#love to hear a thoughtful deconstruction of that stuff

[commsroom]

What is it you love so much about Eiffel? Asking as a fellow Eiffel Lover, I'm just interested in your response!

i've been holding onto this one for a while, in part because i know there's no complete answer to this and i could probably just talk forever, but it's almost his birthday, so... in the spirit of dougmas:

what i love about eiffel as a character is that he feels like a real person. he's full of these very human contradictions: he's a coward, he can be exceptionally brave, he's considerate and thoughtful, he's got his head up his ass, he's a mediator by nature, he's frustratingly stubborn and will dig his heels in about the pettiest things, he's very technically capable, he's a master of weaponized incompetence. he's stupid in ways only a very smart person can be, and has a certain kind of self-hating self-centeredness. he has very firmly held morals and wants to do right by people, and he struggles to reconcile those beliefs with the unforgivable things he's nonetheless done; he has very real and serious flaws that the narrative doesn't flinch away from, but neither exonerates nor condemns him for. he's so entangled with the heart of the show, its themes and relationships, that you couldn't have wolf 359 without doug eiffel, and - as a friend of mine once said - if you put eiffel in any other show, he'd turn it into something resembling wolf 359 as well. and as gabriel urbina said about pan-pan: "he's the communications officer; without him, they stop communicating." he's a compassionate portrayal of an addict, and a very real and nuanced example of a kind-hearted man who's still used to thinking of himself as the "default" kind of person, and is still learning how to deconstruct the biases that come with that.

what i love about eiffel as a person is that he's someone i'd want in my life. he's a very sincere and emotionally honest person; he doesn't have hidden agendas, and you know exactly where you stand with him. he hates authority, he hates work, and he won't suck up or pretend otherwise - in fact, he'll create more work for himself if it means he can avoid doing his job, on principle. if he has a grievance about something, oh, you'll know. at the same time, he has this infectious enthusiasm about the things he loves, and the things that excite him, and he's a geeky guy into primarily 80s/90s nostalgic media who doesn't feel the need to gatekeep. i love his voice, i love how expressive he is, i love how you can hear the same mannerisms you can see in the live show just in the very open-body-language way he emotes. he has a very distinct former class clown type of energy, and i think that goes hand in hand with an underlying loneliness. he can be pretty clueless, he speaks before he thinks and has chronic foot-in-mouth disease, but… doug eiffel is the kind of person who would notice if someone was standing alone in the corner at a party, and would go out of his way to make them feel included. he's good at getting people to open up, even if it's in spite of themselves, even if it's while they're rolling their eyes at him. he's a staunch pacifist who - even when things piss him off - doesn't react to conflict with violence or threats of violence, and he can't stand to have things stay bottled up: if there's one thing eiffel wants everyone to do, it's talk about it. whatever it is. he has a good balance of traits that make him feel genuine and warm without coming across preachy or suspiciously softened; he's also very much still a gross dirtbag with a lot of annoying flaws typical of some average guy, and that's a huge part of his appeal to me. he's good with his hands. he likes building stuff and taking things apart. he's rough around the edges in ways that reflect his life experience, and he's just… a guy who has lived a life, who has a lot of life experience, but hasn't made a lot of true friends in the process. he's gotten used to being lonely, and gotten used to telling himself he's fine with it, and something in me really aches for that.

his birthday is a good - and timely - example: he's a man in his 30s still holding onto childhood hurt, having his birthday forgotten and overshadowed by christmas. i'm also a christmas hater, so it's nice to have something else to celebrate and prioritize, and i like imagining his disgust at all of the unavoidable holiday trappings; it makes me feel less alone. i wouldn't say i relate to eiffel, more that i feel we have compatible issues, and it's not a secret that he's the type of guy i find attractive. he feels like a real person that i already know and love, and at the same time he's representative of the kind of person i'd like to know, like his life would fit comfortably into mine.

[quasieli]

Anyone have any good horror youtubers who critically talk about horror media and use at least 2 brain cells when talking about harmful tropes in horror? I just started watching a new channel that seemed interesting but then one of the video shifted to "disabled bodies scary" and "addicts scary". It's esp pissing me off cause they even address that people have mentioned that, big shocker, disabled people are people and that their bodies aren't a horror to marvel at or be repulsed by. And then they just ignored that. I'd like to watch someone who knows what they're talking about with horror media and can approach it in constructive ways. Any type of horror content is fine, I'm open to exploring more genres and sub-genres.

[vicvinegarandhughhoney]

Dennis Reynolds is AUTISTIC!!!!

(At least, I headcanon him as such).

Here's why:

Sensory issues:

If you've watched the show, you probably already know what I mean, but Dennis really struggles to deal with sensory input. When there's a loud noise, he often covers his ears- like in Family Fight:

or he gets frustrated, lashing out at diners for being too loud (The Gang Dines Out), getting annoyed at Frank for chewing gum too loud.

It's worth noting that later on in this episode, Dennis can hear Frank chewing gum from the other room. He's clearly hypersensitive, and perhaps this even goes to explaining a little bit why his room is soundproofed? Could it be that rather than not wanting people to hear what's going on inside, he's desperate to block the noise coming from outside?? (this was suggested by @kod-lyoko , and I LOVE IT).

There are SO many examples of Dennis plugging his ears (often when the others don't react in such a strong way):

There are way too many examples to list here, and too many images I could give (the above were taken from @dennisboobs ' gif set) but hopefully you get the impression.

Social issues:

I feel like this one is pretty self-evident, but I find deconstructing the things Dennis does super fun, so I'm going to explain anyway: Dennis does NOT know how relationships work. There are a great deal of factors at play to cause this (I would argue that his early experiences in life definitely moulded his view in an unhelpful way) but the systematic way he looks at interactions REEKS of autism to me.

The DENNIS system is hardly peak autism representation (it's certainly not the bright and bubbly stuff people often talk about), but the fact that he has a system for romantic/sexual interactions, both for men AND women, feels super autistic-coded. He quite literally has a script which he follows to make interactions easier, one which he sticks to rigidly. And if anybody tries to implement this carefully thought out system incorrectly? Well, he'll let you know (e.g in The Dennis System episode where he blows up at Mac and Charlie for not getting it right at the fair).

He masks his social deficits well, but sometimes things don't go to plan. Sometimes, the girl on the cruise ship runs away, and Dennis announces that 'that's not supposed to happen'.

He comes off as creepy, but that's not his intention. He doesn't understand the way he's perceived by others in general- he thinks he's the King of St Joseph's, not realising he was actually an outcast all along. Just like a lot of autistic people, he didn't understand that he was on the fringes of society until it was thrust in his face, and that hurt.

Speech:

While Dennis often appears to speak pretty normally, there are a few occasions where his frustration causes this mask of normality to slip.

In The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby, Dennis is caught off guard by the hipster's reading of him, and immediately goes back to Frank and Charlie, parroting almost the same words he heard right back to them, despite not seeming to understand them at all (perhaps a form of echolalia?).

"I'm out here trying to make a difference, and you're over here rummaging around in the trash like a couple of narcs! Okay, you can't just come down here with your mainline cashmere, mousse... quaff... hairspray, and start being like, a suburban tool!"

It's also worth noting that even the poetic way he speaks when he's angry could be a trait ?? As a recently diagnosed autistic person, in my report they spoke about how I used 'idiosyncratic' language (basically, peculiar language lol), and listed terms like 'connoisseur', which I guess were deemed pretty formal for casual conversation.

And it got me thinking, who else do we know who uses VERY idiosyncratic language? Dennis. Reynolds.

"The thunder of my vengeance will echo through these halls, like the gust of a thousand winds"

"Begone, vile man, begone from me!... I am untethered and my rage knows no bounds!"

"You didn't tell me there was to be pollen!"

Etc... etc...

The way he repeats 'savages, idiots!' during his rage at the frat bros feels very autism coded to me. Repetition of certain words and phrases is common!

Heightened emotions:

Again, something that I didn't know until I myself was diagnosed is that for a lot of autistic people, we spend most of the time at a pretty 'flat' emotional state, but when we do experience emotions, we experience them intensely. Frustration turns into anger, sadness turns into despair, happiness turns into ecstasy- it's why some autistic people might be misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder!

This, of course, fits well with the way Dennis experiences emotions. He spends a lot of the time believing he doesn't have any at all, and when he does feel something, it's overwhelming.

"And I have feelings! Of course I have feelings, I have big feelings, okay? And it hurts."

These lines hit hard regardless of the extra weight you put on them, but when you see them through the lens of autism, through the lens of a lifetime of misunderstanding and overstimulation, it makes them hit even harder.

It hurts him to feel. His emotions are so strong that they're painful, and he's never been taught how to deal with them, because nobody even knew he had them in the first place.

Stimming:

Finally, I think Dennis stims. A lot. If you search up 'Dennis Reynolds autistic' on this very site, you'll find gifsets and videos illustrating this.

He has a few very common ones, like tugging on his earlobe when he's anxious, playing with his fingers, etc, but if you pay attention to him even when he's in the background of scenes, you'll pick up on a lot. Dennis is constantly moving, and while you could suggest this is simply a result of Glenn's ADHD, I'd argue that some of these stims happen so frequently in Sunny specifically, that there's no way they're coincidental.

Glenn makes a lot of very specific acting and directorial choices in Sunny, so why dismiss these as choices too?

