#i know there's nothing they could have done to make their aging more realistic

[nelyos-right-hand]

One thing I often hear when talked about kidnap fam is that while the "and love grew between them"-thing is obviously canon, that people don't think it is as happy and harmonic as often portrayed, or even that they actually like the fluffy version more, but logically have to admit that it isn't very realistic.

But I think that's exactly the point. No, the likelihood of E&E having a healthy relationship with Mae&Mags after, well, everything is pretty low, but how likely was Beren and Luthien actually getting that Silmaril?

Tolkien loved Beren and Luthien, and not just because it was kind of the only story in the Silm with a happy ending, but also because of the odds of that happy ending. If I didn't know better, a couple infiltrating the enemy's fortress, beating him, getting away and doing all of that with nothing but the "power of love" or whatever would sound like a fanfiction to me. Maybe a well written one, but definitely a fanfiction.

But Tolkien loved this story because somehow it all worked out and that makes it incredibly beautiful.

And wouldn't it be maybe unrealistic but beautiful, if after E&E lost everything and then got KIDNAPPED, they somehow ended up having a happy childhood anyway? If they found love and happiness, by the people who did this to them no less?

Or if those bitter, broken kinslayers, after everything they've done, found some kind of happiness again, however temporary, and, for a short period of time, had the chance to relearn the meaning of mercy, innocence and forgiveness? They certainly didn't deserve it, but didn't E&E deserve a happy childhood?

I think that it makes kidnap fam even better if you think that there's just no way that ten year old children would be able to heal from that trauma and come to love those battle hardened warriors, and it almost makes me cry to think about how little Elrond and Elros didn't forget what happened, but chose to forgive it, even though kids this age shouldn't have nearly the wisdom necessary to do that.

And it becomes even more tragic if you think about how it all falls apart in the end, about how they all knew from the very beginning that this little family of theirs could never last.

So, I think that this version sounds a lot more like Tolkien then an unstable, disfunctional family with 50% love, 25% hate and 25% toxic behavior. I'm not saying that E&E didn't sometimes have conflicted feelings towards Mae&Mags or that the brothers weren't struggling with their sanity, but give this people some happiness guys.

[r-2-peepoo]

Thinking about how Hunter and Crosshair both not only adore Omega but have a deep respect for her as a human being, but they express it completely differently.

Crosshair making the wrong decision in 3x11 is actually the best thing he could’ve done when it comes to his relationship with Omega.

She’s very young but she’s also female and historically speaking, female Star Wars characters aren’t always treated well by their writers. More often than not, their agency is sacrificed for the sake of developing male characters.

Crosshair going along with Omega’s plan, bad idea or not, grants her full autonomy. The show has always respected her in this way, this is just the best and most recent example. Would you realistically let a very small child go off by herself to be held captive by an evil fascist government? No, definitely not. But Crosshair doing this is so important and makes sense narratively. It shows that he not only trusts her completely but also holds her and her ideas in the highest regard. She demonstrates a maturity that even he didn’t immediately exhibit (although no one can blame him for never wanting to go anywhere near the Empire again). She knows this is bigger than her, even though in his mind nothing could possibly matter more than her safety.

Hunter would not have done the same thing as Crosshair, but he also isn’t wrong for it. It’s because he’s never fully experienced what the Empire can do but he has spent more time with Omega and knows what it’s like to be without her. It was unbearable for him and all he’s been fighting for is for her. He chose her over the entire galaxy. That’s his mission now. It’s an entirely different but equally important way of showing her respect. He values her insight and skill, hence why he brings her on missions, but he needs to protect her innocence and keep her safe. He never takes away her choices but he treats her in the way that someone of her age would need to be treated for their own development. He offers her emotional security and a safe space for her to be a kid, which she still is.

The quality of this show is fucking crazy. The way all of these men revolve around Omega and change for the better because of her and express their love in completely different ways is just so beautiful. I will expect this level of care to be put into every single female character in the future. This is the standard now.

[hstylesloverr]

YOUNG LOVE.

evan peters x model!yn

warnings: mentions of the show “dahmer”??, age gap

-

evanupdates via instagram post

liked by ynfan1, username, evanfan and more

evanupdates “ The funny thing is, when I was offered the part to play Dahmer, I seriously considered turning it down. You know, I didn't think I could measure up. Yes, I had done something similar in American Horror Story, but trying to tell an event as horrific as Dahmer's life and what he did to his victims in such an explicit and realistic way? I really thought I wasn't up to the task. I told my girlfriend that I had been offered a big role and that I was thinking about whether or not to turn it down. She asked me what it was about and well, I told her what the series was about a bit. Then she looked me straight in the eye and simply said, "You have to accept this role."

[…]

Yes, I really think I couldn't have done it without the support I got from the whole team and especially from my girlfriend. You know, she would sit with me every afternoon and we'd spend hours and hours watching documentaries and Dahmer movies, reading police reports, newspapers from the time, whatever. The support I had from her was truly something I will always be grateful for. ”

- Evan talking about the process of accepting his character in the new netflix publicity interview.

view comments

username y/n is the most supportive girlfriend

evanfan2 i love that he’s getting the recognition he deserves, i hope he wins an emmy for his excellent performance

username imagine calling y/n l/n your girlfriend

ynfan evan please come back to ig 😭

username girl literally evan's instagram seemed like a y/n fan account 😭😭😭

evanfan he looks so dilf 😭 @ yourinstagram make our dreams come true

username i love him so so much please 🥲

username i can't express in words how attracted i am to this man.

ahsfan what did i miss? 😭 last time i checked evan was dating emma

ynfan6 girl they broke up in 2015 😭😭😭 you missed a lot

username @ ynfan6 but y/n and evan weren't already dating in 2010? i'm a new fan i’m a lot confused

evanfan9 those were just rumours! y/n and evan were nothing more than close friends until 2016, where they started dating, but they always kept the relationship very private because they were heavily criticized for the age difference

-

yourinstagram via instagram post

liked by ynfan1, username, harrystyles, kendalljenner and more

yourinstagram posing for the camera as if i just weren’t traumatized.

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username god i wish i looked this pretty being traumatized

ynfan she’s unreal

evanfan3 evan’s a lucky man tbh

honeymoon Pretty girl 💖

username did u liked the show?

yourinstagram i honestly had a really bad time watching it, especially knowing that it’s based on real events. however, i loved the effort and dedication that everyone involved in it put into it.

harryfan1 i'm sick of Harry liking all of this girl's posts 😭

yourinstagram me too

harrystyles Rude.

username @ harryfan1 girl they have been friends since 2015 ? besides, she already has a boyfriend

username she’s an icon she’s a legend and she is the moment

evanfan7 please please please convince evan to get an ig account again 😭

yourinstagram bestie i’ve been trying for 2 years

kendalljenner You look so hot ugh

arianagrande 🤍🤍

ahsfan we all know who took this photo

username i really think evan's gallery is full of silly photos of y/n😅😅 but who knows maybe he hides his photography skills

ynfan5 the most beautiful woman in the world for a reason

evanscult00 i'm literally in love with herrr evan be careful because you and i aren’t friends

-

ynupdates via instagram post

liked by username, ynfan1, ynfan9, evanfan and more

ynupdates CUTIES 🥹! Y/N and her boyfriend, Evan Peters, in a pub tonight in Paris.

