#they happened to be writing pre battle scenes around the time of my comic series and I was hooked!

[bricreative]

Already thinking about their future together UGH they make me sick

Inspired by Heybosshotsauce fic “Lovers, Hunters” Chapter 12, on AO3! A great blend of pre/post battle missing scenes and flashbacks that relate to the story.

Check em out!

[daleisgreat]

The Avengers: Endgame

Over the last couple months I finally upgraded to somewhat modern TV and gaming rigs in the form of a 55” Samsung 4KTV and Xbox Series X. I own three 4K UHD discs, but one I already covered a couple years back with my entry of the BluRay version that came bundled with the 4K disc of Die Hard. The other is a two pack of the first two John Wick films, and rest assured those will get their day in the sun here eventually. From my research, the Xbox Series X is not a top shelf 4K BluRay player, at least not at the system’s launch before presumable system software updates, but also sounds like a fairly better quality version of the drive that came in the Xbox One X|S, and also supports upscaling of regular BluRays to 4K. Coincidentally, on top of my movie backlog pile was a movie I absolutely wanted to take advantage of that 4K upscaling and thus here we are with today’s write-up for 2019’s The Avengers: Endgame (trailer). WARNING: Unlike nearly most of my other movie recaps I will be diving into serious spoiler territory ahead. The amount of hype leading up to Endgame was insurmountable. Anthony and Joseph Russo did an astounding job directing the first part in 2018’s Infinity War (read my entry for it here). Both that and Endgame top the three hour mark to squeeze in as many characters, references, periphery side plots and so much more from the previous 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe films that lead up to this finale. By accomplishing just that, both movies are the breeziest three hour viewings I have experienced because the Russo brothers do a commendable job at keeping the scenes flowing and doing their best to give everyone their proper time to shine. The ending of Infinity War saw Thanos (Josh Brolin) deliver the snap heard around the world that vanished half of all life in the entire universe. It was a soul-crushing downer of a cliffhanger to end on, but the post-credits tag hinting at the cry of help for Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) left crowds with a glimmer of hope. This being based around comic books there is the unwritten rule where no one truly stays dead either, so part of the experience going into Endgame was to see how the remaining Avengers plan to bring everybody back. Endgame kicks off with the fresh effects of ‘the snap’ when it starts with Hawkeye’s family all getting dusted from him in the middle of a picnic.

The film transitions to the remaining un-dusted Avengers squad of Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Iron Man (Robert Downer Jr.) floating aimlessly in space until the convenient deus ex machina that is Captain Marvel miraculously tracks them down and hauls them back to Earth. A few weeks Avengers HQ tracks down Thanos on an isolated planet and with Captain Marvel’s power, they anticlimactically kill him off in a brief scene. This was one of the parts of the film that did not sit well with me after building up Thanos as this unrivaled threat in all the previous films, and to have the Avengers cold-bloodedly put him down in quick order seems so……unlike them, but he did off half the universe so I understand how the Russo’s felt justified for filming it that way, but I cannot help that it did not come across right, and could have been handled better. Of course, a more proper Thanos battle would be coming later in the final act thanks to my pet peeve plot device that is…. …TIME TRAVEL!!!! This and alternate dimension traveling I despise and have turned me off to many shows over the years like Lost and CW’s DC shows. The worst of it is indeed present here because meaningful character deaths that happened in Infinity War to Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Gamura (Karen Gillan) become undone and their sacrifices proved for naught. All that griping aside however, I will give the Russo brothers credit because even with those qualms I feel they pull off time travel and have it appear as more than a convenient storytelling method. Again, major props because that is a hell of a hurdle to overcome. The filmmakers go out of their way in a couple scenes to directly call out Back to the Future’s style of time travel bullshit, and have a couple characters ever-so-carefully explain in detail and for the laymen how “real” time travel works.

This is all thanks to a rambunctious rat who inadvertently zaps Ant Man (Paul Rudd) out of the Quantum Realm…after being trapped there five years due to his team being on the end of a dusting before bringing him back. Ant Man deduces upon his return that he is able to undo the dusting through his van-quantum-realm-contraption, and convinces the Avengers to conjure up a plan they cleverly dub the “Time Heist” to travel back to capture all the Infinity Gems Stones before Thanos does. I loved how these scenes played out, and there is a plethora of fan service throughout it as the three squads of Avengers jump to different periods like the final battle of the original Avengers film, and a 1970 military base where Howard Stark (John Slattery) unknowingly meets his son. Plans do not proceed swimmingly to say the least, and past timeline Thanos becomes clued in to their plan and thwarts the Avengers attempt at trying to undo the past in a CG showpiece for the ages with his assault on Avengers HQ. The CG fireworks continue to dazzle for the bulk of the final hour of the film with a climatic showdown between Thanos and his forces against The Avengers and the returning of the dusted Marvel characters. I have seen too many comic book films fail at translating over-the-top comic book action on the silver screen, but the Russo brothers always manage to pull it off. I fondly remember the theater crowd going gaga when Captain America (Chris Evans) summons Mjolnir and wallops Thanos with it. The women of Marvel have another moment to shine together where they collectively team up to kick ass. Moments of levity are brilliantly peppered in throughout the chaos for a much-needed chuckle from the nonstop adrenaline-boosting action. That final battle masterfully builds up to the dramatic sacrifice of Iron Man in the standout emotional scene of the film.

The resulting aftermath was heartwarmingly done here with a pre-recorded farewell from Iron Man, and a collage of nearly all the major and minor MCU characters at Iron Man’s funeral. I believe this is the first MCU film without a post-credits tag, and that is 100% fine by me, because the beginning of the credits is a lovingly crafted tribute to the original Avengers cast done in the fashion of the Original Series cast of Star Trek VI that resonated with me feeling the end of a pivotal era of the MCU that I have been largely enjoying since the original 2008 Iron Man. I usually do not dive into this much detail and spoilers when recapping the movies here, but due to this being the final chapter of this era of the MCU films I could not help myself, and believe me there is so much more I wanted to dive in here on because like I said, the Russo brothers crammed in an incredible amount of narrative into three hours. There is so much ground in here it is impossible for me to recap it all, and that it will in all likelihood be the fastest three hour movie you will ever endure. I did not get a chance to even touch on over-the-hill Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the hybrid Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo (spoiler: they both killed it!)). Endgame unsurprisingly did major bank at the box office, so I feel safe knowing most of you reading this already watched it by now which is another reason I went all out on the spoilers.

I re-watched the film for this entry a second time with commentary from the Russo brothers, and writers Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, and that greatly helped explain some little tidbits that were easy to miss and/or not fully comprehend in the midst of the three hours. I know this is a little detail, but I want to give props to Marvel for being one of the few companies out there for shelling out resources to caption the commentary track! I exponentially appreciate it more than you know! The commentary helped with understanding why they did not do a lot for Black Widow’s (Scarlett Johansson) aftermath of her death because she has her prequel film set to release. Other notable takeaways from the commentary was how Stark’s “I am Iron Man” line was a last minute addition to the film, giving credit to Star Trek VI as inspiration for their credits sequence, being hopeful for Marvel capitalizing on Falcon donning Cap’s shield and lots of understandable love for the visual effects team for their hard work. Aside from the commentary track, the BluRay has a second disc with just under an hour of bonus material. There is the requisite short, but top-of-the-line gag reel that is standard in most Marvel Studios home videos. There are five minutes of deleted scenes worth a look, with some of them lightheartedly covering up plot holes. Remembering Stan Lee is a touching tribute to Stan, filled with archived interviews from him on his experiences in the cameos, and showing plenty of delightful off-camera interactions with the cast and crew. There are well done character profile pieces for Thor, Black Widow, Captain America and Iron Man, with each one having countless cast and crew state proper kudos to what the actors have done for those characters over the years. If you only have time for one then I recommend Man Out of Time: Creating Captain America, because it goes into a little more detail than the others and Chris Evans has some intriguing introspection from his years with the character. Finally, there are short, but worthwhile pieces on the Russo brothers and the women of the MCU that should not be skipped out on either.

