#//Don’t expect comic accuracy

[the-hotter-stark]

I’m here to put an end to everything with ‘Avengers tumblr’…or so I told PR.

In all honesty I know it’s a hopeless case. I’ll maybe think of damage control if needed.

I was advised by The Kid to let everyone know my inbox is open…Is this how mailboxes have made a comeback? Of all things?…

(Regarding Gwenyth Paltrow…Nothing. I’m only portraying the character and GOOP does not exist in this universe.)

#Pepper Potts #Virginia Potts #Pepper Stark #Avengers #marvel #role play #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #//Don’t expect comic accuracy #//this is very MCU oriented #PR department

[sesamestreep]

New Taylor Swift prompts! 16, Matt/Foggy

16. I’ve missed you all this time (from this prompt list) I don't know what this is, but it's technically set in the 60s, even though I did not make that explicitly clear anywhere in the text and it serves no purpose beyond just...vibes. I mostly just wanted to write silly new year’s fic, don’t worry about historical accuracy or world-building, everyone be cool! happy 2024, you silly and sultry geese! on ao3 here 🥂✨

Matt can still hear the noise of the party, barely dampened even when he's several rooms removed. He’d be able to hear it from the lobby of the building, truth be told, but here he can still make out conversations without having to focus that hard. He tries to direct his senses somewhere else—somewhere with less overlapping chatter and clinking glasses and shuffling feet over plush carpets—and breathe deep, so that maybe he can regain some equilibrium and hopefully go back to the party in a few minutes and act normal. It’s almost midnight, after all, and who goes to a New Year’s Eve party just to ditch out before midnight?

“Matthew Augustus Murdock,” a voice calls out from the far end of the paneled hallway.

“Not my middle name,” Matt says, smiling, “as you already know.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if it was?” Foggy asks, as he slides down to sit next to Matt. 

“Yes, I imagine I’d have lived a much easier and more successful life, if only my middle name was…what was it again?”

“Albert,” Foggy says, “or something. Who cares?”

“Good point,” Matt says, pressing his shoulder into Foggy’s happily. “How’d you find me?”

“I used the one and only superpower God graced me with: I’m like a homing pigeon for you specifically. I always know where to find you. It’s eerie, frankly, and damned useless, but—“

“Not to me,” Matt interjects, too readily. “I mean, for what it’s worth.”

Foggy nods, his overly long hair that he keeps meaning to get cut rasping over his shirt's stiff collar as he does. “That’s a good point.”

“I make those occasionally.”

“Occasionally,” Foggy repeats in a comically shrill, tiny voice, like he’s doing an impression of a cartoon mouse, for whatever reason. He’s a little drunk, clearly, which Matt could tell from the way he’s talking and the way he’s moving and the way he smells and, well, that’s probably enough evidence. 

“If I’m ever in trouble, I know who to call,” Matt says, which is maybe too honest, but Foggy doesn’t have to know that.

“You wouldn’t even have to call, Matt,” Foggy replies, solemnly grasping his shoulder. “If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll know and I’ll come running.”

“I would pay real money to see you actually run anywhere.”

“You’d have to, my man. I imagine it would take a massive breakthrough in science for you to see anything at all, and those things tend to cost a pretty penny,” Foggy says, grandly. “And also, on a much more serious note, go fuck yourself.”

Matt laughs and collapses against Foggy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just know how much you hate running.”

“Which means you’ve entirely missed the inherent capital-R romanticism of me offering to do it for you! Classic Murdock. Absolute philistine behavior. I should expect it by now.”

“Your gallantry is wasted on me,” Matt agrees, still doing that thing of being too honest.

“I know,” Foggy sighs, theatrically, “and yet, here I am.”

“Why are you here, anyway?”

“Missed you, came looking. Same as ever.”

“Aw,” Matt says, leaning into his side even more. “You’re right, I really don’t deserve you.”

“I never said that. You said that,” Foggy says, poking him. “But anyway, I lied and the real answer to your question is that I got tired of girls coming up to me and asking where my handsome friend had got to.”

Matt knows two things with a decent degree of certainty: Foggy hadn’t been lying when he gave his first answer (Matt would have heard it in his heartbeat and likely noticed any other number of tells that Foggy has when he does lie, besides) and that no one would have had to ask him to go looking for Matt after he disappeared. His joke about homing pigeon-like tendencies is more truthful than either of them would like to acknowledge. When Matt goes missing—as he very frequently does at these types of things—Foggy always comes to find him. Matt’s been doing this since way before he met Foggy—having overly heightened senses does not make crowded social functions more manageable in general—but he can probably admit that he does it more now that he knows someone will come looking for him.

He also knows that girls like Foggy a lot more than Foggy thinks they do. He’s always talking about how girls seek him out to get in with Matt, but Matt doesn’t really believe that. There have been a few girls, here and there, certainly enough that Foggy’s right to be a little paranoid about it, who have turned their sights from Foggy to Matt, which on top of being unkind is just bad business sense. Anyone with a brain in their head would see that Foggy’s the better option of the two of them. And Matt’s got plenty of flaws, but he’d certainly never take up with anyone who hurt his best friend, so it doesn’t work out the way anyone hopes it will, anyway, when they do. Still, he's sure Foggy could have found a nice girl to keep him entertained until Matt got back to the party, if he put his mind to it, and that maybe he'd just been looking for an excuse to duck out himself when someone asked about Matt.

“This is where I got to,” Matt says, with a slightly pathetic shrug.

“Who says I meant you?” Foggy asks, absently. “I have other friends that are handsomer than you!”

“Not only do you not have a single handsomer friend in all the world,” Matt says, belatedly unsure if ‘handsomer’ is even a word, but otherwise too confident to turn back, “you don’t even have another friend at this party.”

“I’m exceedingly charming, Matthew,” Foggy over-enunciates. “Everyone at this party is my new best friend.”

Matt loops his arm through Foggy’s and leans his head back against the wall. “Sounds like I’ve got a lot of competition.”

“You’re not having fun?” Foggy asks, the change of topic so sudden and his tone so unexpectedly serious that Matt has a brief moment of confusion that he means with this joke they’ve got going. It takes a second to realize he means at the party in general.

“It’s fancy.”

“Too fancy, you mean…”

“You know I don’t go in for all this stuff,” Matt says, shrugging. 

“Like I do, you mean?” Foggy asks, lightly, even though Matt can feel him warming with embarrassment. 

“Like I used to,” Matt clarifies, and trusts his meaning to be clear.

“Right,” Foggy says, and the tone in his voice is the one he uses exclusively when he refers to Matt’s ex-girlfriend from junior year who almost caused him to drop out. “Fair enough, I suppose.”

“You can head back. Really, I don’t mind. I just need a few more minutes.”

“No, you’re right. It’s…a bit stuffy, isn’t it?” Foggy muses. “I mean, I didn’t even know people still had apartments like this, outside of, well, the Rockefellers.” 

The apartment belongs to the parents of one of their friends from law school and the only reason they have free rein over the place is because the parents are vacationing in Aspen with friends. Even without being able to see it, Matt can tell it’s a swanky place. The rug he’s currently sitting on is so plush that he can basically sink his entire hand into it. Every table he passed on his way to this hiding place smelled so strongly of Pine-Sol that there has to be a maid on staff, if not a team of them. He’s fairly certain this random hallway he discovered is actually a back passage to the kitchens, so the servants don’t have to be seen coming and going. He's not sure if he asked their host about it that they'd even know it existed. And Matt’s shoes, as well as most of his clothes, are secondhand.

“You were having fun until I made you feel bad,” Matt says, tucking his chin onto Foggy’s shoulder and trying to look contrite.

“No, I mean—I like having you around, Matt. You keep me honest,” Foggy laughs. “Two and a half years of law school, four years at an Ivy before that, I think I’ve just made peace with having to go to parties in uncomfortable clothes and to make conversation with people I don’t really like. I don’t think I’d call it fun, but it’s a social life of some kind, I suppose.”

“We should have gone to Josie’s,” Matt says, holding onto him too tightly, even with the excuse of a few drinks.

Foggy snorts, thinking of the beloved dive bar they sneak off to in Hell’s Kitchen whenever they can, whenever they’re home. It’s only a matter of blocks to get there, but sometimes, at school, it feels farther away than all that.

“I don’t dare imagine the caliber of our prospects for a kiss at midnight there,” Foggy says, with an exaggerated shudder.

“Can’t be any worse than our prospects here,” Matt replies. 

Foggy whistles, low, under his breath. “You’re going to be disappointing a lot of nice girls with that kind of talk, Murdock!”

“Better to disappoint them now than later,” Matt says, fully burying his face in Foggy’s shoulder now. He gets like this when he drinks. Foggy's used to it.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t do the whole ‘going steady’ thing anymore,” Foggy says, leaning in conspiratorially. “You’re too damaged and that means you’re never going to get married, so you’d rather not lead anyone on.”

“You say that like it’s not true,” Matt whispers back.

“It isn’t true, you moron!” Foggy laughs. “One day, some beautiful girl is going to turn your head so quick, you’ll have neck problems for the rest of your life!”

“Sounds uncomfortable,” Matt says.

“And I’ll be there,” Foggy continues, like Matt didn’t even speak, “laughing.”

