#i want my ww movie. i want it so much and so hard but i can't support that

[sluttywonwoo]

fuck the neighbors

pairing: jeon wonwoo x f reader

summary: curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back- at least, that's what they say.

warnings: swearing, blood, asshole!wonwoo, mingyu is canonically a whore, light blasphemy, smut (18+ ; mdni)

smut warnings: hard dom!wonwoo, allusions to voyeurism, degradation, oral (f receiving), blood play?!?!? (just a little bit!!!), wap!reader, massive cock!wonwoo, choking, protected sex

word count: 3.3k

reader notes: reader is significantly shorter than ww + described to have long-ish hair

You’ve never felt as small as you do right now. Wonwoo looms over you, smirking. He isn’t even that much taller than you, you just seem to shrink into yourself when you’re around him, which seems to be happening more and more often lately. 

“Found you,” he whispers. 

“I... wasn’t hiding,” you say, your voice coming out in a squeak. 

“You know it isn’t nice to lie,” he chides, taking a step closer to you. You take a step backward in kind, only to be met with the cool concrete wall against your back. “It also isn’t nice to eavesdrop.”

“I didn’t- I wasn’t trying to,” you insist. 

Wonwoo tsks. “I don’t believe you. What did I just say about lying?”

“Well, it isn’t nice to be super loud all the time either!” you scoff. “You have neighbors, you know.”

The overhead light flickers. You and Wonwoo both stare at it, the inconsistent hum of electricity filling the silence before the light eventually decides to stay lit. You breathe a sigh of relief. You really needed to stop overlooking sketchy apartments for the sake of the rent, especially if you were going to have to deal with people like... him. 

Wonwoo cocks his head to the side. “What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean what am I talking about? Listen, I don’t care who you fuck but if you could be just a little quieter-”

Wonwoo cuts you off with a laugh. “That’s what this is about? That’s why you were snooping outside my apartment? What, were you hoping to catch a glimpse of her leaving or something?”

So you had been right... you’re not sure whether or not you’re happy about that. What you are sure of, though, is that you’re offended that you’re being accused of snooping. You open your mouth to defend yourself but stop short. 

“You’re bleeding,” is what you say instead. 

Wonwoo touches his lip, thumb brushing across the cut he must not have noticed until you mentioned it. He looks down at his fingers briefly then back up at you. 

“Come with me.”

“Wha- huh?”

“You want to know what’s so loud, right? So come on.”

You follow him blindly back down the hall to his apartment, the one right next to yours. You’re doing everything a final girl in a horror movie shouldn’t do, but you’re dying to know what’s been keeping you up at night. 

Wonwoo unlocks the door and stands aside to let you in first. With a gulp, you cross the threshold and slip off your shoes.  He does the same. 

The apartment is quiet, for once. It looks a lot like yours but mirrored. The kitchen is off to the right instead of the left. The half bathroom is on the wall opposite to yours, likely connected via plumbing.

The place is a lot cleaner than you expected too. It’s sparse, typical for a single guy, but still relatively well decorated. 

Wonwoo heads straight to the kitchen and turns on the sink. He wets a paper towel and dabs at his bottom lip, wincing as he cleans the wound.

“Why am I here?” you ask when he doesn’t offer an explanation. 

He doesn’t answer right away. Granted, the man was still bleeding but he’d dragged you here for a reason and now you were just standing in his kitchen. 

Eventually, he disposes of the paper towel, washes his hands, and walks across the living room without saying a word. You know he expects you to follow him but you almost don’t want to. You do follow him, you want to leave as fast as possible, but you consider it. 

He opens the door to what you know is a bedroom and points inside. You stare at him blankly. 

“What am I looking at?” 

“This isn’t my room,” he says. 

“What?”

“It’s my roommate’s.”

“You have a roommate?”

“I do. I have a roommate. He’s the one you share a wall with. He’s the one banging a different girl every night. Your issues are with him, not me.”

Now that you were thinking about it, you have seen a slightly taller, beefier man around the building. That must be who Wonwoo’s roommate is. He definitely had the face to pull all the girls Wonwoo was referring to. Not that Wonwoo didn’t-

“So take it up with him.”

You shake your head and purse your lips. “No, that doesn’t explain everything. I’ve heard your voice too. Unless you’re the one he’s banging...” you trail off, letting the implication hang in the air. 

“He’s not my type,” Wonwoo says flatly. 

“Okay, then what is it?”

“C’mere,” he says, moving along the wall to what you use as a breakfast nook in your apartment. 

In his, the space is empty save for a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. 

“You box?”

“It’s a hobby.”

“Is that why you were bleeding?”

“Yeah, I just got back from the gym.”

“And that’s what I’ve been hearing?”

“That’s what you’ve been hearing.”

You nod but don’t say anything else, half waiting for an apology that he doesn’t offer. He just leans against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Well, do you think you could practice your hobby before midnight? Or at least try to keep it down when you do?” you huff in annoyance.

He sighs like what you’re asking is the biggest inconvenience he’s ever been posed with but concedes.

 “I guess.”

“Thank you.”

“You’ll have to talk to Mingyu about his... hobby, though. Or get noise canceling headphones. That’s what I did.”

“Oh, okay.”

Silence stretches between you again, heightening the tension in the room. You don’t know what to do. Were you supposed to show yourself out now that you had your answers? Wonwoo isn’t giving you any indication that he wants you to leave but he isn't giving any indication that he wants you to stay either. 

You don’t have the time or energy to deal with this. You can’t read the man’s mind. No matter how hard he stares at you from across a room. With a definitive breath, you turn on your heel to head for the door just to be stopped by Wonwoo’s voice echoing behind you. 

“Are you disappointed?” 

You stop but don’t turn around. “What?”

“Are you disappointed that it isn’t me you’ve been hearing?” he clarifies. 

Heat rises to your cheeks. “Wh-what do you mean? Why would I be?”

You feel him approach from behind, his shadow closing in on you before he does. 

“Because it isn’t my voice you’ve been touching yourself to.”

“What?!” You do turn around this time, whipping around so fast your ponytail almost whacks Wonwoo in the face. 

“You don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you look at me when I pass you in the hallway?”

You scoff, breathing a subtle sigh of relief. All he had to go off of was a look but if he had heard you through the wall, if he had that irrefutable evidence, it would definitely be over for you. “If that’s what you think lust looks like, I feel bad for all the girls you have slept with.”

“Resentment and lust have a very long history together,” he whispers. 

“You think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you?”

“But I’m right, aren’t I?”

You feign ignorance. “About what?”

“About you.” He measures you up with his gaze, something triumphant flashing behind his eyes. “Tell me I’m wrong,” he presses. “Tell me you’ve never gotten off to the thought of me and I’ll drop it.”

You weigh your options. You could lie. You could save yourself the embarrassment and lie right to his face, although given your track record thus far he’d see right through it. Or, you could tell him the truth. You could admit to wishing you were the one in what you thought had been his bed all this time. 

You settle on silence and let him draw his own conclusion. A smirk tugs at one side of Wonwoo’s mouth. So he did think highly of himself. 

“I fucking knew it,” he murmurs. 

Before you can deny it, he straightens back up and starts walking toward the back of the apartment. 

“I’m going to take a shower,” he announces. 

You don’t move from where you’re standing, unsure of what he wants you to do. Was he hinting at you to leave? Was it an invitation? 

Wonwoo looks back over his shoulder at you. “Are you coming?” 

“Hopefully,” you mutter.

“Hm?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

-

The water is already running by the time you slip into the bathroom after Wonwoo. You watch quietly as he undresses, letting the door click shut gently behind you. It occurs to you that you should be taking your clothes off too but you can’t look away. 

Wonwoo’s kind enough to snap you out of it. “I didn’t ask you in here just to watch me.”

“You didn’t ask me in here at all,” you point out, “you just expected me to follow you.”

“And you did.”

Damn, he had you there. 

With a noise of indignation, you pop the button on your jeans and start to wiggle out of them, unable to bring yourself to look at him again now that you’re also exposed. You can feel his eyes on you, though. It has the same effect his presence always has on you, and you attempt to cover yourself with your hands.

“Shy?” he muses. “Cute.”

“Shut up,” you sputter.

You don’t think you’ve felt this self conscious since college and then he laughs at your response which does nothing to help.

“I can’t call you cute?”

“Not if you’re patronizing me.”

“How do you want me to say it, then?” he asks, sinking down to his knees on the floor in front of you. You stare at him in disbelief. “You want me to say it like this? Want me to tell you how cute, how pretty, I think you are, from down here? How pretty I think this pussy is?” Wonwoo leans forward as he talks, further and further until his hair is tickling your tummy and his lips are moving against your skin. “Spread your legs for me, baby,” he murmurs. 

You do, taking hold of the countertop so that you won’t fall as Wonwoo slots himself between your thighs. You take a deep breath to brace yourself for the feeling of his mouth but absolutely nothing could have prepared you for the way he presses a gentle kiss to your pussy before diving in. The softness of the action compared to everything that led up to this moment, compared to the way he was now drowning himself in you, is enough to make your knees threaten to give. Your grip on the counter tightens and you bite down hard on your bottom lip to keep from moaning out loud. You don’t want to give him the satisfaction, though you’re sure he already knows he’s got you right where he wants you.  

Wonwoo hitches one of your knees over his shoulder so that he can get even deeper inside of you with his tongue. He drinks you in, breathes you in, douses himself in you like he’s trying to baptize himself in order to atone for his sins.  

If this was his apology for all the noise, he’s forgiven ten times over. 

You can feel callouses on the palms of his hands as he traces them up your legs and over your ass, pulling you even further into him. The force of his grip causes you to stumble but he catches you before you can fall and helps you to regain your balance. 

“I’ve got you,” he assures you, backing you up into the sink. “Here, hop up on the counter.”

“What about the shower?” you ask, suddenly remembering that the water had been running this whole time. 

“Oh shit-”

Wonwoo turns around and reaches to turn it off, drying both his hand and his face with a towel that had been hanging on the wall. 

“Now, hop up on the counter.” 

“Are you sure?” you ask, glancing at all of the skin and hair care products scattered across it. 

Wonwoo pushes them out of the way then nods. 

“I’m sure. Mingyu won’t care, trust me. He’d be a hypocrite to.” 

You sigh but hoist yourself onto the counter anyway, too horny to worry about it any longer. Wonwoo steps in between your legs and lets you wrap them around his waist. He leans down, you think he’s going to kiss you, but he goes for your neck and kisses you there instead. 

“Why are you pouting?” he asks, voice muffled and vibrating against your throat. 

“Want you to fuck me,” you lie. 

It’s not a complete lie, you do want him to fuck you, but it certainly isn’t the full truth either. You’re afraid that if you’re honest with Wonwoo about wanting him to kiss you it’ll turn him off. He’s not about to make love to you, that much is clear, so was kissing off the table? Was that too intimate for a hookup like this? Would he think you wanted something more if you asked?