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evanfan no bc this is like the first pic we have of evan IN MONTHS i'm not complaining anyway i love this couple so much

username they both look so happy and comfortable

ynfan1 i want what they have

evanfan2 please they’re such dilf and milf material

username stylish girlfriend 🤝 “i don't care what to wear” boyfriend

evanfan7 will she know all the people who want to be her right now?

evandyn evan said that he was very insecure with girls and that he needed them to be patient with him 😭😭😭 seeing how happy he is with y/n makes me sensitive

ahsfan5 they were written by taylor swift i don’t make the rules

username THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER??? i'm playing lover in my head

ahsfan5 YES YES they also give many cigarettes after sex vibes

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ynthrowbacks via instagram post

liked by username, evanfan, ahsfan and more

ynthrowbacks Evan Peters, Y/N’s boyfriend, 10 years ago today.

username she looks so fetus

evanfan1 I love them so much and I really hope to have a relationship as pure as theirs one day

ynfan7 ok but can we talk about the fact that they are 9 years apart?

username !! it always seemed very strange to me, especially because evan doesn't even look like he's 35, but they started dating when y/n was already of legal age, so i guess that’s fine

ynfan9 y/n was 14 years old in that photo and evan 23...

evanfan5 not the new fans being shocked by this 💀💀💀💀 evan has always been heavily criticized for this for all these years even though they were just friends until 2016. they both went through hell with your public opinion until a couple of years ago and now you guys want to bring it back 😅

ynfan4 @ evanfan5 THIS further treating y/n as a little girl when she is now 26 and a fully capable adult

username love this y/n era

evanfan9 THE PIZZA me trying to cook aesthetically

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yourinstagram via instagram post

liked by harrystyles, taylorswift13, username, ynupdates, evanfan, kendalljenner and more

yourinstagram you kiss my face and we're both drunk. everyone thinks that they know us, but they know nothing about us

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taylorswift13 💜💜💜

taylorfan1 SPEAK NOW TV????

username she just said that she doesn't give a shit about what you guys talk about her relationship.

ynfan1 swiftie era

yourinstagram wdym im a swiftie since i was born

username why is he kissing her belly?? 👀

evanfan7 here we go again

ynfan2 THE LAST PIC BROOQJDHAKD

username favorite midnights song go

yourinstagram maroon

ynfan9 the publication did not come out more than 10 minutes ago and i have already seen a couple of articles saying that y/n is pregnant like 💀💀💀💀

ahsfan5 I SAID IT I SAID THEY WERE WRITTEN BY TAYLOR

ahsfan7 they’re so cute like 😿😿🥹🥹

username I firmly believe that they are the love of each other's lives

ahsfan IT COUPLEEE

evanfan9O i wonder if y/n will show evan all the goofy edits she sees of him on tiktok

username omg im so embarrassed

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[nerdasaurus1200]

Why Cassandra's Moonstone Armor Sucks

*cracks knuckles and dusts off keyboard*

It's time to finally rip this armor to shreds...figuratively because it's indestructible XD

And big shoutout to @whosbex @archivedwoods @th3p0rtalmaker @the-reverse-mermaid @aziraphalesbookkeeper and @majorabbey who all wanted to see this. I thank you all so much for your patience 🥰

Don't get me wrong there are some elements of this that absolutely work. The blue and black is a wonderful color scheme, especially that blue swirl that goes down and around Cass's body. And the spikes on the shoulders, forearms, and calves looks super cool and gives off a more black rock feel and a very intimidating silhouette. But...that's about all it does right.

1- It doesn't fit Cassandra's sense of style at all

In all the outfits we can see Cass wear throughout the show, we can very easily get a sense of exactly what her style is. It’s very clear that she dresses conservatively. And especially in armor she values practicality above all else. Her clothing has to serve its respective purpose. And up until season 3 the only revealing thing she wears is her island outfit and even then that’s pretty modest. And the moonstone armor comes along and completely disregards her established sense of style.

2- It undermines the moonstone's capabilities

We get it very explicitly confirmed that the Moonstone made the Dark Kingdom, and made Cass's tower as well. We see the amount of detail it puts into buildings. Even the rocks, the most simple thing it can make, are magically complex enough to know to seek out the Sundrop. And you're telling me that this thing can't make better armor than that?? Nuh uh, no way. I don't buy it. There’s absolutely no reason for the moonstone to provide a skin tight catsuit with a few spikes when we know its power can be much more sturdy and intimidating.

3- It's Chris Sonneburg's fantasies showing through

Those of you who have been in this fandom know the crush that Chris, the director, has on Cass. She's supposedly based on his college crush or something, and from day one he always wanted Cass to be the villain and plan to betray Rapunzel even as far back as the very beginning of the show. And of course, don't you want to see your crush in something hot? Therefore, I'm certain that the retaining of the catsuit was his idea. Because if you look at the moonstone concept art you can see more and more the visual leaning into a catsuit rather than actual armor

4- It's not at all practical or historically accurate

For reference, THIS is what armor has typically looked like throughout history

And even in works of fantasy you still have some version or variant of armor like this. Throughout the middle ages you can see just how tanky armor used to be. But as you can see, the moonstone armor looks nothing like that. It doesn't at all look like it could realistically defend a person.

Granted Cass's guard uniform is also kinda form fitting like the moonstone armor, but there’s still protective elements of it. The helmet, the breastplate. You could still believe that that is practical armor. Despite it being indestructible, the moonstone….is not at all practical armor. It doesn't look like it belongs in history or even fantasy. It is so obviously modern it’s almost painful.

5- It makes her disappear.

This is actually something that @moltenhair pointed out a while back that I never realized. There's too much black in there. A lot of the time we see Moonssandra at night and because there's so much black on her armor it makes her fade into the background to the point where she looks like a floating head and hand because the blue is all that really catches your eye about the design. Granted one can make the argument that this could have been done on purpose because taking and using the moonstone isn't actually giving Cass the spotlight she thinks it is but...eh...it's a loose argument.

[earlgreytea68]

Many years ago now, when I was a very unhappy and depressed lawyer, I went to see a therapist. The therapist diagnosed that I was suffering from severe levels of stress and asked me to keep a "stress journal": for the week between appointments, I was to write down whenever I felt my stress spike.

When I returned to the next appointment with my stress journal, the therapist was shocked I'd actually done the assignment. He said nobody actually keeps a physical journal. I suspected that maybe he didn't fully understand my personality type and the fact that some of my stress was the result of PEOPLE ASKING ME TO DO THINGS THEY APPARENTLY DIDN'T ACTUALLY WANT ME TO DO BUT I WAS RESPONSIBLY DOING THEM BECAUSE THAT'S HOW I AM.

Anyway, I digress, that's not the point of the story. The point was that when we looked together at my stress journal, we diagnosed that a recurrent source of spiking stress was receiving an email. This was so many years ago that it was before the smartphone, in the age of the BlackBerry, and every time my stupid BlackBerry vibrated, my stress skyrocketed. Having figured that out, the therapist was like, "What happens if you miss an email for an hour?" And that was hard to articulate. Probably nothing, tbh. Like, realistically I could go without checking my email if I was too busy with work, so why couldn't I when I was home watching TV? So the therapist suggested I confine my email checking to a set schedule. Only at the appointed times would I check my email and deal with whatever had come in.

And you know what? The world never ended, and it WAS a huge relief not to feel like I had to immediately be available for every email. To this day, my work email does NOT come to my phone and I only check it at my appointed times of day. (Actually, I resisted getting a smartphone until very late because after I left the law firm I thought the most glorious thing in the world was PEOPLE COULDN'T REACH ME.)

Anyway, I was thinking about all that today because I had a bad day at work and I realized that I was dreading checking my email and it just made me think that I have lingering issues around email. But then, the more I thought about it, the more I was like, ...no, I probably have lingering issues around WORK because of that job experience I had. Like, was it really about what emails I might have, or was it because I spent the day feeling manipulated in an unpleasant way that made me wary and suspicious of certain things around me, and then THAT made me think, like, I was overreacting because of the way that previous job experience was and the fact that the way it manipulated and abused me will never actually fully leave me, but THEN I was like, OR is it that I honed excellent instincts for that kind of situation happening and I should listen to myself when I feel that way, or or or--

Which is all to say that I wonder sometimes how I would have developed as a professional had I not had that career experience so early on in my life. But then I am in a weird way grateful for it, not because it forever kind of messed up my head in some ways but because I learned SO MUCH about those messed-up situations. Like, it was awful, don't get me wrong, but I did learn a bunch of coping mechanisms I still use today. Like limiting my email exposure. And I think I am warier than a lot of other people I know who didn't go through a workplace that mentally abused you the way that mine did, but I'm not so sure that's a terrible thing. I think it makes me touchy about work-life boundaries and i think there are way worse things to be in our capitalist society.

