#still one of my best one shots for this fandom hands down imo

[gemsofthegalaxy]

Greg starting a tryst with Tom w the vague sort of intention as using unwise, imbalanced sex to punish himself for being gay aka a disgusting freak.. only for Tom to treat him so nice and sweetly in bed bc that bitch is romantic as fuck and knowing Greg likes him back flips a switch in his brain instantly

[bangtannism]

Tkkers are the biggest jkkers there have ever been. They're the very embodiment of yelling "I'm not mad" while punching a hole in the wall. If their moments don't mean anything, why are you so mad? But they know that km's moments are significant which is why they desperately play down their relationship, call it fanservice, foist jm off onto other members (liking shipping ymn), anything to make it not real, because they know as well as we do, that if what km do is real and not scripted fanservice, then it blows apart their romeo&juliet fanfiction. For example, if its all real, then jk was drunk spinning jm and jm gave his best friend's "boyfriend" a hickey, and how would that make sense when tae and jm are still so close and loving on each other? If its real, then jk chose to spend the next 2 years with his "boyfreind's" best friend and not him, and how does that make sense?

The problem with tkkers is that they have built this perfectly insulated little belief system where they believe not in what they see, but in what they don't see, which is a nebulous relationship that supposedly exists only in private (I mean they literally brand tk the private couple). They don't even have to be based in reality or think critically because they've come up with convenient explanations for everything. If tk say something that goes against the tkker narrative, well that was the company forcing them. If they say or do something that supports it, well that was them being bold and fighting back. If interactions with another member don't threaten their ship, then that's fine and cute. If it does, well then that's just fanservice pushed by the company. They decide what is the "truth" based on if it already supports what they believe. I firmly believe there would be almost no tkkers today if they didn't stumble upon tkker accounts and become indoctrinated with the ideology because just watching content, seeing their actions, and listening to the boys talk (and believing them) would never lead you to thinking tk are romantically involved.

If its any consolation though, I do think way more army (not just km shippers) do acknowledge km's relationship being unique or sus at times, they just don't say it as much on tkker dominated spaces like twitter, where even using their duo name gets you branded a shipper and makes them mad. Like here on tubmlr, I've only checked the tk tag a handful of times out of curiosity, but the km posts and blogs seem to get waaay more engagement. Or even on reddit, I've see users make comments "like I hate shippers and I would never actually claim they're together, but km do make me questions sometimes LOL" while tkkers coming in hot with their crazy bullshit get shot down immediately there. Also this is anecdotal, but I wasn't involved in the fandom for a long period because of personal stuff (I still kept up with the member's solo projects though), and I was surprised at how much engagement km fan twt accounts get now or just how many big ones there are. At least from my memory a couple years ago, I don't remember km accounts (not just "shipping" stuff, but also accounts for km moments, etc.) getting as many likes and followers as they seem to have now, so I do wonder if the tides are turning (would make sense given recent events, rumors, etc. for tkkers to lessen imo).

They decide what is the "truth" based on if it already supports what they believe.

that's really the entire crux of the problem, nonny. instead of regularly examining their own beliefs and assumptions based on information as it comes out, they simply figure out how they can fit the information into the belief. the ways they come to their conclusions are filled with so many fallacies that it's usually not even worth addressing because if someone is willing to twist themselves into that many knots over their beliefs then theyre not actually going to listen to logic.

and dont get me wrong, shippers of all kinds do this, but i have never seen it with such frequency and aggression as the tkk crowd. once i saw someone on tiktok claim that jk only ever mentions th on his lives. when they were told that jk does indeed talk about other members on live (they'd know if they watched og content instead of just socmed clips), the person actually refused to believe it. that's not only absurd, but it brings me to my whole conclusion about why tkkrs constantly write off and redefine moments from other pairings (and obviously especially jikook):

if tkkrs took in all the information without trying to fit it into a pre-established narrative, their ship would fall apart. even if we assume that every other pairing in bts is platonic only, tkk does not hold up. the things they do for each other, say about each other, the things others say about them, the amount of time they spend together and activities they do, the way they touch and cuddle and joke, none of it truly stands apart from the rest of their friendships. especially when we take vmn and jikook into consideration. so the only way to make romantic tkk make sense is by simply ignoring or rewriting reality.

they have to imagine that jk only cooks for th, only sings for th, only spends free time with th, only does this that and the other thing for th because if they acknowledge that jk doesn't do these things for th exclusively, what do they have? (also it's really fucking weird that their entire ship seems to hang in the balance on what jk does – they really are so threatened with how jk behaves with jm that they're constantly trying to redirect that attention from jk to th.)

as a jikooker, i am sure you have heard so many of us talk about exclusivity and consistency, and tkk just does not have that. 🤷‍♂️ i enjoy seeing tkk together and i enjoy their friendship but at the end of the day, that's all you can glean from their interactions unless you start making stuff up.

as for engagement from army in general on jikook, i do think that a lot of the time the lack of it comes from fear because fandom culture as a whole has become so volatile towards rps. but why is it that jikook comments are automatically seen as more shippy than ones about other pairings? that's what doesnt make sense unless everyone else is seeing what we're seeing. talking about the "sus" stuff between jikook forces people to acknowledge that it is actually sus and that makes them uncomfortable because nobody wants to be branded a shipper in our current fandom climate.

but yes, imo there has been a turn in tides for jikook within the fandom. i talked about it before that jikook began gaining popularity quickly in 2017 which was then solidified with gcft. i think that the 'jikook wave' so to speak probably won't ebb unless we actually see a shift in their dynamics or they start dating other people. i am really curious to see the state of the fandom and jikookers after military service tbh.

[richardsphere]

A Breakup letter to a comfort show

So i guess this might be it for me,

To summarise my history with RWBY. I watched the first 2 or so seasons on-or-around launch i think. Enjoyed the fights, was indiferent to a lot of the characters tbh (Yang and Blake didnt really grab me, like i didnt "dislike" them, i was just largely indiferent. Weiss meanwhile was just infuriating with the blatant racism and entitlement issues. Like i knew they were going to make her grow as a character, but also i just couldnt stand her.) There were 5 characters i really enjoyed. -Nora -Pyrrha -Jaune -Penny. -and last but not least, Ruby I basically came into this series for the fun powers, interesting weapons, great fight-choreography and light humerous tone. It became my comfortshow during a quite stressfull time in my life. The early seasons were kitchy, but in a fun way. Then the tournament arc ended with 2/5 dead, one of which in a horrifically graphic manner and I decided i needed a minor break for my mental health. Couple of years later, Picked up where i left off and I fell out at the "weiss gets impaled through the heart" episode. Which to me really cemented the whole "the villains will just always win, the heroes might sometimes almost not lose"-tone for me. A tone that got me down into “I dont care who wins, as long as the suffering ends”-mode, and triggered my ideation issues badly. That as well as Salem's reveal doing the whole "female victim of tragedy holds authorities accountable for the injustice faced-> Inevitably gets turned into an inhuman monster that must be killed for the benefit of civilisation as a whole because women speaking up about their place in the world=bad" trope that i just absolutely despise. (it's one of my 3 most loathed tropes) So i drop out again. Swearing not to return unless the show got out of deconstruction-city and into “There Is Still Hope”-opolis. When the current season started airing, word on the wind came to me that the show had gotten past the dark story-arc now, the darkest hour had passed and the show is going to go into the rebuilding arc/reconstruction arc/the third act. So I decide to give it a shot again, not enough to buy a crunchyroll subscription (to prevent sunk-cost fallacy forcing my hand in an emergency) but enough to grab out binoculars and look at the fandom from what felt like a safe distance. Current status of my 5 comfort characters that made the show comfortable for me: -I dont know her status. Presumeably alive? -Probably Still Dead (theorised by some to be amnesiac as statue-woman, which isnt that much better imo,) -Old, will probably consign himself to a painful-firey death before the season is over for reasons of name and season Intro. -Died twice, second time less graphic but more gruesome then the first. (possibly dead thrice if the little theories are true) -Tortured into committing Suicide on screen. I guess it was nice getting to see 4/5 in one episode again before the end, but i am starting to struggle to believe a “safe distance” even exists for me anymore, I think that, unless the last 2 episodes perform amiracle somehow, it'd probably be best for me to block all the tags and never look back. I'll miss my old comfort show, but i guess it might finally be time to say goodbye.

[wildflowers-of-trolberg]

Gerda

I'm gonna combine these two, because my unpopular opinions on both of them are intertwined; ultimately, the thing for me is that I just don't think the Safety Patrol are as bad as a lot of the fandom seems to. The events of Hilda and the Mountain King are a big part of that, and I'll get to that, but Gerda's a big reason too. For her, my big unpopular opinion is that I don't want her to quit the Patrol; I want her to be the one to reform it.

So, as of now in the show, we've been introduced to three members of the Safety Patrol in detail:

I’m not going to deny that Show!Erik is pretty awful; he's not the most evil character we've met, in my opinion (Gryla and the Committee of Three are worse IMO), but he is a glory-seeking narcissist who sees his job as nothing other than a way to get the same popularity as his ancestors, and is perfectly willing to endanger the very people he's supposed to protect to reach that goal. But out of the three, he's the only one who's like that.

Gerda and Bellkeeper are both rank-and-file, albeit in different roles, and they're both perfectly reasonable people who just want to protect the city in the ways they think are best. Obviously, Bellkeeper is something of an outsider and has no respect for Ahlberg's authority, considering he was willing to commit industrial espionage, but he is genuinely proud of his role and has an understanding of beasts and spirits that rivals Hilda's.

Gerda, on the other hand, is a stickler for protocol and clearly does start out with a misplaced respect for Erik, but she never goes beyond misguided even at her worst. She does genuinely want to protect Trolberg, and she's ultimately able to see through her prejudices and realise her boss isn't all he's cracked up to be. And I would argue the rest of the Patrol is the same, not just because of Bellkeeper being more like her than Erik, but because we've seen it:

In Hilda and the Mountain King, while there's no Gerda, there is some more characterisation amongst the regulars in the climax. And even when faced with a doomsday scenario, with the wall breached and weapons ready, they hesitate. They don't know about Amma yet; they have no idea the trolls basically have a WMD underneath the city. If Show!Erik were here he would be ordering them to gun down the advancing trolls despite their numbers, but when given that decision themselves, the Patrol doesn't. They ultimately don't want to escalate this.

And Comic!Erik, who I would argue is much more like Gerda than his show counterpart, echoes this sentiment when he takes command again. He hates trolls, and his actions are absolutely making this situation worse, but even he doesn't want this to end in a slaughter; he gives the order to bring down Trundle, who is an active, immediate threat, but even after that he still orders warning shots and tells the regulars not to fire unless the trolls act first.

So overall, I don't think the Patrol as an organisation is pure evil, or irreperably flawed; Show!Erik is literally the only character we've seen associated with it, I would argue, who has that attitude, and he's the bad apple that's spoiling the entire thing. So I don't want to see Gerda leave the Patrol, and everyone else fall in behind Erik's crusade; or to see the Patrol disband entirely. I want to see them become a force for good, with Gerda at the helm.

Although, of course, that's ultimately my plan for a certain AU as well...

(art by @blagzdeath :)) - thanks to @relatablepicturesofhilda for the Mountain King images)

[deadmandairyland]

Hi! I’m here to bring you yet another Danganronpa tier list: the sexuality tier list, which you can find here.

Now I’m going to be honest here: I don’t really have any LGBT headcanons. It’s just not really something I focus on much when it comes to fandoms. Instead I usually just focus on ships, and as a result from that I tend to present a lot of characters as LGBT in fanfictions and posts I’ve made or reblogged. In other words, a massive chunk of my “headcanons” here are a direct result of shipping (as well as information I’ve picked up from the games themselves). That being said, it was interesting to actually think about this for once, so I’m kinda glad I did the tier list. And it gave me an excuse to bring back the rainbow color scheme I usually put in my tier lists for aesthetic reasons.

The original tier list had Straight at the top, but I moved it to the bottom for two reasons. One, this is Tumblr and that’s not what you’re here for. Two, I gave it a neutral color, and having a gray section next to a white section (i.e. the title of the list) like that looked bad to me. I definitely prefer this setup just on aesthetic alone.

Because this is largely based on ships, I feel it needs to be said that representation does not factor into this chart in any way. I know it probably looks bad that the only character in the Lesbian category is one of my least favorite (though NOT hated or even disliked, I should point out) characters in the main series. That has nothing to do with the fact that she’s a lesbian. She’s just a jerk, and usually not in a way that’s at least entertaining enough for me to like her.

Also keep in mind that this is just the main cast of the main series games. If you were to include characters from the DR3 anime, UDG, or the spin-offs, the Gay, Lesbian, and Ace categories would get more rep, certainly. Think Juzo, Yui, Takemichi, that gay guy with the trumpet, etc.

With that said, let’s go through the list:

Gay

Not gonna lie, one of the reasons why Rantaro is here (and not in Ace) is because of ships. Though I do sometimes ship him with girls, canon suggests he’s not interested in dating girls, and most fans seem to headcanon him as either gay or ace because of this, so I respected that. That being said, I also acknowledge he’s a very popular character in mlm ships, and at the time I was putting this together I hadn’t gotten to Taka yet so the Gay tier was still empty, and Byakuya was already sitting in Ace, so all of that swayed me to putting Rantaro here instead of Ace.

Taka was much easier to place here. He strikes me as a closeted gay man who probably doesn’t even realize he is gay. “Hey, let’s all hang out in the bath, guys! Getting naked is essential to form bonds with your fellow man! No need to be ashamed, it’s tradition!"

Lesbian

Again, ships. I only ship Hiyoko with one other character, and as soon as I say that you already know who she is.

Bisexual (Male Preference)

Akane is mostly here to account for any wlw ships I may have of her (e.g. Hina, Sonia maybe). Obviously she has a thing with Nekomaru, so Male Preference.

Chiaki is here for the same reason as Akane. I’ve shipped her with characters like Sonia and Ibuki before, but she really digs Hajime.

Chihiro honestly could have been anywhere in the Bi and Pan sections, but I ultimately went with Male Preference because of ships, specifically the fact that outside of the more... R18 circles of the Interwebs Chihiro tends to be shipped with guys more often than girls. Also doesn’t hurt that my OTP is Naehiro. I mean, have you seen how often Chihiro blushes around Makoto? (There’s more to it than that, as I’ve covered in the past. I’m just trying to add more fuel to the fire.)

Himiko is probably one of the few characters that isn’t here mainly because of ships. I do think she has some attachment towards Tenko, but I also get “I’m uncomfortable around her” vibes from her, and there are moments where she seems to crush on Kokichi (of all people) so that’s why she’s here. Still very much bi, though.

Hina has a crush on Makoto and has a complex around wishing she was more feminine so she can attract boys. So why isn’t she in the Straight section? ...Because Sakura, duh. And Kyoko too. And any other wlw ship you can think of that might work with Hina.

Honestly if it wasn’t for Miu I probably would have considered putting Kokichi in Gay. Again, while shipping plays a big part of my choices here, much like with Rantaro I have no qualms with putting a character in a tier that contradicts any ships I might have with that character, if those ships aren’t something I’m super invested in. This is a very important distinction, because it’s why I let ships sway my hand for so many of these even if I am also okay with going “Just because I ship this doesn’t mean I headcanon it” as I did with Rantaro. And honestly Kokichi’s ship teasing with Himiko does come off as more trollish than a sign that he’s into her, but he really gets into his back-and-forth with Miu, in my personal opinion, and he gets into it far more often with her for that matter. It’s why it’s one of my favorite ships for both of them tbh, and it’s because I like the ship so much that I just can’t ignore it for this sexuality headcanon tier list.

