Reject The Chains Of History. Do Not Let The Past Define Your Future As I Did. Free Yourself From The

So the footage of Owen training the tiny raptors in the new Jurassic World kind of (inadvertently, I think) confirmed something that always bugged me about the social dynamics mentioned in the first film.

Owen’s using the term ‘alpha’ wrong.

Of course, the concept of pack alphas is rooted in a lot of erroneous studies anyway. But if we take his actual assertions about it and Blue’s behaviour at face value, then Owen is wrong. He’s not the alpha. Blue is the alpha. The pack follows her cues, that’s why they go with her when she decides to follow the Indominous, and it’s also why they listen to Owen - because Blue does. If Blue stops, so do the other raptors. They’d don’t just wait it out to see who’ll win, they immediately follow Blue’s lead.

Blue’s the leader. 

Owen is, actually, the mediator.

He is the one who stops disputes between the raptors and defuses tense situations. He is permitted this status precisely because he’s physically weak (compared to raptors) but socially important. His social importance was created by rearing the raptors and forming emotional bonds with them. But they know full well that he’s squishy and beatable (though they probably don’t realize just how lethal some behaviours might be for him, comparatively). Blue knows she can kill Owen and that Owen is not strong or very useful at leadership decisions for a velociraptor pack. She accepts his input because he’s dad.

So since Owen actually isn’t even in the running for pack leader, and challenging him would be pointless because then you’d just hurt him and cost the pack a socially important member, and also probably get beaten up by Blue, he is the ideal mediator of disputes. His intervention de-escalates situations by reducing the amount of violence that’s permissible. 

But because he was using so much containment and physical force (even if it was through equipment, obviously) to keep the raptors in check, I think Owen misjudged his placement in the raptor social group. Especially since he actually was tougher than them when they were babies. He thought they listened to him because they believed he was stronger than them, and that this was an illusion he had to maintain.

That was never actually the case, though. Blue knew Owen was way weaker than her the whole time. She just valued him anyway.

There’s probably a metaphor about toxic masculinity in there somewhere.

love those book series that are like

1st book: Hero goes on a big adventure, makes a bunch of friends, and saves the day!

Latest book: Hero copes with debilitating PTSD while growing increasingly disenchanted with the moral dubiety of the people and world around them, yet nevertheless still strives towards a heroic ideal.

When you read something so perfect in AO3 and you have to give kudos and you know you can only give once but you keep smashing the button.

Reading fan fiction simultaneously is the only thing that makes me happy and reminds me that I’m gonna be alone forever

if kurofai actually canon or is that just something you ship?

I don’t think anything has been ‘confirmed’ for canon in regards to them, but I do think they’re as close to being canon without it being outright stated. In the recent Character Data Book, they’re relationship was described as ‘being reeeaallly good friends~ <3 ) so I think that says a lot lol

But CLAMP have a certain way of showing deep feelings between two characters and Kurogane and Fai check off all the boxes.A) Sacrificing of blood for the other person

When Kurogane offers up his blood to have Fai turned into a vampire to save his life, and thus binding the two of them together for as long as he shall live because he would be Fai’s only food source. He can never return home either, which is one thing he wants more than anything, because Fai is running from his past and won’t settle down in one place for too long. But he would follow him to Hell and back if it meant keeping him safe.

B) Loss of limbs

Kurogane willingly cuts off his own arm to save Fai’s life because he refuses to leave him behind to die. There is no hesitation, no second thoughts, just a burning desire to save the one person he cares about more than anyone else. A man who’s goal was to be the stronger than anyone, makes this sacrifice because he finally understands what True Strength is.

C) Offering up magic

Because of the sacrifice Kurogane has made to keep him alive, Fai trades away the last of his magic to Yuuko for an artificial arm to replace the one lost. Had those earlier sacrifices not been made, he wouldn’t have traded it because his magic is what keeps him alive. But after running and hating himself, wishing he could die, he’s finally ready to live, because for the first time in his life, someone actually cared about him, someone who hasn’t lied to him, or used him for their own gain. 

