#its the aunt who i got to play the it lives series btw

[gutsfics]

i dont think ill be able to post anything for tobias appreciation week. im spending some time w an aunt and uncle & helping them move and its insanely stressful i dont really have the bandwith to make anything fully original + im not super vibing w any of the prompts

[countessofbiscuit]

Smothered and Covered, 1, 3, 5 , 9, 11, 14? This fic lives rent-free in my brain btw, thank you for writing it!

<grinch smile> thank you nonnie!! 

Smothered and Covered

or: Boba was all shiny-soft under her hands, with dark eyes that stared past her into the next parsec. Far less innocence than most, yet the theft of his clawed harder at her shame. But one crude kindness deserved another. (Explicit, Boba/Ahsoka, cw: underage) 

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

A combination of factors. 

This fanart, for starters. An anon who likened Aurra Sing to a trashy aunt. The persistent itch to write a grimy Bobasoka one-night-stand. All were catalysed by the bitter angst of the TCW S7 finale. It needed to be lanced and purged, but I couldn’t bring myself to touch Rexsoka directly: the grief was still too near. But I was desperate to play in that post-TCW, pre-Rebels void in a way that remained consistent with canon and my own fanon. 

Then there was my Banned Bingo card, which had a free space that needed filling. Shipping Ahsoka with anyone but a flower crown will get you death threats in this fandom, but in the interest of being “Totally Problematic” and really earning that square, I decided to send her to bed with — le gasp! — a teenager who’d just been raped by a parental figure, and let her yearn the entire time for her estranged boyfriend (who happens to be a genetically-modified version of the dude she’s fucking). 

This was also right at the time when rumours about Boba appearing season two of The Mandalorian went viral. The old disc horse carousel started up again: Boba is either an overrated, pointless, hollow character not worth the effort the sarlacc took to digest him, or he’s the Biggest Bossest Badass to ever make galactic citizens quake in their boots. I was sick to my back teeth of it. This guy is Schrödinger’s Mandalorian and all people seemed to wanna talk about was whether he earned his inclusion in the OT forty years ago. *yawns* Anyway, social media doesn’t thrive on nuance — but fanfic sure does. I wanted a character study of Boba as I (and a lot of excellent fic writers) understand and appreciate him; I wanted to let him be pissed about his traumatic life and act on it in his own way; I wanted him to be half as enigmatic as he thinks he is, while still being very unpredictable, even to someone who has good reason to know him better than most.

Smothered and Covered is the resultant greasy omelette, with lots of chunky bits, some easier to stomach than others. 

3: What's your favorite line of narration?

It was almost too easy, like winning ‘round a sour tusk-cat just knowing where its claws can't reach.

5: What part was hardest to write?

The ending. I’m still not pleased with it. There’s something Extended-Edition RotK about it. Or an essay where you’re super sure you made the point in the body, but that profound, “in conclusion” thought which will earn you top marks eludes you. So you just write a series of semi-profound things and hope that does the job — oh, and throw in a quote a line of dialogue for good measure :p

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Besides the hundred subtly different endings, the original draft didn’t have IC-8994 making an appearance. The exchange was just of information and bodily fluids. But in a ‘verse where Boba and Ahsoka are on texting terms, any intel that required a face-to-face drop seemed above their current paygrade as characters. Having an inconvenient commando in carbonite, however, gives Boba some plausible badass points and forces him to consider who can call to  help bury a body. And besides, every story is better with whole-ass commandos, even if they’re just deadweight plot devices :) 

11: What do you like best about this fic?

The Aurra reveal, by way of her blaster. I was stupidly satisfied with the rhyme it created, and that I got to wield obscure lore like a penknife to the heart. 

14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

No one experiences or reacts to trauma in the same way. What one person does to reassure themselves that they still have agency in their life might be anathema to someone else; neither person is wrong. Fanpol/antis’ fetishization and policing of victimhood is fucked up. 

