#they’re a huge marvel fan point blank

[hana-no-seiiki]

Love the smart yandere who’s manipulative but not abusive. It really breaks my heart a little bit seeing fics tag as “yandere” despite the yandere in question only being straight up abusive psychopath with little to no actually love involved.

But quick question on your Smart Yan. How would they react if reader has the uncanny ability to sense people’s fakeness but instead of being mad, the reader wants to know the real him without any acting? Reader wants to keep it real between them and actually form a semi-normal relationship with him (wether platonic or romantic is unknown for now)

The Yandere genre is a spectrum (imo it just has to be unhealthy since that’s what it means in JP) but yeah seeing the abusive ones trigger me a whole ton. I write yanderes to feel better about my trauma and somewhat see the bright side of the things that happened so I don’t get how or relate to those writers that do it 😭 but if it makes em happy and they write proper trigger warnings then I have no right to say that they should stop.

Smart! Yan would love to have an equally if not more insightful partner. You complement each-other in the way that you two have no challenge with reading people. Except you chose the path of kindness and respect while they chose mind-games and manipulation. People from the outside just don’t get how the two of you and your brains work, speaking of complicated hypotheticals to downright ‘stupid’ ones that go on for hours and hours with no sign of stopping.

I feel like in this scenario smart yan! could turn it as a challenge to see how long it’d take to let your guard down and let themselves into the deepest crevices of your mind. You’re like the mariana trench to their thalasophillia. A place yet to be discovered, something that they can lay claim to. It is an extra challenge however to do it all without a mask or façade they can disassociate with if things go wrong. And boy do they not want things to go wrong with you at all.

I feel like to them, it doesn’t matter if you like/love someone else, are dating/married. They just want full, uninhibited, and exclusive access to that wrinkly brain of yours. They don’t even see anyone else as competition because everyone else is just so easy to decipher unlike you.

It’s just sad to see you avoiding them at times or choosing another person’s presence in stead of theirs.

But they know you’ll come to them in the end.

It’s inevitable.

You don’t really think you can beat them at their own game, did you?

[nodulemodule]

I tried my hand at some Shadamy kids!

I’m not sure what to name them and I will definitely be redesigning them a bit, but I’m open to suggestion. (AKA, PLEASE send name suggestions) Honestly, coming up with headcannons was the most fun part so I’ll put that here

The daughter (right) is eight years old. She’s mild mannered and quite introverted. She needs her alone time but struggles to communicate boundaries. Luckily, Shadow understands this more than anyone and is usually there to teach her how to communicate her wants and needs and look out for her. She’s very quiet, and is often wearing a blank expression on her face, which other kids may find weird or unnerving. Really, she’s just neurodivergent, lol. She’s very family-oriented and protective of her brother. Despite being very subdued there is a hidden rage to her and she will defend her family with intense furosity. And despite not showing it conventionally, she is a deeply passionate kid, with a whole lot of love for the world around her. Oftentimes her parents will just watch her and marvel at the unique way she views the world. You can’t tell what’s going on just by her face but it’s clear she’s absolutely fascinated with the world and in love with everything. In short, she’s a sweetiepieand an artist with an immense amount of curiosity and reverence for the world she’s been gifted with, and she will grow up to do amazing things.

The son (left), who is 5, is just a little ball of energy. Extremely picky, opinionated, and hot-headed. Basically, he got all of Shadow and Amy’s rage. Despite this, he’s just a little scamp with an intense sense of justice. He’s the one who would stick up for a kid getting bullied on the playground and proceed to rip the bully to shreds. He loves to run around, cause messes, and play the hero. While it’s clear he got a lot of those traits from his parents, it’s also due to the fact that he adores his “uncle Sonic” to pieces and is his number one fan. Just imagine Shadow trying to work and his son going on and on about how Sonic could beat Shadow in a fight and Shadow is seething but Amy insists it’s a phase he’ll grow out of. Despite being a huge fan of Sonic, he still looks up to his dad immensely and will often try to be just like him too. He wants to be just as strong as his dad. Their son is a crybaby, a fanboy, and a little ball of sunshine and rage who loves his family dearly, and they love him too.

As for the siblings relationship to each other, I imagine the son would tire the daughter out very quickly, but she would sort of pull through it because she loves him and enjoys spending time with him and teaching him things. She loves reading to him and giving him piggyback rides and feeling like an influence in his life. The son also knows how sweet and sensitive his sister is and will defend her until the end. He loves rambling about stuff to her because he knows she’s listening to every word. They might fight occasionally because the son gets too rambunctious or the daughter gets overwhelmed and shuts her brother down too harshly, but they’re both fiercely protective of each other as well as the rest of the family and know each other well enough to work it out, not to mention their parents taught them well.

As for Shadow and Amy as parents, they struggle to fulfill parental roles in different ways but each find their footing. Amy is able to fulfill a domestic role relatively easy but is still filled with anxiety about motherhood, possibly to the point of postpartum anxiety. Of course, She’s able to work through it out of dedication and love for her kids as well as support from Shadow. She babies the hell out of her son, he’s her special little boy. She struggles to relate to her daughter as she gets older and starts developing her own personality, but they still spend a lot of time together and her daughter adores her. She takes a lot of pride in teaching her kids how to take care of themselves by cooking and cleaning despite swaddling them a bit too much, and is endlessly proud of them.

Shadow does a lot of thinking prior to becoming a father and forms a very particular idea of the father he wants to be. He struggles at first, but loves his family enough to stick to his guns. He might not have the best idea of how to raise a kid at first, attempting to teach his daughter to shoot a gun at only 4 years old which Amy has to put a stop to. But, this comes with the benefit of him not seeing his kids as children, but as people. He tries his best to understand them on a personal level and is incredibly thoughtful and understanding. He’s not always in agreement with Amy and her parenting methods, thinking they should raise them to be more independent, but still respects her instincts as a mother. Overall he’s caring and patient, and often gives them a lot of sage advice and is honest with his kids. He wants them to be able to stay strong and take care of themselves but also let’s them have the childhood he never had. Amy swaddles them sure, but Shadow spoils the hell out of them. He will build them all sorts of play sets and let them travel all sorts of places. He’s incredibly flattered and proud of how much his kids take interest in him and his work, but he also tries to protect them from it somewhat. Overall, Amy and Shadow are just trying their best because they love each other and their kids so so much and are doing a great job.

Also, if you were to lay so much as a finger on their kids, you’re dead. You’re fucking dead. They will fucking absorb the chaos emeralds to annihilate you. They are so mad and so in love.

Anyway, that was a long ramble. In short, their kids are beautiful little goobers and they are all full of so much love. I wanna do more with this and work on it a bit more but let me know what you think and PLEASE suggest some names. Perhaps if people are engaged enough I’ll put up a poll and let y’all decide on names. Anyway, thanks for letting me brain dump :P

[angelatmidnight1]

Right now, I'm working on 2 fics: a Seer/Loba one and a reader/Octane one. I know I mentioned Mirage for the Seer fic but I was listening to these Lady Gaga songs yesterday and it gave me the perfect prompt for Seer and Loba instead. I still have some older Apex Legends prompts in my drafts but I'm still drawing a blank on them, but they'll hopefully be done at some point. That being said, I'm still open to Apex prompts because the new prompts are really helping me out of the writer's block. The more the merrier honestly.

I was also thinking that I believe I'm ready to branch out a tiny bit and write for additional fandoms. This doesn't mean I'm done with Apex cause it's still my #1 favorite thing to write about, but I need a bit of variety to keep me going. I'll include the other fandoms I was thinking about writing about under the cut so the post isn't very long.

Game of Thrones- (TV Version). I especially love the Lannisters, and the Martells are a close second.

Marvel- mainly the Avengers, Deadpool, Loki, Dr. Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy because they're the only ones I'm confident writing for. I'm a huge fan of Starlord and Ironman :D.

The Mandalorian- maybe? I've only watched two episodes so far so I don't know if I can really do this one, but writing for strong, silent characters is one of my favorite things to do. (Maybe that's why I like Bloodhound so much? who knows)

Again, maybe? This is something I'd like to try but I don't really know what I'm doing lol.

...Okay bye 🤐🏃🏾‍♀️

[denimbex1986]

“...Bucky comes from the Jim Crow era and hasn’t really socialized that much, whereas Sam is very much a black man of this time, so what can these two stand to learn from each other as they embark on this global journey together?”

Sebastian: “Bucky’s gotta come out of his shell, you know what I mean?  And learn to accept the past and, and move forward and get to know the world as it is, you know? And who else to better introduce him to that than Sam Wilson?”

Anthony: “I think both characters, coming from where they came from and being the men that they are, they realize that the world has changed and evolved. The Blip has put us in a position where we no longer are accessible to the way of thinking that was before the Blip. That’s what gave us Thanos. So, both characters are smart enough to know that the - the future is different, and they’ve always been progressive enough to see that and move along with it.”

Kari: “Both Sam and Bucky are facing - you know, from a personal place - issues that - that are very real world. Sam’s family’s in crisis and Bucky is in his own crisis because he’s dealing with guilt issues. He’s got mental health issues; he’s trying to navigate what the consequences of his actions are.”

Malcolm: “We say it like this. Bucky showed up with more baggage than any hero in Marvel history, right? And we took all that baggage and distilled it down to a single storyline and a single character that he’s dealing with. If he fails, he is the monster that he worries he might be. And if he succeeds, he’s reborn as someone that might actually be worthy of becoming a hero in his own right. Because in Bucky’s mind, he’s never been a hero.”

Kari: “And then we have, you know, the discussion of the shield. Because Sam was given the shield, and he says: ‘it doesn’t feel like mine’. And he has to decide if it is his, and what is it for a black man to pick up that shield? Is it both good and bad? What is it for the black community? Is it relevant?” 

Malcolm: “Sam’s reaction to the shield is not what people expect. The journey in dealing with the stars and stripes is not an easy one for him. Rejecting it is hard, and accepting it is extremely hard, you know what I’m saying? The stock he comes from - I don’t wanna spoil it - but there’s a long legacy of black folk who come from that stock. When you see these unique scenes that he has, confronting these villains, and you see him respond in a way that isn’t typical for a superhero, the audience now will have a deeper understanding as to how because they got to spent time in his personal life, and regarding Anthony - we stole a lot of his personal life to create that personal life for Sam.” (laughs)

“Oh, wow.”

Malcolm: “Yeah.”

“What are you excited for fans to see, because this is the first time we’re going to see them in this light?”

Sebastian: “Just for them to get to know them better, you know? To spend a day in the life of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes as - as we haven’t seen, you know? And - and that actually ends up being much more relatable than all those epic times you’ve met them in the movies.”

“This episode confirms that, you know, as Avengers, you don’t really get paid for your work. I’m curious about what your reaction was when you saw that in the script, and do you think the Avengers should unionize - for benefits?”

Anthony: “I think that was called Civil War (laughs). No, we definitely should. I think, you know, it’s interesting; I always ask the question, like, you know when the Avengers show up, they destroy whole cities and just, like, crush people and how - what do they do for a living? Like - where, where does their money come from? Always believed it was Tony Stark and, you know, ‘cos, he owns - ob - obviously, he owns an Audi dealership somewhere. The idea of them making a living at what they do - I , I don’t think that’s the important thing. I think they do it for the betterment for the world, for saving people’s lives. So, they have their ins and outs, their odd-jobs to make sure that they’re taken care of; government sponsorship, funding, government housing.” 

“What was also nice...in this first episode was seeing Rhodey there and just like the mentor-sort of mentee relationship...can you just talk a little bit about what that relationship means in this series?”

Kari: “You said it; it’s sort of got a bit of a mentorship kind of quality to it, It’s also - you know - very relevant to the story of Sam and the shield and what he’s gonna decide. Rhodey is kind of posing the question: ‘Is there going to be a world where nobody carries the shield?’ Allies have become enemies and the world has changed. During the blip obviously there was a certain amount of cooperation, much like our pandemic; shared grief, shared loss, and so you had a world that was cooperating in a different kind of way and now you’re post Blip, and all of a sudden, people want it to go back.”

Malcolm: “We were all in love with the idea like, you know, Marvel’s two black superheroes - the ones that are most well known anyway - ‘cos, you know, T’Challa’s African - they’re African-American. There’s a shorthand that they have together, you can imagine, you know what I’m saying? - where all the issues Sam is coping with, with, with Don Cheadle, with the actors on that level - by - by them just pausing and being silent for a minute, the audience can fill in the blanks and just having them two brothers on the screen at the same time; that was huge for me, man - I , I, I - I just; I geeked out over that, you know?”

“...outside of Black Panther, you don’t get that moment really.”

Malcolm: “That’s right, and like I said, T’Challa and Black Panther basically shattered all the biases against black heroes, but if we’re taking about identity, T’Challa is a King, and T’Challa is African. And though he does deal with some of the same issues that Sam and Rhodey might, they have a unique perspective on the world.”

“And we do know that Sharon Carter is gonna be in this series. What can you say about her role and her dynamic with the team?”

Malcolm: “She’s - she is flipped. Not flipped out or crazy or nothing like that, But Sharon has - if, go watch - if the fans watch Civil War - they can fill in the blanks on what Sharon has probably had to deal with and so when we meet Sharon, she has definitely evolved. The term I use, it’s not dramatic or nothin’, but she has definitely grown up.”

“...there’s going to be threat that brings the Falcon and the Winter Soldier together, so can you talk about what this threat is and how that sort of forces the Winter Soldier and the Falcon to sort of team up?”

Kari: “It’s relevant to the - the blip and as I just said, the fact that world has, you know, now enemies and al- allegiances have changed; and it’s all changed quite quickly. In the opening action sequence, we get a taste of what that is; that it’s - it’s kinda of - it’s a bit unwieldy. And so, we’re gonna discover, through, through the course of the next episodes just what that means.”

Malcolm: “We wanted the crisis that the heroes were dealing with to be something that every single fan could - could look at and be like ‘Oh, I identify with that - that’s a very real; that’s a very real crisis.’ We wanted these villains to be born from this crisis and we wanted our heroes to have to be approaching them from a point of view that is so human and anchored in modern struggle today that this whole piece feels like the superhero franchise of the future.”

“...can we expect some easter eggs or some, you know, cameos...?”

Kari: “Well there’s always - there’s always easter eggs, and what’s wonderful about Marvel and MCU is each series is very much it’s own unique animal. So, ours is very different from WandaVision and so obviously, you know, one of Marvel’s trademarks is the easter eggs, what’ll be interesting to see is if everybody catches them. “

[roseskiesandbutterflies]

Killer Queen - Chapter 10: Dreamers Ball

Summary: Life is easy when things go your way. I know this from experience. I also know that that can disappear in an instant and that you have to be able to rely on your friends. Luckily my name is Arabella Ruth White and I’m the fifth marauder. But I want to show you the girl behind the mask. It takes a lot of work to be this fabulous, darling. (This story is also on Wattpad and AO3 of the same name.)

A/N: So, I recently binge-read all of Lore Olympus on Webtoons and if you haven’t read it, then I highly recommend it. It’s about the Greek Gods (mainly Persephone and Hades) but it deals with some mature themes just to warn you. The chapter title comes from Queen’s 1978 album, Jazz.

