#also hero is perfect and i want to see her again but it should either be im the epilogue or if she does show up she should complain the

[soup-child]

You know what I really hope Hero DOESNT show up in the final battle she deserves to just be at her nasa internship I want her to show up at the epilogue and just be like see you could do it you don't need me

#willy stampler has respected one (1) boundary in his life ever and thats leaving hero the fuck alone #like hes probably heard the prophecy and probably is like well if i leave her alone she wont try to stop the doodler and now by extension me #also hero is perfect and i want to see her again but it should either be im the epilogue or if she does show up she should complain the #entire time as is her right #dndads #dndads spoilers #hero oak

[fyonahmacnally]

Watching Her

Kara stares at the blank screen in front of her. She’s been sitting at her dining room table for what feels like days. She needs to be writing her article, but it seems her brain has other plans. Instead, she’s trying to string together the words that have plagued her mind for months. Well, plaguing her for years really, if she’s being honest. 

Plus, lately there’s this urgent need to explain to her raven haired goddess of a best friend how much she means to the hero. Every time Kara thinks she can speak it aloud, the words get stuck in her throat. So, she thought she’d write them instead. Apparently that’s not working either since she’s been staring at her screen for Rao knows how long. No article and no words for Lena. She’s come up short either way. Since the genius woman left for Newfoundland a few days ago, the blonde hasn’t been able to think of much else. 

Just Lena. Always Lena.

Her time in the Phantom Zone was wrought with the fear of never seeing those mesmerizing bi-colored eyes or touching soft porcelain skin again. Their relationship has weathered storms most married couples haven’t faced. A sentiment that forces her thoughts down a path she’s skillfully avoided for years. Kara knows they reconciled and have swapped both apologies and forgiveness, but she’s still not sure where they stand. What they are. Friends? Yes, but there’s always been more. Unfortunately, dealing with the madness surrounding Lex and Nyxly hasn’t given them much time to sort through things. To truly talk.

There are countless things Kara wants to say. While in the Phantom Zone, she relived almost every moment of her relationship with Lena. The worst of things played out before her on most occasions, but the visions also allowed her subconscious to say things she’s always been too cowardly to say. As much as being there sucked, it also gave her insight into how much is still unsaid between them. Insight into where her true home lies. Who is her perfect partner at game night. 

It’s Lena. It has always been Lena.

She shakes her head with a sigh. The cursor on her screen mocks her. This is what happens every time she tries to put words on the page. Her thoughts instantly drift to Lena and all the words she’s choked back or refused to speak. Then a smile drifts across her lips, thoughts of how close she came to kissing the raven haired goddess. Right there in the middle of the tower when she first greeted Lena. If it hadn’t been for Alex and everyone else in the room, she might have. 

No, she’s sure she would have.

“Rao, stop it Kara!” She mutters to herself, slapping her forehead to punctuate her point. “You have an article to write. Even if it is a fluff piece for Andrea.”

Rolling her eyes at the thought of her boss, she straightens her spine, stretches her arms in front of her, shakes them out, and settles back in to write. 

A few hours later, Kara realizes she’s been writing a stream of consciousness. Her once blank document is filled with words. It’s great that she was able to get so many words on the page, but it’s absolutely, 100% not related to the article she needs to write for her deadline. A deadline two days from now. 

Nope. 

Every single word is related to Lena. 

Kara drops her chin to her chest, blowing out a breath of frustration before sitting back in her chair and dragging her hands down her face. “Okay, I guess I should read through this mess of thoughts. Maybe it will give me something for Lena.”

As her eyes rove over the page, drinking in the words she has written, Kara feels her body grow warm. Before her, on the laptop screen, sits the words she’s been looking for. The combination of things she’s longed to share with her best friend for the better part of six years. Sure, she’s going to have to edit some things and polish it up. However, she’s confident she finally has the words she wants to share. 

Lena comes back early. Kara isn’t sure why, but her raven haired friend doesn’t seem open to talking about it. She can tell something is on Lena’s mind though. The woman’s behavior certainly derails Kara’s plan to give Lena the journal/letter she wrote. 

Just another delay. Such is the life they live. The life of a hero.

They make plans to hangout together. Kara invites Lena to her loft to catch up and eat pie. Because…pie! 

The blonde watches her, drinking in her profile. Strong, sharp jawline. Soft, pouty lips. Perfectly manicured brows, vibrant porcelain skin, and shiny ebony locks cascading down her back, a few strands hanging over her shoulder and resting on her collarbone. Lena is without a doubt the most beautiful person Kara has ever seen, across any and all planets she’s been on. This woman captivates her, steals her breath, and owns her heart. 

She must get lost in her observation because the next thing she feels is a soft hand on her forearm breaking her from her trance.

“Kara?” Lena practically whispers, squeezing the hero’s forearm. “Darling, are you okay?”

She clears her throat, her embarrassment no doubt on display across her cheeks, spreading onto her ears. “Umm, yeah. F-Fine.”

Lena cocks her head to the side, patented eyebrow raise in place. “Want to try again? I know you didn’t catch what I said because you undoubtedly would have responded.” She releases the blonde’s forearm before shifting to face her. “Now, tell me what’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours.”

A long, shaky sigh makes its way out of Kara’s mouth. She is unquestionably not going to admit what currently has her distracted. Which means she needs to come up with something that is close to the truth, but doesn’t force her to admit her feelings. Not yet.

“I just, well, I missed you.” She reaches up to adjust glasses that aren’t there before diverting her hand to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. “There’s so much we have to catch up on and it’s a little surreal that you’re here. With me. Right now.” She trails off, the fading blush from a few minutes ago rushing back across her impervious skin. 

A full, gorgeous, dimpled smile spreads across Lena’s face. It’s the smile that Kara used to see all the time during their countless lunch dates and game nights. It makes her heart stutter in her chest, a sight more beautiful than Rao’s dawn on Krypton. 

“I missed you, too. We do have a lot to catch up on.” Lena winks at her before sitting her half-eaten pie on the coffee table. “Do you want me to finish what I was saying or are you ready to tell me what’s got you so distracted?”

“Y-You go ahead and finish what you were saying. We can talk about my scattered brain later.” She gives her most endearing grin, hoping it will persuade her best friend to continue.

It works. They exchange stories for the next couple of hours. Lena shares what she learned about her mother and how apparently she comes from a long line of powerful sorceresses. Kara shares the crazy things they fought and dealt with in her absence along with the plan to get rid of Lex and Nyxly for good. Another night of completely skirting her inner dialogue. 

And so it goes for several weeks afterward. They spend their time working to get rid of the worst Luthor and his psychotic fifth-dimensional girlfriend. In the aftermath of William’s death, losing Lillian, and Alex and Kelly’s wedding, Lena seems to come to terms with her magical abilities and gain confidence in her new identity as the last Luthor standing. 

The good Luthor.

While Alex and Kelly are on their honeymoon, Kara and Lena finally have the conversation both of them have been putting off. 

The two of them are curled up on opposite ends of Kara’s couch, each holding a cup of their preferred tea. They exchange shy, knowing smiles for several seconds before Lena breaks the comfortable silence.

“You know, I used to think the biggest monsters I had to fear were Lex and Lillian.” Lena softly says, running her finger along the edge of her rapidly cooling mug. “Over the past year and especially these last few months, I’ve learned we make our own monsters. We make our own monsters, then fear them for what they show us about ourselves.”

A plethora of emotions swirl in the verdant eyes that look up and connect with concerned, but affectionate blue ones. They revel in brief silence, drinking in the intimacy and vulnerability of their shared space. Two battered souls that completely understand one another in ways no one else can.

Lena takes a deep breath, sits her now cold mug on the coffee table, and pats the cushion next to her hoping Kara will slide closer. She watches as Kara places her own mug down and shuffles across the couch, planting herself close enough that Lena’s knee sits against the side of her thigh. A delicate, pale hand rests on top of a warm tan one.

Kara turns her hand to lace their fingers together, gently squeezing Lena’s in a show of comfort. “I get that, at least I think I do. We’ve both been through so much in our lives, so much trauma.” The hero sucks in a ragged breath, all the things she’s lost flashing through her mind. “We both have wounds that will never show on our bodies. Wounds that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds. But, as painful as they are, they’ve built us into who we are.”

