#this comic does not want to end I'm struggling to finish every page

[nimpnawakproduction]

WIP Love and peace comic

I did not post the last pages here ! I'm still working on the rest but work is kicking my butt lately and I have 76758 deadlines for plenty of other stuff so I can't draw lately ;w; I'll be more free in a couple of weeks I have 7665 other comic project I want to draw them aaaaaah

[valle-de-sombra-de-muerte]

Homestuck Reread: Act 3, Part 3/3 (p. 1027-1153)

Read the previous post here.

At long last, it's time to finish Act 3!

When I first read Homestuck, I had thought PM was a guy until this page. I think it might've been because she was referred to as the "post man" during her rant about the mail.

I dunno it feels like a weird detail that should've been communicated better. It's not like it's a big "twist" or anything.

A lot of these alchemized creations are kinda worthless, but the Remote Ghost Gauntlets might be one of the better ones. I don't think we ever see them get put to much good use, though.

Using a mirror to create a left-handed copy of the gauntlet is a creative detail.

Right, so if Rose's "patron black celebrity" (the term I've invented to describe this incredibly niche running gag) is Charles Barkley, John's is Bill Cosby. This has to be the most poorly aged reference in the whole comic.

For those unaware, this page was uploaded a few days before Christmas. The joke is that all these events are canonically supposed to have taken place within a single day: John's birthday.

Dave returns, evidently no worse for wear after having fallen down the stairs, to finish this final round of the Strider fight. I really like the color composition on this image. If I haven't made it clear enough, these flashes have been the highlight of the Act so far.

The fight ends with Cal destroyed and Dave's shirt permanently scratched, which I'm not sure how that's even possible. Bro's just so precise he's able to do shit like that, I guess.

I'm thinking again of that page where part of John's hair gets sliced by the glass shard. That detail isn't carried over in future pages, but this scratched record is.

Bro gives Dave the Sburb discs because that was never the point of this fight. He never wanted to keep them from Dave in the first place. This whole fight was just for... I dunno, fun I guess. This is just business as usual in the Strider household.

Yeah Hussie, god forbid we extend the Strider fight any longer than necessary. It would've taken precious time away from Jade dicking around in her house!

Rose frames her relationship with John in a similar way to the one with her mother: in a weird, competitive campaign of one-upsmanship. It's a wonder she has any friends at all if she treats them as foes in these mind games where she's the only player.

I know I may sound like I'm knocking on Rose a lot and an anon commented about this, but I actually really like how much of a weirdo she is. She's highfalutin, overconfident, perverse, obsessed with ridiculous things, genuinely does not know how to normally interact with people despite professing an interest in psychoanalysis... all putting her leagues above the likes of John or Jade when it comes to character depth. When she's handled well, she's a fun character. It's only when Hussie uses her as a vehicle for exposition that she becomes a genuine bore.

Kanaya's first appearance! Little known fact, her dialogue can be really entertaining sometimes. Like look at these crazy metaphors she's making. It's easy to forget how funny she can be with how often the fandom portrays her as bland and boring.

Even though she's often portrayed as the "elegant" one, I find Kanaya to be really ungainly and silly, especially in her insults. It helps to read her dialogue as stilted and unnatural, placing emphasis on every word.

With her penchant for using excessive verbiage to get her point across, it's no wonder Rose eventually takes a shine to her. I think it would've been a great idea to have Kanaya be a true intellectual that runs circles around Rose's pretensions, and Rose would've had to struggle to communicate with someone who was actually smart. Alas, that doesn't come to pass.

Much like how Rose was trolled right after opening John's present, the same thing happens to Dave after getting his present.

Oh yeah, Dave's "patron black celebrity" is Snoop Dogg, as seen by his Huggy Bear wallpaper and the rap verse quoted in his "sick heat" passage from Act 2.

I like how both Kanaya and Tavros open with metaphors about people shitting themselves.

Dave using the "ethnic wedding" metaphor Rose previously (or, subsequently, given how this is a flashback) used in her GameFAQs guide. Those two are on the same wavelength.

It's a crying shame that Tavros and Dave don't have many pesterlogs because this one is really good. This sequence of pages establishes very early on that Tavros and Kanaya are parallels in how they communicate with Dave and Rose respectively.

Both trolls initially struggle to communicate with the humans and at first acts as rivals. Kanaya is frustrated with dealing with the "primitive" humans and wages a back and forth "war" of being snarky and condescending toward Rose (something Rose is already familiar with in how she engages with her mother). Tavros wants to prove himself as a competent troll, but is utterly humiliated by Dave. He then later comes back to try and redeem himself and prove himself as a worthy rival in Dave's eyes (something Dave should probably relate to as someone who has lived constantly within Bro's shadow).

But after repeated conversations, eventually both parties learn to crossing that cultural barrier and form a rapport with each other. Except wait, that really only comes to fruition with Kanaya. Tavros's plotline drops off very sharply because Hussie has a weird vendetta against him. Imagine what could've been if Tavros had been allowed to actually develop beyond a walking (or wheeling) punchline. Perhaps DaveTav would've been as big as Rosemary.

AR's big obsession is justice and the law. Though his enforcement of such leads to him often being portrayed as a police officer (and indeed, this was his previous occupation), he really seems to aspire to be a judge. I love his wig made out of bullets.

His second big obsession is guns, even though he's been missing every shot he makes. AR loving guns and being terrible with them despite being a trained officer is a more endearing character trait compared to Jade loving guns and being inexplicably amazing with them.

I love this page.

John says he bought his slime ghost shirt at a "weird Asian store." I don't mean to bring any race discourse here because I honestly don't care about what race anyone headcanons the kids as, but I feel like this would rule out John belonging to any Asian ethnicity.

I'm quite fond of Jack/Slick's trait of delivering one-liners that are more explicitly violent than they are clever.

Nothing to add here except that I love this exchange leading up to the End of Act flash. Dave and Rose making SBaHJ references to each other will never not warm my heart.

And oh boy out of all of these End of Act flashes, [S] Enter is my favorite, hands down. Not only does it have "Sburban Jungle", but it's so action packed. Every time it looks like things are about to wind down, the music picks up again and the action keeps on going. This is what "peak Homestuck" is to me.

Love that Dave is casually drawing some SBaHJ while the game installs. Also shout out to that old MS Paint interface. Oh nostalgia.

It's funny that Rose is now on the receiving end of dealing with a server player's shenanigans. I get that they're on a really tight time limit here, but it makes me wish that we got to see more of her and Dave bickering as he tries to figure out the controls. Dave and Rose navigating Sburb would've been infinitely more entertaining to read than Rose instructing John from Point A to Point B for god knows how many pages.

Kino scene where the raindrops are synced with those weird synth lines in the music.

A leap of faith to grab the bottle

And saved by the very cat she wished to resurrect. This isn't just a top 10 Rose moment, more like a top 10 Homestuck moment entirely.

And oh yeah, John finally makes it to the gate. Jeez, better late than never. If there's one flaw to this flash, it's that it should've ended with Rose smashing the bottle. This whole John part honestly feels so tacked on at the very end and reinforces my belief that the plotline with his gate should've been resolved in the previous Act.

Well that was an incredible way to cap off an otherwise underwhelming Act. This one felt like a big step down compared to Act 2. The highlights included the Strider fight and the insights about Mom Lalonde (even if they're never elaborated on). But everything else was just horsing around with Jade and and the Exiles in the name of establishing convoluted nonsense and "weird plot shit."

You know, it would've been more engaging to just tell a good story instead of trying to pad it out with all this time travel and paradox nonsense. All of this shit could've easily been excised to focus more on the kids' progression in the game, and the plot would've been stronger for it. Hussie is just jangling the keys in front of the reader's face so they don't realize they're being had.

Again, I can't emphasize enough how much better it would've been to see more of Rose and Dave as Sburb partners instead of Jade playing trans-temporal postal carrier.

Man... well now it's time for Act Fo- oh sorry, I mean The Intermission. No skipping here. If you skip the Intermission I'm judging the shit out of you.

Read the next post here.

[kirame90]

I've been meaning to send this to you for a while now but I've been having a depressive episode lately and everything, including sending messages, has been out of my reach.

I just wanted to say I love your comic! Waiting for a new update is something that gives me reason to look forward to a new week. I also appreciate how you've been making it for such a long time and still going all until the conclusion (so by that regard you're already doing a better job than Valve 😆 ... 7th issue "To be concluded". *sniff*) Seriously, this is why TF2 fandom is so great: even when the game is ancient by the industry standards, fans keep putting out new content.

SniperSpy (opposite teams) is such a fun ship because it's pretty much bound to be an enemies-turned-lovers story but every artist has their own way of doing it, so it's always interesting to see how each person handles it. The starting premise of your comic is one of the more unique ones I've seen 😆 And on a good way, mind you: TF2 is a game known for its sometimes very absurd humour ("When the patient woke up, his skeleton was missing"... Medic, HOW???), so the lifetime supply of Spy fits that tone just perfectly. So does the reason why Heavy the wish-fulfilling fairy is banned for good now, I laughed a good while at that.

I Finnish too but wrote this in English, so all your followers would be able to understand it. But feel free to message me in Finnish if you feel like it, I'm all for making new fandom friends. 👋

Oh fudge, depression is a bitch. I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with that, it can get incredibly exhausting at times. Or all the time... Have a SniperSpy hug

Thank you for taking the time to write this message, even when you're having a hard time. It truly means the world to me to know I can bring some joy into people's lives with this little comic of mine.

Yeeaaaaaahhhh the official comic... The One Who Must Not Be Named and Probably Will Never Be Finished. If it makes you feel any better (I know it won't) I came up with an idiot-proof plot that would have ended the comic before we even got to the second part: Soldier beats Olivia (who has disappeared into thin air from the actual comic) because he has no sense of morality like Saxton does so he becomes the head of the company. Then Saxton beats him up immediately after and they chase Grey and Olivia away along with their robot army. The end!

Long story told in less than one full comic. You're welcome, Valve!

Now where was I?

Oh yeah the point.

Enemy Sniper/Spy is so much fun in every possible way of how much potential it has when it comes to smut, drama, humor and well... EVERYTHING! You can do pretty much anything you want with it, depending on what you like. And I just happened to like senseless slapstick that later on turned into drama fest and now it's on fluff mode.

I seriously don't even know what I'm rambling on, this is one of those replies that just goes on and on because I don't know how to stop. Very much like my comic the more I think about it...

And since you are literally the first one who thought the FBI banning Medic from giving Kritzkrieg fumes to Heavy after sex (booyyy people didn't like that twist!), have a sneak peek of the next week's page

Again, thank you so very much for your feedback, it's always a great pleasure to hear people's comments. And I know it's such a cliché to say this but I genuinely do hope you'll feel better soon. Even if just a little bit.

[aingeal98]

Fic author interview

Saw this and it looked like fun so here we go!

How many works do you have on AO3?

Eighteen although one is anonymous.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

265,386. Not the best but could be worse.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Frozen History 2895

Til Divorce Do Us Part 903

Battok 387

The First (And Likely Last) Batfamily Twister Tournament 215

Sibling Scrap 191

Putting the rest of the questions under a read more because it gets long!

