#i am solely seeking critique and also it took me too long to do this and my art teacher said the point of art is to share it so.

[inkats]

hiii i did this essentially just for paneling + line practice . if anyone has any. critiques or tips or things i should try or things that really dont read well pls let me know. heres something else i did also if u want to. tell me ive improved ^-^ or if i havent ^-^

[trivialqueen]

The Queen’s Choice, A Grimowyn AU: 1. Holding Hands

Disclaimer: One Disclaimer to rule them all – I own not but the mistakes. No offence nor infringement intended.

Summary: Éowyn is the last heir of the House of Eorl, but in order to take her throne she must become a woman by custom, she must marry. Éowyn likes few of her courtiers and trusts even less of them. She does trust one thing; however, she trusts that Gríma son of Gálmód loves her. It’s not a lot but it is enough, especially if she is ever going to have a chance to leave her mark on the pages of history. Grimowyn AU.

Notes: Inspired in part by auri_mynonys who showed me how wonderful this ship can be. Also inspired by the fact that apparently if one wants more Grimowyn stories one has to write them. Loosely based around a series of prompts on DeviantArt a few years ago, the 30-Day OTP Challenge. Please feel free to comment and critique! I will be the first to admit that it has been some time since I read Lord of the Rings/ saw the movies. I know characterization will likely be off, I just hope it’s not too painful. Also, I apologize up front for the characterization of Théodred, please forgive the AU.

Théodred died as he had lived - in a woman’s bed. He died without legitimate issue, a fact Éowyn almost mourned more than her cousin’s death. Three years ago, King Théoden died, wasted away by a disease that ate him from the inside out. Three years before that Éowyn’s elder brother, Éomer, had fallen, along with the rest of his fellow riders, in a vicious warg attack as they patrolled the Misty Mountains. Seven years before that she lost both her parents – one to battle, the other to grief. At nigh twenty Éowyn, daughter of Éomund, niece of Théoden, was utterly without family. Her chest ached with the emptiness of orphanhood, loneliness drew the tears to her eyes and flavored them with salt and bitterness. What made her body shake and throat burn with blood and acidic bile, however, was not being utterly alone in the world. It was the larger issue, as large as Rohan itself. She was the last member of her family. She was the last legitimate member of the House of Eorl. She was now Queen.

Théodred had been retrieved from one bed and place in another, cleaned, groomed, and dressed in the softest white tunic and breeches, silver and gold thread forming intricate knots and patterns at the neck, wrist, and hem. On the morrow he would be interred but for now he was laid in a side chamber for visitation. He is peaceful in his eternal sleep Éowyn thought, trying to stem the tide of tears, though her thoughts did not stray far from the morbid. For whatever reason that fact amused her. Her amusement amused her further until she giggled. The first was soft but a second came swiftly, a throaty arpeggio in contrast to her more wrenching sobs. The twitters dissolved into silent tremors – emotions too confused to sound. Éowyn – Queen – standing over the last of her kin giggling with tear stained cheeks and an emptiness that made her sway.

“My Lady?” His sonorous voice was full of concern, yet its worried tone lost none of its richness. Éowyn turned at the words and, damnit - shieldmaidens did not swoon - she felt the world shift under her unprepared feet. He, and his rich voice were to her in a moment, a gentle hand on her arm to steady her, to ground her. “Forgive me, my Lady, I did not intend to startle you so.”

Éowyn did not have to raise her eyes far to meet the piercing, crystal blue gaze of Gríma, son of Gálmód, Lord Counsellor. His deep-set eyes were focused on her intently, like he could read her very soul. Not that it was difficult at the moment, her soul was shattered, raw and bleeding along the broken edges. A tear rolled off her cheek and landed on her collarbone, breaking the spell the Counsellor’s eyes cast. Gently he removed his hand to retrieve his handkerchief. He pressed the cloth into her hand, it felt clean although it was rumpled and covered in faded ink stains. She dropped her gaze to the cloth, were his hand lingered on hers.

“I am needed?” Her voice was brittle. She made no move to dry her eyes, nor he to draw back his hand.

