Writer Application
Hey, I'm finally bucking up and submitting an application here. Please let there be no typos, please let there be no typos...
AT MIDNIGHT, ALL THE AGENTS...
» name: Emma
» age: 20
» location: Kansas
UNDER THE HOOD
» when did you first get into watchmen?: Early April of '09. All of the /co/ threads about it and the spam of secrets on fandomsecrets made me curious; I finally nabbed a copy and read it, and was hooked.
» favorite character(s): Eesh, hm. This changes a lot. For the purposes of the application, I'll stick with the Comedian.
» Why? I love the reactions people - and characters - have to the Comedian. It's obvious he is a sociopathic, domineering bully - a character type that is really popular in fiction, but which I'm never entirely sold on - but he's also pathetic, and goes through life like a bull in a china shop. He's utterly unlikeable, from the things he's done to women to the way he talks to Laurie, but he's so reactionary that he doesn't seem to get that what he's done is wrong. That's not meaning to excuse him, of course. He's incredibly self-aware when it comes to his identity and what living that identity allows him to do; I don't see him having the kind of split most of the heroes have with their masked identity vs. their real identity; it's more like he, seeing the world 'for what it was,' decided to forgo bothering with typical social norms for something that's not really fun, and not really right, but that he can do without trying. The Comedian seems to be an amplifier for the bully Eddie Blake is.
To expand a little here - I refer to Eddie as a bully, and a lot of the times media will redeem bullies by pointing out what kind of horrible lives they've lived...and all they need is a little positive encouragement to become better people. What I love above all else is how Alan Moore never gives us a reason for Eddie's violence, unlike Rorschach; Moore shows Eddie as a pitiful - pitiable, mind, but not sympathetic - character, and although Moore sets up a 'redemption' arc for Eddie through Laurie, I don't buy that it's really supposed to make us like Eddie more, because...well, it doesn't, not for most of Watchmen's readers, anyway. It kind of makes him more of a dick. 'He didn't understand why I'd hold a grudge'? Really, Eddie? Like Rorschach and Adrian, Eddie's been thrown - or thrown himself, not really sure which, given what little background we have of him - into the worst parts of society, and, having gone to war (gleefully, mind), is really world-weary by the time we're seeing the Crimebusters' flashbacks of him. And with all of the horrible, horrible things he does, he's so mild when he grows up. The way he talks to Laurie and Sally is casual, not possessive or vitriolic, and that's really kind of eerie, seeing the difference between the Comedian gleefully flame-broiling a Vietnamese soldier and calmly asking Laurie if she wants to 'take this all the way.' I donno. I'm sure there's something to say about how all of the characters perceive Eddie as right/intelligent/etc. while the audience sees him as the opposite, but I've already rambled enough.
» Tell us about your favorite pairing(s). What's the appeal? What makes them tick? Dan/Rorschach - I could go on about these two, but plenty of people have done that more articulately, so I'll keep it short. I have a weakness for partnerships, especially the kind where they're partners in a dangerous situation. Also, it does my heart good to see two people with problems with sex resolve those enough to connect to someone else in a sexual relationship.
Comedian/Rorschach - These two are probably my Watchmen OTP, to my great shame, and what it comes down to is how bad they are for each other. Whereas pairings like Dan/Rorschach, Laurie/Rorschach, and Sally/Comedian are all open to redemption, this pairing just breeds issues. Rorschach's admiration for the Comedian's methods would be the affirmation that I think the little kid in Eddie wants from people, while Eddie could stand as a father-figure - one who encourages the awful, violent sides of Rorschach, of course. He'd probably think Rorschach biting a kid's face was funny.
I also like that Eddie would blow through Rorschach's hang-ups for his own selfish reasons and do things like tell Rorschach to lighten up while shooting a guy in the knee. Their philosophies are fun to tangle; Rorschach already dismisses the Comedian's sexual assault on Sally, despite his earlier "there is good and there is evil" spiel, and imagining how far he would let Eddie push him is fun, in a bleak sort of way.
That and it appeals to my Id liek woah; the destruction of boundaries and pushing further than you're expected and reassigning of roles through sex in broader emotional terms as well...do want. I do this a lot with pretty much every Rorschach pairing I dabble in, but the Comedian is less sensitive to boundaries so he makes it real easy, and since he's a built-in satirist, it doesn't have to be drowning in angst when he does it.
» graphic novel or film?: Graphic novel. There's just more depth to it, and more to explore. Also, TECHNICOLOR CRACK COLOR JOB!
» if you chose film you better have a damn good reason: Haaaleluuujaaaahhhh
BLOOD FROM THE SHOULDER OF PALLAS
- All the Pale Nightmares NC-17, Comedian/Rorschach and Dan/Rorschach, it's a Vietnam AU. Unpleasant all around.
- Straight Forward Dan and Walter gen as kids, figuring out that they'd maybe like to be vigilantes.
- That Which Would Mar Us Rorschach's poetry. ...yeah, I donno.
- What One's Owed NC-17, Laurie/Rorschach; Rorschach has creepy fantasies and Laurie doms him, a decent example of the kind of porn I write.
- Genesis On Kind of old now, but a Jon fic post-Watchmen.
- Power of Suggestion NC-17, Adrian/Dan, hypnotism. Look, I write stuff without Rorschach in it! Really!