Maki... is here because of ships (e.g. Kaede).

Sakura... is here because of ships (e.g. Hina). ...What, you were expecting me to put a guy in the example? Remember, she has a boyfriend in canon.

Sayaka... is here because of... NOT ships, but DRAT. Yes, really. (”We really got down and dirty, Naegi-kun.”)

Sonia... strikes me as someone who swings both ways. I can’t describe exactly why I feel that way, but yes.

Bisexual (No Preference)

Celeste wants a harem of vampire boys but shipping her with Kyoko is also very popular and honestly i feel like it would fit her character. She’s got a look that says “I could get any ass I want and I know it.”

Ibuki is decked out in blues and pinks, and also I ship her fairly evenly among both boys and girls. She just screams bi icon to me, more so than any other character in the series.

Junko is either bi with no preferences or pan. She is an equal opportunity heart-and-soul-breaker and lust-for-despair machine.

There is no Mukuro in this list, but honestly I would probably put her where I put Junko anyway.

Kaede... is here because of ships (e.g. Miu, Maki)

Honestly I had no idea where to put Kirumi, so I just randomly chose one that I wouldn’t regret later if I ever put more thought into who I shipped her with.

I’m pretty sure Nagito being bisexual has some degree of canon attached to it??? I think??? I’m not entirely sure tbh, but fuck it. I’m doing this for fun anyway, so this doesn’t really matter.

Shuichi, like all Danganronpa protags, is bi as fuck. I also find him to be more shippable with guys than the other two protags, so IMO he has no preference.

Toko might have a thing or two for pretty boys, but... Komaru, I mean, this isn’t exactly shocking, I don’t think. Probably was closeted before she met Komaru. I mean she did focus on Hina’s boobs a lot in DR1, let’s not forget.

Tsumugi, much like Kirumi, is here because I haven’t put much thought into her ships.

Bisexual (Female Preference)

Gundham has a thing with Sonia in canon, but I can see him being bi. So... yeah, ships again.

Hajime, like all Danganronpa protags, is bi as fuck. It’s just that his Chiaki and Mikan game is just too strong.

Hifumi might claim to only like 2D, but his interest in Chihiro both in human form and computer program form (and the fact that this didn’t go away after the gender reveal) places him here.

Kaito strikes me as a closeted bisexual. The kind that could start any given conversation with “I’m not gay, but...”

Kazuichi also strikes me as a closeted bisexual, only his “I’m not gay, but...” is rooted more in dumbass than it is in systematic homophobia.

Korekiyo... is here because of ships (e.g. Rantaro).

Kyoko is bi as fuck, and I can see her having a preference towards girls in particular. She gets shipped with girls a lot (e.g. Celeste, Hina, Yui, and even Junko and Mukuro), and when she is shipped with boys it’s usually just pretty boys (e.g. Makoto, Byakuya, Ryota, Shuichi, and, depending on your interpretation, Chihiro). Also note that aside from Makoto and maybe Byakuya, Kyoko’s girl ships are far more popular than her boy ships. Just something I’ve noticed over the years.

Leon... is here because of ships (e.g. Chihiro).

Mahiru is here because I’m pretty sure she has a thing for Hajime in her FTEs, but obviously she tends to get shipped with girls more often (especially Hiyoko), and I agree.

Makoto, like all Danganronpa protags, is bi as fuck. It’s just that his Kyoko, Hina, Sayaka, and Mukuro game is just too strong.

Mikan may be interested in Hajime somewhat, but her obsession with Junko cannot be ignored, no matter how much some of you may want to.

Mondo is another character that strikes me as a closeted bisexual. He is said to strike out all the time with girls, so I do think he’s attracted to women. And I do get some vibes that he’s attracted to Chihiro pre-reveal. And if circumstances had been different, I imagine he probably still would have been post-reveal. But obviously it’s his bond with Taka that I feel cements his sexuality in, at the very least, an mlm category.

Tenko... is here NOT because of ships, but because I’m pretty sure she’s at least sort of interested in Shuichi because of some canon thing... and also I don’t want to put her in Lesbian just because it feels like I’d be stereotyping the Lesbian category if I do that. If we were to compare her to the character that I did put in Lesbian, Hiyoko doesn’t treat people like shit because they’re men, she’s an equal-opportunity asshole. Still not the best representation for lesbians by a long shot, but at least Hiyoko doesn’t follow the stereotype of a man-hating lesbian. She’s just like that, and that’s okay. But putting Tenko there, especially if she’s shown some degree of interest in a male character at some point in the game, just rubs me the wrong way personally, because it would feel like I’m ignoring canon just to stereotype her. But that’s just a personal hang up of mine. No disrespect intended toward anyone who genuinely feels that Tenko is a lesbian. Maybe you see something there that I don’t, and that’s perfectly fine.

Pansexual

I don’t remember exactly how her FTEs went, so I’m not going to get into that, but Angie just comes off as pan to me, like gender doesn’t fit into the equation at all for her.

Gonta I can see as either pan or ace. I feel like he wouldn’t care about gender, and honestly the only reason I decided to put him in Pan rather than Ace is because of that scene with Miu.

Imposter is not only pan, they are currently OT3ing it up with Ibuki and Ryota as we speak, and that’s a fact.

Keebo... is mostly here because of ships. A lot of ships, actually. Mostly male ships (Kokichi, Shuichi, Kazuichi, and, depending on your interpretation, Chihiro) but there’s also Miu to consider. And the Miu game is SO strong that I put him in Pan instead of, say, Male Preference.

Just gonna lump them together because I have the same thing to say about both of them: Miu and Teruteru would **** anything that walks. What did I censor? Well, I’m doing the Nier: Automata thing, so you can put whatever you want in there and trust me, it would probably fit, for better or for worse.

Ace

I know this is an unpopular opinion, because Naegami, but I just don’t think Byakuya is interested in anyone, at least not in that way. He might be fascinated with how common people live, because it’s so foreign to him, but that’s about it.

Straight

Even though I do ship Fuyuhiko with some of the boys, his Peko game is so strong that honestly I can’t see him actually dating anyone aside from Peko outside of some very niche fanfiction.

Honestly, Hiro was another one that I was just like “I have no idea what to do with you.” I think maybe his team up with Kanon made me eventually choose to put him in Straight? I don’t remember. I clearly didn’t put much thought into Hiro.

I really only ship Nekomaru with Akane, so that’s why he’s here. I’m sure if I dive deep enough into my psyche I can pull an mlm ship with Nekomaru in it out of my ass, but like Rantaro that wouldn’t be significant enough to change anything.

Peko is in the same boat as Fuyuhiko. I have shipped her with girls before, but her Fuyuhiko game is just too strong.

Ryoma had a girlfriend once, and as far as I can remember he didn’t really seem interested in anybody in the game, so that’s all I have to go off of for him.

-----

So there you have it. Explanations for literally all of them! Explanations that were definitely not pulled out of my ass as I was typing them, nope, certainly not. Definitely won’t be tagging all of them, but I may tag the ones with the longest entries. And like all the tier lists I’ve done, this was just for fun and honestly any opinion I have for any of these characters could change at a moment’s notice because my brain is fickle like that. Tried my best to make sure that every tier had at least one character in it, but I did so without trying to force characters in places that I personally did not believe they should go. I hope you all enjoyed my dive into this area of fandom that I rarely dive into (the LGBT headcanons, not the ships, obviously). It was a lot of fun, and hopefully it will stay fun and not result in angry anons blasting me for my opinions. I am grateful that this never seems to happen to me, but I’ve seen it happen to others and I know what Tumblr is capable of at its worst. These are just headcanons and a matter of personal opinion, and if you disagree with them, that’s perfectly okay. Your feelings and opinions are also valid.

[stupidfatpenguin]

get to know me tag game

Hi, I'm super slow and super late with these, sorry, but thank you to everyone who tagged me in this over the last... months :cries: .... @withercrown @materassassino @grey-sides @skywalkity

rules: tag a few people you want to know better; make a new post, don't reblog!

favorite color: Purple ♡

currently reading: Dune Messiah; and a methodology book so thick it could probably kill a man

last song: Snowburn by Hammock

last movie: I was about to say "I can't remember the last time I watched a movie" but I recently saw a chopped up version of Attack of the Clones with @kevystel (it's one of those movies that need to be rewatched with a beer and kev's commentary, imo)

last series: mmm... Well, I honestly can't remember the last show I finished.... it was probably Boba Fett. I rewatched some Mando recently for meta, if that counts.

sweet, spicy, or savory: there are billions of dishes and so much fantastic cuisine to suit all out moods and wants out there in the world, and you're asking me to pick one of these? WITHOUT any context????

coffee or tea: BOTH, please and thank you ♡ (But nothing beats a rainy coffee-shop day)

three ships: DinLuke (hah), ArmorSoka, Bagginshield

first ever ship: Kisshu/Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew... Funfact: I was 11 and thought they were both girls before I watched the show.

currently working on: my thesis... I've got some unfinished one-shots and follow-up fics I want to complete! There's a Republic Never Fell AU, a sequel chapter to dune sea, and chapter 3 of my atlantis AU... (I swear I'm still working on it)... these are all DinLuke I might need help

favourite piece of clothing: the wool socks my grandma makes me

comfort food: I'm really into noodles lately

favourite time of the year: Fall, when the nights grow long and cold and we light the fireplace for the first time.

fav fanfiction: That I've read? Hm. I actually don't read a lot of Hannibal fics, but Ravenous by rageprufrock is probably one of the best fics I've ever read, hands down (and the author just pops up randomly in some fandoms I've been in, I'm really intrigued by their... existence?). In my current fandom, I think I'll never grow tired of staring down the barrel of the hot sun by magneticwave.

-

For tags (if you're comfortable doing these)... @thechaospilot @comediandjarin @leiainhoth @ace-din-djarin @lynnpaper @medicmando @kevystel @mari-wrongway @asiminthering @pridoo @petraquince ... I can't wait to read yours ♡

I added questions from different tags on this list, so feel free to skip out on some of these if you want to do it!

[alirhi]

okay. let's do this shit.

Guess what, bitches? Mama bear's back and angry all over again. Remember when I said I might dive into a ragepost about how Bucky's treated after completing the one about Loki? This is it. This is the post. Welcome to fucking Thunderdome.

I will actually try to keep it civil. No promises, but I'll try. and I will not be accepting "constructive criticism" about my rage. Just so we're clear.

Got it? Good. Let's dive in.

In case you don't want to read the whole thing (I know I get wordy) here's what this whole post will boil down to: BUCKY NEVER HAD A FUCKING CHOICE. NEVER. NOT ONCE IN HIS ENTIRE ADULT LIFE.

Now, quick reminder: I don't read comics. I know nothing about Bucky's comic canon, except what Sebastian liked to bring up as often as possible during TWS/CW promotions: at some point, Bucky boned Nat. XD Since Bucky only exists as a Marvel property, I won't be bitching about other source material being disrespected like I did with Loki. This is all MCU, my dudes. And honestly? That's enough, because though we don't see nearly enough of Bucky for my liking, we do manage to get a rich, deep backstory to him in the material we're given, partly thanks to better writing in the early days of the MCU, and partly thanks to Sebastian Stan's phenomenal acting. Unlike the writers of the Loki series, Seb knows how to show, not tell. And gods, what stories those eyes show...

Let's start with the army. In an old post illustrating what an absolute BAMF Bucky Barnes truly is, I mistakenly said he enlisted, and a kind soul educated me on the incredible attention to detail Marvel used to pay - in this case, Bucky's ID number. 32557038. As this kind, eagle-eyed soul pointed out to me, the first two digits of that number - 32 - signify that Bucky was drafted, specifically from the NY, NJ, DE area (that last part is rather obvious, as Bucky and Steve are from Brooklyn lol). Bucky didn't choose to go to war. He was drafted. He was forced to fight, or go to prison.

Bucky was born in 1917, which means - again, as someone pointed out to me a while back - he came of age during the Great Depression. As a child, he would likely have seen his parents living comfortably and able to shower each other and him and his sister with gifts and fun memories, and then POOF. Stock market crashes when he's only 12-years-old, and life becomes brutal and painful. He manages to have some fun with his best friend Steve, and spends his teens/early 20s chasing girls and keeping his stupid, stubborn, tiny friend from getting beaten to death.

Steve constantly has something to prove. He's absolutely got what my mom always called "little man's disease", and Bucky's just doing his best not to roll his eyes too much at this asthmatic chihuahua constantly trying to beat up Tibetan mastiffs. While Steve keeps lying on his enlistment forms (an actual crime) trying again and again to get into the army and prove what a badass he is (definitely not), Bucky's had enough trauma and upheaval in his life and he just wants his stupid friend to calm tf down and live. Enjoy the fact that he doesn't have to go to war and get his limbs blown off.

And then he gets fucking drafted. This sweet, resigned realist who knows exactly how dangerous the war really is, is forced to put on a uniform and go fight strangers alongside other strangers thousands of miles from everything he knows. And on his last night of freedom, when he just wants to hang out with his friend, see some cool gadgets, and dance with a pretty girl, his stupid angry chihuahua friend feels the need to lie and try to enlist again.

Okay. Gotta get back on track. Ragepost about mistreatment of Bucky, not how much Steve annoys me. Sorry. Anyway...

Bucky's drafted, accepts his shitty lot with a brave smile, and is shipped off to Europe, where he is captured by HYDRA and presumed by the Allies to be KIA. Instead, he's strapped down, tortured, and given the HYDRA version of the super serum against his will. Steve rescues him, and Bucky knows he can't leave his idiot friend to his own devices to get his head blown off, so he dives right back into the fray. And then he falls off a cliff, loses most of his left arm, and is declared dead...again. This one's pretty damn valid, though lol. Without the serum no one knew he'd been shot up with, there is no way he would have survived that fall.

Here is where Bucky's story gets truly heartbreaking: His autonomy, his ability to consent is stripped from him through electroshock torture/brainwashing. The trigger words are conditioned into him during this process, and boom. Ten words in Russian, and Bucky Barnes is gone. Even the confused, hurting shadow of him is gone, leaving only a perfectly obedient killing machine, with Bucky's pretty face. He's strong as all hell, though, so they can't keep him fully under their control for long, not without more torture, when the disorientation of being fucking frozen wears off on longer missions.

I cannot stress this point enough, guys: Bucky. Had. No. Choice. Not like the draft, where his choices (go and get shot at, refuse and go to jail, or dodge and run to Canada) just suck. No, he literally didn't have a choice. He had his ability to choose stripped from him. If that's too complex a concept to really sink in, try this: His brain was fucking raped. Repeatedly. For decades. Nothing the Winter Soldier ever did was Bucky's fault. Nothing. Ever. Not remotely, no matter how you fucking slice it. Bucky is not an assassin. I almost said "not a killer", but he was a soldier, and a sharpshooter. He definitely killed when he was himself, but that was in a war, not a series of assassinations.

So far, imo, so good. This is just a rundown of Bucky's pre-show backstory. I don't love what he had to suffer, but I do love how it was treated in the movies. People were afraid of him, but when they knew the whole situation, Steve, Nat, and Sam rallied behind him. Natasha had plenty of reason to want the Winter Soldier dead; he'd tried to kill her multiple times and almost succeeded. Sam had no reason to help Bucky at all; he didn't know him, didn't trust him, and again, TWS had tried to kill him. But he stood by Steve, and when Bucky showed the clear difference between himself and TWS, Sam stood by him, too, and fought alongside him.

