#i want to read comics so bad. i try to. i have. i've started several | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

onbearfeet · 2 months

Text

Kat watches Moon Knight

Okay, so with the encouragement of several people on here and the emotional support of my roommate, I have finally (in February 2024) started watching Moon Knight, a show whose basic concept scares the shit out of me.

Context: I had an adopted older brother with DID. Note that I said "had". That's past tense because life treated him so appallingly poorly that he died (horribly, in prison) when I was 19. Part of that abuse was enabled by pop-culture depictions of DID in the 1980s and 90s that convinced everyone who knew about his condition (including the court system) that he was a walking time bomb.

One of my earliest memories is of my brother as a young adult, playing Super Mario Bros with my toddler self. Another is of him patiently teaching me how to make friends with a large dog. I never met any of his alters, afaik; I was small and cute and safe for him to be himself with, so he probably didn't need them around me. He was a profoundly gentle man when he was allowed, and it hurt like hell to see him turned into a monster in movies and on TV. I've turned off a lot of "psychological thrillers" in sorrow and disgust.

Ironically, I loved Moon Knight comics as a kid in the 90s, BEFORE he was retconned to have DID circa the mid-2000s. Because those comics came out right after my brother died in 2002 and leaned HARD into making people with DID seem like violently unstable monsters (for reference, see the cover of Moon Knight: God and Country), I stopped reading them around 2008, when I couldn't take being poked in the trauma by a comfort character anymore.

But I do love Werewolf By Night, and there's been a lot of good fic mashing Jack up with Moon Knight without dehumanizing anyone, and several people have encouraged me to try the show. So this post will be a place for my thoughts as I try to work my way through with my Essential Editions in one hand and my memories of my brother in the other. I'll add to it as I watch.

If this entertains the Moon Knight fandom or provides useful fic reference, so be it. Just don't be jerks on my post.

Also, anyone who chooses to be shitty about my brother will be eaten by bears. I don't make the rules.

Episode 1

Okay, we open with Steven as our POV character, and he's...convinced he's a sleepwalker. All right, not terrible. Steven is now a bumbling nerd, which is probably an improvement; good luck making a billionaire playboy sympathetic in the 2020s. Jake would be the logical everyman POV from the comics, but I understand from fic that he's got a different role now. I'm confused about the accent, but it's only episode 1, and Steven clearly doesn't yet know who Khonshu is, or that Marc exists, so obviously there's a ways to go here. (Is Marc ... undercover inside Steven? Ugh, this is a trope I have seen and do not like.)

Did Marc kill Steven's fish? Did Khonshu kill Steven's fish? I'm baffled by the fish. Which is a nice break from the larger anxiety. I'm gonna try to worry more about the fish.

The bits with Steven losing time and finding himself in odd situations were distressingly close to the old tropes, but both of those happened to my brother, so I'm not going to bitch about them quite yet. I want to be as fair as I can.

Oh, hey, I recognize Harrow from the comics. What up, dude. How's the cult biz treating you?

The end of the episode, with the jackal thing chasing Steven into the bathroom, came RIGHT up to the line for me. I realized that what I was most afraid of was that the story would assign "good" and "bad" labels to the alters--make Steven the sweet, innocent one and Marc (or maybe Jake, I guess) the monstrous killer. The early flashes of Steven covered in blood didn't really help allay that anxiety. And now Marc is demanding that Steven let him have control in a pretty threatening manner. But so far, it seems like the contrast between Marc and Steven is one of competence--Marc is better at fighting and Steven is better at ... panicking? Unclear. At least Oscar Isaac is playing the protagonist, so his character(s) might remain sympathetic. Nobody has been monsterized quite yet.

I finished the episode with every muscle in my body locked up, waiting for the emotional punch in the face. But I did finish it, and I think I'm gonna try episode two.

#kat watches moon knight #moon knight #marc spector #steven grant #i guess I'm processing trauma again #hello trauma my old friend

81 notes · View notes

shuttershocky · 5 months

Note

Do you have a dislike for media universes that "rewards" people for watching/reading all of it in general?

Or do you think there is one that executes that idea well?

I'm answering this 5 months late, but I'm pretty sure I still remember this ask being prompted by a post making fun of the MCU.

Do I dislike story universes that reward people for reading all of it? Not at all. I mean, I'm a fan of both Middle Earth and Star Wars, I fucking love big, big universes with plenty of stories in them. When they intersect in some small way it's a delight to me, I love those little personal winks from the author for having read their other works or recognizing the most obscure names only a nerd would know.

However, there's a difference between a little reference in a story meant for people who can connect the dots, and making something almost required reading for your enjoyment. It's the difference between an acknowledgement from the creators that you liked the setting enough to come back for a new yet familiar ride, and a company realizing they've found their cash cow and can't wait to milk it for all its got until it's dead.

And dead the cash cow will be, eventually. It's been said before that the reason why the Big Two of western comics have ceded more and more ground to manga over the years is that Spider-Man has 10 different starting points while Naruto starts with Volume#1. That's not just a funny joke. Onboarding new readers has genuinely been Marvel and DC's problem for decades, which is why it was both incredibly predictable yet shocking all the same that this is what the MCU turned itself into.

Sure, early on you could ask the audience to watch a couple movies before the big Avengers crossover, but now they've got all these TV shows on top of the movies that you have to watch in order to "catch up", and it's not even about the cool characters anymore. More and more of their fanbase is going to stop caring once the barrier of entry gets too high, and it's ridiculous to me that Marvel went this road with their movies when they know this is what happened to their comics first.

I mean, are you serious, their next big bad is Kang? I am not watching several TV shows and an Ant-Man movie that's somehow worse than the second one all to see how the currently left Avengers meet goddamn Kang the Conqueror. He's in both the TV shows and the movies, which means they're somehow giving Kang more buildup screentime than Thanos. Why? Either I've been extremely out of touch with Marvel comics or the MCU picked a wild choice to headline their next billion dollar franchise when Doctor Doom is actually available to them now and barely needs an introduction.

Sorry, got lost for a bit. Back on topic, yeah I know I know, all art right now exists under capitalism which means every setting that becomes a wider story universe is an author trying to milk their existing fanbase. Whenever a creator makes a thing that I like, and then announces they have a new thing set in the same setting as their first thing but isn't a direct sequel so they can keep gaining a new audience while keeping their existing one, I know I'm being suckered in.

Just, don't make it so blatant. And don't make it so hard. I am the exact target audience for these shenanigans and even I'm starting to feel like it's homework because it's all fucking required now.

If I, a lifelong Star Wars fan, want to watch the newest Star Wars thing, I have to see a hundred hours of other Star Wars media first. If I want to watch The Mandalorian Season 3, I can't just have seen Season 1 and 2, oh no, I have to also see The Book of Boba Fett too, because halfway through that show became The Mandalorian Season 2.5. Well I did see Boba Fett, and the combination of my dislike for turning it into required homework AND the show itself just being kinda dogshit meant I never touched season 3 of the Mandalorian. That show used to be so great because it wasn't tied down to any existing story arcs or characters, so it stood on its own and made for an amazing watch no matter how much Star Wars you've actually seen. And then it succeeded and so had to become the new spine for the entirety of Disney Star Wars afterward. Fuck. Now if I want to watch their latest show Ahsoka, I have to have seen the Clone Wars animated series AND Rebels, because the Rebels cast are in it too! I mean I did see Clone Wars and Rebels, but that still sucks!

That makes me worried now! Andor was also really fucking good and it stood on its own so hard you didn't even need to see Rogue One, the movie that introduced Cassian Andor in the first place. But now that season 1 was a success and everyone sang its praises, it certainly means season 2 is suddenly going to get real cramped with Ahsoka and Luke Skywalker and whatever guys are currently alive in its timeframe. Shit, they're probably gonna add Cal Kestis in season 2 of Andor. The Respawn Star Wars games are still doing their own thing which means it's time to connect to something else.

I hate what all this has become. It was fun to read the Silmarillion and see what kind of fuckery one family of elves got up to that eventually turned Sauron from minion to big evil eye parked next to evil mountain, but you didn't need to read all that before The Lord of the Rings. LOTR didn't assume you knew anything at all (and oh boy did Tolkien never miss an opportunity to explain shit).

Let me repeat. I am the target audience. I live for the ridiculously nerdy habit of reading things set in the same universe as other things and connecting all the dots. If /I/ feel like it's become homework, I can't imagine what the average person thinks of all this. Make it stop. Stop running everything I once loved into the ground in the name of endless profit. Star Wars was already doing this to itself before the Disney acquisition and yet it didn't feel this bad.

