#i should have answered every ask!

[agentnatesewell]

Thank you to everyone who sent me book asks! It was really fun to reminisce what I’ve read through the year!

[frogs-in3-hills]

hi does anyone else think about april throwing herself over leo to shield him in the shredder strikes back despite having no weapons no way to defend herself and probably assuming she was going to die. does anyone think about that all the time. every day. uncontrollably

[ID: Digital fanart of Ninja Turtles 2003 depicting a scene from The Shredder Strikes Back part 2. April kneels over an injured Leo, cradling his head and looking back over her shoulder to snarl viciously at the camera, though there is obvious fear in her eyes. Her hair has partially fallen out of her bun, the loose strands sticking to her face with sweat. She has a cut on her cheek. Only a portion of Leo’s face can be seen from behind her shoulder. He looks up at her with a sad, pained expression. He has a swollen, bloody shiner on his cheek in addition to other cuts and bruises on the rest of his body. They are on the wooden floor of a dark attic. End ID.]

[whilomm]

oh okay heres one:

"sleepaway camp"= you go there for at least a few days, a week, sometimes several weeks, and sleep there, as opposed to a """camp""" where you go for the day and your parents or whoever picks you up afterward (those arent really camps, but like. idk when i went to "space camp" it was a weeklong but not sleepaway). in the U.S. at least, the typical image of a sleepaway camp involves staying in cabins, dunno how common it is/what it looks like in other countries.

for the first few i just mean like. not necessarily a stealth church camp, just like. idk, a camp where theres also an Assumption Of Christianity and just general vibes without being actually church camp. So, there might not be daily services and jesusy dedicatwd activities, but maybe theres still a prayer said over meals and shit. Which i assume might exist...

(oh and @reblogforsamplesize if u wanna)

[bonefall]

i found a god awful doc about this one person (who, too, is a god awful being) trying to reason why mudClaw would be a bad leader. I'ma try to find the doc but meanwhile I'll submit this because someone could have the link, I'll need your honest thought about it bcs why are we defending oneWhiker now

Anon, buddy, I'm gonna have to sit you down and gently discourage you from casually calling random human people "god awful beings" in my inbox like this. Not when you're just talking about relatively basic media analysis. That isn't ok or normal.

I hope that when I speak harshly, it's coming from a place of condemning hurtful actions and the tangible harm that they cause. I don't appreciate people trying to get me to directly beef with other people directly by requesting I break down their individual posts or analysis documents (when I ask for people to share links, it's so I can see and prepare to counter the ideas because they usually "float downstream" if they get popular); but in a second ask, you linked this document and there's nothing harmful in it. In fact, it's got a far more neutral tone than I'd take if I was writing an analysis about Mudclaw.

If you couldn't tell the difference between a document like this and one that contains active abuse apologia rhetoric, I would be filled with concern. But I don't think you read it. I think you maybe skimmed it and stopped reading, or just heard the title.

Because this document literally says this;

and your takeaway, something you felt so strongly about that you came to me hoping I'd validate it, was "Why Are We Defending Onewhisker Now."

Art is a tool we can use to explore our own biases, and teach us something about ourselves. That overwhelming sense of anger and disgust that you probably felt when you saw "Mudclaw Would Be A Bad Leader" made you jump to an emotional conclusion and you assumed something that was not said. I know the feeling. You might have had a reactionary impulse.

You are not a bad person for doing that-- you're human. You can grow.

Why did it upset you this much, though? Is there something very personal about this that set you off? ...are you spending a lot of time in spaces online that keep you angry? These are questions for you to reflect with.

I do not know the owner of this document or "what they've done," if anything, so I will not link it, because their Discord is at the bottom of the doc. If they are truly a "god awful being", please do not engage, just block and move on. Nothing is accomplished by following around 'A Bad Guy' and boosting their cat takes.

