#vablatsky

Who in the fandom would like to hear the thrilling tale of how I came to organize 2022′s Secret Santa so very late in our holiday season?

...Life is chaotic and I forgot 😬

But I’m back and I’ve fixed things! If you wander on over to our timeline you’ll note a slight shift, mainly just condensing the sign up/assignment periods. Sign ups will now run through the 15th and I’ll work some black magic to ensure you have your assignments by midnight on the 16th. That leaves everyone with the same amount of time to work, with presents due December 23rd! Huzzah!

🦌🌿🎄 YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR THE EXCHANGE HERE!! 🦌🌿🎄

There was some talk about whether I’d run this again and in the process I accumulated a short list of people who were potentially interested, expressed by interaction with my post. You all are getting a tag in the, well, tags because tumblr literally won’t let me @ any of you oh my god this hellsite. There’s absolutely no pressure here, just a gentle, “Hi!” in case you were thinking of signing up.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out the blog! Come join us! We are a small fandom, but ever so mighty ;)

1. who’s your celebrity crush?

Well, it varies. I think nobody in this club will be surprised if I say Jeremy Renner, but Luca Marinelli is up in the air right now as well (for no surprising reason either). Pierre Niney is one of those celebrities that bubbles every now and then.

There’s probably a list too, but I don’t exactly keep it written anywhere in ink, lol. It varies, though, but Renner is always up there! I had a very interesting dream recently with both Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, so those would be up there as well, and someone like Natalie Dormer too... I think?

3. rant. just do it

I already ranted about something else that bothered me in a previous ask, but if I have to rant about something as well it’s gotta be that I’m really, really annoyed that american blockbuster movies like Mulan and now potentially Black Widow are being removed from theater releases in Europe because the numbers of cases are keeping American theaters closed, because I feel like it’s a signal from the studios to go “Well, fuck the European cinema market because it doesn’t matter, all we care about is American ticket sales” and it actually PISSES me off, like, we’ve seen with Tenet that it WORKS, that European cinemas are OPEN and that people are willing to go, so if they take Wonder Woman from me again in December by delaying it and if they take Black Widow as a movie theater release from me because they’re so focused on the United States, I’m going to SCREAM because is that really the signal you want to send to your Europeans movie theater goers???????? ? ? ? ??? ?? ?? ?

4. do you think its ok to separate the artist from the art?

Well, that’s a loaded question. If the fact that an artist is allowed to continue to make art in spite of having done spiteful and hurtful things, then I don’t think it’s okay to separate the artist from the art. You can’t keep them from one another - I’m saying this as much for the convicted rapist and pedophile Polanski’s sake and for TERF formidable J. K. Rowling when it comes to books and movies. You can’t enjoy things without also knowing how those things come from someone who hurts others and are currently still alive.

I think there’s something very nuanced to do when the artist is dead and their art is still surviving and how long ago they were alive. Caravaggio was a murderer - but he was alive so long ago that we (in a “general knowledge sense) don’t know anything about his murders, whereas people like Pablo Picasso and Michael Jackson are much “newer” in their deaths and art and that they’re still relevant today and their works still hurt living people today. How “okay” is it to separate artist from art? 

It’s a very difficult conversation to have, but I think it’s necessary to have it and to know what it means, and to see where the line goes (is it if there are still people alive who are hurt by them? is it if the artist is convicted for something? etc.)

I don’t think Tumblr is the right platform for it, though!

10. name a dog

If I got a dog, I’d name them Bucephalos, like Alexander the Great’s horse. And that’d be regardless of whether it was a male or a female dog, lol! (Because then I get to call them Buck for short).

11. what unusual talent do you have?

Hyperfocus? I don’t know, to be honest!

New commission for @vablatsky who wanted a sketch of Midna.

This was fun, she’s my favourite Link sidekick from my favourite Zelda game so I was chuffed to get asked to so this, thank you so much :D

Happy belated Christmas @vablatsky

So tumblr is doing its “no notifications” thing again and I only just saw I’d had soe responses for the meme I posted four or five days ago!  Gah! 

These three lovely people had asked me questions:

@vablatsky asked

💜- top 3 favorite lines                

a) “There’s a crash from the area of the back door, and Esper comes in, toddling at a wobbly top speed of three knots.  He’s bedraggled and chortling, with leaves in his hair and his romper covered in grass stains.” from “Hope is a child who will live and thrive”. 

I loved writing this description of little Esperanz; trying to show, in as short a space as possible, what a happy little chap he is, how loved he is, and what a safe place his home is.

b) The sequence in “Falling stars” beginning “Meteors?” There’s a smile in her voice.  “My mother was interested in meteors.” 

Jyn and Cassian discuss going back to school or to college when the war is over.  I am convinced that they are both highly intelligent, and although I love imagining them having a family in a “they survived” scenario, I also really like the idea that they would want to remedy their very incomplete education and make something useful of their lives going forward.

and c) the final lines of Chapter one of “Agent”, from when Thiepp begins to count.

Very dark, very tragic, but I wanted to give this courageous OC a good end and I wrote myself into tears when I wrote those lines.

