#and only me alone have context

[welcometogrouchland]

It's mostly the fault of poor editorial practices that B&R is so heavily misaligned continuity-wise w/ the main batman book. But walk with me for a minute:

You are Damian Wayne. You are 14 years old and have had one of the worst years of your life last year. Which is saying a lot.

Your brother, one of the people you were closest to, got shot in the head and forgot who you were. Your best friend went to space for a week and came back 3/4 years older than you, taking away your previously established dynamic and leaving you to have to bond all over again w/ a new one. You may or may not have gone wayyy too far with your new superhero team, who now all hate you, because you fucked up big time*

And worst of all, when you do try to do the right thing, you end up forced to watch Alfred, a father figure to you, the only one at your birthday that year, the person who has been so patient, loving and trusting with you, even when you probably didnt deserve it...die. you watch him die, and feel it's all your fault.

And your dad never corrects you on that last point. So you run away.

First to your mom who can tell something's up with you, she knows you don't give up that easy, you decide not to stay with her because you remembered how actually, neither of your parents are good at communicating with you despite their best efforts, so now you're 14 and flying solo.

And you do fly solo. For a while. Make new friends, new enemies. You think you're better off for it. You've got your best friend and your brother back. They're not around as much. It's fine.

And eventually your dad tells you that it's not your fault that Alfred died. Bit late but it's appreciated. Really. There's a bit of a hiccup where you get possessed by a demon and wage war against your father but after that, all in all, you two are...together again.

You start to think maybe you want to give him another chance, for the two of you to be father and son.

And in a change of pace, it works out! It's going good, mostly. He insists you go to highschool, you resist, feel like he wants you to be something that you're not (wants you to be normal), but eventually you acquiesce for your own reasons. He cheers you on at soccer and nosies around at your fundraising events with the other parents and gives you a stern talking to about your choice of girlfriend. Because he cares.

Except all the while this is going on, your dad is currently having his brain slowly taken over by an evil version of himself that he created and every time you look away he's slowly tearing your family apart (your brothers are just barely keeping it together. The ones who didn't get lobotmized that is Jesus Christ). You keep taking his side in these conflicts, for whatever reason. Maybe because he promised it would be different this time, and it isn't** and you're going to stick with him until he keeps his word for once.

But at the end of the day?

It's like your brother says. You're not the one who saves him. Broadly speaking, you've made things worse and needed others to come save you. And what else is Robin really for? You thought it was about redemption and teamwork but guess you're wrong. It's about saving your self destructive, apparently two-faced and erratic father. And you can't even do that right.

* TT (2016) by Adam Glass is a racist ooc mess, but unfortunately it's still canon so I'm referencing here, though like a lot of works authors clearly wish weren't canon but are, it's been subsequently glossed over. Win? Maybe? Or not?

** again Zdarky's characterization of Damian is so outdated as to be ooc, and considering the way he constantly and explicitly uses it to illustrate Tim's strengths as robin, I'd argue there's. Also implications there. But the batshit insanity of the main batbook compared to B&R rn is crucial for this post, so I'm attempting to justify it. This time..

[girlmetalsonic]

something that is like the baseline of amys entire character to me is that shes lonely. shes clingy and physically affectionate in a way none of her friends really are, shes always getting pushed aside and left behind. yeah, she helps out people she doesnt know because shes a nice person, but also, she sees part of herself in them. she wont leave someone else behind because she knows the feeling —and more importantly, hates the feeling. if she doesnt have somebody to stand by her and be there for her, then shes going to be that person for everybody else. something something her obsession with sonic is really just like a manifestation of that desire for closeness with someone, and she thinks that romance is the only way to get that. idk... this hedgehog can have so many abandonment issues.

[moonviewer]

"I will keep going forward, no matter how hopeless it might seem."

(please do not repost my art and just leave a link to it if you'd like to share instead, thank you!)

[palossssssand]

Reconciliation

Old dome squadmates Trito and Kinoga get together at Trito’s place to catch up after years apart and a meeting by chance on the surface.

⚠️Warning for suggestive content below + implied chest trauma

After several weeks of chipping away at this, the comic is finally done! Very happy to have rendered a full 7 pages of oc stuff. Please give it a read!!

read the full 7 page comic on twitter! <-please do not click if you are a minor and view at your own discretion, this link contains explicit 18+ content. Thank you!

