#aka the Sidekick Squad | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

quandaryqueen · 2 years

Text

Fools Part II

Assault on Arkham Edward Nygma X Reader

After escaping a draining relationship, you find a way to restore the previous fervour for life... But fate had other plans.

Prepare yourself, this is going to be a long one.

Part I

"Oooh~" Coos Harley Quinn in intrigue. You try your best to remain apathetic, turning away and pretending you did not notice her. "I spy with my little eye, the Riddler's sweetheart!"

It irked you. Riddler's sweetheart? It's been a year since you walked away from him, but Harley does not have a way to know. It's not like a hiatus of Quandary can tell her of your split from Edward. You sigh, dropping the act. Of course Harley Quinn is here and of course, she just had to announce your presence.

"Quinn." You begrudgingly acknowledge her.

The former psychiatrist giggles before she launched herself to cling on your neck. "How's it goin' Quandie?"

"All was well until this happened." Or should I say, after this will happen. Whatever does Amanda Waller need you for? You've been clean for the past year, what could she possibly want from you?

With that revelation, everyone now knew that the casually-clothed person among them was the Riddler's former sidekick. Just your luck. It came to some fellow night crawlers that the Quandary's real identity is obscured despite being as well-known as the Riddler. Everyone knows who the Riddler is, Edward Nygma, but Quandary? Who knows? The only known details about them is their repertoire of prowess, the public debated that the mysterious figure is a multi-talented individual...

Who would have thought Y/N L/N, co-owner of the quaint cafe in 19th Street is Gotham's most wanted criminal Quandary? Amanda Waller apparently.

Ever since you walked out of the Riddler's workshop, slipped your ring off, you've abandoned your identity. You were no longer the Quandary to his Riddler and you were no longer L/N-Nygma. Everything was going fine without him but then these people decided to fuck you over. You've yet to know what was up, but fuck it, things like these succeed in seldom.

Introductions are far from needed, everyone seems to be getting along already, the nanobomb in your neck can attest to the bind of your new friendship. One quarell, aka distraction and boom. KGBeast's head was blown up, but all's fun. Escaping was out of the option, now that you're a member of the Task Force X. The hope of living normally again was taken away the moment you were finally well-adjusted back to society. Now you're sitting in the floor with six other criminals, excluding the guy whose head was blown off the moment he tried to go against Amanda Waller.

She started the meeting with a heavy one, "You're going to break in Arkham Asylum."

Sure, you have no problem with that, you've studied its structure for the benefit of breaking your former husband out, along with some of his friends. Quandary was the reason why Arkham now utelises motion lights in every corner. You can break in, with teammates surely it won't be as difficult even if their reactions vary from disbelief, namely Black Spider, Killer Frost, Captain Boomerang and King Shark, and of course enthusiasm from Lawton and Quinzel. With a wide array of teammates, consider it done.

"A week ago while in my employ, a lowlife calling himself the Riddler managed to gain access to my computer system."

Well shit. Pfft, of course Waller needs you in a way that can be held leverage to Edward. Not that he cares anyway, she would just be wasting her time if she thought she can utelise you against him. You have moved pass Edward but... What was he up to? What benefit would grant him to post information about the suicide squad? He couldn't care less for fellow convicts... Unless, of course, he needed something else from Waller. A dirt of sorts. Edward is not above doing blackmail, so no doubt blackmailing Amanda Waller really is his goal.

She continues. "He downloaded a file containing the identities and histories of every current, past and potential members of the suicide squad. He's threatning to release them all in the internet. You're going to get it back. Riddler's got one copy, and it's on a thumb-drive in his cane. Which is currently locked away in the Arkham property room."

"In the intensive treatment building right under the solitary confinement cells... Good times, ain't it, Quandie?" She turns to you with a certain fondness at the mention of Arkham.

You cannot reciprocate her nostalgia, you have never been incarcerated in Arkham. Your means of entering the building was only breaking some fellow criminals out for your benefit.

"Sure." You can only answer to Quinzel's musings with a void of interest.

"So we'll get someone inside," Deadshot chimes in.

"Is it me? Can it be me? Dibs!" Harley cheerfully exclaims, before she once again latches herself on you. You fail to hide the blantant irritation in your eyes as she shook you excitedly. She couldn't care less about your vexation. "Come on, Quandie! It'll be just like old times!"

You only broke in Arkham with her once and you weren't particularly thrilled about it. She wasn't really serious when you needed her to.

"Harley Quinn and Quandary both have encyclopedic knowledge of Arkham's layout and its logistics." Amanda Waller adds. "You'll be snuck into Gotham. You will rendezvous with a power broker who will set you up for the break in. This is as off the grid it gets, so keep the body count minimum. Deadshot, rubber bullets only."

"What about the bats?" Lawton brings up a good point. Ahh, Bats. You really didn't miss him.

"He has his hands full on another case. In fact if we get it right, we might be able to take advantage of him." After that, she begins to saunter off.

The last thing you remember was Amanda Waller scoffing in amusement, before turning away. "Gas them."

Then, you awoke, situated beside Black Spider and strapped to your seat. Amanda Waller once again wanted to present the complete control she has by dropping you in individual boxes and refused to open the parachutes until the last minute. Once the chaos has somewhat subsided, you were deployed to Gotham and arrived in the Power broker Amanda had mentioned via the sewers to avoid the Bat's radar. You were told he's kept busy but it was better safe than sorry. The aforementioned power broker was someone by the name of Oswald Cobblepot. All were a blur to you, but you only became more aware of your surroundings after dinner.

Harley was urging you to "catch up" over a glass of wine, but you declined. And to avert her attention away from you, you pointed at Lawton. Hopefully he doesn't mind her floundering about around him for your peace and quiet.

Harley wasn't the only one interested in mingling with you, in the form of Digger Harkness thinking you're a lovely little sport, draping his arm on your shoulder with a steinbif beer in hand.

"Oi, L/N! Care to join us for a pint?"

"No." Blunt and straightforward, you hoped it was enough to drive a point and yet he doesn't get it.

"Oh c'mon now, loosen up." He drawls, his weight relying on yours for balance.

Since simple refusal were already hard to comprehend for his sloshed state, you opted for an action that spoke louder. You grab his wrist and pried it off you, before taking a step aside causing him to stumble. You left with a huff, taking indignant steps to your room.

On your way back, you pass between Killer Frost and King Shark. You paid no mind to them, they seem to be getting along quite well despite the misstep in their introduction when Nanaue tried to take a bite of Louise. You didn't notice their heads turn to your direction when you cut between them, brows furrowing as to why you looked as though steam was coming out of your ears.

You arrive at your door but as you twist the knob, someone calls you by your alterego. You need not turn, you knew it was the Black Spider.

"What is it?" You turn to him, hands resting on the doorknob, just wanting to make this quick.

He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed to his chest. You hoped that this will not further spiral downwards to a full interrogation, you needed your sleep for fuck's sake.

"I was made aware of your previous affiliations with the target. Rumours also state that your relationship with the Riddler were... personal."

What the fuck does he mean by that? Wait, nevermind. With his tone, you already knew where this was going. And you can't fault him.

"You heard right. If you need assurance that I won't screw this operation up simply because of my forfeited connection with Nygma, you needn't worry. Our days together are over."

He seems to be satisfied with your answer. "Good. Just making sure we don't have another lovesick Quinzel."

"Right, I see where you're coming from." And by god, you hoped that Quin doesn't encounter Joker. "It's that all?"

"Yes. Thank you for humouring me." And with that, he turned to the corridor and was no longer there.

Finally, you were able to get inside your room and collapse on the bed.

All those months you stay clean from crime, you steer yourself in a better direction in life after a decade of experience with Edward. It was pathetic that you blamed it all on him back then. It was your choice to tamper with evidences pointing at the Riddler back in your GCPD Pathologist days, it was your choice to break him out of Arkham, it was your choice to follow him in life of a crime. You chose to become Quandary. It was your choice to become a fool.

Admittedly, it was fun while it lasted. The chaos you stirred with him, the riddles, god the riddles... You would be lying if you said you didn't miss them... It's been a year, why does it still hurt? The relenting absence of his presence in your life continues to persists and hinder your daily life. It hurts the same the moment you walked out his life. Your finger has been itching without the wedding band on it and you tried once to wear a different to fill in the sense of its absence, but it didn't felt the same. You tried to force it in yourself to move on and yet everything reminded you of him. And now you're presented the opportunity to see him again. Or is it? I mean, the mission isn't him, it's retrieving the copy of the documents he downloaded.

After tossing and turning, every hour that pass made you more restless. Frustration had you shooting up from the bed and rummage through the drawers. Surely the Penguin kept some sleeping pills in these rooms? To you chagrin, it didn't. You huff out it disappointment, once again seating yourself on the corner of your bed. Sleepless nights aren't new to you, the bouts insomnia brought by the circumstances you find yourself in. It really didn't help that you just downed a cup of caffeine to ease your headache. A glance at the clock by the bedside table informed you it was too late to sleep. It looks like you'll be downing another bottle of energy drink to keep yourself active in this suicide mission.

With no other choice, you bend to reach for the bag under the bed where your Quandary uniform has been kindly fetched from your apartment. It was ensured that they have done so discreetly, you've contacted your friend awhile ago to inform them of your absence, as if you were gone for a mundane trip. A rush of emotions flooded you, the uniform in your grasp remained the same after you had put it away.

You don't know what will happen, but you doubt this was a simple "retrieve and leave" kind of thing. Amanda Waller recruited you of all people, the fact that Edward is here and knows your relationship with him. Well... previous. But it solidifies your suspicion that she might be using you against him.

The arrival in Arkham is the cathartic one, of course. From the delay of the planting of the device to sneak yourself in Arkham due to Harley Quinn encountering her ex much to your chagrin, the guards, the cooperation of the team (lack thereof) and of course, your lackluster of a performance in the battlefield. Amanda Waller had instructed a minimal amount of body count and that didn't go well. Lawton and Harkness were in their bouts of their one-sided dick measuring contest, making a fool of themselves in the process and causing an officer to radio in an emergency alert.

There was a protruding vein on your temple, pulsating with frustration. Perhaps working alone was more of your thing, breaking into Arkham isn't this difficult for you with enough prep time. It took you all will power not to walk off and just go home. If it weren't for the nanobomb administered at the back of your neck, you would have ditched. Not to mention, you do not look forward to possibly encounter Eddie. You really did not want a repeat of Harley Quinn encountering the Joker.

Thankfully, it has been managed, your headache subsided and the only thing left for you to do was to retrieve the cane from the property room.

"Bingo," was uttered monotonously under your breath upon spotting the Riddler's crate of property. Deadshot followed behind, helping you pry the crate's lid. There, you found the main objective. Stacked atop myriads of books and complicated puzzles, the Riddler's cane.

You watch Lawton picked up the cane, but instead of opening the passage at the tip of the modified handle of the cane, he hands it to you.

"You open it."

