#WOW THIS WAS A LONG ANSWER

[kwockwoc]

Hi Kwoc,

So I know you for some time now as one of the people who lives in fencedom, and I wanted to ask you some random questions that just popped in my head. So how did you come across Fence? Do you write any fics and if you have a favorite fence fic which one would you recommend me to read? Who is your favorite Fence character? What's your favorite movie and favorite genre? What book are you currently reading? Also what is your favorite food of all time?

Have a good day mate

XOXO

Atom

P.S what style of music do you listen to?

G’day Atom --

Okay, wow! Thanks for the lovely ask in the ol' Inbox!

The answer was more wordy than I expected, so it's below the cut 👇

I was a little overwhelmed when I first read your ask, because I think of myself as kind of occupying space right on the edge of the fandom, and am slightly mystified at the thought of being ‘in’ it!

I first came across Fence (but didn’t initially read it) when it was recommended to me by a friend. The first issue was being launched by CS Pacat at my local comic book shop, and this friend was quite insistent that I should go to the launch event and read the comic, because “it’s written by Cat and it’s gay and it’s got swords in it and you’ll love it!”

Anyway, I took a look at a preview, realised it was about teenagers fencing at a boarding school, and I thought –

Not for me.

I had already read CS (Cat) Pacat’s Captive Prince trilogy when the final of the three books first released (Wikipedia tells me that was in February 2016, which seems a staggeringly long time ago, but is probably correct). I sat down and devoured the trilogy over the course of about forty-eight hours. I loved Damen and Laurent and enjoyed the worldbuilding. I then met Cat at a book signing at a local bookshop, and had really enjoyed the interview Cat gave, so thought that whatever was next published would be interesting…

But… teenagers? High school? Uh…

Anyway, fast forward a few years. Fence got nominated for a GLAAD award and I thought oh, it must be pretty good then, but then still didn’t pick it up. Around the time of the release of the compiled volume four in a graphic novel format (mid-2020), I realised that the series was still being published, albeit in a piecemeal fashion. I borrowed the first three bound volumes of Fence from the library, and I was hooked.

I’m not a comic book reader – not now, anyway. I grew up on Spider-man and read Marvel comics well past the age most guys stop (some of my fave characters have faded to darkness, now – Nightwatch, anyone?). I wrongly thought of comics as something that couldn’t engage me anymore. Wrongly? Very wrongly. I enjoyed Fence a lot and wanted to spend some more time in its world.

Yes, I do write, but not much. I used to write more, but I stopped creative writing in… I want to say about 2012, but I can’t really remember. Every time I think about it, the timeline shifts a little. 2012 would make sense, though. I took a break because I was working in academia, and I would be ‘all dried up’ in terms of writing by the end of a normal semester. Nothing left! No energy, no inspiration. Academic writing took me over for a long while – a lot longer than I expected it to. I wrote a few flash fictions here and there over the intervening years, but only returned to doing some focused creative writing in 2023.

Favourite Fence fics – wow, amazing question! I have a soft spot for everything that inagartenforever writes – I’d suggest you check out anything and everything by ina. (Full disclosure – I’ve gifted a couple of fics to ina, so this is hardly a ‘disinterested’ recommendation 😅) 

Looking through my bookmarks I’m surprised how little I’ve bookmarked – there are so many great writers both active and inactive in the Fence fandom. Maybe just spend some time browsing and see what you find interesting!

The only things written in the Fence fandom and currently visible on ao3 that I’ve bookmarked that AREN’T by inagartenforever are two pieces by Merrilly, both of which are E-rated, if you’re OK with that – Pas de Deux, and Shattered Pieces Shine (I am a bad reader because I so often forget to bookmark 🙇). My other bookmarks are from other fandoms, perhaps most notably OMGCP.

Favourite Fence character – hmm. This is like a parent picking a favourite child. I’m going to say Nicholas, although my reasons for choosing that guy are unclear, even to me, because I do love Seiji. What an interesting guy Seiji is! I also have an enormous and growing soft spot for Robert Coste, not for any particular or even real reason – only because of the complicated head-canons I have invented about him 😅

Favourite movie – I’m not a movie person, really. I do love The First Wives Club and The Castle. Oh dear. As you can see, I apparently stopped watching new films in 1997 😅

Favourite genre of movie – I’m going to say that I don’t watch enough cinema to have a fave genre 😔 I look over at the DVD collection on the bookcase, and there’s a lot more TV boxsets over there than there are films! In terms of TV – all-time favourites are the US Queer as Folk, and Futurama.

Currently reading…? – oh, dear Atom, this – this question. This question. Oh no. I have so many different books I’m partway through (yeah, I’m one of those readers, too). Currently in the “yes honey I promise I am reading these” pile are:

Bunt! (Ngozi Ukazu),

the bars are ours (Lucas Hilderbrand),

White Trash Warlock (David Slayton),

My Next Date (Casey Morales – I’m listening to this as audiobook narrated by Jon Curtis),

and I’m also re-reading It Takes Two to Tumble (Cat Sebastian – yeah, another writer named Cat). It's basically a riff on The Sound of Music, but set 130 years earlier, and much gayer.

I adore Cat Sebastian’s writing – very cozy with a happy ending. In general, I re-read frequently and without regret. If I like it, I’m going back to it. Just try and stop me. I’m looking at you, Lord of the Rings.

Favourite food of ALL TIME – if I can set aside the question of nutrition, I’m going to say veal saltimbocca as cooked by a guy named Tony, which I used to have at a little place in South Yarra called Tamani (sadly, now long since closed). Dinner at Tamani and then a night out at a gay or gay-friendly bar/club south of the river was a guaranteed good Saturday.

Favourite style of music – I had an EDM/trance ‘phase’ for a long while in my late teens/early twenties. I listen to… well, more or less anything, now. A lot of Lana Del Rey these days. My top listened-to artists this month (March 2024) are Lana Del Rey, Kesha, Gregory Dillon, RAYE, Troye Sivan, and… uh… Taylor Swift.

