Dio :P

right now there’s mostly just incorrect quotes under the tag because well writing is hard but i’ve got the characterization down

And I haven’t seen canon evidence of selective mutism for Pietro, i just felt like it made sense, most the problems he has is related to him not having a filter and being extremely outwardly defensive sooo in his next life(ish it’s complicated) his brain kinda just flipped that around and now he just has to slip into his speed so he can calm down and catch up with the conversation… and still end up putting his foot in his mouth

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

A few highlights for those who don't want to read the whole thing:

Catnapped!

Selina steals Duke to do his hair!! They take foreverrrr to get done, Bruce allows the shortened patrols cuz Duke will only take a break outta spite

Imagining Selina hissing at Duke to get the “black comb on the bathroom counter did you look on the counter?? Don’t make me go in there!” As he keeps coming back with increasingly wrong combs (the comb was bright blue and on the kitchen table)

*scrolls*

*wait fuck thats my generic blonde girl*

Just a dumb lil comic because I love these three and I think it would be so funny if like. Kenan didn’t know about Kon’s t-shirt phase.

So unfortunately they’re both characters without a lot of content, but fortunately, that means it’s super easy to get into their comics!!

Here’s a reading guide for Nat (just for starting), and here’s one for Kenan! Both have great comics. I love the Steel stuff, and Kenan’s run is genuinely one of the best comic runs imo. Seriously, great stuff, I just wish it was longer.

To continue for Nat: She's honestly a bit harder to read since she's a side character for a lot of her appearances, but I totally recommend reading the 90s Steel series in general - it's a good read!! But if you just want Nat, here's a list of a lot of her older appearances, and here's a guide for John Henry, which again I suggest reading!!! I love John and Natasha, and his comics are good, I promise!! And sidenote: New 52 Superman stuff sucks. Like genuinely, I'm pretty sure that Clark, Lois, Kara, and Kon all got it the worst in the New 52. However, the John and Natasha stuff is actually kinda good lol.

And also, I'm not sure if you've read it yet, but... don't read Superman 2016. I think most people I've talked to agree that it sucks ass. I mean, you can read it if you want, but like... it sucks.

Ofc I’m sure you’ve read this since a lot of people use it as their Superfamily starter comic, but The Death and Return of Superman is a great arc/event to read if you haven’t yet!! It’s the introduction for John Henry, Kon, and the Eradicator - all Superfamily members (Eradicator less so, but he’s a reoccurring character!) - plus Hank Henshaw, one of the major Superman villains from that point on.

I’m not sure what you’ve read so far, so ignore this if you’ve already gone through this stuff, but ok!! Modern era!!

I’m not sure if you’ve read Young Justice 2019, but the first bit of that series crosses over with the ‘House of Kent’ storyline. I don’t recommend you read that arc, because it’s really not that great, but two things happen in it that are important: Kon rejoins the Superfamily after being erased from time (which is why he’s back if you’re wondering why he suddenly exists again) AND Clark reveals his secret identity to the whole world, a decision so hated by the fandom that DC almost instantly retconned it lol.

So the identity thing. It was retconned by Lex Luthor pulling some comic bs and everyone forgets again, only this time, he plants a psychic bomb in people’s minds, so if anyone finds out he’s Superman, they die. It’s… a choice. This is important for Kenan later, I swear.

But outside of that!! I would highly recommend reading the Warworld arc for the introduction of the twins, they’re honestly so great. PKJ’s run on the Superfamily in general is fantastic!!! But after Warworld, then you can read anything after, since that’s the modern Superfamily.

Some stuff you might wanna read before Action Comics 1051: are Superboy: Man of Tomorrow, and Steelworks! There’s a story with Kenan that takes place before then as well, but it’s in one of the backend stories post Action Comics 1051. I think the Kenan reading guide covers this actually, so you can just follow that guide.

Once you do get to 1051, that when you have the modern Superfamily all there as regulars! Or they should be regulars if writers would just use them more, but I digress.

But one of my favourite stories has got to be Knight Terrors: Action Comics. It’s written by PKJ (again!!!! I’m actually so sad he signed on with Marvel now, I really wanted him back for the Superfamily since he felt like the only writer to use Kon, Kenan, and Nat as regulars and they actually felt in-character), and it’s the thing that got me obsessed with Natasha, Kon, and Kenan as a trio. Seriouslyyyy it’s so good (but only two issues long, unfortunately).

Also - Power Girl (2009) and the current Supergirl run are both good if you haven't tried them yet!!! I'm not a hardcore Supergirl fan though, so other people might be better with comic recs for her, these are just the series that I found myself enjoying!!

Just a dumb lil comic because I love these three and I think it would be so funny if like. Kenan didn’t know about Kon’s t-shirt phase.

and then there was Karl Kesel writing in Batman and Superman World’s Finest #7 (1999):

...Bruce you fired him. You kicked your only son out. Bruce you BEAT YOUR CHILD. You traumatised this kid so much that he couldn't stand to keep the name that was one of the only memories of his mum he had left...