#I remember Nothing about that reboot or much of anything about that fanfiction but I HAVE to find it I HAVE to know if it still exists

[iwoulddieforienzo]

Don’t you hate it when you randomly remember a fanfiction you read ages ago and are abruptly overtaken with the need to find it again. Agony.

[benzjr]

The 2024 reboot no one was expecting...

Those of you who have been around for a while might just remember back when I did fanfiction, and if you do, you might remember the story of my Supernoobs OC Josh Carter, the aspiring social butterfly, future superstar and reluctant superhero whose life was getting way more complicated these days...

Back towards the end of 2019, I was really starting to lose steam with him; the inspiration I had for him was really starting to wane, especially given the fandom seemed to peter out and my previous partner-in-angst-crime Pumpkin (@whynotzoidbergdotorg) moved on to other creations. I've definitely missed creating fandom work over the past few years, but between not really finding anything to grab my attention in the same way and a series of setbacks in my life (not to mention the grind of growing my YouTube channel), things just happened to fall by the wayside.

But it seems I wasn't posting into the void after all! Josh and his story left a huge impact on the small but surprisingly resilient Supernoobs fandom, and over the past few months I've been pulled back in, thanks especially to @ghostlyapivorous' @superastral-official and @jaspydunks' @noobs-rewritten. So much so, that I've been re-motivated to return and at least continue (I don't think I should be presumptuous and suggest "finish") Josh's story. In addition to a few unreleased chapters from the original run, I've been working on continuing the story, and I've almost gotten to the end of Dancefest, where we originally left off.

We'll be picking up from there soon, but it didn't seem fully right to go back to using the old 2016 designs of our main cast — my artistic workflow has completely changed since then. So, it was time to give them all a glow-up. The primary goal was mainly to get them looking closer to the show's style, though I've also taken the opportunity to resolve a few longstanding annoyances with some of the characters and change some things up. Despite not being part of the main cast, I also decided to do an image for Zoey, given she's a pretty recurrent character in the series. Just like the first time around, expect to see new art of these kids in the future (though I don't think I'll spin up @joshcartersblog again).

Look out for the continuation of Josh's story very soon, but in the meantime, catch up on how Josh got here:

A Future Super-Something, the first story: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Perfect Disasters, the second story: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Over and Out, the third story: 1 & 2 3 4 5

Diamonds on the Rebound, the fourth story

Reminiscence, the fifth story

A Hero’s Prelude, the sixth story: 1 2 3

Dancefest, the seventh story (so far)

Text versions of everyone's descriptions under the cut.

Josh Carter

Josh Carter has only one goal in mind: becoming one of the popular kids. Enamored with fame and starry-eyed about celebrity, he's chasing the top of the Cornbury Middle School food chain with the help of his friends. Clever, ambitious, and seemingly carefree, he'll stop at nothing in his quest to rise to the top without losing himself, while making plenty of buzz along the way.

…But will something bigger and more destructive than the current popular clique or a mortifying social mishap stop him in his tracks?

Dreams of a social media-perfect lifestyle

Friends with Jock Jockerson despite not being a jock

His "walk-in closet" is practically a department store for one

The Yellow Superdude

As elusive as he is mysterious, the Yellow Superdude is the newest addition to Cornbury's local team of intergalactic virus warriors. But he doesn't seem too happy about having the opportunity of a lifetime; honestly, it seems like he doesn't get along with the other four at all. With the heroes already building local recognition and facing even bigger battles, can he ever become the hero the Earth needs — and does he even want to?

Alias: ???

Powers: Energy blasts, stretchy body, shapeshifting, possibly more if he ever actually went to training

Always has messy hair for some reason

Simon Parker

Josh's best friend since forever, Simon is the realist of the group. As much an inventive strategist as an easygoing wingman, Simon's a true ride-or-die in Josh's popularity adventures, turbocharging their social game while keeping his starstruck bro down-to-earth. They've been there for each other even in their lowest moments, including Simon's brutally public one last year. It's a trust that makes Simon unafraid to be honest with Josh. But despite all this, is Josh keeping a super-sized secret from him?

Enjoys the outdoors with his parents

Still recovering from a 7th-grade incident where he was dubbed "The Whale"

Maintains countless inside jokes and references with Josh

Rebecca Hewitt

Rebecca is a punchy wildcard who's garnered her own notoriety. Since stumbling into Josh's high-flying life in sixth grade, she's been looking to find herself somewhere in the many aesthetics Josh's influencer adventures bring into her world. Rough around the edges but fun at heart, she's not one to mess with, but worth having in your corner.

Recovering horse girl

Still throwing out Mini-Horse Friendship Force merchandise

Best dodgeball player in the class

Zoey Miller

Zoey is the intrepid reporter behind The Cornbury Hound Dog, Cornbury Middle School's unofficial school news blog. Zoey can be eager and persistent to a fault, the perfect attitude for hunting the next big story. She keeps up on all the gossip around the halls — especially Josh's ambitious search for teenage stardom. Totally not because she has a crush on him or anything…

An ace at alliteration

Has a venerable collection of visor hats

Elaborately daydreams of meet-cutes with Josh

[miss-goblin-tries-writing]

I watched Tokyo Mew Mew years back, and became obsessed with the idea of Kisshu/Ichigo. With the reboot, I've started getting back into it, even reading manga I didn't know had been published, so I've decided to have a bash at writing fanfiction. (This is all have so far).

___________________________________________________________

It was a kick in the gut - metaphorically speaking - when Ichigo woke alone on the grass to the sunset and no Aoyama-kun. It took her a second of staring at the sky to get her bearings. She had to remember where she was and what was happening; the date with Aoyama-kun, the Red Data Animals Exhibit, and then the earthquake. The earthquake and then nothing - she must have fainted? But where was Aoyama-kun?

Ichigo eased herself into sitting up, wincing at her stiff muscles protesting. It was sunset - how long had she been unconscious? Hours - it was sunset now, and the afternoon had barely begun when they'd left the exhibit. Had Aoyama-Kun gone to use the bathroom? He hasn't left her in the park alone, right? He hadn't, right?

Minutes passed, and Ichigo began to get anxious. Aoyama-Kun was kind and considerate; he was a gentleman and far too gallant to leave an unconscious girl alone in the park. Especially not a girl knocked out because of an earthquake; he wouldn't have just left her.

Ichigo tucked her knees to her chest, shivering in the evening chill. Aoyama-Kun wouldn't, he wouldn't just -

Except… There was no sign of him. There was no sign to say he would return and none to say he'd ever been there recently. There was no jacket, no drink or anything at all. Even the ice cream cone he'd purchased was gone, leaving hers on the grass in a melted puddle of strawberry. The red-haired girl buried her head in her arms, sorrowful and hurt. How could he have left her here? Left her unconscious in a public park where anything could have happened to her?

"That… That… Bastard!" Ichigo wailed, sobbing into her arms, her small frame shaking. Ichigo thought their date had gone well; granted, she'd felt a little foolish as he'd given her so much information about nearly every animal in the exhibit. He was so intelligent, and in comparison, she felt so small. Did he think so too? Ichigo admired his intelligence; it was one of his best qualities next to the gentleness of his character. But what was clever or gentle about leaving her here like this? There were far better ways to break up with someone!

"Well, well… Such a big bad word for such a small thing." Ichigo's head snapped up at the sound of the new voice.

[galactichoneybee92]

Thoughts on BakuDeku

I’ve been lurking in the MHA fandom for a while now, just kind of silently watching, and I have a few observations that I would like to make. Just perspectives that I would like to put out into the universe. I am on the older side of this website, much less this fandom and so I am no stranger to fandom culture. And when I say old? I mean like I was an active participant on ff.net circa 2005 so like, I’m sure some of you are older but I’m getting up there. My point? I’ve seen things.

As far as fandoms go in general, the MHA is far from the most toxic that I’ve seen but there does seem to be a few points of contention and per usual it comes back to shipping. This is nothing new but lets speak a little on BakuDeku as a ship. I warn you now, it’s not always going to be things you want to hear, but I encourage you to read to the end anyway. 

Horikoshi has fully admitted to having been a huge Naruto fan and it’s pretty easy to see the influence in his work. On that note, it’s pretty safe to say that the Midoriya/Bakugo relationship can be compared to the Naruto/Sasuke relationship. You can see other parallels (All Might = Iruka, Aizawa =  Kakashi, etc...) but for the sake of argument let’s focus solely on Midoriya/Bakugo. Personally, I tend to prefer MHA to Naruto overall, as I just like the characters better and as such I like Bakugo a lot more than Sasuke. Horikoshi has taken more time to humanize Bakugo, and while he started off being a total dick, he’s also a dumb fuck teenage boy and he’s had a lot of character growth over the last 29 volumes. 

In the Naruto fandom, much like in the MHA fandom, there were loads of fans who shipped Naruto and Sasuke romantically. If we are judging the probability of Midoriya and Bakugo becoming a cannon couple, it stands to reason that we can examine the author’s influences and infer that, no, they probably won’t. For one thing, homosexuality is still considered a controversial topic in Japan like in America, and even if the author wanted to make it romantic he would probably receive a good amount of push-back from publishers. 

Now I don’t want you to read this and think that I am at all against it. I’m not. And forever ago when I was reading Naruto I occasionally wondered what would happen if an author published a Shounen manga, got millions invested, and then SURPRISE it was a M/M romance all along. I think it would be fun but I can’t say that I am realistically convinced that it will happen. But that isn’t really the point of this post.

My point, is that this fandom, like many others (And this website in general???) needs to learn the difference between actual queer baiting and a ship that just...doesn’t happen? And I’ve seen all the arguments, about how they clearly love each other and how their bond is so deep and how if either of the characters had this kind of relationship with a female character it would ABSOLUTELY be romantic. And I hear your points, but if I may provide a few of my own: 

1. There are many different ways to love in the world and they don’t all have to involve romance and kissing and sex. Do you love your family? Do you have friends that you would die for? These are relationships that people have and their just as valid in fiction as in real life.

2. Yes, if they were opposite genders than it probably would be the central romance of the mange, but that isn’t proof of queer baiting so much as a general failure to accurately represent opposite gender friendships in media. There should be male and female friendships that are just as strong while remaining platonic so this is a failure but not the failure you thing it is.  (If anyone likes Kdramas, Suspicious Partner is an excellent one that has not only a great romantic subplot but also some WONDERFUL platonic M/F friendships and it’s just beautiful) (That being said I also recommend the Taiwanese drama HIStory 3: Trapped for a wonderful M/M romance since if you’re reading this post that’s probably something you’re into) 

I think that a lot of the problems come from the fact that good romantic relationships do build similarly to friendships. You get a lot of bonding moments, the characters getting to know each other better and coming to care for one another and since media tends to focus predominantly on romantic relationships it’s easy to just get into the mindset that like, all bonding moments are leading somewhere. And in a way they are: to friendship. And then sometimes that friendship leads to romance and sometimes it doesn’t but what I’m saying is that the two look very similar. You SHOULD be friends with your romantic partner, and I think that that is why it’s so easy to ship these sort of couples. Especially when they do have an especially deep bond like these two have.

As far as BakuDeku as a couple in general, yeah, I ship it. I’ve read my fair share of fanfiction and if it did happen I would be psyched. I didn’t always like Bakugo (He’s just doing THE MOST at all times) but I grew to love him and if he continues to grow in the direction that he has been I wouldn’t personally have any problems with it. They have an interesting dynamic that incorporates some of my favorite tropes and I think it would be cool if the manga went there. But if they don’t? That’s also fine. 

There have been several ACTUAL examples of queer baiting in media that I can point to such as the Japanese ads for Sherlock (I didn’t necessarily find the show itself to be queerbaiting but the Japanese ads for the new seasons hardcore did) and while I tried hard to defend Supernatural (WAY too much of the fandom shipped actual brothers together for me to believe that they understood the value of any sort of platonic relationship) they kind of blew that out of the water with whatever the fuck happened in that last season. 

I don’t see that happening here and while I know a lot of you are set for your ship to become cannon I just want you to maybe manage your expectations. Because in my experience, when it gets built up this big, if it DOESN’T happen the next thing fans do is start ranting about queer-baiting and insulting the series and the team and I don’t want to see that because it isn’t fair to any of them. I’ve seen it happen in other fandoms and it gets real ugly real fast. 