Once again Atom, wow! What an amazing ask. A whistle-stop tour of kwoc’s life. Appreciate the questions!

[notherpuppet]

Do you think there's a right and/or wrong way to handle QPR? I know it's a tricky relationship, but it feels like most/some people kind of just slap the label onto a ship while depicting the ship as just romantic/having no difference with a romantic relationship. (this is why I was a little surprised when you said you do radioapple qpr when it reads a lot more like normal romance). Not meant as an attack or anything on anyone, just genuinely curious more than anything. Again, tricky relationship

So Imma put this link to info at the top of this post: https://taaap.org/2022/07/16/qprs-part-one/

Alright, so please take what I say with a grain of salt, because that's exactly what it is. One small bit of perspective in a mass of many people who experience QPRs in their life and/or are on an aro/ace spectrum. I also have NO QUALIFICATIONS on gender/sexuality theory, so my opinions are shaped by what I've learned and experienced personally. While people may identify with the same term, we are all still individuals with our own experiences. Words can help describe a phenomenon, but it doesn't make everyone who identifies with the word into a monolith.

So I've stated a few times that I navigate shipping Alastor similar to my own experiences as an aroace person. (I guess I'm sharing about myself with this post, but I think that can be helpful to just spreading awareness of an "alternative lifestyle"). So I'm romance-repulsed and sex-repulsed LOL but I'm also "positive" about those things. Like I view romance and sex as lovely, fun experiences people can have, but I've never been into it personally. It's fun for me to consume media about romance/sex, but yknow, it's also fun for me to consume media about violence or isolation. Doesn't mean I want to experience or engage in any of those things lol.

Anyway, I'm a huge people person and I love to party and yknow it seems most people are really wanting to fall in love or fuck or whatever pretty much all the time, but especially at parties hahaha. Normally, I'm pretty touch-averse, but I love dancing so much and it's a blast to dance with a partner (salsa especially!! i don't care for grinding for probably obvious reasons). And to connect the two previous sentences, people (whatever gender they are) would be very kissy-touchy on the dancefloor. Which i honestly dont really give a fuck about hahaha. I don't really get anything out of kissing but I also don't mind it. I just like to dance. It's all a pretty superficial--but still genuinely fun--experience for me.

When it comes to my deeper or more intimate connections, I have had friendships that have felt SO on the line of what was viewed as a romantic relationship. They were exceptional friends and we connected on a level that was deep and true, but it wasn't romantic. Sometimes we'd slow dance, sometimes we kissed, and it rocked. But it wasn't more than that, it was all that it needed to be. I didn't want more and neither did they (except one situation and so we had to stop being friends lol whoops). From the outside, people would even refer to us as partners in a half joking way, but we really were just friends. And I love those friends!! And a huge part of what made those relationships (which at the time were described as 'situationships' because we didn't know any of these terms haha) was their convenience. We either lived in the same building, worked together, or were neighbors LOL. I'm still friends with those absolutely lovely folks, but we don't live around each other, so our QPR just appears a lot more like any ole regular friendship. But it's not like there was a feeling that we transitioned into something different than before. It twas what it twas! (Had to take a pause while I was typing to reminisce fondly for a second, okay back to hazbin hahaha)

SO, whenever someone asks or it comes up, MOST OF THE TIME I do ship alastor through an aroace lens and experience with QPRs (specifically, MINEE because they were fun and I've never felt like doing this before I met a character like Al). And my XP is: "this isn't gonna be a partnership and we ain't fucking" LMFAO. so yeah!

When it comes to using a queer term like QPR, I just hope folks are considerate in their writing, but I also am inclined to just believe them if they say that's their intention because QPRs can look very different. Again, aroace and ace folks are not a monolith. The terms help to describe a human's experience. I'm inclined to think people are writing in good faith.

And all this being said, I want to just emphasize that I really don't think it's necessary to consider any of this shit if you want to ship a fictional character. I understand wanting to be protective of a character who shares an identifier with you (I personally don't wanna see romance/sex with Al in canon). But shipping is a fun thing a fandom does that often does ignore canon. Tale as old as time. I don't think anyone needs to be beholden to canon when they're writing fanfiction or having fun. If we did, I would have like--5 artworks on this blog hahaha. These characters are like dollies, do whatever you want. It's cool if people don't like it and I think it's cool if people do. It's just not that serious. There are ships I'm not particularly into or dynamics that I am not enchanted by, but whatever. I can just scroll or close my eyes.

TLDR; shipping in fandom doesn't need to be taken seriously at ALL. It can just be fun way for someone to play with fictional characters they like. That being said, I think it's good practice to use queer terms thoughtfully.

[clairiko]

THE LINKED UNIVERSITY THING IS SO COOL!!!

Is the entire group friends or are there different cliques they are all part of?

What extracurriculars do they do (besides cheerleader legend)?

Is it possible to see more of Four?

these ref sheets i made awhile back should answer your question about extracurriculars!

to answer the first question, they are all friends but mostly hang out with the others who are in their grade! However, one of the main ideas i had for this if i were to make it into a story was that they were all brought together by Time in a special club for exceptional students, as they are all very skilled in different areas (which was definitely NOT a concept i stole from the show A.N.T farm-)

i promise ill try to feed the Four fans more at some point!

[grim-ghosty]

Psychiatric Patient Branch Au I wanted to know how his brothers reacted to seeing him like this for the first time and how they are dealing with it

I hope you're talking about them finding him grey and how they deal with that until him being emitted.

Before he turned grey, his brothers left for a couple of months after the concert to calm down. When they come back, John decided that his family was more important than some stupid family harmony that was breaking them apart. So, the disbanded Brozone.

Branch, being branch, believed it was his fault that the concert went up in flames and that the band disbanding was his fault, too. He doesn't tell any of the brothers this because he believes if he did, they would realize that it was his fault and leave him again. (Abandonment issues are strong in this one.) Which starts his long issue of hiding what he feels as to not burden his brothers or make them leave.