#I would take hundreds of disconnected and mediocre Star Wars comics and books made in the Legends era #Over what's happening to it now

88 notes · View notes

icyrambles · 12 days

Text

i typically have two forms of analysis when i talk about certain characters. i call them meta analysis and canon analysis.

meta analysis is when i take into account author, fan, and personal interpretation and intention when writing a character. this can be things like biases on the author's part (intentional or not), fandom headcanons and general opinions that are widespread, and finally my own personal opinions and beliefs on the character or media

canon analysis is when i ignore everything above. it's when i take things that are said exclusively through the text and conveyed to me as a reader. these are analysis formed exclusively (or at least as much as i try) through what is told to me via the text

like take pharma as an example. i personally hate how his character is treated both in canon and in fandom. within canon he's reduced to the crazy doctor who harvested his patients organs and in fandom i've noticed he either gets babied to all hell (typically by shifting the blame of his actions onto tarn) or just demonising him. i dislike this from all angles because pharma for me is a multifaceted character who, while causing a lot of harm, was forced into a situation where he really did not have a choice if he wanted to keep his staff and himself alive.

like yeah, i think pharma should punished in some way for the deaths he caused, but i also think that he should be viewed through the lens of someone who was essentially being blackmailed into killing his patients less himself and his staff (one of whom was a defected decepticon) be serious harmed or just outright killed. and that these actions caused massive damage to his mental wellbeing which caused him to spiral into madness.

or like take ratchet. he's got this thing in fandom where he'll throw wrenches at people and he's a fucking rebel who hates the government. but he doesn't do either of those things ever, in any of the continuities i've read/watched. like he's not even remotely violent unless he's actively being threatened? and even then he's more liable to go for verbal assaults rather than physical ones. where are you people getting these interpretations from?

he's a snarky ass who enjoys arguing with people sure, but ratchet would not fucking destroy the government. he fucking threatens to dismantle megatron on several occasions throughout the comics. there was a tweet from alex milne a while back that basically called ratchet an abusive partner and like, listen, fandom interpretations are always going to be a little off, but i'm sorry mr. milne, but ratchet is not an abuser in any sense of the word. there is nowhere, and i mean nowhere in the comics that proves that he would do that.

idw starscream is also a character who i have complex feelings about when i try to write about him.

because on the one hand i despise the way that idw starscream is treated by the fanbase. he's not a good person, that is the whole point of him. he's a terrible person, who has done terrible things, and i think he should be treated as just as bad as megatron. and i think the fandom constantly babying him because of what megatron did to him is stupid.

he's a genuinely cunning, manipulative, and overall shitty asshole who is more than willing to doublecross and backstab to get what he wants.

but he's also a victim. megatron's treatment of him throughout the war is inexcusable. under no circumstances do i think that starscream deserved to be kept around as a punching bag to keep the other decepticons in line and i also am of the belief that megatron should've gotten more flack for what he did to starscream.

like pharma, starscream is a character who has a lot of different layers. he fucks up and relapses into more toxic behaviour because it's quite literally the only thing he can rely on. he's expected by the people around him to be a backstabber and a liar, so why on earth would he act any differently?

it's not until bumblebee appears that he actually starts to change. and i think it's very important when discussing bee and starscream's relationship that people remember that starscream does not think of bumblebee as a ghost. he views bee as a literal manifestation of his guilt and consciousness. he did genuinely seem to view bumblebee as a good leader and a good person before his death in dark cybertron, so when bee shows up as a ghost and starts encouraging starscream to do better for his people and his planet, starscream listens because he did trust bee.

the point of starscream's character, is that people can only change if they truly want to. bumblebee wants starscream to change for the better but starscream only starts to change when he actually believes he can. and even then he often relapses into more negative behaviours because he's not perfect. the fact that he does this honestly makes him even more believable to me.

if you were treated as nothing more than a liar, coward, and manipulative asshole for 4 million years you'd probably fuck up on the road to recovery too.

it's why megatron's redemption at least works for me within a canon lens. he only starts to change his behaviour when he actually begins to understand that his actions and ideology were wrong. that's why it works. the lost light as a ship is about new beginnings and fresh starts for everyone, so having megatron, literally the most hated guy every join the crew works to further that theme of rebirth.

out of canon analysis though, starscream and megatron in my opinion were done very poorly in terms of writing. they were very clearly meant to be cartoonishly evil characters with no redeemable qualities during phase 1 of the comics. so when phases 2 + 3 roll around and try to develop these characters as more than just evil assholes, it falls flat because you have to sweep all of the terrible shit they've done under the rug.

and it doesn't work well from a narrative perspective to have murder mcgee megatron and his former second in command be the leaders of not only the planet they fucking destroyed and the ship that legally doesn't belong to them. and this is coming from someone who loves idw's portrayals of megatron and starscream. i think they're some of the best versions out there beyond maybe the originals.

i also think that fandom falls into a weird zone when it comes to these characters. i call it fandom flanderization; where fandom will take a certain character trait (like starscream being a liar) and conflate that trait to be their whole character. like is starscream a liar? yeah he absolutely is. but he's also a genuinely caring individual when he actually trusts someone.

it's a shame because i think that idw, despite having relatively weak writing in terms of overall storytelling, actually has some really interesting interpretations of the characters.

[ if you liked my work, please feel free to give it a reblog and leave your thoughts in the tags, reblog box itself, or replies. i adore seeing what other people have to say about my thoughts ]

#icy's writing #transformers #meta analysis #megatron #starscream #ratchet #pharma #transformers idw #i have so many thoughts about how characters get treated by the fandom #mostly can be boiled down to #HE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT????#where did you get this interpretation from good lord #something something every 3 months or so people should be required to reread the source material #because if you wanna break canon #you gotta understand it so it doesn't fucking feel like left field when someone makes a random ass headcanon #that's not even remotely based in canon in any way

21 notes · View notes

ghostofafruit · 5 months

Text

So i'm working on a lot of fics at the moment, the oneshots will continue as I always have with loose hope that i'll finish them before I lose interest in them but I have several multi chapter/longform fics I wish to work on. There is a poll at the bottom of this post and I just want to get a guide idea for what people would want first, below are the four longer fics I'm trying to finish and get out and a little description about them.

Martha/Rose Season 3 onwards rewrite - A Martha/Rose multichapter rewrite of season 3 featuring less leading on of Martha, a role swap between Rose and the Doctor, and an actual relationship. Would probably contain immortal/bad wolf Rose.

Rose and Ten in the MCU - A doctorrose long oneshot (It was meant to be maybe 5k and I haven't even gotten to my main points for writing it yet and it's over double that). They've crashed into the MCU and they can't get the Tardis to start back up again, she won't even do a short jump within the universe, so they're stuck on Earth and have to settle down. Rose becomes an English teacher at Peter's school. Later into the year there's a fieldtrip to stark industries, and the Doctor and Rose get the help of Peter and Tony to get back home. (I actually have a sequel planned too, a human nature/family of blood rewrite where the Doctor crashes them into that universe to hide out)

Married Life - a season 2 onwards multichapter rewrite starting at the werewolf episode going forward Each chapter alternates between an episode rewrite and an original, hopefully more relaxed, adventure.

It's not really a secret - originally intended as a multichapter Merlin fic, inspired by a prompt from @onceandfuturelesbian in which Uther finds out about Merlin's magic and tries to kill him for it. The first chapter came out over a year ago and I've been really struggling with it. Now it is intended to be finished as a longer oneshot with Merthur happening around halfway through.

Rose Tyler's guide to becoming a superhero - Immortal Rose Tyler is trying to get back to her birth universe after her family are all gone (she's in her 300s she wanted to hang around and explore that universe) but her one attempt on the canon lands her not in her original universe but one full of heros and villains. Her brother Tony had liked comics, though she never had, and through him and her hazy memory of his rambles about his comics, she has a pretty rough idea of what's going on. She starts out as a teacher, but one of her students is Peter Parker and that name rings a bell from Tony's ramblings. It takes a little while, but she realises he's Spider-Man and sets on to help him however she can. Good thing Bad Wolf left behind a couple things more than just immortality.

#doctor who #fanfic #rose tyler #timepetals #doctorrose #tenrose #dr who #tenth doctor #martha jones #martharose #crossover #peter parker #mcu #doctor who marvel crossover #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #merlin #merthur

35 notes · View notes

clowndotgay · 9 months

Note

Hi!! I recently found your blog and your renders are amazing! I showed some of them to my friends and we went mentally ill over it (especially the deep diver and thomas one) I saw that you take requests and I was wondering if you could make a render of robert and thomas, it could be anything! I'd love to see the two bros spending time together. (But don't feel forced to do it if you don't want to, i'm just suggesting a little idea heehee)

Okay that's it byyyee!

i was super flattered by this ask so i kind of overdid it haha! images are big, you might have to zoom/open in new tab, sorry about that. but. that's how it goes. extra render + rambling under cut

okay theres the silly render ^ they have such a fascinating dynamic. weird distant capitalism brothers

DISCLAIMER IS: i realized SIGNIFICANTLY through putting this together that i uh... don't actually know much about the chairmans personality? i am a very new player and don't know a majority of the characters in depth so i'm kind of just trying my best when it comes to half of these personality-wise. so for the last 30% of making all this i was deathly afraid that i was doing severe character assassination on both of them. my bad if i did!!! it wasnt intentional!!!

my read on the chairman from what i know of him is that the only way he'd really "hang out" with a relative is by doing it under fake made up business pretenses. (also, i just found it really funny that chairman actually stands on the COO's head in a comic)

but also um. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! this is my first public social media account in. pretty much ever? and i only really started posting stuff here a couple weeks ago. all the nice interactions and cool people has been unreal! please please send render requests whenever you feel like, i absolutely love doing them and i'm not super imaginative when it comes to the characters that i'm already familiar with. (if left to my own devices i will perpetually make mingler x flunky renders)

honestly the render of mary and thomas might still be my favourite out of all the ones i've done so far. their friendship just makes me grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr its so sweet and nice. they are autism2autism communication. (note: almost everyone in toontown is autistic to me)

LAST thing! mildly odd proposition but message me if you want COO's model or chairman's model as blender files! or anyones model, really, but chairman and coo are the ones i have made the most edits to the head rigs of, so they're actually easy to use! and fun to use! (unheard of concept to blender users (its rough out here))

oh my god this post is way too long. i refuse to slim it down. my bad. thanks for reading (??)

#toontown #ttcc #toontown corporate clash #chief operating officer #thomas saggs #the chairman #chairman #robert cyger #cdg render

37 notes · View notes

thespectralvision · 6 months

Text

I met Paul Bettany (again) yesterday at Dallas Fan Festival and I'm not sure I'll ever recover.

To preface this, I've been doing cons and seeing live productions for a long time, so I have met a fair number of celebrities and I've never had a bad experience. Getting to meet Lizzie Olsen a few months back was thrilling enough, and I feel so blessed that both she and Paul ended up attending conventions in Texas within a span of months. That said, Paul Bettany blew every other celebrity meeting I've had so far out of the water I don't even know how to compare them. Part of that is my own personal connection to his work - he's been my favorite actor for a very *very* long time - and getting to share how he's been a part of my journey from afar was very emotional and so *so* worth it. Long story below the cut:

When I met him breifly in NYC it was very exciting, but he was running almost 30 minutes late to his own play and didn't have time to chat, so we just snapped the selfie and that was that. The play was an amazing experience, and I discussed it in this post back in December when it happened.

