#had this in my drafts for some reason

[yeosin-n]

fuck

#sans #undertale #myart #classic sans #had this in my drafts for a whole month for some reason o(-( it is time to release him

[estrellami-1]

More Time (Please)

“Make him pay.”

Steve’s eyes widen in horror. “No,” he murmurs. “Please-”

He doesn’t know what he’s hoping for. That Eddie will say something else, maybe; that happens sometimes, right? People say things more than once. Surely this isn’t it, surely this isn’t the last time they’ll speak to each other—

Eddie’s eyes are widening, and Steve knows he feels the telltale burn of a soulmark, shearing the connection.

“Steve,” Robin calls, jogging back to tug on his arm. “We’ve gotta go, c’mon, it’s time.”

Numb, he lets himself be pulled away.

She glances at him, then back at Eddie a few times. “What was that about?”

He swallows the sob that wants to come out. “Our soulmarks.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh, Steve,” she murmurs.

He glances down at it. Still red. He knows it’s probably going to be the bats. He wishes any number of things, but is reminded of the story his grandma used to tell him. “There’s nothing we can do to change it,” he whispers along with the voice in his head, the same cadence as his grandma.

“Maybe,” she tries. “Maybe- you could go back now, just… yell something at him?”

“Don’t you think the soulmark would know?” He asks sadly. “You can’t cheat the system, Robs, not with this. Those are the last words I’ll ever hear him say.”

“I can’t lose you, Steve,” she whispers, and suddenly his eyes are filled with tears, and he attacks her in a hug, pulling her in until she squeaks.

“I love you, Robin,” he whispers.

“I love you. So much.”

“So much,” he agrees.

Up ahead, Nancy’s waiting on them. “Guys,” she calls. “We have to go. I know you’re scared, I am too, but we don’t have long.”

Steve takes a deep breath. “You’re right,” he agrees, and marches on, holding Robin’s hand tightly in his.

Neither of them try to let go until they have to.

Steve gets slammed against the wall by some vines, and they wind around him until he feels like he understands what asthma feels like, and then beyond that, cracking his ribs and bruising his throat, more, more, more, until suddenly they stop, release him, and he falls onto the wooden floor, scraping his hands and knees and earning a couple of splinters.

He hacks out a cough, stumbles back onto his feet, and follows Nancy and Robin into the belly of the beast.

They find Vecna right where they think they will and attack, and Steve thinks he’s screaming but the rushing of blood in his ears is louder than anything else, and he can’t hear himself, can’t check if he is, just keeps going, does what he can to help weaken Vecna, to help destroy him.

It’s over suddenly, Vecna dead, body riddled with bullets, and Steve glances down at his soulmark, hoping against all hope that it’s still red.

His heart drops through the floor when he sees grey instead.

He tears out of the house, sprints the entire way back, yelling for Eddie, but when he gets there he sees he really is too late.

Dustin’s sitting by his side, bottom lip quivering, tears streaming down his face, and Steve collapses next to him, flutters his hands around Eddie.

Ignoring the blood and gore, he looks almost peaceful, and Steve suddenly knows this is how he would look fifty years from then, dying from old age instead, in a world where their soulmarks gave them more time.

Permanent Taglist: @justforthedead89 @ilovecupcakesandtea @madigoround @bookbinderbitch @suddenlyinlove @nburkhardt @artiststarme @paintsplatteredandimperfect @i-less-than-three-you @alyelf @quarble @messrs-weasley @littlewildflowerkitten @vankaar @starman-jpg @bornonthesavage @steddie-there @goodolefashionedloverboi @andienotannie @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @platinum-sunset @just-ladyme @steddiestains @swimmingbirdrunningrock @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @martinskis-lydias @notaqueenakhaleesi @sleepyboosstuff @bestwifehaver @m-owo-n @thatonebadideapanda @finalmoondragon @velocitytimes2 @callmeanythjing @ajeff855 @ilikeititspretty @knitsforthetrail @sillysparrow @that-one-corvid @ace-is-bored @muricel @harpymoth @weirdandabsurd42

#I’ve had this in my drafts for ages #never posted it for some reason #I think I was waiting for a happier ending #but I’m in a crap mood so y’all get this #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #soulmates #last words #steddie #almost #starambles

[whimsyprinx]

I feel like now is a good time to announce that I’m in the process of moving blogs! Im doing so for a few reasons, the main one being paranoia, so for that reason I won’t be saying my new urls publicly so like please dm me if you’d like my new url so you can follow me there! I’ll be reblogging this post a lot so ppl can see it (so sorry if you get annoyed by that)!

