#as always I'm open for discussion

[wenellyb]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel that people who say stuff like this are straight up lying? Or is there some important piece of information I'm missing?

It's unbelievable to me that some people would like that non-canon ships like Stucky or any other non-canon ships paved the way for representation in modern media. Unbelievable.

Destiel, maybe, because of how big the fandom is/was but even Supernatural and even Destiel started out small and got popular because of the fandom and the ship(s).

I feel like people who saying they started shipping non-canon couples because their wasn't any LGBT representation in the media at the time aren't being genuine. I say that because before joining Tumblr, I didn't even know shipping non-canon couples was a thing (I had heard of Destiel, but it was more of a concept to me, even though I unironically watched SPN).

I feel that was they mean is that there wasn't any representation in popular shows or maybe they mean they weren't enough main characters. But otherwise there was!!!

These are just the one I can think of on the top of my head, but there are much more and there is en more if you go outside of the US. And these are just the shows.

If we add the movies... well!!!

You want romance with a Happy Ending?

You want Murder Mystery?

You want Drama?

There are so many many more and, yes these weren't blockbusters but it's not "no représentation and Stucky and Destiel were the only options"

Grey's Anatomy started out at the exact same time as Supernatural and now has over a dozen canon LGBT characters and half of them are/were main characters (Callie, Arizona, Amelia, Teddy, Yasuda, Helm)

When I joined Tumblr, I never even for a minute thought shipping was about representation or activism because there were so many shows and movies I knew but they were barely talked about on here.

Not criticizing ships by any means but I feel like people are trying to pretend that shipping is something it isn't.

In my humble opinion, non-canon ships were never about representation. Shipping was just shipping

I wasn't on Tumblr at the time, but I was on Youtube (old school) and to me, the people who were doing edits of the canon ships, in shows and movies were the real heroes.

Some people might say : "but those characters are side characters or weren't in major blockbusters/popular shows".

But fandoms could have decided to make them more popular if they wanted. Because believe it or not, Supernatural was a niche show at the beginning and I don't think it would have been as popular or gotten as many seasons without the shippers. They chose to make the non-canon couple (at the time) popular. So the fans could have done the same with shows that have canon LGBT characters But they didn't, they focused on non-canon couples.

I have no problem with shipping non-canon couples at all, I do it too, but I'm really surprised by people who want to make it seem like it's some kind of activism... It's not.

And I know there wasn't enough representation that's true, but why focus your energy on shows with absolutely no canon LGBT characters and pretend it's activism??

You guys could have had Noah's arc or Hit the Floor renewed and you focused your energy on Marvel characters.

And some people will say they ship Destiel anyway because they want fantasy and paranormal... Well does nobody remember Dante's Cove? Was it a fever dream😂? I admit the writing was bad, but have you seen the writing in Supernatural (I say this as a SPN fan)???

And I know some people will say they ship Marvel characters because they have a bigger audience and there were no canon Queer characters in blockbusters, but I feel like that a lie too because when there were indeed Queer characters in those blockbusters, they were ignored as well. Like in the Eternals.

Fandoms can be so powerful when they want to...they can make or break a movie, so acting like the focus on non canon couples was the only option surprises me.

Shipping is just about shipping. It's a hobby.

Stucky or any non-canon Marvel ship isn't "History", it's just a ship.

Last exemple: Let's take a look at 2 popular couples from the same franchise: 9-1-1 and 911: Lone Star. Only one of the couples in canon, but Can you Guess which one is more popular on Ao3 and on Tumblr ?

The non-canon couple!

Almost 3 Times as much fics for Buddie than TK x Carlos who are an actualcouple and even got married!

Shipping non-canon couples isn't about representation but about finding a story to fantasize about, which isn't bad itself but it's bad when you pretend shipping is something it isn't?

TL:DR: Shipping non-canon couples isn't activism imo.

I would be happy to hear tour thoughts because as I said, I only joined Tumblr later so I don't have all the info.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Bingqiu ponies (Happy Birthday @Piosplayhouse!)