But something VERY bad WOULD be accomplished if I indulged an anon for a situation I know nothing about and unwittingly became part of a harassment campaign. How do I know that you've got good intentions?

I usually just delete unsolicited links to docs and videos that are 'fightbaiting' like this-- trying to get me to beef publicly with a 3rd person. But I've seen more of these than usual lately so I would like to try and cool it down.

[noodleblade]

My friend, gimme ur thinks. I wanna know how you think Brainstorm would react if Percy actually flat out said he loves him.

He would explode.

No but for real, I think skepticism would overpower Brainstorm. There's a level of self-consciousness under all his egotism, and I like to think its quite vast. He'd be immediately in self-doubt, even if he knows rationally Perceptor isn't the type to lie, especially when its about his feelings. He can't help but think the worst and because he knows better than everyone, hearing anything different doesn't go over well.

Even if they've been in a relationship for years, there is still creeping self-doubt so being confronted with the blatant opposite would have him shrivel up. He'd deflect, he'd doubt, he may even run and hide because Perceptor certainly isn't going to allow Brainstorm to misinterpret him. Perceptor is nothing, if not clear, intentional and when he wants to be, persistent.

It's....a tense few days- maybe even a couple of weeks -before Brainstorm finally lets the information sink through the various layers of self-doubt.

After that, he's a mess. Giddy, impossibly annoying and smug, very smitten.

Then he realizes he'd acted like a complete dumbass for about a week and very uncool, unself-actualized, and like a complete loser in front of Perceptor.

And then he explodes.

[whatwooshkai]

Gimme a number 5! :D

Chase's face is contorted in badly disguised panic as he stands there, finials practically brushing the lights on his back, waiting for instruction.

Charlie tries desperately not to laugh, coughing into his fist. "I am so sorry," he says, voice strained, as Mayor Luskey forces his way out of the car, fuming.

"BURNS!" he snarls, his toupee slightly askew, and he nearly trips over the grappler as he storms up to him. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

"So sorry," Charlie repeats, noticing that Chase has started nervously wringing his hands. "The police bot noticed your car was going above the speed limit and wasn't responding to the flashing lights, so he- uh, the AI, I mean- took the next logical step." He gestures at the scene. "Hence the grappler."

Chase had deployed it without asking, and Charlie hadn't even known what happened until the mayor's car had suddenly stopped and started swerving in front of them, caught in a trap of yellow nylon webbing.

"Well- well- fix it!" Mayor Luskey turns on his poor chauffeur and starts shouting again, and Charlie notices the slight sigh of relief from Chase as the attention is taken off them.

"Police bot," Charlie orders, biting back his smile, "fix this please."

"Yes sir," Chase says, sounding much less confident than usual.

-------------------------------

"I didn't even know you had a grappler," Charlie pipes up as they roll into the firehouse's driveway. "My last patrol car sure didn't."

"It was equipment I had back on Cybertron," Chase explains as the garage door closes behind them, then transforms when Charlie steps out. "I just haven't had a reason to use it until now."

"Well, uh, good to know," Charlie says, patting his hands on his hips. "Just maybe ask first next time?"

"Of course," Chase hums, and his finials flatten against his helm.

"So, do you have any other equipment you're holding out on me?" Charlie continues teasingly, and Chase's finials cant back.

"No," he answers, sounding almost disappointed. "A question better suited for Heatwave. I have not seen him use any of his arsenal."

"Really?" They step on the lift together. Normally Charlie would go back upstairs, but now he's curious. "What kinds of equipment?"

"I'd imagine it's similar." Chase taps his foot against the ground as the lift starts down. "He's got a kit hand."

"What's that?"

"Heatwave!" Chase addresses the fire bot instead, who's up on one of the pillars with the training dummy.

"What?" he calls back, leaning against it.

Chase gestures to Charlie. "He's curious about your equipment."

Heatwave frowns. "...What equipment?"

"Your firefighting equipment. You hand." Chase gestures abstractly.

