#enough rambling about my opinions on the comic and show

[far-beyond-saving]

I know everyone wants a Solitaire movie (and so do I) but I honestly think they'd fuck it up beyond anyone's imagination.

[yurimage]

You guys don't even know how often I think about this Kaneko piece

Like it just really shows his skill as not only an illustrator and character designer but also as a conceptual artist. And the surrealism influences... it makes me insane.

[neil-gaiman]

Hi Mr. Gaiman,

As an accomplished author with several books under his belt, how do you know that a story is a dud for lack of a better word? I have a million ideas bouncing around inside my head at all times, and while I consider them good ideas worth pursuing, how am I sure they will make a good story?

I ask this because I have been dwelling on something one of my professors said last semester. He held a seminar on poetry and got to the topic of fiction writing, where he stated that he had just recently finished a story he had rewritten several times over the course of multiple years. Now I myself write as a hobby with a faint imagining that someone might see it in the future, and I have written a dud or two, where the plot was poorly formed and the ideas behind it just had a flaw somewhere in the base concept. Perhaps this is my youth and amateurity speaking, but I was under the impression that given enough time and care, any story could recover from that stage so long as it had not been completed yet. Ideas would need to be reworked, concepts retooled, characters redrawn, but the very basic idea could still survive in a different format.

My professor disagreed, stating that he has destroyed 400-500 page novels that he has written before upon realizing said fatal flaw. He stated that the story was in a state that it could not recover from, and that many authors encounter ideas that seem good at the time, but stink later on to such a degree that the basic premise must be thrown out. This seems like a tremendous loss of work to me. As writing is an art form, it feels somewhat similar to destroying practice sketches and 'meh' oil paintings that showcase the artist's progress. An idea that stinks today might be able to work from a different angle later on in my opinion.

I suppose after rambling my question is now this: are some ideas and concepts just not worth pursuing? Are some story concepts flawed from the get-go and impossible to save, and is there a way to tell that before writing the whole thing? Is it even possible to waste that time as you're getting in practice for the next tale?This isn't something I ever really thought about before being told in sure tones that this is how things work by someone with a degree is this, so I figured I'd ask the professional author for a second opinion. Apologies for the length of the message, especially if this is one you've received before.

I have things that have stalled and a few stories that, when they were done, went to the box in the attic rather than to anyone who could publish them (there's a whole novel there I wrote when I was 21). But mostly because I was writing serial comics, failure was not an option, and if something did fail it had done it in public for everyone to see. And I learned that some things I thought were failures had actually worked really well.

Some people are afraid of failure. Some people are afraid of success, which can also be a good reason for junking books and never showing them to anyone. As long as you pronounce them irretrievably flawed and show them to nobody, you will never be judged for them or have to deal with either success or failure.

[oliveroctavius]

I got this ask on main but thought I'd pick it up here, my comics history/fashion ramble blog. I'd been wondering this exact same thing recently, and Google initially wasn't much help—Rocketeer replica jackets describe themselves only as "Rocketeer jackets" and the one Lobster Johnson cosplay thread just suggested ordering one of those.

The most curious part is the double seam and horizonal row of buttons that mark out the entire front as possibly being an unbuttonable "bib", like a plastron front. (Please don't ask how late in the game I worked out that "plastron" is the right word for that.)

The closest genuine Golden Age example of a plastron jacket I found was the military tunic style uniform of Blackhawk, created in 1941.

(Pics from the '52 movie serial (right) really show how awkward it is to combine open lapels + plastron. On a double breasted coat, that chest panel IS the bottom lapel, folded shut.)

Here's the thing: This outfit mirrors that of the Nazi ace pilot he fights in the origin issue, von Tepp (middle). And compare further to the far right: real life WWI flying ace Manfred von Richthofen, AKA the Red Baron, in imperial German Uhlan (lance cavalry) uniform.

"The Germans had designed such great costumes, we decided to use them ourselves," co-creator Cuidera is quoted as saying in Steranko's History of Comics, which (more dubiously, in my opinion) compares the look to the Gestapo or SS. Breeches or jodhpurs weren't strictly a Nazi thing at the time, but they do add to the overall effect.

Compare two other military tunic themed costumes from 1940, on Captain Marvel and Bucky Barnes. These are asymmetrically buttoned, and switch to a more classic circus strongman look below the waist.

But somewhere around 1975, with the Invaders book, Bucky gets a buttoned bib! There's something infectious about it—the symmetry, maybe. (Even re: the characters we started with; Mignola didn't draw Lobster Johnson with buttons down the right side, but every artist after does. And Spider-Noir wore a sweater under his coat until Shattered Dimensions introduced the double-breasted vest.)

If it didn't reach his belt, Barnes' button-on front + shirt collar combo would resemble a bib-front western shirt, like the one that became the Rawhide Kid's signature look in '56. (Or Texas Twister's in '76.)

This shirt entered the old-West-obsessed public imagination in the 1940s/50s largely because John Wayne wore it in several cowboy movies. In reality it was rare among cowboys, more common with firefighters and civil war era militia.

Military tunics, Western shirts, alright, but does anything match the style and material and era, or are these jackets a total anachronism? I tried looking into 1930s leather flight jackets and was surprised when the closest-looking results were marked as Luftwaffe.

It took me a bit to work out why: USAF and RAF issued standard flight jackets with a center closure. The Luftwaffe instead let their pilots buy non-standardized ones. The 'weird' double-breasted black German flight jackets were in fact fairly normal (but repurposed) motorcycle racing jackets.

Far left is an English biker's jacket that dates back to the 1920s. Even without the bib, this may be as close as you'll get to an authentic Rocketeer. The jodhpurs were pretty common to complete the look. (What was an early motorcycle anyways, if not a weird metal horse?) The first biker jacket with the now iconic off-center diagonal zip was designed in America in 1928 and yet as far as I can tell, not a single actual pre-war pulp hero wore one.

The greatest weakness of this post is that I haven't been able to find any of these artists' notes on how, exactly, they arrived at similar versions of this iconic Pulp Front Panel Jacket. I'm sure I've missed some things. But as far as I can tell, this jacket is an odd bit of convergent stylistic evolution from the above influences that's picked up enough momentum to now be self-perpetuating.

The problem with pulp heroes is that for the most part, they just wore clothes. The appeal of this jacket is actually very similar to what the 1940s thought the appeal of the bib-front shirt in westerns was: It's alien enough to feel "old". It looks like something invented before zippers or synthetic fabrics. It looks formal and militant but also renegade, rebellious. It also looks a little mad-sciencey*. It's a costume, but you can nearly fool yourself into thinking the past was weird enough that you could find something this cool on the rack.

If I wanted to end on some grand point, I could try to argue that there's a thematic throughline between fascist fashion, John Wayne movies, and throwback pulp. A manufactured aesthetic valorizing the violence of a fictional golden age... but I think the noir stylings of the post-Rocketeer comics in this lineup mean that, at least on some level, they know the "good guys" didn't dress like this.

*If I had another couple weeks of time to burn, I'd try to trace the visual history of the Howie coat in popular culture and investigate its possible connections to this. Alas, I do actually have a life.

[bloggingboutburgers]

First of, I'm a big fan of your work. I love your comics and art and was happy to hear about the engagement 😁

As for my question, I love writing stories and creating OCs/characters. In your recent comic you called out that the only ace/aro rep always seems to be "the creator said so on Twitter" (a problem with a lot of rep. in media).

So I was curious, if I wanted to create an aroace character (and write a story with them), how could I naturally show them being aroace? Do you perhaps have any idea?

Thank you so much for the kind words!^^

Arguably my complaints are ironic because I myself haven't done proper aroace rep in my own fiction thus far – though I guess I'm compensating for that with my current comics, haha 🙈 But also, I've said it before and I'll say it again cus I'm annoying like that – Bojack Horseman did it, in my opinion, so that gives the rest of the media less excuses I guess.

So, again these are my personal views, and they're possibly demanding, but this would be my checklist for ideal aroace rep:

The aro/ace character needs to... BE a character. Actually have arcs, that matter within the story. Whether they're about being asexual or not doesn't really matter as long as THEY matter as a character.

...Ngl I feel they need to matter BEFORE they're revealed as aro/ace too, and obviously after. If they don't, they'll just feel like a placeholder who's just there to tick a box to me.

The fact that they're aro/ace needs to be addressed and not pushed under the rug or left up to interpretation. Leaving things up to interpretation will have so many people interpret them as allo for sure (just like in real life). And conversely, saying they're aro/ace may spark some curious questions and possibly awkward conversations (just like in real life). (...Again tbh Bojack Horseman was great at doing it naturally. The confusion from the ace character themself, the ace character's friend assuming they're gay because yeah that always happens, the MC having a friendly yet clueless "haha you're lucky that'd save me so many problems if I didn't have sexual attraction"... I could go on.)

