#Thanks for more ranting

[inkedinserendipity]

just finished re-reading all systems red and the way martha wells' narration directly tracks murderbot's thoughts is, like, diabolical in retrospect.

because on my first read-through, i'll be honest. i did not remember the presaux crew at all. pin-lee and gurathin show up in exit strategy and i, remembering nothing about those two except ":D! presaux friends!" expected them to be like "omg hey murderbot!" because i figured the presaux crew would be excited to see their secunit again. i did not remember pin-lee's temper or gurathin's skepticism. because the presaux crew kinda blurred together for me in the first book. because that's how murderbot saw them too!

all systems red has the most en media res of all en media res beginnings. not just because it starts in the middle of an action sequence, but because it also starts in the middle of an emotional sequence. the survey has been happening, for, what - a couple of weeks? - by the time asr starts. murderbot has already met the crew. they have already formed impressions of it. but, crucially, it has formed almost no opinions of them*.

it's been watching media and half-assing its job. and at this point in murderbot's journey, and therefore its internal narration that forms the text, a human is a human is a human. it is not invested in their work, so we don't hear about the start of their survey. it literally starts paying attention to them when they are in danger and when they start to realize that it is a person, because that is when murderbot has to start paying attention.

and this is why i remembered almost nothing distinct about the presaux crew. there are a lot of crew members, but murderbot spends very little time thinking about them as individuals. so the narration tends to skim over their distinct personalities, because murderbot doesn't really consider them* at all!

and then of course we come to exit strategy and network effect, and the contrast could not be more clear. now it's got opinions about everyone, and because it has a better grasp on their personalities, the narrative does too. oh yes that's arada, wibbly bulwark, the human murderbot trusts to not be overconfident and ignore its advice. that's gurathin. it doesn't like gurathin. that's pin-lee, the combatunit of lawyers, well-dressed and sharp-tongued. and of course, that's ratthi (tag: bestie!!), who stays in the car because he will get himself killed by something.

and of course, there's dr mensah. but she was always an exception.

*dr mensah is, as she always is when it comes to murderbot, an exception to this generalization. that's tag: intrepid explorer like blorbo from my shows! that you're talking about. even when murderbot mostly tried to avoid humans at all costs, even murderbot paid attention to her. from asr to now, that has been and remains perfectly true.

[hajihiko]

💕

[arcanegifs]

Here are some Season 2 Arcane GIF comparisons before and after I color and sharpen them! | Season 1 Comparison GIFs

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[profoundmakerdreamerss-blog]

It is funny to me how Harry Potter is literally the main character, yet people tend to go like he didn't suffer that much or he wasn't "abused"; Like, how can one misunderstand the literal main character of the damn franchise?

He wasn't abused; yes okay. He absolutely did not grow up inside a cupboard; the tiny place that is mostly reserved for brooms or cleaning supply. He absolutely was not treated inferior to the other child who lived in the same house. He was totally was not treated like a "freak" or a "stain" that his family was ashamed off. He grew up inside a cupboard while there was a literal unused bed in the same house. And you want to know what that screamed to a child, a baby — who slept inside a cupboard while there being a perfectly usable room right there? You are worth nothing and we don't love you and we are ashamed of what you are.

He wasn't starved, or at least he was fed; Yeah, no. We see it from the first book. How Vernon was no food for you and in the cupboard you go — and by the looks of it, that was like his most common punishment. And then, in the second book — you practically see it happen. He was locked, inside a room with only a can of soup that he shared with Hedwig. Now, tell me what it would do to a child — to be given food through a cat flap, and fun fact? Harry got to eat less than people on war rations; in short? He was starved, yes.

He wasn't abused physically so it's not abuse; As for people's thinks abuse isn't abuse until it's physical (which is inherently wrong because abuse isn't only physically, fyi); Harry has learned to dodge Vernon and he states that, very proudly when his uncle tries to grab him. He dodges a flying pan and states that fact, again very proudly as if it is the norm; do you know how heavy pans are? And do you know what would happen when one hits you? If you want an even clearer proof; Vernon Dursley strangles Harry in Ootp. There you go. Also, in the first book, we clearly see Vernon encouraging Dudley to hit Harry. Read between the lines and actually try to understand what that signifies.

