#more or less this has shown up in at least one fanfic so that’s lovely

[tuesdayisfordancing]

Desperately need the scene where Jamie tells Keeley he’s sorry he didn’t ever check on her after Roy dumped her and she admits it hurt when he seemed to pick Roy over her. (In either order.)

[lacrimosathedark]

THAT'S IT! This is a Janet Drake Defense Post

As may be obvious, I spend a lot of time reading fanfic. And there's this trend that drives me nuts, and it's villainizing Janet Drake.

I'm not gonna say she's an A+ mother. She's not. She chose her career and adventures over spending time with her child much of the time. But fandom portrays her as some rich pompous ice queen, which is never shown.

Janet Drake mostly appears in the story Tim's introduced, and in the story she dies.

So, let's start from the top: Haly's Circus.

This event is the only time we see her really interacting with Tim before her death, but it shows that at least when he was young, she was an active part of his life. She was worried about bringing Tim because it might scare him. And then rightfully scolds her husband for being sexist because Jack Drake actually IS a jerk.

...I don't like the art in this comic. Or that the writer doesn't know how kids speak.

But Janet is being supportive of Tim's clear interest in Dick's performance.

And then tragedy strikes and she acts like, y'know, a mother.

Her priority is getting her son and herself out of there.

Also worth noting that the Drakes sent a copy of that final photo of the Graysons TO Dick, which is how he has it at all. If both of them were stuck up pricks, would they even bother sending a photo to a grieving child performer they hardly know? I can't imagine Jack really bothering, but I don't see why Janet wouldn't.

And then, by the time she's dying, we know that Tim's parents have been away for a very long time, he never knows where they are, but they've communicated enough that he knows that they've been fighting.

They're passive aggressive to say the least. This marriage is clearly not working anymore.

EDIT CUZ I REMEMBERED A THING:

It's worth noting that this is a time before smartphones. This comic was released in 1990, which was when pre-paid mobile phones had just started existing. Coverage isn't universal NOW, so back then it was even less, and Jack and Janet are archeologists (or archeologist adjacent?) so they're going to be in less developed and populated areas most of the time. It's unlikely they'd have consistent access to a functional phone that could call the states to talk to Tim regularly.

This isn't to defend their absence, because fuck that, but it's to give it some context. I don't think they were trying to ignore or abandon Tim. Communication was just not readily available and Janet seems to get wrapped up in work...and Jack's an asshole.

Also for note, Janet is probably the one sending Tim postcards in the first place. It being signed "Mom and Dad" is what makes me think that. Jack would have put himself first if he wrote it, it woulda said "Dad and Mom". That's admittedly pure speculation, BUT IT FITS SOOOOOO

My thought is if this were made modern, Janet would be sending extremely scattered texts and Tim would get next to nothing from Jack unless Janet prompted him.

END EDIT

(Fair warning, this story is a few levels of Yikes, but I'm gonna stay on topic)

Bad guy Obeah Man does...something? to the pilot, and they crash, and he has a group of people kidnap the Drakes and their assistant Jeremy.

Danger really puts some things in perspective, for Janet, at least. And that continues for her. Jack is a bit delusional and in denial, thinking he has any control of the situation.

They are tied up and filmed for ransom, their assistant killed right in front of them.

Jack just keeps raging, but Janet is having regrets. Notice how she doesn't cry until Tim is brought up. Could be nothing, could be something.

And then she dies.

Her only other major appearance is when Tim is having a fever dream from the Clench and everything is kind of okay for a minute.

Tim very clearly loves his mom. And we may not get a lot of characterization for her, but she's not cold or callous like people write her constantly.

And now, we finally have a little more about her as of Batman 134.

I haven't really been keeping up since the Gotham War stuff because What The Fuck Was That My Guy, but I recently saw this specific comic.

The multiverse is fucked up again, some way some how, and Bruce is lost (again) and Tim has to get him back (again). This time, Tim is going in after him. But he doesn't end up going straight to Bruce.

He goes to see an alt of his mom.

Tim missed her so much that he ended up going to her before Bruce.

And her immediate reaction is to run up and hug him. Does that look like a mother who doesn't love her son?

"Do you have anyone to take care of you?"

"I don't know how this happened, this miracle...but I just know, in my heart of hearts, it was to show me...that every version of my son is a good one."

Tell me again that this woman is heartless and didn't want her son, I fucking dare you.

And we get more meaning to the name "Robin" and a little crumb about Tim's grandmother. As a treat.

This is all to say, please stop writing Janet Drake as a cold, heartless bitch.

Small final note though: Jack Drake is, in fact, a shitty person and a shitty father. He does still love Tim and Tim loves him AND THAT IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE, but the relationship is a mess. If either parent is actively abusive, it's 1000% Jack "smashed a TV because my son wasn't listening to me and threatened Bruce Wayne at gunpoint" Drake. Probably part of why the marriage was falling apart.

Anyway, yeah, let's retire the "Jack and Janet Drake are Bad Parents" tag and replace it with "Jack Drake is a Bad Parent" and "Janet Drake's C+ Parenting" or something.

[progamer27]

EPIC: The Musical - Character Growth

I like it when characters aren't one-dimensional, especially main characters.

Sure, it's fine and fun to have characters who are solely evil or solely good from time to time.

But I vastly prefer characters that go thru some sort of development - that takes its time -, and then come out changed by the experience.

Enter: Odysseus and Athena (and also Eurylychous)

I think it's pretty safe to say that, at least at the start of the musical, a lot of people didn't like Athena and Eurylychous too much - and were quick to label them as, at the very least, "villain-adjecent".

But now that we have had 6 out of 8 Sagas released, we can understand them better. And same for Odysseus.

Eurylychous: In the Odyssey, he is a minor character whose only role is to be a plot device (killing and eating Helios's cattle). In EPIC, Eurylychous is shown as someone more focused on the crew than anything else. Brash and Hot-headed, he is the opposite of Odysseus.

So, why is he interesting? Because we SEE (or HEAR) how he grows from just; a soldier whose first instinct is to murder (Lotus Eaters) or flee (After blinding Polypheamus), to a desperate man who wants to get back home as fast as possible - even if it means leaving his comrades behind (Circe), to a man who needs to confess his guilt (Scylla, as a follow up to Keep Your Friends Close and Puppeteer), to someone who's desperate and has given up entirely (Mutiny and Thunder Bringer).

In conclusion: Eury isn't a villain, but Just a Man. He made mistakes and was abrasive, but so would many people in his place.

ATHENA: In Greek Mythology, Athena is one of the most Hubris-Filled (Prideful) Goddesses out there. In EPIC, she is much of the same... at the Start.

Because Remember, prior to the Wisdom Saga, we only really saw/heard Athena 3 times. And in those 3 times, we get presented with who she is at the moment; A Goddess who views Odysseus as a "project/creation" (Warrior of the Mind and Remember Them), and as the less rose-tinted Goddess who lost her friend because of the circumstances (My Goodbye).

Now, at this point in time, most people would simply label Athena as a "typical greek goddess" - that is to say, a deity who doesn't really view humans as equal to her, and who lacks Humanity.

....until she meets Telemachus.

Then, the characterization... matures; she becomes less closed-off (We'll Be Fine), admits that she was pushing too hard (Little Wolf), realizes that what she did to Ody was HORRIBLE - and, if I may interject, she will probably be a bit shocked/traumatized at seeing Ody trying to kill himself (Love in Paradise), and finally as someone who realized they STILL CARE for their friend, and that tried to do everything to save them (God Games)

In Short: Athena went from being an unlikable cold goddess - one who refused to comprehend human emotions -, to being much more "human".

