#would be a big character moment for her. excited to see where her arc goes bcuz she's clearly becoming Worse and i love when characters

[br1ghtestlight]

thinking abt suitcase and HONESTLY i dont think she'll forgive nickel after everything. genuinely her life is going to be affected by what he did to her and how he treated her for a really really long time and bcuz suitcase was treated as a pushover or like a naive idiot for most of the season it would be expected that she'd immediately forgive and move on (and her relationship w/ baseball is clearly.... complicated) but suitcase isn't that person anymore. she isnt innocent and optimistic just wanting to be friends with everybody like she was at the start of season two. she's changed and a big part of that change is accepting that nickel may have grown and even befriended balloon but she DOESNT forgive him for how he treated her even despite that. and he'll have to live with the consequences of what he did just like she'll have to. suitcase is never going to be the same again so it only makes sense nickel doesn't get that closure either (and the best he could do is just. accepting that)

[beyond-skies]

What was that about okamiden headcanons? (Info infodump me pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease)

oh jeez i wasn’t prepared for someone to actually ask about them lol

uhhh i’ll list some off (there will probably be spoilers so watch out)

Chibi is like my favorite character because i made up his character arc in my head so he’s gonna be the focus of most of these

-the scene where Kuni goes missing and Chibi almost drowns in Agata Forest is like the most crucial part of the whole game

In Okami, the death of Queen Himiko is the moment where Ammy realizes how dire the situation really is. (I have lots of thoughts on this but that’s its own separate post) This happens about halfway through her journey.

Chibi is forced to go through this almost immediately, with the “death” of his first and closest friend. This is fucked up

-I one hundred percent believe that Chibi gained a big fear of water from this. Unlike his mom, Chibi doesn’t know how to swim. Any time he is put in a body of water he panics. I bet that somewhere down the line Nanami would try to help him get over this fear.

-Frequently throughout the game, Chibi will throw himself in front of someone to take a hit for them. I believe this also comes from the scene of Kuni’s disappearance. Unless i’m remembering wrong, the first time Chibi sees someone do this is when Kuni uses his body to tank the hit of the log that separates them.

-When we first meet Kagu, she’s very self centered (and a little mean). She grows from this obvi but I think it still slips out sometimes, and whenever it does Chibi will just stare at her and wait for an apology.

-Kurow is a big dork, when he first saw the time machine he got so excited. He loves learning about the moon tech and how it works. Though i do think this partly comes from his dad.

-Chibi’s only knowledge of his mom comes from what the people of Nippon have told him. This could also be its own separate post I find Chibi and Ammy’s relationship soooo interesting

-Everyone always brings up the translation inconsistencies regarding Shiranui in this game. No one understands that everything is solved by realizing that Ammy is a transgender woman. (Note: this theory does not solve everything)

I’m sorry this post got really long, this isn’t even all my ideas. I think about this game a normal amount

[filmmarvel]

Thoughts on the Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children Movie Adaptation

This is kind of long and I don’t expect many people to read it, this has just been on my mind and I needed to write it down somewhere.

I’d note that I’m a big fan of the books, I’ve read and own all of them. I’m also definitely a little biased towards the movie as I was a lot younger when it came out so obviously I loved it without any question.

I wanna start by saying that unlike some of my other posts, this won’t be a necessarily analytical review. Instead I want to aim this post towards explaining some of the creative decisions and changes from the source material. But, of course I can’t not provide some brief overall thoughts before I dive into the main point, which will probably sound a lot more appreciative. Frankly I don’t think this movie is very good. To name a few things, I think the majority of the characters lack depth, development, and interest. I also wasn’t a fan of some of the acting, dialogue, or Asa Butterfield’s questionable accent. There were also a number of plot holes, and moments that were explained far better in the book. My favorite thing to say when discussing this movie is that my left brain hates it but my right brain loves it. Now that we’ve gotten through with the analytical stuff, let’s move on to the main point.

Clearly this movie isn’t exactly beloved among the book fans because of all of the changes Tim Burton made to the source material. Emma and Olive’s powers switching and changing the ages to name the biggest ones. As someone who has fond memories of this movie, I’d like to explain my idea about why he made as many changes as he did.

Simply put, it was for the aesthetic. Tim Burton is known for his eccentric and fantastical movies. I believe the book was quite a bit more grounded than this movie- everything from costumes to sets, to (yes) even the character design was a little less fanciful. Clearly, Tim Burton’s vision for this movie was, in a word, whimsical. And oddly enough for Tim Burton, lighthearted. I think pretty much all of the creative decisions he made can be traced back to that goal. Starting with Olive and Emma’s powers. Emma, one of the main characters, had fire powers (and a matching fiery personality) in the books. For this movie, they gave her Olive’s ability to float. She was literally a lighter character. Combining her new power with her flowing outfit and sweet disposition, she made for a more whimsical character. Do I think the book version of Emma is a way better character? Yes. Would I have liked to see her onscreen instead? Absolutely. In fact it would’ve been a dream to see Tim’s campy take on her original character. But did I hate this version? No, I didn’t. This Emma fulfilled the overall aesthetic of the movie. Changing the ages (aging up a few characters like Olive and Enoch, and making the rest younger) made for a far more lighthearted film. Aging up Olive and Enoch provided a chance for a sweet romantic arc, and the crew of younger characters made it feel a lot more family oriented. I think you get the logic here. Same thing goes for any changes to personalities or general character design. This even applies to the ending of the movie. Obviously it was a lot crazier than the ending of the book, but it was more of a spectacle. Skeletons? Cotton Candy? A giant steamship? Pretty wild, and certainly fun to watch. I’m not saying I liked or preferred his version, just that I didn’t hate his vision, and saw where he was coming from. I really do wish his vision had been executed better, as to not prioritize spectacle over storytelling.

Because I started by listing some aspects of the movie that I really disliked, I think I should end this little rant with some details I love. This movie was truly creative. All of the little props and costumes and details are so wonderful and exciting to me, many of which aren’t included in the book. I absolutely adore Miss Peregrine’s character design, her look is incredible, and Eva Green pulled it off so well! Similarly, Emma’s shoes were GORGEOUS. I also really loved what Tim Burton did with Enoch’s dolls. Don’t get me wrong, I love the homunculus in the books, but these creepy, broken, mismatched dolls were really sick. The sets were really gorgeous as well, they’re such a dream. Namely, the house itself was just beautiful, inside and out. It’s so amazing to me that it’s a real location. Of course I also have to mention the impressive topiary sculptures in the yard, they were a really fun touch. Finally, the last thing I’ll mention is the Hollows. Their appearance in this movie was far more sinister than the book, which I thought was super cool. Plus the fact that they ate peoples eyes made them even creepier, I love that kind of stuff!

[eskawrites]

meandering and probably not very exciting cfdau rambles beneath the cut but

i was thinking today about max's story arc in the cfdau and like jokingly to myself being like 'max pov 2024' but i was thinking in terms of overarching character arc max and robin have this parallel in that they both have to learn to choose themselves and prioritize themselves over the people they love. and robin's arc is definitely more internal bc she's creating a lot of her own problems for herself through the lies she tells but at the end of the day her story is about overcoming the bad things that have happened to her and realizing that she can and should put herself first and only then can she create a healthy life for herself

and max goes through the same thing first with her mom then with robin (and with steve, and with nancy though to a lesser extent) and she's so young when it happens. and what's interesting to me is that she gets to that healthier place where she's prioritizing herself in such a quiet way. robin's entire life is obliterated and she has to work through that to get to her happy ending. the nancy pov is kinda the same way, like, nancy isn't outed the way robin is but she still sees the backlash of those photos and she makes this huge grand gesture to win robin back. but max doesn't have this big triumphant moment. even if there was a max pov i don't think that would happen. like the closest thing to it would maybe be robin showing up in her life again and max deciding to forgive her, but while that is a huge moment for both of them it's not earth-shattering the way a lot of other experiences in this au are.

so i'm just imagining this quiet, slow but steady story arc where max loses so many people she loves one by one and none of them even realize it, and she's left mostly alone to figure out who she wants to be, what her boundaries are, and how she's going to do better with her life. and she does it. so much so that she becomes the steadiest person in the group by the time robin and nancy's lives blow up. like, robin will always be the main character of the cfdau obviously, but so much hinges on max and how she becomes the person she is and what her role in the group is and i honestly think that's one of the most gratifying parts of this entire lil universe

[saturn-sends-hugs]

Ok had a long car ride so guess what EP11 THOUGHTS LETS GOOOO:

(plus a good amount of ep12 predictions cause uh i am very excited bkshsjjkssk)

Couple little things first, starting with WHY DID I HAVE TO SEE NALA SE AGAIN. I mean I knew logically we would see her again but that doesn’t mean I was ready for it >:( i do not forgive u for fives u cruel cruel long lady

Then the batch telling Cid off!!! Slay!! Absolutely slay get it that is so important, especially that Omega was directly calling her out for leaving them stranded. I’m really interested to see where that storyline goes and if they either end up leaving Cid (and probably adding to Omegas trust issues in the process cause WOW everyone is letting her down these days (echo i love u but ur girl is not ok)), or if they stay with her and she gets some sort of redemption arc? Idk, can’t decide which seems more likely, but all I can say is I hope next episode has absolutely nothing to do with it. Like it’s an interesting storyline but… yeahh…

And oh god, the boys walking around the ship, why was Wrecker the only one being smart??? Like Tech just ran off on his own, knowing full well the creature was most likely still on the ship, Hunter had his just mwah chefs kiss line of “Whatever did this wasn’t human,” like… HMMM HUNTER I HADNT NOTICED (“And where there’s a farm, there’s usually a farmer!”) But Wrecker was actually paying attention!! He picked up the volt-staff (which like yeah he was gonna anyways but it was still smart) and he made note of the walls being reinforced meaning whatever they were holding must be something strong. And later in the episode he sees the Empire snag the zillo beast and he takes note of how “They’re not killing it. They’re taking it.” Like I love those little moments where Wrecker just passively shows off how smart he is?? He plays the big goofy guy since it’s just kinda his personality, but he still knows his stuff. Hell, he made a rocket launcher out of parts from a separatist tank in less than a minute while under fire from the enemy?? And it worked perfectly? And repeatedly??? Anyway Wrecker spiel over but the man is a genius and I love him.

Tech and Omega’s moments in this episode, oh i lOVE THEM. Him messing up and scaring her then kinda not knowing how to fix it, Omega unplugging his datapad to make him get going, Tech immediately covering her while they ran from explosion omG I LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH they are so wonderful and sweet and perfect and Filoni I swEAR YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH THEM (I feel like they’re safe for the most part but still, I do not trust. (like of all of them I think Hunter, Omega and Wrecker are the safest? They kinda can’t be taken out; you need the leader, you can’t lose the kid, and Wrecker is pretty much the majority of the comic relief. And Tech is safe-ish too cause he’s just such a character type that I feel like you can’t get rid of him. But uh… Echo and Cross are not safe. They are very much so in danger, maybe Echo most of all and oh god I am scared for him. And also Cody if he ever comes back. …where is cody..?))