That's all I can be bothered to type up now, but here's my case for Autistic!Dennis ! Of course, he's a complex character so there's always room for different interpretations...

but as an autistic person, I hereby claim him as One Of Us™.

[antianakin]

I've been reading this Luke/Mara series called the Jaded Trilogy where Mara has second thoughts after seeing Alderaan and then she defects in an undercover situation instead of turning over the defectors she infiltrated.

When she joins the Alliance, she and Luke catch feelings for each other. They can't be together right off the bat because Mara is his direct subordinate in his squadron and there are fraternization rules about that stuff. Despite everyone encouraging the relationship and even offering to cover for them sneaking around, Luke avoids that. Not only does Luke do so because the Force says it's a bad idea, but it's made clear HE doesn't feel comfortable doing it. He feels it's an abuse of his responsibilities within the Alliance and instead transfers her over to intel so they can see each other and not break the rules.

To summarize: it's a big suck-it to how Anakin/Padme did things (kinda like Kanan/Hera) and I thought you might like to hear about it.

I'm slowly making my way in the second book so I can't rate the the whole shebang yet but the stuff I described is in the first book.

It sounds interesting! I always love a good deconstruction of what Anakin and Padme should've done.

Anyone who might want to read it can find the fic here.

[nothorses]

I saw your tags on the post about trick or treaters not speaking and I am v interested in hearing more of your thoughts on the concept of “developmental delays”! I‘ve seen the idea that disability is a construct, but I’m not as familiar with the idea that development is also a construct. You have really great takes as an educator and someone who like, actually GETS how kids work, so I am interested in your thoughts!

I also know that posting on this subject might be poking the bear, so it is 1000% cool if you would rather not comment 💜 Tysm!

Oh I'm happy to talk about it! I love talking about this stuff, thank you for asking me to 💙

This isn't exactly new ground; there's been plenty of research into and writing on the subject, and deconstructing "development" as a static concept was, ironically, a huge part of my most recent development class.

The idea is that our understanding of "benchmarks" of development, which informs the larger concept of development as a whole, is heavily rooted in the assumption that Western culture is The Standard. We prioritize walking, talking, reading, and writing, which means we cultivate these skills in our children from a young age, which means they develop those skills more quickly than they do others.

To use one of my favorite examples from Rogoff, 2003, Orienting Concepts and Ways of Understanding the Cultural Nature of Human Development:

Although U.S. middle-class adults often do not trust children below about age 5 with knives, among the Efe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, infants routinely use machetes safely (Wilkie, personal communication, 1989). Likewise, Fore (New Guinea) infants handle knives and fire safely by the time they are able to walk (Sorenson, 1979). Aka parents of Central Africa teach 8- to 10-month-old infants how to throw small spears and use small pointed digging sticks and miniature axes with sharp metal blades: "Training for autonomy begins in infancy. Infants are allowed to crawl or walk to whatever they want in camp and allowed to use knives, machetes, digging sticks, and clay pots around camp. Only if an infant begins to crawl into a fire or hits another child do parents or others interfere with the infant’s activity. It was not unusual, for instance, to see an eight month old with a six-inch knife chopping the branch frame of its family’s house. By three or four years of age children can cook themselves a meal on the fire, and by ten years of age Aka children know enough subsistence skills to live in the forest alone if need be. (Hewlett, 1991, p. 34)" (pg. 5)

In the US we would view "letting an 8-month-old handle a knife" as a sign of severe neglect, but the emphasis here is placed on the fact that these children are taught to do these things safely. They don't learn out of necessity, or stumble into knives when nobody is watching; they learn with care, support, and safety in mind, just like children here learn. It makes me wonder if Aka parents would view our children's lack of basic survival skills with the same concern and disdain as USAmerican parents would view their children's inability to read.

Do we disallow our children from handling knives because it is objectively, fundamentally unsafe for a child of that age to do so- because even teaching them is developmentally impossible- or is that just a cultural assumption?

What other cultural assumptions do we have about child development?

Which ties in neatly with various social-based models of disability, particularly learning and, of course, developmental disabilities. If your culture doesn't value the things you are good at, and you happen to struggle with the things it does value, what kinds of assumptions is it likely to make about you? How will it pathologize you? What happens to that culture if it understands those values to be arbitrary, in order to accommodate your unique existence?

[puffskeeter]

Hey I’m such a big fan of your art and I very much enjoy watching your YouTube channel 🤍🤍

And I want to ask you why you don’t ship the ppgxrrb and I want to hear your opinion about it which I can very much respect.

Plus another question that what type of fashion you think your au of the Powerpuff, Rowdyruff, and your Original Characters fall into between I really love how you draw them?

OMG TYSM!! I think i've seen your comments on my videos and TYSM for those too!! :D

I'll make a seperate post for my fashions/aesthetics for RRBORN characters! this one is pretty long even though i wanted it to be short lolz

Why i dont actively ship PPGxRRB:

I'm scrapping my drafted essay post about this for now because its really uncalled for and unnecessary. IDK sorry to anyone who looked forwards 2 it, but i just dont think i illustrate my point very well and more than half of it is lowkey a biased vent post and pure rambling. Either way this is the TLDR for the post you'll never see LOL.

But actually, I do ship PPGxRRB, i've just drifted away from it over the years. I think one of the biggest 'problems' i have with PPG x RRB is mainly with the portrayal of it. My main issue is with how a lot of people mischaracterize the RRB/PPG and completely deconstruct them as characters so that they can be love interests for the eachother and nothing more. One of my points in my scrapped post was that; I have no idea how an entire fandom managed to gender-bend the Bechdel test, but it is rare that i find PPGxRRB media where the RRB have actual lives, interests, hobbies, and friends that have nothing to do with the PPG. Half the time they can barely have a thought if it isn't about the PPG. As i said, Gender-bent Bechdel test.

Another point was that: ppgxrrb has gained a horrible reputation for itself over the years. Back in its "Glory" days, Toxic fans of the ships had bulldozed anything that differs from their favorite empty dynamics. Those usually being The Reds, Blues, and Greens. Nowadays i still see almost nothing in the realms of variety between creators interpretations of the ships. Almost every time i see a PPGxRRB post, it can fit into a set dynamic that the ship is already infamous for.

I want to be able to see the creators love and passion for their ships. I want to know how and why these characters ended up together. If a story is to be told, i want to hear it. I know that the majority of PPGxRRB creators are, by default, amateurs (they dont get paid and its not on a professional scale), but after seeing the exact same badly written love story hundreds , maybe even thousands of times with little-to-no variety, I've gotten bored and tired of people devaluing my favorite characters to be nothing more than overplayed dynamics and shipping fuel.

A lot of people like shipping because of the dynamics, but ship dynamics don't hook me in, and ive noticed that most PPGxRRB stuff is purely ship dynamics and nothing more. Theres nothing wrong with loving ship dynamics or being drawn to ships for their specific dynamics! I just dont care about dynamics, i care about chemistry and story. But most amateurs cant effectively show the chemistry or write the story, a lot of them can barely characterize the 2 characters in their ships.

FYI this isnt about anyone specific or even many recent fans of PPGxRRB. I've been in/around the online PPG fandom since before 2016, and a lot of my thoughts/feelings on the matter have a lot to do with stuff that happened over the years i've loved this series, and more specifically, The RowdyRuff Boys.

To be clear: When i say that they are mischaracterized, i'm not talking about HC's. I'm just tired of seeing the PPG and RRB dulled down into one-note personalities with stereotypical characterization and almost always no tangible character development. A love story is still a story, and a lot of shippers seem to half ass the "story" for favor of the "love".

I dont hate or even dislike PPG x RRB. I'm just really tired of rarely seeing people do the RRB justice, and i want these characters to be treated with the full respect that i think they deserve.

WOW this post is way to long already... still a lot shorter than my OG post. Sorry for being insane about the RRB. it will happen again.

[verdantdaises]

Do you have more Catholic Bradley headcanons? I also see him as Catholic too 🤞 and I'd love to hear more of your thoughts

(ps love your fics!)

OMG!! (Thank u btw ily)

OMG!! I love Catholic guilt Bradley!! I will say, straight up, I’m not religious, and I never have been, so I’m not VEry familiar with Catholic stuff, but I’ll try my best to get the ✨vibe✨ sorry if I get anything wrong and they aren’t very specific, I’m not very confident with the details despite my research lol

-he used to go to confession almost every week after school, desperately trying to do anything to quell the impending sense of panic that came with all the thoughts about boys (of course)

-he was one of the only kids in his parish that went that frequently, and his parents used to brag that it was because he was because he was wise beyond his years, and would do anything to be in God’s good graces

-the first time he went to a high school party with weed, he went to confession every day for a week

-quickly however; he starts to use recreational drugs and drinking to quash the impure thoughts, he mumbles a quick prayer of forgiveness every time he finishes a drink, but it doesn’t stop him, the guilt got murky when he was under the influence

-he stopped going to communion and confession when he was 18, he tells his parents he still goes, but he doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of gods good graces

-he was really close to a boy in his parish, they spent services together, they would run around outside of church after services while their parents spoke. When they were 15, they hid in the pews while everyone was milling around outside and he kissed him. Bradley freaked out, and pushed him over, and he cracked his front tooth on the tiled floor. His parents berated him for hours and hours, and he sees the cracked tooth and the smile of the boy who made his haunting thoughts a reality in his nightmares, because he LIKED it.