Alternatively, if anyone has watched the reboot of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power you will know that the creators played their cards super close to their chest, doing their best to properly develop the homosexual relationships they wanted while keeping it subtle enough that they could prevent themselves from being cancelled before the last season aired. Then they went all in and made their homosexual ships cannon in the final season because at that point the whole show was out wtf was going to happen? They’d get cancelled? It was already over. So if you would like a serving of hope to cling to, that is a thing that happened. I just wouldn’t necessarily bet on it. 

That being said, I fully support your right to ship anything you want. And if by some chance it does become cannon? More power to you. I’d be psyched. Horikoshis assistants ship the hell out of it and he clearly doesn’t mind so there is a point in your favor. But if it doesn’t? A lack of romance doesn’t invalidate the depth of their feelings for one another. Platonic love is still love and it’s still a powerful driving force in the story. Their relationship is still compelling even if there isn’t ever a kiss, or a confession. And hey, that’s what fanfiction is for. 

Remember kids: Please ship responsibly. 

[peachywander]

All asks

Holy shit, this will be so much fun B-) *cracks knuckles*

Ask me: FANDOM EDITION

A - Your current OTP

Uhhh pff,,, skeleton dance I think?? I mean sure, skelley dance is always my current OTP, ngl. They're basically made for eachother, hell, even craig himself wore tshirts and stuff with wander hugging hater ifthisisn'tcannonthenidkwhatitis

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

To be honest,, wander x beza. I used to dislike every wander x girl ship bcs I see him as gae and nothing else. But I have a friend who does lots of art with them so I think it grew on me more and more with time?? Now I think they would look cute together, even if i'm still not super big on it.

C - A pairing you have never liked and probably never will

Wnder x domi. No comment, I despise it with all my heart 😂😂 Like I said earlier, I don't like most of wander x girl ships, and domi really hates wander. Sooo this ship simply doesn't make sense to me,, lmfao.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t

I think Twi x Flash from mlp. Yeah, I thought twi was cute when crushing on him in the 1st EG movie but they don't seem to have that chemistry I was hoping for. Plus I haven't seen any recent episodes of mlp in a long time, though I heard ppl say that he was mean to her once, if I remember well? Anyways, doesn't work so much for me.

E - Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what

Besides memes/ shitposts, not really. Check @gunxball if you want to see posts of mine back when I was into gumball 2 yrs ago (golly i miss those times)

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom

Probably su (2016-2019) or kid vs kat (2011-2014)

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it

Why yes, of course I do. cosmo x wanda from fop. They were so adorbs together esp in the first 2 seasons. Don't like how they got so flanderized with time, their dynamic was absolutely destroyed, and my day was ruined when I found out.

H - Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series

I don't watch either lolol

But I think anime.

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why

Dislike the fandom, not the show itself? Probably hzbin hotel. The show has a pretty neat concept and animation and it had such a big impact on my artstyle when I first watched it. But the fandom? Absolute hell. (pun intended)

From shipping wars, to pestering vivz, anything is possible. Glad I haven't actually interacted with that part of the fandom.

J - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr

Not a show but among us. Back in september/october last year, my tl was FILLED with among us, up and down. Made me a lil tired of it but once I tried playing that game, I couldn't stop. Also the owlhouse, fell in love with the artstyle and story.

K - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom

I don't have a current fandom. Not feeling in the mood + school + inactivity bcs of school. So I'll say abt my latest fandom, which was animaney. Well, people were really nice, and they seemed to enjoy the reboot. Nothing more to say tbh,,

L - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for

Ummm I don't really like giving rqs to my fave artists, i don't wanna bother them haha

M - Your favorite fanart or fanartist

I don't know aaaa, prolly toonipi but she also draws ocs, not just fanart.

N - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor

Anything cute or sappy with skelleydance (NO nsfw)

O - Choose a song at random, which OTP does it remind you of

Lasers and feelings. Skellydance again. It matches sO well-

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)

I used to have a skatepark AU ft. su chars but never put anything over here. I still have the sketches from 9th grade lmao.

Q - A ship you’ve abandoned and why

To be completely honest, Amydot. Up until s3 they really gave me possible ship vibes. They interacted a lot, and peri discovered her metal powers thanks to amy. But after s3 they hardly ever interacted anymore (besides that one ep from s5 with the kindergarden). I was so dissapointed, but hey lapdot isn't so bad anyway, right?

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships

Back in 2014 I would have said chred from angry birds, definitely. Not many really shipped them, and when I saw some fanart of them on dA everyone would say "ew, gae". Well, 2014 everyone. I was always like "so?? i like that ship, what's the problem??"

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon

Uhmm, i headcanon darwin from tawog that he likes to yodel lol

T - If you mostly have homoships, do you have any heteroships

I think my ships are 50-50, but here are some examples:

Larsdie

Stevnnie

Blckeye

Fluttrcord

Beeckard

Starc0

Tanyamao

Foxodile

Pennball

Carwin

U - If you mostly have heteroships, do you have any homoships

Same as T. Another examples:

Skelleydance

Wnderingeye

Sylava

Lumty

Rupphre

Pearlmthyst

Badgrmao

Bubbline

Flutterdsh

Patbob

V - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping

Lol no. Tbh, i'm not super big on shipping either. I only slighty like/dislike any ship i listed earlier (with the exception of skelleydance, i'm too in love with that ship)

W - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms

wakko warner (animaney)

wander (woy)

fluttershy (mlp)

amethyst (su)

bubbles (ppg)

X - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms

skelleydance (woy)

lumty (toh)

stevnnie (su)

Y - A fandom you’re in but have no ships from

kid cosmic (or maybe I do ship papa g w/ chuck), animaney, okko, gravity flls

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go

That one fan made episode from su called the smothering, it was so freaking amazing. It helped a lot in relieveing the pain of that big hiatus from 2017 (which was the biggest one, i literally turned into a skeleton waiting for new eps). Loved peri's needy personality, as well as lappy's playful one. It was so well written, like it could be perfectly fit as a role reversal episode in the main show.

[mari-beau]

The Right Thing

FANDOM: LOST IN SPACE (2018)

GENRE: Romance, Drama, (a little) Humor

TIMELINE: Between Season 1 & Season 2

CHARACTERS: Don, Judy, Debbie

PAIRING: Don/Judy

RATING: PG/T (References to adult situations; nothing graphic)

WORDS: 1681

SUMMARY: Ever since meeting the Robinsons, Don West has found himself struggling to do the right thing. Judy, in particular puts his conscience to the test. (Sort of an explanation for the shift in Don/Judy dynamic between season one and season two)

Author’s Note:  The reboot series is so satisfying that I never thought I'd feel the need to write fanfiction for it. But alas, I did find myself greatly missing Don & Judy's banter in season two. Honestly, they could've left it at friendly teasing and I would've loved it. Anyway, my brain felt the need to explain why it disappeared between seasons.

...

Don West’s com beeped just as he was elbow deep in the coolant system, making him start and hit his head on the edge of the metal panel. He cursed as Judy Robinson’s voice crackled over the device. 

/Don, I need your help with something./

The pain made him wince as he rubbed at the back of his head, but he pressed a button on his wrist com.  “What is it, doc?”

/Um… some sort of malfunction… in my room./

Don closed his eyes, took a deep, steadying breath, glared at the patched system that was barely holding it together, and replied. “I’ll be there in a couple minutes.”

/Thanks./

“Robinsons… gonna work me to death,” he told Debbie. The chicken cocked her head, obviously not falling for his griping. “What? Don’t look at me like that.”

He picked up the pet hen he’d never intended to be anything more than a future meal and made his way through the jupiter that had become his home over the past few months. Debbie didn’t even squirm when he carried her now. He thought she rather liked it. But when he set her down in his room and told her to be good while he helped Judy, she gave him a scathing chicken glare.

“It won’t be long,” he said. “I promise.”

She clucked and showed him her feathered backside as she went for her food dish. 

“Don’t be jealous. There’s plenty of Don West to go around.”

/Don, where are you?/ Judy’s voice rang out more clearly over his com this time. There was a bit of an edge to it that had him in a partial jog as he hurried to her room.

Her door was closed. He frowned, raised his hand to press the chime but it slid open before he could press the button. Judy’s attractive face appeared, her big dark eyes skimming over him and then glancing up and down the hall.

“What took you so long?” she asked.

“I-” Before he could finish pointing out that it had only been two minutes, the young doctor grabbed the front of his t-shirt and yanked him into the room, closing the door behind him.

“Judy…” He drawled her name in warning, wrapping his hand around her wrist, but she kept her fingers twisted up in his shirt and yanked on it, hard, pulling him down and crashing her lips against his. 

Her kisses were electric. Just like her. Vibrant, scintillating. Irresistible. They had a tantalizing exuberance that he only remembered last experiencing when he was in his early twenties, over a decade ago. Son of a-

He broke off the kiss, tried to ignore the bewildered hurt in her eyes as he placed his hands on her shoulders to push her away. 

“What’s wrong?” Her chin lifted in that stubborn bravado way of hers. “Did I interrupt something important? I thought you were just tinkering with-”

“That’s... uh… That’s not it.” 

She raised her eyebrows, those perfect, kissable lips of hers pursing. 

“We shouldn’t…” He scrubbed a hand over his face. He wasn’t used to refusing female attention. And more than that, he liked Judy. A lot. “I mean you’re…”

She silenced him with a glare. But he knew better anyway than to tell her she was only 19, too young, not an adult. Because she was one of the most responsible, wise, compassionate, badass people he’d ever met. Hell, she was more of an adult than him. He also should know better than to point out that her parents wouldn’t approve, would probably kill him. Because Judy herself would kill him for making such an intimation, that she wasn’t capable of making decisions for herself, that she didn’t consider every situation thoroughly before choosing a course of action. He knew better, and yet… 

“Coward.” She caught his gaze. And damn, she was beautiful when she was fierce. And Judy Robinson was always fierce. “You’re afraid of getting close to anyone. But whether you like it or not, this family cares about you. And you care about us. And you care about me.” She stepped in closer, her breasts -which he tried desperately not to think about- brushed against his chest. “And you like kissing me.”

She pulled him down into another kiss. He opened his mouth to her, unable to resist the intrepid probing of her lips, her tongue. And she was delicious. Not just sweet, but complex. Judy Robinson was so complex, so interesting. So… so… Oh, god, so good. 

Her hands had flattened against his stomach, were roaming up to his shoulders. She had skilled doctor’s hands, and so many parts of him wanted to discover just how skilled they were at tasks besides medicine. They slid back down his chest, fingernails scraping through the soft fabric of his t-shirt, raising goosebumps across his skin, making him groan into her mouth that continued to devour him. His own hands gripped her hips reflexively. She had such a feminine, athletic body, strong and beautiful, and pleasing to the touch. So strong.

She’d backed him against the cot, pushed him to sit on it, giving his tingling mouth a break. Oh, hell, he was aroused. He needed to put a stop to this before things really- Damn! 

Judy was up in his lap, straddling his legs, moving in for more devastating kissing, kissing that would doubtless lead to more than kissing, which he couldn’t allow. She was 19 and the Robinsons’ daughter. He liked them. He liked her. He turned his head, thwarted her hungry mouth, but only momentarily, for she kissed and nipped along his jawline instead.

She was certainly a woman who went after what she wanted. Only, he couldn’t give it to her.

He grabbed her shoulders and held her away from him… Well, partly away from him. There were still portions of their bodies in dangerously close proximity. She made a frustrated noise, and gave him her biggest pleading puppy dog eyes. But they weren’t going to work this time. Because the right thing to do was to stop this, stop her randomly calling him for secret rendezvous, pulling him into vacant corners for stolen kisses, looking at him like she might just be-

“You’re a smart young woman, Judy,” he said. “I mean, I have my moments of genius...”

He winked at her, making her smile. She stroked the nape of his neck, affection warming her features. He ignored how much he liked her gentler attention, because he had a point to get across. 

“But you’re way smarter than me, doc. You must know that the only reason you want me is because I’m the only option here.” 

Her soft, dangerously affectionate look hardened and he knew he was one small prod away from waking her stubborn temper. But it had to be done. 

“It’s probably been awhile for you. Hell, it’s been awhile for me, too. But you can do better than me, princess. And when you get out of here, get to where you’re going in life, there will be some fancy pants egghead waiting for you.”

