#might as well make divorced her default......... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mauesartetc · 8 months

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I've observed that some HB fans with trauma feel so attached to the characters and the show that they defend every writing decision and take any criticism as a personal attack. I can understand relating to and feeling sympathy for a character because of personal experiences, but Helluva Boss is a terrible media for emotionally vulnerable teenagers and young adults to uncritically consume.

It just pisses me off that so many people will praise HB for representing abuse with Stolas and Stella, yet ignore the unhealthy relationship dynamics, abusive behaviors portrayed in a positive light and bad writing in general.

Real talk: Speaking as an emotional abuse survivor myself, it pisses me off to no end that Helluva Boss has failed to represent this subject with any sensitivity or subtlety.

It's important to remember that abusers are often charming and charismatic, and they exhibit positive traits (at least early on) that make the other person want to salvage the relationship.

What the hell are Stella's positive traits? In what little screentime she's had thus far, she's been elitist, rude, destructive, pouty, murderous, sadistic, and a little stupid (failing to consider that if Stolas died, Octavia would inherit all his wealth and leave her with nothing). While there's evidence to support the claim that she acted like she was in love early on in her marriage (she's smiling in the Loo Loo Land photo, sleeps in the same bed as Stolas in a flashback and has stated she used to pretend to want to fuck him), there's nothing to suggest her personality was ever anything but odious. Even when Stolas first sees her photo as a child, it portrays an awful little brat.

It's pretty clear Stolas has never had any reason to love her, so why does he stay?

He says it's because he wants Octavia to have "a normal life", aka a two-parent household. But how exactly does that benefit her when those parents are constantly fighting? You might think "Well, that's a lot of parents' excuse for not getting divorced, but that doesn't mean it's right", but the show never challenges his stance on this. There's never a moment when he realizes, "Oh shit, maybe my definition of 'normal' is actually hurting my daughter". He only declares he wants a divorce after his first tryst with Blitzo and on the balcony when he tells Stella he "can't do this anymore". He's doing it entirely for his benefit, not because it would improve Octavia's life.

(And because the writers blatantly favor Stolas and everything he says, I have to wonder if they actually believe the standard nuclear family represents a "normal"- implied in this case to be good and desirable - life by default, regardless of how miserable everyone in the family is. On the off-chance that is indeed the case, as someone who lost a parent at a young age: Fuck all the way off with that, show.)

Also, we're not lead to believe divorce was never an option at any point. If a royal in this world gets divorced, what are the consequences? Would Stolas lose his title? Would he be executed? The whole point of this marriage was to have a kid, so literally what was stopping them from splitting up after she was born (other than the bullshit "normal life" excuse)? Why can't Stolas just visit Octavia? Why does he have to live with her? Plenty of kids with divorced parents still get quality time with both of them. The solution was right there all along, but Stolas felt the need to wait until his daughter was seventeen to split with his wife? For some reason?? The writers try to pass it off as some noble sacrifice he's making, but in reality, he's just being a dumbass.

Okay, so maybe he's just afraid to leave, like many abused people are. I'll have to call bullshit on that, since he never even tried to keep his affair a secret. He's openly flirted with Blitzo in public (at Loo Loo Land and the Harvest Moon Festival, in front of dozens of witnesses) and met Blitzo at a couples-only nightclub, where they sat in plain view of everyone else there. Couldn't even bother using your powers to disguise yourself, bud? Or does that only work when it's convenient to the plot? If Stolas were the least bit threatened by Stella or what the Goetia family would think, he wouldn't be this bloody obvious. While it's possible this is a self-sabotage sort of thing, the show has never given us evidence that Stolas has those kinds of tendencies.

In short, Stella's a hamfisted, stereotypical portrayal of an abuser, and Stolas just doesn't come off like the abuse affects him at all (or at least not until the episode where it needs to for plot reasons). Obviously not all abusers or abuse survivors in real life will fit into the same mold, but there's straight-up zero logic to these characters' behavior. I've mentioned this very astute video before, but here's one quote that perfectly sums up how poorly this show handles character motivations:

There's a... character consistency issue that results from having these characters exist only to dispense abuse. Their actions stop adding up... [Stella's] thing is that she wants to be away from Stolas... Why does she repeatedly show up to the house just when Stolas is around to torment him? This behavior is quite strange. She does not like him. She does not want to be around him... We're to assume that Stella wants to feel mad, wants to feel bad, and that's what she wants to do with her life.

This isn't how real people act. And of course fictional characters aren't real people and any sense of agency they have is just an illusion at the end of the day. But ideally they should feel real to the audience.

I now fully understand why I was leery of these writers potentially exploring a character's addiction. It's because they've shown they can't be trusted to give serious subject matter the care and weight it deserves.

#helluva boss #helluva critical #writing #helluva stolas #helluva stella #ask #chinesegal

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randomidiocyncrazies · 5 days

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(this post assumes that Kazui is gay, or some flavor of LGBTQ)

The thing is, I think Kazui's depiction of himself in Cat as a monstrous murderer is exaggerated by his self-loathing, but I also think it was probably a very abrasive conversation when he came out to Hinako. (tbh I actually kind of think he didn't intend to come out to her, and it just kinda happened in the heat of the moment*? I don't have concrete evidence of this theory beyond his inability to talk about what's going on with him without several layers of indirect inferences + begging Es to claw past his lies/free him from them, and his overwhelming shame at the immutable truth about him that he's hiding.) *That said, his distorted line for T1 is "I'm such an idiot, why did I have to dream?" so that implies he did choose to reveal the truth (and dream of being accepted as his true self) of his own volition

I interpreted the sequence of events in his MVs as him asking for a divorce without actually telling her why, which leads to her trying to save their marriage:

Coupled with the lyrics in half, I think at this point Hinako doesn't know Kazui's truth, so she's trying to comfort him without knowing what the underlying issue is. She is depicted as supportive in half, so I think she might be saying stuff like "tell me what's bothering you honey; we can fix this together as husband and wife, I'll always love you" without knowing that it's actually NOT something that could be 'fixed' despite Kazui's efforts all these years. The apple (a symbol of Kazui being someone/wanting something "outside of the norm"**) is in the spotlight because it's the looming specter in this conversation that Kazui cannot escape from—he's asking for a divorce because he's a green apple (or desires a green apple) instead of a red apple; it's the underlying cause of why they're having this conversation in the first place, even if Hinako isn't aware of it yet. **while green apples certainly exist, most people think of red apples as the default

If Hinako tried to console her husband without understanding the root of his turmoil, imo it's not unlikely that she might've inadvertently said something that set Kazui off. She either said something that he perceived as naively optimistic/innocently cruel in her attempts at consolation (e.g. "whatever it is, we can fix it together as loving husband and wife"), or something that made him feel even guiltier (e.g. "I'm not doing enough to share your burdens, I'm sorry" or "I'll always love you")—most likely both. At this point Kazui had been lying for the vast majority of his life; he is excruciatingly aware that he cannot change his nature, even though he's ashamed of it and desperately wished he could change and "be normal". The fact that he's asking for a divorce now despite the aforementioned factors means he's been pushed to a point that he cannot abide by maintaining the lie anymore. So Hinako's empty reassurances would be aggravating, because it's something Kazui already KNOWS he cannot change, and they cannot overcome his sexuality (that he already hates himself for) "as husband and wife."

Hence lashing out, both to be self-destructive (he's so torn up about being "not normal" that he hates himself for it and feels like he's a villain) and also to express his frustration at the situation/at her. "Oh, you said you'll always love me no matter what? Well guess what, I never actually loved you! You said we can 'fix' this as 'husband and wife'? I tried to 'fix' myself for YEARS and I still can't make myself love you; in fact, I'm in so much pain being in this farce of a marriage and playing the role of a Good Husband for you that I need to leave. I am not attracted to you—never had been, never will be—so spare me the empty platitudes of us 'overcoming this as a couple' when you don't know ANYTHING about how I feel" etc.

The combined shock of 1) the ideal husband she loves had been lying the entire time during their courtship and marriage, 2) the ideal husband she loves seemingly*** being so hurt by her love and so contemptuously dismissive of the life they have together, and 3) that she's oblivious to all of this even though she thought she knew him better than anyone would've been devastating. And they might very well have been drinking (in celebration???) before this conversation, since they had the same clothes they wore in the champagne scene (though I think it's also possible that these are just their 'default' domestic clothing). If they had been drinking and/or celebrating beforehand, it's plausible that impulsive decisions that would've never been made sober were acted upon—Hinako might not have committed suicide**** (i think it was very spontaneous/not premeditated), and maybe Kazui wouldn't have came out (or would've been more in control of his emotions and/or circumstances when doing so). ***only seemingly, because we do see that he cares about her, just not as a romantic partner ****heavily implied that's how she died, though there is speculation that it was an accident, or that Kazui had pushed her (I personally don't find the pushing theory convincing/plausible with the evidence we have so far)

anyway. brb crying about the mukuharas forever.

