#the only dynamic they have is the FIRST PIECE OF FANART I EVER POSTED... of them in the car with steve

[demobatman]

going back to my roots but if i have to read another post talking about how robin and eddie wouldnt be friends/it would be hard for them to be friends im going to scream those two fucking terrorize steve harrington and are gay married. he knows her. from BAND.

[bo0tleg]

MY FRIENDS REACTION TO THE TOP GUN (1986) REACTION POST

In case you don't know what I'm talking about: I made a post a while ago of gems my friend said whilst watching Top Gun (1986) for the first time. I showed her the post, and she created even more gems about Top Gun derived from what she said originally! I'd suggest you read the other post, because some are references to prior gems. Enjoy!

"TOM CRUISE IS OLD, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE?"

"I said that? Jesus, I have the memory of a fish." (About: "Did he really need to be in his underwear for this conversation?")

"I DID COMMENT ON THE VOLLEYBALL SCENE!" "I distinctly remember laughing about you not saying anything." "I said 'Ah yes, the hetero scene that actually looks really gay.' Because it does. How the fuck are you gonna play sports looking like a hot piece of ass without looking gay? You're not supposed to be hot! Especially in volleyball. Why did they choose volleyball to make them look hot? You're supposed to slap that fucking ball, not be like 'hahaha look at me, I'm so dainty and pretty.' THAT'S GAY!"

"I'm only stating the obvious, these people should already know this."

"Iceman is the gayest in the entire movie."

"No! Actually, it's his plane buddy. His plane buddy is the gayest." "... Mind telling me why?" "He always says that he has a hard on."

"OH MY GOD THEY COULD BE EXES! It's not possible he always has a hard on. I KNOW IT'S AN EXPRESSION IN THE UNITED STATES BUT IT'S NOT POSSIBLE. They've definitely hooked up. Not in the movie, I think it was before he met Maverick, but there's no doubt."

"You wouldn't say that you have a hard on to just anyone."

"And I didn't even look anything up, I just watched the movie."

"I don't think it's possible to surpass the gayness in Top Gun."

(Upon being informed that Slider was not, in fact, the one with the hard on) "HE'S NOT? Oh, then it has nothing to do with Iceman. But I still think that they (Hollywolf) had something, that's the dynamic that I got the gay vibe from."

"I bet both of the actors are blond, or whatever." (shakes head) "I don't give a shit."

"It's not my fault the NPC's look like the protagonist!"

(Scrolling through the Icemav tag on tumblr) "There's a lot of fanart. A lot of fanart of them making out."

"Only the superiors aren't gay in this movie."

"Making out in a corner, having a fling with the best friend, there's definitely one of those somewhere in the middle."

"Oh look! More fanart of them making out."

"Even the handsome guy that seems like a protagonist but is actually an NPC looks gay! He has that gay vibe, I don't know." (Reminder: This a reference to the phrase "He's to handsome to be a rando!" This man had like 2 minutes of screen time on the Enterprise at the start of the movie, and a little at the end during the Layton Rescue. 2 min might be an exaggeration.)

BONUS: Reaction to Quentin Tarantino discussing Top Gun in "Sleep With Me" (1994)

(Silence for 30 seconds) "I... agree with everything he said... but I'm in shock."

I never... thought a straight man would say so much gay shit in three minutes.... but he's right."

"That part where he says about the girl, Maverick's chick, dressing up like a guy, I hadn't noticed. He's a genius."

"When he says 'STARFIGHT! STARFIGHT!' I don't know if he was crazy, high or hallucinating."

"Them screaming 'STARFIGHT! STARFIGHT!' looked like they were on crack. And they were just talking about a movie."

"If a military movie ever happens to be openly gay, it'll become a whore house."

"And the worst part is that he convinced the dude! My guy just watched Top Gun for fun..."

EXTRAS (The original language all of the phrases were said in was Portuguese. I had to translate all of them. You're welcome.):

"How am I going to translate 'Puteiro'?" "Aren't there any prostitutes in the United States?" (I went with "Whore House")

"How am I going to translate 'se pegaram'?" "There's a word for it in English, I forgot it.... eeeehhhh" "Hooked up?" "I meant to say that they fucked, but sure." "'Hooked up' can mean sex." "It can? Great, use that then!"

"How many phrases are there? I'm scared. I don't remember the atrocities I said."

My friend, who fueled this entire post: @annonimouslesbian

[nerves-nebula]

I thought you read all of Homestuck? Sorry this is not an accusation or anything, I just swear that I remember you saying that... Memory is weird lol. And it's not like I have read it or planning to do so anytime soon, but yea

went on a bit of a rant here oops

i have read all of homestuck and it sucks. sometimes you become older than 14 and understand more about the world and realize this thing you used to think was cool actually sucks in a lot of ways. to be fair though, i did also think parts of it were shit when i was 14, so like. yknow. there were also parts i didn't understand before which i now understand, which makes me hate them, cuz they sucked. mostly the ableism and racism. there was other stuff but i refuse to re-learn anything about homestuck so I guess my other complaints will fade away as i live a life free of homestuck.

coming back to finish it when it ended was a slog but i couldn't stand the idea that I'd read most of this really long thing and had tapped out near the end.

the fans of it can also be a pretty mixed bag. what annoys me isnt normal fandom cringe stuff, but rather that a lot of them don't seem to be able to disconnect homestuck with the common tropes homestuck is pulling from. sometimes it's like homestuck is the first and only piece of literature they've ever actually engaged with meaningfully so they go into other stories and go "this is just like homestuck" because homestuck is so big it's got tropes from fucking everywhere.

someone once called Maureno a Lusus cuz she's a big animal who takes care of a kid, as if being raised by a magic animal isn't one of the most classic tropes out there common in mythology all over the world. it'd be like if every time i saw a mentor and their charge i was like "omg this is literally eda clawthorne" regardless of context or if the dynamic was the same at all. it's funny a few times but after a while it's just obnoxious. at least it is to me.

i'm biased tho since i hate homestuck, i don't usually care about people saying "this is just like my blorbo" about literally anything, ever, but for homestuck it's just slightly annoying. cuz i don't like it.

that being said i have been known to reblog homestuck art from time to time. cuz it's good art. and i don't begrudge people for liking homestuck, i used to like it too.

ALSO I'mma be real that post I made before was a jokey joke. like, drawing the characters as black is some of my favorite fanart. it won't make me enjoy homestuck again but it WILL make me appreciate the black artists who put so much time and thought into their fantastic designs.

[anewp0tat0]

Hi!! I discovered your blog some days ago, your dadbastian art it's amazing I really loved it <333 it's so funny and sweet :') and I found coattails fic because of it too, do you have any other fic recs with that vibe?

Hi!!! omilord that's awesome of you to say thank you tons🥹 it means a lot, I'm happy to be a proud representative. and OHHH my art made you read Coattails??? that's awesome hahaha my propaganda WORKED!!! \(•[]•)/ read at your own pace and sucks it all up if you're still reading.

as for your question, I unfortunately find it hard to make time to sit down and read a lot nowadays, so I sadly have not been able to read a lot. I do hope to change that soon, but in the meantime, here's a short list of some that I've started/very much plan to read!

The Whole Being Dead Thing: by @milfhandholder - I was first introduced to it when Maia took inspiration from a reaper training fanart I did and showed me her fic, and I was really thrilled. the rest of the fic is amazing so far, I absolutely love looking at other people's interpretations of the reapers realm and how the facility works, and this is a stellar example. basically, world building💯 and the characters are cool.