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

January 2020 Picks

And we’re back!!! Been watching a lot of great stuff recently that I’m excited to chat about. These are just a few of highlights. I’m not 100% caught up on the Arrowverse shows yet, but did enjoy the Crisis a lot-especially after the second watch through. Check out my full review on that here: https://talesofafangirlwithadvr.tumblr.com/post/190372384413/crisis-on-infinite-earths-reactions

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

ANNE WITH AN E

This 3rd season was my FAVORITE so far, which makes it even more depressing that this is the end. I watched it the fastest and even stayed up till 1 AM to finish the series after watching four straight episodes. (Normally I try to space out bingeing stuff because I don’t want it to end so fast.) This series has always taken liberties with the source material to make it even more relevant to today, but I especially felt that during this season. It did not feel forced one bit. From Bash losing Mary and overcoming being a minority in Avonlea to Ka’kwet’s story line that brings me to tears every time I think about it-especially because she made it ALL the way home just to be taken back. Would love to believe she’s back with her parents, but the ending this season doesn’t show it. Perhaps they were thinking about pursuing it more if there was a 4th season. Josie Pye’s assault was a nice commentary on the Me too movement as well as the Human Rights and Women’s Rights march. I’m so happy Matthew survived this series! I was so worried for him. (As readers know he dies at the end of Anne of Green Gables the novel. Most adaptations often keep it in and I am happy we diverted from the original this time.) Jerry and Diana were adorable at the start, but Jerry deserves so much more! (He got SO TALL! As I often remarked while watching this season.) I absolutely loved the boy craziness this season because they were “Now 16!” Tillie balancing two guys! Ruby’s crush on Moody was super cute. I loved when Anne was forced to ask Gilbert about having babies by the girls. THE STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS!! (applause) 1) Mrs. Stacy: as a widower she will not settle for just anyone to marry. 2) Prissy Andrews: I really like that they brought her character back up and that she attended college. So sad that Billy will still be the head of her family. 3) Diana gets to go to Queens (a change from the novel as well, but one that was a great choice). I really liked her chat with Aunt Josephine. 4) Of course Anne Shirley. There’s so much to say about Anne, but one of the things I really liked this season was getting insight into her own personal family history. Seeing her mom’s book at the end was very touching. I love that she also had red hair. Last thoughts: Delphine is the CUTEST BABY EVER! Seriously a fantastic actress. Her relationship with every person in the show was amazing. And of course my beloved Shirbert. I knew they were endgame (because of the source material), but BOY did they take their time getting there). Screw Winnie! Anne and Gilbert’s relationship hurt my heart throughout it all, but so many adorable moments between them proving they are meant to be. Forever my OTP!      

SANDITON

I am seriously feeling the period pieces this month (but then again when am I not). As a HUGE Jane Austen fan I was extremely excited when I heard that her unfinished novel, Sanditon, would be adapted for the TV screen. Because I was unfamiliar with the story (which is always a fun time when one of your favorite authors has been dead for the past few hundred years) I made sure to add the novel to the top of my 2020 list. Due to its length I was able to finish it before the series started a few weeks ago. While I was not a huge fan of the unfinished novel, because I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters or see where the story was headed, I already feel differently about the mini-series. By the end of episode 1 I was already hooked and very happy that PBS aired the second episode immediately afterwards. I can see parallels to Austen’s work as well as echoes to other Austen novels (naturally Pride and Prejudice). When listening to the Masterpiece podcast in which they interview Rose Williams (who plays Charlotte Heywood) she described Charlotte as a cross between Elizabeth Bennet and Catherine Morland (from Northanger Abbey), which I think is really accurate. I like how Charlotte goes to Sanditon because of her interest in seeing this place that Tom Parker gets so excited about. She honestly isn’t looking for a husband, but rather an occupation. Something different away from her farm. Is romance involved? You betcha. This is an Austen adaptation afterall. But that is not her main focus. There’s so many other things going on with the story, but I’d have to dedicate a complete other post to explain it all. I really feel it is fitting in well with other classic book to screen adaptations coming out right now like Little Women and Anne with an E. If you’re a fan of either one then Sanditon is worth a try. And of course if you love Jane Austen and the 1995 Andrew Davies adaptation (he’s producing this one as well) then it’s worth a shot! 

THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE-SEASON 4

Just like with Anne with an E, I think this was my favorite season of The Man in the High Castle (and ironically also the last season. Although this series knew that going in to production). It held my interest very well and I watched it faster than the previous season. I really don’t think I’ve been this invested since season 1. Lots of new characters were introduced and while I missed some of the old it just shows you how much this show has developed. I also felt myself liking the new characters really fast. At first all of the multi-verse stuff was pretty intense and a little hard to follow, but it got easier as the show went on-EXPECT FOR THE END! Were all those people coming through because their worlds were much worse? What happens next? How are the Smith children? Amy and the other students who were brainwashed-will they change? Kido will stay. Did Childan find Kikuko? (Loved their relationship btw. I’m going to believe they got to be together in the end. It will make me sleep easier.) I was constantly saying to myself: How are they going to wrap this up in only 4 episodes...3...2...etc.. But I feel like it could have been a bit stronger. Despite this I still am a big fan of this season. I just get picky when it comes to series finales.  

