I personally like Thunder's prosthetic. Explained it to my friend (who does use a mobility device, a cane and wheelchair, and listens to me rant and infodump about BB) and they agreed, it's important to know that not every person needs what someone wants to give them. It's another example of "bad ableist person does a thing that hurts a disabled person because they are bad and ableist".
Clear Sky got Jagged Peak killed and would have killed Sunlit Frost! He would absolutely force his disabled son to be "normal" and present it like a privilege. "I wouldn't do this for anyone else, it's special, why don't you want to be helped?"
Thunder Storm should toss it in Clear Sky's face. (I would say toss it into the river but we do not pollute waterways in this house)
Thank you for telling me this, and tell your friend I'm thanking them too! If they have anything else to add please forward what they have to say
Since BB!DOTC tackles some of the heaviest topics in the entire series because its canon equivalent is so dark, I think very carefully about what I do here and how I show it. I take feedback on its sensitive aspects very seriously. If I'm understanding the criticism properly, it's that I should avoid stigmatizing prosthetics by making sure Thunder Storm's not the only one with it-- which he's not! And I'll add even more.
I don't want to avoid something only because it's uncomfortable if the topic is important, and my portrayal is respectful. Ableism IS uncomfortable! There are some situations where a prosthetic is not wanted! I think the rejection of this particular one is both a good opportunity to show a type of ableism and ALSO is very fitting for the characters.
In BB!Clear Sky's mind, the villain, he's fixing an old mistake. He can't admit that he got Jagged Peak killed or take REAL accountability for it (though he will, occasionally, apologize insincerely), but deep in his bones, he knows what he did was cruel. He'll never tell anyone this because he doesn't really cognate it himself, but Thunder Storm NEEDS to take his gift.
If Thunder doesn't take it, it blows a hole in his newest story. You see, throwing Jagged Peak out was All That Could Have Been Done back then. It was a Tragedy and he simply Made A Hard Choice. He regrets it very much, But You Have To Understand.
But now? Now? Well, behold. Look at what he's accomplished since the tragic death of his little brother. His cats are well-fed, cared for, and stable enough to make such incredible advancements. If only Jagged Peak had been able to hold on longer, if only he could be here now, I could fix him.
Just like I can (MAKE YOU JUST LIKE ME) fix you.
"Everything I've ever done is for Jagged Peak. For Fluttering Wing. For you." Thunder Sky is SPECIAL, but if he rejects any gift, tries to turn down the "privileges" offered to him, in an instant that becomes ungratefulness and arrogance. He both forces him to be special, and then leverages it against him if it's rejected. "Spoiled brat, doesn't appreciate what I've worked so hard to give him."
It all goes back to him and his own guilt. He can NEVER be wrong. He can't accept his family doesn't have to be "normal" or reflect his own ability. He won't see himself as a bully, let alone a murderer. It was never about his son's comfort or finding out what Thunder Storm wants or needs, it was about his own ego.
...All that said I'm still taking feedback if there's anything else I should keep in mind, or if anyone has a counter point, especially if you also have experience here.
(In the interest of having a link trail for posterity, here's the critique/call for feedback this is in response to)
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“Bear, you’re hands are shaking.” Tim says abruptly.
“Hmm?” Bernard hums noncommittally, “Must be from the cold.”
“Bear,” Tim says with a little more force, “your hands are shaking.”
The entire family has stopped to watch them now.
Bernard smiles, tense around the edges, “I know. It must be from the cold.”
Tim turns towards his family, “Can you guys wait outside for a little? I need to talk to my husband over here.”
The family exchanges slow glances with each other and surprisingly it’s Jason who agrees first.
“Well, c’mon.” Jason says, when he sees that the rest of them haven’t moved, “They’re having a domestic squabble and they asked us to leave. Get moving.”
Quietly, the family exits out the hospital room, Bruce shutting the door behind him. The minute they’re all in the hallway, the family breaks out into hushed whispers.
