#also i picked fictional universes mainly by how much I want to write in them

[thearchercore]

As a film major undergrad and then entertainment business major post grad. The artistic elements of the F1 movie drive me insane AND THEN THE FINANCIAL AND MARKETING ASPECTS TOO!!

Apple is pretty notorious for just blowing huge amounts of money on shows and films that no one watches. So, it’s not even the $300 million budget that surprises me . It’s how little anyone seems to understand what this film is about or who it’s even for!! AND I CANT EVEN TELL WHERE THE MONEY FOR THIS FILM HAS GONE EXCEPT ON BRAD PITTS PAYCHECK BECAUSE THE TRAILERS COLOUR GRADING IS SO BAD IT CANT POSSIBLY BE ON POST

Maybe it was just a terrible trailer but the reason films like Rush and Le Mans 66 (Ford v Ferrari in some countries) is that they had something for both racing and non racing fans. 

Both based on true stories, with a compelling emotional core, recognisable actors (appeals to non racing fans mainly). Beautiful cinematic shots of cars going fast appeal to racing fans because those are views that you don’t usually get watching an actual race. 

the fixed cam shots of the drivers in the cars do nothing!! Because non racing fans will find them boring and racing fans would just rather watch a real race. Not Brad Pitt fucking about in an F2 car (which racing fans on Twitter have picked up on already!) The jet shots in top gun maverick (same director) worked because, hey people don’t usually see that sort of stuff, especially not from a pilots POV,  but we see fixed cam POV shots from car races all the time!! AND HOW ARE YOU DOING AUDIO FOR THAT??? is just going to be Brad Pitt breathing heavily the entire time??  

The exaggerated noises and car movements are fun to watch because F1 cars don’t move like that anymore! We don’t get to hear that classic WHOOOSHHH. hell even Michael manns terrible Ferrari movie was FUN because the story was interesting and the shots of the cars driving very fast around very scenic parts of Europe is entertaining. 

F1 (2025) is not based on a true story and the trailer was way more focused on the cringe “car for combat” line rather than what might actually make for an emotionally compelling story. An old racer thrown aside by the sport being dragged back to help an up and coming racer because that’s the only way he’s able to get back in a car. For the first time in his career He’s now the number 2 driver.

But it seems like we will get none of that and if we do the writing will be…uh bad!

ALSO THE TWITTER MARKETING!!! Who is that for!!! The only people who are interacting with that are already your target audience (F1 fans) they know the movie exists, they’ve already made up their minds about whether they are going to see it or not. And if non f1 fans see it they’d just be confused about it being a real f1 team and likely just ignore it. If this is your early marketing what on earth are you going to do next!! You can’t get Brad Pitt to do stunt drives for promotions cause he’ll probably die!! You are relying on name recognition to get non f1 fans to go the theatre and sign up to Apple TV for this and you didn’t even say FROM THE DIRECTOR OF TOP GUN MAVERICK in your trailer when that was the second highest grossing film of 2022 and had pretty much universal critical acclaim!!!! 

Brad Pitts old ass was also a terrible choice for this movie. Micheal Fassbender was right there!!! He’s literally done Le Mans, had an entire Porsche YouTube doc about his training and hypercar race attempts. And at 47, is a very believable age to play “retired driver but still young enough to come back” and he’d likely have been able to a lot of drives/stunts himself. 

I also dread to think how the real drivers are being included in this. I get wanting authenticity but these boys may look like models and actors but they are not!!! If anything I feel like it’d just ruin the emersion of the film because how jarring it’ll be to see real drivers, with their real names in a fictional movie!! 

This movie makes me crazy, it’s only been 1 trailed and some BTS info and I’m already like this. Watching the actual film ( which I do encourage people to pirate btw don’t give Brad Pitt money) is going to kill me 

i will be very surprised if they do pull it off because every move they've done so far was just objectively bad. naming it f1? awful. the ip will get lost in search engine tools because Real F1 will overshadow it. the trailer? no plot. brother is building a car for combat as if the FIA would allow anything like that. the closest we got was mclaren putting spikes on their car this year.

the trailer showed us zero plot, introduced zero stakes in the story. okay you're building a car, why? why do you want to win? what is the driving force of the story? the emotional core? why do i want to root for brad pitt's character if my driver is an actual character in the story??

so far the only people excited for it are real f1 fans that are going to see it to see max verstappen walk in the background in IMAX for 4 seconds. and those people take it as a joke, a hatewatch even.

they all know the f1 drivers can't act... like this whole thing seems so insane to me i cant believe how its an actual thing that's being filmed lol

and dont get me started on how the filming is taking two years (also bc of the strikes last year). two teams have completely different name. cars look different. suits look different...... like if they're fixing all in post god bless that team bc they'll be using more VFX than marvel

[icarusredwings]

Explaining this because I don't think people are getting it. Ft. One of my favorite mutals. @the--quotifyer--innit

The Master's issue isn't that the Doctor is poly. His issue is that he can not feel second best.

Tw: Mention of toxic jealous behavior, social/ romantic hiarcys, a lot of dog metaphors because its easier for me to explain, someone who's really autistic yapping about fictional old man yaoi, lots of misspelling, Apologies if I seem upset/rude, Im very passionate about the phycology behind social/romantic hiarchys and similar behaviours.

I was asked; Hey what would you think Sax would do if he met tentoo and rose?? With or without 14.

Me: Without 14? Like pre saxteen or just him not there? I think either way he'd beat the fuck out of tentoo. (Because he'd think he's cheating on him at first) He'd try to best up rose too depending on if we were talking s10 sax, pre saxteen, or established saxteen. Hed probably fail, but he'd try.

Yeah, sharing is definitely not his thing

No, definitely not (with Rose). Also, he'd probably lecture her, and then she'd be like "dude LOOK WHOS TALKING" and he'd be like, "WELL- ....☝️ 🤨.... actually... erm (you got a point)." Especially if we're talking Torchwood Rose? It would also piss him off how many traits she has picked up from the doctor. He'd become so emotionally jealous about it. (That Rose has the Doctor's traits)

Because he's not stupid. He's extremely smart. If this is pre/ established, the Doctor talks about her all the time. Even now. Little things. "Oh, there's this little shop down the road that Rose worked at. They have some sales sometimes. " He would SEE how much he actually loved her and feel extremely defeated, which would probably turn to rage and try to kill her. Then have a mental breakdown and sob by himself.

Probs blackmail her Bout how long he's know the doctor compared to a pathetic human girl. Rose would not be impressed.

You can't really use that as black mail but brag? Yes. (He'd definitely brag about knowing him much longer)

I could write a whole thing about this (and I did), but bassically, the fact that she's just a human girl is PART of the reason he'd get so upset. He's a fucking TIME LORD with MORE credibility then the doctor and one of the top loves of his eternity he's ever had is some 20 year old blonde girl????

Because with the master (and all of Gallifrey in general) Reputation and status means a lot. So the fact that the doctor chose her (someone who has zero of both) over him (someone who has a lot of both) it would mean that he likes her PURELY for love and this? That crushes him entirely.

Donna: The doctor is currently locked in the shed writing ' I love you, I promise' notes on the window.

If this ever happened, they'd probably get a divorce on the spot because the doctor CAN'T deny that he loves her still. And will. Forever. Saxon would kill him again and not even want to regenerate. He is a "You said til death do us part, and I said until all of time collapsees. We are not the same" kind of guy. He'd kill them both and be sure they fall in the same grave. It's very poetic. (In a way)

See he's okay with River because her physical body is dead as fuck. She can never leave that computer. So this automically puts sax on top of the metaphotic food chain in his head.

Because the doctor comes to him and asks if he can visit his wife and then comes back home to him. That's what matters. Meanwhile, the doctor would go to a different universe to go home to Rose. (If given the chance) And he knows it.

It's like having a dog tolerate/dominant dog. I'll use Minpins because I own one. Minpins have a pack status, and the top one has to be seen as the top by the owner, mainly rather than the other dogs. So if the doctor has multiple lovers (like always), sax has to feel he's on top and receives the most attention. If the doctor starts ignoring or punishing him for "defending" his spot as the top, he'll actually get MORE aggressive towards the others.

He has to be the one at the top of the list, the most special to the doctor, just for his own weird lil reasons

No, it's not really his own weird little reason. It's social psychology.

The thing is, he doesn't *actually* have to be the most special to the doctor, but he NEEDS to think he is. For me personally, and what I know, I like to think that Rose and The master are actually pretty equal, he just says stuff about her *because* he can't do stuff with her anymore which is just the process of longing.

I know I keep coming back to the dog metaphors, but im autistic like that, so give me a chance.

It's like for me, i had a dog named bailey. I love bailey even now, and often I compare my current dog fern to bailey. Its part of the healing process because im comparing them less and less. Especially with the fact that they're VERY different breeds. Bailey was a live stock guardian, an anatolian shepherd, to be exact. 90 pounds. Hairy. Fern is an 8 pound chihuahua miniature pinscher mix. Short hair.

Both are protective of the kids, both bark at men, both are silly and cuddly, and I love them both a lot. But its unfair to compare them because they are so different.

Though there's nothing wrong with liking the similars.

It's unfair for the master and rose to be compared. That's how the doctor thinks about it. The master is his top time lord on his list. Rose is his top human.

In my head anyway.

I'll probably add to this later, but for now, feel free to add on yourself

[spectralsleuth]

Now that we're entering into 2024, I'm asking some artists and writers that I follow:

1) What is the one piece you're most proud of from this past year?

2) What are some pieces that you would have liked more people to see? If you can include links, I'd love to go check them out!

3) What were your top three favorite pieces (art, comics, fics, etc) that someone else has made this past year?

(As always, no pressure to respond! Feel free to just ignore, or let me know if you'd rather I not send you these kinds of asks in the future.)

This is such a sweet and fun ask!! Thanks so much! I enjoyed seeing other authors answering this it’s so hype to get it myself.

1. This is hard to answer, because this year I tried to do something different with every fic I posted. When I got a concept I very pointedly didn’t shy away from it because it seemed difficult, or I thought I might be bad at it, so there’s something that makes me proud with each one. IF I HAD TO CHOOSE THOUGH I’m going to cheat and pick two.

What it Will Be I’m proud of this because it fell out of me SO EASY. I felt like the process of writing it was a testament to how hard I’ve been working at improving all year, and it came together very quickly and very well. I’m also proud because I incorporated @heckitall ‘s comic page to base it off of, and I’d never tried writing fic for a visual media like that. It was super fun!

On the OTHER end of the spectrum is Case of the Hidden City vs Lou Jitsu because it is VERY technically and narratively complicated and is by far the most ambitious thing I’ve ever written. It’s very hard, but I am VERY proud because I haven’t QUIT it. It’s not complete yet, but it is a good amount of the way there and I’m excited to finish it. Probably once I’ve recovered from surgery lol.

