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neil-gaiman · 2 years

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(spoilers ahead) i wish my question were more positive, but mr gaiman, why did you choose to include wlw rep only to brutally kill almost every example of it?

just watched the first 5 eps of the sandman. i was loving it, until we met rachel and she died 15 minutes later. after johanna walked off into the rain i looked it up and found out she wasn't coming back. i was disappointed but kept watching. in episode 5, i was excited to meet bette and judy but as i slowly realised where the episode was leading i had to stop watching. i looked up spoilers again to confirm both characters died.

i felt sick to my stomach, and researched more to confirm that yes, there were no other wlw characters in the show. maybe i should keep watching, give the sandman the benefit of the doubt. but as a young queer woman desperate for positive representation, having 3 wlw character die brutally in the same episode they were introduced in, and the other written off...

i understand the show is intentionally dark, but considering i was drawn in by promises of positive queer rep, and knowing from my research that there are many mlm characters who don't die or get to live a long life, it feels your lesbian/bi female characters were given the short end of the stick.

at this point, i wish you hadn't included them at all, so i could be saved the trauma of becoming attached to characters i identify with, only to watch them all die in horrifying ways. this is a constant trend in media deep down, it reinforces the idea that queer women like me can never have a happy ending.

even if you don't have an answer, please acknowledge this ask in some way. thank you.

If there's a Season 2 you will see many of these characters again, because Death doesn't stop characters from being in Sandman. And if there's a Season 2 you'll meet several more important wlw characters who will survive much longer (and who may if we get the opportunity spin off into their own story, as happened in the comics).

Always remember though that Sandman is a show in which, given enough time or bad luck, people die. That isn't a judgement on anybody, as I hope episode 6 makes very clear. It's part of the human condition. It's also why people are complaining on Twitter that I've got it in for cis white males (many of whom die in season 1), and it's why you can get articles like the recent one in Gay Times applauding Sandman for its LGBTQA+ representation.

Does that help?

(Also a small footnote. Gay Times describes Zelda and Chantal as "twins". It's made clearer in the comic that nobody in the house actually knows their relationship. They are a couple of women going through life together with love, but whether they are physically lovers, related or just incredibly close friends is none of our business.)

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unfortunately-obsessed · 5 months

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All Things End

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x Reader • Hurt no Comfort • AO3 link

In the end, all is quiet

You said many and many times to Miguel that being in love wasn't a weakness.

It was supposed to be easy. In-and-out, just trying to make a map of the warehouse Sinister Six were using. Empty room. Empty room. They've been doing some remodeling since last tim you've been there.

Just trying to get some pics. Maybe a manifest. Counting the number of goons. Your steps just like a mice's, soundless and light, using of the celling and vents to move undetected.

True to the word, you don't operate the same way most Spiders do. Peter B calls you sneaky and Jess slick, but Miguel respected you for not being reckless like that whole side of the multiverse.

The whiskey, rain and and knock-off cigars scent flooded your nose. Kraven and Sandman are playing poker over a wood box. Kraven got a Full House but you mentally bet on Sandman. Hah.

With the two as guards, you just needed to noiseless.

Empty room. Not empty room, filled with wire but nothing interesting. You had wondered what Doc Ock been planning now. Another empty room.

You don't know what hit you.

The hair in your neck raises, you can't feel your legs.

Mind goes blank with jasmine acid and white, room filled with gas and you weren't quick enough to dodge a kick to the mouth. You punch and cuss aloud before Kraken can lodge a knife on your throat.

Ears unable to hear and eyes unable to see for a sharp second. A tiny mystery. There's shouting and there's pain. Everybody has broken ribs by the end of it.

Your hand voracious raw against a face, so you fumble about what is up and what is down until Kraken is is either unconscious or close enough and there's sand on your lungs and socks.

Two seconds and hard cough is what it take for a metallic arm ragdoll you into a wall.

You bleed an unsurmountable amount.

When the fight is over and after you put Doc Ock to sleep, you hear sirens approaching. Crawling to a celling down the road, you throw up, head tripping.

It's disorienting and the sky doesn't have stars because, after all, you're in New York. The blinding lights are not from stars and your right side is all tender. And it smells like trash and oil. And you think of red eyes and pouty lips and a stubborn valiant man. You wish it to end faster.

Not reckless, huh. You wonder what went wrong and can't pinpoint it, but neither you can feel your fingertips, so all you think is never damage and concussion. Maybe you were just ill-prepared, payed the tool but couldn't pay the price. The shaking comes in waves.

You did say that being in love wasn't a weakness.

And it's true, which doesn't mean you also doesn't have to convince yourself.

Damn Ohio and Vermont. Hate New York the same amount you see it behind your eyelids. Kindness isn't free and both you and Miguel refused to put a name on this burning. You want to go home.

Sometimes the poem writes itself. Sometimes it doesn't need to be written. It untravelled all lungs.

Until the story ends all their heartbeats. Flickering matches. Teeth dripping lead.

Do you love Miguel? Not sure. Does it matter when you're bleeding? Unlikely.

A strange habit: Miguel sometimes travels half the multiverse to see why you weren't answering his calls. You hear him swallowing dry and panic in his eyes.

"M'fine," you say to him.

"You look like shit," he tells you, kneeling to be in your side, hands hovering over, unsure of what to do. Worried that holding you will cause more damage.

"Thanks," you say, calm despite the numbness growing each passing second. Moving was impossible on your current state. Instead, your throat burn at the sight of Miguel. "I can't feel my hands."

Even Miguel, a complete idiot on intersocial intelligence, notices the perfectly hidden edge on voice. You tell yourself that you'll sleep it off, perfectly tucking away the fear.

It's natural and inevitable. Miguel is calm despite himself. "It's alright," he says, voice smooth but deep, husky. Ah, you do love his voice. It could lull anyone to sleep. "You're going to be fine."

The story doesn't have a massage. The notion of it, itself, is ridiculous. In another life, we hold our hands together.

You scoff even if you tell yourself the same. Heart won't stop racing. His hand cupping your neck makes you almost believe it.

It's almost peaceful and quiet, and you can't hear the sirens or the city buzzling as it does. "I'm dying", you conclude, sharing it with him, like you do. At this point, there's not a piece of information you don't share with him.

Miguel's eyes grow wide, fast but you see it. "You're no-"

"Something's wrong, I'm not feeling pain," you say, throat dry and hurting, "I'm dying."

He says something to Layla, who toughly scans you with one droid. The conversation doesn't register on your mind. You place a hand over his.

His head snaps back to you, gaze over your bleeding body. "You lost blood," he tries, yet his voice wavered, "but you're not dying."

Tears. You're crying. His hands relax over your carotid, suddenly bare, calming your mind and breathes. Miguel's shoulders are tense, thumb caressing your cheek. When did you ever take the mask off?

Before throwing up, you think.

Finally, pain laces your head. Red spots on you suit, pooling, but the wound is to o big to stop the flowing. It's smearing him, too. You think, very clinically, that you could have tasted his lips if you both were not cowards.

A stupid mistake. You should have named what's between the two of you.

(You're dying and you can feel it. It's the bleedout and the heart going fast and Miguel denying it instead of saying you're an idiot if you think he'll let you die. It's the trembling and the getting harder to breath. It's the fact you're not in panic.)

He smells apple cinnamon pie and warm sweet home.

There's nothing he can do. Moving you may cause it to come faster. So you don't let him know how much it hurts to move at all. His stomach twists.

Miguel's instinct – always there to be blamed, making him unable to clearly process his thoughts, – is to reach out and engulf you on his arms. He moves slow, closer. He threads his fingers into your stained hair.

"I'm not stupid," you say to him, clenching at his other hand.

This declaration shocks him. As normally, Miguel can't hide the frown on his face. "I know you're not."

"No. I–" A few feverish moments pass. It hurts to breath. You might stare at him forever before blurting out, "Please kiss me."

Keeping you eyes open was starting to be a problem. The sky is spinning. All you feel is drozyness. Like you want to sleep. You want your bed.

"Sweetheart," he says, so slow and low you might have imagined it.

Hot, desperate tears streaked down your face. You couldn't keep appearances anymore, keep playing the waiting game with Miguel. You don't know what cause this pathetic display, but still wasn't worse than the numbness.

A gasp left your mouth as his lips pressed against yours. It settles deep within your chest, but all he probably taste is metal.

A low growl rumbled in your heart.

Why are you crying? It has leapt from my throat when we first spoke, alight when I first head your laughter, strong, hands gone rough with time. Your hands are trembling now.

Hungry mouth and lips. In the end, it's quiet.

Your face dropped the frown. Why are you crying? I cannot undo it. My heart under your palms, ribs de-boned and body peeled from skin. Glossy ruby eyes.

