#and then when you add comics about other characters in the mix.......then it will probably be over 3000

[arabian-batboy]

I want to see how many comics the average person here reads and while you're at it, please tag your answer and the name of your favorite character (I want to see if there's a correlation between those two)

[thegirlwhowrites642]

After reading your meta on Harry's looks and how James and Sirius are equals because of their similar good looks, now I keep thinking how Ron and Harry are never going to be equals because Ron is weird and unfortunate looking (seriously the way Rowling always describes his looks is almost comical) and he's Harry's follower, never an equal; not to mention if we add Ron's jealousy streak in that mix and now I'm just sad 😭 I do wonder if there's ever going to be some cracks in their friendship after war because of that huge imbalance, because Harry is only going to get better and better after war and I wonder if Ron would be able to handle that.. Great metas anyway!

Omg I can't believe I forgot to answer this!

You are making me feel bad for Ron too, lol.

[the original post is this]

The first thing I should probably say, even if you sort of already said it, is that Harry and Ron are never meant to be equals, and not just in looks. The story never presents them as equals, contrary to James and Sirius. Ron is Harry's helper and he is built as a character to be that (because let's remember that these are characters, not real people, they are tools that serve a bigger picture).

That said, Ron is definitely not conventionally good-looking. Harry is really quite brutal when it comes to describing the looks of his best friends, he has the spirit of an old judgemental grandma.

There's a way in Italian to describe how I think Ron looks that as far as I'm aware doesn't have a translation in English, if it has it then I'm about to give you a completely unnecessary explanation.

In Italian when there's a guy who is average-looking but not in a boring way, you say that he "is a type". This basically means he is a random guy but if you are particularly into certain traits he has then you might think he is cute.

Ron is certainly not handsome but he is very tall, he is a keeper so there's a good chance he has large shoulders, he has blue eyes, he has a long nose, big hands, and lots of freckles. I don't think you can say he is boring-looking.

I also have a hard time imagining someone like Lavender being into a guy who is straight-up ugly.

So, I'd say Ron "is a type".

Now, about Ron and Harry's friendship. I think by the end of the series, Ron has done already a big part of the work he needs to do on himself when it comes to his insecurities in the sense that it would be clear now he has them and that they can lead down a quite dangerous path. Of course, this doesn't mean his insecurities would suddenly disappear, but I also think we need to remember that a lot of things would change after the war, it's simply part of the process of growing up and making new experiences. Ron and Harry would make other friends (not that they would stop being friends between them) and that would do them both some good frankly. I think Ron being able to use his social skills for himself instead of to parent Harry would increase his self-esteem a lot.

Ron going to work with George instead of remaining an auror shows significant personal growth. Wanting to be an auror for Ron seems a bit like his need to be in the Quidditch team, a sort of necessity to prove to himself he is on the same level as his brothers (or better).

Developing himself outside of a person who needs to be there for Harry and being successful with his business would help Ron a lot.

So, while claiming Ron would become a very confident person seems a bit too much, I don't think he would spend his days being envious of Harry.

And strictly in the looks department, I believe it would help a lot the fact that they both already have their witch.

[turboacek-blog]

Aqualad: most underrated Young Justice story

Just wanted to kind of layout how interesting his story was as I feel of the OG team his reserved personality makes him not stand out over the rest and some only thought he was interesting when playing the bad guy in season 2

Aqualad a young adopted kid training to be the next Aquaman with his best friend, and is in love with a girl. But he takes the opportunity to be Aquaman’s sidekick which takes him away from his best friend and crush

Only for him to come back in some months just to find that his best friend got with his crush…

And he has to essentially still save the day and be the hero, come to terms that he lost her due to his “job” while not being upset at them the arguably two closest people in his life

Like this is in any other medium is a movie in itself

Add through season 1 he’s the leader of a bunch of interesting personalities and was like the calm big brother of the team

Then in the time skip, his crush joins the team meaning he can finally spend the quality time with his crush he had to sacrifice before, and it’s a bit unclear if they ever got together during this time but on the mission she dies on your watch…

Not much time later you find out that your mentor/King’s enemy is your biological father so dealing with all these emotions is again it’s own movie itself

Not even going to go into the whole double agent thing in season 2 that people already like

But then one of your best friends Wally dies and you’re thrusted back into the job as your other best friend grieves his own way leaving mostly on your own

Then in season 3 he does it he becomes Aquaman he’s another leader of the Justice league everything is going seemingly fine

But does fall too deep with the secrets again…

And between seasons 3&4 he finds a new love

But all this time his first issue keeps coming back of balancing work and life which is how he lost Tula before and how he perceives to have lost Superboy until later revealed he’s fine

Idk I think Kaldur has the sneakily best story through the show in total

Characters like Nightwing adjust with each season more to fit that season's story than something overarching, and Miss Martian will always have her identity problems and so on but I feel the others weren’t as detailed as Kaldur I feel

I’m just saying you could easily make an amazing movie animated or real life about Kaldur the secret son of a villain learning under a hero and on the way has to juggle the problem of hero and villain and work and life and love or duty

You would literally just need to adjust his hero name tbh as I don’t think general audience will wanna watch a movie called Aqualad tbf

Like Garth got the Tempest alternative when he’s not Aqualad either swap that as Garth is still kinda seen more as Aqualad due to comic history and teen titans or just give him a new name as a character like Tim Drake will probably always be Robin primarily but he still has a couple of alternate names he can go by

Random but I kinda of like Tide, from Tidal Wave or Rising Tides or a play on his comic counterpart Jackson Hyde

And for visuals Kaldur has the Atlantean magic that Aquaman doesn't have so he can water bend for a more interesting power set as Aquaman is basically just super strong with no aquatic life around

Plus can generate electricity has weapons etc. giving him a mix of Queen Mera and someone like Robin

Idk I just feel that this version of Aqualad you could make its own version of the story just about him and be well received by a majority

[laufire]

tell me more about the Bruce Wayne womb envy theory

LOL. alright then.

tbh this was mostly a joke, born from this post (+ probably influenced by the way one of my mutuals talks about david 8 in the alien prequels but that's neither here nor there xDD)

(david 8 character of all time though. I have mixed opinions on both of those films but he as the common thread uniting them is *chef's kiss*)

(also I don't really believe these men / "men" in david's case want to be pregnant but that's because I can't conceive of anyone wanting to be pregant if nature has spared them the ability to become so whether they choose to or not, but I acknowledge those are MY gender issues. bruce can have others if he wants xD)

but if I was to take it seriously and run with it, I'd relate it to how I can see bruce... wanting to have had his kids earlier in life. seeing them grow, getting to enjoy them in those early stages when they're cute and fully depend on you and don't argue back, etc. that desire would be tinted with guilt in dick's case and to a lesser extent tim's, I suppose. I've always seen dick's parents and the environment in the circus presented as a positive one for dick (I have yet to read any of that court of owls shit lol), but I do think the drake's were neglectful/emotionally distant/not people tim could rely on, just not in the way or to the extent fanon presents. otoh... well, there's an argument to be made that maybe the waynes and the drakes weren't so different, or were around the same place in the spectrum of parenting in terms of good versus bad (source: thomas backhanding bruce in batman #430), and that bruce might've had blind spots with them as a result. I have yet to read any comic where bruce judges the drakes parenting though I wouldn't be surprised if they did exist, cause he's hypocritical like that. either way, I think tim's not in the same place as dick in this scale of guilt vs. saviour complex lol.

meanwhile in jason's, cass's, and damian's cases, that wouldn't be an issue because he'd seen it as sparing them pain / saving them. which wouldn't be innacurate, although there's an argument about whether being raised by bruce would've fucked them up in other ways lol.

and ironically, I think bruce would feel this saviour complex the most with jason, despite his situation with the todds (no matter whether you believe they were shitty parents or just fellow victims of circumstance or something in between) being objectively not as much of a shitshow as being raised the way cain raised cass OR being raised within a cult with the expectation of eventually leading it, like damian.

