#in concept it could be a good one but unfortunately i am a bad writer so in practice it sucks 👍

[daz4i]

my best line ever was actually "i don't see a point in writing at all, cause all that i feel has been written before" i wish i could put it in a better song bc i peaked there but the rest of it is kinda ass.

[qcomicsy]

Choose violence: 1. the character everyone gets wrong

Wade Wilson. Harley Quinn. Tim Drake. Dick Grayson.

I could go more but each one for each particular reasons.

The problem with comic book fandom is that eventually people will be attracted by the vibe. And there's nothing wrong with that most of the time the vibe is good.

Unfortunately it does involve people affirming things without being absolutely sure and myself was also guilty of that a while ago.

Yet, I do not think we should bash these people or act purposely towards them, the comic media is big. There are 80 years of history regarding some characters (Dick for example) and others (the newest ones like Harley, Tim, Deadpool) around 30 years +. That's a lot.

And I am not even pointing out the fact that how different writers will have different takes and different approaches to each character, because each history regarding them will have a particular theme and unfortunately comics suffer from what I call "playing doll house" effect where the writer wants to make a concept he finds very amusing or interesting and most of the time they will be willing to bend character each way their like to serve that.

As a newbie in comics the possibility of getting characters wrong, getting overwhelmed and taking early comics where the version of those characters is fucked up already, wanting to give up even before start is absolutely understandable and possible.

It is overwhelming, it is easy to get it wrong, it is even expected to get wrong because most of this characters have been suffering some kind of flandarization coming from the comics itself.

That being said.

Jesus Christ how those this poor fuckers are misunderstood.

Since I do not read much comics from Tim Drake I won't be speaking much about him, I also won't be speaking much about Dick because I am getting around reading his old series now.

The problem with characters like Wade, Dick and Harley is that the three of them are multifaceted people. Writing characters and understanding characters who are multifaceted is hard.

I, for a long time believed that their more silly moments the jokes and easy going persona where facades a thing that they use as a coping mechanism a thing that it's not the real them. Now I am not so sure.

Yes I do agree a lot of people summarize them as either this ray of sunshine without real feelings and in Wade's and Harleys case a crazy person that has no logical thought process.

The thing is that all of them can be funny and thoughtful. Can have the habilidades of cracking jokes both because they feel like but also to distract an enemy.

Dick Grayson can be a very thoughtful and kind person and cat like an asshole when he's in a bad mood and willingly be mean with people he cares about.

It all boils down to one thing that I have been thinking a lot lately. Comics are one of the few medias where you can have all the liberties to make multifaceted people, people who make mistakes and have a long time to make up for it. To fall on old ways to evolve, devolve, you can express and explore them in each way it relates to the character history and the people who love them.

And I find it such a shame that it's literally the characters who are the most written in that way the ones who suffer the "only character trait ever" syndrome.

[dynared]

“Characters in search of a plot” is a pretty good way of putting it. And you aren’t wrong about really weak villains. I think a lot of bigotry allegories tend to fall apart if you scratch them a bit but this one is particularly bad. Mostly I think I just don’t like how the war machines get treated with more leniency by the writing than any human it seems.

I’m pretty new to the franchise and was initially really interested in the IDW comics but the more I’ve heard about them the less enthused I am. I mostly gather wonky characterizations, a weirdly BNF-y trend to the fandom and poorly written space politics.

I also… may have spent a decent amount of time in a fandom with a weird amount of imperialism apologia because “well things had to change!” so I get really antsy if I feel any rumblings in that direction. Pity because I love Space Operas, I’m interested in Cybertronian worldbuilding and I’d like less focus on the humans but little of it sounds done well. I may try them at some point to at least form proper opinions but they sound like an incohesive mess, and not in the fun way.

I do hope that the people who enjoy them are having fun though. And despite my reservations and some issues I am quite enjoying the Skybound comics for the most part! Though time will tell if it stays that way.

There's a decent amount here, so let's go through it one step at a time since I don't want to come off as ignoring things:

One could argue that "characters in search of a plot" is probably a better conundrum than a plot where you just don't like the characters. I fully believe some of the Terrans might get another shot at being featured in something, even if it is with modified backstories not connected to the Maltos. Twitch is probably the most likely to get another crack at a big role, although I could see her being portrayed as just a regular Autobot in a subsequent production. Hashtag, despite a name that might make some cringe, actually seems to be the closest the brand has come to a proper Blaster replacement, and Jawbreaker as the Dinobots kid sibling would make a lot of sense and serve to humanize them in a future work. Unfortunately Thrash, who doesn't have much of a personality, and Nightshade, who has become a lightning rod of controversy, I'm less sure about.

That said, bigotry allegories are tough in the best of times. Even in good cases, they're often subject to bad faith readings, and in bad cases, like here? Forget it. It's an awkward, clunky mess that heavily contradicts the rest of the franchise, in particular the comic they're releasing right now where the Cons could not give a damn about anything other than themselves, and whose Starscream is a sadistic bully. But the writers here are clearly fans of the fanfic Cons, so in trying to make them as sympathetic as possible, their cruelty and issues are swept under the rug. It was worse in IDW admittedly since the Autobots were oftentimes just terrible people, so you were often let with no one to root for. For all its problems, the Autobots in Earthspark are more often than not ineffectual, not evil, which is probably because Hasbro pumped the brakes on having cash cows like Optimus Prime be shown as evil without say, brainwashing.

I would not recommend the IDW comics to anyone. The few gems of characterization and concepts cannot make up for the mountains of coal that was most of their run, and IDW2, the prequel that tries to establish a framework for the Great War? The damned thing was so slow and boring that no one mourned IDW losing the license. Not to mention if you're not REALLY familiar with these characters and why you should care about the variances in how they're portrayed, I find most people would just be completely lost, and if you don't like how the portrayals are altered, frustrated. It's simply put, not a fun comic unless you are in the market for a very specific portrayal.

The main issue with the humans (something the very first Transformers comic writer, Bob Budinansky noted was important) was that without that connection, the Transformers could be anything else. They could be humans with power armor, weird bug aliens, or freakish mutants. But it's that relationship and contrast with the humans that makes them special. That's not to say that there are versions of the story that significantly overdo the human element, because there assuredly are, but to have it be completely absent is to cut off part of why we invest in these characters.

Finally, while the Skybound Energon Universe is a little less than a year old, and there are definitely some concerns as well as plot holes that hopefully the narrative will fill in later, I argue that those comics have bought something that seemed to be missing from so much Transformers media as of late, a sense of actual fun. The writers get mecha and what makes them cool. They get the core of why these characters work. I can only hope that the quality stays high, especially with Daniel Warren Johnson, part of why I think the comics have been so good (no one in IDW would dare think of references pro wrestling or the 08th MS Team) phasing out of the book.