(And please, if you are a fanfic writer, try to write a story where Athena just... realizes how shitty her life was, and how badly she treated others, and let her have an home with the Itachan Family. She needs her friends, and she probably needs to express her emotions in an healtier way)

ODYSSEUS:....

....

....

What is there to say? The musical is ABOUT HIM, and about how the line between man and monster (good and evil) is incredibly thin... but also about how you CAN come back from the brink, how you can "Become Yourself" again.

In the Odyssey - even if the story is a banger -, I didn't get the impression that Odysseus changed too much. Sure, he may have some trauma and suicidial thoughts, but he didn't do a 180°, then another one, and finally got a better understanding of life. He was still just... Odysseus, the King of Itacha and Father of Telemachus. Odysseus, the Silver-Tounged Liar. Odysseus the sacker of cities.

In Epic....

...Well, I think you know where I'm going with this..

In Conclusion: The EPIC versions of the characters feel like Actual Characters - almost actual humans - who make mistakes and aren't wholly "pure villainy" or "goodie two-shoes".

Sure, we have example of both of these things (Goodie = Polites, Penelope, Astynax; Villains = Poseidon, Polyphemus, Scylla, Zeus, The Suitors), as well as some morally-grey ones (Dark Grey/Leaning toward Evil = Calypso; Light Gray/Leaning towards Good= Circee, Aeolus, Tiresias)

But i think that I've said enough.

[hyperactivewhore]

The characterization of Klaus in his fanfics is just insane.

First of all, this is gonna be bashing to 96% of Klaus’s fanfics lmao. I still love reading them tho.

But straight to the point, why are people writing him as if he would ever allow someone, anyone, to disrespect him the way authors make their ocs do??? No, Klaus wouldn't be giggling and shit if you call him "puppy" or "Santa Klaus", he's literally gonna murder you in the spot and even worse lmao.

I've read so much stories where the protagonist is constantly insulting Klaus and bickering with him (it's funny tho) and he just... allows it. Yes, Klaus, the man who's literally shown to tear off heads whenever someone as much breathes in the wrong way, and yet he allows this teen (because in 99% of fanfics the protagonist is a girl not over nineteen, at least physically) to talk shit about him.

Like I absolutely love those kind of stories, they're good and I'll continue reading them, but the Klaus they write is 100% ooc. And I understand why, because as someone who used to write fanfics of him, his character is just so difficult to write but it doesn't seem like they even try to.

Moving to another famous trope in his fanfics: soulmate stories. I find it very ooc that he would actually accept he has a soulmate: he wouldn't believe it, he's literally the most paranoid character of tvdu, Klaus would 100% believe it's just a plot made to control him and he would probably kill his soulmate, only to regret it forever. Or those "I've been seeing her/having dreams about her for a thousand of years, she's without a doubt the person I'm meant to love forever", what?? 😭

If Klaus ever saw this person in real life, there are just two possibilities I can think of:

A) he would be extremely paranoid and would kill this person on the spot

B) he would be extremely paranoid, but decides to not kill x person for some barely explained reason and would get to know her/him and perhaps fall in love.

I'm aware Klaus can and has been soft in canon: with his family (in occasions, more in New Orleans modern era), with Hayley, Marcel, and Cami. I mean, Klaus loved Cami so much he actually begged her to not leave him, to fully turn into a vampire because he was terrified of losing her, and a decade after her death he was still in love with her (something a certain part of the fandom fails to see lmao).

The fanfics where he cheats with Hayley/Cami/Caroline/ Genevieve/Aurora or he just cheats while he's in a relationship also are ooc imo. If he's in a commited relationship and he loves the person he's with, I don't see him as the cheater type, especially because he wasn't sleeping around in the program.

But either way, show me the fanfics with true depiction. Show me fanfics where he's so screwed up that he continually pushes the person he loves away, where he constantly hurts them with/without intention as he did to his siblings, where he constantly uses his s/o for his own personal gain or similar. Where he's actually his true self, the man he was in tvd before having Hope and even after having Hope, because she actually did not change him that much.

I think I only found three fics like that: one in ao3 called I Would Hurt A Fly, where the oc was a witch or something like it and he used her as a personal sex toy/blood bag but there were slight hints of his love but sadly was deleted.

Or the ones written by @viavolterra and @saintsir4n, the way they write Klaus is the closest I've ever seen to his canon self and it's genuinely good writing. Patisserie is also a really good written fanfic that writes the characters well, but it's a poly Mikaelson fic (which it's even better, the more the best)

Either way, a violent man isn't gonna change with the power of love and family. The Originals tried doing that with Hope and they failed, because Klaus was the same man he was at the start, just slightly less mean to his family.

[greenaswildfire]

I was thinking... (spoilers, spoilers everywhere)

the writing decision of focusing so much on the fact that Aegon's parts were burnt root and stem is probably related to the future alliance with the Baratheons, right?

If they don't change it (lmao), almost at the end of the Dance Alicent comes up with a marriage pact, this time with Aegon instead of Aemond, and Boros's daughter. But with Aegon's inability to produce heirs, how will that work now? Will this alliance still hold?

Oh well, they'll probably use it as an excuse to justify Boros betraying the Greens. Because nope, if TB is betrayed, the Greens must also have at least one betrayal to make up for the huge difference of loyalties :)

In terms of important Houses I can't remember any house betraying the Greens (Great Houses, not others like House Peake or Fossoway). I consider quite curious how, in terms of Black side, House Arryn and House Stark took their sweet time to help them. These two Houses pulled a Late Lord Frey, way before Walder frey was even born lmao

And it's not even secret that Rhaenyra's mother was an Arryn, everybody knew House Arryn would side with the Blacks anyway, the realm knew House Arryn would be a rebel House and still, Jeyne Arryn is shown as very cautious, letting Rhaenyra fend for herself instead of helping her. (Can't blame her though, she was probably the only actually smart woman in this show who wasn't butchered by plot in order to prop Rhaenyra up)

And I won't even mention the Starks. With the reddit leaks I'm very, VEEEERY curious to see the reason behind this late help. Everything depends on whose version will prevail, Condal's or Hess's.

If we take these two houses into account, we have: Strong, Stark, Velaryon, Arryn (and maybe Blackwoods?) betraying the Blacks for their own purposes, not to mention Rosby who made very clear Rhaenyra's hypocrisy, but I doubt they mention anything about this House, right? :D

And when it comes to the Greens... only the Tullys and the Brackens (but as far as we know, their leader was burned by Daemon for refusing to bend the knee, so maaaaaybe they won't even remember them in S3?).

5 (maybe 6) vs 1 (maybe 2), woah, quite a difference in loyalties, even more considering how the Green side has always been the one with less support and dragons.

The thing is: iirc, the allies that betrayed the Greens weren't motivated by distrust in them, or the crown's misdeeds against them (like what happened with Arryn, Stark and Velaryons in TB). It was due to circunstances and manipulation tactics, otherwise, they would have stayed loyal to the greens.

Team Black NATURALLY doesn't inspire loyalty.

So they thought "how can we balance things and make the Blacks look like they inspire more loyalty than the greens???? Oh! How about find a way to shake the Green alliance with Boros Baratheon? Between a Green eunuch with a crown and Rhaenyra's two boys, Boros has more chances of power with her than with Aegon.

Condal, Hess, you can't fool us. We can predict all your moves.

