handypolymath: brickhousebuck: can we change the way we, as a fandom, look at fanfiction, and...

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handypolymath:

brickhousebuck:

can we change the way we, as a fandom, look at fanfiction, and fanart?

can we, as a fandom, start appreciating authors and artists in the way that they deserve? what i’ve seen since i joined the marvel fandom two years ago has shown me that that the current attitude to art and fic is, well, kind of appalling.

we read things, sometimes we kudos, we rarely comment. we reblog stuff with base level tags, or just hit ‘like’ and move on.

i see text posts that are outdated memes get more notes than a piece of art that took a lot more than ten minutes to create.

fandom is so rich with talented people that seeing the fruits of their effort has become the norm. we appreciate it, but not in the same way we would in smaller fandoms. we’ve become expectant. we’ve become elitist. we see so much work from so many fan creators that we’ve stopped appreciating the time it takes to create them.

artwork can take hours, days, weeks, months. same with fic.

we consume it in minutes, or hours, or days, and move on.

these fanworks are not a right, these fanworks are a privilege, and one we, quite frankly, are deserving less and less.

when was the last time you left a comment on a fic? when was the last time you reblogged meta, or art, or just a post about your favourite characters, with anything other than the character names and the fandom in the tags, maybe and triggers shown in the work? when was the last time you truly showed your appreciation for the creators in the fandom?

i’m not saying i’m not guilty, but i see artists think they’re terrible because their work doesn’t get notes, i see writers give up because their work has just been consumed without anyone saying “hey, good work with this!”

i’ve seen new writers scared to start, because they don’t think they’re good enough for fandom. i’ve seen artists scrap every single thing they draw because it doesn’t hold up to what fandom has dictated is good by the notes a select few people get.

and sometimes, that’s all it takes. “hey i really enjoyed this” or “wow this is gorgeous” or even just a button mash in the tags or the comments. it can do wonders for a creator’s self esteem, it can be the thing that keeps them creating. it can be the difference between a dull dash with textpost after textpost and a vibrant dash with art, edits, gifs, or all shapes, sizes and skill levels. a kind word can be the thing to push people to keep working, to get better. even if they’re not at a standard you deem “worthy” of comments, or they’re not popular in the fandom.

in fact, especially these people.

i’m not saying that the writers and artists with 20k followers and a million notes and comments don’t deserve them, they absolutely do, but there are so many underappreciated artists and writers out there, that don’t get the feedback they deserve simply because they aren’t “big”. you can see it for yourself - look at the top fics on ao3 for whatever ship. you’ll see recurring usernames, only a small handful of people, and then a drop in kudos, hits, and most prominently, comments. 

if we as a fandom want to show the writers and artists, editors and gifmakers, icon makers and manip-artists, and everyone else i can’t think of off the top of my head, that we deserve their time and effort, we need to start giving them this feedback.

tl;dr: comment on fic. comment on art. reblog things instead of liking them. send messages directly to the artists and writers if you can. show these people that this fandom wants them here. or we’re gonna see a sharp decline in people willing to give fandom anything.

Since the new year I’ve been following the policy of kudos on anything I’ve read through, commenting on what catches me, and bookmarking anything I’d like to read again.  I’ve also liberally reblogged art, and will add comments on what I like about a piece.

A side effect has been that I give these works more time, more attention, and I feel like I’m contributing to a world where more of this happens.  I feel like my appreciation and enjoyment become tangible when I communicate them to the creator.

The Problem with Wanda

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I want to run through a few points about why a character I really rather like in the comics (at least before the garbage that was Avengers Dissembled) became hands down my least favourite character in the MCU, and why the problems with her character can be traced back to the totally tone-deaf translation of Wanda’s story from the comics to the movies.

Now on the surface, Wanda’s MCU story and 616 story are fairly similar. Had bad childhood, joined villain team, defected to Avengers and became good. MCU covers all those beats to a T.

The problem is when we get any deeper than this.

90% of the problem isn’t actually Marvel’s fault at all, it’s 20th century Fox’s and their unwillingness to take their greedy little hands off the goddam X-men franchise. And until they come to their senses and give them back, this is the MCU:

(Bollocks)

Now, that’s a problem, definitely, but it’s not a hopeless one, there’s a lot of ways they could bring Wanda round and give her a great villain to hero redemption arc.

That’s… not what we got.

This brings us to the first big mistake- the villain team. In the comics, Wanda is taken in by the Brotherhood of Mutants. In the MCU, of course, they can’t use the Brotherhood, so instead they use Hydra.

Now, let me illustrate what a huge fucking mistake that was.

The Brotherhood: 

Hydra: 

… are you seeing the same problem I am?