Sorry about the mess. Just hold me. In angry tears, never-mended flesh, and razor-sharp teeth, and sometimes I wondered about the needle edge of it. Guts half-spilled, and rocking waves.

Dear thing, we are bound by fate. I'll let you bring me anywhere.

Bleeding still, shining ribs.

Did you taste the best on the roof of my mouth?

A/N: If you like what I do, please consider supporting me and buying a coffee!

#miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o’hara x reader #atsv #across the spiderverse #miguel o’hara #miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara x you #arwrites #me!spiderman2o99

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avelera · 10 months

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Fandom Meta vs. Literary Criticism vs. Workshopping Fiction

I recently wrote a post about how I do not want authors of works like say, Neil Gaiman to see my fandom meta or literary critiques about their work, such as The Sandman which is my current fandom. Not just because there's a time and a place but because, depending on the audience, I'm going to frame my critique in different ways.

Workshopping fiction, ie, offering critique to an author with an eye towards improving the work or improving their overall skill level, is a sacred trust and one I take very seriously, to the point where I often refuse beta request (as workshopping is often referred to in fandom spaces) because I do not trust that the person on the other end of the request is mature enough as a writer to accept the level of critique I would offer to a pro or pre-pro author who is seeking to improve their work. I am careful because I want to foster a growing author and not slam them with the level of professional critique I'd give someone trying to go pro, so until I know what level I'm working on as far as how in-depth my critique should go, I usually only offer the lightest of touches. But if, for example, Neil was a fellow pro or pre-pro author who seriously solicited my thoughts on a piece that could be improved, this is what I might say to his face:

Ex. "Hey Neil, overall I love this comic you brought to the workshop, "The Men of Good Fortune"! One question, in the 1689 beat, I noticed that the death of Hob's family is just one beat of many in his string of misfortunes. However, in my experience, the loss of someone's family would be a seriously traumatic event, likely outweighing the loss of their wealth. Was this intentional? As it is, this beat makes me less sympathetic towards Hob because he seems to view his wealth as more important that his family. If not, might I suggest adding a bit more weight to the loss of his wife and adult son? I understand this was just one minor beat of the many you were juggling to show us this jaunt through time and I wasn't sure whether or not I was meant to have less sympathy for Hob here, since this arc appears to be about watching him change and evolve as a person over the centuries, or if this was merely an oversight as the loss of his family only meant to be one of a series of beats on the historical misfortunes that could befall him in this "worst of all possible centuries" and you just didn't have the time, energy, or space, or interest to expand upon it?"

To which Neil might respond, "Yes, you are meant to find Hob distasteful in that century, well spotted! Hob sees his family as possessions as much as anything else and you are not supposed to like him." Or, "I never thought of that! I had so many other things going on and I was under deadline that in truth, it was just meant to be a bit of a laundry list of misfortunes. I never really thought of or meant to explore that beat. Maybe I will improve it in the next draft!" OR, "However, that exploration is beyond the scope of this story and while I see your point, I just don't have the time/interest/space to explore the long-term ramifications to the character of him losing his first planned family."

Now, Literary criticism is when I, with a somewhat more formal tone, offer my personal analysis of a work, heavily steeped in my own experience, historical knowledge, opinions, etc. It's not going to be published in a literary magazine because this is Tumblr, but I am putting a little more effort into it and will likely do things like cite my sources.

Ex. "In Neil Gaiman's work, "The Men of Good Fortune" the narrative treats Hob in his "worst of all possible centuries" in the 1600s with a remarkable lack of sympathy. He is depicted as ugly, diseased, unpleasant, and uncaring for the wife and son he has lost, or least, no more troubled by their loss than he is by the loss of his material fortune. This century is largely passed over for its long-term impact on Hob's character, despite the fact that the tragedies invoked would likely change someone forever and represent major traumas. It is possible we're meant to see Hob unsympathetically during these years, as the whole arc is meant as a growth narrative, or it could be that as a relatively juvenile author, Gaiman only thought of these tragedies abstractly, as a way to illustrate possible historical misfortunes, and didn't really think out the extrapolations of how these stated events would impact the character's arc."

Meanwhile, Fandom meta is for funsies. It's just my opinion on a work and usually it's me rotating an idea around in my mind while I consider how to transform an element of the original media for use in a fanfic I'm writing. For example, the Doylist explanation for an inconsistency might be "The creator didn't care enough to fix it" but in a fandom meta I might acknowledge this and say, "Yeah but for the fic I'm writing I need to know why this happened so here's a possible logical, in-universe explanation that jives with the story I want to tell." There usually won't be cited sources and I will not argue with you if you disagree, even if I might side-eye someone considerably if they decided to pitch a fit about it, because it's literally just my opinion and might not even be spell-checked.

"Yo, why the fuck is Robyn's death not treated as a bigger deal for Hob in the "Men of Good Fortune" beat of Sandman?? Dude lost his son, it's a major theme throughout Sandman that losing a son can majorly change someone's entirely outlook on life, like Roderick Burgess capturing Dream to force him to bring back his son, or Dream himself and Orpheus and how killing his son to spare him his awful fate is what kicks off Dream's entire arc towards self-destruction. Yet Hob loses a son and it's barely mentioned? I just have to assume this is because Neil was like a 20-something year old dude who only knew about "losing a child" as an abstract historical thing, but losing a son who is 20 years old is a majorly traumatic event that rips entire families apart. Are we not meant to think Hob was traumatized by this, maybe leading in part to his utter collapse of circumstances in the 1600s, or did Neil just not consider it at all??"

The latter two I would never ever want to show to Neil. It's not my place. We are not involved in the sacred trust of a writer-workshopper/editor relationship. I'm not tempering my question by asking what the intention was. And ultimately, the "Word of God" doesn't matter. I can have my own interpretation and Neil's statement wouldn't likely alter it very much and my critique would be pointless because it can never actually change the story. It's just a beat I found unsatisfying and felt the need to fix in a fic, not anything that Neil ever needs to hear about what is now 34 years after publication.

I'm using Neil and Sandman as a specific example but, for the most part, this applies to all my meta and analysis. You will rarely see me writing workshop style critique on this site because that's usually done one on one. For the most part, I'm writing out my thoughts for my own sake and that of fellow fans. It is never, ever ever meant to be seen by the creators of the work.

#maggie rambles #sandman meta

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0nelittlebirdtoldme · 6 months

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Writer asks

Got tagged by @bluecatwriter. With another year of writing slowly coming to an end, why not look over some of my stuff? Thanks for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

143 works, however 2 or 3 of them are just some of my crossposted fanart.

2. What's your total ao3 word count? 428,434. Wanted to get to 500k this year, but i suppose i am not quite there yet.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Still just Dracula/Dracula 2020. Some IWTV, some Fight Club. 2 for Empire of the Vampire which i have neither finished reading, nor is there a proper fandom for.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Death's Sunrise (of course, the only fic to gain over 1k kudos). 1,071 as of now

3 Sandman fics i don't care for anymore so i am not gonna name them (if you are curious, just look them up yourself, you know where to find them)

The Gathered Night

Touch as Soft as Ice (Harkula Tumblr Prompts) (the tumblr prompt collection which i kind of have disbanded by now - i just post the prompt fics by themselves these days)

Ladybugs Don't Fly at Night

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

I try to, but sometimes i just lack the energy. I do get a lot of comments, in all fairness, but even if i don't reply right away, i just want you to know that i do read and appreciate them all! <3

6. What's the fic you wrote that has the angstiest ending?

The majority is really angsty. If I had to guess, either DS or Completed - a quadruple drabble in which Dracula, in his delusion, is holding onto Jonathan's very dead corpse, somehow still waiting for him to come back to (un)life.

7. What's the fic you wrote that has the happiest ending?

Either something from Castles in the Air, my softer drabble collection, or something like Keeping Family - a very self indulgent murder husbands + accidental baby acquisition fic.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

By god, the things i find in my inbox some days are really something. (Side bar: just because a writer writes specific themes and topic it doesn't make it alright to send them death and grape threats christ on a cracker)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Oh yes. My smut always flirts with the idea of consent and power dynamics. I think it's in general on the more intense side, although i do have some softer, slower works. A personal favorite of mine are the really sweet and sloppy ones - consensual somno and the like.

10. Do you write crossovers?

TGN, my beloved. My Dracula x IWTV crossover. Not really related to either Dracula or Interview with the Vampire, but i just wanted to put my 4 vamps (Jonathan, Drac, Louis and Lestat) like mentos into a carbonated soda bottle and shake them around real good, just to see what happens.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Er. Yes. Was a whole deal. Sorted it out. Kinda. Hope it doesn't happen any longer.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not officially (see no. 11)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would be down for it! I do some beta reading for KINGBeerZ on ao3, both for his Dracula fics as well as currently an original work, which is fun and interesting, but i could totally see myself actually co-writing a fic with someone else if we had the same vision for the story.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Forgive me, but yes, it is Harkula. Sorry not sorry. I like them messy, i like them problematic, and i am aware of it. Also i just like to see Jonathan properly dishevelled and out of breath.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but don't think you ever will?