“I was getting to that,” he insists lowly. “So impatient.”

“You’re the one who ate me out as soon as you got me alone. You haven’t even kissed me yet.” 

There. Maybe if you challenged him he’d give you what you wanted. 

“Oh, you want me to kiss you, huh?”

He wraps a hand around your neck and pulls you in, finally pressing his lips to yours. Men were so easy. 

He tastes like you imbued with unfamiliarity. Blood, you realize when you pull back and see the cut on his lip had reopened. It isn’t much, just enough to make him look vaguely vampiric. You swipe your thumb across his bottom lip and push it into his mouth for him to suck on. 

He does, but he has the audacity to pretend not to like it.  

“You’re sick,” Wonwoo scoffs. 

“And you’re still hard.”

“Two things can be true at the same time.”

He kisses you again before you can get another word in, dropping his free hand between your legs to ensure you're truly unable to talk back. 

He uses his fingers to tease you for a moment or two and then he teases you with the head of his cock, pressing it right up against you and making you whimper into his mouth. 

“Tell me, what have you been thinking about all these months,” he murmurs, “when you’re in your bed all alone listening through the wall?”

“I- it’s embarrassing...” you protest. 

Wonwoo draws back, tonguing his cheek as he gazes down at you. “Tell me or we’re done here.” 

You’re not sure whether or not he’ll make good on his threat but you don’t want to call his bluff and risk blowing your chance to actually live out the fantasies you were too embarrassed to share. 

“I thought about... this,” you say hesitantly. 

“This? You thought about me fucking you here?”

“No...”

“You’re going to have to be more specific then, angel.”

“It was, um, in your bed.”

“You mean Mingyu’s bed.”

“I didn’t know that at the time,” you whine.

He smiles. “I know. You know, if you had just paid a little closer attention you would have realized he sounds nothing like me.”

“I was a little distracted at the time,” you whisper.

“Yeah? Distracted pretending it was you in those girls’ positions?”

You nod reluctantly. 

“Poor baby,” he pouts, “must’ve been so jealous but so wet you just had to touch yourself, huh?”

You hate that he’s right. You hate that the condescension turns you on even more. 

While he’s talking, Wonwoo snakes an arm behind you and grabs a condom from a jar on the counter. Did he and Mingyu just keep them out for guests like they were cotton swabs or something? Did they get laid that often? 

He tears the foil packet open with his teeth and rolls the condom on as you watch and unconsciously spread your legs even wider for him. 

“Ready?” he asks, holding your face with both hands. 

It’s probably the first earnest interaction you’ve had with him. His eyes search yours for any sign of hesitation and even when he finds none, he waits for you to answer.

“Go ahead.”

You keep your eyes trained on his face as he guides himself inside of you, watching the way his eyelashes flutter and his breath hitches when he feels the heat of you around him. He pushes himself in slowly but the stretch still knocks the wind out of you, leaving you gasping for air.   

“Breathe, baby, breathe. You’re okay.”

You can hardly hear him over the roaring in your ears but you do your best to listen, chest heaving as you desperately try to anchor yourself to him. 

Wonwoo doesn’t move until you urge him to by wrapping your legs around his waist and squeezing his hips with your thighs. It isn’t easy at first, despite how wet you are for him. He’s that huge. 

You almost wish he wasn’t just because you don’t think it’s fair for any man’s ego to be warranted, especially one as big as his. Though you suppose it’s fitting. 

 After a few rough strokes, he starts to play with your clit again to get you to relax a little. It works, your eyes roll and your head falls back against the mirror as the tension eases from your muscles. 

“Does it feel as good as you thought it would?” he presses. 

“B-better,” you admit.

“That’s because it wasn’t me you were hearing.”

You groan, annoyed that he still hasn’t let it go. You doubt he ever will. 

“It’s okay. I’ve thought about this too,” he confesses.

“You have?”

“Have you seen yourself?” he scoffs, “Don’t sound so surprised. I’d s-see you in the hallways, see the way you’d glare at me- fuck... who knew all this time you were right next door fantasizing about me while I fantasized about you. We could’ve been doing this so much sooner.”

You want to tell him that you have all the time in the world to make up for it now but you can’t find the words. They’ve dissolved on your tongue and left you with only his name to repeat over and over like you’re in a trance.

“Louder,” he pleads as fucks you even faster.

“But our neighbors-”

“Fuck them,” he spits. “They already hate us because of Mingyu, let them know my name too.”

Apparently you aren’t the only jealous one between the two of you. You want to laugh but you physically can’t, too caught up in the incandescent feeling in your stomach that threatens to engulf you entirely. 

“Fuck, are you about to cum?” Wonwoo gasps, lips parting in concentration. 

You nod. “Just a little more,” you beg, “yeah, exactly like that... oh fuck-”  

“I’ve got you,” he assures you. “Let go, I’m right there with you.”

It’s surprisingly sweet of him and you think he might realize it too because he grabs your jaw and pulls you in to kiss you as you fall apart together so that he can’t say anything else. 

Once you come down, he’s the first to start putting you both back together. 

“Wanna actually take a shower now?” he asks, holding out a hand to help you down from the counter. 

Your knees wobble on your landing but Wonwoo’s quick to wrap an arm around your shoulders wounded-soldier style and sit you on the closed lid of the toilet.  

“Take your time,” he tells you, kneeling on the tile in front of you. 

“Thank you.”

“Do you want to stay the night? I mean you can hardly walk. There’s no way you’ll make it all the way home.”

You raise an eyebrow at him. “All the way next door?” 

“Exactly! It’s better not to risk it, right?”

You chuckle. “I guess.”

Wonwoo grins. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you home myself in the morning. I’m a gentleman, after all. And then we can piss off your neighbors.”

lmk what you think i always appreciate feedback!!

[momoyukirin]

Momo's "An Idol's Daily Life" Rabbitchat Part 1

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Highly Nutritious ☆ Home-cooked meal

Tsumugi: Thank you for your hard work, Momo-san. And thank you for inviting us on “NEXT Re:vale” today!

Tsumugi: It appears that everyone enjoyed that “Make a heart flutter with pre-determined lines!” project.

Momo: Good work, Maneko-chan~! (*´∀`*)/ Recording was really fun, wasn’t it!

Momo: It was worth planning this project with the staff!

Tsumugi: All of the assigned lines on the pieces of paper that got pulled from the box were so funny that Okazaki-san and I ended up laughing a lot!

Momo: Even though lines like “I’m hungry” or “my feet are itchy” are silly, they’d whisper them in a sexy way to make them heart-pounding, so they ended up sounding really surreal and funny www*

Tsumugi: But when Idols like you all say them, they somehow sound cool, so it was rather strange!

Momo: I know right~~~~!!

Momo: My heart skipped a beat too when Yamato hugged me from behind and whispered “Do you want to add Gochujang?” (*/∇ \*)

Tsumugi: Yamato-san was in high spirits as well! lol

Momo: He really gave his all for that “Go~chu~jang” huh www

Momo: His breathing was impressive ww

Tsumugi: Mitsuki-san’s composed “What kind of situation is this!” tsukkomi* response right after was brilliant!

Momo: Right! As expected of IDOLiSH7! Their tsukkomi and boke balance is amazing!

Tsumugi: Thank you! I’m sure Mitsuki-san will be happy to hear this, so I’ll let him know!

Momo:

Tsumugi: Your heart-pounding line was also wonderful, Momo-san! The part you said “Games are only allowed for one hour a day” while kabedoning Tamaki-san!

Momo: Thank you (*´∀`)*。Though Tamaki immediately went “no way” ww

Momo: It was fun and the flow ended up being really interesting, including Sougo who came from the stage seats in a panic to try and convince me to nod and agree with him!

Momo: But it was so exciting we ended up dragging the shoot a bit longer, were you okay with the job after that?

Tsumugi: Yes! Thanks to everyone’s cooperation, we left quickly and managed to finish the shoot at the next location on schedule!

Momo: That’s a relief~! Then, are you done for the day? It’s late, so be careful going home.

Tsumugi: Thank you for your concern! I will be, I think I’ll just get some groceries for dinner and go home.

Momo: Making dinner after work is quite impressive!?

Momo: I hadn’t even thought about making anything (+･`−･´)

Tsumugi: I won’t be making anything too elaborate, but I guess I’ve just made a habit of it..!

Tsumugi: What do you usually do, Momo-san?

Momo: Usually I just get a bento or catering in the dressing room!

Momo: I order delivery on my days off _(:3」∠)_

Tsumugi: There are many kinds nowadays so it’s quite convenient, isn’t it! I also like to order sweets on my days off.

Momo: That’s nice! Like watching the movies and TV dramas you’ve been recording* with the latte and donut you got delivered in hand!

Tsumugi: That's exactly it!

Momo: (≥▽≤)/□☆□/(≥▽≤)

Tsumugi: (≥▽≤)/□☆□/(≥▽≤)

Momo: You went along with it www Thanks ww

Tsumugi:

Tsumugi: However, if you only eat bento you might get nutritional imbalance so please be careful..!

Momo: Maneko-chan, you're so kind (;∀;) Thank you ☆

Momo: Yuki invited me over today, so it’s okay (つω<")

Momo: He said that since I haven’t been eating well lately, he made beef stew with lots of vegetables!

Tsumugi: Oh! So you are at Yuki-san’s house!

Tsumugi: Making a home-cooked meal with so much thought put into it, as expected of Yuki-san!

Momo: He’s the best darling after all(o/▽`)/:*・° °・*

Momo: I thought I could help, but I was told I'm on the bench*, so now I'm just sitting quietly and waiting (´・ω・`)

Tsumugi:

Translator's notes:

1)“www” is one of the japanese equivalents to “lol” but i wanted to differentiate it from tsumugi’s “(笑)” (also “lol”) so I chose to translate hers and leave Momo’s as is, since I use “www” a lot as is myself lol

2)Anyone who’s read idolish7 content by this point probably knows this, but just in case, the “straight man” (tsukkomi) and “funny man” (boke) act is a kind of japanese comedy duo where the boke says something silly or creates a misunderstanding and the tsukkomi corrects them

3) Momo refers to the shows you can record on your tv to watch later, idk if this is a thing much anymore in the west but i do believe it is still in japan.

4)Momo basically said that Yuki told him he's off-duty but the word he uses is apparently used in sports to convey a player that was not chosen to play in the team, momo is a sportsman after all~ www

[tirsynni]

Years ago (crazy to think about how many years, honestly), I started Sands of Time as writing practice to see if I could get into the practice of writing on a regular schedule (it failed). I had a bunny inspired by thinking too much about Ganondorf and his role in OoT and WW, decided it was as good as an excuse as any to work on writing regularly (failed so hard), and it ended up becoming a love letter to a game series which I've loved almost my entire life.