“Well, as long as you’ll be there, Foggy.”

“Did I mention you’re a moron?”

“Yes. A few times now, in fact.”

“Then, I’ve done my duty.”

“And what about you?” Matt asks. “When’s somebody going to turn your head?”

“Somebody turns my head every goddamn day, it feels like,” Foggy grumbles. “The problem isn’t my head. It’s everybody else’s.”

“There’s plenty of girls who’d be more than happy to trap you in matrimony.”

“Hmm, well, I’m sure that’s true enough,” Foggy replies, thoughtfully. “I guess it’s more about finding someone you wouldn’t mind being trapped with.”

“And you haven’t found her yet, I take it?”

“No,” Foggy says, sadly. The girl he dated for most of their sophomore year—the one everyone had been certain Foggy was going to end up marrying—had just gotten engaged last month. Foggy still wasn’t entirely over it, Matt was pretty sure.

“And you’re certain she’s not here?” Matt asks, encouragingly.

“Unlikely,” Foggy says. “None of the girls here would be caught dead with me in the daylight. One of them might be unscrupulous enough to let me kiss her at midnight, though.”

“So, go back,” Matt replies. “Find the girl in that room with the lowest standards and lay one on her!”

“I will if you will.”

“I don’t know this for sure, but I do have serious doubts that any girl in the room will let the both of us kiss her at midnight.”

“I meant, you should—you know what I meant!” Foggy exclaims, embarrassed again. 

“I was trying to be funny!”

“‘Trying’ being the operative word there…”

Matt sighs. “What’s the point of kissing someone at midnight when there’s almost no chance of seeing them ever again after tonight?”

“You’ve just described the point yourself! It’s just for fun, to start the year off right! There’s no pressure!” Foggy says, disbelieving. "What’s gotten into you? I thought zero expectations romance was your specialty!”

“Maybe I’m just not a New Year's kind of guy.”

Foggy hums thoughtfully. “Can I tell you my theory?”

“Your theory? About what?”

“About you, and New Year's, and all of that.”

“Oh. Sure. Go ahead.”

“I think you’re afraid,” Foggy says.

“Afraid?” Matt asks. “Of…New Year’s Eve?”

“You don’t want to participate in these silly little rituals, like kissing someone at midnight, because you’re secretly terrified that something good is going to happen to you, and then you won’t know what to do with yourself.”

“Really, Foggy. Be serious!”

“I am serious,” Foggy replies, casually. “You’re scared of being hit over the head with it again.”

“Hit over the head with what?”

“Love,” Foggy says, simply. “You felt it once and it nearly derailed your whole life, so now you avoid any situation where you might accidentally meet someone interesting or have more feelings than you’ve carefully rationed out for yourself for that particular day.”

Matt swallows, feeling utterly exposed. It’s not something he would have been able to say for himself an hour ago, but the words feel true to him coming from someone else. He doesn’t like anybody knowing him well enough to know all of that, though, and if it wouldn’t be so utterly obvious, he’d pull away from Foggy right now just to be safe. Like that would even help, he thinks reluctantly.

“You missed your calling not going into psychiatry, Foggy,” he says, stiffly, once he’s gathered his wits enough to form sentences.

Foggy’s hand, warm and a little damp, closes over Matt’s where it’s still resting on his arm. Matt wants nothing more than to flinch away from it, but he controls the urge in the interest of saving face.

“Don’t be mad at me,” Foggy says, quietly, like there’s a chance they might be overheard somehow and he wants Matt to be the only one who hears this. “I’m just trying to tell you that, in avoiding fun and frivolous things, you are not sparing yourself from being hit over the head. If you’re meant to get hit over the head, it’ll happen whenever and wherever Cupid so chooses. It’ll happen at the deli or the bank or while you’re waiting for the bus. Which means that the only thing you’re ultimately sparing yourself from is fun and frivolity, and that’s a stupid way to live your life. That’s all.”

“I think you just called me a moron again,” Matt says, weakly. He doesn’t know what else to say. The rest of it is...too much to consider.

“I called you stupid, actually, but I see your point.”

In the distance, Matt hears the noise of a crowd of people all simultaneously trying to shush each other, with limited success. He imagines even Foggy can hear it too a moment later when they all begin counting aloud.

“Last chance…” Matt says, tipping his head backwards in the direction of the room where everyone’s gathered.

“It doesn’t matter,” Foggy says, apropos of nothing, as far as Matt can tell. He’s about to ask what he means when Foggy continues, anyway. “I have someone who meets your criteria.”

“My criteria?”

“Yeah. You’ll only accept a kiss from someone you’ll see again after tonight, right?”

“Uh, I don’t think I said ‘only’, I just meant—”

“Too bad,” Foggy says, as the countdown reaches its conclusion. “Happy New Year.”

Matt’s halfway through formulating a question or an objection of some kind, which is the only reason he turns in Foggy’s direction at that moment. It’s clear from the noise of surprise Foggy makes that he absolutely had no intention of kissing Matt right on the mouth and was probably, in fact, aiming for his cheek, trying to be funny and charming after Matt was such a spoilsport about the whole kissing at midnight thing. If Matt hadn’t moved, there’s no doubt in his mind that that’s what Foggy would have done and then it would have been over and they’d already be laughing about it and moving on. But Matt did move and, even awkwardly off center, Foggy is kissing him on the mouth right now and they’re both just frozen like that, shocked and useless.

Matt doesn’t give himself much credit for genius. He’s reasonably smart, and can be even smarter if he applies himself to a subject and really studies up on it, but there’s plenty of people in any given room smarter than he is, most of the time. He has his moments, though, and this is one of them. He sees very clearly the two paths available to them. Down one, this moment stretches awkwardly and they allow it to become a source of discomfort and then outright pain that they'll avoid talking about for years, or maybe possibly forever. Regardless, it has the power to ruin their friendship and Matt simply can't abide that. Down the other, they don’t flinch from it and they don’t make it any stranger than it has to be and it becomes one weird but not fully objectionable moment in their long and storied relationship. They’re not going to trot it out as an anecdote at parties, sure, but they’re not going to become crazy about denying it happened either. If Matt can steer them in the direction of the latter, he thinks maybe it will all be okay, but it’s going to require him not to make matters worse. For whatever reason, the only way he can think to not do that is by kissing Foggy back.

It’s immediately apparent that, momentary genius or no, while it does not technically make things worse, it also does not make them better. Then again, Foggy makes a sort of interested noise as he feels Matt return the kiss, which Matt is infinitely better off for knowing about and having heard and being able to think about some other time when he’s alone preferably. 

They don’t take it any farther than just that. They’re not necking in some random person’s hallway or doing anything truly objectionable. They just stay there, mouths pressed together so that Matt can smell (and sort of taste) the champagne Foggy’s had and the last cigarette he smoked and a hint of that sugary gum he always chews, even though he hasn’t had a piece since before they came to the party. It mostly feels, more than anything else, like they’re breathing together and it’s not sexy the way wild, passionate groping in the dark can be, but it’s intimate in its own unique way. Matt, against his own better judgment, puts a hand on Foggy’s cheek, and he doesn't really know why beyond just really wanting to and that seems to be reason enough.

Foggy doesn’t try to slip his tongue into Matt’s mouth—despite the alarming reality that the moment Matt realizes that’s not what he’s doing, he also realizes he’d let him—or try to escalate matters one bit. His hand is still grasping Matt’s collar from when he first pulled him in, but his other one doesn’t roam. His lips, still pressed to Matt’s, only move to exert a little more pressure and to alter the angle at which they meet slightly. He takes precisely zero liberties and makes no effort to get fresh with him at all. It’s very gentlemanly, and Matt doesn’t know what to do with himself because it doesn’t feel awkward or fumbling at all. It feels like restraint, and once he knows that, everything is different.

The tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ reaches him from the other room, but it’s drowned out almost entirely by the sound of Foggy’s heartbeat in Matt’s ears. Foggy must hear it too, though, because he breaks their kiss with the worst sort of gentleness, pulling back only enough for them both to have space to breathe but not far enough that Matt can’t feel that breath on his face.

Matt traces his thumb over the curve of Foggy’s cheek before dropping his hand back down into his own lap and licks his lips as he slowly turns away. 

“Happy New Year,” he says, aiming for calm and unaffected and likely missing it by a lot.

“You too,” Foggy says, even though he already said it first. His heart is still beating too fast and too close and too loud for Matt to read his tone, which is too bad, because he’d really like to know how Foggy feels right now and if he feels anything like Matt does.

Because Matt feels like he’s been hit over the head.

✨

#mattfoggy #daredevil #matt murdock #foggy nelson #matt x foggy #prompt fill #ask #firstelevens #taylor swift song prompts #homelywenchsociety #that's my writing tag! don't worry about it! #SLOWLY BUT SURELY FILLING THESE I PROMISE #it just takes me eight or so scrapped attempts before i find something i like #also this is um...definitely becoming a series.... yikes.... #do not yell at me I KNOW #anyway #happy almost new years i hope 2024 is good to all of us

[mthofferings]

ZenaidaMacrouras1

See ZenaidaMacrouras1’s existing works here.