[mammoth-clangen]

In my opinion deextinction is a case by case tool. The northern white rhino cross species surrogacy problem? Hell yeah. The moa? Sure, bring em back - emu can be farmed relatively easily, and New Zealand has both a major interest in farming (we have domesticated deer, like not tamed, domesticated fully), and very large tracts of land that have not been disturbed. And off shore island sanctuaries to start with. But bringing back the haast's eagle? Nah fam, leave the Known Man Killer apex predator alone.

Disclaimer: my reply to this ask is a lot more opinion than hard science. So don't take it as The Truth™, because there isn't one.

To me, Aotearoa/NZ is actually a great example for my exact points from earlier. It has one of the most fascinating ecosystems; with incredible levels of endemism, very few native land mammals, and some amazingly unique birdlife. For those unfamiliar, see below!

Image source: theafterworkphotographer.com

But-

94% of reptile species, 82% of bird species, 80% of bat species, 76% of freshwater fish species, 22% of marine mammal species and 46% of Aotearoa's vascular plant species are facing extinction.

I cannot see any reason to dedicate time and money to resurrecting (one of nine) moa species that have been gone from the ecosystem for 500+ years. Not when so many extant species need desperate assistance, unless we want them to end up on an extinction list with the Moa, Haast's eagle, and huia.

This is how I feel about the Thylacine too.

I personally doubt there would be enough demand for Moa meat to make farming a viable reason to clone them. People barely eat emu in Australia, and they are right there as a perfectly viable ratite for captive-breeding and farming. Both Au and NZ export huge amounts of meat compared to the amount we consume. So unless they can find a huge international market for ratite meat, it's not really a worthwhile risk to most farmers.

Bird cloning/ genetic modification is also much harder to than in mammals. While mammal embryos can be implanted into a surrogate, it's much harder to implant a bird embryo into an egg and still have it hatch.

Extinction in Aotearoa is personal to me- -because my family are all Kiwis, even if I don't live there. I visit often and always lament how few native birds I actually see when I do.

---

It's worth noting the Northern White Rhinoceros isn't extinct quite yet; there are two individuals remaining, Fatu and Najin. However, as they are both infertile females, the species is functionally extinct.

Unfortunately, saving the Northern white rhino with cloning/GMO relatives or even cross species surrogacy will likely suffer nearly all the issues of true de extinction.

A company called BioRescue has 30 frozen Northern White Rhino embryos. Which looks great on paper! But every one was created using Fatu's eggs. Meaning all the potential rhinos would be full or half siblings. As I said in my Wrangel Island mammoth ask, sometimes species do strangely well as an entire population with extreme inbreeding depression. But most don't.

Side note, and this is purely my own speculation (and Polarwooly's), I wonder if the Wrangel Mammoths survived with inbreeding depression because elephants (and relatives) have extreme DNA repair 'machinery'. They also have extremely low cancer rates, so it could easily be linked!

I really don't want to sound like one of those "Useless animal! Let it go extinct!" people, because I don't think we shouldn't try. I just genuinely don't know how much anyone can do for them at this point. It all feels a bit 'too little, too late.'

And again, the Southern White Rhinoceros isn't extinct, functionally or actually. But they are threatened with the same things that drove their Northern cousins to the edge. That said, the Southern subspecies nearly went extinct in the late 1800s, being reduced to less than 50 individuals. Their numbers rebounded spectacularly when effort was put into habitat preservation and protection from poachers, but their numbers have been dropping again in recent years.

It just makes me wonder if the time and money being put into resurrection wouldn't be better spent fixing the underlying problems...

Also, can you please give a source for the "domestic deer"? I mean this genuinely, not as a dig! I couldn't find anything when I looked except that 'deer are farmed in NZ' (which I knew because I've seen deer farms there before lolol). But it takes more than "bred in captivity for x generations" to qualify as fully domestic!

Repeating my disclaimer: You, dear reader, are absolutely welcome to disagree with my opinions, and think having moa back would just be cool AF. Because logistics aside, it absolutely would be cool af!

[transingthoseformers]

I've really been thinking about the Quintessons from a parasitic angle, especially considering their aligned iterations

[iamfuckingsorry]

"Do you know where we are going next?" I asked ART.

Y'know what, I think maybe I don't need any more Murderbot books. I think maybe ending things here is fucking perfect and as much as I love Wells's writing I'm genuinely not sure it can get better for me.