There is a world of difference between siding with a terrorist group who’s goal is the safety and protection of an oppressed minority group (particularly when you are as member of that minority group), and siding with a terrorist group of actual nazis.

(Yes, Hyrda are Nazis, they were created by the Red Skull and led until very recently by Zola. They. Are. Nazis.)

A real life comparison would be like comparing the Nazis to the IRA, one group is, regardless of what you think of their tactics, responding to very real persecution, while the other is… a bunch of genocidal maniacs.

Put it this way, do you think the Red Skull is ever getting his version of these:

Worse, in order to have Hydra take Wanda and Pietro in and not, y’know, just up and murder them, the twins had to be stripped of every shred of representation they offered. This means that a Jewish-Romani mutant woman had to become a caucasian, gentile baseline woman who had no problem in becoming an actual nazi.

One of these is a hell of a lot easier to redeem than the other, just saying.

To pile bad idea onto bad idea, the Brotherhood was fighting for a goal that was (on the whole) bigger than them. The safety of mutantkind. Wanda was there because she felt she had a debt to Magneto, who saved her from being attacked for being a mutant.

So Wanda didn’t like the Brotherhood, but felt like she had to stay. The Brotherhood’s ideals was decent, although the means by which they tried to achieve them were… flawed to say the least. She’s already showing nobility there for her ideals and her determination to fulfill her vow. There’s a lot there to redeem.

Let’s contrast this to MCU Wanda, who chose to join a nazi organisation because… she wanted to murder a guy who was at best loosely connected to the death of her family. Combine that with a complete disregard for collateral damage (the Hulk) and… what? What have we got to work with here? What part of this mess can we redeem?

Then there’s the issue with her powers. In comics, Wanda’s powers focus on the manipulation of reality, she can affect probability, bring bad luck, even create and destroy entire realities.

(this is how Wanda and Ultron fights should play out)

While it’s galling to have a supremely powerful character reduced to this extent so as not to make other (male) characters not look completely superfluous, please note what is NOT in Wanda’s arsenal.

Mind control.

While she does show some level of mind manipulation in the whole House of M debacle, her method of fighting when she was in the Brotherhood was primarily physical, warping reality, throwing hex-bolts, etc.

Now, which would be easier to forgive, this:

Or this?

Which brings us to the next problem. Look at the comic picture above. Who is Wanda fighting? (The X is a bit of a giveaway)

The Brotherhood of Mutants were created as antagonists for the X-men, not the Avengers. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe they ever fought the Avengers at all before Wanda and Pietro left.

It makes sense, after all, if you want to join a superhero team, it would be better to join one you haven’t got bad blood with. Right? Right?

Oh.

So to recap. Wanda in the MCU is a nazi-allied mind controller who’s motivation is murder, who joined the very team she had a grudge against. 

That’s still not impossible, but it means Wanda has a long, hard road ahead of her, dealing with a team that has very good reason to distrust her, and getting over her Hydra conditioning, and needing to prove herself to the very people she tried to kill before…

Did that happen?

Did it heck.

To be honest, I don’t know how the MCU can bring her round, now we’re a film on after Age of Ultron and these issues haven’t been so much as mentioned. They could be, but it would mean giving Wanda her own movie where these underlying issues can be brought to light and dealt with. 

Say Wanda does something bad (probably to Tony, let’s face it, she hasn’t dealt with that disaster at all) which makes the Avengers realise she is still dangerous to them, and making Wanda realise how badly she’d messed up with Hydra, with an overarching plot about her coming to terms with her powers. There could be Wanda/Natasha bonding over making mistakes and redeeming yourself, and Wanda would have this awesome kick-ass third act where her powers come into their own and she totally flattens the bad guy of the day.

But given that that’s never going to happen, we are stuck with a character whose choices have been out and out villainous, and who hasn’t really redeemed herself at all.

jumpingjacktrash: seananmcguire: siancrosslin: Apparently now is the time for uncomfortable...

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jumpingjacktrash:

seananmcguire:

siancrosslin:

Apparently now is the time for uncomfortable truths because I’ve just had it.

How many posts have I seen that talk about fanfiction ‘setting the bar higher’ or about how ‘unoriginal’ published fiction is? How many posts have I seen where someone’s saying “I wish someone would write about X thing that subverts some popular trope!’?

Trans Cinderella? I have a friend who’s written that. Books about people who are actually, for real, bi or ace? My publisher has whole categories for those. How about ABO? Or werewolf stories that aren’t about sex and dominance? Hell, I’ve written that. Enemies-to-lovers? Mecha-wearing cops? These people are some of the most creative and welcoming and kind people I’ve ever met. 