“No. I came to see if you needed...something.” He meant to say someonebut clearly thought “something” to be a more appropriate choice. What Éowyn needed was her family alive and with her again. What she needed was not to be sole heir to the throne. What she needed was not to be alone. She knew that Gríma knew this though he would not say it. She knew it like she knew that in spite the pain and trials of the world the sun would rise again. People feared Gríma, hated him as well. Théodred himself couldn’t stand the man but couldn’t be buggered to do the business of statecraft and so could not remove him from the small council. Had Éomer lived Éowyn knew he would have hated Gríma more than Théodred. Éowyn knew all the reasons to hate Gríma, son of Gálmód, from his mixed blood to his suspected mixed loyalties, his sorcery to his spiteful, often cruel temper. He was not to be trusted, Éowyn was well aware and yet also very willing to overlook it. His flaws were lessoned – not expunged – but blunted in her mind by one grace. One saving grace. Gríma sawher. He saw her, Éowyn, not daughter of the noble Éomund or the White Lady of Rohan, not Princess, not Queen but Éowyn. And what he saw he did not seek to change but rather sought to understand and what he could not he took in stride.

“I need my family.” She said, finally raised her hand and his handkerchief to dry her eyes, and more importantly buy her time to phrase her request.

“Would that I could, my Lady, I would reunite them at your side.” He offered, hand twitching slightly. Few people touched her, even fewer she suspected touched the man known at court as “Wormtongue”. Did he miss contact as much as she, she wondered suddenly.

“You are a truly loyal man, but I am aware you have limits.” Her face was dry, but she loathed to give up the now damp cloth in her hand. “I am not ready to leave.” Her eyes turned back to her cousin, the King while still above ground, silent but regal still. To leave would mean to enter a new reality, one she felt utterly unprepared for. “I am not ready to leave but cannot bare to be alone.” She returned her gaze to his and could see her own pain reflected in his eyes. If anyone knew what ‘alone’ was, it was this bastard son of Rohan. “Would you sit a while with an orphan?” She meant the question to lighten the mood. It did not. Gingerly she reached for his hand. A closer study of his face – his eyes, the set of his muscles where eyebrows should grow – told her he was still deciding how best to comfort her, feeling how much of her tone was safe sarcasm designed to shield other feelings. She laced her sword calloused fingers through his writing calloused ones and led him to the seat she had occupied and its long cold companion.

She sat, hand in his, forcing him to sit as well. Gently she squeezed his pale fingers.

“Perhaps soon I will be ready to face-” she paused, unsure of how to correctly articulate what had her so very – Valar she couldn’t even pick an emotion – trepidatious about the world and her new place in it.

Gríma squeezed her hand in return. He understood.

[dxrkblaze]

Give ME ALL FOR THAT MEME BC IM A HO N I LOVE UR WIRITNG U FUCK

this just in: ru is gay and I love her HHDGSHHDDL THAnk u sm homie I cri,,, ❤️❤️

1) of the fic you’ve written, which are you most proud of?Hmm… probably all my colors? Like, there’s a lot I’d like to go back and change, but at the end of the day it was my baby for a good two plus years and there’s a lot of personal stuff sprinkled in there. It kinda shows my emotional progression throughout high school in the story, and while that’s def not why I wrote it, it’s cool to go back and look at it sometimes to see the things I used to say/think about. Plus it’s one of the only massive projects of mine that I’ve actually completed, lol.

Also I have a lot of love for amc just bc it’s so… different, I guess? Like, I’ve never really seen something like it fleshed out into a full-length story, especially not with silver and blaze. And the fact that it rlly touched several ppl and got them rlly into it… that makes me feel kinda accomplished when I’m not being a self-deprecating prick lmao. I rlly rlly wanted it to be my first fic to get to 100 reviews for a reason!

2) favorite tense (past/present/future)Definitely past, I tried present with the unforgiven and it just made it frustrating to write, lmao.

3) favorite POV (first/second/third/etc)I prefer writing in first person, actually. I think it simplifies things for both the writer and reader, and I’ve always found a lot more freedom to be creative when I write in first person.