You blink owlishly at him from the lense of your dark visors and obeyed, reaching the for question mark-shaped cane. You twist the section of the cane, the spherical, compact make-shift storage of the supposed thumb-drive. Everyone watched in anticipation as you twist it open, only for it to be empty, replacing the anticipation with shock... At least to them, it was empty of the target they intend to retrieve, but to you, it wasn't.

In the storage, was your and his wedding bands. You had your mask to hide to dumbfounded look on your face. A certain dread racked your entire body, quivering from the cold. Was it always this cold?

He... He kept it all this time?

You thought he would have thrown them away or sold it off, he told you weren't significant for him to waste an ounce of his time to think about you. You weren't worth the time to be considered to be an object of sentiment, he often chastised you for being overly sentimental and yet... He must've not had time to dispose of them, that's the only answer. He made it clear you were unnecessary in his life— but why would he go an extra mile to store your rings together in his cane?

You've long since shut down and did not notice everyone around you in a surge of panic. Killer Frost was missing, Deadshot pointed out how she was eyeing patient's cells— Eddie's cell in the security room. The rest of the team has caught on to the fact that this mission isn't about retrieving the thumb-drive. Edward knows something, he knows everything. He hacked Waller's system and fuck, you doubt it was about retrieving what he stole. He already seen them, read them, probably had it mentally noted. Why steal the documents back, when you can silence him? And with that realisation, you immediately pocketed the rings and made a mad dash towards the wing of Arkham patients.

Unfortunately, the chaos you've caused from the break-in had resulted into summoning Arkham's special forces, aka, the ones with the shields and guns, and will shoot if you don't cooperate. If only your break-in was silent, this could've been less loud. Thankfully, Waller has yet to find out about it.

You spot Killer Frost and... Him in a bit of a pickle, having been surrounded by the special forces, lacking any defense other than a broken slab of what used to be and what should be a wall. Things would have escalated from there if you didn't arrive with weapons and defenses.

This was the nearest you could ever come to Edward, the deep seated feeling of feelings were ignored and shoved further down by busying yourself with shooting back at the special forces. Harley was the only one who squinted at you for reaction and even if your face was concealed, she knows you were pushed in a tumultuous corner. That, and the fact that your aim was off.

As for Edward, try as he may to play it cool but to see you again... It does make memories resurface. Mainly, your last moments together, he was unsure how to approach. Would it make sense to approach you? Well, in his excuse, he knows that the only reason why you're here, is because of him. What else could it be? Of course Waller was going to use you against him, that's the oldest trick in the book. Or maybe it was the fact that you were a highly efficient jack of all trades.

"You were supposed to off him as instructed by Waller, correct?" Your voice was heavy with voice modulation built within your mask, but the shiver down in Edward's back was all the same. "Care to tell us why you spared him?"

"Yes. He says he knows how to turn off the bomb." Killer Frost says, side-eyeing the Riddler as if asking him to back her up.

And that he did, turning around and lowering the collar of his Arkham inmate uniform. On his nape, was the similar X mark where the bombs were implanted.

"Look familiar?" He says. "I can do it, but you have to get me to the medical bay."

"We got maybe five minutes before Waller figures out what's what." Deadshot says. You sense the improbability of that happening, since the threat of the special forces are barely neutralised. "We get to that room, or we're dead."

"We should've brought a tank." What Digger thought was a mere sarcastic quip, ended up being somewhat helpful.

"We have one." Lawton firmly pointed out, before glancing at King Shark.

Thankfully, there were no further arguements that ensued. Nanaue was particularly blunt in terms of revealing his fear of heights, but thankfully Killer Frost was there to offer her guidance. A ripped piece of fabric did the trick and some of Killer Frost's guidance, King Shark was finally able to eliminate the threat of the special forces. Soon, you were on the move for the med bay.

Edward practically burst in the medical bay, making a beeline straight to the complex control panel and monitors and began twiddling away. His voice was nonchalant, as he goes about things as casually.

"Let's see now, we need this on, this for back up..." He mutters to himself, then turns to all of you. "Grab a chair."

And so you did. You were wary of this little operation of his, seeing as the med bay contains a lot of things. Knowing Edward, oh lord, anything can be a weapon for this man. God knows, maybe the whole thing is an elaborate ruse for him to kill you... You took a seat nonetheless. Black Spider took his place by the window, keeping a lookout.

"How do you diffuse this bomb exactly?" Lawton asks, he must've had the same doubts as you were.

"It's the electro shock."

"The what now?" Boomerang raises a brow.

"I'm gonna run a thousand bolts through your head and fry your bombs." You can only watch with narrowed gaze as Edward gathered wires with pads meant to stick to your body. God, this doesn't bode well with you. "Good, now put your chairs around a circle around old sparky here."

You settle on your seat, white-knuckling the armrest as he goes around, distributing the adhesive pads and strapping your fellow inmates one by one. Everyone had stressed the fact that they were wary of whatever this operation is, Edward seems to be confident. You hated how he didn't take too long to get to you and god, the tension was already suffocating before.

"Lose the mask, Y/N." His voice was light, sweet even. It was sickening.

First of all, how dare he act as if you're back to first name basis and second, why is he pretending as if nothing happened?

But you complied, slipping your mask off and shaking your hair in place.

Edward knows how to keep things internal, so it wasn't that noticeable when he froze. To see you in your uniform was one thing, but seeing you take your mask off, be Y/N... You were as beautiful as the last he's saw you.

"Any conductives in your pockets?"

"O-Oh um..." Fuck, you didn't expect your voice to come out like that. Shy, flustered even. Your eyes refused to meet his. Not to mention, how you fumble to retrieve something in your pocket.

The confidence front he's cultivated cracked for a split-second, having bee caught off-guard when you handed him your wedding rings. He didn't expect you to keep it in your pocket after you collected the cane from the property room, where the supposed hard-drive was in.

You look up for the first time, his face sunken with solemnity. He must be deep in thought to pause like this, his eyes fixed on the rings that you placed on his palm. Not a word was spoken in the room, you couldn't sense the other presence and the eyes that were on you. The only person you could see was your lost love and how you sense his feelings. However, you wish not to prolong this stupid fucking personal stuff. It would be hypocritical of you to roll your eyes at Harley for being emotional at the sight of Joker, but here you were, unable to find your bearings before the Riddler.

"You can strap me down now."

"Of course." And just like that, you clicked the Riddler in place and his typical bravado returns.

He first pockets the bonds, before he binds you down. He was gentle, making sure the restraints weren't too constricting. He can't have your skin chaffed from his carelessness.

"It'll all be okay." His hands lingered longer than he intended, slender digits relishing the warmth that he missed. But he pried himself off before he can get carried away.

Goosebumps erupted from your skin when his fingers traced along your arm and you resisted the incoming shiver that came with it. It was already bad enough that your personal bygones were coming back in full screen before fellow rogues and not to mention, how it hinders.

All the grudge just suddenly disappeared and you didn't know why. He didn't even said he was sorry, nor do you even see it ever coming and yet you were ready to forgive him... Better yet, you already forgave him. And you were angry at yourself at the fact that you fell for him, hell, even before you can see him again. When you found the rings tucked away in the secret storage of the cane, you were at a back and fourth between your skepticism and optimism, the fact that he must've kept it because how it meant to him. And seeing him freeze when you present him the ring further solidifies that he had indeed kept it due to sentiments.

As of cue, Waller calls the leader, Lawton, but that didn't stop Edward from working. He broke off a piece of wood from a mop as a makeshift silencer for each of you. When he assist you with yours, you avert his gaze. You didn't want another repeat of the pause between you, especially when Waller is already on-call with Lawton and he's doing a bad job lying to save all your asses.

All was prepared, Waller was on the line and the electric shock was bumped to the appropriate setting, distributing electricity equally among you. A scream would have ripped itself loudly from your lungs if it weren't for the piece of wood between your teeth. Edward can only watch you convulse on your seat with a wince, his chest being ripped from the sound of your muffled pain. A few seconds more and he turns off the machine.

Your body slumped over and with your ragged breathing, the wood fell from your lips. The room stenched with smoke and you swore you saw stars dotting your vision whilst the electricity was coursing through your skin.

"Fuck, that better be it." Your voice came out from your squeezed throat.

"I'm never doing that again." Boomerang pants, eyes squinted in pain.

"Are you kidding? I feel great!" Typical Harley.

"Are you okay, Y/N?" Edward asks, voice laced with worry.

"Why'd his head explode?"

You didn't get the chance to respond, hearing a familiar beeping beside you, coming from King Shark.

"Uh... Guys?" Nanaue utters nervously.

"Run it again!" Killer Frost barks, her voice raspy.

"I don't know, maybe he has thick skin?" Edward says, voice different from when he spoke to you, as he was more nonchalant at the face of emergency.

And before you knew it, a clot blood shot at your direction and King Shark's metal mouthpiece shot forward, almost hitting Lawton and piercing through the wall. Upon opening your eyes, the figure beside you was now headless.

"Because the bomb in his neck neck didn't diffuse, you asshole." Killer Frost snaps at Boomerang.

"So what's his excuse?" Digger glances at Black Spider, who stood by the window with his head intact.

"Ohoho, that's rich..." Everyone glanced at Edward. "Haven't you solved it yet? The Black Spider, is Batman!"

Without warning, he pulls out a Glock from his pocket and began shooting towards who you thought was the Black Spider. His aim was sloppy, giving Batman a window of opportunity to throw a batarang at him, resulting to him stumbling back and accidentally twisting the control panel, activating the electro shock again.

With no muffler, screams filled the room and when you said you couldn't take a single shot of electricity in your system, you meant it. The mission was a complete shitshow, your body hurts, Batman now knows your identity, somehow it had gotten worse when the fucking Joker appeared shooting shots and throwing marble-like bombs.

You break free from your restraints from the excessive thrashing, thankfully Edward didn't made it all too tight. You yank adhesive wire off your temples, breathing heavily in amidst the smoke filled room. Upon slipping your mask back on, you pull Edward's unconscious body out of the room. You find yourself separated from the Task Force X when you got yourself and Edward in a secluded spot in the asylum. At this point, you couldn't care less about them, nor the mission. As if you'd fulfill the real mission, Waller can fucking suck it.

"Hey," you didn't hold back smacking Edward's face to wake him up. "Get up, I'm busting you out." You only stopped when you heard him sputter, his eyes shooting open and blinking rapidly to adjust his vision.

"What happened?"

"Your aim was shitty and Batman subdued your threats. You could've watched where you hand landed, I thought I'd throw up blood after that second dose of electric shock." You groan, throwing your head back and cracking it. "Look, we need to get out. The bomb's already diffused, Arkham's about to be hell and transportation will be difficult to obtain."

"Any ideas?" You rose a brow at his question.

"Aren't I supposed to be asking you that question?"

"Between you and I, you're far knowledgeable than I in this field."

He is still enamoured at the memory of you breaking him out of here for the very first time. And to be reunited through these circumstances, it almost felt poetic, walking back through memory lane.