Warning(s): alcohol, drugs, swearing, implied sex

Word Count: 4.3k+ (this was one word off of being 4400 words so that’s annoying)

Inspiration: random headcanons I found on Tumblr and Pinterest, The Boy Who Killed God by SeraMGrigori on AO3, All The Young Dudes by MsKingBean89 on AO3, Sweet Things by Cocomouse on AO3

Taglist: @bhmay @briarrose26

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Throwing a birthday ball might just have been my best idea thus far, if I did say so myself, and it hadn’t even started yet. I was gradually walking through the doors of the Great Hall, embracing my dramatic entrance for every little millisecond that it was worth. All eyes were on me, as they should be since it was my birthday and I bloody love attention, and suddenly I understood what brides must feel like when they walk down the aisle. The train of my sparkling golden gown trailed along behind me, leaving a stream of glitter in my wake. It had been both a style choice and a way to infuriate Filch when he had to clean it up. Have fun with that, you miserable bastard. The Great Hall was decorated from top to bottom in gold, gold streamers, gold glitter, gold balloons. It was akin to the Emerald City from The Wizard Of Oz but, well, gold. Anyone who was anyone was among the crowd watching me, providing they were at least a fifth year; I didn’t want little kids at my birthday party, thank you very much. The only ones I would even consider would be Rhea and Luke, but they weren’t at Hogwarts yet and right now, I was grateful for that. As far as I could see, everyone had a glass of amber-coloured liquid in their hand, which I assumed was butterbeer for the far majority of people in the hall. Some minuscule part of me wanted to squirm under all of the attention, but I suppressed it as best as I could. I had a reputation to keep up, after all.

You may be wondering how on earth I got access to the Great Hall for my birthday party, and honestly, I can’t blame you for pondering such a thing. It had been a complete stroke of luck which had come in the form of good old Minnie McGee. I’d been explaining my plan for the ball to the lads during one breakfast back in September, yes my plans for it have been in the works for that long what are you going to do about it, and Minnie had overhead while she was walking past our usual spot. I’m quite sure she has some kind of hearing superpower, even though that particular sense should be decaying with her old age rather than growing. And just in case you’ve somehow found this, naturally, I mean no offence, Minerva, so please don’t give me another detention I really don’t want one please and thank you. She’d then gone on to offer the Great Hall for the party but with three conditions. One, she could go and bring Dumbledore as her ‘date’, two, we served nothing stronger than butterbeer and three, we actually worked hard for our OWLs which were just around the corner. Initially, we all thought that she was joking but it turned out that she was deadly serious (naturally Sirius had interrupted her with his classic pun) and that she was, in fact, rather looking forward to going to a party for the first time in a while. James had then asked if she was on drugs, because quite frankly this was one of the nicest things she had ever done for us, and she came very close to whacking him upside the head for even suggesting such a thing. But she never actually denied it, so I still secretly think she does weed. I don’t know about you, but I can most certainly see it.

Now, as you’d expect, I was rather disappointed at Minnie’s suggestion of a near total absence of alcohol, but it hadn’t been long before Sirius, always searching for an excuse to drink to the point where I often wondered if he was addicted, had suggested something quite marvellous: an afterparty. Such a seemingly straightforward idea quickly turned into something so much more. We decided to hold it later on in the night in the Room of Requirement, and only the elite people knew about it and, subsequently, invited. And by ‘elite’, I mean the male specimens I call friends, the females who I love and cherish and a couple of other people. And that was bound to be very much alcohol-fuelled. As long as I had that to look forward to, I could endure a much more age-appropriate evening, just not for too long.

Finally, I reached the platform where the teachers would usually sit during meals, and bear in mind that I had been milking the moment for way longer than necessary, so this did take some time. I cleared my throat for effect before speaking in an impossibly posh voice, “Thank you all for attending my ball this evening. I won’t talk for too long because I would hate to bore you to tears, I’ll leave that job to Professor Binns. Now, Minnie, don’t look at me like that, we all know it’s true. Look, even Dumbledore agrees with me and you can’t argue with Dumbledore. Moving on, I would like to say a couple of things so entertain me for a moment. One, if any of you are caught drinking anything stronger than butterbeer, then I will happily leave you to face the wrath of our dear Minerva on your own, I have no intention of arguing with any teacher tonight.” A few giggles rippled throughout the crowd as well as a few pouty faces from people who were doing a shockingly awful job at hiding mini bottles of firewhiskey behind their backs. It wasn’t my problem, I did say this on the invites I sent out, if they chose to go against that then they would deal with the consequences, not me. I continued, “Two, I hope you all enjoy yourselves tonight and remember, it ends at precisely eleven o’clock, which means don’t hang around. Frank and Alice, I’m looking at you.” The couple in question blushed furiously and Alice gave me a death stare that could rival the one I get from Remus when I gather enough courage to steal some of his chocolate. I then clapped twice to signal the official start of the ball and music began to blast from the speakers I’d linked up to my record player which was enchanted to start playing a record whenever I clapped my hands.

It took a second, but people were soon dancing and mingling and doing whatever else people do at parties. I made a beeline straight for the boys but ignored their greetings, instead, I grabbed two, I wasn’t sure which ones, and, hoping that they were all following if they weren’t being dragged, marched over to the drinks table. I let go of whoever I had been holding to pour myself a much-needed butterbeer, but in a wine glass because I’m classy like that, leaving two boys to rub their arms in pain.

“Bloody hell, Ruth, you could have just asked us to come with you, that really wasn’t necessary,” Remus muttered as he got his own drink.

“Why is your grip that damn strong?” James pouted, whining like the little child that he is.

Sirius just smirked evilly, “I think we all know where she gets her practice with her grip.”

Naturally, I wasn’t going to have that, so I swatted him on the arm as if he was a fly, but then I decided that that just wasn’t enough, so I kicked him in the shin. Not too hard because I was feeling nice for some strange reason, but you get the idea. He then howled suspiciously like a dog, causing us all to give him strange looks that pretty much read dude what the fuck.

Sirius, then desperate to change the subject to literally anything else, went on to ask, “Ruth, are Snivellus and his mates supposed to be here? Because I don’t have a problem with physically throwing them out,” he shrugged.

I sighed, knowing my response wasn’t going to be immensely popular amongst the group. I muttered quietly, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes, “I invited them.” As expected, I was met with outcries and protests from the cloud of testosterone surrounding me, such as but they’re such pricks and why would you want to infect your own party with the human equivalent of the goddamn plague, so I was quick to defend myself, “I didn’t want to! It’s just that Lily said that she wouldn’t go if I didn’t at least give Snivellus the option. But then I worried that he’d hang around Lily the whole time, and I wasn’t going to allow that, so I invited a couple of his friends too. I didn’t think they’d actually show up though,” I peered over Peter’s shoulder to observe him talking to Lily, grimacing at his choice of outfit if you could even call that monstrosity an outfit. I’d specified in the invites that you had to wear muggle ballgown-wear and you had to make it yourself using magic. I guess blood supremacists don’t even want to wear muggle-style clothes these days. They really are that shallow and it surprised me how Lily couldn’t see that.

Sirius huffed and made a comment that sounded like it should have come from James’s mouth instead of his, “Fine, but only because Lily is a treasure and I’m also terrified to death of her.” When he was met with blank stares for the second time in five minutes, he blushed furiously, only just clocking what he had just revealed.

I smirked at him, “Since when were you such good friends with my dear Lily?”

It was just a widely accepted fact that the girls weren’t huge fans of the boys, and while those attitudes weren’t reciprocated by the other side, it was practically unheard of for the girls to be anything more than civil with the boys. Well, only if you don’t count Lily and Remus’s strange friendship. I’d often promoted a union of sorts between my two friendship groups, holding out in my firm belief that some epic bonds could be formed if they just tried, but I was usually shot down with objections of but they’re arrogant toe rags. I think that that’s complete and utter bullshit but each to their own, I guess. I just carried on in the hope that one day they’d come round and see how silly they were being.

While James was appearing to have a mental breakdown right there and then, Sirius slowly explained, “Since a couple of weeks ago? I went down to the common room because I couldn’t sleep and I found Lily and she looked quite upset, so I asked her what was wrong, thinking she would just tell me to piss off or something, but she just burst into tears and she told me a lot of stuff that I won’t tell you because I think it’s private. Anyway, long story short, we had a rather profound conversation at two in the morning, followed by a couple of games of chess because neither of us wanted to go back to bed. We’ve had some rather thought-provoking conversations in Charms because we sit next to each other this year. She’s actually really cool.”

I grinned broadly at him, “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you for four whole years!” We then high-fived because why the fuck not. Remus gave us a look of wholehearted betrayal, which is understandable because he had been assisting me in my quest to get them to appreciate Lily properly, so I gave him a high-five too, and so did Sirius. Then Peter and James high-fived for no reason other than they were feeling left out, as they should be. So, we all looked like fucking crackheads already but that was to be expected of us.

“Anyway, just because Sniv is allowed to be here, doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to fight him the second he does something fucked up, right?” Sirius asked.

“You and I both know you’ll fuck him up regardless of whether I allow it or not, so yes, yes you can. In fact, please do.”

***************

By around midnight we were drunk off our asses in the Room of Requirement, the civilisation of the ball long gone. It was total carnage, although you probably worked that one out for yourself, but it wasn’t all bad seeing as my two friend groups don’t try to murder each other every five seconds when under the influence of my lovely friend alcohol. Most of us were sprawled out on various sofas, still in our ball attire, with Hunky Dory playing on my record player at a much lower volume because our drunk asses couldn’t deal with too much noise. I was lying on a sofa with my head in Marlene’s lap and my feet in Dorcas’s while James and Peter shared a sofa. Alice and Frank were, as I had predicted earlier on, making out in some darkened corner, thinking that they were being subtle because no one was gawping at them. In reality, the only reason we all refused to look was because they were being more than a bit gross and no one wanted to see that, to be frank. Pun absolutely intended. Dorcas didn’t drink because of her religion, which meant she was the only sober one in the room, and that meant it was her job to make sure we didn’t get ourselves killed or anything like that. Lily was actually a bit tipsy, but only due to Sirius’s incessant nagging that she was missing out on the finer things in life. I mean there were certainly finer things than knock-off elf wine we smuggled in from Hogsmeade, but Lily didn’t need to know that. Meanwhile, Sirius was stumbling on a table he’d conjured for this exact reason, wearing Marlene’s stiletto heels and ranting about society’s many problems as he usually did when drunk. Tonight’s topic was for discussion was feminism.

“But why is the world like this? We shouldn’t just accept it for how it is! Shouldn’t we try and change it or something?” he slurred, finishing his drink and promptly refilling it with his wand. Several amens could be heard from almost everyone in the room, as is what happened every time Sirius made a point. It was strongly reminiscent of the church service my mum would drag me along to from time to time.

“Sirius, not that I don’t agree with you, but maybe you should get down before you break your neck?” Lily suggested, looking at him in sheer terror.

He just pouted down at her, “I will only get down when the patriarchy falls, and you girls don’t have to live in fear of boys who have the audacity to call themselves men!”

“If a boy comes anywhere near me, I’ll just smack him round the face, I don’t give a shit,” I piped up, swinging my hand around as if I was actually punching someone, and coming very close to actually hitting Marlene in the face.

“That’s alright though because self-defence and shit,” James grinned at me, running over to clink his glass against mine, then running back to his sofa and sitting down as if nothing happened, leaving me confused, to say the least.

“Has anyone seen Remus?” Sirius suddenly changed the subject. When all he got in response was shrugs and confused looks, he started walking up and down the table like it was a catwalk, shouting, “Remus! Remus, where are you, you little shit? Remu-” he suddenly fell straight off of the table but stood up and brushed himself off as if he hadn’t just nearly died, “Reeeeeeemuuuuuuuus!”

“I think he’s with Idania. I don’t know where though,” Peter offered.

Marlene and I gave each other a knowing look and bumped arms, “I think we all know what they’re getting up to,” she raised an eyebrow at me suggestively.

“Ooooooh, Remus you saucy boy,” I snorted, making James cackle so much that he fell off of his chair and also making Lily fake-vomit so much that I was seriously expecting her to actually throw up right there and then.

I think it’s important to update you on the whole Idania-Remus situation. It’s been a tricky one, I won’t lie to you about that. They only started talking again a couple of days ago, making it nearly three weeks of silent treatment from both parties. Even I thought that that was a bit much, and we all know that I can be a dramatic little shit at the best of times. After copious amounts of persuasion from us, way more than would have been necessary if he wasn’t a stubborn bastard, a rather miserable Remus had finally apologised for some things he’d said in the heat of the argument that he hadn’t really meant. He didn’t disclose exactly what he’d said, but I have to be honest, I was just glad that he got over himself and talked to her because it was painful to sit behind them in History of Magic while they were being that damn ridiculous. Not only had he said that he was sorry, but he’d wanted to do something for her to show her how sorry he was. He’d done some research, which meant he’d spent twelve hours straight in the library. James, forever the mother hen of the group, was far from pleased to find out that he’d missed two whole meals, so naturally, that had led to him lecturing poor Remus on the importance of eating properly. He argued that that it doesn’t matter that it’s for love, you need to eat, for Merlin’s sake, which was saying something when you remember how James was a closeted romantic himself. He’d eventually found a spell that was a variant on the translation spells Peter was rather fond of for uncomplicated pranks. Usually with those spells, you speak whatever you mean to say in English, but when it comes out, everyone hears the language you’re cursed to speak. This one, however, worked with sign language; he would say what he wanted to say, and his hands would automatically sign what he’s saying. It didn’t solve everything, he still had to keep studying the language so he could understand Idania, but it was a sure start, and a massive help for the both of them. According to Remus when he’d returned to tell us how it went, she’d been so grateful that she’d almost started crying, though she denied it every time we asked her about it.

While I had been simultaneously amusing and horrifying my friends with mental images of Remus doing unholy things, Sirius had been on a mission to find him, and seemed to have returned triumphant. At some point, he must have left the room even though I had no memory of seeing him leave, as he was now dragging Remus behind him by the hand, who was dragging Idania somewhat gentler. “I found them!” he proclaimed with a stupid grin on his face, in a way similar to how a child would announce such a thing.

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock,” Peter muttered with no actual malice behind his words.

“You’re welcome, Pete,” Sirius bowed but then stumbled forwards, crashing headfirst onto the ground. He didn’t bother getting up, choosing to sit cross-legged on the floor once he got his bearings.

Lily plonked herself down next to him and gazed at him quizzically, “Why are you saying, ‘you’re welcome’, when you’re the one who wanted to know where they were?”

He covered her mouth with his hand to prevent her from speaking, “Shhh, Lily-flower, shhh.”

She scowled at him while Marlene mouthed ‘Lily-flower’ at me in confusion. I just shrugged, desperately trying not to laugh at James who was clearly dying of embarrassment while trying to hide from Lily. We once heard him murmur the nickname in his sleep during our second year, and even though he hasn’t said it since, we refused to let him forget it. Lily must have licked Sirius’s hand or something for he retracted his hand as quickly as he would if he’d had an electric shock, wiping it on his trousers while staring at her in disgust and betrayal. Lily didn’t show an inch of sympathy towards his pain.

“So, what were you two actually doing?” Dorcas asked, directing the conversation back to Idania and Remus.

Idania smirked evilly and looked up at Remus, looking awfully glad that she didn’t have to be the one to explain. I still thought they hooked up finally, but Remus didn’t look nearly as mortified as I imagined he would.

Remus opened his mouth to speak but Lily cut him off, “I can smell weed.”

“How the fuck do you of all people know what weed smells like?” I laughed.