Black and Baby Blue: by @blackbutler-sideblog - I unfortunately only got to read the teaser/prologue/first chapter(?) so far, but I love the concept so far and really look forward to cracking it. basically, its dadbastian, him having to raise a young o!ciel. and it looks like it will be very sweet and heavy:>

Ludo: by @pain-in-the-butler - same author as Coattails, so you'll like it. it was written during Bard's arc if I recall(it feels like so long ago), it's one of my favorite one shots. so if you feel like you don't see enough of Bardad and his relationship with o!ciel, go ahead.

The Story of Grelle the Reaper: by @eemoo1o-animoo - I also have not gotten the chance to read all of it, but I know I started it a little while ago and I remember really liking the writing(as someone who loves atmosphere and detail). it's a take I've never seen before on Grelle's backstory, and I'm here to see where it goes.

Vigil: by @house0fsugar - I'm incredibly happy they showed me this fic cause oh my god, I don't think I've ever felt so dreadful for the reapers. it's a beautiful story of the reaper gang going back to their graves.... what more can I say. I don't think I've ever loved the group dynamic more. the character building, 💯

Bloom: by @shinigami-dispatch-association - of course I have to mention the fanfic that is directly inspired by the reaper training artwork I mentioned above(its this), now only am I incredibly honored, but I think this fic took every idea I had and made it into exactly what I thought it would be. a wonderful imaginative piece, I hope to reread it soon.

The Little Lost Star: by @grelleswife wrote a while ago, but it was like, the first fanart I every posted here, so ofc I remember it still. it's the sweetest. there are so many other good fics of hers that I haven’t gotten around to yet ugh.

nice to meet another wheat in the dadbastian field☺️ have a good day!

[osaka-lilac]

Hi, Allie. I love love loooove the football au strollonso post. Obsessed with that idea. Thank you for putting that out here. My strollonso brain is loving it. Also sorry but I'm new here and I would like to know your ao3 username please. And how old would Fernando be if he is playing for Lawrence's team and Lance is in college 😆 that old man would not care about his age in any alternate universe and play whatever sport he's into until he's 60 or something I think. Fuck the pundits whining about him being too old to play in la liga or whatever. I can just hear Peter Drury announcing Fernando as the oldest player ever to be chasing the world cup for his country. Thanks again for the football au strollonso.

omg thank u so so much! it's my first kind of plot point-driven post like that n i'm very happy to see people enjoying it :] i am relatively new to writing fics, my forte really is through fanart.

my ao3 is osaka_lilac, however i only only have an art piece i did for last year's f1 big bang, and a art piece plus an unbetaed, 1k-ish galex oneshot fic i wrote for last year's f1 hallmark fest. i do have many recommended bookmarks there in lieu of my own creations that i would highly recommend you check out. i'm very inspired by all the amazing work that happens here and i want to share it as much as i can.

HOWEVER. i did overlook the maybe Huge age gap that would have to take place for lance to be still in school. so uhhh maybe he's like one of those graduate folks who go back after their first go-around. or maybe he's interning or maybe!!!! he's working with his father in the team, and has finally found a reason to stay working with him - through Fernando. however, i can imagine that gap being similar, possibly a bit younger on fernando's end, just for dynamics sake.

[90minsofscreentime]

What are your three favorite Starker fan fictions?

For me, without a doubt:

first position: Lanterns burning, flickered in the mind (only you), by @darker-soft-starker

This story probably brings together everything I love best, including Young Tony, High school AU, enemies to friends to lover, slight angst, extremely romantic tension, a touch of drama… *shiver*.

Second position: Under a Violet Rain, by @vaguekiwi

Again, I am seduced by the "enemies to lovers" plot. When love seems absolutely impossible, when everything is set up to make them hate each other, and yet a love still comes. From the first line to the last, it was a pleasure to read this story.

third position: The Pieces I've Lost, by @vaguekiwi and @snowstark

I usually don't like overly pronounced notions of submission and dominance, even more so when the story is riveted on sexual content and sexual degradation. But this story… this story resonates deeply with me. I was interested to see that the dynamics of submission and dominance come from genetics, making people really different from each other from a biological point of view. And all the reasons why I usually don't like these stories, well… those are the reasons why Peter is so different from everyone else in this story. In a way, it reminds me a bit of feminism, and that's why the plot is all the more interesting. And, of course… I want Peter to get a fucking hug.

🥺👉🏻👈🏻 talk with me?

OoOoOo this is a tricky one~~~ 👀👀👀 I am such a hardcore lover of so many fics and writers in our lovely community, and I wish I could list everyone in this response, but I’ll do my best to identify the three starker fics that are my all time favourites at the moment (because darn it- my favourites often change by the day 😅)

(Also, my method here of dubbing each fic my “third” favourite or “second” favourite doesn’t reflect just how much I love all these fics equally. Again, if I could name them all my “first” favourite I would! 😅✨ I’m just going to rank them in terms of how much each fic has impacted me personally and on the depth of their storytelling 💕)

My third favourite:

This is probably the starker fic that I reread the most, as it’s fantastically structured story and moments of simmering tension never cool for me. I am just as heated reading the tail end of chapter two as I ever was reading it for the first time ✨✨ Tony and Peter’s chemistry and sexual tension in this story is so heady and palpable- it makes me feel like I’m experiencing their powerful feelings and desires🥰 (plus all of the food they eat in the beginning sounds soooo delicious 🤤😩)

My second favourite:

Just like you, my friend, I could not ignore @darker-soft-starker’s outstanding work that I have still not stopped gushing about 😅

The multiple comments left on AO3 and original fanart that I’ve created for this incredible story really speaks for itself and I could probably fill the rest of this post with every single thing I adore about the plot, characters and romantic development, but I think in this case I will let the work speak for itself. I implore you: please read this fic if you haven’t already, it’s so much more than I ever imagined a starker fanfic to be and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with what you find~💖

My first favourite:

Here we have it. My all-time favourite. Arguably the best starker fanfiction ever created. Words fail me when it comes to describing how much this story has influenced me as a storyteller, as a reader and as a member of our little community. If I was ever in doubt that starker wasn’t the pairing for me, this work would draw me back in and remind me just how lucky I am to be able to read art like this - on a beautifully curated fanfiction website - for free. I’ll never get over it, I just love it too much.

The Marvel canon has yet to top these masterpieces ✨

Anywho~ I hope you enjoyed my little ramble 😌 Thank you so much for the ask @lanyakea-universe! I love chatting with you (and any other starkers) about things like this! Maybe one day I’ll be able to finish more than the three fanfics I’ve already posted and impact others on AO3 and tumblr, like these wonderful authors already have for me and so many others 🥰💖💕🌺

[pianostarinwonderland]

Riddle character bingo?

[From here!]

Aaaah my 2nd favorite 🥺

Riddle is the reason why I got into TWST. I first saw him back in March 2019, and I loved him because of his Queen of Hearts motif and his VA being Hanae. I sometimes think about the day that the Heartslabyul trailer was first released, and I listened to Riddle's voice the first time while the theme of the game was playing and the Heartslabyul dorm art flashed in the background. I was so giddy, but also, I was absolutely spellbound. It was a world I never knew before, a world of magic and mystery, with music that enchanted me and a voice that pulled me in.