I’m also remaking my discord account as well so if we’re friends on there then feel free to message me for my new username!

friends and mutuals please do reblog so shared friends/mutuals have a higher chance seeing it!

#whimsy whispers #I’m just like ahdjfjjg #I’ve been considering remaking blogs for a few years now (as some of you may know) and like simply changing urls isn’t enough #no matter how many times I chnage urls the paranoia won’t go away and I think that starting a new blog is the best choice #idk what to do if my newest blog gets found by the ppl I’m paranoid about like idk the odds of that are low (I hope) alas I’m still anxious #about it #for some slight context: I’ve had several people now pop up in my life pretending to be other people/several people and while I’ve blocked #then on every social media account I interacted with them in im still paranoid about them lurking #and then like there’s other reasons to remake as well #I’m tired of this blog like I love it it’s been fun but I think starting over will be nice #tbh this is the longest I’ve had a blog without remaking I usually remake accounts every so often #I don’t intend to remake my next blog like at all but like agdhjfjg I have a habit of getting bored of accounts and staring over (usually #this applies to art accounts like y’all wouldn’t believe how many deviantart accounts I’ve had) #uhhhh idk I’ve been rambling for too long #I have this in drafts rn but you should be seeing this post soon

[squiremaximus]

BALDUR'S GATE 3 (2023) dev. Larian Studios

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #shadowheart #bg3edit #gamingedit #videogamewomen #lgbtvideogames #tuserpurple #wlwsource #.gif #i've had this in my drafts forever. for some reason #q

[collieii]

one line in trimax that's always stuck with me is from chapter 65, right after wolfwood's death. when vash is sticking the punisher by his grave and he says "it was part of his life". that phrasing is so interesting to me. the neutrality of it is one thing that gets me, i think. it was part of his life. for better or worse, whatever it was, the punisher was wolfwood's.

It's pretty easy to think that the punisher might represent violence, the eye of michael, the role of assassin that was forced onto wolfwood, the loss of childhood. but it's not really presented that way, not overtly anyways. we never see wolfwood shun the punisher, he's not conflicted by his use of it. he never considers abandoning it for some other weapon. it's his weapon. he doesn't discard it when he eventually decides to take a more vash-like approach and actually let people live. he pretty easily accepts it as his own, a tool he can use. (to be fair, at least part of that is probably because the punisher is a very good gun.)

the punisher can still represent the harsher aspects of wolfwood's character, the violence he's committed, that he's capable of. that's an important part of his life! and the idea of it as representative of his violent adolescence, childhood that was stripped away, goes along with this - it's literally a cross to bear. but besides showing his past as a burden, i think of the punisher as being a cross of responsibility. when you have a gun you have power, agency - you have a responsibility to make a choice. that's what wolfwood tells vash in chapter 4.

the ability to take a life, the burden of it, is literally his cross to bear. that ability - and that responsibility - was given to him by the eom, literally in terms of the gun, and in terms of his skills. but the eye doesn't think twice about killing people. for them it's not really a choice, a responsibility, it's just a given. but wolfwood can't accept that. he's constantly considering the choices he makes.

so the punisher isn't only a symbol of the eye of michael, of the path that he was forced onto. it's also a way of expressing autonomy. the eye gave wolfwood the gun, but he decides how to use it and what it means. for much of the story wolfwood struggles to decide what to do, he's a very conflicted character. but eventually he resolves to use it against chapel, against knives, to help vash, and protect the orphanage. the gun gives him agency.