That fic kept going and going and taught me so much about writing, both in general and fanfic-specific. It ended up being far longer than planned, more detailed than planned, and even when I was distracted and tired and side-eyeing this massive WIP, it reminded me of how much I loved the Zelda games and the many details, overt and subtle, in them. Writing was more than just putting words on paper: it was translating the things I was passionate about. Even if there are some definite issues in the fic due to the many distractions occurring during its creation and how sometimes I wrote less because I was passionate to write and more because I was just stubborn about seeing the fic through, it's still a fic I'm very proud of. It is also, without a shadow of a doubt, my most popular fic. It is a fic that someone refused to rec because they wanted to hit lesser known Zelda fics, and holy shit, I preened when I read that.

I have been struggling with fic and fandom in the last year for many reasons, including some serious RL stressors. The other big reasons have to do with the evolution of fandom itself. I'm not talking about the rise and fall of the popularity of certain things. For example, while I'm not a fan of "reader" fic, I feel like it's a fantastic example of the things that can be done with the fanfiction medium and also a way to explore how tropes/genres/random things in fanfiction reflect different cultural changes in the same way horror movies do. What I hate, though, is the rise of negative feelings and negative takes in fandom, transforming it from a fun, collaborative atmosphere into an arena full of witch hunts, deliberately bad takes, and people terrified to write because they are afraid of being attacked for their content, pairing, writing styles, grammar, etc. I love fandom as a love letter to canon, an exploration of canon, an exploration of self and writing styles, among other things. Now it feels like it's no longer that.

Back in the Old Days, people put disclaimers on fics because they didn't want to be sued. Now people put disclaimers on things assuring readers that of course they don't advocate these things, these things are bad, they know it, they aren't a criminal, they aren't a pedophile, they aren't a Bad Person. Now I see people skip summaries just to tell people to stop attacking them for their pairing and to just let them write what they like.

I see people indulging in deliberate bad takes of the original content, of the original creators, of other writers in fandom, of different tropes, of game mechanics... fucking everything. Sometimes it's just a nasty circle. Sometimes it's done to elevate something else, because we all know the only way to elevate something is to put something else down. I understand vent sessions. I understand going to a friend and going "Holy shit, did you see that summary??? Wow!" It should stop life as a quick vent. It shouldn't make up the person's entire personality. It shouldn't require a full online presence. Hate should never be detailed in the comments. Call-out posts should be left to actual nazis, terfs, etc., not to someone who wrote a "gross" or "unhealthy" or whatever pairing. Seriously. If you waste so much time on that, you need to look into some self-exploration and therapy. In all sincerity.

Fanfiction is not a published work. It should be fun. It is put online to be shared with fellow fans. It is something where someone gets excited about something or has an idea about something or wants to explore something or just wants to write some kinky porn and then share it with fellow fans. That's why writers post work and then sit eagerly .02 seconds later waiting for people to comment on it because they want to share their thoughts and love and happiness and excitement and sadness and grief and their general emotions with others and they want those others to respond and share their thoughts and reactions, too!

I just saw a post tearing into Moffat's Sherlock series because it lacked sincerity for the audience and source material and instead indulged in its arrogance, contempt, and self-righteousness. My immediate thoughts turned to the Lord of the Rings movies. If Sherlock is remembered, it will be purely in the critical sense, an example as to how a popular series was forgotten and dismissed. LotR remains loved. It is a classic. It is something people repeatedly marathon despite the lengthy watch time. LotR was a love letter to its source material. It wasn't just the writers and directors: everyone involved was sincerely, fiercely passionate about it, and it shows. It drags the watchers in, prompted people who had never read the original to pick up the books, inspired so much fanfiction. It was sincere and passionate and loving and, in turn, its fans are sincere and passionate and loving.

The LotR movies explored and loved the genre, the characters, the message. Even when characters faltered, it didn't make them terrible people. It made watchers hold their breath, it made watchers cheer them on, it made watchers hope. Check out people who do bad takes of Frodo and his struggle with the Ring and watch how many people come out of the woodwork to defend Frodo. There was no tongue-in-cheek humor mocking the source material. There was no critical analysis of "Well, you see, this is how the hero was actually stupid." No. It was sincere. It was loving. It still makes people cry and cheer and happy even when they're wiping away a sad tear or two.

I've read fanfics where the writers insist on the worst takes for the characters. It isn't done out of humor or a teasing love or an exploration into the characters/writing styles/etc. The writers want to drag the characters down, put themselves on a pedestal, and do it not through sincere analysis but by doing the worst possible takes on the situation. This usually relies on going into the source material with a negative mindset and desiring negativity in return, feeding primarily on the negative takes of others rather than looking into the source material or looking for positive takes, or just having a "bad faith" mindset. They go into it with an axe to grind and want to drag everyone else down with them. It isn't one or two fics: it's a growing, poisonous movement which is one of the things driving people out of fandom. It isn't a love letter to the source material. It is hate and disgust and contempt and Moffat writing Sherlock, patting himself on the back all the while and surrounding himself with people doing the same exact thing.

I'm a strong believer in people writing whatever they want to write. You want to write this character being evil? Sure! You hate this character and want to make them OOC to bash them even more? Go for it! I've written so many things testing how far I could go or feeling angsty and wanting others to feel angsty or even feeling happy and grinning like a feral gremlin as people wrote comments talking about how the angst in the story made them bawl. Want to write vore? Want to write character death? Whatever! It is fucking fiction, and it should be something you can enjoy doing. Hell, an asexual person can write two people fucking without wanting to get fucked. A lesbian can write two men fucking. A pacifist can write a murder mystery. It is fiction. Write whatever you want, and I hope that you feel better after doing so, even if it is only in the catharsis way of having a bad day and getting it out by making characters bleed.

Already, I can fucking hear people insisting that all of this makes you a bad person. No. No. If you truly believe that, it means you don't understand writing. You don't understand art. OR it's not a misunderstanding but a deliberate Bad Take, an extension of the poison I described above, because you want to attack someone and you want any opening. See: Republicans going after Drag Queens now, probably not actually believing that Drag Queens are harmful but recognizing vulnerability and knowing they can manipulate others through hatred. If you truly believed that, you would be wondering about Stephen King and other writers, but instead, you use conservative attacks and uncritically promote purity culture and are oblivious to the day when the leopard turns around to eat your face.

It's exhausting. It's a growing trend that is poisoning the water that is fandom and is not only playing a part in driving people out, but is keeping people from ever trying their hand in the first place. It is keeping people from enjoying what should be a fun thing. It is fucking poisoning minds, because this is a damned slippery slope. Hammer/nail and all that. It is seeing one thing as "problematic" and knocking over one tile and then seeing a full domino effect because they never bothered to analyze what "problematic" meant or why they found that "problematic." It is people grabbing a torch with the hope they won't find themselves on the stake.

Let people enjoy fandom. Try having positive takes. Let fanfiction and fanart and fanworks in general be something enjoyable again. Maybe some people use it as a way to vent current political issues. Maybe some people want to explore certain sexual kinks and writing these two (or three or five or seven) characters going at it is a great way to do it. Maybe they had a funny thought and want to share it via fanfiction. Whatever. We can't go online and bash people like Moffat and then casually do the same exact thing. We can't bitch about conservative politicians attacking people and then use the same exact thought processes and methods to attack others.

Let people be sincere in their enjoyment. If you don't like it, find something you do like. Maybe take some time with some tools and explore things which make you happy instead of indulging in deliberate bad takes to tear others down and use those takes to bind yourself to others and their bad takes like barbwire. Remember why things like LotR lives on and makes people so happy and why Moffat's works are going to be used in classes in the future as to what not to do.

[shummashum]

Zeus Brundle Happy Ending [17~21]

She decided to leave the final stop of this tour entirely up to him. So the place they went was…

oh… the library? it looks so gloomy and dreary and dismal put some proper lighting on it, it's okay if the place doesn't live up to its name so please…

well… it's kinda impressive though

Accidentally stumbling upon a book she had wanted to read for a long time, she grabbed it up and sat down at a nearby desk.

what do you think is the reason for the existence of library…… you know what a library is, right? you're just joking, right?

I bet he's going to use his textbook as a trivet

how can she get it back if he steals the book like that completely behind in reach guess he's about 186~188cm tall? he'd have long arms then she has no choice but to lose the book :/

woah stop what are you doing now in this sacred space of learning do that somewhere outside!! don't in the library behave fucking behave

okay what can I do, anyway what can I do but groan in pain through the screen just don't get caught please……

okay! I think a kiss is okay it would be okay if they don't go beyond that please I beg you I don't like public stuff,,,,,,,,

this guy is a glass canon… right? his attack stats is indeed high, but his defense stats is noticablely low we should take advantage of that he tends to be weak in unexpected situations… so the answer is a kiss in return break his guard down!!

ha you can handle it? you just say that but I doubt you actually have any experience, my instincts tell me so

well, whatever! if you once start, show me the end hang on a second, I'll get some movie glasses and some popcorn…

huh wait what wait!! what's that hairstyle what!! why did my twin-tail bishoujo become two-side-up this is not good

what what are you doing now in this sacred space of learning just do that kind of stuff in the dorm… do you guys really have to do the deed here? in a place where there is no bed, no sofa, and only a hard wooden chair and desk? in a public place?? is this how all Gen Z live these days……

that's right!! that mindset go counter attack go

oh… she really did it

I got the feeling they'll compete with each other to take the lead when the time comes a competition to see who can send the other person to climax first huh lewd

zako ww so bad at defense www he is definitely a glass canon creak!!

they say that if you think someone is cute, it's game over if you think someone is cool, that impression can be broken at any time; but if you think someone is cute, they look cute no matter what they do

trailer bgm on I really like it when they play this song in the ending scene, it sure makes emotion heightened…

wa!! happy ending!!

So the Zeus route, which started on Dec 11th, was finished on Jan 25th. I'll just overlook that the upload date is the 26th

Review

It was fairly fun! Solmare must have prepared a lot during the cataclysm. The amount of content has increased significantly compared to the previous season… It's a good thing that there are many delicious things to eat.

The biggest difference from the previous season is: regular characters with unique personalities showed themselves. In previous seasons, only the characters from each season received screen time, and the rest took a backseat. But now S6 comrades (Z H A C L) continue to appear in the story and build a bond with Liz. Then there will be no such thing as a kinda unrealistic story like "I revealed my dark backstory to someone I met less than two weeks ago and I was saved by them." Moreover from the player's perspective, there is a much higher chance of feeling attached to the characters. It kills two birds with one stone!

