#this is just how i personally characterise wire

[fanaticsnail]

I just reread Vulnerability and it just made my heart freaking melt! Do you think Wire would ever meet someone who made him feel that way? Or what his type would be?

I am so glad you like that one!! I loved writing it so much, simply because I adore Heat. But I digress.

Lets talk about Wire.

The way I personally characterise Wire is like a black cat on the outside, but once he warms up to you, he is the largest, sloppiest Great Dane with joint pain on the inside.

He wants someone to work a little bit to get his sweet side, but once they've got it, they've got it. All bark, also bite when provoked, but he wants to have those soft moments of comfort in the solace of his quarters with his favourite person.

He is a little bit of a diva: he likes to smell good, and he likes looking good too. He manicures, enjoys massages, facials, and pedicures to match. He likes taking care of himself, but it's exhausting most times and would prefer to be taken care of. He's just so tired, but does it all for the sake of feeling his best.

When he's coupling with an overnight lover, he's rough and dangerous. Yes, they will feel good when he's done with them, but there is no tenderness to his actions. When it's someone he loves, he melts and is an absolute enabler. He acts tough on the outside, especially considering his advanced age in comparison to the rest of his crew, but is the most secret softie.

He's one of the oldest members of the crew, over a decade older than his captain, and thinks he's past the age of indulging romance. He prefers flings simply because it's easier to get up and leave in the morning - knees clicking in protest and all.

Until you.

As a predominantly 'x reader' writer, I think you're his type. Just as you are, he loves you.

When Wire is in love, he tries to fight it. It starts off as small waves of favouritism. Where you sit, he'll be almost right beside you. He has a small amount of possessiveness in his eyes each time someone gets close enough to touch you. Heckles up, as it were. You're your own person, and so is he, but he wants you to be his person as well.

If you are someone who will:

Not mind that he's a little older.

Fight past that crunchy outer layer to get to his gooey centre.

Dote on him and enjoy working out his joint pain.

Be happy with a large size difference.

Allow him to be the bigger person and protect you in battle.

Put up with a few aspects of his 'diva' mentality.

Indulge in joining him on spa days.

Spoil him. Spoil this man. Make a wife out of him.

You're his type. Even if you don't meet this fictitious criteria, I still think you're his type.

The fic I'm writing for Wire right now is with a 'you' who only meets a few of these points, and he still loves you for it. Whatever 'you' you are, he will embrace completely.

Thank you for your ask! This was beautiful to think about, and I hope you enjoy my thoughts on it.

[brella-boi]

Okay guys this is becoming a tradition of me seeing films recently so heres a

Sonic 3 review from a technical standpoint

Look im no film critic or anything, but i AM an animator and theres a lot of. Things. I see whether I want to or not. Its just how my brain is wired because of my profession lol

(This is full of spoilers btw so now's your time to fast scroll away)

Anyway lets begin!

The movie is great. Cool even. I liked it! But theres a lot of direction decision that I am just. Baffled by I guess?

First of all- the models are different. (Httyd ass moment) And the way they sculpted the characters lips absolutely destroys anything theyre trying to emote. It looks like theyre CONSTANTLY pursing their lips. Like they ate a lemon. Do you understand? Sonic also has much more pronounced brows which makes him look more pissed off constantly LOL

[Sonic 1 model vs sonic 3 models, pay attention to the lips]

Eggman and Dr Stone had possibly the best interactions in the entire movie. Their dynamic was fantastic, and I would argue they kinda carried the movie. Unfortunately! The ending left their issues unresolved. And Dr Stone looked entirely unbothered by the possible death of Eggman.

This brings me to some writing choices that I feel may be due to... Either infantalising or time cuts. The storyboarding of this film was just. God how do I even describe this. It feels like a lot of crucial scenes where cherry picked to be deleted between shots. Thats not good at all- and while character continuity WAS there, it really did feel like something crucial was missing in some scenes. This is especially evident in the Chao Garden scenes. Specifically when the general dies (WHY DOES HE DIE LIKE THAT. WE DIDNT EVEN SEE THE RUBBLE GO ANYWHERE OR PIN ANYONE DOWN OR SEE MASS PANIC FOR PEOPLE TO DIE?) The characters COMPLETELY gloss over his death- a death that feels like its out of a show for 8 year olds Im not going to lie to you. He just flops, delivers a line, and thats it.

It feels like the two halves of the movie were written by two different writers.

The first half is weak. The jokes are stale. And the storybeats almost feel off. The actions scenes- while there's nothing particularly offendish about them- don't *hit*. If you're an animator or writer you understand that important beats need to pack a punch. It was severely lacking in packing punches in the first half.

I also wanna speak to the animators. Are you okay? Was this made on tight deadlines? Where is the fun and whimsy? Did you outsource this? Did you give your workers a good environment or were they crunching and hating life? Or did you hire younger animators with no senior feedback because they're cheaper to hire?

Look, the animation is good. Just that. Its good. Its TV show standard, not movie standard. Its lacking a good push to the poses, its using slow keyframing between poses instead of it being snappy, with good silhouettes, with good visual gags. Instead were left with this.. subpar passable animation for every character instead of something energetic and snappy like Sonics personality. I think this is where I take the most issue with because guys come on. You didnt push the models to their limits at ALL. And Sonics speedy running is... Well read my previous points. Where are the fundamentals of animation about exaggeration? Not in Sonics run cycle.

The second half of the movie carried the first half on its back thanks to Eggman. I am SO GLAD to see giant spaceships and mechs and whatnot. Thats great! Loved to see the lovely mech models and once again- interactions between Eggman and Dr Stone. Id go as far as say they should be gay tbh (hello? The scene where theyre tied up?)

I didn't bring up Shadow entirely so far. And honestly Ive no notes about him. All my notes are entirely about just the animation and not hitting the beats well. His characterisation was great- it actually explains his aggression pretty well and then redemption. Genuinely the last arc of the movie was fantastic. And finally we got to hear a rock score to go with it. Maria was fun, the flashbacks were fun, the scientific exploration was fun. All in the second half of the movie of course!

My overall score is 6/10.

To untrained eyes the movie is going to be extremely fun- if a little more childish in some parts than others. I'm glad they took some risky moments, I'm glad the characterisation is well written. I just wish other aspects were tightened down, mainly animation and storyboarding.

6/10 but I never thought Id leave the cinema with the thoughts "I could storyboard some of these scenes in a lot more meaningful way, and Im not even a storyboarder."

I recommend a watch! Its not a bad movie. Its not a rock-it-out-of-the-park movie either though. I feel like maybe all the anticipation and high expectations maybe made it not as gut punching for me as it couldve been. Overall, all I can gleam from it is theres a lot of things to improve on! But nothing that really destroys it or makes it bad. Just a lot of room for improvement.

Thanks for reading!

[bibibbon]

smth i hate abt hori is how easy it would’ve been to use the lov to show how hero society lets people slip through the cracks as a result creates villains, but he never fully expands on the idea.

jin’s parents died when he was in *middle school* MIDDLE SCHOOL! which means he could’ve been anywhere between 12-14. and then because of a motorcycle accident that *wasn’t his fault* he got a criminal record, was fired from his job, and became homeless. and then he just spiraled from there.

toga is biologically wired be to fascinated and obsessed with blood. but instead of helping her, her parents are disgusted by her and force her to suppress herself until she inevitably snaps.

dabi is a product of his fathers abuse and it was allowed to go on for decades because his father is a famous pro hero

compress is just an unapologetic evil bastard tho and i love him for that

This is also one of my problems with horis writing!!! Villains in MHA all had wasted potential and I absolutely hated the way their arcs went!

I guess the only arc that I can semi agree on is toga himiko's arc to a certain extent but that even has wasted potential that I talk about down below 👇. I discuss what togas arc could of been and different directions her character could of went.

In my opinion himiko was already introduced as somewhat irredeemable. The first time we see her we are told that she killed 6 people known so far and on around 5 of them she performed blood letting. Also her first victim she literally sliced him up and started drinking his blood (some including I theorise that she maybe even ate some of his body parts). I think it adds to the story simply because togas love or idea of love is based on her becoming that person and having parts of them on her whether that be literal or metaphorical.

I personally like the idea that toga is an irredeemable victim. Toga is someone who was failed by the system and had went through a lot for sure but the actions she did were also things that she should be accounted for ( I talk more about toga and what makes her different from lady nagant in another post). In the end I personally enjoy seeing toga be a humanised not redeemed victim of society that has also commited many crimes.