Such a shame though, because by the looks of things it won't even be someone from TG who is going to kill her (if that ever happens in this fanfic of theirs), is most likely someone from TB itself because they simply have no enemies anymore.

Which is far worse PR move for a team who loves to boast about "how Aegon was poisoned by his own allies" :) Hackondal and Mess are stuck with this ending, unlessss they bring back Sunfyre and follow the book. But Rhaenyra, killed by a TG? Naah, it wouldn't be tragic girlboss enough for her. I place my bets on TB.

[murdermepeacefully]

Brahms Heelshire Headcanons

Honestly I'm not sure why it took me so long to do Brahms, given I've been writing him since mid 2022. But I've been really vibing Slasher Headcanon posts lately, and today, it's his turn!

As always, these are of course my own personal opinion, but feel free to reblog, add onto them, ask questions about them, or add them to the ones you accept yourself! I absolutely love hearing from others on their thoughts.

.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.﹀﹀﹀﹀.♡♡.

Headcanons from the Movie:

The Greta doll [Or the Nanny doll, for fics or content where the nanny is an OC or the reader] was never intended as anything dark/kinky/etc. It was simply Brahms mirroring how he'd seen affection shown towards him. I went into this in more detail on this post, if you're interested.

While he doesn't have the ability/time to do things like take care of his hair or shave, he does shower when the nanny is outside doing the rat traps.

When he can risk it, he'll sneak his clothes in with the laundry, but that became more difficult once his parents left. He's sometimes able to manage it by putting a few things in with sheets/blankets, but more often than not he'll simply use the clothes his dad left behind when he needs something clean to wear.

Def a clingy boy. Likes being able to have some form of physical contact with his partner, or at least be able to see/hear them if he can't do that.

Sometimes doesn't understand things that one would expect an adult to know, simply because his parents didn't teach him. The best way to address moments like this is to correct any mistakes gently, and teach him what he needs to know. [This does not mean to treat him like a child, just be patient and don't use a judgmental tone.

Occasionally has trouble processing emotions, especially negative ones, due to his father having a 'men don't cry' mindset.

Headcanons from Fanfic or Fandom Interactions:

Once he's ready to do so, he's okay with being seen without his mask. Respecting the boundary of letting him decide when that happens is a great way to show you care/trust/love him.

Definitely nervous about leaving the property, but he can manage if he's not alone at first. Once he's been out with someone he trusts enough to adjust to things like the crowds, levels of noise, and the environments, he's ok with splitting up for short periods of time.

When he goes out, he wears a cloth mask to cover the lower half of his face, so that the scarring will draw less attention.

Random Headcanons:

He's 100% the big spoon, regardless of a partner's size. While he does enjoy being held, he prefers to do so when he's holding his partner at the same time.

Really loves having his hair played with, especially if combined with kisses or cuddles.

Dog person [Cats are too aloof, and he enjoys the energy dogs can have. They're also a good way to get him going outside in the fresh air again]

18+ Headcanons🌶️🔞:

Spicy Headcanons:

This man does not know his own strength, so do not be surprised at all if you have bruises in the shape of his hands.

Definitely a switch, because he can enjoy both being the one in control and the one being controlled.

Age Regression Headcanons: NOTE: I am not intending to say that age regression on it's own is spicy or kink. However, I feel it best to keep it under the 18+ cut.

One of his favorite modern children's shows is Bluey. This is partially due to the characters being dogs, partially because of the parenting dynamics shown, and partially because there are heavier/more adult topics addressed in a way that's easy to process/understand.

To add onto the above, if a nanny/partner sees him upset and prompts 'Checklist', he will recite off Chilli's checklist from the episode The Show, while allowing himself to do the items on it. It started as a way to help him address his emotions in a healthy way, but soon became something that helps both him and his nanny/partner, as he can do the same thing with them.

The checklist is as follows: ✓ Have a Cry ✓ Pick Myself Off ✓ Dust Myself Off ✓And keep going.

Likes doing coloring pages or other simple crafts, and will often proudly present his partner with the end result.

Loves it when they put it on the fridge where it can be on display.

They turn his childhood room into a 'Littlespace' room for him to go to whenever he like. This means painting the walls a soft, comforting color, putting soft rugs on the floor, adding prism window clings to the window to cast rainbows all about the room, a permanent pillow fort, and a TV with a DVD player and VHS player on a wheeled table that can be moved anywhere in the room, with a bookshelf full of movies from their childhood, as well as more modern ones.

One of their shared favorites is Quest For Camelot.

[piyesis-yhs]

♡Alijah♡ Yap Session!

I'm really bored so I thought I just might talk about Alijah

To those who know me, you already seen this coming lol. Now, why you may ask? well, as the self-proclaimed captain of the ship...uh I don't know. It just came to be in a dream. 

Long Post

jk, I think I first considered it way back when I first joined the yhs fandom. I tend to ship characters who I find pretty and since Elijah had a cool design, and Alec was my favorite character...well bam! new ship! But shipping these two came with multiple problems, cause one; I was the lone shipper at the time so if I wanted to see fanfics and fanart of them...I had to do it myself...which was eughhh... especially writing the fics cause I am not a writer! And two, they literally never met each other (technically) AND Elijah has around 3 minutes of screen time.

Bro, at the time, a lot of people were tolerating my shenanigans so I knew a lot of people didn't find interest in them until I started drawing them a lot. The key to getting your rarepair noticed and decently well-liked is posting everyone's favorite and then dragging them by the arm to start showing off your blorbos, cause if you post stuff that everyone likes--they'll follow you. When they do, they'll probably tolerate the ship since they're usually just there to see the stuff they like. (like a package deal!)

but besides all that, I think Alijah is pretty neat. there's not a lot about Elijah's character so I had to improvise and my version of his character is the guy who struggles to connect with people because of the lack of childhood he had. I think that it'd be very hard making friends if you grew up committing crimes so Elijah was a loner. (and since it's canon that he and Celeste were homeschooled, they're definitely loners. Not Celeste tho, she's an ambivert and functions better in social environments even if she's also quiet while Elijah just seems introverted.) 

So adding to his character, because of the life he grew up in, He's attached to his sister. He doesn't have that many aspirations in life so he just does what Celeste is doing and usually listens to her when she needs help. I picture him to be like a stray dog--trained, obedient but has no real place where he belongs so he just follows those who he likes. 

I think this is how Elijah and Alec get together in the first place but that was in my winter au, which I won't talk about since most of it is being used for my oc webtoon. However, in the remake version, Alec doesn't feel worthy enough to be with his friends and pursue his feelings for Funneh, so he forces himself to work more since in Alec's mind, he couldn't save himself so he might as well stop trying to have nice things. He ends up on a self-destructive path and now that he's spending more time at work, he gets to know more about Elijah. Their relationship is just co-workers at first, barely talking and there to get the job done, but since Alec is shown to be pretty talkative around his friends--I think he'd try to at least strike up a conversation out of awkwardness.

Eventually, Elijah would start talking too making their relationship less tense and more friendly. If they ever hang out it'll probably be because of a coincidence, like "Oh, hey! You're at this place too :O!" 

if one of them fell in love first, it'd be Elijah since I think it wouldn't be that hard to impress him since he's a loner. with the stray dog stuff, he gets more attached to Alec to the point he'd focus on him more than his sister and when it came to work, his motivations pointed to making sure Alec wasn't killed by Yumi (who at this point in this au was considering it since Celeste was trying to talk her into it--i'll explain this more when I ramble about celesdere.)