If you ever saw my very first post in this blog, it was about Riddle. My first pfp was also Riddle because I liked him. But now... well, you know who I like now. 🤡

I wouldn’t super say that I am ‘mentally ill’ about Riddle since I don’t really simp for him. But sometimes, there will be one piece of fanart—or even official art 🧍—where Riddle looks so good, a voice line where he sounds amazing, or a story that highlights his personality in a very appealing way, and I just think, “Shit, why did I not stay with him?” even for a brief moment. No matter how much time passes, Riddle will always appeal to me in a lot of ways. 😭

Now as a player, knowing what Riddle went through, I would love to hug him and cherish him and give him the childhood he never had (and on the side, have a little talk with his mom <3). But damn, if I knew the guy, I'd both be afraid of him and pissed off at him. I'd be afraid because when he's angry over someone breaking the rules, while yes he's explosive, he has that authoritative tone that makes you shudder and go silent. But I'd also be pissed at him because there will come a point where I realize, "Oh, he keeps responding angrily every time someone criticizes the things he does, that's kinda immature lol", and I'd be less afraid and more mad at him lmao

But despite his tyrannical nature, I'd say Riddle is one of the kindest people in NRC. He's polite, he won't swindle you or make you do something in return for a kind deed, he also wants the best for his dorm mates (just expressed in the worst or most misunderstood ways possible). Honestly overall, he's a very good person. And it's so nice to see his real kindness in stories like Deuce's SSR Dorm story. He really just wants people to do well, and no, he doesn't have any ulterior motives (aside from the ego stroke from seeing that he is 'right').

I do love seeing Riddle's dynamics with others because here, you can see how Riddle, a sheltered boy, interacts with his peers, and in turn, this gives more depth to his character. Even if he's one of the nicer people in NRC, Riddle is still very prideful, and he still thinks that he's right. This bleeds into the way he communicates with people. He often assumes people immediately understand why he's telling them to do something, but the reality is, they don't because he doesn't properly communicate with them (as seen when Riddle tells Azul to stand back in chapter 6—Riddle does this so that Azul doesn't get injured especially as a transformed merman, but since he never said those reasons, Azul assumed Riddle sees him as weak, which is a blow to his pride). When people don't outright fight him, Riddle will also assume that he's right because well, they're not really disagreeing with him, yeah? He'll only concede if he perceives the other to be stronger than him (i.e. when Trey overwrote his magic, Riddle was distressed because if Trey is stronger than him and saying that what he was doing is wrong, all the stress he was going through with his mom would mean nothing).

ough I love this little red boi nskdngkjnksngjdkngskngs he's such a good boi

[steeklover]

tweek for the eleven character ask

stan

kyle

kenny

cartman

butters

craig

clyde

jimmy

token

thomas

Thank you so much for the ask! ❤️❤️

Stan - Steek gives me life! Again, I'm not going to go into too much detail because I'd end up writing a whole essay which I don't have the time to do but Stan x Tweek makes me so happy. If you haven't already seen me rant about Steek (which if you follow me, you probably have) then here's two posts where you can read more about them.

Steek Ask

Steek Dynamics / Headcanons

I swear I would write a longer response for them but I really wouldn't be saying anything I haven't already said and I don't want to annoy anyone.

Kenny - I just like the idea of Imp Tweek x Angel Kenny! I think the main reason I like Twenny so much is because of the content they get. I think it's the second most popular ship for Tweek, number one being Creek of course. It gets a lot of cool artwork and interesting fanfics. Like the idea of Tweek knowing that Kenny dies is just so perfect, same thing with them both being insane together. They get cute content but they have so much potential to have angsty content and I love angst which is probably another reason I like the ship so much.

Clyde - I LOVE Twyde. Tweek and Clyde are two of my favorite characters so just like with Steek, I just have to ship them together. I'd have to think harder on the dynamic they'd have together but all I know so far is that it involves Clyde being a dumbass. I guess I can see Tweek being really sympathetic towards Clyde since he's easily upset because he's sensitive and knows what it's like when people tell him he's over-reacting. I don't know, I've seen people say that they think Twyde work because Tweek would find Clyde's constant crying annoying but if he found it annoying then he'd really just be a hypocrite lol. I really like ever Twyde fic I've ever read where they're the main focus but for the most part the ship is either a side paring or is just used as a plot device for some other ship. Plus I see a lot of Tweek cheating on Craig with Clyde and I just don't like cheating fics. They have cute fanart too and just like with Twenny and Steek can be a angsty ship and a cute ship which is exactly what I look for in a ship.

Craig - I like Creek. I used to really like it, LOVE it when I first joined the fandom but after a few months my interest for it peaked and then slowly started going down. My main problem with the ship is that I feel like it prevents people from seeing Tweek and Craig as individuals (and I know I'm not the only one who agrees). I'm a huge Tweek fan, he's my favorite, but I can barely ever find any content that's just him. Same thing with Craig, they are just the other half to someone which is boring. Plus Creek content seems to be pretty repetitive and redundant. It's not really even about the badass Craig x weak Tweek thing, although that's a large part of it. I just think that because Creek is such a popular ship that it makes it so a lot of the content created for it is the same. There's nothing wrong with reading a fic or seeing a piece of artwork and wanting to put your own spin on it, at least in my opinion. And it's kind of weird in my case because while I don't mind reading the same old Creek high school AU in different words, at the same time it is frustrating to see the same old thing. And this isn't the case with every story, I've read amazing Creek stories that aren't just slice of life stories (even though I do love those) but most of the time it's the same thing. I like some Tweek ships better than Creek because the dynamic is different and Steek, Twenny and Twyde aren't as well known or liked so it's different. Maybe I get too bored with things and I know there's people out there who will disagree with me but at the end of the day, that's what I think about Creek. It's really cute and they seem good for each other plus it's canon which is why it sits at number four for me but it's really the fandom that causes me not to like it that much.

Cartman - I actually really do like Tweek x Cartman. I used to really ship them, to the point where Cartman and Craig would have their places switched but just like with Creek, my love for the ship died down after a while, just not for the same reasons. Now I just really like the idea of them being friends. I feel like Cartman seemed to generally like Tweek, like he wasn't any meaner to him then he was to Stan, Kyle or Kenny (which says something in my mind) and they would have such a cool dynamic together. They also may have some things in common like a love for animals and singing. Plus they're both crazy! I know I wrote a whole post about how I ship them but I feel like it's just flawed now. Plus the only Cartman ships I really like are Candy, Kyman and Cutters and back then when I wrote that post I was a huge Cartman multi-shipper. I'm not like that anymore.

Kyle - Fiesty x Fiesty! I like them as friends, not so much as lovers. I can't really think of them being in a romantic relationship but I love the idea of them being best friends. I have a headcanon that Kyle does yoga for anger management which goes along with my headcanon that Tweek and Kyle do stress/anger managment stuff together. So Tweek teaches Kyle boxing and Kyle teaches Tweek yoga. I read a fic once where Tweek did yoga with Kyle which is where that headcanon came from. I also like the idea of them not putting up with anyone's shit together and I have this one idea for Creek and Style where Craig and Stan are losers and people talk shit about them which does NOT go well when Tweek and Kyle find out about it. As for lovers, I don't know I just can't see them lasting. I think maybe if they dated for a little while it'd be cute but again, I just don't seem them lasting.

