conner kent deserves better honestly

bros just. he just really cool. idk i think he deserves more love.

this is all /lh btw :D <3

also im sorry for my pure ignorance i know its showed up at least once here p lease dont come @ me too much :(

Comic List + Thoughts

so basically i'm just gonna compile a list of all the comics i've read and write a little commentary about them - this is mostly for my own benefit because my memory is pitiful so i need physical evidence of what i've read.

Nightwing Vol. 1: Leaping into the Light (2021)

I enjoyed this! I think it was a good beginner point for the most part because i came here with an interest mostly in Nightwing. I liked the art, and while i was a bit confused bc i knew next to nothing about this universe, so therefore did not understand any of the references they made. i still enjoyed it, the writers keep new readers in mind, and don't necessarily regret reading it first.

Robin/Batgirl: Year One (2002)

this one was good too. I got a bit bored at times but it was a good introduction to batgirl/barbara and how she started and got to be involved with the bats. (basically them just following her around while Barbara's like 'leave me alone tf')

Batman: Dark Victory (1999-2000)

also pretty good, I was kinda bored until Dick came in (mostly because he's the character i've really become invested in so far) but i loved seeing the very beginning of his character. sidenote: i love alfred

Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet (1997)

this one was fun to read! I dont have a whole lot of commentary on it but it was more good backstory and seeing dick as robin.

Robin and Batman (2022)

I LOVED the artwork. watercolor is loml. but about the actual story: i also enjoyed it. Baby Dick is unhinged i love it. also it was the beginning of me not really liking batman??? i wasnt really expecting that... WFA led me astray :') and honestly that dislike just carries on the more i read so idk whats going on

Teen Titans: Year One (2008)

MY JAW DROPPED. bro when batman straight up hit Dick i was BAFFLED. like i know he was mind controlled and what not but bro why is batman such an ass to dick??? like even after the mind control is gone like hes still just so?? like shut up and let this 13 year old have fun with his friends wtf. anyways i dont like him, sorry, but if im just reading the ooc comics then lmk but so far im 👎🏼 on batman

Teen Titans (1966)

I only read issues #1 to get the intro, and then #14 because i heard it was dick centered. I wish i liked the older comics more than i do but i'm not mad i read them. I do enjoy the titans storyline and characters though so i will definitely read more to do with them

The New Teen Titans (1980)

I dabbled but i cant tell you which issues i read- again i think i need to get used to reading comics as a whole and come back to the older ones :')

Nightwing: Year One (1996)

so i've almost finished this one! Its #101-106 and i'm on #105 rn. again I DON'T LIKE BATMAN. like he's such a man-child. he literally 'fired' and yelled at this 13 year old kid for helping his friends save people instead of being with him like okay bitch. but anyways i like this! its more good backstory plus him going back to the circus was a nice touch. also the nightwing origin!!! dick going to superman for advice :') I like it.

okay thats all i got so far, I'm excited to keep reading. I have definitely spent too much time worrying about backstory and reading orders ( ik i don't have to bc continuity is relative but my brain just wont let me go out of order) but i've gotten a reading list that i'm pretty comfortable with. Also pretty soon ill be reading more with the batfam (specifically batkids) and im excited for that!! (the batkids are most of the reason im here tbh...especially now bc batman is...not my favorite)

okay thats all :)

i might add to this as i go i might not, we shall see.

thoughts on steven universe future

td;lr overall opinion: steven universe future is better than most of the original steven universe, especially seasons 3-5, but there are still some real iffy plotlines in future

i hate that the diamonds were redeemed but at the same time, the happy clouds blue and yellow putting gems back together scenes were so pure

it simultaneously warms my heart and infuriates me 

but we finally got a blue diamond song, god i love her voice

EDIT: also steven basically tortured white diamond and nearly killed her and it was pretty disturbing bc steven is 1. in a really bad mental state, like way darker than i thought they’d show him go, since this is technically a kids show and 2. was also kind of trying to hurt himself, which both hit me really hard bc i had similar periods of blazing anger, wanting to self harm and harm others that i felt had wronged me when i was a teenager, but its also what white deserves

ncsndlljklkcndkls i want to enjoy this show so bad but,,, steven having ptsd makes him a violent douche??? diamonds killed who knows how many gems in their reign and never really felt bad about it in original su but now they’re supportive life coaches??? no thank you

on more positive notes, i loved how priyanka described mental health and how she treated steven throughout the entire check up, she was so nonconfrontational and whenever he felt stressed she deescalated the situation,,, it was so good