She glared at me in a way that had me quaking in my heels, “Please, you know what Cokeworth’s like, so you can trust me when I say I know what weed smells like.” I had to give it to her, that town wasn’t exactly the poshest in the UK, and I would know seeing as I used to live in the damn place.

We locked eyes for a second, then slowly looked up at Remus and Idania’s slightly guilty but overall chilled-out faces.

Well shit.

Once it clicked in my head as to what they had been doing, I started giggling uncontrollably for a good minute, and everyone else started looking at me really worriedly. I can’t say I blamed them if I’m honest, I did look like something of a lunatic. I quickly put the spell that Remus had found on myself, suddenly feeling really bad that Idania probably didn’t have much of an idea of what had just been said.

“Idania, how dare you corrupt our sweet, innocent Remus?” I laughed, shaking my head like a disapproving parent.

“Excuse you, Remus hasn’t been innocent since before he met us,” James grinned lopsidedly.

“I wasn’t that innocent before I met you,” the boy in question tried to defend himself, only to be met with about seven people saying, ‘you were’.

“Anyway, that’s beside the point. The point is you smoked weed?” I asked incredulously.

“Don’t look at me like that!” he said, “It’s not that big of a deal, no one really cares about that kind of thing these days, well not in the muggle world at least. Live a little, Ruth.”

“That doesn’t make it any less weird that it’s coming from you, mate,” James shook his head.

“But here’s the question nobody else is brave enough to ask, apparently,” Marlene raised a finger and then pointed it at the couple, “Is it nice? And if so, may we have some?”

Most of us, excluding Dorcas and Lily, made some sort of noise of agreement to which Remus just laughed, “Well, it’s Idania’s, not mine, so it’s up to her really…” he trailed off, leaving his girlfriend to make up her mind.

I didn’t actually know much sign language, except for the odd word or phrase I’d picked up (naturally fuck off was on of them), but whatever Idania had signed in response put a devilish smirk on Remus’s face that was all too familiar, “I think that’s a yes, just not too much. Ida doesn’t think you’ll be able to handle it.” The girl in question lightly breathed through her nose, which I’d come to learn was her laugh.

I gaped at her with mock outrage on my face, “I am offended but at least I’ll get to try some, right?”

A couple of blunts went round during the next however long we were high for, while Lily and, to some extent, Dorcas looked on disapprovingly. I think it’s safe to say that the concept of time was non-existent for the rest of the night. I have to say it was one of the most relaxing yet insane experiences I’ve ever had, and it wasn’t long until long after it had worn off did I start to wonder how Idania had access to that kind of thing. She must have been even more of a badass than we first thought.

When I had first started holding parties like these last year, I had made an offer to Dorcas which had involved me making drinks that had no alcohol in them but still had the same effect. She’d been grateful for the suggestion, but she’d pointed out that doing that kind of defeats the whole point of not drinking alcohol in the first place. We’d then settled on making non-alcoholic drinks that still tasted like their alcoholic counterparts but had no effect whatsoever, and we were constantly trying different recipes. Word caught soon after we started, and our non-alcoholic drinks were in almost as high demand as the alcoholic black market I’d created with the boys. They proved to be popular among students who either didn’t want to or weren’t allowed to drink, but didn’t want to miss out on a party or something like that, as well as older students who needed a form of stress relief from their exams, but didn’t want to develop some kind of addiction. I couldn’t blame them, seeing as they used to drink a lot as a really unhealthy coping mechanism. I’d much rather they drink something else, so I was glad to have been of service. As you can imagine, the business really boomed around springtime.

“You know, trying to keep track of you all is like herding a load of cats,” she huffed, taking a sip of her not-quite-firewhiskey.

“Hey, Dorcas,” I mumbled in the most serious voice I could muster, which was quite the feat considering I was both drunk and high at that point. She leaned in to listen, only to hear me say, “Meow.”

Her brows furrowed sceptically, “Meow?”

I nodded, not breaking my composure though I desperately wanted to just dissolve into giggles like a child, “Meow. Because you said we’re cats.”

Dorcas sighed with a resigned look on her face,” Sure, Ari.”

A chorus of meows sounded throughout the room, much to Dorcas’s confusion and exasperation. I could only imagine what it must be like to have to deal with all of us unaided when we were like this.

A/N: By the way, I’m not trying to promote the use of drugs, personally I think things like marijuana should be decriminalised but that’s a story for another day. Just to remind you, this is set in 1975 at the moment, which means that drugs were more common, and more people did things like weed. It makes more sense when you consider the context. Also, they’re only human, shit like this happens.

[trashinaglass-archive]

Just for Us

Tom has a private screening of FFH for y/n

Request: Hii! Idk if u take requests (if u dont please ignore this) but could you please do one where tom surprising you with a private screening of ffh bc he knows you are a marvel fan and won’t be able to see the movie when it comes out

A/n: I’m crying over this new FFH trailer, y’all don’t even understand😂

Also, can someone explain to me how this kid went from “I really like Liz” to “I really like mj” that fast? Is that how all 15y/o’s are?? Even Tobey and Andrew liked the same girl throughout their movies. And I really like Liz, if she doesn’t get screentime for real, imma be pissed.

“Tommy, I’m sad,” you whined as you locked your phone, throwing it on the couch beside him. You flopped down and slouched on the sofa, laying across it with your feet in his lap.

“What’s wrong, love,” he asked with a small laugh, his hand immediately moving to your ankles.

“I can’t go to the premiere for Far From Home anymore,” you said as you pouted your lips.

“What?” Tom sounded upset too. You had gone with him to just about every one of his premieres since you two met. He loved having you there- you were that support system he just needed in his life. Sure his family and friends would be with him, but they weren’t you.

“I just got called for jury service,” you told him. It was required by law. You usually had no problem doing it, but you were really looking forward to seeing the film. You wanted to be there to support Tom, but it was also the first film after Endgame, and being a huge Marvel fan, you wanted to know what was going to happen with Peter.

Tom rolled his eyes and shook his head. “That sucks,” he said. “Out of all the times you could’ve been called, and this is when you were chosen. Damn.”

“I’m sad I have to wait even longer to see it. Because waiting three months to see it after Endgame came out wasn’t long enough,” you complained out loud.

“Sorry, darling,” Tom said before his phone rang. He turned his head, looking at his iPhone to see one of the producers from FFH was calling him. He slide his thumb across the screen, accepting the call. “Hello... Hey, yeah,” Tom began to talk to him for a while about something, you weren’t paying attention. Tom looked at you after a while on the phone, an idea popping into his head.

“I wanted to ask you something,” he said as he lift your feet off his lap, setting them back on the couch as he stood up, walking outside. You looked at him confused. He never went outside to talk on the phone. He stayed out there for a while before coming back in, slipping his phone in his pocket. “Sorry,” He said as he approached you again.

“It’s fine,” you told him. “Must’ve been important if you had to walk outside to talk.” You didn’t mean to pry, but you thought it was really weird that it happened.

“Yeah, I had to ask him about a specific scene, and I don’t want to spoil the movie for you. I know you’d probably take my head off for it,” he told you. “Come here,” He said as he sat back down on the couch, pulling you into him for a cuddle.

. . .

Three weeks later, you were sitting in your living room, working on some stuff from work when Tom came up to you.

“Are you busy tonight?”

You shook your head as you racked your brain of your schedule of activities. “No, why?”

“I was thinking we should go see a film tonight. We haven’t been in a while,” he told you.

“You have anything in mind?”

“I was thinking that Long Shot movie. Harry saw it and said it was hilarious.”

“That sounds good,” you told him. He nodded his head, giving you a thumbs up.

“Perfect. I’ll go order the tickets. I was thinking the 6pm showing so we should probably leave here around 5:40ish.”

“Okay, I’ll be ready,” you told him, going back to your work. You finished before you headed to your room to get dressed for the movie. “Are we getting food afterwards?” You asked Tom as you saw him sat at the foot of your bed, tying his shoes.

“We can if you want,” he said glancing up at you. You finished getting dressed and put on a minimal amount of makeup.

“Ready to go?!” You asked Tom, bringing your excitement level up.

“Yes, come on,” He said grabbing your hand and walking to the car. You drove to the theater, arriving to see a huge crowd. You let a groan slip out, not wanting to stand in line. Tom laughed at your reaction as you both got out of the car.

You walked up to the theater, Tom holding your hand and pulling you straight to the door, opening it and ushering you in. You looked at him confused.

“Tom, the tickets,” you said, pointing to the ticket kiosk. He simply looked at you with a smirk. He walked up to the man that was tearing the tickets, showing him something on his phone. He nodded his head and told you which theater.

“Thanks, man,” Tom said as you walked away from him. “Do you want popcorn or anything?” He asked you.

“I want to know what’s happening, is this your movie star privileges?” You asked, still really confused.

“I told you I got the tickets online,” he told you as he moved to stand in the concessions line.

“But you have to obtain them at the little kiosk thing, and you didn’t do that.”

“Because they sent the tickets to my email. All I had to do was show it to the guy.”

“I’ve been coming to this theater for years, they’ve never done that.”

“It’s a new feature that they’re swapping to,” he said with a shrug, you two next in line for concessions. “Popcorn?” He asked you, walking up to the cashier. You nodded your head. He ordered a popcorn and drink for both of you before you headed to the room the man from earlier told you to go to.

As you approached it, you noticed the screen that usually said the movie that was showing was blank. You brows furrowed in confusion, yet again, looking up to Tom. He didn’t look confused or shocked at all, walking up to the door and holding it open for you. You walked in the door, immediately standing to the side to wait for him. He led you around the corner where you saw the theater was completely empty, the screen playing trailers for upcoming films.

“What did you do- rent the place out?” You asked him. He shrugged his shoulders again.

“Maybe,” He said, with a guilty face. You rolled your eyes and laughed.

“So extra,” You said under your breathe. You picked a seat and sat down, watching the trailers before the film came on. You put your feet up on the seat in front of you as you held the popcorn in your lap, Tom’s hand resting on your thigh. You watched the screen as it went black for a few moments before the movie started playing on the screen.

You looked confused- yet again- as you watched the scene that opened the movie. It showed a high school. Long Shot didn’t have anything to do with teenagers, did it? Your jaw fell as you saw Tom’s face on screen.

“What?” You asked out loud. You continued to watch and saw the title card come on scene.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

“Thomas!” You yelled as you realized what was happening. That’s why the screen outside was blank. That’s why Tom didn’t come in with tickets.

“Shh, babe. The movie’s starting,” he said jokingly, pointing at the screen. You smiled at him, leaning over the arm rest to kiss him on the cheek. You sat back in your seat, excited to watch the movie.

. . .

Two hours and fifteen minutes later, you were walking out of the theater with Tom.

“Tom, it was so good,” you told him as you began to gush about how much you loved the film. “How did you manage this?” You asked him.

“When I had that call a while ago, I stepped outside to ask them if the film was finished up and if I could bring you to see it by ourselves before the premiere. It took some convincing, but they set it up for us.”

“You’re the best, Tom. Like honestly,” you said as you placed your arms around him, hugging him as you walked. “Thank you.”

“What was I going to do? Make you wait longer because three months isn’t long enough?” He said teasing you, remembering your words from earlier. You shook your head with a smile as you leaned against him, bringing your lips to meet his for a kiss.

“I love you, Spider-Man.”

[fiddletwix]

A Guide for Navigating a World of Rumors for the #SaveDaredevil Campaign

Hey #FandomWithoutFear! It’s been almost a year now since the #SaveDaredevil campaign started, and I thought I’d do a brief PSA to help save your sanity as we enter the second half of our campaign. I’m talking about rumors.

Over the past year, we’ve heard piles and piles of rumors, some causing chaos, others causing despair, some even being really strange and confusing. In fact, our campaign was basically born into a world of rumors as we’ve been combating the ‘The shows are going to Disney+’ rumor since the instant it was canceled. Only recently have we been mostly freed by that one thanks to D23 releasing their starting lineup, but we’re still seeing it.

Giving into rumors can be a trying experience, especially considering our current situation of Marvel being unable to tell us almost anything about the NMCU properties until the two year clause is up and them being tight-lipped by default. However, there are ways of avoiding rumor rabbit holes and the emotional turmoil they put us through.

Before I start, I’d like to point everyone out to #SaveDaredevil’s official website and FAQ. It is loaded with everything we can say for certain about the status and future of Daredevil given the information that has been confirmed by official sources so far. We even have screenshots and citations.

#1 – Encountering the Rumor

So you’re out in the wilds of the Internet and come across ‘news’ about Daredevil. As mentioned previously, simply the fact that there is ‘news’ is enough to raise a red flag. Since everything is on the hush-hush, there’s an 80% chance the ‘news’ isn’t valid right off the bat.

But let’s say there seems like there could be some validity in the claim. Worth investigating further.

#2 – Beware of Clickbait

Websites love dem clicks, and they know the Daredevil fanbase is filled with people who are yearning for news. Many websites will either make up or perpetuate rumors to fill a video or article and then slap a misleading title on it to go fishing for cursors and their precious left-clicks.

While some clickbait is painfully obvious from the getgo, some is harder to discern. The rule of thumb here is that, if it seems too good to be true or if it feels like something that could be molded out of existing knowledge, it’s probably best to avoid it.

Also be on the lookout for words and phrases like ‘Could be’ and ‘Might’ as they are almost always indicative of opinion pieces/rumor mills than actual news.

Reputable articles will commonly headline with a source of a quote, such as ‘said (name) (some important position) at (Marvel or Disney)’ but even those can be misleading, so beware.

#3 – Check the Website Before Clicking

You really, really want to click the link no matter what the title says. Understandable. But before you turn that blue link purple, let’s see where it came from.

Another way you can discern what is likely a rumor from what could possibly be legitimate is by checking the source of the link. Sites like Cosmic Book News (That’s not a typo, that’s the name of the website) and wegotthiscovered are some of the better known rumor mills, but if you’re unsure about the reputation of a site, ask around. However, sometimes the only way to know if a website or news source is reputable is by investigating the content of the link.

Which leads us to….

#4 – You’ve Clicked the Link. Now What?

A few things you should be on the lookout for while investigating the page before even reading the content are the author of the article or creator of the video (if one isn’t listed, that’s a red flag in itself), how professionally made the website looks, the date of the article/video posting (the more current, the better) and how well-written the article is overall. Poor grammar, punctuation and formatting can all be red flags to misinformed or false content.

Sensational graphics, such as pictures with red arrows, circles or obnoxious text – this applies to the video if there is one – can also be an indicator of less than legit sources. Overly produced videos and graphics have become quite common as they are attention grabbers, but they don’t exactly give off the professional air that more legitimate websites and content creators strive for.

Fair warning, while a good chunk of rumor articles are fairly short, many rumor videos can be insanely long because longer videos can have more advertisements crammed on it, which means more money.

Longer videos don’t instantly mean legitimate information. In fact, outside of opinion pieces, many ‘news’ videos will regurgitate information we already know about and go into length about that to extend the video’s run time. Even if you’re only in it for opinions, a significant portion of the video could be padding.

You don’t necessarily have to watch the entirety of the video (or even read the entire article) to tell if it’s spouting nonsense or not. It’s a good idea to do so, but in many circumstances the writing is on the wall within the first paragraph or first few minutes of the video.

They jump to conclusions based on something that is entirely unrelated. They add the could be’s and might’s to the content, instead of the headline. Or they accidentally show their rumor hand by saying the dreaded words ‘I/We heard...’ or even ‘rumor has it.’