so the punisher was part of his life. it was the tool that he used to commit acts of violence, acts that he was forced into, but also the tool he used to break free.

it's heavy for vash, too. he's not exempt from that idea, the idea of responsibility. as wolfwood said much earlier in the story, vash has always been able to sidestep the question of "what do i choose?", because he's only ever given himself one option - everybody lives. and he's always succeeded. but as wolfwood says, "the day will come when you'll have to choose". one day, it's not going to work.

and of course the story progresses, the stakes ramp up, and vash learns more, goes through more, and is pushed to his limits. i think by this point, by wolfwood's death, and maybe because of it, vash has realized that he might have to make that difficult choice in the near future. that's one reason why he wants to "do him proud". he has a lot of reasons to say this of course - to not let wolfwood's sacrifice go to waste, for example. but if we're thinking of the cross as responsibility, then vash is saying he doesn't want to forget the lessons he learned because of wolfwood. wolfwood has always grappled with responsibility, with what the right thing to do is. and the right thing is often not easy. vash hopes that when the times comes for him to make a choice, he'll make a good one, one that does right by wolfwood's memory.

#trigun #trigun maximum #vash the stampede #trigun meta #trigun analysis #i have another post in my drafts abt wolfwood and autonomy so theres some stuff im not getting into but stay tuned #i hope this makes sense...the whole it was part of his life thing...it gets me for some reason #this is just me trying to articulate why #hopefully what im saying isnt too obvious and is actually insightful #this whole post was inspired by one of my art history classes #we were talking abt some of betye saars works and my prof mentioned the idea of weapons as symbolic of power and agency #so ofc i had to apply that to trigun #at that point i was only thinking of the punisher as 'eom = bad' but that just didnt feel right #so then guns...agency...it all came together #seems obvious in hindsight but i just didnt realize #too hung up on guns as violence and violence is bad #but obviously it's more than that #.lieii #.lieii txt #nicholas d. wolfwood #i just realized how long this post is uh sorry guys #i may have repeated myself too much with this one hopefully it's still legible #take a shot everytime i use the word agency or choice in this post #trimax spoilers

[nell0-0]

Day 9: storm!

#submas #subway bosses #subway boss emmet #emmet #monthofemmet #my art #trying to catch up aaaaaaaa #I had like 7 drafts for this prompt #deciding which to use was so difficult for some reason

[fairyroses]

— SMALLVILLE, “Rogue” (1.09)

+ the relevant ‘TalkVille’ discussions

#'it wasn't fair and lex deserves an apology' tom welling I have never loved you more #also 'boy was clark angry at lex for some reason' made me WHEEZE #you could use that sentence to summarize multiple whole seasons of the show tbh #and I do appreciate tom's analysis of clark's characterization but without an actual apology scene the arc just feels unresolved IMO #(which is a consistent problem that this show had ofc and it only got worse over time lol) #smallville #smallvilleedit #clark kent #lex luthor #clex #dcmultiverse #talkville #tom welling #michael rosenbaum #sv 1x09 #my gifs #I made this gifset after they covered 1x09 on talkville which tells you exactly how long it's been sitting in my drafts lmao oh god

[eudico-my-beloved]

save me time traveling lesbian android with infinite copies of herself. time traveling lesbian android with infinite copies of herself save me. time traveling lesbian android with infinite copies of herself

#accord #i couldnt decide if i liked the version with shading/ rendering or this so im just gonna post this instead #happy 10th anniversary yall!!! #drakengard #drakengard 3 #i use this as my spray btw #ive had this one time a spy disguised himself as me and i saw him so i sprayed this on the wall #he was all 'that medic is a spy' and all that and when i sprayed this he nodded and said 'yes' #a pyro came to spycheck me afterwards though i think #i forgor #woops almost forgot to post this thang (theres still 2 minutes left pst) #nvm tumblr wouldnt let me post it for some reason and i had to go on mobile and publish from drafts and now its 3 mins late ffs

[tastycitrus]

so i've seen multiple AU stories where cass comes to gotham early, meets one of the other batkids and bonds with them. i've seen several with either jason or tim, and one with steph.

i want to put them all together. an alternate universe where cass comes to gotham early and runs into a bunch of kids who promptly imprint on her like lost ducklings. she doesn't know why they've attached themselves to her; she still can't comprehend language let alone communicate.

