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#canon personalities btw not their fanon ones
thestobingirlie · 2 years
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people who think robin would ever priorise a crush over her best friend doesn’t understand her character. send tweet.
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violetlunette · 2 months
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Author: Here’s a cute couple!
Me: Yay!
Author: And here’s a rando kid we’re gonna toss in to make them a “family”
Me: ugh…
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Author: Oh, and let’s have them hype-fixate on one person while having a “rivalry” with the other.
Me: Double Ugh…
Alt:
Author: Here’s a cute parent/child relationship
Me: Aww!
Author: Here’s a rando that’s gonna come in as a second parent so they can be a true family.
Me: Ugh...
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starlooove · 1 year
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Ok but the Duke in my mind having the feeling that those who choose vigilantism have a responsibility to uphold the SECOND they curate a space where others are reliant on them + Cass solely wanting to fight at first and putting the mission above all else due to not caring about herself being Bruces (who also puts the mission above all else and feels a responsibility to Gotham that he knows will kill him one day) favorite kids
#is it rlly that they’re his faves bc of being the ‘good ones’#or do they reflect parts of himself that he’s constantly told are detrimental in a way that allows him to take pride in said parts#taking HEAVY liberties with canon btw this is basically a hc to me do not take it seriously this is NOT srs character analysis thx#I mean it’s kinda serious in MY mind but it’s purely based in being tired of fandom and not actually comics 💀#this is my version of the ‘Everyone treats tim badly so he is sad till they’re sorry’ thing#anyways#BONUS#Bruce is so mean to damian bc he reflects him in ways he doesn’t like#and he’s projecting his failures onto him instead of seeing him as a fucking child#thinking of that one panel#yknow the one#anyways everytime damian does smth he doesn’t like he sees it as the Batman failing on a moral standpoint#not his kid having his own personality or needing some guidance#whatever tho#I’m deleting this tomorrow but if I ever learn how to write#imma make my own sad tim fic where it’s just tim wallowing over nothing and everyone ignoring him <3#for my piece of mind#I promise I like Tim guys this is abt fanon Tim#but yknow what writers are riding tim too much atm tbh so this is current tim hate as well#Tim was cooler when he was well adjusted and bitchy and everyone knew it#instead of pretending he’s right all the time and every1 just went “ofc Tim!#ALSO I’m a big fan of great dad Bruce I just know him kinda sucking is also canon and fun for angst
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bumbleblurr · 2 years
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I gotta hold myself accountable to when I'm making content that's not really based on canon at all, so I remain self aware & whatnot, but I still occasionally think things like "but blurr should be arcee's number one fan 🥺.... bc i said so........"
#🐝 could you repeat the last part? 🟦#i make a good effort to stay self aware bc i dont want to lost in fanon delusion. i cant let that happen to me#also it would be hypocritical of me to go ''i dislike this fanon it has no basis in canon''#when i also like making up shit if it's interesting#so i make it clear that im just picky abt hcs and stuff like that#for me to enjoy them they gotta contribute something interesting to the source material but not come out of left field#and i dont rlly care for edgy stuff if it doesnt rlly serve much purpose#so i dont rlly care for hcs like ''bee is ACTUALLY megatrons great nephew once removed !!!!!!!!!!!!''#they do nothing for me i just go ''man i dont care'' and turn around#like thats just personal taste though and im a notoriously particular & picky person so. who cares what i think u get what i mean#though u should care abt arcee fanboy blurr bc its good and awesome alright /hj#IT THINK ITS FUN AND CONTRIBUTES AN INTERESTING TAKE ON CANON ...#bc blurr admiring arcee 1) makes sense bc arcee is genuinely a badass & literally worked in the same division he does#2) brings more focus to the parallel between them about how they got seriously injured in ways that impact their most notable qualities#(arcee having her memories wiped when her mind is one of her most important qualities as a school teacher & intel agent)#(blurr having his body damaged & handicapped when speed achieved by his physical athletic ability is a defining part of his character)#3) solidarity in that trauma baby. and arcee can be blurr's gramama (applause amazing brilliant we love to see it)#and also who doesnt love to see blurr having girlbosses idols. arcee inspires him to be a girlboss too#see this is how ridiculous i am i have to have these detailed thoughts abt hcs i cant just go stupid#no i cant change this about myself btw#i am pretentious at heart i have to be like this with media i enjoy#but still i always try to indicate that i am aware that my hcs are just fan interpretations of stuff so i dont like#accidentally come off as me forcing my ideas of canon onto other ppl like. this is just my lego city that im building i know of my bullshit#though i still do draw deep lines for things like . blurr being social (shudders)
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our-inspire-verse · 3 months
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"man the fandom really played on with the idea that I have depression in canon, that's pretty alright but i dont have it anymore! Great to see rep and great to recover 💪👍"
Me fronting for 10 minutes and thinking about anything:
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yj-98 · 1 year
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i AM a strong believer in tim drinking energy drinks btw. jolt. josta. red bull. rockstar. monster energy my friend monster energy. the trashy ones. the skater park ones. the ones you get at the convenience store and collect the tabs and put them in chains or on shoelaces. trust me when i say that the vibe of the completely innocuous and loser rebellion of drinking those things bc theyre 'unhealthy' fits him. the status of them amongst suburban white children. they do serve the purpose of keeping you awake whether you want to or not and personally break through my own caffeine tolerance.
like tim IS the kind of person to just run on fumes til he passes out and the coffee thing is fanon yadda yadda but i just. think that nothing is funnier than tim "canonically drove a car at 14 and has a skateboard" drake collecting drink can tabs. because he would. to me
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mentallyadinonugget · 5 months
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“but james potter was a bully””he bullied snape!!!” ok? someone had to do it.
🙄
~Here’s a list of good and shitty things Snape did canonically:
Bad:
•Snape was a blood supremacist who called lily a slur.
•invented a curse for enemies (marauders)
I don’t think a good person would make up a curse which mutilates someone terribly. That too, during his time in Hogwarts.
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•oh yeah later on he became a death eater 😋 (the main goal of the death eaters wasto eliminate all muggle-borns in the wizarding world and establish voldemort as its ruler)(magical nazis basically).
Plus when voldy was going to kill lily, Snape was like yk what you can kill the husband and the INFANT just don’t hurt my lily flower teehee like okay james bullied him so him not caring about james made sense but harry was a child bro
•BULLIED CHILDREN DURING HIS TIME AS A PROFESSOR????? he was literally neville’s bogart ffs and not because “some teachers are just scary okay Neville was afraid of almost everything!!!” but because Snape bullied neville on a daily basis plus threatened to kill his pet after a failed potion thingy. plus he made fun hermione’s physical appearance (when draco made her teeth all big and Snape was like hah it’s the same there’s no difference) and he bullied for BEING GOOD AT ACADEMICS LIKE 😭😭😭???? He bullied almost everyone in Hogwarts I just know it.
•sectumsempra’d George’s year off.
•tried to out Remus Lupin as a werewolf for NO reason other than his childish misdemeanour.
Good:
•called Sirius and Remus an old married couple.