4) what are some themes you love writing about?Lmao well, obviously romance is priority one for me, so most of my themes stem from that. I rlly love writing about class struggle tho, whether it’s someone low who’s aiming high or a noble who isn’t satisfied with such a high class. Morality also comes up a lot in my writing, I guess; tryna figure out what the right thing to do is, tryna figure out if this character actually did the best thing, all that good stuff!

5) what inspires you to write?Definitely music… sometimes I’ll stray from it and pick up some inspo from movies/stories/etc, but 99% of the time I’ll be listening to a song and suddenly come up w a fic idea from it lmao.

6) thoughts on critiqueI encourage it!! bc I think it’s the only real way to improve. Sometimes it can make me feel bad if I’m in one of those rlly shitty self-deprecation ruts, but still I usually get over it soon even when I’m like that. I know it’s for the better, and I appreciate everyone who’s ever been kind enough, and cared enough abt my writing to give me critique!

7) create a character on the spot…. NOW!UMMMM OKIE,,, what abt a snow leopard named Kyra… she likes to sit around n read n eat noodles… her main hobby other than reading is dancing. she’s v shy but she loves her close friends n BAM I just made her gay. She’s a lesbian, harold.

8) is there a character you love writing for the most? the least? why?Most - probably silver… his personality is always one I’ve gotten a lot of joy out of writing. He’s basically a walking contradiction, lmfao. He’s also pretty easy for me to self-project onto, idk why. Least - I’m gonna say amy for this one, just because it’s been hard for me to focus on more than one aspect of her personality and flesh all of it out. Plus amy is a somewhat overused character lol, I get a lot more fun out of writing blaze/tikal/others when I need a female role, even if it’s something simple

9) a passage from a WIPOh u kno I gotta dip into royalty au for this one 👀

–

It was nearly a fortnight before any word was received from King Pyrus. It came in the form of a small parcel addressed to Blaze, which held a note inside for her. The young princess jumped at the feet of the servant who had brought it in, and once it was lowered into her hands, she hurried to her chamber. Once there, she closed the door behind her and jumped on her bed, unable to contain her excitement. With a careful claw and an eager expression, she tore the parcel’s paper away. Before looking at what it contained, she snatched the note from her father, and brought it to her face. It read:

My Little Flame,

I am sorry I could not write to you sooner. I remain busy, but I finally began exploring, and I found something I think you will simply adore. It is a traditional robe (I believe it is called a kimono) from here in the Eastern Isles. It is just as beautiful as the land, and just as special as you are to I, my dear. We must make plans to bring you here one day, it astounds me each time.

Do not fret about the ongoings in the world, how ever much you have heard. Kiniti watches over us at all times, and she will ensure peace among all kinetics. Hopefully, I will depart in the coming few days, and we will see one another soon.

With love,Father Flame

Blaze, of course, merely skimmed over the second half of the note as a formality. She laid the message aside, and her jaw dropped once she held the kimono out. It was a beautiful shade of dark purple, with an equally enchanting design. Trails of dainty cherry blossoms sat on rugged branches, which climbed up either side of the robe. The silk seemed to melt between Blaze’s fingers; it was the softest material she had ever felt. She rubbed one of the sleeves against her cheek, and purred into it. When she turned the robe over, she gasped. A large, pink bow was already tied at the back, as if it had been made just for her. She slipped the kimono over her shoulders, and although the sleeves hung low over her arms, the length was just right. Blaze tied the pieces of ribbon at her waist, just as Pyrus had taught her, and words could never express how delighted she was with the gift. She could not wait to show her father once he returned.

As Blaze was fitting her tail through the bow on her back, Baxton entered the room. Whenever Pyrus was absent, it was usually Baxton who took up the king’s general duties. He signed letters, addressed the people, attended court; it kept him quite busy. The only responsibility he didn’t inherit was any control of he army - the sole post he would be familiar with. Quite the chore it was, but Baxton was always fond of his temporary sovereign role. At least in terms of the power he held, that is. In fact, Blaze assumed that he had been yelling at some servants not too long ago, judging by his flushed face.

The elder cat scratched his head. “Princess, did the king leave a letter?”

