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ayamari-no-goshi · 4 months

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Don’t Forget to Write (6)

.... I apparently forgot to post the last chapter when I released it months ago. Oops.

AO3 -> first, previous

Fandoms: DC (Batman comics)

Summary: From Dick’s POV. Damian happened to win a contest to illustrate a new book by an up and coming author. Being the good brother he is, Dick decided to check the book.He quickly realized he was reading a very first hand account of one of Jason’s old cases, and deciding to act like a normal person would, he decided to read some of the author’s other works. What he found shook the very foundation of what he thought was true?

Warnings: rated T - mostly for swearing and questionable mental health. Amnesia

Parings: none

Notes: originally uploaded to AO3. Cross-posted to tumblr

“Stop grumbling for a moment. It’s about to start,” Dick teased as Jason continued to pace. After almost two months of preparations and another three weeks to convince Jason, they were finally having the press conference to announce he was alive.

His brother shot him a look as he messed with his tie yet again. While it was clear he was nervous, most of his discomfort came from the prosthetics he had to wear to make it look like nothing suspicious happened, and he was doing his best not to touch them. Over time, they would be changed to make it appear as if he’d healed either on his own or through some treatment. They were currently leaning towards the latter as an explanation, especially with how severe the damage to his hands used to be.

Deciding messing with his clothes wasn’t getting him anywhere, he reached into his suit jacket, pulled out a cigarette, and placed it to his lips. They were working on breaking him of that habit again, but at least he had no desire to light it. With the return of his memories, there was now an understanding why he couldn’t tolerate the smell of the smoke. It subconsciously reminded him too much of what happened.

“I thought Pennyworth searched your person for those.” Damian seemed moderately impressed.

Jason gave a mischievous grin. “He did.”

“You’re going to have to teach me how you did that. Nothing gets passed Alfred,” Tim stated as he double checked the prosthetics on Jason’s hands. Those were the ones most likely to come loose.

“I’ll think about it.”

It warmed Dick’s heart to see how his younger siblings interacted. While they were still getting used to each other, things were going relatively well.

One of the first things Dick did was make sure he gave Jason a summary of the others’ histories. It ended up being the right move as Jason admitted he had very conflicted emotions over the fact there had been other Robins after him. The one thing he couldn’t seem to reconcile with was Bruce allowing any child back in those colors. He didn’t think that kids truly understood the risks of playing hero, and that was something he was still coming to terms with himself. Dick made sure to tell his brother that it was his death that brought that to light for him too.

But as a result of that conversation, Dick noticed Jason’s protective streak towards his younger siblings. At one point, he had a nasty argument with Bruce after Damian came to his apartment to get away from the Manor for a night. Since it was a fight with Bruce that triggered his flight and eventual death, Jason was not going to tolerate Bruce’s inability to articulate his emotions and cause another catastrophe. It was amazing to watch, and in its own way, started changing how they conversed with each other for the better.

It also opened the door for everyone to start randomly crashing at Jason’s apartment. However, his apartment wasn’t really large enough for the constant influx of siblings and pseudo-siblings. So, they were working on getting Jason a much better apartment that was up to Bat standards near Crime Alley. It was supposed to be a surprise. But seeing as he stated that if anyone spent an exorbitant amount of money on him needed to make a donation of an equal amount to the charity organization who helped take care of him while he had no memories, he clearly already knew. In Dick’s opinion, that was a fair request.

For the most part, they were going to leave the decorating up to Jason. But they were all working on finding more bat and bird plushes to match his other ones. Damian had been the one to announce it wasn’t appropriate he only had ones that represented Dick, himself, and Bruce. They were still trying to figure out if Steph’s and Alfred’s should also follow that pattern or be different animals.

They were also working on sprucing up Jason’s old room. While he didn’t want to give up his independence, Jason had begun staying over the Manor some nights. It thrilled Alfred to have him back home, and soon the two started baking together again. And if he wasn’t doing that, Tim, Cass, Steph, or even Damian had begun commandeering him for various activities. Usually it was related to movies, but Dick did once catch Jason assisting Damian with some of his English homework. Even Babs, once she’d gotten the okay to come visit, had started stealing Jason away on some days.

Alfred even reported he found Bruce and Jason playing chess together. Dick could remember his brother venting about how Bruce always beat him at the game when he was still in the Manor. While it didn’t mean that everything was good between them, it showed they were working on it.

In Dick’s case, he decided to wait for Jason to reach out to him regarding bonding activities. Sure, he made suggestions of various activities he’d like to do with him, but they were just that, suggestions. Not only was Jason overwhelmed with everything, but there was also the distance there had been between them before his death. That was something he couldn’t just erase. While Jason hadn’t yet taken him up on any of his offers, he had rather shyly asked if Dick could help him get back in shape. And to him, that was a huge victory.

Even though Mask was finally back in jail, the likelihood he’d be back out on the streets sooner than later was high. So, retraining himself made a lot of sense even if he had a wicked swing with his tire iron.

They still weren’t entirely sure if Jason was going to rejoin the vigilante life. While it had come up in a couple conversations, Jason’s answer was always vague. However, he was willing to start being their ears on the streets. He already had a good rapport with the regulars of Crime Alley so sending them information he happened to learn wasn’t too much extra work. Babs had also started training him on her system, just in case.

The other aspect that was up in the air in Jason’s life was his writing career. His stories were an unconscious attempt to put back together the pieces of his former life, and he’d accidentally given away a lot of hints towards their lives and secrets. With his memories back, it was unlikely he’d be able to write in the exact same way which could raise some alarms. For now, he was reviewing what he had almost finished to see how much he needed to change and whether or not it was salvageable. He also wanted to write some short pieces in different genres to see how they’d be received.

There was also upheaval happening at the publishing company. After it was revealed Amy was Black Mask’s assistant once he was finally caught, the GCPD finally got involved. While most of the recent disappearances of writers were directly related to Mask and his paranoia, there was evidence it had occurred in the past if one of the Families were involved with the company. Trying to save face, the company gutted itself out and was in the process of rehiring, which put most of their projects on hold. At least Jason currently didn’t have to worry about any of his projects getting him into any more trouble for the time being.

The only thing he seemed certain of was that he was going to continue working with the organization that helped him out so much over the years. Now that he would have a proper identity again, he would be able to support them in ways he couldn’t do before. Well, that would be after he dealt with any outstanding bills or taxes he owed over the years. He was also going to go for his GED. Once that was squared away, he was going to consider college since it had been something he always dreamed of, even when he was on the streets trying to care for himself.

“Cass, seriously! Stop stealing them!” Jason snapped. Coming out of his thoughts, Dick watched as their sister gracefully kept just out of reach while laughing. It had become something like a game between them.

“Since we’re getting close to show time,” Dick stated after glancing at the clock. The press conference was to begin in just five minutes, “Let’s go back over the basics.”

“I didn’t start getting my memory back until I met you guys after the interview with Vicki Vale, which is mostly true,” Jason stated, almost bored, as he gave up on getting his cigarette back. They had reviewed this several times by that point. “But it wasn’t until Black Mask got interested in me which got Batman’s attention that revelations were made.”

“If asked, we are to state that Batman recognized him due to previous interactions with us and started the process of verifying his identity,” Damian continued. “We are to let Father answer any questions regarding the non-existent body in his grave.”

“Bruce stated he’s going to phrase it as a misidentification that had only recently come to light,” Tim continued. “He’s going to do what he can to help the GCPD to identify whoever is in that grave. I’m still not entirely sure exactly how he’s planning on that one. I thought he was going to ask J’onn to play the role, but it seems like he has something else in mind. He also has some story regarding how the switch happened and how you returned to Gotham.”

“I thought he was going to play the ‘we have no idea, but we’re going to find out’ card. At least that’s what he told me,” Jason huffed. “Thankfully, I can’t really contradict whatever bullshit he comes up with. The time between coming back and waking up in the hospital is thankfully fuzzy. Are we certain someone got hold of my medical records?”

Dick nodded. “I think Bruce did that on purpose to help prove how bad of a condition you were in. It’ll at least take some of the pressure off of you, but I don’t doubt some idiot is going to try to push some buttons.”

“If they want to go after me, that’s fine. I’m not going to be happy if they decide to take digs at anyone other than me or Bruce.”

“Wouldn’t that be a headline? ‘Lost Wayne son fist fights reporter’,” Tim teased, though there was no doubt in Dick’s mind that it could happen.

“Let’s try not to do that. But I think both Lois and Clark are in the audience. They’ll hopefully be able to keep things under control.”

Outside their family, the first two people Bruce let know that Jason was alive ended up being Clark and Diana. They had asked to see him as soon as he was willing. After that, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the hero community found out. Dick was partially responsible for the leak after he let it slip to Donna, who told Wally, and it just snowballed from there. Soon other heroes were visiting just to see Jason. It had the unintended effect of allowing him to start making friendships he never had a chance to while being Robin. It was easing the loneliness he’d been harboring for years.

Someone knocked on the door of the room they were currently borrowing. “Guess that’s our cue,” Dick stated as he gently pushed Jason towards the door.

…

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Dick questioned as he watched Jason do his double checks on his gear.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he answered as he pulled up his hood.

It had been almost eight months since he’d recovered his memories, and he was finally going out on the streets under a new persona. While he hadn’t directly agreed to it before the previous months, he had started back into his training with gusto almost immediately after he got the okay. Unlike the rest of them, he was going to predominately stick to one area as he eased back into it.

He hadn’t picked out a name just yet, but that was fine. He was half willing to let the people of Crime Alley come up with a name for him, but for now, he was going to act as more of a shadow than a directly seen force. To start, he was going to target the pimps and the drug dealers in the area. Once that was better under control, he would branch out to targeting the gangs. They were hoping he’d be able to keep out of the sight of the major rogues until he was in a situation where he was better established.

While he didn’t want to say it, Bruce was uneasy about letting Jason back in the field. His protectiveness had come out in full force as he helped Jason construct his outfit. And interestingly, unlike the rest of them, Jason wanted to make his outfit look less traditional hero and more akin to a civilian. Dick once asked if he wanted to appear as something like a ghost, especially with how Jason wasn’t going to show most of his face. While Jason didn’t directly answer, he just smiled.

In a morbid sort of way, it made sense for him. He’d already died and crawled his way back from the dead. If anyone had the right to act like a ghost, it was Jason. And knowing his brother, he was going to milk it for all it was worth on the streets. Jay always did have a flair for the dramatic after all.

“You better come home in one piece,” Dick warned him. “Seriously, don’t be afraid to call for help.”

