#I could rant about that for... so long

[zorangezest]

thanks for listening

[bookinit02]

i really do think there’s a huge disconnect on here w/ people who have never used tiktok as to what it actually is and who actually uses it. the number of people i’ve seen call it a “teen dancing app” is actually insane. it has not been a teen dancing app since i was in high school, around 2016 - 2020. the main communities i saw on a daily basis were 1) black history/anti-racism educators, 2) high school & college teachers sharing in-classroom strategies and frustrations with the education system, 3) local/state political leaders giving real-time updates on behind-the-scenes government decisions, & 4) community activism & leadership. like tiktok is an adult platform. almost every person i interacted with was my age or older. and yes it completely depends on your fyp and how you interact with the app, yes there’s still teenagers and dance videos and literally anything else you can think of. but these communities of adults aren’t insubstantial at all, they have literally millions of interactions on a daily basis. there’s about a million other types of communities that i could name just off the top of my head, because the range of users was SO diverse and thriving. it’s a long-distance community tool, just like any other social media—and honestly much better than any other social media, because it relies primarily on the kindness of strangers. i saw at least 5-10 videos today of queer people in rural areas panicking because they don’t have any access to queer community on any other platform or in real life. and before i end this i do want to say i think tiktok is coming back, i think this is a highly orchestrated political move, etc., but i do know it won’t ever be exactly the same. people are panicking about free speech violations because tiktok was a place where people fucking SPEAK. i have never seen mass mobilization and communication in this same way for as long as i’ve been alive. it is the people’s app, not just a silly teenage thing. if you’re not on tiktok and never have been, please stop talking about it like you know anything at all😭

[anghraine]

It's interesting (if often frustrating) to see the renewed Orc Discourse after the last few episodes of ROP. I've seen arguments that orcs have to be personifications of evil rather than people as such or else the ethics of our heroes' approach to them becomes much more fraught. Tolkien's work, as written, seems an odd choice to me for not wrangling with difficult questions, and of course, more diehard fans are going to immediately bring up Shagrat and Gorbag.

If you haven't read LOTR recently, Shagrat and Gorbag are two orcs who briefly have a conversation about how they're being screwed over by Sauron but have no other real options, about their opinions of mistakes that have been made, that they think Sauron himself has made one, but it's not safe to discuss because Sauron has spies in their own ranks. They reminisce about better times when they had more freedom and fantasize about a future when they can go elsewhere and set up a small-scale banditry operation rather than being involved in this huge-scale war. Eventually, however, they end up turning on each other.

Basically any time that someone brings up the "humanity" of this conversation, someone else will point out that they're still bad people. They're not at all guilty about what they're part of. They just resent the dangers to themselves, the pressure from above, failures of competence, the surveillance they're under, and their lack of realistic alternative options. The dream of another life mentioned in the conversation is still one of preying on innocent people, just on a much smaller and more immediate scale, etc.

I think this misses the reason it keeps getting brought up, though. The point is not that Shagrat and Gorbag are good people. The point is that they are people.

There's something very normal and recognizable about their resentment of their superiors, their fears of reprisal and betrayal that ultimately are realized, their dislike of this kind of industrial war machine that erases their individual work and contributions, the tinge of wistfulness in their hope of escape into a different kind of life. Their dialect is deliberately "common"—and there's a lot more to say about that and the fact that it's another commoner, Sam, who outwits them—but one of the main effects is to make them sound familiar and ordinary. And it's interesting that one of the points they specifically raise is that they're not going to get better treatment from "the good guys" so they can't defect, either.

This is self-interested, yes, but it's not the self-interest of some mystical being or spirit or whatnot, but of people.

Tolkien's later remarks tend to back this up. He said that female orcs do exist, but are rarely seen in the story because the characters only interact with the all-male warrior class of orcs. Whatever female orcs "do," it isn't going to war. Maybe they do a lot of the agricultural work that is apparently happening in distant parts of Mordor, maybe they are chiefly responsible for young orcs, maybe both and/or something else, we don't know. But we know they're out there and we know that they reproduce sexually and we know that they're not part of the orcish warrior class.

Regardless of all the problems with this, the idea that orcs have a gender-restricted warrior class at all and we're just not seeing any of their other classes because of where the story is set doesn't sound like automatons of evil. It sounds like an actual culture of people that we only see along the fringes.

And this whole matter of "but if they're people, we have to think about ethics, so they can't be people" is a weird circular argument that cannot account for what's in LOTR or for much of what Tolkien said afterwards. Yes, he struggled with The Problem of Orcs and how to reconcile it with his world building and his ethical system, but "maybe they're not people" is ultimately not a workable solution as far as LOTR goes and can't even account for much of the later evolution of his ideas, including explicit statements in his letters.

And in the end, the real response that comes to mind to that circular argument is "maybe you should think about ethics more."