Like, so much of the books are about MB learning how to be a person, about becoming okay with being a complete individual with everything it entails. The first thing it does once it's actually allowed to decide on its own is it runs away from it all (admittedly to go on a mission to confirm some things about its past, because it genuinely just wants to be *good*). It shoves all its emotions away as much as it's able to. Then shit happens, and it makes its first friends, makes decisions based on these friendships, goes through a lot of emotionally intense situations...

And we get to this point here. MB having zero doubts about going with ART says a lot about its relationship with ART, but it also says a lot about its relationship with its humans - it knows that wherever it goes, when it comes back, the humans will still be there. Its humans actively acknowledge its struggles with being a now-free SecUnit and MB is willing to entertain the discussions to an extent and share information about its deeply personal experiences. Hell, System Collapse ends with MB admitting it might be somewhat broken, but that's okay as long as it can keep doing its job, and agreeing to basically do counselling - this is the guy what would rewatch its favourite TV show again and again in order to avoid acknowledging it even had Emotions a couple books back.

Reading this, I know that MB will be okay. It has hopes and goals and genuinely believes in itself and it has an amazing support system that its willing to lean on for the first time in its life. I'm convinced it'll go on to do great things with ART. And that's really the only thing I need to know.

[quatregats]

I'm rereading Master and Commander and I'm deeply in danger of just posting every single passage from it ever but I did love the way that the capture of the prize in Chapter 6 was framed on either side by the logbook's entry, and also the way he transitions out of it to set the scene and tone:

Sunday, July 1 … Mustered the ship’s company by divisions read the Articles of War performed Divine Service and committed the body of Henry Gouges to the deep. At noon dº weather. Ditto weather: but the sun sank towards a livid, purple, tumescent cloud-bank piled deep on the western horizon, and it was clear to every seaman aboard that it was not going to remain ditto much longer. The seamen, sprawling abroad on the fo’c’sle and combing out their long hair or plaiting it up again for one another, kindly explained to the landmen that this long swell from the south and east, this strange sticky heat that came both from the sky and the glassy surface of the heaving sea, and this horribly threatening appearance of the sun, meant that there was to be a coming dissolution of all natural bonds, an apocalyptic upheaval, a right dirty night ahead. The sailormen had plenty of time to depress their hearers, already low in their spirits because of the unnatural death of Henry Gouges (had said, ‘Ha, ha, mates, I am fifty years old this day. Oh dear,’ and had died sitting there, still holding his untasted grog) – they had plenty of time, for this was Sunday afternoon, when in the course of nature the fo’c’sle was covered with sailors at their ease, their pigtails undone. Some of the more gifted had queues they could tuck into their belts; and now that these ornaments were loosened and combed out, lank when still wet, or bushy when dry and as yet ungreased, they gave their owners a strangely awful and foreboding look, like oracles; which added to the landmen’s uneasiness.

[...]

Jack leant back against the curved run of the stern-window and let Killick’s version of coffee down by gulps into his grateful stomach; and at the same time that its warmth spread through him, so there ran a lively tide of settled, pure, unfevered happiness – a happiness that another commander (remembering his own first prize) might have discerned from the log-entry, although it was not specifically mentioned there: 1/2 past 10 tacked, 11 in courses, reefed topsail. AM cloudy and rain. 1/2 past 4 chase observed E by S, distance 1/2 mile. Bore up and took possession of dº, which proved to be L’Aimable Louise, French polacre laden with corn and general merchandise for Cette, of about 200 tons, 6 guns and 19 men. Sent her with an officer and eight men to Mahon.

[dangerousdan-dan]

Hi there, I came from the Red Hood post about why you hate him and what's wrong with him wanting to kill the Joker? The guy has done so much, if Red Hood killed him he would prevent all kinds of death

Hi!

I'm well aware that saying "because killing is actually bad" isn't enough of an argument when it comes to discussing fiction. Fiction is escapism, after all, and like I said in that other post, I love plenty of dark characters and most of the stories I write myself are about vengeance and blood, so it wouldn't make sense for me to use that as a superficial reason as to why I don't like Jason's whole thing without explaining in a little more detail.