DOCTOR WHO 

Last I had posted about Doctor Who I was very behind. Like I only watched last year’s holiday special this year behind. It was just tough for me to get into last season. I’ve really enjoyed Jodie Whitaker’s take on the Doctor. I feel she brings a new energy, but at the same time reminds me of the way Tennant and Smith portrayed the role. It’s just that I missed some of the familiarity of the show. It’s always hard getting a new Doctor because the show takes on a different feeling, but with all new villains, companions, TARDIS, etc it was tough. I wanted a couple more old references. I also didn’t love all of the episodes (although a bunch of them were really good: Rosa Parks, Demons of the Punjab, Kerblam! to name a few). So when I watched last year’s special at the beginning of the month I felt I zoned out a bit. However, Spyfall (parts 1 & 2) that kicked off this season were entertaining and I’ve been hearing good stuff about this season so far. Now that the show is on its second season with these characters, I’ve heard there’s more of a rhythm. I can’t wait to continue. I also can’t wait to see these guys again: 

PLUS I discovered a HUGE spoiler about last week’s episode that honestly that has honestly gotten me so pumped; it is the main reason why I am catching up faster. (I won’t spoil it here if you still don’t know it. I foresee I’ll probably write an article just about that episode.) 

VIOLETTA 

My guilty pleasure that I have been bingeing on Disney+. This musical telenovela from Buenos Aires has three seasons of 80 episodes a piece! (That’s right I have my work cut out for me.) Currently only the first season is up on Disney+ and the show is pretty hard to find, so I am really hoping that by the time I finish it they release at least the second season. I only started it in the new year and am already on episode 42, so you can say I’m enjoying it... :) Basically once I hit 30 I was hooked. (Although I was enjoying it a lot before that, now I’m just more obsessed.) There are several characters in the show from the students, to the teachers and family members, but the main character is Violetta who has lived in many different countries all her life with her dad who is a very successful businessman. She has been home-schooled forever due to their lifestyle and because of her dad’s worry that she will be hurt in the real world. Her mother was a popular singer who died when Violetta was very little that she barely remembers her. When they move back home she secretly gets enrolled in a music school that her mom just so happened to attend. Her tutor is secretly her aunt (who no one recognizes because Violetta’s dad told her that her mom had no relatives) and she has to hide attending the music school and singing which is her ultimate dream. That’s just the basics because there is so much more drama in the series. Lots of lying, deceit, love triangles that just won’t quit, ridiculousness and music. While they repeat a lot of the same songs, many of them are quite good and really catchy that you can’t help but get them stuck in your head. My sister (who loves this show) kept talking about it and that made me want to watch once we got Disney+ (she was lucky to watch two seasons when it was still on Netflix). As she said to me, you should watch it in the original language, which is Spanish with English subtitles. I feel like I’m learning more Spanish while watching it. Probably be fluent by the end (ha ha ha ha-not really). 

So, what are your favorites of this month? Are we watching any of the same things? Anything look interesting to check out? Let me know! 

[tartareus]

who is della? she's so hot. is she canon?

