#and his fans disrespect all that legacy

[overtake]

deceased at the implication that lewis was so deeply hurt by max’s dumb secret santa gift to valterri one year that he refuses to participate in the videos as a staunch moral stance. max lives rent free in these people’s heads so badly that they have to write fanfiction that frames lewis as some heroic protector of bottas to cope with him … just not wanting to do something he doesn’t have to do? save lewis from his own fans, man.

[queen-breha-organa]

So ahead of the Bad Batch season 2 release, Brad Rau (the series director) has given an interview with Collider.

In this interview, he’s asked about Unwhitewash The Bad Batch and I want to take a moment to talk about his response. The interview snippet is below, and you can click the link to see the entire conversation:

Interviewer: Okay, okay. I also wanted to touch on something that comes up a lot in the Star Wars fandom. I know you're both on Twitter, so you may have seen it: "Unwhitewash The Bad Batch." I know that Season 2 was, I think, almost completely finished by the time Season 1 was already on our screens. So I'm curious to know if that's something you're going to address or at least acknowledge moving forward with seasons.

Rau: We listened to all the concerns of the fans. Interestingly, in Season 1, before Season 1 came out, we're always doing this, we went back to look at the skin tones, and we made some corrections to make sure that we're being true to the legacy of the clones in Clone Wars. Absolutely, 100%

-Collider, 'The Bad Batch' Season 2 Showrunners on Working With Dave Filoni and & Creating the Clones' Personalities

I have multiple problems with this response, and it’s implications. 

First, “We listened to all the concerns of the fans”. This is not evident now, nor has it been evident in the past. This interview is the first time we’re seeing a formal response to this issue. Saying you are listening, and showing you are listening, are two separate things. 

Second, “we went back to look at the skin tones”. Setting aside the fact that whitewashing is more than just skin tone, it’s evident that no one paid any attention to accurate skin tones for any characters. 

Besides the Clones, Kanan, Depa, and Fennec are all lighter than their original animated/live action counterparts. This skin tone lightening is a dismissal of the character’s and actor’s cultural and racial identity. 

Third, “we made some corrections to make sure that we're being true to the legacy of the clones in Clone Wars”. The Clone Trooper animation models in TCW are also heavily whitewashed. Going back and referencing whitewashed and inaccurate models does not allow for improvement, rather, it allows for a continuation of the original problem. 

Temuera Morrison is a Māori man. He plays Jango Fett, who is the Clone template. This means, all Clone Troopers should look like him. Temuera is the template, not outdated and whitewashed animation models. His round features, brown skin, dark eyes, and curly hair are the template.

This response from Brad Rau is not just inaccurate, but it’s disrespectful. It’s a blatant dismissal of issues while also implying they did the bare minimum when they really did nothing at all. 

This continued intentional ignorance and dismissal keeps proving that LucasArts does not care about taking responsibility for their actions, or providing accurate and respectful representation for People of Color. 

[dalekofchaos]

I waited over 20 years for a Boba Fett show and I was disappointed in TBOBF. Seems like the man himself shares my disappointment. The way they've treated both TBOBF and him has been so disrespectful and I am still fuming at how they sidelined Boba in his OWN SHOW to shoehorn in a Mando plot they could have done in s3.

We Fett fans were 100% right. Disney Star Wars did Tem/Boba dirty, and it’s not right whatsoever! At this point it’s so clear that they only used Boba Fett as a catalyst to get Din and Grogu to where they wanted them for mando s3

Boba Fett is the VERY REASON why The Mandalorians exists in the first place and instead of taking his place with his people, he is constantly given the shaft and replaced by Din and Bo.

There was a time when Boba Fett was the most badass bounty hunter in the galaxy before continuing his father's legacy by becoming the new Manda'alor. Boba cleaning up the outer rim and rule through honor and respect had potential, but it's clear the people involved had no idea what to do with Boba Fett. All they had to do was literally everything here. Show Jango's past as Mandalorian, show Boba's change from cold Bounty Hunter to crime lord dispensing justice(and actually doing crime) feature his Bounty Hunter allies and rivalry with Cad Bane(hint hint use Daniel Logan in flashbacks for the cut Bounty Hunter arc) and tease the future with the Syndicate, potential confrontation with Mace and Boba potentially meeting Omega. How is it I know more about Boba Fett than Filoni?

He has a right to be pissed and not just about Boba's treatment(especially considering how much of himself and his own culture he put into the character), but Star Wars/Disney lightens the clones’ skin, that’s HIS appearance the clones are based on. Beyond disrespectful.

Boba Fett deserved better, the Clones deserves better and Temuera deserved better. Fuck Filoni and fuck Favreau.

[bonefall]

Obviously nobody should be talking poorly about any of Bumble's competitors but it's insane how people voting for Alex are going 'its a CAT'. Like, okay and? Alex Dewitt is ink on paper and we rightfully take issue with her writing to the point of making it a term, so why is it any different when a fictional cat has misogynistic writing? And these are cats with a society, laws, religion, and understanding of (herbal) medicine. They are on par with people. And, it's a YA series. Shouldn't people take the message "fat, abused women dying isn't a problem because they can't contribute ackshually, and if we acknowledge it is how can the goodboy main character stop licking his brother's kitty boots if he's a bad person :(" as a red flag in any series? Let alone one for kids? Like, did everyone outside of the fandom miss the Ashfur defense? Because I was there for it and it was pretty clear a LOT of impressionable children genuinely believed the "he only loved too much" excuse hook line and sinker, and blamed Squirrelflight for everything. There were so many fans genuinely believing that I literally remember seeing hate art and fanfics portraying Squirrelflight as a horrible person just for asking to stay friends. That alone was a testament to how harmful Warriors can be, all because of that one scene of Ashfur being spotted in StarClan.

And with that fiasco in mind, how can anyone trivialize it to Bumble being 'just a cat'? Especially when kids are reading this, and could really take the harmful message Gray Wing the """Wise""" has for them that if you have nothing to contribute to the people you desperately need help from, you are stupid for trying to ask for it. I was lucky to not take any of the really harmful portrayals relationships in Warriors to heart, but not everyone will be. People should support Alex all they want, she deserves it! But downplaying what happened to Bumble because she's a cat is harmful :(

Alex DeWitt's story is so shocking and straightforward that you're able to sum it up with a single word; "Fridging." It's become the touchstone for a wider discussion about misogyny in media because it is so evocative and so easy to explain as an example.

That IS important. That IS a legacy.