•saves Katie bell from a cursed necklace
•saves draco malfoy from a terrible curse that could’ve killed him by the counter charm “vulnera saneteur”
can someone guess which curse Snape saved draco from??? You’re right! It was sectumsempra!
•switched sides or smth
~Here’s a list of good and shitty things james did canonically:
Bad:
•called Snape snivellus (was funny ngl)
•bully snape
Good:
•turned into an illegal animagus at the age of 15 so his werewolf friend (Remus) has company during his transformations.
•took sirius black in after he ran away from an abusive hoursehold.
•SAVED FUCKING SNAPE FROM REMUS IN HIS WEREWOLF FORM AFTER SIRIUS SENT HIM THERE.
JAMES SAVED SNAPE.
•literally died trying to stall Voldemort so Lily and Harry have some time to escape or just live in general.
So my point is canon james was a bit of an asshole but he still did way more good deeds than Snape even though Snape was in all the seven books like one of the good things he did was literally the consequences of his own actions (healing draco).
All of this is canon btw. NONE of it is fanon.
sincerely keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth he did what should have been done.
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cutie
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crosbyism · 26 days
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"but then again this is the guy who’s publically known for loving to eat ass so"
I'm sorry, I thought Nate eating ass was fanon. Are you telling me this is an actual canon fact??
god i love when people don’t realise how much “fanon” around sid and nate is actually canon. it’s like heroin to me. also bc it’s like. 90% of the stuff in fics (which is probably why people assume it’s fanon but. oh boy it’s not. there’s shockingly little fanon around these two, mostly because canon is so abundant).
yes, nathan mackinnon is a known ass-eater. let me direct you to this post, anon. you’re welcome.
other nate (and sid) facts you might not have realised are canon:
nate is a known advocate for therapy. he’s been seeing a sports therapist since 2017
they wear matching clothing all the fucking time, sid has said publicly that he started wearing white sneakers and updated his wardrobe due to nate’s influence (iirc nate might’ve even bought him his first pair of white sneakers? either that or it was a “he told me i need to so i did” situation). they share a tailor. unfortunately i now have to bring your attention to the fact that since they have an alarming amount of matching clothes that they’ve bought for each other, that means that they in fact have to know each other’s clothing sizes off by heart. they also low-key share clothing btw
their families celebrate canada day together and their dads are best friends. in-law behaviour goes crazy
nate did in fact stalk his way into sid’s heart (got the same personal trainer and agent at age 13; built his house next door in 2017; they’ve been spending every day in the summers together since at least 2015. sid cooks for them daily, or at least did pre-pandemic. sid refuses to use nate’s gym tho so they always use sid’s).
nate used to have a fan twitter account more or less where he rooted for the pens. it was active until 2017.
sid and nate regularly go to summer weddings together as each other’s dates. they have done this since, once again, at least 2015
nate has confirmed that he used to have a poster of sid on his wall as a teenager (he didn’t confirm he used to jerk off to it but frankly. i think that’d be saying the quiet part out loud)
when sid won the cup in 2009 and held the parade in cole harbour, nate stood by the side of the road watching it. he was about to turn 14, he was already working with sid’s trainer and agent, and he was about to start attending shattuck (sid’s junior high). due to old pics we also know that this was RIGHT before nate had his first growth spurt and hit puberty. i’m not saying seeing sid with the cup kickstarted nate’s puberty and gave him his first boner but i’m not NOT saying it
nate dated vanessa morgan of riverdale fame in his rookie year. she’s now good friends with elias petersson from the vancouver canucks (this means nothing but i do think it’s a very funny coincidence).
nate schmidt, formerly of the VGK, once failed a drug test (it turned out to be a testing-fuck-up); when nhl players were asked about it natemack iconically said “i don’t think he was sticking a needle up his ass” (i just like this one)
when he was a kid, the one other thing sid wanted to be was a hairdresser. nate, on the other hand, “didn’t have a plan B”
nate is canonically possessive of sid (see: the asg 2024) and sid is canonically delighted by this and into it
they go on so many lunch dates in the summer my dude. they go grocery shopping together. like there’s so many pics of them in grocery stores or out having coffee or weird green shakes
oh i almost forgot, they went on a roadtrip through ireland last year. they’ve been on holiday together multiple times over the years though. done some eurotripping together and stuff. in 2015 they spent three months together, three weeks of which were spent living in sid’s santa monica condo together just the two of them
sid has put up a picture of every stanley cup winning captain in his basement since 2008, when the pens lost in the scf to DET. apparently this serves as motivation for him to win the cup. he notoriously does not watch the playoffs after the pens are out
however, he partied so hard at nate’s cup party he actually closed down the party with his dad. nate is the only non-teammate sid’s ever been seen supporting for a cup run (he’s also never been to his teammates’ cup parties afaik so. there’s that)
also they talked on the phone daily and between periods during nate’s cup run. they also canonically have almost weekly phone dates that can run multiple hours. quote nate “i can’t talk to anyone else the way i can talk to him”
they each have pictures of the two of them together framed in each other’s houses
there’s rumours they’re building adjoining houses on neighbouring properties in cape breton next to a golf course bc apparently being neighbours in halifax isn’t enough or something. this one is as yet unconfirmed by reputable sources though
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thecoolerliauditore · 1 month
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Very Long Post about Flower Husbands, Interpretation and Character vs Content Creator
This is a toxic flower husbands post. Btw.
I'm not sure when or why it happened but somewhere between limlife and the 24th joelshipping discourse cycle, "flower husbands is toxic" became a mainstream opinion on both here and traffictwt, usually sourcing Scott's ingame words and actions as evidence.
This interpretation has existed within the fandom for a fairly long time, although the words "toxic" and "abuse" were often omitted. Here's one example of a popular post that implied FH was less than ideal for Jimmy.
This does not mean the interpretation was widely accepted, however - hell, I even put this under a cut and warning for a reason. For every toxic FH believer that comes crawling out of the woodwork there comes another post defending their legacy.
For the record, despite what some threads on twt I've read seem to imply: There is nothing morally wrong with liking a mcyt ship regardless of what discomforts other people see in it. There is no explicit "wrong" way to interpret the series. There is no canon. It's fandom shit. It's not that serious.
However, I'm unfortunately abnormal about this series and possibly mcyt as a whole. So I'm forced to grapple with the fact that most non-toxic flower husbands posts seem to either self-contradict or come off as purposefully trying to incite some sort of culture war. As such, here's a list of common arguments I see proposed against the toxic flower husbands interpretation and why I personally don't find them convincing:
The CC Side of Things
Alot of anti-toxic flower husbands posts will accuse toxic flower husbands fans of disliking Scott, the content creator IRL guy, and often imply the interpretation is born out of homophobia -- usually through some variation of the phrase that the interpretation villainzes "the only openly gay CC in the series"
I take issue with this. While Scott is the only homosexual CC in the series, Cleo and Martyn have both been here since 3L and are both very openly queer. Gem has also since joined. You could argue that Scott is The Gayest but that's opening a can of worms in terms of queer discourse I don't think I want to go touching anytime soon.
