#I'm just spitballing here and hoping something will stick with someone

[all-lars-bars]

Marble Hornets Spider-Man AU where Tim is the Spider-Man (Maybe named, like, the Masked Spider or something).

He got bit back at Rosswood when he was at the hospital and has been adjusting ever since. Brian is the one who had the bright idea of Tim being a Superhero.

[deusvervewrites]

I think you're right with Bakugo losing his quirk being something interesting for the series. I get that the intended reading (or at least a rather common interpretation in the fandom) of his character is supposed to be that he's generally completed his redemption, but to me it feels like its still got a lot to cover, mostly because I don't think that it dug that deep into his mindset or really made him actually reevaluate Why he wanted to be a hero.

I'm not saying he didn't have a character arc, its just that what arc was there was very slow paced, and kinda makes it look painfully slower when you compare it to the constant escalation of the rest of the plot. In theory its an interesting look into how changing as a person comes slowly, but in practice there's really only so long I can stand watching some little dick waffle about on whether or not he should treat people with basic human decency when he's looking to take on a position of power.

Like yeah he starts to respect his classmates, but to me it feels more like that respect came solely from recognizing their power rather than realizing that everyone deserves respect. It would be a solid start to an improvement arc! But no, its at what a lot of people think to be is the peak of Bakugo's redemption.

Especially in regards to Midoriya. Everyone cheers on the fact that he now sees him as a rival and even finds joy in their competition, but it currently falls flat to me because. its just validating Bakugo's power-based worldview now that Midoriya has a quirk. like sure he respects his heroic skills but does he respect him as a person?

But now, if he's lost his quirk... He's going to have to fully confront How Exactly He Fucked Up. No rationalizing that someone deserves his respect because they're as powerful as him and can compete against him in a game he's gonna win! Its either he rethinks his entire worldview or he wallows in his own misery at being quirkless, and there's no way that the story will go the second route, especially if Midoriya's own quirklessness sticks.

And honestly? that would be the most fulfilling ending to his character to me. Bakugo not being a hero would probably piss a rather vocal portion of the fanbase off, especially if Midoriya pulls off becoming a quirkless hero, but it would be very satisfying to me in particular, so. Yeah.

(OOPS this got long. My bad. I just started typing and it just spilled out)

I mean. I wrote a 1300 word essay on the problems I have with Bakugou's character arc. And like I said, his dialogue is worded once again to place value in Midoriya's Quirk over him. Personally I was hoping that Bakugou would be the Quirkless Hero because it would be a poetic inversion of how the series started while also showing a mindset that doesn't put that kind of value into Quirks.

Bakugou has some really good moments. The Final War has done a lot of good with him and addressed most of the issues I've had with his character overall. But with Bakugou you never know when you're gonna get a moment where he, I dunno, spitballing here, overhears that Midoriya lost his Quirk and starts crying because they can't compete anymore. Or physically attacks Midoriya for slapstick comedy. Wouldn't that be a weird writing decision? Making a joke about how Bakugou still attacks Midoriya? Over 250 chapters in? That'd be fucking weird.

[oflgtfol]