This Zeus guy doesn't have any special backstory, but therefore, his route was able to provide a solid foundation for outlining a preliminary explanation of how the story will flow in future seasons, introducing the personalities and settings of S6 comrades. As I said before, it felt like a pilot episode… but in a good way. Given the cataclysmic event, it was essential to provide an explanation of the unfolding events, and I believe Solmare did a good job of using his route. There were a few scenes that made me wonder why they existed, but overall it was a very enjoyable story! Quite delicious.

About the character Zeus… self-centered, childish, overconfident, impatient, hot-tempered, and reckless dumbass, but unhateable! like that. I like this kind of goofy and idiotic guy. I already had a high affinity for this character just by glancing at him a few times on Tumblr before reading the story. Honestly I didn't give him a good evaluation in the first two chapters because… it's obvious. I even slightly lost hope in some of his "behavior used for a certain purpose" and that kind of behavior in Ch5. But! A lot of extra points were added in his creaking scene at the end of Ch8. I like a glass canon. Still, I think he would be better as a goofygoofy vibe side character rather than as a love interest… I'm looking forward to the stupid things he does in the later routes!

Trivia

It takes longer to read one character's story than I thought… considering there was a gap of about a week in between, roughly 6 weeks. not short. I can write one post a day because it's vacation now, but once the semester starts, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to maintain that frequency…? Well I'll think about it later, anyway my goal is to play all Season 7 routes within this year.

Aaaannd, I'll start Klaus' route in February. His birthday is Jan 26th, so I was originally going to start on that day, but writing this took up more of my mental energy than I thought, so I decided to take a little break this month.

btw when can I see his normal ending and unhappy ending, there are too many routes to observe and I don't have time to look at the one I've already seen erm.......... time to use youtube power again I guess

[yourlocalswan]

feeling pretty down about the political state of things for women particularly. so much rampant transmisogyny and sexism. it’s not just chronically online nutjobs; the republicans are systematically embracing straight up, unironic, full-send puritanical, fascist values. no surprise there ofc.

the US of course was founded on these extremes, polarity has always been the name of the game, but this level of moral panic and lashing out against women, particularly, so despicably mirrors the witch trials. what the movies don’t tell you is the cultural forces that were ratcheting up over decades that led to the mass killing of innocent women. it wasn’t an overnight thing; it wasn’t magic mushrooms or exposure. history always repeats itself in the most abhorrent ways but we never fucking learn.

my sisters, i stand in solidarity with you. it’s been such a hard week for trans women especially. WOC, trans women, fem-leaning, cis women, etc are being systematically dehumanized before our eyes and i can’t even find anger in myself anymore. i’m just so deeply saddened by the world around me hating us for existing. as a cis WW i have safety and privilege that is denied to my sisters and it’s sickening to know what little control i have.

they’re after us all, and to draw further divisions is utterly counterproductive. TERFs etc have drank the conservative kool aid. an attack on one is an attack on all, and we’re being hit from all sides.

i think i’ll need to step back from the news reel for a little while and try to recenter on my immediate world and help those around me. i recommend others do the same. spend time with the women in your life and remind them you love them. embrace whatever level of femininity you want and fuck what anyone says. be smart, be safe, and spread love.

also, not a bad idea to stay strapped. just sayin.

[cantsaythetword]

omgggggg it’s totally okay if you don’t want to but i was watching wonder woman 1984 yesterday and i love them sm could you do steve and diana plssssss ??? 🥺🥺

SDALKJHLSDKFHASDF IM SORRY THIS TOOK ME AGES TO GET TO BUT YES YES YES I LOVE THOSE TWO SO MUCH !!!!! I WROTE A FIC ABOUT THEM LIKE AGES AGO WHEN I SAW THE MOVIE IN CINEMAS CAUSE I HAD SUCH BRAINROT FOR THEM SO IM SO GLAD I HAVE ANOTHER PLACE TO DUMP ALL MY IDEAS ABOUT THEM!!!!

(ask game answers under the cut for convenience lmao)

1. Who has the cutest tickle laugh?

Ok so this is such a hard question sdklajfhsfklh Cause on one hand you have Diana who has this adorable bright soft-screechy laughter (idk how to explain it in words but i know the SOUND) that is really smooth to listen to (101 odd ways for crow to describe laughter #71) But on the other you have Steve who would DEFINITELY have super bubbly giggly hiccupy laughter and would be begging in an INSTANT even tho he doesn't really know what he's saying and is v much enjoying the attention

2. Who is ticklish in unusual places and where would that be?

I have a slight theory that Diana has super ticklish wrists cause they're always covered by her armour (hehehe arm-our) so I will say her.

3. Who gets cheer-up tickles?

Honestly I'm gonna spin this question around and say that Steve lets Diana tickle him to cheer her up. Reminds her of her childhood and getting to tickle her friends when they play-fought.

4. Who takes advantage of the other one getting their arms stuck while taking off their shirt?

Oh both of them definitely catch the other with this. (But Steve will often get 'stuck' on purpose hehe)

5. How did they discover each other’s ticklishness?

Diana discovered Steve's first just from running her nails on him casually. After he got wrecked Steve was surprised that she knew what tickling was and asked her about it. She told him about the play/tickle-fights she used to get into as a kid and then he put 2 and 2 together (this was basically the basis of my WW fic lmao but it's from a while ago so it's not that great).

6. Who can’t take tickle bites?

Steve 100% cannot handle it.

7. Who has to be tickle-forced out of bed in the morning?

Both of them are pretty early risers but occasionally Diana will be cheeky and refuse to leave the bed so Steve will have to tickle her til she does.

8. Who gives up in a tickle fight?

STEVE STEVE STEVE OMFG this man becomes goop when he gets tickled he cannot fight back to save his life lmao.

9. Who is in danger of getting hurt when attacking the other?

I mean I feel the answer is obvious but it's Steve again lol. Both from Diana's strength being a risk but also just this man cannot move when he gets tickled his bones turn to jelly lmao.

10. Who always provokes the other into tickling them and how?

ONCE AGAIN STEVE and most of the time it's by tickling Diana first lol

Hope this was kind of what you were looking for!!!!!

<333333

[zmediaoutlet]

happy ww, z! i'm gonna throw your question back at you, because it's a fabulous one and i'm very curious about the answer: what are some things that *you* love that you think Sam/Dean would like too?

happy wincest wednesday with the uno reverse card! hmm -- this is actually pretty hard, haha, because I try to resist this as much as I can when I'm writing... but hell, let's do it:

music: I still think Sam basically doesn't like music. Sorry. I mean he's not like a superfreak, of course there are songs he likes more or less than others, plus he's got that whole weird 80s glam thing he's apparently into, but -- I think generally speaking it would not *occur* to Sam to put music on most of the time, he's not searching it out, etc etc. Music is Dean's sphere. So, related to that, (self-indulgence projection time) I think that Dean might have liked the early 90s grunge scene more than he might have let on. It's easy to have him say 'ugh, those dudes are all whining about their feelings -- what are they, chicks?' -- and he may have legit thought that about Kurt Cobain, lol -- but some of the heavier Pearl Jam/Alice in Chains/Soundgarden/Mudhoney songs might have pulled him in when they played on the radio, and then he might have found himself singing along to lyrics that weren't just fast car/pussy magnet etc but something like something's gotta turn out right, and... He had a lot of reasons to love grunge in the early 90s, let's just say that, lol.

books: I think Sam read a SHITLOAD of crappy fantasy novels with those gleaming-tattered covers as a kid. I mean, he was gonna read the Game of Thrones books -- that's clue enough. David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, the whole shebang. And even when he got a little older and realized how many of them were basically copy-paste trope adventures, I think he still really loved them because they were... simple, and the monsters got dealt with, and magic helped, and the day was saved. (This is the same reason Dean loves action movies.) ((Here I guess I will tack on my Dean-and-reading headcanon, though it's not a z-projection: much as music is Dean's sphere, Dean feels that academics/reading is Sam's sphere, and he's specifically a little embarrassed to read for fun, which is specifically why Sam's always surprised when Dean mentions reading something at all -- so, he also reads, but mostly only when he's alone, and what he reads is stuff that has strong emotional utility -- aka westerns and poppy sci-fi and easy murder mysteries and romance novels. He wants a day to be saved, too.))

movies: idk if this counts as projection because I think it's pretty borne out by canon, but both Sam and Dean love the whole range of 70s-80s comedies that came out when they were kids and they can quote large chunks of them. Mel Brooks, Harold Ramis, National Lampoon, old SNL Best Ofs they put out on VHS, etc -- this is the language that wraps around how Dean talks, and even if Sam doesn't drop lines as much he understands the context and meaning whenever Dean does and it doesn't even count, really, as joking when they do it -- it's just how words work. It's good to be the king. Cheeburgah cheeburgah cheeburgah. When someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES. (that last one would come in handy with Jack.)

[snallavanta]

vernon bias is SO RARE to find i swear but ww being the most sought after in sg honestly im not even surprised and gyu too

OH but i have a theory behind it too i cant explain why but i think bc ww is like the closest to sg guys which is why hes so popular among sg carats bc it's like someone theyre familiar with in that sense idk what logic this is but thats the vibe that i have lmaoooo

where my fellow sg vernon bias at like ,,, somedays it's a win for me bc some of his pcs are so easy to get/much cheaper but at the same time if i have dupes it's so hard to clear yknow what i mean

(gonna stay on anon for the time being hehe i'll just be your fellow sg vernon bias anon!)

oh for sureee. i literally had the same thoughts as you. it definitely makes sense that ww fits the sg guys “look” which appeals to many sg carats. but that is honestly such a funny comparison to make because if ww was walking down the streets, i would not think that he was any regular sg guy 😭

i personally have not met another sg carat besides my sister so my data on the popularity of each member is quite limited LOL but i was surprised to hear that vernon is not a popular member in general too? (not to be dramatic but it kinda broke my heart ngl sldjsk)

i don’t want to get into pc buying because i fear if i start buying them, the thrill might continue. i already have a problem with albums where i keep buying them one after another….. but yeah, the great thing about having a less popular bias is cheaper pcs. i could get a stroke seeing the prices of the scoups & mingyu pcs… anyway if you have any dupes you want to get rid of, you can always hmu 🤪

anyway, are you watching/ have watched the svt movie? what did you think about it?

[aboutzatanna]

Meet Zachary Zatara! Zatanna’s Cousin

  I’ve covered Zatanna’s mother, father and now to complete my series of posts on the pairing, lets look at Zachary Zatara.   

Zachary is a magician just like Zatanna, making her one of the few female heroes with a male side kick. He was also a member of the Teen Titans during Geoff Johns run which the YJ show draws heavily from. 

I’ve included a recommended reading guide for him at the very end of the post including some lesser known, obscure stories so do check that out if you’re interested in wanting to read more about him.   

