#the doylist answer is

[frownyalfred]

in bloodletting, is there a specific (watsonian) reason why jason's the successor and not dick? or is it just something like "dick didn't want to" lmao

also I love the concept so much! mandalore and the bats really are perfect for each other lol

Hi anon! The Watsonian answer would be that Jason was chosen by the Manda, and that the position of Mand'alor technically -- technically -- isn't hereditary in this verse.

If you're in the Star Wars fandom, you might have caught that I'm sort of modelling Jason and Bruce's relationship off of Jaster and Jango in (ex?) canon.

Essentially, the position of Mand'alor isn't hereditary -- it's a position that in canon was elected by the Mandalorian clans. In my AU, and in many Star Wars fics, it's also passed along based on other factors (the Darksaber, the Manda, the Force) indicating who is worthy.

My backstory is that Bruce inherited the position from his father because, as noted in the fic, he was the rightful Mand'alor in the eyes of the Manda. He likely never intended to pass it along to his children until he adopted Jason, and the Manda indicated that Jason would be the next Mand'alor after him.

Dick is absolutely content with this because he never expected the position to be passed down to him. He also has his hands full being the Aran'alor, which is no small feat :)

I think Jason deals with a lot of imposter syndrome, since he largely just has to take Bruce's word for it that he's worthy. But he's a formidable squad leader and cares for his verde. Once the Manda embraces him entirely, he'll see what Bruce has been telling him for years -- just like Bruce did when he held the Darksaber for the first time on Galidraan.

[rejectedfables]

Lacking any spelled out canon reason for Feng Xin's fear of women, I can only infer that after nearly 800 years of being accidentally known as "Mr Huge Cock, God of Massive Dicks" and having to suffer through how NOT NORMAL people get when they sexualize strangers to the point of dehumanization, as well as being bombarded with sexual prayers he didn't agree to or want to recieve, that all of that has resulted in cumulative trauma in a way that nobody considers legitimate and everybody seems to think is funny

[drunkenskunk]

Did you name your mech after an old Texas soda that you can only find in Texas and like two other states near it????

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Red_(soft_drink)

As it happens: no! There are two reasons for the name.

Reason 1: Watsonian

The "official" name (or at least as much as anyone remembers) is R4GE MACHINE, because the serial number starts with R4, and it is a GMS Everest. However, "Big Red" is what everyone calls the mech, because it is big and chunky for a size 1, and it is covered in a billion different shades of red paint. The reason it's so big and chunky is because it used to be a Sagarmatha when it was built midway through the Hercynian Crisis, and, due to necessity, had to be downgraded to a smaller chassis after the Union Civil War.

(I need to update these sprites. I never got around to coloring them properly, except for the one red pixel for the optics, and I still need to add the Hunchback boombox on the right shoulder that houses the Leviathan heavy assault cannon.)

There is also a COMP/CON unit within the mech that calls itself RED. It's been online for the entire length of the mechs existence, and has embedded itself so thoroughly in the system hardware that it is impossible to get rid of it, no matter how many parts are replaced. The "personality" of this COMP/CON can be summarized "What if BT-7274, but he just kept losing pilots after Lastimosa?"

<<PROTOCOL 3: PROTECT THE PILOT>>

It is currently unknown - both in universe and otherwise - if there is any genuine paracausal tech hidden somewhere in the guts of Big Red, and that's why the COMP/CON is Like That... or maybe this is just what happens to what should be a non-sapient computer program when you keep it online for close to 500 years.

Reason 2: Doylist

Red is an old character of mine that I adapted into a mech for this Lancer game. Sort of. The mech has become something significantly different than the original character, because the reason for the COMP/CON's aggression is a version of robot PTSD: he has lost so many pilots over the years, and is determined not to lose another.

The original Red, however, is... well, take a look.

Red - at least, the original iteration of the character - was something I made when I was a very angry teenager. And I think it shows.