MarvelDC anon x5 sorry im back again I just wanted to say I agree 100% with everything you say and don’t rly have anything to add there that isnt just recycling your points. It’s genuinely fucking crazy how the entire point of the superhero in 90% of cases is that they are vigilantes who operate outside of the legal system and yet so many of them are given plot lines about how the cops or the military are Awesome. Or like will show them buddy buddy with cops or the government. LIKE STOP ITTTT. STOP ITTTTT. And most of the time too it’s for characters where them being hyper connected with the government etc makes their overall story Worse. Ill use flash as an example bc You Know that guy but I LOVE flash I love him as a disabled character struggling w addiction issues for personal reasons BUT HIM LOSING HIS LEGS LIKE SHOOTING PEOPLE IN THE SWANA REGION AND THEN BECOMING A GOVERNMENT GUY IS SO FUCKING ASSSSSSS IT MAKES HIM WORSE AS A CHARACTER AND A PERSON IN A WAY THAT ISNT INTERESTING BECAUSE THEY NEVER SAY ANYTHING INTERESTING ABOUT IT!!!!! Like why the fuck did Flash even become disabled in regard to Going To Commit Imperialism For The U. S. A like NYC gets destroyed on the daily!!!! Have him lose his legs by a building falling on top of him!!!! Im spitballing ideas here but why wasn’t Venom Flash uhhhhhh Him Losing his legs in an event like that, in conjunction with him saving someone else, since this is the era of Symby and Eddie's breakup Symby is slithering along + sees this and helps him out, bc you know they can make their own choices and do what they want and maybe they wanna be a hero too even for a moment, then like maybe a few months later or whatever They Meet again and Symby is like hey….. I felt something when we bonded for that brief time. Im going through something rough too right now (The Divorce) so why don’t we try something new together. AND NOW BOOM. you can have Flash as Venom. Now without the stupid venom as addiction metaphor too! Like if you really fucking want you can include stuff about the government trying to manipulate them or whatever but as a whole this would have been so much better of an angle to start venom flash with but NO that we DIDNT GET Because Of The Military Complex meaning We Cant Ever Have Good Things

i know this is so controversial among the venom fans but like i'm really not that attached to flash lmfao i know nothing about him he's just some guy to me i just know he's so much better than mac gargan cuz by god that was a dark time for venom comics.

so now i'm the one nodding along with you and not adding anything lol. i trust you to come up with a better backstory for him because i literally don't know anything about him beyond the vaguest outline. i don't even know what war he fought in that he lost his legs to i dont know Anything. eddie some little absolute freak to me but flash is just some guy

Like if you really fucking want you can include stuff about the government trying to manipulate them or whatever but as a whole this would have been so much better of an angle to start venom flash with but NO that we DIDNT GET Because Of The Military Complex meaning We Cant Ever Have Good Things

i do have to say though that this is totally how i thought venom 2011 was going to go. the first like, four-ish issues got my hopes up so much. i really honestly thought it was going to be drawing parallels between symby and flash how they are ultimately just tools of the government, just weapons that can be discarded in pushing the military's agenda.

this whole page drove me insane at the time and it still kinda does. the way flash is lying directly to his superior to stay with symby longer despite how much he's been drilled that being with the symbiote too long is a danger. they aren't friends yet this early but there's still this impulse to stick with it. and it's because they're parallels!!! the symbiote is quite literally being treated as a mindless tool by the government - it's deprived of all rights that a sentient, sapient being requires. it's trapped and it's being forced into serving and fighting on behalf of a government that doesn't even care for it. likewise, flash is being given the illusion of choice, and to some extent he still does have a choice, but he's being so manipulated by the government here that really he is also just a mindless tool for them - or at least, they want him to be mindless about it. the final fucking panel at the bottom of the final page is crazy.

it was such a strong start to a run that i was very apprehensive about due to aforementioned lack of knowledge of flash as a character, and my general fed-up-ness with the way the comics had been handling venom and eddie in general during that irl time period. so i was so so hoping that it would be taking a blatant and staunch anti-military stance, or even at the bare minimum if it was even still done in a liberal way, as long as there was still SOME criticism of the military complex i would be jumping for joy. and the idea of flash and symby then also bonding during all that?!! crazy. but then it just kinda. goes off the fucking rails halfway through that run/??? like demons and hell and satan kinda off the rails. absolute bonkers. i need to reread venom 2011 actually i barely remember it it was like a fever dream to me. could have been because i descended into madness shortly after i read it but i digress