#batfamily #batfam #cassandra cain #jason todd #tim drake #stephanie brown #i don't think i've seen anything where cass meets harper or duke early since uh. new continuity hu dis probably #but the scenario i was imagining included them too #cass: *exists* #like half of gotham's child population for some reason: this is my big sister now. #cass (patrick voice): WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE #this has been sitting in my drafts for months and i had a lot more written up #but i'm self-conscious about it so i will not post it.

[beanghostprincess]

sanji having the most obvious crush on usopp because his nose won't stop bleeding whenever he sees him being hot and the smoke of his cigarettes literally turns into hearts all the time... but usopp always, always thinks it's because of nami or robin because he's always with them and he just assumes sanji doesn't like him back. and if it happens when they aren't around he just thinks "oh, well, sanji might be thinking about the girls again instead of me".

and meanwhile, sanji is having the hardest time of his life trying to hide that he's head over heels for the sniper. he's sure usopp knows because he would have to be extremely dumb to not realize, and sanji knows that the guy he's in love with is pretty fucking smart, so...

but he forgets that usopp is also pretty fucking stupid. a little detail he ignored.

because one day, usopp is so frustrated and tired of sanji acting like that around him that he confronts him about it. "hey, dude, i know you're like- like this with nami and robin and that's fine because that's just who you are. but could you not do that every time i'm around? it's getting, uh, suffocating?"

and sanji does not understand what he means. "what, like- like what?"

"like this! the way you're drooling over them all the time. the yelling. the bleeding. the smoke thing that- how- how the fuck do you do that anyway?"

"happens naturally. i think my heart is connected to my lungs or some shit at this point."

"oh, okay. cool, just- just don't do that in front of me? because- well, not cool. especially whenever we're alone. if you're not interested in what i have to say, i get it, i'm not a pretty girl like them or- whatever. but i feel a bit left out whenever you keep thinking about them while we speak and-" the sniper refuses to look at him, wanting to the get out of the kitchen as quickly as he can. he notices he's about to cry. "sometimes you just don't notice what's in front of you and it frustrates the fuck out of me, sanji, so- just don't do that anymore. got it?"

sanji can only nod before usopp turns around and goes away.

perhaps usopp is stupid after all, because he's the one that won't see what's in front of him.

#sorry for the angst!!! #i had this on my drafts and i was like yeah why not post it after posting a fluffy fic #this relationship is 50/50 i post fluff and then angst and y'all enjoy it for some reason #they're both stupid btw #if you're curious they end up making up in the end #ofc i can't write angst without a happy ending I'm not that evil (maybe) #one piece #black leg sanji #usopp #sanuso

[pinkcores]

types of people : self-care things 💅💕

spa days: lighting your favorite scented candle, trying out that new lotion, soft skin with a slight glow to it, sinking into the bath with your favorite song on blast, trying not to laugh so you don't mess up the face mask, feeling like a million bucks, soft hair and even softer smiles at yourself

baking: flour smeared across your cheeks, stealing another taste of the batter, taking silly videos while you wait, pretending you didn't make a funny shaped treat on purpose, staring into the oven in hopes your intense gaze will make it bake faster, all the sprinkles, "forgetting" to do the dishes

binging shows: just one more episode, not skipping the opening sequence to hum along to the song, cozying up under a blanket in pjs, picking off food crumbs from your clothes, stretching and flopping back after you're done, accidentally spoiling an episode for yourself, "are you still watching?"

learning something new: setting up pretty notes with colors, doodling because you're procrastinating, adding this to the list of projects, working along with lofi girl, a cat sitting in your lap as you write and read, feeling proud the one moment you can use your new knowledge, sticking to schedule

#types of people #tag yourself #tag yourself aesthetic #tag your otp #tag meme #txt #*mine #this one had more of a casual vibe to it hehe! #for some reason i had this in my drafts since 2020! 🙈