A soft huff and a chuckle of incredulity sound beside her causing blue eyes to shift from their hands to Lena’s half-amused, half-saddened expression. “You’re not wrong, but I wish there was a better, less painful path to get here.” She rolls her eyes at the situation. “I guess part of my point in saying this about Lex and Lillian is that loving and yearning for love can be blinding. Sometimes, I think, we don’t really see how toxic someone is until we finally breathe fresher air.”

Lena lifts her free hand to gently rub soft patterns into the skin on Kara’s hand still clasped in hers. “When I was in Newfoundland, it reminded me that who I am and where I came from are only small pieces of who I want to be. Being in the fresh air, away from the Luthor name gave me a new perspective. It helped me realize some things.” 

A wistful smile spreads across her face as she pauses her ministrations on Kara’s skin. “There is a home no one can take from you, a home that will last. I think who you are, who you surround yourself with, and what you believe in is your real home. For me, that home is you, Kara.” She takes a shaky breath and makes eye contact with the blonde, hoping to convey how truly sincere she is. The raw truth in her statement.

Kara’s breath catches, her eyes glisten with tears. Lena hasn’t actually said the words she longs to hear, but it carries the same meaning. She does her best to collect her emotions and prevent the epic ramble she can sense coming. There is a journal/letter or whatever you want to call it she needs to share with Lena. So. She needs to get herself together. 

Which is hard when Lena looks so stunning. The happiness and confidence that exudes from her without Lex and Lillian looming over her, it makes her more alluring than ever. Kara’s mind constantly drifts to thoughts of ebony locks and viridian eyes.

Rao, Lena has never looked so beautiful. She’s a goddess amongst mere mortals…

She shakes her head and forces herself back to reality.

“You know, I spent a lot of time thinking about things too. While you were in Newfoundland, I mean. Well, and while I was in the Phantom Zone. Lots of time to think there.” She shakes her head, the urge to ramble growing stronger and she wants to do this right. Blowing out a breath and pulling another in, she tries to calm herself before trying again. “I’ve given a lot of thought to having a home and what it really means to me. I always see the same thing, Lena. Your face, your smile. It’s always you. I, umm, I wrote something about it while you were gone.”

Releasing their connected hands proves more difficult than she anticipated, but she manages. She pulls the folded paper from her pocket where it has been since she finished it. Her hope was the right moment would present itself and she could either let Lena read it or read it to her. Now the moment is here and she’s more nervous than her Pulitzer ceremony.

Clearing her throat, she pauses before locking eyes with her best friend and lightly shrugs. “I guess I’m not sure if you want to just read it or if you want me to read it to you. I mean, I’ll do either. Just as long as you know what it says and…” A nervous chuckle escapes and she shifts herself on the couch, turning her body toward her best friend. “What would you prefer? I’m going to be nervous and jittery regardless.”

Lena tilts her head and lifts her hand to her chin feigning thought. “Well, if you are giving me the choice, I am going to choose having you read it to me.” She pats the Kryptonian on the thigh before leaning her elbow onto the backrest of the couch, propping her head in her hand. “If I can listen to your words and hear your thoughts through your voice, I am going to choose that option every time, Kara.”

They laugh and settle into place as Kara unfolds the paper. She knows this is going to change things, she just doesn’t know how much. With one last look at the woman that holds her heart, she begins to read.

--------------------------

Watching her. It’s something I catch myself doing quite frequently. It’s not that I mean to or I do it on purpose. It just happens. She’s always captivated me. Her wit. Her brilliance. Her grace. Not to mention her eyes. Her smile. Her armor piercing eyebrow raise. There are so many things about her that reel me in.

From the first moment our eyes met, the first time my eyes connected with the deep pools of sea green, I knew she was special. Someone important. And that is the moment my world shifted.

Watching her is distracting. She moves with a sense of surety and power unlike any I’ve seen. Her intelligence is a super power very few possess, she wields it with both caution and tenacity. The desire to help others is so innate to her soul, even the sinister Luthors couldn’t break her drive to do good.

From the first time she helped save the city, I knew she was a hero. A woman worthy of respect and honor, no matter the name she was born under. That was the moment I knew we could take on the world together.

Watching her is awe inspiring. She is so willing to give, to help others, to share her inventions and love of science for the betterment of society, for the greater good of the world. She strives to help others, sometimes even at the detriment of herself.

From the moment she put herself on the line for the safety of others, I knew she was worthy of more than what so many hurl at her. Worthy of love, trust, and respect, leagues beyond what the world has given her.

Watching her is life changing. Life has so many twists and turns, nothing is guaranteed or promised. But when I see her, when I watch her teach her goddaughter new things, when I watch her toss her head back in unrestrained laughter, even when I watch tears drift down her pale cheeks…watching her is life changing.

From the moment I first held her in my arms, I knew my life was forever changed. The gift of her smile is priceless, the gift of her trust is sacred, but the gift of her love is divine.

Watching her has forever changed my life, finding her is how I found my home. --------------------------

Kara finishes reading, but is hesitant to look up. She’s not sure how Lena is going to react and doesn’t want to see rejection reflected back at her. It isn’t until she hears a soft sniffle that her head bolts up and her eyes find teary, sparkling green ones. 

Her eyes widen and she reaches out to wipe the tears away. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” The blonde grabs the box of tissues from the coffee table and hands one to Lena. “Are you okay? Do you need me to leave? I can…”

Her rambling words are halted by a soft finger pressing against her lips. She keeps her eyes on the woman the finger belongs to. The mossy pools she’s gotten lost in countless times search her oceanic ones, apparently finding what she needs.

Lena slowly removes her finger, gently lifting both hands to rest on Kara’s cheeks. She presses their foreheads together and sighs. “I guess two lost little girls finally found their home.”

Neither of them know who leaned in first. In the end, it really doesn’t matter. Not when the result is their lips pressing together and a home to call their own.

#supercorp #supergirl #lena luthor #kara danvers #supercorp fanfic #fanfic #fanfic writer #mac writes

[comfortless]

Your writing is so good !! <3

If you was working in kortac too and Konig started developing feelings, do you think he’d be scared ? Like if he’s never felt that type of love before, do you reckon he’d prompt you to retire if things started getting serious ?And also do you think he’d just be scared to feel that deep sense of love in general

i don’t think this guy has much fear at all: König says what’s on his mind no matter how inappropriate or blunt. if he finds himself attracted to a teammate it might take a bit of time for him to test the waters a bit, only because he’s rather accustomed to women finding him terrifying or ugly or both.

his courtship methods are peculiar: staring her down until it’s downright unnerving just to see how long it takes for her to shy away, casually hissing the filthiest things he can think of in German to her in the hopes that she doesn’t understand, sitting far too close to her during meals or briefings, maybe even leaving a clipping from a book of poetry or something nice beneath her door to show he isn’t entirely incapable of actual romance. though… there are other times he might flick his knife out, pull up the hood enough to reveal the lower half of his face and give it a playful lick while her eyes are on him.

he’s not entirely obvious, but not entirely subtle either, just gives enough to catch her attention if she’s willing to give it.

god help her if she is.

Kortac is a PMC, his title really doesn’t mean much, and he’s aware of it. they pass ‘em out like candy; he’s punched the guy they refer to as “the General” before. they’re all well aware he can handle himself and pick up for anyone’s slack; he’s the perfect asset for a bloodbath. so, as far as repercussions go? there are none, and even if there were i can’t see him caring too much about some smaller man trying to convince him sleeping with the woman he’s head over heels for is wrong due to a set of arbitrary rules.

if she’s in his line of work as opposed to being some sort of maintenance employee — he’s overbearing. demanding never to have her sent off on a mission without him, distracted trying to ensure her safety and regrettably… neglecting his own duties to an extent. it’s uncharacteristic and frustrating for him.

he gets to give this sweet angelic thing all of the affection and orgasms she can bear now, but… why is she here at all? it’s hot to see her with a gun, sure, but… she should be home, safe, waiting for him to return with tears in her eyes and eager hands reaching for him the moment he steps through the door. she should be sweet and warm; let him take care of all of the bad in the world and make her feel as though her life has become intertwined with some hero’s. women like that sort of thing, he’s seen it time and time again as a boy with his nose stuck in a comic book.

he’s not above bullying her a little to get her to agree: purposefully misplacing important things for her like her weapons, articles of her uniform. his rank may not be anything more than a word, but he’ll tell her he finds her unsuited for the work — he would know.

if that’s not working then perhaps he does tell her through gritted teeth that he wants her to wait at home for him. he’s even got the ring ready, some pretty old thing from his oma or his mother in preparation for this very day. it doesn’t matter if this has been going on for two weeks or a year, König would be happy to make her his wife, happy to write her letters while he’s deployed and take her on every surface when he’s home.

it’s the most intimidating marriage proposal ever when he’s glaring up at her like that while he kneels, promising her an abundance of sex and a powerful man to guard her with his life. she’s supposed to love him, so wouldn’t that make her happy too..?