Alijah's Dynamic + overall story:

Speaking of their relationship, their overall dynamic wouldn't be healthy. Elijah's the attachment type and Alec's the avoidment type. (match made in heaven! *sarcastic*) Since Elijah didn't have the best childhood, his perception of love is warped. He believes that to love is to give them you're everything and to worship. He learned that from his sister since their parents were always fighting (like oh, they're not in love because they didn't put in the effort in the other person like Celeste was putting in her love for Yumi)

His love for Alec is more obsessive and he becomes more insecure. His goal is to keep Alec by his side since Alec is one of the few people who doesn't mistreat him (since Elijah did have relationships before but they were mostly abusive) With his insecurities, he becomes like Yumi in how he gets easily jealous. He doesn't want Alec hanging out with Funneh, let alone being with his old friends who were enemies of their little crime organizations and it gets to the point he'll imply he'll harm her (but he doesn't since Elijah knew that Alec wouldn't love him anymore so all he really does is cling and tries to get Alec to stay without harming those Alec cares about.)

Now, for Alec! SInce he was pushing himself away from his friends, he stayed with Elijah not because he liked him, but because he was there. he doesn't fully love him the way he loves Funneh. She was perfect in his eyes, He idealized her but when it comes to his coworker, he was a constant reminder of the mess he got himself into and Alec eventually regrets isolating himself since he realized that it's never too late to fix his mistakes and make it up to the people he hurt.

Alec saw Elijah as a convenience since Alec used him to feel better about himself. He needed assurances that he was doing the right thing, that the world didn't have a place for someone like him and it was better to drown with someone else than alone. Elijah was more like someone to comfort him, but since Alec was getting better mentally he didn't really need Elijah so if he tried to break things off Alec would find himself unable to because Elijah's possessive nature would reveal itself. Alec wanted to move on and live better but his boyfriend doesn't let him. 

His feelings for Elijah become complicated. He loved Elijah because Alec found comfort in not having to pretend to be someone he wasn't like he was with his friends and he loved that Elijah stayed knowing they were criminals but he later formed resentment when Alec didn't need him anymore.

While they were dating, as Alec got better he was making plans to betray Yumi and them. He wanted to turn himself in and wanted to take Yumi and the crew with him. However, with Elijah dating him, he hesitates since he still loves him (even if his feelings were shallow at first) Alec knew that if he betrayed them, he would be their or Elijah's target. (think of my Now or Never fic) 

since this is getting jumbled I'll try to figure out where I'm heading with this ramble lol

With Elijah's possessiveness and worship of Alec (giving everything to him like Celeste did with Yumi) he begins to see that something is off with Alec and after a little digging, he finds Alec's betrayal both to their work and relationship-wise because at this point with Alec wanting to get back to his old relationships, his decision to become friends with them again, becoming friends with Funneh again, this was betrayal to Elijah. to him, Alec left their life together to join someone else's. Elijah doesn't take it well because, to Elijah, he was the stray dog who was yet again abandoned. 

either Alec or Elijah would attempt to kill the other if Alec is confronted with his betrayal of Yumi or if Elijah is ordered to try and kill Alec by his sister or Yumi. 

Even if Alec was using Elijah, he still loved him. though his feelings were overridden by his resentment, he loved him. To him, it was shallow but near the end of their relationship, it became more hard to ignore especially when he reconnected with his friends. Think A Pearl by Mistski, he loved him but it wasn't a healthy type of love. it was more like infatuation with familiarity since Elijah was the one who saw the true him. no facade like he wore when he was with his friends.

depending on how evil I feel like being, Elijah will die and his death will become the pearl Alec would have afterward.

uh, I think that's the end of my ramble for Alijah lol, though just in case it needs to be said, I don't condone abusive/toxic relationships! I already got enough of them irl so I do not desire one irl! 

I find the appeal in toxic relationships when it's creating complexities in characters and how It affect their motivations and desires. I care more about their upbringing and escape of them instead of just liking them because of romanticization (which I hope is clear that I'm not doing or desire to do)

with all that out of the way, this is my interpretation of them! :D and only interpretation I believe since I don't think I saw another ramble or hc post about them.1

oh yeah, regarding my fics, they're usually stand-alones so Now or Never isn't canon in this ramble (since this ramble is the main foundation for the stuff I make) so some aus and fics are loosely based on this.

Have a good day/night!

if you see grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes--no you didn't!

[flamingo-writes]

I’m enjoying your break down on Hobie’s character and your dedication to making sure he’s understood as being an incredible black character. He’s something so different to media and he deserves to have the depth of his character respected and acknowledged. That being said what’s your take on the way people are attributing AAVE to his character in fics? To me it’s just laziness, personally

Oh it’s definitely laziness. But I could also contribute this to ignorance.

I’m from Mexico so, English is not my first language. At school I learned American English all of elementary school and from middle school to high school I was taught British English.

I mostly consumed American media, but I was also obsessed with Harry Potter and Doctor Who. So I’ve always been exposed to both English variations and sometimes mix them when I’m either talking or writing up without even realising it (with my accent leaning more towards American).

But I’m not going to lie to you. I love languages, I like linguistics, and spend an awful lot of time noticing little details in the way people talk. And because I love accents I dedicate time to analysing accents as well as vernacular.

I think the turning point to me, personally, was when I noticed how between white Americans and African Americans there’s a difference in accent, whether is not the case between white and black people in England —or at least not that I am able to pick up through my Hispanic ears—. I think it’s curious, and there probably is an explanation as to why, that you can hear Americans talk and immediately know the color of their skin.

One time rewatching Doctor Who as background noise while doing chores around my house I noticed Mickey and Martha (both black characters) sounded exactly the same as the white characters. I knew it was Mickey and Martha because I know their voices but this is when I noticed there’s no difference in accent between them (other than regional accent). Whereas in America you have regional accent AND white and black accents (not talking about other accents here bcs it’s not the point).

Now focused on Hobie…Comic Hobie is American, hes black and he’s from New York. Granted. But let’s be real, the vast majority of the Hobie fanfics out there are written with Movie Hobie in mind. ATSV Hobie is British, specifically from London (I mean technically he’s from the city Old York, but judging by Daniel Kaluuya’s voice acting, he has cockney accent (London). And i think in ATSV’s Hobie this is particularly important because of the way he showcases being a punk. Not that Comic Hobie is less of a punk, but Movie Punk was clearly inspired by the movements origin in England. And the fact that hes black (and also from the late 70’s) only gives more punch to his ideology. Repression looks different depending on your ethnicity.

I think by stripping Movie Hobie from his original vernacular is stripping a big part of Hobie’s identity. He’s British. He hates the monarchy and the government but he likes being British, as shown in the watch he makes for Gwen. Both the watch and the box have the Union Flag on it.

He likes being British. Plus I think, a lot of the charisma in the character is shown through the way he talks. What he says and HOW he says it, and he uses a lot of English and rhyme slang. And the fact that Miles (being the viewer’s surrogate through the story) doesn’t understand what Hobie says most of the time, is yet another layer to the mystery that is Hobie. That same mystery that draws you in to the character and makes you think: “I want to know more about this guy”

I could attribute giving Hobie AAVE could be a case of lazy writing, but I can also attribute that to ignorance. I would expect the latter to be less of a case in native English speakers. But to non-English speakers it would be either laziness or a lack of proper knowledge. Also because people have proved time and time again to be ignorant in things that would seem insanely obvious to all someone else.

