#ref from one of those draw your otp posts!

[midgart]

stealing cigarettes and kisses

[writerseven]

Im physically holding myself back from sending all the reader ask emojis, but how about: 😍🤷‍♀️🏆💏😭

(from these asks)

😍 What is your favorite fic trope?

If we’re sticking to Dark Content Brand TM here, then listen...I just never stop coming back to ‘bruce wayne is an abusive parent and also probably fucks his kids’. Delightfully horrible. Extremely excellent. Nudge Bruce just sliiightly to the left and he becomes the worst parent ever, while keeping most of his characterization.

And the endless options to chose from in which kid(s) he hurts and how! and how they all interact based on that! and who finds out and when! and what pieces of canon I can take and shift slightly to fit this new backstory, or not even have to shift at all!

At any given time, I am having three new ideas about bruce being a terrible father.

(If we’re going in the more general sense for tropes, then I just love extreme angst with a happy ending. I want my faves to be okay eventually but they gotta hurt first.)

🤷 What thing that your fandom loves do you just not “get”?

sdfghjk I could list so many little peeves and bits of fanon characterization that I Do Not Jive With and could probably do a whole ask meme about just that. But for now I will just say I’m not that into a/b/o! For reasons unclear to me, it seems super common in the DC fandom.

There’s some stuff in there that works for me, but a lot that doesn’t: I’m not personally into some of the common kinks involved, a lot of times I feel like characters have the entirety of their interesting characterization stripped away for very flat ‘big rough alpha’/‘whimpering weak omega’ archetypes (and ‘beta’ meaning ‘the writer does not care about this character’), and on occasion I feel like the playing with gender and fantasy worldbuilding just loops right back around to barely-modified old-school misogyny in a way that bugs me.

I definitely have enjoyed some PWP a/b/o fics nonetheless! But when I think of the one or two a/b/o fics that I found genuinely interesting and compelling as more than just horny content...I think they’re all deconstructions of the trope lmaosdgfhj. To each their own! But, yeah, I don’t really get it. 🤷

🏆 What do you wish more authors in your fandom would write about?

also so many things, and I could really just @ myself for half of these. (you all are permitted to yell at me to write any of these things.) More comics!titans content, especially the fab five! More terribad luthor/superman content where lex luthor is the horrible man he was meant to be! More terribad Tim/Ra’s, because for a dark pairing that seems to get talked about a lot, there’s really not that much actual dark fic for them! More preboot Roy Harper! More Cass and Steph and Barbara included in the batfam, and less Bruce-And-Four-Boys-Only. (I know I said I wasn’t going to lists peeves on the last question, but I get to slip in one, okay. The new52 and following reboots distorted so many things, and I think one of the worst things it did batfam-wise was convince everyone the batfam is Bruce And Sons And Maaaybe Barbara.)

Also, just in general, I think we could all stand to go back to the source material a little bit and draw from there again. (I definitely include myself in that!) It’s so so easy to just ping pong the same concepts back at each other, but sometimes I feel like we’re stagnating without new ideas. Some of my favorite (mostly not dark) fics I’ve read are really clearly pulling from distinct comic refs, and it lends a grounding and history to the characters that I really enjoy.

💏 Who is your OTP?

You know, I wrote like five answers to this question before realizing that I just don’t think I can answer it. Honestly, it’s very rare for me to strongly ship anything in the sweet/romantic sense. Technically I could say RoyDick for this because they currently are one of those rare cases (and when I was reading NTT I really did love DickKory), but that feels misleading because I rarely-to-never seek out shipfic. I mostly go by individual characters I’m invested in!

When it comes to darkfic (because that is what I made this account for), there are some classic combos that work well--Slade/Dick, Ra’s/Tim, Bruce/all his children--but still, I go a lot more for “which character do I want to see cry today” than seeking out pairings. I do get excited every time there’s a new BruTim darkfic posted!! But, still, I feel like that’s more “I want to see Tim cry in this specific way” than something I’d classify as an OTP. Character >>>> Ship for me every time.

😭 Has a fic ever left you inconsolable?

Sometimes I read a fic where everything is awful to the bitter end and ends hopelessly, but I find myself consciously pulling away from those fics when I sense where they’re going specifically to avoid this. Which I guess implies the answer to this is a firm yes before I learned to do that, but GOD if I can remember which fics they were.

(The only fic I can remember atm that made me uncontrollably cry is ‘the gentle sin is this’ which is actually a largely sweet fic that ends on a decidedly happy note! and also is a neither dark nor taboo roy/dick fic that in no way resembles any of the content anyone here followed me for! so do what you will with that ig????)