By that I also mean... Actually NAMING the orientation at some point. If it's not named people who consume the media and don't know such an orientation exists will be none the wiser. (I'm guilty of that myself tbh. In one of my webcomics I had an alloaro character but never had the orientation mentioned within the story, I left it at showing he has sex and him having a conversation with his family explaining he doesn't have a favorite person because he just can't, but I feel like that's not enough, and I've been feeling a bit bad about it.) A good way of bringing that up fairly naturally would be to have the character figure out their orientation within the story, as a way to have the audience learn alongside them; but it could also be played for drama, which I don't think I've ever seen and would like to dabble with myself at some point – like, imagine you have a friend you hold dear who's key to your personal development and suddenly you find out they see you as sex / romance prospects and not as a friend like YOU do? That'd be crushing but that could definitely make for a good conflict. I should try writing that. I'm rambling anyway. Bleh.

Another thing that, to me, is key to the aro/ace experience is that the character may have some moments of questioning their place in the world. Our world is obsessed with sex and romance and fiction exacerbates that to the point where some characters barely even exist if they don't have romance. This could range from "Do I NEED to even identify myself as something" (again, Bojack Horseman did that great) to "Friendship is the most important relationship to me but not to my friends, what if they all abandon me once they find the one person they consider 'more important'". I dunno. I feel like there could be some interesting storylines there. I definitely would love to dabble into that myself a bit more, though I lack the time and talent – those concepts and the lack of things that are done with it live in my head rent-free.

...Actually I feel it could be good to show aro/ace characters as full of heart (if it fits their personality), having their own feelings and emotions outside of the usual romance spectrum, to show that they're just as human and compelling as the other characters. (...AGAIN Bojack Horseman did that great imo, I feel bad that I'm only ever quoting that show but that's still the best example I can ever think of.) Like – betrayal, loneliness, grief, kinship, literally ANY other form of love than romantic love... We feel all of those too, and those deserve to be addressed in stories just as much (if not more) than the pining or simping that's kinda everywhere.

Oh yeah and speaking of being human... Yeah, human. We need more human aro/ace characters. Making it so that only the aliens/gods/demons/robots/whatever are ever allowed to be aro/ace only serves to dehumanize these orientations.

...IIIII think that's it. I might be forgetting some things I'd wanna add on later but I think that covers everything that would make for ideal rep in my own opinion

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Thanks for your response. I was the anon who ended the ask with 'the fandom can suck it'. When I saw that anon who you and twinanimatronics had assumed to be the one that keeps you know starting shit with you, I really hated that they labeled us as shipbrain or whatever they said. I am aroace who finds comfort in shipping characters and that doesn't make me any less aroace. Can't people like them just let us have this, let us share it and stop taping our mouths? God. We are not even hurting anyone. I posted a solarxmoon and solarxearth mini comic thing yesterday and behold, I believe that same anon found it and is looking adamantly through the solarxmoon and even solarxearth because I didn't use the tsams tag for my comic. I took the comic down fast and turned off anon messages so quick because God that anon was quick to leave nasty messages, six in total and that was panic attack inducing. I'm sorry for rambling about this. I don't know anyone else who got that same anon on their back. It looks like they are persistent for lack of better term and it annoys me+scares me. Can't even share things I like about here anymore. Hoping solarxmoon becomes canon so that anon can shut up already

If Solar Moon became canon, they don't even need to change anything.

The actors don't even need to pretend to kiss or be romanically involved at all.

It's literally as simple as "Oh yeah, we were dating for months, anyway..."

OH AND... FUCK THAT ANON. I know the user you are talking about, I think there's around two or three of them... and it seems like they're dead set on hunting down people who use that Solarmoon or Solar x Moon tag.

Going into popular users in the tsams fandom that I personally don't know... and spreading bad lies and rumors about me.

Like, they typically try to keep it as vague as possible, like "oh I am not talking about dana-chan-the-control-brain specifically....." but they often steal the exact wording and turn of phrase I use.

Cause I have an overly wordy way of talking on the internet.

I've always been this way since I was 15, so I feel my style of speaking is pretty overly wordy, rambly and long compared to most people just because I don't have a lot to share with my opinions with in real life. And I also misspell things a lot cus spellcheck has gotten worse since it became AI trained and it doesn't help my dyslexia.

But how sad is that? That someone is searching out the tag for a ship that they don't like, claim that "it's everywhere" and I'm "poisoning the fanbase" when I'm just.... here... playing with my own dolls, doing my own thing.... and not bothering anyone... Not even putting the ship in the tags publicly because I have Such respect and love for the silly little youtube show, who also plays with fnaf characters like they're dolls.

(just saying.. "bio-organic" and interdimensional travel did NOT come from fnaf I can tell you that much. )

And yeah, if they're really stumbling across Solarmoon or these ships on accident.......Blacklist the tags and move on? Don't come to my messages... Don't harass my friends...

And don't harass other people I DON'T EVEN KNOW because someone just said "hehe but what if they kissed" on the internet?

Like blocklist the tag, and move on.

I know the blocklisting tagging system sucks sometimes, so maybe it's picking up "Solar" like in that case? Just scroll super fast and don't look at it?

And yeah. You don't deserve those nasty messages sent your way at all!

Oh, and if you feel brave enough to reupload your art to tumblr and DM me, I will gladly reblog it here. <3

[celtic-crossbow]

Hello, its me again, the ‘’long ask anon’’ i should totally stop being na anon, i’m too chatty to only show up once in a while, but being the kind of insane anon that shows up from time to time just to ramble is my true calling.

First off i’d like to thank you for being so sweet, i’m glad you enjoyed my feedback to this degree and took time to answer my questions, i really enjoy knowing your thought process in the creation of this fic and what it might become in the future. Anyway, onto your answer.

I totally agree with you on the importance of wintertime for the group, i think its really a shame how they didn’t show us any of it, though its understandable why they didn’t show us its like, come on, winter is prime apocalypse time, even normal winter is tough as we see in the comics. But here’s the thing, Rick in the comics doesn’t really grapple with Lori’s pregnancy at all like we see Daryl do in this fic, and i think its brilliant, sure everyone else is getting it rough too but reader and Daryl are in a constant state of worry, which makes the joyful moments that much more intimate and special and its portrayed perfectly, i get the sense that in the beginning Daryl deals very well with the negative stuff, but really doesn’t know how to behave during the good times (Like Birdie’s first kick etc.) and yea, that’s the essence of Daryl, a great caretaker, kind of self sabotages tho. Poor guy.

And omg i had no idea babies were capable of that sort of stuff, like recognizing who is who even in the womb?! Kind of amazing, i can barely recognize people through phone calls nowadays lol, and the fact you based it on your own little thumper? Ugh i could die from the cuteness.

And Merle, oh well, i know he hasn’t done anything in the story and i have the sense that he will ( leave birdie alone!!!) but wherever he is i hope he’s getting his ass beat right this instant, excited for him to show up tho! He better not start messing up Daryl’s head!!! Or he’ll suffer the consequences!!! I know our reader would not let it slide. :).

And about Lori, i’m still obsessed with the Lori Reader duo, recently rewatched season 2 which has, so many Lori scenes, So many, and it only makes me like her even more in the BT universe, and you really hit the nail on the head with your interpretation of her, she truly is mainly motivated by fear but strongly adheres to her sense of right and wrong. I also love her offering Daryl advice, the fact that most of the interactions between these two in the show are hostile never sat right with me and i’m glad that she is a trustworthy figure to Daryl, enough for him to take her advice to make our reader feel better. It really is sad that the burden she carries is not the baby (ITS RICK!) and that she tries to seek in others what she can’t have is tragic, but very noble in my opinion.

Carol is our perfect angel, best cheerleader ever, she’s Always there for backup even while she is working through her pain, i imagine her pregnancy wasn’t easy on her (cause Ed) and she wouldn’t want to see any other woman struggle with it, the fact that even in the show she tries to learn from Hershel about medicine to help Lori, and sticks next to her Always, and when Hershel is out of comission starts training her C-section technique thinking of Lori, Carol has Always deserved the world honestly. And she is such a great friend in the fic as well, one thing about her is that she really has the reader’s back no matter what, so sweet.

About chapter 30

After Reading it over and over for like an hour i can say, I’M OBSESSED. Daryl??? So cute??? Omg the fluff had me rotating in my room like a rotisserie chicken , You’ve done it again, It really shows that at this time Daryl is aprehensive, but still so in love with Birdie from moment one, that the first thing he does after making sure everything is ok is to make himself presentable for his daughter,OMGGGG, that he doesn’t really want her to see all of him yet and has to trust that his little Bird will accept him as he is (and she Always will!!) is just peak fluff to me, but also sad that it makes me think that he’s Always been afraid of his father, so much so that he believed it would be the first thing she would feel towards him too. I’m enjoying the hell out of the scenes of them both just hanging out and being cute with her and seeing as Daryl gains more confidence as the chapter progresses, when he realizes Birdie loves him as well, when they both hold onto each other, maybe i’m wrong but in my interpretation that’s when Daryl gained the confidence he needed to think of a name for her (who knows, maybe i’m dead wrong, but that’s how i interpreted his silence) And Carol too, being emotional over Birdie makes me wanna scream, what a bittersweet moment it must have been for her, i just know she’ll be the best aunt ever.

This chapter has really entered a new territory of Daryl’s development in my eyes, now that he is so passionate about birdie, he’s already trying to show service for her and reader in a way, i just know that serving his Family and making sure they are happy will be so good for him in the long term, he’s got it all to be happy now. And i’m eating it up.