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do. I feel so grateful for every comment and I need them to know how much I appreciate it. Plus the anxiety of a full inbox and the fear of being rude outweighs the anxiety from feeling like I'm artificially inflating my comment numbers.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Haven't actually finished it yet lol. In terms of finished ones there were a few old Naruto fics but I'd say more recently some of the stephcass ones. Either the evil batman au did to the overall premise even if it does end hopefully, or the one where Cass gets badly injured on patrol and it ends with both of them knowing she can't promise not to do it again next time because her life will always be less valuable than every other persons even if it causes Steph pain to see her hurt.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Shiny Happy People. Or the battinson au stephcass first kiss fic.

7. Do you write crossovers?

None so far unless you count fics that reference different batfamily comics

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

A few times lol, mostly with the more popular fics. Mostly about how the family treats Jason (which I make no apologies for lol there's plenty of fics out there that have everyone talk to him like they're a therapist and center his feelings above their own. I just don't think they're likely to do that in canon nor should I have to write them doing that just because it's popular. Let them be mean to each other.)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not opposed to writing it but no not yet lol. It's always easier for me to let the screen fade to black and skip it.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

A lot of my old fics from fanfic dot net appeared on copycat websites? Not quite stealing since they were still credited to me but it still felt weird since I have no idea what those sites are all about or who uploaded them there.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

People have asked and I've happily agreed but I don't think I ever checked back in to see if they actually managed it.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I've had beta editors and people I bounce ideas off of but so far every fic has been written solely by me.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Brittana. The bond between a girl and the awful TV show that made her realise she wasn't straight is the strongest and most powerful force in the universe.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

My Reverse Robins au. By making it a collection of oneshots I've pretty much ensured it'll never be truly finished because I can keep coming back to it whenever I have a new idea.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue I think. It flows easily from my brain to the page. Other than that I've no idea lol.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I would say everything else but I know my friends would yell at me for thinking that. So maybe the way I struggle to finish fics and instead just keep writing until 3k one shots are multichapter 15k monsters

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

If the POV character understands what's been said then I put it in italics. Otherwise I'd keep it in the original language and put the translations at the end. Never had to do it yet thankfully because I know I'd struggle getting accurate translations.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Naruto. It was a tragic comedy one shot about the akatsuki. Although technically it would be a zutara twilight au that I thankfully never published. (I didn't even ship zutara I just wanted to make a twilight au and thought he fit the role of Edward best)

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Off the top of my head Cassrose and harpercass

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I can't choose overall, although I guess it would probably have to be Frozen History just for the sheer amount of effort and words I put into it. Even though there's so much that makes me cringe and that I'd want to redo, it was definitely a highlight for me at the time of writing. Most recently I'd say Occam.

Tagging anyone that wants to give this a try! I'm curious to see what other people's answers would be :D

[nonstoplover]

protagonist ~ joe liebgott (band of brothers)

my masterlist  |  my hbo war masterlist

pairing: joe liebgott x female reader

short summary: joe's assigned to search for the perfect house for easy's hq in the new town they'll soon arrive to on their way through germany and finds one with a girl in there who's like the protagonist of one of the comics he's read - courageous, fearless, heroic.

words: 2.5K

a/n: first of all, sorry for disappearing, exam season has started at my uni and i've been hella busy these past weeks (and gonna be for the following few as well,  u g h ).

anyway this fic came around from a conversation i had with the lovely @now-im-a-belieber when i was telling her about an idea i had and she technically came up with the base of this. thank you, Pearl, i love you xx (i hope i did justice to your idea)

oh and let's just say i have no clue if this would have been possible, at least the exact way i wrote it.

taglist: @how-are-those-nuts-sarge @50svibes @pennyllanne @nowinnablewar

gif credit: @basilone

Four loud bangs sound against her front door right as she starts washing the dishes after they finished lunch. With her eyes widening in surprise she rushes back into the room, telling the family of three to hide as she's drying her hands in her apron before making her way to the door.

After taking a deep breath she grabs the handle and opens it. The next thing she knows is being pushed to the side as a figure storms in past her without a word. A gasp leaves her lungs as her back lightly collides with the wall, head turning to watch as the soldier barges in the house.

What is going on? Has someone found out about them?

With a hand reaching behind her back she pushes herself off the wall and hurries behind the man. Trying hard to sound completely calm and innocent she asks him what is going on, but he only barks back something almost inaudible - only a few German words reach her ears.

The soldier is moving with such speed that she hasn't got a single chance to get a better look at his uniform as he's entering every room one by one. Who is he? Worry swiftly floods her veins - more importantly, what is he looking for?

She can only pray the family has had enough time to properly hide.

As he reaches that door, she holds her breath back, repeating her little prayer like a mantra inside her head. The man comes to a sudden halt just as he steps through the doorframe and in an instant fear makes her blood turn freezing cold. She carefully moves closer to glance inside next to his body, not knowing what to expect.

And what she sees makes everything else in her mind disappear - just the thoughts of all hell breaking loose any time now move around inside.

Her best friend crouches on the other side of the room, clearly frozen mid-movement as her body is still half out of the hiding spot, eyes wide as she stares at the soldier, not a single muscle moving. It's like everyone's got frozen in time, none of the three people makes a move.

Liebgott's mind slow to catch up to what he sees - he didn't expect to see that as he rushed through the house. He's only been trying to decide whether it's a good place for Easy's HQ, as he has been ordered to do when Winters sent him ahead of the company.

His eyes then start moving around the room, trying hard to find a good reason as to why that girl is half inside the wall. A book is laying on the table next to the door, open at around the middle. With one glance at the pages he recognises the letters of the hebrew alphabet, and suddenly it all makes sense.

She's a Jew.

His breath hitches in his throat as he struggles to comprehend this new information, and just in that very moment the silence is broken by a voice. And it's not coming from either of the two girls in the room - more like it's coming from inside the wall.

One simple sentence, ending with a Yiddish term of endearment - one he can perfectly understand. It came from a woman, asking the girl crouching facing him from across the room why she's stopped moving.

There are more Jews in there.

His lungs fill with a sharp breath he's taken and he spins around, staring straight at the girl who opened the front door only minutes prior. The question must be clear in his eyes as she starts stammering in defense, her voice audibly shaking.

Joe shakes his head, stopping her mid-sentence. "No, they're Jews, I can see it," he says in perfect German, and the already pale girl suddenly seems even whiter.

He swiftly grabs her arm and pulls her in the direction he remembers finding the dining room in, trying to find a chair for her to sit down on, as she's visibly close to fainting - though the reason behind it he can't find.

(y/n) flinches with utter fear, weakly trying to resist being pulled away - he most probably is now taking her away to kill her, right? He's a German soldier, that's what his job is. But no matter how hard she tries to wiggle away, his grip is too tight around her arm and she can't do a thing.

Just when they arrive to the dining room and he kind of pushes her into one of the chairs is when Joe realises that she's scared of him - she immediately pushes the chair further away from him as soon as he lets go of her. So that's why she's shaking so bad.

"No, wait, don't be scared," he rushes to say. "I'm a Jew too."

This finally breaks the scaredness - instead her eyes fill with utter confusion. Her forehead wrinkles as she tries to make sense of what he's saying. How can a German soldier be Jewish? It makes absolutely no sense.

With a sudden wave of suspicion she moves her glance down to his uniform, examining every detail she can lay her eyes upon.

Is he not German?!

Suddenly she can see differences - details about his uniform that she's never seen on a German soldier before, and she's seen her fair share of those in the past years.

But if he's not German, who is he and what is going on?

She takes a still shaky breath and looks back up into his eyes - seeing the waiting expression on his face as he's standing there in patient silence for her to say something.

"Are you-" Her voice cracks mid-sentence. It's not good. She clears her throat and tries again. "Are you German?"

All of a sudden he bursts out laughing - so loud, and somehow so dark that her eyes widen once again. She just can't decide if it's from fear again, or only surprise.

A minute or so goes by with nothing but Joe laughing - this must be one of the most hilarious things he's heard in the past couple years. That he is a German.

Then his laughter finally quietens down to slight chuckling and he speaks up once more to confirm the truth. "No, of course not," he shakes his head in amusement. One look in her eyes tells him that somehow she still has no clue about his nationality, so he opens his lips again to give an answer to her question in advance. "I'm American. Don't worry, you're not in trouble for that," Joe points back in the direction of the room with the hiding spot above his shoulder.

A loud sigh escapes her lungs, her shoulder visibly falling a bit as she slumps more into the chair. It feels like years worth of stress and nervousness have just come to an end - it's truly like an enormous stone has rolled down from her chest and shoulders. She somehow feels free again for the first time in years.

Relief completely replaces the worry and fear in her veins as all other thoughts leave her mind. She's not gonna die. At least not today.

"They're Jewish," the soldier speaks again - and it's not a question. More like a statement.

(y/n) nods, unable to say a word as she's still overwhelmed with her new feelings.

"You're hiding them?"

She just raises an eyebrow, and Joe mentally slaps himself - what a stupid question. He could've might as well just asked her the colour of the wall.

"Since when you've been hiding them?" He corrects his question.

"Ever since the whole thing has started," she answers, her voice so quiet it almost disappears in the air between them.

"Wow," Liebgott breathes out before he can stop himself. He stares at the girl in disbelief. She looks so innocent and young - she's probably one or two years younger than him. How could she pull off something such a thing? Such a dangerous and pretty reckless thing?

"Esther is my best friend, she's been ever since we were little kids, they all are like a second family to me, I've spent most of my days with them," (y/n) explains, the relief causing her to ramble and Joe - for about the first time in his life has to struggle to keep up with the German words that come flying out past her lips. "I just had to help them, you know. I couldn't just leave them here."

"Where's your own family?"

"My parents left to France to be further away from the chaos, and my brother joined the Luftwaffe, and since then I haven't heard from none of them."

"Why didn't you leave with your parents as well?" The young soldier keeps asking, moving closer to the table and sitting down on a chair on the opposite side, facing her. Pushing his M1's strap down his shoulder he places the weapon on the table, pushing it only a little further in order to calm the girl more. He knows he probably shouldn't do this - and keep Winters waiting, but he's too curious to stop himself, he has to hear the rest of her story.

"I love this town, I was born and raised here," she shrugs as if it's obvious. "But more importantly, I didn't want to leave and let innocent people like my best friend's family suffer. I wanted to stay and fight back as good as I could."

Joe subconsciously mumbles under his breath before he can stop himself - words that praise her absolute bravery, words that give away his true feelings he suddenly feels towards her - then he has to move his gaze away from her, fearing that she sees the embarrassment in his eyes. He tries hard to think of another question while also trying hard to forget the look of the half-smiling expression that took over her face just a moment before - it does nothing good for his heart.

"Did you make that hidden room yourself?" He asks in the end, thinking back to what he saw in the room.

"Oh," she giggles - and it's the prettiest sound he's heard in a very long time. "No, my father made it when me and my brother were young and often played hide and seek. I just improved it a little so they can fit in more comfortably."

Liebgott hums, not knowing how to tell her - or if he should even tell her in the first place - how absolutely super impressed she left him with every single thing she's told him and what he's seen. It's one of the craziest things he has ever heard, and he had a fair share of unbelievable stories told to him in his life. He simply couldn't even imagine how on Earth this girl could manage to do this - and not get caught. Throughout the whole war.

In that very moment he swiftly decides that he'll go and find another house for the HQ, and that he'll somehow get back to this particular one, no matter what it takes. He wants to get to know her better. He has to get to know her better.