#milgram #kazui mukuhara #mukuhara kazui #hinako mukuhara #suicide ment //#clawing inconsolably at the walls #i am soooooo normal about the mukuharas

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ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa · 3 months

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Pit orphanes kaimaki's kid (kind of)

Hina: I had an AU where Kaito got really sick and knew he was gonna die so he recorded all these videos for his daughter before he passed and instructed Saiou to give them to her at different points of her life It was based on the elephant from inside out dying lmao He plans videos for moments that might not even happen He has several shovel talk videos And they differ based on his kids sexuality He made all these coming out videos of him being supportive

Beez: help the way i was about to say imagine he has a video prepped for when his daughter gets a bf but she turns out gay [sob emoji]

Sini: He went through his gay acceptance/understanding arc

Hina: Comforting after a breakup. “I know your partner broke your heart, and that sucks. I promise, I’ll haunt them for the rest of eternity, and I’m sure your uncle Kokichi will make their life a living hell.” Okay just Imagine He’s recording all these taps And there’s so many But you can see him slowly getting more run down as he does But he’s still smiling in all of them He wants his daughter to know just how much her dad loved her. He knows that Shuichi and Kokichi will take care of her But

Sini: IT'S NOT THE SAME He wanted to see his daughter grow up

Hina: Exactly That’s all he wanted, more than anything But he won’t be able to I headcanon he gets sick when she’s really young too So he doesn’t even know if she’ll remember him, and that’s another reason he wants to make these

Ves: there's a video of him apologizing in case she inherits his sickness

Hina: I think he has a video just labeled. “Give this to her when she’s ready” and it’s him explaining how he died This is gonna sound really stupid but he leaves his daughter these galaxy crocs and now she wears them all the time They’re a million times too big (Also his daughter having to do a project for school about her hero and she picks him)

Checkers: does he leave her The Jacket

Hina: Absolutely Also I imagine he tells Saiou not to watch the videos before she does. He wants her to be the first to see them And the first time they show her one and she’s just so excited, not really understanding As they realize exactly what they are

Sini: "Dada!" : D She reaches out

Ves: there's simple videos of him singing lullabies, reading stories, etc that she watches over and over as a little kid she knows his voice as well as anyone else's :')

Hina: Also just when she argues with Saiou, screaming about how they’re not her real dad.

Checkers: How old is she when she sees the first video? Hina: Probably 4-6 I don’t have an exact date for when Kaito dies but She’s around those ages

[me? coming in late and changing the flow of the conversation? more likely than you think]

Wh. What happened to her mom?

Hina: Great question. No idea skskskskks

Sini: I assumed Maki was the mom-

Hina: I wasn’t sure if it was Maki who just went MIA or what but Mom isn’t around

Ves: if mom isn't in the picture. wouldn't he have had to give up going to space? for her?

Hina: And he was 1000% ready to do it

Sini: She's his brightest star

Hina: Also when I said it was inspired by the elephant from inside out [sends gif of the elephant saying "Take her to the moon for me. Okay?"] That’s the quote I based this on

I don't want Maki to die in child birth so divorce it is, my default hc for her realizing she's a lesbian only after a longterm relationship with him not working out the way she thought it would Activated

Hina: Does she try to reach out to Maki later

I think Maki would just, loose the rights in court at first bc Kaito is better off and later be unavailable for some reason

She's broke bc the divorce goes thru as her fault and not an agreement so Kaito takes everything and then she moves to another country for work

Clown_Chaoticz: OHHH. If the reason over her leaving is along the lines of her having the realization it isn't the life she wants. It would be so cathartic for them to have a conversation later on that's just Maki explaining why she couldn't be her mom. It's not that she had done anything wrong, some people are just not cut out for that lifestyle. She wasn't. And she won't be. It's not the beginning of a new relationship between them. But its closure. I like that sorta thing

I didn't know how to put it but, yeah, I don't think she fought to get the weekends

Clown_Chaoticz: Does she keep in contact with saiou at least?? How is Maki even feeling at the moment?? Did they separate on civil terms? Did they fight over it? Does she even get to grieve the friendship she lost?? MAN

I think it's really bitter and messy bc the kid is 2 or under and Kaito just refused to do an agreement of any kind because of that

Hina: DAMN KAITO MADE A HOT MESS OF THE DIVORCE?

If she's leaving them, then she's leaving with nothing, if she's breaking apart their family then she doesn't deserve any time with their daughter, should have stayed if she wanted to see her regularly He'd believe in staying together for the kids, it's his traditional upbringing striking again

Clown_Chaoticz: OHHH I didn't even think about the traditional nuclear family dynamic he'd favor Yeah I could see that being a source of conflict Man everyone here is NOT having a good time

Checkers: does Maki even know Kaito’s dead

Clown_Chaoticz: MAN IF SHE AT LEAST HAD THE PIECE OF MIND THAT SHE WAS LEAVING THE KID WITH KAITO NOTHING CAN STOP HIM. SHE DOESN'T HAVE A DOUBT THAT HE'D COMPENSATE FOR HER ABSENCE TEN FOLD ONLY TO REALIZE HES DEAD

Ves: HER DAUGHTER IS BEING RAISED BY KOKICHI!? SHE LEAVES YOU FOOLS FOR TEN MINUTES

Checkers: Is she even allowed to visit her daughter

Hina: I think that Maki doesn’t meet their daughter again till she’s older

Ves: is the daughter angry or just tired

Hina: I think a little bit

Apollo: I think Kokichi would be hesitant to let her visit but after talking to Shuichi, they'll allow it

Sini: It's Maki, and given his possible trauma with being abandoned, probably even by his parents…..Yeah-

Apollo: Kokichi, having his own abandonment issues: I dunno Shuichi: Kaito would want them to at least meet once Kokichi: Ugh you're right…But I'm being in the room to make sure everything goes well. It's awkward but can you blame him? He has his own issues he's still working through plus he's never had the best relationship with Maki

Sini: And then she pulls something like that which makes it sm worse He sees her as hypocritical in a sense, cause an orphan like her should've known better to do that Kaito knowing that his death will inflict the same trauma on his daughter that his own parents' death did on him : D It adds more reason to why he's upset at Maki

Checkers: She really just inherited both her parents’ parental issues

Apollo: Plus she's being raised by two guys with their own issues regarding parents. That poor girl

Sini: I don't think she'd be good in any of the V3 cast's hands. They're all fucked She's inheriting some trauma

Clown_Chaoticz: Okay. Considering part of the reason Maki and Ouma don't get along in the first place is due to ✨️ projection ✨️, "I hate that I look you and see the worst of what I could be/have been" silly guys who both end up throwing the last thing they'd ever want done to them at each other. IMAGINE the bitter feeling that would come from watching someone like Ouma live comfortably in the life that for a while she thought she wanted. Why couldn't she have had the same peace he seems to? Why was she never to fit herself in a place like that? She wanted to be happy about it. Why couldn't she be?

Sini: YEAH! Girl was forced to be a caretaker in the orphanage she lived in. It was something she was expected to do since she was young, it became one of her ultimate talents. It's part of what defined her….How could she not acheive what was expected of her her whole life?

Ves: taking care of children was the only reason she kept living for so many years…why shouldn't it be the core of her life? why can't she make herself keep doing it? she doesn't know how to live for herself. beyond the parentification, who even is she? but…she doesn't HAVE to live like that anymore. no one's got a gun to her head anymore. so… i'd flee the country too honestly maki on her self discovery europe backpacking trip

Hina: Caring for kids and having your own are so different She just Doesn't know how to be a mother in that way To actually be seen as nurturing Also her having to grieve Kaitos passing But not knowing how

Checkers: I assume it’s been a few years between Kaito’s death and Maki finding out It’s been so long, how does she grieve? She doesn’t know, like she doesn’t know how to face her daughter after so many years apart does her daughter even remember her

Hina: Her daughter probably doesn't She was only two Kaito having a video about Maki He has a couple: "For when she asks about her mom" "If her mom comes back" "If she wants to find her mom"

Checkers: I just had an awful thought Is there a video for in case Shuichi/Kokichi dies

Hina: Oh no He probably has one Wait imagine Something happens to either Shuichi or Kokichi And she just becomes terrified

Apollo: NOOOOOO SHE'S LOST HER DAD, SHE'S ONLY JUST SORTA RECONNECTED WITH HER MUM AND NOW ONE OF HER UNCLES IS HURT/DEAD

Hina: Just If something happened to one of them and she was ready to drop everything for them instead of Maki

Apollo: Maki doesn't know how to feel cause on one hand, she deserves it. She hasn't been in her life at all but on the other hand…It's Kokichi because despite how much of a help he's been in replacing her raising her daughter, a part of her still can't get over what he was like when they were younger

Checkers: I think it’d make for an interesting dynamic too if Shuichi was the one hurt, because Maki would see how capable Kokichi is with her daughter even under that much stress

Apollo: Like part of her still thinks Kokichi won't take things seriously but he seriously steps up and she has to admit he's changed from the brat he was Like she forgets that he's a LEADER It drives her nuts but she has to thank him

Hina: Maki has to deal with the fact that her only blood related family, likes her mortal enemy more than her That. Kaito would sooner trust their daughter with Kokichi Ouma than her

Apollo: It just…Hurts in a way she can't describe. She knows she left and all. She's not surprised Kaito trusted Shuichi but Kokichi? Was she really gone for that long that she missed him changing? Or was she too blind to see that he wasn't as horrible as she thought he was?