And it's very realistic, imo, that Tony didn't give a single fuck that Bucky had no choice. He watched this man murder both of his parents on tape. If TWS had killed my dad and I saw proof of it, I'd try to kill Bucky, too. Grief wins out over logic. Most emotions usually do. And that's a very important point we're going to come back to in a few minutes.

Bucky was really only in like ten minutes at most of IW and Endgame, and for multiple reasons I hate those movies, so I'm just gonna skip them, kay? Kay. On to the main event!

Here's where I get pissed off. Even if I didn't have an unhealthy attachment to this character, or the depth of appreciation for his tragic backstory that I do, the lack of continuity between the movies and the show alone would still piss me off. It always does. Don't even get me started on Joss "Continuity? What continuity?" Whedon and his (iconic, but flawed) shows. Ahem. Back on track...

Let me just get one little thing out of the way real quick: I fucking LOVE The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I love it. This show amazed me when I first watched it, and I still love it after many more viewings lol. I have only ever watched it all the way through without skipping over as much John Walker shit as possible the one time lol but I love how Sam and Bucky interact, and I fucking adore how Sam's arc was treated. I just wish they'd show the same care and attention to Bucky.

Because what they did to Bucky in this show is a fucking travesty. There was a tiny ray of hope in the pilot, when he called out Dr. Bitchface for being a terrible shrink. I thought that would be the start of him realizing he needed to find someone else and ignore the damaging shit that woman was telling him. But...nope. No such luck.

The show really had a strong start, I'll give it that. We see Bucky having nightmares of his time as TWS and struggling to hide how his traumatic memories are affecting him as he tries to live in the world again. He befriends the father of one of HYDRA's victims, which can't be good for Bucky (and we're shown it's definitely not when he sees the shrine in Yori's home to his late son) but it's sweet, how he's trying to connect and reach out to someone who's hurting and lonely.

They drop the ball a little with the whole... Bucky can hack a fucking car, but can't figure out Tinder thing. Had they just run with the fandom interpretation of the tiger photos line, that it shows that Bucky is bi and left it at that, I'd have been okay with it (and no, that is not because I ship Sam/Bucky. it's because Bucky is and always has been a certified nerd who loves technology and has consistently shown very little issue learning to use new gadgets). The outdated flip phone he handed his terrible court-mandated shrink was a burner; I liked that theory when I read it, especially since it's the only time we see him even holding a phone that old lol. This all could have fit the "Bucky is a sassy bisexual nerd" narrative and it'd be okay. Instead, the director was like "NOOOOOO that line was just to show how old he is and how he can't figure out all this newfangled technology!" Woman, you had him remotely driving someone else's vehicle with a tablet. That is NOT a man who can't figure out a damn smart phone!

But that's just a minor annoyance. What fills me with absolute rage is how everyone - not just the shitty therapist who lashes out at and purposely triggers her traumatized patients, but EVERYONE - Sam, Zemo, people who should fucking know better ALL treat him like he's a psychopath and a ticking time bomb. Like he chose to take the serum and he chose to kill for HYDRA, and he's just seen the error of his ways. *barf*

Bucky in the movies is established to be a victim, through and through. His guilt over what he was forced to do is natural, and that he sees himself as a monster makes sense... but that doesn't mean it's correct. The one and only thing I ever liked about Steve Rogers is at least he got it. He pointed out that none of it was Bucky's fault, he tried to show him that he was worth saving. That's the other reason I refuse to talk about Endgame. This post will get a WHOLE LOT LONGER and a lot fucking angrier if I open that door.

Zemo supposedly knows everything about HYDRA and super soldiers... So why does he treat Bucky like he's a corrupt serial killer? (this, for the record, is why I don't like Zemo) Why does he never point out that Bucky was given the serum against his will, or that his actions, when he had control of them, proved that he was never corrupted? Bucky never wanted to become superhuman. Bucky didn't even want to fucking fight!

Sam, despite constantly resisting the label, is shown very clearly to be Bucky's friend. By episode 3, he cares. He worries about how Bucky is getting lumped in with the other super soldiers in Zemo's speech... But he never really defends him. He says "what about Bucky?" but he doesn't point out that Bucky's a good man, he's fought so hard to help people, he does everything he can to avoid killing... And that fucking speech in episode 5. I was with him on "you gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are." I was like "YEAH! Tell him, Sam! Bucky, you're WORTH SAVING, boo! Your value does not hinge on someone else's opinion of you!" And then... Sam dropped the ball.

He not only continued the disturbing pattern of victim-blaming in this show, and in Marvel/Disney properties in general, but he gave really dangerously bad advice! No one in their right mind, mental health professional or no, would EVER tell a traumatized former assassin (whether he was responsible for his actions or not) to go confront his victims' families out of the blue with no warning and no one to mediate and keep things from going to shit. Yori already knew his son had been murdered because he was in the "wrong place, wrong time." How is it being "of service" to tell him you're the one who killed him?! Remember how I said Tony's reaction to learning the full truth about his parents' deaths was valid and would be an important point later? Hi! Welcome to later. THAT is the natural reaction to facing the man who murdered your loved one(s). And even if Yori didn't get angry and lash out, HOW IS IT "HELPING" HIM OR BRINGING HIM "CLOSURE" TO KNOW THAT HIS FRIEND KILLED HIS FUCKING SON?!?!?! This man befriended him, bonded with him, watched him grieve... And now he's learning this is the man who caused all his pain and heartache to begin with? That is so toxic and psycho I just... I can't even... UGH.

And then there's the equally toxic and damaging "deeply traumatized person just needed a stern talking to and a hug to be ALL BETTER AGAIN" ending. I loved seeing Bucky happy and socializing, but it was too soon, and it was unearned. And it sends a fucking awful message to people actually struggling with PTSD, and to their loved ones who don't know how to help them. Heaping more blame on them and then hugging it out is NOT helpful!

This show could have been damn near perfect with just two changes. That's all. Just two. 1) Someone, anyone, bringing up the reasons why Bucky was never a villain in his presence. Someone being in his corner and reminding him, like Steve did, that it wasn't his fault and he's not going to "snap". 2) More time devoted to Bucky's healing. Actual fucking healing, not the shit they tried to pass off as a magic fix-all. He can have his happy barbecue moment, just don't frame it as "everything's great now!" Healing isn't linear, and there will be both good days and bad. Some of the most fragile people in the world have the brightest smiles.

If we get a season 2, which this amazing show absolutely deserves, and they address this stuff, all will be forgiven in my book. Expanding on his story and his journey toward healing will help to reframe that "happily ever after" garbage as something more realistic. But as it stands now... Fuck Marvel.

[legionofpotatoes]

I love your art, it is very detailed in a neat way. Was wondering how you got started making it as a source of income? How did you get your first paid work, I'd love some advice on how to get started, if that's ok

Thank you. Of course it's okay, although I doubt I have enough work experience in art to really delve into this. I only went full freelance this year, and had been juggling art as a side hobby until then. If you're still interested in my somewhat narrow perspective, and are okay with my long-winded rambles, I'll give it a shot:

So to answer your question fully, I'll describe how I started and move into personal advice and learnings later on. As a disclaimer, I am a white cishet dude in my late twenties with a moderate cocktail of mental illnesses, but overall I can pass for a functioning adult so a lot I have to say may come laced with privilege I cannot fully identify.

So uhh I began drawing in around 2012? I think? Maybe halfway through 2011? And I mostly made fanart for things I enjoyed and tried to branch out in communities that felt nourishing to my style and interests (I caught a bug for alt posters and enjoyed mainstream movies so I spent a long time on posterspy early on). There were a handful of opportunities that came from there but I could only accept a couple because of primary workplace commitments. Still, it showed that networking in a focused community was definitely a good place to start; I myself have huge trouble committing to social networks and really staying socially active, but I knew it was an essential ingredient in succeeding so I tried to make myself be involved in challenges and art support trains etc. as much as I could.

In parallel to all that I also ran a few third party online stores (redbubble, teepublic) for disposable income and would sometimes, if rarely, hit around $100-150 a month from those sources combined. It is a sort of thing that requires helper accounts on other social media sites to promote it on, because the stores themselves have a huge volume of content that translates into low organic discoverability. Obviously it was never gonna be the way towards financial independence through art, and with community projects being few and far between, I opened private commissions in around uhhh 2017 I think, focusing on offering a few styles I knew I could do well, and sometimes operating in individual fandoms (it was mostly a bioware thing to be frank). But I had to close them back down after a year or so, again because of work-life conflict and how badly it was burning me out. The reason I kept trying to monetize this hobby is because I honestly hated what I did for my main job and wanted to see a way out in some shape or form in the future.

And then in 2020 I had to quit my main job altogether because of *gestures at pandemic* and deal with a mental breakdown from all the wonderful things it did to us and me specifically. I took a short break and decided to give art a shot full-time, and that was around May this year. I was planning on opening up commissions again (and I still am), but a few sudden opportunities that fell in my lap moved that timetable down and now I'm grateful to even be doing something I am getting adequately paid for.

So, with that somewhat limited perspective, here's what I've learned that I'd tell myself if I was just starting out:

1. Being a fan of something can be a shortcut towards effective networking kickoffs. Which are important evidently. If you love something and enjoy making content for it, join communities, settle into a combination of social media websites that feel right for those interests + your body of work + your inner rhythm, and try to play to content discovery as much as your mental health allows you to. Like I said, I know that I myself am incredibly bad at self-motivating to talk to people, so I found that synergizing common interests into fanart - which I enjoyed making anyway - could be a way to give myself a gentle nudge forward and build those bridges leading to community activities, which then net experience and coverage. Sometimes even freelance projects from official avenues. Again; picking the right spaces for what you're after is key. Companies roam twitter, concept art recruiters scour artstation or linkedin etc, instagram can land you private commissions and collab opportunities, so on and so forth. Find your niche and try to kick up dust. However...

2. I do not believe that any social profile can replace a good portfolio. The thing that made an immediate difference to me this year was building a coherent, simple website with my best work front and center and a contact form on top. Every single opportunity I got came from that form (maybe via twitter or instagram initially, but always sealing the decision after going through the website), so I firmly believe that showcasing your skills and portfolio in a visually arresting and user-friendly way is a big priority. I had some reservations about tackling that task but fortunately I had help from a savvy life partner and we slapped it together via wordpress in less than a day. Twitter/whatever social media is prevalent in your target groups is definitely important to get the right eyes on your shit, yes, but those eyes will then look for a second stop where your work and rates are more clear and concise. Simplicity is key imo, I cannot overstate this. So make a cute, simple portfolio!

3. Your skills and rates will grow and change as you do. Let them. Over the years I built several lasting professional relationships from my obsession over mass effect and kept getting opportunities both from bioware and their partner companies, some small and some a bit bigger. A one-off job earlier this year opened an unexpected door to another much larger commitment, and then the work I did there brought some attention from small businesses looking for commercial commissions. These were all incredibly different projects in terms of scope and budget, and I've been tackling them all on a case-by-case basis and slowly coming into my own irt my needs, rates, and SOW thresholds. It is still a work in progress (and a LOT of literal work as well), and very much a thing I struggle with in publicly marketing, which is why I felt a tad underqualified to answer your question in the first place (obviously I did not let that stop me). But what it means for me now is that I am rapidly developing into whatever my "version" of a functioning freelance artist is, and when the conditions for that guy are met, I need to be able to confidently plant myself and operate from that space despite past precedents. Do not let anyone bully you into downpricing what you yourself perceive as legitimate products of personal growth and development. Speaking of which...

4. The shitty challenge of turning envy into inspiration, and paddling outside your comfort zones in full riot gear. it is hard, but realizing that being a miserable, self-hating artist in my early days got me nothing but more misery back was the first real step I took and what truly blew the hinges off. I was just not pleasant to be around, I would badmouth my work all the time, and it all somehow made sense in my broken mind because the validation I sought was purely external and the way I sought it was through eliciting sympathy via self-victimization (even when I made something objectively nice). It all led fucking nowhere. Except perhaps to my own narcissism that I one day managed to identify and start managing. So I started looking at things that made me seethe with envy and calmly deconstruct and figure out their inner workings instead, do studies, and find nuggets of inspiration or discover new ways to approach rendering or building up specific elements. It was an application of analytical diligence to what I wanted to be a purely emotional, esoteric workflow, but that I deep down knew wasn't. Art is a discipline and a skill, and maybe it isn't a straight line, but you gotta find some line to thread nevertheless. Being self-hating was almost an identity I had to break out of, and despite it still being like, 4-5% there? I realize its cause and effect on me, my work, and those around me, so it is with a conscious choice that I gently set it aside when I work and especially when I learn. It won't always stay quiet, but the effort is the difference. Your doors towards accepting true growth and venturing into uncharted territories, art styles, and networking will really open from there. But there's a huge caveat...

5. Toolsets, accessibility, privilege, and all the good things that enable artistic expression and profitability are not given equal to all. you might do all the mental work I mentioned to be ready to rock and roll and learn and draw your way out of anything, but digital art is a fucking money pit that asks almost too much at times. I don't got a good case study here but identifying and ensuring accessibility to the tools you need to do your best work is, like, super important. The ergonomics can improve as you make money and settle into the job, but the basics have to be made available to you. And some of that might not even be under your direct control. That can be anything from pen tablets to software subscriptions to opportunities in hiring sullied by sexism or what have you. You gotta navigate all that through careful networking and money/time management. I don't do a good job of devoting specific slices of time to work/study, and my primary clutch is iPad software which went from a good deal to a nightmare scenario over the years. So all I can say here is do what I didn't; network, invest in a PC/tablet, and pick a software you'll learn that won't burn a hole in your pocket.

6. Be nice to work with? This one is hard to articulate and has landed my own ass in hot water in my early years because of how socially inept I am, but nothing is more worthwhile than being.. like. a good person to work with. That can be anything like meeting deadlines, or sometimes missing them but eloquently articulating why, being generous in early stages, being communicable and not too wordy in your emails, having a good grasp on abstract artistic concepts and how to describe them in simple terms, having a clear, laid out framework of your working rates in commercial and non-commercial projects and sticking to those guns with grace, understanding when you need to say no and saying it well, the works. Just being nice. Sometimes that might mean going headstrong with something you believe in, or simmering down and sucking up to the big man, all relative and adaptive. Part and parcel of the service provision dance that we all have to do in order to make bank. Know your lines here, obviously, and don't like. work for nazis. or uh.. *shudders* exposure. but be nice and empathetic and communicable and word will travel eventually. Skill may be in abundance these days, but good people are most certainly not, and capitalism has a way of bubbling up scarcity. Grim, but uh, them's the breaks.

I know I'm ultimately telling you to like. Have a body of work, make a portfolio, grow, and network. But that's really how I see it for now. And being nice can be a cherry on top that sets you apart, along with the inherent irreplaceable voice of your artwork. I think I rambled on enough, but if there is something specific you need my help with, even if you want to come off anon and talk in private, please feel free.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Back at it again with my self-indulgent comic posts. This time! It’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #3, perhaps the most tonally-distinct entry yet, with shades of The Twilight Zone. 

Spoilers!

So, as mentioned, this issue is the most deliberate in terms of both its pacing and its tone, IMO.

What is that tone, you ask?

To quote Alex Danvers, from “Midvale”: Hello, darkness.