#Kö being a bit terrible with relationships is canon to me sorry #he’s not afraid to fall in love but his significant other probably should be…!

[that1emowitch]

At the end of the world / Or the last thing I see / You are never coming home, never coming home

Prompt from @tuna-f-b: Do you still do request? If yes and angst is o.k: what would happend i all the bats died? Like how would the hero community react. The supers alone. Clark having to deal with losing his best friend(?) and the kids he basically co parented- as well as seeing his sons lose their best friends(?) Specially as ships that would be awesome angst

A/N: I'm not crying you're crying (Also, for those who don't know, Izzy is Duke's canon gf and one of the Robins from We Are Robin)

Words: 2504

TW: Mentions of blood, Major character death, Coping with loss, Self-blame, Mentions of relapse (drugs)

“If you’re watching this, I am either deceased or indefinitely unable to continue my duties as Batman. But the world still needs Batman. Gotham still needs Batman. My son Damian Wayne, if he is an adult, shall inherit my mantle— if not, Dick Grayson will take over until he is. In the event that he, too, is unavailable for any reason, the mantle goes to Tim Drake, after him, to Cassandra Cain, then Duke Thomas, then Stephanie Brown, then Jason Todd, should he accept it.”

In the video recording, Batman pauses, taking a deep breath.

“In the unfortunate event that the entire family is… deceased… I have a list of contingency plans on both the Bat-Computer and the Justice League’s primary databases. Oracle will help you access it, but in her… absence… the password is “a6ghr83kc02m”.”

Then video-Bruce takes off the cowl, his pale blue eyes looking straight into the camera.

“I know I was never the best with feelings. But I would like my children, my allies, and friends to know that I’m proud of you. And to my fellow Justice Leaguers… Diana and Clark, I am truly grateful for your companionship. I would never have made it this far without you. Barry, Arthur, Dinah, J’onn, you’ve all been good friends. Oliver, Hal… you’re not so bad either.”

Bruce turns around, and looks over his shoulder, the shadows of the Batcave making the scene even more dramatic.

“I wish you good luck.”

Then the clip ends.

A shuddering breath leaves Clark.

It’s real.

He’s really… They’re all…

He can’t do this anymore. He turns around and walks out the door, leaving the other core Justice Leaguers staring sombrely at the now-blank screen.

He doesn’t know when he started flying, when he started trying to escape. The walls of the Watchtower seem to be suffocating him, but he has enough sense not to just leave the airlock yet.

Instead he finds a corner by a window, far, far away from the others, where he can see a majestic view of Earth, the moon, and the Sun in perfect sync with each other.

He falls to his knees.

His breathing’s uneven, a tear rolls down his cheeks.

Then he feels a hand on his shoulder— soft, trembling, yet steady.

“Kal,” Diana whispers, sitting on the floor next to him. She doesn’t continue— she isn’t sure what to say.

“They’re all going to die, you know? We’re going to bury all of them. Everyone on Earth, everyone we know.” Clark’s voice trembles, in a way Superman’s never does. “It scares me so much.”

“Kal,” Diana says again, pulling Clark into a hug. “It’s okay. We’ve lost… We’ve lost so many of our friends. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to grieve.”

“How are you— how are you so—” Clark can’t form his words properly. He turns to Diana, to see her face tight with grief, eyes misty with unshed tears.

Her voice breaks slightly as she speaks. “I don’t want to believe they’re gone. But… we have to carry on. We’re the Justice League. Our people need us, Kal.”

“So we just go on and on? Forever?” Another tear runs down his cheek. “Ollie, Hal, Dinah, Lois, Jon, they’re all going to… they’re all going to die one day and we just have to… to go on?”

“I’m sorry, but it is the truth,” Diana whispers, her eyes stinging with hot tears. “We must find peace in the fact, right now, that Batman— Bruce, the Robins, they— they were so brave. Brave till the end. And they fell as warriors, defending our world. I’m sure they’ll all reach Elysium.”

“And Dickie, Damian, Jason, Tim, Cass, Duke—” Clark’s voice is hoarse. “They were so young, just kids… I… I know Dick, Jay, Tim, Cass… they were adults, but… they’re gone, they’re gone…”

“They were heroes, like you and me. Don’t forget that.”

“I… I know, I just—” Another shuddering breath escapes Clark. “I just— I…”

“It’s okay,” Her voice is forcefully steady, but with an undertone of heartbreak. “It’s okay…”

Dinah looks around the room, her heart heavy.

Clark has left, Diana’s gone after him— both of them need their space, she knows. They were close to Bruce and the other Bats in a way no one else in this room was.

Was.

The word still weighs down on her.

Hal speaks up finally, breaking the deafening silence. “I always thought he hated me.”

No one replies for a long moment.

“I miss the kids,” Barry says finally, his voice quiet. “They were just… Robin was only 14. The others, even Nightwing, they had… they had their whole lives ahead of them.”

More silence.

“Jason, when he was Robin— do y'all remember? Kid was always my favorite,” Ollie says finally. “Was always so sassy. Roy loves him.”

Loves. Dinah winces, but doesn’t correct him. It’s easier to believe they’re just gone for a little while.

“Bruce was a good man,” Arthur adds. “They all were.”

“Tim was, I believe, the smartest,” J’onn says, somber. “It was his plan that allowed us to save Earth.”

“Damian!” Dinah says suddenly, jumping from her seat. “His… his mother. She shouldn’t have to find out from someone else.”

Everyone freezes, faces tight.

Dinah sighs, looking down. “I’ll do it.”

Then she leaves the room, dragging what feels like a heavy weight tied to her soul. She has to do this.

Roy’s sitting in a corner of his apartment, hugging his knees. All he can think of is Jason.

He’s never coming back.

He can still feel the lingering ‘goodbye’ kiss Jason gave him not two days ago, he can still hear him say, “I’ll be back before you know it, babe.”

He never came back.

He’s dead. Dead— dead dead dead DEAD DEAD—

“Small Red not okay?” A booming voice snaps Roy out of his thoughts. He looks up to see Bizarro’s pale blue skin and cold eyes looming over him. He’s crying. “Red him coming back.”

It takes Roy a second to register that Bizarro speaks backwards. It takes everything in him to not punch him for saying that, for giving him false hope.

He feels something he hasn’t felt in years— feels that whisper in his mind— one hit and it’ll all feel better. Just one hit.

NO! He screams mentally. He feels like bashing his head open.

Instead he lifts his dead eyes to survey the rest of the room— Kori’s on the couch, staring into space. Artemis has a crying Lian in her arms, she’s showing her something— old photos of Jason. Talking, whispering in a broken voice.

No, no he should be the one comforting Lian—

What’s he gonna say?

That— That Jason— That her Papa’s gone forever? That he’s never— he’s never coming back?

No— Jay— Jay deserved so much better, he— he already died once before, he’s been through so much, things were supposed to be better now— not— no, he’s— 

Roy feels Bizarro sit beside him, gently patting his arm.

He snaps out of his thoughts again, turning to Jason’s former teammate, his eyes red-rimmed. His voice raw, he whispers, “Jay’s gone…”

Wally’s standing in the Hall of Heroes, staring up at the holographic projection of Dick— he looks so majestic, so mighty, staring ahead with nothing but hope and courage in his eyes.

Nothing like the cold, dead body that Wally held in his arms just two days ago.

He’s surrounded by his teammates, his friends— Kaldur, M’gann, Artemis, Zatanna, L’gann, Garth— yet he feels so alone.

He sees it again— Dick bleeding out it his arms, his wounds so fatal he died before help arrived. Wally’s the fastest man alive, damn it, yet he couldn’t even save his best friend— his boyfriend. He feels the moment when Dick’s breathing stopped, when his body went limp, when his grip on Wally’s hand loosened.

Everyone’s quiet. M’gann’s stress baking again, L’gann by her side. Artemis and Zatanna are sitting together, Garth’s lingering in a corner, and Kaldur’s standing right beside Wally— close enough for comfort but not so close he’s lurking. He’s shaking.