I attribute this to how bruce's classism always made him perceive taking jason in and adopting as the act of saving jason, both from his situation and from jason's "fate" of becoming a violent criminal himself, while cass and damian came to be in bruce's care under different circumstances. and second, to how bruce perceives jason's abilities vis a vis cass's or damian's. cass and damian were trained, obviously weren't born knowing, but they are "prodigies", if only because of how young they started. bruce doesn't even seem to contemplate the possibility of them distancing themselves from the fight. moreover, jason was trained later and by him, specifically because bruce felt lonely, all of which would add a feeling of responsibility for jason's end. but most of all, due to his death (+ might makes right + just world fallacy + other such fun things), jason's abilities are perceived by bruce as lesser, and as less of an ~inherent part of him.

so, yeah, jason will always trigger his saviour complex in an extra fun way xDD

all of this to conclude that now I have this vision of bruce having a weird dream soon after jason's death where things are happy at home (his parents are alive in the dream, because that's a prerequisite for a happy one), and dick is a much younger kid than he was when they first met (it's sort of implied dick is also biologically his but not outright stated), and he's pregnant, and he knows it's with jason, who's safe and sound encased in bruce's body, where nothing can reach him.

(I wrote a bruce + grief fic very recently already but this idea is also tempting me now ñalsdjfasf)

[beartitled]

Can you do some more comics with Francis mosses

I can, but the problem is

That I’m pretty much out of ideas and I’m progressively getting tired of tnmn fandom

Ppl who look at my tags probably noticed that 😓

More of my thoughts under read more for curious ppl

(short answer maybe I will do more, but I desperately need a break from tnmn)

! Just a general warning: this came out kinda long + sort of venty

Originally I planned to do 1 comic drop and move on, but got stuck bc ppl liked tnmn comics and kept asking for more (and still do-)

Generally I don’t mind doing more if the ideas are there, but I want to address this: I’m tired

I know blowing up is usually a good thing and I appreciate people enjoying my stuff

But it’s exhausting to see that tnmn is the only type of content which is relevant, to the point that my own projects or stuff I enjoy are just kinda.. ignored

It’s fair – again my blog is heavily fandom based

(+Tsp were and still is kinda the focus)

But with tnmn fandom it’s a bit… different

Maybe I’m biased and it’s just my negative experience with tiktok comments

Remember this art?

cleaning up transphobic comments was.. um tough

Again, I get that you can’t be in that neat bubble completely sheltered from negativity

Humans are just assholes by nature really/j

So I was expecting the backlash, but not that much

I think maybe tsp fandom spoiled me a bit (in a good way), bc I got a feeling that everyone in tsp was positive of any lgbt+ headcanons and just generally more supportive

(don’t get me wrong, there ARE problems in tsp community too, taking narrators design controversy into account as one of the examples)

Obviously every fandom always has it’s own issues, show me at least one fandom that didn’t have some sort of meaningless controversy or some sort of problematic people in it

It happens

But it leaves a bad taste in your mouth sometimes

And for me personally it only added to not so pleasant experience

The thing I also noticed, when I interacted with other fandoms

Ppl wrote positive stuff first and foremost, not really asking for anything

Here it’s just “hey more. I want more. Do more. Do this character. Do this. Do more.”

The only reason I kept doing more, because likes, reblogs, views – these comics get a ton of attention

there is a audience to please alright

But this thing comes with a pressure tho

and it shows

so let me illustrate

This bookcase

Is my shame

Because I was so rushing, I just copied and colour corrected this bookcase from my diploma comic and pasted it here in hopes for the best

💥IT LOOKS HORRIBLE OKAY💥

Usually it’s normal to take materials used in other projects

the not so normal part is

to leave it like that because your stress reducing tea doesn’t work and you don’t really have time to redraw it

my m en ta l s t a t e i s f i n e ah ah h ah ah

Ok but jokes aside: it’s really tempting, to just abandon everything and produce content like some sort of content farm

But I don’t want to, I’m forcing myself and it makes my art worse

Yes it’s subtle, new people won’t even see this

But I’m not improving

And I don’t enjoy just anxiously popping out comics because everyone keeps asking

I can give it my all to something when I’m passionate, but just “hey I’m getting attention” is not the best motivator

Attention like that does get to my head, I know that I will probably give in again and do more, bc I will compare my posts engagement

But what’s the point of recognition, when you feel.. so numb about it…

Sorry for a mountain of text and thank you for ppl who actually took their time to read it

It’s been building up for a while and I feel like people need to know the reason why I’m not so enthusiastic about making “more”

I’m not necessarily completely abandoning this fandom

I still plan to do ask/suggestions event for STP (I’m just making sure I can dedicate my time to it, that’s why it’s taking so long) and I can add tnmn to the mix

Like STP+tnmn kind of deal

But for now – I need a break

At least for a little bit

[assassyart]

Odd question.

Who would you say was more unfairly sidelined?

Angela Cross, Sasha Phyronix or Talwyn?

Hmm. That's an interesting one. Sure, I'll bite!

I guess this may be a bit controversial, but I don't really think Angela was "unfairly sidelined" at all. She had her place in the story in Going Commando, a prominent one at that, and despite me thinking her arc kinda sucks in GC, it doesn't erase the fact that her character was basically done after Going Commando. Her one goal was to stop Fizzwidget Qwark from releasing the crazy Protopet.

It's only now with ACiT and RA that Angela actually serves a purpose beyond Going Commando (and even saying that is a stretch, considering the purpose as of right now is just a mix between "where did she go?", "is she a lombax?", and the fact she is presumably with max apogee). She was never *intentionally* sidelined, in my opinion.

Overall, she was just a fan-favorite side character until they accidentally messed up with the whole "last Lombax" thing, and she didn't really seem all that important to the main characters beyond being a girl Ratchet thinks is pretty and wants to impress lol.

The other two, on the other hand... they both have it pretty bad.

Sasha is never brought up after Deadlocked's intro scene until the comics, post-ACiT. Even in the comics, Ratchet and Sasha's relationship is barely touched on, so we don't really have any idea of why they broke up besides that one site that claimed it was because of political differences. Sasha is treated like she wasn't important to the cast when she clearly WAS important to, at the very least, Ratchet. She isn't that important of a character to the story which is why I wouldn't be all that surprised if we don't see her again, but she was still IMPORTANT to a character and that alone means she deserved more than just an offscreen send-off in the comics.

It's like they specifically took Ratchet to a completely different galaxy so they could avoid past characters and introduce new ones, and OH HEEY WAIT A MINUTE, does this kinda sound familiar...?

Because it happened again. That's essentially the same thing that Rift Apart does. To avoid the elephant in the room (Ratchet's important relationships with other characters that would add to his hesitation with risking it all to go find the Lombaxes, i.e. Azimuth, Vendra, Talwyn, Cronk, Zephyr, Tachyon, etc.) they straight up just ignore having to talk about those characters by putting him in a position where they will never realistically be brought up— a different dimension, with new characters.

Despite Into the Nexus cementing Talwyn as an important character and RA being the sequel to Nexus, Rift Apart chooses to play it as safely as possible by vaguely mentioning her in one very easily missable dialogue that is, while cute, not important whatsoever towards Ratchet's inner conflict.

If this was the first time her character was treated like this, it wouldn't be a big deal... but this isn't the first time. She was (allegedly) axed from A Crack in Time, axed from Full Frontal Assault, had her role minimized in Into the Nexus, and was reduced to a credits cameo in Rift Apart. Anytime she DID have screentime, it was rarely spent developing her or her goals, and instead developing Ratchet's character and motivations.

