#I didn't do it only because I don't know all the characters' canon material well enough

[myheadphonesareneverloudenough]

Thinking about how Matt Lang mentioned rerunning TGWDLM.

Obviously, there'd have to be changes. Not just in the casting, but in every aspect of the show just due to the nature of how Hatchetfield has expanded and how TGWDLM has aged.

Now that we know for sure that the events in TGWDLM happened because of Pokey, I think they'd design the show even more around the colour blue instead of green like in the original promotional material. This also gives Matt Dahan so much more to work with when it comes to underscoring, think of all the motifs he has to sneak into the scenes now.

Hidgens would have to be recasted, and while there's plenty of options, I think after Workin' Boys he has to be played by Jeff Blim. I don't know if anyone can ever top what Jeff did in WB. Of course, that would mean that Jeff's original TGWDLM characters would need to be recasted as well. Mr. Davidson has not been seen in HF since TGWDLM (save for the small BF cameo), so it wouldn't be hard to find someone new for that role. Sam Sweetly is more difficult because of his appearances in Nightmare Time and the pre-recorded NPMD cameo, but it's impossible to have Jeff play both Hidgens and Sam in the same scene so he would still most likely be recasted.

The only Jeff character that would need to stay the same is General John Macnamara, that's another permanently Jeff character, in my opinion. The show would require some rearranging so that the Macnamara and Hidgens scenes weren't back to back this way. Between TGWDLM and BF, Macnamara went through a lot of character development and Jeff really discovered who he was by the second show, so it would be super interesting to see him interacting with Paul again now that we've learned so much more about the guy.

Now that Hatchetfield has expanded so much, I think it would be really fun to bring in new characters that we've met since TGWDLM happened. They should include Curt Mega as Officer Bailey in Show Me Your Hands, since we know he canonically works alongside Sweetly. Bring in James Tolbert during the PEIP scene as Xander Lee. Even just the people on the streets in La Dee Dah Dah Day, imagine the amount of cameos that could come into play there. Kim Whalen dances in as Becky Barnes, Angela Giarratana is Grace Chasity, all these well-known characters that we never saw during TGWDLM before making small appearances as they were already infected by the hive mind.

Speaking of the La Dee Dah Dah Day number, it would be fucking awesome to get Joey Richter back in the Pete Spankoffski costume for the coffee shop scene to do the hot chocolate boy bit.

I also just think a new perspective on the show will change so much of the context. Like Emma discussing Jane, we now know Jane's family with Tom and Tim. We're now very familiar with Ted's little brother, a character we had no idea existed during TGWDLM (think about Ted's little freak out over Alice being dead at Hatchetfield High...). We had no idea that this apocalypse was brought on by one of the Lords in Black.

Anyways. I agree with Matt, they should definitely bring The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals back for another run of the show.

[raconteur-wanpi]

Time to defend Reiju again because sometimes I feel like people have a misunderstanding of her character and even what Sanji thinks of her.

I love looking back at the source material because it's always a good reminder of what the characters actually say, feel and do.

Immediately you can tell she trusts Sanji so much, she tells him "I know you wouldn't lie to me". She trusts him with her life. At this point she's even supposed to still have her cold facade, but she lets that kindness towards him "escape" from her mouth.

I've seen some people even say that Reiju's kindness only extends towards Sanji, but she so clearly despises the fascism and violence of Germa with her whole being. This scene is not just her being suicidal, she thinks Germa shouldn't exist. Sanji's reaction to the idea of her dying is immediate as well! He's extremely upset at the idea of her getting hurt.

And when he's worried about her, she dismisses it. It's so easy to misread the middle panel as her saying "oh Sanji, I fooled you into thinking I care about you", when what she's actually saying "I'm not worth your kindness". She's not trying to be cruel towards Sanji in this scene; she's trying to be cruel to herself. She doesn't see herself as worthy of any love, concern or praise from him.

Once again she is sacrificing herself for him. Again and again, the only thing she cares about is his safety. Telling him to be with the people that are free to openly love him and take care of him. She doesn't care about what happens to her. She never partook in the cruelty towards him out of any agreement with the rest of her family. It was always fear and self-preservation that motivated her, and it's apparent how much it haunts her and how much she regrets every second of it.

She also doesn't blame him for Sora's death in the slightest! The moment Sanji even thinks about it, she shuts it off immediately. It was Sora's decision, her strength, her choice, her power. Reiju doesn't want anyone to take away that from her mother. She respects the little agency that she had. After all she wishes she was capable of such disobedience and rebellion towards her father. She sees Sanji as the gift Sora left to her and to the world, not as the thing that took her away. And she clearly wants Sanji to feel the same way.

The juxtaposition of "Sanji's a worthless failure" from the rest of their siblings to Reiju saying 'of course you're not a failure" hurts so much. She used to pretend to agree with the rest of them as a kid. She'd call him a failure in front of them. This is her admitting she never, ever meant it or even thought it. This is the closest her emotionally constipated ass can get to an apology. She's telling him to his face how she really feels, that she didn't mean it. She cries! She cries while she tries to hold it back, this is how much she cares about him! She's telling him how much she appreciates his kindness, but also how she doesn't she herself as kind like he is.

Again, telling him to run away. She's not worthy of mercy in her eyes. And Reiju here not only rejects Germa's fascism, she also shows a really good understanding of how it works. Glorification of an imagined past is the first telltale sign of the ideology. She is very clearly both emotionally and intellectually opposed to the ideology itself, not just Germa's tangible actions. She sees all of it as a plague.

And here's the part that frustrates me the most when it comes to people misremembering or misunderstanding canon: Sanji absolutely does not group her with the rest of his family. It's text, he says it right here! "I have nothing but hatred for them, but why you? Why do you have to die?!".

Every time Sanji rejects his birth family, this panel makes it clear to me that he understands that Reiju hates them just as much, that she is a victim of the same abuse. He is not including her. It's normal for him to have conflicting feelings toward her, don't get me wrong. He doesn't seem to trust her at first, especially when she puts those handcuffs on him. I don't think that he doesn't have feelings of discomfort about how she was forced to treat him in the past. He obviously does! That's normal! But that doesn't mean he doesn't understand why it happened. He can feel upset and recognize the situation at the same time, those aren't contradictory. He absolutely does not see her as or include her within the rest of the Vinsmokes.

It's interesting to look back at Arlong Park and see the way Sanji talks about Nami being forced to act cruel and lie about who she is, presenting herself as a monster. He immediately recognizes that sort of behavior. He understands what young girls often have to do to escape the violence of men; he saw it with his own very eyes with Reiju. And like Nami, she sees herself as someone who has to hurt and isolate and self-sacrifice for the safety of those she loves. Hell, Sanji does the same thing! This is probably the moment where he realizes what he looks and sounds like to the Strawhats during this arc, what self-sacrifice looks like to those who love you. It's probably part of the turning point for him to decide to go where Luffy is waiting for him. He finally got to look at the situation from Luffy's eyes.

It hurts. She's saying "leave me behind" again. Like you did those 13 years ago. You were able to find the people "out at sea" I promised you that you would. Maybe they can love you for me, in my place.

And he knows it. She's not the same as the rest of them, she never was, and she never will be in his eyes. She's his mirror. She's who he'd have to be if he was forced to stay behind. He understands.

[vanmarkus]

Do you also have the feeling a lot of great people stopped posting and especially writing? Or have they all blocked me? The tags are full but mostly with newer fans who don't seem to have actually watched the show (no offense, although..) and the writers circle seems tiny

well, dear anon, i will be very real with you, it mostly comes down to season 7 and specifically Tommy's reintroduction, the whole bucktommy of it all, or even more specifically the infighting it started.

911 was never really the 911 fandom; it was the buddie fandom with a few blurps of other (canon) ships sprinkled in there, only to get lost due to lack of interest/bad behaviour. (believe me, people were really shitty before all this too)

but now we have two main ships.

which would be okay if people could understand the difference between reality and fiction and could just pay attention to the stuff they like and not get violent and for whatever reason bigoted towards real fans over disliking a character or ship.

i talked endlessly about how all the criticism of Tommy's character basically comes down to "i don't vibe with it, so no one else should either" so i won't go into that, but unfortunately what you saw and still see on the dash is only half of the story.

lots of people ended up unfollowing and blocking people they used to talk to on the daily over this fictional ship, which... you know, if that's all it took i wouldn't necessarily call those "friendships", but it definitely changed how people interact with fan creations.

doing wip games was always about two things; to exchange exposure and to motivate each other and ourselves to write.

those pre-existing tag-chains are mostly broken now and i know that a lot of writers don't want to expose themselves to "the other side" by sharing wips and get demotivated by people being rude, so they keep writing without sharing snippets.

and some people lost the motivation/inspiration to write for the fandom altogether.

it sucks and yeah, people who didn't watch the show aside from scenes of their faves should not be monopolising the tags — as far as i'm concerned they aren't part of the fandom at all. (if you can't even be bothered to watch the source material, why are you even here, genuinely.)

anyway, this got long, but the point is that you're right in your observation and it doesn't just go for writing.

interaction on edits and gifsets and the like have drastically fallen, because so many people have blocked each other, every post has to go through a bazillion blind spots to get to at least 3 more people's dash; because one person will reblog it and then they will be blocked by 5 others who would love to see your content but the people they still follow don't follow anyone that'd reblog your stuff and so on.