And favourite part; When he wasn't treated like a prisoner, or a freak— he was their servant. And that is very much canonical. Tending Petunia's garden during summers and drinking from the water hose in the garden because of how hot it was? Having to wake up early so he can tend the kitchen and when he wasn't doing all that he is locked away. And it is all canon.

In conclusion, Harry— not only grew up to think that he was inhumane, undeserving of love, a freak that didn't even get to have his own bed because someone like him didn't deserve it, physically harmed enough times that he dodges them out of reflex and also the Dursleys' glorified servant; that is not even taking into account what Harry went through in Hogwarts. And after all that if someone tells me; this child, right here — didn't go through much then well, maybe read the books again?

[xmiricarox]

My cat's been missing for two days. He's old. There are bad dogs around. He didn't answer our calls in the streets.

I had never loved an animal as much as I've loved him, and I shouldn't be speaking like this but I'm just afraid he's gone. He's not immortal after all.

If that's what happened, I don't know how will I recover. No more fish shaped biscuits in his bowl. No more making a space for him in my big bed. No more talking to him, being stared at by his pretty yellow eyes, playing with him.

I know that he doesn't love like us (or at all), but I do. I just hope he's ok and comes back to us soon.

I'm sorry, I just needed to take this out of my chest. Prayers would be very appreciated. Whatever God allows, it's for a greater good.

[elverrie]

the whole peculiar situation with "why does everybody in this house think i’m still in love with spike?" consists of the way buffy phrased it and the fact that she even said it unprompted. not because nothing led to it in the conversation, but because it was so rushed and so defensive and so i-didn`t-even-register-what-i-just-said. it burnt and bothered her all that time. and it leaves buffy shocked that it was the first time she said it like that, confirming that the love was and is there. it`s not her usual "i can`t love you", "you can`t love me", it`s her mouth finally betraying her iron control and spilling what`s been on her mind - she said it to try and blame the others in their false assumptions and in turn it revealed to her the truth that she so hard tried to bury down and ignore at all cost, the truth that she probably avoided to think is now pronounced out loud, making it even more real to her.

and to her it`s not the time and she probably doesn`t want it, cause we all know - buffy summers is the most repressed character ever. each year stakes become higher and higher and she has to jump over her head to stop the end of the world, and she is just in her early 20s, and she died already 2 times, the second one hitting harder, and she tries to regain control over her life and not let the fire inside her disappear again, and she has to look after her sister, and she has to constantly prove herself, and take care of responsibilities that shouldn`t be hers, and everybody picks on her, and it`s the end of the world again. for the past 2 years she hasn`t had much time to simply breath, to be.

and then there is spike and she just doesn`t have enough energy to unpack it all, but he is there and he loves her the way she has always wanted to be loved and cherished, he loves her good side and her ugly side that only he truly saw, he loves the way nobody was able to do or wanted to do. and when such love is there, she is not ready for it, cause trust issues, cause he is a vampire (again), a vampire without a soul (which helps her to run away from any feelings that start to bloom for him), but then he gains his soul for her and now she feels relief that maybe it`s possible for them, she can openly care for him now, but now it`s not the time to love.

however, it is time for love, it`s always about love. btvs is a love story and i stand by that. buffy heals herself and her relationship with herself, her trust with herself, her confidence, her love for herself. but trust is the most important one here. she can finally feel the begining of that relief and that is why she slips and says that phrase.

[royaltea000]

YO! Being a drawing, what’s there to be afraid of!

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

Machine, people want us to "do the do".

How would that even work, Machine?

We don't have lips with which we can tenderly kiss.

I suppose my hand could go down here and- Oh yes. That's nice.