Even if he was the Only Queer CC In the Series, applying different standards of fanon to Scott just because he is gay feels.. wrong to me. In the same way it's often argued that Jimmy does not need to be babied from his friendship dynamic, Scott too is a grown man who can simply choose to not look at fanart/fanfic if it upsets him, which from what I have personally observed, he hasn't shown any sign of feeling "uncomfortable" by more intimidating or villainous portrayals in the past.
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Here's an example of him liking my art that did not paint him in a completely morally good light.
Why can't gay people be calculating? Controlling? Abusive? Why are we applying a higher standard of morality to the gay CC when the rest of the fandom is having the time of their life calling Grian a homophobe, a murderer, calling Scar an arsonist, calling Martyn a loser and pathetic, so on and so forth. Is telling a story about an abusive gay relationship any more "problematic" than telling a story about an abusive straight relationship?
I don't want to imply anything about peoples intentions but it feels sometimes, to me, that the "homophobia" card is being played out of some obligation to protect Scott and his brand rather than out of genuine concern for homophobia in the fandom -- because then, I ask, where is that energy for critiquing the homophobic humour prevalent in CC circles?
I've certainly heard Jimmy make jokes about Scott's sexuality in videos before. Where's the breakdowns of the infamous "I am a straight man and would like to be represented as such" incident from Pirates? Where's that energy for referring to shipping as a "bit" or Etho "gagging" at fanart of him and Bdubs?
I'd even go to argue, in terms of homophobic caricatures, Martyn and Iskall are both often more akin to the classic "gay guy in love with you who won't take no for an answer" stereotype than Scott has been. Martyn at least we know is queer, does it simply not matter in his case? Despite the fact that Martyn is very much more villainized than Scott is, to the point where his Limlife win is often portrayed as maniacal and cackling rather than with the solemn acceptance of Scott's LL win or the heartbreak and regret of Grian's 3L win? Please know that I personally Do Not find these portrayals homophobic (although the Iskall side of things has peeved me in the past), I'm just questioning why homophobia in the fandom seems to start and end with one guy only.
In addition: "internalized homophobia" is certainly a thing, but the vast majority of toxic FH fans in my circle at least are very much gay. We're on Tumblr. Fork found in kitchen. I've seen more than one person express that Scott's behaviour in one or several of the seasons was reminiscent of a toxic or abusive ex, or reminded them of some other trauma. It just seems unkind to me to claim "homophobia" and then turn and tell very gay people talking about their very gay experiences that they are somehow The Problem.
Jimmy Likes It, Though
Often in response to toxic flower husbands posts, people will cite the many times Jimmy has said in the past that he actively requests to be bullied, as part of his youtuber persona, since he finds it funny.
I've always found this kind of strange, since unlike the homophobia claims which 99% of the time are unambiguously about the content creators, this is often said in response to people talking about the series as a story with characters first and foremost.
While the area of interpretation differs for all of us, most people do not choose to include behind-the-scenes youtube talk as part of their storyline, since this detail changes Jimmy's character drastically and impacts the tone of the series overall. So what, they were dropped into a death game arena and Jimmy... told everyone they should bully him, cus he thought it'd be funny? Offscreen, with no interactions or monologue in the series itself even alluding to it? It's kind of awkward to work in and there's really no reason to if what you are invested in is viewing the series as essentially an ultra meta theatre performance.
Now, I personally do work in some out-of-series material into my headcanons and interpretation, so let's say that Is a canon part of Jimmy's character -- maybe he knew the group beforehand and this was their established dynamic, or he simply offscreened it all. Now we have to deal with the fact that this is interpretation and the unreliable narrator aspect of the series.
Jimmy (the character) might've asked for this, but under what circumstances? Why does he want this? Is this really healthy behaviour or is it self-destructive? I never see this explored and instead "Jimmy says it's okay" is treated as word of god, which I find to be painful to deal with when it comes to this series (I'll get to this later).
Even if we throw out the character side of things completely, there are perfectly valid issues to have with this dynamic. I've seen people debating the ethics of presenting this type of humour to a young impressionable audience, I've seen people who find it upsetting because it reminds them of their own toxic friendships. CCs have no authority here, Jimmy does not decide where peoples discomfort starts and ends.
I admit this is a far reach, but indulge me and imagine for a second if the roles were switched and the homophobic jokes about Scott were what was leaned in to but Scott claimed he "liked being bullied". Would that be okay too?
People are Allowed to Dislike the Real Guy, it's Okay
There are plently of reasons to dislike CC!Scott that aren't rooted in homophobia, I can assure you.
Let's put it this way: Scott does not have to read this post if he doesn't want to. In fact, he'd have to actively go out of his way to see it in the first place. The fanfic writers are not calling him an abuser in his youtube comments section. This fandom bullshit is not clogging his notifications.
I don't dislike CC!Scott, I don't love him either but I think he's just kind of your average kind of a loser youtuber guy. But even if someone truly did find him to be the most abhorrent human being to walk the earth, talking about it on tumblr should not hurt him. You often see reminders that Jimmy is a grown man who can speak up if he finds things in videos hurtful, and I'd go on to argue that the same logic is never given to Scott who is, also, a grown man who can control his internet usage.
It's all just Minecraft and jokes
The most buzzkill of all rebuttals, in my opinion, is this argument that toxic flower husbands is "taking it too seriously" and that they are just "friends playing Minecraft".
Like when people bring up Jimmy's behind the scenes request, this confuses me because it is brought up 99% of the time to rebut posts that treat the series as a storyline rather than a youtube playthrough. You can't have the grief of Scott losing his husband and Grian's despaired suicide and Pearl's sanity slippage and still acknowledge that it is all "friends playing minecraft".
In fact I'd even argue flower husbands is pretty non-toxic if you look at it Purely from a friends playing Minecraft perspective, but that is never the case. Scott's grief over Jimmy's death is treated with utmost seriousness, but Scott hitting Jimmy for not listening to him or wanting to "whittle him down to nothing" never is. It's this pick-and-choose that drives me insane more than anything else.
In addition to this, while I might be mistaken, it seems like most FH fans are not super accepting of RPF so I wonder what the intent is in the first place.
Furthermore, I do find it odd when it seems like the issue is that abuse specifically is "taking it too seriously" in a series where murder is pretty much the main theme. Adultery is mentioned multiple times in Double Life. Martyn even says the words "toxic relationship" in Double Life regarding himself and Cleo. It's clearly something that is referenced directly in the series and not any darker than what is already commonly accepted in fanon, so I don't understand why it's such a taboo and gets hit with the "no fun allowed" stick more than Scar being a cannibal serial killer.
With the same logic, I could argue that Scott was serious when he said Jimmy was useless, redundant, etc. and joking when he said he was sad his husband died but. I don't do that. Because that'd be insane
But Scott Loved Jimmy
Onto the stuff that's more purely in-universe, the argument is more uncommon now but I used to see alot of claims that flower husbands couldn't have been toxic because Scott "loved" Jimmy, usually citing the positive interactions the two do have throughout Third Life.
I think this is kind of difficult to talk about because, to me, it comes from a genuine misunderstanding of how abusive relationships work and what they look like. I won't lecture the reader on the theory behind abusive relationships and the trauma bonding cycle but I will say that the good does not balance out the bad and sometimes, context is severely lacking.
