#not that it is anything special. meta writers can do better

[chocolate-biscuit]

Hello, nex-reblog-fest coming in, here to ask about the Tomura & Hawks parallels through your eyes 🫶🏻

Please serenade me !

Hello! I'm glad you saw the tags ^^

I really like the topic but I think I should say I'm not a meta writer like some other amazing blogs around there. I'll try my best, especially to remember all the details I can think of.

We know and we saw in the manga AFO took advantage of a scared, abandoned child who was on the streets after accidentally murdering his family and society didn't stop to help him. AFO groomed said child into following a path of hatred towards the heroes - when the same kid wanted to be a hero himself - and convinced Tomura he was born to destroy (I'll come back to this).

Hawks, too, was found on the streets, with his mother: both were in a extremely vulnerable position, and the Hero Commission used their state of poverty for their purposes. We don't have much details on how the Commission raised him (hopefully we'll get them before the manga ends), but we know from Nagant's backstory they surely indocrinated him and exploited his will to be a hero (the narration once mentioned "interpersonal skills drilled into him from a young age by the Safety Commission" - ch. 258). No child can give consent to "rough training".

Essentially, both characters were groomed/indocrinated by another entity/institution, who took advantage of vulnerable children in order to satisfy their goals. If Tomura was groomed by the "villain side", Hawks was indocrinated by the "hero side". Story repeats itself.

I've seen many considered (and still consider) Tomura in MVA as liberated and the other characters - namely Re-Destro in his narration - thought he was free of everything; however (and I don't want to go into details when Shigaraki focused meta blogs already analized the chapters), he fell into a path that took him straight into being literally possessed.

Even now, in recent chapters, he appears to be free from AFO's control, but the AFO vestige is not completely defeated and the real AFO will approach Tomura and Izuku soon; not to mention Shigaraki is still believing he wants to destroy everything and that will be his only salvation. Again, just how AFO groomed him to think.

Something similar happened with Hawks after the PLW arc: we see Keigo, at his mother's house, saying he actually abandoned Tomie and that's for the better; no one and nothing is holding him back, especially since the Commission can't give him orders anymore ("I'm free... of my shackles" - ch. 299) . It would sound great, if only it hasn't been said during a conversation ambiguous at best in the manga and downright insane in the anime.

Hawks is still working as a hero, has shown to be willing to sacrifice his life for Endeavor and the kids, is written as more and more insane with each chapter that comes out. If at first he was ready to tain himself for Japan, now he's ready to tain himself and die "for the kids' sake".

Back to after the Pro-Hero arc, we see Hawks recalling the conversation he had with Madame President and her associate stating "there's no better man for the job" (ch. 191) to infiltrate the LoV. And Hawks accepted - knowing he couldn't refuse, and said as such.

It seems both Tomura and Hawks are, to some degree, aware of how AFO/the Commission raised them, but the grooming runs in so deep they still live in a state of denial - for a lack of a better word to describe it.

Another similarity between the two is how they perceive themselves. I mentioned twice how Shigaraki views himself as "born to destroy" and Hawks, similary, thinks he was "born with dirty wings". If I remember correctly, Caleb Cook in the official English translation implied Hawks dirtied his wings with his actions, but the Japanese text implies his quirk was already that way. So, when Hawks claims he will tain himself for others' sakes, he knows he's already tained for his quirk. He was born like that.

These characters nurture hatred towards themselves, with Shigaraki accepting there's no saving him - despite desperately wanting to be saved - because he was born this way, that's what he wants; and Hawks committing immoral actions and putting himself on the line, while showing since he was introduced he has extremely low self-esteem, and considering himself tained - what is another stain anyway, if it's for someone else's happiness.

I'm sorry if I didn't show manga panels, but I've already spent a while writing this and I don't want to give it another hour. English is not my first language, so it's slightly more challenging to write fluently enough (I'm used to shitposts and very few smart takes anyway).

Hawks is, ironically, much more similar to the LoV than the pro-heroes, even if he's a pro-hero as well; it's pretty interesting to go into deeper details.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk about Tomura and Hawks. I truly appreciate it.

[megaaceofspades]

i want to preface this by saying that I grew up with robin tim drake, and i love the weirdo a lot.

anyway, i think the main issue i have with current appearances of tim drake in comic runs is that it’s so obvious that the only narrative relevance tim has is robin.

in a real way, the only reason tim exists as character is to be robin.

in a meta roundabout way, all of his issues to us (the audience) are the same as his issues in universe (his family and to gotham city). tim drake IS robin, or there’s no reason for him to exist the narrative. that’s what made him work as a character, but now, writers are struggling to place him in a world where someone else is robin. that’s why stephanie brown’s robin run was cut short, and that’s why damian wayne’s robin run doesn’t feel classically robin (which honestly, is something i enjoy, but DC hasn’t committed to it). in universe, his problems with other heroes, his brothers, and stephanie is literally that it doesn’t make sense for him to be part of the team. for everything he can do, someone can do it better. he was perfect as robin, but on his own, he needs something else that’s interesting/special, and DC, i think out of fear of commitment, would just rather let him be robin again. i would like to reiterate that i love tim drake, and think that there’s tons of potential for him to have interesting storylines. i think a villain arc could be cool, or a return to a red robin 2009 type of story, or genuinely anything other than robin as long as DC was willing to take a risk and try something new. it’s also necessary to let tim drake as robin go before we get to enjoy other characters LIKE damian wayne.

this is a long rant, but i took a long break from comic books because i was working on a screenplay/ college and upon revisiting i’ve had some thoughts.

[randomishnickname]

Must-read Destiel fics - my superduper Nov. 5th rec list

Three years ago, on the blessed day of November 5th, 2020, I had:

never seen an episode of SPN,

only had a vague inkling of what the two pale coconuts were on about,

and I hee-heed and ha-had with the rest of Tumblr about the love confession scene and the Internet errupting in an unparalleled craze

At first I thought, that's it.

Then ... I got curious. I watched some YouTube Destiel supercuts. I read some fic (I think @andhumanslovedstories beautiful Cas/OC fic was my entry point?). I read meta. I watched some more YouTube scene packs. I read even more fic. I watched some of S4, some of S1, some random fan fav episodes. And then Destiel lodged itself so deeply, thouroughly into my brain that it took over and hasn't relinquished control in the last two years. The most tenacious, pervasive brain worm to date.

This ship got it all, and this fandom got it all, and there's such delightful, powerful, batshit crazy, romantic, expertedly crafted fanfic out there, it's like being a starving child in the world's biggest candystore.

So without further ado, here's some of my very favorite fics from this infinite trove, with all my thanks to the wonderful writers who keep delighting and awing me with their dedication and craft. There'll of course be some recency bias at play but you can browse my bookmarks over here to chose from over 100 excellent and well-curated SPN stories.

💕CATEGORY: SWOONWORTHY💕

Wildly romantic fics that warm you up from the inside.

It Won't Be Perfect by someonetoanyone (10K words) Summary: Dean daydreams about what it'd be like to let himself love Cas freely.

Why I love it: the humor, the spot-on characterizations, and the quintessential late season Destiel-ness of being so deeply love with your best friend that it's too big to actually do anything about. Just. So warm.

Rock Lobster by Ginger Fail (13K) Summary: Cas decides that the lobsters Dean planned to cook need to get back home. Impromptu beach vacation ensues!

Why I love it: This road trip story is fresh and invigorating like a sea breeze! Fun, entertaining and full of deep, deep fondness.

Seek to Know You Better by ahurston (32K)

Summary: On a road trip, Dean and Cas play the 36 Questions That Lead To Love.

Why I love it: They’re so deliberatedly, carefully starting a relationship here. They try so hard to bridge the gaps and meet each other halfway. A very mature take on love that feels nourishing.

☢️CATEGORY: BRAINWORMS GALORE☢️

Fics that make you go BARK BARK BARK.

samson went back to bed by piesexuality (9k, @twoheadedcas) Summary: Cas strikes a deal with Chuck - keeping his family together comes at the price of their free will.

Why I love it: What if Cas got his revenge for the Mala'ak box? What if love came at the price of everything you've been fighting for? What if a story twisted the knife oh so sweetly? Each word of this one lands a punch. Made me insane in the best of ways (cue pinned fanart).

In sickness by @saintedcastiel (41K) Summary: S4 redux but Castiel has a fetish: giving Dean the sniffles.

Why I love it: This one is soooo. Can barely find words for it. It taps into Cas' early season alienness and psychosexual obsession with Dean, brilliantly demonstrates Casdean vs Samruby parallels, and each word is just. Perfect. ARGH!

so much smoke in a hall full of mirrors by AreYouReady (6K, @autisticandroids ) Summary: Godstiel is losing his heavenly war. Crowley provides a compliant Dean-doll for him to release his frustrations upon.

Why I love it: Urgh, this one is sooo dark. Taps into the scary, intimidating and alien aspects of Godstiel so well. Gore, consent and psychosexual issues galore. Delicious.

Special mention: In a Parked Car, Exhuming Ophelia by @an-android-in-a-tutu (17K). Still need to comment properly ;)

💣CATEGORY: EMOTIONAL WRECKING BALLS💣

Angsty fics that tear you to pieces to remake you better.

What Used To Be Mine by someonetoanyone (48K words) Summary: Dean never makes his apology prayer in Purgatory - Cas dies, Dean mourns.