THE STORY:

Kara and Ruthye are still looking for Krem Clues in the alien town of Maypole.

(Which is actually just Small Town, USA, complete with vintage 50s aesthetics.)

But the locals are clearly hiding something! So Kara and Ruthye continue to investigate, and they eventually discover what it was that the residents of Maypole were so keen to keep hidden. 

Genocide, basically. 

As I said, this issue struck me as very Twilight Zone; a genre story involving the build-up to a dark twist, all set against the backdrop of an idyllic small town. (Think, like, “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” but instead of focusing on the Red Scare, it’s classism and racism.)

The wealthier blue aliens kicked all of the purple aliens out of town, and when space pirates showed up to pillage and plunder, the blue aliens made a deal with them: the lives of the purple aliens in exchange for their safety.  

Which is where the episodic story connects to the larger mission; it was Krem who suggested the trade, and then joined up with the Brigands (space pirates) when he was freed by the blue aliens.

The issue ends with no tidy resolution to the terrible things Kara and Ruthye discovered, but they do have a lead on where to find Krem, now, as well as Barbond’s Brigands.

KARA-CTERIZATION:

Ironically, it’s here, in the darkest chapter yet, that we get the closest to what might be considered ‘classic’ Kara. 

Which I think comes down to that aforementioned deliberate pace--this issue is a little slower, a little quieter. It gives the characters some room to breathe.

That’s not to say Crusty Kara is gone. Oh no. She is still very much Crusty. XD 

But anyways. A list! Of Kara moments I loved!

I mentioned a few of these in a prior post when the preview pages came out: I like the moment where Kara blows down the guy’s house of cards, and I like that the action is echoed later in the issue when she grabs the mayor’s desk and tosses it aside. A nice visual representation of the escalation of Kara being, like. Done with these creeps. (Creeps is an understatement but you get the idea.)

Another one from the preview pages: Kara explains to Ruthye that her super hearing won’t necessarily help her detect a lie, especially if she’s dealing with an alien species she’s not familiar with.

It not only reveals her level of competence and understanding of her super powers, it also shows that, you know. She’s a thinker. She’s smart. 

Amazing! Showing, rather than telling us, that Kara is smart! Without mentioning the science guild at all wow hey wow.

(Sorry, pointed criticism of the SG show fandom.)

Anyways.

I dig the PJs! 

And Kara catching the bullet! Not only are the poses and character acting great, it’s also a neat bit of panel composition:

We start with Ruthye’s POV, and then move to the wide shot of the room. The panel where Kara actually catches the bullet is down and to the side of the wide shot panel--we move our eyes the way her body/arm would have to move to intercept the bullet. Physicality in static, 2D images!

Also, like. It’s a very tense moment, life-or-death, but. Ruthye’s wide-eyed surprise at the bullet in Kara’s hand? Kind of adorable. 

I was pretty much prepared for the page of Kara shielding Ruthye from the gunfire to be the highlight--it was one of the first pages King shared and I was like, ‘yeah, YEAH.’ But, shockingly? The TRUE highlight of the issue?

Where do I BEGIN?!?!

EVERYTHING. About this moment. Is lovely.

From Kara holding Ruthye above the bench to explaining the concept of a piggyback ride, to telling her:

“I’m going to hold my hands here, and these hands can turn coal into diamonds, so they’re not going to let go. I’m going to keep you safe.”

HNNNNNNNNNNNG.

Ruthye’s narration--about how Kara had avoided flying as she was concerned it would freak Ruthye out--just adds a whole additional layer of YES, GOOD, YES, and her line on that splash page is great: “You see, all that time, she was worried about me.”

HNNNNNNNNNNNG. AGAIN.

To say nothing of the STELLAR ARTWORK.

And SPEAKING of that stellar artwork, Evely and Lopes continue to knock it out of the park. Each issue is distinct and beautifully crafted, a true joy to look at.

Before I jump into more of the art, a few final notes of character stuff in general.

Ruthye is the one most affected by the experience in Maypole, as she can’t comprehend how a society of people that look so nice and gentle and peaceful could have been party to such a horrible act.

One of the big criticisms of the book thus far is that Supergirl is not the main character, and I guess I can agree with that observation. Typically, in Western media, the main character is the one who goes through the most change in the story. 

And, yeah. That’s Ruthye.

As I was reading the end, where Ruthye sits on the curb and Kara hugs her, I was imagining how the scene would’ve played, had King stuck with the original idea for the series: Kara as the one learning to be tough/experiencing all of this for the first time, and while I think that could certainly work...

I continue to appreciate that King literally flipped the script; that Kara, especially in this issue, is like, ‘I’ve seen this, I know this,’ as opposed to being the one going through a loss of innocence.

*Marge Simpson voice* I just think it’s neat!

Because Kara’s been a teen in DC comics for so long--ever since she was reintroduced to the main DCU continuity, actually--so this is all brand new territory, here. Having an older Kara who’s SEEN SOME STUFF.

(Alsoooooo, since Bendis made the destruction of Krypton not just inaction and climate disaster, but rather, genocide, and the subtext of a Kryptonian diaspora text, the waitress’ derogatory comment regarding the the destruction of Kryton, as well as Kara picking up the bad vibes the entire time, suggests not just a broad commentary on discrimination in all its forms, but specifically allegorical anti-Semitism. The purple aliens being forced out of their homes and into substandard living conditions, then the blue aliens--their neighbors and once-fellow residents--essentially allowing the space pirates to kill them, making them literal scapegoats, Kara discovering the remains of the purple aliens, and Ruthye’s horror at the ‘banality of evil’...yes. A case could be made, I think.) 

(Which would probably require a post unto itself and a lot more in-depth discussion, nuance, and cited sources.)

(Should mention that King has brought up that both he and Orlando--the other Supergirl writer he talked to--are Jewish, and for him personally, that shaped his views on Kara’s origin story.)

I guess my point is that this issue is perhaps not as out-of-left-field as some might think, and just because there isn’t as obvious an arc for Kara, doesn’t mean there isn’t some sharp character work at play. 

(I could be WAY OFF, of course, and I’m not suggesting it’s a clear 1:1 comparison. I’d actually really love to hear King talk about this issue in particular.)

Anyways.

Here’s the final page, which I think works, because as I mentioned before, there is no easy answer/quick wrap-up to the story of Maypole:

THE ART:

I mean. How many times can I just shout ‘ART! AAAARRRRRRRRRRRTTTT!’ before it gets old?

I dunno, but I guess we’re gonna FIND OUT.

There are some panels in this issue that I just. Like ‘em! From a purely artistic standpoint! Because they’re so good!

Like, I just really love the way Kara is drawn in that top panel. Her troubled, confused expression, the colors of the fading light, the HAIR. 

Evely draws the best hair. I know I’ve said this before. I don’t care. I will continue to say it, because it continues to be true.

The issue I find myself running up against when I make these posts is that I really don’t want to post whole pages, as that’s generally frowned upon (re: pirating etc.) but with something like this, you just can’t appreciate it in panel-by-panel snippets.

(Guided View on digital reading platforms is a BANE and a POX I say!)

Anyways.

LOVE the implied movement of the cape settling as Kara speeds in and stops. 

And, obviously, Kara flicking the bullet away is just. A+. 

And the EYES, man. LOPES’ COLORS ON THE EYES???!?! BEAUTIFUL.

Also, should note the lettering! The more rounded letters for the ‘WOOSH’ of Kara’s speed (and, earlier, the super breath) work nicely, and contrast with the angular, violent BLAMS of the gunshots. 

And, I gotta say, the editor is doing a really great job of not cluttering up the artwork with all the caption boxes. Which is no small task.

(I assume the editor is placing them, as editors usually handle word balloon/caption box placement, but I suppose it could be Evely? Sometimes the artist handles it. Either way, whoever’s taking care of all the text, EXCELLENT WORK! BRAVO!)

Okay I think that’s everything.

Ah, nope, wait.

MISC.

Just a funny observation, more than anything else: Superman: Red and Blue dropped this week, and King had a story in there, “The Special” (which was very good, btw.) Both Lois and the waitress swear a lot so I’m beginning to think that this is just how King writes dialogue for any adult character who isn’t Clark. XD

This is absolutely a personal preference but when Kara was like, “And my name IS Supergirl,” I was like nooooo. I know King is trying to simplify all of the conflicting origin stories and lore but I LIKE KARA DANVERS, SIR. XD

It’s almost assuredly a cash-grab/an attempt for DC to get all the money it can out of a book they don’t have much confidence in, but I like the cardstock covers! Very classy, much Strange Adventures.

(OH my gosh, can you imagine that issue 1 cover with spot gloss???? Basically the only way you could possibly improve on it.) 

Okay NOW I’m done. For real. XD NEXT TIME: Kara and Ruthye go after Krem and the Brigands!

[chalkrevelations]

OK, so, episode reax of WoH Ep 4 is briefly delayed – may be out Sunday, but more likely post M-W workweek. It is coming. Meanwhile, have some more Street Dance of China? S3, Ep 2.

First of all, I have to say that if I had any way of figuring out what some of this music is, I’d have a new Spotify playlist 300 songs long.

ANYWAY, we get a recap of … Wang Yibo being incredulous about coming in last place in a dance competition. Wang Yibo vowing to get back the three colorful towels he lost by coming in last place in a dance competition and therefore can’t use to send three more of his team’s dancers on to the next round. Hip-hop freestyle battles for TOWELS. Wang Yibo getting his colorful towels back. Ridiculous unnecessary drama over whether Lay Zhang is going to win his battle and get EVEN MORE colorful towels, given his competition is Wallace Chung (oh dear. that was kind of blunt.). And that’s what you missed on Glee Street Dance of China 3 Ep 1.

 Snapshots of what’s coming up this week: Everyone has shot their wad on towels and is sweating the fact that they have 59 more dancers they want to send through to the next round and a single towel left. (I TOLD YOU SO. ALL OF YOU.) The only way to get more towels is to battle for them. A hip-hop battle has NEVER BEEN SO IMPORTANT.

Cutting here, I guess, for ridiculously detailed nattering. Hashtag long post (remorseful):

Team Lay Zhang: First of all, Lay Zhang, I just have to note that you’re getting an edit that doesn’t make you look like the brightest bulb in the box. I don’t know if this is just the edit, or if it’s … well. You. I guess we’ll see as the season goes on. Also, in the interim, I have found out that you also are Zhang Yixing, which a lot of your fandom seems to actually call you, so should I call you Yixing instead of Lay? You seem to be going by Lay for this show, so it seems polite to stick to that? Anyway. Gongsun Wu Ming & Hei Zai start us off this episode, and they get off to a little bit of a slow start, but once they pick up, they’ve got a lot of nice air in their moves, that effortless(-looking) almost anti-gravity effect that good breakers can get. Then we almost immediately get a series of ok, that’s fine, oh, wait, no, THAT is actually pretty mediocre poppers, none of whom gets a towel, thank god, because the supply has to be running low. And then Teng Zai appears, claiming to be the best popper, and … OK. OK, alright. Fine. He might be right. His technique and control are fantastic, but you want to know what really sells me, in the middle of this generally fantastic performance? It’s that series of chest pops followed by the little heart held out right on the fk’n music. It’s little details like that, that make or break a performance, and he pulled it off beautifully. I went back to re-watch, it was so slick, yet so charming. OK, maybe I went back to watch more than once. You can’t prove anything. (Also, he gets called their little “Ares” - in quotes, in the subs – by other contestants, more than once, but I can’t pick out the actual sound of that name, which makes me think the subbers have inserted “Ares” as something that will give the flavor of what he’s actually being called. My 1st level Duolingo Mandarin is absolutely not enough to figure out what people are actually calling him, so is there anyone who’s able to give me some insight, here?) Aaaand, Towel Battle 1 (see Footnote 1). Post-battle, we’ve reached the point when all the captains are sweating their lack of towels, so e’rybody is just going to have to battle for towels from here on out. Yuan Ye faces Momo, and a little bit, this is where I expect the knife fight to start (Momo’s bringing the knife). I’m honestly not that impressed with either of them and probably would have saved my towel for someone else, but Lay Zhang decides to send them both through, so what’s the point of a battle to begin with? BUT THEN (dun-dun-dun) some dude calling himself Bon shows up to really cut a bitch, waves away both Yuan Ye and Momo to the sidelines, describes himself as “a boom” and proceeds to give a performance that imo is kind of mushy and all over the place. Lay Zhang looks a little taken aback as Bon sort of grinds up on him but can’t even really commit to that, just before Lin Zi Jie shows up. Lay Zhang makes Zi Jie change his coat - thank god, because you can’t see half of what he’s doing and he actually seems like the most towel-worthy performance out of this whole cluster of flail – and asks for a freestyle battle, which turns out to not be that great on Bon’s or Zi Jie’s parts, actually. I feel like the dance vocabulary here is kind of limited, and we’re left with a bunch of hip-shaking, grinding, and supposedly seductive looks, which is NOT going to cut it in the battles we’ve seen already. Towels to Momo and Zi Jie, rather than putting them in reserve and waiting to see who else shows up, which I think is probably a mistake, but OK, I’m not a pop idol with the clout to star on this show, so. (I know what I like to watch, tho’, and none of that was it.) A promise to Yuan Ye that she gets a Battle Towel. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Wallace Chung: So, first off, there’s George, who dances before he’ll introduce himself, and I guess I have to respect a guy who’s going to let his performance be his introduction. And then we get a series of OK that’s fine but not really great poppers, and Wallace, unlike Lay, is handing out towels like candy. OK, my man. If that’s really what you want to do, I guess, but it doesn’t seem like the greatest idea to me. You’re also really fucking with the morale of the dancers who haven’t performed yet, who are gradually realizing that you’re going to run out of towels before you even get to them. Hilariously (for me, if not the contestants), I paused at this point to go refresh my bourbon and managed to freeze on a random contestant, identified as Wei Ming - who I don’t know if we’ll ever get to see actually perform, but he deserves the bolded name for this, alone – looking baffled and concerned, with the English subtitle on his comment reading “Sir, what are you thinking?” I suspect he is not using “Sir” in the sense that I use it when my cat (or Zhang Zhehan) has done something appallingly adorable, but rather when the cat has knocked yet another gd pen off my desk while I’m trying to take notes, just to be a bastard for attention. (OTOH, I guess if you weren’t one of the dancers bold enough to swarm up there in the first couple of hours, you take what you get. Fortuna fortes adiuvat.) We finally get to Lin Meng, whose reputation precedes him, but seriously, if Wallace is just handing out towels to every popper, what does it even mean? Wallace – Wallace – proceeds to basically call Lin Meng an old man before making him bargain for a towel, which is a shame, because Lin Meng deserves to get not only this towel but the four towels you just gave away to some guys who should still be holding Lin Meng’s jacket, Wallace. I mean, seriously, this guy’s technique is fantastic. Even if he does fumble his jacket lapel that one time. Aaaand, Towel Battle 1 (see Footnote 1). Post battle, we get A.K. Dong, who’s got some excellent musicality and a face that apparently resembles a variety show star (Hank Chen?). I mean, I guess it gets him noticed, but it sucks that it seems to overshadow his dancing, because he’s really good. Then we notice our towels are running low, and everybody is just going to have to battle it out. Wallace promises the Battle Towel to some dude who we don’t see perform and don’t get a name for, and with my prognisticatory skills, I’m going to say we won’t need to know his name, because this is the last we’ll see of him. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Wang Yibo: First up, we get Bing, whose reputation precedes him, prompting other teams to look around and wonder what all the commotion is about. Bing has a motorbike moment with Yibo, before giving a performance that starts off the tiniest bit mushy before he puts some fantastic technique on display. Yibo pulls out his Perpetual Student schtick and asks for some freestyle with some motorbike elements, which at first makes me suspect you might be fucking with this guy just a little bit, Yibo, but Bing is both game and versatile, and he eventually gets his towel, along with a wish from Yibo to ride together sometime, and oh. (As we say, in A Very Significant Tone, on AO3.) All of that was flirting. OK. On the heels of Yibo giving me yet another clue as to his taste in men, we roll into a seriously uncomfortable segment that stomps all over my embarrassment squick because they’ve cut together several women to look desperate and starstruck and comical and dumb, while Yibo looks increasingly uncomfortable, and I am super not down with this, show. I’ll admit that from what we can see, none of them are great dancers, but I suspect there were a lot of not-great male dancers, too, and I just. Ick. This was unnecessary, you haven’t done it to any of the other captains, and it frankly doesn’t make Yibo look that great, when you set his reactions here against the fact that not only have we not seen approval from him for any female contestants so far, but this segment is the only interaction we’ve seen from him with any female contestants so far. Hard on the heels of this segment, we get Chick, who is very good when he wants to be but also super-extra and annoying, and who fucks around more than he really dances, but the audience seems charmed with him, and Yibo doesn’t give him any of the smackdown he deserves, which doesn’t improve my impression of the previous segment, given the varied ways Yibo iced out some of the women. Meanwhile, Jackson Wang strolls over, and Yibo acts super weird about it, for a guy who was the first one to wander into someone else’s territory, which was – oh, yeah, I remember, Jackson’s – to watch his dancers, and Jackson says that he would give Chick a towel before heading back to his own street, and then Yibo does, even though he fucks with him a little bit first, and then there’s a bit of footage cut in of Yibo making dumbass excuses for this guy, so. I’m not entirely feeling you right now, Yibo. Also, all of this is certainly doing nothing to disabuse me of the notion that you’re about 1000000x more comfortable in homosocial situations, for whatever reason. Anyway, we then get a montage of Yibo handing out some towels to various dancers (including a woman, finally, although she’s intercut with some other people and doesn’t actually get a full segment of her own), and then we get Tao and Cici, who are both good, but Yibo now discovers that he only has three towels and there are two people standing in front of him, so he gives a towel to Tao and promises one to Cici after the next towel battle, which, yeah, Tao is probably better, but this is a hell of time to decide to be circumspect with your towels, Yibo, when you can leave a woman sitting on the sidelines but send her husband through to the next round. :hands: Anyway, it’s time for Towel Battle 2 (See Footnote 2), and I do have to give Yibo props, again, for his teambuilding, because he takes a minute to say, hey, there aren’t a lot of towels left, and there are quite a few of you, so what we’re going to do is all go over there together, and get another towel, as a team. Post-battle, Yibo is still concerned about his lack of towels, and everyone left is going to have to battle it out, although, frankly, the way Yibo’s been going on about how much he likes battles, I sort of think he might secretly be a tiny bit excited about this. He ends up putting person after person into reserve, waiting to see everyone, probably, and then Meng Di shows up, and she’s already got the rest of the group behind her. They know her, they know she has cochlear implants, they respond immediately when she shushes them so she can hear Yibo and the music, they call for the DJ to turn up the music for her, they clap together to emphasize the beat. She’s smart enough to keep six feet between her and Yibo while she dances, so that she doesn’t spook him like the fragile and shy homosocial forest creature he apparently is. She immediately gets her cha cha on when her battle partner holds out his hand to lead her out for her turn. Good technique, even though there are a few bobbles. None of these four performances in the final battle are the best we’ve seen so far, but they’re solid. Yibo is clearly torn about what to do with his one towel, although the audience starts getting kind of insistent that he needs a waacker, and a female waacker at that, and he ends up making Bullet and Meng Di battle again. She’s performing for the audience at this point – I mean, she’s not even pretending about it, she spends most of this round facing them, with her back to Yibo - and she’s also versatile, genre-wise, so I think we can all see where this is going. I think he really wanted to give that towel to Bullet, who definitely is very good, but he knew that he’s painted himself into a corner where he ought to give it to Meng Di, so that he’s got some genre-versatility on the team, if nothing else. Towel to Meng Di, and a promise to Bullet to win another Battle Towel for him. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Jackson Wang: First up is Bai, who apparently is a favorite from season one, but I haven’t seen season one – or season two - so I don’t have any history on any of these people. Bai is doing a bit, here, but he’s also generally got some good technique, so OK. Why are they blurring out his left wrist, though? Yang Yu Ting is really good, some more good technique, good musicality. And then we’re already on to Towel Battle 2 (See Footnote 2). Post-battle, we get Shen Kai Xiang, who apparently looks A LOT like Jack Ma, which seems to be little bit like if some Bill Gates-lookin’ mf’r showed up to audition for SYTYCD. Lyrical; good technique; much like Bai, appears to be doing a bit. And, then, as with all the captains, the dearth of towels sets in, and Jackson is going to put everyone in the gladiator ring and make them battle it out. Maybe we can win another Battle Towel. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