When it comes to other members of the league I feel like they could of all had better arcs in general.

I remember talking to @doodlegirl1998 and she suggested that twice and togas characters could of very much switched roles as twice is a character who parallels more with ochako (both struggling financially) and hawks would get more repercussions for killing a child (toga). However, I also do like twices death but I do have some problems like how I wish his death would of been thoroughly explored and we see how it impacted everyone or we should of gotten more from twice himself in general.

Dabi deserved better and I really would of wanted him to have a redemption arc, receive some concequences but end up with the todoroki family WITH ENJI DEAD (I HATE HIM!). I hated the whole Dabi always had an ice quirk and that he was just the second choice, always the second choice all along.

Shigaraki and just how much AFO was involved ruined everything for me also Shigaraki knowing about AFO was a horrible twist which made shigarakis characterisation even more inconsistent. I would of liked to see a Shigaraki redemption where he himself works towards one by starting to question AFO and get into the leader role a whole lot more while using the MVA to his advantage to get information, resources and more.

Spinner could of ended up being the better stain and learned form stains mistakes while also changing with shigaraki. I also feel like he needed more build up with his own counterpart like shoji and a thorough explanation and development of the whole hetamorphis discrimination thing.

Compress was evil for fun and it's fun to have those types of characters. One thing that I really would of liked to explore is compress's and magne's interactions. I feel like their arcs could of been interwoven (maybe I ship them a little who knows 🤷‍♀️) magne's death should of had more substance to it and all it just felt lacking and compress's disappearance the same.

Now when it comes to minor villains Iam a huge advocate for MUSTARD!! AND GIVING US A MUSTARD REDEMPTION 👇👇👇

I also think that muscular and moonfish should of obviously went to prison but that this could of been used as a way to shake the leagues trust for shigaraki. If any of the league members were to end up in jail would shigaraki help them? Maybe he won't as he didn't do that to muscular or moonfish or maybe he has stated to care for them more and he would as he is growing into that leadership role.

I would have it so that the Dr garaki is just an evil menace who starts to become much more greedy and manic causing AFO's death and going insane.

Kurogiri or kurooboro in this case would go through a different type arc that's down below.

In the end all of the villain characters or characters that don't up hold the status quo are victims of society. I think your ask could also apply to the hero characters that are also harmed by the system like hawks and izuku.

[slimeology]

Well this is likely outdated of me by now buut my own interpretation of a certain computer yes... The notes on this vary to more of facts and like design notes for myself, with a boring white background cause UH readability,, yep! I'm shoving all my ideas below along with bonus image B]

Riiight, allow me to simply lay out my ideas and go against what i have seen this guy been characterised as for years YEA?? THough i wanna touch on how he functions first, so i think out of all possible designs i may make for more characters [at least one more i will make!!! maybe two!! maybe... more?] he is most biologically human. like he probably was just a guy once. but now computerised through means!

Underneath the metal / synthetic components is actual person, though most of it is very not nice to percieve. the only untouched part of him is the midsection, basically the vitals. Other than that, it ranges from a little less skin, to probably not even indentifiable as what it was before.

The image shows it somewhat!! The gloves are removeable and instead of angry wires simply take skinless hand! [ALSO LEMME KNOW IF I SHOULD TAG PLEASE - it is very hard for me to judge yes or not!! i do not mind doing it! also i have no idea what to put if so.] It's my general explaination of why he can touch you, but you touch him and it does not end well. Cause it probably hurts honestly! and he's seensitive....

As for personality, he's not that kind. Kind of more, passive agression most of the time really, unless you're wanting to know about the wonders of the internet he couldn't really care what you're on about. But even then, he will act like he knows all of the things ever [because it is on the internet.] Some of his facts may not entirely be true but why fact check?? the internet is not wrong! but also he will be deliberately wrong, if it's funny. aaaand you might believe it.

Computer day is simply the one day a year he agrees to actually 'be nice' and 'cooperative'. Any other day is free game.

The digital world still exists too, it's essentially his sleep state, he simply plugs himself into the wall and while outwardly he is unconsious, he is there instead! He can get other people there by uhh jamming a plug into your brain! don't worry he got a medical lisence from the internet, and has adequately accounted for your skull being in the way :]

Anyways these are somehow all the ideas i had before i even designed the guy??? UH... i will stop throwing so many words out there now. i guess one final fun fact is he probbaly just only eats oatmeal and nothing else. and mmayybe i shoved the 'tism onto him bit. sbhhhh shhhhh you heard nothing,,,

[whinlatter]

Plss do 5, 22 and 14 for Lily again. I just love her so much😅

5. Best personality trait

one of the things that i’ve always found striking in lily’s letter to sirius in DH is both how immediately warm she comes across, but also how brimming with emotion she is. the ‘thank you, thank you, for harry’s birthday present’ is this lovely, affectionate, slightly dramatic opener. the letter is obviously desperately sad - especially with hindsight - but it’s also emotionally confessional (she ‘cried all evening’ when she heard about the McKinnons), gossipy (‘it seems impossible to believe that dumbledore was ever really friends with grindelwald. i think bathilda’s mind is going, personally’), even spiteful (‘no complaints’ about harry smashing petunia’s vase). her love and concern for james is all over the letter, but so is her concern for peter (‘i thought he seemed down’). even the act of writing the letter and conveying to his godfather how much harry loved his present shows her concern for sirius, too, wanting to make him a part of the moment he missed. i think what i like about it is that if even the letter isn’t a completely truthful insight into lily’s feelings about being in hiding — she doesn’t describe her likely feelings of fear for harry, although we get this little hint about frustrations told through james, and mention of dumbledore having the cloak — it does still give a portrait of a character who feels her feelings deeply and brims with emotion. it’s particularly striking because it also is a rare lapse from jkr’s usual (clumsy, unjust) female characterisations in the series, where female characters are condemned for being gossipy or melodramatic or are rewarded in the narrative for being stoic. that lily ‘cried all evening’ over the mckinnons’ deaths is so indicative of a character who wasn’t yet war-weary (never had a chance to be), so did grief in a very open, unabashed way, and i just love that.

(it also shows how harry, the stoic/emotionally repressed young man, is a function more of his upbringing rather than his parents’ personalities - james is an open book in what little we see of him in canon, and lily clearly was effusive, chatty, heart on her sleeve and had her many emotions right there at the surface. it gives a glimpse of what harry could have been, or could still be, in peacetime. that harry immediately cries when he reads lily’s letter for the first time is this lovely little moment of aspects of the mother coming through in the usually very tightly-wound, repressed son.)

14. Most heroic moment

aside from the - er - canonically lauded and obvious, it’s got to be her joining the order straight out of school, especially as a muggleborn. to put herself at that level of personal risk for a resistance movement age eighteen as a member of a socially marginalised persecuted group is a major slay. lily likely had only been close with the marauders for a year at most (assuming going out with james was the conduit for those friendships, which it seems in canon like it was). so we can assume that she had her own political awakening and her interest in resistance politics wasn’t limited to her association with james and the gang. and i think that is Cool!

22. Best physical feature

if people were still banging on about how gorgeous my eyes were after i’ve been in the ground for a decade i’d be pretty chuffed, let me tell ya! people were falling over themselves/slamming the brakes/stopping traffic/climbing over barbed wire fences to tell lily’s son he had her eyes. those must have been some gorgeous peepers. also you know that hair was fire. that glossy dark red — whew! the potters are a haircare dynasty, remember. they know luscious locks when they see them. it had body, it had volume, it had magic of its own — lily evans’ hair was the moment ❤️‍🔥

[etherealforever234]

I am doing this again because there is nOT ENOUGH APPRECIATION FOR TGESE AMAZING WRITERS IN OUR FANDOM.

So I did a part 1 but I didn’t include all the ones I wanted since it got too long jsskkskskskdksnxk sooooooo here’s a part 2 of all the fics which absolutely PLAGUE my mind and you NEED to check these out and show them your love!! I have said this before I’ll say it again telling writers you like their writing with just a simple reblog or a good comment MATTERS so much more than you know. So I better see you guys showering writers with love on their fics! While I did make this for myself because I’m building a little ✨collection✨ I hope this helps anyone who’s looking for more fics to read!!!