Anyway, a Thousand words again who would’ve though, no objective analysis this time, just rambling non-stop, being an overly-chatty anon is my true calling fr.

The fact that some random person out there in the world can write more than a Thousand words about your work must make any author proud tho, so i sincerely hope its the same for you, from what i’ve read through it seems you’ve been having a few Hard days, so i hope to make it even a little better with my feedback and appreciation, better days will come for all of us even if the world is an ugly place right now, we still have beautiful things to look foward to and to keep working towards.

About the fanart i cited in the last text, it does indeed exist. Now it does .      

                              https://imgur.com/a/t9VdHC4

Since my last ask i’ve challenged myself to have it more or less ready by the time the next chapter was here, and though its not anything impressive i took a little of my day to work on it every day, i hope you enjoy knowing that ( and since copying and pasting a link from any anon is not safe, i recomment pasting it to VirusTotal if you feel the need, and i don't really know if the anon mode just gets rid of them completely, if yes let me know and i'll find another way to get it to you after i get over my embarrassment)

Bye bye <3

Okay! As you saw, I got a little distracted from doing this. Also, if my post affected you negatively in any way, I'd like to apologize to you too. It was in poor taste regardless of my intentions. I am so sorry. I really wish we could have seen more about their survival. What we saw, they were always on foot and barely had food. Well, we will get to that soon. Daryl is scared shitless but there's just that bond that was formed while reader was pregnant. That's his baby girl. And he's already wrapped around that tiny finger. I absolutely cannot WAIT to bring Merle into the mix. It might be a little different as far as timeline but it will be at the prison. So we have a ways to go. But it will be interesting. Oh, the plans I have!

Lori will play a more pivotal role in the next couple of chapters. Daryl is going hunting. Reader is alone with Birdie. "HELP!" I feel like Lori would have gotten along with Daryl if she didn't have so much on her plate and could really see him. Yeah, he could be an asshole but he was hiding behind his walls, deflecting. She just had way too much going on, no time to offer that chance. Well, goddamnit, I'm giving her that chance. I want to delve into the problems with her and Rick a little more too, with reader involved. Daryl is going to be a helicopter parent, absolutely no doubt. I think he will be more in tune with her feelings and how to handle them because he didn't have that growing up. He'll know the cues of anger or sadness. And she's his daughter. -squeal- I can't wait to write more of daddy Daryl and little Birdie.

I'm not sure if you noticed but at first, it was always reader suggesting the names and he stayed quiet other than to say nah. But every time he had Birdie, she had her little bird blanket. However, he's going to give an explanation of her name in the next chapter. He was too damn sleepy in this one, lol. Carol is my warrior queen! Forever and always! There will be a bond there that is unlike any other. Not just because of losing Sophia but because Carol has found best friends in Daryl (well, it's a work in progress, lol ) and reader. So Birdie is a product of two of the most important people in her life. She will absolutely fight tooth and nail, savagely to protect her.

I need to be careful or I'm going to spoil so much! But I love getting the chance to talk about it like this! Just to explore the thought process and where it's headed without too much detail, I hope.

OKAY. THAT ART. OMFG. I screeched, even half asleep! When I woke up properly, I was just in awe. It is SO beautiful and I would love to add it to the series Masterlist and share if you are comfortable with that. I mean I realize the link is right up there but I want it to be seen every single time someone goes to see the chapters. I cannot say thank you enough for that. It is GORGEOUS. Perfect. And captures them so well. My three favorite things are reader with the vest and that belly, Daryl holding onto her leg, and Caryl hovering in the background! But I also LOVE that you included the truck! Everything about it is just perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect! My heart was just so full. Thank you so much. 🩵🩵🩵🩵

[a-libra-writes]

HIII!! can i ask, how do you write Mordecai Heller?? THANK YOUU!!

hmm Ill try to answer this best I can and try not to ramble too long but we'll see how that goes... Im not gonna act like im an expert or whatever, this is just my thought process ig? ALSO Im ace and so is he, and I add my own experiences into my writing. Anyway the long version here:

so first thing's first!! READ THE COMIC ALSO THE SIDE COMICS ALSO ALL THE EXTRAS bc esp the extras, you get to see a lot of his personality pre-Marigold. It's two very distinct points in his life - I'd venture to say that pre-Lackadaisy and early Lackadaisy Mordecai are also very different (and that makes sense - he was a kid, and he was with the Lackadaisy crew for 7 years). He has a very distinct character progression that in my opinion is very interesting and well-written!

actually, p much all lackadaisy characters are well-written, but mordecai is a fun case because he just has so much going on: his social skills are abysmal, and he doesn't seem to find it a problem. he has committed brutal murders and executions and considers them 'just business'. he doggedly pursues discrepancies. he fixates on things being neat and symmetrical if possible. He can deal with things not being that way, for a time (note when he's covered in bloody and filthy from a job, he doesn't freak out - because that's Business (tm) and he can just wash up anyway. But a driver getting a snot mess all over the car he has to drive in all the time? Unforgivable.) he grew up in squalor and has a serious phobia of spiders and rats. He's emotionally repressed in more ways than one. He's queer and is deeply uncomfortable with people (especially women) touching him or showing interest. He still thinks about his sisters fondly. he also thinks they're better off without him. He actually found a friend (or more) in Viktor and he'd never, ever, ever say it, and his way of keeping his friend out of crime and 'protecting' him was by shooting his kneecaps. his sense of humor is crap, and he doesn't understand why his mannerisms would be considered amusing. he got into crime at a young age, doing gangster's finances for them. as a kid.

im missing some other tidbits, but you get it. the dude is real interesting to think about and write, to say the least.

I think a lot of writing mordecai, esp if you're writing a more romantic fic or even if it's just platonic - he's so closed off! part of why the Savoys are so interested in him is they've worked with him a year and he just doesn't loosen up or talk much about himself. he and viktor knew each other seven whole-ass years and you think they ever talked about their families? how they came to know atlas? what they thought about the job? granted, Viktor is just as closed-off himself, but you get what im saying. he has a serious problem with letting people in, and part of writing him is getting a crowbar and figuring out which spot to put it in and bend it juuuust enough to open something up.

ok that metaphor went somewhere weird, but you get me. and, if im being honest, a LOT of what i channel is my own asexual experience. I used to be very touch averse, especially to the opposite gender - to the point where i'd panic if I felt a man was "too close" (i.e. less than 2 feet) and "lingering" (aka minding his business). I didnt mind my friends hugging me, but I didnt really like the cuddle sessions my female friends wanted to do, and after a point, I disliked hugs from my male friends. if a guy was crushing on me? Hell no, he wasnt going near me, even if I thought he was cute too (when I was younger I DEF had a thing for my female friends too, but i registered that as 'gaaaaal paaaals' for the LONGEST time until I accepted I was bi) There was like - an undercurrent of fear and anxiety. It took me a long time to identify why. while other people seemed delighted when people they liked held their hands and hugged and kissed, it sent me into a panic.

eventually i figured out my thought process: physical affection will inevitably lead to sex, and bc i thought i was straight, there was the terrifying thought of ... oh god if i date a guy he'll expect me to have sex. oh no oh no oh no-

(and no, no one taught me much about consent or taking things slow or talking to your partner. i had to figure it out, which sucked.)

all this to say ... when I write Mordecai, especially in a romantic sense, I kind of channel that anxiety I felt in my teens and early 20s. and like, this is the 1920's!!!!* Not to mention his upbringing, and of course his line of work - where he definiately cant have feelings getting in the way of murdering someone. I think this adds up to someone whose repressing themselves - their sexual thoughts (or lack thereof), memories of family, romantic thoughts, platonic thoughts, and so on.

I like to think - again, this is fanfiction, I seriously doubt it'll come up in the comics - in a romantic relationship (or even an intense platonic one), he gets intense about it. Because Mordecai is an intense guy - you can't hatchet up someone "because i was told to", or kneecap a friend you wanted to "protect", or switch sides to your father figure's rival and pretend like you betrayed everyone just to investigate that father figure and not be, uh. some kind of Intense. I often think that, in a relationship, his jealousy and confusion/apprehension around affection and sexuality would be just as intense. And eventually, the feelings of loyalty and devotion ... once he finally lets himself have it. Because I also think, to some degree, he doesn't think he should have it - just like he thinks his sisters and mother should just leave him behind.

when im writing him in the romantic sense - as I began to accept and understand my sexuality, and talk through my feelings with my partner (also generally have better mental health, my touch averseness got a lot better.** Again, Im also kind of projecting my feelings and experiences onto Mordecai regarding this. I like to think that, once he really trusts someone and allows them to touch him, other barriers begin to tumble down. its like raw nerves being touched sometimes, but he steadily gets used to it and eventually takes solace in it (now getting him to ADMIT that srfjsdfs--)

anyway! As always, fanfic is fanfic. You are free to characterize this murdercat however you wish. These are just the jumbled thoughts that run around in my brain.

* Asexuality, like homosexuality and many shades of queerness, was considered an illness. IF anyone even acknowledged asexuality at all - its definition and terminology hadn't really caught on until the 1970's, though the Kinsey scale attempted to address it (and Jennie June attempted to write and define this in the 1920s, but I seriously doubt her writings were widespread).

