#They are using this superhero secret identity trope with a twist | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess · 3 years ago

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Tropes & AUs: Art Block Support

Use the Random Number Generator to randomly select a new AU or trope to use with a character or fandom of your choice, to get your creativity flowing. SFW list, generally.

Roll twice for a unique twist, if you are struggling.

Soulmate AU (Tattoo or Mark)

Mermaid/Selkie AU

Small Business Owners (Rivals) AU

Supernatural Beings AU

Space-based AU

Found Family Trope

Soulmate AU (Physical change / Visible Change)

Pregnancy AU (Deliberate or Magical/Technological Accident)

Body Swap AU

Enemies to Lovers

Lovers to Enemies / Frenemies

Fell into a Story AU

Lost All Memories Trope

Oh No, I own a farm and need a handsome person who knows how to run it to help me AU

Organised Crime AU (or Disorganised Crime AU if funnier)

Finally Addressing Burgeoning Tauma and Mental Health because the writers fucking won't AU

Taken Hostage & Assumes No One Will Come Trope

Pirates AU

Superheros AU

Sleeping Beauty-styled Spell or Accident AU

Shared Memories AU where they all end up learning more than they could ever have imagined

Monsterfucker / Cryptid chaser AU

Monster/Hunter Trope

Aliens are Real / Men In Black styled Trope

University AU

Substance that Inhibits ability to (not bang everything / lie about anything / focus in battle / use magic / your choice) Trope

Possession AU

Crisis of Faith Trope (In self, family, fate, deity patron, etc)

Undercover Agents (One person, prefers fake life over time)

Fake Relationship/Dating for (Event) Trope

Polyamory with all non-related persons AU

Warriors AU (Any kind)

Supervillains AU

Mortally Wounded Confession

Bartering with the Gods/Ancient Evils to bring their friend/love/other back to life AU

Their normal lives are an elaborate DnD game/they play DnD

Secrets kept are breaking down/existential and identity crisis AU

Doomsday Prepper AU

Scientist who knows the end is coming but no one will believe them / Prepper AU

First Date Trope

Wedding Day AU and/or the Chaotic Wedding Day shennanigans

Secretly Cursed AU where things go wrong constantly and they are trying hard not to die as those who love them strive to fix this

Centaurs (and general Taurs) AU

Daemon AU

Gender Swap AU / Loss of Gender or Discovery of Identity AU

Babysitting for the First Time AU

Everyone Else is a Baby, Send Help AU

Haunted House Sleepover AU

Hospitalised due to illness or injury AU

Obtained Magical Item that Hurts to Use but Saves the Team AU

Cyborg AU

Domestic Fluff AU

Beach Day Trope

We're going on a holiday AU (Cute or chaotic, your choice)

Broke Intern AU

A social media influencer AU (any) and/or scandals

Spy AU

Dragons are Real AU (if Dragons Real in canon, then they are Transformers now)

Secret Collector of ____ and now the other(s) have found out trope

Secretly good at ____ but has no idea / Flustered or confused by praise Trope [The 'can't everyone do that?' trope]

Everyone has wings AU

Angels and/or Demons AU

Vampires and Werewolves AU

Depression AU

Imposter Syndrome Trope

Bank heist and/or secret mission AU

Mythology AU (Use a myth for character)

Ah Bugger We're Gods Now (Somehow) AU

Journalist AU or Lawyer AU

Olympic Hopeful / High Level Competition Rivals AU

Community Garden Meet-Cute AU

Set fire to cereal, send help / Chef AU

Castaway/Stranded on an Island Trope

Minimum Wage Workers Suriving AU

Accidentally ran into a Cryptid AU

Massive Weather Event (eg flood, fire, tornado, cyclone, tsunami, blizzard, earthquake) AU

Day Trip to (Movies, Zoo, Theme Park) AU

Snow Day AU and/or trapped in a house by Snow

Stuck in the past AU

Accidentally changed the timeline AU

Assassin AU

Assassin / Target AU

High Level Noble Nonsense and the housemaid/stableboy/nb servant you bond with most AU

Formal Dinner and How It Went Wrong AU

Finally Getting Vengeance Trope

Terminal Illness / Deathbed Confession AU

Witch/Wizard AU eg. potionseller / that one person who comes in for healing potions daily and you're getting Concerned

Scientists AU

Homemade Gift for a Special Person AU

Speaking to the Dead (Ouijia Board, talking to the graves, solo grief but ghosts present) trope

Birthday (Forgotten)

Birthday (Surprise Celebration)

Doctor/Nurse AU

Chill Out Day / Self-Care Fun

Talk About the Anxieties that Imprison AU

Tavern Hijinks AU

Accidental power acquisition AU

Steampunk AU

Being Hunted AU

We Die As One (Battle/Ambush) AU

#art block supports #why is there a character limit block gross

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purrincess-chat · 4 years ago

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So, I've had some time to sit with Gang of Secrets, and I know everyone in the fandom probably has their feelings about Alya finding out first, especially two episodes after she just told Luka she can't tell him, but let me tell you why Alya is the most obvious and best choice.

First of all, it's a commonly used trope in shows with secret identities that the hero's best friend finds out their identity first. Lots of other shows, comics, and books have done it, if fact early concepts for ML had Alya knowing from the beginning, so it's not really surprising that Marinette confided in her first. Alya was the first hero that Marinette picked, she is her best friend, she is arguably the person Marinette trusts most (save Chat Noir who we will talk about later). Marinette telling Alya makes sense whether you like it or not because of the role that Alya plays in the grand scheme of the story.

All stories utilize tropes. They're not a bad thing. Some of them are overdone, sure, but it's more about how you use them that matters. Most stories follow a certain formula so viewers/readers know what to expect, and yes, even stories with big twists follow the same structure. Telling the best friend from a storytelling perspective makes sense. Telling the alternate love interest who isn't crucial to the story doesn't.

Take off your shipping goggles for a second and look at things from a storytelling perspective. Remove everyone's names and forget how you feel about them, and just look at the character roles. You have a protagonist, a main love interest, a best friend, and a temporary side love interest. Who does the protagonist trust most in this circle in a normal story? Who learns the secret first? Writing is a balancing act. You have to choose which characters to develop wisely, and I'm not going to argue that ML is a golden standard of storytelling and writing. It's not. But telling a secondary love interest in this case would add a more important role to a character who really wasn't designed for that. That doesn't mean they can't still develop that character in other ways, but for a plot point of this caliber, the best friend takes priority over the love interests. Both of them. Because while the love interest can be a friend, a confidant, a shoulder to lean on, their primary function to the protagonist is romance. Meanwhile, a best friend can be all of those things and more. The best friend can be whatever the protagonist needs in the moment.

Now, let's look more closely at this specific situation. Marinette was spiralling. She couldn't keep up with both of her lives, and the stress was literally eating her alive. She just decided that she can't be in love with either of the boys she likes because she would always be keeping a secret from them. She was heartbroken, stressed, and exhausted. Yes, Chat Noir attempted to be there for her and support her as best he could, but the problem here is the role Chat Noir is playing. He is for lack of better terms, the superhero sidekick, but also still the love interest. (Even if LB doesn't know it) And in this case too, she knows Chat Noir is in love with her, and for a girl who has recently decided that love is off the table, you can see why she didn't want to confide in him. Would he have understood her stress if she told him? Sure. But revealing their identities to each other now would have been detrimental to Marinette, and here is why:

Marinette gave up on love for the time being. We, the audience, know that Chat Noir is Adrien, the boy she loves. For her to say, I can't be in love right now, only to turn around and find out that the person she was confiding in and leaning on for support was, in fact, her love interest, it would have made her spiral even worse. No where would have been safe for her. And you can argue what a good bean Adrien is, and whatever, that's not the point here.

Marinette takes her job as Ladybug very seriously. The reason she is so stressed is because now with the added responsibility of being the guardian, she risks losing not only her Miraculous, but also the entire Miracle Box. That's a lot of power in the wrong hands, and she knows that quite well. This caused her to lean on the side of hypervigilance. She was always transformed and looking for trouble because she was paranoid that she was going to miss something and fail again. With so much changing on the superhero side of her life, she needed an anchor back to her civilian life. So that's where Alya comes in.

Alya provides her with a sense of normalcy, a reminder that she has a life outside of the mask. She grounds her to her civilian life and provides her with support she needs to juggle her superhero life. (And yes, she still does this even if you hate her) On the opposite end of that spectrum, Chat Noir grounds her to her superhero life, and so much had changed for her on the superhero side of things with the introduction of her guardian duties that revealing her identity to Chat would have just been one more change to that part of her life with nothing to fall back on. By keeping their identities in place and giving her an anchor in her regular life, Marinette can find better balance between the two. Her secrets with Chat Noir are a constant, or a "normal" that she can use to ground herself. She is used to them, she expects them, it's part of her schema for her superhero life. She shows up, her goofy partner cracks some jokes, they beat up the bad guy, they go home. Chat Noir is playing his role perfectly in this sense. He offered to be there for her, but he wasn't who she needed at the time. The scale had tipped too far in her super life, so she needed something to tip it back toward her civilian life. So, we got Alya. Which makes logical sense given her role in the story. It's the role she was born to play. Whether you like it or not.

I know all the shippers are thirsty for content, trust me, I am adrinette trash, and I want the children to kiss each other on the face just as much as the next shipper. But I fundamentally understand why that can't happen right now in canon. And that's why fanfiction exists. I can make them kiss whenever I want. I can make them reveal whenever I want. I can write as many reveals as I want. Canon can only do it once, and idk about you guys, but I'd like their eventual reveal to be for a better reason than "I'm spiralling out of control please help." I'd also prefer for it not to be in a random ass episode in the middle of the season. I want it to have its moment. I want it to slap me and take my wallet, so I can tell it thank you. I want the reveal to be that bitch. Doing it here would have been cheap, and it would have cheapened the rest of the season for me. Now, if they wanna do it in the s4 finale when shit is getting lit? Sign me up. But right now, it wasn't the right call. And that's fine.

#thoughts from my brain #cat speaks #cat spoils

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thevindicativevordan · 3 years ago

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On Kong Kenan/Super-Man

It should've been him. He should've been the Superman of 5G/Future State/right now not Jon, and he should be the one getting an HBO Max series not Val. Hell he should be getting a movie!

God this dude is literally the best legacy character Superman has ever gotten, wholly his own person with his own lore and status quo while still building on the idea of "Superman". I am so pissed at DC for essentially just dropping him after his ongoing ended, what the hell Lee? You keep trying to make the Wildstorm characters happen, I need you to get my man Yang another Kenan book.

Have to admit I was a bit nervous at first about whether or not Kenan would be a worthwhile character. Yang's New 52 Superman run had been a disappointment to me overall, with only the the arc where Superman has underground wrestling matches against forgotten gods really sticking with me. Now he was introducing a brand new Superman? Didn't feel like he had "earned" that yet. But from the first issue I was hooked on this new character.

Kenan was unlike any other member of the Superfamily. He wasn't kind or sweet, he was an asshole! He was a bully! He was fantastic! Right from the start Kenan was set up to undergo a very different kind of character journey than the other members of the Superfamily. Empathy, humility, respect for people weaker than himself, these are all traits most heroes wearing the S-shield already posses by the time they first don the crest, but not Kenan.

Like all bullies he was even a bit of a coward himself at first, trying to bail on the experiment meant to give him Superman's powers right as it begins. After "saving" Lixin (the kid he bullies and steals lunch from every day) from Blue Condor he demands all the money Lixin has on him as payment. He's not courageous or selfless either at the start, Kenan is as much of an opposite of Superman as you can get short of being Bizarro. Learning the appeal of these traits formed the basis for his growth over the course of his series.

Seeing Yang bring in a lot of recognizable "Superman" elements in the series, but with a twist, was also great. Kenan is the one who bullies "Luo Lixin" rather than the traditional Clark/Lex friendship of Pre-Crisis and Birthright. Initially Kenan develops a crush on intrepid reporter for Primetime Shanghai, Laney Lan, but she dismisses him as too young and Kenan eventually ends up pursuing Avery Ho (Flash) instead. Baxi the Bat-Man of China has a similar relationship with Kenan as the traditional Superman/Batman in terms of being vitriolic best buds, however Baxi is the one who has the most respect for authority while Kenan is the rebel. Kenan is a part of the "Justice League of China" which does not meet with the approval of the already established Chinese superheroes, the Great Ten. That contrasts nicely with the good relationship the Justice Society and Justice League have, as well as seeing Yang lampshade the "Chinese copy" trope and incorporate that into his storytelling.

One of the funniest differences is how Kenan chooses to immediately reveal his identity as Super-Man to the world by taking off the compliance visor he was forced to wear, contrasting with Clark's choice to hide his identity. He was so eager to impress people that he never gave any thought to the danger he could put himself or his family in by revealing his identity until it was too late, something Clark is well aware of and has taken great pains to keep his identity secret. Was a missed opportunity for DC to have Kenan comment on Clark copying him for once when he outed himself under Bendis.