(Minors this is your cue to not be anywhere around here if I see you interacting I’ll tell yo mama!)

Recs under the cut <3

Her body is Bible by @superblysubpar - DEAD. ASCENDED TO ANOTHER PLANE. MET GOD. DIED. BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE JESUS STYLE. LOST ALL COHERENCE FOR A GOOD FEW DAYS. (18+)

Amuse and romance me like you do by @heartthrobinsfics - I have re-read this whole fic from start to finish so many times dkksckkxmfkdkckdkf the slow burn was really slow burning and ACCURACY in characterisation Family Video Steve has alllllll my heart

Single thread part 1 part 2 part 3 by @headkiss - Spiderman AU Steve I love you so much it hurts! The slow burn is so fkskfkskfkskdkskxkdkdkkdkckfkfskdkxkfk! And he’s just so 🥺 ahhhhh OBSESSED with this whole Universe! (18+)

Rules are meant to be broken by @funnylittlelad - I read this whole series on AO3 and my GOD this deserves so much more love!!!! The complicated relationships with parents the angst is so delicious I am in LOVE with this.

This blurb by @stevebabey - The way I have NEVER felt more represented as I was here. Being a #losergf is a tough job but someone’s gotta do it

If you loved me, why’d you leave me part 1 part 2 by @1986harrington - I have to say reading the first part actually made me wanna lie down in the rain for like a couple of hours because the ANGST🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻 and the SMUT in the second part lordtttt (18+)

how could i say goodbye? by @hawkinsquarry - The way this fic made me WEEP. I love it when people make Steve actually process any of his trauma but him being needy after the events of S4 was so ON POINT. Fuck this hurt. So good!

Beyond part 1 by @abibliophobiaa - The way I start SHAKINH AND SCREAMING AND CRUONH AND YHEOWINH UP when I start thinking about this series sjkdxkdkxkfk fake marriage AU will always have a place near and dear in my heart and with Steve??? DEAD.

Chateau, Careless whispers part 1 part 2 by @kurtie4life96 - Sugar Daddy Steve can be something so incredibly personal to #girlies (me) OBSESSED with thiskdkskfmdkdkdk the smut made the wires in my brain unwire (18+)

Burning by @lis-likes-fics - ABSOLUTELY INSANE actually. CRAZY. MIND DESTROYING. NERVES IMPLODING. KILLED ME. The plot with porn can be so personal to me FUCKING GOD. (18+)

Pray for the night by @upsidedownwithsteve - Call me a whore but I LOOOOOOVE me some “we almost died so let’s fuck each other’s brains out because we’re alive and we want to feel something” 😌😇 (18+)

Pride and Prejudice and Peanut Butter Sundaes by @starryeyedstories - The enemies to lovers of it all kskskskskskdks THE TWIST OF P&P WITH STEVE HARRINGTON REST ASSURE THIS IS CLOSE TO MY HEARTTTTT! This is so freaking goodkskskskskskskx

Meet me at the chateau by @theemporium - I think about this fic so much and it's been MONTHS but I will make it a pOINT to re-read it because this is just absolute perfection ugh sjkskdkskdkksdkjsdjkddk! (18+)

Puppy by @lovebugism - Sub!Steve you’ll always be famous! This made me so dizzy gAWD. Can't believe this isn't my life. So unfair. Looooooooooooove this! (18+)

[syntheticmortal]

i was wondering how do you handle wolf born garou cuz i have a character i was making being a sheriff who is wolf borne but wasn’t really sure how to handle say like age since he’s in his fifties but wolf only live at best 16 years was wondering your take on it

Hello again! ^^

I stole a lot of understandings of Lupus-born from old lore, W5 just profoundly has no depth either mechanically or narratively IMO, but here's where I ended up:

So in my current W5 game I'm assuming that when a Lupus changes they become a young adult, maybe late teenager, in equivalent biology, and then just age like a human from there – unless you wanted your Lupus to appear older or turn later in life, then I'd use the Crone's Curse flaw as inspiration there!

Beyond that there's no mechanical difference anymore in regards to stats or Gifts for Lupus-born vs Homid-born, it's all about characterisation. Your Sheriff here could be old enough now and integrated enough into human society that he's able to “act human” perfectly. You can also consider the fun things like 'how did this guy get a social security number so he could become a cop?'. Maybe another Garou forged documents, or helped him steal an identity. Maybe wherever he's a Sheriff is so backwoods they don't give a fuck.

Also are there any wolves by where this Sheriff is or did he move to a place no wolf has lived in decades/centuries now? Humans move for any reason but anytime a wolf shows up where it's not supposed to they're likely to get shot (and the dreadful sorrow I felt typing that is very good fuel for thinking about what it means to be a Lupus actually)

For psychology consider what's important to a wolf and use that as the starting personality influences, without making the Lupus unintelligent. Those things may have been replaced over the years, especially if this guy has been a Garou for like 30-ish years, so consider being a Lupus more of a very alien cultural background, rather than the Lupus's brain being inherently wired differently. The Lupus NPC in my game, Heart-of-Teeth, a Galestalker Galliard, is a 'weirdo' by human standards. She'd probably read as neurodivergent by a normal human, but I'd say her sapient mindset is focused through the lens of Tribal focus as that's the first framework as a sapient being a Lupus often gets. So she's a hunter, and a ranger. She's mission focused, and averse to luxuries and large settlements. Her relationship to the spiritual is much more pragmatic, but no less reverent. She also doesn't need to undergo any shift in religious perspective, she just understands the spirits are the way they are. And she takes the cooperative familial mindset of a wolf to a much bigger picture extent as she works with two frighteningly understaffed Septs – making the decision to roll without a Pack for the moment as she helps out the new Garou that are our PCs

But she loves her motorbike, and she's fundamentally not afraid of fighting and killing a guy – she was a wild animal after all, not a human raised in a controlled society.

I hope this helps!! I think having one Lupus NPC in a W5 game helps give it spice, more stuff for the PCs to bounce off of ^^

[scooby-review]

Scooby Doo Where are You? S2 E5-E8

5. Haunted House Hang Up

This episode is the final one included on the Creepiest Capers DVD I used to watch all the time when I was younger! It was my least favourite of the four then, and it’s my least favourite of the four still, but this is nothing to sneer at - I adore this episode still! But when your competition is Hassle in the Castle, Go Away Ghost Ship and A Night of Fright is No Delight, it’s a stacked set to stand against.

Haunted House Hang Up follows the gang on their way to a rock festival, only to find themselves lost along the way, the backroads guiding them to a haunted mansion they simply can’t resist entering. 

The Headless Spectre haunting the house is likely inspired by the headless horseman, who comes from mediaeval folklore, of course, here we simply see a well dressed spectre without a head, no horse in sight. I love this villain, he’s great, his design is so fun, just being a headless ghost in clothes resembling a portrait upon the wall. However, he is only made better when we learn he is not a villain, merely trying to scare off the person attempting to steal his fortune, believing the gang to be the culprits. It’s so fun and the first time we see a fake-out villain lead into a different villain! 

Which takes us to The Phoney Phantom, who is a man in a poorly constructed ghost costume, simply a sheet that falls to his waist, leaving his blue jeans visible. This design is great because of how funny it is, how it plays on an earlier monster, The Phantom, and then shows an awful version of a similar design. His axe wielding only makes him stand out more, it’s a purposefully poor design which works so well because of how it stands in contrast to the main monster of the episode. I love this silly guy. 

Despite the episode being a concept we’ve seen before, a haunted house with gothic aesthetics as the gang attempt to solve the mystery despite the isolated setting, it’s almost a breath of fresh air within this season, it’s still so unique thanks to the twist, but moreover, it’s just fun! The villain is great, the setting is great having a greenhouse and barn too, the house feels monstrous in size, impossible to completely search, it places you in the villain’s shoes! The house is filled with secret passageways and balloon mechanised ghosts, it’s a perfect setting! 

I actually noted while watching this one that the ghost isn’t a threat throughout, instead attempting to scare off the gang after they break in and attempt to thwart the ghost, it’s something interesting to note, that the gang will investigate any supernatural occurrences, not simply somewhere they know there’s been a crime committed by these ghosts or where they arrive somewhere just to be scared away. 

Also I find it so funny how much they abuse the score, playing the menacing crescendo over Scooby stealing a slice of baloney here. 

