#TFR story

[thetransfemininereview]

THE 60-HOUR TRANSFEM SHORT STORY CHALLENGE

There’s just 2.5 days left in the 2024 TFR Awards. Feel like you haven’t read enough to vote? It’s not too late!

Before the Dec. 27th deadline at 11:59pm EST, I challenge you to read as many of these stories as possible and vote for your favorite! 🔥

You can consider this an unofficial longlist. Try to read 3-5 stories - don’t just vote for the first one you read!

Voting link here:

[winters-orbit]

I have even more thoughts now that I've seen tfr a second time. But the criticism I keep coming back to is people saying the ending was unsatisfying. To me it was so clear that there were only two options for the end of this movie, what we got or Ethan six feet under in a body bag.

It's exactly what Luther said at the beginning, 'what are we going to do, retire?' There's no perfect little story book happy ending for Ethan. He is going to keep doing all of this until it kills him because this is just what his life is now. There are so many points in this movie, particularly the entire sequence leading up to and inside the sevastobol where it's so clear that Ethan has accepted his death. He goes into that expecting to die, to the point where he even looks surprised when he wakes up with Grace.

Ethan was never going to get an ending where the government gives him a medal or he gets to stop doing this and retire or whatever other shit people think would be satisfying. It's hammered home multiple times throughout the film with 'we live and die in the shadows, for those we hold close and those we'll never know'.

It was never going to be satisfying, because if anything this movie was the explanation of the tragedy of Ethan Hunt. While the world gets to sleep easy because of him, he never will.

[thahxa]

at the same time i think it's a useful accounting metric! if you currently take money from the drawer but in the future you might need to take more money from your paycheck and/or borrow from your friends you might consider some less fancy food!

The Social Security Trust Fund is more an accounting of how much extra we taxed for social security than it is anything like an investment unit. If it "runs out", that means we either change how much we tax or we change how much we pay out, all of which is a future problem

[tf-rechargeandrebound]

Ok I redesigned them for the last goddamn time

TFR Autobot designs ^^ (I'm sorry if the colours look fucked up idk how to fix exporting stuff)

Character profiles beneath the cut

Optimus Prime

Allegiance: Autobot

Alt mode: Freightliner semi truck

Occupation: Autobot commander, current Prime

Likes: Cybertronian history, reading, Earth’s general vibe, long drives, peace and quiet

Dislikes: His position as Prime (he’s not very vocal about it though), snakes, icy roads, large social functions, taking breaks from all that gosh darn paperwork

Once a humble dock worker named Orion Pax, Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobot Resistance, and is being counted on to save his home from the Decepticons. Any Autobot would describe him as wise, kind, stoic, somewhat stern, and a great leader who can sometimes get grumpy when stressed or tired. His most trusted officers and family, such as Elita-1, know that he’s also rather socially awkward and a bit of a bookworm. He cares deeply for every single Autobot under his command, and has grown to care for Earth as well. He generally dislikes needlessly reckless behaviour from those around him, as he can’t bear to see even more lives lost to the war. He often doubts himself, his role as Prime, and his actions, even if they were right. At the end of the day, Optimus wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his loved ones.

Elita-1

Allegiance: Autobot

Alt mode: F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet

Occupation: Autobot commander

Likes: Astronomy, meteorology, flying, Earth rain, stargazing

Dislikes: Megatron (everyone hates him but she hates him on a very personal level), confined spaces, caves, snowstorms

Before she was Elita-1, she was Ariel, and before she was Ariel, she was a miner designated AR-1. After escaping the mines when she was young, she was taken in by an old dock boss named Kup who offered her a job at the docks, where she met a young mech named Orion Pax. Elita and Optimus Prime are both co-commanders and conjunx enduras. She’s much more of a social jokester than he is, and is extremely popular amongst the troops. She’s cunning, loyal, intelligent, and a fierce warrior who always stands up for what’s right and puts others before herself, all while being someone who’s willing to lend an ear to anyone who needs to vent. She’s truly the definition of an Autobot.