But one of the most poignant differences between Clark and Kenan is the gulf in separation between their relationship with their parents. Clark has a loving relationship with Ma and Pa Kent, trying to live up to their lessons as best he can. In contrast Kenan's mom was believed to have died in an airplane crash when he was just a child, and he never really knew her. His father was distant from him after that and the two weren't really close despite Kenan's attempts to impress him. So Kenan lacks that strong connection while still clearly loving both of them.

Pa Kent's death is one of the most tragic examples of Clark's love for his parents, and I've always been a fan of takes where Clark promises his father to fight for the powerless on Pa's deathbed. Kenan gets a similar scene at the start of his career, his dad "dies" (after being exposed as Flying General Dragon, a pro-democracy "supervillain" from the Chinese authorities perspective) and wants Kenan to promise he'll fight for Truth, Justice, and Democracy. But because Kenan's dad never really bonded with him, Kenan doesn't know what those mean, and can only promise that he never wants to see people die, something his father takes comfort in at least. In classic comic book fashion it's revealed that Dr. Omen, Kenan's "boss" and the one who gave him his powers, saved Kenan's father, because she is Kenan's mother! Kenan's relationship with his parents forms a lot of the crux of his character arc, and seeing how Yang utilizes the classic Superman concept of family kept the storytelling exciting.

Yang's brilliant exploration of the concept of "Superman" through the prism of Chinese culture was a great way to differentiate Kenan as well.

I absolutely freaking love how he tied to the concept of Qi to the S-shield in particular. Connecting the shape of the shield with the way Kenan has acquired his powers along the path of the Bagua (eight trigrams used in Taoism that represent the fundamental principles of reality), with his octagon S-shield outline representing all eight principles together, was mindblowing! So was the idea of restricting Kenan's access to his powers unless he was actually acting in a Superman manner, that tied his character growth to his power growth in an entertaining manner. There were so many characters and concepts that meshed Chinese and DC lore together, like how Emperor Super-Man was Kenan's "Doomsday", they even recreated that iconic dual kill shot! The Chinese Wonder Woman Peng Deilan, being based on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake! There was even some Korean mythology referenced with the Aqua-Man member of the JLC "Dragonson".

Yang also managed to do a Superman Blue/Superman Red story with Super-Man Yin/Super-Man Yang!

Shameful that it took me a while to realize what Gene Yang was doing but once I caught on I was touched. You can tell how much Yang loved Superman and his mythology, and how he was excited to incorporate as much from Clark as he could, while still using it in a way that was solidly Kenan's. And not just Superman's mythology, but the history and lore of the entire DC Universe. I-Ching got to be brought in, fleshed out, and used as Kenan's mentor! The "Yellow Peril" villain from Detective Comics #1, the comic DC gets its name from was brought in and revamped as I-Ching's twin brother All-Yang! Hats off to Yang for taking a racist caricature and attempting to make him into something more.

This series was a beautiful attempt by Gene Yang to build a space for Asian heroes and villains where they could be more than stereotypes, Kenan himself being a defiant mold-breaker in every regard as the complete opposite of most Asian characters in Western media (a jock, a bully, loves his dad but not on great terms with him, a powerhouse as a hero, etc). So much thought and hard work was poured into this by Yang and his team of artist collaborators.

Especially the costumes, man Kenan had so many great looks. From his starting outfit (which is my favorite Superman variant not worn by Clark himself), to the one with the Yin/Yang shield he acquired later on, to his Super-Man Yin & Super-Man Yang outfits, Kenan looked damn cool. Part of me is bummed they didn't go with the Chinese character shield they toyed around with, but I loved how Yang used the "s-shield" as a plot point, so I'm not too broken up over it.

All that great work Yang did to build that space up has been more or less forgotten sadly. It was nice to see Kenan in the DC Asian Month Celebration issue. Avery is going to be in Justice Incarnate at least (unsurprising considering she was created by Williamson). So fucking bummed that Superman Family Adventures cartoon didn't happen, they were going to have Kenan and John Henry Irons in it! Would've been a dream come true for me to see Irons in animation again, and Kenan making the jump to outside media! Maybe that would've encouraged DC to let Yang keep writing New Super-Man, or at least encouraged them to use him elsewhere instead of allowing him fall into Limbo.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what the future holds for Kenan. Jon is being pushed as Clark's replacement in the comics, with DC keeping all the other contenders such as Kon benched. Calvin is leading the Justice Incarnate team likely due to the upcoming Coates reboot that will make Clark black. Val will probably get something once Taylor leaves Jon's book or once they officially announce the HBO Max show is happening. So where does that leave Kenan, my new favorite PoC legacy hero? Currently my only hope is that Yang is working on something for DC involving him. Yang left Batman/Superman, where I was hoping to see a Baxi/Kenan team up, to go work on "exciting other opportunities" per his Twitter. So fingers crossed that there's something in the works for Kenan!

One day I hope he gets his day in the sun again.

#kenan kong #new super man #gene yang #justice league of china #superman #dc comics

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irondad-creator-awards · 4 years ago

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The Nominations So Far (Kinda)

Some of you have been asking to see who’s nominated in which category, so I’m putting up what I’ve done so far. This is by no means everyone nominated, as we’ve had 96 submissions to the form, and I’m not going to be able to log them all until nominations close. But if you’ve been contacted to say you’re up for an award, you should be listed below...

Good Luck to everyone nominated x

1. THE ONE THAT MADE YOU GASP! — A story which had a plot twist you didn’t see coming. Something that caught you so off guard that you had to stop a minute and take a breath before devouring the rest. What’s the story for you?

A Peter Parker Problem by Spagbol99

Chaotic Peter Parker by Isnt_It_Pretty_To_Think_So

Cycle Through by Ambivalentangst

Ever In Your Favor by Iron_Spider

Irondad Ficlets by Ironxprince

Like Father, Like Son by An_Odd_Idea

Love Leaves A Memory No-One Can Steal by Ironmum

More Peril In Thine Eye by Iron_Spider

No Longer In Service by Starryknight09

Proof Of Concept by Flurrbee

Serenity by Jolinarjackson

Spidey Tot by Kevy_Grayce

Stab Me In The Back (I'll Catch You From Behind) by Lansfics7

Stop, Look, Listen by Forthenightisdarkandfullofterror

2. THE MULTI-CHAPTER YOU COULDN’T PUT DOWN — A story which kept you up all night or calling in sick for work so you were free to read. Who’s the culprit?

A Parent Apparent by Happyaspie

A Peter Parker Problem by Spagbol99

A Sailor Went To Sea by by Yellowdistress

Air I Breathe by Heartofcathedrals

And You’ll Blow Us All Away by Losingmymindtonight

Astronomy In Reverse by Pansley

Come My Darling, Homeward Bound by Iamirondad

Every Beautiful Lie (Always Has An Ugly Truth by Da_Moose

Five Times Tony And Peter Chaotically Cleaned by Ironmum

I Will Carry You (Always) by Thestarvingwriter

Identity Crisis by Kitcat992

If They All Knew About You by Mshermia

In Unlikely Places by Looneylizzie

Irondad Ficlets by Ironxprince

Mr. Parker Declined To Commentby Apisdn

Pain Will Always Come Back To Haunt You by Kevy_Grayce

Permanence by Theexhaustedalchemist

Pieces Of Echoes by Geekymoviemom

Proof Spiderman Loves Clickbait by Mauvera

The Lost And Forgotten by Lizcraz

3. THE ONE-SHOT THAT THAT HAD YOU HOOKED — Some writers can cram more greatness into less words than a 100k monster. What’s the one-shot that did it for you?

5 Times Peter Sleepwalked And The 1 Time He Pretended He Did by Losingmymindtonight

Countless Ways To Say I Love You by Hopeless_Hope

Familiar Faces by Happyaspie

First Wednesday Of March by The Case Of The Missing Museum Bea-Storer

Fitting In (Tiny Spaces) by Aloneintherain

I Can Hold The Weight Of Worlds (If That's What You Need) by Bluesweatshirt

I Promise I'll Do Better by 221broadwayiron

I Will Soften Every Edge by Losingmymindtonight

Petey And The Hermit by Eccentric_Artist_221b

Something Here Will Eventually Have To Explode by Madasthesea

What You're Feeling Is Probably Normal by Finny3120

4. THE BEST THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES — A drabble (under 1k) can pack in all the goodness that you need in a coffee break read. What’s that story for you?

Butter Me Up by Iron_Spider

Cuddle Bug by Marvelous_Writer

Food At Home by Aimaim94

Insomniacs In The Dark by Littlemissagrifina

Irondad Cuddles by Lilacsoulw

Let The Mind Games Begin by Ironmum

5. THE BIODAD THAT TOUCHED YOUR HEART — Some of the greatest stories flip canon and make Tony Peter’s biological father. Be it baby Peter taking his first steps or Tony dealing with the fact his son is following in his superhero footsteps as Spider-Man, which is the one you loved most of all?

An Abstract Concept by Iron-Spider

Be Careful What You Wish For, You May Just Get It by Savana_Marlark

Built From Scraps by Peter Stank

Happy Hogan Never Forgets A Face by Jen27ny

Hardest Lessons (Softest Results) by Mainstreamelectricalparade

If They Knew All About You by Mshermia

My Little Bambino by Maicaly

Return To Me, The One I Love So Endlessly by Superherotiger

Slow Down, Start Again From The Beginning by Cassiecasyl

Sound Logic by Aytheria

Spiderson by Emily_F6

Stars, Hide Your Fires by Yellowdistress.

The Less Than Secret Life by Yellowdistress

The Ties That Bind Us by Winterturtle

They Say Boys Don't Cry (But Your Dad Has Shed A Lot Of Tears) by Tempestaurora

What’s In A Name? by Geekymoviemom

6. THE ONE WITH THE FIELD TRIP — The field trip trope is one of the most popular in the fandom. What’s the story that you think pulls all the elements together to make it great?

A Different Take by Cyberwolfwrites

Constant Internal [Spider] Screaming: Semi-Connected Scenes From A Graduating Senior’s Life by Isadancurtisproduction

Field Trip by Inkinmyheartandonthepage

Field Trip Flip by Happyaspie

I Don’t Want To Talk About It Anymore by Bees_And_Wasps

Mr Stark Enough For You? (Another Field Trip Fic Bcs We Dont Have Enough) by Livinei

Neon Liar (Hiding In Plain Sight) by Isadancurtisproduction

No Reason To Go by Pokegeek151

Tower Of Donuts And Doubts by Platinumdollz

Who Is He? by Velarisstars

7. THE TIME AFTER TIME ONE — There’s some great time travel stories out there, but which is your favorite?

Be Careful What You Wish For, You May Just Get It by Savana_Marlark

Every Beautiful Lie (Always Has An Ugly Truth) by Da_Moose

I Have Time by Peterparkr

The End Is Just A New Beginning by Tytach

The Time Traveler’s Mentor by Iamirondad

Whatever It Takes by Starryknight09

8. THE ONE WITH ALL THE OWIES — Another massively popular Irondad trope is hurt/comfort, and there’s some amazing stuff out there. Which is the one that you love most of all?

A Peter Parker Problem by Spagbol99

Air I Breathe by Heartofcathedrals

Be Weak by Fluencca

But What Is Grief? by Odd_1

Danger Pizza by Alice_In_Ink

Darkness Will Be Rewritten by Marveal

Dude, Do These Tacos Taste Funny To You? by First_Page

Follow The North Star Home by Fallingforbees

Foolish, Fragile Spine by Plnkblue

Outnumbered by Heartofcathedrals

Sometimes It’s Easier To Just Swim Down by Mjscorner

The Room Where It Happens by Notapartytrick

We All Chase After A Few Dying Stars by Losingmymindtonight

What I Have, I Give To You by Aatticsaltt

When My Body Won't Hold Me Anymore (Where Will I Go) by Madasthesea

Your Heart Changed (Mine Stayed The Same) by Loisselina (Loisselina)

9. THE ONE THAT HURTS SO GOOD — We all like a bit of angst sometimes, so what’s the story that you wanted to hide from but you had to keep reading to get to the happy ending?

