#for the longest time i debated on whether to post this comic at all on my socials - for some reason this was almost the limit to how far i

[ruporas]

kisses of affirmation (ID in alt)

[out-of-heaven-and-hell]

@radi0activesmile ; I like where this is headed. Plz continue.

IF YOU INSIST-

Like. Listen to me when I tell you these two are very similar, not exactly the same ofc but similar in terms of character arc, personality and backstory. Like let's look at these two at a very basic level

Was on the side of/born into the enemy which they were later betrayed by then proceeded to go against

Both suffer an eye injury

Both redeem themselves later on

Both have themes of forgiveness, self loathing, hatred, pstd, guilt, etc

Now Zuko is far more developed as a character, which is to be expected due to having far more screen time and unlike Vaggie we get to see his switch from villain to hero while with Vaggie that's all backstory stuff

And Zuko had to earn his acceptance into his group, cause Vaggie understandably kept her past a secret and even then the cast didn't seem to struggle to accept her in any form (yes Vaggie did harm but as far as we know it wasn't personal toward the other hazbins)

Also though I will fight tooth and nail against the idea that Vaggies character ONLY relies around Charlie, it is an important factor. I don't think Vaggie would be as dedicated to redeeming herself or being better if it wasn't for Charlie, which while Zuko gained support later on he didn't have that immediately. And again really had to fight to get team avatar to support him if anything he was leaving a lot behind by joining them

And another big difference is Zuko did get to rejoin the fire nation even post banishment, only after "killing" the avatar sure but I'll be real and say Vaggie never got that choice. Sure she chose to go against them and saved a sinner child, but it's not like she ever had the chance of returning and Adam never offered her a second chance. Do I think if he did Vaggie would have taken it? No. But point still stands Zuko had the opportunity to be accepted back and stay on their side Vaggie didn't

Which I don't blame Zuko for, like clearly he had the option to kick start his redemption arc early and not rejoin the fire nation but you have to look at it from his perspective. The fire nation is his home and family, all he's ever known for the longest time and for years this is what he was working toward as well what he had convinced himself for the longest time that was what he wanted. Vaggie never even getting the option of possibly returning and again immediately having support in Charlie thus why even if there was an option she wouldn't have had any interest in returning

Ofc there's some debate as we don't know the entire deal with Vaggie in heaven, whether she's heaven born, if she was formerly human, what her life was like there, and if she had anyone important to her there (I prefer her being formerly human obvs but still). Thus we don't know how much she left behind if she really had anything keeping at heaven outside of just general obligation, but even if she did it's not like she had a choice. Yes, protecting that child was a choice, it was going against heaven and she was fully aware she was taking a risk but she didn't willingly leave. Adam and Lute maimed then banished her effectively leaving her for dead

But, Zuko didn't get a choice at first yet either.

Yes later on, when rejoining the fire nation he chooses to do the right thing but here Zuko didn't know his actions would set off a domino effect. He was speaking out about what he thought was wrong, believing to do the right thing (much like Vaggie did), this later results in him being challenged to an Agni Kai not realizing it was with his father, refusing to fight him, getting burned, banished, we know this song and dance

And keep in mind, it wasn't like it was just THIS one action that resulted in Zuko's banishment, you read the comics and pay close attention to what little we know about Zuko's backstory pre-banishment you know Ozai just NEVER liked his son to begin with. Due to not being as good of a fire bender then all the drama that happened with Zuko's mom, the boy was already on thin ice the war meeting then battle that ensued was just icing on the shit cake

Which you could argue might have been a similar situation with Vaggie as well, again there's a lot of ambiguity to the situation. We don't see anything that could indicate that Adam or Lute were looking for a reason to banish her but then again, they do it really quickly without question. You think if Vaggie who was held in such high regard and this was her first offense would at least get a warning, a trial or some hesitation but there is none

That's not even mentioning the possibility that the cannibal child Vaggie spared might have been hellborn being she did the right thing both in a moral sense and by heavens standards, so really there's entirely the possibility they were just being dicks rather than enforcing some type of law they had to uphold. So though we don't have a lot of proof I wouldn't be surprised if Vaggie just got some unfair treatment much like Zuko did

Now let's talk about those themes of anger, self loathing, and regret we see a lot

Of course Zuko has a thousand of examples in comparsion to Vaggie cause again more screen time but my favorite one is this scene at the beach

Istg if I had the time, energy or talent i'd animate Vaggie in this scene, it's that powerful and again such a good character moment. Again, the sad thing is we don't see Vaggie's character development on screen we see her as an exorcist then we see her in the current canon time as a fallen angel repenting for all the harm we cause but from what we do see she's gone through and still going through very similar things

The initial confusion about what she wants, what's right, what she's been taught vs what's happening, where she belongs because she clearly doesn't belong in the place that's supposed to be home, the regret over her actions, the general frustration about her situation as well as at herself because she doesn't know what to do and the fact that at the end of the day she's angry at herself. She hates herself for who she used to be and the things she did.

I mean she would NOT be hiding everything from Charlie if she wasn't ashamed of her past, which is probably a lot harder to confess when you have to tell the princess of hell who cares deeply for everyone that you were one of those angels that killed her people and used to be the very thing that she's fighting against.

That's not even mentioning that Vaggie is still relying on her anger and feelings of betrayal even when she's with Charlie, to quote Carmilla

"I see you're driven by your detestation Your every step is stoked with animus You need a different type of motivation Or there's no way that you can handle this I know you're thirstin' for vengeance, Vaggie You're out for blood-"

It's not hard to figure out where this anger and hatred is coming from, she's not mad at Charlie plus she cleary has beef with Lute and Adam but also again, she's angry at herself. Especially since before this there's a lot of strife between her and Charlie, which she no doubt blames herself for. While I definitely get why she didn't tell Charlie, it's not easy to see the conflict would have been avoided if they did just talk it out beforehand (and I'll be real and say that mayhaps Charlie could have noticed some obvious signs that maybe Vaggie wasn't just a normal sinner but that's a different conversation altogether)

Also remembering Rosie's advice there's that neat little line of "maybe she's trying to redeem herself" which while obviously Rosie doesn't know Vaggie perfectly it's a reasonable thing to assume that Vaggie doesn't feel like she deserves where she's currently at or the fact that she still feels like she needs to make up for all the things she did in the past

Which we see with Zuko, while I said before Zuko had to earn the support of team avatar as well as there trust which Vaggie didn't really need to do. She avoided telling Charlie about her past and she's not yet close enough to the rest of the hazbin cast to have their opinion or acceptance matter (and no one seems to care she's an exorcist to begin with assuming they didn't figure out before hand) but even then for Zuko it's not just about gaining their trust, making friends or whatever

It's about setting things right

Which seems to be what Vaggie's doing in her own way

Just

So many parallels

[erebosblue]

welcome to: I never post but I kinda want to sum up how I feel about (616) Peter Parker.

so, like. I've tried to do this many times and always end up coming short of fully explaining myself because I have ✨𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈.✨

note: I have done an ass ton of research over my couple years of loving Spidey, but that does not mean I know everything. if something sounds wrong, it might be! I'm just a 17 year old idiot who got attached to an absolute mess of human being.

note #2: I am trying not to make this all about how much I dislike MCU Peter, but it will come up from time to time so just be aware of that.

first and foremost, I want to talk about comics as a whole. a lot of choices around characters have less to do with what a character would actually do and more what a writer wants or general comic/societal culture at the time. every character will be different depending on the writer and you're gonna make your own interpretation of a character from what you like. that doesn't mean certain things can't be out of character, just that a comic character can vary quite a bit depending on the person. that's part of the fun of comics tbh.

what I'm trying to say is that if my character analysis doesn't feel like it's what you read, it very well might not be and that's okay. Peter is a character that's been around since the 60's. he's developed over time and will continue to as time goes on. like, for instance, how he's changed from a high school kid trying to get by to a mid-to late twenties mentor for Miles (1610) and Gwen (65).

alright onto more interesting points. and actually a kinda heavily debated topic. whether Peter is a naturally good person or not. mainly this is just about his origin and how he really just straight did not care. honestly, part of the reason I really like how the comics did his origin is that he's not an self-absorbed prick. (even though it would be reasonable if he was considering he was 15.) he's more,,, jaded.