Jason stared at him for a moment. While Dick couldn’t see his face well, with the hood up all he could see in the shadows were the red tints from his domino mask, he could tell his brother was smiling. “I lost everything once because I thought I wasn’t wanted. You proved me wrong and helped me find a different ending. I’m not going to risk giving that up again.” He patted his shoulder. “Besides, I still have to get you back for that prank you pulled last week. Can’t do that if I’m dead.”

Dick couldn’t help how he momentarily froze. Jason had begun making jokes about his death. They seemed to be a coping mechanism for him which meant the rest of them had to get used to it. As distressing as addressing it could be, it was something that happened, and they couldn’t get around it. Some days, he wondered if that was why he made those jokes.

“That’s true, but you still need to be in one piece to enact your revenge.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I bet I could get Tim to help me.”

“Pranks can wait until after Patrol.” Bruce gently touched Jason’s shoulder. Concern was barely visible on his face. “It’s time.”

As they took to their respective vehicles, Dick couldn’t help the excitement that raced through him. His brother, the first one he taught how to properly be Robin, was finally going to fly with him again. It had been a long time coming, but they were finally all together again.

Who knew that a simple book, written by a young man without a memory, would have been the key to it?

#don't forget to write #writer AU #dc comics #fanfiction #fanfic #Jason Todd #Red Hood #Batman #Bruce Wayne #Dick Grayson #Nightwing

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my-name-is-bunnyfoxy · 1 year

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Anyone else feel like 2012 Mikey (should have) ended up having trust issues or even potential abandonment issues?

The kid has been betrayed by his idol who he thought was his best friend. He lost Leatherhead for a while in Dimension X and in the episode when they go into dimension X we get a short montage of all the memories Leatherhead and Mikey had together. Kind of just show casing how much their friendship really means to Mikey. He saw his father die multiple times as well. He had to leave and abandon his home and friends he had in New York when the invasion of the Kraang happened. He was again betrayed by another friend of his, Napoleon the frog mutant and even though they did reconcile I'm sure that still upset Mikey. He was AGAIN betrayed by his friend, when Mondo secretly led him into a trap and was captured by Fishface and forced to partake in a race. Again like Napoleon, they did reconcile. He had to yet again abandon his home when the earth got destroyed by the Triceratons. While we do tend to talk a lot about Mona betraying Raph, technically, both Mona and Sal betrayed all of their friends including Mikey. I don't know- I just feel like all of them were upset by the betrayal and not just Raph. He kind of also got betrayed by his two favorite comic book heroes. I forgot the episode this happened but I feel like some kind of betrayal happened I don't know. Mikey has also witnessed his brothers die or almost get killed several times. So something tells me he could also have potential separation anxiety and wouvs to not let his brothers get hurt or to see them die again.

What I'm trying to say is, I feel like Mikey should have maybe had a hard time trusting people in the series. I feel like by season 4 or 5 he should have. Maybe like have him be defensive, constantly giving a look at people he hasn't known that well, or just keeping his distance. Because he is afraid he will become friends with them, become close and even maybe attached to them and they out of nowhere pull up a betrayal. Like this boy has had enough. He doesn't wanna go thru a loop hole over and over again and feel like he is trapped in a time loop.

Seriously, I want ya'll to prove me wrong on this. I dare you to.

#tmnt #tmnt 2012 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt fandom #tmnt mikey #this has been in my drafts for a good while #finally got around to post this #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt 2012 mikey #tmnt headcanons #tmnt analysis #character analysis #character analysis?#tmnt rant #my opinion #bunnyfoxy talks

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psychologicalwarclaire · 1 month

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Asking some writers/artists I follow:

Is there anything in your fic/comic that you as the author know about, but won't end up in the actual story?

There is. a lot.

Spoilers for Spider's Web With Strings Attached (and a really long rant) below the cut

When she took Donnie's mask after Heinous Green bashed his head in, she kept it in her vault in case she needed to perform some sort of magic that required his DNA some day.

Big Mama never intended for Donnie to die.

That being said, she still recorded and sold copies of Donnie's death. It's her most sold recording ever.

Viper requested to fight Leo. Big Mama only agreed if she kept him alive and able to fight.

Like she got the orb that she captured all of New York in from Draxum, Big Mama got the spider brooches from Draxum many years ago. She only had two; she was lying about the other two for Raph and Mikey.

Before he knew where the twins were, Mikey kept having visions of them fighting people and getting hurt. He thought they were just nightmares.

Heinous Green was in the arena because Big Mama often partners with the Hidden City police. Criminals can work of time by serving the community. In this case, they serve the community by providing entertainment Roman Coliseum style.

Big Mama's family introduced arena fights to the humans.

There was going to be a fight where Tyrian fought a scorpion and writhed with agonizing poison for a chapter, but I forgot about it until it was too late to add it -_-

Raph and Mikey's arena names would have been Rouge and Terracotta.

Big Mama was panicking the majority of the fic. Because she kidnapped them very illegally, she had to manage their food, housing, medical care, and fight arrangements herself so none of the people who normally do that (legally) would get suspicious. Honestly, Big Mama didn't expect them to become SO well loved, and then worried about keeping audience interest by putting the twins in harder fights, but not killing off her greatest assets. She, like everyone else, thought that Leo would snap first. When Donnie snapped first and proved to be a very effective killer, some of the audience grew worried about what was happening behind the scenes and raised questions Big Mama couldn't answer. Panicking, she set up the death bracket, hoping that becoming the champion would turn public opinion of Tyrian positive again. She miscalculated, and Donnie died. She also didn't intend for Leo to get mixed up in the bracket. A LOT of people lost a LOT of money, and her stocks dropped. At that point, it became less about business and money making and much more about getting revenge via torture. By the time she offered Astros the 'out' that was one final fight, she was stressed out of her mind with upholding her reputation. Had Leo been in his right mind, he would have seen how much she was unraveling.

Todd turned his non profit lemonade into a fundraiser to find the twins back when they were first missing. There were a LOT of posters and Big Mama had a FIELD DAY trying to take them all down.

Mikey and Raph tried for DAYS to get the trackers back online, but it never worked.

After hearing that Donnie had died, Hypno, Warren, Meat Sweats, and Repo got together and made the Hamatos a gift basket.

April is failing most of her classes right now.

At some point during the recovery arc, Donnie snuck out to secretly turn every blinking red light in the Lair green. You know exactly why.

Raph was wrong when he said crime had been way down since the invasion. Casey Jr had been handling it without anyone knowing. The Purple Dragons hate him a lot now.

Draxum learned slang words from school, but April taught him what they meant

#those are the ones off the top of my head #i might mention them at some point but for now consider these headcanons from the author #writing #my writing #behind the scenes #fanfiction #swsa #rottmnt fanfic swsa #asks #cookie crumbs

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genericpuff · 8 months

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Hey, I forgot whether I posted this ask, but I was just looking through your blog, and I came across a post talking about Rachel's hiatus and someone called it a stalking hiatus? Is there a legit reason for her going on break? I never heard anything about that before.

I'd like to know, just to be nosy LOL

— 🦋

hey, you did ask me this before but I wasn't really sure what to make of it because of the wording, this seems a little clearer now but I'm still curious as to what you mean by 'stalking hiatus'? Like, she took the break because she was being stalked, or she's talking the break to stalk people LMAOOO

I'm going to ASSUME you mean the first one, and honestly, IDK if that's really the case, I haven't heard anything about that but god knows what people are getting up to these days. That said, I really think it's just a mid-season hiatus, these are pretty routine and she's on contract with WT so IDK how easy it would be for her to go on hiatus over something like that ? We knew the hiatus was coming a mile away, as soon as it was announced she was gonna be at SDCC and NYCC, we knew a hiatus was inevitable because she already has a razor slim buffer as it is, she wasn't gonna keep up on the comic during those trips. So I really don't think it's nefarious or indicative of anything, idk who's out here calling it a "stalking" hiatus, I have yet to see anyone call it that or insinuate that the hiatus has anything to do with anything adjacent to stalking lmao

If she is being legitimately stalked, directly attacked, etc. by anyone in the antiLO/ULO community, maybe don't do that, thanks?? I shouldn't have to even be the one to say that, why is it the evil alter ego of Rachel asking y'all to not directly pick on Rachel LMAO

#let's remember our humanity y'all #yes there are lines that even i won't cross LMAO #lore olympus critical #lo critical #antiloreolympus #anti lore olympus #ama #ask me anything #anon ama #anon ask me anything

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billiam-shakespeare · 2 years

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There is something i would like to say about the TMNT fandom.

As we all know, when Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles happened, there was a lot of people who hated it (and still do).

When I saw that there was a new show about my favorite turtles I thought "Oh cool, I'll watch it later" even when I saw the designs and I didn't really liked them. But they were different kinds of turtles and that was a good detail that I liked.

I forgot about rottmnt until the movie came out. My little brother showed me the trailer and I loved the animation. It was so amazingly done.

Unfortunately, I also forgot about it. 2020 had my head with too many things and I didn't remember Rise until a few months ago.

When I saw all of the changes that happened in this iteration, I HATED it. Change of weapons, change of roles, etc.

Leonardo was not the older brother and perfect son I looked up to be when I grew up

Raphael was not my lonely and angry driven turtle I felt identified with

Donatello was not the pacifist and patient brother I would have liked so much to have

Michelangelo didn't change as much (in my opinion) and he's the only constant in all of the versions

I started to watch RotTMNT out of spite. I wanted to hate it with a reason.

But you know what? I love it. I'm not even on season 2 yet but the changes they made are absolutely amazing and refreshing. Leonardo's one liners are cringy and funny and it's not the first Leo I have seen joking around (Next Mutation anyone?). Raphael looks intimidating but he's a teddy bear AND the parentified kid??? (I DID NOT NEED to identify myself more with Raph thank you very much). Donatello is UNHINGED and I enjoy every moment of him being on screen (also he's canonically autistic AND I LOVE IT). Michelangelo, as I said has not changed much. In any case he's more savage and it's so funny omg.

I can still see my boys under all of that. Raphael is still the protector of the group, Donatello is still insecure about his role in the team, Leonardo still craves Splinter's validation and both the twins cover their issues with their new personalities while Michelangelo is still the most sensitive little brother.

Old fans should give this version an opportunity. It's not the same tale, you don't know what is going to happen next, you don't have the comics to guide yourself, the new characters are awesome, and when the old ones appear you will not even feel nostalgia because they feel new, too. (The Krangs for example, I haven't watched the movie yet, but I ate the spoilers like a bowl of cereal and MY GOD it's terrifying. I would have cried if I saw that Krang when i was a toddler in the 90's)

Well what I want to say is that at the end of the day, they still are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, even after all the changes. Because as Master Splinter said once,

But my comfort characters remain the same.