Built From Scraps by Peterstank

Cycle Through by Ambivalentangst

Fifteen Years In The Making by Potts89

Held On As Tightly As You Held On To Me by Itsreallylaterightnow And Killerqueenwrites

I Need You To Be Free by Marveal

I Promise I'll Do Better by 221broadwayiron

If You Listen You Can Hear The Ibis by Yellowedistress

Let's Get On With Living (While We Can) by Almond_Blossoms

Love Leaves A Memory No-One Can Steal by Ironmum

May Parker's Complete Guide On How To Raise Your Spiderling by Embarrassing_Myself

More Peril In Thine Eye by Iron_Spider

Of Flying And Falling by Polaroid15

Sunlight by Ardenskyeholmes221

The Room Where It Happens by Notapartytrick

When Trauma Comes Knocking by Kevy_Grayce

10. THE ONE THAT SOOTHES THE PAIN — What’s the story that you go to when you need a pick-me-up after the angst?

5 Times A Spider-Baby Got Dad Smooched by Buckets_Of_Stars

5 Times Peter Made Tony Laugh Out Loud by Grilledcheesing

5 Times Tony Stark Protected Penny Parker by Emily_F6

Be Careful What You Wish For, You May Just Get It by Savana_Marlark

Bitch Better Have My Money by Neicy286

Career Day: A Short Story by Shewritesall

Early Childhood Education by Thedisneyoutsider

Five Times Peter And Tony Chaotically Cleaned by Ironmum

Hardest Lessons (Softest Results) by Mainstreamelectricalparade

I Can Hold The Weight Of The Worlds (If That's What You Need) by Bluesweatshirt

Instant Kill Mode by Isnt_It_Pretty_To_Think_So

Kids These Days by Isnt_It_Pretty_To_Think_So

The Road So Far by Nicolemoon8

No More Lonely by Shewritesall

Petey And The Hermit by Eccentric_Artist_221b

That's How You And I Will by Frostysunflowers

What You're Feeling Is Probably Normal by Finny3120

Whatever It Takes by Starryknight90

11. THE ONE WITHOUT A HOME TO GO TO — There’s some wonderful homeless Peter stories out there, so which is the one you were blown away by?

A Difference In Husbandry by Happy_Cloud

After The Landslide by Freyaatterton

Distracted by A Dime by Happyaspie

I Told You I Had Issues by Bergen

Is It Too Much To Ask For Home That Lasts? Ft. Peter Parker by Wakandaforever2357

The Little Things (That I Miss) by Da_Moose

The Third Option by Uncertainty_Principle

Unexpected (Everything I Never Knew I Wanted) by Moonchild2593

12. THE ONE THAT’S A WHOLE NEW WORLD — There’s lots of imaginative AUs in Irondad fic. Whether it’s Steve and Tony as baseball players or Pepper being Peter’s mom, which one is your number one?

A Guardian Among Us by Superherotiger

A Soul's Best Friend by Superherotiger

Ever In Your Favor by Iron_Spider

Have Patience, A Quick Wit, And A Gentle Heart by Ironfamjam

I Battle My Jerk Step-Dad by Andromath

Petey And The Hermit by Eccentric_Artist_221b

Sea Spider by Bean_Reads_Fanfic

Spidey Tot by Kevy_Grayce

Though Everything Is A Miracle by Overtures

Until It Disappeared From Me by Ashleyparker2815

When I Am On Your Shoulders by Ladyblackwater

You Mispronounced Spider by Lliblo

13. THE TWEAKING THE SETTINGS ONE — There’s things we all wish we could change in canon — *cough* Endgame *cough* — so which canon divergence does it for you?

5 Times Peter Made Tony Laugh Out Loud by Grilledcheesing

Be Careful What You Wish For, You May Just Get It by Savana_Marlark

Beautiful Boy by Emily_Davison

Bittersweet by Kevy_Grayce

Built From Scraps by Peterstank

I Will Restore All That Was Broken by Killerqueenwrites

May Parker's Complete Guide On How To Raise Your Spiderling by Embarrassing_Myself

Moulded Minds by Wingswithstrings

Pieces Of Echoes by Geekymoviemom

The End Of Infinity by Friendlyneighborhoodfangirls

The Returned by Nicolemoon8

What Was Missing Was You by Happyaspie

What Were The Words I Meant To Say Before You Left by Madasthesea

14. THE ONE YOU GO BACK TO AGAIN AND AGAIN — Some fics deserve a re-read or ten. What’s the story you go find yourself going back to?

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood by Ambivalentangst

A Parent Apparent by Happyaspie

Age Regression Was Impossible... Right? by Chvotic

Am I Just A Shadow You Drew by Ironxprince

Apartment 43B by Ironfamjam

Back To Bed by Eccentric_Artist_221b

Beautiful Boy by Emily_Davison

Family Is More Than Blood (It Is Light) by Moonchild2593

Keeping Company by Whumphoarder And Xxx_Cat_Xxx

Moulded Minds by Wingswithoutstrings

Play by Losingmymindtonight

Rules Are Made To Be Broken by Ironmum

Sins Of The Fathers by Geekymoviemom

The Darkest Hour Is Just Before The Dawn by Starryknight09

The Lost And Forgotten by Litcraz

The One Where Peter Is Bucky’s Weakness by Jinxquickfoot

The Rise And Fall Of A Spider by Spidersoning

The Spider-Man Conspiracy by Tempestaurora

15. THE SERIES THAT SWEPT YOU AWAY — Some of us love to go on a long ride with a series, so which is the world of multiple stories that you binged or waited anxiously for each update?

Another June Day by Skeeter_110

Chaotic Peter Parker by Isnt_It_Pretty_To_Think_So

Home by Glwilliams97

I Love You More Than Anything (Bio Dad Au) by Iron_Spider

Irondad NSAP by Chvotic

Lights To Guide You Home by Jolinarjackson

Mr. Stark & His Kid by Writerstrash

Once Upon An Adoption by Kevy_Grayce

Out Of Darkness by Starryknight09

Soul Stone Realm by Marvelmusicmystery

The Room Saga by Iamirondad

Tony Stark Is A Good Mentor by Happyaspie

Was That A Star Wars Reference, Dr. Stark? by Jen27ny

We Forgot Peter by Inkinmyheartandonthepage

Webcams And Webshooters by Losingmymindtonight

16. THE IN-PROGRESS ADVENTURE — What’s the story that has you checking your email each day, hoping for an update?

A Difference In Husbandry by Happy_Cloud

A Perfect Storm by Grilledcheesing

Ain't My Blood; Still My Boys by Parkrstark

All The Stars Align by Ashleyparker2815

Be Careful What You Wish For, You May Just Get It by Savana_Marlark

Every Beautiful Lie (Always Has An Ugly Truth) by Da_Moose

Fifteen Years In The Making by Potts89

Found Family by Thedisneyoutsider

If They Knew All About You by Mshermia

If You're Going Through Hell, Keep On Going by Baloobird

Mr. Stark, Something Is Wrong by @Simping-For-Peggy

Outnumbered by Heartofcathedrals

Peter’s New Step-Brother by Bowtiez

Priorities by Jlmonroe1234

Return To Me, The One I Love So Endlessly by Superherotiger

Sleeping Through A Rogue Winter Storm by Pogokitten

Survivors Guilt by Ember_Darla And Marvel_Cinematic_Universe_Fan

Tech Of Nondestructive Yakking by Wabisabi

The Case Of The Missing Museum Bea-Storer by Ironmum

The Hero Of Our Own Story by Kingdomfaraway

The Many Adventures Of Iron Dad And Spider Son by Lbigreyhound13

What You Were Then I Am Today by Madasthesea

You Are My Sunshine by Iamconstantine

17. THE COMPLETE FIC THAT YOU CHERISH — Whether or not you’ve got the patience for an in-progress or not, there’s a wealth of complete stories you can devour at leisure or all in one coffee-fuelled binge. What’s yours?

Intern Spider by Emily_F6

Only For A Little While by Eccentric_Artist_221b

The Guardian by Emily_F6

18. THE ONE THAT GAVE YOU ALL THE LOVE — We all love Irondad, but some stories come with bonus bonds that give us just as much. Do you have a Peter & Bucky, or a Peter & Steve working alongside which delivers all the found family goodness?

"I Have A Nephew!" by Zimnokurw

5 Times Happy Hogan Nearly Had A Heart Attack Because Of Peter Parker by Thespydersargon

Be Careful What You Wish For, You May Just Get It by Savana_Marlark

Brighten Up, Sunshine by Iron_Spider

It Must Be Nice (To Have Mrs. Potts On Your Side by Sdottkrames

It Takes A Village (To Make Sure You're Okay) by Baloobird

Kingdom Come Undone by Killerqueenwrites

Project: Get Bucky Barnes A Dog by Ruxian

Road Work Ahead by Toniwilder

Rules Are Made To Be Broken by Ironmum

When In The Dark by Kevy_Grayce

19. THE PROLIFIC WRITER AWARD — Irondad has some amazingly prolific writers. Which are the ones you’ve subscribed to get at that fic-wonder goodness of 10 works or more?

Aimaim94

Buckets_Of_Stars

Emily_F6

HAPPYASPIE

Inkinmyheartsandonthepage

Ironmum

Iron-Spider

Jen27ny

Littlemissagrafina

Madasthesea

Magicalyss

Mshermia

O0CITRUSEE0O

Parkrstark

Superherotiger

20. THE NEWBIE — New writers are joining the fandom all the time. Who’s the newbie (posting for 12 months or less) that’s delivering the good stuff for you?

107thinfantry

Fallingforbees

Ironmum

Jinx_Frost

Just_Ppeachy

Kittybellestark

Lilacsoulw

Maicaly

Polaroid15

Spagbol99

Sunflowerspideyy

21. THE OG — Who’s the writer that’s been around for a while (12 months or more) that keeps you captivated?

Ashleyparker2815

Emily_F6

Happyaspie

Iron_Spider

Jen27ny

Kevy_Grayce

Parkrstark

Snarkymuch

Spooderboyandtincan

22. THE WILD CARD STORY — The story that does (or doesn’t) fit into the above categories but you believe deserves the prize. Which one is that for you?

Aliens Really Are Out To Get You Aren't They? by Some_Sort_Of_Trash

Born To Cherish by Ironfamjam

Everyday Superhero by Stoneage_Woman

Five Times Tony And Peter Chaotically Cleaned by Ironmum

Guess I’m Not Good Enough by Freyaatterton

I Can Hold The Weight Of Worlds (If That's What You Need) by Bluesweatshirt

I Will Soften Every Edge by losingmymindtonight

I’m Not Telling Him. Period by Scooter3scooter

Irondad NSAP by Chvotic

Kids Suck, But You're Great by Gymlily06

Long Gone | Marvel Au Strangerlyparker

Play by Losingmymindtonight

Tech Of Non-Destructive Yakking by Wabisabi

The Reinvention Of Tony Stark by Losingmymindtonight

This Ride Is A Wild One by Just_Ppeachy

What You're Feeling Is Probably Normal by Finny3120

ART 1 — DIGITAL MEDIA - Who has those PhotoShop skills, who makes the best mood boards? We have some wonderful artists in the Irondad fandom, and we’re here to celebrate them. Who's your favorite artist?

@Itsybitsyspiderling (Tumblr)

@monireh (Tumblr)

@Blackchessknight (Tumblr)

ART 2 — SKETCHES — Who has the skills with the original medium of art in sketches? Whose pencil can create the characters we love best?

@broskev (Tumblr)

@Dakt37 (Tumblr)

@monireh89 (Tumblr)

Ellarie.png (Instagram)

ART 3 — CARTOONS — Chibis, Manga, Anime, who can create the very best?

@Maryo274 (Tumblr)

yes-i-am-happyaspie (Tumblr)

ART 4 — FANVID — Some of the greatest creators are the ones that match the music to the mood, find the perfect scenes to make us laugh and cry. Who does that for you?

All My Life || Tony & Peter (Father/Son Au) by Akapotatogirl (YouTube)

Emsxworld (YouTube)

Tony Stark & Peter Parker | Ashes by Mythicalroyalty (YouTube)

ART 5 — BEST IRON FAMILY FANART — Who can create those feeling of Ironfam with their art? Who captures the characters we love in that iconic family.

@broskev (Tumblr)

@moonestaly (Tumblr)

eccentric_artist_221b (AO3)

Ellarie.png (Instagram)

#Irondad Creator Awards #irondad #spider son #irondad and spiderson #iron man #spider-man #peter parker #tony stark #art #fanart #creators #fandom awards #artists #writers #writing #fanfic

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usergreenpixel · 4 years ago

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JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 1: La Seine no Hoshi (1975)

1. Introduction

Well, dear reader, here it is. My first ever official review. And, as promised, this is one of the pieces of Frev media that you have likely never heard of before.

So, without further ado, sit down, relax, grab drinks and snacks and allow me to tell you about an anime called “La Seine no Hoshi” (The Star of the Seine).

“La Seine no Hoshi” is a children’s anime series made by Studio Sunrise. It consists of 39 episodes and was originally broadcast in Japan from April 4th to December 26th of 1975.

Unlike its more famous contemporary, a manga called “Rose of Versailles” that had begun being released in 1972 and is considered a classic to this day, “La Seine no Hoshi” has stayed relatively obscure both in the world of anime and among other Frev pop culture.

Personally, the only reason why I found out about its existence was the fact that I actively seek out everything Frev-related and I just happened to stumble upon the title on an anime forum several years ago.

So far, the anime has been dubbed into Italian, French, German and Korean but there is no English or even Spanish dub so, unfortunately, people who do not speak fluent Japanese or any other aforementioned language are out of luck ( if anyone decides to make a fandub of the series, call me). That being said, the series is readily available in dubs and the original version on YouTube, which is where I ended up watching it. The French dub calls the anime “La Tulipe Noire” (The Black Tulip), which could be an homage to the movie with the same name that takes place in the same time period.