TLDR: this fandom is fucked and it's sad, but it is what it is i guess.

[madeofjules]

Thg non-canon things that are claimed as canon?

Oh man this will probably start some fights lol, but just to be clear I'm not saying that all of these can't be true or people are wrong for believing they are. It's more just that we don't know for sure because they're never confirmed in the source text and therefore (IMO) cannot be labeled as canon. Here are some common ones off the top of my head:

Finnick was the youngest victor ever

Rue's death sparked the rebellion

Everything Katniss did was for Prim (it all started with her protecting Prim, yes, but Prim stopped being her sole motivation after she stepped into the arena)

The Quell was rigged for Finnick to win

Peeta refused to kill (he literally said he would so idk where people got this from)

Katniss was indigenous or Katniss was white (these are the two most common ones I see people claim as canon, but her race was never stated)

Peeta's family didn't care about him or he didn't care about them

Katniss always assumed she'd marry Gale (she said that other people probably assumed it, not that she did)

Career academies

Foxface killed herself

Katniss was the first ever volunteer in district 12

Annie wasn't a Career (there isn't a single reason to believe this)

Peeta was still hijacked after the war

Katniss never experienced desire or wanted to kiss anyone (saw a fan art about this and I was just like, did we read the same books?)

Peeta wasn't a good tribute (boggles my mind that this is a popular take)

Katniss's mom didn't love her, didn't try to reach out to her after the war, and all the other stuff people make up about her to demonize her further

Disclaimer: canon can be murky when there are both books and films. The THG movies repeatedly contradict the books and some characters are completely different than their book counterparts, so it's really not possible for both canons to exist simultaneously in one universe. That's why I view the source material as the ultimate determinant of canon.

Of course, there are some movie-only details that could be true in the books as well, like Finnick being the youngest victor. My issue is more with people claiming that movie details refuted in the books are canon, or combining movie-only canon with book-only canon, or simply picking and choosing what is and isn't canon based on their preferences. I see people do this disingenuously to push certain narratives, like "the weird thing my favorite character did in the movie isn't canon but the bad thing my least favorite character did is".

All of that brings so much inconsistency and bias into the story that it starts to lose meaning and purpose, so I think it makes the most sense to only consider the books "true" canon when viewing the story as a whole.

None of this is to say people can't have headcanons or things they prefer over book canon or anything like that. The fun part of fandom is being able to engage with the material in a way that means something to you personally. So please don't take anything I'm saying as an attack on your opinions because that's not my intention.

[bucksdaffy]

okay, so i've seen some people claim that tim minear is an avid buddie shipper and that he's slowly but surely laying the groundwork for buck and eddie to become canon in the future and...

i'm just thoroughly confused about this assertion.

i'll preface this by saying i'm very new to the fandom, so i'm prepared to be wrong about this. i'm aware i may lack crucial context because i've been here only so long. also, i don't know tim personally, so i obviously can't speak to his true intentions, but i'll make my case anyway.

i'll cite two RECENT comments by tim that i assume people might draw this conclusion from:

[?: There is a sect of the fandom that just wants 9-1-1 to be the Buck and Eddie show, and any cut that removes a second of them is going to get the same reaction. Nothing short of renaming the show "Christopher's Two Dads" is going to make them happy.] T: I totally get that. I even appreciate it. Which explains the entire first act of last night's episode. I kind of did for the Buck/Eddie fans (I mean I really do it for myself in the end). I just thought... they'd like it? Shrug. I liked it, so whatever.

Minear tells Rolling Stone that he hasn’t just been aware of fan reactions, he’s actually changed storylines in the past to avoid being accused of queerbaiting. But rather than help, he says it made the show worse. “Nobody wants to be accused of queerbaiting so I kind of stopped writing those characters together. And I think it hurt the show because I was so afraid to be accused of something that I wasn’t going where I would naturally go with the stories,” Minear says. “I just decided that I just have to write the thing that I think is right. I just have to be honest with the story I’m telling and let the chips fall where they may.”

now, i may be biased, but this doesn't read to me like he plans on buddie endgame at all.

while it's clear he loves the bond between buck and eddie and enjoys highlighting it in the show, saying he totally wants them to end up together feels like a reach.

he discusses being accused of queerbaiting in the past, which led him to backtrack a little and stop writing buck and eddie together. how does this suggest he did it because he wants buddie to become canon? if that were his intention he could have continued to drop more (apparent!) hints that buck and eddie may love each other in a non-platonic way. he wouldn't care about the accusations of queerbaiting so much, because he would be planning to make them canon all along. sure, there are external constraints that could prevent this from ever materializing, but that doesn't mean he couldn't write the dialogue in a clearly ambiguous way so that once he gets a pass and everyone else involved is on board with it, he could confirm that "yeah, you were right; it was a good ol' friends-to-lovers slow burn trope all along. congrats!!" no. instead he backtracked because he didn't want anyone to think he was writing buddie as anything other than a platonic relationship. that's it. but he eventually realized it doesn't really matter because people are going to think what they want to think regardless. and he obviously loves buck and eddie's friendship so he might as well just make the most out of it at this point. and if he ever feels like maybe it is a good time to turn their friendship into something more because it feels right for story, he'll go for it. but if not, he won't.

i see a lot of people claim buddie is a six-season-long slow burn, being carefully crafted right now for future canonization. and they say tim basically confirmed this. but i really can't see his comments being a confirmation of the sort.

if there are any quotes i'm missing that suggest otherwise, i would love to go through them. so if anyone's aware of any, please don't hesitate to hit me up.

but at the moment i believe y'all are just setting yourselves up for disappointment.

[ghouldtime]

Hiii it's me again lol

Okayokay, so I just finished reading your rant on the COD fandom's unique choice of pet names, and I'm gonna be straight up and say I'm going completely off topic and INSTEAD veer off to a side thing you pointed out to give my own opinion! This is a kinda hot take so I'm just screaming into the void hoping someone shares my thoughts 🖤

Sooo we all know the Ghost comics released alongside the OG MW2. I personally haven't read it due to the TWs but I've seen enough screenshots and summaries to get the gist of what happens. HOWEVER I believe those comics are only canon to 09 Ghost and doesn't apply to reboot Ghost, and this is what I meant about it being a hot take cuz almost everyone in the fandom agrees the comics happens for both. And I can definitely see why! I mean, we didn't exactly get any concrete backstory regarding reboot Ghost, so anything goes.

Where I stand on the line, I'm a firm believer of reboot Ghost being Just A Guy™️like he had a (relatively) chill childhood but there are some things that stay the same with the comics. Like Tommy scaring him with the skeleton mask when they were children, and Simon enlisting after the 9/11 attack (not sure if those are canon, it's just what I've heard so please correct me if I'm wrong). No abusive father, no Roba, no Christmas trauma. Sure it makes him less interesting but I find it pretty amusing how the person wearing a skull print balaclava has no real reason behind wearing it other than it looking cool lmao

Anyway, yap fest over! Hope you have a wonderful day/night and remember to hydrate! 🖤

- Biscuits 🌺

SALUTATIONS it's good to see you again, I hope you're doing swell as well :D 💚💚💚

Technically, what you're saying is true!

The '09 comics pair with the '09 character and are indeed cannon for only him as far as I'm aware (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). The reboot lacks a true significant backstory. As in, if you search it up, you basically get "he joined the SAS and is super cool and is great at doing cool soldier things and probably can do a sick backflip". What we know about the reboot is basically what we experience in game. And until we get either another game focusing on his earlier life or have confirmed scenes of it, we really don't know.

Personally, how I distinguish "Ghost" as a being is as three versions.

You have '09 Ghost. '09 Ghost is the one we experienced in the OG games and the comics. He's the dead one - and the one with the actual official backstory. Those are both cannon and are tied to him as a character.

You then have Reboot Ghost. Reboot Ghost is, as the name entails, the reboot alone. Basically, what we have of him and know of him is what we experience in game. Technically, we don't know his backstory and the full extent of his life. Is it similar to his '09 counterpart? We don't know. He's kinda the "What you see is what you get". There's some things implied with his dialog but most of his story is up for debate.

And then we have what I'm calling Fandom Ghost who is the most common variant. Fandom Ghost is neither the reboot nor the '09 version - he's a middle ground. He's what everyone is thinking of when you hear 'Ghost'. Usually how I've seen him portrayed is the reboot with the '09 backstory or some semblance of that.

(Side note: I know it's quite typical to specify when you're referring to '09 Ghost specifically because he does, of course, have a very different history and outcome. Not to mention, the dynamics with him and Soap are very different than in the reboot which is another reason why people usually clarify and go "This is who I mean")

I've never actually seen a TRUE reboot Ghost that wasn't fandom based or fanon in writing, now that I think about it. Probably because it's not that easy to write about a character in a limited sense where you don't know much about them and you have to stick to the limited material you're given.

A lot of COD operators lack a significant backstory outside of their military history. That's mainly done because they're videogame characters of a military, shooting focused game and they don't usually have the time to go into depth as to why that character is the way they are. They're primarily soldiers who are saving the world and playing their role. You might see snippets here and there but the focus isn't on their background or the inner workings of their character in a very personal way, aside from what is revealed on missions to add a natural perspective and make them see more human

Because it's not like in the middle of a life or death situation you're going to sit down and explain that you had a dog growing up, you had three sisters, your favorite drink is Baja Blast, and you have a lifelong fear of Burger King.