Red is like if the chaos god Khorne and the eldar's Kaela Mensha Kaine from Warhammer hatefucked and had an equally hateful baby. Red is a creature of unfiltered aggression. It is destructive rage manifest. It hates everything and everyone, and will not be satisfied until everything it hates is gone. Which is everything. The is no reason or justification or meaning for this hatred, and nothing to explain why it butchers and kills and destroys and murders its way across the stars; it simply IS.

And it cannot be contained.

That wedge-shaped hunk of metal on its head is not armor: it is all that remains of the last prison built in a desperate effort to stop its rampage. Red could get rid of the hunk of metal obscuring its vision at any time, but deliberately chooses to keep it in place as a cruel mockery of any and all who stand against it.

Two different starting points, two radically different stories, two different "individuals," but still technically the same character. At least, as far as I'm concerned.

I do this kind of thing all the time. Or... y'know, I did, back when my hands worked regularly. I make a character, turn them into a base template "starting point," and then slowly rework them into a new iteration, to fit whatever purpose I need to suit whatever setting I put them in.

So no, Big Red is not named after a soda lol

[ossidae-passeridae]

Opinion on 15 or 17? Or both 🫢

Questions from here

15. Opinion on Anakin’s characterization discrepancies between Clone Wars and the prequels? [i.e., the broification of Anakin Skywalker]

The short answer to this (from a Watsonian-esque perspective) is that the Clone Wars show is, at its core, a narrative told from Ahsoka's POV. Ahsoka, as Anakin's padawan, has a very rose tinted view of him — he's a hero, he's a charming rogue, he's able to get out of every situation — and of course she does! She's a child, he's his teacher and guide, it's normal to look up to people in those roles in your life when you're young.

In the movies, though, we're seeing Anakin from a removed third person perspective, which is to say we're seeing him as he really is. Ahsoka can't conceptualise Anakin crying from overwhelm, the same way that kids can't conceptualise their parents doing the same. But he does (very prettily, might I add). The 'real' Anakin is awkward, and cries when he's emotional, and is more than just the confident front he puts on for other people.

From a Doylist perspective, I'm just 😩 at Filoni trying to make Anakin "cool" in TCW because he thought he wasn't manly enough or whatever. Spray bottle direct to the face for him.

17. What event is Anakin’s point of no return in his fall to the dark side?

Baby boy is doomed by the narrative before he's even born <3 So his conception I guess 🤣

Putting that aside though, I think it's not when he killed the Tuskens after his mother's death — though that is undoubtedly a Dark act — but when he decides to keep it a secret from Obi-Wan and the rest of the Jedi. He doesn't own up to his actions, which he clearly knows were wrong. It isn't that he keeps it to himself, either! He tells both Padme and Palpatine, both of whom have enormous political power.

But he doesn't tell the Jedi. He decides to let fear — of what the consequences might be, of what Obi-Wan might think of him — rule him. Because how they (he) perceive him is more important to Anakin than atoning for his actions.

And that's not a once-off, Anakin choosing to keep this secret. That's a choice he has to make over and over every day, a fear that hangs over him like a pall — the fear that they'll find out what he's done, the fear that someone will tell them, or someone will sense it, or that he'll somehow give it away.

It's a fear that impacts every single choice he makes from that moment on, and every moment he continues to let that fear rule him, he's giving more and more power to the Dark.

(All opinions expressed above are solely those of pass e. ridae and do not express the views or opinions of any affiliates or associates, passerine or otherwise)

[wayward-wren]

How do you think Gracie, Jerry and Yan got claimed?

Cos they're obviously established as Apollo's kids by the time Lester and Meg show back up to camp, but Apollo has been in absolutely no state to claim them as his children.

Did they just show amazing Apollo-specific skills and everyone was like ah must be Cabin 7? Or was it process of elimination; those three were the only kids not claimed so re: the Jackson agreement (all the gods having to claim their children, I think that was part of the deal), it had to be Apollo since he's currently mortal? Did one of the other gods (Artemis) go 'ocrap they need to be claimed and Apollo is currently unavailable' and do it for him?