Thanks so much for the ask!! Feel free to send others if you want ♥

[otto-von-stirlitz]

Wicdiv #45 notes

 I It’s all so... weird and surreal. One last post to honor the tradition that really did keep me hooked on here for years. Something about those 5 years just ending. Having followed wicdiv almost from the beginning, I really feel attached to it and view it through a VERY personal lens of all the changes that happened during those years. From a depressed and passively suicidal 17yo in a highschool, to an almost graduated 22yo, trying to figure out it all with a bit more hope and a bit less of mental health issues. Eh, let’s cut it out and move to a standard spoilery bullet points format, I’m too wordy and pretentious

Of course this issue had to be happy and sad at the same point, as both life and death shine through as central motifs of the whole book, especially underlined here. Two sides of the same coin (no Yavien, you will not say ‘alexa play hyori ittai by yuzu’ to cry over hunter x hunter. no)

You know how as an urban activist I’m ideologically not a big fan of cars, but damn, that McKelvie design! Reminds me of prototypes of future cars I saw in the BMW musuem, kudos for capturing that futuristic tech feel.

I like the subtle implication that Eleanor did grow and change. But then again, she had so much time, so it’s not even that high of a bar.

‘What’s a funeral without morbidity?’ after all those years Cass stayed THE #1 goth of the cast (but Umar gets pretty close with channeling Cam). Yes, I love Cass and I love how after the kiss from #44 we got a whole ass lauracass feels issue, amazing, showstopping, incredible etc etc. You know, Im just a fan.

Gotta admit, reading the issue the first time I did miss that Laura says ‘them’ to refer to Zahid. It really explains why Kieron was so cagey about the pronouns ask back during Fandemonium. They did have time to explore thier gender and pronouns after all of the ‘2 years’ baiting. It’s a win for the nbs (sobs and cries on the floor)

Also goddamn McKelvie really popped off with all the older character designs? All those little details and shout-outs to their youger selves? And all the Minanke practice in drawing basically the same character but as a teen and as a grandma did pay off. And this all while chasing deadlines with hypermobility? Chapeau bas. Although I’m sad that Jon got his fathers aging genes, however his mom looked that age must’ve been better...

‘Every time it rains’ yes A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SHOUTOUT BUT I AM ALRIGHT I REPEAT I AM ALRIGHT ITS NOT TEARS, IT RAINS (haha both baal ref and fma hughes funeral ref IA M FINE)

Also I’m crying for Aruna, she was in such a bad place by #13 and this issue? HEr new body? The way she learned to mix miracles and songs? And in general finally having this authority over her life? And deciding to use it paritally to help people she often barely knew? I am fine i repeat

Meredith and Zoe, glad to see you and your names confirmed and a confirmation that you were also a part of the Pantheon

Umar’s line about hospitals (and the picture from #16) seems to imply Cass passed away after some illness. Eleanor saying it’s unfair that she smoked and ‘got away’ with it and Cass being prepared she’d die soon kinda ties into that theory? Was it cancer or something else?

Also yeah re: that pic (and the invitation to Was It Cam Or Cass debate) - Umar has two hands, period. And like the fact that Umar literally quotes words Cam said moments before his death in Umar’s hospital room? Yeah, it’s really raining, lieutenant...

Delivering your own eulogy via a hologram is exactly this level of gay panache that Cass would embrace, I LOVE HER SO MUCH. Also being nice AF to literally everyone but in the snarkiest way possible? PEAK CASS. But yeah, something more changed because she wears a white (!!!) shirt. Now that’s a massive wardrobe change

Zahid being one of the closest friends of Cass? I love this song

Also ‘you were never my type. until you were’ should be An Iconic quote of gay tumblr and twitter and yes i will be using it as my lauracass otp tag from now on.

Also Cass focus on how everyone changed themself and tried to change the world, so the future people are born into a better one.

And yeah, same, I also didnt always want to be buried beneath a tree but now as I’m growing out of my old edgeperson ways? It sounds wonderful, I want to be an acorn even after death.

Also yeah, the final themes of growth that takes time, becoming better and finding hope... they resonate with me now, as I also feel like I’ve been through hell for 2 (or actually more, i think) years. But you know, rip to that old me but im different (now). Thank you Kieron for luring me into a flashy colorful YA, then a messed up and depressive story, and then climbing up the walls of hell back when I did. It was not always going to be okay, but then it was okay.