“Just… Just shut up, Don. You don’t know what you’re talking about!” There was a pink hue coloring the gorgeous brown skin of her face. Her lips screwed up, a line forming between her brows. Her thinking face. She took a deep breath, met his gaze directly. Her eyes were always almost unbearably intense, showing all of her passion and intelligence. She wet her lips, surprising him with the nervous gesture.

“I’m not desperate for physical companionship. I genuinely like you, Don West. And if you can’t believe that…” Her eyes shimmered, but she was still wearing her tough face. “I’m sad for you.”

She removed herself from his lap, and it was a loss that made the bottom drop out of his stomach. She walked towards the door, not looking at him, an obvious dismissal.

It was for the best. It was.

“Oh, and Don…” He paused, so close that the scent of her, somehow fresh despite months of recycled air, filled his head. Her warm, dark eyes met his. “You would’ve been my first…”

“Fi-irst?” He nearly choked on the question, felt his mouth go dry. But felt his uncertainty fade ever so slightly. He had done the right thing, putting a stop to this… whatever it was between the young doctor and himself.

Wait. Was her mouth twitching?

“I didn’t mean like that,” she said. Then all amusement fled her. “I’ve just never felt…”

She closed her eyes, huffed, her cheeks turning pink again. He couldn’t blame her, he was feeling heat creep up his own neck and face. Their interactions always had been primarily light-hearted teasing and fiery exchanges. Deep discussions of feelings was not on his favorite things list, either.

“I think I could fall in love with you,” she said, her eyes finally daring to find his. She was so beautiful. Why did she have to be so beautiful, inside and out? So brave and strong and noble. So stubborn and mouthy. So Robinson.

“Oh, princess. I already love you.” The words were hard to get out, hard to say, and they emerged in a whisper he could barely hear himself. “But I love all of you stupid Robinsons. And I won’t do anything to hurt any of you.”

He jabbed the door control with his thumb. He needed to get out of there, away from her, the summer-breeze scent of her hair and skin, the consuming depth of her warm dark eyes, the pull of her kissable lips and smart mouth… 

“You wouldn’t hurt me,” she said. He turned to give her a bittersweet smile, finding her standing tall with her arms crossed in front of her chest, that adorable set to her jaw. A warrior through-and-through. “I’m tougher than you think. Even if things didn’t work out...”

“I know you’re tough, Judy. You’ll get over me in no time. But I can’t lose the Robinsons.”

Don West walked out the door. 

He’d done the right thing.

END. .... A/N: I actually hate criticisms of fictional (or real) relationships based on age differences. If they are two adults, then age is not what matters, not as much as compatibility, respect, etc. But at the same time, I would've been okay with Don & Judy just being friends, and wish TPTB had kept that teasing banter of theirs! My brain felt like putting a romantic-based reason for their shift in interaction in there. Maybe just to have fun with them, Judy as an aggressive partner (once she makes up her mind she wants him) and Don having to pull back because of his growing attachment to the whole clan.

[thefloatingshoppinglist]

A Letter to the DP Phandom

I’m usually not passionate about stuff.

But ever since I rewatched Danny Phantom in the 10th grade on a random nostalgia trip, that passion was ignited again. It sounds silly, and I’m still a little insecure of talking about it in public. And as a kid with ADHD it’s also been hard for me to try to write fic or find the motivation to draw all the ideas that are burning in my head, and I wish I could finally let it out and show the world just how much I feel about this show. It’s harder when you say the words “Danny Phantom” and unsurprisingly the first response you’ll probably get is “Oh that Nickelodeon show? Yeah I remember that,” to which the conversation ends. But there is so much more to be said.

It’s been said before so many times, and every time it’s talked about there’s this feeling in my gut that is screaming at me to shout it out to the world. So I won’t go into it too much as to what made this show special, but what’s important is that it had potential and that it deserved to be carried out to the best story it could have been. Danny Phantom in itself is a fantastic concept, that got screwed over by multiple factors. Nick, who only cared about Spongebob and FOP, and the show’s creator, who was absent for most of its production because he was too busy with the other things he was in charge of. If you think about it, his absence from his own idea is probably what jump started this show, and I guess we can be grateful for that.

Now we can only think about what Danny Phantom could have been. Perhaps if the concept was given to the ATLA team or if the concept was hatched in the brainstorming meeting room of a Japanese anime studio it could have delved into every idea that was implied, where to be fair, all fanfiction fuel originated from. I cannot even begin to count how many times I have paused an episode of this show to analyze exactly what was being said and what that meant for the world in the story.

Spectra, the misery ghost? If she had been jumping from school to school making kids depressed for her own gain, how many did she indirectly kill?

How would Valerie have reacted to find out that the ghost she hated so much for ruining her life was actually a boy she fell in love with?

Or Jack, after finding out that his supposed best friend in the world was actually a terribly corrupted ghost bent on destroying his family?

And Danielle, who has to deal with the idea that she has no real identity outside of being a perfect little clone, and just a mistake that was never meant to exist?

And what about Danny, who watched all of his friends and family die in an instant, give way to a horrible future that he is responsible for, who we never saw shed a single tear in the 52 episodes in the series?

I could go on. But I won’t for your sake.

There is nothing more disappointing to me sometimes than to think of Butch Hartman’s - the creator’s view of the show compared to the rest of this phandom’s. Us phans is what has made the show’s passion stay alive. Something Butch Hartman’s God-given creative mind apparently can’t possibly accept. I would love to have believed otherwise, but I feel that he doesn’t understand that we are just as responsible for its success as he and the DP crew was.

Butch seems to see all of our ideas as little fantasies that can’t compare to his own. And you know what else he sees differently from us?

Butch imagines Sam Manson as the sidekick love interest girl for the superhero. We see her as a flawed human being with a tough childhood and a hidden guilt for how she changed her best friend’s life.

Butch imagines Tucker Foley as a nerd sidekick purely there for comedy relief. We see him as a clever kid who would sacrifice his reputation for his friend.

Butch imagines Maddie and Jack Fenton to be ghost hunting fanatics who can never change their ways for anyone. We see these parents as two people driven by passion, but will give it all up in a heartbeat if it meant that they knew their son felt safe with them.

Butch imagines Vlad Masters as a black-and-white villain bent on taking over the world, yet we see this man as someone who understands what he does and justifies his hatred for Jack in order to get what he wants - all the while his ghost half is killing the last bits of humanity he has left, leaving him an insane but interesting character.

And then there’s Danny, who Butch sees as an incredibly powerful ghost hero, and ignored him for what this character really stands for - a high school kid with real, down to earth issues and one of the purest hearts I have ever seen in any superhero medium. Even through all the shit he goes through in the show, he still holds true to his values that all people deserve a second chance to live a good life - even those who don’t deserve it.

This short-lived Nicktoon has a lot of soul in it. One that will probably never be resurrected to achieve the culture that it could have had. It feels like a curse, really. Either a reboot from Butch with none of that soul, or nothing at all. And so maybe it’s best we never get one. After all, this phandom has such an unlimited passion compared to all of the other fandoms I’ve been a part of. No one is as unique as you guys. The Space AU, Wes Weston, and the memes we’ve shared are proof of that. I haven’t done that much here because it’s hard for me to communicate anything with what I feel are limited talents. But I want to try now, because of how much the passion for this show has touched me.

And maybe if we have enough, if it can burn long enough, we might be able to give it back and give Danny Phantom the love that it deserves.

[mcrmadness]

Got tagged by @charlotte-lancer, thank you!

🌿 fav comfort food: I don’t know if I have any really? I eat only when I’m hungry and not always even then, but when my body starts to scream that it need some food asap by making me feel bit dizzy. But I could say it’s my tea, it’s become the highlight of my day and now I have two of those highlights in one day :D Chocolate would be great for this but it’s a migraine trigger so I’m avoiding it a lot, but I do eat candies every now and then. Salmiac is a fave.

🌻 fav alcohol or hot drink: A teetotaler here so no alcohol for me, but I do drink earl grey tea (with local organic honey, have to support the bees!) daily. Actually twice a day even tho some days I for some reason feel like drinking it 24/7 but 3 cups a day would be too much caffeine already...

🌸 fav fluff fic: Probably my own Bela/Farin (Die Ärzte) fanfiction :D:D:D:D:D:D No but seriously, I don’t read fanfiction anymore and when I still was reading them, it was so hard to find anything with nice fluff and that would not focus on the smut because I grew out of it at some point, and no one seemed to write just to write fluff. So I just had to write my own, then. And I still go back to my fanfictions every now and then, at the same time I’m hearteyes but also internally puking the whole time because I don’t know how come my mind and fingers were able to come up with such cheesy stories, the stories that I normally hate in every media but not with my OTP, and of course no one would ever write those about my OTP. Also, as a side note, the fandom is rather small and there is a very tiny amount of fanfiction in English, I was using LiveJournal back in the day and I read probably every English ff I could find through that website as I was not able to read in German (and still I’m not fluent so reading a story in German uses lots of energy and just causes confusion and frustration cos I need to use dictionary so much).

🌷 fav relaxing activity: Being just alone and walking in a forest or looking at sunsets and just enjoying the silence and nature and how beautiful everything there can be.

🌼 fav calming scent: Earth and nature after rain in the summer ♥

🌺 fav uplifting song: 3-Tage-Bart by Die Ärzte or Dead! by MCR. The first one always makes me feel happy energy, and the second one makes me feel empowered and, ironically, as if nothing can hurt me and I’d be immortal and I like it :D (It was such a comfort song when I was having depression and found MCR!)

🌵 fav white noise: The sounds coming from the factory nearby. They are somehow super calming, especially during summer nights.

🍄 fav book: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

💐 fav chill-out tv show: I watch random house renovating/hunting/decorating shows quite often, House Hunters International is probably my favorite. Or the ORIGINAL Queer Eye, I have watched the reboot too but it’s not as good as the original one, I just miss the original Fab Five everytime I watch the newer. Fortunately I have them saved on my old digibox :D Top Gear UK is also great when wanting to have a laugh. I often like watching just random shows I don’t need brains with.

🌹best advice you’ve ever gotten: I was 13 and started my horse hobby and I don’t think this girl knows how huge impact her words made with me nor that I still to this day remember those words and how they are pretty much my motto now. She was “teaching” me with the beginner’s stuff with the horses and she told me: “Remember to always ask if you don’t know something! There is no stupid questions, but it’s stupid if you DON’T ask.”  And that’s it, that’s the best advice I’ve ever gotten in my life.

And it’s pretty ironic that this is actually why I failed at my latest school and why I dropped out of that school too - I was to this exam thing and Murphy’s Law really came true again as everything with my exam went as badly as it can, and I was constantly asking everyone for help because I literally had no idea of anything, and I failed because I was asking too much. I even mailed with the teacher afterwards, “arguing” with them about it and people at my work were so pissed at them too, and everyone I talked with, was so pissed. I just did what I would have done if I was actually working - I wouldn’t go to a stable I don’t know/own and act as if I owned it. Of-the-fucking-course I need to ask things if I don’t even know where to find things, and if my horse was missing its harness and no one knew where they were, so I had to ask what to use, and if I can use them, because how I’d know why the harness are hanging on the wall? What if they were broken and I just took them because “don’t ask too much” and then hurt myself and the horse? Then I would have told “why didn’t you ask?” And I didn’t find shorter reins for the horse and the sulky (carriage) was too short for the horse as well cos they were the only ones that fit THIS harness and the horse could not run properly because of the sulky. It was just one huge fiasko + the other people there with me were like 57825729 times better so I had a bad starting point already because I was like an amateur and they were experts. But yeah, I was doing what I’d do in real life too. What I did at work all the time - I was constantly asking about things. And people were asking me about things. That’s just how it fucking works. But apparently if you go to horse school, you should just shut the fuck up and never ask and I guess somehow magically read people’s minds. I tried to get them to come to the stable I was working at but they just couldn’t come there. So I totally lost my interest in that shit and dropped out of the school. At least I gathered some knowledge, if I want a degree one day, I can try again anyway. In this moment I don’t even really need that degree, so it’s okay.

I’m tagging @stufenlosregelbar; and @hanhan156 (finally I got tagged by someone else than you so I can tag you too :DD)!