OK and now for bigger things like oMG ECHO AND REX HOLY SHIBSJSBSJBSKZNZKDNOEBEKSNSKLSMSNSJXLDNSKNSKS YES YES ABSOLUTELY CALL ECHO AND REX I NEED TO SEE THEMMMMMM!!! The way Hunter did his little main character moment slow zoom when he said that? There’s absolutely no way that’s not important to this weeks episode or at least the one after that so AAAAAA I AM SO EXCITEDDDDD. The batch has needed Echo so much in every single episode since he left; Tech going off on his own in this one felt so wrong because Echo should’ve been right there with himmm!! (i mean he should 100% be with rex but like you get what i mean)

And at the end when Lama Su mentions kidnapping Omega again? That feels equally important. Not only is the Empire going to have to admit that Clone Force 99 isn’t dead, but they’re going to have to start hunting them down again to get Omega. And to me, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Crosshair being ordered to hunt Omega down in particular, since he knows the batch so well and would know best how to snatch Omega from them. (Also like story-wise… who else would it be? …Boba?) Now would that be so incredibly painful and awful to see? Yes, yes it would. Am I still incredibly excited to see it? ALSO YES.

And with both of these things, the Echo and Rex mention and a target on Omega, as well as the fact that this next episode is (i’m pretty sure?) confirmed to have Crosshair in it, I’m really really hoping the episode follows either of them (Cross or Rex and Echo) and their paths end up crossing?? Like maybe Crosshair gets his orders to hunt down Omega, and in trying to track the batch he ends up finding a lead on just Echo? Or maybe it follows Rex and Echo looking into the zillo beast and in trying to find out more they run into Crosshair? And maybe they find out abt Cody??? And anD AND OOO maybe Echo has a moment where he finally decides, fuck it, I can’t leave my brother with the empire any longer and he like tries to reason with Cross? Idk but either way I am REALLY hoping they cross paths somehow plEASE ITS BEEN SO LONG SINCE IVE SEEN EITHER OF THEMMM 😭😭😭

like it is in fact womens history month and also my birthday on thursday so mr filoni is actually legally obligated to not emotionally destroy me thank you very much :D

[emmym1]

My thoughts on... Captain Marvel 2019 (#27-30) "Strange Magic"

I've arrived at the 6th arc of this run, and going into it I was pretty excited! Carol learning magic sounded like such a cool thing and the new costume she got looks amazing. I will say though this arc did subvert some expectations! It was really interesting to see Carol deal with her breakup with Rhodey. I love how they use these moments to really show how despite all her powers, how vulnerable she can be and how human her struggles can still be despite everything and how she ultimately deals with that. I also liked how relatable it was, I think we've all been at a moment in our life where just want to stay in bed for eternity and not deal with life for all sorts of reasons. It's nice to see that even someone as powerful as Carol still deals with feelings such as that. It was also quite compelling to see them briefly touch upon Carol's issues when it comes to drinking alcohol and how she tries to stay sober. Seeing Jessica stage an intervention twice, and breaking her window twice was pretty fun and hillarious to see. She's always a blast when she shows up in this run and it was nice to see her try and support her friend through tough times even though her attempts are not quite the solution Carol needs. It was also great to see some of Carol's other friends be back, especially Lauri-Ell! She's such a fun character and I would love for her to show up more regularly. Interestingly enough it seems that the conclusion of the events of the previous arc is that Ove is the one who destroys the earth and creates the future timeline, therefore creating a paradox. I was a bit confused and surprised about this as it kind of came out of nowhere and I never really intrepreted him being behind the attack on earth. Especially because it makes no sense, he travels back in time due to the future earth being destroyed, so why would he be the one to destroy it? It feels like a bit of a weird segway to making Carol want to learn magic to prevent the world from ending. Honestly I think it could've been executed a lot better. Even if Ove turned out to be the reason the worlds ends, I feel like it would've been a more engaging read if it wasn't revealed so anti climatically and instead was some kind of mystery for Carol to uncover. This run is really good when it comes up to setting up mysteries and slowly uncovering them, and I really think this would've been a perfect opportunity for something like that. The journey of Carol learning magic was pretty interesting to see. The fact that everyone in the magic community didn't want to learn her because of how unstoppable she would be after eliminating her only weakness really showed how powerful she is and can be. It was also pretty intriguing to see how all of these magic users view magic and how they see it as some kind of sixth sense. Her eventually having to go to Enchantress - future mother of Ove - was pretty interesting to see. It forced Carol to be really careful with her words and make sure she doesn't accidentally mess up and make things worse than they already are. Even though that's ultimately what ends up happening. While working together with Enchantress to retrieve an orb that would make her invulrenable to magic she also had a quote that stood out to me. "Nobody likes to be on the side of "ends justifies means"... and yet, how often are we there? The choices we make define us, the mistakes."

It was super cool to see Carol fight a big sea monster & Ove while trying to absorb as much energy as she can. It's amazing when she goes all out with her powers! It was also really intriguing to see how the entire magic community distanced themsselves from Carol after she tricked Ove into essentially killing his magic powers. The way they see it as something worse than killing someone and how she essentially removed one of his senses was really interesting and made me learn more about how magic is percieved in this universe. The most fascinating part to me from this arc is Carol's struggle with what to do. If she kills Ove she kills the future timeline and therefore all the new heroes that are in that timeline and if she doesn't she dooms everyone in the present. It was really captivating to see her deal with the ptsd and guilt from her travel to the future. She basically has to kill off an entire generation of new heroes she got to meet and see live and it destroys her. Her character development throughout this was nice to see, her coming to terms with the future not being set in stone, admitting she broke up with Rhodey not because she didn't want to take away his daughter, but because she has to in order to save the world from an all ending threat. It was so interesting to see her deal with all that and ultimately overcome it. The part of this arc that really stood out the most to me was actually the short story at the end of it called "ripples". Here Carol really doubts herself as a hero and why she does what she does. She goes to Kamala since she is a super fan of Captain Marvel to see if she can help her see what makes her a hero and why she shouldn't give up on that. It was amazing to see Kamala introduce her to a bunch of people only to reveal she once saved them and how it indirectly influenced all of their lives in so many ways and allowed them to do things and inspire others. It was so cool to see how Carol doesn't just save people from all these threats but also inspires them and makes them want to be better and do something more for the community. Essentially all the ripples that come from her once saving these people and the effect it had on their lives and others. This short story really showed what Captain Marvel does is all about and why she is an incredible hero. It was amazing to see her character as a hero be explored in such an unique and fascinating way. This short story was such a highlight and really made me appreciate Captain Marvel as hero even more. This arc was a pretty fun read with tons of cool moments, amazing art and some interesting character development for Carol. Seeing her deal with the (mental) fallout of travelling to the future was super intriguing to see. Her new suit was also really cool! I kind of wish she actually got to do some magic in it but story wise it made sense as to why she didn't end up getting magic powers. Ove being behind the end of the world was a bit dissapointing and rushed to me as it came out of nowhere with little to no setup, I really wish they took their time with that one. The short story at the end of this arc was definitely the highlight for me as it does so much for Carol's character in such an unique and fascinating way. I really hope we get more stuff like that in the future!

[thisisnotthenerd]

c3e54 thoughts and musings/liveblog

pre-episode

who are we going to see today? i’m hoping for laudna, ashton, and orym so we can get a good look at what’s going on closer to the blast site, see the guests, and follow up with some of the npcs that we don’t yet know about. team wildemount bells has had a fun time and they’re at a relatively same and comfortable place right now--having released umudara, they don’t have any super pressing commitments. that being said, based on matt’s tweet, whichever team is present is working with sketchy history--that could hit chetney, but also ashton. this is the big backstory arc for both of them.

wherever they are, whichever half of bell’s hells is present, it’s going to be tricky to navigate.

pre-break

okay it’s team wildemount bells. anyway. missing team mom friend hells. i’m feeling more of an rp episode, maybe shopping?

edit: i was wrong.

yay for cool parades. royal recognition like i expected--this is their luxon-bright queen moment.

sending still isn’t working--maybe message instead? it’s transmutation, but maybe the distance aspect is really what’s being regulated.

deanna’s house! i love it! deanna & imogen bonding! the room arrangements and little character interactions. it’s lovely. the completion of the tonal change of being away from the solstice planning.

do aeormatons dream of electric sheep? christian created this character to be in platonic love with deanna and tell fcg the world is round. Humanoid legs???? a child??? embedded in their body??? spiritual hug? the eyes glow? i was meant to protect this boy! omg frida i love you. finding the old programming and using it as a source of hope and something to tie back to.

fcg’s power of friendship. aeormaton bonding. i’m excited to see where sam and christian go with this from here--the mortifying ordeal of being known in your dreams and sharing in the experience of finding someone who you identify with uniquely is so cool to explore.

deanna’s breakfast. all of the time they spent in her home. this is shaping up to be fun and very silly, with lots of shenanigans coming--i can feel it. good ol’ drixlitch (dick licks) & oltgar (old fart), and macaroni retconned to parmesan

we found santa! he’s sad! he’s lost the meaning of winter’s crest! he’s oltgar dredagon! All of the petty nonsense is so good. i feel for oltgar, and i do hope that this works out for chetney. D&O’s seems like a predatory business relationship, and i hope that they have a chance at getting rid of drixlitch. also, the ‘war wound’ & brand of castigation combination is so funny.

post-break

battling again! a few things to consider: swarm tactics from the bugs, and the objective of keeping the worm in its larval stage. really highlights the guy’s idiocy--anyone could have popped a dispel in the store at some point and then where would you be. i’m assuming the bug is guaranteed to die before the enchantment goes up, unless they’re just releasing the firebugs on the populace when the enchantment fades.

lots of fun tactical moves: imogen with telekinesis, deanna’s blindness & dawn, all of the snares, the flyswatter, good uses of feats and mechanics from christian, and that crucial polymorph from fearne that turned into just a hilarious slaughter. that’s the second beast bell’s hells has released based on something fearne did.

meanwhile all of them are looting. by my count they have a bunch of the toys, lots of quality wood, the paperwork, enchanters’ gloves, and two boxes of extremely angry firebugs, as well as 400 platinum in payment.

edit: i somehow forgot that frida straight up walked out with a chair. just right out onto the street. i have to assume they’re still carrying the chair as team bells heads to the citadel.

they came into uthodurn, immediately started their time there with the procession and of a divine bull. then proceed to have some crazy aeormaton interactions in dreams. the next day, as they are on their way to a noon appointment with the diarchy, they just casually walk up to chetney’s old place of work, defeat a bunch of released bugs and a transformed baby worm, find out about the child labor scheme the owner was running as well as other general bad guy nonsense, and then loot the place for supplies. chetney then reconciles with oltgar, a guy he’s held a grudge against for the entire campaign so far, and successfully intimidates him into leaving uthodurn and becoming exandrian or at least wildemount’s santa, who has a shithead and okay list instead of naughty and nice.

all in all, lots of shenanigans, very funny episode, and some real callbacks to the origins of chetney. my prediction for next episode is that they meet with the diarchy and generally finish their pressing business in uthodurn. the episode after that, i think we’re looking at a return to laudna ashton and orym. maybe. it depends on how they want to apportion their episodes based on the break week and guest availability.