[vaguely-concerned]

thinking about how deeply lucanis' life has been defined by a lack of control of that life -- as he himself points out, even before the ossuary went and carved the headline out again with big bloody letters. of course he reacts badly to losing what little control he did manage to construct for himself even within those circumstances.

(namely: experience has taught him that things (caterina, loss, pain, love, all horribly and indelibly intermingled) will happen to him whether he wants them to or not and there's nothing he can do about that... but he gets to decide what's let in or out of his soul as it happens, even if he has to close it all down and deaden and numb himself out in the process. (even if that means he drifts further and further away from illario, who's been desperately reaching out and trying to keep hold of him until he finally gives up completely and tries to cut the bond all at once when lucanis doesn't seem to reach back anymore.) it's such rare well-observed freeze logic solidly constructed from the bottom up, I'm still so impressed with it.

the way illario seeks constant external means to cope with caterina's abuse and importance in his life -- he can't win her admiration or acceptance or warmth (or like. acknowledgement even, at times :') ), no matter what, so he goes out and finds those things in others and then disdains and dismisses it for how easily and falsely it's won from them. he plots, he conspires, he tries to beat her at her own game however clumsily, he tries. lucanis doesn't try things that way. he's not about 'how do I improve my situation' by nature, he's 'how can I stop this from getting worse'. he avoids, he internalizes, he hunkers down and makes himself nothing until the pain maybe ends. he's fundamentally not a plotter, he's a reacter. an expert assassin pantser, if you will, to illario's clear and stated exasperation fhsak. man I love them. illario says 'get us out of here!!! if you loved me as I love you you'd help me get us out of here before it kills us both', lucanis says 'there is no other place, there's nowhere to go, all we can do is endure. and if it kills us... well, that's just family. that's what love is (the way things are headed I'll die first anyway so it's fine I won't have to face losing you)', and they're equally baffled and hurt by each other's POV. but they're both right, and they're both wrong. there's no 'right' way to deal with caterina's treatment of them, or their situation. the house always wins, if you pardon the expression. house dellamorte still stands and that is what matters to caterina in the end more than anything.

it also fits so well b/c like... their core wounds are that illario is the least favourite and is constantly dismissed, so he has to prove to caterina again and again that he matters. not even that he's worth love or respect or warm regard, but that he's here at all and as such should be considered. he has to shout 'in case u forgot I EXIST!!' at the top of his lungs or else be rendered nothing within the family structure (and himself, because it's all about family, that's all that really matters. in some weird twisted way I think caterina openly declaring him before all the other crows to still be of house dellamorte -- and no one from house dellamorte kneels -- is kind of a victory for him, as much as it's also a furthering of a prison sentence and public humiliation. house dellamorte brainfuckery goes hard.). lucanis is the favourite, and it's the double-edged sword that he gets all the affection and attention but also all the control and impossible expectations. drowning under all of that constant stress and close evaluation, his brain whispers 'I don't exist' to try to escape, to hide and hold on to the deep parts of himself that are crucial to life but not part of the perfect grandson caterina demands of him as the price of her love.)

I think a lot about how what seems to disquiet lucanis the most post-ossuary (as it would anyone with that psychological makeup) is the dissolving of internal boundaries and control he's been relying on, which is part of what spite symbolizes. his anger and reactivity has seceded from the union to the point of personification as a little guy (a little guy he resents and fears for his unpredictability and invasions into regions of his psyche he wishes to stay frozen and barren, and yet cares about deeply, loves! and also constantly dismisses and frequently helplessly lets down unless he's helped to learn to do otherwise. does this remind you of another relationship in his life, perhaps. it makes me feel nuts to think about the illario/spite parallels thanks for asking), and now that little guy is out there running the show freely the moment he glances away or closes his eyes. literal nightmare scenario I feel for him so deeply. so much of his coping is predicated on being able to Not do or feel or want certain things, and that's out the window now, Spite has Opinions. Spite refuses to stay wisely in place even if that place is hell on the logic that if you move you could find yourself in a place that's even worse, somehow. Spite actually wants to experience the world, however fucked up and scarring the way he arrived here, not just endure it. Spite means he has to face that maybe illario wasn't wrong all those years, at the same time as having to admit and face what illario has done to him, and figure out what to do about any of it.

anyway. mary kirby ma'am that's some good fucking metaphor work. thank you, and sorry about all the shit that happened

[simcardiac-arrested]

ATTENTION: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS TREE? IF YOU HAVE, YOU MIGHT HAVE FALLEN INTO SOME SORT OF RIP IN THE FABRIC OF TIME

alt version because i also liek it :)

[dyl-z]

127 | 128 | 129

cw: mental health issues, unhealthy coping mechanisms, implied self-harm, heightened emotions and paranoia

[chrollohearttags]

don’t nothing pmtfo more than somebody looking at you like the antichrist when you say you don’t like/want kids.