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Why does USA-raised Steven uses kilometers for his ship’s speed ?

There are two answers - the Watsonian and the Doylist. Which one will make you more comfortable?

[sneez]

more of my oc tervis (any pronouns), the creepiest most miserable little weirdo in town. which is saying something [id under cut]

/ ID: four digital drawings.

The first image is a series of drawings of Tervis on a paper-textured background. A heading at the top reads 'Tervis (Humble)'. One is a coloured headshot of Tervis looking to the left; they have a gaunt face, short receding hair, a scar bisecting their lip and right eyebrow, greyish skin, and are wearing a red shawl around their neck. An arrow pointing at their right eye reads 'one blue eye (mostly blind)'; another arrow pointing at their left eye reads 'one brown eye'. They have a serious, hostile expression. The second drawing is an uncoloured full-body sketch of Tervis. Next to this is the same drawing but coloured and with more polished lineart. Tervis is a thin, hunched figure wearing a long, dark brown robe, a greyish bag on their back, and a red shawl around their head and neck. They are barefoot, and are leaning on a walking staff with both hands. An arrow pointing to the walking staff reads 'needed for walking, useful for hitting'. Tied to the belt around their waist are several long scrolls of paper with writing on them. An arrow pointing to the scrolls reads ''blessings' they paste on infected houses'. Tervis is looking warily out at the viewer from beneath their eyebrows. An arrow pointing to their head reads 'scar from getting hit in the face with a brick (also knocked out a tooth)'. Alongside these drawings are a series of bullet points giving information about Tervis. These read:

   indeterminate age, indeterminate gender

   religious fanatic (unclear which religion)

   lives alone somewhere in the steppe

   dislikes everyone but is nicer to children than anyone else

   has every disease

The second image is a fake screenshot from the video game Pathologic. Tervis is looking out at the viewer; the background shows scenery from the steppe. The text on screen reads:

CHANGELING: I still don’t see what you could have done that would make you personally responsible for this plague. TERVIS: Responsible… no, not merely responsible! This is my plague, cast upon my head alone. I am the originator; my sin is at the root of all. I have ventured into the town. I have seen the canker there. No matter how many houses I bless, my sickness sinks deeper. The rotted limb is the death of the body… Surely you understand me. You are a healer, are you not? CHANGELING: What is it that you are asking me to do? TERVIS: Let me be the lamb, worker of miracles! My blood shall wet the earth, and bright flowers shall grow… My putrefaction will provide the soil within which new life will burgeon, pure and free of sin and decay. Let it be done. I am ready. My failing flesh is but little sacrifice; in death my weakness will be my strength. Soon these torments will be at an end.

Below are two dialogue options:

You’re insane!

What makes you so sure your death would solve anything?

The third image is a fake screenshot from the video game Pathologic 2. Tervis is looking out at the viewer, and has been painted in semi-realistic style. The text on screen reads:

Tervis: Why do you force me to live? Damn you! Your cure is poison to me. Now I shall never be blessed. You should have left me to bleed.

Below are three dialogue options:

Don’t be absurd. I wasn’t going to watch you die.

What makes you think you deserve suffering?

I wish I had.

At the bottom of the image is a line of dialogue which Tervis has just spoken:

The air is foul. There is rot in this place. The stench of corruption shall be – what was it? What was it? The stench of corruption shall be… swept aside…

The fourth image is a coloured scene depicting Tervis and Clara. They are central in the composition; around them is the steppe, which has been rendered in a loose, painterly style. Tervis is kneeling, their walking staff cast aside, and are reaching out their hands to Clara in a desperate, pleading gesture. They are crying, their face contorted in an expression of agonised ecstasy. Clara stands beside them, one hand reaching out, the other held above Tervis’s head as though about to touch their brow. She has a solemn, pained expression. Behind her head, a break in the dark clouds gives the impression that she is haloed by sunlight; rays of the same light fall onto Tervis, illuminating their face and red robe. End ID. /

[kazoosandfannypacks]

I think my new favorite hack to find a watsonian solution (explainable within the canon of the media) to a doylist urge (this happens because I, the author, want/need this to happen) is to just. assign your doylist desires to another character.