2. This sounds insincere maybe, but I really am happy with the engagement I get on my fic. I really do write my fic for me, and while I love to make sure as many people who want to read it can find it, at the end of the day I don’t like assigning people homework! I went through my whole works list and scratched my head and really tried to think of there was anything I wanted to plug, and I don’t think there is!

I guess I’ll post my lowest viewed, my Swanatello fic! @tangledinink ‘s AU I’m sure everyone’s familiar with lol. I knew that one would be lower when I posted it, if only because it has prior required reading (Swanatello). But I wrote it mainly because the AU was starting to reach a critical point and I REALLY wanted to write fanfiction of how I fantasized an ending might be, so I could go back and read it for comfort. I love Odette and the lore Kayson made for his AU, so I’ll plug this only because I think some people may have missed it!

3. Three works!! JUST THREE?? AUGH.

little kid with a big death wish

By @remedyturtles ! This made me leak tears the whole way through, so huge CW’s obviously. Not only was it one of the best fics I’ve ever read, but I got the privilege of seeing how talented Rem is behind the scenes a little and saw how they write and work and I really want to emulate them going forward. One of many all timer fics for me, for sure, I’d love to read any original fiction they put out.

The Whispering Forest and Other Tales

By @sroloc--elbisivni and @kithnkin ! I love love LOVE the feudal Japan fusion, the research, and the perfect blend of Usagi Yojimbo’s universe with what the Riseverse would have been like in this era. Even the little segues into what they’re wearing and eating is endlessly fascinating to me. Every single character is written to be the best and most interesting version of that character I could imagine. Theres Leosagi, there’s a PB&J murder mystery, there’s spookiness- AND Raphael Hamato gets wifed up!! WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? I love people that write a fully fleshed story that could be a standalone universe, without losing ANY of the flavor or humor or narrative of the original source material.

And last is I’m Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now

@tangledinink has such a good grasp of family and writing, and realistic portrayals of what would HONESTLY HAPPEN if you discovered literally any aspect of the ROTTMNT narrative. Not even taking into ACCOUNT the turtle nonsense, how do you unpack a family that’s been devoted to destroying a magic monster and sacrificing themselves, or a Dad that fought in a death match battle royale for over a decade, or a RIVAL CLAN OF NINJA? All the characters are written SO WELL, and Kayson does a fantastic job of never letting the characters or story fall into cliche tropes. Their characters are always super detailed, to the point where I really feel it if they’re hungry or hurt or itchy. Which is a weird thing to point out but they make sure you really FEEL the situation. Also like, turtles in highschool? Body dysphoria? My CO-CEO of Hamato Yoshi???

What a great year!! I had so much fun in fandom this year and made a lot of friends.

[favorvn]

(I'm sorry for the mistakes, English is not my native language) (*/ω＼) Hi, yesterday I found out about Favor and fell in love with your game. First of all, for her artistic style - it's damn beautiful, Z is both frightening, but at the same time admires and attracts (both his hair and horns ~ and I want to touch them). The fact that I can't see his eyes, but I've seen hints of what they look like (I've managed to read your entire Tumblr several times) makes my imagination work like never before! Secondly, for references to real religion. I am practically not interested in this, and my knowledge is extremely superficial, but if I understood and remembered everything correctly, then the fact that you did not invent (to some extent) any fictional religion in the universe of the game (I have absolutely nothing against this), but turned to an existing religion, causes me to repeat the admiration. I have so many questions about the game, but in order not to drag out an already long message, I will ask only some of them (I hope you don't mind). 1) Will you see angels in this game? 2) You mentioned that if Z does not find the means to immortality for Y/N, then he will simply seduce him (her) so that he goes to hell, to him. What would Y/N's "life" in hell be like? (if it's not spoilers) 3) Referring to your mentions described above, it became interesting to me. Let's say Z has found a means to immortality, but Y/N is against it? What if he (she) wants to live an ordinary human life and, when the time comes, die? Will he try to convince you/N to become immortal, or will he do everything without his (her) consent? 4) Given how old Z is, how many human languages does he know? I apologize if my questions turned out to be stupid or strange. And I apologize if my words may have seemed rude, I assure you, not a single word of mine had a non-native meaning. Many thanks for the amazing game from one of the first (I believe) fans in the CIS. I am looking forward to the release of the continuation of the story! (I speak without pressure and attempts to hurry up somehow). Please take good care of your physical and mental health! (⌒▽⌒)☆

(Oh, and also taking this opportunity, I congratulate you and Z on Valentine's Day! (*^.^*))

Thank you SO much for the detailed and thoughtful message, I'm sure this took forever to write, but I am so touched 🥰!

I will say about religion: In the game, I mainly use ideas from Christianity/ Catholicism/Judaism/Islam ect as a base, I try to take common aspects and common and contrasting ideas that cross amongst monotheistic religions. A lot of the topics in this game surrounding religion or religious ideas and values are thoughts I tend to wonder about often. Religion is a contentious topic, so I do want to say that whatever the game is saying or asking doesn't mean it's right or accurate to everyone, it is just my personal creation at the end of the day.

And when we get to that point in the game, I am definitely interested in hearing what others have to say.

But onto your questions:

1. Yes

2. I would imagine Z would take care of MC and show them the ropes. Z would make sure MC didn't get recruited into any demon armies so they could stick around him all of the time and not have to be around other demons. - I don't plan to get to this point in the game, so it's kinda up to interpretation.

3. Z would do everything in their power to win over MC either immortality or to hell with him. If MC ends up in Heaven, Z would essentially be separated from MC and Z isn't willing to risk that outcome.

4. Z knows a few human languages, but mainly old ones (as he only really interacted with humans long ago). He just recently picked up English (from his 20 movies, some video games, and fellow demons). Z is a fast learner, thankfully because he has a lot to learn about the human world.

Your questions aren't stupid! Thank you SO much for taking the time to read everything and then ask them 🥰💕 It really made me happy! I'm happy to have a fan in the CIS (I actually have plans for a slavic character in the future!) Thank you again for your time and care into these questions!

[outrunningthedark]

"If Tim is “no longer involved” with OG, there’s less of a chance his influence can fuck things up for the fandom."

Me, to whoever unironically believing that: Kristen Reidel and Buck's cheating/sperm donor drama hello? Anyone?

She's picked as the co-showrunner because Tim likes her brand of drama the most. Why haven't people realized that? Is being a "911 writers' stan" cloud the judgment so much?

I don't think it's about "stanning" a show runner as much as it is wanting or trying to promote the belief that their choices have a purpose that matches the fandom's, especially when a lot of the activity in this space comes from people who write fics and paragraphs worth of analysis and speculation. If Tim was still dividing his time between both shows or there was no spinoff, you wouldn't see the "good riddance" reaction going around since s4 of LS started. They'd *have* to put their faith in him because there would be no backup plan. This is evident in the "defense" of the two story lines you mentioned. Buck cheating was (from a fandom POV) supposed to spell the downfall of BT. It did not. It was also supposed to be an indication of Buck's "regression" and inevitable breakdown. It was neither of those things. Mainly because Eddie's breakdown followed immediately after and Buck had to be on his best behavior to care for Chris/offer Eddie emotional support. Now that the arc is closed, nobody brings it up because it added nothing to his story. BT broke up because TayKay's work got in the way, giving people the excuse to harp on about terrible they were together or she was as a person. (We were never supposed to like her for him or them together. Maaaaybe if the fandom wasn't celebrating her #charactergrowth in s4 and pushing the idea that she would stay on as a platonic friend, the trajectory of the relationship could have gone differently, but alas. They were duped.)

With the sperm donor arc, the initial thought process (my preferred outcome, obv) was that Buck wouldn't actually go through with it because he'd realize he isn't built for not being a constant presence in his bio kid's life. And for the bloggers who think they know everything, it doesn't make sense if canon!Buddie isn't the outcome. (A lot less likely now that the spotlight is on another couple. Can't have social media talking about Buddie and Buddie only.) Making a rash decision, but then having the universe "scream" via failed donor attempts or having Buck speak to someone from his family about the mistake he'd be making and then he realizes he shouldn't do it, would have been a good story, absolutely. Stop doing things for other people, Buck! Do them for you! Because you understand your worth now! But here we are months later and: - His attempt at helping make a baby was successful, and proven successful in the 6A finale, meaning we're nowhere near the end. - The show runner was already talking about the impending birth in her s5 post-mortem interviews. Unless it turns out that Connor was able to impregnate his wife (still rooting for this no matter how unlikely, especially when the reaction could have changed what was meant to happen down the line) there's gonna be a kid, and it will be biologically Buck's. IMO, the people who will still "applaud" the story line if it turns out Buck has a kid out there somewhere are the ones who want to see him with his "own family" because Chris isn't actually his. (Apparently "the family we chose" doesn't apply when there's an option for Big Man, Tiny Baby? Okay.) But to everyone else? RED FLAG. Kristen would not create a fictional child just to never bring it up again. It's easy drama. Also, the audience is going to know that Buck has someone else with his DNA. They are going to be thought of as "his kid", not Christopher, until canon says otherwise. It's a way to appease a certain part of the base in the event that Buddie goes canon because at least he got to have one of his own, right? And honestly, it works in the opposite scenario - Buddie remaining friends throughout - because TPTB have no way of knowing how long OG will run for or how long OS will stick around. If Buck gets a LI that's not Eddie, there may not be time for a pregnancy plot.

[julianightmare]

I posted 147 times in 2022

12 posts created (8%)

135 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@pmseymourva

@thisrandomfangirl15

@writing-prompt-s

@octopus-with-a-glock

@vamichaelalaws

I tagged 20 of my posts in 2022

#authors of tumblr - 4 posts

#author - 4 posts

#writer - 4 posts

#writer of tumblr - 4 posts

#fnaf sb headcanons - 3 posts

#fnaf:sb - 3 posts

#security breach - 3 posts

#headcanon - 3 posts

#writers of tumblr - 3 posts

#fnaf: security breach - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 102 characters

#and i don't care if anyone who reads this decides they like this idea for their own stories\characters

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

What My Labels Mean to Me

Since it's that time of year, I've decided to make a post talking about exactly what my sexual and gender labels mean to me personally.

I'll be going in order of when I figured each out.

Bisexual: I'm attracted to people regardless of gender, but I don't consider myself pan since gender is still partially a factor for my attraction (if that makes sense). And I don't think omni fits since how I'm attracted to them isn't the same for all genders\sexes.

Demiromantic: This one I don't know how to explain well. I just know that I don't for romantic attractions\attachments unless I'm already close with someone. Maybe it's because I already know I get along with the person if we're already friends. I just know that platonic love has to be there first before romantic can even think to form.

Hell, this also kinda plays a part when I get crushes on fictional characters. They only form after I've been exposed to a lot of media of them (usually fan made) and I already liked them as a character to begin with.

Demigirl: Literally just figured out I'm this last year, though I'm still figuring it out as a whole.