Bumblebee

Allegiance: Autobot

Alt mode: 2017 Volkswagen Beetle

Occupation: Special Operations scout

Likes: Earth pop culture (especially video games and 80s music), open roads, making friends, adventure, summertime, stories about pre-war Cybertron, carwashes

Dislikes: Being teased for his height, sharp objects, confinement, failing a task or mission

Bumblebee is one of the youngest and most promising soldiers in the Resistance. Raised by Optimus and Elita, he chose to join the fight against the Decepticons once he came of age, a decision that they respect but don’t fully approve of. His oddly small stature makes him ideal for espionage-based missions, and he’s nearly mastered using his size to his advantage while in direct combat. Bee is an extremely upbeat and friendly bot, and while he may be small, he has a big spark that cares deeply for everyone around him. He often recklessly puts himself in danger to protect others, which usually gets him injured, but the injuries are worth it, in his opinion. Overall, Bumblebee is a dependable, determined, and brave Autobot, just like his caretakers.

Wheeljack

Allegiance: Autobot

Alt mode: 2015 Chevrolet Silverado

Occupation: Autobot Science Division, Chief Engineer

Likes: Science, inventing, researching, stunt driving (he doesn’t do it much anymore, though), lab work, reading scientific reports, explaining things he’s invented or fixed, explosions

Dislikes: Listening to his body when it tells him to take breaks, not knowing about a subject, distractions from his work, long fights

Wheeljack is one of Cybertron’s greatest scientific minds. He’s a brilliant, eccentric engineer and a good-natured bot who others like to be around. He can easily become engrossed in his work, and has little regard for his own personal safety, as he frequently patches himself up and regularly visits the medbay after his daily experiment blows up in his face. He often looks out for the youngsters around him, and ends up fostering a strong paternal affection towards his human ally Sadie. While he’s not on the front lines as much as he once was, he’s still quite a capable fighter and a force to be reckoned with.

Ratchet

Allegiance: Autobot

Alt mode: MXP-170 ambulance

Occupation: Chief Medical Officer

Likes: Peace and quiet, napping, organizing his equipment, Engex, bossing people around

Dislikes: People or bots who annoy him, his equipment being disorganized, comments about his age (unless he makes them), hotshot young bots (except for Bee), busy cities

One of Iacon’s best and most dedicated medical professionals, Ratchet is an elderly, cranky old medic who’s constantly trying to keep his fellow Autobots out of trouble. He’s no stranger to wartime, as he's a veteran of the Quintesson War that took place before the majority of his comrades were even protoformed. Having raised both Optimus and Wheeljack, they’re two of the only bots who know that, despite his prickly exterior, Ratchet is actually quite a softie deep down. Still, Ratchet has a nasty temper, and he often doesn’t work well with others, preferring to do things “his way”. When the situation is dire enough, however, he’ll accept help from those around him. Occasionally, he’ll be relaxed enough to lightheartedly joke around with those he’s closest with, but overall he’s a tough, no-nonsense, hard working old bot.

[rebeccasteventaylor]

The more I see TFR (five times currently) the more I can see

How Ethan clings to Benji - literally physically clings to him. Like he gets out of the entity and automatically reaches out for Benji and clutches at him.

How much Grace looks like Marie and every time Ethan reaches for her, he is dazed and confused and just been lost in his own memories and when he realises she’s not Marie, he turns away from her (convinced a theme of this story is Ethan finally dealing the loss of Marie which allows him to finally lose that guilt and move on - to Benji)

How relaxed (to a certain extent) and light hearted Ethan is around Benji as opposed to how tense and subdued when Benji isn’t around.

Keeping Benji safe is a huge priority for Ethan - more so than the mission at this point - and Benji knows it.

How intense every moment Ethan looks at Benji is. His gaze is practically burning at him. Every look filled with emotion and need and ‘there is no one else in the room but you and me’.

I cannot wait to get this on streaming/dvd so we can get some gifs/stills of the way Ethan looks at Benji.

I think Ethan won’t look at Benji in the plane though because Benji is so clearly injured despite Ethan sending him away to keep him safe and Ethan feels guilty.