-it confirmed everything about how he saw himself, it wasn’t a hypothetical, or just thoughts anymore. He spiralled for a few weeks, refusing to leave his room or his house, except to go to church. His parents thought he had come down with a stomach bug. The boys family moved pretty quickly to another church after this incident, and Bradley never saw him again, sans in his head every night for years.

-speaking of nightmares, when he was a teen, he used to wake up screaming, so much so his parents tried to take him to a doctor, but obviously there wasn’t anything physically wrong with him. It morphed into just waking up soaked with sweat.

-when he was 24 he starts the painful process of deconstruction with the help of Max and Tank’s support, and his parents don’t take it well at all. They cut him off completely, and his mom secretly sends him periodic messages saying she’s praying for his soul, and that she hopes he might one day make it to heaven. He never replies.

-the guilt gets smaller, but there’s moments he reaches for his rosary, and he finds his tongue knows the shape of prayers no matter how old he gets.

[goodboyaudios]

hi GBA! okay i'm back and i have Thoughts about Albus. he's such a fun character and he's so loveable, in his own rugged way.

(pardon me if this gets long; i am a Yapper)

so. Albus York. i suspected early on that his demeanor is very much like armor for him. a defense mechanism, of sorts. he's a bastard, and in that world bastards seem to be treated with less respect than the worms in the dirt. so i gathered his demeanor came about as a result of the hostile environment he was born in; if they already hate you, then they can't turn around and hurt you later. antagonize them, put them on the defensive, so that way he can't get hurt by whatever they throw at him.

i wanna say by episode...3? 4? shortly after we meet Devlin, i figured some of Albus was doing was putting up a front. he seemed afraid of letting his guard down, especially when he's alone with his own feelings about Faithful. easier to pre-emptively quash any feelings about love so you won't get hurt later, right?

and then the episode with Cravitas happened, when he was shoving Albus' past in his face, and i wanted to cry 🥲 i KNEW something was up, but man...this poor guy please someone give him a hug! that was so much worse than i expected it to be! the writing there was excellently done and incredibly gripping. i would also jump at the chance to kick Cravitas in the dick.

man...i love, love, loved how this story has panned out. Devlin is a sweetie, and considering how much i adore Zed, i'm not shocked at how quickly Devlin grew on me! and Albus is such a fascinating character, and i adore him, warts and all!

gah, this is getting so long. i love analysing characters and i could honestly go on for much longer on both of our Yorks. fictional characters give us great mediums for exploring certain mixes of traits and different tropes, and also gives us a great means of deconstructing things like family bonds and masculinity, like with Albus here!

this was absolutely splendidly done! and i'm excited to start Bastards vs Zombies, too! i love how interconnected everything is! 😊

(okay, i'm done yapping...for now 🤭)

Things like this gives me the motivation to keep working on the stuff I make! Thank you so much for your analysis! It means very much to hear what other people think on a deeper level when it comes to my characters!

Hope you enjoy BvZ! I put a lot of hard work into it!

[isa-ghost]

OMG i would love to hear more qphil headcannons!

SET 5 LETS GOOOOO

Previous Sets:

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

When he's alone he gives so many less fucks. Anytime he passes a Federation camera or building or whatever he flips it off. Sometimes he'll stop to do it, do a funky mocking jig out of spite. If Fit has Fuck The Catfish (FTC) then Phil has FTF. Fuck the Feds

Besides the fact that he's sentimental about stupid shit, he also hasn't deconstructed the shitty dirt shack yet because he treats it as rent lowering gunshots. That's his wall. Bitch.

He's a teeny tiny bit sad everyone who lived IN the wall is sorta gone for one reason or another. It's a bit lonely. And eerie, considering a lot of the time they lived in there was before the worst of what's happened to everyone happened. The insides of the walls feel like a fucked up time capsule now...

We've seen this in canon but he LOVES to wander. Wanderlust his beloved. Find cool shit, collect cool shit, get cool pictures. It's just nothing but Ws. ... He feels a lot of deja vu doing it. He'd be able to place it if he could just fly...

Ever since that taste of flight in Purgatory, he's been aching so much more for it again. His stomach fills with dread at the thought of saving Tubbo's life costing him his wings. He'd make the decision he did again & 100x over, but flying is so core to who he is. He can't fathom being grounded for the rest of eternity.

If it weren't for the constant danger he feels like he's in, he'd LOVE to just lay down on his stomach on Chayanne's old house's roof & just sun his wings. Mmmmmm warmmmm

He'll never admit it to Lullah, but sometimes he switches up what he eats between his avocado toast phases so he never gets sick of it. She thinks he just infinitely enjoys the stuff.

He's convinced the Baker is a paid [Federation employee? Cucurucho 3?] actor that can't, no matter what, break their stoic smile. Phil spends SO much time when he has no other responsibilities trying to get them to crack. He flips them off, he makes faces, he threatens them, he rambles off the wildest most random shit. He did the DK prank. He dances in front of them. Nothing. But one day he'll get them.

Just like cc!Phil, he loathes a lot of stereotypical British stuff, like tea. It's so funny. Fit & Tubbo especially like pushing his buttons about it, his food rants are the best.

When he heard someone on the island made up a rumor that Eggza is legit because Phil taste-tested a cookie out of curiosity, he took that and RAN. Yeah. He's egg sometimes. Who's his parent you ask? Well that's a secret (it's Rose).

The moment Fit told him he has a thing for Pac, Phil instantly launched into wingman mode (pun intended). No more,,,, Hitting The Gym Together. Fit wants more than a fwb, Phil is SO here for it

Cellbit & Baghera take priority over everything. But GOD is he not ready for the flashbacks when he gets to Egg Island to save them. He didn't know Etoiles left that scar on his back...

In very dad fashion, his sneezes and yawns are fucking atrocious. Unnecessarily loud.

The islanders closest to him + the kids are starting to think he's got some kinda sleep disorder. He sleeps for an awful long time sometimes... (when his hc streams get long :) )

This idiot sleeps in the worst places I bet his back cracks and pops like fucking bubble wrap (same tho)

[queer-reader-07]

favorite books

congratulations! you've unlocked the special interest!

since you said books (plural) who knows when this list will end!

my forever number ones:

Dune by Frank Herbert - this is like my one fav i can never quite articulate because it's just. so perfect to me. it changed my life though and i love it with my whole heart.

The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver - this is the book i'm known for. this is the book i've gotten enough people to read that i've lost count. this is the book i've gained friendships because of. it's a t4t YA romcom that is equal parts tender, loving, emotional growth and absolute tomfoolery. i love it so dearly i genuinely cannot express to you how much i love this book it is my main special interest outside of chemistry i am being so serious.

sci fi & fantasy favs:

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler - ok it's more spec fic than anything but you get the point. this book is about radical hope and its importance in the face of despair and oppression. set in 2024, written in the 90s, required reading if you haven't already. also "god is change" fundamentally altered my approach to deconstruction so there's that too.

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake - like a gaiman novel but written by a good person! very gay, very messy, literal games of the gods. your main character is a vampire real estate agent and she wants to sell this haunted house but the ghost haunting it won't leave. the godson of Death is like a cunty asshole but you also kind of love him? god it's an insane premise and i LOVE it.

The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams - this is what epic fantasy should be. the MC is like what if indiana jones was a Black lesbian and it absolutely rocks. empires on the brink of collapse, potential incoming apocalypse, running from the authorities, all the good stuff.

contemporary and litfic favs:

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong - i read this for the first time as a newly discovered queer 15 year old in my gender in lit and film class and my one memory from that experience is hearing my teacher read the line "do you think we'll be fags forever?" out loud and me immediately crying. i've since reread it and that line still ruins me, but it's also just a phenomenal exploration of queerness in the midst of being raised by and being an immigrant in White america. vuong writes this novel as a letter to a mother who the author knows cannot read english, which is art if i ever saw it. vuong is a poet writing prose and it shows in the most beautiful way.

If You Still Recognize Me by Cynthia So - this is for the fandom girlies (gn)!!! there's a bit where our MC says something to the effect of "i can't wait to read her fic and type out a comment saying 'i hate you for ruining my life!!' when really i mean 'i love you i love you i love you'" AND IT GOT ME IN MY FEELS. anyway this book had me like that one spider-man meme.

Old Enough by Haley Jakobson - i bring you an excerpt from my review: This novel is for the cringefail queers. It's for the young queers. It's for the queers who tried a little too hard when they came out. It's for the queers who tried to hold onto their closeted life in one way or another for a little too long. It's for the queers who feel that they never really came of age; the ones who maybe still are. What I'm saying is, this book is for me. It's about me in many ways.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin - a queer classic for a reason. this novel explores masculinity through repressed queerness and self loathing and i think it altered my brain chemistry in the process. such a poignant and tragic piece of literature.

nonfic favs:

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin - this book unironically changed my life, baldwin is a genius. my copy is marked up to shit and i'm sure when i inevitably reread it i will mark it up even more. i immediately described this book as "timeless and thought provoking" upon finishing and i stand by that. this book was published over 60 years ago but so much of it still rings true. it's largely memoir, told through letters. it touches on race, masculinity, religion, and in many ways, radical hope.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y Davis - required reading for any leftist in my opinion. this emphasizes the important of collectivities and community care when organizing and fighting injustice. genuinely this novel reshaped the way i view community care (what it means, how to do it, etc etc). a foundational text on abolition and organizing as well. it emphasizes how freedom movements and fights for liberation are inherently connected. this book's thesis is "freedom for all or freedom for none" and by god it does a damn good job of communicating that.