Blaze pointed to the note on her bed. Baxton scurried to it, and frowned as he glanced over the elegant handwriting. “Is this it?” he quizzed.

The princess nodded, and held her arms out with a smile. “Look, Baxi! Look at what father sent me!”

Blaze couldn’t quite tell what Baxton’s expression conveyed, but it was something between a smile and a scowl. The note crumpled in a quick motion from Baxton’s fist, and was thrown back onto the bed cover. Blaze didn’t think much of this as Baxton hurried out, and she walked to her mirror to admire the kimono again.

–

10) what are your strengths wrt writing?Hmm… I get a lot of ppl saying that I’m pretty eloquent when it comes to phrasing/word choices? I’m constantly tinkering with how things are said, even up until like 30 seconds before I publish smth lmao. I also like to think I never just string sentences together and leave it at that when I’m narrating, I pay a lot of attention to how different sentences/phrases flow together.

11) what are your weaknesses wrt writing?My main weakness would probably be going overboard on all the little things, like how a sentence sounds or flows and stuff like that. I end up being a perfectionist with it, and sometimes when I’m crafting/changing phrases around, I end up with a sentence that kinda drags on or tries to do too much.

12) what’s your favorite place for writing resources?Tumblr’s pretty good for me, actually. I rarely ever seek out resources, but I do reblog a lot of them that come to me here and they’ve been very useful to me in the past.

13) who are your favorite writers?Ok first off binch u@aurora-boring-alis (FF: aurora-boring-alis) Then my other peeps who also make the quality goodness™™ I can’t get enough of (some fanfic accounts more active than others)@maliwarm (FF: biteworsethanbark) @lordoftheghostking28 (FF: lordoftheghostking28) @weezernaut (FF: space mercutio)@ebachan (wattpad: witto150)

[thechurchillreview]

My friends know I do reviews, critiques, or express my thoughts about flicks and had been begging me to give Marvel’s Doctor Strange (2016) an actual look. My plate was full, but, I still obliged anyways. Shouldn’t have. Still did. XD I’d been curious. The whitewashing halted me from seeing it in theatres nor paying to rent it though. A comrade lent me their copy recently. Here’s the beginning. 

Doctor Stephen Strange, a creation of Stan Lee and Steve Dikto, has always been a sore subject. He arrived just two years after white actor Mickey Rooney’s offensive yellowface performance as I.Y. Yunioshi in Blake Edwards’ romantic comedy Breakfast in Tiffany’s (1961). A prototype of Doctor Strange was the earlier made physician character known as Doctor Anthony Droom courtesy of Lee and Jack Kirby. He was a Caucasian that transformed into a stereotypically Asian looking person via eyes, skin tone, eyebrows, and “moustache” after accepting to continue a dying Tibetan lama’s battle against the forces of evil. Basically, the white savior idea with a controversial twist. However, Droom would eventually fade away from continuity and be re-branded as Doctor Druid. 

For Doctor Strange, he went from initially Asian in appearance to a Gary Cooper look alike. Only once this transition happened with Doctor Strange did Marvel feel comfortable letting him star in his ongoing comic book series. He debuted in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963), a split book feature with The Fantastic Four’s Human Torch. #114 (December 1963) contained his origin story and re-design. 

Comic book writer Kurt Busiek on Twitter last year pointed out how despite Strange had changed, Steve Dikto would sometimes persist with employing racial caricature slanted eyes and eyebrows in wider shots while tighter ones kept Stephen white. In the same comic, the Asian ethnicity of the Ancient One wasn’t revealed, but his eyes and skin color said otherwise. Comic books are a visual medium after all and ignoring this is to disregard the fundamental longstanding language artwork provides within those pages.