"Oh." Heatwave jumps down and Chase offers his hand to Charlie, who climbs into it, and he's deposited onto Chase's shoulder for a better view. "Most of it's only accessible in my alt mode, but I got a few things."

He sticks his forearm out and a panel retracts. "Winch," he says, gesturing at it. "Got them on both sides. And my hand's kit." His left hand retracts back into his forearm, and he transforms tools out in rapid succession, including but not limited to a sledgehammer, an axe, a halligan, and a chainsaw. His hand's back in a few moments, and he offers Charlie a shrug. "I don't really have a need for them. I can usually brute force my way through any of the emergencies you guys have."

"True," Charlie hums, "but it's good to know. Thank you."

Heatwave blinks, then nods, turning away and going back to his dummy. Charlie looks to Chase. "Do the others have equipment like that, or, uh, 'kit' hands?"

Chase's finial flicks. "Why don't we go ask?" he says, voice colored with an excited lilt.

Charlie gets the distinct impression he's being included on something important, but he can't even begin to be sure of what. So he just smiles, pats Chase on the cheek, and lets him take him to the others.

[orphiclovers]

Ya ever think Pre-Scenarios Yoo Joonghyuk went to church / ya think Yoo Joonghyuk has catholic guilt?

You would never get asked questions like this on any other site. Gotta love tumblr. And of COURSE I have thoughts on this that I will ramble on in great detail.

In general, I always try to be careful to not accidentally project my western understanding onto things with a different cultural context. Especially in regards to things like Christianity, since it’s not universal and…idk it would feel inaccurate to ascribe it to characters who wouldn’t realistically encounter it themselves? Not that you can’t, but I personally try not to. That's irrelevant with ORV though, they literally made the biblical Garden of Eden be a place YJH has been shirtless in. So I’m just going to go ahead and assume that all the Christian motifs I find are intentional and fair game lol

I’ll start with your second question: KDJ’s the one with the catholic guilt, not YJH. YJH has something much more sinister going on.

He gets two main monikers in canon - ‘Pilgrim of The Lonely Apocalypse’ and ‘Puppet of The Oldest Dream.’ In ORV your moniker basically reveals what your ‘story’ is all about. These two names are supposed to show what Yoo Joonghyuk represents, and my thoughts there are…

1. Puppet of the Oldest Dream

He’s the incarnation of the all-seeing and all-knowing god that created the world. 

What I’m saying is, he's a Jesus figure, alright? HEAR ME OUT. He is cursed to walk the world and suffer eternally to bring salvation to one man - at the end it's revealed that he willingly chooses to bear this burden (talking about 0th here). It’s that classic scapegoat story, bearing the sins of the world to save everyone else, but he's also choosing to do this, despite knowing it will be awful.

At the end of his regressions, when he breaks free of his chains, stops being a puppet, he finds himself lost and missing their weight. He had a terrible purpose in regression - without it, he's meaningless again.

2. As Pilgrim of the Lonely Apocalypse

He's literally called a ‘pilgrim’ - someone who goes on a journey to find god. Catholic guilt is about thinking you deserve to suffer for some perceived sins, but Yoo Joonghyuk already is in Hell. ‘Hell of Eternity’ specifically, which manifests with the Christian imagery of fire and brimstone. His ‘journey to find God’ takes him through a world of unimaginable pain and cruelty that he has to somehow find meaning in. (Both YJH and SP have different answers on what that meaning is in different points in their life. )

Needless to say, he has A LOT of imagery associated with religion.

On a more personal level, YJH is motivated by this ceaseless search for the meaning of his own existence. There's the extra layer there that he knows instinctively he was put on this earth for some grand reason, only no one ever tells him what it is. He’s cast into the world without memories and has to stumble through life blind, just like the rest of us. He desperately seeks someone who can tell him what he’s supposed to do, parent, god, prophet or anyone else. (Basically, he's an edgy atheist teenager.)