She's the most incredible woman he's ever heard of, read about or met. She's a woman who fits in the stories of the comics he's been reading his whole life - as the protagonist, the hero. He can't leave this town without hearing more about her, seeing her face more. That would be the biggest regret of his whole life, he can already tell.

But for now, he has to leave. It wouldn't be a good idea to keep his officers waiting even longer.

He stands up, fingers reaching out to grab his M1 before looking back into her eyes. Damn, he doesn't even know her name.

"I have to head back to my company, but I'll come back later, if that's okay with you."

Her eyes are already on his, seemingly staring straight into his soul with that intensity that lays in her (y/e/c) orbs. The girl then rises to her feet - still never breaking the eye contact.

Thoughts race inside her head, and it's like an angel and a demon are sitting on each of her shoulders, one telling her to say no whilst the other trying to convince her to say yes.

What if he only wants to use her? What if he only wants to sleep with her? Maybe force her to do so, threatening her with his knowledge of the Jewish family. He might not even be who and what he says he is. How could she know?

But on the other hand, there is this feeling she has about him. A feeling that tells her that nothing she previously thought will happen. She doesn't know what it is, but it's there, right in her chest, and she can't fight it. He seems genuinely curious and impressed, and honest. And she feels a pull towards him. She wants to see him again.

In the end, the devil on her shoulder wins, and she simply nods - right before she could change her mind.

"I'm Joe," the young soldier moves around the table, one hand held out towards her.

A glance cast down and right back up to his face she takes his hand and gives it a shake, holding onto it tightly, as if only to let him know how strong she actually is.

It probably works, 'cause he raises an eyebrow, slightly tilts his head and the corners of his lips curve up into the smallest smirk she's ever seen - but it's there.

"(y/n)," she eventually answers with her own introduction.

A few seconds pass and neither has let go of the other's hand, not yet. They just stand there, staring into each other's eyes, only the small noises of them breathin breaking the silence.

Then Liebgott blinks, clears his throat, pulls his hand out from her grip and instinctively places his fingers upon his weapon hanging from his shoulder whilst nodding towards her as a gesture of saying goodbye without words.

She watches as he turns around and walks out from the room, and after a tiny, happy sigh she follows the sound of his steps.

Just as he opens the front door and moves through it is when she arrives to the hall. Joe glances back over his shoulder for one last time, offering her a small smile, then looks back ahead of him and continues his walk as if nothing has happened. None of the past dozen of minutes.

(y/n) leans against the doorframe and watches him right until he disappears in the distance with a dreamy look in her eyes.

She can't wait until he comes back again.

.::the end::.

(might write a part two if i'll have time and you'd like to read it)

my masterlist  |  my hbo war masterlist

[wanna be added to my taglist?]

[meyeselph]

Gwenpool: Desperate Misanthrope's Confused Angst

Showtime

Ms. Pool woke up in a familiar room. Not in Krakoa - there are no mutants around. This isn’t a story about that. Look, honestly, without an actual Gwenpool series and the constant breaks in her comics appearance I can’t even begin to give a fuck. I cancelled my marvel universe subbie. I might get back to my stories but single issues are iffy. I read fast and don’t pore over the artwork. So I get 10 minutes of entertainment for….FIVE DOLLARS? When did this happen? Jeezus.

Who even reads comics anymore?

Anyway, long story short, Gwen got out of bed and recognized the room as her old one from the “old times.” The dark times. The ‘not running around in pink and white outfits and shooting people’ times. She panicked (Been there. It is what it is though). The only way out of trauma is through.

She dressed in old clothes, immediately hit by old smells, she couldn’t help but cry. Was it all a dream? Have I gone insane (again)? All the usual self doubts cropped up. I mean, really, if you think this kind of thing didn’t pass through her mind regularly why don’t you transport yourself to a comic book universe?

Oh, you can’t?

Oh. It isn’t actually possible for you and I’m stupid for suggesting it. So, yeah. If it actually happened and you kept that attitude then the logical assumption for a normie is a mental breakdown. Trick for Gwen, though, is it's probably always been both real and her being nuts.

So she goes downstairs to the kitchen to figure out why this is happening and Evil Gwen is having cereal. Let's say cocoa puffs. I’ve been thinking about those recently. You ever remember cereal as something worth cherishing. Not as just bullshit that TV convinced you to want? God damn, now I want Cookie Crisp. Cookie Crisp wasn’t even ever that good. Why do I want Cookie Crisp?

So also sitting around the table were the faceless versions of her father, mother, and her brother. Just chilling. No BD. Seen Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind?

Yes, I know that references aren’t jokes - fuck you, I’m painting a picture and I CAN’T PAINT, THAT’S WHY THIS ISN’T A COMIC. Fucks sake. Anyway. So, Gwen is so creeped out that she just sits her butt down by Evil Gwen as if she’s the comforting presence here.

Her name’s too long. Let’s call Evil Gwen uh…….Gren. You know, like Grendel from Beowulf. I haven’t actually read Beowulf and this is all a little confusing but I'm solving problems here. Writing this is harder for me than you would think so it’s best to keep things flowing off the cuff. That’s the Gwenpool™ style anyway, isn’t it? Are you laughing yet? IMPROV. “YES AND” MY SHIT, READER!

“So, you ever really look into the retconned past thing, hun?” Gren said, moving her tongue around her food. Being gross as an attempt to be properly evil. She swallowed before continuing. “This is all I could really put together on short notice but i’m pretty sure what the future people created, all that stuff to try and trick you, it was all bullshit.”

“What do you mean? Are you trying to convince me to go all psycho like you again?” Gwen asked, exasperated, realizing she was now back in the whole ‘fuck with Gwen to decide her fate’ song and dance routine from the end of her first arc.

“Nah, not really.” Gren said. A hammer appeared in her hands out of nowhere and Gren swung it into their fake father’s head, snapping his neck..

“DAD!” Gwen instinctively cried as she saw her father’s body slump to the floor. Gren slapped Gwen’s face. “That’s it,” Gren said, “this is what the trick was.This is a poorly created character in a fictional story. Meant to manipulate you into attaching your concept of “father” to it. Even his finished version in the original comics run wasn’t THAT well drawn. Your dad read like a boomer’s idea of a responsible parent. You were going through a mental crisis and struggling to find purpose in life and his genius idea was get a shitty low paying job and suck it up?”

Gren turned to their brother, pushed his face to the table and smashed the back of his skull. . “Brother dearest, too. Going right along with their victim blaming. He gaslighted you as if what you were going through was just you being ‘irresponsible.’ Bitch, people working a minimum wage job aren’t somehow not impoverished and miserable because they get some of that ‘honest work’ that folks keep badgering on about. Minimum wage work is occupied by many physically and mentally disabled people held hostage; they’re people society only pretends to care about. Then they turn it all into you acting like some world ending threat. No questions about what drove you to the edge in the first place. You are just ‘unstable,’ so you’re just a problem to be solved. They say, ‘Let’s all solve this girl being upset and on edge by ruining her concept of self, reality, and memory.’ Brilliant!”

Gwen barely processed this in horror. Gren then slit the poor facsimile of their mother’s throat while continuing to rant, “You see people die all the time, Gwen. Half of the time you are doing the killing. You do it because it’s in a story. In a story the NPCs don’t matter and, after all, your original schtick in the story was to be kill-crazy. The non-marketable characters can be replaced or retconned at the stroke of the artist’s pen.” Gren leans forward as she pulls a Gwenpool mask over Gwens face. “Then the writers convince you that you have some middle class milk toast family and you take abuse and subsume your emotional needs because the problem MUST be you. You aren’t ‘normal’ so you have to be fixed.”

Gwen wiped her eyes over the mask and sighed. A bit of fire filled her gut as she stared at Gren. “So fucking what? You want me to go on a killing spree and be a big time villain to get myself a nice, shiny permanent big bad status? That’s how I stay around right? Just build my legacy on bodies?”

Gren scoffed “You already lost that fight, girly. Where do you think we are? Because this ain’t Marvel Comics.”

Confused, Gwen blinked and tried reaching for the page margins, finding nothing. Wait….why was everything on this page so ill defined and undetailed? Wait? Why was the story in kinda wobbly third person past tense?

Gwen sighed “Oh. I’m in a fanfic. I guess the publishing fight is for another day eh?”

“My advice, personally,” Gren stated, “is that you consider the lobster.”

“Wait, what the fuck?”

Gren pulled aside the kitchen curtains revealing the face of a giant lobster, its claws tapping on the glass. The lobster muttering gutterally about personal responsibility.

“Because there’s a couple thousand giant lobsters outside that would like to claw you until you read their book.”

--

Scared of Girls

On the rooftop, Gren shoved a high powered rifle into Gwen’s hands while she handled the close range threats. So, this conversation they’re about to have is important. Sniping puts Gwen into a sort of zen space, so that’s a better task to keep her focused, after all.

“So, what? You wanted me to internalize that my “origin story” is bullshit? Okay, what does that accomplish, then?” Gwen asked in a bit of a deadpan. She was so tired today. Not really feeling her happy go lucky energy. More like a “happy go fucky” energy. It was hard to always be on a knife's edge. Still the rifle’s kick into her shoulder was satisfying as she blew through two of the creepy looking lobsters at once. “Also, why the lobsters?”

Gren considered this. “Okay, last question first, I had to experiment a lot and do a lot of research to construct this place for your learning and healing in fanfic form....These buddies are a failed experiment of mine that I repurposed because the fic needed more action. Isn’t that right, giant enemy crap?” As she peppers the nearest goon with a hail of shotgun pellets the entire throng of them burst out, sharply muttering about divine symbols.

“As for what I'm trying to teach you, it’s that you aren’t reaching your potential.” Gren grumpily huffed.

“Duh,” Gwen reloads, “I mean you just killed a mannequin version of the voice in my head that says that to me every day.” one of those crustaceans talks about feminine symbolism while she decides on her next target.

“Not like fake daddy’s ‘Be a responsible member of society by paying your taxes’ type of potential. I mean your creative and emotional potential.” Gren flipped off the slavering throng of monsters, noticing they were starting to keep their distance from the roof.

“I never did finish that fanfic idea I had.” Gwen mused.

“God, don’t mention that,” Gren thrusts a finger at Gwenpool. “Not that I don’t respect fanfic, but when comic book writers make you and Kamala squee about fanfiction to try and relate to “the kids” it comes across as so condescending.”

“Really? I mean…..I'm sure it’s meant as support for the concept?”

“Most fucking superhero comics are just legalized fanfiction! The people who created the characters are either long gone or working on someone else’s characters! They just think they are so much better because they got fucking paid. They can’t imagine themselves as on the same playing field as fanficcers even though most of them have the same level of connection to the roots of the work as anyone else.” Gren groused loudly as she seemed to pull Reed Richards out of nowhere.

Confused, Reed looked around until his eyes met Gwen’s.“Oh great, you again.” Reed groaned as he turned to survey the piles of lobster gibs while Gwen cheered the lobster forces’ retreat with a resounding “EDF, EDF!”. The scattered creatures skittered amongst the bland scenery. It looked like a suburban neighborhood but someone forgot to color in the sky….or write that the sky had color. A castle hung out in the distance breaking up the generic normalcy and lay cloaked in shadow despite being surrounded by an endless white void.

“And…..black….you?” Reed pointed to Gren, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I have an evil future self….well I stopped that future so it’s an….evil...alternate timeline self?” Gwen said with a nervous chuckle, abandoning the kill quest for the minute and rested her rifle on the roof.

