to open up to Boris, but it takes a lot of coaxing over several sessions. August flat out refuses to be honest with Boris at all.  

When @bluedalahorse and I were discussing this idea of emotional repression, the male characters’ relationship to anger came up a lot. I think the stereotype of emotional repression in men is that they are pressured to appear perfectly still and stoic at all times. But in reality, anger in men is often viewed as neutral or logical, and is therefore the socially acceptable method for engaging with any and all emotions. 

I think a large part of Simon’s character is a sense of righteous anger. We see this come up in different ways for him. He gets angry at the class system of Hillerska, at his dad, at August, at Marcus, and at Wilhelm. He often manages to translate that anger into an assertion of boundaries, which is a healthy way to use those feelings. He manages to set up boundaries with Wilhelm and with Marcus, for instance. And even when he does explode in a way that is unhelpful or dangerous, he has Rosh and Ayub to call him out and reel him back in, like when he jumps on August in season 1. I’m not saying Simon has a perfect relationship with anger; he definitely doesn’t. But I think he has a much healthier relationship with it than August or even Wilhelm, who uses anger as a substitute for sadness and grief.

August spends most of season 1 translating his distress into being a bully to the boys in Forest Ridge and shitty boyfriend to Felice. Shooting and posting the video also feels like a way to channel his sadness through anger to me. He records Wilhelm the same night that he admits that his dad’s suicide made him feel guilty. This is the only time that we hear him talk about his dad at all, and he immediately covers up this moment of emotional vulnerability with an act of aggression against the person he shared it with.

Wilhelm has a really hard time dealing with the sadness he feels at the loss of Simon in season 2. Wilhelm spent so long repressing his emotions, and finally felt like he could confide in someone when he met Simon. But in season 2, that one emotional outlet is taken away from him (with good reason from Simon’s point of view), so instead he lashes out, first at his mom and then at August, neither of whom are directly responsible for the breakup in the same way that Wilhelm is. 

So if we’re going to talk about emotional repression and growth towards openness and vulnerability in Young Royals, I think we should be talking mainly about Wilhelm and August. A big question of the show is if these two characters are going to arrive at a place where they no longer repress their emotions. Right now Wilhelm is moving in the right direction, and August is backsliding. But it will be really interesting to track how they evolve in season 3. 

[freezingmcxn]

Hi! Could you do headcannons for Laughing Jack? No pressure tho

LAUGHING JACK HCS/ANALYSIS

TW DARK + DISTURBING (don’t take that lightly)

All of these posts are for educational reasons and I find my information from public sources!

I have an intrest in Psychology and Criminology, I’m merely applying research to creepypastas to make them “better”.

I’ve done Jack before on my tik tok but I’m adding stuff to what I said previously!

Please scroll if you like his character a lot or have your own version of him. My version is known for making people quite irked and disgusted so I don’t want to upset anyone that might see him in a different way <3

MOONS OPINON

I’d rate his story an 8/10.

I’d love more depth into Isaac and maybe the type of person he was and maybe more gore (I find gore in writing is more scarier since you’re left to your own imagination, film gore makes me gag I hate it 😭) , but I think Jack is terrifying and like his character development.

I have few stories/characters that actually scared me and honestly, he is one of the best I’ve read.

But he’s close to Jeff on the “ruined character” list I have.(fanon tore him apart and I’m quite sad his scary potential went to waste)

Also, I dont support the actions of his creator I think what they did was disgusting and I’m not commenting on it further.

ANALYSIS AND HCS

He is DEFINITELY an organised killer.

Organised killers are meticulous in planning and executing their murders, he is simply a perfectionist when it comes to this, he needs to have the child’s trust and he needs to have timing, this leads to planning out things cautiously and in advance.

He handpicks victims by figuring out the child’s obsessions, likes, dislikes and habits.

Organised killers are way more likely to engage in Necrophilia,Partialism, fetishism or human trophy collecting.

Am I saying he does any of that? No because his character is already bad enough, but I wouldn’t put it against someone like him to participate in those things.

He can pull off superficial charm, amazingly.

A common trait in serial killers is superficial charm and a strong ability to manipulate others.

Superficial charm is basically fake charm people use to gain someone’s trust, in jacks case he needs to gain trust of the children.

The facade of charm conceals his true intentions.

Why is gaining trust so important?

If he gains trust it means he can manipulate them and get close enough to finally killing them.

This could lead to him picking children that are easier to manipulate, like children that suffer abuse, have a disability or illness etc.

Basically the more vulnerable the more likely they are to fall for his manipulation, it’s very sad I know.

Manipulative tendencies may derive from cluster B personality disorders such as narcissistic, antisocial personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder.

Individuals who murder only children also tend to kill impulsively with manual methods (e.g. beating, drowning) these are usually slower more intense than when a weapon is involved.

This can very much explain why he tortures children (it’s canon I didn’t make that up, check the wiki).

Thank you for reading! I know it’s short I’ll try do some more soon xo

Merry Christmas and Happy Yule!

I’m sending lots of hugs to you all <3

[byghostface]

//long rambling

There is a vent in the last part (about pro ship:/+ wired shipping + block list) it's naturally negative so reading at your own risk.

So in the new Batman and Robin issue #7 Nika's sister making an appearance, got me thinking of other possibilities for sibling characters to come back.

Mostly I’m thinking about Respawn since he is Joshua Williamson's own character. And He made Respawn appeared in the last issue of Robin(2021), he also brought back Mara in that run too (just some appearance in the later issue).