[thevindicativevordan]

You'll probably talk about it in this week's comics, but what do you think about the big reveal of Boy Thunder's identity in this week's Batman/Superman? Is there anything to be gained for that character with this new backstory?

Lots to talk about this week!

World's Finest #10 - Boy Thunder's identity at last has been revealed as Magog, or at least he's the kid who will eventually grow up to be Magog. I actually had predicted the reveal beforehand when I was puzzling over who David could possibly be - Waid had mentioned he was a character he had written before - and suddenly a lightbulb went off in my head. What big story had Waid written involving Superman and the Joker before? Kingdom Come! And someone else even pointed out to me that Magog's civilian name was David! Makes sense that Waid would return to what is arguably the biggest contribution he's made to the Super Mythos in Magog and try to flesh him out as a character. Other writers have made attempts to use Magog as an ongoing Superman Rogue outside of Kingdom Come and it's never worked for me. The takes were too boring or one note, failing to convince me this was someone with more stories to tell. Waid is the first one to grab my attention, Magog as Superman's "Red Hood" is the first time I've wanted to see more of him.

Batman vs. Robin #4 - Waid's portrayal of magic here, and why Batman sucks at it, is a great moment. Makes him writing Shazam even more exciting because it seems like he has thoughts on how magic should work. Otherwise this has been fine, a cut above Dark Crisis, but hampered by how much of it is already well trodden grounds.

Dark Crisis #7 - Sucked. There's two cool moments, Black Adam empowering everyone else to beat Deathstroke and Waller revealing her team at the end, but the rest of the book is a total bore. Nightwing... doesn't do anything really, the multiverse is infinite (again, for the third fucking time) but there's no reason to care, and the legacy heroes failed to accomplish anything of worth. Jace pushed a button and then dipped, Yara didn't get any cool standout moments, only Jon had a good showing taking on all of the DC Big Bads at once. Speaking of them man what a waste of a cool concept, they did nothing, they didn't kill anyone, and Darkseid just goes back to ruling Apokolips afterwards. If this was meant to spotlight the legacy heroes it failed, nobody is reading this and thinking they're all that important. I want to know what Composite Bizarro's deal is, otherwise I've already moved on. What the hell was the deal with “Earth Alpha” anyway? Remember that? Williamson set that up as a major mystery of Infinite Frontier and never resolved it!

Nightwing #99 - Other than whatever is in Nightwing's box in the hold, I'm struggling to think of what plot threads Taylor could do for the big 100 issue. Clearly a marriage is not happening any time soon, will it just be Dick gathering the Titans together for the bold new era of NTT nostalgia?

Stargirl: The Lost Children #2 - It is night and day compared to the Johns writing JSA. This is the good Johns, the guy who loves these C-Listers and can make you fall in love with them too.

X-Men Annual #1 - Good character story that gives Firestar an arc where she comes to terms with her mutant identity.

Strange #9 - Do people care about the Sentry anymore? Feels like the hype from his usage during the Bendis era has long since worn off. Otherwise another great issue, we've seen a lot of wife guys but Clea as a husband gal is refreshing.

[seancecircles]

season 3 thoughts under the cut ! spoilers for the entire thing.

I'm a little exhausted today, because tua3 took a lot out of me, but I'm feeling mostly positive.

None of the Brellies were sideline, which was really nice, and I would say I really enjoyed Klaus, Luther and Diego the most this season. Especially Klaus - god, my heart broke a few times.

I think in general my issues are that the initial setup was interesting enough on its own. The idea of a Sparrow Ben and is compelling enough to last as a season arc tackling the kids familial trauma, or at least be a story, but the season seemed to give up on the Sparrow idea early on. I don't mind that so many of them die so quickly, but Fei was wasted. This could and should be compelling enough on its own.

That being said, I loved what we did get. Loved the change between trying to navigate a new timeline and initial rivalry, to then trying to fix a paradox together, then ultimately nihilism, then Reggie's plan.

Allison did some awful things these seasons. I don't know how to feel. Her feelings and emotions and arc are all so justified considering she used to mention in 1 and 2 how awful and dependent on her powers she used to be. She's never been the perfectly healthy, positive person she's tried to force herself to be. And especially considering her trauma and the way she's been unable to express her emotions, I think it's a compelling and justified ones. But I think it sucks that the most significant female character on the show, especially as a black woman, has been put in a position where her arc is causing a lot of instant hatred. I think the scene with Luther absolutely does count as sexual assault, but could have been portrayed a lot better. To me, her wording of 'you want me' is meant to be lonely and isolated rather than sexual, but it's still sexual assault and not handled well within the show. But still, I think people are using "she sexually assaulted Luther" as a way to fight against any possible defence, compassion or explanation for her actions. What she did in the show was not okay in the slightest, and I think the writing DID throw her to the wolves in the sense that now she's seen as irredeemable to a lot of fans. It's messy, I don't know what to think. Emmy Raver-Lampman did a phenomenal job though, and I found her character so compelling.

Klaus. So much better handled than season 2. It's an interesting mix where they didn't go a super angsty route with him, but he felt very true to the character we saw in season 1. He's still Klaus, roping Five along on a road trip for his own purposes, but he's also still intensely compassionate, this time to his own detriment. Seeing his relationship with Reginald both warmed and broke my heart. I think it was so wonderful to watch Klaus try and tackle his own pain and trauma head-on, as well as genuinely help Reginald, only to get cast aside the moment he's not considered useful anymore. I'm glad to see Klaus develop his powers but I'm also so glad that we see Klaus in wonderful ways that aren't tied to that. I especially loved the scene where he spoke to Sparrow Ben about Umbrella Ben, being the one person to not treat his Ben as an angel. I like that Klaus's power development story arc wasn't like... the big hero moment to save the day or anything inconsistent and big, but a very self-focused thing that has its VERY important uses during what goes down. His dynamic with Luther was especially wonderful.

Luther is my second fave character and GOD. God I sobbed a few times. Genuinely believed they'd killed him in episode 9. What a lovely, sad, tragic arc for him. I don't have much I want to say but Klaus and Luther (and possibly Ben) feel like they've been set up for a s4 dynamic that I am super, super excited for.

I also loved Lila a lot more in season 3. Think that this was a great way to take her character after season 2. Diego of course I adore. Viktor was handled well and I loved to see him happy and included, and I also enjoy that they're taking the show in a direction where his actions are getting called to question, even though we see how much his siblings love him. Watching him bond with Luther especially was so lovely. But YES yes I loved him!!!

But anyway I loved the season. Very much always buzzing with new ideas. Can't believe this post was mostly about Allison but, y'know...

If anyone would like to talk, I'm very much all season 3 thoughts all of the time.

[niobiumao3]

Finally got to see Wakanda Forever

I think overall Black Panther was better, but only in that it felt like Cougler had a bit too much ground to cover in this movie for its runtime. I would like an extended, 4-5 hour cut of this film, I bet it would be stunning. The film is astonishing, regardless my personal takes.

One of the things I think is most striking in Cougler’s films as opposed to the rest of the MCU is how the women have their own, personal arcs, for themselves and one another. It’s so uncommon in film in general, much less for black women, to say nothing of a superhero franchise. And yet here we are:

- Shuri, struggling with her personal tendency, as a member of a younger generation, to set aside traditional, spiritual beliefs in favor of more modern mores. Coupled with the intense grief of losing her brother and then her mother, she’s a young woman at war with herself and everything else around her. Yet she bottles it up and sits on it, and we don’t really see her anger until she takes the herb and can no longer hide it from herself or anyone else. What an amazing thing to see, a show don’t tell of how women--especially black women--aren’t allowed to be made, aren’t allowed to be fragile, aren’t allowed to be.

- Ramonda’s long-simmering anger about how everyone turned their backs on her family when N’Jakada showed up. I had always wondered about this, and when first M’Baku and then Ramonda called people to the carpet for it, I was so happy to see it. It was heart-breaking how she blamed Okoye for Shuri and Riri’s kidnapping, but I couldn’t help but sympathize with her anger and its real source: the way Okoye didn’t stand be her family when N’Jakada came for them. It comes out there, in her fury over her entire family being gone, and Okoye is the unfortunate recipient of that rage.

- Speaking of which, I have a lot of sympathy for Okoye, a victim of circumstance, stuck wrestling with the traditions of her position and the realities of what’s going on around her. She was entirely within her rights to not expect such powerful forces to come for Shuri and Riri. Likewise she was surprised Ramonda still harbored resentment for the insurrection, which goes to show how carefully Ramonda kept it hidden (wonder where Shuri gets it from...). Of course, she’s a Queen, she has to if she wants to be seen as a competent ruler. In this way Cougler both presents a society in which Black Women are more equal and valued, and yet still gives a Black Woman character a similar catch-22, where she cannot be emotional, or angry, or herself, lest people doubt her. And so Okoye is entirely caught off guard, rightfully so I think; she’s more allowed to be herself, and maybe had no idea Ramonda was so angry, still, all these years later. (Now I am DYING for bits about during the snap, when it was just the two of them...)

- Riri, the fish out of water in the midst of this all, simultaneously a contributing factor to Wakanda’s problems and an emblem of all T’challa hoped to set right in the world. That moment where Riri talks about her dad, stopping short of speaking of his death--I don’t know the comics canon here, but I could feel in the look she and Shuri shared the unspoken meaning. There was no need to spell it out, only to show the scar and allow the viewer to take it in. (The fact that three Black Women are, moments later, surrounded by cops shooting at them brings it home.) She struggles to understand why Ramonda (or anyone else, really) would risk themselves for her, another show-don’t-tell about how the world has treated her, the way its ground down her assumed worth in the eyes of others. God, Dominique Thorne was so great in this role, full of late-teen energy and excitement.

And the other big thing: the primary men of color, Namor and M’Baku, and the brief appearance of N’Jakada himself, represent the very different poles for Shuri to cleave to. M’Baku, who could be calling her out as he did in the past, has learned and grown, just like Shuri. He understands now that what she needs most is guidance, not judgement, and takes that to heart. (And takes a moment to show up and remind everyone that in the past they completely fucking failed to support Ramonda and Shuri when he didn’t. I love him.) 

Namor, on the other hand, comes offering carrot or stick. The movie doesn’t make the mistake of villifying him for wanting his people’s safety, which would be so easy to do. No, it’s the fact that he murders numerous Wakandans that’s the problem. To this extent he’s similar to...