Audio source (YouTube)

Audio Source (Twitch)

[killuabutgayer]

sonadow is genuinely a really good ship that makes a lot of sense if u let go of homophobia and "cringe" and just think about it.

they match each others dynamic SO well, very protective of one another, literal two sides of the same coin w direct parallel experiences, the fruity looks they give each other, shadow being the only one able to keep up w him even in super form, sonic being a lot like maria

"it'll never be canon" idk the vas and writers seem to like it🤷‍♀️ the takeovers and sonic prime is close enough to make us happy, plus if we're strict to canon nothing would be fun.

and why is everything titled sonic x shadow LMAOO- first the game then the takeover then the jp title.. they couldve used any other name or variation but no. SONIC X SHADOW take it or leave it (they're definitely aware)

sure ig ships and romance can be cringe sometimes but its for fun yk?? every single time i see someone post or mention sonadow as a ship some homophobe always goes in to ruin the fun like "theyre JUST rivals and friends nothing more do NOT ship them they are straight it'll never be canon" even making up shit to make it "problematic" like stfu omggg... i hate plenty of ships but commenting on others posts is so unnecessary just mute/block n move on??

why are you even there anyway? esp on youtube like bro clicked on a sonadow video posted by a channel named sonadow fan and get mad when u see sonadow what were u expecting😹

not just that but sonadow specifically gets way too much hate compared to anything else. the amount of posts ive seen like "worst things in the sonic fandom: *sonic just kissing shadow* *pedophilia* *weird asf fetish* *incest*" then everyone in the comments only dogpiles sonadow like r u fucking srs rn😭😭

[loupy-mongoose]

I prepped up a whole post to share this art all censored and timid, before realizing... I don't have to be. I wish to be bold. (Prepare for a ramble about partial nudity, lol)

So, I got a very generous impromptu color theory lesson a couple days ago, and after testing out some things, I felt like doing a full painting. But I for some reason decided that not only should it be a passionate kiss, but one in which Cody is shirtless (g a s p!)

And I went to grab a recent quote from the lovely @ann-chovi (“Having the time of my life drawing these blorbos. Smooshing them together and making them kiss like Barbies”--Never have I ever felt so understood as an artist and creator ❤️ Go follow her her art is so GOOD)

Looking at the post she said that, I realized that she drew a scantily clad man AND woman, with nary a censor or warning in sight. Which is NOT a jab at her by any means, it's the opposite... I want to be able to do that myself. I want to feel brave and comfortable enough to draw and post my blorbos like that. I've always been a modest sort--overly so, I'm realizing--and have a hard time with drawing partial nudity. Barbie doll anatomy, shirtless dudes, bikinis, crop-tops, anything. It's the main reason I had a phobia of drawing people at all for many years. I felt like I was doing something immoral by just trying to know their bodies so I could fit their clothes properly on them.

And I don't want to be like that. So I'm putting my foot down. XD

Anyway, back to the art, lol. I feel like I actually took something worthwhile in for once (color theory has been an elusive subject for me lol), and was able to make my art pop in a way I've never been able to achieve before. I'm extremely happy with the result! ^-^ I guess another reason I want to be bold--I'm proud of my work, and want to share it unashamedly. ❤️

It's a decade in the making anyway, they deserve to be a little scandalous ❤️

[casscainmainly]

What do you think of how WFA is currently using Duke so far? On the one hand bringing in We are Robin is good but on the other hand I feel like it they still are sidelining him. He's still benched and sure they brought in We are Robin but it felt like they were more used for Damian and his story, and they had Duke set up this support system but we've seen others like Steph doing more with it and really interacting with it. I feel like them say introducing We Are Robin but like making interact more with Damian and be there for his story is like "see we read Duke, now here's the other characters we really want to focus"

I've fallen behind on WFA for a few weeks so I just caught up! And. Yeah. I have thoughts. (Also again disclaimer I don't have FastPass so this is based on the free eps as of now).

In August last year I did an analysis of Duke Thomas in WFA, where I outlined my gripes. Then, in December, I praised the We Are Robin-centric episode. Right after, I wrote about how the next episode was making me a little wary but I was still optimistic.

Just outlining this to demonstrate that my feelings on WFA bounce back and forth a lot, but I do think it can do better and it has done better. So I'm gonna read on (because it's the only consistent place for Duke content, and because I like the Batgirls in it enough), but long story short: I'm pissed.