[krussyarts]

I'm gonna throw up my brain is so full of these two

#Posting ugly wips motivates me to finish a piece #So uh. Here's the ugly wip #Good Omens #Good Omens 2 #aziraphale #crowley #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #God im sick #It may not look it #But I'm much worse about Aziraphale than Crowley #I want to pick his brain so bad #I need to see him suffer #I need him to hit his lowest point next season #This startet with Aziraphale having gay panic over a slightly more possessive arm on shoulder #And then spiraled into me drawing David Tennant a million times (don't ask about the sketches) #this has been sitting in my drafts for 6 months help #i forgor to post this #to be fair i guess. after saving this i had made some pretty big changes to the layout and i redid the lineart #and then my laptop died. for some reason nothing was saved so yeah. i hate looking at this lowkey so ill post smth else soon

[bookshelf-in-progress]

There's always a danger of caring too much about a story, and then getting paralyzed by the need to do it justice, so it never gets written.

I've solved this problem in the past by writing stories so fast that I don't have time to get too invested, or writing stories that I'm not that attached to.

But maybe the trick is to love the story so much that I want to share it any way I can, even if it's imperfect. To feel that any version of this story is better than the story never getting written at all. To get out of my own way and stop worrying about what other people will think of my writing, or even what I think of my writing, and love the story for its own sake, love the readers enough to want to have the joy of sharing the story with them.

Maybe it'll work. Maybe it won't. But so far it feels like a much better approach.

#adventures in writing #i think inklings has finally born fruit for me #other years i've stayed far away from beloved story concepts #for just this reason #and then i mentally shelved most of those story concepts #recognizing i'd likely never write them in a way that lives up to my imagination #and that probably gave me the distance i needed to pick some of them up again #for one thing the short time frame of inklings forces me to get down to the heart of the concept to fit it into a short story #and the long development time means i've had time to figure out what the core of the concept *is* #what keeps this story lingering in my imagination; which means i know what the good parts are #and then the deadline also forces me to try to write it fast and short #because if i don't write it for inklings i likely never will #and that's a tragedy i want to avoid #having such a clear concept of the story's core #means i can put up with ugly haphazard drafts #because i know what the overall story feels like; i've had years to develop it #so instead of a bad draft proving a story's not worth writing #i *know* that the story's worth writing because it's stuck with me this long #so the ugly drafts are just the building blocks necessary to create the final product #of course the danger is that i'll put out a story and it won't be as cool outside my head #and people will hate this piece of my soul i've poured out to them #but if i love it enough maybe it'll reach that special status #where it means so much to me personally that the wider audience reaction doesn't matter #but before i worry about this i gotta write a draft first

[cryscendo]

original glee club members + tv tropes

#glee #glee + tv tropes #my edit #my stuff #gleeedit #kehedit #rachel berry #finn hudson #kurt hummel #mercedes jones #artie abrams #tina cohen chang #rachelberryedit #finnhudsonedit #kurthummeledit #mercedesjonesedit #artieabramsedit #tinacohenchangedit #ive literally had this sitting in my drafts for weeks and for some reason never posted it #doing so now #planning to do more with the tv tropes series soon despite the fact that i have like 5 other incomplete series to be working on

[boyfridged]

You may have already mentioned this in some of your other metas, and I just missed it, so please ignore this if it's redundant.

Do you think Bruce is projecting onto Jason by pushing him as a Robin? Obviously, Jason wanted to be Robin and was excited about it, and Bruce let Jason do other things, but (if I'm not mistaken) before Tim came into play, solidifying the whole Batman needs a Robin/support to keep him upright, Bruce and Dick becoming Batman and Robin, in the beginning, was also sort of a coping mechanism.

I think there are a few examples of Bruce enabling this kind of mindset. Like in Gotham Knights #43–44 (sorry), every time Barbara brings up Jason's inner turmoil, Bruce refocuses on his ability as a Robin; similarly, when Jason finds out about Two-Face and his dad, he is hurt, and Bruce acknowledges that but then does the same thing, zeroing in on reassuring Jason that he made a mistake but is still a good Robin.