But somehow, if you try to explain how EARLY misogyny in media starts, and how pervasive it is even in "less respectable" mediums like YA xenofiction, they lose their fucking minds. People who refuse to read anything at all going, "what could possibly have happened to a cat?"

You know what, though? I'm GLAD Bumble is winning, and I'm proud of this fandom and our campaigning. I think we actually deserve to be a little smug about this after all the damn "justa cat" comments. Bumble doesn't HAVE a legacy. The book doesn't VALUE HER LIFE AT ALL! "It's so sad Clear Sky is going to have his reputation ruined for killing this useless woman. I never liked Bumble anyway, what matters about this is my poor brother :("

The runner of the Canon Misogyny Tournament mentioned in passing how they kinda take issue with the idea of quantifying misogyny based on suffering because of how it oversimplifies the insidious ways it can express in a narrative, and I've thought a lot about that a lot. They're right.

And Alex is THE posterchild of this because her death is ghoulish. We needed what happened to her as a simple, evocative term, to advance the conversation around media misogyny and get it through people's skulls. But, she has become the conclusion of a sentiment that the more gruesome the death is, the more misogynist that makes it.

but. The fridge was not the misogynistic part of what happened to Alex. THE FACT SHE WAS ONLY INVENTED TO DIE FOR THE PAIN OF A MAN IS. THAT is what the term "fridging" is supposed to point out; The absolute LACK of interest in her as a 3-dimensional character, in women as people, to the point where the writer chose to send Alex out in a gorey, disrespectful way solely as a motivator for her boyfriend. THAT is the bad part.

But instead people have latched onto the fridge half. More violent = more misogyny.

There's a lot of ways for a narrative to be misogynist, though. To downplay the lives, emotions, or contributions of women characters, and to reinforce real-world bigotry.

Warrior Cats does a LOT of this, blaming bad mothers who didn't shut up and accept their 'purpose in life' for Brokenstar's tyranny, making it a TRAGIC thing that Clear Sky is being held accountable for murdering women because his man pain makes it ok, and even blaming Squirrelflight for rejecting Ashfur's advances which caused him to go "crazy" and attempt to murder her children (until, of course, the welcomed retcon of TBC).

Bumble's death, because she is a fat woman, is treated as unavoidable. It's not a terrible thing she died, Gray Wing never really liked her anyway, what REALLY "matters" is that now no one likes her murderer.

She was stupid and selfish to even ask for help, because she is so fat and weak. To be upset at all that her only friend watched her get dragged back to her abuser. Even as she bleeds out, she gets to listen to Turtle Tail making up excuses and wishing she "could have found happiness."

All while Tom the Wifebeater, the fat man who physically assaulted two women, gets a big cutesy redemption death and honored and beloved by everyone and even gets to "lose weight and that's so good :)". Because the books value the lives of men more than the lives of women, plain and simple.

Bumble wasn't just fridged. It's worse than that. Her life doesn't even have enough value to get Clear Sky held accountable for murdering her, because beloved writer favorite Gray Wing hated her for being friends with his wife and doesn't want anyone to hate his poor, innocent big brother :(

Like you said, you can ask anyone in this fandom and they'll tell you about the impressionable kid they were, or have MET, who was badly influenced by the constant misogyny of these books. People who defend Bramblestar tooth and nail as he abuses his wife, the screeds against both Leafpool and Nightcloud for making Crowfeather sad, and the absolutely radioactive Ashfur Defenders who have thankfully died down since TBC's welcome retcons.

It doesn't just end with annoying internet comments. Those kids carry that kind of message with them. It reinforces existing biases and causes them to downplay abused women and toxic men in their real lives.

But sure, "just a cat." Cool way to downplay the 20-year-old bestselling YA fantasy series that is still ongoing but ok. 50000 Bumblesweeps upon ye.

(though i do also have to say, since I started speaking more about it today, I'm seeing more non-wc fans push back against the 'just a cat' comments. Sincerely, thanks guys. It's not every DC fan or Alex voter, just a very vocal section of sore losers willing to downplay misogyny because they're angry.)

[r6shippingdelivery]

Who is R6S' new villain?

The mysterious guy who killed Harry is evidently our new villain, but who is Deimos?

In mythology, Deimos is the god of dread and terror, who causes havoc in armies alongside his father Ares, brother Phobos (god of fear & panic) & goddess of discord Eris. Seems like he's making a statement with that name.

We also know he's ex-Rainbow. Before killig Harry, he says "Rainbow used to be feared in my time" and "you disgraced my unit". So definitely someone who used to be in Rainbow, maybe even an old Six? Let's see who are our candidates to be under the mask of Deimos 👀

Disclaimer: I'm getting all my knowledge of these characters from the wiki, if you spot any misinformation or have a better analysis, by all means, please do share!

Bishop: "Despite his excellence as a soldier, he does have a blind spot while leading; he sees the failures of his team as his own failures [...] Bishop is a driven individual, who is not above breaking rules." Sounds like a pretty good fit for the spot, except he never was Six. Although he was Deputy Director, so... maybe.

Ding Chavez: "He regards Clark as a mentor and father figure, and is fiercely loyal to him. [...] He is a natural leader, and an ambitious man who takes pride in his accomplishments." So not only was he Six for a time, he could also feel insulted that the unit Clark created has taken such a sharp decline in his eyes, and take that as a disrespect to Clark's legacy, whom he clearly admires. The motives are there, and by calling himself Deimos he could be alluding how Clark (his father-in-law and mentor) is in his eyes Ares! Probability of him being Deimos is rather strong.

John Clark: "A perfectionist, he cuts neither himself nor his men any slack. [...] His request is granted in 1999 with the formation of Rainbow." The founder of Rainbow, the original Six. There's a slight problem with this theory tho... he'd be seventy-something by now. Definitely too old to be Deimos. 

Logan Keller: He worked under Bishop (and therefore under Chavez, who was Six during that time). Arguably the golden age of old Rainbow. He volunteered to join so he probably feels pride about being part of such prestigious organization. He was leader of a few teams, but never rose to the position of Six. Probability of him being Deimos: maybe, but lower than Bishop, imo.

James Wolfe: he was supposed to be Six in the cancelled game Rainbow 6: Patriots. It would be funny, in a meta way, if he turned out to be the villain, since his game got cancelled to work on Siege instead. He's mostly an unknown quantity, so it wouldn't offend old fans if he became a villain now. And he was Six apparently. Definitely has a higher chance of being Deimos than Keller or Clark, imo.

[ashuribbon]

Do you have any Abalone headcanons to share? I really love him as well and I wish more people talked about him!!!