“Whenever you conceptualize social justice struggles, you will always defeat your own purposes if you cannot imagine the people around whom you are struggling as equal partners.”

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green - this book is part memoir, part love letter to the human story and i loved every moment of it. i think of how john reminds you in this novel that while not being able to see your future may mean not foreseeing the horrors, it also means not foreseeing the joy and wonder that awaits you. i think of how he describes hope as a "prerequisite for my survival" and how that has grown into the core of my politic. i think of how this book taught me that cynicism is unsustainable and we do a disservice to ourselves and each other when we give into it

special categories of favs specifically for the books about being mixed race that made me feel seen and real:

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliot - i wrote a whole essay about this one chapter out of this book because of how much it resonated but, in short: this is a sobering memoir to say the least. elliot tells the story of her life as a mixed race, First Nations indigenous woman through a collection of essays. she covers topics such as colonialism, racism and racialization, and misogyny. there's this one essay in particular that will always stick out to me personally as a mixed person, Half-Breed: A Racial Biography in Five Parts. it explores this specific grief around being mixed, around having privilege your non mixed family doesn't, around having to use that privilege to protect them. it's the best literary explanation i have ever found for the feelings i've held for so long. overall though, this novel is a great example for what i mean when i say the person is political. just, really good all around if you're looking for memoir.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - i read this book for the first time when i was like 15 and i really ought to revisit it but i remember being stopped dead in my tracks by how accurate the exploration of race in America was. how it explores the way that race is oftentimes less about your personal identity and more about how others perceive you (what does it mean to pass as white? how can and do some mixed people use that ability? what does that say about our society and our history?).

This Place is Still Beautiful by Xixi Tian - many of the same themes as The Vanishing Half but YA and more accessible! this one resonated particularly well with me as it follows two sisters, both White & Chinese, and their experiences with their racial identity. one sister looks "more Asian" and the other looks "more White" and the way that played out felt like a mirror to my life, i saw in them the same feelings i've felt every time someone told me my brother "just looks so much more Japanese" than me. and to see those struggles in a teen, to know that my experience wasn't isolated? it was so meaningful, revolutionary even.

ok that's all for now, i'm almost certainly forgetting some but these are all favs of mine <3

[burins]

I wrote up half of my Eisners roundup back in May and then my arm crapped out profoundly. But here is the rest of my thoughts about all the comics and graphic novels I read this year, of which there were many! As usual particular faves are bolded.

JAN

Delicious in Dungeon v6-12

FEB

MAR

The Chromatic Fantasy - HA

I think that if you are following me you will probably like this book. Great stuff on gender and sex and religion in a deeply fun art style. (Best I can describe it is the really trippy bits of Alice in Wonderland.)

Gleem - Freddy Carasco

Fluid, delightful linework.

APR

A Guest in the House - E M Carroll

E M Carroll has been doing some of the best horror comics in the business for about a decade and this continues the streak. Twisty, turny psychological horror

MAY

Where I’m Coming From - Barbara Brandon-Croft

Collection of Brandon-Croft’s wonderful 90s newspaper strips about Black womanhood. 

Roaming - Jillian and Mariko Tamaki

Love letter to being messy and gay and young in the city.

Local Man v1-2 - Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs

This is a fun little deconstruction of comics tropes. Inga, the love interest slash female lead, is the best part of the comic.

Danger and Other Unknown Risks - Ryan North and Erica Henderson

Great story, great characters, great art. What if you were in charge of preventing the second end of the world, and also your mentor figure was SO dubious, and also you had the world’s biggest, cutest dog?

Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam - Thien Pham

First of a number of immigration memoirs nominated for the Eisners. The storytelling here is excellent; the art wasn’t my personal favorite.

In Limbo - Deb JJ Lee

I always have such a hard time judging memoir comics, but I think this walks a good line between gesturing at and directly portraying its fairly heavy subject matter, and the art is stunning.

Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century - Adrian Matekja and Youssef Daoudi

Probably my favorite thing I read in this batch. Lyrical, poetic art that plays with paneling and pagination to incredible effect. Does not shy away from the everyday brutality of either boxing, racism, or Johnson’s personal life. 

Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali - Marc Bernardin

I read this right after Last on His Feet and boy did it suffer for it. Unfortunately, this is just an entirely forgettable bio of Muhammad Ali. 

Sunshine - Jarrett J. Krosoczka

I wish I liked Krosoczka’s art. This did make me cry but it’s a memoir about working at a camp for kids with cancer, so it would be pretty hard for it NOT to.

Blackward - Lawrence Lindell

This would have been a perfectly serviceable 2010s-era webcomic. Not everything needs to be a book!

The Out Side: Trans & Nonbinary Comics

Graphic anthologies are deeply hit or miss for me but this one was extremely solid!

Frontera - Jaco -  Salcedo and Julio Anta

Excellent story about the violence of the border, deeply undercut (for me) by a very jarring ghost subplot. 

A First Time for Everything - Dan Santat

Sweet little story about a class trip abroad with glowing art. 

Shubeik Lubeik - Deena Mohamed

I'm so bummed I couldn't hear Mohamed speak at MICE because I LOVED this. Uses genies as a vehicle to explore the fault lines of class and politics in Egyptian society. 

A Boy Named Rose - Gaëlle Geniller

Lovely art but this was entirely nothing. Remember Teahouse? This is that but sfw and also without any narrative tension. 

Comics for Ukraine

Almost universally bad, with the exception of "Talking to a Hill."  I think sometimes the medium of superhero comics is not the one with which to tackle every issue, 

Parasocial -  Erica Henderson and Alex de Campi

Tense paneling, solid art, I didn't care for the ending of the story. 

Are You Willing to Die for the Cause? - Chris Oliveros

This relies almost entirely in first person accounts, which I like as a device for exploring who gets to claim historicity, but it means that the actual narrative is kind of incoherent. 

The Great Beyond - Léa Murawiec

My other favorite from this batch! This is a story about celebrity and fame and being remembered, but the art is some of the most fluid and expressive stuff I've seen in years and the creativity of the conceit keeps it from ever feeling run of the mill. 

Memento Mori - Tiitu Takalo

I am pretty down on illness memoirs, but I liked this more than I thought I would. 

Swan Songs - W. Maxwell Prince et al

This collection of stories about endings was going to be a winner for me and then the final comic was SO bad it soured the whole experience for me. 

Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story - Sarah Myer

This (like a lot of the comics in the teen category) did make me cry! The art is a little too scratchy for me at times- it's intentional, but not always deployed to best advantage. 

Phantom Road v1 - Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Hernández Walta

Is this basically Alice Isn't Dead with a guy as the driver? Well, yes, but it is good. Lemire always nails creeping dread and Hernández Walta's art is ominously flat in an excellent way. 

Black Cloak v1 - Kelly Thompson and Meredith McLaren

Compelling story undercut by webtoony art that's way too cute for the fantasy noir vibe of the narrative. 

My Girlfriend's Child v1 - Mamoru Aoi

It's always kind of wild to me to see a completely bog standard teenage pregnancy narrative get nominations like this and then I remember that most people making these nominations do not like, know a lot of people who were pregnant as teens. 

Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons - Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda

This is simply not very good art or story. 

The Cull v1 - Kelly Thompson and Mattia de Iulis

The story here is really intriguing! I wish we had a little more time to get to know the characters before getting thrown into Plot but it's real solid. I don't always love this hyper realistic 3D rendering but it works for the story. 

The Summer Hikaru Died v1 - Mokumokuren

I could wish that the translator hadn't rendered all of the dialogue as weirdly southern but this is a really good gay rural horror. Came back wrong simply hits! 

Mabuhay! - Zachary Sterling

Cute! Didn't really slam me but I would have had a lot of fun with this as a kid. 

Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir - Pedro Martín

This was both lovely and deeply felt and also laugh out loud funny. 

Saving Sunshine - Saadia Faruqi and Shazleen Khan

Extremely sweet sibling story. 

Fire Power v1-4 - Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee

The Good Asian v1-2 - Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi

Eden II - Kenny Wroten

This has great moments and is also deeply irony poisoned. I would love to read a weird queer comic by someone who was not Online. Also I could not tell any of the characters apart, because they were all thin white-presenting people from fake Seattle. ALSO the speech bubbles were so clearly added in after the fact that it was often difficult to tell who was saying what. I'm not a purist about speech bubble rules or anything but I gotta be able to tell what order to read your dialogue!

Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy - Bill Griffith

The frame narrative is solid, but the best part of this was just the actual Nancy comics included within.

The Horizon v1 - JH

This is just apocalypse torture porn tbh. 

Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood - Sam Machado

Here's the thing. I think there are compelling arguments for animal rights. I would also like to see us put that same kind of energy towards ensuring full rights for people first. Also the art and writing here are simply not very good.

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons - Kelly Sue deConnick, Phil Jiminez, Gene Ha, and Nicola Scott

I wasn't sure I would love this because of my noted Picky Feelings about feminist Greek myths but I liked it more than I thought! The art is phenomenal.

Superman (2023) v1 - Joshua Williamson 

The annual is what was nominated, but the single issues are the actual stars of this trade. Williamson does a really solid job of situating Clark in community.