Things do HAPPEN to Talwyn, but they happen so that she can be more relatable to Ratchet, not because it'll benefit her character.

In conclusion: sasha got the worst of it by being completely ignored until the comics because she was too cool and capable and will probably never show up again. angela isn't that bad because she still gets referenced and the door is still wide open for her to be included in a future game whenever IG decides they've had enough fun messing with going commando fans, but i do understand and sympathize with the pain of waiting over twenty years to see her again. aaaaand talwyn is a big ole mess but she's my mess so i love her no matter how many times they cut her from the games :D

[mintacle]

Jason Todd being girl-coded, you've opened my eyes! You are so right and suddenly a lot of things about him make sense (including why I like him so much), especially with how the narrative treats him (right down to turning a morally complex character into a straight-up card-carrying villain who eats puppies, ironically right around the time they did that to another female character, Talia). Jason is even written how I (a girl) tend to write angry victim power fantasy female characters. Like yes babygirl, scream and rage against the heavens about how unfair it all is!

I remember a post calling Jason "the Punisher for girls" except... yeah he kinda is. The Punisher is a male power fantasy with all that implies, while Jason is such a girl power fantasy and written with a lot of the usual negative narrative bias female characters usually get.

Except if we're honest and look past the superficial similarities of lethal force and guns, the narrative role of Batman is far more like the Punisher than Jason. Jason's role is the Punisher's daughter. Jason is if Lisa came back and was angry after what happened and big parent man Frank had to try to keep his (hysterical emotional angry-like-a-girl) daughter from crossing his arbitrary lines because she was going "too far" and tragically, he's unable to "save" her from herself and he must Move On while his child gets locked up or lies dying behind him (I can seriously imagine exactly how a proper Lisa-is-back plot would go down it's crazy how similar it'd be to Jason's return).

And another way Jason is girl-coded is that he's mentored by Talia, a woman. In comics you don't see male characters mentored by female ones often. Sometimes they can be taught specific skills by them for a brief time (like Tim and Shiva) but Talia's role as Jason's primary mentor and caretaker for several years is pretty unusual in comics.

True!! I'm glad my posts resonated with you so much. :)

I don't really know anything about the Punisher so I can't add my opinion to the mix, but other people will probably recognize your point.

But! On the subject of female characters mentoring male characters @benbamboozled made a great post actually about how women are seen as Having A Specific Skill or Expertise to teach whereas men are mentors For All, or For Life. And yeah Jason does break the rule absolutely! But we also don't get to see to much of that on page. He is in Talia's care for years, but other than Lost Days and utrh we just don't get to see these two interact. I either made a post or drafted and forgot about it, how DC won't publish Talia and Jason working together because it is vital to DC's agenda of keeping them marginalized that they each be alone nomatter how much reason and history they have to be in more frequent and meaningful contact.

At the same time, we really only see Talia caring for Jason in a motherly context, she isn't cast quite in the role of a mentor, rather sending him around to teachers than teaching him herself. It's a step in the right direction, but the fact of any mentoring and most interactions occuring off-screen, as well as their relationship being ignored later, or ret-conned like in the utrh movie where Talia was kind of replaced with Ra's.

For me a lot of Jason's girl-coded aspect arises from his opposition to Bruce who embodies patriarchal ideals. To some extent Jason is in the role of every person who has been let down by the patriarchy. The system we were told is for our benefit as well and which has let us down. It's about how we were let down by this world we thought was fair when we were smaller and trusted to be protected. It's about how our own father's have let us down, even if the time we last thought of them as protectors might have been many, many years ago.

None of these experiences are exclusionary to women either. I am not a woman, but I am queer. And I have been let down both by the idea that my father could ever be my protector instead of the one I needed protection from. And I have been let down by the idea I used to have of a world that would give me a voice without me having to prove myself every step of the way.

The need I have for more interaction between Talia and Jason is so much about two people villainized and victimized by the same patriarch-favoring narrative bonding and rising to challenge and upset the status quo. While I am aware that it will never happen and that DC already left Winnick a lot of leeway to have made Talia play such a type of role at all, logically it should be what follows.

Jason is girl-coded, but he also drinks his respect-women juices.

[silverwhittlingknife]

Idk if you read ao3 but if you do…….. got any Dick fics to share?

afdsf You have come to the right place. I read so much ao3, anon.

Dick Grayson Fanfic Recs

General notes: This is a mix of fics I associate with Dick, so some are straightforwardly "this is Dick's POV and a story about him" (like a soft place to land) whereas some are more loosely "this is the POV of one of his siblings who's just thinking about Dick a lot." Post-Crisis is my favorite continuity/tone, so everything is post-Crisis unless otherwise noted, but I happily read nu52/Rebirth or WFA-style fics when I like the authors, so there are some of those in here too.

I just skimmed through my bookmarks and picked out some fics I have fond memories of, so I tried to add content warnings when I remembered, but caveat lector - check the warnings in each individual fic before you read! (Mostly: be advised that there are both Good Dad Bruce and Bad Dad Bruce stories.)

Things I like include plotty long fics, timeline shenanigans like de-aging (and broadly, anything that emphasizes change over time), angst and hurt/comfort, characters with flaws and interpersonal tensions and misunderstandings (and reconciliations <3), explorations of trauma and grief, and Dick and Tim's relationship. So, uh, this rec list is going to be pretty shaped by those preferences.

Okay! Let's do this.

Organization:

Plotty ensemble fics with Dick in a lead role

Dick & Tim fics

Dick & Bruce fics

Dick & Jason fics

Dick & Damian fics

Fics that didn't fit into the other categories

Plotty ensemble fics with Dick in a lead role:

Exactly How This Grace Thing Works by irnan: Dick gets de-aged. You'd think this would be a routine thing. This fic is so great, you guys.

How Far Love Goes by flybynightwing: This one isn't just about Dick - it's an ensemble fic with great plotting and great writing for everyone, especially Steph - but at its heart is a very careful consideration of Dick and Bruce's relationship in all its complexities, from the bonkers highs of Golden and Silver Age comics to the darkest parts of post-Crisis and new 52. (cw: parental abuse, read the content warnings carefully)

from the till-then to the ever-since by kieron_oduibhir: This isn't precisely Dick-centric so much as it's mostly Dick-POV, but it's really good! Everybody meets their younger selves, and I especially enjoy the contrasts between Robin!Dick and Nightwing!Dick.

'no' and other four-letter words by a_good_soldier: Dick reassessing everything with Catalina, much later. (cw mentions of rape)

the man with guns for eyes by 8sword: Dick comes back from the dead. New 52 continuity, post-Spyral. Angst.

bad signal by prismatic-et-al: Not Dick's POV, but it's a great ensemble fic with Dick at the center. Hard to say more without spoiling the plot.

Dick and Tim fics:

a soft place to land by bitimdrake: Tim gives Dick a gift on the One Year Later cruise. Possibly my favorite Dick and Tim fic in the history of time ever. Perfect character voices, perfect story, perfect everything. <333 I reread it regularly.

long distance by bitimdrake: AU where Bruce is really dead and Dick finally gets a phone call from Tim. It's so sad and lives in my mind rent-free. (I also really love pain/release, which is hurt/comfort for Tim.)

Holding the Line by birdchild: Dick having anxiety dreams and getting comforted by Tim. ;_; Very canon-conscious with lots of thoughtfully-integrated references. Part of a really wonderfully-written Tim-and-Damian-centric series, and you probably have to read the series in order to understand this one-shot - and if you like those characters at all, you should!

