#gwen my girl you are doomed by the narrative

[manhunter-1986]

across the spiderverse gwen knowing that her love for miles will ultimately be her undoing, knowing that loving spiderman freely could kill her and therefore pushing him away before she gets burnt

beyond the spiderverse gwen knowing that she'll let it happen for the chance to be happy with him.

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

Spent the first half or so of the case thinking the protagonist was a man and I was like ‘oh wow this is such a cool trans allegory’

[writing-for-life]

Let's go choose violence:

3, 8, 9, 25 for The Sandman :3c

Rubs hands gleefully…

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr 

Of course not screenshotting as everyone’s entitled to their opinion, so this is just a thing *I* find hard to understand/get my head around:

“Neil Gaiman ran out of ideas, and that’s why he killed off Morpheus.”

I mean, you could say he wanted to conclude his arc, and with that I agree. And thank fuck he did, because if Murphy were still alive, we would need to suffer the horrible takes that DC has foisted upon us ever since. But it is so completely incomprehensible to me when I read that there was no sign that Morpheus would off himself before World’s End or TKO. That it came out of nowhere, that it made the whole thing completely depressing and insufferable and sends a "bad" message. 

It all was right there, from the start. You can’t read "The Sound of her Wings" and not see that he’s absolutely haunted by the narrative, and how much comfort he finds in her. And you don’t need to read the whole thing and then just see it in hindsight (it's something I hear/read quite often). It’s clear as day if you are willing to go down the line of thinking that the Endless aren’t people but concepts. I personally think that’s where people can trip up. And I even get it--of course we want to humanise them because we are human. But they are not. They are mirrors and foils that are supposed to make us think about our own humanity (and we recognise it in them, but that still doesn’t make them human--they just show us human traits and what this mortal coil is about. Carry it and abandon it in equal measures).

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about 

Everyone apart from me of course 😂

"Hob Gadling is any shape or form the personification of hope, and his sole purpose is to (squee! UwU) save Murphy from his bleak existence".

No he ain’t. Hope is Hope, and she is a little girl (blows a raspberry right in your face). If Hob''s anything, he is humanity in a nutshell: ugly, self-serving, opportunist, but also feeling, caring and redeemable. But especially the first part is harder to woobify.

Did I also mention I have this take that making Dream's relationship to Hob all about romance and sex forgets about the importance of friendship, and why it's actually so important for the plot? Plus, that we have a tendency to erase male friendship and hence lean into toxic masculinity if we make every glance and every touch and every close emotional bond about: "Oh, they want to fuck?", and that's decidedly *not* progressive? Yeah, about that... (ship them, it's fine, no problem whatsoever, just be aware it's not the *only* take, and I will stick my neck out now and say: it won't be canon).

9. worst part of canon

That’s a tricky one because I can make sense of pretty much everything to be fair, but if I had to choose, it’s that Morpheus’ failed relationship to Nada created ripples that basically doomed every black woman connected to his arc (not *all* black women, I think that’s actually a misinterpretation, as is that Morpheus is racist, which he conceptually can't be). And as soon as he’s dead, we get token Gwen who isn’t doomed by the narrative anymore. And said Gwen *really* is a token black woman with no true agency of her own—her entire purpose is to serve the redemption of the slave trader. And that Neil actually confirmed this was *intentional* in The Sandman Companion. I get why he made that narrative choice, but to me, it still looks bad. I have hopes though he moved on from that take and we don’t get to see it in the show (the signs are there, so fingers crossed).

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Ties in with 3: That The Sandman should have a different, “more hopeful” ending. 

But quite a few others: 

You *should* write fanfics about XYZ because there’s not enough of it. 

You *should* elevate supporting characters to main characters because they are ABC.

You *shouldn’t* focus so much on the main character because he’s a guy/male-presenting (I mean, he’s the protagonist, so there’s that).

You *should* ship m/m because it makes problematic dynamics less problematic. 

You *shouldn’t* ship m/f because it’s heteronormative. My favourite: Johanna Constantine is bi, you *shouldn’t* ship her with a guy, because again: Heteronormative. Erm, I hate to break it to people (and speaking from experience): That’s how being bi works, and we like m, f and nb equally? And we happen to want sex with m, f and nb? And we pretty much have blinkers on when it comes to falling in love with a *person*, or what we find hot/sexually arousing? And I swear if I read shit like that once more, I’ll get heteronormative out of sheer spite and will smite people.