And maybe it’s a me thing. I take my writing seriously, and like to deeply research before writing. I do admit I barely proof read fanfics, is a bad habit I have, and sometimes typos or American spelling escape me. But I try to really stick to the character’s personality. And a big part of personality is expressed in the way we talk. So I’d say it’s important to know who you’re writing about, to properly portray they speech patterns since through talking is one of the main ways in which we show who we are to the world.

[dynared]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[pain-in-the-butler]

you said you've been a kuro fan since 2009, I have to know what got you into the series and what has made you stay with it for so long?

what about the fandom did you enjoy back in the old days?

Ahahaha, oh wow, these questions feel loaded. Thank you for asking them, though, I haven't fully considered them before...

I'll start with the second question, because it's easier to answer. What did I enjoy about the fandom in the old days? I didn't enjoy the fandom in the old days! Not on the whole, at least. I was just on the outskirts of it, more observer than participant. I wrote fanfiction, but most people didn't read it because it wasn't romantic. The memes weren't funny, the shipping wars were insane, and SebaCiel was completely unavoidable. The current fandom is way better than the old one! (I'm sure there were cool people around back then too, but I didn't go looking for them because I didn't think they existed.)

I kind of started dipping my toes in the fandom water in 2012 in the midst of the Campania arc. But even then, by 2014 I felt a little meh from all the cricket and I varied in my interest during Green Witch, so I really didn't participate much until around 2017. The Blue Cult stuff had me bored, but then when things started ramping up towards the twin reveal, I was back in the game. Or rather, in the game for the first time. The explosion of actual good memes had me hook, line, and sinker.

Now for your first question. My initial exposure to Kuroshitsuji was season 1 of the anime. It had wrapped in Japan less than a year ago, and my sister told me that she sort of liked it after seeing the first few episodes at our high school's anime club. She gave me a brief rundown of the premise and I guess the seventeen-year-old me was interested because I went to anime club for the first and last time next week. It was the episode with the corset scene and I was appalled. I was also appalled by my peers, because the teacher hadn't shown up that day to moderate, so a lot of kids were making out and drawing on each others' bodies with sharpies, and the few people watching the episode were wolf-whistling and clapping. It was a lot for a dweeby little goodie-two-shoes to take in.

But for some reason I persevered and watched the rest of the series on my own time. The first episode also appalled me. I think the whole show did. I don't really know why I watched it, other than perhaps a fascination with historical anime, but I definitely found Sebastian and Ciel worthy of parody, because a few months later, I was writing fanfiction about them. In high school, I wrote solely humor fanfics, and they were always about Sebastian and Ciel trying to make each other's lives worse through japes and antics.

Then in early college, I started reading the manga when I caught wind of Sebastian being "dead" and thought that sounded like an interesting development. I gave the earlier chapters a try and shocker, it was so much better than the anime (though I skipped the curry arc for some reason, only read it for the first time like a year ago). Then I got to the Circus arc scene where Sebastian has to help Ciel with his eyepatch strings and I felt the epiphany grow. Dadbastian is love, Dadbastian is life, etc. It was hard not to feel like a one-man army at the time, but a handful of others enjoyed the concept too.

And then the Campania arc happened and I was absolutely gobsmacked by how good it was. I will never forget what it was like to be there for the badass Lizzie reveal. That day, anime and manga fansites and subgroups across the net were all united in Lizzie love. It was so real 🥹😭

Moments like that kept me going, as well as a hope for small Dadbastian-esque moments and the promise of more Victorian flair. Over time, I've only gained more appreciation for the side characters and the themes, and I love the current fandom to pieces, so even though the story is slow, I'm more invested than ever.

I'm sorry that was such a damn essay, thank you for your interest in my little Kuro journey! 😊 I hope you are enjoying fandom life too!

[luciferfemme]

Love Confessions | Fictober

Prompt #2 - "Don't worry, I've got you."

Fanfic/Fandom: Good Omens

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Pairing: Ineffable Husbands/Ineffable Bureaucracy

Other Notes: 

Crack!fic 

Synopsis: Gabriel’s startling confession comes along with an even more shocking revelation about who inspired this all; Crowley never one to be upstaged especially by the Supreme Archangel, has a confession of his own. 

Word count: 1,016 words

“I realized there was something more important than choosing sides,�� Beelzebub said. 

Gabriel smiled, "We were inspired by Aziraphale after all.” 

“What?” Aziraphale asked, swallowing hard, certain he had misheard. Surely Gabriel the Supreme Archangel was not crediting him for this?

Gabriel looked at him, “Aziraphale, everyone knows how you feel about Crowley.” 

Aziraphale’s eyes widened. “I—I—”

“How who feels about what now?” Crowley asked, looking between Gabriel and Aziraphale then back again. 

“Don’t worry, I got you,” Gabriel said with a smile. “Because see I get it now. I didn’t understand it… before. Didn’t understand what you saw in him, what you could see in a demon… until I did.” 

Aziraphale rather felt like he might faint. 

“Hang on, what the bloody hell are you on about Gabriel? First Nina, now Gabriel… does everyone here think we’re together?” 

“Yes!” The assembled group said in unison. 

“Oh, I see, well then,” never one to be shown up by anyone, least of all the Supreme Archangel, Crowley got down on one knee, and took Aziraphale’s hand. “Right I was going to save this for the Ritz, but bugger it. Aziraphale… angel of my eye, my favorite person, light of my life, would you do me the great honor of becoming my husband?” 

Aziraphale’s legs went weak at that, the room around him spun and it was only with the grace of Crowley’s hand in his own that kept him grounded. He was certain he was dreaming, certain this could not possibly be happening right now, because surely Crowley was not proposing now in front of Heaven AND Hell! Only he was still staring up at him, everyone was staring up at him and Aziraphale felt lightheaded. 

“Crowley,” he said weakly. 

“I’m right here angel,” he said. 

“Is this real?” 

Crowley laughed despite himself. “Yes angel.” 

“Cause this feels like… I’d say a dream I’ve had but usually it’s not this strange.” 

Crowley smiled up at him. “And what do you say in those dreams?” 

“Oh Crowley how could you even ask? Of course I’ll marry you. A thousand times over I would marry you.” 

Crowley grinned up at him, sliding the ring onto his finger as Heaven and Hell respectively exploded into a cacophony of outrage. Crowley stood and spun around toward them. “Now then, I think we all know what happened the last time you tried to get on our bad side.” He raised an eyebrow. The angels nodded, as did the demons, and Crowley smiled. “Good. I trust I don’t need to tell you not to bother Gabriel and Beelzebub the same way you ought not to bother me and Aziraphale.” 

“They can’t have gone native that fast!” Shax hissed. 

“Couldn’t they?” Crowley asked. 

“I’ve lived here for almost two years and I haven’t…” Shax froze, looking scared then.  

Crowley raised an eyebrow, barely resisting the urge to grin. “Do you really want to take that risk?” 

Shax hissed. “Fine!” 

The demons vanished and he turned his attention back on the other angels who all looked less than amused. Michael opened their mouth but Crowley shook his head. 

“Ooh!” Michael glared, and with that the trio of angels disappeared as well, until it was only himself, Aziraphale, Gabriel and Beelzebub still left in the bookshop. Aziraphale was staring at his ring his eyes shining and Gabriel was staring.

“Why?” He asked. “Why would you help me of all people? After what I…” 

Crowley wrapped his arm around Aziraphale. “Against my will, my angel here has taught me a thing or two about forgiveness.” 

“I have?” Aziraphale looked up at him eyes wide. 