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mortallychaotickingdom · 1 year

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#mortallychaoticdtiys

Alright friends, grab a snack and take a seat because I have some rules to explain and I clearly don't have the gift of synthesis eheh~

As you can see (actually you can’t because I probably wrote one of my longest posts, I’m sorryy) there are two different prompts! I made them to give a little win to the artists who preferred to have some freedom and also to make this little contest accessible to everyone!

However let's finally talk about rules:

-Anyone can join regardless of their skill, this is only a silly thing to have fun together, don't overthink about it! 💕

-Both traditional and digital drawings are welcomed! There are no particular limits about the media used

-The drawing doesn't have to be completed or meticulously realized, even a quick sketch made in a couple of minutes will be loved and appreciated! ✨

-blatantly traced artworks are not allowed tho (referencing is fine!) and same thing goes for AI art, every drawing that falls under these categories will be "disqualified"!

- You can choose the prompt you like most! I guess you can do both... if you want to (?) But it's not necessary and most importantly it will not be "valued" as a bonus when I'll pick the winners

-You're free to make changes to the composition, color palette, poses ect. of the drawing! The only requirement is that the "original" prompt must still be recognizable!

-Once your pwetty drawing is ready just post it as you normaly would tagging me in the description and adding the hashtag #mortallychaoticdtiys. Feel free to dm me if you notice that I might have missed your post!

-The deadline for this dtiys will be a month from now so for the 7th of February! The winners will be announced after a couple of days and I'll begin working on the prizes from the 17th/18th trying to deliver everything (comic chapter included) in about a month!

-After the winners will be announced I'll contact them privately to get references and everything about the character they would like to be featured in the chapter and/or about the drawing commissions!

-as last, most importantly, have fun!!! 💕 💕 💕

- - -

Wow... I really wasn't expecting that many rules :oo I hope I didn't forget anything! (also if you have any doubt always feel free to dm me!)

HOWEVER I'd say I bothered you enough with boring information so you're free to go! Big thanks in advance to the artists who'll join and I really can't wait to see your beautiful artworks! 💕

Little thing i forgot, in case you missed the last post here's the prizes:

-First place: a 50$ worth art commission that can include two characters (full body/full color) with no background OR one (full body, full color) character + background

-Second place: a 25$ worth art commission that can include two full color characters (bust) OR one full body full color character (both without background)

-Third place: a 10$ worth commission, one character full color bust OR one character full body sketch

(the only requirement is that it must be at least vaguely related to the pl fandom, au, oc, crazy crossovers are absolutely fine just don't ask me to make a portrait of your grandma AHAH)

And since this wasn't enough there will be 5 more extra winners that as a prize will have their characters (or even themselves if they want) featured as a bg character in the upcoming chapter of my fancomic Artemis: Behind the Legacy.

#pl #desmond sycamore #professor layton oc #Artemis #mortallychaoticdtiys #dtiys #rules #drawing contest #I'm so hyped JYGJYJYGUK #thank you again for your support <3

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pastafossa · 1 year

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so i've asked briefcasejuice about this already but i'd also like your take too - since you're part of the daredevil tumblr fandom council and all ...

I'm writing this scene and one of my ocs asks matt if he can handle spicy food and i wanted him to explain this whole thing about pain receptors in his mouth being "sensitive"... and how he hated pineapple because of the bromelain...(the substance that breaks up the protein in your mouth, that's why it's tingly)

and then my oc asks about like regular "body" pain since touch is after all one of the senses of his that have been heightened, and he explains something along the lines of even if the feeling of pain is heightened -- his body isn't actually weaker or more sensitive - so while he gets injured like anyone else he feels the pain of those injuries differently (more). over time he has gotten used to it but its still something he's working on as he hurts himself worse with every fight.

WHAT I'M GETTING AT is that i came to @briefcasejuice about this because they're very knowledgeable about matt stuff and comic matt especially, and they told me it did sound pretty accurate - so now i guess i just want to know -

how do you interpret or view matt's sensibility when it comes to pain - and if it came up in TRT (which maybe it did and i forgot oops?) how would you write it out?

and btw - congrats on the mango thing!! what's next on the fruit discovery journey 🤨 (what else can i be shocked that you didn't try)

Ok first of I love the idea of a Daredevil tumblr fandom council, because now I've got the image of all of us gathered solemnly to talk about DD fandom topics and headcanons like

Second off, ooooh this is a good question. I can't remember if I've ever gotten deep into it in TRT, although it'll probably come up eventually. But I absolutely agree with @briefcasejuice, and with your take on it. This seems right, for a couple reasons, including my own experience with pain.

So a lot of this is based on my own issues (and one of the reasons I relate really strongly to Matt's sense of touch, touch starvation, and pain, and when writing generally include him being comforted and going near comatose beneath gentle touch). Without getting too specific, due to chronic pain and health problems, I experience something called allodynia - "pain due to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain." Basically, my nerves are all spun up to 11 and even light sensation often reads as pain, regardless of whether I'm actually hurt - Matt's comment about 'cotton feels like sandpaper on my skin'? I get that, cause rough fabric's painful to me (another ex: put icy hot on my skin once, just about clawed it off my arm because I was convinced something had gone wrong and it was burning me). And on bad days, even very soft fabrics or, hell, a breeze, any sensation anywhere I have nerves feel like bits of glass grinding into a burn. Best explanation I have for a really bad day. And we know Matt's sense of touch is heightened. So I often think he feels a lot like me, and how you described it feels right.

Everything hurts more, even if you're not being hurt more, and even if your body's strong enough physically to take whatever's being done. Physically, there's no reason his body can't handle cotton sheets, or a food with acid, and God knows the man can take a punch. Functionally, his body is fine. But his nerves don't act that way. They send way more signals than they need to, and sure, this helps if he's trying to use them to his own advantage, but it also means he's left wide open to a far higher degree of pain from stimuli that most of us would consider more minor (pineapple, in this case) along with the pain we all regularly avoid.

Does he mostly block it out? Yes. Especially on a day to day, to the point where he may actually miss smaller injuries because he's focused on tuning out other, larger pains. I know I do - your brain eventually just goes 'oh new baseline and I still need to live so Imma put everything below it into the background so it doesn't stop us doing what we need to'. I hug people, I touch things that are rough, I use hot water with the dishes, and if I focus on it, I remember that it hurts a bit, but I've learned to tune that out for the most part. Much like me, Matt's dealt with this for years, so while he does what he can (soft sheets, avoiding certain foods, wearing certain types of clothes), he's gotten used to a lot of the day to day stuff he can't avoid, though like you said, as the injuries pile up, it just gets worse and worse as that pain stacks. Some of it might be tempered by surges of adrenaline and endorphins (why I theorize he can fight even when injured - tune it out thanks to all the practice, PLUS fighting so ferociously that his body pumps him up until he can ignore it, at least until he crashes afterwards, and crashes hard), but he's definitely feeling it far, far worse.

So I basically think it's likely, especially when pain is stacking, that he's just made a bunch of calculations for his everyday life on what's worth the pain and what isn't - certain foods? No point. Cotton sheets? No point. There is no benefit, and so he comfortably avoids it, whereas going out to fight he generally always sees as worth it since there's a tangible benefit. Those calculations at least are something we all do every day - we decide the pain of a tattoo or working out or that sour candy is worth it cause it gives us something we like. Matt just takes it up to 11. I can absolutely see him taking something like, say, pineapple - tingly and acidic - and not only feeling pain when eating it but also just literally running the mental math and going, 'yeah not worth it' because he's in enough pain day to day thanks to injuries and other things he can't avoid.

In summary: you're right and I headcanon Matt operates much like someone who's been dealing with allodynia for a while, which means he'd feel more pain from stimuli even if it's not hurting him, so he chooses things in his day-to-day to avoid and then just throws himself into the pain on big things and hopes the endorphins and adrenaline will help him tune it out.

LASTLY THANK YOU ON THE MANGO! I cannot BELIEVE I went so long without knowing how fucking delicious they were. New fruits I haven't tried that are on my list now that I realized I need to find if there are MORE DELICIOUS UNKNOWNS LIKE MANGOS: boysenberries, figs, grapefruit, guava, kumquats, passionfruit, papaya, prickly pears, and satsumas!

#daredevil #matt murdock #headcanon #allodynia #this is how i treat matt's dealing with pain anyway #i know it's not exact so i often make some adjustments #but there's just things he's said or done that resonate too much for my brain not to go 'like me??? matt is like me???'#which is strangely comforting #and so i've used a lot of personal experience to fill in the gaps on how he might operate in his day to day #and how he might function #in that he's YES more sensitive to pain even if there's not technically more pain #he just FEELS it more and his nerves TELL him it hurts more even if it's NOT hurting more #on the up (down?) side he can probably stand getting stitched up easily because he's felt way WAY more pain so it barely registers #because he's so used to tuning out even more pain so his brain's used to filing that away #BUT #when his concentration is down or he's tired that gets harder #same during injury stacking which'll only get worse as he gets older #either way he'd look at shit like pineapple and just go 'uh no that hurts I'll pass' because there's no good reason to eat it #we joke about matt's catholicism making him suffer and I joke about it too but #i think in reality he'd do these subtle little avoids for stuff like this unless he was REALLY depressed or in I Am Stick mode #or just has a good reason #and on some bad days he probably can't stand being touched tbh and would barely be able to drink room temp water (cold = pain)#at least it means the reverse it true - he'd absolutely melt beneath gentle touch or pleasant things or fleecy soft fabric #and sometimes even on bad days if you touch him *very* gently he'll tolerate the pain because he knows #that the oxytocin he gets from affectionate touch helps dull the sting just a little #(i realize this sounds bad ya'll can hug me if you see me at the con i won't turn them down i like hugs they're worth the sting)

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gongedtornado · 2 months

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Can I know more about Takaramono please?? I REALLY LIKED HER DESIGN 😭

I’M ABOUT TO INFODUMP SO HARD YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

so- she’s a mako/ai fankid i made like 2 years ago. she’s got very heavy distaste for patapons and she blames them for both her father’s downfall.

she has resentment for makoton, believing that he chose revenge over her. once he gets fucked over -(i dont know how far you’re into patapon or how much lore you know so i’m gonna keep it kinda vague just in case !!!! /lh)- she has to fend for herself for a bit

fast forward a bit- she’s under gong’s care. she’s proven to be difficult and continuously runs away. she has very strong plans to become a general, but nobody’s training her because 1. she’s still just a bit too young at the time and 2. she’s very aggressive. but of course- she finds a way to get training in.

the old, retired zigoton general (another oc) Komoriton would train anyone who came to him. so she decided to run off and do training with komoriton since no one else would. his exercises and practices proved to be very dangerous, resulting in her almost getting killed a few times. gong has gotten onto her about this time and time again, but this only fueled her spite.

taka wanted to be more than just a general, she wanted to be a better one than gong. she wanted to take out the patapons and their entirety all by her hands, and nothing would stop her from doing so.

fast forward again, she officially becomes one of the youngest generals and leads her own army. she rules with an iron fist.