Like, Jason got it from Bruce, but he unintentionally encouraged that kind of thinking.

oh, i definitely think that bruce is projecting on jason and that it profoundly affected jay. and, while every single one of your observations is apt, i would add that what truly made it so tragic is that he projected his own worst traits on jason while being blind to the fact that jay already shared his best qualities.

tldr: bruce projects himself on jason in terms of grief (saying that jason needs vigilantism to work his grief through) and sees his own worst traits in jason (anger) but doesn't see his own best traits in jay (compassion, love, and sensitivity). ironically, jason does end up developing all of the (projected) worst characteristics of bruce (obsessiveness, and relentlessness in pursuit of the respective perceived idea of justice). this happens even though they were barely present in his early storylines, and only ever manifested when jason was scared or lost. later, they truly came to be because of his trauma relating to vigilantism.

and the long, long version, coming with panels and quotes: under the cut.

first i want to say that the following analysis focuses very specifically on bruce's mistakes, but i don't view the overall of jay's upbringing by bruce solely in these terms. from text it is also clear that bruce deeply loves and cares about jay, and that jay enjoys being robin. now that this is clear, let's get to particularities, and start with jay's origin story.

i truly never stop thinking about the significance of bruce meeting jay in the crime alley, the place of his parents' death. there's a lot to be said about it, but here the focus is, of course, on the fact that he sees a little boy, very much similar to himself, angry and hurt, in the same scenery that brought him so much grief. and jay in some ways does appear to be a mirror of bruce's own agonies, as well as a mirror of his own inclination for seeking justice; and somehow, bruce fixates on the first one, while almost completely dismissing the latter.

bruce looks at him and assumes that the remedy to jason's pain and anger is being robin; and he doesn't stop to think about it. (it has to be noted that there's also classism at play, classism that is mostly a result of writers' own beliefs – collins did state in a couple of interviews that that the motivation behind jason's background was to make his introduction into vigilantism seem less offensive, as jason has already been exposed to crime...)

i think, in this context, it's interesting to look at the two-face storyline even closer, and from the start too. in the beginning, bruce talks of jason's 'street' roots and assumes jay would go "down the same criminal road that took his father [willis] to an early death." he also talks of jason making a lot of progress. later, in batman #411, after jason learns that willis has been killed by two-face, bruce comments that jay "has never been like this...listless...almost pouting--"

this all, along with jay's cheerful and diligent behaviour from the previous issue builds an interesting picture for us: because we essentially learn that jay has been overall an unproblematic child. bruce, of course, attributes this "progress" to the training. however, for anyone else, the logical conclusion would be that jay's quick adjustment was simply a matter of finding himself in a safe and stable environment and receiving continuous support and attention from a parental figure. i find it rather questionable that jason's personality softened down because he had something to punch in the cave–– the more intuitive explanation is of course that he was angry and quick to fight when they first met because he couldn't afford anything else and because he was scared. but months later, in a loving home, he can allow himself to drop his guard; and his cocky attitude disappears until much later.

so the rather unsettling picture that we derive is that bruce is training jay to become a vigilante in order to "channel" his (nonvisible at this point) anger into something useful and just. and he clearly links this to his own trauma in batman #416 (that’s already starlin btw), in his conversation with dick, explaining why he took jay in: “he’s so full of anger and frustration… he reminds me of myself, just after my parents were killed.” bruce also mentions that soon after their first meeting, jason helped him and "handled himself well" in the fight, but he doesn't mention that jay has ran away from a crime "school" and intended to stop injustice on his own only because he was ignored.

the theme of bruce comparing jay to himself appears again in detective comics #574 (barr), where it is approached with a much more... critical look, thanks to leslie's presence and her skepticism of bruce's actions. after jason has suffered nearly fatal injuries at the hand of the mad hatter, bruce reminisces on his own trauma and motives. he tells leslie: "i didn't choose jason for my work. he was chosen by it...as i was chosen." leslie replies: "stop that! (...) you do this for yourself... you're still that little boy (...)" then, the conversation steers to the familiar ground and the topic of anger. in bruce's words, again: “i wanted to give jason an outlet for his rage…wanted him to expunge his anger and get on with his life…” and finishes "and instead, i may have killed him."

