#also comics canon and rules kind of suck most of the time. why would anyone WANT to follow them

[burr-ell]

Babe pls go off about TTG vs TT I would love it

caps is referring to this post i made a week ago; i made sure bc i’m kind of an illiterate dumdum who’s bad at math. @zitkaplushie and @aaawunder have also decided to endorse my absolute worst impulses on the matter of cartoons vs comics SO

what’s been on my mind lately is…not really a Big Discourse, it’s mostly just a pet peeve. and as a disclaimer i’d like to say that i firmly believe in interacting with fandom any way you want. i’m not the fandom police; that job sounds heinous.

but i gotta tell ya, it can get pretty frustrating trying to find good teen titans animated content that actually feels like it’s about teen titans animated. and so much of that comes down to people who insist on shoehorning comics canon into the show—especially the people who don’t like it that none of the characters refer to each other by “real name”, and think it’s a problem that they need to fix in their fanworks.

i vaguely referenced this type of thing briefly here, but people not treating the animated series as a completely different ‘verse with a completely different structure and continuity from any comics or previous animated shows is…baffling, to me. it takes me out of the enjoyment of a lot of fan content that people produce and then file under the animated show in the archives. and i wish it didn’t because i like enjoying things, surprisingly! but it does, and i think i know why.

uninhibited gushing about teen titans under the cut:

the cartoon makes for an excellent gateway series to the lesser-known aspects of the dc universe, but it also stands really well on its own. and part of the reason for that is that you don’t need to know any comics canon to enjoy the show—you don’t even need to be familiar with batman at all in order to understand and empathize with robin as a character. and i think one element of that is the fact that nobody refers to anyone by their “real names”, because as far as the show is concerned, their superhero names are their real names. being a superhero is their full-time job, and their hero lives and personal lives are one and the same.

so it kinda grinds my gears to read fanfic tagged specifically under the animated series where characters frequently refer to each other as ‘dick’, ‘gar’, ‘vic,’ and ‘kory’—and in some cases ‘rachel’ too—and consistently reference their backstories as a part of the expanded dc universe. do they do that in the comics and the animated movies and the live-action show? sure! and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. but i’ve always liked the fact that they make a point of avoiding that in the cartoon, and to me it’s one of the things that sets the show apart. no one has a civilian identity—they’re teenagers, they look and talk and act like teenagers, but they fight villains full-time. that’s all. and it’s great!

while the cartoon is primarily focused on action, it still manages to communicate a lot of the mature aspects of the comics’ stories and characters without having to give them civilian identities. our understanding of cyborg, for example, isn’t made better by knowing that his birth name is ‘victor stone’. his struggle to accept himself for who he is, both the human and the machine, is still core to his character arc, and it shines through whether you know the backstory or not.

disabled kids watch cyborg and they don’t need to know about silas stone and STAR Labs; they’re looking at his cybernetics as prosthetic limbs and saying “hey! he’s just like me!”. that’s the kind of thing that really matters, and that’s part of what makes the show so special to me.

on a practical level, there’s a reason starfire and raven don’t go by their “real names”—because starfire and raven are their real names. in kory’s pre-crisis comics debut, “starfire” was a code name originally born out of the effects of her energy bolts (she didn’t actually do the language kiss until about a week after they rescued her from the gordanians, so they needed to call her something). but in the cartoon, starfire is to koriand’r as john is to giovanni—it’s the english translation of her name. and raven is a half demon raised in an alternate dimension populated by monks; “rachel roth” has only ever been a pseudonym she uses to get around when she has to. it’s only robin, cyborg, and beast boy that even have secret identities to begin with in the cartoon, and it’s not that much of a reach to argue that they’re choosing to eschew those old names to better reflect who they’ve chosen to be.

and i think that last bit especially is why it bugs me that people have argued that “they’re supposed to be friends but they don’t trust each other enough to tell each other their backstories!”. because to me, it’s a lot more compelling that they trust each other enough to not need to know that information. “she’s our friend,” robin says about raven. “what more do we need to know?”. what they’re acknowledging there, to me, is that it doesn’t really matter where you’ve been or what you were born to do; it’s about who you choose to be now. and i love that, the respect of choice. having the characters refer to each other by birth name just because it’s their birth name, as if a birth name is inherently more valid and intimate, kind of undermines that to me.

teen titans works as well as it does, and still holds up almost two decades later, because it is, at its core, a show about teenage superheroes as found family that just happens to be a dc property. i’m so much more interested in fan content that plays by those rules—treating the comics canon as isolated wink-and-nudge kind of stuff, because it’s more interested in how the characters have chosen to present themselves than in making them abide by Comics Rules. again, i’m not out to be the Content Police to tell you how to enjoy a kids’ show, but it would be nice if content tagged under the animated show was actually about the animated show instead of cramming in comics canon when there are already communities and tags for comics canon. just let the cartoon be the cartoon.

[wesavegotham]

Talia, Damian and choosing between good and evil

Before Grant Morrison created Damian in 2006 Talia was seen as one of Bruce's greatest loves for a long time. She was the first love interest of Bruce that showed him from a more passionate side:

Bruce and Talia loved each other, but Talia could never really choose between her loyalty to her father and her love for Bruce, even though in most stories she would end up helping Bruce against Ra's.

While she was morally gray, Talia was originally a kind character, who fought against child rapists, murderes and other villains, patched Bruce up when he was hurt or down and even threw herself between Bruce and bullets that were about to hit him. In the 1987 graphic novel "Son of the demon" the two even married and Talia got pregnant. Bruce went pretty much overboard trying to keep Talia and their unborn child safe and almost got himself killed in the process. Which is why Talia lied to him about suffering from a miscarriage and asked him to leave her. Later she gave birth to their unnamed son and gave him to an orphanage:

The graphic novel was later taken out of continuity because DC didn't like the implication of Bruce having sex and not knowing that he had a child when he's supposed to be the world's greatest detective.

The reason I'm mentioning this story is because it would later serve as the base for Damian's creation in 2006. While the idea of Bruce and Talia having a child came up in Elseworld stories before (Ibn in "Kingdom Come" and Tallant Wayne in "Batman: League of the Batmen") the introduction of Damian marked the first time their son became canon in the main DC universe.

When Grant Morrison started his run on Batman he decided to bring "Son of the demon" back into continuity, but didn't bother to read the graphic novel he only vaguely remembered. His vague memory ended up basically destroying Talia's original character, something she hasn't recovered from since 2006.

In his memory they didn't have a consensual relationship and Talia raped Bruce to have a child. Morrison reduced her to the "Asian Babymama" trope and turned her into a mustache twirling villain, a worse version of Ra's basically, who turned evil because Bruce rejected her. Suddenly she was willing to sacrifice both Bruce and Damian to reach her goal of ruling the world. I have a lot of issues with this premise, most importantly its racist and sexist undertones, but this post wouldn't end if I started ranting and there are fans who are more knowledgeable about Talia and better at explaining why this sucks so much.

Grant Morrison later admitted that he remembered the story wrong and tried to explain that Talia went evil because of the continuity changes Superboy Prime punching the universe caused (Don't ask, comics are weird) and that when Bruce accused Talia of drugging him Bruce was actually lying about getting drugged, because he didn't want to admit to himself that he had loved her and slept with her out of his own volition.

If you don't believe me, here is the link to the interview: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/hotb/2016/11/15/064-the-zorro-of-arkham--an-interview-with-grant-morrison

Think what you will about that explanation. Fact is, the last time Bruce commented on Damian's conception he said this:

So to all the people who love to yell that Talia is a rapist and Damian a rape-baby, kindly shut up. Morrison's mistake got retconned years ago.

Anyway, Damian inherited Talia's struggle to choose between Ra's and Bruce, only that they turned Talia into a second Ra's and gave all her previous conflicts to her son, which is probably one of the reasons DC is unwilling to return her to her former character.

Some writers like Patrick Gleason have tried to give her some redemption, like when he wrote that Talia had been posessed during Morrison's run and cleansed during her resurrection, but the rest of DC pretty much ignored his attempt.

I'm not a fan of DC's extremely black and white, good and evil narrative they have created for Damian and the execution is pretty lackluster.

First of all, it's pretty racist that the Al-Ghuls lost a lot of their complexity over the years to serve as Damian's dark and evil side of the family, while the batfamily (which is pretty white) is presented as the light and good side. It gives me major "white saviour" vibes and has lots of unfortunate implications, especially because DC likes to pretend that Damian is white and only touches his arab/chinese roots when they write him in a more negative light. DC does the same thing with Talia, where they draw her as white when she's more sympathetic and give her brown skin when she's evil.

Second of all, DC loves to label Bruce as a man of high morality, but I think he's actually a pretty bad hero and parent. Some part of me is convinced Talia isn't allowed to be a better mother because it would make Bruce look bad in comparison.

I talked enough about why I don't think of modern Batman as a good person and a hero in my previous post, so I'm going to focus on Talia and Ra's Al-Ghul.

Making Talia evil robs her of her character and history, erases one of Bruce's most important romantic relationships and after a while it just lacks story potential. If the Al-Ghuls have no redeeming qualities then writing Damian struggling so much between the two sides becomes baffling after a going through this character arc several times.

You can argue that Damian got gaslighted for years and that he was still an impressionable child, but if the Al-Ghuls are really as evil, brutal and selfish as DC writes them nowadays it makes it really hard to sympathize with anyone who thinks about joining them (which happens a lot with the batfamily).

Another fact that DC loves to forget is that originally Ra's used to be an eco-terrorist. He planned to wipe out some part of the human population to save plants and animals from extinction, which is extremely relevant today. Ra's is a villain, we don't have to argue about that, but he used to have more depth that made him interesting as a character and made it more plausible why someone might join him. He also loved his daughter, which explained why Talia struggled to leave him in her old stories.

The way they are written now it makes little sense why Bruce should have so much respect for Ra's, something that made their relationship special, there is no reason why Bruce ever loved Talia and decided to sleep with her and there's no reason why Damian should ever return to the League.

Establishing a more loving relationship, both between Bruce and Talia, even if it's in the past, and a better relationship between Damian and Talia has a lot more story potential for Damian's seemingly never ending storyline where he can't decide if he wants to follow Bruce's methods (whatever that means for modern Batman) or the way of his mother. Because as it stands his character developement is stuck in a loop where he just looks like a boy who is unable to learn and can't see how one of the possible options has nothing going for it.

[imperiuswrecked]

Differet anon - I love character analysis, and want all your opinions about Namor, in as much detail as you're willing to provide.

Hello Anon! I have so many opinions about Namor and if you really want then here’s a long meta that covers various things (warning long post ahead):

Now we all know that while Marvel Comics Universe officially begins with the Fantastic Four in the Silver Age, most of the Golden Age isn’t considered “true” MU canon BUT Marvel plays fast and loose with the GA characters and backstories, they pick and choose whatever they like and leave the rest, for instance many GA characters never made it out of the GA however some have in some capacity and the main three who used to be Marvel’s Holy Trinity due to their popularity in the GA were Original Human Torch, Captain America, and the Sub-Mariner. However Marvel took different approaches to bringing them into the SA. For Jim Hammond he was shelved and his superhero name and powers were given to Johnny Storm, the current Human Torch takes his name from his favorite super hero Jim because Johnny used to read comics about the GA heroes and it’s in MU canon that Jim, Steve, and Namor had comics made of their time during WWll. Captain America was put on ice (though this was not revealed until his reemergence in the comics within the pages of the Avengers after Namor’s SA debut) however for Namor, now Namor was special because Stan Lee loved Namor so much that rather than reinvent him like he and Kirby did with the Human Torch, he just brought him into the comics as he was, he gave him amnesia, and Kirby reworked the Atlanteans and Atlantis’s designs and they seamlessly integrated him into the pages of the Fantastic Four.

The reason why I find this so exciting is because Namor has always been a link for connections within the comics, he and Jim Hammond had the very first comic superhero cross over in comic history, this meant that before their crossover, Batman and Superman never hung out, and everyone was in their own universe. Namor then becomes the connection between the Old comics and the New comics when he comes into the SA. Namor connects the X-Men to the wider universe when he appears in their books, he connects Daredevil when he guest stars, and Namor is the reason Steve was found by the Avengers. His actions cause a ripple across comics. Not to mention that Namor as a creation is himself also a connection, he was the first Anti-Hero in a time where such a thing never existed, there was “bad guys vs good guys” only black and white views, there was no grey human mortality involved. His creator, Bill “Blake” Everett was a descendant from William Blake, a Romantic Age Poet and Artist. So the Romanticism and Bryonic elements to Namor cannot be dismissed especially since Everett connects Namor back to more old romantic age stuff when he named him The Sub-Mariner taking inspiration from “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Another connection Namor has is that he is the prototype Mutant, his ankle wing origin story and how he gained his ability to fly in his teens was covered years before the X-Men were invented in 1963. (Sub-Mariner Comics #38, Published Feb 1955).