E.g. the cake. Late in the series Scott bakes a cake for Jimmy and hides it for him to find. This is a moment that I think is fascinating because it showcases both Scott's genuine care for Jimmy and the sadism he gets out of Jimmy's suffering at the same time. Jimmy is actively afraid of the cake, says to Scott that he thinks it's a trap and tries to get Scott to try it instead because Scott was still on green. Scott simply laughs and pushes Jimmy to try it, later mocking Jimmy for being scared at all.
Scott not taking Jimmy's fear seriously in this scene always seems to get cut out, or is paired with the usual insistence that it's okay because it's a "joke", and the cake itself is what is focused on.
Long story short: Abusers can love and care for their victims, abusers can be romantically attracted to their victims, abusers can feel trapped in the cycle just as much as the victim (e.g. the classic "look what you made me do" wifebeater excuse).
"Home?" "Home." and Word of God
In a similar vein, lots of people point to Scott's Third Life ending as proof their relationship had a happily ever after. This is one example of a trend I see within rebuttals where Scott's word is often treated as canonical Word of God.
Word of God, for those unaware, is the concept in storytelling of communicating definitive, unbiased information to the audience. Some iconic examples would be the Star Wars intro scroll, or any of the "once upon a time..." set-ups in fairy tales. Sometimes a character will temporarily possess Word of God and lose it later, such as Katara's intro narration in ATLA.
The subversion of Word of God would be Unreliable Narrator, where the person telling you the information is, in some way, not to be trusted. Some media play entirely on this concept, the Stanley Parable being one iconic example.
My personal interpretation of the traffic series is that every POV is unreliable narrator, with some being worse offenders (e.g. Scar and Martyn). I feel like it does a disservice to other POVs if you simply take one as Word of God, since some characters really do seem different until you see their side of things (some poignant examples would be Last Life Joel, Last Life Scar and Double Life Pearl). However, I must say again, this is not Correct nor is taking one POV as Word of God Wrong. That's just the rules I'm used to operating under.
So first off, operating within my rules: the "home?" "home." scene only appears in Scott's POV and is never acknowledged outside of that one scene. Jimmy clearly remembers the events of Third Life but never says a thing about him and Scott's shared afterlife (more on Jimmy's behaviour post-3L in a bit) and neither does Scott himself. To me this scene has always been either a tragic dying hallucination or an outright lie Scott invented to cope with the events of Third Life. I don't think there's any reason for me to believe the Jimmy in this scene is really Jimmy.
With that being said: taking the scene at face value as something that actually happened and it being a real afterlife Jimmy and Scott were sent to, there are still sinister elements that go entirely unacknowledged. Scott specifies that the flower valley was decorated to his plans, never mentioning Jimmy's, the same valley he previously insinuated he designed specifically so that he'd be "over" Jimmy.
Including Last Life and beyond as part of canon: this is very much not the "happily ever after" for Scott and Jimmy as. Well. They don't stay there and end up getting thrust into another death game where, again, this scene is never spoken about again and Jimmy only acts more and more antagonistic towards Scott as the seasons progress.
Disregarding Last Life and beyond: there is so much ambiguity that it's hard to take it all at face value, are there any other players in this place? Are Scott and Jimmy doomed to die knowing no one and nowhere else? Can Jimmy walk 15 minutes westward and come across the home of the guy who murdered him? Or is this a paradise where all the players can remain? What about Scott, is he going to go back to treating Jimmy the same way he did when they were both alive? How does he deal with the fact that his dead husband is suddenly back?
I do think this last one (taking Scott's POV as word of god + disregarding everything past this point) is the closest you're gonna get to an entirely non-toxic reading of this scene, but even then you'd have to work with the previous episodes of Scott hitting and berating Jimmy continuously.
Finally, one last issue I take with the "Scott's word = Word of God" interpretation is that it is, once again, inconsistent. If Scott ever says anything to contradict his "good husband" persona it's written off as a joke, but him saying that Pearl "cheated on him" is treated as if she really did commit adultery. There's also things that are just ignored, such as Scott saying "You guys (the audience) are obsessed with flower husbands, when really it's just been me and Pearl," in Secret Life -- words that would imply he really did not care that much for Jimmy.
"Nuance."
I see people just saying the word "nuance" or "scott isn't abusive it's more nuanced" like that's an actual sentence with worth really often. I'm sorry this section is harsh but "nuance" is not an argument, abusers can have nuance, real people are always nuanced and real people can be abusers. To imply that abuse cannot be "nuanced" is a little insulting to me.
Please just say "idgaf" and move on this isn't politics we don't need flower husbands centrism
Jimmy is the Abusive One
This one drives me insane but I see it fairly often and I. honestly don't know what to make of it. Sometimes it's coupled with an insistence that you can make anyone in the cast abusive if you try hard enough which... yeah I, I agree. We're agreeing here.
Seemingly most prominent during Limited Life, there's some claims that people are unfair towards Scott and that Jimmy is the real abuser, but I find the examples of his behaviour weak more often than not because they are usually 1. in direct response to something Scott did, 2. using psychic powers to sense characters motives (such as claiming he is guilt tripping people when he apologizes when nothing suggests that is the case) or 3. behaviour that not only is not toxic, but is very much harmless
Examples of the third one include things such as him refusing to say "love you" back to Scott during Limited Life and Secret Life, which he is not obligated to do. Some people insist he "owes" it to Scott somehow for Third Life which I find not only overestimating how much Scott aided Jimmy during Third Life (Jimmy Did die first, after all) but kind of. Dangerous? To say that you can somehow "owe" another person love and affection if they perform enough chores for you.
Another is the claim that Jimmy acts overly flirtatious with other men which hurts Scott which. I feel like needs an essay or two on slutshaming to make my point clear.
What really does me in is that this point is often paired with the insistence that Flower Husbands Would Be perfect if Jimmy just stopped "acting out" and did what Scott wanted him to. I don't really know how to explain why I find that kind of bad.
To me, it seems as if it's almost an admission that the further away from Third Life you get, the more clear it becomes that Jimmy does not have the highest opinion of Scott and in order for the non-toxic interpretation to still apply you need to stretch things, which often comes with the unfortunate side effect of saying some historically not awesome things about people like Jimmy.
Why Only Scott?
This often comes in hand with the first point about homophobia, with claims that Scott is the only one accused of being abusive to Jimmy, when others like Grian and Joel are the same if not worse.
This is another take that's strange to me because.. It's just untrue? I think it might be the shock of the culture shift of toxic fh that's spearheading this, but most of the smallidarity stuff I've seen, for example, come with some level of acknowledgement that Joel is a massive bitch. Sometimes it's through bully x victim AUs or storylines where he learns the error of his ways, but he's a bitch to Jimmy like. Most of the time.
Solidarian is a much lower sample rate ship for a character with a way too high sample rate but Grian characterization ranges from "pure evil watcher who feeds off suffering" to "previous abuse victim with trust issues". Very few times have I seen Grian presented as purely good in interpretations.
MOST of the jausage stuff I've seen is straight up sausage being. Weird.
There was a hilarious confessions blog anon awhile back that tried to claim shipping scarian was somehow morally wrong because Scar(???) abused Grian(???). It happens.