the recognition that bruce's projection on jason and involving him with his work might have fatal consequences is, as always, fast forgotten once jay wakes up and proclaims that he wants to continue his work as robin.

but to circle back, i think there's something else worth our attention, something deeply ironic, that is showcased in that issue: that bruce has no evidence for jay's "rage." when leslie talks of bruce's past, she recalls his tendencies to get into brutal fights at perceived injustice as early as in school; when bruce talks of jason, two pictures that are juxtaposed, are that of jason fighting as robin and jason... smiling, playing baseball.

so, in the early days of jason's training and work in the field, we see bruce talking of jason's anger a lot; but we barely see it.

that being said, jay is angry sometimes– and i think your observation about how bruce deals with it is incredibly interesting and accurate.

we first see jay truly and devastatingly angry in the two-face storyline. bruce focuses on jay's reaction as robin, which is, in fact, aggressive. but something that he barely addresses is that jason's first reaction is sleeping all day, and not beating anyone to a pulp; in fact, this vengeful instinct seems to arise only when he is put right in front of two-face. and his third instinct, once the rage (very quickly) dies down after the altercation with two-face, is crying, because bruce hid the truth about willis' death from him. jay, while crying, asks bruce: "you have taken me out into combat-- but you spare me this?" in response, bruce lectures jason about how grief inspires revenge, which is, again, deeply ironic, given that jay seeking out revenge seemed to be prompted and enabled solely by the role of robin. moreover, his question suggests that at this point he saw grief ("you spare me this") and fighting as two different things.

the final is, as you said, bruce focusing on making it into a lesson on vigilantism, or, in his own words, "tempering revenge into justice." personally, i think in this way bruce directs jason to bring his grief into the field as a powering force, something that he didn't necessarily have an own incentive to do. the flash of compartmentalisation between his ordinary life and being a sidekick that jay has shown by questioning bruce's decision is lost. emotions are now a robin thing, and they have an (informal) protocol, a moral code. and when jay is confronted with an emotionally exhausting case next – the garzonas case, i believe that the focus on "tempering revenge into justice" is exactly the problem– we don't see jay crying, we see him frantic about finding the solution. this, right there, is bruce's obsessiveness, that in my opinion, was developed in jay specifically as a result of how his engagement with vigilantism combines with his deep sensitivity.

and, needless to say, his sensitivity is all the same as that of bruce – they both can't stand looking at other people hurting, they both wear their hearts on their sleeve, caring way too much – the thing is, bruce never quite acknowledges how they are similar in this matter. instead, he focuses on his sparse bursts of anger, wanting to bring jason closure in his grief the only way he knows it – in a fight for a better world. so, as you said, he focuses on jason's ability as robin.

which just doesn't work for jason. at all. we know it from how his robin run comes to an end: in the first issue of a death in the family (batman #426) alfred informs: “i’ve come upon him, several times, looking at that battered old photograph of his mother and father, crying.”  to that, bruce contends: “in other words, i may have started jason as robin before he had a chance to come to grips with his parents deaths.” he also tells jay that the field is not a place for someone who is hurting; a message that is the opposite of what he's been saying for years now, and something that i imagine was difficult for bruce to conceptualise, because then he would have to question his own unhealthy tendencies. it's a bit late to come to this realisation; bruce's self-projection that caused him to worry so much about jay's anger has already turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy that will fully manifest itself in utrh, when jason does the only thing he was taught to do with grief: try to channel it into justice.

