#bearritalks

[sstrawbearri]

basically the best thing a story can have is a woman who is doomed. massive points if she destroys the people around her in response.

[sstrawbearri]

the best part about dick grayson is the fact that his happy-go-lucky nature is a façade built on hundreds of micro-analyses of each current situation and his seemingly carefree expression is a very carefully calculated mask to make sure people in the vicinity are comfortable. when it breaks down it is not because he has suddenly Become Something Else - only that he has failed to contain what usually sits below the surface. also, he really is just unnervingly cheerful in odd situations.

[sstrawbearri]

"just remember [character] is actually a BAD PERSON!!!" okay 👍

[sstrawbearri]

one of my current favourite readings of Ava is as a woman trying very hard to maintain "favourite daughter" status within the Consolidation. She's fairly young, but she's been given her own crew, towship, and title of Captain. She's obviously aware to some extent that the things she is doing to provide the Consolidation with hope for the future are resulting in unacceptable loss of life, including her own crew. She doesn't appear to be doing anything with regard to her own survival: at every turn, it's "this is bigger than us", "this is more than us", and she does genuinely seem to mean it. Those words aren't just a slogan for her. Her immediate response to being asked to prove her loyalty to her own word ("you promise you'll get me out?") is to offer her own life in return ("i'll come get you myself."). To Captain Ava, it is worth anything, because the only thing she has is a place within a tiny faction that solves its problems by throwing bodies at them.

[sstrawbearri]

likely a lukewarm take but i do believe that a core part of babs' character is that she's intensely overbearingly controlling especially around things that are literally unable to be controlled because such a crucial part of her life was (in her eyes) taken out of her control with a very simple, preventable action. she has to have a finger in every single pie because the one time she didn't, she lost a whole lot more than she was willing to.

[sstrawbearri]

"simon's anger issues ahaha" they imprisoned him for sixteen years for a crime he believes he didnt commit and then welded him into a tin can and threw him into a death trap ocean and lied to him the entire fucking time. and he had like. nine concussions.

[sstrawbearri]

david iron lung was actually a really fascinating character. he seems to have absolutely no regard for Ava's authority ("Captain's had a consolidated stick up her ass since the quiet rapture."), despite living in a society that appears to prioritise hierarchy above all other forms of governance. he has no interest in the Convict's life or thoughts until they align with his own, which he responds to very smugly ("since the quiet rapture, none of us have a choice." "hey, there's something we can both agree on."). He appears to begrudgingly follow Ava's orders when he thinks he'll get in trouble for not ("Ava- Jack can't even stand!.... Yes, ma'am."), and directly contradicts her at every turn. He makes himself out to be the good guy to the Convict ("If I was in charge, things would be different. But, you know. I'm just a cog in the machine .") and then the second Ava switches track, he doubles back on that ("Woah, hey, "if we're fast?"... he is lying to you! it is not worth losing you on some fucking convict!")

he seems to be a sort of antagonistic party who is functionally aligned with the COI out of convenience but actually is against everyone and everything.

[sstrawbearri]

dick g's tendency to mythologise his own childhood (because he was eight) and everyone else refusing to challenge him on it (because hes so good it's believable)