Preferred contact methods: Tumblr: ZenaidaMacrouras1 Discord: zenaidamacrouras

Preferred organizations: - Anything from the list of approved organizations

Will create works that contain: AUs of all sorts, identity based fics like engineer, artist, musician, circus performer, civil rights lawyer, whatever. Fluff with a bit (or a lot) of angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort, enemies-to-lovers, and they were roommates, there was only one bed, kidfic, smut, comic book style action and adventure

Will not create works that contain: Historical fiction that needs to be accurate, unhappy ending, dark!characters, daddy kink, a/b/o, HTP, most kinks (ok with smut, just don’t tend to be good at writing kink focused smut), strictly adheres to canon (I'm ok with canon elements, but not good at painstaking accuracy to canon) I am not interested in writing abuse or toxic relationships or underage pairings. Threesomes and polyamory are not preferred as part of the main storyline.

  -- Fic or Other Writing --

Auction ID: 1082

Will create works for the following relationships: Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers - Any Universe Valkyrie-centric - Any Universe Kate Bishop & Lucky - Any Universe Yelena Belova/Kate Bishop - Any Universe Yelena Belova-centric - Any Universe

Work Description: I am offering a fic of around 5-10,000 words. I expect to have that fic done in the first half of 2024 barring any unexpected crises. It may grow into something enormous, because my fics often do, and I will factor word count into final bidding amount (higher bid likely = longer story). Most of my work is AU and tends to have a character driven romance arc with some smutty scenes, I am open to canon and canon-adjacent as well as an element of action adventure, fantasy or science fiction. My favorite is Stucky, but happy to hear different ships as long as I feel like I can capture that character’s voice and that I can imagine the pairing happy and healthy (if only for a one night stand). I value diversity and am happy to answer questions prior to bidding about any identity, pairing, disability, etc.

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

-- Beta Service --

Auction ID: 2046

Will create works for the following relationships: Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers - Any Universe Valkyrie-centric - Any Universe Steve Rogers-centric - Any Universe Kate Bishop-centric - Any Universe Avengers fandom any gen - Any Universe

Work Description: I am willing to work with pieces up to around 100k, a little more is fine, or 2-3 shorter pieces. Higher bid can be related to more work I can beta, or closer editing work/more rounds of edits, etc. My betaing skills include SPaG, world building, smut writing, characterization, dialogue, plot, pacing, some sensitivity reading for diversity as well as people with disabilities, soundboarding and fact checking for a number of skills. Note: I enjoy writing smut, though not kink, and am not great at writing or editing kink. However, if you are looking to hone your schmoopy, romantic, verbal consent smut writing skills, this is something I have spent a great deal of time thinking about. Have any other questions, reach out to me!

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit

Can pods bid on this auction? No - I'd rather not be bid on by pods

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The auction runs from October 22 (12 AM ET) to October 28 (11:59:59 PM ET). Visit marveltrumpshate.com during Auction Week to view all of our auctions and to place your bids!

#ZenaidaMacrouras1 #auction: fic #auction: beta #mth 2023

[catboygirlboss]

i was thinking about the line in the phineas and ferb theme song that goes “there are 104 days of summer vacation” and wondering about its accuracy

the calendar in the opening shot says june 3, which is presumably either the last day of school or the day after (im not sure if the last day of school counts? as summer vacation? like there are technically roughly eight hours of summer vacation on the last day so i mean)

here’s the proof of that btw

104 days after june 3 is september 15, and while i don’t remember exactly how long summer vacation lasted when i was in school, i think we were usually back in school closer to early september, and now that i think about it, i think the school year usually ended a bit later than june 3, so it’s a bit of a long vacation but not egregiously so

after further digging, i found something in the phineas and ferb wiki

“In reality, summer vacation lasts about 90 days at most. At San Diego Comic-Con 2013, Dan Povenmire revealed that he wrote 104 because he only expected the show to last 52 episodes, like most Disney Channel shows lasted at the time, and there were two segments per episode, totaling 104.”

i cant find video evidence to support this, but very interesting if true!

#phineas and ferb #pnf

[justastrugglinghotchocolate]

okay so the hades and persephone thing i was doing has expanded into it’s own little lore, rather the being based on the hadestown musical or even the og myth, it takes a bit from every mythology i’ve ever read. This is because i love writing angst and just had the greatest angst idea.

Basil and Henry are canonically married in this au, right? But what about Dorian? Keeping in line with other underworld myths, Dorian is a human who ventured into the underworld probably out of curiosity. He meets Basil and Basil takes an immediate liking to him. Unlike most Gods Basil respects human and sees them as equals. He was the product of a human and God relationship and he grew up around humans and was raised like one too until he became an adult and was fully realized into a God thousands of years before.

When he goes to show Henry his new friend, Henry doesn’t take quite a liking to Dorian. That’s because Henry, being born as a God, looks down upon humans. In the little comic thing I did in my initial post, Basil was angry with Henry because Henry had taken on another human experiment—something he promised he wouldn’t do anymore when they got married (He’s broken this promise many, many times, but has only been caught a few times). His experiments always end in tragedy and are generally discouraged by every other God, not that he listens to them.

anyways he makes Dorian his new experiment and does his all ‘nothing good in life but beauty and youth’ which is even worse coming from the literal God of the Dead. But what he didn’t realize is that Dorian isn’t so brainless that he isn’t clever.

Dorian makes the connection between Basil being able to being things to life and possible eternal youth, so in a mostly desperate (but also envious) move, stabs Basil in the neck and takes some of his blood. This act royally screws up the human world above, but Dorian escapes with the blood before they can catch him.

Gods cannot die but they can be incapacitated. Which is exactly what happens to Basil: he’s left bed-ridden from the attack, barely able to move and certainly unable to bring Spring. A quick recovery is dependent on the rest of the Gods getting that blood back (remember Basil’s half human, they can’t give him Gods’s blood or regular human blood. And also I want there to be an excuse for them to hunt Dorian lmao).

Henry is definitely angry but also really distraught because he knows he caused this. He seeks help from Victoria (she’s queen of all of the Gods because she deserves it) with the agreement that since this was his mess up and because he had so many chances not to do the dumb thing—upon the capture of Dorian and Basil’s recovery, Henry and Basil’s marriage will be nullified and he won’t get to see Basil again afterwards.

and with that deal made, Henry begins to hunt Dorian, leaving Alan (and Sybil though not officially) to manage the underworld as best as they can.

Thank you for reading and if you have any questions about specific characters, please send em in! This isn’t really meant to follow one specific myth at this point, so don’t expect accuracy 🤣.

#the picture of dorian gray #mythology au #i really gotta stop making these lmao #I get one ask mentioning persephone and suddenly i make a storyline that spans six novels and a webseries lol

[midnight-in-town]

Hi, sorry for troubling you. Actually I need some advice. If you think I’m too much of a nuisance please ignore me. I don't know other country’s history (not that I know much about mine). A few weeks ago I came across a post that the writer had used some historical terms to justify a character’s behavior. It had nearly 100 likes and seemed legit and persuasive like she was very knowledgeable but it sounded off to me. Those were just eliminable comic relief scenes and the character was caricaturistic. A human with a healthy mental state, average IQ, and a little sense of social grace wouldn’t act like that. The writer’s tone was hostile, too and she turned an accuracy question into a moral one. She liked that character so much that didn't even try to hide her anger. Even though the asker was anon she implied that she/he is a sucker for pretty boys and a misogynist. How would she know? I was convinced that something was off and with no hope of getting an answer, I emailed a history website and ask them if she was right, the reply was really surprising. Not just the character and those scenes but many other things are imaginary and her interpretations of those terms and conclusions are false. They told me that even the literature from that era can’t be trusted or used as reliable sources because it’s the nature of fiction to be fanciful and misleading. I sent the email to her adding nothing, assuming she’d feel guilty for implanting false knowledge in fans, but she said she had no time for haters. I don’t know anybody on Tumblr or that fandom, and no one would believe an outsider. They are already satisfied with the lies. If one cares about the truth, one searches for it. Even so, is there anything I should do? Do I have any obligation to do anything? Thank you.

Hey Anon! You are not a nuisance at all :)) although, to be honest, it's hard to give advice when I'm not fully aware of the situation you're asking about.

From my understanding, you disagree with how a blogger justified a character's behavior in a work of fiction, which was done by quoting wrong historical facts, therefore providing false information to other fans, and you're wondering how to rectify it? I hope I understood properly?

To start with, I'm sorry to say that this happens very often in fandoms across the internet.

Browsing through the internet, you will always find people who do not share similar views about characters, theories, world building, romance, authors' inspirations, etc leading to a huge gap amongst fans, depending on who agrees on what.

The reason why that exists is because people aren't always neutral when reading, therefore their opinions and expectations can color the story they read in a certain way, leading to some misconception and bias.

This literally happened in every fandom I know, so the first thing I would advise is to keep in mind that, even with good arguments, you cannot always change the mind of everyone you disagree with, because everyone reads/watches a story through a personal lens.

In other words, pick your battles: what do you accept to disagree on and what do you think is unacceptable misconception? That's for you to decide and to act on, knowing that even with good and reasonable arguments, some people just won't take your side.