When It Rains by vellaphoria: After Cass and Tim return from Paris, something seems… wrong. Dick investigates and ends up facing memories of his own. Really nice balance of dealing with ignored-by-canon traumas but the characters still sound like themselves (cw mentions of rape)

We've Taken Different Paths, Traveled Different Roads by sohotthateveryonedied: A moment of reconciliation post-Blackest Night ;_;

The Center Cannot Hold by kieron_oduibhir: Dick having a bad day and getting comforted by Tim and Bruce. New 52/Rebirth continuity.

the oracle at delphi by kieron_oduibhir: Future fic. The POV characters observe Dick and Tim. Hard to say more without spoilers. Trust me, it's very clever!!

Choco Bombs by lurkinglurkerwholurks: Tim POV, but the focus is on a moment of Tim comforting Dick in the Red Robin era. Mostly WFA-style but with post-Crisis influence. (The same author also has some excellent longer ensemble fics where Dick plays a minor role but is consistently well-written when he shows up.)

wake me up before you go go by incogneat_oh: short one-shot: Tim sneaks into Dick's apartment, Robin-era. General note - I only picked out two one-shots, but this author has done a bunch of WFA-style fics which are universally charming and lots of fun.

there'll always be a few things, maybe several things by incogneat_oh: short one-shot: Dick seeks out Tim after a nightmare, Red Robin-era. ;_; Low-key angst.

Road to Damascus by irrelevant: dark AU where Batman kills Zucco and Dick's parents don't die. Fascinating world-building and great character voices. (cw: explicit sex scene between Dick and an OC early in the fic - it's not important and you can skip it but just generally think of this fic as an r-rated movie)

There in the sudden blackness by camsthiSky: Dick and Tim tension in the Batman: Reborn era. Dick and Tim POVs.

things that don't kill us by polsvoice: This one's really Tim-centric but it's all about Tim missing Dick ;_;. After the events of Batman #71, Tim makes a visit to Ric. Nu52/Rebirth era, Tim POV.

and the shapes that you drew may change beneath a different light by popsunner: Tim-centric but I think of it as being about Dick because his absence is the hole that the whole fic's shaped around. ;_; Nu52/Rebirth era, Tim POV, Tim and Damian bonding in the aftermath of Dick's death.

spill of the war by 2012bookworm: "You dosed yourself. With Joker venom." Tim-centric, but Dick is a major character, trying to fix Tim while not-so-secretly crumbling himself. Dick's a barista, but not done in the way you'd expect. Very angsty.

exit wounds by Shari Deschain: very short one-shot in the very early days of Tim-as-Robin

Dick and Bruce fics:

almost right by bitimdrake: Bruce-centric, but it's about his relationship with Dick. (cw mentions of parental abuse)

in the dark of the night by fanfictiongreenirises: Dick & Bruce, through the years. AU where Dick gets adopted last.

deep roots are not reached by the frost by fanfictiongreenirises: in a future where everyone gets along, Dick gets de-aged to several different ages and has to process how the world has changed. I love how different the various incarnations of Dick feel. (cw mentions of rape and parental abuse)

shoulder to shoulder by lurkinglurkerwholurks: Dick and Bruce at Janet Drake's funeral.

the lower and coarser soul by dustorange: absolutely perfect slice-of-life with Dick, Bruce, and Tim (cw mention of Bruce punching Dick)

Dick and Jason fics:

Recollect, re-collect by Ptelea: A spell gone wrong leads to Jason reassessing some things. Jason-centric, but it's mostly about his relationship with Dick. Fantastic writing and plotting. New 52/Rebirth continuity (Spyral, Tim's close to Jason instead of Dick, etc.).

The 70 Days After Groundhog Day by Ptelea: Fascinating concept - Jason experiences a traumatizing Groundhog Day, but the whole fic is from Dick's POV in the aftermath as he pieces together what happened - and wonderful slow-burn writing. New 52/Rebirth continuity. (cw: mentions of rape).

Dick and Damian fics:

the primacy of personal conscience by birdsofthesoul: Brilliant concept (a wishing well that grants wishes - but it might be evil!), whirlwind plot, and a great take on Dick that doesn't lose his edge. Damian is a minor character but an important part of Dick's motivations. Read if only for my favorite take on Talia ever in the last chapter. New 52/Rebirth continuity.

3:16 by partingxshot: With faltering steps, Dick and Damian become Batman and Robin. Lovely writing. Canon notes: closely tracks Morrison's B&R and Leviathan.

Fics that didn't fit into my other categories:

It's a Wonderful Earth-218 by flybynightwing: I asked for an It's a Wonderful Life-style fic starring Dick and then I GOT ONE, proving that miracles are real and flybynightwing performs them. <3

If you just call me by flybynightwing: Dick and Donna, through the years.

continuous tense by batofgoodintent: Fix-it for the Mirage plotline. DickKory.

Let Us Be Brave and i want to wake up (i hate this dream) by camsthiSky: One-shots with Dick-as-Batman, depressed and grieving.

Don't You Forget About Me by sohotthateveryonedied: Everybody forgets Dick. ;_; One-shot.

touch starved by envysparkler: Dick is touch-starved and then gets hugged a lot. WFA-style.

feast by envysparkler: The Batkids are magical creatures that feed on pleasure from cuddle piles. Gen ensemble; ch. 1 is Dick & Jason and ch. 4 is Dick & Tim. WFA-style.

Also, I write stories about Dick & Tim sometimes, so, uh. If you're interested, there's

the WIP where Dick meets Tim for the first and second and third time and finds him really annoying,

the one where they spend Christmas Eve together and inch closer to being brothers,

the one where Tim is a wimp,

the one where Dick catches a falling Tim in RR 12, and

the WIP where Dick's trying to solve a mystery and everybody's mad at each other (this one's gonna be heartwarming eventually I promise!! later).

Snippets: Tim's imprisoned in fantasy!Russia and Dick has to disguise himself as an interrogator to rescue him, outline of an angsty fic of Dick and Tim in a world with soulmarks.

In conclusion

Dick is the best blorbo ever to blorbo. There are more fics in his character tag than for any of the other Batkids and yet there will never be enough <3

[newartistgirl]

Lu little details (2)

  Following the last post I made, which, to be honest, hadn’t thought would be read as much as it has been (given the fact that the last update was some time ago I was not expecting to see that much people reading about linkeduniverse), here I bring more little details that always manage to surprise me, and show the thought behind.

1. Legend is, in fact, reading an actual in-game quote from Mipha’s diary. I know maybe this one is not shocking but it’s always appreciated. 

2. The variety of items they use. It’s not just reduced to the most obvious ones, their sword, shield, and bow (being recognisable and distinguishible the designs of each. There you go, more and more details). We also can see items, such as the hookshot, the clawshot, the whip, fire, ice and dominion rods, or even the stasis of the skeikah slate. And some others but not being used, like the rest of items Legend hoards.

3. Does Legend asking Four what he thinks about upgrading the master sword count as a reference to games detail or personalities/opinion detail? However, there it is. While Legend has in fact done that, Four seems somewhat averse to the use of magic swords.

4. An obvious reference to Breath of the Wild is Wild breaking his swords several times. Another detail that may be a little less obvious, not because it’s hard to get but because it may get forgotten, is Wild saying “I’m just glad this wasn’t my good shield”. As we know, Wild probably has a wide range of weapons, and I find really close to my BotW experience the not using the “good shield” case except for accounted occasions. In fact, we never see him using any of the highest damage weapons in his game. Probably this is because he won’t have them in the comic.

5. Just like the Links, all monsters are mixed. Regardless of the Hyrule ore time period thay are in monsters from all games have been showing. I think it’s more than on purpose the fact that after Wind recieves his mail monsters from the Great Sea show up. Like, Time says it. So no, not a big reveal but...

6. Usually little posts not focused on the storyline, due to their purpose, have a huge amount of references, usually shown in a rather comical way. From Legend and the floor tiles, Four frustrated cause no one knows who Vaati is, Time advising Hyrule not to drink from the well, to Malon and the aliens or that impossibly endless magic bag our hero carries around. I  love every single one of these.