The brothers don't realize anything wrong; they just think Branch is this weird, happy trolling. Sadly, because of this they grow somewhat distant from Branch, with being busy with school or job in John's case, they obviously still make time for him, but it wasn't like how it was before.

Until one day, the brothers go out to get some groceries after school, leaving Grandma Rosiepuff to watch Branch. And, well, we know what happens. The brothers come home to find the clothes half hung up and no Grandma or Branch in sight. They start to panic and run around looking for them. They find Branch, grey and dissociated. His eyes are glossed over and he looks sickly.

The brothers are heartbroken. Clay is sobbing, Floyd is trying to comfort Branch, Bruce is just frozen, and John is trying to figure out a plan, trying to be strong for his family. They carry him back to the pod and sit him down on the cough. Clay desperately tries to get Branch to smile or laugh (it doesn't work). He breaks down sobbing again, which Floyd leads him out of the room to help him. Bruce is making dinner like everything is normal and John is trying to get answers out of Branch.

They don't learn until the next day what happens to grandma. They have the sudden horrifying realization that Branch saw it happen. That point forward, they are there for Branch 24/7, doing anything to make him talk again, to react again.

Then on the night of The Great Bergen Escape, Branch actually emotes for the first time in months. Sadly, it wasn't for a good reason. He was terrified. After that day, He started to be negative, yelling at his brother, telling them he hated them, that he was better off without them. In reality, he was only saying that to save them, to make them leave him. The Brothers don't and life continues. years later, when Branch is 10, the brothers find out how Branch is doing mentally after a big fight and Floyd thinks they should get Branch help.

[eowynstwin]

Ayo... you by chance got any Ghost headcannons?

BOY DO I. Here’s what I want to talk about though:

I don’t think Ghost resembles the frankly weird, ultra-dom sex god that fandom has made him out to be. Man wears a mask, self-reportedly, even to sleep. That is LITERALLY the most repressed thing I can think of outside of the church itself.

That’s not to say I don’t think he’s great in bed, but it’s for different reasons that apply also to his overarching character. I think the Ghost persona allows him to be Simon without actually being Simon. The mask allows Ghost to trick himself, to say, “Simon Riley is dead and I am his Ghost” in order to deal with the cognitive dissonance he has of living with extreme trauma.

Soooo, Ghost is more expressive, more himself, really, with the mask on. He can do things as Ghost that Simon Riley just would not have the strength to do anymore. He can connect with his teammates, spend time doing things he enjoys, and yes, he can have and enjoy sex.

While I don’t prefer to rely on actors’ interpretations of the characters they played, I do agree with Samuel Roukin on this—Ghost doesn’t date. Dating is a game for people who are alive. Simon is not. Ghost is “not.”

When Ghost wants to get laid, he follows the age old tradition of picking someone up when he’s gone out for drinks. He’s not opposed to having sex with coworkers, I think, but what happens in the bedroom holds absolutely no bearing on his professional relationships with them.

Boundaries on the whole are sharp and immutable—don’t ask him about work. Don’t ask him about his past. He’s not there for you to get to know him. Follow those rules? He’ll do anything you want.

Mostly though, he fucks you like he wants your body to be unable to forget his. Ghost, for all his insistence to keep things casual, still longs for human connection. He has a hunger for people, for intimacy, born naturally out of an incredible lack of it. So if you do get him into bed, it will feel like Ghost is desperate for you, has wanted you for longer than he’s even known you.

Also, if you follow his rules, he’ll usually come back to fuck you again. Ghost doesn’t want anonymous, doesn’t want someone new every time. Knowing you, knowing your body, knowing what you can do together, is a part of the act that stems the tide of his loneliness. He is very perceptive, and enjoys making a mental catalogue of the things that wreck you. The only thing he enjoys just as much is when you show that you know, too, how to wreck him. It is a deep, ineffable satisfaction, having sex as a vehicle for knowing and being known.

He will overindulge—in his opinion. Ghost always thinks he’s talked to someone too much, spent too much time with someone, fucked someone for too long. It’s a byproduct of trauma borne of a difficult family life. Building something real with someone else represents a massive risk that has only proven detrimental to Ghost in the past—to Simon.

If he catches feelings, his instinct is to sprint in the other direction. He will withdraw, become hard to get into contact with. It is never out of cruelty on his part, and if you do manage to get ahold of him, he won’t snarl at you like his father snarled at him, snarled at his mother. But if you pressure him, demand his time, push him for what he has explicitly told you he will not give, then he will pull out the explanation that always works for him: “You know what this was.”

If you don’t pressure him though—if, when you get ahold of him, you just tell him that you’d like to see him again? That he’s always welcome? Ghost is drawn like a moth to a fucking flame. He’ll hate himself for it, for needing you, for being stupid enough to want you, but he won’t be able to help it. And he won’t stop himself, either.

Give Ghost time, and he will become your shadow. You will never need to look very hard to find him. You will never need to worry about being alone. There is nothing, when he is yours, that will keep him from coming back to you.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think that Laura and Marisha are deliberately making their relationship somewhat toxic and unsustainable or do you think they see the relationship as healthy? It is just so different from all of the other relationships they have been a part of and not really in a good way. Would love to get your perspective on it if you have one

I am honestly unsure. I would like to say it's deliberate. Prior to it becoming canon, in fact, I, and a lot of other people who were less than enthused by Imogen and Laudna's romance and weren't entirely sold from the start, made the case that we expected they would be talking to each other and would put together a compelling story, not the dull fluff so common in fanon. While whether it's compelling is a subjective judgment, we know for a fact they didn't talk to each other. We know for a fact Marisha was surprised by the question of "Can I kiss you," and Laura was surprised by the answer. We know from a 4SD not long after (4SD #16, Kiss and Tell) that several episodes later they still hadn't talked. We know that Marisha perceives Laudna as holding Imogen back (and that Laudna perceives herself as doing so) from the Rose City Q&A. We know that from 4SD #20 (Episode Twenty) that Laura doesn't like conflict in narrative and Marisha does, and that Laura was thrown by Laudna's regression following Ashton's attempt to absorb the shard (4SD #19, Shard Candy).