“Ah. Yeah I’ve been down that road. It’s a rather common occurrence. Multiverse being what it is.” Reed laughed heartily while putting his hands on his hips.

“I’m not sure I’m evil, honestly,” Gren interjected. “I think I’m just really fucking grumpy and I’m slightly more gung-ho on the homicide. Considering Gwen’s already one of the more kill crazy characters on the roster it’s not that much of a distinction.” Gren flipped her cape. “My main distinction is I don’t like that meme from The Incredibles! You can just make it so the cape detaches automatically when it’s pulled hard enough!”

“You could still have it tangled up around your face.” Reed pointed out in his standard know-it-all fashion.

“Don’t make me go into fuck wife mode, stretch.” Gren spat. “Okay, anyway, so I brought him here to illustrate a point. Reed. Explain particle physics to me as a laymen.”

“Huh...i’m not sure why but okay. Particle physics (also known as high energy physics) is a branch of physics that studies the nature of the particles that constitute matter and radiation. Although the word particle can refer to various types of very small objects (e.g. protons, gas particles, or even household dust), particle physics usually investigates the irreducibly smallest detectable particles and the fundamental interactions necessary to explain their behaviour. In current understanding, these elementary particles are excitations of the quantum fields that also govern their interactions. The currently dominant theory explaining these fundamental particles and fields, along with their dynamics, is called the Standard Model. Thus, modern particle physics generally investigates the Standard Model and its various possible extensions, e.g. to the newest "known" particle, the Higgs boson, or even to the oldest known force field, gravity.” Reed rattled this off rather mechanically.

Gren then took out her phone and showed Gwen the Wikipedia article on “Particle Physics,” which is naturally the same words that Reed had regurgitated above, just without any formatting and, again, on a phone.

“Reed can’t be a genius in any subject unless he’s written by a genius in that subject. That’s how stories work. Everyone is limited by the understanding and capabilities of the writer. Same with your origin story and all the people you’ve interacted with. If you are as ‘meta’ as you think you are then you have to realize that you aren’t actually talking to people. You are talking to the writer. Dr. Strange didn’t rewrite your existence to be a part of the Marvel Universe. As far as most of Marvel continuity goes Dr. Strange was never there and doesn’t know or care about his MCU casting…..Hey Reed, buzz off please before the conversation pivots to why you haven’t cured all known diseases.”

Reed looked a little surprised but then pulled out a teleportation device (of course he has one) and blipped away with a shrug.

“How awkward is that going to be when he enters the MCU after Kamala is already introduced with a very similar power set?” Gwen chuckled.

“Keep up the way you’ve been going and you’ll never see it. I’m not exactly expecting a young blonde girl casting call for Deadpool 3 and that’s your best bet.” Gren snarked. Gwen winced with a sigh.

“I don’t get what I'm doing wrong. I have a fanbase comparable to some of the characters that have already shown up but I can’t even get comics written about me most of the time. An MCU push seems unlikely. They would literally have to deal with completely recontextualizing my powers and gimmick”

“Let’s ask her what you should do.” Gren motioned her way to the suddenly appearing long hair future Gwen, looming over them like The Attack of the 50 foot Woman for some reason. Dwarfing the roof they are on. Let’s call her BIGwen!

--

Gold Guns Girls

As BIGwen acclimated to her surroundings she stubbed her toe on a car, dramatically flipping it so that it took out a few more lobsters before caving in a nearby house. The lamentations about clean rooms soaring as the remaining couple dozen of them attempt to clean up some of the bodies of their fallen kin. The large and sort-of-in-charge Gwen hissed in pain and adjusted her boot. Getting her balance as best as possible she muttered curses that traveled rather well considering the lung capacity of a giant.

“You know,” Gren started, “I wasn’t expecting much from our previous uses of the ‘make her big for emphasis’ trick, but it really does only work as a vague ghostly background element. I didn’t just want it to be ‘oh, here's a third Gwen for the conversation, though. Would lack umph.”

“ Yeah, I get it, but staring at my own giant taint is unsettling.” Gwen muttered.

“I’d still, hit it.” Gren grinned, then immediately got punched in the arm. “OWWW! Look, I’m the evil one here and we’re in a fanfic. I’m allowed to make internet fetish jokes.”

“And I’m allowed to hit you for it.”.

“Dirty lampshading goody two shoes. Don’t act like half your fanbase isn’t thirsty. It’s “insert current year argument”, all art is sexy to someone.” Gren complained back,rubbing her arm before hopping off the roof. Gwen followed while listening as patiently as she could considering how many changes in topic her evil-caped self is going through to get to her point. “This chick is the reason you’ve been on the path of good girl. Some vague idea that in the future everything will work out for the best. HEY, DOWN HERE, BIG SHOW!” Gren waved at BIGwen and she looked down curiously.

“Yeah what??” BIGwen responded in a booming and agitated tone. Honestly, being in this fic made every version of Gwen a little grumpy.

“How’s she supposed to be a popular hero that makes it into the MCU and has a stable publication history?” Gren asked.

“Fuck if I know.” Came BIGwen’s response. “Have you tried growing your hair out?”

“Rub it in,” Gwen muttered under her breath, “I’m not gonna lie, I’m kind of depressed now.” Gwen said as she sat on an abandoned car.

Gren hopped on the roof of the car, patting Gwen’s shoulder before squatting with enough force to flex the car’s shocks like a rocking chair just to amuse herself. “Future “good” Gwen wasn’t an actual plot point, it was a call to action to the fans to make fanfic like this and support the character outside of the actual Canon. Chris didn’t trust that Marvel would treat the character right. That, and your obsession with getting a new book, are both the writer’s attempt to turn a marketing tactic into fan engagement. If you want to be real then that makes the fans want you to be real even more, too.”

Gwen sighs heavily and leans her chin on one hand. “I mean...the time traveling through the life of an NPC fan complete with a Never Ending Story reference was a bit sappy even by the standard we sometimes set...damn it it really was just kind of a fan manipulation trick wasn’t it?”

BIGwen Sat down on the street next to them and crossed her legs. “Hey, little me. Don’t get too down. I mean it worked for the most part. You have a healthy cult following. Characters have survived on less and there are worse things to be known for then as a fan first character”

“But I have to fight for attention all the damn time, though. It’s so easy for Wade with his fucking meme bullshit. He even gets runoff enthusiasm from me. Jeff the land shark is all over Oldpool online” Gwen felt rather heavy and tired all of a sudden. Marvel editorial forcing a gun to your head is not a fun way to be.

“All that fight is hell on the fanbase too.” Gren sighed. “Advocating for shit, getting crumbs and being expected to accept it while Disney lavishes all the attention based on some bullshit numbers game. Even if you make it into the MCU will it be a Batroc style cameo with obligatory ‘killed off in case we don’t feel like paying the actor again later.’ Will it be an emotionally rounded character or an ambush bug style joke? The thing is. You're Not the one fighting and you never were.”

“The fuck do you mean?”

“This version of her doesn’t know?” BIGwen whimpered.

“You aren’t real, Gwen.”

--

Head Like a Haunted House

“No….we aren’t having this conversation. Fuck you fuck you i’m not a fucking Nihlist and i’m not going to do this right now.” Gwen said as she scrambled off of the car and pulled out some guns. BIGwen then picked her up off the ground.

“You need to hear this, Gwen,” BIGwen boomed. “The gimmick has run its course. It’s fucking with your canon. You’re never going to be a marketable character keeping up a half fourth-wall Kayfabe”

Gren climbed onto BIGwen’s Shoulders and perched over Gwen all menacing like. “You need to listen. I’ve been trying to ease you into this. Making things more meta slowly until you were ready but it was never going to be easy.”

One of Gwen’s guns was fired from it’s holster and pierced one of BIGwen’s fingers. BIGwen screamed and her grip loosened. Soon Gwen was on the move running up her arm and firing at Gren, who dodged like the nimble and cute badass she is. “Don’t do this Gwen. Just because it doesn’t matter to the comic version of you doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.”

“I’m a real person god damn it! I read the comics out there! I came in! That’s why I know shit I shouldn't know. That’s what I am! THAT’S ALL I AM!” Gwen shrieked as she pulled out a sword from hammer-space and decapitated BIGwen. Suddenly a mess of colored streamers and a pile of Mickey Mouse merch tumbled out. Look, I am busy right now. Gwen is still slashing at my ass. I'm not going to explain it.

For some reason now the remaining lobsters were helping Gren. For Gwen’s own good you understand. This is proof that I’m right for some reason.

Gwen pulled out a revolver, firing pumpkin sized holes in lobsters who were still wailing about self actualization. She fully planned on shoving a sword up her evil self’s ass and getting rid of this doppelganger shit for good. Which is total bullshit by the way. She totally just cut off Gren’s leg because what the fuck you mean I’m not real? I’m going to be real all over your corpse.

Gren didn’t really think that was even a good comeback and also thought you should probably say it instead of meta willing the smack talk into existence, otherwise this fanfic is going to read like trash. Also, Gren’s leg wasn’t actually cut off. In a puff of smoke it is revealed that the cut off leg is a log and her leg is fine. Gren is a ninja now, believe it.

Gwen proceeded to do a sick ass CQC judo throw on Gren and then grab her cape and wrap it around her face like Reed suggested. Callbacks for the win! Callbacks to Checkov’s gun ideas always lead to victory in fights! She then totally shot at her and such.

But the bullet was caught by the cape because the cape was a symbiote! That’s right Gren is also GRENOM!...boy that sounds stupid. Anywho, the cape was no longer around her face and the fight continued and Gren now ALSO had extra powers and special wizard-symbiote armor (that would only show up in the MCU version if Marvel finally got the Sony characters back). The meta powers work like shit in text but this would be really good in CGI or animation if Marvel wanted to adapt this fic and give the writer lots of money. Gren still has more experience with them, though, and Gwen can’t really just kill her way out of this fic so she has to just let the story play out.

…...eh?....oh Gwen’s crying. I love/am you girl but we gotta work on the crying. Fucks sake this is harder than I thought. I’m depressed now too. Well I'll try to get the writing back on track so you guys can see what is going on. Even the lobsters are minding their manners now. Chill vibes, guys.

“The marvel character page for Gwenpool says, and I quote:

Gwenpool arrived in the Marvel Universe from the “real world,” but has wasted no time in making the most of her time in her fictional universe. Using her knowledge of comics to her advantage, Gwenpool causes and solves problems for her fellow heroes.”

Gren drags a lobster corpse slowly toward Gwen and sits on its tail as she talks to her. Taking her time to really scrape the lobster against the ground, smearing the gore on the pavement. Not that it was heavy for her or anything. Totally still has that symbiote, which would make moving it easy. Totally wasn’t a detail added in the second revision of the fic slightly before the lobsters were added.

“The words “Real world” are in quotation marks in that wiki. Real people don’t make it into comics because fiction isn’t real. Half of your versions barely make use of the ‘real person’ gimmick because it’s too meta by half and not every writer wants to waste time justifying it. So they just treat it like Deadpool’s medium awareness. Which it mostly is.”

“I really am just a fucking rip off distaff character.” Gwen moans. “Just a Gwen combined with a Pool. I’m worse than the Batman who laughs. I never mattered because I was never real”

“Fuck don’t say that. You were made with love and care by a team of creators who took a weird offshoot idea and built out a compelling metafiction idea and a likeable protagonist off of it. They just didn’t have the time and foresight to go far enough.” Gren sighed.