Thomas - I used to ship Twomas but I don't that much anymore. They just seem to similar to each other which makes it weird for me to ship them. I really like the idea of them being friends but when it comes to Thomas, I like the idea of him being with Craig much better! There are really cute Twomas fanfics and fanarts out there though!

Butters - I used to also really like Twutters but I don't as much anymore. Again, I think it just goes to the fact that they are really similar in my mind. They just seem like they'd be better off as friends in my mind.

Token - I like Twoken. I'm writing a WIP for them that was suggested to me which has forced me to think about them some more. I feel like they could work together and be cute but it's just not my thing I guess. I like the idea of Token being kind of fascinated by Tweek since he's so erratic and kind of the opposite of him. I like introvert x extrovert ships a lot and Token seems like an introvert while Tweek seems like an extrovert. They have potential and it'd be cool if more people made content for them!

Jimmy - I just don't ship it, I think they'd be good friends but not lovers.

This ask has made me come to the conclusion that I'm not as much as a Tweek multi-shipper as I have claimed to be. I like other Tweek ships besides these, I really like Twole, Twete and Twason but Christophe, Pete and Jason weren't on the ask so I won't write anything about them.

Anyway, thank you again for the ask! Tweek is my baby so I could talk about him for hours whether it's just about him or his friendships or his relationships so I really liked answering this! Sorry it took me so long to answer though, I didn't forget about it, I've just been busy lately. Have a nice day anon! ❤️❤️

[gamergirlshelby]

Let's go, Rejuv30Challenge Image Set 2, being posted to be enjoyed by all of you! I have some notes under the read more for some details about each day! (Prompt list found here)

Day 4: Gym Leader

Honestly I just wanted to draw Saki, Valarie, Adam and Braixen hanging out, their groups dynamic is honestly just great.

Also Braixen is very hard to draw, especially from behind.

Day 5: Sheridan

I wanted to draw a scene with Celebi helping purify some shadow Pokemon since the shrine is over in Sheridan

The scene when you first unlock the shrine was my point of reference when drawing this.

I love Shadow Pokemon, they are so cool.

Day 6: Underrated

OK SO, I wasn't actually planning to draw Mosely for Day 6 at first, but then I realized I've only ever seen I think one piece of fanart for her, and that makes me sad since she is legit one of my top 3 characters.

I absolutely love this little gremlin child and her sidequest was so good but also made me so sad.

[heavyhitting]

You know what, I wanna see your Rick and Morty fanarts! and who is your fav character?

OH MY GOD HOW AM I JUST NOW SEEING THIS. ANON I LOVE YOU?????

Yes!!! I will absolutely start Rick and Morty shit posting at some point in the near future as soon as I finish cleaning them up!!

For favorite character I'd have to say either Prime Rick or Evil Morty. Both for the same reasons, which is that I find their character motives ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING.

Some spoilers under the cut!

I won't get into humongous details here, but Evil Morty is written so well and I fell in love with his character (and his theme!) from the get-go. I love the way the writers made him an anti-villain instead of an outright enemy, which was such a good choice creatively because it really goes to show how detached he is from the whole Rick + Morty dynamic. He doesn't NEED to make an enemy out of C-137 Rick because he straight up does not CARE about him, or any Rick for that matter. It makes it so fun to see because every Rick out there is so convinced that everyone is out to get them, that the concept of a Morty that wants absolutely nothing to do with a Rick is so outlandish that it automatically defines him as "evil." Also the line he gives before he leaves through the rift about how any Morty who even entertains the thought of living a life without Rick would also be "evil" was such a nice touch that Evil Morty was literally just a regular Morty, and that the Evil title was given to him and not earned. Like, yes, he did a lot of fucked up shit, but the only reason he's classified as evil is literally just because he's not particularly attached to the idea of adventuring with an old ass man. It's such a fun thing to consider, especially because all of the shit he does is tame if we compare it to Rick's (absolutely humongous) list of crimes, and yet out of everyone out there HE'S the evil one.

Speaking of Rick's with huge crime records. Prime Rick! There's not much I can say about him considering he's a relatively new character, but I knew I liked him when I first saw him in Rick's memories, but even more so when he shot Jerry from Morty's original universe. It was such a huge piece of lore and I'm both mad and pleased that they shoved it at the end of the credits instead of putting it inside the episode. I mean seriously, from this tiny clip we not only find out that he WAS the real deal from inside the glass tube, but that he's also near immortal after surviving and immediately healing from a slit throat. Prime Rick is ridiculously overpowered, but he really does a great job at showing the audience that he's not stereotypically evil, as he only shoots Jerry after Jerry decides to try and kill him.

Also, every detail ever about Prime Rick and C-137 Rick having complex history makes me sweat. The whole "this message is pre-recorded" spiel that Prime Rick gives Rick after his hide out had been discovered, but Prime Rick's eyes follow Rick the entire time on the screens, and the way Prime Rick immediately asks Jerry if he saw C-137 Rick when he crash lands on their original dimension DEFINITELY implies that they knew each other previously. If it was a one and done murder deal with Prime Rick killing C-137 Diane and Beth, then why would he care so much to know EXPLICITLY that it was C-137 who had found him? Especially when Prime Rick had claimed that he had no idea who it was that discovered his hide out?

God I love this show it's so stupid it's about an old man who laughs at fart jokes and a kid who can't talk to women.

[roostertuftart]

south park asks for u: 18. Take a moment to talk about your favorite ship.

21. Do you have a favorite adult? If so, who?

23. What was the first piece of content you created for the South Park fandom?

(no pressure to do all 3, feel free to choose any amount!!!)

18. Take a moment to talk about your favorite ship.

My favorite dynamic between two characters is Style!! I've always been a sucker for best friends to lovers and I love how devoted these two are together, as well as how much they've been through and how much they need each other- It's not the healthiest dynamic in that regard, their codependence isn't always the best, but I think that's part of the fun of the ship and I like to think as they get older, they work out a lot of their issues and become a lot healthier with time (Though they're about at the level of your average couple now, no relationship is perfect). I also really like how easy it is to take Stan and Kyle and put them in any number of dynamics or situations or AUs- I always tend to stick with them knowing each other since childhood personally but they work work well as a couple that just met and fell in love as well, and there's loads you can do with both of those as well as the canon material from the show.

My favorite ship of all has to be Stendylenny. It's a super rare poly ship that I actually hadn't seen before my friends and I started shipping it, but I've seen it begin to spread slightly which makes me EXTREMELY happy! It's a poly between Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Wendy. I really love all of them shipped one on one so putting them all together just makes sense for me!! I could talk about this ship a lot but I don't even know where to start, it's just fun imagining the different scenarios that got these four together, and I feel like it could happen pretty easily. I think ships with both Wendy and Kenny are severely underrated in this fandom and I also just really like good old fashion style and stendy ofc. There's just a really good mix of dynamics with the four of them.

21. Do you have a favorite adult? If so, who?

Sheila Broflovski for sure. She is, in my opinion, the best parent in the show besides side character parents who haven't existed long enough to be in a conflict, and is just a generally good person. I can see why characters in the show are annoyed by her actions and how she can be overbearing and pushy, but she's a fantastic mom who listens closely to her sons and really tries to do what's best for them, as well as what's best for others around her. She's also shown to be fairly kind to other people even if she has her moments, and is honest and fair to her friends (She needs better ones). She also doesn't take shit from almost anyone.

A big part of this from me might be projection because my mom is pretty similar to her (Heavy jersey accent and all) but fuck it IDC Sheila best adult.