In the Golden Age Namor’s childhood is quickly glossed over, but what we do know is that Thakorr, angry at his daughter Princess Fen, for daring to love and marry a human man, locks her away in a cell and within that cell is where Namor was born. Thakorr now realizing he has a male heir but still upset with his daughter releases her and grants her, her life but he also banishes her and the newborn prince as punishment for her actions. He only allows them to return to Atlantis when Namor becomes ten years of age in order to begin his training to become ruler one day. The reason I mentioned earlier that Marvel takes whatever it feels like taking from the GA is because this fact is usually forgotten or glossed over in the comics. However when Namor was a young boy he was beloved by his mother and his only friend, Dorma, and later after she was retconned into being Namor’s cousin, Namora. Other than that Namor was often ostracized for being born different. He endured racism, taunts and his Grandfather abuse as he was growing up. However Thakorr wasn’t stupid and when he and Fen saw what Namor could do, how strong he grew and how he could survive on land, then Namor began to be molded into the “Avenging Son” a weapon of Atlantis and to be used in against the surface world to make them pay for their crimes.

Namor feeling like an outsider and trying to find his place in the world is a core element to the backbone of his character, his morally grey nature allows him more freedom than other characters.

Namor is a very flawed character and I feel he is very relatable because he makes mistakes and rather than ignoring them he faces the consequences for that.

Namor is perhaps the most honest character in Marvel, and I don’t mean as in he himself doesn’t tell a lie now and then but honest as in what you see is what you get and he will cut through the b.s. and tell you exactly what he is thinking whenever he feels like it. Namor will call you out and he makes no apologies for being abrasive or in your face.

Due to his upbringing and also due to Namor having to constantly fight and endure his cousins trying to take his throne by whispering in Thakorr’s ears, the court was not a kind place for the half breed prince, he had to command respect at every opportunity which is why when people disrespect him on the surface world he is quick to assert himself and remind all that he is the king of seas.

Legend of the Blue Marvel (2009) #4

So Namor deals with A LOT which is why he has this salty grumpy outer shell to his personality and not many people get to see the softer side of the Sub-Mariner. He wears this mask of arrogance and confidence but he also backs up everything he says with his actions. Namor is very aware of how others see him and decided long ago that he gives zeros fucks and will do whatever he wants to do, but something that not a lot of writers in the modern age comics get about Namor is that Namor is very honorable just because Namor uses a different moral compass than other heroes doesn’t mean he isn’t a good person in his own way.

Namor hates bullies, being bullied as a child he despises bullies in all forms and often steps in to stop them and takes the side of the underdog. He especially hates child abusers.

Namor respects women, omfg if I have to read another “hot take” from some writer who calls Namor a home wrecking Casanova I will fling myself into the sun. Toxic Masculinity is a thing that people keep trying to attach to Namor but it’s WRONG. This especially happens in the comics where there is Reed/Sue/Namor drama because writers want people to side with Reed and having Namor be a douche and Sue declaring that she would never be with a man like him no matter how hot he is because his personality sucks and Reed is the good choice for Sue. (can you tell I dislike the namorsue ship? lmao)

Namor treats women with respect and would actually fight others who disrespect women, he is a king and a gentleman, however this does not mean that he treats them as inferior. He has had his ass saved by women so many times, he will fight a female villain the same as a male villain, he will listen to women and trust their judgement in situations. Namor is much less likely to trust men and especially men in power due to him growing up under Thakorr’s tyrannic rule.

Namor’s an old school romantic and he loves being in love even if he doesn’t quite know how to make a relationship last (usually because Marvel kills off his love interests).

Namor gives people second chances even if they have betrayed him in the past.

Namor and his mother have a strained relationship, even though they both love each other there’s a wall between them. Fen was crafty, she would do what could to prepare Namor to be king, including keeping secrets from him.

Namor is a loyal person and friend, and once you have his seal of approval he will fight for you.

Namor likes animals far more than he likes people, and I love him for it. He treats scary undersea creatures like pets.

Namor is a very lonely creature who cares far more than he will ever let on and who, no matter what happens, will always stand up to fight for what he thinks is right even if the entire world is against him.

Namor has this thing about touch, he dislikes people touching him without his express permission and when I first starting reading his comics I chalked it up to a part of his arrogant demeanor, then I thought that it might be because he is royalty and there are certain things you just don’t do with royalty and personal touches like a hand on the should might seem to be too familiar and it was a sign of disrespect, however when I read more about Thakorr’s cruelty/abuse I have come to think that its a mix of “Don’t touch me bitch, I’m royalty” and “I won’t let anyone who I don’t like touch me ever again because of the abuse I suffered”.

His soft heart has been hardened by mankind’s cruelty so he protects it. He’s seen more sorrow and pain than others have in their lifetime and he is just a tired old man who wants everyone to leave him alone.

Thanks for letting me ramble on, lmao.

[inimitble]

ENDGAME  SPOILERS  UNDER  THE  CUT.

i  cannot  believe  that  tony  becomes  the  parent  of  four  kids:  harley,  peter,  nebula  and  morgan.      but  he’s  such  a  good  father  and  the  brief  respite  he  got  to  have,  those  five  years  where  he  was  just  tony,  husband  and  father,  means  so  much  to  me.

honestly,  after  seeing  each  other  after  so  long,  the  fact  that  steve  was  right  there  to  support  him  and  he  talked  about  how  “he  lost  the  kid”  and  just ...  their  relationship  means  so  much  to  me.     rewinding  a  little,  i  full - blown  believe  that  steve  shaved  for  tony  and  you  can  pry  that  headcanon  from  my  cold  fingers.

if  anyone  thinks  that  tony’s  reaction  to  seeing  all  the  faces  of  the  vanished  and  everything  he  said  after  “ i  needed  you.  past tense, “  was  harsh  or  that  he  was  overreacting,  i  dare  you  imagine  doing  better.     you  just  watched  a  child  you  care  for  crumble  in  your  arms.      you  spent  days  in  a  ship,  malnourished,  fully  prepared  to  die.     and  then  you  come  back  and  the  man  who  betrayed  you  the  most  is  standing  right  there  asking  you  for  information,  somewhat  drilling  you  because  of  the  mission.      he  wasn’t  given  any  time  to  rest,  may  not  have  even  wanted  to,  but  the  fact  is,  steve  lied  to  tony  about  his  parents  and  they  hadn’t  seen  each  other  in  years  and  he  deserved  to  be  able  to  share  his  thoughts.      (  i’m  so  glad  that  my  steve  is  canon - divergent  and  doesn’t  lie  and  civil  war  happens  for  different  reasons.  )     (  but  please  believe  that  the  mcu  steve  and  my  steve  probably  feel  guilty  about  not  being  there  for  the  events  of  iron  man  3  too.  )

there  was  something  satisfying  about  seeing  thanos  get  his  head  cut  off.      and  i  have  to  say  that  nebula’s  closing  his  eyes  and  bowing  her  head  is  very  synonymous  with  how  gaea  feels  about  her  own  father.      she  understands  that  what  was  done  to  her  was  wrong,  or  at  least  is  coming  to  grips  with  it,  but  there’s  still  that  respect  and  those  feelings  of  having  wanted  to  please.    i  won’t  say  love  because,  as  gamora  said,  ‘this  isn’t  love.’

i  love  the  idea  of  steve  being  in  a  support  group,  or  leading  one.      it’s  kind  of  like  a  homage  to  sam  and  it  just  shows  that  how  caring  he  is.     he  could  have  gone  and  done  the  same  work  rhodey,  carol,  okoye,  rocket  and  nebula  were  doing,  keeping  an  eye  on  the  world  and  still  fighting.      but  instead,  he  decided  to  help  people  acclimate,  despite  his  own  guilt  and  the  fact  that  he  never  would.

seeing  nat  get  teary  about  clint  made  me  think  that  she  was  trying  to  come  to  grips  with  the  idea  of  taking  him  down  or  just  the  fact  that  she  had  been  able  to  give  him  that  hope  sooner  and  honestly,  their  friendship  gives  me  so  many  emotions.      everyone’s  did,  though  i  wish  there  had  been  more  interactions.     i  don’t  care  if  the  movie  would  have  been  longer.

fuck  me  up  with  dad!tony.      what  do  i  even  say?  he’s  a  fantastic  father,  you  can  see  it,  you  can  feel  it,  in  how  he  interacts  with  morgan  and  how  she  interacts  with  him.      his  priorities  are  his  family  and  that  will  never  be  wrong.     and  considering  what  happens  later,  he’s  not  selfish.      there’s  something  in  him  that  pushes  him  to  do  something  if  he  can  and  his  initial  reaction  is  all  too  real.      i  would  say  no  too  if  it  meant  the  possibility  of  losing  my  family.

this  may  not  be  the  post  for  this  but  i  like  the  idea  of  them  staying  for  lunch  and  not  talking  shop.      it  may  be  stilted  because  steve  and  tony  haven’t  fully  reconciled  yet  but  it’s  fine.     more  family  scenes!     more  love!

professor  hulk!     i’m  glad  we  got  to  see  them  come  together  although  i  wanted  more  concrete  reason  as  to  why  hulk  didn’t  show  up.     i  guess  i’ll  have  to  read  one  of  the  articles  about  it.      but  i  think  it  was  nice  that  he  was  no  longer  so  feared  (  i  didn’t  ship  hulktasha  but  dude,  you  did  it,  got  control;  you  could  have  been  having  and  tapping  that --- )

as  always,  paul  rudd  is  a  win.

curse  the  russo  brothers  for  not  giving  us  the  hug  that  we  deserved  when  steve  and  tony  reconciled.      a  handshake?     really??     this  is  why  we  have  to  go  to  the  cartoon  to  get  that  sweet,  sweet  content  we  deserve.     one  more  thing  i  have  changed  in  my  head.

i  love  nebula  and  i  love  them  all  staying  in  contact  with  each  other  and  yes,  more  friendships,  more  camaraderie,  give  me  everything.      she  didn’t  have  to  say  a  dang  thing  to  rhodey  but  taking  the  time  to  say  that  there  was  an  idiot  just ...      i  love  her.

i  have  mixed  feelings  about  what  they  did  to  thor.      on  the  one  hand,  it  makes  absolute  sense.     the  events  of  ragnorak  and  infinity  war  happen  back  to  back,  which  means  he  loses  his  father,  finds  out  he  has  a  sister,  has  to  kill  her  and  loses  his  home  in  the  process,  loses  half  of  his  people  and  then  watches  his  brother  die.      and  then,  he  doesn’t  get  to  avenge  loki’s  death  nor  does  he  get  to  help  bring  everyone  back.      i  think  i  would  do  worse  than  be  a  depressed  drunk  who  binge  eats.     and  i  like  the  fact  that  despite  all  that,  despite  how  low  he  got,  he  was  still  worthy.      that  means  a  lot  to  me.     i  didn’t  enjoy  him  being  the  comic  relief  so  much  though.

on  the  other  hand,  the  team  handled  it  so  well  that  again,  they  are  a  family  and  they  didn’t  write  him  off,  they  still  gave  him  chances  and  were  there  for  him.

i  don’t  know  much  about  clint  /  ronin  but  i  came  into  the  movie  like,  he  probably  lost  his  entire  family,  and  then  had  to  watch  it  so  yeah,  i’d  be  fucked  up  too.

i’m  still  trying  to  come  to  grips  to  how  the  endgame  time  travel  rules  work  so  look  forward  to  me  making  a  post  about  that.

the  way  that  tony  looks  at  steve  when  he’s  giving  his  speech  is  so  gay,  tell  me  otherwise;  i  ship  it  so  much  and  i  am  pissed  they  didn’t  hug  at  all;  damn  you,  russo  brothers!

and  then  his  comments  about  steve’s  ass  and  scott  saluting  it,  what  cinema  gold.      you  can  pry  tony  not  lusting  after  steve  even  in  mcu  canon  and  steve  not  lusting  after  himself  (  that  is  america’s  ass  )  also  from  my  cold  hands.      fuel  for  my  steve  being  bi.

peggy  looked  damn  good  for being  25  years  older  than  she  was  in  the  first  avenger.      and  i  do enjoy  steggy  but  let’s  be  real,  stucky  and  stony  have  much  more  material.      he  may  always  carry  her  picture  in  his  compass  but  he  has  spent  more  time  with  the  most  important  men  in  his  life.

i  don’t  support  tony  forgiving  his  dad  just  like  that.     the  abuse  he  suffered  from  him  isn’t  conveyed  in  the  mcu  as  much  as  in  the  comics.     if  anything,  i  think  i  would  have  enjoyed  it  more  if  he  had  run  into  his  mother.     fuck  howard  stark.      i  doubt  tony  would  actually  look  back  and  ‘only  see  the  good  things,’  dead  or  not.