Gabriel shot Marie, Ethan couldn’t get to her and then she died in Ethan’s arms. Benji was shot by Gabriel’s troops, possibly by Gabriel himself (really need to work out the choreography of that moment) but Benji sends Ethan away - he won’t have a loved one die in his arms again.

(Fairly sure Ethan reaches out for Benji when the shooting starts but Grace pushes Ethan back against the bomb)

How Ethan and Benji, even miles and miles apart, echo each other. The faith Ethan has in his team even as he worries.

Although we lost the forehead touch and they spend a lot of the movie apart, we actually got a lot more benthan than we thought at first glance

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Memory

whumptoer24 day 15- childhood trauma fandom- dp x dc tw- neglect, implied torture summary- Danny remembers so much, he wishes he could forget so much more

masterlist ao3 part 5 of TFR

Danny remembers that when he was little, his parents were more involved in their lives. He can remember his father swinging him around and his mother holding his hand as they walked through the park. He can remember going to the playground and playing hide and seek with Jazz and their parents. He remembers family meals and playing board games. He remembers hugs and kisses and being tucked into bed. He remembers bedtime stories and his mother singing while she cooked, and his dad telling terrible jokes. He remembers being loved.

But he also remembers Jazz standing on a step stool as she tried to cook mac ’n cheese. He remembers walking to school in the snow with Jazz. They are already late, they waited too long for their parents. He remembers being hungry when there wasn’t food in the house. He remembers not seeing his parents all day. He remembers sneaking down the basement stairs to ask his mom to read him a bedtime story. He remembers how she scowled at him and told him to go to his room, that they were busy. He remembers Jazz telling him bedtime stories and tucking him in. He remembers Jazz taking him to the park, and doing odd chores for neighbors so she could buy some groceries so they’d have food to eat. He remembers her hugs and how she’d hold him close and kiss his forehead and tell him that she loved him.

He remembers being loved. He remembers being lonely. He remembers wishing his parents would pay him more attention. He remembers feeling selfish that he wished for their attention when they told him they were doing important work that will help the whole world.

He remembers growing up not knowing if today he would be loved or ignored. He remembers Jazz’s steadfastness.

But he remembers when his parents spent more time downstairs than upstairs except to sleep. Things changed then. His parents were no longer geniuses who were trying to save the world. He remembers when he stopped fighting his classmates who said his parents were crazy. He remembers bitterly thinking that they might be.

He remembers his parents forgetting to pick him up from school or from friends’ houses. He remembers them accidentally locking him and Jazz out of the house, and they were too afraid of what would happen if they broke a window so they slept outside.

He remembers that he ran away once. He took his backpack stuffed with clothes and a few granola bars and his stuffed rabbit. Instead of walking to school he went into the small woods near Amity, thinking that he could live with the animals like the characters in his stories.

He remembers getting lost, being cold, being hungry, being scared of every little noise. He remembers crying out for his parents, hoping that they’d rescue him. He remembers finally stumbling out of the woods and making his way home. It was dark already, and when he stumbled inside Jazz was there, crying and pulling him into her arms. His parents hadn’t noticed.

And then the portal opened. And everything changed but nothing really did.

His parents were obsessed, they had been right, ghosts were real.

There was never food in the house now. Not unless he or jazz brought it in. When his parents noticed they complaid and said he and Jazz had to start ‘pulling their own weight.’ They didn’t realize that jazz worked hard to try and pay the bills that accumulated and that Danny had started taking care of neighbors’ yards when he could to try and help put food on the table. It wasn’t consistent. It couldn’t be, not with ghost fights and escaping his parents.

And it was hard, but a year went by and he was getting the hang of it.

Then they found out and everything spiraled.

He tries not to remember the looks on their faces. He tries not to remember the cold metal table and scalpels laced with ectoranium. He tries not to remember them shoving Jazz when she tried to free him, then locking her in a cage ‘for her own good.’ He tries not to remember Sam and Tucker bursting in and fighting his parents. He tries not to remember them stitching him back up after they’d knocked his parents out. He tries not to remember Sam shoving a credit card into his hand and telling him and Jazz to run.

He remembers so many things. He wishes he could forget so many more.

