ripon rambles

silver lining (laufey) damianya

happy on my own (kyle cox) twilight

messed up on christmas (lyn lapid) damianya holiday angst yay

moonlight serenade (frank sinatra) idk why i thought yor would really like singing to herself while doing chores when she at home alone. shes extremely shy about it but she has a sweet albeit quite voice

bewitched (bothered and bewildered. also frank sinatra) loid

No they’re not.

Superhero comics as a genre have a mutable literary tradition that is closest to that of a mythology. They are stories told over extended periods of time, by dozens and even hundreds of creators, that respond to the concerns of the day, to other stories, to discussions, to the tellers’ personal interests, and many other aspects, while maintaining a recognisable core to their characters.

In these literary traditions that character’s core is usually fairly stable, but they can and do get radically switched up on occasion. It’s a collective agreement over decades and many people and discussion and analysis and just really cool ideas people latch onto can alter that.

What’s the ‘true’ version of the King Arthur myth? There isn’t one. There’s just many retellings, each one shaped by the teller, some closer and some further away from the collective agreement of the fundamentals of the story.

Many people can be and are deeply attached to a specific version or retelling as their favourite. But that doesn’t invalidate other readings or versions.

It’s a pile of overlapping transparencies. None of them are going to perfectly line up, and indeed you can have two that don’t touch but still both contribute to the overall impression of the whole, because they both DO overlap with the same other layers.

And it’s not a uniquely modern situation; indeed it’s something that’s existed for as long as people have been telling each other stories about mythologies.

It’s littered through comics.

I just found out that Matthew Cable, first husband of Abigail Arcane, frequent participant in the Swamp Thing run up until his coma after banishing Anton Arcane to Hell, is also … Matthew the Raven.

Dream’s companion.

It is non-obvious if you encounter these two depictions years apart in different books. It’s a massive change to the character.

And yet that transformation is part of the story. It’s not out of character, it’s something that builds up the lore.

maomoa is painfully aware of hierarchy and power dynamics and she allows them to restrict her feelings and actions even in circumstances where it's clear an exception is being made for her

lakan ignores them entirely. he marries an old syphilis ridden courtesan and boasts about it, he's so in love with her and proud of her and he doesn't care what others think or what they say about it. he claims maomao as his despite her being a child had out of wedlock with a courtesan without his knowledge. he respects and cares for luomen despite his status as both a eunuch and criminal and shows him deference. he loses his temper with jinshi despite knowing exactly what his status is and what he could do to them - it's his son that pulls him back be reminding him of the consequences he'll face, because he knows his father can't be reigned in by consequences to himself since he just doesn't give a shit about things like that

maomao wants to be detached and logical and stay out of things that don't concern her, but she cares too much and will get herself in trouble, over and over, instead of staying out of it

lakan is detached and logical. he cares deeply for those people that are important to him and is a loyal subject of the emperor, but he has no problems letting pieces fall around him if it doesn't serve his best interests to interfere. in ways this callousness makes him a worse person, but maomao strives to be able to interact with the world that way and consistently fails to do so

maomao is unable to be honest about her feelings with others and many times refuses to even acknowledge them herself

lakan is completely unabashed with his feelings. he never hid his love for fengxian despite their stations. he's clear about his feelings for maomao, to the point that many in the palace are aware she's his daughter, and speaks proudly of this family that others would hide away. he shows deference to luomen, a form of affection in obedience from younger generation to older despite their stations no longer requiring him to do so. he's physically affectionate towards and admires lahan. he's sweet to meimei and she's fond of him in return, to the point that not only had maomao wanted him to buy her, but meimei had been willing to be bought by him, despite rejecting the idea of being bought by others. he doesn't bother to hide his positive feelings at all and barely bothers to restrain the negative ones, and only if there's something in it for him

maomao fears being wrong and the consequences it could have and has been taught by luomen to never speak about something she's not sure about. she eventually becomes comfortable enough with jinshi and others in the rear palace to voice things she's not totally sure of, but it's a constant struggle for her and she's always aware of what could happen if she's wrong

lakan trusts himself. he's very intelligent and calculating, but he doesn't have the same evidence seeking, logical mind that his uncle and daughter have and he doesn't try to. he just has exceptionally good instincts and uses them to devastating effect. he didn't have any of the same clues maomao did regarding the ritual being sabotaged, but he was there because he had a gut instinct that something was going to go wrong. lakan doesn't need overwhelming evidence to make a call or decide on a course of action, he just trusts himself

i think this is the thing that maomoa hates most of all

she doesn't trust herself at all. luomen doesn't either, and despite maomao's clear admiration, it's likely luomen's refusal to speak on something without irrefutable evidence is what caused him to be thrown out of the rear palace. i find it highly unlikely that he wouldn't have noticed that jinshi and the late emperor's second son were switched, but he might have lacked concrete evidence, and conjecture shouldn't be spoken out loud. yet despite having this philosophy and instilling it within maomao, luomen trusts lakan's instincts

the only thing even slightly critical maomao thinks about her father is her disdain for the fact he has nothing bad to say about lakan. despite lakan operating in a manner completely different than him, on an entirely different set of rules, luomen admires his abilities as a strategist without reservation

maomao craves that same admiration from luomen. she wants to be able to give in to her feelings for jinshi without worrying about the status between them. she wants to be able to articulate her feelings at all. she wants to be able to hold back from making risky calls when her emotions get the better of her. she wants, in the simplest and completest of terms, to be able to trust herself

and she can't

but lakan trusts himself easily, completely, and never back down from it

it infuriates her

Thorn Princess assigned to assassinate Twilight (obviously)

I’m 1000% on board with whoever came up with the idea that the Forger’s get a cat with telekinesis.