I'll admit, it was hard for me to choose whether or not to answer this ask or not! Mainly since, well, a lot of people don't like Abalone Cookie (and if people followed through in A Mermaid's Tale, you can know he's one hell of a bastard stinky man). For me, it's mostly a love-hate relationship with him, since I love how well-written he is as a villain and his design and voice, but I really, REALLY don't condone his actions and just glad he got his karma.

But I know some folks want at least a bit of content of him, since they also spotted my other Abalone pic I made before the update. Soooo, me being me, I can't turn down a fan!

In a nutshell, my depiction of him is he is basically the Scourge Warrior Cats of the sailor Cookies (but he never will be like Scourg-eclair /silly /lh) who ever lived. He isn't like Pirate Cookie where he was born from a powerful god but became evil over the years.

If anything, he was once a sailor who started from nothing but ended up building his legacy from the ground up... at least until there wasn't the day he died.

Before the rise of House Abalone, Abalone Cookie didn't start from much. He was once a sailor who provided some money for his family, having to struggle with finances to provide food and home for his family, similar to what Lord Oyster went through.

His family life was not the best either. With his siblings often teasing him for being the weakest of the bunch, he was often picked on despite his hard efforts to make his family proud. The only source of comfort was his mother, who told him legends and stories of the seas, from Gem Mermaids to the Kraken, and was the one to provide some source of comfort. He lacked a father, so it was his grandfather who had to toughen him up to survive the hardship they were in.

However, all of that changed when the crew ended up with a situation. During a lunar eclipse, the ship was "raided" by some merfolk that appeared from the ocean water (because the merfolk weren't really raiding). He remembered how it was at the time: It was like a storm he's never seen. In an effort to keep all the members of the crew and the captain alive, he took action and fired at the mermaids with one of the harpoons, before hearing a shriek and seeing all the mermaids fleeing the the scene. He didn't capture a mermaid... but instead a golden coral.

By that point, the crew who used to see him as another sailor started to respect him. The hardships slowly subsiding as he began to build a reputation for himself as the brutish sailor to exist... or by the time he got older, the brutish captain of the ship.

However, the corruption only grew after his mother went missing and his grandfather passed away from old age. And unfortunately for his siblings, he disowned them - since they've done nothing but mock him despite his efforts - and made sure they were never seen in his sights again, leaving the Abalone family in House Abalone to be just a family of one.

By that point, as he grew more powerful and became increasingly richer, he decided to pass down his ideology. Those in his crew need to work like hell in order to gain his trust, regardless if strong or weak. If anyone was caught showing disrespect or broke any boundaries, he wasn't afraid to fight them. His grandfather had to toughen him up, so he did the same with his crew. If anything, no one wanted to start a mutiny for they fear his wrath. That was how scared his crew was of him.

He would have everything he ever wanted. A legacy, a powerful empire that was called House Abalone, a reputation that can't be topped, and any of the houses in the republic would rely on him, including House Oyster. House Abalone was basically powerful at the time (at least until the events of A Mermaid's Tale where his greed made it all crashing down).

It's stated in-game that he saw himself in Lord Oyster. He knew what it was like to be seen as the runt, especially since House Oyster was in the same situation as he was in.

I also imagined he had a romantic partner too, but said romantic partner ended up a widow when he died (I might show the OC if people nag me about it).

...By the time he died, he ended up a ghost, corrupted by his own greed and forever bounded to the depths of the ocean, forever haunting the sailors who dare try to take his treasures. Legends say that one can always tell that it's his ghost by his cackling, and the appearance of a brute.

This can pretty much contrast how Pirate Cookie was. Pirate Cookie was the fire, where he loved his crew dearly and was able to at least carve his own path. Abalone Cookie, unfortunately, was the ice as he followed his wrath.

OH and lil' song playlist bonus:

This specific bit from Ren's "Money Game Part II."

King - Florence + The Machine

The Water's Fine - The Family Crest

[salad-006]

I know you already gave us your thoughts about Eddsworld Legacy, but what do you think about Eddsworld Beyond for now?

To be completely honest, I'm really on the fence with beyond. They're in like this weird fluctuating state, and to me that comes off like them not knowing what they're doing

Sometimes we'll get something hilarious, but more often than not beyond feels awkard and rushed. Stilted is the best word i think. (I'm also just really not a fan of jons animation for the show, which doesn't help at all. His EW style has always felt extremely flat to me ,sorry jon)

More options down below vv

Stuff usually feel unfinished or rushed somehow , ex surf n turf. Part one was probably the most uncomfortable episodes we've gotten so far. you could've easily rearranged things so that the intro of them arriving at the beach was at the beginning of part two, and have it be a single episode. It feels like filler before the actual plot starts next episode

It kinda feels like they're trying to imitate every aspect of Edds work, and it's giving me like. Skinwalker vibes. I get it, Edd made little short animtions with random new characters occasionally. But when a full team makes one with a new character, ties an ad read to it, then never touches that character again, it feels confusing and out of place. IDK i just feel like you loose that ability to just make whatever you want when you put together a team, even if its a small indie group. Maybe im wrong there but the point is i thouht the birds and the bees was dumb

I'll keep my option on the team brief. I don't hate anyone on the team nor do i think any of them are Bad People, but there's definitely been a lot of questionable behavior that has come from these guys. Example, I've always been offput by their relationship with Tord’s characters. In the website they put this:

Yet consistently tease the fans with his existence (ex the caveman episode, tori being canonized, his picture clearly torn out in SnT1, having an entire month of tord merch) Either address the situation or don't, guys. You can't sarcastically be like "oh get over it" when YOU'RE the ones that keep bringing him back. You didn't even answer the question dude, no wonder so many kids beg for his return

I guess I can't be THAT pissed when the money all went to charity, but it still just feels inherently weird and disrespectful to merchandise this character after his creator removed him nearly 15 years ago. Atleast Tomska allegedly asked permission and had good intentions. This feels like they (beyond) just don't give a fuck. If any team members are reading this I'm BEGGING YOU: STOP LETTING THEM BRING BACK TORD . THEY CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT . Tord Larsson deserves to be left alone, and to stop getting connected to this show in his past.