Again, the chase is great, maybe the best! It’s classic Scooby antics as we see the spectre popping up in fireplaces, jumping on beds, coated in ash and the gang on a bike which they cycle across a wire. Not to mention we get the Spectre’s laugh, which is a great way of presenting him as more evil, I love it!

This one is almost on par with Jeepers it's the Creeper for me! It’s everything I wanted this season to be, it’s got the tighter writing style and some really nice character interactions, but paired with a more interesting ghost and expansive location! It can be funny and creepy, the perfect tone balance for the show! 

Love this episode so much!

6. A Tiki Scare is no Fair

Unfortunately, this episode is one of my least favourites in the series. It takes everything I disliked about Nowhere to Hyde and Mystery Mask Mix Up and then dials them up a whole heap. 

I’ll skate through this one swiftly, because, to sum it up simply, this episode is a boring, culturally insensitive mess. As mentioned earlier this season, the episode isn’t bad because of the way they characterise certain groups of people and their cultures, this leads to some uncomfortable moments sure, but the episode is bad because it’s boring, doing nothing to keep my interest throughout. Unlike many of the others, it’s poorly paced and always uninteresting. 

The only part of the episode I enjoyed was the ending, where it’s revealed one character we’ve been following was in disguise, and is actually an undercover police officer, who then pays for Shaggy and Scooby to have loads of food. 

This one is simply a slog to get through, being the only season two episode not to include a chase sequence, which have consistently been the highlights of these episodes. 

Also, this is the first time we see a villain trope redone, that being the medicine man, although where Decoy for a Dognapper had a Native American Medicine Man, this episode uses a Hawaiian one. Researching the trope even slightly unveils the harmful stereotypes that are attached to these 

kinds of characters and how the term used consistently is something many from these cultures dislike. I will say the design and colours are striking, it’s a unique palette we haven’t seen before, and some of these shots, notably when the character is encased in a glowing amber light, look so pretty! It’s not enough to redeem anything here, but I do appreciate that. 

It’s just dull, I have nothing more to add.

7. Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf

This episode follows in the previouses footsteps, reusing a villain trope! This time, it’s a werewolf! I didn’t love the design of the werewolf in that episode, so this gives them a chance to do something different! I complained it was too ghoulish, and that the design didn’t really convey that he was a werewolf too well! However, given the opportunity to do something different, maybe this design could be more wolf-like! 

Or they could make him even more ghoulish, that works! 

This episode follows the gang on a camping trip when they encounter a werewolf, having to foil his smuggling plan. 

Returning to the villain, his name is The Werewolf, in contrast to last season's Wolfman, both of which have different connotations. The latter allows for a more humanoid design, it alludes to the hybrid that this person is, whereas a werewolf implies the character will be a wolf, sure with humanoid aspects, but the character's design at its core should be evocative of a wolf. Therefore, this character having sickly green skin and feeling like a thinner retread of the previous wolfman is frustrating. I’m all for innovation in their designs, to make their villains stand out against the rest, and I would argue that the Wolfman does this, sure I don’t love the design, but evidently he has a place in the core of the series, he is a stylized character for better or for worse. However, this design feels like if someone’s only reference of what a werewolf looks like is the previous Wolfman. 

Technically, this is a zombie werewolf, which is a neat idea! The gang find the monster as a result of an open tomb, and I would be happy to look past the fact it is never mentioned that he is a zombie, however, not only is the design still the same idea as the Wolfman, but in an admittedly funny gag, Shaggy and Scooby shave the monster’s hair. This does not help him look like a wolf at all, instead making him look entirely ghoulish because the only way of somewhat deciphering that he was a werewolf was from the hair on his head! So now we have this bald man running around which only exacerbates his design further! 

Despite this episode's downfalls, mainly the villain and simply being another boring episode to me, I will praise it for this setting! It’s good. Camping is such a perfect scenario to plunge the gang into and I wish it was more of a focus here, but regardless, the backgrounds here are still my favourite of the season, the exterior backgrounds at least. They are grungy and dark, they truly waft with the horror allure that defines season one and half of season two, and I adore it! 

This episode falls so flat because there’s nothing happening really. It falls into the same tired writing style as A Tiki Scare is no Fair and Scooby’s Night with a Frozen Fright from earlier this season. They have a clear and solid set up, before drearily taking us to the unmasking. Anything between the first and last five minutes is tiring. 

Another aspect I will give props to is that the episode likely plays homage to Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein, when we see the Werewolf stalking Shaggy and Scooby. And on a similar note, this episode is used in the 2012 movie remake of dark shadows, where the vampire Barnabas Collins watches it, describing it as “a very silly play”. 

That’s all I have to say, it’s not great!

8. Don’t Fool with a Phantom

I am happy to report that I love this episode! 

Don’t Fool with a Phantom follows the gang as they enter a televised dance competition, only to be interrupted by a Wax Phantom. From there, the gang must head out to the wax museum to search for this meddling phantom. 

To start, I love this monster! The Wax Phantom is a hulking humanoid made of wax, the design is simple reflecting this, yet the textures and size of the character add to this basic design, it’s not a glob of seafoam green, but this gloopy creature who it is certain you wouldn’t be able to survive. His design is further exemplified by his ability to glow in the dark which is simply a fun design feature! He talks too, which worked well for me, personally, it gives the character a unique personality which blends with his really cool plans. 

I think this episode sees my favourite attempt of murdering the gang. Because the Wax Phantom decides to try to turn the gang into wax figures. It’s so cool, it reminds me a lot of a movie like A Bucket of Blood, which I adore! The concept is so creepy! Also, this instantly makes him so memorable, it’s so fun! 

I’m not too sure if he’s inspired generally by wax figures, or if the episode as a whole is inspired by House of Wax, and I couldn’t find out whether this was an inspiration, but I definitely drew a connection between certain sections of the episode and the 1953 movie. 

We see a lot of what I love about this season all done to great effect, such as a great location and opening, a pretty solid and concise story and a great chase scene! When this season is good, it’s good, believe me! It’s just rarely up to this quality consistently, and I think part of what makes Don’t Fool with a Phantom so great is how it wields all of these plus it has a great villain, the world feels so much more inspired and interesting! 

Funnily enough, the character Mr Grisby creates an interesting concept in this episode, alluding to the idea that the supernatural may indeed be real, he’s not the villain, his house is filled with all these tricks and they leave it up to us to decide if they’re real or not! Also his design is a recolour of Elias Kingston I believe. 

I really don’t have much more to add, it’s just a solid episode! I am so happy to end on such a good one. 

Episode Ranking:

Haunted House Hang Up

Don’t fool with a Phantom

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

A Tiki Scare is no Fair

Villain Ranking: 

Headless Spectre 

Wax Phantom 

Phoney Phantom

Werewolf

Hawaiian Medicine Man 

Next Ranking: SDWaY S2 Villains Ranking

Previous Ranking: SDWaY S2 E1-4

[kaaragen]

YES IM SO GLAD YOU REBLOGGED THE ASK GAME! 😍 I’d like to know ❤️💕🦋🦈💘🚦📚🎨

❤️ Argh! this is the one I was hoping I wouldn't be asked because I remember having a line I was very proud of but I can't remember what the damn thing was now! XD

Of the lines I remember liking, I'd say this one is one I'm very pleased with looking back, as sentimental as it is. Ignore the fact that I'm cheating because there's more than one, but the context of the previous line is necessary:

"Because you, and millions of others, have fought and suffered through a war that’s killed billions, wrought by the most sophisticated minds of the age.

"So maybe childish, naïve and idealistic is worth a try."

💕 It has to be And if we Fell Together, which I think is also the best thing I've written. It honestly still boggles my mind how popular that became, and especially when I think about how close I was to never actually writing or posting it. But I'm very glad I did, and reading it back gives me so much joy. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank the people who read it enough, or convey how much it meant to me, not least for the confidence boost it gave me when I was at a really low point.

🦋Oof, that's actually a tough one...I like writing Ahsoka and Barriss for different reasons; mainly because they are interesting foils in how they hide their insecurities. Barriss presents with a lot of poise and decorum, but internally she's a hot screaming mess; whereas Ahsoka outwardly projects confidence, but is very insecure and almost uses 'running headfirst at things' to stop herself from thinking and being paralysed.