Peter was a social outcast his whole life. he didn't make any sort of friend until Freshman year. he's also super traumatized. his parents' death is kinda over-looked a lot, but it was shown that it really set in action his fear about everyone around him dying that has only gotten worse from, well, just that happening. he's shown in younger years to help people, and even in Freshman year he puts his safety on the line to make sure his bullies don't get stabbed by his friend, but he also kinda just,,, doesn't care.

personally, I really like characters that are inherently good people, but are limited by trauma making them apathetic. (ahem me with a male P3 protag icon.) not all trauma responses are loud or easy to fix. it's totally reasonable for Peter to close himself off from a world that has only been cruel to him, but the fact that moves past this? yes, it took a tragedy, but sometimes you need something big happening to realize.

Peter is inherently a good person, but he's also,,, short-sighted at times. he can royally fuck up because he was trying to do the right thing and just really missed the mark. but I honestly thinks this makes him more likable. intent doesn't change the affect, but if you're a vigilante, you're gonna fuck up from time to time. he's always been a hero grounded in reality and I don't think that makes him any less of a good person.

speaking of trauma, the fact that he hated working with other heroes for the longest time is mwah chef's kiss. mans did not make a real friend until college so, like, of course he's gonna have problems trusting other heroes. (especially since most heroes have tried to kill him but that's neither here nor there.)

this is one of the times I will be ragging on MCU Peter so skip to the next paragraph if you don't want that. there are many reasons not to like MCU Peter wanting to be an Avenger so goddamn bad, but one of the ones that irk me so much is the fact that it just gets rid of so much character development. 616 Peter had to learn how to trust heroes, to trust people, with something as serious as his life after being tormented by basically everyone that wasn't his caretakers. he now works with heroes just fine but like??? it's been a long ass time you can't just skip all that.

anyway, moving on. another thing I just fucking love about 616 Peter is how he is just a ball of fucking rage. this is basically never explored outside of 616 but it is genuinely one of my favorite parts of the comics. this man has been put through so many things and he is just so. done. like the canonical reason why him having Venom is a bad idea is because Venom specifically will go feral when their host is pissed and Peter is, to state again, a ball of rage.

like, yes, sometimes he doesn't kill because ✨moral compass✨ but more recently a lot of the times he hasn't is because The Giant Web That Holds The Entire Multiverse Together Said No.™️ I could make a whole post about how much I adore Spider-Totem stuff, and I just might, but my point is Peter is just done with shit and life in general and I love it.

this is so rambly and not gonna go over everything I want it to, but I'm gonna get powering on until I have to go to bed.

I also genuinely love how even though they will never come out and say Peter is any sort of queer of way, he is so queer-coded. his relationship with many of his male friends is fruity as FUCK and Peter straight wore a crop top with the word animal across it and booty shorts. (if you've never seen it, let me treat you.)

this hasn't even covered half of what I know I want to cover so let me speedrun some points before I literally pass out.

Peter "I'm partial to clones" Parker and his relationship with Kaine and Ben is my favorite relationship dynamic (/p) in all of 616. the fact that they are just absolute bastards to each other but only they are allowed to be. no one else can touch the others.

Peter's closest hero friendships being Daredevil, Wolverine, Johnny Storm (I can't remember his hero name right now I think I'm officially losing it,) and Deadpool is so fucking good. he just loves someone that he can argue with and that is also my ideal friendship. just absolutely besties and fuck with each other but will absolutely kill for each other.

I love Peter being a teacher and/or mentor SO MUCH. please I need more of it, no one appreciates how good of a teacher he is and it's mean. :(

his guilt. man as someone with an awful guilt complex I just,, adore his so much. the way that every other character is like "woah dude chill" is just so fucking funny to me as he mentally just shuts down because oh god how dare he not be perfect.

unrelated but the fact that Miles can tell the difference between how Peter and Ben talk is literally one of my favorite facts. like that says two things.

Miles knows Peter so well that he knows the way he talks and

Peter and Ben have become such different people that they talk with different speech patterns and/or in different tones of voice.

personally, I headcanon that Ben rambles more and talks in a higher register but kyldktdoy this is off topic- (I should make a Ben post too.)

okay, I'm delirious, the point is: Peter is a really interesting and good character and I love him so much. I personally resonate a lot with how he handles trauma and I think it's well done. but stldykd that's just me.

I'll add on later because I know I have more to say.

[nordleuchten]

La Fayette in Prison - Part 3 - Neisse

We continue our journey from Magdeburg to Neisse, a town in the region of Schlesien. Schlesien originally belonged to Austria but was annexed by the Prussian King Frederick the Great in 1741 and included into the territory of Prussia. Neisse is today part of Poland. At first La Fayette was the only one of the prisoners who was transferred to Neisse. Alexander Lameth was too ill to be transferred. He stayed behind in Magdeburg and was eventually released on parole. He recovered and enjoyed many more years on this earth. The two other prisoners, Latour-Maubourg and Bureaux De Pusy, were first transferred to a prison in Glatz and only from there to Neisse were they stayed roughly twelve days before being brought together with La Fayette to the infamous prison in Olmütz. La Fayette therefor stayed the longest in Neisse. He arrived there, once more heavily guarded on his way, on January 16, 1794 and stayed until May 17 of the same year.

Now would be the perfect time to wonder why the prisoners were so frequently removed from one place and brought to another. Wesel was never intended was a permanent solution. It had simply been the nearest secure prison at the time of the groups arrest. But what with Magdeburg? After all, in 1805/6 Magdeburg was by far the safest and most secure fortress in all of Prussia. The problem in 1794 was, that there was a war going on – and it did not looked too good for the Prussians. The Prussian King was slowly but surely considering the possibility that he would be force to make peace with France. Such a peace treaty would most certainly include handing over his prisoners. He therefor brought the prisoners to Neisse, a town close to the Austrian border, and negotiated with the court in Vienna the transfer of the prisoners in order to prevent their release. The court in Vienna obviously agreed and that is how the prisoners came to Olmütz. La Fayette was distraught about being separated from the others but as soon as he could he wrote them that he was well and that they should not worry too much about him. I wrote in the post about Wesel, that his servant Augustus stayed with him and that another man, Pontonnier, was forced to leave him. Well, it seems as if Pontonnier was not a valet but his secretary and therefore stayed with him. There is also mentioning of another valet, a man who was called Pierre Compte/Comte, who also stayed with La Fayette ... you see with regard to his staff I am a tiny bit confused .... but it seems as if Pierre and Pontonnier were certainly with him and concerning Augustus, well, I think I have to go on and do little bit of digging to find out where exactly his guy had been in 1794. In Neisse La Fayette once again fell ill and this illness seemed to be so worrisome that he thought he would not make it. He also feared that this sudden move from Magdeburg to Neisse was in preparation of his execution. With these two things in mind he wrote a short farewell-letter to his family:

“Adieu, then, my dear wife, my children, my aunt (...) whom I shall cherish to my last breath.”

There were other letters from that time, not from La Fayette but from his friends, that I would like to show you. But first, there is actually one handwritten document from La Fayette from his time in Neisse. It is the short excerpt from a written statement that La Fayette made and today part of the online collection of the Wien Museum.

Now, on to the other letters. The first letter is by Joseph Brown who wrote to George Washington from England, giving a short report upon a recent debate in the House of Commons. He wrote on April 2, 1794:

“N.B. You will probably Sir before the receipt of this Letter have heard that an ineffectual attempt has been made in our Ho. of Commons to stir the Governmt to interfer in behalf of your ill-fated Friend (my respectable & ⟨va⟩lued Correspondent) M. de la Fayette: Burke opposed it on the ground of his having been in Arms against this Country: whereas he saw no improperiety formerly in himself moving for the enlargemt of Mr Laurens, who had been a President of Congress from the Tower, & afterwards meeting him at my House, though the motion was not immediately successful.”

The next letter is from Doctor James McHenry. McHenry wrote Washington on April 3, 1794:

“I thought that perhaps it might come within your view at this juncture to send a commissioned person to Vienna to solicit the release of Mr la Fayette with powers to proceed to France on a like errand in favor of his wife and children, in order that the whole might be removed to this country. I perceive by the act of Congress for discharging his pay during the war the new obligation you have laid up on your unfortunate friend. If it is possible to go beyond pecuniary aid, or so far as to restore him to liberty and his family how would he rejoice to owe that blessing to the man he affectionates most upon earth; and what sublime pleasure to me to be an humble instrument in its accomplishment. The friendship he has always expressed for me; the friendship I feel for him; a conviction of the patriotism of his principles and purity of his motives; the esteem in which he is still held by America; a remembrance of the moment and his youth when he embarked in our cause, and the services he rendered it in the course of our revolution, all conspire to make such a project peculiarly interesting to the feeling heart: at the same time, Sir, you must be sensible, you who on former occasions have not deemed me unworthy some portion of your confidence, that such a mission would reflect upon you its author, and from whom alone it ought to proceed, as long as exalted friendship shall be ranked among the virtues, a lustre which philosophy must delight to contemplate and history to diffuse among mankind for their benefit or instruction. The friendship of Achilles for his dear Patroclus, as celebrated by Homer, has survived the fate of empires and the charges of time, as if destined to serve as a perpetual monument sacred to friendship. May not another Homer arise to consign yours for Fayette to equal immortality, and tears of pleasure flow at its recital like an exhaustless stream through the long period of future ages.”