[mrsbadgers]

Overwatch Fanfiction  Widowmaker x Sombra 18+

          You Must Learn Your Place 

Written by: Hungrycollegekidd (MariaBadger)

The patter of rain could be heard over the Paris rooftops paired with the ever so gentle sound of heels clicking across the cobble stones below. A lonely traveler made her way towards an ordinary bricked building. Light raindrops ordained her black petticoat escaping the umbrellas protective covering. As she approached the large red door, she pulled off one laced glove to reveal a pale, almost purple colored hand with long, polished nails. Taking little time to unlock the door, she closed the umbrella and hung up her coat to dry. A gentle hum emanated from a couple doors down. As she passed, she peered in and saw her colleague's face pressed down on the keyboard. A half drank bottle of tequila sat next to her hand which still clutched the computer mouse. Thinking nothing of it, Widow continued to walk through the small home, and entered her own room. There, on her bed, she found a tan manila envelope with a single white rose that was purposefully placed  on top. She sat down on the bed and inspected the contents of the envelope. A picture, a location and a time. Her next target. Widow dropped the contents onto the floor and turned her interest towards the rose, shining brightly under the neon lights of the street signs illuminating through the window. Her pale fingers gripped this delicate flower. Closing her eyes, she breathed in its sweet sent. Nostalgia of better times. ------------------------ Widow was awoken by yelling outside her door. So, she got up, slipped on her slippers, silk robe and opened the door only to hear Sombra and Reaper arguing. "Where the hell did you put it!" Sombra yelled in a hungover induced stupor. 

"What are you talking about!" The grizzled voice of Reaper spat back.

"My translocator!" 

"WHY THE HELL WOULD I HAVE THAT  THING!" 

Widow clears her throat. They immediately stop and turn their heads as Widow enters the kitchen. Giving them no mind, she fills the coffee machine and lets it begin to brew. Grabbing a mug, she turns around to face them, leaning against the kitchenette. "Please continue, its not like I can go back to sleep now." The annoyance in her voice was very apparent to the others.

"Amelie, Im sorry if we woke you up but Gabe swiped my trans-locator and is doing God only knows what with it!" Sombra points a finger inches from his face, which he forcefully swats away. 

"What use do I have for some teleportation piece of junk?" Reaper hisses back.

Before either of them could say another word, Widow casually walks into Sombra's room and fishes the small metal contraption out from the bottom of her waste basket. Dropping it onto the kitchen table, Widow gives them both a shady look and yawns.

Sombra sprung up, grabbing the slightly soda stained, teleporter. "Oh! Thank you Amelie. I don’t know what i would do without you!" Widow slightly smiles and proceeds to fill up her mug with the coveted energy brew. 

"SOMBRA!" Reaper growled.

"Yes Gabe?"

"You owe me an apology don’t you think?"

"Awww poor Gabe, i so so so sorry." She chuckles in the most sarcastic manner. Reaper growls and stomps off towards the basement.

Sipping on her coffee, Widow says to Sombra; "Remember, we have a mission tonight. Transport arrives at 8pm sharp, so try not to get too drunk. After all, it is an important  contract. We cant let this target escape." Sombra sits barely paying attention, smudging off the stains on the translocator with her sleeve. 

"Do you understand, Sombra?!" Her tone much harsher now. 

"Si Si. I get it chicka. Ill see you then." She stands up and walks back into her bedroom. Not even a minute later, Widow hears the unmistakable pop of the tequila cork. She sighs but continues to sip her coffee in piece. ---------------------------------------------- The gentle hum of the Talon Stealth Jet lifts Sombra and Widow into the night sky, darting towards the marked destination. Widow glances over and Sombra. Her disheveled appearance and glazed over eyes worry her. As long as Sombra does what she is instructed then Widow can do the rest. Over their intercoms, the pilot warns them that they are 5 minutes to the drop point. Sombra stands, clutching her trans-locator as widow prepares her grappling hook. The drop doors open and both agents fall to the designated points. 

"Sombra" Widow whispers into her ear piece "Tell me when the Omnic guards are disengaged. 

Drunkingly she replies "Si, no problem boss." Widow sighs and hops onto a ventilation pipe placed on the roof across from the target for a better vantage point. Widow sees the mafia boss, exiting his vehicle, surrounded by onmic body guards. Nervously they look around, clutching their machine guns. But Widow is submerged in shadows, safe from sight.

"Sombra, target is in my sight." 

"3...2...1... Iniciando el hackeo." 

The lights dim and the guard bots fall limp. Immediately, panic ensues. Widow presses her trigger but before the bullet can come out, Sombra's trans-locator sputters across the roof top and Sombra appears. Unbalanced from the shift, she falls over, bumping widow. Widow desperately takes the shot but misses as she is pushed over, onto the roof. 

"MERDE!" She cusses loudly. Almost immediately she gets up and pistol whips Sombra with the butt of her rifle. 

"You foolish, drunken girl! Look what you have done!" The sound of the guards rebooting followed by a stream of shots ricocheting around them could be heard.  

"Amelie I'm s---" 

"Shut up, we have to go. NOW!" Widow wraps Sombra and herself in the zip-line and they flee towards evac.

---------------------------------------------------   As soon as they entered the house, Sombra jokingly comments; "Too bad he got away huh? Oh well, don’t worry. The boss isn't gonna care as much as you think!" She chuckles

"You think this is a joke? I told you to not drink before this mission. Didn't I?"

"Sure, but-"

"No buts. You ruined the mission and now my neck is on the line! Why is it that you never take your work seriously?" Widow breaths heavily, enraged at yet another failure on account of this stupid girl. "I don’t care what other ideas are on your agenda but while you are under Talon's roof, you do as told. This is not a game!"

"I know its not a game, Amelie, I did what i was told but accidents always happen!" Sombra rolls her eyes and turns, walking in the direction of her room.  

"What will it take to straighten you up? What do I have to do to break the importance of our cause into that immature, augmented brain of yours?" But her words went unheard. Ignoring Widow, Sombra ducks into her room muttering something in Spanish under her breath. Widow closes her eyes and lets the anger pass. What little emotions she has left should not be invested into this girl. --------------------------------------------------- About an hour passes by and Widow stands from her desk. She makes her way over to Sombra's room where Sombra sits in a chair, feet propped up on her bed. She holds a glass in her left hand and is singing along to some Spanish music. Widow leans on the door frame and knocks on the wall. Sombra takes another sip and invites her in.

"Que pasa, mi amiga?" She cheerfully asks. 

"I want to talk." Widow closes the door and takes a seat on the bed next to where Sombra's feet are resting.  "I am not angry with you cheri, just-"

"Let me guess" Sombra cuts her off " your just disappointed?" Widow sighs and places a cold hand onto Sombras right leg. Sombra pays no mind and continues to hum to the tune. 

"No, I am worried about your drinking. Why do you do it so much?" 

Sombra scoffs.  "What do you want me to say? Hi, my name is Sombra and I’m an alcoholic!  I mean, what else should i do when I apparently cant get anything right? Widow glares. "Ok, how about this” she continues “I'm only here because Talon is a perfect means of finally exposing the Iris and Lumerico's corruption.So until I can hack into that information, I pass my time drinking. It helps me think, you know?" Sombra goes for another sip but before she can, Widow takes away the glass and puts it on the night stand. 

With a stern voice she says "All I hear are excuses and lack of self discipline. I know how much potential you have, Sombra. You are one of the smartest women I know. At this, Sombra looks up and scoffs. She waves her hand, dismissing Widow's compliment and turns the chair to face away from her. Widow proceeds to get up and places her hands on the arms of the office chair, face inches away from hers. "Unlike Gabriel, Moira or myself, you can still control where your life will go."

"Blah, blah, blah. Ok Amelie. You should totally become a social worker with these ‘words of wisdom’.” Just so you know, I’m not the same pathetic orphan on the streets anymore." Sombra is visibly annoyed at what Widow thinks of her. However, she plays it off as usual.

Widow stands up, giving Sombra space. "I know that. To be truthful, cheri, I could care less what happens to you. But as my partner, I want to make sure you don’t get yourself into something you can’t talk your way out of. You're a valuable asset to Talon."

Slightly hurt by this, Sombra responds; "An asset? But a partner to you? Make up your mind before you make a speech about my potential. Lying is a bad habit you know. And to think i thought of you as my amiga." Widow says nothing, just crosses her arms and continues to stare at Sombra. 

"What?" Sombra barks, breaking the awkward silence.

Widow breaths in deeply, bends over and places her cold hand on Sombras cheek, pulling her face near hers. "I think you need to be disciplined, made to listen."  

Shocked at this statement, Sombra replies "Oh is that so, then i dare you."

Intrigued, Widow places her lips teasing close to Sombra's and whispers "Don’t think I can’t discipline you in other ways than just physical pain my dear." Window backs away with a wicked grin. She grabs the glass from the nightstand and walks towards the door, downing the remaining liqour, dropping it to the floor with a clatter. 

Sombra is curiously aroused, wondering what the next night will bring. "Oh this will be interesting indead, no?" ------------------------------------------

The next day: 

Sombra, wih a slight liqour induced buzz, sits in position at the mainframe computer of an overwatch base. She quietly giggles how no one had noticed her breach. Typing away, Reapers voice comes through her ear piece. 

"How much longer Sombra? Jack and the monkey are coming."

"1.43 minutes remaining. Data downloading and virus initializing as we speak. Try not to make a scene, but do not let them in Gabe."

"Sombra, stop calling me Gabe."

"Yah ok. Whatever, Gabe." Reaper growls and logs off. Sombra begins to hear gun shots outside, Reapers shotgun blasts ripping through Winston's defenses. Soldier 76 shouts some muffled command. Winston rawrs and attacks. 

"Just 5 seconds more" Sombra whispers to herself. Suddenly the doors to the control room burst open. Sombra quickly grabs the USB drive and trans-locates before Winston can grab her. "Adios!" 

Reaper and Sombra meet inside evac.

"You got the data?" Repear growls while clutching the bleeding in his side.

"Si senior! and to think I expected a challenge, heh."

-------------------------------------------------------- Sitting in her room Sombra swigs from a bottle of tequila. She tosses the USB in air, catching it like a ball. She revels in the thought of how skilled she really is. 

"Great work today, Sombra." Widows voice cuts through her concentration.  

"Oh SURE come on in without knocking. Ill make sure to put a sock on handle next time." Sombra turns to look at Widow with a teasing grin. "Whats up?"

"I need that USB for the boss so if you would be so kind as to hand it over." Widow reaches out her palm.

"No, I think ill hang on to it for a little while longer. The boss cant just enjoy all the juicy secrets himself." She smirks and chucks the device into a drawer. 

Annoyed at this, Widow gently growls, close to becoming angry. "Sombra, that wasnt an option. The drive. NOW!" 

Working Widow up excites her. "And if I dont?" She laughs.

"Then I will rip it from your broken hands." Widow replies.

"Ooh la la, that sounds like a threat!"  Sombra stands up inches away from Widows face. "Do something, I dare you mi amiga."

In a flash, Widow takes Sombra to the ground, twisting both arms back and straddling her body, face down. 

"Get off me" Her voice was muffled against the floor. 

"No, mon ceri. C'est temps de te punir (its time to punish you)." Sombra's eyes grow wide, dreading what pain is about to follow. In a desperate attempt to get free, she clenches her fists and pulls her arms forward hard, managing to break Widow's grasp and spin around. But, annoyingly Widow still straddles her waist. With one hand, Widow pins Sombra's wrists above her head, pressing them against the cold cement floor. Sombra struggles but cant move. Widow patiently moves her face close to Sombra's. 

"No need to fear little girl, ill make this punishment quick and painless. Gently, her lips make contact with Sombra's, embracing in a soft kiss. However, becoming more aggressive when Widow slips her cold tongue into Sombra's warm mouth. Sombra gasps. But before she can kiss back, Widow breaks the kiss and sharply nips Sombra's bottom lip. Sombra could feel the warm blood drip down her lip.

"I- I dont understand" Sombra whispers.  Widow just giggles and pays no mind. Smiling mischievously, she lowers her robe to expose her black lace lingerie and laps up the stream of blood pooling on Sombra’s bottom lip. With her free hand, Widow lifts Sombra's shirt, revealing a braless pair of tan, quivering breasts. She leans in and sucks on her left then right nipple, leaving small bite marks on each. Sombra begins to protest and begs her to stop. Little to Widow’s knowledge, Sombra was still a virgin.

Widow pays no mind to her victim's discomfort and proceeds to slide her finger nails down Sombra's abs and over into her panties. 