The inspiration for Zachary goes back to writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross Kingdom Come OGN.  KC was seminal back in the day and had a huge influence on the DCU both positive and negative. 

A big part of KC were the children of various superheroes and super villains whom Superman, freshly out of retirement, recruits into his new super powered army in order to fix a world ravaged by out of control anti heroes like Magog. 

One of them was John Zatara, the son of Zatanna and Constantine (the latter of whom was walled off from the rest of the DCU at the time). It’s not known what happened to Zatanna and Constantine in the KC timeline, Zatara being their kid was only revealed in the back of the Absolute edition of Kingdom Come.  

Zatara barely had a speaking role in the OGN, here is a couple of scenes where he shows up in:  

He also showed up as a supporting character in ‘Kingdom Come: The Offspring’ one shot by Mark Waid and Frank Quietly which focused on Plastic Man’s son Earnie a.k..a ‘Offspring’ where it was mentioned that he was dating Avia, the daughter of Scott Free and Big Barda. 

Also note that all of his dialogue was written backwards throughout the whole comic even during normal every day conversations: 

He also appeared as a background character in The Kingdom Special  as one of the many heroes trying to protect Superman and Wonder Woman’s kid from Magog.  

Given these minor appearances it’s really hard to get a feel of Zatara’s personality here. One gets the impression that Avia is the assertive one in their relationship whilst Zatara is the passive one. And...this is just my speculation here, but I think KC Zatara might be autistic or at least, on the spectrum.    

After  KC’s monumental success, DC began incorporating elements from KC into it’s main universe, and just to give you an idea of how immense and influential KC is and continues to be:

(feel free to skip past these bullet points if you’re not interested in KC’s influence) 

- Maxine Hunkel, Magog, Jai and Iris West first appeared in KC then later in the main DCU.   

-The concept of a Blue Beetle who wore mecha armor ended up becoming Jaime Reyes. 

-It also popularized the idea of Bruce and Talia having a son. The idea originated from ‘Son of the Demon’ where we first see their infant child given up for adoption. Then in KC we see him grown up and named ‘Ibn Al Xuffasch’ and later incorporated into the comics in the form of Damian Wayne. Xuffasch also had a romance with Nightstar (Dick and Kory’s kid) much to Dick’s chagrin. 

-Alan Scott’s GL armor was introduced in KC that later appeared in the main universe. 

-WW’s golden eagle armor which has appeared in both the main universe and in WW84, her being the one Trinity member being willing to kill in the series which also directly paved the way for Rucka’s Sacrifice arc in which she killed Maxwell Lord. Granted she killed once during Perez’s run but the context of how it happened in Sacrifice directly pertains to KC. This lead to the false perception of Diana being a blood thirsty warrior and her thus her characterization in early Nu52 era.      

-KC Superman even showed  up in the main universe and even talking to Diana about how the main universe was turning similar to his.   

-The concept of Diana being exiled from Themyscira. In KC universe she was exiled because of her failure to change Man’s World. In JLU, 2017 Wonder Woman and Bloodlines DTV movie, her being exiled would be incorporated into her origin story instead (not for the better, if you ask me). In the Golden Age, Post Crisis and Rebirth versions, she left voluntarily with the blessings of her mother and sisters and was later able to reunite with them.    

-Even the core concept of the Infinite Crisis event of older heroes trying to impose a nostalgic outdated view of heroism on a world they deemed too dark and cynical was clearly inspired by KC.

-JLU’s Cadmus arc and the paranoia about Superman turning the JL into a super powered army, the fight with Captain Marvel on the show, things turning out for the worst despite Superman’s best intentions and Batman disproving of Superman sentencing criminals to the Phantom Zone felt like they were directly drawn from KC.   

-CW’s version of Crisis on Infinite Earths where Brandon Routh’s Superman had a costume similar to KC Superman and even has elements of his backstory like Lois, Perry and his co workers being killed by a gas attack from the Joker.  

-Even CBR exists because of KC since the site started off as a fansite for Kingdom Come before turning into a forum and later a comic book news site. So yeah, good and bad influences on the DCU all round.   

1/3 Zachary Meets Infinity Inc & Black Adam

Anyway, back to Zachary Zatara, he first debuted in Teen Titans  Vol 3 #34 and was created by Geoff Johns and Tony Daniels.   Although his first published appearance was in Teen Titans, his first chronological appearance would have been in 52; a weekly series which covered the gap year in which Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were inactive and other heroes were filling in for them.  

Zachary showed up in 52 #21 as part of the Teen Titans team investigating the new Infinity Inc (a group of kids given super powers by Luthor).  

Note that’s not Big Barda. That’s Little Barda. A New God who takes after Barda and clearly based off of Avia.

Zach gets off on the wrong foot with one of the Infinity Inc members:  

Later, in the issue,  one of the Infinity Inc members was killed in battle (thanks to Luthor’s machinations) and Zach and Little Barda are seen at the funeral: 

Note that Zach is associated with Raven.  

Later in 52 #32 Zachary is among the crowds of young heroes gathered to fight Black Adam (he’s right next to the Superboy statues palm):

Among them is also a young, costumed Eddie Bloomberg aka Kid Devil whom we will see will be an important character for Zachary:

In World War III #3  we get a small glimpse of Zachary fighting Black Adam as well as Raven reacting to him getting hurt (these two always had a connection):   

And finally in the 52 #50  we see Zachary working with Zatanna and several other mages attempting to stop the rampaging Black Adam with the help of Billy Batson:   

Zatanna and Zachary don’t share any dialogue with each other in the issue but it’s cool to see them working together as well as seeing Zatanna and Billy effectively leading the magical side of the DCU and I love that it’s Billy who figured out how to defeat Black Adam.     

2/3 Zachary & Eddie + The Teen Titans

Zachary would make single panel appearances in Teen Titans #34-38, they were from bits and pieces from Cyborg’s recordings from when he was in a coma. The ‘present’ day of these issues were set the year after the events of 52  Zach complains about Raven’s powers affecting him and we also get hints of his personality:  

So Raven has gone missing and in between fighting super villains, the Titans go on search for her which leads them to meet Zachary.   

Zachary finally gets the spotlight in Teen Titans #39 in which we are also introduced to his assistant, Bunny and he and the Titans don’t really get along:  

We also learn from Cyborg that his powers were only awakened recently after the events of Days of Vengeance (long story short; Spectre went crazy, Nabu died, magic died and was reborn):    

Zachary is kind of snobbish, arrogant and rude but they are also a way for him to hide his insecurities and fears. 

As you can see he also has history with Kid Devil/Eddie Bloomberg and we finally learn about their history and Zachary’s role in Eddie’s transformation from the kid in the suit you saw in 52 to the humanoid devil in present day in Teen Titans #42.   

So, Eddie is a huge of Blue Devil aka Dan Cassidy and idolizes him much to the latter’s chagrin , this leads to him wanting to get powers just like BD. One day he gets a strange mystical candle from a stranger which he takes to Zachary for consultation:

So despite Zach’s warning, Eddie goes through with the deal and to no one’s surprise, his trust in Blue Devil is in fact broken, when Eddie learns that Blue Devil was indirectly responsible for his Aunt’s death.  (Long story short: Neron promised him a way to return to being BD if Daniel blew up a power plant, the latter did but the feed back ended up killing Eddie’s aunt who was miles away. Dan Cassidy kept it a secret until Eddie confronted him about it).   

So yeah,  Eddie is pretty much damned now but Zach tries to console him the best way he can, in Teen Titans #56:

This era of Teen Titans was heavily dependent on making the Titans into a Junior Justice League. Along with Zachary, this run also introduced Miss Martian and reinvented Superboy/Connor from a fun loving Booster Gold style glory hound to the angsty black t-shirt wearing Superboy we know today and Cassie Sandsmark from the tomboyish fangirl to the cheerleader archetype. Instead of a stand alone squad the Titans were now tutored by older heroes, at least initially.   Suffice to say, this run had a huge influence on the Young Justice show.  

As for the run itself, I wasn’t a fan of how Robin, Wonder Girl and the Wonder Twins were written. Especially under Sean McKeever post Infinite Crisis (though tbf he faced a lot of editorial hurdles) but the Eddie/Zachary stuff was a highlight for me personally. 

Side note, Teen Titans #52 also gave us a peek at a possible future version of Zachary, you can tell he is evil because he has a goatee:

Zach also showed up in Tim Drake’s Robin series (Robin vol 2 #166)  to help him out with some bad guys: 

There are so many dark haired caucasian costumed guys around, especially in Gotham that even the villains get confused.

There are some interesting parallels between Zachary and Donna Troy. They’re both the side kicks of female heroes, both of them debuted in a title that didn’t star said female hero and they operated independently for a while before actually getting to interacting with their female mentor.   

Despite Zachary being a ‘part time’ Titan, he would show up in the 6 issue Terror Titans mini in which the Titans took on Clock King who was running a meta human fight ring.  Zachary and the Titans were captured and mind controlled to participate in the tournament and somehow Zach lost to Terra in a straight up fight:  

 (I call bull shit, maybe he threw the fight) 

Also Zach being emotional about Kid Devil is what got him caught in the first place: 

Meanwhile, in the main Teen Titans Eddie has managed to beat his curse and returned to normal human form.  

Then in the follow up in Teen Titans #69,  he harshly turned down Wonder Girl’s offer for Zach and other teens held prisoner by the Clock King to train with the Titans.    

His next appearance in the Titans would be part of a back up title called Coven of Three which ran from Teen Titans #84-87.  The series starred Zachary Zatara, Traci 13 and Black Alice in which the Demon’s Three trapped them in a world that brought their deepest desires to life. All of it as part of a gambit to escape their imprisonment and threaten the world again.  

The series begins by showing Zach in the least flattering light as possible: 

Then drops this reveal on us when Zach’s dream world is shown:  

Yes, he had a girlfriend with unborn twins who died untimely deaths. How old is this kid anyway? Was it a teen pregnancy? Does Zatanna know? This is one of the many plot threads that could have been addressed in the Zatanna ongoing were it not for it’s untimely cancellation and the 52 reboot.    

Traci 13′s dream is a world where she is worshiped as a Goddess and Black Alice’s dream was a world where her parents were alive and they had a normal family unit. Of the three, she was the most reluctant to give up her wish. It made things more complicated because undoing the spell required the consent of all three individuals.  Zachary and Traci have relatively normal, stable lives to return to, Alice doesn’t.    

