#I should just do proper comics but I'm not *that* bored

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Listen, I know we all have stuff to do and summer is coming up and aaaaaaaargh, but in the name of Optimus Prime I'm begging y'all to shed the habit of using descriptors like 'the shorter one' or 'the blond one' instead of using proper names.

This is a very common trope in fanfiction, and I get it, it gets so boring to write the character names over and over again. I also know it will be so hard to unlearn, don't ask me about the pain and suffering I have endured. But you have to break yourself out of this habit, because all it's doing is making your stories harder to follow and losing your readers.

Let's say you're writing an Avengers fanfic, and you've got Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor in the room together. The following scene might go a little something like this:

"We must stop Unicron," the blond one said, flexing his muscles.

"Indeed," the dark-haired one replied. "If only he weren't so handsome for a metal monster."

"Thou is speaking nonsense," the bearded man said, subtly flexing his biceps harder. "Also, who is speaking right now?"

(Yes, I did write Unicron instead of Ultron like I'm pretending not to be a nerd, shut up.)

The actual dialogue tag indicators above are nonsense, pure gibberish, and those exaggerated for effect, wouldn't it just be easier to follow if you just used names? Also, sometimes Tony's goatee is more beard-like so it's even less helpful in figuring out who's talking. Depends on what era of comics you're reading.

ANYWAY, Who is doing what is one of the most important things you need to convey. In a busy dialogue scene, in a high action scene, especially in a romance scene between two people of the same gender, clarity is key. It feels boring to write, I know. It will be a better scene in the end.

So when should you use character descriptors in your writing?

When you need to reiterate an important character feature that is either relevant to how the main character views them or how they view themselves. Example: Her brother, the soldier, the Hobbit, etc.

When you need to reiterate an important character feature to the plot. Example: The god of thunder, the stowaway, the white witch, etc.

When you have a minor character who is better defined by their job or role than there name. Example: The second mate, the boatswain, the cook, etc.

When appropriate to the scene. This one is harder to define, but if you have a quiet moment where the main character reflects on the scoundrel he has a crush on, long paragraphs of just using the name Alex might be better peppered descriptors of his personality or notable features, or - depending on your character - 'that cocky asshole.'

When shouldn't you use character descriptors? When they are boring, unhelpful, and not distinctive. Referring constantly to someone as "the taller man" or "the blonde" will come back to haunt your ass years down the road, believe me. Break free from this prison before you snap awake at 3am, haunted by the one stupid scene you can never unwrite.

[just-my-latest-hyperfixation]

Merry whatever

Written for the @steddieholidaydrabbles, day 25

Prompt: Christmas

Rated: G

CW: none

Tags: Fluff; Getting together; First kiss

Notes: Continued from day 5

Steve is just putting the last of the cookies into the oven - stars and trees and gingerbread men with little vampire teeth - when there’s a cacophony of swears and noise from the roof and a giant letter X crashes into the snow outside the kitchen window. He wipes his hands on a towel, slips into his boots and coat and makes his way outside. 

“Eds? You still alive up there?” 

“Barely!” 

Eddie pops his head over the edge of the roof. He’s wearing the Santa hat again, the one they found in the attic together with the letters and the rest of the decorations. 

“Your roof is a fucking ice rink, Harrington. Veritable death trap up here.” 

“Hey,” Steve sloshes closer, almost trips over a plastic elf protruding from the snowy lawn like a tiny, cheerful goblin in a striped hat. “Don’t whine at me. I told you it was a bad idea, getting the letters up in that weather.” 

“Yeah, yeah, mom!” Eddie snarks. “Now get that thing back up here.” 

“Of course,” Steve rolls his eyes but still tucks the fallen letter under his arm and clambers up the ladder. “No fun if we don’t break both our necks.” 

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Eddie takes the letter from him as soon as he’s within reach, then extends a gloved hand to help him onto the roof. The wool is scratchy against his skin, but Steve still revels in the warmth of it, the firm press of Eddie’s fingers entwining with his. “Didn’t survive the literal apocalypse to be taken down by some holiday decorations. Now help me put this- woah!” 

He slips on the icey roof, teeters dangerously close to the abyss, eyes comically large and arms ruddering in the air for balance. Steve does what he does best and flies into action, bodily lunging himself at him and pulling him against his chest. He goes down on the shingles ass first, Eddie sprawled on top of him. By some Christmas miracle, Steve manages to grab a hold of the X before it can fall a second time. 

Eddie’s breath is warm against his neck, hands clawing into his coat, and oh shit, they’re close. So very close. Much closer than two buddies who just happen to be spending Christmas together should be. 

“You okay?” Steve says over the sound of his own blood roaring in his ears. 

“Peachy,” Eddie pulls back, shoves the Santa hat out of his eyes. His very brown, very pretty eyes that Steve has caught himself thinking about an absurd amount lately. There's a bright pink flush coloring the bridge of his nose - probably from the scare. Or the cold. Yup, the cold, that’ll be it. “Reckon you’ll ever get tired of saving my ass, big boy?” 

“Never.” 

The word is out before Steve can bite it back. And maybe it comes with a little too much force, a little too much conviction. The smile slips off Eddie’s face and he blinks. Gulps. Disentangles himself from Steve and takes the letter from his hand. 

For a few moments, the only sounds are those of the wind on the roof and Eddie’s struggle to put the letter in its proper place. 

“Still feels weird sometimes, doesn’t it?” 

“Huh?” Steve says lamely. 

Eddie chuckles and slots back into space beside him, shoulder-to-shoulder and knee-to-knee. 

“That it’s all just … over like this? That we’re here and get to do all this boring, normal stuff like baking cookies and putting up lights and celebrating Christmas?” 

One of his hands finds Steve’s knee - a light, reassuring touch. 

We’re here.

We’re both here. 

“Dunno,” Steve shrugs. The sky is turning dark and Hawkins is spreading out under them, a sea of twinkling lights slowly coming alive. “I like normal.” 

I wanna do a million normal things with you, for a hundred years. I don’t think I’d ever get tired of it. 

“Yeah,” Eddie hums, a low and content sound that Steve feels in his own body, close as they are. “I'm starting to get the appeal.”