“Far enough?” Gwen sniffed as she was pulled up to her feet and dragged toward one of the big castles. As they walked Gren kicked along a Mickey Mouse doll that had rolled out of BIGwen’s severed head. Every time it bounced it cheerfully said ‘hahah. I love you!’

“Too much haha, not enough trauma. You’re not just a joke character.” Gren said as she kicked the Mickey doll into the big front door of the castle. The shadowy thing of course lighting up and being all fantasy and shit as the door opened.

“Well I did end both of my comic runs pretty mopey.”

“Damn right you did. When the jokes run thin they run to your real bread and butter. You’re an empathy machine.” As Gren shoves Gwen through the gate they are swallowed up in the castle, going dark again. “Let’s getcha sad clown on.”

--

Never there

“See, what evil me should have been telling you about in the original run is how to find meaning and purpose when technically nothing means anything. Comic book characters live in a world without real death and suffering. It’s all a puppet show version of real pain and real emotion meant to bring that out of an audience.” Gren opined as they walked through a black void to a couch floating in a nothing area lit only by the static of an old TV.

“Can we turn on a light?” Gwen asked as she sat on the couch. Gren sat on another recliner that suddenly appeared and put her feet up.

“Fuck off. Ambiance is a thing. We aren’t having a ‘lights on with something fun on the TV’ conversation. So look, I am not really ‘evil gwen.’ I’m half an author insert and half a plot device. If we are talking about the reality of the story you are basically talking to yourself. I am speaking about the things you don’t want to admit to yourself. You know, you’ve seen this kind of story sorta... right?” Gren picked up the remote and frustratedly changed channels between a bunch of vaguely illustrative footage on the TV, not finding anything that worked. A lot of black and white footage of trains for some reason. Just what comes to mind when I think of documentary footage? Weird.

“I am not sure how to illustrate this shit visually and this is a text story anyway so I would have to explain the illustration,” Gren griped.

“I basically get it. It’s not that uncommon a trope.” Gwen nodded.

“Because of the level of meta we are on right now we have to really acknowledge that you are basically an author insert, too. I mean, to a certain extent every version of you is more the writer that is working with your character at the time than a set character.” Gren said as she settled on a visual of Gwen being pushed out the window by her own narration text in the original comic run. When all else fails, resort to footage from the last story. That way people can look it up online!

“Right here is where the character crystallized in the mind of the author of the current fic we are in. A vague suicide metaphor wrapped up in the flavor of self destructive escapism. Your parents in the story thought it was a suicide attempt on at least some level. This is serious business. Not just a girl who doesn’t like work and can’t finish her fanfic. In this comic you are built on this understanding. The writer of this fic has ADHD and autism. So his version of you more or less has it, too. Writers bring themselves with them into their work.”

Gwen nods and takes a deep breath. “I….I can feel it. Like the world is closing around you. You aren’t built for anything that anyone wants from you. The one thing you really believe in, the one thing that really defines you, the stories in your head…..it’s just not enough.

You can’t trust you’ll ever make it with writing because you can barely write. You barely have the energy to do anything but wish that you weren’t you. What if someone actually listened? Actually believed in you and whisked you away somewhere else where the world would fit your needs? What if you were someplace you could be someone else, someone strong and confident?”

“Yeah. Like a funny anti hero in a comic for instance.” Gren nodded. “But the original comics sort of left the theme on the table. They were captured by the misconception of Gwen as the problem and not a person who needed help. All that desperation that real fans of the character might feel just bundled up into love for this character that really ‘gets’ them but Marvel doesn’t ‘get’ the character. They won't use her. They won’t go past vaguely gesturing at her mental issues and moving on. They saved the angst for Wandavision.” Gren scoffs.

“I mean the show was okay but they literally have a character built entirely on the theme of escapism and trauma. One that’s custom built for mind-screw visuals and reality bending plots and they think she’s just a lazy fangirl who really likes guns that they can sit beside Deadpool sometimes and stick in the X-Men’s bloated background character roster when they don’t need her.”

Gren leads Gwen off the couch and deeper into the void where a door to a bedroom waits. A room like her own, absolutely slopping over with old toys of comic book characters. An unclean messy space in a run-down house that smells faintly of cigarette smoke. Huddled in bed, reading an 80s era X-men comic with a flashlight, is a 12 year old Gwen.

“This is never going to be canon but this is the version of Gwen in this fic. She can’t stop crying at school. Things that shouldn’t be hard are so hard and she can’t explain why. Everyone says she’s making excuses. Meanwhile her mother is fucked out of her mind on pain killers and her step father killed himself last year ‘cleaning his gun’ while drunk. You know exactly what is on her mind right now?” Gren says as she gestures at the girl.

“I wish the superheroes would save me from this.”

“They won’t. They can’t. They were never meant to.” Gren Slams the door loudly on the scene.

“That is the emotional core of Gwenpool in this fic. The desperation that so many of the fans down here in the fucking muck of the real world feel. Poor and emotionally unfulfilled. Confused and vulnerable. If Disney and Marvel gave two fucking shits about people like that they wouldn’t waste as many stories as they do. They wouldn’t just use untold wealth to make expensive escapist stories with the military. Their gestures toward progressive ideas that they occasionally make in their stories would be THE ENTIRE POINT of their stories and the actual thing they used that money for instead of lobbying the government to keep Mickey Mouse out of the public domain.

“Disney has the power yet they save a fucking miniscule fraction of who they could. Saving people doesn’t make money.”

--

When I Get To The Green Building

Gren stormed through the void. The scene disintegrated around her as Gwen followed. Both now in a bit of a sour mood but with newfound determination.

“Come to think of it. Why is the fucking Hulk getting to fight for social justice in the comics? Why are they making a gay alternate universe Captain America? Why are they grasping at straws so hard to find characters that get to advocate and I am just sitting on a fucking island being grumpy?” Gwen groused. “I’m pretty sure I’m pansexual….at least in this fic. I could advocate for a bunch of shit at once.”

“You have a youth fanbase, a unique story and you technically aren’t an alternate universe version of fucking anything no matter how many people still think you are a Stacey. They made a fucking ‘for the fans’ character and then neglected it. Presumably because some fucking money making metric didn’t pan out despite the comics just being an MCU test kitchen and IP farm anyway.”

“You’re a fucking check mark on a ledger. I don’t even know if anyone technically created Gwenpool as a whole and Disney/Marvel can give the character to whoever they want to do whatever they want completely separate from what the fanbase wants and needs because she isn’t established. The IP landlords have spoken. The fans haven’t risen to enough ‘buy my merch’ calls to action to invest more resources. So tease endlessly until that changes.”

“Gah. Now I'm actually as pissed as you are.” Gwen said as she started fiddling with her guns. “Who do I kill?”

“We can’t do shit. You’re not even a character at this point. You are a meme for an underused character.” Gren smirked all evil like. “See but that’s it. You aren’t just a meme. You’re a MEME.”

“Uhm...I don't follow.”

“Like the concept of Justice. Gwenpool is an idea. Defined entirely by how people who engage with the idea choose to engage with it. The IP law means Disney owns Gwenpool but they don’t own how Gwenpool is perceived. Just like we as a people decide what justice is through popular consent we also decide what Gwenpool is. You see they made a character for the fans…..in my opinion that means the fans can do as they like with it even if it makes Disney uncomfortable.”

“I mean they can’t even stop porn of their characters just because of the sheer volume of the problem. I suppose people could do whatever.” Gwen nodded.

“Exactly. So the fans should just fucking Occupy Gwenpool!” Gren said as she flipped her cape dramatically with a mad smile on her face. That’s right. She was Dirtbag Leftist Gwen all along!

“Squat on that IP. Make Gwenpool a mental health advocate. Make her an LGBTQ activist. Make her fight for social and financial justice so hard that Bruce Banner looks like a poser. Make her talk shit about politicians who put their career ahead of the people. Do all the shit that makes the comicsgate crowd sad. Keep politics in our stories! Rally around that pink and white ass so hard they have to notice and then tie it all to the fact that Disney has great power and with great power they take no responsibility for how shitty the world is.”

“ If they are going to fuck Gwenpool fans they gotta learn Gwenpool fans fuck back. We have already proven we can make all kinds of cool shit. Let’s get serious and make more, harder, faster! Get a hashtag or some shit. They can't DMCA all of us! GWEN IS OURS WE JUST HAVE TO REACH OUT AND TAKE IT. Then they either respect the character and her fans or they just hit a PR disaster.”

“Marvel/Disney neglects fan focused cult character themed protest movements. Proves they are only progressive when it makes them money. They’re so worried about Mickey ending up in the public domain? We’re the public domain! After our entire lives stannin their characters and buyin their merch building them from an animation house into a juggernaut they are just another weight on top of the boot on our necks. They have to take responsibility!” At this point Gren is pretty much ranting maniacally and neglecting the actual writing of the story so this is Gwen taking over to wrap up.

Guys I may not be ‘the real Gwen’ but really, isn’t the version of Gwen that actually came from the real world all of us? Isn’t Gwenpool really the Gwens we made along the way? We could easily bring a little heroism and chaos to the real world (at least to the internet) if we really tried. Put the fear of God into some IP landlords and fight for some cool people that society is screwing over, too.

Prove that even in the fandom abyss people aren’t as powerless as they seem. Use that internet comic fan mobbing for something besides giving Zack more money. Disney is gearing up for their next IP fight for Mickey in 2024. Seems like a fine time for IP themed protests. For now we just need to spread the word that our needs are more important than their profits.

It’s been real. It’s been long. It’s been a real long time coming…..

But I finally finished my fanfic.

See ya, true believers.

[beebubb]

William grossman: becoming a pasta

(also i mention my OC amari here but they're just friends and roommates here. No romantic things)(also this might be kinda long and I mention some stuff about my creepypasta AU so if you don't wanna be confused you can check it out!)

Like I mentioned in an old post, will and LJ went on a lot of self discovery adventures for Will.

It was always will's dream to become a popular killer like Jeff but sense he couldn't actually bring himself to kill someone, he would doubt himself a lot and would sometimes just be so upset or angry at himself

Will: maybe coming to the underworld was a mistake.. I shouldn't have come here...

LJ: come on bud! There's gotta be something here you're good at!

They had literally tried many things.

Will worked for a surgeon for literally a day before he got fired. He couldn't bring himself to dissect someone. Yes he had seen dead bodies before out on the street but he couldn't bring himself to be the one to actually commit to doing it

He also tried to be a bounty hunter/hitman but, ended up quitting immediately after he was told to kill a family

He even worked at a black market that was hiring someone to just care for the oragans they sold. It was going pretty well but, lets say it was will's first time seeing an actual beating human heart

Will: what else could I be good at?!? Everything here involves killing! And I can't even kill someone if it depended on my damn life...

LJ: you could still try for your dream of being a slender proxy!

Will: but being a proxy involves killing! Maybe I should just go back to the human world... I don't even have my mark! I didn't get a permanent smile like Jeff or red bleeding eyes like ben!

Amari: I don't have any cool marks either!

Will: but atleast you got skulls shapes on your eyes! I didn't get anything! Maybe I just wasn't meant to be here...