[badgerhuan]

if you are upset that TFR didn't end with Ethan getting out of the IMF, maybe it's worth asking yourself why you think an "escape" is the only good ending, why to get out is the only worthy goal.

maybe that rings true for you and is what you want out of your story, what you expect out of your movie, but that's is simply not the kind of story mi is.

so what if Ethan is trapped? so what if he can't leave? what's important is what he chooses to do with that life. and Ethan chooses, again and again, to fight for the world, fight for a better future. the Choice might have been presented as an order, but Ethan never took the Choice and the Oath to follow orders. no, he takes them for the chance to make them his own, and to fight for the future and every soul on Earth. he might be compelled to push himself above and beyond for it, but shouldn't we all?

maybe we can't control the life we were given, but we can take matters into our own hands to make it better, if we have the ability to. why wouldn't you do what you can to make the world a better place? why wouldn't you make the active choice to fight your way through the darkness? would escaping from taking that responsibility really make you happy? we have to try. we've got to try. for those that we hold close. for those that we'll never meet.

[reredram]

Finally done with the ref for TFR Seven Red Suns from 3rd Act of the story wohooo!! + adding little theme that fits him so well! I'm really proud of how it came out

[benadrylcandlewhack]

Important Announcement‼️‼️‼️

Now many of you know my TF fan continuity, Transformers Resistance, and I am forever grateful for the love you've all shown for it, so I hope that you all enjoy this update!

TFR's getting a name change!

I was never fully happy with "Resistance" as a name, it always felt a lil boring to me, which is why I'm very happy to introduce you all to...

Transformers: Recharge and Rebound (TFR&R)

I'll come up with some deeper meaning for it eventually but for now I just prefer it to Resistance, I think it's fresh and funsies and maybe it'll inspire a core theme for the robot designs or smth idk

This won't affect any of the story thus far btw! I'll be retagging everything with new tags that go with the name and tweaking the Ao3 title sometime today to make everything match

Again, thank you all for everything, and keep your eyes peeled for Chapter 6!

[my-fool]

i'm crazy about cult logic and the familiar risk. how do you come up with your ideas? (earnest question not rhetorical) do you come up with one core concept first and then build and build on the web of themes, or does it all unfold naturally from any random point? or do you make it up as you go and then tweak after?

how do you reconcile in your head so many different versions of the same character, like ulder and astarion and even wyll to some extent who are so different in both of those fics?

Interesting questions thank you for the opportunity to speak....

Ideas & plot structure

Ideas and plots are one of those things that happen organically for me so it's hard to define where they come from BUT i don't want to leave you with that bland answer so I will speak vaguely upon this topic for a moment

The best advice about having unique ideas comes from neil gaiman's masterclass series where he says that the best ideas are the collision of two distinct concepts (its been 2 years since i watched it so paraphrasing). For me this is usually 1 core idea that I try to interpret through characters that have an existing dynamic. For Cult Logic, I wanted it to feel like a regency novel (hence the marriage troubles and the duel) and the only person he could realistically duel would be Ulder and I couldn't find a reason for them to duel over Astarion so it had to be an oc (emmaline). Everything was plotted out in both directions from that endpoint. As much as i like cult logic I felt like the plot left something to be desired and I wasn't able to explore everything I wanted to with the plot's random time constraint so i wrote the familiar risk almost immediately afterward 😆

The best advice about engaging plots I've received was from pixar writers which was "find out what a character finds most important or relies on and take that away". You'll notice this happens almost constantly in the familiar risk. What Astarion values most is the safety Wyll provides and Astarion loses him twice, once at the midpoint and then again at the end. What Wyll values most is his ability to hide/mask, and that is gradually eroded throughout the entire plot. Not just the tensest moments, but also the most emotional plot beats and the closest moments to a character's heart revolve around those dynamics.

Character writing

For me characters serve the plot, not the other way around, even in fanfiction. Everything serves the plot and even though I've softened with time to value emotional beats and quieter moments, I will always operate to some degree with plotplotplot on the mind.