That’s why he never reaches his ‘▪️▪️’ - the cruel thing is that he can’t ever truly find his purpose, because he is driven by having an unreachable goal.

To answer your first question: Pre-scenarios Yoo Joonghyuk is busy trying to survive his shitty job and taking care of Mia. He doesn't have time for church or having a life or anything. All he can do is daydream of one day finding whoever created him and gave him life. He puts all his hopes on getting enough money to hire a private investigator and keeping this single goal in mind for years. 

He will meet his parents and they will tell him what he’s supposed to do right? The really fucked up thing is, he does eventually get there.

The investigators give him an address, which he visits but finds only an empty house. On the way back, he has a little bit of an existential crisis and starts really thinking about it all. even thinks the classic YJH ‘who am I?’ Then, not even one second later, THE FUCKING APOCALYPSE STARTS. THERE’S HIS ANSWER I GUESS!!!!!

[gingermintpepper]

I saw it in your tag game post that you're also fond of the Apollo-Heracles conflict 👀 for a myth that appears in only a couple of sources, it sure has a lot of presence in the vase paintings (no seriously, everytime I think I've seen the last of it, I find ten more)

SO do you have any favorites among the paintings that represent this story??

OMG OMG THIS ASK IS A GIFT. IT IS A GIFT THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR LETTING ME TALK ABOUT THIS

I also think it's extremely interesting that it's a story so popularly portrayed by vase paintings and in such a variety of ways!! It's certainly one of the stories that gets left out of written compilation of Heracles' legend a bit (which is a shame, I think it's a fantastic story) but Apollo had a very peculiar relationship with Heracles in general that I just kind of find amazing (and very, very funny).

Apollo is not a god with any legitimate grudge against Heracles, but he does argue with the mortal a bit like he argues with his favourite brothers 😂Part of why I love the story of Apollo and Heracles fighting over the tripod so much is that it is such a little brother thing for Heracles to be upset with the proclamation his elder brother has given him and so, he throws a great fit, taking up the chair and declaring that he'll just give himself a better prophecy! And Apollo, instead of being a marginally professional big brother, decides to fight him for it until their father has to break up their cat-fight. Like was that not just the plot of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes? Is this not exactly how Apollo treated Hermes when he was a child and now those two are inseparable? 💀

Because of this, my favourite vase paintings tend to be the ones that highlight the personal squabbling between Apollo and Heracles the most. There are some very elaborate ones that have the full host of them - Athena, Heracles, Apollo, Artemis, usually a dog and a doe, I've even seen a couple that had birds and plants etched on them, but the simplest ones that show Heracles about to bonk Apollo with his club out of frustration or depict Heracles nyooming away from Apollo while Apollo (presumably) yells curses about how he's going to fling Heracles head first into Tartarus for daring to take his things? Yeah, those are the premium big brother/little brother things I'm looking for.

(Photo. Marie-Lan Ngyuen)

(Photo. Museo Claudio Faina)

Also the one in the Theoi.com archives is a real classic - perfect energy.

[puppetmaster13u]

The omegaverse post is getting. VERY long- so I’m swinging into here-

At two-three ish years old, i think Damian would be on solid foods at that point, granted- he did just come from a cloning tube, so he wouldn’t have had any solid foods- but nonetheless, I don’t think Bruce would start producing milk.

Also, Pit rage + Dynamics?

I can see either that the Pit Rage is almost completely removed from the equation due to Jason having grown up with unnatural instincts, (There is a Lazarus pit in Gotham after all, he could have immunity due to being raised in the hellpit that is Gotham) or it’s so much worse.

Jason will either be almost completely uneffected except for being a bit more feral, or will drop into angry ferality at the drop of a hat.

And you know that Tim will end up being smothered by both Jason and Bruce- though, most often it’s Jason because Jason now has a little brother- one that needs his help and protection from his clearly neglectful parents.