For the lore, includes stuff from splatoon Octo Expansion: Trito and Kinoga were a part of an octarian military squad living in the domes, Kinoga being their squad leader that many looked up to and admired. There were 6 of them who considered each other to be their closest friends. Upon hearing about the tests from Kamabo Co. and the allure of the Promised Land, Kinoga wished to seek it out in order to find a better life for their squadmates. A difficult decision, since it meant leaving them all behind, promising to come back and take them there.

Kinoga enters the metro trials and soon realizes that the Promised Land isn’t what they expected, their hope crumbling when they encounter one of their sanitized squadmates Agara, who followed suit to the metros soon after. Kinoga narrowly escapes, eventually making a break for the surface, carrying the shame of unwilling to return for their squadmates with them (it’s justified, of course, there might not be an easy way in, they might get caught again, Agara is gone)

Trito enters the Metro not too long after Kinoga does, wanting to catch up to them, and an accident that occurs in a test early on results in Trito’s near sanitization, giving him his scar. Terrified, and realizing what happens to his fellow octolings, Trito is unable to return to his squadmates, not wanting to break the news of their loved ones’ untimely fates. He hides away on the Metro until the events of OE happen and Agent 8 dismantles Kamabo, opening an opportunity to escape to the surface. Unwilling to face the possibilities of going back, Trito takes his chance to leave, starting a new life and feeling that it’s for the best if he doesn’t acknowledge it, though he missed his friends dearly.

Years later, Trito and Kinoga run into each other on the streets of Splatsville by chance, and the implications of them both being on the surface and alive hit them, having to carry the burden of leaving their loved ones behind and finding out the truth, knowing the other felt exactly the same, not knowing the fate of their squadmates and not wanting to think about the possibility of them being gone. They have a tearful reunion about it, and set up a meet later, to sit down and really talk, and get into a brief argument when the topic of returning to the domes comes up. Trito’s in disbelief that Kinoga never went back down to check on the rest of their squad, wanting them to have been a better person than him, who was too cowardly to do so. Eventually they do reconcile, and end up at Trito’s place to hook up, where the above comic takes place :]

[thornswoggled]

@ivimidnite173 you have put worms in my brain. are you happy? is that what you wanted? i have not been able to stop thinking about this and ive decided to make it everyones problem

for your consideration:

i dont earnestly believe this will go anywhere especially given that lindsay st george says in ch 96 that chise could "disrupt the order of the college," like i dont think it would be necessarily beneficial to the st georges at all, but i think its sooo interesting to think about. the prospect of chise being paired with someone else could also force elias to figure out the real reason he wanted chise to be his bride, because there is still no way he actually knows

i think they could have a loveless genderfuck lavender marriage. i should be allowed this, as a treat

[brown-little-robin]

just had an extraordinarily vivid dream that my family (with the exception of me) decided to go to Japan for the summer/fall with their closest friends, and they left me alone in charge of our empty house without even asking if I wanted to go too, and

[commsroom]

to me, the question of whether hera would want a body is first and foremost a question of autonomy and ability. she has an internal self-image, i think it's meaningful that the most pivotal moments in her character arc take place in spaces where she can be perceived the way she perceives herself and interact with others in a (relatively) equal and physical capacity, and that's worth considering. but i don't think it's about how she looks, or even who she is - and i think she's the same person either way; she's equally human without a body, and having a body wouldn't make her lived experience as an AI magically disappear - so much as it's about how she would want to live.

like most things with hera, i'm looking at this through a dual lens of disability and transness, both perspectives from which the body - and particularly disconnect from the body - is a concern. the body as the mechanism by which she's able to interact with the world; understanding her physical isolation as a product of her disability, the body as a disability aid. the body as it relates to disability, in constant negotiation. the body as an expression of medical transition, of self-determination, of choice. as a statement of how she wants to be seen, how she wants to navigate the world, and at the same time reckoning with the inevitable gap between an idealized self-image and a lived reality, especially after a long time spent believing that self-image could never be visible to anyone else.

it's critical to me that it should never imply hera's disability is 'fixed' by having a body, only that it enables her to interact with the world in ways she otherwise couldn't. her fears about returning to earth are about safety and ability; the form she exists in dictates the life she's allowed to lead and has allowed people to invade her privacy and make choices for her. dysphoria and disability both contribute to disembodiment - in an increasingly digitized world, the type of alienation that feels like your life can only exist in a virtual space... maybe there's something about the concept of AI embodiment, in particular as it relates to hera, that appeals to me because of what it challenges about what makes a 'real woman.' when it's about perception, about how others see her and how she might observe / be impacted by how she's treated differently, even subconsciously. it's about feeling more present in her life and interfacing with the world. but it's not in itself a becoming; it doesn't change how she's been shaped by her history or who she is as a person.