Yesterday I had several one-on-one minutes with him over the course of the day. After a little stress getting in the line (where a kind lady on staff went out of her way to help me and a large group of friends in line with me. One of them had purchased an autograph because she's collecting MCU signatures in a book, but she told me she also wanted to set me up so he knew I was a super-fan.

He started by looking at the print and then deciding he was going to sign it in pink. He was *very* adamant about that, and I laughed and said it was his call. The grin as he started to write and confirmed that yes, pink was the right colour was a wonderful laugh at the beginning.

I told him that I specifially painted this for him to sign, and he was so kind as he looked at it and told him it was my art. I shared a little of my journey and thanked him, because I found Vision as a character due to being a fan of his acting for nearly 2 decades, starting with when I saw A Knights Tale shortly after it came out back in 2001. Before I could drive my dad would take me to go see every movie he did in theaters, and as an adult I've kept up. Paul's work has been a constant in my life, and a source of comfort long before his involvement in the MCU let alone my love of Vision as a character (completely seperate from the man who plays him)

I explained how I had been fighting severe depression for most of the 10 years prior to WandaVision's release, and I had given up on art. Watching WandaVision, and then reading comics about Vision made me want to paint him. The first several times I've never shared (maybe I'll do a big dump of unfinished/unreleased art one of these days) but I just kept trying. In the time since I've created close to 200 piece of art, and I take so much joy in it again. When I have a bad week I paint to relax, I paint when I'm struggling to express things, for a distraction or to share my joy. I didn't go into so much detail with Paul but he listened to every word. I then mentioned that I had met him very breifly in NYC last winter because I had travelled to see him for The Collaboration, and a front-row seat had been my Christmas Gift. He was *so happy* guys. He looked like he had just been given the best compliment ever when I told him how much of a treat it was to get to see him acting live. He made this little happy sound and it was so lovely. I think as artists, knowing our work has inspired others in the way we are inspired is a very high compliment and it felt that way.

He was so kind and at the end of our time together before I walked away he looked at me and told me I had a gift, and thanked me for sharing it with him. I think hearing my story and his small but oh-so-important role in it made him a little emotional too, he looked like he might cry for a breif moment. I said I would be seeing him later for a photo and he smiled so brighly and waved me off, and he didn't turn to the next group until I turned away from his table. All my friends were waiting for me and had been watching and they started freaking out about the conversation. Another friend who was in a different line but had excellent eyesight of Paul was like 'I think he loved your art wow his reaction'. They watched him with other guests for quite awhile and commented that he was all smiles and like that with everyone. Every other person I spoke with at the convention who met him had nothing but glowing things to say. A few friends told me after they now understand why I'm so fond of him hah.

I had a period of time between the autograph and the scheduled photo ops, so I walked the rest of the event and picked up some goodies I'll share in another post - it was like Paul Bettany/Vision Christmas I've never seen so much Vision art and merch selling and on display let alone being bought. When it was finally my time for the photo he finished with the group ahead of me and his face lit up with a bright smile as I moved into the space. I wasn't sure how close was ok - I have a rule of thumb when doing con photos to let the guest decide how much contact/space is ok because everyone is different. Paul put his arm around me and kept nudging me until I finally moved in closer, then he gave me a proper hug with a little squeeze. If you've ever imagined huging Vision (or Paul) it's exactly what you expect. Before he let me go he thanked me again (?!) and waved me off, and said he'd see me at his panel in a little bit.

His panel was also fantastic and fun, and he charmed the entire room. Some friends went with me who aren't as familiar with him or his work outside of Marvel, and they all agreed they would pay to meet him again/see a panel if he had one. I'm sure someone else will beat me to uploading the video (I did record most of it but my phone was almost dead) so I won't go into too much detail but it was such a fun hour.

I couldn't have asked for a better day. If anyone on this Earth made me feel the way Vision makes me feel when I'm reading comics or watching MCU projects, it was Paul. He described Vision in an interview once as 'warmth personified' and I think that's just a lot of *him*. His energy was infectuous and he was so gracious and kind and humbled by the display of fans. It was also just nice to see so many people celebrating his art and the characters he plays. It's rare to see *so much* love for Vision, let alone others that are less known.

If you are a fan and have an opportunity to see Paul Bettany live please do. He really is a gem and in this case I'm so glad I got to meet my hero in more ways than one.

#paul bettany #dallas fan festival 2023 #The Vision #WandaVision

25 notes · View notes

co-mixed · 2 months

Text

Daredevil by Ann Nocenti

I was planning on a short review but the more I read, the more details and elements kept popping up and I knew I would be wrong to not point them out. So here it is, a fully detailed review.

Take Your Time

Nocenti took over the title after Frank Miller (and if memory serves me right, several guest writers). It was not going to be easy, especially after the massive Born Again arc, in which after having his life completely shattered by Kingpin (and Miller), Matt returns to Hell's Kitchen to live happily ever after with Karen and opens a legal clinic/addiction hotline. He can't legally practice law, she is definitely not qualified for any psychological help, what could go wrong? Oh well, he's also still Daredevil and Karen still hates it, so there is that. Nocenti had a pretty tough task to rebuild everything and at the same time deliver good stories.

At this point, I notice when a new writer on a title is struggling for the first few months, while they try to establish their own take and find their footing. Once that's out of the way, everything goes smoothly (for most, anyway).

Nocenti's run gets a little chaotic in the beginning, while she starts to set the rules and draw the neighborhood around Daredevil and Karen. And if you expected her to go easy on the characters, you can rest easy knowing that she's put DD through hell. Literally.

Building Hell's Kitchen

Right away she involves some neighborhood kids and gives them all slow-burn arcs. In fact, she includes children in a lot of stories, and they provide a reflection of the dark and complex adult world. They react, they mirror the grown-ups and the things happening around them affect them in an unpredictable way. The arc of the kid who slowly, in the span of several issues, discovered his darker side and ended up being killed by a mob member, is something you barely notice happening at first. And then he keeps coming back, making a small but ultimately wrong choice, which eventually brings him to his demise. All that adds a sense of responsibility and urgency to Daredevil. Something he may have always experienced but didn't necessarily watch happen. Not to imply that no one has suffered from his misguided actions before (RIP, Heather). And not to say that he was responsible for the kid's choices, but said kid came to Matt repeatedly and Matt missed all the signs. If you want to direct the issue back to the kid's parents, I have to point out that most of them were ill-attended. The other kid story is Bullet's son Lance. He doesn't have much to do with DD but he's a reflection of how an impressionable child due to lack of attention can develop a full-on phobia. That's not something that I've seen in superhero comics that often. This darkness is fully developed by Nocenty and if you look closely, has its roots in Miller's stories.

The Origins of Evil

There is a series of one/two-issue arcs with guest stars and seriously messed up villains. And I don't use messed up lightly, I didn't necessarily expect this much darkness from the 80s (which is funny, since I've seen it before). In each story, there's a social issue mixed into the arc and exaggerated to the extreme. Nocenti doesn't just throw a bunch of villains at the hero. Even her minor [evil] characters usually have a rich backstory, which she isn't afraid to share. They can be victims of injustice, bad parenting, or circumstances. And then she gives them a voice and in some cases, it starts to sound reasonable before you actually see where they went off the rails (Not sure if Neya can be called a villain though).

The Main Event(s)

But all these additional stories more or less revive around two main arcs - Typhoid Mary and Mephisto. Mary's arc is very impressive, and not just because it gives tons and tons of drama. Okay, mostly because of that. The worst way for a hero to lose everything is when they get hurt by someone they trusted. But also, Matt walked into this nonsense all on his own (with a little help from heightened senses, sure, we buy that). I've seen Mary before but never really got familiar with her backstory, aside from encountering her in the latest X-men runs when she married Kingpin. But here it's introduction time and literally the best possible way to know all there is to know about Mary. Her two personalities are interesting in her relationships with other characters (she mostly interacts with DD/Matt and Kingpin but only as Typhoid). But arguably the most definitive element is her parts trying to coexist or rather push each other out. Typhoid is a wild, unpredictable, manipulative, and murderous woman, while Mary is a wallflower, sort of like early Karen. They despise each other, obviously. One's qualities are incompatible with the other's. Typhoid manages to almost kill Matt, but ironically, Mary accidentally delivers the final blow. At this point, Matt's mental stability is shaken to the point from which he can't return on his own, so in true DD fashion, he skips town, reviving the Lone Stranger arc from Miller's run. It doesn't help that before he leaves, beaten and humiliated (rightfully, I might say), there's Inferno going on in New York, as in a literal Limbo opening. It takes an encounter with Mephisto and Inhumans to force him to find himself again and go back to New York. But overall, both stories are some of the greatest examples of how to properly torture a character.

I liked Ann Nocenti's take, it was brutal and harsh with the world showing its ugliest colors. She doesn't shy away from a righteous message and she delivers it in a way that resonates. Nocenti also doesn't reduce her female characters to mindless damsels in need of saving. She even outlines it in the arc of Number Nine. In fact, she didn't paint one or the other as the ideal, both Nine and Brandy learned something from each other.

The Big Picture

In my short review of Born Again on Instagram, I mentioned scaling, specifically Miller inviting the Avengers to deal with one of the villains Daredevil couldn't necessarily handle. Nocenti does a similar thing but again, brings it a step further - she lets Human Torch walk a day in Daredevil's shoes. While at first, he believes it's easier than his job in the Fantastic Four, since they deal with Galactus and other massive dangers on a daily basis. But quickly, he finds out that things aren't that simple. What Daredevil deals with, the famous "street level" is different from saving the world, but that doesn't mean it's easier. Saving one neighborhood with limited resources is something he can't handle. This is bringing value to a character that could easily be considered second-tier. Something that's both necessary and impressive.

Other Pictures

But if I get into this, I might end up rehashing everything that happened in the run. That is if I haven't done it already. I want to sum it up, and of course, it wouldn't be even acceptable without pointing out John Romita Jr's art, he was the main artist for the majority of the run and stood out too. It was dynamic and added the perfect amount of emotion to every character and the interiors that surround them.