Wonder Woman (2023) v1 - Tom King

I find the story pretty grating (why does Diana need to be fighting the entire US government?)

Poison Ivy (2022) v1 - G Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara

YAY we love an ecoterrorist getting her due. Takara's art leans full Annihilation. 

My Picture Diary - Maki Fujiwara

This suffered in comparison to last year's alt-manga diary comics from a similar era, Talk to My Back, which was one of my favorite books of the year. Fujiwara's art is very stolid and pretty simplistic and while it works for the subject matter it wasn't my favorite.

River’s Edge - Kyoko Okazaki

This is SO messed up! We are right in the violence and emotional mess of teenagerhood. 

The Yakuza’s Bias v1 - Teki Yatsuda

This gets a little one note by the end of the collection but yakuza falls right into Kpop stan culture is such a funny premise that I didn't mind.

How to Love: A Guide to Feelings and Relationships for Everyone - Alex Norris

This is much cuter and more charming than I thought it'd be.

The Talk - Darrin Bell

Bell is best known for his political cartoons and this brings the same kind of incisive political wit to a longform piece while adding a great deal of empathy.

Transformers (2023) v1 - Daniel Warren Johnson

I am so sorry to DWJ who did his very very absolute best to make me care about Transformers. The art and writing are great I just don't go here. 

Kill Your Darlings - Ethan Parker and Griffin Sheridan

Pretty mid dark fairytale.

PeePee PooPoo - Caroline Cash

Diversity win this lesbian alt comic is just as annoying as the straight ones!

Superman: Lost - Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan

Ugh. Superman: Lost was one of my favorite takes on Superman and Lois last year and I still think the first like… five issues are phenomenal. As soon as we get the weird infidelity/assault/pregnancy narrative I was out. 

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees - Patrick Horvath

I simply hate cutesy animal horror. 

The Devil’s Cut, edited by Will Dennis

I know I read this but I have no memory of it. My notes say I liked it, and I'm generally in support of DSTLRY and creator-owned comics as a concept.

Marvel Age #1000, edited by Tom Brevoort

Deeply masturbatory.

JUN

Deep Cuts - Kyle Higgins et al

I liked this so much it was my end of the year staff pick! It's hard to do comics that really capture the collaborative and improvisational feeling of a good jazz session but this anthology absolutely does.

Somna: A Bedtime Story - Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay

Tula Lotay's art is absolutely gorgeous but I was kind of bored by "what if a Puritan housewife was fucking the devil." 

Watership Down: The Graphic Novel - James Sturm

I think these rabbits are too cute to really capture the horror of Watership Down.

Delicates - Brenna Thummler

It's really difficult to tell a story about a kid who is bullying someone else and have it land sympathetically for both parties and Thummler manages it with an uncommon emotional depth.

Buzzing - Samuel Sattin and Rye Hickman

OOF this hit me right in the psych kid feelings. Very sweet and really captured the feeling of the complicated family dynamics that surround kids with mental illness.

#DRCL midnight children v1 - Shin’ichi Sakamoto

Insane choice to make Lucy Westenras a bishie.

Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise - Tradd Moore

Did not think I would ever be rooting for a Doctor Strange comic but this is the kind of psychedelic universe bending art I would love to see more of from his whole character premise!

Bea Wolf - Zach Weinersmith

Absolutely delightful adaptation of Beowulf for children. Weinersmith really captures the feeling of the old English language in a story about a bunch of little kids defending their treehouse.

HP Lovecraft’s The Shadow over Innsmouth - Gou Tanabe

I don't feel qualified to examine the choice by a Japanese artist to adapt a story about Lovecraft's fear of Chinese and Pacific Islander genes entering Massachusetts. I haven't read much actual Lovecraft but did we all know it was that racist? I mean, I knew he was racist but my god.

The Monkey King v2 - Chaiko Tsai

EXCELLENT adaptation of Journey into the West! I couldn't get v1 in time for voting but the art and the pacing here are just so much fun.

It’s Jeff! - Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru

This is extremely cute but it is ultimately just a cute animal comic.

Earthdivers v1 - Stephen Graham Jones and Davide Gianfelice

I hope you don't need me to tell you Earthdivers is good. It's good.

Birds of Prey (2023) v1 - Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero

I was so dubious about this one that I ended my yuri zine piece talking about it. And then it was in fact really really good. The team dynamics are excellent here and the art is perfectly suited to it (except for one issue with a guest penciller where the art is execrable.)

Shazam! (2023) v1 - Mark Waid and Dan Mora

Waid and Mora are sort of the DC powerhouse couple at the moment and I know that at any minute Mora is gonna switch to only doing covers, which will make me very sad. This was way more fun than I expected to have with a Shazam comic but the kids here are delightful without being cutesy and Waid does a great job balancing Billy being a real character and also a believable hero.

Four Gathered on Christmas Eve - Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Becky Cloonan, and James Harren

Becky Cloonan's was the story that was nominated in this but unfortunately I didn't really care for it. 

Spa - Erik Svetoft

This was hard for me to read because it is just body horror from start to finish. I think it runs a little long but as far as the horrors of capitalism and the tourism industry go it doesn't get much better than this.

JULY

The Most Costly Journey: Stories of Migrant Farmworkers in Vermont Drawn by New England Cartoonists

Really, really good cartooning and storytelling. Vermont is not really what you think of as the front lines of immigration but it's a farming community!

Green Arrow (1988) v1-9 by Mike Grell and others

Honestly the highlight of these for me is that the scans on (website redacted) maintain the letters pages! Grell's Green Arrow tackles a lot of capital I issues with mixed results but I do enjoy seeing the attempt. And it comes off a lot better than Batman comics of a similar vintage that attempt the same thing.

Robin (2021) v1-3 - Joshua Williamson, Gleb Melnikov, and Roger Cruz

Honestly? Delightful. I love to see Damian come into himself and I love to see his cute little romance and I love to see him reading shoujo manga.

AUG

Are You Listening? - Tillie Walden

Tillie Walden always hits!

Hunter x Hunter v 1-13 - Yoshihiro Togashi

Sometimes you read 38 volumes of manga in two months after watching 130 episodes of the show and listening to hundreds of hours of podcast about it. And that's just what HxH does to you. It's normal, and fine.

The Yakuza’s Bias v2 - Teki Yatsuda

The bones of the premise are starting to show - I think this really would have been better as a single volume. Still very charming but probably not gonna pick up any third volume.

The Boy Wonder (as it came out) - Juni Ba 

BOY WONDER COMIC OF ALL TIME! Wonderful take on Damian wonderful art wonderful Al Ghuls.

SEPT

The Summer Hikaru Died v2 - Mokumokuren

Hunter x Hunter v13-38 - Yoshihiro Togashi

OCT

The Concierge At Hokkyoku Department Store, v1 - Tsuchika Nishimura

What if working retail was not a horror show but was instead deeply fulfilling for everyone involved? This can only happen in a world where the customers are animals. 

NOV

Iris: A Novel for Viewers - Lo Hartog van Banda and Thé Tjong-Khing

The gender of this is kind of crazy (derogatory) and it could not more clearly be from the 60s. I don't think I'd recommend it but I don't regret reading it as like, a historical document.

Space Mullet - Daniel Warren Johnson

DWJ really doesn't miss. This is a very classic grungy space noir in the vein of a Cowboy Bebop or an Expanse but I liked it quite a bit despite being made to feel sympathetic for a space Marine. 

DEC

Nightwing (1996) v1-3 - Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel

Flush! Those! Blood pressure! Meds! Is Nightwing 96 a good comic? Who can say. Babs is there and Dick Grayson is experiencing the full spectrum of human emotion deep in his #failgirl 20s so I'm having a great time. 

[theomnicode]

How I write metas? A meta about metas

If this deconstruction post is going to be useful for any aspiring meta writer on this OPM fandom that I currently follow, then be my guest. :D

Warning: Semi-long post.

Step 1: Inspiration

Nope, really can't get into my head all the time to write stuff as much as I would love to but when I do, it's because I get a good inspiration from something. It does not really matter at this point if it's short or long, just the subject matters. Then if I get inspired, I will usually stew on that idea for a while and think about the points in the manga that fit.

Unfortunately inspiration does not strike all the time so there's always that. I'm going with the route that "you can't force inspiration to come to you, you want the inspiration to become you" or something like that. Take that with grain of salt, I just made it up on the spot.

Step 2: Practice

I've personally been writing fanfics since I was...a teen I believe and meta is just a subsection of writing school essays, except it's actually fun. So writing something has been quite a lot of work put behind it, but nobody says one cannot start from scratch today and the meta doesn't need to be immediately impressive, we're just writing it for fun yanno? For other fandom peeps who maybe wanna hear our thoughts. Just gotta start from somewhere yanno? My earlier metas are prolly a fair bit different than my current metas.

Like they say, practice makes perfect.

Step 3: The creative process

Ok so to the nitty gritty of the meta making... PLOT NO JUTSU!

I oftentimes either discuss the meta on discord channels with likeminded peeps and then start gathering some images from the manga to use as my images to enhance my point and make my texts also visually interesting to look at and make some clarifying points. I tend to find some good relative image to use as my first image because it'll show up in archive search like so:

It'll be easier to search for my metas even without searching for my tags from my archives if they look similar.