Speaking of which, as a second advice: you strongly disagree with the original poster and you really don't want to let it go? Well, act on it !

Friendly reminder that, from the moment you're acquainted with a series and you enjoy it, then you already belong in its fandom. Who cares if you just joined Tumblr or if you just discovered this series? You're as much a fan as anyone else and you have a right to your opinions, just like anyone else.

So, what to do? Open the debate by reblogging the post and explain to the original poster why you disagree with her, by detailing your arguments.

Nowadays, not a lot of people comment or reblog posts anymore to offer additional thoughts: they'd rather hide behind anon mode but anonymity doesn't always allow for an open debate, on the contrary!

Myself as a blogger who receives some anon asks, I can guarantee you that I'm always nicer and more open to discussion if someone comes to me off anon, especially if it's to disagree with something I said. Because I put a blog's name on an idea and it brings a lot more humanity in the discussion. :)

Additionally, some people also think that disagreeing means being disrespectful, but that's not the case at all. You can always peacefully and kindly explain to someone why you disagree with them.

So gear up and be brave ! You disagree and it's important to you to explain why? Well, state your opinion high and loud with your blog's name, like a proud of fan of whatever series or character this is about. And again, even if you don't change their mind, that's okay, at least you stated what you had to say and that's what matters.

Lastly though, a word of caution.

To quote you : "The writer’s tone was hostile, too and she turned an accuracy question into a moral one. She liked that character so much that didn't even try to hide her anger. Even though the asker was anon she implied that she/he is a sucker for pretty boys and a misogynist. How would she know?"

As I was saying above, I think unfortunately anonymity in asks is used way too often and bloggers are from time to time fed up with getting asks or opinions without a name to address directly.

Additionally, a lot of asks are sent without necessarily taking the time beforehand to check whether or not the blogger was open to discussion on different subjects in the first place. Hence the hostile tone in answers from time to time.

Take my blog as an example: after ten years on this site, there are certain subjects that I either won't ever want to discuss or some opinions on some characters that I'm beyond fed up with. So anyone barging into my askbox as an anon on either aspects will end up deleted or blocked or maybe answered with a rather hostile tone, because I already stated my opinion ten, twenty or thirty times.

Sure it's not very nice and it doesn't please me to answer this way if I even answer, but I believe, as far as I'm concerned, that it's stated very plainly and often, enough so that people would know if they bothered to check for a second before sending an ask.

So I understand that the hostile tone and the misogyny allegations that you're describing aren't pleasing, but be sure to check why the hostility exists in the first place: is it really that the original poster is narrow-minded and can't be reasoned with ? Or is it that they are often faced with anons who don't bother acknowledging what she said in the past before asking ? Because that will definitely factor into how open-minded the original poster will be if you go for a debate.

TL;DR You can always disagree and discuss why with anyone in any fandom. However, choose your fights and, mostly, choose your weapons well:

state your opinions with your blog's name, in a reblog or in a comment, and definitely not as an anon, if you want to be taken as seriously as possible

always check beforehand about the blogger you want to debate with, so that you can understand who you're talking to a little bit better

be respectful as you disagree and all will go well

I hope it helps? Sorry if not. Have a good day Anon! ^3^

#personal #tumblr #fandom #anon #answers

[widowshill]

3, 4, 10, 11 for the canon questionnaire :)

CANON QUESTIONNAIRE.

3. What’s the best thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

silly answer: louis stirling edmonds  

serious answer: it really has two separate answers, one for form and one for content, because a big part of the appeal for me is seeing the guts of the production and I don’t know that I’d be that into it if it was expensively produced and bogged down with 2020’s cgi. it was messy and rushed and taped basically live every weekday in a New York studio for 5 years, and there are lots of bleeds around the edges because of that: flubbed lines, actors walking on set with their scripts, off stage noises, flies on faces, etc. but in the same way that mistakes and unscripted moments in live theatre add a little bit of extra magic, so too with the 60’s soap opera. the effects (practical, and digital) such as they are are cheesy and silly and psychedelic, and so of their time in a charming way, it's like seeing y.ale g.racey's pirate flames, or dancing ghosts, in a television show rather than a theme park ride.

in terms of the narrative itself, UMMM is it really way too predictable if i say Women. but genuinely, this show is the only show other than avowed cultural masterpiece b.lack s.ails with quite the array of interesting, compelling female characters ( compelling characters period, really ) that are so vastly different from each other, that you care about even when they are doing horrors –– especially when ! it runs the gamut from gothic heroine, america's sweetheart, elegant milf, mad arsonist divorcee, homicidal witch sometimes-vampire, bride of frankenstein (reincarnated from 18th century lady serial killer), pastor's daughter possessed with the spirit of a British showgirl ... i could go on. there are occasionally moments where they lean fully into Marriage and Romance, but most of the time this feels wrong and bad (vicki and jeff), or its purposefully subverted into some supernatural shadow version of the nuclear family ( with the exclusion of maggie and joe, who you can consider brad and janet ). it's never silly or self-reflective or Girl Power about it, women are just a part of the fabric of its world, its power structures, and the narrative in a way you usually don't even think about. liz stoddard runs everything and her word is truth. our narrator is a girl writing letters to herself. that's just the way it is.

4. What’s the worst thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

silly answer: roger davis

serious answer: unfortunately. the portrayal of race is Bad ––  namely the brownface and really repulsive depiction of the romani people that went on for much longer than I expected in the 1897 sequence. white women with names like chavez or suki are otherwise as diverse as it gets. generally, they just stay in their lane writing about horrible rich white people but when they try to include any other ethnic group oh boy has it gone wrong.

10. Would you say that your portrayal is canon divergent or not? 

yea :) i like to have a friendly little repartee with canon in that i think it's delightful to put the Puzzle together and fit together bits of information in fun ways, and to be an absolute stickler for historical accuracy when it comes to certain things ( see: that day wendy and I spent researching roger's collection of cars ). but with this show I couldn't be 100% canon-compliant even if I wanted to be, with its many retcons and contradictions. ( and I don't really want to be )

the biggest thing in terms of my canon-divergence is liz's affairs with betty and ned, and vicki's parents: in no world is the canon version of the story that liz was having a lesbian affair with vick's mom lol ( liz being vicki's mother is the closest thing to a canon answer that story has ). but it's also not an interpretation i purely made up for giggles, it's grounded in scene / character / thematic analysis, reflected in the broader cultural moment and what was going on when liz was becoming a mother and mistress of the house. on top of being fun and interesting for my brain. ned calder being a he/him lesbian however, has nothing to explicitly disprove it, and I will continue to think on that particular headcanon as It May as Well Be True.

11. Are there some things you dislike about how the show/series/etc. portray the character you have picked up? If so, what?

oh yes. chiefly vicki and i'm metaphorically throttling mr curtis by the throat ( for various reasons, but mostly vicki ). the difference between her character at her introduction, to when alexandra left the show, is really startling: they watered her down immensely into someone far more passive, and frankly dumb most of the time, who –– and this is the thing that fuels my spite –– cares more about her irritating, aggressive boyfriend than her found family whom she cherishes. #notmyvicki. she catches a lot of flack for stupidity from the fandom ( and from alexandra herself ) and certainly she's written that way at the very end to make her r.oger davis' perfect submissive woman ( ick ). but Platonic Ideal Vicki is not that way. struggling through strange and unfamiliar situations, yes, barred from secrets, yes, human in a world among supernatural deviations beyond her understanding, even missing regular ol social cues (#autism) but she got brains. she's a tutor ! to freakin david collins, who is smart enough to take apart car engines, dissect tide charts, and have his own darkroom at twelve. good god !

generally i get frustrated with josette wherever she's written as obsessed with count von count as he is her, when they attempt to treat it like a pure romance ( it is not ). I find her a lot more interesting in the myths and stories they tell about her before she's portrayed in 1795, or her brief ghost cameos, because they preserve her ambiguity and the ambiguity of the relationship between her and barn and her and her husband. also the fact that she um. just isn't there ? when the collins family are being tormented by malevolent ghosts of great uncles. she should be hitting quentin with a ghost rock or something. mostly i think josette would care more about protecting the girls barnacle kidnaps to brainwash into becoming her, and not that dusty crusty man.

roger and liz tend to be pretty good ( liz is often in a coma or fake dead too much for my liking but like. that's so joan can go on vacay so i support it ) and joan & louis are good enough actors to course correct shitty writing. if there's ever issues with roger it's that certain writers will occasionally forget about the Character Development and the bond he has with his sister, and those he has formed with David, and Vick. in particular 646 is my worst enemy: after vicki has almost jumped off the cliff and is paralyzed in her room with grief and he sort of brushes it off with "well whatever she needs to just do her job it's very inconvenient" and says they can do nothing for her except wait and see. it makes me want to chew glass and not in a "I think they should fuck" way. man cares her. she's a member of their family to them which he says himself. he's helped rescue her multiple times from life-threatening situations. HE WAS GOING TO GIVE HER AWAY AT HER WEDDING. if there's any defense it's that vicki herself is hardly the same character at this point, but sometimes they just make him Drink Brandy Care About No One which is like. only half true ( the drinking brandy part )

#oh man.... Longe. #honestly i was gonna put this below a read more but then i deleted it because what am i doing here #if not to expound at length about da tv monster show. turn on the dashboard feature that sizes down long posts if ur scared. #thanks for sending this in :) #mxdam #➤ answered. ┊ collinsport 4099. #➤ meme responses. ┊ boo !