All in All

See, when I read the first few issues by Ann Nocenti, I was sure I wasn't going to like it. I thought I was missing something so many people saw. But I kept reading and when it ended, I saw exactly what was there and what made it so unique. It's a perfect follow-up to Born Again, in every sense, and it manages to destroy the seemingly indestructible life the characters created for themselves. The best stories are all like that.

#comics #comic books #marvel comics #marvel #long reads #marvel universe #daredevil #matt murdock #ann nocenti #john romita jr.#typhoid mary #comic book review #spoilers

7 notes · View notes

cosmicpunked · 4 months

Note

Signfang anon, back!

Hope this isn’t weird but I love the little mini comic you made where Signless finally meets up with Mindfang in person after reading through her lost diary. I do love the idea of him forming a parasocial relationship with her through only reading her writings, lol.

I’ve been inspired enough to start considering an AU where Signless survives his execution, but instead of returning to the restless masses, turns to the sea instead and joins with Mindfang. Haven’t settled on why yet, but I’m leaning towards him knowing that returning to his family (if he ever found them again) would only endanger them further. The biggest snarl would be how Mindfang’s very dubious relationship with Dolorosa would transpire, if at all. Yet, if Mindfang really did start to secretly pine after the mutant she’s got stowed away on her ship, maybe she’d seek out his adoptive parent for more benign reasons.

I honestly really like that idea you suggested of them meeting once before, if only briefly after her ship starts skulking around a nearby shore. Maybe that’s why he turns to her after everyone believes him to be dead. After all, trying to carve out a new life on the ocean might not be too bad alongside the high blooded pirate captain who pretends she only pities you. Mindfang is not known much for altruism, after all.

hey! hope you're doing well anon, sorry tumblr did not notify me of having any asks :') Oh I remember that old drawing I made, wow it's like several years old haha

Also putting this under a read more because im about to get so self indulgent o_o

I would actually be so interested in seeing the AU take place!

An idea on how he could survive his execution:

Imagine if Rosa had been a daywalker from the start. Maybe she had initially died fleeing from the caverns with the Signless grub from a cave system full of hostile jadebloods and drones. But instead of fading away, she woke up under the blazing sun, her silken robes shielding the young Signless from harm.

With the world assuming her dead, she could raise him in peace, without being pursued as a 'runaway jade'.

However, to sustain herself, Rosa needed blood and often sought (with permission) from him, potentially leading the Signless to inherit her daywalker abilities, in death where he bleeds, in an irony it could have triggered something in him?

With the Dolorosa and Mindfang thing:

Regarding the Dolorosa and Mindfang situation, the timing of Signless reaching Mindfang would be crucial and depends on the outcome you want in the au.

It could take her ship several months or half a sweep to locate Dualscar's whereabouts, with him likely keeping a distance from Mindfang to avoid any association that might tarnish his title.

Afterall, if Mindfang was close to Darkleer, even potentially moirails (?) then the Signless' execution was one of the biggest betrayals in history, essentially the Empress' Executioner sparing the disciple of a false prophet would enrage the Grand Highblood and his church and every other Imperial on the planet.

So to avoid Dualscar's head being on the block, he could avoid meeting Mindfang for a while until things cool down, especially as Signless' mother is now on his ship as a slave.

In that time Signless could have established a close relationship with Mindfang and her pirate crew. Perhaps they even had a Rapunzel 'I've got a dream' moment where he realises that such brutes also have dreams, and some crew are ex-communicated clowns who didn't wear makeup and had they not come to a life of piracy they would have been slaughtered, or tealbloods fleeing from the corrupt justice system, or olives whose forests were burnt down carelessly or yellowbloods fleeing being turned into powering batteries e.g.

I know we see a common theme of Vriska and Aranea mind controlling their crews, but I really would imagine Mindfang as someone who doesn't rely on mind-control so often as it feels a bit like a 'easy win' and mindcontrolling her crew for centuries would be so impossible lol I really hope they were a rag and tag family who genuinely respected one another and voted her a Captain based on her expertise rather then conditioned because how would she go to sleep at night, surely they would mutiny while she slept and wasn't being influenced by her control?

Why he might go to Mindfang over his family ideas:

I think this could add an interesting conflict. Either Signless had a vision in the years before he would die where he would know where his family would be after death (even more reason why he doesn't want to face them) and wants to prevent Mindfang doing what she does.

Or he doesn't know but finds himself drawn to Mindfang like a lighthouse beacon (light player after all) perhaps the 'Sufferer's Rage' has changed him emotionally, and he doesn't want his family to see him become a replica of a man he once was, and perhaps he finds his new rage and short temper for the Imperials more better fitted in boarding a pirate ship.

Should he become a stowaway on her ship, perhaps she makes him go through some trials when he's brought to her quarters (e.g I'll make a man out of you >.> type trials where he has to climb the mast in stormy weather to prove he's one of them, or he ends up saving her life? Or maybe he's just a good cook who gains the crew and Captain's favour that way <.< as I doubt Mindfang can cook for shit)

Or Mindfang could give him a little fighting training montage where he can finally begin to use his scythe, kind of befitting it's the same weapon the grim reaper wields as he could take on a 'grim reaper' kind of moniker as his new pirate identity.

Maybe they both eventually become aware that his mother is on Mindfang's kismesis' ship, perhaps Signless talks about his family to her but Mindfang doesn't know who 'Rosa' is when she see's her on Dualscar's ship for the first time, she just thinks she's another slave but then she see's Signless' anger begin to reach boiling point again when he recognises his mother. (Dualscar vs an angered Sufferer, Mindfang Dolorosa ancestral showdown??????)

I suppose the outcome of such a showdown would end based on how well signless and mindfang end up getting along in the months or even sweeps before eventually running into Dualscar and his ship. Mindfang may know that if she doesn't do what her fate says, it could doom the entire timeline and their descendants will all be doomed - if Mindfang asked the oracle how her kismesistude would end, just like she asked who would kill her - then her fate could be locked and that she's meant to end the night angering Dualscar so that he'll die by the Grand Highblood as her fate describes.

They could both totally break the entire timeline with this, and at what cost? Could it summon an angry Demoness? Would it piss of Scratch if Mindfang puts Signless over her destiny? <.< This is the drama I live for.

At that point it could be when people are starting to begin to forget about the Executioner's betrayal and the Signless' teachings as they both fade into obscurity. So Signless will also be faced with a similar crossroads, whether he wants to doom the timeline to resurrect his own name and teachings. If Mindfang, Signless and his mother manage to get away, what would happen? Would he begin preaching? Would Mindfang even want to associate with him then? Or would he be too different to go back to that life? That too could doom the entire timeline.

How he could find her?:

Chances are with the connection Mindfang has to Darkleer (His Executioner) perhaps he goes to seek Darkleer out first to try and find where the Disciple was (having his last memory be her running away traumatised) but is met with the realisation that perhaps he should hang back and not reveal the fact he's alive or retraumatise her more with the 'ghost' of him.

However he has nowhere to go, so while he's hovering around he instead finds Mindfang coming out of Darkleer's exiled house and tails her back to her ship? Just some ideas? I'm frothing at the mouth I haven't talked about signfang for so long with someone jwiasjd

Hopefully this gives you some ideas!! Feel free to ignore them all if they don't go with the vibe you're wanting.

#signfang #signless #mindfang #dolorosa #darkleer #homestuck

7 notes · View notes

hiyoir · 2 years

Note

hiho! can i request a step-brother eichi smut? eichi taking care of his beloved step brother before a peformance ?

Let me into your heart.

Pairings: Stepbrother! Eichi x Producer!Reader

Warnings: Couch sex, Pseudo-incest

A/N: THIS IDEA IS SO YUMMY I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING IT... thank u anon bless your soul

Word count: 1117 ^_^

There are very few producers in Yumenosaki. It's an everyday thing for other units to beg for you to produce for them. Thankfully, you have Fine to shoo them off for you.

Producing for Fine wasn't as bad as you initially thought. Sure, Wataru can be a pain in the ass and Tori can be a bit too whiny, but you have the diligent Yuzuru by your side like the faithful butler he is and your beloved stepbrother, Eichi. Despite you producing for his unit, he treated you no different. He was stoic and cold, for sure, but he was a bit more endearing towards you.

It took him a while to adjust to calling you his sibling. Growing up as an only child only to get a step-brother years later is very unusual to Eichi. However, he tries his best to make you feel included and loved in the family, and you appreciated it so much.

However, things have started to change a little…

During the period your parents had gone out of town, Eichi has been acting a bit strange. He comes home late only to spend his time in his room reading comics with the door shut. Eichi never reads comics, he wasn't really fond of the idea of illustrated fiction. Just what could be so interesting about them?

Oftentimes, his face would flush red when he's near you. If there was a chance, he would immediately take your hand into his, or pull you into hugs. It doesn't matter when or where, he wants you to be close. You didn't mind at all, thinking it was just Eichi missing his family. You would always hold his hand back, squeezing it tightly to see Eichi squirm from the sudden pressure. It was cute, but you never thought anything romantic about it. You knew that you two were siblings, and anything romantic or sexual would simply sever the relationship you two had. Or at least, that's what you thought.

And here you are now, wrists pinned to the table of the dressing room as Eichi hangs his head low, looking down at you. Your back uncomfortably arched against the table. Eichi blocked everything else from your field of view, only allowing you to see him, and only him.

"Eichi…? Quit the joking, we have a performance soon—"

"Nevermind that." He panted, inching closer towards your face.

"Eichi…?" No, no, no. This couldn't be happening, he's your step-brother… For an ill man like him, he did a pretty good job at holding your wrists in place. You were unable to move.

"Please… why won't you love me back?" He mutters, eyes still fixated on you.

"Why won't you take my hints? Don't you know that I've been doing all of this for you?"