McHenry was aide-de-camp to Washington was well as to La Fayette during the Revolutionary War. His letters touches on McHenrys feelings for La Fayette, on Washington’s friendship for La Fayette and how this friendship was perceived by others but also illustrates how many people tried to help La Fayette. It also touches on the act from Congress that I discussed in the Magdeburg-post. Furthermore, there is a little, almost comical detail. McHenry wrote this letter in a town in Maryland, conveniently named Fayetteville after the Marquis de La Fayette.

Last but not least there is this wonderful letter from Washington himself addressed to the Prussian King. A cabinet meeting some time prior had deemed it acceptable for Washington to write as a private citizen on behalf of La Fayette. Here is the protocol of said cabinet meeting:

At a meeting of the heads of departments at the President’s, on the fourteenth day of January 1794. It was propounded by the President, whether in consideration of the eminent services of M. de la Fayette, to the U. S. and his present sufferings, it be not adviseable for the President, in a private, and unofficial character, to address to the King of Prussia a letter, requesting his release on parole, founded on motives of personal friendship only. The opinion is, that such a letter is proper to be written. H Knox Alexander Hamilton Edm: Randolph

And here is Washington’s letter – it gets me time and time again ...

“Philadelphia Jany 15th 1794. Sire, However unusual it may be for your Majesty to receive an address from a person, who, at the very moment of making it, disclaims the exercise of any public function, and acts as a private individual; yet it is believed from your illustrious character, that the Motives, which lead me to the Measure, will serve as an ample apology. I cannot longer resist the impulse of friendship, to lay before you, who know so well, how to appreciate its force, my personal and affectionate anxiety for the welfare of M. de la Fayette. Report informs us, that he is under confinement in the dominions of Prussia, and therefore at your disposal. At an early period of his life—at a season, and on an occasion, far remote from the time and causes, which have subjected him to his present condition, he pursued his military career, with so much benefit to my country, and honor to himself, that he acquired a most endearing place in my affections. A sincere attachment then commenced was strengthened by an intercourse which continued after the return of peace had seperated us until more active and interesting scenes served to interrupt it. Upon the events, which succeeded, I shall be silent; only entreating your Majesty to be persuaded, that as I seperate myself, in this letter, from my official station, to render a tribute to your liberality; so I beg to be understood as intending to observe that delicacy, which becomes every man, whose country has, with perfect sincerity, cherished peace and impartiality towards the whole world. Permit me then to ask and obtain from your Majesty, a favor, in which the most lively sensibility of my fellow-citizens is engaged—the release of M. de la Fayette on his parole—If his word should not be deemed a sufficient pledge, I shall regret, that your Majesty does not entertain the same conviction of fidility, as a full experience has impressed upon myself. But I can never be persuaded of the possibility of his departing from that innocence of conduct, which is always to be expected from a prisoner of war. This request, unsolicited by, and unknown to him asks the patronage of your Majesty’s sensibility; and is dictated by a confidence, that he could not be in the power of any sovereign, who would more delight in indulging a friendship, which cannot acquit itself, without thus endeavouring to deliver him, under your benevolent auspices. I pray God to preserve your Majesty in his holy keeping Go: Washington”

Washington made it clear that he wrote as George and not as President Washington. He send the letter to Thomas Pinckney, the ambassador to Great Britain, who in his turn passed the letter on to John Markham Marshall for him to deliver the letter to the Prussian King. In June of 1794 Marshall wrote Pinckney how things had developed:

“I deliverd your letter to Prince Henry of Prussia on the 28th of April and at the same time declared to him my intention of following implicitly his advice in the business which had been entrusted with me—he appeard highly gratified by the confidence which was placed in him, and express’d himself in terms of the warmest admiration of our President, & friendship for M. de la Fayette. Whilst I remain’d with him he wrote a letter to the King his Nephew—informing him of the letter with which I was charged, and urgin⟨g⟩ a compliance with the request which it contained On my departure from Rheinsbg—his Royal highness gave me a letter to the Minister of State on the same subject who immediately inform’d me that nothing could be done for M. de la Fayette, as an agreement had actually taken place by which he was to be deliver’d up to the Austrians and he added that probably the agreement was already executed. he spoke favorably of M. de la Fayette & lamented that it was not in the power of Prussia to comply with the request of his friends[.] As the only chance which remain’d, I endeavor’d to discover if it were possible to prevail on the ministry to favor the escape of Fayette from the fortress where he was confined. [Philipp Karl] Alvensleben the Minister of State to whom I made the proposal, acknowledged his wish that it could be done but declared to me that it was too late[.] I could not press the subject further but as the Minister had not said that M de la Fayette was actually in the hands of the Austrians, I wrote requesting permission to se⟨e⟩ him before that event took place, intending if my request was grantd to renew my proposal. I enclose you the answer of Alvensleben, my business with him was at an end. I wrote, as I had promis’d, to give Prince Henry an account of my want of success, & to enquire if he could point out any step by which I could yet be of service to M. de la Fayette[.] the answer by the Baron [Karl Friedrich Hieronymus] Münchausen I enclose you, I can not very well understand it, but I clearly perceiv’d that Prince Henry could do nothing for Fayette, and as I did not wish to be obliged to converse with him, on what our government might possibly yet do to procure his enlargement, I declined the invitation to Rheinsburg”

La Fayette had met Prince Henry in the autumn of 1785 during the Prussian Review of 1785. They were on rather friendly terms with La Fayette writing to Washington on February, 6 1786:

“(...) prince Henry I Have Kept for the last, because it is By far the Best Acquaintance I Have Made—I don’t Examine who is the Greater General His Brother or He, a Question that divides the Military World—But to Abilities of the first Rate, Both as a soldier and a politician—to a perfect litterary knowledge, and all the Endowments of the Mind—He joins an Honest Heart, philantropic feelings, and rational ideas on the Rights of Mankind—I Have spent a fortnight with Him in His Country seat and We Keep up an epistolary Correspondance (...)”

With that in mind, I actually believe Prince Henry when he expresses his sympathy for La Fayette.

There is not much more to say about La Fayette’s stay in Neisse and so we can finally move on to Olmütz. Olmütz will take some time because there is simply sooo much to discuss. La Fayette’s imprisonment in general, his failed escape, the arrival of his family, and more. Bevor we tackle Olmütz though, I would like to take the time to talk about Adrienne’s fate in the meantime.

[mcrmadness]

Madness draws: my dä fanart from when I had my (arts) comeback in 2018

For years I didn’t draw anything because of a personal (art crisis) and because I simply was studying and working so much I just had no energy left for arts.

In 2018 I was done with schools and studying and dropped out of the school I was in at that moment, and also the horse stable I was working at (school related stuff) was sold and closed its doors so also my work ended. For the first time in almost 5 years I was actually free. The longest holidays I had has was 3 weeks summer holiday in 2016, I think. I had another in 2017 but of that I actually was having health issues (nothing serious) for 2 weeks and then had to be in school for the 3rd one, after which I even got the flu.

So I was SO excited when I finally was free the first day of November in 2018. After I had got enough sleep and rest, I started to find my creativity again. And I started to “daydream” before falling asleep every night, I started to write fanfictions in my head and I started to draw, too. Partially it was also because for the first time in years I had an online friend I enjoyed talking with and we had similar interests, aka dä and Bela/Farin, and that inspired me a lot to draw even more - but unfortunately that friendship did not work out in the end and we’re no longer friends.

Anyway, most of these drawings are very much Bela/Farin related again because I talked about that a lot with this person and I often asked what they’d want to see and then drew it if the idea was something I could carry out.

This is not the first one I drew but maybe the 4th or so. I’m just putting this here first because it’s the most “innocent” aka not too much shippy stuff rubbed into the faces of my followers who don’t care about that. There’s 5 different drawings + 1 comic behind the read more link. All of these, apart from the comic, where drawn into my old sketchbook.