Therefore their differences in cult logic vs familiar risk suit the story that I wanted to tell and when I started to write them I fell into a familiar risk "feeling". Astarion's endpoint in TFR is kind of a little further along from where he is in CL but for me they exist in that same timeline where he starts off as horrible starved spawn gremlin ~> actual loving person who can put others first. So for me he has unique parts to both fics but he's the same guy in my head.

Wyll is different in both fics to an extent. I think cult logic wyll was very rattled by his father being tortured which is why he falls into the subservience. I was still learning to write Wyll so I wasnt 100% sure on him yet. TFR wyll is tough as nails he's like a noir detective 🕵️‍♂️ frankly he is not super canon compliant anymore (i would argue he is he just takes a different selection of canon traits than those usually favoured in fanon).

Ulder is starkly different between two fics. When i was writing cult logic someone left a comment like:

"I may be wrong but I think Ulder is drowing in so much guilt and Wyll not getting angry at him and always forgiving him does not help so he escalates in hope to get Wyll finally get angry and punish him."

And i was like FUCKKKK.

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

And after that I posted the last few chapters of cult logic but it was worming away in my brain like FAWK.

I genuinely felt so gutted for this poor guy. Poor ulder. So i wanted to write something where he could be the good guy.

Structurally also ulder needed to be a good guy a) because wyll goes through so much in TFR and b) so that functionally Astarion has someone to lean on post-canon. If, in TFR, Wyll returned home after the climax to an ulder that was stiff and unforgiving... yeesh !

Hope that all makes sense ! Thank you for the ask and the opportunity to talk :)

[yeah-w-r-i-t-e]

simon pegg said on his story that they got an 8 minute standing ovation for TFR...it's gonna be epic i just know it...

[transfloridaresources]

[Photo ID: White background with a rainbow, watercolor circle centered on it. Text reads: 'Help feed Quinn Linn. He/They/It, white trans masc. $100-$500 ASAP while waiting on SNAP (which may be delayed for months). Cash App: $quinnthedreamer Venmo: @ Quinn-Linn. Please DM if you're local to Haines City & are able to assist more in person and/or know of reliable food banks etc. Transportation is an issue so any help is appreciated! Still needs support for Sept. 1, 2024! https://gofund.me/8ddd9092.' /End ID]

In Quinn's own words:

'A lot may already know my story but one of my needs is becoming increasingly evident as September draws nearer. Until I can get on SNAP (which will take a bit because of reasons I do not wish to disclose) and disability I am needing temporary assistance in getting food for myself. Honestly any amount helps but the more I have the more I can buy at once to get me through a week or two. My need for assistance could last at least as long as it takes for me to get snap which could take a month or two.'

Cash App: $quinnthedreamer Venmo: @ Quinn-Linn

Please also support / share their GFM, which has a Sept. 1, 2024 deadline:

https://gofund.me/8ddd9092 | Tumblr post

If you are trans in Florida and in need of assistance, visit our link in bio to send a crowdfunding application if you would like TFR to advertise on social media on your behalf.

[machine-elf-writes]

Okay, so, the ending

Featuring big themes and scrapped endings. Spoilers ahead.

Astarion was always going to come out on top, as this was a story of his rise and Tebryn’s fall. Simultaneously, Astarion also experienced a moral decline/corruption through the creation of vampire spawn, Ascension, and becoming Chosen. Tebryn experienced a (slight) moral redemption through realizing his humanity (elfity?) by experiencing love for Orin and Gortash, and questioning his lifelong role as Bhaal’s Chosen.

Saving or selling one’s soul was a big theme in this (hence the title). TFR is a setting where souls are tangible things that can be owed to deities for blessings in life and/or a desired afterlife, so I took it fairly literally. Astarion sells a lot of himself (body and soul, and many souls of victims like himself and his own creations) for power to the point the Dead Three recognize him to be strong and power-hungry enough to defeat their Chosen and represent them. Tebryn has never had a choice, and his soul has always been owned by Bhaal, until he finally starts to break free of that mould and realizes he doesn’t want this. Unfortunately for him, he’s done so much damage to the world around him, it’s too little too late.