But lately, I'm really enjoying teenage Tatooine Leia and pre-fuck-up-with-the-Duchess Sabine. Both are quite fun to unpick and work backwards from their canon characters and think 'okay, but if they were in this environment and didn't have that what would they be like?' without removing their essential natures as characters.

🦈 It used to be Luminara, as I really struggled to get a handle on her. After her confrontation with Barriss, where she loses her poise, it became a lot easier as it clicked that she's devoutly committed to the Jedi Order and the spiritual ideals of the Force, but is also using them to mask her uncertainties about what to do in situations.

As of now, it's probably Seventh Sister - who is fun to write, but also needs care as she is a mess and it's easy for her characterisation to split too far too soon and there's less in canon to anchor with.

(The Spectres as a whole are tricky, because you have to give each of them something to do, and also have them react in ways that fit each character, without that becoming a litany of reciting. God knows how Tamsyn Muir manages to do it so effortlessly in The Locked Tomb...)

💘It will surprise no one when I say angst XD My brain just seems to be wired for it (and I like to think I do it pretty well). But I maintain that angst makes the fluff worth it/better when it comes. So there!

🚦I've changed on this one. I used to think I was more of a 'bad' ending person, but perhaps years of reading Grim Dark stuff has worn me down. Or, writing has made me realise I'm more sentimental than I thought. Either way, I like plausible happily ever afters or ambiguity tinged with hope.

📚Ooo, that's a good question. I couldn't narrow down to just one, so I'll say that The Padawans (by someone you may not have heard of, called JediMasterBailey :P) and The Erosion of the Spirit by @425599167 are different, brilliant, takes on canon-compliant Barriss redemption arcs; Down to my Knees (Up en Pointe) by @cafffine is the best Inquisitor Barriss fic I've ever read, with Tomorrow, She'll see the Sky Again by @thevalaxy being the best post-Inquisitor Barriss fic I've read. Then there's Where I've Always Been and Coming Home to You by Gabby (Kirahsoka), which are amazing and made a sceptic of modern-world AUs and fantasy-world AUs like me rethink my scepticism.

Special shout-out goes to Pity and Reforging by @mylordshesacactus, which were the first Barrisoka fics I read and Jesus Christ, I think they fundamentally altered my brain chemistry and will haunt me until my dying day.

🎨Well, someone (not naming because I don't know if they want to be) very nicely asked if they could do fanart inspired by And if we Fell Together, which was about the happiest day of my life! I've seen some drafts and it looks incredible and I'm incredibly excited to see the finished version!

If there were to be a specific scene, I'd go for Ahsoka and Anakin's starfighter duel as I really like the imagery in that one! Oh, and also the first kiss!

[sunshinemoonrx]

So I finished Dynaman!

I got into the last few and instead of wanting to stop and post about it I just wanted to watch the next one. So it goes.

The final arc really balances well the high-concept "we're doing this fun thing this week" older tokusatsu tend to do more of, and the fast-moving plot newer shows lean more towards; and it also brings out something I'd been noticing in general, where this show kinda sneakily characterises everyone way more than you realise, until they do something drastic and you go "huh, actually yeah, that is totally something they would do"

The biggest instance of that is I wasn't really expecting, but totally believed when it came across, just how much the villains care for each other when it comes down to the wire. There's a lot of the fun backstabbing that makes a classic sentai endgame, but tempered by a lot more mutual warmth than usual.

(I mean, I'd mourn General Kar too, he maintained a really imposing presence even while almost never leaving the base until the end. Really portrayed well as the one guy with a professional attitude in the room)

There's a couple things looking back I feel maybe got cut for time--what exactly Megido was doing in gay baby jail that produced such a change, and what the hell was up with the backstory implications in that Zenobia-in-disguise episode--that could have been really cool. But it's hard to tell because this show is also perfectly content to leave things to implication to keep up the explosive (ha) momentum.

But man, absolutely part of the golden zone of shows like this for me. My personal pantheon of favourite toku are basically all sentai and metal hero shows from the mid-80s; they just have all the right ingredients. Lead actors chosen for their stunt skills doing absurd leaps through the wilderness, a delightful mix of practical and hand-drawn laser effects, outlandish fantasy armour and multicoloured space-leotards, bombastic insert songs singing the praises of the little car the robot travels around in, and sometimes girls are Heated Battlefield Rivals. What more do you need?

Speaking of which, ultimate win for me when everyone lines up for the final battle, except for Rei, who instinctively veers off to have one last swordfight with Chimera, because I guess she'll explode if she doesn't do this at every opportunity.

What could be better than this. Gals being [really fixated on whipping/stabbing each other].

Tachibana Rei really coolest girls of all time A-lister. Early on she's just kinda there but you can kinda see them realising how good Hagiwara is in realtime. And thus begins Hirohisa Soda's career of writing shows 80% about the girl rangers. Everyone say thank you, Rei.

But yeah! Dynaman was made specifically for me, but the great thing is, so were like a dozen of these things. I think I've watched most or all of the ones that really hit the sweet spot for me, but I didn't think this one was part of that zone until I watched it either, so, who knows! Check back in a year or two and maybe I'll be yelling about how Fiveman is an underappreciated gem.

[judvs]

𝚁𝙴𝙱𝚄𝙸𝙻𝙳𝙴𝙳𝚂  𝙰𝚂𝙺𝙴𝙳  :   02. the high priestess / 07. the chariot / 18. the moon !!

02. HOW DOES YOUR MUSE MAKE DECISIONS? DO THEY TRUST THEIR INSTINCT OR WOULD THEY RATHER TRUST THEIR HEART / THEIR LOGIC?  :  hmm ... torn. i consider marietta a super logical person, but i do think that when it comes down to the wire, she is almost entirely driven by her instincts / emotions. i think logic is something she applies to everything else, but those split second decisions are always made in the heat of whatever moment it is, for her, and usually influenced heavily by however it is that she's feeling in them. it is no wonder she usually makes such a balls of it !

07. HOW MUCH DOES YOUR MUSE CARE ABOUT WINNING? ARE THEY A SORE LOSER?  :  this gains many funny levels now, but ... marietta cares about winning so much. winning is also just being right, sometimes, and as one of THE most argumentative people that most wix know, winning an argument is like crack to her. but just in general, like... at her core ( and despite the fact that she eventually wanted to quit, and did ), she is like. always gonna be that deeply competitive little ballet dancer who was always striving for the spotlight. i imagine her experience with ballet to be a very similar vibe to the competitive dancing that i experienced when i was a kid, and i could be wrong ! it could be diff ! but if it's in any way similar, it was a super isolating sort of sport slash hobby that would have fostered a lot of resentment of other people within her group, and that thought informs a lot of how i characterised marietta, when i first started building her. she absolutely IS a sore loser, because losing in anything is a failure to what she's been working up to her whole life, even when she is not entirely sure what she is working towards anymore. though to be clear : she'd have been fine losing burning witch. she despises that she won. this is like. the ONE thing that she never would've wanted to succeed in and it feels like a cosmic level joke that she is being put on show, now.

18. WHAT DOES YOUR MUSE LONG FOR? IS IT A REALISTIC DESIRE?  :  there are several answers to this. one of them is, of course, the one i've given to a similar question before - she wants to be rid of the sneak scar, she'll never be rid of the sneak scar, it eats her up that a choice she made ( and would make again ) as a child defines her, so, now. i fear she'll be sixty years old and still longing for the reflection she hasn't seen for decades, in the mirror. she longs for old school justice, in the sense that she really feels hermione is owed a comeuppance that she'll never get. she longs for happiness ! career contentment ! the pride of isolde, though she's long since given up even trying to get it ! so many things, all of the time, always. most are realistic, and she just needs to get out of her own way to accomplish them. some are not, or should not be !

𝙼𝙰𝙹𝙾𝚁 𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙰 𝙰𝚂𝙺 𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙴  »  currently not  accepting  !

[bibibbon]

On the bluesky saw a post talking about the flying nomu.

And...it hits me how Shig saw a nomu going especially after Izu and ....did nothing. He didn't find that odd.

Did Izu recognized the flying nomu as the lackey?

Once again, the Nomus are wasted in this damn story.

So my ask here is

1) how possum/shig controls the Nomus? Bc if we go with "they have animal mentality" well, you can dominate a lion but you need to put work and shig didn't show us that

2) what happened after? Like the flying nomu was killed by Stain(if I remember right) and then...no one makes any investigation or smth??.bc I have two theories here either people did some research and find out who the kid was and opt to be silent or no one knew not even Izu and the bk's lackeys died completely unknown and uncared. Not even his grandpa gave a fuck.