Tim has no idea how dynamics work- and While very much annoyed by it, Atleast Jason can teach Tim how to be a proper pup with Steph’s help. (I can see Jason having helped taught Dick when he first came to the manor in a similar way)

And Steph will want to join in. This pack is a mess, but she she still wants to help. While She’s not full Wayne pack, she is definitely on the fringes of the pack. Not as much as Jim, but still there. ‘Sides, it’s fun playing with a big pack like the Wayne Pack! There’s so much chaos and Bruce makes amazing nests.

Also- Dynamic Headcanons time, in order of hierarchy cus why not.

Bruce - Head Omega

Alfred - Elder Beta

Dick - Alpha (Defaulted to Head alpha due to being the only adult alpha in the core part of the pack)

Jason - Pup Omega (Presented)

Tim - Pup Beta (Unpresented)

Damian - Puppy

Steph, Jim, and Barbara are on the fringes of the pack, so their rank in the pack often changes depending on what’s needed. But they default right above the pups more often than not.

Also, I can see all three of them being alphas.

Good idea lol- I'll add links to the previous ones too. 1 2

First of all, yesss. Tim is slowly brought out of his shell and encouraged by the combined might of the entire pack. No, Bruce and Jason are not almost sobbing in relief the first time Tim actually responds like a pup should.

Omg, I absolutely adore the idea of tiny pup Jason helping Dick learn how to pup. Dragging him into wrestles and gnawing at him until he asks him to stop.

I feel like Steph tries to stay on the edge of the pack but slowly gets sucked in lol, not helped by the fact that she's Spoiler. And getting dragged into the Batman's side of a pack too. It is inevitable at this point.

Gosh, what if the pit rage like, he's fine and completely in control as long as there's a Lazarus presence- which is thankfully all around Gotham. But like, if he leaves an area that hasn't had any sort of death-juice corruption he loses it a little bit. Like he has to learn how to control it before he can properly leave Gotham- outside of emergencies where he has a pendant or something with a tiny bit of the Waters maybe?

[necrotic-nephilim]

for the ask game (1)

au where bruce is attracted to his robins and batgirls. he tries not to think about it or act on it, but it's getting more difficult with every new member of his team he acquires. does anyone know? do the robins and batgirls notice his weird behavior? what do they do about it? do they ever find out the truth? who would think it's terrible and who would find it strangely hot/comforting/nice? does bruce ever act on his feelings?

for the ask game!

oh my GOD do i have thoughts for AUs like this, i love this shit so dearly, dirtybadwrong Bruce who's trying to keep a lid on it my beloved.

i think the fun of this AU is if characters would notice Bruce lusting for themselves vs would they notice Bruce lusting for a different Robin/Batgirl. like does Dick pick up on it when it's just him and Bruce? no, because it's just. him and Bruce. he and Bruce are weird and complicated and hold endless bounds of nuance. that's just How Bruce Is, and Dick is the "test run", in a sense. he knows Bruce is new to this whole sidekick/family thing and is giving Bruce grace for being rough around the edges. but when Bruce starts looking at Jason or Tim or Cass that way, that's when Dick starts to notice. it's never enough of a suspicion he feels justified to bring it up, but the thought lingers. he's hyperaware and grows less and less comfortable with leaving them alone with Bruce. it's a weird game of chicken, Dick and Bruce staring each other down when Bruce's touch lingers too long. each waiting for the other to say something first. if Bruce ever broke and actually acted on his feelings, Dick would be eaten alive by the guilt of knowing something was up, but never saying something until it was too late.

obviously, Cass would know. there's no world where Cass *doesn't* know, the nature of who and what she is would immediately clock it. but the issue is, Cass doesn't have a good framework of what family looks like. she doesn't really understand familial vs romantic love bc she has no firsthand experience of what a parent's love should even look like. so she never calls it out. she just watches. i'm a fan of Cass believing this is normal and believing she too can express and act on attraction that's vaguely incestuous. maybe it's with Babs, maybe it's with Dick or Tim or Bruce himself. but she recognizes this as Normal and Accepted within the Batfamily, so it severely fucks up her understanding of familial love and i just. man it's my favorite thing about Cass in Batcest honestly, is how you can play with her lack of experience with love, boundaries, and sexuality.

