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national-nobody-writes · 4 years ago

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2020 Creator Wrap

2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite Works

I was tagged by the oh so talented @irolltwenties!

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

I’m not a particularly prolific writer (WIPs for days, but completed projects? Not so much). Somehow in this hell year though, I did manage to complete more fics than in any previous year for a total of seven new works (~49k words, all on ao3), plus a chunky chap of a long running WIP (~20k words) so I’m actually pretty damn proud of myself! I also made some new fandom friends in 2020 which has easily been one of the biggest delights of the year & has definitely helped my creative momentum, so ty all for that. <3

Counting down from 5, here are my favs:

5. Downtime

I have endless love for JayRoy and it felt so good to finally finish something for them for once this year! All of my past WIPs primarily focused on them ended up firmly in my graveyard folder, including the fic that this one shot was originally meant to be connected to. I liked the way this turned out well enough to clean it up and post it on its own though, so at least now I can say that I have something published for them at last.

(Also it got me back into the JayRoy headspace enough to outline a whole YJ/Earth16 JayRoy fic that I’m excited to start drafting in 2021, so we’ll see where that goes...)

2.3k NSFW; A mix of playful sweet and roughness, just like them.

4. Mirror Image

Bluepulse Week really saved me this year in terms of forcing me to just write, damn it! Did I finish all the prompts this year? Nope. Did it get me to complete a handful of fics that I ended up really loving? Yes. This was one of them.

This fic zoomed into existence entirely out of necessity as an alt idea to a prompt that I had a much longer idea for, but didn’t have time to complete. It then got a positive enough reception that I decided to turn it from a crack-adjacent, passable one-shot to a slightly more developed two-shot by request of one of my commenters. Really, it was writing that second chapter that ended up endearing the fic to me.

6.3k Humor, time travel shenanigans & accidental dating. This fic is the sweetness of teenage crushes, the confusing mess of discovering your sexuality, & laughter with your best friend.

3. Soft Wesper One Shots

Would you look at that, another nsfw piece. Could it be that I’m starting to get to the point where I can look back at completed nsfw fics without cringing terribly? Love that for me.

This fic took me by surprise, tbh. I wouldn’t consider myself a part of the grisaverse fandom (I’m utterly ambivalent toward the OG trilogy & have no plans to read them), but I did fall deeply in love with the whole Six of Crows gang earlier this year to the point of having quite the book hangover afterward, unable to pick up anything else except related fanfic for a couple weeks straight. These fluffy, nsfw scenes were born out of that, and I was pleasantly surprised to see such a positive response to them in the comments. The whole SoC gang has my heart, but the dynamic between Jesper and Wylan in particular got my writing fingers itching.

3.7k Domestic, post-canon fluff & tender sex with flirty Jesper & blushing Wylan abound.

2. Stick With Me

Ohh, I still get warm fuzzies thinking about this fic! If I’m only low-key proud of the first three on this list, this is one I’m legitimately very proud of. I had this idea on the docket already from a convo with @ivyxwrites early this year (or maybe last year? who knows, time means nothing anymore) but used Bluepulse Week as the excuse to finally get started, and I ended up adoring the process of writing it far more than I anticipated.

As much as I love planning out meticulously crafted, plotty stories, sometimes all you want to do is pick some well-loved tropes out of a hat instead and run with them (in this case: stuck in a cabin, only one bed, & heated argument leading to confession). It was freeing to just mess around and have fun with this fic, knowing pretty much right from the get-go how I wanted it to unfold and seeing it so vividly in my mind. It also probably helped that I was writing it for Ivy; it’s much easier for me to stay motivated when creating directly for my friends.

Finishing this was also such a serotonin-filled burst of pure victory for me since, as previously stated, I’m terrible at finishing projects--particularly multi-chap fics, particularly within a decent timeframe.

25.5k A showcase of the essence of what I love about the best friends-to-lovers dynamic. Part character study, part wires getting crossed & uncrossed, and whole idiots to lovers. This fic is the warmth in the pit of your stomach from a yearning made real & the sudden clarity of realizing what you were looking for had already been there all along.

1. The Rest Pt 1: Delicate (Remember Me Chap 4)

Oh, Remember Me. Of everything I’ve ever written, this story remains the one I’m most proud of and certainly the closest to my heart (not to mention the longest running, whoops). The first iteration of the beginning of this story was actually drafted back in 2017, but I walked away from it for a couple of years before deciding to dust it off and try again. It has spiraled into something far bigger in scope than I originally planned for, but I’ve come to love the path it’s led me down so far, and finishing this whopping 20k chunkster of a chapter was like breathing a huge (if temporary) sigh of relief.

This chap was particularly cathartic to write because it allowed for a number of convos between the boys that had really needed to happen, and was finally the ‘getting together’ moment the fic had been building toward for a while. It’s also so sappy I could die, but I will not be apologizing for that, lol. I was really hoping to get Chap 5 up this year as well, but y’know. Sometimes things just don’t work out like you plan for and that’s okay.

Chap 5 does have 17k done already (with prob another 5-8k still to go) & I’m itching to share it, but no sense in rushing if the end result would suffer for it. Luckily, everyone in comments has been kind enough to beat me over the head with ‘take your time, we don’t mind/we’ll still be here!!!’ which I’m immensely grateful for. So, at least the pressure to hurry up and get it done is purely self-inflicted.

Of all my works, this fic has not only gotten the most passionate responses, but has also been the main gateway for me to interact with other bluepulse creators, which has been a real joy. Nothing brightens my day like the essays people leave me over there from time to time after discovering the fic. That kind of engagement is the highest praise, & responding is very self indulgent fun for me (bc, clearly, I could go on and on about this fic & YJ in general forever).

54.8k total so far (WIP). Bart & Jaime’s relationship journey from beginning to ‘current day’ (aka the moment the fic begins), using amnesia/memory restoration as a framing device. The high highs and low lows of first love, navigating a 3 yr age difference, and the long, winding road from best friends to lovers as the years roll on. Slow-burn-adjacent (in terms of both the boys’ relationship to each other and reader’s relationship to the fic bc of how long I take between goddamn updates).

Tagging @ivyxwrites, @incorrectbatfam, @paintingwithdarkness, @bluepulsebluepulse

#writing #fanfic #dc #young justice #bluepulse #jayroy #wesper

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pebblysand · 4 years ago

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[writing rant - on the monetisation of fanfiction]

a couple of months ago, when i updated my long fic, one of the people on the comments wrote to me the nicest possible review (one of the ones that you keep in your feel-good 'saved' emails - you know the ones), which, amongst other things also said: 'If I could pay you for this...believe me, I would.'

in the moment, i kind of smiled and laughed, and thanked the person for their kind words before moving on with my life. yet, since then, i have to admit that this sentence has kind of been living rent-free in my head. i think it is also because since diving back into fandom a few months ago, i've noticed something that kind of shocked me at first: more and more fanfiction writers seem to be monetising (or attempting to monetise) their craft.

now, back when i started writing fanfic, we wrote fanfic on ffnet and livejournal. it was accepted that thou shalt never (ever) charge money for your writing or else the author and their mean, angry lawyers will come after you for damages and you will die a slow and painful death. we wrote disclaimers at the start of all of our posts and thanked the gods every day when we did not get sued.

i have seen this change gradually over the years. first, in the mid 2010s, the disclaimers went. then, i noticed that people were getting 'tipped' for fanart, sometimes even charging commission. from what i understand (though, don't quote me on this, i'm not an ip lawyer and this post is not intended as legal advice), this is because the way the concept of fair use is framed under us law makes it easier to monetise fanart than it does fanfiction. maybe this is why visual artists came first on this trend. later still (and more recently) i've noticed fanfic writers, doing the same thing.

to be fully honest, the first thought i had when i saw this trend, considering the fear of god (and his lawyers) that was instilled in me in the past, was: how on earth is this even possible? (i'll come back to that in a bit). the second, though, was: fuck, i wish i had the guts to do that, lol.

because, yeah, i will admit, the idea of getting paid for writing what i love to write does appeal, to a certain extent. i won't lie. dear fanfiction writers who've tried to do that recently: i one hundred per cent get it.

looking back at the last fifteen years, i would say that for me, writing fanfiction has been (in terms of time commitment and energy consumed) the equivalent of having an on-and-off part time job. a job that i have held for one or two years at a time, then quit for a while, before coming back to it when i needed (wanted) it again. i obviously can't realistically give you a number re:the actual total of hours i have spent at this since i started out, but i can give you an idea. recently, i started clocking my hours out of interest and calculated that a chapter of my current long fic takes roughly between one hundred to two hundred hours to produce (and they're around 10,000 words). at that rate, i'm probably working 20 hours a week-ish? sometimes more, sometimes less? something as small as a three-sentence fic (like this for instance), takes roughly two/three hours. i'll be honest, i have cancelled plans to write fic. when i'm working on a long project, i do tend to organise my life to give myself the time to write, so i opt for socialising after work during the week rather than on weekends, as i've found this is when i write best. i won't lie: it is - for me (i know some people write quicker, bless them) - a huge time suck.

so, yeah, i understand, in the capitalist society we live in, wanting to make that time count. our world has unfortunately, repeatedly taught us that time is money and getting more does seem like a nice bonus (as long as you have an audience for your art that's willing to pay, obviously). after all, year after year, i've seen a lot of my friends try and monetise their passions as side hustles, with varying success. at first, glance, i look at the time i spend on writing fanfiction and think: man, i wish i could get a bit back from that too. i couldn't even draw a stick figure to save my life but i assume that the time commitment and energy put into that kind of work is roughly similar for visual fanartists as well. i thus very much understand the sentiment, both with fanart and fanfiction.

additionally, though i appreciate this is a bit tangential, the fact that fanfiction is free, i would argue, hinders its potential to be as representative as it could be. it's a bit sad because on the one hand, the fact that it is free makes it completely accessible to the masses but on the other, it makes fanfiction quite exclusive to rich, privileged people who can afford to spend the time and energy putting content out for free. if i spend this much time writing fanfiction, just because i like it and it makes me happy, it's because my full time job pays me enough to cover my bills. if it didn't, i probably would have to forgo writing and get a proper side gig. if you look at my periods of inactivity on ao3, those also kind of coincide with the times in my life when i had to have more things going on to put food on the table.

so, now, assuming that monetisation is a thing that, as a fic writer, one might want to look at, the next question is: how do you go about monetising it? obviously, the law hasn't changed since the days where we were all terrified of getting sued (although enforcement has been quite lax over the years) so it's more about finding workarounds around the law as it is, rather than actively seeking payment for fanart.

from what i've seen: two main solutions seem to exist.

first, there's the tipping/buy-me-coffee technique. as i understand it, this involves either setting up a page on one of the dedicated websites or just putting up your paypal account link on your tumblr posts. with these links, people can then send you however much money they want (however much money they can afford/think you deserve?) on a one-off basis. they're not actually paying for fanfic because there is no actual exchange of services, it's basically like them giving money to charity, except that charity is a fanfic writer/ fan artist whose work they enjoy.

there are two main issues i see with this: one, legally, i'm not sure how much ground this actually holds. assuming you're quite prolific/successful, if every time you're producing new content, you receive dozens of tips, although you're not actively charging for your fanart, making the argument that your content isn't what these people are actively paying for seems hard. imo, the fact that this method sort of holds is that realistically, you're going to make very little out of this. even if you're really good, you might make what? a couple hundred dollars. now, sure, that's a lot of money for a lot of people but in the grand scheme of things, no one sues anyone for such a low amount. as long as you're not making 'proper' money from it, it is highly unlikely that anyone would come after you.

this being said, the second issue, from my perspective, is that this is not in any way, shape or form, a reliable income. it also does not represent, at all, the cost of the time and investment actually put into said fanfiction (or fanart, i assume). for example: if you're going to tip someone who's worked on something for, say, fifty hours, ten dollars, that's very good of you, but that isn't going to be 'worth' their time. it is only worth their time if tipping is done at as scale, which imo is quite unlikely considering you're putting your content out for free anyway. there are kind souls who will tip you, but not that many, meaning that ultimately, you're not working for free anymore, but you're still working at a huge loss.

additionally, because this income is not even reliable on a monthly/weekly basis, it isn't something that anyone can actually rely on, even if only to fund their coffee habit. it's nice to have, don't get me wrong, but from my perspective, is the legal risk outlined above worth the trouble for the $20/30 tips i'd get every once in a while - not really. such low amounts also don't help diminish the class issue that i talked about earlier. again, if you're going to spend fifty hours on something, you might as well work a minimum wage job - even that will pay you more and will be dependable.

second, there's patreon (and patreon-like sites). here, the income is monthly, people pledge on a subscription basis, which does solve the last point above. it might not be much, but at least it's regular.

the main issue i see with patreon is that it is contingent on the author providing more services on top of what they already provide. in most cases, the author will keep putting their usual content out for free + provide their patreons (depending on tiers) with more content, specifically for them. this, to me, makes this scheme even less appealing than the previous one because a) if i can't provide fanfic to potential patreons (again, you can't sell fanfic), i'm not sure what on earth i could give them (original content? that's not really the same market) and b) that's even more work on my plate. honestly, considering the amount of time i already spend writing fanfic, i have neither the energy nor the willpower to provide extra content for an amount that, regardless, will probably pay me less than a part-time job would. again, you'd have to scale this (i.e. have enough patreons) to make it all worth your while, and even in very big fandoms, even for someone waaaaay more successful than me, i doubt it would be likely.

lastly, as a side note, both of these "methods" are solely accepted if they occur on tumblr/writer's own website, rather than on the writer's ao3 page/fic. there was a post going around explaining why that is (nutshell: it endangers ao3's status as a non-profit archive) but as with all things, i seem to have lost it. [if you do have the link to that post/know what i'm talking about, hit me up and i'll rectify this]. this, regardless, supposes driving traffic from wherever you post your fics towards tumblr/your own website which, again, decreases your chances of scaling this.

so, in the end, where does that leave us?

i think, at this point, we've kind of reached a crossroad. ultimately, i see two ways to look at this:

option one: if you believe that fanfiction writers should be paid for their art, you also probably agree that the methods outlined above, while they do offer some sort of solution, are less than ideal. the ideal solution (for this option) would obviously be to allow fanfiction authors to be properly paid for the publication of their work through 'normal' publishing/self-publishing deals, without the need for a licence from the author (bar - perhaps - the payment of royalties). that would create a proper 'market' for fanfiction, treating it as any other form of writing/art form. it would mean a complete overhaul of the laws currently in place, but why not? ultimately, in a democracy, laws are meant to be changeable.

this being said, though, while my personal knee jerk reaction would be to shout 'hurray!' at this solution, i do not actually think i want this. or, maybe, only part of me does. the part of me who has been writing fanfiction for free for fifteen years is like 'hey, yay, maybe i could get paid!'. but then, there is another part of me that would like, maybe, one day, to write more original fiction (i already do a bit, but not much). that part of me is feels frankly a bit icky about giving up her ip rights.