[shkspr]

hi. on your post where you may or may not have ended on 'moffat is either your angel or your devil' did you have maybe an elaboration on that somewhere that i could possibly hear about. i'm very much a capaldi era stan and i've never tried to defend the matt smith era even though it had delightful moments sometimes so i wonder where that puts me. i'd love to hear your perspective on moffat as a person with your political perspective. -nicole

hi ok sorry i took so long to respond to this but i dont think you know how LOADED this question is for me but i am so happy to elaborate on that for you. first a few grains of salt to flavor your understanding of the whole situation: a. im unfairly biased against moffat bc im a davies stan and a tennant stan; b. i still very much enjoy and appreciate moffat era who for many reasons; and c. i hate moffat on a personal level far more than i could ever hate his work.

the thing is that its all always gonna be a bit mixed up bc i have to say a bunch of seemingly contradictory things in a row. for instance, a few moffat episodes are some of my absolute favorites of the rtd era, AND the show went way downhill when moffat took over, AND the really good episodes he wrote during the rtd era contained the seeds of his destruction.

like i made that post about the empty child/the doctor dances and it holds true for blink and thats about it bc the girl in the fireplace and silence in the library/forest of the dead are good but not nearly on the same level, and despite the fact that i like them at least nominally, they are also great examples of everything i hate about moffat and how he approached dw as a whole.

basically. doctor who is about people. there are many things about moffats tenure as showrunner that i think are a step up from rtd era who! actual gay people, for one! but i think that can likely be attributed mostly to an evolving Society as opposed to something inherent to him and his work, seeing as rtd is literally gay, and the existence of queer characters in moffats work doesnt mean the existence of good queer characters (ill give him bill but thats it!)

i have a few Primary Grievances with moffat and how he ran dw. all of them are things that got better with capaldi, but didnt go away. they are as follows:

moffat projects his own god complex onto the doctor

rtd era who had a doctor with a god complex. you cant ever be the doctor and not have a god complex. the problem with moffats era specifically is that the god complex was constant and unrepentant and was seen as a fundamental personality trait of the doctor rather than a demon he has to fight. he has the Momence where you feel bad for him, the Momence where he shows his humility or whatever and youre reminded that he doesnt want to be the lonely god, but those are just. moments. in a story where the doctor thinks hes the main character. rtd era doctor was aware that he wasnt the main character. he had to be an authority sometimes and he had to be the loner and he had to be sad about it, but he ultimately understood that he was expendable in a narrative sense.

this is how you get lines like “were the thin fat gay married anglican marines, why would we need names as well?” from the same show that gave you the gut punch moment at the end of midnight when they realize that nobody asked the hostess for her name. and on the one hand, thats a small sticking point, but on the other hand, its just one small example of the simple disregard that moffat has for humanity.

incidentally, this is a huge part of why sherlock sucked so bad: moffats main characters are special bc theyre so much bigger and better than all the normal people, and thats his downfall as a showrunner. he thinks that his audience wants fucking sheldon cooper when what they want is people.

like, ok. think of how many fantastic rtd era eps are based in the scenario “what if the doctor wasnt there? what if he was just out of commission for a bit?” and how those eps are the heart of the show!! bc theyre about people being people!! the thing is that all of the rtd era companions would have died for the doctor but he understood and the story understood that it wasnt about him.

this is like. nine sending rose home to save her life and sacrifice his own vs clara literally metaphysically entwining her existence w the doctor. ten also sending rose with her family to save her life vs river being raised from infancy to be obsessed w the doctor and then falling in love w him. martha leaving bc she values herself enough to make that decision vs amy being treated like a piece of meat.

and this is simultaneously a great callback to when i said that moffats episodes during the rtd era sometimes had the same problems as his show running (bc girl in the fireplace reeks of this), and a great segue into the next grievance.

moffat hates women

he hates women so fucking much. g-d, does steven moffat ever hate women. holy shit, he hates women. especially normal human women who prioritize their normal human lives on an equal or higher level than the doctor. moffat hated rose bc she wasnt special by his standards. the empty child/the doctor dances is the nicest he ever treated her, and she really didnt do much in those eps beyond a fuck ton of flirting.