Sini: Love Maki realizing that she had Kokichi wrong the whole time And Kokichi in turn coming to terms with how complex Maki is

Hina: I'm just thinking about the idea of Saiou showing these videos to their daughter and when she first meets Maki she's just like. "You were absent my whole life, I know my dad more than I know you." And the fact she knows Kaito better when he was gone when she was an infant just

I'll give my idea for what could happen before someone else makes it angstier than it has to be: Shuichi gets shot while working on a case, so they rush to the hospital without knowing any details, but it's just a scare and he's mostly fine, going to have a cool scar, the bullet is already removed by the time they get there, it didn't hit anything vital and he's stable

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contentment-of-cats · 3 months

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Just give me the coffee, I will do the rest.

Loki is settling in. Mostly, he wants to eat and sleep. The few times I have let him out of the Borg Cube, he's been out for 10 minutes, gets overstimulated, and runs back to his Safe Place. Right now he is learning how to play with toys, and loves his scratching posts and pads. He's been through so much. I have asked that the ex get a visit from his karma.

Unpleasant Subject Ahead

Another thing that this whole thing has driven home is how important it is to get your affairs in order - even if you don't have cancer. Loki's mom was getting a divorce and fell so ill so fast that she was unable to make her own medical decisions within days of admission. Even if you are getting a divorce, even with an actual protective order, your spouse is still the legal default person to make decisions for you. They are your legal heir. If you don't have a legal spouse (marriage certificate), it's your adult children, if you have no kids then your parents make those decisions even if you're a legal adult. If you have no immediate family, then your extended family gets called in.

Power of attorney legal and medical

Will for personal property

Living trust for investments and real estate

Medical orders (supersede those of the POA) such as Do Not Resuscitate

A health care directive like this one.

It's hard to think about, but when your surviving extended family is a mess (like mine) you want these things in order. Hell, have them notarized so that a judge can look at the plaintiff and say, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Golden Treadmill

I'm strapping myself in with another 'write to spec' contract. Yep, it's more porn. I negotiated for one every six weeks from February to November. I need to visit Amazon and stock up on barf bags and brain bleach. I did say that I won't write noncon or (yes, this is a thing) racist tropes. It's hard for me to write hardcore body horror. I might be writing horrible porn in order to pay off my medical bills that makes my pussy slam shut like an angry clam, but I have standards. That being said, the editor delivered the advance to my freelance bank account and the outline to my inbox.

Whoo boy.

In my defense, I did not know that 'monster fucking' was commercially viable.

Cat in the Kitchen

Rediscovering food has been a wonder. As promised, my rearranged innards make it trial and error, but the errors seem to be self-correcting. Gut flora does come back, but I have not been brave enough to venture into my spicy Indian, Chinese, and Mexican foods.

I've been making casseroles/hotdish because they freeze well and sometimes the fatigue renders me incapable of anything other than pushing a button.

For casseroles/hotdish you need:

Vegetables: Frozen works fine. Canned is saltier, so if you go canned use 'less salt' brands. If you are using mushrooms, frozen, fresh or dried is best. I find canned mushrooms have a very weird metallic taste.

Starch: Potatoes, rice, pasta/noodles, bread. Yes, tater tots count.

Protein: Can be vegetable protein, beans, canned tuna or salmon, or meat. Smoked salmon is delicious in casseroles and soup, so I go to my local deli on Friday to get lox ends and trimmings.

Sauce: Canned soups (cream of ____), jarred or canned pasta sauce, or packaged cooking sauces and gravies.

Topping: Cornflakes, tater tots, cheese, potato chips, stuffing, etc.

Flavor: Dried herbs, onion and celery, garlic, spices.

Slowcooker meals are great, too, and follow the same rules as casseroles/hotdish. But my favorite caserole dish is my Gran's Lancashire hotpot - lamb neck chops, potatoes, onions, and more sliced potatoes on top for a crispy lid.

Back to work.

#life in general #cats #writing #food #legal health stuff

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alectology-archive · 1 year

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TPoD chapters 7, 8, 9, 10:

I’m done! and this was the worst fucking experience of my life! I’m never rereading any of Perrin’s plotlines, sorry. It was far worser than I remember it being.

consensus is still out on whether or not perrin is interested in berelain. I understand his noticing her perfume - he can’t help that. I don’t vibe with him saying she needs to dress a certain way or deliberately trying to pick out hints of flirtation when she’s literally just discussing their next course of action.

- It is so weird to see perrin talking about how he only gets along with and trusts grady and neald and doesn’t trust any of the women in his group. partly because they have differing opinions about how to go about accomplishing certain tasks. it’s also really weird that this happens on the heels of dumai’s wells where the asha’man brutally slaughtered the shaido, too. the gender essentialism in this series really brings down its overall quality. Another point to note is the fact that perrin gets along with the the two guys who’ve been taught (by rand) to cultivate no personality apart from being soldiers + he avoids any actual interaction with people who have strong opinions.

- I think I don’t like reading about faile when she’s around perrin sadfjkdhf - it’s like perrin’s default mode is managing to push some trigger that manages to piss her off. I like her and think she could’ve been a great character if she’d never interacted with perrin though. And although I complain about the shaido plot a lot faile’s POVs in it were fantastic - partly because she’s divorced from Perrin’s presence - and were such a treat to read.

- honestly this section of his POV is kind of pointless. I don’t think there’s any need for faile, seonid + wise ones and berelain to fight for the right to approach alliandre - rand specifically chose berelain to approach her with annoura! But narratively it does do a very good job of establishing the fact that there are many power dynamics at play here, which I think that was what RJ might have been trying to establish.

seonid is so gay

He’s fully making shit up at this point. Just let her exist, oh my god. Why is he looking for a flirtation in every gesture??? Literally it’s hard to not believe that Perrin fully encourages Berelain to keep hitting on him.

evidence not found. this is a telling more than a showing so far.

- Morgase is another female character who gets caught up in this useless plot ugh. It’s just trauma sequences after trauma sequence for Morgase and I pity her so much.

This is with reference to morgase just because she was very mildly rude to him despite his insisting that aram not call him a lord moments before - also I don’t like the way perrin talks about women yeuch

- I think RJ being a “discover as I write” sort of writer does affect how he writes a lot - there are some clarifications for plot that don’t necessarily always make sense later on. there are also introductions to things characters struggle with without any real basis for it and sometimes manages to be all over the place - mostly perrin and his relationship with violence and responsibility was done very badly (the show does better on the front but it obviously had a whole established canon to work with already which is always an easier task).

- masema & the cult plotline is integral to exploring the various facets of how the dragon reborn affects the cultural and religious landscape in the continent, just like how the seanchan are important narratively to explore how a flipped power dynamic between channelers and non channelers would look. rand is not a saviour - RJ hammers that point in constantly - but he plays a role that’s very closely associated with saviourism since a) it’s so tied up with the struggle versus good and evil b) has a history of false dragons fashioning themselves as saviours, so cults are naturally a very interesting angle to explore. but also like every other plotline perrin touches, it fails to be dealt with in any interesting way. I genuinely enjoyed what we saw of it in TFoH and I hate that it eventually deteriorates into a mess.

where is the struggle against violence. I just don’t get it. why is killing with a hammer better than killing with an axe? I still don’t get it.

perrin: killing? violence? I don’t care. I’ll do it all for faile.

ugh. I guess that is the point of the whole shaido arc but I still can’t bring myself to care about it.

and yet.jpg. why is it that perrin is obsessing over his followers not following his orders to the T while he’s disregarding all of rand’s instructions? I hate him so much.

Well! my earlier point stands! why the fuck does perrin get along with them better than with the women. lol.

- I hate SO much that the mantheren plotline was passed on to perrin. I hate it!! on principle I can’t stand the thought of a dead nation being resurrected in that fashion because it falls back on uncomfortable ideas of (mostly) autocratic rulers using history to justify their rule and manipulate people into accepting it. I also hate that it gets rid of the semi-democratic rule the two rivers had. but there were ways in which it could’ve been executed well - I really liked how the band of the red hand was sort of resurrected in the same fashion (although that was mostly a symbolism thing, obviously). in conclusion: give the plotline back to mat!!

- Arrela! hi! she’s described as “tall and dark” and masculine. one of THE canonical lesbians.