I don't know if it's deliberate or not; I don't have any extra insight that isn't public knowledge any fan can easily access. But man, it doesn't feel like these are two actors on the same page about what's going on.

I've touched on this before but mostly in tags or whisper posts but I've always felt ill at ease with a number of for lack of a better term "fandom-approved opinions" and one of the ones that has baffled me the most is this idea that Marisha and Laura have exceptional chemistry. I watched Campaign 1 knowing the endgame ships but deliberately avoiding the fandom, and Vex and Keyleth did not even once occur to me as a thing. I watched the first year of Campaign 2 without a ton of fandom interaction because I was avoiding additional C1 spoilers and it seemed crystal clear that the obvious ship was Beau and Yasha; it felt like Beau and Jester only even had enough potential for me to multiship it as my general "whomever Jester picks" for like, 30 episodes. And yet people - people who didn't even ship either of the above ships and in some cases disliked them- would just say "oh man I can't wait until we get to a campaign where we can finally explore Marisha and Laura's incredible chemistry!" and it's like. I feel like I'm the kid in the Emperor's New Clothes on this! I understand that chemistry is to an extent a matter of taste and subjectivity, but it just increasingly feels like people looked at two campaigns of tables where Ashley was frequently absent and said "well, if I want an F/F ship that's between two of the women in the cast, I guess this is what I have to work with" and repeated to themselves that a flat pamplemousse La Croix was a Piña Colada until they started to believe it. I mean if someone wants to explain it to me in good faith I suppose be my guest and I will try to take it in, but it feels like people just treat this as incontrovertible fact and if you doubt it they're like "don't you have eyes" and it's like, well, pretend I don't. Explain like I'm eyeless and five because I have never understood this. They both have more chemistry with every single other cast member; it's not all romantic but man, I didn't even buy Laudna and Imogen as platonic best friends of two years. I have never had this problem with any other pre-existing character relationships Marisha and Laura have played, platonic or otherwise. It's literally just them. I just never feel like they're quite on the same page.

Back to the relationship between Imogen and Laudna onscreen, this was easily the best conversation since the start of the gnarlrock fight, and it is my hope it doesn't fizzle out the way that did. You can't keep kissing Laudna whenever she fears she's lost forever to Delilah, Imogen. Or you can, but that won't fix the problem. Again: are you disgusted? Do you feel betrayed? If you're not, why did you say that? If you are, how will you move past it? Do you want to be with someone who never feels like they're good enough for you? Laudna, do you want to be with someone who, no matter what they say, you feel you're holding back?

Early in the campaign, my feeling was that of our current situation, switched - Imogen felt her powers were a burden and a curse and Laudna kept referring to them and to her glowingly. It's just...ships passing in the night, no pun intended here. I hope it's on purpose and whatever comes from it is a good story - and either a tragedy or a happy story could be a good one. But I have a nagging sensation that Laudna wants out but is afraid to say no, and Imogen is afraid to let go, and I honestly don't know if the actors have realized this impasse and how the characters might resolve it, one way or another, besides the insufficient bandaid of a kiss whenever the conversation gets too uncomfortable.

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

Hello! First I want to say I really like your fae story! The world building in it is insane and I'm so glad Buddie is finally together. Second, you don't have to answer but why have you been posting stuff with tommy? I don't understand why any Buddie shipper would like him, he's such a pos in the begins episodes...why write him with Buck? You don't have to answer, but there are lots of Buddie shippers switching sides and I don't see why.

Hiiiii.

So, first off thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying Come Away, and I hope the ending coming up satisfies :) Second, ngl, I did consider not answering that question cause I really don't like wading into fandom drama...but that was a super respectful ask and I DO quite like the character so...fuck it, we ball.

This is probably gonna be long and rambly but the TL;DR is I think the fact that Tommy Kinard IS introduced as a piece of shit makes for really interesting nuance to the character and also I'm a multishipper...just cause bacon and pineapple is my favorite pizza flavor doesn't mean I DON'T like pepperoni or have decided never to eat it again (also, I have less than 10k words of BuckTommy on AO3 and, like, almost 300k of Buddie, so I don't think I've switched sides, lol)

As for why I can like Tommy and specifically Tommy and Buck together despite the aforementioned POS'ness, sure I'll cop to part of it being I am just so damn excited for bi!Buck, I'd have been happy with just about anyone awakening that in him. But also because Tommy, to me, is a fucking interesting character and DOES make a lot of sense as someone that Hen and Chim could forgive and be friends with, and that could be good for Buck.

First off there are some things I think we have to acknowledge about Tommy that are factual or can be inferred as factual from the show. 1. For his timeline to make ANY sense, he can generously be in his late thirties to early forties. For it to make sense without him being some kind of prodigy in a couple areas, he has to be in his mid-to-late forties. 2. He was at LEAST partially raised by someone who reminds him uncomfortably of Gerrard, a CARTOONISHLY boorish, evil, bigot. 3. He was closeted for a very long time.

All of those factors together make for someone who honestly, it would have been nearly IMPOSSIBLE for them NOT to be a piece of shit, and a textbook example of how patriarchal systems, toxic masculinity, and white supremacy are also harmful to the people who benefit from them.

Let me preface this by saying I don't think the harm Tommy suffered was anywhere near as great as what Hen and Chim (or any person of color) go through. And, of course, Hen and Chim don't owe him shit. Forgiving him or not is entirely up to them and the right choice whatever they choose.