Astarion was able to turn his fate around because he realized more power would never be enough. Ascension wasn’t enough, he got the tadpole. After being freed from the Absolute, he was claimed by Myrkul. Through Shadowheart, he saw the gods could be defied, even when they thrust their “blessings” upon someone. Where Tebryn was unable to save his soul, Astarion was able to at the last minute by refusing the Dead Three.

This was always going to be how the story went, but the very ending went through a few iterations (and yeah, Gortash was always gonna die, sorry about that). The first ending was that Astarion went back to the Bhaal Temple and buried Tebryn, creating a subservient spawn. The epilogue was a year of Tebryn’s life in misery, reflecting on his failures, and killing himself by walking in the sun. Depressing! Then it changed to spawn!Tebryn behaving like the failed Bhaalspawn ending, just a mindless, feral killing machine. Astarion had experimented on him, trying to get him lucid because he wanted to take something from Bhaal as a final slight. He would have succeeded by giving him a drop of his own blood. Tebryn was then brain damaged, half-forgetting the events of the story, but somewhat at peace with his situation. Something would remind him of Gortash, and he would feel a flood of emotion, but unable to truly place it.

So it could have been a lot worse!

But I just didn’t like how much Astarion had truly “won” in this situation. Yes, he beat Tebryn, yes, he saved what’s left of his soul from the Dead Three, but none of that absolved him from the awful shit he’d done to get there. Again, he rose in status, but fell from grace. Tebryn fell from status, but gained some grace. (And to be clear, it’s not a lot of grace. It’s more a stumble from grace. Gaining a thimbleful of grace.) So I wanted a proper punishment for both of them, because Astarion doesn’t just get to walk away from the Dead Three after forsaking them. Tebryn being bound to him for eternity and neither of them having the spoons to kill the other due to a master-spawn bond headcanon explored earlier was perfect. (I might expand on this headcanon in another post, tbd.)

Whether or not Tebryn coming back as a vampire spawn is the doing of the Dead Three is up to interpretation! I think it’s feasible, especially since Myrkul was closest to Astarion and has domain over the undead, but I don’t have a big explanation or the gods’ thought process for it. Tebryn and Astarion suspect it was divine intervention, but it very well could be an unlucky coincidence. It’s only a narrative consequence for them.

So yeah, for a while the message seemed to be to succeed in life you must become morally bankrupt and if you try to reverse course, you will be weak and die. Bit of a nihilistic takeaway. They are bad people who don't get redemption and deserve to be miserable with each other.

[rebeccasteventaylor]

There is a line in Fallout that Hunley says to Ethan.

‘Some flaw deep in your core being simply won’t allow you to choose between one life and millions. You see that as a sign of weakness. To me that is your greatest strength.’

What if in TFR that one life is Benji’s? And Ethan chooses to save Benji rather than millions? And Benji, knowing what his life is costing, chooses to sacrifice himself - but Ethan won’t allow that to happen?

The entire story the tension between Ethan’s need to save Benji against Benji’s need to save the world.

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Choices

whumptober24 day 17-nowhere else to go fandom- dp x dc tw- mentioned neglect summary- Babe is still looking, and Danny and Jazz have very few options left

masterlist ao3 part 6 of TFR

Babara sat at the new console in the Clocktower. The breach had only extended to the computers themselves. It didn’t look like they had stolen any data or found the location of the Clocktower. But that just made the whole thing even more confusing. Why attack the computer system if they weren’t planning on stealing data? Was it just to try and keep them away? But anyone smart enough to destroy the compurs to such a level should know that this would only make the Bats look into things more.

Though, Barbara admitted to herself, they hadn’t actually made any more progress. She had tried her best to search more carefully, but nothing came up. It was like the information had been deleted. At least, Barbara thought, rolling her eyes, her computers hadn’t melted again.

And the GIW had been more subtle. The only thing they had been able to discover was that it might have something to do with ghosts. And the only reason they knew that was from overhearing some of the agents talking.

So, she had looked into ghosts but all that she found was superstitions and ghost stories. She couldn’t find anything connected with the government.

Bruce had even grudgingly called Constantine over. But the man had taken one look at the melted remains of her computers and turned around and left, muttering curses under his breath and telling them to stop investigating.