[dayurno]

HELLO i just wanted to say that i love you so muuuch!! i recently finished reading playing for keeps and oh. my. god.

your kevin is the most adorable thing I've ever seen i want to eat him alive (sorry, I'm vegan actually but...)

tntg and pfk is the masterpieces i know what I'm talking about. perhaps you can give some advice for fic writers? i love you sm 😩🤚🏼

OH WOW nice to me thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! and wanting to eat kevin alive is the average kevin day experience he is just chewable!!!! i guarantee

and aiya advice for fic writers huh. i dont know if my advice is worth much if anything at all but from the top of my head here are some things ive picked up over the years that will hopefully serve someone somewhere

presentation actually matters!!!! a properly formatted fic is not only delicious to read but also helps with keeping you in the story, i know this because i am a bad formatter (so sorry) and whenever i go through my fics and see a mistake i'm immediately taken out of it! just make sure it's easy to read and you have formatted it to the best of your abilities

brevity is the soul of wit. unfortunately. this is by no means i'm advocating for only short sentences (we all love tangents!) but i think it is good to vary on sentence length and save your longer lines for things that are important to note down! this image has been going around for years now but i still think its one of the most helpful pieces of writing advice ive ever seen

side characters are your best friends!!!!! i think as fanfic writers sometimes we want to get to the point and focus only on our mains, but it does add a lot of flavor and texture when you have small storylines happening along with your main plot, especially if you're doing an in-depth character study. life exists even when we're not seeing it!!!! give your side characters interesting stories and relationships!!!!

writing is about FUN and your questions regarding your storyline should never be "what is the most logical thing that could happen now?" but "what is the most interesting thing that could happen now?". this is a sin aftg fans commit the most when talking about aftg but i am here to tell you that no plot is too ambitious. nothing is so out there that you can't write about it! no concept is too wacky! interesting should come first; you worry about the logic in later edits. most readers are more willing to forgive an interesting plot with technical problems than they are willing to forgive a boring story that is perfect writing-wise

i think this is all i have! if anyone would like to add something theyre more than welcome to

[liquidstar]

Hello! I'm the anon with the protector goddess OC from a while ago, I just realised I never actually responded to your response. Thank you for telling me that! I am cis myself, as you could probably tell haha, but there are a lot of trans women (writers or video essayists mostly) who I really look up to, and whose content helped me through a lot of dark times in my own mind.

To continue about my OC - she is pretty specifically only a protector of women, especially girls, not from general sexism but mostly violent misogyny, something that is very important to me because of some bad experiences. It is actually a plot point that she saved a girl, a possible future priestess, from death and assault by an invading force, but did not save the lives of her brother or father, something that drives the girl away from her religion - she would rather, in that moment, have died along with them. So, I do think that I unfortunately lack any of the nuance to write a trans man in the sect.

Anyway, there is a transfemale priestess! Her name is Luna, she is a poet and a pacifist, the daughter of a famous and wealthy liquor maker. Very mysterious, high-class woman.

Hey anon it's good to hear from you again!!! I remember your ask and your cool concept hehe

Getting more context of the nature of the goddesses inner circle makes that choice make sense though! If it's really a girl's only club I think I'd make the same call (that's just me tho). I'm sure it's something you've thought about a lot and I know you're coming about it from a really thoughtful angle either way. So I think it's a safe one. And I also completely get how writing stuff like this is a very deeply personal thing so I encourage you on that front and wish you a lot of luck!

But Luna sounds really cool! Mysterious high class woman.... She seems objectively awesome, and a really cool character to have on board, just in general, but also to make it clear this goddess is pro trans lol

You said you watch YouTube essays on this stuff right? Have you seen Lily Simpson's stuff? She does in depth reviews of different trans episodes in tv, usually sitcoms and such, and I think they're really interesting to watch from the perspective of seeing which stereotypes get reinforced through popular media and how they both reflect and encourage transphobic attitudes at the time. And that still pervade today. Recommended 👍

Anyway for real good luck with your ocs feel free to send me an ask about them anytime! Not just for stuff like this but just to generally ramble if you ever feel like it :) they seem very cool, and ik how it is to hold this stuff so personally so I'm really in your corner here! Good luck again anon!! 💖💖💖

[lixenn]

COMES IN TO BOTHER YOU. what was the first fic you wrote? do you have any cool keychains/trinkets you carry around? if money and time was no object, what field of study/career would you pursue? what is a book youre currently reading?

WOW SO MANY QUESTIONS I LOVE IT!!

Let's get you some answers then:

First fic

... Already stumped at that one, because damn my memory is so fucking bad. I can't even ruffle through my documents on laptop because when I first started writing I had a different one and I'm not sure if I transfered all the files when I upgraded.

*tries to make the brain do the thinking thing*

I think actually my first try at anything fanfic like was with my super cringy self-insert thing into the Percy Jackson universe. I didn't even know fanfic was a thing at the time and I'm pretty sure I deleted that document because it went absolutely no where, so yeah that was probably it. I was and still kinda am pretty obsessed with Uncle Rick's work, so it's no surprise to me that I tried my hand at writing fanfic without knowing the concept even existed. However I wouldn't be able to tell you what that story was about even if you put a gun to my head so I can't really give you much detail.

Cool keychain/trinkets

Unfortunately no cool keychains for me, I have a heart shaped one my mum got me from her trip to Berlin but that's pretty basic. As for trinkets? Do earrings count? Because I have some pretty dope sword earrings.

The keychain situation might change though, because my friend is going to Japan in May and he promised to get me a souvenir, so maybe I'll have a cool KHR keychain soon (might get something else though who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Field of study/career

It's a toss up between Writer and Owner of Small Crochet Business. I would love to spent my day just being creative and making stuff. I do like science and I think with all the time I invested in my studies I can say I'm not bad at it but it's not my passion. Like, learning about new stuff is fun and I certainly can do experiments and data analysis but give me the option to simply chill on my couch/bed and just create, I would choose it over science every single time.

I'd probably need to get a better grip on scheduling my day because I realized having a strict routine does wonders for my mental health but otherwise just let me make stuff and I'll be happy.

BOOKS

*stares at all the books in my shelf that I've started but currently don't have the energy to read*

...

You want me to choose just ONE?

Well, if we take the one I read the most recently it's Assisstant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Meahrer. It's a cozy fantasy romance, easy to read and quite funny at times. I liked the premise so I picked it up and I'm over half way through but my brain is so focused on writing right now, I don't really have the motivation to read (which is very strange since normally it's the other way around.)

Other titles that are gathering dust in my self:

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch; also funny but in a more serious way, very heavy on the worldbuilding which is awesome but it takes a lot of brainspace so I put it on hold for now.

As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson; I binged the first two books in the trilogy in a day, but this one a bit darker than the others (which makes sense because shit happened) and I need to be in a certain brainspace for that.

The colour of magic by Terry Prachett; I read a lot of Discworld as a kid but I read it in German. This book is my first try reading Prachett in his original glory and it's actually a bit difficult, because again very heavy on the worldbuilding.

I know you only asked for one book, but I'm a chronic oversharer and you asked about BOOKS okay?! I'm bad at controlling myself when it comes to book discussions, so be glad I just kept it to four examples, I could have listed more!

[lakesbian]

ok but no for real why did "lake is canonically trans” become an entrenched belief in the fandom. it’s based on literally nothing but “uhh, she Looks Nonbinary/Experiences Oppression And Erasure” (quick, why do you think presentation equals gender? quick, did you forget that gnc people exist?), misremembering and misquotations of old/deleted tweets, and self-reinforcing momentum from fanon. 

like, deep train lore tedtalk from someone who has Been Here Forever:  shortly after the season was released, owen answered a question on twitter about whether or not she was intended to be read as trans, and his response was along the lines of "no trans narrative was intended but i'm glad when people can connect with a narrative/i support death of the author so you can interpret it how you want." unfortunately for train lore enjoyers, the tweet was eventually deleted alongside most others post he made that mentioned anything LGBT, likely due to how much the topic blew in the crew's face once the fandom started getting really insistent on/angry about the subject. it was never archived, which i'm guessing is because it was posted earlier in the fandom's history and also because "this character was written as cis" isn't exactly something people would consider exciting news worth saving.

so how do you know i’m not bullshitting you about that tweet having existed? you can still find references to the tweet online if you look at posts from around that time! for example, here’s a reddit comment from 2021:

and here’s a post i made in 2020 referencing it right around the time the “lake is canon trans” misconception started:

 (good god. avert your eyes from me when i was little! the things i post online for the sake of inftr meta. really wish i could time travel to tell myself in 2020 to just screenshot the AMA response, because holy Fuck it would make explaining this easier.)

anyway, all that's to say: lake is canonically written as cis, and her narrative was intended as a more general metaphor for oppression. all different types of marginalized people can relate to her because of what a well-written metaphor it is, but the metaphor is about the concept of oppression and not intended to represent any one specific oppressed group. another thing that's important to remember is that this means that lake is canonically a gender non-conforming girl, which is a chronically erased and underrepresented demographic. so she is still a specific marginalized identity, and that's something that's worth appreciating!

as for the topic of various LGBT headcanons for lake? i’m gonna quote @snazzyscarf​ here: “being a versatile metaphor for systemic oppression is not a bad thing. representing broad demographics is not a bad thing! getting angry when people identify that broadness to their experiences and not yours is, though”

so have fun with the death-of-the-author season interpretations that the crew supports. headcanon what you want about lake’s identity. but don’t give the writers unearned credit for supposedly writing a trans character when they didn’t, and don’t be a dick to people who enjoy lake’s canon identity (masc girl) or don’t interpret her the same way you do.

(final footnote: this is a tangentially related subject so i am once again boosting snazzyscarf’s post about other fandom bullshittery wrt lake and gender if you wanna read more meta https://www.tumblr.com/snazzyscarf/657618091033886720/stop-saying-that-everyone-has-to-use-theythem)

[rebelsofshield]

Uninformed Early Thoughts on 2023 Star Wars:

The Bad Batch Season 2: I was lukewarm on season one, but I did enjoy it and Star Wars animation has always had a soft spot in my heart. The early buzz for this season has been really positive though, so I’m excited.

The Mandalorian Season 3: I am very skeptical of all the Favroni shows at this point after how mixed the previous season of Mando was and the overall mess of The Book of Boba Fett. I do like the idea that we are getting a season that does seem to be more about Mandolorian politics and power struggles, which feels way more interesting than the aimless fetch quests and cameo parades that have defined the show for much of its run.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor: I loved Fallen Order and this would be at the top of my list if I had a game system that could run it. Is there a way to get a PS5 without giving up close to a thousand dollars? I’ve yet to find one.

Ahsoka: This could be a really fun and exciting show or it could be an absolute mess, and unfortunately I’m leaning towards the latter right now. Dave Filoni has yet to prove himself to me as a live action storyteller and I am very unenthusiastic about Rosario Dawson’s portrayal of Ahsoka. I also just can’t get over the fact that this show is like the most convoluted thing that the franchise has ever produced and I have no idea how casual viewers are going to be able to access it. That being said, I do miss my Rebels cast. I just wish I was more confident that they were going to show up in something good.

Skeleton Crew: Details on this are sparse and I am neutral on Jon Watts as a director/writer, but the idea is new and different and has the potential to show us some really fun, unexplored parts of the universe.

The High Republic: I am so far behind on The High Republic stuff, but it’s been so consistently great that I am excited to consume more. I particularly like the concept in Phase II of Jedha having been this holy city for many different Force traditions and getting to explore their interactions and tensions is really fascinating.

Novels: I love the cast of the Jedi games so Battle Scars should be fun. Delilah S. Dawson has also been a dependable Star Wars author and the idea of a deeper dive into the Inquisitorius in Rise of the Red Blade should be intriguing.

Comics: I’ve enjoyed the post-Empire Strikes Back comics, but I feel like most of the major series have been spinning their wheels for a while now. I’m ready for a new status quo or era shift.

[suntails]

AAA OMG thank you so much for answering my question! ok ok ok so! first up for the fic desires, right out of the gate - I don't like smut (as a sex-repulsed asexual I find reading about it not fun). also I don't like reading whump that much unless it has a good ending. as for not wanted ships, anything is fine unless it's incest or pedophilia. characters/interactions are a bit harder to pin down, but I know I don't want any fics that involve self-inserts, y/n, or ocs as the main focus, I'd much rather be distanced from the story being told than directly involved in it, if that makes sense? I'd like to read something involving Idia or Ortho or any of the Hades dorm (idk its in-universe name) characters - there doesn't seem to be a lot involving them, at least not that I've found yet. stuff involving the octotrio would also be good, love me some angsty merboys. maybe some stuff with Riddle and the other Heartslybule (idk if that's how it's spelled) students too? if you have any fics involving transformation or body-swapping, those are tropes I really like (I'm reasonably sure that at least some of the Diasomnia students have dragon or half-dragon forms but so far I haven't found anything involving them actually transforming?) In addition, what fics involving the Diasomnia students do you think are the best? (since you are the resident expert in that field, 90% is impressive.) thank you again for answering my ask so enthusiastically, I'm sure you'll be a great help. :)

okay cool beans, ty ty!!! hmm i am,,, unfortunately just abt the worst person you could come to for ignihyde or octavinelle stuff, i so rarely click anything from those dorms. regardless, ill give a list of stuff below!! i will add a little description to give u a feel and if it's something u don't vibe with or a ship u don't wanna read, j skip and try something else, hopefully something here will work for u!

And You Think, "No Escape" (ongoing) GEN – i'm a few chapters behind on this one bc life kicked me, but very good gen fic thus far! mainly focused around the previous overblotters in a weird sidequest treasure hunt forced by some bad guys, with trey and cater in the BG tryna help their situation. VERY long chapters and updates very regularly, so would likely provide a good amount of content

Night Raven Kindergarten (ongoing) GEN – cater is the main char, but he and trey are kindergarten teachers for a selection of the cast as kids!! VERY cute and fun, and delves into the kids' lives at home in rly heartfelt ways that hit, the problems feel nuanced and well-written, and the chars all feel so themselves. whitenoface is the author and i like a lot of their work, i'm recing another work from them later on

Briar Scion (ongoing) Idiasil – p long idiasil fic where the story itself is rly what caught my attention, and now im along for the ride. the premise is rly interesting where essentially like,,, nature itself loves silver, and wants to marry him? so nature is encroaching on school turf while interpersonal romance happens around the plot, its a fun concept! yuu is in it in the bg a bit but its not like,, self-insert or OC, so hopefully u won't mind. updates regularly!

when we don't have the words, chocolate can speak volumes (completed) Idiasil – cute, 30k or so idiasil!! largely focuses on the second years as a group working at the mostro lounge, as silver asks for advice from them respectively and idia works up the nerve in the bg to come in to say hi to silver. mostly just a cute silly story, not as intricate a plot but a fun read!