About the drawing above - I didn’t use pencil for these first ones at all yet, I just drew them with the fineliners as I was still a bit rusty as the last time I REALLY drew anything was in 2013 aka over 5 years ago from 2018, so I had to actually look at my old comics and drawings to even figure out how to draw these characters anymore. And I think the last actual time I drew in this style was in 2011 even. And that is very visible from the first 2018′s drawing I did! ↓↓↓

This is the one - and wait, I have an explanation!

So with this person I mentioned, we just constantly had this playful debate over whether Bela is “bottom” or not - and honestly I couldn’t care less about that because I no longer read any fanfics. I do write fanfics - or a fanfic - but only for myself and as an asexual I have never been interested in writing about certain themes so I never need to think about the whole top/bottom stuff anyway. I used to read smut before until I one day just realized it’s SO BORING and uninteresting to read, started skipping all smut scenes and wanted to read fluff but all the fluff was so quickly and badly written because everyone wanted to write smut only, that I was left with absolutely nothing to read. So it was the old story again: I started writing/drawing the stuff I wanted to read and see.

However, back to the top/bottom topic, I always base my opinions with everything over how things are in real life and with these guys, if you look at how they are in interviews and on stage, the dynamics are not just plain black&white. I’ve never seen there anything that would indicate that just one is “top” or “bottom” whatsoever which is why I kept saying imo they’re more like just switching if you listen to their jokes. Remember: I don’t read any fanfiction and don’t give a fuck about smut (lol at the pun) and honestly, even tho I understand those jokes they do and say on stage, I wish not to have any visuals about any of that “activity” in my head.

So, to support my “they switch!” opinion, I drew this, just for fun. And it is the official first drawing I did in 2018. I just needed to fire back bigger than I could do with simple text messages :D

***

Moving on. The person in question was very fascinated by the idea that Farin would be a vampire and not Bela (to support their top/bottom views...) which is why I drew this:

Also a very quick one, without sketching anything before drawing with fineliners. This and the first image of this post both are very small in real life actually, the signature is about the same size in every drawing so you can see from that that they are actually pretty small.

Talking of the signature: The funniest thing to me about this IS the signature. Because I was so rusty I didn’t even know how to write it anymore :DDD You can compare it to the signature in the other drawings because in them it’s better. Why it’s so funny to me is because it should say “Aada” but it looks more like “Hella” which means “stove” in Finnish.

***

Next one was something I saw in my head and wanted to draw - I think this one was also done without sketching it at first:

Kinda simple, right? :D I just wanted to draw something with heavy shadows and they’re meant to be watching TV at night. I guess it came out pretty okay.

***

The next two I drew based on one of my old fanfics I wrote years and years ago. I’m a bit annoyed that I decied to draw these into my SKETCHBOOK when I could have used just paper I use for drawing but I guess I didn’t know yet where I was going to end up with these and drew them into the sketchbook because of that. I thought I didn’t sketch these at first but I have found photos of these with sketched with pencil so that means I started sketching my drawings at this point.

So, back to the fanfic, it’s one of the longer ones I wrote (but still not that long even) and set to happen in the late 80s. There was some drama in the story because of Bela’s drug use and Farin was very harsh and Bela left altogether. For some time they had no idea where each of them were but then one very rainy night they both were on a walk at the same time and happened to stumble upon each other for the first time in weeks or so. I can still see those scenes so vividly in my head and here’s my artistic view over those scenes:

Yes. I love drawing stuff like BRICKS.

I have used my Promarkers with the second image, the paper was not the best for them which is why the black looks awful.

What comes to the image... it really annoys me to look at that because how the FUCK that is something I have drawn? And it’s legit based on something I have written. ME??? Like wtf. My aroace ass just can’t handle me writing/drawing fluff like this. I have days when I need to see fluff more than anything and then have to produce the content because can’t find it from anywhere else and my brain is simultaneously like “flufffff 8))))” and “boohoo whyyyyy how staaaaaph D:” because I am so afraid of being connected to what I draw. Like. If I draw or write fluff, it doesn’t mean I would be a romantic person nor allosexual nor alloromantic, right? Because I can also draw a comic or write a story about a murderer and it doesn’t make me a psychopath either. It’s the exact same thing.

And in fact: I had a comic book character who was called Micro the Insane Murderer because that’s what he was. Also I once wrote a story about a serial killer but she was also insane. But for whatever reason it’s much harder to show people fluff I have written or drawn than my fictional serial killer stuff... I guess people just easier assume that you’re an allo, thanks to anormativity, but usually don’t think you’re a psychopath just because your OC is :D

***

The last one is the comic that has a Halloween theme as it was around Halloween and the person I talked with still wanted to see/read something where Farin is the vampire instead. So here’s something that was my first B/F comic in 7 years. I didn’t remember how to do pretty much anything anymore and the coloring is a bit off, and I was really still just trying to figure out how to do all this again :D

At that point I think my head was still filled with fanfiction stuff so the comic also is full of (hurt/comfort) drama - and a long-ass “backstory”. You can see that from this on I have moved to more humorous stories. Sometimes I draw occassional fluffy comics when I’m really on that weird mood (usually 1-2 days/month thanks to the uterus and hormones), but my main focus is on the humour and I wish to make people laugh.

But that’s about it. I think I have now posted everything here, the newer ones I have posted here after drawing them since 2019 but this post is the “missing link” between those old old comics and the newer stuff :D Then I of course have all the other traditional art like potraits and such I did in 2009-2012 which I have never shown here. Maybe I should post those too?

[ladylyra]

do your nuzlocke characters all have names and stories and personalities? if so i want to hear more about your unova nuzlocke friends!

LONG POST AHEAD

Okay, so the protagonist of my soulsilver and white2 nuzlockes is named Halle, and while in soulsilver it was very much “her” story, i focused more on gijinkas and the pokemon themselves in white2.

rin, my sunflora, is the daughter of my sunflora, ieyasu, from my soulsilver nuzlocke. i figured if i was gonna use two sunflora they’d somehow be connected. she liked to be babied all the time, blamed her weaknesses on her unevolved form, and while she was considerably weak up until the time she evolved, it was also her mentality holding her back. in terms of character she learned to despise this mentality when she saw all her friends growing to surpass her. (kind of seen here) she saw how yuki, like her, remained unevolved for a period of time; her, without a stone, he, without a friend. she filled that hole for him. even if he was a bit insensitive at first, she really does feel a connection with him. they took down many gyms together! she is the binding factor to my entire team, helping keep everyone in somewhat high spirits even when things are tense. she and yuki’s relationship becomes romantic over time.

muramasa, my samurott, was a natural born leader. this was to a fault, because he’d always be getting into fights others would be more than capable of taking on. he’d always get himself hurt and, well, in the end, fainted because of that. despite being kind of stoic, he wears his heart on his sleeve (who knows, he might actually be expressive under the mouth cover.) for a while he failed to realize that protecting rin constantly wasn’t helping her grow. while he originally also doted on elline, he came to train alongside her rather than for her. very much a “big brother” to the entire team except for elline, who i always saw as at least slightly romantic.

elline, my krookodile, is a powerhouse, but shes kind of finicky; self proclaimed ‘princess of the desert’ she demanded to be carried around and treated like royalty all the time (murmasa obliged to this and they kind of fell into a princess/knight role.) despite her attitude she was and is one of the strongest members of my team, but it took time for her to get over her mentality and help without being asked to. after muramasa “died” she really couldn’t deal with the thought of becoming a leader and having the welfare of others on her shoulders, so she kind of withdrew, leading to rin becoming the leader despite her...or, well, what everybody else thought her to be. she was very wary of acai and nari when they first joined the team because it was right after jack and muramasa died. she has no patience for yuki and acai and how clownish they act.

wess, my umbreon, went from a humble city boy to a pop star. he loves attention of any kind, even negative, but preferably you’re fawning over him. he didn’t fully integrate into the team by the time i boxed him in favor of jack, but he was a useful member (aren’t all defensive tanks in nuzlockes?)

yuki, my swoobat, started out as a menace to society. he grew up in a cave, on his own for the most part, with little regard to how his “jokes” may have harmed others. he didn’t have many friends, the few he did were just as rude as him, so it’s not like he ever had someone there to check when he was acting like a jerk and make him realize what was socially unacceptable. being a pokemon that evolves by friendship, this lead to some problems. rin, the most bombastic and happy member of my team, became who i thought could cure this attitude of his. they were both the last to evolve on my team from their base forms at the time so there was some solidarity there, and she was also one of the first people who went out of their way to get under his unpleasant exterior and make him realize that there’s consequence that comes with his behavior. while originally he only had a “soft spot” for her, he eventually warmed up to anyone that would accept him. being a bit more conscious of his behavior now, he’s actually got major anxiety forming genuine connections with others, both from guilt over his previous attitude and wondering still if he’ll say something to mess things up. rin’s kind of like a safety net to him, and he’s also a big comfort to her, given how long shes known him at this point; after muramasa’s death, they were the ‘oldest’ members of the team (those i had the longest) so even in the ever changing landscape they were like security to each other. hes usually seen with her--theyre practically inseparable at this point--but besides that he can be seen with acai. the three of them are like a clown car.