And now Joshua Williamson is writing Batman and Robin, so naturally he can bring some characters back in this run. He had said in an interview that he might have figured out a way(try) to bring back Maya.

Throwback to 2022 of this old wip/art I made, is about what I think the emo teens of Lazarus squad dynamic would look like.

I imagine Nika and Respaw are irritated/tolerate with each other but would stay for Damian because Nika is Damian's girlfriend and they want to stick together. Meanwhile, Damian likes to include his half-brother in some fun activities (Respawn is acting reluctant bc of his own issues but he actually likes to have friends and feel include).

I haven’t finished this art bc I was going to add more wips (with other characters like Rose and Hawke) to make it a post. I didn't finish this art back then bc I was afraid Talia fans would be mad at me for drawing Respawn.

Trust me, I hate that Talia gets associated with Deathstroke like this, but I think Respawn is a confused/mistreated teen character and Damian (bless his heart and soul) still wants to be his brother regarding the whole mess. I will explain/talk more about my thoughts on Respawn as a character and his situations once I finish these drawings and get ready to post them.

Writing/typing words is harder than drawing for me personally. Drawing is like channeling my energy into a picture and forming an atmosphere and hopefully people will understand what thoughts and feelings I was trying to convey. Writing is using more brain powers to choose the correct and cohesive words, so people would not misunderstand what I'm talking about. Especially when English is not my first language, and even so I normally don't talk(write) much in my mother tongue either…(I'm not a quick thinker, it took me a longer time to think things through, writing literally exhausted me physically and mentally more than drawing.)

It doesn't mean I don't enjoy writing, it's just not my first choice to convey thoughts… but considering I can't draw everything I have in my mind and it takes even longer time to finish any art, I just need to write down things first from now on. Tumblr is the only place I can think of that has this longer text feature blog post and I'm more familiar with this platform format. So I will still be here posting my fan content.

.

(↓Vent, if you want to avoid being block by me then read down below.)

I must say I will forever hate respawn x flatline as ship, cus I know who started this ship and their reasons behind it—Don’t let the new character develop naturally as the story goes, let’s put them in made-up weird situations first so I can prop up my own ship!😍 And get both of the new characters out of the way, since no one would defend them so I can fanon the hell out of them by making them look bad all around!🤞 (What if I stone you first hand🪨🪨💥)

And I will continue to dislike/against any shipping Damian's sibling to Nika. I simply don't like the unnecessary sibling conflict just for romance tropes! So go away boooo I hate you‼️ Not to mention the ignoring of different age range multi-ship hide behind poly… that's straight up proshipping I hate you even more!!👎

Also for people who said Nika should be crush on Damian's mother instead of him… I hate you twisted proshipper rotten smooth brain‼️‼️ She dating a boy her age and has mutual connections with him, why would she crush on her boyfriend's mother instead?? Just because Nika is a big fan of Talia??? So you telling me young ppl can't idolize adults normally without being labeled as romantic nowadays huh??( Not saying you can't crush on adults, but why crush on your boyfriend's mom? ) Your weird ass mind is showing with this ass hc be fr. Again, why would you imagine that? You just wanted to push a fake narrative of Nika being wired so you could have an excuse to make Talia and Damian dislike her (which is not true), but in fact is YOU are the weird one projecting your twist thoughts/hate onto Nika‼️💥🪨🪨

I will start to block ppl who are shipping/liking respawn x flatline (+proshipper) and STILL interact with me, read the room!! My art is not for you weirdos‼️Go away BOOOO💥 🪨🪨🪨💥💥

Can't believe I need to type this all out cuz some of you weirdos will still do these things and think is okay to interact with me and my post/showing in my notifications BOOO👎🪨🪨💥🪳🪳🪳🩴🩴🩴

(sorry for venting about random weirdos/Nika haters again, and thanks for reading.)

[fangirleaconmigo]

Valdo Marx is like 99% fanon, is he not?

Valdo Marx is 99.999% fanon.

We only know that he is a troubadour from Cidaris who considers Jaskier to be "a talentless wastrel who panders to the taste of the masses.” We also known that the moment Jaskier gets his hands on a bottle he thinks has a djinn in it, he wishes for Valdo to die of apoplexy.

That’s all we know! So he is a fandom OC, really. Even more so than Aiden because at least we know *something* about Aiden (how he died and what kind of man he was)

So it’s basically another fun creative writing assignment. Who would Jaskier hate that much?! And why?!

And I know some fans are like…well obviously. Jaskier is a petty bitch. But I think that’s an oversimplification! To me personally, it is still extremely noteworthy! For three reasons.

1) Dandelion (talking books now but I do think this all applies to TWN Jaskier just as well) does not have the focus or attention span required to hold a grudge. I don’t remember the exact quote (I don’t have my books on me) but Geralt comments on it specifically.

2) He is predisposed to liking people and thinking the best of them. Geralt (understandably) has a much gloomier outlook on trust, life, and love.

3) Dandelion may be a bitch (I mean. He IS a bitch) but he also has a soft gooey center. He’s just like most witcher characters in that he has layers. Crunchy outside and smooth inside. So while he has a sharp tongue, he does also have a soft heart.

When Geralt breaks (redacted)‘s leg (ankle? I don’t remember) Dandelion screams as though it were his own. On the dragon hunt he begs Geralt not to kill the dragon because it’s “pretty”. He asks Geralt to bring Ciri to Toussaint so he can hug her. He changes the lyrics to his song about the elves in order to protect them.

He’s a petty bitch with a soft gooey center.