          hello, hello ! how do you do ? okay so, first lemme say YAAASSS, she's a piece of work isn't she ? i love my dramatic baby witch so much sidse babett knudsen - she's not only gorgeous but also ??? very talented ??? off to the main question, then !           i am so sorry for not having all her info up yet - truly, life has been crazy these days! either way, i will throw here some stuff that makes it plotting/rping with della rather easily.           yes, she is canon - but not from caos netflix series ! if you note, in my muses directory i have placed her under the comic books character ( alongside with edward as well, but that's another story ) due to the fact that she was originally from sabrina the teenage witch comics && later got a small role in the chilling adventures of sabrina comics.           here's the short intro about her character from the sttw comics wiki: "Della, the Spellmans' head witch. A strict, short-tempered authority figure, Della does not approve of Sabrina using magic to help others.", she's usually showing up in the early comics and plays a similar role to a high priest to be honest, however it is much more of a desk job - really.          in tcaos comics she is not present in most volumes, but she is the one responsible for sabrina's dark baptism ( which, my friend, is  A LOT different and DARKER than the show ), in fact, she is the one who conjures satan himself ( with the blood of the goat that was sacrificed by sabrina ), there are also some allusions to her and other witches being taken by the dark lord - but imma head out and def not touch in this subject at all rn lmao           now she is never known in depth by the canon source material, which is a shame considering she is, at least in the sttw comics, responsible for sabrina's witchy conduct and training too. also, she won miss hex appeal in 1962 ( which we are led to believe that is some sort of beauty/hex contest ? ), which is cool once you ignore how painfully sexualised she was in the comics.          in the original comics, she was very mean to mortals, and did not accept sabrina mingling with them unless it was to hex them - which, btw, was one of the weekly tasks she gave brina. she was also very good at teleporting, and did so often times inside the spellman household, she apparently did not mind showing up at random ass times outta the blue and scaring the living shit of sabrina lmao, she was sharp but actually cared for sabrina.      in the caos comics, however, she was very religious ( in fact, she is pretty much dressed as a satanic nun, horns and everything, and although she wears a lot more of clothes, she is still portrayed as some sort of sexy vamp but again, i am not going there ) and truly mean to sabrina - i mean, once the whole dark baptism went to shit thanks to harvey and madam satan's interference - calling her a mutt ( i hated this ) for being half mortal, and pretty much commanding the coven to hun and eat sabrina's mortal boyfriend before he had the chance to tell anyone what he had witnessed in the woods.         i gathered as much info on her as i could, and worked my way into the tv series canon - ofc there are some major differences but other than that she is pretty loyal to the source material. here are some things to be noted:

apparently she is very strong conjurer ( in the tcaos comics at least ) and a quite talented at hexing people

sabrina said she accidentaly created the twist, you know, the dance, after hexing a mortal that was dancing twist and shout

her familiar appears to be a puma ?? its actually a wild feline, idk what it is to be frank but i know it is not a normal, house pet like, familiar - its feral.

she wears a lot of capes and overdresses a lot in contrast to the other characters, in fact the only time in the comics when she wore normal clothes was when she was retiring and was wearing her nightie

she is very easily annoyed, it seems, and quite strict with everyone ( including sabrina’s aunts )

she’s also always on time “a witch in time, saves nine”

in my portrayal, though, i have given her some other things to be aware of:

she was classmates with hilda, almost flunked at bubbling had it not been for her

since they have the high priest over what originally was her work, i have kept her title but amplified it - since in the tcaos and in the sttw comics she was shown to be close ( if not an actual member of ) the witches council, i have given her a job under them, she oversees some covens around the globe and reports to the council. i hc that there are plenty of head witches for all over the world, but they all report to rome

btw i hc that the council is set mainly in rome, in a sort of vatican organization where the elders and most powerful warlocks and witches are members. they decide the stuff.

she has  a werewolf fur coat, made from a rabid werewolf that tried to kill her.

her hair was originally pitch black, but she keeps it crimson red because she likes the colour best

her relationship with zelda is rocky due to their academy years - hilda was harrowed quite badly by her own sister and this marked della

della is an orphan, and as such has no last name - well, she had one but her family was so old and into the conjuring business ( where, according to the tcaos comics one should never reveal their full name to a demon ) so that they ended up changing it a lot. she likes to make up stories about the possible heritage she has tho - so dont believe her if she claims to be descendant from merlin or from the bathory countess

she is tasked to investigate the murders and the issues in greendale, which is where i usually start my interactions

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Let’s debunk this shit.

First off...why should we, on the topic of Spider-Man, actually place stock by the guy who has in the past argued Sins Past is as, if not more, bad than One More Day when anyone with an ounce of knowledge of how writing craft works would realize this is abjectly false. As a story the flaws in Sins Past amount to it inserting something into the past that doesn’t fit at all. One More Day by contrast not only does this but needs to violently ignore 45 yrs of established characterization to even function and even then it fails since it needs to contradict its own narrative.

  Oh and you know MovieBob is the guy who said ‘That Spec cartoon wasn’t as good as people make it out to be. People like it more for what it could be than what it was.’...WTF was he even watching.

 But let’s dive into some more specifics of Bob’s argument.

 “OMD ‘needed’ to happen.”

 This is objectively untrue.

 Let’s give the benefit of the doubt and say what Bob meant wasn’t so much that Spider-Man needed to make a deal with the Devil but rather it was necessary to get rid of Spider-Man’s marriage.

 I can’t bring myself to do a 3000 word essay on why the latter alone is idiotic, sexist, myopic and utterly false but here is a cliffnotes version.