***

Footnote 1, AKA Towel Battle 1, Team Lay Zhang vs. Team Wallace Chung, 3v3: Team Lay Zhang is San Jin, who they throw up some B-roll on, since the show has spent no time on him so far although he seems to be in cahoots with Xiao Bao (see Ep 1 recap); Gongsun Wu Ming, who’s spoiling for a battle after no one would take him up on it during his initial performance; and Teng Zai, because I mean, come on. Team Wallace Chung is Lin Meng, which should be interesting, since he and Teng Zai are apparently from the same crew, George, and Qin Yu, who we not only haven’t seen before this, that I can remember, but don’t even get B-roll on while Wallace is talking strategy, unlike the other two. Qin Yu, this does not bode well for your future on the show, if they’re not even bothering to give you B-roll, let alone an edit. Both captains are very weird about introducing their dancers, like these guys are some big surprise and aren’t going to dance in front of everybody in a minute and half, anyway. Possibly this is some kind of attempt at a dominance display? I don’t know. It’s won by the host, anyway, who eventually enforces his will and gets some introductions out of the captains. Anyway, Gongsun is up first for Team Lay Zhang, and this dude is just fun to watch, with great musicality and flow, and Wallace’s face while watching him is a picture, let me tell you. He’s up on Qin Yu almost immediately, possibly sensing the weakest link of Team Wallace? Team Wallace counters with George, who’s not having any of that, and gets the first point for his team. Second round, Teng Zai is once again impeccable, so even though someone has lit a fire under George, who spends half his time upside down, he nevertheless loses the point to Teng Zai. Round three, Teng Zai and Lin Meng face off, and they’ve both got great technique, although I feel like Lin Meng has a slight edge there, but I also think Teng Zai did a better job of showcasing strength and control, so I’m not surprised when the judges go for another round, in which Teng Zai is still super-fun to watch and definitely on his game, but Lin Meng steps up with some incredible precision, so I’m a little surprised when the judges give it (unanimously) to Teng Zai and Team Lay Zhang. One more round, and Teng Zai … is maybe wearing down a little bit, coasting on this one, and oh, hey, we’re finally going to get to see Qin Yu, who has some nice fluidity but maybe doesn’t really match up to Teng Zai in the charisma department, which may be why we haven’t seen him before this, and also why he loses the round. Round, battle, and two towels to Team Lay Zhang, and we still haven’t seen more than 15 seconds of B-roll of San Jin. But wait! There’s still a moment to be had, in which Teng Zai suggests donating one of their towels to Team Wallace, namechecks love and peace as a vital part of street dance, and quite possibly cements his place in my – and everyone else’s - heart. Both sides go home with a towel.

Footnote 2, AKA Towel Battle 2, Team Wang Yibo vs. Team Jackson Wang, 3v3 captain-led battle: Oh, they get to choose a song for each other. This should be interesting. I feel like there’s some shit-talking going on here, although I’m not really equipped to catch it and am at the mercy of the subtitles. Does Jackson really ask Yibo, “You WERE a dancer when you were young?” because lol. And Yibo is all, “Eh, kind of?” I do love how neither of them can hold still for songs two and three. So, Team Yibo is also Bing and Tao, while Team Jackson is also Bai and Ting. The thing that strikes me immediately during the minute or so that they get to plan and quickly choreograph is that Team Yibo has everyone there – there’s no point during this planning stage that the entire crew isn’t involved. They’re all part of this. Meanwhile, Team Jackson is just the three of them, separate from everybody, working out their choreography. The whole-team approach IMMEDIATELY pays off, when Team Yibo slams out of the gate with an energy and power and fullness to their performance that Yibo will later comment is fueled by the atmosphere that the dancers at the back create, and he’s right, it’s just like a wave of pressure pushing them forward, not even getting into the fact that the three people actually in the battle are fucking good. Team Jackson is also good, but they don’t feel like a team, the crew in the back doesn’t seem to have it together, and the loss of that – it has an impact. No surprise that Round 1 goes to Team Yibo and their Attitude, which is like an entire fourth dancer on its own. Round two coming up, and the entire Team Yibo is still involved in the planning stages, Yibo’s flannel has come off and we’re down to T-shirt sleeves, and Tao is surprising me not only with his moves – I honestly didn’t expect him to come as hard as he does, given he and Cici were more lyrical in their initial performance – but in his killer instinct, because he’s the one who suggests getting up in Jackson’s face, lit. and fig., by yoinking one of his signature moves. Meanwhile, Yibo is playing gay chicken, and it is just as great an idea as it sounds like (and this is that performance that a clip of it was making the rounds a few months ago); meanwhile Jackson is going high (?) concept, and that is just as bad an idea as it sounds like, although he does attempt some charming self-deprecation when it’s all over (also, omg, one of the contestant reactions later is that he’s “short of brain trust.” I’m not actually sure what the most eloquent way to translate that comment would have been, but it certainly gets an idea across.) Chick actually earns his pay in one of the best moments of the battle that – as much as I hate to encourage it – actually does profit off his general air of douchery, Team Jackson continues to lack the kind of cohesive team feel that Team Yibo is bringing – and second round, battle, and towel to Team Yibo. THIS is the advantage of team-building from the very first minute. Also, fuck, Yibo and the dancers he’s collected are good. Technically, yes, but also, the auditions are getting kind of interminable, but after this battle, I’m excited again, and that kind of audience reaction is a good measure of whether your dancing is successful. (Towel goes to Cici, btw, which, yeah, Tao did fucking earn that for her, so I’m glad you came through on your promise to her, Yibo.)

Footnote 3, AKA Towel Battle 3, all four captains. Cypher. Four rounds. Everyone else’s face when the cypher is announced:  D:   Yibo’s face when the cypher is announced:  >:D  They each get to choose a style of music. Wallace chooses locking. Yibo and Jackson both choose hip-hop. Lay Zhang chooses krump. Yibo’s already moving before the music even starts, to whatever music lives inside his head. The music actually starts, and Yibo is in the center before anyone else gets the chance (probably before anyone else can get up their nerve …) My sound drops out right here, which, wtf, but I can still tell Yibo’s throwing down the gauntlet. He’s beatable, but not by anybody who’s going to coast. Also, goddam, he has legs for days. Lay Zhang is in next, with some good speed and power and crispness to his moves, although I’m having trouble taking that cap with the fake dreads seriously. It’s … actually super interfering with me getting on board with your vibe, my dude. Jackson’s up next, and he has somehow managed to bring my sound back, and he also lands, frankly, the best forward Salto we’ve seen from anyone so far this season, which I have to admit even though he is my inexplicable mortal enemy. Yibo and Wallace, ffs, ice him out in the follow-up, although he then does the same thing to Lay, so who tf knows what’s going on with the actual interpersonals between these guys and what’s for show, at this point. Wallace finally gets his turn and is super-game but horribly out-classed. Yibo gives him props anyway, which, good on you for respecting your elders and their efforts, I guess, baby, but let’s all admit that was an “E” for effort. Judges are frantically scribbling their points down as round 2/4 begins, and Yibo is the first one in the middle, again, and wtf gdi my sound really picks this point to drop out again? I feel like Youku may be fucking with me, at this point. ANYWAY, Yibo is finally, actually all in, and he’s got a fantastic Harlem shake, it’s like his joints are barely connected. I honestly could watch this boy dance all day, that’s how smooth he looks. Here’s the thing about Yibo, and it’s something the other captains haven’t yet achieved, or have only accomplished in slivers of time – he makes me want to dance, too. I watch him, and I want to be doing what he’s doing. You could say that he literally, not just figuratively or emotionally, moves me. And his ability to stoke that is something I really appreciate. Jackson Wang is up next and is pretty good, but I’m honestly more impressed with Lay Zhang, who manages to look almost like he’s being special-effected, that’s how staccato he gets at his best in this round. Wallace dances. The other captains are polite about it. More scribbling from the judges. Jackson’s the first one out there in round three, and he’s honestly looking the least tired of all of them. Stamina is maybe an issue, here. Even with Jackson, some of the finer control is gone. Y’all are maybe a little soft? How long has it been since any of you idols had to endure the workout of an entire concert? There’s a whole ‘nother round to go after this, so you better get your oxygen masks. Lay Zhang is still fairly crisp and pulls off a literal hat trick, although he’s doing a lot more upper body work that lets him stand in place than he is actually moving around. Jackson, with his baby boy enthusiasm and energy, is magnanimous enough to fill up some of Wallace’s time by “pulling” him into the center and then getting out there and dancing with him. I am old enough that I understand what Wallace is going through, but there’s just a noticeable difference in ability, here. Yibo is clearly waiting until last this time, to those of us paying scrupulous attention, although it’s nothing too obvious, and it does buy him enough time that he’s basically recovered by the time he gets back into the middle of the circle, although he’s a little less expansive than he’s been in the previous two rounds. So, strategic, then, too. Judges scribble as we move into the last round. No time for weakness, all of you. DID YOU HEAR ME, because most of you are looking, to be frank, just a little bit WEAK as you circle around and hang out on the edges and try to get your breath and energy back. I’m just sayin’. Lay takes the hit first, and he’s really trying, although he’s not as strong as he was back in the second round. I’m a little bit afraid he might fall over by the end of it. Yibo is sweating but pulls some random dude’s hat right off his head before … at least going all in, even if he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing, krump-wise. He ends by falling on the ground, in a credible WWX-passing-the-fuck-out imitation, which is probably a relief, by that point. Jackson probably has the most energy left, although he’s reduced to pulling off his shirt and posing by the end of his time. Wallace does some dancing. Look. I’m just going to leave it at that. Jackson is still being polite enough to encourage his elder. It’s maybe a little bit endearing. Final result is that Lay Zhang wins, which. OK. I would have placed him second, after Yibo, but I also seem to remember that he won the initial captains’ performance, back in Ep 1, so I guess I can’t be too surprised at this, based on trends. Show director was apparently so impressed, he’s gonna give up four extra towels, one to each captain, which means Lay gets two towels. So I guess towels go to Yuan Ye on Team Lay Zhang and Bullet on team Wang Yibo, if they keep their promises, although don’t know who Wallace and Jackson are planning on giving their extra towels to.

Next ep: Mystery Guest.

[mono-moonchilds]

♡︎Content Tag Game♡︎

Tagged by the lovely @ddeseokielune ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

Tagging quite literally anyone who wants to participate. I’m not sure who to tag and don’t want to be a bother

1. what fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)?