[raijin-tribe]

I truly believe that the Raijinshuu is still one of the STRONGEST teams in Fairy Tail; even if they rarely get a chance to show it. (A Ramble~)

For the record, I adore Hiro Mashima. He's a creative soul and wonderful writer with drive I could only dream of. But nobody, not even the man himself, could convince me that he had any idea what to do with the Raijinshuu after their debut.

According to the Volume 13 Afterword, Mashima created the team on a whim along with the entire plot for the Battle of Fairy Tail. He wanted to create an arc centered around Laxus, and things like the Harvest Festival/Fantasia and the ideas for the Raijinshuu just came to him naturally for this arc. We actually almost had a different arc entirely—which means that Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow almost didn't exist... at least not in the way we know them today.

They served their purpose in the BoFT. And what happens after that? They are nerfed and sidelined unlike ANY other character. Yeah, a ton of characters get overshadowed and nerfed as the series goes on, but I wholeheartedly think the Raijinshuu has it the worst. The last time they're given any sort of justice is on Tenrou Island when they fight Rustyrose (but I'll ramble about that more in another post!)

Despite being a part of Team Tenrou, they are the only three that are CONSTANTLY left out. And over the course of the series, are pushed back into total background characters to having their characters and dynamic assassinated in the 100YQ. Considered nothing more than 'Laxus' Cheerleaders/yes-men.' Even in the newer Fairy Tail games they are COMPLETELY left out aside from a mention or two. (Not even DLC!! Like, WTH?!?!) I refuse to believe they are THAT expendable. (I've mentioned it before, but they are also some of the few Fairy Tail/Team Tenrou members with ABSOLUTELY NO backstory!)

Okay, I may be over exaggerating a bit... or not enough tbh! It's been a while since I rewatched/reread the series so I'm just going off what I remember. But I know that these are amazing and underrated characters who are so unique in design and magic abilities.... a uniqueness that I sadly believe is their biggest downfall.

I don't think Mashima knows how to write their magic (especially their eye magic) without defeating the enemy too quickly or overshadowing the main cast. (Don't forget that this is the same team that defeated a DARK GUILD in just a few attacks—where Freed didn't even lift a finger, might I add!!) This is why every big enemy they face has been immune to their eye magic in one way or another. Either by wearing glasses or being ANYTHING but human. (Rustyrose, Tempester, Wall Eehto... just to name the main ones.)

The Raijinshuu never get the chance to play to their strengths before they're sidelined... over and over again.

Look, from a writing standpoint—I get it. Really. Their magic is super OP if used in the right way. And it's not much of a story if the heros win too easily, if there isn't any conflict, stakes, or a challenge for the characters to overcome. Especially coming from characters who aren't even part of the main cast. It would be way too easy if Evergreen just turned the enemy to stone before the battle even began... Or if Bickslow took control of their soul.... Or not even mentioning Freed having the power to trap and straight up kill with his magic. But I feel like there is a better way to go about writing it then just pushing the Raijinshuu to the side every arc or knocking them down at every opprotunity.

Even before the BoFT, they had to be pretty remarkable to impress Laxus—especially young Laxus—so I seriously doubt they just gave up trying to improve themselves once they became more involved in the guild or even post-timeskip. If anything, they would've had to train and work even harder to catch up with that seven year gap. No cheats like gaining access to their second-origin though Ultear's magic. Just pure training and dedication.

I truly believe, or pretty much headcanon at this point, that they are always training and pushing themselves to be stronger. That they're always improving their magic and have new spells we'll never get to see. That they still want to live up to their name as Laxus' bodyguards. They just seem weaker as the series goes on because they're not the main characters. Plain and simple. Besides, you can't have already OP characters be even more over-powered. They don't get any cool fights or power-ups because they're irrelevant as far as the story goes. (As much as I hate to say it.) It doesn't really matter how strong they are as long as it's painfully obvious that Team Natsu is stronger. (Their fight with Gray in the 100YQ is still complete bullshit though.)

It sucks, but I don't think it'll ever change at this point—probably only get worse as they are used for gags, character fodder, or just plain forgotten about in place of more screen time for romantic pairings.

[jasperthejester]

me: finally accepting theres a good chance im autistic and starting to work up the courage to ask my parents to see if i could get a diagnoses but being scared to

my mom: do you ever think you have adhd? if you want to do a screening for add next time your at the doctors you can

me:

[cashmoneyyysstuff]

yall i have a confession to make….i fucking hate slowburn.

[celtrist]

*sigh* I feel a lil obligated to share this vid considering past ramblings. And I understand shippers of any aroace characters are VERY tired of the conversation, I get that and you should be free to have fun with the characters as you see fit. But there is a conversation I think both sides just never wanna get into. And I highly recommend EVERYONE, EVEN PEOPLE WHO ENJOY SHIPPING AND IDENTIFY AS ARO/ACE, to give this vid a watch. Like damn, the shit about Gwenpool was SO disheartening to hear.