And yes, to the whole fandom, fandom that let me find so many friends all over the world and grow up as a person and have so much fun with our stupid puns and shitposts: I love you. I’ll miss you. (but honestly, still feel free to HMU etc, its not like we actually die. We just lost a source of monthly engagement, thats it. Im just a dramatic lil shit too)

Also yeah, one last word: may Two Slow Dancers by Mitski be the final, ultimate Lauracass song. Let’s all play it now, and cry. No, it’s not raining anymore, I really am crying thinking about Them.

[traincat]

I think I Kno the answer but I like the way you explain things so; would you ever write superfamily?

This is the sort of stone cold ‘no’ where it’s literally one of the only things I say I will not write on signup sheets. You’d have to pay me to write it. Substantially. If there’s one Marvel fandom-specific trope I hate above all others, it’s this one. I ‘flames on the side of my face’ gif loathe it. And because you played to my ego here, anonymous, I’ll explain why it bothers me so much. (Joking aside, I do genuinely appreciate that people want to hear my thoughts on things! Thank you! I’m sorry for how seethingly bitter I’m about to be, but anon, I suspect you knew what you’d be getting when you asked this!)

Frothing hatred, a discussion about the integrity of the character of Peter Parker, and The Importance of May Parker – all beneath your friendly neighborhood cut.

Superfamily in this instance refers to a specific fic trope in Marvel fandom where a pair of superheroes, traditionally Captain America and Iron Man (the superhusbands, hence the superfamily) although I’ve seen other pairings especially as of late, are written as the fathers of Peter “Spider-Man” Parker – usually adopted, sometimes biological, but ultimately legally. 

In general I don’t really enjoy this kind of fic where two characters who aren’t related (by blood or otherwise) are re-envisioned as relatives. It’s not that I think it’s inherently a bad concept, but what I would hypothetically want out of it – an exploration of how these characters change as a result of being related in this version – is almost never what it actually is, which is that Characters A and B are the author’s OTP, and the author wants to give them a child, and Character C, who is off over there minding their own business probably with their own supporting cast, is right there. 

(While trying to come up with comparative combinations on a tangent I ultimately dropped, I did think “Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff are the parents of Daisy Johnson, costarring Nick Fury as the mysterious uncle” and apparently there are versions of this I would read. Make superspyfamily the next big thing.)

There’s a lot of other things I don’t like about the trope: the diminishing and infantilization of Peter Parker, a ~30yo man in the comics with his own complicated web of connections and relationships – including, if we wanted to go here, a surrogate father figure in Joe “Robbie” Robertson. The twisting of Peter’s personality in order to make his a Good Earnest Kid, his Grand Canyon-wide independent streak and his anti-authoritarian nature stripped away in favor of making him beholden to two characters who are, you know, not his parents. Two characters who aren’t even, striking a stint in the ice where Steve Rogers is concerned, that much older than him in 616. The fact that, over the years, Iron Man and Spider-Man have clashed several times, often aggressively on Peter’s side of things. 

(This post isn’t meant to be a criticism of Tony Stark – even if I was interested in taking that angle when discussing this trope, which I’m not, I frankly haven’t read enough Iron Man comics to offer a valid criticism – but rather a statement that Peter Parker is an aggressive character by nature, and that sometimes two characters with the best of intentions can have damaging interactions with each other. That’s the beauty of having a canon with 80 million different characters – every possible dynamic exists. And that’s why there’s several canon instances of Peter attacking Tony in my Spider-Man refs folder. Listen, I like when he punches people, okay.) The invention of a totally fake dynamic that has become so widespread and latched on on a fanon level to the point where it was shoehorned into the latest Spider-Man movie adaptation to the detriment of Spider-Man’s actual supporting cast. The fact that when I read Spider-Man fic, I want to be reading about Spider-Man, not someone’s Peter Parker shaped OC. And maybe most importantly: the erasure of May Parker. Without May Parker, there is no Spider-Man, not as we know him. 

I’ve spoken before about the importance and gravity of Ben Parker’s death and how without knowing the exact circumstances, I find it difficult to know what form Peter’s actions will take. (The differences in his crime fighting methodology 616 vs Marvel Noir, for instance.) But while Ben Parker’s death made Spider-Man, the vigilante, I think it’s May Parker who makes him a hero, every day. 