I still align partially with my AGAB, just not completely. Best way I've thought of it is to imagine genders as flavors on a soda fountain, but girl\female was running low on syrup when my cup was filled. The flavor is still there, just not as strong as "normal".

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and happy pride!

8 notes - Posted June 20, 2022

#4

By now we should all know about this in game item. Kinda hard to miss it since it's in soda machines all around the pizzaplex, there are the 4 cans we can pick up to boost stamina, and drinking massive ammounts of it is part of Sun's list of things he suggested he and Gregory to do together.

My brain, being the way that it is, has formed questions and ideas around this fictional beverage. I know it isn't that big in the grand scheme of things in universe, but the writer in me wants an excuse to add on to the mess that is fanon world building. (idk if that's an actual term, but it is now.)

Flavors-

In the game we only see four flavors of fizzy faz mentioned\shown in any of the messages and soda machines. Except for in the daycare. The daycare seems to have, at least, one of those freestyle soda fountains that let's you add extra flavor to a base soda flavor (mostly seen at fast food places from my personal experience).

Why bring up the machine in the daycare? Well that leads into my next point.

I like to think that there are actually more than 4 flavors of fizzy faz. Specifically I think there are three other flavors, plus a sugar free\diet variation of all the flavors. The three other flavors will be expanded on in their own headcanon, since they are character specific. (I'm sure y'all can guess who.)

Distribution-

Considering how much of a big deal the fazbear brand seems to be in universe, I wouldn't put it past the company to sell the soda outside of the pizzaplex. It just makes sense to me. You can basically find it at almost any store that sells soda. You can't get it out of a fountain anywhere besides the plex, but you can sure as hell stock up on cans and bottles.

There isn't much of a difference between the can you got at the gas station and the ones at the pizzaplex, mainly that the ones sold at regular stores are a bit dulled down in flavor. It's not even that noticable, but subconciously you can tell.

Marketing-

Besides the obvious of the characters doing ads for their flavors, there is one main marketing thing they do with fizzy faz sold outside of the pizzaplex. Some of the bottles have a "lucky cap" which will have a code that could mean free or discounted admission to the plex. Cans of it have a similar things, sometimes the boxes of 12 packs will have a code like the lucky caps printed on the inside.

9 notes - Posted March 8, 2022

#3

These are the three other fizzy faz flavors I mentioned in the previous headcanon. If you hadn't guessed before, these will be flavors themed for Sun, Moon, and DJ Music Man. I came up with these because I wanted them for my AU, though anyone can use them for their AUs if they want to.

Flavors:

Sun- Strawberry Pineapple

Moon- Blue Raspberry

DJMM- Cotton Candy

Bonus Flavors (mostly because I know several AUs have at least one of these two as part of them):

Foxy- Rootbeer

Bonnie- Cherry Cola

Triva:

-I had several ideas for Sun's, and it was hard to settle on what flavor to make his.

-Moon's was originally gonna be called Blue Moon Raspberry, but then I remembered none of the others have special flavor names like that.

-Sun's was also gonna have a special name, when I wanted to make it a citrus punch type of flavor (Sunny Citrus).

-Bonnie's is cherry cola because the diner in Bonnie Bowl gives me 50s diner vibes, and 50s diners make me think of cherry cola for some reason.

-Yes, DJMM's is cotton candy because of his color scheme.

-Foxy got rootbeer because I figured it'd be a kinda funny joke with him being a pirate and all (plus it's nearly 1:30 AM at the time of writing this, and I can't be bothered to come up with something better).

I also have a fizzy faz flavor in mind for my animatronic fan oc, but I'm saving that for her bio. Though that does give me an idea. If any of you have an animatronic fan oc, what would their fizzy faz flavor be?

17 notes - Posted March 8, 2022

#2

Idk if anyone has done this yet, but this idea just popped into my head.

The Coven from Monster Prom dressed as The Hex Girls from Scooby Doo (and maybe hex girls dressed as the coven).

You're welcome.

18 notes - Posted October 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

You know the posters in the game that advertise the sun drop and moon drop candies? Well I've seen multiple people talking about Sun and Moon being able to dispense them. Though I haven't seen people talking about how they dispense the candies. Naturally that got me thinking, which lead me to think about other things that could be related to this.

Basically, the candies come out of a hatch in the palms of their hands. Specifically sun drops come out of the left hand and moon drops come out of the right hand.

Now, factoring in the idea that they can only give out the candy that corresponds with their theming (meaning Sun is only able to give out sun drops and Moon is only able to give out moon drops), we can talk about which hand is their dominant hand(s). I'd like to note that I think their body as a whole is ambidextrous, but as individuals they ended up favoring one hand over the other while going about their day to day lives. They just both ended up favoring the hand that their candy comes out of. So, Moon is right handed and Sun is left handed. It was kinda a subconscious thing for both of them, but it worked out for the best.

If they were to ever get their own separate bodies then they'd be able to dispense their candy from both hands, but would have the same dominant hand that they had when they were just one robot.

(Also, this is just something I thought was cute, but sun will sometimes dispense a candy while holding someone's hand. It's a nice little surprise he likes to do for people for many reasons.)

57 notes - Posted January 17, 2022

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[trashlord-007]

So. Tana? Is that correct? Well as your secret Santa thought I'd stop in and say hello! So many questions and such a limited character count. I guess I should start with the basics....who's your bias? Is it Jongdae? Your avatar is him but I don't want to just assume. How long have your been an exol? Do you have other interests? I saw your pinned post about gaming....what games are you into? Why is your favorite color your favorite color? What is your favorite color? Do you have a favourite song? If it's not an exo song which of our boys' songs is your most cherished? Go to song for a mood pick up? What sort of things do you create? Have you ever killed a man? Favorite movie or book? Why? Best moment in fandom life? What YouTube video have you watched the most?

I'll stop there and save some for later.

🎁🎄🎁

Hiii, my super awesome Secret Santa!

Tana is indeed correct~ welcome to my small corner of Tumblr!

Jongdae is my bias <333 I love him so much T_T who is your bias? or biases? I know some people have multiple, especially in bigger bands. To be honest, my ult top 10 has several EXO members! But Jongdae will always be my EXO bias, and my ult bias across all of kpop!

I've been an EXOL since... Tempo! While I enjoyed their title tracks before then, bought their songs and listened to their MVs etc, I didn't truly appreciate them until I listened to the Don't Mess Up My Tempo album. Everything clicked then, and I realised I had been so wrong about them before T_T and after listening to all their previous music it became evident that they'd always be my number one~

I do have some other interests. Like you saw, I enjoy gaming. The Mass Effect and Far Cry franchises are my everything <3 no matter what else is happening, I can always return to them and find some semblance of peace... it's hard to explain. But you can fish in FC5! Sometimes I just pop the game on to do that. Or turn on ME:A to travel between planets - it has this awesome feature where it's kinda like you're piloting the ship to each one. I've been thinking of Feros and Noveria again, which are missions in the first Mass Effect. They are my favourites! and I also need to finish my AC Syndicate playthrough so I can move forward to the next--

Sorry,,, heh, I tend to ramble T_T it's a bad habit of mine. Do you game?

My favourite colour is blue but I'm not sure why! It's just... pretty. Any colours that remind me of nighttime ambiance, stars and space, etc are my favourites too. The universe is so perfect.

Favourite song... that's too hard T_T well, I'll keep it easy by saying Monster by EXO! Which is your favourite? EXO or otherwise? and which solo is your favourite? Have you listened to Xiuminnie's new song? I LOVE IT !

I have a playlist called Cheer Up, Buttercup! and the first song in it is Good Day for a Good Day by Super Junior haha. There's a lot of GGs in it too, like Twice and Saturday.

I mainly create problems.

Err, I mean, I mainly write but I'm dipping my toes in GIF-making too!

I plead the fifth.

Interstellar is my favourite movie!! (... is it becoming obvious yet how obsessed I am with space?) and my favourite book is... wow, I can't believe I'm gonna be cliché like this but... probably Wuthering Heights? Or maybe The Gunslinger by Stephen King. What about you? I'd love to talk books or movies, especially if they are horror or sci-fi haha.

Oh... why... I'm never really sure why I like the things I do but I will say that I've seen Interstellar countless times (I even watched parts of it every time I went to the dentist lol). Before that was Avatar... and the second film is finally coming out!! T_T I'm so excited! As for the books... haha, I guess what makes a piece of media/fiction wonderful is the emotions it invokes.

It's the small things, like amazing events and excited conversations, that make fandom great.

My most watched YouTube video as of late is probably one of the music playlists I use to write, like Brian Tyler - I'm Sorry [Far Cry 3 ] (1 Hour Version) or Dark Clubbing / Bass House / Dark Techno Mix 'SINFUL'.

Now, my friend, I am curious about you! What's your most played YouTube? What do you like to create? Best part of fandom? Do you listen to music when you create? and if you do, what do you listen to?

It's so exciting to have a Secret Santa! I hope this answers your questions adequately and I look forward to your response!

[sabraeal]

I got tagged by @onepetal

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 10 people

# following: 150

# of followers: 440

average hours of sleep: 7 or 8! This is an improvement on the 5 or 6 I used to get last year

lucky number: 13

instruments: I sort of taught myself how to play piano in elementary/middle school, but I was never very good at it, SO

what are you wearing: leggings and a dress, because I had to go outside this morning

dream job: writer!

dream trip: Anywhere in Europe, probably!

birthday: 06/20

height: between 5′9 and 5′10, depending on how good I’ve been to my back lately

gender/pronouns: she/her

other blogs: I co-mod @snowwhite-andtheknight with @infinitelystrangemachinex. She actually organizes content, I just get to be the cool aunt that comes in with challenges three times a year

nicknames: Sab, sabs, Jen (and variations thereof)

star sign: gemini

time: 12:14pm

favorite bands: Guster, Myrath, Great Big Sea, Pentatonix, The Dear Hunter...a lot, honestly

favorite artist: Like....musical artist, or...? I mean, if you mean classical artists, probably John Singer Sargeant?

favorite tumblr artist: @nebluus draws the way I’ve always imagined I would if I could draw, and thus she is near and dear to my heart

song stuck in your head: None right now, aside from the song my son is making up behind me

last movie you watched: The Last Jedi, in theatres. At home? Uhhhh.....I think....Magnificent Seven (the new one)

last show you watched: Ancient Magus Bride and Mushishi, just last night

why did you make your blog: my friend @celestial-escapism literally made me while she was visiting, and that was that

what do you post: oh jeeze. Everything.

last thing you googled: I think it was, no lie, what season Will Riker grew the beard

ao3: sabraeal. i keep it easy

do you ever get asks: yep! though it’s slowed down since I answer SO SLOWLY. Sorry kids, I try.

how did you get the idea for your url: It’s the name I use for internet stuff

favorite food: as I’ve said, I tend not to have a favorite, though at this point I’m low key craving either a shake shack burger, pork dumplings, or scallops. mmmmm

last book you read: The last book I FINISHED was The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay, which I loved (can’t wait to work myself around to Children of Earth and Sky oh man), but CURRENTLY I am reading Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong, which is pretty good, but I can ALREADY TELL the ending is going to aggravate me

top 3 fictional universes: ASoIaF, His Dark Materials, Harry Potter

I’m not gonna tag 10, but I tag: @superhappybubbleslove, @infinitelystrangemachinex, @nebluus, @vivianwisteria, @claudeng80, @thelionshoarde

[retro-scorpio]

The Arcana Meets The Devildom (Part One)

Fictional Backstory: Julian, Lucio, and Asra were in the magic shop because (MC) was teaching Lucio how to perform a basic teleportation spell while Julian and Asra were in a side room having tea and talking things through. Lucio’s attempt of the spell goes horribly wrong, and he, along with Julian and Asra, get transported from their world to a world of demons that aren’t exactly like the ones back home. With no immediate way to get back home, they’re stuck in the Devildom indefinitely. 