**A stranger can brush past me or put a hand on me and I only have a few seconds of anxiety. My friends and family can hug me for a while, or I can cuddle up to them. I don't mind my husband cuddling or kissing me at all anymore; he's actually the one person I can tolerate sustained affection from. A huge part of this change came from accepting and understand my asexuality as part of me. I wasnt "messed up" and "broken".

[blackstarchanx3new]

FSR rambles PT 4

Over explaining the decisions in my own comic once again. UwU

Smth fun about these pages is ZELDA. My lady.

Something I'm not sure was how well this portrayed that this was shortly after they put the sword back (like maybe a year at most?)

I kind of like to think for FSR at least, they were all around 13-15 during the events of the manga (This isn't my opinion tbh, though in the bonus pages they buy child tickets for the theme park so they aren't canonically adults.)

Link's old enough to drink in FSR so he's at least 21.

(I've never really liked the idea they're YOUNG kids during FS it just lends itself better to FSR specifically. I really write them however old I want for whatever scenario I'm writing because Link's as fluid as a Vocaloid when it comes to making fan works and cannon is my bitch. Writing them as adults during the events of the manga usually lends itself to MORE writing opportunities but not for FSR. I don't really give a shit what other people decide to do when making fan works either.)

You'd also notice the 7 years it takes FS Link to pull the sword is a reference to the seven years Link misses during OOT.

Anyways onto the page itself: Zelda's a sweet girl who cares deeply about her childhood friend. Link means a lot to her and she makes time for him. He waits for her too. Zelink shippers I got you lol.

Something I always found WEIRD was how Link doesn't talk in the pages after he reformed. That's so odd to me. The fan "theory" It's basically cannon in BOTW/TOTK at least Link's selectively mute. That Link's mute is also something I took inspiration for FSR Link.

So Link doesn't respond to Zelda verbally but she still makes the effort to talk to him.

Shadow Link is very disapointed he can't get hugged by the princess. Because as he stated earlier in the comic he loves her. Zelda addressed him too so she tries to include him.

This page shows off just how gradual the curse was: So funny enough at the START of the comic it was actually going to be explained how Link utterly deteriorated but I decided to add that later. (Wanted to get to funny shenanigans with the boys so I put it off)

It started with him just hearing whispers, then full voices then the what I call "Headspace" fully appeared.

Blue mentions liking Zelda's hugs Haha "Where's my hug???"

Vio just says Zelda's name, Vio's relationship with Zelda is something I'd love to expand upon later down the line.

Green's more focused on food oof.

Red's just happy to see Zelda.

Green was right about being hungry, so Zelda invites him over for DINNER-

Shadow Link's still just vibing.

Zelda lifting Link up in this panel just shows she's there for him.

Link is just dealing with the fact he can hear them by himself. Also dad is still alive.

Lol he's actually making his dad proud which was something he didn't do often before the OG book.

Zelda hanging out with Link and his father kind of shows them as a family.

Shadow Laughing in the bg but he's away from the rest.

So the captain died in a fight, and Link blames himself for it because he can't think straight when there's 4 people constantly talking.

Daddy's demise was really the start of the snowballing downhill for him.

Lol. So Vio's daddy issues are apparent for the SECOND time in the comic. He was uncomfortable even bringing up Link's dad before and this is partially the reason why:

Vio's the only one not crying or overtly emotional about their dad dying.

But something to consider is if he's truly talking to Link or himself in that panel. Because the man is still SHOOK. We have the liberty of SEEING Vio here, but Link doesn't.

So he takes this statement very poorly because:

Well, Vio's seeming "no shits given" attitude is unsettling enough coming from an outside source but that IS apart of Link.

A part of him, seemingly doesn't care his own father kicked the bucket and that's scary to him.

I think anybody would have lost it at this point.

Too bad Zelda saw Link screaming his lungs out at his father's grave lmao. Poor man.

Bro can't do anything but plead for Zelda to help him at this point. She's really the only person he feels he can turn too anyway.

Our girl comes in clutch with them hugs.

This was the conformation Link was actually not speaking in the comic Felt like I had to outright state it cause I wasn't sure if people would notice it otherwise.

Something I REALLY wish was a thing in Zelda manga:

Zelda and Link BOTH lose their parents. Usually their mothers.

And we never get any sort of bonding over that. And I find that a complete waste of potential.

I'd like to dive further into that with FSR or some other Zelda work I do because: HOLY SHIT THEY COULD BOND OVER THEIR LOST PARENTS????

Also Zelda's unfortunate phrasing here with "You can talk to me" she means just, that he can confide in her in general lol.

He's still struggling to actually speak. Poor guy.

While keeping him from doing knight duties kept him PHYSICALLY safe it was just another thing he lost to the curse Vaati laid on him.

So the obvious: Zelda had to watch the person she cares about most completely fall apart before her eyes and she couldn't do shit.

They weren't even aware this WAS A CURSE from Vaati mind you. They were completely in the dark trying to solve this.

Something horrific about this situation you might have also considered:

Not only did Zelda have to watch Link deteriorate but so did Shadow Link.

Shadow Link couldn't even offer much comfort. Zelda could offer physical comfort and attempt emotional comfort but Shadow was completely fucked.

And with the new context of "Link was mostly mute" the fact he wasn't actively TALKING to Shadow Link makes a lot more sense.

Still didn't make that fact any less painful in the moment.

Shadow literally could not participate, was isolated and lonely and had to watch someone else slowly get isolated and lonely and couldn't even help.

Link and Shadow Link literally felt the same way and could not help each other even though they were right next to each other all that time.

Also with the new context of what Link was going through, Shadow's persistence to be there for Vio starts to make a whole lot more sense: He can actually DO something now.

Vio's just stating the obvious at this point and his broken record nature really pissed Link off.

I'm sure you noticed what he wore color wise matched his emotions lol.

Vio technically is 100% right: They think Gannon is in the sword. It would literally be INSANE to pull it knowing that.

But Link's kinda at the point of not giving a shit.

Zelda would get hurt no matter what his "solution" to the problem ended up being.

Shadow Link trying to cheer Link up by reminding him he's there is so sad. Mghhhh

And for the first time in the flashback we actually have Link fully acknowledge Shadow Link's presence.

Vio was outright in denial the man was still alive and didn't want to acknowledge his existence so Link fully embracing Shadow Link here was a big moment between the two of them.

Shadow Link started to figure out what the man was planning but couldn't do squat about it. (He also couldn't communicate with the 4 or HEAR THEM.)

Link shows up in the head space! :D

His words imply he wasn't SURE he could properly communicate with Green like this alone...Which is no surprise considering Vio thinks how odd it is they were able to do that in the first place.

I kinda scrambled to think of what to have him look like hah. Ended up with him wearing white. Since white is the lack of color, white reflects all wavelengths of light so it literally kinda REJECTS color. (Apposed to Black which absorbs light, which funny enough his pants are black...)

And it symbolizes rebirth, peace stuff like that.

It can also symbolize death but we're ignoring that one lmao.

His nails are all the colors + Shadow Link too.

Lmfao when you gaslight yourself.

Okay in all seriousness the Link lays down just how DIRE the situation is since the other 3 don't seem to be quite aware.

And the "Promise" Green made to Link is what had Green so shook at the start of the comic for.

And the weight of the line "Can I trust you?" really sinks in as we'll see.

Link's kinda spooky haha. You can tell he wasn't sure Green was going to help him but that's quickly overtaken by how overjoyed he is Green is for sure on board.

One of my favorite panels from this batch is how happy he is. He's so relived he can finally just rest.

Green can't though. The crushing weight of keeping everything "Okay" is a heavy burden to bare and Dark Link spits those words right back into Green's face, and just holds him.

Green doesn't seem to hate the hug as much as Vio did hah.

Green doesn't even seem to acknowledge his presence while Vio not only NOTICED but was actively terrified of him to the point of trying to grab his sword.

He also mocked Vio more throwing Vio's own words back in his face, but just repeats what Link said to Green.

How. Odd.

And that's all for this batch. Hope ya come back to read my rumbly thoughts about my own comic.

[papuhater]

Nolan Crane (cause I love the way you write him) having a chat with one of police woman about recent Scarecrow attack

"For someone who looks not so scary he sure know how to put fear in people."

He takes offence to that and says that in his opinion Scarecrow costume is pretty scary

"It's a dude with suit wearing bag on his head." Ok, now he is pissed and ask how in her opinion he would look scary.

Next day she shows him her sketches where Scarecrow has more comic book accurate costume that actually works.

"I wanted to add noose to his neck but I think it would be too much. Also it would be too easy to grab him by it."

They get to meet more often to talk about what in their opinion is scary and starts having conversations.

am i scary (pretty) enough?

pairing: jonathan crane x fem!police!reader

a/n: nya nya nya nya (my friend said that when i asked for a/n ideas)

summary: [ask]

☤) jon hated cops, he despised how nosy they were, after the scarecrow incident, some of them had to go to the asylum to check on his work, with the rumors going around of him being the scarecrow.