Unfortunately, while I do speak Japanese well enough to maintain a basic conversation and interact with people in casual daily situations, I’m far from fluent in the language so the version I watched was the French dub, seeing as I am majoring in French.

So, with all of this info in mind, let’s find out what the story is about and proceed to the actual review.

2. The Summary

(Note: Names of the characters in the French dub and the original version differ so I will use names from the former since that’s what I watched)

The story of “La Seine no Hoshi” revolves around a 15-year old girl called Mathilde Pasquier - a daughter of two Parisian florists who helps her parents run their flower shop and has a generally happy life.

But things begin to change when Comte de Vaudreuil, an elderly Parisian noble to whom Mathilde delivers flowers in the second episode, takes her under his wing and starts teaching her fencing for an unknown reason and generally seems to know more about her than he lets on.

Little does Mathilde know, those fencing lessons will end up coming in handy sooner than she expected. When her parents are killed by corrupt nobles, the girl teams up with Comte de Vaudreuil’s son, François, to fight against corruption as heroes of the people, all while the revolution keeps drawing near day by day and tensions in the city are at an all time high.

This is the gist of the story, dear readers, so with that out of the way, here’s the actual review:

3. The Story

Honestly, I kind of like the plot. It has a certain charm to it, like an old swashbuckling novel, of which I’ve read a lot as a kid.

The narrative of a “hero of the common folk” has been a staple in literature for centuries so some might consider the premise to be unoriginal, but I personally like this narrative more than “champion of the rich” (Looking at you, Scarlet Pimpernel) because, historically, it really was a difficult time for commoners and when times are hard people tend to need such heroes the most.

People need hope, so it’s no surprise that Mathilde and François (who already moonlights as a folk hero, The Black Tulip) become living legends thanks to their escapades.

Interestingly enough, the series also subverts a common trope of a hero seeking revenge for the death of his family. Mathilde is deeply affected by the death of her parents but she doesn’t actively seek revenge. Instead, this tragedy makes the fight and the upcoming revolution a personal matter to her and motivates her to fight corruption because she is not the only person who ended up on its receiving end.

The pacing is generally pretty good but I do wish there were less filler episodes and more of the overarching story that’s dedicated to the secret that Comte de Vaudreuil and Mathilde’s parents seem to be hiding from her and maybe it would be better if the secret in question was revealed to the audience a bit later than episode 7 or so.

However, revealing the twist early on is still an interesting narrative choice because then the main question is not what the secret itself is but rather when and how Mathilde will find out and how she will react, not to mention how it will affect the story.

That being said, even the filler episodes do drive home the point that a hero like Mathilde is needed, that nobles are generally corrupt and that something needs to change. Plus, those episodes were still enjoyable and entertaining enough for me to keep watching, which is good because usually I don’t like filler episodes much and it’s pretty easy to make them too boring.

Unfortunately, the show is affected by the common trope of the characters not growing up but I don’t usually mind that much. It also has the cliché of heroes being unrecognizable in costumes and masks, but that’s a bit of a staple in the superhero stories even today so it’s not that bothersome.

4. The Characters

It was admittedly pretty rare for a children’s show to have characters who were fleshed out enough to seem realistic and flawed, but I think this series gives its characters more development than most shows for kids did at the time.

I especially like Mathilde as a character. Sure, at first glance she seems like a typical Nice Pretty Ordinary Girl ™️ but that was a part of the appeal for me.

I am a strong believer in that a character does not need to be a blank slate or a troubled jerk to be interesting and Mathilde is neither of the above. She is essentially an ordinary girl with her own life, family, friends, personality and dreams and, unfortunately, all of that is taken away from her when her parents are killed.

Her initial reluctance to participate in the revolution is also pretty realistic as she is still trying to live her own life in peace and she made a promise to her parents to stay safe so there’s that too.

I really like the fact that the show did not give her magic powers and that she was not immediately good at fencing. François does remark that her fencing is not bad for a beginner but in those same episodes she is clearly shown making mistakes and it takes her time to upgrade from essentially François’s assistant in the heroic shenanigans to a teammate he can rely on and sees as an equal. Heck, later there’s a moment when Mathilde saves François, which is a nice tidbit of her development.

Mathilde also doesn’t have any romantic subplots, which is really rare for a female lead.

She has a childhood friend, Florent, but the two are not close romantically and they even begin to drift apart somewhat once Florent becomes invested in the revolution. François de Vaudreuil does not qualify for a love interest either - his father does take Mathilde in and adopts her after her parents are killed so François is more of an older brother than anything else.

Now, I’m not saying that romance is necessarily a bad thing but I do think that not having them is refreshing than shoehorning a romance into a story that’s not even about it. Plus most kids don’t care that much for romance to begin with so I’d say that the show only benefits from the creative decision of not setting Mathilde up with anyone.

Another interesting narrative choice I’d like to point out is the nearly complete absence of historical characters, like the revolutionaries. They do not make an appearance at all, save for Saint-Just’s cameo in one of the last episodes and, fortunately, he doesn’t get demonized. Instead, the revolutionary ideas are represented by Florent, who even joins the Jacobin Club during the story and is the one who tries to get Mathilde to become a revolutionary. Other real people, like young Napoleon and Mozart, do appear but they are also cameo characters, which does not count.

Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI are exceptions to the rule.

(Spoiler alert!)

Marie-Antoinette is portrayed as kind of spoiled and out of touch. Her spending habits get touched on too but she is not a malicious person at heart. She is simply flawed. She becomes especially important to the story later on when Mathilde finds out the secret that has been hidden from her for her entire life.

As it turns out, Marie- Antoinette, the same queen Mathilde hated so much, is the girl’s older half-sister and Mathilde is an illegitimate daughter of the Austrian king and an opera singer, given to a childless couple of florists to be raised in secret so that her identity can be protected.

The way Marie-Antoinette and Mathilde are related and their further interactions end up providing an interesting inner conflict for Mathilde as now she needs to reconcile this relationship with her sister and her hatred for the corruption filling Versailles.

The characters are not actively glorified or demonized for the most part and each side has a fair share of sympathetic characters but the anime doesn’t shy away from showing the dark sides of the revolution either, unlike some other shows that tackle history (*cough* Liberty’s Kids comes to mind *cough*).

All in all, pretty interesting characters and the way they develop is quite realistic too, even if they could’ve been more fleshed out in my opinion.

5. The Voice Acting

Pretty solid. No real complaints here. I’d say that the dub actors did a good job.

6. The Setting

I really like the pastel and simple color scheme of Paris and its contrast with the brighter palette of Versailles. It really drives home the contrast between these two worlds.

The character designs are pretty realistic, simple and pleasant to watch. No eyesores like neon colors and overly cutesy anime girls with giant tiddies here and that’s a big plus in my book.

7. The Conclusion

Like I said, the show is not available in English and those who are able to watch it might find it a bit cliché but, while it’s definitely not perfect. I actually quite like it for its interesting concept, fairly realistic characters and a complex view of the French Revolution. I can definitely recommend this show, if only to see what it’s all about.

Some people might find this show too childish and idealistic, but I’m not one of them.

I’m almost 21 but I still enjoy cartoons and I’m fairly idealistic because cynicism and nihilism do not equal maturity and, if not for the “silly” idealism, Frev itself wouldn’t happen so I think shows like that are necessary too, even if it’s just for escapism.

If you’re interested and want to check it out, more power to you.

Anyway, thank you for attending the first ever official meeting of the Jacobin Fiction Convention. Second meeting is coming soon so stay tuned for updates.

Have a good day, Citizens! I love you!

- Citizen Green Pixel

#review #french revolution #anime #history #television #frev media #Jacobin Fiction Convention #marie antoinette #French Revolution anime #la seine ni hoshi #la tulipe noire dessin animé #la tulipe noire

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snickertoodles · 5 years ago

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Megalist of Tropes and Themes to Tag Your Story With

If you’re prone to staring at your tags on AO3 wondering “what the hell do I put here?”, knowing you want to add a tag like “friends to lovers” or “found family” but not remembering all the popular tropes and themes everyone is into, this is for you. I basically spent an entire night on this so I hope it helps.

Notes:

I tried to keep it general and avoid really obscure tags no one would ever use.

This is made for AO3 and thus there’s a lot of fandom or fannish stuff in here.

I didn’t include any “inappropriate” tags. Feel free to make your own list.

Romance tropes and themes at the bottom. (Not all of them have to be romantic, but if they’re generally associated with romance and there are very few gen fics with that tag, it went there.)

Under cut because I’m probably going to edit this often and I’d like reblogs to be up to date. Please suggest any ideas you have.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Apocalypse/Post-Apocalypse, Contemporary, Comedy/Humor/Parody/Satire, Coming of Age, Crime, Cyberpunk/Steampunk, Drama, Dystopian/Utopia, Fairy Tale, Fantasy/High Fantasy/Low Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Isekai, Family, Friendship, Gothic, Historical Fiction/Alternate History/Period Piece, Horror/Slasher, Mystery/Murder Mystery, Paranormal, Philosophical, Poetry, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural, Surreal, Suspense, Sci-Fi/Science Fiction/Space Opera, Spiritual, Thriller/Psychological Thriller, Tragedy, Urban, Western

Genre (Fandom): Angst/Light Angst, Case Fic, Crack Fic, Crossover/Fusion, Dark Fic, Fix Fic/Fix-It/Deconstruction, Fluff/Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Podfic, Missing Scene/Gap Filler, Self-Insert, Shipping, Sickfic, Songfic, Whump

Length: Drabble, Ficlet, Flash Fiction, Short Story, Novella, Novel, Epic, One-Shot/Two-Shot/etc, Series/Duology/Trilogy/Saga/etc, Long, Short

Pairing: M/F - F/M - M/M - F/F - F/F/M - You get the idea. Also [Character] x [Character], Slash, Yaoi/Yuri (if people still use those...)

POV: POV Alternating, POV Multiple, POV First Person, POV Second Person, POV Third Person, POV Outsider

Ending: Happy Ending, Sad Ending, Bittersweet Ending, Ambiguous Ending

Diverse Characters: Gay Character/Nonbinary Character/Asian Character/Disabled Character/Autistic Character/Jewish Character/etc.

AU/Alternate Universe: (I do not have the time to list out Coffee Shop AU/High School AU/Canon Divergence/What-If/etc, I assume if you’re writing one then you already know to tag it lol)

Abuse

Adoption

Afterlife

Aftermath

Aged Up

Alcohol

Aliens

Amnesia

Androids

Angels

Animal Transformation

Anti-Hero

Awkwardness

Babysitting

Backstory/Origin Story

Band of Misfits

Best Friends

Betrayal

Blood

Bodyswap

Bodyguard

Bonding

Bounty Hunters

Bromance

Bullying

Canon Compliant

Character Development

Character Study

Childhood Friends

Children

Chosen One

College/University/Higher Education

Corruption

Criminals

Crying

Curses

Cute

Death

Delinquents

Demons

Depression

Destiny/Fate

Disability

Domestic/Curtainfic

Dragons

Dreams/Dreamscape

Drugs

Education

Ensemble Cast

Epilogue

Fanon/Headcanon

Father Figure/Mother Figure

Feelings

Feels

Fights

Flashbacks

Forgiveness

Found Family

Freedom Fighters

Frenemies

Future

Genderswap/Gender Change

Ghosts

Gods

Good Versus Evil

Gore

Grief/Mourning

Growing Up

Healing

Heartwarming

Heroes to Villains/Villains to Heroes

Holidays

Homesickness

Hospital

Hurt

I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping (A very legitimate tag.)

Imprisonment

Injury

Introspection

Illness/Sick Character

Immortality

Isolation

Jealousy

Kidnapping

LGBTQ/LGBTQ Character/LGBTQ Themes

Light-Hearted

Locked In

Loss

Love

Mafia

Magic

Magical Girl(s)

Major Character Death/Minor Character Death

Manipulation

Medieval

Medical

Melancholy

Mental Health Issues

Mentors

Merpeople

Mind Control

Military

Misunderstandings

Modern

Monsters

Morally Grey/Ambiguous Characters

Murder

Mythical Beings & Creatures

Mythology

Neighbors

Next Gen/Next Generation

Nightmares

Original Character/OC/OCs

Orphans/Orphanage

Out of Character/OOC

Parenthood

Past Lives

Peggy Sue

Pen Pals

Pirates

Platonic Relationships/No Romance

Platonic Soulmates

Plot Twists

Politics

Possession

Post-Canon/Pre-Canon/Mid-Canon/Bad Ending/etc.