To add to this: very few of Jimmy's other romantic interests were literally calling himself his "husband" while hitting and berating him. The only other "canon" couple I can think of that come close is Jizzie and the way Lizzie will sometimes hit Joel, but that is primarily outside of the life series and their crimes against eachother in the series are always capstoned by almost cartoonish antics of "still love you, tho" (e.g. Joel putting Lizzie's stuff in a chest after she gets killed by a zombie or them choosing to team up Despite it All near the end of Last Life) -- I have more thoughts regarding them but this isn't the toxic jizzie post so I'll leave it at that.
Very, very rarely will I see someone who believes flower husbands is toxic but thinks joel/grian/fwhip/sausage/etc. are Completely fine. I also think it might just be that people talk about Scott more since Flower Husbands is the Iconic Ship and that gets numbers biased into people Only thinking Scott is bad for Jimmy.
It could also be argued that some of the Double Life pairings have the same level of toxic married couple energy that Flower Husbands does, but I'd argue that the soulbounds have enough variety that interpreting them as wholly romantic is difficult to do. There was also less hype overall with some of the most "toxic" pairings in DL, such as Impdubs or Box Boys, which makes it hard to find content for them -- I did a whole little liveblog of it calling Impdubs toxic as fuck. Y'all just didn't see it. Most of DL's toxic relationship themes also come from divorce quartet but admitting that those four have romantic tension in-universe gets you sniped in this economy.
To end: I talk about Scott more than the other guys because. I like him more. I like talking about people I like.
Conclusion (AKA who fucking cares)
I feel the need to restate my intro: no one actually fucking cares.
I've been talking about inconsistency in the "rules" of interpretation throughout this and I stick by my word but I think I'd have to mention that, in order to view this series as a storyline in the first place, you'd have to make some exceptions. I don't listen to the lines about youtube or viewers or when Grian talks about planning the series. I don't think it'd be Wrong to view Scott's POV as Word of God, disregard everything that implies he's a bad husband, not consider anything past "home?" "home." canon, so on. It would not be an interpretation I, some random asshole on tumblr, enjoy personally but if you're having fun you really should not give a shit about me.
However that doesn't mean people can't be rude or just straight up wrong or hypocritical when they claim toxic flower husbands interpretations are "homophobic" despite being antagonistic towards the gay people writing them in the first place (I've seen a ridiculous amount of middle school level namecalling for like no reason??) or claim that the interpretation is for people who "haven't watched their POV" as if a certain takeaway of a minecraft series presents you with some sense of superiority for understanding the cube guy harder than those horrible, horrible HATERS who think Scott killing himself over and over is sad to watch.
Oh and don't mention Pearl's role in all of this the only time I've seen someone try to bring her up I had to read it like five times and I'm still not quite sure I understand
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brotherwtf · 2 months
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what do you think their jealousy levels are like, as in do they get jealous easily/sometimes/not at all? and if they do, what specific things do you think gets them jealous? love all your work btw, your blog is one of my favourites on here xx
oh boy y'all aren't ready for this 😈 love writing me some jealously. also thank you so much! I love you too 💕💕
I think they are about equal parts jealous, but John is more verbally jealous while Gale is silently jealous. John will laugh jokingly and push other guys away, trying to be friendly but his eyes are ice cold. Gale will bring John in closer to him, shooting glares at people who try to come close
Gale HATES when John flirts with girls, in canon and in fanon, and just seethes when John comes sidling back over after sweet talking a girl like nothing has happened. He knows he shouldn't be jealous, hell he feels the exact same way the girls must feel, it just irks him how easily John smooth talks them
John gets really worked up when Gale lets another person touch him like he does, casual arm around the shoulder or a hand on his thigh. Gale will usually smile and push it off quickly, but it leaves John seething. Sometimes, he'll push the other person off of Gale and put his arm around him instead, claiming him as his
I feel like Gale gets jealous a little easier just because John is so flirty and charming, it makes him feel unworthy because the words just slip out so easily, did John mean anything he said to Gale?
They get really possessive whenever they're around exes in a modern au, maybe Gale has an ex he's on good terms with and they cross paths while he's out with John and they start chatting lightheartedly. John, of course, hates it and makes sure to pull Gale in by his waist extra close as if to say "He's mine, back off"
What if one time John spies an old fwb at a bar that Gale knows about. She starts chatting with John and John (professional yapper) obviously starts talking with her casually. Gale sees the flirting look in her eyes and the way she looks down at his lips every so often, and Gale bristles. At some point, he just grabs John's jaw mid sentence and kisses him obnoxiously, which scares the poor girl away
I think they're hella possessive of each other, once they got each other they don't want to let go and so I think that manifests itself a lot in their jealousy
The sex GOD the jealous sex. They would both get so handsy, wanting to rip flesh and conjoin their bodies so that they are one. John would fuck Gale into the bed, holding him down by his shoulders and whispering "You're mine, all mine," into Gale's ear the entire time. Gale would ride John like there's no tomorrow, pulling his hair and biting his neck to claim him as his
the morning after is always a blast, bright red bite marks on John's neck and shoulders, bleeding scrapes on his back from Gales nails. Gale would have marks all over him, red bruises along his ass, chest and neck from where John laid his claim on him, ass red and abused from how hard they fucked (they love it though, the pain caused by the other, it makes it feel real)
They lay in each other's arms and press soothing kisses to the harsh angry marks, an apology but still a claim all in all. God they love each other so much.
god I love them, my possessive little babies 🥲 this was really fun to write about, thank you for the ask!
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Six of Crows did a great job showcasing ordinary people don't care about Grisha. (And Zoya turning into a dragon and the propaganda of new "saints" won't solve centuries of prejudice, lack of education in common folk, and capitalism taking advantage of Grisha.)
Most of the characters in SoC duology have known misfortune and discrimination in their lives. You'd think they show solidarity to Grisha, right? Wrong.
Kaz
Kaz is a businessman. No more, no less. He says so himself. Once again, the fandom is blurring the line between the canon and the fanon persona. Kaz is not a "mother hen" who would do anything for his crows but will grumble about it. If Nina and Matthias crossed him as they originally planned in Six of Crows, he'd notify the druskelle to come catch them without any regrets.
Kaz's defining trait is that he takes everything too personally. Kaz is not some vigilante who protects oppressed minorities. He couldn't give a less of a shit about Grishas' struggles, as he makes clear to Nina on more than one occasion. Kaz had no problem indenturing Grisha and giving them less than favorable terms. The only line he wouldn't cross would be selling their bodies. (His disgust of brothels and their clients, once again, comes from a personal reason of his touch aversion).
Even after everything Nina did for him and his crew, even after she took parem, he was ready to kick her off the job in CK when she protested that they needed to evacuate the Grisha from Ketterdam. The only reason he agreed is because he needed Inej for the job and Inej refused to help him unless he helped Nina.