The Queen's Court (completed) Catervil – first of all, azurith is a FANTASTIC writer, and i highly recommend literally anything they've ever written. this rec branches beyond this fic, but this was my start. this covers cater interning for maleficient herself, and then delves into his newfound connection to the draconias while covering fae history and previous war, etc, it's FANTASTIC and this lore is upheld in a lot of their other work. "Enchanted" is another ongoing work by azurith with cater as a diasomnia student, updates regularly and is very good!! azurith is largely a catervil writer but i think their work is far more important than a preference for ship, i'd rec even if u don't care abt catervil

Snow Is Falling (completed) Cater-focused – idk if u can tell but i like cater interacting w diasomnia content, this is where he goes to briar valley for winter break instead of back home! around 15k, just focuses on his interactions with the diasomnia people while staying with lilia and silver, p short and sweet but v nice :D

devoted malediction (orphaned) malledeuce – of all the fics on this list, this is the one ur most likely to skip. i found this on a WHIM while scouring every existing diasomnia ship tag and was so stunned at the audacity of someone to ship malleus and DEUCE, and to write 140k+ words abt it, that i had to read it. i can't explain it with words,,, the writing style reads so differently than anything else i've ever read, it reads as a STYLE rather than simply reading as 'well-written,' it rly kept my attention. essentially, it's a ...human? au? they're coworkers at a game dev studio, they're human but there's still magic, i can't explain it. there's underground plot-shit with the magic factions or whatever that's so interesting, but it IS orphaned so it'll never update again. i'm devastated. i can't sell this fic to anyone bc of the ship and the length but i enjoyed it very deeply and i'll miss it

Fath-- I mean, Lilia (completed) lilia & silver – ALSO by whitenoface, very sweet familial content of them through silver's life. a 10k must-read for a diasomnia fan

Even a Vanrouge Must Rest (completed) lilia & silver – VERY short and VERY sad but i am legally obligated to rec this. i'd be a bad diasomnia fan if i didn't, very heartbreaking and touching story

Crocodile Teeth (completed) Silsebe – sebek overblot story, decent length and p well written, sebek is infuriating which is Correct for sebek and Correct for someone on their way to an overblot. i've read most of magicalfish's work but i can't rec most to u due to nsfw, this is one of the better silsebe fics out there!!!

Just Out of Reach (ongoing) Silsebe – it DOES update, just not on a regular basis. VERY VERY good fic that FEELS slow-burn, it's 50k+ so far and still feels like the build is just starting up well now. essentially, silver and sebek get in a big fight and lilia magically makes them stay side-by-side till they understand each other, so it analyzes how despite their closeness in their upbringings and how they are partners in their roles as malleus's knights, they don't rly get each other yet and need to cultivate their relationship so it doesn't crumble. very nice story thus far and i look forward to updates!!

WHOOOOKAY that's a lot, i actually don't rly use bookmarks bc i'm typically on incognito on my phone, so i may be missing some, but these came to mind based on ur asks!! if u wanted more for ignihyde, octavinelle, or heartslabyul, i'd rec asking someone else bc i'm truly not the best source ^^;

[mamaclownhunter]

God the Fahrenheit 451 of society

Sorry I am about to go on a rant feel free to ignore ♥️

As a writer considering how other people feel is important because as a writer wanting give the people a story making them feel… to feel shitty, feel good, to feel anything is the largest compliment. To be able to immerse the reader for better of for worst is the job of a good author.

To write hard concepts. Soft concepts. Be a bad writer or a good one.

Some people won’t like your books- some people will. Here is the cool things about writing is people don’t have to read it. I never read Jungle book or Lolita. I never read Mobey dick or the greatest game. I never read Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. Why? Because I just didn’t want to. Some of those books are popular some are famously hated.

The cool thing about books as a reader you have just as much responsibility to not pick up a book.

A writer can write whatever the hell they want. If the topic is shitty a writer is going to want you to feel shitty if that is how they feel about the topic. A writer wants you to feel while reading. But if you don’t want to read that topic you don’t have to read it.

I picked up the Giver and I loved it. I picked up Percy Jackson and mice and men. I picked up the series of unfortunate events and so many types of dragon books. Frankenstein and Animal Farm. All of those made me feel so many things but I chose those books. Some where given to me for school readings.

Hell I hated the story of Fahrenheit 451 for the pacing but I understood the message. Censorship does nothing but make ignorant people. A writer should write whatever the hell they want. They want to make you feel. But if a shitty writer writes a shitty story the reader doesn’t have to read it.

Hell the only times I was forced to read a book was in school and I promise you all of them are for the age groups.

You don’t have to EVER read the book. Again Hunger Games is a popular book. People think it is a good story. I personally don’t like the idea of child death games. So I just didn’t read it. My friends all around me read it and told me all about it which was ok whatever. I wasn’t interested. Ironically I do love Percy Jackson. But I felt more hopeful and connected with Percy.

JK Rowling and Edgar Allen Poe are SHITTY PEOPLE. Racist and homophobic! But people like their books. But can also be bigger then the authors. You aren’t shitty for reading Harry Potter, you aren’t shitty for reading Poe. You are shitty for defending them like they did nothing wrong and not recognizing where the stories have flaws.

Loving a story and recognizing the flaws can exist.

I think readers shouldn’t be burning books so to speak, asking authors to censor because “what if a child could read it!!”

If you don’t like it don’t read it. Your kid won’t go searching for it unless they want it. Trust me letting a kid run crazy in a book store won’t have them immediately going for the erotica. They will go for colorful books, ask questions. “Oooh what is this book” they will read the summery. Ask you questions. Being an active adult in their lives will do wonders.

But everyone should just read. Read fanfiction, read books, read shitty books read good books. Stop damning the books for your own lack of impulse control. Stop expecting the author to be responsible for your feelings. They want you to feel sure but if you don’t feel good about a bad topic that was the point find another author if you don’t like the one you read. I can promise you someone else read the book and wrote a story they wanted. If you want black stories read black authors, if you want a specific story read from a specific author. That is the beauty of books.

But an author isn’t going to hold your hand through a sad story meant to be sad and leave you feeling shitty. Because that was their point. They wanted to tell you a story. Feeling those feelings were important to the story. If you don’t want to feel those things pick up a different book. It is fine- you don’t have to read the book by an author you don’t agree with or a story that makes you feel uncomfortable. Or do. Some people like to feel uncomfortable. Some only want stories that make them feel good.

An author’s job is to write a story. If they are good you will feel. But they are still human. Bias and flawed in their own ways. Their stories aren’t going to be tailored to the reader. It will be tailored to the author who writes in hopes that someone will read it and understand what they wanted to put out. Some authors have a skill set to make anyone feel included some don’t. They do consider but that is the point of a story is to feel.

It is the reader’s responsibility to their own feelings if they decide they want to read that story.

'people can write whatever the fuck they want' and 'its good to approach writing about sensitive topics with some diligence and forethought' are statements which can and do coexist

[silviatheorbit]

Easy Le Sserafim Album Review

I have come back from hibernation to review Le Sserafim's much anticipated comeback... it's not bad, but I did expect more from Le Sserafim. The whole album's rating is a 7/10. I like the concept of the album, but not so much the execution.

But before I go through each track,

Track 1: Good Bones

Rating: 6.5/10

I'll say it till the day I die, Le Sserafim's intros are amazing and simultaneously fail at its purpose. Good Bones is gritty and, as always, its lyrics reflect the concept of the album. However, just as what happened with Unforgiven, it made everyone expect a completely different album than the one they got.

However on its own, it holds up well. My only critique is its length. The song sits at 2 minutes and 40 seconds, in the current k-pop environment of Newjeans and short songs, Good Bones could be its own full song. Unfortunately, its main hook just does not interest a listener long enough. The track would benefit from being majorly shortened, because I got bored of the same guitar looping in the background pretty fast.

Track 2: Easy

Rating: 7.5/10

I was on the fence about this song when I first listened to it. It's not necessarily a bad song, just it doesn't fit le sserafim as much as Antifragile or Fearless. I also generally don't like autotune, it takes me out of the immersion when listening to a song. However the chorus is pretty catchy and the verses and pre-chorus blend into each other well. Overall, it's an okay title track, but not my taste.