Jason's motivation for wanting to kill the Joker makes sense for his character and I understand where he's coming from (in fact, I as a reader wouldn't care much if he actually got to do it since I find the Joker extremely annoying lol), but the thing about Jason is that he makes it everyone's problem and essentially goes "hey, you're a piece of shit for not wanting to kill someone for me" and acts like everyone else is in the wrong for having a very reasonable boundary against murder. Yes, he's a flawed and tragic character, but his reasoning and entitled attitude makes it really hard for me to empathize or care about him.

Now, to the core of my problem with people using the Joker thing to defend Jason's actions and repeat the same justifications over and over again. Saying it's okay to kill someone because it would prevent more deaths is a VERY delicate argument to make. Isn't that the same mentality that led to him quite literally committing mass murder of inmates while he was in prison?? He was an inmate too, he had hurt people too, would it have been justifiable then, if one of the prison cops decided to shoot him just because he was a criminal and he "deserved it"??

Like I said, it is fiction, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be approached critically, and there's a world of difference between "I like this character" and "what this character did was right".

[xinganhao]

currently watching when the phone rings and tho its cliffhung at ep 10 rn before the next eps are out, who do you think from svt would be the male lead in the show if you've watched when the phone rings or are interested in it?

i truthfully need to catch up on my drama-watching (i'm stuck at ep 5 for when the phone rings!), but i think jihoon, vernon, or (STICK WITH ME NOWWW) wonwoo would pull off saeon ≖‿≖

[wenellyb]

Buck and Tommy just got together and there are already hundreds and hundreds of posts in the 911 tags talking about how Buck and Tommy's "break up" will happen.

And it's fine, people are allowed to share their theories, I share mine as well, but I can't help but wonder what's the angle here?

From what I've seen, most people are sure Buck and Tommy are temporary because they're sure "Buddie is Endgame"? But how would they know?

As far as we know Buck and Eddie are best friends and there hasn't been any indication that the writers are planning for them to have à romantic relation in season 7. Reading interviews with shipping goggles on isn't canon, it's fan theory.

If they had planned it, they would have put some "seeds", some small hints here and there when Buck and Tommy got together, showing that Buck and Eddie's relationship is not meant to be seen platonic, like Buck being unsure about Tommy or Eddie being supportive but a little jealous.

But they haven't, all we've seen right now is Buck being head over heels for Tommy, telling his sister what he likes about him and telling Eddie how he can't stop thinking about Tommy. Buck has such a massive crush on Tommy he invited him to his sister's wedding.

Buck's coming out scene to Eddie was so beautiful and emotional, but there was no hint of Eddie being jealous or him having romantic feelings for Buck. We even got the sweetest and most platonic hug ever.

Where exactly are we supposed to get the message that Buck is harboring a secret crush for his best friend? Or are we supposed to imagine that he'll magically develop romantic feelings in the middle of the season?

I don't understand where the "Tommy is a placeholder for Eddie" theories are coming from???

Buck hurt Eddie to get Tommy's attention, his words not mine. How are the writers going to go from that and make us believe that he was in reality in love with Eddie? How would that go?

I have nothing against Buddie, I even like the idea of them, but at the end of the day, I believe what I see on screen. Fan theories are just theories.

I'm sorry but to me, Buck is all about Tommy.

As someone who has seen my fair share of TV shows, I'm wondering why anyone would think that that's the direction the screenwriters are going.

[bronzebluemind]

It’s been 0 weeks since the World Cup finale, 17 weeks to go until sgp and 34 weeks to go until next season.

[azaracyy]

everything is a toy if you try hard enough. such is the way of cats...

[thependancer]

The Cage

The Cage is my 2nd favourite route in the whole game. So I was very meticulous when analyzing it. Anyways, the objective of this analysis is to show just how layered and nuanced some of these routes can get. Essentially, offer a new way to look at the route, which you may have not considered.

Without further ado, let's begin.

Warning: Very Long.

Background:

To understand the different nuanaces of Cage, we have to look at how we get there in the first place. We get to the Cage by

1) Taking the knife.

2) Talking to the Princess.

3) Trying to save her.

4) Trying to kill her/ leaving her for dead. Either way, the Princess has to lose right at the end.

5) Repeat with Prisoner.

And so we get to Cage. In Cage, there are three voices that can accompany us alongwith Skeptic and Hero.

1- Broken: If we show sorrow and remorse with the 'reward'.