Some writers are also tricky about their wording to get you to stay the entire way through by ending the article or video with ‘but this is all speculation. We won’t really know until (blank)’

If the author seems intent on getting you to believe this is all fact and the red flags aren’t quite visible to you, there are still options to explore.

#5 – Read/Listen Carefully

Some writers are particularly good at twisting words around to suit their needs. Even direct quotes can be manipulated in their favor. Read the article or listen to the video host very carefully. Take note of context. Be wary of anything that doesn’t mesh with existing knowledge. You may also find that the content contradicts itself sometimes. If things seem fishy to you, your instincts are likely right.

#6 – Who Else is Saying This?

Daredevil news would be huge, and anything even slightly confirmed by official sources would be plastered on a plethora of news sites so quickly you’d think they were announcing their first born child. When you’re first out the gate, you tend to get the most clicks. However, reputable news sites, as you can guess, want to stay reputable, and jumping on rumors isn’t going to be helping them maintain that status.

Do a quick Google search for the main news item in the headline. Using quotation marks on specific phrases used in either the title or body of the source can help narrow things down.

If there are no very recent news articles from several other websites (Let’s say five or more) containing similar news, it’s probably false. If the initial posting is particularly recent, wait a few hours and do another search. By then, the reputable news sites would certainly have something out if it’s true.

#6 – Cited Sources: They’re Not Just for College Papers

Some rumors do get out of control, however. False information can spread like wildfire, and sometimes reputable news sites make mistakes. One thing can still save you from falling into the rumor rabbit hole – cited sources.

They don’t have to be as meticulously formatted as they have to be for college papers (though that does help!) but having quotes from officials within Marvel or Disney (with context and notes about when and where this quote was said) and links to information sources mean the world when determining if ‘news’ is actually, well, news.

Like before, even if the article does cite sources, that doesn’t mean much if the source itself isn’t reputable. IE, you may want to use Wikipedia in your term paper, but your teacher won’t let that fly. Check out the links and double check the quotes to be as certain as possible.

Also, if something simply says ‘sources claim’ without giving actual….ya know...sources, they probably don’t have any. Or, if they do, they’re not reputable.

#7 – This Random Youtuber I Like Said This, That and The Other Thing

This is cropping up more frequently, so I thought I’d include it. Just because you like a Youtuber doesn’t mean they’re always right. It’s not even a matter of calling them a liar – many times these people are just misinformed or fell down a rumor rabbit hole themselves.

Dealing with people who are saying this to you is difficult because they’re frequently too blinded by their liking of the Youtuber to listen to reason. All you can really do is explain to them what I’ve explained above and direct them to the #SaveDaredevil FAQ.

#8 – Dealing with The F Word

Another problem that has been frequently popping up over the past several months is the F Word: Feige.

A rumor that has been unavoidable since practically the instant Daredevil and the other NMCU shows were canceled was that the properties would inevitably fall into the hands of Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige, and DD and The Defenders would be in the MCU after the two years is up.

Feige has never spoken a word, post-cancellation, about Daredevil or The Defenders futures, and for all we know he has no role in their futures considering they were originally with Marvel Television. However, so many people seemingly believe bringing up Feige is enough to confirm or deny all things speculation about DD. Some won’t even humor the idea of DD going anywhere else but Feigeville.

Like with the Youtuber fans, it’s hard to reason with people who seem to hardcore support Feige in everything involving Marvel, and dealing with them is about the same. The main cannon you have in this situation outside of the norm is that, as stated before, Feige has said nothing about this, so they don’t really have sources to cite here, leaving everything up to speculation.

Let me clarify that, if you’re of the opinion that Daredevil should be in the movies, that’s perfectly fine. Everyone has their own opinions on what they want for Daredevil’s future, even if the #SaveDaredevil movement has made their own hopes and views very apparent. However, the story of Daredevil’s does not begin and end with Feige and it shouldn’t be treated as such.

#9 – Scooping the Inside from the Outside

There have been a couple of people, won’t be naming names, in the past year claiming they have the inside scoop on this matter because they either are on the inside (IE an employee at one of the companies involved, such as Netflix, Marvel or Disney) or they know someone who is.

These people may very well have inside information that they’re willing to share with us, but the problem is which information is valid and which isn’t.

The ‘insiders’ I’ve seen seem to work on a system very similar to an old fortune-teller.

Fortune-tellers have a habit of predicting something that they know will come true because of something else they knew ahead of time or just getting lucky on an educated guess. If they’re right enough times on little things, that gives them all the validity they seemingly need to prove they’re right about anything else they claim. They will likely be wrong on numerous occasions, but it’s when they’re right that gives them power. They’ll also likely contradict themselves and double-back on things they’ve said in the past to make it look like they weren’t wrong when they were.

Problem is, you don’t know who these people really are, what role they have in whatever company they work for, if they do, or what relationship they have to whatever insider might exist.

They might act like they have the insider knowledge of a high-level executive, but, in reality, they may actually have the bare bones knowledge of a lower ranking employee or just hear stuff around a water cooler and build off of that information. It’s impossible to tell because they don’t say out of fear of being fired or otherwise getting in trouble with one of the aforementioned companies.

That’s also where the difficulty in discerning fact and fiction/opinion with them comes from. We’re all outsiders and any actual known insiders can’t give us really any information. Debunking them or confirming what they say is incredibly problematic given the limited information we have.

That’s not to say there aren’t people out there who pay a lot of attention to what these people say over time and analyze their statements heavily to see if they hold water, especially if it contradicts something they’ve said in the past. I said it was really difficult to discern fact and fiction with them, but it’s not impossible. When you’ve exhausted every other option with these ‘insiders’ the only thing you can do is wait and see if they’re right or wrong.

It’s been my experience (and this is my personal opinion right now) that it’s best to just ignore these people altogether. They never seem like they have good intentions with their info sharing, no matter if their information is accurate or not. They always seem like they want to make people in the fandom angry or sad with their ‘inside scoops’ then eat up all the special attention they get as a rare person ‘on the inside’ that will actually talk with the masses about the subject. Nothing good tends to come out of hanging on the words of these ‘insiders.’

#10 – Avoid Confirmation Bias

For every ‘news’ source that claims something negative about Daredevil’s situation, there’s another that claims something positive. We, as fans of the show, want to believe the more positive stories that are released while also wanting to combat against the more negatively slanted pieces.

While this is entirely understandable, it’s also very biased. It’s great to have hope and not let the negativity get to you, but allowing yourself to more easily fall prey to positive rumors may set you up for a fall. It’s difficult, but you have to take the blinders off.

Staying objective is important in both ensuring that you get the most valid facts and keeping your emotional roller coaster from going off the rails. Even among less than positive news alerts, we have had many nuggets of actual validated hope spring up consistently, and there’s a good chance we’ll get more down the road, so don’t get discouraged if you find some positive rumors turn out to be just that – rumors.

--------------------------

As a final note, remember that the community is always here for you to both discuss any ‘news’ that comes up, dig out the real facts, and help get you through any struggles you might be having with campaigning. We’ve taken our share of hits, but like Daredevil, we keep getting back up. #SaveDaredevil has already made it nearly halfway through the two year wait with tons of support, positivity and legitimate good news. Together, we can take on the second half even stronger than before.

We can #SaveDaredevil. We’re #NotGivingUp.

[geminijackdaw]

Fanfic Author Asks

Tagged by @bereft-of-frogs​! 

I... have a really hard time being positive about my own writing, but I tried OTL 

Author Name: I’m KiwiMeringue pretty much everywhere! I might change it to this one sometime? But I’ve changed it before and I don’t want to keep like, switching all the time OTL I should probably just have called it like KiwiWrites or something, but the thing about this username is I just thought it was cute and unintentionally led a bunch of people to assume I was from New Zealand which is patently false advertising and very disappointing when it turns out I’m Canadian xD; 

Fandoms you Write for: I’ve got stories published for the MCU, and Naruto!  Uhhh I’m blanking on things I’m famiiliar enough with to write for but there are a bunch? Critical role, the adventure zone, Good omens, netflix she-ra., maybe? Homestuck, but more @mr-alice and I’s fantrolls and kids, who still have a huge place in my heart, more than canon.  

Where you post: I’m kiwimeringue on AO3 and FF.net, and then any like small prompt fills I’d probably leave here, 

Most Popular One-shot: Hands down, it’s Therapy Dog.  In which a young Hatake Kakashi deals with grief, survivor’s guilt, or PTSD by acquiring an irresponsible number of dogs. (Disclaimer: this does not work irl if you’re not a magic dog whisperer with a large property out of town) 

Favourite Story You Wrote:  This is as far as I got and this has been sitting in my drafts for days because I really, really struggle with this. I have a hard time being proud of anything I write. I guess it’s Therapy dog, becuase it’s definitely the one that’s resonated best with people, and probably my best example of “Look, I wrote a fanfic!” without having to qualify it with a bunch of asterisks. 

I have given myself a self-imposed deadline of from October 1st to halloween to finish a prompt that I got from @portraitoftheoddity​ in her discord server, (it’s not SUPER spooky, but it’s tenuously thematically appropriate enough that I’m making it my project for the month xD) if I can pull this off, it will be this one. It should be fun. 

Story You Were Nervous to Post: ALL OF THEM. Time I had some Time Alone (TIHSTA) is like a self-indulgent au of a self indulgent au, and I;m amazed anyone enjoyed it xD It got more of a response that Undying Fidelity (UF), the fic from which is is derived, did, for a while, which surprised me. I sort of what to qualify that I started this before I found the incredible corner of the MCU writer’s fandom that I currently frequent, so uh... this is very much Disney Grandmaster. This is Jeff Goldblum in space. Which is what I’m comfortable writing, but feels really pale and inconsequential in contrast to the horrifically vivid and rich dark carnival of twisted Grandmaster fan content that exists, like welcome to fucking weenie hut Jr’s, population: me. 

How Do You Pick Your Titles: With great difficulty and much waffling! Kintsugi is named for thematic relevance that... I haven’t actually gotten to yet but it’s about to become stupid literal anyone who read version 1.0 knows how I mean this. But the idea of things history, and damage being inextricably linked to them, but that the thing can go on anyway, changed but not ruined, there’s recurring imagery and points of fault lines, places where things have been weakened, but that these are important and necessary. 

I don’t feel like I have to explain Therapy Dog xD it’s about coping with grief... with dogs. 

Undying Fidelity is like, painfully obvious, but it’s what I had started calling it, and it just. stuck. Obviously from Loki’s like... second last line in IW, and Sigyn’s title in the Marvel Comics. I’m kind of wishing I’d chosen something else, because there are definitely other fics with the same title, and it’s the name of a song from the IW soundtrack that is... less than fun. For obvious reason. I mean it’s perfect for what it was used for, but it’s not a “ahhh gonna pop this one on for a listen” kind of piece. I still can’t think of anything better, though we’re kind of in a weird place because I don’t quite have all the cards on the table, yet. On Loki’s end though,I’m hoping that I’ve sufficiently established this like... tenuous vestigial little flicker of affection that he’s been able to more or less ignore, but that simply would not go out, despite how much easier that would have been, that’s been given a little room to breathe now. (I could definitely go on trying to justify this for paragraphs, so I’ll stop now xD). Thematic chapter naming is another thing I love to inflict on myself and I always regret it, though I love it so much when other people do it, ahhh. UF’s chapters are all named after cards of the Major Arcana in the Tarot. I’m going to get to one eventually and you’re all going to see why I did this, and you’re all going to hate me and I deserve it xD 

Time I Had Some Time Alone is the thing that’s repeated at the end of REM’s :”It’s the end of the world as we know it” and does sort of describe our reluctant hero’s state at the beginning xD Thriving in his completely self centered backstabbing Littlefinger party hellscape. (I went off on a huge tangent here that I have removed, I may make it its own post). Anyway, more thematic chapter naming, everything’s based on some apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic story. So 21 Days later (since for Loki it felt like three weeks) instead of 28, and chapter two is now titled “beyond thunderdome” because of course it is. (it was “the man come around” for like, THE ARRIVAL OF DEATH  but that uh... that’s going to be a later chapter now). 

Fic-in-planning stages will be called some variant of “Again, from the Top”? Take it from the top? ugh I’m trying to evoke like... redoing a scene. 

There was also Errant, my NaNoWriMo story from like 2012 or something? xD It was about a bunch of idiots that were basically an RPG party in a shitty High fantasy bullshit setting. So like, as in, “a knight errant” wandering in search of adventure, but also in the sense of like like... they’re a bunch of dumbasses making mistakes. 

Do you Outline: Yes! I definitely need to be more organized about it because my outlines are like these stupid irreverent event sequences that involve me remembering nuance way too well. Like for Kintsugi especially I’m scared I’ll have forgotten important minutia that I didn’t bother including becauyse oh pfft, of course I’ll remember that. And then I ...dont. My initial outlines for UF were an excel spreadsheet with scenes in various tiem periods that I dragged and dropped all over the place xD It was SUPPOSED to be thematically relevant paired scenes, with one part of each chapter being zset in the past and one half on the statesman and it just... did not work out that way. 

How Many of Your Stories are complete: One! And it’s the one-shot! FML!

In-Progress:  Undying Fidelity: Currently working on chapter 10 out of 22 TIHSTA: 2 out of... probably 4+ epilogue? Kintsugi: 13/Mayyybe like 30 something?

Coming Soon: From the Top is in its planning stages~! 

Do You Accept Prompts: Absolutely! I can’t guarantee that a prompt is going to like... spark writing? in me? But I’m always open to the idea. And that doesn’t mean that an idea is bad or anything! Just like, can I, personally, take this idea and run with it somewhere. 

Upcoming Story You’re the Most Excited For: Probably from the top, though I am two chapters out from part of of UF I am reeeeeally looking forward to writing :D 

Tag Five Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions: I don’t know who’s been tagged already, I’m so bad at this, so uhh~ If you have been already, or if you just don’t feel like it, please disregard this! And if I don’t tag you but you feel like it, go for it!  @teleris-night @malicemanaged @cosmicmewtwo @not-so-terrible and @ramblingredrose 

[p-and-p-admin]

Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group.  (sharing here Admin approved)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello beatlechicksteph and welcome to Behind the Quill, thank-you for letting us get to know you a little better.

Many of our members will know your story “Fallen from the future”.

We’re grateful you can spend some time with us today.

Okay, so let's jump into it!

What’s the story behind your pen name?

My favourite band is The Beatles, I’m a chick, and my name is Steph. That’s basically it. I just shoved all those things together. I needed a name for AOL Instant Messenger (yes, I’m old) and when I started writing fanfiction, I just used the same screen name for my pen name.

Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most?

It’s a total cliche, but Hermione

Do you have a favourite genre to read? (not in fic, just in general)

I love Romance novels. They always have a happy ending.

Do you have a favourite “classic” novel?

Jane Eyre. Hands down.

At what age did you start writing?

YOUNG. I have always dreamed of being a writer, so I started writing stories from a very young age. I want to say around 8 or 9

How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I was REALLY into Roswell in High School, and that’s when I discovered fanfiction was a thing. And then my friend and I just started writing what we wanted to happen in Buffy. In college, I decided to write a Happy Days fanfiction, and that’s the first I ever published.

What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works?