And nearly daily, I see fandom deride us like we’re somehow other. And look, I get it. In large part, I think a lot of the pushback is the inaccessibility of publishing in large houses, and the way that those large houses churn out the same tropes over and over again, while enforcing and maintaining the societal status quo.
But hey, those are large presses. Those are The Big Four. There are so many smaller, younger, more inclusive presses running around now, not even to mention self-publishing.

If I read a book that I absolutely love and I immediately develop a writer-crush on that author, 9 times out of 10 I say to myself “I wanna be friends” and then we become friends. It’s great. Authors have no chill about each other, none at all, I love it.

So when I finally caved and came to tumblr and started getting involved in fandom, it was like a bucket of cold water to the face when I found out, over and over, that fanfic writers and readers wanted nothing to do with me and my original fiction. I mention that I’ve finally been writing again, someone asks what pairing, I say it’s orig fic and the immediate disinterest is nearly palpable. There’s the continuous parade of posts talking about how no one ever writes about this, you never see books about that, I wish there was a book like this, with this, not with that, and every time I see those posts I become an incredible combination of sad and indignant.

Because these books do exist, these authors and publishing houses do exist. These editors and artists, they exist. I know because I’ve worked with them, I’ve emailed and tweeted them, I’ve published with them. These posts and this attitude are willfully ignoring and erasing the industry that’s closest to your own works. Do you think mainstream publishing and The Big Four, do you think they’d accept ABO? Do you think they’d accept triads with an ace member? Do you think they’d accept trans love stories? Sweeping epic fantasy where the main character being gay isn’t the driving force behind the plot? Or sweet and fluffy contemporary romance? No, they wouldn’t, because on the whole mainstream publishing, when it deigns to include us, is pretty much only interested in killing us.

Fandom needs to understand that there are queer spaces in publishing too, and we are not the enemy. It really sucks to try to fit in with the people you think will understand you best and have it made clear, time and time again, that you’re still too other for them.

And it is because of these explicitly queer spaces in publishing that the big New York houses are beginning to adjust and allow for more diversity in all aspects.  We can make a difference, but we do it by reading and supporting what’s there, not denying it unless it comes from a pre-existing property.

it’s not tumblr pal. original fic just doesn’t get people as excited as characters they know. please breathe.

also, most people DO never see these books, because indie publishing houses don’t have the promotion, so we don’t hear about your fic. so we look at what’s in barnes and noble or whatever, and it’s really disappointing. and we write that we’re disappointed, and you’re taking it personally when we don’t even know you goddamn exist.

instead of blaming the readership for not knowing you’re out there, how about some promo hype? i mean, i feel you, i too write original fic and see it get shrugged off in favor of my fanfic. but you’re drawing a battle line where there doesn’t need to be one. you’re taking up arms against the people you want to join you. rethink this.

A Real Romantic Hero

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Soo I’m finally writing again, have some Avengers fic.

Bruce/Tony, very much G rated. Inspired by a kinkmeme prompt and this pic:

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Tony doesn’t have time to really see which of their numerous enemies has invaded the tower today. He turns around from rooting in the fridge at the first explosion- and just in time to see the Hulk charge, roaring, towards him.
Tony feels his body go limp around him, his brain catch in a groove and skip a few tracks. The only thing that runs through his head, as the Hulk bares down on him, is- shit, Bruce is really going to hate himself-
Then Hulk grabs him around the waist and tucks him up against his chest, lashing out with his free arm to smash the refrigerator across the room.
It explodes.
Then the microwave explodes.
The kitchen is so full of smoke Tony can’t see what else is going off like hand grenades. He huddles against the Hulk’s chest and screws his watering eyes shut. What is this- Ultron gone Kitchen Nightmares? Some technomancer with a penchant for domestic appliances?
He doesn’t get to find out, the Hulk roars again, punches through the wall, and-
The Hulk’s body tenses, the massive muscles seem to vibrate under him. Tony grits his teeth and takes a deep breath.
The wind howls in his ears as the Hulk jumps, the air cuts through Tony’s mouth and nose, freezes his throat.
The Hulk reaches the top of his arc, and falls.
Tony squeezes his eyes even tighter, clings on, and tries not to whimper when the Hulk’s crushing landing jars every bone in his body.
Three horrible, world-ending jumps, and the Hulk slows down. He grunts. punches the ground, then lets Tony go.
Tony flumps to the grassy ground, rolls over, and throws his arms out to embrace the earth, shivering. The ground is damp and cool, smells fresh and calming. His fingers sink into the crumbling earth, his arm bumps into the solid stalk of something. Above him, he can hear the Hulk grunting happily, thumping around the field, a bee buzzes nearby.