And, my line on her to Peter is that he got his powers from the spider but he got his strength from May. Because that backbone is what made him who and what he is today. The choices that he makes now come of her having raised him a certain way. – J Michael Straczynski (x)

Look, I think there’s a simplicity to Superfamily that contributes to its overwhelming, infuriating, kudzu-like popularity: Spider-Man is one of the biggest superhero properties on the planet. He’s often, however incorrectly I would personally suggest this is, depicted as a kid. He is, as we all know, an orphan – he has no parents, and he lives with his aunt and uncle, and then – robber, bang, power, responsibility – only with his aunt. And I think sometimes when people hear “orphan” and “aunt” they kind of feel a distance – a disconnect. Or maybe it’s an age thing – the idea that May’s somehow too old to be his parent, so she’s discounted. Maybe it’s just because she’s not a superhero, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s entirely a coincidence that early Marvel is populated with non-traditional family models – the Fantastic Four, for example, are not a team but a family – when these stories were created by Jewish people living in a heavily Jewish area in the shadow of WWII. In the face of decimation, you come together however you can. Orphaned Peter Parker and his aunt, his father’s brother’s wife, alone together. But May Parker’s a lot more than just that.

In Amazing Spider-Man #33, Peter finds himself hopelessly trapped under rubble while Aunt May’s life hangs in the balance – if he cannot free himself, it’s not only his life but hers that’s forfeit, and through his love from her he finds the strength to literally move mountains. (Speaking of removing May from the picture in favor of Iron Man, I’ll never forgive Spider-Man: Homecoming for recreating this scene so that Peter derives his strength from him and not from, you know, the woman who raised him and who he loves more than his own life, in favor of the inherently more marketable Iron Man brand.)

A lot of times in Superfamily fic, they just kill May off. Okay, fine, whatever. I might hate it (I hate it a lot) but like, alright! Fine! If you gotta go here! May’s often been in delicate health, especially in older comics, and if an author needs to take her out of the picture, her literally being dead is basically the only in character reason she wouldn’t be there for Peter if he needs her. I might personally have a grudge against about it, but hey, as we’ve established, I have a grudge against the whole trope. Lately though, and I suspect because of the advent of Homecoming’s Hot Somewhat Younger May – I’d like to suggest that 616 May is not as old as one might think looking at her first appearances and that, as the sliding timescale moves along, we have to address the fact that people both live longer and look younger today than was expected in the 1960s –,  I’ve been seeing a different trend. (Yes, I’ve been known to hateread, I’ll admit it. How else would I know how much I hate it! Also it keeps ending up in the JohnnyPeter tag and I make poor choices re: deriving enjoyment from my anger over fanfic of all things.) Lately, more and more, I’ve been seeing fics where Tony adopts Peter from May – as in, she signs the forms giving up her child, because obviously he loves him so much more. Fics where May is just the cover story so Peter Stark can escape media attention – so great, now she’s an employee. And at least one tweet about how great it would be to see a fic where Peter comes out to May and she throws him out in a homophobic fit but wait! The Avengers can rescue him! So now she’s demonized for the Drama. Gag me. (Not that I think it should matter at all for the sake of this argument, but we have May’s actual word in Amazing Spider-Man v2 #38 on what would happen if Peter came out as gay to her, and that it’s she’d love and support him no matter what.) And listen, like, part of me is like let it go! The majority of this content is written by younger fans just figuring out what they want to write, dipping their toes into the swampy waters that is Marvel canon! But the problem is, this perpetuates. It gets popular, and people form their opinions based on headcanons and not on canon and it becomes a vicious cycle, and suddenly Peter’s the Kid Avenger like, ACTUALLY, and May’s role in the story has been demoted to Roommate With a Car at best. Just there until better, cooler parental figures show up at the doorstep with adoption papers. 

Because, listen, May Parker is Peter’s mother. 

One thing I find fascinating about Peter Parker in 616 is how he relies on and draws strength from other people’s goodness, and none more so than May. It’s her well of inner strength and kindness that enable him to be kind of superhero that he is. 

Without May Parker, Peter Parker would be a totally different character – and I don’t want a different character. I like this one. (For a canon story about how Peter would be different without May, check out Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8.)

Like I said above, the great thing about having 80 million characters is that those characters get to be different things, and as superheroes they get to protect different things. Iron Man is a futurist. The Fantastic Four are about discovery. The X-Men protect a world that hates and fears them. Spider-Man isn’t here to save the world. Spider-Man is here to protect ordinary people – people like May Parker. 

In conclusion: fuck Superfamily as a widespread trend.

Anyway I had to see an actual article about the MCU refer to two characters as Spider-Man’s “Avenger dads” and another suggest that Dr. Strange and Spider-Man are the father-son combo we never knew we always needed (it’s not, and we don’t), so I guess I’m going to go live in a cave and throw rocks at innocent hikers who stumble upon my Spider-Man Opinions cave now.