You didn't realise you already had your mask on, looking away from him to conceal the rushing heat spreading across your face.

"Alright then," you cleared your throat. "There's a chopper, but I doubt that we'd get there especially with our lack of weapons. Arkham is presumably going to undergo a lockdown from the break-in."

"How did you even get in?" He asks.

"Penguin gave us a hand. Had a strategy catering to our roles and abilities, some of us entered disguised as staffs—" you paused, eyes widening at an epiphany. "Heh... I got it. Let's get you out of that uniform, shall we?"

Edward smirks, the long-lost warm feeling spreading across his finally returning to him, reigniting the feeling he thought he'd never feel again. He's partial to following ones lead, but he doesn't have any problem following you because in no time, Arkham Asylum was no longer in sight. You got yourself saddled in a stolen car and booked it.

"I missed you. There was no passing moment wherein I didn't think of you. You simply had an impact on me, I can't the deny the fact that I relied on you so much that I forget to do some things." Edward blurts amidst the drive, solemn eyes remaining in the road. Your neck practically snap at his direction. "I'm sorry I... I was acting like a fool."

Your tense shoulders grew lax. "Oh Eddie..."

"I truly am sorry, Y/N. I recognise that I don't deserve your forgiveness but I want you to know how regretful I am to let you go by letting myself go. I was wrong in a lot of aspects and I should have listened to you instead of being stubborn." Oh shit, he was admitting to being wrong.

"Eddie..." My love. "I forgive you. And I missed you too." You didn't expect your voice to crack. "I deny it to myself, but every waking moment I yearn for you and sometimes I'd see you at the corner of my eye and mistake strangers as you... I wanted to crawl back to you and beg you to take me back, but I was scared of getting hurt again—" Fuck, here comes the waterworks.

"Shh, hey," his hand reaches to cup your face, thumb gently running under your eye to swipe the tear away. "I'm sorry that I made you feel that way... I promise to be better."

You reach for the hand that caressed you, lacing your fingers between his and placing a kiss on his palm. "You promise?"

"I'm a man of my word." He doesn't know what he said wrong, that you started to laugh through tears. "What's funny?" He asks with a slight chuckle.

"This whole thing... It's so foolish."

"Why do you think that?"

"The fact that we're only getting back together after the worst thing has happened to us."

"That doesn't sound foolish to me. It's love."

"Well then, love is foolish."

Edward smiles, relieved that you were finally by his side again. He stops the car over the edge of a cliff, the ray of sunrise peaking from the horizon. He looks at you with sunset eyes, and leans forward. You meet him in the middle, automatically melting into his warmth. He couldn't bare to pull away even if the kiss was over, his forehead pressed against yours.

"Then I suppose we're both fools." With every word, his lips touched yours, before diving in for another kiss.

#edward nashton x reader #edward nygma #edward nigma #riddler x reader #edward nygma x reader #dc x reader #dc x you #assault on arkham riddler #assault on arkham #assault on arkham Riddler X Reader

81 notes · View notes

djrenard · 2 years

Photo

Titans (a team post-Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths):

Rook aka Tim Drake

Impulse aka Bart Allen

Steel II aka Natasha Irons

Hot Spot aka Isaiah Crockett

Aquagirl aka Tula Marius

The Aerie

Wink

Thoughts: Not a teen or sidekick team. Like Tom Taylor’s Suicide Squad and Superman: Son of Kal-El, I’d like to read about a group of young adults crossing borders and performing espionage with a dash of light freedom fighting along the way.

The Aerie and Wink have a lot of meta-human trafficking story beats worth exploring, and

I think Tim Drake is well suited for a globetrotting spy adventure. I’d like to see Tim and

Natasha Irons interact and geek out over superhero support tech. Naturally, Nat has a thing or two to teach Tim.

Isaiah Crockett and the rest of Teen Titans Vol. 2 have these unaddressed ties to extraterrestrial stories just waiting for weird exploitation.

Bart Allen deserves to grow up on his own terms.

And lastly, Tula Marius got the fridge treatment in the 80s, so I’d like for other readers to meet her outside of that context and outside of the Aquaman book. Maybe rework her key story beats in a way that doesn’t victimize her; similar to how Young Justice (tv series) has handled Terra and Oracle.

37 notes · View notes

sparrowsingsstories · 1 year

Text

The Hope and Avery Show

For @kyngsnake and his Avery, interacting with my Hope and @alder-berry Sean & Kae (and my Selena).

Because these five would be Danse's worst nightmare or maybe his best squad or probably both. Off-screen is the last member - Deacon, aka Keith, who joined the BOS with Hope to infiltrate and hates being on the Prydwen.

Only 841 words but I'm throwing most of it under a cut to save you.

It was a pretty typical evening on the Prydwen, if such things as typical evenings existed in the far flung future of the Commonwealth. Hope figured typical anything had flown out the window the moment her pod spat her out, still thawing, onto the cold concrete. It had been months ago, but she still liked to ponder it. The fact that only two people had made it out of Vault 111, that she had ended up in some military outfit, that she was currently sitting with her feet dangling thousands of feet above the relic of the Boston Airport…

A body landed next to her and she glanced over, unsurprised to see Avery, Knight Avery, her partner in crime. Well, one of her partners in crime. Her squad seemed to be made-up of people destined to stand out because of ability and because they seemed to draw trouble like dirt to a toddler.

“Avery,” she murmured.

“Hope.”

“Where’s Danse?”

“Yelling at Keith.”

Hope grinned. “Keith,” was Deacon, and he had infiltrated the BOS with her. She found it hilarious that he had to be Keith, considering that was how he had first introduced himself to her. He wasn’t a bad soldier, per se, but his mouth ran off at the least provocation. And Paladin Danse was just one big provocation to Deacon.

“Well, it’ll keep them occupied for a bit. And then Keith won’t see me sitting on the edge and pass out again.”

Avery shot her a look. “One of these days he’s going to fall off and then where will we be?”

“In a vertibird going after him?”

Avery chuckled, kicking his feet a bit as his shoulders shook. Hope grinned at his amusement. Granted, Deacon was deeply afraid of heights, and she did make him come up here all the time, but he was the one who had said he was good with joining with her. Not her fault they were stationed on the BOS’ version of a floating citadel.

The wind began to kick up as a vertibird came in to dock. It blew past the Prydwen, buzzing the landing deck and making several Lancer-Initiates shake their fists in anger. Next to her, Avery gave a heartfelt groan. Only one Lancer made anybody make that noise, Sean Kennedy.

Sure enough, a shiny vertibird sporting several non-regulation modifications docked with the Prydwen. The bird was painted a glossy black and had the Brotherhood of Steel in stylized script across the bridge of the nose. Emblazoned on the side of the bird was a pin-up of a man wearing skimpy knight under armor, posing like the Nuka Cola girl riding a mini-gun, and with mini nukes for tits. Sean Kennedy’s bird. The vertibird powered down and Sean slid out of the bird and stretched.

“Another successful flight,” He bragged, wincing as a petite woman with a cap of black hair climbed out behind him and slapped the back of his head. “Ow!”

“You dumbass. We’re all going to be in trouble because of you,” Selena, the other Lancer, grumbled.

“He’s less of a dumbass and more of a smartass,” a woman in Knight under armor said, getting out behind Selena.

“I don’t know, Kae, look at his face. Has dumbass written all over it,” Selena said.

“Hi Sean,” Hope yelled, waving and grinning as Sean waved back.

“Hey Cupcake. Hiya, Handsome. What’s a good lookin man like you doin on a beat-up piece of shit like this?” Sean asked, leering a little at Avery.

“Enjoying the view,” Avery said, waggling his eyebrows at Sean.

“Wanna…see my bird?” Sean was sauntering over to them, hips swaying temptingly.

“Maybe later, big boy,” Avery said. “Especially if Keith ends up fainting and falling off.”

“You need a rescue, I’m your man,” Sean said, tipping an imaginary hat at both of them. “Where is your sidekick, Cupcake?”

“Getting reamed by Danse.”

“Isn’t that Avery’s job?” Selena asked, pinching Sean’s cheek as she walked past them.

Hope snickered as Avery seemed to stare off into the distance with a look of sheer, unadulterated lust. Selena snorted.

“I was wrong. You’re the dumbass,” she said to Avery, who turned his nose up at the commentary.

“Come on, sweet thing. We can sit out here or we can go shower,” Kae said, giving Selena a significant look.

“Right. Before your brother tries to join us again.”

“Last one has to do the laundry,” Kae said, shoving past Sean, who tottered close to the edge and caught himself on Hope. “Sorry, Sean!” she yelled, trying to get through the door inside before Selena could.

Hope watched as Sean chased after them, shoving both of them out of the way and tearing off into the Prydwen. From inside came angry Danse noises. Deacon slowly peeked through the door, saw Hope with her legs dangling over the edge of the Prydwen, paled, and slammed the door shut.

Hope glanced at Avery, who just shrugged at her.

“Want to get beers later?” Hope asked.

“Yeah. Let’s not tell them.”

“Deal.”

#Fallout 4 fic #Avery #Hope #Kae Kennedy #Sean Kennedy #Selena #Danse #Deacon #slice of life #brotherhood of steel #look - not everybody is serious in the BOS.

5 notes · View notes

multi-muse-transect · 2 years

Text

Revised Muse Bio: Kyle Halsey

Name: Kyle Halsey

Series: Halo

Birthdate: December 12, 2536

Orientation: Pansexual

Homeplanet: Cassidy III

Affiliations:

UNSC

Spartan Operations

Fireteam Helix (formerly)

Noble Team (post-Covenant War Incarnation) (currently)

Preferred Weapons:

SAW

HYDRA

SPNKR

MA5B

M90 shotgun

M6C Magnum

Sidekick

Railgun

Description: Kyle Halsey was born in Cassidy III on December 12, 2536 to pharmacist Nathan Halsey and former ODST turned gym coach Trisha Gale while being the nephew of Catherine Halsey. As a child, Kyle exhibited traits akin to Spartan-II candidates which was observed by ONI and chosen for the HOPLITE program which was a pseudo-Spartan program that controlled aspects of a gifted child’s life so that they would become Spartan-IV’s that were above average. Kyle lived a normal life with his mom and dad with his mom regaling him with stories of her time as an ODST during the war and his dad teaching him about medicine but most importantly-AI research resulting in the family’s custom made dumb AI named Abigail. Sadly, his father fell down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole followed by sympathizing with early human supremacist groups then finally became paranoid fearing ONI was onto him and believed his wife was a spy and his son a flash clone then grabbed a shotgun from a cabinet to kill Kyle in his room but his wife anticipated it and used a concealed SMG within the walls to take him down. This gave ONI an opening as Trisha ran away with Kyle spending months on the run staying in motels but realized that Kyle couldn’t live like this and gave him to an old friend in the form Sarah Palmer where he stayed in the base with the early batch of Spartan-IV’s and befriended the commander.