There has been one fic i pulled and have not looked at since. It was giving me trouble the second i posted it, made me have a mental break down and freak out. Didn't get much feedback on it the weeks after so i decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Probably wouldn't do it that way these days, but eh.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I feel like i am quite good with dialogue, quick snappy banter and teasing and the like. Maybe also the way i describe pain, body horror, etc.?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Grammar. I swear. As a non native speaker, it is always grammar for me.

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

I either translate it right away, put it in italics, or leave it as it. Totally depends on what effect i want to achieve.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

With great shame i have to say that i started out on Wattpad. 15 year old me has discovered BBC's Sherlock and was unstoppable (well, at least until i switched to ao3 and nuked the wattpad account). On ao3 my first fic was DS, and the fandom Dracula (2020)

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Hard to say. I still love DS despite the typos and messy plot, and am currently obsessed with TGN. But there are so many others i am quite proud of.

Leaving a tag for @argyleheir as well as @chthonic-cassandra and anyone else who feels like it, but absolutely no pressure!

#my fic #ask game #fanfic ask game #tagged #dracula fanfic

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ravenlilyrose · 1 month

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20 Questions for Writers

Tagged by @oakashandwillow

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 100, exactly. Some of them are ridiculously short (3SF) and some are compilations (also 3SF) so not quite sure how much that number means.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 86,252

3. What fandoms do you write for? Interesting question. I think Narnia still has the highest number of works published, but I haven't written much of that in a while. Doctor Who and Star Trek also have a lot, as do Merlin and Star Wars. I've written a couple things for Queen, Good Omens, Goncharov. Most everything else is stuff I've only written one or two fics for. I'm currently publishing my first Elementary fic and hope to do more in that fandom. My interests are pretty fickle.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Pendragons' Protector. Merlin. Royal(ish) Merlin. First in my series of the same name.

Breathe. Star Wars. Clone Wars era Obi-Wan back on Melidaan fic. Part of my The Absent Third series.

Choices. Star Wars. The Young offer the Vod'e a choice. Next in The Absent Third series.

Warm Chocolate Milk. Star Trek. A childhood friends Kirk&Spock AOS AU. First in my Separate, Not Apart series.

Introductions. Star Trek. Baby James Kirk and baby Spock meet. Next in the Separate, Not Apart series.

5. Do you respond to comments?

As much as I can. Chronic illness (fatigue, pain, etc.) mean that I sometimes take a long time, and if there are only emojis I sometimes don't know what to say (I still really appreciate those, just not sure what the correct/acceptable response is - I overthink everything), but I try to respond to everything.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't really write angsty endings. Maybe High King of All Albion, but that's more bittersweet than anything else. Goodbye, my Goncharov/Katya fic is also kinda bittersweet because it's canon-compliant and that whole relationship is tragedy. I'm probably forgetting something, but I do tend more toward healing and fluff.

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

I think more of my fic endings would be categorized as reflective or peaceful, than happy. Maybe Meant for the Sky, which is a Biggs Darklighter lives AU? Or Coming to Terms, which is a Merlin magic reveal story with a very experimental style? Don't really know.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think someone once told me one of my stories wasn't realistic, but I wasn't trying to be realistic, so...

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope. I'm the kind of aroace who is uncomfortable with sex. I skim smut that includes plot and skip smut that doesn't include plot but could never spend enough time with it to actually write it.

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

Yep. Most of my crazy crossovers don't actually make it all the way to a finished product. Actually, going through my AO3, I don't think any of my crazy crossovers made it there. I did a Narnia/Sandman for 3SF 2023? I have had daydreams about putting like six fandoms and three bands in a room and just kinda seeing what happenes, but those are too chaotic to write.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've translated some of my own fic? If that counts?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope. Too anxious to work with other people. Closest I've gotten is trying to write Star Wars movies with my brother when we were little.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I don't really ship things in the traditional sense. I focus a lot more on platonic relationships and get obsessed with the literary things about them. Parallels, etc. Also, y'know, codependence and other fascinating psychological disorders and traumas. I was pretty into Doctor/Rose for a while, otherwise platonic relationships that fascinate me include Spock & Kirk, Merlin & Arthur, Joanlock (Elementary).

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

I have a massively extensive Tarsus IV (Star Trek) fic that I've been sorta working on for close to a decade now. I doubt the main fic will ever get fully written but some of the outlying stories might.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm pretty good at worldbuilding and those kinda long reflective, expository sections. Relationships are also a strength of mine.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing and plotting. I'm pretty good at character arcs but plot is not a strong point.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've played with this a lot, though mostly with fictional languages. I think if you're writing long paragraphs of dialogue, it's not going to work too well, but a sentence or phrase here or there can be done just fine in several different ways. Unless it's just a word or two that you use repeatedly, you do need to have some kind of translation somewhere, though.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, I think, but that was ages ago and Narnia and Doctor Who took over pretty quickly.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I'm fairly proud of Plenty of Beds, a queerplatonic Joanlock fic, but High King of All Albion, Coming to Terms, and The Pendragons' Protector are all pretty high up there, too. (Apparently I do a lot of my best writing for Merlin. Who knew?)

Tagging @grace13star, @sharpestasp, @capybaraonabicycle, @ruinconstellation, @quillsink, @syrena-of-the-lake. Absolutely zero pressure and also tagging whoever wants to do this. Curious about other people's answers!

#writing #fanfiction #fandom #ao3 #narnia #doctor who #star trek #merlin #star wars #queen band #good omens #goncharov #elementary #joanlock #platonic joanlock #queerplatonic joanlock #the absent third #melidaan

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thetimelordbatgirl · 1 year

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A big reason why I like the Black Panther films is that you can totally ignore everything else and the story works fine. You can forget Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame, just watch the first film and then its sequel. I didn’t like Captain America having his third film be changed to Avengers 2.5 just because marvel wanted to compete with Batman V Superman that same year, or Planet Hulk getting a half-assed adaptation in Thor 3, or Wanda stealing the show from Doctor Strange in his own sequel. Cameos can be fun but those were a bit much. The worst offenders are the mcu Spider-Man movies because Peter is shown being pretty dependent on characters like Iron Man, Nick Fury, Doctor Strange, and even versions of himself from older movies. And both Iron Man and Doctor Strange were responsible for the villains showing up in those films.

I will say due to the...really badly handled introduction of Skaar in She Hulk, its likely we could potentially get a Planet Hulk adaption down the line hopefully, but at the same time, as you pointed out, they already took half of that adaption in Ragnarok with Hulk landing on another planet due to leaving for space at the end of Age Of Ultron (another set up that went in weird places...at least it didn't go nowhere I guess like most MCU set ups lately). And your not wrong on the others: Civil War was basically MCU trying to compete with Batman Vs Superman (and yet somehow, Batman Vs Superman is the one getting dragged still when I'd happily rewatch it over Civil War) while also giving Captain America's film to Iron Man basically, and Wanda basically took over a film that wasn't hers to the point every character is depowered just to make her look better as remember: Doctor Strange is meant to be a powerful sorcerer as is Wong and the other sorcerers and even Miss America in the comics is pretty powerful, but they all depowered just to make Wanda this powerful villain that takes over his film that should have been him facing Mordo with the set up first Doctor Strange did, but nope I guess (and given how they planned to have Wanda kill Mordo before it was cut from film...maybe Mordo escaped being in this film...at least main universe him, anyway...).

And oh god, don't get me started on the MCU treatment of Spiderman. At least when you watch the OG trilogy and Amazing Spiderman films, you know they spidey films and you see Peter doing everything on his own with his villains having some form of connection to him. MCU???? Tony Stark caused the first two villains and Peter just happens to get caught in the messes each time and No Way Home can try all it wants: Strange should have told Peter about the spell PRIOR to doing it and therefore, if Peter did still do his stupid mistake, it would be his fault, but no, Strange doesn't, and therefore Strange's fault too. Plus its funny as hell they clearly wish they got to do Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus and Electro and Sandman, but they didn't, so they drag the prior Spiderman films versions of them into this Spiderverse rip off and force a connection between MCU peter and Spiderman films Green Goblin via fridging Aunt May, because beyond that, MCU Peter has zero connection to these villains and the other two Spidey's have more development with the villains then he does.