☤) when the noisy gcpd was asking him questions, the police who were writing the notes started speaking, which jon expected due to nosiness, and he responded rather nicely in a sarcastic way.

☤) until he heard a comment that piqued his interest, it was about scarecrow. it seemed you didn't find him (the scarecrow) scary enough, and doctor crane had the urge to find out why.

☤) he found out that she was named y/n, and he became the interrogator in the interrogation, he asked why you didn't think his disguise was terrifying, and you responded with:

"doctor crane you are giving him more credit than his costume deserves, for example, remember the joker? yeah, he wears a whole purple suit, has green hair and scary clown makeup, which can be considered a costume, while scarecrow literaly threw a potato sack into his head while wearing a nice suit and called it a day."

☤) first seconds of it slowly sinking in, he was offended, he seethed on the inside at the idea of being compared to the weird murderous clown, and refuted your opinion with his, thinking that the disguise was scary enough until it hit him,

you were right, his costume was really stupid,

"so, if you had to change anything on his disguise, what would it be?"

☤) the conversation flowed from there, the awkward ambient that could have ended in an argument became a pleasant meeting, you rambled about how he could theme the suit more around scarecrows and less about a weird businessman, and how scarecrows are used for crops he could use a scythe as a physical weapon and the fear gas as mental.

☤) jon actually started liking tolerating cop visits you had to do, looking forward to his one (1) social interaction of the week he actually enjoyed, tolerated. the topics of your conversation grew and it turned more into catching up in life.

☤) and in this visit, he is waiting outside of the asylum for you and when y/n arrives he feels his day just got a bit better, but different this time you came with an excited smile, and while you both walked into his office the chatter began and the conversation fell into the scarecrow again. but instead of asking, you pulled out a notebook with a sketch and handed it to him.

☤) the second jon laid his eyes on it, he was amazed,they weren't any sketches, they were scarecrow sketches, each trace of line was giving him the image of a scarier mask with a hood and a whole outfit, not to forget the scythe, he really liked the detail you put into the sketches.

☤) it was a whole character design you did, and he couldn't separate his eyes from it, it was marvelous, the curves and lines fitted perfectly and it looked like something he could pull off. you continued to ramble about how this disguise and how it was scary and thematic.

"i would've placed a noose, but i felt i was going overboard, so i erased it."

☤) he completely changed his outfit after that  

[michygranger23]

Hi people!! It's been a few days since the last update for the discduo Spider-Man AU, I'm sorry about that!! I've been busy with some irl stuff and then I've been with my Art Fight attacks, so that's what I've been doing, but I finally bring another part for the AU!! As always, let me know your thoughts, opinions and suggestions about this!! Anyways INTO THE RAMBLE!!

"Discduo: Into the Spider-Verse (Part 2)"

TW: Violence, mentions of death threats (minor ones, like just two lol), obssessive behaviour.

The Spider-people were seen swinging around the city, each one having their own style of swinging to move around the buildings of New York. A lot of people were quite surprised to see, for what looked like, different versions of their Spider-Man.

They arrived to the building that's been attacked by The Lizard and The Goblin.

When they got a good look at the scene, they were quite shocked to what they saw (except Spider!Tubbo). In amongst the chaos was what looked like a giant Lizard that had black and white skin (yes I googled this and they exist, go check them out they're actually pretty cool), one eye colored green and the other red, both the eyes had a tint of purple, a torned college jacket that had some grey and red accents, and some torned jeans. In the sky there was something flying around, or specifically, someone. What looked like a man on a flying hoverboard, was throwing some type of white balls that had smiley faces, causing some explotions to the building. The man was wearing a full body armor that was colored green, it had some purple accents like in the shoulders, chest and knees, like if that was a medieval armor, he was wearing a torn up dark green hood, and in the face was a porcelain mask that had a smiley face in it.

(Something like this to be precisely, but with the changes I wrote in.)

Dream would be infected by the goblin syrome like in the comics, or more precisely, like the Ultimate Spider-Man show, just not like too big or super super muscular XD. In his case, he would look more like a snake: his skin covered in white scales, eyes slit in the pupils like a cat, sharp teeth with a long forked tongue, and sharp nails

Spider!Tubbo was the first to start swinging to attack The Goblin, and soon he was followed by the rest of the Spider-people. Niki, Tommy and BBH were putting the remaining civilians to safety, while Dream, Techno and Ranboo were fightning The Lizard.

While Tubbo was attacking The Goblin, same man was talking as if they were just having a nice chat in the park (altho a bit more sarcastic and sadistic -and a tad bit insane- to sound remotely to that).

"Ah, Spider-Man, we meet again. And you brought more friends with you!! How kind of you to bring more spiders for me to kill. Unfortunately, I can't accept it, I'm in another mission right now, and sadly, that means that I'll need you and your arachnids alive. So try to stay still, this will hurt you more than it will for me"

Tubbo started to avoid the bombs The Goblin was launching at him, but then Goblin started to launch some mini misils that were quite harder to avoid, in some occasions getting hit.

Meanwhile Dream, Techno and Ranboo were having a hard time trying to detain The Lizard without trying to hurt them too much or destroy more of the building (I'm gonna use they/them pronouns for Lizard!Ranboo just to clarify!). They were breaking easily the webs that were being wrapped with and it was difficult to not let them run since they were too strong to resist the punches he was receving.

Niki, BBH and Tommy finally come back from evactuating everyone and they start helping the rest of the team. Niki and BBH go to assist with capturing the Lizard while Tommy goes with Tubbo to help him fight with Goblin.

BBH is able to punch the Lizard hard enough to make him dizzy so the rest of them can wrapped him in webs, then Nikki traps him in one of her water bubbles, managing to get the Lizard out of the way.

Spider!Dream is quick to go to assist in the fight of Tubbo and Tommy, while the others kept guard on The Lizard in case he decided to try to escape. He's able to avoid some of the misils and get some punches in The Goblin, Tubbo is able to reciprocrate the Goblin's attacks with his own bombs (that are full of webs) but the Goblin is avoiding them all, but he's having trouble trying to keep up with the two of them, and that's when Tommy uses his sound powers to send a strong sound wave coming from his own speakers in the costume and directed to Goblin.

Goblin isn't able to react in time and is hit full force in the face, making the mask break and almost sending him flying to the wall, but he's able to at least not crush into the wall, but the same couldn't be done with his mask. Goblin directly looks at the eyes of Tommy and that's when Dream's and Tommy's blood turn cold (they didn't knew until now that Goblin was Dream btw).

They saw the face of a version of Dream that they never knew could possibly exist. He had some white scales in his face as if they were freckles, eyes that had the pupils slit like a cat, very sharp teeth that look that they could cut through metal like if it was butter, all of this making him look like a sort of snake, he also had some cuts. But that's not the scariest part, the scary part is the expression he has.

He looks at Tommy with a deranged and maniac look, his eyes are wide, his mouth is making a big and insane grin, and he's laughing. At first it starts like a whisper of a chuckle, then it starts to get louder and louder, until it starts into a full maniac laughter. Dream and Tubbo are froze because of the crazy reaction, and the rest of Spider-People are making sure The Lizard doesn't escape, so the Goblin is able to quickly pin Tommy to the wall before anyone is able to do anything, he grabs him by the neck and squishes hard. Dream and Tubbo are almost going to swing to fight him, and the rest of the team heard the crack sound of the wall, making them almost start swinging over there, but the Goblin speaks.

"Don't go near us or else you want me to see how I slit his throat slowly as if he was a prey"

They paused after hearing that, they didn't want to get their team-mate hurt, they needed to do something quick or else he would end hurt no matter what. But The Lizard started to punch hard enough on the bubble with his head that was starting to break it and making enough noise to grab their attention. Niki was trying her best to keep the bubble up but it was getting difficult every second, BBH, Ranboo and Techno tried to wrap the bubble with more webs to keep it from breaking, they were doing their best but soon it would break. Meanwhile Tubbo and Dream tried to swing there, but the Goblin is able to launch a bomb that created a force shield around him and Tommy, making them unable to reach them.

While Tubbo and Dream tried to get rid of the force shield, Goblin's gaze went back to Tommy. Slowly but surely, he started to take Tommy's mask off. Tommy tried to grab the hand to stop him but Goblin just squished his neck harder, making it harder to breathe. When he finally unmasked him, he stared at him with an unblinking expression, looking at Tommy as if he was studying an interesting object, or an animal that was interesting to look at.

"What's your name, little spider?"

"Go.. Go f*ck yourself.. d*ckhead"

He tried to sound confident and intimidating, but it was hard to speak without getting much oxygen in his body, and the fear he was feeling that was making his whole body paralyzed was making him panic internally.

Goblin just squish harder.

"OK, OK.. it's Tommy!! My name... *gasp*... is Tommy Innit.. please let... *gasp*.. go"

Goblin stopped to squish to the point of letting no oxygen in, but he still was squishing hard enough to breathe properly.

"See?? It wasn't that hard. Now, Tommy, I will say, I'm actually very impressed for what you did to my mask. The Spider-Man from this universe hasn't even been able get close to hurt me badly or caught me by surprise since he appeares. But you..."