"Eichi…?! I have no idea what you're—"

His lips crashed into yours, hungrily kissing you. A warm sensation grows in your stomach as you slowly lose yourself in the kiss. Eichi pulled away out of embarrassment only to dive back in for more. This time, he let go of your wrists as he's certain you won't run off. His palms are red from holding onto you so tightly.

After a few minutes of making out, you stand up dazed. Eichi was surprised. He thought this would never happen and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Even after that heavy makeout, he didn't look satisfied. He presses his thighs together, trying to hide his erection. You already saw it, though.

A worn out couch sat in the corner of the room. You took Eichi's hand and seated him on the sofa, lying him down. A finger traces his unit uniform, fiddling with the sequins and buttons. Your finger continues to trail down to his tummy and finally to his crotch. With the eager look in his eyes, you daren't make him wait. He has a show to catch, after all.

You unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his pants, pulling it down alongside his boxers. His dick sprung out, precum already leaking. You took the shaft in your palm, spreading the precum around the tip. Eichi writhes, cursing under his breath.

"Please… Let me—" Eichi sits up, getting on top of you instead. Oh, that's how he wants to play it… You blushed, but understood his silent orders. Within minutes, your pants were pulled down, exposing your own erection. Eichi spits on his gloved finger before sliding into your hole easily. A sharp hiss escaped your lips as he added another finger in, scissoring you.

"Does it feel good, (name)...?"

"Very… Haah—" Soft mewls left your mouth once more as he wriggles his finger inside you to find a sweet spot. He struck gold as he thrusted his finger straight at your prostate. Your addictive moans were enough to send Eichi over the edge.

As he pulled his finger out, you whined at the sudden emptiness, but moaned at Eichi's cock entering you.

His dick wasn't big, it was more long and slender, a perfect size for you. You adjusted to this size very quickly and gave him a nod for him to start moving.

He rocked his hips back and forth, continuously hitting your sweet spot. You kept your gaze fixated on him as he continued to pound inside you. It was unexpected for Eichi to suddenly be so aggressive, but you weren't complaining. You wanted more of this, actually.

He lifts up your thighs and slings them over your shoulder, absolutely ruining you. His thrusts got even sloppier as you bucked your hips.

"I'm… Haah— I'm so close…"

"I know…" Eichi pants, his voice was cracked. "I am too…—"

With a few thrusts, he came inside you, filling you up with his cum. You came right after him, droplets of sperm on your stomach.

He pulls out, using the same gloved hand to wipe off any excess cum on you before collapsing on top of you.

"So tired…"

"Do you want to rest, Eichi?" Your hand tangles itself in his blonde hair. Eichi whines in your chest.

"But if Fine forfeits… Trickstar gets this win…"

"It's okay to lose once in a while, Eichi. Besides, you look too messy to compete." Another whine escapes Eichi's lips, but he eventually gives into your idea. He changes out of his unit uniform while you ring up Wataru to cancel the performance.

As Eichi slumped back onto the chair, wearing his casual fit, he looked up at you.

"Let's go home, Eichi." You reached out your hand, to which he took into his eagerly. The walk back home was sort of awkward, but you two enjoyed each other's silent company.

That wasn't that bad.

#tenshouin eichi x reader #tenshouin eichi x reader smut #ensemble stars #enstars #male reader

105 notes · View notes

ot3 · 1 year

Note

hey, any tips for staying in love with a series youre making? youve been working on quantum merit for 2 years now i think? any time i get an idea i just have it in the back of my mind that in a couple weeks im going to lose interest, let alone actually go through and start working on it. finishing soemthing is a distant dream. your art is amazing and a huge inspiration for me (is creativity infectious? bc thats how i feel whenever i read qm) so i was hoping maybe you had some insight. thanks <3

over two and a half years at this point actually! crazy! lacking the ability to follow through is a problem i've long had in life. i started drawing QM to try and curtail this. the trick isn't actually to stay in love with a series you're making, the trick is to learn to make things when you don't necessarily love it.

for me, the entire point of doing something operating on this level of self indulgence and experimental technique was to enable myself to churn stuff out even when i think everything i am doing is absolute shit, which is extremely extremely frequently. for long-haul projects you have to be willing and able to work on them even when you think all of your ideas are bad and all of your work is bad and not only is this the worst thing you have ever made, it is the worst thing anyone has ever made. the way i try and get through working on stuff when this is how i feel is that i remind myself i am not special in any way shape or form. everyone else in human history has had to make a lot of bad stuff before they get the privilege of making good stuff. this is allowed to be mine.

another thing that really helps is making sure that the process can be enjoyable even without good results. sometimes even when i hate everything i'm doing in terms of Substance, the act of just getting to draw something feels satisfying enough that i can make myself do it. this goes for all art, i think, not just long projects. if the Process is something you force yourself to sit through waiting for the end reward of a finished product, you're probably never going to be a functional artist. if you don't love Making art and you only love Finishing art you'll quickly find you don't make or finish much of anything.

additionally, i think an important part with long hauls like this is to never, ever look at the finish line. if i keep drawing the amount of stuff i have planned at the rate i have been drawing it, i will be at this for several more years minimum. thats an entirely overwhelming and terrifying thing to think about, and dwelling on it makes me freeze up and want to quit while i'm ahead. so i try not to ever think about actually finishing it. i have no idea if ill finish it i dont even have the slightest fucking clue what my life would even look like in the five years this could take to finish because it already looks nothing like it looked like three years ago. so instead focus on progress. if you think about finishing something you'll never do anything, if you think about just making a little bit of progress you can look back and suddenly you have over 100 full color pages. one foot in front of the other

i would also feel completely insincere if i did not mention how much all of the kind words people have had for my comic have helped me in finding the motivation to continue! seriously, it means so much to me that people like it. external motivation is not the be-all end-all of anything, but i suggest finding at least one friend who is willing to be your hype man and make them talk you out of being insane when you hate everything youre working on. when i reach the point where i literally like can't even tell what the pages im working on look like anymore i send them to my friends and make them all tell me that these are very normal looking drawings.

best of luck with your future endeavors anon i hope any of this is helpful! its an honor to be considered inspiring in any way

#Qm

78 notes · View notes

the-official-account · 1 year

Text

Is it just me, or does lesbian fandom have a problem?

My name is Edil. I've been a medium-sized name in several small fandoms, especially podcast fandoms. I am also a women appreciator, and enjoy media that centers on women. I'm going to mostly be talking about my experiences in two fandoms: The Strange Case Of Starship Iris and Pasithea Powder, both podcasts with central wlw ships, though I've also seen these same issues in Goncharov (1973) of all places.

When I go into fandom I go hard. My brain, which is very autistic, breaks down information of small details for fun. It's the reason why I wrote a dwarnian (TSCOSI's fictional alien language) dictionary for the podcast. The reason why I have a massive notes document on all of Pasithea's season one and the reason the wiki...looks and reads like that. It isn't owned by me, but most of the formatting, fonts, content: yours truly.

And I'm proud of these projects, which took time and effort and skill building to do! But I haven't finished or caught up with either of these podcasts, and that's because the online spaces that center around them have been overwhelmingly hostile.

I have a strong emotional connection to this issue — of whether or not sapphic fandoms tend to be more hostile to diversity, especially race and nuerodivergance — so I can't make a distinct analysis, not without more distance and more information. That's part of why I am making this post.

Mods and members of the TSCOSI discord circa 2020 will know me, and know why I left. That being a series of unwarranted criticisms and bad faith readings that left me with anxiety even interacting with the fandom I loved.

I am probably a lot less known in the Pasithea fandom, because I wrote fewer fics for it and left more quickly. After TSCOSI, I recognized resentment faster. But the Pasithea notes document that I've posted here before and the wiki, three fics, fan art and that one comic that's still to this day the only comic I've drawn: me.

This is not a callout post, not for individuals or for groups, and I don't have screenshots. I am only trying to open a discussion.

See, the pattern that I am seeing is that fandom spaces centering on wlw ships attract fans who are wlw. And while nothing is inherently wrong with that, issues in the lesbian community start to become very obvious.

Firstly, the lack of diversity in sexuality among most of the fan base (As I suspect bi and gay people have largely more popular media that attracts them, and lesbians have to dig deeper for smaller spaces like these podcast) starts to feed this sense of possession among fans. As if there is a correct, normal, or standard way to be sapphic. A set of rules stating that anyone who doesn't obey it hates lesbians.

From Pasithea, I got this in comments about how I was drawing the characters "ugly" (Jane is canonically fat and has a scar, which I made very visible...because I wanted to. I gave her strong Hispanic features because it appealed to me. Sophie is butch, and canonically has or had a buzz cut. Which is what I drew. — The "appearance" section of the wiki? Yup. I wrote that.)

These comments, which were themselves problematic, came from a place of implying I was lesbiphobic for drawing these wlw as "ugly". When in fact, I was drawing the type of characters that would appeal the most to me, and hopefully to others like me.

These expectations of skinny, eurocentric appearing, usually feminine characters... Well it reflects a lot of issues with TERF-y feminism and lesbianism at large. Lesbianism on the internet has an issue with gender essentialism that isn't universal but is incredibly worrying. And when WOC are often masculinized because of their non-white features, that transphobia becomes anti-butchness (or strict standards of butchness) and racism.

While TSCOSI fans were more receptive to my designs, I was drawing in a less realistic style where "ugly" was less of an issue — and, to be frank, The main ship being Southeast and South Asian made it hard to draw them "ugly" from a eurocentric perspective. Realism there would just be...exotic, I guess.

However, with TSCOSI fans there was still a sense of possession around how these characters were interpreted, especially in headcannons, that lead to me deleting more than I posted as time went on. Some of those were genuine issues on my part ("what if the Jewish guy was a vampire in a au haha!" I said. Then went to bed, woke up, googled it, and went "NOPE! NOPE!!! SORRY.") Others were just unnecessary, such as comments on how silly head cannons were "unrealistic", and how I should write more cannon compliant work, rather than what I was doing for fun.

Ultimately these are the ONLY things that made me stop listening to these podcasts. The ONLY reason I put down the projects I poured consecutive hyperfixate weeks into. Part of me thinks it was this enthusiasm in the first place that was the biggest threat others reacted to in how I spoke and acted.