would i be comfortable with people writing fanfiction of my original work? hell yes. that would be the dream. imagine having your own ao3 fandom, omg. however, would i be comfortable with people profiting from writing fanfiction of my work? honestly, i'm not sure. to me, the answer to that is: it depends (how much time investment was put in? how original the concept is? etc.) which, in fact, kind of brings us back to the current concept of licensing. and yes, maybe the current frame imposed by copyright law has also shaped the way i view the concept of property, and maybe i should be more of a communist, free-for-all kind of person, but unfortunately, i'm not that revolutionary.

also, and slightly tangentially, i find it interesting how profiting from fanficition/fanart is seen as more acceptable i certain fandoms rather than in others. taking the hp fandom for instance, even prior to jkr expressing her views on transgender rights, i often read things like: 'ah, she's so rich anyway, she doesn't need the money.' now, that argument has not only gained traction but is also reinforced by: 'ah, she's the devil and i don't want to fund her. it'd rather give my money to fanfic authors/buy things on etsy.'

while i completely understand the sentiment and do not, in any way, shape or form, support jkr's views, i do find that argument quite problematic. if you set the precedent that because someone is too rich, or because they've expressed views you disagree with, you don't believe that they should be entitled to their own intellectual property rights, i do wonder: where does this stop? this being justified for jkr could lead to all sorts of small artists seeing other people stealing/profiting from their original work without authorisation. 'i don't pay you 'cause i disagree with you,' would then act as a justification, with i find highly unfair. the fact of the matter is: jkr created hp. knowing that, the choice of buying hp products, regardless of her opinions is completely and entirely yours, but buying the same stuff unlicensed, from people who are infringing on her copyrights seems, to me, very problematic as this could potentially be scaled to all artists. either we overhaul the entire copyright system or we don't, but making special cases is dangerous, in my humble opinion.

option two: we choose to preserve copyright law as it is, for the reasons outlined above. this means that most people will not get paid for the content they put out and that the few that do will operate on a very tight, legal rope, and work for tips that are a 'nice bonus' but not a proper pay. this sort of perpetuates the idea that fanfiction is 'less than' other art forms, because in our capitalist society, things that don't generate money (things often made by women, may i add) are not seen as being as valuable as things that do.

for me, personally, while getting paid to write fanfiction sounds lovely (and makes my bank account purr) in theory, i think i side to preserve the current system. as an artist, i think that intellectual property protects us and our concepts from being ripped off by others, including by big companies who might find it handy to steal a design, a quote, anything, without proper remuneration. this is even more important for smaller artists who wouldn't necessarily have the means to defend their craft otherwise.

this being said, i do appreciate that it depends on why you're writing fanfiction. i think that topic probably deserves a whole different post in its own right but ultimately, most people write fanfic because it's fun. we know it's for fun, and not for profit. and if that's the case, then we're okay to receive compliments, reblogs and sometimes, for some people a little bit of an awkward tip for our work. for me, fanfic has been a space to make friends, to get feedback, to learn and to experiment without the pressure of money being involved. that's why i don't particularly mind doing it for free, and wouldn't even bother setting up a patreon or tip-me jar. i love being able to do it just for the enjoyment of myself and my five followers (lol), without worrying about scaling it, or making it profitable. not every part of our lives, not every passion has to be profitable. as we say in ireland, you do it 'for the craic' and nothing else.

this, though, as i already said, also depends on your means and level of privilege. to me, writing for free is fantastic and a bloody relief - it means being able to do exactly what i want. original fiction writing is full of rules, and editors, and publishers. in fanfic, i can write whatever i feel like, and i'm willing to forgo a salary in exchange of that freedom. again, i have a full time job that covers my bills. this does mean, though, that i don't have as much time to dedicate to writing as i would like to.

and also, the thing is: i'm a small author. i happily write in my own little niche. bar that one comment, it is highly unlikely that anyone would actually want to pay me (or even tip me) for my content. but when you look at very successful people, like the author of all the young dudes, i could see how they'd want to get paid for their art, and why they'd feel differently.

bottom line for me is: the flaws of the current systems of remuneration combined with my strong belief in copyright law as a means to protect small, original creators, means that i don't really think it would be right for me to get paid for fanfic, even if i was the kind of person who had the market for it. whilst it would be nice, this very long rant has, hopefully, explained why.

#fanfiction #writing #archive of our own #monetisation of fanfiction #fanfiction theory #this post is waaaay too long and the author regrets everything #pebblysand rants

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sabineelectricheart · 4 years ago

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Duchess Fraldarius

Summary: In Spring, Imperial Year 1181, Mercedes von Martritz finally wed.

Rating: R - Content features heavy themes. Not suitable for most audiences. Consult warnings before proceeding.

Graphic depictions of rape, domestic abuse and confinement. Reader discretion is highly advised.

Words: 2700

Notes: Due to absolutely no-one’s request, I am proud to present another disturbingly dark fanfic. Usually, I only put out MC fics, but this one does not fit Byleth at all, but it is perfectly befitting Mercedes’ card if she does not return to the monastery in 1185.

Margrave Gautier would much more befitting for the role of abusive husband, but I have already done one about his sick tendencies and I am to understand he is still wed. So Rodrigue it is.

Remember, you were warned.

The snow falls steadily out the window. There is grave silence in the grounds, the people out that grand, ornate, thick double doors are hungry, tired and worried for their future, but none of it ever came inside. Inside, there was no cold, no darkness and no want. Only happiness and tranquillity.

Mercedes, Duchess Fraldarius, is sprawled out on the plush mattress of the Castle’s master bedroom donning a thin, silk sleeping dress, one of the many she kept on the trunk by the foot of the bed. She wore little else, other than a pair of shoes and stockings, for meals.

In Spring, Imperial Year 1181, her stepfather finally settled on a marriage contract with a nobleman. Rodrigue, Duke Fraldarius, who was in dire need of gold to fund the resistance effort against the Empire, once the Kingdom fell. Her stepfather wanted to buy himself some nobility, and so the deal was closed.

“Daddy.” The blonde cleric whines, pouting at the man before her.

He had undressed her, kissed along her neck, and commanded she get on the bed, leaving her incredibly turned on. Now, Rodrigue stands at the foot of the bed, slowly folding up his sleeves, not touching her. He is not even looking at her, and that just will not do.

Her husband has been married before. Mercedes remembers, very faintly, Ingrid commenting that, despite being a regular fixture at Castle Fraldarius, she had never met her mother-in-law, even before her untimely death, six or so years ago, before Glenn’s passing. The first wife was kept just like the second, she concludes, it is just her husband’s way of life.

No-one, other than her husband, her stepfather and Margrave Gautier, knows she is here. Sometimes she hears Felix’s voice, sees his teal hair running on the grounds, but he does not come to visit her. No letters arrive, either. It was disturbing at first, but now she finds comforting.

“Daddy!” Mercedes repeats, giving a displeased kick of her feet.

She sees the beginnings of an amused smile tugging at his lips, the soft yet wicked turn of his facial hair, but he quells it, and instead looks at she with a raised brow.

“What is it, sweet pea?” Rodrigue asks with a chilling tone.

“I am waiting!” She grouses, narrowing her eyes slightly.

At that, he lets his amusement show clear on his face.

“You must be mistaken, dear. Waiting implies the presence of patience, and I do not believe you to be very patient.” He teases, finally putting his now exposed forearms down at his side.

She only whines, squirming on the bed. She rubs her thighs together as she gives Rodrigue her most pleading look.

“Oh darling.” His taunting voice only fuels her arousal. “Very well, I will give she attention. Since you are very clearly desperate for it.”

Their marriage is barren, and will remain so. Rodrigue himself brings her contraceptive herbs and charms. War or no war, estranged or not, Felix is his heir, and he is not about to have his House thrown apart by conflicts between half-siblings, like so many others all around Fódlan had. It was hard enough keeping his own brother’s prolific family at bay.

The Duke glances down at the apex of her thighs. “Take off your smallclothes for me.”

Though the command is gentle, Mercedes rushes to comply, lifting her hips so she can pull her underwear off under her skirt. She bends her knees, removing them completely, and toss them to the floor beside her.

“Good girl.” He praises, feeling his tights become too small for his virile, deviant manhood. “Spread your legs, let me see how aroused you are.”

The church girl side of hers takes over for a moment and the blonde blushes at that, suddenly feeling shy. She rubs her thighs together once more, looking down at her husband bashfully. He tuts.

“Do not get shy on me now, precious. Let me see that sweet pussy.” His posh accent, the finest High Imperial language, the likes of which spoken at the courts, but rarely at the church and never at home.

Perhaps it is a sick memory of Baron Bartels, that blond, cold man’s domineering presence and strong jaws, a combination of beautiful and terrifying that confounded and charmed many a maiden in Adrestia. Perhaps it is her admiration of Ferdinand and Lorenz from her times as a student, that sincere but entitled kindness, born not out of a public spirit but of an instinct to reinforce a social order that privileged them. Be as it may, that proper speech has her sex pulsing, drives her to comply with the wildest things. The woman draws her legs apart slowly, biting her lip in embarrassment. She is sure he can see her folds glistening with the evidence of her arousal.

He hums.

Is it wrong? Is it sick? Mercedes does not know anymore, but in any case, there is no escape from this castle. There was no more Church of Seiros or Holy Kingdom of Faerghus to grant her a divorce, and even if it were, she would not be able to reach Galatea on foot, trekking through forests and mountains. She escaped an abusive marriage once before, she does not have the strength to escape another.

She does well if she convinces herself she is happy in here. Where she is fed and protected.

“There she is.” Rodrigue steps closer until his thighs make contact with the mattress, eyes glued between her legs. “My little girl. Are you eager for daddy, dearest?”

Mercedes nods, expectantly.

“Look at that, you are dripping.” He murmurs.

She whimpers needily, and at the same time she draws her legs together, feeling exposed under his intense gaze. He grabs her ankles, yanking them apart.

“Keep them open!” He growls his order, looking at her sternly.

She nods, giving another pitiful whimper, lest she angers her husband.

The Duke brings a finger up, sliding it teasingly through her folds. The blonde lets out a breathy moan at the contact, angling her hips to invite him to touch her some more.

“So responsive.” He repeats his ministration and she squirms, careful to keep her legs spread as he had instructed.

Finally, after a couple slower drags, the nobleman’s long, calloused finger, bearing his signet ring, stops at her entrance. He eases it into her tight heat, and the cleric moans at the sensation, head falling back. Below her, she hears her husband inhale sharply.

“You are so tight for me darling.” Rodrigue brings his free hand up to rest on the base of her stomach.

He holds her down as he begins pumping his finger in and out of her, pace torturously slow. Mercedes whines, attempts to buck under the firm pressure of his hand failing. She tries to wait patiently for him to speed up, but he seems to have no problem taking it slow.

She, however, have a great problem with that, and decide to let him know.

Mercedes weighs she is rather happy with the situation. Her whole life had been about caring for others. She cared for Emile under the Bartels, she cared for her mother when they ran away, she cared for her stepfather in Fhirdiad, she cared for the students at the Sorcery School, and she cared for Annette at the Officers’ Academy. In Fraldarius, she is cared for, she does not have to lift a finger or concern herself with anybody.

It was freeing, in a way.

“Daddy, give me more.” Mercedes means to sound assertive and compelling, but her aroused state means the words come out a desperate whine.

Rodrigue raises an eyebrow, finally looking up from her pussy.

“That is not how one asks nicely.” He reprimands, continuing his excruciating pace.

The Duchess lets out a huff and roll her eyes before she can stop herself. Swiftly, Rodrigue’s hand leaves her pussy and comes down on her inner thigh, a sharp smack sounding in the room.

Mercedes gasps.

“Watch it, girl. That attitude will not be tolerated.” His voice is a low growl, and she quickly nods.

“My apologies, daddy.” She mumbles, cheeks burning at her little scolding.

The man hums, placated, and the blonde wife feels emboldened to rephrase her question.

“Please, can I have some more?” She corrects her earlier words.

“Much better.” He brings his hand back down to her entrance, sliding two large fingers into she now.

She moans, gripping the bedsheets, relishing in the delicious stretch. He pumps his fingers at a steady pace, a welcome change from that prior. Soon, he pulls his fingers from she once again, and she whine at the loss. He shushes she, thumb rubbing over her stomach soothingly.

“You will not be empty long, sweet thing, do not fret.” His free hand works open the fastenings of his trousers, pulling them and his smallclothes down enough to free his thick length.

She watches intently as it bobs against his stomach, wide eyed. Rodrigue chuckles at her reaction. He gives himself a few languid strokes.

No, Mercedes lied. She has much to concern herself about in this chamber. There are no books and no needlework, there are no sweets to be baked or wounds to heal. Her only pastime is wondering where her husband might be, when he will arrive with her meals and whether he will fuck her.

It might have been a minor concern of hers, if she had more to busy herself with, but her mind gives it proper weight since it has nothing else to think about. So much so, she has taken to sleep with one of his capes, one that smelled of him.

“Do you want my cock, darling?” Rodrigue murmurs, leading her to nod enthusiastically.

The Duke raises an eyebrow at Mercedes silently, and she quickly realizes what he is waiting for.

“Yes, daddy, please give me your cock” She slurs, eyes pleading.

He hums.

“Good girl.” He holds himself at his base and slowly guides his length into her waiting hole.

The blonde Duchess moans as he sinks into her, walls fluttering around him.

“That is my girl,” Rodrigue grits out as he watches her pussy devour his cock.

He hooks his arms under the crooks of her knees, pulling Mercedes so her ass is hanging off the edge of the bed. He begins to rut into her deeply, holding her thighs in a bruising grip. She moans at the rough treatment.

“Do you like that, sweet pea? Do she like when I pound your pussy?” His voice is somehow steady and his face unbothered save for his furrowed brows and a light sheen of sweat.

His composed posture is a sharp contrast to her moaning, writhing form below him. If one was to capture that moment on a painting, it might belong to the realm of grotesque, rather than romantic. These are two people who have lost themselves in their indulgence.

Mercedes does not care about any of it and nods desperately.

“Yes, daddy, it feels so good!” She moans loudly.

“Naughty girl.” He growls out. “Worry not, I will fuck you straight. I will bring out a proper Fraldarius wife out of you just yet.”

The blue-haired nobleman brings a hand up from her thigh to her mouth, sliding his thumb over her bottom lip before slotting it into her slack mouth.

“Suck.” He orders.

The blonde woman complies, working his thumb with her tongue and suctioning gently. Another growl leaves his lips.

“So obedient. Such a good girl for me. Just for me to fuck.” His hips snap into she all the more roughly, his pace increasing.