I mean, the Valdo thing is obviously supposed to be funny. Dandelion provides so much of the comic relief. It is very likely that we were never meant to think about it this deeply. But overthinking is what we do for fun, gatdamnit! 😂

I admit I haven’t done anything creative with Valdo in my fics but I love when other people do.

I’ve seen fics that make the conflict:

Just theater. They actually secretly like each other. This usually involves hilarity.

A concept where Valdo has a crush on Jaskier, but Jaskier misinterprets it as competitiveness and they start one-upping each other until it spirals out of control.

Unrequited love, on either side.

A concept where Valdo is actually Klaus from the Umbrella Academy time traveling and bringing all the pop songs from the future with him. He enrages Jaskier by how easily he shits out hits (that one was my concept bc I was just sitting there amusing myself after TUA S2)

Valdo is Jaskier with a mustache

The conflict stems from a misunderstanding or a very complicated ‘both of these people are traumatized” breakup. Both are in Oxenfurt and dealing with their own shit/trauma and manage to hurt each other without meaning to.

Fics where the history of it is very very dark. I’ve seen fics where Valdo is abusive. I’ve also seen deaddove dark!Jaskier fics where he is the abusive one.

Usually there is a romance there at some point to explain the intensity of the hatred, but not always. They can also be true enemies (Valdo has murdered or otherwise harmed someone Jaskier loves), or they can be related to each other, and sometimes both or all of the above lol.

Like. The range. I’ve seen Valdo as the perfect ‘hatesex’ candidate for short PWPs and longer Enemies to Lovers multichapters. I’ve seen Valdo as a convenient stand in character when you need a rival, to multichapter works of in depth character creation for him. Or he’s just there to provide Geralt with the motivation to confess his feelings.

So feel free to rb with your favorite Valdo fics, folks. There’s a lot of creativity out there. Not to brag on the fandom writers (but I’m going to brag on the fandom writers) they are a bunch of badasses.

[blueper-saiyan]

alright I have a fandom hot take to get off my chest. It rubs me the wrong way a bit when I see people refer to Vegeta as Bulma’s (or occasionally Goku’s) pet. Honestly I’ve made the joke myself and I usually don’t mind it, but I feel a bit guilty/weird about it, and it’s taken me months to work out why. I think first there’s an in-universe reason. Vegeta’s actual backstory is that he was functionally Freeza’s pet for about three decades. And I don’t really want to compare his relationship with Bulma or Goku to his relationship with Freeza in a way that makes it sound like he just changed ownership. I’m pretty sure part of the reason the joke is so common is that Vegeta does call his own redemption(ish) arc “being domesticated.” (At least in English, I’m not worrying about the Japanese original today) It’s absolutely funny that he thinks of it that way, but I also think that Vegeta’s opinion can’t be trusted on anything, especially himself. It’s one of the more interesting parts of the character to me that he doesn’t quite think of himself as a person (a topic worth its own meta). He’s also got the aforementioned history of being dehumanized. Combining that with his internalized idea that the only valuable trait is strength and being kind or merciful or caring is just weakness, it makes sense that he might decide to label his character development as “domestication,” even though that’s not really a good description of learning to find contentment in peace and care for others. So part of why that line is funny is the irony, even if there is some truth to it. Taking it at face value and using it as a joke on its own without the irony sort of feels like it misses the point for me.

Then there’s the half that I feel sort of guilty posting because I know it’s not the intent behind the jokes and it feels like I’m getting upset over something trivial and saying this feels accusatory, but I’m getting my hot take out of my system once and for all regardless. I feel like I see people say Vegeta is a pet either because he doesn’t have a job and he’s just living off Bulma’s money, or because he’s really weird sometimes. And I really don’t like the implications of either of those. Again, I am aware it’s a joke, I know that I’m not supposed to be taking it literally, but. Not working a job sure as hell doesn’t make someone less than human. Being financially supported by someone else does not make someone a pet, that’s spectacularly fucked up. And behaving strangely, even in an animalistic way, also does not make someone less than human or someone else’s pet. (and for the record I can’t actually think of much Vegeta has done that’s animalistic in canon, the closest to that has been eating the bug person, and he did that in a pretty human way. He cooked that bug person first and everything lol. Vegeta being cruel is not animalistic, it’s just a negative character trait. Most animals aren’t even aware enough to be cruel, so it’s a pretty human negative trait at that. I know it’s popular fanon to make him more animalistic but it is fanon. That’s probably a really hot take too but whatever.) Actually this goes for jokes about Goku too, who is the one who actually has some “animalistic” traits in canon. I hate the implication that the way either of them acts would make them the “pet” of a more “normal” human character. It feels really gross. Especially because they read far more as neurodivergent and/or having trauma then they do as true aliens. Part of that is an inherent side product of writing aliens as a human, because you can only really use things that humans are familiar with. But there’s also a whole history of which human traits get used to make an alien seem “inhuman.” I’m only personally familiar with the autism part of that history, but I know there’s lot more than that. Regardless, it certainly has an effect if you have those “inhuman” traits that people say are what makes an alien or robot or whatever into something less than human. So uh, “Vegeta is Bulma’s pet because he’s blunt, aggressive, often confused by other people’s intentions, and doesn’t always understand Earth” does not feel great as a joke. I know it’s not that serious and I know that’s not the underlying intention and I know that caring about this character in particular really does not help my case. But I guess I just can’t quite escape my feelings about it anyway.