these  next  two  things  may  be  out  of  order  but  god,  i  feel  for  nebula  so  much.     she  had  so  much  of  her  humanity  (  alienality?  )  stripped  from  her  and  it’s  one  thing  to  have  to  suffer  that  pain  and  never  feel  like  enough  but  it’s  another  to  have  that  used  against  you,  to  the  point  the  entire  mission  is  compromised.      with  no  one  else  knowing  it.

fuck  vormir.      fuck  the  soul  stone.     everything  about  that  scene  absolutely  ruined  me.      they’ve  been  through  so  much  and  you  can  tell  how  they’re  each  other’s  family,  siblings,  and  i  just  knew  there  was  no  way  she  was  going  to  let  laura  be  a  widow  and  his  children  live  without  him.      also,  having  her  in  the  same  position  as  gamora  with  red  blood  beneath  her  head.      fuck  that  entire  scene.

thor  broke  my  heart  when  he  grabbed  tony  and  was  like,  ‘ let  me  do  something  good. ‘     but  they  were  right,  bruce  was  right  to  do  it  because  no  one  else  could  and  would  be  able  to  make  it  through.     in  mcu  canon,  apparently.

the  big  three  had  big  dick  energy  approaching  thanos  and  everything  from  here  on  out  may  just  be  me  fangirling  until ...  the  end.

i  loved  age  of  ultron  because  of  all  the  team  attacks  and  being  able  to  see  some  attacks  again,  showing  they’ve  fought  together  and  trained  together  was  just,  GOD,  amazing.

steve  holding  mjolnir.      STEVE AND FUCKING  MJOLNIR.     he  is  such  a  strategist  and  again,  he  has  watched  and  trained  with  thor  so  he  knew  what  he  was  doing.      him  calling  down  fucking  lightning  though;  i  was  like,  fuck  me  up,  i  love  one  man  and  i  need  you  to  marry  me  to  take  me  in  this  theater ---

that’s  my  man.     his  teammates  are  down.     for  all  he  knows,  bruce,  clint,  nebula,  rhodey  and  rocket  are  all  dead.     but  still  steve  walked.      because  he  wasn’t  going  to  run.     he  was  going  to  die  fighting.      and  then  fucking  sammy ---

i  just  have  no  words  for  everyone  showing  up.     no  words  but  the  ones  i  yelled  when  everyone  else  was  screaming:  FUCK  YES.      god,  i  got  chills  the  entire  time  and  it  was  so  amazing.

OKAY  LADIES  NOW  LET’S  GET  IN  FORMATION.      it  sucks  that  there  are  so  few  and  that  they  killed  our  main  squeeze  and  i’m  never  going  to  be  okay  about  it  but  seeing  them  come  together  and  get  shit  done.

carol  danvers  deserved  better.     and  more  screen  time.     and  this  is  out  of  order  but  i’m  happy  to  at  least  say  that  the  two  times  thanos  played  dirty  was  when  he  was  up  against  wanda  and  carol.       what  queens.

i  just ...  i  knew  we  were  going  to  lose  one  of  them.      but  seeing  it  is  utterly  different  than  just  saying,  this  is  probably  going  to  happen.      peter  calling  him  tony.     pepper  telling  them  they  were  going  to  be  okay  and  he  can  rest  now.      NOPE.      i  actually  cannot  bring  myself  to  talk  about  this  anymore.     it’s  still  too  fresh.

whether  or  not  steve  deserved  that  ending  isn’t  the  thing.      it’s  that  it  goes  against  everything  they’ve  been  showing  us  of  him  through  the  movies.      that  someone  else  came  out  of  the  ice.     steve  rogers  is  not  the  type  of  man  that  would  go  back  and  be  with  her  knowing  she  has  such  a  fulfilling  life  with  a  husband  and  children.      i  don’t  even  know  if  he  would  go  back  and  have  that  dance  with  her,  if  it  meant  messing  up  her  future.

but  that’s  why  i  have  so  much  work  to  do.

[thenightling]

When fandom becomes... Just dumb...

A few months ago I said that the fandom for Neil Gaiman’s Sandman was probably the nicest, warmest, most inviting fandom I had ever become a part of.  And this is still true now.

I was also in the Lucifer TV series fandom.  The show is what made me finally decide to give Sandman a chance last June. (Better late than never!) 

Ever since the cancellation however I have seen the Lucifer fandom kind of deteriorating...

Before Lucifer was canceled, the dumbed thing I had seen in the Tumblr fandom was bearing the occasional “headcanon” that Lucifer and Chloe would one day rule Hell together as King and Queen and they would live happily ever after in this way.  I have tried to rebuff this, explaining why I don’t believe Lucifer would want to go back to ruling Hell and why someone like Chloe could never rule Hell, also using quotes from the shows star that it’s “the ultimate redemption story.”  this all indicated to me that there was no chance Lucifer would go back to Hell. But explaining this perspective earned responses of “They have a right to their opinion!”  Yes, and I have a right to disagree with that opinion and to counter it with my own.  Having a right to your opinion does not mean it cannot be disagreed with. “Right to my opinion!” is not a magical shield that protects you from the opinions of others.  I hate when people use that to shoot down or dismiss discourse.

Yes, you can have your own “headcanon” but I’m just explaining why I don’t think it really works with the canon as we know it.  And I have a right to feel that way as surely as you have a right to feel contrary.   

No one can tell you what you can or can’t imagine.  That is always your choice but I have a right to explain why I don’t share your vision.  I have a right to disagree with it and imagine things my own way.  That’s what right to opinion actually means, it doesn’t mean “I get to make anyone who doesn’t agree with me shut up forever.”  I get to disagree with you, you get to disagree with me. That’s freedom.

Ah, but that was the worst of it for a while.   Nothing too serious really.  But then... Then the show got canceled.  And I made the mistake of joining several “Save Lucifer” facebook groups. And... things got dumb quickly.

First there were / are people who literally reply to everything with #SaveLucifer and #PickupLucifer.  And they even write it on meme pictures... Because Somehow Twitter can read a picture you posted on Facebook now?   

Besides the general lack of understanding of how hashtags work there were a few people out-right discouraging mentioning the source material.  “I ignore any post that mentions the comic strip.”  If you try to explain the difference between a comic book and comic strip you’re told you’re “Butt hurt.”  One woman with utter authority decided to say “Show fans are not comic book fans and fans of the show would never read a comic book.”  Umm... Excuse me?

A few “Most people don’t know it’s a comic.  I only know because my kids told me.”  It’s in the opening credits of every, single episode.  Do you cover your eyes when the text is on the screen?  

Then there were the constant sharing of express(dot)co(dot)uk articles, no matter how many times you tell them they’re a clickbait tabloid.  Stories that distort simple things like Tom Ellis doing an interview with BBC News and twisting it into “Is BBC Entertainment buying Lucifer?”  The trusting of Express is still on-going.

One posted about how in the Lucifer comics he doesn’t even quit Hell.  I tried to break it to this person that they were reading the wrong comics and he most certainly does quit Hell.  They have to read Sandman first and then Lucifer’s solo comics by Mike Carey.  He quits Hell in Sandman.  Later They posted something similar (about how Lucifer doesn’t even quit Hell in the comics) a few days later.   When I, again, tried to tell them that they were reading the wrong comics, they replied with “Are you done trying to spoil the whole story?  I’m not reading replies because I don’t want spoilers.”  

What part of…

YOU ARE READING THE WRONG COMICS

Do they not accept?  If someone knows this person please break this to them.

One recent incident I had was trying very hard to explain to an “expert” that the two Lucifer bonus episodes are NOT leftovers from Season 2.  That the season 2 episodes held over for season 3 had aired much earlier in the season.  Though I had linked a Q and A with Dan’s actor (director of one of the episodes) and a recent question response I saw on Neil Gaiman’s Tumblr, also confirming that the filming had been relatively recent- this person insisted they had done their “Research” and was refusing to accept that they were confusing old, several-month-old stories about the season 2 hold over episodes, and the two bonus episodes actually filmed for season four. 

People like that had been confusing and misleading fans and even commenting on articles about the bonus episodes because they couldn’t grasp that episodes filmed in season 2 and used for season 3 are NOT the same episodes shown AFTER the season 3 finale. They were shown after the finale because they weren’t actually intended for season 3. 

Here’s the common sense thing:  Season 2 Lucifer was filmed in Canada.  You can spot the Hold-over season 2 episodes easily because they are still using the Canadian sets and passing Vancouver off as LA. Those bonus episodes are using the authentic LA sets.  It’s not that complicated.   

   It would be one thing if this was just one person but several people were making this mistake and or repeating the misinformation.  Claiming, with absolute certainty, that those bonus episodes were filmed back in season 2.  Despite the fact that those two bonus episodes were still being sound mixed only days before they aired and were always intended as “stand alone” episodes for season four.  That’s also why the show had ended on a cliff hanger. They had thought they were definitely getting a season four. 

This particular one argued fiercely, this on particular “researched” person, and tried to explain away why she wouldn’t click the links I’d provided and wouldn’t read my ‘essay long” replies “because (she) has a life”.  Yeah, it became “That” kind of an argument.  

And there was at least one comment of “I wish Morgan Freeman had voiced God and not some random British guy.”  (That had earned sixteen likes...)

Then there were those who insisted Fox was going to buy Roseanne, that they had proof Fox was buying Roseanne (Satire articles and random Twitter posts from strangers) and that Roseanne would replace Lucifer.   After that came the conspiracy theorists that “One Million Moms got it canceled.”  One Million Moms was protesting Lucifer before it even aired.  If they were successful it would not have had three seasons...

Then came those that posted screen grabs of the show now airing on Mondays at eight.  Saying “This is what they replaced Lucifer with!”   Umm... I shouldn’t have to explain this to grown ups.  The season was over.  That means even if Lucifer had gotten a fourth season, that show currently in the timeslot, would be there.  That’s called a “Summer replacement” or “Summer filler.”  But again, it wasn’t just one or two people. It was lots and lots of people all saying things like “This is why I’ll never watch Fox again!”  “I can’t believe they think THIS will do better than Lucifer.”

One poor girl suggested that she would have liked it if Azrael dressed like a Goth girl like Death of The Endless only to get horrible responses of “lol I think Angels predate Goth.”  Yeah, and?  Angels predate Nightclubs, Armani suits, and Piano too.   And “No, I like her nice and sweet.” and “No, I like her nerdy.”  What exactly do they think Goth means?  Due to so much anti-Goth commenting the girl eventually deleted her post.  

Some of the weirder ones (that feel like they never watched the show) are people talking about how they’d happily go to Hell to be with Tom Ellis as The Devil.

And a few posts saying “I’d sell him my soul” with several agreements.  But in the comics and TV show he repeatedly says he does not buy souls.   You were told this IN the show.  He doesn’t like this sort of thing.  He’s all about free will, remember?

 In the two weeks I’ve been in these groups I’ve seen more obnoxious fanwank than nearly any other fandom I have ever been a part of.   I had never seen fandom so bad in such a concentrated way.     

But the last two days I’ve seen the worst of it...

First I witnessed one of the head writers ask William Shatner if he’d be willing to play God if the show comes back. (This happened on Twitter and then spread everywhere.)  This bothered me a little bit since I had just heard Neil Gaiman would be happy to return to voicing God.  Apparently Neil had even said “Just try and stop me.”  

 Now if it was another “Dad is possessing someone” story, sure. I could have accepted it but it still didn’t sit right for me.   And it was the comments that followed that really got under my skin.  “Yay!  I didn’t like Neil Gaiman as God anyway!” and “Good. Neil Gaiman sucked as God.”   Wow...  Such nice fans. so polite about the guy who created the thing they love. 

Neil Gaiman has stood behind SaveLucifer along with William Shatner.  And suppose this was a temporary “possession” thing (as I was starting to suspect it would have been) and Neil Gaiman was set to come back after that?  You think posting that he was awful is a good idea?  This should be common sense but  bashing the voice of the man who created the character is rude.   

I know she (the writer) was trying to rile up the fans at the exciting idea of William Shatner making a guest appearance but immediately after Neil Gaiman said he’d happily come back, and not giving context to how “Dad” would be Shatner caused problems in the fandom, not unity and cheering.  And weird, senseless, sudden insulting of the man who created the character.  I really don’t like that.

The writers have made some really horrible decisions in trying to manipulate fan reactions. That drawn out “Will Chloe ever learn the truth’ and then last minute cliffhanger come to mind.  Along with the whole “Will Chloe choose Pierce(Cain)?”  NO!   Of course she won’t pick Cain!  Tom Welling told everyone who interviewed him that the role was temporary.  Everyone knew it wouldn’t last. 

My experiences today though top the cake.

An anonymously created fan art is circulating of a fake season 4 poster.  “One Man.  Two faces.”  And it even says #SaveLucifer ON the poster but there are fans mistaking it as real.  It’s a fan art photoshop job not even of the tone of the first three season posters!  It literally says “#Savelucifer” on the poster!  It looks almost like a poster for a low budget horror movie.  But they are mistaking it as real.