 There are 2 fundamental problems with Bob’s line of thinking.

 The 1st is that to end the marriage you needed to outright alter Spider-Man’s history via a soft DC style continuity reboot thus creating in a literal sense an alternate universe version of Spider-Man who’d just never been married in the first place.

 Put simply Spider-Man’s marital status could’ve been ended in universe through numerous methods that avoided that. He could’ve gotten divorced. The US government as some kind of petty revenge upon Spider-Man turning on the Registration Act could’ve legally annulled his marriage along with certain other legal aspects of his life. There could’ve been a reveal that due to a legal loophole nobody realized at the time technically speaking Peter and MJ had never been married in the first place despite believing they were.

 None of this would’ve fixed the most egregious contrivance of OMD and OMIT, that by simply never having been married magically this = Peter and MJ would break up. You still need to justify THAT separately which OMD didn’t even attempt to do. OMD in isolation erases their marriage but it doesn’t explain or justify why doing this would mean they are now no longer in a relationship. OMIT tried and miserably failed to do that because once again it required the abject ignoring of decades of established (and logical) characterization.

  But what should we expect from the guy who in another video once said Superman would be a jerk if he married Lois Lane because of the stress and dangers it’d expose her to, specifically comparing it to real life people who’s jobs offer comparable examples. ‘Superman would never put Lois Lane through that’ said Bob (though I am paraphrasing I admit.

  Why?

  If REAL people do that then why WOULDN’T Superman OR Spider-Man do so?

 It’s a line of thought which amounts to Bob saying those people shouldn’t have marital relationships. And that is gross.

 The 2nd problem with Bob’s ‘it needed to happen’ assertion is the notion that CREATIVELY it was necessary for the health of Spider-Man.

 Let’s ignore how creatively (and financially) Superman has been on the up and up since 2016 when he got his marriage BACK.

 Instead let’s consider for a moment...why?

 Why CREATIVLY does Spider-Man need to not be married to work? Why does he need to be single for his long term creative/financial health?

 There is no answer because the truth is he isn’t. Spider-Man’s love life is relevant only in so far as the series follows his life and not being asexual romance is a part of that. At which point if you are arguing for his long term creative health he needs to be able to swap out the women he’s going to be romantically/sexually involved with why then does that not also apply to literally every other character connected to every other part of his life?

 It doesn’t.

 It’s a bullshit argument born of an ignorant lack of questioning. It’s born of “Well it’s got to be this way because it’s always been this way and it’s worked that way.” Ignoring how it doesn’t and how you know...Marvel comics itself exists off the back of saying “Maybe it doesn’t have to just be this way. I don’t like that way in fact, I like the idea of trying it this other way.”

 Spider-Man being single keeps Spider-Man stunted and in a state of doomed to failure. It literally renders his love life redundant because every reader (and this applied before 1987 when he got married, but applies a thousand times more now) knows his romances will never amount to anything and that they are glorified Bond girls. And I’ll be honest the substance (such as there is) in the Bond movies NEVER lies with the Bond girls with the sole exceptions of those few movies where they tease you with the idea that he has deeper feelings for them.

 Then you have the fact that marriage as a part of most people’s lives and a responsibility is outright tailor made for the character who’s core concept is entwined around the interconnected idea of responsibility and being a (relatively) normal person. It’s not different to him graduating from High school or moving out of Aunt May’s house or getting a job.

 But let’s look at the franchise in the wake of OMD creatively and financially has it been doing better than before?

 LOL NOPE!

 In 2016 we had the Power Play arc. This arc was THE Spider-Man event of the year. It tied into the previous Spider event of 2015, Renew Your Vows by introducing the incredibly powerful villain Regent who’s powers were that he had the powers of EVERY other hero virtually and in RYV took over all of NYC following killing the X-Men and Avengers on his own. It guest starred fan favourite Miles Morales, the first substantial appearance of the character in Amazing Spider-Man since his migration into the 616 universe. It also guest starred lead character of the MCU and (then) Marvel comics poster boy Iron Man fresh from his hyped up run under Bendis, the biggest name in comics of the previous 20 years. It also teased the appearance of the newest team of Avengers, a brand that has been huge since 2012 for obvious reasons. Oh and it featured the return of another fan favourite Mary Jane who was once more being used to tease the possibility of her and Spider-Man’s romantic reunion which had been a surefire way of raising hype for a story since 2008 onwards. Oh and it was clearly a tie-in to the international blockbuster and critically acclaimed movie, Captain America: Civil War.

