Tumgik
#there are a few different posts going around the fandom that source from this comics line!
bogkeep · 12 days
Note
Would you recommend the SSSS comic? I know little of it beside the very beautiful artstyle and premise
Tumblr media
to answer the question of if i would recommend SSSS as a comic: yes, yes i would.
a description for those who don't know: Stand Still Stay Silent is a post-apocalyptic horror + adventure webcomic set in the nordics (norway, sweden, denmark, finland, iceland) that have been isolated from the rest of the world and gone back to their old gods. the the world outside of safe zones is full of trolls and beasts - humans and mammals that got infected by a horrible virus and turned into monsters. the story follows a ragtag crew that ventures into the old world (derelict denmark) on an expedition to collect books.
the comic updated every workday until it concluded in 2022, and consists of two Adventures. the creator had plans for many adventures with these characters in this world, but ended it after two when she wanted to take a new direction with her life.
what i love about it:
- the art is GORGEOUS. it's been a huge source of inspiration for me. open any page and it's a masterpiece, and you will ask yourself "how the FUCK did she update this FIVE DAYS A WEEK"
- the characters are wonderful and endearing. i just, i love them so much. i am so thankful lalli hotakainen exists he is one of my #1 blorbos forever
- the world is so cool. the blend of chunky sci-fi and norse mythology fantasy magic slaps. it goes so hard. i fell so hard for this comic when i got to the big ferry ship with a viking style dragon head prow added to it. it's everything
- it really really gets nordic cultures. it's difficult to explain all the dynamics and nuances but it just gets it. it brings me as a scandinavian a lot of joy to read a story that speaks to my heart this way. the attitudes, the language barriers, the cultural differences... it was so refreshing to me in a media landscape dominated by american stories. when the pandemic hit, i decided to reread the comic because i found such an odd comfort in seeing how it depicted the scandinavian countries reacting to, well, a pandemic.
- there's kittycats
what i don't like about it:
- the most glaring and obvious flaw is that everyone in the comic is white. there's not a single character of color anywhere, not even i background shots or the prologue. there's no mention of the saami people (the indigenous people of northern europe), either. i believe this was done in ignorance more than malicious intent, but the implications are Extremely Bad and it's been bothering me (AND MANY OTHERS) since day 1. that is the number one caveat i will give to anyone wanting to check this comic out. i've been in the discourse trenches and i am not going to excuse this. it's just bad!
- you can tell in the middle of adventure 2 that the creator has kind of lost interest in the work, around the time when she found jesus i guess. like, very few people can keep up work on the same creative project for years and years and years and i think it's fine that she wanted to drop it, but it's a bit sad to see the comic dragged to its end like a limp corpse, and feeling like the creator no longer really cares about the characters.
- minna sundberg has said and done some questionable things, presumably gotten somewhat radicalised over time, and has also converted to hardcore christianity which is what her new works are about. there's nothing about this in SSSS - there is a moment of christianity represented in the story in a sort of mythological sense, just like the other religions, but this was written before minna's conversion. her new works... are a Choice. i have much to say about them, and i have, and im not gonna rehash it now.
SO YEAH hopefully this will help you take an Informed Choice! i got into this comic in 2015 and was deep in the fandom and it's for better or for worse part of my soul foundation now.
i also recommend A Redtail's Dream, minna's "practice comic" before SSSS, based on finnish mythology and the kalevala.
125 notes · View notes
ecogirl2759 · 6 months
Text
~~~NEW UPDATE~~~
(I'M A DUMBASS WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TUMBLR WORKS SO IF YOU SAW THIS ALREADY NO YOU DIDN'T)
I'm glad people liked my 4コマ KINGS post so much lol. I love spreading the word about obscure lore :)
Under the cut I've responded to some of my favorite tags, given a little more backstory into the source of these pictures, as well as posted a few new ones :D
There's also a question at the very bottom that I'd love to hear opinions on, but no pressure if y'all don't feel comfortable answering ^w^
Tumblr media
You're welcome >:D
Tumblr media
Same, bro. I was basically thinking that the entire time I was reading these books lol
Tumblr media Tumblr media
I feel like I should give a little context to these comics and where they come from lol. I wasn't very clear about the backstory in my original post. I do agree, when I found these, I thought they were super important, too, particularly because I don't think a lot of the fandom knows about these books lol.
The Danganronpa 4コマ KINGS anthology series was published in the early 2010's featuring a bunch of different artists. The series is 4 volumes long and published by Spike Chunsoft, meaning, while these aren't necessarily canon, they ARE official :)
There is another series of anthologies in relation to both the first and second games, but I don't have those.
The first two volumes of this series is relatively well documented. There are sites where English translations have already been added to all of the comics in them (I'm pretty sure), as well as some screenshots popping up on places like Pinterest.
The third and fourth installments, however, are really poorly archived. The third has some content from it floating around, but it's hard to come by. The fourth had almost no information on it no matter where I searched.
I say this because a while ago I found the ONLY pictures of the Mastermind!Taka comic on this really old Tumblr blog from 2014 and REALLY wanted to figure out what it was about. (Didn't help that I couldn't read some of the bubbles in those photos.) First I searched for an English translation (there wasn't (so I'm working on one hehe)), then I tried to find which book it was even from, and NOTHING!
These books, since they were in circulation around 2014-ish, have stopped being printed, so copies of them are very hard to come by. Luckily, I was able to get my copies from a kind stranger on Ebay :)
-NOW-
Here are a few more pictures that I thought were funny/interesting that I couldn't add in my first post because of the picture limit lol.
Sorry for the really long post, I just thought it'd be interesting to share :)
Here's the page of artists that contributed to this anthology! Please go check them out (or see if they have any socials since it's been so long). Some credits change per volume, hence how many photos there are. (And sorry for my hand, it's hard to hold these open lol.)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
You've probably all seen the covers, but have you seen what's behind the covers? (Also including the opening illustrations. These have probably been posted online already as well, but they're worth including imo.) (Again, please excuse the fingers, I'm trying my best ;-;)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
^ Sayaka came with a smudge :( she still pretty tho
So, uh, remember when I said Hifumi made ship fodder? ......Here it is. Eat your heart out lol
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Also remember when I said that Mondo's hair was fluffy and bouncy? Here's the proof:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Sakura has been de-buff-ified twice LMAO
Tumblr media Tumblr media
ALSO remember when I said Syo was a fan of BL? ...... :)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
ALSO remember when I said Kyoko was kinda socially awkward?
(Context: Kyoko sees Kiyotaka and Mondo calling each other bro and, thinking it'll strengthen their bond as well, calls Makoto "Makoto-oniichan," or "big brother Makoto" lol. Also, second picture says "I have come to save you, Makoto")
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Chihiro Shinji chair meme
Tumblr media
I'm at my picture cap, but there's a lot I haven't brought up lol
-SO-
For a different thread, would people like me to find pictures of certain characters? (i.e. just photos of the characters looking cool/hot/stupid without a lot of the text.) Because I am totally willing to do that :)
I've already got a lot on Byakuya, Sakura, Aoi and Mondo for all you simps out there, and it's not hard to find even more lol.
So lmk :D
75 notes · View notes
reginavulturum · 3 months
Text
Terry's Birthday: Fandom, the Internet, and Citations
Or, a too long, too in depth essay on a fictional character's birthday
If you aren't thinking I'm a total nerd by the time you're done reading this than you didn't really read this. But, let's start at the beginning. Recently I posted a timeline I made for "Batman Beyond" and in the time since I made that post there's been something I've seen pop up in tags which I'd never heard of before. A few people were saying that Terry's birthday is August 18th. I was really interested in the source of this claim because I had no recollection of ever seeing it anywhere before now. I looked it up on google (as you do) and found this date scattered around the internet. Case closed, right? But I quickly realized there was a consistent problem on every site I came across. None of them cited a source for Terry's alleged August 18th birthday.
Just look it up yourself and you'll find that the date is ubiquitous across the internet. Yet, as far as I can tell after all my research, it's also completely unconfirmed. I mean, I may have missed something, but if I have than someone else is going to have to point it out to me. I also made a post prior to this one asking people to cite a source for Terry's birthday and no one has so far. You can have a look at that post if you want to know what I consider a good source on this subject. In any case, if this date or any other had been confirmed in any piece of media or in an interview with any DC creator involved in Batman Beyond than I think I would have found a citation for that source somewhere by now.
Right now it kind of seems like August 18th is fanon that's been recycled into "canon". This seems to have happened through a process of source-less wikipedia edits being parroted across reddit threads, sites featuring profiles of comic heroes, other wikis, etc. The less popular June 27th birthday for Terry seems to have gone through the same process. Here are links to some of these sites: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
As my research continued I came across some possible witness testimony of the first mentions of these birthdates:
a.) In this archived thread from the DCAU wiki, in quotations below, I've copied an excerpt of an exchange between two users that I feel is most relevant to this post (emphasis mine):
"So, I've noticed lately that a lot of different sites have been stating Terry's birthday to be August 18th with various years attached to the date. The earliest mention of which I could find is an edit to his wikipedia page in 2008 (which prior to the change stated his birthday was June 27th). I don't remember a mention of when he was born on the show or tie-in comics, and the third volume of comics didn't come out until 2010, so would anyone here know where these dates originate from? -- ReachingForRevolution (talk) 17:48, September 26, 2013 (UTC)"
"I've done some extensive timeline research, and I never came across a good source for those dates. All I saw was a wikipedia edit war with those two dates, but neither is correct AFAIK. The most cited year of birth is 2023, which is speculation as well, but there's at least some foundation for that. --Tupka217 17:56, September 26, 2013 (UTC)"
b.) A similar claim was made in this thread. The relevant excerpt, written by the user "Yojimbo" on October 16, 2023, is in quotations below (emphasis mine):
"No official birth date was ever given.
There was a wikipedia edit war in the 2000s but no source was ever given for either disputed date, June 27, 2023 and August 18, 2023."
As I've travelled down this rabbit hole, I've begun to suspect I won't be able to find exactly where it began, but this is as close as I've gotten. Allegedly, sometime around 2008, there was an edit war on Terry McGinnis' wikipedia page between at least two users over the birthdates of June 27th and August 18th. Now, how or why that edit war even started, I don't know. Why those dates, I also don't know. What I do know is that August 18th is the birthdate that gained the most popularity in the end and spread across the internet.
I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes with this post or call anyone out, really. If anything, this post exists because the subject was interesting to me and I've found the journey enjoyable. If you want to say Terry's birthday is June 27th or August 18th, then please do. Fandom is about fun, not perfectly sourced and cited dissertations on fictional teenagers' birthdays...unless, of course, that sort of thing is fun for you. I know I've loved every minute researching for and writing this...because I'm a massive nerd...but I certainly don't adhere to a strict reading of the timeline myself which is something I plan on covering in an upcoming addendum to my timeline.
In summary, my own research has produced no officially confirmed birthday for Terry McGinnis. This leads me to believe that August 18th and June 27th are fanon birthdates. It may be that I've just not found the citation for one or the other of these dates so I'm open to anyone who can provide me a good source. But really, none of this matters in the grand scheme of things, although it's interesting to see the way user edited/moderated wikis can sometimes bring less clarity rather than more. I'm sure this isn't the only example of that. Assuming I'm right and these birthdates are fanon, I wouldn't consider this a cautionary tale or anything so dramatic. Instead, I'd say this was a case study in the interaction between fandom collated information about fictional works as it exists across the internet and why the adage, "cite your sources", will never die...or something like that...
17 notes · View notes
the-indie-owl · 1 month
Text
Finished Reading Felix Salten's "Bambi"
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ONLY SEEN DISNEY'S ADAPTATION AND NOT HAVE READ THE SOURCE MATERIAL, THIS POST MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS SO PLEASE BE WARNED.
So I have recently finished reading the Original Book of Bambi after being in such a Cervine mood when re-watching the Disney films for the Past Two Months.
I felt like that when reading a Non-Fairytale Book for the very first time felt like something that I wanted to try on something new to rely on reading some books. Even after taking a brief look at The Russian version of the Source Material, it seems like something from what I knew when watching the Two-Part Movie live action adaptations that Human Ballet Animal version felt a more accurate approach than Disney's version when visiting the book.
For starters, I am not really a big fan of the Upcoming Soulless Disney Remake nor the Upcoming Garbage Horror B Movie (nor would I even want to see it) as I have been in the Bambi Fandom Two Years ago as I've seen that "Half" of the Fandom cares more about Fetishization or Crossovers in General for that Matter (*cough*, *cough*, Stephen King's Carrie, *cough*) while the Side of the Fandom are the ones who have read the Source Material and even done their own interpretations of the Other Characters (most likely the Deer characters) that never been fully adapted and were left out in the Disney universe (with the exception of Geno, Gurri, Boso, and Lana in the Comic Adaptation of "Bambi's Children").
But I really wanna talk about the Original Book version since a lot of People don't really know much about it since whenever we tend to think about "Bambi", most people would only think of the Popular Disney Version (yes, there are others that have seen Other Adaptations as I am aware that there are possibly more Bambi movies out there than both the Soviet and Disney ones).
Without any further, here are some personal plot points in the OG Book that were completely left out or missing (again, major spoilers to anyone who has never read it before);
So the Book actually has a lot more Story Plots than the Movie itself to make it more easier, simpler, and even shorter than how the book handles the story (presumably I believe that's the reason as to why that the Midquel exists for a reason as a suggestion to a "Part 2" of the story). In the meantime, both the Book and the Movie take a huge approach through a Deer's POV of Wildlife (that being Bambi himself) since both versions do teach Kids the Lessons and the Values of Life (how it can be Beautiful in both of a Dark and in a Light way) since Life can take you through many strange places around the world as you go to blend within the feels of reality.