[raayllum]

I remember starting the show because my friend told me about Callum and Rayla and how cute they were together. But after binge watching all 5 seasons, I just feel like the writers don’t really give a damn about them, in many ways, compared to other couples. But, to be fair, I have lots of issue with the writing. But, to me, the primary idea was to make Callum and Claudia a couple (no, I don’t ship them together), because they actually have a background, development, even chemistry too. So, I don’t understand why the writers changed their minds on this (please, tell me if they ever addressed this issue). I just think that him moving on from a childhood love, like that, out of nowhere to Raylla was again a bit odd and out of nowhere. Because nothing indicated that in the first 2 seasons. Same goes to Rayla too. And, in S5 they have acted more as friends than anything else. It’s just weird. What’s your opinion about this? And again, I don’t ship Callum with Claudia, it’s just my opinion after watching all seasons.

Thank you for sharing your feelings, I definitely have been in fandoms where the Big Ship (canon or fanon, in show or in fandom) have just not been things I could click or with or understand, so you have my sympathies. The crew has gone on record saying that Callum and Rayla being a couple was not originally the plan (we don't know if there were any endgames being considered for either of them as alternatives, but I lean toward no) with Janaya and Ruthari presumably being the main couples. This changed in 2x04 with the lightning flash and moment the two share on the boat, "everyone in the room saw it" (legit quote from showrunner) and they began to write and develop it. It is unknown if they went back to add or shift anything in S1 (we know the crew works on seasons simultaneously) but it wouldn't surprise me given the vibes

I definitely can't promise to change your mind (I'm obviously a big Rayllum shipper and I have been since S1, so I'm clearly coming at it from a different perspective) but I do have some metas that do address what you've brought up, I'm gonna link them below and then do a quick summary in case you understandably don't wanna read all that!

Rayllum and Loneliness (Post S3): a meta about how it is likely (now confirmed in supplementary material) that Rayla grew up pretty friendless and a deeper dive into how Rayla is/was the first person Callum had who was unequivocally his peer and his friend (as Soren bullied and Callum's crush - as well as other things - made him and Claudia have a fair amount of distance.)

Callum and Claudia: You Already Did (Post S3): On what appeal the ship has, why it may not appeal to others, and why I don't think Callum and Claudia were actually that close pre-S1, the various factors why, and why they were doomed to fall apart since 1x02.

How/Why Callum's feelings for Claudia and Rayla Were Overlapping (Post-S3): Exactly what it says on the tin, mostly because he is obsessed with Rayla lowkey in S1 (trying to get her to laugh three times in 1x05, taking a flirty tone with her when they aren't arguing in 1x06, etc) and then outright devoted in S2, trusting her over Claudia in 2x03.

Rebuttals to Rayllum Reservations (Claudia, Pacing, Etc) Post-S3: Pacing, emotional intimacy, platonic development and romantic feelings, etc. Probably the simplest meta and the most on brand for what you're (presumably) looking for, but the other metas I think uh do contribute nicely to explaining why Rayllum is what it is and som of the reasons it appeals to people.

It's also honestly not surprising to me that in S5 they just feel like Friends (hopefully best friends) given that a decent chunk of the Rayllum fandom, myself included, are on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums, and don't really care if they're Romantic as long as they're Life Partners. (Aspec Rayllum tag here) Callum and Ezran are two of the, if not the, most important people in Rayla's life, and Rayla and Ezran are two of the most important people in Callum's life. To me, romance / devotion / whatever you want to call it intermingling makes sense. One of the things I've loved most about S4-S5 is the fact that whatever they are, they have each other's backs, and they care for and protect each other, no romance required, which hits different since they do both also have romantic feelings for each other. It's just not a pre-requisite for them and a lack of it is never something they'd hold against one another. In other words:

Chemistry is also something that's hard to pin down sometimes - like all shipping preferences are subjective, but evaluations of chemistry tend to be in particular (for example, I don't really think Callum and Claudia have chemistry in that way, but that doesn't mean that they can't or they don't).

That said: platonic Rayllum tag here and foils Rayllum tag here, and I hope whatever parts of the show you do enjoy, well, give you joy.

[anonymous-dentist]

Hi anon, sorry to bring the sbi family fanfic discussion again and for the long post , (your posts ware what made realize why i hated this thing so much)

I don’t know if is the same type of fans but i noticed that some ficwritters that are really foucused on philza and wilbur (and sbi family i think?) Are kinda trying to add cellbit to this situation? Like i read some philza focused fanfic where he interacts with cellbit and the ficwritters act like cellbit is his kid? Its weird idk how to explain very well (this is also the same people that kinda write cellbit as a native english speaker (american and european) and not a brazilian (its something that is too hard to explain right now)

And its kinda stressing me out because cellbit is written in such a weid way and its infesting the spiderbit tag lol and i dont understand what is going on half of the time since idk what the hell sbi even is (brazilian with 0 understanding about english speaking mcty)

Sorry for the long post

Oh yeah no I don’t really get it but like. I also do! Because q!Phil has become one of only a literal handful of people on the island to actually properly trust q!Cellbit and so they’re like. Friends. But obviously you can never just be friends with someone not your age and so. Fandom assigned family dynamic. It’s super weird and lowkey like. Idk it’s just weird lol.

A discussion surely must follow!