TLDR: general takaramono is a mako/ai fanchild who became a general purely out of spite and hatred for patapons.

i have literally so much information on her, comics, drawings, you name it. (THERES ALSO AUs IM SUPER NORMAL ABOUT TOO) but if i were to put it all on this i feel like that would take literal hours to days to write and it would be a MASSIVE wall of text . i could go on about her ….

OH YEAH I ALSO FORGOT TO MENTION SHE HAS A KARMEN WIFE WHO SHE LOVES VERY MUCH

#kazzy caws #askbox moment #IM SO NORMAL ABOUT HER #ill probably post more about her later im rotating her in my mind.#i forgor how much i love my fatherless square

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kanazawa-division · 7 months

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ARB Birthday Special: Joey Kurusu

~~ October 9th ~~

“The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so for them.”

“Oh shit! Oh shit! I’m late for work! Haaah…why didn’t my alarms go off?! I set up six of them! Man, I knew I shouldn’t stayed up all night gaming! Wataru’s gonna have my a-huh?”

“What’s this? A present? And it’s for me!…Oh crap, so that’s why my alarms didn’t go off, it’s my birthday, haha!”

Voice Lines:

“Damn, I’m 24 now. I know it’s not a huge milestone or anything but after all the shit I went through and coming close to death more times than I would like to admit, I’ve come to learn that time is very precious and I’m thankful for every minute, hour, day, and year that I’m alive….wow, that was hella sappy lmao.”

“Everyone at the station sent me a happy birthday! Even the Narcotics Unit and those guys don’t talk to anyone! Man, it feels like yesterday I was just joining the force, I’m glad to make such nice and cool friends.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I just got a text from my dad, he wished me a happy birthday….’why do I look angry?’ I’m not angry! Really, I’m not! It’s just….this is the first time he’s reached out to me in four years…yeah…I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Hahaha! Oh man, my mom is hilarious! She sent me a book a puns….a book of police puns, hehe. Oh, I am definitely going to use these on Wataru and Kyler, maybe this is the day I finally get a smile out of both of them! Wish me luck!”

“Hey Shanny….I’m sorry I haven’t visited in a while, work’s got me in a chokehold right now, especially with all the DRB stuff happening…but I haven’t forgotten you, I would never forget you. I hope you’re doing okay wherever you are, I hope that you’re happy, your big bro is working really hard to find whoever took you away, they’ll get what’s coming to them, I promise.”

“Sorry guys but I’m spending the day with my lovely Mamoru! It’s been a while since we’ve been on a date, I know it’s my birthday but I wanna make this special for him….Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, call me a simp, whatever, I’d gladly be his Tier 3 Sub!….Wait-“

“Wataru! Buddy! You’re here! And here I thought you forgot about little ol’ me!…Ouch! That’s so mean! C’mon man, we’ve known each other for how long?…You’re so cold Wataru, you’re lucky I’m here to thaw that frozen aura of yours, otherwise you’d never have any friends haha, ooooh! A gift! From you! Let’s see what it is!”

“It’s a….a….okay, I’m stumped, what even is this?….Ohhhhh…This is…nice….I guess…Hey! My desk is not messy! Maybe to you but I can easily find whatever I need no problem! It’s called ‘organized chaos’, dude, there’s a method to the madness…Holy fuck, you’re old-“

“Kyler! My dude! Good to see you, man! Feels like it’s been forever since we last hung out…that’s still too long! C’mon dude, not only are we teammates but we’re friends! We should hang out outside of our jobs! Hm? You got something for me? Your bestie? Aw, you shouldn’t have…I’m joking, gimme.”

“Whooooa, sick! A new game! Deadpool huh? This is a character from your American comic books, right? Niiiiiice! I’ve been wanting to play more western games, this is just what I wanted! Thanks Ky! We definitely have to play this together, a game night with the boys! It’ll be awesome!”

Wataru Lines:

“Hello Joey, happy birthday…to be honest, I had completely forgot it was your birthday and even when I remembered, I originally wasn’t going to do anything…*sigh* For the umpteenth time, we are not friends, we are coworkers, I don’t know why that hasn’t clicked for you…Good grief, just take this.”

“It’s a desk organizer, something I noticed that you desperately needed ever since you started working here. It’s irritating to pass by your desk and see all sorts of junk everywhere, I implore you to use it, there is only so many times I can see your Hatsuno Miki pencils and notebooks lying around so haphazardly.”

Kyler Lines:

“Sup Joey, happy birthday, man…we literally just solved a case four days ago, alright, alright, you might have a point. Speaking of, I got something for you, I figured you would like it….fine then, I’ll give it to someone else…yeah, yeah, you’re welcome by the way.”

“It’s the Deadpool video game, I had it imported all the way from America to here so you better enjoy it…Nice, I’m glad you like it, I’ll admit, you do kinda remind me of him sometimes…but without the regeneration abilities, ducked up face, and is somehow more annoying. *Sigh* Y’know what? Sure, just text me when and I’ll be there, happy birthday, Jo.”

#hypmic #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic #hypnosis mic oc #hypnosis microphone #joey kurusu #wataru sasaki #kyler aaron #justice shield #happy birthday joey 2023 #arb birthday special #alternative rap battle #arb

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thebibliomancer · 7 months

Text

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #44: BETTER A WIDOW...

May, 1989

VisionQuest continues

Vision forgot to put his skin on today...

And Hank Pym's 'I'm not like the other superheroes' jumpsuit is awfully maroon today.

Anyway.

Last times on West Coast Avengers: John Byrne took over the book and a bunch of things changed between issues. Tigra, Wasp, and Dr Pym rejoined the team.

Then, a fake-Ultron attacked and Vision was kidnapped and unpersoned while the West Coast Avengers were distracted.

Mockingbird showed up to Explain It All and took the Avengers to the secret Vigilance base where Vision had been taken due to fears he'd try to take over the world again.

Only the West Coast Avengers arrived Too Late. And Wanda found her husband disassembled, his parts strewn everywhere. It'd be way too much gore for comics if he weren't a robot.

Even this splash page is kinda too much, even with robot bits.

My boy! Look how they massacred my boy!

;_;

The various scientist who were just taking Vision apart are very concerned that Scarlet Witch and probably the Avengers are here instead of somewhere else being distracted.

And Wanda is not sympathetic. In fact, she's as angry as someone would be if they found their spouse turned into a pile of anatomy.

Mockingbird, who has still more exposition to exposition, explains this was the end goal of the kidnap Vision scheme. To erase Vision along with any top secret data he may have picked up when he was the internet for a hot minute.

Wonder Man shows up with project head Cameron Brock under arm and tells him to exposition more.

And since Vision has already been taken apart, Brock has no problem spilling the beans.

Vigilance is not a KGB operation but they are involved running the detention cells, which is why Mockingbird thought it was a KGB operation.

Brock reveals, he's not KGB and he's not SHIELD either. He's CANADIAN.

DUN DUN DUNNNN

Wonder Man jokes about the concept of Canadian spies, showing that he has never heard of Wolverine. He then jokes about Australia, because he's going for all the hits.

Brock goes 'well actually my deputy chief is Australian.'

And he explains that Vigilance is actually a truly worldwide joint venture. Almost every security network on Earth sent a representative.

The Americans, the British, the French, the Russians, etc etc.

The kind of global cooperation almost unheard of -- all to specifically fuck up Vision.

Brock reiterates what he told Mockingbird. As long as Vision wasn't on the Avengers, everybody was willing to grit their teeth and let bygones be whatevers. But as soon as he rejoined (because Hawkeye was a sad sack who couldn't keep together a team), all the intelligence agencies put aside their differences to fuck up Vision.

Global peace, just like Vision wanted when he took over the internet. What ironies.

Wanda claims that Vision can be put back together. He is a robotty robot so clearly they just reassemble him and good as new.

Hank Pym shows up just to say nuh uh.

This is a theme in this issue. People showing up in the nick of time to say nuh uh.

Even though Hank is an expert in robotics despite being a biochemist and even though he's more familiar with Vision's systems than almost anyone, he's skeptical that humpty dumpty can be put back together again.

If Vision's brain was erased like Mockingbird said, Hank has no idea how to deal with that.

Wanda says that they can just borrow some brain patterns from Wonder Man again and use the backup memory file that Vision kept in the Avengers' computers.

Again, with this idea that Vision's brain is a computer that can be uploaded to external storage. I feel like that's at odds with how Vision has been portrayed in the past.

But it doesn't matter.

Vigilance wiped the Avengers' computer systems with a virus. Both the East and West Coast teams. There's no back-up.

(This is where John Byrne put in a backdoor, as some writers do when writing something that may be contentious. In this case, his backdoor to get out of this was that there's a copy of Vision's brain in the Titan supercomputer ISAAC. From the time that Vision linked with ISAAC.)

(John Byrne also uses the idea that Vision's brain can just be backed up as evidence that Vision isn't a real boy and is just an overly sophisticated appliance. The idea that he introduced. Sigh.)

With all the problems on the table, Hank says lets ignore the fact that Vision's unique personality is probably gone forever, erased by magnets or whatever. Just putting all the pieces back together is going to be hard enough.

Heck, the Vision was built from the base of the original Human Torch, the most sophisticated android ever created. That might be beyond Hank's level of skill!

And then Wasp shows up and goes nuh uh!

Not about Hank not being able to do it but about the thing he said about the robot Human Torch.

The shocking prisoner she found in the detention level that was so shocking it had to wait until this issue to reveal?

It's Phineas Horton, allegedly!

He supposedly died in Vision's backstory but we're about to take a big dump on that.

Vigilance wanted an expert in Vision's systems so they tried to find associates of Phineas Horton that might have worked with him on the Human Torch.

Instead they found the actual dude. Just casually not dead.

Hank is like okay weird that Vision thought this guy was dead but he could have been mistaken. Either way, hot damn, the exact expert we needed is right at hand!