I’m a huge sucker for time travel where Hermione goes back and then returns to her time and the man has waited for her. And they have a happily ever after. Such. A. Sucker. And if you’ve read “Fallen From the Future,” I have obviously used that theme.

What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter?

Supernatural and Marvel

If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? Do you have a favourite piece of fanon?

One change? One change only? I would have Severus not get killed by that bloody snake. My favourite piece of fanon is that Hermione uses her magic bag and helps Severus live.

Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet?

I prefer to listen to music. Peter Hollens is a favourite right now. And then when I’m writing a Supernatural crossover, I have a specific playlist for that to get me in The Winchesters’ heads

What are your favourite fanfictions of all time?

Post Tenebras Lux and Chasing the Sun by Loten

Are you a plotter or a pantser? How does that affect your writing process?

I’m a complete pantser. It makes my writing process a little bit slower.

What is your writing genre of choice?

Romance. I write it in fanfic and I write it in my original stuff

Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why?

It’s actually my Peter Parker/Hermione crossover one shot, Time and Space. I was able to convey everything into it that I wanted to in such a short amount of space. I got the characterizations just right, and I made people cry in the end LOL

Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote? What did you learn from writing it?

It is the only fanfic that has unfolded EXACTLY how I imagined it. EXACTLY. I learned that I can write a satisfying love story in less than 6k words and still be able to break people’s hearts in the process.

How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write?

It is not a personal story. That’s probably what made it SO easy to write. I wrote it in just a couple hours during one of my writing sessions with my writing group. I swear the room we write in is magic.

What books or authors have influenced you? How do you think that shows in your writing?

Probably JR Ward and her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. If anything it’ll show in conflicts I create for the couples and in the smut, I write.

Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction?

Yes. And they vote for me when I get nominated for awards in the fandom. I write with a group every Thursday so I bounce a lot of ideas off of them since they’re familiar with the fandoms I write for.

How true for you is the notion of “writing for yourself”?

Very true. I love Dean Winchester/Hermione. They are basically my favourite ship, but there are just not enough stories out there. So I have been writing the stories I want to read. Same with my Marvel crossovers.

How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media?

I don’t really interact with them. I’m super busy. I push out the story and then I basically move on. Or I update a fic and move on. I’m a mom, and that keeps me crazy busy, so I don’t respond to reviews unless they ask a specific question or raise a specific concern. Sometimes I’ll engage in a facebook group, but I’m really not on social media a whole lot anymore. I’m too busy. It probably makes me a bad author, but I barely have time to write and update my fics.

What would you most like your readers to take away with them when they've finished your stories?

I want them to feel like they haven’t wasted their time. I want them to feel like they’ve read a complete story. And most of the time, I want them to feel happy. 90% of the time I have my fics end on a happy note. Readers who have read “No Hero” and “Time and Space” will likely disagree with this, and I apologize, blame Marvel and Infinity War.

What is the best advice you’ve received about writing

Ignore what people say, and just write what you love.

What do you do when you hit writer’s block?

I read.

Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing?

Motherhood. People will notice I end most of my multi-chapter fics with Hermione becoming a mother.

Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser? 

I am currently 2 chapters into a new Supernatural/Harry Potter crossover, “Stuck Inside My Head.” It’s a Dean/Hermione pairing. Here is the summary: Dean is running out of time to get Michael out of his head, and Sam and Cas are getting desperate. When Rowena comes to them with stories of a natural born witch with mind-healing capabilities, the trio hits the road and travels to Boston. Can this woman help them, or will Dean need to spend eternity on the bottom of the ocean?

Any words of encouragement to other writers?

Just keep writing. Write. Write. Write. Get your words on the paper, because you can’t edit a blank page.

Thanks so much for chatting with us beatlechicksteph.

[kathillards]

rangerstop day one

ALSO KNOWN AS: BITCH EVERY POWER RANGER REMEMBERED US FROM MORPHICON (except selwyn. but hes still valid.)

so we avoided the megaforce rangers all day bc we wanted to surprise them at our photo op so for most of the con we wandered around looking at art and toys and bought so much shit oh my god there are so many talented artists here one lady was selling POTTED CLAY DOLLS and i almost bought a kat doll but. restraint. because i spent $80 at ceevee’s table and i still want more from him (he also remembered me from morphicon I LOVE POWER RANGERS YOU GUYS. I LOVE POWER RANGERS SO MUCH. I DONT HAVE ANY MORE ROOM ON MY WALL FOR THESE PRINTS BUT IM GONNA FUCKING MAKE ROOM.)

FIRST UP mike ginn because i got ceevee’s huge rpm gold and silver prints to get signed by them and the minute i got up to his table he was like “oh hi didn’t i see you at morphicon” and i was like YES and he was like “and weren’t there a bunch of you” and i was like YEAH LOOK ITS MY FRIENDS and he was like “and one of them was like super shy” because at pmc abbey had told him that our friend tabby loved him but was shy so he called her “shy tabby” and we all pointed at tabby who was trying to hide from him and we were all laughing and he just pointed at her for a minute to tease her and then he walked around his table and got behind her and pretended he was gonna jump at her it was so FUNNY AND CUTE HE LOVES HER HES THE CUTEST and he wanted us all to be in the pic i bought and i mean who am i to say no to mike ginn, the greatest gold ranger of all time

SECOND well li ming was busy (bc she’s a LEGENDARY RANGER BITCH WE STAN THE QUEEN OF RPM) so we turned around and jessica rey was there and SHE WAS LIKE “DIDNT I MEET YOU GUYS AT MORPHICON” because we talked to her for like literally 20 minutes at pmc just shittalking jdf and we were like HELL YEAH ugh she’s the cutest and we again talked to her for like 20 minutes (no shittalking this time) about what we loved about wild force and she was telling us about the alyssa’s father episode bc duh thats our fave and how the actor who played her father was like a famous actor but she knew him bc he was the real dad of one of the PAs and she didnt know he was famous and it was so cute shes so cute and tabby bought a white tiger hat from her (and a bunch of other things BUT THE HATS WERE HAND-CROCHETED THEYRE SO CUTE) and she was telling us just like. shit that happened in her day. and we LOVE her shes so great. AND THEN while we were talking to jessica, ann marie crouch came back bc they’re sharing a booth!! and she was dressed in her princess shayla outfit!! so kat and ben started talking to her god shes so nice and beautiful and she was selling little christmas ornaments of her flowers from her headband they’re so pretty and i told her “wild force rangers are ON POINT with the merch bc everyone else just has headshots” and she was like omg did you hear that w/ her handler and they high-fived (bc her handler made the ornaments) AND THEYRE SO CUTE. JESSICA TOLD US TO COME BACK SO WE WILL bc we have more things to get signed by them. she was also wearing a white tiger wild force hoodie she looked so cute.

THIRD then li ming was free and ofc i had to get her to sign my rpm silver print and shes SO NICE AND PRETTY AND she asked us what the japanese on the print said and we were like “it says you’re the best rpm ranger” and that gem’s said “my sister is cooler than me” and she laughed and we told her how much we loved her in the anniversary and how she was the strongest and most powerful rpm ranger and how she was the REAL LEADER gosh i love her and then we took my photo and SHE LET ME HOLD HER RPM TOY GUN THING i love herrr

FOURTH oh god okay so abbey couldnt be here but we wanted to get her shit so we went to sean cw johnson’s table bc duh and sapphire steph (of sapphire management, she handles like. a lot of rangers. SHES SO COOL) was handling him and we were talking to her and kat facetimed abbey to show her all of sean’s merch and he had these little coins that we got for abbey and asked if he could sign them and we were just talking to steph i dont even know about what i love her and abbey was on the phone and we were like telling them that she loves lightspeed thats why we’re facetiming and SEAN ASKED TO FACETIME HER AND SAY HI bc she was right there and also i showed him  and steph abbey’s little carter art of “get in losers we’re going demon hunting” and they both LOVED IT and then he was like “wait ive seen this art before” and i was like “yeah bc you fucking replied to my tweet about how dino charge is better than lightspeed” and he was like “oh yes i do remember that you said it was worse than watching paint dry and you wanted to gouge your eyes out with a spoon” and i was like I DIDNT SAY THAT I WASNT THAT MEAN (i was pretty mean, im so sorry sean i love you) im not gonna link the tweet bc I CANT BELIEVE HE FUCKING REPLIED TO IT AND REMEMBERED bc he was like “i’m not even on social media” and i was like “well you popped up in my notifs soooo” and he was like “no i respect your opinion even if you’re wrong” lmao and he asked what i didnt like about it and obviously i couldnt say “too many white people” to his face so i said i watched 20 episodes it was boring and we HATED captain mitchell bc we hate shitty mentors and we only love rangers and he was like “okay that’s fair” and i was like “and i didnt like that carter had this whole hero worship thing of captain mitchell when he was a shitty dad and like... is this your king???” (i literally said that why am i like this) and he was like “oh well he was kind of my king” and steph was cracking up at the black panther reference she was like “you guys are a hoot” oh and then we got him to do a video shout out where he says abbeys fave line “freeze missiles? sounds cool” and we were like DO IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT, YOURE AN ACTOR so he pretended to get in character and it was so cute and he told me also “i respect that you’re not fake and you stand by your opinions” and i was like ya cuz lightspeed sucks (no i didnt say that) cuz he was like “some people will be like ‘time force is overrated’ and then go up to michael copon (his booth was behind us) and be like ‘oh i’m a huge fan’” and we were like oh we’d never do that and he loved us even though i was so mean to him IM SORRY SEAN I WILL BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU TOMORROW as we were leaving he said to me “tomorrow you can be fake its fine” hes literally like. so cool. and also handsome. but lightspeed is still boring im sorry.

FIFTH we were wandering around again looking at toys and shit and tabby and ben wanted dino bite cafe shirts so we went to marvels by mossers which was right next to brennan and the sudarso brothers and we started talking to the guy there (aiden, not mosser) about, you know, the stuff they were selling and whatnot he’s so cool like they’re all so cool we talked for ages?? bc tabby had to go to the atm to get money and she took forever so we were just standing around saving her spot in line and aiden asked us like how we became friends when we’re all from different states and we told him we met online bc we love power rangers and we met up at morphicon and loved it so much we came to rangerstop and he was like oh thats so cool (this will be important later ok) anyway im just saying WE HAVE SO MUCH FUN JUST TALKING TO PEOPLE LIKE JUST. JUST TALK TO THEM. EVEN IF THEY’RE NOT POWER RANGERS. like this guy wasnt even a pr fan but he was so chill anyway i love everyone in this bar.

then we went out to eat but got distracted by gazbot’s booth of his HELLA COOL PRINTS and we bought abbey a balance print and an alpha print and kat bought all the six megaforce rangers and tbh tomorrow im gonna go back and get ninja steel blue BECAUSE while this was happening peter texted me “saw you and said hi but you seemed busy haha” becAUSE i did not stop to say hi to him (because he had a line!) while we were by marvels for mossers anyway i felt bad but we were hungry so went out to the food trucks and we saw two ranger actors whom we will not name come out to smoke together which was HILARIOUS (we love them anyway its ok) and THEN

SIXTH we came back inside bc i wanted brennan to sign my dino charge red print that i got from ceevee (also a shoutout to his handler who is really cool and talked to us and just. guys. i love everyone. i love EVERYONE.) and hes sooooo pretty god and his handwriting is so cute it looks like a child bc he’s left-handed and i asked him why the other dino charge rangers werent there and he was like “well davi’s filming and michael and camille dont really do cons” lmao and i told him i went to school w/ michael and camille and he was like “oh cool my sister-in-law went to that school” when i told him what university it was anyway hes just so pretty. im blanking on most of our conversation. then ben talked to him bc they’re both left-handed and reminded him that he instagrammed ben’s art and they message on insta and it was very cute #bennan for life bitches he also signed ben’s dino charge hat

SEVENTH so you know yoshi and peter are right next to brennan so i was with taylor (@ crossbuild on twitter, rocking the ryuga banjou cosplay) and she wanted to meet the sudarsos so we went over to say hi and peter came over and hugged me and we talked and he was like “since i dyed my hair blonde ive gotten like three more roles” and i was like “blonde privilege” (he looked. surprisingly good with it.) and he was telling me that he and yoshi are playing monkey demigod brothers?? or something and that’s why they both dyed their hair blonde and we also talked about kamen rider (bc taylor mentioned it) and he said he wants to watch wizard and i was like YES WATCH WIZARD ITS MY FAVE and he was like “everyone says bad things about it!” and i was like FUCK THEM JUST BECAUSE ITS SLOW-PACED and he was like “no you know i love slow pace” and i was like yes its very episodic but its SO GOOD THE CHARACTERS ARE SO GOOD they just had an issue w/ the lead actress being an idol and he was like “oh well so is lupinyellow” and i was like DO YOU ACTUALLY WATCH LUPATO bc he does keep up w/ sentai but hes always behind and he was like “dont spoil me im three eps behind” and i was like “well thats pretty good for you and also nothing happens in lupato” and he was so offended on its behalf and i was like “name one thing thats happened peter” and he was like “uh gold showed up???” and i was like “that happens every season” but then i was like “dont get me wrong i love lupato its my fave show of all time” (because it absolutely fucking is) and he was like “i thought so i was so confused” lmao (bc like. im always tweeting about how much i love lupato.) anyway yeah i asked him which kamen riders he’d watched and he was like “you know this pearl” which i did i just enjoy pretending i dont know anything about him. watch wizard y’all. and meanwhile, while i was talking to peter, ben and the others were meeting yoshi and ben was getting his dino charge dvd signed and he gave yoshi his art of koda WHICH YOSHI LOVED and ben was gonna pay $30 for the autograph but yoshi was like “no take it back” and he was like “you’re not gonna sell th dvd right” and ben was like “no i’m keeping it forever” and he was like “ya then you’re not paying for it” bc he LOVED THE ART AND HE LOVES BEN AND US hes so handsome irl like fuck man. who allowed dino charge rangers to exist in the mortal realm. he also gave me and ben cheetos later (he offered them to everyone, we were the only ones who accepted. i love hot cheetos.) 

EIGHTH we went to the alphas to get the alpha print signed for abbey and first of all, david fielding’s (zordon) handler was there (david wasnt there) and we were talknig to him and he was like oh im a HUGE power rangers fan i have boxes in my basement full of old power rangers toys and we were like “oh big mood” he was cool too man everyone is so cool i just love. to talk to them. and kat was getting the alpha print signed by romy and she was SO SWEET and we told her how much abbey loved alpha and went to search her art on twitter to show her and she LOVED ALL OF IT she was so sweet her handler was so sweet too and then we went to peta’s booth AND SHE HAD ALPHA GAY PRIDE SHIRTS AND STICKERS so we’re gonna buy those for abbey tomorrow

after that we were hanging around the nearby toy booth avoiding the megaforce rangers who were RIGHT next to the alphas (all together bc they’re codependent losers and we love them) and AIDEN FROM MARVELS BY MOSSER CAME OVER WITH A DINO CHARGE IRON-ON PATCH AND JUST SHOVED IT IN BENS HAND AND SAID “i want you to have this for free because i loved talking to you guys and you deserve it and i love when people meet like you guys did” bc of our little story of how we became online friends and met up and love each other and LIKE. BEN WAS ABOUT TO CRY. I LOVE US AND EVERYONE AT THIS CON. 