Aside from the fact that the Disney movies has its Supporting Animal Characters, the Book has a lot more Animal Characters that haven't been fully adapted or were just left out (in terms on how that some of them might've been replaced). There's a Hare called "Friend Hare", in the Movie, it's Thumper. There is an Owl in the Book but he's just known as "Screech Owl", yet, in the film, it's "Friend Owl".
The Other Characters from the Book that we've never seen are the Magpie, The Two Jays, The Pheasant Couple, A Squirrel, ect. Did I also mention for a fact that there are actual other Deer characters that were also completely left out with the exception of a few?
The Book however explains that the Stags that we see are actually known as "The Young Princes" with Bambi's Father (which we all know him as "The Great Prince of the Forest")'s actual title is "The Old Stag" (which is more different than what Disney changes his title in the adaptations). On the other hand of the differences of being Titular Ruler of your own Animal Kingdom, while the Movie explains that being a Prince means you'd have to watch over and protect your own People, the Book however does it quite differently that being a Prince of the Forest doesn't mean that you have to be a Watcher but rather, it's something more different as the book explains to gain more wisdom as you grow.
Also, I wanted to say on how funny it is when people tend to ship Bambi/Ronno as crack, when in the book, Ronno was actually a lot older than Bambi as he was actually a Good Guy and hold no hated guts nor was a bully like how you once thought he always was (Aka, in akin on how the film portrays). However, as Bambi and Faline grew, he did challenge Bambi to see on which Buck would be the perfect mate for Faline (similar in nature on how Deer mate in RL) (but I'll get to that point later on). Ronno also had a Partner named "Karus", in which that both Ronno & Karus were actually the Young Princes in the Stag group, being very respectful towards the Animals in the Forest (including Bambi) until when Bambi grew older (again, gonna get to that part very soon).
Aside from the fact that we all know who Bambi's BFFs are in what terms that Disney tries to suggest us of a Bunny and a Skunk, Thumper and Flower were sadly never a thing in the Book as Bambi's friends were mostly Fawns around his age. However, while Friend Hare was turn into Thumper for a reason with Flower being an Original Character for the Film, Faline and Another Deer (who was her Brother), "Gobo" were actually long childhood friends of Bambi as their own Mothers actually have known in each other for a very long time. That's right, you heard Me, in the Original story, Faline had a Brother and that Brother was indeed a Very Friendful Deer (much to his sister's dismay of being more "childlike"). Gobo was actually the only Deer who was captured by the Hunter as a Fawn, but was brought and carefully raised by the Hunter as he grew up living with the Human (believing in the fact that not all Humans are bad since Half of the World that we all live in is filled and invested by Half of the Good/Bad of Humanity as our Neutrality is still running even to this day).
Now, for the Part about their own Mothers, needless to say is that Faline and Gobo's Mother is called "Aunt Ena" (suggesting that somewhere down the line that perhaps Bambi's Mother and Ena are Sisters, making both Bambi, Faline, and Gobo equally as Cousins). Granted, I'm not too sure about the "cousin" part as I am deeply aware of the fact if Salten was trying to do the whole "Blood Relation in Nature of Animals is not Illegal because Animals have No Laws unlike How We Humans have" thing, but I am assuming that Bambi's Mother and Ena are perhaps long-time friends, therefore, it wouldn't specifically make Bambi and Faline cousins if you're one of the few that's gonna think it's too much of nature with incest, but I believe that the relation between the Two Mothers is left completely unexplained in the Book (so I don't think that Bambi and Faline are truly cousins are not as some would suggest that).
On the topic of Bambi and Faline's romance, I will say in the least that like Simba/Nala from "The Lion King", it's sad that we don't get to see enough of Bambi's romance with his love interest (Faline) in the Disney films when technically the book version expands more on their relationship.
They started off as childhood friends (like in the film) but only when do the Two Fawns are in a Trio with Gobo, playing with other Fawns and even having some playful time in the woods. There were also Other Deer such as Old Nettla and even Marena were also part in their lives as they did play an important role in the story (Old Nettla is an elderly figure who doesn't deserve to have fawns of her own while Marena ended up becoming Gobo's Mate until his Death by the Hunter).
Eventually (like in the film), Bambi and Faline do see each other again when they're both Adults when Bambi starts to recognize his childhood friend while instantly being in love with her but unlike in the film, Faline was unaware of Bambi's blossomed crush on her. If Disney wants you to believe that Ronno is the Secondary Antagonist, you might want to re-think again because during Mating Season, Ronno and Karus were also in love with Faline as well as they even challenged Bambi for a duel for Faline's love just in the movie until Bambi eventually wins. Aside from what I believe was cut down from the original story is that (if I do remember correctly) was that Bambi and Faline were on their Mating Night during their Honeymoon.
So to speak on their behalf of their Romance, it was actually a lot more generically more "Lovely" rather than "Cute". Considering that Faline has been described as Playful and Childlike, there always has been a potential for Bambi and Faline to become Lovers given on how that their Chemistry was really sweet and innocent when Faline was like the special one to be friends with a Prince like Bambi as when they met again as adults, Bambi did grew fond of her as the Book clearly states that He loves Her "with all of his Heart". So you can say that in the least that their Dynamic does heavenly work as the "Childhood Friends to Lovers" trope like Christine and Raoul from Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of The Opera".
Anyways, back on Track; I think that we seriously need to take about the Most Important Character of what Most of the Animals fear and see him as "The Devil" would none other be "Man" himself.
Given through the concept of the idea based on what Nature tends to portray Humanity through an Animal's POV, An Animaltaker is a Caring Angel Guardian. A Hunter is a Huge Threat. But what is that Man has in common with both in the Book and in the Film?
While we never get to see on what Man is truly like as a Character, he is only referred by Two Options;
A Regular Hunter whose just doing his own Hunting Job.
The Audience, in which this is what we are aware if our own Kind is the Main Villain of the Story.
The reason as to why I'd bring Man up is because the same thing cannot be said towards this Hunter from the Book (or at least, what he was originally referred to similar in the film).
In the book, Man was actually only referred to as "He" is what most of the Many Animals referred to him in the book. Only then, do "Man" and "He" whom most of the Animals call to is quite similar in how Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" when the Animals simply refer to "Fire" as "The Red Flower".
While Man was probably one of the few Disney Villains that scared a lot of our childhoods, the He in the book was actually describe pretty neutral. Just a regular human hunter just doing his own hunting job.
What's interesting though is that while a Hunter is still the biggest threat to all of the Wildlife, he was actually the one who raised Gobo after when he found him straitened during the Winter time (yeah, compare to the One who burnt down all of the Forest by stupidity, this one on the other hand takes up a caring approach towards an Animal after he tried to shot it), as it turns out, Gobo was actually taken care of through his new life with Man. So there's like this "Conflict" between One whose raised by Humans and the Others who are shocked but are still feared/hated by Men. There's also a part where one of He's hunting Dogs is scolded by the Animals for being one of the domesticated ones to obey their own Human Master, while catching a Fox.
I think we can all agree that this would possibly be the most accurate depiction of Reality of what Half of Nature's Animals could see the Neutral Complex in Humanity whenever we Humans hunt or care for a creature. And how life is up to you to make your own decisions.
As for the plot of the Original Story itself, it's almost the same as the Disney movie, but the Source Material does take its own Nature story in an Individual way while still exploring the Harsh Reality of Nature within how an Animal's Life deals within the Animals themselves. With its many characters and more plot points, the Story is more of a re-telling of a Child's life from both Childhood and Adulthood as half of the Book tends to explore both Bambi's Childhood and Adulthood alike as well as his relationship with his own Parents (something that Disney gave his own Childhood more screen time as we only see Bambi's Adulthood half through the movie, which cuts down the Whole Last Part of his Adulthood). As both endings due have Bambi becoming a Father with the birth of his Children from Faline (Geno & Gurri).
However, the only man difference is how on what Disney is telling you what their own version of how a Great Prince of the Forest is vs. How Salten tells you truly on how being a Ruler of the Forest is like to gain Wisdom in order to gain Power while being Protector of the Forest.
In conclusion, while so far that the Many Changes within Disney's classical film compare to the Other Bunch of Disney Movies (that most of them are drawn from the Old Century Stories that Disney popularize to this day), I would say that Disney's take on Salten's Bambi is the largest of the pop culture today with Most People not knowing the Original Story (in fact, it's sad to say in the least on how that the Popular Adaptation overshadows the Source Material. With the Disney version still taking a Dark approach with a Cutsey Animal feel to it inside of a Mashup, the Book's approach on Nature is much more Accurate and More Realistic without any Adorable "Feel" behind to it.
However, aside from the fact that both Books are Good, does that mean I'll prefer the Book over the Famous Adaptation that is more familiar with? Well...Not really, tbh, in fact, while both can be flawed in their own way, they can actually be both unique in their own way.
So for the Book's Rating, I'd give it a 8/10, because it's still a Good Story compare to the Movie (which is still a Cinematic Masterpiece) IMO.
5 notes · View notes
santhropomorph · 2 years
Note
Hi!! Love your fics!! I hope this isnt an odd question, but I wanted to ask, since you've shipped hobmurphy/dreamling since before the tv series came out and the ship definitely has more attention now than it did before--have you noticed any differences in how the morpheus/hob dynamic was written/viewed by the fandom before the netflix show vs afterwards? anything about the ship that newer fans might overlook? im deathly curious about that evolution and thought it might be worth asking about :)
Aww, thank you for reaching out! I'm so glad you like my fics☺️
👀You wanna know the pre-show dreamling story? Oh boy, am I happy to talk about that! (no seriously, I vent about those dark ages to anybody willing or unwilling to listen)
So I'm not your oldest sandman fan, I read the comics about 2 years ago and started shipping dreamling/hobmurphy at the same time. I read Men of Good Fortune (dreamling's first issue) and left off shipping them like a maniac. Two guys meeting each other every hundred years, the slowly developing affection, the fucking break-up, the reconciliation at the end, I was HOOKED. So I looked on ao3 for fics...
In a 30 year old fandom, there were FOUR (4) dreamling fics. One of them an introspective drabble, and another one barely shippy, just a lead up to desire/dream... And all those fics were dated 2003, 2006 and 2010. On Tumblr? There were about 30 posts under the tag Hob Gadling, 3-4 of them shippy. There was ONE (1) fanart of dream and hob together. One!
As for the dreamling fandom? Nonexistent. I can count on one hand the number of people I could talk to who shipped them, and I raided the fucking internet... I was literally going around 5 different socials like an idiot, begging people to ship them with me! I nagged my beta (bless you, Roonie) to read the comics, so that I could have somebody to yell at about dreamling!
I wish I could tell you the difference between the shippy content now and back then but it would be a chore cause I was literally the only person actively creating said content (plus ThePlatypussPrincess whom I managed to rope into my agenda and nagged into writing a Glorious fic😘). Those few interactions about them I managed to have were all very similar to the dreamling conversations I have these days.
I think a lot of this was a product of the differences in the source material. I picked up on the dreamling ship fast because it was right up my alley with friends to lovers and slow build of trust and affection. But a lot of other people seemed to have missed that potential i guess which still baffles me. Then the bloody show came around and Hob and dream spent 8 whole minutes staring into each other's eyes, saving each other from Constantine and a million other things so glaringly obvious that there was no way for anybody to miss it. And I was left standing there in the corner like... PEOPLE, THE QUEER WAS ALWAYS THERE, IT JUST DIDN'T WHACK YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH A BAGUETTE!!
Okay I can try comparing differences I guess but those are just the result of the show's additions: there was no Hob jealous of Shakespeare and no Teacher!Hob. And dreamling all in all was perceived in 90% as platonic...
Fuck I'm getting depressed, anyway, the way this ship blew up after the show was fucking insane, I'm still recovering from it.
Hope this was coherent enough!
60 notes · View notes
zine-garden · 10 months
Text
Image Description Guidelines
I think it’s really awesome how tumblr users have started incorporating alt text and other accessibility tools into their blogging! I’ve especially noticed this in fandom spaces too! I’ve seen various posts floating around usually asking for different standards, and there are frequently conflicting access needs! I will be basing this guide on resources i have collected over the years as well as mastodon’s art server’s standard practice. My goal is to provide a standard practice that everyone can implement for art-zine describing specifically.
At the moment, it is not a requirement to include alt text in your submissions, however, i am highly encouraging it even if it is a short description. Submissions without image descriptions will be marked as such. If you misuse the alt text tool, your work will not be shared.
why base base it off of mastodon(.)art?
Mastodon is an open source social media site where it is already user standard to use image descriptions. Additionally, the (.)art server is dedicated to artists of all mediums sharing their work and many of the active users describe images of artwork there. If you need help, I encourage you to scroll through the public feed and see how some artists describe their work.
Mastodon’s alt text box has a 1500 character limit, Tumblr’s has a 4096 character limit. WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) recommends between 120-150 characters in order to keep things concise and to the point. For example, decorative graphics and things like banner or pfp’s usually remain undescribed. However, art has a bit more leeway since there is more to describe (and Tumblr accommodates this by design.) Feedback from screen reader users on Mastodon(.)art actually prefer when art is more fully described, just try and be concise.
mastodon(.)art’s guide to image descriptions - https://mastodon.art/@Curator/109279035107793247
We have a lot of blind and partially sighted users on the fediverse. Accessibility is important here, and as such, it’s good form to include image descriptions (alt text) when we add media to our posts.