 And of course you had much promotion from the Marvel hype machine, Dan Slott interviews and the usual variant cover artificial sales inflation gimmick that had become common to Marvel.

 Safe to say that this story was a big, big deal and sure to sell well right?

 Well....it actually sold less than a barely promoted, run-of-the-mill ASM arc from 2005 by J. Michael Straczynski that featured in the first issue Tony Stark sitting on a chair sans armour and beyond that no guest stars....oh and there were no variant covers....and btw Spider-Man was married in it

  . ...Oh....

  But hey what about some OTHER Spider-Man stories since OMD. Haven’t THEY been creatively enriching?

 I mean we had classics like:

 The Lizard ruins the interesting humanizing aspects of his character when he becomes a cannibalistic monster who eats his own son and maybe rapes someone

 Black Cat’s characterization gets flushed down the toilet so she can be an indulgent juvenile sexual fantasy for Joe Kelly who believes Spider-Man is fundamentally a man child Black Cat’s characterization gets shot to shit again by her ripping off Catwoman by becoming a gangster, something she has never held aspiration for before and seems to want to get involved in now for no reason at all beyond being angry that Spider-Man imprisoned her and exposed her identity that wasn’t even secret in the first place

 Dan Slott who likes Doc Ock more than he likes Peter Parker decides to say screw it and make Doc Ock Spider-Man thus invalidating the entire reason he was hired, which is to write about Peter Parker. He proceeds to make Doc Ock a villain sue and cause readers to wonder if he’s this smart and this dangerous he lost so many times in the past at all? Also he tries to rape Mary Jane in issue 2 and then succeeds in maybe raping Spider-Man himself in the same issue and definitely succeeds in raping the only dwarf character in Spider-Man’s canon.

 Spider-Man becomes like Iron Man thus invalidating the entire point of his character and reasons people like to read about him.

 A mystery surrounding the Green Goblin’s identity that turns out to be the twist that he was Norman Osborn all along meaning this was a pointless mystery the whole time.

 Ben Reilly finally comes back after 20 years but doesn’t act even a little bit like the character people knew and loved causing people to wish he’d stayed dead

  Betty Brant is physically assaulted and Spider-Man tracks down the assailant but when he finds him lets him go (thus enabling him to assault other innocent women) because Aunt May guilt tripped him by saying he was a jerk at age 15 for allowing her, a 50+ year old adult and his parental guardian, to cope with Uncle Ben’s death alone on the night of his death.

  Fan favourite Mayday Parker has her character now defined by the death of her father invalidating the entire point of her character which was the ongoing relationship between herself and her Dad

  Every spider person ever fights a bunch of one note cosmic vampires across alternate niverses who are variant action figures of another one note cosmic vampire villain. The story is utterly reparative and makes Spider-Man play second fiddle to all the other characters cramming for panel time.

 I could go on but I won’t.

 To count the creative successful and enriching Slott and the post-OMD Spider-Man stories is a far easier task than to count the ones which are for the most part mediocre-God forsakenly terrible and miss the whole point of the various characters involved (most of all you know SPIDER-MAN himself!) because the latter is the norm post-OMD.

 Tellingly both volume 1 and volume 2 of Renew Your Vows a book BUILT around the concept of a married Spider-Man have (when judged appropriately given their out of continuity status) garnered perfectly respectable sales (especially in volume 1) prior to their recent time skip (an ill advised move regardless of what the series was about) and critical acclaim. And critical acclaim from people besides Marvel/Spider-Man sycophants like CBR who have vested financial interests in positively reviewing the stories.

 In fact there is a very strong argument in favour of Slott being the single most creatively damaging Spider-Man writer in history. The list of things that need to be FIXED because of his idiocy and incompetence is vast.