I mean at least Faile looks out for the people who follow her. Perrin has exactly ONE guy who’s super attached to him and he manages to let even him down.

- TBH a plot mostly focussed on convincing Alliandre to join them and seeing the women do politics in Ghealdan - and also potentially dealing with a more whitecloack/amadicia focused plot - would have been a far more interesting plotline than Perrin wandering around the countryside trying to save his kidnapped wife.

- ohhh now that perrin mentioned them I’m sad we didn’t see more of the algai’d’siswai! they were just as fascinating as the prophet plotline still was back in book 5 but RJ just kind of forgot about it.

- Faile convinces perrin not to inform rand about news of seanchan in amador because ‘maighdin’ tells her that messengers and pigeons were carrying the news anywhere. Hand Of The Author, I see you. Rand needed that news! How long would it take an asha’man to inform him and hop back to ghealdan? why is travelling never used to the extent it should be in the books?

here’s a suggestion! stop smelling her all the time! A person’s thoughts on a matter will never necessarily reflect what they’re feeling because emotional responses are at the very best knee-jerk reactions and can’t be controlled or modulated the way logic can be!

- I can’t emphasise this enough but their ‘romance’ is non-existent. They make terrible partners! They’re too different to make things work. (This is not to say people who’re unalike can’t get along - but Perrin and Faile are no Elayne and Aviendha).

- I do like Lini as a character but I think my fondness for her dropped significantly after she tried to have morgase and tallanvor forcibly married. I hate it so much, and I don’t really like that she’s so rude and forceful with morgase after everything she endured in amador - I do get that she’s concerned that their cover will be blown, but... I refuse lol. I don’t like this plotline. morgase should’ve gone back to caemlyn - faile would’ve still shone in her shaido plotline even if morgase hadn’t been a part of it. I hate powerful women suddenly being shoved into servant-master dynamics!!! it happened with siuan once already! why aren’t the men forced to do such things?

- I do genuinely believe RJ enjoyed writing his women a lot but I don’t like his choice to make women inflict shame on themselves as a form of punishment in order to repent their actions. It goes hand in hand with a lot of (evil) female characters ending up enslaved & the female forsaken being abused to be taught a lesson.

- ‘Tallanvor was too young’ sir, you literally paired moiraine and thom & gareth and siuan & morgase and thom 😭

(with reference to seonid and masuri being apprentices)

I think. I think brandon sanderson came up with the idea that an apprentice should just Know when they’re fit to be a wise one. I definitely got that feeling while I was reading the books because it was such a Brandon Sanderson thing and kind of nonsensical, honestly. It was just a ploy to keep aviendha away from rand in the gathering storm. ugh, I’m going to blame him for min and aviendha not bonding too.

- If a man uses the word ‘wench’ he goes down on my shit list! so elyas is on my shit list! if he wasn’t already, for being the source which delivers the news that saldaean women like their husbands to take a firm hand with them or whatever.

- was I always predisposed to disliking perrin because I hate werewolves? possibly.

- alliandre!!!!

WHATEVER WAS NECESSARY TO SECURE THE ALLIANCE, BASICALLY??? What else would berelain tell alliandre -

- honestly shout out to alliandre for making the best of so many terrible situations. she had to deal with the prophet, the threat of the seanchan, the threat of rand once he conquered illian, and then perrin trying to ‘raise manetheren’ and the shaido.

and yet he gets mad when faile is less subtle when she’d trying to guide/influence him.

- worldbuilding notes: perrin can apparently smell desperation but not guilt, lol.

lmaoooo I actually did enjoy this faile POV a lot since perrin wasn’t in it! even if she and berelain sort of bickered! but it wasn’t annoying at all, and was kind of fun, actually.

- Berelain supports faile when she’s discussing politics with alliandre even if faile just technically insulted her! I love her.

faile, that’s gay.

- Berelain is very pleased with one of faile’s manipulations of alliandre!

[Total count for the number of times berelain tried pursuing perring romantically in the path of daggers: 0]

Yeah, I think I’m going to stick with the line that perrin never gives berelain a firm no. Would this have stopped her from pursuing him? It’s hard to say because she’s angling for political advantage, but faile mentions that perrin conducts himself as if he believes he’s a prize that berelain and faile have to struggle over. And he’s constantly using his enhanced senses to predict what faile is feeling instead of asking her what she’s thinking which are two very different things! I just. I honestly don’t know how RJ could have enjoyed writing any of his POVs, lol, they’re so boring and full of contrived conflicts. He should’ve killed perrin off in the middle of the series because it would’ve done a good job of building tension (although he probably would have never done that even if he’d considered it since he’d established that perrin and mat would play integral roles to secure rand’s success in the last battle).

#text #wheel of time #the path of daggers #wot book spoilers #aelia reads wheel of time #aelia reads the path of daggers

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misspickman · 8 months

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tim and cassie for the headcanons!

for cassie

Sexuality Headcanon: lesbian

Gender Headcanon: transmasc, in a butch lesbian way

A ship I have with said character: cassierose, cissiecassie,, she and kiran could be cute too i just dont have much to say about it since kiran got very little time to shine, i believe in it tho

A BROTP I have with said character: cassie & tim!! theyre messy and they get each other. im a loud hater of tt03 but i do think about them during that grief era a lot, horrid relationship but very compelling as a trauma response. AND theyre best friends. also cassie & artemis i miss themm they were so fun, cassie & diana too i feel like they really dropped cassie from wonder woman comics a while back and its never been the same.. but theyre sisters<3

A NOTP I have with said character: cant imagine cassie with men.. i appreciate the mess between her and tim for fun and i think her and kons relationship is important to their characters, just not for actual like. romance reasons. but i guess these count

A random headcanon: i think she should play football not american football just u know the vibes. yes i think shed kill it in yellowjackets

General Opinion over said character: cassie my best friend cassie i just finished going through my reading list for her and im so sad she never got a longer solo bc we get so little about her civilian life and the lack thereof. i think the choice to have her commit to being a hero full time and living at the tower is v interesting (and a shame that rebirth brushed that away just to say shes going to college and thats it) and i would love to see her deal with that and how not having a civiliain identity would impact her life further, also who she wants to be after wonder girl.. this is less of an opinion and just me rambling but agh cassie. she makes me sad and sometimes she is just like me fr

tim

Sexuality Headcanon: bi! as he is<3

Gender Headcanon: i think ive been very loud about my transfem tim thoughts but that might just be in my head bc i think about him a lot. anyway its real to me. i know her. if it seems like i default to cis guy tim in my fics its just bc he hasnt had his gender crisis yet, trust. i do also like the idea of a more gnc cis guy tim which might or might not lead to him being genderfluid. much to think about

A ship I have with said character: i often default to timkon but i really like him with danny, lonnie and tam too

A BROTP I have with said character: cass, cassie, helena, dick, i also would have liked to see more of him and rose without the uhh very weird writing going on with them in tt03 and tt cold case. tim and steph in their divorced era specifically are also very dear to me

A NOTP I have with said character: whatever people are doing with fanon timkon which is mostly bc of what they do to kon but my god the woobifying of tims character is also so bad. all the many incest ones but a special aside for j/ytim bc its so painfully ooc they would not fucking say that. my god

A random headcanon: well car guy tim is very canon but also i think hed be fixing his own car like, for fun. he would get a car he can tinker with specifically. in some au i think itd also be fun if he did car racing

General Opinion over said character: hes fine

#thank u<3 #ask #i cant give u a general opinion on tim ill never shut up

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babacontainsmultitudes · 1 year

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Swiftli? Grant/Marco? Mercedes/Carol? Autumn Oak/Linda Stampler? (spreading my own propaganda <3)

For the ship ask thing :)

Also sorry that it’s kinda a lot lmao

Hiya!!! Hehe very interesting choices, love this, let's get to it!

Swiftli: COMFORT SHIP ALERT!!!

So, okay, the thing about this ship is that it's not my default ship for Linc or even necessarily Taylor? But that's not to say I'm conflicted, no, I really like these two together!

*Romantically* I think it kinda took me a while to feel the appeal of this ship? But then like... One night on a whim I found myself making a really silly playlist for them and... That made me understand it? At least what it is for me. This and, @raemeh (iirc) made a post about their first kiss being a surprisingly good one and- gee idk that made me go 😳 as well hahaha.

And yeah! Like I said this is absolutely a comfort ship for me, they're very silly and cute together, love to rotate them around in my head, might even write them at some point who knows!

Marco/Grant: OUGH THE CUTIE PATOOTIES OH MY GOSH I'M PUTTING THEM TOGETHER IN A LITTLE JAR AND SHAKING THEM AROUND AND THEN UH GIVING THEM SOME PRIVACY EHEHEH

At the start of S2 I think it's fair to say that of all the kiddads I was probably most curious to see what kind of person Grant ultimately got with, I suppose probably because relationship troubles are such a big thing for him in S1! And I just want the best for him honestly ahaaa

😫 And I wasn't disappointed! Marco is so sweet and they're so cute together and eghhsibgosesg-

Er, despite this I'd actually like to see some angst/conflict between them? Grant has a lot of explaining to do tbh, and I sorta don't want everything he's hid and lied about to go without consequences from Marco... But of course I'd want them to work everything out in the end! I think that would make me love them even more tbh.