[magicaltear]

5 things you never get tired of writing

Tagged by: @ailendolin​

Rules: List five things you never get tired of writing. It can be tropes, themes, characters, phrases, whatever brings you joy. Then tag more writers!

1 - Hurt/Comfort Like you mentioned in your own post, it also brings me a lot of joy to explore deep human emotions and empathy. I haven’t written about physical injuries all that much, but most of my favorite characters have canonically been through the wringer. I love giving my characters space to grieve, to breakdown, to feel. These quiet moments are usually neglected or rushed by the entertainment industry, so I love dedicating lots of time to them. We all need a gentle touch and encouraging words every now and then, even something as simple as an “I know” to reassure us that we are understood and not alone in our pain.

2 - Historical Accuracy One I never expected to enjoy so much, tbh. I started using this tag in my 1917 fics, and I think it is safe to say that it’s a double-edged blade. I adore history and research, and I’ve gotten to learn so much these past 3 years, but it is easy to become overwhelmed with all of the information or spend more time than needed doing research. I often have to pull back and refocus on my actual plot. Still, having historical accuracy in my fics is very satisfying, and I’ve found that it breathes life into the story and makes it coherent.

3 - Finding beauty in unexpected places This shouldn’t be surprising considering I mainly write about soldiers and superheroes. When the situation is dire, when you have to fight side-by-side with others to protect the world, you start realizing that there’s beauty to be found everywhere. I don’t like writing characters who are stoic or who run from their feelings. Instead, I like it when they embrace them and allow themselves to feel every little emotion until their chest is full to bursting. The best example I can think of is that comic book page of Iron Man going up to hover right in the border between space and atmosphere just to breathe.

4 - Platonic Relationships What can I say? Writing ships and romance is fun, but I also love providing my characters with a solid support system. Their friendships are meaningful and important too! I often like to toy with the “will they won’t they?” line, but I leave that to the readers’ discretion when I do. When I’m writing very angsty fics, I prefer to focus on the support a platonic soulmate would provide rather than a romantic one. It might just be me, but I’m usually not comfortable with grand shows of romance whenever I’m feeling sad.

5 - Canon Disabled Character Is this surprising? I feel like I’m the least surprising writer out there. One of my absolute favorite characters to write is Doctor Strange, of course I’m going to focus on his disability in my fics. It always bothers me how the MCU constantly forgets that its heroes have disabilities, so I make sure to touch on that on my fics. Chronic pain, trauma, Tony’s breathing issues, PTSD, broken bones that didn’t quite heal right, you name it. Disabilities come hand-in-hand with stories set during WW1 and superhero universes, and I hate it when writers forget to include moments where this can be shown because they are focusing too hard on big action scenes and explosions. Well, not in my fics!

Tagging: @atypical-snowman @kiki-shortsnout and @writeyourownstory

#tumblr game #ailendolin #tear-chan talks #writing and stuff #fanfiction

[theblackdragon-studios]

When Into the Spider-Verse came out, I made a spider-sona like a lot of people. Except…she wasn’t that good. The outfit was. The story wasn’t. I won’t go into it…but it was just lazy and…yeah. Not great.

I’d been wanting to rewrite and redesign her since Across the Spider-Verse, but I didn’t know what to do or how to make it unique. Or at least something believable.

Until now.

Introducing my redesigned Spider-Sona…who was not bit by a radioactive animal of some kind, genetically altered by science, or anything like that. Actually…she’s the symbiote (usually known as Venom) host of her world, except her actions and his past change things from usual probably.

I wasn’t going to do that at first, because I thought that seemed silly…but then decided why not? I like monsters, I like monstrous-looking heroes, and I like Venom (both together and as just the symbiote) (all versions of him, not just the one from his title movie).

I’m not an expert on Marvel comics or on Venom, though, so don’t expect absolute accuracy and smooth insertion…but I thought it would be fun.

She isn’t recruited by the Spider-Verse HQ either, either because she is also an anomaly, she was mistaken for being the Venom of her world, or they didn’t trust her to be a good hero since a parasitic monster is how she has her powers…and if she can’t control him, they can’t trust her to not cause damage. (Actually though she would say “fuck canon” and try to stop a horrible canon event like Miles did. And the symbiote would make sure she succeeds… So Miguel would probably fire her immediately. lol)

So that’s the idea…I don’t think I’ll do much with this since like I said, I don’t know a lot about the source. But if I come up with any short skits or want to draw this version of my s/i more I will.

Edit: I decided the symbiote with her is actually one I made up. They’re all more or less the same until they develop via bonding to people, so this one is an ‘OC’ in that it isn’t a canon one.

-

Bonus details on the design and some sketches under the cut.

Design Features

-The suit is the symbiote. She wears some kind of clothes under it (at least a pair of shorts and a tank top), but when changing to her Spider alter-ego he (the symbiote, or Venom if he goes by that name here) just forms as the suit around her. Settling on a design took a while…and deciding on a name took even longer. (She refused to go by the name ‘Venom’. It felt wrong and gave a bad impression of who she is.)

-When she loses control of her emotions, and later when facing a really tough opponent, the symbiote responds and becomes the more monstrous form we know him for. Meg was scared of this form for a while, since it was so much stronger and more dangerous.

-The belt was added by Meg. She used to keep a phone-holder clip there and have a pouch on the other side for headphones, which she wears to listen to music when fighting the average robber or weaker threat. It keeps her focused and calm, and keeps the symbiote from taking over completely. Later these are replaced by an enchanted pouch by a sorcerer that eventually becomes an ally. This pouch is basically a bag of holding but looks like a simple Velcro-strap pouch.

-She fought for the hood and eight-eyes look the mask has. The hood because it makes her feel less exposed and it looks cool, the eyes because spiders usually have 8 eyes. This is the only accurate thing to spiders on the design aside from the chest emblem in her usual hero form…the symbol being a tarantula. Her favorite type of spider.

The design of the mask helps to throw off her enemies. Especially when the symbiote makes the ‘eyes’ all narrow with her real eyes for effect. This has led fans and foes alike to come up with wild theories about her being a spider-human mutant thing with increasingly disturbing features under the mask. (A cryptid if you will)

-She also came up with the flying squirrel-like design element they use later. The symbiote changing the suit design to have wing arms like a flying squirrel for gliding if she can’t use webs.

-Her feet look like she has shoes on, because under the suit she does. If she is ever not wearing shoes when ‘suiting up’ her feet look more like most spider-peoples’, which is to say like slippers or barefoot under the fabric. This makes people even more confused on what the heck she even is…and there are entire blogs and magazine columns theorizing about it.

Bonus sketches

The redesign traced from the old ones I did. I drew all of these when I made the first, but I got lazy so just traced my own work here.

The more powerful and monstrous form they take when facing a much tougher opponent or when emotions run high. Meg used to hate this form…but as trust with the symbiote grew and she saw that when working together they could control the strength of it, she became more accepting.

She still does not want to run around like this, though. She wants to keep up that motto of “friendly neighborhood spider-hero” everyone else (except Miguel I’d guess) has. Only the bad guys need to see the monster.

Whether this view changes or not…who knows. But when this form was revealed people were more confused than ever on WHAT. THE. HELL. SHE. EVEN. IS???

She comes to really enjoy all the crazy cryptid theories they come up with. X’D

#marvel #spider man #Spider-Man #spiderman #spider man across the spider verse #spider sona #symbiote #venom #(I guess?) #super hero #blackdragon art #persona #oc #spider man persona

[ursie]

Lol I know people who work at DC, trust me when I say nobody important is pushing Dick Babs and it’s mainly because Nightwing really isn’t as popular as Batman and DC doesn’t view him as separate from Batman either, he is still Robin to them. Batgirl is way more profitable as a Batman side character similar to how Harley and Catwoman are portrayed. And since everything at DC is basically shifting towards adaptable content to compete with Marvel, Batgirl is able to expand on Batman mythos without having to change too much about the most popular version of Batfam (thanks Nolan). I love Nightwing, but he is kinda low on the totem poll which is why he hasn’t gotten a lot of adapted content. Despite being a relatively safe solo comic seller, that’s really all he is. Outside of Nightwing solo, he doesn’t do much. A big part of this (well a big suspected part) is because of the awkward aging of Dick in the first place, being put with titans, how poorely received the Batman and Robin movie was, the failure of Young Justice (which was cancelled due to low toy sells) and how popular the BTAS universe and Nolanverse were actually becoming.

The current Nightwing editor (who is also in charge of Detective Comics and Batgirls) is a Batgirl fan and mostly DickBabs shipper but only for Babs not for Dick. Don’t expect anything permanent to come out of it. They’ve been trying to retool Jason Bard for her for ages (which is why it’s highly likely he is the love interest in her live action) And there is also a subtle push for Babs and Jason Todd too (thanks Three Jokers). I’m not saying DickBabs isn’t a thing or that DC doesn’t care, but I am saying that DickBabs isn’t gonna get anywhere near the same support BatCat or LoisClark get for very obvious reasons. (Chaotic Whisper: it’s because Bruce Babs is actually still a very profitable romance or partnership and majority of non-comic book readers associate Babs more with Bruce than Dick or even robin so DC is likely holding best Babs hostage for Batman content, see Batman Lego Movie).