Then, before Steve can say or do anything stupid, he bends down to retrieve something from somewhere by their feet. He reemerges with a toothy grin, a plug and an extension cord. 

“Okayyy, let's get these babies lit up, shall we?” 

Steve turns as the neon lights flicker to life behind them, basking them in their glow and- 

“Oh,” says Eddie. “Whoops.”

The words sparkling down at them, bright and cheerful for all of Loch Nora to behold, read MERRY SMAX. 

The laughing fit hits Steve so hard that, this time, Eddie needs to grab him before he can fall off the roof.

“You asshole,” he wheezes into the leather of his jacket. “You did that on purpose!” 

Eddie gasps through his own laughter, tries to put on a serious face. “What? Stevie, you wound me! What do you take me for? A troublemaker? A fiend with no respect for the honored tradition of this fine, Christian holiday?” 

His eyes are large and round with mock-offense, Santa hat flopping around with the force of his own laughter, face alight with that gorgeous toothy grin of his. He’s ridiculously pretty, so fucking pretty with the lights twinkling all around him and Steve’s brain just sort of short-circuits. Not for long. Just for a second. 

Just long enough to lean in and press his lips to Eddie’s. 

When he pulls back, Eddie isn’t laughing anymore. Instead, he’s staring at him, mouth aghast and eyes wide. 

“Shit,” Steve blurts. “I mean- Sorry, I dunno what that was, I-” 

Something flickers across Eddie’s face, something needy and raw. 

“I’ll show you what the fuck it was,” he growls and pulls Steve back in. 

This time, it takes the blare of the fire alarm from the kitchen to break them apart. 

MERRY SMAX, everybody!!!

Part 3

All my holiday drabbles

[velnna]

Hiii!! I have a question I'd be thrilled if you answered. You make such detailed pieces so often! And you're making a webtoon on the side of it all. Is being an artist your main job? If so, how can I follow in your footsteps

Being an artist is my main job, yes! I've only been doing it proper full time for a year so I'm still trying to find the best balance in the content I create.

I've always been fast at art (mostly because I get bored of a piece easily so if it takes me more than 2h I lose the will to finish haha), and got faster when I started working with webtoon in 2019/20. For a long time that was my main focus, but I also use side illustrations and comics to chill so I never *only* worked on the webtoon itself. I'd always have 2-3h in a day for other random doodles

Currently I barely work on the webtoon, sadly, and it's been like that for a long time since I hit an insurmountable sort of writing block with it. I'm just now trying to work around it but it's tough. Besides, patreon has been my main source of income for a while, and that's independent from webtoon, so I've been spending a lot more time working on content that's more focused on that (different comics/stories and fandom stuff I guess)

As for "how", it's a trickier question. I wouldn't recommend anyone do things like I do because it's not a one-size-fits-all and can be unhealthy sometimes. I'm very obsessive with work and creative projects, so I can easily prioritise that over almost everything else, and once I have an idea I like I tend to not stop until I see it through.

I will say though generally a good mix of passion and discipline should give you some progress. Evolving in art (or anything) generally takes some sacrifice and structure, but at the same time needs to be a process sustained in passion, in my opinion. It's unfortunate not very concrete advice but I'd just say find the stuff that REALLY makes you itch to pick up the pencil, then find a way to commit a decent amount of thought and time to it without losing the spark

[dynared]

“Characters in search of a plot” is a pretty good way of putting it. And you aren’t wrong about really weak villains. I think a lot of bigotry allegories tend to fall apart if you scratch them a bit but this one is particularly bad. Mostly I think I just don’t like how the war machines get treated with more leniency by the writing than any human it seems.

I’m pretty new to the franchise and was initially really interested in the IDW comics but the more I’ve heard about them the less enthused I am. I mostly gather wonky characterizations, a weirdly BNF-y trend to the fandom and poorly written space politics.

I also… may have spent a decent amount of time in a fandom with a weird amount of imperialism apologia because “well things had to change!” so I get really antsy if I feel any rumblings in that direction. Pity because I love Space Operas, I’m interested in Cybertronian worldbuilding and I’d like less focus on the humans but little of it sounds done well. I may try them at some point to at least form proper opinions but they sound like an incohesive mess, and not in the fun way.

I do hope that the people who enjoy them are having fun though. And despite my reservations and some issues I am quite enjoying the Skybound comics for the most part! Though time will tell if it stays that way.

There's a decent amount here, so let's go through it one step at a time since I don't want to come off as ignoring things:

One could argue that "characters in search of a plot" is probably a better conundrum than a plot where you just don't like the characters. I fully believe some of the Terrans might get another shot at being featured in something, even if it is with modified backstories not connected to the Maltos. Twitch is probably the most likely to get another crack at a big role, although I could see her being portrayed as just a regular Autobot in a subsequent production. Hashtag, despite a name that might make some cringe, actually seems to be the closest the brand has come to a proper Blaster replacement, and Jawbreaker as the Dinobots kid sibling would make a lot of sense and serve to humanize them in a future work. Unfortunately Thrash, who doesn't have much of a personality, and Nightshade, who has become a lightning rod of controversy, I'm less sure about.

That said, bigotry allegories are tough in the best of times. Even in good cases, they're often subject to bad faith readings, and in bad cases, like here? Forget it. It's an awkward, clunky mess that heavily contradicts the rest of the franchise, in particular the comic they're releasing right now where the Cons could not give a damn about anything other than themselves, and whose Starscream is a sadistic bully. But the writers here are clearly fans of the fanfic Cons, so in trying to make them as sympathetic as possible, their cruelty and issues are swept under the rug. It was worse in IDW admittedly since the Autobots were oftentimes just terrible people, so you were often let with no one to root for. For all its problems, the Autobots in Earthspark are more often than not ineffectual, not evil, which is probably because Hasbro pumped the brakes on having cash cows like Optimus Prime be shown as evil without say, brainwashing.

I would not recommend the IDW comics to anyone. The few gems of characterization and concepts cannot make up for the mountains of coal that was most of their run, and IDW2, the prequel that tries to establish a framework for the Great War? The damned thing was so slow and boring that no one mourned IDW losing the license. Not to mention if you're not REALLY familiar with these characters and why you should care about the variances in how they're portrayed, I find most people would just be completely lost, and if you don't like how the portrayals are altered, frustrated. It's simply put, not a fun comic unless you are in the market for a very specific portrayal.