As I mentioned above, the hype building up to Endgame was insurmountable, but Joseph and Anthony Russo overcame the odds and delivered a gratifying conclusion to this era of the MCU. Watching the BluRay upscaled in 4K on a TV about a third bigger than my previous set made it a grander experience too for those showpiece moments. Sure I had quibbles and nitpicks I mentioned above, but by and large those are easily overcome by how much the Russo brothers got it right with this film. I am kicking myself for waiting a year and a half to re-watch it, but picked up on a lot of little things that went right over mine and Drax’s heads the first time out. If you have yet to give The Avengers: Endgame another viewing, then do not hesitate because you will not regret once again taking in this landmark epic that delivered against all odds! Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve The Clapper Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Last Action Hero Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Nintendo Quest Not for Resale Payback (Director’s Cut) Pulp Fiction The Punisher (1989) The Ref The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Pilgrim vs the World The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild The Wizard Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[dropintomanga]

Attack on Titan's Ending - We're Now All Free

So this was finally it, huh? A manga that debuted in 2009 which became an anime/manga phenomenon in 2013 and would later still have a significant place in manga history ended this month. Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan was a title that I liked a lot and while there were some great moments in its final arc, the manga seemed like it tried a bit too hard to emphasize the complexity of human beings. Then again, maybe that's been the whole point of the series.

Spoilers abound after the jump.

I got to read up on the chapters that made up Volume 34. To be honest, it felt like somewhat of a mess. The whole backstory about Ymir Fritz confuses me a bit. I know that I will need to re-read the entire series to get a clearer idea. I got that the series became some kind of commentary on how people are always finding ways to divide one another via their differences.

It's just that I missed the old days, pre-basement. Attack on Titan was labeled as a horror action manga to a certain degree. I recently was reading an article about CM Punk (a former WWE wrestler who was very popular, but left the business after frustrations with management) and he talked about a horror movie he was cast in. Punk was asked about his love of horror and he said:

"I grew up on it, you know? I grew up on it because it was taboo. When things are taboo and you’re told you’re not allowed to watch it, what do you do? You watch it! You watch a lot of it. As you grow older, smarter and get some wisdom about the world, you realize that horror is the genre that tackles, before any other movie genre, the hard-hitting issues. Dating all the way back to George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead tackling racism. I love a great slasher movie, right? Jason Voorhees and some camp counselors. Just let them loose."

As many fans who follow Attack on Titan will tell you, the story takes a huge shift from the days of Titans eating humans and the mystery surrounding them to a world where humanity is actually thriving and politics are a big reason why the events of Attack on Titan are the way they are. I know some people dropped the series after that. I don't blame them because to be frank, the series loses some of its unique appeal as most fans have seen stories of the latter quite often. There were still horror elements (albeit very few), but the tension delivered later on in most scenes weren't ones that gave readers chills down their spines.

I wrote a lot about Attack on Titan. I wrote about Mikasa, Hange, Annie, Eren's stress, Levi's past, etc. But once that time-skip happened, I never felt compelled to write about Attack on Titan much. There was some good exploration about Reiner's guilt about his actions early on. But nothing was super-compelling to talk about honestly to me. I think the time-gap between the 1st and 2nd anime seasons didn't help and so many exciting series (mostly from Shonen Jump) were coming out around that time period.

I did think the ending was okay. I do believe that Isayama was trying to point out that bringing real change in society comes from talking to one another in person despite differences. This was reflected in a campfire scene before the final battle where all of the "good guys" and the "bad guys" sat together to hash it out. You don't have to like one another, but never let differences become radicalized to the point of no return. I'll admit that this isn't easy and these things never are. Plus, talk should mostly be a starting point to get rid of injustice.

What I've learned from my own experiences is that I sometimes get anxious over certain conversations with people that I may not agree with. But once they happen in a safe environment and no one's shouting, I actually learn something and so does the other person. I can't assume everyone who disagrees with me is an awful person. I will never, ever suggest social media as a way to have those kinds of conversations because some people are either too awful or just say well-intentioned things without thinking about the person's true feelings.

And about people I truly dislike, I just look at them with pity because I know they're just being brainwashed by grifters/scammers/cult-like leaders.

Having those kinds of perspectives really benefited my mental health, so I guess I can appreciate Isayama for highlighting what it means to live among people who I don't always feel comfortable around.

I also love the Ackermans (Mikasa and Levi) for being the ones to take out the end-game threats. They're a family known to be Titan-killers, but there's also some Asian blood within them. I got a funny sense of Asian pride in seeing Mikasa and Levi wreck shit and getting respect for it.

While the ending felt similar to Code Geass, I kind of understand the view point on being the world's enemy to bring the world together. It's just a bit too naive. Even after all that, people are still at conflict with another only without Titans around. Maybe that's the whole point - the fact that self-sacrifice isn't a panacea to life's complexities. Martyrdom is sometimes worshipped a bit too much and there's a good number of disenfranchised young men who fall in love with that idea.

To end this post, I think back to how Isayama came up with the idea of Attack on Titan. He said that the story came to him after seeing a frustrated customer grab him by the collar while working at an internet cafe. Isayama noted how scary the person was and it was hard to communicate with him. The whole point of Attack on Titan is not just freedom, but getting past communication barriers with other people we fear.

When it comes to freedom, a lot of people seem to have a naïve and/or child-like sense of it. I see this a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic. They think freedom is basically the right to do whatever you want and not be punished for it. However, true freedom involves doing as you please and having the ability to be responsible to yourself and other people.

I know this viewpoint irks people, but the whole ending gives off that vibe. I have to respect Isayama for that.

I think that's all I have to say about Attack on Titan. This series played a big part in helping the anime and manga industries post-2008. It also made me see the possibility of a mainstream shonen hit that wasn't from Jump. I was one of the first people to pay attention to the series before it was licensed in English. I even got praise from Kodansha folks saying that I played a huge part in bringing the series over.

So I have a lot of fun memories. One of my personal favorite memories was during NYCC 2013 where a huge gathering of Attack on Titan cosplayers at Kodansha Comics' booth and Japanese news programming was there to film it. I got to witness all of that interaction between Americans and Japanese. I left the gathering thinking that things were really on the up-and-up for anime and manga perception over in the U.S. We're now in a golden age of anime/manga and Attack on Titan deserves credit for bringing us to it.

So thanks, Hajime Isayama, for showing the world what Kodansha stories are all about - inspiring impossible stories.

[miss-ingno]

Fics I Wrote, 2k19 Edition

All fanfic I posted last year. Meant to do this around Christmas, but uh, things happened. Whoops. But better late than never, am I right? :D?