I also like Mr. Garrison a lot but only bc he's funny af

23. What was the first piece of content you created for the South Park fandom?

So a while back, three or four years ago, my friend Starby was into South Park. I was not. I, in fact, happened to sort of,, judge her for her interests, even if I was playful about it. Anyway, one day I was trying to include them in this one RP that was a cartoon crossover, except all of the characters were cats (It's a bizarre concept but my RPs tend to be a little crazier and more self indulgent than the stuff I post) and they wanted to roleplay as Butters since he's her favorite. So my first actual South Park fan work that I ever created is this really old, ugly design for him as a cat that I completely forgot about until about a week ago:

My art has obviously improved immensely since I made this and, if you're wondering, the RP never even really happened. I've actually made a new design for Butters since then, not even remembering this old one existed at all, that I greatly prefer (though I may still update it)! This is it:

My first intentional South Park fanart was also characters as cats, it's the main four's designs:

[autisticcassandracain]

I have many thoughts on the weird phenomena in the DC fandom and the Batfam fandom specifically where probably the majority of people just straight up. haven’t interacted with the source material. and almost all of those thoughts can be summarized as ‘lmao that’s weird and mildly concerning’.

and because I’m annoying I will list them all here right now <3

1. To preface this post, I mean, obviously, comics are inaccessible as all hell, both in the disability kind of way and the ‘you need to understand the concept of hypertime to fully comprehend the DC timeline’ kind of way. Because of this, even if you don’t have a disability that prevents you from reading comics, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to look at the amount of comics you need to read to have even a base understanding of a character and go ‘no thanks <3′ and just enjoy fanart and fanfic in a vacuum. Ultimately, this is fandom, this is supposed to be fun, it doesn’t really matter.

2. That said, it’s VERY weird to me that the majority of this fandom just straight up hasn’t interacted with the source material, and moreover, that it’s considered rude to tell people that they should do so. It’s especially weird considering the amount of fanon-only fans I’ve seen who straight up have a superiority complex over canon. The idea that it’s gatekeeping to tell fans of something to actually interact with canon is just. so weird, and a fundamental misunderstanding of what ‘gatekeeping’ actually entails. 

3. But honestly I’m less interested in discussing the ways in which canon and fanon fans should interact with each other (personally, I think it would be helpful to create separate tags of some kind, but that’d require quite a big overhaul of the current fandom state) than in figuring out how this actually happened in the first place. On the one hand, it’s obvious; long-running superhero comics the way DC writes them have made themselves so thoroughly inaccessible that most people are simply too daunted to even try. Most media has a cohesive beginning and end (or at least, a planned end somewhere). Comics just... don’t.

But I do think it says something that, even among people who are clearly interested in the characters (since they have, you know, entire blogs about them), the effort to get into comics just seems to be too much to even bother. This really doesn’t bode well for the future of DC Comics. Obviously, I am no expert on anything at all ever, but I’d personally be surprised if DC survives beyond the few decades, at least in its current form/without a big overhaul.

4. But on the other hand, I don’t think the confusing state of DC Comics is the only thing to blame here. Fandom has a well-known problem with reducing any character down to archetypes to more easily ship and write fic/make content with. This problem is particularly prominent in fanfic, which, if you read enough of it, you’ll eventually start seeing not just the same tropes and trends, but essentially the same fics over and over again. And not just within the same fandom; everywhere, or every large fandom, at least. 

Fanon Batfam is entirely built on a bunch of those tropes; insecure/depressed sadboy Tim, team mom with optional hidden trauma/emotional problems Dick, bad boy with a heart of gold + sadboy combo Jason, abused sadboy Damian/angry easily-villified-for-fic-reasons monster Damian, good dad Bruce for found family fic and bad dad Bruce for angst fic, etc. This all culminates in a found family dynamic that’s generic and malleable to whatever fic the writer wants to write.

(This isn’t getting into the ship fic, which I avoid like the plague because the vast majority of it is incest, but I’d bet real actual money that the tropes in those fics fall under what is often preferred by the Migratory Slash Fandom.)

By having a decent excuse not to get into canon (the inaccessibility of comics) and a, by now, well-established fanon fandom, many fans feel free to use the batfam fandom as essentially an excuse to write whatever fic with reduced archetypes and tropes they personally feel the itch to write, without having to bother with even consuming a canon. This is compounded by the fact that canon itself is often contradictory and frankly bad, meaning that whatever interpretation of a character you want/need to go for your fic is at least theoretically backed up by canon (for example, you can just as easily cast Bruce as an abusive shithole dad who his kids need to get away from as a loving father figure who cares deeply for his children), which you can always use as a defense if people question your characterization.

5. This focus on fandom trends and tropes over actual creativity or care for the characters is also visible in the way bigotry manifests in this fandom; namely, in literally the exact way you’d expect. The female characters and characters of colour are shuffled to the side, non-existent, vilified, and/or reduced to harmful stereotypes. 

Barbara is probably the one I saw the most often in fanfic, but usually just as ‘Dick’s girlfriend’, and even then, she was often vilified for Dick angst (especially in fics about examining Dick’s trauma from his canon sexual assault; Kori also often gets the short end of the stick in those). After that, probably Stephanie, who fanon fans don’t really seem to know what to do with, so she’s basically just there as comic relief waffle girl, most of the time, though sometimes she can be used to either further Tim angst or further vilify Tim, whatever the fic calls for. Cass has gotten included more in batfam fics as of late, likely in response to critiques of fandom racism for leaving her out, but again, it’s clear people don’t actually know what to do with her. She’s often reduced to a racist stereotype of a quite, stoic therapist for whatever guy du jour needs it. That, or she’s in Hong Kong and just not there. Duke especially gets left in the dust in fandom, usually just being non-existent, but when he’s there, he’s almost always nothing more than the straight man for the actual fun characters to play off of. Talia probably has it the worst, though, and almost universally gets vilified by fanon stans in order to write sadboy Damian.

All of this is extremely predictable behaviour and falls entirely in line with general fandom misogyny and racism; ignoring or vilifying women and characters of colour, or using them as very minor characters at best. The only two characters of colour who aren’t regularly left out of fic are Dick and Damian, who are both also conveniently the two characters most often drawn and written in a whitewashed manner. In addition, there’s a real trend of demonizing Damian in fanon fics where he isn’t written as an abused sadboy, which I’d argue is in no small part due to fandom racism, considering Damian’s behaviour is in no way as bad as Jason’s, who doesn’t get anywhere close to the same demonization and gets woobiefied instead. I also find it convenient that Damian is probably the batboy who receives the most vilification in fic, when he’s the most obviously non-white of the batboys they’re willing to acknowledge.

Fandom often cries for more diversity in canon, only to ignore the diversity already there and focus on the same generic white guys. The batfam fandom is a brilliant example of this.

Which is not to say that fandom racism and misogyny isn’t present in the canon parts of the fandom (and canon itself); it absolutely 100% is. But I’ve found that canon fans are also more likely to like and care about at least one of the characters I’ve listed as ignored/vilified, and are willing to create and consume content for them, whereas fanon fans... aren’t, really. I’ve never seen a fan of fanon Cass the way I’ve seen fans of fanon Dick, for example. Obviously, this could just be by coincidence, or I’ve just surrounded myself with people like that, but it’s been a trend I noticed. Racism and misogyny is present in every part of this fandom and should be addressed as such, but I feel like it manifests the most blatantly in the fanon parts of this fandom. 