Why I love it: Oh god, this is a heavy hitter. Just, straight up insurmontable grief, packaged in poetic, raw language to make you shed tears and tears. Loved it so much.

Ignite your bones By ilovehowyouletmefall (67K, @angelinthefire) Summary: Dean accepts Chuck's deal: killing Sam to save the world.

Why I love it: Cruuuuel cruel premise for a story that doesn’t pull its punches. It gets dark in Dean’s head and everyone around him suffers. Wonderfully written. The ending set my brain on fire.

Right Where you Left Me by outdean (93K, @armandgender)

Summary: Cas comes back from the Empty after 10 years to find Dean married to another man.

Why I love it: This one is a riiiide. When grief has become a part of you but your love comes back… When you return from the dead and have to carve a new space into the world for yourself... nothing is easy here, but the emotions are INTENSE. Also, autistic!Cas for the win.

Special mention: Who Ya Gonna Call? by saintedcastiel (50K) and Clear skies in spring by enochianprayer (WIP)

💥CATEGORY: EPIC RIDES💥

Expansive, wild adventures with lots of ups and downs

Spirit of the West by teen_dean (140K, @urne-buriall)

Summary: An 18y old Dean grew up on a horse farm – cue veterinarian Castiel. The summer of a lifetime ensues.

Why I love it: So this is one of my very favorite stories, ever ever, and I cannot recommand enough to immediatedly suscribe to the author’s Substack to be able to follow it in „real time“ next summer. It’s cinematic, rich, full of darkness and light, it’s everything a story can aspire to, I’m just. I just really love it.

Second Verse, Same as The First by LaLaCat1 (135K)

Summary: Endverse!Cas is sent back to the start of S1 and is determined to make things right this time round.

Why I love it: a desperate and badass Cas, unfridging everyone, a thrilling plot, moments of awesome for the entire cast, gripping action scenes, a romance for the ages… this is a genuinely amazing story.

back road, black road by eden22 (167K)

Summary: 18y old Sam gets kidnapped by Hell on his way to Stanford. Dean tries to deal.

Why I love it: So this one’s not Destiel-centric but does have wonderful Destiel moments. It’s also very heavy on the gore and the angst (NOT for the faint of stomach), but expertly crafted, fascinating and frankly it deserves more love. Held my breath for half the read and never knew where it’d take me.

Special mention: It's The End Of The World (As We Know It) by tiamatv (140K)

🤪CATEGORY: DESTIEL INSANITY🤪

Uproariously funny stories about the intricate rituals these two weirdos get up too.

Life Skills by ilovehowyouletmefall (26K)

Summary: Dean teaches a newly human Cas how to be „a real man“.

Why I love it: Dean coming to Big Self-Realizations while trying to have platonic threesomes with Cas is so perfect. Very endearing, tender and funny. Also, smoking hot sex.

the cheapest room in the house by biggaybenny (89K)

Summary: Dean downloads Grindr for Cas

Why I love it: Just. Late season Dean being deranged about Cas’ sexuality while everyone watches on in utter confusion. Equally hilarious and deeply moving

according to all known laws of life by @sobsicles (29k)

Summary: Cas comes back from the Empty to a Dean who won’t stop playing gay chicken.

Why I love it: They are both such petty, insane weirdos in this one. They said „can every situation be turned into a squabble“ and didn’t wait for an answer. So funny, so tender

Special mention: Wedding Vows and Negotiations by GingerFail (6K)

That's it, enjoy and leave your writers some much-deserved love!

[jayladfanpage]

What would be your ideal Outlaws team + how would you go about writing/constructing it? <3

My ideal team is, maybe a little predictably, Jason Todd Eddie Bloomberg and Rose Wilson.

Gosh uhm!! First of all, little to no Gotham issues. I prefer Jason when he isn't in Gotham, or is at least not interacting with the Bats, so it's just easier to have him be somewhere else. Most likely, I'd start it off in Hollywood, because I see it starting with Freshly Revived Eddie (p sure he like, just got revived in the new Flash?) not really understanding what happened for him to die and plus he's just... alone. So he texts Jason and Rose to come visit him! But then when Jay and Rose get there (already skeptical bc hello, Jason hasn't seen Eddie since they were 15 and Rose is literally Eddie's ex) Eddie gets kidnapped by a demon/magician/brother blood/etc and Jay and Rose have to go after him and that sets up the start of the comic

I'd take a more magical route with it, personally. Obviously to connect it to Eddie's whole thing as a demon hunter but also to try and fix the All-Caste stuff that Lobdell came up with. Lots of potential there if it came from a better writer. I don't think Rose does anything with magic in canon, but I do always enjoy watching characters have to adapt to seriously fucked up shit. (Plus, she has Slade's meta powers. She'll be fine.)

This is also like, you know, THE daddy issues team. So many conversations to be had between Jason and Rose about their dads bc Bruce and Slade are eerily similar in how they cope with their respective issues. Jason and Eddie can also connect over their bio dads being kind of shit (I say kind of because there's nothing I hate more than physically abusive Willis Todd. I am not kidding when I say that's the worst Jason retcon that Lobdell has ever come up with) and how they never felt wanted or loved by their parents. All three of them can relate to how their parents' abandonment (or, in Rose's case, Slade's lack of knowledge) shaped them as people. Lotssss of parallels to be drawn here

Also, obviously, Roy Harper cameo. But get this. He's here because of ROSE. I do enjoy platonic jayroy (and romantic but I don't want it to be canon) but I think the connection Roy has with Rose is a little deeper. I think he'd want to check on her after so many years (he was her foster dad! for fucks sake!) and make sure that she's doing well, considering he knows how Jason can Get.

There would also most likely be a YJ/Tim's TT crossover because duh, Eddie and Rose were in TT03 and Jason has his whole Thing (negative) with Tim, but I'm gonna be so vulnerable here and admit that the only TT03 issues I read are the ones with Mia in them + #42 + the one where Rose lights up her cigarette with Eddie's mouth fire. So, you know, can't give much insight here. Not really a Titans fan regardless of the team itself but if this Outlaws was to ever happen I'd want the author to include them in something.

Also, I think we should get a special issue where Slade repeatedly gets his ass kicked. Rose doesn't even participate but Jason and Eddie do it in her honor. Just for funsies

OH ALSO. I'd want them to bring an artist from the 2000s back. I just don't like the current art styles nearly as much </3 unless it's Ngozi. Ngozi's art is too cute to say no and I would kill to see her draw Rose!! Or or, Jason Fabok, because his art is just everything

[shallowseeker]

why do you think it’s such a popular idea in fic for post-empty rescue cas to be mad at dean for letting jack become god?

like not that this trope even necessarily bothers me, i’ve read many fics that include it that i’ve absolutely loved!! it’s just a really interesting fandom trend to me cause (i think) the thing that made jack and cas’s relationship complex was that cas wanted jack to make the world better peace on earth style and all that, and like. being god would let him do that right? idk i just think it’s super interesting that this is so popular even amongst writers who like truly do love dean, if that makes sense, and i’m trying to understand why. thanks in advance!

I actually haven't read any like that, so I may not be able to answer this very well, except for the context you've given me.

In short, my TLDR; is that fandom can emphasize anything, and if they want to emphasize Cas's good qualities, I love that! I feel a little uncomfortable talking about fics, per se, because I do feel like fics have every right to live outside of meta and canon, or to take the best parts of it and run with it!

BUT. That said. I'm going to pull out the line I think you're asking about, which is, "Would Cas be okay with Jack wielding Godly power?"

///

My answer is, "it's complicated." In my world, this challenging aspect of Jack, "His Destiny" is such an overt, deeply embedded Cas arc... and I view it as affecting Cas more heavily than other members of TFW.

CAS x FREE WILL

Despite being an overarching champion of free will, the ugly truth is that Cas struggles with free will, all the way up until the end of the series.

Cas repeatedly struggles with the idea that "other angels aren't like me" and, in my opinion, he tends to reach for authoritarian "kingly" power to solve problems, like how he behaves throwing his weight around with the guard-angel and Dumah in s14 Jack in the Box. Cas is absolutely at the end of his rope, but also, he clearly expects to march in and see Naomi right away; he is acting, still, as Heaven's commander.

(Contrast this to angels like Hannah, who were messily trying to have a "court," where the "angels governed themselves.")

Jack himself is, in my opinion, treated in some ways like "a royal heir."

I like to think of Jack as the embodiment of "the good King fallacy." It's this tempting idea that power isn't the problem (even though it is); it's just going to take the "Right, Good King" to wield that power.

//

CAS x DUTY

And Cas loves Jack, of course he does!

But it takes Cas a very long time to come to terms with the fact that he's allowed to love Jack irrespective of a mission or duty (s15 Gimme Shelter, Despair).

Cas has always been tied up with duty, and he almost tends to... convert what he cares about into missions.

(Aside// Tragically, even when Cas says "I love you" in s15 Despair, it's wielded like military strategy, with so so much pragmatism, it hurts.)

I think, on the whole, Cas flounders whenever his sense of mission stalls, or especially when he feels too weak to complete the "mission."

(SEE: Cas failing to protect his cherished human family in s12, Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets, Stuck in the Middle with You.)

And I personally think that's why the "mission" of raising Jack was so attractive to him in the first place. It was something otherworldly to "honorably" tie Cas to earth. Jack was something good and strong that would restore Cas's own sense of power/accomplishment, that would make Dean feel "relieved," and would make Sam feel "free.")