We also got this interesting scene showing the difference between a book worm mage and someone who has natural abilities but never studied actual theory:  

Zach also brings up Eddie again and he gets a moment with Kate (his dead gf) before helping Traci undo the spell:

The three managed to undo the spell and even agree to become teammates:  

But there is a twist at the end where we learn that oops, even though they ‘won’, it was all still a ruse on the Demon’s parts as they’re still playing right into the demon’s hands:

The ending also flips our view of the character. Zachary, whom in the beginning was kind of a jerk, ends up with the most sympathetic motivation of wanting to use magic to bring back his dead girlfriend and unborn child. Black Alice ends up more or less at the same spot she started in. Meanwhile, it looks like Traci 13 is on the path of actually bringing her dreams of being a goddess to reality as she keeps one of the magical items used to trap the Demons Three for herself.     

On the YJ cartoon, I wasn’t a fan of Mary being the corrupted one for various reasons. But given Traci’s characterization here, I would have rather she had been the one corrupted by power.  

It’s a neat twist and I’m disappointed that there hasn’t been any follow up to it.  Especially the part about Zach’s dead girlfriend. Zatanna and Diana need to have a talk about their respective side kicks going through all sorts of trauma in stories without either of them getting involved.  

NGL, I still find weird that the Young Justice show, which draws heavily from Geoff Johns era of Titans decided to deage Zatanna and put her on Dick’s team instead of using Zachary, who was already associated with the Titans. Plus it’s rare for a female hero to have a male side kick. But then, if Zatanna was with the adults on YJ, we’ll probably see even less of her.     

2/3 Zachary & Superman: World of New Krypton Era 

Sometime after his first appearance in Teen Titans, Zachary later showed up  in Superman #680 in which Superman fought the mythological Atlas and was getting his ass beat.   Supes realized that he needed help so he went to a magic show Zatanna was meant to headline but instead met Zachary there and the two got off to a rough start: 

I’ve mentioned this story in another post but lets cut to the chase; Supes is a little abrasive here but lets cut him some slack, the Man of Steel was forced to leave his dog to fight his battles for him.

After getting a super charge from Zachary, Supes managed to beat Atlas but he wanted everyone to credit Krypto instead.

Zachary would have a minor role during the ‘World of New Krypton’ era of Superman comics. This was imo, the most interesting era of Superman comics which was kicked off when Superman rescued the shrunken bottled city of Kandor and restored it to full size on.......earth. So now the inhabitants on earth are neighbors with a thousands of Kryptonians and not all of them are as nice as Superman.

This event was like a tide for the Superman books and supporting cast, I can’t think of another era (besides maybe Death of Superman) that elevated supporting characters like Supergirl, Guardian, Dr Light/Kimiyo Hoshi, Captain Atom while also reviving Silver Age characters like Mon-El, Flamebird and Nightwing/Chris Kent (hey, remember him? he was the proto Jon Kent).    

Zachary and Zatanna appeared in Action Comics #873 along with the ‘Sentinel of Magic’ where they cast a spell to ward off a group of hostile Kryptonians and we also get a peek of Zatanna mentoring Zachary:   

The Zatara’s and the Marvel Family should team up more, imo. Plus it’s cool to see them doing combos and this is a great follow up from their appearance in 52. Their team work is better here and they’re doing combos now.   

In Superman #690, Zachary is meeting one of his stage hands who has something important to tell him when they are suddenly interrupted by Parasite:   

Mark Merlin is an old Golden Age character, the writer, James Robinson (who also wrote Starman) is a huge fan of Golden Age characters.   

I’m normally not a fan of jerkass protagonists but Zachary is a little different. His arrogance and aloofness serves as a mask to hide his insecurities and cowardiance. Plus you know Zee would whoop his ass if he really crossed the line.   

In a sudden twist though, we learn in Superman #692 that the man Zachary was talking to was not Mark Merlin, but Mirabai; a sorceress who agreed to become an ally for General Sam Lane in his anti-Kryptonian war in exchange for him loaning her a brainwashed Captain Atom so she can rule her realm (called the Sorcerers World) with an iron fist.   

Zachary appeared in the Captain Atom back up series in Action Comics that ran from Action Comics #879-889. Zachary appeared in #887-889 as an unwitting slave to MIrabai. He doesn’t really get to do much here, the story is centered on Captain Atom who has managed to break out of the Mirabai’s mind control and joined the rebels to help them over throw Mirabai.  

He succeeds only to find out that one of his ally’s was actually the wizard Mordru (I’ve mentioned him before in relation to Dr Fate) in disguise who quickly banished Zachary back to the mortal world:  

But he is friendly with Captain Atom, telling him that the latter could come back to his realm at any time.    

This issue also came with preview pages for Zatanna’s solo series by Paul Dini and Stephane Roux which is where we meet Zachary next:   

Side note: Mirabai would make a good foe for Zachary and by extension Zatanna (’nobody enslaves my cousin!’).   

3/3 Zachary & Zatanna

Finally, when Zatanna’s own ongoing was launched in 2010, we finally got to see what their relationship was like.

Zachary showed up in Zatanna #04-06 written by Paul Dini and we finally get a little backstory on them including this flashback showing a teenage Zatanna teaching a young Zachary:   

Zatanna promises to show up for Zachary’ next show but fails because an evil casino owner who made a deal with a literal demon hypnotizes her to marry him so he can sell her soul in exchange for immortality.    

Zachary is at first, pissed when Zatanna doesn’t show up...

  but ends up helping  her escape from the evil casino owner while also bickering like siblings:     

The issue walks a fine line between not rendering Zatanna a damsel in distress, giving her agency in saving herself while also allowing Zachary to contribute to the story. 

At the end, she finally does manage to make it to one of his performances:  

He showed up next in Zatanna #14  written by Adam Beechen which starts out with Zatanna chewing him out for screwing up a joint performance:   

Zach, predictably doesn’t listen and ends up getting into trouble which his cousin had to bail him out of:   

Part of what makes the Zatanna/Zachary dynamic so fun is that both Zatanna and her father are often portrayed as heroic and selfless (even if they have some morally gray moments at times) but Zach is more self absorbed and arrogant which forces Zatanna to be more up front in dealing with her side kick.  It also gives Zach a character arc; his hubris is a cover for his cowrdiance and insecruities thus his story arc is one about overcoming them to become a better person.   

They also worked together during the Reign In Hell event which is set sometime before Zatanna’s series, I’m posting this here because I found Zach’s impudence here to be hilarious: 

You know you done fucked up when even Jason Blood is horrified.   

Post Nu52, Zachary disappeared but he did show up in Raven: Daughter of Darkenss, a 12 issue limited series by Marv Wolfman as part of the Nightforce:   

I haven’t read it yet and it’s the kind of thing that deserves it’s own separate post anyway.  

Finally, in 2021, a Suicide Squad book was among the titles in DC’s Round Roubin (basically, vote for whichever title you want to read the most otherwise it won’t see the light of day) with Zachary on the roster. The title never made it past the rounds and was never published but we did get some preview pages, Zach screwed up royally and has to work with the Squad to make up for it:   

Thank god this was never published, all I can imagine is Zatanna downing a whole bottle of alcohol and screaming after hearing this.   

That’s about it for his major appearances to this date. Now for some FAQ’s before wrapping this up and also check out the Recommended Reading List at the very bottom: 

Who Are His Parents?  

Zachary’s parents have never appeared on panel and has never been mentioned.  Sure, in Earth-22 Kingdom Come universe, ‘John Zatara’ is the son of Zatanna and John Constantine but as you can see there are differences between ‘John Zatara’ and the ‘Zachary Zatara’ here.       

Zatanna having an adult son either in the Pre Nu52 universe or the Rebirth timeline doesn’t make much sense timeline wise unless you go down the path of convoluted retcons involving aged up magical babies and false memories ala Pre Crisis Dinah Laurel Lance. You also have to consider the flashbacks showing teen Zatanna training kid Zachary, how they interact like cousins/siblings instead of mother/son and they refer to each other as cousins even when they are by themselves. .

That said, there is no indication in Giovanni’s backstory of him having any siblings either but not enough to completely rule out the possibility either. It’s possible that he had an estranged brother or Giovanni himself became distant from his own family or he had an uncle and Zachary is his cousin first removed.

Also, this is just my opinion, but I can’t really see Zatanna as a mom. Even with characters like I like seeing her dating (whether it’s Blue Devil, Joshua, Batman, sometimes Dick Grayson).  I can see Wonder Woman, Mera, Big Barda and Catwoman being mothers but never got that vibe from Zee. Sure she’s great with kids but I never got the ‘mom’ vibe from her character. She always struck me as a Helen Mirren type who would remain childless but fulfilled even into her old age.   

I have a few guesses as to who his parents could be in the pre Nu52 timeline:  

-Fulcanelli. A minor character that appeared in Fate #10 (click here for more). Zatanna initially introduces him as a friend of her fathers. He’s an alchemist who is burdened with the cost of magic. At the climax of the issue, right before he is turned into a gold statue, Zatanna calls him uncle while in turn he calls her niece.  Whether it was just an affectionate term, like she thought of him as an uncle despite not being related or if they were actually blood related was never clarified. Plus Zatanna has referred to people she isn’t blood related to as uncles or aunts, like the time she called Rose Psychic her Aunt during Reign In Hell.  

But suppose Fulcanelli and Zatara’s were blood related, Zachary’s father being an alchemist could explain why his power doesn’t work on anything organic.   

-Giovanni himself. 

Which would make Zatanna and Zachary into siblings as well which also fits their banter in the comic books. My theory in this case is that they share the same father but different mothers.  Giovanni has been associated with multiple women, both romantically and non romantically; Madame Xanadu, Charity from Starman and Tigress. He was smitten by Madame Xanadu and outright said he wanted to make babies with her but the latter turned him down since she was aware of his future. Their relationship never moved beyond friends with benefits but it would be interesting if she ever did take up on his offer after Sindella’s first death. 

The other option would be Tigress; the classic enemy-to-lovers trope. Tigress was a thief and a normal human who was Zatara’s main nemesis and sometimes-ally during the Golden Age. There are no stories where their relationship turned romantic but imagine if it did at some point but for whatever reason it didn’t work out, they divorced and Tigress had custody of Zachary. The flashback of teen Zatanna training a young Zachary could have taken place during brief visitations. It also fits Zachary’s stated origin that his powers were only awakened after the events of Days of Vengeance, especially if one or both of his parents are human.  It also explains Zatanna telling Flash that she doesn’t have a family in JLA: Crisis of Conscience, technically she wasn’t lying as this scenario involves Tigress separating herself from the Zataras. But then Zach got his powers and started following in his father’s footsteps and the two started to bond again. It also contextualizes Zachary’s ego; he is trying to reject his mother’s villainous roots and trying to embrace his father’s heroic side. 

Still, this is just what my speculation.  

Who knows what Johns, Robinson and Dini had actually planned though.  Maybe they were intending for him to be Zatanna and Constantine’s son and had a convoluted explanation involving wizards and genies and time travel involved.   

Is Zachary Queer? 