He can still hear it, hear Dick forcing out his last words, telling Wally it’s okay, that he loves him, that it’ll be fine.

It’s not fine. Not without you.

He wants to scream.

He wants to cry, yell, hit something, do anything.

But he can’t move.

So he just stands there, almost as still as the holographic projection of Dick before him.

Kon is left reeling.

Tim… Tim is…

Tim’s dead.

Tim’s really gone.

He thinks, for just a second, that this is how Tim and Cassie must have felt when he and Bart “died”.

Bart is sitting beside him on the couch, leaning on his side, Cassie’s got her head on his lap. Neither of them speak— Bart’s not even fidgeting— they’re all just trying to be there for each other.

The other Titans are up and about, but staying close for comfort. Jaime and Gar are making food for everyone in the kitchen, Raven and Vic have come back to the tower to make sure the others are okay, and he’s sure Karen’s around too, somewhere.

Yet he feels so empty.

Feels nothing at all.

How can he, when his best friend is dead?

Jon hasn’t spoken in a bit. Not when his Mom brought him his favorite soup, not when Grandma and Grandpa showed up to ‘help’ him and Dad through this, not when Krypto plopped down beside him to comfort him.

He hugs the dog close.

Krypto’s technically Kon’s, but Jon’s sure Kon wouldn’t mind if he stole Krypto for a day.

Another sob escapes him, and he buries his head in Krypto’s back. The dog whines, licking Jon’s hand.

He can’t believe Damian’s gone. 

Really gone.

And he didn’t know just how much he would miss his friend.

Dinah finds Talia Al Ghul on a building in Metropolis, overlooking the city. Her face is tight with sorrow, but she keeps herself in check, her back straight, head held high.

She already knows, Dinah deduces.

“I… I’m sorry,” Dinah starts, unsure of what to say. She knows, from her experience as a psychologist, that ‘sorry’ is the last thing a grieving person wants to hear, but she doesn’t have anything else to say.

Talia doesn’t reply for a long time. Then she says, her voice numb, “I should have known, when bringing Damian into this life, that I would also be bringing him amidst the dangers that come with.”

Dinah’s brows furrow. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have done anything at all.”

“I should have trained him better, I should have kept him close, I should—” Talia takes a shuddering breath. “I should have never brought him into this life.”

Dinah can’t argue with that— she knows how Damian had come to be, and it… wasn’t the best birth ever.

“Now leave, hero,” Talia says, her voice numb and cold. “Go back to protecting the world. Leave me be.”

Dinah wants to say something better, comfort the woman, but she can’t. So she just turns back, and leaves.

By the time Harper Row makes her way to the Clock Tower, there’s already quite a crowd there— Kate, Renee Montoya, Harley, Ivy, Silena, and Helena Bertinili— they’re crowding around Babs, comforting her. Luke Fox and Isabella Ortiz are at the computer, looking through something.

Harper tries to open her mouth to speak, but she can’t get the words out.

She makes her way over to Luke and Izzy, shoulders hunched.

Just three days ago she’d been hanging out with Duke and Izzy and Cass and Steph— they’d all been so carefree, so happy…

And now…

Once she gets close enough she realizes Izzy’s crying, and immediately wraps her arms around the shorter girl. Harper’s trying to hold back tears of her own, too. She feels Luke putting a hesitant hand on her shoulder, squeezing tight.

No one speaks for a long time, they just stand together, seeking comfort in each other.

Then Babs rolls her wheelchair to the center of the room, wiping at her bloodshot eyes. But when she speaks, she sounds surprisingly steady. She’s compartmentalizing, Harper realizes. Putting away Barbara and bringing Oracle back.

“Gotham needs her heroes, now more than ever,” Oracle says, head held high. “We must honor our friends by doing the one thing they’d have wanted— to keep fighting. Keep Gotham safe.”

She sighs, her face tight to fight away tears. “Luke. Batman’s contingency plan, in the Robins’ absence, was to pass you the mantle of Batman. Do you accept?”

Luke’s eyes grow wide slightly, but he straightens himself, looking away. “I… I accept. Dad isn’t going to be happy, but… Gotham needs Batman.”

“Thank you.” Oracle nods at him. “As per Bruce’s will, all Wayne assets, the Manor, and the Batcave are split between Kate, me, Alfred, and Lucius. I… Lucius and I are still figuring out who’s going to take over Wayne Enterprises, but on the vigilante side, I’ve got a plan.”

She turns to Ivy, Harley, Kate, Silena and Helena. “The Birds of Prey are needed here, now more than ever. Dinah— Black canary has offered to help us with Gotham, too.” 

Harley nods, sniffling. Beside her, Ivy speaks up, “The… Most Rogues aren’t happy about this. They’re not rampaging— Bane has fashioned his own version of the Batsuit, he’s going around ‘saving’ people, screaming that Batman never dies. The Joker’s searching for Lazarus Pits and Bruce’s body. Jervis Tetch and Nygma held a get-together yesterday, in the memory of the Bats. I… I think they might help us.”

Harper’s gotta admit, she’s quite surprised about this. Even Babs freezes, taking in this information.

“Gotham needs Robin as much as she needs Batman,” Izzy speaks up from beside her, her voice small but firm. “The Robins can come back, this time you can give us formal training so we can actually help.”

Oracle turns to Luke. “Taking on Robins is your decision, Batman.”

Luke winces at that title— it doesn’t feel like an honor to him, it just feels like an incessant reminder that he’s the last one left. Because his friends are dead. But he nods, anyway, not trusting himself to speak right now.

Then Oracle addresses Harper. “I… would you like to be Batgirl?”

Harper’s heart stops. Memories flash into her head— seeing Steph in the Batgirl costume, seeing Cass in the Batgirl suit, both of whom are now gone.

“N— No,” Harper stutters out, eyes tearful. “I can’t— I’m sorry, Babs. I appreciate the offer, but… Cass was Batgirl. I can’t take her place.”

“I understand.” Babs just nods, lips pursed, misty-eyed. “We will all need to work hand-in-hand until everything settles, we will need to be vigilant. Carry on Batman’s legacy, for as long as we may need to.”

No one speaks again.

They all just let it sink in, hearts heavy.

They’re going to have to do this alone now.

#batfam #batfamily #justice league #core four #bruce wayne #jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #duke thomas #harper row #barbara gordon #luke fox #jayroy #dickwally #birdflash #timkon #damijon #jla

[anxiouspotatorants]

This whole «Lorelai is evil and so is Rory and Emily is the real MVP of the show» shtick is getting on my nerves.

Like don’t misunderstand me, I love Emily and Richard. They are interesting and complex characters with strengths and weaknesses and a whole lot of baggage (like almost everyone in Gilmore Girls, except maybe the Town Troubador). But they aren’t this perfect well meaning couple with an ungrateful daughter who refuses to accept help and grow up.

Lorelai is not perfect either by any stretch of the imagination. She’s presumptuous, stubborn, used to getting her way and struggles to see things from more than one angle, but she’s also kind, hard working, supportive and able to strike a balance between being open and setting boundaries. She’s a complicated, flawed person, like all good protagonists should be (as opposed to heroes). And she doesn’t fight with Emily or cut her parents out because she’s being immature, she’s doing it because they genuinely hurt her several times.

Imagine if things had gone exactly like Emily and Richard wanted things to go. A 16 year old Lorelai would be married against her will to a guy who would likely then spend the rest of his life under the thumb of his parents for the «mistake» of having Rory. Her social life, her work, her education, all of it would be heavily monitored by Emily and Richard, as they would insist she only engage with what they deem respectable work and social circles. Lorelai in the DAR, Lorelai running charity functions, Lorelai staying married to a Hayden. So much of what makes Lorelai herself would be gone: the inn, her friendships with Sookie and Michel, cooky hobbies and a band of semi-adopted misfits and Luke.

Certain people (not many but still some) seem to forget exactly what it is Emily and Richard ultimately criticize Lorelai for, because it’s not her childish remarks at Friday Night Dinner. They criticize her for her lack of university education. For her lack of a high status job even though she runs a successful inn that she co-owns herself. For her terrible pick of men - not because of how they might be as lovers but because they’re not high society and not the kind of wealthy guys who could let Lorelai retire to the life of an affluent housewife (like did we forget that one of the times Lorelai cut them out was because they refused to accept LUKE?). Hell, they usually don’t criticize Lorelai for reasonable issues with how she raised Rory, they criticize her for not controlling Rory’s love life more.