Cas eventually learns that Jack doesn't have to be cosmically important in order to be important to Cas.

///

JACK x BEING UNBURDENED & "NOT SPECIAL"

But anyway! Back to your point. Jack opens up about the need to be not special to... Dean, actually. (s14, Unhuman Nature)

This might get swept under the rug too easily. Even Cas knows that Jack opens up to Dean about the things that truly bother him; it's why we see them "switch kids" in Peace of Mind. In some ways, Sam is more like Cas; Jack is more like Dean.

But it's complicated.

Dean ends the show on his lowest note ever, and there's little grace to be found for his plight.

//

CAS x DESTINY; DEAN x REVENGE

On the back-end of s15, things have imploded.

Dean and Cas are having their respective existential crises re: revenge and destiny, and Dean's crisis is much, much harsher and uglier than we're used to seeing from him.

But that doesn't change that Dean has a long, rich history of resisting destiny. He has arguably been THE most wary member of Team Free Will when it comes to power. But in s15, Dean is having a crisis, and he gives into fatalism... for a time. (This speaks volumes about how losing Mary and losing Jack were twin wounds that damaged him more than ever before.)

It's Cas who resists Chuck the most in s15, at the beginning.

BUT, IMHO, Cas's character is overall shown to be "most okay" with Jack's intense power imbalance. (Perhaps because Cas himself is... overbalanced with respect to the human family.) Tragically, we see that continued in s15, when Cas encourages Jack to "strengthen his vessel" by eating angel hearts.

Dean balks at that, but he trusts Cas. Like Cas, Dean doesn't want to push back because he doesn't want to lose their tenuously restored family.

Effectively, when Dean and Cas discuss Jack's "destiny" in s15 Destiny's Child/Galaxy Brain, they say the SAME thing but with different motivations. Cas wants Jack to take power, and Dean wants Jack to dole out some punishment.

Their motivations are different, but the end result for Jack is the same. Cas's is draped in euphemism; Dean's is brutally honest.

And we have sympathy for that! Jack died! If he's strong, then maybe Chuck can't kill him, and they'll be spared that pain forever.

But in terminal s15, Dean goes down the same path that John, Godstiel, and NBK!Mary go... he winds up losing sight of the things he wanted to protect in the first place.

///

TFW x JACK'S POWER

But here's the rub: they all show signs of liking Jack's dominance. Not just Cas.

Sam veers into this immediately, that so long as Jack's power is "molded the right way," as he tells Donatello in s13 Rising Son, that his power can be a good thing.

We see AU Bobby do an about-face about Jack after Jack wallops the angels in War of the Worlds. He's, to quote the script, looking at Jack with starry-eyed hero worship.

And even Dean begins to chomp at the bit at the idea that Jack will be able to "end all the evil in the world." He returns to the trap of the black-and-white mentality, that things can finally be solved, invoking a Purgatory-style manner of looking at the world: "it's like shooting freaks in a barrel." (In s13 Let the Good Times Roll. Dean was looking forward to passing the torch to Jack... and to his own retirement!)

I think that TFW were all "okay" with Jack's power at different turns, and this desperation is often at odds with their idealized core values. This... tragic faith in Jack is at its heart because they love and trust him.

(A la how Chuck trusted Lucifer...)

And with respect to Jack fighting Chuck and being "allowed" to take in that power, their backs are against the wall. They feel Jack is the only option.

To quote Rowena speaking of her past as a poverty-ridden peasant, "What do you do when all the choices suck?"

///

A few last things...

CAS x TOYS

It's been pointed out by clever folks that Cas is lovingly associated with childish toys! Charitably, I think you can take these associations for Cas as stand-ins that he longs for Jack to be "normal/unburdened" too.

(I'm thinking of when Cas plays Connect Four with Jack or how we assume Cas was involved in buying Marvelous Marvin the Talking Teddy for Jack in parallel to how he bought Grumpy Cat for Claire.)

I've seen a few essays sensibly point out Cas is the one who lets them be children because he buys them toys, not weapons. This is in contrast to how Dean gives Claire a gun, and how Sam teaches her fraud.

So, with respect to your question, I think it's lovely when writers take this and highlight it for Cas, giving it wonderful implications for Cas "letting kids be kids."

On the other hand, despite giving his loved ones silly tokens of affection, what is the first way Cas spends time with Jack? Teaching him battle and military skills (s14, The Scar). A hunting trip.

So clearly, childish tokens aren't the full story.

///

CAS x MUNDANITY

There is also Cas's line in 15x18 Despair:

"We don't care about you because you're useful or because you fit into some grand design. We care about you because you're you."

This line may be charitably carried to a healing place: that Cas has made peace with throwing off the chains of destiny.

It's only natural to want this. Maybe the fandom is like Dean in some ways. We want to rely on Cas and believe in him the way that Dean does. That's Cas'll do the right thing and say the right thing... at the right time.

Cas is shown to be very impatient, and he's not what I'd call an expert communicator. It's because of this, I think, that he's prone to making sweeping gestures and grand testaments, especially when the shit has hit the fan... when it's already clutch time.

But I suspect that... in the day-to-day, Cas might struggle.

But it is nice to me as well if people want to take his good qualities and carry them further, to give him peace. :-)

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Rose Recaps Rose Tinted Glasses It's been three months since I made a post thanking this community for being a place for me to share my love of BL.

And since then, every day I feel a little bit more comfortable here.

This place is so special to me for so many reasons and the fact that I found it is a small miracle. I was talking with my friend Neely about something BL related and they told me that they think I'm doing much better since I came here. So thanks again.

I was never a part of any online fandom. And before BL I never really felt like I was missing something. Maybe because I always found someone irl that I could freak out about whatever I was watching I never really felt the need to go look.

And the people here are exceptionally kind. Before, I made a point to never engage much online, except for certain support groups, because of the hate that sometimes exists in certain spaces. So I was very much surprised by the kind humans that exist in this bl fandom in this corner of the internet.

Also. There is some serious brilliant people here. Look giffing is not easy, it takes a long time, sometimes you spend so much time with a set only to hate it by the end and never posting it. And sometimes you post something and you're really proud and crickets. And sometimes you post it just so it doesn't go to waste and all of a sudden it explodes. It's all part of the magic.

I keep my sets pretty simple so I'm in awe of how some people make these beautiful art pieces with layers and colouring and typography. It's incredible and I applaud your creativity and patience.

Speaking of brilliance, I'm constantly in awe of the meta writers. That shit is not easy.

It takes way longer than we think, to make it neat and readable, adding gifs or shots to illustrated a point, sometimes wasting so much time finding the gif you want in the mess that is the gif search (I understand it now, cause yesterday I was on the hunt and it would've been quicker to make the damn gifs), and reviewing it before posting, changing it in the process, sometimes leaving it in drafts because the idea is not completed. I'm tired just thinking about this. I'm not able to do that. Sure I can talk for hours about this stuff but actually organize my ideas into a coherent point of view and writing it down. Nope. Not me. So bravo meta writers. I applaud you.

And of course all the people that share the stuff that really matters. Like the colours, the wardrobe, the places we see, the news about what's coming, language nuances, pictures of the pretty people in sometimes ridiculous or beautiful outfits, sometimes the pretty people before shirts were invented, and some of the funniest commentary I ever encountered.

I don't wanna single people out by tagging them because truly there are way too many. So I just want to thank some people that helped me navigate this place and made this time so enjoyable. First and foremost. @twig-tea You were the first person I talked to here and you were so kind and patient with me and my awkwardness and lack of knowledge of how this place works. She also writes great meta and is brilliant and everyone should be following her. @lurkingshan because of the Sahara-Sensei post that you tagged me in and made me feel so seen. @pharawee because IFYLITA just wouldn't have been the same without your sets. @respectthepetty because she helped get the colour coded subs right and she appreciates the bokeh in all its glory. @itsallaboutbl for screaming with me in portuguese. @mikuni14 Because she's been so incredible kind to me. @iguessitsjustme because of many reasons. And If I ever reblogged anything from you, consider yourself tagged in this post. All of you are amazing. And finally...

@blmpff for a lot but mostly for the most unexpected and incredible moment I experienced in this short time. The day that a bird took over my dash. Khun Feathers was such a treat and this masterpiece was the highlight of the day.

image by @blmpff It's been a wonderful year and I look forward to see what happens tomorrow. Wishing you all a happy new year!💜

[dr-futbol-blog]

The Brotherhood, Pt. 2

So, yes. We find Acastus Kolya, let's say, having finished training. Taking his frustration out on two young half-naked men. We never learn that much about him or his personal life but I am wondering whether there was in fact a reason for why he was able to recognize that there was something special between Sheppard and McKay so quickly, how he was able to use them to get to the other so expertly. And now, he's fully consumed by his need for vengeance. He wants Sheppard, and he wants McKay as a way of getting to Sheppard. And since they're not here, he can't get to them at present, he's taking it out on these two. They are stand-ins for Sheppard and McKay.

They are that symbolically, as well, helping each other to stand when the other has been knocked down. There are several scenes in this episode where we get some meta commentary on the show:

Pranos: Does it still pain you? Kolya: Leave us.

What Sheppard did to him still causes him pain. What he did to Sheppard similarly still causes him pain, only Sheppard's pain is not physical. This is very much personal to both of them by now.

Pranos: They must be getting close to it. Kolya: Do we have any idea what "it" is yet? Pranos: We know a little more.