Meaning, the very basis for 2016’s Doctor Strange comes from a less enlightened era and its resulting translation to the silver screen wasn’t smooth at all. After enduring a career-ending crash by driving fast in the rain while talking on his phone (a perfect PSA about why speeding or using one’s cellphone when driving is both a stupid and deadly thing to do) and with no options left, the cocky neurosurgeon Stephen Strange desperately seeks Kamar-Taj to cure him. At its core Doctor Strange is about a character in a foreign place overcoming inner challenges in order to recognize his destiny as “the one” to save the world. Marvel Studios eyeing Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead position before the movie’s existence speaks volume does it not? Similar to the whole Iron Fist Netflix series casting for Danny Rand not being an Asian-American (Lewis Tan versus Finn Jones), Marvel didn’t try in the slightest for diversity. If you’re a comics purist or someone that’s completely frustrated with the bland current whiteness of the MCU like I am, Marvel solely selecting Cumberbatch is another opportunity forever lost.

Thank goodness for Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther next year rectifying this fact: Black Panther will be Marvel’s first MCU flick starring a non-white hero. ...It took ten damn years to get here though. *Shakes head*

Honestly, the role of Doctor Strange could’ve gone to anyone as long as he/she was a successful neurosurgeon with an inflated ego that suffers a tragedy that realigns her/his life path. That’s what I think anyways. If the MCU’s Ancient One is now a Celtic woman why not a female Strange? Why not a female Doctor Who? Considering that the Doctor Strange flick is about opening one’s minds to new possibilities, thoughts, and comprehending the potential of endless realities, choosing to sticking with the safe dull norm of the entertainment industry for the film’s protagonist is absolutely disappointing.

Doctor Strange director and screenwriter (One of three for the film. Jon Spaiths, best known for co-penning 2012’s Prometheus with Damon Lindelof is the second. C. Robert Cargill, co-creator of the horror motion picture Sinister was the third.) Scott Derrickson’s own reasoning and thoughts about the Swinton casting aren’t totally bad actually. He wished to avoid having an older Asian woman in the Ancient One position since that reinforces the “Dragon Lady” stereotype after already trying to circumvent the magical Asian Fu Manchu stigma of the original comic book Ancient One. 

Anyone familiar with Lucy Lui’s Lindy Woo from the series Ally McBeal (1999-2002)? She personifies the trope of Dragon Lady. Which is an East Asian woman that’s aggressive or an opportunistic sexual being or a predatory gold digger. In that time period, no other prominent Asian (besides newscasters) woman were around on TV to counteract said stereotype. 

At the same time, Scott didn’t want a younger Asian woman since its perception would be exploiting an Asian fetish and a “fanboy’s dream girl”. On top of that Derrickson tried to get away from the “Western character coming to Asia to learn about being Asian” too by not having an Asian Ancient One in Doctor Strange. Marvel Studios could’ve taken a page from the current Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo comic series that at the time of Doctor Strange’s release did have an Ancient One and Stephen resided in Greenwich Village. 

In other words, he tried. 

That is more than most ever do. 

Thanks Scott! :) 

On the other hand, the film regrettably never capitalizes nor expands on the Ancient One Celtic connection except for one spoken line. Seriously?! The character is addressed as a “she”/“her” the feel of the overall portrayal by Swinton swings towards more androgynous than female/male in my eyes. 

Stephen’s initial rendezvous with the Ancient One was hard to view for me. How he enters the room with an older Asian looking male figure reading only to discover that the bald person pouring tea for him is indeed the Ancient One. You’re supposed to laugh.

I grimaced.

Then Stephen callously labeling Eastern teachings as “gift shop fakes” in the Himalayan country of Nepal. That’s uncalled for. You came here of your accord dude! After arriving back after experiencing the astral plane for the first time, the Ancient One mockingly asks, “Have you seen that before at a gift shop?” He rejects all until the Ancient One intervening causes him to re-evaluate and fully comprehend what he didn’t prior to. Asian teachers or Eastern beliefs alone weren’t originally possible by themselves in Stephen’s mind, no, a solution solely presented itself after being filtered through a white lens (Ancient One). That’s Hollywood in a nutshell when it comes to diversity/representation, borrowing from their cultures using Caucasian actors in the limelight. Non-whites remain pretty much stuck in the background as opposed to the forefront (AGAIN). 