I do think Emily and Richard love Lorelai and Rory, and that at the end of the day they want them to be happy (otherwise none of these characters would fight so hard to stay in each other’s lives). But time and time again they let their love of status and fear of a bad reputation stand in the way of recognizing their daughter and granddaughter for what they love and for what make them happy. Dislike Lorelai all you want, Rory too, but don’t come here and tell me that Emily is the one in the right.

#I almost never see this take in the Tumblr circles I run in so that’s good #but there seems to be a lot of it almost everywhere else #so I felt like screaming into my personal echo chamber for a while #also I didn’t get too much into Rory or how Richard specifically does this too #because they deserve their own posts #but yeah people do this to Rory too #and Richard isn’t an innocent bystander which is why I write him in with Emily as a unit #gilmore girls #the potato rants #Gilmore girls discourse #lorelai gilmore #rory gilmore #emily gilmore #richard gilmore #not tagging anti because again I am not anti

[blackcat419]

Pros and Antis in HotD and aSoIaF Fandom: the breakdown around grey storytelling

I think I know why TB people struggle so much for understanding why TG is liked by people and it’s because fandom discourse has been so rotted away by “pro shippers” and “anti shippers” discourse that we’ve entered into a puritanical view of consuming media.

They see the media you consume as a direct reflection of the type of person you are and thus the characters you like must be similar to who you are as a person.

To a certain extent I get it, looking at a broad portfolio of media consumption can reveal a bit about a person. For example, I consume a lot of horror media. You can discern that I like being scared and the adrenaline that comes from it. But that’s only in a safe controlled situation where I can turn off the tv or monitor when it gets too much. I don’t like haunted houses, being alone at night, or even the dark.

Media is a safe place to explore different sides of humanity in a controlled setting where the only thing at risk is our own enjoyment. People can find that they like things in media that they wouldn’t like in real life. But this distinction is lost on a lot of fandom puritans. To them, media consumption is a political act. You reaffirm that you are a “good person” by watching the “good shows” and rooting for the “good guys”. To look upon a morally complex character or even the villain with interest and sympathy is thus to condone and support every action that character will be written to take.

But this idea of assuming moral righteousness from the characters you support in media because even harder to understand and justify when applied to stories like HotD and aSoIaF where every character possesses both good and evil. So how does a puritan fan reaffirm their belief that they are morally good in a series such as these? The fan will assign the idea oh moral correctness and superiority to the characters they like. Any bad, morally questionable, or straight up evil act the character commits will be justified as righteous no matter how the story frames those actions to the audience. The same is applied to characters these fans do not like. Every bad, morally questionable, or evil action is amplified to become the main character trait while any good, just, or morally righteous act is off written as either an evil act in disguise or any good to come out of the act should be attributed to another character. Any harm committed again the character is then down played as not that bad or actually deserved.

In HotD and aSoIaF, this fandom Puritanism mainly affects female characters.

In aSoIaF, we have characters such as Dany and Arya being framed as the morally righteous and just while characters such as Catelyn and Sansa are painted as villains. Weirdly this does not apply to actual villainous female characters likes Cersei. This could be because the books and show are very clear that her actions are evil and cruel, puritan fans do not feel insecure liking her as they feel secure that the story and thus other fans know she is a bad person and won’t assume liking her means viewing her as a good person. Characters such as Margery Tyrell and Arianne Martell are viewed with more complexity than other female characters but I bet once they come into conflict with beloved female characters, they will be viewed as villainous.

In HotD we see the same thing happening. Puritan fans see Rhaenyra as the perfect hero with any negative action being just or not her fault while Alicent is painted as more evil than the step mother from Cinderella who, despite all evidence to the contrary, wanted to be queen and this deserves everything that she gets.

This is why so many people have to explain to puritan fans that liking characters like Sansa, Catelyn, Alicent, Aegon, or Aemond does not make one bastardphobic, a rape apologist, or anti feminist. I also think it explains why these fans can’t except that their favorite characters have done wrong and hurt people. They can’t accept criticism or critique of their favorite character because to them it’s not another person’s reading of a fictional character, it’s someone judging them on their morals.

Puritanical fans interlock their identity and sense of self with the characters they like and struggle to separate criticism of those characters as criticism of themselves as a person.

#house of the dragon #hotd #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #hotd discussion #asoiaf discussion #hotd discourse #asoiaf discourse #Puritanism in fandom #puritanical fans

[blueskittlesart]

any thoughts on how once again zelda was robbed of her agency because her "father figure" didn't listen to her? even if rauru was kinder to her than her father. and that she had sonia who was patient and loving for a little while before she died (just like her mother). i know rauru apologizes for his hubris but still, i wish we saw zelda be upset about it. and even if zelda was such a big part of the quest she still literally sacrificed her humanity once again because of someone else's mistake- because rauru literally didn't listen to the girl from the future that warned you that shit was going to go down. o know nintendo just loves putting zelda inside crystals and stones but i wish we got something better. even if it was her decision to become a dragon... did she have any other choice? it really just feels like they robbed her of agency again just like botw and the games before

i've been trying to figure out how to answer this one. because there are two ways i could analyze this plot point, either from a writer's perspective or an in-story perspective, but neither of those lead to me fully agreeing with your interpretation? I think there's definitely something to be said about zelda consistently being pushed aside in these games, but. well. ok let's get into it ig

from a writer's perspective, I do honestly have quite a bit of sympathy for the zelda devs as they attempt to navigate the modern political landscape with these games. The cyclical lore, though canonized relatively recently, holds them to a standard of consistency in their games in terms of certain key elements. one of those key elements is that there has to be a princess, and that princess must somehow be the main macguffin of the game. The player must chase her, and the end goal of the game must be to reunite the player and the princess. In 1986 this was an incredibly easy sell. women didn't need to be characters. players were content with saving a 2-dimensional princess whose only purpose was to tell them "good job!" at the end. but as society advances, that princess becomes a much more difficult character to write while adhering to the established overarching canon. (as a side note: i don't necessarily believe that the writers SHOULD be held to the standards of that canon. I think deviating from it in certain areas would be a good change of pace. but i also recognize that deviations from the formula are widely hated by the loz playerbase and that they're trying to make money off these games, so we're working under the established rule that the formula must be at least loosely adhered to.) Modern fans want a princess who is a person, who has agency and makes decisions and struggles in the same way the hero does. but modern fans ALSO want a game that follows the established rules of the canon. so we need a princess who is a real character but who can ALSO serve as a macguffin within the narrative, something that is inherently somewhat objectifying.

the two games that i think do the best job writing a princess with agency are skyward sword and botw (based on your ask, our opinions differ there lol. hear me out) in both games, we have a framing event which seperates zelda and link, but in both games, that separation was ZELDA'S CHOICE. skyward sword zelda runs away from link out of fear of hurting him. botw zelda chooses to return to the castle alone to allow link the time he needs to heal. sksw kinda fumbled later on by having ghirahim kidnap her anyway, but. i said BEST not PERFECT. botw zelda I think is the better example because, with the context of the memories, she's arguably MORE of a character than link is. we see her struggles, her breakdowns, her imperfection, specifically we see her struggle with her lack of agency within the context of the game itself. when she steps in front of link in the final memory, and when she chooses to return to the castle, those are some of the first choices we see her make almost completely free of outside influence; a RECLAMATION of her agency (within the narrative) after years of having it stripped from her. from an objective viewer's standpoint, this writing decision still means she is absent from 90% of the game and that she has little control over her actions for the duration of the player's journey. however I think this is just about the best they could have done to create a princess with agency and a real character arc while still keeping the macguffin formula intact--you're not really SAVING zelda in botw. SHE is the one that is saving YOU; when you wake up on the plateau with no memories, too weak to fight bokoblins, let alone calamity ganon. the reason you are allowed to train and heal in early-game botw is because SHE is in the castle holding ganon back, protecting YOU. When you enter the final fight, you're not rescuing zelda, you're relieving her of her duty. taking over the work she's been doing for the past hundred years. in the final hour, you both work in tandem to defeat ganon. while this isn't a PERFECT example of a female character with agency and narrative weight, i think it's a pretty good one, especially in the context of save-the-princess games like loz.