In general I really just want more of these two in canon! They need to kiss... Otherwise, y'know in general I have a good chunk of ships for Grant but... Ultimately so long as Marco exists in the same universe, I tend to imagine them getting together in the long run.

Mercedes/Carol: Oooh interesting! Not a ship I've thought too much about tbh, but I could get behind it! I think my main hang-up if anything is that usually when I imagine ships with either Henry or Mercedes, either one of them doesn't exist in that universe or they never met, or it's a poly thing! In this case, I'd probably like this best if Hen and Mercedes have an open-relationship sorta deal (I mean they sorta canonically do?) and these two get involved with each other within that context. 🤔 Could also get behind a 4-way poly scenario with Darryl as well, but that's not a necessity by any means!

:0 I like the idea of Carol getting to experiment and maybe learning more about her sexuality and the like the way Darryl sort of got to in S1, and Mercedes would be a lovely person to see that happen with! Yeah, they'd be cute together I think!

Autumn/Linda (Ron's mom!): I'm so fascinated by this ship??? Also love that we've just established Linda's name haha good for her good for her.

You'll have to tell me more about how you see this ship before I come to any concrete feelings about it tbh! Still, I like the premise I mean, I guess they'd actually have a bunch going for them? On its own I love the idea of the omega daddies being divorced af and their exes getting together haha it's what they deserve. But yeah they could genuinely be quite good for each other! I imagine Linda must be pretty good at dealing with people with anger issues, she'd probably have the patience to be there for Autumn in a way that matters and help her work through some things. And Autumn is an underrated catch tbh haha- :o also a very powerful druid who could possibly help Linda with her chronic illness??? The fact that she had a bit of a thing for Ron also makes her getting with his mom pretty funny to me.

Yeah idk, like I said I'm fascinated, feel free to ramble about them!!!

OKAY hehe, thanks for the ask!!!! 💜

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ddwcaph-game · 2 years

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Dear Diary,

Since I promised Franzinyte to shoot an Our Life-related one of these days, i decided to go for this question first. Who among the cast of DDWCaPH (so feel free to include everyone who isn't in the main cast) would get along with those from Our Life?

Hehe. For those not in the server, I did play Our Life as Roselyna a while ago, and I was pleasantly surprised that there's actually quite a few similarities between MC and Cove, with Wayne and Roselyna. 😄

Now that I think about it, MC, Lizzie and Cove would fit right in with F6E—MC and Lizzie are adopted, and Cove's parents are divorced 😅

Anyway, to keep my answer shorter and more consistent, I'll just assume that the characters are just neighbors (or at least go to the same school) instead of taking the MC's role, and limit it to the Volume 1 cast.

Wayne would most likely get along with everyone (except Shiloh and Jeremy), but especially MC's and Cove's parents, considering how close he has gotten to Rosie's parents.

I don't think Wayne would like Step 1 Cove very much, but would start warming up to him in Step 2 for sure, and would share his love of birds with him (he likes sea creatures too). He'd like Lee, Terry and Miranda as well, but probably not Baxter, at least on his first impression. Oh, and I get the feeling he'd like teasing and annoying Lizzie, hehe.

Also, Wayne adores Tamarack very much and would definitely have a crush on her. He'd probably like Qiu as well, but I'm not sure how well their personalities would work for now.

Like Wayne, she'd try to get along with everyone, but unlike him, she'd try to make Shiloh and Jeremy like her too. And just like with Nestor, she might want to call Cliff "Daddy" too, heehee. 😊

Rosie had a near instant crush on Cove in my playthrough, but if she wasn't the MC, it probably won't happen until Step 2 when he becomes a lot taller, hehe. I can see her getting along nicely with Derek, Lee, Miranda, and Terry as well.

Baxter isn't exactly her type, but she'd definitely love to go ballroom dancing with him.

She also has a crush on both Qiu and Tamarack, but I'm leaning more towards Tamarack in my playthrough, mostly because they look similar and it seems like they vibe well together. (If she had to choose though, it'd be Cove for sure.)

There isn't really much to say for Lily and JM since they're both more introverted, but they'd try to be at least casual friends with everyone, although for different reasons.

It's in JM's interest to be helpful to his class/schoolmates, while Lily likes to keep tabs on everyone, and more "friends" means more contacts.

Lily would probably be at odds with younger Lizzie though, and then grow closer and have mutual respect for each other when they grow up. Also, I can see her teasing Cove a lot. 😄

B probably wouldn't like the other characters that much by default if they see them hanging around with F6E, but wouldn't start bullying them necessarily unless B has reason to.

If that wasn't a factor, B would probably have at least an amicable acquaintance with all the other friendly characters, not being particularly close to anyone.

As for Little B, it really depends on whether or not the characters can handle Little B's hyperactivity. 😛

I'd imagine Paddy's relationship with the others would be similar to their relationship with F6E currently. Just friendly acquaintances, unless they approach Paddy first to be friends (as in the case with Wayne and Rosie) or give Paddy reason to dislike them (as with B).

Paddy would definitely like MC's and Cove's parents though.

***

I like to think Julie, Robert, and Wayne and Rosie's parents (plus Yaya Connie) would get along with MC's and Cove's parents a lot, and maybe set up some events for them and the kids to hang out together (maybe a trip courtesy of LT?).

Lily's moms are too busy to get involved, JM's dad wouldn't be interested at all, and JM's step-mom only shows up occasionally, enough to just be friendly acquaintances with the other parents.

Anyway, as a little bonus, here's some portraits of F6E in the OL: Now and Forever MC creator:

#f6e #brandon/beatrice #f6e parents #our life #our life beginnings & always #our life now and forever #ispeakhalflies #other games #dear diary asks

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vermiculated · 2 years

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month ends when I say it ends

what I wrote this last month:

gender dynamics in the workplace, I

Halliday doesn't know anything about men, like they're beneath the notice of the great sage. To her credit, this attitude would be unbearable on a man, thinking he was better than the rest of them; since Halliday is a woman, by default, it's only everything else about her that's unbearable. Nolan would like to never notice a man again, but they're the entirety of her board, much of her upward reporting structure, and slightly more than fifty percent of the userbase. Not an option.

For well-understood reasons, documented by many consultants in many half-million dollar reports, OASIS fails to attract quite as many women as men. Ideally, their market share would be total dominance, and the entirety of the population would find the world more congenial than the real one, making them happy. Content, Nolan would like to see them all content. She doesn't care if they're happy, unhappy, full of rage, or sad: that they should be content is the business she is in. Failing this, women tend to find something compelling about reality and no amount of gamifying can disrupt this trait. Halliday never had to understand this, because when she was alive, the company could grow in any direction; now she's dead and Nolan has made stubborn inroads with the female population, cohorts 35-55 and 55-75. The seventy-five plus cohort are good new early adopters, the type who were first on the old digital web, and they're lonely. Lonelier even, than Nolan.

gender dynamics in the workplace, II

"That line work for you?"

Raylan half-smiles, almost holding it in.

"Oh, are men so irresistible in your experience?"

Raylan looks like he's about to roll his eyes: for a moment, his chin jutting out, everything, -- the years, all the distance, what led them here -- falls away and it's like they were this smart and brave back in high school.

a tendency toward martyrdom

One morning, extremely visibly, Jeremy smacks his wrist against the edge of a table. It looks awful, of course, pink going to red, and his face furls up like he might cry. That’s embarrassing. Not that men can’t cry, or more pertinently, shouldn’t cry, but Jeremy is a father. Parents are only meant to suffer when they get divorced or when their offspring drop out of grad school. Status crimes.

Jess hustles him out before he actually can cry, which Cynthia might find more persuasive if they didn’t both show up, forty minutes later, to this dumb-show of strength that the Third are putting on, and Jeremy looking like a suicide risk. White gauze bandages on both wrists, all taped up, his cuffs folded back to admit the extra diameter. Everyone is gently supportive while clearly dismissing the Sixth. Which is exactly the kind of trick that a wounded animal would pull, leaving the weaker-looking beast on the outside edge so it can tear apart the unwary. Hawks nip at their prey, consuming it until it bleeds out and dies. Tigers sever the limbic system with one huge bite at the back of the neck. Why’s everyone so trusting, Cynthia thinks, resting her chin on her hand and her elbow on her crossed knee, that they think it will come to a fight. The Third spare circles the Third cav warily.