'09 Ghost, however, we GOT a backstory. We were given something to work with. Clinging to that or melding it with the reboot, who lacks a backstory, is what a lot do because it's trying to make use of the best source material we got until we can maybe get something else too. Personally I was a fan of that backstory because it DID add depth to him, significantly so. I liked it.

Additionally, I think a LOT of people go that route too because it's something that's quite easy to look up so they don't need to make something themselves

(This is an entire theory and me putting on my tinfoil hat: There's a lot of people in the COD fandom who are just here for the big beefy men and don't do their research, haven't played the games - they're just assuming things. And when they see the fandom Ghost, they just assume it's true, and it spreads when they write their own stories. I hope this doesn't read like I'm trying to gatekeep or 'HOW DARE YOU NOT KNOW EVERYTHING' or 'you're not a true fan unless-', cause I really really really do not care. Do what makes you happy, but I'm going to avoid reading what I feel mischaracterizes him for sexual purposes alone hardcore)

I also like to imagine that maybe the team doing the reboots has enough common sense too to not entirely scrap such a backstory as hey, it IS interesting, so there's a strong possibility that reboot might share some origins. Kidding, I'm being fully delusional here and know they won't do that and will likely just ruin it and I'm hoping they don't have a chance. I know any new one they come up with -like the writing in the last campaign -would be utter carbonated hot dog water and I do not trust them at alllllll. I'm refusing to accept reboot Soap's death but that's a rant for another time

That being said though, there's technically no correct backstory yet for Reboot! Ghost aside from what we already know. Anything that adds backstory or melds anything else to him is making him fanon/fandom!Ghost (which is by far the most common iteration and the one people default too)

I love when people give him, and other COD characters, happy or somewhat not dramatic backstories. They already have enough going on with the wars they're thrown in, I live for them having a scrap of happiness and normality. I can't blame people for not wanting to write or deal with heavy backstories and it's nice to see variety and is SO super valid.

But at the same time, I also do like his OG backstory, I love seeing when people dig deeper into the gritty stuff too, exploring that side of characters because not everyone has the best life growing up. And joining the military and when they join can be telling too about their home life

Variety is the variety of life and when there's not exactly a cannon, then I love seeing people make their own reasonings and conclusions and write fanfics with their own theories. It's SO fun to explore what other people think and it really results in some of the sweetest fics that dive more into depth than the official writing team ever could hope to

The Ghost that I write are usually AU Ghosts anyhow so it allows me more flexibility in what I write. BUT if I'm writing for Ghost, I do the blend where it has more of the '09's backstory but his reboot vibes. THAT BEING SAID

I love making him just, A Dude©, still despite that. Having a bad past doesn't make him any less of a person - nor does it make him this ultra mega tough dominant edgy sigma bad boy. He's literally just a GUY. Sure, he has extensive SAS experience and training to boot. Sure, he's easily one of their top soldiers. He's a stone cold killer when he's Ghost. He's there to do the job.

But Simon? Simon's just a dude, like everyone else - they all are at the end of the day. Sure, they have their own personal struggles and do have to go through a lot, but they're still people. He goes to the grocery store and is genuinely confused about all the options of milk now (how the hell did they milk HEMP). He still makes his bed and has to fight the fitted sheet to stay on, using his size and strength to force it in place before it can do 'the thing' that all fitted sheets somehow do. He bought a bird feeder so he could watch the wildlife as he drinks his tea for breakfast. Speaking of tea, he has a whole collection! And the good shit, you know he won't settle for any less.

He's just A DUDE© at the end of the day and I love those mundane things because hell, he needs them to still feel human and to be reminded exactly what he's fighting for

I just find it so silly and ridiculous when he's consistently like "I'M Batman: I AM THE NIGHT" sheer dramatic levels of broody in stories or when he's put in as this mega dommy bad boy who is 6'5", growling constantly, and is like the posterchild for a wattpad biketok fanfic.

Lmaooo be for real, he's out here doing arts and crafts to make his masks. He has a whole paint collection and everything. He went into the craft store for paint and came out with two new hobbies and no, I'm not listening to anyone who says otherwise

[remembrancer-of-heresy]

Courtly Love

[Part 1], [Part 2], [Part 3],

Summary: You become closer to Lucius and learn intriguing news about the Third Legion.

Lucius The Eternal/fem!Reader(Camellia)

Warnings: no for this part

Word count: 2359

Author's note: Very often canon can differ slightly in some aspects. In the codex, Lucius was a captain for a long time. But I stick to the book Fulgrim when he was promoted on Laeran. The previous captain of the 13th appeared for one part, but I still decided to give him a name.

Song: Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

Tags: @passionofthesith

Several months have passed, but during this time you have collected an unprecedented amount of material, which would be enough for a full-fledged novel. And to be honest, you even decided to write a book about the exploits of the Third Legion through the eyes of one of the Space Marines.

Lucius was only happy to hear your proposal. Of course, you should write about him. All mortals should know about his excellent skills and fighting style. The swordsman was arrogant and boastful, but still did not tolerate absolute flattery.

So you were even less going to add countless epithets and compliments to Lucius, focusing on historical facts. You were sure that other remembrancers would probably not understand his personality and would do everything the other way around. This gave you confidence.

Although it was impossible to say that your relationship was purely professional. You often met in the training hall or in the corridors where you spent a lot of time. You didn't dare invite him to your quarters because you were shy (so what if he was a Space Marine), and he didn't want his brothers to see you.

"They'll only bother us with their unnecessary comments or laughter." - Lucius grimaced with displeasure while you were sitting in the corridor. - "Saul will make a sour face. He's so withdrawn, I don't think you'll be able to get a word out of him."

Saul Tarvitz was indeed a man of few words and restraint. You were sure that sooner or later such a Space Marine would accomplish great things. However, judging by everything, he didn't want to receive a new rank or recognition from the inhabitants of the Imperium.

Such nobility was catchy. But what is, is. It's unlikely that you could become his personal chronicler (although he treated you well). If you asked him about the Crusade (only to add notes to Lucius's stories to complete the picture, an approach your client approved of), he said very little. Not in the detail and color that you were accustomed to.

Lucius was a different character. You understood that he was a Space Marine, he was a participant in the Crusade. And yet you could not shake the thought that the Emperor's cause did not matter to him. Only his skill. There was no mention in his stories of the Imperial Truths, the incredible brotherhood of the Legion and other aspects that ordinary citizens were interested in.

No. In all his stories, the main and key figure was only himself. He fought against xenos, the enemies of humanity. But first and foremost, these were his enemies who dared to cross his path. And the Space Marine was always ready to demonstrate his exceptional talent.

And yet, while Lucius told you about his exploits, you could not help but look at him with admiration. He really was an outstanding swordsman. Besides, there was some kind of childish boyish spontaneity in him that melted your heart. You could forgive him all his sins. That was probably why Saul valued his friendship.

For now, the second person after the captain of the 13th company (that's what Lucius liked to call himself, and not just a soldier) was giving you all his free attention. And you didn't care where you communicated. Even now, sitting near one of the columns, you didn't pay any attention to the passing serfs or the occasionally appearing space marines.

Probably, such close communication was rare even in the Third Legion, judging by the sideways glances thrown at you.

“I still can't believe that you saw Rogal Dorn himself. More precisely, the fake Dorn. How is that even possible? Weren't you scared?” - you asked with interest, trying to write down all the details about the overthrow of Fausch's revolution.

“The local psykers did their best. The Imperial Fists weren’t really trying to annex the world if we had to work for them.” - the young man smiles, completely not understanding how to behave. - “And in general, even as a mortal, I was never afraid of anything. After becoming an Astartes, I can’t even more so.”

“And have you ever regretted that you can’t feel fear anymore?” - you quickly put away the notes. You didn’t want to offend Lucius with such a somewhat compromising question.

“Hm? Why is that? Fear prevents me from fighting, and I’m a warrior. Hey, why aren’t you writing this down?” - the young man blinked his eyes in bewilderment and for a second it seemed to you that he was about to pout like an offended child.

Probably because he never grew into a man, but became a living weapon.

“W-well, it's just a personal question. But if you want, I’ll continue writing.” - You suppressed a sigh, reaching for the device as the Marine nodded at you. - “It’s just that no matter how many times I read about knights. Both heroic and real ones, they were all afraid. But they… um, sought it out.”

“How can you strive to be afraid of everything around you? We must strive for perfection. Honing our combat skills, accepting mistakes. And fear. It’s…” - the young man involuntarily frowns, not understanding why he is explaining such simple thoughts to you. - “It’s a flaw. It’s imperfection.”

You bite your lip, thinking about the answer.

“It’s just that in all the stories I’ve read, it wasn’t the fear itself, but its overcoming that was akin to a heroic moment. Think about it, when you’re not afraid, it’s easy for you to do anything. It’s not the same as if you committed an act despite the horror that torments you. Isn’t that proof of the human spirit?”