Prompt Fill/Prompt Fic

Protectiveness

Rags to Riches

Rebels

Recovery

Redemption/Redemption Arc

Regret

Reincarnation/Resurrection/Rebirth

Rejection

Relationships

Religion

Rescue/Rescue Missions

Restaurants

Reunion

Revenge

Revolution

Rivalry

Road Trip

Robots

Roommates

Royalty

Sad

School

Secrets

Secret Identity

Self-Discovery

Self-Harm

Shapeshifting

Siblings

Single Parents

Slow Build

Soft

Spies

Spoilers

Substance Abuse

Suicide

Superheroes

Sweet

Sympathetic Villain

Teamwork

Team as Family

Team Bonding

Team Dynamics

Teenagers

Tension

Time Loop

Time Travel

Training

Trapped

Trauma

Travel

Undercover

Unreliable Narrator

Vampires

Villains

Violence

War

Weapons

Wedding

Wilderness

Witchcraft

Worldbuilding

xxx to Friends (Rivals to Friends/Enemies to Friends/etc.)

Zombies

ROMANCE TROPES

Battle Couple

Blind Date

Breakup

Confessions

Dating

Divorce

Dorks in Love

Drunken Confessions

Established Relationship

Eventual Romance

Falling in Love

Fake Relationship/Fake Dating/Pretend Relationship/Pretend Couple

First Kiss

First Love

Forbidden Love

Heartbreak

Idiots in Love

Long-Distance Relationship

Long-Term Relationship

Love/Hate

Love at First Sight

Love Confessions

Love Potion/Love Spell

Love Triangle

Marriage/Accidental Marriage/Arranged Marriage/Marriage of Convenience

Marriage Proposal

Mutual Pining/Pining

OTP

Pregnancy

Rarepair

Secret Relationship

Sharing a Bed

Slow Burn/Slow Romance

Soulmate/Soulmate AU

Tsundere/all of the other -deres

Unrequited Love/One-Sided Attraction

xxx to Lovers (Enemies to Lovers/Friends to Lovers/etc.)

#tagging #archive of our own #ao3 #tumblr #tropes #trope list #tag list #tag ideas #writing #writing resources #toodles talks

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aleator · 4 years ago

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top 5 fanworks of 2020

rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

tagged by @ad1thi! thank you! I actually barely made anything in 2020 lmao (some icons, like one gifset, a fanmix) so I’ll pick my favorite fics from my ThorTony November Challenge in no particular order:

1. the fruits of one's labor (Fantasy AU)

Thor knows better than to give his name to the man he met in the woods.

The first one of the month lol I love fairy/fae AUs and seeing how people adapt the lore for fics and stuff, so this was fun to make up as I went. Also just ethereal beauty fae Tony...nice.

2. touch starved (Soulmate AU)

Asgardians don't have soulmates, not in the way humans do, with mysteriously inked words on skin. So Tony’s soulbond is left there, open and exposed, dangling without any connection like a stripped wire, ready to hurt whoever comes close.

I'm realizing this list is going to be my favorite tropes list lol. But I also love soulmate AUs, especially soulmate AUs that twist the mold a little. And angst with a happy ending is the best type of angst.

3. in the morning sun we'll be sailing (Pirate AU)

“Finally,” Thor grumbles, dropping his shackled hands to his lap. “I’ve got a number of grievances to list.” “If you don’t like our hospitality, you shouldn’t have gotten caught,” Captain Stark replies, shutting the door to Thor's jail cell behind him.

Pirates... Secret relationship... Probably started as enemies to lovers... There's definitely a bigger AU in this one I should write more of lol. It would basically be Kate Beaton's Nemesis comic.

4. the most wonderful time of the year (Bakery AU)

Every year the little town in upstate New York where Tony lives holds a baking competition for the winter holidays, and every year for the last five years Tony has won that competition. His bakery, Grateful Bread, has been a popular spot since it opened and he’s thankful for the warm welcome he got when he came to town. And then Bifrost Bakery moves in across the street, and Tony finally has some real competition in the bake off this year.

This one was just cute lol I am a sucker for stupid Christmas movies which I was definitely channeling while writing this.

5a. kryptonite (Superhero AU)

Tony tries not to lie to his husband. There’s just one thing he’s never been able to tell Thor--that he’s the superhero Iron Man. Unfortunately for Tony, it's not easy keeping secrets when you're married to one of the best investigative reporters in town.

5b. sir thor and the red knight (Royalty AU)

A mysterious knight in red armor appears to compete in a grand tournament held by King Anthony Stark. The prize? Anything the victor wishes.

These are tied because of overuse of another one of my favorite tropes, Secret Identity shenanigans. Also I just generally enjoy historical AUs as you can see from the abundance of historical/historical fantasy settings I used.

Runner Up: brísingamen (Treasure Hunting AU)

Adventurer Tony Stark doesn’t normally do hired jobs or take requests, and he certainly never travels with anyone outside his team. But when a handsome blond who only gives his name as “Thor” shows up out of the blue claiming to have information about the mythical golden necklace Brisingamen, that definitely gets one’s attention. Tony’s always been a glutton for punishment when he’s on the scent of some big new adventure.

I have a soft spot for Iron Man Noir (see also: my historical AU bias) and writing all these AUs where Thor was human made me want to do some more actual god Thor!

---

I could probably pick a few more faves but I'll stop there. Tagging anyone who sees this to do their own list!

#talk tag #meme #this was harder than expected to narrow down.....

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britesparc · 5 years ago

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Weekend Top Ten #443

Top Ten American High School Movies

So this week the kids are going back to school after their summer break, which is always a moment fraught with emotion (for us, not for them, they love school). However it’s even more of an angst-fest than usual this year, because notwithstanding ongoing and genuine concerns over just how safe school is and will remain, there’s also the fact that they’ve been at home all the time since March. This is probably the single greatest period of time all four of us has been in the house together. It’s madness, but it’s also glorious. Weirdly, I’m finding myself getting nostalgic for the beginning of lockdown; there’s a part of me that’ll miss organising their lessons every night and imposing a rough-hewn sense of order and schedule to the working day, the pair of them sat at the kitchen table doing printed-off worksheets or playing educational games from the BBC or wherever. As well as spending time together there was also a frisson of newness, a sense of shared learning and the feeling that, even if my work had dried up in lockdown and we were stuck at home, everyone was in the same boat so it didn’t really matter. We felt relatively safe in our little bubble, every wary step outside an adventure. They drew a mountain of pictures. I still didn’t finish my book. We bought a big monitor so it was easier for my wife to work from home. Good times, unless you turned on the news.

Anyway, they’re going back, notwithstanding further catastrophic spikes in infection rates. Everything’s going to keep being different, but in a different way. I’ll have to get used to dealing with pick-ups and drop-offs and I’ll probably always be worrying about what – and who – they’ve touched. But hopefully we’ll get used to it, hopefully no one will get sick, and it’s unquestionably beneficial for them to be in school with their teachers and friends and all that jazz.

So! School. I don’t wanna get maudlin or angsty about it, so I’m looking at schools through a prism of fun. And what’s more fun than a vaguely fantastical simulacrum of school life, filtered through a gauze of foreign motifs? American high school movies have been a mainstay of cinema all my life, and the tropes and trappings of their school life are almost as familiar as my own schooling. The same but different, the world of lockers in the corridor, gym class, jocks and nerds, cheerleaders, kids in cars, spelling bees and science fairs, all felt like a wish-fulfilment dream of a better, more grown-up school life. To turn the TV on for a second, the likes of Grange Hill paled in comparison to Saved by the Bell as far as I was concerned. Like Hogwarts, an American school was a cool school, a school you’d wish to go to, but that you knew didn’t really exist. I’m sure real high school life is not very much like it is in Clueless, for instance.

But – hey! – that’s all fine. Hospitals aren’t much like Grey’s Anatomy either, and I bet space is bugger all like Star Trek.

Anyway. Here are my favourite American high school movies. Enjoy.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999): using the weight of Shakespeare helps give the story strength and heft, but it succeeds in having one of those glorious teen casts of future greats. Perfectly pitched comedy as we unravel some teen archetypes, and at least one moment of stand-our brauvora spectacle as Heath Ledger serenades Julia Stiles. One of those scenes where you watch an unknown become a movie star in real time.

Clueless (1995): another teen film smartly utilising the classics, this gives us an even more stylised world in which to unpick those stereotypes, as seemingly vapid but good-natured Cher looks beyond her preconceptions. Gentle satire gives way to a cute romance, and in Dan Hedaya it boasts the best teen movie dad of all time.

Heathers (1988): a very dark but very funny look at high school life, as the supposed “it crowd” of glamorous girls and studly boys are, well, murdered by put upon outsiders. A satire on American exceptionalism but also a peek into the mindset of fundamentalism as their campaign continues to escalate to frightening extremes.

Brick (2005): using the tropes and trappings of a high school to present an alternative version of a classic mystery noir, this is less about examining existing stereotypes and cultures than twisting them to serve its plot and style. Invents its own teen slang, Clueless-style, but does so with a thirties gangster vibe, and expertly meshes these two worlds in a way that seems obvious.

The Faculty (1998): “the teachers are evil” is a common high school trope, here rendered literal by its funky millennial take on Invasion of the Body-Snatchers. As the school is taken over, a bunch of kids from – yep – different social sub-groups band together, put enmities aside, to basically kill their teachers. Fun horror comedy that, if you were a teen in 1998, felt smartly relevant.

The Breakfast Club (1985): John Hughes films are often considered teen-movie landmarks, even if they’ve often not aged well. Breakfast is probably the best at dealing specifically with high school, as its disparate heroes (again, each representing a different archetype) reveal depths beneath their surface personae. Angsty and on-the-nose but well-acted and with plenty of charm.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017): Spider-Man is the best teen hero (sorry, Robin) because he’s navigating a traditional teenage high school life as well as being a superhero. No film has handled that better than Homecoming, where he deals with his secret identity, a date with his dream girl, and how being a superhero impacts his education.

Back to the Future (1985): I did consider whether this qualifies as a proper high school movie, but I think the school setting is actually pivotal; it juxtaposes the 1980s high school with its 1950s version, and is able to show how much has changed but the teenagers stay basically the same. And, of course, the climactic dance is the cornerstone of the plot. Finally, BTTF is one of the best-written films of all time and a masterpiece, only this low on the list because it’s not quite as high school-y as other films.

Carrie (1976): high school as horror film, obviously, but whilst there’s plenty of terror to be mined from Carrie’s powers and her mum’s fire-and-brimstone fundamentalism, it’s the petty cruelty and viciousness of school that feels darkest and yet most real. Carrie is horrendously bullied for stepping outside of her lane, and that is very high school.

Grease (1978): certainly not the best or most realistic examination of fifties high school life, but iconic enough to deserve its place. The lines between the various sub-groups are broadly drawn, as are the teachers (mostly fools), and the central struggle of the plot – tough guy, nice girl – is timeworn. But, of course, it’s carried off in oodles of style and some classic songs.

Incidentally, there were a few films that I excluded because whilst I think they’re excellent films about teenagers – Rebel Without a Cause, say – they’re not really about high school life. And, of course, I was focussing on American high schools, so no Harry Potter. Just in case you were wondering. And sadly I couldn’t find out how to stick Teen Titans Go! To the Movies in there somewhere.

#top ten #school #lockdown #high school #high school movies #teen movies #movies #kids #teenagers

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ecofinisher · 5 years ago

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Miraculous and Monster Buster Club comparision.

Just to be clear, I’m not comparing the show on what show is better and what not. I’m comparing the similarities between the two shows. I’ve came across a few Miraculers, that were also fans of the Monster Buster Club cartoon claiming that MBC (Monster Buster Club) had a few similarities to MLB (Miraculous Ladybug) due to the animation and the adventure. I had thought about it, since I belonged before to the MBC fandom too. (And still do, except the fandom is probably dead now)

So where do I start? Well just to summarize the shows for those who don’t know one/both of them:

[From left to right: Cathy Smith, Sam(antha), Chris(stopher) and Daniel (Danny) Jackson]

Monster Buster Club came out around 2008 and is a French-Canadian computer-animated TV show, which focused on a group of pre-teens (12-year-old) consisting of three human children and one so-called Rhapsodian (Fictional Alien species) whose also the protagonist of the show called Cathy Smith. Together with the three human teens named Chris, Danny and Samantha, they revive the old secret society named “Monster Buster Club” to fight together and protect their town from aliens, that invade it. Special about their town is, that 200 years ago it was founded by a man named Addison Single, who unbeknownst to the citizens was an alien in disguise and got defeat in the past by the former MBC. Also in this city, Cathy isn’t the only alien to be living there in disguise, but many other aliens are present.

[Left to right Tikki (A magical being called a “kwami”, that helps the person transform into a superhero), Marinette Dupain-Cheng, her alter ego Ladybug, Cat Noir, his civilian identity Adrien Agreste and his kwami Plagg]

Miraculous Ladybug is a French animated TV show, that debuted in 2015 and is set in the modern metropole Paris and is focused on the lives of the clumsy Marinette Dupain-Cheng and the famous teeny-model Adrien Agreste. Both wield a special magical jewelry, which is called a “Miraculous” which they use to transform into the superheroes “Ladybug and Cat Noir” The two don’t know each other’s identity, but funnily Adrien has a huge crush on Ladybug and in the civilian life he sees her as just a friend, while Marinette is obsessed with Adrien and sees Cat Noir only as his trustful crime-fight partner. Both students are around 14 years old in the show.