Next, I keep a folder for all my meta images in a neat pile and I use paint ms to cut me nice images to post into my meta and I also have cubari , the one site which hosts all the chapters so far, open where I can just grab images whenever. Basically any kind of image tool you got from paint to gimp to photoshop can help you crop images you want to use if you want to use images in your meta.

My brain can sometimes be pretty hard to follow apparently, so I do try to parse a lot when I write my texts and keep it somewhat coherent. Parsing information via the canon timeline can help form a coherent timeline to follow in a meta.

In general, you want your writing progress to be seamless and disturbance free creative process, not unlike drawing. Sometimes ambient music on the background can help focus on the actual meta writing process (currently listening to Ardenweald from WoW), which can take me from 1 hour to all the way to 5 hours in a single sitting, which is quite long but remember, tumblr drafts saves your progress even if you save it nowhere else and it's entirely possible to finish the thinking process another day when you have more time.

Sometimes I include links to either my own metas or some outside source, which I then briefly quote on my text, like in the Saitama mental health meta where I citate depression effects on memory recollection. The quote sources can also be stated at the very end like in a real essay, but to me personally I'm fine without the citations at the end, long as I state my sources and then put quotes into indented text.

Step 4: The writing itself

Paraphrasing helps make your text look coherent and easier to read to just about anybody, so avoid pure walls of texts. I usually write longer texts, but that is up to the writer to decide how short, long or how abridged they can/wanna make their work, which frankly is not one of my best skillsets lmao. Just gotta make sure to put that warning in the front if it's long post.

Nowdays, I also include chapter names and numbers about the relevant information I'm writing meta about in between () marks and itallics to further separate it from plain text, which might be helpful to people if they search for that specific plot point from the manga itself. Then if it's a particularly long meta, a tl;dr at the bottom if I can form a proper tldr.

Sometimes I also get struck by random thought and I just have to write it out haha. Sometimes I ask for aid and opinions on discord channels.

Any long metas should definitely have that "readmore" cutoff in the beginning, else entirety of tumblr or wherever you'll post the meta will hate you.

Step 5: Revision & Tagging

You can hold on from posting the meta the very same day and just keep it revised for a bit longer if you want to correct spelling mistakes or if you think you can maybe adds some more to it. Revision is just as important in writing meta as in writing something like fanfiction and I personally do a fair bit of both.

When tagging, I just use "opm meta" for all my opm related metas and then tag in fandom and characters that apply to the current meta and then some other related subjects like "mental health, character study" etc. I prolly haven't tagged my earlier metas that properly but eh... if you write on another platform and then copypaste it to tumblr, make sure that the plain text shows properly and doesn't create any weirdness.

Closing thoughts...that's about it folks, that's how I write meta and how I wrote this piece as well. Which took me roughtly 1hr 45mins to write down at my current writing speed but I've been thinking about this since yesterday haha.

Tl;dr: Inspiration, practice, creative process by saving images and thoughts as they go, writing and paraphrasing, revision and tagging properly.

[khayalli]

How do you art. My ability has left me and a block has taken its place

(This is my second time trying to do this, tumblr I will blow you up PERSONALLY)

First off I am giving the biggest hugs!!! Art blocks suck and I'm sorry to hear that it's bringing you down :(

I think the best thing to do is figure out what's causing your artblock. Everything I'm about to ramble about is personal experience so if it doesn't apply throw me another ask or DM! I'm always happy to talk to people!

In my experience, artblock usually comes from a very mental place. Creative have a bad habit of equating their worth to what they create/the quality of what they create.

You are more than content!!! Your art is a wonderful thing about you, but it's not your entire worth as a person. So if you fail, or you suck, that doesn't mean that you as a person fail/suck. So if that's in your noggin, start niggling that little bitch out. Yeet it into the sun!!!!! She's useless and adds nothing to the conversation!!!!!!!!

Don't be afraid to create bad art, either. I can't express to you how many aborted files I have in my folder because I thought "it's not good enough. Scrap it"

But my biggest leaps of progress come from me being like "this sucks, but I'm going to finish it anyway" you learn WAY more with bad art than you will with good. Analyse and deconstruct after you've finished creating, not during. Have fun while you're doing it. Fuck around and find out. Get manic with it. Cackle into the abyss. Create with the joy of a 5 year old that has no idea what notes/reblogs are and just loves this silly purple guy.

Ability fluctuates as your eyes get better at spotting what's good/bad. Your art probably isn't bad. Your eyes are just much keener now at picking these things up! Your hands just haven't gotten the memo yet.

SO! Here are some actionable ways you can break art block, or at least create a little bit:

Make art that sucks and learn to be uncomfortable with it. Find joy in shitty art. I'm a lot happier now that I do this!

Finish it or post it anyway!

Speak to your creative friends, or fandom friends! A lot of my inspo comes from them because they inspire me all the time. Bouncing ideas off eachother helps a lot with idea generation, and staying excited about it.

Prompt generators and those expression memes! They take the thinking part out and you can concentrate on just drawing

Art trades, or even collaborations! Having someone else there always adds more motivation

Pose studies, a lot of my stuff is just pose studies that I warped into hot turtle men. It's another one where I don't have to think, just create.

Writing down those ideas you get at 3am so that when you're stuck you can go look at a list

I hope this helps a little. This sort of thing is hard to deal with, and I understand how frustrating it is when you want to draw but you just can't seem to (I went a year without picking up a pen, shudders). I promise that with gentle effort and genuine kindness to yourself, it can get better! I'm rooting for you!!!

(Sorry for how much I rambled on, this is something I'm very passionate about and in the trenches with also)

[pesterloglog]

Dave Strider, Dirk Strider

Act 6, page 7748-7756

DAVE: ok actually maybe i will get into it

DAVE: i dunno why my friends got to have adults around who cared about them

DAVE: they complained bitterly about stuff so i guess i convinced myself they were all in the same boat as me

DAVE: but thats not how it was

DAVE: their complaints were trumped up nonsense and i bought it cause... i dunno

DAVE: i didnt have any frame of reference

DAVE: but his dad and her mom no matter what they said it was so obvious they cared about them deeply

DAVE: even jades weird fuckin grandpa who died when she was young obviously would have done anything for her

DAVE: why did i get such a raw cut of the asshole deck

DAVE: and why did it take me so long to figure that out

DAVE: and like hes dead now so thats that

DAVE: so all thats left to do is look back and try to put the pieces together of my first 13 years

DAVE: and all i can think is what the fuck WAS that?!

DAVE: i dont come away with the impression i used to try convincing myself of, that he was like "mysterious" or "stern" or "aloof"

DAVE: the only feeling left is this insane impression that i was raised by somebody who fuckin HATED me

DAVE: and the whole act of even "raising a child" was some totally fucked up game to him

DAVE: like parenthood was one of the highest tiers of irony in his solemn bullshit bro-ninja code

DAVE: so he went through those motions and did whatever he thought was "funny" or "badass"

DAVE: but under that weird stylistic and totally sociopathic approach to parenting i cant even IMAGINE there was any emotion toward me other than some sort of loathing

DIRK: What...

DIRK: Did he do?

DAVE: i dont want to get out the laundry list

DAVE: but for reference laundry wasnt one of those things

DAVE: that was just one of the many little domestic things i just had to sort of FIGURE OUT

DAVE: sorta like i eventually had to learn what the REAL purpose of a refridgerator was from movies

DIRK: Wait.

DIRK: What??

DAVE: i dunno theres too much to even get into

DAVE: just

DAVE: i dont remember the atmosphere ever not being nerve wracking

DAVE: all havin to sneak around and...

DAVE: ugh my shitty childhood spider senses are tinglin just thinking about it

DAVE: it was "training" you know

DAVE: but you know what it really was it was some vicious shit that was bad and sucked and i hated it

DAVE: it didnt make me stronger

DAVE: it did the opposite

DAVE: it made me never want to fight

DAVE: it made me never want to see blood or be near danger or hear metal sounds

DAVE: it made me hate the idea of being a hero cause he was a hero and he ruined the idea of heroism

DAVE: i dont even want to be fighting this shitty version of jack but hey nobody else has secret welsh powers so i guess i have to

DIRK: ...

DAVE: what gets me is how long it took me to put all this together

DAVE: to stop seeing it as some kinda roughhousey and eccentric life i had but was otherwise normal

DAVE: it took years to deconstruct it all and put it back together to understand how fuckin mad i should be

DAVE: and in particular how stone cold deeply uncared for i was my whole life

DAVE: like... being merely "monitored" by a violent robot

DAVE: i only started getting it after spending a lot of time in person with a bunch of people who actually did care about me

DAVE: and i could start feeling like

DAVE: actually somewhat human for the first time

DAVE: instead of...

DAVE: some sort of runty afterthought to a household cabal of smutty puppets

DIRK: ... Puppets?

DAVE: the fuckin puppets!!!

DAVE: i know how it sounds but i am NOT joking and there is NO shred of doubt in my mind that he loved all those puppets more than me

DAVE: honestly it is very possible that he was just insane and thats that

DAVE: i guess it didnt help either that we lived with what we have come to understand may theoretically be the most evil doll to exist in any universe ever

DAVE: in fact its my tenuous understanding that he came down to earth with that thing and like actually grew up with it

DAVE: maybe...

DAVE: maybe spending 30 some years being unseparable from that hell puppet had some effect on him??

DAVE: maybe if it hadnt been casting a pall over our apartment 24/7 since he took me in...

DAVE: grinning...

DAVE: glaring...