Updated Stories

Your Prince Is In Another Castle - OT6, DnD/Minecraft AU, co-authored by @itskaysno​. Added chapter 9 (3.6k for 31k total)

Series

Misfits: Jeremy/Ray/Michael/Gavin/Ryan college au with vampires!Ryan and Ray, and werewolf!Jeremy - The Canine: Jeremy & Ray, past Raywood (3.8k) - The Comfort: Jeremy & Ryan centric, background Mavinwood + Jeremavin (500)

Moniker: A Crew For Two: Jackeoff, fahc, sequel to Dead Man's Tale (3.3k)

Not A Good Man (But You Got Conviction): Batman AU Caught The Cat's Eye: pre-Turnfreewood, pre-Treremy, flirting (6.3k) Don't Dream (Don't Even Think): Trevor & Ryan (half-brothers), co-written by @itskaysno​ (1.8k)

Who Made These Promises: past Raywood, established Trevyan, Trevraywood endgame, fahc - The Replacement: 6 chapters (49k), the story of Ray's return and subsequent drama - The Reciprocation: smut fill-in for the black-out scene from chapter 6 (5.6k)

A Family Of Liars And Lies: Mavinwood, fahc, the Nana Haywood series - A Very Nana Christmas: in which Michael & Gavin meet Ryan's mom (2.2k)

One-Shots

A Trickster's Pact: MCU crossover, Freewood (550)

Proposal: Ryack, high school au (500)

Suitable Distraction: Trevredovin, fahc (500)

Everyday Shenanigans: Jeremavinwood, fahc (500)

random Prison angst: minecraft/king au, Jerevin (440)

Friends On The Other Side: demon au, witch!Gavin, implied Jeremavin (3.8k)

Flip A Coin: Jerevinwood, fahc, smut (3.7k)

This Is How We Roll: Freewood, Dusk Boys band au (2.4k)

Amateur Hour: Freewood, Battle Buddies, fahc (4.5k)

Misc. Fandoms

Rifts in Time: Disney’s Descendants, Time Travel series - Mistress of the Universe: Belvie, Mal/Evie travel to the crowning ceremony (2.8k) - What's My Name: Juma, Jane/Uma travel to the kidnapped prince (5.7k)

Vigilante 2890 (a comic by Kael McDonald): - Girl Talk: Carrie and Anina discuss the crew and their hotness ranking (500) - Roll Initiative: Mash invites the crew to a DnD XE game (500)

Filibert the Brave: the story of an unsung DnD hero (500)

Sink Your Teeth In (To The People You Depend On): MCU/Jurassic World crossover, raptor!Darcy joins the raptor squad (2.7k, WIP)

Memory Baubles: Naruto, Ino-centric time travel (2.8k, WIP)

.

Which means we got a wordcount of 108.5k for 2019! Not as much as last year, but not bad all in all. (Especially considering I haven't really counted Eclipse and some other unfinished WIPs that I started writing. Oh well, they'll count into the 2020 tally.)

[douxreviews]

American Gods - ‘Muninn' Review

"Burn, baby, burn."

American Gods mostly gets its groove back after last week's misfire, Wednesday and Laura go on a literal trip down memory lane, and New Media finally makes an appearance.

Billie is not going to be OK with what happens to the library, however.

Interestingly, after my complaint last week about missing the Bryan Fuller signature soundscapes and dreamscape imagery, we open with exactly that. To be fair, that was probably largely due to avoiding the cost and logistics of actually showing a train derail after hitting a car on the tracks. Disorienting yet suggestive imagery combined with an off putting soundscape tell the story of a train v. car collision just as well and are much, much cheaper.

Whatever the reason, it was nice to have them back. It's interesting however, to note that there were several instances where the stylized camera work made it difficult to follow what was actually happening. For example, it wasn't entirely clear what was going on when Betty the Car reformed herself post accident. Were they reversing the footage of the car being crushed as a way to indicate the fractured way one of the characters present experienced that moment of the accident? Was it a visual metaphor? A dream someone involved in the crash was having? No, apparently the car was literally reforming itself, as it was sitting there good as new a few shots later. Another instance was when the scene transitioned from Shadow looking out of it in the wreckage to Shadow walking through some trees in daylight. All of the visual language of television was indicating that we'd transitioned to a dream Shadow was having, but we weren't, we'd just cut to later in the day when he'd gotten out of the wreckage and that hadn't been communicated to the viewer in a clear way.

Honestly, the whole immediate aftermath of the crash sequence just made you realize how good Fuller is at that sort of thing, because I can't think of a single occasion where he's used that same distorted imagery technique and it resulted in the action being unclear. At least, not in a way that didn't feel one hundred percent deliberate.

So, after last week's absolutely delightful pairing of Sweeney and Laura, this week we get Laura paired with Wednesday which worked much better than I was expecting it to do. It seemed odd at first that Laura would reject Sweeney and choose to go with Wednesday instead, particularly as she knows that Wednesday basically destroyed her entire life just to get her out of the way. She and Sweeney clearly were really connecting last episode, so turning on him for picking up her body parts off the road seemed like a forced way for the show to separate them. Then I thought about it for a minute and remembered that sabotaging her relationships with people that care about her is pretty much Laura's entire character description. Viewed with that in mind, the whole sequence of events makes perfect sense. It would have been nice if the show had made that point a little clearer. I hate to criticize a show for giving the viewers too much credit for figuring things out on their own, but in this case they could have stood to underline her motivations a little more.

Ah, Mad Sweeney. Pablo Schreiber continues to be the show's standout, and is more so every week. Thank god(s) that they kept both him and Laura around past their appearances in the novel and that they continue to give both of them so much to do. Hypocritically, I also feel like they probably should have cut Sweeney out of this episode after they left the funeral home, as all we really got of him were comic relief bits showing his bad luck road trip to New Orleans. But then, if they'd cut him out we'd never have seen the look on his face when he realizes that he's been 'rescued' by a Christian rock band, and nothing is worth that.

The thing that this episode felt like more than anything was a series of videogame side quests. Now, I'm not a gamer myself. I have an inherited tremor which makes trying to use a game controller kind of a pain in the ass. But my understanding of the whole side quest thing is that at various points in the game you have to stop working toward the main goal of the game, whatever that may be, and instead fulfill a little side mission, or earn some money, or solve a puzzle or something. That's what this episode felt like to me.

Taking the side quests in order, Laura and Wednesday head off to find another old god that has allowed himself to be co-opted by the new gods because Wednesday wants to kill him and somehow doing that will 'recharge' the coin in Laura's chest that's keeping her alive and making her superstrong. Again we continue this episode's theme of not explaining things properly, as it's never really made clear why killing Argus will do that, plus we're all pretty sure that Wednesday is lying to Laura the whole time anyway, which it turns out he is but the coin recharge thing still works anyway because reasons. Having accomplished that, Wednesday immediately betrays Laura and leaves her stuck in whatever Argus' realm is supposed to be. It might possibly be a TARDIS, there were some very distinctive roundels in that last hallway.

Great job with the design of Argus, by the way. This is our first god that we've seen who doesn't look like a standard human to us as his standard desktop theme and they did a great job making all of the eyes look real and disturbing. The fiber optic cable bundles that writhed like serpents were also a nice look. I don't recall ever seeing anything quite like it.

Technical Boy and New Media are also on their way to see Argus, because Mr. World wants them to... um... scold him for not updating his Norton Antivirus or something, possibly? Again, it's not entirely clear what they're there to do. You might be seeing a theme here. Similarly vague are New Media's actions with Argus. Was she actually betraying Mr. World to join an alliance with Argus? It would make sense, as he represents watching and she represents being watched, but if that's the case shouldn't Technical Boy have reacted in some way to that development? Instead he just politely stands back and doesn't stop Laura from killing Argus, then he and New Media leave without even mentioning it. And I've been remiss in mentioning it, but Bruce Langley really deserves a lot of praise for his work on this show. It's hard to play a character that irritating in a way that isn't irritating to the people watching at home, and he pulls it off.

Then we have Ifrit and Salim, who head to the corn palace to pick up a magic spear, as you do. Instead of the corn palace, they end up at a strip club called the Porn Palace, whose neon sign has a faulty first 'P,' making it appear to be a 'C' at first glance. That was a cute reveal. There they pick up the spear with no incident from a Lakota trickster god named Iktomi, who was played by the always wonderful Julian Richings, who many will remember as being the definitive Death over on Supernatural. This plotline felt the most perfunctory, and probably could have been replaced with a line of dialog later on down the line, but it's always nice to see Mr. Richings.

Lastly we have Shadow and his new friend Sam Black Crow, who gives him a lift to the storyline's next destination. Again, not a lot happens here and Sam feels very much like a mouthpiece for the writing staff to muse about things philosophically, but it works. Mostly because Devery Jacobs has an indefinable charm about her, but also because it opens up the concept of Two Spirit gender identification, which more people should know more about.

Quotes:

Wednesday: "Ah, Mrs. Moon. Did we sit on a wall?"