And also, every once in a while I think about the fact that I didn't think I was going to make it through those years but I did and I am pretty proud of myself for that, so also that. I made it through the other side when I honestly for real didn't think that I would, and every once in a while I have a day that reminds me of how I felt all the time back then, and it makes me remember to be grateful how many days I've gotten to have without that feeling.

[stick-ball]

pspspspsp Kevin's trauma and his choice to stay with Thea, why her why not someone else? How does it work considering his characters as whole books/ec , does it make sense or just feel "random"

<Picks you up like a little cat and smooches your head.>

This responce has been sped up by the people who asked Nora on twitter to break Kevin and Thea up, making me see red KillBill style, so:

For me, Kevin's and Thea's relationship makes perfect sense. Maybe it's the realist in me, maybe its the idealist in me, I don't care. When it comes to Kevin's traumas, I think that since most people can't really relate to a majority of them, they get all hung up on the one they most definately can, as in, his mommy issues. When we relate to something, it becomes a really big deal. And here we go! Thea/Kevin suddenly is feared to be toxic instead of being seen for what I think it is: finding love in a hopeless place.

The main issue i see discussed is the disproportion of power at the beginning of the relationship. The main concern is the age difference. I personally don't really get the hate about the age gap between them, because if you read the extra content you will know that while they met when Kevin was 14 and Thea 18, it's not like anything happened between them at that age? First, Kevin saw her as an impressive player, when he did actually see her. That wasn't all that often bcs from what I understand from the EC, Kevin and Riko trained with the Ravens sometimes before they joined the team but a big part of their training happened without them, as well as their life growing up was more detached from the Uni students than people seem to think. And honestly, do you think Tetsuji would just let all the freshmen know they signed into the Yakuza sportsTM? Methinks not, but be delulu if you want I guess. 💋

So anyway, from the EC, it seems like Kevin had a crush slowly build up for Thea over the years, growing from his appreciation of her skill and athletism. Considering how cold that guy is, it probably took him some time to realise, after his irritation at her romances (yeah hello she was dating people her age when Kevin was mooning for here as a pathetic teenage boy, bye bye Thea haters) with other teammates started having nothing to do with the fact it could result in the teams distraction during the game, bcs of their hormones and feelings, and turned to conscious jelousy. And here I have to applaud young Kevin because he did not even realise he was distracted from the game by being jealous. Knowing how oblivious Kevin can be about non exy issues, it likely took quite a while.

So what's next? The "getting together"? Kevin and Thea only started having a sort of physical relationship when Kevin and Riko were already freshmen for Edgar Allan, at 18/19.

Whoever wants to fight me on this being a toxic age gap, what exactly is your angle?

Anyway, Kevin was the one to initiate their relationship, after Riko was done with his distraction from the game and his focus on picking fights with Thea, and told him to sleep with her and get it out of his system. (And that's how i met your mother.) It wasn't much more than that for a long time, because having a relationship on a 12 hrs day/night full of training and uni and juggling two other teams on top of that as well as celebrity status literally sounds like the most insane schedule ever, so it's insane they even managed to talk privately at all.

Now, we circle back to the question, why Thea? Why not someone else? Well, first and fucking foremost, because Nora Sakavic said so. Second of all, because Jung and Freud weren't as stupid as imternet memes would have you believe. (Read their books, read all the books please, i can rec you like a 100 psychology texts, dont be shy)

To keep it short, we do base our attraction on the role models we have, one way or another. I saw enough of my friends pick partners that have the exact character quirks that make them just slightly like an after image of their guardians. Kevin doesn't really have a father model, but his mother? She's always going to be a huge part of his life, is it really so weird and dangerous, that he got infautated with a strong, driven, 4 years older woman, who's incredibly talented and just as determined as him? I don't think so. Is it unhealthy? Is it unsafe? As much as life is, I guess, no one is perfect, but I think he could've done much much worse for himself.

Why did Kevin decide to stay with Thea? I would find it pretty obvious, because she doesn't actually need him. She built herself, but she wants him. Even if she will never have the same fame and recognition in her career that he does. Being wanted this way must be really new for Kevin, who was always a trophy to show off because of his legacy, always a property. But Thea is not competing with him, she doesnt want to own him either. I believe his mother is as much of a role model to her, as to him. So, they have sex, when they want to, they talk - when they feel like it. They don't, well fucking fine, so they don't, they fall in love anyway. It's okay if exy comes first in the beginning, considering both spent a lot of time in cult mentality, I think neither is all that bothered as long as its not obsessive (we could discuss how reasonable it was of Kevin to ghost her for over a year and not tell her about how he broke his hand but thats a whole other essay).

What's really wild to me, is that I think the power imbalance in this relationship is the opposite of what many may think.

Kevin holds all the cards. Thea joined the Ravens as a 18 years old talented athlete, she was one of the only girls on the team, and the Nest was not a place to make friends, on top of that it was a mafia cult. She had everything to prove there, and no way of being prepared for all the grooming. On top of that, she knew nothing of the Moriyamas or even of what actually went down with the whole Perfect Court thing. Kevin knew everything, on top of that, up until he left, he had nothing to prove. He ghosted her, is it so hard to believe she accepted his cold shoulder in this dynamic, in which she obviously is not at the top of the foodchain? He kept secrets from her, is it really so hard to believe she was angry? I think neither of them was ready for neither what life at the nest was like, or for a relationship when it happened, but I also think they are incredibly lucky that they have eachother, their shared passion for exy, their daughter, their dog and friends from the dog park who can't talk about exy to save their lives.

I think Kevin was incredibly lucky for finding Thea, because maybe she did not know everything, maybe it wasn't easy for them, but they understood that Rikos death wasn't a one dimensional victory, that it was just as much of a tragedy for them, for Kevin. I'm happy with the canon and I wish more people appreciated this ship, as its very soothing.

As an ending fun fact, did you know I am the only person to make a playlist for Thea Muldani in all of spotify? Pretty insane if you ask me.

[coffeeandstrawberries]

A Part of You is good.

It's emotional, it's impactful, it's realistic. It has a story to tell, and it tells it in an honest way, mostly avoiding melodrama. It has its flaws but they are easy to ignore once you start caring about the characters.

I really appreciated APOY for showing a family struggling with a loved one's depression. Their inability to communicate with each other and support each other felt too true at some points — I paused the film multiple times because it was that difficult to watch. It was different from the way too many media deal with subjects like addiction and mental health. In real life, those things aren't small obstacles on the path to happiness, they are life-long struggles. APOY felt true in this regard. Through a better part of the film Agnes is completely isolated in her grief, so is her mom. They cannot support one another even in the moment when they learn about Julia's death.

Felicia Maxime's character is the main focus of APOY, we see the story through Agnes' eyes. Felicia is good and completely believable in this role. There were a few moments when her acting seemed a bit melodramatic but they could have been the director's choices.

Edvin has a smaller role than the promo campaign had suggested so I get YR fans' disappointment. Even so, he is brilliant in every scene. I was pleasantly shocked by his ability to bring to life such different characters as Noel and Wilhelm. Not that we needed it after three seasons of Young Royals, but APOY is another confirmation that Edvin is an exceptionally talented actor who will make the absolute best out of any material he is given.