Perhaps to smooth over everyone furious about the whitewashing occurring, Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios and the architect behind the MCU’s construction declared that the Ancient One and Sorcerer Supreme are mantles held by multiple characters throughout time so a comic-accurate Ancient One could be out there. I imagined him finishing this with a disingenuous “You’re welcome.” Kevin Feige’s statement had my Skepticism Meter on high alert. I don’t deem it as a bona fide assertion from Feige and doubt THAT Ancient One will be appearing onscreen.

Derrickson himself replied to the controversy with, “Diversity is the responsibility of directors, and I took that as seriously as I could,” he said. “Whitewashing, if you use the term the way it’s used now—it’s what I did with the role. But it also implies racial insensitivity and it implies racist motives and I don’t think I had either. I was really acting out of what I still feel is the best possible choice. But it’s like I chose the lesser evil—and just because you choose the lesser evil it doesn’t mean you’re not choosing an evil.” Scott continued, aiming towards those vocally upset about Swinton casting, “I don’t feel that they’re wrong,” he said, sympathetic. “I was very aware of the racial issues that I was dealing with. But I didn’t really understand the level of pain that’s out there, for people who grew up with movies like I did but didn’t see their own faces up there.”

He’s right, the decision made was still an evil. At least, Scott Derrickson is owning up to it instead of remaining silent. That’s an appreciated gesture. While I believe that Scott Derrickson and Marvel Studios seriously messed up, I don’t think it was entirely intentional. At least not on the director’s part.

All that being typed, I absolutely agree with George Takei’s thoughts about the matter as a whole. I’ll post some of it and if y’all are interested check out the rest for yourselves, ‘kay? I’d advise doing so.

“So let me get this straight. You cast a white actress so you wouldn’t hurt sales … in Asia? This backpedaling is nearly as cringeworthy as the casting. Marvel must think we’re all idiots,” writes Takei. “Marvel already addressed the Tibetan question by setting the action and the Ancient One in Kathmandu, Nepal, in the film. It wouldn’t have mattered to the Chinese government by that point whether the character was white or Asian, as it was already in another country. So this is a red herring, and it’s insulting that they expect us to buy their explanation. They cast Tilda because they believe white audiences want to see white faces. Audiences, too, should be aware of how dumb and out of touch the studios think we are.

To those who say, “She an actress, this is fiction,” remember that Hollywood has been casting white actors in Asian roles for decades now, and we can’t keep pretending there isn’t something deeper at work here. If it were true that actors of Asian descent were being offered choice roles in films, these arguments might prevail. But there has been a long standing practice of taking roles that were originally Asian and rewriting them for white actors to play, leaving Asians invisible on the screen and underemployed as actors. This is a very real problem, not an abstract one. It is not about political correctness, it is about correcting systemic exclusion. Do you see the difference?”

Because of all vocal outcry and the fact that Wong in the comics was a manservant to Doctor Stephen Strange, the reinterpretation of his MCU character by actor Benedict Wong generated by Derrickson, Cargill, and Spaiths, is something I’m perfectly fond of. Is Wong’s triad of sage librarian, mentor, and comic relief role supposed to serve as an apology of a genuine learned lesson for Swinton’s Ancient One? Not to mention a prominent Asian hero (non-TV) in the MCU at long last. Wong’s a true funny unlikely avatar of progress in a movie not willing to open its mind as much it keeps on boasting. 

Probably I’d wager.

His pretending not to know who singer Beyoncé is to Strange’s face when later in the audience observes him listening to one of her songs on his iPod brought a major smile to my face. Wong’s calculated perplexed responses to Stephen’s jokes with pop culture references: he does this to vex Strange’s egotism. When Wong does unexpectedly chuckle towards the end, it is hilarious, a moment of needed asked for levity after such a heavy climax. I’d like for Benedict Wong’s Wong to rub off on how Wong is and written in the comics. Normally, I’m not a fan of movie comic book whatnot seeping into the mainstream stuff. I’ve gone on spoken record often saying I hate that actually. Like for example The Dark Knight’s Ledger Joker (voiced by Brent Spinner) influenced selected take on him in the DC Comics animated series Young Justice, groooooan. Contrariwise, in this case, please Marvel let the MCU Wong replace or fiercely alter the existing comics manservant version.