“You’re so cute,” Crowley smiled at him. Aziraphale flushed at the praise. “Now then… I’d still like to take Aziraphale here to a fantastic breakfast. To celebrate our engagement. Gabriel… Lord Beelzebub, would you care to join us?” 

“We don’t…” Gabriel said. 

“Eat,” Beelzebub finished. 

“Neither do I,” Crowley said with a smirk. “But watching my angel here enjoy himself is more than enough for me.” Aziraphale blushed again, and just like that two angels, a demon, and the former Prince of Hell were piled into the Bentley and on the way to the Ritz. Their usual table was plenty big enough for a party of four as much as a party of two, Crowley thought. 

“How do you stand this death trap?” Beelzebub said as Crowley whipped across traffic. 

“I find it’s best not to think about it,” Aziraphale said. 

“You’re perfectly safe,” Crowley replied with a smirk. “Never let anything happen to my two favorite things in the whole world.” 

Aziraphale couldn’t stop smiling at that. “Crowley…” Crowley’s fingers had curled into his own at some point, and Aziraphale couldn’t remember when exactly that had happened. 

“Yes angel?” 

“Was that just a ploy… back there.” 

“Would you want that?” Crowley asked, looking for the first time, nervous. Aziraphale swallowed and shook his head.

“No.” 

“Good because I meant every word.” 

“You’ve never said.” 

“It’s never been safe too.” 

“And… was that especially safe?” Aziraphale asked.

“Well… I figure with Gabriel and Beelzebub in our corner… strength in numbers and the like. Besides… after all the ridiculousness of the past few years. Angel I don’t want to live another moment without you by my side. So… I took a risk. It paid off.” 

“You mean to tell me… you two weren’t… together?” Gabriel asked, shocked. “All this time?” 

Aziraphale blushed. “I’m afraid that’s mostly my fault…” 

“No,” Crowley said. “That would be your fault, supreme archangel! You terrified my angel half to death and made him afraid of what would happen to either of us if we even thought about disobeying.” 

“You did stop Armageddon,” Gabriel said. 

“And you nearly killed both of us!” Crowley hissed. 

“Right. I’m… I regret that.” Gabriel admitted. 

“As do I,” Beelzebub added.

Crowley pulled to a stop and the four piled out and made their way into the Ritz and their usual table. Crowley ordered himself a cocktail while Aziraphale ordered his usual pileup. Gabriel and Beelzebub looked on in horror while Crowley simply watched him with his usual besotted expression.

It was all in all a strange morning, but Crowley wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

[faebriel]

pretty new to fandom and never have heard of bluesky, what fandom is it from? or is it just its own thing published to ao3?

ohhhh anon. oh boy anon.

okay so blue sky is a portal fanfic written by wafflestories, originally on livejournal, also on ffnet. here's the ffnet link. no it's not on ao3 yeah wild right. it is set post-portal 2, so if you don't know the story to the game i don't wanna spoil you and am gonna put All That Synopsis under a cut here. no spoilers for the actual fic tho! yayers

Meteors, signals, apologies, and that tricky little thing called humanity - four years after the events of Portal II, Wheatley's been handed a second chance, but it's not going to be plain sailing…

the summary says it all, really - after returning to earth from his spacely rendezvous, wheatley gets another chance at Not being a terrible person and mending his relationship with chell.

yea also it's chelley (chell/wheatley for the unacquainted). i don't actually know what the vibe check is on chelley these days i think chelldos is more common now at least on tumblr. and i am not arguing with that because that big robot is gay and frankly good for her. but i can say when i played the portal games back in like 2014 chelley had a fucking vice grip on the fandom. the soccerball was a tumblr sexyman, for goodness' sake. and of the squillions of chelley fics around at the time (some of them probably quite questionable in hindsight but we don't gotta talk about it right now) blue sky was the crown jewel.

the thing is? blue sky 100% deserves that spot. shit, it's one of my favourite fanworks ever.

arguably because it's not really focusing on being a shipfic. i know half this recommendation is talking about shipping but i'm giving some context here alright to the nouveau portal fans who were Not there in 2014 and i feel the need to justify like No This Fic Is Actually A Really Good Take On It Trust Me. we are not here to kiss the metal ball we are here to grab him by the lapels and watch him struggle to go from an objectively terrible person to a deeply insecure person three steps from relapsing Back into that terrible person to someone who actually has their moral and ethical shit together. i think it does portay glados in a less sympathetic light than some other fics but also bro (gender neutral) i was reading portal fic in 2014 and 2014 alone i saw so much worse than "yeah glados is still on her i'm-in-denial-about-my-humanity-and-taking-it-out-on-everyone-else schtick"

i'm sick of writing paragraphs. reasons why blue sky is really cool, fic spoilers minimal:

a redemption arc where a character's flaws are not skipped over; in fact, they are dragged into the light and shown off at all angles to be appropriately judged by the reader and the characters in story. no woobification here. if anything the opposite - blue sky takes opportunities to remind the reader wheatley is very capable of being a shit person and the fact that he is doing this whole redemption arc thing is important

but still acknowledging the trauma that is apeture science. saying shit's fucked up without excusing everything else that people did because of it

blue sky is definitely a wheatley centric fic (i don't think this is a bad thing because Let's Redeem Wheatley is a concept that requires a lot of narrative attention and heavylifting tbh) but it doesn't overlook chell's feelings about apeture and also about this whole oh wheatley's back situation. she's strong and badass but she's also allowed to have those feelings and be worried and anxious but also angry. and that doesn't make her not a badass. wah i love her

the town of eaden!!! chell has found a home after portal 2 and they are lovely and she loves them and they love her. i was obsessed with some of these characters as a teenager and they are all ocs. but they are so well written and integrated into the story so well that you can't help but love them. it is so easy to see why chell loves them and especially as wheatley gets attached to them too. it just. ough. it all feels so real they're all wonderful

bro (gender neutral) the redemption arc hinges not on romance or whatever but on the love one gives and receives by contributing to their community and finding their place and taking the things they've been told they're shit for their entire existence and spinning it into something that helps others. tell me that is not the best shit ever

i like how it depicts the robotics and technology its fun :]

there are several scenes that are imprinted in my fucking brain. i swear. one the hallway scene. two the tower scene. three the nightlight scene. four the foxglove scene. if you know you know

[deliciouskeys]

001 for Butchlander and 002 for Homie, because I love to be obvious!

Tackling them out of order.

002 | Homelander

* How I feel about this character: 

I want to mush him and squeeze him and torture him and pet him and never let him out.

Oh and he’s a very interesting character and a joy to write. Somewhat as a result of the writer’s room, and somewhat as a result of Antony Starr’s acting.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character: 

I’m a whore, I will read him having sex with just about anyone, and I could make a case for him getting romantic with many characters on the show. Top romantic (heh loaded word) ships are Butchlander, Homewell, Maevlander, Starlander.

* My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

I honestly don’t know what this question means because all my ships are horny ones. But I wish we got more Black Noir being a father figure to him (I wish Noir had more to do in general before they decided to give him some background just before killing him off).

* My unpopular opinion about this character: 

Hmmmm. I’m a little afraid that if Kripke writes him a “redemption arc” in the show they’ll botch it with some incoherent drivel à la s3e8 so I’d almost rather they just didn’t.

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I have more than one.

I’d rather see him depowered and live than die at the end, somehow.

I would have liked to see more of him trying to parent Ryan with Becca around.

I kind of wish he hadn’t killed Stillwell but mostly because I thought she was a cool character.

I wish he hadn’t taken over Vought because that decreases the chance we’ll ever see him operate outside of it.

