#but yeah would love to see more of that variant of this trope

[roboctopus]

Maybe I just haven’t been reading the right Steddie fics but I think I need more of Steve wearing a hellfire club shirt and causing Eddie to bluescreen on sight.

[waxingrunes]

your art is the most realistic art i have seen this fandom spit out i really wish you would make remus shorter and stop making oc’s

This is why I lose enthusiasm for you cunts.

Sick of defending a fucking drawing, a fictional character. Sick of the same agendas in this online world where Remus has to be this fucking wet mop of a man who has one singular personality trope of being obsessed with Sirius Black and wouldn’t say boo to a goose. Have you met real men? You ever interacted with your average Joe, who is a bit shy, bit awkward, bit of a weirdo but he doesn’t have to come with a pre installed stutter and helpless heart eyes and no other arsenal but a goo goo gaga state of mind for his love interest. You lot are unhealthily obsessed. Daily, fucking, bullshit, daily headcanons, daily this, daily that.

My Remus and Sirius are never going to change. What’s insane is the amount of ‘heteronormative’ claims I see attached to this debacle of height and size. I know a man, who is exceptionally tall, built, has had a boyfriend, and topped him the entire way through the relationship. He did not enjoy bottoming, and yet is a bisexual individual, nothing ‘stereotypical’ homosexual about him or his appearance whatsoever. In fact, he’s very much a Remus variant in my eyes; he is softly natured, introverted, and selective socially and STILL A STONY TOP. Real life, real person, not curated from a thread you found on Twitter and have swallowed up whole.

What happened to coming into a fandom space, making something and going, “that’s hot”. When did it become a space to make sure every representation was ticked, to make sure one character isn’t too this or too that. I’m not here to read the same stories or see the same art 100 times over. I fell in love with these two men and have since had a very solid image of them in my head and create art based off of those ideas. I don’t feel pressured to make sure I give my Remus certain soft traits to justify making him look the way I do. I don’t feel the need to advertise Sirius being this massively charismatic guy just to give him a personality because otherwise you might think he doesn’t have one, because of the slightly more feminine light I draw him in (which is misogynistic you dumb fucks). Just because, I draw my Remus tall and a buffed out lank, does not make him an ultra turbo Alpha. Just because I draw my Sirius smaller, does not mean he is a helpless twink. But here’s the secret nobody’s telling you— even if I did draw them like that, even if those were my holy canons and preferences for these boys, that’s okay. I’m here to create things that make me go, “fuck yeah that’s hot”, “hell yeah I want to see Sirius get pulverised by Remus and no I don’t want to see Remus get pulverised by Sirius and no I don’t feel the need to defend that”, “yeah I prefer tough love over easy love”, “absolutely love it when one of them is a dick to the other and there’s heaps of toxic tension, or maybe they’re both like that and they’re both sarcastic pricks that have to work it out”. I’m never going to adhere to the obsession of character moulds you lot have created.

Sick of this space being turned into a political pansy parade. It’s alright if you want to draw this gay couple with any features you want, hyper masculine, hyper feminine, somewhere in the middle, trans, prefer one of them topping, prefer them to be asexual, prefer them to be toxic and have grit (that’s my trope), or just want easy fluff. And it’s also alright if you’re just in fandom because you’re a bit perverted (like me) and wanted to explore that in a couple you found super fucking hot. Don’t let people use the word fetishise, don’t let people use the word heteronormative, don’t let people bamboozle you with big words and reams of bullet points to incite shame, don’t let people box you in, just keep watching the porn, keep consuming the porn, keep avoiding the shit you want to avoid, and enjoy what you want without shame.

[grace--le--domas]

PJO- Some Show Recommendations for the showrunners if s2 is greenlit

Season 1 was kinda...boring? Honestly, that is the last thing I expected a PJO adaptation to be. The books aren't perfect, but they are fun! There is friendship, adventure, humour, all while still the characters grapple with some pretty serious stuff. The show (except for the first two episodes and the finale) feels stiff.

Show is too exposition-y, the pacing is off and it of course breaks the cardinal rule of show- don't -tell.

Thankfully, the concerns are easily remedied. Coming of age stories are a dime and dozen, and I think that the showrunners could actually learn from the TV shows and movies of past. So, I compiled some recommendations for them :) Read on if extensive analysis is your thing :)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer- Honestly, this is theee coming of age story. It follows Buffy (the chosen one), as she navigates high school, college and eventually adulthood, along with slaying vampires. And instead of a sullen main character, we as an audience are treated to a sassy, take-no-prisoners variant of the chosen one trope. There are so many similarities between Percy and Buffy- both are loyal to a fault, sarcastic and stubborn. They understand that they cannot escape their respective destinies, but they'll be damned if they don't see things through their own way. Both are brave to a fault, and adore their found families. The writers could take some inspiration from BTVS and Buffy's character arc (to an extent). Bonus- BTVS has great examples of melding humour in serious situations.

2. Mission Impossible Series- This one might be a bit controversial, but hear me out. I know most people consider the MI films popcorn flicks-and they are- but most the movies in the series are paced excellently. There is a sense of urgency in MI films- which was severely lacking in the PJO show. Have a deadline, let me feel anxious for these kids.

MI also has some excellent action scenes. And before you say, well PJO is not an action series, I would like to say that I agree- but the beauty of adaptating something is that you get to change things. Well paced action sequences, even if they are about a minute or so, are necessary break up the exposition dumps. It breaks the monotony. It makes you feel afraid for these kids, who are running from one dangerous situation/monster to another.

3. Dune (2023)- Thematically, Dune is vastly different from PJO. I am including it in this list for several reasons- editing, cinematography world building and sound editing.

To put it bluntly, I don't feel connected to the world of the PJO series at all- which is a shame because it is an incredible world! Greek mythological creatures co-existing with the modern world! Modern myths! Greek gods!. But it is all introduced in the most boring, exposition-y way possible.