2- Cheated: If we show contentment with the 'reward'.

3- Paranoid: If we immediately realize something more is going on.

The Blade:

One of the most important things to note is that this route locks you into taking the blade no matter what. In chapter 2, Skeptic doesn't let you proceed without the blade. In chapter 3, you literally start with it. The blade is very evidently a crucial part of this route. Understanding the blade here is very vital to understanding the message of this route.

One of the more prominent theories is that the blade is also a part of the Long Quiet himself. This is due to Paranoids statement about the blade saying that it feels "The Balde is n extension of us." Which then begs the question which part of us is it, and that question has many answers. Maybe it's a part of us the narrator put there to make sure we slay the Princess. Maybe it represents a part of the Long Quiet which doesn't want to return to its original state.

The Second theory that I like is that the blade is a metaphor for control, trust or the likes. Essentially, you take the blade, you take control. Trust is within your hands, cause you can choose to keep it, or give it away, or break it entirely with the blade. This is very evident in the Thorn route, but also fits here.

In the first chapter, you don't trust the Princess until you've talked to her, then you help her escape, but you lose control and end up, in a way, betraying her. You give her control, the blade, and she uses it but then she's a Prisoner again.

You then meet the Skeptic. Who would never in a million years let you be left to chance. He wants control. He is going to have control. He takes the blade. Even if you don't. Then, we have to hand that control to the Princess again. The Princess is in control again. She uses that control, and puts herself at your mercy again. The trust is with you again. But you choose to abandon it again. She had control again for a moment and loses it again the next.

Then when you go to claim your 'reward' you can either immediately end yourself. Use the blade again. Find control again. And then get Paranoid. Or you can choose to accept the reward wholeheartedly and be forced into a decision. Getting Cheated out of it. Show humanity and you get Broken.

And then in Cage, Skeptic still needs that feeling of control, he needs the Blade. Paranoid agrees with him. The blade makes him feel safe. However, Broken realizes the blade is actually a setback in this ordeal. That the control offered by the blade is the cause of this madness. He knows that by not having the blade, the Princess can finally trust us. And Cheated throws away the blade because he has lost something precious to it. Just like the Princess, who has lost both of her chances to escape because of the blade.

Paranoid's Version:

In this version of the Cage, you have chosen to value answers over everything. You tried to save the Princess first because you wanted to know more. You decided to leave the head of the Prisoner because, why would she do that? What's going on? You saw your reward and decided, fuck that, I don't need happiness I need security. I need answers. I need to know what's going on.

And so you get the two voices with a very active brain. Paranoid covers all the bases Skeptic exposes. Skeptic can get stuck on a single idea. Paranoid can't keep his train of thought to save his life. Skeptic can recite the ABC forwards and backwards. Paranoid will find a way to recite it sideways. Skeptic is rationalism while Paranoid is absurdism. This allows you to figure out the nature of the construct.

Paranoid immediately figures it out. When he realizes nothing is solid. Not even reality. Then the moment he finally connects all of the dots is when you fall through the chains. After that, he basically understands the premise of the construct.

Skeptic struggles to process this. He doesn't understand how something could just be without a reason. Everything has a reason. Why would the chains just break? Why would the mirror just be a distraction? Why would something just happen? However, in the end he does seem to shift more towards Para's views of the world. But it takes a whole lot of convincing and still a reason. A false reason. But a reason nonetheless.

Paranoid also hates the cyclical nature of the events. Also important to note, Para makes a lot of false assumptions as well. One of the biggest one being, "The Princess isn't acting rationally." He fails to see the reason behind the Princess' actions and words. He just regards it as irrational. He HATES the cyclical nature of the events, but plays right into them. Skeptic LOVES when the cyclical nature plays out, because to him that is completion. Where Para feels trapped by the loop, Skeptic just wants to complete the puzzle. And when they do slay the Princess, Para has his iconic mini breakdown and Skeptic is just confused. Also Hero, my poor baby, being the only one with emotions in that scene. Seriously we need to get Hero some chocolates.

Cheated's Version:

(Before I get into this, I must say, Cheated is my most poorly understood voice. I do not know Cheated like I know the other voices. Apologies in advance.)