Tim is the fun one for me. because my favorite flavor of BruTim is when Tim knows, as he agrees to be Robin, that there's a non-zero chance that Bruce is going to be Weird and agrees anyway because he's decided it's an acceptable risk. so Tim knows from the get-go because he's expecting it. if Bruce acts on his attraction, i think it's either with Tim or Cass first, because they're the most likely to confront him about it in a way that isn't entirely negative. Tim has accepted it's a possibility and Cass just seeks being loved and touched so. it leads to the first time someone's ever confronted Bruce about it. and the thing is, Bruce really doesn't like confrontation about his flaws. the first time Tim tries to imply he's okay with it, Bruce would lash out at the idea, tell Tim how inappropriate that is and benches Tim for a week. it'd probably take a united front from Cass and Tim to get Bruce to even *admit* to the attraction. still Bruce wouldn't allow it to happen and he brushes them off until finally, the dam breaks. it's fun if there's a cause like sex pollen, but i think it's *more* fun if it's just. a random fucking Tuesday and finally Bruce is at his limit. he has no real reason, there's nothing particularly different about that day's routine. he just sees Tim or Cass striping armor and sighs and gives in.

i don't think Steph, Jason, or Babs would notice until anything substantial happened. not because they're not wicked smart, but just because none of them were looking for it. Jason put Bruce on a pedestal when he was alive, and when he came back from the dead he wasn't close enough to be noticing Bruce's interpersonal dynamics outside of his narrow scope. Steph has no real framework for what healthy fatherhood looks like, so if Bruce's touches linger, if he stares too long, she just shrugs and assumes it's how it is. and Babs was just never quite close enough to Bruce to notice. if and when she notices, is when actual sexual things start to happen between Cass and Bruce. because Cass would see no reason to hide it. Babs would be pissed, but it'd be tricky to navigate. Cass would be an adult, even if she's only 18/19, so technically, she's old enough to be consenting. if nothing else, Bruce is a careful man. even when he breaks and gives in to his desires, he covers his tracks well. he makes sure he has enthusiastic consent and there's no legal recourse that could be taken. age of consent and all that. there's not much Babs can *do* other than try to tell Cass (and/or Tim) that this isn't normal or okay. not that it gets her anywhere, but god would she try.

by the time Duke comes along (if we venture out of the pre-Flashpoint era) i think it's a sort of. open secret, in the Batfamily. talked about in nothing but hushed whispers and knowing glances. at some point, they've all had sex with Bruce, caving all for different reasons. some more than others. Tim sees it as a duty, Cass sees it as a way of seeking comfort, Steph sees it as getting Bruce's approval for once, etc. it's never forced on them, but eventually, they all come to Bruce sooner or later. and that's the fun irony of it, i think. they try to convince the others not to, but would go to Bruce on their own well. because complicated reasons they can't put into words. sometimes, Bruce is just a messy man who doesn't realize how prized his Attention to for the rest of the Batfamily. that weird duality of not liking him, but also wanting desperately for him to like you. all of them have dealt with it, at some point. so for Duke, it takes a while for him to understand this... whole dynamic. it's Cass who tries to explain it to him, and he's a little horrified, a lot confused. especially when Bruce starts staring at him a little too long as well. i think he'd only want to watch first but well. they all cave eventually.