When someone uses a screen reader to read the timeline, and the screen reader comes to an image with no alt text, it just says ‘image’. That’s boring, unhelpful, and provides no clue as to what the image actually is.
This differs slightly depending on how you’re using Mastodon, but after adding an image to your toot, you can click it to open the editing panel where you can write in the image description.
There’s no need to over-think it:
1. Describe the medium (“An oil painting”) 2. Describe the subject (“of a cottage in a field”) 3. Describe the mood (“the colours are warm and create a cozy atmosphere”).
Those are the basics. There’s no need to go into extreme detail.
There is a bit more to the thread, but this is the relevant information.
Here is a link to a great example of a comic with accessible image description on remus jackson’s website. Woven, is written by Veronica Hicks & Alesha Nichols, and illustrated by remus jackson. Image descriptions written by Veronica Hicks.
Woven comic - https://remusjackson.com/woven
Alt text for art from Aitch’s general alt text thread – Alt text thread by Aitch on Masto Art
Art: This is trickier! Mention the medium, the subject, the style, the composition and take a stab at the feeling it’s meant to evoke, the feeling of any expressive characters in it.
On Mastodon, the alt text field is actually pretty damn big, so if you want to you can actually go ham when describing a piece of art, and I’ve seen a few screen reader users here mention that they enjoy that with art posts.
Even though I do this stuff for a living, I admit that with art? I go a bit ham lol
Other Resources:
For describing art and comics – Veroniiiica (dot) com - How To Write Alt Text for Digital Comics
Alt Text for Image - University of Washington Images - Accessible Technology
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) site - https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/
9 notes · View notes
raisinchallah · 10 months
Note
the recent discourse re:yuri is so curious to me. my two cents is that some of it can be attributed to the very well researched book on yuri history by erica friedman that came out a couple years back which made the seemingly legit claim that the genre started with women authors. of course the whole picture is more fraught than the viral posts i see on this paint it. and the book itself has a long section on The Bad Parts of yuri. but the quotes i see people use and word of mouth fail to mention that part. i can kind of get the defensiveness bc yuri is so often dismissed as a genre JUST for the tillitation of men in a way that really erases the quite large subculture of lesbian/bi otaku and the women writers themselves. which tbf is often the case with a lot of these subcultures (sooo much "moe" was/is written by women but was imediately dismissed as a dude thing. this kind of radicalized me as a teen.). all of that being said there WAS an interesting shift these last few years on the stories being told and how they are told (maybe because of the critical/comercial success of kabi nagata's memoirs and of series like kase-san and yagakimi? the overall evolving discourse about lgbt people on the public sphere? the uptick in openly queer women writing independent webcomics? none of these? all of these and more? shrugs). i've been reading unhinged gay manga in dynastyscans for like, a decade by now. and it's become increasingly more common for them to feature adult women, people actually saying the word "lesbian", lesbian bars even. it still surprises me constantly. comic yuri hime actually split itself in two (the idea is that the core mag is for women and the other is for men. fostering this idea of yuri by women to women). even the kirara magazine started including a lot of yuribait in its publications. which is a different beast entirely but is amusing enough that it makes me go "okay who is this FOR? yuribros? just to snatch the stray lesbian reader?". sorry for the long message i am just fascinated by all of this.
Tumblr media
no worries at all this is actually extremely interesting thank you so much for all these extra details yeah i have been curious about like general demographic surveys or such of major yuri magazines yeah that makes sense from a lot of my research as well erica friedman seems to be the main source of a lot of information about yuri i have also wondered in general if some of the confusion around the genre also seems to come from a lot of western bookstores manga hosting sites and so on seemingly grouping memoir and short like joke comics about lesbians and so on under the yuri label i mean im sure part of that online is cuz dynasty scans has a really wide interest in what they seek out and translate which like i love that this stuff has a wider audience but its odd to call it yuri yeah ive noticed that as well in terms of shifts in whats actually focused on i read one yuri manga that was also about broader yuri fandom i guess like about a lonely lesbian who wrote yuri doujins and so on helping another manga artist find her love for drawing again and talking about like actual stuff about being gay and so on idk very interesting the places things are going like i think thats the other funny thing about the new narrative around yuri is like as you said its often kinda surprising still when characters actually say they are lesbians cuz a lot of works kinda held onto like oh ur my exception oh this will fade etc idk fascinating stuff thank u also for the details about the states of different magazines very interesting also if u wanna discuss this more in dms :3
4 notes · View notes
la-imp · 1 year
Text
Imp’s roleplaying ad
Roleplay Partner Search
Tumblr media
Hello everyone, its been a while for me since I've last posted an ad pertaining the search for roleplaying partners. I basically made this tumblr profile to search for new potential roleplaying partners. :)
I'm in my late twenties with a strong penchant for roleplaying, writing, and drawing. One of my main passions being video-games, illustrations, comics, live-action films, series and anime/cartoon shows, elements that shaped me during my years of growing up.
I’ve been roleplaying for a few years now and gradually gathered a good amount of experience throughout the years, but it’s always fun to meet and learn something new.
I have a few original ideas that I’m very interested in trying out. The ideas will be posted down below. 


Name: Imp

 Age: 29 years Gender: Female 

Experience: 13 years 

Preferences: 1:1 Roleplaying

 Partner: Be at least [18+], but I rather much prefer my counterpart to be 21 years or older Timezone: Importante! I am from central Europe, so my timezone could differ from yours.
 

EMAIL: [email protected]
I am a very creative sort of individual with hundreds of ideas constantly running through my mind. And I am very spontaneous too, so I can always adjust to a new setting, depending on how good and compelling the concept is.

Inspirations come from various sources and origins, be it a fandom (an already existing universe) or an original storyline. 
Please read through these paragraphs carefully before you decide to contact me! It’s important to avoid any misunderstanding later!


I am very communicative and have many ideas when it comes to plotting and world building. I do appreciate a partner who puts in the same amount of thought and effort into the roleplaying as me.
I am not a big fan of one-liners, so yes, paragraph format is preferred (needed).
When it comes to the writing itself, my style is in 3rd person, paragraph form, lengthy and detailed. If you wish to know more about how I write, do not hesitate to ask. 
I have very few limits, but do feel free to ask and introduce your own boundaries when contacting me. 
I love a good introduction / opening letter about you and yourself when you send me a message. 
Regarding the platform on which to write on, I am open to either email or Discord. Both have worked out fairly well for me in the past. However, I would appreciate it if contacted on email first. Which is where I can assess whether or not we’re compatible. 
Be creative! By all means, go nuts with the ideas. We can brainstorm together and see whether or not it would work out with the plot. 
Both Canon and Original stories are welcome. However, I tend to lean more towards Canon this time.
Doubling would be great. Really, I’d be forever grateful if you are also open and willing. For those who don’t know, Doubling is a very simple concept. I play my OC and your preferred love interest for the RP while you do the same for me. 
Dynamics and character chemistry for me is extremely dependant on the character, but I love a good, firey exchange between individuals to spice up any scene. If you are curious about that, don’t hesitate to mention it, I’d be more than happy to discuss.
I am currently looking for an Avatar themed roleplay. Not Avatar the Last Airbender.
The other one. You know, the one with the blue, tall statuesque aliens and their beautiful world named after the Greek goddess Pandora.
I recently saw the sequel in theatres and was absolutely smitten by it, which lead to a current craving of fleshing out some ideas and characters I had in mind. I am a huge sucker for this world and how vast it feels. There are so many possibilities and the beauty of the Na’vi is just one of many factors that has drawn me in.
Tumblr media
I would love to set this roleplay around Avatar: The Way of Water or a bit after the events of the film. I have a few ideas but I am willing to discuss with you, once you have messaged me!
3 notes · View notes
creativeafterdark · 11 months
Text
Rent Free Info Dump
Rent Free is essentially House of Dark but expanded because I cannot stop myself. For those who don’t know House of Dark, it was a comic series I did back in College.  Basically my persona, Dark, would share her home with the characters she adores and just… live life.  No big plots (aside from when Dante left her alone to go visit her parents), no big enemies (aside from a massive snowstorm), nothing but living as a college student. Rent Free is similar, though I do plan to have some plots (a few relationships have subplots, as well as a few connections between students at the Academy and Kaiju in the Range), some enemies (looking at you, Salem) and a lot of slice of life. But there are a lot of characters. Nearly 11,520 canon characters of various shows, games, etc.; Just over 1000 OCs; and, counted separate, over 1000 animal characters that, essentially count as pets.  Honestly, I know that list will grow, as I cannot control myself. As such, it made more sense to create a city rather than just a single household.  All that said, this document will provide needed context for whenever I post any fanfiction that takes place in the Rent Free AU.
Point 1:  World's End World's End is the name given to the world that was created to house all of these characters.  The name World's End comes from an original (and unfortunately shelved) work of mine, and because I had a blast making the city, I decided to honor it by moving it to Rent Free.  It is a mix of magic and technology, and is centered around one building: the Apartments. World's End also has an elevator within the Apartments and other important places of note (such as the Academy) that takes folks to an area with a "paradise under the ground" feel called The Range. The city portion has all the amentities needed: a hospital (vet included), shops and restuarants, clubs and casinos, and a school called The Academy.  Outside the city, is a military base, shipyard for interdimensional travel, and farm lands, among other things. One thing to note:  Transformers is among the fandoms involved in this so the city is big enough to accomodate them but also provides mass displacers in a variety of places.  The military base also hosts a place for Holoform use. Aside from The Apartments and Academy (which will get their own points), the most well  known areas of interest (read as the most used areas) are as follows: - The Fast Break Nook - a cafe run by Dark's gf Jaden which is right next to - Thank You Oven Bakery - a bakery run by Dark's "daughter" Tessa - The Jasmine Tea Shop - A tea shop and cafe run mainly by Iroh and supported by Chloe Battenberg who also runs a tea related store called Triple Sweet - Triple Six - a karaoke bar and nightclub run by the demon Sorath - Queen Department Store - a massive store owned by multiple Isekai villainess protagonists working together.  Though unlike other department stores, they support the smaller businesses around the area. - Emerald Fields - A collection of Farmsteads run by different folks that focus on different forms of farming - Pavel Labs - Originally called Stoica Labs, it was renamed after the original head was discovered to be a massive scum bag.  His ex wife, Curia Pavel, has taken over and, with her assistants, uses it as a testing ground for artificial limbs, both magic based and technology based. - Applegate Counseling - A collection of therapists, counselors and psyhologists who assist those with trauma of any kind, owned by Maria Applegate - The Archives - Not a traditional library, this facility is run by Login, and allows folks to essentially watch the media that they originally come from.  It also acts as a portal to other worlds but only if Login allows it.
Point 2:  The Range
The Range, as stated before, is an underground world, home to multiple animals who are not domesticated.  They hunt on their own and have few interactions with humans, aside from a select few (the Rangers, obviously).  Their food sources are usually brought in from the universes they are from.
The area is split into nine areas, with magic barriers in place to keep most predators and prey in one selected area to prevent any turf wars.  Currently, Dark is taking time to introduce creatures to each other, but in a safe manner to ensure survival.  The only creatures allowed to move between the Sectors are the Predacons and Maximals.
Each area has multiple water sources, one mountainous area and at least 2 to 3 outposts for when inspections need to be done, unless a ranch is specified.  In order to travel to any of the Sectors (minus Sector 7, 8 and 9), at least one Ranger MUST be present.
Area 1 is called the Drac Sector, home to most fantasy creatures, such as dragons (mainly from Dragalia Lost), griffins, and monsters from Monster Hunter (Dark has a soft spot for Rathalos).
Area 2 is called the Zeno Sector, where species not native to Earth live.  It mostly consists of species found in James Cameron's Avatar (and this is the ONLY thing from Avatar in Rent Free) and some from Ben 10 and other scifi shows.
Area 3 is called the Kaiju Sector and is the largest of the 9 sectors.  It should go without saying that, based on the name, Godzilla and his crew mainly inhabit this sector.
Area 4 is called the Jurassic Sector and is the smallest.  It houses only a few creatures, the two main ones being Rexy and Blue.  Dark is debating of getting a few more dinos or if she should try to introduce the ones she has to one of the other sectors.
Area 5 is called the Safari Sector.  It's home to the monsters of Digimon, Pokemon, and Monster Rancher, along with a few other series.  All of these creatures are allowed in World's End proper, but this is for the monsters that want to roam free or do not have a tamer yet.  There are a three ranches currently, but no specific owners.
Area 6 is called the Far Sector.  The sector houses the Slimes of the Far Far Range, as well as a portal taking you back to that world.  This is one of the only areas to house four ranches, run by Beatrix LeBeau, Mochi Miles, Ogden Ortiz and Viktor Humphries, respectively.
Area 7 is called the Huaguo Sector.  This area was maded specifically for Sun Wukong, his clan and his allies.  Asena also lives in the area with her wolf pack.  Unlike most sectors, this area allows visitors from World's End without a Ranger present.  The known outposts are Sun's Temple, Blue Wolf Homestead and The Portal Tree, the last of which leads to the realm of Deities, Angels and Demons from Mythology around the world.  (This realm will only be mentioned as only a select few can actually go into it.  There is also a portal in the city proper, but it's hidden to keep people from going in without knowing it.)
Area 8 is called Mustang Sector.  As the title implies, the sector is home to horses of all kinds and also home to where the hardier breeds of cattle, sheep and other farm animals.  Striker, along with his partners, have a ranch in the area called Bullet Ranch.