The main issue with the humans (something the very first Transformers comic writer, Bob Budinansky noted was important) was that without that connection, the Transformers could be anything else. They could be humans with power armor, weird bug aliens, or freakish mutants. But it's that relationship and contrast with the humans that makes them special. That's not to say that there are versions of the story that significantly overdo the human element, because there assuredly are, but to have it be completely absent is to cut off part of why we invest in these characters.

Finally, while the Skybound Energon Universe is a little less than a year old, and there are definitely some concerns as well as plot holes that hopefully the narrative will fill in later, I argue that those comics have bought something that seemed to be missing from so much Transformers media as of late, a sense of actual fun. The writers get mecha and what makes them cool. They get the core of why these characters work. I can only hope that the quality stays high, especially with Daniel Warren Johnson, part of why I think the comics have been so good (no one in IDW would dare think of references pro wrestling or the 08th MS Team) phasing out of the book.

[entertainmentmask]

Mask - The Making

Mask is a character i made for a RPG(D&D) campaing that my friend made for me and his friends, and at the start i didn't want to make his existence a big deal, but because my firend allowed us to use our own worlds as the origins for our characters i thought: "wow i can use my OCs world for this" and with that i thought of Stella and Roby;

These two are a couple i made to explain in a future comic, how Demons and Sinners work, since Stella is a full blood demon and Roby is one of the many revived Sinners in HellHome.

With both of them in mind i thought i could make a character that would be a mix of them, so yeah, a child for them.

First i wanted to make him very, VERY similar to Stella, for lore reasons of course, and with that my first thought was make him skinny to fit the scared/shy personality i thought for him, not many clothes and those that he has be a little bit worn out to show his poor origins and his lack of self care.

As you can see at the time he was a very skinny, weird looking little guy. But i thought he fitted in the old parents design, and i went with it, but little by little i was getting more used to buff/stong-person anatomy and i let myself have fun changing him a bit as i used to draw our RPG characters.

This was the token i used in the sessions, making him a bit more chubby to fit his large body(his 2,27cm / 7,4 feet {if i'm not wrong}), my friend who was the DM (Dungeon Master) was very happy with my support role, and how the character was looking, but as we finished the first arch and were given a new scenario for our character to live in, i decided to change him a lot since he was living in better conditions are lore reasons.

This was the first time i made him actually buff/strong and looking confident a lot, i really like the clothes i picked for him, and i really think it fits his character arch at the time, even tho' i admit it seemed a bit too punk at the time because of my new found obsession with punk style at the time.

After that, i made little to no change to his design, only taking and adding new things here and there to make the session more alive for me.

Making a few drawings of him with an NPC he was in a relationship with made me feel more comfortable drawing him, speacially in comforting/fluff ways because his story is about being alone/negleted/looked-down-on and being in need and giving a character like that comfort gives me a very good feeling and slowly but surely, i became to adopt him as my own comfort character.

As i focused in other stories i always see myself looking and drawing him again, when i'm sad, when i'm happy, when i just bored, and for me his design is a bit complicated but i found myself doing it with effort anyway, i didn't even notice i was doing it until the start of this year (2024).

And now here i am drawing him here and there, making up new stuff for his story and adding him to my world and being happy as he should always be for now on.

Today (06/09/24) i made redesign of his parents to fit my style now, and to add to his and my other characters story.

I can't reveal much of why i only changed some things and others stayed the same because that's lore stuff, but i'm so much happy with these designs because now i can do complicated poses, 2 characters in the same drawing, and proper body types and clothes.

And with that i thought: "why not show my overthinking of Mask's design while making his character more complete during the years i drew him" and now here they are:

And with that i end this post, that i made on only to not forget, but to save this amaizing big little guy that i mde for fun and only loved more and more as time went on, and to possibly inspire whoever sees this to keep your ideas, change them, take and add things to it until you're happy with the final thing, if it is final at all. Be happy with what you make! :]

And i hope you guys are happy as i am while finishing this post, i'm gonna try to start using tumblr a lot lot more because i've been inspired lately and i hope to someday create a comunity that likes what i do and do cool and fluff stuff like it! Until then Bye Bye!! ;]

[forevercloudnine]

The wikis didn't turn out any results for Bruce’s grandmother on the Kane side other than a name (Elizabeth "Betsy" Kane, no maiden name). Since you read Batwoman comics, I wanted to ask: does canon contradict my headcanon of "Betsy" being an Arkham? I just think it would be funny having Jeremiah be Bruce, Kate & Beth's third cousin once removed or something something family history of Mental IllnessTM [They apparently have another Kane cousin who is a vigilante? Jerry'd selfcombust in anguish]

Okay so my entire world was shattered as a result of attempting to pull panels to answer this ask, because for several years I have thought Martha Wayne was canonically an Arkham in the Earth One continuity that started in the 1950's. It turns out that I was misremembering Martha being an Arkham in Batman: Earth One, meaning the Geoff Johns comic from 2019.

That being said, I think in the main continuity, the Kanes (and thus the Waynes) being intermarried with the Arkhams would add a really fascinating element to Bruce and Kate's conflict over whether Beth should be sent to Arkham Asylum or not.

As to Martha Wayne and Jacob Kane's mother Elizabeth, which was your actual question: there's nothing I've read clarifying that her maiden name was something other than Arkham, so I think you're safe contradiction-wise. Also, interestingly, in what to my knowledge is her only comic appearance (Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5) she's depicted seeing bats in the leaves of her tea.

The Return of Bruce Wayne was written by Grant Morrison, who of course famously also wrote Batman: Arkham Asylum, the first comic to canonize the Arkhams as a family instead of just the name of the asylum. In that comic, Amadeus Arkham and his mother Elizabeth (so many Elizabeths) are both haunted by prophetic visions of bats. Sooo, family trait, maybe?