also fun bonus if we venture into the Dark Knight Returns universe for my bestest girl Carrie Kelley: there's such a like, "i'm fucking around and i'm finding out" vibe to Carrie. like Tim, she's very proactive in just. deciding she's going to be Robin and she's ready for whatever that entails. (IMO canon Carrie is closer to fanon Tim than canon Tim is but *that* deserves its own post-) like she takes one look at the old man that is Batman and goes yup. he's never fucking getting rid of me now. if Bruce started having weird feelings about her, i think she'd have *fun* with it. she's decided she's in it for the long haul and for whatever being Robin means so. she's almost teasing about it, seeing how hard she can push before Bruce snaps. since it's an older, gruffer Bruce, i think he'd express open annoyance at it first, almost a sort of banter about how Carrie behave. but of course he caves and Carrie leans into it, because there's a fun in having all of Bruce's attention to herself. in the main timeline, Bruce is pretty split with so many Robins and Batgirls, but during their era, it's *just* her and him and she's very proud she's got him all to herself.

[giantchasm]

Hey Peony! Are you a zombie!? O:

It's a favorite nickname of some kids I don't always get along with, unfortunately... these stupid jerks who are still caught up on stuff that happened a really long time ago. They don't like my family— Dad and Miss Sectonia especially, so they don't like me either. It's dumb 'cause all the things they're angry about are things that happened before we were even born. But their parents have told them all about it, and now they're mad even though it never affected any of them. I... hear a lot about how my dad really hurt people or is responsible for all of the current issues in Floralia. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind if they just took it out on me, but that's not what it's like. They're always going on about how bad my family is, and I hate hearing it. They call them awful people, and it's not accurate at all! Dad and Miss Sectonia didn't mean to harm anyone. Dad just loved too much, and Miss Sectonia was sick. I don't meet people who dislike my mom as often 'cause of where I live, but it's the same for her. She's not evil! She was just desperate! Granddad, too! ...It's okay, though. I try not to let their words get to me. I know they're just imbeciles. So it's not like I'll let them affect how I see myself or the people I love. Would still be grateful if you didn't call me that, though.

[Soft gasp] What's this? Not everyone thinks Peony is the specialest girl in the world!?

Yeeeeahhh. Unfortunately it just kind of comes with the territory of being the daughter of two war criminals. Taranza in particular kind of helped Sectonia ravage Floralia, which is where Peony lives. The kids around her have heard a lot of stories about their parents being traumatized or haven't been able to meet certain family members of theirs because said family members were killed during the tyranny. Lots of anger and sadness regarding that.

Not that that excuses them taking it out on Peony. Being mad at Taranza, sure, but Peony didn't do anything. Like she said: she wasn't even born at the time! But Taranza's not someone these kids feel they can lash out at (...in fact, they're kind of scared of him), so they aim at the next best thing: his innocent daughter, and that's where it crosses over into just being cruel.

...Yeesh. Just get some therapy, you brats! Leave her alone! D:<

It's okay, though. Like Peony said, she's coping. Truthfully, half of the time she just has her guardian angel taze these people to scare them off. Doesn't make it any less of a pain, though.

@kirbyoctournament

[hydrachea]

I’ve always loved the dynamic between the ot3 we've had since 1.0 and with firefly joining the party it instantly became an ot4 for me lol so that's fun! Speaking of firefly infantilization, I absolutely agree with what you said and what’s sad is you know damn well that if the person inside SAM was a man people would’ve cared to explore the odd connection & parallels between “him” & blade beyond “dad & daughter 🥺” posting (not to mention the fact that she’s much older than him). And she literally told kafka to “stop playing with her food” in the jepella trailer. They're partners & equals, not a nuclear family 💀

It's the exact same for me! Well, except I started playing in 1.3, but don't worry about it. As soon as Firefly's identity as a Stellaron Hunter was leaked (wow that was a while ago now) I started waiting to see how they'd portray her relationship with the other three, since they all already had a great dynamic - and wow did 2.2 and 2.3 not disappoint. She joined the ot3 now ot4 easily!