The cinematography doesn't shine until the last episode. I want interesting shots, fluid camera movements- just anything that breaks the monotony of scenes. For example- I loved Poseidon's introduction, why wasn't this type of cinematography present in the rest of the series. Shoot the gods differently, make use of different camera compositions. Experiment a little for god's sake.

Coming to sound, yeah this one was the most disappointing of all. There are no memorable sound motifs, which is a shame because sound can convey so much more than words in certain scenes. I say Harry Potter music and you instantly think about the charcteristic symphony. This is missing sorely in the tv show.

Sidenote- I would have chosen Nathan Barr as the music composer (missed opportunity Disney). Look up his work, and you'll understand why I said this.

Coming to editing, yeah the editing is clunky at best. That is all I have to say about that for the moment.

Let me know if anyone wants a part 2 :)

[gritsandbrits]

Fixing Jackpot Pt. 1

I'm no stranger to dealing with Marvel's nonsense especially when it comes to their insistence that PeterMJ isn't real. Currently she's having her superhero arc but like a lot of fans, I'm not meshing with this storyline. And for someone who's supposed to be a fashionista her choice of outfit is messier than an x men family tree! So with my amateur design skills I took it upon myself to see if I can break her out of her faux pas. But first let's dive deeper into my issues with this marvelous disaster!

Comparing the original cover to greyscale, everything kinda contrasts but it isn't enough. If I were to see this far away I would mistake it for a giant grey blob. The big ass cards on her thighs causes unnecessary distraction and too on the nose. The outlines around the cards, the gauntlets and tie and angle on her chest AND the goggles, makes her costume look incoherent and dated. Also her sleeves are grey yet the top half of her chest is white, there's like five main colors fighting for dominance.

So what did I do?

First thing I did was change the color. Since MJ already has long bright red hair, it made sense to add cool colors to balance it out. I went with purple for its association with magic, graceful qualities, and wealth. These contexts are especially ironic when you take her backstory into account. I also changed the sleeves to better match with the top.

For the second variant I added gold to contrast with the purple and to further emphasize the fortune aspect. It makes the goggles stand out more too. Oh yeah I colored over those rectangles so you're focused on her face.

Here's another variant. Blue is also commonly associated with magic, and it matches the blue on Peter's suit.

Again cool colors compliments her hair, and they're almost at equal areas so they're balanced as all things should be. I noticed the blue matches the numbers too. This rich shade pops out pretty well from thr background. The palette leans towards the trope "Primary Color Champion."

This green variant is based on Alana Jobson, the original Jackpot. Ugh greyscale is NOT on my side! 🙄🙄🙄

Out of curiousity I sketched up long boots with gold trim at the top, round to contrast the sharp symbols as well as to match the shape of her gauntlet. Now comparing to greyscale again, she pops out more against the background.

It's not perfect but at least I got the point across.

Overall, absolutely nobody asked for this story. I won't even entertain the idea of reading it. But I love fashion and MJ as a character. She deserved better. Next time I'll see if I can draw a new costume from scratch. Any critiques are welcomed, I love to hear y'all thoughts on this!

[suzyandthefox]

💗, 💔, 🐾, 🐬, 🍭. for the ask game

Oh my god that's a lot

I will take some time to answer to that because I wanna think

💗 Favourite Trope(s) (I will name 3):

1: PROTECTIVE,SAFE VORE, I will literally NEVER get tired of it, I can read or see content about a pred saving a prey from danger by eating them for the rest of my life and I would never feel bored of it at all.

2: Giant/Tiny or size difference! Mainly because I'm a big ol sucker for sfw g/t overall

3: Unwilling to Willing prey! Sprinkle some good fearplay and angst for that good ol spice! Then the sweetness of comfort and understanding after that!

💔 Least favourite Trope(s) (will name 3):

1: The NSFW ones/sexual ones... Yeah,no

2: Sentient fat (or anything that has digestion overall) (except for very rare cases)

3: Same size

🐾 Chase!

Oh yes yes yes! I love a good chase sequence, maybe because I'm a sucker for fearplay, I also love it's different variants, like the pred actually intending good and is literally trying to help but prey is scared.

Or Pred is cruel and prey is frightened, Or it's just them playing hide and seek.

🐬 Ocean preds

HECK YEAH MERFOLK

Merfolk are so great as preds or as prey,I especially love love LOVE when the merfolk pred is based on a shark/whale/Bigger species of fish it just scratches my brain the right way.

So much potential too!

You can play a Jonah and the Whale scenario where the Big merfolk is rescuing a human, a Moby Dick scenario where the Merfolk is *threating* the human, A bigger merfolk gobbling up a smoller merfolk.

V good.

🍭 Taste:

This might be a me only thing but I actually don't care that much about taste, it's a funky little addition,sure, and it can lead to fun moments if the prey tastes bad/repulsive.

I'm more about the emotional experience of the thing and being stowed away in safety.

[the-whispers-of-death]

im a sucker for all the tropes ever so. may i present uhh. one of those things where a character gets sent to a different world. yeah. putting my dearly beloved criminal!stone trough all the situations ever

imagine that reader is just your average joe. a 9to5 job, living alone, that sorta deal. biggest crime he's ever commited is crossing a red light or not paid for a bus fare, yknow, that sorta thing

maybe a regular job. warehouse manager, cashier, mechanic. that sorta thing.

maybe hes just gotten off his shift. probably did overtime. definetly takes a shortcut trough an alley.

absolutely does not expect to hear running footsteps and to get yanked backwards and turned around to face criminal!stone

WhoTheFuck and WhatTheFuck

maybe stone's internally freaking out. what IS this place, the streets dont look like that!! where's his boss??? the street names are the same but. theyre clean. safe. what??? not a thug in sight

what if he spotted reader from a far and sprints his way. too much distance! what if something happens? but the distance means he cant see that not a single scar is on his body. that he doesnt even have a gun. not even a knife! maybe he was 100% convinced this was his boss but. nope. just a look-a-like

maybe as hes processing this, stone freezes up for a second. a second too long as hes getting shoved back.. thats... thats not what his dearly beloved would do to him. did he do something?! wait- why is his love running away?!