Mad Sweeney: "You just gonna lie there, let nature have her way with you?"

Laura: "Are you eating me?"

Sweeney: "Coward? I saved you." Laura: "I’m dead, coward." Sweeney: "Well, you’re welcome for picking up all your gory little f**king pieces up off the road."

Ibis: "The advantage of love at first sight is it doesn’t require a second look."

Technical Boy: "How the f**k is that an upgrade?" This felt like the writers pre-empting complaints about New Media. It probably was intended as such.

Wednesday: "So, you’re working on faith, huh?" Laura: "I definitely wouldn’t use that word."

Sam: "You ever hear of the Crow nation warrior named ‘Finds Them and Kills Them’?" Shadow: "No, but he sounds very efficient."

Laura: "Please. Tell me more about what I want."

Wednesday: "What’s the worst thing you can do to a book?" Laura: "Um.. Ignore it..?"

There are not words for how much I love the Hello Kitty collar on this shirt.

Bits and Pieces:

-- It's awfully convenient that Laura was literally blown to pieces in the train crash and Shadow only got a little bruised. But then, her body is actively decaying, so I supposed she'd be more explodable.

-- I know I'm fighting a losing battle here, but I have to say it again. A lit cigarette will not ignite fuel, no matter how many TV shows and movies show it happening. It will either be smothered by the liquid before it gets anywhere near generating enough heat for combustion, which doesn't happen in the liquid but happens in the off-gasses, or it will smolder until it burns out unless by some miracle the off-gassing reaches LEL (Lowest Explosive Level) before that happens. Please stop.

-- You could, however, use a lit cigarette to start a fire in a library full of parchment. It would take a little effort, but you could do it. But despite having a lit cigarette on hand at the time, Laura takes the easy route and uses a match.

-- It seems that Sweeney's bad luck only hits him when he's not around Laura, which sort of makes sense since he's also near his coin at those times.

-- It's interesting that Sweeney is still heading to New Orleans to see someone who I presume is Baron Samedi, since he was only going there to help Laura and she's not with him anymore. That's sweet. I hope he's the one who rescues her from Argus' domain.

-- Sweeney seemed genuinely hurt when Laura chose to go with Wednesday instead of him. I'm 'shipping those two so hard.

-- Argus isn't in the book, nor are any of the Greek Gods. Neil stated that he decided against featuring any of them since they get used so much more often in popular culture.

-- New Media just isn't working for me yet, although I know it's way too early to judge. I miss Gillian Anderson's celebrity impressions.

-- Laura's dad was a drunk. Now we know why he wasn't at the wedding. No word on if he's dead or alive.

-- I wonder what Wednesday is going to need the seedling for?

I know I'm sounding like I didn't enjoy much about this episode, but that's really not true. There was a lot of good stuff here, and many, many little details that show that someone was really putting their heart into it. I just wish that some of the storytelling had been a little clearer.

Three out of four creepy eyeballs.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water

[iphoenixrising]

Master List Update

I...didn’t even realize how much crap I’ve written since the last one >.< Also didn’t realize what a pain in the ass it was to click on when you’re on mobile. Here’s one that’s a little easier, I hope.

AO3: Fracture (fanart!); Distractions, Forward Momentum (Avengers)

Tumblr

Poison-Basil’s Art:

*iPhoenixrising (my wonderfully talented artist/writer babe literally made my spirit animal)

*Fracture Chapter 1: It’s Tim asleep on the bathroom floor where Dick and Jay find him (God, it’s amazing >.<)

Fracture Chapter 29: The intense almost between Dick and Red

BABE MADE ME A WHIRLYBIRD

 *No Home for Dead Birds: (Eventual Conner/Bart/Tim maybe)

This is the amalgamation of comments from Fracture. A whole what if Tim didn’t forgive them and go back? Au. It’s right after the epic planning of Red Robin to keep Ra’s al Ghul from killing everyone Batman loves from the Red Robin series. Just a little bit of a twist on how the story would go if Tim didn’t stay.

Chapter I 

Chapter II

 Drabble

 Chapter III

Chapter IV 

Chapter V 

Chapter VI 

Chapter VII 

Chapter VIII 

Chapter IX

Chapter X p1 

Chapter X p2 

Kon’s Drabble 

Warning for mentions of suicide

NHDB What-If

The Red Hood 

Dick Grayson

The Last Titan Standing 

Redux (NSFW)

Tumblr Ask: Tim/Kon/Bart; warning for abuse of TTK, super-powers, and literally making Tim scream. All kinds of NSFW.

Chapter XI

What’s In a Name?

*Night Call (Tim/Jay Stripper Verse AU): 

Based on an Ask. Just your standard Bouncer!Jay working at a strip club where Super CEO Tim Drake secretly moonlights when the stress of his life gets a little hard to handle and stripping gives him freedom. Of course, there’s probably identity porn and a little bit of smut.

Part 1 

Part 2 (NSFW) 

Final Part: 3 

*DC AOB Attempt (Omega Tim/ Alpha Dick/ Alpha Jay by request):

This was seriously a try at the whole Omegaverse thing. I write it on it occasionally when I get asks and whatnot. Premise: Tim is making his way back to the Bats after a little hiatus after he lost the Robin mantle and brought back B from time.  He’s in Gotham being part of the crew when his suppressants might have…worn off and the scent of a male Omega in heat makes the Bats a little more than concerned. To make matters worse, he gets a little more than he bargained for when Dick follows him back to Titan’s Tower to take care of his pack’s Omega.

Smut ensues. 

Part 1 

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6: The Demon’s Head: (Warnings: Tim/Ra’s non-con but the journey and subsequent revenge are oh so sweet.)

 Part 7: Probably Finale with @satire-please

Ask from Tumblr: The Heat Fallout: (I wrote a follow-up to this…but it’s terrible and sweet, and I just never posted it >.<)

Ask from Tumblr: Two Alphas in Rut and one cute Omega (Very NSFW)

(Ask from Tumblr: Pregnancy Scare) 

(Ask from Tumblr: Bonding and Shit)

*Marvel AOB Attempt (Omega Tony/ Alpha Bucky/ Alpha Steve):  

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

*Night Sky (Possible future to the Fracture Verse, Tim/Dami) 

Ask

Drabble

Part 1

Part 2

 Part 3

Finale ( Warnings for things like Robinpiles and NSFW; that said, I’m absurdly proud of this smut)

Destroyed (a multiverse conglomeration of Bad Ass!Tim in a world where the Insurgents took over the planet):

Part 1

Part 2�� (NSFW)

Part 3

Justice is Blind AU (Blind!Tim):

Part I 

Part II

Drabble

Ask fic

Part V

Drabble (beware of Superbats)

Angsty stuff that kind of goes together? (Before NHDB, this is the ‘Tim isn’t forgiving your ass’ realm from my brain pan): 

Clean

Drabble

Realize

Meeting

Mistake

Forward Momentum Things

(MCU Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes; eventual Steve/Bucky/Tony) 

Forward Momentum Drabble 

Coffee

Observation 

Dr!Tim:

Dr!Tim au: How it all Began  

Follow-Up Drabble

Dr!Tim Drabbles: The Mentor (with Tony Stark); The Suit (shameless Jay/Dick loving him in a suit); Med School (how he Met Steph, etc)

Dick Grayson’s acrobatic talent (surprise, it’s smut)

Dr!Tim Drabbles: Stephanie Brown and Batgirl

Dr!Tim Drabble: The Joker (I really enjoy playing around with the baddies sometimes and the Joker was an interesting character)

Playing around with Submissive Dr!Tim

Dr!Tim Safewords out Ask;  Follow-up: Drabble: Sub-Drop

Dr!Tim: London Bridge is Falling Down (Bad ass Tim and a little hurt/comfort at the end)

Missing Scene from “London Bridge” (cute and a little angsty with Hurt Dr.!Tim and the L-word)

Post London Bridge Ask (guest starring Tony Stark)

Meet and Greet

Cute Dr. Tim taking care of overwrought Dick Ask: (The muse for Jason died a hard death >.<  comments that make me sad do that tho)

Scary things:

Subdue (Tim/Ra’s non-con; be careful if you read this, tagged for triggers)

Fooled You Tim/Ra’s Valentine’s Day thing

Follower Posts!