Cheated is pissed. He is fuming. From his perspective, we can't win. Whatever we define as a win, can't happen. Something is going to throw us off. Maybe the Narrator posseses us again. Maybe the raggedy bridge collapses. Maybe the Princess' body drops us. Something must go wrong. That's all we've seen happen this past couple of times.

And Cheated's pessimism makes sense. We've been at the cusp of 'victory' twice. And both times we were then forced to slit our throat. Why wouldn't it happen again? This belief in the cyclical nature of our loss is a direct parallel to the Princess' cyclical view of the whole ordeal. However, they both cope with this differently. Cage is utterly defeatist. She can NOT break the cycle, simply because she sees no point in doing so. Cheated is spiteful. The blade slit our throat, fucking throw the blade. It'll make Skeptic and Narrator mad? Well that's even better. Hanging in chains? Ofcourse we are. Why don't we just piss off everyone while we're at it? We are going to escape? But what if, somehow, we didn't.

However, despite all this, in the end the Princess is able to overcome this belief. She is able to overcome this futility while Cheated, can't because he is just like that. He can't see past the lens he has put on himself. He can't jump over a crack except till the very end.

But the Princess, despite putting herself at the bottom of a canyon, chose to climb through.

In conclusion, Cheated's version of the Cage showcases the difference in people to overcome difficulties, be it in beliefs or other forms. Some can jump chasms, others falter at cracks.

Broken's Version:

This version of the Cage is all about trust. Whereas Paranoid's route we were trying to find control, and Cheated's route we were just trying to piss on our fate, this route is about trust.

We get here because our trust has been broken multiple times already. Firstly by the Narrator. Then by the Skeptic. And the Princess has been betrayed too. Both times by us. We, although possessed by the Narrator, tried to stab her in the back first. Then we just left her for dead after she cut her head off. The guilt eats at us. We see the blade and our first instinct when we have Broken is to get rid of it.

This blade has done so much damage to both you and the Princess. It's disgusting what it has made is do. So we throw it away.

Then Broken, being the badass he is, guides us on how to regain that trust. The Princess sees that we want to trust again. This breaks the Princess. Her entire world-view just shattered. She literally drops to her knees and is practically begging to be trusted. Since the beginning we have been nothing but skeptical of the Princess. She doesn't know why. And she wants you to trust her. So when you agree to let her out of the chains the first time, she is relieved. Then you try to backstab her. But she sees it isn't you. Atleast, that's what she thought, but then you left her for dead a second time. And she wants to trust you still, but what reason have you given her to? You always come with the blade and you always stab each other.

And yet, when you come without the blade, she finally has a reason. You don't have a blade. You can't hurt each other anymore. You don't want to hurt her anymore and she knows it. She never truly believed the world was cyclical. She just never could prove otherwise.

However, you leaving the blade behind. You taking that initiative collapsed that ideology on its head. She really isn't bound by any cycle. She isn't stuck in a loop. And you cleared that up. And she can finally trust you now, since you chose to trust her.

Conclusion:

If you want to feel the warmth of others, don't carry around cold steel. Because then you may be trapped in a cycle of distrust that you can't break.

Relinquish control sometimes. Clutch it desperately at others. Learn to trust. Always trust.

[mxtxfanatic]

ily, never change, i wish i had the guts to join in into fandom discussions like you do, but i get too anxious even sending anons so oh well, have a nice day/night<3

Thank you, anon 🥹💖

[msnihilist]

Accidentally began replying in earnest to an upset anti and had to stop myself and delete it to send them a "teehee" message instead.

[trashfangirlsworld]

(this is not crit, just some character analysis)

Something that I noticed lately is that tallulah has been lashing out at people always for stuff out of their control -sunny, for coming from egg island -qwilbur, for not being there despite knowing why he can't be -more recently, luffy, for the same reason as sunny, and for having people want to hurt him just for existing

And it's not like she has no reason to feel like this, she does, but I feel like it's very obvious that since coming back from purgatory she's been... bitter; and it's understandable, she came back from a really traumatizing experience, and there was definetely gonna be consequences because of it, but there have been brief moments where I've been surprised at the extent of them.

Yesterday, when sunny went over to their house on the wall, tallulah actually pulled out her axe for a moment, and qphil had to tell her to put it back, which is something that quite shocked me as even though tallulah has been clear about not trusting sunny, I never would have expected her to even consider doing that.