reader is probably scared shitless. a strange man who knew my name and was grabbing me at night would 100% scare me, at least. even more so if he gave chase.

what if criminal!stone can never find a way to return back to mafia!reader tho.. hm now thats the real question.

i mean his options are either try to slowly gain readers trust.. i mean, they have the same face and very similar mannerisms so that MUST be them, right?? ... just ignore how he broke into their apartment to sleep on the couch. ("i didnt know where else to go"). guard dog acquired...? ... and a guard dog means a dog that can be also slowly eased into relaxation, into accepting safety and peace. also a trope i deeply enjoy ;)

or. well. gun emoji to the head. i guess. i mean he has to know this isnt HIS love. and whats the point of it all if he abandoned his boss, intentionally or not? and with no way in sight to get back home.. welp. goodbye cruel world moment right there

anyways my fingers are numb ive been typing for 30min and holding my phone really weird

~ rusty

Criminal!Stone: He's not my love, not exactly. But I can't just abandon him.

He's just like, it's kinda my love. They share the same DNA and thus, Criminal!Stone thinks he has to protect you like the beloved he unintentionally left in his own universe.

He does in fact sleep on your couch, you can't kick him out. He'll just come back every time. He'll gain your trust.

But I like to think Criminal!Stone ends up back in his original universe and you (the same mafia boss as always) wake up to him clinging to you. And he's convinced it was just a dream. A nightmare, if you will.

He follows you around for weeks, not wanting to wake up again in a universe where you two aren't together. No, no. You'll stay his beloved, here in this universe. He won't allow you to be separated again.

As for how he got back into his own universe, well, I've already kinda established that Serial Killer!Stone can travel between universes and he regularly does so to ensure his other Stone variants are happy and safe. So he probably saw Criminal!Stone out of his own universe and was like "Alright, I guess I'll help you get back home."

[alwida10]

have you seen the new loki spoilers? I don't know if you want to be spoiled (let me know and I'll link you) but according to them they're doubling down on everything we disliked in season 1. More Sylvie, more Larry pining, more romance. Sighs

I don’t think I have seen the spoilers, but I would love a link! It’s very considerate of you asking for consent before sending the link. Thank you.

I’m including a cut since I’ll mention some older spoilers for season 2 underneath.

That said, after I finally made myself watch the trailer I got exactly the same feeling. For me it looked very much like this season is focused on Sylvie’s character arc, which by itself isn’t a bad thing. (I just wished they would leave Loki out of it, so I could skip it without second thought.) Despite me not being interested in Sylvie, from a story-telling perspective I agree that she deserves more screen time to get a fulfilling character arc. I just dislike the message that anyone, be it women or men, would need a relationship to become better or whole. Amatonormativity is fucked up, especially for a character so many othered people identify with because he doesn’t adhere to the traditional Christian values. Values that teach you aren’t successful if you don’t have a job, a house a wife and children. Loki should be chaotic. Hell, Sylvie should be chaotic. Arguing they both need anyone to be complete is a disservice for all those who struggle to keep a deeper relationship for whatever reasons. That doesn’t make one lesser.

I think one of the earliest spoilers I heard were about an older version of Sylvie who allegedly led the TVA, implying she went dark side. This trope is often used to give a younger hero (or in this case variant) the chance to “do better”. In the trailer, Loki and Sylvie cast this massive green wave of magic while holding hands. This is most likely about them being strong together and incapable alone. (subtitle, isn’t it?) so, yeah, I expect this season to hammer down the message that their relationship is the only thing that could save the multiverse, while the lack of it would make them both die or become irredeemable villains with a sledgehammer.

Sadly, I can both see and understand all that and still am unable to let go of my Loki-obsession for good. Perhaps I should write a fan letter to Dante, proposing this concept for another circle of hell. Given the fact the divine comedy is basically a self-insert fanfic where he imagines meeting all the people who admires I think it should meet the premises. 😩

Ok, this got long for a simple “yes please”. 🙈 sorry!! So, yes please! Give me all the discouraging spoilers! Kill my hope! I beg you!! 😭

[chumpovodir]

Fun fact: do you want to know what pushed me to consider Hectorcard (although still more in a platonic sense)? NFCV.

No really :P I found a very specific plot that NFCV fans used to write about after S2 dropped, which is basically "Hector runs away from Carmilla and goes back to Dracula's castle, where he finds a lonely a grieving Alucard. They bond over their trauma and relationship with Dracula"

(there is a post-S3 variant where Trephacard rescue Hector after becoming Lenore's slave, or generally having the two bonding over the trauma of having being raped and deceived, but I'm not too fond of this idea because it's a little too delicate)

And the idea was actually good! I do think those two characters share enough parallels even in that universe. So ofc it got me to think, what about game Hectorcard? What about that short window of time where both of them were sick of Dracula? How would their personalities mash, are they really so similar? (answer: yes but actually no, Alucard is far more curt and cagey than Hector who is a little more polite and emotional) Would they grow from strangers to brothers? What kept them apart in the end?

(and I'm not even considering what ifs? where Alucard doesn't go to sleep or wakes up after CoD)

also yes the reason i'm working on this awkward smut fic is because it's an excellent character study: Alucard is inexperienced and generally unenthused, Hector is too used to serve others (which unnerves Alucard for reasons you can understand), but the important thing is that they both trust each other with the most vulnerable parts of themselves, which is so so so important after Dracula (and Isaac, in Hector's case) made clear that he sees them as children whose voices don't matter.