Rest of my fic is here, just scroll for the Watchmen stuff.
AT MIDNIGHT, ALL THE AGENTS...
» name: Emma
» age: 20
» location: Kansas
UNDER THE HOOD
» when did you first get into watchmen?: Early April of '09. All of the /co/ threads about it and the spam of secrets on fandomsecrets made me curious; I finally nabbed a copy and read it, and was hooked.
» favorite character(s): Eesh, hm. This changes a lot. For the purposes of the application, I'll stick with the Comedian.
» Why? I love the reactions people - and characters - have to the Comedian. It's obvious he is a sociopathic, domineering bully - a character type that is really popular in fiction, but which I'm never entirely sold on - but he's also pathetic, and goes through life like a bull in a china shop. He's utterly unlikeable, from the things he's done to women to the way he talks to Laurie, but he's so reactionary that he doesn't seem to get that what he's done is wrong. That's not meaning to excuse him, of course. He's incredibly self-aware when it comes to his identity and what living that identity allows him to do; I don't see him having the kind of split most of the heroes have with their masked identity vs. their real identity; it's more like he, seeing the world 'for what it was,' decided to forgo bothering with typical social norms for something that's not really fun, and not really right, but that he can do without trying. The Comedian seems to be an amplifier for the bully Eddie Blake is.
To expand a little here - I refer to Eddie as a bully, and a lot of the times media will redeem bullies by pointing out what kind of horrible lives they've lived...and all they need is a little positive encouragement to become better people. What I love above all else is how Alan Moore never gives us a reason for Eddie's violence, unlike Rorschach; Moore shows Eddie as a pitiful - pitiable, mind, but not sympathetic - character, and although Moore sets up a 'redemption' arc for Eddie through Laurie, I don't buy that it's really supposed to make us like Eddie more, because...well, it doesn't, not for most of Watchmen's readers, anyway. It kind of makes him more of a dick. 'He didn't understand why I'd hold a grudge'? Really, Eddie? Like Rorschach and Adrian, Eddie's been thrown - or thrown himself, not really sure which, given what little background we have of him - into the worst parts of society, and, having gone to war (gleefully, mind), is really world-weary by the time we're seeing the Crimebusters' flashbacks of him. And with all of the horrible, horrible things he does, he's so mild when he grows up. The way he talks to Laurie and Sally is casual, not possessive or vitriolic, and that's really kind of eerie, seeing the difference between the Comedian gleefully flame-broiling a Vietnamese soldier and calmly asking Laurie if she wants to 'take this all the way.' I donno. I'm sure there's something to say about how all of the characters perceive Eddie as right/intelligent/etc. while the audience sees him as the opposite, but I've already rambled enough.
» Tell us about your favorite pairing(s). What's the appeal? What makes them tick? Dan/Rorschach - I could go on about these two, but plenty of people have done that more articulately, so I'll keep it short. I have a weakness for partnerships, especially the kind where they're partners in a dangerous situation. Also, it does my heart good to see two people with problems with sex resolve those enough to connect to someone else in a sexual relationship.
Comedian/Rorschach - These two are probably my Watchmen OTP, to my great shame, and what it comes down to is how bad they are for each other. Whereas pairings like Dan/Rorschach, Laurie/Rorschach, and Sally/Comedian are all open to redemption, this pairing just breeds issues. Rorschach's admiration for the Comedian's methods would be the affirmation that I think the little kid in Eddie wants from people, while Eddie could stand as a father-figure - one who encourages the awful, violent sides of Rorschach, of course. He'd probably think Rorschach biting a kid's face was funny.
I also like that Eddie would blow through Rorschach's hang-ups for his own selfish reasons and do things like tell Rorschach to lighten up while shooting a guy in the knee. Their philosophies are fun to tangle; Rorschach already dismisses the Comedian's sexual assault on Sally, despite his earlier "there is good and there is evil" spiel, and imagining how far he would let Eddie push him is fun, in a bleak sort of way.
That and it appeals to my Id liek woah; the destruction of boundaries and pushing further than you're expected and reassigning of roles through sex in broader emotional terms as well...do want. I do this a lot with pretty much every Rorschach pairing I dabble in, but the Comedian is less sensitive to boundaries so he makes it real easy, and since he's a built-in satirist, it doesn't have to be drowning in angst when he does it.
» graphic novel or film?: Graphic novel. There's just more depth to it, and more to explore. Also, TECHNICOLOR CRACK COLOR JOB!
» if you chose film you better have a damn good reason: Haaaleluuujaaaahhhh
BLOOD FROM THE SHOULDER OF PALLAS
- All the Pale Nightmares NC-17, Comedian/Rorschach and Dan/Rorschach, it's a Vietnam AU. Unpleasant all around.
- Straight Forward Dan and Walter gen as kids, figuring out that they'd maybe like to be vigilantes.
- That Which Would Mar Us Rorschach's poetry. ...yeah, I donno.
- What One's Owed NC-17, Laurie/Rorschach; Rorschach has creepy fantasies and Laurie doms him, a decent example of the kind of porn I write.
- Genesis On Kind of old now, but a Jon fic post-Watchmen.
- Power of Suggestion NC-17, Adrian/Dan, hypnotism. Look, I write stuff without Rorschach in it! Really!
Rest of my fic is here, just scroll for the Watchmen stuff.