It's never been the shipping itself that's the issue, it's the pushback against the aroace identity.

Just as a reminder, I (nor the video) are against shipping or spectrums and all that. There is just immense invisibility on the core parts of the aroace identity when it comes to popular characters, and (to me) the spectrum comment typically doesn't sound genuine but more of a hopeful defense that a character isn't aroace (from what I've seen). It always reads more like they're grasping as to have their favorite ship become valid or possible within the media the character is in. That's obviously not the case for EVERYONE and genuine-ness is difficult to read in text form, but that just happens to be how it typically seems to me when people make the spectrum case. And I think if having something like shipweeks is important, something like aroace weeks should be celebrated too! And they definitely exist! They're just severely ignored when compared to something like ship weeks.

The overabundance of shipping aroace characters can kinda feel like if, say, the most popular ships/ships that are everywhere in a fandom involve a gay character in straight relationships. By itself it is genuinely harmless. But there is a sort of underlying tone of being against that character being gay, even if not intentional. Everyone should be allowed to have their fun shipping characters however they like, no matter their orientation because they're not real. But there's an undeniable trend that if a character is popular, Their aroace identity will be challenged, ignored, or pushed back. Which doesn't really feel great (personally, not everyone is me and I don't speak for all).

Might I reiterate from my previous post on the subject:

The aro community is allowed the scraps but not the dinner.

[backpackingspace]

I have such complicated feelings about Athena's regert in epic. Because on one hand. Athena WAS right. Odysseus did need to listen her. And he did need to kill the cyclops. And her regert and her desire to find a better path for the future makes it seem that wasn't the case. That odysseus was right to adopt polites mindset (WHICH is a whole other post I might write up. I have. Thoughts!)

And that is very much not what Athena is regretting. She regerts leaving and LEAVING ONLY. (And maybe her comment about the dead friends). She regerts not being able to make odysseus listen. And later she regerts what happened to odysseus because she's horrified about what he suffered with calypso.

How many times in those ten years did Athena almost go visit odysseus on the automatic. When she left, she had convinced herself that odysseus was just another mentee just another one of her heros. She had been convincing herself of this for years, for odysseus's whole life basically. And then when she left she found that that was not the case. The pain she felt would not allow her denial anymore. (Yall ever lose a friend? Have a best friend become a stranger? That shit hurts like nothing else.) So at first she's angry and hurting and then later she's idgent with herself (she's not going to apologize first. Like hell shes the goddess here.) and hurting and then she's just lonely and hurting.

Shes not really close to any one on Olympus. And odysseus always took such good care of her (his prayers and devotion and inventions fed her so well) even though she's a war goddess and doesn't need it. And he was always fearless of her. Comfortable with her the way literally nobody else is. (Because he's her friend /her best friend) and Olympus is all politics and cold distance and catering to her father and she tried to go visit diomedes but (the poor boy) is still so afraid of her. And was all great Athena direct me to where you need the spear thrown. (The feeling of heart break is familiar now. She's never felt this human before how do they cope)

And so she's lonely and bored and hurting and she MISSES her best friend. She REGETS leaving. And she's missing and reverting enough to swallow her godly pride and go visit odysseus friend. Maybe she won't apologize first but she can extend the first olive branch. So she goes to Ithaca and does not find him. That's super weird but she does find telemachus

Telemachus who, despite his circumstances is so happy. Who teaches her about how the future could be. And they talk about it, how the future could be. (Honorable warfare. No more camp slaves, so more women hiding in her temples and Athena failing to protect them from being raped. Giving your enemies a the chance to surround and then dealing out a quick death honorable death if they dont.) Telemachus who calls her friend immediately. Who is maybe a shyer happier verison of his father. Who odysseus might be if he ...hadn't had her in his life. (It's a horrible thought. Heart break is a familiar feeling.)

So she hustles telemachus off the island. They make a plan, telemachus will be safe from the suitors. Athena will block the women's door so none of the suitors can go in. And telemachus will look for his father in the mortal relam, seeking odysseus's old comrades and she will look for odysseus in the godly realm.

So Athena, filled with heart break and regret but hopeful for the first time since she was four (and play fighting with pallas) goes time diving for her old friend. And is /horrified/ when she finds him. Finds out how exactly he spent the last seven years. Another one of her chosen violated another one she failed to protect. Her best friend gods. What has she done? This never would have happened if she had never left. Why did she leave? It was odysseus's first fuck offense why did she leave?

She has to help. SHE HAS TO

So off she goes, pissing off her father for the first time ever. And putting her pride to beg (also for the first time ever. Odysseus do you see this shit I'm doing for you)

By the time she's talking to odysseus again. She's spent ten years of heart break missing her best friend, the guilt has cumulated into self blame for not preventing odysseus's violation. (Keep in mind that witnessing trauma is just as traumatizing as going through it. And Athena is a chaste goddess. ) telemachus has shown her a new path for the future. Hence her regert and wondering about leading odysseus astray.