They could be sweet together :3

👀‼ (this. gave me such intense brain worms i think i went on a few too many tangents, that i felt the need to edit it down to something a bit more cohesive and concise lmao. it's still pretty long so i'm putting it under a cut)

ooh yes, i'm familiar with both variants of post-S2 and post-S3 scenarios, having read my share of NFCV Hectorcard fics in my search for their game counterpart pairings lmao

there was one i really liked, the title escapes me atm, but notably it was on the shorter side, where it's Alucard who goes to rescue Hector from his imprisonment and in the end, to save Hector's life from a fatal injury, he turns him and they get to spend eternity together (what can i say, i'm a sucker for a scenario where they can both end up healed, happy, and loved that doesn't feel cheap or forced).

yeah, the idea of both of them trauma bonding over everything they went through really is a good one, but. definitely not handled very well, or at least not in a satisfying way imo. mostly due to how rushed their relationship usually ends up, considering in this universe they're complete strangers, but, also, bc of the nature of their trauma, i find it tends to dip into alot of whump/caretaker tropes, which, while not bad on its own, doesn't really scratch that itch for me to explore where their respective characters are similar and diverge since they're both so different from their game versions.

and also, yes, bc N!Alucard is sassy and rude, but N!Hector is generally more polite and woobie, they get pigeonholed in a very predictable top/bottom dynamic which is. something i already didn't enjoy in the early fandom days of the games lmao

but there's potential! just like there's potential in their game counterparts which is made so much more interesting by the fact they didn't get together

(there's a secondary theme that kind of threads those types of fics together that i wish were explored more: the idea of N!Alucard and N!Hector learning about the other in their respective absences - N!Hector while he was under N!Drac's employ, only being able to piece together N!Alucard's existence through a forgotten portrait here or there, stumbling upon his childhood bedroom in his early days of learning the layout of his new home. N!Alucard after the Styrian invasion who no doubt discovers N!Hector's menagerie of undead pets left behind then eventually his forging lab, maybe even his personal quarters. what kind of first impression would they have of each other based on these limited clues vs. when they eventually meet face to face? it really is such a shame their storylines were kept completely separate in the show :/)

i know you headcanon Alucard as aroace and therefore he wouldn't be too keen on being intimate to begin with, but i do love the idea of it being a moment of vulnerability for him where he has to keep his desire in check lest his vampiric nature take over and he end up inadvertently hurting Hector - some kind of internal struggle to match Hector's own apprehensiveness that he would feel the need to slow down and go full service top mode because hey, this is Dracula's beloved son he's fucking, better make it good (vs when he's with Isaac and they're both rough and wild with each other)

goshhhh i love speculating about this ship now it's just. the idea of Alucard having at least one positive, intimate relationship he will cherish for life, and for Hector this will be just have to be another face he will miss, another happy memory relegated to the past once he finally leaves, and after everything that is yet to come...it's the doomed relationship aspect of it all, the tragedy being that it was brought on by circumstances completely outside their control rather than anything to do with them as individuals. in another universe, in another life, maybe they could've been happy together, in any type of relationship. if only :')

anyway def looking forward to your take on their relationship whenever you get finished with that piece. i have no doubts it will surely rip my heart out~

[lottachaos]

MY BLORBOS (MY MAIN THING YEEHAW)

I have made picrews of my Blorbos I would post art but my sketchbook is in a different room and I am lazy

Veryn, the main one, who is also my persona:

Matthew who is Veryn’s boyfwend:

Hes really tan but I can’t always make him seem that way

anyways gonna rant now

veryn is a gremlin who is a lot like me in real life but more my my ideal version of myself. He is high energy and chaotic and loud but he can be serious when he needs to be. He has chronic RBF (Resting Bedroomeyes Face)

Matthew is chill and quiet and worries and lot and does this cute little worries gentle smile that veryn freaking falls for. He seems like he doesn’t do any chaos crap but then he goes and does some wild thing and you realize why veryn fell in love with him. He is covered in scars bc of various stuff he accidentally got involved with.

veryn lives half in the woods and half in an appartement. He has wings. Sometimes he has horns and these dark on his face and shoulders but that only appears when he’s in very stressful situations.

Matthew lives in an appartement with his sister who is named Katie and has a job or goes to college, I haven’t decided which yet

they are both in their young twenties, no more that 24.

Matthew somehow gets some sort of forestry Wiley thing like veryn has but idk how. All I know is that he gets this long whipping tail with a tuft at the end which is the thing in the back of one of the picrews of him.

Matthew is covered in scars bc veryn is in the middle of this big situation where he’s fighting against these magical eldritch entities and Matthew at one point finds him in the woods fighting them and tries to help and then gets beaten up and bitten by magical snakes and almost dies. That is where most of his scars come from (he has a scar that looks like a dinsosaur on his left side just beneath his rib cage. It’s called the dinoscar) but some various other events give him lil other scars

Veryn is much better at defending himself because he has been having to fight for much longer and so does t have as many obvious scars. He does have on long one on his neck because enemies tries to slice it at one point but he lived.

Matthew usually wears a black turtleneck and this tan cardigan looking jacket. Some of the picrews I used didn’t have that option so I had to make due.

Veryn usually wears a bright green shirt about the color of the “Draft saved!” Pop up that happens in tumblr when you take ages to write a post. Then he wears a brown jacket on top and black or brown pants and some brown boots. He basically dresses kinda like a redneck but when you see the clothes on him you cannot see anything but skinny gay forest being.

Oh yeah Veryn’s wings look like the brown variant of a tawny Eagle. Basically. Except a little more brown and a little less white and dots/stripes.

I stayed up till one am last night writing a (rather spicy) fic for them. I will share SOME of it here in a different post. I will also show some art of these two in a different post. Stay tuned, anyone who’s interested!! Eventually I will probably make some sort of book or smth about these two. Yes Ik I use tropes and it’s not super realistic in a lot of ways but I understand that and I don’t really care because I’m just making the story to be however its best to me and cringe culture is dead .

CRINGE IS TEMPORARY BLORBO IS FOREVER!!