Someone who knows about filmmaking more than I do could write about APOY's visual language. I know nothing. I only can say that the film is really effective at making the viewer feeling the characters' emotions.

The one thing I have issue with APOY is its message. I am not a five-year-old, therefore I don't need a piece of media to be a How It Should Be Done manual. A Part of You is a film about recovering from grief but it sacrifices something to be it. Julia isn't given enough space to become a character the viewer could care about. Bluntly speaking, she is there to die so the other characters could complete their arcs. We only see Julia as her depression — she is a burden to her loved ones, her mom doesn't know how to deal with her, her boyfriend is exhausted and overwhelmed by his duties of a babysitter. Her friends are saddened by Julia's death but we don't know the reason for that, it can be a typical young people's reaction to a death of someone their age. Julia could have been a good person outside of depression she didn't know how to handle. APOY only allows her to be a plot device for other characters' growth.

It brings us to the message. The film leads us to believe that nothing could be done. Julia is dead, her loved ones have to understand her death wasn't their fault and move on. I don't disagree with that. What rubs me the wrong way is carelessness with which the film handles the subject of depression. Depression is difficult for anyone, but it's especially difficult for teenagers. They brains haven't finished developing, they biologically incapable of understanding how long life is. To them, any struggle seems like the end of the world.

I am not suggesting that APOY — a piece of media inspired by a real-life tragedy — should have had a different plot, the one that would teach the audience that depression is manageable and suicides are preventable. I think that any character with mental health struggles deserves to be portrayed as a multidimentional person and their death can't be reduced to a reason behind someone else's journey of self-discovery.

[tired-reader-writer]

Thoughts on ferdinand?

Short answer: Don't like that guy.

Beyond this point is the body of the post where I may rail on your favorite character. This post is clearly-labeled and easy to avoid. If you choose to read on despite me making it clear what my opinion is, you do not have to right to vague me in a condescending manner as you may or may not have done with another post of a similar kind. Just avoid this. It's not that hard. I'm making the fandom ecosystem a little more varied, is all. Us Detlinde fans, Sylvester lovers, and Raublut sympathizers have had to sit and bear with it as the fandom paraded our faves and hurled shit at them. If we have had to endure that, surely you can endure One (1) post that criticizes your fave who is widely loved by everyone else and is also put under a cut. Don't start insulting me for criticizing a character when you've gotten mad at me for responding to insults with anger.

Surely a fandom that condescended to us for reading something we disagree with will understand the point I am making here :)

Aight now that that's out of the way, I can finally get to the meat of the post for all the big-brained people who chose to continue.

Reasons why I think Ferdinand sucks have been touched on in these posts (A B) so I don't really have all that much to say about that outside of reiterating what those posts said.

I tried, y'all. I tried so hard to like him. Everyone else loved him and I wanted to see what they were seeing.

But I couldn't.

He's an abusive jackass who doesn't see that the people around him do love him, can't be allowed near children, doesn't bother lifting other people up he just expects them to be already good. His memory trip with Myne changed nothing about how he saw her or other kids “her age”. He doesn't even seem to like most parts of her, he just seems to like that she's on his level and that she'd protect him.

And the problem is that. I wouldn't hate him nearly as much if only the story or the fandom acknowledged his dickishness. It's not that I'm unfamiliar or can't handle heavy topics, either— I am a victim of lifelong abuse in a country that's been on fire for as long as it's existed. I Been Knew, buddy.

Vincent Nightray from Pandora Hearts is a misogynistic little prick who lies and tricks and betrays people to get to his goal. He may or may not also be a transphobic allegory. But I love him! He's one of my favorite characters from the manga! How could this be? Because his flaws matter. Because both the story and the audience understand that he's not just the poorest little man. He kinda is, but I love him because he's a messy character full of flaws. It makes him interesting. Also because his struggles and storyline involving guilt and suicidal ideation resonated deeply with me.

I absolutely fucking adore Sohma Akito from Fruits Basket. She is so fucking abusive to so many characters and… the story knows that! It acknowledges that! She's, like Vincent, a fucking mess! But the way her backstory explains her entire thing but doesn't excuse it, the way she's such a realistic exploration of abuse both as perpetrator and victim, is so interesting! She's so interesting! Fruits Basket as a whole is just. It's good. It's excellent. It even has a counselor and an artist analyzing the symbolism, art direction, and psychology of the characters on YouTube. You should give that podcast a listen. It's by the channel ThoughtBubble. (Ferdinand's “trauma” could become a realistic exploration of the consequences of such a fucked up life, how he passes on the hurt to the younger generation, if only the story let it but… everyone just uses that trauma card to woobify him and excuse him and go “oh poor Ferdinand” on him like a pity party, which I don't like. Again, the potential is there and I could like it, but the way the fandom treated his trauma is so viscerally off-putting to me that my faith in his potential plummeted and I “hate” him by their definition instead)

How about Orochimaru? Irredeemable terrifying bastard villain WHO TRAFFICKS AND EXPERIMENTS ON CHILDREN. There's discussion of how the military state exploited him and he went off the deep end and it was excused when it still benefited the state but became a crime as soon as it became for himself, but largely people agree that he cannot be excused. And he's one of my favorite fucking characters.

Shimura Danzo? Y'all don't need a primer on that fucker everyone hates him he's terrible he's problematic and I love him. One of the characters of all time.

How about Senju Butsuma? Specifically, the rendition of Senju Butsuma in a fic written by my friend. He's still abusive, he literally has a scene of beating the crap out of his sons on-screen in the fic— that scene triggered me by the way but it just goes to show how well-written it is, my friend the author specifically mentioned that he didn't want to trivialize abuse but also didn't want to turn it into a sympathy-bait pity party for the Senju brothers— and? He's my babygirl. He's everything.

Prospera Mercury? Fucking war criminal milf with Issues? She uses both her children as weapons even as she claims she's doing it all for one of them? Massacres people? And? I love her????? She's so messy she's got Problems she's not good for her daughters. And that makes her infinitely delicious. Easily one of my favorites of all time.

So it's not that I hate characters who are jackasses. It's not that I hate flawed, messy characters. I love them! I love them even when canon doesn't. I love them even when the fandom doesn't. I would never try to excuse or absolve them (I mean, I'd like to see any of you try to excuse Danzo??) I try to give these characters the justice they deserve when I'm discussing them with people. But I… can't do that with Ferdinand. Any discussion of his character in a way that doesn't fit their very narrow view of “the biggest victim in the world who is also the strongest most badass man ever” immediately gets clotheslined into “hate”. Even the mildest of criticisms, even the most politely-worded posts get misinterpreted, misconstrued, and ultimately declared as senseless petty hate. Heck, even people who like him a lot get shunned and ostracized from the fandom if their interpretation is too different from the Fandom Majority's! So yes! By the fandom's very definition, I hate him! I hate him most immensely! I hate the parts of him that the narrative and the fandom choose to highlight as opposed to the more interesting bits! I hate that he takes up all the oxygen in the room whenever anyone discusses Veronica's abuse and her victims! He's not the only victim, but everyone acts as though he is!

So yes, tldr: I hate him. If only he could've been written by a better author like Mochizuki Jun or Takaya Natsuki. Fuck, even as much as I gripe about Arakawa Hiromu, even she could've handled him better.

[thenightfolknetwork]

Hello, I seem to have found myself with an issue at work. My wife’s a demon. Literally. Her family hails from a realm of chaos but we met when she moved here for work. I talk about her fairly often so I had assumed all my coworkers were aware of her genus.

However, on Friday a couple of colleagues I don’t know so well pulled me aside to “discuss how I speak about my wife”. Apparently when I’ve been referring to my wife a demon they had been assuming I’m nothing more than a wife-hating misogynist. I unfortunately understand where they’re coming from; a lot of men my age do to speak poorly of their wives, but I adore mine! She’s the best thing that ever happened to me and when I call her a demon I say it with nothing but complete respect for her genus and her culture.