First, a brief rundown of SBI:

SBI is Sleepy Boys Inc., a group made of up streamers Philza, Wilbur Soot, Tommyinnit, and Technoblade. (Originally it was just Phil, Wilbur, and Techno, but Tommy wiggled his way in somehow.) They’re Best Friends, but somewhere along the way their fandoms said. Fuck it. Family dynamic… mostly because the ccs lowkey thought it was funny and ran with it. Wilbur alone would rather die than not have Philza Minecraft be his father

This dynamic spread to their characters on the dsmp despite them literally not once ever referring to each other all as family; iirc Techno himself said he at least wasn’t part of the family because that dynamic would be fucked up after all the shit his character did to both c!Wilbur and c!Tommy. But c!Phil was c!Wilbur’s father even though he did fully murder his ass, and Wilbur and Tommy were brothers because they’re Wilbur and Tommy and you’d have to kill them to stop them from being brothers. Tommy was never established to be c!Phil’s son, and Phil never seemed to consider him one

But then the dsmp started dying around summer 2021 and everyone was kinda just left with fanon, and SBI fanon can get weird. I’m talking borderline fetishistic nuclear family stuff, especially when you get into ‘Dark SBI’ content with Phil kidnapping Tommy or whatever and forcibly making them family? It gets weird, take a look through the tag sometime

The thing with a lot of these fics is that like. It’s gotten to a point where it’s a fandomized version of both cc! and c!SBI with some really freaky characterizations and some really diehard fans. I’ve talked about that before, so I won’t do it again.

The weirdest thing I’ve noticed about these fics, though- and this goes back to what we were talking about with Cellbit inexplicably being added to the mix all of a sudden- is that everybody has to be a family.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a SBI fic where the characters have friends. Even Tubbo and Ranboo, usually delegated to a ‘Tommy’s friend!’ role despite them not interacting much like as a group ever are treated either as extensions of Tommy himself or as his found family ‘brothers’ who Phil also inevitably helps take care of rather than as friends, and they act that way. Niki isn’t usually ever written in as Wilbur’s friend, she’s Benchtrio’s sister/mother-figure, or she’s described as Wilbur’s found family sister. Jack Manifold? Lumped in with Niki with Benchtrio as their older brother/father-figure. Quackity? Either Wilbur’s boyfriend, thus a member of the family, or Tommy’s older brother/father-figure.

Even characters who never really interacted with SBI as a “family” on the dsmp get this treatment: you’ll read an SBI fic with c!Purpled in it and he’ll be Tommy’s brother figure. c!Sam is Tommy’s father figure. Schlatt is Tommy’s uncle or Wilbur’s brother. Puffy is an aunt. Sapnap and Dream? Tommy’s brother or father figures. Even Hannah is being written as Tommy’s cool older sister figure these days despite only really interacting with him once on the smp

And you can see this kind of behavior continuing now in the qsmp fandom… if the new ccs/characters in question aren’t “problematic”. Chayanne can’t see Techno as a personal hero, he has to see him as an older brother or an uncle. Tubbo is Phil and Fit’s son and Tommy’s brother. Niki is Tallulah’s mom. Quackity is Wilbur’s boyfriend.

What you’ll actually be hard pressed to see is this kind of dynamic with Phil and other, “problematic” ccs, aka ccs who aren’t like. English ccs.

Because you won’t find q!Forever included in the family dynamics despite him basically being q!Phil’s best friend and closest confidant. It took longer for q!Missa to be added to Phil’s wiki page than it did for Techno to despite them literally being explicit canon husbands, and you’ll be lucky if Missa is even mentioned in a “qsmp” SBI fic. Etoiles? Not even mentioned despite him and Phil more or less actually leaning into the family dynamic with the “brothers” thing. Even Tallulah and Chayanne are left out or mischaracterized in “qsmp” SBI fics, giving Tommy the spotlight.

You won’t find nearly anybody who isn’t an English cc in these fics, and this is NOT accusing anyone of xenophobia. It’s most likely just because the SBI people are used to watching only Phil or only Wilbur and they don’t speak enough of the other languages to really care about the non-English ccs and thus disregard their characters and lore. It’s not just SBI people who do this, it’s plenty of people speaking every language on the server not watching anyone whose languages they don’t speak. Yk?

But that brings us to q!Cellbit, and I’m surprised the SBI guys have latched onto him the way they did considering he’s everything they seem to dislike: his first language isn’t English, he doesn’t talk with Phil a lot, he and Tallulah get along really well, he makes fun of Wilbur being gone. And, honestly? The SBI guys did hate him for a long time because of those things, they constantly undermined his efforts and said Phil would be a better Order leader and said that he should never speak to Tallulah again because he was making her sad and he’s friends with their least favorite person ever, Forever.

But then q!Phil said he trusted Cellbit, and it’s like a switch was flipped. Starting around the Pills Arc when they first teamed up, SBI people were suddenly on board with Cellbit despite being part of the haters literally days before. Why? Well. Phil and Cellbit are friends now, and so now he gets the privilege of being in the fics.

The problem with this is that these people have never watched Cellbit. They’ve seen ten minutes of him total from Phil’s pov, and that’s all they’re going to use to write his character. So of course there will be mischaracterization.

And, of course, they’ll be family. Because, as I said, there’s this weird allergy to the concept of friendship in SBI fics. You’re family or you’re an enemy.

Constant fanon mischaracterization of Phil has basically turned him into a universal father figure even if he doesn’t have that dynamic with the characters he’s like the “father” of. q!Cellbit’s only familial figure outside of his actual canon family is generally seen as q!Bad, who even referred to him as family last night on stream. But, because Phil and Cellbit are friends now and Cellbit is younger than Phil is, they have to have a father-son dynamic, because that’s what Phil’s only character trait is in the SBI fics he’s in. He’s the dad whether it makes sense or not.