* my OTP:

Billy Butcher reprogramming HL with tough, but genuine, love. And sex, definitely lots of sex. [refer to section below for much more word vomit about them]

* my cross over ship:

Heh, I think Makima from Chainsaw Man has a nice parallel to the Homewell dynamic. I’d read Batman x HL, I feel like Batman could deal with his bullshit effectively.

* a headcanon fact:

Homelander prefers his sexual partner be strong and wield soft power over him.

============================

001 | Butchlander

* when I started shipping it if I did:

Because I was watching the show very rapidly, I didn’t start shipping it outright until S1E8, but if I had a week between each episode it probably would have materialized no later than E6.

* my thoughts:

Scorchingly, achingly hot. The show canon is stingy with their onscreen time together, but each scene they meet in is glorious. One of the reasons I’m willing to overlook the inconsistent writing in s3 is that they are ramping up the butchlander element in the show. I love that they have ended up sharing a child while both being utterly unequipped to parent. I don’t remember any other enemyslash pairing setting that up and it’s so damn fun.

* What makes me happy about them:

I like to imagine scenarios where their respective traumas and defects (I don’t think they’re “the same”, kripke) fit together in such a complementary way that they end up accidentally helping each other become a little more emotionally functional.

* What makes me sad about them:

One of them lost his wife because of the other and that is a hard wound to heal.

* things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I don’t like when Billy cries too much. I don’t like when writers go all out with Butcher’s cockney but it sounds like Dick van Dyke (easy to criticize, hard to adhere to this rule). I’m more tolerant of different HL characterizations because I think canon has shown us more variety from him in different scenarios, but I tend to enjoy it less when he’s written as a sadist monster with nary an indication of any other emotions.

* things I look for in fanfic:

Generally prefer Bottom the Homelander [not because he has a better ass, but] because the fic is more likely to characterize both of them in ways I find more IC. Generally like when they at least start out antagonistic and hating each other if it’s a multichapter. Love when there’s an element of coparenting Ryan involved. Love when it’s an E rated fuckfest because [I’m here for the porn canon won’t give us, and] they are both presented as characters with energetic libidos.

* Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

Honestly? I feel like they’re both likely to end up alone, because I feel bad for whoever ends up with them if they’re not a strong person. Billy with Maeve, as alluded to in the Maevlander post seems fine endgame to me. Butchie is a big fat nope for me, not only because of Annie but because it gives me incest vibes since he sees him as a younger brother. Billy with some strong woman like Rainer probably works. Homelander… needs someone who can spank him if he gets out line. If Victoria Neuman can become that person remains TBD.

* My happily ever after for them:

Haha, I’ll take almost any iteration where they end up together and parent Ryan. I’m intrigued by Billy getting upgraded with Compound V and how they’d keep from becoming a terrible powercouple of supe cunts. I’m intrigued by HL getting depowered and Billy having to rehab him into being a functional human being out of that mental wreckage. I’m intrigued by them staying as human x supe, with both of them having a weird love hate relationship with being involved with a “race” they generally looked down on.

* who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Billy is the big spoon. I will only entertain the thought of HL being the big spoon if it’s written in Russian for reasons I can’t quite fathom and must have something to do with early childhood traumas 😂

* what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

They are pretty different people in terms of pastimes in canon. I named enjoying the outdoors in another meme. I’d like to think they’d also both enjoy having (or aspiring toward having) a normal family life, raising a child as if they’re normal, well-adjusted adult men, doing normal domestic things. Emphasis on the as if.

[thestobingirlie]

This is definitely a fanfic thing, but I hate how some people portray Steve as if he is just a walking ATM for the others. There's this theme I've noticed where it's like Steve covers everything. Kids going to the arcade? Steve gives them money to change/ keeps an endless supply of rolls of quarters to give to them. They all go out to eat/ order in? Steve's covering the entire bill. They're all going to the movies/bowling/the fair? Steve's paying for everyone. Any of the kids want to rent a movie? Steve lets them have it free of charge. The kids are hungry/ want snacks to take to Hellfire? Steve's buying them what they want/ they're raiding Steve's kitchen without even asking.

What we know of Steve's financial situation is his parents are rich, and cut him off prior to s3. We don't know if he started getting money from them again after s3, but considering he is still working a minimum wage retail job, it seems unlikely. So may still have a lot of expensive belongings, but he isn't rich himself.

The kids and other older teens all have parents/ responsible adults who should be the ones providing money/ snacks/ food where needed. Yes, there are the ones who are shown to be poor (The Byers/Max/Eddie, then Robin who says she's poor), but it's still not Steve's responsibility to provide for them.

Robin also has a job, and would be on the same hourly wage as Steve, and because she doesn't have a car, she doesn't have to worry about paying for gas.

Eddie at least has an income with his dealing (and in some of the fics he has an actual job? so would have a steady income.)

Nancy (and Mike) are solidly upper middle class with their dad making "six figures". So they could easily get money from their parents if they really need it. (From the way the Wheelers are portrayed I feel that Nancy and Mike would get a regular, decent allowance.)

And as I said, the other kids have parents. They're the ones who should be providing, not Steve who is NOT a parent to anyone.

The only person Steve should be providing anything for is Erica, when he is keeping up the "Free ice cream for life" deal, and with that, he should be going halves with Robin.

that last paragraph cracked me up. i feel like this is a speech erica’s made to convince steve to spend less money on the others and more on her lmao

i think it makes sense that steve would want to spend a lot of money on his friends, because steve definitely has that whole, i have to provide for my friends so they want to keep me around thing. but yeah, i think people over use it. like, kids get given an allowance, and i can’t imagine that none of them would feel bad about bleeding steve dry.

i think it happens so much because people want steve involved in stuff, but can’t figure out how to involve him. he doesn’t play d&d, so instead he hosts them and feeds them and hangs out with them! he wouldn’t play in the arcade so instead he drops the kids off and picks them up and gives them emergency change when they run out.

(kinda a different topic, but i also don’t think steve would be that opposed to playing d&d or arcade games. he had a choreographed lightsaber fight with dustin in the middle of starcourt mall. he’s dorky! let the boy be dorky! he doesn’t have to be supplying hellfire with snacks, let him join in!)

but like you said, steve isn’t made of money, and though people love to give him a credit card that his parents pay for, it is likely that he’s monetarily looking after himself. robin has the exact same job as steve and eddie is the fucking school drug dealer. like yeah, steve’s parents are rich, and eddie’s and robin’s aren’t, but all three teens probably make the same amount of money.

[upstartcrow42]

I posted 469 times in 2022

8 posts created (2%)

461 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@beansprean

@gaylittlenandor

@michshlo

@autumnwander

@lady-of-the-spirit

I tagged 32 of my posts in 2022

#wwdits - 19 posts

#wwdits spoilers - 11 posts

#guillermo de la cruz - 8 posts

#nandor the relentless - 8 posts

#wwdits season 4 - 8 posts

#nandermo - 5 posts

#nadja of antipaxos - 3 posts

#wwdits fanfic - 3 posts

#marwa wwdits - 2 posts

#fanfic - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 39 characters

#fandom exchanges are a gift to everyone

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

If you want to see Nandor actually treat Marwa like the queen she seems to be from what little we’ve seen of her in season 4, then check this fic out. He treats all the wives super well because he has a big Service Kink in this fic.