For instance, in trying to write for both the TSCOSI and Pasithea wikis, I had folks try to change my methods of research and writing to a style that worked best for them. When I said they were welcome to work that way, there was no offers to assist. And communication with those who had established work was either non-existent or hostile. I've had people question if my passion projects were necessary, berate me for meaningless mistakes, and treat what could be fun collaborative work like a pissing contest. For TSCOSI, none of this occurred on the wiki, and mostly around documents I owned for my own note taking. Even then, the hostility of Wikipedia culture is an unnecessary and hurtful thing to bring into fandom wiki culture.

The TSCOSI people went on to make a wonderful wiki that I deeply admire, but I still wish I could have been part of that project in its infancy, instead of being pushed away. (I may have made the navigation system if I remember correctly, but I'm not certain. So this is not to say I was not allowed any input whatsoever.)

I love sapphic media, it's my bread, butter, pride, joy, and favorite past time. But time and time again I have found far safer social spaces for media that centers around gay men, even if it isn't my personal first choice.

As a non-white, non-allistic, non-lesbian, not-skinny fan...I have concerns.

I know you all want sapphic media to get more attention. I want that too. But unless you start actively searching for and calling out bigotry in those spaces, it absolutely cannot and will not happen. So much of fandom is powered by autistic people with time on their hands, and I want there to be space for people like me. Who get TOO excited, TOO far from cannon, TOO analytical about race and class and fatphobia and whatever else.

Sapphic media obviously has issues reaching fans that aren't the fault it's its current audience. But the good thing about being part of or close to a problem, is having the power to make incredible, effective change.

I refuse to leave these podcasts behind, I love them more than anything, and the projects I got out of them are still my beloved brain children (The alien calligraphy from the random writing system I made for dwarnian is still up on my wall. "It is what. It IS what, keeps us from the abyss.") I refuse to be shoved aside my racist fans and random people who assume they can act rudely to strangers because they treated characters or lore differently. I refuse to be sidelined from conversations just cause I can act weird.

But I also refuse to spend so much of my beloved labor on people who turn up their noses and belittle it.

This all has had a lasting effect on how I interact with fandom, a legitimate fear-responce to the idea of trying to engage deeply with women-centered podcasts. Something I'm trying to unlearn and overcome.

So. There's my explanation of why I don't do tscosi anymore, which I mentioned on the minibang I'd eventually follow up on. And a criticism of sapphic fandom which, I'll be real, I have a few more essays worth of commentary about, and it's also another expression of how I stare longingly at Pasithea every time it comes up on my dash.

But, most importantly, this is my question of whether anyone else has found themselves in a similar place. If it's a trend or an anecdote.

If you have thoughts, please reblog with them. I'd love to know what you have to say.

#this is going on several sideblogs because its relevant to all of them #edil chats #once monthly discourse post #i guess #everytime i use that tag i hesitate to do it but thats also the point #sapphic #fiction podcast #t3p #the pasithea powder #pasithea powder #the strange case of starship iris #tscosi #yup #this is the kinda post i might have to deactivate over but :P i wanna say what i have to say #goncharov (1973)#elevator pitch podcast #where i expirienced but the same but it lasted me about 4 days cause i learned to see the signs faster

49 notes · View notes

laufire · 8 months

Note

Since this seems to be a trend, I have to ask: top 5 pieces of media you'd rec me? I am really curious since I think I've already tried pretty much everything you loved 😅

sorry for the delay, but I was right in the middle of one of the things I thought I miiight recommend you, so I waited until I finished in case it ended up poorly lmao.

Said thing is Zatanna & the Ripper, an already completed webtoon available online for free (don't let the fact that it's 51 issues long deter you, a webtoon episode takes less than five minutes to read lol). I was already reading a couple other DC webtoons, with mixed feelings ("Wayne Family Adventures" is often too fandom-y for my blood but it's given me a few ideas, and "Red Hood: Outlaws" was... neither a bad as its worst moments, nor did it manage to live to the sky high expectations of its very best), and I was already on my Zatanna feels thanks to Young Justice so... I picked this one up.

I'm guessing you know this but Zatanna's comics version differs quite a bit from YJ's; she's from Bruce's generation, for one (he has a cute cameo here with the two of them playing as children lol), her usual love interest is John Constantine (who plays that part here), etc. This isn't quiiiite like the comics version (or what little I've seen of her), she's a bit younger and greener, with a "finding yourself/having faith in your own power" arc.

The premise is that Zatanna, on her 21st birthday, gets transported to London in Victorian times, right around the time Jack the Ripper was killing (I'm pleased to say the run managed to side-step the issues I tend to have with historical fiction that tries to play around with this concept, tbh). She's stuck there, with malfunctioned powers, becomes friends with one of the working girls, starts trying to solve the case etc. etc. It was a fun read, all around.

Hmm... I'm trying to think of favourite stuff of mine that I don't think you've tried... shows-wise, I think that'd be Desperate Wives? Not saying it didn't infuriate the hell out of me at times lol, and I'm not sure how you'll feel about it, since it's also not-my-usual-type... but when it's good, it's GREAT and really damn enjoyable lol. I became hooked really early on so I'd say to give the pilot a try and see if it awakens any interest, if you haven't watched it?

For films... you might've watched some of these, but some of my favourites that you might want to give a try to would be "The Mask of Zorro" (revenge! romance! sword fights as both revenge and romance tools!), "The Handmaiden" (historical lesbian romance with really engaging twists), or 2010's "True Grit" (a western, which isn't usually my thing, about a young girl seeking revenge for her father's murder).

I'll also list some of my favourite classic books that you might or might not have read, Because: "Carmilla", "Dangerous Liaisons", "Frankenstein", "Pygmalion"

I don't know how plausible it'd be to find this available outside of Spain, but I'm recommending "La Promesa", a Spanish telenovela I've gotten into (I'm not really watching it properly because I'm waaaaaaaay behind lol. it's long as fuck, currently in its 150+ episode; I watch the current ones when my mother has it on tv lol, and sometimes some of the old ones). It's sloooooow, which can be frustrating, and LOOOOONG, as I said, but it does some really great things character-wise. I've called it the Spanish Downton Abbey lol, but with faaaar more attention given to the working-class characters (the heroine herself being a maid).

This goes beyond five, but since I'm not sure if you've watched/read some of these, and you probably won't be able to watch the last one ^^U: SEVERANCE!!! Again, I just want people to watch both this AND Dollhouse so we can delve deep into them xDD. Just one short season so far, with a second one coming on 2024. It's about a group of workers who've gone through a surgical procedure that separates their memories from work and those from their life outside, effectively creating different people, and the sketchy corporation they work with. And Dichen Lachman is in it too :D (her part is the only one I actively compared with Dollhouse while I was watching it lol. So far Dollhouse wins but... Priya's story is hard to top).

Another bonus, Because: I recommended the Kemi Ashing-Giwa's short stories stored in Tor to another mutual, so this time I'll give focus to another one: "The Puppermaster", about a banished warrior, her sketchy usurper uncle, and monsters.

#talking to the void #replies #artemis tag #^-^#top 5s #recs #my thoughts

8 notes · View notes

courfee · 11 days

Text

20 Qᴜᴇꜱᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ꜰɪᴄ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀꜱ

Thank you for the tag @snarky-magpie <333

1. How many works do you have on A03? 14 published, 1 hidden.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 315,642

3. What fandoms do you write for? harry potter (mostly marauders and back in the day on ff.de also next gen, tho there is a golden era one happening atm), les miserables, and i used to write a handful of doctor who drabbles

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? 1. Operation Walburga's Arbitrary No Kissing Ever Rule 2. blindspot 3. All My Theory Complete 4. Borrow My Name 5. If you ask nicely

5. Do you respond to comments? Usually yes, though I am very very bad with responding (in general, not just ao3 this is a all messages kinda problem) and sometimes im off of ao3 for a solid 3 months before i check my inbox again. i am so sorry for all that, i do read all the comments when i get email notifs for them, i just often dont have the spoons to reply then and there.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably On Lies And Spies since it's a canon compliant peter fic, tho i think my prongsfoot fic might also be up there for competiton... (if we go off of ao3 i am currently writing a basically everyone dies fic and have written an angsty fred&george os on my first fic account)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I'd say operation wanker, probably

8. Do you get hate on fics? mm yeah.. amtc specifically... idk what it is with that fic but ive had all kinds of things said there... people who hated the ending, people who thought no one should ever forgive james, people who said no one should ever forgive sirius, people being just in general mean (and not even in english??).. especially the comments in the bookmarks suck, ive had several people rate that fic out of 10, have had people write an entire list of what i should have done different etc etc... it sucks cause i still like that fic a lot, the first long fic ive ever finished, but its reached a point where im scared when people tell me theyre going to start reading it :(

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yeahh ive written one jegulus smut fic. it was supposed to be a one shot for practicing purpose of seeing if i can do it and got slightly out of hand....

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've started writing one chronicles of syntax hogwarts au before and i did a comic forever ago where the 10th doctor and rose end up in hogwarts meeting the next gen crew

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? someone started translating amtc

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I've had plans, but we haven't yet gotten beyond the planning stage. would love to try it some time tho!!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? whatever the fuck james and sirius have going on, their relationship has been my favourite for all eternity

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? My jegulus Krabat AU. I so badly want to have it written because i want to read it, but unfortunately the world is just not something i like writing in all that much

16. What are your writing strengths? Writing (un)healthily codependent friendships (aka james and sirius, (or the triumvirate)) and probably also consistency with little details

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plotting. I suck at it. i am very much a paper thinker, so if i dont write i cant think

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? depends on the context? it has to work with the story line and characters and id rather use it sparingly

19. First fandom you wrote for? harry potter (my first published fic was next gen, my second marauders all the way back in 2011)

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? probably either operation wanker or on lies and spies

no pressure tagging @messymoony @static-radio-ao3 @otrtbs @iceprinceofbelair @alarainai @delicris

#hp #tagged #mine

2 notes · View notes

trans-clown-catgirl · 1 year

Text

Jack Noir: A masterclass in villain introductions. (A Homestuck writing essay)

Hi! I'm Holly. I'm currently rereading Homestuck, several years after my first readthrough, and this reread has made me keenly aware and analytical about many of the comic's good aspects, and quite a few of its... Not so subtle shortcomings. But I've decided to pause midway through Act 5 Act 2, in part because it's very very long, to talk about what is thus far one of my favorite aspects of the entire comic; Jack Noir, and his introduction to the story. Without further ado, let's dive right into the deranged ramblings of someone with a severe case of villain favoritism, and a keen eye for good setup and payoff regarding villains!