Despite everything, I still want to support the team. I'll be honest, SnT2 gave me hope for the series I haven't had in quite a while. It wasn't the greatest, but it was a step upwards. And I'd love to see them keep going up ! Genuinely, I would love nothing more than to see these guys succeed in recreating what made the show good initially. Eddsworld changed my life, so really its incredible to see it still kicking around today. Even if it's in this weird, amorphous glob state. They just need to figure out what the hell they're doing

TLDR: the current state of the show is kinda rough, the team feels discombobulated and has made some weird decisions, however I still have hope that they can make this into something amazing someday

[madame-fear]

Tell me why I just saw the most DISGUSTING lucemond fan art ever. It’s straight up a photo of Lucerys looking like a child in pink bikini with Aemond a million times bigger than him and they’re doing it. Who the fuck possessed these people to make art like this😭 Luke died and his fan art is still so bad??

EXCUSE MEJDJKDJFJ

What the fuck do these people think when doing this type of art with this ship? I seriously want to know the thought process behind, like imagine someone going "I got an idea for fanart!!!" and then coming up with THIS. The worst of all is that these people actually have a talent for drawing, and use it to make weird disgusting fanart... I’m sorry but it’s too much.

Seriously, what gets to these people? They can make ship fanart without it being disgusting/weird! For example, I have seen beautiful Rhaenicent fanart that evokes the angsty, bittersweet feeling of the ship perfectly well. Fuck it, I’ve even seen more normal Daemyra fanart LMAOOO 😭😭

The Lucemond fans always gets to me because they have the need to make it so fucking disturbing. I fr even saw content about them with fetish in the most weird way possible, like with GASSY FETISH INCLUDED EVEN AHJDKFNG Why do they do this to my boy, it’s plainly disrespectful to him and his legacy 😭😭🙏

[strangesmallbard]

tell us some xena trivia

FORGOT to answer this yesterday, hello!!

here is all the xena warrior princess trivia i can remember off the top of my head:

a popular x/g author (called a “subtexter” back then) named melissa goode wrote at least two episodes in season 6! “when fates collide” and “legacy.”

at a recentish xenacon (i think 2016?) lucy lawless and reneé o’connor read a scripted proposal between xena/gabrielle, then lucy dipped reneé and smooched her sweetly on the mouth in front of a cheering audience.

in s6, there was supposed to be an episode where xena/gabrielle met sappho and she looked Exactly like gabrielle a la xena +meg and diana. it was also a musical episode

lucy lawless uses her real singing voice for “the bitter suite” and reneé o’connor is dubbed over. (lucy also sings in concert sometimes! idk if recently though)

in “fins, femmes, and gems” gabrielle originally was going to develop an obsession with xena instead of herself. however, the writers felt this would turn x/g into a joke and didn’t want to disrespect their lgbt fans. (this cast/crew wasn’t just good for the 90’s, they’re literally like. the gold standard for How to Treat Your Unexpectedly LGBT Fanbase)

hudson leick did this commentary series years ago and at one point said “listen to your wife, xena!” while watching a xena/gabrielle scene LMAO. she’s also famous for doing the callisto war cry at cons.

karl urban played like. three different characters throughout his time on xena. let’s see if i can remember them all. there’s caesar obviously, then UHHH esau? a bible guy. then this random guy in the amazon high spin-off pilot that was cancelled then later became a clipshow xena ep. i guess that counts as another piece of trivia

eve canonically has three moms and no dads. peace and love on planet earth

[jedimasterbailey]

filoni stans just don't quit huh?

"people are mad sabine has force powers because it's badly hidden misogyny-"

oh here we go again as if many people haven't already explained in depth how she's been character assassinated.

heads up everyone, if we don't like filoni's stupid ass decisions and contrived writing it must always be because of sexism, racism and whichever excuse stans use to deflect criticism. this is what happens when we spoil their fun. some of them are sounding like last jedi stans who screamed misogyny and racism when fans rightfully pointed out the badly written script, the way kylo almost took over rey's story and the way poc were mistreated. love how they yell sexism while glossing over how filoni made ahsoka's importance all about a man in this show.

sabine was already a good character in rebels without needing to be force sensitive. she had her own cultural identity as a mandalorian. guess none of that matters now, she gets to follow a rote padawan story that makes no sense for her and wasn't even properly developed. all because filoni is far up his own ass about his special mando jedi ocs while disrespecting established jedi characters. good lord, i'm glad this season is over.

NO THEY DO NOT ANON!!!! And that’s the thing that drives me crazy about Feloni Stan’s is I think his project promote bad behavior. There is so much racism and sexism in these projects that everyone is more than happy to turn a blind eye too. I, on the other hand, cannot condone any of it and I refuse to make excuses for it and I will say exactly what’s on my mind even if others are afraid to because this is ridiculous. There are so many talented writers and minds out there who can continue the Star Wars legacy without going low and create inspiring content that can generate hope in future generations to come but nope we’re still gonna keep ignorant people in high places and produce more crap.

And yes Sabine should have stayed true to who she was. There was no need for this Jedi nonsense.

[cancerian-woman]

The jade and kai hook up was to make a dig at bonkai shippers/bonnie fans and hate on kat because they was mad she wouldn't return for their crappie spin off it was so unnecessary and not needed there literally was no reason for kai to even be on legacies much less have his prison world turn into his sex playground with some random vamp because we all know bonnie never would have allowed that to happen

They’ll do anything to take jabs at Kat/ Bonnie. Julie and other the writers desperately wanted any opportunity to make people believe they were on good terms with Kat. After being called out on their continuous racism across all 3 shows. If Kat/Bonnie returned she can easily pass off that everything was speculated by fans. That Kat didn’t have any issues hence why JP made it known she has offered room for Bonnie to return…although Kat had made it clear.

Several of the male actors pitched stories with Bonnie. Kat had her own ideas for Bonnie. None of these ideas happened. Whereas Caroline who holds little importance to the plot is pushed heavily. Of course, Elena is the star, but even then Bonnie still could’ve had something to herself outside of servitude.

Yep, force feeding KaixJade was disrespectful. I just pretend it didn’t happen tbh.

[f0point5]

I am so perplexed by the Max to Mercedes rumors because why on God’s green Earth would he ever go to a team that so blatantly, borderline maliciously disrespected his literal LIFE in Silverstone 2021?///

I am so perplexed by the fact that people are taking these rumours seriously.

Thing is…I didn’t think they really wanted Horner out at the beginning and it turns out shit was cooking the whole time 😂

It’s a bit different with Max and Merc because quite seriously what information could we be missing? Merc has sucked since the cost cap and Toto has said he is saving that seat for Kimi. Idk what we could be missing that would entice Max to waste his last couple of years in F1.

Unless Max is not the person he says he is and he is more concerned about number of titles and legacy in f1 than he ever pretended to be. If he is acc the fakest bitch in the paddock, then yeah he could go to Merc because we know their engine works. But he’s set up all this sim racing and Verstappen.com for what then?