Anyways, there you have it. I’ll post more later. I’m so excited I’ve finally put info about them all in one place bc I rlly needed to do that. k bye

[eldarchickenwing]

So, finally watched Across the Spider Verse and...I have thoughts. I did very much like the movie, personally Gwen's arc was the one I found most compelling, her struggles with hiding her identity being framed in a way that to me at least definitely had some similarities to the experiences of many queer people. I loved Mayday, but I feel like that's a given, and what little we saw of Hobie and Pavitr was always a great time. Miles as well, having such an interesting arc of not just learning self confidence, but reaffirming his confidence in his identity and what he wants to be, even outside of responsibilities, was an interesting subversion of the standard "be responsible" super hero trope. But that leads to my first, and only real major gripe with the movie. It was written as part 1 of 2 and it shows. Miles arc doesn't feel...incomplete, but it also feels almost unbalanced, and Miguel antagonism comes across as almost meaningless, as the movie kinda doesn't address the flaws that he, and apparently every other spider person, seems to not see. There's a hint of a justification (not an excuse) that would explain his obsession, but we don't really get an outside perspective on it, making it feel like the movie is painting Miguel as obsessively wrong while also giving just enough information that there apparently is a reason that makes sense for his actions that isn't just "he's wrong." Like....how did he get that many spider people to just...agree? What evidence, besides his own personal experiences and theories, caused THAT MANY variants to agree with him? There are enough in movie flaws in his logic that so many people have made so many theories about how canon events are not a thing, but what made them think it was? All of them? These problems, Miles's finished/unfinished arc and Miguel's nebulous logic, stem from the movie's production as a first half of a story. This isn't inherently bad, but it does become trickier to justify as a standalone movie, as the story just...isn't complete. Across the Spider Verse isn't the first movie with this problem, just look at the MCU's obsession with tying every movie into a larger plot, or the 3(?) movies it took to finish that first real arc, or perhaps the dividing of the last harry potter movie being released decently far apart. It starts to feel like a cash-grab, especially when each movie has trouble standing on it's own. Not to say that Across the Spider Verse doesn't stand on it's own, it very much does, but some of the ways it tries to set up it's sequel don't feel so much like cliffhanger as they do....just not done. Some of it works for sure, but at other parts I had to double check the time bar because it felt like we had another hour of movie to watch. Finally, the pettiest complaint, I'm a little sad that spiderverse Miguel has kinda...overshadowed his extensive comic history and character. Not to say Comic Miguel isn't edgy as all heck, but still, we can see the way that movie Miguel has drastically changed how people see the character and write about him, at least in a fandom perspective. This isn't the first time it's happened, RDJ's Iron Man completely subsumed the previous comic personality, and it isn't inherently bad as it can give a character a new start, but it is a little sad that the old version seemingly disappear forever, especially those that had long histories. On the other hand, it has definitely caused more people to look at Spiderman 2099, bringing new fans to a niche but still popular character, something always welcome. So, silver linings at least. Again, I did like the movie, I liked it a lot honestly. There's a decent chance that a lot of these opinions are biased because of the amount of hype the movie got at release, and boy was there a lot. IDK, this might just be me rambling again, but yeah, just my opinion on the few flaws the movie had to me.

[iheartmoons]

for your ship thing!!

jily, bartylus, jegulus, rosekiller, marlily, pandalily, dorlene, prongsfoot, wolfstar

yay!!! thank youu

so i actually don't dislike any of these, but i am still excited to rank them omg. also, i never intended to make a long ass list LMAO. it was supposed to be a small thing, but i got a little invested

wolfstar - i really do hate to be basic, but they'll always go right to the top for me <3

jily - it was very hard for me to put this here for some reason, but it had to be done. mainly because i am obsessed with every jily variant ever in sitcoms and stuff (if you squint, there'll always be a jily variant in a sitcom/comedy), plus they were the first ever couple i obsessively read ffs about a few years ago, so they really got me into fandom spaces

rosekiller - very superficially, i see them as wolfstar, but psychotic and slytherin and clinically insane. also, i love their canon story and how fucked up they are as people. i think the fandom really needed some nuance to it, and these characters very much bring it.

jegulus - love jeggy :) my babies. perfect trope tbh. theyre amazing and in love!

marylily - this one was actually very very hard. i dont knoww. i love dorlene and pandalily, but i feel that marylily is a bit closer to my heart. for so long i would have put pandalily before marylily, but i think because i've written marylily fanfics now, i feel like i know them very well. whereas pandalily is a little more distant from me. (overall though, i definitely enjoy the pandalily trope more)

pandalily - it kills me that i'm ranking dorlene so low, i know. but ugh. god. i love pandalily. theyre so adorbs. theyre so lovely. both pandora and lily as seperate characters are just so beautiful.

dorlene - love them. they're messy and yearning and intensely in love. they're two hearts pulsing to the same beat, but ripped out of their chest and bleeding. idk. theyre great. i love dorlene, though it actually took me a while to, bc when i first joined the fandom i was insanely invested in marylene. (still am)

bartylus - i think they're great, but i much prefer the one sided bartylus. barty yearning over regulus, but regulus being oblivious and far too gone for james.

prongsfoot - mmmm yeah. i understand why others might ship it, but i love them only as a friendship. that being said, they're very much my favourite friendship in the entire fandom, and god they just make me want to sob for hours.

[ghostboyjules]

sending you multiple tropes for the trope rating, hope thats ok???

coffee shop au

modern au (or period au?)

high school au/college au

friends to lovers

enemies to lovers

Alex!! Of course that's okay! <3 okay let's see here...

Coffee Shop AU - I'm gonna have to rate this somewhere between A and B to be honest! I usually love these a whole lot when I end up reading them, but I don't necessarily go out of my way to find them. Some of my fave fics have definitely been coffee shop au's or some variant of one, if I think about it.

Modern AU/Period AU - A++++!!!!!! This is my SHIT tbh. Especially depending on the Fandom, but usually either of these will get a click from me 100% of the time

High School/College AU - okay HS au's get like a D from me most of the time, there has to be some kind of special case for me to read one of those these days. but College AU??? Hell yeah. I'll give that a B close to an A tbh. Some pieces of media lend themselves very well to a good college au, and some don't, so it also depends on that for me as well.