And finally Area 9 is called Royal Sector.  This is the main base of operations for the Range. It contains the main elevator and barracks for the Rangers as well as the Control Tower.  While it is not a "zoo", it does contain aspects of a zoo so that visitors can learn about different species living in the Range.  The sector also contains a large village, home to those from different fandoms that prefer living in the woods compared to a city, and a griffin hatchery.
Point 3:  The Apartments
The Apartments, also known as the Complex, is the largest building in World's End and houses everyone living in the city.  The building also contains most of the Government Offices, minus the Postal Service, which is handled off site. Well over 10,000 doors each lead to their own mini pocket dimension that forms into the ideal space for each tenant. All tenants have a key card that they can use in the elevators to get to specific floors, including a common area for breakfast, reading and other social activities.  The key card also allows for visiting friends on different floors. Any changes usually need to be approved by Dark and her team. By changes, she usually means moving to another floor, adding more rooms due to growing families/new roommates, etc. Rent is handled differently depending on the tenant.  All of this is in a dimension that Dark essentially made herself, so money is of little need to her.  BUT.  She does need to pay her workers.  So if Rent is handled with money, anything she gets usually goes to those who are working for her in any capacity.  Another way Rent is handled is doing favors for her (nothing sexual, that is the QUICKEST way of getting kicked out to the Range for a month).  Many of her military teams do missions and as payment live in the complex (they obviously get paid enough to buy food and other amenities but Rent is not required in this case). Utilities come free.  The complex itself handles water, internet/cable, electricity, and gas if needed. Not a bad place to live. Point 4:  The Academy If there are going to be kid characters around, obviously there needs to be some kind of education system.  That's where the Academy comes in. Run by one of Dark's right hand men, Reign and Ms. Toriel Dreemurr, The Academy is pre school up until senior of college.  While the students for the most part study the same topics and classes, there are a few other classes that specialize in other fields.  Let's take Judai Yuuki as an example!  In his original world, his classes mainly consisted of Duel Monsters.   In the Academy, he can still take those classes, while also taking more normal classes with students from other worlds. The campus itself has multiple buildings and features, such as a sports field, ice rink, library, large cafeteria, a large assembly hall and playgrounds for the younger students among other things. Dorms are, because of the Apartments, not needed. Students are allowed to room with each other (ex. Lloyd Garmadon is roommates with Mike Chilton) and are given access to school resources even off campus. Dark makes sure the kids in her charge don't get any special treatment.  She may practically run World's End but she's not raising any spoiled kiddos.  They get detention for acting out like everyone else.
And that's most of the background info that I feel would be most important to know!  If you have any addition questions, feel free to drop an ask.
1 note · View note
cosmik-homo · 3 years
Text
OK new game: for people with expansive (or any) knowledge of expanded universe lore of franchises, reblog this and tag what tie-in material beside the main franchise itself you wish more fans would read! cuz I know that kind of stuff drives me crazy sometimes, and also this will be a good way for people to recommend stuff to each other!
6 notes · View notes
ifandomus · 3 years
Note
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this article because it's infuriating and I hate suffering alone lol.
https://screenrant.com/peggy-carter-better-captain-america-steve-rogers-reddit/
Thank you for the ask!
Tumblr media
First reaction:
Tumblr media
(Deep breaths to get through this crap without throwing my phone at a wall)
‘Better Fighter: User Nordenfang suggests that Carter may actually be a better fighter, since she "was a trained agent whereas Steve was just some kid from Brooklyn. So she has a headstart in that department." They do go on to say, however, that they believe the original Captain America made up for that in his leadership skills. It is true that Peggy was perhaps more suited to a life of combat than the pre-serum Steve Rogers was. It would have taken less time for her to adjust to her new body and skill set since they would not be entirely new to her. Her hand-to-hand battles also appear to be one of the fandom's favorite parts of her solo episode, lending credence to the idea that she is a more skilled combatant than Rogers was.’
This could be true, but I don't think they realize that what they are talking about is a huge privilege Peggy had over Steve. Steve's problems weren't just that he was short and skinny; it was the numerous chronic illnesses and disabilities he had. We didn't hear about Peggy having any health problems (until she got older), and after getting the serum, she said that she didn't feel very different from before.
I'm not sure how much training she had previously, but since she started out healthy and fit, she would have had an advantage over when Steve had just received the serum. But the entire reason for that comes down to Peggy having privilege over Steve. And that privilege, like all privilege, is important to keep in mind and talk about.
‘Effects On The People Around Her: In a post following the finale of What If...?, curvysquares points out that, in Captain Carter's timeline, Black Widow was aware of what her father's name was despite not having travelled to Vormir yet: "one of the butterfly effects of Peggy becoming Captain Carter led to Black Widow either always knowing her fathers name, or finding out about it before 2014." This is an interesting detail hidden away in just a few lines of dialogue. It would seem that Captain Carter's presence was enough to cause ripples throughout the timeline, affecting her compatriots in seemingly positive ways. It is unclear what exactly led to Natasha gaining this knowledge, but it would no doubt benefit her to be more in touch with her lost past.’
I'm not sure when they decided that information about Natasha, but since only the name Ivan was from the comics*, it probably wasn't until they started writing Black Widow. According to Wikipedia (so it might not be entirely accurate, but they did provide sources for all of it), Black Widow was written in late 2017 and then rewritten in February 2019. I'm not sure when endgame was written, but they started filming in August 2017. So, in short, that information about Natasha was probably written after endgame, which was Steves last movie (although he was very out of character in it) was written. And knowing information that hasn't been written yet is, as far as we know, still impossible.
*(My knowledge about the comics comes entirely from random fun facts that I randomly find online. But after checking the comics wiki page on her, it looks like she had a foster father named Ivan Petrovitch and that Alexei Shostakov was actually her husband. So I'm pretty sure that they did not base it closely on the comics version)
Also, they clearly haven't seen any of the scenes where Steve clearly shows that he has a huge influence. I mean, just rewatch ca:tws, and especially the effect his speech had on the non-hydra shield employees.
‘She May Be Stronger: Not only might Captain Carter be a more skilled fighter than Captain Rogers, but, according to Soggy-Essay, she may actually be physically stronger than him too: "Since she was already in her physical prime before being enhanced, she benefited from the serum more than Steve." This theory looks back on the idea that the super soldier serum enhances everything about its subject. Since Steve Rogers was just a skinny kid from Brooklyn when he received his dose, perhaps Peggy Carter's already cultivated physique would benefit more from the transformation than he would, making for a more imposing force in the process.’
Is there any evidence that the supersoldier serum works better for people who are already physically fit and healthy?
Dr. Erskine picked Steve specifically, and while fully knowing about all of Steve's disabilities and health problems, but he never indicated that any of that would hinder the serum in any way. And in fact, anyone who thought so, like colonel Phillips, was clearly proven wrong in ca:tfa.
Also, Steve is the only one we see grow that much from becoming a supersoldier. Peggy didn't become much bigger, nor did any of the other supersoldiers we have seen.
However, all of this is once again ignoring Peggy’s privilege over Steve and that Steve was disabled.
‘She's More Aggressive: Redditor conorthearchitect, in a post detailing different matchups that the two Captains could face each other in, points out that Captain Carter is the "more aggressive" of the two, and probably better in a one-versus-one scenario. They nod to Carter's "ferocity" on the battlefield as well. Captain Carter is indeed shown to be more aggressive in battle than Steve Rogers at times. She is seen striking fear into the Hydra soldiers often, who rarely have any chance in a battle against her. While Steve was alway victorious against the enemy grunts, they were never shown getting demolished in the way that What If...? depicts with its own multiversal Captain, indicating that she may indeed be the better Captain America of the two.’
How is being more aggressive a good thing?! I have a lot of issues with tfatws, but one thing they got right was focusing Captain America more on de-escalation and communication. In civil war, we also saw some of this clearly with Steve trying to reason with Tony several times. Isn't that better?
Plus, as much as I despise Zola, Peggy torturing him is still a war crime.
‘Her Sword: One would be remiss to talk about Captain Carter without bringing up a major difference between her combat style and Steve's: that epic sword. In a post calling for fans to "Respect Captain Carter" corvette1710 lists several of Peggy's impressive feats with her weapon, including, "cutting through tentacles" and "stabbing her sword into stone to stop herself from being pulled by tentacles." Peggy really does make good use of her additional weapon, battling the interdimensional squid monster like a pro. Though she hangs on to the signature shield, she is not afraid to add to her arsenal if it means keeping the world safer. And no one could deny that wielding both a sword and a shield makes anyone look cooler.’
There is a reason why Captain America's main weapon is a shield, and it's not the aesthetic.
‘She May Be Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: Discussing a scene in which Captain Carter turns on a dime to use her shield to deflect a shell from a tank, OoFGangOnCok comments: "Captain Carter is probably the only character who has a legit bullet timing feat in the entire MCU," suggesting that her speed and agility exceed those of even the original Captain America. It is no doubt that Captain Carter has surprisingly fast reflexes and reaction times, though she certainly isn't the fastest character in the MCU. If even a speeding bullet cannot catch her off guard, it is hard to imagine that anyone would be able to get the jump on so agile a Captain as she.’
I guess this is another way to say that they haven't seen a lot of Steve’s (or a lot of other characters) fight scenes. I mean, the only one who has ever successfully shot Steve was Bucky (while under mind-control), who is also a supersoldier.
‘She's Morally Grey: "I think she's less of the goody two shoes that Steve was," writes MarchMadnessisMe, later adding that "she'd be more willing to go along with Fury and Natasha as far as blurring the lines of following the rules, if it were for the right reason." They point out that Steve was at times too pristine to do what needed to be done, whereas Carter always seemed prepared to take the necessary steps toward saving the day. It is true that Steve's steadfastness often proved to be troublesome for him. His strength of character was far from a legitimate weakness, but it did often create a blindspot. However, it is also true that this moral fortitude served him well at times, including when he felt that S.H.I.E.L.D. had gone too far with Project Insight, causing him to uncover Hydra's total infiltration of the department.’
Again, how is this a good thing?! And with the “blurring the lines” and going with Fury and Natasha, wouldn't hydra have succeeded?
I do think that more morally gray characters can be more interesting. But I can't see how that makes the morally gray character better.
However, this doesn't really matter because Peggy isn't presented as a morally gray character by the narrative. She is presented as an entirely good person like Steve, which is one of the reasons why I am so annoyed by her. Because she is an ethically darker character, but no one actually acknowledges that. We are still supposed to see her as entirely good and just ignore her flaws like the narrative does.
‘She Solves Problems: Reddit user andromon11 points out that the episode featuring Captain Carter saw many of Captain America: The First Avenger's problems "become non-issues" much easier than in the original movie. They attribute this to Carter's "competency" in her role as a leader. The episode does seem to solve several of the problems that were unresolved by Rogers's first outing as Captain America. For instance, Red Skull was permanently killed at the end of the episode, whereas he remains a mysterious entity at large in the Sacred Timeline. There also seems to be no Winter Soldier in Captain Carter's universe, though What If...? episode 9's post-credit scene might beg to differ.’
All those problems are solved because What If? was written more like bad AU fanfiction by a very inexperienced writer.
And anyone who has actually paid attention to Steve (I'm sensing a theme here) knows that he solves many problems.
‘She's More Fun: Redditor Someoneoverthere42 remarks that they "loved the fact that Captain Carter was clearly just enjoying being a super soldier... Steve was often dead serious." They also point out that it seemed like Carter was quite thrilled with her enemies' misfortune of meeting her on the battlefield. Steve Rogers was certainly not the "life of the party" in the MCU. He was often the stoic leader, letting other Avengers like Tony Stark and Rocket Raccoon have all the fun. Captain Carter, on the other hand, seemed more willing to enjoy her time as a superhero, making for a very different kind of Captain indeed.’
Once again, they have clearly not paid much attention to Steve, or they would have known about his sense of humor.
Yes, god forbid anyone takes the destruction of Earth, the deaths of half the universe, or nazis taking over the world seriously. That last one is especially huge considering that Steve comes from one of the groups of people the nazis wanted to eradicate (disabled people). And he is probably way more conscious of the eugenics parts of the supersoldier serum, considering that he grew up as a target of the eugenics movement, which Peggy wasn't. He doesn't just “enjoy being a supersoldier” because he knows what it means and how serious it is. Peggy hasn't faced any of that. And judging by how she talks about it, she either isn't aware of it, or she is aware, and either doesn't care or approves.
Yes, he is usually a bit more serious when facing serious threats. But how is that a bad thing? If I were a civilian who needed saving in the MCU, I would definitely feel safer with someone like Steve than someone like Tony.
This all sounds like it was written by people who have never actually paid any attention to Steve and just think of him more like the pre-civil war government propaganda version of him.
There was a reason why Dr. Erskine chose Steve and why Steve is the only one who chose to take the serum and didn't become bad (Bucky and Isaiah also didn't become bad, but they had the serum forced on them). And the reason was Steves moral code and how intensely he sticks to it. That is also the reason why he gave the shield to Sam (although the way he did it wasn't exactly great, but that is just because he was so out of character in endgame). He recognized Sam’s good qualities just like Dr. Erskine recognized Steve’s. And those good qualities are the most important part of being captain America. I'm pretty sure that John Walker is clear enough evidence of that.