Julian x The House of Lamentation

Lucifer: Julian recognizes nearly right away that Lucifer could be him in an alternate universe. Their fashion sense is essentially the same; they both struggle immensely with sleep due to work; they both like to kick back and relax with their favorite drink; and they both have a dramatic flair to them and a love of theatre. Obviously, there are some key differences as well, like how Lucifer is a sadist while Julian’s an masochist, plus the fact that Lucifer appears much more uptight than him. These things make Julian want to get to know Lucifer more and (perhaps) become friends with him. Lucifer, however, takes a while to warm up to Julian. Initially, he finds Julian to be too loud and reckless, especially when Julian’s around his brothers. He also refuses at first to accept the fact that he has anything in common with “that buffoon”, as Lucifer calls Julian during his first days in the Devildom (when his brothers are teasing him relentlessly about it). However, one late night conversation and a bottle of Demonus later (which Julian finds nearly as pleasurable as a Salty Bitters), the two men begin to grow close. Lucifer tries his best to help Julian get back to his own world, and in return Julian offers Lucifer his company during nights where they can’t fall asleep but are much too tired to work.

Mammon: Julian is very drawn to Mammon at first due to Mammon’s desire to party and let loose, but the longer he’s around the second-born, the more he sees that maybe Mammon isn’t the best influence (this opinion is partially influenced by the increased amount of time Julian spends with Lucifer). There’s nothing wrong with letting loose, but Mammon takes it a bit too far at times. However, Julian does see that Mammon does have a pretty big heart, even when he hides it under his sin of greed. So, instead of insulting him or punishing him for his wrongdoings, Julian takes the time to talk to Mammon and listen to him. Mammon finds this odd at first and isn’t the most open to sharing, but as Julian reveals parts of himself to him, he realizes that they each have insecurities about people not accepting them for who they are and feeling like they have to act a certain way in order to protect themselves from harm. Julian and Mammon essentially help each other work through and heal from past trauma.

Levi: Since video games (and gaming in general, unless you count drinking competitions) aren’t exactly commonplace in Vesuvia, Julian is fascinated by Levi’s collection. When he has a free moment, he will ask Levi all sorts of questions about technology and gaming. This throws Levi off guard at first, because he’s not used to people expressing interest in his hobbies. Once he gets used to Julian’s curiosity, though, he gets excited to talk to Julian and show him how to play some games. This becomes very apparent when Julian catches Levi rewatching The Tale Of The Seven Lords (TV series) and asks him if he can join him, because of course Levi couldn’t allow Julian to enter the series mid-season and mid-episode; they have to start from the very beginning so that Julian gets the entire picture. They also share a love of water, and they share their experiences with the liquid with each other (Julian focuses on his sea adventures and pirate days, and Levi talks more about creatures he’s come across and raised). Levi finds Julian’s love of leeches amusing.

Satan: The amount of books that Satan has in his possession overwhelms Julian at first, but he’s also impressed by Satan’s collection (the first words to leave Julian’s mouth upon seeing Satan’s books are, “You could open up a library!”) Due to the amount and variety of literature Satan has, Julian often swings by his room for research purposes, because somewhere in Satan’s vast collection/messy room, there are some books on world-hopping. Julian gets a little too curious by Satan’s books, and Satan has to keep an eye on Julian to make sure he doesn’t grab a cursed book by accident. Satan initially acts like he’s too good for Julian’s theatrics, but the longer Julian stays with them at the House, the more it becomes apparent that Satan loves hearing all about Julian’s adventures in Vesuvia. Satan may or may not begin writing down all of Julian’s tales in order to remember them for future reference.

Asmo: The moment Asmo lays eyes on Julian, he develops a HUGE crush on him. To Asmo, everything about Julian is perfect, from his roguish looks to his dramatic flair. Whenever he gets the opportunity, Asmo will pull Julian away from his brothers to spend as much time with him as possible, although he’ll often deflect his brothers’ teasing with statements such as, “Julian needs to unwind!” and “I have to get rid of the bags under his eyes!” (Asmo’s a terrible liar.) The bad news for Asmo is that Julian is completely oblivious to how he feels about him, despite the fact that everyone can see that Asmo has the hots for Julian (even Beel, who isn’t always receptive to those types of things). It’s not like Julian’s obliviousness is intentional, though; between his own insecurities and the fact that, at the end of the day, his main focus is to be able to go back home to Vesuvia, he’s not exactly attentive to who he may have attracted in the process. After a while, Asmo cannot keep his emotions towards Julian bottled up anymore, and so one afternoon, when they’re alone in his room on one of his spa days, he blurts out to the red-head that he has a crush on him. Julian lets him down easy, saying that, while he is flattered by the Avatar of Lust’s confession, his heart belongs to (MC) back to Vesuvia. Surprisingly, instead of throwing a fit, Asmo accepts the truth of the situation fairly quickly and actually keeps some of his flirty nature in check when he’s around Julian from that point forward. He still tries to have Julian join him on his spa days whenever possible, mainly so that Julian has a chance to relax properly.

Beel: There’s an unspoken connection that forms between Beel and Julian almost immediately (Belphie believes it’s because they’re both red-heads). In his quiet way, Beel will tear Julian away from his research if he’s been at it non-stop and get him to eat something, sometimes by gently coaxing his sin out of Julian if he’s particularly sucked into whatever he’s looking at. While he’s used to doing this gesture for his brothers (especially Lucifer and Satan), Beel kind of forgets at first that humans are easier to sway than demons, and so he needs to use less of his power in order to force Julian to eat. During his early days in the Devildom, Julian became so gluttonous that he not only ate everything in the House, but he also slammed down several large burgers at Hell’s Kitchen (Julian apologized profusely for this incident and offered to cook meals for everyone for the following week to make up for his mistake). In addition to eating, Beel will pry Julian out of the House and have his fellow red-head work out with him. They’re pretty comparable in size, and so Beel doesn’t have to hold back as much of his physical strength as he normally does around other demons (but he still holds back a little because Julian is still human, after all). Even though they may not speak about their personal lives a lot with each other when it’s just the two of them, Julian and Beel feel at ease with each other.

Belphie: To put it simply, in Julian’s eyes, Belphie is a god-send (he fully sees the irony of using that phrase to describe the youngest demon brother). When Julian is barely holding his head up after 24, 48, and even 72 hours of not being able to sleep, all Belphie has to do is to grab a pillow and blanket, get Julian comfortable on the nearest surface, and use the powers his sin has given him to make Julian fall asleep. Unlike his twin, Belphie picks up right away that he doesn’t have to exert a lot of power in order to get Julian to engage with his inner sloth in a healthy way; Julian always wakes up well-rested and recharged after a Belphie-induced sleep. The two of them will occasionally look up at the night sky together and talk about the different stars and constellations of the Devildom and Vesuvia, and when that topic of conversation runs dry, they’ll talk about all sorts of things, ranging from the best ways to prank Lucifer that will get the best reaction out of him to the trauma of losing a sister.

[gogglor]

Cap-IronMan RecWeek: Something New Saturday

A bit late on this one (life stuff happened, like it usually does), but I didn’t want to miss reccing some fics that have come out in the past year that I’ve found to be absolutely brilliant for @cap-ironman recweek, so here they are.

The Facility

Author: WilmaKins

Word Count: 155,769

Summary: After coming so close to losing against Thanos, the Avengers have decided to set aside their differences and work as a team again. Well, they're trying... But there are a lot of hurts that haven't gone away, and a lot of things still unsaid, and a lot of tension... And that was BEFORE Tony accidentally ended up on an undercover mission with Steve as his fake boyfriend - at what turns out to be an alien sex club.

Why You Should Read It:

WilmaKins is a fluff’n’smut master. They’ve also got a real talent for taking wild ideas and making them work super freaking well. If you wanna read something creative and fun and steamy, check them out.

The Facility is another one pretty outside my fic comfort zone, and another one I’m really glad I read. Steve and Tony are both still hurting really badly from the events of Civil War when they get assigned to go undercover to a shifty couples retreat that turns out to be an alien sex club with lots and lots of drugs. Drugs that can make you do things like acting on the things you want, and saying what you think out loud. It’ll be fine. Anyway, this fic’s probably the best exploration I’ve ever seen of Tony and Steve’s feelings post-Civil War. Check it out if you’re in the mood for a feels trip.

A Common Guttersnipe

Author: BeTheFlame

Word Count: 67,271

Summary: When Steve Rogers walks down the runway, Tony Stark stops breathing. He must have this man as a client - he can make him the biggest movie star the world has ever known. And then they meet, and Steve opens his mouth, and that accent nearly kills Tony. He makes Steve a bet - in six months, he can make even Anna Wintour think that Steve graduated from Phillips Exeter, and in return, Steve will let Tony sign him as a client. Steve takes the bet, thinking he has nothing to loose. And then he learns that the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, that he could have danced all night, and that the world will still run without Tony Stark, but goddamn if he wants it to.

Why You Should Read It:

Here’s the thing: I am not an AU person. I like them occasionally, but for the most part I prefer turn-left fics and fics that just build new adventures into existing universes. But then there’s people like Flame that exist out there who specialize in AU’s and who seem to be on a crusade to change my mind and... it’s kinda working.

Guttersnipe was pretty much all anyone could talk about in the Stony discord while it was being updated because wow, what a fic. The OC’s are interesting and well-developed. The relationships are human and real. The dialog is fantastic. The tie-ins to the play are delightful easter eggs. It’s just... a really captivating, interesting, beautiful story. What more can you ask for?

keep me warm

Author: maguna_stxrk

Word Count: 4,024

Summary: Steve will take any and every opportunity to touch and be as physically close as possible to his husband, thank you very much.(Or, five times Steve demonstrates that physical touch is very much his love language and one time Tony seeks him out for it.)