Friends to Lovers - A+ x1 Million. Even higher than modern au's. Like.. friends to lovers fics are my everything. I'm soft garbage, world is hard and cold, my fanfic need to be soft and warm... (most of the time) I cannot pack in all of my feelings about this trope into words it's just kinda wordless flailing

Enemies to Lovers - Hmm.. might be a hot take but I think this is a C for me?... SOMETIMES a B, but it has to be a very particular kind of Enemy, more like. Sexy Rivals, like the tension is palpable.

Thanks for the ask Alex!! this defo made my brain work lmao 😘😘 This probably also says a lot more about me as a person than I would like but LMAO I'm ignoring that asfhvadfjbvhb

[darkcloud-kcalifornia]

Oh hey, this book is actually doing something with the OP protag trope. Specifically regarding the consequences of Kaphal having made one. And even then it’s not centered around Lushera being too powerful, it’s what went into making her that powerful that’s causing a problem. See, dragons are so powerful magically speaking that they radiate it. That power over time mutates the flora and fauna in their territory, creating the unusually strong variant monsters. Now if a dragon’s offspring is too weak, they will feed the child the flesh of the variant monsters to help them absorb that magic and grow strong. So yeah, guess what Lushera’s been eating. ("Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good!") And training against. Basically Kaphal has hunted the mountain near bare of all of the powerful mutant monsters. Which has made her child more powerful and the mountain more safe for her, as intended. But that monster presence was one of the things not only keeping adventurers off the mountain, but also what kept one of the nations claiming that mountain as territory from outright invading the other. So the side effect of making the OP protag is sudden border destabilization and threat of war in a way that actually has nothing to do with there now being an OP protag. I honestly really like that while this might be Lushera's story, it's not all about her. ...Though that may change as the country getting ready to throw down would also love to take down Kaphal to make sure the radiomagicalactive mutants don't come back. And while dragons might be far more powerful than any one human, they're not invulnerable. So now Lushera has deal with not only the angst of not remembering her past, but also knowing that a lot of people, including her new mom, might get killed in a war because she didn't die at the start of the book.

This child(?) is probably gonna need therapy.

[miwtual]

fandom wise HMMMM naruto and character wise Tasm!Peter cuz im evil >:) i don't have alot of ships for you atm so no #2 here dgtfdgh

alright this is going under the cut because its gonna get long lmao

send me 1, 2, and/or 3!

fandom: naruto

Favorite character: ill be basic and say naruto like i love so many of the characters but naruto i will always go back to <3

Least Favorite character: danzo all the homies hATE DANZO

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): (in no particular order) nejiten, sakuhina, kakaguy........ dude i never ship anyone lmao this is hard so thats all ur getting rn HJBSDKF

Character I find most attractive: kakashi. call me basic but that mf FINE and i feel VERY strongly about it

Character I would marry: shino my beloved <3

Character I would be best friends with: SAKURA

a random thought: naruto and jjk are not the same. yeah they have a lot of similar aspects to them but i think thats more the fault of shounen animanga in general and its tropes rather than "jjk is trying to "copy" naruto!1!!!!!'11!!!!"

An unpopular opinion: i dont think boruto should exist!!!!! the show or the child!!!!!!! naruto should have just ended and maybe gotten a short epilogue thing but other than that i feel very strongly that boruto is just boring and is a rehash of naruto where it doesnt even take away the characters FROM naruto!!!!!!!!!!!!! if it was something more like legend of korra where a lot of time has passed and things have changed pretty drastically in the world THEN it would be fine ig but it just isnt!!!!!!!!!!! its boring! if i wanted to watch boruto have adventures like his dad I WOULD JUST WATCH HIS DADS ADVENTURES!!!!!! AND I HAVE!!!!!!

My Canon OTP: i dont really have a canon otp. i do think sasusaku is cute tho so ig i'll put them here JHBSDKFJ

My Non-canon OTP: nejiten theyre canon to ME and thats what matters

Most Badass Character: sakura idc

Most Epic Villain: orochimaru tbh SJFL hes just funny to me

Pairing I am not a fan of: naruhina, its just hard for me to believe that they fell in love or whatever after she literally said like. 6 words to him ever JHBKDF

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): literally all of the ladies + shino, need i explain

Favourite Friendship: team kurenai theyre so sweet ok

Character I most identify with: probably hinata tbh

Character I wish I could be: sakura <3

character: peter parker (tasm)

How I feel about this character: because of personal trauma reasons from Bad People in my life who literally were OBSESSED with this version of peter i. cant say i like him very much JSBHKDFN not in a bad way tho just in a personal trauma type of way

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: ngl i dont think i ship him romantically with anybody, like him and gwen are cute and all but i feel like gwen is just. way too good for him HSDNFL

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: him and his aunt may are so sweet <3

My unpopular opinion about this character: hes a better peter parker than he is spiderman. it makes sense in MY head ok

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i wish we got to see what he meant by how he "got dark" when he mentioned it in nwh.......... like what do u mean got dark peter? did u become more of a batman vigilante type who was more violent and didnt care about who got hurt in the process??? what do u MEAN peter TELL US

Favorite friendship for this character: i feel like if we were given more time with harry they'd be such cooler friends......... i want them to be besties i just dont think 1 movie did it SKDFL

My crossover ship: this variant of peter and kirsten dunst's mj watson just makes sense to me dont ask me why alright. they just Make Sense

[blackgirlsuperherorants]

With more articulation, I'm ready to talk about why the push for Lokius simply bothers me, and this can be said for other m/m or w/w ships that fans push to be canon so hard just because they ship it.

It's the framing. The framing that if Marvel doesn't do it (or whatever the brand is), it's because homophobia, and if other fans don't like it/ship it, it's because homophobia (even if they ship other queer ships and are queer themselves.) And the biggest problem with that is that it overshadows the REAL issue of lack of queer representation on screen in mainstream nerd media, especially from big things under the Disney umbrella (Marvel and Lucasfilm/Star Wars, especially.)