Of course, it should be noted that Morrison is obsessed with bat imagery in general and that The Return of Bruce Wayne especially is a comic dedicated to filling the history of Gotham with as many supernatural bat sightings as possible. But I still think it's a fun connection. And realistically speaking, given that there's only so many historical wealthy "founding families" in Gotham, it seems impossible that the Waynes, Arkhams, and Kanes haven't intermarried at some point in the past regardless. The Waynes and Arkhams have lived in the area since before the American Revolution, and the Kanes have been in Gotham proper since the 1880's when the city expanded into Kane County (through a very classically Gotham City murder scheme/business deal/gothic architectural venture with the Waynes, Elliots, and Cobblepots in Batman: Gates of Gotham).

All of this is to say, yes, I think it would be really funny if Jeremiah was related to Bruce, Kate and Beth. Actually, since I brought up Gates of Gotham, I think Penguin and the Cobblepots should be brought into the family tree too. I feel like that would really make everyone involved maximally pissed off about their relations. Also, whenever DC decides they're bored of Bruce being a millionaire instead of a billionaire, they could make it more interesting than just having Lucius hand Bruce his money back by doing a plot that's some sort of maximally complicated legal inheritance dispute between the three families that ends with Bruce moving back into Wayne Manor (or something. Actually, has this already been resolved in Zdarsky's run? I'm super not caught up on Batman comics right now).

[zeroducks-2]

I have a confession: I kinda don't get people who LOVE characters like Stephanie, Duke or Jean Paul. Like,,, they are so boring and there's nothing interesting about them??? Made only to be a self-insert for readers?? Also, there are fans ready to literally tear you apart when you 1) don't consider Duke to be a member of the batfam and 2) don't mention Stephanie when you talk about The Four Robins. Which makes it even more crazy bc gurl,, you really that butthurted over a character as shallow as Bella from Twilight...?

It took me some time to decide how to go about answering this ask, because first and foremost I want to confirm that yes, it is unfair and gatekeepy to nag at people when "they don't consider Duke a member of the Batfamily", or if they don't mention Stephanie when one talks about The Four Robins.

First of all not everyone has read every DC story ever - I surely did not - and on the contrary, I suspect that the majority of casual DC fans don't even know about Jason, Tim and Damian, assuming there's just one Batman and one Robin (who they don't really know is even named Dick Grayson). Hell, when I read Under The Red Hood for the first time (and I did as it came out!), I had NO IDEA who Jason Todd was. I had read random ass comicbooks up to that point and I just assumed that there were "other Robins" after Dick went on to become Nightwing, but in a vague and non-contextualized way.

It's as simple as many people not knowing that Stephanie and Duke even exist (or they just saw them once in a fanart) because maybe they just read some random comics without any real context, or because they have been focused on the JLA and just recently got into Batman stuff, because they only know the "Batfam" through Young Justice, or for a number of other reasons. It's not on them to be knowledgeable on every single facet of the Batman lore, and no one should expect from a fan to just know ALL the characters like the back of their hands, and include them in the "batfam" scenarios always and all the time (also because one of the reason why people often don't know about Cass, Steph and Duke is because DC does not push them. Finding stories with these characters gets increasingly more difficult every year, thank fuck people don't know them). Or maybe they have read comicbooks with Stephanie and Duke and they decided they dislike them, which is also a totally fair reason not to include them in their art or whatever.

And to be honest, if we wanted to be coherent then we should fuss also with those who don't include Carrie Kelley among the Robins, but no one does that because Carrie isn't famous enough for people to whine about an "all Robins fanart" which doesn't include her (I personally don't care about Carrie, I'm saying this just to point out the hypocrisy).

It's as it usually goes. You want art with "all the Robins"? Pick up a pencil and draw it or commission an artist. You want comedy skits in written form, or mock-twitter posts or whatever to include Stephanie and Duke? Sit down, think of something funny and do it yourself, or again commission someone. Fan-creators aren't there to fulfill your needs about this or that aspect of a fandom, and there is not one single valid reason to harass them about it.

This though is completely unrelated to the fact that Stephanie, Duke and whoever else might be "bad characters" that you personally dislike. People like characters for an array of different reasons, even when these characters are shallow, inconsistent, not created according to the proper rules of characterization and narrative arcs. Sometimes the reason why people love a character is exactly because they are written to be as self-insert, but it can be literally anything and that is OK. It will often be reasons we don't understand or we disagree with, and that too is OK.

To name one, I personally have no idea how anyone who's older than 12 can genuinely enjoy a Harry Potter book, and I've been saying this since I was 13 myself (so around 15 years before JKR outed herself as a misogynistic piece of shit), but it is what it is - a lot of people like things that I don't enjoy and for reasons I don't understand, and I myself have learned to be OK with it a long time ago.

And let's be clear, I could very well make the case that Batman is a hyper-masculine macho fantasy with nothing to offer to the plot of a story. Or that Tim is a useless filler of a character without anything new to add to the narrative. Or that Dick is a repetitive, whiny bimbo whose plot-lines are always the same. And I LOVE those characters to BITS, they are my precious blorbos and I rather defend them tooth and nail against anyone who dares speak ill of them, but the truth is that criticizing a character is easy.

Take one flaw and make it bigger than any good thing about them, you can paint the most awful picture ever and you wouldn't even be wrong from your personal point of view. None of them is objectively perfect or even close to a narrative masterpiece, so go ahead and keep disliking Stephanie and Duke and Jean Luc, and whoever else doesn't tickle your fancy, but my suggestions is to stop focusing on "how is it even possible that people like them" because there will always be that one character you hate that people can't stop pouring love over. It is pretty much always best to shrug and move along when you see something you dislike, and instead spend your energy on the characters and stories you do like instead, and which make you have blorbo thoughts and butterflies in your stomach and whatever else makes you happy.

And if anyone who's reading this is someone who harasses people for not including Duke and Steph in the group fanarts - please don't. Leave artists be. You want that Robin!Steph artwork, go ahead and draw it yourself or pay for a commission, and stop being an ass to people because they didn't do the thing exactly as you wanted them to do it.

[palmtreepalmtree]

Alright friends, tumblrers, and random twitter refugees. It's that time again. It's time for a new edition of...

The Worst Movie on Netflix Right Now™

The weather is getting colder, Halloween is behind us, and pumpkin spice is rapidly being replaced by white chocolate peppermint in lattes around the world. So you know what that means. The Christmas romance season is upon us!