7. Twilight thinks of Midna several times. I’m not just talking about when he literaly refers to a princess beatuiful as the setting sun who shatterd his heart into a million pieces, but also when he looks at his shadow in a rather nostalgic way, which, of course, it’s not a common thing to do.

8. Four and that combat againts the octorok. I personally suffered that battle just like he describes it. And I ought to remark Legend’s snarky comment because, even as a short person, found it funny. (I’m gonna end up having to make a post for each Link cause I could also add a lot about this two but about more subjective matters)

9. Wild uses the ladle Sky carved him. And the fact that Sky actually carves is like one of the nicest character details as a reference to the game so far. It’s easy to skip that detail in the game itself so props for adding that.

10. Time loves to quote, and this time, he is quoting his future self. I the comic, when he finishes a fight along Wind, he tells him: “In every battle, you have a little more of the look of a hero” which is oddly similar to what he says to his descendant in Twilight Princess: “You have a little more of the look of a hero than you did before”. Not complaining. Any reference to the Hero’s Shade makes me happier. 

11. All that conversation between Twilight and the veteran turned into a bunny is full of references to their games that, obviously, happen to be past events in the heroe’s lifes that may or may not have had a big impact on them.

12. Sky being the one to run out of breath. If you have played Skyward Sword you know about the stamina wheel which, ulinke in BotW, can’t be upgraded.

13. Bellum and Vaati references are more than “references”. I frankly doubt someone missed those. However, theres a more sublte reference Four makes while talking to the Rancher. In this scene he talks about Dark Mirrors, this being a reference to his adventures, which Twilight inevitably connects to “his” mirror. (Love also that scene. Easily one of my favourite duos)

I probably have skipped a lot more cause the comic is full of them. I hoped you liked this. If while reading I notice more I make another part, but for now this is what I have. Happy new year btw!!

(I apologise in advance for any spelling mistake. i’m not a native speaker)

[orionsangel86]

Subtext Glorious Subtext! A Dreamling on Netflix analysis in The Sandman - Part 3

1589

Insert distracted boyfriend meme here...

1589 is when the queer coding starts ramping up a notch. Let me tell you how I am fascinated by their choice of actor to play Shakespeare - a twink with stars in his eyes - amazing. Bravo. Not even Hob manages to look at Dream like he wants to be utterly ruined by him the way this actor looked at Tom Sturridge. Here on Tumblr.com I am sure we are all very much aware of the theories and speculation about the actual Shakespeares sexuality with the consensus being that he was probably bisexual, and my GOD have they decided to lean into that on this show.

There is a lot to analyse in this scene. Hob’s dialogue about what he has been up to is almost word for word the same as the comic, but Ferdie’s delivery is perfect with its mix of flirtation and desperate need to impress. Look at this dramatic fool:

Dream’s curious reaction to his bragging is almost as if he is trying to figure him out, but unlike the comics/audiobook, the conversation between Shakespeare and Marlow is interspersed with this one, with Shakespeare pulling Dream’s attention before Hob has even finished talking. This adds extra tension to the scene and raises the emotional stakes. In the comics, Hob had already finished talking when Shakespeare gets up and starts reciting Faustus to the point that he draws Dream’s attention prompting Dream to ask Hob who he is.

One of the interesting changes made is the removal of Hob’s description of Kit Marlowe as “bent as a pewter ducat.” A wise choice as it comes across as somewhat homophobic, but its removal also serves to not “other” Marlowe and therefore “other” the idea of homosexuality as something different to Hob. The other similar change to the show was the removal of Shakespeare flirting with the waitress whilst Marlowe claimed he’d “stick to boys, my horned “actresses”.” 

It’s funny to me that by removing the moments in this scene that canonically confirm one characters queerness, the show also removes any interpretation that could “no homo” the other characters, ultimately making everyone appear much gayer in general!

(My giffing skills are woefully inept so have an image of Shakespeare's heart eyes instead)

When Dream approaches Shakespeare in the show it is insanely heated. The music swells with mystery and intrigue, Shakespeare stands and stares at Dream in complete awe. Enraptured by Dream’s gaze. The whole

“Have we met?”

“We have, but men forget in waking hours.”

Sounds like the ultimate pick up line. It's basically a play on One Upon A Dream from Sleeping Beauty in my opinion! This line is in the comic, and also in the audible book, but the delivery of the line in the show is the only time it comes across like a come on. Tom Sturridge please explain yourself?!?

In fact, all the acting choices here blow my mind. Seriously. I wanna know what the director told these two. Its really easy to see Dream’s proposition to Shakespeare as something beyond a business transaction. With the mysterious and rather romantic music, the soft candlelight, and the cameras keeping in close up of the two characters as they hold each others gaze... It’s a moment where you raise your eyebrows and wonder if the show just implied that their lead character just took THE Shakespeare off for a one night stand passionate enough to inspire the entire “Fair Youth” series of sonnets.

Joking aside, it doesn’t help the extremely queer undertones when the camera cuts back and forth between Dream, Shakespeare and Hob looking on at them with an expression one can only describe as hurt.

(Gif link)

It’s the editing in this scene that really sets it apart from the comic and audible book. Dream is distracted throughout Hob’s talk, and continues to look over at Shakespeare much to Hob’s apparent distress. When he eventually gets up to leave, he holds a hand up to stop Hob talking and simply walks away. Which only causes to further upset Hob and heightens the emotional intensity of the moment. As Neil Gaiman said in the episode 6 watch party - Hob is having to watch his date get up and leave him half way through. It’s specifically framed in a way to emphasise the hurt Hob feels, as well as the envy towards Shakespeare.

This is far more subtle in the comic and practically non existent in the audible audiobook where Dream actually tells Hob “Excuse me” before approaching Shakespeare. I found this funny because where the audiobook interpreted Dream’s behaviour in the comic as rude and clearly sought to attempt to change that, the Netflix show makes his behaviour worse by framing it as Dream abandoning his date. Playing up the emotions of the moment and making the whole scene come across like a live action distracted boyfriend meme!

I do encourage every Sandman fan to listen to the Audible audiobooks, but fair warning, the tone is NOT the same. The meeting with Shakespeare is played completely straight (in both senses of the words). This is in no way a criticism of the audiobook, but it is an excellent indication of director decisions and how different elements in different mediums can convey certain tones. I find that the show in general plays heavily into Dream being other and oftentimes it is very easy for other to be subtextually layered alongside queer (see the entire history of queer coding in cinema and why gay people love the horror genre). Interestingly, the audiobook doesn’t give Dream this same vibe. People such as Hob, Shakespeare, Constantine, etc, they just treat him as a bit of a posh lord. His otherness isn’t heavily emphasised in scenes set in the Waking World, indicating he is better at blending in than he is in the show.

So after Dream goes off to ravage Shakespeare - ahem - make a business arrangement with Shakespeare, the final 1589 scene is Hob’s final reaction. The line is the same across all mediums.

“Everything to live for, and no where to go but up.”

In the comic, the final panels here do not give any indication that Hob is upset by Dream’s leaving. He get’s distracted by the joys of having white bread. Simple pleasures please comic!Hob far greater than mysterious black clad lords.

The audiobook follows this along to the letter. Audible!Hob is joyful, laughing and happily reminscing about killing for bread (NGL I don’t particularly like Hob in the audiobook. No offence to Mathew Horne but 1. I can’t separate his voice from Gavin in Gavin and Stacey, and 2. I just think he comes across as really laddish and I find it offputting.)

In the show, Ferdie gives an absolute brilliant performance with just the right mix of hurt at being ditched for a young twink, and hopeful optimism for the future. Gone is any mention of killing for white bread, and in it’s place is a thoughtful Hob who looks at the spread of food laid out for his Stranger, and accepts it almost as a consolation prize. He’s gonna eat through his hurt and try to forget about this for the next century, but we all know he won’t forget at all.