richie, my cofagrigus, actually ties back to my platinum nuzlocke. i had a tentacruel named richie who died during the elite four and it was heartbreaking considering i had him for such a long time. he was very nerdy at the time, a bit shy, didn’t mend too well, but even then. he was my baby. two years later to now, i caught a yamask and i saw the opportunity and took it, naming it after richie. in the story canon, it’s the same richie. he suffers from amnesia and doesn’t have much direction in his life. he’s near constantly wondering what he’s meant for, why he’s here, and if he’ll ever be truly accepted by the team (in reality he’s kind of the one closing himself off and not interacting, but that’s his anxiety for you.) he blames himself for the death of jack (in real life i was debating switching in my altaria or him against hydreigon because either was risky....as you can guess, i made the wrong choice) and becomes even more recluse. jack and muramasa died in the same battle, so this coincides with rin becoming leader, at which point she near forces him to be included. he was a star player during my elite four run next to elline, by which point he finally gets his memories back, and wonders if he has finally proven himself to his old friends and new ones. (i actually did a small comic about this i never posted, i have a lot of small doodles that never make it to tumblr...haha...unless?)

acai, my vanilluxe, entered the team with a purpose. he would be the defeater of dragons now that jack was gone. he and nari came on the team at the exact same time, only a route apart, so i think they were friends, or at least acquainted, beforehand. they don’t mesh super well, considering acai is very laid back and happy and jokey and nari is always going on about his “training.” acai and yuki become good friends almost immediately; acai was almost like yuki but a lot less unintentionally rude and a lot more oblivious. he mostly hangs out with him and rin, who didn’t really plan that arrangement, but she does have a lot of fun around them, and she likes seeing yuki actually enjoy the company of others. he has a tense relationship with elline, even after she warms up to nari. he is completely unaware of this “tense relationship” because he cannot read the atmosphere.

nari, my mienshao, is pretty straight faced and serious. he puts a lot of value in his strength and focus whether it be mental or physical. he and elline are a bit standoffish at first because she was refusing to accept he was a member of the team, given her close relationship with muramasa, and her unwillingness to let any other people into her heart after being so hurt, but she does get to a point where she doesn’t mind him. i feel like maybe if my nuzlocke went on longer they would have been good friends; train together, hang out, all that...they do share a nature, after all.

jack, my altaria, was a relatively short member of the team, and he had died not long after i caught him. he helped me with drayden alongside richie and died at ghetsis. for the short time i did have him, i always saw him as a ‘do what must without any nonsense’ type of person; a little bit sassy and proper, but that may be to do with how i named him after one of my ocs that’s kind of in the same vein. he died at the same time as muramasa, and given i had muramasa for longer i was much more focused on losing him than jack.

lucas, my azumarill, was only on my team for the beginning of the team. i didn’t really have a need for him (in the least rude way possible im saying this) so i replaced him with...i believe it was yuki; that, or wess. i don’t really remember. anyways, he wasn’t the sharpest fellow, but he was certainly nice. before he left the team he and rin were close friends...by the time he was an azumarill she was still a little sunkern, to put into perspective how outclassed she was beginning to feel, haha.

obviously i had more time to develop some members more than others, but i do love them all dearly, and they’re probably my favorite nuzlocke bunch of mine. thank you for humoring my long rambling, friend!

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

No Comicstorian, Marvel DOESN’T need a reboot Part 2: Miles Morales isn’t the whole Marvel Universe

I continue to debunk the BS of this video about Spider-Man/Marvel needing a reboot as proven by Spidey PS4.

 This time out we handle the bulk of his points and learn that really this is all about how he feels about Miles Morales.

What is Comicstorian’s next point.

 “In Marvel’s rolling timeline they move the events of the pas forward in time and update stuff to it like how Flash Thompson was a bully like in the 1960s stories but it was now because of his Dad”

 That isn’t an update and that has nothing to do with a rolling timeline. That’s a flashback, a character reveal, a retcon, character development, whatever you want to call it.

 Claiming this is an example of how Marvel’s ‘timeline’ works is like saying that about Harry Osborn being revealed as having Daddy issues like the year after he was introduced.

 “Flash’s Daddy issues got turned into him becoming Agent Venom”

 No, Flash becoming Agent Venom was due to his history as a solider and his adoration of Spider-Man. his Daddy issues played into it kinda sorta yeah but that’s not an issue related to a rolling timeline, that’s just making use of a character’s established history.

  “Adding stuff into the Marvel timeline without removing stuff or rebooting makes it more convoluted because now everything happened even though it doesn’t make sense in the modern day’

 That isn’t how Marvel’s timeline works.

 Marvel’s timeline works off the premise everything happened and you just ignore anachronisms and/or generalize them.

 Flash Thompson being drafted into Vietnam where he met Vietnamese woman Sha Shan became Flash Thompson went into the military during college and over seas met Sha Shan.

 We don’t confirm he went to Vietnam but we do not contradict it either.

 And this has worked for *checks watch* over 55 years. Comiscstorian claims that it’s confusing and convoluted to have such a big history but...clearly it isn’t because they still make money and make a lot more money  than DC does with it’s frequent reboots.*

 Meanwhile DC has removed stuff in their history and replaced it with other stuff or rebooted it wholesale and whatever to modernize things and wound up with an even more convoluted fucked up mess than Marvel ever had because there are literally 9 different versions of Superman.

 And even specific versions of him ran into the exact same ‘problem’ Marvel had because the superman of 2002 who’d been around since 1986 would’ve still had anachronisms in his history from those 1980s stories.

 “DC have never done a true reboot outside of the Nu52”

 Yes they have. You can debate the meaning of ‘true reboot’ to an extent but if you are going to codify the Nu52 as an example of one then 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths would DEFINITELY be a true reboot.

 “Batman has never truly been rebooted”

 This is not true at all.

 Whilst it is accurate to say of all DC characters and franchises, Batman has changed the least from reboot to reboot, to say he’s not changed at all is ignorant.

 When originally conceived Bruce Wayne had no Butler or father figure. Alfred was introduced as a gag character who got in his way but morphed into a loyal butler.

 Then when Batman was rebooted in the 1980s Alfred and his history drastically altered. Now Bruce had a perennial father figure in Alfred who’d been there his whole life and helped him on his quest to becoming Batman from the outset.

 Whether Batman carried fire arms or not in his early career is also something that has altered from version to version.

 The circumstances under which he met Jason Todd have changed.

 How and when he revealed his identity to Catwoman has changed.

 Selinia’s entire backstory has been all over the place.

 Two-Face’s origin and Batman’s role within it has changed.

 The role of Jim Gordon and Batman’s relationship to him has radically changed, as he was originally not a father figure to the Dark Knight.

 There is so much more but I’ll stop here. Batman’s history is not AS fraught with contradictions as Superman’s or Wonder Woman’s but those major alterations still exist.

  “With rebooted characters (like in DC’s case) in terms of needing to understand what is currently happening in modern comics, like the Flash you only need to go back to 2011”

 Marvel still outsells DC most of the time in spite of their long continuity.

 Marvel for the longest time wrote their comics with the belief that every comic is someone’s first and should be accessible, meaning you never needed to go back at all if you didn’t want to, any issue was a jumping on point.

 I am a personal testament to this. My first Spider-Man comic was part 4 of a 4 part story wrapping up 28 months worth of incredibly convoluted plot lines. But because it was a good story in that issue and written accessibly I still loved it and became hooked.

 This mentality also gives no shits towards story integrity.

 If eventually any story is just going to be rebooted why bother emotionally investing at all?

 Why does any story matter if they can all just be changed or thrown out the window whenever for the sake of a new version.

  “Marvel tried to fix their continuity problem in 2000 when they did the Ultimate universe which allowed for fresh takes on the characters and a chance to remove the problematic elements and make them work better in this current timeline.”

 Yeah and then that universe lasted just 15 years and then died on it’s ass after hobbling along since 2008, with Ultimate Spider-Man itself becoming creatively impoverished before Miles Morales showed up.

 Also ‘removing the problematic elements’? You mean like Venom and Carnage having personalities? Because...having personalities was an idea that was dated in the 2000s?