And finally, there is mild- very slight- not taken too seriously, rumor that Neil Gaiman’s Sandman might finally be adapted.  I know what triggered this rumor.  It’s because Matthew Cable is going to be in the new Swamp Thing series for DC’s streaming service.  And today Matthew is more well known for his role in Sandman than Swamp Thing.       

And for the first time in my entire experience in the Lucifer fandom I saw true anti-Sandman comments.  Not anti comics (I was starting to get used to those even if they felt like 1950s level ignorance), but actual anti-Sandman. 

 “If they do Sandman but not Lucifer their streaming service is gonna fail!” and “Boycott Sandman!”  “It’s our Lucifer or no Lucifer!”  You don’t even know what’s IN Sandman!  You might even like it!  It’s not a competition.  The Sandman didn’t make Lucifer get canceled.    

They don’t even realize some of their favorite lines IN the Lucifer TV show are direct quotes from the Sandman comics that they are now bashing!

When the fans start bashing the character’s creator, and the source material I tend to lose interest.  It’s like when I saw that the director of Victor Frankenstein had said the Mary Shelley novel was “as dull as dishwater.”  Yeah, how’s that working out for you, pal? 

  At this point if Lucifer is saved I’m not sure I’m going to watch it.  

The facebook portion of the fandom is really rubbing me the wrong way.  And most are thirty-somethings acting like children or newbies to the Internet. 

 In closed (private) Facebook groups replying to posts with a nausea inducing chorus of #Savelucifer and #Pickuplucifer (and jpeg pictures of the hashtags as if that somehow works!) is not going to DO anything.  And many are literally replying to everything with those tags or adding it to every post and when people try to explain that is not how the hashtags work in a private group on Facebook they get angry and accuse the person of not actually wanting to save the show.  It’s demented.

I admit I was already a little bitter the third season of the show focussed on the “ships” too much and ridiculously stretched out the “Will Chloe ever find out the truth?” only to leave it on a cliffhanger, and the writing in season 3 felt inconsistent to me. - (Cain wants to be mortal and then after a very short conversation decides he wants to be immortal.  As if he never considered the pratfalls of being mortal in his thousands of years of life?  He “loves” Chloe but opens fire on her?  And don’t get me started on what they did to Mazikeen, or Trixie accidentally giving pot brownies to her elderly teacher until she couldn’t feel her legs.  And Maze “hilariously” - and treated like it’s no big deal- throwing male strippers into traffic...) -  but I was willing to fight to try to get the show a fourth season, in the hope that a fourth season could go back to the quality of the first two seasons.  However after all the stupidity, rudeness, and assholary I’ve witnessed in the last two weeks I don’t think it’s worth it.   I know none of them will read this as they seem allergic to “long” comments.  

I’m getting seriously burnt out on the behavior of too many Lucifer fans...

[margoslxix]

OKAY so I was tagged by @autisticmob and I think these things are fun so here we go!

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in any order), answer the questions and tag 10 people you want to get to know better.

So, obviously I gotta pick:

1. Homestuck

and 

2. New Albion

But I legitimately don’t know what third fandom to pick. I’m going to go with.......

3. Magic the Gathering

Because, I don’t know, I like it and I don’t get enough chances to talk about these characters.

First Character You Loved:

1. “First” is tricky, because I loved most of the characters pretty right away. I guess Calliope? Not that I hadn’t loved anyone before Act 6 or anything, I just remember liking her right away after meeting her, and also thinking she was my favorite character for a while.

2. Again, this is a hard one. Annabel is probably the obvious answer, but it’s true. I think she’s everyone’s first favorite, though. Her songs are just so good, plus she’s the first character you really get to know.

3. Hmmm. Liliana? I loved her aesthetic right away, for sure. I mean, be honest, how can you not at LEAST think she’s pretty goddamn cool.

The Character You Never Expected to Love So Much:

1. Caliborn, full stop (heheh). He’s my son and I would die for him. My very, very first initial impression of him was “god, what a douchebag.” But he’s MY douchebag now and tbh I relate to him a lot. He’s got a lot of problems, he’s definitely not an easy person to like. But I think he has so much narrative potential, and even most of his awful qualities (mostly the misogyny, let’s be honest) could honestly probably be dealt with if he was actually properly socialized. Which I’m still not 100% sure isn’t canonically possible. Too bad the comic’s mcfucking over.

2. Lloyd Allen. He definitely comes across as a dick, but he’s got a lot of hidden depth. He’s just such a good guy? Like, once you learn the lengths that he went to and the danger he put himself in, just for the chance to make his boyfriend happy again, I just... I can’t, I’m getting very emotional. I love Lloyd Allen, okay?

3. Gideon MOTHERFUCKING Jura. I hate Lawful Good, usually. I think it’s often just an excuse for characters to be stupid as hell, rigid, and incapable of understanding moral ambiguity. But honestly, Gideon is one of the best Lawful Good characters I’ve ever seen. He is legitimately heroic, and the fact that he’s not 100% rigid in his alignment, choosing Good over Law every time, is honestly cool. I just... he’s a character type and trope that I usually can’t stand, but done very well, and that’s impressive enough that I honestly love him.

The Character You Relate To Most:

1. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you already know it’s Caliborn. He’s stubborn, determined, unyielding... and I’ll admit, I’m much the same. I think I approach problems in a similar way to him, and get confused/annoyed by similar, arbitrary things. Also, he’s absolutely autistic, and I’ll fight anyone who says he isn’t. 

2. Uncle Raven, aka David Adams. I mean, there are a lot of things about him that I can’t relate to. A lot. Like being extremely attractive, for one thing. But he is Aesthetic Goals. He’s a sad carnival man, and I’m a sad man who loves carnivals. He also copes with loneliness and abandonment about as well as I do, which is to say, not very well at all. Also the whole, “sad businessman who lost his mind and gained superpowers” thing is somehow also relatable. Now where the fuck are my reality-bending powers?

3. Vraska, probably. Gods, I fucking love Vraska. If Gideon hadn’t been my answer for the last one, it would have been her. The Ixalan story really hit me hard, and I love her a lot. Just, she’s been through a lot of shit and it’s made her hard and cruel, but who she is around Jace, now, with her memories intact, just... aaa, fuck, I love Vraska. I really hope they beat up Nicol Bolas soon. Fuck that guy.

The Character You’d Slap:

1. Cronus, probably. He just needs to stop. Not stop anything in particular, just stop in general. And the thing is, I don’t even completely hate him. I just hate a lot of his bullshit. Hussie once called him “the worst character in Homestuck,” and honestly, I can see it.

2. Okay, yeah, the “correct” answer here is probably Edgar or Sarah. But I’m still gonna go with Connor. I just, I don’t know, I have this weird, irrational hatred for Connor. I find him incredibly irritating. Almost every problem he’s ever had has been his own damn fault, and it’s obnoxious hearing him cry about it. I mean, “Connor” is still a gorgeous song and all, but as a character, I just wanna tell him to suck it the hell up.

3. Nicol Bolas? I mean, he deserves way more than a slap. But it seems like he’s literally behind every bad thing that happens lately and he needs to knock it the fuck off. Amonkhet was particularly like.... DUDE, not cool. You can’t just turn an entire world into a zombie factory, what the FUCK is wrong with you? I hate this fucking dragon, and this is coming from a guy who loves dragons, and also villains.

 Three Favorite Characters (In Order of Preference):

1. Caliborn, Calliope, Dirk

2. Raven, Lloyd, Han Mi

3. Vraska, Jace, Chandra (this list subject to change at literally any time)

A Character You Liked At First, But Don’t Anymore:

1. Okay, so this is going to sound incredibly harsh, so let me preface it with, it’s not that I DON’T like him, it’s just that he annoys and vexes me, and I’m sick of seeing him, and ALSO that I used to like him more than I currently do. In FACT, I do sometimes have feelings about him that I would normally have mostly for characters I like more, so it’s not that I hate him, okay? But it’s Jake English. Fucking... he’s so goddamn stupid and self-absorbed. And yeah, I get that it wasn’t his fault. I get that he’s been through some serious shit that no one should have to go through. Yeah, okay, just like every other character in this comic. But like, come on dude. But it’s less about him, I think, and more about how the fandom treats him. He’s not just an accessory for Dirk, for one thing (and I’m sorry, you can NOT convince me that they get back together in the end, that’s stupid, they had literally no chemistry whatsoever). And anyway, I’ve ranted way, way longer than I need to. But I have to set the record straight. I don’t HATE Jake English, I just think he’s dumb as a bag of teeth and I’m sick of seeing his face.

2. I’m actually having a hard time thinking of anyone specific. The more I learn about most characters, the more I like them. Seriously, I’m trying to think of a character that I like even a little bit less than my first impression of them. Maybe Connor? But I wasn’t really super crazy about him from the beginning, so I feel like that doesn’t count. I guess I’m going to have to go with Tristan from A Pirate’s Tale (even though that doesn’t technically count as New Albion but FUCK IT, I’m counting it) because like, “Ride the Hemp” is my jam and an awesome song, but when you actually read the script, he’s just kind of a dick. So yeah, I guess that’s it.

3. Again, there’s no one in particular. I think both Liliana and Nissa fall under “I used to love them a lot, but now I’m feeling a bit more ambiguous about them”--Liliana because DAMN getting a look at how she’s treated Jace all this time from Vraska’s perspective was some SHIT, and Nissa because I don’t particularly approve of her leaving the Gatewatch after all that shit about realizing that Chandra was her friend and all. I don’t know. I don’t hate either of them. Heck, I don’t even dislike either of them. But that’s one thing that’s cool about the constantly shifting perspective in the Magic stories. I just know I’m going to see something from their perspectives that changes everything before too long. Hell, Dominaria is already giving me a lot of Liliana feels.

A Character You Did Not Like At First, But Do Now:

1. See, I actually kind of liked everyone in Homestuck right away. And I’m not even counting Caliborn here, because I never really disliked him, I just never expected him to be my favorite character. I guess maybe Eridan? It’s not even that I particularly like him that much now, I just don’t dislike him as strongly as I did at first. I’m not even sure why. I think that one fansong (”Ugly Story”) kind of increased my affection for him. But he’s still not even in my top 20, so I don’t know.

2. Rachael. I’m not going to lie, the first time I listened to The New Albion Guide to Analogue Consciousness, I thought she was obnoxious. I mean she did lowkey try to get herself killed while singing a big, dramatic song for the sole reason that this guy that she was convinced was her destined love match turned out to be gay. That’s some fuckshit, right there. But the more I listened and the more I thought about her... with all the shit she’s been through, it makes sense. And it’s not like her assumption was totally irrational. Plus, Connor told her that that was the case because Connor’s a fucking idiot. So I’m blaming him for this one. So yeah, Rachael’s actually pretty cool. Plus “The Show No One Saw” is a bop.

3. Hmmmmmmm, I don’t know. I’m honestly drawing a blank. Vraska, maybe? It’s not really that I didn’t like her, but I’ll admit, I kinda was late to the party with a lot of Magic stuff. So I was just like “Wait, isn’t she just that gorgon assassin from Ravnica?” but then Ixalan happened, and she’s my daughter now. So there’s that.

Three OTPs:

1. ....Do I even have to say it? Dirkborn is my real, true OTP. I’m utter trash for this ship. Their whole dynamic is so much fun, and honestly, these boys could be extremely good for each other. Plus, they actually have canon chemistry, so there’s that. Davekat is a real close second. It’s one I actually wasn’t 100% sold on when I first saw it, but now I can’t imagine the comic without it. I’m so happy that it’s canon. I guess third would be Roxy/Calliope, which is funny, since I really didn’t used to like that ship very much. But I’ve come around on it, it’s honestly adorable.

2. Lloydven (Lloyd/Raven) is the obvious one here. I mean, I feel like it’s lowkey the most common OTP in the fandom. But like, damn. I honestly almost cried reading The Ballad of Lloyd Allen. They’re just so in love. Second is probably Leedrian (Lee/Adrian), just because. Honestly, it’s not even that deep fam, I just think they’re cute and also I love Adrian in general. HelMi (Helen/Han Mi) is a very, very close third, if not second. Like if you cry every time. Seriously, just.... FUCK.

3. Vraska/Jace. They had BETTER get that fucking date on Ravnica! If they don’t I will scream! That’s the best ship Magic has right now, I’m sorry, that’s just how it is. Now, I will say, I’m at a bit of a loss here. I used to ship the Gatewatch as an OT5 (Gideon/Jace/Liliana/Chandra/Nissa) but I feel like that’s been complicated by a lot of other feelings I have about individual members, so I’m not sure I really ship it anymore, leaving me kind of adrift. Honestly, though? Saheeli/Huatli had better fucking sail, so I’m going to call that #2 for right now. Please let them make a robot dinosaur together! And Chandra/Nissa is still fucking quality, I don’t care what happens.