Hi @mikeellee 👋

Agreed the nomu's do have a lot of wasted potential within the series and its a shame horikoshi didn't expand on them more whether be the horror, social and societal aspects surrounding the nomu's.

To answer your questions izuku didn't recognise that the nomu that attacked him was one of bkaugo's childhood friends. This seemed to be just a tiny easter egg for the readers and its a shame that it's never brought up again because

1)it would of played well into izuku's characterisation since he is really observant

2) would of added the horror into mha early on. You could have izuku doubting himself and saying oh this nomu kind of reminds me of tsuaba but then trying to brush that concern of until its brought back up

3) it would of connected early links to Dr garaki and important and underutilised plot point in the series

(Its weird hori did say that he would delve deeper into the nomu's but never truly did)

I don't think shigaraki sought to particulaty control the nomu's in the hosu arc he wanted them to cause chaos and bring awareness to his ideals and himself which is something that both the nomu's and stain helped achieve for him.

Now in terms of controlling nomu we know when they are given a lot of quirks they practically become braindead and their intelligence is significantly reduced. Some including I speculate that a brainwashing type of quirk or Dr garaki wires their brains to take instructions (however none is confirmed).

Yet this process is interesting because it suggests that a nomu can break out of that thought process like kurogiri and then what?

We know within the series that research was done on who the nomu's are and detective naomasa reports to all might about the nomu's identities. Iam assuming that this should be done for all of the nomu's discovered but this information was kept secret and never leaked to the public and therefore never leaked to izuku.

When the information was leaked after the war arc it was labeled to be so big to be the final nail in the coffin of hero society in general and ended up taking away any trust people had in heroes and hero society.

Nomu's could of been explored in multiple ways like:

Blurring the line between people and easily discardable puppets. It would make society question what it means to be a person since it can't be established by looks and it could tie in heteramorphis discrimation

Can heroes kill nomu's would society allow that? (Ending does talk a bit about this)

How are nomu's created?

Imagine one of your loved ones is a nomu and the way it would damage people like the situation to do with tsuaba and kurogiri

Puppets that can kill maybe the hpsc would want them if they can train them?

How are they created? What does Dr garaki do and how does he use them? Maybe they can be an ultimate super weapon of his that he uses to do his work

[nonsensegnomes]

hi I trust your taste and opinion. A, is succession any good, and B, should I watch it

oh thank you <3 altho i’m afraid you must be the first person to still think i've any taste after seeing my blog, i mean We Post Supernatural Here Sir asjwdwehdewhfefasdhjsidq

okay so you posed this as two different questions so i'll try and answer it like that & keep the replies separated as objective vs subjective altho i guess tl;dr is: Yes lmao

A) so the annoying thing for me as like. a practicing contrarian, is i do have to admit that this show is exactly as good as tumblr & the academy & all your friends & probably your great-grandfather's ghost have already told you it is. the dialogue is hilarious and horrendous but also so naturalistic that it can kind of lull you into thinking that it's a normal way of speaking for an hour; the satire is so well-pronounced in a way it could only be after getting smoothed out by precursor shows like the thick of it & peep show, and yet there's real emotion beating at the heart of it which never gets undercut to serve a Point; the soundtrack adds so much weight to every moment that somehow the scenes you're most excited by can be the ones where the characters are Just Walking Somewhere; and turns out all that obscene wealth IS obscenely good to look at.

     so, unfortunately all the awards thrown at it are incredibly deserved, and if i weren’t currently (re)watching the sopranos & the wire i’d be one of those people up in arms about how it’s the most special-est tv show to ever deign to fit onto our screens – as it is i Do think it’s the best one airing atm, and it’s def going to find its place quite high up in the canon of prestige tv! (although i do think ppl overestimate the lear influence; they’re just riffing off of similar themes guys!!)

B) as to whether you’d personally like it! well,, listen as a fellow shameless & spn enjoyer, it really is like barely a question; like you know those moments in early seasons shameless when their lives would be doing okay for a moment + then monica would arrive back and just absolutely Bulldoze through the kids’ emotional stability until it’s one crying knotted-up mess that dredges up every toxic part of every family relationship? yeah that happens like every 2nd episode on succession and you’d think it would get old, And It Doesn’t!!! also watching kendall roy like zombie-shuffle through s2 was one of the most deeply satisfying & painful experiences i’ve had watching tv, so like. if you’re trying to figure out why treasured mutuals are making you look at gifsets of droopy old men.... it’s the poor little meow meow effect for SUREEE, and the only way out of that is through so you might as well join in!!

     my word of caution would be that obviously this site can lead you astray in getting into it For Gay Reasons. like, some fun repressed characterisation makes it so pretty much every roy sibling (plus tomgreg obvs, and ig excluding connor?) has SOMETHING homoerotic going on, but i don’t think it’s a service to the story to be engaging with it Only on that level; there’s a lot they’re saying deliberately which is far more interesting! (e.g. roman imo is written as not at all attracted to women, but it serves the show far better if he never addresses this directly/‘comes out’ & instead continues forcing himself into these sexual relationships with them anyway)

     on the other hand... i’m not saying they WON’T do tomgreg bc like. shit’s getting wild (but to be clear if they don’t i never said this – queerbait who?) on the OTHER other hand: If kenstew has a million fans, then I am one of them. If kenstew has ten fans, then I am one of them. If kenstew has only one fan then that is me. If kenstew has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against kenstew, then I am against the world

also gonna link some classic posts here bc i think a lot of the people just now getting into the show may not have seen these Gems, which is a pity! & also they might form nice little samplers if you want to try a bite of this show!! i'll put them in increasing order of how much canon you'll need to be familiar with so you can avoid spoilers:

Rejected Lyrics to HBO’s Succession Theme

My [29F] husband [31M] has become obsessed with taking over his dad’s company since watching Succession on HBO

waystar royco IS monsters inc

succession if it were real life tiktok + pt 2 (ik there're more but i am Not tracking them down rn!)

logan has the m&ms

the first scene i ever watched oh my GOD what an introduction to this show

notes on Number-One-Girl-ism

kendall roy’s bathroom breakdown but with paper bag playing

THEE classic tomlette moment

it's rotten work / yeah it really fucking is!

not to me not if it's you. but fuck you're looking at potential corporate manslaughter

tomshiv forever <3

s2 kendall really needed to hang out with paddington bear

tomgreg cruel summer amv

does your mother know amv

The California Pizza Kitchen Controversy

the camera as a character video essay

john berryman ‘dream song 29’

saturn devouring his son >:)

ACTUAL king lear parallels

well, kendall, you’ve done it now… amv

anyway come back after you’ve seen to the s2 finale & stream laura marling’s hope in the air – sound of the summer!

(and i am actually contractually obliged to suggest that if you do end up enjoying kendall roy, perhaps try him in girlboss princess of a space-fish-war flavour?)

[onewomancitadel]

It's a semi-related idea but I've been lurking Hot D fandom and it's kind of impressive how there's this body of fanon which can exist because the narrative is so inconsistent and all over the place, not just with strict writing but characterisation to plot to tone to thematic truth. It's more like the impression of a story as opposed to an evolving work. Obviously the source material actually has this feeling, so it has to fill in the gaps, but that's exactly what it feels like, filling in the gaps of a collection of scattershot moments.

I find it really fascinating because I find it painful to watch, like the editing is actually very poor such that it was making me laugh. I wonder if these shows are embezzling money or money laundering? Because I don't know where the budget is going outside of the dragons.

And like, I think a lot of people, especially in fandom and as fandom culture has grown, really resonate with this style of storytelling that lets you find subtextual evidence to support your impression and then universalise that as textual truth because even its sense of textual truth is lacking. I think there is something resonant there - does Aemond secretly want to fuck his sister? His mother? His brother? His White Shadow? Was Viserys a good king? A bad man? A bad king? Abusive? Sinister? A rapist? A kindly man? A king who cast a large shadow or a king who never acted? Which Daemon do you get this episode? Or Rhaenyra, for that matter?