Kyle was later transferred to a foster family who were friends with the Halsey’s and was mostly quiet and obedient at times while extremely gifted. He befriended a girl in high school named Valerie Harris who was another social outcast due to him being related to Catherine Halsey and rumors circulating around the Spartan-II program’s recruitments but their friendship blossomed into a romance that was sadly cut short when Claire was diagnosed with an incurable disease and while the two graduated high school and entered college, Claire passed away in Sophomore year with the last thing she heard from her boyfriend was him singing Yellow Brick Road beside her bedside thus leaving Kyle alone and graduating college with a masters of AI engineering. Kyle was embroiled in an incident in a musical festival that involved him getting drunk and high while setting a stage on fire due to the poor conditions. To avoid prison for arson, Kyle joined the military as a marine and at first hated it until he began to love it in someway feeling like he was free and due to his craftiness and bravery, was recruited for Spartan-IV program. A most notable action he’s done as a marine was using a rocket launcher to take down a banshee from a mile away and lured a kig-yar pirate crew to an airlock.

He also befriended a Spartan-II named Waylon who was a member of Silver Team during his training on Laconia Station as the Spartan became that of a mentor figure to him. During simulations, he would be called one life Halsey in Last Spartan Standing where he would constantly die at the hands of his Spartans but became incredibly better when the odds are stacked against him once he’s reduced to one life and would always come out up top. When he finished his training, Kyle became a full fledged Spartan-IV who was later assigned to Fireteam Helix aka the Sand Devils. The Sand Devils were known for their ambush tactics where they would hide in the desert and attack completely out of nowhere and Kyle was one of them. There he would have his first taste in combat in the form of Prometheans that roamed the planet of Requiem, it was known that Kyle managed to use explosives to lure a Covenant and Promethean squad by setting set explosives on a ridge to let a boulder roll over them.

Kyle served with Helix in multiple operations post Requiem including an escort mission and a night raid involving a high profile Insurrectionist leader, the first time Kyle has ever killed a human being which haunted him. He was also on the Infinity when the Created Uprising happened as he realized that Laconia Station had an AI much to his shock and desperately tried to contact them but to no answer. Kyle soon signed up for an experimental program called project DRAUGR which was spearheaded by lead scientist and AI researcher Dr. Kane Castellanos, the project involved smart AI’s that have defected to the UNSC to be paired up with Spartans and Kyle was one of them. He received more augmentations as well as the project involved AI’s controlling Spartans when they would be incapacitated as a way to reduce Spartan losses and mission failure due to the encroaching Created threat. Kyle was paired up with a smart AI named Paige who he didn’t trust since she was a founding member of the Created but began to bond with her over their mentor figures. Paige and Kyle would pass with flying colors in the process during testing alongside dozens of Spartans and while project DRAUGR was a success, it would take a while to find other subjects.

Tragedy would happen to Kyle when he met with his an old friend and another friend of Waylon in the form of Vannak-134 and learned that Waylon perished in Laconia when the station blew up. While he mourned, Kyle was soon informed that he would be transferred to a special forces Spartan Fireteam that was integrated into Spartan Operations as the UNSC needed every Spartan, that team is called Noble Team, a Spartan-III commando unit reactivated and comprised of mainly Spartan-III’s who had favorable genetic mutations that would give an edge in battle using orthodox and unorthodox tactics with Kyle being the first Spartan-IV being their new Noble-Six serving as their heavy weapons and demolitions expert. He was later called to the bridge where Commander Palmer was and the moment he arrived, it’s revealed the entire thing was a surprise party for his birthday by Palmer and his Fireteam who were bidding him farewell, for the first time he felt at ease. A day later, Kyle met the new Noble Team and suited up with them the moment the Infinity was attacked and fought through many banished though left the team semi-unimpressed as he had nothing that made him stand out. A Brute soon knocked him unconscious resulting in Paige taking over and cleared an entire hallway full of Brutes, Elites, and Grunts at the same time using a handgun and a plasma pistol. When Kyle regained consciousness, he found himself in the pelican bracing for impact where it landed as Noble Team found themselves in a war against a splinter faction of The Banished that have broken off.

Noble Team wasn’t alone on the ring as they ran into Silver Team and they discovered a plan for the splinter faction of the Banished to control a Guardian. The team ran multiple operations against the Banished as they tried to locate their leader, Raka Nawar, who was the mastermind of the plan.

Personality: Kyle is know to be very quiet and obedient while being highly intelligent akin to Spartan-II’s but he isn’t without emotions in fact. He was close friends with his previous Fireteam who he regarded as his family while the most notable relationship he has is with Sarah Palmer who is sort of a mentor and mother figure to him in fact and would exchange warm comments to each other. He has a resentment to Catherine Halsey and often feels disgusted by wearing his armor even by the sight of it when he heard the rumors of how the Spartans were made. The young Spartan was also known to be prone to outbursts of extreme violence when the odds are stacked against him but not the usual kind which is reckless but calculating likely because of the need to survive. As the Created Uprising went on, Kyle was constantly on edge worried most of the time and became slowly paranoid wanting to finish the war no matter what hence his reason for signing up for project DRAUGR.

The Spartan is known to be by the books most of the time and follows orders. But also knows when to bend them at the same. Kyle tries to find loopholes in every situation and tries to understand the bigger picture. According to him, understanding leads to complete victory as one can’t just blow up a specific part.

A strange pattern of him is noted by a psychologist is that he likes being underestimated. Underestimation to him tends to reveal a weakness with his enemies thus revealing something he can exploit. It’s been noted by Vannak that Kyle tends to do that a lot to the point he calls him a “slippery one” at that.

He didn’t trust Paige at first remembering what transpired in Laconia but the two began to warm up with each other as their partnership became more warmer, akin to Master Chief and Cortana which was noted by Catherine Halsey. His trust in Paige remained intact despite hearing the death of Waylon and the two became best partners ever since. Another aspect of Kyle is that he has a constant need to impress others for some reason, likely stemming from abandonment issues in him. Kyle also shares traits similar to Catherine Halsey as well, being more withdrawn and anti-social compared to a normal Spartan-IV as he only focused on the objective and objective only. He’s also known to be obsessed with winning all the time and becomes rather disgruntled when asked to fall back, by the time of the Created Uprising, Kyle pushed himself further and contemplated on leaving marines behind in one mission as they hindered progress which he luckily didn’t though the realization frightened him that he was willing to do such a thing.

Kyle is also aware that Paige is based off Valerie Harris with the latter being aware of it. Valerie remembers everything between them. This resulted in said mistrust between each other as both wanted to say something but can’t as they were too shocked. But the two decided to make their partnership work in order to win the war. They often have side conversations with one another about topics.

He also has a dislike for Covenant weaponry or Forerunner ones, he sees them nearly useless at times because he “could barely find any damn ammo” for them and often complain about the lack of ammo capacity when it came to Forerunner weapons. His expertise in heavy weaponry is noted as well which was seen in his skill with a rocket launcher and a HYDRA during simulations. When Kyle is knocked unconscious, Paige soon takes over and his personality changes immediately because of it, he becomes more zombie-like but more focused on the objective now more than ever as his skills would be put to the limit. Kyle, like all Spartan-4′s, revere the Master Chief and the Spartan-2′s who he saw as a perfect example of what a Spartan should be and it strengthened his friendship with Waylon and Silver Team who became acquainted with him during his training in Laconia. Waylon served as a teacher to Kyle and it influenced him to use more than just guns but also his mind as well during battle. He’s also not so familiar with the concept and idea of romance as he was in two relationships before with Spartan Carol Ward who he broke up with after eight months of dating as the two were starting to feel uncomfortable with the age gap between them and is currently in a relationship with Nina Kovan.

#halo rp #halo OC #revised bio

4 notes · View notes

gametech-horizon · 11 months

Link

#ArizonaSunshine #game #news #playstation #ps #update #VR

0 notes

keksalot404 · 2 years

Text

BIG SPOILERS FOR FORGOTTEN LAND; VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

---

Some Postgame Doodles.

#kirby #kirby and the forgotten land #katfl #katfl spoilers #kirby spoilers #elfilin #bandana dee #ribbon #aka the Sidekick Squad #king dedede #queen ripple #fairy queen #leongar #aka the royal puppet friends #taranza #aka copium

977 notes · View notes

imjustmarcy · 2 years

Text

My Ao3 review of the year!

It is here once again, the fics of the year, by yours truly, somewhat sorted by theme, date and series:

One shots and drabbles:

My Hero Wikipedia (6k): Starting off strong, the fic I have with the most kudos, hits, and that has been added to the most collections... It's just my friend's Crack idea of what would happen if Deku wrote Wikipedia pages of different pro heroes with weirdly accurate facts.

The chains that bind us to shore (16k): A late bday gift for Dabi. I had sudden DH pirate AU brainrot, so here it is. Ft the LOV as a pirate crew, Dabi as the ex Prince Touya of Aradella, and Hawks as his loyal royal guard. And complete with a pirate Playlist.

The League of Gossip (1k): Basically Dabi comes in carrying a very bruised Hawks to the LOV HQ, which results in the League spying on them.

The caged bird (1k): Yet another vent piece of Hawks. Just some hurt/comfort with a happy ending.

The Todoroki Rei protection squad (formerly known as the League of Villains) (5k): The League kidnaps Rei to mess with Endeavor. Gains the truth about Dabi's identity and a mom instead.

A pyro and a bunny walk into a fight... (3k): Dabi and Miruko's super chaotic friendship, as told from the moment they met as kids until they reunite as adults. Again, super chaotic.

I know my Shinso is a witch (2k): modern witch Shinso, and the adventures of him joining class 1A. Very self indulgent, mainly wrote this bc I am a witch and I saw a Tiktok about witch Shinso so. Look out for the Tarot Callouts and all hail Mooncake.

What do you know, it's MORE The Dragon Verse fics, this time sorted by both Crack and 'Canon' (Aka my AU where Dabi and Hawks have kid, Ryu)

A little bird told me (2k)(Crack): Alternate version to another fic of mine, 'The mysterious case of Hawks' boyfriend' where his sidekicks at his agency find out Hawks has a boyfriend, this time told by them finding out through Hawks' son that 1) He has a son. 2) The dad may or may not be Dabi. Ft a poor Tokoyami who is so tired of questions.

The day Kendo and Mori (almost) won an Oscar. (1k)(Crack): Just a little sorta side-series of the regular day of Ryu and his friends at UA, who definitely try to drive him insane.

Taking a few steps back (2k)(Canon): The story about how Dabi and Hawks reacted to knowing they were going to be parents after they fought on opposite sides of a war, and how Ryu does eventually brings them together.

Ryu Takami's guide to getting a significant other (11k)(Canon): What the title says, Ryu finally gets a Canon SO after like a year of him existing lmao. I love Alex so much BTW, and I'm a sucker for Ryu and Alex's relationship now. (Alternative title: Ryu somehow scores a hot nb latino, his poor heart is not prepared).