"Purple lace. What a wonderful choice." She whispers. Sombra squirms and begs her to stop. Ignoring her pleads, Widow inserts two fingers into her moist pussy, thrusting them in and out while curling them in just the right way to hit her most tender spots. Sombra breaths in sharply, slightly moaning at this new experience. Widow lets go of Sombra's arms and places her hand on Sombra's left thigh. At this point Sombra does not protest, taking in the pleasure. Widow lowers her lips onto Sombra's clit. Gently sucking, tongue snaking around. She continues to thrust her fingers in her pussy, feeling how warmer and wetter Sombra gets. 

At this point Sombra is moaning loudly, no longer begging for widow to stop or fighting against the pleasure she was experiencing. That excited Widow. But before Sombra could wrap her head around these strange, erotic feelings, she climaxes. 

"Ohhhh Mierda!!!" She cries out. Panting heavily, she looks up at Widow licking her fingers as she rises to leave the room. 

Widow opens the drawer for the USB and walks to the door frame. She stops and turns her face back saying "I hope you have learned your lesson, foolish girl." Her eyes, before so empty, now glowing with pleasure. “Dont think I won’t punish you again.”

With that, Sombra was left in in the dark, music still quietly blaring through the stereo. Her chest burning and pussy throbbing. Was that really punishment, though? 'What was that. So wrong but yet...' She hesitates then out loud she gasps "I want more."

THE END

[hannahstarshade]

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) should be the end of the Disney Pirates franchise

All right, fuckers, listen up! I’ve been a fan of the Pirates franchise since the beginning. How bad did I have it? Back in 2006/2007, the first trailer for At World’s End was shown during an episode of Dancing with the Stars. I couldn’t watch it, so I recorded the episode on VHS just to see the trailer. (Little Hannah didn’t have regular access to a computer at the time.) I watched that trailer over and over again. I watched it a few times in the morning before school, and a few times at night before bed. I was blown away by how epic At World’s End was at the time, and even now I’m impressed with how this story became so big. I had figures, t-shirts, costumes, and many birthday cakes that were all pirate themed.

As much as I love this franchise, however, I knew things had gone south with the forth movie On Stranger Tides. It looked nice, but it lacked the heart and energy of the franchise. Even still, I held out hope that the fifth and final film would bring it back around. In the end, Dead Men Tell No Tales was one of the most hollow movie-going experiences of my young life. This was nothing like my disappointment in the Beauty and the Beast reboot. I can at least admit that I had a fun time with that one. No, this was something else. So, because I’m still a little bitter, let’s dive into the madness that is Pirates of the Caribbean: The Fifth Movie That No One Asked For and Should Not Exist. A word of caution, though: here be spoilers.

Dead Men Tell No Tale is so forgettable and dull. It’s been over a year since I saw the film in theaters, and I only remember the key events: Jack searches for treasure, evil man chases after Jack, Jack gets the treasure, the end. I don’t know any of the new characters’ names off the top of my head. I remember writing “what’s-his-face” and “that girl” in my notes. In addition to being forgettable, there are a lot of unnecessary additions to the world. Barbossa has a witch friend (to replace Tia Dalma, I guess) who does nothing significant. Jack expects tribute, where he never once asked for it before. Barbossa is made so much more sentimental than we’ve ever seen him in order to justify his flowery death sequence.

The movie isn’t as smart as the writers and director think it is. One of the moments I do actually remember is how at some point Jack and Barbossa are talking about the girl. Jack mentions how Smith is an unusual last name. I laughed in the theater. “Smith,” one of the most common names in the English language at that time in history, was unusual? Seriously? I know this series is for all ages, but I’m pretty sure a five-year-old could come up with a more creative last name. If One Stranger Tides is “Disney Sequel” levels of bad, then I’d say Dead Men Tell No Tales sank down past that to “my first fanfiction” levels of bad.

The most unforgivable sin this film committed, above every other grievance, was making Captain Jack Sparrow a terrible person. He’s supposed to be a rogue with a heart of gold, not some washed-up drunkard. The core of Jack Sparrow’s character is that he is not motivated to be a pirate for the treasure. He is driven by freedom. His sense of freedom is so strong that he gave his life in order to release a shipload of African slaves. His arm was branded, his ship was sunk, and he made a deal with Davy Jones to sail the seas again. That’s how be became a pirate in the first place! By ignoring who Captain Jack Sparrow is, the writers and director are ignoring what Pirates of the Caribbean truly is.

Nobody asked for Dead Men Tell No Tales. Nobody wanted to see Johnny Depp slosh through the movie. Nobody wanted to see yet another macguffin, and yet another set of ghost pirates, and yet another group of characters with daddy issues. The whole concept really is dead. The only redeeming quality this movie has is the final few minutes with Will and Elizabeth reuniting after being apart for so long. If this had been a short film simply about them getting to see each other again, this thing would have been a masterpiece in my eyes. 

Bottom line: we don’t need any more Pirates franchise. It’s dead, and anything that came after At Word’s End was a cash-grab. Even still, there was a stinger at the end of Dead Men Tell No Tales and the producer has spoken up about future endeavors. Are we to expect a sixth film now? A reboot? Seriously? Fuck you, Disney, and the boat you sailed in on.

[jemariel]

Sherlock, Supernatural, and How I Am Trying to Take Shipping Less Seriously

I want to tell my story. 

(tl;dr: I have a lot more fun with shipping when I don’t worry about whether or not it will ever be canon. OR: Never put that much faith in the hands of showrunners. It always ends BAD.gif)

I wrote most of this post months ago and it’s been rotting away in my drafts since maybe March? It seemed like a good time to actually post it. This is my own personal perspective, where I’m coming from on this. Obviously everyone’s feelings and opinions are 100% their own and I respect that. We’re all coming from somewhere.

Soooo. I’ve been lurking in various fandoms for a long time. I started in 2001, when I was 14. I’ve seen a lot of changes in fandom and the internet and how we interact with our favorite media. Now seemed like a good time for me to sort through this.

My first OTP was in Highlander. It was, for all intents and purposes, a dead fandom when I arrived. The show had been cancelled 5 years before I even discovered that other people wrote and posted their fanfiction, and one half of my pairing was dead for the final series. The pair I read about maybe shared half an hour of screen time through the whole three seasons they were both in the show? They had very little plot interaction at least.

I didn’t care. It didn’t stop me from reading about them. Didn’t stop me from wanting to put them in the same room and see what happened – usually them getting on like a house on fire.

The point is that we were under absolutely no impression that they would ever become canon. There was literally no possibility for it. But that didn’t matter. We could do what we wanted. We were just having fun.

After Highlander came Harry Potter. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. I don’t remember if I started shipping them before or after the 4th book but it was definitely long before the 5th book. This was the first time I had the inkling that maybe, possibly, JK Rowling might have actually intended them to be read that way. This is where I read my first meta, before it was called that – someone who went through the books and pulled out excerpts that made a person think. Wow that eye contact really did linger, I thought. Maybe that embrace wasn’t strictly brotherly, I said to myself.

At the time, queerbaiting was not even a word in the vernacular. So when the 6th book came out and Tonks and Remus became the most eyebrow-raising pairing I’ve ever encountered, I just shrugged and went on with my life. Sirius was dead anyway so this really changed nothing. I liked Remus the gay uncle werewolf, but bisexual was fine too. I mostly wrote and read about them during their school days anyway. So this was fine.

Eventually I moved on, and where I landed after that was in the grand daddy of all slash pairings, the first fandom in our current fanfiction zeitgeist: Star Trek, the Original Series. Kirk and Spock. This was still a couple of years before the 2009 reboot movies, so all I had was a cheesy 60s TV show with a venerable back catalogue of fanfic. What’s better, this ship could never be sunk! Of course they couldn’t ever be canon, it was the 60s. Times were different. I could ship them with fervor and never be disappointed because of course it was just our interpretation. … Wasn’t it?

Oh, Gene Roddenberry. You idealistic sonuvabitch. You created the Vulcan word “t’hy’la” specifically for Spock to use for Kirk, and you made it mean friend, brother, and lover? Was that really necessary or were you trying to tell us something?

Here I found more fledgling meta, and I went through the novelizations of the movies with a highlighter devouring every piece of evidence I could find. But while this ship was unsinkable, it would also never fly. Even if Roddenberry had intended this, or supported it after the fact, prejudice surely had kept his intentions in the background. Subtext was our friend. We could work with subtext. The subtext wove a gay love story the likes of which we haven’t seen since the ancient Greeks. I was happy with that.

But then.

2010. Sherlock.

I knew going into it that Holmes and Watson were the greatest love story never told. I figured it would be a fun pairing for a while. But oh. I was not prepared. And oh, be still my beating heart, the Angelo’s scene! If I recall correctly I actually sat up straighter in my chair at “so you’ve got a boyfriend then”/”No.” Could they… could he? Did they actually…? Was this written for… me? For us? Could we, the weird little corner of the fandom be right for once?? The slash shippers, the queer kids, the ones who had been peering between the lines for decades to try and catch glimpses of ourselves in our favorite stories?

I buried the thought for a few years, devouring Johnlock fanfic like it was my job, my civic duty, my vocation. I waited patiently for each new series. But I never actually expected anything to come of my hopes until after season 3.

Bet you guessed it. TJLC had caught me like a spark in dry grass. The few analyses I’d read before were NOTHING compared to this. Suddenly it all seemed so possible. So real. After The Abominable Bride it seemed like there was nowhere else to go, nowhere to go but up. We were right. WE WERE RIGHT! For a whole year, we got to relish the thought that it might actually happen.

…………….. Season 4 was… tough. It felt like a slap in the face, all of our hopes thrown back at us with ignorance at best, cruelty and direct malice at worst. If it had been a good season on its own without canon Johnlock I might have been okay, but as it is….. It was not the first time I’ve had my heart broken by a TV show, and probably only seems like the worst by virtue of being recent. But I would very much like it to be the last.

A few months before diving head-first into the pre season-4 gear-up, I watched a few seasons of Supernatural. Just enough to meet Castiel and lay the groundwork for a Destiel obsession as a contingency plan for if season 4 of Sherlock went all pear shaped. I’m glad I did or I don’t know where I would have found my refuge.

But I started to notice something. From my earliest wading in the Destiel end of the tumblr pond, I shied away quickly from any discussion of evidence, subtextual clues used to make predictions, or whether or not Destiel could or should or will be canon. I still take all meta and spec I read with a healthy pinch of salt. I am trying very hard not to care about whether or not it becomes canon, because honestly? I miss the days when whether or not a ship was canon or had a snowball’s chance of ever becoming so had absolutely nothing to do with whether or not I shipped it.

Fandom is just one of many echo chambers that the internet has molded around every one of us. It is so easy to become convinced that our way is right and everyone else’s way is wrong, because we only hear our own voices and those of people we agree with reflected back at us.

We are not the arbiters of what happens in canon. The showrunners are NOT obligated to listen to us. Not everyone can be right, and the showrunners cannot listen to everyone. Nor should they. They are, for better or for worse, creating their own story. Not ours.

We can always write the story the way we want to, over and over in countless different ways. These days I see a show almost more as a set of toys to play with than as its own impermeable whole. I can believe that Dean and Castiel have been slowly falling in love over the course of the last decade. I can decide when and where I want them to have first admitted it, to themselves or each other. What’s more – I can change my mind. Some days I like believing that they’ve been together since Cas’s hand print was still fresh on Dean’s shoulder. Some days I’d rather believe that they’re still pining and in various states of denial. Or anything in between – it’s all equally valid. Once it’s said and stated in canon, that’s it. That’s the show. That’s how it happened. I like the freedom I have when my ship is not explicitly canon. The best is when they are clearly aware of it and give us moments like the mixtape or the Fanfiction Gap of 9x06 – new toys to play with – but let us shape what’s actually going on. As I say in my tags sometimes: They clearly love us and want us to have nice things.

All of this is NOT to say that up-and-coming queer kids do not richly need and deserve representation. God, not at all. I beat myself up about this a lot, for what feels like a terribly selfish desire to just enjoy it and not worry about whether or not the up and coming queer youth could have it better than I did. They can and they should and I still believe that season 4 of Sherlock was the biggest missed opportunity in queer cinema history.

I just can’t take it so personally anymore. For the sake of my favorite hobby, I cannot stake my enjoyment of a pairing and a show on whether or not the showrunners want to take the risk. I cannot let them dangle me on that particular string. I cannot give them that power over me. 