Sip or spit xD but this is just what I know from whispers and sources

Oh I definitely believe a lot of this which is actually quite sad when you remember Dick was forced to become a major batfam player again because they weren’t profitable and he (Titans) were 😭 and yeah tbh my relationship w B and Babs as a ship is complicated because yes comic accuracy yes he’s not her dad (nor would I say they even really have a mentor relationship half the time she’s actually p independent) so like it’s fine to me in universes she’s very much an adult and not dating Dick (Lego for ex) but it’s just. Not my thing she’s dated his son too much for it not to be a lil weird 😭 and yeah given titans success as a show tbh I’ve just been kinda waiting for Taylor to leave nw and for them to start marketing towards that audience like I hated the pre Taylor runs but at least they tried to give him new love interests 😭 I know it’s not endgame but god I hate it being shoved down my throat rn especially with how badly written it is if they were at least written well I could stomach it 😭

#long post #anti dickbabs #asks #anon #also feel free to send me asks any time about stuff like this I do think marketing is interesting to talk about ect #dc anon

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: October 2022

The spookiest time of the year and I’m not talking about tax season! Here’s how I spent the month of October.

……….FILM……….

Tremors (1990) Really really great. The premise is simple enough yet I was consistently surprised by the movie’s creativity. Plenty of suspense and really great effects PLUS a gun-toting Reba McEntire. This movie really has it all.

Wayne’s World (1992) Having never seen this before, it held up surprisingly well! I’d never expect 100% of the jokes to survive 30 years but the characters and writing are really really great. That Scooby-Doo ending/call-back? Incredible. Really fun.

Forrest Gump (1994) Having never seen this before, I’m surprised by how dated it felt. I know Hanks won an award(s) for his role but it...is a different watch today than it was in ‘94. It was just so jarring at the beginning of the film, you know? And it’s interesting that a lot of the special effects that were cutting edge then are the sort you can now do with filters on your phone. Just wild progress in 30ish years. Anyway it really is about two people: one with fantastic luck and one with terrible luck, isn’t it?

Romancing the Stone (1984) Perfect casting and Danny DeVito’s style in this movie is a 10/10. Lots of fun and I can only assume the mudslide scene went on to influence the waterslides in the Goonies.

Werewolf By Night (2022) Happy to see some visual and tonal variety in the Marvel stuff. I wish this one better connected with me but it felt incomplete and I’m not sure why. Oh well. Practical effects, puppet corpse, and B&W blood were all top notch.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Episode 1.06 to 1.08) I liked it. Maybe i’m the perfect viewer since I’ve read some of the books, liked the movies, but am not reeeeeeally all that concerned with the show’s accuracy; I just want some good television. If each season follows Sauron’s journey deceiving a group and getting them to make the rings, I’d be happy.

……….READING……….

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett (Page 264 of 415) A little slow reading this over the course of the month but still totally enamoured with the Discworld setting. Maybe it’s unfair for a series with 40+ titles but I’ve never felt more like I’m in a real and living world than when I’m reading a Pratchett novel. Truly a pleasure to read each and every entry.

Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale (Complete) These two make books that are meant to be read around Halloween. I remember reading this shortly after Loeb and Sale’s The Long Halloween and not liking it as much but now as an adult, I recognize it for being its own thing. Really great and these two create what are the epitome of comics: flashy yet considered artwork, accessible yet rich narratives, and a really beautiful merging of the two. 

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 11 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Still my favourite ongoing manga series and still one I will recommend until I’m blue in the face. So good. I can’t tell if the series is wrapping up, or really digging into another phase. EIther way, I’m loving it.

……….AUDIO……….

Articles of Interest (Podcast) For those who wear clothes, I can’t recommend this podcast enough. The new season is all about ivy as a style but if you want more episodic listens, go back to the previous season.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The group is digging deeper into the political intrigue as they explore Munchkin District and finally met the regional mayor, Hungry Tiger! No word yet if they’ll be able to meet Cowardly Lion or explore his sapphire castle. If you want more detail then you can read all about it over here!

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 group had just one session this month where they fought a giant stone obelisk. They literally chipped away at it for a couple hours but it was a satisfying victory!

Wizorb (Tribute Games) I don’t play video games often but a mix of fantasy and pinball for like...$5 sounded perfect to me. I played it a bit but I found there were too many frustrating level designs to really enjoy it. Maybe I should go back and play Kirby’s Pinball Land on my Gameboy.

And that’s it! As always, let me know if you have any recommendations and see you next month!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

[itcamefromthetoybox]

Action Master Galvatron

Back in the 1980’s, Hasbro’s Transformers toy designs and how they looked in the cartoon and comics didn’t always match up. Sometimes, this would be as drastic as Ironhide, where the figure didn’t even have a head, or Bumblebee, who didn’t have a mouth. And sometimes it would be like Galvatron, where the colors were just wildly different. The thing is, lately, Galvatron’s toy colors have been making a comeback, so when I saw this figure, I wanted to take a look and see how the colors hold up! So this week, we’re looking at “Transformers ReAction Figure Galvatron G1 Retro!”

Once upon a time, Hasbro decided they needed to make more money and that the best way to do that was to clean the slate of their Transformers cast to bring in new characters to sell to kids. So, they put out an animated movie and traumatized kids all over the world by graphically killing almost all their favorite characters from the hit cartoon and by having Optimus Prime die in a hospital bed, surrounded by the new guys and the very few of his friends who were still alive. …Yeah, this went over with kids and parents as well as you would expect. Megatron, meanwhile, had a slightly different fate: A giant space-monster-robot shaped like a planet “transformed” him (See what I did there? My English degree at work.) into the mighty Galvatron, who would be the main villain of season 3 of the original cartoon and would go down in history as the most psychotic Decepticon of all.

The ReAction Figures are a line of retro-styled toys created by Super7, a company known for retro-style toys and generally fun nerd stuff. The figures are meant to emulate the toys of the 1970’s-80’s, and include just a massive amount of stuff. He-Man, The Simpsons, Terminator, Big Trouble In Little China, and even heavy metal band mascots are just a few of the many, many franchises you can find in the ReAction line.

The way the line approaches Transformers is pretty interesting. Since the figures aren’t able to transform, the toys are instead incredibly faithful recreations of the animation character models, with the exception of Unicorn, who is based off an unreleased figure. This actually has precedent in Transformers; in the 1980’s, Hasbro did a line called “Action Masters,” which were Transformers that didn’t transform and instead came with transforming accessories, resulting in a higher level of show accuracy. The ReAction Transformers don’t come with the accessories, but the lack of the need to turn into something means that the toy makers can put more effort towards recreating the character from the TV screen.

Galvatron’s sculpt is an almost exact replica of his TV appearance, which looks really great. The one real exception is that his arm-mounted gun is mounted at an angle, and that’s due to the laws of physics necessitating that compromise to keep the gun looking good without clipping into his arm, Color-wise, he’s very different from the usual all-purple Galvatron. Like I said earlier, these are the colors of the original Galvatron toy, but they’re applied to Galvatron’s character model. Personally, I love these colors on him. They go together well, making for a striking figure, and make me really see this guy as an upgraded Megatron. The translucent barrel of his gun’s a really nice touch, as well. It’s clear a lot of work went into this paint job. My one complaint, though, is Galvatron’s face. 

How do you know he’s an improvement from Megatron? He actually killed Starscream.

The dark grey used for his face makes it hard to make out the sculpting on it, though there is sculpting, and the dark red of his eyes makes his eyes blend into his face. I have to hold him up to my eyes to even make out any details.

Galvatron shares the same articulation as most ReAction figures: his arms swivel up and down, his legs move, and his head turns. Nothing too dynamic. There are a few things to watch out for. His shoulder pieces actually block his arms from a full 360 motion, though that’s not something that would really come up much in play, and you need to be careful how you grip his head to turn it so you don’t bend his horns.

Galvatron! With the power to shake his fist in rage!

Galvatron comes with no accessories, and this is very much a good thing. His hands are solid, with no way to hold anything, so any accessories he did come with would have to be set aside. It does irk me a bit, honestly, because I would have liked him to be able to hold something, and I feel this limits him a bit.

Just gonna sit here and chill.

“Reaction Figure Galvatron G1 Retro” stands at about 3.75 inches, which makes his $18 price tag, the standard price for ReAction figures, hurt. He’s a Target exclusive and is very much a collector’s item, with his packaging recommending him for ages 14+. I feel that his limited articulation and inability to transform mean that he’s a collectable best suited for people who display their toys on shelves or in the packaging, since he can’t pose or hold anything. Would I recommend him? Honestly, while I do really like him as a collectable, that price tag really irks me. I just can’t recommend him for that price. Wait until he’s on sale or you have a gift card. This is JS signing off and wishing you Happy Toy Hunting!