NINTH so we went back across the room to the sudarsos bc ben wanted to give peter his preston and marv art so i was like “we have something for you” and shoved ben at him and he LOVED THE ART (of course bc ben’s art is amazing) and was like “i’ve seen this on twitter dont i follow you” and ben was like noo you dont and i was like “no, i just retweet ben all the time so hes on your timeline anyway” AND THEN HE PULLED OUT HIS PHONE AND FOLLOWED BEN IN FRONT OF US and then also later he took a SELFIE w/ the three pieces ben gave him and tweeted about finally getting to meet this amazing artist and @-ed ben and it currently has like 100 likes so ya ben’s famous now go follow him @brodyromero 

AND THEN FOR THE MAIN EVENT THE MEGAFORCE PHOTO OP THAT WE BOUGHT AND WANTED TO SURPRISE THEM TONIGHT AND we also went to walmart earlier and got rainbow cupcakes for them and a candle that says 5 to celebrate their 5th anniversary bc we are that extra. side note, there was an ADORABLE little boy in line behind us in a pink mmpr diamonds t-shirt and he was freaking out at everyone and saw a blue ninja steel cosplayer and went OH MY GOD ITS NINJA STEEL BLUE and he was the only valid fan at the entire con and we let him cut in front of us (well we let everyone cut bc we wanted to be the last people in bc we are dramatique)

TENTH THE MEGAFORCE RANGERS so like the whole day we’ve been stressing “what if they dont remember us what if they dont care what if they dont” and then we entered and the literal second they saw us it was like. azim’s WHOLE FACE LIT UP AND HE WENT “OH MY GOD YOU GUYS CAME ITS MY GIRLS” (cuz remember we’re #azimsangels as per his hashtag) and HUGGED US ALL IMMEDIATELY oh hes such a good hugger and they saw our cupcakes and we were like “its for you for your fifth anniversary!” and they were so happy and surprised and ciara was like so jumpy and she like hugged us all SO BIG SHES SO CUUUUUTE they are all so fucking cute cameron remembered us too and came to give us hugs and kat got pity hugs from christina and john mark, the dignified ones (they were very nice, its just everyone else was clearly high and super jumpy and SO HAPPY TO SEE US) and andrew was just there looking gorgeous. sorry i cant say anything about him bc if u look into his eyes u black out and that happens to all of us. idk if he said anything. hes too pretty to exist. and we were like WE CAME TO FLORIDA TO SEE YOU GUYS because we loved meeting you at morphicon so much (which is TRUE we planned this all so last-minute bc we were like. fuck it lets go to fucking rangerstop we wanna see the megacast again.) and god they were so HAPPY. AZIM WAS SO HAPPY. CAMERON HUGGED ME SO TIIIIGHT. azim like crushed us all in a group hug the second he saw us. and then we took the photo and ciara literally just JUMPED into ben and kat and tabby’s laps bc they were sitting on the chairs and i got in the back in the middle of ALL FOUR BOYS like oh my god i cant even look at myself in the picture we got bc i’m surrounded by the literal hottest guys in the world like what the fuck. andrew gray TOUCHED ME. like holy fuck. and christina posed w/ the cupcakes and cameron held the 5 candle and was like “COME ON JOHN LETS BLOW IT OUT” and that was their pose and the rest of us were just cheesin and god its so cuuute im gonna make them all autograph it tomorrow and i also got megaforce red and silver prints from ceevee to get andrew and cameron to sign. and then after the pic christina tried to give us back the cupcakes and we were like NO THEY’RE FOR YOU THEY’RE YOUR BIRTHDAY GIFT and cameron literally started jumping up and down like a little kid he was like “WE GET CUPCAKES” and i was standing next to him so i said “we got rainbow ones so everyone was kind of represented except you sorry” and he looked at me and was like “yeah because nobody cares about silver” and i was like nooo its bc its hard to put silver on frosting and he was like yeah thats true AND THEN as we were leaving and they were like thank you for the cupcakes!! he was like “are there drugs in them” and kat was like “no” and tabby was like “yes” and i said “next time, for your 10 year anniversary” and andrew was like “ten years!” all chill like. i love him. king of red rangers. cameron said “love youuuu” to us as we left. i would quite literally die for all of them.

afterwards we were waiting around to get our reprints and azim came out and stopped to talk to us and we were like “where the fuck is your girlfriend we only came to see her” and he told us she’s flying to london :( and then he was like “are you guys coming tomorrow come hang out at our booths” (we were like “we have shit for you to sign we’re not just gonna loiter” and he was like “no just come hang out”) and he said “i wanna tell you guys the most heartwarming story that’s happened at rangerstop, a four year saga” so he like. REALLY wants us to come back tomorrow like what a cliffhanger that was!!

we also saw catherine and li ming bc the 25th anniversary photo op was right after us they’re so pretty!! im gonna visit catherine tomorrow and get my PINK RANGER W/ DRAGON SHIELD PRINT SIGNED BY HER ugh ceevee’s art is literally so amazing bitch. fuck. and then steve was also there and tabby was like “we love you steve!” (she said that for every actor that passed us but nobody heard her EXCEPT STEVE) and he stopped and turned back and was like HEY GUYS, love him. AND THEN SELWYN ALSO SHOWED UP FOR THE PHOTO OP and then on our way out of the photo op hallway he was ahead of us getting water in the hotel lobby so we stopped and said hi and introduced ourselves and i was like “we met you at morphicon” and he was like hmm (he was the only one who didnt rmr us at all clearly BUT HES STILL SO VALID. I LOVE YOU SELWYN.) and he was like “why don’t you guys get a picture with me” and we were like “well we’ll be here tomorrow to see you” and he was like “no we gotta do it right now” so he and tabby took a selfie LITERALLY THE CUTEST. HES SO HANDSOME. I LOVE POWER RANGERS.

also psycho red is hot

[nightwingism]

NCBD 06.12.2019

So I went to bed at like 6am, to wake up at 9, to go to full day of work. Was finally able to sit down and read the words of spandex wearing weirdos. Woot! Today was a big day in terms of my pull list. Glad I got paid last Friday. Otherwise, I definitely would have missed out on a few of these hits. I restarted a few comics that I stopped picking up, so I’m definitely behind on some of these series. But hey, that’s always a thing when it comes to comics.

The Amazing Spider-Man #23 - So as I said last week, I love spidey. One of my favorites. And honestly, this issue was just oh so good. The epilogue to Hunted, and it went out with a bang. I don’t like a lot of what Nick Spencer has done in the past, but he’s definitely doing Spidey justice. He had that wonderful series about The Superior Foes of Spider-Man a couple years back, and I think Spencer just works within the frames of Spider-Man mythos. End of this had two huge set ups for later stories, and I’m excited to see where they go.

The Batman who Laughs #6 - I initially was very hesitant to pic up this series. I didn’t really care about that version of Batman and his involved throughout Metal. So a whole series dedicated to him being the main antagonist really didn’t tickle my fancy. But when I realized James Gordon Jr was in this series, I instantly picked it up. It’s a good story, and I’m glad it’s been pushed to be 7 issues long instead of 6. Gives it more time to breath and tell the story it needs to tell. Though it kind of puts itself into a never ending paradox of being the person who made you - you. But whatever. Comics man. 

Detective Comics #1005 - As a man with simple taste, just having Tomasi and Walker on this series makes it good in my book. The villain was interesting - though I’m tired of it being a “child of x” type. But I liked her, and I’m glad her ending was inadvertently similar to that of the Joker’s. Kind of how like, you know they’ll come back somehow someway. It’s groovy man.

Event Leviathan #1 - Brian Michael Bendis’ first big crossover event at DC and I honestly think this first issue is just fantastic. It’s very BMB’s writing of dialogue on top of dialogue and witty remarks, but for the content of the comic, I think it works fairly well. The art by Alex Maleev is just. Man. If he could do more monthly comics, I’d pick them all up. Ever since his run on Daredevil, I’ve thought the world of him. Maleev, Lark and Jock all have this similar style of a sketchy realism that I just gravitate towards. If the story fails, the art really is able to pick it up in this. Team detective, Go.

The Flash #72 - Have I ever talked about the Flash before? Like Barry Allen? I’ve dipped in and out of The Flash throughout rebirth, only dropping maybe twice for some storylines I really didn’t care about, only to come back and resume the reading order. Year One was definitely a story arc I wasn’t going to miss. And I’m really glad I haven’t missed it, because this story is just so lovely. Everything I like about the Flash, wrapped up into a story about Barry and his love for Iris - in a way. Chapter 3 is great, and I just want these issues to come out FASTER. Get it? Because, Speed. Fast. Hah. I’ll see myself out.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7 - Tom Taylor man. Fuck. FNSM is a series that I have been telling EVERYONE to pick up. And I mean everyone. This is Spider-Man in his best environment with stories that really help demonstrate why we all love Spider-Man, while also picking his brain apart and telling us things we may not have considered. I love it. I would go on for hours about how much I love THIS spidey, but I won't. If you would like to know, just message. I’ll happily write a dissertation about it for you.

Hawkman #13 - I read the entire first arc of this series, and then had to drop it due to funds. I’m so happy I’m finally able to pick it back up and slowly get back to what I was missing. Conrad is now in interiors instead of Hitch, and I’m completely okay with that. Conrad had a great couple issues in Nightwing, and he’s definitely able to capture movement through the characters. This is a stand alone issue - thankfully - so I wasn’t missing anything. It’s a cute story, kind of romeo and juliet at war type.

The Immortal Hulk #19 - Just like Hawkman, Immortal Hulk is a great series I was forced to drop. But I was gone for much longer on this title, and I missed a lot. So there’s a lot of things I was super confused on. But that’s fine, it’s comics. I filled in the blanks with my own ideas and made it make sense. This is the Hulk I wish was in the MCU, a kind of horror villain who does good. Al Ewing and Joe Bennett does the hulk justice, and I’m just thrilled to be loving the Hulk. Haven’t done that since reruns of the hulk animated series.

Marvelous X-Men #5 - remember last week when I picked up the previous issue and I was super confused and didn’t know anything and all that jazz. Yeah well I picked up the NEXT issue and man. I’m still lost and I refused to try and do anything about it because it’s actually enjoyable at this point. This issue kind of told me everything I needed to know though, and I was able to fill in the blanks. Don’t know how they’re gonna get out of this. No that's a lie, Nate is going to fix it. I could of told you that from issue 1 if I read it.

Silver Surfer Black #1 - okay so I 100% picked up this issue due to Donny Cates. He is, at the time of writing this, my favorite writer at Marvel (next to Taylor and Zdarsky) and this story seemed just weird enough to garner my attention. And guess what. This story walked into my classroom, cussed out my professor, grabbed me by the hair, dragged me outside as I kicked and screamed, and then forced me to watch two birds fly around. It was beautiful and cathartic. This story isn’t cathartic, but the art is astounding, and the story is eccentric in the best way possible.

Spider-Man Life Story #4 (The 90s) - Remember last paragraph where I said Zdarsky was one of my favorite writers at Marvel? well he’s the proof in the pudding. This else world title where we see a real-time-aging Spider-Man go throughout life in a kind of “modern-esque” style. And while certain liberties are being taking that I wouldn’t be a fan of in a canon story - I am more than ready to accept this to be an else world for this peter. I’m really easy grader with comics and maybe that’s a vice of mine. Who knows. Oh well. I just read them. Dude I literally read 3 Spider-Man books today. Am I like... a fan?

Superman #12 - It’s Superman dawg. 

[farouze-blog]

Marvel Vs Dc comics. we all have heard about this argument. This argument has been going on for eons. I wish this type of argument can be sorted out with no stress but no, that is not possible. There is so much feud between the two. Both have been on top of the movie and series industry for a long time and because of that there has been this rivalry ever since then. I am in favor of marvel over dc comics and I am not one of those marvel fanboys that is going to argue blindly.I believe that the marvel universe is trying to take complete control of the filming industry but dc is not allowing that to happen. Although the dc universe don’t have enough great movies to back them up, they have an amazing fanbase and wonderful comics that even marvel is trying hard to keep up from time to time but I still prefer marvel and I have my points.

Marvel release more movies than dc. Yes, that is a definitely true and that actually boost Marvel in its favor. We can’t say that having more movies necessarily means marvel is better but it helps they’re case, like 3 out 5 marvel movies in a year make big hits in the filming industry compared to dc releasing 3 movies and those 3 movies only  1 is likely to be a big hit. Now the reason being that is simple, marvel have the ability to draw the audience with their movies. Most likely they use 2 of their movies as decoys for the main blockbuster movie but it hardly shows but if you look at dc its completely different and pretty sure thats where they are lacking. Sometimes quantity and do justice over quality but marvel have both in that regard. Dc is lacking in mainly quantity.

Another reason I would like to add is marvel is lighter than dc and what I mean by that for those of you who don’t understand is basically marvel can be enjoyed and loved by everyone without feeling age restricted whatsoever. Dc is known for their dark background and yes why its legit low-key cool and all not everyone fully and truly understands that most people would say marvel is for kids while dc is for men, why that is completely wrong considering there is also a lot of bloodshed and darkness in marvel. Its how marvel took less of that ‘darkness’ and used other things for there story. If your a die-hard marvel fan you would know that marvel studios went through a complete make-over over the past 10 years.

Its more fun and enjoyable and extremely funny. Thats the difference.

Dc more or less tried mainly to use that darkness and it backfired its only now in recent times that dc is goin with a marvel approach where the character itself is not completely dark but also has a humor side. I guess you could say they are only now learning what to do in the filming industry.

One more thing I would like to point to is marvel is better in not also making films than dc but also series and believe me I am definitely right. Dc what they really have going for them is not there movies really its they have decent and commendable tv shows. I know am a marvel fan but currently thats what I have to say about the dc comics but still you cant compare to marvel series. Although, the marvel series themselves aren’t really all that good its still better that half of the dc series currently and its obvious that the dc comics try to put in more effort towards that perspective to help boost their views but its still lacking. Marvel on the other hand is rather doin the opposite and its actually working out for them. I really don’t now how that is possibly but the numbers and facts don’t lie on how many people stream marvel tv shows compared to dc comics.

Now am pretty sure that after reading those points and facts yourself you would also consider thinking is there really anything dc have done that Marvel haven’t already done.

Marvel have done a lot of astonishing things over the past few years and this year also like having made the most expensive superhero movie ever and also got one of their movies known as The blank panther the richest superhero movie ever. Over a billion dollars was gotten from that movie now that is what you call amazing and over achieving.

But dc comics on the other hand, its hard to actually say. Over the years they have been some fantastic movies from dc but its not as much as marvel. But most dc fanboys would argue that marvel stole some of their characters especially those characters that have now appeared on screen but funny thing is that, it is actually true, same goes for the marvel fanboys, where as dc stole some characters from marvel also and the marvel fanboys are pissed about that.

The thing is Dc comics is actually older than Marvel, some say that dc comics weren’t really dc comics till after the founder Malcom Wheeler-Nicholson died. If you don’t know this fact and you call yourself a dc fanboy I suggest you go brush on the history of dc comics before you try to start an argument. Same goes with the marvel fanboys am sure all you pretty much know about marvel is Stan lee the man who has featured himself in almost all of marvel movies and he is the chairman of marvel. I, a marvel myself would be completely disappointed and dissatisfied considering anyone with internet and a phone can google those facts and easily become a marvel fan. Marvel is five years younger than dc comics that is a fact go look it up if you didn’t know and am pretty sure u didn’t know dc and marvel both share the same trademark for the word ‘super-hero’ and thats actually a huge thing by the way.