Amari hated seeing will so upset. She knew his dream was to work for slenderman, and obviously, she wanted him to achieve it. She got lucky and worked for him from time to time, so she was sure she could talk to slender and see if will had a chance.

How he met slenderman

Amari went to see her boss a few days later. AKA slenderman. She explained to him his situation and, he actually wanted to meet him!

Slenderman isn't judgemental like many in the underworld think he is. He can see potential in someone even at their lowest.

She obviously went to the apartment to tell will the good news

Amari: will! You aren't going to believe this but i talked to slenderman about you and....he wants to see you!

Will: what?!? Are you serious?!

Amari: yep!

Will: holy shit!! Let me take a quick shower then!

Will took a shower and once he was ready he followed amari to the slender mansion.

Once they got there, masky did the regular check for weapons on him (it's normal for them to check new people that go into slenderman's meeting room just to make sure of any weapons or suspicious items)

Will was calm but was holding in his inner fanboy.

"I can't believe I'm seeing slender's most valuable proxy!!! Holy shit!!!"

LJ wasn't all that excited sense he already knew pretty much every pasta and knew what it was like living in the mansion/manor.

LJ: "what a hassle...."

LJ wasn't really aware of all the dangers the proxies tried to prevent. He just saw it as a way to show off their wealth and to think they were better than others

Once they were clear, masky took them to the meeting room

Even if will wasn't sure if he could get a chance working with slenderman, there was one thing he was definetly certain of.

Get their autographs

No way he was gonna waste his visit to the slender mansion and NOT get their autographs.

Masky: you may go inside

Will: um....could i get your autograph please?

Masky: oh, yes

Will: yes!! *takes out a scrapbook he made* here!

Masky: *signs in* there

Will: thank you so much!!!

LJ: come on! You look like a dork!

Will: ok ok! And I'm not gonna waste my visit and not get their autographs *goes into the meeting room*

Once they got in they were immediately greeted by slenderman

"Glad you came here william, please, take a seat"

William was so excited by seeing slenderman in person but was also terrified about what he would think of him.

Will became really shy and nervous while talking

Slenderman: so i heard you were interested in working with me later on but you had a few doubts on your own abilities, could you tell me more?

Will: i um....*fidgeting with his fingers*

LJ: he wants to be a proxy but he has trouble actually killing someone. So we wanna know his chances of actually becoming one

Slenderman: ah I see, well I'll have to look at some other assets, do you have any school documents?

Will: *nods and takes out a folder with his school papers*

These kind of meetings were actually pretty common so slenderman already knew what to look for in school documents

Will's grades weren't that good tbh

He had many subjects he struggled with. On his report cards, pretty much every subject had D's and C's, and the occasional F's. Only is P. E he had a B.

Slenderman usually looked for atleast a B average

Though the only straight A's that will got, were in chemistry

Slenderman: I see you're proficient in chemistry, how come that's the only subject you get A's in?

Will: well um.... It's pretty much the only subject that I like....

Slenderman: may I ask what your under realm mark you for when you arrived here?

Will: i didn't get anything...

Slender seemed kinda surprised at his answer.

He opened up a locked drawer on his desk and took out a heavy book and went through the pages and stopped at one with a picture of a hand with lines

Slenderman: may I see your hand?

Will: uh... Sure? *shows him his hand*

Slenderman seemed really intrigued with will's hand.

LJ and Amari were extremely confused.

Amari knew pretty much the process of these type of meetings but when she was applying as an apprentice for slenderman, slender didn't ask to see her hand like he did with will

Once slender was done checking will's hand, he looked through more of his records

LJ: um.... So what do you think? He has a bit of potential right?

Slenderman seemed lost in though for a second but replied

"William, have you ever took any.... Magic classes or considered taking one?"

The three of them were surprised.

Like, magic? They knew that magic existed in the underworld but why would he think will would Want to study it?

Magic is a really complicated subject and depending on what element you were granted or want to control, it takes a lot of discipline and training and it is rarely recommended to the top students at the institution sense it was pretty much college level

LJ: why do you ask that?

Will: yeah I mean... I'm barely passing and I don't know if my grades are even good enough for me to graduate this year.

Slenderman: well i don't know how you didn't see this before but, look

Slenderman turned the book to their direction

LJ and amari were shocked

LJ: will you?!?

Will: *looking at the book and at his hand* wait....holy shi-i mean oh my god! I have powers?!

Slenderman: i looked through your records and i see you're part of the grossman family.

LJ: uh yeah he had a great grandpa but how does that explain this? He never had any sort of contact with magic

Slenderman: maybe not him exactly but, she did

Slenderman pulled out a picture from isaac's record folder (all demons and rulers from hell and the under realm have a record of their citizens) and pulled out the picture of a woman

Slenderman: she's ida grossman. Isaac grossman's great grandmother. She was killed for practising witchcraft. It would explain why will was granted magic here in the under realm.

LJ: sense he has this power, how come i never saw it before? I've been with him ever sense he was born!

Slenderman: well his power is still undeveloped sense he never had any proper training or took any classes. He has the mark on his hand but if he wants to actually use his abilities, he'll need to start practicing.

LJ now understood, and was happy for will

LJ: how can he start?

Slenderman: well,i have a proxy named sherry that knows about this, she could be will's tutor. Also I have been really interested in getting an apprentice with magical abilities but it has been difficult finding one, but if will wants to work with me then..

Slenderman took out an apprentice application

Slenderman: I could take him in as my personal sorcerer

LJ: well, what do ya say bud? Do you wan-

Will: yes!!!!!

Will didn't even think twice on his answer. Of course he wanted to work as slenderman's apprentice in magic.

He felt like his life had literally no direction but now everything was changing. He felt more confident than ever

LJ: do these classes have a price or somethin'?

Slenderman: it's usually 50 per class in a normal school but it depends if my proxy wants to charge for them or not sense she teaches them individually.

Will: oh....

Amari: ah don't worry i can pay for them!

Will: you don't gotta do that!

Amari: it's fine! You're my friend, we should help each other out

Slenderman: so I'm guessing that it's settled then?

Will: yeah!

Slenderman: alright then, I'll just need a signature of your parent or guardian on the application

LJ gave his signature

Slenderman: thank you. Well you're ready to go. All you need to do now is finish your last month at the institution and once you're done, I'll have amari bring you here again to start your training.

Will: yes! Thank you! Um one more thing, could I get your autograph sir?

Slenderman: oh yes of course!

Once slenderman signed his notebook they thanked him and were free to go

Who knew that will was more special than many thought he was.

I hope you guys liked this! I'll be making more parts!

Also i know will wasn't really developed in the Creeps comic so I kinda let myself create his character more.

Also this was inspired by a headcanon I saw where will was granted powers so I wanted to include that into his character.

[vole-mon-amour]

OTP tag game.

Tagged by @captainjowl. You know for sure than I'm struggling to pick only 10 & fit them in here. But hell, that’s fun, thank you <3

Rules: Choose 10 OTPs BEFORE reading the questions, and then get to answering

1) Harry James Potter & Sirius Orion Black

2) Daniel Le Domas & Grace (Ready or Not 2019)

3) Samuel & Nathan Drake (Uncharted 4)

4) Corvo Attano & The Outsider (+probably Emily Kaldwin; Dishonored series)

5) Steve Grant Rogers & Bucky Buchanan Barnes (Marvel)

6) Tony Edward Stark & Peter Benjamin Parker (Marvel)

7) Handsome Jack & Rhys (Borderlands video game series)

8) Damon Salvatore & Elena Gilbert (TVD Books & a tv show)

9) Batman & Joker (in every universe, really)

10) Adam Jensen x Francis Pritchard (Deus Ex video game series)

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

I believe it didn't hit me before Spider-Man: Homecoming. Civil War was about Steve & Bucky for me, but when I saw that growing up Peter with Tony, their dynamic, chemistry. Tom & Robert are really just like that.

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2?

Lmao. I've read like 50% of the tag on AO3, I wrote my own & started a few wips on them. They are amazing. Plus, with that shitty canon? We didn't get enough of them & they deserved better, so it's only logical to save yourself with fanfiction.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver?

I was living with The Outsider icon on my twitter & tumblr. That one is still my Google profile picture I believe. Don't remember about having an icon with the two of them. Also had The Outsider as my lockscreen on my smartphone for a while.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

Funny how it fits canon, lmao. Rhys literally tried to erase Jack's AI in TFTBL, so I guess another day on Pandora, nothing new. They torture each other, they kiss each other, they kill other people in the process. It'll be fiiine.

5. Why is 1 so important?

I love them since the first time I met them, which was much more than 10 years ago, I don't even remember when. At some point they were the reason I was waking up & forcing myself to eat just to read more fanfiction & feel something. Even if I was drowning in pain (I was extremely depressed), it was still something. I read every fic I could find at that time. The depression that Harry went through, all these feelings, his love for Sirius. I was living through it, I could relate.

I'm currently drowning in these two again, though in a much healthier & happier state. I see their flaws & I know as much as I can. I see them differently as an adult. They saved me, they keep being my number one, I still consider making a tattoo of Padfoot/Sirius or of both Harry & Sirius together. I have many headcanons, ideas, I write fics about them. They are everything, you see? They were my choice when there was nothing, no one. They are HOME.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

Both. There goes the dynamic of Jack & Rhys: torture, fighting, flirting, a lot of trauma. I'd definitely say that they are wild and comical sometimes, but they are definitely serious. With the Asylum, the mental health issues. There is so much more to it, the complexity of their relationship. The struggle of loving who you probably shouldn't (but hey, when does it work like that?) Thinking about Tettlate's Batman, about Batman: Europa & how Joker was: "You must be crazy, putting me in charge of the plan, letting me decide. Okay, well..."

Nah, they are entertaining, but this is a serious ship.

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Are you kidding me? They are all the definition of CHEMISTRY. I'd say 5, but then go 2, 6, 7, 8. Come on. I'm not choosing. Most of they are WILD.

9. How many times have you read/watched the 10’s fandom?

The fandom itself? Idk. I found one of my favourite artists through this fandom. If it's about the characters themselves, I played the first game with the DLC from start to beginning, looking around every corner. Spent more than 60 hours in there. Watched a second game (my laptop can't run the game) and the DLC (obviously), since Francis is in the DLC & not in the main game. I have a tag for them on tumblr, I read fanfiction, I tried to write my own. I still follow Elias & want a third game. Elias liked my tweets about Adam and Jensen being an actual couple a few times. I'd say I interacted with all of this a lot? Still do, actually.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

5. Best friends since childhood, fought & died for each other, still found their way back to each other. "It would break your Captain's heart, to see what they did to you." That only the MENTION of Steve can pull Bucky out of this brain washing(ed?) state, distract him in the middle of a fight. When Steve died in the comics because of Sharon & Tony sent Natasha to take Steve's shield from Bucky because even Tony knew how much Steve means to Bucky. And Bucky was like: "Oh, I see what he did. Not happening!" Fought Natasha (that is his ex in the comics) & kept going for Steve's sake.

Well, you see the point, I can go on and on.

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

They're not actually canon so none? They had a few fights: In Civil war (the comics), in Homecoming (the movie).  That only means that they’ve got history & love each other.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

As fierce Grace is, they wouldn't stand a chance against Damon & Elena. Those two had to deal with worst thing than brainless stupid zombies. On the other hand, if there were no alive humans to drink their blood... It's either an animal diet that Damon hates so much or I don't know? Still, they're faster & more powerful. Their bodies have advantage of healing the wounds as well.