#AHHH this took me so long for no reason at all. so sorry anon <3 #anyway. i'm obsessed with your observation regarding bruce's focus on robin in the two-face storyline #i've already briefly considered it but you made me go back and reread it #and i just stared at these panels of jason in bed all day for like good 5 minutes thinking. jesus christ. jesus christ #“you spare me *this*?” <- this line is making me feel SICK TO MY STOMACH. #so maybe bruce is right when he says that he made jason like this in tfz. #and jay is of course even more right when he says that he didn't make him. he raised him #also don't apologise for bringing in gotham knights #i actually talked about it some before because it is a very good illustration of bruce projecting on jay #<- i didn't include it here bc my post was getting insanely long. #anyway back on the topic. i think it's so deeply sad that jay genuinely has no idea #that this is what bruce thinks #i think he would be DEVASTATED if he knew the way bruce fixated on the idea of his anger #hm. normal now. #thank you so much for this ask. you can tell i was delighted to answer it <3 #i actually already had a draft about it when you sent it... but i'm sooo slow with editing my word vomit #outbox #jay.zip #jay.txt #dc #jason todd #core texts

[bolithesenate]

Satine Kryze should not be a sympathetic character.

A complex and tragic one? Sure. Every day of the week.

But she did not 'have a point', neither in-universe, not outside of the sw framework. She isn't a hero, neither of her own story, nor of someone else's. There is no way she wasn't a tool. You should not look at her and think 'this woman has done nothing wrong and what ultimately happened to Mandalore was to no part her fault'.

Because guys. Friends. Strangers on the interwebs.

Pacifism doesn't work.

And it certainly wouldn't have worked in motherfucking Star Wars – the 'wars' is literally in the title – for a system or series of systems who wanted to stay neutral.

YOU DON'T STAY NEUTRAL FOR LONG BY JUST SAYING 'YEAH, NO THANKS <3' TO A LARGE-SCALE CONFLICT.

source: I am Swiss, we've looked at this in history class. Extensively.

Satine was a dreamer (thanks Obi-Wan) who was allowed to keep her delusions because they actively benefitted Palpatine's plans. And that's something you can quote me on. There is literally no other reason (apart from supremely bad writing but we'll leave that aside here) for her and her little friends' 'Alliance of Neutral Systems' or whatever to be allowed to exist.

Not that they were neutral in any way, shape or form, by the way.

So yeah sorry to the Satine stans, but you're idolizing a character that was written exclusively and specifically for Obi-Wan's manpain and who, in-universe, was a supremely bad politician. Because the level of mental dissonace needed to factually be a Republic System, have a seat in the fucking Republic Senate, rely upon their military for aid while actively proclaiming that All Violence Is Bad And Barbaric one sentence later AND THEN CLAIM TO BE NEUTRAL IN THE WHOLE CONFLICT – it's just mind-blowing. Even moreso that people actually look at this character and see something aspirational in her.

Again, I'll gladly dissect her character any day of the week. She is fascinating because of all the implications her existence as a head of state carries with it, as well as her deeply complicated family history and her relation to mandalorian culture.

But it just grates on me personally that that all gets ignored in favor of her being some sort of icon of white american saviorism (bc that's literally what she is) and her objectively bad political takes being treated like they are the only correct stance to be taken during the Clone Wars/Mandalorian Civil Wars.

If you think pacifism works and actually lets you stay neutral, I desperately urge you to open a history book. Because those two are mutually exclusive. Especially in the scenario that Star Wars paints.

#you know i would have LOVED actual neutrality be explored in sw canon #but noooo #we got satine and her judgmental draft dodger club #give me neutral systems that ARENT having a happy fun time #that are shooting down republic and seperatist crafts alike when they cross their borders #that are struggling to stay self-sufficient during the wars and that have to make questionable deals with both sides to afford supplies #you know. things based in reality #there is no moral way to wage war #and there is no moral way to stay out of it #its a lose lose situation and i WISH tcw had treated this as such #random boli thoughts #just some meta ramblings to satisfy the blood demons #satine kryze critical #satine kryze #like. before you tell me i'm wrong name ONE single reason that the separatists had for not immediately annexing mandalore #or the 'neutral' systems in general #you dont stay neutral by just saying 'not my business' #you stay neutral by being too fucking annoying to annex #that is literally the only way #star wars #star wars meta