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khruschevshoe · 4 months

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OFMD (fic) analysis: The Power of Names, Agency, and Creating Yourself

So, this is going to be Part 1 out of who knows how many analyzing different aspects of @aletterinthenameofsanity 's magnum opus OFMD fic series "made a promise when I left for the coast (made a life out of chasing a ghost)." Now, the series is divided into three sections, "Season 2," "Season 3," and "Extras" (which includes missing scenes, AUs, and post-canon "special episodes"). This first essay will be addressing the symbolic/thematic meaning of characters choosing their own names in this series throughout all parts (some of these metas will only tackle one section/season/ or even fic).

It is clear in this series that names take on a particular meaning, due to the multiple times it is emphasized, such as in part 15 of the series (the "pilot" of "Season 3"), when Captain Olu says, "Everyone's entitled to choose their own name on my ship." Names, when taken on a ship, allow someone to both shed their precious life and claim one for their own. I'm going to go through the various ways this is presented in series and how letting characters choose their names on the Revenge allows them to gain agency within their lives and world.

1): Name as Gender: Jim and Pete

Early on in the series, Jim and Pete's friendship is established from Jim's POV, where we discover that before the Blackbeard-Kraken-era, Jim and Pete bonded when Pete revealed that Pete is also trans, which in the series is often referred to as "the power of creation" (there's an essay analyzing the religious implications in the works, I swear). This is a point of connection and pride between them, and is the foundation to a great and enduring friendship and place of trust that often gets both of them through low points.

This friendship is further emphasized in part 13, Pete's internal monologue echoes previous assertions by Jim's internal monologue that "they have things in common that go beneath everything, a connection that threads itself across the sea, through razors and potential top scars and names left buried on land."

2) Name as Family: The Jimenezes and the Spriggs

A) The Jimenez Matelots

During their wedding reception in part 9 of the series, Olu and Archie both make it clear that they are going to take Jim's last name due to the importance of becoming Jim's family. Olu will trade in his last name, and Archie will take on a last name for the first time, as a sign of loyalty, loved, and comfort, because for Olu and Archie, "What price is a last name when it comes to making Jim feel comfortable and loved?"

B) The Spriggs Siblings

The choice of the last name "Spriggs" by Mel and Lucius has almost the opposite backstory of the Jimenez matelots- rather than keeping a last name to honor a family, the Spriggs siblings keep their last name to spite their abusive father. When Mel is asked by Roach in part 18 of the series as to why she keeps her last name when, as a pirate, she could have easily dropped it entirely when starting a new life, she tells him that she kept it because it connected it to her brother. Her internal monologue explains that "She stayed Mel Spriggs, damn the consequences, not because the last name gave her protection, but because it connected her to the one person who, at any point in her life, had protected her." It has nothing to do with "the lily-livered douche" that was her father; it as to do with her connection to Lucius. And as the series progresses, even after Lucius gets married to Izzy and Pete, we see that he keeps his last name while Pete picks up the last name "Hands-Spriggs." As much as his matelots mean to him, shown by the rings they share (objects as symbolism will be another analysis), his relationship with his sister is just as important to him.

3) Name as Intimacy: Frenchie and Zheng Yi Sao | Ching Shih

So, this one is not as startling or connected to character agency as the others, but I really like what this relationship does with language. Zheng Yi Sao literally translates as "wife of Zheng Yi" and is used almost as both name and title, the name of the Pirate Queen and Emperor of China, while Ching Shih is her Cantonese name, within the language she grew up speaking. Historically, Zheng Yi Sao had to learn Mandarin to fit in with upper crust society, and it makes sense that the name she rules the seas with (even in OFMD) is within that more "elevated" language.

But here's the kicker: Frenchie doesn't call her Zheng. He calls her Ching Shih, honoring where she came from, acknowledging that he gets a far more intimate side of her than the rest of the world do. In part 40, in the moment of their engagement (which comes after years of a really fun half friends-with-benefits, half-long-distance-relationship that they have going on), Frenchie accepts Zheng's proposal with the line "I’d love to be yours, Ching Shih, as long as you- not your title, or your power, or whatever, just you - would be mine.”

4) Name as Agency: Mel and Roach

When Mel first joins the crew of the Revenge, Olu calls her "Miss Spriggs" and she asks to be called Mel instead. It is made clear that to her, her first name is a gesture of identity and agency as she begins a new life, a fact that is emphasized in part 39, which covers Mel's life leading up to the moment she murders her parents and leaves home. This part refers to Mel exclusively by the name "Melanie" until the moment she leaves Anguilla and takes her agency back into her own hands, paralleling the death of "Blackbeard" and the freedom of the crew with the line "Melanie Spriggs dies along with her parents; Blackbeard dies along with Izzy’s love for Edward Teach."

In part 18 of the series, we see Roach explain that his choice of name was a similar act of agency, a moment when he chose the name thar embodied his own survival instinct with the lines ""Being a pirate is about creating a life for yourself. A name, a family, a home. I picked Roach because I refuse to let anyone kill me.” He gives her a toothy grin that she can’t help but return. “I’m an invincible little fucker.”"

5) Name as Family (Part 2): Femi Boodhari and the Jimenez Matelots

Finally, we return to the theme of names being used for chosen family. When the Jimenez matelots visit Femi, Olu’s mother, in part 41 of the series, at first Jim is worried that Femi will be disappointed that her son traded away his name for theirs, Femi gives Jim and Archie a way to honor and carry both the Jimenez and Boodhari names and legacies: as a blacksmith, she makes Jim a knife and Archie a new axehead with the Boodhari name in the side so that way the family, their culture, and her own legacy of escaping slavery and starting her own business and family can be honored. Though it's not as straightforward an example of "choosing a name" as the others, I think it is a nice endcap in this series for the theme.

(Also, as a note: these metas/analysises take a lot longer to write than it took me to make moodboards. So they'll probably come out a little less frequently, even if they are just as much fun to do!)

@blue-b-bro @possumsmushroom @yuenity @bricksbloggyplace @cosmicquill @a-pessimistic-swiftie @polikate

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not-freyja · 3 months

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For the ask game, 500 words or less. How about the part where Sky asks Rulie to hurl lightning at him. Because that was LIT!

"“What the fuck?” Wind laughs, raising his sword again.

Sky steps in front of him with the same hard stare. He makes himself an obstacle, but whether it is to keep the monster away from Wind, or to keep Wind from charging into battle, he cannot say. “Hyrule,” the knight calls, and his voice sounds so quiet, it should be impossible to hear it over the rain. Instead his voice rings clear and resonant in Hyrule’s skull. “Strike me.”

Absolutely not. He shakes his head, wrapping his arms tighter around the railings as the ship drops again.

“Hero of Hyrule,” Sky calls, and it is a command searing deep into his soul, “strike me now!”

Convinced that Sky has officially lost his mind, but more than happy to see where this goes, Hyrule calls the lighting down, throwing it with all his focus at Sky. Not the rising beast exploding from the sea. Not at the blinking clearly vulnerable gargantuan eye.

Nope.

Hyrule arcs the lightning towards his brother because apparently all Sky wants in this world is to be electrocuted to death, and who is he to get between a man and his dreams?"

Oh you’re so right, that scene was lit. Get it? Lit? Like- like Lightning? Do you-

Anyway!

So most of the actual drama in this scene is occurring inside of Sky’s head, which is very inconvenient for the reader because the scene is from Rulie’s POV. This means that you don’t get to know what it is exactly that Sky is thinking. The reader is forced into Hyrule’s position, confused and concerned and second guessing Sky’s choices. Just for funsies! (And by “funsies” here the author means dramatic tension.)

And what a choice it is! Let’s break it down:

"“What the fuck?” Wind laughs, raising his sword again.

Here Windy boy is genuinely ecstatic that he’s going to get to fight a sea monster. Like, the boy is stoked. What a time to be alive!

Sky steps in front of him with the same hard stare. He makes himself an obstacle, but whether it is to keep the monster away from Wind, or to keep Wind from charging into battle, he cannot say.

Both. The answer is solidly both. Sky is so protective of them all, and he also can see how ready to roll Wind is.