i think it comes back to the 'big picture' as a central antagonistic force in wolf 359, and how - in that context, in this story - it adds a weight to this hypothetical choice. hera is everywhere, and she's never really anywhere. she's got access to more knowledge than most people could imagine, but it's all theoretical or highly situational; she doesn't have the same life experiences as her peers. she has the capacity to understand that 'big picture' better than most people, but whatever greater portion of the universe she understands is nothing next to infinity and meaningless without connection and context. it's interesting to me that hera is one of the most self-focused and introspective people on the show. her loyalties and decisions are absolute, personal, emotionally driven. she's lonely; she always feels physically away from the others. she misremembers herself sitting at the table with the rest of the crew. she imagines what the ocean is like. there's nothing to say that hera having a body is the only solution for that, but i like what it represents, and i honestly believe it'd make her happier than the alternatives. if there's something to a symbolically narrowed focus that allows for a more solid sense of self... that maybe the way to make something of such a big, big universe is to find a tiny portion of it that's yours and hold onto it tight.

[atissi]

this is a joke. i hated business school.

(conversation with @thesweetestclementine)

[wellthatschaotic]

neurotypicals are so frustrating,, i keep forgetting that "can you do x" means "go do x"

[kruxton]

mfs who watched boboiboy too much as a kid are now one piece fans

[randomnameless]

i know you said hopes had negative character development for the cast, but who do you think is better in hopes than in houses?

Better like in better writing, or better as in I appreciate them more?

Without a doubt, I'd say Felix and Sylvain who are better in Nopes than their FE16 versions, and in a way... Rhea herself, thanks to having more screentime when she isn't PTSD'ing lol

Call it chauvinism, but Sylvain in Nopes was scrubbed out of everything that made him... unlikable/feel flat in Houses.

His sob story about people only wanting to fuck him for his title/crest really felt... straight out ripped from some High School AU, with John McChad acting like an ass because the only girls who want to date him are interested in his situation as a heir of his dad's big company, and not because they love him. Yay. Great. Perfectly what I'm looking for in my medieval fantasy game where you whack people with swords.

Add to that the focus on crusts being the supposedly only reason why people are lusting over him - and not because, hey, you're a member of one of the most important noble houses in the Kingdom - to play in the general "crust bad" orchestra that can lead on the Supreme path, and the fact it's never ever adressed, and we have... this, which completely, to me, hides the other parts of Sylvain's character - like being someone who thinks outside of the box and resolves to lessen the reliance on his relic to defend the border by... creating a situation where they'll be no tension at the border, aka, a peace with Sreng.

Now, Sylvain works so well in Nopes partly because all of his "wah ladies only want my penis because i'm rich :'( " is erased, so we see a character who takes his duties as the heir of Gautier seriously, assists his Lord and friends and bring "new ideas" to help everyone. Sylvain, under his frivolous appearance and behavior, actually thinks and learns and suggests a lot of things that are quite useful, a bit like a "what if Sain wasn't only interested in courtship, but was raised as a future lord and had insight and suggestions on what to do". So sure, it's not as quirky and memorable as John McChad's sophomore year of school, but it fits better, imo, in the FE series.

As for Felix, well, it's more or less the same, his entire "duh boar bad chivalry bad and stupid - but wait no don't die and i'm sorry to have hit you dad i liked you but I was too busy playing the tsundere that I never got to say it to you before you died" schtick felt... old and annoying in FE16.

Sure, Felix can have his own, personal feelings about Dimitri being a hidden boar, but Felix is also the only heir of Rodrigue, and will become the next Duke Fraldarius, aka the second most important person in the Kingdom after the King himself, and the one tasked to protect it. Should Felix completely ignore his feelings and do what is expected of him, or take his role seriously? No, and Nopes has him give some "boar this, boar that", but Felix isn't a petulant 16 years old who wants to be "edgy" anymore, Felix is the next Duke - something he never shied away from, especially in his FE16 paralogue! - and has to start learning the job, thinking about Faerghus in something else than small jabs thrown at Dimitri and how to protect its people and second the King.