First up on the docket is this instant classic from Netflix...

Falling for Christmas. Starring Lindsay Lohan and Chord Overstreet.

What really stands out to me about this movie is its tagline:

This holiday season, fall for the unexpected.

Friends, I'm here to tell you that there is literally nothing unexpected about this holiday movie. NOTHING.

So here's the plot, if you even need me to have one here - Sierra Belmont is a hotel heiress who is about to get engaged to influencer Tad when she has a horrific off-trail skiing accident and winds up in the hospital with amnesia. She's taken in by single-dad-with-a-struggling-business Jake Russell. Jake promptly puts her to work at his lodge.

If this feels familiar, that's probably because you've seen Overboard, the morally questionable classic rom-com starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. But thankfully this story quickly veers away into a more Christmas-appropriate direction.

But the movie then proceeds to hit every single Christmas rom-com trope like it's ticking off boxes:

Struggling small business with no proper business plan - check

Single dad, tragic widower - check

Demonically happy kid who just wants dad to love again - check

Spoiled woman who needs to learn the true meaning of Christmas - check

A very special Christmas wish - check

A vaguely magical Santa Claus-like figure (who really should have winked at least once in the movie) - check

Check, check, check. This is the most by-the-numbers story ever fucking written. Especially for something that's supposed to be unexpected. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?

Honestly, I could get into details about this one and the different things that are ridiculous here and there, but honestly, it's just boring.

Chord Overstreet as the love interest is basically a lima bean. The two of them have no fucking chemistry. This is a directing, writing, and performing problem. The direction does nothing to establish a developing connection between them. The writing gives us no reason for us to like either of them, let alone to explain why these two like each other. And the performances... for fuck's sakes sometimes it feels like the two of them are in separate fucking rooms.

I'd like to say some nice things about this movie: First, this movie definitely gets the real snow bonus. There is snow everywhere and it genuinely looks fucking cold out there. This movie is not missing the cold-Christmas-season vibe.

Also, if you like LiLo, she's looking and doing alright here. I was sort of braced for her no longer looking like the actor we know, but she looks just fine. That said... this is not one of her best. This is not the actor who absolutely nailed Freaky Friday.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the Tad storyline. While main character Sierra is looking for her own memory, her apparent fiancé is also struggling to get back to civilization taking a side trek through an ice fishing shack and the wilderness. It's meant to be some comic relief, and it is somewhat funny, I guess, as Tad over-plays his social-media-obsessed character for laughs. But it's not enough. It's really not enough.

Friends, this movie has as much charm as a tuna salad sandwich.

Ultimately, this is another one of those movies where I'm just like... it's fine. It's fine. It's not good, its not bad, it's just fine.

But the whole thing that makes these things good is when they actually step outside of the box and do something fun or funny or romantically different. Or even when they're so bad they're good. There is absolutely nothing special about this movie. It's fine.

In the least, it's definitely not fucking unexpected.

[edwardpinestar]

1 (In All Fairness), 3, 14, 18, and 20 for the I’m Bored and Anxious So I Slapped Together a List of Fan Fic Writer Asks?

1. Share a song that makes you think of 'In All Fairness' 'I Hear a Symphony' by Cody Fry comes to mind- but I don't typically have songs that make me think of fics. Sometimes I do, but a lot of the time I don't. Generally songs come to mind for specific scenes they help inspire rather than the entire fic itself.

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? This is tough. This is really tough- I love pretty much all of my fics very much, so picking a favourite is hard. 'What To Do If Your God Propositions You (A Guide)' and 'Puss in Boots and the Shadows of Life' are competing for the very top spot- though Shadows of Life has a lot to do with the plans for the fic rather than the written chapter itself. While I enjoy the chapter, everything I've planned is what has me really excited about it.

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick? Ohhh this is a toughy. Hmm... 'Puss in Boots and the Shadows of Life', as well as the rest of Light Life AU. I adore that AU, its my pride and joy, and seeing it in a comic, or even animated, would be amazing. Perhaps I should learn to make comics someday. However, I am planning on doing a painting of one of the locations in the fic! It's a long process, as I'm doing it the proper way with an art journal, practise paintings and all, but sometime around the end of the year, I'll try to remember to post some pictures of it all.

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic? Of the things I've posted, it would be;

Was this what grief felt like? It hurt, it hurt so much Death did not know what to do. How was he here? How had he not crumbled to nothingness under its weight? If this was grief… Death understood now, why everyone hated death. Death hated death.

And yes, I know its not one line, but I love this part a lot. Of the stuff I've yet to post, I would say that this is my favourite;

As he opened his mouth, no doubt to snap at Puss, the tabby grabbed the other bottle of soap, labelled to be used by everyone else, and hurled it at Death’s other head.  It hit Death dead on, pun completely intended. The wolf made a yelp of pain, and dropped the soap bottle in his hand, keeling over at the waist and cupping his groyne, which had just been hit by a mostly full soap bottle hucked at Puss’ full, rather impressive, strength.

Again, I am aware this is more than a line, but I haven't really written any lines I think are really good. Just paragraphs. As you can see, this one is a favourite not for any profound reasons, but just because Death got hit in the dick by a soap bottle.

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written? 'Of Spilt Wine and Forged Ledgers' is a big favourite of mine, though I haven't posted the fic for it yet! Of the ones I've posted, 'A Guilded Cage in Which Thee Stands' is my favourite.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Action Comics #1051 - Fantastic kick off to the Dawn of DC era for Superman. All of the Superfamily had a nice little character moment here, Kara welcoming the twins to the El family, Kon and Kenan have the makings of a great friendship/rivalry, Jon realizing his parents still have sex and feeling conflicted over the twins, the Irons' stepping up to change Metropolis with their genius, and unveilling a new tower bigger than Lexcorp's. Lois gets the article which sets the stage, and Clark of course remains the main character. His speech to the Superfamily in his apartment where he outlines his aim in bringing them together is classic Superman, and I'm usually not one for Superman giving speeches, but I loved that because it's him hyping his team to go out and kick some ass. Sandoval draws it all beautifully, the action scenes, the quiet moments, Lord let him stick around for a while and not get poached like Sampere and Federeci did. Nothing major with Metallo just yet, but his complaining about his skin grafts leaves me optimistic he won't be looking human for long.