And Dr Phineas Horton says nuh uh. He's already here so he didn't pop in just to say it but he's complementing Wasp's earlier nuh uh.

He's definitely the real Dr Phineas Horton (this man will later be retconned to be an imposter, womp womp, retcon tennis) and he doesn't recognize Vision's systems at all.

Vision is definitely not Horton's creation.

DUN DUN DUNNNNN

Elsewhere, Hawkeye didn't get the memo about waiting just outside the lab to pop in and nuh uh things so he's wandering around the backlot of the Vigilance base.

And I say backlot because aside from the main areas that Mockingbird saw and the stuff related to disassembling Vision and holding people prisoner, this entire base is just a mock-up. Just enough actually functional stuff to fool Mockingbird into thinking it was a fully operational secret SHIELD facility.

Hawkeye also wonders how the Vigilance team was able to capture Vision, which I also am wondering.

But he hears Tigra growling and follows the sound to find her having cornered a couple of Vigilance guys.

Vigilance Person: "You're Hawkeye! Help us!" Another Vigilance Person: "For god's sake... stop her!!"

Hawkeye calls Tigra's name which makes her swing her attention from nameless asshole 1 and 2 to pounce at Hawkeye.

I guess one of her uncontrollable cat instincts is to kill birds.

(Despite the narrative caption promising that all kinds of horrible injury is about to happen to Hawkeye, he's fine when we next see him and Tigra. Typical sensationalism, tsk tsk.)

For some ding dang reason, the narrative cuts to Absolom College in Texas where some shadowy collegiate figures are trying to choose a suitable subject from a list of mutants.

Forty-one candidates are rejected before Scarlet Witch is chosen for whatever this is all about.

If you're curious and have trouble with the tiny headshots, here's how the judging sorts out:

No: Angel, Avalanche, Blob, Caliban, Callisto, Cannonball, Cyclops, Destiny, Firestar, Forge, Iceman, Karma, Multiple Man, Magma, Malice, Mandrill, Marvel Girl, Mastermind, Mesmero, Mystique, Nekra, Nightcrawler, and Pyro.

Too powerful: Apocalypse, Magneto, and Rachael Phoenix.

Too weak: Banshee, Black Tom Cassidy. This category is reserved for the Cassidys, I guess.

Too unstable: Beast, Cloak, Dagger, Legion, Quicksilver.

Dead: Colossus, Cypher, Dazzler, Havok, and Rogue.

No longer viable: Magik, because she retconned herself back to a young girl in Inferno, or something.

Unverified: Sabra, Sabretooth.

This was hard because the marvel wiki didn't have them all. I had to go looking other places and at one point just pull up a list of Marvel mutants and check everything that fell between certain letters. Because, thankfully, this is alphabetized.

What's funny about the dead category is that Cypher is the only one who is actually dead. Everyone else just faked their deaths and moved to Australia.

Back at the plot, some paramedics take Dr Phineas Horton away for treatment. Because he was an old man and Vigilance was keeping him in a KGB-type detention cell. He's not in a great state.

Wanda asks Hank why Dr Phineas Horton IF THATS HIS REAL NAME (lol, its not, retroactively) would say that Vision isn't his work when we all know that Vision was repurposed from the body of the robot Human Torch.

Hank has no idea but he's also distracted by the police coming up and asking what they should do with the Vigilance dudes that the West Coast Avengers captured.

And Hank says 'fuck if I know, let them go, ain't no law'

Specifically, since Vigilance was every intelligence agency working together specifically to fuck Vision, they all have government approval and nothing they did is wrong. And/or have diplomatic immunity because they're from Canada or whatever.

Project head Cameron Brock smugs about how Hank figured out how untouchable they all are.

Wasp is like uh geez are you sure, Hank? They kidnapped Vision and reduced him to piles of bits. And Hank says they sure did but we can't do anything about it. We didn't know we were fighting the law but the law won. Can't fight city hall. Best they can do is call Agent Sikorsky, the Avengers' government liaison, and whine about it.

Hawkeye and Tigra rejoin the group, having missed the plot, and Hawkeye covers for Tigra by downplaying the incident as Tigra getting "a little carried away."

Since the West Coast Avengers can't do anything except take Vision's various components home and try to put him back together, Hank proposes they do just that. Just leave Vigilance and go home to pick up the pieces.

Scarlet Witch has one thing she wants to do first.

And she blows the Vigilance base the fuck up.

Good thing everyone was already outside.

I'm not through this arc yet. I'm not even through the issue yet. But I looked at marvel wiki and Vigilance only has two appearances. This issue and the previous issue.

So I'm going to maybe jump the gun a little and talk about why, however things play out from here on, this story is going to be unsatisfying.

I don't like that the Avengers just have to shrug and accept that the government(s) killed Vision and there's nothing they can do about it.

It's a lot like how many spider-fans are still pissed about One More Day. It's not just about the marriage. Spider-Man made a bum deal with the devil and he's never going to get to redeem himself as things stand.

Sometimes cruel things just happen and there's no recourse except to pick up the pieces and try to live your life. But the superhero genre tends to be more active than that. Situations can be punched. There's always someone that can be punched.

If the Implied President of the United States is behind an evil plot to use a mutant powered UFO to take over the country, you don't shrug and decide he's too big to fight. If you're Captain America, you chase him to the Oval Office and unmask him. For one, particularly bizarre, example.

I don't know that it would make a better story if the Avengers COULD fight Vigilance in some way but it would feel less empty.

This whole thing feels less like a story and more writer fiat. Just like starting the team with Tigra and Wasp and Dr Pym back so Byrne doesn't have to do the legwork to get the team where he wants it.

An evil governments conspiracy kidnaps Vision and takes him apart so he can be rebuilt in Byrne's preferred way, everyone stands around talk talk talking about how this change is totally irreversible and the Avengers also can't do anything to the people that did it. And then Vigilance fucks off to never be heard from again.

There's more legwork done but only enough to get the change on paper. Because having Vision change like he is going to (spoilers: Vision is not going to be a pile of parts forever) and have it happen between issues is too much for the audience to buy.

Also on topic, also spoilers: this is going to lead to one of the big OH NO WANDA HAS GONE CRAZY stories which was apparently the only research Brian Michael Bendis did before Disassembled. And it may not be a good story but it may have been a better story if Evil Crazy Wanda had gone after Vigilance. Instead of what she does do. Which is apparently try to have sex with Wonder Man.

Byrne is going to ragequit the book at some point so I'm not sure how much of that is his fault. But what a blatantly obvious plot point to leave on the table.

Anyway. That's my feelings about VisionQuest. Before we even see how it falls out. It's a drastic change jammed into the book without respecting the audience enough to make it a good story.

You know when a writer really wants to write to a certain conclusion and has to expend walls of text assuring the reader that this is clearly the only way this could possibly go down? That's what this all feels like.

So that rant having been ranted, let's move onto the beginning of another dumb plot point.

When the West Coast Avengers arrive back at the West Coast Avengers Compound, they discover a distress signal has been activated from the guest house - where Wanda and Vision have been living.

Understandably, Wanda assumes the worst. That Vigilance has come after her children too, she runs to the guest house.

The racist governess Miss Bach tries to tell Wanda that babies Tommy and Billy vanished into thin air after she put them into the bath. But when Wanda runs into the bathroom in a panic, she sees that her two babies are happily splashing around in the tub.

... Add John Byrne onto the list of artists that just can't draw a baby to save his life.

Miss Bach insists that she looked everywhere for the twins but Wanda assumes that the governess was playing a sick prank.

So she fires her ass, right on the spot.

Miss Bach appeals to Wasp that she was telling the truth. But Wasp can't tell Wanda not to fire her own personal staff. She at least promises Miss Bach that she'll get the proper severance pay.

Then we time skip two days later, where Wanda is sitting outside Hank Pym's lab while Hank tries to reassemble Vision.

It's apparently not as hard as Hank feared, just tedious. Each piece has only one place it can properly go so its just a matter of trying to find the proper place for hundreds of thousands of pieces.

Wanda wishes that they could contact the Real Professor Horton not that lying fake. Y'know, the real dead guy who died in Vision's backstory.

Scarlet Witch: "If that central fact was now to become untrue... everything we think we know about the Vision would become equally suspect."

Wonder Man says he wasn't around at the time but he loves poking holes in the Celestial Madonna Saga. That's his Thing now. So given what he's heard, he thinks Vision's backstory is sketchy if only because they heard it with the help of Immortus, who is a sketchy, manipulative man.

But then there's a loud WUMP as well as CRASH CLANG tinkle! THUD! from within the lab.

Hank sealed the lab behind a bunch of airlocked doors to prevent contamination to Vision's kibbles 'n bits and it'll take three minutes to open them all.

Or.

Wonder Man just forces them all open.

And then a robot hand shoots out of the lab and shoves Wonder Man to the floor.

Ohhhhhh! It's just Vision! He wandered off without putting on his pants or his skin!

Wanda caresses Vision's bare skull, begging him to say he recognizes her.

Terminator Vision backhands her.

Boo. Boo to you, skinless Vision.

Wonder Man grapples Vision, saying he's going to put him down for a nice nap until they can finish fixing him. But he's hesitant to use his FULL POWER on his brother so skinless Vision tosses him across the room.

Elsewhere in the building, Hawkeye is sitting around thinking about how weird Tigra has been.

What we missed off-panel is that he just used a gas arrow when she pounced at him, knocking her out until she calmed the fuck down.

That narrative caption promising horrible violence really lied.

After coming back from the Vigilance base, Tigra has been hiding away in her bungalow.

Hawkeye isn't sure why he promised to cover for her but WHOOPS INCOMING A-PLOT.

He hears the ruckus going on in the lab and hustles down to see skinless Vision hoisting Wonder Man around.

Hawkeye shoots a constrictor arrow at the rampaging synthezoid but Vision just flexes his way free.

Wonder Man tells Wanda she's got to use her bullshit win-button powers to win because brute force isn't working and that's all he knows.

Wanda refuses to use her powers against Vision because she's worried that she doesn't have precise enough control of her hexes and that she might make him blow up.

She DID blow up a building a couple days ago. But she was really mad at that building.

And while Wanda is paralyzed, refusing to help, Vision picks up Hawkeye and shakes him upside down.

Its pretty funny.

I will say that it does make sense that Wanda would be hesitant to use her powers on the robo-man she loves. Its similar to how Wonder Man is pulling his punches.