I also love it when I’m able (e.g. in “All the things she carried”) to hold off until the very end the reveal that this is in fact a “they survived” story and not a canon compliant one!

🎈- what’s a spoiler for a wip or series?    

Chirrut flies!

💬- describe The Secret Dock in three words

Hot artistic smut

 @atthelamppost asked

👀- favorite response to one of your works

I can’t pick a single favourite, partly because since beginning to write in the Rogue One fandom I’ve been blessed (and it is a blessing, truly!) with so many responses!  I never expected to get so much wonderful feedback and encouragement – thank you to everyone who’s ever reacted to one of my stories!

My favourite types of response are

a) the keysmash - guaranteed to give me all the warm fuzzies!

b) the long detailed analytical message from someone who’s read the text as closely as if they’d studied for a college class

and c) “This made me cry” or variations on that theme

😏- your most risky line  

I think that may be coming up in my next chapter fic; there’s a reveal in chapter three which may completely weird some readers out!

@sadieandor asked

💘- what’s your favorite AU? Least favorite?      

My favourite?  For Rogue One, anything tagged “Somebody lives/not everyone dies” or “Everyone lives/nobody dies” warms my heart. 

After all, this is the fandom that has got me from being baffled by the existence of Coffee Shop AUs and High School/College AUs, to thoroughly enjoying them!  It’s so comforting to see these characters written into scenarios where they get to relax, flirt, make jokes, get over their traumas, enjoy coffee and cake and just get on with living.  

I also have a great weakness for fairytale AUs, and for mash-ups with fantasy/mythical/magical stories from other fandoms.  Love a bit of magic in my world!

My least favourite?  The “pack animals on heat” thing – I believe the trope is called A/B/O.  The whole concept really gives me the creeps.  

I also really dislike fic in which Jyn and Cassian become supporting players to Reylo, especially if they are written as actively supporting the ship.  I simply cannot imagine them ever rooting for Rey to get together with the Fascist Tantrum Kid.

Ok. First up, we’ll tackle Thor. :D hee hee (Wouldn’t that be fun?!)

How I feel about this character- Unf I don’t have time or probably the space to write about how I feel about this character!! I love him so completely!! It’s not just that I love him because he’s hot (and not just because Chris portrays him!!) I just freaking love THOR!! I read the comics (not I have not read every single comic because I am poor and I cannot get my hands on every single one even though I will someday) But I have read enough to know his character and to know what a complete and wonderful being he is. He always tries, he always wants to see the best in people. He is vulnerable. He makes mistakes. He is not perfect. He is funny. He is loyal. He is emotional. He is just….Thor. Whether he has both eyes, two arms, is fat, has short hair-it doesn’t matter-he’s always just Thor. I don’t know how else to describe him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character- OK Here’s my slightly (or full on depending on your perspective) bitchy answer. I don’t ship. I’m not a fan. I won’t go into that here. But I will talk about my favorite pairings. First of all-Quinn. :D (my OC), and from the comics- Jane, Sif, anyone he’s fucking really (in canon-NOT LOKI) -I mean he had an orgy on top of a pile of dead trolls!!! What a stud!!! ;)(lol) I’m not a big fan of him with Roz from SHIELD (comics).

My non-romantic OTP for this character- Again, not a huge fan of “OTP” but in my mind his bestie is Steve.

My unpopular opinion about this character- Probably all of my opinions about Thor are unpopular ;) First. I love the arc in Endgame (even the way he was treated-yeah it was mean-yeah it was played for laughs but I am fat and I have PTSD and that’s is HOW people in the REAL WORLD TREAT FAT PEOPLE and People with PTSD. And Thor was in the REAL world, not in the “how it needs to be world” (And people are only mad about it because Thor is hot) Second. I like his short hair (I also like his long hair-I have to stop or I’ll lapse into Dr. Seuss prose) I’m a fan who enjoyed Thor,The Dark World and Ragnarok and all the Avengers Movies (apparently that’s weird as a Thor fan)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.  I want the Unworthy Thor costume for Love and Thunder.

Now Jane

How I feel about this character- I really like Jane and I actually prefer her in the movies to the comics-mainly because I was already a fan of Natalie Portman’s, I saw The Avengers/Thor (1) before I started reading the comics (so I think that had an influence) so I prefer her profession in the MCU.

All the people I ship romantically with this character- (see above rant about shipping lol)Thor, but if she comes out as bi (not other people demanding that/deciding it)-then I think she and Valkyrie would make a good couple.

My non-romantic OTP for this character-Um, most everyone-specifically I’d like to see her have some interaction with the other smarty pants-Rocket and Shuri. I’d like Sif to be back and they can bond. (I need these chicks to have some female friends dammit!!)

My unpopular opinion about this character-I guess it would be that I like her and I’m looking forward to seeing her back in Thor 4. And I don’t think she is going to take anything away from Thor.  

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon. I think that Taika will give Jane a better story than The Mighty Thor comic (I enjoyed that arc but sometimes the feminist story line was so forced and I prefer it to be just “there” instead of “hi we’re writing a story that is feminist because we have to” and there were elements of her arc that felt very forced and I think Taika/Natalie will do a lot better with it.

I'll request my Catholic employer to only pay me in Gay currency from now on