Justice Society of America #2 - I'm becoming bored with this title quickly. Johns is seemingly only interested in Helena Wayne rather than the titular team itself, they mostly stand around getting killed off or gaping in astonishment as Helena infodumps. Giving it one more issue but then I'm out. Oh and "Justice Society Dark" is a stupid name, why not use the Sentinels of Magic Johns? You created that name!

Detective Comics #1068 - Ok Ram V you've finally hooked me. I love seeing Two-Face's inner war with himself, and I'm excited what comes next now that Two-Face knows Bruce is Batman.

One Bad Day: Catwoman - As a Catwoman story this was solid, but it failed to live up to brand name. If you're aiming to do a "Killing Joke" story for Selina, she should have been completely evil. For all it's failings, King's Riddler story understood the intent behind this brand, The Killing Joke completely redefined the relationship between Joker and Batman, while simultaneously pushing Joker beyond the pale in terms of what he was willing to do, and what his goals were. King's Riddler likewise showed Riddler tossing his old approach to being a villain, and doing so threw Batman off his game for once. This is just a bog standard Catwoman story. She wants to steal something, turns out she has a sympathetic motive for doing so, Batman says "don't", they flirt and kiss, and at the end Selina is... basically the same as ever. To really do a "Killing Joke" for her, this would need to be a story where Selina embraces being a villain, ruthlessly steals for selfish reasons, and steals in ways that are going to hurt innocents. Ending would be the BatCat romance dissolving for good, and Batman despairing that Gotham managed to finally drag her into the pit.

Human Target #11 - Turns out the femme fatale was the killer all along, who could have seen that coming. Great issue all the same, now we see if Chance actually dies next issue or if there's one last twist to come. He's the man who dies for other people as a living, can't decide whether it's more fitting for him to actually die or to pull one last con on death.

Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods -

Aquaman: Beautiful Manupal art, solid story. Could we maybe see Manupal write the next Aquaman ongoing?

Martian Manhunter: Odd plot but I enjoyed Watters voice for J'onn and I want to see a proper Martian Manhunter book from him.

Wonder Woman: Shocker I'm sure, but I liked the PKJ story. Didn't expect him to reference the clay origin, feels like some of the writers are trying to sneak it back into canon. If Gadot is finished as Wonder Woman perhaps DC might be considering restoring the old origin, since synergy wouldn't be holding them back anymore.

Shazam: Campbell did a good job as expected. What surprised me was that her Malik had a similar voice as Priest's, but minus some of the cringe that Priest gave him. Malik came across as a dweeb without being a cartoon, which makes him much more tolerable.

Blue Beetle: Graduation Day #3 - Not the Reach but an offshoot of the Reach called the Horizon are the ones planning to invade Earth? Or they've caught wind of the Reach planning another invasion attempt, and sent their own Beetles in an attempt to thwart them? Must admit to being confused on that point.

Sins of Sinister #1 - Good issue. Brings the focus back on Hickman's plots which has been missing for a while. The Moiras are in the hands of someone else, likely suspects are Destiny/Mystique, one of the other Sinisters, or the Sinisterized Quiet Council. But I'm leaning towards it being Moira XI, who is not shown to die alongside Nimrod. Moira XI using her clones to send knowledge of the future back to her past self - who then exposes the Sinisterized QC in the past and also uses the SoS timeline to get humanity afraid of mutants again - would be a way to make this timeline "matter" in terms of it having an impact on the "present".

Sabretooth & The Exiles #3 - Merely solid rather than transcendent the way the first two issues were. I am intrigued to see the payoff for that cliffhanger since I don't have a clue how that could happen.

[meroppi]

Teeny tiny bit bored in my English advanced class so I'm writing an actual introduction for this blog snsnsbbss (I finished it a week later in class)

THIS IS EXTREMELY MESSY I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND

|• Hi!! My name is Flappy or Merrie (though you can honestly call me whatever), I'm a biromantic and asexual demigirl, go by she/they pronouns and speak German and English (+ currently learning Norwegian Bokmål and Latin [yes I'm trying to actively speak Latin(update: it is not going well)].

|• I suffer from strong depression and a panic disorder so if I just like.. disappear for some time don't worry!! I just started medication so it should get better soon but just in case qwq I'm also pre-diagnosed by my therapist and psychiatrist as autistic, I'm still waiting for a proper diagnosis but just as a heads up!!

|• I also might be absent because of school (⁠ヘ⁠･⁠_⁠･⁠)⁠ヘ⁠

I'm currently trying to obtain my ✨ Abitur ✨ (Germany's matriculation examination) and 12th-grade science profile with chemistry, biology, and English as advanced classes is fucking me over rn

Idk what I wanna do after school, I'll probably study either something science (marine biology) or something art related (comic & concept art)

|• My hyperfixations change every 2 days it feels like but as of making this post I'm currently very interested in: Valorant, Black Butler, Genshin (again smh) and Baldur's Gate 3

You can just check my recent reblogs they usually reflect my current interests very well

|• Additional fandoms of mine include: Yu-Gi-Oh (especially Zexal), Pokemon, Spy x Family, Demon Slayer, Akudama Drive and The Legend of Zelda

|• I LOVE music (I play keyboard ⊂⁠(⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠*⁠⊂⁠)) and I'd say that my music taste is very broad. My top 3 genres are electronic music, swing, and indie/goth rock with my favorite bands/musicians being Daft Punk, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Lady Gaga, Myth&Roid, and (G)I-DLE

|• I also love drawing but I usually have very long burnouts so don't expect too much.

|• ALSO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND ME ASKS IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT!! I am extremely shy so I usually don't engage first but you can always send me asks because I CRAVE moots and I will literally answer anything

|• That's it, if you have any questions don't hesitate to send me asks \owo/

[blazichu]

So I was thinking about the reboot again (I know, I know, why would I do that to myself) and while I can't remember the specifics of the newer version, there's something I think really highlights what went wrong with it.

It's Qwark.

Not in the sense of him being the narrator-- because other games have done that, too-- but his weight in the story. It's disproportionate to what it was/should have been, and that's because of how badly Ratchet and Clank were sanitized, and how boring their dynamic ended up being.