#transformers #galvatron #reaction figures #toy #toys #review #toy review #reviews #transformers toys

[flowervolcano]

Moon Knight thoughts from a comic fan;

I get it, people hate us comic readers for nitpicking because MCU tends to alter too much, but you have to understand that we have been reading and loving these characters for decades so it’s a little upsetting to see the thing you love about a character be altered for the sake of the MCU (when a proper/accurate adaptation is possible, MCU opts not to do so) and I understand, the MCU is meant to be a “fresh take” bring something new, I haven’t really expected comic accuracy since 2016, but sometimes I want it when it doesn’t make much sense for the changes (I’ve mentioned this before on Taskmaster, I wouldn’t even care if Taskmaster was a woman as long as she had the same attitude as Tony did in the comics that would’ve been so funny to have a cocky woman thinking she could beat everyone with her cool abilities it would’ve been a cool approach but noooo) so before you decide “ugh this annoying comic stan is going to cry their eyes out because MCU isn’t my precious comic book!!! You are damn right, it’s not, and it doesn’t always need to be, there are some aspects in comics that NEED to be changed and adjusted, due to times changing and all of that, there are some pretty poorly aged moments in comics that need to be addressed and fixed and the MCU can help “fix/retcon” it. But please, it will always be valid to dislike something just because it’s not like the source material, we have been here before, we liked the said media for the purpose of what it originally was, changing it too much makes the characters unfamiliar to us, the things we were attached to are gone forever and we have to face that with MCU stans screaming at us to get over it, and it’s a very invalidating feeling. I hate being told that I’m stupid for not enjoying it because it’s not what I wanted, I am a fan, I’m a consumer, if I pay for a movie at the theater I am expecting to enjoy it, if I don’t it’s my business and I get to complain. I’m never going to get up in others posts/faces for people who love the MCU and tell them “you are so stupid this isn’t anything like the REAL MOON KNIGHT— you are so stupid for thinking this is cool when he isn’t even written properly like the comics” because I am not that kind of person its an opinion at best I want people to like it, I honestly wish I enjoyed it like everyone else. I mean for crying out loud I have wanted a Moon Knight series since I was 16 years old! (I’m now 22) I was so excited, and this series came out on my birthday (March 30th) so you can imagine the excitement I had, made me feel like the ultimate Moon Knight fan. And then the time came I turned it on, and it wasn’t what I was expecting, but I didn’t even know what I was expecting, so I was simply eager to see how it unfolds, this is the MCU’s take, their vision I wanna see what’s in store, but there were things that were already not sitting right with me and let me explain them really simply before this post gets too long, these were my biggest complains since the start of the series that never changed.

- Marc Spector is Jewish, I was worried from the start since Wanda Maximoff was white washed and had her religion erased that they wouldn’t write in his religion at all. I understand it’s the first episode so there’s plenty of time to dive into the series and get to know him and his religion in the future, so honestly I was giving them the benefit of doubt. But they didn’t pull through, I feel like they treated his religion too much of a cameo than they did for anything else. That has always been a very integral part of his character. So to ignore it for most of the series was weird for me, I couldn’t digest it. And then when they finally placed the smallest little nod to it, it felt almost damaging, they really did the bare minimum for him and his religion. And it didn’t work for me. I’m not Jewish, but I am religious and I would’ve hated to see my own religion that was important to a character and myself be treated the way I saw it displayed on the screen that day. My heart goes out to everyone who is Jewish and has to deal with the horrible comments I’ve seen across the internet these last few weeks, I will never unsee those things you all said and did to anyone who tried to speak out about the bad representation.

- Jake Lockley: I know there was many of you who don’t know him, who told us to shut up for him not appearing and worst off insulting his mustache. Like that’s a deal breaker for me. I need that mustache, some of you in this fanbase honestly scare me with how quickly you will fight anyone who actually likes the source material. If you can’t like Jake Lockley you need to leave. I won’t forgive how the MCU went about to portraying him, it was really stupid. No I do not believe he’s an evil alter because they don’t exist, and I’m hoping Marvel isn’t stupid enough to think they can pull that off and get away with it. They better not be. If we get to see Moon Knight again and they do that… I don’t know what I will do. It’s really damaging seeing everyone depict him as a violent, manipulative womanizer. If anyone who said this read a comic please tell me which one it was, if it was the Bemis one please DM your address; I will show you violence— there are so many of you who just want Jake to be evil or believe he’s violent and unlikeable, and someone said he needs to go to hell- never in my entire life as a Moon Knight fan would I have ever expected Jake Lockley to be hated more than the villains they faced. It’s downright insulting!

- Lack of supporting Moon Knight cast: no Gena, hardly any Crawley (it’s not the same without Jake and no one knows it) Marlene (Layla you are fine I get what’s happening but I still miss Marlene) Frenchie, where— where are they?! Why aren’t they here?? It felt so empty without my MK family. It was upsetting and I couldn’t stand the lack of the supporting cast. I mean not even a small nod to anyone there— didn’t feel like Moon Knight to me. There’s a chance to add them in later but idk just feels like a waste now.

- The handling of DID. Why did they never explicitly tell the audience and give them an understanding of Dissociative Identity Disorder? Do you know how much that could’ve helped a lot of people who still think it’s a made up disorder or that Khonshu created them? It’s not- I have been arguing my case for weeks about Moon Knight and his disorder to… well it feels like a wall. The people I’ve had to say use terms “personalities” and “evil personalities” and overall some ableist nonsense I’ve endured these last few weeks. I’m always very mindful about terminology and how I discuss mental disorders. It’s a serious matter that shouldn’t be joked about. There are lots of memes and wow it’s a mess out here. But whatever, I find I’m complaining more about the fan base than the series. But in the end it’s the whole crew of Moon Knight who have caused this. Giving a very good explanation on what DID is and how it affects Marc could’ve been so good, would’ve been insightful for new viewers and those who are not familiar with the disorder, also I wanted to see it done similar to in the comics but they wanted to pull a whole “mystery” on us which I didn’t enjoy. I didn’t like how they chose to approach DID in the slightest. This also has a play in why I dislike Jake’s absence, they have always looked after each other and worked well together rarely did they fight over who got to front either. I don’t know I didn’t enjoy the constant battle between Marc/Steven as it felt really odd for me, I’m not the biggest expert on DID I know it can different between patient to patient but it just wasn’t something I felt was good representation, I didn’t like how they treated it like Steven wasn’t real in the end or that there was an accusation that the other was fake/a hassle to the other. From my interpretation alters are supports for the individual to help them in serious or mentally difficult situations that the main cannot handle, they are there to help with communication, trauma and support, I never understood it as then fighting like two siblings with a video game controller. But I do not know everything and would love to be educated on the matter and understand, so please tell me if you have DID/are a DID expert if this rep is good and I need to cool it. I didn’t like it but if it’s good rep I can’t argue, it’s not my place to say.

- I didn’t like Steven, yes it’s because he is nothing like his comic counter part and I absolutely do not need to explain myself further.

- Everything boils down to it’s not my Moon Knight. But I’m glad you all enjoyed it, I wish I did too. While it wasn’t awful that I wanted to gauge my eyeballs out, it wasn’t what I wanted and I do feel some self entitlement, actually more so now that it is over because I’m seeing millions of posts/tweets about how much everyone loved it and that’s fine, but it’s that select few who are purposefully trashing/harassing us comic fans and Jewish people online, that is what sparked this whole post. I couldn’t take another post without wanting to argue. Instead I wrote this, because I don’t wanna be that guy, the person who starts fights because I can’t just enjoy something and suddenly don’t want others to have fun. I wanna have fun too, but I wanna be heard and respected, that it’s okay to have disliked it, I’m not wrong just different. I wouldn’t have even broke down and wrote this if it wasn’t for the latter of this fanbase. I was simply going to remain silent on this whole series and stubbornly ignore it’s existence. But it won’t leave any time soon.

If you made it this far I wanna thank you for reading, and apologize if I said anything that just hurt you. I don’t wanna be a cruel individual, I simply wanted to state my feelings. Hope you all have a wonderful year and if you enjoyed Moon Knight (2022) cheers to you!!

#moon knight #moon knight spoilers #jake lockley #marc spector #steven grant #mcu #mcu rant #moon knight rant #ranting #marvel #marvel comics #why do you guys hate source material so much #comic fans are hated too much #just some thoughts

[teratron]

Comic Review: Three (2013)

By Kieron Gillen (writer), Ryan Kelly (artist), and Jordie Bellaire (colorist), and Clayton Cowles (letterer)

There's not enough good historical comics, that don't include some sort of ahistorical or fantasy element to it, so I was happy to come across this. Especially as it's an era of history glossed over when people think of Ancient Greece. Never read anything by Gillen so I went in with no real expectations beyond being interested in a book that was conceived as the “anti-300″.

For those who want a brief summary. Set in the years post the Battle of Leuctra where the Spartan rule of Greece was shattered forever. The story follows three Helots   who suddenly find themselves on the run from their Laconic overlords with one Sparta’s two kings being, reluctantly, forced to lead the charge to ensure other Helots don’t get any ideas. As one would expect, the chase going not going well for either our three titular Helots or the Spartans chasing after them. 