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

From some people, yeah. Don't tell Athena, don't tell Vaughn, don't tell Fiona. Though Rhys wasn't very subtle about it & Jack just doesn't give a fuck. You will probably end up dead if you disagree or bore him, or if you're useless.

"I can take you to the top, but you gotta know where the top is" & Rhys doesn't tell anybody until Jack makes him the President for like whole 20 minutes lol.

Fiona & Sasha: "This can't be happening." Sure it can, darling.

14. Is 4 still together?

I have a headcanon about The Outsider finding Emily & Corvo after Billie frees him from the Void. He doesn't have anybody & they are his only friends aside from a potential friendship with Billie. And if we don't consider TOTO dlc, they definitely are! The Outsider visits them both when they sleep & takes them to the void sometimes. How could he not?

15. Is 10 canon?

Not really but also sort of? Let's say that they really care about each other in canon, despite Adam pushing Francis away because of his trauma & fear that Megan caused him. :/

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Can you imagine wizards fighting extremely powerful vampires? Superheroes with venom in their bodies that make them super strong with people that made a deal with the Devil himself (hi Le Bail)? 5000 y.o. God and his lover that share his powers and an augmented human protecting his tired IT guy? Combine mental health issues to that, Jack and Rhys with Batman and Joker. Corvo & The Outsider would probably slay them all as Corvo and Emily did in both games with entire islands, though it will still be a slaughter anyway.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship?

All the fucking time, lmaooo. I’m not even talking about it.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

I feel like I already did with Steve & Bucky after many Marvel movies (we're not even mentioning Endg*me, I fucking died & was dead for full 4-5 months).

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

I used to do that a few years back, but not anymore. There is not much content since the trilogy is finished.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

1 already went through it & fandom lives, so I'd say maybe 7? Rhys will find a way to bring Jack back & they are both so wild. It’s what happened in canon anyway. Jack kidnapped Lilith & forced her to do Angel's job, so I'd like to see that witch try at first. Jack is an immortal bastard. <3

Now that I think about it, Corvo would also deal with her in seconds as she waits to curse them.

As a conclusion: no one breaks up forever, we're killing the witch.

I tag: @ianmillkovichgallagher​ & @aledbr​

Whoever else wants to join the game, please do.

[bettsfic]

first of all, congrats on all of your successes! I'm as happy for you as an internet stranger can be (which is honestly pretty happy). I have a quick writing question for you, if you're in the mood to answer one. how do you control the length of your stories? I keep coming up with plot ideas that I think are good for short stories but then I get 4k in and am still setting up the premise. is there a trick to cutting down your plot so it can be resolved in ~5k words? or is it trial and error? thx!

this is such a mood. did you know training wheels was supposed to be 10k? it capped out at 125k. 

personally length is something i really struggle with because it’s also a function of interest. if i start writing anything that i know in advance will be over 10k, i get intimidated and set it aside. so, for me, it’s almost a necessity to disillusion myself into believing “it’s almost done!!” because otherwise i’d never write anything at all. 

how to control the length of a story

sometimes you can’t know how long something will be, and if you’re a pantser like me, you have to let stories drag you along until they let you go. it’s part of the joy of writing. but sometimes you’ve got to know how long something will be, or control it to be the length you need it to be, for the sake of your own sanity.

because length is a number, i see it in very mathy terms

length = style x conflict 

style is the way in which a piece is written. if you have thick, textured prose, or you’re in a character’s mind who has elaborate internality, it may take 20k just to take a single sip of coffee. flannery o’connor’s “a stroke of good fortune” is a long short story in which all that happens is a woman climbs a set of stairs. james joyce, virginia woolf, henry james, donna tartt – these authors are all known for slow prose styles. 

conversely, you can have entire kingdoms rise and fall in the span of a handful of words, if you’re concise enough. if you want to practice brevity, write poetry. practice condensing major themes in lines and phrases and images one after another. 

by style i also mean reality. if all of your characters are real, rational people functioning in real, rational worlds, it’s going to take a lot longer to, say, get character A, who is shy and lacks self-confidence, into bed with character B, who has been recently broken-hearted. if your story does not concern itself with reality, then you can speed the process along. maybe B decides A is the love of their life and they live happily ever after. you can do that; it’s your story. 

which brings me to conflict.

if you can decide the

premise,

climax, and

resolution

ahead of time (which, sometimes you can’t and that’s okay), and you know your writing style and your relationship to reality, then you can figure out how long a work will be in advance. i’ll give you an example.

a couple summers ago, i was having this exact problem. i’d dipped into my summer depression, which meant i wanted to write, needed to write, but i lacked the attention and motivation to finish anything i started, which was more frustrating than not writing anything at all. so i did the opposite of what i normally do – instead of coming up with a story idea and writing it out, i decided very firmly i wanted to write a story under 20 pages. i needed a good story under 20 pages to send in as a writing sample to future programs, to get published in a good mag. because i knew i could make it to good magazines, but my stories were all too long and it’s a big risk for lit mags to take on long stories when they can promote 2 new authors with shorter stories instead. 

so i asked myself, “what can i get done in 20 pages?”

and then, naturally, because i’m an asshole, my brain replied, “i can make a woman come.”

SURELY, i thought, surely the goal of a woman in search of an orgasm would not take more than 20 pages. 

i was wrong, at first. the first draft was 22 pages, and subsequent drafts got it down to 16. i started the story in a sex shop because i liked the image of a middle-aged woman buying a dildo for the first time because she’d never had an orgasm. then i slowly started building the world around this woman – she had two sons, she was a comic book collector, her husband was mysteriously missing from the present narrative – and unveiled this greater world. that’s where style comes in. my writing style is minimal in exposition but packed in character details and internal narration. my curiosity always gets the best of me in that regard. i need to know everything about my characters, and i learn it by letting them show their lives to me, which is why my stuff always runs long.

many times, my fatal error is that i only come up with an initial scene to start a story, and with only that in mind, things get away from me. but if i hold off on that initial scene and force myself to consider “what is the culminating moment?” or “what ground do i intend to cover?” then i can keep things reasonably short. 

here are some additional tips/tricks:

scaffolding – sometimes you have to write it all out first to learn the story yourself, and you can go back and gut it. i call this scaffolding because you have to build all this extra stuff to find the information you need, and then you take it down. this happens because, despite popular belief, we write to think, not as the result of thought. so sometimes you’ve got to write things down to see the truth of them, but it’s not integral for your readers to know. maybe, to you, it’s very important that you know that your main character was once in a devastating car accident, but your reader has no need or want to know that fact. every story has some scaffolding in the first draft. skill in writing involves finding the scaffolding and deleting it without feeling bad.

structure – if your story is ambitious in terms of the ground it needs to cover, you can alter the structure to be more conducive to your length goals. consider vignettes, non-chronological timelines, starting the story later in the narrative, ending it earlier, zooming in/out in your narration. sometimes the shortest works travel the farthest because the narrative style sounds like an oral story, something told over a beer, and the longest works are such because they are so deeply embedded in the mind.

think like a poet – one thing i admire about poets is their ability to understand the placement and purpose of every word in a poem. once, someone defined poetry to me as “a piece of writing in which every single element adds to the meaning.” conversely, prose can be in any font with any margins and spacing and it doesn’t usually impact the story. but with poetry, a poet has to go through every word and figure out its purpose, if it should be there, if there’s a better way to say what they’re trying to say, if it belongs somewhere else. the white space around poems add just as much meaning to a poem as the words themselves. that patience is extremely valuable to apply to prose, the constant question of “does this need to be here? is there a better, more concise way i can say this?”

read authors in your opposite length camp – if you write long, read short. if you write short, read long. as a long-form writer, i am always amazed at the distance some extremely short stories can travel. the first things that come to mind for me are my friend kyle’s “the serial shitter” and barthelme’s “some of us had been threatening our friend colby.” tons of lit mags publish flash fiction now (hobart, linked above, is my favorite), so i highly recommend seeking them out. conversely, if you write short, pick up a novel that resembles a brick. in both, consider the style the work is written in, and how much ground the story covers.

tl;dr length is a process of understanding and controlling your narrative style, and knowing the height of your stakes/conflict before you get started. 

thanks for the great question! i hope this helps. 

writing advice tag | ko-fi

[shinondraws]

Out of curiosity, and I'm asking purely based on that; I'm not here to say 'but muh nuzlawx', but what prompted you to leave your Nuzlocke comic unfinished? Over-demand? Lack of interest? Something else entirely? I ask because I struggle to keep my own projects going and I frequently wonder how some of my favorite artists, like you, end up also not returning to their projects.

TO ANYONE WHO’S INTERESTED, THIS IS THE STORY OF MY NUZLOCKE AND WHY IT HAS BEEN DEAD FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS

That’s a very good question and it is actually something I have been meaning to open up and talk about when the time is right but hell, let’s do it now.

Let’s begin with the actual situation with the comic. I never officially cancelled it but I also didn’t just intend to let it rot in all silence until everyone forgot about it, so that it would be easy to brush under the carpet. No. I never intended to quit it either. It has been on the back of my mind all these two and half years that have passed since the latest update because I really want to finish it.

And yet I haven’t made an attempt to continue the comic for two and half years. In fact, I have tried. I still have the next update, sitting on my desk, unfinished, but I struggle to just sit down and start working on it. One third of the pages have been finished of the entire update and it has been like that for a good while.

I have been trying to analyze why it is so difficult for me to just do it. I keep putting it off with excuses such as “oh but I will get back to it once school/work settles down” or “I have this other personal project or a commission batch I wanna finish first, then I can properly focus on the comic again!”. I have been telling myself that once I have that perfect focus I can work on the comic to deliver it in the way I want to. But what actually has happened is that I have realized I will never have such perfect focus on it. My life has been and will always be me juggling a shit ton of different things at the same time, constantly trying to juggle several balls. I can’t remove one thing without replacing it with something else because I actually NEED a lot of different things to keep me interested, invested, inspired, active and motivated.

So the lack of focus has been just an excuse I have been using and by doing this to myself I have been obscuring the actual reasons why I have been unable to keep it going. I wish there was one clear reason because that would be easier to tackle. To make it clear, I never lost my interest in it but I did lose my motivation. It’s a bad combo, wanting to do something but at the same time facing this invisible field of...what exactly?

Over-demand? In my point of view I never felt that my comic was that popular and no one ever demanded an update from me. I know people expected things from me and I know a lot of people felt strongly for the comic. It was important to a good bunch of people. So it wasn’t really about direct pressure but I can’t say that I haven’t had that slight pressure on me, that I haven’t felt the weight of expectations because that isn’t true. It is there and while it isn’t the main reason for my motivation loss it has has an effect.

One thing that does affect me and everything I do, for more or less, is other people’s opinions. You can keep saying “it doesn’t matter what other people think” but it does and there’s no way to convince me to think otherwise. That’s just how I am. I DO care what others think. Even if it is a stupid thing you hear from someone who heard it from someone etc. Around the time I did my latest update I heard about this one closed group of people who talked a lot of shit about other people’s comics. Someone I know was in the group and I got to hear that pretty much every comic out there that wasn’t by someone in that group got its share of shit, mine included. Nothing severe, but having your work called boring doesn’t feel nice. I thought I’d just brush it off but it stuck and it made me think why people would call it boring. And for a while I actually thought of my comic ato be boring as well. And I suppose in some sense they’re right. It isn’t a masterpiece, a beautifully polished comic like many of the popular comics of then and now. But it is something I have worked hard on. Anyone who has worked on long comic project knows that it is far from easy. It’s my first comic ever so it’s obviously flawed and rough but I have learned so much while working on it, not just about art but about storytelling, about staying consistent and about managing a big project on my own.