It makes it bad that your ship isn't canon instead of bad that there haven't been any queer romances on screen in the MCU.

And like, as a writer myself, I find myself dissecting the stories of other media all the time. I can watch an MCU movie or series and pretty much assess what direction the story is going in by the narrative points they're hitting. I knew Sylki was basically gonna happen (even if just a kiss) because narratively, that's what the show was doing as soon as they had that "what is love" conversation on Lamentis-1. It didn't mean I liked it. But I knew it was happening.

Similarly, there's no romantic undertones to Loki and Mobius. None. For Marvel to make them a couple, it would mean they'd be doing it simply because the two present as men and it would make stans happy. And while there's something to be said for fan service, it would be annoying to watch them cram two guys together who aren't romantic in the slightest. I'd much rather see Loki meet some guy and have the same type of undertones they were giving to Sylvie and form a real bond to where the kiss feels earned and warranted. Not just put him with the nearest man because "he gay lol."

And how you guys are claiming it's being queer that makes you want this is beyond me. It's not being queer that makes you want this. I don't want queer characters that fuck everyone of whatever gender(s) they're attracted to even when it doesn't make sense for them to. I want real love stories. I mean, yeah, sometimes we can have a slut character, because that's fun, too, but that's not even what y'all think Lokius is. You seem to want them to be in love. But why? Because he's the first friend Loki made that isn't through Thor?

I hate that, too, because I hate this idea that queer people cannot have friends of their same gender without wanting to fuck them. IDK how y'all are, maybe y'all are like that, but I almost never have wanted to fuck any of my friends. The only few exceptions have been when I tried to befriend someone I had a crush on (in which case, usually the friendship can't work, really, because I have a crush on them.) I also think it's okay if you can have casual sex with friends, or if you have a friendship that develops into romance, but Jesus, do you people not have friends that you don't want to fuck? I am bi, maybe more pan (gender kind of doesn't matter to me, I guess) and I'm friends with people of all kinds of gender identities and like... I love them as people, which is why they're my friends, but I DO NOT want to fuck them. Especially my closest friend. I talked about her, before, here, but she's like my sister. The thought of fucking her is gross, to me. Not because she's gross, but because it feels incestuous.

Loki shouldn't want to fuck Mobius just because they developed a friendship. And that's very much how it's written on the series. They almost dislike each other (or Mobius is at least indifferent to Loki) and then they become friends.

That's not to mention the power dynamic that exists, there. And I know some of y'all are subs, but yeah, it's a bit gross to imply a sexual relationship with Loki's captor.

But on to Sylki. It sucks that I feel like most of y'all hate Sylki because Sylvie is a girl, and not just because it's bad in other ways. Like, the reasons Sylki is bad have less to do with "it should have been Mobius" and more to do with it being a lazy 1980s action movie plot that should have never happened. I'm not as creeped out by the selfcest (as many of you wouldn't have been if she was a he, I'm almost positive), but what's bad about it is that they couldn't have a strong female lead character without her being the love interest of the main guy. She didn't need to be, especially because she was a Loki variant, anyway. There was no need for it to have romantic undertones, and there was no need for them to kiss. It was sexist more than it was homophobic (and I can't help feeling like y'all are kind of being biphobic in this case. Maybe I'll talk about that, later, but yeah.) It was sexist bullshit. And there's valid criticism that Sylvie is underdeveloped. She's just angry and something for Loki to project affection onto.

I was also hoping they'd do a "found family" type of thing with Sylvie and Loki and let her be like the sister he never knew he needed, but no, they had to go trope and make her the love interest. It was lazy and bad and basically went "If Loki girl, main Loki want bone!"

Basically, having the main character fall for a character just because of their proximity and gender is bad and I hate it (and it would have been bad with Mobius, too, but yeah.)

Both the Mobius and the Sylvie thing also feel kind of racist, to me, because the show has prominent Black women who aren't even presented as desirable to Loki. And y'all, of course, ship him with anyone but the Women of Color. Y'all can pull true love with Mobius out of your ass, but he couldn't possibly fall for the Black women. lol.

Anyway. Not every show needs ships, and this show shouldn't have had any. I hate it. It's bad.

I guess on the biphobia front, I have heard some takes that it's not biphobic because Loki being queer in the MCU which hasn't shown any queer relationships, and Loki being the first openly queer character means they shouldn't have shown him with a woman presenting character. Which, I guess I get where you're coming from... but I have also been in fandoms for a long time and I see mostly girls saying this shit, which is what leads me to feel like it's simply jealousy. It happens all the time when a long-beloved single male character/celebrity suddenly starts dating a woman. Everyone hates it. And like, we haven't seen Loki be with ANYONE in the MCU, because mostly he's been doing villainy and his dating life hasn't been relevant. If the demigod says he's bi, he can kiss a woman. Especially a woman version of himself. Like I said, I hate it for other reasons, but pretending it's because he should have kissed Mobius is utterly delusional. He probably shouldn't have kissed anyone. Not in this series. There was no reason for any canon romance, especially because the show has a season 2 and we'll have time to see Loki develop earned, deserved romance with someone.

I'd much rather see them create a character just to be his boyfriend than have y'all push Marvel into making Lokius canon, which is a nonsense ship that only happened because Mobius is the only prominent male-presenting character before we meet the other Lokis.

My sincere wish is for people to remember that their ships are just ships and to enjoy them without getting all self-righteous about it. I TOLD y'all that Lokius wasn't gonna be canon like 4 episodes back, and here y'all are acting shocked and like Marvel took something from you. NOBODY expected y'all to ship Lokius. It's not even queerbait.

You can make clear arguments as to why Sambucky was queerbait. It's there in undertones in the actual series.

You cannot watch Loki and tell me you thought it was queerbait, unless you think men can't have conversations or hug goodbye without being romantically involved. Which means, in my opinion, that you need to learn about healthy masculinity.

Again, this is not a defense of Marvel. They DO need to let characters be queer, for real, and not just by saying " A bit of both". Like, let Loki be queer. Let Deadpool be queer. Let these queer characters be queer on screen. Yes.