My point is, Tommy almost certainly grew up in an environment where his worst flaws and character traits were just...normal. I think a lot of people don't understand how much LARGER the world has gotten with the modern day internet, how much easier it is to be exposed to things outside your own bubble. I'm either right around Tommy's age or a little younger, depending on the estimate you use and guys...I just don't have words for how INSULAR my worldview was growing up compared to now. How much everyone around you, even in larger cities, tended to be Just Like You. You had to live in true sprawling metropolises to be exposed to the kind of diversity that we take for granted now. It is a terrible thing, but when everyone around you, everyone you look up to, everyone you love and care about, and who is supposed to love and care about you thinks the same thing, you don't tend to question it. You don't even notice it. My own loving, wonderful, give-you-the-shirt-off-her-back grandmother, who was educated af in a time women really weren't as a rule, and spent her life as a teacher was racist as FUCK. And the really insidious kind...the "I don't hate them, but why can't they just stay on their side of town?" kind, the passive-aggressive comments that only sting the people they're aimed at so no one thinks to defend the victim kind. It's the weirdest cognitive dissonance to know someone as kind, loving, and moral and ALSO realize that the kindness, love, and morality only included certain people. If my parents had not moved around so much, exposing me to different environments (or if they'd been a little less lenient with my internet access when it started exploding) I honestly can't say whether or not I would have ended up just like my grandma. I like to think I wouldn't have, but that's the point...it's a frog in slowly boiling water situation. I think we can all safely say a parent like Gerrard was not creating an environment in which it was safe or even possible to question the hate.

And from that homelife Tommy had to have gone straight into the military during the heights of DADT, wherein hiding your true self from everyone around you was the acceptable compromise to just straight up having your life ruined (if not completely ended).

Now. Does any of this EXCUSE Tommy being a pretty racist, sexist piece of shit in the begins episodes? No. But it is an EXPLANATION and a true-to-life example of how those systems that everyone has to operate in are harmful no matter what. At the time, given what was almost certainly his background, Tommy would almost certainly have to have been INCREDIBLY self-aware and self-actualized (and honestly, really, REALLY fucking brave) not to have been molded into...precisely what he is. A pretty racist, pretty sexist piece of shit who is throwing anyone and everyone he has to under the bus (consciously or not) to divert attention from his own deviation from the "norm".

Okay, HocusPocus, you might say, so this still begs the question why the hell you think Tommy deserves to even breathe the same air as your favorite blorbo.

And let me again preface by saying I acknowledge the show leaves a lot to inference here. As 911 is wont to do, extremely important character moments are handled "off-screen."

That being said, we do get to see Tommy acknowledging he was wrong about Hen and Chim and getting to a place of mutual respect, if not friendship (personally, I think the going away party when Tommy leaves the 118 shows they've made it to friendship...I don't care how much you respect someone, cake, balloons, and a surprise party are strictly friend things). When Chim calls Tommy to take them out to the cruise ship like...Tommy's risking his life AND his career there, if not outright jail time. Just on Chim and Hen's say-so. Again...that's FRIEND level actions, not just "I respect you as a colleague". We see, either right there on screen or through deleted scenes, that everyone around Buck trusts Tommy with him. When have we ever seen the 118 be shy about expressing their displeasure over one of Buck's LI's? If Hen and Chim still harbored resentment towards Tommy, and didn't truly believe he'd changed and was good enough for Buck, do we REALLY think that wouldn't have been expressed?

Are there valid criticisms of the character? Sure. I think a lot of it can be explained by the rushed nature of season 7 with such a large ensemble cast, but yeah, Tommy's not super developed and a LOT of the issues between him, Hen , and Chim are left to inference. That's fair.

But I think the show MEANS us to make those inferences, that Hen and Chim's actions and interactions with him show that Tommy has done the work to change, and they accept that he's changed and it also says a lot about them that they can forgive him and be friends with him (which, again, he is NOT owed and they would have been perfectly valid in denying him).

So, yeah. I like him. I think he's interesting and while Buddie remains my OTP, I am very interested to see where Tevan goes this coming season.

Also, Lou is fucking pretty ;)

[every-kuzu]

What do you like the most and the least about Kakuzu?

that’s a good question - and a hard one, haha. kakuzu is probably one of my absolute favorite characters, so i obviously like quite a lot about him. but i think what i like the most about him is that there’s more to him than meets the eye. once you start digging into him, you can really sink your teeth into this guy.

he acts very indifferent, but the data books reveal that he “mutilates himself in compensation” whenever he takes someone’s heart, which implies that he feels at least a little guilty over killing. he acts like he hates hidan, but once you look just a little closer it becomes clear that he cares about him and has a lot of faith in his abilities. he’s very loyal to the akatsuki; he immediately abandons asuma’s bounty the moment pain calls them back to ame, and he tells hidan that the mission is absolute, despite that philosophy and that loyalty being what doomed him in the past. it’s implied that he might’ve been the closest thing to a medic the akatsuki had, since he’s the one who sowed deidara’s arms back on. it’s not anything you’d expect from the character he is at first glance, but the moment you look a little deeper, it’s there; proof that he cares.

on another note, i really like the earth grudge fear. it’s a really fucked up technique, and i love it. i can’t even really explain why i like it so much, i just do.

as for least… he has a lot of wasted potential, in my eyes. i have a lot of gripes about his death, especially the part where he fights naruto. i’m trying to be as neutral as possible on this blog because it really isn’t the place for it, but once we reach that part, i might complain about it in the tags.

he’s been around since the warring states period. he might’ve been one of the first people to abandon their village and go missing nin. he fought hashirama and survived, which is a feat in itself, and we never even got to see that battle. he and hashirama are both resurrected in the war arc, but they never meet. if the leader of the samurai could suddenly get a backstory flashback with hanzo, couldn’t we have gotten at least a little bit of kakuzu backstory? but that might just be my bias speaking, haha

[year2000electronics]