Not to mention this little gem here

What Fai is wearing is a Furisode, which is worn by young, unmarried women in Japan, or in this case, worn by the male lover of a warrior (like Kurogane)

This post got long lol but yeah, even if it’s never confirmed officially as canon, I feel pretty comfortable with thinking that it is

Reblog with what two fictional characters you are a combination of!

I don’t know much about Voltron, but after seeing Lotor everywhere on my dash I absolutely need an animated series for Drizzt Do’Urden. Just putting this out there in case the universe is listening.

If we get enough people on board with this, can we make CW do it?

I really want CW to do a BatFam live-action TV series. Like, I have this five-season structure all worked out in my head:

Start with Batman working with Dick Grayson. You probably want to have their partnership be a few years old because Dick’s canonically the longest running and closest to Batman of the Robins, but you can throw in cute flashback episodes showing his recruitment

Have Catwoman be a recurring antagonist/neutral figure throughout the series, with copious amounts of flirting.

Establish the character of Barbara Gordon early season 1, and give all these little hints at what she’ll become, then have her take up Batgirl season 2- sort of like what the Flash did with Cisco.

Bring in Bat Woman around Season 2-ish, give her a nice LGBT plotline, and have some fun with her and Batman’s mutual secret identities.

Have a plotline about Dick’s desire to go his own way that culminates in him taking up the identity of Nightwing. Maybe give him a spin-off if he’s popular enough?

Have Bruce recruit Jason Todd as the new Robin early Season 3 because he misses Dick, but make it clear Jason is much more angry/impulsive.

The villain of Season 3 is the Joker. Mid-season, Barbara is paralyzed from the waist down. Give her an good, respectful plot arc recovering physically and mentally that culminates in taking up the mantle of Oracle in the finale and being vital in defeating the Joker.

Have the Joker brutally murder Jason  a few episodes before the finale. This culminates in a harrowing conclusion where Batman must decide whether to kill the Joker or imprison him.

Season 3 or 4, depending on how episode spacing works out, introduce an mysterious assassin figure. At first she seems like an antagonist, but later she saves the life of a main character and introduces herself as Cassandra Cain. She’s adopted into the Bat Family and becomes the new Batgirl with Oracle’s blessing.

Season 4, bring in Tim Drake, and have a long plot arc where Batman doesn’t want to put anyone else at risk, until Tim manages to become Robin mid-season.

Give Tim have a love interest named Stephanie who’s secretive about her own family, later revealing her father’s the Cluemaster. She takes over for either Robin or Batgirl for an episode before creating her own identity as Spoiler.

The theme of Season 4? Parents. Parallel the shitty parenting of Steph and Cass, and have them bond over it. Put in some episodes of Batwoman and her strained relationship with her own father. Use the opportunity to emphasize the parental role Bruce has found himself in, and that after Season 3 he doesn’t want to fail his kids again.

Season 5′s main villains are the League of Assassins. Establish Talia Al’Ghul as an old flame of Bruce’s, and at the end of her first episode have a cliffhanger with her ten-year-old son Damian.

Introduce the recurring villain Red Hood, and later reveal he’s Jason Todd, resurrected by Ra’s Al Ghul via the Lazarus Pit.

Have Damian join the Bat Family mid season. Have Batman disappear/be killed for a bit, and Nightwing come back and take over as Batman for a few eps, with Damian taking over as Robin. Have his run as Batman contested by Jason, who views his morals as constraining and antiquated.

Eventually bring Bruce back, have him succeed at bringing Jason into the fold, have Catwoman finally come down on his side, and give it all an epic finale with the entire Bat Family.

Bonus points for race-blind casting (especially for all those black-haired Robins!) and copious amounts of crossovers between BatFam members and the other superhero shows.