Like, there's fun little cameos everyone whose seen prior stuff can enjoy (Doctor Who coming to mind here along with DC's Shazam! and Black Adam), and then there's the MCU having the cameos take over the whole film somehow, meaning your forced to watch prior stuff to understand. And as much as I can agree Black Panther is easy to watch because it doesn't rely on prior stuff (with the only set up being in the end credits where we see Bucky), gonna have to sadly point out Wakanda Forever does have that stupid Valentina stuff shoved in to set up Thunderbolts, though gonna assume that was on higher up's end and not Ryan Coogler's end, since its basically apart of their pattern in the MCU at this rate.

#anti mcu #mcu critical #tho ngl not huge on wakanda forever myself #but only cause of how t'challas death and riri were handled #and as someone who doesn't see the hints of namor x shuri #but at the same time its probably the better movie of phase four next to shang chi #as shang chi is also easy to watch without prior stuff

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loki-is-my-kink-awakening · 2 years

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omg bestie you saw the sandman what are your thoughts 👀

I. Loved. It.

Who doesn't love a pouty goth boy? Tom was so good at just acting with his eyes while stuck in that Christmas bauble.

I haven't read the books but I could follow it fine. I even picked up on bits I wondered if it was going to be darker and then it wasn't but it had been in the comic books. I'm a bit glad of it because I think it would be hard to do it justice with everything else going on.

What I loved most is that people were just queer and it didn't matter. (Well, expect when the waitress tried to set up a lesbain with a straight guy). The Corinthian sleeps with men - no one cares. Johanna has a girlfriend - no one cares. It's not a problem. Queer characters are just there.

Back to the characters, ships and story, I loved Lucienne and was glad she got some respect in the end. That bit did feel a bit rushed, but maybe that's just how I felt.

Dream and Hob, oh my. I loved how they built on that relationship. Hob talking about being stood up and it just feeling like it's not just about friendship, it's possibly something more. Very gentle but I appreciated it and do wonder what the future would be for them.

Johanna Constantine, what a babe. I love Jenna anyway, so I thought she was great. The whole thing with her partner was so sad.

Desire! What a great character and I'm so pleased it's being played by a non-binary actor. And the fact that Mason Alexander Park approached Neil in Twitter is just a really god story.

I loved Death too. Just doing her job and doing it with kindness.

Poor wee Jed. Imagine that is your life. How awful of a life he has, feeling abandoned and uncared for at every turn, and involved in a dangerous situation at every turn.

I loved Rose's hair. Just such an iconic look.

Matthew was just awesome.

The Corinathan was a good bad guy. Very intimidating and unpredictable. Always chasing and one step behind, until he wasn't and he was on the front foot.

John Dee became more and more unhinged as it went on. Not that he starred out hinged in any way, but the depths of his need for honesty was terrifying and truly awful.

The goths Chantel and Zelda we're so cool, too. I loved them.

It took me till the end when all the dreams are colliding and Barbie sees Ken 'cheating' on her in the car to realise it was Barbie beside that fantastical creature. I legit had no idea who she was in the dreamland until that point. (Yes, I can be exceptionally dumb sometimes).

I was very upset that Gregory had to die, but then he came back as Goldie.

Oh, and I also saw the additional episode and the way they dealt with the brutality inflicted upon Calliope.

I know this is a messy way of explaining why I loved it but there was so much there. I'm hoping there is a season two. I don't think they've announced that yet.

#ask #gayshipsandanxiety #the sandman #sandman netflix #the sandman spoilers #dream of the endless #morpheus #hob gadling #dreamling #lucienne #johanna constantine #death of the endless #desire of the endless #calliope #john dee

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danwhobrowses · 2 years

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The Sandman - Quickfire Thoughts

So after a series of sporadic binges between Netflix tussles I've finished The Sandman. Having gone into the adaptation of Gaiman's comic fairly blind I had barely any expectations, but here's what I thought of it

Spoilers for the show of course, you were warned

As much as I don't want to invoke the wrath of Gaiman - who also frequents the tumblr - negative points for not fitting Enter Sandman in the entire show.

A strange observation but, is it me but ever since Game of Thrones Charles Dance seems to only do small or low-screentime roles now; Godzilla King of the Monsters, Dracula Untold and now Sandman, he's great but because he's great it's curious that he doesn't do many long-term roles

Dream's casting was great, and props to Tom Sturridge for carrying an aura of menace and power in the first episode while butt naked

One of the very few things I knew of The Sandman comics was ol' toothy eyes, The Corinthian, and boy howdy was Boyd Holbrook fantastic, he's one of the five characters, including Sturridge as Dream, I feel dominates every scene they're in, he's a great charismatic but manipulative villain

The Gregory stuff made me sad, the show did have a fair amount of moments where it's meant to be sad and uncomfortable, but at the same time I don't want to be that sad or that uncomfortable

Liked the river scene, it's super artsy and dark. I wish we had more of that from this series, stuff like in this gif where Dream is as chilling as any nightmare he created, would've liked to see more of the Fates too

I do love some Jenna Coleman, been a fan all the way back since she debuted on Emmerdale, but, it didn't feel like her role in her episode was enough to necessitate the Constantine nod. Jenna could've been a regular sorcerer, or even an immortal Johanna. I dunno I think I just kinda hoped to see Matt Ryan reprise as John, especially since DC is killing the Arrowverse. Maybe DC didn't wanna play ball or Neil has S2 plans for her, but we needed more of Jenna to establish Johanna.

Speaking of potential Season 2, Hell. The Hell Episode was great, mainly because of standout no.3: Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer. Tom Ellis' Lucifer series wasn't something I quite got into, I heard rumblings of it ending dumbly, but Christie's Lucifer is amazingly sinister but in a quiet way, they know who they are so they don't need to threaten, but there is that twinge of sadness and longing that Dream exploits in their Oldest Game

Though 'anti-life' felt like a cheat, I did like the Oldest Game. The wink nudge of Lucifer picking a direwolf but then, by my interpretation, Morpheus choosing hope to corner Lucifer into submitting rather than become something that would diminish their own hope. Matthew the raven gets props as well for giving Morpheus the inspirational pep talk

24/7 was one of those cases where it was a great episode but one I was greatly uncomfortable with, sometimes my own fault like forgetting that Bette's son is in college. But this does explore why John Dee's views on a perfect world is twisted and the Ruby is not safe in his hands, I did feel especially bad for Bette

Oh, John Dee is no.4, David Thewlis man. As much as Dee was unnerving, apathetic, and calculating, Thewlis did a great job in showing the childlike innocence that had been contorted by his sheltered life and manipulation, there is poetic irony that he wants a world of honesty but consistently deceives himself.

Episode 6 was perhaps my favourite, among my comic knowledge was the presentation of Death in Gaiman's story as a joyful punk rock girl who is full of life, Kirby Howell-Baptiste did a great job. I did of course feel extra sad when she approached the cradle, instant thoughts of 'no, not the baby!' in my mind, I don't know enough of her character to wonder if she still feels burdened by the abruptness of some people dying but there can be time for that later

What made it my favourite though was the Hob storyline, it was just nice and wholesome really and it explored more of Morpheus' ever-shrinking distance from humanity

The Vortex storyline I wasn't as sold on as the 'Morpheus reclaims his powers' storyline, it was still good but it did sit in the real world more than the fantasy

I enjoyed the whole house of people and Lyta, and how they all supported Rose in her search for her brother, plus the connection with Unity to merge the storylines together

Probably what made me not so connected to the Vortex storyline in spite of it having the Corinthian be the main villain is the nature of the Vortex, we're told very little about its nature and the 'I don't know' answer does feel weak, she is powerful just because

Morpheus also seems to take two steps back on his character development too, to go from Death telling him that they are not better than humans, should learn to take people's help and him accepting that he and Hob are friends to 'I will use this Vortex, a threat to the dreaming and waking world entirely just to bait some rogue nightmares' and also dismiss Gault's suggestion that even nightmares can change and want did feel like he was undoing his own work

Didn't quite like the Rumpelstiltskin vibe he was giving out with saying he'd come for Lyta's baby too, there could've been at least a bit more compassion or explanation, instead it served as a 'misunderstanding' trope to distance Rose from Morpheus

The ending was solid, albeit one which could've used a bit more explanation. Desire was a character we saw so little of - much like Cain and Abel, whose dynamic reminded me of Hilda and Zelda in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - and even though we have them outright tell Despair that they are the mastermind of Morpheus' imprisonment and the Vortex arc, we don't actually see any of their actions, just an off-comment by Unity that clocks Morpheus in on the deception.

I feel like, while Gaiman may've intended to keep the audience out of loop, it may've served better to see Desire perform at least one action that guided the plot around, even if it was just to twirl a fake mustache, and explain how they intended to use the Vortex to be Morpheus' undoing, since there seems to be rules for not killing an endless' kin not established in the series (that I recall anyway) was the plan, but since I don't understand what that would lead to it's hard to understand the threat.