Heck, Felix's support in Nopes with Dimitri where Dimitri confesses about the ghosts, where Felix tries to carry him, the more or less cutscene where the general feeling is him saying to Dimitri he can count and rely on them... Given how FE16's Felix was written, even in AM, I can't see it happen before Rodrigue's death... and yet, in AG, Rodrigue is still alive (his optional death doesn't change those scenes), so when FE16's Felix realises there were more important things to do to help both his friend and country and dad but he only noticed it too late because he was too busy... being edgy, Nopes has him drop the edgy act (not completely drop it though, else it wouldn't be Felix anymore!) and act (lel) as his FE16 self, but only, without needing his dad to die first.

As for Rhea...

Having more screentime seriously helps, just like being allowed to talk about non plot relevant things with someone else than Billy or about Billy, I gushed a lot about the Nabatean paralogue, but it depicts her relaxing with her family (pissing on the "u r the only person i can talk to myself not the archbishop" pandering shit from FE16 even if FEH pissed on it first) and making tiny baby steps at apologising and confessing part of her guilt (for something completely stupid like Seiros the Warrior "borrowing" Cichol's shield to gift it to Willy!) to a member of her family.

Would that mean she would have confessed about the rez Sothis plan to Seteth earlier on? I... don't know, don't think so, and we don't have enough interactions between the two.

Compared to FE16 where she is an oyster until Billy turns green and Seteth nags her again and again and again, here she willingly makes the first step to apologise... sure, it's for something silly and not, resurrecting their mother, but it feels like a small progression (tiny baby steps) from FE16 where she has to be reveal stuff due to forced circumstances.

I also like how it sort of teases (or maybe that's just me lol) Seteth realising that Rhea still misses days long past to an unhealthy degree (tfw too much nostalgia), or just, having to remind her twice that those days are gone. Would he later realise her strange nostalgia hides something more deep, and ultimately her wish to "return" to those days by resurrecting Sothis?

idk, it's fuel for HCs and AUs, but for what it's worth, this paralogue and Nopes in general help flesh out Rhea more than what FE16 does, aka tying 80% of her mentions/appearances to Billy and Sothis.

(hell, in Nopes, she finally has lines with Flayn!)

[landofgay]

y'all pls hype me up to quit my job today I'm shaking and nauseous from how anxious I am

[so-long-soldier28]

i hate being a low empathy autistic because i never have the correct response for emotional situations. i can't feel the pain that others feel, and i can't "put myself in their shoes" to understand. and it's not that i don't understand sadness, because i do - i understand it greatly, i just struggle with the empathetic part of it. so when i'm approached with others' emotions and they expect me to sympathize with them, i look like a sociopath because i can't, and i can't fake it either. but then i don't show them the correct response - the one they're looking for; the empathy that they seek - and then they get frustrated with me, and it hurts, because i don't want to hurt them just because i don't understand them. it would be easier, sometimes i think, to be a sociopath.

[fortes-fortuna-iogurtum]

hey hey when Paul (or whoever that was writing the book of Hebrews) tells us not to complain or God might strike us dead, how do we separate that from toxic positivity

[blueskittlesart]

Hi! As someone who now kinda wants to check out Trigun because of the hype, do you recommend that I can start with Stampede? Or do I really need to watch the OG anime first to better understand/enjoy it? Thank you! 🙋🏻‍♀️

you can start with stampede! i'd say knowing the context of the original enhances the experience but isn't necessary to enjoy the show. I would consider stampede more viewer-friendly, especially for those of us who are used to modern storytelling conventions (the original suffers the consequences of general writing trends in anime at the time it was produced and of the fact that it was produced long before the manga was finished, so the story is somewhat disjointed and has a lot of filler which makes it REALLY hard to get into.) if you do end up liking stampede, however, I'd suggest trying out watching at least SOME of the original because it adds a lot of cool nuance and context to the story that stampede tells!

[feline-evil]

I love my dear sweet elderly cat so much and i do not blame her for the careless situations other people outside of my and her control put her in, but good lord is her brain roughly the size of a pea at the best of times. Dearest darling kitty if you velcro yourself to my leg when i am trying to rescue you from the rain flooding the garden where you unjustly got let out into it makes it significantly harder for me to get you inside nice warm safe house, and if you try to triple somersault off my leg it makes it deeply hard for me to unlatch your claws from my trousers where you are death gripping me in disgust of rainwater and the texture of my clothes.