Lucius listens to you almost spellbound, and you can imagine the gears turning in his head. And apparently they broke, because a moment later, Lucius looks at you questioningly, as if you had just told him an overly complex philosophical theory and forced him to repeat it word for word.

“So, to be the best warrior, I have to be afraid?”

“Well, not exactly. It’s not only fear that drives warriors.”

“Then why did you bring it up?”

“I just wanted to.” - you hug your knees and look away. But you can still hear Lucius laughing at you. - “People know almost nothing about the Space Marines. You are the defenders of humanity, but at the same time, you are so… far from us.”

It was true. Many military men disliked the remembrancers. At least those who behaved arrogantly and did nothing but enjoy life. But you managed to get along with some of the soldiers. Some officers even commissioned portraits from famous artists, and others attended small concerts. And if you weren’t imagining things, one of the journalists even started an affair with an officer. Military and civilian, you were all people and you all had something in common.

But the Space Marines were a different kind. They were carriers of the gene-seed of the Primarchs themselves. The trials they went through made them not only the best warriors in the entire Imperium. They were almost immortal. But at the same time, the Astartes were living weapons, they could never know civilian life, all its aspects. They were deprived of these "weaknesses".

You understood that the Astartes were happy with such a life, and everyone in the Imperium was fine with it. They were chosen by the Emperor. It just made you sad sometimes. How can the best warriors of humanity protect this very humanity but not be a part of it?

"It's all nonsense. I'm not far." - you stared at the young man in surprise, before he spoke again. - "We are separated by a couple of centimeters. We are very close."

And in confirmation, the swordsman poked his finger into your shoulder. You didn't even know whether to laugh or cry. From all the stories Lucius told you, you got the impression of extreme intelligence and resourcefulness. But all this concerned battles, tactics and strategies. When it came to philosophy, he acted like a teen.

“Close indeed.” - you smiled softly at the Marine, intending to continue the conversation. However, a sudden shadow covered you, causing your gaze to fall on the troublemaker. Captain of the 13th Company Cletus Nero, to which Lucius belonged, was right there.

“And here is our chronicler. I haven’t seen you in a long time, otherwise Lucius is hiding you from us.” - the man smiled kindly at you and you thanked Terra again for the fact that Lucius’ captain turned out to be such a wonderful man.

Not only was he not against your communication with his soldier. Moreover, he respected the work of the remembrancers. In the Third Legion, there was much less coldness and even less hostility of the Astartes towards people of art. Consider it almost non-existent. And still, such connoisseurs continued to surprise. You heard that the First Captain often liked to visit artists and sculptors. Bet he left behind a ton of works with his face on them.

“We just have a lot to discuss. Right now Lucius told me about Fausch Revolution.” - you nod politely, a little embarrassed by the attention of a Space Marine of such a rank. And it seems that the Space Marine understood this. Only he was not going to spare you.

“Excellent. I have plenty of stories too. Especially since the captain’s point of view will help you understand the situation from a different perspective. There will be something to write about, won’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.” - you hear Lucius nod in agreement and look at you with a serious expression. - “Captain Nero devised the plan that led to the siege being so successful. You should listen to it.”

“The boy is right. Our company distinguished itself. Fulgrim himself appreciated our contribution to the overall victory. You will definitely like it.” - the man smiled broadly and casually joked. - “Maybe even after my story you will decide to become my personal chronicler.”

It was too much. Too much attention. Not only were you still not used to the company of Space Marines (Lucius being an exception!). But Captain Nero was also so insistent that you cringed in embarrassment. And awkwardness. You could almost feel with every fiber of your being how those last words hurt Lucius.

He wanted so desperately to be appreciated. Lucius was so talented that he only went to the training hall out of boredom. His skills even got him invited to spar with other Space Marines. Lord Commander Eidolon himself!

But that wasn’t enough. Lucius wanted more. You saw it in his eyes, heard it in his words. The way he told you about the exploits of the Crusade, his exploits. The way he immediately transformed when it was time to communicate with a Marine of higher rank. The way he looked at them. He wanted to be one of them.

And now Commander Nero asks you to become his chronicler right in front of Lucius. And he gets angry, upset, despite the fact that it's just a joke and a simple offer. He can't tell him that you are his documentarian, he wants respect for himself. But he doesn't want to lose you either. For selfish purposes. Although partly you still believed that you really managed to become friends. After all, Lucius told too many details about himself.

"S-sorry, but I only want to be Lucius' remembrancer." - you pull your head into your shoulders in embarrassment, although the captain does not look upset. - "I will gladly listen to you, so that I can add more details to the records about him."

"Good. When I have time, I will catch you. But for now I need to leave. It seems that our first full-fledged company since Ullanor is planned. Lucius." - the man nods to the space marine and hurriedly leaves either for a council or a meeting. You weren't very clear on how the Third Legion was planning their next moves.

You felt awkward about the whole conversation, but Lucius was practically glowing with happiness. He was silent, which was unusual for him, and smiling. His green eyes could not left yours, and you felt how your cheeks warmed. Oh, he knew you said those words from the heart and he was grateful. An Astartes was grateful to a mortal girl. It was flattering.

"What-" - you hug your leg to your chest and look at the man with curiosity. - "What campaign?"

"Ah, the Xenon world Laeran. We encountered it just yesterday. Do you really not follow the news at all?" - seeing your apologetic look, Lucius turned his nose up, causing you to chuckle. - "Well, I'm not surprised, I take up almost all of your time. And now you'll be especially busy."

"Are you planning to attack that world?"

“Of course. These xenos are asking for it. Although from what I heard, the officials tried to dissuade the Primarch. Like, we can’t handle it. Pathetic scribes who don’t understand anything about war and still dare to tell us what to do, huh!” - the Space Marine almost spat, but stopped himself. - “But of course you’re not like that. Only the best chronicler writes about me, right?”

“That’s because I got the best Space Marine.” - you respond with praise and go quiet. Anxiety slowly envelops your body. Before this, you visited a couple of worlds and they were all uninhabited. This was your first full-fledged battle. - “I’m a little worried. Even here, in safety, I can’t help but realize that there’s a real battle going on on the surface. Will everything be fine?”

“Of course. We, the Third Legion, are renowned for our swordsmanship and first-class strategy. Perfection and death. That’s our motto.” - the man smiles kindly at you, calming all your worries. - “We’ll finish off the xenos before you can blink. But look at it from the other side. What fresh material you’ll write. I’ll tell you all the details after each mission.”

“Hope so.” - you’ve already started to think about how many stories Lucius will tell you in the heat of the moment. Maybe if you’re lucky, this time they’ll even let you go down to the surface of Laeran.

[elisaintime]

Woah, I must have missed something, why are people jumping down your throat?

From what I can gather at this point, it seems like they feel like anyone who likes Anne Rice herself and the books better than the show=automatically racist. Even if they ALSO enjoy the show and support the race change of the characters and all the racial conversation the show incorporated into its adaptation.

Personally, I think it does a disservice to the fandom to assume that the only reason one could like the books over the show is because of racist reasons. Anne's books speak to so many people in so many ways, especially those who have ever felt like outcasts or apart from mainstream society, and many fans have extremely personal connections to the books for a huge variety of reasons.

Like I said in my videos, I was excited and intrigued to see this AU version of the story (I love AUs!) but my complaints with the writing of the episodes mostly came back to when the show was trying to stick TOO MUCH to the books.... Because the show was really making its own thing with its own versions of the characters and all these new ideas, but then suddenly it would shove in a scene/dialogue straight out of the books which would contradict or make no sense with everything else the show had already worked to set up with the new direction it was taking itself.

Critiquing sloppy/weak writing does not mean I or any other fan who feels the same is doing it for racist reasons. Much of my criticism was about how the scripts changed Lestat's character to make him so much worse than he was in the books (which would be fine, it's their story, whatever--except the show runners told us over and over again that the whole reason Louis was doing a second interview was so that this time we could see the real version of Lestat and how Louis felt about him instead of the mean, insulting version he gave in the first interview). There was a lot promised by the showrunners about what their adaptation would be like that was not delivered ("closer to the books than the 1994 movie," "true to the spirit of Anne Rice" etc). The entire reason I made my videos was to evaluate how well the show measured up to those promises.

Worse than making Lestat so irredeemable, the way the first season ended in a way that made so many fans believe that Louis might have been lying about everything didn't sit well with me at all--it's a harmful stereotype to make the black man a liar, especially when it comes to abuse. I know the "the DV didn't actually happen and black Louis was lying or mind controlled by his evil non-white boyfriend" became a running fan theory, but I personally don't believe it one bit. But I can see why so many fans do--again, sloppy/weak writing on the show's part.

Like I said in my video, the only thing Louis actually lied about in ep7 (and he was lying to himself, not deliberately lying to Daniel) was the depth of his love for Lestat at the end. And that's entirely canon for Louis to deceive himself about--admitting how much he truly loves Lestat always came hard for him. I personally don't think it's going to turn out that anything Louis told us in season 1 was a lie. I think the show would have revealed that at the end of the season, not waited another season (or two or three) to reveal that. And the theme of season 2's promotional material has all been about memory, not honesty. I don't think Louis could mistakenly remember getting dropped from a mile in the sky and the months/years of recovery afterward, so I personally think all those memories were real.