Mercedes moans around his thumb, squeezing her eyes shut. She feels herself climbing towards her peak, her walls tightening around Rodrigue.

“Open your eyes. Look at me when you come.” His voice leaves no room for argument.

Her doe-like blue eyes snap open, coming down to meet his. Cold, sick, vicious and lascivious.

“There is my girl. Come on, come for me.” He encourages.

Having been granted his permission, she allows her body to fall over the edge. She moans breathlessly around the thumb still in her mouth, legs shaking and pussy spasming with her release.

The tightening of her channel is enough to send Rodrigue into orgasm just after she with a muttered “yes, darling”. Despite his vehemence against a child of her own, he always releases inside her. She feels as thick ropes of his cum fill her, and she whimpers. Her eyes flutter shut, feeling spent and exhausted.

Rodrigue pulls his thumb from her mouth and his cock from her cunt after a moment of catching his breath. He goes over to the bedside table, grabbing a towel to clean himself with and tucking his length back into his trousers.

Then, he goes back over to her, handing her the same piece of cloth so Mercedes could clean her intimacy.

“Come on sweet pea, you cannot fall asleep just yet.” He pulls her further down the bed by her waist, sliding his hand under her back to guide she upright. “I am still voracious.”

The Duchess open her eyes, feet meeting the floor. Despite up straight, the woman stands on shaky limbs.

“I am tired, daddy.” She complains feebly, looking up at him.

Rodrigue coos, wrapping his arm around she for support as he guides her to the bathing area.

“I know, you can sleep right after I am satiated. For now, clean yourself, as you still have a duty to perform.” He murmurs, stopping by the tiled room door and nudging her forward gently.

“Would you cuddle with me afterwards?” She glances back at him with wide, pleading eyes.

He gives her a soft smile that makes her heart flutter with adoration.

“Of course not, precious.” Rodrigue responds instantly, with a soft voice of someone waxing poetry by their lover’s ear. “I would not sleep well here with you.”

Mercedes does not know why she bothers asking. He never stays. She still held on the hope that he would stay a night, that the loneliness on her heart will be dispelled, if only temporarily.

Oh. Is she lonely? She does not know. Either way, it is best not to dwell on those thoughts. As her husband pointed out, she still has a duty to perform.

She makes her way over to the toilet and Rodrigue goes back into the bedroom. He pulls back the bedding and her some tea as she relieves herself and washes her hands. She heads back into the bedroom, walking over to him.

“Would she like pajamas, are she cold?” He asks, handing she the glass of water. She take it, looking at him thoughtfully for a moment, before shaking sher head.

“Alright.” He gestures to the steaming, inodorous tea with his eyes. “Drink up.”

She obediently raises the teacup to her lips, taking a couple of sips, eyes on his over the rim. He raises an eyebrow at her, and she continue drinking until half the cup is empty before pausing again, looking at him once more. He nods, waving his hands, signalling he wanted her to drink it all. She would do well if she complied, she would not want to be forced to drink the rest.

“Good girl.” He praises, setting the ceramic down on the bedside table.

Mercedes climbs into the bed, facing Rodrigue, and nestles under the covers. He removes his coat and trousers, leaving him in his smallclothes, and climbs into bed beside she. He wraps an arm around she and she snuggles in close, resting her head on his strong chest. His thumb rubs soft circles on her arm.

She feels her head faint, as her husband touches her lower and lower. He might have tired of her voice. It does not matter, she will perform to his highest expectations, conscient or not.

The last thought that runs through Mercedes’ head is that it is the 24th of Eternal Moon, 1185. The eve of the Millennial Festival, of the oath she had swore to return to Garreg Mach.

It seems she is not going to make it.

*_*_*_*_*

Fire Emblem Masterlist

Three Houses Masterlist

#fire emblem #Rodrigue Fraldarius #mercedes von martritz

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toaarcan · 5 years ago

Text

Scourge the Hedgehog: The Bad Fanfic Apotheosis

Y’all are gonna hate me for this one.

This is something of a followup to my previous post, Fiona Fox: Depth vs. Prominence, and inspired directly by the discussion I had with a friend in the comments section of the DA upload of it.

Part 1: Fanfic vs. Canon- Genesis of the Recolour Elements of the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic have long been compared to a bad fanfiction, particularly the parts of the story written by Ken Penders, though other writers like Bollers, Chacon, and Flynn have drawn that label too. I'm one of the people that's done it, and that's largely because I hold fanfic and official material to very different standards. There are certain things you can do in fanfic that you can't do in official material, especially with franchises like Sonic, and especially with more niche parts of said franchise, like a comic series. Of course, there are also certain things you can do in both, but you probably shouldn't. And Scourge is one of them. What exactly the process behind Scourge's creation was is something that's been debated. For a lot of people, he's considered to be a parody of the then-rampant "Sonic Recolour" fad, wherein fans would take screenshots of Sonic X, and other official artwork, and then edit it in Microsoft Paint, or another similar program, to create their own characters and stories. Now, this was long decried by other fans, myself included, as incredibly lacking in creativity and originality. It also had an "Ew, cringe" reaction, due to the often-shoddy editing, text-to-speech voices, and usually some top-tier mid-2000s Nu Metal for the music. These days, it's much easier to look back and say "These were mostly made by kids who were just having fun, and it's completely harmless", and it becomes apparent that a lot of the people that were making fun of them and criticising them were grown men, at which point you kinda realise that this "internet fad" was basically just bullying a bunch of children for not being up to the creative standards of some adults. Everybody was looking for the next Chris-Chan, but Chris-Chan is a near-unique entity, as only one other person alive has ever managed to combine that sheer void of talent with a monumentally repulsive personality, and that person is Ken Penders. But Sonichu is the least interesting thing about Chris, and Chris became the laughingstock that he is because of his inability to avoid posting his entire life on the Internet, which was something of a rarity in those halcyon days before the rise of modern social media. Sonichu was a gateway to the actually interesting content also on his channels, whereas these recolour-creators didn't have anything like that, just endless Windows Movie Maker slideshows. And, like, Chris was in his 20s when he became the Internet's punching bag for the first time, and while he's a horrible person, so were the people that dedicated their time and effort to trolling him- His story is fascinating, but it has no heroes. And into this collective cocktail of grown men shitting on preteens, so Ian Flynn introduced Scourge the Hedgehog. Is Scourge a parody of Sonic recolours? I sincerely hope not. The reason for that is twofold, and I'll discuss how his portrayal generally doesn't seem to be mocking those tropes further down the page, but the second issue with the idea that he is a parody is best explained by Sir Terry.

Parody can never punch down, and as a then-24 year old man writing official canon for a franchise, mocking a bunch of 10 year olds on the Internet for making bad stories would definitely be punching down. And, as I said, nothing about the way Scourge is written is in any way poking fun at the tropes of these fancharacters and stories. It's pretty much all played completely straight. So not only do I hope Ian wasn't trying to mock these fancharacters, but there's also little reason to believe that he actually was. He's not a parody, he is a send-up. And on the one hand, it's kinda nice to throw a bone to those kids. But on the other hand... is Scourge really the character you want to represent your part of the fandom in official material? A cruel, violent, abusive, vicious monster that spends his time palling around with a girlfriend that the writer reforged to be the most unlikable character in the entire comic? Yeah, can't say that's what I'd want if I were one of those people, but he seems to be popular enough, so maybe I'm in the minority there. But now we get to the meat of the problem. You see, the way Scourge is written is one of those things that you can do in fanfic, but you shouldn't do in canon. Part 2: What is a Mary-Sue? The term "Mary-Sue" gets thrown around a lot these days. It's gradually lost all meaning, and has slowly become a term for "Female character that I don't like," mainly used by whiny, easily-offended Broflake Youtubers, who get all pissy that Star Wars films aren't specifically catering to them, to the point that you only have to make a girl be good at something in a movie and these pissbabies lose their shit. I liked Episode VII and VIII more than I, II, or VI, get fucked. But what, then, is a Mary-Sue? And why is it relevant to Scourge? The answer to that first question is a lot more complicated than it might seem. Not just because there are now several different varieties of the trope, but also because the trope itself evolved as it began to be applied to non-fanworks, and additionally because the name itself is somewhat non-indicative. A male Mary-Sue can exist, though these are normally referred to as "Marty-Stue" or "Gary-Stue", or more cynically "The Protagonist". Check out the average Batman comic these days and you'll see what I mean. Originally, the term applied only to a self-insert character in a fanfic, that was an overly-idealised version of the author, dramatically overpowered, hugely popular, normally dating whichever member of the cast the author wanted to bone, or sometimes multiple partners at the same time, along with a few other traits. It's actually pre-Internet term, originating in a Star Trek fanzine when "Mary-Sue" was created as a parody of other fans' similar characters. Over time, the trope evolved to the point that, while the "author avatar" feature is still a pretty big indicator, it's not really necessary. So while there are probably plenty of people out there who want to be Batman, not every character that is a Mary-Sue is someone for the author to project themselves onto, and not every author avatar is a Mary-Sue. Generally, the important features of a Mary-Sue are now: 1) Receives a great deal of favouritism from the author 2) More powerful than the rest of the cast, often to the point of absurdity 3) Faces zero consequences for their actions. 4) Liked by characters that have no reason to do so 5) In a relationship with a character that has no reason to date them, previous relationships be damned. 6) Most importantly, the story will bend over backwards to give them easy wins, even in situations where they logically should struggle. You're probably starting to get where I'm going with this, and if you're not... Part 3: Creator's Pet Scourge is a Creator's Pet. He gets shown a fair bit of favouritism from Ian Flynn, primarily the guise of how much focus he gets. Scourge is the most prolific villain in Ian's run, aside from Eggman himself. While other, better villains like Mogul and Naugus were being imprisoned repeatedly until one retired and the other became a dog, and a huge chunk of the comic's remaining antagonists were being subsumed into the Eggman Empire, Scourge was only moving up, not only being the villain of Ian's first two issues on the book, but continuing to make sporadic appearances for the next twenty issues, before appearing as the new leader of the Destructix under Finitevus in the Enerjak Reborn arc, followed swiftly by a stint as the Big Bad in Bold New Moebius. Does he actually deserve this level of importance? You be the judge, but personally, I don't think so. Even within those stories, Scourge gets special treatment, the biggest and most obvious being Metal Scourge. Now, personally, I think Metal Scourge was a better character than Scourge himself, but the fact that, of all people, Scourge got a Metal counterpart before anyone else, including Knuckles, who had such a counterpart in the games for over a decade by that point. Especially since, well... Metal and Mettle is a fun story, but it doesn't really do anything for Bold New Moebius as a whole, does it? It's basically pure filler, only really serving to add another dead Metal Sonic to Ian's list and stall the plot out for a bit longer. And, of course, the most clear indicator of Scourge's favouritism is that he was he first Archie character to receive his own Sonic Universe arc, and the only one to do so without needing two or three SEGA characters also making up the rest of the lead cast. "Lockdown" isn't a particularly good story, but its existence speaks to not just the insane popularity that such an unworthy character received, but also Archie's willingness to indulge that. Sonic Universe was largely intended to tell stories revolving around the members of the SEGA cast that, for whatever reason, weren't able to regularly appear in the main book. This... frequently got broken, with Sonic, Tails, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, and Amy all taking centre-stage in the book before obvious candidates like the Chaotix got a look in, some of them twice over, but Scourge was the only time they were willing to try a story based entirely around one of their characters, and they gave it to the already extremely prominent Scourge. It's pretty clear that Ian loved using this character, and did so as much as possible. YMMV on whether that's good or not. Part 4: Scourge OP plz nerf Let's be real, he's overpowered as fuck. Now, overpowered characters aren't necessarily bad, but it's significantly harder to write an OP character than an on-average one, and Scourge didn't work out so well. From the moment he turns green, he's basically unstoppable. The one time he actually seems to remotely struggle is actually in 161, where he looks ever-so-slightly winded after curbstomping Sonic and Shadow at the same time. From then on, while he does start to slowly even out with Sonic, he also continues to utterly demolish basically everyone else, especially his easy conquest of Moebius. It's been suggested that conquering Moebius should be easy, because the big threats are all good, kind people there, but that somewhat ignores that there are anti-versions of the heroes kicking about too. All the (Mostly) benevolent rulers of the Primeverse should be tyrannical despots there, and there are excessively powerful entities like the Anti-versions of Merlin and the Guardians, not to mention whatever horrors Anti-Gerald would've unleashed on the world, and that's without the Suppression Squad themselves. While the comic has generally treated Sonic as being able to stomp the entire rest of the FF, well, who says it has to be a fight? Why the fuck doesn't Patch just poison him? I mean, the obvious answer is "Because then Bold New Moebius won't have a main villain", and sometimes contractual villain immortality has to be a thing, but a good writer should be able to avoid putting the characters in that position. Following on from that, Scourge gets to fight basically the entire FF and Suppression Squad at the same time, (Sonic and Amy are absent and Fiona is on his side), and he's winning until Sonic shows up. Then directly after that is the hedgehog brawl, and despite Sonic managing to get everyone against Scourge, he easily manages to escape and break out his Super form. Even after spending his time in the No-Zone completely powerless, Scourge manages to break out the moment he gets his powers back, despite the prison being full of characters who should be equally or more powerful than him, and the police force that caught them all, basically unchallenged. Scourge never faces an actual challenge in the comic. He never struggles, and the one time he actually loses? Ian makes up some new lore on the spot, which is contradictory to SEGA lore from the same year, and then uses that to have Sonic trick Scourge into depowering himself. Not only does Scourge never struggle with anything, but he also never actually loses a fight. Part 5: When will you learn, that your actions have consequences?! Probably never, because Scourge's actions never have consequences. Throughout his entire run, Scourge gets to go wherever he wants, do what he wants, with or to whomever he wants, and he never has to deal with the fallout of the decisions he makes. Absorbs the energy of a matter world into his antimatter body? He's better than fine, it only made him stronger. Turns up in Knothole with his secret girlfriend's hated arch rival by his side? Never mentioned again. Blows Fiona's connection to him, costing Finitevus' operation a potential spy in Knothole, where Knuckles is? Not even considered a factor. Ditches Finitevus to go and make Moebius into an egopolis? Finitevus isn't bothered, and supports Fiona's efforts to rescue him later down the line after than plan backfired on him. Blinds Patch in one eye out of jealousy/spite? The guy that poisoned Armand and Max, took a torch to Antoine's personal life, took advantage of Sally's frayed mental state, emotionally damaged Bunnie, and tried to assassinate Elias to get what he wanted lets him get away with it. Openly announces that he's going to destroy both worlds? Conveniently does it when he's alone with Sonic so nobody can tell Fiona what she's letting herself in for. He eventually does get sent to jail, but he breaks out with ease the next time he turns up. Because, y'know, that's just what we want to see. Villains never having to deal with karma. Part 6: What does anyone see in him? Scourge doesn't quite get the "everyone loves him" treatment, but he still gets a whole lot more respect than he's ever earned. Both Sonic and Zobotnik are portrayed arbitrarily deciding that maybe there's a shred of good in this monster, and this is the part where I stress that he's abusive again. Maybe if I repeat that enough it'll sink in. Despite knowing full-well the sort of person Scourge is, Sonic's response to Scourge's crappy cribbing of the "One Bad Day" speech is to try and turn it around and claim that Scourge only needs a tiny bit of decency to be a good person, and this is outright untrue, and given what we see of Scourge later, I'm frankly disgusted that Ian tried to pull this with a character he'll pretty much unambiguously portray as an abuser. Zobotnik's case is even more baffling. We're introduced to the guy in the Lockdown arc, and it's implied that he's effectively a tyrannical warden, ruling over the No-Zone with an iron fist, taking an almost sadistic delight in punishing the inmates. But yet, for whatever reason, he decides that it's a good idea to try and rehabilitate Scourge, for no adequately established reason. Even on the other side of the morality line, we have Finitevus, who apparently respects Scourge enough to not just make him leader of the Destructix during the Enerjak Reborn arc, despite him very clearly not being a leader, and not being liked by any of his comrades except Fiona, but then when he promptly ditches the whole plan toward the end, Finitevus apparently decides that he not only wants to get him back, but is willing to go to great lengths and risk losing the only team of mercenaries dumb enough to work for a guy who is quite open about his intentions to "purify the world with Chaos fire" in order to do it. And speaking of, the most egregious case of this comes again in Lockdown, where the Destructix all end up siding with Scourge. Across the second half of the arc, Scourge learns his new team's backstories, and despite them clearly showing traits and beliefs that should make them respect him less, this somehow works in his favour, and he manages to wrest leadership of the team from Fiona. Especially galling is that it appears that Fiona loses their respect early on because of her faith in Scourge, who to them, looks pathetic, but then they end up supporting him anyway, despite doing nothing to earn it. But wait, one's missing... Looks like it's that time again. Part 7: Oh right, he's an abuser. It's time to talk about Fiona. Fiona's heel turn is really, really effective at selling you on the idea that Fiona is a vile, cruel, and selfish person. It's a dramatic, "big bang" moment that, in basically a single panel, got an entire fandom to hate a character. Now for some it was more of a "Love to hate" thing, but there are plenty of people out there who just really hate Fiona for this single moment. And when you're introducing a new major villain, maybe that's what you want to accomplish. What it doesn't do, however, is sell you on her motives for taking that course of action. Fiona, for the rest of her existence, mainly antagonises Sally, whom she has no worthwhile connection to on either side of her turn, other than being the evil Sally to Scourge's Evil Sonic, and stands around or clings to Scourge's arm, looking smug about her abusive relationship. And yes, it is abusive, verbal abuse is still abuse, and the implications that he's physically abusive are present too. I know this is something that Scourge's fans don't really want to accept, but it's true, and we're going to get into that later. For now, what matters is that this character's run as a villain mainly consists of: Fiona: "Hey Sugar-Queen, look at how much my boyfriend yells at me and insults me, and probably beats me when he's angry. I make smart decisions and you suck." We never come to understand why this character, who is so motivated by her belief that everyone will eventually double-cross her that she has decided to start lashing out at people before they can turn on her, is willing to put her faith 100% in someone so repeatedly deceptive that he first approached her by pretending to be someone else. Like, in terms of bad first impressions, that's up there with arriving at a job interview in full clown regalia. The comic makes no effort to show why these characters like each other. Scourge allegedly likes her because she chooses to turn evil and join him, rather than being born evil, but this clashes with not only the fact that Fiona is a genuinely good person before this, who makes a solid effort to stay loyal to her friends first, and is lured into villainy by him, but also the fact that she blames everyone but herself for her current situation, but especially with the fact that all of the foreshadowing for Fiona turning evil consists of people not trusting her because she has a shady history. Scourge claims to appreciate that Fiona is a good person that chooses to be evil, but the narrative has a clear message of "If you started evil, it doesn't matter if you try to become good, you will always revert to type." Which isn't exactly a good message, Ian. In return, all we get from Fiona's side is that Scourge "has no expectations of her and just wants to have fun", which clashes entirely with how we see them interact in subsequent arcs, where Fiona frequently looks disturbed or apprehensive, or just bored, while Scourge yells at her and threatens her for not meeting his standards. Seriously, why do people ship this? But okay, okay. Scourge is a good liar, and Fiona's established paranoia and history do make her vulnerable to manipulators like him, so maybe she falls for his lies and gets taken for a ride. That could happen, sure. Doesn't really explain why she becomes a horrendous person all of a sudden, but whatever. Maybe he convinced her to do it as a sort of hazing, and a means of ensuring she couldn't go back. That fits with his abusive nature (You might also notice that this the explanation I used in Revival). But why does she stay? And why does she refuse every out she's given? Why, after everything that pulled her to his side has turned out to be bullshit, does she remain devoted to him? Now, you can argue that due to the abuse and the manipulation she's suffered, she believes she has to stay with him, and that's a fair shout, but her appearance in Journey to the East is kind of a stumbling block for that theory, because we're shown a Fiona who is fully capable of functioning without him, and even after making efforts to establish herself... the next time we see her she's gone back for him. And now... well, it's time to talk about that "A" word I've been bringing up a lot in this section. Scourge is abusive. I've frequently referenced that he verbally abuses Fiona every time she displeases him across the book, but the most telling scene is this one from Issue 190.