If that makes sense.

[comradeboyhalo]

Okay—you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to..! But I’m actually SO curious on your essay thoughts of q!Bad in 4halo fics. Because (I think) it’s kind of rare that q!Bad is depicted accurately in.. most qsmp ship fics. And I feel like q!Bad always becomes.. obsessed with romance with q!Forever in many 4halo fics?? Or super open + emotionally stable?? I don’t know how to explain it, but that’s why I’m curious of your thoughts (because I’ve read your fics and 100% trust your characterizations, especially of BBH cubitos <3)

hihi always down to ramble. and i agree, a lot of bad's flaws are smoothed over in 4halo fics, which makes him incredibly ooc. also, i dont think that these mischaracterizations are necessarily bad, i understand that in fluff fics (or angst fics, which im guilty of) sometimes theres no room in tone to fully capture all of q!bad's complexities. but that doesn't mean i cant have some gripes!

i dont think this is exclusive to 4halo, but 4halo is also bad's current biggest ship, so a lot of it just happens to fall on it. but i really hate how fanon!bad gets stripped down to a mere love interest who is just...very perfect in how he interacts with romance. he wants to go on cute dates, he confesses in a very sweet way. he is kind and nice and a little insecure, and is just so boring. its very much reminiscent of old skephalo fics, where bad is seen as "innocent" and then any other interesting trait of his gets stripped away. i also end up feeling im reading about a highschooler, when q!bad is 11k+ and cc!bad (obviously influential of his character) is in his late 20s.

again, i understand why people write 4halo on cute dates and first kisses. thats what fanfic is for! but i cant help but see the entirety of the ao3 page full of these very...allo-typical romance plots and think "...he would not fucking say that." q!bad is messy as fuck! if you don't interpret him as arospec, then hes at the very least repressed, and not in a cute YA romance way. a 1k fic of pining that ends in a nice love confession just doesnt convince me im sorry!

and then there's the blue diamond obstacle that gets in the way of 4halo monogamy....skeppy. again, i get why most 4halo shippers arent going to mention him, cause theyre just not into anything skephalo. i cant blame them for that. but im a master nitpicker, so ill still nitpick cause this is my blog. bad brushing over skeppy is ooc. bad acting as if skeppy is in the past is ooc. bad pursuing any form of relationship without including skeppy is ooc. bad choosing any other person but skeppy to be his #1 is ooc. and yeah it sucks for shipping if you dislike q!skephalo, but thats how it is and its not changing. and also any fics that push bad to "move on" from skeppy is just ??? not only is that his soulmate across lifetimes, but skeppy isnt dead? hes just not on the island? help??? bad has two hands, but one hand will always hold skeppy's and he's made that abundantly clear many times.

anyways im also not immune to q!bad butchering in 4halo fics! ill admit that, in writing the hanahaki au, i couldn't really find time to fit a lot of q!bad's humor into it, and he ended up more openly angsty and sad and vulnerable then he really is, or would ever be. so i totally get it, and im fine if other qbad viewers despise how he's written in it. however i will stand by the fact that q4halo would never pursue a traditional relationship together, and i chose the ending to be ambiguous because thats how i believe their relationship (and feelings) are: ambiguous. that's why, to me, 4halo is so good. i don't want to read about them confessing their feelings. i want to read about how their relationship is an undefined, confusing mess that will never be defined, and im just so surprised that there aren't more fics like that out there.

[mxtxfanatic]

It's really makes me mad how a lot of the antagonists of all mxtx's work are woobified by the fandom.

On one hand, it does mean that she wrote good antagonists but on the other hand,it's so frustrating because that's just not what's in the book ?

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian is probably the worst exemple of this when we have fics where Wei Wuxian apologize to his "brother" for the promise when JC literally led a siege that Les to WWX's death, but they are really not the only one, they sorta do it with Qi Rong and Xie Lian (which... Is something because he is introduced sitting on Xie Lian's kneeling statue) and Shen Qjiu (to a lesser extent). It makes me wonder if we read the same books sometimes.

Please don’t remind me of the cursed fanons 😖 I used to be more angered by it, but blocking everyone with terrible takes and only following people who I agree with or who I trust to have opinions backed by the text has really helped calm that rage. Also, I’ve seen a lot of newer fans come in with great pushback against the old fanon, particularly with mdzs.

I don’t think the quality of writing from the source can be judged on how woobified obviously villainous characters are, because I’ve seen some terrible stories produce massively popular characters; I think this speaks more to how easily people are swayed by good fan media (which is a fandom critique and self-criticism, cause I’m definitely suggestible on certain things, usually ships lmao). For example: a lot of popular mdzs fanon was spread by a few people with popular fandom blogs who knew how to write/make good art and used those skills to argue for the legitimacy of their fanon for clout. We as people just tend to like good quality things, and sometimes we overcompensate by assigning merit and moral to the good fan media we like and the fans who make them, even if it’s just in our heads and not from the source.

Funnily enough though, when I first got into tgcf, there were a bunch of Qi Rong stans, but now, all I see are people who are feral for his canon character while Mu Qing stans have picked up the cursed torch of trying to convince everyone that their fav has done no wrong ever.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Actually, John O’Bryan or Joshua Hamilton (I forgot which one) confirmed on the Braving the Elements Podcast that Zutara was in the original bible and that there was a fight in the writer’s room for making it canon. He even says he’s still Zutara, that they did it wrong, and that in an alternative universe they’re together.