DAVE: laughing in my sleep...

DAVE: maybe our lives wouldnt have been quite so...

DAVE: maybe we would have...

DAVE: ugh

DIRK: What?

DIRK: You ok there?

DAVE: .....

DAVE: .....

DAVE: yeah

DIRK: That doll.

DIRK: That was Cal, right?

DAVE: yeah

DIRK: Right.

DIRK: My version is "empty", apparently.

DIRK: Whatever that means.

DAVE: huh

DAVE: how do you know that

DIRK: A source.

DIRK: One supposedly knowledgeable in jujus.

DIRK: I never quite knew what that meant, though.

DAVE: well

DAVE: whatever his was

DAVE: "empty" is never how i would have described it

DIRK: Hmm.

DAVE: man

DAVE: i dunno if i figured something out here

DAVE: like um "explained" something or

DAVE: if im just driving myself crazy with this talk and nothing even needs explaining

DAVE: it doesnt change my past or how i feel about him

DAVE: he was still pretty much awful no matter what the reason

DAVE: and im sure thats the only feeling ill ever have about him

DAVE: so who cares why it was like that

DIRK: Yeah...

DIRK: That...

DIRK: All sounds really bad.

DIRK: I don't know what to say though.

DIRK: Maybe I shouldn't say anything.

DIRK: Since I just remind you so much of him, for, uh. Obvious reasons.

DIRK: I don't want to make you feel worse, or make it sound like I'm offering a defense.

DIRK: For him, or me.

DIRK: Because I don't have one.

DIRK: For either of us.

DAVE: come on man

DAVE: YOU didnt do anything

DAVE: this was just some douche bag with your exact dna, who happened to grow up to be my bro

DAVE: you had a completely different life full of like

DAVE: different choices and actions and stuff

DAVE: and even if you were gonna turn out like him youve barely cleared the half way mark on actually chronologically gettin there

DAVE: in some way ranting about all this is probably just uncool of me because...

DAVE: you arent him

DAVE: youre not resposible for any of this shit but im sorta implicitly tacking it on you anyway

DAVE: so

DAVE: sorry about that

DIRK: I'm not sure it's true though.

DIRK: At least, I don't feel that way.

DAVE: what way

DIRK: That I'm not him.

DIRK: The fact is, I am.

DIRK: It's something I've come to understand about myself.

DIRK: All splinters of me are basically me, no matter how much I want to resist that truth.

DIRK: Or pretend they aren't reflecting my own qualities back at me.

DIRK: I bear a certain responsibility for all of them.

DAVE: splinters...?

DIRK: Yeah.

DIRK: I guess the concept isn't that unique to me.

DIRK: We've all got other versions of ourselves running around here and there, throughout the various compartments of this messed up cosmos.

DAVE: right

DIRK: I just happen to be particularly connected to mine.

DIRK: I've felt...

DIRK: Haunted by them.

DIRK: And what that really means is, I'm perpetually haunted by my own bad qualities.

DIRK: So, when I hear about stuff I did in another reality,

DIRK: I'm not sure what my adult self might have ever tried to do to atone for that stuff, if anything...

DAVE: pretty much dick squat

DIRK: Yeah. But in any case,

DIRK: I'm sure I was completely in the wrong, and I'm sorry I messed up your life.

DAVE: ...

DAVE: thanks

DAVE: but

DAVE: it still feels a little odd accepting an apology from somebody who i just met and technically had nothing to do with my life

DAVE: even if you do feel guilty splinterways or whatever

DAVE: it is just a messed up situation

DAVE: and i guess i had to vent

DAVE: and there was never anyone i wanted to say all that to

DAVE: and the only thing that was gonna drag it out of me i guess was like a teen stand-in phantom of my dead bro

DAVE: just some perfectly innocent dude havin to take the brunt of this shit

DIRK: I'm not particularly innocent though.

DIRK: I've messed a lot of things up.

DIRK: With my friends.

DIRK: Honestly, that's why I wasn't that bent on sticking around, when I showed up.

DIRK: And pretty much jumped at the offer of flying here to get ready for some yet to be explained battle.

DIRK: Battles are easy. Just you, a sword, some bad guys... it's a lot simpler than having to answer for things you did.

DIRK: For the most part, I feel pretty bad about the role I played in my friends' lives.

DIRK: Especially Jake.

DAVE: what happened there

DIRK: I don't even know.

DIRK: An unmitigated disaster for which I'm entirely to blame.

DIRK: It's not any one thing. I think I was just a completely toxic element in his life from day one.

DIRK: I don't know what he's doing now.

DIRK: I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying to avoid me as much as possible.

DIRK: I'm sure that's for the best.

DIRK: I think I need to stay out of his business for a good while, so I don't risk poisoning another innocent kid's life.

DIRK: Like I did with you, apparently.

DAVE: yeah

DAVE: i mean

DAVE: maybe its a little different cause relations between peers is a whole other thing

DAVE: its tricky shit and youre both figuring stuff out on a relatively equal footing and youre both at the same point in your lives

DAVE: its not like when one person is older and supposed to be a lot more...

DAVE: never mind this is a fucked up thing to think about

DAVE: but the bottom line is yeah laying low while you sort out your stuff cant hurt

DIRK: Right.

DIRK: The thing with that, with my adult self's...

DIRK: Ways.

DIRK: The sad thing is,

DIRK: I can really see it.

DIRK: How someone like me can go unchecked in life, and turn out to become a much worse person than I already am.

DIRK: I guess I'm just relieved I still have some time to make sure that doesn't happen.

DAVE: you dont actually seem like a bad person to me though

DIRK: No?

DAVE: nah

DIRK: Why not?

DIRK: We did just meet, after all.

DAVE: because

DAVE: i dunno if truly bad people wrestle so much with whether theyre good or bad

DAVE: i think if i ever sensed my bro like

DAVE: struggled at all with what he was doing or who he was

DAVE: or showed any sort of doubt

DAVE: that might have changed everything

DAVE: but there was never a crack in it

DAVE: or the slightest hint of introspection behind the aggressive cooldude facade

DAVE: if there was i sure never noticed

DAVE: i mean personally

DAVE: i think about it all the time now

DAVE: what it actually means to be good or bad

DAVE: or if not something that starkly moral

DAVE: at least just trying to examine the difference between being decent and being a douche

DAVE: maybe its because of him i worry about that now

DAVE: but for me i think that internal struggle is kind of mild

DAVE: for him...

DAVE: or you i mean

DAVE: it sounds like some pretty dark shit

DAVE: like grappling with...

DAVE: becoming evil vs simply trying not to

DIRK: Yeah.

DIRK: That's not too far off.

DAVE: but the point is

DAVE: even just talkin to you a little bit

DAVE: its obvious youve been fighting with that

DAVE: which means that you care enough to put in some effort

DAVE: i think that counts for something

DIRK: Maybe.

DIRK: Not sure if I'm ready to accept a pat on the back for recognizing I have some problems, and worrying about whether they'll destroy me and fuck up the people I care about.

DIRK: That might be setting the bar kind of low.

DAVE: well when it comes to the subject of him

DAVE: the bars already pretty low dude

DIRK: The weird thing, honestly,

DIRK: Is that it's actually kind of refeshing to hear a sincerely leveled critique of all my negative qualities, coming from another person invested in a relationship with me, rather than from a fucked up iteration of myself as some bizarre "trollish" form of self abuse.

DIRK: The only thing I've ever been exposed to are either various forms of self loathing either from me or my auto-responder, or attitudes completely oblivious to my real issues, as expressed through my friends.

DIRK: My friends always seemed to cut me so much slack, or were just never aware of the kind of person I really was.

DIRK: Well, Jake probably is, by now at least.

DIRK: But he's also the sort of guy who's just as likely to blame himself for stuff I did, as he is to blame me.

DIRK: Jane and Roxy, though.

DIRK: Never seemed to see anything wrong with me.

DIRK: If anything, just the contrary.

DIRK: Roxy in particular had a certain... fixation.

DIRK: She meant well, but was so enamored of me, and seemingly everything I did.

DIRK: Which I think was the last thing I needed.

DIRK: To be idolized in some form by other people I respected.

DIRK: I had enough of that feeling coming from within, particularly when I was younger.

DIRK: And since then, I've been plagued by the insane ego of my youth in the form of an artificial intelligence I designed which essentially trapped that state of mind in a sort of horrid suspended animation.

DIRK: Until... recent developments, of course.

DAVE: so

DAVE: was that stuff true

DAVE: when you said you idolized the other version of me

DIRK: Yeah.

DAVE: and not just some bullshit like how i used to say the same thing about my bro when i didnt know any better

DIRK: It's definitely not like that.

DIRK: I never lived with him, or met him, so couldn't have anything like the contentious relationship you had with my older self.

DIRK: He was a historical figure from centuries ago.

DIRK: There was a lot to admire, and think about fondly.

DIRK: Especially since I was alone, and never had any direct contact with another person, or any concept of civilization.

DIRK: So even though I'm sure I romanticized what his life was like, and the early 21st century in general,

DIRK: It was nice to think about you.

DIRK: I passed a lot of time that way.

DAVE: you say there was a lot to admire

DAVE: like what

DIRK: Well...

DIRK: He was pretty famous.

DIRK: Made some successful movies.

DIRK: At least under a somewhat expansive definition of "success".

DIRK: And an even more expansive definition of "movie".