"You do not want to be sent back with me." Translation: "If I get sent back, and you're sent back too, I'm going to beat the shit out of you." Fiona (With her invisible left arm) isn't excluded from this threat. Fiona isn't surprised by this threat either. Nor does she not take the threat seriously. She looks like she's expecting to be struck. He beats her. And please, nobody say that "he's just angry", that's apologism. Now, I dunno if this was in the script, or if Fiona's face was something Yardley did on his own, but given that this arc ends with Super Scourge announcing his intention to destroy both Mobius and Moebius, simply because he can, regardless of the collateral, I'm willing to bet that this relationship wasn't a happy, stable one. But, unfortunately, this element was never made clear enough. Now, your mileage may vary on whether you think Sonic the Hedgehog comics are the appropriate place to discuss abusive relationships or not, but we've got one now, and Ian dropped the ball. This wasn't a Joker/Harley, where the pairing was clearly abusive but also sold DC/Warner millions of dollars worth of merch, this wasn't a RWBY, where Adam took three years to show up and had already won a huge number of fans from his admittedly cool design and powers, so people already liked him before they even knew what his personality was like. Ian had full control over this, no merch to worry about, and Scourge's prolific appearances gave him plenty of opportunity to make it clear that this was an ugly, repulsive thing that Fiona needed to get out of ASAP. And he didn't. Because panels like this, and all the yelling, clearly weren't enough for the fandom. No, you point this detail out to them and they'll make excuses, try to pretend it didn't happen, or just get offended, or worst of all, outright say they don't care and still ship it. We have fanartists who became real official artists creating stories where this garbage-fire pairing is used for sad feels, not because Fiona got stuck in a relationship with a controlling, violent monster, but because oh no they really loved each other and now Fiona's dead isn't it tragic don't you feel sorry for Scourge? No. No I don't. I feel sorry for the thousands of teenagers who support an abusive relationship because Ian was too cowardly to make it clear that the relationship in question was just that. Now, do I think that Ian is an intentional abuse apologist? No. Do I think he wimped out of taking the necessary steps to make it clear that this was bad because he didn't want people to dislike his shitty pet villain? Oh yeah, I do. Scourge's reputation was more important to Flynn than appropriately and sensitively portraying a destructive, damaging relationship between a woman and her monstrous partner. Well, I say "Woman", let's not forget that Fiona was meant to be sixteen, and realistically if you take her timeline into account she's more likely to be about fourteen. Real fucking classy. Part 8: Effort? What effort? So, now we get to our final criteria. And frankly, it's the easiest one to cover. From the moment, Scourge turns green, his life becomes a cakewalk. Everything he ever wants is handed to him with zero actual struggle on his part. Wants to be stronger than Sonic? He is. Zero side-effects to using a Chaos energy form from a mirror universe, or having a Super transformation interrupted, he just seemingly gets to be half-Super forever. Wants another leg-up on Sonic? Here's Fiona, sans personality. Sonic says he's just a lame ripoff of himself? He conquered a planet in a week, look at how cool he is. Also his team all roll over and make him their leader even though they hate him and they could easily kill him. He gets to walk through the entire FF/Squad teamup, and the Hedgehog teamup, and then when he gets to the No-Zone, Zobotnik, who has kept far smarter and more dangerous characters locked up for decades arbitrarily decides to reform him and gets completely suckered by him. The Destructix fully throw in with him, despite him never actually earning their respect. He never loses a fight where he wasn't depowered first. You know what the irony of this is? Ian has a character whom he is contractually obligated to never have lose for longer than an issue or two. And honestly, he wasn't awful at disguising that. Sonic gets a few wins that feel too easy, but for the most part, the issues with this rule mainly manifest in Sonic's limp responses to the tragedies happening around him, and a sprinkling of minor failures and pyrrhic victories ensure that the rule looks more like shoddy writing in a few places unless you're explicitly told about it. And even then, he still manages to make it look like Sonic struggles to attain those victories, that he has to actually put his back into it every time. He is challenged. Scourge isn't allowed to be challenged. That's the irony. Ian has a protagonist who he is not allowed to have lose, and Sonic still manages to be avoid looking like a boring invincible hero, while Scourge just never faces anything that can actually pose a threat to him. Powerful opponents crumple before him. Characters' personalities and development shift to suit his needs. The plot warps to benefit him. Because heaven forbid Scourge actually have to work for his wins. Who needs stakes when you can have the writer on your side! Part 9: In summation... I think you should've all twigged where this is going by now, so let's wrap up. 1) Does Scourge receive a great deal of favouritism from the author? Yes. 2) Is Scourge more powerful than the rest of the cast, often to the point of absurdity? Yes. 3) Does Scourge face zero consequences for his actions? Yes. 4) Is Scourge liked or respected by characters that have no reason to do so? Yes. 5) Is Scourge in a relationship with a character that has no reason to date him? Yes. 6) Most importantly, does the story will bend over backwards to give Scourge easy wins, even in situations where he logically should struggle? Yes. According to these criteria, Scourge the Hedgehog is almost a textbook example of a Mary-Sue. Which is probably why something as disgusting as him got away with so much. I guess, then, that his role in Revival, and a lot of the stuff before that, is the unfortunate reality of a Mary-Sue who suddenly has to deal with the fact that they're no longer getting that special treatment from the writer. That now their actions have consequences, that now the universe doesn't shape itself to their desires.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Archie Sonic #Ian Flynn #Scourge the Hedgehog #Fiona Fox #Evil Sonic #Critical #CW: Abuse #TW: Abuse

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youknowmymethods · 6 years ago

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Content Creator Interview #5

Welcome back again folks! This week in our fifth interview @vermofftiss chats to @mizjoely about her love of lists, her fantasy season five finale, and reveals the truth about who really writes her stories...

Hi, @mizjoely here, chatting with @vermofftiss about my sherlolly writing and fandom experiences, and answering some questions submitted by a few other folks. I’ve been involved in fandom in one way or another since the early 1980s, which is also when I started writing fanfiction - for classic Doctor Who and Star Trek in its various incarnations.

@vermofftiss here, putting forward the aforementioned questions. I’ll also be trying to weasel some advice out of @mizjoely that I can use for my own writing, which has been a casual ongoing thing since I published my first sherlolly fic in 2014.

Vermofftiss: I think our first encounter was in the Sherlollychat in the fall of 2014, around the time I got onto AO3. Which means series 3 was five years ago. How does it feel knowing that series 4 was already two years ago? What’s changed in the time since it aired?

Mizjoely: Oh, I miss the sherlollychat, or at least I did until Channy came up with the discord version! It’s hard to fathom that so much time has passed since I joined the fandom! (I became active on tumblr in November 2013 after discovering Sherlolly earlier that same year, btw.) Series 3 was five years ago. Series 4 was two years ago. Crazy!

As for what’s changed since then, I’d have to say one positive thing is that the fandom wank has calmed way the hell down since S4…. Another change that I’ve seen is probably common to all fandoms over time - new writers and content creators have joined the fandom while (sadly) many others have moved on to other fandoms. Of course, that’s to be expected when your show is essentially over, but it’s still kind of sad to lose folks completely to other fandoms.

V: Which series was your favourite to play with as a writer? When did you really get into writing Sherlolly?

M: I would have to say Series 4 has definitely been a great series to write for - so much angst! The I love you! Mary Watson’s very sad death, Rosie Watson becoming a character, Mrs. Hudson showing us what a badass she is, and of course Eurus Holmes entering the picture. We might not have gotten as much Molly Hooper as we wanted, but the scenes we did get with her were tremendous and gave so much inspiration to me and many other writers.

I really got into Sherlolly as a ship after seeing TRF, as I’m sure is true with many folks - especially the “what do you need” scene. And it was so much fun to dive into the possibilities of life after Sherlock’s ‘death’ between Series 2 and 3, I consider that a real golden age of Sherlolly writing. My first published Sherlock/Sherlolly fic was “Conversations With A Dead Detective”, set Post Reichenbach, which according to fanfiction.net I published on 04/11/13 (so I’m nearly at my five year Sherlolly- versary, woo hoo!).

A quick look at my spreadsheet (don’t judge me, I love my lists) shows that I wrote or at least started 37 fics that year (one of which I’m still working on, yikes! - The World As We Know It, a vamp!lock fic). I’m currently sitting at almost 500 fics for Sherlolly, which still amazes me, that I could be that inspired by a pair of fictional characters! (For comparison, my second most prolific fandom is Doctor Who, for whom I wrote a total of 25 stories over a period of 20 years. And of those 25, only about a dozen were for my main ship, Five/Tegan).

V: A couple of questions from @ohaine -

1) Based on the sheer volume of your work, I have this theory that you’re actually some sort of artistic collective rather than just one person, please tell me I’m right!

M: You have discovered my secret: I'm actually four raccoons in a trenchcoat! Seriously though, until I was bitten by the Sherlolly bug, my output was much, much lower, even though I've been writing fanfics since the early 1980s. For example, I love the Zutara ship for Avatar: Last Airbender, but I only wrote three fics for that. I wrote about 25 fics for Doctor Who, and about the same amount for the various Star Treks (not including Khanolly). Nothing set my writing muse afire like Sherlolly, and I doubt anything ever will again.

and, 2) You write a lot of AUs, and I’m wondering what inspires them?