When they confronted me I panicked. All I could do was mutter some vague promise about doing better, then I scrambled to my car before they could say another word.

Since then I haven’t stopped thinking about what happened. Do people think I’ve been complaining about my wife for the last 20 years and have always been afraid to speak up? Or worse, do some of my acquaintances even support with that kind of behaviour?

In addition, should I speak to my colleagues about their assumptions about my wife’s genus? I’m rather uncomfortable that they heard “demon” and assumed I meant it both metaphorically and in a derogative manner. They’re generally nice people who were trying to call out what they perceived to be poor behaviour on my part. I don’t want to put them off intervening in future, but that doesn’t change their mistake now. I just don’t know what to do.

[Inspired by this post https://www.tumblr.com/acecorvid/744120113970790400]

Oh dear, reader. It sounds like you and your colleagues have got yourselves into a bit of an unnecessary muddle here. Fortunately, it's nothing a little clear communication can't help.

First of all, I absolutely agree that there is something problematic in their quickness to hear negativity and criticism in terminology relating to infernal species.

Based on the way you've spoken about your relationship here, it seems unlikely that you've been using this language while also speaking about your wife in a derogatory, dismissive way.

By failing to see these context clues and simply assuming you couldn't possibly be talking about an actual demon, your colleagues have shown their own sapio-centric bias.

At the same time, though, it's a good sign that they're willing to speak up against casual misogyny – even if their enthusiasm is, in this particular case, misplaced. You can use this good intention as a way to navigate the conversation itself.

Instead of telling them all the ways they're wrong, start off by acknowledging their efforts to push back against the patriarchy. Use this as a way to segue into the actual issue, letting them know that their willingness to speak up to you makes you feel able to correct their own misapprehension.

You don't need to belabour the point. However, I do think it's worth explicitly noting that it was a particularly unfortunate mistake to make, given how it feeds into sapio-centric culture in general and anti-infernal prejudice specifically.

Of course, this doesn't address your concerns about how you've been perceived by your friends and coworkers prior to this incident. Unfortunately, there's nothing to be done about people's past misapprehensions. At the same time, I wonder how realistic your concerns are.

You've known some of these people for 20 years. You speak about your wife often, and are supportive and enthusiastic about her culture. Presumably at some point you've mentioned engaging with her cultural practices, celebrating certain holidays and rituals, visiting family on other planes, and so on.

If anyone who's known you as long as all that still hasn't picked up on this, that's really on them.

As for worrying that you may have acquaintances who think you agree with their misogynistic views, the answer there is simple: do your actions otherwise indicate that you might be a person who would support such ideas?

If someone says or does something misogynistic in your presence, do you have the integrity to speak up about it? Are you involved in supporting equality and diversity in your workplace? Are you someone your friends and acquaintances could come to for support in the face of discrimination?

Most importantly, as the example with your colleagues demonstrates, are you a person who can hear criticism and make an effort to unlearn your own prejudices and preconceptions?

If you can answer yes to those questions, you have nothing to fear. You are already doing what you can do push back against structures of inequality and prejudice, and are in little danger of being mistaken for a bigot. And if not, you have some next steps to take on that journey.

[Clickable link to the original post]

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

[endlich-allein]

If you could describe Till with just five qualities, what would they be?

Till has many qualities, even if he doesn't always realise it himself. I could tell you that he's perfectionist, hard-working, sensitive (even if he hides it very well), thoughtful, intelligent, independent but also attached to the group, supportive, down-to-earth, full of humour (ironic and often dark, very teasing), extremely loyal in friendship (I specify in friendship because in love he's not, in his own words), very very creative (I'd even say that artistic polymathy describes him perfectly), ultra charismatic, etc

But I'll choose five to answer your question :

• Humble : Till is often described as "a humble human being" (Olaf Heine). Despite his fame, he shows a great deal of humility, confessing that he welcomes success "with a lot of humility. And it also scares me a little. It brings responsibility and extreme pressure". He also knows that he is nothing without others, without his friends at Rammstein, without his teams, without the many people he works with, and he never hesitates to put them forward, to recognise their importance and their contribution, to make them feel good and to make sure they don't need anything. As Flake says, "He never pretends to be a great artist who needs to express his deep feelings. He prefers to think about what else can be lit on stage." It reminds me of when Joern Heitmann was doing the video for "Mutter" and Till didn't want to be alone in the video before giving in and saying "Why me ? I'm not special"... Yes, Till, you are special !

• Generous : A man with a big heart, Till shows generosity in his life as an artist, but also in his personal life. As Zoran says, "Till has a heart bigger than a football pitch". Till is very committed to charities and various social causes: sick children, the fight against cancer, Ukraine, refugees, LGBT rights, and so on. He also supports young artists by offering them opportunities to make a name for themselves and by encouraging them. Till is also very generous to us fans. One of the things that means the most to him is giving us the best shows possible, and he puts his heart and soul into them, a true conductor and master of scenography. And this has been the case since the beginning of his career, as Flake says: "An effective and well thought-out stage show was always more important to him."

• Dedicated and willing : Till is extremely dedicated to his art, even if it means compromising his well-being. We've already talked about the fact that he's done a few shows while ill or injured, that he'll do anything to make his videos as realistic as possible, even if it means getting punched in the face. He puts a lot of time and energy into making sure that everything he does is a unique experience. Till is a man of action, he's very pragmatic and prefers to act rather than talk. He is able to turn ideas that were initially theoretical into tangible facts. It is no doubt thanks to this pragmatism that all his projects come to fruition with varying degrees of success. Man of action, he is also very strong-willed. Admittedly, Rammstein has no leader and Till has never wanted to take over the leadership of the band, but we know that he is an authority figure and that when he speaks out, he is listened to. He's capable of making decisions when others are still dithering. Paul said : "We are very lucky with him - I should actually kneel down every day and thank him that we have him."

• Resilient : Throughout his life, he has faced and overcome a variety of personal and professional challenges, including criticism, controversy and media pressure. From an early age, Till has faced major challenges. First the swimming school, separation with his family, long training sessions, iron discipline and intensive doping. Then came the serious accident that put an end to his swimming career and plunged him into uncertainty. The various jobs he took on, and his rebellious and provocative behaviour, didn't help him to find stability. His eldest daughter, Nele, whom he brought up alone, dropping her off at school in the morning before going with his friends to steal and sell cars on the border with the Czech Republic, and picking her up again in the evening. His career as a musician, playing wherever he was needed, sometimes bass, sometimes drums. His violent relationship with his father and their inability to understand each other. And then there's Rammstein. A band for which, despite his shyness and introversion, he occupies the roles of singer, frontman and songwriter. Roles that he assumes, despite the enormous pressure and violent criticism, for better or for worse. A band he believed in from the start, and during the second concert he shouted : "Remember the name Rammstein !" And there's everything else we don't know, many other things, and of which Paul said : "We are lucky to have a man with life experience at the front. He went through things that none of us want to experience. Very bad things, but they are useful to us now." Yes, we're lucky that you're here, Till, that you're still here.

• Authentic and unconventional : Till is someone who, off stage, is known for being himself, not conforming to the expectations of others or society. He addresses you with polite honesty, his clear gaze plunged into yours, never twinkling. This honesty is very frank, sometimes sharp but always realistic. Till shows himself as he is, unpretentious, sincere, passionate and sometimes vulnerable. He remains a simple man, attached to his roots, his family. Gitta, his mother said : "Home, that's Mecklenburg. His homeland, his roots, his source of strength." He does not give in to the commercial demands of the music industry, preferring to retain his artistic freedom. And this artistic freedom is expressed with the provocation that has always stuck with him. But this provocation is never gratuitous, it always provokes reactions and reflection. Till is an artist and a man who doesn't fit into any box, prizes and awards leave him indifferent, what he prefers is to do what he loves in his own way...