But then this tragic complicated guilt and character growth Athena goes through gets boiled down to actually polites was right (again I have thoughts about his philosophy and that is a completely separate post. As is how telemachus and polities views differ (because they do!!!!!) But again. Separate post.) And any killing at all is bad. And then you have fics where Athena begs odysseus's forgiveness and claims that all killing is bad and (like no hate obvious people can write and headcanon however they want. ) it's just an instant fuck no for me and I've got to click out of said fics. And I know this is part due to this culture we've developed lately and childish black and white thinking (bad vs good. No nuace. If anybody disagrees with my opinion that's uncomfortable and that threatens me so therefore that person is evil and I must attack them) and partially because in fandom things get summerize, nauce gets lost. And it's hard to see the nuace in a musical playlist anyway. And everybody is going to interpret things differently and all that.

But at the end of the day. Athena was right that the cyclops needed to be killed. And she knows this she doesn't regret this. Just how she handled the situation , just that she was so ubrupt with her best friend, everything that led to odysseus being trapped on that island for seven years.

[necrotic-nephilim]

@profandomhopper i was going to reblog the original post this comment was left on but i felt it divorced itself from the original topic so much, you get your own post for giving me delightful permission to ramble about this. buckle in people this is long.

so, DC is a big fandom that expanses a lot of different types of content, and like anything, is subject to crossovers. the obvious ones like Marvel are for the reason of being a similar and equally popular superhero world, so it's easy to transpose the worlds onto each other and overlap the characters. both of these worlds deal with multiverses and endless, endless heroes. it makes sense and there's no real stretch to think Batman and Spider-Man could co-exist. i mean, there have been canon crossover comics. and even some more random crossovers like White Collar have pretty easy to trace origins, being an actor in WC was a popular Dick fancast back in the day so there was some bleeding over that led to a well-loved niche crossover space.

but Danny Phantom and Miraculous Ladybug are where it gets interesting. because at a surface, MLB sort of makes sense. it's a superhero world, you're following a teen girl superhero and sure the mechanics are pretty contained, but the crossover should make sense. but when you compare it to the crossover numbers of other superhero media like say My Hero Academia, Ladybug takes the *crown* with such a bizarre popularity. and of course, DP feels like it makes even less sense. sure, you *could* lump it into at the very least, superhero-adjacent media, but it's not a true hero world like MLB or DC is.

but, the thing to always understand about DC, *especially* the Batfamily (which is where the crossover content propagates the most) is this: a *very* good chunk of fans don't interact with the comics. i would venture to say even most Batfamily fans don't read the comics and actively talk about it. we've all read a very fandom big Batfam fanfic where the author's note mentions the writer has never touched a comic in their life. typically, these fans are either cobbling together their understanding from fandom content, or by frankensteining unrelated DC adaptations to understand each character. you take Bruce from Batman: TAS, you take Dick from the animated Young Justice, you take Jason from Batman: Under The Red Hood animated movie, you take Damian from the DCAMU Batman vs Robin, and you read some fandom metas to fill in the rest and well, you've got some sort of an understanding of these characters. read enough incorrect quotes, some genfic, a couple of character metas, and boom, you understand the Batfamily fandom enough to start creating your own content. and of course now. now you have Wayne Family Adventures so it's even *easier*. a pretty easy to pick up webtoon that's filling in all the gaps for you. but i've been in this fandom long enough to remember before we had WFA and even then, this was still a common, if not the most popular way, to ween yourself into the DC fandom space. you cherry-picked the canon you liked and then plunged into the depths of fanon.

i'm not here to make in depth commentary on if i think this is a good or bad thing. trust me i have that commentary in my head, but that would need it's own post. i'm very split on it and my feelings are complicated. my feelings on WFA are even *more* complicated. because oftentimes, the attitude expressed by these fans who are frankensteining this version of the Batfamily/DC world they have in their head is they don't *want* to read the comics. the comics don't contain the content they're after. and to an extent, i understand that. if you're looking for light-hearted vibes of the Batfamily all getting along and having the occasional hurt/comfort moments but in the end, they hug and make up, you're right. largely, you won't find that in canon. of course there are so many comics to recommend for Batfamily interactions, but you have to get specific. you'll find them interacting in small groups, Tim and Dick bonding here, Duke and Cass bonding there, but largely, the comics don't care to balance the ridiculously large cast they've given themselves. but fandom does. it's easy to toss them all in a blender and ignore the parts you don't like. the default argument to ignoring the comics or writing something OOC is always "well the comics are OOC and inconsistent too" which, while a flawed argument that massively misunderstand how comics work as a medium, isn't an entirely incorrect one. you could serve on a silver platter to these fans, an easy and accessible way to get into comics and they wouldn't be interested. it's not what they're here for. fandom is always character-driven above all else. it's driven by character relationships and dynamics. if someone wants to consume content where Tim idolized and stalked Jason as 'his Robin' and now is trying to help him rehabilitate and they're super complicated but have this long epic forgiveness arc, why *would* they read the comics? because they're sure as shit not going to find that dynamic in the comics. it's laughably OOC and not canon at all, but that doesn't matter. what matters is the sandbox. most Batfamily fans care *far* more about the sandbox canon gives them than the actual canon itself. feel how you feel about that, this really isn't being negative toward that attitude, but it is a common attitude.