Inej
The only reason Inej took Nina's side (in standing up to Kaz to evacuate Grisha from Ketterdam to save them in CK) is because she cared about Nina as a friend, not because she was very concerned about Grisha. Inej never directly acknowledges the injustice Grisha face even in her thoughts in her pov even though the Suli and the Grisha are both minorities, are being weirdly fetishized for profit and have not been treated particularly well by Ravkans. Moreover, she refuses to meet the Triumvirate, claiming the Ravkans have not been good to Suli in recent years, even though the Triumvirate has only been formed for two years and its members were ordinary Grisha until then. They were servants, serfs. And even after the civil war, they don't have that kind of political power, they obey the Crown. So, what do they have to do with anything? Why does Inej refuse to meet them? Is she afraid they'll be racist towards her? One of the members and the general of the second army is Suli. Who, btw, is known for her temper and pride and not tolerating disrespect. Shouldn't Inej feel proud that a Suli woman is commanding the second army? If Inej doesn't feel comfortable meeting them even with her friend Nina, is it possible Zoya never really acknowledged her Suli heritage? At least, until KoS duology, that is. In RoW, Inej suddenly remembers Zoya is Suli and tells her they don't abandon one of their own. I'm sorry, but it doesn't make much sense. There are two routes of explanations:
It's the author's mistake. Zoya was never described as Suli in the Shadow and Bone trilogy (maybe even in SoC duology? I'd have to check). She was said to have blue eyes and raven hair and that is that. She is also said to have "perfect nose", which doesn't necessarily mean she had a straight or a small nose, but it feels it's written like that. What gives me that idea? In the trilogy, the Suli aren't exactly written very respectfully, considering the two main "good guys", Alina and Mal, impersonate Suli fortunetellers (which is sacred to the Suli), very poorly imitate their accents and have a laugh about it. Zoya acts like a rich, materialistic brat in the trilogy, calls Mal's commoner mannerisms foreign and enticing and we only find out her father was Suli and she comes from an extremely poor peasant family in KoS. It seems like instead of making her own up to her mistakes and making her grow as a person, the author gave her an excuse in a form of a sad backstory.
Inej is a sixteen year old acrobat, who might not be well aware of political situations and doesn't realize what role do Grisha really have in Ravka. I don't want to diminish her intelligence or make her ignorant, but the author isn't giving me much to work with. It also might be possible that during Nikolai's father's rule, while the Suli were on the Ravkan soil, they were tested for powers and taken to the second army since the draft was mandatory and that's why Inej didn't like them.
Wylan
Wylan is a good person, and he had many, many things to deal with in CK, so I didn't expect him to start drawing a plan on how to make Grishas' life better while hiding in a tomb from his father, but it doesn't take much to spare a sentence to at least acknowledge how messed up their existence was. When they're discussing the Kherguud soldiers, they're only worried about Nina and Jesper, not the grand scheme of things. It's a whole race of people we're talking about. Idk, it just feels weird.
Matthias
Oddly enough, the only person who thinks how certain events will affect Grisha is an ex-druskelle. I cannot write his entire redemption arc here, but he definitely shows more care and concern.
Joost
Honorary mention to the boy who knew how dire the situation was and didn't shy away from it. He couldn't take a girl he liked out on a date because she was an indentured Grisha, knew he couldn't buy out her contract but wasn't planning to give up on her.
Also, he demands to know where Anya is as an authority because she should be working. So, not only the merchants and businesses who own them control them, but the Stadwatch are authorized to find them and drag them over to them if they're not at work.
Do you have to have a crush on a Grisha in order to care whether they live or perish? Grisha are an integral part of almost every profession in Grishaverse, they're written as the primary reason for technological advancements, and yet, the ordinary people never stop to think what their eradication would mean to their world.
As for KoS duology, it's a fever dream. I've read fairytales that make more sense than that. Yes, it's YA, but the author is not acting or writing like it's not supposed to be taken seriously. And once you've established a universe with certain laws, you can't throw it all to the wind, give the readers a half-baked explanation and say it makes perfect sense. The SoB trilogy showed us how Grisha were not accepted even when they fought the Kings' wars for centuries and a Grisha saint destroyed the Fold. The SoC duology told us that the civil war destroyed the second army and Ravka was bankrupt and collapsing. Since the draft wasn't mandatory, no one wanted to go fight and die for a country that has given them nothing. But suddenly, the nation of Fjerda, who has hated and hunted the Grisha for centuries, is swayed by cheap tricks to worship them as saints and Ravka will be fine because Zoya can flap her wings and burn whoever opposes her? Yeah, 'cause that went so well for the Targaryen dynasty.
P.S. I am not calling the author or the characters racist. SoC duology is one of my favorite books ever. But as LB herself wrote in this book: "You can love something and still see its flaws".
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chillyneon · 1 month
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*Me pulling out my aroace flag and waving it aggressively before anyone accuses me of speaking over aroaces even though I'm an aroace selfshipper because apparently that's fucking required.*
Selfshipping aroace characters isn't erasure, they still exist as aroace canonly and it's not the fandoms job to hold strictly to canon. It's not an individual artist's job to not DARE draw anything sexual or romantic of aroace characters.
"But it feels like erasure to see porn of an aroace character. We don't get to have aroace characters often, and I want to hold on tightly to their canon." That's not erasure, the character is still 100% canon aroace in their media. Stop trying to shame or put down people for you being uncomfortable.
Selfshippers (or shippers in general) are NOT responsible for keeping to canon. They are NOT required to leave aroace characters alone because "if you do you're erasing aroace representation." It's not erasure to make porn or romantic works with aroaces characters, because it's not the fandoms job to hold to canon. It's not aroacephobic to adore these characters in non canon ways.
Anyone telling you that you're committing erasure is bullshit and detractors know it, fandom policing to ensure no one touches the aces or the gays or any other canon sexuality that's not straight, it's fucking garbage.
ITS NOT FANDOMS JOB TO BE CANON. ITS NOT A SELFSHIPPERS JOB TO BE CANON. FANON FANART DOESN'T ERASE A CHARACTERS CANON.
Drawing aroaces as anything other than aroaces doesn't make you bad nor are you horrid for enjoying it. You're not erasing their canon because the canon still exists.
Again. That canon still exists, it's not erasure to do something non-canon with your selfshipping. You're not a bad person for going against canon sexualities.
And I'm absolutely going to continue smooching and cuddling and holding my aroace F/Os because it absolutely makes me irrationally happy to have canon aroace characters. <33333 and sometimes I wanna date and fuck em.
-Sincerely, an aged selfshipper that hates the rise of fandom purity policing
*aggressively waves my aroace flag as a selfshipper to ward off evil purity spirits trying to control fandom.*
Fictosex/rom is on the acespectrum btw thank you go drink water!!!!
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11queensupreme11 · 1 month
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Will you be delving into mycenaean poseidon and percy with her prophetic abilities in the future 🥺
i am so sorry.... but that is not real 😭
i've been seeing a lot of "mycenaean poseidon" this, "mycenaean percy that" where poseidon had the power of the oracle before apollo did but none of that is real 😭
so this whole thing actually started from an ao3 author izzymrdb in one of her fanfics, "a rose by any other name" and a few others, but those were fics she made when she was a kid and i can't remember if this was a genuine mistake of misinformation on her part, or if the fandom just got too obsessed and took her fic as historical fact when it never was 💀
anyway, she later realized "oh shit, ppl actually started believing me???" and made a tiktok about it:
so yeah, i'm sorry to everyone who thought the whole "mycenaean poseidon had prophetic abilities blah blah blah" stuff was a real, historical fact, but it's not. there is no source to back that up and the person who inadvertently started this (who has a BA in these things btw) even confirmed that there's no such thing 💀
nor is it canon anywhere in the pjo series 💀 percy's prophetic abilities via dreams is something ALL demigods have. not just percy. it just seems that way cuz the first series was all in percy's POV (you can read more about it here)
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MORE OF ME COMPLAINING ABOUT THE FANDOM
- i’ve seen so many ppl consider andromeda and sirius leaving from their family as an act of love for their muggle born partners. i don’t really like that ESP for sirius. it really downplays their morals and what they fought for.