OKAY so now I have to tag people. Since KC didn’t bother tagging 10 I’m not gonna, either. Just, any mutual who wants to can take it. For the sake of actually tagging people though, let’s say.... @draconicmentalist @stokerbramwell @gearydigit @the-cheese-hive-mind @swiftyscreativitycorner @vadvivon @humanmosquito And tbh there’s a lot of other people I would want to tag but I don’t remember everyone’s URLs and tbh I’ve already spent enough time on this post so, PLEASE DO THIS IT’S FUN

[secretsofslytherin]

Cursed Child rant

Alright, Witches, Wizards, Muggles, and magical creatures big and small, hold onto your broomsticks because I’m about to tell you why I do not like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child nor accept it as canon. 

Spoilers ahead. Obviously. but c’mon who hasn’t read it or been spoiled by now Also, it got super long. 

Let’s start off by saying: it’s been months since I read it. If I get some things off a little, go ahead and tell me; I’ll edit the rant and correct it. If you just don’t agree with me... that’s great for you. Okay? We good? That’s all the disclaimer you’re getting. Moving on! 

Where do I begin? Um... Let’s recap shall we? 

It starts with Albus Severus Potter (who’s name I still cannot get over) meeting and becoming friends with Scorpius Malfoy. 

Okay. Great. We’ve all wanted that for years. No problem. 

We’ve also played with the idea of Albus in Slytherin for years. I have no problem with that either. 

What I do have problems with is the way Albus is treated after he is put in Slytherin. He’s the outcast of his family. He’s the “disappointing son”. After Harry’s canon “the bravest man I knew was Slytherin” speech (don’t get me started on Snape), I expected a bit better treatment of Slytherins. But Albus is Slytherin and looked at sideways by the entire cast, except Scorpius. This could easily become a rant about Slytherin’s and stereotypes and treatment, but I give enough of those already. 

My issues are mostly with Albus’ personality. Now, I didn’t write the character. He’s not mine. I don’t have the authority to tell anyone how he should be. All I can do is have headcanons. But “canon” Albus doesn’t exactly display a lot of Slytherin traits. Sure he sneaks around, but so does Harry, Ron, and Hermione and they’re all Gryffindor. If my memory serves me correctly, Albus goes to Slytherin because he basically thinks, “Well, the Gryffindors I know suck, let’s try Slytherin.”it’s been a while since I read it okay  

Albus is jaded by the time the plot picks up. He doesn’t like flying, isn’t that good at it or Quidditch (which honestly feels like they’re just trying to make him as unlike Harry as possible which I could handle if it wasn’t so badly written), and is basically convinced his life is horrible. (I’ll get into why a little later.) This kid shows no Slytherin traits that I remember. He hardly shows any traits really. I think it was the play format, but Albus becomes a stereotypical teenager who has daddy issues and doesn’t like his life. 

Scorpius I don’t really have a big problem with, besides it going against my personal headcanons. He at least shows a bit more Slytherin traits than jaded Albus. I feel like they were trying to break Slytherin stereotypes with him- which is great and all, but it almost makes me feel like that’s all Scorpius’ personality was. As if he was made to simply disrupt our preconceived ideas of what Slytherin is. I don’t like it. Stereotypes are something I can’t stand, but come on, people, don’t strip my house of what we actually are. 

Okay, moving on from Slytherin. 

Let’s take a step back from the new characters and visit the one’s we already know, we already love. Oh wait, they’ve been ripped to shreds. 

Hermione is Minister of Magic. Okay. First of all, we all knew she could have gotten that in canon if she’d wanted it. Except... She didn’t want it. The Hermione I remember didn’t like the Ministry. At all. Their treatment of creatures, muggleborns, and how easily they were corrupted all turned her away from it. I suppose there could have been a “I’m going to get in charge in order to fix everything” development. But really... It’s a stretch for me. But my biggest problem is the fact that she’s not the clever girl I remember. The Hermione I remember, the girl who scarred a girl’s face permanently for being a snitch, wouldn’t have been so easily robbed by two teenage boys. You’re saying she hid the most important item in the Ministry at the time in a bookshelf in her office? No. Sorry, but no. I don’t care if it was charmed. Also, with all her experience with Polyjuice Potion, you’d think she would have been able to tell that her husband and best friend weren’t acting like themselves. She’s not the girl I remember. I want my Hermione back.

I think somewhere in the writing process of the book someone got Ron and George mixed up. Seriously. I know that JK said that after a few years of being an Auror, Ron goes to help George in the shop, but c’mon. He’s not one of the twins. Ron, “let her go, take me” Ron, “are you a witch or not?!” Ron, ‘goes into a forest after a trail of spiders that he’s terrified of’ Ron, honestly a brave and amazing friend Ron, was reduced to a bland comic relief with bad pranks. Ronald Weasley was not in that book. I don’t know who was, but it wasn’t Ron. Hermione is a insane stretch, but Ron... Ron is unexplainable. There is nothing that could have happened to warp Ron’s character that severely. Nothing. 

Now, onto Harry. 

Oh, Salazar, Harry “I wish you weren’t my son” Potter. What the hell. What the actual hell? 

This boy was abused as a child. This boy lost not only his father, but his godfather, his mentor- literally every father figure in his life. Now, some would say “oh, then he had no example, he didn’t know better” and I call bull---- on that. No. No no no. It does not take an example to know that you don’t tell your son “I wish you weren’t my son.” Harry is a washed out, lackluster echo of who he was. After years of being ignored or not listened to by adults, you’d think he’d try to listen to his own son more. After social isolation and depending on his friends for his life at times, you expect me to believe that Harry would ever forbid his son from seeing his only friend? You expect me to believe after almost dying in school every year and dealing with bullies and house prejudices, that Harry would insist that Hogwarts is heaven on earth while his son is trying to tell him otherwise? That he would become this bitter employee? 

No. 

Again, there is nothing you can tell me that will convince me that this complex character whom I love became this bland person. Nope. 

But but but, you say, it was written as a play, not a novel. The writing is different. 

Okay. But, play or novel, we know these characters. Look me in the eye and tell me you can completely understand what could have made their personalities to change so drastically. Because, for me, the answer is nothing. Nothing could have done this. It’s just bad writing. 

That’s just the characters. 

Can we talk about all the other utterly ridiculous dung that was in this play? 

First off, the rumor about Scorpius. The “he’s Voldemort’s kid because time-turners” thing. What the hell? Where the hell does something like that come from? Even Rita Skeeter wouldn’t do that. It’s absurd and doesn’t even fit in the wizarding world we know. Why did Draco allow that even to manifest? How would that even start? I’ll tell you how- to give a terrible attempt at foreshadowing. Not only does it give the twist away if you stop and think about it, but it also goes against canon. Never are time-turners mentioned besides books three and five and they’re talked about with reverence. Rumors like that wouldn’t be allowed around the Malfoys. Draco, canon Draco, wouldn’t allow it. The whole thing annoys the crap out of me. 

The Trolly Lady thing. Hogwarts has been around how long? The lady has been there how long? After seven books of Harry just seeing an innocent lady- after so hundreds of years of the Hogwarts Express- you’re telling me that this lady has been an insane magic security guard for that long? On top of that, you’re telling me that no one before Albus and Scorpius have ever gotten off the train? Albus and Scorpius aren’t even that skilled! They’re normal kids! Come on!!! I just don’t buy it. Any of it. It’s ridiculous. 

Also: They made Theodore Nott a Death Eater and I have not forgiven them for doing that to my favorite Slytherin. 

Okay, before I continue, I should make this clear: If you write fanfiction, there is literally no wrong way to do it. There are no rules, and no one can tell you how to do it, what to do in it, or anything like that. I write fanfiction. I write OC fanfiction. I’ve written time travel fanfiction. If you want to do it. Do it. 

Now... 

Let’s talk about this. Some of the most popular fanfiction plots involve OCs, secret kids/siblings, time-travel, alternate realities, ignoring deaths that occur; if you read or write fanfiction, you know what I’m talking about. 

All of that is great. Honestly, some of the best stories I’ve read involve one or more of those things listed. 

Cursed Child includes all of them. 

There’s a reason we like fanfiction. It expands the world we love. It adds characters. It explores characterizations. It’s a place we can change things we want in canon. Where there is nothing stopping us from making Bellatrix and Voldemort have a kid. 

But this was not supposed to be fanfiction. This was supposed to line up with canon. It wasn’t supposed to contradict it. It wasn’t supposed to leave us with asking what the hell was that? 

Delphi. Voldemort’s daughter. I’m sorry, but first of all. Voldemort was practically soulless and bent on murder, immortality, and concurring the Wizarding World. I can’t really imagine him even wanting to get all steamy with Bellatrix. Also, it may not be worth much, but Bellatrix was married. Slytherins are traditional, remember? Also that means she would have to be pregnant durning Deathly Hallows. You know, the book where she tortures Hermione and fights in a war, not to mention dies. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see Bellatrix as the kind to really take care of a child. The timing doesn’t match. The actual act doesn’t make any sense at all. AND they gave us another prophecy? Who gave it? Why did no one know about Dephi? I mean come on! I just... I’ve read fanfictions with better explanations. 

Also, Voldemort having a kid is fun in fanfics. I’ve read a few I really enjoy. But in canon? No. No. NO. It doesn’t fit. It ruins so many things. His character, the timeline, the actual ending of Deathly Hallows. 

But besides all that- it wasn’t even delivered well. It was obvious Delphi was the villain. It wasn’t a shock that she was Voldemort’s kid after the whole rumor thing with Scorpius. As I said- I’ve read fanfics written better. 

Now, let’s move to Cedric Diggory. 

Why. Why would they strip all meaning from his death by trying to reverse it? Why did it even have to be that specific point in time? None of it made sense and all it did was make me mad because Cedric was one of those characters that you hated to see die, but you understood their death. It had meaning- however horrible. 

Also, you expect me to believe that this boy- this selfless, honest, just, determined, hard working Hufflepuff would become a Death Eater? I’m sorry. But no. Nope. No. 

Then we have Time Turners again. Ugh. This book goes against the rules set in Book Three. They don’t even really make sense anymore and it’s a lazy plot for canon. It’s badly written and not handled properly. 

Actually, that’s a summary of the entire book. 

It’s a lazy plot, badly written, and not handled properly at all. It contradicts canon; it warps the characters; it’s terrible. 

I don’t like Cursed Child and do not accept it as canon as it was not written solely by J. K. Rowling. 

[samdukewieland]

Stuck Inside Media Diary Week 2

New week. New movies I had never seen before. Only one was on the DVR so now it’s just like a glorified streaming guide and for that I apologize. There were three movies this week that I had seen before, but I’ve decided, because rules are important, that I won’t re-watch a movie until I watch a new one. Does this matter? No. But it has made me realize that I might be exposing my ass in the upcoming weeks, because we all lie about saying we’ve seen some movies when we actually haven’t. Not the case for this week, but it’s impending.

Sunday, March 29

Warrior, O’Conner 2011 [as of now this is available on Amazon Prime]

As a person who doesn’t really care about MMA or UFC or boxing or bum fights or bare knuckle brawls I went in under the impression that there’d probably be some kind of barrier in my way of enjoying it, despite knowing its esteemed reputation for being man-weep canon. Any movie that opens and closes with a song by The National is fairly transparent about the type of movie its going to be, despite having an extremely yolked Tom Hardy as one of the main characters. My first cry came at a very unexpected moment, especially because Frank Grillo had a significant role in making that happen (though I will say, I had no idea Frank Grillo was in this movie and about midway through I thought “man, that guy kinda looks like Grillo, but he’s kinda small and has a fashion mullet”). However, I’m a cryer, so I don’t want to set the expectation of you will cry at this you piece of shit! but you might and it’ll come out of a good place, because this movie doesn’t trick you into crying by manipulating you into it (okay, it does at one point, but it involves Moby Dick, so again, it’s kinda unexpected). It opens with “Start A War” and ends with “About Today,” a top 5 sad boy song by The National and I’ll be damned if I didn’t listen to it once a day all last week.

Better Call Saul 

“Sunk Costs”, “Sabrosito”, “Chicanery”, “Off Brand”, “Expanses”

John Getz hive, assemble.

Monday, March 30

Working Girl, Nichols 1988 [as of now this is available on HBO]

Sometime in college, I think in a detective fiction class I took, we talked about knowing a reference to something before knowing what it’s either paying homage to or directly referencing. For example: the first time I read The Long Halloween (which is a Batman comic by Jeph Loeb) I had no idea that basically everything involving Falcone is just ripped from The Godfather, because I had never seen The Godfather at that time in my life; literally the first page of the book is “I believe in Gotham City.” Or in Django Unchained when they go to Mississippi and the title card moves across the screen just like it does in Gone With The Wind (Tarantino movies are generally just long homages and references to other things, so if you need another example, just look to really anything he’s ever worked on). There’s probably a German word for this feeling of recognition and I just don’t have the energy to look to see what it would be, but I felt it while watching Working Girl in two regards. 