He leaned closer to Tommy's ear, making Tommy shiver. He whispered

"You're fun. Our game has just begun. And I can't wait to start playing with you :)"

He finished saying with an obsessive and insane look.

Before anything else could happen, Goblin moved his head to the side to answer a call to what look like a communicator on his ear.

"Yes, I got the stuff.. Yeah I understand, I just got distracted by.. a spider problem. I'll be right there"

He made the force shield dissappear and pushing away Tubbo and Dream. The Lizard managed to break free from his prison and punched the Spiders into the walls hard. Goblin gave one last maniac look to Tommy before dropping him to the floor along with his mask.

"I enjoyed our meet up, Spider-Man, but I need to take care of other things. And Tommy... I'm looking forward to see you again. Goodbye for now, little spider"

Goblin made an explosion in the roof, flying with the hover board outside the building. The Lizard was quick enough to follow his lead before anyone could stop them.

Niki, BBH and Ranboo were slowly standing up after the punch The Lizard gave them. Dream and Tubbo quickly swing to where Tommy was dropped off.

"Tommy??! Are you okay??" asked Tubbo.

Tommy started to stand up, rubbing unconsciously his neck in which had been grabbed with a strong grip just some second ago. He looked to Tubbo and Dream, lingering his view in Dream for just a second longer than in Tubbo.

"Yeah..yeah I'm fine, I'm just glad he let go of my throat"

They look up to the hole where just some moments ago The Goblin and The Lizard escaped.

"It's better that we go back to Tubbo's base, we need to recover and get out of here before the polices arrives" said Techno while he was walking towards them.

Tommy looked just a little bit more to the hole before turning to Dream and then noodling to Techno.

By the time the cops arrived, all that was left was some mild destruction of the building with some webs in the walls and ceilings, and the testimony of civilians saying how they were more Spider-man's fighting the villains that attacked.

AND THAT'S IT FOR THIS POST WOOOOO!! It took me all day to write this wth. Tbh I was multitasking and doing some other things while I was writing so it makes sense lol. Also just to be clear!! In this universe (Tubbo's one) the Tommy from this universe is an orphan that got adopted by Kristen and has Wilbur as his older brother. I wanted to make Goblin! Dream's reaction to Tommy being genuinely surprised and impressed by his abilities without knowing, causing this to start his obsession over him.

Anywho I hope you enjoyed this!! Next part will probably be a bit shorter than this one but important nonetheless. Let me know your thoughts and opinions of this :D!!

[bougiebutchbitch]

Congratulations, you made me start reading White Knight! I'm not a fan so far, but I believe you said it gets better?

lmao, I am shaking hands with you and pretty much every other Batjokes fan!

It does get better. By a lot. I would encourage you to keep going!

The whys & wherefores are below the cut - but I have to give the obligatory disclaimer that this is all personal opinion. I know this is a bit of a contentious comic in the fandom, for reasons I fully understand! I'm not looking to get into a debate - just to ramble a little and share my love for this series with folks who, hopefully, will appreciate that x

The most egregious issue I had with White Knight was that Jack seemed to be an entirely different character from Joker. So... why should I even care about him?

Like. He started wearing a suit? And working out to get the Stereotypical Superhero Bod rather than rocking that classic scrawny Joker look? And he became a freaking politician? Bullshit.

Add to that the shoddy mental health depictions (that's... really not how DID works, DC) and the blatant homophobia of "We will literally say ON THE PAGE that Joker is in love with Batman, but only when he's evil - when he's good, he's in love with Harley and hates Batman".... Yeah, the initial comic has issues, to say the least.

BUT. I do think that in the later chapters, after Jack's 'death' - so, in the Beyond the White Knight era! - Jack's characterisation gets wayyyy more believable. He reads like a good incarnation of Joker! He's annoying - purposefully, irrepressably so! He's a dork! He's hyper-intelligent but also just plain ol' hyper! He does his own sound effects! He goofs about because he thinks he's hilarious (and Bruce kinda indulges him and it's very cute)! He's A MASSIVE Batman fanboy, and hooooo boy does it show!

There's a gigantic Queer Undertone to his relationship with Batman - even more so than is the norm, for Batjokes. One need only look at the little heart emoticon when he talked to Bruce in the Valentine's Day issue. Or the whole 'Harley gets to call you Bats but I don't? :pout:' part. Or the 'those two bicker like an old married couple' bit, or the part where Jack asks Batman if he can ride on the back of his motorcycle ("You won't even feel my arms around you ;)" - holographic flirting at its finest!), or even Bruce's relationship with Harley!

I'm serious. You do NOT need to be wearing the Queer Viewing Goggles in order to interpret Jack wholeheartedly supporting Bruce and Harley getting together and being happy together, with or without his involvement, in a very OT3-sorta-fashion.

Buuuuuut if you're after explicit statements that Jack is still in love with Batman as Jack, rather than Joker, you won't find them in this comic. I would argue that there's enough implicit stuff there to see Jack as 100% bisexual, in love with Bruce and Harley, but, as usual.... that reading remains implicit. Instead, there is enough ambiguity for Comic Dudebros to argue that The Magic Brain Pills 'cured' Joker both of his mental illness and his love for Batman. Which... sigh. :/

In other news, I genuinely like the depiction of Bruce in this comic! So driven, so stoic... But he's also learning slowly how to be vulnerable with the people who love him, how to accept and live with his panic disorder, and how to impart affection to his sons! He's learning that he's allowed family, happiness, and peace! Those are arcs I will never tire of.

Harley is also a delight - a take-no-shit, smart yet fun interpretation of the character. She doesn't really read like the Harley I know and love, but regardless, I'm invested in her and her story!

So, yeah. Awesome art, decent storyline (not exceptional, but far from the worst out there!), fascinating Elseworlds look at the entire Batfam, and strong, strong implications of an m/m/f OT3... There's a lot not to love. But there's a lot to love, too!

I hope you enjoy!

[disniq]

OK so I'm bad at watching TV but your Titans!Jason fic has me sort of curious about checking the show out. I'm mostly a comics!Jason fan (I coast on that knowledge to read your stuff) and I did read a wiki summary of his arc and wasn't super interested, but I think a real human with Jason opinions I tend to agree with might be a better indicator. So thoughts on picking up the show?

Hi there! Firstly, thank you very much! It’s always hugely flattering when someone who doesn’t watch Titans likes my Titans fics <3

Secondly, uh. Titans is not by any definition a *good* show.

It has so many issues. The casting is amazing, but the writing is choppy and inconsistent and the pacing is awful. They chose an interesting mix of characters, but their commitment to making everything as dark and edgy as possible back in 2018 makes it so that more often than not they're all deeply unlikable. Many of the concepts they introduce have absolutely fascinating wider implications but then the show fails to examine them in any meaningful way, and it often directly contradicts itself in ways that are incredibly frustrating!

It compels me though dot gif

But somehow, SOMEHOW, despite all that, or maybe because of it, they also managed to make an extremely compelling Jason!

Titans!Jason draws titbits from a whole bunch of different comic runs - he’s older when he meets Bruce ala Rebirth, his parents are the drug addict and the two-face grunt from post-crisis, some of the Scarecrow stuff in season 3 pays homage to the Arkham Knight and Injustice video games - but he’s very much his own character, you know? He’s also canonically ADHD, which I may have mentioned before but it really does define his character, even though the show never actually brings it up in relation to his issues or behaviour.

(It would also be remiss of me not to commend Curran Walters’ performance, because that kid put his whole heart into playing Jason for personal reasons and it shows! Even when the writing/executive choices were extremely questionable - looking at you, season 3 part 2 - he pulls it back enough for it to be watchable for me.)

ANYWAY, back to your actual question xD

Jason isn’t in all that many episodes anyways, so if you’re just interested in him specifically and you're not overly bothered about the plot, I'd recommend looking up season 3 episode 5 ("Lazarus"), which is the background ep for the build up to Red Hood and also the only 100% Jason focused episode. It's coincidentally my favourite episode, and if you watch the "previously on" section it'll cover all his major plot points in a handy dandy 45 minute window!!

And if you’re just here for the condensed angst, this fantastic video on youtube is four minutes long and really sums up the general feels Titans!Jason gives off!

I don't know if any of that is helpful, but thank you for letting me ramble about my special interest :D!

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

My...own take on Spider-Man rambling

Edit update I showed this crap to @kaijuguy19 first.

This is all copied from a draft from June 23rd, 2023. Which I will delete after posting this. This is what I have been talking about or hinting at. But I think I won’t really go through with it because even though I am being affected by outside opinions. But I feel like again, with a lot of different takes on this character. This is all just fanfiction, but I question if I should even go with this.

Especially with my weird mixed opinions on Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, my love and liking for certain adaptations such as the 70′s live action Spider-Man show. Along with Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man which is...LITERALLY WHAT I’M KIND OF DESCRIBING HERE. That my ideas aren’t really creatively new. Especially after playing the game recently which I have said in earlier posts.

Along with the idea of that I may have made Peter Parker more akin to Miguel O’Hara (The original comics version that is) but I had thought of him being literally the “Opposite” of Miguel in Across the Spider-Verse. And other changes I had wondered of having him get bitten by the spider at the age of 15 like in the 616 universe.