Overall I liked it, going in mainly blind I do have my questions but we had a great cast all doing really well, and I want to see more of it, so it laid some strong groundwork we can hopefully build towards.

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thebigsl33p · 2 years

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You Are Sick and You're Married, and You Might Be Dying. (Part two)

Part one.

Really I wanted to title this after Andromeda by Weyes Blood, "Treat me right, I'm still a good man's daughter. Let me In If I break and be quiet if I shatter." But it's easier if it has the same title as the one before. Maybe I'll do another one with that title. TW: angst, death, cancer, realistic Chemo (as close as I could get it anyways), Morpheus. No happy ending.

Things had been hard.

Y/N had been given two choices, Chemotherapy or to just…leave it. To let the Cancer exist and spread to her lymph nodes, slowly kill her. She thought about it, she really did. It would be easier, peaceful and on her own terms. Joanna assured her that whatever she chose she would be by her side, and Y/N had no doubt. So when she chose Chemo, Joanna did everything in her power to make sure she was comfortable.

It was the least she could do with the guilt she was carrying. She knew Y/N wasn't going to make it, a demon's curse is a demon's curse. And she felt awful. But she didn't want her girl to hate her, so she didn't bring it up.

The Doctors had told them about what to watch out for. How Y/N would be sensitive to the cold, it could cause pins and needles or make her throat feel like it was closing up so they should always have gloves, a scarf and a bottle of warm water after a Chemo session.

They had also told the couple about how food might taste different for Y/N and may even have a different texture. And how she could be sick or feel nauseous. And should anything feel off at all she was to call 111. They would give her the best advice, tell her whether she should to to the hospital or not.

The Chemo was spread across every other week.

Y/N was sitting in a chair in the Chemo section of the hospital she was in, wearing one of Joanna's shirts and a cardigan. She had a pick in her arm and a bag of chemicals hanging over her head. Her girlfriend was sitting in a chair next to her, and they were chatting about shit TV when her phone went.

Y/N saw her go to decline it, "Joanna, you're allowed to accept phone calls, y'know? I know you don't think of it this way, but you do actually have a job, that you are allowed to attend." She reminded her.

"Fine." Joanna accepted the call and sat there for a while, just humming in agreement before hanging up, "They want me for an exorcism this evening. Someone high class."

"Royal?" Y/N laughed.

"Probably. But I can cancel if you don't want me going. Like seriously, they can pull someone else in. The only reason I took it was because they're paying a lot." She explained.

"Joanna it's fine. I'll probably be tired when I get back home, so I'll just sleep while you're gone sweetheart. Don't fret."

***

Joanna had been to this church many times.

Outside, was the local crazy, Hettie, who Joanna loved to bits. She always had a bit of mystic or occult gossip. The woman was two hundred and eight after all.

And this time, it was about The Sandman, something that Joanna was sure was nothing more than a fairy story.

"He's back.." Hettie slurred.

Joanna laughed, "Who's back Hettie?"

"Why Morpheus of course."

"Morpheus?" "The king of nightmares. The sandman."

"The sandman's nothing but a fairytale hettie." Joanna laughed.

"Mark my words girl, The Sandman's back, and he wants his sand." Hettie looked over Joanna's shoulder and started giggling.

Joanna turned around, to see what Hettie was having a look at and there on the steps of the church she was about to go into was a man, who she would describe as goth. He looked a bit like an emo teenage boy…but with more style.

"Who are you?" Joanna's eyebrows raised at the man and he began to speak something about dreams and nightmares and sand, but she stopped him, "Look, that's nice and all but I have an exorcism to do and a girlfriend to get back too." She pushed past him.

Joanna would've been eternally grateful for that night.

The night she partnered up with The Sandman to get his bag of sand from an ex-girlfriend of hers who had destroyed herself with it. He had made sure she died peacefully and happily.

And that was when Joanna had an idea.

As they were leaving her ex's house, Joanna turned to Morpheus, "I'm going to ask you a favour." She said, "I don't care what the price is I just…need this. My girlfriend Y/N has cancer. She doesn't know it yet, but…the chemo's not gonna make a change. She's dying and it's my fault. What you did to Rachel in there, could you do that for her? Or maybe put a word in with Death when the time comes? Make sure she's comfortable?"

"Yes." He answered, his eyes showing pity for her, "One day I'll call on you."

In that moment he was the patron saint of Lovers. Forget valentine.

***

The Chemo was doing very little. If anything it was making it worse. Months later, Y/N had shaved her hair and had lost weight. She looked pale and tired.

The doctor's didn't see much point in continuing with the sessions. Instead they gave Y/N some meds and sent her home under the care of her girlfriend.

The moment they got home, Joanna put Y/N into bed before going to make some food.

Just as she was about to leave the bedroom, Y/N called her back, "Joanna. Please, sit with me."

"…Okay." Joanna turned around and took her side of the bed, "What's up?"

"I know." She said, "I know I had no chance of living…" She admitted, "The night you called me…worried. I thought if I did the Chemo it might make both of us feel better, might let me live a little longer. When I go-"

"Y/N, no." Joanna took her hand.

"When I go, I don't want you to feel bad. Alright?"

"Alright. I'm sorry."

"I know, it's okay. I know you only tried to do what was best."

Y/N barely lasted the rest of the week. She was fading away, finding it harder and harder to wake up, sleeping more, eating less.

And then, one warm summer evening, she was awake again. Joanna could hear her mumbling to herself from the kitchen, chatting away. And just as she went to check on her, there was a knock at the door.

Joanna sighed and went to open it and there on the other side was The Sandman. And she knew what that meant, and she knew who Y/N was talking too.

Together, the Exorcist and The Endless walked into their bedroom to see Y/N sitting up in bed and a black woman sitting on the end of it, her legs crossed like a child.

"I didn't think there was much point in hiding." She shrugged, "You've already met my brother." She turned to Y/N, "You've got a real amazing one here, I wish I could let you keep her a little longer."

"Joanna, come sit with me." Y/N smiled as Joanna took a seat on her side of the bed, "Are you okay?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Joanna was beginning to sniffle.

"You know that's not how we work." She laughed before wiping her Love's eyes, "Don't cry Sweetheart. It's not worth it." Her eyes flicked up, "I take it you're Dream? Your sister told me you'd be coming."

"Yes. I'm here to make sure your happy when you go. It's the least I could do for Joanna." he sighed.

"Well, I think I'm ready." She smiled at her girlfriend, "In the end, was it a Royal?"

"Yeah." Joanna smiled through the overflow of tears.

"I love you." She kissed her cheek.

"I love you too."

And then Morpheus was gone, Death was gone and so was Y/N. And with all three of them they took Joanna's will to live.

The world would never shine as bright again as it did when she was besides Y/N.

Her wonderful, beautiful Y/N.

#joanna constantine X reader #joanna constantine #Morpheus #wlw #wlw fanfic #the sandman netflix #the sandman fanfic #lord morpheus #X reader #sandman #dream of the endlesss #johanna consantine

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scarecrowismybabygirl · 2 years

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Build me your perfect casting for a new movie about our sassy little twink Scarecrow (we really need one) Any characters, any actors.

Let's start with our sweet boy Jonathan: I don't think I can (and I certainly don't want to) accept anyone other than Mr. Murphy for this role. If he was great in The Dark Knight trilogy, he'd probably be even better now: more age appropriate, less boyish, but just as attractive AND creepy, because for me those are the two main traits any live action adaptation of Scarecrow needs. This time I'd probably make his hair dark auburn at least.

I also need more movies where he wears glasses

Now, given that this is practically impossible, there are a couple of more realistic options I wouldn't be so mad about:

Bill Skarsgård

This is a very self-indulgent pick. I find him attractive, he looks good with glasses, and he knows how to be scary. Is he the best actor for the role? I don't know. Is he hot enough for me to overlook that and enjoy a very slutty and sexy Scarecrow again? Yes.

Caleb Landry Jones

He would be my first choice if I actually answered with my brain. He can look very creepy and messed up (as he did in Antiviral), but he still has that cute boy aura about him. Extra points for being a redhead because I'm a Year One bitch.

Michael Pitt

What can I say? I like him in villainesque roles and he makes a great psychopath. I wasn't particularly fond of the way he portrayed Mason in Hannibal, but if he went the Funny Games route, we could have a very good Scarecrow.

Young Christopher Walken

I can almost hear "call the police" here. If I had a time machine he'd be higher up in the list.