Track 3: Swan Song

Rating: 10/10

This one definitely saved the album's overall rating. The song reflects the easy, laid back vibe of the album without trying to too hard like the title track, Easy. This is a song I'll listen to a lot, I already know it. The main hook "Black swan, 난 black swan, 난 like" is catchy and interesting. I also looked at the lyrics for this song, here are some lines that stood out to me:

They called me by many names, countless names

Bitter but it's sweet The only thing that I got were wounds

Dive like a swan even though I'm out of breath

In my interpretation of the lyrics, le sserafim is saying that even though their image is of being "swans" (elegant, perfect), they are more like the black swan in the ballet Swan Lake. The black swan in Swan Lake is Odile, who is enchanted to look like Odette, the white swan. They are saying they feel like fakes, that they are not the innocent white swans they present themselves as. The lines above show how much they endure as idols, while still having to act perfect. This is reflected in their group name, which resembles a seraphim, an angel in Christianity. Honestly, I could make a whole post about just this track's lyrics, especially because they were written and composed by some of the members themselves. But anyway, next!

Track 4: Smart

Rating: 8/10

This track was mostly "meh" for me, it was good but it doesn't particularly stand out expect for the chorus. Once again, the lyrics are very interesting for this one. Some lines that reflect the album's theme are:

Some say, "That's all luck" I say, "No, it's not luck" My sweat is not lying, lying

What I want is victory

Wanna be a winner

These lyrics allude how some people say le sserafim just "got lucky" to be idols, when in reality they worked very hard to reach this point when so many others couldn't.

Track 5: We Got So Much

Rating: 9/10

Surprisingly, this is my favorite track on the album musically. The chorus has that spark that makes the song shine (don't mind my metaphors - I am a writer after all). But this song still would have been a 7 or 8 if it wasn't for the bridge and last chorus. Without that extra punch the song would have been a little too basic. This song is a perfect example of why a bridge can elevate a song. As is my criticism for most songs these days, it could have been longer, it sounds as if the end was just cut off. There's no sense of closure, as if someone just pressed the stop button with 10 more seconds to go. Otherwise, I actually quite liked this song.

Thank you for reading if you made it to the end!

[monarch-sparrowhawk]

Sam Alexander - Legacy Characters and Their Development

Been wanting to do a mini-essay about my thoughts on Sam Alexander Nova for a long time, so here we go. Put it under the cut so as not to clog up the tag feed. Warning there will be lots of tangents as I am ADHD and cannot help it.

Alrighty, so as we know Sam is a relatively newer character in terms of comic books. His first debut was in Marvel Point One #1 in the Avengers vs X-Men crossover. This was back in November 2011. This would make him around 11 years old. In this short span of time(because yeah, compared to other characters Sam is still pretty young) he has had three volumes( Nova Vol 5-7), been apart of at least three team books (New Warriors 2014, All New All Different Avengers, and most recently Champions), and has had a variety of cameos and one-offs and specials, and that's not even getting into the animated stuff he's been in. While his appearances have thinned out over the years, we still see him pop in things every now and then despite not being very popular at all(this is unfortunate, but he's still my favorite at least). A good question to explore, perhaps, why is this character still keeping up appearances? Why is he being kept around?

The answer I believe lies with his creator, Jeph Loeb. He is one of the original writers for Sam, basing him off of his own son he lost to cancer back in 2006.

*moment of respectful silence*

After that, it was probably not much more than 1 or 2 years after that that Jeph was pulled into the creation of the Ultimate Spiderman Tv show. It was originally announced in 2010, which means it was definitely worked on before then, and then debuted in 2012. Jeph was one of the main creators, and he decided to pull together some admittedly underrated and kind of unknown characters for the show. But when it came to Nova, he decided to start completely from scratch. Instead of going with the original, Richard Rider, he went with his own creation, Sam. This could have been for a variety of reasons such as: Richard Rider being too similar to Peter Parker(just take a look at his origin issue and you'll see what I mean), he was just killed off in the comic books which would lead to a natural opening for a new character, etc.

These are all substantial factors to take into consideration, but combined I think Jeph saw the opportunity to honor his late son. Legacy characters happen quite frequently in comic books(pretty much the entirety of Young Avengers for example), but Sam Alexander definitely feels a bit more... personal. He not only represents a connection to another beloved comic book character, but to a real person as well. Even though Loeb didn't stay on as a writer for Sam very long, you can see in his beginning issues where he added the info about the conception of Sam as a character that this was very important to him. And Sam being important to Loeb I think is what initially drew some people in, because the kind of dedication and love that goes into a character like that doesn't go unnoticed.

So people gave Sam a shot(ignoring the anal Rich Rider fans that cropped up in the beginning, FYI you can't be a fan of Rich if you hate Sam, thems the rules) and so it went. I remember reading all the issues of Volume 5-7 as they were coming out, and when Gerry Duggan took over for quite a large portion of the original run it was magnificent. He gave Sam interesting storylines, endearing character development, and overall I think did a superb job handling the character. His writing of Sam is most definitely what made me grow fond of the character, I don't know if I would have become a fan otherwise. Unfortunately the whole Marvel Comic Universe was being rebooted so they had to wrap things up quickly with a cap at 31 issues, but he ended Volume 5 on a good note with Sam reuniting with his dad.

Then enters my least favorite volume, Volume 6. If you thought the white-washing with Sam in Volume 5 was bad, it got so much worse. Not to mention the complete 180 in personality. In the beginning(Vol 5), Sam was an asshole. There's no sugarcoating that part about his character. But I liked that. Because when you start out a character like that, the room for development is immense. And honestly, I love watching characters grow. I love watching Sam grow. Volume 6 felt like a slap in the face because I wasn't reading about Sam. I was reading the generic teenage superhero Peter Parker clone. Sam went from being impulsive and reckless to boring and dull. Not to mention the whole 'evil clone' cliche with his dad made the ending of the previous volume feel so hollow and cheap. His original supporting cast was gone(and my ship was exiled from canon, so long Carrie), and the hinted at storyline of Sam possibly being half-alien was long since buried under the rug. It was not enjoyable for me to read at all.

Moving on before I seethe in rage, let's talk a bit about Volume 7. Never have I felt more robbed that a series was canceled too early. We had some major wins. Beautiful artwork(big points for not white-washing Sam), the dynamic between Sam and Rich(they're like squabbling siblings, I love it), and the writing was heading in a promising direction. My only complaint is Carrie and Principal Philbin not returning, along with Sam being in the chess club. Sam becoming a proficient chess player is so important to me, you have no idea. The comedy potential is golden. Imagine him beating Amadeus Cho in a game. That nerd would die from the shock. Anyways, I did like Sam's personality in this. I felt like he had developed into a jerk with a heart of gold. The jerk part is more toned down from Volume 5, and he isn't the goody two shoes he was in Volume 6, we reached a good mixture. Because that is what Sam is. He's a kid with a good heart, he just doesn't always go the best way about it. Which is understandable, given that most teenagers are not very mature in the slightest. This series would have been good development for him, and I'm forever heartbroken that I will never see where it would have gone.

But circling back around to the question, even though his character isn't that popular, the right people care about him and that's what keeps him relatively in the loop. And perhaps when he gets adapted to the MCU we will see a surge in popularity, but hopefully not at the expense of destroying what was so special about Sam in the first place. Let's hope that Feige and them don't forget what Sam was originally meant to be:

A grieving father holding onto his son in the most loving and familiar way he knew how.

By doing so will keep him in some ways alive forever. It's beautiful. To any and all future MCU adaptations, please keep this in mind when it comes to Sam. Sam's a character created from grief and love, and should not be taken lightly. If you managed to read all of this, I would love to have an open discussion about Sam and the Nova comics. It's been a bit quiet around here.