 Moving on to Bob’s other points:

 “Peter and MJ being together was a dumb stunt when the did it in the first place”

 If Bob had you know READ the stories leading into the wedding he’d know

 a) That relationship and marriage was being built up since 1984 albeit with the initial intention being Peter stranded at the altar.

 b) A stunt isn’t rendered invalid merely because it is a stunt. A Stunt can make sense and with the build up the wedding had this was one such example

 “The marriage generated very few decent stories that wouldn’t have worked just as well without it”

 Here is a list of a FEW decent or above stories which in some significant way make use of the Spider marriage between 1987-2007

 Kraven’s Last Hunt

 Venom

 ASM #400

 Revenge of the Green Goblin

 A Death in the Family

 ASM volume 2 #49-50

 ASM volume 2 #51-54

 Sensational Spider-Man volume 2 #32

 Sensational Spider-Man Annual 2007, the only Eisner nominated Spider-Man story ever

 Spider-Man unlimited volume 3 #2 Story 2: Making Contributions

 Eleven Angry Men and One angry Woman

 Parallel lives

 Spider-Man: the Final Adventure

 Web of Death

 Revelations the end of the Clone Saga

  Spectacular Spider-Man #241

  Spectacular Spider-Man #242-245

 ASM vol 2 #39

  Ultimate Spider-Man Anthology book: Five Minutes

  I Heart Marvel Web of Romance #1

  Spectacular Spider-Man #199-200

  Spectacular Spider-Man #250

  The Tombstone arc

  Peter Parker Spider-Man volume 2 #14

 Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1-12

  Hmmm...it’s almost like Bob sucks at mathematics and story evaluation or something. Then again he did say there was no problem with Luke Skywalker in Last Jedi so you know...I should know better.

  Oh and btw the whole ‘those would’ve worked JUST as well without the marriage’ argument is a double edged sword since there are literally less than 20 Spider-Man stories post-OMD that WOULDN’T have worked with a married Spider-Man and only one of them is good...and only if you also take entirely in isolation of Spider-Man’s wider history. Every other story with tweaks could work AS if not MORE effectively with a married Spider-Man.

  If the argument is there should be no elements in a story that do not actively contribute to it then shit....why should Spider-Man’s SINGLE status be in a book? Why should Aunt May, Jameson or shitton else be multiple stories across the decades of Spider-Man? Hell by this logic Aunt May or Betty Brant are superfluous to ASM annual #1 which inspired part of Spider-Man 2.

   “The Spider Marriage left the franchise spinning it’s wheel for a very long time.”

 This is another lie. After Peter and MJ got married there was precious little wheel spinning. Almost immediately we jumped into ongoing stories involving Betty Brant, Joe Robertson, Peter going to school again, MJ and Peter’s finances taking a hit when MJ lost her job, Jameson being impersonated by Chameleon, Black Cat dating Flash, Peter’s parents returning and THEN you got the Clone Saga FFS.

  Following that we got Norman Osborn running the Daily Bugle followed by the true wheel spinning garbage of the Mackie/Byrne run which was bad BECAUSE they axed the marriage. Following that when JMS took over his wheel spun for maybe 5 months tops? The rest of the time he reconstructed Peter and MJ and Aunt May’s characters, thrust forward with his Spider totem storyline and then began the slow build up to OMD starting with Peter becoming and Avenger.

  There were few months were NOTHING was really happening and the number of issues where that was the case owed much more to the fact that the writers needed to pad out FOUR monthly titles each month!

 “By contrast BND and Slott’s run has been good”

 By objective writing standards this is a fallacy and Bob is offering no proof to this. He just says ‘it’s been good’. Except Bob’s word isn’t proof unto itself despite how much he must like to think so.

 “Peter and MJ are more interesting now”

  This is the proof Bob is not a...I don’t want to say he isn’t true fan. I rarely use that term. It’s more that he...isn’t an informed fan.

 Anyone who knows any legit shit about Spider-Man could tell you Spider-Man is far from more interesting now than he was prior to BND.

  Pre-OMD Spider-Man was the sum of 45 years of experiences. A 30ish average guy who’d been through Hell and a lot of battles and survived them and coped with that pain. He was a competent hero and a flawed human being who was just trying to look out for the little guy and take care of his family.

  MJ meanwhile was a woman who’d also lived through Hell but demonstrated sheer steel by surviving it in spite of having no powers to fall back on. She’d gone from a carefree party animal who was seemingly selfish, to a hero in her own right who had an endless well of inner strength.

  In contrast post-OMD Peter Parker is a man-child fuck up who illegally invades foreign nations with his giant G.I. Joe action figures whilst often playing second fiddle in his own fucking book to whatever guest stars want to steal the limelight. And he’s not believable anymore. He isn’t a grounded guy who copes with the shit thrown at him. He’s the guy who just shrugs off being killed, having his body stolen and his life upended by his enemy and then losing a year of his life.

  That isn’t more interesting unless you are arguing being a Saturday morning cartoon character is inherently more interesting than being....welll actually inherently more interesting than being a certain character Stan Lee and Steve Ditko invented in 1962.