- why is regulus the forth marauder? where tf did peter go
- if i see one more piece of content that makes sirius leaving the house of black about regulus im going to lose it. “ b-b-but how could he leave his baby brother🥺” that little baby brother was apart of a supremacist terrorist cult let’s be for real
-making characters like lily or remus in ships with those deatheaters assholes is WILD.
-andromeda is everything you want regulus to be give this girl the credit she deserves
-fanon regulus is cringe as hell. you all just took over characters story’s to make it his. he sucked.
-the moment someone brings up that a new ship/hdcs don’t make sense and ppl say “nothing is the hp universe makes sense” i lose a year off my life. let’s use our little heads and figure out that even in a fantastical world. things.can.still.make.sense.with.the.plotline.
- some of the regulus/evan/barty and whatever ways fans are like the WHINIEST fandom i have ever seen. can’t take any (valid btw) criticism on their weird little fetishes and act like they’re being oppressed when people don’t like the same thing as them. not all of you guys obv but a LOT
- “if you don’t like it just scroll” no? some things are objectively wrong and bad and should be discussed grow up
-this fandom is turning into a booktok porn addiction fandom
-a fandom is a place of discussion. people not liking fictional characters and talking about it is not going to kill you
-james’s character got dumbed down so BADLY by all the jegulus nonsense like james being kind of a simp in canon was because his love for LILY was pure and strong. they have a whole ass prophecy.
-making every character queer isn’t doing what you think it’s doing. and frankly idgaf if you make this character queer if that character is a horrible person. doesn’t make them more likable or interesting.
-there is a deep rooted issue of misogyny in this fandom.
-saying that jegulus is not going against lily as a character is not true. fanon regulus is literally lily but like racist. jegulus is literally jily.
-lily evans can love james potter and still be a strong character these two are not linked at all
-dorlene/jily/wolfstar where the sanest ships in the fandom. maybe add rose killer on there cus frankly since it doesn’t change much the characters or storyline it’s okay
-remember when regulus was ace? why did that get completely forgotten
-some of the fancasts did irreparable damage to people’s brains. because hot doesn’t mean better person
-james potter would punch most of the people you ship him with
- jegulus fics where harry is there kid and lily is a surrgate/barely in the pic is CRAZY
-mary is so sexualized? like why
- sirius was canonically better looking than regulus lol
-the black family can be explored so much more besides just the regulus glaze
-REGULUS BARELY CONTRIBUTED TO VOLDMORT BEING DEFEATEDDDDS PLEASE
- some of the new sapphic ships are actually good. nobleflower is very interesting.
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seireitonin · 5 months
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Quick rant on some stupid discourse
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“This fandom doesn’t take horror seriously!1!!1!1 it’s just a bunch of ocs!1!1!1!1😡” Bro, Creepypasta has always been goofy af. Even the word“Creepypasta” sounds goofy. Literally every Creepypasta Character is someone’s oc, made my a traumatized angsty teen or young adult in 2011-2016. You expect us to read some silly shit like Jeff the Killer and be shaking in our boots? (Still like Jeff btw) Get real. I like the “realistic and scary” portrayals of the Creepypasta characters too! But I also love fanon. This fandom was literally based off fun. I hate when ppl come with this “im better than you” mindset bc they don’t like fanon/ want them to be scary only. I really can’t stand it. This fandom has always been based on fun and comfort. Everyone made the popular Creepypasta characters for fun and sometimes to vent/ be a self insert. Ppl are acting like we didn’t have comics and fics where they lived in a mansion together and chilled like a family with a y/n insert because ppl were comforted by these characters , myself included. Ppl act like we didn’t always have goofy/ silly fan art. Ppl act like these aren’t vent characters that brought comfort to lots of ppl. Ppl act like the creators themselves didn’t make silly, goofy fun content with their own characters. (Laughing jack, ticci Toby, bloody painter, etc for example all their creators drew them/ portrayed in fun ways in content I still rewatch) Let’s not forget our roots. Creepypasta (the character based side of it) is still so loved and popular because of the fun stuff like that that people can look back on fondly. Why does it make you so mad that ppl want to use the characters differently than you/ make fanon content? So these “ocs” are only decent/ okay when you use them your way and have your seal of approval??? Please be serious. This is coming from someone who likes Fanon and canon. One isn’t better than the other. You’re not better than everyone else because you want to make them “realistic and scary” let that mindset go. Let people have fun. Let people find comfort where they want. Seeing people having fun and being comforted shouldn’t make you mad. The block button exists and is free. Just block them and only interact with the side of the fandom you want to see. There’s multiple sides of it. I block content I don’t want to see all the time. Doesn’t mean I hate these people or their content, I just don’t want to see it personally. But I don’t go around unironically shaming people for content I don’t like. Because that’s dumb. (Unless it’s something awful like using offenderman, demonizing mental illness etc I have called people out for this, semi - respectfully before) Shaming people for not portraying Creepypasta characters made my angsty teens and adults in the way you specifically want to see them/ be portrayed is just so silly. This fandom doesn’t revolve around you and what you want. Or anyone for that matter. Respect other people. No one’s “better” than anyone. Because everyone sees and uses and portrays the characters differently and that’s always been the best part of this fandom. The freedom, creativity, fun and comfort. That’s how it’s always been. Nothings changed.
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spaceorphan18 · 4 months
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The Rogue and Gambit Project: Previously On X-Men... Gambit
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It's time to talk about Gambit! The nice thing about Gambit is that he was, at the time, a relatively new character, having only been around in the comics for about a year. Which means there is way less to cover! Boy, are we going to have to deal with some questionable art, though.
The Basics:
Name: Remy Etienne* LeBeau
*Okay, so, this is the funny thing about the name Etienne. Apparently, it started out as fanlore, and - as so many things that happen in fandom - gained popularity as fanon from a particularly well known piece of fanfiction from way back when. I believe it's actually been used in canon at this point. It is on Marvel.com - which is the official site. I'll keep a look out for it to show up.
Also, in case you didn't know (and I'm sure you did), Le Beau is French for The Beautiful.
Backstory: Just like Rogue, Gambit's backstory is shrouded in mystery. He's a thief. He's from New Orleans. He's Cajun. That's all your getting for now. Don't worry, we'll peel back the layers. ;)
Power Set (via uncannyxmen.net):  interkinetic power allows him to produce bio-kinetic energy within his body and use it to convert any inorganic object's potential energy into kinetic energy on contact, making the object highly volatile and explosive on contact, internal energy also grants him heightened agility and creates static interference that shields his mind from detection
I should also give the obligatory comment of - these powers are toned down from his full abilities because of /reasons/ which we'll get to eventually. He had Mr. Sinister give him a lobotomy and, we've all been suffering the consequences sense.