So this is my manifesto, for me personally. If Destiel becomes canon? I will be over the moon. But I will not go hunting for it. I won’t expect it. I will cherish every gift that the showrunners give to us because they’re not obligated to give us a damn thing, so I can’t take what they do give us for granted. I will live my headcanons, write my fics, and I will love the show for what it is, warts and all. I will ship my ship, enthusiastically and with my whole heart, because it brings me joy to do so. Canon or no canon. @starsinursa @daughter-of-the-rain-and-snow

[colethewolf]

Ah, I see Jeff Davis hasn’t changed one bit over the years. Are you curious to see his true colors? If you haven’t already gotten a glimpse...

Now, I’ve spoken a lot about my feelings towards Jeff Davis & the way he has treated his cast members, the fans, and especially the Sterek fandom. This video interview from San Diego Comic Con, where he calls out a Geekiary writer, simply because they don’t sing his praise, but rather, point out Jeff’s continuous queerbaiting attempts & mistreatment of fandom, is another glimpse into the kind of person Jeff Davis is.

The video starts with each of the interviewers at the roundtable introducing which website or blog they come from. When an interviewer from Geekiary states when they’re from, Jeff immediately jumps into some poorly rehearsed, overacted, and dramatic (much like Teen Wolf’s acting) response, where he ponders for a moment, & then calls out one of the writers at Geekiary (Farid).

Now, if you don’t already know. Farid writes for Geekiary & doesn’t hold back when it comes down to calling out Teen Wolf for the large and insulting missteps that the show takes, as well as he speaks out against mistreatment of fans & the huge queerbaiting issue within the show. And because Jeff Davis has never been one to stomach hearing the uncensored, non-sugar coated truth about his failure as a showrunner, his failure as a writer, and his failure with Teen Wolf, you can bet that Jeff Davis took this SDCC interview to rear his bitterly lopsided & vindictive head.

In the video, he completely blindsides the available Geekiary interviewer by questioning her about Farid & asks (starts at 0:15) : “why does he still write about the show? Like, what show is he watching?”. And while the interviewer is clearly & audibly uncomfortable with Jeff unprofessionally questioning her about the articles of somebody else, he continues on with the interviews.

It’s probably important to tell you guys that Teen Wolf has actually had a large history of complaining about negative reviews, about negative reception from fans, and about the embarrassing loss of viewers per episode from season to season. I honestly don’t even know how many times they’ve come out to say that fans just aren’t giving the show a chance & that they’re not watching the show correctly & that they should stop watching if they don’t like something in the show & that the show is actually getting over 8 million views per episode....okay.

So, the interview goes on. Yet towards the end, Jeff clearly isn’t done. Before he gets up from his chair to leave the table, he turns to the Geekiary interviewer and says (around the 6:20 mark) : “Tell Farid hello from me personally. It’s because he’s a Sterek fan, right? I hope all this Sterek dreams come true.”

I mean, this attitude & the clear, noticeable, radiating bitterness & vindictive nature of Jeff Davis isn’t new to me. I experienced it first hand, alongside the rest of the Sterek fandom four years ago during season 3B. Of course, I’m not personally surprised, but I feel it’s important to keep reminding you of the kind of person that Jeff Davis actually is. His hatred towards Sterek & Sterek fans continues. He hasn’t changed.

Jeff Davis is cowardice personified. He specifically took the moment to call out Farid, negative responses towards his show, and Sterek (yet again) because Farid wasn’t sitting in front of him. Plus, he knew that he could blindside that poor interviewer by targeting her. But we know he’s a coward. We know he runs & hides away from where fans get direct access to tell him how we actually feel. 

For example, Jeff Davis isn’t on Twitter anymore. He hasn’t been for years. Although, he used to have a twitter. He used to talk to fans. He used to bait Sterek all the time via his twitter. But he deleted it after fans called him out for racism. Mainly regarding his decision to cast a black woman in the role of Kali, when Kali was originally supposed to be of Indian decent. Of course, it’s wrong to have somebody play a character of a race that they are not. But Jeff Davis didn’t like hearing it. 

Additionally, he was promptly called out for the fact that both Isaac & Erica received minor backstories during their season. With Isaac coming from an abusive household & Erica suffering from her epilepsy/ transforming into somebody that gets noticed. Yet, Boyd received little to no backstory whatsoever. Jeff was called out for it on Twitter, but couldn’t deal with that either.

Jeff also used to do Q&A’s on Tumblr, but stopped doing them once he realized that people wanted to question him about ridiculous writing, about baiting, about Sterek, and about other things that he couldn’t bear to be questioned about. So he left Tumblr & actually had one of the TWPR people take the blame for certain Jeff-related issues.

As I said, cowardice runs deep within this man. And of course, his bitterness & hatred towards Sterek & Sterek fans remains prominent, as detailed with this interview. Especially the last part, where he equates Farid’s necessary & enlightening critiques to being nothing more about Sterek-- demeaning them & essentially chalking them up to bitter rants from a shipper. When in actuality, Jeff’s queerbaiting, his abusive treatment of Sterek fans, and his no-homo’d treatment of Sterek within the show is something incredibly important to critique. 

Especially when it’s 2017.

Now, I’ve made countless posts before about Jeff Davis’ feelings towards Sterek. It’s simple. He hates it. He hates the fact that he couldn’t get away with destroying it in his show after baiting it & using it for views. He hates that he wasn’t the one to come up with the idea. He hates that his show got cancelled & ultimately failed, whilst Sterek continues to thrive within a community & fandom that doesn’t give two shits about Jeff Davis & his canon disaster. 

There are some newer Sterek fans that didn’t live through the horrendous Anti-Sterek era during season 3B, and there are some fans that still hang onto the hope that Jeff Davis will reward us with Sterek becoming endgame in this final season. If anything, THIS new interview with Jeff & his incredibly embarrassing performance as a Teen Wolf-style villain towards Stereks should tell you everything that you need to know. 

Jeff Davis does NOT care about Sterek. He doesn’t care about the fans. He decided to use Sterek one last time to promo the final season & he plans to use it even more to get ratings for his last season as incentive for whatever podcast mess he wants to do after the show ends. But other than that, he will disappoint you. Jeff is going to do everything in his power to destroy Sterek & make you feel like shit. Don’t give him what he wants. Don’t buy into his transparent trickery. Don’t think he cares about fans.

This is what Jeff Davis does.

Instead, continue to thrive within the Sterek fandom. As fans, we’ve created this home for Sterek fans to enjoy. Look at all of the wonderful material that we create. The fanfiction, the fanart, the manips, the gifsets, the ideas, the grand total of fanwork that has literally made Sterek one of the most popular & beloved ships of this time. We don’t need Jeff. 

Let Jeff continue to hate the ship. You know that he’s seething inside regarding the fate of this show, meanwhile, Stereks continue to make Sterek fanwork & everybody else is looking at Jeff Davis & his show w/ genuine laughter on their faces. 

I mean, seriously. Jeff Davis did everything he could to destroy Sterek within the show. He no-homo’d both Stiles & Derek (at the same time, might I say). He kept those characters apart. He didn’t let Dylan & Hoechlin work together. He refused to do any of the scenes that Dylan & Hoechlin proposed to Jeff. And look at where Jeff ended up....his show failed, Dylan & Hoechlin left, nobody is watching, and he has had to resort to using Sterek for views. 

Just like Criminal Minds, just like his Let the Right One In, & just like Teen Wolf. Jeff Davis has gotten himself fucked over. So much that his only path for a career is to hope for a TW podcast series....plus....his hopes that MTV will do a TW reboot in the coming years & give Jeff Davis the opportunity to be the showrunner....it’s not happening. 

In closing, 

Don’t allow yourself to get fooled for even a second to convince yourself that Jeff Davis is a good person. He’s not. He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about fans. And he especially doesn’t care about Sterek. He cares about money, ratings, & getting his revenge on all the people that get to laugh at his failure. That’s why he targeted that Geekiary interviewer. 

He knew that if Farid had been the one sitting there, he wouldn’t have opened his mouth. It’s just like how he doesn’t have a Twitter or Tumblr anymore, because he knows he couldn’t handle getting directly bombarded with critiques from displeased fans. And also, he knows deep down inside that he fucked himself over by fucking Stereks over...which of course, leaves him the only option to pretend as if he’s perfectly fine.   

So play it safe, Stereks. Don’t fall for nonsense. Don’t fall into whatever tricks Jeff will try to play in 6B. Remember that all of the Sterek you saw in the trailer was icing. It was purposely put there to entice you into watching, so you’d end up falling into the lower levels of whatever rotten, shitty mess Jeff is trying to cover up. Because you know he’s going to probably bait Sterek in the beginning of 6B, only to disappoint in the finale...

And remember, don’t let yourself get bullied by anybody for being a Sterek shipper. We’re strong. This fandom has gone through a lot of shit, but we’ve managed to create something so beautiful for ourselves. We’ve won & Jeff Davis will watch from his sinking show. He’ll be vindictive & bitter for the rest of his days, because he knows that fucking over Stereks was the absolute WORST decision that he made with his show. 

Stay strong. Stay safe. Keep shipping. Sterek is Eternal.

-Cole

[tigerlover16-uk]

As someone who likes hearing your thoughts on DBSuper and anything DB related in general, how do you think Toyotaro's influence in the DB world will be remembered? Honestly the man has done nothing but disappoint by writing poor plot points while dissing many characters and putting Vegeta up on a pedestal. Granted, he's not the first writer to commit these mistakes, but if he keeps this up he'll never make it big in the manga world. Think he can make a comeback with the DBSuper manga?

It’s still strange to hear people actually have interest in what I have to say, but gratifying nonetheless. Thanks for that.

And honestly, God only knows on both accounts. Public opinion on things can radically alter within weeks, and greater time and reflection can give fans a lot of time to look deeper and re-evaluate their opinions on certain works, for better or worse.

Ken Penders was once a beloved writer for the Archie Sonic comics, with many of his stories being longstanding classics. Then his stupid lawsuit happened that resulted in all the characters he created being ripped out of the comic haphazardly, forced a reboot that nobody wanted, and was probably a factor in the recent unceremonious cancellation of the comic right before a 3-part story could be concluded and any kind of closure could be had on anything. So as soon as all that nonsense turned him into the anti-Christ for the Sonic fandom, people began re-reading his work now as more critical adults compared to as impressionable children and realizing that a lot of what he wrote, while there were definitely some merits (There’s a reason people were angry so many of his characters and ideas weren’t allowed to be used anymore), his writing actually had a ton of problems and some of his stories were outright stupid. Endgame gets the worst of it, going from a well regarded would-have-been ending for the comic that changed the series forever, to a subject of mockery for it’s numerous plot holes, weird character decisions and just overall messy story.

On the other hand, we have the Star Wars Prequels. People HATED those movies with a burning passion for years since The Phantom Menace proved a let down for many, and I mean they violently HATED everything about the movies and insisted they killed Star Wars as a whole.

Yet nowadays with the Force Awakens re-invigorating the franchise as a pop cultural juggernaut and yet splintering fan opinions further, many now admit that the outcry to the prequels was WAY overblown. While a lot of old school fans still hate them, many are now willing to admit they did have good ideas and moments and were more mediocre than bad, and there’s a generation of people who grew up on and love the movies more than the original trilogy (Myself included) that can more comfortably admit to liking them and discuss why out in the open without being attacked and ridiculed (Mostly).

The movies are still huge base breakers and will always have the reputation of being disappointing follow ups to the legendary original trilogy, but after Clone Wars proved to everyone that great things did and still are coming out of that era in the timeline, most are willing to admit that the movies weren’t as damaging as they once thought.

Both examples go to show that anything can happen with time. We can make predictions, but we don’t know for sure how something is going to be regarded five or ten or twenty years from now. Doctor Who was a complete joke after it’s initial cancellation and before the revival came around, now it’s a beloved mainstay of pop culture in and outside of my home country again. Even Dragon Ball GT, while not well regarded, is generally seen in a more forgiving light by more people now than it was for years after it’s initial airing here in the west.

Truth is for most of the time he’s been writing the manga, Toyotaro has actually been popular and liked by the fandom. Right up through the end of the Future Trunks saga portion of the manga, the man has had a swarm of Dragon Ball fans passionately insisting that his is the “True” canon of Super and superior to the anime in every way. There are still people that think that way.