He had refused to answer any of their calls since then.

She wasn’t going to stop looking into this. They had melted her computers! They had to pay!

She wasn’t as emotionally stunted as the rest of the bats, she could admit to herself that she was using this to distract her from the missing kids. She still couldn’t find anything. It didn’t make sense! How could two normal kids disappear without a trace!

She searched for the name Fenton again. And again, nothing came up. Which was even weirder than if she’d had a lot of results with hundreds of people named Fenton. She looked at the map of the surrounding area near Wellsburg. There were a few towns, but nothing terribly interesting. Wait a second. Barbara squinted at the map. There was a clearing a few miles from Wellsburg. There was nothing of note there as far as the maps showed. But something seemed strange about the area. It almost looked like it had been edited.

It may be nothing. But with all the weirdness with the GIW, and her hacked computers, and the kids disappearance, and ghosts, it warnented looking into.

—-

“Are you sure about this? You know what Tucker said.” Danny said.

“I know. But just because he caught someone looking into the GIW in Gotham doesn’t mean the whole city is unsafe. Maybe the Bats just came across something online.” Jazz said.

“Yeah, but then Tucker asked Technus to help and according to Tucker, Technus melted their servers! Whoever it was is going to be even more interested now!”

“In the GIW though not us. And…” Jazz hesitated, closing her eyes for a moment. “We need help. You’re hurt, and we don’t have anywhere else to go. Babs was nice, and you sensed her honesty. If there’s any chance she might help…”

Danny sighed. He could tell Jazz was on the verge of crying again. And what she said was true. They were currently hiding in Wellsburge, but it wouldn’t be long before their parents arrived looking for them. They couldn’t go to Aunt Alicia, their parents would check there, and they didn’t know about any other family. 

Danny needed to keep Jazz safe. It was his fault they were running. And he had sensed only good intent from Barbara. 

“Ok. we can call her.”

“Thank you.” Jazz pulled him into a hug. “We’ll be okay. I’ll keep you safe.”And I’ll keep you safe, Danny thought, hugging her back.

[theheartlandsblog]

hello @neonxdecay ! i remember you! i WAS in the middle of drafting an answer for you, but it turns out that if you save a drafted answer for later on mobile, then the ask just gets straight up deleted, as does the draft. 😑 so here's where the answer is going to be now, and sorry about that!! thank you for your kind words.

i'm also SUPER glad you asked. i love talking about history. i got wordy (I CANNOT OVERSTATE THIS, IT'S HUGE) so it shall be underneath the keep reading/expand post prompt. this will all be about the 19th century, ya know, cowboy times, just FYI. just let me know if the hyperlinks work. 🤎🤎🤎

i'm going to talk about my russian history first! undeniably, the very best sources i've ever come across are these two books - EAST OF THE SUN by benson bobrick, and THE FAMILY ROMANOV by candace fleming. they're both nonfiction books about russian history, but not textbook-y - instead the authors have written an actual, compelling *story* of the history. these two have taken me a LONG way.

EOTS spans the entirety of russia, begins in antiquity and ends in the 1980s/90s - the book itself was published 1992. it talks about everyone and everything - the native people of eurasia, the immigrants, the europeans, the wildlife. TFR, on the other hand, focuses on the ruling family of russia, when they still had kings/queens and such (the romanovs!), and their impact, both good and bad, on the country. combined, they're a fantastic perspective on pre-revolution russia, which is the russia that existed in RDR's timeframe, which i've found really hard to get since interest in pre-revolution russia seems so slim - ESPECIALLY here in the states. it's profoundly difficult to find conversation in the USA about russia that isn't heavily biased and stereotyped. i'm ukrainian from my dad's side, so it's a passionate matter for me. i enjoy every second.

i also study the russian language! just knowing about what people speak helps you understand them. i've been working through it on duolingo for a little over a year, and i know duolingo isn't fantastic (and neither is my russian), but it is all i have access to at this moment. i'll watch movies in russian, videos of RDR gameplay where the game is in russian, i'll literally go to r/russian on reddit and just read the discussions there. i like to read wikipedia articles on timely occasions like the construction of the trans-siberian railroad, or what traditional clothing for the poorer population was like, and even what the plant life is like.