For some reason the way you portray BillFord reminds me so specifically of "It's A Joy" by The Stupendium, and I say this very positively you absolutely nail the dynamic

first of all, omg THANK you i LOOOOVE the stupendium's music <3 such a compliment

second of all I SOOO AGREE AND SEE IT! the 60s psychedelic funk vibe it's a joy brings on just suits the prebetrayal billford vibe SO well, especially with how the lyricism is all about "pulling the wool over your eyes" to experience a hedonistic, all-accompanying happiness. because very much, although bill still acts like his usual weirdo self around ford during this era (the rats, "woah dont have a heart attack youre not 92 yet!" "why didnt you eat your brother in the womb", etc), the way he presents himself and his powers in that era just gnaws at me just right. i mean, the classical greek idea of the muse are beautiful feminine goddesses of divine inspiration, offering something pure and good to those they inspire, which is really fun seeing as bill's a dream demon! it's such a contrast, ESPECIALLY with how bill tends to ford's brain when it's anxious or too sluggish, and especially-especially when ford treats his first time being possessed as a divine gift because bill offers to do work for him, and then ford wakes up and MAGICALLY his work's been done! all these things bill does are shed in this, just... pure, idyllic light, that makes the eventual facade crumbling insane because, a lot like the town of wellington wells and the joy pills, it's the same thing deep down (bill having access to ford's mind and body) but there's just these two lenses of utopia and horror. and of course, you have the mere act of choosing to indulge in that joyful fantasy kinda mirroring how ford... i don't want to say "ignored the red flags". thats too simplistic. but i will say he put a lot less thought into analyzing bill than he maybe should have because he wanted to feel special, loved, appreciated, feel unique from everyone else, and bill fed into those exact fantasies, even the unattainable ones- especially the unattainable ones.

tldr so true stream it's a joy (remastered) by the stupendium featuring dan bull

[nana2009]

I LOVE your yandere Dave so much it hurts. Do you have any more art of them? Does Dave ever try to do nice things for Karkat to try? Like to try and get Karkat to warm up to him or just because?

thank yooou! yes, dave tries his best to get close to karkat, even if he knows their situation is not ideal. he tries having casual conversation or even romantic gestures and flirts but karkat just......he won't reciprocate in any way. which makes dave more desperate to make up for it so on the rare occasion he even lets karkat free!(of the ropes, at least)

of course, karkat does not obey. karkat does not give a shit, and he gets fucked because of his fits, because you can't outrun a strider. :)

[sapphanimates]

Iii have yet to draw my response to that one ask I wanted to draw a response to but

Dramatic pose of interest-showing

Sasha's opinions on the goober ever? (Geode)

"super coolio 😎" - Sasha

"sasha forced me to be here" - Zayne

( @sonic-fankid-showdown )

[batsplat]

as our resident Casey expert i wonder what do you think would have happened if marc and casey competed against each other? since casey retiring is so important for marc coming into motogp im always thinking abt the what ifs...

my initial instinct with this hypothetical is always 'that sounds horrible', though I do have more thoughts and opinions about it than that! marc obviously would have loved the chance to race casey, and casey has even been one of his picks of 'guys he would've liked to be teammates with' before, so, you know, clearly something there - and he does very much respect casey as a rider. I think it's quite likely that by the time marc entered the premier class, casey had already developed... I don't know if wariness is going too far, but maybe a little bit of unease or caution where marc was concerned. marc already very much had a reputation based on his 125/moto2 track record, and some of these incidents were controversial enough that the motogp riders commented on them. so take the phillip island 2011 incident where marc rode into the back of another rider:

the valentino quote serves as a bit of a benchmark here, given he was generally pretty pro-marc. yes, casey's phrasing is perhaps a little harsher, but unsurprisingly none of the riders were big fans of marc's behaviour in that particular incident

on the other hand, it's not like casey never sided with marc. take catalunya 2012, where marc was slapped with a controversial post-race penalty:

yes, casey's main complaint was about inconsistent stewarding - but still, he believed marc had been unfairly treated here. feels like these incidents were some of the only things casey and valentino actually agreed on in those years, so that's nice

that being said, it's hard to see how casey wouldn't have his issues with marc and marc's whole approach to racing. I did include some thoughts on the teammate question here, but mainly I'm going to pilfer the relevant autobiography passage:

"if a rider doesn't care about his own safety then it stands to reason he doesn't care about anybody else's either"... there's nobody really who embodies the 'doesn't care about his own safety' maxim better than marc. he was the young rider desperate to win, and I can't imagine casey would have enjoyed actually racing him much. casey mostly didn't enjoy racing valentino, after all, who is a generally a lot more selective with his aggression than marc is (though casey did have to experience some of the worst valentino had to offer in that regard). casey talked in his autobiography about getting a sense when he just wasn't really able to trust another rider on the track, how much it bothered him - and that exact lack of respect is something that's been pretty closely associated with marc. that doesn't mean he would immediately declare marc his enemy... he'd just want marc to change, to learn, to grow up, to start treating his competitors with a little more respect. the way casey talks about young riders, there is a sense in which he has more time for them than he does for valentino - whose lack of respect casey views as more integral to who he is as a rider. valentino isn't a bully on track due to the exuberance of youth, he's a bully on track when he thinks he can use it as a tactic of intimidation. then again, marc by this measure is worse... and I think very quickly casey would have grown pretty disenchanted with how marc approaches all his wheel-to-wheel racing, especially when it becomes more and more clear marc does not feel particularly inclined to change

it's always important to remember how recent the trauma of losing simoncelli was for the whole sport, and it coloured both dani and jorge's wariness of marc... but also (in my opinion anyway) their restraint in how they dealt with him. how they tried to stop themselves from actually making an enemy out of him, in part because they'd just had an experience of harshly criticising a rider for a whole year and then having to process his death. both dani and jorge actually had more public and more serious disagreements with simoncelli than casey did, but I reckon there would have been an element of that restraint with casey too... on the other hand, his experiences with marc would have left him feeling even more alienated from the sport than he already was - at times frustrated (like jorge was) less with marc directly but more with the regulatory bodies for not holding marc back, for not giving him a race ban or whatever to teach him a lesson. that being said, marc's shamelessness vs casey's stubbornness means that if they had direct on-track encounters and casey didn't like marc's post-race response... well, I certainly think that'd end up being a pretty tense situation, even if it falls short of active hostilities

worth including irl!casey's take on marc in 2013:

which, you know. it's not just that marc's a hard racer - casey is accusing marc of deliberately wanting to make the defeats extra painful for his opponents, of wanting to not just beat but humiliate them. anyone else that reminds you of? someone who is as motivated in securing his psychological victories as his actual ones? perhaps someone who has a bit of a history himself with casey?