the animation is the best its been since season 2. the poses are clean, very well drawn, and on model. there are more action scenes than like 90% of steven universe and they’re animated way better, like theres actual fighting and motion asjksacbcbj no one is stiffly posed, no one has strange proportions, no one is drastically changing sizes in between shots (well besides steven in growing pains onward but when he does change size its supposed to be like that lol)

i liked seeing the real roses but didnt love it? i wish we saw more of the roses designs up close, and i wish they fit a little more with the other quartzes? it might be just because its era 3, but the roses were all way more unique than jaspers and amethysts generally seem to be. i like that they were more unique designs and had different personalities, but surely the diamonds wouldnt have tolerated that back in era 1 or even era 2, had the rose quartzes not been bubbled? also i get that they’re reminiscent of pink bc she created them, but hippie and superfan were so naive, more so than other quartzes. if each quartz group was slightly different, it would make a little more sense tbh like if quartzes were the entire gem army, but each group was slightly different. i always liked the idea that rose quartzes were either the defense or the healers of the gem army.

little homeschool and guidance were fun and genuinely enjoyable, considering not a whole ton happens in them. i wish townie episodes had been more like them. like you could replace the gems with random humans, but it would still be a fun episode? idk, maybe involving the humans in gem stuff wouldve made better townie episodes, like lars and the cool kids. it wouldve probably helped steven feel more “human” too, if the human and gem worlds collided a bit more in the series.

bluebird was... an ok episode, but im not sure how well it will fit into what i feel like the end will be, where every episode of future featured someone steven helped or affected in some way, and they all come together to help steven when he corrupts. or rather, i guess if bluebird did say something, it would feel more hollow bc steven didnt help them lol the gems and universes were just friendly to them, and thats it. it wasnt as bad as a very special episode (my least favorite episode of future), but it felt like a townie episode with no townies LOL at least we got a new fusion i guess

a very special episode was just,,, infuriating. there was that weird football scene where they just like,,, talk about screen resolution for a minute then play the full commercial for little homeworld we just saw last episode???? i did genuinely enjoy the rainbow scenes, but it just built up to not nothing. oh no, it was something alright. the whole episode was just future vision and then theres like a minute long psa??? it felt like that wacky randomness that would have happened in like, ok ko, teen titans go, or clarence jaskjcbkcjbskb

mr universe is tied with dear old dad episode as my least favorite greg episode. i get how both of them feel. greg wanted to tell steven about how he escaped from his miserable childhood and remade who he was, no longer a demayo but a universe. the problem imo was that greg became way too absorbed in the past. it reminds me a bit of s1 pearl, how she’d proudly recount gem battles and basked in the glory of fighting for their freedom, but she struggled when she had to recount the more unsavory parts of war. and that really affected amethyst, since she didnt fight in the glorified war pearl told her and steven about. amethyst was the byproduct of one of the bad parts of the war, and that became part of her identity, until on the run, where pearl finally realized that she needed to tell amethyst that she wasnt bad. amethyst’s creation may have fractionally hurt the earth, but that wasnt her fault. it wasnt her fault that she emerged too late to fight either. and it wasnt her fault that she existed. sounds familiar to to stevens rant in the van. 

steven didnt ask to be made. he didnt ask to be the half gem half human son of a diamond. but he grew up being told about how great his mom was, and that while no one would ever say it, she was gone because of him. to create steven, rose had to die. it was roses decision, but as the product of that decision, steven feels responsible. not only that, but being told constantly about his amazing mother, steven felt like he had to live up to her, had to be like her, had to replace her in the gems and greg’s lives. throughout the series, steven is constantly either trying to be like his mother, until he realizes its ok to be himself. but then the question is posed; is steven even himself? or is he still part of rose? and once he finds out that he’s steven, and has always been steven, he’s still reeling from the realization that his mother was pink diamond. and that really shows in future, where steven is becoming like pink. at first he doesnt even know, because besides the jungle moon dream, him and the audience never knew about this side of pink. this angry, short tempered, diamond who lashes out mostly physically. and unlike before, no one’s telling steven about pink (besides pink pearl) hes finding out firsthand, and this pink mode is basically being forced on him by his gem. steven has little to no control over this form. hes not trying to live up to his mother, or wondering if he is her, like before. now, he’s losing control to whatever programming is in his gem.