White bird, why can't you fly? (multichapter fic, still ongoing)(Technically an AU of my AU): My piece for the Hawks bang! An AU where the HPSC creates Ryu without Dabi and Hawks' knowledge. Hawks finds out once Ryu is a teenager that he exists and he's been trained by the HPSC all this time, so he gets him out. DH learning how to be the parents of an awkward teenager and said teenager learning how does it feel to have a family and not be treated like a soldier. Ft some bomb illustrations by my awesome parter Blanc <3

Yet another DabiHawks series. This time, with 'secret' marriage.

The adventures of one particular married couple. (2k): First part of the series, where Hawks and Dabi are secretly married, but thanks to Dabi getting arrested and him getting a concussion, secrets are spilled. Ft Dabi dramatically flipping off Endeavor while he breaks out of an interrogation cell.

The poor life choices of one particular married couple. (3k): Once again, secrets are spilled. This time by Fuyumi and Miruko. Ft a very angry Miruko because wdym Hawks is married and she wasn't invited to the wedding?

The (almost public) mayhem caused by one particular married couple. (5k): last part of the series where Dabi decides 'fuck it' and shows up in disguise to a Hero Gala in order to surprise Hawks. The public has questions.

Oh my, a Shiggy-centric series??

Single dad Shigaraki? It's more likely than you think. (5k): Shiggy finds a scared little girl with a destructive quirk that reminds him a little too much about himself, so he takes her with him. In Dabi's words 'she's already adopted you, you're a dad now.' bc we need more dad Shiggy in this Fandom. Stan Hanako Shimura for clear skin.

The aftermath of spontaneous adoption (5k): So, Shigaraki is a dad. What now? How do you keep a life of crime while also being a single dad? Shigaraki makes some decisions and we see the aftermath of them. Ft Shoto casually being a menace to poor Izuku's brain and everyone loving Hanako.

At last, something that isn't DabiHawks. Bakudeku time.

Katsuki and Izuku's guide to find your Soulmate when you're dense as fuck. (4k): Something I did last year for a secret Santa in a server I'm in. What if they were pro heroes? And fake dated? But they're actually Soulmates, they just don't know? Jk... Unless 👀

And that's it for this year! Yet another year without finishing my Ryu and Hawks' bday gift fic but oh well.

#dabihawks #dabihawks lovechild #ryu takami #mar writes #the dragon verse #mha dabi #mha hawks #takami keigo #Todoroki Touya #My Ao3 review of the year #Will my Hero Wikipedia ever stop getting so many reads?#We may never know #BakuDeku #izuku midoriya #bakugo katsuki

54 notes · View notes

shattered-glass-system · 2 years

Text

Lost in Wonderland - System

Very Me - System

(& The Mirror System)

Our backup Blog

Our headspace (April 2022)

(Host/what remains of the OG, they/them) I'm Li/Min. I'm the newest host, since around 2018. I'm 17,19 & 180 years old. (I don't understand it either, dw). Pan/Poly/Aro/Ace/Trans. My fav colours are turquoise, lavender & mint. I love to listen to NDH (a form of rock). My fav musicians are Oomph!, Lord of the Lost, Hell Boulevard, Blackbriar, Lady Gaga, Melanie Martinez. I'm kinda old-school and known to live in the early 90's. DID/OSDD, AN, PTSD, BPD & RD. Also I'm autistic. My special interest, if you want to call it that, is Sims 3 and Wonderland themed stuff (Alice Madness Returns, Fran Bow etc). I love documentaries, especially about dinosaurs. And reborn dolls. (also sum collector dolls like rainbow high etc 💚) I'm an human/alien hybrid btw, so the body looks nothing like me. I know a lot of our history but would prefer not to. My interests are pretty simple: art, music, psychology, bunnies, gaming, linguistic and probably other things. I'm a trained child caretaker. Stoner/loves not to be sober. I have two different bdsm relationships to Yume & Satan as well as a girlfriend. 🌕🛸🧡

Li's nsfw Tumblr: WitchPlease-ItsMin

(Former Little, now co Host of the LiW System, she/her) Mi/Melody/Elody/Eli, ageslider/24, pica, heavy American (?) accent, I enjoy playing harvest moon, going for walks and look around for clothes I like. I'm still figuring this out. AN/D/A

My tumblr

My YouTube channel

More info on me

Melody's Instagram

[Picture below was drawn by Li and myself]

Ally, LiW System, ageslider, 13-17, she/her, girlie stuff is cuteeee <3 brown hair 💗 has a pink tentacle skirt, one eye. Either sister and/or daughter to Li.

(Protector/Traumaholder/Caretaker, She/Her) Laurel, VM System, 29, mom of the system, hetero. Loves Jazz and Rockabilly. One of the first 3 alters. Very sweet, loves the colour red. Picture of her, and sum more info here.

(Physical Protector, she/her) Xena, VM System, 28/31, lesbian, very strong, extreme feminist. She's not good with words tho.

(Main teenage protector, she/her) Clara/Claire/C, VM System, 14-17, bi, stoner/smoker/drinker. What C looks like

(Teenage protector/Trauma Holder, she/her) Nia, VM System, 14, AN/PTSD

Cecilia, VM, mute, writer

(Trauma Alter?/Copy of Abus3r) der Schläfer (the Sleeper), narcissistic, LiW System

(Inner manager?) Harmony, ghost/angel/goddess(?) LiW System

Eve & Loreley LiW System (?)

Mimi, Mushroom Alter, she is tiny, Melody's "Sidekick"/Innerworld helper. Picture will follow here LiW System

Tiffany, inner protector to Melody(?), blue ghost, split from Melody. LiW System

Our Littles:

-S. & L. 4 & 7, twins. Traumaholders. VM System

-L. A copy of the hosts younger self. LiW System

Host? The evil Queen. M System

Vicky, she/her, M System

Isa it/it's, Black Slime with tentacles, VM System

(Co Host?) Liana, human, she/her, ginger hair, green eyes. AN, SH, RD, M System

Lia, Co Host, more will follow, VM System

Markus the Hydra (just a nick), 38, VM System

Louna, poc, night/moon, VM System

Zac, introject (?), 17, LiW System

Mom/Mother, inner manager (?), VM System

The Shadow, 4buser part, M System, apparently doesn't communicate verbally with others, threatens sue/hom1c1de, exentric in his own ways (??), apparently enjoys playing harvest moon as well, will "play games"

Protector "The Psychopath"

(aka Marc)

Marc's Tumblr

Marc's Instagram

Snow/Snowy, Little (~4-8), likes birds, plants and the color white. Views Min's best friend as her caretaker/mom.

Judas/Mr J, he/him, Su1c/de Squad Joker introject

Belladonna, Witch, royalty like behavior, "humans are servants", Black hair

Atropa, sister to Belladonna

Selina, she/her Sirene, 16, dancing/quirky, adhd

Tommy, she/her, 5

Gesa, 30, long black hair, black dresses

#did #system #actually traumatized #osdd #did system #actually traumagenic #traumagenic

23 notes · View notes

url-is-url · 2 years

Text

At some point, I’m going to write a crossover of Danny Phantom and Moon Knight (haven’t decided if I wanna do MCU!MK or Comics!MK, but probably Comics!MK)

My vague idea is something something, the trio is looking for some ghost artifact from ancient Egypt that some human has gotten their hands on, and said human is causing chaos with it. They follow their leads to NYC. Tucker keeps being drawn to the Midnight Mission, “I don’t know why, I just feel like there’s something important there” because OBVIOUSLY this is a pharoah Tucker AU.

Due to mutter mutter plot reasons, oh no Danny gets separated from the squad! Tragic. As a Hail Mary, Sam and Tucker go to the Midnight Mission.

The scene stops. Tucker stares down MK, immediately understanding what his whole deal is. MK stares down Tucker, immediately understanding what his whole deal is. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” they say in unison. It’s the beginning of a very strange bromance.

In the comics, MK currently has a sidekick/friend/secretary named Reese, who’s a vampire. She was a vegan before this, she has NO interest in drinking human blood thank you very much. She would have an interesting dynamic with Sam, because she’s basically living Sam’s worst nightmare. MK also has a foil/rival named Dr. Badr, aka Hunter’s Moon, aka The Other Fist Of Khonshu. I think all scenarios where a Regular Normal Doctor has to interact with Danny are extremely funny. I don’t know what the context would be that makes this happen, but it WOULD happen.

#tucker would have the BIGGEST crush on tigra #danny phantom #moon knight

15 notes · View notes

musicfeedsmysoul12 · 3 years

Text

Headcanon Stuff

I realized I have a lot of headcanons how hero licenses work and I wanted to share them. Note: Some of this is based on Canada’s driving licenses. As well this includes what I call Quirk Permits.

Quirk Permit

We see multiple cases of people using their Quirk in public- Inko one of them when she pulls her son’s toy to her. As such, I have thought up what I call a Quirk Permit.

A Quirk Permit is a permit that lets you use your Quirk in specific areas. For example: A learning permit allows children to use their Quirk in training areas to learn how to control them.

The system goes like this:

Learning Permit: All kids get this. It lets kids learn to use their Quirk in specific areas and also at home.

Training Permit: Kids with unstable or dangerous Quirks or kids who want to be heroes get these. These permits allow the children to train their Quirk in specific areas or in their own home and backyard.

In Home Use Permit: Inko has one of these. It allows her to use her permit while inside her home. In fact most of the population has these.

Job Specific Permit: Uraraka and Midoriya discuss this briefly. He mentions she can get permission to use her Quirk at her parents’ company which is what this would do. So if you can use your Quirk at your job you get this one.

Public Use Permit: A permit for the usage of Quirk in public. Now, these permits only go to people like Hagakure and Tokoyami- Quirks that are on all the time or those who have Sentient Quirks because they can’t help what their Quirks do.

Hero Licenses

Now we get to the licenses.

Provisional License: I honestly think this is like a learner’s for a driving exam. You only can use it with permission and while under the watch of an older mentor.

Intern License: Like a class 5 GDL (For Americans and others who don’t know- Graduated. Not an actual license yet, but close enough most of us stick with this for a few years or forever), this license is used for Interns who aren’t sidekicks but no longer need the supervision of someone more experienced. (Also, side note- I then headcanon part of the reason Mirio doesn’t take Eri with them is because technically he isn’t allowed to be the mentor for Izuku while he only has a provisional. Like everyone sends interns the first few days of casual patrols but otherwise no.)

Sidekick License: Like a Class 5 license, non GDL, they are a sidekick who doesn’t need to be supervised, and can mentor Provisional and Intern.

Now this is where I kinda step away from what I’m used to.

Rescue Hero License: Self-explanatory, the licenses that a rescue-based hero uses.

Capture Hero License: A license that a hero based in capture uses (Meaning they restrain villains.)

Intelligence Hero License: A license an information gatherer would use as a hero. Also is known as ‘undercover hero license’ as heroes who work undercover also use this.