M: Considering that I started off as a strictly Canon Universe/Canon Compliant writer in all of my other fandoms, it still seems funny to me how much I enjoy writing and reading AUs now. I started reading them after finally running out of canon compliant fics to read and discovering how much fun it was to transplant the characters into a different universe. And that, of course, made me think about what sort of AUs I could fit Molly and Sherlock into.

In fact, the very first BBC Sherlock story I started to write (never finished or posted) was an AU because I was nervous about trying to write Sherlock and figured no one would complain too much about him being OOC if it was a fantasy setting. (I ended up taking the plunge on a canon universe post Reichenbach fic and posted that and a lot of other canon universe fics before returning to AUs.)

Wait, that doesn't answer the question! What inspires them? The same things that inspire all my writing: wanting to read a specific kind of fic and not being able to find it; fics that other authors have written that make me itch to put my own spin on the idea; dreams; books I've read or movies or TV shows I've watched...inspiration is everywhere when you really, really, really love a ship. (Gawd that's cheesy but it's true - no love, no writing fanfic, period end of paragraph.)

V: This past spring I finally got the nerve to start working on my first proper AU (not CC, CU, or UA) after sitting on the idea for about 3 years. Have you ever had to wait to be “ready” to start working on a concept? How much do you need to know about a project to get going on it?

M: I have absolutely had to wait to be ready to start working on a concept. My very first attempt at a Sherlolly fic (never finished or published) was going to be an AU because I was so intimidated by the idea of writing Sherlock Holmes in the canon universe set up by Moffat & Gatiss. I was terrified I wouldn’t get his voice right, that he would be too OOC for folks, that I wouldn’t be able to make him clever enough or that I’d mess things up a dozen different ways. So I started writing the AU instead, and in doing so (over a course of several months), I finally realized that no, I wanted to start off in the canon universe. Just trying to write him at all, in any setting, made me a little less intimidated by him. But I might never have written anything if I hadn’t started that abandoned AU. (And I look forward to seeing your AU when you’re ready to post it!)

V: Does reader feedback ever impact the plots of your stories or the building of your AUs?

M: It absolutely can, especially when someone leaves a comment that makes me think about my story in a different light. I won’t go so far as to say comments have caused me to redo anything on a larger scale (such as change the ending) but certainly I’ve thrown things into the fic or expanded on ideas expressed in a comment to make the story that much richer.

That’s one of the best things about being active in fandom - the interactions between readers and writers. Of course, the reverse can also be true - I remember needing a LOT of fan-friend coddling when some folks were unhappy with the ending of my story ‘Abandoned’ (i.e., my Molly let my Sherlock get off too easily). But you have to have thick skin to be a creator, and remember that not everyone likes the same things. And you also have to be able to say yes, I could have done this better, or if I had to do it over I’d do it differently. It’s all part of the creative process.

V: Are there any scenes or aspects that were cut from a story that you regretted leaving out at the end?

M: Not really. Most things that I cut have been vetted by my betas (shout-out to ALL betas for being willing to help you make your story better!) and jettisoning those things has always made my stories better. (Plus I keep a folder of scraps that got cut and periodically review those scraps to see if I might be able to salvage them.)

V: On top of being one of the better-known Sherlolly writers in the tag, you’re also the single person behind the Sherlollbrary. As much as I love to organize my life and everything else I can get my hands on, that’s not something I think I’d ever actually want to do. So what made you decide to start cataloguing Sherlolly fics?

M: My love of lists. Seriously, that’s it. I love making lists of things - like, how many stories did I write in 2013 for Sherlolly (37, as you now know!), how many one-shots have I written vs. multi-chapters, how many were prompts...and then I started seeing people doing lists of various tropes. The one that made me decided to start my Sherlollilists side blog was one put together for Sherlolly omegaverse stories. As more and more lists were created, edited, and added (I’m currently at 140 official lists, with more than a dozen unofficial lists), I decided it would nice to organize them all (not realizing quite what I was getting into!) as one spreadsheet, with other tropes and tags and keywords for folks to help narrow down their searches. It always give me a little thrill when I open the library and see folks are browsing, so I like to think it’s a useful tool (although I am looking forward to finishing it someday!)

@writingwife-83 asked: You work tirelessly to organize all the multitude of writing this ship produces, but how do you feel that affects you as a writer? Does it make you less interested in writing your own fics? Or does it tend to help get the wheels turning and inspire you?

M: I have to admit, sometimes curating the lists can completely put me off writing, simply due to feeling oversaturated. This is especially true when I am reading or skimming over fics that are, shall we say, not the best of the bunch. Or the times when I'm just pushing myself even if I'm not really enthusiastic about doing it. Those times, I've learned to just step back, which is why sometimes the lists don't get updated very quickly.

On the other hand, rereading a favorite or a forgotten gem can really get my creative juices flowing. At times like that, I fall back in love with the ship and the fandom all over again.

V: When you’re stuck with writer’s block or just a lack of motivation, does it help you more to reread an old fave or to go back through some of your own works? Have you noticed your style has changed much?

M: It does help, absolutely. It reminds me why I love this ship so much, and helps me reconnect with others in the fandom. People think of reading as passive and writing as solitary, but to me it’s an interactive process. Reading great fics, new can old, helps feed your creativity. And nowadays the internet helps so much as well - there are awesome resources and fandom spaces to talk to other folks about their works and your own, reminding you that you’re not creating in a vacuum. (And I REALLY love the cheerleading section of the Sherlolly Discord site. That can help unstick my creativity like nobody’s business!)

As for my style changing - yeah, it definitely has. I feel like my writing has become more streamlined and less clunky since I first started. I still do a lot of semicolon abuse but at this point I’ve decided that’s just my style and will likely never change.

Thanks for the excellent questions and for letting me ramble on!

V: I’m sure we can do a lot more rambling if left on the trail. How about one last one: In the currently hypothetical series 5, how would you continue the story from where it left off?

M: Oooh, good one! If I was in charge we would see that Sherlock and Molly are continuing their relationship, culminating with a wedding at the end of the third episode. But since I’m not in charge, I’m thinking that Mofftiss would give us some subtle hints, like John casually mentioning to Sherlock that he and Rosie can’t join ‘them’ for dinner that night for whatever reason. And maybe some small changes to 221B to show hints that someone else spends time there other than Sherlock and the Watsons - a cherry patterned pillow, perhaps? A Bart’s ID card with a woman’s picture to show that no, it isn’t one Sherlock nicked to get access to a place he otherwise couldn’t get to? A woman’s coat hanging next to Sherlock’s? Something like that. And some private smiles between Sherlock and Molly, little things like that. Enough to give us hope but not enough to give us proof! They do like to tease that way!

Non-shipwise, I think Eurus would make a return because come on, how do you leave a character like that catatonic? I also think they would return to ACD canon to revise a few more cases for the modern age, and maybe (maybe!) have John start dating again (especially if they’re so married to canon that they killed Mary off - since John seems to have been married at least twice, they would probably explore that option).

I know, that last part is a bit vague but honestly? I hope they surprise the hell out of us in a good way if we ever get that fifth series!

Next Week, Friday March 22nd, @ashockinglackofsatin talks to @sunken-standard

#content creator interviews #sherlolly #Sherlock #mizjoely #vermofftiss

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armorbirdpress · 5 years ago

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Armor Bird Reviews: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - A One-And-A-Half-Year Retrospective

If you have been following my writings and ramblings and original works and DeviantArt favorites for long enough, you'll know that I am unashamedly a dinosaur fan - I never outgrew the phase because despite what people have told me both online and off, palaeontology, like other sciences, is not specifically a child's thing - obviously dinosaurs are cool, but there is a lot of technical stuff that you'd need college degrees to understand in the field, too. While I certainly am a stickler for accuracy when it comes to dinosaur portrayals, however, I am also not ashamed to admit that I have a love for fictional portrayals of them as monsters, too. Jurassic Park, which was - for its time - pretty much a reconciliation between the "prehistoric monster" imagery of dinosaurs in popular culture and the latest discoveries about the actual fossil animals during its production, is my favorite movie of all time, partly for this reason and partly because there's a lot of depth and sophistication to it as well - a sophistication that modern movies seem to be utilizing less and less. Even the Jurassic Park franchise itself was not immune to this trend, and although it still remains my top favorite franchise of fictional media, the changing conceit of what audiences want in an entertaining film has dragged it along for as much of a long and bumpy ride as just about everything else Hollywood has to offer. Still, even in spite of it all, there are a lot of things to like about the sequels we got since that groundbreaking original - I'm admittedly one of those people who actually enjoyed Jurassic Park III, though in fairness I was too young upon first watching it to really pick it apart and analyze its numerous flaws, and I also heaped a lot of praise on Jurassic World upon my first review of it... in hindsight, perhaps a little generously. Although I won't pretend that everything since The Lost World (including TLW itself) is flawless and that the complainers are wrong, even the infamously controversial JP3 had some enjoyable moments in its own right, despite being seen by many as the worst installment of the franchise by quite a margin.

Which leads us to the most recent film of the franchise, 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

I had intended to review this movie for a good, long while - back when I was a more prolific writer I used to write film reviews shortly after seeing the movies in the theater, though schedule concerns have obviously made that too difficult. But there's a silver lining here, in that by not reviewing a film I've seen until much later (...well, much, much, much later as the case may be), I have the time to really sit down and think about what made the movie tick or not, and oftentimes have come down from my rush of excitement by the time I actually get off my tail and write the review itself. There are exceptions, of course, with certain films actually leaving me disappointed as soon as I left the building, but these cases are mercifully rare. I'm happy to say that despite being horrendously imperfect, Fallen Kingdom wasn't one of those cases. I was genuinely entertained by it more than 50% of the time - which is, for better or for worse, the highest compliment I can give the film because, as we shall see, in some ways it really is quite terrible.

As always with my movie reviews: SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

I watched Fallen Kingdom twice since its release - first in the theater at my home town, and then on rental DVD - and both times, my impression was the same: this movie, in retrospect, plays out much like a big-budget, cinematic fanfiction of the Jurassic Park films or even of Jurassic World (the latter of which I actually consider darkly hilarious for reasons that are highly specific to me exclusively, which you'd only understand if you know what I've written in the past - I'll get to that shortly). This is perfectly understandable, seeing as the director, screenwriter, and production crew have changed considerably from the team that helmed the original trilogy during the ten-year gap between JP3 and JW. Even if the work is canon, it's essentially someone else taking a look at the original franchise material, picking out what they liked about it, and building an original story off of it, oftentimes borrowing characters from the original work and inserting them in (most notably Rexy, and yes, I consider her as much of a character as the humans she menaced in the original movie). Across the board, in all kinds of franchises, this approach tends to fall flat if you don't know about the original work, though I do have to say that there was one very notable exception in the case of Jurassic World, that climactic fight scene with the Indominus rex, which is my favorite part of the movie even if it isn't entirely perfect. Now, I realize that I'm being a bit of a hypocrite by saying that these films are imperfect, because almost a decade ago, a friend and I co-wrote a megacrossover fanfic where Jurassic Park was the most prominent franchise by quite a margin (and didn't even start out that way to boot - my own selfish preferences caused elements of the franchise to slowly bleed in until a recycled plot of the second and third movies took over the whole thing). What makes it truly embarrassing to me is that the fic didn't even need the series' involvement in the first place, and my choice to shove it in anyway was one of the numerous factors that led to it going completely off the rails and turning into a tremendous tangled mess of clumsy writing and mishandled characterization, not just with JP itself but with almost all of the dozen other continua that got dragged in as well. Obviously, the fact that Fallen Kingdom is restricted by its very nature as a sequel to the one franchise only thankfully precludes the sheer absurdity of what my co-writer and I had inadvertently wrought back then, but upon rewatching the film I couldn't help but notice that in a few ways, it does ironically come off as being quite similar to my own old shame, albeit coincidentally, though it still earns points for choosing to be a Jurassic Park/World film and sticking with that conceit, rather than an entirely different film with JP elements shoehorned into it. I've harped on my stupidity as an immature fanfic writer back in the day for long enough, I think, but I felt this was worth mentioning regardless, because like the fic I touched upon above, this is a work I only started having issues with long after the fact, but these days I can't unsee these issues now that I've considered them.

One of the biggest things that stood out to me regarding Fallen Kingdom was that no matter how you slice it, it was trying to be two films at once, and had less time for both than most would have desired. The first half of the movie concerns Isla Sorna being destroyed by a volcano, and everyone trying to get the dinosaurs off of it before they are rendered extinct once again, with another island being noted as their new sanctuary (though of course, one of the antagonists quickly screws that plan over, but more on that later). You could easily make an entire film out of that - exploring the island one last time, dodging potential threats from both the volcano and the dinosaurs themselves, and coming to terms with the fact that not every creature can be saved, and that the end is coming for everyone eventually. The scene with the Brachiosaurus being overtaken by the eruption, with its plaintive wails and iconic rearing silhouette, is proof that such a moral could make a solid closing for this kind of movie, and heck, you could even have the subplot with the executives hoping to exploit the dinosaurs bleed into the movie until, at the very end, you get a scene where their true intentions with the animals are revealed as a sequel hook, rather than being resolved over the course of like half an hour or so in a rushed manner that gives people too little time to consider the implications. And this brings me to my next point.