Zach has never been confirmed to be queer but I noticed that he does have a queer fanbase and his close friendship with Kid Devil aka Eddie Bloomberg can be interpreted as such. They just have that vibe to them.  He also does have a relationship with Bunny, his stage assistant but that could just mean he is either bi sexual or polysexual.  Folks are free to interpret him however they like.  

I’m supportive of the head canon that Zachary is queer and him being in a relationship with Eddie totally works.   

I hope Zachary returns one day. He would be perfect for JLD and I love his dynamic with Zee and an appearance there is long over due.  

Litnu txen emit! 

Recommended Reading

-52:  #21, #50  (also World War III #3)

-Teen Titans Vol 3:   #34-38, #39, #42, #52, #69 (after Terror Titans) 

-Terror Titans #1-6

-Robin Vol 2 #166

-Teen Titans #83-87. Coven of Three back up with Zachary, Traci 13 and Black Alice.  

-Superman #680,  #683 (which is followed up in Action Comics #873), #687    

-Superman #690 followed by #692 and the rest of the story is picked up in  Action Comics #887-889 Captain Atom back up.   

-Zatanna #4-6 and #14.  

-Raven: Daughter of Darkness #1-12  

If there is anything you would like me to add or remove, let me know.

[brettsshrimp]

since I can't sleep I've been thinking of Christmas headcanons since it's almost that month ww

• you and Brett go all out with decorating the office!! and at first everyone's like???? it's not even December wtf but soon enough they get dragged in by puppy eyes and pout from you two. they'll all eventually get into the spirit and enjoy decorating

• ngl the office will probably look like a disaster to people outside of the group nshmsjk like, everyone has their own personal touch that they wanna add, whether it's for jokes or not. it's v chaotic but you wouldn't have it any other way<33

• the tree is huge btw, and it's absolutely covered in ornaments and tinsel

• Also!! going down to where Robotus is and decorating the basement!! at first both Reagan and Robotus are like?? what's the point???? but Robotus does appreciate it even if he doesn't admit it,, makes him feel included even if he isn't actually there

• like setting up fairy lights that change color, giving him his own tree, asking if there's anything he wants on the tree or what topper he wants

• convincing Reagan to give him Christmas movies to watch too!!

• omg you know that story where someone played what's new pussycat on a jukebox over and over with a different song in the middle??? Myc would do that and play all I want for Christmas is you on the speakers on repeat with one other Christmas song that plays after like 8 times. he's enjoying watching everyone go insane

• imagine walking by the office and just hearing "I don't want a lot for Christmas" and then everyone just collectively losing their shit hnshdkbd

• Glenn probably ends up breaking the speakers smnsksb everyone just sits there like,,, it's so quiet now,

• baking sugar cookies cut into Christmas shapes for the gang and bringing frosting and sprinkles so they can decorate them!!

• it either turns into a frosting war or a competition of who can decorate the best cookie ever. either way, wherever the decorating is happening, it won't stay clean

• also, the thought crossed my mind 'oh! what if they all baked together!!' and it seemed cute at first but then I realized that's a horrible idea shsnkdhk not just the kitchen, but the whole place would be a complete mess

• Brett comes in one day with a bunch of ugly sweaters that he picked for the group. at first everyone's like,, I don't wanna wear that, but he convinces them to, and they won't deny, he did a good job picking out sweaters for them

• getting presents for them is gonna be hard because Myc will absolutely try to read your mind and find out what you're getting everyone. everytime you're near him you have to distract yourself or actively think about other things

• he's teasing you like come onnn you know you wanna think about it~ it must be tiring thinking of all these other things~ just oneee little thought? I promise I won't tell<3

• I'm sure he doesn't care too much about Christmas, but he does appreciates the dedication you have to make sure what you got him stays a surprise. probably not a lot of people have done that

• spoiling everyone with presents!! they probably aren't used to it, or really done this with eachother (sure they've decorated the place a bit but not to this extent) so when they see presents under the tree they're like oh,,? we're supposed to get presents? and they start to! when Christmas arrives there's just a huge stack of presents for everyone

• always making sure everyone feels included and as happy as they can be

• like, I'm thinking,, I'm not sure about the others, but Brett and Reagan probably never really had a proper Christmas so like,,, I just wanna let them have a good, proper Christmas hmmgehrh,,,,,

[fy-wonwoo]

[eng sub] wonwoo esquire korea, sep 2022 – interview

©wonwoosfeed

Q1. The content “Wonwoo’s diary” on seventeen’s official youtube channel has been a hot topic. I was wondering why there was suddenly a skit unfolding in a set of a countryside, but the more I watched it the more I fell in love with it. I was surprised because everyone acted so well.

WW: When we filmed it, I didn’t know it would get this much attention. In fact I felt doubtful and thought ‘would this be funny?’. I played the role of a novice documentary director who just had to observe other characters but the members felt a lot of pressure to be funny even before filming. But when we actually went into the shoot, everyone was unstoppable (laughs). There were many points to laugh about.

Q2. I heard there wasn’t any script at all.

WW: That’s right. There was only a character and situation set up without a script. The members have a greed to be funny, so even if no one asks them to, they would step up and do gags/comedy with their body. I knew everyone was so talented. I remember laughing throughout the shoot because I was able to see almost every scene in person as I was the role of an observer.

Q3. So far 2 episodes have been uploaded, are there any plans for episode 3?

WW: I played the role of a director in the video, but I wasn’t actually the one who planned it. We’ll be busy with the tour schedule during the second half of this year, so I don’t know if we would have time to. But after saying this, we might suddenly come back with a season 2. There are a lot of funny scenes that weren’t included in the content, and there are still ideas that we haven’t been able to try.

Q4. Aside from your role in <Wonwoo’s Diary>, I heard that you’ve been interested in filming videos for a long time.

WW: There’s a reason for this. Before Covid I often went on world tours but as I was busy traveling between cities then standing on stage, my memories got mixed up and vague. There were a lot of fun and touching moments on stage but it’s a pity to forget them all. So I wanted to keep them by recording them. At first, I filmed a few times for personal use, but as I got interested in it, I started wanting to learn it properly. After that, whenever I saw the video director, I learned editing skills and filming techniques from time to time. I even made a specific plan to film a documentary, but it was halted as external activities had to be greatly reduced due to Covid.

Q5. If you can shoot a video tomorrow without thinking about budget or schedule, what would you like to shoot?

WW: A music video. I want to film it like a short movie with a story. When I was working on the song “Round and Round” from the most recent repackaged album “Sector 17”, I thought “it would be fun to film a music video for this”. Mingyu is also interested in videos like me, so we talked about filming a hip-hop team music video together, but we couldn’t put it into practice.

Q6. Since you have a lot of interest in videos, I think you would like movies as well.

WW: I tend to watch movies regardless of genre, but I especially enjoy movies with a calm atmosphere and good scenery. Such as fluctuating waves and spreading forests, natures images that blend in well with the characters. The last movie I watched was “Decision to Leave” and I really liked it.

Q7. In another interview, you said you liked nature. That if you had time, you want to go to a quiet place and set up a tent and look up at the night sky.

WW: Being in the calm nature makes me feel relaxed. I started as a trainee at the age of 16 and I’ve been active as an idol till now, so I have a craving for freedom. During my debut and now, the reason why I like whales is because of the image of whales freely wandering around the wide sea. I often dream of taking a chance in a mysterious place where the overwhelming nature touches me. For example, imagine what it would be like to go to the deep sea. I guess it’s because I’m a person with a lot of curiosity.

Q8. But it would be hard to always visit such places due to your busy schedule.

WW: That’s true too. So I often watch youtube (videos) about delicious food these days. For example, “how to grill and eat Tomahawk steak deliciously”. I do watch mukbangs too, but I’m more attracted to videos that teach me how to cook than just eating. I haven’t followed and made any yet, but I have a feeling that I’ll try to soon. (Laughs) Or maybe I’ll go personally find it and eat it myself. It was mistakenly known that I have an habit to eat a little rice, but that’s not true. I love to eat.

Q9. Now that I see it, your hands are full of callouses. You must be working hard on weight training.

WW: It’s been about three years since I started. I didn’t start because I wanted to have a nice body, but I wanted to take care of my physical strength and condition. There was a time when I was greedy for weight, but these days, I only do it in a safe weight so that I don’t get hurt. When I overdo it, it hurts around my elbow. The members all like to exercise, so we all help each other work out. Personally, I like bench press the most.

Q10. Do you ever feel that you need some alone time since you’re always with the members?

WW: Of course I could think that sometimes. It’s like there’s a whole family that’s always been together having their own lives. Fortunately, we promised to be considerate of each other’s private life’s from the beginning and we are constantly trying to keep that promise. We’re being considerate to one another. We’ve been together for seven years, so I can feel it just by looking at our eyes. I think it’s important not to cross the line.

[albinokittens300]

SAW IT. I SAW SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE. AHH.

This is gonna be a the first of several parts. Cause I have to much to say to write all the way down while I am tired. Be on the look out for a second part to this!

Spoilers below the cut- read on if you've seen it or aren't bothered by knowing some spoilery.

Theres a lot I have to think about so we're in for a bulleted list ya'll lets go-

I loved the team. I loved them so much every single one of them had my heart. Dumbledores First Army was a complete win for me no questions asked. Their personalities all came together to create a team that seemed so real and full of just, warmth.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald is honestly so tragic and it made my fiery distain for Grindelwald thaw for half a second. Then he killed the baby Chillin and he was on my shit list again.

LALLY. SHE IS SO AMAZING I LOVE HER. I know Jessica Willaims has confirmed she is still gonna be involved going forward and that makes me SO HYPE. She is so hilarious, flirty and supportive she is amazing. Oh, and badass. She's badass as well.

This was a literal Wizarding heist movie and I was here for every second of hit.

Jacob and Queenie in this movie got my heart as well. It culminating in him being tortured hurt my heart but the wedding healed it. JAQUEENIE WEDDING LETS GO.

Bunty was hilarious, but also amazing tbh. Her rising up to be the hero in this heist was amazing.

Aberforth was also super interesting. I actually throughly enjoyed Albus and Aberforths sort of tense and complicated, but still existing brotherhood. It felt interesting seeing them, and also seeingthe very close Scamander bros.

Speaking of whom. Just the whole prison break scene. I love it. I love every second of it and the manticores had me laughing so hard my side hurt.

The way Grindelwald goes from wanted criminal, to a leading candidate of the leader for the WW is as chilling as it should be. Like all it took was Vogal to choose to say there wasn't enough evidence to convict him and he nearly started a whole war with muggles.

[thevindicativevordan]

How do you think, with this new regime in WB led by Zaslav, is there any hope for at least some future for the characters from FS? Especially considering that their sales and popularity, apparently, are not particularly impressive.