100 Followers! Night Sky Drabble with Tim and Older! Dami; Sleeping Tim Drabble; MCU Steve/Bucky/Tony drabble Hurt/Comfort; Cross-over au! Where Dick and Jay admit their feelings to Tim; NHDB depressing drabble (Dick/Tim);  

200 Followers! Tumblr Ask about Tim having scars from his childhood rather than as a vigilante; Justice is Blind Drabble: Tim and Lady Shiva; NHDB Prompt, sad Dick/Tim; Sick!Tony ask; Sad Ask: Red Robin Posthumous Award

300 Followers!: AOB Drabbles: The Pack (Cass and Fear Toxin) and Mating Bite; Body Swap: The Follow-Up (which I wasn’t really happy with but oh well); Fracture What-If Continuation for Anon; Dr!Tim Drabbles: Jay/Tim Fluff and Smut

400 Followers! : Dr. Tim: The Birthday Present, Robin’s Redemption (such a play on them both), Cross-Over AU! (Marvel Universe and Tim gets a second chance at being Robin), The Suit (shameless Dick/Tim)

Future au!

Part I: Pre-Fracture Tim and a little bit of time travel. How is going to take the “Night Sky” verse? (An attempt at making Fracture go full circle)

Part II: Continuation of lost Future Bats, mentions of Superbats, and attempts at coddling.

Bat Prompts and Drabbles:

Hard Fracture What-If (featuring BatDad and intense feelings; what if B had picked up Red after the Insurgents Battle and brought him back to the Cave right then and there? Watch your feels)

Space Salvagers AU (Jay/Tim)             

Soulmate thing: Robins

Bodyswap (Dick & Tim); Body Swap: The Fallout                         

Concussion Confessions

The night the Flying Graysons Died      

Of Owfucks and Accents

De-Aged Jay (based on fanart)

Fam Stuff (Bats)                                    

Dick/Tim/Dami: 

Drabble 1

Drabble 2

Drabble 3

Drabble 4

Time Travel Ask I, Drabble Continuation  (Fracture Verse)          

Dick/Jay/Tim Fluff: Tim being Tim Ask                             

Graduation (maybe Fracture Verse)

Stalker Photos                                       

Holidays: Cute Holiday Cheer, Sad What-Could-Have-Happened Prompt based off this

Angst: A NHDB kind of Verse, 'What if Dick didn't catch Tim when he fell through the window' Prompt (aftermath of Character Death), Dark!Jay and Tim: Silence (Character Death)

Jason v. the Pit and then I saw this

Hilarity ensues

Jay/Tim Praise Kink

Tim is going to keep kicking ass

Worth the Wait (for Travelallover’s birthday): Based on Robin #10

“I’ve already forgiven you, but I won’t make the same mistake twice” Ask (Dick Grayson & Tim Drake)

 Kid!Tim fics:

Window Seat

Kid!Tim is discovered

Old Fracture Drabbles: Superbats What-If

Convergence: Bringing together all the Tims. (Just an idea I played around with: Dr!Tim, Fracture Tim, Destroyed Tim, Justice is Blind Tim, and Detective Comics Tim)

Firefly Cross-Over for Tim Drake Week (Jason is Mal; Dick is Inara; Tim is Simon; Cass is Tam; Steph is Wash; Roy is Zoe, etc)

Injury/Healing for Tim Drake week (hilarity ensues; Tim is thwarted by Dick’s Sixth Sense)

Heavy in Your Arms Part I;   Heavy in Your Arms Part II  Jason Todd angst; Based off the song with the same title by Florence and the Machine

Crossover: Avengers/Bats

Tim stays in the MCU 

And goes out as Robin                     

Tony Stark being a bro

Early NSFW (Please be advised): 

Need (first in the DCU)

Prompt:  “ Here’s a nice image for you. Jason has Tim bent over the counter...” (I was so new to Tumblr, I just threw it up as quote LOL)

Voltron: (They all stink, please see @satire-please for better stuff)

Team Dynamics

Left Behind

Waking

You Not the Lion

Miraculous Ladybug

Play : Shameless Adrien/Ladybug, MariChat, and Adrinette (if only I covered LadyNoir. Damn) with fake identity porn and hetero smut.

 Non-Fiction stuff (I guess?)

Writing

Writing Choices

A little bit about Jason Todd’s mouth (just some ramblings about how his accent kind of evolved

[frankcastled]

i started reading this article basically saying infinity war is going to suck. and then i got to the end and realized it was from a small college’s newspaper and then laughed because it’s not even relevant, but i’m gonna take this chance to just add to the discourse™

the article was basically going on and on about how these superheroes are the same boring shit (they cited how if you go back and rewatch the avengers or winter soldier or any of the older movies, you HAVE to be bored to tears in their first hour before anything really exciting happens) and the thing is, if that’s what you think (and they cited they used to be excited by it, which is part of their disappointment with the movies nowadays), then you just really don’t fundamentally understand what these movies are about. 

i’m mostly writing this because it’s my blog and i like the discourse™ and any excuse to write about things i love and defending them to the death is also a passion of mine, so here we go. 

so, with harry potter, the thing most people who don’t like it don’t get, is that it’s SO much more than the plots. what i am drawn to whenever i read a book or watch a movie or get overly obsessed with any sort of media or entertainment is when they are CHARACTER DRIVEN. these stories are fundamentally first and foremost are about the characters, because without great characters, then yeah it becomes mindless and boring and you’re putting them through shit just for the sake of it. characters need to grow and develop, otherwise, yeah, you are going to be reading the same shit over and over with minor differences. and while characters are arguably a small piece of a giant puzzle, they are still are at the front of it all and i think that’s important to note, especially with respects to marvel. 

the reason why the MCU has worked and does work SO well is because these are character driven stories. they are first and foremost about the characters. that’s why the whole universe works, because we get to see these characters develop and grow. we get to see what they do when put into these intense and different situations. WE GET TO SEE WHAT THEY ARE LIKE WHEN THEY CROSSOVER AND MEET EACH OTHER AND INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER. the thing with these movies (and i think a lot of superhero movies and franchises in general), is that you have to have solid and well developed characters because that’s who they are about. they’re about these heroes and, i think, that’s part of the reason why DC has seen less success as an extended universe. 

the dceu has not built their characters the way marvel took the time to do. pre-justice league we got man of steel, wonder woman, batman v superman and suicide squad. in justice league we were introduced to aquaman, cyborg and flash. in one film. three major characters were introduced in a huge crossover event. and even before justice league was batman v superman where batman was introduced as was wonder woman. and the thing is, the only character that had been at all established was superman. yeah, most people knew who batman was and the basics. but the thing is, this was the first iteration of batman as far as the dceu is concerned. before that, batman had been done by different people and directors and was a different interpretation of the character. however, we can’t rely on those previous batmans because affleck’s bruce wayne is a very different interpretation to all the versions that came before him and that was dc’s first big mistake.

and that’s not to say you can’t have a successful character introduction in a crossover event like this. civil war displayed just how well you can do that by having black panther and spider-man show up for the first time in this movie (spider-man for the first time as this particular version of himself). the thing is, civil war was not about black panther or spider-man. they were introduced, but as supporting players. they were never the main characters, they were never who the story is about. civil war is first and foremost about tony stark and steve rogers and their role in the world and how they fit in. we know who they both are. by this time, tony has had three solo films and has been in two avengers movies. this is steve’s third “solo” film and he’s as well establish as tony stark. we know them and we understand the stakes of this movie. we understand why they get into this huge battle and why their relationship is fractured in the end. 