#voracker 2022 #gen doppelgangerz (both of them) going well #ask for a key when you ride that dick #land of furl and rot #objective correlative for their own bereft condition

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britesparc · 2 years

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Weekend Top Ten #536

Top Ten Legacy Superheroes

So Ms. Marvel is out. At the time of writing, I’ve not watched the first episode yet; I was out on Wednesday watching Everything Everywhere All at Once. Anyway, it’s about Ms. Marvel, a superhero, but get this: she’s not the first person to be called Ms. Marvel. Oh no; it’s actually the name of another superhero. Scandal! The tea leaf! But no, it’s okay: these things happen in comics. It’s quite ordinary. One hero retires or dies or is promoted or whatever, and another person steps into their cowl to assume their heroic identity. These are “legacy heroes”.

Now, in the MCU, it’s a bit weird because Carol Danvers has never been Ms. Marvel; she got blasted by Annette Benning’s magical box (oo-er) and, after being gaslit by Jude Law for a little bit, just went straight to “Captain Marvel” without any in-between rigamarole. But it’s true that, as a comic book character at least, Kamala Khan is a legacy hero, adopting the mantle of Ms. Marvel after Danvers discarded it. And she’s following in a long line of successor supes.

And that’s that, really. A fairly short preamble this week. Except to say that some of these are absolutely my most favourite characters ever. Oh, and their status in this list is a determination of how I feel they have best adopted the legacy title; that is to say, how much they succeeded in making it their own, how well they performed the duties as that particular hero. It’s not really a popularity contest, otherwise Dick Grayson would win.

Batgirl (all of them, from 1967): I had to include her, because there have been multiple girl bats, and all of them absolutely rock. The definitive Batgirl, in pop culture terms – the one from the sixties show and the nineties animation and the upcoming movie – is Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon, but even she wasn’t the first Batgirl. She inherited the mantle from Betty Kane, niece of Kathy Kane, the Batwoman (technically, Betty stylised it as “Bat-Girl”, predating Spider-Man’s love of hyphens). Comics continuity being what it was back then, there was no real handover or acknowledgement of the change, and it’s fair to say that, generally speaking, Betty’s time in the cowl has been written out of continuity, so that Babs is usually considered the inaugural Batgirl. However, Barbara was famously – infamously – crippled by the Joker in the 1980s, and over the years saw a number of replacements stepping in to be the new Batgirl: Helena Bertinelli, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown. Helena – aka the Huntress – was more of a plot point stop-gap, but both Cass and Steph were the real deal, genuine successors to the role, and both were tremendous, anchoring themselves and making it their own outside of Babs’ shadow. Cass was silent but deadly (er, not like that), a mute assassin trying to atone, in a head-to-toe all-black number, very much a junior Batman; Steph, on the other hand, had a far gaudier costume with pink highlights and yellow pouches, and was a less capable but far sunnier presence, like Spider-Man in a batsuit. All of them are tremendous characters, and to celebrate the variety and success of the disparate Batgirls, I’m counting them all as number one.

Robin (Tim Drake, 1990): Batgirl might have the edge on numbers, but if there’s one hero who most made a legacy role their own, it’s Tim Drake. He’s not the first Robin – not even the second – but he’s the definitive Robin. He’s the platonic ideal of Robin. If, for thirty years or more, the Batman mythos has solidified around four key personalities – Batman, Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl – then Tim just is Robin. He’s the default Robin. His success is because he feels, like Peter Parker, a relatively realistic teenager in the way Dick Grayson arguably didn’t. He’s also part Grayson, part Wayne, but – at least originally – distinct and divorced from the two of them. A nerdy computer whiz kid who’s also funny and empathetic, but more pragmatic and colder than Dick; someone who isn’t peak-human, uber-trained, the world’s greatest acrobat. He works at it. He embodies the best qualities of the heroes that preceded him, but makes the role his own.

The Flash (Wally West, 1986): another character who absolutely claimed the mantle given to him in such a way that, for a generation, he’ll always be the true incarnation. A looser, funnier version of the Flash than his staid uncle Barry Allen, Wally was young – barely off the Teen Titans – when destiny (and a Crisis event) handed him the red pyjamas. And he grew into it, struggling, cocking up, learning and growing – not just as a hero, but as a person. He got married and had a family, he remained a devoted friend to the Titans, and he brought a bit of youthful vigour to an aging Justice League. He also represented DC’s willingness to age its characters, to allow them to mature and move on, in a way that sadly seems to have been reversed. He’s so cool in the role, so iconic, he was the default Flash in the Justice League cartoon, and there’s no greater compliment than that.

Batman (Dick Grayson, 1994): Dick arguably inherited his Nightwing identity from an old Kryptonian legend, so maybe the world’s first Robin was already a legacy hero, but it’s in his almost-inevitable ascension to the role of Batman that puts him on this list. He’s donned the pointy ears a couple of times, first in 1994 (and these dates, incidentally, are when the characters debuted in these roles), although I’d argue his greatest stint was in Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin comic and its related series. Like Wally as the Flash, Dick is a wittier and warmer presence, a much more open-hearted vision of Batman. His lithe acrobatics suit the character, and in Frank Quitely’s subtly tweaked version of the Batsuit, he cuts a leaner figure than Bruce, his cape shorter, his fists smaller. He managed to be Batman with a twinkle in his eye, bringing a touch of the Roger Moores to his interpretation of Batman as a hairy-chested love-god. But it’s in his warm relationships with his colleagues and other heroes that he excels, as Dick always does, the most empathetic and friendly of characters; he supports and encourages, especially his Robin, Damian Wayne. Their relationship is an absolute delight, and whilst Damian isn’t my favourite Robin, their version of the Dynamic Duo is one for the ages.

Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance, 1986): making the current Black Canary the daughter of the Golden Age character was a stroke of genius, at once recognising decades-past comics as being part of the continuity, but also adding a sense of gravitas and longevity to the tale. It also gives Dinah a great backstory and helps with her origin. But in another way it’s irrelevant; I didn’t know, when I started reading comics earnestly about twenty years ago, that she was supposed to be a second-generation hero. Dinah is great regardless, a determined and self-possessed woman, a formidable fighter and natural leader, but one also possessed of warmth and empathy. Her tumultuous relationship with Green Arrow is iconic and beautiful but also believable in all its rollercoaster turns. And she has an awesome costume. By this point, surely, she’s the one and only Black Canary in any way that matters, yeah?

Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan, 2014): ah, a Marvel character, how quaint. It’s true and fair that, for years, it was DC who were the “Legacy Company”, trading on their great history, unafraid to bench or even write off significant characters and allow another secret identity to take them over. Here, though, we have a truly excellent re-imagining of a classic hero. Kamala came from nowhere, a totally believable and instantly loveable creation, showing us a hitherto under-explored portion not of the Marvel Universe but of our own; a child of immigrants living in America, a Muslim, a brown-skinned girl torn between two cultures and traditions. It gave us a fresh and vibrant twist on the usual teen hero tropes and was all the better for it. Plus Kamala is just fun and funny and great all round.

The Question (Renee Montoya, 2007): probably not one with the legs of other characters on this list, as I’m fairly certain she’s already been retconned away, but I loved Montoya as the Question. Already an excellent supporting character in Batman comics, Montoya grew slowly over the years, being given more depth and nuance – we discovered she was gay (arguably one of the first prominent gay characters in superhero comics), and then she drifted into alcoholism, losing her job and becoming nihilistic and self-destructive. In the series 52, she inherited the mask of the Question, becoming basically a badass P.I. in a totally terrific outfit. She suited the role perfectly, and it became one of those brilliant bits of the DC Universe that I felt just really worked (like the Riddler also becoming a P.I.). I love Montoya, she’s great, and it was so cool to see her properly rubbing shoulders with other superheroes.

Spider-Man (Miles Morales, 2011): how can you top Peter Parker? He’s an icon, one of the few superheroes everyone knows. He feels so indelibly linked to Spidey that it’s a fool’s errand to replace him, surely. But Miles managed it. Earnest and clumsy, with his own sense of guilt and justice to guide him, he was a worthy successor to the spider-mantle, and brought a welcome dose of youth and naivete to the role nearly fifty years after Spidey’s debut. He also, and let’s not understate this, brought some diversity to the overwhelmingly white ranks of big mainstream comic book heroes. Like Kamala Khan, it gave us a new window onto the life of a hero, a twist on a story we may be used to, and was also more realistic and reflective of the times in which it was written. Now, of course, Miles Morales is ascendent, with movies and videogames, and everyone knows who he is and why he rocks as Spider-Man.

Wonder Girl (Donna Troy, 1965): this one feels a bit weird because whilst she’s an awesome character, arguably people don’t associate her quite so much with her legacy role. But technically Donna was the second Wonder Girl, adopting the role her sister Diana had as a child; the actual real-life circumstances of this are a bit weird and amusing (rumour has it the creators of the first Teen Titans story didn’t know the previous appearances of Wonder Girl were of a young Wonder Woman and not a separate character), and Donna was a regular fixture in the Titans. She was an essential part of the Titans’ great run in the eighties, but it’s here where – like Dick Grayson’s Robin becoming Nightwing – she eventually dropped the Wonder Girl mantle. Nowadays she’s usually just “Donna Troy”, but her compassion and integrity still shine through. I also really, really love her platonic relationship with Dick; it’s still quite rare to see two people who might otherwise become a couple instead just remain very close friends.