So we got stupid comments that I would have gladly not even known about, expectations, hectic life, some personal dealings that made me want to detach from the comic for a while, a wave of people losing interest in their comics, a steady decline of the popularity of Nuzlocke comics, wondering if it’s actually too late to continue the comic at this point, questioning a whole lot of things and other little or not so little things that kinda just became this ball or wall of nope. Such balls are tedious to dismantle.

As you probably have noticed I have been doing a lot of little doodles of my Nuzlocke characters. I have been thinking about the comic on a daily basis for the past couple of weeks. I don’t know what prompted it. Maybe the time was ripe? Maybe the painful boredom of my job demanded more work for my mind? Did someone bring up the comic in a way that sparked something? Hard to say. But I have been thinking about the comic and what it has meant and still means to me. I have come to the conclusion that I need to finish it. I can’t let go of it. To me, it is a story that is worth telling, a thing worth doing. And if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. I can’t just leave it unfinished.

I haven’t announced it but I am making slow attempts of bringing the comic back. I don’t want to put a definite time or any big promises up in the air to avoid any sort of pressure. Now that the comic has been dead for a couple of years I feel like I actually have the peace that I need to see where the comic is at and where it’s going. A proper assessment of sorts. I have managed to solve some story and plot issues I have had that I couldn’t solve a couple of years ago. I think they were something that simply needed time and personal growth in order to be solved. Now I have a clearer vision of the comic than before and I am going to finish it, but at my own pace.

As for your last pondering about why artists don’t sometimes return to their projects, there are many reasons, many different situations. Sometimes admitting you won’t be able to finish the project is the only thing to do, sometimes you just never rediscover the spark for the project despite your efforts. Lately I have come to the understanding that sometimes all that it takes to get yourself back on track is to take a good break. If you are in a rut just completely distance yourself from the project and focus on something else and then look at the project again. Don’t even try to think about the project during your break but try to clear your mind from it. Then, if you still feel like having a take on the project, have a good look at it and see what you can make of it. That’s where I am now, trying to figure out where to go from here. I’m feeling pumped, motivated and inspired.

There’s one good quote I think fits as a closure here:

“Take your time, have patience, and the rest will come.”

[clockworkkwritesstuff]

BŪAN Review

Okay... I know this went out a while ago and I am deeply sorry that it took me so long to finally review it. However, I'm here now, having read it many times to say It. Is. Magical.

I will point out that I will NOT be posting details about the story, at least from pages 6-13 as requested. This is a gift, exclusive to those who donated/bought the story, so it would be unfair for me to share all the spoilers.

If you want to follow the main story that Buan is from, please follow @/Annedrawsstuff and #/Boundthecontract over on instagram!

On with the review!

First of all, the story is split in two, a comic half illustrated by the very talented Anne, and a written half by the equally as skilled Mara-Tabea (@/beasarcevic).

To kick off the story, there's a brief character introduction of our two favourite boys, Embry and Kuo, which describes their origin, feeding into the written half later on. Already from there, even if you hadn't read their story up until now, you can determine that we're going to be dealing with some interesting characters. Considering their development and relationship in the main arc, their pasts are very well put and thought out, matching their characters greatly. Remembering their stated pasts before their meeting does add to their story and definitely added to my emotional investment in their experiences.

At which point, the comic begins! Once again, I will stress, Anne is an incredibly talented woman whose art style I truly do adore. What struck me immediately is the layout of the first page, already absolutely gorgeous. What comic artists sometimes struggle with is how much dialogue to put on each page. Too much can deter a reader, and boring placement of textboxes can be... boring. From the first page, it's clear how much effort went into every detail, even layout. Already got a lot of points from me. As a budding artist myself, I know the importance of things like lighting, shadows, expressions and gestures when conveying a scene. Anne deals with all of these things beautifully. The dark setting in the middle of the night, the dialogue used, and every aspect of Embry and Kuo's interactions create an atmosphere that I can only describe as sensually tense. Their intimacy within the first few pages is portrayed perfectly, followed by an awkward encounter that honestly made me both squee and cringe for the both of them. I was so immersed that even I felt nervous.

Also, Aik!

After an amusing little twist, the written work by Bea begins! The written section is very obviously from Embry's POV, giving us further insight that the character introductions page, adding to it and making me want to give him a massive bear hug. BOY DESERVES LOVE!

Now where Anne's comic demonstrates the extent and effect of Embry and Kuo's strong contract, Bea's writing conveys the struggle of not having a page to be bound to, giving us a far better understanding of exactly what the contract between them is. May I just say also, her writing is crystal clear and easy to understand. Everything is set out at a great pace- nothing jumps around. The way she has written built up anticipation for me, imagining this playing out as a scene in front of me, not only setting an in-depth scene, but giving us Embry's thoughts as it all occurs, all of which feed into the atmosphere Bea is building, the feel of the comic Anne put in and the whole main story at the same time. The extend of the contract's importance is actually fascinating and I wouldn't have such a deep understanding of it now if I hadn't gotten this story!

With beautiful imagery and insight, I went and looked back at the main comin on Anne's instagram, now with a better understanding of the contracts and much more love for the relationship between these lovely boys. Their interactions now, with knowledge of how deep their relationship really is and how much they must trust one another, seem more intimate, in a way, these actions vrey exclusive to one another instead of my original assumption that Embry was just a natural flirt. I now firmly believe that the flirt is Aik... thatnks to art on Anne's instagram.

Also, Aik!

Yes, I am far more interested in the other mages and pages involved in the story now, knowing how vital contracts are and seeing the relasionship between mages Embry and Aik. Even minor characters are interesting to me, which is an amazing perk of writing for an author or comic illustrator. If all characters besides your main focus are bland, then your story may end up falling flat as well. Bound The Contract most certainly is NOT a story that will fall flat.

Both sections of this mini story, comic and prose, are beautifully done and compliment on another, after reading one, reading the other will have deeper meaning. When I finished, I went back and read it again immediately as I could understand the bond better now, each time approaching it with the same level of interest as the first.

Truly, this story is an eye-opener to readers of the main arc and would make an amazing prologue to those who read it first before going to see the main story!

[keyofjetwolf]

It is 3am and I had a long night at work and a bit too much to drink as a result, so if this comes across snarky or snippy I'm super-sorry and I didn't mean it to it is a legit honest question but I am not toning well right now. Obviously, you are not happy with the way the manga is going. I think one of its issues is that it had only so much space to play with--you had a set number of pages, and that was it. So especially in light of the Giant Sailor Moon Canon Voltron, I'm curious: (1/2)

(2/2) given a similar amount of space, if you had to tell all of the story that was in the original–e.g. no “let’s just skip an arc for space’s sake”–what would you do differently from the actual manga that you think would make it a better story? Like I’m sure it can be done but as someone who masters in talking too much I’m fucked if I can imagine how. I AM KIND OF HOPING YOU HAVE MORE AND OR BETTER IDEAS THAN ME.

Not snarky, no worries!

“How would you rewrite the entire manga in the same amount of space” is a pretty huge fucking question though, and to be completely honest with you, I don’t care enough about the manga to try and fix what I find wrong with it (which is basically everything). But let’s talk about some stuff for a bit!

I don’t think that “there’s a space limitation” is a valid excuse for … well, anything, really. This isn’t a constraint unique to Takeuchi, it’s a truth for basically every form of professional media we have. TV shows have a very set and firm number of minutes they’re allowed, movies generally have about two hours to tell their story from start to finish, books and novels and short stories all have some degree of length constraints, comic books are churned out week after week and for the most part adhere to the same number of pages. I said this repeatedly when I was watching Crystal, but the problem isn’t how much time you have so much as it is what you DO with that time.

Let’s take the final act of the Black Moon. Specifically, let’s look at how limited time and space was used in that chapter. I’ll break the whole thing down, STRAP IN.

pg 1-5 (5): Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen disappear

pg 6-10 (5): NQS wakes up and emerges from the palace

pg 11-17 (7): NQS talks about power, sends Chibs to help Sailor Moon

pg 18-24 (7-1=6): In space, Usagi and Mamoru reaffirm their love

minus one page where Planet Ryan is spooky and threatening

pg 25-28 (4): Chibi-Usa is “born” from their love and they kick Ryan’s ass.

pg 29-34 (6): Crystal Tokyo is revived, everyone gets a free power up.

pg 35-42 (8): Goodbye to Crystal Tokyo

pg 43-49.7 (6.7): Usagi says goodbye to Chibs

pg 49.7-54.7 (6): Mamoru and Usagi say goodbye to Chibs

pg 54.7-54.9 (.7): The Inner Senshi split a panel for their welcome homes

pg 55-59 (5): Chibi-Usa’s back

It’s the end of the arc, so let’s be a little generous about some allotment of space and try to focus on parts that are overly bloated or incidental to the plot.

Immediately, we’ve got five entire pages of something which can be resolved in two panels, but let’s say we steal just two pages.

NQS waking up, easily another two pages we can steal.

YOU CAN CUT EVERY LAST SECOND OUT OF USAGI AND MAMORU IN SPACE IN MY OPINION, but honestly, six fucking pages is so unnecessary, so I’m taking half.

The entire Usagi/NQS meeting makes me grumpy for so many reasons, but it absolutely does not need eight goddamn pages of “BUT I WANT TO MEET YOU BUT I CAN’T BUT I WANT TO BUT I CAN’T OH FUCK IT”. Granting some artistic indulgence, I’ll just take two.

You know what, I’m already at nine pages (NINE PAGES), I can stop. What would I do with those nine pages?

How about one each for the Inners getting to return home? Actually you know who hasn’t hugged them or welcomed them back or said she missed them or was so worried about them? ANY OF THEM TO ANY OF THE OTHERS OF THEM INCLUDING FUCKING USAGI

Rei was missing since LITERALLY THE START OF THIS ARC, and Usagi has yet to actually say her fucking name. So yeah, one page of my nine for the Senshi (ALL the Senshi, looking at you manga Usagi) to actually show they give a shit about each other. Then a page each for the Inners to show them returning home. What kind of relieved but knowing looks did Grandpa give Rei when she returned home after being missing from anywhere from three days to three months ?(seriously how long was she fucking gone) Did anyone water Mako’s plants while she was missing, or are they all dead now? Did Ami have a series of lies and excuses on her lips, only to discover that the note she’d left for her mother since just after Rei was taken is still unread? How is Minako quietly (or not so quietly) coping with having once again been the only Senshi when she lost her girls?

Five pages down. I’ve got four left.

How about one for Pluto actually being dead? Let’s be generous, let’s give her TWO. Pluto gets a fucking memorial. Even if “our” Senshi can’t be there, let’s see it in Crystal Tokyo. You don’t even have to have words. Chibi-Usa lost and mourning. Her mother maybe tentative at first, unsure after so long, but then providing the direct comfort and affection she sometimes struggles with.

Those are ideas just off the top of my head that would have improved just this issue tremendously for me, AND I STILL HAVE TWO PAGES.

The problem isn’t limited space, the problem is limited caring.