Why You Should Read It:

If you read enough fanfics, you get to know which authors you can go to to get whatever it is you’re craving. BeTheFlame’s got the creative AUs. Scifigrl47′s got stories that’ll make you laugh. Mizzy’s got the ones with lots of exciting twists. And maguna_stxrk’s got the fluff. And what magnificent fluff it is.

This is just a delightful little fic about how much Steve likes to show his love for Tony through physical touch. It’s tooth-rotting and lighter than air, and absolutely delightful. Good read if you need a pick-me-up.

And I’ll end with a self-rec.

15 Things To Do in NYC If You’ve Been Stuck in an Ice Berg for 70 Years

Author: gogglor

Word Count: 39,885

Summary: Tony and Steve can't stand each other, but they agree for the sake of the team and the people that rely on them that they have to figure out a way to get along. So they come up with a plan to spend time together, in the form of a Buzzfeed listicle of things to do in New York City. Because if you go to enough museums with the guy you can't stand, you should *eventually* stop hating him, right? Come for the slow burn, stay for everyone's opinions on Cats the musical and a story about teenage Tony stealing an ice cream truck in an attempt to get laid.

Why You Should Read It:

During the pandemic I had a really rough time missing all the stuff I love to do in New York City. One day I realized I could do them vicariously through my two favorite fictional ding dongs, and this fic was born.

Steve and Tony go from enemies to friends to lovers by going on a bunch of outings together in NYC that were recommended in a Buzzfeed listicle. They learn more about each other and themselves, grow closer, and ultimately fall in love. Some readers have also commented that they plan to use this fic as a guide for some fun things to do in NYC if they ever come to visit, which I’m delighted to hear since it means sharing the things I love about this city with more people.

I was gonna try to write my Sunday post before midnight struck but it looks like I’m too late and too tired. Tomorrow I’ll post my last rec list for fics that were made for Cap-Ironman events, and I’m pleased to say I’ve saved some of the best for last.

[thechildofstark]

The Problem With Civil War

Civil War was supposed to be a Captain America movie. It was not a Captain America movie.

However.......

The problem with it being a Cap film is that Steve (+ his team) are supposed to be the ultimate good guys. In all the previous Hero Title films (Iron Man Trilogy, Thor Trilogy, Etc.) the guy whose name is on the poster is the guy the audience is supposed to root for. However, because of CA:CW’s marketing and story arc, it was very much a Steve & Tony / Steve vs. Tony film, while trying to simultaneously portray Tony as a secondary character.

This post isn't about Team Cap or Team Iron Man.

The catalyst for the story of Civil War is...........interesting. (in the comics, its different. and a whole lot easier to understand the reasoning of both sides of the argument. but that's a post for another time.)

Tagging/registering/tracking every mutant/mutate/superhero/powered person is objectively a very bad idea. but so is running amok with no supervision in other countries and destroying property whilst literally wearing the American flag.

There are big problems on both sides.

The issue I find most people have with Tony is that they find him an entitled sellout who only cares about himself and that he committed war crimes, and the problems I find most people have with Steve is that he defended a baby Nazi and went on an violent international rampage in direct violation of the UN because his dead terrorist ex-boyfriend may or may not have murdered a whole bunch of people.

Ooof.

The main reason I think people get very annoyed/attached a specific side is because they are still projecting the characterisation from the earlier movies.

Iron Man 1 and The First Avenger? I love them. No notes.

Obviously yes there are issues in-universe but these are flawed characters with complicated issues and stories and so on, and I like them that way.

If I wanted a Nice Unproblematic Superhero I’d rewatch the Christopher Reeves Superman films. That is not why I am here today.

But by the time we get to Civil War, Tony and Steve have become caricatures of the ideals that they represented, so that the studio can make a movie.

Morally, Steve is  in the right. Legally, Tony is in the right.

Ethically? I don't fucking know, they both suck equally in that regard.

Okay to be fair, Tony does try to help Steve like.........so often in the film. Because Steve is the Protagonist and he is Right even though half his actions don't actually fit with his previous characterisation/character arcs/basic human logic.

CA:CW was supposed to be a movie about Steve Rogers. But it failed in the single regard that the story wasn't about him. Even other Hero Title movie, the main character either does something, or has something done to them, and then they react to the situations and there are gratuitous explosions and a life lesson and probably a kiss near the end. But this film had the kiss nearer to the middle ew Sharon why and while plenty of shit got blown up, plenty of civilians and local law enforcement also got mashed by/because of the title character.

That is not how the lead in a superhero movie is supposed to behave.

And the film also continues down the general path of giving Tony shittier and shittier character arcs. The war he behaves in his own movies vs the avengers films? it’s a complete values dissonance. It is literally not the same character. Probably the closest to consistency we get is Iron Man 3/Age of Ultron but even then the differences are pretty startling. At the beginning, Tony was, idk, a realistic if fictional person. But the time we get to CA:CW all we have is an avatar for the writers to manipulate, damn character consistency, damn reasonable behavior and logic and everything that the audience has been told about him in the past.

Same with Steve. Heck, same with everyone in the entire damn movie. Barely anyone acts or reacts in a way that either A) previous behavior would suggest, or B) an actual human person would act or react.

Yes. I know. It’s fiction. I can suspend my disbelief.

But like........damn they fucked Clint and Natasha over.

The creators were trying to recreate a well known and well liked comic book story arc, capitalize on the growing divide in parts of the fandom over preferred characters/character ideologies, and do so without using the expanded universe and added context which made the original comic book arc so fucking good.

They tried to split the Avengers in half, only to realize that they had split the Avengers in half, and then when Infinity War came along, they basically had to write a plot where both sides did their thing without sharing a single second of screen time together, because the whole -

S: you tried to kill my best friend 

T: he killed my mother       

S: actually he was brain washed                                         

T: but you knew and didn't tell me for years                          

S: well I was worried you would react badly                          

T: I wouldn't have                                                                      

S: you literally tried to kill him                                                         

T: yeah I'm sure you be totally fine if you saw your parents being violently murdered and the guy was right there and your teammate lied about it and you were very sleep deprived to boot

                                                           - drama would start up again.

ANYWAY

the point is, I used to really like both these characters - I still like the comic book versions tho - but then they got way fucked over. I'm extra salty about Steve, because this was supposed to be his movie but loads of the screen time was given over to other shit and he literally commits so much crime and murder and has absolutely zero moral or emotional consistency. especially when it comes to Bucky and Wanda vs. everyone else.

Also with Tony, there is so much of an issue with Telling vs Showing vs other characters in-universe opinions of him I genuinely don't even know what the creators want me to feel about him anymore.

uuuuururhrhrhrhrhrhrhghfjjhdhjf.

tl;dr -

I saw this movie like six years ago and the way I feel about it has changed a lot over time. I used to be team iron man, could you tell?    But the basics of it is this should have been an Avengers movie if it had to exist at all, there are so many cool Captain America stories worthy of being put to film, and this really wasn't the most perfect option. Civil War has so many problems, and I can even begin to try and list them here.

But I'm making this post because I just followed a really cool blog who happens to hate on Tony a bunch (I don't really mind consciously) but that annoyed me out of habit, so I started examining why I liked him as a character, and it mainly boiled down to A) some of the comics are cool, and B) CA:CW said I had to pick a side and Steve did so much dumb shit I just went with the easy option.

the blog doesn't seem to be a huge fan of Steve either.

my current stance is that they both got fucked over and if you want some solid positive Marvel content go read Runaways, or the Hawkeye comics.

The Hawkeye comics are the best.

[ayellowcurtain]

Would you mind giving a description of the type of character sander is pls? I can't get a handle on him. At times he was inconsistent in s3(this is partially bc of the writing and partially) bc he was trying to conceal parts of himself from Robbe and exaggerating his personality to impress Robbe. The source material was a huge crutch in parts of this storytelling, then sobbe lost some spark in parts of wtfockdown, fanon help fill the empty spaces and now the transmedia is evolving him too. Help?

I’m gonna try to help you, anon but I guess what I’m gonna say is basically my opinion and so it might differ from what’s canon or what other people think of him and also gonna link you to some prior posts I already made talking a little bit of him: 

- Sander’s similarities with Eliott about how sometimes they struggle to deal with emotions 

- Sander and his parents, his home life and his relationship with them 

- Why was Sander going back and forth with Britt 

Now onto your real answer: 

I think Sander, as a character, is a solid one. He as a human being in some universe is imperfect, has his flaws and maybe his bad judgment at times, of situations and of people. 

Is not because he’s a fictional character that he needs to be perfect, to always say and do the right thing. 

If WTFock did him (and Robbe) dirty was mainly because of their complete lack of understanding of what pacing is. I don’t think season 3 was that badly written. It does has some horrible pacing at times, yes (OHN being on a Monday can only be a joke!!!!). 

I don’t think he was purposefully exaggerating his personality. I’m sure the Sander we now know isn’t exactly as loud and out there as we saw during the supermarket clip, for example. But he was freaking out, and being obnoxious without meaning to.

To me, it felt like was mostly freaking out, not sure what to do with himself because the boy he saw once during a random night was there, all alone with him, accepting to go out to go grocery shopping. 

That’s just an example but it’s the same behavior I see when he says they won after he shot Britt during the paintball scene, when he sings Bowie to Robbe while they see the girls walking away after the Noor x Robbe fight, or when he goes to Robbe’s place the next day and tries to kiss him. All this moments, to me, feel like a boy that doesn’t know what to do with himself, how to behave when he’s around someone he’s falling so deeply and hard for. 

We often see the Evens as these cool creatures, confident, sweet, chill. But we have to remember that’s just the first impression (and from their Isaks’ POV), and after they get to know each other, the Evens are often shy, insecure, kind of lone wolves to some degree. 

So what I thought could be seen as “inconsistent” of Sander was just him probably freaking out he was spending time with Robbe, the boy that the moon was shining on him and that Sander knew was the one. 

That’s why I assume putting “original” characters after two seasons feels a little bit like crutches (with their background stories) because if you think about it, we always know most of the characters in Skam since season 1, so even when they’re not main characters, we got to know them in the background at least, to get some information throughout the other seasons. 

We feel more connected to Robbe (and every Isak), and his background story because we’ve been hearing about it for two seasons. 

We know he has a messy house situation, we know his relationship with Jens is kinda platonic but also very brother like (with slaps, saying rude things to each other, etc), we know some people think he’s gay, we know he’s a caring friend because of the way he was with Jana during her season. All this information we got before his season. So when he was main, there was no need to build background around him because we already had most of these informations before. 

Sander is a complete stranger to us. And WTFock even gave us two episodes of just Robbe, to get to know him even more but also leaving less time for us to connect with Sander. So what we got of him was mostly WITH Robbe and ABOUT his feelings for Robbe. We know where he studies because Noor told this in ONE line.

The fandom often falls deeply in love with Even because of what we see through their lovers eyes and for how soft, caring, and representative he is (with being bipolar and pan) but I feel like we get more of who he is and his background in Sana’s season. We learn more about his past, his friends, his MI, his beliefs or curiosity about faith, etc. 