It was only about the time he got to Goku Black’s first confrontation with Vegeta that a lot of people really started doubting him, thanks to how ill regarded manga Black is by most in the fandom, especially compared to how beloved he was in the anime even by people who don’t like the saga. And then came the revelation that Toyotaro re-used panels from his Dragon Ball AF fan manga for the series, and apparently incorporated some ideas from it, basically literally trying to canonize his fanfictions and apparently basing Goku Black’s personality on his OC Xicor (And as we’ve established, that worked out SO WELL for him), and suddenly a lot of people realized something was up.

Which paved the way for a lot of people that had been critical of the manga up to that point, such as @dragon-ball-meta here on tumblr, to shed some light on a lot of his questionable writing practises. His treatment of Goku in several instances that made him out to be more dismissive and in several cases annoyed with his children in particular starting to gain notoriety, which hit a breaking point when chapter 27 came out last month and caused an uproar over the “Goku didn’t know when Gohan was born and Vegeta called him a terrible father” nonsense that basically looked like it was canonizing the “lol, Goku’s a bad father” meme (The most disturbing part… Toyotaro has apparently said that Goku is his FAVOURITE character… yeah… let that sink in).

I think that was the final straw for many that basically turned the man into a joke for a huge portion of the fandom. It was one of the worst controversies I’ve seen in this fandom for quite some time, so naturally just about everyone was talking about it. The Japanese fandom I’ve heard was really ticked off about it especially, given Goku is still the most beloved character in the franchise over there, even being recently voted the most beloved anime hero by most age demographics in the country.

So, his reputation has already undergone a major shift since he started writing the manga. He still has his fans who will stick by him through thick and thin, but many people meet him and his work with a lot more scrutiny than they did before, and many people consider him a joke (Gochi fans especially).

If things continue the way they have been, I feel he’s likely to be regarded as “That fan artist that draws good stuff, but shouldn’t have been hired to write an official manga because while he had a few good ideas, he REALLY wasn’t up to the job” that’s what it’s looking like anyway.

Could he make a comeback? Who knows, despite my own outrage with the Goku moment last chapter and my issues with how the Zen Exhibition match is apparently being handled so far in the current chapter, the guy did have a good idea in giving us a more fleshed out introduction to the Gods of Destruction at the start of the Universe Survival saga. For all we know despite these issues, his handling of the rest of the story could actually turn out to be really great and people might prefer it over the anime. Anything’s possible, really. How many people thought My Little Pony’s latest iteration would become one of the most popular and talked about cartoons of the decade?

I kind of doubt that will happen. My problems I’ve already brought up aside, the manga cut out Krillin’s character arc, all of Gohan’s scenes, didn’t adapt the Resurrection F arc (Meaning it didn’t properly build up Frieza for his comeback here, so the manga can’t function as a self contained story with only the original Dragon Ball manga being necessary to understand things that happen in it), cut out the Hit two parter further building on his character and abilities, and further ironing out his rivalry and odd friendship with Goku, completely botched Frost’s character compared to the anime, while also screwing Piccolo over badly in their fight, as well as removing most moments featuring the supporting cast and even reducing Future Trunks to a foot note in a saga that was literally designed as an excuse to bring him back, and is known for rushing through the story compared to the anime in a bid to catch up considering how ridiculously behind Toyotaro has gotten thanks to the monthly schedule.

Which is an especially bad thing if he does that here, considering this saga has to accommodate the majority of the Z fighters getting character moments and good fights, including re-introducing Android 17 after a long absence, as well as introducing and fleshing out slews of new characters. And given his alterations to the Zen Exhibition match which really look like they’ll hamper Gohan’s role and screw Buu over completely, and his poor handling of the Super original characters that aren’t Beerus, Whis, Gowasu and Botamo in the last two sagas, I find it likely he’s not going to do a great job with most of them. Heck, I fully expect Krillin to get knocked out instantly as a joke rather than helping to knock out two opponents with Roshi and 18 and holding his own against Majora.

Again, I could be completely wrong and he could do a good job, and I’m just being judgemental and jumping to conclusions. But I’m finding it hard to be confident that he can make up for his set backs, even if he does end up doing some things better. Which isn’t saying much, his last two sagas he wrote did a few things better than the anime, and they were still worse stories overall.

If he does turn things around and actually writes a really good or even great saga and generally cleans up his act going forward, I could see Toyotaro making a comeback in the eyes of the fandom and being remembered in at least a more fond light than he is now. But if he screws up as badly as I fear he might and like he’s been doing lately, I can only imagine his standing in the fandom getting worse, and at best he’ll largely just be forgotten and ignored by most fans when Super finally concludes, or he’ll be a laughing stock. How that’ll effect his career in professional manga writing, I don’t know, but it likely won’t do him much good.

I guess this whole thing is a learning experience for fans wanting to start working on the actual properties they follow. Even if they’re extremely talented in one aspect (Toyotaro with his drawings) and have passion for what they’re doing, that doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to do a good job if they’re on writing duties, and they better put their absolute best efforts into things and think things through clearly, because their contributions WILL be scrutinized and they will have a significant impact on the franchise in general.

A lot of fan artists and fanfiction writers do great stuff and deserve to be respected, I know people who have written stuff that’s better than professionally published stories and in some cases are better than parts of the series the fans were adapting from. But there’s a REASON why fanfiction writers aren’t usually hired to write for the works they follow, and why it’s often considered a bad idea. And Toyotaro in many cases has done a good job of proving that point.

I really don’t hate the guy, whatever you may get from how I talk about him. I just want to make that clear for everyone, especially anyone who likes his work reading this. I kind of envy him as a fellow fan for getting to work on writing an official Dragon Ball story, I’d die for that opportunity, and I will still give him credit wherever it’s rightfully due, especially with his art. I just wish he thought things through better and didn’t make as many questionable choices despite having so much more time and being in a better position to plan things out than the anime writers had.

Will Toyotaro make a comeback? Good question, probably not, but we’ll see. I’ll say this though, for all his problems his adaption and the things going on in and around it is at least interesting to talk about, and at least we’ll have some nice artwork and drawings of all our favourite characters to look at however things turn out.

[cryptoriawebb]

Spider-man Homecoming: Review

Heads up: this isn’t for the super sensitive. 

I’m not gonna lie: I didn’t love this movie. I didn’t go into it expecting much but carried with me that hope the movie might prove those expectations wrong. It has thus far. This year has been one surprising but pleasant ride as far as super hero films go. Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and of course, the masterpiece that is Wonder Woman. Each film stood strongly on its own, raising the stakes for the genre in a way I haven’t seen in years.

In my personal opinion, the latest addition to the MCU felt a little lackluster in comparison. There were highlights of course: Michael Keaton, Peter’s unusual preference towards being Spider-man rather than viewing it as a responsibility, his relationship with Tony Stark, and this new/reimagined cast of classmates. That said…I almost felt like I was watching a Spider-man fanfiction, rather than a new, professional blockbuster installment. At this point, maybe it is fanfiction, or rather, since Marvel is in charge again, writers picking and choosing from previous “fanfiction” and crafting their own, alleged relevant interpretation. Fanfiction of fanfiction.

I’ve never seen so many new characters in a super-hero film than this one. They have existed of course, both in the MCU (Coulson as the most well-known example) and the X-men films (Nina, Peter’s little sister), this is just the first time, as I’ve said, I’ve seen so many in one setting. It’s incredibly strange for someone like me, someone who knows the Spider-man mythos better than almost any other hero/comic line, with the exception of the X-men.. I’m thinking specifically of Ned and Michelle. Ned I know was inspired by Ned Leeds, and I do think it would be cool to see him as a reimagined hobgoblin one day. Michelle…I loved her character, she’s fun and weird and something not seen too often in the super hero world, super-powered or otherwise. That said, and this is my personal opinion, I don’t particularly care for this implied idea she’s the new “Mary Jane.”  Generally when it comes to the MCU, Marvel has been pretty good about keeping iconic characters true to their comic book origins. Minor or less well-known (Jeri Hogarth, Kilgrave and Claire Temple as two primary examples), have been, in the past, Marvel’s way of exploring reimagined characters and including a more well-rounded universe without upsetting fans for whom certain characters left such an imprint.  

Before anyone says anything, I want to reiterate that I liked some of these changes: Queens New York in 2017 is very different from the Queens of Peter’s comic origins. I adored this reinterpreted Flash, although it took a bit to digest. Not only because he wasn’t the Flash I’d grown up with but his interests and methods of bullying were so different than what I remember. I liked that. I liked that there was friction within the same social circle. I liked that Peter was sort of an outcast in said social circle; when I was growing up I frequently felt that way. Sometimes I still do. I forget where I read this but someone mentioned this Flash chose to bully Peter verbally, and only verbally, which I think is definitely worth noting as well. We live in a different era now; physical bullies are far less prevalent than they were twenty years ago. Speaking as someone who was bullied (although not within my social circle, not really) I found it…not important but I liked that they went that route because verbal bullying can be just as damaging as anything physical. Just because you can’t see the scars doesn’t mean they aren’t there. So I liked this Flash, I liked that he was part of the Decathalon, I liked that part of his dislike seemed to stem from that dislike and I also liked that despite not knowing all the answers (which could have implied he cared less than his classmates) he cared enough to snap at Peter when he rejoined the team at the last minute.

To go along with that, I liked that Liz was also on the team. That she was fairly popular and well-liked, but didn’t fall into the cheerleader type, so to speak. She was that smart and pretty senior nerd whom the slightly nerdier Peter (and I loved that he and Ned were nerds among nerds; that word is so vast now) felt far above his league. I also liked that she didn’t treat him like a nobody and seemed to like him from the start. I don’t know…I’m not big on high school stories or high school romances but this particular interpretation felt more human than formulaic.

With that cleared up, I’m going to go back to Mary Jane really quickly:  I don’t care about romantic interests in super hero films and I never really liked Mary Jane. That said, I grew up with her looking a certain way and seeing someone who not only behaved but look so different and just having to accept this is ‘Mary Jane’ now when she’s very clearly her own character bothers me. Don’t groom me to believe one thing and just expect me to be okay with this. I love Michelle as her own character, I want to see more of her and I’d love for her to join Peter and Ned as the third member of their friendship circle but I don’t want her to be Mary Jane. I just don’t.

Michael Keaton was, as I said before, my favorite part of the movie. I didn’t latch onto him right away but I liked his approach: a middleclass dad engaged in weapons’ distribution felt very appropriate as this friendly webslinger’s first real villain. That is one thing Marvel handles well: exploring not only the heroes but what impact they leave on the rest of the public. This goes for both Shockers, too. Neither they or the Vulture have ever, in my opinion, been impressive enough to steal the show the same way someone like Loki or Magneto could, but capitalizing on their strengths to harness not only alien technology but hijack an invisible plane (much less an Avengers’ plane) was, in my opinion, a smart move. Spider-man is young, his powers are limited and these villains felt as though they were just out of his league enough to pose a threat and teach him something about, well, “power and responsibility.” What it means to be Spider-man.

I really didn’t see the twist coming, that he would end up being Liz’s father. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I love a good twist but they weren’t (to my knowledge) related in the comics…if they were, well, that’s my bad. Like I said, certain things I don’t mind changed. Others I do, if only because after a point the franchise movie starts feeling like an original movie, an original franchise and it’s not supposed to be. On the other hand…this is the second Spider-man reboot and I’m sure Disney/Sony wanted to make sure it stood on its own. So the question is, where is the middle ground? How do you create something original with a subject that’s been done over and over and over again? Teenage super heroes struggling to come into their own, struggling to get the girl and dodge the bully, all the while keeping secrets from their guardian…do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen anything featuring teenage super-hero situations? I don’t count X-men apocalypse because it didn’t deal with that so much as…that movie was as much the adult’s story as the teens and they were trying to stop a literal apocalypse. Spidey, however…it was like someone transported me back to the early-mid 2000s. Sky High, Danny Phantom, even X-men evolution and of course the first three spider-man films…that was the era, at least I think, of the teenage super-hero. Nowadays it feels more like an anomaly, at least in cinema.  There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, it was just…strange…and really made me feel my age.

Like I said though, there were some things I liked apart from Keaton: Peter reacted to the whole having super powers and being invited by the Avengers thing like I imagine most real-world teens would, the way I would’ve reacted when I was a teen if I were in that situation. He wasn’t the adult in a teenage body Toby McGuire and even Andrew Garfield took on after a while. He genuinely wanted to be Spider-man, he didn’t see the point in his studies if he got to be a world-renowned super-hero. It was really interesting to see him discover what previous Spider-men already harbored, and from Tony of all people. I love Tony, he’s probably my favorite character in the MCU and seeing him try to play dad was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I look forward to seeing that relationship develop.