So…I’m not taking it seriously.

But if it happens I will just be a full time Piastri fan bc the person I’m a fan of wouldn’t go to Merc

[marciabrady]

I'm seeing so much disdain for the OG Snow White (film but mostly heroine) in discussions about the remake. I'm floored, almost every popular Disney film has issues, even the beloved 90s era, and they continue to go without much criticism but people are acting like SW is Gone With the Wind level problematic. Even saying Snow White doesn't have fans??

I'm just convinced these are zoomers who have a tendency to think bc something isn't popular with them it's not popular with anyone else. Snow has been beloved for 70+ years, people who got to meet Adriana were excited, Snow has merch and little girls like her toys. This people must live in a bubble.

https://twitter.com/clairelizzie/status/1691275648252141568?t=w3O-dsZPmwxBWHMMhdO_NA&s=19

https://twitter.com/agronification/status/1691653020860207134?t=5SZ5k43I-POhugW7tex5uQ&s=19

And unsurprisingly a lot are men who think any woman who does housekeeping and likes romance is a useless drip.

Sorry Marcia but I had to vent 😭 nobody I know fights for Snow like you. Even Cinderella gets more respect than Snow and I'm happy she gets some but Snow White went through literal murder and being on the run. Could any of the badass princesses handle that?

First off, thank you so much for calling out that "nobody I know fights for Snow like" me because I've literally considered it my life's work and it's frustrating that so many creators have stolen my intellectual content and made a huge audience off of it, while only stealing some of my points and not understanding the heart of what I'm saying and what I've been saying for my entire life (which is well documented on this blog; contrary to what certain people are saying about Snow White defenders, no, I didn't just selectively start to care to cosign on outrage on Rachel; I literally had a reaction to her horrible takes when they came out last year and made several posts about it).

People are defending Rachel in a way that, I feel, is infantilizing her and removing autonomy from a literal millionaire adult in her 20s. A grown woman made harmful comments and was disrespectful about a film whose historical impact is extremely profound (again, feel free to IM me about this because I have so many thoughts and don't love when they're stolen, so I'm being more guarded about what I'm saying now). And instead, people are turning around and excusing her hateful comments- which have even gotten the son of the original director of Snow White to speak out, at 91, saying his father and Walt Disney would be "rolling in their graves"- and they're saying things like "Rachel's just a 22 year old kid, guys, who's parroting what Disney is telling her! Don't blame her for what she's saying, she doesn't even know what she's saying!" and "she's right! Snow White IS old and outdated and awful and no one cares about Snow White!" Which is...

Most of the people speaking out on this and defending Rachel don't like Snow White, so why should their opinion matter? They're displaying that they have no insight or understanding of the source material and then they want to step on the people that actually do like the character by saying we aren't valid. First off, it's no secret I don't like Belle- did you see me running my mouth about how she was misinterpreted by Emma Watson? No, because she isn't my Princess and I'm not a fan of hers. I wasn't telling everyone "who cares, Belle is obviously the worst princess and CLEARLY has no fans" because that's not right and it's not my place. Us Snow White fans have literally always had to deal with people hating on her and misunderstanding her. She's perpetually maligned and the butt of the joke and I think that's why it's all the more imperative that we got someone who understood the character and was her protector, her defender, and brought her value and respect upon her legacy to a whole new generation of people who had been hating on her for years. And instead...we get Rachel who wants to change everyone about the character, admittedly didn't like her growing up, is misinterpreting the source material to an alarming degree (saying the Prince was a stalker is soooo wrong and even her implications that women aren't valid if they are romantic is sickening and misunderstands the movie; it's not called Snow White and the PRINCE it's called Snow White and the Seven DWARFS), and inspiring people to claim the only reason critiques are happening about the horrible comments she made is because the world, in 2023, can't handle a successful woman...like cut me a break

Let me start off by saying this. To all the people who think Rachel's comments are funny and never liked Snow White in the first place, and are calling her just a dumb cartoon character, she is the product of a legacy Adriana Caselotti upkept her entire life. She is the product of blood, sweat, and tears- the basis for which this entire company was built upon. It's one of the most culturally impactful films of all time- without Snow White, there are no Disney Princesses, there is no Disney Parks, there are no Disney Live Action Remakes- there's no Disney. And guess what? She has more value than just being an "outdated classic." In her original movie, she does display leadership qualities, survives years of abuse and forced labor, homelessness, misogyny, multiple murder attempts, and she endures. Both her character and her legacy. No one can deny her, the first female animated character to have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, her impact on the film industry, on the Disney company, and on multiple generations of fans- from bonafide Hollywod A-Listers like Clark Gable and Carole Lombard who literally CRIED at a "stupid cartoon character"'s death and countless youngsters trying to get by during the depression, to adults who see themselves in Snow White to this day and a whole new crop of youngsters who find joy in Snow White's song. She isn't just a thing of history and of inks and paints- she is a product of so many people's talented labor and love and input, and if she wasn't, she- like any other material property- would've faded away with the passage of time, long ago.

Again, as much as I'd love to continue going into this, my creative content has gotten stolen so many times. But I do have more to say and I'm planning on doing it in a special project, on a much larger platform. I'll update you all on it when it's ready to be shared, but I'm doing something that will hopefully resurrect love and reverence for Snow White to the mainstream and will make all of the hard work and research and studying I've accomplished, over my entire life, come to fruition in a way I'm so excited about 💗

[joons]

Top 5 villains in the real life story of Elvis's life/legacy?

Tom Parker / Andreas van Kuijk

Everyone else pales in comparison. It's hard to convey the extent of his cruelty and control. He stymied Elvis professionally, creatively, and personally, sabotaging his opportunities, relationships, and interests. He knew how to make Elvis doubt himself, and absolutely everything that went wrong in Elvis' life can be traced back to Parker and the very deliberate way he isolated and undermined Elvis. There are no words. Bottomless hatred. Every day a new revelation.

Hal Wallis

Wallis was the producer of Elvis' films for Paramount. Despite being one of the first people to recognize Elvis' acting talent, Wallis made a choice to keep him in horrible roles because he didn't believe audiences would ever take him seriously. In a public interview, Wallis told the press that Elvis films were terrible but that he had to keep making them because they made enough money to finance artistic films for Paramount. It broke Elvis' heart. Wallis also impressed upon Parker that Elvis gaining any amount of weight was unacceptable, thus leading to Elvis developing an eating disorder where he would starve himself for weeks at a time.