You need your characters to be sitting next to each other in the backseat, despite the fact that it's social norm to leave the middle seat empty? Oh, the driver of the car says, the seatbelt on that side's not working, you'll have to sit in the middle seat. Why's that seatbelt just happen to be broken? Oh, it's not. The driver just wants to see these characters together as much as you do.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

“somehow shanks became aware that buggy's goals had changed” alright that is so FASCINATING! Most of theorists I saw had believe that Shanks was completely unaware of Buggy’s intention. That he just wanted him around (out of whatever feels) so asked about sailing together. I even saw Interpretations of them being co-captains.

I don’t think I ever saw anyone using the panel of “we should go separate ways”!

You truly made me more excited about where this relationship is going. How much Shanks knew about his friend inner thoughts??

You think Oda has some plans on writing sth about this relationships or in your opinion he would rather made them go “separate ways”? God, you good.

yeah, idk, maybe i’m reading into things too much?? i just don’t get the impression that shanks is the kind of person to ask a question he knows is gonna get an answer of “no way in hell!!” so i have to believe that either he forgot that buggy wanted to go his own way, or he thought buggy had changed his mind.

(and either of these scenarios also involves a shanks who has changed his mind. why. why do you want buggy on your ship, shanks? did he change, or your opinion of him?)

like i said in my tags on that post, i would really love to hear an explanation from shanks himself. i don’t think i’ll be fully satisfied by their arc without getting his perspective. i hope it’s coming! i’m not confident but i’m hopeful!

that said, i do 100% believe they’re going to run into each other during the hunt for the one piece. i just have no idea when. early on vs at laugh tale vs literally right in front of the treasure… my ideal conversation/confrontation would go totally differently in each context. (and this doesn’t even take into consideration whether luffy, bb, or other pirates are also present!)

as for your last question… god, i don’t know. what’s the purpose of the shanks & buggy relationship in this story? if it’s to serve as an example of how close relationships can go sour, then i think there are two endings that can serve that purpose.

they never become close again, to show the consequences for being too stubborn/too easygoing in a relationship

their relationship gets repaired right at the end of the story, to show it’s never too late to become friends again

so i really couldn’t say!

personally, i would love to see shanks and buggy wander off into the sunset, going on half-retired pirate adventures, but i feel like a lot would have to change for that to happen. i can’t really see buggy aboard the red force, or shanks at cross guild hq. maybe they go their separate ways, but stay in contact? (letters, snailphone calls, etc.) arranging to meet up for short trips a couple times a year… a compromise between permanently going their separate ways and always traveling together.

[tswwwit]

Does Bill ever feel down about reincarnated Dippers not remembering their past(s) together?

Since his realm is the mind I'd assume that memories are probably something important to him, so is it hard having to reintroduce himself/redo things or even have references to things the pair did fly over Dippers head?

-Law Anon

Dipper remembers his previous lives eventually! He's literally still the Same Guy™, soul unchanged. Though every time he reincarnates, he gets to experience different things and has different circumstances, which he has to adjust to. Eventually, though, all his past experiences knock on the door and make themselves known - it just takes them a bit to get there.

[time-like-tears-in-rain]

Working on a Nine/Rose fic and thinking again about how when Nine died with her kiss on his lips, died in love with her, died saving her because she was dying trying to save him, and his final thoughts in that body were how to regenerate into what he thought she would want.

....and then the first thing she wants to know is if he can change back. Because she didn't want a pretty face, she fell in love with him as he was.

[constantvariations]

Can anyone think of a single in-universe reason why Cinder would want to recruit the White Fang for her schemes instead of any of the other crime organizations? Going after Roman is a no-brainer, dude's obviously good at what he does and is already in Vale, but who thinks "For my plan to bring down a Hunter school and a communication tower, both of which will spread fear to the entire world, I'm going to ask a civil rights revolution for help" like????