For our angsty playboy Bruce:

Robert Pattinson

I'm not sure if this is a popular or unpopular opinion at this point, but he might be my favorite Bruce. I like the emo take and I genuinely enjoy his acting. I couldn't understand the backlash when he was announced as the next Batman, but I was introduced to his work by Cronenberg's Cosmopolis (I was never a Twilight girl, no hate to those who like the franchise), and I've also seen how capable he is in other indie movies, so I knew he would deliver.

I also adored Christian Bale's Bruce, and I'm a bigger fan of TDK than The Batman, but Battinson has a special place in my heart.

Now let's think about the movie. I never spent too much time pondering on what my ideal Scarecrow movie would look like because we all know people just want yet another Joker movie and the chances of this happening are close to zero, but there are two things I would like to see:

His background story. We all know that, no matter the universe, he always gets tormented beyond what any human could -or should be able to- stand. I feed on trauma and seeing my favorite characters mentally and physically destroyed, so this is a must. If you ask me, I favor the great-granny option because it's crueler and makes for a more interesting character.

The parallelisms between him and Batman. This may be one of the most interesting points raised by Year One. I want them to be portrayed almost as mirror images. Their actions are fueled by childhood trauma, their motivations are driven by fear, but they end up fulfilling radically opposite yet complementary roles... I want this to explore the nature vs. nurture debate on what makes someone's psyche develop in a specific way, and I want it to be dark and twisted. Give me an even darker Bruce.

As for what other characters I'd like to see here, without a plot in mind, I can't really go deeper, but some options would be:

Great granny Keeny: because in my mind she's the main catalyst of his villain downward spiral. I want her to be somewhat attractive and comic book accurate (let's face it, she's FINE), but I have no one in mind. I picture her as an older version of either Bedelia Du Maurier from Hannibal or Ethel Cripps from The Sandman... Maybe an artificially aged Gillian Anderson would do the trick.

Linda Friitawa (Fright): a very underrated and ignored character that I'd like to see a live action adaptation of. Again, I never fully developed a plot in my mind, so I don't know if there would be a possibility to fit her anywhere and I also wouldn't want to take away from the homoerotic undertones of Scarecrow and Batman's love/hate relationship, because that's essential for me and my very self-indulgent, half-baked idea of a Scarecrow movie. Anya Taylor-Joy would be perfect here.

...and that's it for now. Although I'll probably regret not mentioning Nygma (not Nashton) and a few others as soon as I hit "post"! ♡ Thanks for your ask @ninja-potato-shelby-solomons ♡

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goggles-mcgee · 11 months

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Hi Goggles! Uh I was wondering if you could/how would you re-rwrite dark parables 8: the little mermaid and the purple tide? As someone who played the Beta and the game... the plot just seemed off to me for some reason. I would love to see how you would write it.

Owe the game I dislike the most???? Hoooooooooooo boy. Okay.

First I recommend reading my rant about it because I don't really want to make a post about it again: -> UwU Rant

I'm glad others agree with me that the game felt off!!! Especially someone who beta tested!

It just never felt like it tied in with the other games despite Pinocchio making a guest appearance 👀😭

I don't mind Pinocchio there but the fact they made him revert to wooden puppet after the fact it wasn't due to the stupid orb it was because both his parents sacrificed their souls to give Pinocchio his own and turn him into a real boy. I will not question that magic. So instead of the stupid orb, the reason why Pinocchio is there when the temple appeared and everything is because he is also tracking down that last Elemental Orb and he had heard about it in some of his father's old journals.

He's searching for it in hopes it will bring back his parents or Katherine is in trouble and Pinocchio thinks the only way to help her is to track down this Elemental Orb.

Anyways, that's why he's there, because his father's journals spoke of this Wood Orb from before he became corrupted by the Forbbiden Grove. He had originally thought to find this Wood Orb and use it in Pinocchio, and after Pinocchio was successful, he tried to track it down once more to use it in the Beast he made to protect his son. He failed each time, but came so so close.

Princess Althea and her father had no idea the Orb was hidden in the temple and could only be retrieved by a being who has overcome many obstacles and grown from them. (i.e Pinocchio) It was a failsafe the Goddess put in in case she was ever in danger or man became to greedy.

Pinocchio is still swallowed by the eel but the Princess is tasked with getting him out because she overheard he and the Detective talking about the Orb that he believes is close by them. Thus he would be kept prisoner unless he showed the princess and king where the Orb was and how to get it. The Detective secretly saves him and they both go to find the Orb. Pinocchio is able to retrieve it but is once more grabbed by the eel who was following the two on the orders of the princess and king. Though he is not swallowed just trapped in the mouth maybe even trapped literally between a couple of teeth that are threatening to stab him.

The Detective is unable to get to him and the Orb is given to Althea by a desperate Pinocchio. She runs again to give her father the Orb but alas, when the eel drops Pinocchio, it's teeth do scrape him and surprise surprise, the bite (or scrape) from this monster is poisonous. Pinocchio is wounded and the Detective is on a time crunch.

Final battle can go about the same. Sea goddess free, she mad, she tries to flood the basically empty palace anyway. Detective frees her.

Now, the goddess could heal Pinocchio or this can go with Althea and the King vowing to heal him as it was their pet that caused this.

I want a happy ending and I don't want Pinocchio hurt, nor do I trust this shady ass people with his health so I vote Sea Goddess heals him as payment to the Detective for freeing her and boom! End story.

Cute scene to temple where yes, you had explored with Pinocchio but while exploring you saw many connections to past games but also something unfamiliar a dusty hourglass, the cut scene cuts back to this hourglass after all the destruction the eel and the goddess brought to the temple and it is now broken and leaking purple sand. Maybe even onto a parchment with a map Montafleur on it catching the sand or a smudged picture of sandman catching the sand. Idk something please!

Or maybe the cutscene can even be Pinocchio talking another Montafleur being mentioned in his mother's journal. Something about a cursed prince after they see the hourglass, maybe they go into the temple to see of anything is salvageable. Idk.

But yeah! That's how I would have played it!

#dark parables: the little mermaid and the purple tide #dark parables #fairytale detective #dark parables Pinocchio #princess althea #goggles answer #goggles ask

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aidansplaguewind · 1 year

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What shows have you enjoyed recently, plaguewind? Have you watched The Last of Us?

I did watch The Last of Us and I played quite a bit of the game. To be honest I thought the show was just okay. It was a decent watch but by no means do I think it was AMAZING the way many people seem to think it is. But I think a lot of that is to do with the Pedro Pascal bandwagon that's going on right now. I mean, he's kinda cute from some angles but really? He's no Aidan.

A show that I do think is amazing is The Handmaid's Tale. And it is straight up better than the book it's based on. I've never had a show make me feel so many different things so passionately. The story is great, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. The acting is excellent. I can't think of a single person on that show who's acting falls short.

The vast majority of the shows I have really enjoyed are already over. I just finished Working Moms and I think it may have been the last season but I haven't googled it to find out. I'm a hard person to make laugh but that show makes me laugh. It's definitely one of the lighter things I watch. I prefer intense dramas and suspense.

I watched Succession and it's okay but all of the people on it are just atrocious. I don't consider any one of them a good person except maybe Cousin Greg.

I liked The Last Kingdom but it too just finished up with a movie. I liked Vikings up to a point. After Ragnar dies it only stays really interesting for a bit longer. To be honest I didn't finish it. It just wasn't holding my interest anymore.

I liked YOU but this last season was a let down. I didn't like season 4 at all. Is there going to be another season? Anyone know? I feel like I read that there was but the way season 4 ended it could have very well ended there.

I watch Stranger Things and it's a fun little watch. I've watched all of Euphoria. It's watchable but not amazing. I've watched all of Shadow & Bone so far. It's not bad. I've watched Bridgerton and I enjoyed it. It's fun and not too serious. I just recently watched both seasons of Sweet Tooth. It's corny and cheesy but it's also fun and cute. I liked Good Girls but I believe it was canceled. In The Dark, if it didn't canceled is alright. It held my interest when I had nothing else to watch. I did watch House of the Dragon, it's okay.

I'm trying to think. I watch so much shit this should be easy to answer but when asked I just go blank. I'm trying to think of stuff that is still on and not old and over.

Oh! I do love Outlander. However, I'm wondering how much life it still has in it before it starts to get repetitive and boring.

Oh I watched Rings of Power. The Sandman. Lucifer. Better Call Saul. The Crown.

I really do watch SO MUCH shit and I can't even think of it all. But some things that I watched that are over and have been over for a while but I thought were really good TV are Dexter, Shameless, DARK, Orange is the New Black, The Walking Dead (to a point), obviously Game of Thrones (to a point), Weeds, Breaking Bad and....I'm going blank again.

Oh and I watch a shit ton of True Crime documentaries and docuseries. I love a good serial killer story.

Crap this is long but yeah, I watch a lot of shit. If something gets people talking and starts to get a buzz around it, I'll usually watch it just to see what all the fuss is about. Sorry this got so long.