i think the key ingredient is ravenous, ravenous curiosity. i do all of this for my russian characters in HOMEWARD. i am so compelled to tell stories, and from whom they originate hardly matters to me. i love history!! i am a nerd!!

now, onto my american history, which is thankfully a lot more easy to find when you live here, and is a little more accessible than books and language programmes! for this, i am extremely happy to report that youtube is my go-to and is a delightful way to learn.

i started with studying CLOTHES. i have an enormous playlist full of videos on history of anything, from all about the world, and 19th century american clothing remains the overwhelming majority. literally just studying clothing will by default teach you more than simply *clothing* because then you have to learn about what materials they were made from, so what was grown or what animals were raised for that, and then you learn about who the people were in charge of making them, and what culturally influenced aesthetic, modesty, wealth, etc, etc, etc... i know it sounds a bit wild, but if you're gonna study any history, choose someone's clothes! ♡

channels like bernadette banner, the sewlo artist, nicole rudolph, and abby cox are treasure troves of information about historic attire. i love these women!!! studying history is a lot easier when you find someone passionate about it. don't go dragging yourself through a college textbook to try and learn, unless you're passionate about that.

but you know what? let's go deeper than that. let's start getting even *more* niche into history. i guarantee to you that it's out there. here is a playlist by a channel called real pixels which describes in detail how historic relevance and accuracy relate to RDR2. here is a video by a henry films, showing off the real-life counterparts to RDR's towns. here is a video by a channel called early american (this entire channel is a GOLDMINE) about what it was like to do laundry! here's a video by a lost leadville, about old western accents! i've watched all of these, and i watch them often, again and again and again, and i watch them as i write, and i watch them for fun, and THAT is how you learn.

but you mentioned and asked for books, and boy, do i have some american history books for you, too! here's two - WALDEN by henry david thoreau, and STATIONS WEST by edwin d. culp.

WALDEN is an autobiographical account of the real mister thoreau, who voluntarily lived alone in a little cabin he built on the shore of the real walden pond, in concord, massachusetts. evelyn miller from RDR2 was based on him! the book was published in 1854, and is an irreplaceable source of what it was like to live in young america, not-yet post-colonial, that wary, small culture, sometimes even that abject poverty, that wilderness. STATIONS WEST is a little different. it's half pictures and half text, and though it's focused on a fairly niche subject (trains!), it's proved a fascinating collection of primary sources for 19th century living in the united states. newspapers describing accounts of travel, pictures of railroad maps that people scrawled on, ticket stubs with prices of 10, 15, 20 cents. i heavily referenced a lengthy newspaper story from there just to emulate how english was written back then, for the letter that reverend swanson wrote to arthur in chapter 4 of HOMEWARD!

you have to get creative with it! to me, nothing is enough - names and dates aren't enough - pictures aren't enough - sometimes, even whole books aren't enough. i ask myself how can i apply this history? how can i bring life back into it? how can i use it in a context that is not words and static depictions on paper? how does it make me happy? where do i see it echoed today in my present day life?

FINALLY, i also read historical fiction - as in fictional stories that were published in the time period - and i think that step is literally just as important as reading nonfiction. i could go on about this one for ages, but my god, i already have, so i will leave you with this: storybooks from then are delightful on their own because they're books (who doesn't like that!!), and doubly so when you're approaching them to research, because they provide cultural context to when they were written, examples of how written english has changed, and sometimes they're a little more accurate to life back then than a period piece is now. here's two - for my russian fix i'm working my way through WAR AND PEACE by tolstoy (published 1867), and i've just finished TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA by jules verne (published 1870), this is a ✨️french one, but was (and is still) loved around the world.

so, holy bejeezus, i think i'm done showing off some of my sources and explaining how i use them. if THIS doesn't answer your questions then i have no idea what will. thank you for asking such an engaging question, this was a lot of fun! 💐 ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ �� )⸝♡ here's one of my cats sitting on my books while i got them out, as a treat.