DIRK: His work accumulated a lot of subversive political influence, which got him in trouble later.

DIRK: He made like a million bullshit Statues of Liberty, scummed them up with jpeg artifacts, and littered them all over the planet.

DAVE: holy shit

DIRK: He was also a pretty badass swordsman, and an active member of the resistance movement.

DIRK: He slaughtered the clown presidents on the roof of the White House, and flew away on a shitty skateboard.

DIRK: Then it seems he gave the Batterwitch a pretty good run for her money.

DIRK: It wasn't enough, but at least he went down fighting.

DAVE: that

DAVE: yeah

DAVE: ima need to hear more details on this some time

DIRK: Sure.

DIRK: But as you can tell, clearly there was a lot to look up to.

DIRK: I thought about the examples you set constantly. The creative ideals, the advanced theories on irony and humor, the tales of courage and martial prowess.

DIRK: Really, I modeled everything about myself after you. Or at least everything good that I was trying to become.

DIRK: And I probably spent an embarrassing amount of time imagining what it would be like to live during his time, and to be able to have something resembling a sibling relationship, or be in some sort of master-apprentice situation.

DIRK: When I finally learned you existed, and started to understand who he really was in relation to me, that put a lot into context.

DIRK: I realized he was a version of you who got a chance to live up to his full potential.

DIRK: And when I understood there was a young version of you, in a situation sorta like mine, whose time on Earth got cut short when you were thrown into all this,

DIRK: I was at least happy to think there was some reality where you got the chance to do everything you wanted to do, be successful, and fight for all the right things.

DIRK: Even if ultimately it didn't lead to a great outcome for humanity, you had an opportunity to live a full life and show what you were made of.

DIRK: While I guess I had... the same opportunity on your world, somewhat less fortunately.

DAVE: yeah

DAVE: but then for all my bitching i guess i still never grasped your full reality

DAVE: just like you probably didnt grasp mine, but just reading into the mindset of a historical figure as best you could

DAVE: what if i wasnt as heroic as it seemed?

DAVE: what if adult me was kinda douchey too in a way you couldnt observe

DIRK: Perhaps.

DIRK: But beyond a certain point, I think accomplishments speak for themselves.

DIRK: I dunno if you can just completely shred every person who ever did great things because they had some flaws.

DIRK: All I can say is, it was important to me to see him the way I did.

DIRK: As a good person who inspired me, and set the standard for what I wanted to be.

DIRK: It kept me going.

DIRK: That said, I'm also glad there's this version of you who got to go through all the things you've been through.

DIRK: Like, yeah, you didn't get to be the cool celebrity who cuts down juggalos on badly defaced government property.

DIRK: And the idea of a "normal life" was rudely taken from you, and it's something you'll never get to experience.

DIRK: But this is so much more challenging, and uncertain.

DIRK: You get to apply all that potential you showed in one reality to something much bigger and more existentially critical.

DIRK: Whatever strength you showed in trying to save a dying planet, the fact is, I think we need that more here.

DIRK: And the trials inherent in being a part of something like this, I think they bring more out of you than a relatively pedestrian life on Earth would. Make you face more things about yourself. At least, that's been true for me.

DIRK: But it sounds like it's been true for you too.

DIRK: It sounds to me like the experiences you've had changed you a lot, for the better.

DIRK: You mentioned the experiences with him that were designed to make you stronger have actually made you weaker, but really, I doubt that's true.

DIRK: I bet you've become stronger than you realize, not because of anything he did, but because of what you've done, and the ways you've changed yourself through your own effort.

DIRK: I hope it doesn't come off as overly sentimental garbage, but it seems to me like you turned out to be a really good dude.

DIRK: Like, really, a better sort of dude I ever imagined talking to when I pictured meeting the legendary guy I idolized.

DIRK: I pictured him as probably being "too cool" to be the type of guy you are.

DIRK: But you know what, fuck being too cool for that.

DAVE: ...

DAVE: you

DAVE: ...

DAVE: ...

DAVE: ...

DAVE: you dont think im cool?

DIRK: Nah.

DIRK: I mean, in the right way, yes. I think you are.

DIRK: But, in the way that doesn't mean anything and doesn't matter,

DIRK: Not particularly.

DAVE: ...

DIRK: Anyway, that's...

DIRK: All my "stuff", with respect to your other self.

DIRK: Again, there's a lot more I could say about him.

DIRK: Maybe stuff you should know, or maybe it's all irrelevant to the path you're on now.

DIRK: Regardless, I'd be more than willing to answer any questions you have about him.

DIRK: Or, anything really.

DIRK: Feel free to ask me whatever, ok?

DAVE: ...

DAVE: yeah

DAVE: i

DAVE: ill have to think

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: November 2023

Ooooooh it's getting cold and snowy out here in Ontario! Perfect weather to stay in, curl up, and read/watch/play something.

……….FILM……….

Bottoms (2023) The heightened reality could've been made apparent a little sooner but other than that, no notes. Weird and fun in a way I haven't seen in a while. Big fan.

How The West Was Fun (1994) It took me about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get into this but it finishes strong. And so many great jackets! Ugh I love a good belt buckle.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Crown (Episode 6.01 to 6.02) Okay this is my first dip into the series but having lived (just barely) through a lot of this, I feel like I got caught up fairly quickly. Really feels like the focus is on Diana instead of the Queen, yeah?

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Episode 1.01 to 1.06) Not what I was expecting and really refreshing for it! The animation varies wildly from episode to episode and I assume it's intentional buuuut sometimes it doesn't quite work for me. If I finish it and enjoy it enough to warrant a rewatch, I'll definitely try it with the Japanese dub.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Mosa Lina by Caleb Gamman This looks like a fun game and, more importantly, the video is a thoughtful divergence into the topic of "genre". Gonna be thinking about the ideas in here for a while. VIDEO

This Woman Deconstructs 100-Year-Old Books To Restore Them | Obsessed | WIRED by WIRED I could watch book restoration all day and I hope this becomes an ongoing series or she starts her own channel. VIDEO

7 Deadly Art Sins by CJ the X Vital watching for any creative type. Don't compare yourself to others (different from learning from others), don't hesitate starting that project you have in mind, and don't be afraid to create stuff you don't like cause it's an opportunity to reflect and grow and move towards making something you do like. Also promise me you won't call it content. VIDEO

Chicago Doesn’t Own Its Own Streets | Climate Town by Climate Town If you ever hear a city councilor mention selling public infrastructure to a private company, send them this link or vote them out. VIDEO

……….READING……….

A Few Fiends To Tea by Virginia Coffman (Complete) Picked this up secondhand for the cover (obviously) and the promise of a dying man using his remaining time to enact some vigilante justice on serial killers. Pulpy fun, right? Well it mostly reads like a mid century romance with a few interesting exchanges peppered throughout. Oh well.

Silver Surfer by Slott & Allred Omnibus by Dan Slott and Michael Allred (Complete) This is what comics can be. Funny, sad, silly, and sincere, all while telling superhero stories that don't exclusively rely on punching to solve conflict. This reads like the best of Doctor Who and I love it all the more.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 1 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) It seeeeeeeeems like the series is wrapping up so while I wait for the final volume's release I figured I'd start a reread. Knowing where it's going it's fun to see how established the setting and characters are right out of the gate. Just so great and I can't recommend it enough.

……….AUDIO……….

Wag the Doug (Podcast) This is for a very specific audience (folks living in Ontario, Canada that are invested in provincial politics) but if you're a part of that demographic then it's a great way to loosely keep up with what's going on.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 Crew is infiltrating a funeral where they know Princess Ozma will be attending. I think their plan is still stuff from the coat check but maybe they'll change course along the way. Never know what I'm going to get with this crew.

Wonderland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Got to run this quite a bit this month and testing is going well! Similar tone but very different sort of play from Oz and Neverland and I feel like that's a good thing.

And that’s it. See you in December!

[alexanderwales]

hey Alexander Wales I know you have gotten this question alot especially since this is your most notable fanfic but have you ever thought about doing a spiritual anthesis to your superman fanfic the metropolitan man with how that fanfic was a deconstruction of superman what about a reconstruction of superman [with Clark having an even better disguise like either using a wig or dyeing his hair a different color and using fake eye contacts, him killing criminals from the start etc etc] it's okay if you don't want to just asking.

I think I have a reconstruction in me somewhere, but I also think that there are a lot of things that you have to keep in mind about What People Like About Superman, and if you leave them out, you're not actually doing a reconstruction.

Superman killing people is basically straight out, so long as those people are simple everyday criminals and not like ... gods from outer space or something.

One of the things that makes Superman difficult to write is that he's got All the Power and then also has super hearing and super vision and actually can respond to crimes instantly in any section of Metropolis, and I think it's those two together that make always seem like he should be doing more than he's shown doing.

I don't know, I think at a certain point it makes sense to say "yeah, we have to drop some aspects of canon Superman" or "yeah, we have to assume that this takes place in a world that's different from our own" or "this work is meant to be used using a critical lens that's not so focused on realism". All those are hard pills to swallow for me.

I do think there's something that I really like about Superman, it's just that a lot of the stuff that I love about him is hard to make work, and certainly some of it is not what would constitute a reconstruction: Superman using his super hearing and super vision to write better articles that get at truths other people cannot is awesome, but it's not something that's core to the character or what people cite as the reason they like Superman, even if it is occasionally canon.