Even if we barely see him with the balloon squad, watching them we see the type of people Even (or Sander) would like to be surrounded with. 

I know people are not the biggest fans of Sobbe during WTFockdown, but I said this before, and I’ll say it again: I think I love them even more after. Even the cybersex part because I thought it was cute, the way Sander was saying he shouldn’t have pushed Robbe into doing it the past week, or how they look at each other and the things they say and how clearly they’re still trying to find the middle ground both of them are willing to experiment with. 

Anyway, I thought it was cute, and I thought it was necessary, with the conversations about the attack (WTFock made a horrible writing decision not letting this happen during the season, but at least they gave us something), about Robbe’s traumas that are still very much alive, about his mom and how well she’s doing most of the time, how Robbe is still trying to help her in any way he can. And also about boundaries, about Robbe, that same boy that was calling Sander the F word is now so out and proud, asking Milan about cybersex, talking to his friends about it (because he did tell the boys what they did or Aaron wouldn’t be trying to have cybersex with Amber and the boys wouldn’t be taking their clothes off for Sander’s bday). 

I think WTFock would use Sobbe for as much content as they can because they know that’s their golden couple. The Willems have a unique chemistry that’s out of this world, they’re both amazing actors and WTFock knows they’re solid, that the fandom will watch, engage in whatever these characters are involved in and that they boys will deliver every time, no matter how odd the circumstances are. The WTFock team knows they can give these boys a few lines and let they create a scene out of it and it’ll still be good content.  

After this long ass post I’ll have to tell you that Sander is:

Mostly private, reserved, some would say shy but I think he just saves himself the energy and the trouble so he only really engages with who he really wants. In this case, Robbe, and the people that are important to Robbe because, again, Robbe is the most important person. I really think (and hope) that when Sander keeps saying “it’s you and me, always”, he really means it. Like they’re one, a solid team that works so well together to tackle any and everything. 

A natural flirt. I mean, look at him, you know? And he doesn’t even have to try. And when he tries, it’s over for anyone else because he’ll be eating a marshmallow in that way he did with Britt, he’ll be kissing his girl like he wishes he could be kissing Robbe, he’ll be licking your ear, and dragging you out of a bar, purring please say at yours like no fucking other. 

He’s a full on artist. He loves any type of art, he loves talking about art, he loves doing art, painting, drawing, taking pictures, listening to music, thinking about all the intense colors. I’m sure he’s a very visual person in his brain too. If you ask him about how he’s feeling, it’ll be probably easier to draw what he fells than write. 

Again, nobody likes talking about this but Sander is a horny one. And he knows how to tease with the stepping back before Robbe can kiss him, he knows what to say, how to look at you with those shiny lips, wetting his lips with his tongue all the time, asking to have cybersex. And I’m also sure he’s really good at sex and enjoys it so very much. 

When you’re not Robbe, and when you’re not involved with Robbe, when Robbe doesn’t care about you, Sander can be hard like a brick. He’ll scream at you with no shame if you get under his skin because he really doesn’t care. He’s finally fully happy, with the guy he thinks is the one and he doesn’t want to spend a second of his energy with you so he won’t even try. 

I think he has a really small filter from what he thinks and what he says. Like when he says Robbe can bribe the teacher, or when firts with Robbe while Britt is taking a shower, or when he says they need to put some better music instead of making out with his boyfriend during the last episode. 

His “all the way or no way” line is basically words he lives by and he’s also a taurus, like myself, so he really means those words with any aspect of his life. 

He forgave Robbe so easily after the F word scene because 1) he’s a teenagers, he won’t be thinking as hard as the fandom did about it 2) again, it’s Robbe and he can get away with anything because Sander is completely gone for this boy that he won’t be able to stay mad even when he knows he should because he wants to be with Robbe, that’s it.

He and Robbe are very close, not only as boyfriends, I feel like right now, after everything that happened between Robbe and the boys and Sander with Britt (and probably the ballon squad) they’re very picky with trying to start new relationships, and they know they’re solid with each other, they have similar taste and opinions. Robbe softens Sander’s edges a little bit and Sander makes Robbe a little more confident in being himself, picking himself first. 

I hope this very long, ridiculous answer helps you a little bit, anon, don’t mind me getting carried away talking about characters I love :’D

[thefloatingstone]

If you’re doing Self Quarintine (and you should be if you can help it) here’s some Youtube recommendations! Some of these I have posted about or recommended before but with almost all of us stuck indoors now’s a good time to remind you of some cool things you can watch for free!

I’m not gonna imbed the videos, I’ll just post the link because otherwise I would only able to post 5 and I want to collect a few so you can make a playlist or something. (I could make a playlist too but then I couldn’t tell you what each video is and you can’t pick and choose which one sounds interesting to you)

In no particular order:

Polybius: The video Game that doesn’t exist

An hour long documentary in which the youtuber did extensive research to find the origin of the “Polybius” Urban Legend, which speaks of an early arcade game reportedly seen around the early 1980s which reportedly gave people migraines, insomnia, nausea, subliminal messages, and in some cases heart attacks.

The Universal S

A shorter video in which LEMMiNO does his very best to try and track down where exactly this S that we all drew in middle school comes from? Why does literally every country on earth seem to HAVE their children draw this S?

I also recommend LEMMiNO’s video on the Dayltov Pass Incident and the perplexing UFO cases

Down the Rabbit Hole: Henry Darger

Fredrick Knudsen has an incredible fascinating series called “Down the Rabbit Hole” which simply focuses on... anything you can discover and go digging into. From weird internet personalities, to bizarre happenings in history. This video is about the artist Henry Darger, a man who lived in the early 1900s and for all intents and purposes had a perfectly average, lonely life, until it was discovered just before his death he had spent literally decades writing and drawing a fantasy world in what is possibly the longest piece of literature ever written.

I also recommend his video on the Hurdy Gurdy

Bedtime Stories Channel

I’m actually just gonna link the whole channel for “Bedtime Stories”. If you like weird and creepy stories, all of which at least claim to be “true” then Bedtime Stories is great. Coupled by illustrations and subtle sound effects, Bedtime Stories is literally listening to someone tell you a story about such things like hikers who mysteriously went missing, Sightings of Bog Men in Florida and giant Birds over Chernobyl, as well as weird and unsettling murders that remain unsolved. Sometimes the facts are a little dubious or have been disproved, but that’s not the point of the channel. It’s here to tell a creepy story, not give you a documentary.

A Journey Through Rule of Rose

Rule of Rose is a Survival Horror gave for the PS2 which has rather bad gameplay... but a FASCINATING story with just as many layers and symbolism as Silent Hill 2 could boast. It tells the story of one young woman traveling back into her own childhood in an orphanage in the 1930s, and all the horrors that contains. From repressed grief, abusive relationships, child neglect, abuse, and bullying... but it ALSO contains symbolism of societal class structure, politics, eating the rich, and how power structures work. Not for the faint of heart, but HIGHLY recommended.

I also super highly recommend his video on the similarities between Silent Hill 2 and Solaris

Clemps Reviews Crisis Core

Mr. Clemps is a great internet gamer who reviews JRPGs and other games he simply enjoys. Sprinkling in a heavy dose of comedy and very fast jokes and observations, Clemps’ videos are always upbeat, fun, and incredibly enjoyable to watch. I’m linking part 1 of his Crisis Core video in which he explains why the PSP game remains a personal favourite of his despite its flaws.

I also recommend his video on Eternal Sonata

Defunct TV: The History of Dragon Tales

Defunctland is a channel that deals with theme parks and theme park rides that are no longer standing, or which are no longer around in their current form. Defunctland also has a sub series though, called “Defunct TV” where they look at the origin of children’s TV which are no longer airing. I recommend the video on Dragon Tales which is incredibly wholesome, and a genuinely uplifting and soft story of good people trying to make good things for children. (I also recommend the videos on Bear in the Big Blue House, Zoboomafoo, and Legends of the Hidden Temple)

Hagan’s Histories of Polar Exploration

A Playlist for Diamanda Hagan’s videos about the doomed Franklin Expedition from the late 1800s, where England tried to find a passage through the Northern Arctic to the Pacific Ocean. This went horribly horribly wrong, with every member of the Expedition dead. Over a 100 years later we are still fuzzy on what EXACTLY happened, but apart from the arctic chill, there is also evidence of faulty canned food, a series of bad decisions, and cannibalism. Caution advised for this series.

I also recommend the rest of Diamanda Hagan’s channel. She is NOT for everyone, but if you enjoy somebody reviewing Z grade indie movies as well as just BIZARRE films, really bad Christian media bordering on Science Fiction (without making fun of religion itself) hot takes of classic (and modern) Dr. Who, an introduction to Red Dwarf, She’s an EXCELLENT channel to check out.

Good Bad or Bad Bad: Pass Thru

A half podcast half review show where two guys watch a terrible film, decide if it’s “Good” Bad or just Bad Bad and tell you if you should watch it too.

That’s it. That’s the whole show.

I recommend diving into the untold madness that is one of the best(?) bad film makers currently still producing batshit insane movies, the immortal Niel Breen.

There is literally nothing I can say that’ll prepare you for Niel Breen.

(I also recommend their more recent video for “Dancin’ It’s on!”)

History Buffs: Apollo 13

Do you like History? Do you like movies ABOUT History? Do you want to know if the movies about history you watch actually resemble what really happened in any way at all? History Buffs is an EXCELLENT channel, which does talk about the merit of a film itself, but is mainly focused on letting you know just how true to life that historical film you watch is. I highly recommend his longest video which covers the space race between the USA and the USSR, leading to what is known as “The most Successful Failure in NASA’s History”. The Infamous Apollo 13 and where the words “Houston, we have a problem” came from.

If you’re not interested in Apollo 13 however, I also recommend his video on the movie Casino, as well as his video on the female philosopher, Agora.

The Internet Historian: The Goodening of No Man’s Sky

With videos with literally MILLIONS of views, you probably already know the Internet Historian. But I still want to recommend him very highly because his videos are just THAT good and entertaining. I recommend his newest video, documenting that time we were all pissed off about No Man’s Sky, the difficulties the game studio was in when the game released, and how they have been working hard to finally create what is now a truly brilliant game which is winning major awards. A really good underdog story of how a video game company actually saw what was wrong with their game, and FIXED it.

I also recommend his video on Fallour 76 as well as the Failure of Dashcon

8 Creepy Video game mysteries

Hey. Did you know that sometimes there’s some REALLY weird shit in video games, hidden easter eggs which took literal decades to find as well as just a lot of “what the actual fuck?”. Oddheader is a channel with a dedicated discord and Reddit form solely focusing on trying to find or replicate bizarre video game finds, mysteries, and hidden glitches. Even if it means getting in his car and driving to a specific arcade just to check a rumour about Street Fighter II’s arcade version. So if you like getting spooked by weird game shit that’s not just some dumb creepypasta, this is a great place to start.