let's bring in valentino. it's not that casey would really have begrudged marc his friendship with valentino, and he generally kept his hatred of valentino quite 'clean' in that he wasn't conducting any proxy wars or anything (for instance, I don't get the sense the vale/sic friendship ever affected his view of simoncelli... though I have very little to go on here either way). also, if nothing else in this timeline changes, we're assuming valentino in 2013 is fairly clearly the... fifth? best rider? kinda depends where dani would have landed I suppose (casey's retirement announcement did save honda from a bit of a headache)... but anyway what this means is that valentino probably wouldn't initially have been much of a competitive threat to casey. mostly he would have been consigned to the sidelines

that being said, I doubt casey would have massively enjoyed the whole laguna seca saga. unfortunately, we don't even really know what real life casey's stance on the copycat move situation was... though if I had to guess, in this timeline I'd say his position would've been, a) marc could and should have carried out that overtake two corners later, there was no need in that race situation to take that risk, b) still, it was valentino's slight error as he attempted to reclaim the position (in what was a pretty aggressive manner, it has to be said) that led to them both ending up off-track and fuck that guy, and c) the problem with 2008 wasn't just or even primarily the corkscrew overtake and it's annoying that that's the only bit everyone talks about. of course, there's also the question of whether casey would have bought marc's explanation that it was totally by coincidence that the overtake happened there... and again, complete guesswork, but my sense of casey is that he would have assumed marc was being at least a little bit dishonest. (which, you know... laguna's not an easy track to overtake at, but marc did prove with the bradl move that he was perfectly capable of overtaking after turn 8 - might not have been planning on the off-track excursion, but he was still attempting to overtake just ahead of a blind crest that happened to feed into the corkscrew lol.) I think casey by his honda days had calmed down a bit (though he still certainly had some conspiratorial tendencies), but I also don't think it's a stretch to imagine that he would've felt like he was a victim of a joke between the pair of them... not ideal

overall though, I reckon casey's main frustrations would have been less with the move itself and more with how it was discussed. in the presser, while joking with marc, valentino does take the opportunity to get in a jibe at casey for old time's sake. there's this clip, where he directly addresses livio suppo (at ducati in 2008, by then at honda) - specifically about how both casey and suppo criticised him for that overtake. in response, suppo says something about how he's grateful to marc because they finally got payback. valentino is later asked directly about casey's complaints in 2008 in this clip, and replies with the following:

would valentino have said this stuff with casey still in the paddock? well, yes! honestly, given valentino did very quickly lay off needling casey once he had retired, there's a good chance he would have said something worse. and marc would have laughed along at the whole thing. I don't know, I just don't see casey taking particularly kindly to that... he can hold a grudge, that man can, and at a certain point he'd probably be increasingly less willing to give marc the benefit of the doubt. interesting situation though, laguna seca '13 + casey is a very juicy scenario that could play out in several different ways

but I'm guilty of burying the lede here - there's a far more obvious reason than anything I've described above for why the casey/marc relationship would have turned sour. it's the simple fact that they would have been teammates which would do the damage all on its lonesome; they have radically different conceptualisations of how that dynamic is supposed to work and would inevitably have clashed as a result. the one commonality they do have is they don't see their teammates as potential friends, which is... also not helpful! I think they'd probably initially be fine on the interpersonal level - and, actually, given how the casey/valentino relationship played out and marc's general approach to his rivalries, I can see marc/casey more or less being able to maintain a minimum standard of politeness towards each other even at their worst. like, I still think they'd be able to smile at each other and do some small talk when face-to-face, but I also think everything else would be a complete disaster. I talked a bit about how marc approaches his teammate relationships in this post - and I'm not going to rehash too much of what irl!marc got up to, but I'll include some bits relevant to casey

from marc:

related to casey:

and dani comparing the two:

we do obviously even have actual real life controversy wherein casey thinks marc felt threatened by him and forced him out of honda... and this in a timeline where they weren't even direct competitors! if this is the level of tension a test rider role can generate, then if they'd actually been teammates...? yeah, no. casey thinks that teammates should cooperate - and he thinks that riders enforcing divisions within the box are essentially doing so because they are "afraid". marc has openly admitted to lying about what parts he likes to make sure his teammate doesn't get any edge over him. this is the thing, right: marc might think casey is a cool rider, would've liked the chance to race him and even be teammates with him... but this is the stuff he did to dani, who was one of his literal idols! this is his understanding of competition - (like valentino) he might love the fight, but simultaneously he'll do pretty much whatever it takes to win, because he considers this stuff fundamentally part of the game. casey does not. to casey, this kind of victory is dishonest. any kind of gamesmanship is a sign of weakness... the victory is worth less if you're accomplishing it like that

now, hey, maybe marc would never have been able to go as far as he did with dani because he wouldn't have the kind of performance edge that allows you to definitively impose your will within the team. I think it's a popular interpretation that marc wouldn't have won the title in 2013 if casey had been there, which... I mean, I think it's true that it would have been less likely - in that in a season with that much volatility, the more plausible championship contenders you have the less likely it is that any single one of them takes the title (same goes for instance if you add in a valentino who had not gone to ducati for two years and would have presumably been more competitive in 2013). but it's not like casey would have been the defending champion and the clear class of the field... partly due to injury, he ended up finishing in third in 2012. jorge and dani didn't win the 2013 title in part as a result of their own injuries, and who knows how casey would have fared... like sometimes it's just luck of the draw really. you can be the better rider and still not win the title, shit happens. I think for as long as a more or less healthy-ish casey stays in the sport, it would have been unlikely that marc establishes quite the same performance edge as he did over dani... but, well, if anything that would have meant he would have fought even harder out of perceived necessity to win the internal honda wars