  “The Ultimate universe needed to be shut down because things had gotten too convoluted like the main universe”

 If the Ult Universe was too convoluted to be allowed to continue why was the even more convoluted 616 universe continued and in fact selling more than it?

 It’s almost like the Ultimate Universe fell into decline not because of too much convoluted history but because the stories sucked shit and no one gave a damn because they weren’t the original characters anyway.

  “In modern continuity Steve Rogers is back to normal but he’s still HYDRA Steve Rogers, still Old man Rogers, still  so convoluted”

 That isn’t convoluted.

 That’s just a lot of stuff happening. It’d be convoluted if he was all those things at the same time, but in reality he was just one thing after the other.

 And whilst that does kinda suck because a lot of those things were trash, the idea of events occurring like that isn’t being convoluted. It’s just storytelling.

 All those things occurred within the last 10 years of Captain America meaning that had Cap been rebooted 10 years ago by Comicstorian’s logic he’d need a reboot by now.

 By his logic the Flash should be rebooted again soon because too much shit has happened.

 I’d love for this guy to like check out long running manga like One Piece or Sailor Moon which has even wackier stuff in even shorter spaces of time and all within the same continuity.

 “It’s all just a mess!!!!!!”

 Translation: Comicstorian, the guy who you would think would know and appreciate comic book history and is able to roll with it, is pissed off that things are too hard to follow.

 Like Jesus fucking Christ this loser is a weaksauce fan. MOST comic book fans know and can roll with the weird histories, even learning to love them.

 This guy’s name is literally riding against his fucking attitudes.

 “Spider-Man history is convoluted because he was married but then he sold it to the devil so now he isn’t”

 This is the most damning example of Comicstorian knowing jack shit.

 Because of all things in Marvel One More Day is the closest thing to a continuity reboot akin to DC’s.

 He is literally pointing at a continuity reboot and saying it makes things a confusing effed up mess and then tries to use that to justify us...doing more of the same???????????????????

 “its so convoluted because he keeps going back to collage”

 You mean like....real life people do?

  “Spider-Man history is so convoluted because there is a whole series of venom lethal protector”

Okay so first of all Lethal protector was a mini-series not a whole series.

 Second of all that is VENOM HISTORY not SPIDER-MAN history.

 What? EVERY SPIN OFF counts towards making a character more convoluted?

 “Miles morales in the 616 universe only works if you don’t question his origin”

 I mean that is true but whilst not strictly speaking a reboot Miles’ migration from one universe to the next is storywise more similar to the types of convoluted messes that occur when continuity reboots happen.

 Case in point Power Girl being taken from Earth 2 and incorporated into the newly rebooted post-crisis DC universe or the deal with all the Milestone comics characters.

 Miles however is UNIQUE in these problems among Marvel characters whereas it’s more similar to the deal with DC characters.

 And Comicstorian is so blind he can’t even see that.

 *Comicstorian explains Miles is already a part of PS4 Spider-Man’s universe thus avoiding the problems of him being convoluted and by extention proving Marvel needs to reboot stuff*

 Basically this whole mess of a video exists off the back of how this one video game fixed the story problems of this one character in the Marvel universe who’s situation is actually unique among Marvel characters and more comparable to DC ones.

 THAT is why Comicstorian thinks ALL OF MARVEL should be rebooted.

 “we need a linear timeline for these sueprheroes now!”

 Most of the marvel heroes alreadyhave a linear timeline and always did in the pre-internet age when marvel fans just picked up the latest issue and winged it.

  “I have a nephew and it’s so hard to just give him a comic book”

 Then maybe Comicstorian’s nephew just won’t find comic books to his taste because that’s literally how every comic book fan got indoctrinated.

 Just fucking give him ASM vol 5 #1 by Spencer and if the story is good enough for him he’s in. It’s incredibly accessible for the most part.

 “It’s so hard explaining Miles morales to my nephew”

 Yeah because Miles is UNIQUE in having that convoluted a backstory.

 “Marvel history is too convoluted for younger audience members”

 Again I jumped onboard literally at the end of the most convulted Spider-Man era of all time, I dealt with divergences from the cartoon Spider-Man I knew, I purchased info books detailing his long crazy history.

 I was fine.

 In fact those info books are still sold on the mass market so they clearly have an audience for that convoluted history.

 “We don’t want kids to be intimidated by the confusing history like we adults are”

 Kids don’t view that stuff the way adults to, they’re more accepting of shit and roll with it.

 “It’s a lot to try and get into Spider-Man”

 If only there were jumping on points peppered throughout Spider-Man’s history which are ways for you to get invested without going through everything before hand?

  “The PS4 game is the best version of Spider-Man ever!”

 Better in some respects not as great in others.

 “It’s the best version because it’s one straight path”

 Pretty sure it’s more to do with the characetrization and stuff.

[chronic-high-achiever]

I posted 113 times in 2021

82 posts created (73%)

31 posts reblogged (27%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.4 posts.

I added 331 tags in 2021

#random - 77 posts

#funny - 55 posts

#shitpost - 53 posts

#gay - 32 posts

#lgbtq - 29 posts

#pride - 25 posts

#storytelling - 19 posts

#lesbian - 18 posts

#lgbtqplus - 13 posts

#shareyourpride - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 94 characters

#we've been trying to think of a way to describe that thought and i think she's finally done it

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Turns out I’m not done talking about Luca yet.

This may just be a personal thing, but you know what I think is fucking phenomenal?

When they first introduced Giulia, they didn’t do the thing that they always seem to do when there’s a female character that could potentially become a romantic interest.

Pretty pink background edit, soothing romance music playing, her looking dramatically over her shoulder. You get the gist.

But that’s what I like; they don’t do that.

Giulia is literally introduced by being called Spewlia, she then proceeds to kidnap the two boys and hauls their asses into a fish cart and just. Drives away.

What a fucking brilliant character introduction, especially for a female character in Disney/Pixar/any other animation studio tbh

53 notes • Posted 2021-08-11 22:13:04 GMT

#4

A concept I find quite funny:

So, we all remember the part in A Study In Pink, where Sherlock and John are in the restaurant; cue the “I’m not gay” shenanigans, right?

BUT, what if, after Angelo put the candle down and John said “I’m not his date!” He turns to Sherlock and does the whole “God, I cannot believe that guy? You get this often?”

And Sherlock’s just looking at him awkwardly, debating on whether or not to tell him that this is where he’s brought any previous dates to as well. 😂😂

78 notes • Posted 2021-07-12 08:40:10 GMT

#3

So I’ve finally gotten around to watching Good Omens for the first time, and just… wow. I thought you guys were over exaggerating Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship but my god, they are just stupidly in love huh

I’m never doubting you guys again tbh, cant wait to finish watching the first season ✌🏻

Also THIS scene holy mother on earth I was caught so off-guard it’s not even funny. Like I was cackling like a damn witch it was great

177 notes • Posted 2021-09-30 22:12:06 GMT

#2

Hullo, welcome to Tumblr.com!

If you look to your right, you will see the Hannibal fandom having a quiet celebration party about the new photo from the main cast members.

Now if you look to your left, you will see the Supernatural fandom... going up in.. flames again.

188 notes • Posted 2021-06-25 14:53:18 GMT

#1

You know what I thought was real nice about Encanto?

No animal sidekick for comic relief.

There WERE animals, sure, but they were Antonio’s pets.

The closest thing Mirabel had to an animal sidekick was Bruno.

287 notes • Posted 2021-11-29 07:48:43 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who: Which Monsters Will Return in Series 13?

https://ift.tt/3eU5OIX

Spoilers: contains reference to unofficial series 13 filming photography

Doctor Who began life as a time-travelling sci-fi show with a historical bias and an educational bent. One thing – or, rather, one race – changed all of that: The Daleks. Those oppressive pepper pots gave the public a taste for the fearsome, the far-off and the fantastic, and the following five decades would be stacked with all sorts of aliens and monsters, from the sub-slime to the Drashig-ulous, and everything in between.

A new showrunner always wants to put their stamp on the series, but if novelty is vital to Doctor Who, then so is nostalgia. The allure of bringing back an old foe to put face-to-face with a Doctor’s new face is too strong to resist. At first, Chris Chibnall let Jodie Whittaker settle into her performance unburdened by the baggage of monsters past, but it wasn’t long before the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Master and the Judoon arrived to claim their places in the ever-expanding continuity of the Who-niverse.   

Series 13 is on its way, and yet more familiar monsters have been spotted as joining the fray. Here are the alien races confirmed as returning, along with some speculation as to who else might come back in the seasons to follow…

The Sontarans Are Back!