You *should* or *shouldn't* ship. Both fine. And/but there's certainly more to The Sandman than blorbofication and allosexualisation of everything.

So yeah, pretty much anything that involves a *should*. You can do whatever the fuck you like as long as you don’t lose your ability to critically engage with it. Plus, the space has to be welcoming for everyone, and that’s sometimes hard for creators and people who don’s serve/like the main flavour. And therein lies the problem, because critical engagement doesn’t always happen, and a lot of good stuff disappears in amongst the noise…

[sieglinde-freud]

OOOH I would also like to request your thoughts on Leshawna!!

SHE SHOULDVE BEEN IN ALL STARS OVER SIERRA IDGAF!!! i love leshawna and im so mad they screwed her over in… well i was gonna say world tour but the answer is literally every season.

bc for starters what the FUCK was season 1 camp hauture. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? and ik DAMN WELL its bc they couldnt think of a good way to kick her off (not that. theyve had good eliminations all the way through. cough cough lindsay cough cough dj cough GEOFF???) like she couldve won. i understand gwen had most of the narrative on her and was set up to be the winner/finalist from the start but idk. leshawna v owen wouldve been great too. or just, idk, GIVING HER A REASON TO LEAVE THE SHOW??? and then action is whatever i think she left at an okay time but everyone dog piling her for that video was stupid. she DID just say it like it is and god forbid a girl be honest. i know damn well everyone was thinking the same damn thing about eachother so why is it so bad she says it out loud. and then world tour sucks bc 1) as fun as it was seeing heather get a tooth knocked out, forgetting their friendship just so leshawna could fall for alejandro bites and 2) dj shouldve went home. i love dj but that curse was DUMB AS HELL and also. i love leshawna and lindsays friendship. theyre my favs im SORRYYYYYY but yeah. i love leshawna. one of total dramas strongest players doomed by bad writing. im almost mad she wasnt in all stars bc while she deserves that status, it might be a blessing she wasnt there. rip everyone else that was though

[demonio-fleurs]

i was tagged in a 20 Questions meme!

sorry for taking so long to respond, i can be kinda lazy sometimes and was waiting to be able to use my laptop <3 but ty for the tag @iam-jacks-redacted-information !!!

let's dive right in!

1 ) How many works do you have on AO3?

28!

2) What’s your total AO3 words count?

120,637 (owo)

3) What fandoms do you write for?

Red vs Blue, Spider-Man, World of Warcraft and SPYXFAMILY are what are listed on my ao3 profile. I've done my most amount of work in the RvB fandom, but i've also written a LOT for The Hunger Games, Torchwood, and (sadly) Harry Potter and Twilight. Just... not on ao3.

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Next Time Around which is an RvB rewrite w/ Tex surviving outside of the Epsilon memory unit, instead of being erased by Church at the end of s9 (which i still need to rewrite and finish waaah) Closure which.. I genuinely don't remember writing. Scars which I wrote on behalf of someone who wanted more non-sibling Carwash fics a cup of coffee in the morning which I wrote after a desire to see more of Wash's tastes/interests changing after the implementation of the Epsilon AI it's all in your head aka, a cute lil thing I did for fifteen minute ficlets that I need to get back into for SPYXFAMILY and twiyor.

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes and no. It depends! I am an awkward person so if I know how to reply, I usually will especially if it's something i can answer! However, if it's something where i can't really think of a good response I might just leave it, or come back to it later.

6) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Uh... i tend to not write angsty endings. I like happy endings, I like knowing that despite everything, happiness can still be found. Like I LOVE angst, but I also like rewarding myself with some happy endings.

but one time I wrote about Cinna's death from THG so.... does that count?

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I've never finished it, but my intended ending for Next Time Around was to have Tex going to Allison's grave on Earth with Carolina and Wash and laying down Forget-Me-Nots, before going back to live out the rest of her time with the Reds and Blues.

8) Do you get hate on fics?

Never directly, but I also don't really remember a lot of 2015-2018 because of cringe :'). I do think a lot of Peter/gwen fics got indirect hate from peter/mj fans which sucks because Peter has TWO hands!

9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I have orphaned most of my smut fics, but yes. I have done some basic ass vanilla guy eats out a girl stuff, but my favorite is the kinky sapphic smut. If you ever stumble upon a Tex/Emily Grey smut fic by an orphaned account, that was me :)

10) Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No, they're just not for me.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No but last time I checked in 2021 someone had stolen my fucking background/about section from Tex RP blog and that was a COMMON problem I had in the RvB RP fandom on here. So. much. fucking. theft. of. my. god. damn. about. page.