in contrast, you have batman, whose name is in the goddamn title of the movie, being introduced in this movie. we don’t know what this version is supposed to be like. why he would he do the things he does. yeah, if you’re well versed in the comics and past movies, it’s easy enough to pick up the characterization. everyone has heard of batman, at the very least. the big difference is though, especially in these superhero films, you can’t assume the audience understands the characters. you have to develop them and establish them. this is what the dceu has been unable to do (with two minor exceptions) and what marvel has done so well. this is why marvel movies continue to do well. people are not responding to the stories and the cgi and the explosions (at least, that’s not the MAIN draw of these movies by now), the main draw is the characters. the familiarity. we know these characters. we’ve been following them for ten years. 

and listen, i have nothing against dceu, so don’t @ me. i’m just using dceu vs the mcu as a point of comparison and you’re more than welcome to disagree, and i’m not going to lie and say i’m well versed in the dceu because i’m not. i’ve seen four of five films and only once each, but my points still stand.

anyway, so, characters. that’s what the mcu is about, character driven stories. that’s the first thing to understand.

so, the second thing, and this is probably my own personal little thing, but part of the reason why i love love love rereading harry potter even though i’ve read these books a thousand times over is because of all the missed nuances. remember that feelings when you read Half-Blood Prince and then fucking realized THE FUCKING LOCKET HAD BEEN IN GRIMMAULD PLACE THE WHOLE TIME BECAUSE IT WAS THE DAMN LOCKET THEY COULDN’T FUCKING OPEN IN THE FIRST FUCKING THIRD OF THE BOOK. REMEMBER THAT FEELING OF JUST BEING HIT BY A TRAIN OF REALIZATION AND BEING LIKE “HOLY SHIT” AND HAVING THAT CONNECTION MADE? i fucking love that feeling. it’s like a drug. i love rereading and realizing all the little things that i missed. for example, in goblet of fire, the first fucking chapter, and reading how the old riddle house had pretty much been abandoned except frank bryce still lived there and tended to the garden because some old man had bought the property and let him stay there to keep it up AND THEN IT HIT ME THAT OLD MAN WAS A THOUSAND PERCENT DUMBLEDORE BECAUSE WHO ELSE COULD IT FUCKING BE? AND YOU JUST KNOW DUMBLEDORE WOULD BUY UP VOLDEMORT’S GRANDPARENTS’ OLD HOUSE ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU KNOW DUMBLEDORE HAS BASICALLY BEEN RESEARCHING AND GETTING TO KNOW VOLDEMORT AS INTIMATELY AS POSSIBLE BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT’S SUCH A DUMBLEDORE THING TO KEEP ON FRANK BRYCE BECAUSE HE’S BEEN OSTRACIZED BY THE TOWN AND WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO FIND WORK ANYWHERE ELSE OR LIVE ANYWHERE ELSE (and okay so i don’t think this has been confirmed, but you can’t convince me otherwise and it doesn’t deter from my point). and i just love fucking have those “aha!” moments. it’s what i live and breathe for. and if you let enough time pass and let yourself forget the tiny details, it’s almost like rereading again. 

rewatching the mcu is no different. just all the little details i miss the first time around or realizing just how well planned these movies are when  you realize that a clue was planted seven movies ago that sets up this later movie. that’s not to say these movies are perfect, but they’re damn well done and like any extended series or franchises, there are little clues and references and set ups that span through all the films that lead up to this one moment and that’s the kind of shit i live for. this is why i’m not bored out of my mind when i rewatch, because i know there’s always going to be something new. something i missed when i watched the first time or the second or third or tenth time. there’s always something new to be discovered and excited about. 

and okay, so i’m only just realizing how much i love movies and how every detail and nuance is planned out. i’m not a film major or anything and i’ve never taken a proper film class in my life, but i’ve read here and there and understand that every aspect of a scene and how they’re set up is important. i’m slowly learning how important cinematography is to a film and costume design and just how elaborate sets can be and how much work and planning goes into movies. how the angle of the camera is important and why movies are colored the way they are. i’m realizing that song choices and soundtracks are insanely important and always have meaning-- in a good movie, anyway. and that’s another thing about the mcu. the more you analyze the shit out of these movies, the more you realize just how much thought was put into the soundtracks and the costumes and the make-up. every time james gunn tweets a new fact about guardians, my mind is blown. in fact, going back to my frenzy for reliving things i like, he’s always explicitly said that there’s clue in guardians 2 to rocket’s creator. he’s yet said anything publicly if anyone has gotten it right, but you know this means that there’s loads of shit that was missed? that’s what makes these movies so fascinating to watch. there’s always something new to discover. that’s not to say other movies don’t do the same, but mcu does it so so so so well. 

and i think i just take issue when people affirm something like that, where every person has to be bored out of their minds rewatching the mcu, because the fact of the matter, if you really understand what these movies are about and you really understand what they’re doing, you’ll never be bored. there’s so much to unpack, that, as a fan, i cannot honestly say i get bored watching because i’m so excited to see it all come together. 

again, if you’re not a fan, then yeah, you won’t get excited. you won’t care. and that’s fine. there are plenty of other genres and stories that explore what the mcu does, so mad respect if superheroes are not your thing. but not caring is fundamentally different than not understanding what these movies are about and what they say about heroes. about society. about us. and that’s what i take issue with, because they (the aforementioned article) seem to have at one point liked these movies. 

and yeah, people sometimes grow up and get over these things, as the author of the article clearly did, but to say that people are just getting frenzied over the same story and plot being told over and over with nothing new to add? bull-fucking-shit. 

a good example: the thor trilogy. 

i fucking love thor. always have, but i can also acknowledge he’s been the weakest of the avengers with their own solo films. that’s not thor’s fault, though, that has a lot to do with directors, writers, etc. 

but that disclaimer aside, i love this character so much for various reasons that have been pointed out. firstly, he’s mad smart. i think thor gets played up a lot as the dumb, pretty boy of the avengers. you have tony stark, the charismatic tech genius. steve rogers who is a great strategist in the battle filed. bruce banner who is another freaking scientific genius. and then thor who is from another world and so looks not as smart.

except he’s totally the only one who knows what’s going on in the entire fucking grand scheme of things. he knows what the tesseract is. he knows about the infinity stones. he’s the one who is most connected because he’s connected to both the shit going on in space and to the shit happening on earth. shit, this guy is the one who points out there difference between tattoos and brands to fucking geniuses. 

anyway, my point is, thor has been tragically under utilized in favor of more popular heroes, but then taika motherfucking waititi walked into our lives and finally gave thor the spotlight he deserves. 

which comes back around to my whole character development rambling. throughout a lot of the movies we see the way loki is able to trick thor, using his little holographic abilities. time and time again, but then by ragnarok, thor has learned and now throw objects at loki to know if he’s really there or not. in fact, he’s now two steps ahead of his brother when he anticipates his betrayal BECAUSE HE’S CAUGHT ON FINALLY BECAUSE OF COURSE HE WOULD. he’s been caught up throughout these movies trying to tell people about the infinity stones and freaking out even though no one else did, but of course he was freaking out. 

in other words, thor’s story by the time we get to the end is the most transformative. you cannot tell me you’re bored with ragnarok because it’s the same shit over and over again, because it isn’t. the character himself has changed so much, on top of which the story and the plot and everything about ragnarok is so different than ANY mcu movie before it.

the same can be said for black panther-- while not out yet-- it’s clear that it’s not the same old mcu film as the ones before it. rather than focusing on politics and human problems and squabbles, we’re clearly going to get a more culturally significant and rich story. i don’t want to go on too much about a movie i haven’t seen, so i’ll leave it there since that’s based off my brief skimming of spoiler-free reviews, but-- i think it’s clear that these praises for black panther are not coming from those who are in a frenzied panic over superhero movies, but from genuine movie lovers who are reacting to a huge step forward in the way superhero movies are done. 

infinity war has the benefit of having well established characters. yes, it’s a HUGE cast, but that’s the thing, we know who everyone is. we don’t need to spend time trying to work out who is who and what they’re doing because we already know. we’ve been following them and just like age of ultron jumped right into the action from the first scene, infinity war will undoubtedly do the same and get right into the thick of things. 

and that’s not to say, infinity war could be a surprise bomb. and if you’re not into these movies, then yeah, it might not be your thing. no hard feelings. 

but again, you have to understand these movies and these characters and stories before you can jump into an event like infinity war, because once you do, i think there’s very little that the russo brothers can do to disappoint. 

anyway, if you read this, i’m sorry. 