N’Jakada, who appears when Shuri is at her lowest, and though I think it’d be easy to think of him as the devil on her shoulder I feel the real purpose here is to discuss how she’s not wrong to want Namor dead for what he’s done. In fact it’s probably not unreasonable at all, given what he’s done and is threatening to do. The problem, as M’Baku points out, is that Namor is revered by his people, not just as a leader but like an emperor of old, a god. Killing him will not be like killing a rival national leader, will not bring about the resolution they want. He’s not unsympathetic to Shuri’s desires, doesn’t even voice the notion that she’s wrong to want it; he just recognizes it won’t protect the people of Wakanda. N’Jakada is short-sighted enough to not think about that, and encourages Shuri to be the same. This is where she has to choose between herself and others, and reluctantly, she makes the right choice. And it costs her, we see her struggle when Namor’s life is hers to end--why should she, who’s lost so much to this man, have to let him live? But she does, for the sake of others, to protect, as the Black Panther should.

So yeah, this was an amazing narrative and had so much, I think I just wanted more more more. (Also I immediately went and re-watched Black Panther.) If you were looking for a movie about women and their lives with superhero trappings, look no further.

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Hihihi this is may be a weird question but is your opinion on the main hypmic cast?

In brief:

(Spoiler alert: It was not brief. Stuck under a cut for length)

Ichirou: He's a good kid. I wasn’t super into him at first, as main protagonists very rarely hold my interest, but I appreciate him now for the struggles he goes through and the growth he’s experienced across the series.

Jirou: Jirou is also a good kid in his own way. I didn’t know what to do with him for a while, but now I feel like I understand him too. I don’t think he quite gets what makes Ichirou be as loved as he is, nor does he really understand what makes people love him for who he is. But that’s okay. He’ll get it someday.

Saburou: If you had tasked me as a fourteen year old to create an idealized anime boy sona, I would have come up with someone shockingly similar to Saburou. I’m fond of him. He can be a bit mean at times in a very fourteen way, but deep down, he’s a good kid too. All the BBs are good kids.

Samatoki: I just can’t not make fun of him. His posturing is so ridiculous to me that I am constantly filled with the urge to clown on him. Oh, you think you’re so tough? You think you’re a big tough guy? Well, I’m just a little bastard; what are you going to do about it? But underneath the posturing, I do feel sorry for him and admire his strengths a lot. He’s a good kid too under a very funny exterior.

Juuto: I’m enjoying learning more about him from the BB/MTC+ manga, but I’m a bit surprised at how much of a dick he is even deep down. Still, he has plenty of good qualities too, and I like him in a vague sort of way. I’d throw fruit at him over a fence but wouldn’t put any malice in it.

Riou: What a delightful individual he is. The BB/MTC chapter about him really resonated with me. For a character so outwardly obsessed with the military, Riou has an incredible understanding of the weight of his actions and such a deep appreciation for every living thing. There’s a lot of his depth to his simplicity, and the level of care he exhibits towards everyone is delightful to witness. An absolute favorite among the cast.

Ramuda: Self-recognition through the other (derogatory). In all seriousness, Ramuda’s story arc and actions are great narrative tools for me to examine some things about myself and grow to try to be a better, more considerate person towards myself and others. I want to see him achieve freedom and happiness.

Gentarou: I enjoy Gentarou quite a bit, although I think he gets overshadowed by the other members of Fling Posse at times due to my sheer passion for Dice and Ramuda. He’s my favorite character to translate at the moment, which is apparently heresy among Hypmic translators. More than the sheer fun of writing his witty banter, I find him to be a very intriguing individual, and I’m excited to learn more about him. I want his happiness too.

Dice: Oh, Dice... He’s a really good kid in a way that the BBs could never be. He’s deceptively good, and he does choose to hurt other people and himself in ways that characters like Ichirou don’t. But he also finds the goodness in the oddest places, like a person finding a coin in a cracked sidewalk, and that’s delightful. His narrative is one of the most compelling for me. What a champion of a character.

Jakurai: Wow, what a good foil for Ramuda. Let me bounce narratives off of you like a mirror. I’m slowly learning to find him compelling in his own right, however. This is also a self-recognition through the other (derogatory) scenario, but there’s more of an emphasis on the derogatory part.

Hifumi: A funny little individual bearing a lot of sadness and a whole lot more courage. Like most of Matenrou, I admire him a lot, but I think that Matenrou resonates much more strongly with other people than they do for me, so I prefer to sit back and let other people appreciate them. I think he’s very brave and very fun to read/write.

Doppo: The biggest fucking mood in existence. When you move past the stereotypical aspects, you end up with another character who has a lot of deep flaws but also an incredible amount of courage. I’m excited to see where they go with him, but again, I’ll sit back and let others take the first row here.

Kuukou: Having already drafted Saburou, if you came back to me at age eighteen and asked me to make an idealized anime boy sona, you would probably have ended up with a character astonishingly like Kuukou. He brings me sheer joy. Astonishingly, I feel like Kuukou has exhibited the least growth out of any of the cast, and yet I do not mind a bit. He is the closest to the perfect man I have ever met. I would drop everything to be this dude’s homie if he existed in real life. Just a champion individual.

Juushi: Juushi’s a good kid. I’m very fond of him and like writing him, but much like Matenrou, I feel like he does a lot more for other people than he does for me. Therefore, much of how I work with him is less, “How do I enjoy this character as a reader?” and more “How do I nurture the traits about him that other people love?”

Hitoya: Hitoya strikes me as a damn good person with a lot of heart who sometimes lets his anger drive him a bit too much. He’s also utterly ridiculous, of course, but I try to write him with as much strength as possible to be present behind his words. He honestly seems like a great person to know in real life, not simply as a fictional character, as well.

Sasara: I have to clown on him to assert dominance. Joking aside, I admire the depths of his character and the growth he’s shown over the series. He can be pretty callous at times and goes to odd lengths to get what he wants, but I think he’s now starting to realize how much his actions affect other people. For a while I was really in his camp as a hardcore Sasara lover (back before he was a main cast member - I love writing quirky minor characters), but now I approach him with the idea mentioned above, ie how I can present him for other people.

Roshou: Whenever he’s around the rest of Dotsu Hon, I think he’s kind of an idiot. I mean that in the best way possible. It’s very endearing. Yet moments when he’s on his own are where I think he best shines, and I would love to see more solo material for him. He’s an incredibly good support character, and I admire his passion for his students.

Rei: I really enjoy asshole antagonists, which is why I liked Ramuda for a while before the clone story came up behind me and struck me into the ground with its mighty fists. Now Rei fills this role. I would love to learn more about him and team up with the Buster Bros to pelt him with rotten eggs in a fun bonding activity. I’m sure there is some strong backstory that will absolve him of at least some of his shittiness, but until now, I’m still not excusing his whole abandoning his children thing, not to mention the human trafficking thing he pulled with Ramuda.

Otome: I hate translating her, if only because she and Rei frequently talk about things in extremely vague terms that I have no context for. It’s hard to make her sound idiomatic in English while also not shooting myself in the foot by accidentally filling in the wrong information. But with that aside, she’s okay. I like her, I guess. Her motivations are pretty interesting.

Ichijiku: Ichijiku was written for people who are sexually attracted to women, and I’m not at all, so I 100% approach her in terms of her pull on other people. She’s fun on her own, though, and I’m impressed at her ability to walk in high heels. Her complete disrespect for everyone but Otome brings me no end of entertainment in reading and writing.

Nemu: YOU. Maybe this is some stupid toxic masculinity thing, but I always feel embarrassed speaking affectionately about male characters but not at all about female characters. Therefore Nemu gets all of my loveposting. She’s a wonderful girl! She has such a strong spirit, and I’m completely overjoyed that she’s making her own decisions and becoming her own character defined on her own terms. I want to watch her grow up big and strong. Fuck yes, baby girl! Fuck it up! I’m very proud of her.

[asmallnerd]

Autistic Shoto Todoroki

The analysis

First off, I would like to say that this is purely a passion project. I am not a professional, I am an autistic teenager and I’m just very interested in this character because I heavily relate to him. I’ve collected some scenes from the manga and two specific things from the third light novel.

If you could boost this (if you’re interested that’d be great because while I really enjoy doing this it does take a lot of time! With that being said let’s dive into this and I hope you find this interesting!

Could Shoto Todoroki be autistic? Here is why I think he absolutely could.

Emotional perception

Let’s start with one of the most obvious things about his character. The emotional factor.

Shoto doesn’t emote in the way his peers do. Now, of course this also plays into the brooding mysterious guy archetype, but that’s not what we’re talking about.

Shoto’s face is typically relatively neutral, this is apparent from the moment we first meet him and while he does tend to express his emotions more clearly later in the story, it doesn’t ever really change. Something that immediately comes to mind is how in chapter 202 Iida asks if Shoto is alright because Iida noticed his expression change (because he knows him very well by this point). Ojiro points out that he did not notice this, since Shoto’s face barely changes at all.

We see Shoto in a lot of situations where his peers show excitement while his expression remans completely flat. This lack of emoting is something extremely common in people with autism. It’s not that they don’t have emotions or don’t express them at all, they just do it in a way that is hard to understand for people outside the spectrum or those who don’t know the autistic individual very well. They often struggle to understand what emotion they’re feeling in the first place and of course it’s hard to express feelings if you don’t know what you’re feeling.

Shoto doesn’t only show difficulty expressing his emotions but also recognizing those of other people. One of the best examples of this is the final exam arc, where he gets paired up with Yaoyorozu. In chapter 63 specifically, he doesn’t realize that Yaoyorozu is upset about something even though to someone else it’d probably have been obvious. Only when Aizawa points out that he should listen to her does he notice that he’s been doing something wrong. Shoto didn’t notice she was upset, and he didn’t notice he was being rude.

Emotions and emotional responses are continuously shown to be difficult for Shoto to handle. What he has absolutely no issues with, on the other hand, are academics. Of course, we can naturally assume that he’s been drilled to study hard from a very young age, but he is also extremely intelligent outside of the classroom. During the sports festival he is the first person shown to figure out that the obstacle course poses a lot more disadvantages to the people in the lead, during the practical exam, he is able to come up with a solid strategy very quickly.

During the training camp arc, him and Deku are the ones to come up with a strategy to protect Bakugo on the spot. He also doesn’t seem to consider his intelligence anything special. A lot of autistic people tend to assume that other people’s experiences align with their own. This can be seen when he seems surprised about Denki worrying that he’ll fail the written final exam. He asks how he could possibly fail if he’s been attending class, like the concept is entirely foreign to him (also there’s about a 0% chance this was a joke because this is Shoto we’re talking about.) He is very good at logical problem solving but emotional issues seem to stump him.

Literacy and verbal filters

Moving on, another big factor that Shoto seems to struggle with is his tendency to be overly literal and very blunt. There are several instances where he says things that we as readers as well as other characters perceive as insensitive. Once again, his interaction with Denki about the final exams (chapter 60) can be an example. He didn’t seem to think it was inappropriate and because this is Shoto, he didn’t ask to tease him either. Denki even points out that this was insensitive to say. A more subtle example is his conversation with Izuku in chapter 73, when they talk about Kota. His overall phrasing is fine, but he remains very blunt and direct and essentially ends up telling Izuku that his tendency to cut to people’s hearts with his words is annoying.