Follow on to Part 4 to read my analysis of 1689

[thesillys]

The Sillys' Showdown OCT!

Hey, Tumblr artists! As you can see, this is a Law of Talos / Endzone / Castle of Nations fan account! We would like to make an OC competition with similar aspects to these competitions, otherwise known as an OCT! Your OC shall be battling it out with others on a random planet, in a random setting, to receive the final glorious prize of a train ticket that takes them to wherever, whoever, or whatever they'd like! Your Oc could visit their dead relatives, go back to a nolgastic place, find something they've lost, or wherever else they'd like to go! Rules for your OCs: -No NSFW topics (anything gor3y, s3xual, etc) . If you're not sure if something about your OC is too NSFW, check up with us! Our messages and asks are open. -Can any OC you'd like! It can be a fandom OC or your own OC or whatever, though we'd prefer completely new faces and will choose originals over fanons. -Only one OC submission per user! How to Submit: 1.Go on this google form, asking about yourself, your art, and your blog. (Optional, but would love to get to know you!) 2.Create a masterpost explaining everything and anything important about your OC. You can ramble about anything, though it should include: 1- an image of your OC 2- their name and pronouns 3- family background if any 4- backstory and current life 5- their motivation(s) to be part of this 3.Tag #thesillysmasterocpost and tag us! 4.We'll message you on whether or not your OC got in a day before the list goes up. This competition will rely heavily on propaganda, as probably nobody knows much about your OC (or at least not as much as a character from popular media). When the official post goes up, we shall reveal the official prompt for the tournament. This is inspired by Law of Talos, Endzone, and Castle of Nations, right? We shall set up a setting and the characters have to battle it out in this setting, with certain goals, materials, and obstacles. Your propaganda shall: 1.Say why your OC should win. 2.Explain in detail what they would do during the battle and how they would win. 3.List everything they'll use during the battle, including items from the setting as well as personal belongings. 4.Include a comic strip (or strips if you'd like) of this said battle. You will have at most a week for you and your competitor to complete your propaganda. You will send it in our ask box, as well as post the comic with simply an ID separately on your blog, tagging #sillyshowdowncrazycomic. A day after everyone is finished with their propaganda, we shall post the asks, and a day after the polls, including shortened versions of the propaganda. You can make more propaganda if you'd like for any OC after the polls are up. They will be up for a week. Amount of people on the bracket will be determined based off of submissions, though we're leaning on doing only 16 to not burn out the artists. Last day to submit shall also be determined based of of submissions. Any Tumblr artist is allowed to partake in this showdown! Anyone that can do it can join. We'd like a mix of popular artists, so we can get more people to be interested and therefor more votes, and smaller artists, so they can get clout for their amazing art and OCs! This post was made by Frisk(they/them). My posts are tagged with #friskychicken. My partner on this account is August(any pronouns). Their tag is #thegaymonthaugust. Everything about this showdown shall be tagged with #thesillysscaryshowdown. Comment if we need to add anything or change anything! <3

[solena2]

thoughts/analysis of davepetasprite^2

My feelings on them are kind of mixed! On the one hand, I think they’re an incredibly interesting character with a ton of potential, especially in fanwork, but on the other hand they get barely any screentime in the comic proper and pretty much the only thing they manage to do before heading off on their suicide mission is tank any chance of Davesprite ever getting to complete his character arc in a satisfying way.

As far as canon goes, I think they were probably a poor choice to add in. They don’t get enough of an arc to justify sacrificing a character as interesting as Davesprite for them, and there are some seriously uncomfortable implications attached to their whole “I got fused with a catgirl and now my depression is cured” thing. I think they could have been great if they’d been given room to really explore those implications, but they only get a couple logs worth of characterization before collide, so it ends out pretty unsatisfying, at least on my end. The way it’s framed, it’s almost like they’re supposed to be the conclusion to Davesprite’s character arc, rather than being their own character, which is just… no. You don’t get to conclude a character’s arc by turning them into a different character, that doesn’t work. That’s the start of an arc, not the end of one. Not the last one, at least.

For fanwork, though, I love them. There’s so much about them that’s worth reading into, and they’re incredibly interesting if only because their existence has necessary and intriguing consequences for any setting they’re placed in.

They’ve got memories from two different people, without really being either of them. In Dave’s case, they were the spare already and they’ve got a fair bit of trauma about it, so becoming an even “faker” Dave is bound to have some kind of effect on them. In Nepeta’s case, they’re the only version of her left, and the fact that they can’t be her, even while she’s a huge part of them, is going to Do Things to their head.

I also think they’re lying to themself about not having depression anymore. Like, they know they’re probably going to permadie to Lord English when they head off to fight him and they do it anyway, despite literally no one asking them to. That is not the behavior of someone with a healthy attitude towards the inherent value of their own existence. I’d give even odds as to whether the constant cheer is consciously a front or if they’re repressing so hard even they don’t realize how not ok they are.

I’m genuinely surprised there isn’t more fic of them struggling with The Gender Thing. Like, they’ve got memories of being both a boy and a girl, and they decide to be neither upon entering existence? There are some implications there. Like, do Dave and Nepeta have repressed Gender Feelings? Was Davesprite an egg? Them immediately picking a new gender doesn’t necessarily indicate that at least one of their components was looking for an excuse to trans their gender, but it certainly indicates something. And honestly, that not being the case would have it’s own incredibly interesting implications. Like, is their gender an extension of their identity issues? It could be. I’d read that fic.

Speaking of identity issues… wow, am I right? They’ve got at least two different kinds of impostor syndrome, three years of getting called a fake version of themself on one end and three years spent as a ghost interacting with dozens of alternate universe versions of themself on the other, and that’s not even getting into the whole ultimate self thing.

Basically, I just… I love them. They’re wasted in canon but fandom is fully capable of realizing their potential in its stead and every time I find a fic that does it well I end up rereading it multiple times because they’re just such a delight when they’re written well. They’re also the only nonbinary character in the main body of Homestuck and I’m not about to lie and pretend that doesn’t give me a massive bias towards them.

[writingwithcolor]

I'm considering making Olivia in my modernized comic of Twelfth Night a black girl. However, her character is intelligent but foolish, somewhat obsessive over the protag, considered the most beautiful girl around, and she is dealing with the death of her cousin. Do these qualities fall into any harmful stereotypes I should avoid?

Black heroine is foolish, obsessive, and dealing with loss

I'm not familiar with the Twelfth Night comic, but on a search, the characters appear to be in high school, so teenagers. Based on that, plus on its face, these traits don't read as problematic to me. I will explore areas where these traits can get dicey, though.

Infantilization. sacrifice and dealing with death

Be mindful of infantilization when it comes to her being portrayed as “intelligent but foolish.” Infantilization commonly affects Black people, where others downplay their capabilities and treats them in a condescending, child-like way. Watch out for ableism as a whole, really - what does foolish mean in the context of this character?

With the obsession aspect, I’m not overly concerned - I had my handful of crushes back in the day! Plus, it’s fine to give your Black characters a variety of characteristics. For this one, I'd keep an eye out for sacrificial traits. You can be obsessed without being willing to end your life for someone, especially without having a real relationship with them. 

As for the death of her cousin, it's natural to lose people and grieve, of course. 

Depending on the deceased's character race, gender and other identities, please add more than one of this character of that background. That way, you don't have the only, say, gay young Black man, as a dead character. 

Watch out for stereotypes when it comes to how this character dies, too. Depending on the circumstances, I'd either avoid stereotypical deaths (e.g. sacrificial negro) or make a social commentary out of it that's addressed in the narrative (e.g. death by violence, police brutality, etc.), which aren't light matters. 