As superheroes they fight villains, that were akumatized by Hawk Moth. (He owns the butterfly miraculous, with which he can create supervillains by sending an akuma (Butterfly jinxed by Hawk Moth’s magic) and Hawk Moth’s miraculous sends people’s negative feelings such as anger, sadness and dissapointment and uses his akumas to follow them and akumatize them and they’re transformed by Hawk Moth into a specific-themed supervillain.

Now about the comparisons....Miraculous and Monster Buster Club have many things in common when it comes to the animation, the characters or other things and I wanted to list them down.

1: Logo shortcut.

The Unofficial Logo

The official Logo

Both the shows have a long name and they’re usually abbreviated by the fans or the writers by three letters, this case Miraculous LadyBug is shortened to MLB and Monster Buster Club into MBC. The minor difference here is that Monster Buster Club also used the shortcut on their logo, while Miraculous only kept the title.

2: Logo Switching up between scenes.

Both shows, when they skip to another part of the episode, both have the symbol appear on a background animated for 2-3 seconds, then disappear. MBC has the full title of the show, instead of the round symbol, which is the team’s recognition sign.

3: Transformation sequences

Both of the shows our main characters have a transformation sequence, where they turn from their civilian self into the secret identity. While Ladybug and Cat Noir look in their tight suits a little different than from their alter egos they can’t be recognized by their friends or citizens. Unlike the MBC they are also a bit covered, but if any of the classmates see them fighting around, they can recognize them without any problem. (I can’t recall at the moment the episode, but it was as Danny had tried to save his crush Wendy and failed, shortly afterward she had got angry at him as she recognized him immediately)

Monster Buster Club (Group transformation sequence) (French)

The show most of the times used the whole group to transform together, occasionally, they also have shown a single transformation sequence or two characters only)

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Miraculous transformation sequence (Adrien Agreste’s into Cat Noir) (French)

All the characters have single transformations and have the same specific transformation phrase (Plagg, Tranforme-moi) to say before they transform. The English dub is so far the only dub, where the superheroes have different phrases exp. Cat Noir’s is “Plagg, Claws Out!). Most of the phrases are based after their miraculous theme (Exp. Ladybug, Bee, Snake, etc)

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4: Villains of the week trope

Each of the episode the main heroes fight a different villain, who mostly appear for one episode.

On Miraculous, most of them are just classmates, citizens or acquaintances of the protagonists that get akumatized by Hawk Moth, when they have a negative feeling and are fought by Ladybug and Cat Noir. In the end, the villain turns back into his civilian-self, most of the time they don’t remember, what had happened during the time they were absent.

[Akumatized villains counting from left to right, going from up to the bottom: Oni-chan, Reflekta, Horrificator, Miraculer, Party Crasher, Silencer, Weredad, Christmaster, Stoneheart, The Bubbler, Befana and Captain Hardrock]

At Monster Buster Club it usually starts with the presence of unknown people around the school or anywhere in the city or strange things happen around them and the group units together to find out, what’s going on and later near the end they figure it out and follow that alien to capture it in the end. Difference from the MBC, most of the extraterrestrials don’t change in the end of the episode and remain locked into a separate room in the secret clubhouse, where at some point one of the members (Mostly Chris) is there in the room inserting it into a special device to send the encapsulated ET away to the galactic authorities, that take care of them. Others get redeemed at the end of the show and get back to their home planet or stay on the earth, where they belong.

The aliens from left to right, up to bottom: Gilbert (Good), Jenny’s grandmother (Encapsulated), Mr. Gluten (Encapsulated), Glor Glenemore (Encapsulated), Zeborp (Good), Nosidda Single (Encapsulated), Doudo Hundletorph (Good), Mr. Bigshnell (Encapsulated)

5: Animated Intro

Both of the intros have the protagonists Cathy and Marinette narrate to us about “their world”, followed by their usual day-routine with school, fighting and afterschool.

Fun fact: Noam Kaniel worked on both of the intros. (Probably explains why I enjoy these two intros so much)

The intro of Monster Buster Club (English)

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The Intro of Miraculous (English)

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6: Cute, Cartoony 2D/3D backgrounds.

Wanna know, why I had last year suddenly had the urge to go back to the Monster Buster Club? It was those background images such as the pink bubbles behind a character, who’s in love. I had just bumped into my mind the show that I had seen that behind Danny from Monster Buster Club as he saw his crush, Wendy. When I went to check out again the episodes from the available ones on Youtube I saw also other types of backgrounds, that I had also seen in Miraculous too.

Here we got pinky bubble background behind Cathy

And here we got Adrien with a full-on bubble background.

Some also are transparent like this one here.

Paper sheet backgrounds:

Danny’s smart idea in trying to make money and his mind shown on the background as a notebook sheet.

Chloé, one of the secondary characters and her mind shown on the background also with a type of notebook sheet her childhood.

This are the ones, who are the most similar ones. Both have other ones, but a little different, but used for the same occasion.

Other backgrounds:

Weapon activation (Monster Buster Club)

Power activation (Miraculous)

Minor parts of a specific fight:

Running towards an Alien.

Dodging Hawk Moth’s punch

And a few more from both shows

Sorry boy, but she’s not your type.

Wanna make your character look like she can run fast? Just add smoke like on the roadrunner!

Your portable console getting stolen, while you’re trying to beat the high score, sure was the worst thing to happen to a 12-year old back in the 08′.

Marinette just found out that Hiro Hamada of Zag Heroes wrote a fanfic of her alter ego having a crush on a friend of hers. (The real plot twist: It’s a self-insert fanfic, where he’s Ladybug and not the real Ladybug *le gasp*)

You know what I miss about the time season 2 trailer got spoilered? That they had Marinette had this imagination of herself with Adrien as Hawk Moth posing similar to a Twilight Poster. Those were good times.

She had her life full planned, even had names for her kids and all, while people like me are living their life, not knowing what the hell is going to happen next week.

I don’t know, but this picture is hilarious :D (And for non-Miraculers, that small animal up there is an akuma)

I never got why they fence with one glove only. is this some Michael Jackson reference or something?

Yep, this is how weird Marinette’s imagination gets during the seasons. (Believe it or not, if they were in a relationship Kagami would definitely wear the pants there!)

7: Sorry if the last one turned a little long, but now the next part is inside both of the shows, the similar tropes the show shares. Well, many other shows have it too of course, but I felt the need to point it out. (Since I’m doing this post)

7.1: Male Protagonist is a jokester (Cat Noir and Danny) If it’s the right situation or not. They have always to crack a joke.

7.2 Tagalong kid - (John, Chris’ younger brother, Manon, Child Marinette babysits, Chris Lahiffe, the younger brother of Nino Lahiffe, Adrien’s best friend) - The three are from their personality different, but they have one or two moments, where they seem really annoying to the protagonist.

7.3 Alpha B’s. (Chloé and Wendy) - Both don’t treat the main characters right (Chloé almost everyone besides Adrien and Wendy is most likely alright with the classmates), both are girly girls, they gossip and use specific people for their own benefits. (Chloé using Sabrina and Wendy using Danny)

7.4 Wise old man (Hugo Smith, Cathy’s Grandpa and Master Wang Fu, the guardian of the miraculouses) - It’s quite funny how similar they look like, even the red shirt, their body size and nearly their hairstyle. About the wisdom, both help out the protagonists and are serious about harm.

7.5 Deep down still a child (Principal Rollins and Principal Damocles) - For the most of the students Principal Rollins seems like a very strict person, that came from the military service as she calls the students soldiers and uses words such as Company Halt, but she has been shown off-guard playing with a toy rhino panzer and a convoy in her office at the school. Principal Damocles, seems also like a strict Principal, that likes when students act correctly and warns them when they acted wrong (Such as not knocking on the door, before entering). After school, when all students are gone, he dresses up as an owl-themed superhero and acts as a superhero and tries to help out in the city, mostly ending in a catastrophy.

7.6 Nameless Background characters, that the fandom finds interesting. (Redheaded girl from MBC and Brunette boy a.k.a Just Anextra/Justin Extra from Miraculous) - The girl has like a few background appearances and like two sentences and a burst of laughter during the whole two seasons, Just/in has probably only one sentence so far I remember, otherwise, he appears at the backgrounds, sometimes also with other color palettes. (I think he also appears at the fencing group photo if I’m not wrong) Just Anextra/Justin Extra has two fanarts so far I know, done by fans and the girl had one or two edits, where the editor had given her the name Lola I think and she had another type of clothing and hair color. (Confession I’m not taking into the grave with me. When I was younger I shipped her with Nossida (His human form obviously), one of the main villains of the show and I even wrote a fanfic about them. I re-read it last year and laughed so hard at how weird it was) Honestly my first ones were just.....eugh!

7.7 Protagonist has allergies (Cathy and Adrien/Cat Noir) - Cathy is allergic to dogs while Adrien has allergies to feathers.

7.8 Excitable Protagonists (Cathy Smith and Marinette Dupain-Cheng) - Both girls are shown mostly happy and lucky throughout the show. Cathy still is the most optimistic and excitable one out of the two, due to her being a curious personality and is always fascinated, when she discovers new things on Earth, that she doesn’t know in her home planet.

7.9 Best friends between different cultures (Danny with Chris, Adrien with Nino, Cathy with Sam and Marinette with Alya) As many other TV shows would do: Two best friends of the same gender.

Cathy’s just doing an Abominable reference...joke, she confessed something, she should have done long way before.

Danny about to teach Chris how to act like a bad boy for the group’s plan.

I don’t remember what was here, except this is from season 1.

“Just be yourself” .- Nino Lahiffe (And Nathaniel there on the back sleeping on his table. I feel you, son)

That was all I had found out yet. There could be more out there, that I haven’t figure out yet, but I might do one of these posts again when I got more information and the shows, mostly MBC are more present in my memories.

#monster buster club #miraculous #miraculousladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #chat noir #ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #Nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #mlb #mbc #post #comparison post #similarities

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takaraphoenix · 5 years ago

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Miraculous ladybug for the ask game?

Thanks for playing! There may be more here than for Good Omens, but I’m not THAT deep in this one either, so no promises. xD”

Top 5 favourite characters: Adrien, Alya, Luka, Nino, Kagami

Other characters you like: Juleka and Rose

Least favourite characters: Lila and Chloe!

Otps: Luka/Adrien, Kagami/Marinette, Alya/Nino, Juleka/Rose

Notps: mmmh I don’t really have any, I think?

Favourite friendships: Alya and Marinette, Adrien and Nino

Favourite family:mmmh it’s not like we know a whole lot of families and recently I have been thinking a lot about the fact that Marinette’s parents never question that they can’t get a hold of Marinette and can’t be there to directly protect her when Paris is under attack. Like. She’s a fifteen year old girl, you bet your ass I’ll hunt down my only child and try to be with her during these attacks, or at the very least made damn sure she’s somewhere safe... So... I have started doubting her parents based on that... They’re still a billion times better than Adrien’s fucked up family (even more so now that we met his aunt and cousin :D”), but yeeeah...

Favourite episodes: Desperada, for all three, the Luka content, Luka as a hero and the Adrien angst, also definitely Captain Hardrock because it actually introduces Luka, Silencer, because that Luka/Marinette content was really nice?

Favourite season/book/movie: season 2, probably

Favourite quotes: not really a quote-kinda-gal

Best musical moment: yes, please, give me a musical episode - I mean, come on, they have a BAND!

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: When Alya got the Fox Miraculous?? I was sooo looking forward to that

When it really disappointed you: every single time Marinette reverts back to her gross possessive behavior when it’s about Adrien. It’s... so exhausting and it was already exhausting in season 1, but the longer this drags on, it becomes cringey as fuck? It’s due time both Marinette and Chat grow the fuck up and start respecting the other person’s boundaries and start seeing them as people. Fully. Because occasionally, they do - and then they take ten steps back again and I am tired

Saddest moment: it’s not really a sad show...

Most well done character death: no one has died yet

Favourite guest star: GRANDPA BEING CALLED BAKERIX IN A CLEAR HOMAGE TO ASTERIX, if that counts

Favourite cast member: it’s a cartoon, so not really actors. And I am so not into tracking or remembering voice actors, so... can’t answer that

Character you wish was still alive: Again, no one has died xD”

One thing you hope really happens: THAT THEY FINALLY FORM AN ACTUAL FUCKING TEAM. Let the other Miraculous holders KEEP THEIR FUCKING MIRACULOUSES. After that disastrous season 3 finale, they GOTTA learn from it! They HAVE to realize how bullshit it is to keep all the Miraculouses in ONE place!!! PLEASE.

Most shocking twist: that Adrien’s mom is being kept in the basement. Like. I always knew Hawkmoth was Adrien’s dad and I suspected he wanted to rewrite reality around Adrien’s mom but that he fucking keeps her body in the basement. Why. What. No. Stop it.