My personal favorite for an example can be found in chapter 83, in the hospital after the training camp, when the class visits Izuku, Shoto points out that “Of course Bakugo isn’t here.” Needless to say, he couldn’t possibly have timed this statement any worse. It wasn’t necessary in the first place, but he didn’t register it as something inappropriate to say.

One example of not him being unintentionally rude but just showing a different approach to telling the truth is seen in the third light novel. The fifth chapter revolves around the class preparing a birthday party for Iida. At one point, Sato asks if Iida has food allergies out of nowhere. Iida naturally asks why he needs to know this, Shoto is immediately ready to answer the question honestly, which would have spoiled the surprise, had Izuku not stepped in.

Autistic people often have trouble seeing whether something is or isn’t appropriate to say. Neurotypical people’s brains have a filtering process, it helps them be aware of possible responses to a statement. This filtering process is not functional or only limited in autistic people.

Shoto is also overly literal. In chapter 57, he gets upset over his friends continuously getting their hands hurt and refers to himself as “the hand crusher”. He is very serious about this and does not understand how Iida and Izuku could possibly think he was joking.

In chapter 164, he answers Gang Orca’s metaphoric question entirely seriously. During the interview training in chapter 241 he first seems confused by the made-up mission in the first place. He then proceeds to ask Mt Lady if she has a heart condition when she uses the phrase “My heart would burst out of my chest”. Finally, he appears genuinely horrified when she calls him a “lady killer” (“My smile will kill women..?!”)

In chapter 257, when Mineta claims school talk will “ruin the taste of the food”, Shoto simply says it tastes the same to him, to which Mineta proceeds to call him out for being overly literal.

Autistic people typically struggle to understand jokes and sarcasm, in fact, it’s often one of the main characteristics in people with an ASD diagnosis.

Overfamiliarity and Oversharing

Shoto’s tendency to overshare is another thing that is very typical foe ASD.

He doesn’t seem to understand that telling his life story to a classmate he’s barely interacted with prior is not exactly an appropriate thing to do. He repeats this later with All Might and, most notably, in chapter 165, when talking to the preschoolers during his provisional licensing course.

He also seems to have a slightly different perception of what makes someone friends than his classmates. As shown in chapter 241, to him, spending time with Bakugo during the licensing course is enough to deem them friends. Even when Bakugo points out that there is no correlation between the time spent together and friendship, he still doesn’t seem to understand.

Autistic people tend to become overly familiar and are easily attached to people if they perceive just one of their interactions as positive.

Attachment to inanimate things

This is something not really shown in the manga, but noteworthy, nonetheless. We know that Shoto, upon moving into the dorm building, remodeled his entire room from a modern, more western style room, into a traditional Japanese style one. The second chapter of the third novels goes into depth about why he did this. Shoto was entirely dumbstruck and thrown off by how different the room is from what he was used to. He knew the traditional Japanese rooms from home and his brain assumed that the dorms would be the same. He felt like the different style was wrong. He doesn’t like the unfamiliar flooring and even a small thing like the positioning of the light switch bother him.

He’s not comfortable in the unfamiliar environment, so he decides to change it.

Autistic people often struggle to adjust to changes. In environment and routine. They feel most comfortable in a well established and familiar routine, that includes the feel of their living space. A change of environment this drastic would be extremely stressful for someone on the spectrum.

Another thing that isn’t particularly obvious but does make sense when considered is that Shoto seems to have a comfort food (cold soba). While he’s never shown or stated to be a picky eater he does seem to opt for the same food whenever he gets the chance. Autistic people often have a very restricted diet due to sensory processing issues that apply to food textures, smells and taste.

Additional points

Shoto seems to be a little face blind. He doesn’t know who Kota is when Izuku mentions him, which seems to genuinely surprise Izuku. He also didn’t remember Inasa at all despite them having been at the same entrance exam.

In chapter 202 he’s shown completely zoning out. Of course, this can happen to anyone, I just found it interesting because it was shown so clearly, making it obvious that it was something we should pay attention to.

In the novel chapter in which he remodels his room it is also mentioned that the feeling of synthetic floor against his feet upsets him.

Shoto also seems relatively indifferent to temperature. Of course, that would correlate to his quirk as well, but it is also common for autistic people to struggle with temperature perception as well as other things that neurotypical people don’t struggle to recognize like hunger or thirst. This specifically applies to situations where you would typically end up in pain like, for example, frostbite. Shoto would obviously be used tot his but him showing no reaction at all to his body halfway freezing over was a little unnerving.

He also is shown to be relatively uninterested in certain social events like for example the room competition after the class moves into the dorms. He doesn’t want to be there; he’d rather go to sleep. In the beginning he also shows clear disinterest in making friends with his classmates. Both very typical things for people on the spectrum.

In chapter 244, Hawks asks Shoto a question in a way that seems to confuse him so much he can’t even form a coherent response. [Hawks: “Seemed like you were in trouble, Endeavor.” Endeavor: “Me? Not a chance.” Hawks: “But it seemed that way, didn’t it, Shoto?” Shoto: “Um..I…uh…”]

He probably didn’t register if Hawks actually wanted him to answer or not.

In chapter 64 he mistakes Yaoyorozu crying for her feeling sick, horribly misreading her expressions.

This last point is more personal than the rest, watching his reactions to Endeavor’s fight with the Nomu in chapter 190 made me think of the stress progression that often causes autistic shutdowns. Shoto was clearly becoming more and more stressed as he was watching and once it was over simply seemed to shut down. That is a very typical response to emotional distress or overstimulation in autistic people.

Final disclaimer

This is purely for my own entertainment; it is not meant to be offensive to anyone and I am not saying that this is absolutely what is going on. I’m simply elaborating on a theory/headcanon that I have. That being said, if you have questions feel free to drop them in the ask box, I’d be thrilled!

[taggingtim]

Why I love Pre-Boot Tim Drake and why the Reboot has ruined him

I love Tim Drake.  He is my favorite comic book character of all time.  I’ve been really upset the past few days about what DC has been doing with him lately, and I thought it would be cathartic for me to write something up about it.  (No, this isn’t a rant about Tim being bi/gay; it’s a much larger problem than that. But I’ll get to that in a bit.) Bear with me for a bit of history, first.

When I was a kid I loved the Batman Animated Series.  I know this will lose me a lot of internet cred, but I always preferred the fourth season. In particular, I loved Tim Drake. He was fun and funny and I absolutely adored him.  I used to beg my mom to take me to the mall so I could buy issues of Gotham Adventures. For my birthday one year my parents got me a subscription to the comic, and I was blown away by the idea that I could have comics MAILED to my HOUSE.

Around middle school I started collecting Marvel comics, mostly X-men stuff.  I loved them, but when I started college I quit the hobby for financial reasons.

 Fast forward a few years, and I felt I was financially stable enough to start buying comics again. Rather than going back to Marvel, I decided to give Batman comics a chance.  I had no idea where to start, and when I found out my beloved Tim had his own comic series, I thought it was a perfect entry point into the Batman universe. I bought the complete series from a local comic shop and dove in.

 Tim’s Robin series was exactly what I was looking for in a comic.  He was very different from little Timmy Todd from BtAS, but I loved him. I built the rest of my comic collection around him, grabbing up every book that he was featured in, from Young Justice to Teen Titans to Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Red Robin, and many others.  I have random books from series like The Demon just because Tim was in them.

 So why did I like Tim so much?  What about this character made me so excited for more?  I found in Tim something that I had never seen in a comic book before: character growth.  Somehow, though he was written by many different authors over many different years, Tim managed to have a character arc that is consistent and makes sense. Sure, there were a few small bumps along the way, but on the whole Tim has always stayed true to his character, and he’s developed in a way that the big name characters, like Batman, never can.

 When we’re first introduced to Tim, he’s a young teen who has been neglected by his parents growing up. He’s smart, healthy, and strong, but he lacks so much self confidence and has little sense of self worth.  Tim notices Bruce’s increasing violence as he grieves for the loss of his son, and Tim knows he needs to step in and help.  Batman needs a Robin.

 For most characters, this would be the part where Tim put himself forward for the job.  But he doesn’t.  He seeks out Dick Grayson and begs him to come home instead.  It’s only when Batman and Nightwing are in danger and there is literally no one else to help that Tim steps up and dons the cape. And once he does, he’s constantly plagued by self-doubt, terrified he will screw up and leave Batman worse than ever before.

 From there, Tim undergoes intense training.  He never begs to be in the spotlight, doesn’t push to go out on the streets before he’s ready.  His goal is to help Bruce as much as possible.

 Here’s where I started to fall in love with him.  All that self-doubt, the constant need to be useful?  That’s exactly what you would expect to see from a child whose parents had ignored and neglected him.  He finally has a parental figure who sees him, who values him, and Tim does everything he can to make himself worthy in the hopes that Bruce will keep him around.

 This is the first example of character consistency that we see with Tim.  And it continues.  When his mom dies and his dad is put in a coma, you see Tim struggle to come to terms with losing the people he loves, but never had a relationship with.  Tim almost never mentions his mom after her death, because she just wasn’t present in his life.  When his dad recovers and decides to stick around, Tim struggles to build a relationship with him.  He’s plagued with guilt because he’s finally found the father figure he needed in Bruce, but he thinks that he’s supposed to feel that way for Jack.  It’s a running undercurrent in their relationship that creates distance between them for years.

 This is already so long, so I’m going to try to summarize a bit more.  We get to watch Tim grow up.  We see his awkward relationship with his first girlfriend, Ariana.  He doesn’t know how to treat her; he’s never had the opportunity to observe a healthy relationship.  But he tries so, so hard.  All of Tim’s relationships are awkward, because he’s never had a model of a good one. Steph is a great match for him, because she’s very vocal about what she wants and needs, and she isn’t afraid to call Tim out when he messes up, which is exactly what Tim needs.

 Big things happen to Tim. He’s stuck with Jean-Paul Valley, who slowly goes insane, leaving Tim to try to keep the city in one piece.  He’s infected with the Clench, a plague that sweeps over Gotham and kills everyone it touches, and barely escapes with his life. His girlfriend is sexually assaulted, leaving him to deal with the fallout.  His family moves out of Gotham, and he has to sneak back in during No Man’s Land to help.  His relationship with his dad has intense ups and downs, resulting in him being sent to boarding school, punished in a variety of ways, and generally caused a lot of trouble in his life.

 Then people start dying. Over the course of about a year in his life, Tim loses his girlfriend, his dad, a close friend, and his best friend, each of whom dies under tragic conditions.  Tim’s grief is intense, and he is understandably traumatized by the losses. We see fundamental changes in his character.  He changes his costume from something bright and cheerful to something darker that reflects his emotional state.  He’s more subdued, his adventures a little more serious.