But his version doesn’t really make sense bc the original bible that can be accessed online doesn’t confirm ANY ships. Also, kataang was literally hinted in the pilot. Not to mention that either Joshua or John - whoever wrote CoTL - literally confirmed that Mike and Aaron made him write Omashu for Kataang’s romance. One of them (Joshua or John) pitched the episode as just being a story of Sokka suffering with the nomads, but Mike and Aaron felt it was important to tie Oma and Shu to Kataang. I also believe it was Joshua Hamilton who wrote the inaccurate “Avatar Extras” that confirmed that Zuko was supposed to be Katara’s love interest.

So essentially, what happened was the following (imo): In the early development stage prior to book 1, the idea of Zuko and Katara were thrown around. Some of the writers might’ve latched onto it and, as a result, the ship was teased in late 3.5 (especially given how POPULAR the ship was in 2005-2008). However, Bryke and Aaron felt that Kataang was always the natural direction and made sense story wise. And ultimately, that’s what happened as endgame. The creators and the head writer feeling that a popular fanon ship with a friendship developed in under 5 episodes doesn’t make for a romantic endgame, in addition to a preference for Kataang.

At the end of the day, no one is denying that Zutara wasn’t teased (not even Bryke themselves). We just don’t think it’s a plausible endgame that makes sense as per the series. I can also sort of understand why some of the writers would still prefer Zutara - it does sound intriguing on paper (very YA and disney), but doesn’t make any sense execution wise. Good on the creators for denying that shit.

Assuming that's true at all, and that is something I likely truly won't do until I search said podcast and hear it myself because God knows zutarians lie all the time, that still make it the power-struggle some people claim it was.

One writer having an idea, latching onto it, and then trying to pass it off as "my idea was totally going to be canon at one point, trust me even though everyone else on the team says another thing and the actual main couple was present from episode one."

And even if we exclude the Kataang angle in Cave Of Two Lovers (that Joshua did write) an intervention on his writting process would still be necessary. I love Sokka, but watching over 20 minutes of him just being annoyed would get repetitive and boring really fast. It makes far more sense to balance it out with two of the other main characters learning about a legend of a city the viewers are familiar with (and will see being at the mercy of the Fire Nation) the following episode. It makes the episode more engaging and reminds us of what will be at stake if the Fire Nation wins.

Another thing that makes this story hard to believe for me, is the fact that Joshua didn't write any episodes until book 2 (though obviously that doesn't mean he couldn't be part of the creative team in some other ways), of all the episodes he did write only "The Chase" has Katara and Zuko interacting at all or so much as mentioning each other, he was the one who wrote Boiling Rock Part 2 which has some major Maiko moments, and he was also part of creating the episode "Ember Island Players" which mocks the very idea of Zutara and has the characters themselves be visibly uncomfortable when they hear of it.

Even if we assume that man was secretly hoping Zutara would be a thing alll along, it seems pretty clear to me that he is NOT this "Zutara champion" that hates the canon ships and fought tooth and nail to make his OTP happen, but the other evil writers stopped him.

Hell, let's look at someone who has been very openly shipping Zutara for years: Dante Basco, aka Zuko. That man has said he refuses to watch the live action movie and to say anything too bad about it because he's an actor and doesn't want to risk angering a guy that could end up being his boss in the future. This same Dante has REPEATELY said Zutara is his favorite ship, and that even though he really likes how the show ended, he wishes that pairing had had a chance to happen.

He says that without any fear, and doesn't seem to have suffered any consequences for it. To me, that shows that "Zutara VS Kataang/Maiko" is not the epic power-struggle amongst the team that zutarians love to pretend it was. It was just people throwing ideas around. Some were used, some were not. Just the ordinary creative process, not a ship war.

And once again, this is me assuming that there's any chance that Joshua ever wanted Zutara to be a thing, and that this is not just another case of obsessive fans lying to everyone again to convince themselves they have canon validation. God knows Zutarians have cried wolf MANY times (and I'm amused that in this version, Aaron Ehasz is one of the "bad guys", even though they are still using that fake interview of him confirmig a zutara endgame as proof that their ship was supposed to be canon. These people lie so much, they lost track of who they claim is "one of them" or not).

[simp4konig]

Hii! So I’m new in the Call of Duty fandom but I don’t play the games like on the ps5, etc… I only play Call of Duty on my phone and I got addicted and began digging deeper so here I am! Since I don’t/can’t play the different games of cod do you recommend any channels on youtube that does an amazing walkthrough of the games? I really really want to watch some walkthroughs but I don’t know whats the order of watching each game?? Does each game connect to each other? I’m still kind of confused since I’m still new😅😅. I’m sorry to disturb you though but I hope you can help me😭

To summarise before I go on a useless tangent and ramble needlessly, here are short answers for your questions:

Yes, the games are related. Modern Warfare 1+2+3 are chronological, and are the same story with the same characters. Similarly, it is widely believed that the Black Ops series + Cold War take place in the same timeline as Modern Warfare. I know for certain that Cold War is connected to MWI+II+III because Captain Price is a playable character in multiplayer, and the Black Ops series mention the same villains.

There is no particular chronological order in terms of a greater narrative, however, if you want to understand the story of Modern Warfare, watch walkthroughs of MWI, MWII, and finally MWIII. Black Ops has its own series so if you want to watch those too, you can, however you won't be missing major plot points in Modern Warfare if you choose not to. Cold War is in the same timeline as Modern Warfare, but you won't be missing major plot points in Modern Warfare either if you choose not to.