But the point being, this dude is a depressed man due to some hardships. But he’s one of the most human and caring people who is scared of losing people close to him. With this Peter’s character arc is learning to forgive himself for his uncle’s death, letting his guilt go & learning it’s okay to let them others in his life, that he doesn’t need to be alone. Even if there is danger being close to Spider-Man, he shouldn’t have to be alone in that responsibility.

And the fact I have imagined this Peter being on Miles’s side in Across the Spider-Verse. If the film was PG-13, he would say, “Fuck your canon.” taking the one F-bomb for the film and take on the entire Spider-Society and Miguel himself if he had to. I guess this idea is if RIPeter was a “Perfect” Spider-Man, but he was such a mess behind the mask when he was Peter Parker.

Anyway, I think I’ve said enough. I’ll let you all read the rest below the keep reading option. I really like Spider-Man. Whether it be comics, films, games, shows and whatever else. I strangely want to see Spider-Man in Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur. Whether it be Peter or Miles, or both, I would love to see both of them. Because I want to write something warm with Peter being this warm, protective “Older brother” to Lunella. Because this Peter is wary about LITERAL KIDS being superheroes because he became one at the age of 15...and it was rough for him.

You know, Spider-Man has had a lot of adaptations in different sorts of media. And considering recent stuff like my rant about the Sony spin off films for Spider-Man villains, me loving Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man in general. I feel like me doing a Spider-Man thing isn’t really worth. Despite I’m no director or so, this is basically just an AU. But I want to write this down in case I want to share it with anyone.

My take was the idea of making a Man of Steel/The Batman like approach and wanting to make a version of Spider-Man that really honored the source material but being its own thing. Including taking elements from previous versions. A take on character I’ve loved since I was a kid. And when I look at my idea, it feels like to me this seems to be the Spider-Verse films but without the multiverse aspect. Even something akin to Marvel’s Spider-Man PlayStation game series by Insomniac. But also, make “The Dark Knight” of the Spider-Man franchise which sounds silly.

-

The main focus or the two major characters are Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Yet during this “Trilogy” there’s also the inclusion of Miles Morales as he is important later on. But the other two are what I wanted to focus on and talk about.

Peter has been Spider-Man for about 3 to 4 years. He’s not a veteran yet but not fully a rookie. MJ has not seen Peter since the end of high school. During an event where she is saved by Spider-Man. She likely accidentally discovers that her old high school friend, Peter is Spider-Man. It’s been four years since they met, they graduated at 18 and now 22 years old.

But what surprises her the difference in Peter’s personality when he’s not in costume. While as Spider-Man, Peter is more jokey, chattier and more whatever else. What you would expect of Spider-Man. But as Peter, yes, he’s reserved. Yet also, he’s...very pessimistic and just a tired young man. He’s strangely cynical and does suffer from anger issues. But he’s able to control it when he can. As Spider-Man, he’s kind of putting up an act in a way, but he can be himself as well.

In a strange way, Peter is basically a combination of Peter B. Parker and RIPeter from Into The Spider-Verse. There’s even a comment from MJ where she says, “You know, for a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. You sure are very pessimistic.” or something akin to that but yeah.

Since he had become Spider-Man, Peter’s life has been a mess. But not in the way you expected. There was a time where he tried to balance his life yet as everything went on, things couldn’t be balanced. His life has been a mess to where he’s evicted from his apartment, MJ offers him a place to stay, and he’s still working at the Daily Bugle. One idea included him dropping out of college, but that seems like too much.

Peter has literally sacrificed his personal life and relationships to focus on being Spider-Man and it showcases the problem when that happens. Including the fact during those four years, in this version. Gwen had broken up with Peter due to whatever he was doing. Especially because Gwen, her father and the rest of their family had moved out of the state. Peter hardly has any friends and keeps to himself most of the time. And there’s also another reason.

The death of Uncle Ben is still present. But there are other certain aspects to this origin. Peter is still reeling from the incident because while he was responsible for not stopping the killer. But Peter was there to witness Ben being shot in the face three times. Including before then possibly, learning his birth parents had purposely abandoned him so May and Ben can raise him. Peter learned this during an argument he had with his uncle. Which was revealed by Ben in anger. And was likely one of the last times Peter had spoken with Ben. Which Peter still strongly regrets that.

Despite the persona he puts on as Spider-Man. He’s still doing Spider-Man out of guilt, not out of anything else. Even though he understands what he’s been doing is a very good thing. But he looks at it in a strange negative light. And he kind of looks at Ben in a “sage” like way. But during this story and him reconnecting with MJ. There are things that Peter discovers about Ben that truly make him question being Spider-Man.

Including the “If you have great power, you have a great responsibility to use it” that Peter had to figure out himself after Ben’s death. This was meant to be in a strange way a reference or so the fact unlike many other versions. The iconic line was only said at the end of “Amazing Fantasy #15″ and my idea was to again, Peter realizing it himself without being told it.

During the story, Peter tries to push away MJ from helping him as Spider-Man in anyway. He’d rather keep the burden on himself and not allowing her in harm's way. It’s likely the guilt over Ben still troubles him and he tries to hide it. But a revelation is revealed to Peter, by a villain or in some other way.

It is revealed that Ben before marrying May or behind her back. Ben had been a criminal. Although not a hardened one, but a man who kept that part of him a secret from his family. A former bank robber who hadn’t kill anyone but had done some illegal things. And that the man who murdered him was one of his old friends who was originally going to rob them first. But upon recognizing Ben, the robber murdered Ben in anger. Or the idea the robber planned to kill Ben as he figured out where he lived.

This revelation destroys Peter’s concept of Spider-Man and should he even continue it. Even the horrible thought process of maybe Uncle Ben deserved to die. The truth eats away at him as he realized Ben wasn’t the “Perfect” father figure that he felt like he failed. But Peter learns later on that before Ben had been killed, there was a note he wanted to share with him.

Ben had written a note that details who he was before he met May and started raising him. When Peter was graduating but was slowly turning getting used to his new powers, Ben had started to worry for Peter. Including seeing how Peter was acting, Ben feared that Peter would’ve became like who he was before he wanted to change. The note contained an apology to Peter and wanting to explain who he really was and how he only wants Peter to make the best decisions he could. And that he shouldn’t push out a support system like May and whoever else because those are people that are willing to help change who you are. But it’s also his choice of who he wants to be.

One of the big themes for this story is “Duality”. Such as with MJ wanting to help Peter but he keeps pushing her out. She tells him (And this was important) that when they were younger, she used to put on a “Party girl” persona to hide what she had been going through. And in some cases, she still does. Mainly this was happening when her father had been abusive to her and their family. And when she and her family tried to report him to the police, MJ’s father left a “Fuck you” note and killed himself to not face the consequences when his family was able to prove what he was doing.

This idea and MJ telling Peter she knows what it’s like to hide under a mask. And again, the theme of “Duality” as Peter realizes how flawed his uncle was. But the note reveals that he truly was a good “Father” and simply was only worried for Peter. And with Peter realizing he doesn’t need to make himself suffer as Spider-Man and needs to allow people in to help him. But also, that his job as Spider-Man doesn’t need to be done out of guilt. He can be Spider-Man because of his choice and to honor what Ben would’ve wanted him to do.

And thus, Peter becoming less cynical and more well, hopeful.

-

Then we got the villains, and this was tricky. Originally or well, the major one seemed to be Mysterio and likely still could be. Who is basically a sociopathic and egotistical man using his talents to make himself look better than Spider-Man and things get worse. In a sick way, possibly an extremely dark mirror if Peter went down the line of still being selfish and having a superiority complex. Slowly becoming even more of a worse person when Quentin Beck at one point straight starts killing people to make Spider-Man look worse.

Another villain to be included Shocker (Who I love like, I love this dude) to be a secondary one. Maybe he still may be included. But Shocker was one of the earliest villains Spider-Man faced in his career in this story. Along with possibly Vulture, the Chameleon, and the Rhino. But one character I was really thinking of using that works so strongly was the Prowler, the Aaron Davis version.

Mainly the idea of Aaron/Prowler is a foil to Spider-Man not just in terms of design, but in other aspects. Despite one angle that like the Spider-Verse films, Aaron actually has a close bond with Miles and is a genuinely cool uncle. Despite his relationship with his brother Jefferson isn’t in the best condition.

There’s this story idea of Peter bonding with Miles and maybe accidentally discovering Peter is Spider-Man as well. But also learning along with Miles that Aaron is the Prowler. Which would shock the both of them and Peter realizes Miles is in the same position he’s in with his own uncle. That Ben was a criminal before he changed. And seeing Miles going through the same thing as he is well, hurts him.

Really, I’d gotta develop this more. But the idea is it looks like Aaron/Prowler is going to die. Yet instead of him dying, Peter literally risks his life to save a man that has been trying to kill him this entire story. All because Peter is not wanting Miles to go through the same thing he did with losing Ben. Which makes Aaron rethink his viewpoint on Spider-Man.

-

There’s a lot to talk about with this. But I want to finish this. But yeah, the idea of Miles also becoming Spider-Man alongside Peter. But with Peter despite being reluctant a bit, he’s grateful that he’s no longer alone.