Something that also shocked me is the fact that tallulah didn't seem to really care that her father actually came back like she wanted. When wilbur managed to log on that day, I was expecting there to be angst in the future about tallulah missing her father's return because she was taken, instead she just seemed indifferent to it.

Finally, yesterday there was a moment when tallulah subtly blamed qphil for what was happening with the purgatory workers ( paraphrased, "all of this because "luffy" wasn't handed to them?"), the comment actually went over qphil's head, because clearly while he understands that tallulah doesn't trust luffy and he is fine with it, I don't think he'd ever expect tallulah to think him responsible for anything happening to chayanne or even wishing harm on a defenseless creature that he explained has been tortured.

Ultimately, I think that the trauma of her two months being missing has caused tallulah to become angry and depressed, and at the moment she's trying to find something to direct her anger towards, so she lashes out; quite similarly to qwilbur when he came back to find out tallulah was missing and he fought with qphil

I hope eventually she finds some peace, maybe by becoming friends with sunny or talking with her father whenever he can come back (I'd say I hope she gets therapy but I'm unsure how effective melissa could be in this situation lmao)

[whywoulditho]

ough... sorry for jumping in when you said you're still reading stuff, i hope this doesn't come off annoying or anything! but that thing the prev anon said about timkon is... a WILD take.

tim wasn't trying to "replace" kon, he was having a grief-induced mental health spiral and was doing anything and everything to get a chance of getting his best friend back. (the "resurrection of ra's al ghul" event goes over this too - tim and dick have a short fight that ends in tim crying in dick's arms because tim was tempted to use a lazarus pit to try and bring back his dad, steph brown, and/or kon.) it's an unhealthy coping mechanism he exhibits during a period of his life where he's experienced several catastrophic losses back to back, and he's coping poorly. moreover he literally apologized to kon for trying to clone him in adventure comics (2009) #3.

also saying that kon is created as a replacement for superman is true, but acting like he never has an established character outside of "replacement for superman" or that other characters treat him as just a replacement superman, is not. in world's finest three (tim and kon's first meeting) we literally see tim initially turn to kon for backup with metallo, a superman villain, and at first he's dismayed that kon doesn't have all of superman's abilities, but over the course of the two issues, he admires kon's use of his ttk and they establish a mutual respect with each other (they both save each other's lives at the end).

and generally, kon & clark have a very positive relationship in postcrisis comics (aka the continuity that the cloning stuff with tim happens in) - if you want to see more of it, i'd rec "adventures of superman" #506 and superboy (1994) #59 and #70. kon definitely has plenty of issues, but his identity and relationship to superman aren't really the ones in question. (although i'll admit there is the caveat that kon's [lack of] superman-related identity issues is kind of soft retconned in teen titans (2003), which is where the lex luthor retcon is introduced - fun fact, luthor has nothing to do with kon initially!)

this got long i'm SO sorry - it just gets my goat when people tell straight up lies about comics to people who are just getting into reading comics 😭😭 i hope i didn't come off aggressive bc thats def not my intention but i'm sorry if i did!! and i hope you enjoy your comic journey and have fun with it overall!!!

do NOT apologize! i really appreciate this!!

i have a couple more people on my inbox yelling things like "how dare you even entertain the thought of them together!!!" i wasnt expecting to see so much passion on this subject when i first talked about it but it seems like DC comics fans have very strong opinions about that pairing hahaa

as i said in my previous reply to that anon, i really need to do my own reading before i form an opinion on the ship but your reflections seem very fair and i really appreciate the comic recommendations! and honestly, the whole reason i was interested in timkon was that their relationship seemed very complicated, and therefore very angsty, which is what i live for. so i do really understand why some people like it and some hate the idea of it. from what i've seen so far.... i like it. but i can't really speak on whether or not it is compatible with the canon dynamic of the characters. does that make sense?

also like on another note. HOW do you guys give such specific references when talking about these things?? 😭 DC universe seems HUGE and i have no clue where to start and then i see people giving like the exact issue number of events and stuff and i'm like.....HOW?? and also like. teach me. guide me. i'm lost 😭 HQJSKFKCJDJ