Steve Dunleavy and the Bodyguard Book

In the last year of Elvis' life, his dad fired three of his close bodyguards/members of the Memphis Mafia: Dave Hebler, Sonny West, and Red West. Feeling hurt and disrespected, the three agreed to do interviews for a tell-all book by Steve Dunleavy. The three of them would later claim they only went to the press to douse Elvis with cold water about how bad they thought his drug habits had gotten, but even if that was the case, they had no business agreeing to work with someone like Dunleavy. Dunleavy was a favored reporter of Rupert Murdoch, who, I kid you not, hated rock 'n' roll so much that he commissioned a takedown of Elvis while he was still alive. Murdoch believed that taking Elvis down would generate enough discourse to keep some of his struggling papers in business, turning Elvis into a symbol of the lower classes who wasn't worthy of serious consideration as an artist or compassionate understanding as a human being. The bodyguards were paid for their interviews, and Dunleavy proceeded to use their quotes to write what Murdoch wanted: a scandalous, seedy tell-all that turned Elvis into an object of ridicule. Worse, of course, was that Elvis' friends were party to it; it led to so much stress, grief, and anger for Elvis in his final months. He worried constantly about it, afraid of what Lisa and his fans would think of him afterward. Elvis: What Happened? was published two weeks before his death and set the tone for a genre of Elvis muckraking that continues today.

Dee Stanley and Sundry

Dee was Elvis' stepmother, who married his father Vernon shortly after the death of Elvis' beloved mother, Gladys. There was always going to be friction between the two just based on the speed of the remarriage, but it didn't help that Dee had originally tried to seduce Elvis (nothing doing) before turning her attentions on his dad. Elvis never liked Dee, and the feeling became mutual. After his death, Dee published a memoir that was a near-complete fabrication, writing anything that she thought would disgrace Elvis. The worst claim she made was that Elvis and Gladys were incestuous. Several of Elvis' friends nearly punched her when they appeared in a room together for a television interview. Her sons were heavily influenced by Dee's perspective and have kept up the same escalating, baffling claims to make money.

Alanna Nash

Unfortunately a widely cited and respected Elvis researcher, Nash has such a willingness to entertain "new" stories about Elvis that she falls for hoaxes and lies on a regular basis. Sometimes she escapes criticism by presenting her books as "oral histories," essentially raw interviews with people who knew him, which at least mostly allows the reader to decide the veracity of each account for themselves. But she bolsters her other books with sketchy psychoanalysis and innuendo intended to smear her subjects, or at least generate some rumors that will grab headlines. For instance, she claimed to have unearthed a theory that Col. Parker left Holland because he committed a murder there. Sounds exciting and even plausible given his reputation, but digging into it, the evidence is so slim and sketchy that it could really only be published by someone like Nash, and only after his death. Another example is how credulously she treats Byron Raphael, a serial liar who claims Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley (who spoke for a total of three minutes in their lifetimes) had sex (which Byron got to witness, of course!) and that Natalie Wood had sex with Byron in the next room after Elvis couldn't "do" it for her. When a longtime Elvis researcher questioned the article Alanna wrote with Raphael for Playboy, she said, "If Bill Burk was critical of [Raphael's] integrity, I'd say that's because Bill was jealous he didn't find Byron first." Uh-huh.

About gossip involving Parker's possible murder, she said, "I want to be clear in saying that there is no hard proof that he committed this murder, [but] in my heart of hearts, I believe he did." In another interview, when questioned, she snapped that anyone who says she "accused him of murder can't read."

The biographer Albert Goldman is a lot worse than her, like, on every level, a truly vile, insane person who wrote screeds (they are not biographies, they are a cry for help) against both Elvis and John Lennon. But Alanna loves Goldman and cites him a lot, and she irritates me more because she has a better reputation than she deserves, while Goldman is widely considered to be a disgusting hack.

I could probably include a few others, but as much as I might dislike other people in the Elvis story, they get the benefit of the doubt from me because at least they aren't these folks.

[retconsatlightspeed]

The Saber & The Last Jedi

Continuing my post about Luke on the Island, I think I want to focus in on how I would have handled that weighty piece of symbolism.

It's a common talking point among the chuds that Luke tossing the saber was "disrespectful" to starwars fans, and while I think most of them are idiots, I think I'd change how that note was played.

Like a lot of fans of the 1.5 good movies in the sequel trilogy, I was really disappointed that Rey didn't get her own saber (or any actual jedi training but that's for another post) until post the resolution.

Fallen Order is by far my favourite piece of starwars media ever, so I'm infinity biased towards meaningful character growth as expressed through laser sword construction.

So here's my Pitch:

Have Luke drop the saber after Rey hands it to him. Holding it with reverence for but a moment before it slips from his hands. Play the following moment for laughs, sure, as a shocked Rey races after the priceless heirloom down all those stone steps she just spent an hour walking up before it tumbles into the sea (have her make that adorable panic/confounded scrunchy face) but then we turn the camera back to Luke and we see our lost hero is awash in utmost sorrow. For Rey the saber symbolizes hope, heroism, king arthur style YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE shit. Her job was to get it back to him, a nobody playing errand girl for a legend. For Luke, that sword is a representation of all his failures. His failure to live up to the legacy of the Jedi, his initial failure to defeat Vader, his later failure to stop Kylo, his failure to protect the galaxy since. That saber is HEAVY, and he cannot carry that weight.

The Saber is going to be the central motif around which this mentor student relationship is going to be formed. It's a passing of the torch, but not in the heavy handed IP servicing manner of Rey taking on the skywalker name. We're going to go back to the roots of Starwars as a Samurai story, As a martial arts story, and we're going to do it using the themes that episode 7 established god damn it.

Quick recap of my headcanons and a few things you need to know:

Forces awakens is centrally ABOUT the legacy of Starwars. There's nostalgia and fan service, yes, but it also has a lot to say ABOUT nostalgia. That's why our main villain is a Darth Vader fanboy who's at the head of an army of Neonazis, none of which are happy that all these... other people hold any power in the galaxy

In my own telling of events, Luke went to the island not to give up, but in an attempt to reconnect with the force after Kylo defeated him and severed his connection. His isolation started as an attempt to become the hero the galaxy needed him to be again, and he's all but lost hope.

Rey asks Luke to come back and join the fight, Luke says he can't, he's not ready. Delightful bickering ensues with Rey being flabbergasted that the hero she's been inspired by since childhood would sit by let things in the galaxy get worse (hey there new fans, this remind you of anything?). Luke, now a crabby old man, gets to use all of Mark Hamil's genius comedic delivery.