[quietbluejay]

Betrayer 4

featuring the scene where Angron holds up a Titan

"she" is a titan we get a history of the Ember Queen, who originally fought with the First Legion

oooo linguistic worldbuilding my beloved i mean it makes sense if the capital is up in the himalayas then the language spoken there becomes the prestige language/dialect

so, Gothic is probably an Indo-European language lol just on the other side of the centum/satem divide than we'd think i mean like realistically it makes more sense if all the latin is translation convention rather than being actual latin i always assumed it was that like you know, "Frodo Baggins" actually being something completely different like 30k into the future the language spoken there should be completely indistinguishable from what it sounds like now

and i guess you could maybe manage to have it go through the sound changes to sound like latin squints someone extremely influential…with an agenda…and a weird roman obsession… anyways, lol

that's the politest way I've seen anyone call someone a silver fox the prose here regarding the way the Syrgalah walks and everything is very well done and really gives the impression of a lioness not a wolf so they know they're outclassed by the Titan Legio associated with the Ultramarines and they don't work with the legion the same way, you know, normal titans do

and now we cut to Kharn going full berserker

there's something very funny about this from a meta perspective a man who has never gone to war writing about someone in the thick of battle thinking that people who write about war can never get it

and that's why he reluctantly admires the Ultramarines so much "in his calmer moments Kharn felt honoured [that he was living in a second age of legends]"

lmaooo tell me you know nothing about phalanxes without telling me

where did this come from no, really what was Kharn taught about the past, how accurate was it, and how much did he make up so this is Kharn's lie, and how he lives with himself kharn also enjoys the sight of a city on fire this book's building out Kharn's character has been fun because it starts out with him looking like a reasonable man, someone who would be cool to have a drink with, and then as it goes on it goes deeper and deeper into him being a mess and the way it describes him fighting, with that glass wall, is part of that

no the true strength is in their ability to endure past injuries that would kill a normal person

meanwhile, as Kharn fights and kills various people all of whom get about a phrase each, Lorgar is telekinetically throwing around rocks and rubble to try and dig out Angron also: Lorgar is the only reinforcement that has shown up from the Word Bearers, lol Skane suggests sending a message saying Lorgar is here and then they'll finally get them to show up so ofc that's what Kharn does

lmao the book is also about choice I'm remembering some bits from later but they're starting to show up now how much choice do Kharn or Angron have? Can you call someone a betrayer if they do what you built them for? or is that just the justification they give themselves to avoid making difficult moral decisions?

time for Ultramarine Titan POV and a description of plasma weapons

so the world eaters caught in the blast straight up dissolved but…

yes we're approaching the famous scene princeps: FIRE AGAIN

and the seventeenth is finally showing up

they can't fire the plasma again but they have other weapons, which they then use

TITAN…SMASH

this is unbearable (ok moving on from the pun…) the rescuee has becoming the rescuer

and now it's explicitly a bear's roar

the gladiator

like angron has fairy tale timing here if you twitched this a little, Lorgar would have gotten stomped flat that'd be a twist hm what does Lorgar do in the Heresy after this

return to Syrgalah and she's taken a good bit of damage

the princeps got his tooth knocked out and he's thinking since they're so far from supply he might have to get an iron tooth they're getting a call but sadly it's not reinforcements or resupply, it's Lotara she orders them to kill the warhound that's trying to kill lorgar (and angron) right now back to Angron who has been holding up the titan for "less than thirty beats of his heart" but it feels like an age lorgar is using his psychic powers to help Angron: now you choose to be brave? again he repeats for lorgar to get clear lorgar starts crawling he shouldn't be alive

i remember, we get to follow around the crew of Syrgalah for most of the book, and they're fun

the only things that are coming to mind are to make the "The children yearn for the mines" black joke and "…I guess they're using kids for small spaces" it goes right into the torso of Ardentor

Angron and Kharn are alike, huh "He'd always loathed Lorgar" even seeing him fight at isstvan and "how far he'd come from his years of cowardice" angron shoos away all the apothecaries gently, for angron

angron needs to get away from this conversation lmao the word bearers surround lorgar and angron notes that in contrast to himself lorgar doesn't shoo them away he acknowledges all of them (with his blood)

Lorgar goes to get on the Thunderbird (that is there, now) and Angron shooes away his sons but Kharn will not be shooed

kharn: you're better than this

it's all about endurance huh

as soon as Angron leaves, it's time for Kharn to collapse the battle is at a lull and everyone is getting some rest

well except one (also, the nails are still bugging kharn)

sadly we don't get to hear more about the night of the wolf right now this is just set up so we're curious about it lol

[pineapple-frostyfruits]

I would like to hear the two hour rant about Jhin 👉👈

O h B o y, I will happily talk about him for AGES.

Are you familiar with music theory? 4/4 time is also referred to as Common Time in the western music lexicon, and I wonder if Jhin is familiar with said concept and/or frustrated by it. Perhaps he is instead satisfied with it being so recognisable.

There are no X/3 bar times, because the 4 revers to Half Notes/Quavers, Eighth Notes/Semi-Quavers, or Sixteenth Notes/Demi-Semi-Quavers. So if Hwei was to have a beat, it would most likely be 3/4 instead, which is a common waltz beat.

The combination between the two would be 12/4, right? 3×4, and then the 4. But no - thats 12 quarter beats that is uncomfortably long. Realistically it would be a 12/8 beat - maintaining those 4 main beats, but each one internally containing a "ONE-and-a TWO-and-a" to maintain that waltz feeling and that same energy throughout.

That combo manages to find the middle ground between both musical ideas, mixing them evenly, whilst also keeping the flow and the energy of either piece.

Why do I mention this? Well, in Jhin's theme, that Violin solo that moves up and down those scales is using triplets to replicate a 12/8 beat in the 4/4 time signature. Jhin's most iconic and recognisable instrument is already within that compromise.

Ray Chen has attempted to play Jhin's Theme (within 30 minutes of seeing it) with the official RIOT score, and in doing so managed to talk about how it is a consistent movement up and down scales, not a hard thing theoretically, but that it is done so fast, and so precise between the constantly changing scales that it is actually difficult.

Which is the same rules applied to the moral/skill of The Devil Went Down to Georgia: Whilst the Devil plays things with inhuman difficulty and can make unique sounds, that means nothing if no one knows what you are playing. By playing something recognisable, and easily identifiable, but by doing it so well and so consistently as to not make a mistake in timing or fingering or ANYTHING - that takes TRUE skill.

There is also a sound effect found in Jhin's theme that I cannot fully identify. It is also found in the Jhin Teaser Trailer "The Mind Of the Virtuoso", much louder and when the blue tendrils of light from his gun are on screen, but still present in the theme on it's own. I have tried for AGES to find what exactly the sound is. It is akin to the sound of a silent whistle, or maybe a chain metal slowly being moved or lowered into china? I cannot find an exact replica of the noise no matter I how to find it.

What is the sound they use for his magic? How is it? How does it relate to Jhin's character and what does it mean that it is there? Is it sharp metal or something against silk? I do not have access to such things so I cannot know - and it drives me insane. What does it mean for his characterisation????

The gun as percussion within his song is much more obvious: Both in what it is and what it represents. Percussion is the hearbeat of the music. That and the base instruments are what drive music forward, what provides the momentum and a pace for the piece as it goes.

The gun is Jhin's own drive, his forward momentum. He lives for his "art" and the new (better than his old knives) medium he has been given to express it. He manages to keep it, and get more resources, by using it - by using it in specific places on specific people. His desire is to push forward, to build up, to lead to his final performance he has mentioned quite a few times. And that is done through the gun - the gun is his drive and his drive is the gun.