[crowsent]

clearing out a laptop that is more than a decade old: the highlights, ft. salt making insightful commentary on self-growth and past internet culture in between aggressively making fun of old memes

listen. this laptop is fucking OLD. this laptop is from the fucking dark ages. obama wasnt even the president when i got this laptop. i have to plug in a fucking keyboard to even type my password in this laptop bc the keys no longer work. this thing has to be kept plugged in at all times just to be useable, aight? there are fucking facebook memes on this shit

im missing my childhood

=

where to apply perfume:

behind ears

base of throat

near armpits

inner wrists

inner elbows

behind knees

so this is solid advise but. i mean.

i do not wear perfume or cologne, past or present

why the fuck did i have this saved?

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“molson beer fridge”

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alexandrias genesis origin story

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to play “happy birthday” on your phone, press [ 112163 112196 11#9632 969363 ]

and you bet your fucking ass i played this on my phone

i played this over and over chuckling to myself bc it stil works after a whole ass decade

yes i still have a flip phone shut up

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past!salt utterly eviscerating the grey elephant from denmark game bc i was shoved so far deep in the closet i found aslan

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the italian chef who died

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think of a number. double it. add six. halve it. take away the number you started with. your answer is three

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in hindsight, maybe going through my first laptop was a bad idea. there are so many “best friend” memes and every time i see one of these i am fucking hit with anger and resentment and guilt and so many negative emotions

but then i remember that i was absolutely not in the wrong and i there are no words that can describe the sheer GLEE i feel when i delete those memes

good fucking riddance i say

once this laptop is cleared of any files ill sort through my usb shit

=

so im learning that past!me was even more of an escapist than present me. that, or fandom culture was even MORE toxic back then than it is now

there were fucking CONTRACTS and shit

fucking PLEDGES and VOWS and PROMISES to put fandom before all else

like what the fuck is this

this is some cult bullshit

“i turn my back on the company of people and pledge my soul to join the fandoms”

like the internet legit just tossed this shit around to impressionable young people who took to the internet as a means of escaping rl trauma and they get hit with THIS bullshit

goddamn

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blood type personality charts

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“sabi nila, kung kaya ng iba, kaya mo rin. sabi ko naman, kung kaya ng iba, ipagawa mo sa kanila”

HA

BRUHHHHHHHH

past!me is so much more feral and rabid than present!me but holy SHIT past!me was funnier

bruhhhhhh

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blood print cherry tree

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the amount of old art i found on this laptop is just embarrassing

bruh

the amount of GROWTH ive had

no lie my art right now still leaves much to be desired but

holy SHIT past!me was something else

i POSTED this shit

this shit is off somewhere in the universe

wow

i improved so much

=

i dont remember this bc i have the memory of a newly born fruitfly but

apparently

in the past

parents were really out here cancelling dora the explorer for having dora “expose her midriff”?????

i say parents but its probably just karens with nothing better to do

of course this discourse is on tumblr bc where else would it be

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“i fanqueen peasant”

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OLD MEMES

OLD ASS MEMES

the format really do be “top text bottom text”

what is this

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i saved the moon moon origin meme

bruh

i have a fucking piece of history saved

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purquoise

“i ship purquoise i even drew smut for it”

[image of a purple and turqoise gradient]

“why is there pr0n on my dash”

does

does anyone remember this?

i barely remember this but there was a ship war between purqoise and another colour combo

we really just post whatever we want on this website huh

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so past me did commissions of dragons

i forgot about that

imagine a little fucking elementary-grade kid dealing dragon drawings in between classes for a few pesos

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there are pictures of me in this laptop

this is unacceptable

the people must not know that i have a corporeal form

i must remain formless

people must envision an empty void when they think of me

unacceptable

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the fucking DELIC PSYCHE drrr au

i fucking FORGOT THIS

does

does anyone in the modern drrr fandom remember the fucking delic/psyche debacle?

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so apparently

past!me just went ahead and fucking

involved myself in ship wars huh

you know what? i forgive you past salt. you didnt know any better. we are better than getting into ship wars now

we have grown

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handcuff chair crowd

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ship ranking websites

past!salt making multiple accounts on every ship ranking website to upvote otps

truly

we have grown as a human being

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past!me simped for bellatrix

not surprising

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there are so many anime!harrypotter art on this

i did not want to see voldemort chibi-fied

what the fuck

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old fandoms blah blah

weird shit blah blah

art ref blah blah

an unsent letter to my mother apologising for not being the child she wanted and asking desperately for her to still love me even after i admit that im not straight

cake recipes

so much cake recipes

BUTTERBEER RECIPE

i have the the recipe for BUTTERBEER