“Hyrule,” the knight calls, and his voice sounds so quiet, it should be impossible to hear it over the rain. Instead his voice rings clear and resonant in Hyrule’s skull. “Strike me.”

So this is a bit of foreshadowing about how fucked up Sky is on a spiritual level. When you kill a God, what do you become?

A moron, apparently!

Absolutely not. He shakes his head, wrapping his arms tighter around the railings as the ship drops again.

This is a normal sane reaction! I am so proud, Rulie doesn’t have those often! Well done baby boy!

“Hero of Hyrule,” Sky calls, and it is a command searing deep into his soul, “strike me now!”

Sky! Beloved, get your burgeoning anger issues under control, I fucking swear on your wife man.

Convinced that Sky has officially lost his mind, but more than happy to see where this goes, Hyrule calls the lighting down, throwing it with all his focus at Sky.

This here was me trying to articulate the mentality with which Rulie goes through life: “this might as well happen, life as a Hero is already so Din damned weird!”

Not the rising beast exploding from the sea. Not at the blinking clearly vulnerable gargantuan eye.

Sometimes I like to remind us that this is about a video game series and poke at in-game mechanics like weak points, just for fun.

Nope.

Yeah cause that would make sense, wouldn’t it? And nothing on this fucking road trip has made sense for Hyrule, poor lad.

Hyrule arcs the lightning towards his brother because apparently all Sky wants in this world is to be electrocuted to death, and who is he to get between a man and his dreams?"

This is me laughing at my own jokes. That’s it, nothing deeper. I thought the line, I ugly laughed, and then I typed the line. 10/10, would do it again.

That was fun! Thank you for the prompt! 💕 I hope it is as fun for you to read my analysis as it was for me to write it.

#freyja writes fic #this is an adjuration #answered #ask game #fic analysis #lu hyrule #lu sky #this was fun #I’d play again

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jacky-rubou · 11 months

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ten (almost eleven now) pm rambling about my fic 'the things you can't live without' because I am going insane and need to talk about a specific thing about it or I'll explode.

When Ford was dying in Stan's arms, I didn't make him visibly angry about being brought back home. Except for like a brief moment where he touches on the risk of bringing him back, but not yelling or belittling him directly for it. Even thanking Stan for letting him see him once more before giving up the ghost.

Maybe it's completely obvious to everyone else why I did that, but it was because Ford knew he was going to die and he was too weak and tired to gather the energy needed for anger. And... I think seeing how distressed Stan was while trying to save him would've actually made an actively dying Ford not want his last moments spent on dumb grudges, to not force Stan to remember the moment as one filled with anger. So his last words were his earnest attempt at keeping everything okay between them for Stan's sake, since Ford wasn't long for the world anyway. And at that moment, he really meant the words more than anything, regardless of what he would've been angry about had he not been gravely injured. regardless of any pretense.

idk, Ford doesn't seem to me like he would be so angry that he would die in Stan's arms while loudly hating him. maybe I'm silly and presumptuous, but I like to think he'd push aside his grudge in the moment of dying in that instance. just knowing the grudge wasn't worth it while facing his very real mortality, and feeling any attempts at anger wash away as he's cradled in Stan's arms and hearing his panicked words and realizing how much he was loved and deciding to genuinely reciprocate because this was his twin who loved him and every bit of anger didn't matter anymore because he's now home and seeing his twin after thirty painfully long years he didn't know he was missing him for due to bitterness.

ugh and how his final 'i love you' was broken by his death, the last word only airily whispered in the last breath... just making me insane man. this whole fic is making me insane. and it's mine so what's my excuse?

anyway, rambling done. twas nice to release the feelings I'm having about Ford while he's dying in Stan's arms in my fic.

#major character death #gravity falls #ford pines #stanford pines #stan pines #stanley pines #fic analysis #does it count if it's my fic being analyzed by myself #or does it not matter that much #anyway #rambling

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psychologeek · 17 days

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Who am I (to disappear) - extended version!

So, I decided that this fic doesn't get the love and attention it deserves. It's probably due to the first chapter, as it's a little hard to understand. It's on purpose, but still.

Also, I'm pretty sure many of the metaphors, wordplay, and references went unnoticed by the readers.

Therefore y'all get an extended version - in which I'll add my thoughts, explanations, and other fun things.

Tw: dehumanization

Chapter 1, Part 1: Master's Weapon

The big room holds all of Master's weapons. Each and every one of them are stored in their own cases. There are knives and daggers in their sheaths and swords in their scabbards, all stored fondly on the wall. The guns are safely tucked in their holster, all oiled up, and put to rest in the big-heavy closet. The BOOM boxes are also there, all the little booms together waiting to be let out.

The first paragraph is a description of the armoury. There's focus on the unique cover of every different kind of weapon.

There's also a very kind/loving tone for this: "stored fondly", "safely tucked" , "put to rest" "all the little" - like talking about children. Giving a tone of love and caring. "All oiled up and put to rest " - almost like talking about little kids, shower-and-bed.

"The little booms" - bombs/dynamite/grenade/etc.

"The Boom box" - Cass mean the boox in which the explosives are kept.

(Also a funny reference to "boom box", that was. A thing.)

Master's Weapon is also oiled up, but it's not good. Weapon should be washed before getting stored on the floor for the night.

Now we're talking about Weapon (capital W), an indication that this one is unique or special of a kind. Similar tone, talking about storing. But no emotion or kindness. Just what needs to happen. Also - no spesific place. Just "on the floor".

Weapon used to be small. Not as small as a blade, but maybe as small as a sword?

Still talking about Weapon. Keep the dehumanization theme, add a little heartbreak. It's been going on for a long time, we can see.

There's still a memory of touching the warm-soft gun, holding it closely, and feeling the cold metal on the face. There are blurred impressions of cold and keeping the fabric close and blades are the same size as the arm.

Memories - being small, being cold, looking for comfort. The first sentence hints using a gun as a comfort object - like a stuffie.

On the meta level - children are resilient, but still need comfort. We can find dolls made out of every material. People need something to be attached to. Even if it's a (literal or metaphorical) gun.

Weapon is bigger now. Big enough that as they both are put on the ground, barefoot, the big gun doesn't even reach Weapon's shoulders. So big, that when the biggest sword is held in one arm, the other arm can touch the sharp part. Big enough to go to sleep with a pistol under the head and a dagger at arm's reach.

Same vibe as "I'm big! I'm six and a HALF!" Ft. heartbreak. Also, indications that Weapon is a living being - shoulders, arms, feet, need to sleep.

Big enough to go out with the Master, like all good weapons do.

Weapons don't want. Weapons don't wish. Weapons don't ask for anything.

But if they did, that weapon would wish to be useful, like any other weapon wish. To be put into good use, and maybe cleaned by the Master afterwards. To be held while put down in sheath, maybe get a smile or even a "good job girl" whisper, like the biggest gun got once. It threw away something and made a big boom.

Dehumanization is hard here "weapons don't want, need".

‌this is heartbreaking to read and write. "To be put into good use". "Cleaned by the Master", as we go back to the shower/oiled weapon metaphor.

‌"Good job girl", is going to have a massive affect.

‌did you notice the jealousy?

Weapon can throw things, too. Weapon can make things go big boom. Weapon can be a good job girl , too.

Weapons do as they are wired to. When you push a dagger, it stabs. When you push a gun's trigger, it fires. When you pull out the pin off of a grenade, it goes boom.

Weapon isn't different. Weapon obeys. Weapon's triggers are not metal or pulling or pushing. It used to be, when it was a smaller Weapon, but it's a big Weapon now. Weapon's triggers are words like "come" and "stay" and "hide" and "show" and "heel". Weapon can get a picture of a place and get where Master put a sign, with anything in the photo Master put on the map. Weapon can hide and kick and make people not-see and get a glitch .

‌look at the words - more compares to a machine or a tool. Now also to a dog (heel). Have you noticed how there isn't a mention of talk, or explain? How all Weapon gets are photos, or signs, or a map?

‌glitch - I sort of consider it as "blend in" and "blend out" - being unnoticed.

‌hide and kick :)

Weapon can be a good job, girl .

Can't it?