so, you have Batfamily fans playing in the sandbox and building their own narrative. common fandom headcanons are so common, you could practically write a guide on how the fanon Batfamily works with how consistent people are about it. or you could just read WFA, which is practically the new manifesto of it. even now, with this sudden spike in people talking about canon accuracy and "actually this happening in the comics", they don't actually care about the comics, just what they can cherry-pick for fodder. (even if they rob it of so much context they're just as OOC as they were before. see specifically: the recent phenomena with Tim Drake going from the woobified weakest member of the Batfam who everyone needs to save constantly and he's the smart boy but he's also the one with a sad tragic neglectful past who gets overlooked being the way Batfamily fandom played with Tim for years. but recently, people seem to be pushing this idea of a ridiculously badass Tim, Tim who *totally* has a kill count because of his actions in RR (2009) if you take them completely out of context, Tim who bested Ra's and is even more badass than Jason and he's the 17 yr old CEO of Wayne Industries being cool and flawless it becoming the new fandom zeitgeist. neither of these versions of Tim are canon, and the second fundamentally misunderstands his arc in RR (2009) but the shift has undeniably happened and it's been fascinating to watch. the same thing happened with people suddenly deciding Jason isn't the "angry violent Robin", he was a sunshine sweet boy who was perfect as Robin. neither of these are true, but the second feels more transgressive and new to fandom from cherry-picked panels.) the point is largely, Batfamily fans would rather build their own canon than play with the actual canon.

and then, you have Danny Phantom. i'm not into DP and have no interest to get into it, but what i know about it via fandom osmosis is this: DP fans sort of also don't give a fuck about canon. once again, the canon of DP is a sandbox, not a rulebook. the concepts and the characters are the draw, not the plot itself. i've seen DP posts explaining characters who are essentially OCs, but have become so dominant in the fandom via fandom osmosis. there are concepts and ideas about how Danny's powers work and potential concepts with his ghost nature that either aren't in canon or only happened once in canon and fans decided to expand on that and doesn't care about it's own in-universe logic. i've seen a lot of DP fans also express they haven't seen the show and they don't have plans to see the show. because the show is just some children's cartoon with some inconsistencies and a simple plot, as you'd expect from CN. the show isn't the point. no one cares about it's plot, they care about it's characters. they care about pushing the concept of half ghost boy to a logical extreme and seeing what you can get out of that. can you make it weird and fucked up. how much can you highlight on his trauma and body horror. what identity crisis can you give him and how can you build his interactions with other characters in his world around that and also make those characters fun and unique on their own. sure, the skeleton of canon is there, but the meat lies all in the fanon.

Miraculous Ladybug also exists in this similar vein. the characters, the concepts, those hold intrigue. and not even mentioning the fact the original concept for this show was supposed to be aimed to an older audience, so you can see the bones of something a bit more mature and nuanced under this typical, villain of the week magical girl transformation show. the show itself is a bit shallow and that's not a *bad* thing, it's just the medium it exists within being aimed towards children. but the concepts of a teen girl who's basically a sort of chosen one, a boy who doesn't know his father is the big bad of the show, and their weird identity porn love... square thing. those dynamics are *so* complicated and such a fun sandbox to play in with character-driven fandom.

so, at the core, you have three fandoms that care more about the culturally accepted fanon than the canon, with a good chunk of people often not even consuming the original canon content. and well, DC is an *easy* world to transpose just about anything onto. a boy who's half ghost and fighting supernatural threats? that makes sense, DC has ghost heroes like Deadman already. a girl who has this magical item that gives her animal themed superpowers? i mean that's practically the same thing as Vixen's Totem so that one makes sense too. they fit in pretty easy, no needing to change the world to accommodate them. and of course, if you're a fan of *one* fandom where you don't care for the canon content and only like the fandom sandbox, chances are, you'll get drawn in pretty easily to another fandom with similar mechanics. if you can teach yourself the DP fandom rules/concepts, you can teach yourself the Batfamily fandom rules/concepts. and well, since there's so much crossover in fandom members, why not write the fanfiction? crossover fics will always exist, but with such a shared member base, you have a really big boom.