#television #TV #outlander #the last kingdom #vikings #the handmaid's tale #House of the Dragon #Sweet Tooth #Working Moms #Dexter #Shameless #The Walking Dead #DARK #Orange is the New Black #Game of Thrones #Weeds #The Last of Us #Stranger Things

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theatre-kids-of-a-cappella · 2 years

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VoicePlay: Wicked Medley review

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Before I get into the actual review, I want to say that when I first heard this medley I wasn't really familiar with Wicked at all. Then a while ago, I listened to the official soundtrack so I could get more context for VP's arrangement, and. Holy crap guys. Having that context gave me SO MUCH MORE appreciation for it (you'll see what I mean if you keep reading). I would highly recommend listening to the original Wicked soundtrack, if not for the extra context then just because it's just an amazing musical in and of itself.

Now, enough about that. Let's get to the review:

0:00 - Cesar did not have to put this much soul into this first song but he did and I'm eternally grateful

0:27 - Same goes for Eli, like DANG

0:36 - Ooh those harmonies!! I freaking love it when harmonies go from being relatively simple to complex like that

0:38 - Emoni coming in clutch with her lil solo, man I missed her so much lol

0:44 - Love the vocal painting on the word "lonely", as in how Geoff and Layne drop out to make the word literally sound lonely 🙌

0:55 - Ok Geoff, I hear you with that subtle double octave jump in the background there 👀

1:07 - Nothing like some awesome runs to kick off a new song, amiright??

1:14 - Rachel's acting is amazing! Going into this I didn't know what character she was portraying, but she really sold the innocent eagerness of Elphaba at this part. In other words, I could understand the story perfectly without actually knowing the story 😂

1:41 - Ok Eli, go off with that crazy riff!

1:58 - Geoff's subharmonics will never get old 😏

2:12 - Layne's fills will also never get old 🙌

2:20 - I have no idea how they coordinate the ritardando (slowing down) to transition, but MAN they make it sound effortless

2:22 - Emoni puts *just* the right amount of sass into Glinda's solos, I love her so much

2:38 - Cesar 🥺

2:41 - Layne 😂

2:51 - I'm pretty sure Layne's ingressive phonation here (i.e. the weird sound he makes) is taken from VP's ACA Top 10 Broadway, which is a great callback! You can really hear how much he's improved since then 😁

2:52 - Love the addition of One Short Day in the background!

3:03 - Boom, crash, bam boom! Kidding! (iykyk)

3:11 - YESSS, go off, Emoni!

3:14 - And now, Geoff's audition for an over-the-top happy-go-lucky Broadway character 😂

3:16 - Eli. Sir. You are a high tenor. HOW ARE YOU DOING THE BASSLINE. (He's so underappreciated smh)

3:25 - Maybe it's just me, but that "bum bum bum" has big Mr. Sandman vibes and I absolutely love it

3:37 - VIBE CHECK (this whole part is an absolute bop, especially compared to the original. Not to say the original isn't good, because it's awesome, I just mean stylistically lol)

3:43 - Cesar are you actually ok 👀

3:45 - Seems like Geoff is wondering the same thing lol

4:05 - LOVE how they used lyrics from Defying Gravity as a transition, it's not in chronological order and it's not even the next song in the medley, but it works so well in the narrative they're telling in their version, and it's just so creative

4:12 - I freaking love bell tones 😭 (the "dm dm dm's")

4:20 - Love how everyone decrescendos into silence for Emoni's solo, sometimes less is more and this is definitely one of those times. You don't often hear silence from everyone but the soloist in a cappella (except at the very beginning of a song), but here it's really effective because it lets Emoni's words really hit home

4:33 - I love Cesar's tone here so much, I can't really describe it but it's so good 😭

4:40 - THEIR BLENDDDDD ugh they sound so good together

4:56 - Ok maybe I'm reading WAY too into this, but I love how Rachel and Emoni start the line in harmony and end it in unison, because it parallels Elphaba's and Glinda's unlikely friendship - starting off not really liking each other, but growing to become best friends. Idk if that was the intention arrangement-wise, but if so it's absolute genius 🙌

5:30 - You cannot convince me that Cesar and Geoff aren't singing that line directly to each other. You Cannot

5:34 - Ok, again, I'm probably reading way too much into this lol but whatever. I freaking LOVE this transition, because unlike before, the line starts in unison and ends in harmony, showing how Elphaba has changed as a person and is actually very different from Glinda. And then that's followed by the lyric "I have been changed". And both of those things make for a PERFECT transition into Defying Gravity, which is all about how Elphaba has changed and is starting a new chapter in her life, so to speak. So yeah idk if that was intentional but it's how I'm interpreting it and I think it's absolutely amazing

5:47 - these HARMONIES!!! Ugh they give me chills every time lol

6:05 - Ok, Defying Gravity might be one of my favourite VP songs ever (or parts of a song, in this case). The arrangement is so energetic and complex, and there are so many awesome little details, and Rachel is such a freaking powerhouse, it just fires me up so much 🙌

6:12 - Love Geoff's subharmonic followed by a cool little riff!

6:35 - Those staggered "dm's" (idk what else to call them lol) that everyone's doing are SO impressive. Everyone has to have perfect timing, especially if they're on the off beat, and it's so fast and tight and sounds completely effortless, it's amazing

6:43 - Sure, go even higher than the already-very-high original. Because Rachel can just Do That

6:55 - Love the contrary motion (i.e. some people go up and some people go down)!

7:05 - Nice callback to the beginning of the medley!

7:13 - EPIC final chord progression, not to mention the crazy range of the very last note (Db1 - F5)!

Final Thoughts:

Eli really outdid himself on the lighting for this one!! I think there was something different for all 8 songs, not including the bubbles during Popular. Idk how he does it but he does it so well 👏

Normally my favourite VP songs are the more theatrical ones where they dress up and everything, but I have to say, this arrangement and performance is SO AMAZING, it’s in my top 5 favourite VP songs ever. The fact that it only has about 300k views is an absolute crime - Geoff didn’t spend LITERAL YEARS on it for it to get this little attention 😭 so if you feel so inclined, please go give it some love!

#voiceplay #review #wicked #broadway #a cappella #hey im not dead!

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dukereviewstv · 5 years

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Duke Reviews TV: Smallville 1x08 Jitters

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Tv, Where We Are Continuing Our Look At Smallville By Talking About Episode 9 Of Season 1, Jitters...

This Episode Introduces Us To Earl Jenkins (Played By Tony Todd Who Is Known To Fans Of The Horror Genre As The Candyman In The Candyman Horror Films But Is Most Known To DC Fans As The Voice Of The Villainous Zoom On CW's The Flash) Who Is Suffering From Seizures Due To Exposure To Meteor Rocks At The Luthorcorp Plant From A Mysterious Level 3 That Doesn't Exist Or Appear On Any Blueprints, Taking Hostages During A Smallville High Field Trip (Including Clark), Earl Is Intent On Finding What Poisoned Him So That He Can Cure Himself, Will Clark Find This Level 3 So That He Can Save The Hostages And Cure Earl?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Jitters...

The Episode Starts With Clark's Parents Going Metropolis For A Few Days To Celebrate Their Anniversary...

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(Start At 0:05, End At 1:32)

Speaking Of Metropolis, We Meet Earl Jenkins Who Is Suffering Violent Seizures From When Worked At The Luthorcorp Plant, Attempting To Talk To Lionel Luthor, A Janitor Who Works There Who's A Friend Of His, Tells Earl To Go Away Or Else He'll Call The Police, However, When One Of His Kryptonite Seizures Happens He Manages To Get In...

Accidentally Killing The Janitor With One Of His Seizures, Earl Runs Off To Try To Find Someone Who Will Help Him...

Back At The Kent Farm In Smallville, Clark Goes To School As Pete Asks Him What He's Going To Do Now That He Has The House To Himself? To Which He Says..

I'm Kidding, Of Course, What He Does Say Is That He That He's Going To Invite A Few People To A Small Gathering, Them A Few Other People And Maybe Lana At The Most But Chloe Takes That As Party At The Kent Farm BYOB!

With Lana Coming Over, She Says That If She Had 100 People Over She'd Be Freaked Out Too, However As They Continue Talking Fireworks Start Going On Outside Thinking That Pete Was Behind It, He Tells Him To Knock It Off But Lex Arrives Saying That The Fireworks Were His Idea As He Wanted Clark's Party To Be A Party To Remember...

Meanwhile In Metropolis, Martha Has Been Calling The House For Hours With Nobody Answering, So, Yeah, She's A Little Worried About Clark But Jonathan Tells Her Not To Worry About It...