Alright, let's dig into Gambit's pre-Rogue run...
Uncanny X-Men 266-267
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Uncanny X-Men #266
I have to start by appreciating the fact that Gambit is a thief who wears bright pink and metal boots. It's a bold look.
Anyway, the funny thing about Gambit is that the character he turned out to be ended up being a lot different from creator Chris Claremont's initial ideas. Apparently, he was supposed to be, ultimately, a villain and, while he was supposed to be a love interest for one of our characters, it wasn't Rogue, it was... Kitty Pryde. He was also supposed to be a Mr. Sinister creation and a third summers brother. Yeah, I'm kind of glad Claremont left before any of this stuff really came to fruition.
Also, I once read that Claremont claim that original artist Mike Collins made Gambit too pretty. Which is funny, because ngl, I really am not a fan of the look in his debut, and it will be a while before he really earns his name.
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Uncanny X-Men #266
I also want to note that Gambit's powers were a little different back then. He didn't have playing cards yet, and instead used metal spikes as throwing devices. The powers were designated in green. And were charged from his eyes. Also, interesting to note - his eyes aren't red on black yet, either.
There's also 'hypnotic charm' thing that was kinda used in the early appearances. He does use it in his first appearance to tame some of the Shadow King's Hounds.
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Uncanny X-Men #266
He's gonna be calling her 'Stormy' for years. She's gonna love it. ;) (Btw - he calls her Stormy 4 times in this issue alone.)
Okay, so... Gambit shows up, crossing paths with Storm at a mansion of some rich person. Storm is de-aged (for... reasons) and is running from the Shadow King and his minions. He's busy stealing art from the rich dude (who apparently is not home and has no security, lol).
And thus, one of my favorite comic book friendships is born. And really, this first appearance is a lot of fun as Gambit and Storm play off each other's strengths to get away from the Shadow King.
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Uncanny X-Men 267
Jim Lee is going to add some of Gambit's more iconic features -- such as throwing playing cards (Gambit's Ace of Spades shows up in this next issue) and using some kind of staff (hilariously, it's a broom in this issue).
Storm and Gambit's adventures continue. He takes her to New Orleans for a while so she can recover from the Shadow King. They go thieving -- playing Robin Hood -- stealing from rich people because they can. And then the Orphan Maker comes along, who makes Storm a teenager? (Idk - the whole thing is weird - she'll become her real age again in the next story arc.)
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Uncanny X-Men #267
And then Storm is like, hey, I have a crazy idea....
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Uncanny X-Men Annual #14
Fun fact: Because of release dates and such, Uncanny X-Men #266 wasn't the first comic released to have Gambit in it. The Annual technically came out first, though it clearly takes place after Uncanny 266-267. But this is the first time we see Gambit among the X-Men team. Not that he does anything remotely interesting during this whole thing. He doesn't even speak, kind of hides awkwardly in the background.
X-Tinction Agenda (Uncanny X-Men #270-272; X-Factor & New Mutants)
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Uncanny X-Men #270
Welcome to the X-Men, Gambit! Hope you survive the experience!
He's in the credit roll now, must be official. ;)
Gambit joins the team just as the mega X-tinction Agenda crossover starts. (Uncanny X-Men joins New Mutants and X-Factor for this one) And, I'll be honest, this isn't one of my favorite crossovers. The whole thing revolves around the nation of Genosha, how they're using mutants for slaves, and how all the teams come together to change the status quo. And of course, mutants get capture and tortured and a few killed. Fwiw X-Men: The Animated Series did do this storyline.
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Uncanny X-Men #270
Gambit and Cable don't (won't) get to cross paths very often, so I found this an interesting panel. Anyway... Gambit really has very little to do during this crossover. When Storm gets captured, he is really concerned for her (as he considers her his partner at the moment) but he's not really vibe-ing the whole team dynamic yet.
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Uncanny X-Men #272
This is arguably the coolest thing Gambit's done as of yet. Dude pulls a spike out of his leg to use as a lockpick and gets himself rescued. I'm glad they give him this, because, again, for the most part he's just kinda hanging around in the background not doing much.
I will say - he and Jubilee get to cross paths, which is going to be a source of fun in the next arc.
Space Shenanigans (Uncanny X-Men 273-277)
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Uncanny X-Men 273
Some of my favorite issues are when the team is regrouping. Post- X-Tinction Agenda, it's clear that things in the X-Office were changing. Claremont is at this point sort of being pushed out, while Jim Lee and Co are becoming more the driving force behind the books. On panel, the teams are kind of merging. X-Factor's first era is drawing to a close, and the X-Men are resolidifying after being in flux for so long.
We're about to get a Space Soap Opera, as Claremont so dearly loves, but this issue is a bit of a breather between the arcs. And we get this bit of tension between Storm and Gambit - where Gambit is ready to move on, but Storm is back on solid footing again. They don't explicitly state why Gambit sticks around, but he definitely does...
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Uncanny X-Men 273
I swear, this is Chris Claremont's favorite joke. He's used it before this moment, and he'll do it again. It's impactful the first time, but it does get old the more Claremont does it. However, we get the first highlight of the dynamic between Gambit and Wolverine -- which will be antagonistic for a while, but is fascinating.
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Uncanny X-Men #274
Doesn't Gambit look sexy in his yellow team uniform?? ;)
Btw - as I mentioned earlier, this is the first issue Gambit and Rogue appear in together. Though they be miles and miles and miles apart.
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Uncanny X-Men #275
The whole crux of this arc, that I've been kind of ignoring, involves Xavier being brainwashed in space (or something) and of course the X-Men get involved in space politics (again). Honestly, space stories are Claremont's favorite trope, so it doesn't surprise me that the end of his run are filled with a couple of them.
Anyway -- if there's one person impervious to Gambit's charms - it's Jubilee. They get to hang out a lot during this arc, and it's really delightful since they team up to kind of figure out what is going on with Xavier acting weird and all the odd space kool-aide people are drinking.
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Uncanny X-Men #277
I actually really like this cover. Gambit's got a sword and a spear! Plus, he looks like his 90s cool self now. The blue and yellow uniform doesn't suit him AT. ALL. But we don't have to deal with it too much longer...
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Uncanny X-Men #277
See... I told you Claremont was gonna do this again, lol.
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Uncanny X-Men #277
The nice thing about this whole space arc is that Gambit really gets to come into his own. He now looks cool (note the red eyes are here!). He's doing fun stuff. He's taking on Wolverine and holding his own. He's being smart and tactical and an asset. They've paired him with some great X-Men to start off with, and it's paying off.
Meanwhile, we don't really know much about him. As many of the other characters state, his background is shrouded in mystery... (whether you like what it actually is can be debated as we get to it). But for now, he's intriguing as a new comer.
And this is where we're at as two story lines come crashing together and our two romantic leads get to meet for the first time.... off panel.
But I'll get more into that next time when I discuss... The Muir Island Saga!
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