But please stop making it about your ship. I'd rather see a flashback of Loki dating a guy and see him kiss someone he loved back on Asgard than watch y'all force Lokius. Because my queer rep is not about your crackship. It really isn't. And the fact that y'all keep calling us homophobic for not liking your ship REALLY needs to be addressed.

Like, when will y'all stop? I got on Stucky shippers about this shit in the past. All of us gay as hell, too, we just don't like YOUR ship. A lot of us like other queer ships. A lot of us like queer ships in other fandoms, too, and even have queer OCs. YOUR ship just ain't it. Stop forcing it. Literally, most of the ship wars between MCU fans have been queer ship vs queer ship, not really queer ship vs straight ship. Like, the number one Stucky rival ship was Stony. Not Steggy. People are not homophobic for not wanting your ship.

Sometimes it's because they ship something else.

And sometimes, like me, it's because they want something to make sense narratively and not happen for the sake of it happening. It's always better writing to have a character meetcute a new love interest than to magically turn a platonic friendship into a romantic relationship. Like, even when the characters are straight. Like, when Moesha dated Hakeem. It was just weird, even if he was kind of a great boyfriend. He was just supposed to be her friend, and people didn't really like it because it didn't fit narratively.

And that's why ships for the most part should be left to fanfiction, with the exception of a few where fans are right to call out the writers for not making it canon because it's clearly bait (like what happened to Destiel shippers. To see Lokius shippers compare themselves to THAT was so ridiculous. Destiel shippers had a decade of evidence only to be let down by a criminally unfair ending. Lokius shippers saw two men have a deep conversation once and lost their minds.)

Anyway, I'm not saying don't ship Lokius. I don't even hate it, really. I just think it obviously shouldn't be canon, and fans pretending like they were robbed of it is ridiculous. Literally, Ao3 exists for this reason. I will never see Steve fuck Sam Wilson, so I wrote it into my fanfic. I am not mad that they didn't actually date in the main MCU storyline.

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

spoilery loki and sylvie and show crit under the cut

i think the thing about sylvie/loki is that...like...there was no real need for there to be a romantic subplot for the show? of all the current MCU shows that really did not have the space for romance, it was this one. like, if you’re going to set up the entire next phase of the MCU you don’t need a romance, and if you’re not going to give us a romance in FATWS where the chemistry was off-the-wall bonkers, then Loki certainly didn’t. 

And it just didn’t feel...like...romantic? The romance part felt strained. Friendship I could believe. i would have loved that. not only do i love myself, I like myself, and want to spend time with them and make sure they’re okay and taken care of.

And idk. It just. Loki just got done trying to take over Asgard and then New York after being potentially brainwashed/tortured/compelled during Avengers. If he’d gone on a discovery of self-love that had been billed as such, I think that would have been more believable. Or if the thing with Sylvie had been pushed more as “yeah we all know this is a little odd, but what a Loki thing to do, amirite?” Mobius says something to that effect, and if there’d been more of it, like “of COURSE the only person Loki wants to make out with is another Loki”, that would have been better, I think.

As it is, it really felt like Sylvie was only female so they could have a romantic subplot and called her Sylvie so it would seem less weird. She’s the only Loki who isn’t called Loki. Loki is always Loki. Lady Loki is only “lady” because Lady is a title. It’s not because they are lady version of Loki.

This is the thing that happens in the comics with the Hawkeyes, actually. Kate isn’t Lady Hawkeye or Girl Hawkeye or Hawkette. She’s Hawkeye. Clint is also Hawkeye. It’s not hard. Loki is Loki regardless of appearance. 

And Sylvie didn’t need to be a Loki to be a compelling character. 

idk it just. it felt like Marvel gave us Sylvie so they could be like “see? we understand the gender fluids, we love Gay.” but then let’s make her the most selfish and least intelligent Loki! because SHE’LL do the thing that explodes the multiverse, which since she’s doing it is bad now

and as someone who is coming to terms with my “what is gender” fluidity, the way they were like “this is a cis man. this is a cis woman. they present as cis man and cis woman. genderqueer!” is frustrating. i would have LOVED to see both of them with genderbending makeup. make Loki more femme. Make Sylvie more masc.

and like, yeah, i don’t think I’d have as much of a problem with some of this if Marvel actually had, you know, real representation in their stuff. if you’re giving us a ~canon~ genderfluid bisexual Loki then I’d like to see that on screen! I’d like to be shown, not told! And I’d like for those characters to not be selfcest because in the larger context of how queerness is portrayed in media that’s not great! It feels like you tried to put your own spin on weird predatory gay tropes from the Code Era and I can smell that shit, Mouse Boy.

And yet at the same time it feels like they made Sylvie Sylvie instead of Loki to remove her as far from Loki as possible to make the romance okay? But at the same time I think that undermines her. Because if she’s really Loki, and not comic!Sylvie, aka Enchantress, then why should she be so ~different~ and ~special~ compared to the other Lokis? Yes, obviously, they’re all different in their own ways because of what they’ve gone through, and she was pruned very early compared to most of the other Lokis, except kid!Loki.

It’s weird because. Because on some level I’m okay with her being a ~superior~ Loki. She was literally cut from the timeline because of sexism!!! (but again that undermines the whole genderfluid thing. because that’s not really fluidity? that’s a “this loki is female. this loki is male” not “this loki is female, this loki is all genders”. does that make sense?) but for me it just fell flat. like we never got to know her well enough to know that she’s Loki, just her own kind of Loki. We never got to see her be Trickster. Or do mischief. Even as briefly as we saw the Void Lokis, you still got that impression of...well...Loki-ness. Be it weirdness, assholery, pomposity, they all had that flavor of Loki. and i just never felt that from Sylvie (which is why I’m still sitting here thinking “but was she really a Loki variant? or is she actually enchantress!sylvie???”)

anyway i’m not going to read through this for coherency, this is just me spitting out some thoughts