Combat Hero License: A hero who engages in combat would have this as a license.

All Rounder License: A license that lets someone work as rescue, capture, intelligence and combat. You can work your way up to this one- you just need to pass each license exam.

Underground License: Just the All Rounder license but you HAVE to get it to work underground. All Rounder License holders enter into the official records for heroes, but underground heroes don’t. This is also the hardest license to get as you MUST take all of the exams at once, as underground heroes have to often do all four at once.

Now- you can have two or more licenses. Most people have combat no matter what. It’s rare that a hero doesn’t.

Thirteen for example has Rescue and Combat listed on their license. However, they aren’t a good fit for Capture as part of their duties, So when participating in raids they aren’t allowed to work with the capture squad.

Mt. Lady has Capture, Combat and Rescue on her license.

Kamui Woods has the Same

Now, then, we get into it more.

Someone can only have an Underground License but also work partly as a limelight hero. This is Sir Nighteye.

Most students who graduate from a Hero High School only have a Provisional or Intern license. It is very rare that people graduate with a Sidekick or Hero license. You can, it’s just rare.

Some don’t even have a license at all.

So then, this is where I play with the school system.

Hero School System

You have hero schools and then Hero Universities.

But this is where I really have fun.

Rescue Hero Schools: Schools that are based solely on training rescue heroes.

Combat Hero Schools: Schools that are based solely on training combat heroes.

Intelligence Hero Schools: Schools that are based solely on training intelligence heroes.

Capture Hero Schools: Schools that are based solely on training capture heroes

Now- there are a hundred at least EACH of these schools. They’re not rare.

But then we have the rare type.

All Rounder Hero Schools: Schools that do not focus on only training one type. This is what UA is. As well, typically underground heroes come from these schools and each school has at least one or two on staff to train potential underground heroes.

UA has Eraserhead and actually another who is a Math teacher for Gen Ed.

Now, when someone graduates from one of the above but does NOT have a license yet, or only has an Intern or Provisional license, they then typically go to a Hero University where they continue their education.

This is where I really mess with canon.

As we know, a stat offered about UA is that only 0.2% of people who take the exam actually get in. I in turn call that statistic taken out of context.

0.2% is the over all amount of graduates per year FROM UA that come from the hero course Meaning- out of 20,000 graduates, only 40 come from the UA.

And before anyone goes that’s too high, it really isn’t. Japan in 2019 had 126.3 million people.

UA is actually the only hero school that almost always has students graduate who do become heroes. Shiketsu usually is about 50/50.

Hero Universities are places students continue learning or actually start their journeys. You don’t need to have come from a hero course to enter a Hero University. In fact, some purposely focus on other things first because they A) need more time to work with their Quirk or B) had other reasons they couldn’t enter a hero based course in highschool.

There is also another school. It’s made for students who have the potential to be heroes but have serious attitude issues that cause plenty of problems for others, or they have criminal records (Nothing to serious is allowed, but theft, minor assault cases and the such is allowed. Drug dealer, sexual assault and murder no). This school is special as you are required to go to a hero university before being allowed to get any sort of license at all.

Hero Licensing Exam Rules and Laws

I made this it’s own section because I wanted to include the Hero University stuff to.

Provisional Licenses are good for fifteen years. After that, you’re done. You don’t get to take the exam again. This is done because you then take the other licenses while you still have it. Let’s say you take the Provisional at age 18- you then have until you are 33 to try and get another. Provisional licenses are ONLY offered if you are part of a Hero Course High School or attending a Hero University. You MUST be either one. Or you must have attended one.

Intern Licenses are good for five years each, and you can retake the licenses four times- make it twenty years you can remain as an intern. You cannot renew, but can retake. You also NEED to have at least three months with a provisional under your belt. If you do not retake before the five years (plus a month in case of time issues), you drop back to a provisional. Intern licenses are handed through agencies or by a mentor hero. You must either have a mentor or an agency vouch for you.

Sidekick Licenses are good for five years, and you can renew. Failure to renew means you drop back to intern. There is NO limit to this. You can remain a sidekick for your entire career- in fact a lot of people do because they can’t get a hero license. To get a hero license is extremely difficult. Sidekick licenses are only offered once you have had an Intern License for a year.

Hero Licenses are good for five, and you can renew. Failure to do so means dropping back to sidekick. There are no limits to hero licenses, however the test itself can ONLY be taken ten times. After that no more. You can’t take it again. If you can’t pass the test in ten times, they don’t want you to be a hero. You must have had a Sidekick License for two years before taking the test.

Exceptions to hero licensing are if a student is getting more experience then normal. For example: Class 1A students have villains targeting them, so they might be allowed to get intern licenses early with the potential to land sidekick ones early to, and All Might received a Hero License early due to a lot more experience.

Hope this all made sense for how I have things set up in my fics!

Heroic Law

AKA Random Laws that might be references (created mostly by @anastasian-dreamer but I use them to)

Hero’s Right To Privacy: Any hero, when not on duty, has the right to stay out of the public eye without consequence or being pressured to otherwise. The following law is the only exception.

Public’s Right To Knowledge: If someone is suspicious that a hero is performing poorly outside of duty, be it illegal activity or societal indecency (?), the public has the right to demand a publicist investigation. This law can not be abused due to the previous law.

Hero Executioner: In extreme situations, and only by no other choice, a hero has the right to kill a villain.

Note1: the hero must be ready for an intense, publicized inquiry into their actions

Note2: If the hero uses this law 3 times at any point in their careers, they will be investigated for abuse of the law.

Addendum: Due to the Paralisa Inquiry1 in France, the Hero in question will be tested for unknown quirk developments before being investigated for law abuse.

1: the Paralisa Inquiry refers to when the French hero Paralisa was investigated for Abuse of the Law. An unrelated quirk check revealed that her quirk, a paralysing neurotoxin gas, had increased potency over time and had become deadly. Paralisa was compensated for the trauma caused by the quirk development and the investigation.

Hero’s Right Of Public Care: If a hero has reason to suspect that someone is being abused, the hero has the right to start an investigation and remove that person from the situation.

Note1: The hero must be ready to defend their logic.

Hero’s Right To Defense: if a hero is attacked, verbally or physically, the hero in question has the right to defend themselves accordingly.

Public Right of Dismissal: If enough of the public decides that a hero’s actions are sufficiently unforgivable, the public has the right to demand that hero be dismissed from duty immediately as long as the public has not relied on prejudice or gossip for their demand of dismissal.

Hero’s Right To Family: A hero has the right to have a family. A hero cannot be denied the adoption of a child due to their job. A hero has the right to retain custody of their child unless they have proven to be unfit, not because of a dangerous job.

Note 1: A hero also has the right to marry who they wish.

Note 2: A hero’s family has the right to remain private unless permission is given to the media to report on the family.

#bnha #bnha headcanon #laws and stuff #the system doesn't make sense #so we made it do so

146 notes · View notes

batboyblog · 2 years

Note

Ok one more Ideal Team Lineup Ask from me for now;

If I were charade of a DCU, I’d had two operating Titans Teams, one a premier lineup that deals with larger scale world saving feats and even intergalactic diplomacy, being mostly on par with the Justice League in terms of importance in the superhero community while the other being a ‘B-Team’ that deals with smaller scale operations, not anyones’ group of sidekicks at all and will the one that back ups the former team if a situation gets hectic. The premier team gets a T Shaped Tower in Earth’s Orbit, being on the other side to the JLA Watchtower while the ‘B-Team’ has a T Tower in Bludhaven Bay.

For Team A or as I call them, the Justice Titans

- Dick Grayson-Wayne aka Nightwing

- Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran aka Starfire

- Rachel Roth aka Raven

- Garfield Mark Logan aka Beast Boy

- Victor Stone aka Cyborg

For Team B or just simply, the Titans

Core Membership here would be

- Donna Troy aka Troia (the First Wonder Girl)

- Garth of Shayaris aka Tempest (the first Aqualad)

- Roy Harper aka Red Arrow

- Lilth Clay aka Omen

- Karen Beecher aka Bumblebee

Members that while not exactly core teammates but present if needed include Mal Duncan aka Herald (or Guardian if we go by YJ Animated), Joey Wilson aka Jericho (son of Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke) and Wally West as the Flash, when he operates outside of Central City of course (he alternates shifts for operating in Central between himself and his uncle Barry Allen)

Thoughts on all this?

I believe canonically there are two Titan towers, one in NYC harbor and one in San Fran

any ways me personally I kinda like bigger teams, its part of why JSA is my favorite team of all time because like there's 25 people on the team, I find it gives you more story flexibility, you can focus on 2-5 people having a moment in one comic and then deal with a totally different combination next issue and you know shit is getting #real! when we get everyone all together

for me personally I think of the New Teen Titans squad (plus I guess Garth and Roy?) as "core" to the Titans

For me the difference between the JLA and The Titans or really any team is the JLA is work, like yes they are friends and stuff but a JLA book shouldn't be really about interpersonal stuff so much, its a job.

Titans its a family and saving the world is not the biggest focus to the story? its more about them finding their space in the world, dealing with adulthood, post-sidekickdom, parenthood, being married/in long term relationships etc while being heroes and also facing down one day replacing their parent figures, or in Wally's case having replace his parent figure but still feeling like he belongs at the kid's table.

Any how. I do like the idea of a Titans West, I like the idea of for me, Gar trying to be in charge of a younger more needs training type team. I've always been a big big fan of Flamebird (Bette Kane) so I'd love to see a Beast Boy Flamebird lead team of more Teen Titans based out west, maybe rope in some of Damian's Titans like Crush, Red Arrow (Emiko Queen), Roundhouse, maybe Ravager and Argent as well.

#Titans #Teen Titans #also you can ask as much as you like

9 notes · View notes

niallloverontheloose · 3 years

Text

“Sterek and Steter fans dislike Scott McCall because he is the most important character of Teen Wolf”

https://princeescaluswords.tumblr.com/post/646995619305619456/the-whole-thing-with-the-boy-who-runs-with#notes

@russianspacegeckosexparty: The whole thing with “the boy who runs with wolves” fandom fixates on is that… at it’s root? I don’t disagree! You absolutely can/should talk about the fact a regular human works with + fights alongside supernatural creatures and is a part of the Pack (and its first member after Scott). But instead of actually delving into that, they always use it to show Stiles’s superiority to them (mostly Scott). Countless fic where Stiles is basically a one man army with all their skillsets rolled into one person, which…. goes against the whole “pack dynamic”. They contradict themselves by simultaneously wanting him far away from the pack after showing them up with his Spark powers and they don’t “deserve” him… but also they want him the most important member (when packs don’t have rankings of importance + multiple people can be good at something + that’s OK cuz being in the McCall Pack isn’t about filling a niche, it’s about being friends and allies)

Claude @princeescaluswords Frollo:

This is one of the things that drives me crazy about how parts of the Teen Wolf fandom and especially the Sterek and Steter fandoms react to the show. They simply cannot recognize that even though the show is about Scott, the production never made Stiles unimportant.