139 notes · View notes
nevermindirah · 4 years
Text
I've been drafting and redrafting this meta post for weeks now. It's about to be 5781 and my country that was founded on settler colonial genocide and slavery and a deeply flawed but fierce attachment to democracy might go full dictatorship in about 6 weeks and it's time for me to post this thing.
All our immortals are warriors, all have been traumatized by war. But only three of them died their first deaths as soldiers in imperial armies. This fandom has already produced gallons of meta on Nicky dealing with his shit, because Joe would not fuck with an unapologetic Crusader. But there's very rich stuff in Booker and Nile's experiences and the parallels and distinctions between them.
Nile was 11 when her dad was killed in action - that was 2005, meaning she and her dad both died in the same war that George W Bush started in very tenuous response to 9/11. Sure, Nile's dad could have died in either Iraq or Afghanistan, or in a training accident or in an off-the-books mission we won't know about for a hundred more years, but he died in the War on Terror all the same. I had to look it up to be sure because Obama "drew down" the Afghanistan war in his second term, but nope, we're still in this fucking thing that never should've happened in the first place. The US war in Afghanistan just turned 19 years old. A lot of real-life Americans have experiences like the Freemans, parents and children both dying in the same war we shouldn't be in.
I know a lot of people like Nile who join the US military not just because it's the only realistic way for them to pay for college or afford decent healthcare, but also because they have a family history of military service that's a genuine source of pride. Military service has been a way for Americans of color to be accepted by white Americans as "true Americans" - from today's Dreamers who Obama promised would earn protection from deportation by enlisting, to Filipino veterans of WW2 earning US citizenship that Congress then denied them for several decades, to slaves "earning" their freedom through service in the Union Army and in the Continental Army before it. As if freedom is a thing one should have to earn. Lots of Black Americans have the last name Freeman for lots of different escaping-slavery reasons, but it's possible that this specific reason is how Nile got her last name.
Dying in a war you know your country chose to instigate unnecessarily and that maybe you believe it shouldn't be waging is a very particular kind of trauma. It is a much deeper trauma when your military service, and your father's, and maybe generations of your ancestors', is a source of pride and access to resources for you but your sacrifice is nearly meaningless to the white supremacist system that deploys you. That kind of cognitive dissonance encourages a person to ignore their own feelings just so they can function. How do you wake up in the morning, how do you risk your life every day, how do you *kill other people* in a war that shouldn't be happening and that you shouldn't have to serve in just so that your country sees you as human?
We see Nile do her best to be a kind and well-mannered invader. Depending on your experience with US imperialism, Nile giving candy to kids and reminding her squad to be respectful is either heartwarming or very disturbing propaganda. We also see Nile clutching her cross necklace and praying. From the second Christianity arrived on this land it's been a tool of white supremacist assimilation and control, but like military service, it's a fucked-up but genuine source of pride and access to resources for many Americans whose pre-Columbian ancestors were not Christian, and it's a powerful source of comfort and resilience. This Jew who's had a lot of Spanish Inquisition nightmares would like to say for the record that it's not Jesus's fault that his big name fans are such shitty people.
Nile is a good person trying to do her best in a fucked-up world. "Her best" just radically changed. Her access to information on just how fucked up the world is has also just radically changed, because everything's so fucked up a person needs a lot of time to learn about it all and not only does she have centuries but she won't have to spend that time worrying about rent and healthcare and taxes, and because she now has Joe and Nicky and Andy's stories, and because she now has Copley's inside scoop on just what the fuck the CIA has been up to. Like, I want a fic where Copley tells Nile what was really behind the brass's decisions that led to her experiences on the ground in Afghanistan, that led to her father's death, but also I Do Not Want That.
Nile was 19 when Alicia Garza posted on Facebook that Black Lives Matter. She grew up in Chicago well before white people on Twitter were saying maybe police violence against Black people is a problem. She knows this is a deeply fucked up country, and she put on her Marine uniform and deployed with her team of mostly fellow women of color, and maybe she and Dizzy and Jay marched in the streets between deployments, maybe they texted each other when a white manarchist at a protest sneered at one of them for being a Marine. Nile's been busy surviving, and she knows some shit and she's seen some shit but she hasn't had much time to think about what it all means. Now she's got time. And Joe, Nicky, and Andy are willing to listen. (Is Copley willing to listen? I could see that going either way.)
Booker might also be willing to listen. The brilliant idea of cleaning up the rat Frenchman so that Nile can have millennia of emotional support and orgasms sent me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, and holy shit do Booker and Nile have a lot of shared life experience as pawns of imperial wars. Obviously Booker is white and a man and that makes a very big difference. (Though G-d help me, Booker could be Jewish and France was knocking its Jews around like ping-pong balls in the 18th-19th centuries. Jewish Booker wouldn't make him any less white but it does add a shit ton of depth of common experience: military service as a way for your country to see you as a full member of society who matters, because who you are means that's not guaranteed.)
Booker was hanged for desertion from the army Napoleon sent to invade Russia as part of his quest to control all of Europe. We learn in the comics / this YouTube video that Booker was on his way to prison for forgery when he was offered military service instead of jail time. While we don't know how he felt about the choice beyond that he did choose soldier over inmate, it's unlikely he thought invading Russia was a great idea, given he tried to desert because Napoleon like a true imperialist dumbass didn't plan for how he was going to feed his army or keep them from freezing to death in fucking Russian winter.
I find it very interesting that the French Empire was at its largest right before invading Russia and fell apart completely within a few years. My country has been falling the fuck apart for a while now - see aforementioned War on Terror, growing extremes of economic stratification in the richest country in the world, abject refusal to meaningfully deal with climate change that US-based corporations hold the lion's share of blame for - but between Trump's abject refusal to meaningfully deal with the coronavirus and strong likelihood that he'll refuse to leave office even if a certain pathetic moderate I will hold my nose and vote for does manage to earn a majority of votes, ~y~i~k~e~s.
Our only immortals who have never known a world before modernity and nationalism happen to have been born of wars that were the beginning of the end for the imperialist democracies that raised them, and I think in the centuries to come that's going to give them some very interesting shit to talk about.
Nile's a Young Millennial, a digital native born in the United States after the collapse of the USSR left her country as the world's only superpower. She's used to a pace of technological change that human brains are not evolved to handle.
Napoleon trying to make all of Europe into the French Empire was a leading cause of the growth of European nationalism and the establishment of liberal democracies both in Europe and in many places that Europeans had colonized. Booker's first war produced the only geopolitical world order Nile has ever known and I just have so many feelings ok. Nile the art history nerd is probably not aware of this, and why would she be? This humble meta author is, like Nile, a product of US public schools, and all they taught me about world history was Ancient Greece/Rome/Egypt/Mesopotamia and then World War 2. Being raised in The World's Only Superpower is WEIRD.
Nile the Young Millennial is used to the devastating volume of bad news the internet makes possible. But she has absolutely no concept of a world where the United States of America is not The World's Only Superpower. In order to get up in the morning and put on her gear and point guns at civilians in Afghanistan, she can only let herself think so much about whether that American exceptionalism thing is a good idea.
She's about to spend many, many years where the only people who she can truly trust are people who are older than not only her country but the IDEA of countries.
She's got time, and she's got a lot of new information at her disposal. But there comes a point where my obsession with her friendship and eventual very hot sex life with Booker just isn't about sex at all. Nile needs someone to talk to about the United States who Gets It. Booker the rat Frenchman coerced into Napoleon's army, and Copley the Black dual citizen of the US and UK who's retired from a CIA career that he half understands as deeply problematic but half still believes in hence his mind-bogglingly stupid partnership with Merrick, are the only people on the planet Nile can talk to honestly about, and really be understood in, all the thoughts and feelings and fears and hopes of her experience as a US Marine.
And one more thing before I go get ready for Rosh Hashanah: Orientalism was a defining element of the Crusades and that legacy is painfully clear in current US-led Western military activity in Afghanistan, Syria, Israel/Palestine, you name it. Turns out memoirs by French veterans of the Napoleonic Wars are full of Orientalist language about Russia as well. I am maybe/definitely writing a fic where Booker spends his exile reading critical race theory and decolonial feminism and trauma studies monographs because he can't be honest with a therapist but maybe he can heal this way and become the team therapist his own damn self. I just really need him to read Edward Said and Gloria Anzaldúa and then go down on Nile, ok?
589 notes · View notes
michaels-blackhat · 3 years
Note
thoughts on evil Forrest 😈
We are going to start out by apologizing. This is very very late. I’m sure when you sent this ask, you meant it to be in the same joking tone that I approach all of my other propaganda posts. Sadly, this is actually going to be a deep dive into a few Evil Forrest related things, including the moment I feel they changed directions, the perfect wasted build-up, and the implications of the change/how it then negatively impacted the story. As I’m sure you already know, by being on my blog at all, I don’t think the story was good to begin with, so we are going to focus on the weird hoops they made themselves jump through to make that story still work. Additionally, I am only going to mention once, right now, how much of a waste it was to not have Forrest ‘fall for his mark’ and complete one of my absolute favorite tropes. Honestly, I think “because I want it” is a completely valid reason to like Evil Forrest. But, the question was “Thoughts on Evil Forrest” and these thoughts have been developing for over a year and a half. So, I apologize in advance.
The majority of this is under a cut, with highlights in the abstract. If no one wants to read this, I understand completely. Go ahead, skip it.
Note: it pains me greatly to not actually have full sources for this essay. Just know that in my heart I am using proper APA citations, I just absolutely do not feel like digging through tweets to find sources to properly cite.
Abstract:
Previous research indicates that Roswell New Mexico has a history of repeating excuses to explain mid-season changes to plots. This essay explores how those excuses are not only loads of crap, but how they hinder the show’s ability to tell a coherent story, misuse the multiple-plot structure to enhance the themes being explored, and lead to decisions that mean the show continuously goes over budget. This also means that characters are not used to their full potential and has led to what some fans consider to be “out of character” behaviors. While these behaviors are not universally agreed on, evidence can be shown that these behaviors directly contradict emotionally important character arc/plot points in the show.
The author of this paper acknowledges that the show took some strides to mend this problem. However, once again no consensus could be found on whether Forrest was a low-level member of Deep Sky and thus just allowed to fuck off on a bus, or his job was recruitment because he did a piss poor job of making Alex not join.
The concept of Evil Forrest has been with the fandom as early as New York Comic Con (NYCC) in 2019, when it was revealed that Alex had a new “blue-haired love interest”. Speculation abounded within the fandom, with some people, including the author, going “yeah, he’s evil” while others rejoiced in the concept of Alex having a loving partner. Speculation increased as fans discussed Tyler Blackburn’s seeming disinterest in his new love interest, prompting some once again to scream “EVIL” at the top of their lungs to anyone who would listen. Very little was revealed, beyond the fact that the new character would show up somewhere around episode 3 of the second season.
Episode 2.04 aired with some commenting on how he barely interacted with Alex- prompting more evil speculation- and others excited to see the characters interact more. The character appears again in 2.06, where he invites Alex to dubious spoken word poetry (which Alex attends); 2.08, where they have a paintball date and go to The Wild Pony; 2.10, where the two are seen writing together briefly at the beginning of the episode; and 2.13, where Alex performs his song at open mic night, tells Forrest his relationship with the person in the song was long over, and they kiss. Forrest was not revealed to be evil during season 2.
Amidst the season airing, Word of God via Twitter post announced that yes, Forrest had originally been planned as a villain, though not the main villain, but it was changed as filming progressed.
The Word of God Twitter post revealed that Forrest had originally been planned as a villain, but they decided that they could not make their “blue-haired gay man” a villain. This mirrors a similar situation and excuse used the previous season, where the character of Jenna Cameron was originally planned to work with Jesse Manes against the aliens, before it was changed because they just “loved Riley [the actress] too much”. Both of these examples occurred while already filming and reflect on a larger problem with the show. Though not the topic of this essay, it is important to note that both characters are white, both in the show and by virtue of being played by white actors. The fact that they couldn’t be villains for one reason or another is not a courtesy extended to the male villains who are all the most visibly brown, and thus ‘other’, members of the cast.
This also highlights the fact that, via Twitter, it has been revealed two other times that occurrences that were reported in season 1 also occurred in season 2. During the airing of episode 1.02, it was revealed that the single best build-up of tension in the show- when Alex walks to the Airstream not saying a word to Michael after a dramatic declaration- happened because one actor was sick at the time and they had to go back and film the kisses later. At the point of airing for episode 2.08, it was revealed that one of the actors were sick and unable to film a kissing scene. Allegedly, this caused the writers to retool the entire scene and deviate from the plan to make that subplot about Coming Out. The execution of this subplot will be explored later in this essay.
The last occurrence revealed via Twitter also revealed larger issues within the show: lack of planning and poor budgeting. During the airing of season 1, Tyler Blackburn was needed for an extra episode beyond his contracted 10. A full explanation was never given, but speculation about poor planning and to fill in because Heather Hemmens had to miss one of her 10 episodes due to scheduling conflicts for another project. During the airing of season 2, yet another tweet came out saying they made a mistake and Tyler would once again be in an additional episode. No explanations beyond “a mistake” were given, though once again speculation occurred. It is the opinion of the author that this was due to changing plot points over halfway through writing, while episodes were already in production. It has been speculated by some that these changes occurred during the writing of 2.08, which was being finished/pre-production was occurring roughly around the time of NYCC 2019.
Previous Literature:
A brief look at different theories of plots and subplots
Many people have written on the subject of plotting, for novels and screen alike. The author is more familiar with film writing than tv, but a lot of the concepts carry over. Largely, the B- and C- (and D- and E-… etc) plots should reinforce the theme of the A-plot. This can be through the use of a negative example, where the antithesis of the theme is explored to reinforce the theme presented by the A plot, or through other examples of the theme, generally on a small scale.