Alas, infantilization is just the fandom fate of any short young looking woman with a man she's close to in her life. Over on Genshin's side, Sigewinne still largely gets treated as Wriothesley's daughter even though she literally saw him grow up and clearly acts like an adult. Nevermind that she, just like Firefly, is the much older one of the two. Just because Firefly actively tries to enjoy her short life in as many ways as she can experience instead of brooding 90% of the time like Blade doesn't automatically mean he's older or more mature... He's just depressed.

That said! There are people with very nice takes out there, even if they aren't directly ship. And since I too am very interested in the dynamic between Blade and Firefly, given their respective situations and wishes - have you seen this comic yet? Only part 1 is out and I don't know if the webnovel (fic?) it's based on exists in English, but just that part 1 is so nice.

[xbomboi]

i’ve got a question to ask out of curiosity about the eah community’s general consensus

since the books and the show have different continuities and also within the world of the supplementary Ever After High media, the books themselves differ in continuity depending on series/author, i have a feeling this answer could vary depending on one’s bias…

i’m not adding an “other” option because you’re crazy if you think they met in infancy/as toddlers or if you genuinely believe the beginning of canon in the show (start of legacy year) is legitimately when they first meet.

[xerith-42]

What are your thoughts on Vylad and Hyria’s dynamic?

I think Vylad and Hyria deserve an entire episode that's about them sitting around Hyria's cottage drinking tea. I always imagined Hyria found Vylad when he ran away from O'Khasis after becoming a Shadow Knight. He stumbled into the cursed forest, and though Hyria could tell he had a foul, evil magic in his body, she also saw the tearful face of a young boy taken too early. She sees an innocence that's on the verge of total corruption about to be eaten away at by dark magic.

She sees Araphel. She sees Irene. She sees a poor young boy too scared to admit the truth to himself. She sees her friend Zianna's son who just died crying on the forest floor after he nearly collapsed with exhaustion.

She's reminded of the daughter who just left her out of anger. She sees a second chance.

I think it took both of them a lot of growing pains and adjustment time. Vylad was likely hostile to anyone but Zianna acting as his mother figure, and Hyria was hostile to the idea of actually learning to care for this kid beyond helping him not accidentally kill himself. I think there were a lot of days where they barely said a word to each other, or got in arguments bad enough that Vylad slammed the door, climbed out of the window, and ran off to get lost in the woods knowing that Hyria would drag him back.

But over time they learned to care for one another. They bonded over a shared love and adoration of Zianna. Vylad asked Hyria about herbal blends for healing and maybe helping with Shadow Knight symptoms. Hyria helped Vylad learn other languages from her old ass books because he had a genuine interest. Maybe she taught them the wyvern language.

Also speaking of Zianna, I think she visited Hyria still. I think Hyria told Vylad whenever Zianna was approaching the cottage and covered for their escape. I think Vylad finally opened up to Hyria about how badly the calling has been effecting him after Zianna visited the first time and he ran away. Hyria then did everything she could to help him control it, himself, and restrain them if necessary. Vylad told her to keep them in the forest until he could control the calling, and she did just that.

It was only once Vylad had matured, come into his own as a proper adult and learned to control and cope with this new form he had that Hyria let him go. She never said it directly to him, but one day when Vylad was practicing archery and thievery in the forest, he stumbled out near Nahakra Village. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted, go where they wanted, and when Vylad decided to return to the cottage that had become his home, Hyria let him in.

And whatever prompted her to think it was needed, when Hyria decided the world needed Irene, she knew there was one person she trusted to dictate who needed her the most. She's never called Vylad her son, and he's never called her mom outside of a single slip of the tongue, but they don't need to. That's how she views him, forever and always.

[hauntingblue]

Gear 5 luffy's laugh is so contagious I just hear the drums and go insane how does this work. What did he do to me

[friendlyengie]

Woof. That’s uhhh. Big number.