(I’d also recommend the articles Migratory Slash Fandom’s Focus and Beige Blank Slates, which expand more on the type of fandom racism I think is especially prominent in the batfam fandom, as well as literally every article in the What Fandom Racism Looks Like series.)

6. All this leads me to conclude that the majority of fanon fans don’t actually like the characters all that much; they’re convenient excuses for them to participate in fandom. Which I also think is, in no small part, a reason why so many of them react so negatively to being told to pick up a comic; they came to this fandom specifically to consume it as a fandom, because they wanted the fandom experience without having to consume a canon. 

This is not a phenomena unique to the batfam fandom (again, see the Migratory Slash Fandom), but it does fascinate me. While fandom is often said to be an experience focusing on transformative art, I think it’s also safe to say that, especially as fandom has become more mainstream, an increasing amount of people are looking to it less as a way to engage with their favourite pieces of media, and more as a type of media in and of itself. I think the reasons for this are similar to the reasons mass media entertainment like the MCU are so popular; you gain a lot of enjoyment out of it with very little risk involved. 

By consuming the same fics of the same characters (or the same archetypes) over and over again, you are rarely at risk of being challenged or even disappointed. It’s often very clear right from the start whether or not a fic will appeal to you, and if it isn’t, it’s easy to just look for another one. It requires less emotional investment than most other types of media, even ‘popcorn media’ like the MCU - or, yes, DC Comics. It’s safe, it’s enjoyable, it’s comforting, like McDonalds, but just like McDonalds, it’s ultimately bland and unsubstantial. 

7, TL;DR. Ultimately, I don’t think it’s like, wrong to enjoy the fanon version of the batfam without wanting to engage with canon, and I certainly don’t think it’s okay to harrass people over it. But I do think it’s in large part based on a desire to interact with fandom rather than other pieces of media because people are scared of being let down by those pieces of media (or worse, just uninterested in actually thinking), which is mildly concerning. 

[fireandiceland]

-End of the year review-

Thank you for the tag @kitaychan! I was already thinking about making an end of the year/new year post but now this is the perfect opportunity :D

1. What fandoms did you create for?

I only created stuff for Hetalia this year :)

2. How many works did you make this year? Fics (posted on ao3 or tumblr or wherever), edits, gifsets, moodboards, playlists, fanart, vids, meta?

I recently collected all the drabbles from my nsfw account in a google doc and that alone is overwhelming.. I posted 8 fics on ao3, a total of 21 drabbles on tumblr (on this blog and @fireandspiceland), I made 2 playlists on spotify (but didn't make posts for them) and 2 moodboards! Oh and I cosplayed as Norway and Kugelmugel (but I only posted one edit of me as Nor).

3. What are you most proud of?

There's a lot of things I'm proud of! I'll try to name a few:

I actually kept up with writing for more than 6 months now :D I tend to start hobbies but not keep up with them on long term, so this is kinda big for me.

I went out of my comfort zone a LOT this year. Posting the things I write, joining discord servers and actually talking to the people there, and making friends both there and here on tumblr! You might think I'm an outgoing person, but I always put off posting my fics out of fear of critisism and it's not that easy for me to make the first step and ask someone for their discord or message them.

I started creating my own universe with it's own laws for my fic How'd I ever get so lost? It's my first 'big' project with multiple chapters that are telling one connected story and there's some world building involved that I invested a lot of thought into.

4. Any stats you wanna tell us about?

Here's some numbers I guess! I only had this blog for 8 month, I recently reached 200 followers, and my most popular work on ao3 is about to have 500 hits. ^-^

5. What inspired you this year? Any specific works or creators?

Almost everything I created last year was inspired by a song from one of the playlists I made or by other people's art or AUs.. I also had some very inspiring and interesting talks with mutuals and then there's the requests I get! The sheer amount of content that there is in this fandom and that people keep creating is firing my own imagination and without it I wouldn't be able to create the things I did and do. Tagging everone would go beyond the scope, but my biggest inspirations this year were..

@breitzbachbea who is always ready to support my with her historical knowledge and do some brainstorming on discord <3 from our talks I learned a lot about topics I never knew I would be interested in!

@plz-let-me-nap and her SuFin blog! Our talks inspired some great AU's (that I still haven't made posts about) and simping for the nordics is a lot more fun as a group activity <3

@kitaychan with her amazing writing style and stories that leave you begging for the next chapter. Her thoughtful comments had/have a big influence on How'd I ever get so lost? <3

@modernday-jay who introduced me to mint chocolate (my beloved) <3 and is always giving me food for thought with his posts and his characterisation of Allen.

@ironicorange with his stalker Alfred AU and @neon-spirals with his Arthur and his tentacle boyfriend AU. I just had to mention these two because I love these AU's and it's amazing to be able to contribute something to them <3

6. What’s a piece you didn’t expect to make? Why?

Every single drabble on @fireandspiceland! If half a year ago you told me I would be fullfilling requests for nsfw drabbles, I would have thought you were insane.

7. What are you excited to work on next year?

Well it's this year now, but I'm looking forward to continuing the demon Arthur AU! I have lots of ideas for it and can't wait to flesh them out more. What I also want to do is get more into the teenage dirtbag AU and the bible camp AU. I love both of them dearly and I think there's lots of dynamics between the characters to explore in the future.

Tag some people!

Many people are already tagged above, but I also would like to tag @amber-isnt-a-precious-stone @starflight-blog @j-ellyfish @koolkat9 @cocasoula who are very dear mutuals who I love seeing around and interacting with.

[daredevilexchange]

Want to be featured here? Head to this page and fill in the form!

See what this is about here, or if you’re using the app here.

What’s your fannish ID? Most people online call me Bucky, but it's actually not from the Marvel character, my last name is Buck! My tumblr url comes from my favorite poem, Ozymandias by Percy Shelley: "I met a traveler from an antique land"

What types of fanworks do you create? I mostly write fanfic, but I also post fanart! Fanfic in particular can be so cathartic for me to write, it lets me explore areas of canon that I don't think got enough attention, or work through issues of my own through other characters. Throughout high school and now in college, I got fewer and fewer opportunities to do any sort of creative writing, so for me fanfic is a way to keep stretching those muscles and developing a skill that I haven't really gotten to show off in a long time.

What are your favourite types of fanworks, when you’re not creating? I think it's hard to pick a "favorite", per se, but I read more fanfic than anything else. A fair chunk of my free time if I'm not writing, painting, or playing guitar is taken up by reading and rereading fic.

What do you like in particular about this fandom? This seems like kind of a no-brainer, but I'm just so excited by how active this fandom is. So many of the other things that I love-- Star Trek, X-Men, Bill and Ted, Fullmetal Alchemist-- have dead or really inactive fandoms, and it's so nice to regularly have new content, to have a pretty steady stream of engagement, to just actually have friends who are actually interested in it.

Do you like participating in fan events? I haven't before, but I would definitely love to! Like I said before, most other fandoms I'm in aren't very active or aren't big enough to put on fan events, so the opportunities are few and far between. I'm definitely interested in joining one for DD in the future!

What about your creating process? My process has actually changed a lot from back when I first started writing fic five or six years ago. I used to just open my laptop and start writing without much of a plan, and I think that definitely shows in my old writing. Now I always have to be at my desk, plan out the whole fic on paper, play piano music in the background, and have something to snack on (being on ADHD meds definitely doesn't hurt, too). I know that a lot of that probably seems obvious, but the more fic I wrote, the more I wanted it to actually be good and meaningful, so it was only then that I really started putting effort into making a productive writing environment for myself.