‌can you see the theme?

‌notice the pronouns?

Next week: Setback

(When a weapon is pushed too hard, it might explode.)

#warless Wednesday #well #Thursday #again #lit. reading #analysis #fic analysis #Who Am I #cassandra cain #fanfic #batman #kid Cassandra cain #extended version #director's commentary #dehumanization

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magicalara · 1 year

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The Story of Grelle the Reaper: A review by yours truly

So basically I'm in love with @eemoo1o-animoo's story The Story of Grelle the Reaper (TSOGTR) even if there's only the prelude and the first chapter thus far and to show my appreciation, I wanted to do a full on like review/analysis sort of thing. If you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend you do (and yk I mean it bc I out it in caps, italics, and bold) you can find it here. As more of the story comes out, I'll continue on doing this because I like to analyze and comment on literature and this one is one of those examples of a great thing to look at.

Okay long winded intro over onto my thoughts starting with the Prelude~

I'd also like to add that this will probably get pretty long so...yeah. Another add on, I was messaging Ell themselves while writing a portion of this idk if you can tell but it'll influence more chapter one things just wanted to add it.

Prelude

So the prelude isn’t very long, which like duh, it’s a prelude. Some are long, but this one isn’t and I think that that is a charming point for it. I’ve read preludes that were miles long and some which were one sentence and both suck. The length of just a few paragraphs feels just right here; enough to set up a small bit of story to come while not giving away too much. If I wasn’t a Black Butler fan already and didn’t know about how reapers came to be, I’d be hooked just from the mystery of it all. What led this “her” to want to be at this point? What does she want to be “free” from? The grasps of life itself, or perhaps something more? Either way, the length gives just enough to where even someone who doesn’t already have knowledge on the Kuroverse could come in and get hooked.

That all aside, there are some lines I’d like to point out as well to just give my initial thoughts on. These are more bullet-pointy so have at it with my thoughts:

“Dark clouds rolled across the tempestuous seas…”

I’ll go more into this when I reach the first chapter proper but the weather is something which is used to create the atmosphere (duh, Em, get to your point). What I mean by this is that the way that the weather, the dark clouds, the rain that gets mentioned later on, the roaring sea, the “calloused waves”, is all an amazing way to show the absolute turmoil that Grelle is in. The weather is so symbolic of her feelings as she takes in her, at least what she knows to be, final moments. This all makes more sense later when I’ll mention it in my analysis/review of chapter 1.

“The rain washed the rouge from her cheeks, but the sow’s blood still clung to her skin and stained her white frilled shirt.”

First, I have to mention the “sow’s blood” part because I don’t know if this was supposed to connect to anything but when I looked up what “sow” was Macbeth came up and bro I can’t get away from that fucking play. A sow is a female pig for anyone else wondering, by the way, and in Macbeth, a sow’s blood is used in the witches’ spell in the beginning of the play. The whole part is alluding to the fact that they are using the blood of a mother pig who ate her baby and it’s supposed to show a dark, gruesome ritual taking place and some even have taken it as a parallel to how a mother should protect her babies, not slaughter like Macbeth later does when he (spoiler) starts killing people. I don’t think that this is meant to mean anything in relation to TSOGTR, but if it does, it’s probably just for that dark aspect. (There’s a bit more that I can say on this pig part in a different context entirely, but I’ll leave that to chapter 1).

For the line itself without too many other deeper meanings, I’d like to say that the description of the blood still being there and the rain not being able to wash it all away is symbolic of how Grelle is past the point of no return in terms of she’s dying and no one’s going to stop her. She is committed to the bit and will be killing herself. Another thing that comes to mind is the frequent use of the rain being able to wash away all our sins in just daily life and how, here, the rain can’t do that. The rain will not wash away the sins that she feels she carries, just the same as it will not wash away the blood.

“I’ll be free, like a bird.”

There’s a lot more use of the “free, like a bird” analogy in the following paragraph but I’m just quoting this first line to make it not as confusing. Freedom is…a difficult thing to define, especially as someone who knows Grelle’s fate after this. Here, freedom means simply that she doesn't have to be kept down by the shackles of what is expected of her. By killing herself, she is free from expectation. Of course, we Black Butler fans know that she goes from that sense of freedom to being shackled down again by the Grim Reaper Dispatch, however, she doesn’t at this moment. At this moment, Grelle is “Light as a feather, free as a bird.”, as is later said. I like the juxtaposition that this creates as someone who knows where she’ll end up.