(Putting a rant under the cut; if you're enjoying S3 of WFA, I'm genuinely happy for you! I'm going to take a more negative stance than usual though so don't read if you don't want to hear that stuff).

Okay first of all the benching. All the way back in August I complained about Duke being benched, in a season that started with his kidnapping and revolves around the Joker. At the time I was hopeful he'd be unbenched, but it's been 34 eps and he's STILL BENCHED!! Even if he's unbenched in the FastPass eps I don't have, it's still ridiculous that he was out of the field for that long.

What happened when canon Duke got injured I wonder??

Oh yeah, in the Cursed Wheel he SNUCK OUT!!! Because he has agency!!!! What's frustrating about benching Duke for the entirety of S3 so far is that Duke, at his core, is a character of action. From his very first appearance in Zero Year, he's defined by an absurd amount of agency, wanting to fight the Riddler (then finding his parents, then joining WAR, then becoming Signal). A Duke that sits by for THIRTY FOUR EPISODES is NOT DUKE THOMAS!!!

But he's broken his arm, right? It makes sense for him to be benched?? Well first of all it was WFA's CHOICE to break his arm, a choice I do not think added anything to Duke's character or to Bruce's paranoia (which was clearly the entire point of Duke's kidnapping in the first place). Secondly, another character was injured in a fight with the Joker and benched. Another character who REJOINED THE FIELD IN 16 EPISODES!!!!

Dick gets injured in #130 and goes back out in #146. That is under half of how many episodes Duke's been benched for, AND Dick got injured in a fight against Joker. Duke didn't even get to fight!!! He didn't get to do anything!!! Dick's injury was also stupid, but the way WFA handled his benching versus Duke's is worlds apart, and shows to me how much less they respect Duke than the others.

Also can I just say how gross it was to use Duke's kidnapping merely to kickstart the plot? An astonishing 14 episodes pass before we get any mention of how Duke feels (in #132, he says he has nightmares). Then another 11 eps pass before we get to him talking to Lucius + calling WAR. That nightmares thing is never followed up on either! In #124 and #132, Duke's dialogue functions to further the plot or other characters - in #124, Duke justifies the others going out, and in #132, he helps Bruce through his feelings. Even when the episodes are about him, they are not about him!!! I genuinely think only 2 eps out of this entire season haven't used Duke as a prop for someone else.

I'm going to briefly detour to discuss #132 because I loathe that episode. In Homebound, Bruce visits Duke and they play Battleship (it was cute. fine. whatever). And then Bruce offers to hear Duke out on how he feels. Smash cut to:

ARE YOU SERIOUS??? We spent more than 3 episodes on Jason's PTSD, but we couldn't even spend a single panel on Duke talking about his own trauma???? Whether or not you liked the Jason bits this season, he had a moment. Babs also has her moment, and a whole ep is spent with just her and her dad. Duke, of the 3 Bats that have the biggest associations with the Joker, never gets to fully express how he feels. This off-panel cop-out is honestly kind of insulting.

Another detour: the kidnapping ep. We finally get Duke's full backstory after TWO WHOLE SEASONS (besides a brief mention in #76), and it was just not good. Besides the fact that Duke's kidnapping is, as I've mentioned, just a way to get the plot moving, I don't like the way WFA handles his parents:

What on EARTH are you talking about. This feels like a justification for Duke having never mentioned his parents before, but it's completely untrue to Duke's canon character. Sure, he thinks about his parents more than he talks about them, but WFA Duke never thinks about them either!! This narration box just riles me up whenever I think about it.

I was a bit nicer to this part in my first analysis, but no this part just straight up sucks. First off, I don't believe canon!Duke fears being turned into "something like [his parents]". In Cursed Wheel, he more or less comes to terms with how his parents are: "every horrible thing coming out of [my parents'] mouths? They're actually telling me how much they love me. [...] Let them stay." WFA always picking the weirdest things (becoming like his parents, his powers) for Duke to be scared about!