as for totk, you put a lot of emphasis on rauru not believing zelda and taking action immediately, which, again, from an objective standpoint, i understand. but even when we're writing characters with social implications in mind, those character's actions still need to... make sense. Rauru was a king ruling over what he believed to be a perfectly peaceful kingdom. zelda literally fell out of the sky, landed in front of him, claimed to be his long-lost granddaughter, and then told him that some random ruler of a fringe faction in the desert was going to murder him and he had to get the jump on it by killing him first. the ruler which this girl is trying to convince rauru to wage an unprompted war on has the power to disguise himself as other people. no one in their right mind would immediately take the girl at her word. war is not something any leader should jump into without proper research and consideration, and to rauru's credit, he DIDN'T ever outright dismiss zelda. he believed her when she said she was from the future, he allowed her to work with him and he took her warnings as seriously as he could without any further proof. but he could not wage an unprompted war on ganondorf. that's just genuinely not practical, especially for a king who values peace among his people as much as rauru seems to. as soon as ganondorf DID attack, giving rauru confirmation that zelda's accounts of the future were real, he began making preparations to confront him. remember that zelda didn't KNOW that rauru and sonia were going to be casualties of the war--she didn't make the connection between rauru's arm in the future and rauru the king until AFTER sonia's death, when rauru made the decision to attack ganondorf directly. I think the imprisoning war and the casualties of it were less an issue of zelda being denied agency and more an issue of no one, including zelda, having full context for the events as they were unfolding. if zelda had KNOWN that sonia and rauru were going to die from the beginning and was still unable to prevent it that would be a different issue, but she didn't. none of them did.

I think another thing worth pointing out with rauru and his death irt zelda is that rauru is clearly written specifically as a foil to rhoam. this is evident in how he treats both zelda and link, with a constant kindness and understanding which is clearly opposite to rhoam's dismissiveness and disappointment. consider rhoam's death and the circumstances surrounding it. He died because, in zelda's eyes, she was unable to do her duty; the one thing he constantly berated her for. Rhoam's death solidified zelda's belief that she was a failure, a belief which she KNEW rhoam held as well. his death was doubly traumatic to her because she knew he died believing it was her fault. Now contrast that to the circumstances surrounding rauru's death. Rauru CHOSE to die despite zelda's warnings, because he wanted zelda and his kingdom to live. rauru's death was not agency-stripping for zelda; in fact, it functioned almost as an admission that he believed her capable of continuing to live in his place. With him gone, the fate of the kingdom fell to her and the sages. he KNEW that he would die and still went into that battle confidently, trusting zelda to make the right decisions once he was gone. where rhoam believed zelda incapable of doing ANYTHING without link, rauru trusted zelda COMPLETELY with the fate of his kingdom. several details in totk confirm that when rauru died there was no plan for zelda to draconify, that all happened after rauru was gone. it was HER plan, the plan which rauru trusted her to come up with once he was gone. and I think it's also worth noting that zelda's sacrifice with the draconification parallels rauru's!! Rauru gives up his life trusting the sages and his people to be able to continue his work in his place. Zelda gives up her physical form trusting link and the sages in the future to be able to figure out what to do and find her. these games in general have this recurring theme but totk specifically is all about love and trust and reliance on others. zelda relies on link, link relies on zelda, they both rely on the champions and the sages and rauru and sonia and they all rely each other. reliance on others isn't lack of agency, it's a constant choice they make, and that choice is the thing which allows them to triumph.

The draconification itself is something i view similarly to zelda's sacrifice in botw--a choice she makes which, symbolically & within the confines of the narrative, is a demonstration of her reclaimed agency and places her at the center of the narrative, but which ALSO removes her from much of the player's experience and robs her of any overt presence or decisionmaking within the gameplay. again, I think this is a solution to the macguffin-with-agency dilemma, and it's probably one of the better solutions they could have come up with. Would I have liked to see a game where zelda is more present within the actual gameplay? yes, but I also understand that at this point the writers aren't quite willing to deviate that much from their formula. the alternative within the confines of this story would be to let zelda DIE in the past, removing her from gameplay ENTIRELY, which is an infinitely worse option in my opinion. draconification allowed her to be present, centered the narrative around her, and allowed the writers to reiterate the game's theme of trust and teamwork when she assists the player in the final battle, which i think was a REALLY great choice, narratively speaking.

In any case, I don't think it's right to say that zelda was completely robbed of her agency in botw and totk. Agency doesn't always mean that she's unburdened and constantly present, it means she's given the freedom to make her own choices and that her choices are realistically written with HER in mind, not just the male characters around her, and I think botw/totk do a pretty good job of writing her and her choices realistically and with nuance.

#as a note i do think that loz still has a LONG way to go in terms of defining female characters by their relationships with men #and i acknowledge that a lot of zelda's choices within these games are STILL made irt male characters like her father link rauru etc #BUT i still don't think it's fair to act like shes been completely stripped and reduced to a damsel because.. she hasn't. #she's a very nuanced depiction of a girl who is used to being dismissed and ignored and powerless #her initial response to that powerlessness in botw was to reject everyone. she got loud and mean and she tried to do everything alone #and she discovered that that wasn't the right way to get what she wanted. it didnt make her happy and it didn't win her anyones approval #what DID work for her was learning to rely on the people around her and work with them. she found solace in teamwork and family #which is why in the final battle she and link fight TOGETHER against ganon. neither of them can do it alone but they can together #the same thing applies to totk. she continues her own journey by finding others like her who understand her powers and can teach her #so by the time she DOES end up alone she has been given the confidence and skillset to figure out what she has to do #you get it. you understand what im saying #asks #totk spoilers #zelda analysis

[butterflydm]

wot 2x5: damane (thoughts on darkfriends and other evils)

includes book spoilers through book 14: a memory of light

Very much looking forward to examining the scenes again when I rewatch this weekend, but my brain is just going... a mile a minute, so I wanted to put some thoughts down before I go to work today.

So we got to see Darkfriends Getting In Each Other's Way this episode, which is a classic. Hilarious, love it. They are selfish AF and each have their own agenda and mostly all hate each other.

(in theory, this should have been what separated Our Heroes from the Darkfriends, but in the books, Our Heroes ALSO all got in each other's way a lot so... I do feel like the show is maybe setting Our Heroes up to be more supportive of each other than they were in the books. but that is a side note. Back to the Darkfriends!)

The Clown Car of Black Ajah is already looking great! It cracked me up earlier in the season when poor Alanna was having a scene with tons of other Aes Sedai and every single other character who spoke in the scene was Black Ajah. You are Surrounded, my darling!

Thoughts: did Liandrin Compel Sheriam? (aka does Liandrin not know that Sheriam is also Black Ajah) Very possible! Sheriam and Liandrin have gotten in each other's way a couple of times this season. I was so glad that the show namedropped both Compulsion and Tel'aran'rhoid in this episode!

I have to say, that Liandrin was able to make it back to the Tower with her excuse does make me wonder if she'll be able to snag that coveted 'merger with either Alviarin or Galina' role (which would let her at least put off her Bad Book Ending for a while) after all. The problem is that if the Wondergirls make it back to the Tower at all next season, her cover is completely blown because Nynaeve knows beyond a doubt that she is shady AF.

Liandrin and Suroth absolutely despising each other and each of them fantasizing about the other one kneeling to them: chef's kiss, no notes. Liandrin fucking Suroth over in the last minute both because she immediately hated Suroth's guts and because she couldn't help but give Nynaeve a fighting chance: fascinating. I do think Liandrin was incredibly disappointed when she got the note that it was time to take the girls to Falme -- I mean, I don't think she gave a shit about selling out Egwene (and Elayne was an accident of fate) but as Nynaeve sussed out in the Ways, she absolutely wanted to recruit Nynaeve to the Black Ajah and get her on side that way.

Suroth's spikiness with Ishamael! (someone last night suggested that Ishamael is cosplaying as her truthspeaker, I think? which would make sense with how he's behaving) When she had her little tantrum and suggested that, sure, maybe the Dark One Chose him and all, but he's not BLOOD. Amazing. That's the arrogance that we expect from the Blood. Again, perfect, no notes.

Love love love that we are already getting the set up of a potential division within the Seanchan by explicitly having Turak say that they are here to fight the Shadow. The Seanchan Civil War that never happened remains one of my greatest disappointments with the books. To already be setting up some seeds for a reason for the Seanchan to split in half is great (a little while ago, someone suggested that instead of getting the Sharans, we would get the Seanchan being split in two, and I would heavily support that notion, for sure).