If I wanted to rewatch and actually analyse more of these thematics and pick through each part of his music and theme, I very much could - but it is getting late and also my arm is hurting from typing all this out.

So analysis of Key, Chorus, Echoes, Piano as instrumentation, and also how all of this ties into musical stereotype and how music is used to explain characterisation will have to wait until tomorrow or later. I will reblog with it once I get around to it.

Also this is only accounting for two of the several pieces of media he is in, and not even considering HOW said characterisation affects his interactions or place within the story.

[silviawordsworth]

A comprehensive reason as to why I, as a teenage girl, think the marauders fandom is heaven on earth. (+ a few faults)

In simple terms, its a pit of representation. The characters, even the ones mentioned more than just a name drop, have very little known information about them. Like yes, we know remus lupin marries tonks and we know james marries lily, but besides that? They were teenagers at hogwarts, its fun to play around with the dynamics of them.

And its also a passion project. The marauders is by no means an actual thing. Sure, theyre side characters in hp. But the marauders fandom is created solely on headcanons and fanon info. Its almost like if i were to pull finnick and annie from thg and develop them with such depth that it contextualises things that couldve been explained better in the actual books.

And not only that, but it shows creativity. Its like weve all taken these characters, aged them down to make them more relatable, and projected our own teenage experiences onto them in a way that jk could never as she wrote them as an adult and likely has never experienced the struggles of the lgbtq teens nowadays

The lgbtq is also a good point to bring up. Nowhere anywhere else on the internet will you find a fandom so full of lgbtq characters solely bc 'it doesnt sell'. The marauders is a prime example of how marketing realistic teenagers to teenagers is not unprofitable.

Mental health is also a big thing that needs to be explored more in media. And not as the main plot, but as something that just exists. Its done well in the marauders fandom.

Usually when watching a show or reading a book, you think these characters arent that realistic. In their world, sure. But its hard to relate to characters who link nothing to you. The marauders, though wizards, are teenagers in school. They are relatable.

Also the ability to create everything out of nothing. I adore pandora rosier and regulus black but in canon they are never even shown in the movies besides reg.

The poc inclusivity, the non skinny inclusivity, etc etc.

However! There are issues.

The marauders fandom is primarily girls, yet this fandom is an excellent example of the preference that male characters get. Like, i love regulus. But pray tell why jegulus gets more hype than pretty much any wlw ships combined? And why do i see so much of lily being a surrogate or her dying and james and reg getting harry? If youre gonna cut lily out of james life for him to be w reg, atleast find another way for them to have a kid. Lily is more than her uterus and a plot device for a kid.

And theres also sm arguments over headcanons. Like, if i were to say i hc james potter as straight, i would get attacked in todays fandom. It just gets a bit strange sometimes when people disregard canon at all. I get the seperation of canon from fanon is definitely inevitable in this fandom, but i dislike when people push their hcs as canon when its literally contradicted by canon.

I love the marauders fandom i do, and i love the way the characters are developed enough to be interesting to everyone, and not just babied down enough to be advertised to kids. Theres so much you can do when you dont have to worry about pr.

Anyways, thanks for listening to my rant. Please feel free to reblog w any questions or comments, il respond to everyone x

[dilfdoctordoom]

Tell me everything u know about Bette kane

With pleasure!

Bette's the cousin of Bruce & Kate Kane & her origin is, at best, a little messy.

She was originally introduced as Bat-Girl alongside Kathy Kane Batwoman (who is a DIFFERENT CHARACTER TO KATE KANE) to dispell rumors that Batman & Robin were gay.

She's very smart from the get-go & figures out Batwoman's identity all on her own. As is typical for the Silver Age, she gets into a lot of zany antics. Her favorite hobby is weaponizing misojyny.

She gets to join the Teen Titans towards the end of Volume 1 by creating a fun spin off team in Titans West! This is my most beloved Titans team, just a bunch of my blorbos in one place. Really and truly made for me personally.

Then the universe explodes, so naturally, Bette's back with a new backstory.

I'm really not a fan of it. Bette's origin didn't have much to do with Dick Grayson; now, it's all focused on him.

Plus side, she's going by Flamebird and she has a kick ass costume.

She gets reintroduced in a redux of the Titans West story and does get some fun moments, I won't lie. She pops up in The New Titans and is so <3.

Her next big appearance is in Hawk & Dove Annual and it's spectacular. This is the peak of all comic characterization ever. Issue of all time. I'm obsessed it genuinely makes me insane.

She gets some cameo stuff to do, until Titans/JLA: The Technis Imperative. She isn't up to much here, but! It sets up her story in Titans Secret Files & Origins #1 which leads wonderfully into Beast Boy.

Beast Boy is so good to her it's unreal I love her new costume. Nothing beats the original, but I like the update.

She gets more fun appearances with Titans LA (Titans West 2.0). Fun fact! Titans LA was originally gonna get its own book written by Geoff Johns.

Urm. Universe blows up again. New 52 happens. I die inside.

I hate Bette in this era so much it's unreal. Her Batwoman arc is a rehash of her Beast Boy arc with added fridging. She gets Batman to imply she'll become a villain. It's just really gross, IMO, and utterly unneeded... it's done to get her to a place she's already at. Like if we had Dick Grayson get skewered by a pedophile while Batman gets fucked so that he could move on from Robin... like we've done that. Why are we doing it again but gross.

She's had some appearances in Rebirth. I hate all her 'Tec ones-- Bette Kane would never join the military after what happened to Kate. She'd never join in general, but especially after that.

She did get an appearance in DC's Legion of Bloom that I loved! It's Titans West/LA again unsurprisingly and it's just a fun story about them on a mission. She's returned to her Flamebird glory and not forced into being gross Hawkfire.

She hasn't had anything since that & as the main title she'd realistically show up in is Titans, I'm hoping it stays that way. I do not want Tom Taylor within ten feet of her.

[demonicintegrity]

Episode 5 is where Harry and Meghan got to me. Up until this point my interest in the docuseries and in them is very much just pleasant curiosity, even with the immense sympathy for what they were going through. After this episode I am more or less flabbergasted and pissed at so much.

Starting off, up until this point I assumed the British media was doing this on their own. Their sense of entitlement and racist attitudes was just a reflection of bigoted greed. I thought the royal family was just bystanding, a false neutrality with no care for how that affects them. But the leaks.

The fucking leaks.

I don’t know how as an institute, you can be comfortable with private plans and documents getting leaked like that to the public. How are you not concerned with security? If shit like that is so easy to leak, both in terms of the people accessing it and leaking and also being okay with that, how are you not concerned that something else could leak?

Someone had gotten their hands on a letter from Meghan. She went through the trouble of trying to be sneaky about it, and yet it still somehow ended up in the Mail’s hands. Who knows if her father even got to see that actual one. And yet nothing was done about it.

And instead of being honest that they weren’t going to pursue legal action, they led Harry and Meghan on for weeks. They had to sue on their own, further adding fuel to the media campaign against them.

And then the plans to move to South America was leaked. Plans about this transition in whatever form were in development for years and it’s gone in a single leak.

Why was the palace so okay with that? Why isn’t it concerning to them that these things are leaked? Why are they so willing to be quiet? Surely, fucking surely, if this can happen to Harry and Meghan it could happen to them too.

I get my answer soon enough when Harry says the details about potentially revoking their titles is revealed only in his email to his father. An email Harry explicitly didn’t want make for this reason. I am willing to bet money it was his father, now King Charles. He leaked that one. Who else could’ve been on that email? Even if he written up a draft for something or other with it, how many people realistically should’ve saw it? What did they have to gain to leak it, so early in development? Money’s money i guess, but even then, you’d think it’d concern fellow staff and royals just how little integrity staffers would have if it’s them leaking. The emails were apparently from the 1st to 3rd and the leak was days after. They weren’t even ready to go through with it this time.