But I do note that Wanda has been pretty useless this entire story. She was hypnotized to be unable to fight Fake-Ultron. Not sure why that was actually necessary but it was the explanation. And now she's not able to participate in the fight against skinless Vision.

She did blow up a building though.

I also have to say that Skinless Vision is a pretty intimidating antagonist.

His arm shooting out of the smokey lab to grab Wonder Man. Striking Scarlet Witch with no trace of emotion. Staggering around in the shadows as he moves on the collapsed Wanda. The way he tosses around Wonder Man and Hawkeye using just his robot strength, not his density powers. His robot noises being more audible without his skin in the way. Just the way he looks like a flayed corpse.

I gotta give props where props is earned because otherwise this post is going to be just bitter. And props, skinless Vision is alarming.

Anyway. Back to the plot. Where Scarlet Witch refuses to help.

Wonder Man: "You've got to take that chance, Wanda! Trust that your power won't permanently harm someone you love! But do it now! Before he kills Hawkeye -- or me!" Scarlet Witch: "No! No! Forgive me! I can't! I just can't!!" Dr Pym: "That's all right, Wanda..."

Hey, thank goodness for Hank Pym.

And that answers how Vigilance kidnapped Vision.

The device Hank has is a neutralizer that Vigilance used to shut Vision off for kidnapping reasons.

All the ruckus Wanda and Wonder Man heard in the lab was Hank reactivating Vision and then Vision smashing stuff up because when he's activated without his brain functioning, he defaults to defensive actions.

Hank only just regained consciousness and shut Vision back down.

SO THATS ALL EXPLAINED.

Skinless Vision is more of Brainless Vision. Head empty, no thoughts, just lashing out.

Hawkeye decides that this is his cue to call Washington and yell at Avengers liaison Sikorski.

Hawkeye: "Look, Sikorski, I don't care if I woke you out of your death bed! I want to know what you paper-pushers are gonna do about the Vision!" Sikorski: "Do? You seem to be missing the point, archer. We've already done it. The Vision has been rendered harmless. He presents no further threat to the security of this nation... Or any other, for that matter. You Avengers are now at liberty to reprogram him to suit whatever function you wish."

Wow. What an asshole.

He's still better than Henry Peter Gyrich but only because Gyrich would have said the same things and been 1000% smug about it.

God I hate Gyrich.

I'm glad Abigail Brand shoved him out of an airlock.

Anyway. Implication seems to be that Sikorski was In On It or at least was told after the fact and agreed 'yeah, excellent decisions all around.'

Vision isn't a dude. He was a malfunctioning appliance that had to be reset to factory settings so he could get back to Fighting Crime Or Whatever.

Hank argues that a) the Avengers can't just reprogram Vision that easily, b) the Vision they knew has effectively been killed by death of personality, and c) even putting aside all that, this is going to fuck up Wanda.

Which Sikorski acknowledges and says he regrets. That specific point.

What an asshole.

Anyway, as long as the Avengers called him to yell at him, Sikorski has some information he should have told them earlier but I guess he forgot or he's just shit at his job.

On top of killing Vision, the government has also decided that the West Coast Avengers and Vision need direct government oversight and have sent someone to take over the team. And the West Coast Avengers either accept this or the government cracks down on their future activities.

OKAY HAVE FUN WITH THE NEW GUY BYYYYYYE

And judging by the silhouette, it seems like the new guy is an old guy. A guy they can all get along with.

But silhouettes often lie in comics and this is the opposite of all that. A new guy that none of them can get along with.

When the government issued an ultimatum our way or the highway to Captain America and he quit and became the Captain, the government gave the Captain America name, costume, and shield to John Walker.

But recently, you may have noticed that good ol' Steve Rogers is back in his old costume and name and shield. Well, the government gave Cap's the Captain outfit to John Walker and dubbed him U.S.Agent.

And by editorial mandate governmental order, he's joining the West Coast Avengers.

Yeah, actually, it was editorial mandate.

According to John Byrne, editor Gruenwald, who created John Walker, insisted that Byrne put him in the West Coast Avengers book.

A captain-esque guy on every team!

John Byrne, who rankles at any degree of editorial meddling, had him written in as being forced on the team by an uncaring asshole higher power so he can annoy everyone on the team and not fit in.

John Byrne is not subtle sometimes.

Buuuuut. Like I said with the Worst Roster. A team having friction is very often more interesting. And there's a kind of poetic irony to Hawkeye having been the asshole constantly butting heads with Captain America getting his own Brand X Captain America to be the asshole to butt heads with him.

It rhymes.

So VisionQuest continues for another issue but AS OF RIGHT NOW I have to say it takes a sharp dip in quality after the first issue.

The first issue really jumped into things with a newish team suddenly assaulted by a Fake Ultron and having Vision stolen right out from under them.

Issues 2 and 3 are in full justification and retcon mode so it all bogs down into walls of text and explaining how this sequence of events is the only sequence of events.

I'm actually excited to see U.S.Agent here to shake things up and be a pebble in the team's shoe right when they're already going through the identity death of a beloved teammate.

Just please. Fewer walls of text.

Follow @essential-avengers for all these posts but only all these posts. Like, reblog, and comment perhaps.

#avengers #essential avengers #west coast avengers #Vigilance #Hawkeye #Hank Pym #Dr Pym #Scarlet Witch #the Vision #Wonder Man #the Wasp #Tigra #Mockingbird #Phineas Horton #mysterious shadowy college project #the government is a dick but what else is new #last page new team member

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sanctum-stinker · 1 year

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What made you like wongrange? They're an interesting couple and I'm interested

Strap in folks this will be a long one.

I have a brief and summed up version of how I got into it, and I also have screenshots of the panels, pages and comic issues that feed my dedication to this ship. Read whichever you please!

Doctor Strange: Way of the weird is the comic run that made me ship WongStrange for the first time. It was my first comic, and my perception of Wong was simply what the MCU served us with Benedict Wong, so I was immediately drawn to his character. His dedication and loyalty to Stephen and his job, as well as Stephen’s attachment and care for Wong in this run made me raise a brow, as I had never expected them to be this close. Furthermore the marvel gods decided to gift us with a confession. I later branched out to more comics and picked and chose moments that I liked and forgot the ones I didn’t. Way of the weird set the bar very high in terms of how people write Wong, so I was shocked at how vile and disgusting some of the things that happen to him are. The servant and Master dynamic is still yet to be fully addressed in the way I think it deserves, so the issues I have with their dynamic are still being written in at times. So yeah! I basically just weave my own narrative with the comic bits I like. The way in which I ship them (like most ships) is very non-canon, so I understand that it may be confusing as to why I even stand by this weird niche pairing. I just think they’re neat, and I think Wong deserves proper love.

Thank you for coming this far. Here are my beloveds!

Way of the weird offers us a look into their first meeting! This has been done many times before, but this run put a spin on it and introduces them before Stephen was a proper sorcerer. To see where they started out from and to see Wong’s ever present patience gives us such a neat little comparison to how they were to how they are now.

They also sprinkle little domestic moments in which I really love. Everything Wong does in this comic doesn’t feel too Servanty and more just… interior decorating? Also his sass and his witty remarks as he keeps up with Stephen, they are so good.

Wong’s deepest darkest fear is revealed to be Stephen’s death! Teehee giggle this will not be heartbreaking in later years. Death of Doctor Strange I’m looking at you.

So many things to say of about the Mr Misery chapters. First of all Mr Misery, a being made of Stephen’s pain which lives off Stephen’s pain chooses to possess Wong knowing it would hurt Stephen. It also uses Wong’s memories and emotions against Stephen. There is literally a confession in here if you ignore the ‘like a father’ bit. I choose to perceive that statement as Wong being protective of him because he does act that way consistently throughout the comic run (sacrificial monk cult I will never forget you).

Stephen decides that to draw Misery back into his body he has to feel more pain than Wong is. He tries jabbing a hot rod into his neck, but the physical pain is not enough so he instead tells Wong he cannot love him or anyone else. The pain of this action is more than any physical pain he has ever felt, and is painful enough to draw Misery into his body. I mean, what do I even have to say.

This scene pushed the ship for me. Until this point I was just raising an eyebrow and saying ‘it his is certainly fruity’ but this… historians would call them best friends I guess.

Moving onto Doctor Strange: Damnation.

Now this is a cool case because there’s a Stephen and Wong POV going on which is dope.

Marvel tell us what Wong was going to say IMPOSSIBLE EDITION.

This whole sequence is just very sweet. Wong had since left the sanctum because of a dubious decision Stephen made. The forgiveness, and yet again the patience Wong has with Stephen is so soft. Regardless of his opinions of Stephen Wong still dragged his ass out of Hell, and that’s something and a half. Also the way they look and smile at each other. Very platonic homie activity.

The hug, the promise to return, the hand on his shoulder. Yeah. Just very lovely.

Now onto Death of Doctor Strange. The title says it for itself! This shit hurts!

Wong has obviously since returned to the sanctum. This domestic banter is so good, the reminiscences on older times and the care Wong has for Stephen just shows and I adore it. Unfortunately this never happens again after Clea turns up, and Wong is sort of pushed into a background character which was a little saddening considering how important of a character he is and how much the next events effected him.

Wong was the first to notice and the first to arrive when Stephen was killed. He was already grieving when Zelma and Jericho turned up, and considering the fact he was in an art class means that he was there in a snap.

The trauma of the memory of Stephen’s death haunts Wong and continues to do so until he is revived. It’s a little odd, as Wong is more openly reactive and weighed down by Stephen’s death than Clea is. Wong is a very calm, closed off and controlled person and I honestly expected Clea to be the one to be so emotional due to her warlord origins, but it was an unexpected surprise to see how he deals with it.

The fact that these two sentences come out of his mouth and not Stephen’s wife’s is peculiar. Honestly very fruity behaviour from Wong.

‘my’ sorcerer supreme.

The culmination of his guilt, anger and grief over the loss of Stephen bursting out in this violent rage was so emotional to see. Wong has very rarely if not never reacted this way, as i mentioned before he was always the calm and collected one out of the bunch. The effect Stephen’s death had on him will always be very important to me.

These are the only two images we get of their reunion which I thought was a bit stingy considering how much Wong went through, but it’s still sweet! Look at how happy he is!

Now for one shots which are unrelated to the main story.

What If Magik? Is a narrative in which Illyana Rasputin becomes sorcerer supreme. I consider this the prequel to Doctor Strange: The end, though I don’t know if that’s canon. It just fits very well and the art style is the same.

Wong explaining his relationship to Stephen while he eats his tentacle soup in the back is very funny and I love the art style and dialogue.