Loid/Yor join the Eden PTA

Damian and Becky have a lot of potential. Damian gives Becky the ick but he also figures out that having Becky in his corner will help him ward off Anya’s other suitors without him having to intervene directly so he tries to win her over and she’s all “omg! you want my help winning Anya’s heart!” and he’s all “THATS NOT AT ALL WHAT I WANT” (oh damian you can’t keep gaslighting yourself forever)

Maybe the Eden kids are too young for this but an overnight school trip would slap

Forger family invited to a wedding (cue Loid and Yor fumbling to make shit up about their own wedding)

Shouldn’t Eden College be teaching ballroom dancing? High society manners?

omg does Eden College have a host club (Alexa, play Kiss Kiss Fall in Love)

Twilight assigned a mission where he has to enter Bond in a dog competition

Assassin sent to kill Demetrius/Damian. Donovan is reclusive for a reason, so anyone looking to take vengence on him would have a better time trying to go through his wife/kids.

Eden College career fair (again this is probably something more for teenagers but i don’t care)

Eden kids get to go see Tertius’ castle and Anya is so psyched about it and Damian loses his mind

Does Damian have grandparents? I want to meet them.

An arc about Yor’s parents

Eden kids get into trouble and all tell hilariously conflicting stories about what happened ft. Anya’s wild imagination, Becky’s romanticization of everything, and Damian’s insistence that none of it was his fault in any way!!!

…is anyone going to teach these kids how to swim? We already know Anya can at least sort of swim (she was doing pretty well before she ran out of air saving that drowning kid). Also where did Anya learn how to swim?

Anya making friends with fellow middle-class kids at the park and they all play Bondman together.

Forger family camping trip!!!

Birthday party episode (Anya’s? Becky’s? Damian’s? someone else?) best part would be all the kids being little heathens about invitations (Damian “why would I want to go to your stupid party” Desmond. Anya “I will secure an invitation to Damian’s party” Forger. Damian “I only want to go to Becky’s party because her family employs the best chef in Ostania and for ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER REASON” Desmond.) The possibilities are endless.

Sports Day at Eden College

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Eden College emergency fire evacuation? Lockdown? Air raid drill?

Bomb threat at City Hall while Yor’s at work

Eden College kids role playing war. Maybe for history class? Though I imagine the adults wouldn’t be eager to do that so maybe it’s just a playground game everyone gets really into. Alternatively, they could role play some sci-fi/fantasy. I’m imagining that the whole episode kind of takes place inside the collective imagination of the kids (like the training montage in the dodgeball episode).

Melinda drags her son to some fancy dinner party and also invites the Forgers. Damian absolutely furious that his mom is making him play nice with Anya.

If Henderson HAD paid attention to Donovan’s remarks, perhaps he could have steered him into a direction that wouldn’t have led to what is canon today. A single teacher can change everything for a child.

Children should not think this way. Donovan’s not strange for thinking this, plenty of people do, but he’s a middle schooler in this scene. I remember some comments were saying he’s always been a sociopath. Maybe they’re right. Maybe he’s a cynic. Maybe he’s seen the worst. Who knows.

The “arrowcave” name coming from Dick is one thing:

It’s just adorable. Roy’s denial over how he supported it is even more so. I see who you are, Roy. You just like him. We can be honest here.

But it’s the gossiping about Dick and Bruce’s relationship that gets me. They’ve been watching this soap opera for decades now and they are judging. They have opinions.

Are we still sharing our favorite LN 5 moments?

I'm not sure how well this bit will translate in the anime and mangas, but it's one of my favorites in LN 5

There's been a lot of one-to-one comparisons between Maomao, the woman, and Maomao, the cat since her debut in LN 3. Here, Maomao is at her worse, isolated in the pleasure district without Luomen and barely any Jinshi visits. Then this trip came out of nowhere that she'd basically been forced into; couldn't say no. She doesn't even know where or why they're going

Maomao, the cat, meanwhile, leaves her basket (her cage) to walk around the carriage. She looks out the window and lounges on Guen's knees, cuddling up to Jinshi (but not Basen, lol) while Maomao, the woman, longingly following her movement

The cat, who'd been compared to Maomao several times by other people, favored by the Emperor and princess Lingli is now also getting the typical Maomao treatment of getting kicked out, shipped away because she's no longer useful/convenient to have at the rear palace, but she's yet to realize this is her last time to be with her favorite people, Guen and Jinshi

This is not only the reason why he constantly gets into near-death experiences (because the universe is trying to kill him to right itself), but also there’s an infinite number of realities killing him gruesomely in order to achieve this and maintain their universe’s integrity.

Dick is stuck in a perpetual loop of suffering across timelines because he was predesignated to do so to save it, like some kind of DC Jesus, and it is the silliest enforced kicking-while-down ever. By the decree of the goddamn multiverse, Dick cannot have a break.

The same Dan DiDio who, in 2006, had indeed planned to kill off Dick Grayson in Infinite Crisis as he thought killing the heart of the DCU would bring the other characters together once and for all.

To the surprise of nobody, except DiDio, this was was not seen as a brilliant notion. Public reaction was not good, with him telling an anecdote about even his luggage being held hostage at an airport by a airline staff member who said he'd get the luggage back if he promised Nightwing wouldn't be killed off.

Also, pretty much every editor and writer at DC told him what a stunningly bad idea it would be, because Dick was too much of a lynchpin to casually dispose of. So, as a compromise, Conner was chosen to die in Infinite Crisis instead.

With my most charitable hat on, I think the IPMC story was supposed to be a humourous riposte to the reactions at the time, justifying his original choice with a final "See, I'd have been right!"