The first was that I didn’t realize that School Of Rock is essentially just Working Girl and when you have a realization like this, you feel kinda dumb, because you just assume everyone figured this out before you did. The second was that Joe Swanberg has tried to model his movies after Mike Nichols ones like his life depended on it and he just can’t or rather hasn’t. Also I’m not a person who was alive in the 80s and I’m sure there’s some modern day equivalent (potentially her daughter) who I defend out of some weird sense of contrarian obligation, but what’s uh, what’s going on with Melanie Griffith and her as actor?

Better Call Saul 

“Slip”, “Fall”, “Lantern” [Season 3 finale]

BCS season 3 really stepped up to the heights of Breaking Bad and I think I might like it just a little bit better than it? I haven’t watched Breaking Bad in long time, I find it pretty difficult to re-watch (it’s very fire works factory for me) so I’m sure there are some BB highs that I just don’t remember fully, but that BCS can juggle being three different shows all at the same time and do it excellently really has me taken aback. It’s like watching the Coen Brothers jump from genre to genre and not be worried about the end result.

Tuesday, March 31

Say Anything..., Crowe 1989 [as of now this is available on Hulu]

I’m unabashedly in the can for Cameron Crowe, which is a semi-embarrassing thing to admit, but whatever. I saw Aloha in theatres and watched We Bought A Zoo when it was on FX once (in real time too, so that means with commercials-this was also the only time I’ve seen We Bought A Zoo, but I think I’d do it again); you can’t hurt me. I think I kept my distance from Say Anything... for so long, because it was one of those things that I’d be annoyed at because it’d resonate with me too much, because feeling that is kinda hacky and embarrassing, but if there’s one thing that Cameron Crowe movies put an emphasis on of importance on, it’s being sincere. And I sincerely loved it (hot, HOT take). Thanks to Russillo for recommending it on Simmons’ podcast last week.

Better Call Saul

“Smoke” [Season 4 premiere]

Wednesday, April 1

The Graduate, Nichols 1967 [as of now this is available on Amazon Prime]

Sucks that this movie has been used by a certain type of dude who use it as a blueprint for their life and how they view relationships. Other than that, good job everyone. [I definitely thought it would be clever to watch this after watching Say Anything... because I just assumed Ben Braddock walked so Lloyd Dobbler could run-I was kinda right, whatever]

Hot Rod, Schaffer 2007

While April Fools Day means nothing to me I do try to watch a comedy on the day, because...eh, why not. Hot Rod is maybe a perfect comedy and I think I could spend hours talking about it. I don’t know how there hasn’t been some kind of programming that’s been done around The Lonely Island and their catalog, because it seems very obvious. 

Hot Rod with Digital Shorts played before and after and then Wayne’s World

MacGruber and you play MacGruber shorts before and after and then whatever grotesque 80′s action movie you’d want, maybe Commando

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping with Lonely Island music videos before and after and then This Is Spinal Tap

The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience sing-a-long followed by The Lonely Island pilot and  either a collection or the entirety of I Think You Should Leave

maybe this is all a lead-up to Palm Springs, a movie I have’t seen and know very little about other than they produced it and Samberg is in it

Thursday, April 2

The In-Laws, Hiller 1979

I wrote it as my letterboxd. “review” , but this thing’s 1979 funny until they go to South America and then it is actually funny. Falk is just gangbusters.

Better Call Saul 

“Breathe”, “Something Beautiful”

Friday, April 3

You Can Count On Me, Lonergan 2000 [as of now this is available on Amazon Prime]

I say this as a very big fan of his, but! Timothée Chalamet, consider yerself on notice for borrowing heavily from the Mark Ruffalo school of acting. Also, I get it now with Laura Linney, who I’ve liked before, but thought she might kind of be overrated by some people. Also, Matthew Broderick made this after Election (and also Inspector Gadget), so quite the infidelity streak for Brody, probably not a double feature.

Better Call Saul

“Talk”, “Quite A Ride”, “Piñata”

Saturday, April 4

De Palma, Baumbach & Paltrow, 2015 [as of now this is available on Netflix]

The definitive documentaries for the directors of this friend group are basically perfect in their own ways. That this is just De Palma talking about himself and his career and movies, sometimes being incredibly critical of his own work and others. He seems pretty self-aware, probably the most of that group of directors, while still coming across as incredibly cocky. De Palma is perfect for Brian De Palma. However, if anyone wanted to make a 10 hour documentary on Scorsese, Spielberg, Coppola, De Palma and Lucas in this style or it’s just the 5 of them interviewing each other moderated by like Fincher or someone, man....I could really go for that. (I mean if Michael Jordan can get one, why not these guys?)

The Other Director Documentaries

Spielberg, 2017 (HBO) [Interviews and retrospectives about Spielberg’s career, with personal highlights. It’s essentially Spielberg in a nutshell: big, flashy with a lot of time on particular moments that are more important to him than they are to you]

Empire Of Dreams, 2004 (Disney+) [Ostensively this is about Star Wars, and it’s made by a company-man, it says so much about Lucas, a man who hated how institutions told him what he could do so he unintentionally created one that has copied what he hates]

Heart Of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, 1991 [A truly wild ride, tells you everything you need to know about Coppola]

Italianamerican, 1974 [While a new documentary about Scorsese is probably what I covet most, he’s a pretty open book about his controversies and he’d probably enjoy talking about other people’s work more than his own-catholicism’s a helluva thing]

The Godfather Pt. I & The Godfather Pt. II, Coppola 1972 & 1974

I don’t know if I necessarily endorse watching both of these back-to-back; I guess I’m glad I did it, even if the motivation was mainly to just see if I could. Obviously these movies are important and good and are about so much more than just gangsters and thugs, but a lot of the time it just feels like eating vegetables for me. I did not grow up in a household that emphasized the importance of The Godfather so maybe that’s part of it, but I’m definitely not as dismissive of these as I used to be (though part of that could be the mental Stockholm Syndrome Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan and Sean Fennessey have given me). Once I finished Pt. I, I felt like I could re-watch it; once I finished Pt. II I felt like my eyes were melting out of my head and onto my hands (this could be because I had just watched 377 minutes of a story). I will probably never do it again, unless it’s the weekend after Christmas and AMC is just going for it-at least then I’ll have intermissions every 20 or so minutes telling me to go shop at Target.

[spiralatlas]

PAX Australia 2017 Day 3

There are no notes for Day 2 because I spent it socialising a little and sleeping a lot.

Queer Coded: A History of LGBTQIA+ Gaming

David Gaider Q&A

Brian Fairbanks Talks about Addressing Accessibility Through Game Design

Misc: I spent a chunk of the day in the diversity lounge which was fun. I met some great people at the Gender Diverse card game, and got to the semi finals of the Xena Nintendo 64 Fighting Game Tournament (there were only three rounds, but given how much I suck at fighting games this was still a happy surprise, and a sign of what a random button masher the game is)

The gender neutral toilets near the diversity lounge were very well done, unlike GCAP the original signs weren't visible and "with stalls/urinals" was in small letters like an afterthought.

I didn't break anything on Day 3 but did break a mug the next morning. Also the cinema in the Crown Casino is surprisingly inaccessible.

Despite the various mishaps I had a great time and will definitely come again next time we can afford it.

Queer Coded: A History of LGBTQIA+ Gaming

I missed the second half of this to see David Gaider, feeling very annoyed at the programmer.

Anny Sims @ChattyAnny on twitter (I was too slow to get the others!) Keely Thirkell Hayley Williams Soap Pejovic

Most queer characters are just queer coded, with plausible deniability. "It's up to you".Tendency for queer characters to be villains. Indie games tend to be more queer friendly than AAA games.

Lesbians: First known queer character in games: 1986 Moonmist had side-character who was a lesbian murderer.

Other notable lesbian characters:

KOTOR 2003, Juhani, first queer Star Wars character

Gone Home 2013

Dragon Age Inquisition Sera (I thought Sam Traynor from Mass Effect 3 came first?)

Tracer from Overwatch 2016

Trans characters:

1988 Birdo from Super Mario Brothers 2 "A male who believes he is female"

Lots of others but all terrible. Jokes and villains. Trans women seen as threat. Poison from Final Fight 1989, "so you can hit a woman".

Krem DAI 2014 trans man, You can't go "Ok, cool".

Hainly Adams MEA 2017 trans woman. Tells you her deadname, this was patched.

Horizon: Zero Dawn 2017 trans man

Dream Daddy 2017 trans man. One throw away line about wearing a binder, had to be clarified by writers. Non binary people and cosplayers wear binders too!

How do you make it clear they're trans without them implausibly outing themselves or just having it be word of god?

Gay men:

1993 fmv Dracula Unleashed has speaking role

Tended to be background characters, jokes and villains again. No m/m relationships shown onscreen.

Dreamfall: the Longest Journey 2006 (not made super clear until 2015)

Steve Cortez Mass Effect 3 2012

Dorian DAI 2014

Dorian knew exactly what his sexuality was. Coming of age narratives get boring.

Bi Characters (no picture because they're invisible):

1993 Ultima 7 part 2 bi character propositions character regardless of gender.

"Slutty bisexuals". A lot of characters are playersexual and it never comes up outside the relationship.

Zevran DAO 2009

Borderlands 2009

Fable 2004 let player be bi, Fable 2 2008 added bi PCs

Playersexual:

Only queer in the context that they will date players of both genders, but you don't see that unless you play as both.

Dragon Age 2 2011, Anders only mentions his ex-boyfriend if you play as a male PC

Fallout 4 2015. Did have background queer characters.

Stardew Valley 2016

Non Binary:

1995 Chrono Trigger villain

Often robots, aliens or other non human

Frisk Undertale 2015

Life is Strange 2015

Zer0 Borderlands 2 2012

Turing Read Only Memories

Some games let you have gender neutral pronouns.

David Gaider Q&A

1999 Working on Balder's Gate 2, didn't talk about his sexuality at work. Figured he would always be writing stories for straight people.

He was shocked to hear Jade Empire was having same sex romance. Got to be lead writer on DAO after that. "So I can put same sex romances in, right?". More economical to have bi romances, but he would have been happier having some gay characters.

Feeling iffy about playersexuality after DA2, he asked for 2 straight, 2 bi, 2 gay for DAI. "Minority content" is weighed via the percentage of those who play it and those who appreciate it. Eg 5% play dwarves but most see it as a positive thing to be able to do.

Most of his time was spent on the actual plot but Dorian was the most personal writing.

He was targeted by Gamergate but it doesn't compare to, for example, how much Jennifer Helper was targeted.

10 years on Dragon Age was enough, his head would explode if he had to write another story about templars and mages.

How did you get the job: His story is very specific. He was managing a hotel and a comic book artist in his spare time. A friend was a character artist at Bioware but Gaider wasn't really aware of the specifics. Bioware told their employees "If you know anyone who does game related writing let us know", the friend gave them Gaider's LARP rule book without asking. Got a call, gave the stories he wrote in highschool, got offered a job. He said no, it didn't pay enough, but then he got fired from the hotel. It felt like a sign.  

Who do you think will take the romance torch from Bioware: he’s not sure they're giving it up? EA treats romance fans as a reliable audience who don't need to be advertised to, even though it's why a lot of people play in his experience (though obviously those are the kinds of fans he will tend to meet). There is an underserved audience.

Most proud of: Lots of stuff he's not proud of. Wishes he'd been more involved in community discussions early on. Proud that the team tackled issues as they started arising. Proud of the company for standing by them. Most proud of Dragon Age 2 despite the mixed response. They had very little time to create it. It’s like a very big first draft. They had a plan but didn't get to compare notes once things were written, so he had to trust the team would stick to plan as much as they could despite things being cut on the fly. Team said they were happy in a post-game survey, didn't feel he was too dictatorial.

What does your writing look like, a screenplay? A cutscene does. But it’s generally structured like a tree that expands and then contracts back to the core path before expanding again. Flow charts.

Favourite relationship in a game? Morden in Mass Effect. Cried more than in a movie. Tali was his space girlfriend. Of the ones he's worked on, Morrigan will always be closest. She represents Dragon Age to him. Joyous time working with Claudia Black, first celebrity he'd worked with. Flemeth was originally Arabic, but that actress couldn't do it so they got Kate Mulgrew. They stopped looking for an Arabic actress for Morrigan and looked for someone who matched Kate Mulgrew. Claudia Black's audition tape was her reading Smack That like a beat poet. Gaider was very nervous, he'd never spoken to any actor before. First rule he was told was don't compare them to another celebrity, so naturally he said "I had Helena Bonham Carter in mind when I wrote Morrigan". Claudia Black said "So you're saying I'm a cheap Helena Bonham Carter ;D". She would say "Does he want me to do it more like Helena?" during recording.

Has being so closely associated with diversity had downsides? He may be gay but he's still white and a dude. He feels like it's all he talks about conventions sometimes. Teams need to sit down and look at what they've made. Lot of things made individually without concern for the bigger picture eg only 15% speaking roles in DAI were female until they stopped and looked at it and fixed it.  