girl in the fireplace is another shining example of this. youve got rose (who once again has another man to keep her busy, bc moffat doesnt think shes good enough for the doctor) sidelined for no reason only to be saved by the doctor at the last second or whatever. and then youve got reinette, who is pretty and powerful and special!

its just. moffat thinks that the doctor is as shallow and selfish as he is. thats why he thinks the doctor would stay in one place with reinette and not with rose. bc moffat is shallow and sees himself in the doctor and doesnt think he should have to settle for someone boring and normal.

not to mention rose met the doctor as an adult and chose to stay with him whereas reinette is. hm. introduced to the doctor as a child and grows up obsessed with him.

does that sound familiar? it should! bc it is also true of amy and river. and all of them are treated as viable romantic pairings. bc the only women who deserve the doctor are the ones whose entire existence revolves around him. which includes clara as well.

genuinely i think that at least on some level, not even necessarily consciously, that bill was a lesbian in part bc capaldi was too old to appeal to mainstream shippers. like twelve/clara is still a thing but not as universally appealing as eleven/clara but i am just spitballing. but i think they weighed the pros and cons of appealing to the woke crowd over the het shippers and found that gay companion was more profitable. anyway the point is to segue into the next point, which is that moffat hates permanent consequences.

moffat hates permanent consequences

steven moffat does not know how to kill a character. honestly it feels like hes doing it on purpose after a certain point, like he knows he has this habit and hes trying to riff on it to meme his own shit, but it doesnt work. it isnt funny and it isnt harmless, its bad writing.

the end of the doctor dances is so poignant and so meaningful and so fucking good bc its just this once! everybody lives, just this once! and then he does p much the same thing in forest of the dead - this one i could forgive, bc i do think that preserving those peoples consciousnesses did something for the doctor as a character, it wasnt completely meaningless. but everything after that kinda was.

rory died so many times its like. get a hobby lol. amy died at least once iirc but it was all a dream or something. clara died and was erased from the doctors memory. river was in prison and also died. bill? died. all of them sugarcoated or undone or ignored by the narrative to the point of having effectively no impact on the story. the point of a major character death is that its supposed to have a point. and you could argue that a piece of art could be making a point with a pointless death, ie. to put perspective on it and remind you that bad shit just happens, but with moffat the underlying message is always “i can do whatever i want, nothing is permanent or has lasting impact ever.”

basically, with moffat, tragedy exists to be undone. and this was a really brilliant, really wonderful thing in the doctor dances specifically bc it was the doctor clearly having seen his fair share of tragedy that couldnt be helped, now looking on his One Win with pride and delight bc he doesnt get wins like this! and then moffat proceeded to give him the same win over and over and over and over. nobody is ever dead. nobody is ever unable to be saved. and if they are, really truly dead and/or gone, then thats okay bc moffat has decided that [insert mitigating factor here]*

*the mitigating factor is usually some sort of computerized database of souls.

i can hear the moffat stans falling over themselves to remind me that amy and rory definitely died, and they did - after a long and happy life together, they died of old age. i dont consider that a character death any more than any other character choosing to permanently leave the tardis.

and its not just character deaths either, its like, everything. the destruction of gallifrey? never mind lol! character development? scrapped! the same episode four times? lets give it a fifth try and hope nobody notices. bc he doesnt know how to not make the doctor either an omnipotent savior or a self-pitying failure.

it is in nature of doctor who, i believe, for the doctor to win most of the time. like, it wouldnt be a very good show if he didnt win most of the time. but it also wouldnt be a very good show if he won all of the time. my point is that moffats doctor wins too often, and when he doesnt win, it feels empty and hollow rather than genuinely humbling, and you know hes not gonna grow from it pretty much at all.

so like. again, i like all of doctor who i enjoy all of it very much. i just think that steven moffat is a bad show runner and a decent writer at times. and it is frustrating. and im not here to convince or convert anyone im just living my truth. thank you for listening.