“What do you think they’re arguing about?” says Steph.
“Dunno, seemed important.” Duke responds.
“Yeah, no shit.” Jason says smirking, “That’s why I bugged their room.”
“Jason,” Bruce admonishes but there’s no real rebuke behind it.
Jason pulls out his mini Bat-Tablet and starts fiddling with the frequencies. After a few short minutes, the static fades into recognizable words.
“...Bear tell me the truth.” Tim says, “Did you-”
“Lets not do this today, okay baby? You’re tired.” Bernard says.
“Ooooh, already starting off wrong.” Dick mutters.
“Don’t ‘baby’ me Bear. Tell me the truth. Did you-”
“Stop.” Bernard says, “You’re whole family is listening in.”
Jason nearly drops the Bat-Tablet, “What the fuck? How’d he know?”
“Do you really want this to be the way they find out?”
“About what?” Bruce mutters, fists clenching beside him.
“I don’t care! Tell me the truth!” Tim shouts, “Did you kill him?”
Silence falls over the hallway, the family trying process what they heard.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Steph asks.
“Duke, do you know anything about this?” Bruce asks, “You’re the only one who knew about Bernard before this whole incident. Any of this ringing a bell?”
Duke shrugs, “Not a clue, Uncle B. All I knew was that they were married, nothing else.”
“Tim, baby, don’t do this.” Bernard pleads, “Ask me anything else.”
"Answer my question, did. you. kill. him?"
Bernard is quiet for long enough that they think the connection fizzled out.
"He wasn't a good person." Bernard says quietly.
"Was he a bad person?" Tim counters.
"...No." Bernard admits.
"So just average then. Not good and not bad."
"He didn't have anyone waiting for him."
"Weird justification, still murder." Duke murmurs.
"Did you kill him, Bear?" Tim asks tiredly. "Answer me or I will call Nikhil."
"Tim, baby, you're the smartest person I know. You already have an answer to your question."
"He wants to hear it from you," Cass whispers.
"I want to hear it from you." Tim says, unknowingly mimicking Cass.
Bernard says nothing and Tim sighs, "Alright then. Call Nikhil here."
There's rustling on the other side, presumably Bernard pulling out his phone. Someone says something but it's too faint to properly understand.
"He'll be here in a few." Bernard says and the feed lapses back into silence.
The family looks at each other.
"Okay Tim talks about Bernard killing like it's something he regularly does. Is Bernard some kind of hitman? Mercenary? Assassin?" Dick asks.
"No," Damian says, startling everyone, "He does not act like one."
("When did you wake up?" Jason asks.
"When you started playing the feed," Damian says.)
"Okay but nevermind what Bernard is, who did he kill?" Duke asks.
"It sounds like a regular person," Steph says, "But I don't think Bernard would kill a regular person. He doesn't seem like it."
"You don't know him." Bruce says, "We met him 3 weeks ago."
Their theorizing is interrupted by an Indian man walking towards them.
"How did you get here?" Bruce growls out, "This is a private floor."
"Hello, Sir. My name is Nikhil. I was sent for."
Bruce looks like he's going to keep interrogating the man so Dick pushes him aside and says, "Of course! They're in the first room on the right."
Nikhil bows his head briefly, "Thank you." And walks into the room.
Jason turns up the volume on the Bat-Tablet.
"Nikhil," Tim says tiredly, "It's so good to see you again. Sorry about cancelling dinner last month."
Dinner? Last month? Duke mouths.
"Young Master Bernard, Young Master Tim." Nikhil says.
Even Bruce looks confused now. Young Master?
"It's not a problem," Nikhil continues, "You weren't feeling well. We'll just have to have two dinners this month to make up for it."
“Of course, of course!” Tim says, “Can you answer a question for me Nikhil?”
“Of course.”
“Did Bernard kill Matthew Nicholls?”