There was a point where in the mid 80’s Warner bros considered licensing the publishing rights for dc’s characters to marvel because dc were going broke, marvel passed on that offer. Imagine if that actually marvel accepted that offer I guess you would say there would not actually be a fight between marvel and dc considering the fact that marvel would own dc. Scary thought I know!!.

So, its not that I am being completely biased about the marvel universe being better than dc universe. I too have my share of good memories from dc but they are still lacking and they have a long way to go to catch up to marvel. I still believe dc in the upcoming years will produce some amazing movies and series and am counting on that hopefully marvel might even be scared of them but I doubt that might happen but then again anything is possible. Even the impossible.

[draconicsheart]

I don't mean offence, as i understand completely your anger towards there being no big iris figurine, but i think calling it racism is a massive jump. It's entirely possible that she was 'unpopular', to which the company decided that making a figurine wouldn't give much sales. This doesn't mean they're right, but it's a better explanation than racism. (Also i did read your Tracy counter argument but that figure looked pretty poor quality, reflecting they didn't take Tracy seriously either.

I understand, Nonnie. “Racism” is a scary word. In fact, anything ending in “-ism” is, isn’t it? Because if you acknowledge that something is x-ist, then you have to be introspective and consider why you never thought it was wrong before. You don’t want to be a bad person. I get that. Because I’ve had to question some of my own beliefs, too. But acknowledging racism doesn’t make one a bad person. Even participating in some of the racist things we’re tought doesn’t make you a bad person. But choosing to ignore it or deciding that these things are okay? That absolutely does.

So let me be clear: this is absolutely a matter of race. That Tracey Sketchit image looked low quality? Okay, well... so did the other characters for that line. It’s an old toy. They tend to look that way.

The point is that he was included. Not just as a chibi. But as a full blown figurine, seen as equal to the rest of the main cast.

By contrast, when @thcnderbolt went on an Iris-hunt to see if they could find ANYTHING else... They did. But she looks like crap while the other two look solid. Because yes. They are made by different manufacturers. But they all also have the character and their partner, so either a) they’re intended to be equivalents or b) they weren’t intending to include Iris in the Banpresto line at all, so she got the half-assed short stick. And no matter which way you slice it, the point is clear: Iris is not equal to Ash and Cilan. And the point of my OP? Was that Iris is not equal to the other Pokegirls, either.

And “popularity” is the most flimsy, obnoxious excuse that you hear for not just excluding Iris--but not representing people in general. Two good examples of why this is bullshit:

Remember when Wonder Woman came out? It was given the biggest budget to a female director to date and that was exciting! But it still paled in comparison to how much the Male-lead movies got in return. And this is HUGE because while they were displaying a massive lack of faith in a female-led movie’s ability to sell, they were still willing to give more money to MALE superheroes even though, to quote the linked article:

Despite its strategic positioning in the DC cinematic universe, and positive fan reaction, Wonder Woman is working with not just one of the lowest budgets of Warner Bros’ films, but of any current superhero film.

But it gets worse. Much worse. Let’s travel back in time.

Back in 2005, the Batman franchise itself was not in good shape, having been thrown into whatever carnival pit-of-hell Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin has created. But in a bid to rekindle the franchise, Warner Bros hired the guy who made a weird independent film (Memento) to direct Batman Begins with a budget of $150m.

In 2008, Marvel launched a studio division to try and capitalize on their properties instead of continuing to license their characters for peanuts. It’s hard to imagine now, considering the juggernaut that Marvel has become, but back in the days of the first Iron Man, the studio and the film were considered to be doomed projects. They even had a difficult time finding a director willing to take the job of adapting what was a C-list catalog character into a summer action film for an uncertain studio. Despite all this, Iron Man was produced for $140m.

So to summarize point no. one: if the creators want to market their characters they will do it whether they brought in good cash or not.

But my second example is Big Hero 6. This movie is oft compared to Frozen for how closely they were released. (Because yes, while there were some movies released in between them, these were both the MAJOR RELEASES™ for their year.) We all know Frozen broke major records, so of course there’s going to be a huge jump. However, they were BOTH so well-grossing that even after adjusting for inflation they made it onto Disney’s Top 15 most-grossing movies list with Big Hero 6 landing at the 14th spot (658 Million) and Frozen at number 2 (1.287 Billion).

But look at Frozen Merch and then Look at Big Hero 6 Merch.

If you’re not seeing a pattern here, don’t worry! I gotchu covered. Let’s compare Big Hero 6 Merch to some non-Princess movies that didn’t make the top 15 list:

Alice in Wonderland

Lilo and Stitch (even if it’s mostly Stitch -cough-)

Peter Pan

Get the picture? It doesn’t really matter how much money a movie or character brings in. Because point no. two: if the creators DON’T want to market their characters they will do it whether they brought in good cash or not.

That is why Iris not having products is infuriating. If the Pokémon Company wanted to market her, they would have. Period. Point blank. No if, ands, or buts about it. And Tracey Sketchit is just simple proof that my points hold true.

So don’t downplay this. Japan has just as much history with racism as anywhere else. And it’s our job as fans to call them out on their shit--even when that shit comes from products and media that we love.

[cassatine]

Hi! Can I ask what makes West End Games the "genesis point" of Star Wars old cnaon? Isn't it just the movies?

MY TIME HASCOME. Have a [tl;dr] of my notes on WEG. 

Okay so - are the WEG games the genesis point of the old canon or is it the movies is the kind of question I’m not super interested in, so i’m more going to focus on what makes West End Games key, and the part they played.

Let’s dothe time warp – we’re in the mid-eighties, let’s say 86. Return of the Jedi was released in 83, the movies have been adaptedin as many forms as possible. There’s been children books, storybooks, activitybooks, nonfiction, etc. There’s been magazines and strip comics in newspapersand two trilogies of novels published by Bantam, plus Foster Splinter of theMind’s eye, there’s been Atari games and toys beyond counting. There’s been publishedscreenplays and artbooks, a Guide to the universe compiled by a fan andofficialized, some odds and ends I’m notcounting, and that list may seem long, but it’s ten yearsof content – the rate of release was nothing like today’s or the nineties’. Towrap it up, between 84 and 86, there’d been the Ewoks and Droidstv series, as well as the Ewok movies (I think a lot of kids loved them, but olderfans, not really) but the overall release rhythm was winding down: Kennerstopped producing SW figurines in 85 (they’d start again in 95); in 86 theMarvel run of comics ended (they published two spin-off series til 87, Droidsand Ewoks, tho). Star WarsInsider, still the Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine at that point, would start its runin 87, but it featured little about SW for years - outside of themerchandising pages at least. Fandom was certainly active, but the rate of official content had dwindled next tonothing, and nothing new was on the horizon.

In myperiodization, that’s the end of the First Legends Era, and at this point SWwas basically dying, nevermind the Ewoks and Droids stuff. Again, I don’t meanthe core fandom, but without regular new content the wider audience was justlosing interest.

Somethingchanged that of course, otherwise I wouldn’t be here typing this, and somethingwas West End Games, a small company who, until then, had mostly publishedhistorical and fantasy RPGs. They could buy the license because… well, no onewas interested. Again, Star Wars had stopped being a hot property.

That didn’tlast long, and West End Games kicked off the Second Legends Era, expandingon the universe in a way none of the previous spin-off products had.

Their firstpublication was Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game in October 1987, covering thefirst movie’ events. It was followed a month later by a Sourcebook and until the license changed hands at the end of the nineties, WEG released over ahundred books, sourcebooks and miscellaneous stuff, including the Adventure Journal, which arguably kickedoff the long tradition of SW short stories that other official magazines wouldlater continue. Many of these first short stories were later reprinted, mainlyin the Tales anthologies - and a lot of people were angry when some of the Special Editions changes invalidated bits of these stories (the very first Canonpocalypse). The West EndGames material also started the tradition of in-universe works; most of theirguides and sourcebooks had in-universe passages, but some of the sourcebookswere fully written from an in-universe point of view.

There’s anumber of factors behind the success of the WEG Star Wars line; for thecore fandom, it came at a time when there was very little new content: WEG’s shortfictions were the only new fictional content (bar Ewoks/Droids stuff) from 86to 91, and with the Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine, WEG was basically the only regularsource of content. It was also an encyclopedical exploration of the GFFA, more on that below. It was aninteractive kind of fictional content; a way to become an active participant in the galaxy-sized storyof Star Wars rather than remain a passive audience, more accessible thanthe electronic games of the times. 

And it wasgood. Like, critically-acclaimed good.

The WestEnd Games publications had a hugeimpact on the franchise in their time, and their products remained being ratherinfluential in later years. They’re still being so, as that “roleplayinggame material published in the 1980s” alluded to in the 2014 Canonpocalyseannouncement – i.e., the source from which the Inquisitorium, the ISB andSiennar Fleet Systems, and a great many other elements since, were pulled andbrought to the NEU.

But to goback to your actual ask, there’sa reason for looking at the West End Games products specifically as a the base of the old Legends canon (and also a source ofelements and concepts for the NEU). The RPG outlook is a very specific one; oneof statistics and numbers and rules that users learn to navigate the setting ofthe adventures. To create a RPGfrom an already existing world,you’d define a number of categories and subcategories for worldbuildingelements, break down those elements to measurable characteristics – but alsoelaborate on context and fill in many blanks. It’s a very methodic way to doworldbuilding, one oriented towards a specific purpose.

Inpractice, that meant the West End Games books, although not planned as such,doubled as a set of incredibly detailed reference books, something without equivalent at the time. Althoughthe first publications centered around the movies and, once the ExpandedUniverse really took off in the early 90s, some of the novels, comics and games,the company had soon started to create as much as adapt, branching out to new,unexplored grounds. With the adventures came details about the galaxy’sgeography and history, its inhabitants and its technology, the inner workingsof the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. And if some of these publications tied tothe movies or other products, this was no-one way relationships: from theTarkin initiative to COMPNOR, the ISB or foundational texts such as the Declaration of Rebellion and otherelements great and small, the galaxy was laid out in West End Games’publications, comprehensively and extensively.

Thing is, if many of the books featured pre-written adventures or “adventure seeds”, the fundamental goal of sourcebooks and the overall worldbuilding of the WEG stuff was to create a universe for the players to tell stories – stories in which the narrator has no control over the characters, but stories nonetheless. In a way, the sourcebooks were reference books intended for storytellers.

Which is why they became the base of the “old canon”, when it took off in the early 90s, with the Dark Horse comics and Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy – and make no mistake, the only reason these happened at all was because WEG had made Star Wars a viable brand again. Their success had proven there was a market.

And as we’ve seen, they’d already done the worldbuilding, extensively; Lucasfilm has always had final approval on the WEG books too, so the content was considered as “official” as could be, and continuity already mattered (if always with the caveat that Lucas could invalidate it if he came back to SW, as finally happened). It’s well known Zahn was sent WEG sourcebooks by Lucasfilm (who would later develop an internal “canon bible,” way before the holocron database, but wasn’t there yet), and over the years, writers used the sourcebooks as resource materials; I wish I could give you a list but I’m working on it. Recently Jason Fry said he still used the sourcebooks. Hidalgo talks about them here and there.

Moreover, anumber of Legends (and NEU) writers, of fiction as well as of nonfiction, first contributed to StarWars through WEG; Troy Denning, later to write novels for the franchise,authored two “gamebooks,” i.e Choose your own adventure books, and a sourcebook;Bill Smith wrote and co-wrote a number of books for WEG before writing twotitles for the first series of Essential Guides ; Daniel Wallace alsowent from WEG to the Essential Guides, though he only contributed to thefinal published issue of the AdventureJournal, and the rest of his RPG writing was done in the context of Wizardsof the Coast publications. Peter M. Schweighofer, who would also go on to writefor WOTC, wrote or co-wrote a number of WEG books; he also edited the Adventure Journal and wrote a number ofshort stories. Pablo Hidalgo went from playing the WEG games to writing forthem before joining Lucasfilm. There’s more but I’m still working onthat list.

[canyousevmyheavydirtysoul]

Cape Town. (Part 2) (Ryan Ross x Reader)

Note: I'm warning you guys now; this whole series will be one huge cliché, made up of tinier clichés.

"Why did we agree to do this, again?" you asked (Y/B/F), biting your lip as you stared at the schedule the two of you had drawn up for the next four weeks.

"Because we're tourism students, and showing around a group of actual tourists would definitely be beneficial. Ya know, for experience and shit," she waved a hand, pouring a glass of juice,  joining you on the sofa and taking the piece of paper from your hand.

"Did you take their numbers?"

"Yeah," she responded, reading over the schedule. "The cute one gave me his."

"Ryan?"

"No," she sniggered, raising an eyebrow at you, "It was Brendon. But the fact that your mind went straight to Ryan says a lot."

"Shut up," you sneered, cheeks heating up slightly; (Y/B/F) laughed. "Boulder's Beach is up first," you cocked your head towards the paper, changing the subject, "You should call them and let them know the details for tomorrow."

~

"Did you give them our numbers?" Ryan asked from his seat at the dining table of their hotel room.

"Yeah," Brendon replied, flicking through the channels on the TV. "I gave mine to the cute one."

"(Y/N)?"

"No," Brendon laughed, smirking at his band mate, "It was (Y/B/F). But the fact that you thought of (Y/N) first really says somethin'."

"Shut up," Ryan mumbled, rolling his eyes and shifting in his seat, causing Brendon to laugh at his clear embarrassment.

The ringing of Brendon's phone caught the attention of the entire band, and they all perked up, ears eager.

"Hello?" Brendon answered.

"Brendon, hi," (Y/B/F) spoke through the phone. "It's (Y/B/F) and (Y/N)."

"Hey guys," Brendon smiled, "what's up?"

"We've managed to get a schedule planned out – mostly thanks to (Y/N)," Ryan smiled involuntarily at (Y/B/F)'s comment. "Our first activity is a trip to Boulder's Beach. It's a beach in Simon's Town where penguins live and roam free. It's really cool; you can get all up close and personal with them. Maybe take a couple selfies," the guys chuckled, excited at the prospect. "So we'll come and get you guys at about 9?"

"Sounds great."

"Perfect. See you then."

~Monday, 30 days until the guys leave~

Juggling a beach bag, towel and a beach umbrella, you stood in line with (Y/B/F) and the band, squinting slightly as the sunrays caught your eyes.

"Next, please," the booth attendant called out, and you shuffled up to the Perspex window.

"Six tickets please," you requested, reaching into your bag to grab a few banknotes.

"That'll be R300."

You slid three R100 notes over, and the attendant handed you the tickets; you accepted them and handed one to each member of your group.

"How much do we owe you?" Ryan asked, as you handed over his ticket.

"Oh, no. Don't worry, this is on us," you frowned, shaking your head.

"No, please. We can't let you pay for us," Brendon jumped in.

"Seriously, it's okay," you insisted, wincing when you felt a sharp pain at the back of your leg.  (Y/B/F) had kicked you, and tossed you a look as if to say 'what the hell are you doing take the freaking money'. "Uh, you guys can pay for the ice-cream after."

"Okay," Spencer nodded before pointing between the four of them. "But from here on out, everything is on us."

You opened your mouth to protest, but Jon cut you off. "No, don't even try and convince us otherwise. You're doing us a favour; the least we can do is pay for you."

"Yeah, and aren't you guys students? It would be awful of us to let you spend so much money," Ryan concurred.