Stiles is intrinsic to every single season. He makes significant contributions to the plot throughout the season and is tactically important in every single climax. The writers literally created things for him to do that were completely unnecessary to a plot’s resolution in order to remind the audience that while this is Scott’s story, a big part of that story is his friendship with Stiles.

In Season 1, he is the one who turned the tide of the final battle by throwing the first Molotov cocktail (Steter shippers hate that). In Season 2, he delivers Lydia to the warehouse so she could help Jackson. In Season 3A, he saves the people trapped in the root cellar with a timely arrival, etc. Stiles has a significant role in every season even when he was possessed, kidnapped to another dimension, or in Washington D.C.

And yet, he doesn’t have the most important role, and to them, that is something that cannot be borne.

Now, take any month of writing in the Teen Wolf fandom on AO3. Look at the top story by kudos and/or hits. Hell, look at the top twenty stories by kudos and/or hits. If Scott is in that story – which isn’t a given – I will bet you that in ninety-five percent of those stories Scott is either a background character or an antagonist. In the other five percent, he’s the villain.

But isn’t that the nature of transformative works? There are certain tropes that people like to apply and choosing love over friendship seems to be very big. Except there’s something you might notice. All of this is dependent on reducing or condemning the role of Scott in Stiles’s life. Even if he’s a good friend, he gets diminished to the role of emotional support animal.

It really isn’t about Stiles yearning for love and affection. It is, frankly, transformation with the specific goal of righting the show’s wrong of making a hero of color the central character.

It’s the same reason that the BAMF Stiles stories almost never have Stiles placed into positions where he has to make significant choices, because it’s not about the nature of power, it’s about Stiles being more important than Scott. You know how I know this? Because Stiles almost never uses his power for any other reasons but his own comfort. The purpose of power is Stiles’s triumph and nothing else.

It’s the same among the “Ensemble, Ensemble, Ensemble!” crowd. These people go full meta, but their goal is the same. They can’t stand that a hero of color is the central focus, so they argue, quite simply, that he isn’t. Except that there’s not a single plotline on Teen Wolf that doesn’t involve or concern or require Scott in some way. Even Derek and Peter’s field trip to Mexico is ultimately about Derek anointing Scott as the Protector of Beacon Hills. Even Kate framing Derek in Season 6 is about her coming for Scott and Derek coming to protect him.

And there are plenty of plotlines that don’t include other characters. You don’t need to look any farther than the incandescent rage of parts of the fandom that Stiles wasn’t involved in Scott’s Master Plan against Gerard. How dare Scott not tell Stiles? How dare Scott not run it past Stiles? Because it’s not Stiles’s story and it’s not an ensemble. It’s Scott’s story, and Stiles isn’t involved in that part of Scott’s story. It’s the same reason that Deucalion’s disinterest in Stiles frustrates them to no end.

So they, in the dull, baffled rage common to most racists when confronted with the idea that not all stories have to focus on a white character, move to alleviate that stress by creating an alternative world where the white character IS the most important person, regardless of whether that makes any sense or not. (Not just in Teen Wolf. I’m seeing the same thing where Bucky Barnes has become the absolute focus of the fandom surrounding The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to the point where you look at their works and go Sam Who? Or the Julie and the Phantoms fandom where you’d have to search to find out who the hell Julie is.) And well, as for the hero of color who had the nerve to be more important and the focus of the story? Well, they have to demonstrate how just unworthy he is to even be considered a main character.

And so, The Boy Who Runs with Wolves is wasted, because they want more than anything else to turn it into The Boy Who Runs the Wolves. And that’s not what Teen Wolf is about.

Except that Teen Wolf is an ensemble show. Even Tyler Posey has no problem acknowledging it. So why do Scott Stans?

Teen Wolf Season 3B – aka the highest rated and most critically acclaimed Teen Wolf season ever – is entirely focused on Stiles Stilinski and on Void Stiles with star & breakout star of the show Dylan O’Brien as its front and center. Stiles is the main and central character in Season 3B. Scott’s just the oblivious sidekick ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Of course the Scott McCall defense squad could argue that Scott is important because he has a season that revolved around him, too: Teen Wolf Season 6 was supposed to be Tyler Posey’s time to shine, and it’s the season in which Posey felt like “the leader and star of my own show again”. Jeff Davis and the show writers/producers took full advantage of Dylan O’Brien, Tyler Hoechlin, Stiles and Derek’s absence and made Season 6A/B all about Scott McCall. The results? Fans stopped watching and Teen Wolf got cancelled due to shitty ratings.

Also: the only ones who hate the fact that Stiles wasn’t involved in Scott’s dumb Master Plan and that Scott plotted/conspired with Gerard behind everyone’s back to violate Derek are Scott Stans themselves; and that’s only because they can’t even try to blame Stiles for Scott’s own abusive actions and behavior in Season 2

#anti scott mccall #anti tyler posey #yup #submission

17 notes · View notes

ectonurites · 3 years

Note

Am I the only one who doesn’t like that they’ve given away Cassie’s Wonder Girl title and set this new character up as the future Wonder Woman out of nowhere? I’ve always seen Wonder Woman as Cassie’s future, and I feel like the comics definitely pointed towards that. But now there’s this new character who I don’t feel has earned it. And honestly? I feel the same way about Jon being seen as a shoo-in for taking over as Superman. And I love Jon! (At least I did before he got aged up. Now I’m sadly either indifferent or annoyed depending on the day) But I feel like Superman has always been Kon’s future, and now it’s been given to someone else. So where does that leave them? Kon’s no longer seen as one of the main Supers, Superman isn’t his future, and now he’s been shunted onto the Suicide Squad. When you introduce new characters this way, eventually older characters get pushed out of their spots to give ‘legitimacy’ to the newer ones.

Sorry for ranting! This got a bit away from me. Apparently I’m more upset about this than I thought I was!

Don’t be sorry, I totally get you!

I rewrote this multiple times to try to keep it short but I had some tangentially related thoughts, that got long.

To me the big problems with these hero legacies is... if you’re not gonna ever let go of your main big characters, then the characters who are considered ‘in line’ for the titles are.... just going to perpetually be ‘in line’.

Because I mean, DC is never gonna actually kill/retire Bruce, Diana, or Clark permanently in the main timeline. They make the company too much money. Even if creatively it’d be cool, DC still wants to be financially successful. So their legacies are always going to be people in line for something that will only come to pass in like special events, or alternate futures, or for smaller periods of time etc etc.

Setting up a character to be in this ‘waiting’ position can be cool, again that’s how a lot of sidekicks are. But, it’s understandable that after a while, keeping the same character in this ‘waiting’ position kinda halts them from becoming anything more, and it could get boring. So introducing new characters who might approach the position in a different way, and bring new life to it, definitely can make sense to do!

BUT if you’re going to introduce new characters to be in these ‘waiting for the legacy’ positions, you need to be damn sure you have a PLAN for the characters who were doing so previously!

Dick and Donna and Wally had all already moved on from their titles by the time Tim, Cassie, and Bart came around. (Dick was Nightwing, Donna I believe was going by ‘Darkstar’ when Cassie was introduced, and Wally was the rare case where he DID actually become his mentor’s old role longterm, since Barry was dead for a pretty long time after Crisis on Infinite Earths) (also Sorry Kon but you get left out at this part because there was no Superboy in that generation) (also rip Jason but Tim is more relevant to this discussion, Jason falls outside of either of these generations and especially is tricky with the whole death and resurrection thing, but he was out of the Robin/potential future Batman position too by Tim’s time because of death. and when he came back he did his own thing) This allowed Robins and Wonder Girls to not really step on each other’s toes, and Bart initially using the Impulse name instead of Kid Flash anyways distanced himself further.

Later though we saw what can happen when a new person comes into a role before the previous person was ready to give it up, aka the whole Tim & Damian fiasco. But, because Tim still had a solo book as Red Robin that allowed him to continue developing a distinct role and begin to establish himself while Damian did his own thing as Robin separately, it turned out relatively okay! Until that reboot hit and Tim just became stagnant as hell due to de-aging and backstory tampering. Because they just fucked with his character so bad and then have had to spend Rebirth trying to fix it.

And now with Cassie & Yara we’re entering this period of a similar ‘new person present in the role while the previous person is still around’ situation, except... the previous person in the role isn’t being given a space to continue to grow and create their own legacy like Tim was starting to do in Red Robin.

Yara is going to be getting a solo and Cassie’s not... anywhere. That’s what concerns me. If Cassie was at least still going to be in like a team book, be in a place that would allow her to keep being explored as a character and hopefully start to maybe find a new distinct path of her own since Yara is now the one in line for Wonder Woman, then I wouldn’t mind as much. Giving Cassie a different direction could be really cool for her! But when that’s super not the case, like how it seems right now, it just makes me sad because Cassie’s really going into limbo.

Kon & Jon’s situation is messy as hell because of Kon not existing for a while, and rapid aging etc but DC has made it pretty clear by placing Jon right with Clark and shoving Kon into the Suicide Squad which one is the main Superboy they’re interested in exploring and having be the next in line for Superman. And even though it sucks that the Suicide Squad of all places is where they’re putting Kon, at least he IS in a book that will maybe allow them to work on keeping him distinct and maybe finding a new direction? I just wish it was a different book.

And with Kon specifically its complicated even more than the Bat legacy or the Wonder legacy because Kon was literally created to be Superman one day. We can compare being a sidekick to being in line for a legacy in other cases, but Kon was never even a sidekick, he was always the clone created to take over for Superman. So for him of all people, taking away that legacy is even heavier. And I don’t even want to say it’s bad necessarily, because a lot of stuff Kon has done has been ‘trying to be my own distinct person from Clark’, but again if you want to explore him going down a different path the answer isn’t to just make a new Superboy and shove Kon off into a corner.

Then Bart & Irey’s situation’s unique because neither of them are really reported to be showing up in anything right now, but technically there’s two Impulses too since Irey was yeeted back into existing a while ago. So that’s a thing. (and it’s tricky because right before the reboot when Irey had become Impulse, Bart was Kid Flash so that didn’t contradict anything, but now Wallace is Kid Flash, so it puts Bart in an awkward situation)

But yeah essentially, I think it’s understandably frustrating. If DC had a clear plan for the Tim/Kon/Cassie/Bart generation right now then I wouldn’t mind the strong push on the newer characters now being the ones in line to fulfill the legacies/roles. It’s just that these guys are mostly getting left behind or being stuck without a proper place to develop, which sucks a lot.

Again, at least Kon is in an ongoing book, and we know we’re getting one Tim story that the description mentions him “looking for a new purpose” so that’s definitely the right idea/on the right track, but I just don’t want Cassie and Bart to get left behind.