Secondly, this part juxtaposes the 'horror' of becoming like his parents ("something like them") and the wonderful, beautiful vision of "home": Bruce Wayne. Not only is this in direct defiance of Duke's canon character, it just strikes me as an odd and mean-spirited comparison. It essentially erases Duke's parents from his vision of 'home', just to fit him into the Wayne nuclear family.

But to get to the actual topic of the ask: We Are Robin. I still think the We Are Robin ep (#144) is the best Duke in the entirety of WFA, but did things improve afterwards? Did we focus on the WAR kids, their relationship to Duke, or their overall relationship to Robin? Nope. Turns out WAR, like Duke, was a prop for Damian!!

Damian is too harsh in training the Robins, so Duke intervenes. Damian stomps off and has a heart-to-heart with Jon, during which he admits he was trying to prove himself as Robin by training WAR. I actually like this premise!!! Duke and Damian have always had a contentious relationship to each other's Robins, and it makes TOTAL sense for Damian to be dismissive of WAR and think of it as a way to 'prove' himself. The problem is we did this already. TOM KING did it, in Robin War!!!

This is literally a microwaved TK story with worse writing and less nuance. In Robin War, we explored the way Damian dismisses Duke + WAR, both Duke and Damian's feelings of inadequacy around being Robin, and both of them eventually finding common ground and accepting each other. This arc is that except we cut out Duke's perspective. Now, it's all about Damian's feelings about Robin, and nothing about Duke or WAR's relationship to the mantle!

I cannot stress enough that this is a worse version of Robin War, and Robin War isn't even that good!!!

By centering We Are Robin's appearance on Damian, we lose about 99% of WAR's relationships to each other (and especially to Duke). The only specific relationship we see is Duke and Izzy blushing around each other. No acknowledgement of the Dre-Duke beef, the Riko-Duke crush, Dax-Dre friendship, these are a bunch of extras in a movie about Damian Wayne I guess.

You get absolutely no sense of who Izzy, Riko, Dre, or Dax are. The only thing you learn about them is that they're incompetent!

It's been a couple of episodes and they've been beaten TWICE. I get that they're not the main characters, but compared to the Outlaws or other affiliated teams, WAR is portrayed as ineffectual. And both times it's for Damian's sake. This is so frustrating because Damian + WAR is a really interesting relationship, but because WFA never focuses on WAR's feelings or reactions, it doesn't feel like an equal conflict. It feels like Damian vs. some cardboard cutouts.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??? Why aren't they even a tiny bit mad at Damian for either Robin War (WHICH DID HAPPEN BECAUSE WE ARE ROBIN IS CANON HERE) or what he did to them literally a few eps ago?? You know what, why aren't they mad at DUKE for ghosting and abandoning them?? They mention very briefly at the start that it's 'all good', but why??? Is it because WFA is not invested in their feelings??? Is it because we don't have space to explore even a modicum of Duke's story??????

Having a We Are Robin plot not focused on Duke Thomas or even We Are Robin is so upsetting, especially because the WAR ep was genuinely grounded in canon. Like you said in the ask, it does feel like they put that in there just to prove they've read WAR. What is clear to me now is that, though they've read the run, they didn't understand it. They did it for a perfunctory 'here's some Duke stuff' and never bothered to be interested in any of these characters' stories.

Because we should have gotten Duke's side of things. Damian gets an entire ep to talk to Jon and another to prove himself by fighting Joker, and Duke gets a few panels where he's like 'Damian don't usurp my training I forgive you though'. Season 3 has come the closest to giving WFA!Duke some depth, and because it comes the closest, it also fails the hardest. I still have hope that Duke will get some moments in this season, but I'm losing hope that it will make up for his treatment at all.

Apparently an upcoming Cass ep isn't great so they're really attacking me personally at this point. Idk what gets me is that for some people, this is their first exposure to Duke and WAR. For some people this is and will continue to be their only exposure. And it's this watered-down, uninteresting, bland, prop version of him that just is not the Duke Thomas I know and love.

[starry-bi-sky]

writing about Bruce's speculations in chapter 5 of WTNS was the best part of his POV hands down. It meant I got to force everyone to listen to me infodump about my in-world lore and in some cases character studies, and they couldn't do anything but listen because it was vital to the chapter.