(And yes, I realize people argue that it's because Qwark is the narrator, and he's just like that/focuses on himself to the detriment of others, but if that's what was going on, the framing worked against the story to a massive degree.)

Neither of the title characters were allowed to have flaws, and so there was no way to spark a proper conflict between them. Because of that, the conflict had to start somewhere else-- hence Qwark's betrayal being blown up into something way bigger than it should have been.

I'm invoking the original not to compare unfavorably, but to demonstrate what story is being told. In R&C 2002, Qwark is a galactic hero, yes, but he's introduced to us in a blase way. Oh, that guy on the poster? That's Captain Qwark. He's on TV. He's not a role model to Ratchet, and so their opinions on him are allowed to differ. Clank thinks he's a hero who can help him wrt Drek. Ratchet recognizes him as someone famous and successful, and it's Qwark's appeals to his ego that make him go along with it. He doesn't want to be a hero, he wants to be famous.

So Qwark's betrayal isn't a personal affront to 02 Ratchet-- he was already suspicious-- it's just the straw that broke the camel's back in regard to his rocky friendship with Clank. That's where the drama and forward momentum comes from: the conflict between characters and how they grow/patch it up.

The reboot can't do that. There's no interpersonal drama because the characters are so idealized, so they had to invent new problems-- like Ratchet lying about knowing Qwark, Nefarious as a whole, and trying to make the betrayal an emotional beat.

Here's the thing, though. In this version of events, both Ratchet and Clank idolized Qwark to an extent. They're already on the same side. So shouldn't his betrayal unify them as a team? For some reason, though, it still splits them apart instead, when there's barely any bad blood between them-- and that's resolved almost instantly, because the game can't progress with them apart, so what did we gain from this?

I don't care that Captain Qwark betrayed us. It's Captain Qwark. Of course he's pulling that shit. We don't have that kind of emotional connection to him, because, from the get-go, he's established as comic relief. So now, instead of a conflict to gradually work through as we press toward our goal of stopping Drek-- because if we don't do it, there's nobody else who can/will-- we're just traipsing from planet to planet doing fuck all. I legitimately can't remember the latter half of the game/movie, save for a couple of plot points with Drek and Nefarious, and something that sounded like it should have been the payoff to a conversation that never happened. ("What are you doing?"/"Improvising!")

...I'm full-on griping about '16 now, so I should probably stop. I was just thinking about Jim Ward's retirement and what his last role in the series would be-- and while I'm glad he got such a spotlight, I just... wish he'd had better material to work with, you know?

[undertsums]

RoMay AU'S

Double post today I am bored and decided I wanted to. This post is about Roman AU's that either don't exist due to no ideas, AU's that I mention because I like them but don't post them or AU's in the process of being created.

SeraphimRoman- This was actually fanart I got, one of like the very early ones maybe even before HorrorBlasterRoman. Either way while SeraphimRoman was cool and neat it wouldn't make any logical sense. Granted TsumRoman did start by taking small pieces of souls XD. So it's not something that wouldn't happen but there was no ideas that I could get to work with her.

LittleRoman and LittleShadow- Granted this could easily work, I have thought about it and mentioned it to friends but actively starting it is tricky. I couldn't really think of ideas that could work. The best I can do is LittleShadow being trauma filled and not trusting of adults with LittleRoman as the innocent bean who just wants love and attention. But like overall ideas just never formed and it just seemed like a repeat only they are kids.

PortalRoman- Okay I tried starting this sadly just didn't work. There is a possibility I may return to it, I love unhinged Roman. But again it's ideas. I can't form much if any besides unhinged Roman just talking to the pink companion cube who she see's as Joyce. But like that's just kinda boring. Plus Portal is a pretty old game and like I can't come up with puzzles and stuff.

BittyRoman and BittyShadow- Much like the Little version, again it was just tricky to start it. Maybe I do better with not wholesome content XD. I am doing VERY well with PerfectKidRoman who I'm enjoying way too much. I guess I enjoy unhinged content XD.

PokemonAU- It does exist but I generally don't like to talk about it. It's a cute AU but I generally don't count it much. Still I do enjoy Roman being a Togetic, it fits so well and Shadow as Haunter is also perfect.

'Perfect' Roman/Roman3480- Now this is gonna be tricky to explain. It was an idea I came up with but it's so old my memory is kinda foggy. From what I remember Webdings never created Shadow and when the human soul was made, she wanted a 'perfect' daughter. Think of this like the Xtale timeline. Anyway that's why this Roman is also called Roman3480 because it took that many times. 'Perfect' Roman is cold and calculating, smart yet she's not cruel nor nice. She's just neutral. She doesn't get herself involved unless it actually involves her. This Roman also killed Webdings (YAY KARMA). She got out of the underground and kinda just chilled. She didn't make friends, she didn't talk to anyone. Just kinda lived her life. Kinda why there is like 0 content of her.

Romano Nuevo- This is a combo AU Novela and Dance. The only reason this doesn't exist is because I don't speak Spanish. I would TOTALLY do this otherwise. Romano Nuevo is just a sorta flirty Roman. She's Spanish and does the tango and she's just smooth. I love her but sadly I ain't gonna rely on Google Translate for like comics and stuff for her. She's pretty neat and she has been mentioned a little here and there.

BedAU- I don't have a proper name for this AU in making but this is basically Monster's IncxUndertale. Monsters are tied to a single child that is scared of them. However Roman is tied to Joyce, a child who finds the Joy in everything even in a scary looking monster. Shadow is tied to Neela, a child who already lives in a nightmare so the dark shadow that comes from under her bed is a relieving sight.

I am working on designs but it's very tricky. BedRoman is angry that Joyce isn't scared and generally sulks under the bed. Joyce knows sooner or later she will befriend this monster under her bed. She leaves BedRoman snacks and toys, she even makes sure under her bed is always clean for her friend. BedShadow however almost instantly bonds with Neela, he hears what her father does to her. Oh how he wished he could kill him. Afterall only HE should scare her, not this pathetic human. However he can't do a thing. Otherwise he would be destroyed by the other monsters. So BedShadow keeps Neela safe during the night, he sings calming songs, reads stories.