The first three episodes of season 1 made Louis's struggle with race its primary focus, and the series description began with how Louis was chafing at society as a black man. But then from episode 4 on, the focus of the show shifted entirely. Obviously racism still existed in Louis's world, but the show pushed it all entirely to the background with little things, like segregation on the bus, and we saw the characters quietly taking in stride, not making any plot out of it. Suddenly all of Louis's character-driving moments weren't about that anymore and we were in a whole new story, when his battle against racism had been the entire theme of the first three episodes. This was something I noticed and pointed out in my videos--I didn't say it was a bad thing (after all, seeing people be racist to Louis on screen, while "realistic," isn't exactly fun for anyone, and we'd already seen plenty), but I did think the sudden dramatic shift in story focus weakened the show's themes and throughline.

Again this comes down to writing, and the premise/script was written by white people. I think they could have done much better with much more non-white involvement on the writing level. I think the show could have been stronger with some more care taken to create consistency and smoother transitions between episodes (like when they take Claudia out to feed in episode 4, suddenly all the race riots are gone, when everything was on fire 2 hours ago). It's common for shows to have each episode written by a different person, even though they all collaborate in a writer's room, but to me it felt like the show lacked efficient script supervision to make sure all the scripts flowed into each other without any contradictions or inconsistency.

When I talked about these things in my videos, when I said I would have liked the show to do better with the way it missed the mark sometimes in handling racial aspects (even though other parts I commended as being great), and the way I critiqued the inconsistencies and contradictions, some people took that to mean I hated the show entirely. The point of my videos was to see how well the show measured up to Rolin Jones's promises that it was so faithful and respectful to the spirit of the books and that all he wanted to do was honor Anne's work. I know the books back and forth, enjoy having a ND hyperfixation that gives me near-encyclopedic knowledge of the texts and Anne as an author. So people ask me questions about them all the time, especially in comparison to the adaptations. Who better to make videos evaluating how well the show measured up to RJ's promises and claims of faithfulness? But some people took me comparing the show to the books to mean I thought it was a bad thing that they weren't the same, and I hated the show entirely for not being the same as Anne wrote it, and therefore that meant I (and anyone else who loves the books) was racist 🤷

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

What makes you know hobie is 18 or above? And not the in the same age range as miles and gwen

Honestly, great question. And the answer is:

I Don't Know Jack Shit. So jot that down.

Additionally, anyone telling you they DO know Jack Shit is a liar. Jot that down too.

[I may go a little Miguel Mode at the end of you know what I mean]

I personally operate under the headcanon that Hobie is over 18.

Why? He says he goes to pubs. You need to be over 18 to do that. The End.

You can headcanon that he has a fake id or simply finds himself in pubs while underage - and that's completely valid. Go ahead. You can headcanon he has a mfing tail. I can't stop you and we haven't seen his ass so maybe he do, who knows.

But my headcanon is just that. And to me - until Hobie's age is clearly displayed and mentioned on screen, then it'll always be a headcanon.

No matter what age you headcanon him as - if you think you KNOW his age, you're probably wrong. And I mean that.

The ATSV describes him as a 'slightly older boy'. Case closed, right? He's a minor then.

Nah, three lines later they say he's MUCH older than Miles....literally contradicting themselves within the same paragraph.

[And the funny thing is - I've seen the artbook used as evidence in the argument multiple times. Even though it literally contradicts itself. And every single time I'm like 'bruh did you even read the full page come on now'.]

Case in point, if you think you KNOW Hobie's age when 1) it's not stated on screen and 2) even the official external material gives conflicting information - you're just wrong. You can't know a theoretical number. And you can't be wrong about a theoretical number.

It's Schrodinger's age.

Example: A character is shown to be in High School. They live in New Jersey where the driving age is 16. If a fanfic writer has the character say "I can't do that, I can't drive yet.", is the fanfic writer canonically wrong? No. Because the character could reasonably be above OR below the driving age, either 14-18. Even if the director mentions the character having a sweet-16 that is never mentioned in the show, it's not screen-canon and the average viewer will not know the character is definitely over 16. Therefore they can reasonable be 15.

"But the director said-"

Don't care. Not weighted canon unless stated on-screen.

Maybe this is a controversial opinion. But if it's not on screen, I can't say it's canon.

Sure, the director may have said in an outside interview that Hobie's conceptually 19-20 -

But a normal person who goes to see the movie, and comes home to write fanfiction isn't going to know what.

They shouldn't have to dig through all conceptual and external content of a specific character in order to be deemed 'acceptable' and knowledgeable enough to write about them.

A person who watches the movie and writes solely based off of what the movie says about Hobie shouldn't be harassed or told they're wrong because they didn't listen to a podcast of a director who's name they don't even know.

There's no pass that says 'Okay you've done enough research about Hobie to write about him, congrats-'

If it's not in the movie, show, book, etc - a fan should not be required to seek out that information to be caught up to speed. External information is supplemental, not a part of the hole.

Also-

If it's not in the movie - It DOESN'T MATTER.

ATSV is a very well written movie. Every line is used for the purpose of telling the story. Especially Hobie's.

They didn't tell us Hobie's age because it didn't matter to the story. And it shouldn't matter to you.

If the writers didn't care enough to take time out to clarify his age, then it makes no sense to spend take arguing about it.

They obviously don't find it important. Because it isn't. It doesn't matter to the story at all.

Hobie's age doesn't matter to the 'love triangle'. Although the film is narrated by Gwen, we largely see it from Miles' point of view. And the 'love triangle' only exists when Mile has no concept of who Hobie is.

Miles doesn't know Hobie. So him questioning a love triangle happens regardless of whether Hobie is an adult or not. Miles doesn't know, neither do we.

The 'Hobie' in the 'love triangle' is an empty-shell of the mystery of who Hobie COULD be. The moment Hobie takes off the mask and we're revealed to the real him - the illusion of who he could've been is shattered for both us and Miles.

Because his age isn't stated, it has no bearing on Miles' perception of him. Miles don't know shit. Neither do we.

Also you people should be fucking grateful GODDAMN WTF

If you deadass beef about this you one ungrateful mfer i swear. Take offense. All offense.

We have a black, attractive, educated, useful, respected character in an animated movie that's available for ANY SHIP with ANY character and what do you people do??? - you argue.

Why? Explain to me why.

You should be happy it's up to interpretation and not definitely stated that you were wrong. At any time the creators could just put it in the next movie and make you look stupid.

You could be out there enjoying any ship of your choosing; with any character you enjoy him with - regardless of age. But no, instead of enjoying the ship that's available to you, you antagonize others.

Sit there and eat your mfing salad you INGRATE

Be grateful we have a character with such free range of shipping. A character that's un-aged and doesn't have a specific gender preference. BE THANKFUL.

You like Gwen x Hobie. Great. You argue with people and harass people who think Hobie's an adult??? - What if Hobie deadass looked in the camera next movie and said "I'm 19 also I'm gay." You'd look dumb as hell.

But they didn't do that. They left it unstated for you to go and enjoy your Hobie x Gwen or Hobie x Miguel or Hobie x whoever the hell.

I'm thankful everyday they didn't say his age because I don't make OCs that go to high school because I'm 24 and hate high school. And guess what, I can do that.

Him and Diane can just hang out on the houseboat all day cause they're grown ass adults with no place to be. Isn't that swell?

Stop playing with me and enjoy the goddamn shipping buffet. Christ almighty

All in all - I don't know shit. You don't know shit. And it's okay to not know shit.

NO UM-AKSCHULLY

Get comfortable with saying "I'm not the authority on this." or better yet "I don't know shit about nothing."

I love him to death, but I am not the authority on Hobie Brown.

For me - I know he said he goes to pubs and I know I wanted to ship him with Diane. Personality wise, Diane is 19. So Hobie is 19.

But I don't know anything about his age. No one does.

I'm just cute and like to share headcanons. Hobie Brown as of right now doesn't have an age. And that's fine. Cause he ain't real.

If you made it this far ummmmmm Here he is. I'm giving you this photo under the condition that you'll act right and enjoy him in a ship of your choosing if you'd like to do that.

Now lets sit here, and eat this ship salad.

[me making sure ur enjoying ur shipping salad]

Bye.

[powertaco]

What are your thoughts on WR development overall and your thoughts on WR being developed/made canon in V10?

Ugh I am going to ramble about everything here I can feel it...well you asked for it. I apologize for none of it, and if you all hate me at the end well I don't mind.

Volume 6 and before are pretty much great. They go from kinda at odds to tentative friends, learning to trust, and rely on each other, best friends, pining over one and other and V6 was a loooot of WR for us to feast on.

Afterward I felt like it got sidetracked. There could be various reasons for this (in hindsight I feel like Penny being given a way bigger role so her death could hit harder is to blame for part of this because realistically how long has Ruby known Penny? A month?)

Even if you don't like the ship they're supposed to be canon best friends so I take personal issue with almost all of volume 9.

I think it was sloppy writing that didn't move the story forward, and even though I don't care about Bees I feel like they still got shafted since they basically were forced to confess to move things along, and them doing so made them miss out on the sister/supposed friend and her problems, and only showcased the worst sides of the relationship.

For example Yang let's Ruby scream at Weiss but only moves to do something when Blake gets yelled at. Blake and Ruby still have...less dialogue than Ruby does with Ren I think etc.