The Sontarans – those war-like, unbudging, unblinking little kick-ass clones – have been spotted on location, so they’re a shoo-in for 13’s thirteenth. We first met the Sontarans in 1974 when Jon Pertwee’s dashing, debonair Third Doctor caught a crash-landed specimen of the species, Linx, abducting scientists from present-day Earth (using timey-wimey-ness) and putting them to work fixing his kaput spacecraft back in Medieval England. Later, Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor encountered them on a barren Earth in the future, again abducting human beings, but this time to study them like lab-rats in a bid to probe mankind’s weaknesses and thus their ripeness for conquest. Sontarans showed up again later in his tenure to invade Gallifrey in perhaps one of Doctor Who‘s most overblown yet underwhelming of stories, ‘The Invasion of Time‘ (an episode that features the world’s longest chase sequence involving the same swimming pool and gym corridor in monotonous rotation). Each time the Sontarans appeared in Classic Who they lost a little of their mystery and lustre, to the point where their appearance in the much-maligned sixth-and-second-Doctor team-up, ‘The Two Doctors’, was largely superfluous. 

The Sontarans used to look like malevolent jacket potatoes. They sported weird, ventriloquist-dummy mouths and bristly little beards. Their weapon of choice was a noisy torch that triggered fatal bouts of over-acting in its victims. When Russell T Davies brought the Sontarans back to battle with David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor in 2006, they were upgraded to match the show’s new-found popularity and bigger budget. They had sleek and shiny new metallic-blue body armour, almost perfectly spherical heads, and a voracious appetite for conflict and killing that was finally able to be properly conveyed on screen. Blustering and almost comically pompous they may have been, but, boy, did those doppelgangers give UNIT a run for its money in the massacre stakes. Showrunner Steven Moffat leaned into the comically pompous aspect of the Sontarans for their return in seasons six through eight, in the shape of Dan Starkey’s Strax, a played-for-laughs associate of the Doctor, who was perhaps one of Sontar’s most pacifistic sons – although he did enjoy sojourns to Glasgow to fist-fight with the natives.

So what mode of Sontarans will we encounter in season 13? Apparently they’re going to be back in the black-and-grey combat gear of their 1970s heyday. But will they be brutal and militaristic – Doctor Who‘s very own Klingons – or will they be more Strax-like – Doctor Who‘s very own Ferengis – perhaps with an invasion story that’s equal parts Keystone Cops to Charlie Chaplin? Or will we see a story wherein a breakaway faction of the clones wants an end to war and the right to individual autonomy – Doctor Who‘s very own Borg?

One tantalising possibility presents itself, one that could bring back yet another of the show’s long-unseen menaces…

Could The Rutans Join Them?

Chris Chibnall said in this Radio Times interview that he would only consider bringing back old favourites if they’d already appeared in the post-2005 iteration of the show. That means no Sea Devils, no Axons, no Drashigs, no cybernetic pirates with killer robot parrots perched upon their shoulders. But might he make an exception to allow an old foe from the classic series to ride into the modern era on the coat-tails of a qualifying species like the Sontarans?

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The Rutans look like the result of a union betwixt a floating brain and a jellyfish. The Fourth Doctor found one in Victorian England imitating, manipulating and murdering the occupants of a lighthouse. These are the creatures with whom the Sontarans have been locked in an aeons-long battle that has raged across the galaxy, claiming in its wake countless millions in collateral damage. Might we see the Sontarans face off against their sentient-snot rivals using Earth as a battlefield, with only the Doctor standing between humanity and oblivion? I think we’d all enjoy seeing the Rutans updated for the 21st century, rendered so they resemble what they’re supposed to be, and not a plastic bag filled with Vaseline that someone has stuck a torch in. 

Return of the Weeping Angels

The Weeping Angels have also been seen on set, so expect to enjoy some counter-chronological tomfoolery in season 13.

The Weeping Angels were, of course, the brainchild of Steven Moffat, who set them against the Tenth Doctor and Martha (Freema Agyeman) in ‘Blink’, one of the series’ most warmly-regarded episodes to date, classic or contemporary. While ‘Blink’ had its share of timey-wimey-ness, it was at root a simple story, simply told; a satisfying blend of heart and horror, pathos and peril. Each subsequent appearance of the Angels has diluted their impact, although Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor two-parter ‘The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone’ did a commendable job of maintaining much of their menace whilst also doing something a little bit different with them.

The question now is: where have these angels left to tread? We’ve had their spooky debut, their far-future follow-up and a companion swan-song that also saw the city of New York petrified (both figuratively and literally). Many potential scenarios suggest themselves: an Alien-esque race against time on-board a spaceship with an escaped Angel wreaking havoc?; the Doctor entering their quantum realm to communicate with them directly?; the Doctor hurtled back through time by an Angel and having to contravene, or at least bend, their rules on occupying the same point in time and space twice, perhaps by secretly piggy-backing a ride in his/her own Tardis?

I’m secretly hoping we’ll never see a true origin story or get a glimpse of their home planet. Some things are better left mysterious (though many would level that same comment at the events of ‘The Timeless Children‘).

Given that the Angels have been snapped on a sleepy suburban street somewhere in contemporary Europe we can assume that the action is going to be a little more Earth-bound. But might the re-appearance of the Angels (barring their very small prison-based cameo in ‘Revolution of the Daleks’) coincide with the introduction of John Bishop’s Dan, and, if so, what heart-ache might the unforgiving gargoyles have in store for him?

Is The Judoon‘s Story Finished?

The Thirteenth Doctor put herself in the Judoon’s crosshairs when she interfered with their pursuit of a hitherto unknown version of the Doctor, played by Jo Martin. Her solidarity saw her snagged by the Judoon at the climax of ‘The Timeless Children‘, and dragged off to a prison complex that bore more than a passing resemblance to the infamous Time Lord facility ‘Shada’ (glimpsed in all its glory for the first time in the animated reconstruction of the incomplete Tom Baker serial of the same name). The Doctor escaped, with Captain Jack’s help. Does this mean they’re both to be considered fugitives of the Judoon? It all depends who hired the Judoon. If they were employed by the Time Lords to track down Jo Martin’s Doctor and punish her for absconding from The Division (one distinct possibility) then surely the Time Lords would have to re-enlist the Judoon to recapture the Doctor, the one reasonably huge snag there being that all of the Time Lords are dead.

Still. It’s never stopped them before. 

When Will We See the Master Again?

Sacha Dhawan‘s Master doesn’t just chew the scenery: he chews the galaxy. His hysterical, histrionic, genocidal iteration was one of the true highlights of series 12. It’s debatable whether this Master comes post-Missy (after all, few things in the Who-niverse can truly fell a Time Lord, least of all a script) or pre-John Simm (more likely); what isn’t debatable is that we’d love to see him return. He’s almost certain to. Though perhaps not in series 13’s reduced run of eight episodes.

Who Else Could Return?

There may not be room for it this series, but might Chris Chibnall or some yet-to-be-specified future show-runner consider redeeming the Slitheen? Season one’s ‘Boom Town’ showed that there was plenty of pathos lurking behind the raucous farting of this on-the-run criminal family. Could we see their home world? Meet more of their species? Capitalise a little more on their imposing physical presence and terrifying strength? Make them a credibly scary and engaging villain?

And perhaps the Reavers could return to mop up whatever mess the Master has made of Gallifrey’s timeline.      

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Which monsters do you think deserve another crack of the whip? Let us know who you’d like to see making a return…

The post Doctor Who: Which Monsters Will Return in Series 13? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[politickworms]

Ink

26 June 2017, Almeida Theatre

Preface to this post: Charlie Cox was there the night we went, saw him having a chat with Richard Coyle beforehand, turns out they did some Pinter shorts together back in the day, Charlie was bi, Richard was married to Gina McKee, it was a beautiful time.

I was really really excited for this production. I think it was my first time seeing a James Graham play? His work has always sounded really interesting from what I’ve read about it, and gosh that cast- Bertie Carvel has to be one of the most exciting actors working in British theatre right now, and Richard Coyle was the prince in Don Carlos way back in 2005, which was one of Those Formative Theatre Experiences for me. Obviously, having said “I was really really excited”, the show did not live up to the hype I (maybe unfairly?) placed on it. Small disclaimer: we went on the final preview, so maybe Rupert Goold notesed the shit out of it and what the critics saw and seemed to really appreciate the day after was very different. 