Backtracking for a second here, that letter was only sent because Meghan apparently became responsible for getting her father in line. I still find it incredulous that her father was speaking out on how terrible the family is treating her and he’s concerned and the family goes >:/ at that. So bothered. Bothered enough that when Meghan is like “hey this is happening in the news please advise I am actively trying not to cause strife with you” theyre like “write a letter” and then dont give a shit that the letter is leaked to the very news they’re having problems with! Fucking hell.

Anyways, the letter’s leaked and nothings done about it. The plans to leave are leaked. The plans to leave again are leaked, this time with a nice dose of “no you cannot see your grandma now.” Which I call bullshit on with the Late Queen btw. You’re telling me as the head monarch, you make plans with your grandson. That is the first obligation you made for the time, made entirely by yourself. Then, entirely unknown to you somehow, your week is full. And despite being the literal Queen of England, you cannot move anything around in your own schedule? Either she was being pushed around a lot in that old age or that characteristic quiet she has was just her being a doormat. In her own words (allegedly i suppose but what reason would Harry have to lie about this?) Harry was the first one she made obligations too but didn’t even bother to try and make it work at any point in that week.

Personally, if I made plans with someone, especially family who I know is struggling and want to see me, I would do those plans. It’s whoever I promised first for that time. And If i absolutely cannot, I apologize and reschedule.

I would also, in the place of any other family member or staff who decided the Queen’s schedule was full only when Harry tried to visit, not try and interfere with someone trying to have a chat with their grandmother. At best it’s rude not to give notice to those kind of things and at worse it’s a selfish piece of shit move.

AND THEN, you have this royal meeting without Meghan. Because that’s so fair. It gets heated and again, I’m calling bullshit on the Late Queen being quiet. You’re telling me as the head of the family you’re gonna watch your family turn on each other in an ugly way and saying nothing? You’re gonna watch the press lie and say you were blindsighted, painting your grandson as disrespecting you, and say nothing?

She either was pushed around by the other family and staff or a doormat. I cannot for the life of me decide which is worse. Because the former is direct disrespect for your respected and loved family member and the latter is said family member not caring enough to make a stand everyone knew would change things. Blasted woman had all this power and influence and not once tried to use a fraction of it to even encourage the press to back off of her family. What horseshit.

But of course, when William is accused of bullying, damn near instantly there’s a statement. That Harry hadn’t seen much less consented to have his name on. All this nothing for Meghan and Harry but the second the press thinks “hm, could William have a hand in this wedge? Could it be possible he’s kinda a dick about things?” suddenly they can say something.

The sympathy I had for the royal family dies here.

With this bombshell after bombshell, Meghan’s hate is a coordinated attack on twitter. I don’t know why that surprised me but it did. I think whats most surprising is how few people it took to create such a consistent storm. Once again we are seeing what unregulated harassment does. What awful seeds are planted and maintained in a echo chamber in the name of free speech without consequences. And even though Meghan is far from the first and only to be targeted, nothing will be done. She isn’t even offered support from the family she marries into once again.

The paparazzi doesn’t leave her alone. Once again no one cares about the trespassing and stalking. This is seen as acceptable for some fucking bizarre reason. I hope each and everyone of those bastards trying to peak at a family so obviously trying to be left alone gets dragged through the mud. Truly, there is no standard of morals these days.

What got me to the point of rage is when Meghan flips through her security book and a death threat tweet is an example of what needs to be reported. I think I’m jaded enough where the knowledge that she likely had death (and probably rape) threats was there, but didn’t register as much. Unfortunately I am part of the generation that grew up on this new tech. Someone getting these threats is fairly run of the mill here. To the point of what really can be done. It’s lost it’s effect, or so I thought. Until I am reminded that death threats are treated severely for a good reason. Until I am shown a person who isn’t jaded by the internet horrors reacting to this and I’m reminded that 1) this shouldn’t be just the normal internet experience and 2) seeing people echo again and again that you should be dead weighs on you. Especially combined with the stalking from the paparazzi.

I am reminded that these are real people experiencing things they shouldn’t be experiencing.

When I only knew of Harry and Meghan through skimmed headlines once in a bluemoon, I was also on team “Youre stepping back from the royal family why would you get royal protection?” I mean, it was simply just a courtesy at that point right?

Now realizing just how harassed they were, it wasn’t just pulling security. It was pulling security on a very short notice on their family with a toddler knowing damn well what harassment they were facing.

This family did not give a shit if anything happened to them. Did not give a shit for their piece of mind, for their physical safety, for anything. Even if it was a courtesy, you’re telling me a couple that has undergone so much harassment from day one, your family, didn’t deserve it? Especially when the original plan was to still do things for the Queen and commonwealth but just financially independently now?

What a load of shit. The way I would’ve cut all contact and burned bridges immediately. This isnt just a dysfunctional family, this is a truly hateful one.

[electricbluebutterflies]

Hi! I love your george/bertha one shots on AO3! It always makes my day when I see you’ve posted one (I like to read at bedtime so I go to sleep with a smile on my face).

Here’s a prompt for another one if you’re up for it!

“Could have been anyone… but it was you.”

PG-ish / yay fade-to-black moment and also on ao3.

If nothing else, Bertha is practical. The goals she had set for herself required another person meeting a few specific characteristics, but beyond them…

Circumstances as they are, she is still delighted by where her plans have led her, and still not quite sure she did anything to deserve the life now beneath her fingertips. It has all been too easy and too sweet, and she knows just enough of the world to wonder when the other shoe will drop, and-

Let it not be soon, she begs whatever may be listening to her desires. Let her enjoy this first.

She is not a romantic, and yet she is in love; she has always seen marriage as a means to an end, if done right a way out of a life she did not want, and perhaps she is too hopeful only a month into forever but it is already something more, and-

Never in her wildest dreams did she realistically think she would enjoy conversations with a husband, would want someone else’s presence so close so much, but she picked that one out of all her options and-

A year ago, she thinks, a year ago when she talked her way into yet another invitation given out of pity to a too-ambitious girl who only had one good dress, there was no way of knowing-

Everything she wants is hers, she thinks as she hears a soft knock on her bedroom door. This is how all of her days end now, with presence if not anything else, planned time to tie up whatever loose threads were pulled in passing earlier and the idea of living a more separate life from this man is unthinkable and-

There must be something concerning in her expression. She learned the warmth of him first, but also the devotion, also the absolute commitment and she knows he had other options and she still wonders why-

“Sit with me,” she says before this can get strange. Her perch on the edge of her bed may indicate desire, but it is also easier for more innocent activities than… oh, someday she is going to have a bigger space and more furniture and a decent sofa to be held on and-

He does, and he takes the hint and pulls her into his arms, and she feels a certain kind of vulnerable that she wants to hate and can’t. If this truly becomes her safe place, if she lets herself bloom deliberately as part of a set, if she rethinks her plans and adapts even better…

“What are you thinking right now?”

“How lucky I am. I want what I want, and that could’ve been with anyone, but… it was you.”

She knows all the petty gossip they caused – less than some of her other schemes would’ve, she reminds herself, but still. At least they are close in age, at least they met in an acceptably explainable way, at least he has treated her impeccably both before and after and-

“You do give the strangest compliments,” he murmurs, and there is delight in his voice all the same, and he kisses the side of her face, and-

She turns to take a more proper kiss, and she’s learned she likes doing this now that she can whenever she wants. She feels her body spark almost immediately, and she is still figuring out how much she can start but she wants, and-

“You make me unspeakably happy. Is that really that strange?”

More kisses follow, and if their current position becomes ideal as hands start to wander…

Let her have this, she thinks as she is made warm. Let her always have everything.