Death’s Head II (1992): sorry, Kyle Rayner; I love you as Green Lantern (and John Stewart, too), but I had an excuse to put my boy in the list and I took it. Death’s Head rocks, one of my favourite characters, and his successor – Death’s Head II, natch – is always interesting to me, even if it’s probably more for his place in history than his actual character. He was an attempt to create an iconic figurehead for Marvel UK as it sought to branch out with “American-style” comics in the nineties; a hulkier yet more organic-looking mechanoid than his predecessor, he exemplified the excesses of the “extreme” era of comics. He does have a striking design, with his demonic skull-like face and weird morphing arm. And the fact that he adopted the role after killing the first Death’s Head and absorbing his personality just makes him all the more edgy and – yes – extreme. Whilst I still prefer my freelance peacekeeping agents to have a little more chrome on their dome, DHII still rocks.

#top ten #heroes #legacy heroes #sidekicks #superheroes #comics #marvel #dc #mcu #ms marvel #spider-verse #batman

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taxhelpers · 7 months

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Former Housewives Star Kim Zolciak Divorcing Husband Amidst Tax Liens Totaling over $1.1 Million

For some time now, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star, has been denying rumors of money problems. Recently, however, the Internal Revenue Service escalated the money issue. Zolciak and her husband, Kroy Biermann, former NFL outside linebacker, reportedly owe more than $1 million to Uncle Sam. Anyone in this position probably needs back-taxes help from a legal professional, especially if liens have been filed by the IRS, as is the case with the aforementioned couple. To further complicate matters, an IRS tax attorney in San Jose has learned that the couple has filed for divorce, breaking the hearts of millions of devoted fans.

Divorce Proceedings Filed in April; Zolciak Seeking Child Custody

April 30 is listed as the official separation date for the couple, who were married for over a decade and had four children together during that time. Zolciak cited irreconcilable differences, and that the marriage had, according to her, no hope of reconciliation. The former Housewives star is seeking joint legal custody and primary physical custody of their four children, as well as spousal support. She also stated she intends to have her maiden name legally restored.

Loan Default in Couple’s History

Last fall, Zolciak and Biermann reportedly defaulted on the mortgage for their Fulton County, Georgia home. The $1.65 million loan was through Truist Bank. People Magazine reported that the bank planned to auction the home off this past March, and rumors circulated that it had sold for $257,000. Zolciak and Biermann adamantly denied this rumor, stating that “millions and millions of dollars” were put into the home, that it was worth almost $2.5 million, and that therefore it would never be sold for that amount of money. According to Redfin, when purchased in October 2012, its price was $880,000.

Tax Liens Total Over $1 Million

Federal tax liens have plagued the couple for many years, going back as far as 2013 and including 2018, 2019, 2020, and the current year. As of March 30, the exact total of the cumulative liens was $1,147,834.67. The state of Georgia also filed a tax lien of $15,000 for taxes allegedly due in 2018. Most individuals who face property liens consult a back-taxes attorney to get back on track and make peace with the IRS.

Tax liens were designed to protect the government’s interest in real estate. The IRS must assess the tax liability and make sure a bill is sent to delinquent taxpayers, giving them a chance to pay the bill before a lien can be filed. The lien, referred to as a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, alerts creditors that Uncle Sam has a legal right to the real estate or personal property. Tax help is available in certain cases, and sometimes a payment arrangement can be worked out. If the tax liability is paid off, the lien is typically released. Unfortunately, tax liens and divorce often go together.

Liens may accrue interest and penalties even if the person is on a payment plan, so tax lawyers should be consulted by those who find themselves in this position. It’s unclear what the next steps might be for the former Housewives star and her soon-to-be ex-husband, as they did not respond to various requests for comment. Back-taxes help is available from qualified attorneys, so it is always wise to seek such help when facing tax liens or delinquent taxes.

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imvusimblr · 1 year

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how big is your mods folder? idk in the 1000's prbly,Idk how to check how many files I have and I am not counting them....

how would you describe your style? lol as someone who has OSDD that is a hard thing to differentiate...I don't have a set style, Sim or otherwise.

what is your favorite challenge? I've only done 2 challenges. The Zodiac one (which was being buggy so I quit) and the crybaby whims one which I am on currently. Unless you count Random Genetics. I am planning on doing the Teen Runaway and Whimsy Stories.

do you make cc? if so, what kind? No Idk how.

what type of cc do you hoard? Mainly CAS items and Clutter. But lately I have been downloading alot of Mods.

what default eyes and skin do you use? I don't really pay attention.

how many urls have you had, and what are the meanings behind them? For The Sims? This is my only one.

who is your favorite gameplay blog? I prefer watching on YouTube. Like Syd Mac and LivingDeadGal Sims.

who is your favorite storytelling blog? Again YouTube. Some of My current faves are MissLollyPop, Draeyad, SilverhairSimmer, Neecxle and Ligayatrait.

who is your favorite cc creator? Of all time? @noodlescc or @noodlessorbets as well as @remussirion and @pralinesims. I also really like @aharris00britney @simpliciaty-cc @serenity-cc Lumpinou, MissyHissy, @ratboysims @trillyke @thepeachyfaerie @kawaiistacie @mechtasims and @sims41ife to name a few lol

how do you edit your photos? I just use my reshades and Microsoft Image editor.

what is the last screenshot you took? I will show you. A random Sim I made that I thought looked like Naomi Campbell.

what do you do when you are unmotivated? Create Sims via random genetics or decorate via generators.

who is your current favorite sim? I should probably say one My Alters I made lol But rn it would have to be these two cuties, that are the kids of My main in the crbaby whims challenge. They are twin preteens. Marigold and Mabel. idk why there shirts look blurry they are fine in game. Also ignore the out of order numbers in this survey, that's what happens when I add pics.

who is your current favorite sim that is not by you? That I've downloaded and have a screenshot of...Probably Raina from Mokah

recreate someone else’s sim in your style. I gave other outfits to them if that counts and hairstyles. Here's a couple. Like Raina and My Artsy Sims by Mandy Sims

do you talk about sims with people in real life? Not unless they play.

how many of the packs do you own? All except Moschino (which I'm planning to buy) Star Wars, and most of the kits.

how many posts do you have on your blog currently? idk alot of reblogs lol

how many drafts do you have on your blog currently? 0

how many posts are in your queue currently? 0 I never use that.

have you ever moved blogs? No

are you in any sims related discord servers? No

what are your thoughts on the most recent pack? (WereWolves) I wasn't too impressed after I bought it, it actually annoyed me that you couldn't do anything while being one (as a Beta anyway) but after watching others play I've started appreciating it more.

how many hours have you played sims? 5 or more.

if you play gameplay, do you play with mods? Yes always it's boring otherwise.

what’s the farthest you’ve gotten in a challenge? Currently with My Crybaby Whims Challenge, Delilah had twins with her husband but also her ex (twice which was an accident) So now she has 3 sets of twins which was a nightmare until I aged them up. Victor and Liliana know about the affairs (I also think they may like each other) so now I'm just waiting for Delilah to age up so she can get a divorce, move out with the kids and become a politician. I might have her become official with Lorenzo but he's kind of a tool...so...

#simblr survey #the sims4

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miloscat · 1 year

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[Review] Myastere: Ruins of Deazniff (NS)

What if Umihara Kawase was a steampunk Metroidvania??

When Studio Saizensen announced their next project after Umihara Kawase Bazooka, I was a little taken aback. Here’s a game with a familiar stretchy wire grappling hook, but it seemingly has a whole new grittier setting completely divorced from the growing Kawase universe. After getting some more info and my hands on the game, I came to realise that there’s so much Kawase DNA in here that it’s effectively a spinoff of Fresh just like Bazooka was.

Myastere is running in the Umihara Kawase Fresh engine, with tweaked Fresh mechanics. Like Fresh it has a big open world, although it’s more spelunkish and with a free-roaming structure plus progressive movement upgrades. Curly Brace had a gun in Fresh, which has been expanded into Aaurae Mawkish—part of the royal archaeological society or something—being a walking arsenal. The enemy types are broadly similar, some seeming like they’d be right at home in Kawase’s abstract, more cartoony world while others are creepypasta material. Even the basic premise of a corrupting substance seeping from an evil presence underground is in common between both games.