If this isn't something you want to address, pick a death that doesn't encroach on these areas.

I hope this helps!

Mod Colette

Commentary

tricksypixie

Fyi, I believe the asker is referring to their making a comic modernizing twelfth night, the Shakespeare play. Not sure if the playtext itself contains reference to characters’ ages, but that character doesn’t have an established age (compared to, say, the old knight in the play).

missavund

If its based on Shakespears Twelfth night then honestly its not a lot of things that hasnt been done. All-girls cast, all-boys cast, probably all-black cast and mixed cast so dont worry about that. Maybe not have Olivia be the only black person though

[phaerlax]

ooh ok for specific wolfboy thoughts- what do you think karu's relationship with the members + garu/aster/morvay are? and interestingly, how come karu doesn't try to "conquer" dante & edmond, who are both humans, the same way as eiden? and how do you think he'll react to rin & vice versa?

also, what was your reaction to garu & karu getting separated (and reuniting) in frozen echoes? (and the implications)

bonus: would you try more garu x karu smut fics, whether AU or canon?

sorry if this is a lot! i enjoy hearing brainworms!

I can be so easily lured into "what is each character's [...]" prompts... listing out my Karu/other thoughts below. I'm going to mix stuff that has a lot of basis in canon with my personal interpretations, because I'm doing this to procrastinate my academic writing and can't be bothered to add proper references.

🐺🦇 Behind some layers of tsun, Karu is grateful for the luxury that Aster provides for them, but he's content to let Garu express that directly for both of them. He likes trying to prove himself as useful by hunting fresh game for the kitchens, helping take care of the pets, and 'patrolling' the areas around the mansion like an unnecessary guard dog. I imagine he causes a few problems by being a dumbass while going about those things, but Aster only cares about that when he's in a punishing mood. It's no secret that in my dark depraved mind Aster has inflicted all sorts of punishments on Karu for bad dog behavior, especially early on; currently, Karu will be less prone to fucking up like that because he's developed a healthy (and mostly comic relief) fear of Aster. He's still generally disrespectful and 'resentful' of past punishments, but he changes his tune very fast if Aster shifts into the shadowed anime glare.

🐺😈 Karu toxically 'looks down' on Morvay for so outwardly enjoying submission and degradation. But Karu is the one person that Morvay won't allow to truly subjugate and degrade him (standards are low but exist). My ideal morvaru scenarios are ones in which Karu starts out all cocky that he's getting serviced or whatever and ends up looking like a hurricane victim and begging for his cock to never be touched again. I like to think that Aster inflicts Morvay on Karu if he wants to punish Karu and reward Morvay. But also, I think Morvay would cut Karu some slack and avoid ratting him out when he witnesses forbidden behavior... for a price of course. I'm sure they've been #PunishmentBuddies a few times too as a result of this. Bonding!

🐺🐍 Karu enjoys how Yakumo's great power and stature (including literal stature) don't influence his submissive and agreeable personality, and that Yakumo doesn't complain about being treated with basic condescension due to low self-esteem. He delusionally considers Yakumo his yokai 'apprentice', and Yakumo is willing to indulge him. 'Willing to indulge him' is the key to Karu 'friendship' IMO. Also, he truly appreciates Yakumo's cooking skills, which makes Yakumo happy, even though Karu probably approaches that aspect of their relationship in a very 'the master and his cook' way. I think that sometimes Yakumo might express that something Karu said about Eiden was a bit hurtful, and that Karu would get all flustered trying to walk it back but not walk it back at the same time.

🐺🥞 Behind some layers of tsun, Karu respects Edmond's great skill at swordplay and his normal 'cool' demeanor, and he's jealous of how much respect and authority Edmond seems to command as one of the most important knights. He wants to be like that as well. I think this is why Karu was so into Blade and Edmond's stage performances, actually, he admires and craves 'celebrity' as a form of power (which makes sense with the model thing they're doing as of Binary Starlight too!). Karu doesn't like it when Edmond goes all Lawful Good on his ass, though. And they probably have some mild spats over desserts. I think their tsuns clash too much for Karu to be interested in 'conquering' Edmond, he goes for easier prey.

🐺⛪ Olivine treats Garu and Karu with a lot of loving, nurturing care and concern; unlike Garu, Karu can easily feel condescended to in that dynamic, especially with Olivine being a human. But with Olivine being Willing To Indulge Him, Karu probably grew to understand and accept the genuine affection. He most definitely sees it as Olivine being submissive and slavelike, though, but I do think Olivine could tut-tut his way out of being called slave. I also think Olivine would bottom for him, to provide positive reinforcement, even if the sex is a bit mediocre, because I don't see Olivine being willing to 'teach' him in that regard, just 'take it' and consider that what matters is that Karu is happy. Anyway, Karu should chew on his tits because he's puppy.

🐺🪵 Quincy confuses Karu because he is a human but also kind of not. If Quincy was just a yokai, Karu would probably idolize him and try to get his attention like the tanuki with Kuya. But since he isn't, Karu feels a bit threatened by Quincy's strength; sometimes Quincy will do something innocuous and Karu will seethe as if it was a flex and try to respond (Quincy: "..."). He's also salty that Eiden is Like That with Quincy and not him. He wants to learn Quincy's secrets, and will demand that Quincy share them. Also, he's very vulnerable to Kuya making shit up/narrativizing about Quincy.

🐺🦊 Do I really need to talk about kuyaru here... Karu wishes he was a Great Yokai like Kuya, but he isn't yet, and it's only natural for a yokai like him to show deference to a Great Yokai like Kuya. It's much less embarrassing than being submissive to a human. He'll do anything to maintain Kuya's interest in having him around, and he drinks up anything that Kuya 'teaches' him while they're at it, since that will help him become what he thinks he wants one day. Kuya hasn't gotten bored of Karu because Karu isn't completely submissive/masochistic: he does what Kuya wants, but he's still embarrassed, ashamed, fearful etc. even as he craves Kuya's attention. Kuya doesn't like attention whores who have no shame (see tanuki).

🐺🤖 Karu likes that Blade will often do what he asks, and toxically 'looks down' on him for that (similarly to Morvay and Blade). I think Karu doesn't admire Blade's skills in the same way he does Edmond's, because of Blade's demeanor (and that changes when he's in idol mode or assassin mode or what have you). This relationship is fun because I enjoy Blade ignoring boundaries and common sense; sometimes, he'll trample all over Karu's delusional narrative with the bare truth of a situation and leave Karu reeling. I like to think that Eiden has explained to Blade a little bit about what a tsundere is, and that Blade applies that knowledge comically at times. I also enjoy thinking that Blade finds GaruKaru super cute and that Karu is a squished cat about it. But he'll contrive situations to get Blade to serve him the vibrating hand pats.

🐺☀️ These two can be a mirror match, tsun on tsun violence, they'll start arguing about some petty bullshit and need a chill character's intervention to stop them from taking it outside. Karu would ultimately not want to 'conquer' Dante because his personality is so disagreeable and non-indulgent towards him, but he'd want to show Dante that he's not to be underestimated. Even though Dante is probably superior to him in most of the things they'd argue about. But Dante is different from Karu in that he doesn't live in a world of fantasy inside his head; he'll argue over stuff he feels righty (or somewhat rightly) confident in, but he'll grudgingly accept Karu's practical expertise in gutting fish or what have you. These occasions make Karu happy. Anyway I want Dante to nonconsensually spank the brat out of him

🐺🦉 Waiting on canon for this one. I used to think that Rei would be very interested in poking and analyzing the wolves' gem situation, in a way that made them uncomfortable perhaps, and that Karu would be the one to bark at him. I didn't expect the curveball of Rei being already related to them. I dig the protective niisan thing they're going for, but I wanna know the specifics of how Rei kept in touch with Karu over the years. And I wanna gauge the feasibility of Rei letting Karu fuck him. It could be an interesting dynamic since Rei usually doesn't care about his partner but he'd care in this case.