it's why the characters you see DP interact with in DC are *always* characters who are far more driven by fanon than canon. Danny and John Constantine is a *massive* concept. for people who don't read Hellblazer comics. my poor partner, @divine-dominion has lamented to me pretty often about finding DP content in the Hellblazer tag that is essentially turning Constantine into an OC. because whatever version of Constantine is being written about isn't one bit comics accurate, and really, isn't trying to be. and the same thing happens with Shazam. you watch Young Justice and understand him well enough, you get drawn in by the character concept that you just run with it. people put their favorite blorbos in the same place because hey, wouldn't ghost boy be pretty cool in a city like *Gotham*. how would Batman even react to him. and then, the shipping. because ages for the Batfamily can be easily hand-waved and moved around based on where you plop Danny into the timeline, you have your pick of the litter with him, and same with Ladybug. of course there are the most popular ships but largely, the world is your oyster.

i don't think this is the worst thing in the world for either fandom. it's not hard to filter out the crossover tags and scroll past content i don't like. and sure, i see the appeal of making your blorbos from two different places meet. i've got my drafts *full* of DC/MHA crossover ideas because well, i like them both and think that would be cool. i think my only gripe with it is when DP or MLB crossover content seeps it's way into the wrong tags. using the above example, if you're writing about Danny and Constantine but there's zero content of the actual Hellblazer comics, i don't think you need the Hellblazer tag, just the Constantine character tag. tbh i wish this extended onto Ao3 and people utilized fandom tags better. if you're writing Batfamily fanfiction that is very clearly and obviously WFA driven in characterization and concepts, i would far prefer those fics be tagged with the WFA fandom tag rather than the Batman (comics) fandom tag. because well, you're not writing about the Batman comics. and there's nothing wrong with that, but it helps if you don't confuse yourself for content striving to interact with canon more. (this especially extends to Young Justice, by the way. if you're writing for the Young Justice tv show please, please stop using the Young Justice (comics) fandom tag. i'm at my wit's end- /lh)

the whole thing is fascinating. i've got zero interest in entering DP or MLB as fandoms because that's not my speed, but witnessing it as an outsider is my favorite pastime. i see a *lot* of posts going around the DC x DP space that are helping explain to people who's who, what's what, and understanding the canon/fanon of both of these properties so others can better enter the space. which is not something you'd need in a fandom driven only by it's canon content, but it is sweet watching others try to help newbies enter the space. it's a very inviting fandom space, i think, whether you lament it's existence or not. they're just sitting in their corner with their blorbos, and i gotta respect that. the posts explaining the Batfamily to DP fans are always fun for me to read, even if i disagree with some of the characterizations in them because it helps shine a light on what the fans of this crossover regard as "important" enough about each fandom to be worth including those sorts of primers. very fascinating stuff.

[camellcat]

y'all I used to be normal about xander harris. I used to go yeah y'know I like him he's just a totally normal guy. I think he's really sweet actually, but hey I completely understand why some people may not like him

but the way the fandom treats him has pushed me SO far into defense it's like rewired my brain or something. actually he's done nothing wrong ever. I don't even care anymore. I take back every critique I've ever made of him. you don't Get Him like I do. he's written as terribly inconceivably ooc sometimes and you're all treating it like it's NORMAL!!!! when other characters are NOT subject to the same bullshit even when they're sometimes written even worse. we can wave away SO much shit for others, but xander? no, no, no. and when he IS in character, does ANYONE care to perhaps I dunno EXAMINE WHY HE'S ACTING LIKE THAT? oh? no? we're just gonna take it at face value, when we would not do that for any other character??? when he's written off and sometimes even intentionally off, then that's perfectly in line and just Who He Is Actually

I need to talk about the pack specifically because I have GRIEVANCES with the fandom here. what in the actual hell is going on. why are we acting like the possession was who he really is deep down??? it's clear that the hyena spirit is simply taking him at his base sort of thoughts I suppose (e.g., him having a hard crush on buffy, being jealous of angel, secretly knowing about willow but not requiting) and amplifying them to be HORRIBLE. at the end, he's visibly guilty over what he's done despite it being out of his control. he doesn't say anything because how COULD he? what would he even say? these are the most important people in his life, and he was forced to hurt them. and they obviously forgive him and don't blame him for what happened, because he's not exactly subtle about remembering, and I sincerely doubt they'd just let what he did slide if they thought he truly was responsible. these guys are all with the silent communication, and it's not always good, but it's how they roll. also, GUYS. THINK OF SPIKE'S MOTHER!!!! THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY SIMILAR SITUATION!!!!! he has never in the entire time we've known him actively go out of his way to hurt people the way he does in this episode. because that's not who he is or who he ever wants to be