But there have been thoughts about other characters like Harry Osborn, Black Cat, Flash Thompson, Gwen Stacy, Silver Sable and whoever the Hell else. Such as Eddie Brock/Venom if I want to bring the Symbiotes into this world.

Yet one aspect that I have thought about a lot...do I want to bring the Green Goblin into this story? Should it be Norman or Harry? What’s the point in even doing Green Goblin again when you’ve had many different versions of him that do him justice. When my idea was to make him the most dangerous version he possibly could be. Basically, make him on the level of Heath Ledger’s Joker.

There were even ideas of combing Green Goblin and Hobgoblin into one character and simply call them “The Goblin” but after some thinking. And I think for my sake and other people may like this too. But I feel like the Hobgoblin is everything or so I want in a Spider-Man villain that would push Peter and others into their darkest moments. Because seriously, Hobgoblin is a fucking bastard and I like that. And also, the fact I love his design more than the Green Goblin’s too.

-

I’ll just admit I imagine Kyle McCarley as Peter Parker and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Mary Jane Watson. Both actors being from Infinity Train. Murray Bartlett from The Last of Us 2023 as Uncle Ben and these are mainly voice roles. I keep imaging Miles and his family as like from the Spider-Verse films. And Hobgoblin, this dude would have Roger L. Jackson from the Scream franchise as his voice.

And on a funny note. I have wondered about setting this in the world of the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur cartoon. But I feel like to me and the possible hints with how the world in that cartoon is...that wouldn’t work. XD And I would continue on my shit like, “For the love of God, make sure Lunella and others NEVER face any of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. But maybe Shocker, maybe Rhino. But mostly Shocker because that might be funny.”

[zalia]

For the OTP ask

Unoriginal and predictable for my part yes but I like seeing u enjoying the collective Blorbo so

Osiris

i am always happy to ramble about Osiris because I too am predictable XD This is also for @vallaragna who asked for Osiris as well!

favorite thing about them He cares *so much*. He is bad at showing it at times, and hides it with the veneer of arrogant narcissism, but he is so wholly dedicated to defending his people. And he has a rock solid moral core. I think with Saint being so nice and openly caring, it's easy to forget that it was Osiris who was seeing the Eliksni as more than just enemies way back before he even became Vanguard Commander and calls Saint out several times on his hatred for them. He's a good person. He's just not always a very nice one.

least favorite thing about them It's hard to think of something because even the negative parts of his personality are things that I love because they make him more interesting. I guess, we do have a joke amongst my friends which is 'But what about Osiris' needs?' because god, the man can be very self-centred and a diva, and that bleeds into any fic I write with him. He can and will make himself the centre of any narrative and from a writing perspective, it can feel very self-indulgent.

favorite line I love the line from Season of the Seraph where he snarls at Clovis to keep his damn thoughts away from Saint. It's so protective, a crack that shows us something beyond what he tries to project to the world.

brOTP I am very invested in his friendship with Lord Shaxx XD There's not a huge amount in canon, but there's such a casual vibe between them in the Devil's Ruin quest. Also we know that the Speaker suspected Shaxx of being one of Osiris' followers (and in the comic Shaxx is right there with Ikora trying to stop Osiris from getting exiled), so I figure there is some closeness there. Also love him being friends with Eris and Mara. We got a glimpse at the closeness between him and Mara in Season of the Seraph, and I really hope we get some with Eris too!

OTP Saint-14. No matter what else I write, there's always gonna be Saint in the background (even when I write things from before they meet each other). They just obviously love each other so much.

nOTP I don't really have one honestly. If something can be written well enough, I'll probably give it a chance, although I have my own specific ideas about his relationships with other people. I guess I would struggle seeing him and Ikora?

random headcanon Obvious to anyone who has read my fics, this man is autistic and really fucking tired. He also has a sweet tooth.

unpopular opinion Not something I've seen on Tumblr, but in my occasional dives into Reddit, I have seen people complain that he isn't as cool and badass as he is 'supposed to be' in the really early lore. Blah blah, depowered, blah blah, whatever. What they wanted was apparently an all-powerful asshole genius who was flawlessly 'logical' and... look, it is the same type of guy who reveres Elon Musk. But just... besides showing a complete lack of understanding of how characters have biases in how they talk about things, they seem to hate the very things that make Osiris fascinating as a character. He's deeply flawed, massively traumatised, and very emotional. Also gay. Something tells me this may be influencing certain opinions.

song i associate with them This is the question I always fear because I suck at it XD Not sure specifically for Osiris, but A Good Song Never Dies, by Saint Motel, is a great song for Guardians in general.

favorite picture of them

This concept art I adore!

[thosewildcharms]

i was tagged by @theyarebothgunshot to talk about 8 shows to get to know me. thank you for tagging me! putting this under the cut because i ramble.

In no particular order:

1: the oc/gossip girl: yeah okay i’m cheating right off the bat by conflating these two but i don’t care it makes sense! besides being from the same creator/production team, i think in many ways they are natural inverses of each other (west coast/east coast, new money/old money, evolving beyond what people expect of you vs buying into your own propaganda etc). listen i am a sucker for teen dramas, always have been and always will be, and i think these two changed the game in a BIG way. neither are thee mothership of the genre (i think that goes to beverly hills 90210???) but they are both so compelling in different ways and i very often find myself thinking about them (also in very different ways) years after watching them, and subconsciously compare characters on other shows to the main cast of each and they always fall short (you will never be blair waldorf you will never be seth cohen etc). plus the soundtracks! incredible. i can talk about the oc in particular for days and how it has what every other teen show secretly needs (sandy cohen) but this is already too long and i need to shut up.

2. miranda (bbc): listen. LISTEN. i re-watch this show every year without fail. it is the ultimate cozy feel good show that also somehow punches me in the face with how much of an Experience it is. i can’t describe to you what it was like watching this silly little comedy for the first time, getting sucker punched so thoroughly (in the best way) over and over and then to finally have the most satisfying conclusion i could have imagined. references from this show take up a not-insignificant amount of my vocabulary and i quote it daily. it’s so good. i love it so much.

3. friday night lights: anyone who has watched this show knows why. it’s so hard to explain, it’s just good. as someone who has never given even the slightest shit about any sports game of any kind, i think the highest compliment i could give this show is that it made me cry about football more than once. the only people i know who don’t love this show simply have not seen it (actually, people don’t talk about this show enough anymore?? that’s so sad). when i think of my favorite shows, i always have to include fnl because it’s just so sincerely excellent. i own two fnl t-shirts and i will gush about it unprompted if you give me even the tiniest window to do so. texas forever, clear eyes full hearts etc. micheal b jordan you will always be vince howard to ME.

4. gilmore girls: this one actually surprises even me because i never talk about it on tumblr dot com lol but i literally have it on as background noise as i type and it’s almost always my default when i just want to put something on that’s comforting. it’s weird because i can’t really say i LIKE the show as a whole but it’s so cozy (at least the first five seasons) and i do have a LOT of opinions about it, but in a kind of low-stakes way where it’s fun to think about instead rage-inducing. it’s strangely enough, something i can talk about for hours (and often do) without even realizing it.

5. smallville: oh my god the way i was obsessed with this show in middle school lmaoo the way it’s not technically GOOD but also it kind of is? full disclosure i’ve only seen the last few seasons like, once but i used to have the first five or six seasons practically MEMORIZED. it’s a good time, and while i don’t know much about the superman comics (or any comics) it’s my....favorite? iteration of superman that i’ve seen? idk, i thought tom welling and kristin kreuk were the two most beautiful people i’ve ever seen in my life and i loved watching them make out. also michael rosembaum was an incredible lex luthor and i stand by that. i also find myself talking about this show a lot in real life.

6. lost: one thing about me is that i WILL go off about how the lost finale was good actually and NO they were not dead the entire time you idiot -  at any given opportunity. it IS one of the five petty, inconsequential hills i will die on. it’s a good show with a good and fitting ending FIGHT ME ABOUT IT. also sawyer/juliet supremacy their reunion scene in the finale is the scene i compare all other romantic scenes to. nothing compares. scene of all time.

7. hey arnold: i know it’s a cartoon shut up! but consider this: it’s beautiful and good. i legitimately watch it all the time because it’s so funny and melancholy and sad and smart and the soundtrack slaps. also finally getting the jungle movie (which was a conclusion to a HUGE cliffhanger from my childhood) was proof that sometimes you can get closure, actually! this happened before reboots became unnecessary and exhausting leave me alone

8. supernatural: i watched this show after thee november fifth and it accidentally became my whole personality. i don’t even know.

honorable mentions: selfie abc (if you haven’t heard me whine about how it’s the one show in the world i actually want a reboot for you simply haven’t known me long enough); my mad fat diary (i will be thinking about finn writing ‘i love you’ on rae’s back for the rest of my life), ugly betty (i just love it a lot)

tagging: @bisansastarks @buttobstacle @mmaddens @richonnies @dwcas, @coachlasso @wordybee @ilarual @hauntedpearl @burgundyshoes @someoldlady @that-gender-bender @bananaleaves @korralone and anyone else who sees this and would like to do it!