[cyndavilachase]

I’m Looking Forward Now 💖Thank you and good bye

So, it’s been a little over a week since Steven Universe Future ended… 

I’ve been hesitant to write this, honestly, but I’m tired of holding myself back from properly expressing myself in fear of appearing overly invested in the media I consume, even in private. Writing helps me organize my thoughts and feelings, and I feel like these thoughts in particular may resonate with many, so I want to share them. I want to talk about what Steven Universe has done for me personally, both as an artist, and as a person.

I’ve been around since the day the first episode of the original series aired. I actually remember when Steven Universe was just a logo on Wikipedia’s “List of Upcoming Cartoon Network Shows” list, back when I was a freshman in high school. It piqued my interest, but when commercials finally dropped for it, I thought it was going to be bad because of the way marketing handled introducing Steven as a likeable character. There was still something about it that made me want to give it a chance though, so I went online and watched the pilot before the first episode's release. I was hooked immediately. I knew I was going to love it, and I did. I fell so absolutely in love with Steven as a character, and the world that he and the gems lived in. I became obsessed. I was always so excited for new episodes to come out. Little did I know what else it would do for me as I went through my adolescence alongside it.

As the show progressed, it was evident that what I wanted out of a western animated childrens’ cartoon was finally coming into fruition: this show was becoming serialized. There was continuity, there was plot, there was character development-- it was getting deep. It was pushing the groundwork that Adventure Time laid out even further (thank you, Adventure Time).  

I will give credit where credit is due: earlier western childrens’ cartoons I grew up with like Hey Arnold, and Rugrats, among others, also touched on heavy topics, but Steven Universe was able to take similar ideas (and even more complex ones, concerning mental health and relationships) and expand on them outside of contained episodes and/or short arcs. These themes, which were a part of the show’s overarching story, spanned across its entirety. Continuity was rampant. 

What did this mean? It meant kids cartoons didn’t have to be silly and fun all the time and characters weren’t just actors playing a part in 11-minute skits. Steven and the gems would remember things that happened to them, and it affected them and how they would function and play a part in their story. This was a huge deal to me as a teenager. I always wanted the cartoons I grew up with featuring kid characters to feel more. In my own work, I often felt discouraged when combining a fun, cutesy western art style with themes as dark or layered as anime would cover. I always thought it had to be one or the other because an audience wouldn’t take a combination of the two seriously enough, based on discussions I had with classmates, friends, and online analysis I read at the time. Steven Universe proved to me otherwise. This show was opening the door for future cartoons exploring in-depth, adult concepts. I felt so seen as a kid, and was inspired to stick with what I love doing.

I was actually very worried about the show’s survival. It was in fact immensely underrated and the fandom was miniscule. Then in 2014, JailBreak dropped, and it’s popularity exploded. Part of it was because of the complex plot and the themes it was covering like I mentioned, but also because of its representation. 

I remember when fandom theorized that Garnet was a fusion due to grand, tragic reasons. Turns out, she’s simply a metaphor for a very loving w|w relationship. This was huge. I cannot stress how important it is that we continue to normalize healthy canon queer relationships in childens’ media, and Steven Universe finally was the first to do that proper. Introducing these themes offers the chance for a kid to sit there and ask themselves, “Why is this demonized by so many people?” I asked myself exactly that. Ruby and Sapphire were my cartoon LGBT rep. They were the first LGBT couple I ever ecstatically drew fanart of. I was dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia at the time, and they showed me that I was allowed to love women and feel normal about it. The process of overcoming this was a long one, but they played a part in my very first steps into becoming comfortable with my sexuality. I could go on and on about it’s representation in general-- how it breaks the mold when it comes to showcasing a diverse set of characters in design, in casting, and in breaking gender roles. It’s focus on love and empathy. Steven himself is a big boy, but he's the protagonist, and the show never once makes fun of his weight, or any other bigger characters for that matter. It wasn’t hard to see why the fandom had grown so large.

Fandom was always a joy for me. It was a hobby I picked up when I was in middle school, like many of us here did. I would always cater my experience to fun, and fun only. I only started getting more deeply involved in SU’s fandom when I had just turned into an adult. During the summer of 2016, between my first and second year of college, I drew for the show almost every day non-stop when the Summer of Steven event was going on and posted them online. This was a form of practice for me in order to become not just more comfortable with experimenting with my art, but also to meet new artists, make new friends, and learn to interact with strangers without fear. I dealt with a ton of anxiety when I was in high school. When I was a senior applying to art school for animation, I decided I was going to overcome that anxiety. I made plans to take baby steps to improve myself over the course of my 4 years of college. Joining the fandom, while unforeseen, was definitely a part of that process. I started feeling more confident in sharing my ideas, even if they were fan-made. I fell in love with storyboarding after that summer, when I took my first storyboarding class, and genuinely felt like I was actually getting somewhere with all of this. I remember finally coming to a point in my classes where I could pitch and not feel hopelessly insecure about it. I was opening up more to my friends and peers. 

But this process, unfortunately, came to a screeching halt. 

My life completely, utterly crumbled under me in the Fall of 2017 due to a series of blows in my personal life that happened in the span of just a couple weeks. My mental health and sense of identity were completely destroyed. All of that confidence I had worked for-- completely ruined. I was alone. I nearly died. My stay at college was extended to 4 and half years, instead of the 4 I had intended. I lost my love for animation-- making it, and watching it. I could no longer watch Steven Universe with the same love I had for it beforehand. It’s a terrible thing, trying to give your attention to something you don’t love anymore, and wanting so desperately to love again. I dropped so many things I loved in my life, including the fandom.

Healing was a long and complicated road. I continued to watch the show all the way up until Change Your Mind aired in the beginning of 2019, and while I still felt empty, that was definitely a turning point for me with it’s encapsulation of self-love. I was hoping James Baxter would get to work on Steven Universe since he guest-animated on Adventure Time, and it was incredible seeing that wish actually come true. The movie came out and while I enjoyed it and thought highly of it, I was still having issues letting myself genuinely love things again, old and new. It was especially difficult because cartoons were my solace as a kid, when things got rough at home. I remember feeling sad because the show ended, and not getting the chance to love it again like I used to while it was still going.

By the time Steven Universe Future was announced, I was finally coming around. I was genuinely starting to feel excitement for art and animation again. I wasn’t expecting there to be a whole new epilogue series, but happily ever after, there we were! Prickly Pear aired, and the implications it left in terms of where the story was going did it. I was finally ready to let myself take the dive back into fandom in January of this year. My art blew up, something I wasn’t expecting considering my 2-year hiatus. Following this, I was invited into a discord server containing some of the biggest writers, artists, editors, and analysts in the fandom. I had no idea there were so many talented people in the fandom, some already with degrees, some getting their degrees-- creating stuff for it on the side just for fun. The amount of passion and productivity level here is insane, and so is the amount of discussion that has come out of it.

I didn’t realize it at first, but it was actually helping me gain back the courage to share ideas. I lost my confidence in pitching while I was taking the time to heal, and graduating meant there would no longer be a classroom setting I could practice in. This group helped immensely. 

I have made so many friends through this wonderful series, and I have so many fond memories talking to like-minded creatives, getting feedback and a myriad of sources for inspiration, as well as all of the memes and jokes and weekly theorizations that came about as we all waited on the edges of our seats for episodes to air. I needed this so badly, I needed to get back in touch with my roots, when I would go absolutely hog-wild over a cartoon I loved with people who loved it as much I did. Future has been a blessing for me in this way. I graduated feeling like I was back at square-one, but now I feel like I’m on my way again.