5sos, Mindless Behavior loll roc royal was my man.

I’m still holding it down for you boo and when you get out I’ll be holding it up 😉😮‍💨 (pls tell me someone gets the reference. Okay let’s continue)

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for?

BTS!! and I'm thinking of starting to write for the loml Sam Wilson aka Anthony Mackie. My love for this man is getting out of hand

3. how long have you been writing?

I wrote my first short story in 5th grade and it was about a family of clowns and the parents basically made their son disappear. Like seriously the dad let him fall out the car or pushed him and kept driving. Currently thinking how i even read that outloud infront of the class (ikik very dark stuff for a child)

4. on which platform do you post your stories?

ao3 and tumblr

5. what is your favorite genre to write?

Angst, mystery, thriller, organized crime and smut (i have a very active imagination)

6. are you a pantser or a planner?

both honestly. I plan a lot of my stories out but when it gets to writing i often find myself getting stuck because I compare myself to other writers and want everything to be perfect.

7. one-shot or multi-chapter?

chaptered fics all the way even though they can be quite frustrating.

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion?

6-8k. even tho I have written a chapter that's as long as 17k

hint hint Liaison: Chapter 5. That one surprised even me.

9. what is your longest published story? is it complete?

Liaison is the longest so far and it's far FAR from complete. Fingers crossed I finish it this year tho.

10. which story did you enjoy working on the most?

My one shot-well soon-to-be two shot 'Little Ballerina'. I wrote it to give myself a break from Liaison and enjoyed every moment of fleshing out Willow and Hoseok.

11. favorite requests you have written and why (if any?)

'only exception' or the request I got that was basically about jungkook and yn at a carnival and he was trying to win her a stuffed animal. the second one isn't on my master list but you can find it on my ao3 book called 'BTS Various Short Drabbles' or just scroll down far enough through this blog and you'll see.

12. are there any reocurring themes in your stories?

pls I actually have no idea

13. current number of wips?

8 :P hopefully, that number will be trickling down.

14. three things you have noticed about your own writing?

hmm. I have a lot of dialogue i believe, imo my descriptions can be sometimes wack, i tend to use really and smile ALOT something I try to fix when editing.

15. a quote you like from a published story

I'm going to give a few along with explanations

Liaison:

He really wasn’t ready but was anyone ever really ready to attend their parent’s funeral? Jungwoo stepped out the truck walking over to Namjoon’s side opening up the door. Namjoon took one last deep breath before putting on his game face and stepping down from his truck and onto the street. He tugged at the ends of his suit and ran his hands over the front of his jacket straightening everything out. He needed to look perfect. His father deserved that much. Besides, like mother always said “Wrinkles made you look poor.” and Namjoon was no peasant.

-when i read back on this it just makes me laugh because I remember one of my best friends reading it and being like 'well damn, my clothes always got wrinkles.'

The office fell quiet for a brief moment and Namjoon relished it. It was quite obvious from Ito’s furrowed eyebrows and clenched jaw that he’d struck a nerve. What Namjoon couldn’t tell though was if the man across from him had been baffled into silence or was just thinking of another comeback.

Who knew under all the drugs, women, and money Ito was a man very much dedicated to his faith?

Either way, Namjoon had won.

-i love this quote because, at least in my opinion, the last line kind of sets the tone of how Namjoon's character is in 'Liaison'. It definitely shows off his ego and how hypocritical ppl (Ito) can be.-

Oddly enough, as domestic as Taehyung was -especially for Elyse- he’d never thought of that.

Perhaps it was because the thought of bringing someone home to be met was a thought he’d specifically reserved for a parent. His mother was dead, as well as his father, and he had no biological family that he knew besides Jungkook. But after hearing it imagery that just felt right filled his head.

Him, Elyse, Jimin, and Jihun all sitting around that small round table, laughing and talking-

-im actually not going to give an explanation for this :PP one because it kind of leads into a sentiment ?? (idk if I'm using the word right) that i want liaison readers to pick up on themselves so let's hope if i write it well enough so that yall can lol. i think its obvious tho tbh.

16. a quote from an unpublished story

Silent Night:

But even then, his you are something greater than a mere human. you are ethereal, on a holy scale. Thinking about you as a human seemed like a curse to your very existence.

You are something more. Something better.

You're the embodiment of perfection.

From your brown skin, big brown eyes, and short curly hair that framed your head like a halo everything about her was simply …amazing. Jungkook never really believed in love, not romantically at least. He had Yoongi whom he loved very much but besides that, he’d never felt love for anyone else. Especially not on an intimate level.

But when he met you everything changed. Jungkook fell in love instantly…you both did. The two of you wordlessly staring into one another’s eyes, caressing each other’s hands, just enjoying the moment one did when they finally found the one.

17. space for you to say something to your readers

thank you guys sm for reading my stories. even though I'm not the most active writer i do appreciate the support from newer readers all the way the the ones whose account i recognize when I go through my notification. it makes my heart swell with joy.

[asideofourown]

Happy anniversary to the Good Omens TV show! I didn’t get the chance to write a fic specifically to celebrate (where did May go?  Perhaps I’ll do something in June for my own go-versary), so instead here I am with 25 recs :D  Thanks so much to @forineffablereasons​ for the bingo board (here is her original post)!  And thanks so much to the Good Omens fandom for countless hours of incredible fic to read and enjoy <3  Obviously, this list barely scratches the surface of what’s out there, but here are some of my favorites!  

A fic you’ve read several times: South Downs University series by @nieded​

I’ve read this series probably... ten times, and I still love it.  It fits (one of my absolute favorite) very niche categories with Crowley and Aziraphale being cryptid professors and utterly confusing their students, and i am HERE for it

A fic not abt Aziraphale and Crowley: Bridge over troubled water by @moondawntreader​

LISTEN this fic is so good, I’ve read it probably four times and it’s incredible.  Short, but so powerful in so few words.  Leslie/Maud is the true otp ;D

A fic published before the show aired: Slytherin Vaguely Downwards by @saviobriion​

This fic is really, really well-written, and does a fantastic job transporting many Good Omens characters into the HP universe in a way that works really well!

A fic you followed as a wip: on the same page by @thechekhov​

Still a WIP, and still incredible!  Az and Crowley as authors with their own Arrangement is already fantastic, but add in the fake-dating-while-pining-desperately?  Incredible!

a human AU: secondhand smoke by @paintedvanilla​

This is probably my favorite fic in the entire good omens fandom tbh... human au set in the 1990s, and so so so well done-- this is another fic I’ve read several times, and every time i notice something new.  The characterization and prose is fantastic, the development of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship is really sweet and realistic, and this was also the fic that definitively got me on board for Newt/Anathema as well!

A fic shorter than 2k: For Holding by theycallmeDernhelm

Ahh this one is really soft!  Post-apocalypse hand holding is my jam, and the author does a lovely job of saying so much in so few words <3

A fic you stayed up way too late reading: Not So Different by effing_gravity

I stayed up until maybe... three in the morning reading this fic?  After every chapter I would tell myself to only read one more, but it was so gripping I read it all in one sitting!  Reverse omens meets the canon husbands in a super interesting and thrilling fic!

A south downs fic: The consciousness of loving and being loved by yolkinthejump

This is like... the platonic ideal of a South Downs fic imo.  The author does an absolutely incredible job of conveying the depth of their relationship, and it’s so sweet and soft and <3

A fic with a favorite trope: There goes the neighbourhood by @jasmine-cottage-uk​

so technically I’m cheating because the ‘favorite trope’ in this one is ALSO south downs (like above), but.  This fic is so funny, and the author does a great job of capturing Aziraphale and Crowley’s voices and the way the care for each other, it’s very sweet <3

A dowling years fic: Floriography by Frenchmeister

This fic is very cute!  Excellent Dowling-era pining, complete with misunderstandings and veiled communications :D  And the author does such a lovely job weaving the narrative to show Aziraphale and Crowley’s growing relationship

A historical fic: Phersu by JCutter

This fic.  THIS FIC.  Is so fucking incredibly detailed and immersive, oh my god.  I’m still (admittedly) in the process of reading it, but it’s a GEM.  The characterization is on point and the whole thing is beautifully written and wonderfully interesting!  It’s super clear the author knew what they were writing about, and that knowledge and passion really shines through

A favorite canonverse fic: England's pleasant pastures seen by @heavens-bookshop​

this fic is my JAM-- overhearing a conversation, implicit marriage proposals, post-canon sweetness... this one’s got it all!  And, as with all of their fics, squiddz does an incredible job of writing Aziraphale and Crowley in character and so wonderfully in love <3

MY FIC: A Guide to Fame for the Enterprising Demon by me!

This is my favorite fic I’ve written for Good Omens, and quite possibly my favorite fic ever.  Listen, Crowley getting accidentally famous is SO funny to me, as is outsider pov, so if I write about it a lot... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A fic that made you cry: reasons wretched and divine by @stammiviktor​

Allison has been one of my favorite writers for a good long while, and this fic is just one of her amazing works.  It’s touching and meaningful and so moving even in only a few thousand words, and between her characterization and writing style... this one packs a punch in the best of ways

A fic that inspires you: The Name of the Star is Wormwood by LusBeatha

So technically this could have gone up above, in the ‘stayed up too late reading’ category, because here’s another that was just too exciting to put down  From beginning to end, the author does and incredible job connecting the past and present, and introducing characters in such an engaging way that, even though the fic is quite long, it goes by super fast.  Probably my fave take on Raphael!Crowley :D

A fic you’d recommend to someone new to the fandom: Shotgun Wedding: sometimes a first date requires paperwork by @charlottemadison42​

Still a wip, and absolutely amazing!  Charlotte is an absolutely incredible author, and from the very beginning this fic does an amazing job of integrating canon characters (and even little nods and references to canon!) into an entirely different human au setting in a super engaging and clever way.  12/10 would recommend to someone new, and the slow burn is incredibly satisfying right up to the (current) resolution!

A comfort fic: it's a new craze by @areyougonnabe​, [podfic] it's a new craze by @niceandaccuratetheatre​

I’ve read this fic a few times, and it never gets old. attheborder’s humor is on point, and the conception itself- aziraphale and crowley on an advice podcast- is incredible!  I would highly, highly recommend listening to the podfic if you can; it’s excellently performed, and in all honesty the podfic that got me onto podfics ;D

A fic that found you at the right time: two dad shaped beings by @jarchivism​

i....... cannot express how much I love ineffable parents.  And this fic seriously, seriously hits the spot.  It’s super cute, super funny, and a really sweet and engaging read!  The author did a lovely job with keeping Az and Crowley in character even as they raise the antichrist together

A fic you’d love to see as a movie: All's Fair In Love And Serial Killing by @wyvernquill​

[Mind the tags] This fic does an incredible job of balancing darker content with humor.  The whole story is fast-paced and exciting, keeping the suspense right up until the last moment, and the author does a fantastic job of constructing a satisfying ‘mystery!’  Most of all, the more morbid moments are countered by Wyvern’s clever writing style and narrative voice, making this fic interesting and even surprisingly fun!

A fic by a favorite author: Four Cups of Wine by borealowl

I really, really love this fic.  The whole concept, of Aziraphale and Crowley getting to know a family of humans and learn about their cultural heritage through celebration is wonderful, and the author does a wonderful job of portraying the growth of their friendship! The entire series (both main fic and the one-shots that come after) is incredibly fun and interesting, and one of my faves in the fandom

A fic that made you laugh out loud: What's in a Name? by @rosen-ritter​

The first time I read this I was in public, waiting at a car rental place for my grandparents.  So the fact that I couldn’t stop laughing out loud was... honestly worth it.  This series is so fucking funny from beginning to end, especially on reread, and has such a fun take on who the archangel Raphael really is ;D

A fic longer than 20k: Dad Omens by @pookaseraph​

have I mentioned I love ineffable parents??? Because I really, really do.  This fic is hilarious, sweet, and adorable, and I absolutely love the progression of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship as they raise Adam together-- and, despite not being human, raise him well :D  An absolutely wonderful take on what if the baby swap had been even more confused?

A fic with the them: and i don't care if you don't want me (i'm yours anyhow) by @quidfree​

The main focus of this fic is Warlock, but the Them are featured pretty heavily and in a really important way!  It’s a lovely exploration of kids growing up and going to college, and learning who they really are, and written so well and with such nuance that I really couldn’t put it down!

A fic with a line you still remember: A More Nourishing Love by @qorktrees​

This fic is just.  Really powerful.  It’s so, so clear how much Aziraphale and Crowley care for each other, how much they love and support each other, and their unconditional love for each other makes me tear up every time <3  

A GO: Lockdown fic: New slang by @carishouldbesleeping

This fic is super super cute!  A lovely take on Aziraphale and Crowley’s reunion post-lockdown, complete with fluff and love confessions <3  So well-written and absolutely adorable!

[petekaos]

What did you think about the last episode!!

hi hi! so uhhh... this is going to get long and i’ve combined like 10 other asks i want to address, so your ask may be answered here! if you want Rahul’s Take On The 2gether Finale, then brace yourself.

...I didn't really like the last episode, I feel like it could've been a lot better/more emotional

I dunno if it's because I didn't like the last 2 episodes but even though the show literally finished I'm not emotional? The last episode I felt actually really happy watching was ep 9 but now I'm just 'ok, that show finished.' I'm sad bc I thought I would have a stronger reaction to the ending and them getting back together but I'm just meh :/

Really don't want to sound like those annoying people but damn really no kiss scene

I liked the ending, it was okay I guess but gmmtv better prepare for a shitstorm bc so many people didn't lololol

Honestly the best and well written episodes were ones where they still weren't a couple, like 8 and 9 were amazing

Although the finale was good, I feel llke in the future when I want to rewatch my favorite moments from this series, I will go for the first 10 or so episodes more often than not. It kinda feels like 2gether peaked around episodes 7-10, which is perfectly fine!! It was all in all a great series that did what it wanted to do and I’ll always cherish it but, I probably won’t rewatch much of the last two episodes

They made pam even worse!! Before she had her talk with tine anyway!!