[forthegothicheroine]

Dear Yuletide Author

I’m robberbaroness on Archive of Our Own, and I would just like to say how lovely to have you in my corner!  The inescapable onslaught of Christmas becomes more bearable knowing I have some great fic waiting for me!  Seriously, thank you for picking one of my weird-ass requests.  I’ve bubbled over with ideas for these, so please don’t feel obligated to include *everything* I’ve suggested or put in my general likes.  I really just want to see what you come up with!

General likes: Worldbuilding, hard-won happy endings, F/M, maledom (dubcon or noncon are okay, as long as they are acknowledged as such), historical AUs, fairy tale motifs, female-centric stories, gen friendship stories.

General dislikes: ABO, snuff fic, scat, mundane AUs, character bashing, female characters pushed aside.

Georgia Coffee “Twin Peaks” Commercials (characters: Dale Cooper, Ken, Asami)

The only Twin Peaks canon with a happy ending!  I got a really cute treat for this last year, and now I’m anxious for more.

If you haven’t seen these delightful commercials (which have a whole story and everything!) you can watch them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3acm7j9k_1w .  Agent Cooper and a Japanese detective investigate the disappearance of a beautiful woman from the Great Northern, take plenty of breaks for Georgia Coffee, and actually rescue her from the Black Lodge!  No surprise downer twist!  I really need this right now.

You can take this in either a comic or a serious direction, and set it anywhere in the series.  (It seems like it would fit best either during the original run or after the Return.)  Bring in more Twin Peaks characters if you like (Donna and Albert are always appreciated!) but don’t feel that you have to.  I just want to know about how these events played out.  Another idea- maybe Cooper reconnects with Ken and Asami in the new timeline at the end of Return and they help him set things right?  But really, do whatever you want here as long as it has a happy ending.

Hard Candy (character: Hayley Stark)

Hayley is something between a hero and a monster, and I want to read about her.  You can expand on the events in canon if you like (did she really know Donna?  Will she kill again?) or give me an AU.  Pre-revolutionary French Hayley, taking a dagger to libertines!  Renaissance Italian Hayley, enacting her very own revenge tragedy!  Film noir girl detective Hayley, with methods that are a bit more ruthless than those of Nancy Drew!  Or go with the suggestion offered by Kim Newman in his book Nightmare Movies, and have her actually be a supernatural entity; a ghost, a goddess, an avenging angel, whatever you’d like.

The only things I don’t want are Hayley as an opportunistic sadist (she clearly cares about these events, even if she’s just a sociopath personally disgusted by child predators) or Hayley/Jeff.  But you knew that last one, right?

I’m cool with Crueltide fic for this canon.  Preferably no porn here, though.

Hope: The Other Side of Adventure

I keep asking for this every year, and one day I will get it.  If you came here for another fandom, consider checking this out as well- it’s a free iphone game (yes, free, despite the fakeout about adding a quarter towards the end) which you check on once a day for five or so days for a couple of minutes of pure heartache.  It’s basically about what Princess Peach or Zelda might be thinking while she waits for her videogame hero to rescue her, and it’ll make you think very differently about any damsel in distress games you play in the future.

I’ll take pretty much any kind of fic for this, but if you want some prompts, consider: what happens after she’s rescued?  Was the hero dicking around collecting stars while she waited in dread or was he really trying his best to save her, getting irritated when nobody else in the world of the game seemed to take the quest seriously?  Or give me some creepy stuff with the Duke as he threatens his captive- how does she respond?  If you just want to write more of the Princess’ inner monologue as per the game, I’ll happily take that!

The only thing I specifically don’t want is victim blaming.  Oddly enough, the article that first alerted me to this game described it as being about a wimpy princess who desperately needed to listen to some Beyonce and get empowered.  Listen, you try breaking out of a castle locked and guarded by a warlord, then you get to criticize the Princess.

Horror of Dracula (character: Van Helsing)

Peter Cushing is one of my all time favorite actors, and his Van Helsing one of my all time greatest movie crushes.  He’s a good guy in the truest sense of the word, that rare hero who does what he does because he’s actually kind and caring and wants to help people as opposed to just testing his strength against his foes.  He’s a nerd and a swashbuckler, the perfect combination.

So, give me a story about him!  He could do further battle with Dracula or any other monsters in the Hammer Horror lineup (bonus points for mistaken identity hijinks if it’s Frankenstein.)  I would especially like to see him in a romance- with Mina, Lucy, Dracula’s bride, Marianne from Brides of Dracula, or an OC.  But if you aren’t feeling shippy fic, then just give me some exciting, funny, angsty or otherwise interesting escapades.

Darkest Dungeon (character: Graverobber)

My beautiful, snarky noblewoman!  There’s so much to play with here, be it in backstory, midgame or epilogue.  Her backstory comic (http://www.darkestdungeon.com/darkest-dungeon-presents-the-grave-robber/ ) hints at a lot, but there’s still plenty to be elaborated upon.  Was the man in the picture her father or her husband, and what was life like with him?  Did she get into any amusing shenanigans robbing her own ancestral tombs?  (Of course she did.)  I would LOVE to see her interacting with members of the Crimson Court, almost her kind of people but oh so wrong.  If you want to ship her with anyone feel free (my preference is the Houndmaster- ex-cop and ex-thief!- but pretty much anyone would lead to an interesting story.)  And what about how her personality changes in the game with acquired strengths and weaknesses?  If you just have a funny story from one of your playthroughs where she gets an odd quirk, I’d love to read it!

I’m cool with Crueltide fic here, too.

Kushiel’s Legacy

Unlike some of my other requests, I know exactly what I want here: Night Court worldbuilding!  There are so many interesting houses that are either mysterious (what exactly does an adept of Orchis or Briony do?) or touched upon without elaboration (how far do adepts of Mandrake or Valerian who don’t have Phaedre’s super-masochism go?)  Whether it’s smutty, romantic or behind the scenes and businesslike, featuring the characters we know and love or OCs of your own, I would really like some descriptive Night Court adventures.

[miss-m-calling]

Night on Fic Mountain 2017 letter

Dear writer,

Hello and thanks for writing for me! I hope these prompts inspire you!

Chronicles of the Kencyrath - P. C. Hodgell

Relationship: Brier Iron-Thorn & Torisen Knorth

Relationship: Jamethiel Knorth & Torisen Knorth

Relationship: Kirien Jaran & Torisen Knorth

Relationship: Torisen Knorth & Yce

Relationship: Trishien Jaran & Torisen Knorth

Some prompts:

A continuation of The Sea of Time – Torisen’s reaction to discovering Jame has bound a Kendar when he’s Highlord and lord of his House and struggles with binding all his Kendar. Now that the plot summary of The Gates of Tagmeth has been announced, feel free to write the start of or an episode based on that. I love this series’ combination of high and low fantasy, dark magic, loopy humor, complex characterization, dread destiny looming over all yet people kicking against destiny all the while, and rich worldbuilding - any/all of that in fic is swell.

Torisen before he was Highlord: I’d prefer a story about what it was like for him and Jame growing up in the Haunted Lands or Torisen growing to young adulthood once Jame was gone and he had to witness Ganth going mad on his own, rather than a story about his time with the Southern Host.