What sets Myastere apart is the focus of the gameplay. This isn’t a precision puzzle platformer; the grapple is faster, snappier, and expandable, more a satisfyingly zippy means of getting around than a tool the mastery of which the entire game is built around. The default setting for the grapple is similar to Bazooka’s auto-retracting beginner setting, but it can be changed to a more traditional scheme. You get a default double jump early and even a triple jump later! Combat is also much more prominent, with an array of ammo types and throwable bombs for different enemies. So it’s more searching (exploration to progress the story and find hidden secrets and shortcuts) and action (fighting, platforming, etc.). If only there was a term for that.

Quite honestly it struggles to compete in this now crowded genre, however. The shooting is a bit sticky and the expansions to your moveset only slight or incremental. There’s no fast travel system, the world is quite static and barren of NPCs and interaction, and the map didn’t even show where you had been until a post-launch update gave it Metroid Dread-style colouring in. There’s collectible coins to be found but good luck hunting for them if you miss any (finding them all unlocks a new skin for Aaurae sans cloak and goggles, while getting all relics gives her... a schoolgirl outfit...). For English language players, the localisation is frankly embarrassing, with an amateurish, unnatural, machine-translated-feeling English script; actually a machine might even be better as it would more consistently spell words like “wepon”[sic] correctly. Fresh’s PC version and all Bazooka versions were like this too and it’s getting really old. The fact that it has full Japanese voice acting is impressive and makes the lack of effort for the translation more glaring.

[Spoilers in this paragraph] The poor localisation affected my appreciation of the story as well, as it just makes it harder to understand the world and characters. I got the gist of it but in a more story-driven game that wants to be taken seriously this kind of thing is a real barrier. The general idea is this is some kind of alternate modern world where mystical relics have great significance. Aaurae is some kind of steampunk relic cop working for the monarchical government who encounters a band of Deazniff (tomb raiders, given an incomprehensible proper noun for no reason at all?) in a ruin, which leads to more sinister discoveries: monsters mutated by Myastere (evil magic radiation?), an ancient society of exiled undead Paladins from the 14th century, and eventually, the giant reanimated corpse of King Solomon(!!) and a cosmic struggle for the ark of the covenant. The script oddly skirts around naming the Hebrew people/nation directly, but the in-game collectibles have a lot of fun references to real-life historical artefacts and oddities.

So, the plot goes some fun places, but that’s not necessarily enough. The real selling point that helps this game stand out from other Metroidvanias is the integration of Kawase’s “wire action” traversal. It’s certainly a cool direction for the overall Umihara Kawase series to take as an evolution of Fresh, even if the Metroidy elements have been mixed in a little clumsily. It’s a good time, and not too long. I really enjoyed the turbo grappling mechanics, scooting around flooding my pockets with stacks of bombs I’d never use, snooping around corners and crannies while mowing down critters and nasties. I just hope they get a native English speaker to look at the script sometime. Heck, I’ll give it a crack why not!

#myastere #myastere ruins of deazniff #umihara kawase #studio saizensen #review #ns

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fairymint · 1 year

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For any muse

🎀 What gendered terms are okay with them? What aren’t, and Why? Are there other reasons besides their actual gender?

🎨 Would anything change much if your muse were another gender? Upbringing? Attitude?

For Emmet and Cassian, any binary pronoun or term is okay! Cassi specifically prefers 'whatever is funniest' (so will be inconsistent as well), meanwhile, while Emmet is largely unbothered. He goes through life 'as' a cis male, but is notably comfortable with feminine terms, and is Agender. Both of these two are hella rude, so if you called them something awful, you just better hope to be able to take it right back- Don't give them permission if you're a hypocrite, or you'll probably be suffering.

Ingo's simply not overly comfortable with feminine terms- he understands the humor but politely declines, generally speaking.

Felix is not comfortable with any serious usage of feminine terms; definitely not things like 'miss' or 'm'am' (which hopefully doesn't happen anymore present day, his voice dropped like a rock.), hates the prounoun she/her, woman, doll, etc. But some stuff is okay 'in a gay way.' Being called princess or queen, casually called a bitch, affectionate nicknames. the whole tumblr thing of 'girl' counts because it's casual and nongendered in usage like 'guys.' Like, a queer person is probably commenting on attractiveness, being playful, affectionate, etc. but anything that carries a tone of misgendering or 'i perceive you as a female' is a hard no for Felix. Being Unovan/American, 'cunt' is usually something he'd reserve as a last-resort insult. But.....if someone were to use it casually (like Cassi) suppose he'd adjust to it!

Notably, Volo in his default portrayal is more of a cis man, but he is unbothered by being called she/her. He will correct that he is a man, and finds it 'funny'. He does take note of how one treats women, however. A trans depiction of him might wanna be fully divorced from his agab, i feel he'd be grumpier about it. Probably because when he rejects something, it's fully- all the way. If something is wrong, it's wrong with the world!

🎨 Would anything change much if your muse were another gender? Upbringing? Attitude?

Cassi staying one binary gender or the other probably wouldn't change much- she has an attitude either way, but she wouldn't be making transfem style jokes, probably just have less in her arsenal.

And, as I kinda mentioned, trans Volo would probably be a bit sassy from being even more stressed- could be ever so mildly 'softer and cuter' from not wanting to perform masculinity as much. But his femininity is usually toxic no matter his agab for some reason. Pretty feeds the mean part of his ego, I guess? The god verse has self-made bimbo vibes half the time, if that tells you anything.

#ask.#anonymous.#trans talk.#emmet.#cassian fenriz.#ingo.#volo.#felix fae.#dysphoria mention

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vamptastic · 1 year

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as my 18th birthday looms closer and changing my legal name is actually within reach ive been rethinking it a bit. right now i'm going with leonard yuri greenberg, which changes all 3 names.

leonard is actually originally from this steampunk text based choose your own adventure game, but i stuck with it because there are many men i look up to named leonard (mostly nimoy and cohen), it's pretty common for jewish men, and my birthname (victoria, i have like 50 followers and i doubt any of them are demented enough to care what it is) is also an antiquated, fairly rare victorian name that has a bunch of different nicknames.

my middle name from birth is an obscure italian name after my great grandmother, and i'm changing it to yuri instead. yuri is the birth name of my ultazeyde on my mom's side (the jewish side) and he changed his name to hugh around age 12 to assimilate better (parents were ukrainian + romanian jewish immigrants), but the judge made him keep yuri as a middle name. i think its very symbolic in a lot of ways, like that he had to change his name to fit in and i'm sort of doing the opposite, and it also still preserves a memory of a family member which is sort of what middle names are for in my family. i also just look up to him a lot and grew up hearing stories about him even though he died six months after i was born, and i think he'd generally be cool with me doing this if he was alive.

last name is also from my ultazeyde, changing it from my dad's last name which is irish. there's a lot of reasons here:

-my dads father was a terrible person and i don't feel any desire to carry on his legacy or whatever, but my ultazeyde was a cool guy and i don't mind carrying on THAT legacy

-i also generally am not in touch with my irish heritage or anything

-i AM in touch with my jewish heritage in that i was raised jewish, am very religious, and generally regard it as my ethnicity and people as well, so it'd be nice for my name to reflect that.

-my parents are probably getting divorced by this time next year and my mom is estranged from her birth parents and therefore will probably change hers to this as well

-it minimizes the ability to find information about my previous identity online, which is useful if i want to go stealth

-i like greenberg it's a nice name

however, i feel it'll be difficult to have my reasoning accepted for this name vs my first and middle name, especially as a freshly 18 year old, and getting my whole name change case rejected just for my last name would suck. also, while my mom gets it and also doesn't attach a ton of significance to last names my dad does and might get pissed over this, which i don't want to deal with. if he raises significant objections ill stick with the old one until i get married or have kids or whatever.

the first and middle name are getting changed no matter what, but i'm kind of wavering on if i want to go with leonard or not. the masculine versions of my birthname are fairly decent. victor i don't like because my childhood bully was named that and also i don't want people to think i named myself after an anime lmao. but vittore, victori/victore, vick, and victory are cool. main problem with them is the connection to my birth name potentially getting me deadnamed or making it easy to find my deadname, and the relative androgyny of these names compared to leonard.

i could also just pick a new name? leonard is good, but everybody always defaults to a more androgynous nickname of it and pronounces it wrong. that being said i am attached to it and it's pretty undeniably male on paper if not face to face. ive considered jack (jackie as a nickname cos i think it's sexy), joseph/yosef (favorite torah character), edward (was what i used as my like proto-trans male version of me name for a few months before actually asking people to call me a different name), friedrich, julian, asher, rashi (favorite historical figure), vincent, and a whole host of names based on trees and plants in the past.

my middle name i am pretty set on keeping as yuri. it achieves everything my birth name did except as a male version it's great. i might have made it my birth name if i had thought of it before i was already going by leonard, but people might assume i picked a japanese name (it is russian) and it's also a bit gender-neutral. the pronunciation is also difficult for people, it's oo-ree, not yew-ri. but i do feel like it doesn't match leonard super well idk.

i will probably stick with good ol leonard yuri greenberg it's just. hard to not doubt myself when i'm paying 400 dollars for this.

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