Jaune was too present merely because his entire deal took away from Ruby's imo.

I've said it before but frankly Nora falling and learning who she is away from Ren so when she sees him in V10 she's ready for the relationship is far more satisfying to me narratively.

Leave Jaune above ground so he has to deal with the fact that he thinks he failed his friends and they all died and let him learn from that experience instead.

This also doesn't take into account that Jaune's one interesting change in 9 (being old) is taken away via random deaging (although I guess this makes deaging canon and hey young maria this is how dwr can still win! more at 11!)

Generally when characters go through a volume you want some sort of arc for them to go and change through. Weiss gets none of that. Out of all the characters nothing really happens to her, and she doesn't change at all. She's just sad about Atlas. Neat.

There's no time for it just like there's no real time for Ruby.

In Ruby's own words 'gotta help Jaune right?' and they do. Ruby removes herself from the census, which is how its framed, and they stop to...help Jaune.

There are a few moments that are WR'ish in 9. The Nevermore summon, Weiss believing in Ruby, and calling her name first etc, but overall Weiss's main job is to backslide.

I said it before but in the market Neo, the perfect assassin is after Ruby, and they split up. Weiss goes 'gross nosehairs', and ditches her best friend who she already knows by that point is NOT doing well.

This is not Volume 1. This Weiss is not that petty, and she's literally had to manhandle corpses. The fact that she wouldn't stay near her canonical best friend, and leader is asinine, and only happens so she can be alone to meet the smith.

Even if Weiss can't help Ruby fight Neo she's an extra pair of eyes (and Neo doesn't care how crowded it is in the market), and just being there for Ruby can help.

With all that said RWBY is big into symbolism. When WR are together in almost all the side spin off material it means something. Manga Anthologies has them making heart eyes and flirting like every other page. Ice Queendom was a love letter to WhiteRose (precious?). The movies, etc.

When their weapons rest next to each other on screen like the Bees do? It means something. When their flowers break ranks to be near each other (and Weiss's flower is the lily please note)? This means something.

Ruby can stand and jump from missile to missile but has to wrap her arms around Weiss to stay seated?

If Chibi continues it's pattern of predicting things in the main plot then the fact that Weiss is the woodsman in the fairy tale means a loooot as in several versions of that fairy tale the woodsman marries little red after helping her deal with the wolf problem (which varies by the story).

They're the knight and princess for each other. Ruby comes into Weiss's live turns it upside down, and helps her change. Likes her for her genuinely and wants to be her friend at the start. Through this she changes the world for Weiss, and helps her grow, and Weiss in turn helps Ruby be the leader she can be.

But yeah I guess that's just friends things and they should date some guys they've had like a half a dozen lines with instead? I don't get it really.

She and Oscar punch each other in the face, and they talk about strategy. Oscar has a younger kid crush on her, and Ruby is awkward because that's her headmaster in this kids head. Oh right he went in for a hug she ignored. Peak romance.

Jaune and Weiss have almost no interactions, and when he saves her at Haven her response isn't to be like 'omg i love you' it's 'keep doing it i have work to do'. Are they friends now? Sure, but that's about as far as it goes.

It remains that outside of group hugs the only person that's allowed to initiate contact with Weiss almost all the time outside of battle is Ruby.

Ruby knows when she needs help and will guide her away when she needs it, but other people don't' touch Weiss unless she does it first because they know she doesn't like it...except Ruby.

I have tried to look at other relationships for them, and I honestly don't see them as realistic.

Even Penny would need a lot more development to make it work. I get that it's cute and wholesome but they've known each other for again a month, and Penny just defers to Ruby.

Ruby needs a partner and equal not a submissive enabler. That's a relationship you have with a pet, and not a person.

Now if Maria were young and hot that'd be different...

Anyway...

Ruby and Weiss are partners. If they're allowed to have the much needed conversations they never seem to get, ie haven, ever after, Ruby's mom, everything, etc.

Then is it possible? Maybe. If they do go WR I suspect it'll be more hints, and slow ramp up until the final season.

I would expect it either on the eve of the final battle, or literally during it maybe as in Weiss gets feds up with waiting, and decides to do something about it.

More likely at this point is they'll both just end up single with maybe faint hints so fans can imagine what they want for it.

Would I prefer it if it was WR so the team can truly be family? Yes, but I don't even know if we're getting a volume 10 at all to be honest. The fact that it wasn't announced at the last festival, and we get an extended eppy, and then nothing after the last movie?

Not making me feel super confident. I could be wrong though. On many things. Except Young Maria.

[bluecatwriter]

So I watched a tv movie called Bram Stoker's Van Helsing (2021) that's only about the London Lucy segment of the story and… you know how no one (despite Van Helsing's fear) is seething with jealousy over Lucy? well, it's a love triangle now because they wanted to make it more interesting. Arthur and Jack keep headbutting for dominance and Arthur is so jealous that he's the one who throws the garlic away at night, for Jack to not be the one who becomes the hero in Lucy's eyes.

Putting this on the pile of Dracula stuff that includes Arthur, but completely changes him to "fix how boring he is"... (see also Anno Dracula (allies with Dracula, becomes a serial murderer all because the Newman loathed Arthur in the book), The Athena Club series (allies with a demon to become a fascist ruler), Dracula 2006 (huge rich jerk, invites Dracula to fix his syphilis), Dracula 2020 (loves to publicly humiliate Jack, horrible person)

Every day I learn about a new adaptation in which my boy is massacred... :'( Bless you for watching so I don't have to.

Turning the Suitor Squad into a love triangle (square?) is just lazy writing, period. Ohhh, multiple guys are interested in one girl and they're jealous and fight over her?? HOW ORIGINAL. *eye roll* It's such a cliché that there is NO excuse for using it, and triply so when the source material doesn't have it in the first place! Arthur throwing the garlic away because of some male ego thing makes me want to smash a chair through my dining room window.

It's honestly discouraging how little imagination adapters seem to have. All right, adapter guy, so you think Arthur Holmwood is boring... it's not a completely unreasonable statement. But look— look at the actual source material and see what's buried there! Just off the top of my head...

-Being someone who cries so openly and on so many different people is a huge character trait. Show how he's defying Victorian masculine norms by freely expressing emotion (or how he's conforming to the stereotype of Sighing Lover) and do something with that.

-What kind of person travels literally all the way around the world, having tons of wild and wacky adventures, and yet never tells any stories about it? What is his motivation for not trying to impress his girlfriend with tales of running from wolves or crashing a ship in Polynesia? What does this say about the way he experiences life?

-The story is ripe with little hints about how incredibly close he is to both Quincey and Jack. If adapters weren't so homophobic, they could explore all sorts of possibilities there.

-He likes dogs! That's a whole character trait!

-All right, adapter doesn't want to engage with any of that and is set on making him evil? Okay, then, make him evil in a way that fits the source material. Once again, making him jealous of other men or a philandering spoiled lordling are super-cliché. How about thinking about what could make him actually go off the rails? Is he haunted by how obedient he was in killing Lucy, even when he didn't know exactly what was going on? Does he carry a grudge against Van Helsing for making him into a killer? Do we take the text at face value that when he set his mind to it, he was ruthlessly effective in ending Lucy's undead life— does he get addicted to that feeling, does he get righteously caught up in vampire hunting (or just murder) because he can't bear the thought that he could've been wrong?

People making adaptations don't have to follow canon, of course, but it seems reasonable for the decisions to be rooted in canon, for readers/viewers to be able to draw a line from point A to point B. At the very least, there's no excuse to fall back on tiresome tropes.

Thanks for giving me the chance to rant about this. :D

[pesky--dust]

Ever since I read an interview where Fuller was upset because a movie wasn’t faithful to the original source material I think no wonder he keeps trying to add in stuff from other Hannibal books and sprinkling Clarice everywhere. It’s disappointing because I think the show is at its best when it’s doing something different and letting its characters stand on their own. Some lines he kept in didn’t even make sense like the Red Dragon thinking Will wasn’t handsome because he’s not in the book but he most definitely is in the tv show.

To be honest, I don't feel "objective" enough on this topic, because my first contact with Lecter's universe was Silence of the Lambs when I was a teenager. Then, in the mood for some crime-psychological series, I decided to give NBC's Hannibal a try. I started reading the books at the very end, so I think that watching the movie and series before the source material changes my perception of it, which is quite common when it comes to adaptations.

When it comes to me though, until recently I believed that the best adaptations were films/series that were fully faithful to the source material. It's only recently that I've started to learn what adaptation actually means and that no, not always being fully faithful to the source material is good.

I understand that Clarice's absence may be disappointing, but in case of Hannibal, I usually try to separate the book and TV series canon. And if I'm honest, while reading the books, I enjoyed recognizing parts I already knew from the series and movies. It gave me a new context of all of that.

Learning that Will mixes with Clarice in the series happened quite quickly after I finished watching the series, so I took it as quite natural that the lines about Clarice in the book/films were used for Will and I think it's good, since he took the role of Hannibal "lover". Changing the context of the conversation about "imago"? This is a moment in Mizumono that still gets me every single time.

However, it makes me chuckle a little bit, when I see how often fans of the series think that the producers came with the most beautiful lines about love, when most of the iconic words from the series (like: "If I saw you everyday forever, I would remember this time", "feel stab of hunger and find nourishment at the very sight of...", etc.), actually come from the books.