 When Bruce first tries to adopt him, Tim literally creates an uncle and hires an actor to play him, just to avoid dealing with the situation.  Bruce has viewed Tim as a son for years, so to him the adoption is an obvious step.  For Tim, it feels like a betrayal of his father, and it takes a while before he’s ready to accept Bruce’s love, home, and a place in his family.  

 When Damian shows up on the scene, Tim really struggles with him, and not just because early Damian is a horrid brat who tries to kill Tim on multiple occasions.  Tim has always felt the need to earn his place with Bruce, and Damian constantly throws all of Tim’s biggest fears in his face—he’s not wanted or needed now that the “real” son is here, he’s not worthy of a place in the family, he’s not good enough.

 Tim tries to clone Conner, his best friend.  He’s lost so many people, and he’s desperate to get them back.  Conner was cloned to begin with and fully matured over a very short period of time; the technology clearly exists, so why can’t Tim use it to get his best friend back?  And if he can get Conner back, why not the others he’s lost?  He eventually gives up, but when he eventually gets access to a Lazarus Pit, he immediately wants to incorporate the waters into his process so he can revive his loved ones.  With Dick’s help, Tim eventually decides to let it go, but it’s such a poignant moment for the character.

 Then Bruce dies, and Dick takes Robin away.  Tim switches to the Red Robin persona as he travels the world, alone, trying to prove that he was right.  He has to deal with the trauma of losing another father, finds out that his girlfriend never died but let him hurt so much for so long.  His brother and the only close friend he has left both think his grief has overwhelmed his sense and that he’s gone crazy.  He’s utterly alone.

 The Red Robin series is such a great culmination for Tim.  He finds a place for himself as a hero, as a CEO.  He gets parts of his family back—Bruce, Steph, Bart, Conner.  He finally figures out who he wants to be and creates a place for himself.

 This overarching character development is what I love about Tim.  His many, many traumas impact his decisions, and you can clearly see how he changes over time as a result of them.  I didn’t even go into his development as a leader from his early fumbling with Young Justice to his strong leadership of the Teen Titans, or how his relationships with Conner, Bart, and Cassie develop so fluidly and realistically over the years.

 This is why I love Tim. Characters like Batman are static; nothing that happens to them will ever have a lasting impact, because in the end the character always returns to what they were.  Tim, on the other hand, has changed and developed A LOT since his initial appearance.  His growth has always been consistent and logical.

 When the reboot happened, all of that character growth was lost.  Tim was replaced with a jerk who betrayed his friends and cheated on his girlfriend.  DC has basically retconned all of this and tried to turn Tim back into who he was, but by taking away all of the things that have happened to him over the years, Tim has lost SO MUCH.

 I keep looking for my Tim in recent comics, and I just can’t find him.  It breaks my heart, because I love him so much, and it feels like he’s lost to me forever.  The most recent Young Justice comic series actually gave me hope; I felt like maybe, finally, someone was going to write Tim correctly.  He had his primary friendships back, his relationship with Steph was developing (even if they seem to have completely dropped all the development around Steph’s decision to let Tim think she was dead).  The actual book itself wasn’t fantastic, but it felt like they were headed in the right direction.

 Over the last few days, I read the Batman: Urban Legends books.  I actually read the Batman/Red Hood story first, which was fantastic.  I was really excited to read Tim’s story (though I already knew how it ended).  Jason’s character was handled so well, and he seemed to actually have some character development that will hopefully last.  I anticipated the same for Tim.

 But Tim’s story was awful. The plot was all over the place—kids are being kidnapped, so Tim has to join a pain cult to get them back?  He’s somehow helping Oracle with computer issues while simultaneously questioning witnesses?  He’s broken up with Steph, off camera, shortly after telling her how much he loves her, but Steph somehow thinks that they should have a caring relationship where Tim tells her what he’s feeling?  Bernard has somehow become a good enough fighter to stand side by side with Robin?  Tim STILL doesn’t have a code name?  Why is everyone suddenly hounding him about what he wants to do with his life?

 It’s just such a mess of a story.  If it didn’t end with Tim agreeing to go on a date with Bernard, no one would ever have even mentioned it.  There’s nothing particularly re-readable or enjoyable about it.

 I actually liked that they brought Bernard back. I really enjoyed him in the original Robin series. It’s been a while since I read that part of the series (I’m actually working my way back through it now).  I know Bernard always read as gay to me, yet somehow I felt like he was out of character in these books.

 And then, the climax of the story.  Tim is bi, or gay, or has at least agreed to go on a date with a boy.

 If this had happened in the pre-boot, when Tim was Red Robin and had an actual character arc, I honestly wouldn’t have had an issue with it.  I do think it would have needed a LOT more build up than it was given here.  Tim has always been a very introspective character, and we’ve been party to so much of his internal monologue over the years.  It seems very strange to me that such a huge thing just sneaks up on him out of nowhere when he’s never even thought about it before.

 But more than that, this story just feels like the final death blow for the Tim I loved.  The whole arc is about how Tim doesn’t know who he is or who he wants to be.  What will his hero name be?  Will he go to college?  What is he going to do with his life?  These are all great questions, and his answer to all of them is… date a boy?  

 Is this going to be his defining characteristic going forward?  From here will we just see Tim exploring and discovering his sexuality?  The Tim we have now doesn’t have a family, a team, a purpose, or even a code name.  Why was this the thing that DC decided to give us?  It feels like they wanted to make a gay Robin and decided it would be Tim because they didn’t know what else to do with him.

 It’s stupid, but I honestly feel like I’ve spent the past few days grieving the loss of a loved one. The Tim that DC is presenting now is just not the person that I knew.  Tim would never break up with Steph that abruptly for what he admits is no apparent reason.  He would never say “just call me Robin, since Damian’s out of town.”  Everything that I love about Tim seems to be gone, and in its place DC has given me a date with a boy.  

 Again, it’s not Tim being not-straight that I have an issue with.  I’ve never read the character that way, but it’s something I can live with. My issue is the way it was handled. Why not make Tim an actual person first, and then explore his sexuality?  Send him off to college!  He’s obviously thinking about it!  It’s the perfect opportunity to give him his own book.  He can move to a different city, choose a new name, and DC can introduce a whole new set of characters.  Figure out which parts of Tim’s backstory are still canon, and which have been dropped. Make him a person again, and then let him explore his sexuality.

 I know this post is all over the place, and I don’t have time right now to go back and edit it.  I just really needed an outlet for my frustration.  Right now it feels like there are so many people who are so excited about Tim being bi/gay, but they don’t know anything else about him.  I keep seeing people comment how DC has been “dropping hints for years!” with no evidence other than “he and Superboy were really close!”  I guess I’d just really like to have some dialogue with other people who are fans of Tim, rather than fans of Tim-as-bi/gay or fans of Tim-as-straight.

 Does anyone else feel this way?  I’d honestly like to have a dialogue about it with other long time fans.

[ablogthatishenceforthmine]

What I liked and Didn’t like about 3x07

Liked

Kory and Kom Dynamic: I am really liking what they are doing with this. It is the most nuanced and emotional affecting stuff of the episode, and of the season. Of all the dynamics in this season, there’s is the one with the best development. I found Kom’s story to be really heartbreaking, and I completely buy that Kory would start to come around on her. I do think Kom is telling the truth. I think in these moments she is being sincere and doesn’t have a larger plan at play. If she does betray Kory, I think it will not be a planned things, but something that may come up in a moment. And I love seeing Kory reckon with her this season, and past mistakes that she is made. I found it incredibly touching that Kory owned up to not being there for Kom in the past, and says that she is going try to do better now, and give Kom a chance now. Her telling Kom to join the team and giving her her suit was just really touching and heartwarming, and most of all, it felt earned. Their relationship has a real arc to it, and i am excited to see where it goes to from here. I know a lot of people are disappointed that Kom isn’t really a villain (although she may yet be, we don’t know), and I get that. But I think I might like what they are doing with them now better. It’s more intimate and character driven. What I will say, what I am upset is Kory not having her own villain to face (if Kom in fact never becomes a villain). And I definitely feel that loss bc it would be great for Kory’s character to have a villain that is so personal to her, where the conflict between them would be the emotional drive of the main plot of the season. I don’t have much hope that they will do that in later seasons with another villain for Kory. But if they would do both, that would have definitely been the ideal for me.

Kory making mistakes: And big ones at that! We know that she made mistakes in the past with her sister, and it’s great to see her recognizing that and growing. It may come back to bite her, but I think giving Kom and a chance and trying now to be the sister that she never was is the right thing for Kory to do. Regardless of outcome, I think this is something Kory needed to do for her own growth and morality. I also like that she makes a huge, terrible, deadly mistake in this episode by bringing the mobster’s son to her. The scene where the mob lady killed her own son was shocking and upsetting. And Kory is partially responsible for his death. Which i’m glad for. She was the one who brought him here, even though he didn’t want to. And though Kory was nothing but honest with him, there was some element of manipulation to her convincing him to go to this mother. It’s important that characters make mistakes that have consequences, and i’m glad they are doing this with Kory. What happened was truly horrifying. I’m also glad we get to see Kory crossing the moral lines, first with working with the mob, and then killing the mob lady out of anger. These moments make her a richer, more well-written character.

Titans have a win!: The show needed the titans to have this victory. For 6 episodes, Red Hood and Crane have been one step ahead of the Titans, always meeting them. Stories need rises and falls, peaks and valleys. It needed the titans to have a victory to give the plot momentum and more dramatic tension. So this was great! Although I have no doubt that there

51% Idea: I also really liked the 51% idea and the show exploring morally complex situations, and having characters struggle to find where the line is. You can see this in Kom’s story, in Kory teaming up with the mob, and in Dick and Barbara using oracle. 

Didn’t Like

Not seeing chaos in Gotham: We get told that Gotham is in chaos, but we don’t actually see it. We are told about the attacks, but don’t see them. This is a major problem in conveying the stakes. We know the titans are trying to stop Gotham from tearing itself apart, but we don’t actually see Gotham tearing itself apart. We are being told the stakes instead of feeling the,

Confusion about drug: Seeing gotham and the attacks would also help the effects of the drug more clear. We are told about the effects, but don’t really see them. I also have some questions about this drug. So it apparently turns normal people violent, where they can’t help but attacking other people. So are they completely out of control? Do they have any control over who they attack, or is it just whoever’s near? Is this the same version of the drug that Jason is on? Because he doesn’t seem out of control. Violent yes, but his violence is targeted. He doesn’t have the urge to just attack whoever is near him. He seems to have some control over his violent impulses. Is it the same for the others? Or is Jason’s drug different. This may get cleared up later, but I think it would have been better explained in this ep.

Exposition/procedural elements: A lot of time is spent this episode, and this season, just figuring things out. Figuring out locations of things, etc. But they are often figured out through such boring methods, such as computers, or going to a warehouse where nothing much happens. It’s very boring! Just too much time spent trying to learn info! Kory’s plot showed how to do this better, going to the mob is a more interesting awya to find out info than just looking it up in computer. It just feels like way to much energy and time is spent trying to figure out pieces of information, and not enough time spent on the titans taking action after learning information.