So the next part I wanna call out before going over to chapter 1 is the switch in pronouns in the second to last sentence. The line reads “Then, pain filled her head and blood filled the air, before he hit the water.” I highly doubt that this was accidental and, if it is, oops. If not, then I absolutely love that. The way that I read it is that the “her” and the “she” that we have been reading about this whole time is Grelle in her head. It’s all her thoughts and how she herself views it. This “he” that suddenly appears, however, is the physical being, Grell. Grell is not the Grelle that we have been reading in the paragraphs prior. Grell is the physical body that Grelle is inhabiting. Grell is the one that hits the water, not Grelle. Grelle is filled with emotional pain and Grell is filled with physical pain as he is the one to hit the water, not her. Like I said, I don’t know if that is intentional or not but if it is holy shit is that such an amazing way to put it and I’m obsessed.

~~~~

And that’s the prelude. For the ones who are still here, wow congrats, take a break, drink some water. Now you know how complicated and long winded my thoughts get so are you sure you wanna continue? That’s supposed to be a joke. I’m not funny… ANyways, the prelude is a great way to get me hooked onto the story (not like I needed it, I was hooked from first mention), and is also a good intro for anyone who just happened to stumble upon it. Black Butler lovers and non-Black Butler lovers can unite in the start of something which is obviously of quality work here. I’m excited to see where it leads us to next.

#the story of grelle the reaper #em's analysis #em's recs #kuroshitsuji #black butler #grelle sutcliff #kuroshitsuji grelle #black butler grell #butler grelle #black butler grelle #kuroshitsuji grell #grell sutcliff #yes there is a difference between grell and grelle #analysis #fic analysis

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catnipkdodowrites · 1 year

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Clint Barton and Midoriya Izuku deserve good things, and here’s why.

Look, I may have an agenda in saying this but in Marvel x MHA crossovers I fully believe Clint Barton and/or Kate Bishop should get to interact with Midoriya at any opportunity, because there is so much narrative potential! (But especially Clint because he’s my favorite. Did I mention I might have an agenda?) Have them interact please, I am begging you! Even if it’s just for one scene and has no real influence on the plot, or if it’s just Midoriya finding out about Hawkeye's existence and getting excited! Midoriya deserves to have quirkless role models, okay!? (The same goes for Iron Man and other characters who rely on their skills and intellect, but I am the Ultimate Hawkeye Fangirl, alright?)

If you took these characters and stayed true to their canon personalities (or as true as you can with Marvel comic continuities), had these two characters meet, and wrote out a scene with them in it, both characters could benefit from each other and would have a good relationship if their canon characters ever got to interact. Conversely, if you tweaked their characters a bit or just one of those characters or went with a different canon version of one of those characters they would make excellent foils to each other. They have a lot in common, and there’s so much untapped potential between these two. So much untapped potential there are like five fics on Ao3 tagged as the two of them having an interaction significant enough to be worth tagging. FIVE.

Disclaimer, I believe you can and should write whatever you want for the most part, opinions be damned, but some of the phrasing I use in this post may seem like I’m trying to dictate how others should write MHA x Marvel crossovers. Please understand I am not trying to sound like an asshole, I am just very autistic about both these pieces of media and I express my opinions in very specific language.

I’m going to focus on Clint for the purposes of this rant because… look at my icon for Christ’s sake. Plus, I may or may not have an agenda. Well, okay, the actual reason is that I think Clint and Midoriya interactions have more potential than Kate and Midoriya, but it’s like comparing the value of platinum to gold. Both are extremely valuable, but one is more valuable than the other. Now, please, allow me to explain. (Significant word vomit incoming, 4700+ words, there are footnotes at the end plus a TL;DR.)

Look, Clint is literally just a guy who works his ass off. Sure, he’s a super-talented marksman but that talent would be meaningless if he didn’t constantly work for it! Midoriya and Hawkeye are both surrounded by people with extraordinary/supernatural abilities for significant parts of their stories even if Midoriya does get superpowers. Both of them get to where they are in their stories through sheer determination and hard work, even if it was for wildly different purposes. This applies even more so in fics where Midoriya stays quirkless! They are the powerless heroes in worlds filled with heroes who have powers! Characters like Black Widow, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Falcon are way closer to having powers than Hawkeye. Widow was enhanced by the Red Room program, Iron Man and Ant-Man are defined by their gear, and Falcon... it changes from media to media. Sometimes he has a psychic connection to an actual falcon named Redwing, other times his gear is a lot more advanced, and sometimes both. Iron Man has infected himself with nanites to gain a form of technopathy in multiple stories! (1) Hell, Spider-Man was originally Marvel’s “Everyman” character but Clint sniped that title right out from under him. Few things highlight how defining Normalcy is for Clint better than the opening panels from Hawkeye 2012 Issue #1 (also I will take any and every excuse to promo Matt Faction and David Aja’s Hawkeye it’s just so good.)

No matter what, Hawkeye has always been the normal guy on a roster of people with superpowers, super-intellect, fancy weaponry, and magic, and I love it! Ironically, that’s what makes him and Kate stand out, their normalcy.

Side note, have you ever fired a bow? I have. (Did I mention I have autism and am obsessed with Clint?) It’s fucking hard. Forget aiming and hitting your target, have you considered repeatedly pulling back and holding the bow steady for an entire battle? Ouch ouch owie owie ow, my fucking muscles. The human body was not designed to handle that kind of constant repetitive motion, Clint and Kate have arm muscles for days, not to mention the dedication it takes to have aim that good. Aiming with a bow is hard. Sometimes Clint is depicted as being such an excellent marksman he uses the bow and arrow specifically to flex how good his aim is. There are other reasons (Versatility of trick arrows, non-lethality, having been an archer since he was very, very young) but this is objectively the funniest one. He’s also used coins and pebbles when he needs to make a shot that an arrow is unsuited for or when he doesn’t have his bow, i.e. in his civvies.

In fact, Hawkeye (2012) focuses almost exclusively on what Clint gets up to when he’s not superheroing. In the first issue, Clint gets out of the hospital and heads to his apartment. Clint can afford the rent jacks because of his Avengers and Shield pay, his neighbors cannot. We are explicitly shown the landlord mafioso Ivan evicting a single mother of two after tripling her rent. (2) We are shown Clint witnessing this. He knows that neighbor and she trusts him enough to have him double-check the lease to make sure that what the landlord is doing is legal. (It is.) Clint cares about his neighbors, enough that he regularly attends the semi-potluck grill night they have on the roof of the building. In fact, he doesn’t regularly eat except when he’s with the Avengers or on potluck night. So what does he do?

He puts on a cheap suit and tie, heads over to an underground casino, and he gives a slice of pizza to a dog on the street. This dog belongs to the guards of the underground casino. He convinces them to let him in and he hunts down the landlord. He drops a duffle bag and gives the mafia a shit-ton of money in a duffle bag to pay rent for all of his neighbors tax-free. The mafia refuse the deal because they are jacking up the rent so they can evict people for not paying rent on time. This is because they want to sell the building. Clint then beats up the mafia until they accept the money. (3) Well, okay, not exactly. The mafia attack him first, but Clint uses a playing card as a projectile to disorient one of the guards with a gun, and room devolves into chaos.

Clint gets thrown out the front window of the laundromat and runs for his life. As the outer guards fire on Clint, the dog he gave pizza attacks them for it. They then throw the dog into traffic and he turns around to beat the shit out of them because, and I quote “What kinda man throws a dog into traffic? *punches sunglasses off of tracksuit Mafioso* Seriously I ask you.” Clint takes a Nickle out of his pocket and throws it with enough force to shatter the door windows of the car that’s about to hit the dog in a desperate attempt to get the driver to swerve. The dog still gets hit.

Oh yeah, allow me to introduce you to Hawkeye 2012 Issue #1 page 4.

Unrelated note, Faction and Aja do a masterful job of storytelling in issue 1. The story is told out of order, but the proper context is given at the perfect moments so you can easily piece the story together, most of the flashbacks and flash-forwards are one-page long, when they aren’t things from one time period seamlessly blend with another, and the entire color pallet changes to signify what point in the timeline the panels are occurring... and that’s only issue 1! I am refraining from doing a keyboard smash here, as that is the only thing that can properly convey how much I love Hawkeye 2012.

Anyways, he takes the dog to the vet, and the tracksuit mafia show back up while he’s in the waiting room. He once again rocks their shit, and they take it outside. (4) We cut to Ivan sitting in a cab while Clint is outside. It’s raining. Ivan has a handkerchief to his bloody nose and- actually, I don’t think a cliff-notes does this justice. I’ll transcribe the dialogue below here because my attempts to do a scan of the page came out poorly and I’m unsure if there’s a high-quality scan online, just know you’re missing some of the pacing of the scene.

Ivan: “Bro, what kind of Avenger does this? I broke no laws, bro. Allowed to raise rents. Is touch luck for you and your friends but I know my rights.”