I also…I’m not sure how I feel about both Ned and May discovering his identity so quickly. I guess it makes sense? Maybe? Teenagers, especially in this day and age, can’t sneak out the same way they used to. With May no longer a frail old woman, it would make sense she’d be more engaged in Peter’s life. Sally Field played some of that up, and Marissa Tomei continues it. I loved her relationship with Peter, side-note. Always have. She really did behave like an aunt. That aside, maybe the identity revelation was intentional…maybe secrecy has no place in this MCU. Spidey is just one small piece of a larger puzzle. Maybe they didn’t want to waste time with that kind of drama. The MCU never has been big on drama, with a handful of exceptions. Previous Spider-man films were more dramatic, even the Amazing series (which I maintain as my favorite interpretation.)

To summarize: this movie was different, but it wasn’t. Some changes worked, some didn’t. Some similarities worked, others didn’t. There was both life and fatigue in this movie, and a whole lot of pandering.

I would go see it again, if only to pay more attention (I saw it at a drive-in. Missed the Stan Lee cameo, ugh.) As far as Spider-man films go, I’d personally put it ahead of the McGuire films but behind Andrew Garfield’s. At least for now. I do want to see more of this Spider-man, see how his relationships develop and see what other characters they incorporate or invent (J.K. Simmons to return as Jameson, anyone?)

Please remember my opinions are my own. They are not meant to stir any political fire. Just the thoughts of a long-time super hero fan who never quite fit the mold.

[idealisticrealism]

So, Prison Break will be back in a matter of hours.

And to a lot of you, that may mean nothing. 

But it means a hell of a lot to me.

Prison Break first aired when I was fourteen. I don’t remember much about the night itself, but what I do remember is kicking up a real fuss when my brothers outvoted me on the choice of programming, the two of them commandeering the TV remote and forcing me to watch the pilot of this new prison show instead of the episode of House that I had apparently very much wanted to watch at the time. After that night, though, House certainly never took precedence in my schedule ever again, because I had fallen hard for Prison Break in a way that I never had with a show before (or since), my soul already eagerly sold to it before the credits were even rolling on the first episode. 

For the next four years of my life, it was my obsession, my joy, my greatest love, the one thing I could talk endlessly about (particularly any part related to MiSa, my OTP of all OTPs), and the mere thought of which would always make me happy. It led me to my first fan forum, to amazing friends (who I am still in touch with to this day), and also brought me into the world of fanfiction, which in itself became (and remains) a hugely important part of my life. 

As it went on, the show not only taught me life lessons like sacrifice and making difficult decisions and taking responsibility for your actions; it also taught me about myself, and what I wanted and valued and believed. And, as with any show that truly pulls you in, the characters were always far more than just actors spouting lines-- they were like family to me, and I celebrated and struggled and grieved with them through four incredible and traumatising seasons. I genuinely cried more tears for them and their pain than I ever did over anything else in my own (obviously very fortunate and privileged) life. 

The same year that Prison Break ended, I graduated high school and was accepted into medical school, a career that I had chosen for several very good reasons, not the least of which was because my still-forming teenage self had looked at Dr Sara Tancredi and had seen exactly the kind of woman I wanted to grow up to be. About five years after that, I was freshly graduated as a doctor, and finally got the chance to meet Went, Dom, and Sarah at my first Comic Con, and was able to thank them in person for the beautiful thing that they had helped create, and which-- in Sarah’s case in particular, of course-- had helped to create me. 

Today, I’m exactly a month shy of my twenty-sixth birthday, and have been a doctor for almost two and a half years, having even worked briefly in the prison system during that time, among many other things. I may not have the posters hanging on my wall anymore, and the cardboard box full of memorabilia and carefully folded cranes might be tucked away in a closet out of sight, but even still, this show has never left me. It’s in the “Be the change you want to see in the world” ring that I’ve worn every day for the last nine years. It’s in the tiny origami flower that has been tattooed on the back of my left ear since I was nineteen. It’s in the crane that was tattooed on my left wrist two years ago in Chicago, with those same old forum friends beside me, all coming together for the first time in our ten-year friendship to visit the city and the prison that had been the setting for the story that had brought us into each other’s lives. But even more than the marks on my skin, its mark is still inside me, a permanent building block in the foundation of who I am. 

In the last eight years, there’s only one thing about this show that I’ve always regretted, one thing that I have literally wished (on shooting stars, four-leaf clovers, birthday cakes, 11:11, dandelions-- you name it, I’ve wished on it) that I could change. Of course, I know that happy endings don’t always exist; that reality is hard and cruel and whatever, so supposedly TV should be too. But that never stopped me from wishing that there could have been just one more happy ending out there to give to this story.

Then, about two years ago, something happened. Stars-- both astronomical and celebrity-- aligned. Whispers like ‘reboot’ and ‘season 5′ floated around, and then suddenly, startlingly, my dream had started looking like a possibility. A possibility that eventually turned into a miraculous definite, the confirmation followed by months of filming and promoting that I promptly did my very best to ignore or hide from, because I was convinced that if I thought about it too much-- let myself hope too much-- it would somehow all disappear again; would revert to being merely an elaborate fantasy that I’d concocted in my head, a silly fangirl’s headcanon to rectify her OTP’s heartbreak as well as her own.

But tonight, it’s all becoming real. Tonight, for the first time in eight years, I will turn on my TV and see my character-family again; will experience that old feeling afresh. And though there’s certainly always the chance that the new season will somehow be a disappointment, or will only add more pain, it’s a chance I’m so very willing to take.  

A chance that I’m so, so grateful even exists.

So, if you can, tune in tonight (9/8c on Fox). Even if you’ve never watched before, even if you think that frankly I’m probably just overhyping it and it’s actually nowhere near as great as I claim. Do it anyway, and show the network and showrunners that what they have done means something to the viewers out there-- to the people like me, who got far more from this show than just a fascinating story, who might have been a very different person today if they’d managed to wrestle the TV remote off of their brothers on that one night a dozen years ago. And who knows; a success for Prison Break now, like with The X-Files and Gilmore Girls before it, could mean reboots-- and therefore justice-- for even more beloved shows down the line, and even more opportunities for other fans to re-experience the things that helped to shape them into who they are.

And, well, this moment may have been eight long years in the making-- but whatever happens, it was worth it.

[budapestalloveragain]

~ this or that ~ 

RULES: ANSWER all questions, ADD one question of your own and then TAG as many people as you like!

dia @heartsalmighty tagged me tysm !! i love and hate these tags haha bc i think they’re fun but also i’m literally the most indecisive person omg xD

*it’s long so i’m gonna put it on under read more*

live session or studio session? i mean i always wanna see people live but like to listen to i prefer studio usually coke or pepsi? i don’t like either lol disney or dreamworks? disney !! coffee or tea? neither >.< books or movies? ....honestly movies at this point bc i have such a short attention span but i really love books too ahhhh i like them both a lot  windows or mac? mac (i don’t know how to use anything else oops) dc or marvel? lol take a wild guess (i’ll give you a hint it’s not dc) xbox or playstation? ummmm i don’t really know i don’t think i’ve ever played either haha i just did wii xD night owl or early riser? night owl lol i’m always awake at weird hours  cards or chess? depends on what card game ? chess is p cool i actually know how to play so that’s helpful  chocolate or vanilla? depends on my mood tbh but probably chocolate vans or converse? converseeeee especially the red ones  star wars or star trek? i’ve only seen one star trek actually so i think i’m a little biased but like ...star wars all the way one episode per week or marathoning? okay see i’m impatient so marathoning but also i have the shortest attention span (see: books or movies?) so in that way one episode per week is kinda good for me haha i get distracted so easily xD i’ve done both like obviously i watch on netflix n stuff but then i watch htgawm when it airs so like ...both are fine  heroes or villains? both are cool ? leaning a little more towards heroes though john williams or hans zimmer? i hate this question literally how dare you but also i love hans zimmer with a passion sooooo disneyland/disney world or six flags? i’ve been to neither of them haha but i think i’d have more fun at disney just bc even though i don’t like a lot of rides it has a lot of other stuff to look at xD forest or sea? i like both ummm probably the forest though, i’m more used to it & sometimes the ocean makes me feel unsteady flying or reading minds? flying !! (teleporting would be the best though okay like just so we’re clear here) twin peaks or northern exposure? yeah same @dia i’ve not seen either of these :P  harry potter or lord of the rings? harry potter for sure (i’ve seen lotr too though, they’re such cinematic masterpieces) cake or pie? (ice cream) cake you are banished to a desert island, which benedict cumberbatch character would you choose to take with you? wait this is such a good question lol ummm probably doctor strange bc he could get me out of there train or cruise ship? train, boats make me nervous brian cox or neil degrasse-tyson? idk who brian cox is (i googled him and i still don’t know) + neil degrasse-tyson is great lol (although like ...bill nye...) wizard of oz or alice in wonderland? alice in wonderland omg yes yes yes i love that story so much i just fanfiction or fanart? fic haha the hunger hames - books or movies? the books but also catching fire was really well done also that cast is lovely just as an aside see the future of travel to the past? oooh i’d love to see a lot of things in the past like “if only i was alive then” moments you know ? but it’d be kinda cool to see how the future turns out too haha although at this point i’m kinda scared so i’d probably stick with the past han solo or luke skywalker? han solooooo (luke is cool too i just like ...don’t remember that much about him even though he was literally the main character lol sorry like i said short attention span) lilacs or sunflowers? both are nice ?? lilacs i guess.... spring or autumn? autumn.... i think ... campfire or fireplace? fireplace, campfire includes way too many bugs lol french fries or onion rings? french fries (the skinny kind)  truth or dare? truth haha there’s nothing interesting going on in my life anyways winter or summer? summer bc winter here is just like ...no vampires or werewolves? werewolves always seemed cooler to me, vampires are a little unsettling red or blue? red !!! it’s lucky hehe eyes or lips? *eyes nose lips plays in the background* ummm eyes burgers or sandwiches? oh god i love both ...sandwiches have such variety !! but burgers are so good ...probably burgers....  i just love food though xD friends to lovers or enemies to lovers trope? friends to lovers ^-^ pizza or pasta? pizzaaaaa ancient rome or ancient greece? ancient greece all the way omg i would love to honestly foxes or wolves? wolves.... ? no big preference i guess mermaids or dragons? dRAGONS BABYYYYYYY (i’m a dragon hehe) sci-fi or fantasy? fantasy i guess ? depends on how you define them i guess watch a film at home or in a theater? i like watching them in the theater haha it’s more fun that way (for me) fireproof or no more sad songs? oh yikes i haven’t heard no more sad songs so fireproof it is bands or individual singers? i like them both but if you haven’t noticed i kinda tend to be drawn a little more towards groups haha sweet or salty? saltyyyy except for ice cream monotype corsiva or comic sans? i don’t even know what monotype corsiva is lol comic sans is the worst™ but at the same time the best™ (if u know what i mean) so that’s fine turtles or frogs? turtles !! blur or oasis? yIKES i haven’t listened to either ...but i think oasis did wonderwall ? so i’ll say them baseball or football? ahhh neither :P international football if that counts lol i love soccer/futbol/football bowling date or movie date? movie date (i just watched bts run ep 19 though and i can’t stop laughing thinking about all of them bowling oh my god) fruits or vegetables? i love fruit hehe rain or sun? both are fine ? we got a lot of both today actually haha like in quick succession too xD gotta love new england lol tattoos or piercings? tattoos... i think... phone call or text? texting (phone calls are way faster though) animated films or live action remakes? animated ...i’m so skeptical about most remakes/sequels/reboots/etc chandler or joey? ...i’ve never seen friends i’M SO SORRY AHHH  have all the boys reunite for a 1d tour but never go on solo tours or have all of them do solo tours but never reunite as a band for a tour? god ummmm probably the 1d tour bc like look irl they’re all already about to go on solo tours haha + mitam is musically the best album they’ve done and i really want(ed) to see them do that live tv show or movie? ummmm gah that’s hard ...honestly tv just has a lot more time to work with which means that a lot of the time (not always though omg dEFINITELY not always) the quality is better

MY QUESTION IS: ramen or korean bbq?

i’m gonna tag ejay @thriftmom and jori @yellowhalcyon if u want to ^-^ no worries if u don’t and feel free to do it even if i haven’t tagged you !!