Tony gathers himself, and focuses every ounce of self control. Slowly, he manages to open his eyes.
After seeing nothing but terrifying red shadows behind closed eyes, the light is bright and almost blinding. Tony blinks, and the light resolves itself onto a blazing blue sky, and dappled green leaves shadowing it. Tony blinks, and slowly, gradually, manages to sit up, his stubborn fingers dragging up clods of earth.
He draws in a breath, and slowly, the screaming in his ears starts to calm down.
“I don’t think I’m going to be giving up the suit anytime soon, big guy.” He manages, swallows twice, and is proud he manages not to be sick.
The Hulk grunts, invisible behind a wall of green stalks and leaves. Tony thinks he sees a flash of massive green feet- but here, the Hulk is in perfect camouflage. Tony pulls out his Avenger card, and sends out a signal- tower attacked by exploding appliances, safe with Hulk, in a field of- he looks up and spots the nodding flowers above him, sunflowers at this location.
That seemed to more or less sum it up.
Tony looks down at himself, and takes a deep breath. Come on legs. He fumbles with the thick stalks of the sunflowers, stumbling upright. The sunflowers are so tall he’s barely tall enough to look over them. There’s a road not too far away, a plane soars over high above, and the air is full of bees and the rustling of leaves.
It’s- pretty peaceful , actually, and after that nightmare ride, Tony is quite glad of it.
And ‘peaceful’ isn’t an adjective that should be applied anywhere the Hulk is in. Tony looks around. “Hulk?”
There’s a grunt, but no big green nearby. Tony pushes the sunflowers aside and stumbles towards the sound. “Come on, big green, what’s this? Hide and seek?”
Another grunt, but it sounds amused. Tony shrugs. “Okay, ready or not, here I come-”
There’s a crunching of stalks, and the Hulk suddenly gets up, grinning. He’s festooned with sunflowers. He’s got them in his hair, tied around his arms, shoulders, everything. He’s like a giant walking floral shrub.
The barked laugh takes Tony by surprise. The Hulk chuckles, and pulls out a gaint bundle of sunflowers, holding them up proudly.
“Some farmer is gonna be pretty angry.” Tony pushes his way through the flowers. “I think you’d single-handedly jacked up the price for sunflower oil-”
The Hulk growls, and holds out the flowers.
“Um, yeah?” Tony blinks at the Hulk, uncertain. “Very nice? Very you, big guy. Can’t see you with some daisies or something-”
Another grunt, the flowers are jiggled more pointedly. The yellow petals fan, the rich brown heads bob. “Yours.” The Hulk points at him.
Oh. Tony blinks, holds out his hands and the flowers are poured in, a massive bouquet he needs to wrap his arms around. He’s never been given flowers before.
The Hulk grins happily. “Pretty.” He nods, and pats Tony on the head. “Gold.”
“Yeah,” Tony smiles, back, “Like the suit? Good thinking.”
The Hulk grins, and picks him up. It’s very different from the last time he did it, big hands oddly gentle around Tony’s waist, pulling him up free of the flowers. Tony tenses a moment, then relaxes, lets himself be cradled in a bower of big green arms and sunflowers.
“Save Tony.” Hulk says happily. “Give flowers.”
“Damn right.” Tony sighs, and it’s probably stupid, but right now he’s never felt safer. “My hero.”
“Hulk a hero.” Hulk nods, “Save Tony, give flowers.”
“A real romantic hero.” Tony agrees, patting his arm, he shifts the flowers around to get comfortable, and settles in to wait for the Avengers to pick them up.
He’s going to buy Bruce a whole flowershop when they get back.

So I ended up looking up ship names

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I didn’t remember what Tony/Bruce was and seriously guys, some of these are hilarious. I wish I had an infinite number of hats so I could take them off forever to the people who came up with some of these:

Bruce/Clint: Hulkeye, Angry Birds

Natasha/Steve: The Cold War

Coulson/Loki: Frosted Doughnut, Iced Coffee, Coulki

Bruce/Tony/Steve: Stark Spangled Banner

Bruce/Loki/Thor: Super Smash Brothers

Coulson/Natasha/Loki (or Thor or Odin): Nat King Coul

Pepper/Steve: Capsaicin 

Bucky/Steve: Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Freezer Burn

Natasha/Bucky: Soviet Spouses, Soviet Soulmates, Red Room Romance

Steve/Peggy: American Revolution

Steve/Sam: American Airlines, Freebird

Darcy/Tony: Electrical Engineering 

Pepper/Tony/Rhodey: Tony NO 

killerweasel: Scrolling through the Ghostbusters tag and came across a white chick cosplaying as...

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killerweasel:

Scrolling through the Ghostbusters tag and came across a white chick cosplaying as Patty. … At least she wasn’t in blackface.

That… sounds fine? I seriously can’t see why that would be a bad thing?