#Anonymous

11 notes · View notes

marybeatriceofmodena · 4 years

Text

Ben Solo’s Story Arc - An Autopsy

This will be the second post before I publish the full TROS review, mainly because it’s yet another thing I want to get out of the way first. After which, I’ll be posting an announcement about the future of this blog, but no worries – I’ll be sticking around.

After Rey and her parentage, I’ll be talking about Ben here specifically – mainly because I have a pretty big inkling that his plotline for TROS was mutilated, and that he initially actually had an arc.

Except, somewhere in the executive meddling, for reasons I myself am not sure of (okay, I got some theories but it’s pointless to share them here), it got cut.

The Rise of Kylo Ren might be an inkling that there was something more in the works, also that when it comes to its take on Snoke, it directly contradicts things TROS sets up. The simplest explanation is that the Lucasfilm Story Group had a hand in TRoKR, and not for TROS. But even then… the comic reveals things that make me BAFFLED they didn’t put that in the films. I don’t want to be that person who thinks 30 minutes of TLJ should have been dedicated to Snoke’s origins, but stuff like how Ben didn’t even destroy Luke’s Jedi Camp? THAT’S the kind of thing you need to include in your film.

Also, I 110% believe the rumors that JJ Abrams just ignored the Story Group’s existence entirely. Wanna know why? Just the fact that Exogol is established as the Sith world… when we know thanks to The Clone Wars that it’s Moraband – which would have been super easy to use. But fuck continuity I guess.

I will say though, I am NOT surprised it’s leaking out that the movie was severely tempered with and was constantly changing during production, simply because from my first (and only) viewing… I could tell something was wrong. Namely, I could tell that Ben’s arc had been mutilated – and the more I think about it, the more glaring it gets. It’s not even that I’m mad that Adam Driver (aka Golden Globe/Academy Award nominee Adam Driver) gets relegated to playing Darth Exposition for 75% of the film (and godawful exposition at that), it’s literally that so much of what remains of his arc makes no sense, and it affects Palpatine and Rey by extension.

I explained why Rey’s character arc was butchered here, and I’ve also talked about how Palpatine’s implication in her arc didn’t work either, so I won’t talk about it too much here, nor do you need to have read it prior in order to understand this post. I will also point out that a lot of what will be my speculation – so for all I know, I could be wrong, but I’m trying to fill in the holes here.

So, for starters… somehow, Ben knows that Palpatine is still alive. Somehow, he knows how to get to him. AND SOMEHOW, THE WRITERS DECIDED NOT EXPLAINING SHIT WAS THE WAY TO GO. This is not even on the level of not explaining who the fuck Snoke is in the two previous films – while I do think there could have been a throwaway line in TLJ, it didn’t “hinder” the story.

HOWEVER, not explaining how Palpatine is still around and kicking (well, he’s on life support so kicking might be a little too flattering), why he decided to reveal himself right there, right then, and how the hell Ben knows he’s around, how he figured out how to get to Exogol using the holocrons… THAT IS A BIG PROBLEM. This is the triggering element of the rising action in your story. But before you do that, YOU. NEED. EXPOSITION. TO. SET. UP. THE. CONTEXT. OF. YOUR. STORY.

What TROS did would be like skipping Finn’s intro when he’s with his Stormtrooper squad on Jakku, removing the interrogation with Poe and Kylo entirely, and just start TFA with him escaping with Poe without any explanation given. Oh, and also cut out Rey’s introduction as well, and we first meet her when she kicks Finn’s ass in Niima Outpost. You’d just have a bunch of characters coming out of nowhere, and you’d have no frigging clue what they’re doing, and what they want. And that’s what TROS does with Ben and Palpatine.

Take the handling of Snoke, for instance. I’d be a lot more mad about the Snoke retconning if it wasn’t for… what I’m going to call the “Snoke Stew” (and I’d crack a joke about how it was probably made with the DNA of a guy called Stu, which is not funny but still funnier than most of the jokes in TROS). That’s pretty much the one thing that stops me from being mad, because of how STUPID it is.

But the explanation for Snoke’s origins just… retcons so much that has been established before, INCLUDING INFO FROM A COMIC THAT CAME OUT AFTER TROS. We knew Snoke had a past, even if we weren’t privy to it yet. We did kind of know that he was a rich guy, like all the shitty rich people we saw in Canto Bight, who happened to be a Dark Sider and was seemingly smart enough to kill his way to the top. Considering how exploitative the First Order is when it comes to resources and that a rich patron would be welcomed with open arms, it makes sense.

With the explanation given by TROS, it just provides a fuck ton of plotholes to the fact he took over the First Order while killing off old Imperial higher-ups to establish himself as Supreme Leader. Do you really think a guy in a golden bathrobe would just be able to take over out of fucking nowhere because he killed all the higher-ups? No. And even if some of the higher-ups knew that Snoke was a Palps plant (like Pryde seems to), I doubt Ben would have stayed Supreme Leader for as long as a year.

But that’s not even the biggest problem! Seriously, I don’t know if Palps is senile in this film, because we got an ENTIRE trilogy explaining how the guy is one of the worst evil masterminds to have ever lived, in the Galaxy Far Far Away and even in today’s culture. Here, you don’t even understand what the fuck he even wants! I’m “guessing” he fucked with Ben to get his revenge on Anakin, because he uses Ben as his lackey while being seemingly totally oblivious that Ben is working against him (what happened to “every voice in your head”???). He wants Ben to kill Rey… while knowing Rey is his granddaughter, and while telling her when she shows up that he wants to use her as a new host or some shit. Seriously, MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY.

This said… I honestly wonder if Ben was initially meant to be the new host, and not Rey. Because not only that was an actual theory I had pre-TROS, but it would make a shit ton more sense than having Rey be the host – not to mention it’d be the ultimate revenge against Anakin (and if you want to get REAL yucky, he may have planned to have Rey be his new consort, but I’ll spare you more speculation about that aspect). But nah, I guess.

The most damning thing in all this is that there’s no difference in Ben’s overall behavior and actions AFTER Snoke has been killed, when it’s clear Snoke was the biggest influence on him. Saying that Palpatine just kept messing with him makes no sense because with Snoke dead, any voice Ben would still hear would make him go “NOPE” and do exactly the opposite of what said voice tells him to do.

Like, for real, with Snoke dead, unless he’s REALLY stupid (I mean… Ben is reckless, but not stupid), why would Ben do anything a now Random Voice would tell him to do?

The thing is, there have been hints in previous material that Ben isn’t exactly 110% on board with what the First Order does. He’s clearly against blowing up planets, he snarks about how Stormtroopers should be clones instead – which could just be a throwaway snarky line, but considering Ben’s past… I can see him not being too fuzzy about the Stormtrooper program. Like, I’m not saying he’d start a Galactic Free Donut Day, but there would be a change. It wouldn’t be Business as Usual – especially that Ben wasn’t that young (23) when he joined Snoke, and it’s a little hard to go from “My uncle tried to kill me in my sleep and I’m going towards the one figure I think can protect me” to “Blowing up planets and enslaving people is the way to go”. It would have worked if Ben had been brainwashed from his teens, but not so much as an adult – hence you need a little more nuance with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

Oh yeah, and the Knights of Ren? They’re just there to look cool. “But they kidnapped Chewie!” Yeah, what was the fucking point of them kidnapping Chewie apart from giving a reason for the Beautiful Friendship Gang to get on the Star Destroyer and give us fake suspense because we all know how it’s gonna end, just end my suffering already. Also, NO INTERRACTION WITH BEN? DID YA FORGET CHEWIE IS LIKE, HIS UNCLE? DID YALL FORGET BEN WAS PART OF YOUR FAMILY OR…

Seriously, that sequence on Pasaana where they’re just standing there on top of a fucking mountain? I called that part the Backdesert Boys. That tells ya how much I hated it.

Oh yeah, and they’re fighting fodder for Benny Boy in the end, because of course they were Palps’ lackeys all along, can’t think of anything else that’s more imaginative.

So what could they possibly add to Ben’s arc, that would explain so much, like how Ben finds Palpatine, or how he’s always one step ahead from the Beautiful Friendship Gang in their Wild Goose Chase no one fucking cares about?

This is where I got into speculation/conspiracy theory territory. Brace yourselves.

So, the film has Lando reveal that he and Luke “knew” about Palps being around thanks to snooping around… except that makes no bloody sense. Lando was never involved in a Force plot of any kind, and he was never that close to Luke anyway. I mean, Lando’s a nice guy and all, but he’s not really besties with Luke – he’s Han’s friend.

So that research should have taken place either before Ben joined Luke at Jedi Camp, either after. Then again, before would make no sense, because why would Luke leave that critical of a search on the ice for 10 to 15 years? The only place where I can place it in time, where it would make logical sense… would be when Ben was around, and it’d make WAY more sense to have him be Luke’s sidekick in that search.

It would have totally explained why Luke freaked the fuck out reading Ben’s mind, because only Palpatine can give her that severe of a PTSD-like reaction. It would have totally explained why Ben would run to Snoke, grooming and desperation set aside, under the promise that they’d associate to defeat Palps, because if you ignore the plot hole extravaganza of TROS, you’d bet Snoke wouldn’t want Palps anywhere near his throne – mainly because Snoke is a wannabe Palpatine who targeted Ben to get his own Vader. It would have totally explained why Ben thought becoming Supreme Leader is a good idea – even if it’s morally wrong, it makes logical sense. It would have totally explained why Kylo was collecting Sith artefacts in the year gap while keeping in mind he made his distaste for the Sith clear in TLJ. It would have totally provided the audience (and Rey) a good reason to forgive Ben, because even if he had godawful methods, he wanted to do the right thing and save the galaxy from the person who came this close to destroying them, as well as his family. That would have provided for him the means to realize that he cannot defeat Palpatine using Palpatine’s means – as Rose said, he’ll win by saving what he loves, and not destroying what he hates. That would have made Rey the glitch in the matrix, who must join forces with Ben because without her, he would have been doomed despite his best efforts.

And before you tell me that would have been unnecessary… let me put it to you this way. Ben keeps saying it's too late, and if it was just that, it could be interpreted as him thinking he went too far to come back. But he also adds that he has "something to do", and I'm here waving my arms like "WHAT? WHY? FUCK, YOU DIDN'T EVEN KILL YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS!!! THEY'RE NOT EVEN BOTHERED TO SAY THAT IN THE ACTUAL FILM!!!"

Hence why my theory is the simplest way to just tie it all neatly together, without retconning anything. There.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SUPER SIMPLE TO DO. Except that, as I mentioned earlier, they mutilated Ben’s arc, and left him to play the part of Darth Exposition, until the very end, when they have Ben save what he loves… but even then, I can’t even appreciate that either, because it happens in a way that makes EVERYONE look horrible, while Ben is, from a storytelling perspective, a saint… a saint everyone ultimately forgot about.

#star wars #tros spoilers #the rise of skywalker spoilers #rants and reviews #anti tros #tros negativity #kylo ren #ben solo #reylo #my meta #reylo meta #ben solo meta #kylo ren meta

277 notes · View notes