Basically, it felt like a mess. There’s a sort of framing device with Rupert Murdoch and Larry Lamb at the beginning discussing what makes a good story; this segues into a dinner scene, which is repeated at various points throughout (different dinners, at different points in the story of the Sun). It works to some extent, but it isn’t really hugely elegant, and I could not get on with Carvel’s Rupert Murdoch off the back of it. I’ll just do this bit now, and get it out of the way- I don’t understand how this performance works in the production as a whole, and I do think my friend’s comment that the play would be stronger without Murdoch appearing at all is pretty on the money. It’s not a bad performance at all; he’s a great actor, and to me it seems as though it’s working to do what it’s trying to do. It’s this weird kind of caricature thing, all composed of strange body language and peculiar vocal qualities, but then it looks like they’ve gone to the lengths of coloured contact lenses? That really confuses me, because there’s such broadness to it coupled with a very small detail like that? “Faustian” is the adjective that seems to be making the rounds in the reviews, and it’s definitely an angle, but then Graham introduces some humanising elements (Murdoch doesn’t want to look at Page 3, for example). Compared with the performances everyone else is giving (at least in the scenes, there are musical-type interludes which are obviously non-naturalistic), Carvel is doing something that’s way out there. 

Richard Coyle holds the whole thing together, and is very much the lead. It’s definitely not the sexy role, and it would have been nice to see him get to go to greater emotional extremes, but it’s a solid (that’s a really unhelpful adjective, he’s better than that) and very interesting performance. Would definitely recommend the Stage review purely for the selection of pictures of him smearing ink on himself (cos that’s the title of the play, innit). Of the rest of the ensemble, Tim Steed absolutely nails every comic moment he gets, even if a lot of them involve punctuation jokes, and Sophie Stanton is a welcome female voice amongst the editorial team. Pearl Chanda plays the first Page 3 girl, Stephanie Rahn, and has probably the longest scene with Coyle and Carvel towards the end of the play where Lamb asks her whether she’d be willing to do the Page 3 thing, and then they deal with the fallout from that along with Murdoch. I’d say that’s the best scene in the whole show; the actors get to stretch themselves a bit, and play something that has some emotional weight. This is another strange element of the play, which comes from (ironically) the difficulty Graham seems to have deciding which parts of the Sun story to stage. 

The first half of the production deals with Lamb and Murdoch getting together, Lamb abandoning the Mirror and setting up his editorial team, and that group of people constructing the Sun’s style and emphasis. The second half then chooses two episodes in the history of the paper, which (pretty uncomfortably) deal with female trauma, and its impact on the largely male-run Sun. This is obviously quite tricky, and I may mis-step when writing about it but I’ll give it a go. The first incident Graham chooses to focus on is the kidnapping of the deputy editor’s wife, Muriel McKay, and the ethical debates around reporting on a scoop of this nature when it’s happening to the Sun itself. The climax of the play is then the introduction of Page 3. As you’re watching, you realise that you’re going, seemingly as an escalation, from kidnapping and death to Page 3, which is a whole kettle of fish in itself. It’s kind of hard, certainly with the kidnapping plotline, to work out who on stage you’re meant to be feeling sorry for; Mrs McKay is obviously absent, so you’re watching Murdoch and McKay deal with the emotion of the situation and Lamb struggle (sort of? Not really) with how to present the story for the paper. Pearl Chanda is at least onstage, and does a really great job with the material she’s given, so we at least get a female perspective on the trauma that is enacted there, but it feels too slight. It feels silly to be getting angry about how feminist a show about the Sun and about Page 3 can be, but I think surely if you’re going to present that story, which is fucked up, you have to make more of an effort to be nuanced and critical in your presentation of it. If anyone has seen Ink and has things to say about this, I’d love it if you dropped me a message- I’m still trying to work out what I think exactly!

I have other stuff to say about this production, but I’ve annoyed myself quite a lot trying to delve into the ethics/gender politics of the thing, so I’m going to stick this up and perhaps come back to it. 

Side note, again: Rupert Goold has most definitely not regained my trust after Richard III with Ink. Many kettles, many fishes, but wow that R3 was not a thing. Might try to write something further on this at some point.

[fishphibian]

Personal Fictional Series Tier List

I feel like I’ve been meaning to do this post forever. And I probably have, and I probably will do it again at some point.  I feel like everyone has defining or favourite fictional series. “Fandoms” they’re sometimes called. I don’t “do” fandoms. Sometimes I get some binoculars and watch the fandoms of the things I like, or I’ll even put on some protective clothing and hope I don’t get stung. But these days, I don’t participate. Maybe I should, but I don’t.  It’s weird. I’m not sure if I actually can rank series I like, but I’m going to try. I’m also going to -try- to do a pyramid structure, see if that works. I’m also going to try and only say why I like a series in a tweet-sized statement. Stay tuned to the end for some honorable mentions and explanations as for how I came up with what I did. Also despite the ranking letters, I greatly like all of the following. I just have to express the tiers somehow.  S Tier

Nothing else encapsulates my interests, philosophy, and personality better. I discovered it and instantly related. A continuing inspiration.

A Tier

It represents where I want to be at this point in life. No animated series has ever filled me with such joy, anticipation, and inspiration.

I may not have finished every game, but the the lands, and peoples and music contained in this series often speaks to me. My ideal fantasy. B Tier

Probably has been with me the longest. Its appeal is honestly confusing and difficult to articulate. I like it.

I hate turn-based RPGs, but I love this game series.

When I was around 10 I found this Nintendo Power magazine insert about an obscure new game coming out. It seemed amazing. I couldn't wait. C Tier

My very first video game. It's simple, but I can't help but feel this weird loyalty and always appreciate the charm and wonder at play.

It's actually fairly dark, but I don't think I was surprised at a game impacting me as much as I experienced with the first one. Hope wins.

While it's new, it has squids in a parody of modern Japanese youth culture. I wish there was more to it but honestly that might be enough.

It’s growingly unironically my favourite anime. Living spirit robots are an excellent touch.  D Tier

How much is due to Young Justice and random titles is up for debate, but it's traditional optimism and classic superheroism does it for me.

Optimism, hope, and a defined universe with clear reference points helps hold the appeal. Thank you, Voyager, for beginning my voyage.

I love this world and setting so much but it’s so confusing. 

Variety of stories is key here. I don't really have much else to say, but I do love the series. 

E Tier 

From a time long ago, perhaps the catalyst for others which would follow in its footprints. Myth and modern. (note: Yes, only one in the E tier right now. It’s a dormant interest for me, but as it’s quite possible that I like Shaman King because of Gargoyles exposure at an early age, it felt wrong to not include it on the formal list.)

********************************************************************* Alrighty, let me explain the basis for my overall ranking first. I basically ranked things on two main factors, all of which eventually boiling down to the series in particular representing “me.” The first criteria is how comfortable and proud I would be displaying or expressing my love for the property. Whether as a T-shirt, poster, clothing in general, wallpaper, etc. The other criteria is “how much would I want to be part of this world?” or, basically the tabletop/LARP test. Since RP is hugely important to me, and as a hobby is probably secondary only to drawing/comics, this was actually quite important. Sometimes one of those two factors are stronger; like I would much rather RP Blazblue or Star Trek than Sonic; but Sonic’s history with me is worth more. Personal history is also a huge factor here.  Next, lets look at some “Where are they?!” honorable mentioned which a brief explanation as to why they didn’t make the list. I want to make it clear, that these are the series which I relate to the most, that have had the most impact on me as franchises, not my “favourite” of each. For example, Kid Icarus Uprising and Fragile Dreams are probably my favourite video games. They impacted me more than most Zelda or Sonic games or Splatoon. But they’re fairly short experiences. The films The Dark Crystal and Summer Wars are also probably notably missing. I love those films, but I don’t think about them or make personal theories, or want to make fan-art or RP in their worlds extensively. Perhaps it’s that they reinforce rather than inspire.  Now there are also some series and franchises which are notably absent. Haruhi Suzumiya, BONE, Disgaea, Digimon, ReBoot, Professor Layton, Megaman, Assassination Classroom, Fantastic Children come to mind. Some like the Thundercats reboot just got cancelled before they could take root. There are also some latent series that re-establish themselves if given time. Sailor Moon Naruto, other early anime I liked come to mind. I love all of these series. Some I would much rather RP in than many on my list, many others have had a huge impact on me. Certain factors just happen to keep them from the formal tiers despite in some cases, and in some ways just plain liking them more. As I said above, these are supposed to be series that resonate, not exactly the same as just enjoy to experience.  Anyways, I almost forgot Medabots, so if there’s anything else you think is missing let me know and I may make edits or at least explain. Also if you’re curious about why something isn’t on the list, whether I mention it or not, I’m happy to do a follow-up answer thing.