Danny isn't gonna go on an in-depth internal monologue about blood blossoms because he already knows what they are and what they do. So unless prompted, he's not gonna explain them in detail. He's also not gonna go into detail about what Vlad does or what his motivations are because he already knows Vlad and has a pretty good grasp on why he does shit. (although the blood blossoms did absolutely throw him for a loop)

BRUCE meanwhile doesn't know any of this stuff. So he's got to research Vlad and Blood Blossoms and all this stuff and then form his own conclusions and theories from that. It also makes an extra challenge for myself because i have to remember not to meta and keep in mind that he doesn't have the same knowledge on ghost stuff as Danny, and thus everything he knows is from a limited lens.

It's great, it's fantastic, it's my enrichment. Coming up with conclusions for Bruce to come to with the info he's got on hand is delightful. It's like im playing logic puzzles.

[mimorobo]

I’m curious, what are some other games/pieces of media you like besides from undertale (and its fangames and mods)

Oh, ohhoho, haha!!

Deltaru-

Ok I'll be serious... there's quite a lot of stuff I'm into really, so get ready!!

Minecraft - LIKE WHO ISN'T??? I've got mixed feelings about the upcoming movie... I love music discs!!

Pokémon - I'm not TOO into it, like card collector catch em all type, I just played Heart Gold and thought it was neat! My fav Pokémon is Chikorita (specifically the second evolution) cuz it was my starter Pokémon, his name was Chip and we were best buddies and we were going to rule the world together!!

In regard to games I'm also getting into Omori and Outer Wilds!! Haven't finished either yet! I also really like Darkside Detective, Kingdom 2 Crowns and Starbound!! (All very different not so well known pixelated games!!)

Ninjago - I LOVE Ninjago!!! The movie is AWESOME, the series is AWESOME!! I don't really like the new stuff now, the first seasons were definitely the best!

HTTYD - I love dragons!! And these films are awesome!!! (Number 1 will always be special tho) And have you SEEN THE LIVE ACTED TEASER??? THE DRAGONS LOOK SO COOL-

Star Wars - Specifically Clone Wars and THE MANDALORIAN!! Such awesome series!! IG-11 is the COOLEST ROBOT EVER!!

Gravity Falls - recently watched it and loved it. And yes, of course I cried at the end!!

The Amazing Digital Circus - I mean... Everyone's into it! I think it's cool!!

Animation vs Minecraft - I LOVE THOSE STICK MEN SO MUCH!!! The whole series, everything it's so amazing!!! The animation, the story, the music too :'D

And last but DEFINITELY not least:

STOP MOTION!!!

Absolutely anything to do with stop motion I'm not kidding. Walice and Gromit?? MY BOIS!!! Aardman I love you, and every film you've made!!! That not so recent Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio?? ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!! KUBO!??!! NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS??!? FANTASTIC MR FOX!!? THE MISSING LINK!!? SHAUN THE SHEEP, MY CHILDHOOD!!!! It's all so SO GOOD!!! I get so hyped seeing stop motion, I love it so much!! I've watched TONS of LEGO stop motion on YouTube, mostly Minecraft related, and the LEGO sans fight THE PEAKEST OF PEAKDOM I HOPE TO GET TO THAT LEVEL OF AWESOMENESS ONE DAY!!! GO WATCH ITS INSANE!!!

Ahem, ok....uh... Hopefully that wasn't too much, I really REALLY like stop motion.... if you've made it this far then.... Uh... Thanks!!

🍪 - for you!

[bloodofgrapes]

i really appreciate how you give edgeworth a non-anime nose. i think he deserves it

thank you, I always thought the aa trilogy did a brilliant job of subverting a lot of expected anime stereotypes (I will resist my urge to rant about how hard the later games went into classic "animu" style). He and phoenix both have fairly defined noses, and I live for it!

I do love to exaggerate it though, he gives me Big Nose energy. Truly one of the most appealing parts of a person.

[star-lights-up]

you're gonna be popular ♡