Bruce sighs, the tension leaving his shoulders, “The man who shot Tim in the throat.”
“Oh my god,” Steph whispers.
Nikhil doesn’t respond right away.
“Go ahead, Nikhil. Tell him.”
Nikhil clears his throat, “Yes.”
Tim sucks in a breath.
“Three days ago, Young Master Bernard, Luka, and me, killed him.” Nikhil speaks as if he’s reading the weather forecast, “Luka and I, were on lookout. Young Master Bernard shot him.”
(Jason pointedly tries not to think about the fact that, Tim’s husband will kill someone for shooting Tim in throat but Bruce won’t even think about harsher sentences for the fucking Joker.
Whatever he’s not mad.)
“God fucking damnit, Bear. What the hell were you thinking?” Tim breathes out.
“And you, Nikhil, how could you let him do this?”
“NIkhil, didn’t make me do anything Tim. I chose it. I did it. I put the bullet in his head.”
“Bear, you’re a doctor! You can’t just fuckin’ kill people!”
“Young Master Tim,” Nikhil states sharply, “He was the head of the mob long before he was doctor. And even if that wasn’t the case, the Aquista mob does not take lightly to their members being targeted.”
“The Aquista mob?” Steph says, “But I thought that they died out during the gang wars...”
“Shows how much you know.” snorts Jason, “They’re one of the only few mobs that don’t work directly under me. But there’s no way Bernard’s the head. I met with them, once, when I was still on my, y’know.”
“Your murder spree, you mean?” Dick asks dryly.
“Yeah that. Anyway, when I met with them, they took me to their head. He was definitely not blonde, or young. It was some middle-aged man.”
“Must have been a decoy.” Bruce says, “Do they cause any trouble?”
“Not at all. They stick to themselves.”
“If you fools could be quiet, I’d be able to hear what Drake and Dowd are saying.”
They all tune back in.
“You said you understood.” Bernard says quietly, “When we got married, you said you understood. That it wasn’t gonna come between us.”
“And it isn’t!” Tim responds frustratedly, “But you can’t just go around killing people who hurt me.”
“And I don’t.” Bernard says, “Because if I did, half of the Gotham’s villains would be dead. But you don’t like it when I kill so I don’t do it.”
“Because I do everything you ask. You told me you didn’t want me becoming an EMT in Gotham, so I stayed in the military. You told me not to kill, so I do it as sparsely as I can. You gave yourself to me and asked me to put you back together, and so I did. As carefully as I could I put you back together.”
“You can’t blame me for killing Matthew Nicholls. You can’t.”
“Bear,” Tim starts.
“Do you know what the doctors told me when I finally arrived?” Bernard interrupts, “They said your heart stopped twice. That is was a miracle the bullet hit nothing vital. They said you had lost too much blood, that they were worried you weren’t gonna make it.”
“Was that you plan Tim? To make me a widower? To leave me behind?”
Bernard continues, voice thick with emotion, “There is no me without you. It’s too late for that. If I had came back and you were dead, I would’ve returned to Ebria that day and thrown myself on a live grenade.”
“Before anything else, Tim, I am your husband. Remember that. Before being the head of the mob, before being a Marine, before anything else, I am your husband. Remember that.”
“Bear,” Tim chokes out.
“God, fuck. I can’t do this right now.”
“Bear, wait!”
They hear the sound of the door closing and they all rush to look inconspicuous. Bernard walks past them without a second glance, wiping at his eyes.
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While I 100% agree that if people aren't having fun they should take a step back/quit, I don't like the "if you're not having fun just go find another game" argument because it's so often used to shut down actual legitimate criticism from people who are otherwise enjoying the game but want genuine problems to be addressed. (I've seen it, for example, when people try to bring up bigotry in games and suggest maybe making some changes to remove it. I always get wary when I see people say it now.)