I am looking forward to the day I can reveal this AU with designs but for now it sits waiting under the bed.

Imposter- Yes it's based on Among Us. Roman and Shadow are Imposters, they fly a ship around and find other ships that are in distress. They board and pretend to be helpful crew members, here to 'fix' the ship. But everyone ends up getting hunted down and eaten. Sooner or later they board a ship and find Joyce and Neela who are children. Yes they are Imposters but they aren't murderers. At least not to children. So they take the kids to a port but learning that the two have no other family members and will most likely be separated, Roman and Shadow decide to take them in.

They hide that they are Imposters, the kids are always confused why they never see Roman and Shadow do tasks. The two admit that the kids are helpful. Imposters can't do tasks. Joyce and Neela do find out in the future but are strangely okay about it. Yes they wished their friends wouldn't kill but they know it's for survival, they need to eat. Afterall can you blame a lion hunting the antelope?

And that's it folks. All the misc AU's.

[jovialturtleface]

They would be chaotic friends if they ever met. 

[sulfurousdreamscapes]

The storm clouds left the magazine stall dark enough that you could only make out the whites of the vendor's eyes. When the horse-rider came, his shadow made the glossy magazines and comic books turn even darker. Far behind the vendor and the horse-rider, a column of lightning hammered the ground, its reverberating bell shooting away as quickly as it came.

The horse-rider got off of his mount and glanced back for the lightning's ghost. "Do you sell comics?"

Without a word, the vendor pulled out a pair of comics with one hand and tossed them in front of the other magazines spread out before him.

Another crack of thunder. The horse-rider took one of the comics in his hand and squinted at it. He turned around to get a better look at it in the light - what little there was of it. He turned around again. "What issue is this?"

"Says so right in the corner there." The vendor tapped the other comic book's cover.

With a huff, the horse-rider tossed his comic back. "Tell me, I want to hear it from you."

The vendor eyed his customer for a second too long, and then examined the issue in question. "It's a number fifty-six." He sighed. "Is this the one you want? It's uh... Cyborg."

"Is it a good one?"

The vendor shrugged. "I just sell, I don't read."

"I'm buying it for my daughter. She said she wants to read comic books. Like, proper comic books, not the newspaper strips."

"It'll be confusing dropping into a story midway. You know these comics continue one issue after another, right?"

The horse-rider looked to the sky. The first drops of rain were finally breaking free and dripping onto his hand and coat.

"Well," the vendor slapped the comic book on the spread of magazines. "I should close shop. This storm doesn't look very kind."

"I'll get this one. What did you call it? Cyber?"

"Cyborg. Don't ask me what it means, I just know enough to know what to call the merchandise."

The horse-rider nodded and put the comic issue in his sack. He pulled out his purse, took out five coins, and put them on the soft bed of spread-out magazines.

The vendor palmed the coins and almost burst out laughing. "What kind of money is this? No, please, I..." When he looked back up, the horse-rider was gone, leaving nothing but a jagged horizon of hills and houses, and the white-grey sky above.

Within moments, that same vista turned into a torrent. The vendor cursed under his breath, got up, and pulled the rain-curtains down on the front of the stall. Once down, the stall became nothing but a black box with the slightest of white light sneaking through slits.

The vendor thought about how odd the horse-rider had been. Who rides a horse in this day and age? The rain pattered on the roof, streamed out through the edges, splashing into puddles.

In the thin slice of light entering the stall, the vendor held up his coin and examined. It shone like tarnished gold, and bore the sign of a horse-rider.

[yoiku]

Lately several new people in my stream chat have mentioned that they really like the size diff&dynamic I have going on with syren and loah, and that honestly gives me a major dopamine boost each time. A couple people even followed me because the comic sounded interesting to them and I'm just (´；д；`) < ??) (Goodness this turned into a real rambling rest is under the cut xD)

I'm very particular about the intensity of the size diff with the characters, as well as many other things. I'm certainly aware that many of the themes I have going on with the characters are popular kink categories: size diff, age gap, older characters, experienced vs inexperienced etc. While there's definitely spicy bits in the story, it is not the main focus at all. Before anything else it's all very wholesome, and all things considered, rather tame. I didn't start writing it all just to get these themes/categories in, the story does touch upon some topics related to things that spur from things like age gap in adult relationships, being in your 30's-40's and having no relationship experience, sour family relations due to chosen gender/sexuality to name a few. So while it's mainly fluff, there is some things that have more... depth?(I hope I can call it that) It's also a personal mission to portray characters who are not in their "wild and prime" years anymore, but still find and experience romance and have wild sex, because honestly, fuck the notion that you should have experienced it all in your 20's and the fact the media hardly ever portrays anything else. I'm not really a fan of things taken into hyper-unrealistic proportions, which the internet is full of... And with size diff character ships I've lamented about that a lot. (especially in the nsfw territory of it. I get that kinks are abt fantasies and so on, but personally I am so bored of seeing the related content being so saturated with hyper-level everything. Not bashing anyone who loves the stuff tho!) So I'm just trying to create the content I'd want to see more, and it's wonderful when I come across other peeps who want to see exactly the same kind of content! A couple years ago when I was kinda tossing the idea of the comic in my mind as something I'd want to do... And when I described loosely what it would be about, all I got from people was "that sounds incredibly boring" - "that's not very interesting" or just an "ehhh..." As much as I'd like to say that I don't let negative feedback get to me, it very easily does. I had already given up on the idea of actually making the comic for a good year since then. Only after I got proper medication and my mind cleared a little with the productivity boost, I decided that well, fuck all that feedback, I'm going to make just for myself then. I need to create it. So honestly each and every, tiniest crumb of interest the idea is getting now feels kinda weird. Absolutely wonderful, but also weird; I've glued my mind so tightly to the thought that I'm not expecting it to interest anyone but myself and that will have to suffice. (I'm planning on sticking to that too, it helps so I don't start thinking about "well what would others think about this scene" etc. too much.)

I dunno, I'm just having kinda good vibes about my "little" project lately and it's really nice. Everyday I'm anxious of what it's going to turn out like and confused about how to do stuff and if I can actually do what I'm attempting, but I am glad that I decided to start it and that I've kept at it. ( ˊᵕˋ )♡