A movie example of this would be Hidden Figures (2016), where the A-plot explores how race and gender impact the main character (Katherine Johnson) in her new job. The B-plots explore the other characters navigating the same concepts in different settings and ways- learning a new skill as to not become obsolete and breaking boundaries there (Dorothy Vaugn) and being the first black woman to complete a specific degree program and the fight it took to get there (Mary Jackson). A TV example that utilizes this concept of plot and theme is the 911 shows. Each of the rescues in a given episode will directly relate to the overall theme of the episode and the overall plot for the focus character. This example is extremely blunt. It does not use any tools to hide the connection, to the point you can often guess the outcome for that A-plot fairly quickly.
This is not the only way to explore themes within visual media. Moonlight (2016) looks at three timestamps in the life of Chiron. Each timestamp has a plot even if they feel more like individual scenes or moments rather than plots as some are more used to in films. Each time stamp deals with rejection, isolation, connection, and acceptance in different ways. So while there is no clear A-, B-, or C-Plot, each time stamp works as their own A-Plot to explore the themes in a variety of ways, particularly by starting out in a place of rejection and moving to acceptance or a place of connection to isolation.
Please note that there are many ways to write multiple plots, there are just two examples.
While there are flaws within season 1 of RNM, overall the themes stayed consistent throughout the season, mainly the theme of alienation. The theme threads through the Alien’s isolation/alienation from humanity which is particularly seen through Michael’s unwillingness to participate and Isobel’s over participation. There is Rosa’s isolation from others, how her friendship with “Isobel” ended up compounding her existing alienation from her support system due to her mental illness and coping mechanisms. We see how Max and Liz couldn’t make connections. This theme presented itself over and over in season 1. While this essay is not an exploration of the breakdown of themes in season 2, it should be noted that there were some threads that followed throughout the season. The theme of mothers/motherhood was woven throughout season 2, with some elements more effective than others. Please contact the author for additional thoughts on Helena Ortecho and revenge plots.
One of the largest problems within season 2 was the sheer number of plots jammed into the season. These plot threads often ended up hindering the effectiveness of the themes and made the coherence of the season suffer. Additionally, a lot of them were convoluted and difficult to follow.
Thesis:
Essentially, season 2 was a mess. To look at it holistically is almost an exercise in futility. Either you grow angry about the dropped plots and premises, you hand wave them off, or you fill them in for yourself. Instead, this essay proposes to look at individual elements to explain why Forrest should have stayed evil.
We first meet Forrest in 2.04 when he is introduced on the Long Family Farm, which we later learn was the location where our past alien protagonists had their final standoff. He’s introduced. He’s largely just there. The audience learns he has more of a history with Michael. In 2.06, we meet him again with his dog Buffy (note: poor Buffy has not been seen again and we miss a chunky queen). There’s mild flirting, Alex is invited to an open mic night, which he attends. For the purpose of this essay, the author’s thoughts on the poetry will not be expressed. Readers can take a guess.
It is after this point that the author speculates the Decision was made. This choice to make Forrest not evil- paired with the aforementioned ‘can’t kiss, someone’s sick’- impacted the plot. We have Alex have a scene with his father- which the author believes could have been pushed to a different episode- and then have Alex go on a date and then not kiss Forrest at the end of the night. Here, the audience sees Forrest hit Alex in the leg, allegedly not knowing he had lost his leg despite ‘looking him up’, which parallels the shot to the leg that happens to Charlie. Besides wasting this ABSOLUTELY TEXTBOOK SET UP WTF, it also takes Alex away from the main plot and then forces a new plot for him. Up to this point, Alex’s plot was discovering more about the crash and his family’s involvement. Turning Alex’s date from a setup for evil Forrest to a Coming Out story adds yet another plot thread to a packed season. It is also the author’s thought that this is where the convoluted kidnapping plot comes in. With Forrest already in 2.10 for a moment, a plot where Alex is evil has Forrest attack him for Deep Sky rather than Jesse abduct him for a piece of alien glass Alex was going to give him anyway and then for Flint to abduct Alex from Jesse. It’s messy. In a bad way. Evil Forrest would have been a cleaner set up: no taking back a piece of alien glass Alex gave to Michael in a touching moment. No double abduction. Instead, there is only Forrest, who Alex trusts, breaking that trust to take him as leverage over Michael.
Implications:
Now, Alex has two plots (Tripp & Coming Out). The Coming Out plot is largely ineffective, as they are only relevant to scenes with Forrest and have the undercurrent of there only being a certain acceptable way to be out. This could have been used for Alex to discover his comfort levels, mirroring Isobel’s self discovery, but there was not enough screen time for that. Additionally, Isobel’s coming out story was about her allowing herself the freedom to explore. Alex’s story was about the freedom to… act like this dude wanted him to. Alex’s internalized homophobia played out often in the series but it was also informed by the violence he experienced at Jesse’s hands and the literal hate crime he and his high school boyfriend experienced. With that in mind, the “kissing to piss off bigots” line comes off poorly. This is a character who experienced what a pissed off bigot could do- reluctance to kiss in public is not the same as not being out. There is more to be said on this topic, but as it is not actually the focus of the essay, it will be put on hold. To surmise: Alex’s coming out is attempted to be framed as being himself, but it is actually the conformity to someone else’s ideals. It does not work as an antithetical to Isobel’s story, as the framing indicates that the conformity/right was to be out contradicts Isobel’s theme.
Further Research:
MAKE FORREST EVIL YOU COWARDS
Author Acknowledgements:
The author of this paper acknowledges that the show took some strides to mend this problem. However, once again no consensus could be found on whether Forrest was a low-level member of Deep Sky and thus just allowed to fuck off on a bus, or his job was recruitement because he did a piss poor job of making Alex not join.
23 notes · View notes
thattimdrakeguy · 3 years
Text
Weirdly enough Red Robin is the series I’d be most scared to review, because for obvious reasons I imagine more than any other character it’s the Tim fan base (I won’t say fandom, because I feel like that gives a different connotation nowadays. and it’s a bunch of chill, un-interactive but very passionate, chaps) that follow me.
And I’d just get sooo many people giving me nit-picks, and telling me stuff I already know.
Cause I can say anything against Teen Titans 2003, New 52, Rebirth, and Wonder Comics stuff cause that’s the generally agreed upon stuff that you can complain against for Tim. Cause like, to not play dumb to it, this whole Bat-Family fandom acts like there’s freaking laws to abide by if you don’t want a bunch of batty (not a pun, not even saying not a pun in sarcasm lol) fans and stans down your neck. Normally involving certain characterizations or comics that, honestly, aren’t even usually the more accurate ones, but the contradicting ones that don’t make a lick of sense, and that’s not even talking about the straight up fanon ones.
Not to say I wouldn’t get why it’s the Red Robin series that’d get people to give me crap out of all the Tim stuff, because I do. It’s a lot of peoples entry to Tim, and it’s pretty heavy implications of suicidal ideation, and more so obvious mental breakdown journey across continents means a lot to people. I can get why, and if it wasn’t those characters in it, I’d think it was great too.
Also I know for a fact people would act like I’m just bias for 90s Tim, and point out Timmy’s in a teddy bear hoodie in my header. Cause it’s the most weakest defense someone could possibly make cause they’re lacking an actual point. Like they know everything a fucking ‘bout me, when they don’t, I’m just allowed to think my own stuff, and I’m allowed my dang comfort art, so blah blah blah. I’ve proved myself enough. I don’t need some random dismissive guys random approval or not, but man can it be annoying when someone thinks they’re smart about it.
Like basically put, it would be very exhausting to go through the many different series and years of comic book content to explain why I think the way I do, when all the other person has to say is “I like this series a lot, and it means a lot to me, it’s story about depression, and plus it’s Tim being at the button of his sanity so-- And I think this person is stuck on 90s Tim” cause like I freaking get it, and acting like cause I prefer a different Tim comic means my opinion isn’t valid, is the most childish thing ya can really do. Like I love 90s Tim the most for a reason, and I started reading Tim as Red Robin first, ya ninny.
But to just be honest, it is an incredibly flawed series that has overall, in the long game, soiled the character of Tim Drake, and directly influenced the New 52 and beyond depiction of him. Not to give Lobdell an excuse, I just find it really odd that people getting praising it as the peak of Tim content when it’s even caused some really freaking toxic fandom beliefs.
When some of the most important scenes in the series are so botched that it has genuinely made people despise other characters when I don’t even think they were portrayed well for that to make sense. The messy inconsistent writing as it went between two different writers causing some absolutely terrible characterization for Tim that isn’t even always consistent within the series itself because FabNic is just awful, and how forgettable most stuff after the first story is.
That first story I can understand the love for it. But people treating the whole series as a whole like it’s a great journey of long-term story development just feels like a real bad describer for it. Because to me by the end of it’s run it caused Tim to be put in the terrible spot that he’s only now escaping from little under a decade later. As well as only really starting cause people in the company didn’t like Tim and the characters around them as much as you’d hope.
In total, I honestly feel like if it wasn’t released during a time were the common tastes were very edgy and emo-esque, as well as around the time the online fandom spaces were only really then being formed in a way that was practical for casual interaction and discussion, and being the only series titled “Red Robin” therefore people seem to think it’s Tim’s variation of “Nightwing”, when it’s honestly not, it wouldn’t be a series that highly regarded.
I’m not saying the whole thing is a pile of shit, cause it’s also frankly not. There’s some powerful stuff in there, and some moments that really do hit super hard in ways that don’t feel superficial. Cause another thing people don’t seem to understand that when I say his characterization isn’t good in it, does not equal me saying “He is not the same exact character he was 15 years before the series came out”, it legitimately just means I feel they took the character to places that felt more forced than genuine, or just had him stuff that goes against what he’d do for the sake of just being edgy as if it’s deep, even during his circumstances and it created people having a false understanding of who Tim is at his heart, that made it incredibly difficult for Tim to get a good story for basically a freaking decade.
It’s a series I want to review because I have genuine things to say about it, but when ever I do say anything about it I feel like I see several sub-posts that are almost undeniably about me (hasn’t happened for a while cause I don’t really bother talking about stuff I don’t like anymore, cause life's hard enough, and I’ve seen the worst end of a lot of people from it) trying to downplay me, because they got defensive about it, rather than actually trying to process what I meant by things instead of just assuming it cause it’s touchy for them.
Like I’ve openly shit on Damian’s most popular series’, and accepted fandom malarkey, because I legitimately think they’re overhyped as could be, not that great, and only have the popularity they do through bandwagoning and going along with things. And I did that while knowing how defensive the Damian fandom is, and how quick they are to just leak out nasty assumptions or outright suicide bait you (yes I remember someone tried to defend me by suicide baiting someone else, but fuck them too, I never defended them or asked them to. idgaf which fandom does it. i’m clearly not on anyone's team. this isn’t a fucking sports game).
I’ve even straight up shit on pretty much every single Jason story except Under the Red Hood, while defending some Robin Jason stories, and I haven’t even got crap on me for that, which is honestly strange. Surprisingly just got told “Ya know what. Fair point. I can accept that. I don’t agree, but I can accept it.”. Which given what I have been shown of the Jason fandom I expected much worse, but they’ve honestly been really chill with me. Me and the Jason fandom has been actually some of the most pleasant interactions I’ve had outside my own bubble.
The majority of Steph’s existence as a character I’ve criticized and gotten crap on it, but honestly I found the response of countless anons going “YEAH MAN I AGREE WITH YOU” and going way harder on her than I ever did to be pretty dang annoying, and even more annoying cause people kept thinking I said stuff I freaking didn’t out of it. So every now and again people will just straight up lie about me to my face. Like you try to talk to someone that’s been preparing to talk to you by fighting an imaginary version of yourself. It’s pretty difficult if I had to be honest. Talking ‘bout bias’s like I didn’t write TimSteph fan fictions before I realized they weren’t that great and didn’t work, while realizing that I honestly didn’t think Tim was into girls in-general.
But, to get back on topic, with the Tim fandom it’s less like, open faced attempts to make you feel like a garbage human being, and more just straight up rudely dismissive as quite often the ones I’ve seen do it try to portray themselves as some calm knowledgeable unbias source of Tim knowledge.
And there’s a different sensation of annoyance at that.
Like what is the point of trying to pretend to be some source of knowledge and for a few comradery, while also being a dismissive person that first has to make others seem lesser.
And there’s some that I’ve seen do it that I don’t even think are dicks honestly, and have no problem with it, cause it’s just so innocently “I just really like the series and still think it’s good”. That I’d be confused why people would think I have a vendetta against everyone else. I’ve never been like, straight up offended more than once over the specific topic of Red Robin. But it is a thing that makes me like “I’ll get so many people giving me crap over having a different opinion for this won’t I”. And get some people trying to validate just being a bit of a fucker to me for no good reason.
So like, may or may not write a Red Robin review, but I might not cause despite quite a few people in the Tim fandom being quite chill about it, there’s quite a lot of people that are low-key toxic about it, and a lot of bad fandom things came out of it as well.