My thoughts on the finale: could've been a lot better, could've been a lot worse

2Gether really felt like a giant inflatable castle that was carefully blown up for the past 12 weeks only to let it rapidly and poorly deflate in the end

The ending was fine and was expected but for me it's underwhelming in the sense that the past episodes, especially 4, 8 and 9 were really written in comparison so the finale is kinda meh bc I knew there was gonna be a happy ending. But still the YouTube comments and what some people on tumblr are saying is ridiculous, I don't want to even think about Twitter but imo I don't think any of gmmtvs other shows can top dbks ending like that ending was perfect,

i honestly love that 2gether focused so much on the story and the emotion and became so successful without all the usual fan service. i hope the whole industry takes something away from that! but i still felt like the finale was a little emotionally stunted when it came to tine/sarawat. i just wanted a big YES, I CHOOSE YOU moment, and tine's reappearance and the bracelet scene just didn't do it for me. you know what would have, though? a kiss. or a hug, or holding hands, or something sweet

okay, my friends! here is my opinion on the 2gether finale first, and then i’m gonna address what i personally hold of the more negative response the fandom has shown. i generally thought the finale had... a solid ending. i went into it with absolutely no expectations apart from sarawat’s song and a happy ending, because i knew it would be messy and not as good as ep 4 or 9 etc, considering the sheer amount of open storylines that were left to be resolved in one episode. i knew it would polarise the fandom--but i personally thought the ending was fine! a bit cliche, a bit rushed, but it was okay and it was a good enough ending for me to put 2gether behind me, the first season at least. the bracelet scenes and shots were amazing, the song was incredible (although i wish they would have had sarawat sing a bit more), the conversation pam and tine had was solid as well! there were a lot of things i liked about the finale and bright and win killed their solo acting as always. however, there are some things i wanna get into more detail about that i feel could have been done better, not only as a finale but as a show itself.

time allocated for the storylines. or: plotlines in general. this has been my bone to pick ever since episode 10. not gonna lie, this wasn’t good, especially from ep 10 onwards. there were so many storylines and plotlines that were dragged out further than necessary, and so many plotlines that should have started earlier. best example for this is mil and phukong, the mil redemption storyline should have started in ep 10 and should have had him be sincere for once, and the mil/phukong storyline should have actually made sense from the beginning and started in ep 11 at the latest. the mantype storyline should have also started a bit earlier than that and given us an explanation as to why type was crying at the retreat. however, mantype did pull it off!

writing! this ties in with the first point. the writing felt a bit inconsistent in the last two episodes and it’s a pity, really, that this is one of the downfalls :/ all the actors in this series, from the mains (bright, win, mike, toptap, frank, drake) to the side characters (gunsmile, love, gigie, film, etc.) are such good actors and it’s unfortunate that the last three episodes were a bit :// in terms of writing and plotlines. they all did the best they could with what was written and that... yeah.

conflict. this has to do with the first two points. the finale felt rushed. that’s something that i don’t think anyone really can argue? and i expected that, so i wasn’t too disappointed by it or anything. obviously it would have felt rushed considering the fact that they had to wrap up 3 or 4 episodes’ worth of storylines in one episode, which was a blunder on the writers’ part. the conflict fell flat, then. if they had had pam come in earlier and had tine and sarawat spend more time away from each other, we would have gotten an explosive reaction. i really do think that after they got together for real, the writers struggled to find conflict to keep the story going, jumping from tine’s insecurities to mil to pam for no reason whatever. i think it would have been much better done if we had mil as an antagonist wrapped up and on the road to redemption in ep 10 and had pam come in there, with tine’s insecurities as a b plot. i feel that would have been a bit more gripping. but, hey, guess that’s just me!

order of filming. this has to do with people saying that brightwin’s chemistry was off in the finale. i don’t think it was off, per se, but it was definitely lacking when we compare it to their chemistry in ep 4 or 9 or 10, y’know? that’s because i believe the finale was filmed earlier, when bright and win were still getting to know each other and figuring out how well they could improv. and they can improv, from what we’ve seen! so there really is nothing i can say apart from the fact that it’s a bit disappointing that they decided to film such a pivotal scene at the beginning. if it had been filmed in the end, it would have definitely been better!

flashbacks. the finale needed all the time it was gonna get, and i am disappointed by the amount of flashbacks they used, honestly. i would have cut down on the number of sarawatine flashbacks and used them sparingly when they reunited, because that just... makes sense and evokes emotion in the viewer, you know? the only flashbacks that served well were type’s view of everything and phukong and mil, because they were new. it just... felt a bit inauthentic.

pam. or: the girls in general. there is nothing i can do here but SCREAM. pam should have come in way earlier and replaced mil as the centre point of conflict for ep 11 and 12 to have been as good as the rest of the show, or ep 4 and 9 at least. her character fell so flat and the conflict she brought with her fell so flat as well, honestly. the girls should have been done better--more of earn and sarawat! more of pear! they could have tied into the plot effortlessly!

mil and phukong x mil. yeah this is a... whole ass bulletpoint, unfortunately. call me a clown all you want for expecting him to have at least a half assed redemption arc in the finale but goddamn was that... not good. really bitter over the fact phukong was straight up okay with being a “replacement” for tine even though... that doesn’t even make sense. i just... yeah, this wasn’t good. i feel super bad for frank and drake because they deserve a well written show or at the very least a well written storyline for all of their chemistry and work they put in, considering the fact that they are so so young. i could go on about a good mil arc for ages but i just... yeah i’m writing a fic, so y’all will see.

the reunion. this stems from the flat conflict and the rushed-ness of it all, but yeah. it wasn’t particularly hard-hitting, but i still enjoyed it because it’s sarawat and tine. this has to do with when they filmed as well, and just... because the angst didn’t start early enough for it to hit home. and i really do wish we’d had a scene after that with the both of them, alone. a lot of their things happen with a lot of people around them... and nah.

one year later. bro. bro. bro. the music club thing was cute! but i would have just... loved to see them alone, y’know? a scene of them being alone and intimate, just sitting next to each other on the couch or at a football game or sarawat continuing bringing the cheerleaders snacks, even a year later. them going to another concert. anything where they were just... alone. i wanted to see them together! we got that with mantype and we even got that fucking... scene on the roof where mil and phukong were just fuckin around? yeah? i would have loved to see that with sarawat and tine so much. (also btw pretty sure the rooftop scenes with mil and phukong is also where drake and frank took this photo and it made me so happy dhsndh like... the shot where mil took his hand off phukong’s eyes? i called it immediately and my partner was like ???)

intimacy. chemistry. the biggest thing everyone is talking about. now comes the part that y’all all wanted to know if you’ve been reading this far lmfao, my take on the fact that was no kiss in the finale! and my take is... i expected there to be no kiss in the finale somewhere deep within, and honestly i’m fine with not having a kiss. my only problems with all of this are first of all, that we didn’t get a proper kiss in the entire series and had sarawat kissing tine one-sidedly. secondly, i would have loved verbal intimacy as well! an i love you, or y’know, some hand holding, anything! this is also due to the fact that i believe the series was filmed relatively early on. i just wish... again, that they would have been alone one year later and we could have just seen them being domestic, as we have already seen them!

so those are some of my thoughts on the finale. considering the fandom’s response... i can see why people are upset or disappointed but i don’t think it’s, like, that justified to throw the whole show away as well. yeah, the ending wasn’t perfect, but if you’ve enjoyed the show as a whole... maybe it’s okay, y’know? like, personally, i don’t think i’m ever going to rewatch the finale. but i do love the earlier episodes and i am gonna watch them back at some point, probably! it’s all well and good and valid to criticise the lack of intimacy and kissing in the finale i guess, but if you’re a straight girl then maybe... watch your words. 2gether has portrayed a wonderful love story between two men and to see straight people throw it away as “bromance” or say it’s the “straightest bl of all time” or whatever because of the lack of kisses is kind of hurtful. i am completely open to discussing this with lgbt people, mlm specifically, and you can come talk to me about your thoughts if you’re a straight woman as well. all i’m asking for is that you maybe show a little bit of empathy and respect, y’know? i also do think 2gether peaked around episode 9/10 and i’m fine with that! it gave me so much more than characters and relationships--it gave me the fandom and everyone here and words cannot express how grateful i am for all of you. maybe the last few episodes were poorly written and the finale wasn’t everything y’all hoped for... but i did and do love this show. i cannot wait to see where brightwin go next.

[blackfemmejeanvaljean]

my laptop is still not working so instead of being productive I'm gonna just infodump about what was absolutely the best fanfiction I have ever read in my entire life so I strongly encourage y'all to skip this post because this is really embarrassing and I'm gonna be a real bastard about it (but also just read the fanfiction. it was amazing and I highly recommend it)

Link to Realize

gonna break this insane ramble down to five parts: I explain why I was reading rocket power fanfiction in the first place, I briefly explain the pitch with no spoilers, I give my calm and collected opinion on why it's worth your time and finally my original review with all the passion and light to moderate spoilers (it's a fun read imo and only my opinion) and finally the fanmade playlist

and then I never mention it again

okay let's begin!

Part 1: What Type of Fucking Weirdo Wastes Time Reading Rocket Power Fanfiction

All right here me out. The year was 2008. The summer between middle school and high school. I was a pretty lonely kid and my parents rarely let me out of the house. I'm not kidding. I did what many sheltered children did I glued myself to the internet. So I came across a little show called Total Drama Island. The show itself was great but what really impressed me was the show's potential for fanfiction was so great I revived my former love for the genre. I read, I wrote, I messaged boarded. I had a swell time. In addition to TDI I read fanfiction from a number of different fandoms from my childhood. Some quite good, some (most) that made me regret learning how to read. The gems were 'faved' to be enjoyed at a later date. Little did I know that date wouldn't come for another 12 years.

The year is 2020. The year of face masks, hand sanitizer, and uncertainty. We live in such exciting times and yet we spend most of our days inside. Bored. Restless. Longing for something, anything to do. I keep busy streaming television programs, cooking, and growing my Instagram following. I explore reddit. I plan for a future beyond the constraints of quarantine. Maybe when all this is over I'll move to NYC and start all over again? I drink wine by the box full. I gain 30 pounds and join a gym. Then one faithful day the siren call of nostalgia leads me to my old fanfiction page. I cringe at my bio section. Marvel at how bad the writing I was once so proud of was. And finally I pour through the pages of old favorite stories. Among the incredibly bad fandom works I find one that I vaguely remember from the Rocket Power fandom. It felt odd that at 14 I would have read fanfiction from a show that was at the time cancelled 4 years earlier but then I remember like these current times I was under a sort of quarantine of my parents design. I was bored and gasping at straws for something to break up the monotony. The story itself was brief, what the locals refered to as a one shot involving the couple I causally shipped before I fully understood what shipping was: Twister and Reggie. In the story's brevity I found what could pass for genuine human emotion. The characters lept to life from my phone screen. For a moment I was 14 again sitting at the family computer passing away another summer's day. I returned to home that kept me prisoner but I was a caged bird singing.

I couldn't help but wonder: if one person could deliver such elegance for this pairing had others picked up on the potential for this love story the show's writers neglected to even hint at. What hidden gems lay ahead of me. I found myself tapping for the Rocket Power section. However there was one glaring problem. In the 21 years Rocket Power has existed less than 500 fanfictions were written about the work. And most of them were unreadable. I was distraught. I had opened my heart to this pairing just to find a deadend. I nearly resigned myself back to my streaming service when a little voice whispered ao3. My searched continued. There were even fewer available on ao3 and what was available was somehow worse than familiar fanfiction.net (I won't go into detail but there's some fucked up people on that website). Just as I was ready to throw in the towel, I came across it. The story that would forever change my perception of what a fanfiction could be. I readied myself for a few hours of indulgent content but nothing could prepare me for the paradise I uncovered.

Part 2: Well, Bitch What Is It About

Basically, without giving too much away Twister is in love with Reggie but Reggie has a boyfriend. A masterpiece ensures.

Part 3: That's It??? How Is That Different From Any Other Fanfiction

Realize is a masterpiece. I'm not saying that to be cute. It is so materfully written it could have easily been sold as a romance novel down at the airport and it would have became an instant classic and a movie. The actual story was written over the span of six years and so much attention to detail went into this work. It is so rare to find a fanwork that the author took as seriously as an original writer takes their work seriously. You won't find spelling and grammar mistakes, unflushed out plotlines nor will you find flat characters nor forced dialogue. It avoids the worst that fanfiction has the offer. Instead you will find a work that is not only true to the source material but expands upon the idea and creates an entire world. And in this world you find closure. Closure for a show that inspired me to not only rollerblade but to believe in and value friendship and my own sibling. I strongly consid3e this to be the true ending of the series. That's how seemless this fanwork blends with the regular series despite taking place 6 years later. Even if you've never even heard of Rocket Power you could still find enjoyment in this fanfiction (but probably not the original show because it...hasn't aged well...). If you want to something that proves fanfiction can be art while also making you believe in love this is your moment. Read Realize.

Part 4: My Actual Review As Copied and Pasted from AO3

I don't know quite how to describe what I'm feeling right now but there is A LOT OF IT. I'm going to try my damnest to express the amount of joy in my heart, the endorphins in my brain and the love in my soul. This whole thing hit me in my fucking soul. I've never felt this way in my life about a fanfiction. This is off the charts. This was so good I would slap my mama over it. Did you secretly write for the original show? Where you bullshitting with that last message? This was professional in different areas. What the fuck. You were in your bag! Wow so many different moments stood out like like the tattoo parlor, the slow dance in the street, Trish's victory, fucking Sam's speech. The four of them hitting us with one final woggity woggity woggity. This fic broke me. It broke me and I entered a new era in my life. I'm a new person and I'd like to think I'm a better person for experiencing this. I didn't just read this I experienced this fic. I could go all fucking night about how much I loved every goddamn moment in this story. I could and I will definitely be back to give you more compliments (I don't care if you never read these reviews since this story is 4 years old I need an outlet). The ending, child, the ending had me believing that true love is real and it's out there (even though I don't have any childhood friends to fall madly in love with). This fundamentally changed me as a person I cannot stress this enough. I literally forgot about coronavirus for a moment when I was reading the ending. All my worries were gone because I was so engrossed by the sheer professional quality of which this was written. I was *in* Ocean Shores at the luau. I could smell the pig roasting and see the fire juggling and feel the sand between my toes. It was like I was there. Not to mention you brought back the Stimpletons, and Sherri and even "That's the spirit!" guy. This provided some much much much needed closure for me, a huge fan of Rocket Power that missed the final episode as a kid. The show never felt truly complete because it was abruptly cancelled in my world. But here I've found solace in knowing that Twister and Reggie found true love, the gang remained friends all their lives, they're going to succeed professionally in their lives. Some irritating people dislike happy ending because they're not real enough for them but for me they reflect real life in a way pessimistic views cannot. And you have given me the gift of a happy ending for the show that helped me cope with my childhood loneliness. You have given me hope for my own future.

This not only my favorite fanfiction it's one of my favorite pieces of writing altogether. Congratulations. I'm so proud of you, stranger on the internet.

Part Five: Xandra Made A Fan Playlist

It's based on songs that I like that remind me of the story as well as songs that inspired the story.

Thanks for letting me vent y'all. Sorry I'm such an embarrassment. Except I'm not sorry. Read Realize and please talk to me about it

[trensu]

Episode 26: The One where the Rain is Actually the Fandom’s Endless Tears

We start off the episode with the awful reminder that su she exists; it’s terrible, we all hate it

Lwj is the one who reminds us, which makes it both better and worse

At least lwj is looking nice in his pale blue robes

Non-wangxian nonsense happens

Brief moment to admire jc’s fashion 

More non-wangxian stuff happens

Ooooh, now we get to watch jin zixun be an asshole again, but with the bonus of having a little bit of wangxiantics!!

Jz goes to our lan bros and starts talking to them

(how dare he be anywhere near their presence?? YOU ARE UNWORTHY OF BREATHING THE SAME AIR AS HANGUANG-JUN, YOU ASSHOLE)

He tells lxc to take a shot with him even tho everyone and their mother knows lans don’t drink alcohol

Alcohol is Forbidden

But there he goes, peer pressuring the heck out of lxc, like, oh, if you don’t take a shot it’ll be an insult to me and my clan blah blah

And everyone agrees with him?? For some reason??? As if forcing someone everyone knows doesn’t imbibe into taking a shot isn’t rude af??? FUCK YOU JZ

Lxc capitulates way too easily imo and takes the shot

Lwj watches this go down out of the corner of his eye, and when lxc drinks, his eyes flick away (as if ashamed? Disappointed? Idk, but it wasn’t a positive feeling i know i was definitely disappointed)

Then jz goes and does the same to lwj

It’s awful but LET’S TAKE A MOMENT TO ADMIRE LWJ

LWJ looks at the offered drink just long enough to make sure EVERYONE KNOWS HE KNOWS IT’S THERE

AND THEN RETURNS TO GAZING STEADILY FORWARD

like, yes, i’m ignoring you aND I WANT YOU TO KNOW IT

I LOVE YOU HANGUANG-JUN!!!!!!