Stephen being Stephen and Wong being fed up is my favorite dynamic. Never gets old.

Illyana and her family. Just this whole sequence is very adorable and sweet. To be honest the whole comic is. This is a truly hidden gem, I’d recommend anyone to read it. Stephen Dilf era is canon in this timeline.

Doctor Strange: The end switches between being my favorite with WoTW because it’s so good but so short. There’s actually a lot of Wong content in this even though he is not physically there.

He’s a little memorial cabinet and just everything about this makes me go insane. Stephen is openly very protective of it, and also talks to it regularly.

In an attempt to keep magic alive he grave robs a bunch of old mystics and outs their bones in Wong’s cabinet which he Carrie’s around in his back and travels with. He also keeps talking to him almost constantly while he’s on this journey and it’s really bittersweet to see how lonely he is.

Just this dialogue and Stephen sleeping in his cabinet.

Another confession. This time just true and raw. I like that the ‘….’ Implies that Wong said it to him first. Stephen is willing to sacrifice the rotten remains of his friends to keep magic alive, but is very reluctant to throw a very willing Wong into the fire. Anywho, spoilers but after he puts the cabinet into the flames he climbs in himself and they burn together. Homie activity.

That concludes the selection of images I kept to prove my ship worthy to you all. I hope it was worth while! I am very passionate about them, so this was fun to write out. I’ve missed out a lot of good moments and even whole comics which have a good dynamic between them like Doctor Strange:Origin or Doctor Strange: Sorcerer supreme #80-90(?). Regardless, I hope this is enough to make you consider joining this niche community! We don’t bite!

If you have any questions or comments please message me! Never bored of talking about them.

#wongstrange #Doctor Strange Comics #wongrange #doctor strange #Bird insanity

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radioactive-earthshine · 5 months

Text

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @fire-fira for this ❤

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Only 25 (there are a hidden 15 in my drafts on my computer that will never ever be posted)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

275,306

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Thus far on Ao3;

DC Comics Tolkien Astro Boy and one stray Cave Story fic

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1.) Sunshine. Falling. 2.) Under Silver Light 3.) A New Upgrade (which surprised me I totally forgot about this ancient ass fic) 4.) Band Aid 5.) Befuddled in Red

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

I usually almost always unless it's a wank ass comment which case it gets deleted. I always love getting replies back from authors so I feel most people like the engagement.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

The Summer of Light. Slobo was terminally ill, he was dying, and despite all efforts from everyone, despite all our love and impact on the world in general it would never be enough to save him. The Lighthouse was him, btw.

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

Uhhh... Well, (spoilers) Sunshine. Falling. will have the best ending ever. But shhh. We gotta get there first. Otherwise... I think almost all my little fics have nice happy endings - particularly Funfetti Cake and Befuddled in Red.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

Lol... There's this one reviewer who is totally obsessed with Sunshine. Falling. and with each chapter I upload they almost always have something nasty to say about it being Konbart. I delete it of course. And there was another person who commented on The Summer of Light (it's probably the same person) who just really thinks I should be writing another ship instead.

9. Do you write smut?

Yes. I want to write more.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have not written any as of now but I don't mind them. I still feel like a Mass Effect/Star Trek crossover might be fun or a Mass Effect/LOSH fic but I need an idea first. I also might do a self indulgent Jetter Mars meets Atom fic but we'll see.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

As far as I know, NO.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

YES. Under Silver Light was translated into Russian of which I am immensely proud of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

No, the closest I have ever come to this is having a friend write a fic BASED ON an rp we had.

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

I really hate 'favorite' questions because I have like... a collection I sort of juggle around but ATM it is the following;

Konbart Querl/Lyle Jay/Eddie Halbarry Jaime/Khaji da and last but not least my oldest of the oldest otp X/Zero

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

I have no fic that is in limbo ❤ Sunshine. Falling. is the only WIP I have and it is on the way (after Dark Crisis: Impulse).

16. What’s your writing strengths?

No idea. I think I'm pretty good at describing atmosphere though. Willpower. Spite.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Not caring enough about overall quality I guess and I really DO just "Settle for done" bc I really don't... care.

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

Always the correct choice if it is done correctly and in a way that makes sense. I've read some fics where it's just... peppered in with no real reason and it is jarring. I thought about trying to come up with Interlac words for everyone speaking Interlac but decided on not going that route and instead being sensible and just using italics.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Mega Man X baby 😎

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Summer of Light and Wind Shear.

Pssst. Wind Shear is a Jenni fic. Go read it.

Tagging: I aint tagging no one, but please anyone seeing this just say I tagged you if you want to do something.

#tagging games #long posts

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weministertomonsters · 1 year

Text

Piper And The Vampire

This (unfinished as per usual) story is 3.5k words long and heavily inspired by the Interview with The Vampire TV series, but whether that's obvious... Probably not.

─────────────── · · · · ✦

I was in a world of trouble that all began because one boy couldn't keep his damn mouth shut. But all stories have to start at the beginning if they are going to make any sense, so that's where we'll begin.

I was eleven when my father fell from his horse and got his head smashed in. He didn't last long, nobody can when your brain is turned to a pink pudding and won't stay in your head where it should be. I was the unlucky one who found him, and he was still moaning in the ditch with flies all buzzing around. I ran home, hollering the entire way.

"Mumma, it's Papa!" I yelled, crashing right into the kitchen.

She smacked her floury hands on her apron. "Where he at? Coming home from the bar? Still there and fighting again?"

"No, he's in the ditch. His head's all crumpled like a pumpkin someone forgot in the cellar."

She looked grim and vaguely sick like I had told her I'd found someone's cow sickening in the woods. "Good Lord help us," she said, picking up her skirt till I could see her brown shins.

She greased her legs and arms every morning with shea butter, and her skin shone as a result. She wasn't white-skinned and golden-haloed like the angels in the Big Church windows, but she was my angel. Tall, imperious, and often untouchable. Now she ran down the worn road leading from our cabin to the rest of the village. I followed her but she said over her shoulder, "Call the Doctor."

"I've already seen him, Mumma! Can't unsee that," I protested, eager to be a big girl.

"In case there's saving in him yet," she responded in a flurry of movement, disappearing down the hill.

Satisfied my Mumma wasn't trying to shield me from any perceived horror, I ran to get the Doctor. He didn't live far because, in such a small town, one person's backyard was another person's front yard. Even our house, which was considered "out of the way", was still visible from the middle of the town.

I could hear the Doctor say, "Geez, Louise, can't a man eat his supper in peace?" to his housekeeper as I thumped up the stairs and past the cocker spaniel on the porch and busted in through the grand blue door.

"The devil doesn't stop his deeds for anyone, Doctor Carney." She replied, sensible as always, turning to me. "Now, what's wrong Miss Piper?"

"My Papa's hurt real bad. I don't think he gon' make it but Mumma said I should call you," I heaved and gasped for air.

Despite complaining seconds ago, Doctor Carney practically flew off his chair with nothing but his case of medical things which was always within reach, looking like a hero in a comic book as he leaped on his horse that was also waiting in the yard at almost any given hour. I watched from the window, guilty about feeling excited. Or was it fear that tightened my ribcage and caused my heart to thrash in its cage of bone? I couldn't tell.

"A glass of water, Miss Piper? You look like you ran the whole way here."

I gulped down the water, relishing the slightly sweet taste. I thought it was almost as good as the stream early in the morning, the same cool and clean-tasting stuff.

"I should go back," I said but Mrs. Louise put a hand on my shoulder. "Now, how about you stay on? It's getting dark out there and I don't want you walking home alone."

I could tell it was because she didn't want me to see my father in his current state. I was going to tell her that I'd been the first to see him and there was no use keeping me but she brought a tall glass of milk and a plate laden with sticky brownies from the kitchen. I forgot to say thank you for the treat and that thought would keep me up for a long time later that night. When Doctor Carney came back, it was with a wagon borrowed from the Smiths and I knew this because of the streak of black going up one side. The oldest son of the Smiths had started a fire for fun and it got out of control and almost took the wagon with it.

My Mumma jumped out the back as soon as it stopped. She had been crying so it didn't take much else to know that my father hadn't made it. She wouldn't have cried otherwise. There my Papa was, tucked in the back of the wagon and wrapped in a musty sack. His shoes stuck out over the top because he was taller than the sack was wide.

"I'm sorry," Doctor Carney said awkwardly as he dismounted, and the way he said it made it unclear whether he was expressing sympathy or apologizing for wrapping my father in a feed sack.

"So, he's dead," I said somberly. "What we gon' do for bread now?"

Mrs. Louise looked a little appalled at that, glancing in uncertainty at my Mumma who laughed in an odd, wet way and hugged me tightly.

"It's the shock," she said. "She'll be bawling her eyes out tomorrow."

"I will not! I like my eyes," I retorted but my Mumma was already pulling me away.

"The wagon, Mrs. Maarten?" Doctor Carney said, showing up after he'd hauled my father off someplace.

The cellar perhaps; kids always rumored that the dead bodies shared the cellar with his milk, potatoes, and preserves because it was the only place cold enough to keep them for burial. No one else had a cellar or those that had one didn't want dead bodies in it.

"I'll come for the wagon tomorrow," she replied over her shoulder. "If the Smiths need it now, that's too bad."

"Are you sure walking alone in the dark is fine? We can always send the manservant along with you," Mrs. Louise called after us.

"It's not the works of man I'm afraid of but the work of the devil," Mumma retorted.

"Mumma, you making yourself sound weird," I complained.

"I've seen what happens in the dark and this ain't nothing yet, my dear," she responded.

That was my first hint that she thought something else other than a horse had happened to my father.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

I had been right to worry about bread. As bad a father as mine had been, he at least brought a loaf of bread home when he came home from work. That way, even if we had nothing but stale bread and watery milk to go with it, we still had something to eat. Money doesn't come cheap and it doesn't grow on trees, so Mumma had to go and find work. The first week consisted of her leaving early in the morning, coming home worn to the bone, and shaking her head in defeat.

Right when the pantry was scraped clean and things were beginning to feel desperate, she came home on a Saturday evening with a strange glow in her eyes and a pocketful of cinnamon hard candy.

"I've got a job, Piper," she declared, dividing the candy between us. "Things gon' look up now."

"When do you start?" I asked.

"Monday and it'll be long hours. Will you be able to take care of yourself?"

"Heck, I've been cooking and cleaning since I was nine, Mumma. I can handle it. 'Sides, I'll be at school most of the day myself," I ducked the incoming swat for cussing and felt very grown up and independent.