3 notes - Posted July 26, 2022

#4

My gift to @friedryebread  for the Nandermo gift exchange

6 notes - Posted July 25, 2022

#3

Paws and Reflect

Check out my fic “Paws and Reflect” from the What We Create in the Shadows Vol. 2 Zine. You too can learn all of Sam’s tips for making a Bomb-Ass charcuterie spread.

Zine orders will cease on June 8th, so get your copy while you can. All proceeds will go toward Refugees International.

Fic Cover Credit: @jackiegaytona​

7 notes - Posted June 1, 2022

#2

☮ - friendship headcanon

For Colin Robinson :)

Ooh. Wasn't expecting this one straight out the gate.

Colin Robinson, despite being an energy vampire, does want the vampires to like him because those are his roomies. They are his chosen family. He has to drain to live, so he can't help but get some tasty sips from their frustration.

Prior to season three, he considered Nandor his bestie. Nandor, of course, did not feel the same way.

I feel like when the Baron told him he couldn't go on the night out, Nandor had to have a little talk with Colin to make him feel better. Or at least Nandor felt compelled to do the talking.

Colin was genuinely upset when Nandor told him to stop talking about Sandra Bullock.

Why would Colin cling to Nandor? Well, I guess Nandor is the one who is often partner-less. Sure, he has familiars, but he rarely has a partner/companion. And while Colin would love to be a third wheel, he knows Laszlo and Nadja would not tolerate that.

Of course, his new bestie in season three was Laszlo, and I feel like what may have started as Laszlo feeling bad for him, lead to a real friendship between the two. This was easy for them to do since Nadja was so busy with council stuff, and any risk of third wheeling was negated.

His dedication to Colin was shown in the Siren episode when Laszlo basically ignored Nadja's problems in favor of helping save Colin from a cruel fate.

Colin probably doesn't really care so much for Guillermo other than to just annoy the shit out of him, so I don't think they are really friends. He doesn't seem to really know him that well in season one, when he asks how long he's been working for them. I would like to see more interaction between them. I thought Guillermo going to some kind of work even with Colin would have been funny.

It will be interesting to see what they do with Colin now that he's a wee baby/toddler.

9 notes - Posted June 26, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I need to see the Guillermo/Freddie with Nandor leering in the background equivalent of this scene from The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Original Context: Titus is just listening to Kimmy and Cindy catch-up, hoping to hear some juicy details about their time in the Bunker.

Nandor just handing back hoping to hear something salacious about Guillermo/Freddie. He could literally be stirring nothing just like Titus.

As they keep talking, he clearly sees that they are not about to get into any down and dirty details.

Why?

Well, what if Freddie is just super polite and traditional? Like, he traveled all the way to Staten Island to meet Guillermo’s family before he’d even dare go farther than a kiss?

Guillermo’s been lead along by Nandor for so long, the hope of a kiss might be enough to sate him all things considered.

10 notes - Posted March 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[the-modern-typewriter]

I'd like to request your thoughts on what is considered 'cowardly'. In most of the books i've read (usually YA) characters who are shown begging for their life are 'cowards', which always seemed odd to me. Moreover, cowardice isn't considered a 'heroic' enough flaw for protagonists to struggle with most of the time, which i think is a shame. (1/2)

I remember reading a Portal fanfic called 'Blue Sky'(which is really excellent btw, its written better than many novels imo) one of the two protagonists has a choice between freedom or going back to help the other protagonist,and maybe dying. Reading that internal struggle as he first tries to rationalize his decision to leave her behind, making excuses for why he 'deserves' freedom in his head, only to realize that no, he HAS to go back was just so gripping to me. Cowardice is underrated. (2/2)

--

So a few things to unpick for my thoughts on this. Sorry for the length! For context, this is discussing the Cowardice Callout trope.

1 - Usually YA.

YA as a genre/marketing label has certain rules, or at least strong guidelines. One is that a YA book tends to have (in film equivalent terms) a rating of 12/15. So it can get scary and do some non-gory violence and have some sex and obscenity, but it's not like an 18 for the most part. The violence/horror is unlikely to be super graphic. This isn't a criticism of YA or to suggest that YA doesn't deal with tough things, because it absolutely does, but it does so in a different way and some content just isn't generally considered suitable for YA publication. Books with teenagers can certainly go darker. But a book with a teenager in is not the same as a YA book. Anyway.

Another is that YA tends to have a 'Happy for Now' ending. It doesn't have to be Disney happy. But...generally there's optimism. Our YA protagonist might be hurt along the way, but ultimately they succeed.

The result of this is that in most YA novels you're probably not going to dig too deep into the terror of letting something awful happen out of fear, not because YA doesn't deal with fear (it does, all the time! the fear of growing up, of missing out, of not being loved for who you are, never mind actual physical threat) but because YA thematically is more likely to focus on being brave. On overcoming the fear. If the protagonist succumbs to their flaw of fear then that's a negative character arc, and, while interesting, not a happy or happy for now ending.

There are plenty of books and media that deal with cowardice in a nuanced way. It's just much less likely to be YA. See, the Loveable Coward or Cowardly Lion trope and their examples which illustrate when cowardice is a flaw, even in heroes/protagonist's.

2 - Story stakes, begging for your life and likeable characters oh my

Characters who are shown begging for their lives and who are presented as being cowards (in the insult sense of 'coward!' rather than a character who is simply scared) are done so in the context of story stakes.

They're not cowards because they want to live, which is perfectly understandable, but because of who or what they are willing to screw over for the sake of that survival. See the Dirty Coward trope. It's normally people they love or people who are weaker than them who suffer for the cowardice. That's why they're called out. They're not being judged for being scared. Everyone gets scared. They're being judged for the way they allow that fear to overrule everything else, to the point of cruelty or unkindness. Cowardice isn't a standalone quality. It ties into other behaviours.

In terms of story structure, we want our protagonists to change over the course of the narrative for the most part. If a character is a coward at the start and then they just continue being a coward without change or consequence then that's not an interesting story. There's no tension there.

In the example you gave, the interesting bit is the tension between being scared and ultimately going back.

Would it be the worse story choice if they had given into their fear? Not necessarily. Both have juicy options, and a sacrifice to provide plot tension. But it would be a different story and we would be unlikely to like the protagonist as much, unless this took place near the beginning or middle of the story and they ultimately overcame their flaw later.

We live in a world where a lot of people want to like characters, and judge characters based on whether they liked them or not. The backlash that morally dubious characters get when they dare to be morally dubious in a slightly less palatable way proves that!

Again, writing is an industry. People pick what books get published. People are more likely to pick the book with the likeable protagonist, because it is an easier sell.

I'm not saying it's right, but I think we live in a time where there is a focus on easily marketable high-concept stories with characters who are easy to love and root for. Cowardice is a trait a lot of people don't root for, because none of us like to be reminded of the very real and very awful things we might all do when scared. It's disquieting. History is full of people who have looked the other way out of fear and the consequences were damning. We view those people as the villains. We understand fear as a motivation for terrible things. Our stories are often there to inspire us to do better than that, hence, bravery.

3 - Final notes

Lots of stories deal with fear. The reluctant hero is often scared to set out on their journey, the internal conflict a protagonist has is often rooted in their own self-doubt and fear of the consequences. But they set out.

Cowardice takes this fear to another level, making it a defining character trait. On a simple story level, if your protagonist is a coward it is harder to get the story going because if you're scared and you don't overcome that fear in some way then plot doesn't happen. People who are scared don't go out of their way to go into dangerous exciting situations. They sit at home and wait for someone braver to deal with the problem. They don't rock the boat.

Is this a perfectly natural response to have? Sure. Does it make for an interesting story? Not so much.