[kennyswurvegurl]

Ok I've changed my mind this one down here is FUCKING STUPID and I should have kept my mouth shut I thought I was onto something but no ⬇️

THIS ONE IS STILL IN THE GAME THO I REFUSE TO GIVE IT UP ⬇️

I heard that another user on here and matpat are on the same train of thought you know its something (still havent watched the GT videos tho I'm too confident of my own superiority (/j) and refuse to believe in GlamMike or GregBot)

I think the blob has something to do with the missing residents and any scraps that have been left over from previous locations. Possibly an attempt to recreate Afton's older work except more fucked up this time. idk I haven't thought much of it im gonna leave that to be someone else's problem.

I'm also starting to think that patient 46 is more of a young teenager (13-15ish?) than a small child. It would still explain the childish language used by the therapist, the lies about their past, and a few things about their connection pizzaplex maybe. I'm still not 100% sure whether 46 is truly Vanny/if Vanny is a relative of Vanessa, but I feel the scales are starting to tip a bit more. I still don't think 46 is Vanessa and Vanny is Vanessa tho. It just seems so easy and full of holes. But then again so are my theories so idk only time will tell I guess.

also wtf is up with the SL room set up in the walls? I'm not even talking about the code either. Like, who knew what the inside of Mike's house looked like and why recreate the TV room in the fucking walls? Maybe it was just an easter egg type thing but it feels a bit specific. The butter makes me lean towards easter egg tho. I kinda miss that meme

Also, building off my previous conjecture of the new characters filling in the open roles left in Pizza Sim, Freddy may represent Henry. So far all I got is they both set fire to a building. I think Freddy's protectiveness could parallel Henry's drive as well. idek if I'm reaching at this point. A solid link will probably come to me in the middle of the night in a cold sweat anyway.

I'm also sticking firmly to my theory that Glitchtrap is just an AI that learned to be human in the worst possible way and Burntrap was an attempt to get him a physical form like William once had. The blob also may or may not have something to do with failed attempts that may or may not exist idk im spitballing here.

I think it'll be wise to wait for some updates that add back cut features or at least some DLC before making concrete assumptions about anything. I just hope im right about at least one thing.

Still gonna use this blog and my discord as an echo chamber tho ok til next time

[professortennant]

Hiya, I wanted to ask you something. It seems like it's so easy for you to write, and you can't NOT write. But I, a long time self proclaimed writer, can't often make myself write more than 200 words at a time. It feels like I'm forcing every word out of me, even if I do want to write. Maybe I'm just not meant to write?

You’re totally right--more times than not, it is easy for me to write. I think it probably helps that both of my jobs revolve around writing/reading/editing. I am constantly surrounded by the parts of the overall process. And you’re also spot-on, I do have to write. Otherwise, I literally will not be able to sleep and focus and all I can think about during the day and night are these characters and scenarios.

BUT. 

I have days--long strings of days that sometimes turns into weeks--where writing fic simply doesn’t happen for me. It comes out muddy and repetitive and, frankly, painful to read and write. Sometimes I post those things anyway (my latest S/J porn battle fic is one of the weakest thing I’ve ever written, imo). 

I guess, it’s overall kinda hard for me to give advice because I genuinely do not think too hard about writing or how to write; it naturally comes pretty easy to me. Like, I’m not trying to brag or anything, but it is just something I don’t have to work that hard at (I mean, I’m not saying I’m writing the next great american novel, but I can manage a couple thousand words of fanfic). 

BUT.

A few tips, maybe:

READ. R E A D. R!!!E!!!A!!!D!!! The more you read, the better writer and writing experience you have. It increases your vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure. It helps give you ideas and inspiration. It keeps your brain in the story realm. READ! Fic, magazines, novels, the back of a shampoo bottle while you poop--I don’t care. READ.

Use pen and paper if your muse if feeling stuck (at least to get you started). That is, weirdly, always my trick for both (a) unsticking the muse and (b) getting the bones down for my story. Because when you transfer from pen/paper to computer, you’ll automatically start adding and editing here and there.