It’s 2020 and while I’m doing great right now, I am honestly still recovering from the total exhaustion that followed after graduating a few months ago, and finally leaving the campus where my life fell apart behind. Needless to say, watching Future was like looking into a mirror. Watching one of my favorite characters of all time-- one that grew up with me-- go through so many of the same things I went through not too long ago was absolutely insane to watch unfold. It’s such an important thing too, to show a character go through the process of breaking down over trauma and all the nasty things that come with it, and to have them go on the road to healing. Steven got that therapy. He wasn’t blamed. The gems were called out. The finale was everything I could have ever hoped for. The catharsis I experienced watching it was out of this world.

As I continue my own healing journey, I will always look up to the storyboard artists, revisionists, and designers that I have been following over these past 7 years, as well as the new ones introduced in Future. It's been such a joy watching these artists release their promo art for episodes, talk about their experiences working on the show, and post the work they've done for it alongside episodes airing.

Thank you Rebecca Sugar, the Crewniverse, and the fans, for making this such a truly wonderful and unique experience. Thank you for reminding me that I am, and always will be, an artist, a cartoonist, and a fan. Thank you, my followers, for the overwhelmingly positive response to my artwork. I have had so much fun interacting and discussing the show with you all again over these past few months. Steven Universe and it’s fandom will always have a special place in my heart, and it will always be a classic that I will return to for comfort and inspiration for decades to come. I am sad that the cartoon renaissance is over, but so many doors have been opened thanks to this show. I am so, so excited to see what this show will inspire in the future, and I hope one day I get the opportunity to be a part of that. 

Goodbye Steven, thank you for everything. I wish you healing, and I wish Rebecca and the team a well-deserved rest. ♥️

-Cynthia D.

[leviathan-supersystem]

Rothbard does appear to be the correct answer, and i'm reading through what seems to be the essay which pioneered those talking points, and oooh gurl i am finding some spicy-ass tidbits here. suffice to say that these talking points were fairly different in their embryonic form, in ways which are, to say the least, very revealing.

[This lively essay appeared in James H. Weaver, ed., Modern Political Economy (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1973), pp. 419–30, as chapter 28; it followed an essay by Professor Robert T. Averitt, to which Rothbard refers once or twice in his piece.]

In order to discuss the "future of capitalism," we must first decide what the meaning of the term "capitalism" really is. Unfortunately, the term "capitalism" was coined by its greatest and most famous enemy, Karl Marx. We really can’t rely upon him for correct and subtle usage. And, in fact, what Marx and later writers have done is to lump together two extremely different and even contradictory concepts and actions under the same portmanteau term. These two contradictory concepts are what I would call "free-market capitalism" on the one hand, and "state capitalism" on the other. [!!!!!!]

The difference between free-market capitalism and state capitalism is precisely the difference between, on the one hand, peaceful, voluntary exchange, and on the other, violent expropriation.

holy shit! holy fucking shit! holy fucking goddamn shit! in the essay where he first floated these talking points, he posited the distinction not being between "capitalism vs. corporatism" but between "free-market capitalism vs. state capitalism"!! holy fucking shit, in it's original form, the bullshit ancap definition of capitalism still acknowledged that capitalism could be the problem! (but only state capitalism [wanking motion])

this is legitimately jaw-dropping. he even acknowledges in the opening that the term capitalism was invented by anti-capitalists to criticize it (it wasn't Marx tho, Rothbard got that wrong because Rothbard is, of course, an idiot.) like this essay completely torpedoes any attempts by ancaps to pretend their definition of capitalism is The Real One.

and like, this really gets at how chicago school economics (as well as the related austrian school economics) isn't about using language to illuminate and describe reality, it's about using language to obfuscate and confuse reality. when Marx explains the problems of capitalism, Rothbard, a century later, makes up new definitions as he pleases to muddy that critique- "state capitalism is bad, but free market capitalism is good!"- then when that's not enough the terms are redefined further as much as necessary until critique of capitalism becomes impossible- "no silly, capitalism can never be bad, you're thinking of corporatism".

like, the actual economic models that capitalists use, in practical application, are things like neo-classical economics, or keynesian economics. chicago and austrian school economics do not exist for practical application, and as they both reject empiricism could never realistically function as an actual model for practical use. chicago and austrian economics exist purely as a method of psychological control, a set of semantic and rhetorical traps and puzzles to be deployed whenever someone says "hey, maybe capitalism is the problem" in order to tell them "no idiot, it is literally ontologically impossible for capitalism to ever be the problem"

does anyone know the exact origin of the libertarian/ancap bullshit fake definition of capitalism? you know, the "voluntary exchange" one. i know the actual definition was first written by Louis Blanc in 1850, but using that factoid in arguments would hit way harder if i could also pinpoint the origin of the fake definition ("your bullshit ancap definition of capitalism would not be coined until such-and-such years later by so-and-so" you get what i mean). like which chicago or austrian school dipshit first decided that capitalism should mean something completely different than what the entire world has used it to mean since it was coined. who do i blame.

[spacelessbian]

So CAOS Part 4 was a mess

SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING

I used this exact same title for Part 3 but it seemed very fitting for Part 4 as well. I just want to preface this by saying I didn’t expect anything before watching (well, I expected it to be bad, which gave the show a chance to surprise me), I just hoped that my friends shipping Zelda and Marie would get some sweet sapphic content and well... Let’s get to it. 

I must say Part 4 was not as nonsensical as Part 3 and I must give credit where credit is due. It also returned to the monster-of-the-week format which I love. The Eldritch Terrors were a good concept with mostly fine execution (although the Terrors could have been a little more diverse... Would it kill the writers to give one more of them a female voice? And on that nore, why not hire Janet from the Good Place to voice the Void? They missed out on that so bad!). Other things I liked, in no particular order:

Vinegar Tom coming back to life and Zelda being truly happy for once

giving Agatha her sanity back

Prudence and chainsaw, ‘nough said

Lilith finally murdering her abuser the way she and we as the viewers deserved

the OG aunties and their whole episode

Ambrose, the light of my life, and all the adult cast (except for Lucifer, what the hell was that)

Unfortunately these are mostly minor positives and I don’t have the capacity to cover everything bad with Part 4, so I’ll just stick to what I started at the beginning of the post – Mambo Marie and the wlw representation in the show. Prepare for long-ish post.

It was weird from the start. We got a cute scene in the first episode (with horrible lighting I must say, I immediately felt sorry for y’all who make gifs) but then Zelda and Marie barely interacted. Yes, they were often standing next to each other, but I don’t think they had a single meaningful interaction since. I don’t think they even touched, let alone acted romantically towards each other. Marie was also extremely shady the whole time, she was constantly acting on her own (only after the fact was it acknowledged that the rest of the coven knew, but to me it just looked weird), that I really thought I was right with my joke prediction of her being the surprise villain. Turns out she’s a surprise man and the villain is Roberto, the showrunner! 

From the start of the show it must have been obvious to Roberto and the rest of the creative team that a large number of fans wanted to see some lesbians (specifically Zelda and Lilith getting together). Obviously the creators do not have do anything the fans want, but giving us a canonical sapphic relationship and then being like “syke! fooled you, there were no lesbians actually. no homo uwu” just seems extremely ignorant at best and malevolent at worst. Plus the fact that in the alternate “perversed” universe, Zelda was called Madam Spellman. Who does that??? WTF. 

I must also mention that the reveal, that comes out of nowhere and leads to nothing, means that Zelda’s two consecutive partners didn’t care about informed consent. Big yikes. Of course none of this was acknowledged in universe, so thanks for that, Roberto, thank you very much.