And I put hours of work into it. Hours. It was detailed, and people just keep fucking stealing it somehow.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I am aware of!

13) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

errrr...... Trying to rack my brain but coming up with a blank. i've written fics as favors/gifts for people though! Usually a "I have this idea and no idea how to write it help me pls Ange" thing

14) What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Church/Tex. Something about the inherent doomed by the narrative of it all, how no matter how hard Church tries to pull her close she always drifts away from him, the levels of love and trust they have towards one another.... Like they are DOOMED lovers but also they kinda both know that and that's what makes it so difficult.

15) What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I really really wanna go back and re-do and finish Next Time Around, and after playing NieR Automata that desire is even more present. but also, one piece is my current hyperfixation so I have no idea if I ever will.

16) What are your writing strengths?

oh. oh god. oh. um. hm.

Probably my short, punchy sentences. Where not a whole lot is being said, but the impact is still really strong and the emotions of what I'm trying to impart are impactful.

Also, my inner character monologues. I love that shit. Lemme open up their mind and tell you their entire secrets

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

Combat and physical descriptions B)

Combat is just... Idk. So much going on and it's so hard and you have to be really good about the descriptions and the motions and movements or else it's all a mess. And physical descriptions just... I'm a byproduct of the cringe era so I always worry about how my descriptions will sounds T-T

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

/shrug

I have never attempted to create my own fictional language, and I probably never will. It just isn't for me. I am planning on trying to pick Japanese back up, as when I was a wee child I knew it fairly well, but lost it as the years went on.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

Shugo Chara! or Sailor Moon

20) Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Next Time Around is my current magnum opus but it also unfinished and I have no idea when I will pick it back up.

And that's a wrap! Thank you again @iam-jacks-redacted-information for the tag!!! I appreciate it, and i loved reading through your responses! Plus it made me go back through my old ao3 archive and see what I have written which I haven't done in a minute.

Anyways <3 if you wanna play this game please feel free to, and tag me in it! I always feel awkward tagging bc I still don't know a whole lot of people on here anymore QwQ

[sweetsmellosuccess]

TIFF 2018: Day 2

Films: 4 Best Film of the Day: Shoplifters (pictured)

Shoplifters: Japanese director par excellence Hirokazu Koreeda’s film, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, works in quiet subtle ways, that affect you without you quite knowing why, like watching a strewn pile of dead leaves skitter across an otherwise empty field. It opens with what appears to be a father, Hatsue (Kirin Kiki), and his adolescent son, Shota (Jyo Kairi), as they smoothly stake out and steal from a large grocery in Hokkaido. They work in such harmonic tandem, he blocking the clerk from view at key moments, his son slipping items into his backpack without hesitation, it’s almost like a military exercise. Bringing the booty home to the rest of their family, Shota’s mother, young aunt, and grandmother, Hatsue spies a forlorn young girl (Miyu Sasaki) stuck alone, cold and hungry while her parents are MIA. As if snatching a package of noodles off the shelf, he picks her up and takes her into their ramshackle but loving crew. In Koreeda’s world though, very little is directly as it seems at first. As we get to know these characters in more depth over time, their apparent relationships turn out to be something considerably different, and they become less easy to understand if no less endearing. The film works in small, carefully arranged scenes, which are artfully staged, fitting together like bits of an interlocking puzzle. Every member of this oddly concocted family are one kind of con person or another, whether they utilize hoary magic tricks, shoplifting strategies, or burying bodies under their small apartment.