Make a note of the relative heights of the half-naked men.

They keep referring to closeness a lot. This is a motif in the episode. Pranos even tells him that "This is the first planet we've managed to get this close to them" which is the 6th time the word is mentioned in this episode, and it's only just starting. In the previous episode, we were shown that Sheppard and McKay are comfortable being extremely close. In this episode, the concept of closeness is textualized.

While this unnecessarily erotic scene is taking place on the Genii home world, on Atlantis Zelenka is doing some repairs. Make a note of the fact that this is something that McKay should be doing. His skill-set would be much better suited for this than playing Indiana Jones but what they are doing, trying to find the ZPM, is important enough to warrant him being on the case. In addition to closeness, the concept of touching is brought up:

Chuck: I don't know what happened. It just stopped working. I got some of the functionality back. It still isn't doing everything it used to. Zelenka: Yes, well, maybe if people stop insisting on having food and liquid in such close proximity to the ten-thousand-year-old equipment… Chuck: Hey, we're very careful. We're not the problem here. Zelenka: Yes -- What did you touch?! Chuck: Nothing! I didn't touch anything!

Not only did Chuck touch the computer, he brushes his lip before touching it, basically giving it a kiss by proxy. What is that?

All of this is setting up the finale of the A-plot for the season but, at the same time, it seems to be commenting on the subtext. They are very careful, they tell us. They (the writers) are not the reason "it" isn't doing everything it used to do (inserting a male character and a female character into situations to create UST?). They mention "deep space sensors" that have been running in the background and have suddenly been foregrounded. The reason for this is the unexpected popularity of the "'ship".

With episodic television, the scripts for the first part of the season are pretty much written by the time they start filming but while there may an overall arc for the season roughly plotted, the scripts for the latter half are only finalized when the season is already underway and there is possibility for course correction e.g., following the November Sweeps that assesses viewer (and hence, advertiser) satisfaction. Often this leads to tweaks, the very least. Sometimes to jarring changes in the middle of the season when they feel that a greater course correction is needed. Anyway, professional writers like to occasionally poke fun at their own craft:

Zelenka: From what I can tell, they've been running silently in the background along with our other primary systems. Weir: In the background? Zelenka: Yes. Weir: So why the sudden leap to the foreground? Zelenka: Excellent question. Weir: We don't have an answer for that yet, do we? Zelenka: Not as of yet, no. Weir: Okay, well. Keep me in the loop. Zelenka: You are the loop. Weir: Isn't that a nice thing to say!

Weir appreciates that someone wants to keep her in the loop as Sheppard doesn't want her prying into his loops and McKay's loops are too complicated for her to follow most of the time.

Now, while it wasn't the focus of the show when it started, the dynamic between the characters of Sheppard and McKay had resulted in the kind of magic you can't really plan for, so why not lean into it? Obviously they could never go full hog because, for one, there were actual USAF consultants involved with making the show (lampshaded in the SG-1 episode Wormhole X-Treme), and they actually won several awards for a realistic depiction of the Air Force. And yet. There is this undercurrent, this definite subtext, that very much runs along the main story that a lot of people seem to have been making happen. So why the sudden leap to the foreground, why foreground these two characters on an ensemble show? Because the interaction between Sheppard and McKay is what audiences wanted to see, how ever they interpreted the nature of their relationship. Whether they watch it for the buddy comedy, the odd couple schtick, the homoerotic subtext, for what ever reason, it was worth foregrounding. If you find something that works, you make use of it. So they do.

From here on out, there are at least two alternative ways of interpreting the subtext. The storytelling is purposefully polysemic, allowing for multiple readings. We can read the subtext as implying that Sheppard wants McKay but that this desire remains unrequited because due to regulations he is never going to act on it, and you can take this reading all the way to the final episode. Given how they constructed the relationships between O'Neill and Carter, and Jackson and Vala, this is a perfectly valid way of interpreting their interaction.

The other option is that they are, and have been for a while by this time, very much fucking (or playing "the game") and due to regulations, they are required to keep this a secret. McKay has been doing civilian contracting for the military long enough to know how this works. We saw in the alternative timeline of Moebius that he understands the need to protect servicemen of alternative sexual orientations even when he has no personal stake in it, which is very Canadian of him. And because Sheppard is military, it falls on McKay to put up a performance that is not easy for him, and that does not come to him naturally. Sheppard is the one whose character and reputation has to be protected, and it falls on McKay to make sure that it gets done. But make note of the fact that they take care to keep both options for interpreting the story open. They leave just enough ambiguity to allow the audience to insert their interpretation to events.

Here, and from hereon out, I am choosing to go with the latter interpretation because at least one of the actors actually seems to have played it that way (and has explicitly said that reading the character as gay is a valid interpretation), and because unlike most network television shows of this era, this show had an actual reason for playing it out like they did. They managed to do an awful lot with what they had, and it just makes for an overall better, more interesting story. So, anyway.

Back on Dagan, we find the whole team being briefed by Allina. Sheppard is seated at the table, and McKay is standing behind him; had apparently been reading some ancient document just standing up there like Sheppard's personal body guard or guardian like that's a normal thing to do. Also, his body isn't angled toward her or where she had been like he was just expecting her to return, it's angled toward Sheppard. Here, in the beginning, Sheppard is between McKay and this woman with the whole table between them.

The dialogue is interesting. She gives some more exposition, to which McKay and Sheppard respond as follows:

McKay: Hm. It's fascinating. Sheppard: Yes. Fascinating. McKay: Please, go on.

They exchange a look, seeming to share their level of fascination. Note the huge, thick candle placed strategically in front of McKay. She goes on, and we get this:

Allina: We think it's a map. McKay: Mm. Amazing. Sheppard: It is, actually. This looks like an Ancient numbering system. Allina: That's what we thought. From what we can tell, they're numbers three, six, and seven. McKay: Excellent work. I mean, seriously, I'm very impressed here.

Surface level reading is that McKay finds this woman attractive and thus, is being very complimentary. But that's not at all who he is. His idea of actually flirting with a woman was to call her a dumb blonde to her face. The kindest thing we've ever heard him say to a woman was to call someone who worked for him "lovely and talented" when he was in a particularly good mood and barely paying her any attention. McKay does not particularly like women and does not find it easy to respect them. He's not captivated by her.

This is McKay on his "best behaviour," as he was instructed by Sheppard on Proculus the last time they had something really important they wanted to get from the natives. These scenarios are paralleled, only the roles of McKay and Sheppard are flipped here. It wasn't entirely McKay's fault that he was unable to actually behave and display his best behaviour in a way that would have helped them get what they were looking for there, because the planet's Ancient guardian was never going to let that happen, but it does not mean that he doesn't know how to make the effort when it's required. And he seems to be making the effort here. From the briefing they had with Weir we know that he considers them severely underdeveloped and their beliefs primitive, his tone here is like he's indulging a child.

This reading is supported by Sheppard's comments. He's trying to help McKay. Clearly this woman seems to respond best to McKay, so their best bet is to use him as a liaison (or, given what happened previously and how badly he was burned, it's possible that Sheppard is all charmed out at this time and simply can't bring himself to do it). Only, McKay s not really that good at this kind of thing, it doesn't come to him as naturally as it does to Sheppard. He doesn't sound genuine in his compliments, earnest in his encouraging comments.

He says "It's fascinating" like he's commenting on a child's finger painting which is why Sheppard reinforces with "Yes, fascinating," with an apologetic smile, trying to make it sound more genuine but only managing to make it more awkward. When he says "Amazing," it sounds dismissive, like his mind is already working on some other thing. Sheppard follows this with "It is, actually," acknowledging that they might be on to something even if all of this is wrapped in the kind of hokey religion McKay normally has no patience for. So, McKay is on his best behaviour and is trying to be personable, and Sheppard is very much trying to help him be the best that he can be.

There seems to be a puzzle involving nine mystery plates, and this interests McKay. There's a problem to be solved, there's something to figure out, to occupy his mind with. Sheppard is half-listening to the exposition and idly (even dreamily) looking over some parchment while his mind is clearly half-way somewhere else, so he doesn't even notice that McKay has moved at first.

McKay walks from behind Sheppard to look at the tablets, and although his mind seems to be entirely on solving the problem and not on her, we see Sheppard's mood change. First, he's smiling to himself. And then, all of a sudden, he looks at them and seems upset.

Someone described Sheppard in this episode as being "a huge eye-rolling bitch" and to be sure, he is. But I don't necessarily think jealousy is the crux of the issue here. At least, not in the sense one would usually think (liking someone who is giving someone else attention). He is jealous, but not of her being interested in McKay, or McKay being interested in her (and certainly not because he wants her to himself, let's not even entertain this reading).

Now, let's just start with the fact that McKay is not interested in this woman. There's nothing interesting about her, she's a Renaissance historian, as in actually from a Renaissance society, meaning that he barely thinks she's evolved enough to be considered the same species as he is. There's no reason to think that Sheppard thinks that McKay is interested, either, since he knows what McKay's interest looks like (both the feigned and the genuine kind), and the man is so obviously clueless here.* Like, he barely manages to feign interest in things she says that might be relevant for finding the ZPM here. Sheppard also cannot blame someone for finding the man and his intelligence attractive, especially when he's in his element. He thinks falling for Rodney McKay is as easy as breathing.