I got kinda sad though, when I realised how many of Doctor Bloom's lines the show assigned to Hannibal to make him seem even more amazing and "superhuman", because I feel like it strippes Doctor Bloom of their (in books it's a male, in the series it's a woman, so their) inteligence, making Doctor Bloom mainly a love interest for two seasons.

I know the show's creators didn't get the rights to Clarice, but at the same time, they poured a lot of her into the character of Miriam Lass and sometimes you may wonder why they didn't replace Clarice entirely with her. Does this have to do something with rights as well?

The changes introduced by the series with the usage of the source material fascinate me and I guess that I like most of them.

I have to admit though that the third season really neglects Francis Dolarhyde and I only understood what was actually happening in season 3B after reading the book.

But I disagree that Francis' comment about Will's appearance doesn't fit here! It is known that both in the book and in the adaptations Francis has very low self-esteem. If I remember correctly, in the book he aims the knife at Will's eye but hits him in the face instead, the same in the series. He may comment that Will is ugly, but still, he aimed at his face, as if in jealousy that Will "sees" him but hasn't experienced what he has.

[thewiz9062]

Smiling Critters AU No.2: Kickin Chicken and Bubba Bubbaphant

NOTE: THIS IS NOT RELATED TO CANON IN THE SLIGHTEST. An accurate description of this au is that I took every playtime.co poster art and promotional material from the game and lit up the rest of canon in a bonfire. This means that EVERY character is part of one big cartoon. That's it. No bigger bodies project, no child souls, no experiments, just a depiction of a cartoon. PLEASE do not ask me to do anything suggestive with anyone.

OK so these I'm making these two come as a pair because they were already friends pre-dogday

Lemme tell you how:

Kickin chicken used to be a dork. During his younger years, he did display this. But people thought he was, yk, weird. He started to become a victim of bullying due to his behavior. So over the years he decided to try and "fit in" with the other kids to be 'cool'. Eventually it started to become his default setting.

Anyways so enter Bubba.

You know how popular kids always go for the smart ones for work and stuff? Yeah, Bubba wasn't taking that treatment from anyone. If you wanted help, you had to know him, which a lot of kids didn't want to cause of the 'nerd' stereotype. So he was fairly unpopular due to his refusal to be walked upon, making him a target of bullying (that failed spectacularly lmao it was all verbal which was easily ignored and who wants to get physical with an elephant??)

So kickin decided to give it a try to continue his whole "fitting in" thing, and instead of Bubba ignoring his wannabe bullies like he usually does, he actually listens to him. By listening, I mean blank stare at kickin as he fails to create insults. This action led to Bubba observing his actions for a few days, and discovering his whole 'cool' thing was an act and confronted him about it. They realized they had quite alot in common too. So they became friends.

Anyways, Enter Dogday (2, the electric boogaloo)

So somewhere around a week after dogday befriended Crafty, he took his attention to the two people who were always arguing. Well, looked like they were always arguing. But digday could see through it. It turns out their "arguments" are a way of filtering friends due to their experiences with their peers. Dogday is somehow the only one who pieced 2 and 2 together, or maybe others have but don't say anything about it.

Dogday asks them to meet in the art room on certain days after school and boom 4 outta 8

OK I'll admit this one's a bit messy and will definitely be getting a revise later on but later is later and I crave art

Additional notes:

Adhd and autism duo we love them

The timeskip between them becoming friends and meeting dogday is abt 2 yrs? so abt when they were 9

The whole argument thing is so funny to me like imagine they look like their gonna kill each other at lunch but when you go out on Saturday their studying at a Cafe peacefully and ur just like 🧐🧐🧐

OK next is Hoppy see ya later!!!

[everythingwasnormalhere]

actually I've been thinking about it and kenny is so disability-coded???

like, even without my chronic pain headcanon, if we only take the canon material, he's incredibly disability-coded and im not sure why nobody's mentioned it before

Ok so, first thing first, south park isn't exactly known out of its community for having the best rep of... anything, actually, but anyone who's watched the show knows it has some of the best disability representation of any piece of media. Jimmy and Timmy, neither of their characters revolve around being disabled - they don't even make much fun of it! (It's south park, they have to make fun of everything). Their characters are complex, not because they're disabled, but because the writers didn't want to make them revolve around that. And if you don't believe me, please just watch the fucking show or at least their episodes (this is however not about them so I won't say much more about them, there's some pretty cool posts on this site that talk about this in more detail if you wanna read more though)

Now, onto Kenny: Kenny is a pretty cool guy. Fandom favorite, well-known even by people who don't watch south park. And besides how he's incredibly cute (like, c'mon, you heard his little "woohoo!"?), the reason why he's so famous is simple: He dies in every episode.

(well, not every ep in the latest seasons, but at the beginning he did and that's enough for me)

You might be thinking, "hey Loki, that's cool, but I have no fucking idea where this is going". And I'll tell you: his constant deaths actively avoid him doing stuff. Dying makes him spend less time with his friends, he can't take part in their shenanigans, he's generally unable to do things due to dying 24/7. Like, hell, he spent a whole season not hanging out with the guys because he was too dead for that! His friends substituted him, and he's still less-there since that happened.

This means: the impairment 'has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'

(because he can't carry out normal day-to-day activities when he's, you know, fucking deceased)

Also, as Kenny himself says, "'Pretty cool'? Do you know how it feels like to be stabbed, to be shot, decapitated, torn apart, burned, run over? It's not 'pretty cool' Kyle! It fucking hurts!". His deaths cause him actual, physical pain. And guess what's a disability criteria?

You guessed: they have a 'physical or mental impairment'

(it "fucking hurts", I think that's physically impairing enough)

Also, his deaths have slowed down for the last few seasons, sure, but they still happen. And this is important, because they'll probably keep happening for the rest of his life - and if not, they've already lasted long enough anyway:

A 'substantial adverse effect' means more than just a minor impact on someone's life or how they can do certain things. This may fluctuate or change and may not happen all the time.'Long-term' means either:it will affect them or is likely to affect them for at least 12 months it's likely to last for the rest of their life It can still be considered long-term if the effects come and go. For example, a fluctuating condition might affect someone for a few months at a time with other times when they're not affected.

So, yeah. Kenny, canonical Kenneth McCormick, legally qualifies as disabled. But what makes him such good rep? He's still a well-loved character, not only in spite of his disability (yes, I'm calling his deaths a disability, sue me), but also because of it. Kenny is a pretty cool guy, he's cute, he's silly, he's a goddamn perv but really respectful about it too, and he dies in every episode which is actually hilarious. And about the perv part - fuck yeah, disabled character who not only isn't asexual, but is canonically the first in his friend group to do (consensual) sexual things! He's also canonically pretty desirable, he's the 7th in the List after all (and he's not just there for the girls' benefit like Clyde, Kenny is poor asf which means they genuinely find him desirable, and probably could've ended in the top 5 had it not been rigged). He's such a cool guy, and he's also disabled, and we love him for it.

Not to talk about Mysterion & PK, whose literal powers are the things that disable Typical Kenny - which, yeah, it's a bit of inspiration porn, but it's also a huge "fuck you" to god on Kenny's side. And it's not like "hey, I rose over my disability!", the moment in which Kenny talks (complains) most about it is actually when he's playing Mysterion - or it is in the show, at least. He was given bullshit, and yet he used it on his own benefit, but that didn't make the struggle disappear in his usual life - he's still disabled, no matter how much he uses it in his own favor. And we all love him for that.

I think he's actually awesome disability rep, mostly because he's accidental representation, and yet can (and in my opinion should) be read that way. Kenny McCormick is a beloved character everywhere, and he's also canonically disabled, and I love him for it.

[bigskydreaming]

#i know youre mostly a Dick guy but your tim. chefs kiss.#i dont even go here anymore and i had to rb @mollyhats

The great tragedy of Tim for me is I actually love 90s Tim and his dynamic with his YJ team and with Dick and many others. Its only post Final Crisis Tim that I don't really have much interest in, in terms of comic book canon, and I don't find anything really compelling about most depictions I see of Tim in fandom. Like I just mean, the vast majority of people don't seem to view Tim the way I do, or emphasize the same aspects of him, and Tim in and of himself isn't enough of a fave that I feel compelled to yell and expound upon my takes on him in spite of that. The way I do with Dick or even Jason when I have vastly different takes on them than other people seem to.

And I admit there definitely is an element of....annoyance, at play - like even though (as you know) I vehemently disagree with presumptions that Dick was an ass to Jason when they were younger, with that being a big part of the basis for why so many Jason stans hate him, I get that there wasn't a ton of material written about Dick and Jason when they were younger, showing a strong relationship that's to the contrary of how the fanon usually characterizes them at that time.

The difference with Tim, and how so much of his fandom seems to view Dick and their dynamic and history.....is that there's well over a decade's worth of material showing Dick constantly dropping everything to prioritize Tim when the latter needed him, no questions asked, and this STILL wasn't enough to keep fandom from characterizing Dick as this terrible, selfish, ungrateful brother who doesn't deserve Tim as of the first instant Dick DIDN'T default to prioritizing Tim above all others. And not even because he didn't want to, but because he had other people who needed him too, with conflicting needs/wants, and no one person can be all things to JUST one other person 24/7. Sometimes other people have to get to come first too. Sharing is caring, lmfao.