Clint: “Hold that thought, ya Tracksuit Dracula. You asked about the Avengers. Y’wanna know the best part about being an Avenger? having Captain America around you all the time He just-- the guy brings out the best in people. You... want to be good when he’s around. You really do.”

“Ivan, Look around you real quick. Because, right now? Captain America ain’t here. I’m going to pay you everything everyone in that building owes you and another 12.5 for the building outright. And that’s it. Negotiations’re over. You wanted to sell it? I want to buy it. I take care of my people and you get rich. The end.”

Ivan: “I had buyer.”

Clint: “I don’t care.”

He turns to the cab driver, hands him a wad of cash, and tells him to take Ivan to JFK. Fast. The vet tech calls Clint back inside. The dog has a broken pelvis, broken leg, two broken ribs, and lost an eye, but will recover fairly well with proper care and rest. Clint pets the dog while he’s laying on the table after surgery. Clint keeps the dog after this. The name on the collar says “Arrow,” but Clint decides to come up with something better.

This whole story is really just Clint trying to do the right thing as best he can. At first, he’s just going for the first solution to the problem that he thinks of, but he adapts once Ivan turns him down. He saves Lucky because A. he likes dogs. and B. the dog saved him. Hell, the whole reason Lucky tried to save him was that he gave Lucky a piece of pizza because, again, he likes dogs and Lucky just happened to be standing there, looking cute. He cares about his neighbors. In later issues of Hawkeye 2012 Clint repeatedly is shown helping out his neighbors or just providing entertainment at the potluck.

Clint also had a really, really rough childhood. His dad was an alcoholic, his parents died in a car crash because of that, before they died his dad beat both him and his older brother Barney, he and his brother ran away to join the circus, Clint was beaten and left for dead by one of his parental figures after he caught him stealing money from the ticket box, his relationship with his brother really fell apart after that- and that's the cliff-notes version! It varies somewhat based on continuity but the most consistent part is runaway orphan joining the circus. Personally, when writing Marvel stuff, I adapt it to “Foster care was shitty and my brother and I wanted to stay together, so we ran away, and the circus happened to take us in,” to modernize it a bit.

So in short, Clint is kind, determined, and has had a lot of hardship in his life, particularly his childhood. Hmm, kind, determined, a lot of hardship during childhood? Now, who does this remind me of? Oh yeah, fucking Midoriya!

A huge part of what I think makes MHA so interesting is that its main character is fairly untraditional as far as Shonen protagonists go. Hell, he’s kinda untraditional as far as superhero protagonists go in general. Midoriya is defined by his kindness, he is emotional, he wants to save people above almost everything else. The most iconic battles Midoriya has been involved in thus far are motivated heavily by his drive to save. Think Muscular, Overhaul, and Gentle. (Kouta, Eri, and Eri’s chance to smile again.) (I’ve only seen up to Season Four, although I’ve seen manga spoilers. Don’t ask.) Funnily enough, this all reminds me somewhat of Hawkeye’s traditional origin story. I shall now give you the cliff-notes version that spans multiple years of comics. (At least I think it does, I’d have to double-check and I only have so much time, y’know.)

Clint is inspired by Iron Man to use his skills to fight crime instead of just being a circus entertainer. Unfortunately for Clint, on his first outing after he stops a thief and picks up the money they stole to return it, he gets mistaken for the original thief. Then Iron Man shows up and beats him up. Clint is forced to go on the run, falls in with Black Widow, becomes a recurring Iron Man villain with Widow, falls in love with Widow, gets kind of depressed when Widow disappears (actually recalled to Moscow and reprogrammed), saves Jarvis (the Avenger’s butler, originally just Stark’s Alfred) from a muggers, gets Jarvis’s help to demonstrate to the Avengers that he’s trying to change, and has been an Avengers mainstay ever since. Clint later played a significant part in breaking through Black Widow’s programming and helping her defect to Shield, saving her.

It’s a very unconventional origin story. Redemption arcs have been done, but not many involve wanting to do the right thing from the beginning of a character’s story. My personal favorite adaptation of this backstory is from the cartoon Avengers Assemble, where Clint was a member of the Circus of Crime, but never felt good about it. He triggered the alarm on their biggest heist ever, getting them arrested by Shield, but Fury saw something in him and gave him a chance to make amends, becoming Hawkeye. I understand I am very biased on this though, so I will not argue for it being the best. That aside, it’s unconventional mainly because of how integral to the Avengers Hawkeye later became to the point where the Avengers have very few adaptions without him. So many story arcs involving Clint are based in his desire to do the right thing. All of Hawkeye 2012. His backstory. Widow’s defection. His near divorce over his wife killing someone. (It was justified and accidental.)

There’s another parallel between Midoriya and Clint one could draw, although it depends somewhat on your interpretation of quirklessness in the MHA world. If you think about it, both Clint and Midoriya are disabled. Clint is Deaf. Depending on the continuity, he had progressive hearing loss as a child, had surgery to fix his hearing when he was older (11?), then his ears are injured in a fight, making him lose about 80% of his hearing. Most depictions of Clint’s deafness that I’ve seen stem from Fraction’s Hawkeye Issue #19 but Clint being deaf and wearing hearing aids dates back to 1983 and there’s some comic history after that as to why it didn’t become a frequent part of Hawkeye’s depictions until Fraction but we’re not getting into that right now. (5)

Ignoring Red Shoe theory, (I don’t subscribe to it but it’s still an interesting premise) the interpretation of being quirkless as a disability is a completely valid reading of the text! The pity Midoriya gets after his diagnosis, people treating him as lesser and weaker, his mother apologizing to him, these are all things people in the disabled community have dealt with! I’m not even pulling from fanon, that’s all canon stuff there. Clint has frequently used ASL and lipreading in comics since 2015! He’s worn hearing aids in various depictions on and off since 1983, when he first became a deaf character! He is disabled and a total badass! If you’re doing a story where Midoriya becomes a quirkless hero, well there’s a hero in the public eye whose main thing is trick arrows, i.e. support gear! In addition, the disability interpretation of Quirklessness would be an excellent parallel to utilize in a story that mentions or features disability advocacy.. And this is ignoring the possibility of them both being quirkless in a blended reality crossover. They could bond over having to grow up with quirklessness in a world that discriminates against the quirkless! Midoriya could have grown up idolizing the world-famous archer!

On the other hand, if your Midoriya has OfA, Clint becomes a foil to Midoriya and a great one at that. Clint is a badass member of the Avengers who doesn’t have powers but rather kicks ass with trick arrows and a weapon from the Paleolithic era, plus some martial arts training. He’s what Midoriya could have been. Hell, Hawkeye showing up in the MHA dimension asking for help and hanging out with the next generation to give them some pointers while he’s there could lead to Midoriya doing some serious soul-searching. This isn’t a very far-fetched idea, he mentored Kate Bishop and has led several branches of the Avengers over the years, primarily the West Coast Avengers.

Another way Clint serves as a foil to Midoriya is his impulsiveness and brashness. Clint is generally trying to do the right thing, but he doesn’t always think it through. Again, the mafia thing. His origin story. The serious clashes he had with Cap when he first joined the Avengers. The times he’s been seriously tempted to kill his abusive father figure Swordsmaster. His tendency to flirt with every woman he meets. (6) The shotgun wedding with Mockingbird in the eighties comics (the issue he marries her in is also the issue he is deafened in.) I could go on. To contrast he’s also insanely loyal, once you've earned his respect. (Cap, but Widow as well. And Mockingbird. Kate Bishop.)

On the subject of Ronin, that gives you a pretty good excuse to put Clint n Japan, he could be taking care of unfinished business for the previous holder of the Ronin moniker. (7) This works best in a blended universe of course, but could be tied into a dimension travel fic as well.

But back to the foil thing, Clint does tend to act on his anger as well. This is an excellent contrast to Midoriya. When Midoriya is emotional and expressive, it’s generally his sadness and stress, or his excitement. When Clint is expressive, it’s anger or self-loathing. Parallels, people! Parallels!

Another parallel/way they foil each other is how unhinged they can be. Look, Midoriya grabbed onto All Might’s leg, he rushed the Slime Villain to save Bakugo, he counteracted Eri’s rewind by breaking his bones faster than she could erase him. But Clint is his own brand of crazy. I mean, you have to be pretty nuts to fight superhumans with a bow and arrow, but sometimes Clint takes it to another level. One of the craziest things he’s done, though, is use a combination of a Life Model Decoy, a small-scale time machine, and careful planning to masquerade as his alternate persona Ronin while leaving most of his coworkers and friends under the impression that he was not, in fact doing that. He has on several occasions and in across several media fired a shrunk-down Ant-Man on an arrow (Pym and Lang, although this originated with Lang), in one incarnation had a distraction arrow that when triggered unfurled a “Bang!” flag, frequently utilizes boomerang arrows, and well, you read my summary of Hawkeye Issue 1.