But he doesn't have to like it. He especially doesn't have to like the fact that this woman is free to express her attraction openly and that he would be unable to make any sort of reclamation of territory even if he wanted to. If he was a civilian and woman and someone was moving in on his man, he would be free to express how he feels about that. They would be free to be around each other in a way that would prevent that from happening in the first place because everyone could just see that they are something to each other. But as it is, he will never be able to do that. It's just something he has to live with. He especially doesn't have to like the fact that McKay can just walk up and stand this close to her like it's no big deal when he has to always make sure there are inches between them that he would rather were not there. So yes, he jealous after a fashion. But most of all, he is feeling bitter.

When you're newly in love, your step is supposed to be lighter, your smile brighter. The world is supposed to be rose-coloured, you're supposed to be on the top of it, walking in the air. You've found someone important, someone who seems to like you as much as you like them, and even though there are so many, many, many reasons why you know it's a bad idea to try to forge any kind of a relationship under the conditions they are in, he has found himself a helpless moth circling the flame anyway.

John Sheppard is not young anymore, he's been through things. He's in a whole other galaxy where he was supposed to get away from the pettiness of some of their particular social conventions. And yet he's still not free to love, not like other people are. He's not free to let it show to the world, the thing that you're supposed to want to scream from the mountain tops. The feeling that is supposed to be pure and beautiful is ever tainted by the need for secrecy, the requirement to keep it hidden. It's not right. But that's the way it has to be.

But, make no mistake that McKay's act is a performance. You can tell his genuine reaction from the feigned ones when Sheppard mentions his observation about the tablets. First, this this is foreshadowing to the resolution of the episode where we see even more clearly how much McKay admires and respects Sheppard. And McKay actually pays attention to what Sheppard says.

While he has pretty much been humouring the Renaissance woman so far, as soon as Sheppard mentions that he actually finds something interesting, McKay looks up. That has meaning to him, it is of value to him. It gets his attention easily.

Allina confirms that Sheppard is on the right track, that they had figured out the same thing, only they've had much more time to come to the conclusion that Sheppard arrived at pretty much instantly. This is foreshadowing him impressing McKay with his math skills once more, later. It's interesting that it is only now that we get the first comment from McKay to Allina that seems genuine. He smiles at her and says "Excellent work. I mean, seriously, I'm very impressed here." He seems pleased. He is impressed that their Renaissance minds could arrive at a solution, and the fact that he has to underline it just confirms to us that he meant nothing he had been saying to her previously. It tells us that up until that moment he was making a performance of it.

It might be that he's able to make the compliment sound so much more genuine than the previous ones because he really, truly feels it. Just, not about her (and also, when he's seriously very impressed with Sheppard later, he doesn't have to say it, we can see it in his eyes). And even here, he seems slightly awkward about having to say it to her because McKay is more about showing than he is about telling. Note also that it's when she smiles and says "It's very kind of you, Doctor" that Sheppard rolls his eyes. McKay is many things, some them good and some of them awful, but kind is not one of them. Sheppard knows McKay; by this time he has seen the other man in many different situations, has seen him pushed to all kinds of extremes. Knows that in his heart of hearts, he's a good man. But kind he is not. Kindness is the most alien of all dispositions to McKay.

This just tells him that she doesn't even see McKay. Doesn't know who he is. Could never appreciate him the way he does. He's annoyed by the freedom she has for showing her appreciation and affection for McKay, but he's not worried for one second that she has a chance with him.

Since all the characters are looking at McKay as the smart one that's going to figure everything out it's easy to miss the fact that McKay and Sheppard actually solve the whole thing together. Sheppard makes small comments that prompt McKay to figure out the system the Brotherhood had used in hiding the stone tablets that are meant to lead them to the ZPM. But we are again reminded of the fact that Sheppard has absolute trust in McKay's abilities. As soon as he's done explaining, Sheppard is ready to execute his plan. Like, immediately.

This also tells us that he understood McKay's explanation very quickly. In fact, there's an argument to be made that he figured it out even before McKay when she first mentioned the numbers of the stones they had discovered. He's clearly mentally piecing something together there and, as a pilot, probably has much better spatial awareness than McKay and wouldn't need the map to visualize it; but letting McKay shine and impress her here serves their purpose. And so Sheppard splits them up into two teams, and they start looking for buried treasure.

Continued in Pt. 3

-* I'm also convinced that up until the moment he tells them "Woolsey wasn't the weirdest thing about that timeline" in The Seed (S05E02) that he believed McKay was a Kinsey 6. Sheppard doesn't understand that it only happened because McKay and Keller were grieving together and she was literally the only thing left in his world that reminded him of Atlantis and of Sheppard. And because he did not understand this he, through his own actions, ironically, pushes them on a trajectory in our reality where McKay ends up exploring something that seems to make him very unhappy at the end of the day.

[tadpole-apocalypse]

Looking for advice: I have a female half Wood Elf Druid Astarionmancer that I want to become more popular in the fandom. How do you get more eyes on your Tav (especially as a smaller artist)?

well, that's a really complicated question. I will try to answer with what practical advice I can reasonably offer from the perspective of a digital artist!

In regards to growing your blog as a smaller artist, i don't have an easy or fast solution. I've been on tumblr for over a decade, and i started out like most artists on here, posting my original art for 0 notes. I'm afraid its mostly just organic growth over time, more than anything else.

Popularity might not be the best expectation to have because you really can't control how other people view and interact with your work. Which might lead to frustration and chasing notes which is just a ticket to a bad time, in my experience. i treat my blog as my little diary to post my drawings and writings and silly thoughts more than anything else. I don't have particularly unique or special ocs other than I love them and like to spread them on my blog like shiny stickers. If others are enjoying it with me, then its a happy bonus!

Of course there are things you can do to try and make your artwork appealing to more people; this is something I do all the time! If I see a piece of art with a lot of notes, I like to try and pick out the elements of it that make appealing or eye catching, such as the way the artist uses color, contrast, composition, etc.

And with that info, you just...want to draw. A lot. I draw pretty much entirely in my free time when I'm not at work or playing video games. Drawing a lot will allow you to post a lot more. Posting more will naturally get more eyes on your blog, and your artwork/tav, over time.

I think the most important point I have is that fandom is a community, first and foremost. Find people making content you like (and not just artists, find gif makers, fanfic writers, lore/meta writers, blogs that just reblog content and keep it circulating, etc) and interact with them with sincerity. Show interest in what others are doing, leave comments on their creations and ask questions when they play ask games. In my experience, most people LOVE being interacted with in some way and are happy to reciprocate. We're all just playing dollies together, in the end.

Here's an actual piece of advice I can give: something that I've done in both major fandoms I've been in is give away a LOT of art. Most of my early fandom activities is just asking people to send me ocs to draw. It helps me practice my skills, challenges me to work efficiently, and the other person gets free art; if its something you can spare to do, as I know not everyone can just sit and pump out artwork they're not getting paid for.

But I've also got to meet some really cool people, and made some of my best friends on this site; some of who are now just my irl friend group. I still like to do it spontaneously for fun!

Take better care of your hands than I do!

That's all I got, I hope it was useful. 😅

[thehighfiveproject]

Round three of the Fandom Boost Bingo is ready to go! This round, Astrocat has found love and is celebrating with a Valentine Edition!

The round officially starts Wednesday, February 1. Feel free to grab the card and get going! Remember, there's no need to sign up, but if you would like us to share your card (whether you just fill one square or get a whole blackout), the due date to @ us is February 15. That's right: two whole weeks to share high fives and love across the fandom universe!

Astrocat and Aliencat would also like to encourage anyone who's interested to join them in celebrating love with a special Valentine's OTP Edition. Feel free to focus your high five efforts this month on your one true pairing -- whether that's your favorite romantic ship ever or the best gen buds that you love so much. (For the nonromantic, Aliencat wants to assure you that you can just fill out a regular card if hearts & flowers aren't of interest.)

As always, a list of definitions for each of the squares is below the cut. Don't forget to include a link to each fanwork or creator you high fived when it's time to share your card!

☆ How do I fill my card? How is each square defined?

Here’s the way we’re defining the activities associated with each card. If any of this is confusing after you read it over, send us a message and we’ll help!

- ‘leave kudos on a fic’

This is the easiest one! Just go out and find a fic you like and leave a kudos on it, if you haven’t already. It’s a small gesture but it makes an author know that someone actually read their story!

- ‘reblog/retweet an art post’

Find any art post you like and share it! Here’s the catch: you need to interact with it a little. When you reblog/retweet, please tell the creator what you thought about the piece – you can add some tags, or reply to the post, or quote-retweet or add a comment, or anything! A simple “I love this!” is nice but some details are even better (“your linework is so good!” or “that shade of blue is perfect”). One thing to think about: a lot of art on Tumblr is reposted (like when a user posts another artist’s work from Pixiv, say), so it’s nice if you make an effort to interact with posts that are actually from the creator if you can. That way the artist will see your comment!

- ‘reblog/retweet a fic post’

Same as the above, but for fic! Again, tags/replies/comments are needed, preferably with a little detail. You don’t need to be super eloquent or leave a detailed review (although if you have time/energy, that would be appreciated!); a tag as simple as “that was really cute” or “great characterization!” will do. Like with the art posts, it’s nice if you reblog directly from the writer (if you can) – some fics are posted by AO3 feed bots and the like, so the author may not even know a reblog has happened.