"We didn't think about it" is no longer a defense. He wants to help with that, but we should be helping other marginalised voices get into the industry and amplifying their voices.

Wishes it could just be expected and we didn't have to discuss it.

He likes dating sim mechanics in the context of a larger story. But he does like the idea of romance not being as tertiary as it's been in Bioware games, romance as part of the adventure eg a romantic adventure. He's not really interested in social sims or day to day relationships. "My idea of a spicy relationship is to have my life threatened."

Why do you think most AAA companies try to avoid discussions of lgbt stuff, why is it taking so long? Because it's Pandora's Box. There is more being added casually. But if they do nothing they get lumped in with the rest of the industry. As soon as they do anything there are 2 sides: 1. why are you doing this, you're politicising your game. 2. Why aren't you doing more, whatever you did is wrong and not good enough.

Not that flawed attempts should be above criticism. But by mostly focusing criticism on the games that did anything rather than nothing, people have increased the feeling that it's Pandoras box. He understands that it feels like those developers might listen to criticism but the dynamic is sending the wrong lesson.

My question: How do you think inclusion of non binary player characters can work with including gay and lesbian love interests instead of just having playsexuality? “We've thought about it”. He defined playersexual for audience, like Shroedinger's sexuality. He doesn't like it when the only way to have something show up is to have the character talk about it. eg asexual: character would have to sit you down and explain what asexuality is. Is unsexy as a feature. Explaining nuances of sexuality is off putting. If there was more nuance across the industry that would mean no one game has to do everything. Any one game can have only so much within it.

(This doesn't actually answer my question. I discussed it with my husband afterwards and even he didn't understand what I was asking, so I may have garbled it in my nervousness)

Are some choices "canon"? One of the features of Mass Effect and Dragon Age was the continuity of choices. No "canon" but there is a default. A lot of people feel like they have to play the whole series to get the full experience, was off putting, and he found the Keep a nightmare as a writer.

They had editors keeping track of which choices were incompatible. And that was just the third game. "Can you imagine for a fourth game? Phew! Not my problem :D"

Have you thought about the morals of gamifying romance, saying what people want to hear to get sex? Dragon Age didn't work that way, sex was not at the end. Some characters in DAI had no sex scenes, sex is optional for Dorian's romance. It's a game, everything is gamified, you can't simulate actual relationships. For proper reactivity you’d have to mark every response and keep track of inconsistency, but that’s too much work. Same with polyamory: too many variables!

Maybe get away from the approval system? Pay more attention to overall choices in major quests etc instead of individual lines.

Bi characters in DAI were bi from the start. Not the first thing that comes up during character creation eg Dorian started out as "the good Tevinter". Helps avoid too many assumptions based on sexuality. But once characters started solidifying they would think about who worked for what sexualities. There's no set way to write someone "as" bi, but the writer can have them talk about relevant things in other scenes. Sera's writer is a straight dude, he didn't want to write About The Lesbian Experience, and got lesbians in the company to check out what he was writing.

Have relationships gotten more or less complicated? In Balder's gate 2 there was a single sequence of romance scenes which you could get kicked off. Dragon Age had approval. If it gets complicated but the player can't see it or understand how reactions relate to their previous actions it just seems random or predetermined. Unless they say "I am angry at you because of X", but noone says that.

Brian Fairbanks Talks about Addressing Accessibility Through Game Design

lostandhound1 on twitter

His notes.

He's not blind himself, and while he obviously cares a lot about accessibility had an unfortunate tendency to treat disabled people as a separate, if respected, "Other" to himself and the audience, even though I was right there in a bright red mobility scooter. He advocated person first language, "a person with blindness" etc, but not all disabled people like it and it shouldn't be presented as unambiguous best practice. I'm building up the energy to talk to him about it.

He's a sound designer.

Audio games: designed for people with a vision disability.

Audio game jam: the games tended to be about blindness as a bad thing. It felt victimising.

How can we make people feel powerful?

He was inspired by his dog's amazing sense of smell. The mechanic is that you follow an invisible trail using sound cues, a humming noise that gets louder and quieter.

Sighted people struggle with extracting information from sound. The game is more difficult for sighted people.

He had to add fruit on the ground as an accessibility measure for sighted people.

All music is diegetic: happening inside the world of the game, eg characters are singing.

There's a lack of much budget for audio games, since they're never going to make much money.

In 30 years current 30-something gamers will need accessible games.

Accessibility tends to be added as an afterthought or accident.

For example Pokemon has unique sounds for materials, collisions, monsters that accidentally make it accessible.

Sony reader: US only

Microsoft narrator: good but hard to use as a developer

EA: Proactively adding blind accessibility

Fighting games are often in stereo, blind players can play and even win tournaments.

Demand more from your games.

Developers: find a consultant. Address accessibility early.

It's about empathy. People with disability deserve the same stories to take part in as everyone else.

gameaccessibilityguidelines.com

daisyalesoundworks

binaural sound is going to make a big difference

audiogames.net: where blind gamers go to play games. They're supportive if you ask for advice and feedback.

People don't mind if you don't do immersive, game specific voices and just rely on the screenreader

Sound designers need more love to make VR accessible.  

Braille games?? He doesn't know much about it.

Curb cut effect examples: curb cuts for wheelchairs but also useful for prams etc. Subtitles. Think about short term problems that benefit from accessibility as well eg the screen is broken, there's sunlight on the screen etc.  

Sounds of a blind person navigating their desktop. To me it sounds like a mangled garble of little bursts of cut off computer speech, here’s a description of what’s going on.

[falyakonsdiary]

25 star wars asks

25 star wars asks

Doing this to de-stress and do some fun fandom reflecting lol. Here we go!

1. do you find force users or non-force users more interesting?

This is tough. Overall, I find non-force users (I’m including people who were/are force sensitive in canon like Leia but can’t actually manipulate it) a lot more interesting! They tend to be more inventive and diverse in beliefs and perspectives, and their interactions with force users (and their politics) is always a cool dynamic to see!

2. which character do you want to be most like?

Oh, easy. Padme Amidala, hands down. Her passion, vision, hard work and hope make her a wonderful leader- which is something I aspire to be. Additionally, she’s flawed in the sense that she’s naive in her beliefs at times. She’s far from perfect, but Padme’s legacy (as ignored and hidden as it is in the canon after her death) is obvious in her children and the resistance she inspired. She also parallels Anakin, who in some ways embodies the things I struggle with most in myself. If anyone else came close to being someone I’d want to emulate, it would be the twins. Together they are the best of both their parents.

3. which character are you actually most like?

Yikes. Kinda covered this, but I guess… Maybe Luke? I’m not as wild as Anakin, or as passionate as Padme. I feel like Luke is a nice in-between of those two, but more mellow and simple-minded than Leia- in a good way. He’s jaded, but still maintains this sense of young, youthful naivete that Leia didn’t (despite remaining a very hopeful and strong person). He’s a soft boy, you know? I feel like Luke’s ability to come off still full of wonder, knowing how awful things can be, but still choosing to be optimistic- that’s something I can relate to.

4. what headcanon will you defend to the death?

THAT PADME WOULD’VE BEEN A FANTASTIC CHANCELLOR. Seriously, Bail Organa wouldn’t pick some basic for the job and he (at least in one of the books) was eager for her to take over that role from Palpatine. She died too young. Had so much promise. Also, her and Anakin would’ve been great parents- minus all the political drama.

5. what planet would you most like to visit?

Naboo! Yes, that’s where Padme’s from lol, but more so I just love it. It’s a beautiful planet with lots of water and agriculture. Plus, even if I do see the flaws in its’ political system, any planet that supports the education and empowerment of young women can sign me the hell up.

6. what planet would you most like to live on?

Again, Naboo! I’d love to learn in their schools and travel the natural sites, like rivers and waterfalls.

7. who do you hope you never meet?

Real talk, I hope I never meet Jaba. Snoke, Darth Vader (pre-redemption), other Sith Lords/villains, I don’t care. I mean yeah they would suck, but Jabba forces women to be his sex slaves. I’d rather die than be shoved into some golden skimpy outfit and dance for the pleasure of some slimy, horny slug alien. If I picked someone who isn’t technically evil though, I’d avoid Yoda. He’s more corrupt than he thinks and I wouldn’t want him in my head.

8. what is one thing you would change about any movie, show, book, etc?

Hm. One: Padme’s death. I still don’t think she died because of a loss of a will to live. I firmly believe her kids would’ve given her hope to move forward, even without the Republic or Anakin. At the very least, futuristic medicine would’ve kept her hanging on a LITTLE longer than that. Other than that, I’m still torn about Ben Solo in the movies. I think just because I pity Han and Leia, I wanna make him a happy kid who maybe doesn’t destroy everything his parents fought for.

9. have you ever made fanart or fanfic? do you make edits or any other fan content?

I’ve made fanart of Padme before! It’s on my art blog~ Doodled Leia a couple times too, and I have Star Wars OC’s I’m fairly attached to

10. do you think the jedi were right or wrong?

WRONG. They were corrupt, too, especially during the Clone Wars era. Allowing clones to be used as disposable war machines, only training and manipulating young kids, being overconfident, controlling/shaming members who don’t follow their ideals, their strict rules and polarizing attitude- all of it was very not okay.

11. who is the most underrated character?

Padme. They practically erased her from canon in a lot of ways so. Anakin and Obi Wan survived the prequel shame because they were pre-established in the original trilogy, but Padme? They straight up try to forget her. Even after all the great book and Clone Wars TV show development too…

12. do you care who rey’s parents are?

Sorta? I mean at this point it seems like it’s important to her development as a character, so I’d want to know for that alone. I am a little curious though. Personally, the only theory I endorse is that she’s a Kenobi. Sorry “Rey Skywalker” fans, but your theory is pretty baseless.

13. if you could resurrect one dead character, or prevent them from dying, who would it be?

Padme obviously. So she could do the great things she was capable of to their full capacity. If not her, then Qui Gon Jinn or Shmi Skywalker. Jinn would’ve saved EVERYONE a lot of trouble, and Shmi being used as a plot device for her son after all she went through kinda sucked. I would say Han but we gotta let Harrison Ford off the hook, he’s been asking for years, okay?

14. what is your favorite alien species?

The Togruta! Their design, and Ahsoka’s character, really sealed the deal for me haha.

15. who would you like to bang?

Honestly? Probably Obi Wan lol. Or Leia. Two very different types, two very different experiences. And of the new trilogy, Poe could get it any day lol.

16. which movie/episode have you watched the most?

The Force Awakens, actually! It’s the only Star Wars movie I got to see in a theater. My mom saw the first Star Wars when it came out and that’s her favorite too- I think the experience made it for both of us lol.

17. what is your favorite line?

“So this is how liberty dies… With thunderous applause.” In our current political climate, Padme says it best.

18. what is your favorite star wars book or comic?

I don’t have one! I haven’t gotten to read any. Of all the ones I’ve seen clips of though, Leia’s comic looks really great!

19. what’s your opinion on legends/expanded universe?

I love that stuff. I say expand away!

20. what do you hope will happen in future movies?

They’ll explore ideas and dynamics we haven’t before in the movies- like the Jedi’s own corruption, the gray area of the force, and more stuff relating to non-force users.

21. if you could switch any character’s gender, who would it be and why?

Nah, I don’t endorse this kind of stuff. I don’t really see gender as making anything that much more interesting beyond its’ use already in canon. Maybe if it added some LGBTQ+ representation or challenged some canon ideal?  Or if Leia was a dude just for that Jabba the Hutt scene. It sucked that she was turned into a sexual slave for the sake of plot, and if she was a man it would flip that sexism on its’ head.

22. favorite droid?

BB-8 honestly. I feel like we’d get along best is all. He’s like a cute lil’ puppy.

23. what’s your favorite star wars musical piece or theme?

Beyond the Stars from the Attack of the Clones. Really beautiful piece.

24. how do you pronounce twi’lek?

Uh, two-will-lehk?

25. which character do you have a love/hate relationship with?

The Jedi as a whole, really. The council, including Yoda, Anakin and Obi-Wan, are a big gray area for me at times lol.

[ofiignition-archive]

REALLY  LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY. RULES.  repost ,   don’t  reblog  !    tag  10  ! good  luck  ! TAGGED.  @dekuborn​ TAGGING. @burncld @urxvity @heartmask @willfainder & anyone who wants to do it !! i’m not tagging 10 bc i suck.

BASICS.

FULL  NAME : bakugou katsuki NICKNAME : kacchan, ( by izuku ) blasty, probably more bc he sucks. AGE :  sixteen BIRTHDAY :  april 20th. ETHNIC  GROUP :  japanese NATIONALITY :  japanese LANGUAGE / S : japanese, some english. SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :  demisexual. ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION : grayromantic. RELATIONSHIP  STATUS : taken. ( canioically single, though ) HOME  TOWN / AREA :  near the shizuoka prefecture CURRENT  HOME : yuuei dormatory.  PROFESSION :  heroics student at yuuei.

PHYSICAL.