Remember what I said about that dumb fanfiction I co-wrote having the elements I personally wanted more than my co-writer did slowly fester in true plot tumor fashion until they took over the entire story like literal cancer? As it turns out, what I witnessed in Fallen Kingdom wasn't quite as ridiculous, but kinda sorta similar in its own way. Obviously, Fallen Kingdom isn't so audacious (or ignorant of copyright laws and plain old common sense for that matter) as to let an entirely different franchise stage a gradual hostile takeover of itself, but the somewhat cliched plot of capitalist exploitation being the absolute worst roommate imaginable with a whole franchise's worth of temporally misplaced creatures that can and will kill you if you look at them funny - already done in both the original movie and TLW, and to some extent in JW as well, but still relatable in our current social climate even after so much repetition - still manages to... well, stage a gradual hostile takeover of the movie, and enforces itself in full force during the remaining third or so of the runtime. The antagonists, a pair of cartoonishly evil and somewhat flat executives, sabotage the plan so that the dinosaurs are diverted to the Lockwood Mansion instead of the sanctuary island, and then things escalate when the prototype Indoraptor is bought in and, inevitably, raises hell for everyone involved. As with my previous pitch, the idea of bidding wars over the dinosaurs and the moral debate over the ownership and exploitation of living creatures - something which does happen in the real world - could have made for something interesting, again, if the script wasn't so rushed. Continuing where the hypothetical sequel hook left off, we could open with a discussion between the villains about the implications of what they are doing, followed by the heroes having to deal with the ramifications of such actions along with the involvement of Dr. Wu, the Indoraptor, and of course Blue as a potential prize-winner. Of course this runs the risk of becoming the original Jurassic Park except on the mainland, and thus not really trying anything new, but it could at least give audiences the time to digest the film and appreciate the moments where it makes a genuine impact, even before the dinosaurs end up getting released into the mainland like what happened in the movie itself, complete with the insane amount of ramifications thereof. The Stygimoloch plowing its way through the bidders on its way to freedom was almost as cathartic for me to watch as the climactic fight in JW, and I wish it could've gotten more screentime, or even plucked up the guts to fend off the Indoraptor in a situation that doesn't seem forced, e.g. the hybrid and the Stiggy getting trapped in the same complex, or even Owen luring it over as backup (which is stupider but, given how he got it to bust him and Claire out in the movie itself, isn't entirely unreasonable). As for the Indoraptor itself, I feel like they could have done a bit better with its design, as even underneath the paint job and altered proportions it's still more or less "Indominus 2: Genetic Boogaloo", as I have called it at least once. Still, it has its own appeal as a monster design and, if it weren't for the presence of similar-looking creatures in previous installments of the series, it would certainly have made an impact as a monster. It's almost wolf-like in movement and mannerisms, even werewolf-like, which is intentional given the vintage horror movie homages the production team was going for. The way it menaces Maisie - who has her own set of plot-related craziness to her, but that's a can of worms I'd rather not open - makes you worry for her life, and even fear for Blue when she engages it in battle. I know I'm one of those who actually prefers antagonistic Velociraptors (the inaccurate variety from the films, not the smaller and fully feathered real-world version which I would absolutely take home with me if I could find a way to retrieve it from Cretaceous Mongolia and have it housetrained and okay I'll stop now), but Blue as always is awesome, and after seeing her actually manage to hold her own in her fight against the Indoraptor if only for a short while, there's no denying that anymore - even if that scene with her outrunning the explosion in the boiler room is a bit over-the-top even by the standards of this movie. There is of course no way a spectacle-driven, plaid-speed-paced romp like Fallen Kingdom could surpass the bar set by The Big One and the legendary kitchen scene, but on its own merits, the Indoraptor is a wonderfully serviceable and formidable threat that I just wish could've gotten more screentime and room to develop as a character, rather than just remaining as an unhinged killing machine that exists just to terrorize everyone before exiting the film (the same is true for all the dinosaurs here besides Blue, really, which is sad because, again, I much prefer when films develop monsters as characters rather than mere plot devices). With a little more design work to make him stand out more among the other critters in the franchise and more time to explore his nature, he could easily have become almost as iconic as The Big One as movie monsters go, or at least as much as the I. rex, though the latter bar is admittedly a good deal lower in the wake of how the movie industry has, ahem, evolved.

With that thought in mind, I will now spell out the biggest problem I had with this movie: the fact that it was trying to do so much in such a short space of time. Humorously and ironically, I know almost enough about the issues with my own writing to recognize the signs of that, with significant events being spaced too close to each other, too many characters at once (though admittedly, Zia and Maisie are a treat to watch, Franklin a bit less so but far from unbearable for my taste), and at least one questionable decision on the part of everyone at some point or another, up to and including the writers. There are a lot of things I liked, but not enough time for me to let them sink in, like I was being bombarded with one spectacle after another. It feels like overkill more than anything, and alas, far too many films in recent years have tried to shove that method into people's faces as though trying to say, "Here's your action, here's your fanservice, here's your whatever the whoopity-freaking-doo you consider entertainment, are you happy now?!" (Well, not quite as vitriolic and sarcastic, but you get the idea.) If the filmmakers and the owners of the franchise rights had been willing to accept four movies in the newer series rather than just three, and let Fallen Kingdom be broken up into two separate, slightly slower-paced movies, the problems with each individual portion would likely not have been as significant, and audiences would not have noticed them so readily. Sadly, though, the rapid-fire, dozen-blockbusters-a-year rush-job environment of the modern movie industry was not kind to this film, which is a crying shame. We need more movies that are more relaxed and subdued half the time, the way the original JP film was, and while audiences may have to take the time to once again get used to movies like that, I think it would be a welcome change of pace from the current influx of chaotic, nonstop slugfests and pyrotechnic displays we've become so familiar with.

In tl;dr form, it is with a heavy heart that I have to say that Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is, in fact, the worst film of the entire Jurassic Park franchise, even more so than JP3 - though don't get me wrong, as with JP3, I still very much enjoyed it as its own movie, as clumsily handled as it was at times (though even then, the movie itself isn't entirely at fault for it). There's a difference between a movie being the low point in its franchise and a low point among movies in general, a difference which a lot of reviewers need to understand before taking an undeserved dump over movies that could've been so much better if Hollywood had worked just a bit differently. You have to actually try to make a work of entertainment media I consider genuinely terrible, and it was actually a relief to me that even the lowest points of Fallen Kingdom still ranked somewhat midway between "meh" and "shakes hand eeeeehhhhhh" from my own subjective standpoint. I truly hope that the next and presumably final JP film will turn out for the better, especially given that Alan, Ellie, and Ian are all slated to have major roles in it, but I'm not going to dismiss Fallen Kingdom off the bat just because of the issues I have with its writing. If nothing else, it's a perfectly decent popcorn flick with prehistoric monsters in it - and hey, that was pretty much what everyone was there for, wasn't it?

Grading Scheme:

96 - 100: A+

93 - 96: A

90 - 92.9: A-

87 - 89.9: B+

83 - 86.9: B

80 - 82.9: B-

77 - 79.9: C+

73 - 76.9: C

70 - 72.9: C-

67 - 69.9: D+

60 - 66.9: D

Below 60: E

Grades:

Writing: 6

Characterization: 6

Pacing: 7

Creativity: 8

Consistency: 8

Cinematography: 9

World Building: 7

Music and Sound: 8

Effects: 10

Engagement: 9

Final Grade: 78 (C+)

#Armor Bird Reviews #Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

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multi-muse-mayhem · 6 years ago

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Don’t get sucked in

So I came back, wanted to start rping again, and then promptly began writing obsessively all day every day for about two weeks. Would have been nice if I’d written on the novel I’m actually supposed to be working on, but no. I started madly writing a fanfic for the Merry Gentry universe. Rant with spoilers if you haven’t read A Shiver of Light. You might want to skip it. I wish I had.

Why did I start writing madly (in just about every sense of the word)?

Because I finished reading A Shiver of Light (which I only recently discovered was out and have been patiently waiting for for about EIGHT YEARS at this point). Not only did almost nothing interesting happen for 90% of the book, at the very end she just flat kills off Sholto.

I exaggerate not dear reader. I was so infuriated by this level of plot shock on top of Sholto and Merry repeatedly telling each other both in private and public they are not in love (WHY THE FUCKING HELL NOT?!?!). I was so infuriated, I became physically nauseous and started having palpitations. I sat on the floor in the bathroom for about twenty minutes before I trusted myself not to puke. It really felt like I might. It ended up, I only dry heaved a few times.

I was that angry.

Why was I more enraged than I have ever been over a book? Well, firstly because I’m a book nut who gets really into reading (if the book is good). Secondly, I connected with Sholto on an emotional level more so than with any other character including Merry herself. I won’t go super in depth into why, but suffice it to say I had a lot of body image issues growing up, and Sholto with his nightflyer father’s squiggly nest of tentacles personified that body shaming so many of us have been scarred by.

Thirdly, I was infuriated by the atrocious pacing and lack of general story progress. SO much time was spent on Merry ooing and ahing over her triplets, freaking out over whether they will get hurt or hurt others (cause crazy be in the family hard core), and going on and on and on about how her body changed during and after the pregnancy. These things would have been fine, except they seemed to make up 70% of the book. Merry only physically leaves the house twice in the novel. Once in the beginning for a dr appointment during which her water breaks, and once in the end to see Sholto (when he gets shot and killed).

You could argue she leaves four other times: twice to visit soldiers in need of Goddess’ blessing and twice for dream sequences where Taranis invades her mind. That feels like reaching to me though. The fir dearg (however the hell it’s spelled, I’m not wasting my time to look it up right now) are mentioned, but none actually appear in the book. I was severely disappointed but this persistence in a loose thread of story line that started...three books ago? I think. Again, not going to waste my time checking, cause this is a rant. There are rumblings about a potential shift in power among the Goblins, but NONE of the mentioned goblins (Holly, Ash, King Kurag) makes an appearance. They’re just mentioned.

I think, almost worse than her Killing off Sholto was how slap dash the last two chapters were where Merry briefly interrogates the Seelie refugee whose fingerprints were on the rifle. We don’t get to hear who else exactly was involved, other than Taranis, and I’m not entirely sure anyone else was involved, because basically all Hamilton writes is a summary at this point. A summary that amounts to, “He told us everything. He didn’t try to bargain for his life. Just his wife’s.” And then, we don’t even get to see the bastard executed! No wonderful description of the Sluagh avenging their very beloved King. Not even a hint of if he died horribly or quickly, though I suspect the former cause this is sluagh we’re talking about. And in the very end, Aisling returns to the Seelie court (cause the king has been dethroned and exiles have an option of returning if they wish) and is reported to be recognized as the new King. I say “reported” because for some fucking reason Hamilton can’t be bothered to actually have someone go with him even though Merry is no longer pregnant, has plenty of guards, mutilated Taranis (so her enemies are now quite fearful of her), and could go with him.

I sat through about 300 pages of a new mother worrying about the same damn things over and over for about 70 pages of story. The two chapters where Merry is summoned in spirit to help soldiers were powerful and wonderful things. Powerful! I cried at the first and nearly cried at the second. I loved every moment of those scenes!

The rest was like reading someone’s personal journal where they just worried incessantly about the same handful of issues. And then, she (Hamilton) SHOT SHOLTO! No foreshadowing really. No warning. Just BANG! Oh, he’s dead. No, he’s really really dead. Totally dead. Shot through the heart by a high powered sniper rifle dead. Why? FUCK IF I KNOW! She could have gotten a lot more drama out of him being critically injured through the end of the book, and still done everything else she dead, and instead of deciding not to buy her next book (unless someone posts spoilers that Sholto gets brought back, maybe by sacrificing Taranis and Andais. I’d be cool with that), I would be eagerly awaiting the next novel. Instead, I’m dreading it.

I feel like someone else wrote most of that book, and Hamilton just wrote the scenes with the soldiers. At least the fan part of my brain feels like that...

sigh

The up side of all of this is, I rabidly began writing a fanfiction to correct this utter travesty of an event. In the course of about two weeks I have written over 100 pages and almost 100,000 words. Would have been nice if it could have been on the novel I’m supposed to be finishing, but hey, I’m not under a deadline, so I can take a break. I am very proud of the quantity of words I’ve put out, but as I read back over what I’ve written, I’m also pleasantly surprised by the quality. My scenes are intense. The pacing is almost exhausting (my poor MC scarcely gets a moment to rest). She’s not the perfect candidate to restore Faerie like Merry was, but she’s doing the best she can and making progress as well as mistakes that bite her in the ass.

Eventually, I want to reshape this fanfiction into a novel in its own right and offer it up to the hungry mass of Hamilton’s fan base and former fan base who loved the drama, action, mystery, and just the right sprinkle of sex in the early novels. A delicious combination of elements that is sorely missing in the latest book of the series. I have so many books I want to write though...

If I ever get the hang of finishing a novel, I’m going to be damn near as prolific as Piers Anthony. I think I might have to give up gaming to do it though, at least solo gaming, and possibly rping as well. The latter isn’t much of a loss since I don’t really have anyone to rp with anymore.

#merry gentry #sholto #a shiver of light #spoiler #rant #also #I'm still alive #ooc

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savorvrymoment · 3 years ago

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2021 Fanfic Round-Up

Was wanting to do a little summary of this year’s fic, since I was actually pretty productive this year lol. So I figured I’d find something and pull it all together.

Total Number of Works: 13

Total Word Count: 86,280

Fandoms Written For: Elder Scrolls, Marvel, Roswell NM, Star Wars, The Walking Dead

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you expected?

A lot more. I’m usually much less prolific, but I think because I decided to do Kinktober I was sort of... continuously thinking about getting new prompts completed during these last few months? Even though I didn’t even get close to getting all 31 prompts done lol.

Also, my dark magics series put out a lot of material, so...

What’s your own favorite story this year?

That’s hard, they’re all special to me in different ways. I’m probably going to have to go with dark magics, though I’m also very happy with crimson-hued and memories.

Did you take writing risks this year?

I... don’t often take big risks. I push myself sometimes to do different things, but I write for fun so if I’m not going to enjoy it then I don’t do it. Probably the riskiest--or most difficult thing I wrote was control, because the connection between Obi and Maul was physical and angry and depressive with no real softness and sweetness. I feel like the both wanted to bridge that gap, but didn’t know how with all the history and baggage between them. And though it ends on a bittersweet note, I don’t do bittersweet--I do resolved happy endings lol. It was very hard to just leave it there even though I know that’s where it needed to be left.

Do you have fanfic goals for the new year?

Finish the rest of this year’s Kinktober lol. And maybe start a Whumptober, or some other sort of challenge. As I mentioned earlier, having those prompts has really pushed me to write.

Most popular story of the year?

dark magics, by a very large margin lol. 7440 hits, 560 kudos, and 60 comment threads. The second most popular is the follow-up in the series, whisper to me what you most desire, though it’s only at 1891 hits, 179 kudos, and 6 comment threads lol.

Story of mine most underappreciated by the universe?

metal, my Carol/Daryl cock piercing fic. Though that is sort of a niche kinky interest--and for some reason also not a super popular ship even though it’s practically canon--so i can understand why people may be passing over it lol.

Most fun story to write?

That’s another hard one, because they were all fun in their own ways. I’m gonna have to go with both memories and crimson-hued, a two-way tie as most fun lol. Though dark magics was great too.

Biggest surprise?

The response to dark magics. Obi/Maul isn’t really a popular ship like some of the other ones. It was just an idea I wanted to explore, and I figured I’d be writing it for myself and two other people, lmao. Yet I got such great feedback, even got fanart for it! Like, omg, such a great feeling when you know people are enjoying what you’re doing. 💖

Fav part of fandom this year?

Reading, writing, discord, the great peeps. The escapism lol. Everything. 💖

#fanfic #writing

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flightfoot · 2 years ago

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You know, looking at this, Miraculous Ladybug is a bit of an outlier. The show started up in late 2015, so you’d think that its presence on FFN would be pretty minimal, but it’s actually one of the biggest Cartoon fandoms on the site, even though its numbers aren’t nearly as high as its AO3 counterpart.

It especially stands out when looking at all of the other cartoons on this list. Miraculous is the newest one in the top ten - the next newest one is Legend of Korra, which started up in early 2012 AND was the sequel to the mid-2000s cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was already super popular. The next most recent after that was Young Justice in late 2010, though you could argue that My Little Pony deserves that title, if you’re only counting the Friendship is Magic series, since that show debuted the month prior.