You and (Y/B/F) looked at each other and shared a shrug. "Okay."

"Great!" Brendon beamed. "Now let's go find some penguins!"

~

After having laid out the beach towels and set up the umbrella, you took a seat on one of the towels, turning to your bag to grab a bottle of sunscreen. You squirted some into the palm of your hand before handing it to (Y/B/F), who along with the guys, applied the lotion to their skin.

"So," Spencer started, "did you guys know who we were before we met or...?"

"Yeah, yeah, we knew," (Y/B/F) answered, lifting up her sunglasses. "We actually listen to you guys quite a bit."

"Really?" Jon's eyes lit up.

"No," she admitted. "We actually had no idea."

"But after we met you, we went back to our flat and streamed both of your albums," you chimed in.

"And now I guess you could say that we're fans," (Y/B/F) shrugged, and the guys smiled proudly at the two of you; Ryan's smile seemed to be directly mostly at you, though.

"Do you guys have a favourite song?" Brendon questioned, sitting down across from you, lifting up his knees and folding his arms on top of them.

"Lying Is the Most Fun," (Y/B/F) mused.

"Of course that would be your favourite," you snorted.

"Hou jou bek," she snapped, glaring at you.

"What about you, (Y/N)?"

You shrugged. "I'm in love with the entirety of Pretty. Odd. I can't choose a favourite."

"That's my favourite album of ours too," Ryan chirped with a smile, which you returned.

"You guys are enormously talented," you complimented, gazing at each one of the band members. "Brendon, your voice is like liquid gold. And the lyrics are just..." you trailed off, a dreamy look on your face.

"Aww, thanks babe," Brendon said, giving you his sweetest smile, "but I can't take the credit for the lyrics; most of them are all Ryan." He reached up and patted Ryan on the arm.

"Really?" you questioned, gazing wide-eyed at the lyricist. He nodded shyly, a slight pink tinge forming on his round cheeks. "Wow. You're amazing. Like seriously."

"Thanks," he replied, another wide smile forming as he looked at you.

You responded with a huge smile of your own, prompting the rest of your group to share a look of intrigue before (Y/B/F) spoke.

"Guys, look." She pointed at the water, and there was a collective gasp of happiness as everyone's eyes landed on the adorable waddling birds splashing in the shallow end of the blue water.

~

"I love penguins," Ryan sighed, standing next to you as you both marvelled at the cuties in front of you. "They're my favourite animals."

You perked up, turning to smile at him. "Mine too!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! I've always found them so beautiful. And they way that they're so relationship-orientated, it's so-"

"Relatable," the two of you said in unison, causing you to widen your eyes, while Ryan narrowed his slightly.

You both let out an incredulous laugh as you stared at each other. Even after your laughing ceased, you still continued staring at each other. Your faces were seemingly blank, but that was fine; no words were spoken, but they weren't necessary.

"Hey guys," Brendon called out, pointing at a specific penguin – the only one with yellow, spiky hair styled in a mohawk – and laughing while he walked closer. "Look at this little jackass penguin!"

"Brendon," (Y/B/F) waded through the water to get to the singer, a warning tone in her voice, "don't-"

The unmistakeable sound of Brendon screaming in sheer terror echoed throughout the beach, causing you and Ryan to tear your gazes away from each other and divert them to Brendon, who was currently running across the length of the beach whilst screaming, the 'little jackass penguin' chasing him rather determinedly as (Y/B/F) and the rest of the band ran after them.

Without hesitation, both you and Ryan whipped out your cellphones and took some pictures and videos, before looking at each other, bursting out into a fit of giggles and then running off to help.

~

"Fucking stupid bird," Brendon mumbled, angrily fiddling with the makeshift bandage around his arm, which covered the multiple scratches he received after scrambling into the bushes to avoid the murderous penguin.

"I tried to warn you not to disrupt him," (Y/B/F) shrugged.

"Yeah but still," he mumbled, pouting.

"Number 175! 175! Vat dit of los dit; ek het nie die hele nag die!"

"Here!" (Y/B/F) waved the Kalky's receipt in the air, and the worker made her way over with the seafood.

The guys shared a look of confusion before turning to you.

"What did she say?" Ryan quizzed, furrowing his eyebrows.

"She said 'take it or leave it; I don't have the whole night'."

"Bit harsh, isn't she?" Jon grimaced; the worker placed the food down on the table in front of the six of you and walked away, back to the kitchen.

"Hey, you wanted the full Cape Town experience," (Y/B/F) chuckled, popping a slap-chip into her mouth. "This is Cape Town's hotspot for fresh fish and chips; most of the people around here speak like that."

"That's Afrikaans, right?" Spencer checked.

You nodded. "Yep. But the way she's speaking... well, it's more of a slang type of Afrikaans. We call it Cape Coloured Afrikaans. 'Coloured' as in our race," you gestured between you and (Y/B/F) who smiled along.

"Not to sound ignorant or anything," Jon piped. "But can you guys like explain the whole race thing to us?"

"Okay, so," you started, dusting your hands off and clasping them together, the guys averting their complete attention to you.

You began explaining the history of the Cape to them. You told them that in the beginning, the native Africans were the only inhabitants of the land, and that when Jan van Riebeeck brought the Dutch over and colonized, they procreated with the Africans to produce mixed raced children, who over time evolved into their own race - now known as coloureds.

All the while you were speaking, the guys kept their eyes trained on you, fully immersed in what you were saying and glad to gain new insight into the history of South Africa; the gave appropriate reactions - 'ah'ing and 'oh'ing where necessary - and when you finished, they beamed happily at you.

"Wow," Brendon breathed. "So you guys must be heavy into culture and those kinda things, huh?"

"Absolutely," (Y/B/F) said, taking a sip from her Iron Brew. "Culture, diversity and especially heritage are extremely important over here. They don't call us the rainbow nation for nothing."

~

Brendon hopped up and down excitedly as he gasped at the variety of ice cream flavours in front of him.

"I want that one," he said pointing at the blueberry cheesecake flavour, "No, that one," he pointed at the Turkish delight, "No, that one," he pointed at the Romany Creams. "Ugh, I can't decide! (Y/N), help me decide!"

"Relax," you giggled, placing a hand on the over-hyped man's shoulder. "You can get all of them, if you want."

His mouth fell open and he let out a happy gasp.

"Are you trying to ruin my life?" Ryan remarked, crossing over to where you and Brendon stood in front of the huge freezer. "He's hyper enough as is; add ice-cream and he won't sleep for the rest of our trip."

"I can keep him company," (Y/B/F) offered, raising a hand.

You clicked your tongue at your best friend's constant sexual state-of-mind, mentally scolding her for being so forward. Brendon didn't seem too perturbed about it; he laughed and shot her a smirk in response.

After ordering and paying for your ice-creams, your group made their way out of The Ice Café and down the lively, fairylight-lit streets of Kalk Bay as each of you licked at your cones - Ryan being the only one who opted to have his in a tub.

You reached your car, and you walked around to the driver's side, reaching into your pocket to search for the keys and accidentally dropping your cone to the ground.

"Oh shit," you pouted, looking down at the remnants of your triple chocolate dairy dessert.

A tub of cookies and cream ice-cream was shoved under your nose. "Here, you can have mine," Ryan said.

"Oh," your eyes went wide, "no, Ryan. It's okay, you don't have to do that." You gave him a small smile.

"No, take it. It's fine; I didn't really want it anyway," he insisted, the tiniest of smiles on his lips as he nodded his head to the dessert in his hands.

"Thank you, Ryan," you whispered, blushing furiously as you gently took the tub from his hands.

"You're welcome, (Y/N)," he whispered back, expressionless but with warm eyes.

The rest of the band and (Y/B/F) stood on the sidelines, licking at their cones as they intently watched the scene in front of them unfold.

~

"Dude, you need to stop."

"What do you mean?" Ryan frowned as he made a cup of tea.

"(Y/N)," Brendon elaborated. "You can't be falling for someone who you're gonna leave behind in four weeks."

"Who says I'm falling for her?" Ryan asked calmly, even though his heart had picked up speed.

Brendon laughed loudly. "Really, Ry? Really?"

Ryan sighed, placing the carton of milk carton back in the fridge. "I know, I know. It could never work. But I just... she's just so gorgeous."

"She is. But no."

"But-"

"No."

"Please?"

"No," Brendon said, more sternly. "If anything happens between the two of you, when we leave, she'll be heartbroken. Do you really want that to happen?"

"No," Ryan sighed. "Okay, you're right. I'll stop."

~

"Bruh, you need to stop."

"What do you mean?" you frowned as you changed into your pyjamas.

"Ryan," (Y/B/F) elaborated. "You can't be falling for someone who's gonna leave you behind in four weeks."

"Who says I'm falling for him?" you asked calmly, even though your heart had picked up speed.

(Y/B/F) laughed loudly. "Really, (Y/N/N)? Really?"

You sighed, tying your hair up in a high pony. "I know, I know. It could never work. But I just... he's just so lekker."

"He is. But no."

"But-"

"No."

"Please?"

"No," (Y/B/F)  said, more sternly. "If anything happens between the two of you, when they leave, you'll be heartbroken. Do you really want that to happen?"

"No," you sighed. "Okay, you're right. I won't fall for him."

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x

[toothplug]

ok official spoilery list of what i liked and didn’t like abt tlj........

before i get going i know there will be way more dislikes but i still enjoyed the movie as in I Had Fun but it was an extremely flawed movie. i give it like a 5/10 (tfa for me was like 8.5 even 9 but i’m biased maybe)

likes:

i enjoyed learning the back story of kylo/luke esp from both their perspectives, neat enough

REY IS A GARBAGE CHILD FROM A TRASH PLANET AND NOT A STUPID FUCKING SKYWALKER THANK GOD

good acting all around

That Scene Where Laura Derne Esploded In Space And It Got Real Quiet

some funny moments*

the scene where kylo turns on snoke (some ppl hate that he died, i don’t care as much in fact i kinda liked it but i’m adding a ** here)

Poe had a good arc i guess......

the kylux sex scene i made up in my head

i liked the casino

cute and well designed creatures altho i’m really picky with CGI so sometimes the porgs and crystal dogs or w/e looked a little weird to me but that’s just.....my own issue

When Kylo Ren Stances Up The Gay Icon

When Luke Brushes The Non Dirt Off His Shoulder The Gay Icon

that fucking titty milk luke drinks str8 from the teet that part rocked my world

dislikes:

fucky things with the force that made no sense to me:

snoke connecting rey and kylo, then somehow it still happening after he’s dead

flying leia????????????? wtf??????????? wtf wtf that scene wtf

the following characters got royally fucked in this film: leia (went to sleep, did virtually nothing), rey (everything she does relates to kylo, other than that one thing with her parents and it felt like an afterthought to me, we’re told she grows over the film, but i didn’t see how or when), finn (he does nothing. point blank. does nothing and only interacts with his wittle girlfwiend), rose (also did nothing. the only woc in the main cast and all she does is some stupid ass pointless mission then kisses finn. lame. the dead sister plot had potential but kinda went nowhere), hux (literally a punching bag who lost any sinister qualities he ever had, why was he even here if this was the point), PHASMA???? (she shows up finally for 2 seconds, has the most boring anticlimactic fight in fucking film history, and falls in a fucking hole without us ever SEEING HER FACE?!?!?? i’m so furious about this one. i’m fucking mad bye)

kylo got literally all of the character development/arc other than maybe poe and luke. but poe’s was kinda blah idk it was fine but it fell a little flat for me and luke like had more conflict than others but he basically stagnated the entire time until the very end where he saved the day and then like. died.)

obviously the kiss

*too much humor. detracted from a lot of emotional moments or sinister atmosphere, v marvel film of them to do. 

**i liked snoke’s death BUT it ends up kind of fucking up the movie because he’s not replaced with anyone nearly as menacing or scary. neither kylo nor hux/the first order come even remotely close to how legit scary they were in the first film. i mean hux is literally one of the 3 stooges basically. so we’re left with no proper villain which sucks

these characters were literally unecessary: 

the DJ or any code breaker at all. why did this even happen. this entire thread with him, finn, and rose was fucking ridiculous. worst aspect of the whole movie. i could like go on abt this forever so i’m gonna stop now

ok wait one more thing: the whole gray morality thing via the weapons dealing is sooooo funny hahahha it was stupid af. the first order has slave soldiers but they don’t have their weapons made exclusively? ok

this pains me to say bc i love her but laura derne. other than her sacrifice, everything she did could have been leia, and we could have avoided literally throwing leia’s character away. i mean she got FUCKED and i’m really mad about it. i dont know why johnson set up this atmosphere with the rebels where apparently leia is god and no one on board would ever defy her or even argue something but i think it’s fucking stupid and bad writing. the idea that poe couldn’t have learned the exact same fucking lesson from her is idiotic. laura derne could have just like been around a few times, established that she’s close with leia, then her sacrifice still means something without detracting from other characters’ screen time. because that’s what she did sorry lmfao

listen it’s so cute and sweet that billie lourd was in it but she was in it too much. i’m sorry like. u only have so much time to develop a shit ton of characters so :( sorry billie.

that stupid fucking white boy with the force or whatever at the end. fuck that. sorry but why him ? if ur gonna do some like Kids In The Galaxy Paralleling The Audience Nostalgia fuck you for making a white boy. just reestablishes that this franchise originally was never meant for me like, this was all just a huge i love star wars wank fest for rian johnson and he clearly sees himself as that little boy which i think is literally dumb. not sure why it couldn’t have been one of the other kids or all three. stupid

this ties in with leia getting shafted but she and luke get to interact for like literally 3 seconds

this movie should just be retitled “Kylo Ren Is Valid And Here’s Why”

i want to point out i’m not one of Those People who hates the idea of a kylo redemption arc or thinks it’s impossible. like i said earlier, i liked getting his and luke’s sides of things and i’m fine with past kylo being painted somewhat sympathetically. but this movie fucking WACKS YOU OVER THE HEAD with it literally NONSTOP. 

the rey and kylo stuff was fine in theory but again it happened way too much. i think it could have been condensed into one scene where they connected once

as soon as rey and poe introduced themselves to each other i knew there was a big problem. i had like a revelatory moment in the theater because that was at the End of the film and two of the three MAIN protagonists (imo) JUST NOW MET?? at the end of the second movie. there’s only one more and their relationship is only starting now???? k.

in general splitting the main trio up for the entirety of the film was a shit ass idea

rey had too much makeup on lmfao there i said it

other than the one fight scene with rey and kylo, the fighting fell really flat as did the other action

didn’t like luke’s death. it took me a second to even realize what happened. probably fans of the OG trilogy loved it or at least liked it more but i didn’t grow up with SW and i didn’t care about it until TFA. i had this fleeting thought of like “oh wait were there two suns just then? that’s like....where he grew up or something right oh wait now they’re gone so it was symboli-oh wait he’s dead. oh.” idk it felt really anticlimactic to me. i mean compared to han’s death it doesn’t hold up at all imo

FUCK YODA THE STINKY OLD MAN!!!! that part was dumb as hell and so fanservicey it like hurt my body

overall, the movie did mostly nothing. felt like filler !

all in all i had fun like i said, the movie was p blah, and if the final one rocks which obviously i hope it does, then i’ll be more forgiving. every trilogy has a stinker even if it’s a good stinker, and the 2nd is always the best one to be the stinker imo so. hopefully this one is it.