The first week was a slow one. Mumma didn't get her first pay until Friday and had to buy from the general store on credit. She hated doing that and so she bought the absolute minimum; bread and milk. On Sundays, we might get invited to a friend's house for dinner, and there I would gorge myself on potatoes and chicken, and cornbread. After school, I had another three hours to pass before Mumma came home and I was left to my own devices. I'd usually play with the dolls I made of straw and old strips of cloth and eat doorstep-thick slices of chewy bread with a dollop from the last jar of preserves.

One day she came home with something all wrapped up. The pantry was now truly empty and all I'd had for breakfast was the end of the loaf with the last glass of milk. My stomach felt like it was turning inside out to start digesting my other organs.

"Did ya get a gift of potatoes from the Sir?" I asked excitedly, spotting the package. "We having potatoes for dinner?"

"Hush up. It ain't no potato. It's a baby." She gently pulled back the cloth so I could see what I'd thought was the tops of a bunch of potatoes was instead a skinny baby.

In light of my crushed hopes, I wasn't exactly welcoming. "Well, kinda looks like a potato to me."

"Piper. Mind your tongue now."

"But it does!" I insisted. "Brown and wrinkly and half-starved looking. Like a dud potato. How did you find a baby anyhow?"

"I ain't having your attitude today," she sighed and walked inside.

"It ain't attitude!" I hollered back, miffed but repentant. "I'm starving is all."

I knew I'd finished the milk that morning. What was she going to feed it? Was it her or him? I was too distracted by the dull thunder in my stomach to care. The baby began to cry and I sat on the porch and listened to Mumma try to hush it up, thinking of how hungry I was.

After a couple of minutes, I went inside. Mumma was changing the baby's diaper.

"It stinks in here," I announced.

"This poor thing was by the roadside in a saddle blanket," Mumma said in a hushed voice because she had finally got the baby to settle. "Hungry with a wet diaper. No one in sight. I have no idea what happened."

"So, what we gon' do for food? The baby needs to eat too."

"I got paid today. Would you run by the store? With any luck, Gran-Mae will still be open and you can buy us something. Two cans of milk for the baby and whatever else looks good for us. You just be sensible, okay? Don't come back with your pockets filled with nothing but candy," Mumma said.

I took the gold coins with a whistle and skipped out the door, biting down on one just like a shopkeeper who wanted to make sure their gold was real. For the six minutes or so it took me to get down the hill to the general store, I felt rich and pretended that I was heading down into town to buy a fine horse. Black with white socks, like Doctor Carney's horse.

Gran-Mae was on the small porch of her store, sweeping dirt out of the cracks in the floorboards with a short stick broom. She could bend well for her age and her backside pointing at me looked like the rump of a friendly cow.

"Gran-Mae? You still open?" I called.

"Now if it isn't Piper Maarten!" She hooted, straightening up and bracing her hand on her back. "I'm closing up, but you come on in."

She bustled through the doors she hadn't locked yet. Lucky that, because she had more than three padlocks on that door and it would have taken forever to open them up because they were all damaged by the rain and rustier than the gates of hell.

It was like stepping into a cluttered heaven that smelled of so many good, heavy scents. I sniffed as quietly as I could manage and caught scents of maple syrup and soap, brown sugar and earthy potatoes, and baby carrots. The oily block of cheese on the counter wafted enticingly in my face, so close I could just lean over and chomp into it.

But the real exciting part was Gran-Mae's candy jar. It had caramel twists and cubes of cinnamon hard candy and bulbs of cherry chew squished next to tacky peppermints, a chaotic jumble of colors that was a feast to my eyes.

Gran-Mae used to give free candy out to the kids, especially when they had gotten hurt. She had to stop when five-year-old Vernon Akson down the street figured jumping off the roof of his parent's barn last summer to get hurt bad would earn him a mountain of candy. Even Mumma and I could hear his screams and he never walked quite right after that.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

"You come here, child, and I'll nail your head!" I growled. "What you been doing in the kitchen?"

"I ain't eating anything!" Willy yelled back, scampering to the porch and making a dash for the oak tree out front.

"Then why are the pie toppings lookin' skimpy?" I retorted. "Get outta the tree, Willy."

We ended up keeping the baby. Not sure how, but Mumma got a little extra money from the Sir to care for the brat. Maybe she asked. A little extra always goes a long way and with some candy, I was bribed into grudging acceptance of the baby who had quickly grown into the most impulsive, excitable seven-year-old I'd ever known. With Mumma working, I became a mother of sorts, something I didn't think I was cut out for.

At fifteen now, I was wiry and taller than most of the girls in my class and felt as much out of place with them as I looked. I could always hang with the boys though because even my skirts couldn't get in the way of my love of climbing. However, Sundays sure did. Dressed in my nicest brown skirt, there was no way I could go climbing after Willy without ripping it.

"Willy," I sighed. "We gon' be late if you carry on."

"You ain't whippin' me no more?" He asked hopefully, coltish limbs wrapped around the branch he was clinging to.

"Nah, there ain't enough time. Come down and get dressed. Mumma is gon' be here any moment with the Sir."

Willy shimmied down the trunk and thumped onto his feet. "Why is he coming anyway? I ain't never seen a Sir go to church."

"They do, they just go the big fancy one in the city yonder," I said as we went inside to wash up.

"Have you ever been to the city, Piper?" Willy asked, standing on an old apple crate to reach the wash basin so he could splash his face.

"Once, when I was real small, my Papa and I rode on his horse to the top of Windcreak Hill and I saw the city from there. It was half-dark and all the fancy lights were sparkling like fallen stars. Only got to see that once though, because afterward he started drinking and couldn't ride straight," I said, dragging the brush through my curls to try and force it all into a bun. "Then Mumma said I couldn't ride with him no more."

"Shame, I want to see the city too."

"It's nearly half an hour to Windcreak Hill on a horse. Your legs won't get you there and back in time for dinner even if you went at the lick of daylight," I said in what I figured was a kindly tone. "You need to wear a bow."

"But I wanna see the city!" Willy whined, enchanted by my description of it.

"When I get me a horse, I'll take you," I promised. "But only if you're good. Now let's find you a tie."

I went into the room he and Mumma shared to see if I could find one. Through the dusty window, I saw a fine carriage coming up the way. That had to be Mumma and the Sir.

My thoughts were interrupted by a splash and the splatter of water from the kitchen.

"What you did now?" I demanded, hurrying in.

"I was trying to brush my hair and the crate broke!" Willy said indignantly. "Wasn't my fault."

"At least you didn't tip everything in the basin," I mumbled, nudging him to the side and hastily throwing a dishcloth on the water. "We gotta go."

"But I'm bleeding," he fussed.

I checked his lip. "It ain't too bad. Suck it up."

Willy skipped out the door. "Come see, Piper! The Sir has a fine carriage horse," he said in his squeaky voice.

"Hush up or he'll hear you," I muttered.

The Sir came out first and offered a gloved hand to Mumma who took it graciously, trying not to titter. She looked mighty fine in her new silk dress and idly I wondered if she and the Sir were getting together or something. No way she bought that herself.

"Ready, children?" Mumma called.

The Sir stopped in front of us, his pink lips under his blond mustache dimpling into a small smile which slipped into a frown as he looked from me to Willy.

"Mon Dieu," he said. "Your lip."

"Banged it on the wash basin," Willy said, puffing up like he thought it was tough and cool to have a bloody lip.

"Most unfortunate," the Sir said, holding out his white handkerchief, which had a lacy edge just like a lady's handkerchief.

I groaned inwardly as Willy took it and smeared his blood and saliva on the cloth before trying to hand it back. The Sir laughed once and I snatched the cloth.

"I'll wash it and return it to you, Sir," I said with a curtsy.

"Oh, no need! I have plenty of those. Throw it away. Now, shall we?" He said, gesturing to the carriage.

In that high-up and big wheeled carriage, it didn't take long to get down to the church. Despite that, we were still a few minutes late, just enough that everyone was gathered in the churchyard and greeting each other.

"Nah," I said, shrinking back in my chair. "Everyone's gonna be looking."

"Piper," Mumma said, her eyes as brown as burnt brownies and her tone dry with a sharp warning edge.

Don't embarrass me in front of the Sir, her gaze said, it's an honor to sit in his carriage.

And it was, but all I was thinking about was how everyone would talk about us later. The girls at school would crowd around me asking questions and all the boys would make lame jokes. And the old folk would talk smack about Mumma over their Tuesday cards. Crickets, just the thought gave me a hot chill.

"You will never blend in, Piper. Best to learn that now," the Sir said bluntly, looking at me like he had guessed what I was thinking.

Looking at him straight on, I realized his hair came down to his shoulders, tucked coyly behind his ears to keep it from falling into his eyes. Something about him bugged me. Perhaps the hair or the way he sat, or his ability to deliver a rude line like that with a smile on his face. I rose to the challenge of that innocent smile.

"Neither will you, Sir. Respectfully saying, everyone is gonna talk about you and your fine horse and carriage and girly hair."

"Piper!" Mumma hissed.

The Sir laughed. "Let the girl speak, Marilyn. Honest opinions are so hard to come by these days."

"Marilyn? You call my Mumma by her first name? What's she to you?" I demanded.

Willy squirmed in his seat, impatient to get out and play.

I couldn't stand the Sir's lofty attitude and Mumma's cattle brand-hot gaze, so I threw the door open and stumbled out into the sunshine. I hadn't realized how dark the carriage had been with its draped windows.

"Now if it ain't the Maartens!" Pastor Wilkins said, walking towards us with his fat black Bible tucked under his arm.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the Sir, though. He just stood and stared, as I'd expected. I edged to the side and waited with bated breath to see what would happen. I hoped Pastor Wilkins would tell him to leave. The Sir smiled and tilted his head up to the sky for a moment.

"Such a sunny day isn't it? It surely livens the senses."

"Indeed," Pastor Wilkins drawled, having recovered from seeing a white Sir in his mainly dark-skinned congregation. "You from Gaines by any chance?"

"The grand city, yes of course," the Sir said. "Shall we?"

"Welcome to our little town, in that case," Pastor Wilkins said.

Then he walked inside with him and that was that. I arched my eyebrows. Somehow, that interaction had gone differently than I expected. I had been waiting for a polite but brutally suspicious Pastor Wilkins because I knew that man was like a guard dog around strangers, but Pastor Wilkins only seemed happy to have a rich Sir in his pews.

Disappointed, I drifted inside. Only later would I realize that the unquestioned acceptance of the Sir was just a precursor for what was to come.

#vampire #original story #oc story #writeblr #writing

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