but back to mr universe. in the van, greg is going on and on about how lucky steven is, and how free steven is, but how can either of them compare their lives to each other? the similarities just arent there. steven is right, greg and pink were “raised” in very similar “households”. both had their wishes and desires suppressed by controlling, abusive parents. we know pink was abused mentally, verbally and physically (being physically dragged away from the screen by yellow in jungle moon, stevonnie being grabbed and thrown into the time out cell by yellow, when she still thought steven was pink), but greg at the very least was mentally assaulted. but they diverge from here. as greg said, he thought disco was back. rose started a war. you cant compare them any further. 

but at the same time, steven was raised completely differently. he was raised in a home with love and freedom, but he was also not given the opportunity to be a normal kid. theres a difference being forcing your kid to do something and not giving them the chance to try something. steven was never given the option to go to school (well in the comics he was but i guess thats not canon now since it seems like steven wishes he went to school?) he was never given the option to live in a house, or go to the mall with friends. the only other kids he knew were the boardwalk kids, but even then, he doesnt seem very close with them. for such an outgoing, friendly kid, steven wasnt given many opportunities to make friends. steven’s upbringing was very relaxed, yes, but it was too relaxed. he needed more structure, and more importantly, more humanity. i always thought it was weird, how little steven seems to have interacted with humans before connie, considering that his mother so desperately wanted steven to experience being human. yes the show is about gems, (and yes, i dont like most townie episodes), but steven was never shown doing a lot of “human” kid things inbetween episodes. the episode never started with him coming home from a friends house, he hardly ever spent time with friends other than connie in little scenes. like he was never called for a mission while playing cards with peedee, or coming home after an after school activity. any scenes like that were either just steven by himself, or with greg, and occasionally connie. but connie is a new addition to his life. how many years has he been doing fun stuff with only his dad for company, or by himself? yknow, “non traditional” childhoods and living situations are becoming more and more common in media, rather than the “two parents in a suburb house” thing, but steven’s life is beyond any unusual childhood any other kid would have. i mean he’s never even been to the doctor! which is probably for several reasons, like the fact that he apparently doesnt have a ssn, he can heal himself, has a damn gemstone in his stomach, and is half alien. but still, thats not something he has in common with other kids. no matter how much love and freedom he was given, steven was raised as an outcast.

i agree with the notion that both greg and steven were both right and wrong in mr universe. i guess they both have that in common with rose lol 

greg should have read the room better, realized that his pep talk wasnt the support and apology steven needed to hear. but steven shouldnt have acted out in the way he did. i get that’s the “theme” of steven’s spiral, maybe for the younger audience to better understand how steven is acting? but crashing his dad’s van that gregs been living in for like 20 years? fucking SHATTERING jasper? that’s going way too far to prove a point. it would have been better to maybe mirror story for steven, where marty and greg are arguing, marty is watching the road and they narrowly avoid hitting a car. but crashing the car could have been pretty serious, especially for greg. now jasper, that episode shouldnt have been approved. steven should not have shattered jasper. he fucking killed her. rose/pink didnt even shatter anyone. and if it wasnt for steven getting another superpower out of nowhere, jasper would have stayed that way. he should have just cracked her gem, poofing her in the process. the rest of the episode wouldve played out exactly the same.

anyways ive been writing this for like 2 hours but i feel better letting it all out. if you enjoy future keep enjoying it! it’s definitely more like a B+ compared to season 3-5′s general C-/D+. but please take into consideration future has some themes that people personally relate to, like mental health, and that you shouldnt shit on someone elses opinions that are based on their own personal experiences. especially if you dont have mental health issues, dont keep pushing your opinion and telling people that personally relate to future’s themes that they’re wrong? thats fucked up man

You ever check out Mike Weiringo's DeviantArt? (The guy who originally came up with the design for Impulse.) It makes me kinda sad to see that some of his last drawings of Bart it was clear he wasn't happy with what DC did to the character in the mid to late 2000s. If you click on some of his drawings of Bart he talks about it in the descriptions.

yeah he did some great art, and we’re in agreement on bart. theres some elements about johns’ teen titans and flash: fastest man alive i liked - but a lot of it was just so divorced from what id interpreted as fundamental about the character. (also ageing him up in order to change his character, only to kill him off when he wasn’t popular enough was just... idk i wasnt a fan)

theres echoes of that dissonance in the newest flash annual too... maybe the writers assumed that bart and wally were close but i dont remember that being the case in preboot - even when bart was kid flash, wally was never his mentor. everything else is bart allen original flavour though and tbh im just so hyped hes back i dont really care that much abt retconned relationships between first cousins