  Which Bob plainly isn’t arguing because he’s also listing MJ as ‘more interesting’....how?

  MJ isn’t even IN the book regularly any more so HOW could she be more interesting. Worse when she WAS in the book she had 2 roles. Ship tease the fans by being Peter’s friend and confidant (i.e. something she used to do BEFORE BND) or being a blind idiot in Superior which is NOT more interesting.

 So what the fuck is he talking about?

 I don’t know WHAT he’s talking about. But when you make a statement like: ‘on balance this story that eviscerated and betrayed everything about who Spider-Man is and invalidates his motivation from now on because he sold out in the biggest way possible, was on balance worth it because we got t see Doc Ock as Spider-Man try to rape people’ I certainly from WHERE he is talking from.

  And the sun don’t shine there son.

[lightblindingme]

Iced Coffee, Iced Chocolate, and Cappuccino :)

Iced Coffee : Do you like reading? If so, what’s your favorite book?

Yaaas! absolutely! I have intervals when I’m in my reading mood and can’t stop reading. Other times, I just can’t focus so it takes months for me to get back into the groove. As for my favourite book, I don’t have one but several. For the sake of this post though, I’ll limit myself to one:

Grmuša by Reşat Nuri Güntekin. The original Turkish title isÇalıkuşu, meaning I read its translation which is one of the best examples of a translator’s skills and knowledge that captured the spirit of the book majestically. I raved about this translation for weeks to my friends. Loose English translation would be The Wren, and it is a novel written in 1922 (set some years before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, women back then wore niqab, if I remember correctly, very important point in the book), about the life of a young Turkish girl named Feride, who, after a failed engagement and betrayal by her fiance Kamran, leaves her home where she lived with her aunt, uncle, and cousins and goes to work in a remote village as a teacher. Feride is described as a very beautiful girl whose wild spirit often kept her busy, going about, playing, causing trouble when she was a child, which is why she got the nickname Çalıkuşu. She’s also smart, courageous, compassionate and virtuous and all her students end up loving her no matter where she goes. Her beauty is presented as a hindrance, since many men, some of dubious moral end up falling in love with her and wanting to take advantage of her, and women end up being jealous and hating her, actually blaming her for the behaviour of their husbands/boyfriends. As her story goes on, Feride moves from village to village, not wanting to tie herself to any man, refusing all the advances because she still loves Kamran. She goes through so much, so many things, good and bad, happen to her, shaping her as a person.

This is just a short description of the book, and as I read this it sounds so simplistic and stereotypical, but trust me, I HAVE YET TO READ A BOOK THAT WILL LEAVE AS STRONG AN IMPRESSION as this book did. Feride became one of my favourite female characters and I couldn’t put the book down. After I finished reading it, I cried and cried so much and I was angry at myself for rushing to finish it quickly because it’s such a wonderful book with an amazing female character whom I admire immensely. (whooooa, such a long response, sorry :) )

btw, there’s a tv series loosely! based on the book that I’ve watched and these are Feride and Kamran asdfghjkl I have had a crush on the guy (Burak Özçivit) for so long ughhh

My second favourite book EVER is Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Such an underrated book. We had to read it for one of my uni courses a few years ago and I CRIED!!!! so much while reading it. I even got into a heated discussion with a fellow student bcs I was not having her interpretation of a particular scene (y’ll know what I’m talking about - the scene with Alec in the woods). And I almost, almost!! got into an argument with my professor bcs what he was saying was just ludicrous - the man had zero understanding of the book and its characters, I cannot, to this day, comprehend how he even got to lecture us on it. Pfff Instead of discussing the book, he was retelling us a movie adaptation and everyone who did not read the book totally believed his interpretation and lecture, but I was LIVID!!!! bcs the way he was talking about the events form the book was just nonsense.

(if anyone’s interested in my other book faves, let me know ;))

Iced Chocolate : Do you have a crush on someone?

I have crushes on sooo many people, but since they’re all celebrities, my answer would be invalid, right? lol

IRL, not really. I do admire people and often catch myself thinking whoooa, that’s a beautiful person, but so far nothing concrete to mention.

Cappuccino : What’s your middle name?

Uhh ah, K, you trying to get into my bank account? Hhihhi jk, I don’t have one, Where I’m from people seldom, if ever, have middle names. Especially in my religion.

thx for these asks, I had so much fun with the first one, I could talk on and on about books :D