[panther-os]

If you could change anything about Star Wars, what would your top five changes be?

Oh I had to think about this - not a lot, but I did have to think. I'm approaching this from a Doylist perspective, so "what would I change about the Star Wars writing and etc" rather than "what would I change in the Star Wars universe".

Make Anakin's characterization consistent.

Get a start on erasing the bigotry by treating Tuskens as people from the beginning (ANH), removing the blood libel from Trandoshan portrayals, giving Ahsoka brown eyes to match pre-existing Togruta character and her African American facial features, and reversing harmful stereotypes that were made into entire alien species.

Redefine "true love" in the context of the narrative from possessive obsession to healthy commitment.

Center TCW on the clones.

Put more Mandalorian culture in The Mandalorian, including showing Din as an adopted he/him nonbinary who wears full modesty garb instead of a boy stolen by a cult-adjacent isolationist community, and also including showing more Mandalorian factions and unaligned diaspora.

Tied with #5 and semi-related: Put more nuanced Jedi culture and philosophy on-screen as well as morally good non-Jedi, non-Sith Force traditions from Legends, especially the indigenous ones.

[dreamwreaver]

I agree with everything you said in your response to that ask. It's obvious Chaggie wasn't something she was always going for. What confuses me is her mindset of, well now that it's canon, I don't have to put in any work for this ship. Excuse me? What? Has Viv never shipped before. That's not how canon works. You have to make ppl care about the ship and she or the writers haven't done that. How is Chaggie good enough to become canon because of some fanart but not good enough for you to flesh out their relationship for ppl to care about? That's dumb as hell. For all that, she should've had them stay platonic. I'm not even a Chaggie shipper but the fact that the creator of this ship doesn't even care about them is disgusting. Nobody told her to make them happen. She did that herself.

Let's be honest, she's likely been on the internet long enough to know what shipping is, explaining her more cavalier attitude on fans shipping which used to be the norm. Her "ship what you want but don't be a dick to other people" attitude is precisely what old fandom used to be like before the influx of what I can only describe as normies decided they wanted to be a part of fandom.

See, the thing about the old internet (and by that I mean before the rise of mainstream social media platforms like Facebook, insta, Twitter, etc.) the internet by and large was by nerds for nerds. We kept the shit we liked online to ourselves irl and we definitely didn't talk directly to creators because it was understood that there was an invisible line we knew not to cross. You didn't harass actors or writers trying to get what you want. But the rise of mainstream meant the rise of accessibility to creators, and the trolls morphed into something much worse.

Look up the fiasco with Alex Brightman during the height of Beetlejuice on Broadway. The poor man was stalked, harassed, and asked over and over again if he condoned Beetlebabes, a ship which had kept that fandom alive for well over 30 years. Until he eventually released a statement so carefully combed over by PR experts only the people who lack media literacy took it at face value. It didn't reflect any previous attitudes he had on anything, and moreover it doesn't align with his current views considering the projects he's actively working on. In reality I don't think the man really gives a shit what people ship he was just sick of the harassment and likely worried that public outcries of him being a pedophile because of a fictional ship because he didn't actively condemn it and call for the harassment of people who did like it would ruin his career.

I have several friends who have come to hazbin from Beetlejuice, and many of them have met him pre pandemic. All of them say he's a lovely and sweet man with a good sense of humor. But imagine going through all he went through for over a year. Viv, and I hate to say it, went through something similar. I was pissed to find out toxic charlastor shippers on Twitter were harassing her to make it canon. So if that ship squicks her out now? I honestly don't blame her. Things are even more sticky with wlw or any gay relationships where you legitimately aren't allowed to portray them as complex or problematic. One thing I've noticed in particular is that male and straight ships are allowed to be as grossly sexualized as anything but women (or femme identified characters) cannot.