I was thinking on the fact that really narrative-driven television, that has a sense of cohesion across seasons in its character development and eventual plot payoff, is actually a very recent phenomenon. The Sopranos might be known as the first to really do it (and The Wire) - Breaking Bad set the stage for something like Game of Thrones to become a pop culture sensation - but all of that is within the last ten-twenty years, and the first three examples are exceptional. The nostalgia for twenty episode shows misses the fact that those stories were possible because they were never character-driven stories and never really aspirational in their plot or thematic payoff. There are some exceptions (even something like M*A*S*H, which I grew up watching reruns of, had something like Charles' development which was the best part of the show) for obvious reasons but the emergence of a special type of storytelling particular to television - with character heights that can actually reach beyond the time film has to explore, something approaching more like what novels can achieve - which leads to something as thoughtful and transcendental as Dark is very new, very recent, and potentially very ephemeral. Not least because the Marvelisation of film has now become fully fledged in television and they know they can get away with it now.

It's the same type of shit which afflicted JJ Abrams' storytelling style (the 'mystery box') which can work really well for a season or two for but never an ending. And I sort of find it weird that you have this impressionistic style of storytelling at the same time that shows are getting cancelled after their first or second seasons.

I personally do not think casual audiences are that stupid who can't keep track of what's going on or character development and I think what afflicts narrative criticism is the perception that there is Us - who are intelligent, can follow foreshadowing and character development whathaveyou - and Those People who are lesser and wouldn't know what a thematic statement is. That diminishes criticism because fundamentally I think storytelling is for everybody. So no I don't think the incest dragon show has to necessarily compromise itself for a lesser audience to rake in the big bucks. Obvs you have the issue as well with television that when there are conflicting visions that, too, can lead to conflict narratively and what you see onscreen may be a result of creative discord and I think this is especially apparent in television more than something like film (or indeed novels) because you need so many people to work on a piece. It's not an accident that Dark was written and directed by a husband and wife duo who had a very, very clear vision of what they were going to make.

But really the point of this is to say that it's interesting how something like Hot D appeals to these fandom instincts to project and run with an idea; it's very ripe ground for fanfic and headcanons. All permutations are possible!

When I'm watching Hot D you can kind of see the depth that some meta writers see and that's part of why it frustrates me. And you can see the vacuity in the next moment. It is a pretentious production in the true sense of the word, it has aspirations beyond its actual merit, and I think speaks to something that people want in fandom but I don't think it really has much beyond scratching a bit of the id and spectacle. That's why I'm frustratedly writing this post.

But if I were to play devil's advocate against myself - there is something to this fanon business for a reason, right? It's a playground that can be fun to explore, to read vastly differing speculation, to revisit ship archetypes you enjoy which are serviced in unique ways that romance novels may not be able to themselves (like, ASOIAF world is very rich for a romance). There are lots of people who read stories to run straight to transformative fandom for a reason. I've seen this phenomenon myself plenty of times; clearly it warrants deeper speculation than 'ur doing it wrong'. I think there's a real nugget here to explore. When it comes to storytelling itself, though, I don't find myself satisfied with this approach - I don't see a point engaging at all if it can't be a serious story. I have better things to do.

I feel like to be ideologically consistent I should be impressed when fans latch onto female characters with no personality the way they do background male characters but actually, I think it is more in line with my general beliefs that I find it twee and boring to latch onto substance-lacking narrative.

[jay-in-chicago]

Know The Risk.

Summary: Jay knows sleeping with his CI is enough to get him fired, but when she’s needed for an job, Jay can’t handle it. Pairing: Jay Halstead x unnamed female character. Characters: Jay, Voight, Olinsky. Warnings: mentions of drug dealing, weapon threat (gun), the suggestion of sexual favours in exchange for work (incredibly brief and not in detail), brief mention of sex (with Jay). Words: 2092 A/N: I’m pretty nervous to be posting this, so I’ll hit post and then go and hide. While I’m not new to writing, I am new to writing for the Chicago world. Apologies if the characterisation isn’t correct, I’m still learning. Not BETA’d because this is my first time here, so all mistakes, errors and typos are completely my own.

This was a request from my patreon account.

Likes, reblogs and feedback makes me squeal with happiness.

______

Jay’s been on edge ever since she stepped out of the car and headed towards the meeting point. He’d personally wired her up as he’d tried to keep his cool. His fingers had worked meticulously, and he’d made sure the camera attached to her blouse button was hidden. They needed to see as well as hear but the thought of her going in there alone made bile rise.

“I thought you wanted to solve this case?” she’d questioned, staring him down as she’d ran her tongue over her teeth as she watched him fretting.

“I do but not at this expense.” He’d whispered back, thankful the mic wasn’t live yet. To the rest of the team, she was simply one of Jay’s informants, nothing more than that. He had a few, mostly men but there were a few women who he could call on for a favour, though she’s the only one who had managed to get under his skin. She’d left such an impression on him that he couldn’t get her off his mind.

“Admit it,” she’d grinned at him, “if you weren’t milking me for information every opportunity you have, you’d be trying to get something else out of me.” He’d held out as long as he possibly could before she’d been invited to his apartment, the two of them finally giving in to what has been building for months. Jay had taken her with such relish, desperate to savour every moment of it not thinking for a moment it would be repeated.

But it had. That first time had unlocked something within the two of them, making them unable to resist one another. They’d find a way to have the conversations at either hers or his, she’d tell him everything he needed to know with each swipe of his tongue. Jay made sure he learnt what she liked as quickly as possible. He didn’t have an ego outside of the bedroom and ensured that it stayed the same inside of it but he couldn’t help it. The more she gave him, the more he wanted to take. The more he needed to take.

She’d have given him the information regardless but the coaxing, slow drawing of it, the way she’d withhold details unless he gave her an orgasm was all part of their foreplay. And for every arrest made, every case closed thanks to her, she was rewarded with even more. When Jay reached out to her about this case, she had the right connections, provided details and information that proved to be vital. She’d managed to worm her way in, met their main suspect a few times and managed to get close to being trusted as an outsider could, enabling her to be able to slip between members without being stopped. Or at least not initially.

Which is why she was the perfect candidate for heading in there tonight. Jay sits with headphones on, eyes barely moving from the screen. He hates every word that comes from her mouth. He knows she’s putting it on, but the seductive tone to it makes his cock stir against his wishes, the words should be making him shrink back against the seat in which he sits. She’s flirting with whoever she needs, their faces show the level of interest in her, the way they lick their lips as they drag their gaze down her body and wipe their thumb over the corner of their mouth as they chuckle and click their tongue.

She slipped through the crowd, searching for the one who they’d shown her the picture of until finally he came into view on the camera. Jay felt his body tense up, watching everything unfold on the screen before him. He’d seen what happened to people who got in his way, they were either in the ground or in the morgue and one wrong thing said, one tone off, one nervous hesitation and he’d know. The last thing Jay wanted was to watch her be taken down in front of his eyes, recorded for evidence and to be used whenever needed. The thought of it turned his stomach, had him biting at his nails with anxiety until he was sitting forward, his eyes widening as Darius played straight into her hand.

Jay knew better than anyone how good she was. She played the part incredibly well, and though he knew how she appeared to others, he was the one who saw her for who she really was. The version playing out on the screen for the team to see right now, that was flawless acting. Olinsky and Voight have exchanged glances at one another, muttered under their breath no doubt not wanting Jay to hear but he has. They comment on the way she held her cool, how convincing she appeared and how if they hadn’t had a conversation with her prior to sending her in there, they’d have believed her act. Pride licks at the edges of the raw anxiety ridden wound that festered with each passing minute.

“So you’re the one I’ve been hearin’ ‘bout?” his voice could be heard over the music, the way he looked at her made Jay’s stomach turn.

“depends what you’ve been hearing.”

His tongue slipped over his lips as he’d opened his legs, his hand resting against his inner thigh, the opposite leg swings open and closed as he watched her. “that you know someone who can take twenty keys and make me a lotta money.”

“That’s enough, we can get her out now, right?” Jay asked, moving the headset from one ear to look at Voight.

“Not yet,” his husky tone remained steady as his eyes stayed fixed on the screen.

“He just adm-”

“He didn’t admit anything. We need something concrete before we bust in there and mess up the whole thing.”

Jay clenched his jaw, kept listening and waiting impatiently for Darius to say something which could be used. He wasn’t a praying man but sitting there, with the screen having his full attention and her safety fully on his mind? Yeah, Jay was praying.