23 notes · View notes
supersilversleuth · 3 years
Text
I Know You Won’t Believe Me (But Sometimes I wish You Would) by SuperSilverSpy
Fandoms: DCU, DCU (Comics), Batman - All Media Types  
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Category: Gen
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Roman Sionis, Hurt Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson-centric, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson Whump, Whump, Whumptober 2021, Angst, Dick Grayson DID NOT fake his Death, I know I’m not really touching on it in this fic, but it’s important I say that, Post-Spyral, Miscommunication, Betrayal, I mean, Perceived Betrayal, SuperSilverSpy, SilverGrayson, SilverWhump, Protective Dick Grayson, injuries
Summary:
“Wha—Where am I? What do you want?” He asked, pretending to be groggy from waking up.
“Well, Officer Grayson, you are the Red Hood’s dirty pig informant, so I’m betting there’s a lot I can get out of you.”
Dick resisted the urge to laugh, or explain himself. There wasn’t much to explain anyway, not without revealing secrets that he would rather die protecting. Instead, he forced his expression into something more like shock, and resignation, deciding to play this role to the end. He could feel the instincts of manipulation and deception settling back over him like a very familiar blanket. Playing spy for a while had given him the opportunity to hone those skills. If there was any beneficial thing that could be taken away from that whole experience, it was what good he could now do with the abilities he’d enhanced during that time.
OR Dick is forced to pretend to betray Jason in order to protect the Red Hood’s identity
No. 5 - I’VE GOT RED IN MY LEDGER betrayal | misunderstanding | broken nose
Part 5 of 2021 Most Whumperful Time of the Year - Dick Grayson-centric
Language: English Words: 3,462 Chapters: 1/1 
Dick was tracking down a lead in the northern part of Blüdhaven, snooping around in various warehouses. It was the part of Blüdhaven that was closest to Gotham, so really Dick should’ve known better than to think his day would be uneventful.
 As it was, he was surprised by the sight of the Red Hood tying up the exact criminals Dick was looking for.
 Jason had tensed, glancing up, hand going for his gun—when Dick pushed the creaky warehouse door open to take a peek inside—and then, when Jason realized who it was, the hand went away from the gun, and the eyes away from Dick, but the tension remained. Jason continued about, tying the criminals up, studiously ignoring Dick’s presence as he did so.
 “Hood—” Dick started.
 “I’m just finishing up, Officer ,” he said mockingly, “They’re all yours when I’m done.”
 “I—They’re Black Mask’s people, do you have any intel about what they’re doing in my city?” “Not much,” replied Jason, tone clipped. “You?” “I have a little, maybe we could arrange a time to go over it? This case is clearly turning out to be a problem for both of us—”
 “Nope, that’s not how it works,” Jason cut him off, “You haven’t been forgiven for your last f*** up yet. Maybe we can trade information later, if I ever decide to trust you again.” Dick winced, stepping back. “Well, I’ll be out of your hair then, Hood. I’ll have some people come this way to put these criminals back where they belong.” “Where they belong is a big, ugly a** community grave,” Dick heard Jason mutter behind him just as he walked out the door.
-- A few days after the Hood incident, Dick was heading home after a long day of writing reports and studying casefiles. Being a detective was certainly not all excitement 24/7. Most of the time he was sitting around, wishing for more time in the field.
That particular day, he was distracted, thinking about a very complicated case that had been stumping him for longer than he’d like. He should’ve known better than to take that route home, though it probably wouldn’t have mattered—whoever wanted him was professional enough to have all the streets around the precinct covered.
 Ah, chloroform, he didn’t miss it. It’d been a while since he’d last had it pressed against his face. He supposed he was due for a run in with the stuff. The chloroform appeared at the same time as the wrenching of his arms behind his back, and the restraining of his legs. Dick tried not to fight  too  hard, he was still Detective Grayson, a civilian by vigilante standards, afterall. He had to keep up appearances. For that reason, he also pretended to fall unconscious long before he actually did. He’d built up an immunity to the drug of course, but that could only work with him as Nightwing.
 When Dick woke up, he found himself face to face with Black Mask. The man sat behind a desk, with Dick, sitting, bound to a chair in front of him. With a start, Dick realized that Roman must’ve been watching him while he was unconscious. Dick suppressed a shudder. 
 “Wha—Where am I? What do you want?” He asked, pretending to be groggy from waking up.
 “Well, Officer Grayson, you are the Red Hood’s dirty pig informant, so I’m betting there’s a lot I can get out of you.”
Dick resisted the urge to laugh, or explain himself. There wasn’t much to explain anyway, not without revealing secrets that he would rather die protecting. Instead, he forced his expression into something more like shock, and resignation, deciding to play this role to the end. He could feel the instincts of manipulation and deception settling back over him like a very familiar blanket. Playing spy for a while had given him the opportunity to hone those skills. If there was any beneficial thing that could be taken away from that whole experience, it was what good he could now do with the abilities he’d enhanced during that time.
 “I don’t know who the f*** that is,” Dick said, thinking about the actions of several of his coworkers for reference on how to act like a dirty cop.
 “Don’t lie to me,” snarled Roman. “My people know you spoke with him at the last operation of mine that he busted.”
 Ah, so that’s how he knew. One of the thugs must not have been fully unconscious during Dick’s conversation with Jason the other day.
 “Look man, I’m just his source guy sometimes, and he doesn’t even like me very much lately. So I don’t know what to tell you. Just let me go, and we can call it a day.” Dick made himself fidget, as if he was nervous about the threatening crime boss sitting across from him.
 “So what? You don’t have anything for me? Maybe I should just torture you until you die, how about that?”
 “N—No,” Dick made himself stutter, “I—I can still help you...for a price.”
 “Even now, you argue for your checkbook,” Roman chuckled, “The world goes ‘round, and dirty cops never change.”
 “What can I say,” Dick smirked, “The Hood didn’t pay me enough. I’m sure  you’ll be different…”
 Roman smiled at him, a dangerous smile that said he couldn’t wait to use him up and leave his body in a ditch.
 Dick smiled back.
--
Jason got an alert that the alarms at one of his safehouses had been tripped. It wasn’t one of his favorite safehouses or anything—in fact, it was due for a restock, but he knew it would be better to check it out as soon as he could anyway.
 He swung through the air, making his way through Crime Alley to where he knew the safehouse to be. Any intruders in his territory would be dealt with, crappy safehouse or not. 
 He found that much of his security system had been quietly disabled…except for a single, simple sensor. Whoever did this wanted him to come here.
 The door to his safehouse was ajar, and Jason carefully pushed it open, peering through the crack.
 His lights were on, and there were the sounds of ransacking and breaking glass.
 Jason grabbed the guns from his hips, and slammed open the door.
 There stood Dick, out of uniform, surrounded by several of Black Mask‘s people. 
 Jason snarled at the sight, thoughts of the man’s betrayal swirling through his mind. 
 Dick’s eyes widened, shooting a pleading look at him as if trying to convey something. Jason ignored it in his anger.
 “Let’s go! He’s here!” yelled Dick.
 “Traitor.” He growled darkly.
 Something flickered in the traitor’s expression, before smoothing out as if it had never been there.
 Jason didn’t think. He just lifted his guns, and fired.
 Unfortunately, they were rubber bullets, and he’s pretty sure he only managed to clip the lying b****** in the leg.
 He did manage to take down at least three of the others before the rest escaped quickly through the window.
--
“So, I guess Hoodie really isn’t on your side after all,” said Roman, pacing.
“I—I don’t understand what happened,” Dick sputtered, feigning fear, “I disabled all of his security, he wasn’t supposed to show.”
 “That’s because I had one of my people purposely sabotage you. I needed to make sure you weren’t still on his side. This,” he said, putting his hand on Dick’s leg where the bullet hit him, “is the proof I was looking for.” He pressed down, Dick gasped as if in pain. It really didn’t feel nice.
 “W—What?” He said in indignation, “Of course I’m on your side, that guy hates me.”
 “So I’m told.” Roman said, uncaring. He dug his fingers in.
 “Stop!” Dick strained against the ropes binding his hands behind the chair.
 The man let up, briefly, “You got the package I sent you to get?” 
 He was referring to the fake intel Dick had promised was stashed in Hood’s safehouse, intel that he had planted while no one was looking. The moment Roman plugged that thing in, Oracle would have complete access to all of the crime boss’s servers. “Yes, of course! Don’t forget to plug it into a high powered computer, I’m sure it’ll require a lot of decryption…”
 Roman waved his hand, “Yeah, yeah, whatever, my people have it covered.”
 “I’d like my payment now,” Dick said, glaring at him.
 The man grinned malevolently, “You’ll get your payment, when I let you go and the Hood goes after you. The people he captured have  quite  the story to tell.” 
 Dick slid a look of fear onto his face.
--
Jason didn't even give him the chance to explain.
Not that Dick was surprised about this, of course, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt.
Roman had released him onto Gotham's streets, and sent several of his people to tail him.  Dick of course, was not supposed to know about that particular detail, but it's not like the low-level thugs had any actual expertise when it came to anything, least of all properly tailing a person.
Ah, so this was one more test, to confirm that he was truly against the Hood, before Roman dared plug in the USB. So it was best that Jason's first reaction upon seeing him was to lash out anyway, and Dick didn't even get a moment to get a word in before Hood was slamming him into the ground.
Well, it seemed these days the only reliable fact was that his family no longer trusted him. It was a good thing he needed Jason to beat him up for the operation, then. Internally, Dick sighed, he wished it didn't have to be like this. He hated lying, detested spying, but he'd learned long ago that sometimes there's no time for debate, and often the situation called for the best solution, not necessarily a good one.
Jason always acted on his emotions, it was something about him that never changed. It was reliable qualities like that, that Dick had been trained to notice, to exploit when needed. Dick did what he had to do, Jason did what he wanted to do. Many times, Dick had had to shoulder the burden of doing what was needed, even if it hurt those around him. He would gladly carry these responsibilities for the rest of his life, if only his siblings didn't have to, if only his family  lived.
And so, Officer Grayson fought with the Red Hood in a back alleyway as the man spewed curses about him and how he couldn't trust someone who'd betray him just to meet their own ends and not even think to tell him about the undercover op—
Dick, of course, was still being watched. So he fought like a random inexperienced police officer, not like Nightwing, professional vigilante. 
Jason didn't seem to notice. 
"Is this the new you then? Huh? You stab us in the back at every chance you get, all for a supposed “mission”? Is this Dick the spy then? Is that who you are now?"
Dick dodged a fist, got kicked in the knee.  It’s probably just the pit rage,  he reminded himself,  another thing I can count on.
"You know, I didn't think you of all people would pull something like this the first time, I don't know why I didn't see it with this one, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now."
Jason punched him in the stomach, causing him to sink further to the ground.
"I don't even know if I'd grieve again, if I found out you were dead. How would I know it wasn't just another lie that you failed to mention to me?"
Dick was just glad his tails were too far away to hear what Jason was saying.
"Do you have any idea what Black Mask is capable of? Have you  forgotten  who the f*** he  is  ? You can't just go undercover to work with him against  me, without telling me!"
His little brother sounded so upset, Dick only wished he had time to explain.
"Whatever happened to communication? Is that a foreign concept to you  spies? And here I thought we were actually family."
Jason headbutted him right in the face, breaking what Dick was pretty sure was his nose. He could feel the sticky warmth of blood on his face, flowing over his lips, past his chin to drip to the ground. Dick's vision blurred, and he collapsed to the ground, curling in on himself, he had to play it up, afterall. Even though the wounds inflicted were mostly just surface ones. They had an audience, and Dick could not fail to perform.
Above him, Jason scoffed, as if he could see through Dick's pretending. Still though, DIck could see his hands shaking, could see as the pent up energy within his little brother's body drained, tension leaving his shoulders. In a moment, Jason was gone, and Dick closed his eyes, giving into the exhaustion of having had to pretend to be someone he wasn't under very stressful circumstances for the past few days. It was alright, nothing...Dick...couldn't handle...
--
Jason felt drained. He hadn't felt that angry since well...the last time Goldie had pulled something like this.
The feeling of Dick’s face against his fist was quite familiar by this point. Each time he’d done it blurred together, echoing in his mind as green tinted his vision.
Jason made it back to one of his safehouses, somehow. He wasn’t sure when he got there, or how, but when he finally came back to himself, it was to the sight of a familiar kitchenette.
He felt too restless to sleep, but too exhausted to do anything productive at the same time. He didn’t trust himself to go out as Red Hood. In this state, he was a danger to anyone around him.
Jason’s mind raced, even as his body collapsed on the couch. He turned the tv on, letting himself get lost in some random sitcom.
He needed to calm down, probably do something like think things through. Though Jason knew that he was most likely going to just go about his day tomorrow, as if today hadn’t happened.
Always running away, still that same self-preserving street kid who only knew how to survive. Well, it’d worked for him so far, minus the dying part of course.
Hours later, technically into the next morning, Jason’s comm beeped. What could Barbie possibly want at this time of morning? Not even villains were awake at 6:00am, usually this hour was sacred.
“Hood?”
Well, apparently not anymore.
Sighing, Jason brought his finger to his ear, “Yeah? How’d you know I was awake?”
“Unimportant,” she said, all business, “I need you to check on Nightwing for me.”
Jason’s mind blanked, and then he scoffed, “You kidding me?” His voice was shaky. “What the f*** did he do this time?”
Oracle had no time for overly dramatic interbat-relations.
“A few hours ago, Black Mask’s servers went online, Dick’s code caught my attention. I was able to get every little bit of data ever entered into one of Mask’s computers. It was more than we’ve been able to get from him in years. Dick’s work really was genius. I tried to get in contact with him, but his trackers aren’t working, his phone’s out of the picture, and I can’t find him on any camera. I’m worried he went undercover without a backup plan for when Mask figured it out.”