Three flips the script on Miller’s 300 and the Spartan myth in many ways with this story. The smartest, in my opinion, being not simply doing a perspective shift on the Battle of Thermopylae and making our main POV be Persians or another Greek city-state like Athens or Thebes, but rather making our characters we follow Helots; the people who would have been the true victims of Sparta’s brutal society and would have no mythic illusions about Sparta’s warrior image that outsides would have had. 

 I also very much appreciate the historical research that went into this. Even though I'm an amateur Historian, I'm not a particular stickler of historical accuracy in fiction in most cases but I appreciate when there is a genuine effort made on the part of the creator to try and stick to what we know. There’s a good discussion included in the trade between Gillen and 

The ending coda that sums up the reigns of the two Spartan kings featured in this story, Agesilaos and Kleomenes, is an interesting insight into how we remember figures from history and how we in the modern age also view Sparta.  As the epilogue notes Agesilaos was largely a failure of a leader who oversaw Sparta’s rapid descent but is nevertheless was considered one of Sparta’s greatest kings while Kleomenes (the main king charged with hunting down the Helots in the story) is noted for having waged no wars and Sparta’s decline was halted under him but is for the most part forgotten by history. Stating those from history who were spectacular in some way, whether successful or not, than those who were competently mediocre. Like Agesilaos, Sparta was ultimately a failure 

#comics #image comics #history #sparta #review

[bleeckerstreetsorcerersupreme]

My review of DSITMOM

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

I’ll preface by saying this: I have read comics and have watched Stephen’s first film many times, as well as looked at his development in other films he’s been in, so my take on this movie might different. I’m not too knowledgeable as other people when it comes to comics, but I’ve read some!

To be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie! It definitely wasn’t perfect, it had its flaws. I will address both positives and negatives.

Positives: I loved Stephen’s character growth! I feel like Stephen has grown so much since his first movie; both personality wise and power wise. Being able to see more spells and just his sheer power in this film was absolutely incredible! I felt like a little kid watching my first magic show. Stephen owned his power and it felt amazing to really have that control and ability.

I feel like a lot of people missed just how far Stephen has come at this point in the MCU. As a character, Stephen has already had so much trauma, has taken the blame for so many things, and has blamed himself for several incidents. To see that vulnerability in Stephen, to me, made me love him even more. It felt like there was more humanity to Stephen in this movie (not that there wasn’t any less in the other movies he was involved in).

I also loved the dynamic he had with America Chavez. It felt very reminiscent with him and Peter in No Way Home. I’m glad he’s become such a father figure to these younger superheroes and I think it shows that his importance of staying in the MCU; not only to be a mentor but to be an idol as well.

I absolutely adored the comic accuracy that Raimi incorporated into this film for Stephen. There were details in the movie that I immediately noticed came from different comics of Strange and it was actually so enlightening to see that much detail in his movie. Details such as the cloak being worn as a scarf, his third eye, and the Donna mention meant so much to me, because I’ve always wanted Stephen’s movies to have more comic accuracy and this movie gave that.

Of course, the soundtrack and the filmography was on point! I enjoyed all of the amazing shots and the way the camera was used to portray certain scenes and moments to make them more compelling and slightly scarier.

Negatives: like I said before, this movie isn’t perfect. My expectations for this movie were not that high but also not too low. I just wanted Stephen to shine his movie and not to be overshadowed.

I felt like the pacing for this movie was a tad faster than other movies. I know his first movie had similar pacing, because it went from him going from riches, to rags, to Master of the New York Sanctum in the span of about two hours. However, I felt like there wasn’t enough time to process some things that happened and I felt like there wasn’t enough screen time to elaborate on certain details. It felt a bit brushed over at some points.

I also didn’t like how some of the humor went a bit far. Stephen has wit and humor, but I felt like they wrote humor a bit too much where it wasn’t needed. It diminished some serious moments and it downplayed what was about to happen next, just a bit.

I’ve also seen people talk about how Wanda had too much screen time or the fact that there was so much going on that Stephen’s backstory and development was set aside. I somewhat disagree, since if you’ve followed the MCU movies up to this point, his growth has been very noticeable. Of course, he still has an ego, but it’s not as big as it was back in his first film. Compared to his first film, we are able to see his vulnerability, his struggle, and his development. I also don’t think many people take into account just how much the events of MoM affected him. Just imagine the trauma and suffering he went through, after the events of MoM. Even if they don’t show it, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t went through it.

What I do agree with is that they should’ve done more with his backstory regarding his childhood. Donna and Victor are a huge part of his character and life, having an acknowledgment is good but I would’ve loved to seen a flashback scene to Donna’s drowning, his father’s death, his mother’s death and even Victor’s. Since MCU Stephen is diving into comic canon, I would’ve loved to have seen him during his family’s deaths and how they shaped him to be the man he is now.

In regards to Wanda having too much screen time, I’m not sure if she did get too much screen time. I didn’t feel like she overshadowed Strange, to be honest. Stephen was still the main focus, even though Wanda was one of the other focuses as well. It was about Stephen’s growth and development rather than Wanda’s.

I also feel like the claim of ‘too much going on’ was due to reshoots and post production stuff since this movie has been pushed back like 2 or 3 times, I feel like they had to cut stuff out in order to have a good runtime.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie! I loved Stephen’s growth and development, I love where Raimi and Derrickson took the film, and I felt like he truly did own his movie.

#doctor strange #stephen strange #dsitmom #benedict cumberbatch #multiverse of madness #wong #america chavez

[smokeybrandreviews]

Stunt Show

The more i read about Netflix's adaption of Sandman, the more I'm conflicted about it. I love the Sandman world. Hell, it's the reason i even got into Vertigo in the first place so i hold that little corner of DC very dear. One of my favorite characters, Death, comes from those stories. I am very keen on that aesthetic. Dark haired, pale as a ghost, and absolutely bubbly. Death has this infectious optimism about her in contrast to her role and appearance. When i heard they cast Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, i groaned. This felt like diversity stunt casting, like they needed a colored co-lead in order to satiate the current PC mafia loudly, forcefully, steering the industry into creative bankruptcy. Kirby will probably be great in the role but she doesn't have the look and that's a huge part of the character. It's arguably the defining part of the character. Howell-Baptiste is exactly the opposite of what Vertigo's Death is supposed to look like and it chaffs me. In my head, it's Kat Dennings all day or a gothed up, black haired, Sydney Sweeney. Hell, Emma Dumont is all but perfect for the role. If you want to go more ethnic, ash in those diversity points, then a very cherry flavored Roza Salazar or Daniella Pineda could fit the bill. IF she has to be black, then Laura Harrier is definitely far more on point than Howell-Baptiste, in my opinion. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed with who would be playing my darling Death of the Endless. Howell-Baptiste just felt so disingenuous to the role and kind of made me look at the cast a little different. But then i heard they cast Gwendolyn Christie as Lucifer Morningstar. Bruh. That choice is so goddamn inspired, I'm beside myself with glee. Christie looks the part. Outside of Bowie and maybe Tilda Swinton, Christie is the one person who fits that character perfectly. Plus, she's an excellent actress. Give ma more work! I can see it so clearly; Christie just smarming around, all narcissistic and charismatic, charming the pants of every one. Her tall, yet, feminine frame, hugged snugly by an impeccably tailored suit, just exuding danger and sex. If we're going for comic accuracy with a twist, if you're trying to subvert expectations, Christie is definitely it. So what's my issue with the Death casting if I am okay with Christie rocking the Opposer look? It's because Christie feels like Lucifer. She fits the role and Howell-Baptiste does not. She just doesnt vibe as Death. Now, I'm sure someone will probably bring this up but, no, i don't hate the fact that Howell-Baptiste is black. I'm black. I hate the fact that they took a character that is, historically, white as ghost, and decided to stunt cast a black woman in the role for diversity points. It comes across as cowardly to me. They already had a male lead so they absolutely MUST go the opposite way or else they appear to be racist when, in reality, this sh*t makes them seem a fake. Bro, if your show needs a black to get made in this, the modern era of performative Hollywood, why not just make Morpheus, himself, black? Gaiman has said he doesn't give a sh*t either way so why not go all in and give the actual lead to a black dude? There are a ton of young, black, leading men who would kill this role. Yahya Mateen immediately comes to mind. Ol' slave face, himself, Jonathan Majors, is another great choice. Hell, why even limit yourselves to just to us blacks? Broaden your horizons and include all male leads of color. Booboo Stewart looks the part. Dev Patel would have killed this sh*t given the chance! Go watch The Green Knight and tell me he can't pull off Morpheus. My frustration is that this sh*t with Death is unnecessary. There are already just SO many roles that have been gender or race bent going into this thing but they all fit the characters. I can look at who was cast for, say, Lucienne and my mind immediately accepts that sh*t. I'd even go so far as to say it improves the character a bit. Same with the likes of Rose Walker and Unity Kinkaid. These castings still feel faithful to the spirit of the characters on the page. I don't get that same energy with Death. That sh*t feels like a placation to sate the diversity gods on high, as opposed to a subversion of fan expectation. Again, I have all the confidence in  Howell-Baptiste doing a great job in the role. I loved her Anita in Cruella. I just don't think she was the right person for this role.

#Sandman #Death of the Endless #Lucifer Morningstar #Vertigo #DC #Netflix #Some ol' bullsh*t