I also recommend his video on weird discoveries in DVDs and movies.

Red Letter Media: Best of the Worst

Look you already know who Red Letter Media is.

You know... these guys:

Here’s a video of them and Macaulay Culkin watching 3 terrible movies together.

I recommend literally any and all of their videos. Their discussion on Carpenter’s The Thing is amazing.

The Impact of Akira: The film that changed Everything

Ok trying to pick just ONE Super Eyepatch Wolf video is literal torture. Originally I was going to suggest his recent video on Final Fantasy 7 for the PSone but I realised I recommended something FF7 related with Clemps, so instead I will recommend The Impact of Akira, a video talking in depth about Akira both as a film as well as a manga, how it completely and utterly changed the anime industry both in Japan as well as the west, and why it is still a meaningful and one of the most important anime/manga even to this day, still being unsurpassed despite so much competition.

However, ALL of Wolf’s videos are incredible, so I also recommend his videos on wrestling (despite me not caring about wrestling at all), His video on how media scares us, The bizarre reality of modern Simpsons, Why the Dragon Ball Z manga is great, and literally any other video he’s made. He hasn’t made one bad video yet.

Was Oblivion as Good as I remember?

Exactly what it says on the tin. The Salt Factory goes back to playing The Elder Scrolls Oblivion and now with hindsight and modern sensibilities, gives feedback on his experience and whether Oblivion still holds up. This isn’t a super in depth review of the game’s mechanics or how its put together or how it was made. This is simply one guy talking about his experience replaying it with somejokes thrown in and how he felt revisiting it. It’s pretty good.

I also recommend the video he did on Morrowind (because I’m biased).

Weird Japan Only PS1 games

Thor High Heels is SO GOOD and deserves SO MUCH MORE subs than he currently has. THH focuses a lot of obscure and lesser known games as well as big popular titles like the Yakuza series, talking about what he likes about them, what he thinks is cool, and just what kind of atmosphere and mood a certain game has, even if the game itself is kind of ass. He’s done several videos on games that were only released in Japan, as well as videos talking about the fashion in Squaresoft games and how it inspired as well as was inspired by real world street fashion, the aesthetic of PC-98 games and other topics. He also styles his videos and thumbnails after promotional art for video games from the 90s and generally just has an excellent style to his channel over all. Very chill.

Blue Reflection Review

ValkyrieAurora is a channel run by Sophie where she talks about games she personally likes and enjoys. Her videos are really laid back and her voice is really calm and pleasant to listen to. She’s made a bit of a reputation for herself as “The channel that talks about the Atelier Games” and general is just a really enjoyable channel worth checking out if you just want something soothing to listen to.

Ancient Chinese Historians Describe Japan

Voices from the Past is a channel were historical text is read out loud in english. These can be anything like the above video where Chinese historians describe the people of Japan around 297 AD, Accounts of “Dog-Men”, or the worlds oldest letter of complaint from 1750 BC. If you’d like something interesting historically to listen to but don’t want a full blown history lesson, this is a really good way to hear contemporary people talk about their experiences and what they thought about each other in their own words, without opinions or input given by the narrator.

The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet

Whang! is a channel that covers weird internet stories, some horrifying, some curious and interesting, and some just plain weird. His video on The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet and its update, are about a song which was recorded off the radio in Germany around the 1980s, and after one person online asked if anyone knew who the artist was as they couldn’t find any information, led to the realization that NOBODY online knows where this song came from or who sang it. It’s a fun mystery to look into that, unlike some others on this list, is not creepy or unsettling, although perhaps a little frustrating.

I also recommend his video on The Most Mysterious Anime theme song, and the haunted Ebay Painting.

5 Lost, Destroyed, and Locked away Broadcasts

Yesterworld is similar to the Defunctland channel in that it talks about obsolete rides, theme parks and other forgotten pieces of entertainment. Although the majority of the channel focuses on movie rides, rollercoasters and Disneyland, I recommend the video on lost and locked away broadcasts which you can no longer see. I also recommend the video about Lost and Rediscovered movie props.

The Nightmare Artist

I talked about this one recently as I just discovered this channel. This video is about the renowned Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksinski who painted surreal and horrifying paintings during his lifetime. There is no mystery here or anything like that, it merely talks about the impact WWII left on Beksinski and how the trauma his country and people suffered influenced his painting, and how certain images and motifs can be seen to directly reference this terrible part of Poland’s history.

Disabilities in Prehistory

Modern media likes to portray how “savage” the ancient past is, and tell us stories of how any person born with a deformity or disability would be thrown over a cliff or dumped in a well because they would be too big a drain on a community to look after. But here’s the thing... according to archaeological evidence, it turns out our ancient ancestors actually did their best to look after its disabled members to the best of their abilities. This video talks about archaeological finds of people who had genetic disabilities and what we can learn from their remains. TREY the Explainer is a great channel for archaeology and also talking about what answers we could have for sightings of cryptids. (not ALL of which we have answers for)

I also recommend his video on Pre-Contact dogs as well as Homosexuality in Nature and the Genetic History of the Ainu.

Decoding “The Secret: A treasure Hunt”

“The Secret” was an art book released in the 80s full of beautiful paintings, but it is also more than that. The book has a fantasy story talking about 12 fantastical races who left wonderful treasures for humans to find,and the book’s paintings and riddles will tell you where you can find each of these treasures which are yours to keep if you can solve the puzzle... and the treasures are 100% true and can actualy be found and claimed, if you can solve the riddles in the book. The video tells the story of the artbook, who was behind it, what the treasures are, how many have been found and various other facts and details.

I also recommend the videos on this channel “The Game: A scavenger Hunt” and “The investigation of Erratas”.

5 Ancient Inventions That Were WAY Ahead Of Their Time

I would recommend you be careful with this channel as its main focus is existentialism and rather alarming topics such as “how close are we to the apocalypse” and other things whose titles alone are enough to upset me. However this video is nothing like that. This video is exactly what the title suggests it is. 5 ancient inventions that were so incredibly ahead of their time you’d think they were made up. From the computer used by ancient Greeks to steel swords we don’t know how to replicate, this video is a great mix of mystery and history.

Although I caution you with this channel, I recommend Joe’s other videos about mysterious books, as well as his video on the most inbred people in history.

However, I know I keep repeating this, I highly recommend caution with this channel. Perhaps its just me and the topics of life and existent are just triggering for me, but I’d recommend maybe just doing a search for the titles I mentioned and not to go searching through the video library unless you’re not bothered by this kind of thing.

-

Anyway I could keep going, but I think that’s a LARGE amount of videos to keep you occupied for the time being as well as some suggestions for further viewing.

Please enjoy, let me know if you found something interesting, and look after yourself!

If you enjoyed this list at all, please consider tipping me for a coffee

☕️ Ko-fi ☕️

[mediaeval-muse]

Book Review

Confessions of the Fox. By Jordy Rosenberg. New York: One World, 2018.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: historical fiction, queer fiction

Part of a Series? No

Summary: Set in the eighteenth century London underworld, this bawdy, genre-bending novel reimagines the life of thief and jailbreaker Jack Sheppard to tell a profound story about gender, love, and liberation.

Jack Sheppard and Edgeworth Bess were the most notorious thieves, jailbreakers, and lovers of eighteenth-century London. Yet no one knows the true story; their confessions have never been found. Until now. Reeling from heartbreak, a scholar named Dr. Voth discovers a long-lost manuscript—a gender-defying exposé of Jack and Bess’s adventures. Is Confessions of the Fox an authentic autobiography or a hoax? As Dr. Voth is drawn deeper into Jack and Bess’s tale of underworld resistance and gender transformation, it becomes clear that their fates are intertwined—and only a miracle will save them all.

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: sexual content (as in sex acts, not the mere presence of lgbt+ people), blood, graphic depiction of top surgery, violence, racism, gender dysphoria

Overview: I didn’t know what I was expecting when I picked up this book, but something about it just hit all the right angles for me. I adore historical fiction that not only aims to imitate the aesthetics of the period, but also focuses on underrepresented identities, such as queer, non-white, and working or poverty class people; thus, it was inevitable that I would find Confessions of the Fox would be so engrossing. I do understand that this book might not be for everyone, as Rosenberg plays with a lot of academic ideas that usually fall in the realm of theory, but personally, I loved that this book wasn’t just about trans identity. While gender and identity and queerness were at the heart of this book, Confessions was also about archives and policing and commodities and so much more - things that were related and engaged the more academic part of my brain, but somewhat complicated for casual reading. Nevertheless, it was ambitious and smartly-constructed, so I’m giving it a high rating, even if I have quibbles here and there.

Writing: As a former academic and lover of history, I very much enjoyed Rosenberg’s approach to genre, form, and writing. It would have been easy to simply write a story using modern aesthetic tastes, but Rosenberg goes out of his way to imitate the prose style of the 18th century. I loved the richness of the vocabulary and the complexity of the sentences, as well as the juxtaposition of the sacred and profane. It was refreshing to read such beautiful prose that the author clearly put a lot of love into, and if you want to be so immersed in a story that you feel like you’re reading a historical document, I think Rosenberg does a wonderful job.

I also really loved the way Rosenberg wrote about trans identity in the 18th century. There are passages, for example, where Jack’s attention wanders while being dead-named, where Jack expresses feelings of confusion or freedom when talking about his physical body, where he talks about the process of coming into being when he heard Bess use his name, etc. I thought these passages were the most beautifully written and impactful, and they stayed with me the most after I finished the book.

These 18th century “confessions” are accompanied by a number of footnotes, written by a character named Dr. Voth in the present day. In these passages, Rosenberg shifts his tone and style, thereby differentiating between past and present without having to constantly remind the reader that Jack and Bess’s story is told through something of a frame. I think the choice to have footnotes instead of chapters where Voth’s POV takes center stage was a good one - it more effectively created parallels between the 18th century story and Voth’s personal story, and reminded the reader that history (especially trans history) evolves as a result of a kind of archival work, collected in pieces by many different people. In that sense, form matched function, which I am always delighted to see in my novels.

That being said, I can’t say I enjoyed Voth’s voice all that much. This criticism is probably a personal preference rather than anything Rosenberg did wrong - I just think Voth’s voice felt a little too conversational, like he was talking to someone instead of writing.

Plot: Most of Rosenberg’s novel follows Jack Sheppard and Bess Khan as they discover Jack’s identity, evade arrest, and disrupt a horrifying commodity trade (so to speak). In my opinion, the plot points surrounding Jack’s personal journey were incredibly well-constructed; I felt that the evolution of Jack’s gender identity, the romance between Jack and Bess, and their evolution as criminals were all very compelling and touched on a number of engrossing themes, from gender to poverty to anti-capitalism. Granted, there were some areas where I think the pacing dragged, but part of me thinks this was due to the 18th century style and genre conventions, more than anything Rosenberg was doing wrong.