- ‘reblog/retweet an edit’

Same as the above, but for edits! Edits can include a gif set, or a set of screencaps, or even a fanvid. And, again, some simple tags/replies are needed. “I love that song choice!” for a vid or “great coloring!” on a gifset can let people know their work is being appreciated.

- ‘comment on a fic’

Find a fic, on any fic-hosting site you like, and leave a comment. That’s it! Again, no need to leave a novel-length comment (unless you’re inspired!) – a sentence or two is all we’re asking for this square to be considered complete. This is a great opportunity to let a writer know how their piece made you feel, or what section you particularly liked.

- ‘message a creator’

‘Creator’ here can mean anyone who makes *anything* to do with fandom: art, edits, fic, meta, knitted sweaters with character faces on them – if they’ve made anything, they’re a creator, and now’s your chance to let them know they’re appreciated. Send a message (anonymous or not!) letting them know that you enjoyed their work!

- ‘make a rec post’

This is a chance to tell your fandom friends about something they need to see. You can rec a fic, a blog, a fan event, an artist, an author, that person who knits sweaters with character faces – any kind of fandom thing that you want to make sure people see. This doesn’t have to be long or complicated, but feel free to go into as much detail as you want! Just make your own post, on Tumblr or Twitter or wherever else seems best to you, and give that thing you loved a little fanfare.

- ‘interact with a meta post’

A little love for our analytical friends! Here, you can reblog/retweet any kind of meta post for your fandom, whether it’s a three sentence headcanon or an essay-length dissection of why Character X is the absolute best character in Fandom Y. It’s even better if you respond to the meta, whether that’s agreeing or (respectfully!) adding your own thoughts, but sharing it is the main thing here.

And here’s the non-decorated version, in case you feel like making it your own. Get creative, if you want!

[thelediz]

Sonic Underground episode 17: Sonic Tonic

I’m watching Sonic Underground in search of inspiration to finish a fic I’ve been writing forever. It’s a sad state of affairs. See the recap of the first three episodes here, if you're interested!

The plot (for want of a better word): There’s an incredible serum that gives people the ability to move at speeds even faster than Sonic! Sick of Sonic’s ego, Sonia and Manic take the serum to show their brother he’s nothing special. But the side effects are quick to take hold! Can Sonic rescue his siblings and prove his ego is no match for his heart?

Okay. Okay, right off, I have to point out two things: One, again, it feels like the writers were given a brief and then split in two for this and the last episode. Magic serum, sibling rivalry, go. Two, this is the perfect example of the uneven power dynamics of the triplets on a meta-level. When Sonia or Manic screw up, they get in trouble and need rescuing. When Sonic screws up, Sonia and Manic get in trouble and need rescuing. It MUST have been some kind of Sega mandate, but WOW is so weird in context.

Anyway. It’s a wet drizzly day, I feel less than healthy, I don’t have to work, let’s queue up some episode notes. Let’s go.

Aleena opens talking about the Hanging Gardens of Mobius, and you know how I feel about them… she has not learned anything.

The fabled Velocitree. I admire the pun if nothing else.

Wait… does this mean the show is implying Sonic’s speed comes from some connection to trees? No. No, LeDiz, you’re already a problem, stop… Sonic’s relationship to Gaia and the fact I headcanon Mobius to be full of Anarchy Beryl which warps Chaos energy and my god, woman, just STOP!

So the joke here is that it’s easy to run fast but hard to stop running. Which is not quite the problem with momentum, but I can get it, and I will be VERY generous and say this was seeded in the second episode when Sonic’s training was about stopping.

Meanwhile, the Sonic Underground are actually prepping for a concert, once again reminding us that the whole band thing is something they’re actively doing off-screen. But mostly the scene is to draw attention to the fact that Sonic and his speed are annoying his siblings. Which, don’t get me wrong, his attitude is annoying. The hyperactivity is on a high today, folks, but he does actually help while being obnoxious. But then leaves before they can finish any jobs. So… swings and roundabouts. Better than most obnoxious whiners, you’ve got to give him that.

And another orange device (with eyes!) that is Certainly Not Dingo. But GASP. Dingo is fast enough to keep up with Sonic! Whatever Shall We Do?

They actually do catch Sonic this time, which is pretty impressive. And Robotnik does not screw around – he’s immediately got Sonic in the robotocisor and ready to go.

BUT Sleet finally remembers he’s a bounty hunter (which, given everything he’s seen and done with other people that are mercenary with Robotnik, is actually quite foolish of him) and starts demanding money. This lasts long enough for the Tonic to wear off, which For Reasons causes Dingo’s feet to swell up to cartoonish proportions.

Which, I mean, I can kind of see the medical theory there, with inflammation or whatever, so sure, we’ll roll with it.

But first, the siblings have come to rescue Sonic, which… does nothing, actually. Because Sonic is already getting himself out by manipulating Dingo. Because this was a trait Sonic used to have – he was kind of a smooth talker, but only in situations like this. This (thankfully) got twisted through his Japanese characterisation into more of an ability to know how to say the right thing when it really matters. But it’s still amusing to see what it used to be.

Anyway, the point is, Dingo’s feet grow, Sonic figures everything out, and gets away.

Sonia and Manic see Dingo suffering the side effects, and yet will STILL use the Tonic themselves. Sonia argues that the side effect will only affect Dingo because of his morphing, but it’s still… a dumb call.

I mean… I know they’re annoyed, and Sonic’s being a bit of a jerk this episode with the comments about how slow everyone is, but Sonia complains that he’s acting like he’s the leader which… he actually isn’t being any more of a leader than he normally is, and he’s not saying anything unreasonable. He’s actually coming across more anxious than anything – like he was in the Moby Deep episode. So while this should, in theory, be one of those episodes where Sonic has the jerk-ball, I have to say it’s coming across more like Sonia has picked up the idiot-ball instead.

Manic is just being easily swayed by his sister, which is not that unusual, so I roll with that more easily.

The Song: Fastest Thing Alive, which is Sonia and Manic singing about how they wish they were as fast as Sonic, because that would make them impressive. Which. Okay. Okay, so. I must rant about why I have always loved Sonic for a second here. It is not his speed. What I love, and have always loved about Sonic, is that he is cool. Not in the radical skater attitude, whatever, I mean classically cool. He doesn’t give a damn about what anyone thinks about him, he is going to be who he wants to be, he is going to do what’s right, he’s going to say what he thinks, he is going to help the people he thinks deserve it, he is going to be a good person by his own standards. Even back in the 90s, when he was grumpy and rough around the edges, that was the core of his character: that he was always true to himself, no matter what anyone thinks of him, and still a hero at the same time. The fact those two things could co-exist, and he could still love his friends and the whole world with all his heart? That is why I have always loved Sonic the Hedgehog.

(One day I will espouse on the wonders of Sonic and the Black Knight)

(I will hold off why I love the whole franchise for another day)

Sonic Underground does get this about Sonic’s character. He is all of those things. But the show never really explores it. They think he’s cool and a hero and all these things because he’s fast. And it’s just… it’s not. It really isn’t. Hence why I don’t really care that Tails and Knuckles and basically every character is somewhat fast in the games. I kind of wish that this episode was drawing more attention to that, instead of just kind of… fumbling with Sonic’s arrogance and his siblings’ insecurities.

Anyway. Back to the plot.

While Sonic’s been scouting, Sonia and Manic have not changed the tire, just to prove a point. And Sonic does change it in like a second, but that’s… I mean, there’s a DC parody comic that did the rounds a little while ago about how the Justice League makes Flash do the dishes every time because he’s the fastest. Same deal here, guys.

Also, by this argument, let’s forget the sibling thing and just let Sonic save Mobius on his own. Wait, no, then we wouldn't have a show. Forget that.

Ooh, I’d forgotten that Robotnik had completely destroyed the Hanging Gardens. Which I shouldn’t have, because the fact the Sonic Underground can make it grow back is a minor plot point in my headcanons. But yeah… it’s actually the tonic that makes everything grow again. Kind of maybe combined with the Undergound’s magic. Hm. Eh, the Lost Prince is still fine.

And so we end with Sonia and Sonic apologising to each other, with Sonic immediately complaining about speed for the final joke. It’s so funny.

But yeah. -General handwave-

Come back tomorrow if you're interested!

[isaackuo]

I think this season is setting up Din vs Bo and Din vs the Armorer. I wanna know why Bo Katan did not tell Din about the Mythosaur???? Like he would know the importance of it? That made me think she really wants to rule Manda’lore.

Before the season premier, a lot of us had the impression that Bo-Katan was going to be some sort of antagonist to Din at first. I'm not sure what that impression was based on, but obviously it didn't happen. At this point, I feel like Din and Grogu and Bo are joined at the hip. I don't see them having some sort of fight. I mean ... stranger things have happened in the show, so ... maybe?

Why didn't Bo-Katan tell Din about the Mythosaur? On a meta level, I think it's because the writers needed her to tell it to the Armorer to progress the story. In universe, I think it's simply that she knows Din is already psychologically burdened by the Darksaber, and she doesn't want to add to it with the possibility that the Mythosaur is a sign of his greater destiny.

Din vs the Armorer ... I can see that more. Obviously the Armorer is the leader of the cult, and her psychological hold on the cult is very strong. She demonstrated just how strong by arbitrarily ordering a special exception to transgress their most sacrosanct rule.

But!