it's the kind of thing that can make a relationship quickly deteriorate, especially with a prickly character such as casey, and it's entirely plausible that dynamic would have become strained at best and horrendously toxic at worst... sooner rather than later. and the thing is, this environment would affect marc considerably less than it would casey. again, it's the fact that he relishes the fight... he's very good at shrugging off (most) criticism and thrives in that kind of tension. the emotional fatigue that this scenario generates would be painfully lopsided, where casey offers harsh criticisms and means them and is endlessly frustrated with marc's approach, while marc... doesn't really care. at least dani also had a questionable manager who was conducting behind the scenes warfare on his behalf - casey doesn't want to play these games at all. he just wants to ride a bike, and marc is never going to allow him to live in peace as long as he's an internal threat. if casey were exposed directly to all of that from marc, I doubt he'd walk away from the experience with a particularly positive impression of him

does he walk away? I think there's a decent chance that casey would have ended up so disillusioned with the whole thing that this would have been what pushed him into retirement. if he wants to get out of that mess, let's say after two years, his options would have been pretty limited. yamaha is closed off and I'd struggle to think of a scenario in which either jorge or valentino would have been particularly interested in a direct swap (also, if you're sick of being marc's teammate, you're probably not gonna be jumping at the chance to be valentino's instead). I suppose you could go back to ducati (which he did return to as a test rider so it's not like those bridges were permanently burnt), and maybe casey could do something special even with *gestures* that version of the bike. really though... I think enough would have been enough for him. regardless of the actual balance of success between the pair of them, my guess is marc wins that war because he's happier to get nasty and because he wants it more. casey has his two to four titles... he's done. let him go fishing

[mrthology]

Now that the servers have been gone for a while, why didn't you and @ashilrak allow discourse and discussion of the negative aspects of the books? You could have kept it in its own channel for those who didn't want to see it. There are endless errors in the books regarding mythology and more that should be discussed, even if you don't like it. Criticism is a valid part of fandom, and you both prevented that in large servers as bigger authors.

ashilrak has their anon off, but this is for them as well.

Great question, here you go!!!

[kwillow]

What does Theopolis like to be called? Baron North? Mr. North, or maybe his middle name? I suppose the diminutive - Theo is only for his closest, eee… "friends?" Sure, if I'd called him like that, he probably would have me executed, right?

And how does he address other poeople typically? Does he use first names, surnames, or nothig?

It varies! A safe bet for your average acquaintance would be his last name and an honorific - Mr. North, Lord North or Baron North.

He wouldn't care for most people calling him by his first name - though he might accept someone he's on friendly terms with doing so. His mother called him "Theopolis" (as well as a catalogue of pet names), so it's not like he dislikes it, just considers it very presumptuous for someone not in his close circle. For example, Hyden calls him "North," but Theo wouldn't mind if Hyden addressed him on a first-name basis.

Despite his obsession with decorum and his nobility, he isn't as much of a stickler for being called "Baron" or "Lord" as one might imagine. He only inherited the title after his mother's passing, and he went into years of isolation and mourning immediately after. Because of his hermitage, he hasn't been able to exercise the right to be called Lord North or Baron North much with other people; the words feel strange and unfamiliar to him to hear referring to him compared to "Mister" or "Master." He feels that his mother is the one with the real right to the title, even after her death. That said, he WILL insist upon being called "his lordship" if he wants to exercise what limited authority he has. (It's another matter whether or not someone actually complies.)

Funnily enough, none of the current cast of characters refers to Theo as just "Theo." He's never used the nickname before. Nobody's liked him enough to give him one. (Well, his mother liked him, but she wasn't one for butchering her beloved son's perfect name by shortening it.)

In previous incarnations of his character, he's first called Theo by one of my other characters, Jack - a guy who doesn't respect fancy titles but likes Theo anyway. Theo grouses about the diminutive but grows to accept it. I have vague plans for an incarnation of Jack to exist in Amaranthine's universe, but nothing solid yet - but when he does appear, he'll probably be the one to call Theo "Theo." :)

When it comes to referring to others, Theo tends to use an honorific and their last name - "Mr. So-and-So," "Mrs. Smith," so on. He will respect noble titles if they have them - so he calls Hyden "His Grace" and "Duke," even though no one is enforcing it. He very rarely addresses people with their first names; it feels too informal for him. If he really wants to show displeasure, he will often drop the honorific and just use their last name. If he's really pissed, he breaks out the nouns, and people become their occupation - Soldier, Ambassador, Butler - instead of a name, more of a role or object than a person.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

you got me curious about the original japanese dialogue for 1082 so naturally i had to look up the raw and buggy does say something to the effect of "like hell i'll ever be one of your subordinates, you idiot!!" so there u go 😔

oh wow, thank you!! (i mentioned wanting to see the raws in the tags of this post)

yeah, it looks like the translation i read was very much in line with the original—shanks saying ore-to issho-ni koi-yo is very straightforwardly "come with me," and buggy's the one who takes that to mean omee-no buka nanza (mappira da), "(i refuse to) be your subordinate"

so while idk if i buy co-captains as what shanks was aiming for canonically, as things stand it's a valid interpretation.

but oh man, shanks! you gotta choose your words more carefully with this guy! he mishears random shit as commentary on his nose all the time, of course he takes this request in the most insulting way possible ;~;

[carlyraejepsans]

you've made posts before about shipping charisk, but toriel is frisk's mom pretty much and chara was considered a member of the dreemurr family (frisk can call them mom, she calls frisk "my child", and she adopts them on the surface in some playthroughs) (it's said that chara and asriel were "like siblings" and it's implied that the "mr. dad guy" sweater that asgore owns was made by chara)

i am feeling like "oh no, if this person realizes that the characters they are shipping together are pretty much siblings and is doing it anyway, i will be disappointed and will have to stop liking their cool art" so i am really hoping you just do not realize

begging you people to go outside