Jason attempted unsuccessfully to tamp down his feelings of guilt and concern.
“Alright O, I’m on it.” He croaked, already heading out the door.
Adrenaline flowed through his veins, spurring him on. 
His earlier hate had fled, leaving behind nothing but cold determination. He was angry at his brother, sure, but he didn’t want the guy to  die… right?
And if what Oracle said was true, then it just might have been worth it for Dick to do what he did, just maybe.
Jason headed to where he’d last seen Dick. 
He found him about a block away from where they’d fought, being tortured in a rundown warehouse.
If it weren’t for the screams, Jason probably would have passed it and not even known.
Black Mask stood over Dick, who was bound to a table. Goldie was missing his shirt, and his torso was littered with burns and bruises. His feet were bare too, Roman was in the process of whipping them.
For the second time in twenty four hours, Jason felt the anger rise and the pit take over. 
The emotion was stronger this time, more powerful, Jason thought distantly. 
There were about thirty thugs surrounding Roman, guarding the man’s sadistic torture session.
Jason drew his guns, and tried not to think about the last time he’d used them to pistol whip Dickie across the face.
The first five thugs went down quickly, the next ten following right behind them. Jason reloaded. Some part of his subconscious aimed for kneecaps and non-lethal areas. The pit aimed for whatever was convenient. Nevertheless, if Jason had been paying attention, he’d have noticed that not one of his bullets missed a target.
By the time he’d made his way through all thirty of them, he had two loaded guns left, though they weren’t the same ones he’d started out with.
Roman had fled sometime during the action, like the coward he was. Jason was halfway out the door to find him when he heard a sound from behind him.
It was Dick.
Jason startled, hurrying towards his brother's side. The anger once again drained from his body.
Dick’s eyes were hazy and unfocused, they looked at him without seeing. But as Jason neared, something foreign came into them: fear.
Jason dropped his guns on the floor, trying not to think about how he’d never seen Dick look at him like that.
He bent to untie his brother from the table, and Dick flinched away from him, unintelligible noises stumbling out of his throat.
“Shh, Dickie, it’s alright.” Jason said frantically, “I’m gonna get you out of here, okay?”
He finished removing the last of the restraints just as Dick passed out from what was likely incredible pain.
--
Jason efficiently cleaned and bandaged his brother’s wounds, feeling numb. Dick’s body was covered in scars, the recent--but not too recent ones were what caught his attention. Jason didn’t want to think about when Dick must’ve gotten them.
Instead, Jason thought about something that had been bothering him before, little details here and there that he had missed. Namely: Dick hadn't been wearing his Nightwing suit during all of their interactions in the past few days. In fact, he'd been dressed quite like a detective.
 It dawned on Jason in a moment, and he felt horrified. Dick had been a detective that day in the warehouse with Black Mask's people. Back when this all started. 
 Jason's mind was racing when Dick groaned, eyes cracking open, "Wha—Jay?"
 "Yeah, it's me Dickie. I'm here."
 "What—What happened?"
 Jason sighed, "What do you remember?"
 Dick's brows furrowed in thought, "I...I had to go undercover..."
 "Why didn't you tell me?" Jason asked.
 Recognition flashed in his brother's eyes, He seemed to be getting his energy back.
 "There was no time, Roman kidnapped me, I had to play along."
 "But—there had to have been some time you could have explained the situation to me…"
 "Would you believe me if I had?" Dick's gaze was piercing.
 “I—yeah, okay, that’s fair.” Jason paused, “Were you going to tell me that you went undercover to save my a**? Or were you just going to keep letting me hate you?”
 Dick was silent.
 Jason continued, “I mean, sure. Maybe I wouldn’t have believed you. But maybe I would have. You weren’t even going to give me the choice.” Something occurred to him then. “We didn’t give you the chance to explain about Spyral…was that situation similar to this?” 
 Dick sighed, “I’m not up for having this conversation right now. Maybe later, after I wake up.”
 He burrowed further into the couch, closing his eyes.
 “One more thing,” Jason said, unwilling to let it end just like that. “Those scars…”
 Dick’s smile was bitter and darkly amused, “You didn’t think playing spy was all fun and games, did you? Everyone was out to get me. See here?” Dick half-heartedly lifted up his arm, “A cannibal took a chunk out of it. Congratulations, you’re the first to notice.”
 “I’m sorry,” Jason murmured to him, long after he’d fallen asleep. 
 The two words were long overdue.
9 notes · View notes
galacticlamps · 3 years
Text
Tagged by @the--highlanders​ ! Thanks!
How many works do you have on AO3?
13
What’s your total AO3 word count?
76,200
(oh what a nice even number - I should try to mess that up as soon as possible, shouldn’t I?)
How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
Aw man is this intentionally worded to be really hard to answer? I get that it says ‘written’ and not ‘posted’ but then what constitutes a ‘fandom?’ I definitely wrote fics for stuff I was interested in long before I even knew the word ‘fic’ - I did it throughout my childhood, and then in high school, and while I didn’t do it as much in college, it still happened from time to time. So a lot of the books/movies/tv shows/plays/musicals I wrote things for aren’t really fandoms, and frankly, I had to check my old folder just now to even remember some of them existed. I’ll just list the ones that I know for sure had fandoms, since that’s more fun (and embarrassing), right?
Obviously Doctor Who, classic and modern, Torchwood, Sherlock Holmes (ironically more of these seem to be about the books, but yes, I will admit, some for that tv show too), Les Mis, a couple different Marvel comics & movies, Good Omens, hell, I even found a Night Vale fic in there just now.
And I know there are other older things not even in that folder, some of which never made it to a computer at all, so if I had to ballpark a number I’d probably say around 25ish but really, who knows?
What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Across the Gap
On the Spot
Expectations
Shards of Memories & Fragments of Glass
Itemized
(this was fun, I’d never noticed Ao3 even had a stats page until now lol)
Do you respond to comments, why or why not?
I try to! Sometimes I take a long time to do so but for the most part, I usually get around to it. The rare exception would be if I first saw the comment when I was super busy/distracted and then felt like way too much time passed before I noticed it again, that it might be awkward if I said something at that point.
I do genuinely enjoy hearing what people think, but I’m also weirdly terrified of making anyone feel like they have to reply to my comments. I know that’s probably a little strange, but it’s actually a large part of why I made this Ao3 account in the first place - my original one, from high school, is followed by some long-time friends of mine who aren’t interested in this fandom, some of whom are involved in art & writing professionally. The thought of anyone like that reading something I wrote out of friendliness or even just curiosity and potentially having to pretend they liked it for the same reasons stressed me tf out, so I like having this virtually anonymous one because I can relax knowing that anyone who reads or interacts with something I wrote has probably done so only because they wanted to, rather than feeling obligated, and there’s no pressure on them to be nice to me about it if anything I write or post annoys them - so I really hope nobody who does just know me as an anonymous blog has ever worried about offending me by not replying to something, trust me, I’m perfectly happy with it!
What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
I don’t think I’ve really written any angsty endings? I guess the answer would have to be Reckless just because it involves the characters arguing about sad/weighty things and there isn’t really any solution to those issues - but even then I think I ended it with a kind of acceptance that stops it from really qualifying as angst? I also set it in the the same universe as other fics, so maybe that doesn’t even count as an ending? Am I that bad at ending things on angst? Lol
Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?
Obviously none of the fics I’ve posted are crossovers but I’m trying to think now if any of my WIP’s are - I’ve definitely poached setting/premise ideas from other media, but in terms of actual crossovers . . . I’ve got a few cross-era or cross-Doctor, a few involving Torchwood, but that’s already the same universe, so the only thing that’d qualify as a true crossover would be some vague pieces of a fic where Jamie, Zoe, and Two end up on the Enterprise, since I think the 60s series of Star Trek and Dr Who feel kind of compatible, don’t they? In fact, aren’t there like officially licensed crossover comics or something? Or did I make that up? Idk, and the ideas are very loose, so it’s not much of a WIP either
Have you ever received hate on a fic?
Nope, never
Do you write smut? If so what kind?
I’ve never written smut, but I’m wondering if it’s possible that could change soon. There’s a longish multi-chapter fic I’ve been working on for a frankly embarrassing amount of time, and the plot does call for a sex scene at one point towards the end, but I can’t seem to make up my mind on how - uh, I guess the word is explicit? - it should get. I know I could easily do a fade to black/implication thing, but it’s kind of a source of contention and anxiety for the characters, so to skip over writing the actual scene and just revisit them afterwards rings of “and they slept together and now everything’s fine!” which feels kinda cheap to me - in this context, anyway - and not the right payoff for a long fic that’s otherwise more of an interpersonal drama/slightly a period piece, if I had to place it in a genre. I feel like my aversion to actually writing the scene might just be prudishness I should get over, or maybe just self-doubt, because I know I’d rather have a well-written, funny, character-development-supporting sex scene than nothing at all, but since I’ve never had any interest in writing a scene like that before, I don’t know if I can do it well, and I also don’t want to ruin a fic I’m otherwise proud of by doing it badly... ugh I have to figure this out
Have you ever had a fic stolen?
I seriously doubt it
Have you ever had a fic translated?
Nope
What’s your all time favorite ship?
I mean, it’s gotta be Two & Jamie. I’ve shipped things before with varying levels of investment, but I’ve never been able to use the term ‘otp’ in a literal sense until I came across them, and now it’s already basically gone out of fashion, go figure!
What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
I’m not sure if I have one? My WIP doc is huge, but I don’t actually intend to get around to finishing everything in it, so I’d like to think that anything I’ve currently singled out to complete can actually get done.
That said, I do have a few AU’s that I don’t really plan to finish, but it might be cool if I could. Two of them are for all the main + some supporting characters of the Second Doctor’s era - one’s a modern day school teachers AU, and the other is a typical fantasy/fairy tale AU. Another is just Two/Jamie, based on Doctor Faustus (specifically the Marlowe play version) but right now there are two different versions of the ending coexisting in my head. I’ve written parts of scenes & some gen. backstory for all of those ideas, but I don’t know if I’ll ever try to finish them, or what form a finished product would even take - a series of one-shots set in the same universe? one long multi-chapter fic with some kind of overarching plot? And the amount of context/worldbuilding a big AU like these would require might not make them very appealing fics for people to read, so maybe it is better if I just keep them to myself, since in my head I already know what’s going on in those worlds lol.
What are your writing strengths?
I honestly don’t know. I haven’t had a creative writing class since middle school, and since then I’ve only ever shown creative writing to others in a fandom context, so it’s been a while since I’ve discussed it or gotten critical feedback. I suppose when I work in other arts or even academic writing contexts, people usually say I’m kind of insightful or at least detail oriented, which might just be another way of saying I overthink things, but I like to imagine I’m decent at finding little points of interest to expand upon.
What are your writing weaknesses?
If you’ve read this far I feel like you must know what I’m about to say: I do not know how to be concise.
Usually when I’m writing a fic, I put down the dialogue first on its own, leaving out the action of the scene and whatever plot/context led there, even if I’ve already figured all of that out. But then when I go to add those things in, they’re always longer than I wanted them to be. I don’t mind writing something long, but I don’t want my fics to be a slog to get through either, and there can be a point at which the stuff I’ve added for context overwhelms the stuff that I wanted the fic to be about in the first place, so it becomes a structural/proportion issue too. I haven’t completely given up on any fics because of this yet, but there’s one I’ve been struggling with for a couple months now - probably because I’m even second-guessing myself on which scenes need to be written out and which can just be referenced like a recap. Hopefully I figure that one out soon.
What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
((this is karma isn’t it? i posted a fic last week with two words of gaelic in it and was worried about that and now this is karma))
In general, I don’t want to do it. I feel like you’ve gotta have a really good grasp of a language to write dialogue & speech patterns for someone who’s a native speaker, and since I’m far from fluent in any language the characters I write for are, I wouldn’t feel confident writing any significant amount of dialogue in, say, Gaelic.
As a sidenote, though, I kinda love it when other people do it, particularly for Jamie. Irish (Gaeilge) and Scottish (Gàidhlig) are both languages I’ve wanted to learn for a long time, because my family’s fresh out of living speakers of either & I think that’s a shame, but I started with Irish and at the moment I’m still very much learning it. As different as they are, it still helps me understand parts of lyrics or texts that I come across in Gàidhlig fairly frequently, so when it comes up in a fic I get to feel like I’m being responsible and practicing, and it’s great when I can actually understand what’s being said.
What was the first fandom you wrote for?
I’m gonna go with Harry Potter even though that’s probably not a perfectly accurate answer - it’s almost certainly the first thing that has a fandom that I ever wrote for, but it was in a notebook when I was a kid and never something that I even typed on a computer, much less posted online or shared with other members of a fandom. But even then, I’m sure it wasn’t the first pre-existing fictional universe I ever set an original story in, because I did that a lot when I was a kid, it’s just hard to remember those clearly or on any kind of timeline.
What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?
I’m very partial to Across the Gap, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that ranked first on the kudos thing above - but I’ve also got a soft spot for So Merrily We’ll Sing. It’s so self-indulgent it feels silly saying ‘it was so easy to write!’ but I guess having a fic that’s already just 100% headcaonons and fluff tied together by a song you really love does prevent it from being much of a labor (I also managed to refrain from making that one unnecessarily long, so that’s another win there)
tagging @terryfphanatics and anyone else who wants to do it - sorry I’m bad at remembering whose tumblr goes with whose Ao3 account, but I really would be interested to read this if anyone else feels like answering them!
8 notes · View notes