Oh yeah absolutely. There's real criticism that we have to be able to point out and discuss. A lot of the times people use this for any minor criticism someone has and I agree, that's often a way to shut down the conversation. Criticism in general is supposed to come from a place of love: you love something and you want to see it be better.
Unfortunately, in this case, when the community turns into ONLY negativity and criticism, it's kinda hard to believe they care about the game anymore. If people still had some positive stuff to engage with and were enjoying the game but had issues, then sure. But most of the negativity online right now is just purely rage bait. Bungie apparently has no redeeming qualities, and Destiny is dead. Misinformation is spreading about everything: all devs abandoned Destiny to work on Marathon (claim with no source that's accepted as fact and makes no sense: Destiny is the only game making them money, they can't abandon it before Marathon is out. Like, logically), monetisation is the worst in the industry (I genuinely don't believe that they play other games if they think that Destiny's monetisation is the worst in the industry), Bungie is maliciously banning people for fun (????) but also Bungie isn't banning people enough, Bungie is maliciously making server issues and didn't develop a "fix server" button in their office, game development is easy and Bungie is just lazy and the devs don't want to tell us anything because they're evil, Destiny is falling apart and nobody is playing anymore (just trust me bro), and most recent one which is possibly the most baffling of all - Bungie Foundation is a scam to write off taxes. Yes, that is currently discourse (which apparently gets recycled every year). Bungie Foundation, a charity organisation that's been going on for 13 years and is an independent registered organisation, is a scam. This is where we're at with the community mentality. And there's even more.
When we're at this point, it's truly something else. Like, if they believe conspiracy theories about Bungie and think Bungie is scamming them, maybe they just shouldn't play the game anymore. Why are they still here if they think this is all a scam? I would drop the game if I believed any of this so strongly.
Normal people having criticism and all is perfectly fine however! I did my fair share especially recently about the season pass pricing changes which I called a predatory practice and still believe it is. There's a lot more stuff to complain about while still enjoying the game and not basing your entire online existence and personality on hating Bungie. If they've got nothing else to do besides sitting on twitter shitting on Bungie, maybe it's time to move on.
I've also had my suspicions about the motives for hardcore Bungie hate after the incidents involving transphobic attacks on Bungie devs following the LF showcase, as well as all the crap about Nimbus and their VA. Given the recent developments about the general anti-LGBT+ mentality, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a contingent of people who are focusing on Bungie more than anyone else for how outspoken they are in their support for LGBT+ causes. Like, not to do some big reach or something but it's fairly curious that gamers online are adopting the anti-LGBT+ sentiments while Bungie is aggressively supportive. It just rubs me the wrong way that the one company that's committed to this and has been for years before most other companies jumped on the bandwagon is the one that they're choosing to paint as the worst villain. And the LGBT+ support isn't even all, as Bungie has other initiatives where they actively support women's right, reproductive rights, poc rights, disability rights and so on). I don't know, I've been a part of the gaming community for a long time and while there's been massive changes since the early days (and since gamergate days), the issues of bigotry in gaming remain. It feels particularly suspicious to, out of ALL companies, single out Bungie which invests in charities and progressive causes. Like, in the grand scheme of things, every corpo is robbing me blind, I know that, I have to give money to corpos to live on this Earth, so I at least want to give it to a corpo that considers me to be a human being and funds causes that promote my rights, instead of wanting me dead.
Ironically, all of this weird hate makes it harder to have actual normal criticism. It just gets drowned and lost in the sea of exaggerated bullshit and lies and conspiracies perpetuated by people who just don't seem to like the game anymore. At the end of the day, it's a video game. Whatever criticism we have, if it gets to the point where we just can't handle the state of the game, the best way to show it is to simply stop playing. A deluge of harassment on twitter will not bring about meaningful change nor will it adequately convey our criticism to anyone. If they truly want some changes, they would do this criticism in a way that matters, instead of creating a horde of angry gamers who will latch onto every lie and create a hate bandwagon.
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