My advice: Watch game walkthroughs (I would recommend at least once, even in 2x speed, just so you know the general gist of the lore).

Watch COD compilations (trust me, there's LOADS) that are 10–20 mins long, and feature the most iconic scenes in the game back-to-back so you aren't missing anything

Dont resd this if you dont want to!!!vvv it's long and its just me sympathising with you becsude im in the same situation 💀💀... Vvvvvvv

... LMAO IM THE WORWT PERWON TO ASK BECUASE I CANT PLAY THE GAMES EITHER DJDJDJDJDJSJSJSJSJJSJS 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Played MW and MWII, theold versions only💔And i DONT hsve a PS5 EITHER so i csnt play the remasyers/reimagines, neithet can my parents justify buying the games just to hage a 100gb game on our PS4😫😫 were in this together anon,... 😓

I mostly have been going on youtube and tyoing out "MW 2019 walkthrough" and "MW2 2022 walkthrough" to see wheyher the plot has chsnged so i can keep up to daye and understand whay the fandom is on about !! Since ive plaued the older remasters , i watch these in like 1.75 speed or even just skip parts bc i already kniw what's gonna haooen mostly 😙✌️ but any scenes that im like "WOAH wtf is this i dint rmeebrt this happening🤨" I watch them 10–20min compilations of certain charwcyer moments 😌 Because i honestlu do NOT hsve the time to watch a whole ass 9–12h video in multiple sittings, i have homework and studyijg to be doing‼️‼️

And fir my headcannond/fanfictions , "[insert character here] voicelines" so i can understand the characyer thru their voicelines (like König and Krueger), as well as seeing their skins and backstories on theit respevtive wikis, googling their respectivr countries, ajd builfing my vision of these by also reading OTHER people's headcannons/fanfictions !! If you were to resd my oldest works, youd see thay my König was the fanon König, but as ivr gotten more used to writing him and changing my perception of his character+personality, you can tell how how i write for him has slowly developed 🙌

i feel like a hypocritetelling u to watch MWIII tho because neitjer have i plaued it NOR watched a walkthru bc my fav characters DIE and i dont wanna put myself thru that just yet😇 obviously, with MWIII remaster here, i think ill hage to soon ....

Im honoufed u chode yo ask ME of sll people !!☺️❤️❤️❤️... So im sorfy i couldnt be more useful ☹️💔💔💔

[thistlecatfics]

I am obviously going to ask for Narcissa in therapy?? Maybe either during the first war, at like the start of her marriage, or post second war?? Or at any point in her life really idc I just wanna see it happen

Narcissa in therapy!! 

Honestly I think the idea of her being in therapy during the first war would be kind of like the sopranos (a show I’ve never actually seen haha) where she’s actively involved in all of this illegal stuff but careful to never let the therapist have the obligation to break confidentiality. 

She’s going to therapy for support about fertility and her miscarriages because she’s still not pregnant, and it’s a huge amount of pressure. 

I could see her going for a super psychoanalytic therapist, which I’m extremely not an expert on, but it’s all about uncovering the unconscious with the aid of the analyst, but I don’t know enough to really mock up her therapeutic journey with one. 

(Why did I pick a type of presenting concern *and* a therapeutic modality I have no knowledge about??) 

(I don’t work with moms and motherhood!) 

I think in this case, as soon as she has Draco, she immediately drops therapy and is like “Everything is fine! I have no other problems!” 

Because that’s not the most interesting answer (and you’ve been waiting all this time!), let’s try post second war -

Her world has just been ROCKED. Let’s go with fanon where she is under house arrest, and Lucius is in Azkaban. She is not terribly repentant. She is angry that Draco is (very healthily!) pulling away from her. 

I could see her getting really depressed. She’s isolated. She just went through something super intense and now it’s a whole lot of nothing. I could see her shutting down pretty severely. 

(I know sometimes people write Narcissa as so powerful and capable and I think that’s true! But I think everyone has a breaking point, and she hits hers after the war, when all the deadly choices are over, and she just has to… live? Without anything that gave her life meaning?) 

I could see Draco forcing her to get a therapist (partly because she’s starting to treat him like her therapist, and he’s like “I 10000% cannot do that.”) The therapist comes to Malfoy Manor (obviously) and operates somewhat non-traditionally. I could see them walking and talking rather than sitting together, because there’s no privacy issue on a giant manor where she’s alone with her husband’s peacocks. 

The therapist would need to start with a lot of behavior stuff – “You’re going outside. You’re going to write letters. You’re going to invite people over. You’re going to clean. We’re going to do it together.” 

(I also see the unconditional positive regard being important here but also really hard. Who could this therapist possibly be if not someone who was impacted somehow by the war? Unless they hire someone from outside of England?)

Then, doing the trauma work. Oof. 

I could see her doing a long series of EMDR sessions with a few core beliefs with different roots – “I am alone” might be an obvious one to start with (and boy oh boy would it bring up some memories of Andromeda leaving!). “I am a bad person.” “I’m defective” (you know that beautiful exterior is compensating for some deep self-loathing.) “I’m trapped/I have no options” (connected both to Voldemort’s time in the manor and also her childhood.)  

Once the trust is built and she’s doing better, moving into a relational approach could be SO powerful but also so tricky. (“Narcissa, you know I’m a halfblood. When you say things like xyz, it actually impacts me.” Advanced level therapy stuff there!) 

Either way, I hope this therapist is getting a ton of supervision on this case. She’s going to need it!