Good question. My gut feeling is that the new regime won't have much interest in pushing the new blood. They seem to be pivoting back towards the safer choices, Superman instead of Supergirl as the main DCEU Kryptonian for example. Truthfully without the clean break reboot and relaunch of 5G to grab attention, it's hard to see most of the new guard persisting for long. Jon is secure, even if they rebooted he's already been adapted outside of comics. People are aware that there is a son of Superman and Lois Lane, once he started getting adapted that cemented him as a mainstay. Besides he's the blood son, nobody had a problem with him becoming Superman, they just objected to how it was done. Kaldur likewise should be fine, despite DC's failure to put him on equal footing with Arthur, given the popularity of Young Justice.

Jace, Andy, and Yara are in the gray area. On one hand a black Batman should be safe because of the social media uproar were he to be killed, but I'm not sure many people are even aware of Jace. Until he shows up outside of comics he seems to be slipping under the radar. I don't know where he has a chance of showing up however, and I don't think his odds of doing so are very high. For now he has managed to keep his ongoing and we'll see what the future holds for him. Aquaman is rumored to be introducing a son, where that leaves Andy I'm uncertain, but I lean on the side of her being fine. Yara was the most popular of the three new Trinity members initially but seems to have fallen the hardest. No CW show, no ongoing, and nothing coming up for WW where she's likely to appear. I view her as possessing far greater potential for success than either Cassie or Donna all the same, and I believe she will continue.

Jo and Jess are goners. Jo is the eighth human GL, John is the obvious choice for anyone wanting a black GL, and Jessica Cruz is the more popular female GL. Furthermore Jo isn't in the HBO MAX GL series which is the only place I could feasibly seeing her appear outside of comics in the near term. Jess is a nobody and the Flash Family already has Barry and Wally struggling for the top spot, zero chance Jess can compete.

Their best chance is that a new JL book comes out of Dark Crisis starring them, it's well received and runs long enough to grab mainstream attention, and the DCEU persists long enough that Zaslav needs to bring in replacements for the originals resulting in him picking them. A long shot to be sure - I'd only place a bet on Jon, Jace, and Yara ever getting movies or shows - but not totally outside the realm of possibility.

[amostimprobabledream]

I finally saw West Side Story (2020) last weekend, so I thought I'd write down my thoughts: Things I liked:

- Introducing Chino properly and giving him a more distinct look against the Sharks was a good move, because in the 1961 version it's really easy to forget who Chino even is half the time. Here he's memorable and has an actual character arc that mirrors Maria's.

- I really liked this Anita, I thought it would be really hard to replace the original one but she's a great character, she's sassy and fun and the actress had a very nice singing voice. She carried a lot of the scenes with Bernardo and Maria for me.

- RIFF. At first when we get introduced to Riff I was like, "Who is this sassy, lost child?" and didn't think he was impressive enough for the leader of the Jets, but he grew on me a lot and he really brought a lot to the part. I won't say I outright think he's better than Russ Tamlin because they play Riff very differently but the actor who did play him really reinvented Riff as his own. The Jets look a lot dirtier and more desperate in this version and the scenes where Riff explains his "world" as he knows it is shrinking and there's no place for him in it were heartbreaking.

- The dance sequences and music was of course fantastic - it couldn't afford to be anything less because of how iconic the 1961 version and it generally looked really good.

- The setting was very good and the whole subplot of the Jets territory shrinking because of the buildings being demolished was a nice touch. Gave the whole thing an overall more desperate feel.

- I liked what they did with "Cool", even if I was disappointed a lot of Graziella's dance numbers got removed because of it. But them wrestling over the gun and the Jets devolving into a power struggle between Riff and Tony was really interesting to watch.

- Also, yes, Ansel Elgort was really good as Tony and I agree with the overall consensus that he makes a much more believable ex-Jet than the OG Tony ever did. Things I didn't like:

- Valentino's character was both an unnecessary change and also a needlessly big part. Like at first I thought it was cute they had the OG Anita in the movie (tbh I was impressed she's still alive - she must have been in maybe her early 20s in the 1961 version), but after a while it started to get annoying how much she was inserted into random scenes. I was sitting there like, "West Side Story is the love story between Tony and Maria, not Valentino and Doc!" I mean, Doc's role is important in the story but he's only in a few scenes. I bet you anything if Doc was in the movie instead he wouldn't have been in so much of it. It felt really weird to have Valentino singing "Somewhere".

- On that vein, "Something's Coming" made me cringe - Ansel Elgort did a great job actually singing it, but the fact it's Tony prancing around singing it while Valentino watches him looking all confused just felt extremely weird. Felt way better when it was Tony singing it to himself.

- This is a very unpopular opinion, I know, but I...didn't really like this version of Maria? I know Natalie Wood wasn't the right ethnicity for the part and a lot of her singing was dubbed, but she just had this charisma and charm to her that the actress in the 2021 didn't have. This version of Maria made me think of a bratty child - idk if it's the facial expressions the actress makes or how tiny she is compared to everyone else but I just didn't like her. She had good chemistry with Tony and she's a good singer, but all the scenes of her without him I was focusing on anyone else - my eyes always went to Anita.

- I wasn't a fan of the change to Anybody's character. I always liked Anybody's in the 1961 character as a tomboy girl who wanted to be a Jet and didn't fit in with other girls (especially Graziella and Velma), being a tomboy girl myself when I first saw WWS, and I found this version of the character annoying. Also the scene where he takes on like four police officers was bullshit.

- I liked the 1961 version of "I Feel Pretty" way more - in that one it's just Maria mucking around after work, but in this one it's Maria skipping around before the job and all the other maids are like, "What the fuck?" It added to my dislike of Maria that she's skipping around disrupting the other maids because she's in love.

- I also thought "One Hand, One Heart" was done better in the 1961 version. I get the 2020 one took advantage of being able to go to other locations and the stained glass window setting was pretty, but there was something that added to the scene with OG Tony and Maria, pretending to meet each other's families in Anita's shop while as an audience we know their idealised version will never happen.

- Having Anita come to identify Bernado's body and then go back to Maria and sing "A Boy Like That" was SUCH a bad move because it's like, "Anita, you know Bernado killed Riff first, you literally saw his body at the morgue and now you're going to sing about how a boy who kills has no heart? Um???"

Overall it was a lot better than I expected but I think both movies had strengths and weaknesses. I still have a massive soft spot for Natalie Wood and Russ Tamlin, though.

[humantorch]

tag game!!

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to get to know better. i definitely don’t know 20 people well enough to tag them but i will tag a few :) and thank you @callalilycas for tagging me!!

name: raven or sam!

sign: aquarius (january)

height: 5’6”

time: almost midnight

birthday: january 31st

favorite bands/artists: halsey and megan thee stallion for sure, but i listen to too much random shit to pick other favorites lmao.

last movie: the sea beast on netflix! i highly recommend

last show: stranger things! just finished the season finale today. cried a lot :( it was awesome though

when i created this blog: uhhhhhhhhhhh that’s a great question. like maybe 2020?? 2019?? i don’t remember but it was like over two years ago

what i post: mostly supernatural, sometimes i return to my marvel roots though when i’m really excited about something

last thing i googled: the location of a boutique in a town i can’t say without doxxing myself 💀

other blogs: @slingers @warbirdworthington slingers is like my messy everything i like gets reblogged here blog. and ww is my x-men blog

do i get asks: usually just from my mutuals, but when i was a marvel blog people would ask me stuff about characters fairly often. that was fun :)

following: 221! i hadn’t checked in a while so i honestly thought it would be more than that lmao. and i have like 270 something followers so the ratio is pretty clean

average hours of sleep: uhhhhh like too many. 10 probably. i stay up late and then sleep until noon most days. which is bad. i need to fix my sleep schedule

instruments: i used to play the flute but quit when i got to high school. kinda miss it but i don’t really feel like starting again

what i’m wearing: pajamas :) the shirt is a harley davidson shirt and my shorts have like colorful leopard print

dream job: i don’t really have one? something to do with animals maybe

dream trip: i’ve always wanted to see iceland. it looks gorgeous in pictures

nationality: american

favorite songs: this is so hard what. probably i am not a woman i’m a god by halsey, girls in the hood by megan thee stallion, and mary on a cross by ghost

last book i read: dracula! i don’t have a lot of time to read usually so dracula daily has been my best friend

3 fictional universes I’d live in: supernatural of course, the percy jackson universe, and star wars. would i die in all three? most likely. but i would have a good time

alright tagging people now! no pressure or anything of course <3 @cxyotl @bucketbug @the-blue-butterfly-effect @itsvs @dumbfuck-mojave not gonna tag anyone else bc i hate bothering people but wooo yay done

[radiowallet]

My Sunbeam,

I would love to know - when was your "gotcha" moment for the characters you write? (OCs, Marc or Din or Frankie or whoever else you choose) When (and what!) did you write where you just knew you had them and their voice? Maybe it was only for that tiny moment, or maybe it's cemented permanently now, but I'm dying to know.

(also, if you don't know, it's okay and I love you always)

(leave it to me to ask the hard questions, eh?)

Damn, wifey! So hard on a girl lying on a bedroom floor!

No one will be surprised with who I start with-

Marcus came to me so fast it was almost like whiplash. I watched the movie once (out of curiosity more than anything) and this scene happened and I was gone-

This is a man who is about to break a promise to the only constant left in his life. What does that say about a person? About their loyalty? The way their heart works? This is a man who wants to save the whole world and also be home to help his kid with her homework. I could see someone who was torn, someone who was thinking about his daughter, his late wife, his teammates, and the tears in his eyes! I started writing PWC right after that, but I didn’t really feel like I had his voice until I wrote No Such Thing. It was a WW prompt and the first piece of writing I posted on the hellsite. To this day I think it’s the thing I’m most proud of and my love (and desire to spread that love) for Marcus Moreno has only grown. I now have notebook after notebook filled with thoughts about this man, and I can’t seem to stop.

Sarah was a little harder to nail down. From the beginning I knew she had to be a match for a super hero. Someone who could handle the idiotic and stressful nature of your partner saving the world for a living. I think that’s why the first chapter of PWC was so important to me. In my head she was always an OC and I needed her voice to be just as important as Marcus’s. She needed to be fun and smart, and also a little bit broken. But I didn’t really have her voice nailed down until I wrote what is now chapter 14. I actually wrote that back at the beginning of the summer. I didn’t know if it would make it into the story or not but it helped me understand and connect with her. Also this is the sassy gif I saw and thought, yup, that’s my girl-

BONUS: Missy Moreno

Missy came to me so quickly. The minute I decided to put her in chapter 2 of PWC I had her. Something about her I connected with immediately. I heard her teasing Marcus, then gently encouraging him, then right back to teasing. 

As far as Din and Frankie... I don’t know if I so much HAVE their voices, but I enjoy those sandboxes and kicking around in them from time to time.