And now to minor grievances:

Theo and his boyfriend, whose name I don’t remember, go through unnecessary conflict that just takes up time and space

it almost looked like the Blackwood twins will become real people with their own thoughts and actions, but no

the afterlife doesn’t make sense, also the glorification of suicide

people constantly bring up the color of Sabrina’s headband like if anyone cared about that to notice (I expected some twist with Sabrinas changing places and the reveal being the headband, but no)

you turned an octopus into a... diving equipment???

Sabrina and her huge crisis that she doesn’t have a boyfriend for 5 minutes (so she has to make out with more than one Eldritch Terrors)

Roberto not being capable of letting babies exist after their extremely traumatic prolonged birth scenes (yes, I’m coming back to Part 1, too, what about it)

Aaaand I think I’m ready to breathe again. I’m happy the show’s over, not because I’m an evil hater (I am definitely evil though) but because it had (and still has) so much potential, but it is obvious the writers can’t write for shit. The cast is amazing and I love almost every single one of them, their kind interactions with fans were really a joy to watch (that cannot be said for some fans but what can you do). I hope I will have the opportunity to meet some of them when the ‘rona is finally over. I also met a lot of lovely people through CAOS and I am eternally grateful.

If you’re still reading, you’re a star ♥. This was a wild ride.

(Please note I will not respond to any aggresive or nasty comments but I’m eager to read any of your hot takes or polite disagreements.)

[livingforthewhump]

okay okay what if paladin gives caroline truth serum and asks her questions. (in front of hugo)

the questions would be stuff like “do you enjoy being here, deep down?” or “if you had to choose between killing yourself or hugo, who would you kill?”

but the twist is, caroline is under mind control. her answers to the questions are all curated by paladin.

(this can be taken as a what if or a prompt. I love you (/p) and your work so much, keep going!! you’re an amazing writer!!)

I am absolutely IN LOVE with this concept ajdwjs—I have no excuse for how long it takes me to actually write things but thank you all so much for sticking with me!!!

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Caroline’s ears were ringing when Paladin came to get her. She’d listened to Hugo’s muffled screams for so long that she was dizzy from worrying about what Paladin was doing to him. Paladin’s mouth was quirked into a slight smile, eyes dancing with a sick kind of enjoyment that Caroline knew only came from him torturing someone.

She swallowed dryly. “Wh-what did you do to him?”

“Nothing he won’t recover from.” Paladin paced over to her and knelt down to her level, meeting her wide-eyed gaze. “He said some very interesting things, while we were talking.”

Her heart stuttered, as if it were afraid to beat.

“Aren’t you curious, doll?” Paladin gave her an amused look and paused, waiting for a response. When she gave him none, he finally sighed and continued, reaching out a hand to card through her hair. “He said that you don’t want to be here with me. Isn’t that odd?”

Caroline stared blankly forward as he tilted her chin up towards him.

“Well, doll? Is that true? Do you really want to leave me?”

“No,” she whispered, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. “I want to stay here.”

Paladin studied her for a moment, taking in her red-rimmed eyes and trembling chin, then released her with a small laugh. “Good. Not nearly convincing enough, but we’ll get there, hm? For now, you just need a bit of help if you’re going to convince our dear vigilante of that.”

Caroline’s eyebrows furrowed as she processed the meaning behind the words, and she barely had time to suck in a sharp breath before his power enveloped her.

Hugo wished he could smash the camera to pieces. It was obnoxious, really, the way it had been blinking its little red light at him nonstop for hours, letting him know that every single second was being recorded. Unfortunately, being tied to a chair, the best thing he could do was give it a dignified glare, to at least show that he was unimpressed.

Suddenly, the door clanged open, and Hugo jumped in a decidedly undignified fashion.

Paladin traipsed in, pulling Caroline along behind him. The poor girl looked dazed, tear tracks drying on her face as she weakly fell to her knees in front of Hugo when Paladin released her.

Hugo tried to catch her eye as Paladin rummaged around somewhere over his shoulder, but Caroline’s gaze remained resolutely on the ground.

“Here we are,” said Paladin, coming to stand behind Caroline, one hand on her head with the other loosely holding a syringe filled with clear-looking liquid.

“What is that?” Hugo demanded, jerking against his restraints despite how weak his muscles were from exertion. “What are you doing to her?”

Paladin snorted, rolling his eyes. “Oh, calm down, Hugo. It’s just a truth serum. Little Caroline here is going to clear up some…misconceptions you have about our situation.”

Hugo briefly thought of the irony that Paladin of all people had access to a truth serum (if he drank it, would the hero just spontaneously combust?), but it was quickly drowned out by the horror he felt for Caroline.

“Get away from her,” he snarled.

Paladin’s fingers tightened in her hair, lifting her head up. “You see Hugo, even when my doll has learned her place, you still haven’t. I’m hoping this will fix you of that.” And he stabbed the serum into her neck.

Caroline cried out and slumped forward, but was held in place by Paladin’s hand in her hair. Hugo breathed heavily as he tugged forward, staring into Caroline’s glazed eyes.

“Caroline! Are you okay?”

She blinked, once. Twice. Her chapped lips cracked open to form a word. “No.”

And, of course, Hugo already knew that. But hearing the raw admission from her was like a punch to the gut.

His focus slammed back into Paladin. “Let her go, you b--”

Paladin’s power slammed into him, closing up his throat even as Paladin smiled calmly. “I’ll be asking the questions from now on. Don’t make me gag you.”

He waited until Hugo’s fingertips twitched sporadically from lack of air before releasing his hold and allowing him to breathe again.

While Hugo gasped and hacked, Paladin’s hand went to Caroline’s chin, forcing her to look at him with her glazed, terrified eyes.

“Now, doll, deep down, do you really want to be here?” Paladin asked softly.

Hugo shot Paladin a glare, wondering what he was trying to do.

Then Caroline’s weak voice met his ears. “Yes, I do.”

It sounded like an admission. He gaped at her. “What?” It was so blatantly untrue that he almost wondered for a moment if it wasn’t.

Paladin’s smile grew, but he kept his eyes on Caroline. “Tell me why, doll.”

“I belong to you. Where else would I want to go? I want to be good for you, and, and make you happy with me.” She stared up at him with an adoring expression that tore at Hugo’s heart.

That wasn’t her.

Was it?

“Good. Now, tell me, do you regret saving him?” Paladin turned her head so that she was looking at Hugo.

His jaw tightened while she looked at him blankly for a moment before nodding shallowly. “Yes.”

He looked away against the tears stinging his vision. If he had to save either her or himself, of course he would pick her, but that wasn’t what the question was.

“You know, Caroline, I don’t think he believes you,” Paladin said, smirking. “Are you sure you're telling the truth?”

“Of course.” She seemed surprised, like there could be no other alternative.

“And why don’t you want him here, doll?”

“He's just getting in the way. He’s not worth it. He thinks he’s helping, but he’s not.”

“Forgive me for not seeing that as a bad thing,” Hugo drawled, face setting against the stab he felt in his heart. Those words were so, so similar to the ones that had been thrown at him by the person closest to him. He’d desperately tried to believe it wasn’t the truth, but deep down, it really was, wasn’t it? Even if Caroline was coming from the wrong perspective entirely, the words themselves weren’t wrong. Hugo clenched his fists until his fingernails cut into his palm. “Now are you just about finished, or is there more?”

“That was all,” Paladin smirked. “I just wanted to give you something to think about for a while.”

He lifted Caroline up and left the room with her, and once again Hugo was alone with the blinking red light of the camera.

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