Look at all the chaggie art, not a single sexual thing. Even their official pinup stuff is fairly tame. Look at the Vees, despite the fact that velvette is an adult woman who died and is dating... Valentino I think? All the fandom sees is two gay dads and their uwu not sexually active daughter. Same with radioapple come to think of it, Charlie becomes a fully non sexual, almost Madonna figure in relation to the overt sexual nature of the gay ships. I'm guessing some of that still internalized homophobia and kink phobia coupled with sexist attitudes of what women can and cannot be interested in. Lesbian ships cannot be interested in sex, they must be pure and good. Meanwhile there's no end to overtly sexual art of the gay ships across the hellaverse. And the fans get rabid when any female ship isn't innately good and pure.

Another real world example; people flipped their shit when catradora became explicitly canon at the end of the she ra reboot. Because catra had gone through a corruption arc before a redemption one and therefore was forever culpable for the crimes she committed when in an obvious downward mental spiral after a life raised under an abusive mother figure and being abandoned by the person closest to her, and the major brainwashing of the Horde, but we don't have time to unpack all that. Ironic that in a show all about second chances and becoming better than the person you were these attitudes are still pervasive and ugly huh?

To a certain extent I think Viv has been on the internet long enough that she's seen what happens to creators who don't "perfectly" encapsulate a gay romance. Which means that it's unique while also being applicable to everyone. Totally an achievable standard right? (Insert sarcastic eye roll here). For her, I think making chaggie as boring in canon as possible was probably the safest move she could think of. I will critique it from a writing standpoint but overall it was the smartest choice to avoid backlash. I still prefer Vaggie/Emily and charlastor because it's two vastly most interesting dynamics, but I get why the writers might have been wary.

Sorry for the rant but unfortunately the depiction of chaggie wasn't created solely in a vacuum and there's a lot of cross fandom history context that needed to be brought up to explain why chaggie is the animated tofu of hazbin hotel ships.

[frecklenog]

nobody:

me, disabled, and with special interests in both worldbuilding and disability accommodations, history, and advocacy: i wonder what kind of disabilities existed on gallifrey. would regeneration reset an autoimmune disorder, or would it follow through to their next form? can they regenerate into a body with an autoimmune disorder? is it there to stay once it hits?

what about limb differences? if gallifreyans can regenerate limbs (at the very least within the first 15 hours of regeneration, as seen in the christmas invasion), would that mean the majority of limb differences on gallifrey would be congenital? would a gallifreyan be encouraged to regenerate regardless of threat to their life after an amputation, or has gallifrey moved past that sort of ableism? (probably not, since fifteen's tardis being wheelchair accessible (or, the entrance, since the ramps within seem pretty steep) is considered remarkable by wheelchair user and unit agent shirley anne bingham. plus, from a doylist perspective, dw is very much a product of its various times, being a universe that started development in the early 60s.) would regeneration ""fix"" (heavy airquotes on that) such limb differences? is it possible to regenerate into a body with a limb difference? what sort of adaptive devices are/were there on gallifrey for those who either can't regenerate because they're very close to or at their regeneration limit, or simply choose not to do so?

a lot of these questions also apply to neurological disorders and injuries, too, if you change the wording a bit. tremors, chronic pain, weakness, paralysis, mobility issues, those sorts of things.

and are their blind gallifreyans? (if so, the doctor clearly didn't spend enough time around them.) deaf/hoh gallifreyans? similar questions there, too! (written gallifreyan language already makes my head spin, personally, but i'm intrigued by the idea of how they might go about designing an equivalent of braille! and i'd bet money that gallifreyan sign would include words and phrases that humans wouldn't think to consider, just like any other language. but then, why doesn't the tardis's translation matrix recognize and automatically translate british sign language, as we see with cass's signing confusing clara in before the flood?)

further, what about potential disabilities with no human analogue that relate to the regeneration process itself-?

my parents: hang on. slow down. what the fuck are you talking about

[synnthamonsugar]

My latest random spinfoil is that Mara Sov's presence in the Dreaming City is negating the effects of the curse loop (piggybacking on my spinfoil that Mara Sov has an effect on probability/causality, which is based on the bit of lore about her mere presence keeping people safe), and that this is why it hasn't been "a thing" in some time.