Kursk: Submarine movies generally have only one direction to go, and that is straight down to the bottom. If the sub isn’t outright sinking, it’s threatening to, which, like your standard romcoms or slasher flick, puts into motion a whole bunch of predictable outcomes, depending on whether the director’s vision calls for dramatic pathos (the crew drowns) or joyful deus ex machina (the crew miraculously escapes). But here, director Thomas Vinterberg is working from a notorious chapter in Soviet naval history: During the latter years of the Cold War, one of their most sophisticated nuclear subs had an accident en route to a training exercise, leaving the majority of souls on board blown apart or drowned, and the survivors in a tight race for survival, only to have the military decide the crew’s fate based on international appearances. Given the nature of the form and the reputation of the incident, Vinterberg had no choice but to dig deeply into the crew members lives in order to connect the audience with these poor, doomed seamen. He gives us enough snippets of the homelife of the men — using the tried and true start-with-a-wedding maneuver — and one in particular, Mikhail (Matthias Schoenaerts), with his pregnant wife (Léa Seydoux), and young son, to invest us. He also utilizes other devices: In a moment of supreme irony, many of the ranking crew were forced to hock their naval watches in order to properly fund the wedding of their good comrade the night before their ill-fated launch, a deal that comes back to haunt them fiercely when things go to hell. The Soviets are shown to be blitheringly incompetent, with a much weakened and neglected military (early in the film, the sailors are denied their monthly wage again, hence the need to hock their timepieces), and the kind of insufferable pride that would allow such a thing to happen, bitterly resentful of any offerings of international aid, but in truth, they react no differently from any other would-be superpower. As much as we may want to be able to dump down on Soviet buffoonery, we have to accept we’d likely meet equal fate under similar circumstances. We’ll have to take cold comfort that the Russians, in drowning far below the surface, make for remarkably similar corpses to our own.

What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire? The way Italian director Roberto Minervini works is mysterious unto itself. Deeply embedding into a community – and he’s latched onto the deep rural south in recent films – he creates sort of docu-narratives, setting up scenes with real participants, and to some degree choreographing the action. The effect is like watching a drama of almost pure verité, with just enough elements of staging to meld the two forms together. This film, shot in southern Mississippi and Louisiana loosely connects several different character threads and situations: In one pairing, a couple of brothers, the youngest one healthily scared of a lot of things, try to steer clear of the trouble and violence that plague their streets; in another a regrouped “New Black Panther Party” takes to the streets and tries to effect radical change one protest at a time; a middle-aged woman loses her bar, and tries to go out on a high note; and a Big Chief goes through the laborious effort to put his elegant costume together in time for Mardi Gras. The connection is tenuous – beyond its attention to race and class, and the struggle it is for people to just get by under these murderous conditions – but Minervini’s cinematography (by Diego Romero) is so gorgeous, with its black and white compositions, that it hangs together stylistically in a way that makes the whole thing work. It’s hardly coherent, but as a sizable slice of life document, he captures something of notable significance.  

Beautiful Boy: Timothée Chalamet, the young actor who was so beguiling in Call Me By Your Name, seems to have it all: Staggeringly good looks, fantastic acting chops, and a genial likability that translates perfectly to the big screen. In Felix Van Groeningen’s adaptation of the twin memoirs by Dave and Nic Sheff concerning Nic’s struggle with addiction, those qualities are perfectly turned on their head. Nic, too, seems to have everything going for him – loving, though divorced, parents (Steve Carell and Amy Ryan), a beautiful house up in the mountains above San Francisco, and a bevy of talent as both a writer and an artist. But the draw of “chaos” is too strong with him, and he turns to drugs to prop up his sagging self-worth nonetheless. Van Groeningen is hardly a moralist, nor is he any kind of romantic (as those who have watched the powerful but difficult The Broken Circle Breakdown can attest), so the film, which could easily have played like a standard redemption arc, becomes something a good deal more harsh and unfulfilling. If we cling to those narratives for fear of our own children plunging over those particular waterfalls, it’s just as important to understand the true extent of horror such a situation can produce. By the time Dave turns away his son, and gives up any sense of control of being able to keep him alive, we’ve come pretty much to the opposite pole from where he started. The most shocking element of the film isn’t any of the deprivation Nic forces upon himself, it’s the numbing effect he eventually has over his father. The performances are strong across the board, but Chalamet again proves up to the task of taking on remarkably nuanced and difficult characters and bringing them to full life. Because of Van Groeningen’s inherent coolness – the soundtrack, featuring everything from vintage Nirvana, to Sigur Ros, to acid jazz – and emotional distance, it’s nothing cathartic, just realistic – if highly privileged – people suffering continuous trauma.

Tomorrow: After an early interview, I plan to rush over in time to see the Welsh mystery movie Gwen; pop by Donnybrook to see my man Jamie Bell get his head dented in; go to a public screening of David Lowery’s The Old Man & the Gun in what may be Robert Redford’s last role before retirement; and close out the day by (shhhh!) watching a midnight screening of David Gordon Green’s updated Halloween re-conception.