Din Djarin has, unwittingly, started a challenge to her leadership. He is the one who has delivered the covert to a new home. This home is out in the open, where members of the cult will be exposed more to outsiders and outside ideas. This home is one surrounded by supportive and grateful outsiders, rather than lethal megafauna.

Frankly, this new home is better than the one the Armorer led the covert to.

And whether or not he chooses to do anything with it, Din is indeed the wielder of the Darksaber.

Now let's look at the fact that the Armorer personally took part in the assault to liberate Navarro. She's never gone out on a mission like that before. Logically, her skills as the only armorer are far too valuable to risk like that. But she did it anyway.

Why?

Perhaps she felt a need to directly participate in the battle for their new home? Is this actually a sign of weakness? A sign that the Armorer feels the need to assert the relevance of her leadership?

Indeed, could the political stunt she pulled with Bo-Katan's special exception be another sign that she feels the need to assert the relevance of her leadership? She could have presented her argument in public, first, before the covert made a joint decision. That's what Din and Paz did. But no. The Armorer willfully demonstrated that she has unilateral absolute power. She does not need to consult anyone, on any matter - not even breaking their most sacrosanct rule.

And everyone fell in line, including an approving Din Djarin.

Maybe the Armorer was just being paranoid, and Din was always 100% loyal. But even if so ... it's not just up to Din himself. If the members of the cult decide Din's a better leader for them, they might plead to him that they need him.

And when has Din ever rejected a plea in need?

[good-prog]

Hades: everyone and their mother told me to play this game (and they were right)

Main campaign date: 2023/11/30-12/12 Total playtime (Steam): 100.2 hours (and counting)

Been a while since I've finished a video game. I've been in more of a fiber crafting mood than a video gaming mood recently (still not done with FF6... lmao), but I spent the last month of 2023 being obsessed with Hades. (So much so that I barely logged in to FF14, and only then to raid log!) I don't think I can say much that hasn't already been said about this game, but I'll try to sum up my thoughts regardless.

Spoilers below.

This was my second roguelite; my first was Slay the Spire. (Since I've started with the "greatest hits" of the genre, I have a small worry that my future expectations will be skewed as a whole.) All facets of the game—from the combat, to the decision making for builds, to the overarching story—are enjoyable, and the game incentivizes the player to try new things in each of those areas. Each run, one of the weapons will grant bonus darkness and gemstones (meta currencies for making the player character stronger). Additionally, the "fated list of minor prophecies" incentivizes trying out every single boon at least once in exchange for meta currency rewards.

gameplay

Fairly intuitive control mapping on kb/m; could consider remapping special though (I press both Q and W with my 4th finger).

I'm bad at action video games in general (poor reaction times, tend to eat shit to boss mechanics even after understanding them), but I do enjoy the feeling of progression as I learn mob / boss movement patterns and attack rotations. I don't have to progress quickly, as long as I'm able to come up with a slightly better build, or see a new boss phase each time around.

The dash is quite generous with iframes (even without the Athena boon). As long as one doesn't attack while dashing, safety is guaranteed. It took me quite a few runs, but I finally understood this when fighting Hades with the fist weapons; without dashing through his spin attacks, uptime is quite limited. I was able to clear for the first time shortly after that (~20 hours of gameplay).

Screenshots from my first clear, when I realized that I could simply block all of Hades' attacks with the shield.

As I've been increasing heat, most of my runs have been using the rail (mostly Hestia, Eris aspects). I've had the fortune of seeing the cluster bomb + rocket bomb hammers ("clocket" build) a few times, but it doesn't show up consistently enough for me to use it as a crutch. My personal best is 25 heat; my main issue is reacting to FO2 (44% movement speed increase). I would like to eventually do 32 heat for Skelly's final statue, though!

I don't think there's anything I explicitly disliked, beyond the satyr mobs in Styx. They apply a heavy dot that needs to be cleansed by touching pools in difficult-to-reach / dangerous locations on the map. (For lower DPS builds, I had to weigh cleansing the dot vs trying to clear the room.)

meta progression/story

The player character is Zagreus, the son of Hades, who is attempting to escape the Underworld and reunite with his mother. Each attempt, he receives help from the Olympian gods in the form of boons (that modify the attack/special/cast/dash/call of his build); some friendly residents of the different biomes (Sisyphus, Eurydice, Patroclus); as well as Charon (in exchange for obols Zag picks up along the way).

I enjoyed the writers' sense of humor when it came to the characters and their interactions. I'm impressed by the amount of new (voiced!) dialogue I hear when I talk to each god, even after many runs. Shoutout to everyone's favorite tsundere (Thanatos), who warms up to Zag through the course of their interactions.

Getting to advance the story and receiving more permanent upgrades definitely made coming back to the House after a wipe more bearable (and also primed the desire to go again). Hypnos' contextual comments on cause of death were amusing, and seeing Meg and/or Thanatos was always a treat.

I enjoyed the happy ending and seeing Zag's family reunited, but also appreciated how the characters continued to work through their interpersonal issues (e.g., Dusa getting fired and then returning to the House thanks to Zagreus' intervention).

misc

Fishing in this game is simple, but difficult (for someone with poor reaction times). Once a fish bites, there's a particular interval in which the rarest fish are available; wait too long, and there's only a chance for the lower two tiers of fish. That being said, I still ended up with a Pavlovian response to the sound effect indicating an available fishing spot that plays when the room gets cleared. To my friend's chagrin, I would often stop to fish, even when racing against the clock (in game timer is paused while fishing).

Bonus: while writing this post, I realized that AGDQ was streaming Hades! Runners arcalena and trash_lapras (who are married!) did a 3 weapons race live, and even did a 2 player / 1 controller run after.

[wangxianficrecs]

Hello, hello!

We’ve noticed that there has been yet another case of a person reposting fics from AO3 to Wattpad. We’re not gonna share the link because that person has already deleted their profile.

But we feel like we must talk about this here, a blog where a lot of writers and readers converge. 

Reposting is when you cut-and-paste a work that is not your own onto a new post or an entirely different site.  (Reblogging, on the other hand, is just passing along the work under its original poster, on its original site, without any cut-and-paste.)

For the newbies:  reposting works, be they fic, art, or meta, is stealing. Simple as that. You may not mean anything by it, but reposting without the original creator's explicit authorization is stealing.

When an author chooses a specific website where they decide to share their work, you can’t simply repost on another website, whatever your logic may be. They had their own reasons to choose the website they did (specially AO3). If you want to give that fic more visibility, you make rec lists, you share the link to the original story, you make art. And if you really, really want, you can ask the author directly if you can repost their fic to another website. If they say no, that’s also final.

In this recent case, the person was not plagiarizing the fics or claiming to have written them –  they just reposted them with credit to the original author. 

They explained that they were reposting these works for them to have easier access to the fics.  That is not a good excuse!  (There is no good excuse, actually.)

You don’t need to repost fics to get easy access to those works. AO3 has many ways to facilitate your access to different fics. You can 

bookmark (with tags to make it easier for you to find)

you can mark for later

you can add fics to a collection (better to add a bookmark to a collection tho)

you can download the fic in many different formats and save them on your drive or cloud services and read even offline.

To reiterate:  When you repost a fic, you are stealing. You are stealing the engagement, the kudos, the comments, the hits the original author may get. You make authors not want to write anymore if their fics are gonna be stolen like this. And no one in fandom wants that.

Wattpad is especially difficult to deal with, and asking them to remove stolen work is hard according to some writers trying to reach them.

So please. If you didn’t know before why this was bad, now you know.

We know there are a lot of newbies in this fandom, and it can sincerely be hard to know all these unwritten rules just by osmosis.  If you have any trouble understanding the difference between reblogging and reposting works (or difficulties in understanding the difference between transformational works and plagiarism), let us know, and we’ll talk about it and try to make it more clear.  All of us have been in fandom, in various ways, for over a decade, and we have a lot of experience to share.

We don’t want more creators giving up on fandom because of either newbie mistakes or genuine bad eggs who know what they’re doing is wrong and yet do it anyway.

And for people who navigate both AO3 and Wattpad, keep an eye out, and let us know if you find more reposting or plagiarizing on Wattpad. 

~ Mods

[malewifemanhunter]

Challenge is NOW OPEN!!! 9th August to 9th September 2022

Heyyy everyone! The Always Sunny Drabble Blast Contest is now open for submissions :D

Anyone can enter, whether you’re a confident writer or you’ve never written anything before, if you’re new to sunnyblr or you’ve been here since Charlie Kelly crawled out of the floorboards. You can also submit anonymously! (just talk to one of the organizers for that~)

“BUT WHAT IS A DRABBLE” you ask?

A drabble is a VERY short fic of just 100 words (not including title, tags or authors notes). And it can be about anything you like! As long as it’s Sunny related and hits that target (give or take) then you’ve nailed it. You can even write a series of drabbles and arrange them as chapters if you want to explore your idea more, as long as they work on their own too. If you need some examples, you can find them in the collection.

“HOW WILL YOU CROWN YOUR CHAMPIONS?”

Good question! We’ll be opening a poll on September 1st for people to vote on their favourite stories, with a contest winner and runners-up, and we’re ALSO going to hand pick the winners of some very special categories. (And yes, that’s because otherwise, our beloved macdennies will swamp the votes :p)

BEST IN SHIP: The big six, babeyyy. Macdennis, Deetress, Charden, Charmac, Chardee, Charmacden. You know the drill.