Dick and Barbara: Look I’m a dickkory shipper, so I was never gonna like Dickbabs. But man, I think there relationship is poorly written. I wasn’t even upset during the final scene where the kissed in the present day because I just found it so boring. The romance stuff between them feels awkward and forced. They have more of a friends chemistry than a romantic chemistry. So yeah, I just think the romance stuff between them is flat and boring. And their scenes are so repetitive! It’s just the same scene over and over and over again. They have a difference of opinion, they argue, Barbara tells Dick no or to go home, Dick doesn’t listen, and does whatever he wants to do anything, often behind Barbara’s back. Rinse and repeat. Over and over again. I thought that after 3x06, this would at least change. That we would see them work together better. But no, it’s still the same thing over and over again. It’ just really repetitive, and is getting tiring and boring. And their romance feels like it’s just going through the motions.

The writing of Barbara’s character: I like Barbara’s personality and she does have an internal life that the show cares about.  The show explores her thoughts, feelings, issues, and point of view. Except the mechanism through which this is being explored is her relationship with Dick. She only just barely exists outside of him. She has her own drives and goals and baggage, but again it is only being conveyed through her relationship with Dick. She doesn’t interact with any of the other characters, except for that one scene with Kory. So much of her character revolves around Dick.  It’s very disappointing. And I want more than anything for her to interact with and form bonds with the other titans. Even in this episode, when the team is celebrating together, she mostly converses with Dick in the few lines she has during that scene. Another problem I have with her character is that she is getting focus over some of the other characters. She is the third most prominent character this season (after Dick and then Kory). And it’s frustrating that this is the case when she is most likely a one-season character and there are long-lasting characters (Gar and Conner) that are getting shafted. Gar doesn’t have an arc (at least so far), and Conner’s arc is being minimized, only playing out in these a few, small moments per episode.

[poisonousquinzel]

https://lady-ha-ha.tumblr.com/post/160715688748/is-that-comic-before-the-reboot-and-which-one-is

(I have not read this comic) Is this true? (if so, ivy deserves someone better).

Post

Kay, first off both of those people are Jarley shippers so take everything they say with a grain of salt and then some, cause no. that part isn't about how much Harley loves Joker and will always choose him over Ivy. Literally you can tell ops don't know what they're talking about cause her whole thing in those issues is going to kill him for years of graphic abuse but ultimately falls back with him once she’s face to face with him.

Like wow, congrats on missing the fucking point again but not surprised from people who ship her with The Fucking Joker.

also, ffs, can anyone please have basic comprehension skills and realize that Harley and Ivy are both fucked up sometimes because they’ve got issues and that’s not comparable to Joker’s long ass history of graphic and disgusting abuse.

Harley and Ivy are villains, they're not a wholesome cookie cutter, White Picket Fence, super vanilla ship with no bad moments. They're both bad guys with a fuck ton of trauma that they both have to work through, and have done so at this point. 

Gotham City Sirens was published between 2009 - 2011, Harley and Ivy weren't blatantly romantic at this point nor had they had anywhere near the development that they’ve had at this point.

Like don’t go into Harlivy content expecting them to be the perfect wlw rep with no flaws during their arcs from BTAS to current time cause that’s just not realistic. They’re both deeply flawed people who’ve got a fuck ton of trauma that they need to (and have) worked through. 

I have talked about the BTAS issues here and this post is good at explaining them too. 

X

X

Harlivy is not and has never been a purely wholesome, goody-goody ship. They’re messy, they have issues, and they have bad moments sometimes, but they both worked through their seperate trauma and came out stronger and better because at the end of the day, they care about each other. 

Harlivy has messy, toxic moments sometimes, but they’re not, and have never been, abusive. There’s a difference between unhealthy moments and a ship being abusive. 

That’s completely different to how Joker acts Constantly, because he does not care that his actions towards Harley are abusive, because he doesn’t give a shit about her. 

He enjoys hurting her. He enjoys ruining her. 

Jarley has always been intended to be written and shown as a domestically abusive relationship.

This is also the first instance where it's directly referenced that there's something more than platonic between her and Ivy, other than the reference in Batgirl Adventures. 

Gotham City Sirens is also not connected to any verses.

This didn’t happen in the timeline we’re in rn with Harley Quinn (2014)/(2016)/(2021).

Comic timelines and shit are stupid and make everything more confusing and awful and I hate it sdfjdksksdkjsd

-

this is gonna be a long post since ops wanna just cut and paste random bits of the issues like jarley stans always do (cause jarley never has good moments that aren’t entirely surrounded by him abusing her) I’m going to show them in full context. *added a keep reading cause it is a lot

(All panels shown are from #15, #18, #19, #20, #21, #23, #24, #25)

So, Harley's entire thing at this point in the GCS comic in that she's been triggered by flashbacks of Joker's abuse and she breaks into Arkham with the intent to kill him.

The entire thing in these issues is showing her smarts and how she knows people's trump cards to get under their skin so she can break into Arkham. 

She’s trained to identify these things in people and she's fucking good at pushing people's buttons. 

this is also just one of my fav Harley covers so I wanted to show it jsdjksdks

“Trump cards. Everyone has one. Places where the armor we build around ourselves is weakest.” 

She’s right. And it’s now shown that Harley’s willing to use those below the belt trump cards if she has to.  

And frankly, I’d say this is worse than what she says to Ivy. And I’m not surprised she did it. She didn’t want to, she tried to get him to just open the door - 

“Don’t make me do this, Aaron. There are some secrets that should stay hidden. Things you should never learn about your own life.” 

but she’s also entirely fueled by rage and the desire to kill Joker. She came here for a reason and she’s not leaving until she’s done it.

“I’m going to kill you. For everything you’ve done to me. All the times you’ve made me feel useless and small. For all the times I will never forget. For all the things I can never forgive. All the memories -”

“Hello, Harley. I’ve missed you.” 

“Memories. That’s all I have left. The past is gone and all I have is... memories. 

Memories.

Memory. 

Gone.

I guess I too have a trump card.”

“Oh, Ivy. You know exactly what my answer is going to be. But you’re hoping you’re wrong, aren’t you?”

She’s also right about this, they already mentioned this in #18.

“How did I become the bad guy?”

“You’re the one choosing a man over her girls.”

“Are you kidding me? You would never say that to Harley, and we both know she’d dumb us in a flat second if Joker called her.”

“Hey! That’s not fair-- Actually, that’s probably true.”

“The difference is, she can’t help it. You can. And she’s working on it. You’re not working on it.” 

“Too easy, Ivy. Too easy. I know your weak spots. Now I just need to push.”

This is exactly what she’s been doing since the starting point of this post. She’s still in that mindset and she knows she can’t beat her on a regular battle field. Neither of them can. 

“Like I said-- You beat me in any level playing field. But I don’t fight on those fields.” 

Harley’s biggest strength as a villain is her ability to completely mentally stall her opponents and learn their weak spots. She wouldn’t win against the majority of the Big Bads if she didn’t fight on a different field than they are. 

so, like yeah, out of context what she says to Ivy seems awful and completely screwed up, and it is, but it’s also built up really well and it’s completely in character for her at this point in her fall during these issues. 

Is what she did fucked? absolutely. It’s not painted that it’s not. 

Ivy Literally Goes To Kill Her For It.

In the end of this all three of them are recaptured by Catwoman and Batman and that’s where we’re starting off at again. 

“Oh, Harley.

The only human I’ve ever called a friend.

To what lengths will I go? Where are my own limits? She is the Strangler fig. And I am the tree, choking underneath. 

Without me, she could never grow. 

But without her, I would fall if I grew too tall.” 

“Will she ever stand by herself? 

Will she ever be ready? 

She is in throes of madness. She sees him, her brain flooding with adrenaline, it makes her excited, nervous, then the feelings start to fade, and she needs more. And more. 

She sees it as passion. She sees it as love. 

But it’s not. It’s addiction. And she’s relapsing.” 

Ivy is well aware of the nature of their relationship. She’s not stupid and she’s been shown already to know that it’s something that takes time. It’s not a one off break up and it’s over. That’s not how abusve relationships work. 

What do I do?

I could use my pheromones to alter her brain chemistry.

I could leave her behind abandoning her to the wilds of her own mind.

I could kill her right now.

Show her how red Nature can be.

There's one other option.

It would require patience.

Even love.

Maybe I'm more human than I want to admit.

"You have one chance to answer this."

I know, if she agrees, she'll be doing it for revenge. For him.

"She put us behind bars."

But maybe if I get away from this place, if I give her something else to think about. Maybe she can break the cycle. But it has to be her choice.

"I'm going to kill her. Come with me."

So yeah, it’s definitely not a just “Harley hurts her and runs off with Joker and it’s just a plain ol’ her choosing him over everyone and that’s that.” 

Jarley shippers love to just reduce all her scenes and arcs down to their “epic love” and shit, but that’s taking away literally everything about her and reducing it down to the 3 panels that they’re “cute” in. Her arc in this part is fucking heartbreaking to read.

And Ivy damn well knows what’s going on with her. She’s smart and she’s the one that’s been there throughout all of this. She found her in the park after he shot her out of a rocket. 

And she knows it’ll take time for Harley to get over and through his manipulation, that’s just how it works with abusive relationships. 

But she’s also not forgiving at first, she’s mad and rightfully so, until she sees the sate of Harley’s cell and realizes how bad her addiction is at that time.

A lot of the unhealthy moments on Harley’s side when it comes to them are directly caused from the effects of being in an abusive relationship with Joker. Because she’s always in this area of her journey in those moments. She’s never fully over him or emancipated. 

And that’s realistic. It’s hard sometimes to be friends with someone who’s in abusive relationships like theirs, having to watch them return to that person time and time again and it’s frustrating after a while. 

I know from personal experience, it’s really hard to watch someone you care about go back or forgive someone that continues to hurt them. 

But abuse victims desperately need a support system outside of their abuser. It’s a crucial part of being able to escape, because when they do try to get out they need someone there or they’ll literally have no where to go but back into their abuser’s arms.

It’s heartbreaking and it’s really rough for everyone effected, but that’s just how it is most of the time. Especially in their case, as they’re not just regular folk dealing with this. 

If she doesn’t have Ivy, Harley has no one else to go to but Joker, on more than just an emotional level. 

She’s lost her job. Her income. Her home. Her livelihood. Her everything.

Most of the time she has no other choice but to return to a life of crime after she’s released from Arkham because she can’t get a job, she’s a notorious criminal and she’s got a lot of issues that don’t just disappear with a bit of therapy. 

She has no other choice but to return to Joker because the other alternative is the streets. At least she knows what to expect with him. 

And that’s not even getting into the manipulation, gaslighting and degrading abuse that he drills into her constantly. 

He’s made her believe she’s not anything without him. That she’s not smart or useful or anything. 

And that’s why it’s so damn important for her to have a support system and why he’s so damn against Ivy. 

Because Ivy is the good voice on her shoulder telling her he’s wrong and that she doesn’t deserve that. 