As The Party Continues, Whitney Arrives Being The Condescending Boyfriend By Asking Lana Why She Didn't Tell Him She Was Coming Here? Which Leads Them To Talk Briefly In The Barn Only To Hear Rumbling In The Rafters...

Getting Clark, Him And Whitney Find Earl, Who Says He's There To Talk With Jonathan However, Having One Of His Seizures Again Which Causes Clark To React In The Same Way He Does When He's Around Kryptonite But Either Way, Clark Calls An Ambulance Which Takes Earl To The Hospital, There He Tells Chloe How He Knows Earl...

Turns Out Earl Used To Work On The Kent Farm, Even Tried Teaching Clark How To Play Guitar But His Kept Causing Him To Break The Strings, And When He Got A Job At The Luthorcorp Plant, He Quit Because The Pay Was Better...

Which Sheriff Ethan Arriving To Arrest Earl For The Murder Of The Janitor, Him And Clark Hear A Noise Which Causes Them To Earl's Room Only To Discover That He's Having Another Seizure This Time He Hurts, Nurses And Police And Even Tosses Clark Through A Window To The Hallway...

Returning Home To The Aftermath Of The Party, Clark Cleans It Up Using His Super Speed But Unfortunately His Parents Are Home...

Telling His Parents About Earl, Clark Tells Jonathan That He Wanted To Talk To Him And That He's Wanted For Murder Which Shocks Jonathan But When Clark Mentions Not Being Able To Get Near Earl Because He Gives Him The Same Reaction That Meteor Rocks Do, Clark And Jonathan Go Down to The Hospital To See Him...

Talking With The Doctor, She Says That It's Caused By Something That Has Given Him Mineral Poisoning, Tiny Fragments Of The Mineral Are Embedded Under His Skin And His Body Is Trying To Slowly Push Them Out. With Jonathan Asking How It Happened? The Doctor Tells Him That Earl Claims That There Was An Explosion At The Luthorcorp Plant Six Months Ago That Never Happened...

Going In To Talk To Earl, Jonathan Tells Him That He Doesn't Believe That He'd Ever Want To Kill Anybody But Telling Jonathan That It Was An Accident Because He Wanted To See Lionel Luthor To Find Out What They Were Using On Level 3, Jonathan Doesn't Believe Him...

Earl Explains That When He Got The Job At The Luthorcorp Plant, He Was Assigned To Clean Level 3 Where They Were Doing These Secret Crop Experiments On A New Type Of Fertilizer That Was Supposed To Make Corn Grow Twice As Fast, But There Was Something In That Fertilizer That Was Unstable And It Caused A Huge Explosion While He Was Cleaning And It Got Under His Skin Just As They Shut It Down And He Was Transferred To Metropolis...

But Then 2 Months Ago The Seizures (Or Jitters As Earl Calls Them) Started And He Saw About 50 Doctors And None Of Them Could Help Him Because They Didn't Know What Was Causing Them But When Earl Went Back To The Plant They Told Him Level 3 Didn't Exist...

Having No Idea If Earl's Story Is True, Clark Suggests Using The Field Trip To The Luthorcorp Plant This Afternoon As An Opportunity To Take A Look Around But Jonathan Doesn't Know If Earl Is In His Right Mind So, He Tells Clark To Do Nothing, Unfortunately However, Earl Heard Their Entire Conversation...

So, While He's About To Be Taken Out Of The Hospital By Metropolis Police, Another Seizure Happens Which Gives Him The Opportunity To Escape...

That Afternoon, The Teens Of Smallville High (Including Clark, Whitney, Lana, Pete And Chloe) Are Taking A Tour Of The Luthorcorp Plant That's Being Led By Chloe's Father, Gabe...

Clark Asks About Level 3, Which Leads Gabe To Joke That It's Where They Do The Alien Autopsies..

Sneaking Into The Luthorcorp Plant, Earl Enters A Room, Which He Quickly Demolishes...

Uh, It's Right Near The Entrance, Pal...

With Clark, Separating From The Group To Discover If Level 3 Exists, The Rest Of The Teens Enter The Control Room Where Earl Takes Them And Chloe's Dad Hostage...

With Lex Arriving At The Plant, He Lets Jonathan And Martha In To Tell Them The Situation Involving Earl And Jonathan Tells Lex What He Knows About Earl, Meanwhile, Clark Discovers That Earl Has Everyone Hostage Which Leads Clark To Go To The File Room, To Find Blueprints To The Plant In The Hopes Of Finding Level 3 But Clark Finds Nothing And Takes Them To Earl To Show Him That There Is No Level 3...

Lionel Flies In By Chopper Only To Be Mad At Lex Which Leads Jonathan To Remind Lionel About What's Important Right Now...

Telling Lionel His Assessment Of Earl, Lex Tells His Father That He Told The Press That There Is No Level 3...

Said The Scorpion That Killed The Frog...

With Jonathan Asking Lionel What He Intends To Do? Which Leads Lionel To Tell Him That He's Going To Let SWAT Do Their Job When Earl Makes A Mistake But With Martha Saying That For The Sake Of The Kids, He Should Talk With Earl, But Lionel Tells Martha That He Does Not Negotiate With Terrorists, Which Leads Martha To Tell Him That He's Not A Terrorist But A Sick Person Who Needs Help...

So, Getting On The Phone With Earl, He Tells Lionel To Tell Him What He Was Using On Level 3 But Lionel Just Tells Him The Stuff Everyone's Been Saying To Earl Which Causes Him To Have A Seizure That Breaks The Methane Gas Valve Which Means If They Don't Turn The Gas Down, The Entire Plant Is Going To Go Up...

With Whitney Not Willing To Sit By And Wait For Help (Like An Idiot) He Asks Clark For Help In Trying To Take Him But Clark's Not An Idiot And Stays Out Of It (Mainly Due To The Meteor Rock Thing) And Of Course, Whitney Gets Hurt...

(Sarcastically) Whitney, Whitney, He's Our Man, He Can't Do It, No One Can, Yay...

Uh, Though I Will Say Whitney Was An Idiot Here, He Wasn't Shot So, Why Is This Guy Saying One Hostage Down?

So, With A Hostage Situation And A Potential Bomb Threat (According To Jonathan), Lex Decides To Go In To Handle The Situation, Despite Lionel Forbidding It, But Lex Says It's His Plant, So It's His Call...

Don't Do What Again, Lex?...

Going In With A Bulletproof Vest, He Tells Earl That His Father Doesn't Give A Damn About Anybody Here Because His PR Firm Will Spin It, His Insurance Company Wil Pay Out Everyone And Earl Will Just Go Down As The Bad Guy. But Not Wanting That, Lex Tells Earl That If He Lets Everyone Go He'll Take Him To Level 3 And So He Does..

But Not Willing To Abandon Lex, Clark Stays Behind While Everyone Gets Out, Going To Exactly Where Earl Said He Went And Uses His X-Ray Vision To See An Elevator, Telling Earl That He Found It, He Takes Lex Down To Level 2 To Show Lex Himself, While Clark Deals With The Gas Situation...

Taking Lex On The Elevator, He Takes Him Down To Level 3 To Find...

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(Start At 0:28)

Yep, It's Nothing But An Empty Building, As Clark Follows Them, Lex Tells Clark He Had No Clue This Was Here As Earl Has Another Seizure Which Causes A Bridge To Hang By Its Side With Lex Hanging On By The Rails...

Losing Hold Of The Rails Only To Hang Onto Earl's Leg, Clark Grabs Earl (Despite His Kryptonite Weakness Acting Up) And Manages To Pull Earl Up, Leaving Lex Hanging Onto The Bridge To Which Clark Pulls Him Up..

But Just As They Get To Safety, Earl Has Another Seizure Which Causes To Bridge To Fall Just As Clark And Lex Get Off..

Asking How Clark Pulled Them Up, Just Tells Lex Adrenaline I Guess. With Both Of Them Coming Outside, Lex Talks With Lionel About How He Lied To Him, But All Lionel Says Is That It Was Just A Failure That They Moved On From, Talking To The Press, Lex Promises To Get Earl The Best Help Possible Because He Was A Luthorcorp Employee...

And That Was Jitters And It Was A Good Episode...

The Story Was Good, The Characters Were Good, The Villain Was Sad As You Feel The Pain That Earl Is Going Through And If You Think That This Is The Last We Hear Of Earl You'd Be Wrong As A Web Series Known As The Chloe Chronicles Which Was Done In 2 Volumes Delved Into What Happened To Earl After That And Unfortunately He Ended Up Dying Six Months After The Incident And Possibly More For On That The Videos Are Here For All To See

This Link Leads To A Playlist With All The Videos Enjoy! But As For The Episode, I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

#smallville #the cw #the wb #tom welling #kristen kreuk #michael rosenbaum

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