Eventually we're led to a scenic overlook/meditation circle and Luke Challenges Rey to reach out and feel the island. It's a holy place, suffused with the force, and here we get to see a bit of what Luke must have been like as a teacher, calmly guiding her through the opening of her force-sense the way that Obi-wan taught him.

Luke, serious: "Can you feel it... can you FEEL it? Racing through everything, Binding everything together? " Rey, awed: " Yes... I think...I Yes I.." Luke, deadpan " .....because I can't"

More Shocked Rey, more bickering, Luke's getting more resentful, it's like the galaxy threw this girl in his face to remind him of everything he failed at (it did, he just hasn't realized what that MEANS yet). Luke puts his foot down and tells her to go home, he'll come back when the force has spoken to him and told him how to fix all this.

Rey almost considers it... she takes a step down the trail while Luke moves to return to his hermitage, there's a pause.

R, hesitant, turning something over in her mind, knows Luke is carrying so many burdens and she's about to add more: "You really can't feel the force anymore?" L, irritated, barely paying her any more attention: no R, turning to face him: Then you wouldn't know.... Han Solo, he's dead.

Luke, looks at her, all his sourness melting away but it's different than when he held the sword. This isn't the old Jedi master feeling the weight of his burden, this is Luke Skywalker, the boy who risked everything to save his best friends, learning that one of those friends has died and he didn't even know. Twenty years on a rock trying to find an answer to save his friends and he's STILL failing them. He crumples, Rey rushes to pick him up she's all apologies she barely understands. She was there she saw it happen, she let it happen, she FELT it happen

L, talking over her, grabbing onto her robes and arms to PULL himself up and look at her face to face, there is a FIRE in his eyes now, This is Anakin's son. : "Come inside, Tell me Everything"

There's a few more beats I want to hit but I'm not sure about the exact order.

Luke Reunite with Chewie and R2

Evening's fallen and Luke comes to share Rey's fire as she looks out over the sea. A shared sorrow has bridged the gap between them a little. Luke insists that he can't come back, Rey protests, but he interjects that he can still do good. He's willing to teach her. She felt the island so she must have some talent. Rey is blindsided, she honoured by the prospect but she thought she was just bringing Luke back, she doesn't have time to train, she has to get back to her friends, the resistance, the fight against the first order. Can't he come back with her? Luke clues her in that the force brought them both here, to this place, it's special, it's their chance to rebuild the Jedi the right way.

Something something subspace beacon signalling back to their friends that they're alright. Gives us a chance to cut away to the B story for a while.

Rey's training is going spottily. she's got an instinctive connection with the force, bolstered by the island, but she's chafing against the Jedi temple approved curriculum that Luke salvaged from his first school/the empire's archives. She already KNOWS how to fight, but she's trained with a staff, so when they're using training swords she keeps attacking form a further reach or grabbing what would be the lightsaber's blade. Luke chides her about burning off her hand (he's got a metal one)

After a particular frustrating lesson they get into Rey's preconceived notions of what the Jedi were like ( more accurately, what LUKE was like, because that's her one touch stone) and how when she was left alone on Jakku she would imagine all these things. T, and then a pause about Rey being left alone, a comedic and decisive " I'm NOT your father" from Luke, followed up with " One thing I've learned, you don't need to be from somewhere to be special. The force doesn't care, and its better that way" . This leads them to commiserating about how AWFUL their respective desert planets were. We see that they're growing closer.

Also a chance for Luke to hint about his personal life, he was close to a few people over the years ( Wiggle room for every shipper in the galaxy), but between dismantling the empire and founding the new Jedi he never had time to start a family, there was always something else ( here we see how much being "the hero" has taken from him.)

End of the movie's coming up, it's been something like a month or two. Rey's weathered and calloused but she's in the best fighting shape she's ever been. She's got pretty good with the lightsaber but it's slow going. Luke's really gotten back into teaching, Rey help inspired hope in him, but now he's putting the weight of heroism onto her shoulders, hoping that she can correct HIS failures, the way Obi-wan did with him. R2 has been waging war against the porgs infesting the falcon, Chewie has himself a cozy little fishing hut by the shoreline and is fully on vacation by this point.

Rey fails yet another Jedi test, both she and Luke are frustrated. Our friends have recovered important information in the B plot and Rey knows that if she doesn't rejoin them soon she's effectively going to miss out on the next movie. A forboding storm thunders on the horizon, Luke catches Rey looking at it and cautions " You're not ready for that" , idly rubbing the place where he lost his hand. Rey questions whether she'll ever be ready. She's not him, she's not a Jedi, she's Rey from knowhere and however lucky she's been up to this point she was never MEANT to be here. It SHOULD be him. Luke feels shame again, and ends the lesson, tells her to get ready for supper. Rey eyes a nearby boat.

Cut ahead, Chewie's got a weird but delicious alien fish ready to eat and the rain is baring down outside. Asks where Rey is and we have a bit of fun with the puppets, before he looks outside the window and centers our view of a section of jagged rock barely cresting out of the waves, far from the island.

Rey's paddled out to this crumbling stone edifice and is doing saber katas on the stones in the middle of the storm. It's clear that she's done this before but never in such harsh weather. She slips, makes mistakes, but keeps on with it. Her form is approaching the super elaborate flourishes of the prequel era. The thunder rumbles and lighting strikes one of the rocks nearby her, causing it to crumble. She refocuses on the storm. The rumble reminds her of the earth splitting open back at starkiller base, jumping between rocks reminds her of her fight with Kylo. She goes through it again, harder, trying to make up for inexperience with effort. The wind howls worse and thunder rumbles again, Rey leaps in the air and DEFLECTS LIGHTING WITH HER SWORD, causing the bolt to streak off and cause an explosion in the water. Then another, then another, She HAS THIS, mostly.

Out of the depths comes a giant predatory eel monster, drawn by the explosions and looking for a snack. She could probably take it if they were on a level playing field, but she's on a very un-level series of rock pillars and is going to have to fight both the monster AND the weather.

The fight is tense, jumping between rocks, dodging waves and lighting bolts and razor teeth, slipping and falling into the water, barely managing to scramble out. Just when she's ready to land a killing blow the beast thrashes, getting hold of her leg in its jaw and CRUNCHES, shredding muscle and bone before throwing her aside to brutally impact a stone pillar and sending the saber out into the ocean. Ray, desperate, knowing the creature is closing in reaches out for her weapon with the force just like she did at the end of the last film.. and just like last time it comes ripping through the air, only to be struck by lightning in the middle of its arc. Shock sets in, she tries to get up and it becomes very evident that she's both badly injured and has broken atleast one of her legs. Disbelief surges through her, shame, failure. Getting the shit kicked out of her might not be worse that DESTROYING LUKE SKYWALKER'S LIGHTSABER.