Torisen spends time with Brier and discovers they may actually be kindred souls (both closed off from the world yet bursting with perceptiveness and emotion, both underestimated by most people in their surroundings).

Brier anything – her childhood, her life after her mother died and she served the Caineron, how she copes with being bound by Jame while still serving Torisen, a canon divergence for Brier, speculative future fic…

Yce grows up from puphood in Torisen’s company and learns many things (bonus points if you do Yce’s wolf-girl POV) and/or Torisen deals (probably by not really dealing, because he’s Tori) with the likelihood that Yce sees him as a potential future mate and that is why she’s so protective of him and jealous of others who are close to him.

Jaran shenanigans, especially if you can combine their devotion to scholarship (which Hodgell depicts with such loving humor) with the customs of the Women’s World, and possibly something about the revelation of Kirien’s gender to the other Highborn lords. OR Kirien balancing out being the head of a house of scholars and singers with her position in the vipers’ nest which is the Highlord’s council, with Trishien’s help and advice. OR Kirien learning both knowledge and life skills from Trishien as she is groomed to be the head of her house.

More interactions between Tori and the Jaran matriarch! Could Trishien help him navigate his discomfort about being a Shanir? Could she help him banish Ganth once and for all?

For a probably darker fic, any/all of these character combos enter Perimal Darkling or join the final battle against him – what happens? Do they live (you can ignore ‘major character death’ being my DNW in this instance)? How are they changed by their experiences in the Master’s House?

Just as a general point, if you could avoid making the incest barely-subtext between the Knorth twins text and the center of the story, that would be swell.

  Deutschland 83

Relationship: Ingrid Rauch & Lenora Rauch

Relationship: Lenora Rauch & Tobias Tischbier

Relationship: Lenora Rauch & Walter Schweppenstette

Relationship: Martin Rauch & Walter Schweppenstette

Character: Lenora Rauch

I loved this show’s combo of characterization, mild soap opera, historical detail, and sympathy for what would soon prove to be a failed political and social system. I’d love to see any of these character relationships explored either in terms of their backstory, the complex shifting of affection and resentment and power between them (siblings, parents and children, fellow spies, spies and handlers), or in a post-canon setting, either the very last years of the Cold War or in reunified Germany.

One of my favorite things about the show is how it takes characters who are frankly terrible people (Lenora, Schweppenstette) and makes them sympathetic without whitewashing them, and it takes likable, sympathetic people (Ingrid, Martin) and has them do really iffy things or knowingly make choices which endanger themselves and others.

I’d especially encourage divergences that still make sense in terms of real events in the period: Martin discovers who his father is before, during or right after canon? Martin’s mother is Lenora rather than Ingrid - how does that influence her choices as a mother and as a ruthless spy? Lenora is the agent embedded long-term in the West, and Tischbier is her handler who risks his cover while partaking of the West’s gay scene?

If you’d prefer to stick to canon, that’s great too! How much does Ingrid really know about her sister’s work? How does the sisters’ relationship develop after Lenora’s escape to Africa (and possible return after 1990)? How did Lenora “run” Tischbier all those years and what does she think of him – is he just a tool, does she care about his well-being at all, has she ever used his sexuality to keep him in line or blackmail him? A day at work with Lenora and Schweppenstette being devious or their phone conversations from Bonn to East Berlin, knowing they’re being listened to, by their own side probably? Martin and Schweppenstette post-canon, in the days and weeks right after Martin’s return or years later – what do they both know and what are they both willing to admit about their relationship?

  The Sandman

Relationship: Corinthian & Dream

Relationship: Death & Dream

Relationship: Dream/Thessaly

Relationship: Lucien & Matthew the Raven

Relationship: Matthew the Raven & Thessaly

Character: Mazikeen

For Dream/Thessaly, a look at their relationship – I love Thessaly for being always herself, as unlikable as she can be, and often wonder how she and Dream ever hooked up, made a go of an actual relationship, and/or what all contributed to their breakup (besides their both being difficult people used to getting their way and being alone).

For Corinthian & Dream, I’d love to see this from the Second Corinthian’s perspective – requited or not (not seems more likely), tied up with all of the Corinthian’s identity issues and memories of his past self and his role in the Dreaming and the world, the maker/creation relationship he has with Morpheus. This can go as dark or erotic (/ instead of &) as you like, but please heed my DNWs.

For Lucien & Matthew as well as Matthew & Thessaly, I’d love something humorous (darkly humorous or droll - it’s the snarky raven!) and Dreaming-set. A book in Lucien’s library isn’t where it’s supposed to be, either a quest to find it ensues or the missing book somehow endangers the very fabric of the dreaming. Matthew is forced to spend time with the boss’ new girlfriend, maybe as a sort of honorary guard while she explore the Dreaming, and much snark and possibly some chilling magic happens.

For Death & Dream, a slice of whatever passes for life among the Endless. Dream accompanies Death on another day at work and learns a different life lesson than in The Sound of Wings. Or Death accompanies Dream on a mission in his realm or in the waking world, possibly with an agenda of her own which he discovers along the way. They might argue. Or they might get ice cream.

For Mazikeen, I just find her fascinating. She’s like a gruesome parody of a femme fatale, all mysterious and devoted to her man/boss/devil and deadly yet not really EVIL from what we saw of her in canon. Her backstory (how did she gain her half-woman, half-corpse appearance?), or what Lucifer did to win her love and eternal devotion, or a (dark, funny, darkly funny) incident from their time running a piano bar, or Mazikeen goes on a mission, armed with her mask and slurred speech and maybe lingering infernal powers… I am somewhat familiar with Mazikeen’s story in the spinoff comics, but I’d prefer it if you stuck to what we know of her in the Sandman canon (as far as The Wake) only.

  Likes:

I love pre-canon, canon, post-canon, canon-divergent, and “missing scene from canon” stories. I love character-driven and plot-driven stories equally, and I love fics which mix humor and angst/serious business when appropriate for the canon. I’m also requesting in-canon meta here, so fictional excerpts from diaries, letters, histories, novels/fairytales/songs would be awesome.

I love character studies, characters at work and play, stories about group dynamics, family dynamics (including constructed families), professional partnerships, friendships, alliances, rivalries, intimate couples, UST-ridden couples who are not just UST-ridden but connected in other ways too, parents and children, siblings, etc.

I love irony, snark, 5+1 stories, bittersweet endings, hopeful endings, happy endings, canon-fitting crack, worldbuilding, characters who are their own worst enemies as well as those who learn to get over themselves, characters with conflicting values which may or may not be reconciled/resolved in a believable and IC way, characters who treat each other with respect and as equals even if they hate/annoy/can’t stand/love to dislike each other.

I especially love workplace stories (this can mean anything from an office/procedural setting to anything that revolves around the canon world in which the characters live) in which the characters are competent and dedicated to the job, and while they may not be exactly friends and they may well irritate one another, they still manage to rub along to get the job done and maybe even grow to care about one another (much to their surprise and sometimes reluctance/discomfort). Or, if they can’t get along, show me why not and what’s preventing them from finding common ground.

DNWs:

Kinks, MPREG, A/B/O, knotting, D/s, incest, underage, genderswap and genderbent characters, non-con, dub-con, torture and abuse, dwelling on bodily fluids (mentions of gore and come are fine where appropriate), toilet humor, character bashing, soulmates and soul marks, major character death (unless it’s canon), pregnancy and children as the lynchpin of the story (unless strictly canon appropriate), characters agonizing over/analyzing/dwelling on their or others’ sexuality as if it’s the sum total of their existence, secondary characters acting like shipping the main pair is their be all and end all, fluff and schmoop, OCs (except for worldbuilding purposes – I just don’t want a fic in which OCs are the heroes and canon characters are cameos), PWP or porn-centric fic, issuefic, fic written in the first or second person, holiday or wedding setting or theme, AUs which have nothing to do with canon (cop characters working in a coffee shop, high-school janitor characters in space, etc.)