The show also seems to be (early on) setting up the idea that some people choose to believe that living under the Seanchan isn't so bad if you swear to their oaths... but making it clear what a selfish position that is. The New Innkeeper tells Perrin this, but then when Perrin asks about the old innkeeper, we learn that she's off following the caravan to Falme because her granddaughter was one of the girls kidnapped by the Seanchan. So New Innkeeper basically got a free inn out of taking advantage of other people's misfortune. Plus then we had Perrin very pointedly telling Aviendha (when she asked why he saved her) that people shouldn't be in cages.

(Because the Whitecloaks are ALSO 'evil but not the Shadow' much like the Seanchan are, or Aridhol was -- and, like the Seanchan, the show is already setting up the cracks of a potential division within the Whitecloaks in the future)

Verin: Investigator was also a fantastic thread. I love how she managed to get her fellow Brown Ajah Sister (I will look her name up when I do my rewatch) onto the trail of the Black Ajah just by implication. We can see the ways that she successfully has been sussing out who (else) might be Black Ajah by catching people in lies without letting them know that she's realized that. Starting the Black Ajah Hunters storyline this early can only do good things for that entire plot thread, I think.

So... Barthanes... probably a Darkfriend like in the books. Is Anveare a Darkfriend? I tend to lean on 'no' though it WOULD be funny if a Darkfriend was responsible for the Shadow's plans for Rand completely falling apart because Anveare couldn't resist spilling info to her big sister in order to impress her. (I do think that she and Barthanes might think Moiraine and Rand are hooking up tho; especially since they went off to share a bedroom at the end of the episode)

I am also intrigued by the fact that Fain is clearly still a Darkfriend in Good Standing with Ishamael, because we've definitely gotten Hints that the dagger is influencing him (the Fade nailed to the doorway). And Shadar Logoth was evil, but it was an evil that despised the Shadow.

I was also intrigued by Ishamael claiming that Mat was ~born mine~ -- because he had a shitty upbringing with crappy parents? because he was already in a bad enough place at the start of the series that he was stealing from other villagers? because... some other reason...?

I'm also trying to remember if Ingtar and Ishamael shared any Looks this episode (Ingtar definitely gave Loial some wtf looks and they both recognized Egwene when she showed up, obviously).

This episode did such a good job setting up the various 'bad guys' that will dominate the series going forward. Genuinely thrilled.

#wot 2x5 spoilers #wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #the wheel of time #wot show spoilers #wot prime spoilers #wot s2 spoilers #wheel of time s2 spoilers #butterfly watches wot #wot book spoilers #a memory of light

[britcision]

Happy WIP Wednesday everyone! And no, no I’m not giving you Constantine early, because I think it’s funny to make you all wait 😈

How about a little Danny instead to get y’all ready for chapter 12 (which is just over half done, so we’re moving along swimmingly!)?

————————

Never Make A Promise You Can’t Keep

Harley had gotten back just before Sam had to leave, with perfect timing to see her to the door actually.

The look on Pamela Manson’s face when Harley kissed Sam on each cheek and waved her off would keep Danny warm on cold nights.

A quick check of flight times back to Massachusetts (like Danny wasn’t going to take shortcuts) confirmed that Tucker could have one more night in Gotham.

Tim immediately offered to put him up in Wayne Manor again, clearly not allowing the chance to slip by him two nights in a row. Tucker was only too happy to accept, although Steph and Cass begged off.

Probably for their hero patrols. Danny wasn’t exactly sure how many vigilantes Gotham had, there seemed to be a new one every few months, but having six of them at the gala last night probably meant all the rest had been out.

Obviously Red Robin wouldn’t be out tonight either, but there were enough of them to cover for each other.

Danny was kinda jealous of that. It had been just him for so long, and then him and Valerie, which hadn’t been better until she stopped hunting him too. He’d have loved a night off.

Still, their numbers meant that Jason probably wouldn’t need to go back to the night life unless he actually wanted to. He was definitely still built for it, but Danny couldn’t imagine anyone wanted to ask him to.

Most of the bats had clearly had their own run ins with death, but Jason’s had stuck in ways even Danny knew he didn’t quite get.

Jason had been so tense at just the thought of Danny being a teen hero. It wasn’t like that’d get easier when it was his little siblings swinging from rooftops.

Danny’s hero career might have started with his own death, but he personally was of the opinion that that’d be a perfectly fine reason to end one too.

So Dick, Steph, and Cass headed out not too long after Sam, and Danny wasn’t exactly surprised when Jason’s background angst jumped.

He’d stayed on edge since Danny and Bruce got back, even when Harley told them Bruce was off dealing with his own shit and probably wouldn’t be out of his room all night.

Danny’d bet fifty bucks that the arrival of Constantine actually meant Bruce was in the Bat Cave being suspicious, but he wasn’t gonna say it.

Tim had shown them to a games room, for all that he’d apparently also moved out. He still knew where everything was, and soon had them hooked up for Mariokart on the biggest TV Danny ever saw.

They’d played a couple rounds (Harley was expectedly devastating with red shells) and while Danny and Tucker were having fun, he could feel Jason stressing.

Like, even if he stuck his fingers in his ears and ignored the aura. The guy was tensed so tight his shoulders strained at his shirt, which woulda been visually interesting if Danny didn’t know why.

Cass was one near death experience from slipping back across the boundary for good.

Cass was off punching criminals with rocket launchers in body armour and spandex.

Duke was probably actually in bed, Signal did morning patrols, and Damian was obstinately refusing to play video games with them perched on the back of the couch, but still.

Dick and Steph had both given one life to the cause too, and for all Dick was a cop and in danger on his day job too, cops pretty famously showed up after the vigilantes ended the party.

More than half Jason’s immediate family were back in the line of fire and Danny could practically taste Jason’s Obsession eating away at him.

As much as he tried to pretend he was playing along and gave a shit about winning, the controller creaked in his hands more than a couple casual races should allow.

So, yeah, if he couldn’t get Jason to crack a smile with this one, he was gonna gently bow them both the fuck outta the manor.

He kept half an eye on Tim, who had a glass of water.

“Hey, you guys heard the theory about Batman?” He asked casually, just as another round of Mariokart started.

Jason kicked him in the ankle but otherwise ignored him, which was fair. He’d been exposed to Danny’s bullshit.

Tim stiffened and then forced himself to relax, Tucker rolled his eyes and jostled Danny from his other side, but it was Harley who answered.

Innocent as the day she was born.

“Oh? What? Is it that he’s a lizardman? Cuz I got right up on that cowl and he’s definitely a mammal,” she said casually, not even looking away from the screen.

Danny was pretty sure he heard Damian almost slip off his perch.

He was a little bit in love with Harley Quinn. He should get her number for Jazz, maybe his big sister would learn to have a little fun.

Grinning broad and only half fake, he drifted a turn to pick up a double item from under Tucker’s nose.

“Shit, yeah, you might actually know! It’s his secret identity!” He exclaimed cheerfully, and felt the tension in the room ratchet up.

From Tim and Damian. Jason… still wasn’t paying attention.

Not like he was deeply immersed in the game, for all he kept up he was nowhere near the speed demon that handed Danny his ass the night before.

Hmm. Better get his attention.

Tim and Damian had already settled again, probably remembering he was already In The Know even if Tucker wasn’t, and Harley had given him a very knowing look right before she fire flowered him.

Almost ready.

He waited until Tim had taken a hasty sip of water on a calm stretch, nudged Jason in the shins, and made sure he was louder than the music.

“So d’you think it’s possible that Markiplier’s Batman?”

Tim sprayed water across the couch, Harley fucking cackled, and Jason snapped his head around to stare at Danny so hard he cricked his neck.

Danny red shelled him for good measure, just so he wasn’t missing anything on screen.

Tucker rolled his eyes, also deeply deeply used to Danny’s bullshit and much more interested in gaming revenge.

“Fuck off Danny, Markiplier isn’t even a Gothamite,” he said disdainfully and Danny shook his head, grinning.

“That’s why it’s the perfect cover. I mean, Batman wants to keep his secret identity a secret, right? So having an identity that very publicly “isn’t in Gotham” makes perfect sense!” He argued cheerfully.

Jason half snorted a laugh beside him, picking back up and speeding his way back into the race. Across the couch Tim wiped his face, still catching his breath.