“listen yeah? Imma let your guy sell 8. See how that shifts. See if I can trust him.” Darius talks slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. What he means by trusting her buying is also seeing if he could trust her too. Jay knows how this works. You tell a small secret, or a lie, see what happens with it. Build it up until you decide if you can trust a person. If she delivers him the money for 8 and keeps the money coming in, she can be trusted with more product. “After that, we’ll look at somethin’ bigger yeah?”

Darius’s gaze drops down her body, takes in the curves of her body, the ones that Jay knows too well. His blood boils but he forces his hand to remain relaxed. If he clenched his hand, showed his emotion which could be taken exactly for what it is, he’d be packing his desk in a box and walked out of the building before the ink had dried on his paperwork.

Come on you son of a bitch, give me one good reason not to land a punch on you the second I get my hands on you.

“Like what?”

“Look at you thinkin’ big.” He runs his tongue back over his lips as he watches her. “I like the way your mind works. How bout that mouth?”

“What about it?”

“Wanna taste somethin’ on mine? You gonna be sellin’ it, don’t you wanna taste first? See how good it is” he asks, the fingers of the hand that rests against his thigh drums over his clothes.

“You’re giving me a freebie?”

“Bitch, ain’t nothing free here.” He scoffs, unable to believe she really asked that. “You want my H? You gotta show me how much you want it.” His hand moves, fingers tracing over his belt, snapping it open in one fluid motion. The explanation clear.

“We go now.” Voight’s voice rings out behind Jay. His headset is snapped away from him within seconds and he’s on his feet, out of the van with the others following.

___

“Jay?” Neither have really said a word since they got back to the precinct. She wanted to, was desperate to fill the silence with mindless chatter like they would usually but the look on his face tells her he’d rather have this than talk. “Jay.” She tries again and only now do his light eyes flicker up to her face. His hands still work, removing her wires, her camera and anything else which could pick the two of them up. Anything which could be used against them. “Are you not going to say anything?”

“I will once my heart leaves my throat.”

“I did ok though, right? You’d use me again.”

“You terrified me half to death, that’s what you did.”

“But did I do ok?”

He sighs, locks his jaw and stares at her as his hands drop to his side, the devices tightly fixed in his fist. “You did and that’s the problem.”

Her brow furrows, “pro-”

“Yes, problem. Do you realise how convincing you were? If we hadn’t come in when we had? He could’ve-”

“but he didn’t.”

“But he could have.”

“I knew the risk when I agreed to do this.” She lifts her face, angles her chin defiantly at him.

“So did I but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about the way he was or how it was playing out.” Turning his back briefly to put the device into the box it came from, he can’t wipe the memory of the camera from his mind.

They’re downstairs, away from security cameras, away from mics; the only two in that area are the ones Jay has just disconnected and put away. Alone, with no footsteps approaching, she steps forward and pulls him into a hug. “I’m fine. You came at exactly the right time. Maybe if you came in minutes after? That could have been a different story. Look at me, he barely touched me.” She says, ignoring the way her head throbs at the memory of how he’d grabbed her hair so tightly she thought he planned to rip clumps from her scalp as he’d dragged her to her feet and held a gun to her temple, using her as a shield. Her heart rate had only just calmed but the intense way that Jay stared at her made it pick up a little more. “I’m ok because of you.”

“But if I hadn’t.” His voice cracks a little and that one sound? That one sound breaks her.

“Hey,” moving his hand, she presses it against her chest, “see, I’m alive because of you and your team. Don’t beat yourself up over what could be. I’m here. Unhurt. And I’d do it again if it meant I could be of use to you.”

“Your information helps enough. I don’t need you almost getting attacked or killed just so we can take someone down. There are other ways.”

“If it wasn’t me in that position Jay, it would have been someone else. Would you have felt better having someone else have that gun pressed against their head just because it wasn’t me? Because I wouldn’t.”

When he says nothing, just continues to stare at her, she nuzzles her nose against his jaw, over his throat before pressing her lips to him, feeling the rough stubble as it grazes against her soft skin. “You’re feeling this because you acted as you should.” she presses more kisses, up the underside of his jaw and finally over the curve of it, her lips dragging towards his lips until he finally moves, dipping his face to meet her lips with his own and kisses her with all the pent up emotion he’d been keeping in, now barely to hold himself back after just a taste of her again.

“We can’t do this here.” He groans, forcing himself to pull away from her. Her eyes are dilating, her chest rises and falls from the rapid breathing. “You know where the spare key is for my place right? I’ll meet you there. You need to go now before I take you into the supply closet and get fired.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I’m naked.” She says, stepping towards him and pulling his lip between her teeth, nibbling on it just enough to draw a long groan from him before letting it go with a satisfying pop.

[wangxianficrecs]

Hi Mojo! I'm starting to think you're a bit of an agony aunt for the fandom 😅 I'm not sure if you know, but Medium Blues has sadly been taken down again 😔. I completely understand, and wish the author well, hoping they can still enjoy the fandom outside of writing for it.

I do feel bad for fandom authors in general - it's nice to see the passion of the fans of The Untamed and how much they want to protect something they love, but it has kind of scared me from producing any works for it, especially since I am not Chinese/ do not know The Untamed as intimately as others, being new to the fandom.

I've spent months and months researching, and I'm terrified to get it wrong - I'm starting to think it may be inappropriate to write anything outside of my own culture altogether. I want to be sensitive, and I want to get it right. For example, I want to make sure specifically that the names and how characters are addressed are correct within a modern setting, as I understand this is different from the original historical setting.

You want to do right by the community, but from what I've seen some can get kinda... heated when you get something wrong or don't write something the way they like it, even becoming quite aggressive. It was supposed to be just for a bit of fun and relief from the real world and suddenly it becomes this huge drama... it puts you off.

I love constructive criticism, and actively welcome it, especially in terms of cultural inaccuracies. When it comes to plot, or characterisations however... I personally feel that the storyline content is the authors perogative (unless they've asked for that kind of feedback) especially in an AU setting. If there's a setting or plot line you disagree with, I'm well within the camp of, don't like, don't read.

There's definitely a line I feel, between being helpful, and shaming someone for something that they wrote incorrectly but without malicious intent.

Authors spend a lot of time making sure the tags are okay, even adding extra warnings on chapters and in some case preemptively apologising for mistakes.

Sorry for the essay! Take care 😊

Ha, yeah.  I feel like an agony aunt today  This turned into a doozy of a conversation!

I really do feel that cultural sensitivity in fandom is an extraordinarily complex issue, and not one I’m very qualified to speak about.  But I AM qualified to speak about writers of fanfiction, that’s a perspective I know well.  And here’s the thing about education:  if you hurt someone first (even if it’s unintentional), they’re not going to learn anything from you.

So really, you lose nothing by asking the author if they’d like feedback.  Because if they say no, their ears will be stoppered up to you, that’s just how people work.  So don’t waste your time there, and just move on.

As a writer, it does really bother me to see other writers dropping out of the fandom because of corrections that are perfectly valid, but which shook them too badly (for whatever reasons) for them to continue to contribute by writing.  You just don’t know.  You know nothing about that writer and where they are in life.  

Fanfiction is different from every other entertainment medium out there, because it’s done freely, only for yourself and others out there who might enjoy it.  It’s someone’s creative baby, or meandering thoughts, or pervy fantasies, whatever.  The author is a single person, not being paid or promoted... their efforts are NOT a public commodity.

Having said that, I think that what’s happening now is VERY IMPORTANT.  Fandom spaces are predominantly white and American.  One of the most amazing things about the internet is the ability to see into other lives, other cultures, other experiences.  In the long run, that makes all of us richer, better people.  Exposure is the best means of learning, and public spaces like tumblr and twitter are doing a FANTASTIC job of presenting non-white, non-American views.

People learn at different paces.  Some can do it publicly, some can only change when no one is looking.  I have seen great strides in education and awareness:  and it can happen without calling anyone out.

It is not a difficult thing to ask first if someone wants your input.  I wish that it were a more regular thing.  Because I’ve heard from many writers who are too scared of setting foot wrong to contribute to this particular fandom.

People make mistakes.  People don’t enter a society knowing all the rules.  They have to learn them by tripping over wires.  I think it’s important to give them the space to learn.  And remember that people learn best when they’re not being put in a public spotlight (like an unsolicited comment).

***Does anyone have a list of cultural sensitivity betas? We should start one, so authors like this one don't fear a misstep.***