Anyway, Miraculous ALSO has the second-highest fic count of Cartoons on AO3, with only Voltron topping it.

I’m on ML AO3 all the time (as a lot of the writers on there know, I read and review pretty prolifically, I’m Keyseeker btw), and when I look at FFN, there are a decent number of familiar fics. Quite a few people cross-post I think, like I do, though I dunno whether it’s an unusual amount compared to other currently ongoing fandoms.

Makes me wonder what factors make it so that even newer cartoons end up with large amounts of fanfics in both archives. Like I notice that Voltron: Legendary Defender, despite having a huge presence on AO3 and debuting less than a year after Miraculous, has less than 7K works on FFN.

Another reason for the lack of Western Cartoons fanfiction on AO3 could be because there is still a lot of fanfiction on FFN? In fact, have you ever thought about doing an analysis to compare the number of fanfictions from the same fandoms on both sites? And maybe also compare the anime/manga category

Yeah, good thinking... I believe historically a lot of animated shows had most of their fanfic on FFN, though in more recent years at least some of those fandoms have gotten very popular on AO3, and FFN growth has been tapering. I've done a number of comparisons among different fandom archives and platforms, but I haven't compared the sizes of a bunch of specific fandoms on on AO3 vs. FFN - has anyone else? Somewhat related -- I compared the biggest fandoms on AO3 vs. FFN in 2015... lots has changed since then, though.

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maxrev · 7 years ago

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Since I haven’t been able to write, so I’m answering these fanfic writer questions. I decided to go ahead and do them all because...why the hell not? I will try to answer from both fandoms I’m in - Fallout 4 and Mass Effect.

It will be under the cut because it’s long ;)

Fanfic writer questions

favorite fic you wrote this year - For Fallout 4: Ode to Eyebrows (fallout 4) - a collab with an amazing artist @marvilus73 about Danse’s eyebrows featuring her f!sole Charlie! For Mass Effect: Think I’m going to have to go with the first one I wrote for the ME fandom - When Darkness Comes. I had no idea I could write angst before this game. It’s fshenko and I’m still ridiculously proud of it.

least favorite fic you wrote this year - Alliance Training for Kaidan appreciation week. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to and in fact, I think it was just too long and too detailed.

favorite line/scene you wrote this year - line: I actually have several I’m really proud of but we’ll go with these. Mass Effect AU - “Face it, I’m my own brand of badass and you’d be lost without it. Now turn around and I’ll help strangle you with that.” Scene was in Fallout 4: It’s long, so I’ll link it here if anyone cares to actually read it. Starts with the sentence after the second line break, "Walking slowly and carefully..." ends with "Maybe we could begin again?" -- I love this scene because it’s really emotional for Alice, my f!sole, which is unusual for her.

total number of words you wrote this year - Wow. A lot. I think I’ve been most prolific this year after finding myself immersed in the Mass Effect fandom. So, I will include anything written for A New Reality (Fallout 4) and anything Mass Effect, including NaNo. Basically, not counting A New Reality (chapts 10 through current!) or the endless bits and pieces I have, over 50 thousand words.

most popular fic this year - (By hits) Fallout 4: Confusion. A little drabble about Boone and Danse. Boone realizes that Danse is more to him than just a a fellow soldier to travel with, more than just a friend.

least popular fic this year - Mass Effect - How It All Began. Written for Shepard appreciation week. A brief glimpse at Riley’s beginnings.

longest completed fic you wrote this year - Not counting my ongoing long-fic for Fallout 4, it would be Supergiant (3330), which was written for Shepard appreciation week. An mshenko fic about some emotional upheaval in John’s life concerning his scars.

shortest completed fic you wrote this year - Mass Effect: Haunted (245). From a prompt list on tumblr. An mshenko/fshenko (neutral) drabble.

longest wip of the year - Fallout 4: A New Reality (ongoing). About my f!sole Alice and her journey through the Commonwealth. A lot more involved than that but...yeah.

shortest wip of the year - At the moment? Would probably be a Mass Effect wip -- Shore Leave part 2. An mshenko continuation of sorts to something I wrote for Kaidan appreciation week.

fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year - Mass Effect. Wow..this game blew me away. The interactions between the characters, the dialogue - serious, hilarious, snarky - all of it. The characters felt like family in a way I didn’t get from Fallout 4 (the only other game I’ve been completely immersed in). It gave me incredible creativity with my writing, getting me to write POVs and emotions I’d never written before. It’s been a wild ride and I’ve enjoyed every single minute!

favorite character to write about this year - Long answer, which you can find here!

favorite writing song/artist/album of this year - I think I’ll go with Breaking Benjamin because their music has been the most consistent influence with writing ME fanfic.

a fic you didn’t expect to write - Anything Mass Effect? I didn’t expect to fall quite so hard into this black hole that literally took over my life. Then, we can go a little further and say anything mshenko. They also took over my life and honestly, I think I’ve done some of my best work writing about the boys and their ME romance. (I was going to elaborate as to why but we’d be here forever lol) I suppose I should list the one that really blew me away as a writer. That would be - A Wonderful Life (AO3 title - Black holes/Neutron stars for Shepard appreciation week).

something you learned this year - It’s okay to lose momentum. It’s okay to step back and take a break. I don’t have to like it -- and believe me, I don’t and I’m really having a hard time with that -- but it is okay.

fic(s) you completed this year - That’s a thing? Endless drabbles/one-shots...whatever you call them.

fics you’ll continue next year - Pirate AU, MEBB fic (which may or may not be used for that), A New Reality

current number of wips - 3 major ones, a lot of one-shots

any new fics to start next year - Not if I can help it! We’ll see what happens ;)

number of comments you haven’t read - Exactly zero. I read them all and do my best to respond.

most memorable comment/review - Damn. I honestly had quite a few that made me grin and/or laugh and it’s so hard to choose! Mass Effect: OH MY GOSSHHH IM DEAD D ECEASED this is so sweet omg !! and your writings absolutely lovely ! Fallout 4: MAX I FOUND YOUR SINS lol Deacon tho. Gotta hand it to him. He scores some devious pointage ;)“Blue, he wouldn’t know fun if it ran straight at him. He’d probably laser it to death.” Fucking yes lmao Verdict: cute af, would read again. you rock

events you participated in this year - NaNo...though that was a bomb lol, Mass Effect Flash Fanwork, Shepard appreciation week, Kaidan appreciation week, Sole Party 2.0 (Fallout), several different themed prompts for Mass Effect, Cactuarkitty’s Mass Effect Romance week. There might be more...it’s been a proliferative year for me as a writer, which may explain my burnout!

fics you wanted to write but didn’t - Mass Effect: Pirate AU for ME, though I have started it. I was trying to finish it for NaNo and get it out before the end of the year. However, that didn’t quuuuite happen xD Fallout 4: Finish Boone’s story after the Institute maybe someday

favorite fic you read this year - Fallout 4: Always By Your Side Mass Effect: There were 2 and I refuse to choose between them. Soldier’s Heart and Wish You Were Here.

a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read - See above question.

number of favorites/bookmarks you made this year - 6 between both fandoms (AO3).

favorite fanfic author of the year - There are way too many that I absolutely love and go back and reread what they write. I refuse to narrow it down or accidentally exclude anyone.

longest fic you read this year - Mass Effect: (still reading) Zero Hour from @scottrydcrs. To be honest, I’ve read quite a few long fics this year. I don’t remember them all but that is my current one that I’m thoroughly, enjoyably immersed in ;)

shortest fic you read this year - Mass Effect: Welcome to the Suck xD from @nightmarestudio606

favorite fandom to read fic from this year - Mass Effect. The fandom has been around for so long that I keep finding hidden gems every time I search back a little further in various tags. It’s like searching for treasure and always finding a bit of sparkle in places you wouldn’t expect it. I love it!

#fanfic writers asks #writing prompts #sort of?

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othercat2 · 7 years ago

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The Year In Recap 2017

I have not done a recap for anything since 2011. This is mostly because of the deep, deep hole me and my Mental Health Issues ended up in and also my inability to get/keep/hold a job due to same. Since 2014 there have been some improvements but also more than a few steps backward.

2017 did not have a very auspicious beginning, and frankly, most of it sucked. On the other hand there were a number of things that I was actually able to start/put in motion/re do. At the end of 2016 I managed to be very prolific as far as fan fic writing was concerned, though less so in original fic writing or meta posts. ( 2016 also saw a few Major Kerfuffles where my meds kept me from the anxiety/depression spiral of doom that carried over into 2017 in the form of the Horrible Fic Which Is Horrible, and some snarky meta/explanations for the increased security on certain fan fics, and my general feels for the entire VLD fandom, and the Spokesperson, who is their representative/avatar. Yes VLD fandom, you are all that single solitary person who decided to harass me, refused all attempts to communicate reasonably, ignored a sincere request/offer that they beta my critiques, and got their friends to join in attacking me, then acted indignant that there were other people who didn't agree with them and pulled stupid middle school powerplays on me.Maybe they actually were middleschoolers. I'm told the entire vld fandom is middle schoolers by the Spokesperson.) This year I decided to try volunteering at a animal shelter. Unfortunately, I was not able to continue volunteering due to a combination of "way too many mistakes" on my part and what I think were personality conflicts, followed by what may or may not have been sabotage. (I got clobbered by a cat, which got me marked up. Then I interrupted a pet adoption because I was cleaning the other adoption/exercise areas--I was trying to be polite but apparently not? Then an otherwise sweet pitbull made a break for it, though I got control pretty quickly, then one of the staff members refused to hold the door so I could get the darn martingale collar around the neck of the dog I was going to walk, then someone let a bunch of dogs out of their kennel and I was blamed for it and the next day I was given a second strike notice and told that I had definitely let the dogs out. Then one of the staffers let me go into the cat room when I really, really shouldn't have and I got chased out. Then later, when the problem cat was back in it's kennel I went in to play with the cats and someone put the "do not enter sign" back up...while I was in the room. So it would look like I was disobeying clearly written instructions. This was apparently by "accident." After this I decided that I could not trust the staff, or my own ability to risk-assess and stopped volunteering. This stuff only happened at the main center. If I was at the center in the mall, I had no problems, aside from the time a chihuahua slipped their darn collar and I had to fix the darn collar.) This is why I take meds people. I make really dumb mistakes then have anxiety/depression spirals that increase the likelihood of really dumb mistakes which lead to anxiety/depression spirals ad infinitude. Even taking the meds doesn't mean I won't have them, just make it easier to crawl back out of them. This year I am making a second attempt at getting SSI due to my continuing inability to actually land and keep a job. (I was hired seasonally at a department store, but after that, no bites.) The first time did not go so well, but the second time I have more documentation and a lawyer. Due to the continuing job hunt being a major stressor because I was putting more energy into the job hunt than I was getting out of it, I stopped working with vocational rehab/my job counselor. I decided to start a Patreon and also started a Ko-Fi for my writing. I also started on an original fic project that is being posted on Patreon and also on catchingshadows I have other original fic projects planned, but not written yet because reasons. I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my knees, and had physical therapy for a few months. I have been very bad about continuing the exercises because getting started on doing anything or continuing anything is Very Hard for me. I still don't know why I have chronic headaches. There is apparently nothing wrong with my brain. I have been told by an eye doctor that there is some eye damage that is indicative of me probably having been a preemie. (I think I wasn't though?) Also I can look forward to my eyes getting worse, which yes, I know. I have new eyeglass prescriptions I don't have the money for. (Yes, even if I did one of the online sites. I don't get a lot of money and most of it goes toward rent.) The last few months have been horrible because of End Of The Year Baloney. Such as renewing my subsidized housing, getting overdrawn, being in danger of being over drawn, renewing my school loan payment program, renewing Medicaid and renewing my lease. I should note that I have ALWAYS had money problems toward the end or beginning of the year, and I am not entirely sure why. (It is totally because I can't budget for shit.) Also I have been sick for the past couple weeks. I was not able to do very much writing due to End Of The Year Baloney and depression. What writing I did get done was fan fic. For fanfic, I am pretty close to the end of two for mirth and Safety Dance. I do not know how close. I do not know how they will end. I still have trouble with endings, but I am mostly optimistic I will not fuck them up. (they flow from form to form) is still in progress. I am not sure I'm even toward the middle yet. And I'm fussing about the pacing. *pokes the fic* There is a new fic Eriond: be the Rogue of Hope which is a crossover between the Belgariad-Mallorean and Homestuck. There is also a plot weasel wherein John is the Chosen One and the other betas are his Companions to destroy the Evil Empress. Except for the part where the Evil Empress has already been defeated? And Feferi is ... actually the Chosen One. Obviously? Why would a human be the Chosen One? Also you're six months late? And you burned down a bunch of Alternian towns?

#year end recap #mental health issues #writing

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openamenta · 7 years ago

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some of my favorite fiction with speculative caste systems

I like sci-fi, what can I say?

Brown by Ali Lamenelmi. Her first and only novel, but it’s very polished. People start being born with brown hair sometimes, in every caste. They don’t pass it on to their children, usually; one in ten thousand babies is born brown-haired, and the rate is the same no matter what color hair their parents have. The whole thing is extensively studied, but without much success. They notice that brown-haired people are unusually likely to fit into their birth castes very badly, so they start testing them when they’re a year old to assign a caste. The main character is a brown-haired green studying the phenomenon and most of the character drama in the book is about how, since she was raised by a purple family who didn’t know any greens before they had her, she grew up mostly learning to be purple. She had green classmates but purple friends after school and now she has green coworkers but doesn’t feel like she can connect with them on a personal level. But she’s also, at the same time, getting more and more distant from her family and old friends. It’s really intriguing and goes deep into the benefits that castes would have culturally even if they were made up and arbitrary… which it kind of lightly implies they might be.

Invisible Light, which bright-like-the-sun reviews well here, so I won’t go into too much detail. I do want to add how detailed the worldbuilding is so far. It doesn’t just go into how things are usually supposed to work. It actually goes into what happens to edge cases or if something unexpected happens. What if you have an injury or illness or anything else that makes you less fit for your very, very narrow, individual not-really-caste? It’s not just a matter of finding a different grey job, say, if you’re injured too badly to be a gymnast anymore, and one of the secondary characters deals with that in a very interesting way that I thought was a thoughtful look at how things like that work in the real world. Warning: it’s still a WiP! Maybe wait till summer to read all of it at once.