Warning, this is very long, over 3000 words long. I have a lot to say about this guy, ok? Ok. Oh, and spoilers for HS all the way up to A5A2. Eyestrain warning too also

Intro

As someone with a long history of absolutely adoring watching villains in fiction, analyzing every aspect of the stories they’re in and how they impact them, their roles in said stories, and how the author handles them, it’s no wonder I’d instantly gravitate towards Jack Noir. He is, in my sincere opinion, one of the most effectively, swiftly and masterfully set up villains in not only Homestuck, but the general landscape of action media. Why is this, exactly? Well, a few reasons come to mind…

Prelude

We first meet Jack Noir less than 1000 pages in, watching over Dad Egbert, who has broken out of Derse’s prison and started wreaking havoc on the agents of Derse. Jack is one of these agents, and right off the bat it’s clear that this guy has a really, really short temper. Calling the agents trying to get a hold of the fugitive "Graveyard stuffers" in irritation at their incompetence, and making it clear how much he absolutely despises his boss, and of course, as will become relevant later, the stupid outfits she forces her underlings to wear. He hates his position, he hates his job, he hates his boss, and just about everything around him. You normally wouldn’t bat an eye at this, though; he doesn’t seem particularly dangerous, and seems like a relatively minor character, judging by his amount of screentime. His underhanded and cunning nature is demonstrated as he sends PM on a suicide mission to kill the White Queen and King in order to receive the green parcel; two crowns for one box. Again, you might not think much of this when you first come across it, it seems like Jack is just doing his job in his own way, applying underhanded tactics to make sure this package stays where his boss wants it to be; but it will become relevant later.

As the comic progresses, the trolls become more and more active, you might start wondering what the point of these conversations are, why they’d talk so much to the humans and what the point of this trolling campaign is. But more importantly, you might begin to ask why they seem to harbor so much hate towards the humans and why they treat them as nothing more than irreparable fuckups. It's implied that the kids eventually do something so catastrophically bad that the trolls (mostly Karkat) can’t possibly look past it and regard the kids as absolute idiots because of it. But, you’re just left wondering…

Intermission

As you’re left wondering, something odd happens; the Intermission takes place. The Intermission is relatively short, and seems mostly pointless at first. Its placement seems odd, leaving you on a cliffhanger as you begin a story seemingly entirely unrelated to what you were just reading, save a few cameos from the Midnight Crew. The Intermission, of course, will later go on to be incredibly relevant, being the first ever mention of Lord English (albeit without a rapidly flashing pool ball in place of the O in Lord), and establishing the very important fact that if Snowman dies, the universe goes down with her.

Instantly, you notice that the members of the Midnight Crew reflect the designs of the Derse agents, although they’re clearly entirely different people, by different names, with different goals; although their core personality remains the same.

Most relevant to this conversation is Spades Slick, the leader of the Midnight Crew. He gets a good amount of screentime near the start, before the focus is shifted to the rest of his crew and their hijinks (Mostly Deuce, though.) as they destroy the Felt Mansion’s clocks and kill every single green torso they can find in the building. It’s clearly a messy job, and a few of the kills happen by either complete coincidence, or through sheer stupidity from the members of The Felt.

… That’s with the exception of Slick’s kills.

It’s stated right off the bat that he made sure 3 of The Felt’s members were dead before their raid, including Crowbar, possibly the most well rounded and clever member of the green torsos. This, combined with his entire layout for the plan, show that he’s got a knack for planning well ahead of time, and doing it well. His first kill is completely unceremonious, tripping a certain fast yellow dumbass right into his untimely demise. The focus remains on him for a bit, but we don’t see him do much before we cut to Deuce, and then the rest of the members of the Midnight Crew. But when we do…

So, the Intermission continues, and we’re shown Slick doing cleanup duty; taking out the remaining red torsos, stopping Eggs and Biscuits’ shenanigans in one fell swoop, and generally getting things done in a timely and efficient manner. And then, it’s shown how unhesitant and ruthless he can be, willing to sacrifice his crew’s lives and take a massive risk by forcing the vault open. He and Snowman are the last ones standing. And, you know the rest… Including how unphased he seems at the loss of his arm after the initial pain.

He’s precise. Methodical. Almost brutally so. Every single move he makes is well calculated, knowing exactly what outcome it will have before he executes it, with the goal of getting Crowbar’s, well… Crowbar. And along the way, making damn sure Sawbuck is dead too… Not before manipulating his time warping abilities in a precise manner that allows him to get what he wants from specific points in time, and efficiently return to the point in time he was at before he pulled the pin. He does so seemingly with little effort, calculated, surgically precise, each action done with purpose. Each stab and slice at Sawbuck performed with intent. Not to mention a clever reuse of Snowman’s own weapon to his advantage.

Now, why did I discuss all this? Well…

Setup, part 1

The Intermission serves a very important purpose for Jack’s setup as an antagonist; it shows us, through an alternate version of himself, how capable, ruthless, cunning and calculated he can be. Realizing this, the previous intermission makes much more sense… Kind of. You wouldn’t piece that together while reading it. But later on…

As you progress, it becomes evidently apparent that the reason the trolls (again, mostly Karkat.) are so mad at the kids is because they did something that affects both parties, and now the trolls are suffering the consequences of it. It’s hinted at and slowly built up, until…

This conversation makes it completely clear. The trolls are under siege by a threat that the kids caused. And as you scroll through the rest of the conversation, you wonder what that could be, and then you lay eyes on the bottom of the page.

> [S] JACK: ASCEND

Jack Noir. The archagent. The Derse counterpart to Spades Slick. You instantly recognize that name, because you saw his counterpart in action not too many pages ago. That ruthless precision, the brutal nature of each kill, the calculated and planned approach, these are things you’re to assume Jack is perfectly capable of as well. And it’s shown to you firsthand that he is just as capable. The aforementioned repressed rage and boatloads of anger are brought to a complete boil by the Black Queen showing her face and making a plaything out of Jack, someone overflowing with hate, overflowing with rage, overflowing with bloodlust. He completely snaps, rips off his outfit, and as the Queen threatens to kill him for his disobedience… The box comes back into play. He opens it, and whatever was inside vaporizes the Black Queen, leaving only tattered remains and a ring. His planning, cunning nature leads him to victory. And it creates the single most dangerous monster you’ve seen to this point.

The ring is used. The soundtrack’s pace flares right back up as Jack Noir transforms, in a menacing, gorgeous looking sequence, ending with a perfect shot of our new villain.

Jack Noir, the insurrectionist. A threat to every timeline, and every universe.

ACTUAL INTERMISSION

As the comic progresses, this is shown in full display, as he ravages the Skaian battlefield, kills hundreds in one fell swoop, and does away with the crowns and/or their powers. He’s shown going toe to toe with Bro Strider, one of the guardians, who we just witnessed taking on some of the highest level monsters the kids’ session had to offer. This instantly sets the stage for how much you should be afraid of him, and how massive of a threat he poses.

… Or does he?

By this point, I had already been absolutely enamored by the way Jack Noir had been set up as an antagonist, even if I knew it was coming. I had never appreciated just how much went into making sure you were vaguely aware of a threat’s existence, setting up that threat, and without you knowing, showing you what that threat is capable of. And then you get payoff! A flash that’s pure eye candy, backed up by an utterly amazing track by the incredibly talented Toby Fox, that serves as an amazing piece of payoff for the foreshadowing that took place. An amazing way to establish a threat and what they’re capable of! By now, you’d think that’s it, that’s our guy, but… We’re only halfway through.

SETUP 2: TROLLS EDITION

So, now you’re familiar with Jack Noir. He’s a present threat, you know exactly what he’s capable of. I mean, come on, he went toe to toe with Bro and forced him to retreat! He wiped out the entire Skaian battlefield, he got a kickass theme, and got yet ANOTHER flash to show how horrifying he is in Descend! But oh, it’s only the beginning…

Hivebound. You’re thrust straight into the Trolls’ session, where the plot becomes quite a ways more complex, and you start to better understand and know the trolls. Something becomes quickly apparent, though; their session was much, much more complicated and difficult to get through, with stronger monsters, stronger weapons, and a 12x prototyped Black King. A Black King that they managed to take down, even though you never got to actually see it happen. If Jack Noir is still somehow in your mind past all the drama, atrocities, sea nazis (Or… Singular sea nazi. God I hate Eridan. Why did Pesterquest try to make him sympathizable. They failed. Fuck you, What Pumpkin. I’m glad you’re dead.), class fetishism, and other abject horrors of troll society, you might start asking yourself a few questions.

How… Exactly is Jack a threat to them? Jack went toe to toe with Bro, sure; but he didn’t absolutely dominate him or anything, and he only had 3 prototypings powering him up, while the trolls faced a 12x prototyped adversary and won. So, he shouldn’t be that much of a problem to them, right? Hell, their Jack even helped them out! Seeds of doubt start forming to those who pay attention, but the story proceeds.

Despite all this, as conversations go on, it’s clear that Jack is very much still what the trolls fear most at the moment, but it’s not clear why. In fact, he’s fighting Bro and Davesprite and getting his ass kicked. His credibility as a main villain begins to be put into question! Regardless, Jade’s part of the game begins after much waiting, and Jade enters the medium. Not before a conversation about how much of an irrefutable fuckup June is, though, courtesy of Karkat. Finally, you’ll get to know exactly what went so wrong that would spur such an intense hatred.