In Voth’s footnotes, we also get something of a personal story which includes Voth being coerced into working for an exploitative publishing company at the direction of his university administrator. As we go through the footnotes, Voth recounts conversations he had with these figures while also disclosing details about his failed relationships - with one ex in particular. While I did like the parallels that exist between the manuscript and Voth’s own life, there were some things that challenged my suspension of disbelief. For example, I would never expect an academic to record personal anecdotes and intimate confessions in footnotes for an academic project. Maybe that happens in academic circles outside mine, and I understand it needs to happen for plot reasons (just reading references to critical theory or secondary sources would be boring for most people), so this criticism is coming from a place of being too close to the setting surrounding the text, in a way.

I also think that there were some passages where sexual activity would be mentioned where it was not needed. I do understand, on some level, that sex and sexuality is an important topic in trans studies (and queer studies as a whole), and I don’t want to appear too prudish. However, I think random references to a character masturbating, even if they were making a point, were a bit egregious. I was especially put off by the story of a 15 year old masturbating (in the present-day footnotes), and though I understand the story was illustrating an academic concept and books should acknowledge that (many) teens do have sex drives, it was also a bit much for me, personally.

Characters: Jack, our primary protagonist, is interesting and complex not just because he struggles with his identity as a trans man, but also because he struggles with acting in ways that are not out of self-interest. Though he is a thief and thus acts in self-interest in understandable ways, he eventually uncovers an operation which involves the production of a drug-like substance (or something - that’s the best I can describe it). Bess demands that he destroy all samples so that the substance can’t be reproduced by others, but Jack wants to confiscate the samples for himself to make a huge profit. I liked that this conflict existed, not only because it showed Jack as having other challenges in his life other than his gender identity, but it also spurred character growth and emotional turmoil.

Bess Khan, a prostitute and Jack’s lover, was written in a way that respected sex work and provided commentary on race and policing. I really liked that she had a strong set of principles and desires that were larger than herself, and I liked that she was confident and forceful where Jack could be meek and unsure.

Other rogues were equally loveable and admirable. Jenny, another prostitute, was a nice example of women forming networks of support within the criminal underworld while also showing how white women (even prostitutes) are treated differently than non-white women. Aurie, a black queer man, was also a supportive friend to Jack who is frequently instrumental in his survival. There is also a wide variety of named and unnamed rogues who were non-white and/or queer in some way, providing a rich array of characters that dispels the assumption that 18th century England was homogenously white and straight.

Our main antagonist, Jonathan Wild, is a bit less interesting in that he’s mainly just corrupt. I personally didn’t care for the chapters from his perspective, though I do understand that he functions as an important, symbolic figure that embodies all the things Jack and Bess work against (capitalism, police corruption, etc.).

Voth, our modern day commentator, has his moments, but sometimes, I would waffle back and forth between finding him engaging and finding him pretentious. I understand that he is supposed to be flawed, and I sympathize with a lot of his plights - mainly the pressure from his university and the anxiety he suffers from. But also, I found his voice to be somewhat combative, and if the point was to make a complicated, likeable-sometimes-unlikeable-other-times character, then I think Rosenberg succeeded.

TL;DR: Confessions of the Fox is a beautiful debut novel that engages with trans identity and history, though it does so in a way that may be a bit too academic for some readers. But while it definitely demands much of your attention, Rosenberg ultimately delivers a rich, engrossing story that reaches beyond the historical and textual boundaries of the page and invites the reader to see themselves as part of a vast network that is constantly “making” and “becoming” itself.

[theotherdoe]

Hi. Hello.

*Clears throat, waves shyly.* Uhm hello there.

I am most likely speaking to a vast void here, but I want to introduce myself to the world of Tumblr and the HP fandom. I’ve been wanting to create and contribute to the fandom for awhile now, and have slowly started this process. I am hoping by introducing myself to, well, the internet, I guess, someone will see my plea for fandom friends and help hold me accountable to finishing my fan fiction and fan art (and I am such an awkward little introvert over here that I have no idea how make online friends. But this isn’t a one sided thing here - I’d love to provide feedback to stories and encouragement when writer’s block happens to others, too!). 

So hi. Hello. I’m Sierra. An ICU nurse by night, and by day a sleepy creature that is an avid knitter, amateur cross stitcher, dog mom, wife to husband that collects VHS tapes of the Star Wars trilogy, and self-conscious fan fiction writer and fan art creator. The Harry Potter series has always been so close to my heart - when I was young, I picked up the Sorcerer’s Stone, and forced myself to learn how to read with that book. I was a slow reader, behind what was an acceptable reading level for my grade, and was embarrassed by that fact. But I was stubborn child, and with pure determination and the help of my older brother, I learned out how to read and fell in love with reading because of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Ever since then, HP has been so special to me (even though JK Rowling is literately an awful person like WTF). I grew up in a middle of a corn field small town (I mean I graduated high school with a class of 45 people small), so in the summers before I was old enough to get a job, I would babysit random kids and re-read the Harry Potter series from start to finish, and then start them all over again. When Deathly Hallows was finally released, I was an avid Hinny shipper, and wrote sweet, very poorly written Hinny fan fiction and pasted my drawn pictures of Ginny Weasley all over my childhood bedroom walls. But as I got older, became a high schooler, then a college student, other interests took over, and I lost touch with my love for Harry Potter.

Flash back to about two-and-a-half years ago, my then fiance and I moved 1200 miles away from all of our friends and family, and I started my career as an ICU nurse. It was an awesome, but scary time, and as someone who is not only an introvert, but has had the same best friends since the ripe old age of 6 years old, I struggled with making connections with people in my new home state. I turned to Harry Potter, re-opened my old middle school tumblr account, and came home to this beautiful fandom. It was such a comfortable feeling to be surrounded by the characters I knew and loved so well, in both there original stories and alternative universes. And it was during this time I feel in love with the Marauders Era and became thoroughly obsessed.

So in the past couple months, I started this new Tumblr (I thought it was probably a good idea to deleted the 10 year old Tumlbr that was started with an email that doesn’t exist anymore), and have slowly started creating fan art and writing fan fiction again (the whole COVID-19 thing put a damper in my plans to create more as I began working overtime like crazy earlier in the year). I love the amount of acceptance, creativity, and just pure love that is in this fandom, and I have become such an avid Wolfstar and Jily shipper in my old age. I want to contribute stories and art to this fandom that has brought me so much joy and reminded me that I love writing stories and creating art (even though I’m not sure if you can call my sketches art). So, if you stick around, you might get to see me gain enough confidence to share some poorly drawn fan art based on stories I’m obsessed with and my cute Wolfstar/Jily AU I’m writing (it was supposed to be a cute little song fic based on the song “Gorgeous” by Taylor Swift but somehow has turned into a multi-chapter, trope-y, fluffy story that I’m sure has been written before).

So, hi! Welcome to my Tumblr. It’s going to be mainly HP (which means lots of Wolfstar, Jily, a touch of Hinny, and any other ships I feel like sharing at the time), but it will also include stuff about healthcare equality, how much the 45th president of the United States sucks, the BLM movement, cute art, and anything else that tickles my fancy. Feel free to say hi, ask me to read through any stories you would like a second set of eyes on before posting, or anything else! 

[nuoc7mia]

my apologies, this took forever but thank you @haiikyuuns for the tag hehe <333

RULES: Answer 30 questions and tag others

• Name/Nickname: moon! (my alias)

• Gender: female

• Star Sign: gemini sun

• Height: 170 cm/5'6 (a rough guess)

• Time: 9:30 PM

• Birthday: june 18

• Favorite Bands: red velvet is always number one in my heart, but i also really like hyukoh and jannabi! iz*one and twice follow them (also do chloe x halle count as a group or as solo artists ???)

• Favorite Solo Artists: some people i've liked as of recently: raveena, colde, zion.t, sungkyung/lovewave, bibi, niki, and weyes blood (i only have three songs saved but her music is SURREAL).

honorable mentions: sam kim, jung seunghwan, lee jin ah, and kwon jin ah--i found them all through kpopstar and still love their music to this day

• Song stuck in my head: okay so currently i'm watching mao asada's 2014 olympic free skate so ig piano concerto no. 2 by rachmaninoff

• Last Movie: how the grinch stole christmas

• Last Show: sailor moon r :33

• When did I create this blog: mm so i've had a tumblr acc since middle school and started using it actively in freshman year (four years ago :oo). i made this blog around june? tho because i wanted to start a new blog just for writing and anime and it's now the acc that i'm most active on

• What do I post: mainly reblog stuff related to anime and manga + shitposts/overshares + the occasional fic or headcanon

• Last thing googled: joshua bassett bc my friend was talking abt the latest hsmtmts drama HSDLFDHSL

• other blogs: @starlightnmoonbeam (i reblog animanga, kpop (ggs + red velvet esp), visual novels, and currently genshin content LOL)

• Do I get asks: i have gotten one and i am v thankful for it haha

• Why I chose my url: sewoon (my favorite singer at the time) + ponyo (a character he was famous for resembling)

• Following: 104

• Followers: no comment

• Average hours of sleep: my sleep schedule's consistently messed up bc i feel guilty sleeping for long periods of time + i stay up late, so rn the daily average is between 5-7 hours

• Instruments: i used to play piano but then quit </333 i like hearing most instruments tho esp piano and violin hehe

• What am I wearing: leggings, fluffy socks, an apush long sleeve, and a vb hoodie

• Dream job: in the scenario that i didn't have to worry abt bills or my general income, i'd make visual novels :") either that or write short stories

• Dream trip: japan, south korea, maybe vietnam, singapore, taiwan, the netherlands

• Favorite food: eee i love dumplings and dim sum in all forms!! my favorite favorite favorite thing tho i think is katsu curry <3 (i also love all forms of chicken too)

• Nationality: american (ethnicity is vietnamese tho)

• Favorite song: currently they are: strong by raveena, don't leave me, my love by colde, and hidden star by jeong sewoon. all time favorite probably is are eyes locked, hands locked by red velvet + blue orangeade by txt.

i'm aware that i can't pick favorites alright

• Last book read: heart of darkness.... got a literal headache reading it but my prof liked my response so it's sort of worth it

• top three fictional universes I’d like to live in:

- haikyuu!! i'd seriously love to play volleyball with them and it'd just be nice to exist in the same universe as them all :3 would combust actually, being around seijoh four or any of the others LOL

- horimiya! hahh i miss fooling around in school with my friends and the shenanigans that the main crew get into seem so much fun :((

- skip to loafer! i think it's my favorite slice of life alongside horimiya rn and i just wanna give mitsuki endless hugs + take her all around the city heheh

- honorary mention: yugioh even though i'd lose every match LMAO

tags: @ anyone who wants to fill this out hehe ;; feel free to tag me if you do choose to do it