Blue as a Cloudless Sky, by Tefam Kita, who is a pretty prolific author. I think this book (which is, alas, a standalone) is even better than the Blackout series, which got into kind of a rut with the second and third books. An alternate history, one of the only two non-sci-fi works on this list, where grey aristocracies were able to hold their own and eventually overwhelm several of the more peaceful and trade-oriented blue-led countries. There are three alternating viewpoints: Asani, a yellow secretary for a grey government official; Ina, a young blue refugee whose family is one of a couple of blue families trying to survive all alone in the desert; and Emitil, a purple housekeeper working for the king of one of the houldout blue-led states, who gets approached by an agent of Asani’s country wanting him to spy for them. It’s very intricate but if I had to sum up what it’s about in one word, that word would be “tradeoffs”. It has a more lyrical, poetic tone than Tefam Kita’s other works and it’s more poignant. It goes deep into the characters and how their situations change them, yellows who learn to cover for greys’ weakness in domestic economic policy and have to decide how much to let their own jobs slide to pursue that, blues who grapple with doing manual labor while being worthy of respect and come through changed, canny purples who don’t understand economics but do understand enough to see which countries are better off and make world-changing decisions as well as they can. I really recommend it!

Blackout, also by Tefam Kita, which everyone has heard enough about, I think. I know it’s amazingly overhyped and no one will shut up about it, but it really is great!

Innate, by an anonymous fanfic person on ourpersonalarchive.net (and used to also be on fanfiction.com), which… makes the list partly because it makes me uncomfortable and partly in spite of how uncomfortable I am with it. Part of me wants to call it a cheap gimmick and I kind of object just on principle to spoilers that need content warnings that would also be spoilers. The premise is… I don’t know what to say. I have all the obvious problems with it. But it made me think a lot about castes and… stuff… and in the end I really respect what the writer wanted to do (not exactly agree, but I respect it) and I’m glad I read it. Okay, so, if you need a trigger warning for, let’s just say anything at all, consider this your trigger warning for even just the description. And if you want a spoiler warning, here it is, don’t keep reading, just go look up the fic. So it starts out with this blue walking somewhere unspecified and thinking a lot and watching things. And it turns out the castes have different hair. The soldiers have purple hair, the people who farm and stock store shelves have grey, judges and most government officials have orange… but then it’s revealed that the castes are actually sort of the same. Judges don’t just have orange hair, they are orange because oranges have good people skills and care enough about everyone to be fair to them all. Greys do farm work and heavy lifting because you need to be strong and because it’s sometimes dangerous work and you need to be brave to work around hazardous materials or heavy machinery that could kill you. And meanwhile the narrative cuts in and out of this blue’s life and you start realizing that yeah he’s definitely not doing what our blues do or living like our blues live. He’s a blue so the fic pushes the idea that he’s someone who thinks big-picture about what all of society needs, who understands that sometimes something that looks like a good idea to the masses isn’t, he thinks about how if blues were oranges (if it were like the real world) then he wouldn’t have their problem with feeling bad about other people thinking they’re corrupt or something because as bad as it would feel he would know he was doing something right and important. And then we get to find out about the other… recasteings, purples are in the army and are cops, greys farm and stuff, oranges rule, yellows do science, greens are mostly accountants and programmers… except, our sad blue protagonist isn’t orange. In fact, castes teach their own children in this world! See, there are six castes in their world. No, I mean really, there are actually six and nobody else. Yyyyyyyyyeah. That reveal is about ten thousand words in (the fic is about 80k) and then there’s actual plot about sad blue trying to be an activist. I don’t know how I feel about it, it’s obviously a cheap gimmick but it’s really serious about everything, really philosophical and the writer was clearly going for “think hard about everything we take for granted, if it’s not uncomfortable you’re not digging deep enough” and not “haha what if the blue protagonist was secretly red all along isn’t that gross lol” but it’s kind of inevitable that it turns into the second one a little bit just because how could it possibly ever not.

#amenta rp #submission

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sphinxfeathers · 7 years ago

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For @docholligay

Doc, I used to be a prolific writer in the fandom but stopped for a variety of reasons. You have inspired me, for better or for worse, to take up writing fanfic again after a 15 year hiatus. Thank you for that. I hope this doesn’t suck too badly.

I have made a mistake.

I thought it would be an easy caper when I saw Michiru Kaioh sipping tea with the blonde-haired man in the small cafe. After all, in her dainty high heels and pretty dress she couldn’t well run after once I’d grabbed her violin.

The stradivarius. You wouldn’t think it of a thief like me, but I used to play the violin when I was a kid. I didn’t like it much at the time, my mom made me do it and I gave it up as soon as I finished school. Now I wish I hadn’t. No way I would ever be as good as Michiru Kaioh, but maybe I would be able to busk or something instead of stealing as much. Anyway, playing the violin at least gave me an interest in instruments.

That’s why I went after the violin. I knew she’d be here in Paris and as funny as it sounds, I’m a fan. Kaioh plays with her soul, and not everyone does that. Most don’t in fact, and it makes a difference.

Anyway, I had it all planned out. Kaioh and her man liked to eat outside at the little cafe near their hotel before going out with the violin, presumably to practice for the nightly performance. I had been watching them everyday since their arrival in Paris and made a simple plan: grab the violin and run.

Actually, I succeeded; I walked up like any other passerby, grabbed the violin and booked it. I couldn’t help but glance back right before hooking around my first corner. Both Kaioh and the man looked shocked as they scrambled to their feet, chairs clattering backwards.

“Haruka!” Kaioh cried in surprise.

Then I was gone. I smiled, triumphant and clutched the violin to my chest as I continued to dash around corners, deeper into the veins of Paris. I could never sell the violin legally, but the black market would swallow a beautiful instrument of its caliber in days, hours, minutes, seconds.

I ducked into a shadowy alleyway and tried to resist the giddy temptation to look back around the corner on the off chance that Kaioh and the man had somehow followed. I almost couldn’t believe the treasure in my arms: the Marine Cathedrale.

Two blurs landed at the far end of the alleyway and I nearly dropped the violin in surprise. Before me stood two women back-to-back dressed in unbelievably strange outfits. The outfits matched for the most part, short squirts, large bows, tiaras, and shoes that did not look conducive to jumping out of nowhere into the dead end of an alleyway.

In a beautiful French accent, the teal-haired woman began to speak, “Invited by the poor choices of a thief, I am the elegant Sailorneptune, fighting for what is right!” A lump formed in my throat and I struggled to swallow it down. I had no idea who or what Sailorneptune was, but I didn’t want to deal with her, and she knew I had stolen Kaioh’s violin. The blonde-haired woman opened her mouth and I cringed, waiting for more harsh words.

“Oui!” the other woman shouted enthusiastically, her heavy accent piercing through even the single word. I waited for more, and Neptune glanced at her, also seeming to expect more. The blonde shrugged and they both turned back to me.

“You need to return the Marine Cathedrale,” Neptune said. She spoke softly, but her eyes roared and I took a step back. “Running won’t help you. I am faster than you and stronger. If you give the violin up now then all will be forgotten. No one will have to know what has transpired.” Her voice had an even timbre to it that sent shivers down my spine and quickened my heart.

Yet, I chose the route of the coward, or maybe I wasn’t ready to give up yet. I could have the violin to the black market and in the hands of someone else, gone for an eternity in less than an hour. The money would be cool in my hands and I wouldn’t have to steal again for a long time. I could disappear, let the police forget my minor offences for a while all thanks to the beautiful, rich Michiru Kaioh.

And that brings us to the present.

I am deeply soaked, and have trapped myself stupidly under the rose window in the Notre Dame Cathedral. Despite this, I realize that the woman can’t have been aiming at me or I would be dead.

In a desperate moment I think I can lose them in the throngs of Notre Dame traffic, but of course they just make their careful way through the quickly leaving crowds. My wet feet slip and I roll over so I can see the two women approaching. The window is behind them and I can’t see their faces. Instinctively I cower.

The blonde stops and only Sailorneptune approaches me. The colors shift in her hair and across her skin giving her the quality of a creature moving through the darkness of the deep ocean. My heart in my throat, the image of a mermaid suddenly pops into my mind and I gasp in spite of myself. She floats toward me, a dangerous being of water and reflections and delicately picks up the violin. The storm in her eyes has calmed and still waters threaten a consuming deepness I never knew existed.

Sailorneptune backs away and I breathe again. I don’t think I can ever steal again. Not when the threat of drowning is all too real.

#fanfic #sailor neptune #sailor uranus #michiru kaioh #haruka tenoh

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themikeymonster · 8 years ago

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went in to halfprice books today, remembered the terrible theory of not being able to tolerate books because of the awful cliches - --- --------- the boring main male characters and regrettable plots --- ----------------- which i also saw a lot of ----------- and quickly fell into despair --------------

i defaulted to horror, because even if your protagonists are awful, you just cheer the monster on :3c

saw a lot of John Saul??? I don’t know authors very well. If fanfic didn’t let me immediately access all of an authors works, then I’d be even worse at following someone’s entire anthology. anyway.....

Picked up one of his books, Creature. Im screeching, because I just checked and apparently this is a book from 1990? nice. The back is like “A powerful high-tech company. A postcard-pretty company town. Families. Children. Sunshine. Happiness. A highschool football team that never-ever-loses. And something else. Something horrible ....” What made me buy the book was where it switched to italics. “Now, there’s a new family in town. A shy, nature-loving teenager. A new hometown. A new set of bullies. Maybe the team’s sports clinic can help him. Rebuild him. Then they won’t hurt him again. They won’t dare.”

If John Saul ends up being a tolerable writer, I’ll have lots of material to read. I mean, the shelves were full of all kinds of books - apparently he’s pretty prolific.

I also picked up a couple of werewolf books, because I’m always a slut for werewolves, and I’ve been thinking a lot about my original story which riffs off the standard horror tropes involving werewolves (but seems like it’s actually going to feature a lot of social commentary ............ a favorite default of mine, it seems. :\ )

One is Wolf’s Trap, the back of which reads like a hilariously bad cop/noir novel. “Nick Lupo is a good cop - a bit of a renegade at times, with the instincts of a great detective .... or maybe a wolf. Lupo has a lot in common with wolves, which is only natural considering he’s a werewolf. He’s battled the creature inside him for years, but now there’s another predator in the area. A bloodthirsty serial killeris leaving atrail of victims, and it’s up to Lupo to track him down and stop the slaughter. Will Lupo dare to unleash one beast to stop another?”

I’m going into that book with no expectations, because Lupo, are you serious? The cover art is also a bit ridiculous. This one is a bit harder to date, but apparently was a finalist for the Bram Stoker award in 2004.

The other book, I wasn’t initially certain was a werewolf book despite the title “Red Moon.” I found out when I cracked it open looking to avoid any first person pov, where someone is explicitly called a Lycan. This one reads, “When government agents kick down Claire Forrester’s front door and murder her parents, Claire realizes just how different she it. Patrick Gamble was nothing special until the day he got on a plane and hours later stepped off it, the only passenger left alive, a hero. Chase Williams has sworn to protect the people of the United States from the menace in their midst, but he is becoming the very thing he has promised to destroy. So far, the threat has been controlled by laws and violence and drugs. But the night of the red moon is coming, when an unrecognizable world will emerge ... and the battle for humanity will begin.”

It’s got a rather minimalist cover and seems to have been published in 2013, so it’s probably the most recent of the books I picked up. It seems to be a more classic type of book that I enjoy reading from time to time - like the way Michael Crichton writes. The kind where the characters take second position to the plot. I find that’s the easiest original content to consume for me, where as with fanfiction, I have to have character exploration and focus on relationship dynamics to remain engaged.

Then I somehow came across a legit zombie heroine. I actually didn’t read the title until I got it home: “The Year of Eating Dangerously”. The back of this one reads, “As a lawyer, Mallory Caine considers it her duty to defend the innocent. As a flesheating zombie, she knows how to take a bite out of crime. So when a scared ten-year-old boy asks for her help - claiming that his mother wants to eat him - Mallory rises to the occasion. Unfortunately, the occasion is a Satanic Ritual, the mom is a monster, and the boy is a sacrifice. Before you can say ‘the devil made me do it,’ Mallory is caught dead center between a family of freaks, fire-breathing demons, and the final battle of good versus evil. If she doesn’t have enough on her plate, the brain-chomping lawyer has to defend her zombie-hunting father in court. And, oh yeah: her flesh-eating secret is about to be exposed by a sexy LAPD detective who’s good enough to eat. What’s a zombie girl to do ...?”

IT’S JUST SO DELIGHTFUL??? I HOPE THE STORY IS AT LEAST AS GOOD AS THAT BLURB. I was pretty bored until I discovered that book. Horror is entertaining and all, but few things are as delightful as the completely absurd. I’m only dismayed to discover it’s not the first in the series - i really prefer to read series in order - but if it follows the usual format of book series of this genre, then I can probably deal with it. It’ll probably be one of the last ones I read, because I always save the delightful for last =w= This one came out in 2012.

and the book that I picked up that I’m most excited to read, “Heart Sick” which actually wasn’t in the horror section but next door in the Mystery/Thriller section. This one reads: “Portland Detective Archie Sheridan spent years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful and brutal serial killer. In the end, she was the one who caught him .... and tortured him ... and then let him go. Why did Gretchen spare Archie’s life and then turn herself in? This is the question that keeps him up all night - and the reason why he has visited Gretchen in prison every week since. Meanwhile, another series of Portland murders has Archie working on a brand-new task force ... and heading straight into the line of fire. The local news is covering the case 24/7, and it’s not long before Archie enters a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the killer - and his former captor. But this time, it’s up to Archie to save himself ...”

I mean, aside from the fact that i’m always a slut for serial killers, EW LITERALLY DRAWS COMPARISONS TO HANNIBAL LECTOR ON THE COVER, IM CRYING!!!!! LIKE??? IS THIS NOT THE RED DRAGON??????? UM??? Only made extremely heterosexual lmaooooo

but it’s somewhat interesting for the man to be the victim, and also I was seduced by the bright red cover and crude heart shape and the title “heart sick”, I am predictable and weak. “Love hurts. Sometimes it’s torture.” COVER BLURB PLEASE, I ALREADY PICKED THE BOOK UP, IT IS PAID FOR.

It’s definitely taunting me lol

I mean, I’m 99.999999% sure already that whatever I’m dreaming up in my own head is better than this book, if only because I can cater to my own psychological quirks 100% and ahhh ahhh but i loVE some psychos in love ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

#also typos in the blurbs are completely mine since i just typed them down myself #it may have been easier to check and see if the blurbs existed on line for the newer books #but ........ in the end this somehow felt easier tbh #anyway I feel like this is a good and diverse sampling of the kind of thing i like #two really cheesy detective/lawyer novels #a plot driven thriller #and the old Goosebumps style horror type thing #and then ....... serial killers lmao #i really get into that kind of deep obsessive co-dependence thing #IM SO WEAK #give me that brutal murderous homicidal kind of love ❤#well my preference is that they don't hurt each other ......... everyone else yes but each other no

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