Do you interact a lot with other fans? I have more friends in this fandom than I do in any other, and I would so love to make more. I have a ton of DD mutuals that I'm in a big discord server with, and it's so much fun to bounce ideas off of each other, or just hang out and joke around.

Do you have other fandoms you'd like to talk about? The more fandoms I get into, the more I realize that I'm slightly addicted to a certain ship dynamic across all of them, that being the intimidating, protective, self-hating loner x the optimistic, supportive, emotional hopeless romantic. Obviously I found that in MattFoggy in Daredevil, but it's also in Star Trek: TNG (DaForge), The Witcher (Geraskier), Our Flag Means Death (BlackBonnet), and like a billion others. This probably says something about my psyche, but I choose to think that it's just a fun dynamic to read/write.

Is there any particular piece you'd like to showcase for this post? https://archiveofourown.org/works/38304931 https://archiveofourown.org/works/36542335 I think that these two fics are probably the best things I've ever written. I really pride myself on my ability to write dialogue and prose, and I think I really excelled at that in both of these fics. I used the writing process for these to help sort through my own relationship with my autism (a magical place where it never rained) and my acceptance of my gender and sexuality (over all these virtues (put on love)). The amount of feedback I've gotten saying that these fics helped other people with those same things means so much to me, and I'm so glad that other people found them as meaningful to read as they were for me to write.

Is there anything else you want to tell us about yourself? If there's one thing I strive for in my writing, especially as I start to foray into the x reader scene, it's to fill in demographic gaps. Fandom can be so personal, but there are always going to be people who don't fit the typical fan stereotype. I want to write things that help other asexual people, other transgender people, other men, other autistic people to feel seen in fandom spaces. I've got a lot of things in the works that I hope will help the people who have felt overlooked in fandom the same way that I sometimes have.

Where can your fanworks be found? My fandom tumblr is @antique-traveller https://antique-traveller.tumblr.com/ and I have a fic masterlist pinned there. You can also look for the tags "my fic" and "my art", or any fandom or ship. My ao3 is bbuckyy at https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbuckyy See y'all there! :-D

Thank you, @antique-traveller !

banner by @context-is-for-kingpins !

[ID on a white background, four black triangles that look like spotlights from above. Each illuminates one of the Defenders silhouetted in white: Jessica, Luke, Danny, Matt. A hand on the left is holding a pen writing the words Content Creator Spotlight. There is a little Punisher skull on the pen. End ID]

[spaceshipkat]

i think so much of writing respectfully and inclusively is being aware of what you’re putting down on the page. what do i mean by this? what better author to focus on than sj///m, right? i’ll start with CCity on this, since it’s the one where it’s most obvious she’s trying so hard to fix her mistakes, but the problem always comes back to her fundamental misunderstanding of why and how her shit is problematic in the first place and what she must do to fix said problematic shit. 

i’m sticking this under a cut bc, surprise surprise, i rambled 😌

take, for instance, Hunt: i think it’s pretty widely-accepted he’s coded as a MOC, (potentially an Asian-coded man) since he’s given “golden-brown skin” and “angular” eyes. sj//m was trying to be more inclusive by writing him in such a way that he shouldn’t be perceived as white, but what she failed to realize is two big things: 1) the fact he’s a slave of centuries who is constantly tortured, mutilated, and manipulated by his oppressors, and 2) the fact he lusts after and is demeaned by Bruce, a white girl. furthermore, Bruce constantly makes comments about how Hunt should fight back, shouldn’t allow himself to remain a slave, and taunts him into either disobeying Micah (the man he’s enslaved to) or killing for her. it’s made clear time and time again that Hunt doesn’t like that he’s an assassin for Micah, and yet there are so many instances of him wanting to kill or hurt someone for Bruce, which not only makes his characterization inconsistent, it plays into the problematic trope of the dark-skinned aggressor (a trope that sj///m seems to be particularly fond of, what with the Illyrians). 

(on the topic of Hunt, a quick side-note: the idea of the “alphahole” that comes up again and again in CCity and that antis have critiqued up the wazoo (though not with the “alphahole” colloquialism until CCity came along, but i don’t think many antis actually use “alphahole” as anything but a joke when talking about her obvious love of the hypermasculine alpha male). sj///m is clearly trying to call out her past mistakes and work to rectify them going forward, but she completely fails bc she only succeeds at 1) mocking her readers, who are often fans of hers bc they like the alpha male douchebag sj///m is infamous for, and 2) making herself sound like an idiot when she calls out “alphahole” behavior while actively writing “alphaholes” and making them (possible) endgame love interests (i say possible bc it’s anyone’s guess if sj///m will actually subvert everyone and their mother’s expectations by making Hunt endgame). Hunt is an “alphahole,” even if he’s not quite as bad as riceman or rowboat and even if sj///m thinks she’s not actually writing an “alphahole”. with his aforementioned behavior toward anyone who’s mean to Bruce (aka wanting to kill them for her), he still falls under the “alphahole” category.

but i digress.)

another example of sj///m writing without being aware of what she’s actually putting on the page is her inclusion of queer rep. sj///m queerbaits quite a lot with Danika, thanks to lines she has involving Bruce and her relationship with Bruce, not to mention how many times others wonder if Bruce and Danika are “just” best friends and not actually lovers. we have Hunt wonder about it, after all, several times iirc. one that stands out the most is when he says that they have to be more than “just” best friends because Bruce doesn’t mourn Danika like someone mourns “just” their best friend, thus implying that Bruce is mourning Danika like a lover and/or spouse (bc obviously people can’t be torn to pieces over losing their best friend in a horrific attack, right?). 

here’s some lines that have romantic connotations bc i am nothing if not a historian who likes citations: 

page 38 of my ebook: 

Danika just said it. “If he grabs his phone to check his messages before his dick’s barely out of you again, please have the self-respect to kick his balls across the room and come home to me.” 

page 45 of my ebook: 

But it was Danika’s added “Love you” as [Bruce] slipped out into the grimy hallway that made her hesitate with her hand on the knob. 

It’d taken Danika a few years to save those words, and she still used them sparingly. Danika had initially hated it when [Bruce] said them to her—even when [Bruce] explained that she’d spent most of her life saying it, just in case it was the last time. In case she wouldn’t get to say goodbye to the people who mattered most. And it had taken one of their more fucked-up adventures[...]to get Danika to utter the words, but at least she now said them. Sometimes. 

page 258 of my ebook (aka the line of Hunt’s i referenced above): 

The silence pressed on [Hunt] enough that he asked, “Were you and Danika lovers?” 

He’d been told two years ago that they weren’t, but friends didn’t mourn each other the way [Bruce] seemed to have so thoroughly shut down every part of herself. The way he had for Shahar. 

[...]

Hunt turned in place as [Bruce] padded around the other end of the kitchen island, flinging open the enormous metal fridge to examine its meager contents. “No,” [Bruce] said, her voice flat and cold. “Danika and I weren’t like that.” 

page 696 of my ebook: 

[Bruce] swallowed, looking at the ground that was not earth, but the very base of Self, of the world. She whispered, “I’m scared.”