BEST RAREPAIRS: Any relationship not in the above list :)

BEST TEAM-UPS and FRIENDSHIPS: Non-ship based fics

GENRE: Best fluff, humor, angst, AU, horror, smut

HAND PICKED PERFECTION: Best Scheme, Most Sunny-ish Vibes, Best Twist, Drabble We're Most Desperate For More Of, Best Drunk/High Fic, Most In Character, Best Title, BEST SINGLE LINE, Dialogue Only, Fewest Filler Words, Best Fic In A Language Other Than English, Best Freeform/Visual Design, Best Meta, Best Crack Meta…

And finally...

WASTE NOT WANT NOT: The real deal. The most prestigious title. That’s right, we’re talking about Most Obedient. This is the award for whoever writes the most submissions with exactly one. hundred. words. No more, no less. 

SOME BASICS:

Content: write whatever you like! Try to tag things appropriately, but we can help you figure that out if you want (dm or send an ask to us @malewifemanhunter @headgehug @officialbillhader or @lets-dont-this)

Where to post: Feel free to post your work on tumblr/anywhere else you like - it’s your work! just make sure you also submit it to the collection on Archive Of Our Own 3 so we can keep track of them all. And don't forget to tag sunny d blast!

Submitting anonymously: There are two ways you can do this. 1. Upload your fic to your Ao3 account, make it anonymous, then submit it to the collection, or 2. Send it to one of us (@malewifemanhunter @headgehug @lets-dont-this @officialbillhader) on anon and we will post it for you (although it may mess up your formatting a little to do it this way). 

But what if I dont know what to write?!: Do not worry - as well as having beta readers available we’ve also got this list of prompts! No need to stick with these (seriously, write what you wanna), but If you wanna write and the creative juices just aren’t flowing, you can take your pick from this list and just go to town

PROMPTS TO HELP YOU GET STARTED:

moments when Dennis kissed Mac on the forehead, Mac and charlie have a bike race, Dennis and Charlie sing together while high, Charlie takes care of a sick Dee, the gang tries to catch a turkey for Thanksgiving, Mac and Dee want the same man, Charlie and Mac almost set fire to Mac and Dennis’s apartment while cooking, the twins (children) hate each other but they still spend their birthday together because being together with someone you hate is better than being alone, Frank swindles a street vendor and gets food for everyone in the gang, water fight turned erotic. You can take these as they are, or play around with them a bit, whatever floats your boat~

ADVICE:

Don't forget you have a title! With only 100 words it can really help to set the scene or the tone of your fic. And make sure you tag the fic. If you don't know how, or have any other questions, just ask one of the organizers!

GOOD LUCK!

[matan4il]

I am for the first time re-watching the whole show before the season and it's honestly crazy how much everything Buck and Eddie hits after season 5. But curious if I missed any more things in regards to how they tried to set up Eddie and Anna because there are 2 things screaming at me.

One Buck gets guessing Eddie's name wrong. Anna gets it right the first time. Yet perfect Anna wasn't for Eddie.

Two Anna is a math genius and we get multiple jokes about Buck being terrible at math. Again no perfect Anna for Eddie.

And three in a round about way we have this perfect version of Anna making the (BTW the most uninspiring boring food) huge amounts of muffins, cakes and salads with Christopher. Yet Eddie's your a miracle worker moment with Buck comes when Buck tells Chris a cautionary tale about food safety.

It's like the writers were really challenging the Jinx episode vibe of the universe is screaming at you Eddie. You have a beautiful quirky family that is life goals in front of you.

Was just curious if I missed any other parallels of Anna vs Buck that were less obvious because they really were there all along

Hi Nonnie! Thank you for this ask.

I agree a lot with this. I believe that in all the meta I've written for Buddie, I probably referred time and again to how Ana is meant to seem on paper like she's a perfect fit for Eddie, and yet at the end of the day, she's not who he wants. And she always ends up coming short when compared to Buck.

I think the biggest of these comparison points is how Ana is a teacher who works at a school for kids with special needs, so she seems like the ideal co-parent for a single dad raising a child who has special needs. Yet, who is Eddie's actual co-parent? It's Buck. Who actually gets Christopher's needs and helps Eddie fulfill them in 312 (unlike Ana's advice to cease and desist after one failure, when the attempt was unsupervised and without anything adaptive being used)? All Buck. He encourages Eddie to help Chris fulfill his dreams even when they seem impossible with that baseball tale, and then he literally helps make it happen by helping to construct the adaptive skater for Chris. And if Buck's look at the end of the scene where Eddie and he were discussing the skater incident over beers is anything to go by, or how depleted Eddie still looked at that point, I bet it was also Buck who actually did the online search, found out about the skater, and discovered how they can get the instructions to build it. Tell me that doesn't just scream Buck!

And that's reinforced when in 514, we once again see that Buck's way of helping Eddie also takes Christopher's special needs into account, when he makes sure to take their kid along for the visit at the horse ranch, where Chris gets to engage in some horse riding therapy. Buck didn't have to! He could have found another excuse to bring Eddie there. But no, Buck is fully Christopher's other parent, and time and again he has proven he’s a co-parent who understands this kid's special needs better than a woman whose job it actually is.

And then we also have Christopher's reaction to these people. He seems to really love Ana, he embraces her in 408, when he discovers that she’s the woman his father is dating. But when he's distraught in 510, do we see him asking for Ana, who had just recently departed from their lives? Do we see any indication that he misses her past her break up with Eddie in 503? No. But we know from what Eddie said in 305 that when Buck couldn't talk to the team because of the lawsuit, Chris was missing him. And in 513, when Christopher is scared for Eddie, he doesn’t call his dad’s most recent partner, supposedly the person who would know best what’s wrong with Eddie, he calls Buck. That’s his other dad. That’s his safe person. That’s Eddie’s partner who can be trusted to figure out what’s wrong with him and help fix it.

Which is exactly what Buck does! Meanwhile, even when Ana did become aware that there was something wrong between her and Eddie, as her words indicate in 503, she just ignored it instead of doing anything to figure out what was wrong and check whether it could be fixed together. Whether it was the relationship itself, or something Eddie was going through that was affecting it, she doesn’t try to find out. Even though on the surface, she seemed like an intelligent, giving and caring woman, who would make a good romantic partner. No, it’s Buck who’s checking up on Eddie in 502, realizes something is wrong, insists on finding out what it is, helps with resolving what needs to be done, and as it turns out, what Eddie had to do was break up with Ana. That Buck being Eddie’s true partner is what leads to the break up is truly insanity of the most romantic variety. Or romance of the most insane variety, I can no longer tell.

Nonnie, please let me know if this reply is what you were hoping for! I’m wishing you the loveliest of days! xoxox

(If you're looking for my ask replies, here is my ask tag! xoxox)

[sterlingarcher23]

-What happened to Max Mayfield?-

Even without the official script one has to point out something very important, a common misconception and the fact that the audience needs to pay more attention.

Max was not absorbed by Henry. That has been made clear on screen: Not only interrupts El the ritual but Henry’s physical body was then attacked by Nancy, Steve and Robin in the upside-down.

The death scene exists not just for shock value but to show the audience that Max is herself. Her mind can after her death not been taken as well. To do so, Henry needs the connection to the Upside-Down network and the victim to be alive.

It is the death of the victim that triggers the portals to open at the spot of the death (to read up also on the Fandom Wiki page).

Secondly, Henry cannot control Max. He did not plan on doing so. He wanted to destroy Max in front of El to take revenge and then kill El. That's why he was so hellbent to get Max and didn't have a substitute victim in case something goes wrong.

Additionally he would have had a better security around his physical body and we know that his plan didn't go as he wanted because Will told us that he is hurt and angry. As usual his plan failed at least in parts and he's now making a new one.

He could not anticipate that El would revive Max. And he wanted to kill El right after he killed Max.

His “You’ve already lost.” he says only because he knew that he inflicted enough harm on Max that she would have a heart attack.

Note that the script for this is officially labeled what El does as revival/reviving on the official Stranger Things Writers twitter account. Henry did not plan that Max would survive. Why should he? And it was not shown on screen or implied in any way.

El's reply is almost a meta dialog, telling the audience that what he did sealed his own downfall.

His plans are in fact generally shortsighted and do not show a higher level of intelligence.

Anything else is defying logic and is a bold claim that does not have any basis in the actual facts whatsoever. It would also be (another) remix of Season 2 with Will being possessed by the Mind Flayer. The Duffers already used this before and wont repeat it, especially because the parallels between Will and Max are actually mirrors.

But what happened with Max? El revived her via the Void, So far the script and the actual episode confirm.

However the script (although the description wasn't used probably because of spoilers in the Episode) , Max posters, the use of rainbows in regards to Max (and the Neverending Story song) and El accidentally entering the skateboard park memory give the reader a clue what else happened:

The same what happened to Henry - El transported Max but only her mind into another dimension.

Just needed to point this out before going further.

And that she can't feel or see anything has nothing to do with injury but with the fact that Dr Brenner states that "One consumes memories and abilities". Vecna stole two of her sensory abilities, similar to what Amon does in Legend of Korra by using a special form of Bloodbending. - Legend of Korra?

The writers tweeted about it in 2019 and there are a lot of similarities from visuals to content that say: that part of the story, Elmax and what's to come in S5 is inspired by Legend of Korra.

This text is partly from my Elmax DOC that I am currently writing btw.