And just before this becomes a diplomatic incident, we see a hand reach out and take the shot glass from jz!

Wwx: i’ll drink for him. Is that okay?” 

And he downs the shot before anyone can say anything (showing off the lovely expanse of his neck and we all appreciate that or at least I do)!!! He even flips the shot glass upside down to show that he emptied it completely!!!

WWX PULLED AN LWJ-MOVE AND SWOOPED IN TO SAVE HIS SOULMATE FROM HAVING TO SACRIFICE HIS PERSONAL IDEALS

THAT’S ~TRUE LOVE~ BABY

And lwj’s expression, omg. I can’t even describe it?? Awed gratitude bc of the rescue?? Stunned attraction bc of seeing wwx expose his neck so indecently?? I’m totally not projecting that last part, maybe, i think

For real tho, it looks like lwj was walloped with the strength of his love for wwx

As if seeing wwx do that for him gave him an abrupt reminder of how overpoweringly in love he is with him

It’s beautiful

Now there’s a jz vs. wwx showdown

It’s super stressful and Important to the Plot

So we’re glossing over most of it!!

But let's MARVEL how wwx totally owns the jin clan

Jz: you really think you’re so invincible you can overturn the heavens?

Wwx: are you comparing yourself to the heavens? With all due respect, you have a really thick face

Lol, “with all due respect” = 0 respect. Jz you deserve ZERO RESPECT YOU ASSHOLE

Wwx is putting these gold-robed bastards on the spot and it’s AAMAAAAZZING

Wwx: do you think that now that the Evil Wens are gone, the Jin clan should naturally take over? So that everything should be given to you and everyone should follow your orders??

I LOVE MY BOY. LOOK AT MY SUNSHINE BOY BURN THE FUCK OUT THESE DOUCHEBAGS

HE’S ALL “WHY ARE YOU BOOING ME?? I’M RIGHT”

BECAUSE HE IS. HE IS RIGHT.

Lwj says his name worriedly here; he knows wwx is getting himself into some deep trouble here

More Plotty Confrontation happens…

And then wwx loses his patience, and gets ready to draw his demon flute

Everyone in the banquet hall jumps to their feet and readies their swords bc they are scared shitless. Wwx doesn’t even acknowledge them. His focus is all on jz

Wwx: if i kill you today, won’t it be justified by your standards?

(for the viewers keeping track at home, that brings the score to wwx = 3, jin clan = 0)

LOOK AT MY BOY GO

Lwj: Wei Ying!

Lwj calls him practically in a panic

I mean, he only says his name slightly more forcefully than usual, but in lwj-speak that means PANIC

Ahhhh, i LOVE this next line. It's a great line. I mean, it’s an absolute terrible line for wwx’s future wellbeing, BUT STILL

Wwx: if I, wei wuxian, want to kill someone, who can stop me? Who dares to stop me?

HE IS FURIOUS

RESENTMENT IS FLARING EVERYWHERE

Lwj: wei ying, put down the demon flute!!

He’s so worried for his soulmate!!!!

wwx starts a countdown to get the info he wants

🎶IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN~!🎶 Sorry sorry, not appropriate but i’m stressed, LET ME HAVE THIS

Wwx: everyone knows i’m not patient. You have until the count of three…

He makes it to two until jz gives in and finally finally tells wwx the info he’s looking for (aka where the wen labor camp is)

Wwx: why didn’t you say so earlier?

Lol, he says it all calm and easy and leaves the banquet hall with a confident swagger (which brings the final score to wwx = 5, jin clan = 0 AND THE CROWD GOES WILD, AHHHHH!!)

BUT you can see on his face that he knows how badly he handled this situation

He knows he’s just screwed himself over

Depressing Plot Things happen

So lets see lwj defend his soulmate to make us feel better!

Jgy: wwx is too impulsive. How could he say such things in front of the gentries

He says that to lxc, trying to turn him against wwx!! That scummy bastard!!!

Lwj: isn’t what he said right?

I LOVE YOU HANGUANG-JUN

Jgy: well, yeah, i guess, but he can’t just say that to everyone’s faces!!

Lxc: wwx’s temperament has changed a lot recently

LXC I AM ASHAMED TO KNOW YOU. YOU GIVE IN LIKE A WET PAPER TOWEL. GROW A SPINE (i still love you tho)

Lwj bows to lxc right after that and lxc dismisses him from the banquet hall with a sad smile

Lxc: go and do your best

BC HE KNOWS HIS LITTLE BROTHER

HE KNOWS HOW MUCH LWJ LOVES WWX AND HOW MUCH HE WANTS TO PROTECT HIM

MORE DEPRESSING PLOT THINGS HAPPEN

Like, Super Depressing

Like, “violating Geneva Conventions” Depressing

It’s really really awful

Because now we’re at a labor camp

We get to see wq lose her mind as she finds her little brother’s body

AND BECAUSE I VALUE MY SANITY WE’RE NOT GONNA GO INTO THAT ANY MORE 

I HATE THIS. I HATE THIS SO MUCH

THEY DIDN’T DESERVE THIS

THEY’RE GOOD PEOPLE. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO THEM

*SOBBING*

WEN NING STILL HAD THE PROTECTIVE CHARM WWX GAVE HIM IN HIS HAAAANDDD

WHY IS EVERYTHING TERRIBLE ALL THE TIME

We do get a badass scene where wwx STEADILY WALKS BACK THROUGH THE CAMP PLAYING HIS DEMON FLUTE TO CONFRONT THE JIN GUARDS

CALMLY CONTROLLING ALL THAT RESENTFUL ENERGY THAT’S JUST POURING OFF OF HIM

The jin guards are begging for their lives and still have the gall to lie about killing their prisoners??

“Do you really think I can’t tell that you’re lying?”

Wwx is so angry here, he isn’t even raising his voice

Some idiot here has the nerve to remind wwx that his clan and their clan are allies

And wwx’s all “bold of you to assume i care about clan politics”

Throughout it all we see resentment curling and misting around his shoulders

God damn, it looks so cool

“Since you won’t admit to it, i’ll let wen ning point it out himself”

AND THE GHOST GENERAL MAKES HIS FIRST APPEARANCE IN HISTORY BY SLAMMING INTO THE SCENE LIKE A BOSS

LOOK AT MY DARLING ZOMBIE BOY GO, TOSSING THOSE JIN BASTARDS AROUND LIKE NOTHING

Stuff happens and those jin guards make a run for it

Outside the camp we see lwj walking with his umbrella in the rain and he knocks one of the jin bastards back with his sheathed bichen and demands to know what happened

While he’s getting the rundown, wwx gathers up the wen prisoners and mounts them on horses to flee

THERE’S NO TURNING BACK FROM HERE

OH GOD MY HEART

They’re riding off and SUDDENLY WE SEE THEM RUN INTO LWJ

LWJ WHO IS STANDING THERE ALL ALONE IN THE RAIN WITH HIS UMBRELLA

AS ~THEIR SONG~ STARTS PLAYING MOURNFULLY IN THE BACKGROUND

SHOW WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME, WHY DO YOU HURT ME THIS WAY

Oh god, the way the camera travels from an overhead view downward to slowly reveal lwj’s face under that frankly beautiful umbrella

MY HEART MY HEART

HIS FACE, LOOK AT HIS FACE AS HE LOOKS AT WWX AND THE PRISONERS HE RESCUED

HE WANTS SO DESPERATELY TO SAVE WWX FROM WHATEVER IS COMING NEXT BC HE KNOWS IT’S NOT GONNA BE GOOD

BUT HE HAS NO IDEA WHAT TO DO HERE???

This shot is beautiful in a heart-rending way

Wwx on his black, agitated horse, soaked to the bone, restlessly moving and placed farther away from the audience

And lwj, practically glowing in his pale blue robes under his pale umbrella, standing still and strong as a statue, placed much closer to the audience

Wwx: lan zhan, are you here to stop me?

Lwj: wei ying, where are you going?

Wwx: i have no idea but the world is wide. There must be a place for us.

“US,” HE SAID “US”

WWX HAS ALREADY CHOSEN HIS SIDE.

HE’S FOREVER WITH THE WEN REMNANTS NOW

MY SUNSHINE BOY IS TOO GOOD FOR HIS OWN GOOD

OH GOD WHY

Lwj: you need to think again. If you do this, it will be considered a rebellion against the orthodoxy with no way back.

LWJ CAN’T SAY WHAT HE MEANS. JUST SAY THAT YOU’RE WORRIED FOR HIS SAFETY, DAMN IT.

HE KNOWS HE’S LOSING WWX AND HE’S TERRIFIED

HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO

Wwx: a rebellion against orthodoxy? What kind of orthodoxy is that?

Wwx: lan zhan, do you still remember that promise we made together?

THIS IS WHERE THE EPISODE ENDS

I AM DROWNING IN MY TEARS

MY HEART IS SHATTERED ON THE FLOOR

LWJ WAS TEARY-EYED THROUGHOUT THAT ENCOUNTER

HIS WORLD IS FALLING APART

AND WWX IS DOING WHAT HE THINKS IS RIGHT

BUT YOU CAN SEE HOW SCARED HE IS OF WHAT HE IS DOING

BC DOING THE RIGHT THING IS NOT ALWAYS EASY AND SOMETIMES IT’S DOWNRIGHT TERRIFYING

I HATE THIS SHOW

STOP MAKING ME FEEL SO MUCH!!!

Return to Masterpost

[secret-engima]

I Did A Thing (What Do I Name It?)

(BEHOLD. A thing. A non-FFXV thing, somehow, amazingly. Look this little drabble grabbed my eyeballs and would not let go, and now I am contemplating a massively AU one-shot collection to go with it. But it needs a name. More info after I show the Thing because I don’t want to spoil the plot twist.

     “You’re an idiot.”

     Toshinori winced a little, and not just from the disinfectant being liberally applied to his injuries. Those were the first words to air in the room since his mentor had swept out to deal with damage control and his best friend had stomped in to help him with his hurts. “I’m sorry.”

     “No. You aren’t.” Was the snapped retort, tense and dark and growling as he carefully picked asphalt pebbles out of one of Toshinori’s gashes and applied yet more disinfectant, “If you were really sorry, you wouldn’t do it again. Yet here we are, doing this again.”

     Toshinori protested softly, “Someone had to help-!”

     “You won’t be helping anyone if you’re dead,” he snarled in response. Blue eyes glanced up at Toshinori’s face, softened almost imperceptibly, “I know you want to help people, and I know you saved lives out there today. But Toshi-,” his friend looked down at all Toshinori’s injuries —scratches really, if nasty ones— and there was something … haunted about his gaze that made Toshinori want to shiver. Something knowing and bleak and not for the first time, Toshinori wondered if his best friend since middle school —only friend during middle school— had a secondary foresight quirk. It might explain … a lot of things about him.

     Blue eyes turned bleak and Toshinori gently patted his friend’s wild hair, “It’s alright now,” he murmured, and tried not to feel horribly guilty when all he got in response is another haunted look. Toshinori leaned forward, trying to reduce the distance between them that their differing heights made, “I am here.” He’d taken to saying that during his patrols with Nana, a little catchphrase that tended to make people laugh, but he had never meant for it to be a catchphrase for his hero form. It had started out just like this, a simple, quiet reassurance for his first —and for the longest time only— friend. An anchor from whatever demons chewed his mind and made him stake out Toshinori’s couch sometimes —even though Toshinori’s apartment was tiny and terrible compared to his friend’s estate—. A shield against whatever nightmares made him … look at Toshinori sometimes, like he was seeing Toshinori’s gravestone already dated and on the ground.

     I am here, Toshinori had started saying, and with it he meant so much more. I am here, he would say, and no matter the situation it meant the same thing.

     I am still alive. I may not be in perfect health right now, but I’m okay. Everything is going to be okay. I haven’t died, I haven’t left. You aren’t alone.

     I am still here.

     A ragged sigh and a tired head shake, “Someday, Toshi,” whispered the gruff, angry boy Toshinori had first met when the former helped him to his feet after a nasty prank and grumpily forced his hoodie onto Toshi’s shoulders like a too-small cape to ward off the rain when they were only thirteen, “you’re going to run in headlong to something you can’t win. Someday that big, kind, endlessly gentle heart of yours is going to send you into a war, and when that day comes, if you don’t have your head on straight, you’re going to lose everything.”

     Seventeen and already scarred from picking fights with villains or indulging in one training session too many, Toshinori tried not to look into tired blue eyes and see Nana in the reflection as she told him about One for All and All for One, and how one could not exist without coming into conflict with the other. He wondered, for one hysterical moment, if his secret was out. If the teenager —student, friend, brother— in front of him knew.

     Then the other boy was standing and stomping toward the door with a growl and tiny sparks dripping from his hair, “Stay here and rest that ankle while I get you something to drink. I saw you twist it in that fight. You might not have sprained it by some miracle, but there’s no sense in you pushing it further and actually managing to f*ck it up.”

     Toshinori fumbled for something to say, because his friend was retreating again, just like he always did when his temper started to rise enough that his quirk came into play. I’m not going to die, Toshinori wanted to promise, I’ll get better, stronger, faster, until I’m Number One and I can save everyone without getting tossed down the street by some thug. You don’t always have to be afraid for me, I’m not quirkless anymore, and I’m not the one who refuses to use his quirk for anything but absolute emergencies! I’m not going anywhere, stop acting like I’m going to leave you behind or like I’m going to hate you for using your quirk!

     He opened his mouth and instead what came out was, “I’m not the only one.”

     His friend paused, hand on the doorknob, but didn’t look over his shoulder. Toshinori swallowed hard and held out his bandaged arms like proof even though the other wasn’t looking and couldn’t see, “With a big, endlessly gentle heart. I’m not the only one.”

     A scoff, “I’m not a good person like you, Toshi.”

     Toshinori frowned, frustration bubbling up over at avoiding one sore topic only to run headfirst into another, “You always say that! You always say things like that! Like you expect me to die and for the world to look at you like you’re a monster! Well I’m not going anywhere and you, Todoroki Enji, are no monster!” His words faltered, he breathed, “You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met, and from now until the end of our careers, I say again, I am here.” And I’m not going anywhere without you.

     Enji sighed and rested his head against the door, shoulders slumped like the entire world was on his back, “I know you are here,” he murmured at last, pointedly ignoring Toshinori’s comments on his character, “and I don’t think you’re going to die.”

     Enji yanked open the door and stomped through it, but before the door shut behind him, Toshinori heard him mutter, “I’m afraid of how many pieces you’re going have to lose before you learn there are worse things than death.”

...

(Sooo yeah. Rough thing. Interesting thing. For the record I blame you two @wolfsrainrules and @north-peach. You made me like your Favor Fire Enji and now I’m- toying with an AU Enji of my own. He’s a reincarnated soul from somewhere who read the BNHA manga up until the Eri arc, and he’s probably not from our world either because INTERESTING BACKSTORY TIME. Like- FFXV has manga and comics right? Oohhhh I could do a glaive Enji. Or other fandoms set in a semi-modern world and those make for more interesting backstory and Our World Inserts imo. But again, this AU needs a name. Someone suggest an awesome name pls.)