Danika grabbed her hand again. “That’s the point of it, [Bruce]. Of life. To live, to love, knowing that it might all vanish tomorrow. It makes everything that much more precious.” She took [Bruce’s] face in her hands and pressed their brows together. 

page 700 of my ebook (and i was torn on including this one, but it’s from Danika, so i think i should): 

Danika had whispered, “I love you,” before fading into nothing, her hand sliding from Bryce’s.

page 703 of my ebook (also torn on this, but it does sound a little queer, so): 

But it wasn’t okay. Not even close. What had happened, what [Bruce had] done and revealed, the Horn in her body, all those people dead, Lehabah dead, and seeing Danika, Danika, Danika—

Her breathless words turned into pants, and then shuddering sobs.

also, not for nothing, but the fact Danika dies without an actual male love interest to make Her Straightness Obvious kinda also implies she’s queer, but *sips tea*

furthermore, there’s the way sj///m writes Fury and Juniper: we see the two women together in one scene, in which Juniper is fetishized and goes to sleep with some random guy. for the rest of the book, they never interact on-page and thus we are never given the chance to see their dynamic, which would provide crucial context clues to what their relationship really is by the time this exchange happens between Fury and Bruce on page 494 of my ebook:

“And yet you can still talk to Juniper?” Bryce’s throat closed up. “I wasn’t worth the risk to you?”

Fury hissed, “Juniper and I have something that is none of your fucking business.” Bryce refrained from gaping. Juniper had never hinted, never suggested—“I could no sooner stop talking to her than I could rip out my own fucking heart, okay?”

“I get it, I get it,” Bryce said. She blew out a long breath. “Love trumps all.”

i’ve talked about this scene to death, but this is written in such a way that it can be read as “just” best friends or as two women in a romantic relationship, depending on the reader. the fact that Bruce “gapes” (which faerug also does to Mor, and which i talk about below) implies that being openly queer isn’t accepted in this world, that it’s not very likely you’ll see two women holding hands as they walk down the sidewalk or kiss at a romantic restaurant. it also implies that Bruce, no matter that she says about “love trumps all,” might not be as accepting as sj///m would like us to believe. maybe sj///m has never had a friend come out to her before, but if i came out to someone and they gaped at me (and i’ve come out to several people several times now, both about my sexuality and my gender, so i have some experience here), i don’t think i would be very happy with them/want to remain their friend. 

on the note of queer rep in sj///m’s work, Mor is another fantastic example of trying to be inclusive through a response to criticism without sj///m being aware of what, exactly, she’s writing. Mor comes out because faerug all but forces her to by not shutting up what a good guy Azriel is and that Mor should just give him a chance. that right there is fucked on so many levels, not just because Mor is a lesbian, but bc she’s supposedly faerug’s friend. no one should ever force their friends to date someone they don’t want to (i’ve had this happen to me! i had to literally snap at my friend to get her to back off bc i wasn’t going to go to the dance with this one guy who ignored my every rejection and bought us tickets to winter formal, just bc he’s a nice guy and i might like him if i gave him a chance), but i don’t think sj///m could figure out how else to write Mor’s coming out scene, largely bc she has no fucking clue how disgusting the scene we’re given is. the problem with Mor being a lesbian is threefold: 1) she’s a woman who was tortured by her father and left to die bc she was no longer a virgin; 2) Azriel spends centuries lusting after a woman who makes it clear time and again that she does not reciprocate his feelings and yet he cannot take the fucking hint, so much so that sj///m has to now dangle Elain in front of him like a piece of meat to get him to let go of Mor; and 3) sj///m was obviously setting up Mor and Azriel to be an endgame couple in ac0maf, as evidenced both in canon and in her pinterest board: 

even stans picked up on it, what with their vocal outrage over how Mor “led Azriel on” for centuries instead of just outing herself to a man she obviously does not feel safe around, and posts like these: 

and fanart like this: 

the tl;dr of this ramble is this: if you want to write inclusively and respectfully, you have to be 100% aware of everything you’re putting on the page. when people ask for advice on this kind of thing, my first comment is to always say they’re already on the right track bc they’re already thinking of this, rather than being unaware of problems bc a state of unawareness is where the problems begin to appear. Hafsah Faizal has talked about this before on her twitter (i wish i could find the tweet, but this is from eons ago), but if you write a character of color when you yourself are white, you have to be wholly conscious of how your white character talks to this character of color. if the character of color is constantly yelled at or ordered around or ignored by the white character, that’s a big problem. if you write a queer character when you yourself are straight, you have to be conscious of how your queer character comes out, is perceived by the reader, and is treated by the straight character. if the queer character comes out by comparing their bisexuality to forced prostitution, as is the case with Aedion and Lysandra in t0g, that’s a big problem. 

the moment you share your work for public consumption, it no longer matters what your intentions are (something sj///m has a lot of trouble understanding, hence why she over-explains everything in her interviews and on tours, not to mention why she force-feeds us her opinion of her characters in canon so we’re forced to share the exact same outlook on them) bc all that matters is what you’ve put down on the page. your words, at that point, have no choice but to speak for themselves, and if they do any of the above, your work is going to come under warranted critique, and unless you learn from that critique and do more than half-assed jobs to write more inclusively and respectfully, you’ll run into the exact same problems that sj///m has with CCity. 

[keyofjetwolf]

With the remaining time for today, Lamonta asked that I take a look at and share any thoughts on a bit of fanart they had commissioned. NOT A PROBLEM

This is how they set the stage for the piece:

the fanart is based on a Sailor Moon fanfic that had a... interesting premise

pinterest.com/pin/653655333408500186

The fic is modern day one set two years after the Tohoku event in 2011 and it's based of the 90's anime (more or less)

If you, like me, have no idea what “the Tohoku event in 2011″ refers to, it’s the earthquake and tsunami of the same year. So yeah, THAT. I haven’t heard of the ‘fic before, which isn’t surprising, as I’m very much out of the wider loop of fanfiction. But I’m guessing from the fanart that Usagi has A Rough Time Of It.

I have to preface that I’m not an artist, so I can’t offer anything really in terms of that level of critique, save to say that this looks well done! The Usagi in my personal head is much more a chubby bun, but pulling directly from what the anime shows, it looks like a great rendition. I especially enjoyed seeing her outfit from Episode 152 (Rei’s International Success Life one, for those keeping score at home), which only ever turned up ONCE, so that’s a deep cut there and I appreciate it.

Then we have the meat and potatoes of the thing: Usagi’s prosthetic legs. So obviously that’s an intriguing development. I don’t know the specifics, so I can’t comment beyond that, but intriguing indeed. I wonder, too, how the other Senshi fared, and of course about the group dynamics in the wake of Usagi’s injury and recovery. And how does this impact her as Sailor Moon? I personally headcanon the girls having advanced magical healing, and often toyed with how far that goes. If Minako cut her hair, for example, would it grow back when she became Venus? So following that train of thought, does Usagi have this injury, but Sailor Moon doesn’t? No idea! I’m not even sure which way I’d rather it go, it’s just an interesting thought experiment.

So yeah, “intriguing” is my word for the piece. I’m sure the author and artist both were delighted and flattered that their work inspired and motivated you to have this made. (Lamonta, please feel free to let me know the ‘fic’s title and author, and the fanartist, along with any links to their work, and I’ll edit this post to include those.)

Edit: The ‘fic(s) in question are Sailor Moon: A Different Path and Path’s Divergence (described by Lamonta as “The second version of the fic (it's darker than the first one)”) by Star Girl11.