The beast rises, ready to devour her. Rey's hurt it and there's more malice than hunger in its eyes at this point. The thunder rumbles again, and there's a flash... and the familiar sound of the Millennium Falcon's guns firing cuts through the sound of the storm as it lands a direct hit on the monster.

Cut to Luke Skywalker in the GUNNER SEAT . He's left the island and in a moment of desperation he's remembered that he was still a hero LONG before he became a Jedi Master. Force or no force he's still that idiot farmboy who heard the call of someone in trouble and left everything behind to save them. With Chewie at the helm The Falcon does a strafing run through the storm to scare the eel away before lowering down its platform to get Rey back up. Cut to a shot of Luke on the platform bathed in light which is shining down on Rey, his hand outstretched to her this time, the hero she heard about as a kid. The Force has delivered the answer he sought.

It's the next day, the storm has parted and the clouds are picking up the colours of sunrise. Rey's bandaged as best they can, wrapped in a blanket, Luke's changed out of his hermit robes and into something nice... ish. They look out over the water and once the niceties are out of the way, Luke Mentions that they're getting ready to leave.

Rey is shocked, she's not ready, she wasn't ready for the lighting stones so she won't ever be ready, she's never going to be a Jedi.

Luke agrees, but maybe that's not such a bad thing. Like him the Jedi lost sight of the people for the sake of an ideal, and trying to stick to that ideal is what kept him on this island while the galaxy descended into war yet again. It was the same dogmatism that let his father sip down the darkside and doomed the old republic. Doomed them. In trying to recreate their ways he was losing sight of the people again, lost sight of his nephew.

He will be the last Jedi, but she's going to be something else, something better, and he's going to Be there for her the way he wishes his mentors could have been there for him.

The sun's risen while they were talking, Chewie roars, R2 beeps, It's time to get going. Luke says he's all packed and pats the holster containing the Jedi texts he collected, but asks her if there's anything she's forgetting.

Rey's puzzled, before Luke nods to the sea.

R: " But It's... I lost it, it's gone" L: "Nothing's ever gone, It just... changes, and everything has to change sometime."

Rey holds her hand out to the ocean, tentatively, she pulls, but her force falters, her faith wavers. Luke's hand settles over hers. He still hasn't gotten his powers back, but together they pull and the broken pieces of his lightsaber come up from the water, glistening, dawn playing in the kyber crystal.

The Gang takes off in the Falcon, off into what we realize is a binary sunrise, it's a long hyperspace Journey back to the Resistance. Interspersed we see Rey tinkering on something, putting that scavenger knowhow to use. The Falcon Lands, we have a wordness reunion between our friends. Luke and Leia, Rey, Finn, Poe, and Rose (looking a little worse for wear after their adventures). Everyone is crowding around Luke, but we see Rey being helped into a high tech cast, which allows her to stand on her injured leg Without needing to use her staff, like she has been since disembarking. Standing proudly as she can, and mostly to show off to her friends, flips a newly installed switch midway down the haft, causing the upper end to ignite in a flickering blade, the Pieces of Luke's old saber incorperated into its design. It's not like any lightsaber that's come before it, but it's hers. The shot pans out as she realizes that more and more eyes are turning to her, Luke having silently directed all the attention that was on him to her, his apprentice.

The torch has been passed, and we have a new hero.

[meara-eldestofthemall]

Hello Bat-gran 👋.

What were the decisions, good and bad, made about writing Tim and Damian (and by extension others) that led us to having 2 Robins?

Is this a problem textually, or a problem with DC as a company?

Thank you for the great ask. What an excellent way to start 2024!

The blame for the two Robins can be laid firmly at the gnarly, ugly feet of DC. The Editorial Staff has a long, disturbing history of making staggeringly bad character decisions. Worse yet they seem to hire writers who make even worse storyline decisions. The Robins dilemma is a perfect example. Let me explain.

When Damian was first introduced he was supposed to end up as a villain. That’s why he was so darn unlikable at first. The writers wanted us to hate him and boy did they make it easy. Then DC did an abrupt about-face and decided to make Damian Robin. They shoved Tim Drake out of the cape into the Red Robin suit to make room for the new kid in a manner fans still dislike today. It did neither Tim or Damian any favors but only seemed to cement the divide among Robin fans.

Half of the fans loved Damian. He was like a miniature Wolverine; violent, raw and disrespectful in a way Robin had never been before. It was a completely new take on the character. The other half of fandom loathed him as Robin and really, really wanted Tim Drake to remain in the role. Tim was the everyman, the Peter Parker of the DC universe. He’d taken the role to new heights and people wanted him to stay. 

So DC did what they do best - the wrong thing. 

After the not-nearly-fast-enough death of the New-52, the Rebirth universe featured Damian as Robin and Tim as Red Robin but in his old Robin suit with an RR shuriken stuck on it. See! Tim isn’t Robin, he’s Red Robin!

DC changed Tim back to just Robin (and made him 16 again) right around the time Damian quit the role. The original storyline was to have Damian become an anti-hero if not a full blown villain. That ground work was laid during Damian’s Teen Titan run where he had the illicit prison. Tim was given a sharp update of the Robin suit (we will not talk about the whole “Drake” debacle) and was working with Bruce again. 

Then DC Bloodbath of 2020 happened and Dan Didio plus a lot of other employees were fired. The massive shake up Dido wanted to introduce (5G which would have seen most of the legacy characters sidelined) was gone as well.

DC had changed direction. Again.

Damian was back in as Robin but with a new costume. Tim was still Robin and came out as Bi. Unfortunately this only compounded all the old problems. 

While an excellent character, Damian simply does not work well as Robin with anyone but Dick Grayson as Batman. He and Bruce are forever at each other’s throats and, quite frankly, his character development is hobbled by being Robin. 

Tim not only works extremely well as Robin to Bruce’s Batman but darn well all by himself. He’s far too independent to be considered the traditional sidekick. But since he came out as Bi DC can’t move him out of the Robin mantle without facing potential backlash due to the message that move would send (Robin is too important to be “sullied” by having a queer person wearing the cape). 

DC’s unwillingness to plan for the long term, and stick to those plans, is how and why there are currently two Robins. DC’s inability to learn from past mistakes is why we’re going to have two Robins for the foreseeable future. Could I be wrong? Gosh, I hope so but after more than 50 years of following Batman and crew, I highly doubt it.