But yeah, the way Dick so often gets thrown under the fandom/fanfic bus in the name of propping up Tim, specifically in the form of being characterized as a shitty brother who never cared about Tim or EVER put him first, when there's like......dozens upon dozens of comics characterizing them to the contrary of that.....it grates, in a way that makes me just not want to engage all that much.

So all of that plays into why I'm generally....aloof about Tim other than posts or meta meant as course correction for stuff where fanon has completely overtaken canon and misrepresented huge elements of Dick and Tim's history, like with the Red Robin era. And why I'm not particularly driven to write about him in specific, in fic or meta. But when I do, especially when depicting him in fic or writing snippets, I don't find it hard to write him favorably, because I DO genuinely like him at a lot of points in the comics. Its just *waves hand* a lot of fandom bullshit that gets in the way.

Its not like we're not all aware that sometimes stans of characters can be their faves' own worst enemies. And I say that with full self-awareness and recognition that my own intensity or takes about Dick Grayson have most likely been as off-putting to some fans of other characters as I find them to be, lmao. Round and round and round we go.

But anyway.....my preferred takes on Tim, or default mental view of him, is as a chaotic, irreverent little shit whose sense of humor and tendencies to stir things up are not at all dissimilar to most of his siblings.....he's just more deadpan about it. Which is something many of the others play up at times too, but with them its just one of many angles from which they approach their own respective senses of humor, whereas Tim I see as someone who prides himself on never 'breaking' and keeping up appearances of stern or quiet or detached professionalism even while he's cackling about something on the inside. I see him as a big fan of plausible deniability, but not in any way actually humorless or anything like that.

[tixdixl]

I gotta know more about Kingsley

Anything that might not have been talked about thru asks or general lore you wanna let folks know?

I don't think I've ever properly talked about him, his lore, and his motivations openly here. So strap in; this is gonna be a doozy.

And for y'all's sakes... I'll limit this to only containing lore from during his time at NRC. I can share post-NRC stuff another time.

Kingsley is a Horned King expy from the Chronciles of Prydain (the source material from which Disney's the Black Cauldron was made). As a result, many of his physical attributes, his personality, his story, and his relationships twist from the book series beyond the Disney film. There are very clear influences from the film as well, but I felt it would be far more striking and interesting if he drew from the original source material moreso than the film.

Kingsley is the crown prince of a fan-made location known as the Isle of Cantrevs - twisted from the Cantrevs in the Chronicles of Prydain. Due to his issues with anger management, his views on authority, and other additional traits, his parents - despite raising him to BE this way and culturally raising him to have certain beliefs - were unsatisfied and didn't approve of him as their son, let alone as the rightful heir to the throne. They opted to use sending him to NRC as a chance for him to prove himself, while also using it as an opportunity for them to literally get him off their hands. Naturally, he accepts the deal, but Kingsley feels the weight of the pressure to become the man his father wants him to be.

As he starts freshman year, he is sorted into Diasomnia, not SavannaClaw. Despite the aggressive and intimidating way he holds himself, he does maintain a militant, commanding presence and a subtle, noble aura. He is sorted into Diasomnia because of both who he will grow to become, and also because nobility and magical prowess are his most prominent attribute. And yet, to most, this shocks them. Because those who do not know how Kingsley is beyond his aggression assume he is best suited in SavannaClaw.

What's worse, the political tension and the personality clashing with the other canon characters of Diasomnia leads to many many conflicts, near death duels, and the immediate social isolation of one Kingsley Tyr. Because why did this human who prefers to fight with his fists and axes over his magic get sorted into Diasomnia? He doesn't belong here. We don't want him here.

In truth, despite how long it takes him to develop his UM, Kingsley is an incredibly strong mage, both physically and in the arcane. But he tries not to show off all of his cards. He tries to keep his secrets hidden in hopes to retain an upper hand.

He is diligent and vigilant, reserved unless he chooses to strike or intimidate or initiate. He keeps largely to himself, only choosing to create allyships when he knows its mutually beneficial, but does not hold himself like a normal student. He doesnt start out having friends. Instead, he dedicates all of his free time to trying to find the location of the Black Cauldron, or if not, the method of which it was created in order to obtain either the original or to create a new one. Because perhaps if he were to raise an army of the undead, his father would be impressed and acknowledge him for his skills and assets.

But in his isolation, blot and darkness are stewing. Truthfully, he should have Overblotted. Then why did he not?

Jack Howl. A few months into schooling, Jack decides he wants to see if the rumors are true, that there is nothing else besides lethal rage behind those skull hidden eyes. And what Jack finds instead is a young man hiding his numbness. His loneliness. He finds a young man who has never experienced a friendship and doesnt know how to connect with people beyond political allegiance. He meets a dedicated student, a young man built with an unwaverable loyalty, an a cunning strategist who is far from perfect, especially in his social skills. He sees a flicker of hope. A flicker of humor. A three dimensional human being. And from that flicker of life in Kingsley's eyes, Jack decides he's gonna see to it that Kingsley proves them all wrong. So Jack keeps hanging around him, until eventually Kingsley concedes and slowly begins to open up. And from that, he makes his first friend. You can read their first interaction here.

He often finds reprieve in SavannaClaw after this. He fights to earn his welcome and catches Leona's eye. Leona sees something akin in him and tolerates his presence in his dorm, so long as Kingsley doesnt become a problem. And when he starts to do so, their talk happens (which you can read here). But Kingsley TAKES the instruction, and ends up inadvertently proving both Leona and Jack right about what else is hidden behind the skull.

From there, we see allyships and friendships built between @thehollowwriter 's Finn, @ramshacklerumble 's Gia (who becomes his partner in crime and eventual QPP), and @cyanide-latte 's Copper (who becomes one of his most cherished and valued brothers).

We also see a game between hunters, as Kingsley and Rook wordlessly initiate a game between the two of them, which can be seen in a vignette here. The first one to land a lethal hit wins. And it's entirely on sight, regardless of the circumstances. Yet... after enough time passes, rumors begin to spread that they both are intentionally missing. Who is to say? But what we do know, flash forward, is that the King Takes Rook, and right before the graduation ceremony during Rook's senior year, Kingsley catches him off guard for ONCE, and calls checkmate with an axe blade to Rook's throat. Despite the two of them almost never talk, they end up maintaining their connection with one another, and Rook remains an invaluable presence in Kingsley's life - one who will guide him in his years post-NRC.

We also see a profound rivalry between Sebek and Kingsley. Sebek cannot understand for the life of him WHY Kingsley is allowed to grace the same steps and dorm as one Malleus Draconia. This human disgraces everything that they stand for, and has done nothing but cause problems for Malleus - who for the record doesnt give a fuck about Kingsley in any capacity. You can see one instance of them fighting here. And we will touch more on this later, but keep it in mind.

There isn't a lot that has been thoroughly hammered out in terms of specific details. But dynamics have been considered and there are specific key moments that have been fleshed out.

There are a few things I have hammered out, like his direct involvement in Book 4, as well as one instance of dream walking that Silver experiences- which can be read here. Otherwise, there are a ton of empty gaps.

During sophomore year, while predominantly nebulous at this point, is where I imagine a big turning point happens, where we really see him growing. He starts to question his dynamic with his parents. He starts to question their expectations of him, and whether or not their vision of their political dynamics and rulership is beneficial both for their foriegn affairs, and for their country. But moreover, he begins to question if he even wants to take the throne after his father. He questions if thats a life he really wants to have. In social isolation. Under immense stress. Is he even cut out to be king? Is he a fit worth selecting?

I do also Headcanon that he becomes Housewarden after Malleus heads off for his internship - you know... making bold assumptions here since Book 7 isnt finished. But I imagine he is challenged regularly, and wins- often without use of magic.

Just as he is beginning to sort out his feelings, his parents summon him in the summer between sophomore and junior year for what I refer to as the "Cantrevs Event". He has been summoned to clean up his parents mess and find a magical artifact that was stolen from them while they are busy dealing with conflicts between the Cantrevs and Briar Valley. He is asked to select a team of qualified assitants to come to the Cantrevs and retrieve the artifact, and prove that he actually has what it takes to be a leader. He chooses his friends and mutual acquaintances who have specific skill sets in order to help him on their quest. During this time, his UM awakens, and he really starts to realize his true potential. This is something I hope to write out as a long form fic one day.

In junior year, he finally earns Sebek's respect. And when Kingsley clocks the change in Sebek's demeanor toward him, he does actually offer Sebek the opportunity at becoming Vice-Housewarden. This is no small gesture, and it significantly changes their dynamic moving forward. This can be read here.

Beyond this, again, things are still really nebulous and I haven't fleshed them out. I also haven't fully figured out where exactly he interns at for his senior year, but Im excited at the prospect at exploring these things. And furthermore, all the empty space for me feels like opportunities to explore other things and to explore OC to OC interactions, where other folks may be interested.

If you've stuck around this far, thank you so so much for reading!!

----

Tag list: @ramshacklerumble @rainesol @elenauaurs @inmateofthemind @thehollowwriter

@cyanide-latte @blithesharem @theleechyskrunkly @starry-night-rose @boopshoops