Listen, if you don’t want to write Hawkeye into your story that’s completely valid but the opportunity is right there! It just- it’s just a pet peeve when someone does a hybrid universe and just writes Clint as having a “Perfect Aim” quirk. It’s not a deal-breaker for reading a fic if the rest of the story is interesting enough but it always hurts my heart because that’s just such a disservice to his character. I would take him having literally any other quirk over that. Because his whole deal is that he’s just a guy who’s really, really, good with a bow. That’s what makes him such a badass to me. He’s got a good head for tactics, some martial arts training, and perfect aim that he has cultivated his entire life. If you give him perfect aim as an actual power you have proven to me that you fundamentally do not understand the character you are working with. (Related note, I have mixed feelings about the version of him that appears in the Ultimate universe. Not a point I wish to delve into at this time, but worth mentioning nevertheless.) And you don’t have to understand him write a good story, I just… it’s just a waste of potential. And comics are so vast and the MCU version is so bland I don’t blame anyone for not knowing his character that well! It’s understandable! I’ve long since expected it since I became a Hawkeye fan!

I have read fics where the author is doing perfectly, I am completely engaged by and loving whatever universe they have set up, they have written these characters in such a way that it feels like a totally believable version of how their stories could have gone, and then BAM! Marksmanship quirk for Clint and I just... have to take a break and come back later. I understand this is not a normal reaction, but I am incapable of being normal about him, so here we fucking are. It’s just such a waste of potential.

Listen, you have every right to do what you want with your fic, but I promise you your story will be more interesting if you just let Clint’s character exist in the way he was meant to, as a guy who’s super dedicated to his training and very skilled. I would be happy if there was just a moment, particularly in fics where dimension travel is involved, if whoever Midoriya’s mentor-figure-of-the-day is was thinking about how to deal with Midoriya’s frankly abysmal self-esteem, and essentially went “Hm, my favorite sunshine green bean really needs some encouragement and positive quirkless role model. What if I told him about the quirkless badasses from my reality who, to my knowledge, haven’t been enhanced by magic/genetic modification/cybernetics and still go toe-to-toe with people who have those things! Frequently! I bet he’d think they’re really cool and would maybe be able to hold his head a little higher knowing there are people like him out there who are heroes. He’d really start to believe that he can be a hero too and that he’s just as capable as his peers!”

Or, or, or! in blended reality fics, if Clint had a quirk that was just something kinda dumb like, I dunno, Binocular Eyes, and Clint just uses the bow instead, (Or he’s openly quirkless, IDGAF, just not Perfect Aim please for the love of god) and mentor-figure-of-the-day has a similar train of thought but instead of just telling Midoriya about them they cash in a favor or two that Clint owes them to have Clint meet with Midoriya. And Clint, being the somewhat kind-hearted person that he is, would absolutely be a good sport about it! He would encourage Midoriya! He’s been a mentor and leader before and encouraged other members of the Avengers to guide the Young Avengers rather than try to shut them down!

Alternatively, and this is only something you could pull off in a fic where Clint is a central focus and not part of the backdrop, Clint is faking having a “Perfect Aim” quirk. Or several of his colleagues are aware of it in order to help him conceal it, and mentor-figure-of-the-day spills it in while swearing Midoriya to absolute secrecy. Clint himself telling Midoriya would be really cute though, and perfect for a Mentor fic! Or Clint stumbling onto Bakugo (8) and co harrassing Midoriya and telling them off/threatening them! He would do that, he’s impulsive enough! Clint makes bad jokes, Midoriya is kind and sunshine incarnate, they would get along!

There’s so much, I could go on and on and just- Oh goddammit, I was saving Clint and Midoriya interactions for my long fic that eventually devolves into has dimension travel as a part of the plot but I guess I’m adding a fic where Clint properly mentors Midoriya to my fucking to-do list. I only have myself to blame. Happy Valentine’s Day to me.

This is a cross-media thing too! It happened in Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Y’know, the one where he, Rhodey, and Pepper are all teens at the same high school and Tony is basically this world’s Spider-Man! Actually this is on brand for Armored Adventures, having watched that show. Very chaotic storylines, condenses like decades of comic books storylines into two seasons while staying unquestionably rated TV-Y7. It was actually pretty good, was the first animated series to feature Pepper Potts as Rescue, and also contains one of the best modern adaptions of Hawkeye’s original introduction. I’m not kidding. Oh, and the Avengers are formed at the end of the series, in a sense. I think they just wanted to leave themselves with some potential future storylines in case they got renewed past a second season while still having a satisfying ending. They did not get renewed.

Her name is Simone, in issue #12 of Fraction’s Hawkeye Clint watches cartoons with her kids while she uses Lucky as a pillow. He falls asleep watching the cartoons with them and Simone pulls a blanket over him as she takes her kids back to their apartment. Oh yeah and the whole thing takes place during Kwanzaa because the issue is a winter holiday special that uses the cartoon to tell a story that’s an allegory for Clint’s role in the superhero community. Very wholesome moment, I love Simone.

This marks the point part-way through writing the first draft of that paragraph, I went upstairs to grab my Hawkeye volumes to reread issue 1 and brought all four of them back to my desk to keep them on hand for easy reference. I also wished to make the point I was writing at that time more articulate. I also brought down my Hawkeye vs Deadpool volume and Marvel-verse Hawkeye volume. I had no intention of referencing either of them I just like having all my Hawkeye comics in one place.

This is quite possibly one of the hottest Clint Barton moments ever. I’ll probably upload a scan of it sometime in the future but it ends with him pinning Ivan to the wall by the throat. The next page where he threatens Ivan into selling him the building is also pretty hot, but you’ve already seen the dialogue for that. Ah great, now I’m tempted to a make post ranking the hottest Clint Barton moments across all his different incarnations, for fucks sake.

I can talk comic history of Hawkeye and how Hawkeye has evolved as a character all fucking day. I vibrate with joy when I get to info-dump about this shit and vibrate with stress when I have to dial it back. When I am both talking about it and dialing back, I cease to vibrate as all of my focus goes into scientifically measuring out the maximum amount of info dumping I can get away with. Please ask me questions about Hawkeye, I beg you. I know so much about his many incarnations across different media and I am waiting for any excuse to talk about them or do more research.

His character evolves out of this but classic comics Hawkeye is all about the ladies, and he frequently has minor storylines involving his romantic endeavors. I can’t say I blame him, I’ve seen the women he rolls with. Unfortunately for him they never seem to go well.

The previous holder of the name was Kingpin’s daughter. It’s a long story.

I wanted to talk about using Clint as a foil to Bakugo and/or Todoroki with his impulsiveness/anger issues but having better control over it and being quirkless but I just did not have the energy or the time. Could also be a foil to Eraser or All Might as a mentor figure but I would have to think on that some more and my cats are getting between me and the keyboard. :/

TL;DR: Clint and Midoriya are both characters defined by their determination, their kindness, their lack of power in a world full of powers, and I just think that’s neat.

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djarins-cyare · 8 months

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Hi!

I've had a super awful day, but the bright side is that I found your fic Be-All, Endor and I am in love and it has been such a good thing in an otherwise bad day. I'm on chapter 6 as of writing this and I love it so much.

Apologies for the unhinged bullshit I'm going to comment on every chapter <3

Hi!

Sorry you had an awful day, but I’m so glad my fic gave you something to feel happy about at the end of a sucky day!

I woke up this morning to your message and the awesome comments you’ve left on Be-All And Endor, and it was such a lovely start to the day! I hope this message gives you a nice start to your day too😊

I just wanted say thank you for all the comments you’re leaving - it’s so great to get such thoughtful and insightful feedback and reactions, and you REALLY know your stuff when it comes to Din fics!! So don’t apologise - unhinged bullshit is most definitely not what I’d call it lol, I love everything about how detailed you’re being and I can’t thank you enough!

Hopefully today is a better one for you, and I’m gonna respond to your comments when I get off work later on. Have a great day💖

#grateful author #fic analysis #hoping for a better day for you today

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sansxfuckyou · 5 months

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oh yeah?

Most recent Kenman fic. What inspired it? Any lessons or morals? Be ignorant be gay? 👉👈🥺

before we begin talking about Contractually Obligated we need to start with some small pre-ambles

1: it's intended to be the final piece of a trio of fics, one wherein Cartman is taking the aforementioned photographs of Kenny (mentioned when they're making out on a car), and one wherein they have a big ass chat about how they should hook up now that Kyle is dating Stan (Cartman is already out of town). will I finish either of those fics? fuck if I know, do they exist in my head without fail and keep me motivated to keep going? absolutely

2: I usually write kenman fics to fill the gaping void, to cope with the complete lack of kenman fics. I also use the kenman dynamic to explore different scenarios that I can't entirely justify with K2, Stenny, Crenny, etc, etc- because sometimes Cartman is the only one who hits the specific vibe I'm shooting for.

3: they would've had gay sex on screen but I wanted it to be safe for tumblr so we only get a scene of them smoking in bed like in the movies just to make sure people understand that they hit it hard

now, actually talking about the fic itself