I also want to talk about how brave he is. I keep seeing people calling him a coward and it genuinely baffles me. are we watching the same show? what are you ON about?? even the show points it out: he's completely and utterly human, and standing up to fight evil on the front lines with everyone else anyways. there two absolute standout moments I especially adore and want to point out. and there ARE more moments, but these are my favourite. the first is when xander decides that if no one else will, he'll go help buffy fight the master, and alone if he has to. and he saves buffy, because he TRIED. I honestly don't think anyone else would've tried to save her once they saw she'd died like they were all told she would, but he did. because that's who he is. and the second is one my friend pointed out to me that is just so good, where xander stands up to angelus in the hospital. angelus could snap him in half within a blink of an eye, and xander tells him to leave. he's terrified, because he KNOWS if angelus wanted to then he'd be dead without being able to fight back, but he guards buffy like a little dog facing up against a lion. he wouldn't win, but maybe he could buy her just a little more time, maybe someone would notice and help her, maybe angelus will decide it's too much effort and leave like he desperately hopes, maybe maybe maybe. he's gambling with his life here, just like before by walking into the master's nest, and he'd do it again without a second thought to protect his loved ones. he DOES do it, again and again and again over the course of the show

this isn't to say xander doesn't have his flaws. he's not the best boyfriend for sure, and while those are mostly out of his own insecurities and trauma, it's still not a great. I don't give any of the other characters that excuse to let bad relationship behaviour slide and I won't give him it either, but it is at the least an explanation. that is just a real flaw that he struggles with throughout the whole show outside of anything else. he can also be very snippy and mean when he's feeling defensive, and he's got a bit of a possessive, jealous streak that isn't fantastic, but he's the heart for a reason. in fact I honestly think those traits work really well as cons for the heart

the xander we see in the show is someone who wants to be good and do good. he cares so, so immensely for everyone. EVERYONE who sticks around in this show, does xander latch onto to as one of his own people to look out for. he tries and tries and tries to do the right thing, to protect and take care of the ones he loves in any way he can, and he kind of sucks at it sometimes. he makes the wrong choices even when he means well, and sometimes when he doesn't. but god is he trying harder than almost anyone else on that show to just be A Good Friend. I'm going to go so far as to say I think he is actually a better person than almost every other character on this show (other than buffy and tara of course)

why isn't he enough when there are other characters who are SO much worse than him in this show?

[tragedy-for-sale]

Age of the Batch

This has been on my mind lately

Getting a few things out of the way. None of their wookiepedia pages state how old they are (not given a BBY year). If you simply look up their ages, it places Omega at 12 years (which is confirmed unless I dreamt that), and the batch at 13 (which is incorrect). We also know the oldest clones are 13 (26) by the end of the war.

Omega is older than the batch; Which crosses out the possibility of them being 13/Gen Ones. This means the oldest they could be is 12 (24) by the end of the war. We also know Omega was old enough to remember seeing the mutations of the batch get enhanced. So the question arose of what was the youngest age Omega could consciously remember that and also be an effective lab assist? Around three or four would be the youngest.

When Omega is explaining to the batch, she tells them '...sent to be with the other clones.' Does this infer they went back to their growth jars in those giant rooms, or out consciously? Since we know Omega is able to remember their mutations being done, that means the batch did not initially have all their mutations and had to be modified later in development. (Which complicates things based on the nature of how genetic mutations work). But that's a lot to get into at this moment and I'll spare you that rant because maker I could go on.

If the oldest the batch could be is 12, that would mean their got their mutations at age 2 (4) at the earliest. However, I feel like there is an emphasis on Omega being older than them, not the same age. We can infer the batch did not join the war right away because of the time of their introduction.

I feel it is more likely for the batch to be closer to 11 (22) by the end of the war. That would place them at 8 (16) years at the start of the war, and maybe they didn't make their debut in the war until a year later at 9 (18). This also puts Omega at a standard 4 years older, this makes the most sense because then she would be old enough to remember them being created and getting genetically enhanced during a time in development that's actually scientifically feasible.

If they were making their marks as extremely effective soldiers, who's to say they weren't rushed off to war prematurely. It is said in The Clone Wars that young clones were rushed into service before their 10-year training span was up, and the batch was likely a part of those groups.

[burnt-leftovers]

i think sing 1&2 are such overlooked movies like. maybe I’m personally biased but it’s so nice to see a film where 1) a character is expected to follow a certain path by their parents in order to be considered a “good child” and ultimately ends up chasing his dreams facing immediate disappointment from the parent (you’re no son of mine), and that same parent realizing their error and changing for the better, 2) a shy/introverted character who struggles to find her voice is able to find the confidence along with the support of people around her to speak up, 3) the overlooked talents of overworked parents who don’t have time to follow a dream and therefore letting it dwindle away but being able to find balance, 4) a character who just got out of a relationship with a cheater and felt like she had to be someone she wasn’t and was able to discover who she really was and show that to the world, 5) a character whose worth to her parent is her success and until that point had everything handed to her on a silver plate, and yet is seen more as a profit point than a child, who left proving she could make it on her own and was worth more than just what she could succeed in, and 6) a character in deep grief for the death of a spouse and gave up his passion because of the heavy depression spiral, and was able to make it out and see forward instead of lingering in the past

?? like guys this is peak ok why aren’t we talking about it