-

And on Ivy’s side, she’s aware she gets very near cutting off all parts of her humanity. 

She’s a plant goddess, she’s insanely powerful and she feels everything through the green. Frankly, she’s not even on the same playing field as these villains. She’s significanty more powerful than Harley and Joker. 

Her connection to Harley is what keeps her humanity in tack, because despite everything, she does care about her. She was the first person she let in, the first person Ivy called a friend. 

The person that was able to get through to her in #14/#15 when she was losing herself. The one that was able to get through to her that the dude was manipulating her. 

“Ivy, I know you think you love this guy... but you’re just gonna end up strapped to his rocket!”

She had to knock her out for the dude to trust her / not attack them anymore. But Harley got through to her by mentioning how they first met in the park when she saved her after Joker shot her off in a rocket.

And Ivy is understandable turned off towards humans considering her origin and trauma around that. 

She’s got a lot of trust issues.

But both of them work through their seperate traumas over the years because their affection for each other is stronger than the issues their trauma has given them.

-

and also, sometimes, they just have shit writers. that’s an issue overall in comic fandoms. Some writers just fucking suck at getting any of the characters right, let alone LGBT characters, who’re notoriously treated like garbage by DC. 

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

just because you’re afraid it doesn’t mean you’re broken.

Titans 3.05

once more into the cold dark void of the internet with my stream-of-consciousness take on a superhero tv show...

spoilers ahead.

1. i cannot believe that among the first things i get to hear in this episode with my own two ears is the line 'eluded our overdudes'. why must you give me such pain along with so much joy, show?

1.5. scarecrow stringing jason along on this path to red-hood-dom is not something i would’ve ever expected, but does kind of make sense. 

1.55. i don’t know all the details of the original resurrection arc in the comics but i like that jason, weirdly, has a greater role to play in his own demise and rebirth? i think it makes it easier to draw a line between his past trauma, the demonstrably shitty and terrifying responsibility of being robin, the ways bruce and the titans wronged him, his responses to that, the reasons he turns to scarecrow, and his final evolution to red hood. it makes for a smoother character arc rather than a one that was interrupted for two decades before somebody went oh hey let’s resurrect that kid that the audience once voted to kill and make him an anti-hero!

1.75. what’s crane giving him? anti fear toxin? anyway, crane is a fucking creep and i’m not sure i want to see a whole lot of him on my screen.

2. oh, um, heads up: there’s a long sequence of unsteady cam + flickering lights right after the title card upto the 3:16 mark. it’s a bit headache-inducing so if you want to skip, you can go ahead and do that. 

2.45. that’s... weird... why would he dream about... donna...

ok, who am i kidding. i’m going to jump right into my theory about Why Titans Makes Sense Actually because the show itself is apparently not interested in explaining itself:

a) it makes no sense for jason to be conjuring up donna--who famously did not care much for him!--in his dreams. (he wasn’t even there when she died.) or for her to be telling him don’t go or there’s still time.

b) this leads me to think that that’s actually donna, in some sort of limbo between life and death, the kind of place where jericho used to be

c) rachel has demonstrated that she has the power to link the minds of the titans across great distances--she called jason and hank/dawn for help in 2.01, she linked up everybody later in the season, projected dick’s hallucination of his father into their brains without even realising she was doing it, and in the finale, she managed to get dick into conner’s brain. she’s in themyscira now. is this how she gets donna back to life? but reaching out to her in that non-space between life and death?

d) the next obvious question is: why isn’t donna appearing in the dreams of the other titans? she probably is, but they have better reason to be dreaming about her since they were actually close to her, unlike jason.

e) but why would she warn jason in particular? does she foresee jason entering the afterlife--however briefly? does she have an idea of what jason plans to do and what he will become?

f) anyway, more trippy mindscapes and weird psychic powers, yay!

2.5. my heart clenched when bruce comforted jason post-nightmare: clearly i’ve been reading way too much batfam fic. this is a side of bruce we haven’t really been told to expect by all the characters on the show calling him a ‘psychopath’ (*cough*unreliablenarrators*cough*) and him getting jason to speak to a professional speaks volumes about the kind of self-reflection he’s done post dick’s departure, and maybe some of the regrets he has with regards to how he dealt with dick’s traumas.

i mean, just look at him when jason dismisses his concerns! BRUCE IS TRYING JASON

anyway, i have a whole lot more i want to say about this, but i’ll save it for later. 

also: LESLIE THOMPKINS!!!!

3. i really like molly--and i love that she’s a friend from before jason got taken in by bruce, the implication that they meet up regularly and that she’s a grounding influence on him (tho clearly not grounding enough to not go along with his dumbass idea about confronting a child trafficker alone). 

3.5. aw, jason. robin was his armour against everything in the world that would throw him down and chew him to bits, but san francisco proved that even robin wasn’t enough to protect him. it’s really interesting how ‘disillusionment with the idea of robin’ is so integral to the traumas of both dick and jason but in such different ways. 

4. LESLIE!!!!!!! i even forgive her office being so goddamn blue because leslie! 

4.5. it makes so much sense for titans!verse leslie to be a therapist, because this show is so inward looking anyway, and therapist sessions are a useful tool to showcase this character work in a story. besides, at least in fanfic, leslie often seems to double up as a counsellor anyway. 

4.6. oh man. i’m not terribly convinced by walters’ red hood (tho i think that may be the point--argh. i’ll come back to this thought later. have to stop getting distracted!) but he plays the asshole kid that’s trying not to let any real emotion seep through really well.

“you’d like me to punch you, wouldn’t you”

5. not sure what to think of batman’s little trophy case other than the show winking unsubtly at us and going look look - catwoman! the riddler! two face! you excited yet?! it’s like the scene from the end of amazing spiderman 2 when they were trying to drum up excitement for a sinister six spinoff by having harry osborne walk by a bunch of display cases with stuff from iconic villains in them.

... but then again, bruce does like to display a lot of shit in his batcave, including his dead robin’s bloodstained costume, so.

5.5. bruce is so soft with jason it’s killing me. beyond just trying to learn from his mistakes with dick, it speaks to his own genuine desire to balance his dedication to gotham with doing the best by his sons, although he’s often not successful with that. 

i love that titans is really playing the long game with bruce wayne, with each season and character-perspective sliding in fresh pieces of a bigger puzzle. titans’ bruce has always been a phantom of other peoples’ making, but now we’re getting the idea that he’s a whole lot more complicated than other people make it seem.

5.75. it really recontextualises some of his actions from previous seasons: the fact that he locked dick out of his security systems in 1.06 is likely his way of respecting dick’s independence and his desire not to be associated with batman/gotham anymore. jason knowing about bruce’s tracker while dick doesn’t is probably bruce trying to be more honest and upfront with his charges. bruce sending jason packing off to sanfran to spend time with the titans is probably not him passing on a big responsibility to dick (as i first uncharitably thought) but him trying to get jason out of the toxic influence of gotham for a while and a sign of his trust in dick as a leader and a mentor,

5.8. i mean, bruce is a prick, but he’s also human.

6. i think leslie is doing some good work with jason here, though she may have overstepped the line with her line about robin as a construct being projected by a man with BPD. her speculations about bruce’s diagnosis have no place in her session with jason, and if bruce confides in her, an egregious violation of patient-therapist confidentiality. 

(about the diagnosis itself... i don’t know. i can’t really confirm or refute this without a whole lot more information, and i’m not sure if the writer of this episode means BPD in the same way an actual professional might.)

6.5. i think a huge thing that gets missed out in a lot of recent comics as well as movies/shows is that bruce didn’t create the robin persona out of whole cloth. dick did. he’s the starting point of that legacy and to call it entirely bruce’s creation is blatant erasure of that. in fact, i’m surprised that dick doesn’t feature more in the conversations they’re having about the pressures of being robin. after all, the guy had been robin--bruce’s partner--for such a long time before jason. 

6.8. (and here’s the primal part of me that resonates the deepest with dick grayson--the Eldest Daughter part--that’s sort of resentful: that jason gets the therapy and softness and the learning from mistakes when it took years and years for bruce to reach out in any meaningful way to dick.)

7. oooh that was a great scene!

it’s fun to do these stream-of-consciousness live reactions, because the moment you step down from your soapbox, the episode goes right into tackling what you were just complaining about. bruce means well, he’s learning, but he goes about exactly the wrong way to help jason: taking away robin now can’t be read by jason as anything but a devastating judgment call from bruce. and iain glen really sells the moment that bruce realises this--too late--and his helplessness in trying to get jason to see that it isn’t jason’s fault that he’s trying to do this. he loves jason enough that jason is enough. 

7.5. aaaah so jason brings up the elephant in the room at last. dick got everything makes sense from his perspective, where getting to put on a costume and fight crime means approval, means being something stronger and better than you are. dick got to be robin, then nightwing, and a leader of a whole team of other costume-clad heroes. 

8. ... how did jason just walk into arkham????? this is ridiculous.

8.3. i mean, clearly jason’s not thinking straight, but betraying batman like this puts his possibilities of being robin again even further away. 

8.5. watching that chemistry experiment montage was strangely funny. this guy is looking for an antidote to fear? well, constantly mixing up and inhaling gases concocted by a mad-scientist supervillain is something only the very fearless--reckless to the point of foolishness!--would do. what’s to say crane’s not given you a formula for a drug that will keep you tethered to his every will and whim? hmmmm?

8.7. so he sought out the joker to... test the formula??? 

9. wow the “loud and clear... boss” hits different after a whole episode of them referring to each other as father and son.

9.3. waitwaitwait HOLD UP. wait a DANG MINUTE. you’re telling me that scarecrow had enough resources that he could not only have folks on the outside steal jason away and dunk him in a lazarus pit (i TOLD you that this show would bring up and dismiss ra’s al ghul in a ten second aside! I TOLD YOU) but also have his own little chemistry lab in the basement, AND have enough resources for jason to build his red hood persona???????? all of this in barely twenty four hours?

well there goes my ‘jason orchestrated his death’ theory. it was nice while it lasted. *cups hands to the sky* fly away, my baby.

9.6. a part of me is gleeful at the rushed nature of such an iconic transformation though, especially when compared to all the character work that went before it. we’re so used to getting the opposite that it’s fucking delightful to have a show that’s more interested in exploring its characters’ minds rather than battle scenes or recreating transformations from the comics. that’s taken such bold and exciting steps to fully convey all the nuances of its most recognisable character, bruce wayne, from casting an older actor to play him to unflinchingly showing just how damaging the vigilante lifestyle has been to him and the people he loves. BRILLIANT

*sporfle*

10. again, heads up: a whole lot of flashing lights between 40:28 and 42:00. 

10.3. i guess it’s the super-compressed timeline that’s really throwing me off. where did he have the time to get/develop the mind control thing from? or is it something that he got from the cabal of villains that he intimidated at the beginning of 3.02? very messy.

10.5. i love molly, i hope she shows up again this season.

11. aaaand that’s it! that was a solid episode as flashback episodes go, but now i can’t wait to return to the present.