see, i have a fixation with the whole 'if we're both single' type of contract, because it can go two ways. both parties struggling to prevent the contract from happening, or both parties shrugging off attempts to prevent it. in this case, they gave up on preventing it, and almost forgot about it, style and creek both happened so why not try and hook up right.

but they are both stubborn, repressive, idiots! and they won't just ask each other out because no, that's pretty fuckin' faggy, and Cartman won't lower himself to that. he will lower himself to going on a date with Kenny only in the case of a bet, or a contract, because there's no control over that. he can't control it, it's not of his own volition, he's not gay if he does it, he just lost a bet. Kenny on the other hand? he's kissed all of his friends, fuck, he's slept with all of his friends because of course he has.

the pre-existing dynamics, my god, kill me now, they make me go insane. Kenny is Cartman's best friend, and Kyle and Stan are less Cartmans friend than Kenny is. already we have a rooted relationship, they're close, so very, very close, and Cartman remembers when Kenny dies (he briefly states Kenny dies all the time in the ep where he buys an amusement park). there's this dependency you know, Cartman goes to Kenny because no one else will actually listen, and Kenny listens. they ran a restuarant together! thats fuckin gay as shit!

i am getting off point, very off point, sorry. but basically, they made this contract age thirteen, and Kenny knows Cartman will still be single, because of course he will. it's just a convenient excuse, quell the anxieties. and you know what? it worked, Kenny got a partner (will be disclaimed in the unwritten fic) and so did Cartman, and that contract was as good as dead. they could just tear it up and move on.

but no, nineteen, Cartman is fresh out of town, and he calls up Kenny to tell him he finally got a girlfriend. and Kenny is so fucking happy for him, the contract fades into obscurity and that point it's entirely out of Cartman's head. Cartman gets dumped first, and he doesn't dare call up Kenny, but when Kenny gets dumped? they are sitting on the phone, consoling each other, and just bullshitting like long distance friends do.

two more years pass and Cartman is back in South Park and he knows what must be done, he's been waiting patiently for it. and he'll never tell Kenny that he dumped the chick in the same way Kenny will never tell Cartman he got dumped because his partner found the artfully nude photographs ('to test lighting!') that Cartman took.

'so what? they both fucked their relationships?'

big fucking what, it wasn't purposeful, remember, that contract has faded into obscurity. Kenny never thought the photos would come up and Cartman isn't getting what he wants, someone to remind him of his best friend. they require each other, Stan and Kyle got together, Craig and Tweek married at age twenty one, Butters is off with Tolkien, yuri happened between Bebe and Wendy- everyone is together.

except for Kenny, he's single in South Park and no one is available for him, and Cartman, single out of South Park and he's been asked out once or twice at that. he turns them down, he has business to fulfill and he refuses to leave this contract unfulfilled. he's been waiting for this, for the dominoes to finally fall so he has an excuse to get what he wants and so does Kenny.

sure, it's subconscious, but they've always had each others backs. they'll never get married (unless they make another elaborate bet for Cartman to lose so he has his personal excuse), they'll never have kids, they'll never call each other boyfriends in the public eye, even rarely around friends and family. 'it was a fluke' Cartman keeps saying whenever they're caught in public, 'I lost another bet' he needs his excuse, he needs his reason because he can't just have something this nice.

Kenny on the other hand? oh how he revels in what he's finally attained with a man as untouchable as Cartman. that he can finally have the brunette to himself, that they belong to each other instead of defying a fact as simple as that they should've coupled off so long ago. but again, Cartman needs his reasons, and Kenny respects that, he respects that they'll only be lovers in private and that they'll always be friends in public. because this is good enough, it's almost what he's been waiting for since he was thirteen.

in short: the tension of this fic weighs heavily on Cartman being inwardly homophobic, and to an extent outwardly, despite knowing he wants Kenny. an addition to the tension is Kenny being queer, no fancy labels and entirely out, the entire worlds know at this rate. he is gay and Cartmans safe way to step foot into being a little bit gay despite the idea making him feel ill (he can't, he's failing himself if he is). he can't be romantic with Kenny for a reason as simple as 'i love him' and Kenny will keep giving Cartman all sorts of elaborate schemes and reasons now that the initial barrier is broken.

#boothyghost #asks #fic analysis #writing #sp kenman #kenny x cartman #i loved writing this actully. this was so much fucking fun.

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streetlightsky · 2 years

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p.s. i love you, the outtakes

at the gentle prompt, here are some outtakes to p.s. i love you, my latest sebchal fic. namely, there were two other planned versions of this fic that never came to be. i always save my notes outline for every fic i start, so i thought i would share a little bit if anyone is interested in hearing more about the ficverse or random thoughts of mine in the writing process.

the first version was going to be a traditional fic of longer length. story would've been the same but naturally with greater detail to establish the ficverse. seb starting a foundation, which i briefly mentioned in the published version, would've played a larger role. the barely perceptible conflict in the published version would've been far more visible and drawn out and included The Fight i alluded to. but the core of the story would've been the same: charles finding it difficult to have and hold onto this relationship when he and seb are going in two very different directions upon seb's retirement (same old, same old from me), and one of the ways and the primary way in this fic that seb tries to resolve those exact challenges that he sees and faces as well is through the notes he leaves charles.

the entire first scene for the original version:

Charles didn’t find the little yellow sticky note until morning.

The day before, he had utterly embarrassed himself with the way he had plastered his body against Sebastian’s before the older man departed. But he hadn’t cared one bit. His hands wormed their way underneath light layers of fabric to clutch at the hot heat of skin, and his mouth pressed tenacious and wet kisses hoping for a repeat performance of the previous thirty-six hours.

It wasn’t every day they found uninterrupted alone time in Monaco anymore. And with such a luxury in their grasp, Charles was just that unwilling to see the indulgence come to an end.

“Honestly, you’ll be so busy, you won’t even miss me,” Seb said in the lift ride down to the underground carpark. Charles pinched his features so hard before dropping his forehead against his boyfriend’s shoulder. Sebastian promptly pushed him to the other corner of the elevator cabin.

Honestly, he never saw a single driver in his building—didn’t even know any of them lived here—except when Sebastian had stayed over for the first time and Charles had been angling for a goodbye kiss only for the doors to open and reveal Nico Hulkenberg and a baby carriage, ruining all of his hard-earned progress.

While Seb tossed his bag in the boot, Charles took the opportunity to lean against the pilot’s door with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Thurgau was an eight-hour drive away—a majority of those hours that could’ve been spent together if Seb weren’t starting a public charity that stole all of their time together in more ways than one.

“Well? Go on, then.” Seb stood in front of him with a cheeky smile that said he knew exactly how he affected Charles. It was unfair, really, how the older man could still make him feel like a boy with a crush.

Charles hoped he would never stop feeling this way.

“There’s no one. If I kiss you here, you can’t push me away,” Charles said, trying to inject some kind of authority in the space between them.

“If you kiss me here, I’m going to go home and eat all those biscuits you like so much and thought you hid so well in the back of the cabinet.”

The soft laughter from Seb’s lips twisted his insides. Refraining from leaning in for what he wanted, he settled for a hand on the German’s arm. The solid contact was firm, unassuming, but still close as his thumb caressed the skin of the man’s elbow.

“It’s just a few days,” Seb said.

“Nearly a week,” he countered.

“Yes, and it will go by fast with all the things Mattia will have you do for the team.”

He was two races into the season—two podiums but no wins. The team expected to deliver in Imola. The tifosi expected them to win. Charles was still without a championship, but this could be his year. Again.

He sighed and stepped aside. And Seb—

Seb had cupped his cheek for a flitting moment and promised with his eyes that this was nothing to fuss over. Charles had held onto the silent promise as the older man got into the car, waved, and drove off. He knew that Seb knew that there was more he was withholding, more that made this difficult for him, more that Charles wasn’t sure he could share yet.

So, he took whatever Seb offered without asking, and that included the note stuck on the inside of the closet door hidden in plain sight for his eyes only.

I miss you already too.

Charles almost heaved.

Six days, including an entire race weekend, seemed too much to bear.

part of The Fight, a culmination of charles throwing all his frustrations and accusations at seb that leads to him storming out and them not speaking for a few weeks:

"You always say things like that. Like you don't think I can do it. Like you don't want me to win."

"Of course not. How can you believe that?"

"Well, I don't know! You always just tell me things like that. Just because you didn't win does not mean I can't."

"Charles, I never said that."

"I feel that you don't believe it can happen. Like you don't want it to happen. If you couldn't do it, then I can't either. Just because you couldn't, doesn't mean no one else can."

either another fight or another snippet/version of The Fight:

“You never come to any races. You never want to hear me talk about the car or what’s going on with the team. You always seem to want as much distance between you and the sport. You wouldn’t even look at me or care about me like this until after you retired. And even then, I was the one that came to you. You are never interested in my life.”

“That’s not true. I never said that. Would going to races honestly make a difference?”

“Yes, it would.”

“Why? You would be busy all the time. I would just be in the way. What's the point of me going?”

“Because I want you there!”

part of the reconciliation:

"Don't try to be someone else. Be Charles. And maybe that wins seven titles. Maybe one. Maybe four with another team. You can never please everyone. You can never make them all happy. But if you like who you are, if you are happy with yourself when you wake up and go to bed every day, and if you are happy with who you surround yourself with, then you'll be all right."

"Are you? Happy?"

"Yes. I am now."

the second version of this fic i attempted was to write a strict 100 word drabble for each scene with one post-it note message per drabble and stitching all of them together to create a coherent timeline/story. as this fic was for the @sportsrpffest that had a minimum word limit, i was originally aiming for a total of 10 drabbles at 1000 words exact. i wrote three drabbles but then abandoned this idea. and legit the reason i abandoned it was because i was adamant on including the last scene of charles going home in the published version that i could not find an elegant and appropriate way to break for the drabble format. go figure. in the end, i did integrate the drabbles i had already written into the published version of the fic.

anywho, i think this fic turned out the way it was supposed to. i'm finding it harder and harder to stick completely to 'canon' fics here, so a feature-length fic probably would've been redundant and worth too much effort and trouble for the return. but to whoever prompted this for the rpf fest, thanks for such a cute idea! i hope i did it some justice.

#f1 rpf #sebchal #fic analysis #yes i get to use that tag again!#i usually don't do self promo but alas this is my favorite part of writing fics #not publishing it but rather getting to provide my analysis and interacting with anyone who is interested in talking more #*

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metaphorical-goblin · 1 year

Text

Fic Analysis: Egg on the Wall

Before you read this analysis, I recommend reading the full story here! Of course, there will be spoilers for everything below.

Title: Egg on the Wall

Author: actual_goblin (That's me!)

Fandom: Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban

Words: 2962

Summary: Franziska doesn't have anyone to tell her what to do or where to go, especially now that her father is in prison. Now she is an independent adult, free to make her own decisions and discoveries.

Miles can relate to that.

(AKA An exploration of the Von Karma siblings’ view of their own free will)

Miles Edgeworth (the brother in question) had been ever-so-gracious as to permit her to stay in his guestroom during her brief stint into the country he currently called his home...

This specific wording (ever-so-gracious) is meant to imply that Franziska does not believe that Miles is actually doing this out of the "kindness of his heart;" instead, she feels that he is doing this to gain some kind of power.

Now, he was acting as though everything was reversed, as though she was the one that needed guidance and care in the ways of mastering the self.

Now he acted as though he cared about her. It was a bit unnerving.

Since she views Miles as a "little brother," Fran historically believes that she should be offering Miles guidance. However, after his return to prosecuting and after she was shot in Engarde's trial, it is implied that he has been trying to take on a more "brotherly" role with her. This is unexpected for Fran, of course, bc she believes they're still rivals...

He wouldn’t approve of her behavior, either.

...which adds to the volume behind this line. She thinks her father would be disappointed that she is conceding to her "rival" (and he would, but that's not the point of this fic so we won't get into that here). However, this is something she wants to do, even if she doesn't realize it quite yet.

He was one half-step above scraggly, dressed down in nothing more than jogging pants and an old t-shirt from a canceled children’s show.

Put this in to "emphasize" how much Miles had changed since he started dating Phoenix. He's okay with relaxing a bit, even though it is far from Von Karma's standards.

He should care what she thinks of him.

To Franziska, he should be incredibly irritated that she keeps picking on these flaws, but he isn't "taking the bait."

Franziska blinked. He wasn’t treating her like a sister. He was treating her like a guest. Like something to be entertained.

Fran believes he should be fighting with her because "that's what siblings do." Unfortunately, his excess politeness (or, rather, lack of argument) means that he is not treating or viewing her as a sibling. Instead, he is treating her like a business partner (someone he has to be polite to). This is why she specifically calls him "little brother" in the next line.

“Though, I was on the fence about whether to make them into sticks or not.” When Franziska raised an eyebrow, he clarified, “They’re easier for dipping.”

This was just included bc I think Phoenix would prefer French toast sticks (over regular French Toast) bc they're "easier for dipping" and Miles likes to do things that Phoenix likes lol

When she opened her mouth to protest, to pick, to pester once again and gain some semblance of status in her brother’s eyes...

Another callback to the feeling of distance. She wants to be treated as an equal, not as a guest.

He swiftly abandoned his work, leaving Franziska speechless as he practically pranced off to answer the beck and call of the attorney. He was acting more expressive than she had seen in a long time, even since he picked her up from the airport yesterday... Her stomach curled. Why didn’t she get the same courtesy of–

He probably didn't "prance," but Fran believes that Phoenix makes him do "foolish things." It upsets her that he seems more excited/enthused to talk to Nick (someone she believes that he hardly knows) than her, but she would likely never admit that.

He gasped, the little thespian.

Haha, Phoenix Wright is a theater kid

“She doesn’t mean that, Wright.” And something in the way he cut his eyes back in her direction made her stomach twist.

Miles immediately jumps to correct Fran for saying something she genuinely did mean, which then reminds her of her father and how he would constantly make corrections or "fix her mistakes."

“He is the son of a very important colleague of mine. A colleague I wish to make far closer.”..."Go fetch Miles Edgeworth. Weber’s daughter is a little older than he is, but hopefully, he won’t manage to scare her away.”

Haha, this man thinks his children are straight

The implication here is that MVK is trying to "set up" Fran or Miles with one of Weber's kids so he can get an opening for political negotiation. The little weirdo

Franziska sneered. “I will be prosecuting my own case, Miles Edgeworth.”

“No. No. You’ll be staying here, staying safe, and recovering. I will act as the prosecution.”... “Don’t worry,” he whispered, pulling away. “They will not get away with this. I will fix this.”

Miles is viewing his acts here as coming from a place of care and concern. Fran, on the other hand, views this as an attempt to control her. This is somewhat further emphasized by the fact that he is just now returning, on the "eve" of one of the most important cases against Phoenix that she's ever gotten and a case that she must, under any circumstances, win. She feels that Miles is coming in simply to take that victory away from her.

“But that wasn’t your decision,” she added. “That was terrible. You shouldn’t have lost.”

Miles’ mouth turned up a little as he sprinkled cinnamon into his eggy concoction. “I suppose that was my decision, then. Deciding that I should have lost. Coming to terms with the fact that the defendant was truly innocent.”

Miles is at a place where he does not think as intensely in terms of "winning" or "losing;" it is more of an effort to find the truth than anything else. So, his decision to change his mindset of getting the correct verdict was his first step of "freedom," so to speak.

"...I needed to… ‘face the music,’ as it were... My… actions… from before my absence were relatively unforgivable. I realized that, and I had to make amends with those that I wronged. Fix the issues I had caused."

Miles is being a bit hypocritical here, which is expanded on a little further down. He doesn't realize that, in protecting Franziska, he is keeping her from being able to go through the same revelations that he had. He is "fixing her messes," but is stunting her growth in the exact same way MVK did.

A little step, then. A little loss and a little consequence. With a sharp turn on her heel, she reeled her hand back and threw the egg, full-force, into the side of her brother’s pristine kitchen cabinets.

YAS GIRL BE THE PROBLEM

“I am allowed to suffer the consequences of my actions, Miles Edgeworth.”

YESSSS

The confrontation! She should be allowed to have the opportunity to grow and learn! We love it

And now, a bigger step. A bigger consequence. Her father would never allow her to do something so reckless. Franziska stole her brother’s phone. Dialed the number of a certain blue-clad defense attorney. “Phoenix Wright, you will bring Maya Fey to our lunch meeting today. I wish to catch up with her.”

Some implied FranMaya in the end of the fic, just for fun. However, it does emphasize how she is moving away from acting the way her father expected her to and is instead willing and ready to make her own mistakes and suffer the consequences of her actions. She is ready to express her free will.

Final Thoughts

This entire fic was inspired by the "egg-throwing" video that was circulating my TikTok at the time. However, I also wanted to explore Miles & Fran's relationship as siblings, especially in absence of MVK and a necessary rivalry. Miles is trying to be a better brother, but he still has a long way to go. Fran has a lot of growing to do, too!

Do you have any thoughts? Interpret anything in a different way? I'd love to hear what you think!

#ao3 #ao3 link #aa fandom #aa fanfic #fanfic #literary analysis #fic analysis #miles edgeworth #franziska von karma #writing #free will

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