🐺☠️ Really no clue about Karu and Rin, since we don't know anything about Rin. It's very difficult for my canon-compliant mind to truly think about him. Obviously I'm super into him doing terrible things to the pups but I'd need reasons, motivations, anything. I don't even know wtf Rin would think about their broken gem. Is it good that it's broken because clan members should suffer? Is it bad that it's broken because it's a disrespect to the Grand Sorcerer? What does Rin think about yokai? What is Rin? Idk and I'm not much of a theorist. Wake me up when we know more about him.

Re: your Frozen Echoes question, I haven't watched part 3 of the story yet lol I have a weird procrastination dynamic with content... but I doubt it will be anything particularly 'waow' since I haven't seen much discussion of it, and I'm not as interested in the metaphysics/psychology of GaruKaru's Situation as you are.

Re: Garu/Karu smut, yes I'm going to write more of it. There's even one close to the top of the queue right now! It's canon compliant, but they'll interact face to face in some kind of dream sequence or something, and Karu is going to bottom because that's my truth. Also, I requested that RiyeRose write a sequel to Twice the Pleasure, that yummy twincest modern AU, so you can look forward to that too... Sungel XD

[seasidemew]

I assume Mundays is asking the mun question idk how these things work X3 BUT who was your favourite character to design, who is your favourite to draw and who's your go to for like getting in the drawing groove?

I think that's the basic idea, but I know other mods do fancier events and stuff.

BUT of the cast specifically, I'd have to say Six was my favorite to design, Eve is my favorite to draw, but Lilith is the one I randomly doodle most for no good reason.

Six was the most fun to design both initially and when I went back to add stripes to the twos. For both her and M1, I found a pixel mewtwo base, gathered a ton of screenshots from their respective films, and went to town on trying to figure out what colors I liked most. I probably still have the psd somewhere, I could show some of that work if anyone was curious. I really wanted to make both of them stand out from the sea of mew/two blogs that existed then (and even more now), but ultimately Six's disabilities ended up being the most interesting thing about either one. Then I added the stripes. Six's specifically are based on the Clone Blastoise from Mewtwo Strikes Back, with some elements of Venusaur's lighter color stripes and the original mew design mixed in. Since Blastoise's markings are mostly on his shell, I took a lot of creative liberties. I initially wanted her to have only the lighter color stripes, but added the darker ones to replicate the points on original mew's tail and feet. She has the most complex stripes of everyone, but finally starting the comic has shown me that they're not that bad once you figure them out.

I just love Eve. Her design is heavily based on an "ancient mew" I made years ago in an attempt to capture the sharp mewtwo-ness of the canon Ancient Mew drawings in the card and the original movie. The perfect missing link. Basically the only changes I made to put her in the blog were to give her a pronounced sternum and refine the shaping of her tail. Plus, the original OC was way more mean and aloof than Eve is. She's fun, she's simple, she's relaxing, she hits all the right notes. I almost said Syn for this, but he's actually a pain in the ass, and I think all of the crackships for him have kind of burnt me out on enjoying him. ... Speaking of which I still have more to do. Oops. Plus, he keeps kicking my ass in Pokken's story mode. To his credit though, he is the one I know most well due to extensive chatting with @mushroom-for-art and such.

Lilith, I love Lilith, I love her hate and anger, I love her badassery, I love her beauty, I want her to rip me in half, I'd thank her for it. She's the reason this blog exists and, prior to the stripes, was the main thing to set this blog apart from the others. Her demeanor is based on the idea that, in the original Japanese script for the film, Mew is written to be a god displeased with the clone made from it. It jokes and mocks and overall doesn't take mewtwo seriously until it realizes how much power its progeny actually has. My headcanon is more that she stopped the battle because she was tired and bored and pissed off, getting mewtwo and the clones to leave so the stupid humans could get out of the way and they could actually finish their battle on her terms. At the moment, I don't know if that rematch ever actually happened or not, though. Anyway, she is usually my go-to because I love her and her character, she's pretty and soft, and she's hard to get right.

Hope that wasn't too long or too dry of a read. Thank you for the ask!

[whispangleblogger]

With how much Tangle and Whisper meas to you.. are there any specific moments in the comics that made you love them? What initiated that spark? :3

That is actually a really complex question for me...

I would say it's the full package ?

Lemme go a little bit into detail here, i try to split this into two parts:

Part 1 - How they affected my personal life in a positive way

When i first started to read the IDW Comics the relationship of Tangle and Whisper did stick out to me immediately.

I always enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog as a medium, played the Games whenever they did tickle my interest, grabbed me some merch when i thought it looked nice, i literally grew up with the blue blur. I always looked at it as funny cartoon animals do funny things to annoy big bad Dr. Eggman, because that's what it was for me since childhood.

So when i jumped into IDW it is probably an understatement that i was surprised by it's depth and how all these characters were shown in a different light, a more serious tone, in relatable situations, they have their flaws, their strength, their fears, they suddenly had a wide set of emotions brought into play i honestly wasn't sure for a while if i was reading official Sonic the Hedgehog Comics by SEGA or a really good fanproject.

Anyway, it didn't take me too long until i catched up with Tangle and Whisper.

Back then (early 2021) i was in a really weak position and went through a hard time in life (Still trying to recover from it as you know) and let's just say the Tangle and Whisper Mini helped me to look up and enjoy life again.

Whisper's backstory, losing her team, trying to find a footing in life, opening up to people again, dealing with her own trauma somehow just spoke to me on many levels.

And mixed up with Tangle being the sunshine she is, the bound they formed during the events of the comics, it somehow gave me strength to not give up on myself.

I know this might sound weird to some people that literally cartoon animals helped me to regain my spirit again.

Ngl it did surprise me too, never in my life would i have thought that actual Sonic characters/comics would get me out of that dark swamp i was trapped in.

But life is never 100% predictable. In the end i just embraced it for what it is even if it did strike me a little weird.

So much about my personal experience.

Part 2 - Actual organic LGBT representation that feels natural in it's buildup.

So that is a thing that did really stick out to me a lot while reading the comics.

Tangle and Whisper's bound did evolve very organic throughout the course of the whole comic series, it added depth with the mini series, showed growth through the annual story and their overall interactions with each other while fighting side by side during the metal virus arc.

From being distant to slowly starting to embrace each other more and more, Whisper's breakdown when she found out she lost Tangle to the Virus, tackle hugging her out of relieve that she got her back, ending in a flirty scene even + many more small details, little interactions and be it just Tangle wrapping her tail around Whisper for comfort.

There is a lot of unspoken body language between these two as well that adds a lot to their narrative in my eyes.

Heck even their whole Cover Art Selection for their Mini Series is truly something else.

These two girls gave me such a massive gay/lesbian vibe and they were also so close to each other on the page, that i was actually surprised (Heh, again) when i found out that they weren't pitched that way in the first place.

Like, excuse me but huh !?

Supporting, healing, growing, feelings, baby steps, it's all there.

I was really happy to see a wlw relationship blossom in such a normal way that it felt like fresh air to me. (Back then it wasn't even confirmed yet) Tbh i didn't delve too much into details at that point i just enjoyed the story surrounding them.

A typical case of good written slowburn. And man i love slowburn romance haha

Usually i was used to a lot of subtext till the end (Korrasami for example, it is a good story but was extremely restricted)

Anyway i don't want to make this any longer than it already is, BUT I THINK we could say that all of the above initiated that "spark" for me.

And tbh i am not even sure if my words here give it enough justice at all. Honestly i was never a big shipper for anything in my life prior to these two.

I bet i could squeeze more outta my head but that's honestly already a lot of digging here on my part.