SKIN : fair over all. however his hands have a thicker layer of skin due to the usage of his quirk, along with callouses on his palms from time to time. EYES: crimson red with distinct pupils. they have a slightly-slanted shape, and his gaze is often seen sharp and people are intimidated by it’s harshness, at times. FACE : sharp features, has a rough chin & prominent eyebrows; not trimmed but not disorderly. LIPS : overall normal sized and healthy. in the winter they’ll occasionally chap/crack from cold weather, but he always fixes it. COMPLEXION : aside from his hands being rougher than normal he hasn’t had a problem due to the nitroglycerin sweat he generates; which generally keeps his skin smoother and nice looking, so he hasn’t had problems with break outs or anything similar.  BLEMISHES : N/A. SCARS : faint burn marks on his hands, back lashes from his explosions in childhood ( headcanon ) TATTOOS : N/A. HEIGHT :  172cm / 5′7″ WEIGHT :  71.kg / 157 lbs BUILD :  rather muscular, yet maintains a slender form. FEATURES : none. ALLERGIES : N/A. USUAL  HAIR  STYLE : ash blonde, naturally spiky and has a scraggly, yet soft texture. it’s wild and a pain to brush so he doesn’t bother with it too much. USUAL  FACE  LOOK : usually appears irritated. other times his face is shown much calmer and more neutral, meaning those hard features are capable of softening. but usually his demeanor looks rough. USUAL  CLOTHING : aside from his hero costume katsuki is often seen wearing mostly all black ( shirts with skull patterns, tank tops, cargo pants, etc ) comfy is preferred over stylish. although at times he’s shown dressed a bit fancier and more stylish. this is because his father works as a fashion designer, often bringing home clothes for his son.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : suffocation ( as the sludge incident left an impact on him ) failure, horror/gore ( makes him more uneasy than afraid ) ASPIRATION / S : to become the strongest and number one hero.  POSITIVE  TRAITS :  intelligent, bold, assertive, determined, hardworking, oberservant. NEGATIVE  TRAITS : stubborn, arrogant ( at times ), reckless, blunt, aggressive,  MBTI : istj. ( the logistican ) ZODIAC : taurus.  TEMPEREMENT : choleric. SOUL  TYPE / S : the hunter, the thinker, the performer. ANIMALS :  zebra. VICE  HABIT / S :  showing his nasty temper.  FAITH : agnostic. GHOSTS ? :  no. AFTERLIFE ? :  sort of.  REINCARNATION ? : no. ALIENS ? : no. POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT : doesn’t care. EDUCATION  LEVEL :  high school level education.

FAMILY.

FATHER : a calm, kind man who works as a fashion designer. also loves and cares for his family very much. he’s sort of a pushover and pacifist in katsuki’s eyes. the two are very different, but share common ground. MOTHER : extremely similar to her son, katsuki. although she knows the rules of respect and kindness; not to mention is able to put her explosive temper to the side. she is strict with herr son, but like masaru, loves and cares for him very much. SIBLINGS : none. EXTENDED  FAMILY : none stated in canon. although, i do like the idea of mt. lady being his cousin ( that’s just a headcanon though.) NAME  MEANING / S : katsuki's name is composed of "爆" (baku?) from "爆破" (bakuha lit. "explosion"?) and "勝" (ka(tsu)?) from "勝つ" (katsu lit. "to win"?). HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? : unknown

FAVORITES.

BOOK : used to read all might comics. MOVIE :  action. 5  SONGS :  paper planes, one ok rock. heavy, linkin park. any other way, we the kings. young volcanoes, fall out boy. ain’t it fun, paramore.  DEITY :  none. HOLIDAY : i can see him liking those festivals they hold in japan? MONTH : july. SEASON : summer. his quirk thrives the most in the summer time while the cold bothers and agitates him. katsuki also enjoys outdoor activities, hence why its his favorite season.  PLACE : at yuuei / home. WEATHER : hot, the kind perfect for beach weather or outdoor activities.  SOUND :  the sound of ocean side ( like crashing waves), silence, his music. SCENT / S : crackling firewood.  TASTE / S :  spicy food.  FEEL / S :  normal clothing material/hero costume,  ANIMAL / S : dogs, lizards. NUMBER :  one. COLORS :  black, red.

EXTRA.

TALENTS : cooking, he’s shown to have excellent cooking skills. combat & sparring is also what he excels the most. on the spot-thinking, he’s very intellectual and strategic, but doesn’t pursue the challenges. BAD  AT : empathy, he doesn’t know how to deal with it or help others when they are crying or hurt. at rare times he’ll act on it ( example: repaying kirishima, make the class with kaminari going dumb, .. his own special way of a pep talk? ) other than that, he tries to avoid those situations. patience and temper are also weaknesses of his. TURN  ONS :  confidence, ( genuine ) praise/recognition, people petting his hair ( CLOSE family and friends only, also todoroki. ) TURN  OFFS : fake personas, cockiness, smart asses, bad attitudes, pity, weakness, the naive. HOBBIES : cooking, sparring, hiking, video games.   TROPES :  “the beserker”, “don’t you dare pity me”, “deuteragonist” QUOTES : “stop talking. i will win. that’s ... what heroes do.”

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :   if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own  movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be  filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?           A1 :   idk fam. Q2 :   what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?           A2 :   an thrilling, exciting tune. loud instruments with many crescendos, yet a good balance with levels of volumes. Q3 :   why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?           A3 :   he’s different from the one’s i’ve written, there’s lots of complexity to him and i like that. although it’s intimidating sometimes, but i’m up to the challenge to write him.  Q4 :   what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ?           A4 :  his big shot, confident attitude. because he had the skills to back it up, katsuki just isn’t all talk, he shows. typically, i either roleplayy the cinnamon roll muses or the total dickbags ------ guess which kacchan falls under lmao. Q5 :   describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse.           A5 :   a number of his traits can irk me but a major one is; letting his emotions eat him up inside. he kept the all might thing inside for such a long time. so it’s makes me think what else has he bottled up? its okay to show your emotions, kacchan. Q6 :   what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?           A6 :   i think it’s we both want to be the best. to live up to the high standards placed on us, we also hate showing any form of weakness. ironically, i share a lot in common with him including temperamental issues ( although no where to the same degree.) Q7 :   how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ?           A7 :   lmao. Q8 :   what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ?         A8 :   i have a lot. Q9 :   what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?         A9 :  music can help channel it or just watching/rereading chapters. other times the muse just pops in. Q10 :   how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?           A10 :   DAYS.

[rxsmyers-a]

Dem rules: Answer the questions asked by the tagger, then list 11 questions and tag 11 people to answer your questions.

Tagged by: @brooklynislandgirl​

1. What have you done to overcome your fears?

Um, it depends on the fear.  I’ve gone whitewater rafting through category 4 rapids in an inflatable kayak.  I’ve hiked along paths barely wide enough for my feett.  I’ve gone back to school despite having failed every previous attempt.  I’ve said yes to an invitation from a friend I haven’t spoken to in nearly 10 years.  So, I mean, in general I’ve just faced my fears head on?  And not even always with a support net in place (if I’d fallen on that hike there was no rope to catch me) which is kind of exhilarating while being completely fucking terrifying.  

So I guess I just face them head on?  Sometimes with help (my parents and my psychiatrist have been super supportive of me going back to school).

2. What attracted you to your fandom in the first place?

I’m sure there are old followers who are getting tired of hearing this story.  But.  Vivian was conceived during a horrifically bad depressive episode (not to mention a medication withdrawal) when basically all I could do was lay on the couch/bed occasionally playing MCU films on repeat.  In general I kept watching Thor and Avengers.  In all truth, Thor’s abs were what first drew me into the MCU?  (I was prepared to be a ‘I never read the comics but the comics are better’ snob before I saw Hemsworth shirtless.)  I guess what drew me in was partly what makes me prefer Marvel to DC - I live near NYC, and the city is life to me, and always has been.  Ever since I was a child NYC was the place where anything could happen.  Adding superheroes to a place I loved just made it so much easier to imagine someone who shared my ‘weaknesses’ as being a part of their universe.

When I discovered there was an MCU RP community on tumbler, the rest was history.

3. Why did you choose a Canon over an OC {Or your OC over a Canon}, and which do you think is harder {if you have both}?

 I have both.  Though, to be honest, I’m closer to my OCs, mostly because I can get into their heads easier.  What does Vivian like to eat?  Anything I fucking say she does.  Can anyone contradict me?  Not at all.  Though, the real reason I chose her over a canon character when I decided to start RPing on tumblr is because no one’s written a canon character with the mix of mental illnesses that I deal with, and Vivian was conceived while I was both massively depressed and suffering medication withdrawal.  What I wanted, while I was suffering and miserable, was someone who felt my pain.  Someone who knew what it felt like to go into withdrawal over medications meant to keep them stable.  Someone who knew what my pain felt like.  And there was no canon character to fit that bill.

That being said, I’ve written canon and OC, and I’m tired of the battle between the two.  I know someone who insists that canons have it ‘easy’.   That somehow there’s no effort to writing them.  And I kind of want to smack them every time they say it, because that attitude is as bullshit as the idea that OCs are inherently easier than canons.

Both muses have their challenges.  OCs will find it harder to find partners.  They’ll be judged by unfair standards, especially if they’re female.  They’ll be called ‘Mary Sues’ for no good reason or ‘Overpowered’ because they share the same traits as a male canon.

But canons have as much shit.  You’e not ‘in character’ enough.  Gods forbid there’s another person who plays your character (or another 20+ if you’re playing a popular character) because then you’ll be constantly compared to all the others.  Unless you distinguish yourself as AU or canon divergent you’ll be criticized for every “out of character” choice you make - and even if you say you’re AU of canon divergent you’ll get the haters who can’t read.  Don’t ship the popular ship for your character?  Good luck finding people to RP with you.  Canons are constantly measured against the source material and, more importantly, against fanon expectations.  

4. If money were no object, what would be the one thing you’d buy to declare your nerd/fandom to the world?

Terry Pratchett’s original manuscripts for every Discworld novel.  They would be my most treasured possessions.  They’d live in an environmentally-controlled bookcase where people were allowed to look but not touch.  (And of course upon my death I’d bequeath them to a museum.)

5. Tesla or Edison? Why?

Tesla because he loved pigeons and Tamora Pierce has given me a love of pigeons after her Beka Cooper books.  Also he wanted to build a death ray and I can get behind that kind of thinking.  

6. If you could trade one family member for a Character of any fandom/media type, who would it be, who would you replace, and why?

You didn’t specify immediate family so I’m going to trade one of the aunts I don’t actually know (my mother’s father had a family in Hungary before he fled to the US.  Don’t feel bad for him, he was fleeing war crimes ahead of the Soviet invasion of Hungary) for, um.....   Sandry.  Sandrilene Fa Toren, of Emelan.  Not only is she kind and giving and rich, she’s a stitch witch who would ensure I had beautifully fitting clothing that would never get dirty or wrinkled ever again.  And for someone of my size, you don’t pass an opportunity like that up.

7. Brand New House…supernatural/otherworldly shenanigans, what do you do?

Call the Ghostbuters?  I hear they  have an all-female crew now.

8. Favourite Non-RP Hobby?

Knitting, usually while playing DnD or watching TV.

9. Where do you want to go on an all expenses paid 3 week holiday?

Europe.  I’ve decided, after 4 years of Vivian having the same dream trip, that I want to go on it myself.  (Said trip being a tour of all the major museums in Europe plus the cities that were the center of major art movements.)

10. Favourite childhood fairytale and why?

Beauty and the Beast.  She likes books.  He gives her a library.  She becomes a princess.  I fail to see the downside of this story.  (My bestie and I have always loved Belle ever since the animated movie came out when we were 11.  She was us.  Weird, a bookworm, brunette... )

11. Do you believe destiny/fate?

Absolutely not.  I think fate is what we make for ourselves.  Do coincidence and happenstance exist?  Yes, but they’re not fate.

New Questions: 1. You can choose three museums in the world to visit, and never visit any others.  Which three do you choose? 2. Everyone is attacking your fandom fave.  What do you say to defend them? 3. What shows/movies are in your ‘to watch’ list? 4. Do you drink alcohol?  What’s your favorite beverage?  If not, what’s your favorite alternative? 5. You’re at a deli.  What do you order to eat? 6. You can only watch one TV show and one movie ever again.  What are your choices? 7. Your fandom favorite is now your new roommate.  What is your new life like? 8. Why did you choose to play the character you do? 9. For the next year, you can go anywhere in the world you want, all expenses paid.  Where do you go, and why? 10. Vivian says you suck.  Why does Vivian say you suck? 11. I’m running out of questions in case you can’t tell.  Um.  What fandom would you like to break into/cross over into, and why?

Tagged: @lucxsnorth, @soldierwithoutaname, @icekingloki, @acreatureofpureirony, @morethanicantell, @sinnhelmingr, @deweydeadcimal,  @hellhuntin,