When did you start watching/reading?: Ooof 2016

Best animal/creature: Plagg!!

Favourite location: there aren’t really any impressive locations in this show

Trope you wish they would stop using: Love Triangle. Love triangles can be fun. Admittedly, the Love Square had an interesting twist to it with the secret identities. But when they on top of that Love Square then ALSO added “but oh no! Now BOTH Marinette AND Adrien have ADDITIONAL potential love interests”, this has become some knotted-up nonsense that’s giving me a headache...

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: nothing, really? It got the child heroes, it got the Quippy Boy, it got the female lead who can just do abso-fucking-lutely ANYTHING and is perceived as that kind sweet girl by everyone around her and loved and adored by everyone, it did pretty much all the standard tropes in any superhero or magical girl franchise, but none very outstandingly better than other shows

Funniest moments: uuuhm drawing a blank here

Couple you would like to see: at this point, I would like to see Luka/Marinette and Adrien/Kagami become canon, because the dragged-out Not Good behavior displayed in the Love Square have started to become... uncomfortable for me to watch. I was really on board with them being endgame in season one, but post season 3, I think I’d prefer if both parties genuinely moved on with their new love interests

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: really not a voice actor kinda person so... *shrugs*

Favourite outfit: Chat’s

Favourite item: mh, I do think that I like the Fox Miraculous the best, design-wise

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?:I do own a Plagg plushy! ^-^

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: I would be a frequently akumatized human :D” (seriously, that bitch Hawkmoth gets to akumatize everyone over the smallest feelings of upset...)

Most boring plotline: it’s... it’s not like the show has a whole lot of plotlines... unless you really count every single episode’s akumatized person’s plotline... then honestly I think I wouldn’t even remember the most boring ones...?

Most laughably bad moment:I... just... I laughed and screamed at the screen when Hawk Moth got all the Miraculouses, because I have spent over a whole entire season screaming at my screen that it’s irresponsible and dumb to keep them all in one place, instead of leaving them with the individual carriers. Even louder so after the Master got compromised and went into active hiding. Like. It was only a matter of time until Hawk Moth finds you. So that was so incredibly avoidable and the fact that CHLOE ONCE AGAIN shows her greedy needy self-centered side and was the one enabling Hawk Moth was just... really frustrating (can you tell yet that I was not pleased with the season 3 finale? :D”)

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: Hasn’t really done a lot of flashbacks yet and I’m not big on the ones we got. Does Cat Blanc count as a flashforward, because it was also an alternate timeline? Though... I wasn’t really a fan of that either... mmmh...

Most layered character: They’re all not overly layered, in my personal opinion?

Most one dimensional character: I mean the majority of the characters. Like, most of Marinette’s classmates have like one personality trait assigned to them and that’s it? There’s not a lot of depth and character development going on with most of them

Scariest moment: really not a scary show xDDD

Grossest moment: thankfully enough also not a gross show :D

Best looking male: Luuuka I love his character design

Best looking female: Juleka!

Who you’re crushing on (if any): None

Favourite cast moment: I don’t follow those things, even less so with voice acting xD”

Favourite transportation: ...they... uh... had a train that went into space...? xD”

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): it’s not really a visually stunning show so I got nothing?

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: I mean unanswered questions, a lot, considering the show is still on-going! Most of all, what exactly happened to Adrien’s mom

Best promo: I don’t pay attention to these things ^^°

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: I honestly can’t tell. I mean, I have come to love it, definitely, but I don’t really have one defining moment that I can say “this was it!”

IN DEPTH FANDOM QUESTIONS

#Miraculous Ladybug #In-Depth Fandom Ask Game #send me asks #Anonymous

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the-desolated-quill · 5 years ago

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Fearful Symmetry - Watchmen blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. if you haven’t read this comic yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Do you know what’s my favourite thing about Watchmen? Even when offering damning criticism about superhero archetypes and America’s corruption, it never loses sight of the average joe. And that’s what Fearful Symmetry is all about.

Fearful Symmetry explores the fallout (get it?) after Doctor Manhattan has left Earth, exploring how regular American citizens react to the news that Russia has invaded Afghanistan and that the chances of total nuclear annihilation has increased exponentially. We see the news vendor and the comic reading kid again, which means we get more snippets from Tales Of The Black Freighter. I would love to know how Moore came up with the idea of having Black Freighter interspersed throughout the novel to provide poetic irony. I know some readers don’t really care for it, but I personally really like it. Not only does it give us some nice bit of info about this alternative America, it also highlights specific themes at play within a particular issue’s narrative (as well as foreshadowing what will happen in issues to come. Wink, wink).

In the Black Freighter storyline, the unnamed pirate captain has used the corpses of his crew to make a raft in the hopes of getting back home. We also see him eat some seagulls and kill a shark. Lovely. Now for those who have read the graphic novel and know what happens at the end, this serves as a really sneaky reference to what happens in the final issue, but we’ll talk about that when we come to it. For now lets concentrate on how it relates to this issue. America is in a state of paranoia and turmoil. Their superhuman nuclear deterrent is gone and Cold War tensions are increasing exponentially. It’s getting more and more likely that World War Three is going to happen. So what do people do? Some resort to their baser instincts, such as the man who kills his daughters because the youngest said “Wah,” which he mistook for ‘war’ during a moment of intense hysteria. Others, like Joey, are trying to make the best of it. Joey asks the news vendor to hang her poster promoting a benefit gig for ‘Gay Women Against Rape.’ The news vendor was first introduced to us as a brash and somewhat bigoted old fart, and though he does make a snide remark about Joey, he still hangs the poster up for her, presumably for the same reason he let the kid have the comic for free. Life’s too short. We also see the otherwise timid Dan make a move on Laurie, inviting her to stay at his house now that Manhattan is out of the picture. The point is, like the pirate captain, people’s morals and priorities are changing in response to a sense of impending doom. The pirate captain, a once respectable gentleman, has been reduced to using his dead crew as floats for his raft and snatching seagulls out of the air for food. In the interests of survival he’s changed to the point where he no longer recognises himself.

The attack of the sharks could also be symbolic of what happens with Adrian Veidt. An assassin tries to kill him, but is violently stopped before taking a cyanide capsule to avoid talking. There’s the obvious parallel you can make about how the assassin is the shark and Adrian is the prey, but considering what happens in the issues to come, it could also be seen as a subtle hint that this assassination isn’t quite how it first appears. The sharks were drawn to the captain’s raft because of the corpses. Is Adrian really just an innocent victim here? Could he have somehow done something to bring the assassin to him? Hmmmm....

Very quickly I just want to say that I love how the assassination is played out. Obviously there’s the composition where the beginning and the end of the issue match each other symmetrically throughout, culminating in this beautiful two page spread:

But also I’m impressed with how Alan Moore is able to keep his cards close to his chest and not give the game away too soon. Yes this is a dramatic moment, but it doesn’t appear to be that significant on a first reading. When I first read it, I just assumed this assassination was a response to the growing hysteria surrounding the Cold War. I never thought it would come back to bite us on the arse in the last issue, but now I’m getting ahead of myself.

Another possible parallel could be with what happens to Rorschach. The two detectives from the first issue are given a tip regarding his location with the use of the code phrase ‘raw shark.’ Admittedly not very subtle, but the symbolism works regardless. Rorschach is the only one investigating this hypothetical ‘mask killer’ just as the pirate captain is the only one who can warn his family of the impending arrival of the Black Freighter, but their plans are scuppered thanks to the sharks.

Ah yes, now lets talk about Rorschach because we get a lot of new information about him in this issue. A significant portion of Fearful Symmetry is told from his first person perspective, accompanied by another excerpt from his journal. What I find particularly interesting is how Rorschach views himself. Secret identities are a very common superhero trope, but Rorschach takes it a step further, claiming that his vigilante persona is his true self while his civilian getup is his ‘disguise.’ He even goes as far as to refer to the Rorschach mask as ‘his face.’ This links back to what I was saying about the first issue where I compared Rorschach to Moon Knight. He’s so psychotically obsessed with vengeance and his absolute morality that he has no other life outside of Rorschach. Everything he does feeds back into his primary mission. Punishing criminals in increasingly violent ways. It’s pretty disturbing and not something superhero stories tend to explore. Daredevil and Batman might come close, but they’re always viewed as being noble men doing what’s necessary to save their city. Rorschach, however, is far from noble. Remember, he flat out admitted in At Midnight, All The Agents that he has no interest in saving people. He just wants to hurt those he believes deserves to be hurt, often for relatively minor crimes. The ex-supervillain Moloch has his fingers broken and then gets shoved into the fridge just because he possesses illegal prescription drugs and an unlicensed firearm, which, yeah, is very naughty of him, but he’s not actually hurting anyone. Does he really deserve the same harsh punishment as an attempted rapist or a murderer? Does the attempted rapist or the murderer deserve such a harsh punishment, come to that?

As I said before, this is a sick power fantasy for him, which the end of Fearful Symmetry confirms conclusively when Rorschach is arrested. He wears elevated shoes to appear taller and puts on a rough voice to sound more intimidating than he actually does. It’s revealed that Rorschach is in fact the homeless man carrying the ‘The End Is Nigh’ sign we’ve seen throughout the novel.

This was such a good twist. I honestly didn’t see it coming the first time I read it, and I love how Alan Moore throws you off the scent. Rorschach’s speech bubbles are wavy and he speaks in broken sentences without pronouns, whereas the homeless man has normal speech bubbles and speaks in fuller, more complete sentences. It’s great misdirection and the reveal is wonderfully executed. Plus it makes total sense. He’s the only background character to appear in major plot relevant scenes, which explains where Rorschach gets his information, and who’s going to suspect a homeless man of being a superhero?

There’s a lot more to discuss about Rorschach, but I’ll save that for the next issue, which explores his origins in great detail. For now, lets end by saying Fearful Symmetry is a gripping read that utilises its structure and narrative to great effect.

#fearful symmetry #watchmen #alan moore #dave gibbons #dc comics #review #spoilers

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years ago

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Spider-Man: Fake Red Chapter 4 Thoughts

Another good chapter!

One of the frustrations with manga and anime for me is that the serialization and pacing of the stories are so utterly geared towards watching/reading in bulk.

As such this issue flew by. I fact I’m wondering if it’s worth waiting to read this series once a month instead of every week.

If this was a standard comic the quick pace of it would piss me off, but given how to my understanding this would’ve been a cheap purchase I can’t complain, especially since this is standard practice in Japan.

What’s enticing about this issue particularly is that it shines more of a spotlight upon Peter Parker himself.

Now don’t get it twisted, this is nothing special if you are an experienced Spidey reader. But let’s be fair and remember that the primary audience of (I presume) late tween/teenage Japanese males probably haven’t read a shitton of Spider-Man comics if any, thus for them this wouldn’t be cliché or stereotypical.

The premise is essentially Spidey is trying to make a date to see MJ’s play and doesn’t want to be late as he usually is, but wouldn’t you know it hero duties delay him.

Again, very standard stuff, but it’s not meant for an audience for whom it necessarily WOULD be standard.

After all how many times has such a scenario been presented in wider Spidey media that Japan would be aware of? I confess I can’t answer that but my money is on not very much. I doubt if most people in Japan watched the 1994 cartoon or the Spec cartoon so their primary source for Spidey stories is likely the video games (which don’t do this type of story THAT much) or more poignantly the films, which also haven’t really done it to death just yet.

In a similar vein I really liked how Yu vocalizes in a way part of the central premise of Spider-Man by ironically presuming Peter’s life must be easy or exceptional because he is a superhero, but the reality of course is just the opposite. We for example see Yu struggling with a test and worrying about Emily knowing his secret and ponders that Spidey wouldn’t be dealing with this.

Even if you only know about Spider-Man from the movies you could appreciate the irony of the sentiment, and if your main exposure was just the films there has never been as direct a spelling out of the inherent irony Lee and Ditko baked into the character like that. In fact I don’t off the top of my head recall it being conveyed that way even in Western Spidey comics, usually it’s the narrator or Peter himself very directly spelling out that it’s ironic his life isn’t easy even though he is a hero.

Speaking of Emily I like how the series isn’t going for what is typical even in Western Spidey comics by having Emily be in the dark about Yu’s identity. I think even for a Japanese audience that’d be tedious as ‘keeping the secret’ is a common trope across a lot of fiction. This cuts out the middle man and creates more ambiguity, I genuinely do not know where the Emily plot thread is going to go and I like not knowing!

The manga’s characterization of Spider-Man himself is mostly on point. I spoke last time how it’s likely Spider-Man has a better public reputation to create more drama for Yu to live up to Spidey’s shadow, but other than that nothing else is out of character. It’s not diving deeper into who Peter is or anything but for the scenario it is presenting it’s fine. Which I think is to be admired because again, we must remember that the author hasn’t necessarily grown up with ready access to endless trades of Spidey comics.

And of course for me as a shipper seeing the story emphasis the MJ relationship was rewarding.