Dude, have fun. The second I feel pressured or obligated to write or get something out, I completely shut down. I write for me and me only. You know that 2-cake theory post? I’m baking myself a whole goddamn bakery. I write the things I love and the things I want to read and if people want to read them, too? G R E A T. If not? That’s totally cool, too.

Find yourself a sounding board. If I’m in your fandom, I’m totally happy to be that person! If you’ve got friends in the fandom, talk to them! Start spitballing headcanons and writing little mini fics (just 3-5 sentences) and see what sticks. The sheer volume of fic and headcanons and whatnot that @mystupidumbflyboy and I shoot at each other is ridiculous--and it is 100% the basis of a lot of my fics. 

Maybe try finding a writing group? Find people to cheerlead for you and help you?

And, if at the end of all that, it still feels like writing is painful and hard and it just isn’t happening for you? Then, maybe, just maybe, writing isn’t for you? An author I adore (Seanan McGuire) said that to someone once who asked for writing advice (who had a similar problem you are having) and I was shocked she said that! But it’s true. Sometimes we have stories in our heads--phenomenal stories--that we just can’t get on the page. 

Maybe you have a gift for oral storytelling? Try telling your story out loud and recording it. Maybe you can tell your story a different way.

If you want to talk more, please feel free to shoot me a message! I hope anything that I said helped! 

[majestyrising]

*flails* hey, would you mind giving some like... tips? or something? on flight-rising related rps? I don't know what advice I'm looking for exactly rip ;;

I can indeed! I don’t how useful it’s going to be since I’ll have to hit ya with a disclaimer first: I only rp with one person consistently 8′) That’s how it’s been for coming up on two years now. HOWEVER I know that most people don’t have someone they can turn to with every single thought, so instead I’ll go through what I think helps develop ocs and how you can do that.

So, the thing about rp is you need someone who is receptive to your lore. This goes both ways. You don’t want to rp with somewhere who doesn’t engage you. It’s not rude, sometimes people’s writing senses just don’t click and that’s fine. Don’t make yourself write if you’re not engaged, you won’t get anywhere. What you’re looking for is someone who tells you about a character and you think ‘wow, I want to explore that/I want to explore that using my own character.’ I know that’s a big ask, and I know a whole lot of this community are socially awkward loners but I’m serious, if you don’t engage with someone until you FIND the person/people/type of writing you mesh with, then you’re going to stay at square one. I’m a socially awkward loner too, so if I can do it, anyone can!

As for rp itself, here’s another spoiler for you: I don’t write coherent narratives when I rp. They happen once in a blue moon where we settle into one arc and go through it, the most recent that comes to mind is a good month where it was just Quincy and Killian and a whole storyline. But, most of the time, I (I’m probably going to interchange I and we here oops) it’s flitting from place to place. Don’t feel like you have to stick to one thing. If your mind has moved, move with it! Don’t dwell. You can always come back, you can always write in the past and the future, never be afraid to postulate ‘what if’ scenarios and spitball, never be afraid to decide you don’t like something you did or remove a trait because it’s not sticking anymore. 

If we’re saying the goal is a.) build complex characters and b.) have fun talking to someone else then that’s really my biggest tip. Don’t get bogged down in protocol! Change characters, change scene, change setting, skip ten years down the line, skip ten years back! What if [x] met [y] instead! What if [y] stabbed [x]! What if [z] introduces [x] and [y] during a party! Your possibilities here are literally endless.

On a little side note, here are some things I find useful for inspiring myself! Looking at my fav pieces of media, and looking at my favourite tropes and archetypes to cherry pick, reading someone else’s writing, working out what a character is Not, and throwing them at an already established character of mine or someone else’s.

I would say there’s no wrong way to rp but that’s actually not true. Don’t assume what someone else’s character will do, don’t play the ‘my ocs are stronger than yours’ card, don’t corner someone into a certain interaction because that’s a dagger to creativity, if you want to railroad then you should write on your own. Rp isn’t about being linear, as I’m hammering on again and again, it’s about exploring!

I hope that helped