The trolls reach the end of the game, but right before they can close it out… A cataclysm happens. Something shows up, wipes out the Aradiabots, and forces the Trolls to retreat to the furthest ring, stranded on a meteor with an impending sense of doom. You might not assume it’s Jack at first! It could be the fabled Lord English, as you might suspect due to the green aura that caused all the destruction, but there’s no implication that he’s awoken yet, especially since Doc Scratch makes absolutely no implication that he ever did. Couldn’t be Jack either, right? He’s not shown to be able to do anything like that up to this point. Whatever it was, it destroys Prospit. Things are looking rough, and the trolling campaign soon starts.

Now, with Jade about to enter, you might remember her dog, Becquerel. You know, the one that could warp space and time to its will, and is nigh invincible? That one. Well, June falls asleep, thus leaving an unprototyped kernelsprite, and a Jade on the cusp of death; but not before her guardian, Bec, prototypes itself into the kernelsprite. It destroys the meteor! All is well, right?

… It cuts to Jack’s fight with Bro and Davesprite. And then it sinks in.

The spacetime warping dog’s power is going to be transferred to Jack Noir.

Something terrible is born.

A cut to the mysterious force that forced the trolls, the ones that took down that abomination of an ultra-prototyped Black King.

The threat makes itself known. A victory denied, doomsday begins.

The Aradiabots, a large factor in the victory against the Black King, are completely annihilated.

The force behind Prospit’s destruction is revealed.

There is no going back. The end is nigh.

The conversation resumes.

Bro is dead. He never stood a chance. Good riddance.

CG: YOU MADE AN UNBEATABLE BOSS IS WHAT YOU DID.

CG: THE IDIOT YOU CALL THE JADE HUMAN WENT AHEAD AND PROTOTYPED HER FREAK OF A LUSUS, WHILE YOU DECIDED TO TAKE A NAP FOR SOME REASON RATHER THAN DOING WHAT A LEADER IS SUPPOSED TO DO AND STOP HER FROM BEING SO FUCKING STUPID.

CG: YOUR VERSION OF JACK, WHO YOU WERE SOMEHOW DUMB ENOUGH TO ENTRUST WITH THE QUEEN'S RING, BECAME ESSENTIALLY INDESTRUCTIBLE.

CG: HE THEN WENT ON A RAMPAGE THROUGH YOUR POINTLESS SESSION, WHICH HILARIOUSLY, WAS ALREADY A LOST CAUSE EVEN BEFORE THIS HAPPENED!

CG: I AM JUST BESIDE MYSELF WITH THE SPECTACULAR BREADTH OF YOUR FAILURE.

CG: AND IF THIS WASN'T BAD ENOUGH

CG: YOUR "SOLUTION" LATER WOULD BE TO OPEN A RIFT IN SOME GLORIOUS GESTURE OF MEANINGLESS SUICIDE.

CG: AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW

CG: BUT THE RIFT YOU OPENED ENABLED HIM TO ENTER OUR SESSION, JUST AS WE WERE ABOUT TO CLAIM OUR PRIZE.

CG: AND NOW WE'RE THE ONES WHO HAVE TO FUCKING DEAL WITH HIM!

CG: SO THANKS A LOT, SHIT HEAD.

God he’s so fucking cool.

It’s then explained to you that Becquerel was a first guardian, a protector of its inhabited planet, a type of being that’s omnipotent and just about impossible to kill. Properties you’ve already witnessed in the past with Bec. And those properties now belong to this brutal, bloodthirsty, cunning, methodical force of nature.

Everything is fucked.

Trophies collected, he leaves the scene. All hell is now loose.

AFTERMATH

CONCLUSION

This marks the end of Jack Noir’s introduction as a villain. First, his personality and personal abilities are shown in full display, instantly creating a menacing villain who you can absolutely be afraid of; followed up by how he got his hands on the power that allowed him to become a multiverse-scale threat. It’s set up through the course of the comic all the way up to his ascension, and the payoff is fantastic. However, he’s not too big of a focus, and in fact, you might forget about him as you enter the trolls’ session. New impressive feats come up that might make you doubt his credibility as a threat… And then you slowly find out that what you witnessed isn’t even half of what the characters will have to deal with. Another introduction takes place, an established powerful character killed, a proper measure of his power set by previous impressive feats becoming completely obsolete in the face of this unstoppable force of nature. Built up over the course of several thousand pages, he makes it look like the trolls’ session exists purely to portray how purely and utterly screwed anything is in the face of this black-snouted living superweapon.

Thus, a villain is established; he will continue to demonstrate his prowess and sheer level of absurd power, all the way till the penultimate page of this 8000+ page long comic. He will continue to be the single coolest villain in the entire comic, and a memorable one; in no small part due to his amazing double introduction. A lot of the best parts of the comic include him, and are often caused by him. And his first impressions, his initial impact, everything leading up to him being formed, are a large part of the reason why.

Jack Noir may not be objectively the best antagonist in the comic, the best written character, or the most deep (On purpose, mind you; he doesn’t change, but his presence drives other characters to change as a result of his actions), but one thing’s for damn sure; his introduction, both the first and second halves, were executed with a degree of elegance, cleverness and efficiency the likes of which any author can envy. It is utterly perfect; show what the villain can do, what kind of person they are, what drives them, and most importantly, make damn sure you convey to the audience how utterly terrifying they are by making it clear what kind of threat they’re dealing with. In Jack’s case? An omnipotent being that renders every previous opponent the heroes have faced completely obsolete, driven only by rage and bloodlust. A cunning, intelligent and brutal one at that. Everything being showcased and built up over the course of the first quarter or so of the comic in a perfect manner. Ample setup, paired with perfect payoff.

A villain introduction worth remembering.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Jack Noir is my favorite antagonist in Homestuck, and one of my favorite villains of all time. From his design in both his ascended and Bec Noir forms, to his personality, and how the story perfectly sets up everything regarding him and delivers an amazing degree of payoff, I am absolutely all over this guy.

Yes, I’m reusing this image, because look at him. He’s so goddamn cool. That’s your reward for reading through all of this. Me gushing about how cool and utterly amazing Jack Noir is as a villain and character. By the way, he should have kept the shades. They would have looked amazing on him.

Where was I? Oh, right. I hope I properly articulated why I think Jack Noir’s introduction over the course of the comic was executed to absolute perfection, and I hope I helped put other people’s similar thoughts into text in a unique and interesting way. If you have anything to add or anything you want to discuss, feel free to do so! An appreciation for media can only go so far without hearing other people’s thoughts, after all!

With that, I draw a close to this massive gush-rant-essay about my favorite villain in all of HS, and a contender for my favorite character overall. That’ll be it for me, and I hope this was a fun read at the very least.

I’ve been Holly, turbo-nerd extraordinaire, and I’ll see you on the flipside! Have a good day!

#homestuck #holly rambles #jack noir #bec noir

18 notes · View notes

misscrawfords · 3 months

Note

12, 16, 38

12. Tell one book story or memory (what you were wearing when you were reading something, someone saw you cry in public, you threw a book across the room and broke a window, etc.)

Already answered, but here's another one. Well, I've been just thinking and I have lots of memories associated with particular books and moments but a lot feel poignant or sad in some way now, so for a simple but happy one - I remember reading Persuasion for the first time as a teenager in the back garden. I'd got my dad to leave a corner of the lawn unmown so I could live out my fantasies of lying in long grass reading books and I remember doing just that the first time I read Persuasion.

16. Rant about anything book related

I'm gonna weigh in on Ali Hazelwood. I'm not actually a big romance reader - I tend to get my fix from fanfic; I'm often disappointed by actual published romance novels. But I really like Hazelwood's books. She's totally derivative and has in many ways written the same book three times over which is starting to bother me but I like several things about her books: 1) the focus on academia and nerd loving characters - I'm not in STEM myself but I respect her commitment to some level of reality of what that world is like and that her characters (whatever else they may be) are academically intelligent and inhabit a world that feels quite familiar to me. 2) her heroines are often successful human beings (debatable) but with little romantic experience not because they're blushing virgins saving themselves for marriage but because they're just doing other things, Olive especially is pretty clearly demisexual- this is unusual rep and I love it and find it relatable. I find romance novel heroines really unrelatable because they are either pure and Christian (or Christian coded) or highly sexual. Yes, I know, I probably need to read different books but I do struggle to find ones where the subject matter and writing style both appeal. 3) They're easy to read - I don't mean that in a bad way - they're both easy page-turners AND I don't keep stopping because the writing irritates me and jarrs.

Why do I care enough to write about her specifically in this rant? Well, she's a published Reylo author and people who hate the fact that Reylo fanfic authors are currently doing very well in publishing and on booktok go out of the way to sneer and hate her specifically. I'm not trying to make out that her writing is greater or more profound than she is but I think it is so small-minded to resent someone's success because they have managed to capitalise on their writing talent and made the move from fanfic to traditional publishing, just because you don't like a ship. As people in fandom, we should be cheering her on and her fellow newly published and popular authors, no matter our feelings on Reylo.

(Not even going to weigh in on booktok. I have no idea; I don't have tiktok and I don't want to get it. If people are reading and sharing thoughts on books then that has to be good at least to some extent.)

38. What qualities do you find annoying in a character?

Prooooooobably similar to what I find annoying IRL: being completely self-obsessed and lacking self-awareness. At least IRL such people can't help it but I guess in fiction, it's particularly annoying if the author is also unaware of it. Obviously a self-obsessed character who lacks self-awareness can be a wonderful (comic?) character in the hands of a self-aware author, but I mean those protagonists that are meant to be relatable and sympathetic to the reader but the author doesn't realise they're actually a boring, narcissistic turd. So I guess ultimately what I find annoying is a character created by an author who doesn't fully interrogate the character and understand their flaws and then either have them work on those flaws or, in line with the tone of the novel, fail to work on the flaws.

#self-awareness goes a long way for me #books books books!#have some more opinions!

4 notes · View notes