Scorpion also had a cool new look and the action art was interesting, very dynamic I felt.

Another thing to note is again in regards to the films. It’s very obvious to me the manga is presuming audiences know about the movie versions of Spider-Man first and foremost because just about everything either stems from or riffs upon them. There is a Stark billboard. The scenario of Peter going to MJ’s play is from Spider-Man 2. Him getting flowers for her is also from Spider-Man 2. Venom (who appears but gets very little movement from last issue) is obviously from Spider-Man 3 and Venom 2018. What’s cool is the author is still telling and interesting and unique story in spite of using the most obvious points of reference possible.

In a sense if this one issue was indicative of most of the series it’d be pretty banal, but because Yu is the lead and this story is actually a break and hopefully something that will resolve some of the lingering questions it is actually much more interesting than it would be otherwise.

Highly recommended.

#Spider-Man: Fake Red #Spider-Man #Peter Parker #mjwatsonedit #Mary Jane Watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #mj watson #Venom #venom symbiote #Scorpion #mac gargan #tony stark #Spider-Man 2 #Spider-Man 3 #Sam Raimi #Raimi Spider-Man #Venom 2018 #Yusuke Osawa

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ahopefuldoubt · 7 years ago

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Matters of Representation: The “Chosen One” Archetype, Adoptees, and The Prince of Egypt

originally posted in 2016 [x]. time references are relative to 2016.

This is a post I started drafting in the middle of April (2016), so coming back to it three months later has been like trying to meld together two fairly different frames of mind. For anyone who reads it, I hope you’ll bear with me as I (continue to) work through things here. It’s part personal, part purposeful, and probably does not flow well. My original plan was to write only about the overused “Chosen One” trope and how unsettling it is when that character is an adoptee or foster child. But it grew a bit beyond that.

Moses gives me pause. He’s a puzzle I am always trying to reconfigure. Oftentimes he seems to me like a generic protagonist: another man who receives a call to arms and embarks on a hero’s quest to fulfill his destiny. Another adoptee who gets saddled with the “Chosen One” label and responsibilities, one who must save the world despite having already lost his original family and history. A convenient blank slate with no past.

As much as Moses frustrates me as a character, and as little as I identify with him, he’s important to me. Our relationship is complicated. :) (Can you imagine the Facebook status?)

Like a lot of transracial and/or international adoptees, I grew up in a predominantly white community. My older sister was adopted too, but without her there, I didn’t see myself reflected in my family or in my town. As a child, I watched animated movies like Anastasia and Dumbo. Standard fare. Stories that featured orphans, separation, adoption, reunion. I was attracted to them. Anastasia was hugely influential for me. And I was troubled by them. Just thinking about the scene where they separate Dumbo from his mother sends me into a tailspin; it’s not a movie I’d voluntarily watch again. Back then, though, I didn’t have the language to really explain what I was feeling or why, or to even describe these movies as adoption-related. I did what I think a lot of adoptees do in this situation, and internalized it all: I felt embarrassed about how much I liked Anastasia, but I don’t think many people knew I felt any sort of way about it.

Maybe a contributing factor was that my adoptive parents were from a generation where people didn’t have many discussions about privilege (of all kinds) or about adopting children — especially as white people adopting children who weren’t white. My parents were not given the language, so they couldn’t approach the subject or teach me how to put a name to my emotions. There’s more awareness now: Adult adoptees are speaking out and helping to ensure that prospective adoptive parents have these conversations. Things have improved; however, on the whole, I still see a lot of the same issues. Whitewashing and colorblindness. And shoddy representations of adoptees in stories.

It’s been quite a trip to have seen The Prince of Egypt so recently, and to think, finally I can see myself. This is the representation that I didn’t realize I was missing. Nothing has been quite the same since I watched this movie. In many ways, but certainly in that I’m better able to notice and think about all of these adoptee/foster child “Chosen Ones” in stories past, present, and future.

I’m glad that The Prince of Egypt focuses so much on Moses’ relationships with both his adoptive and biological families (including a sense of his own “in-betweenness”). For one thing, the reunion naturally involves Aaron and Miriam, the character/s I identify with and emote over more. Furthermore, because it is such an intimate and complex story, there are many layers to the three siblings’ relationships, and their conflicts are allowed to unfold on-screen. I don’t think movies like Anastasia depict this struggle as well or as profoundly, or even at all.

Reunion has been at the front of my mind for at least six years. Time feels strange to me; fleeting. I’ve passed the age my birthmother had me, if the information in my record is real. My adoptive mother died earlier this year. Reunion is on my mind constantly. Is my birthmother still alive? Did I get my dimples from her? Does she share my serious outlook on life? Did she ever contact my birthfather again? Does my birthfather have the same thick hair? Was he good to her while they were together?

Am I running out of time to find the answers to any of these questions? Do I even want to know? I’ve already hit a couple of snags in my search for her. I’m afraid to go further.

Reunion is on my mind constantly. Do I have any younger biological siblings?

But I will never fully be a member of my biological family, should I reunite with them. It will feel so close, yet so far. There will be a linguistic divide, a cultural divide. I won’t quite mold to the shape of my birthmother’s arms. And this hurts. I often need to take a giant leap away from the movie and fandom because my emotions surrounding separation and reunion (the one in The Prince of Egypt and my own possible reunion) are so tangible. A lot of painful stuff has been thrown into light, yet for some, at-times unfathomable reason, I still want to connect to this story, ache for it, find joy in it. Because through it, I’ve also been able to process some of my own pain and grief.

There have definitely been times where I’ve wished I could identify more with Moses. Beyond our common adoptee-hood, though, I don’t relate to him on much of a deep or personal level. What I’ve learned — and accepted — over these past three months is that Moses doesn’t have to be “my adoptee protagonist.” I don’t even have to like him at times. Rather, as I wrote, he’s my puzzle. He raises questions for me. He makes me think more about how adoptees are represented in stories.

Too many stories use adoption as a convenient plot device. However, adoption is a lifelong process. More importantly, it is an identity. My adoptee identity is with me every time I say my name and people smirk or do a double-take because my name, particularly my full name*** does not match my Asian face. It is with me when I am asked if I speak Korean, and when I reply, “No,” I feel inadequate, estranged from my heritage and my people. A blank slate with no past.

Adoption is not a tragic backstory or an obstacle for characters — and people — to overcome. Yet it seems to be treated as such, or completely brushed aside. Many weeks ago, at this point, I was talking about this with my best friend and remarked how Disney’s version of Hercules literally has to go through Hell (the Underworld) in order to be considered worthy of reuniting with his birthparents. Narratively, it’s seen as an act of love and heroism, and I think this is part of the issue: The adoptee “Chosen Ones” in these stories are called on to be superheroes and saviors (and deliverers), to be strong and sound of heart and mind, to be more and more and more. “Forget and be content.” But, “don’t you abandon us.” What’s an adoptee supposed to do with these high and contradictory expectations?

I’m not a Hero(tm). I don’t want to be one. Maybe this is why I don’t connect with the “traditional heroes” in stories. I can’t live up to those kinds of expectations. Nevertheless, I was raised with them. I’d wager that many adoptees were, too. Be grateful. Be loyal. Be a part of your adoptive family, but not really. Be a part of your biological family. But not really. At what point does membership become conditional?

I understand that the search for self is universal, and as a result, many characters are made to go through journeys of self-discovery. The “adoption fantasy,” wherein children (adopted and non-adopted alike) imagine they were adopted, is also a natural developmental phase. When this “secret identity” trope is evoked in stories, it reads like a shocking plot twist. However, it’s different for those who have actually lived it. And there are of course many layers and levels to all of this, bigger pictures and so much to this specific circumstance. Moses is an adoptee and he is Hebrew: born a slave, then taken and raised by his oppressors, who keep his adoption, his identity and history, from him. I may consider Moses a puzzle in some ways, but the unethicalness of his relinquishment and adoption is something I will always be rather clear on (critical of).

In the sense that Moses will remain something of a puzzle to me, I’ll continue to find pieces of myself reflected in our “common adoptee-hood.” I’ll continue to rage at his behavior when he’s a teenager. I’ll continue to feel every jarring step and moment of happiness in how his siblings process the reunion. And I’ll always continue to think about stories feature adoption and adoptees.

*** I use my birth name here on Tumblr, but my full legal name is always coded as white.

Last edited: 6/4/17 for clarity

#ok to reblog #the prince of egypt #adoption #moses #my stuff #my writing #poe analysis #what i mean when i say that moses speaks to my head #:)#this is more or less the version before i made *that* edit #which i'll do in a few days #some posts feel weirder to repost than others

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giantsizeannualmonthly · 3 years ago

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Comic Book Series Review-1602: New World (2005)

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Summary: Return to the world of 1602! Rising stars Greg Pak (X-Men: Phoenix -- Endsong) and Greg Tocchini (Thor: Son Of Asgard) pick up where the best-selling story by Neil Gaiman left off: America, the New World! When Captain America was thrust back in time, it changed reality as we know it. Dinosaurs still roam the earth, and the Marvel super heroes we know came to exist 500 years early. Witness David Bruce Banner and Peter Parquagh become the Hulk and Spider-Man in the most eagerly-awaited event of the year! Collects 1602: New World #1-5.

Writer: Greg Pak

Artists: Greg Tocchini, Mark Morales, Todd Klein, Sergio Toppi

Number of Issues: 5 This is perhaps the most interesting comic in the Marvel 1602 series outside of the original work. It deals with the exploration of the "New World" America, and they really take some creative liberties with what life there may have been like early on, even going as far as to add dinosaurs into the mix. This graphic novel steps the furthest outside of the box and feels the most like what you would expect a Marvel Comic to be without veering too far away from the primary concept.

The theme of intolerance against the different or unexplainable returns to the forefront in this narrative. It deals with the relationship between the white settlers and the natives of America as well as the Elizabethan witch hunts at the hands of King James I. It also deals with the common comic book trope of "secret identity". David Banner is the adviser to the King, whom is the greatest enemy of the supernatural, but he himself transforms into a being of supernatural origin.

By now you should be up to speed on the twist of the 1602 Universe and how it came to be. Uatu the Watcher interfered in human affairs. Earth-460 is an alternate future where Purple Man became the President of the United States and started executing and imprisoning superheroes. Captain America was set to be executed so Uatu the Watcher saved him by sending him into the 17th Century of Earth-616. That created the alternate timeline of Earth-311. Virginia Dare's bodyguard Rojhaz is actually Earth-460's Captain America. When he was transported to that world, it created a temporal rift and a destabilization of reality, that rift was known as "The Source". It's the origin of many of the unexplained happenings within this Universe. Master Osborne (Earth-313's Green Goblin) serves as the main antagonist of this story on his quest to find this source and the Natives that serve as it's guardians are his opposition.

While I actually enjoyed this series, I think the sequels to the original Marvel 1602 books highlight one of two things; either this concept isn't interesting enough to stretch across this many different stories, or those who took over where Gaiman left off just can't think of anything interesting to say about this time period with the use of Marvel's characters. I would have thought this venture would have given these writers a chance to really flex their creativity and tell stories a different way but it all feels very typical. Peter Parquagh isn't a very fascinating analog to the Peter Parker/Spider-Man character we are used to. He is almost a xerox except with the necessary changes made to his origin for this reality. That would be fine if the Spider-Man we already had wasn't the center of the Marvel Universe and he didn't have a ton of more intriguing stories for us to read. Greg Pak's handling of the Hulk is kind of the cornerstone of the New World saga but that's his wheelhouse.

Of all the titles that proceeded past Gaiman's vision, this one to me is the most memorable. The specific character focused stories don't bring enough interesting concepts to the table that weren't already there from the start. Pak does the best job of it but I think maybe 1602 is one of those ideas where they should have just left "well enough" alone. THE GOOD

The original 1602 series didn't focus much on the characters I thought were the most interesting in the stories, Greg Pak (who is probably best known for his work on Hulk at this point) does alot of work with Banner and his Hulk persona and that was the character I connected with the most in these books. Although Parquagh isn't as interesting as his Earth-616 counterpart, Peter Parker...him being more of the focal point of this series allowed me to warm up to the character more and actually enjoy taking this journey with him through the New World.

Norman Osborn coming in as a strong villain was very much needed.

While some of the creative liberties taken with real life history were a little silly, I like that Pak actually took those liberties without stick so close to the parameters of reality. Some times the more you try and make something fantastical feel real, the more ridiculous and unreal it gets.

THE BAD

Like with the original series, I felt like more of our history could have been explored and more characters could have been used. This story is too centralized. The New World is bigger than Roanoke, Virginia and I would have loved to have seen more of the American colonies with these characters.

Although Pak's take on this Universe stepped a little more outside of the box...it still felt very by the numbers. There doesn't seem to be more to say about this alternate universe that wasn't really covered in the original series. I mean, it was good to see the New World and there was definitely more story to tell but with such rich material, I expected there to be more to explore here.

I give this series an, 8.0 out of 10 PRETTY GOOD

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