“I fucking hate that that made sense,” he moaned, and Harley cackled again.

“Nah, he’s got a point! How does anyone know where a youtuber lives? We only see one room!” She agreed cheerfully, clearly leaning in.

It was so nice to have a true showwoman in the crowd.

Damian looked angry in the confused way now, and Danny would hazard a guess he didn’t watch youtube at all, let alone a lets player. That might have made it funnier, had there been no other concerns.

Beside him Jason huffed out another dry chuckle, shaking his head with the barest hint of a smile.

“I can’t believe Batman has an OnlyFans,” he said in a solemn, almost sorrowful voice… and dropped a blue shell.

Tim groaned like his soul had gone with it, clinging desperately to his first place lead. Harley cackled and added her own green shells to the mix, dropping all three as they came to the home stretch.

“Don’t forget the calendar of tasteful nudes! All for charity, just what Batsy would like,” she crowed with evident glee, and Tucker snorted a laugh.

“It’d explain all the surgeries,” he agreed reluctantly, and Danny had a sudden, utterly wicked idea.

“Hey… now that Batman’s on OnlyFans, d’you think he’ll convince the whole Justice League to do a pinup calendar, or just the other bats?” He asked innocently, watching said bats from the corner of his eye.

Well, Robins technically, but since only Tim was of age birds didn’t seem appropriate.

Tim himself threw his controller to the ground, abandoning the game and throwing himself over the back of the couch and almost hitting Damian on the way.

Damian definitely hissed at him like a startled cat.

No way Danny imagined that this close to the finish.

Tucker hesitated for a long moment, clearly considering his odds of winning, but when Harley blasted past Tim’s spun out corpse and across the finish line he abandoned his controller too to check on Tim.

Harley was surprisingly good at the game when flopped sideways on her chosen couch, laughing too hard to breathe. Danny breezed into an easy third behind her and Jason, giving the other man an assessing look.

A little wary of reaching out with his aura, especially when Jason was on edge. He didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

Didn’t want to be too invasive, if he was honest. Danny had… kinda always been the one who was new to aura stuff before. And he’d gotten used to it, in the Ghost Zone.

He’d never spent this much time with another halfa before. Especially not without a single trace of punching or stabbing.

Except in Mariokart, where the Geneva Convention held no sway.

He’d have to get Ellie to give it a shot the next time she came by, she could join them remotely from an internet cafe anywhere on Earth.

Jason had clearly noticed him looking though, and read the concern even without Danny pushing. He gave Danny’s shoulder a gentle bump, a nudge of fine-stop worrying alongside.

Danny nudged back, his own disbelief tinged with understanding-empathy-worried too.

But, that was kinda the other thing… the thing he didn’t really want to bring up around the other bats just yet.

And while Jason had smiled, Danny didn’t think he’d mind them dipping out.

Faking a yawn, he stretched, cracked his back, and looked over to where Tim had rejoined the couch.

“Honestly, I’m beat. I gotta try and get back into a better sleep schedule before classes start,” he said, pulling a face at the self-reminder.

Their break was coming to its end, and then he’d be back into university. His class schedule was flexible, more afternoons than early mornings, but he’d… miss this.

Free time to just spend the whole day hanging out with friends and catching up. Meeting Jason’s family, Jason meeting his.

Danny didn’t actually know what Jason did, whether he was working or going back to school, but it was gonna come up soon.

They had a trip to Frostbite to plan, some ecto shots from Danny’s fridge, and at some point he still had to introduce Jason to Frighty… and probably ask the guy if he wanted to be called that still.

It’d be a little weird to start calling him Halloween or whatever, but frankly him obeying Danny’s orders and calling him “my liege” was way fucking weirder so it’d be fine.

And about four more days before half of Danny’s time would be eaten by lectures, study halls, and projects. Fuck, maybe Jason would give him a hand with those too.

So long as he wasn’t sick of Danny by then.

Another quick glance showed that Jason’s face had reset into that tense almost-scowl again, staring past the TV.

At the other end of the couch, Tim gave a disgruntled huff.

“I’m gonna make you pay for that next time,” he grumbled, shifting to Tucker with an adorable moment of sudden concern. “Do you need me to show you to a room too, or…”

Tucker shook his head with a snicker, giving Danny a side eye.

“Nah, unlike that weakling I got used to the vigilante sleep schedule back in high school. I’m good for a couple more hours at least,” he bragged.

Danny flipped him off, hauling himself to his feet and giving Jason a nudge.

“Yeah, well, this weakling fought a croc last night and needs his sleep. Mind giving me a ride back?” He asked when Jason looked up at him.

Gently offered a touch of easy out-reassurance-trust me.

The deep furrows in Jason’s brows twitched until he caught on and his expression cleared. He nodded quickly and pulled himself to his feet.

“Yeah, we can take my bike.” Then he hesitated and looked a little uncertain. “You never told me where you live.”

It took Danny a moment to realise that… no, he really hadn’t, because that just plain didn’t feel right. But no, he’d met Jason again in that coffee shop, then come to the gala with Sam.

Hadn’t gone home last night, just stopped at one of Jason’s apparently multiple places; at least he was doing better than Danny had thought from the first apartment.

He found himself chuckling at the thought, shaking his head.

“Oh yeah, we’ve only been to your place… I’m at the south dorm at Gotham U, I can give you directions as we get closer,” he offered and Jason nodded.

He felt… weird? Like he was surprised Danny had told him where he lived, and ashamed of being surprised.

Danny decided not to dig into it, offering Jason his arm and bowing like all those Shakespeare plays he knew Jason loved.

“Shall we?”

Jason’s moment of surprise was quickly swallowed by delight and he bowed back, then tucked his hand into Danny’s elbow. Almost definitely knew etiquette better than Danny did, so Danny wasn’t gonna doubt him.

“We shall. I’ll drop you off and head home,” he agreed, then paused and glanced back at Harley.

Whose giggling had completely ended and was now watching them like her favourite sitcom. Chin in hands and all.

“Did you wanna meet up here tomorrow, or…” Jason trailed off, obviously also a little put off by her intensity.

She perked up when addressed, giving him a cheery grin and a double thumbs up.

“Here or th’ station, I don’t mind! Hey, did ya wanna come too, Danny boy?” She asked sweetly, head cocked to the side and just waaaay too innocent.

Not that Danny could work out what she was up to.

“Uh… to do what?” He asked carefully, head cocking to match hers before he noticed and straightened up.

Her grin widened, so she noticed.

“Oh, Jason an’ I are gonna go check on my buddy Waylon, see if we can’t work out what he was doin’ at the gala. If y’ouse threw down he might like ta see ya there?”

Which honestly left Danny at a loss, until Tim explained.

“Killer Croc. His actual name’s Waylon Jones, and he was Harley’s tenant in Coney Island before coming back to Gotham,” he said casually, and Danny stilled.

Felt something cold and all too familiar at the back of his neck. And felt Harley notice it, suddenly predator sharp in a way he hadn’t felt since Skulker was a serious threat.

For the life of him though, he couldn’t put his finger on what he felt, since she didn’t move. Just grinned like she had been all along.

“People called him Killer Croc cuz of his skin condition. He gave up tryin’ ta change their minds,” she said with a light shrug, completely belied by the intensity of her stare.

Danny couldn’t look away until she released him, something satisfied in the quirk of her lip. Like she could feel the sudden well of tension in his chest.

He’d never actually given in to all the things his parents had called Phantom. They’d been ashamed of all of them when the truth came out, and he’d only had to put up with them for a few years.

He tried to imagine decades of it, being called a monster for things he couldn’t control. For nothing more than a weird scaly skin condition.

He couldn’t imagine going full bomb vest over it, but Danny was man enough to admit he might just be a little touchy because of Jason’s death.

Which Waylon might not even know about.

Suddenly he actually did want to know why they’d attacked the gala.

Until now it had just been inevitable, someone was going to so why not them, but… well. He’d felt it under the whole plan, every stupid step.

Jason had trusted Waylon, not Danny, to keep things from getting out of hand. To know that a tussle was part of the fun.

Danny hadn’t planned on asking, but. Yeah.

“I’d like that,” he agreed quickly, nodding, at about the same time as Tucker found his own voice.

“Wait, that’s a skin condition? He’s just like that?” The techie asked sharply, staring around at Tim and Damian to confirm.

And got a disdainful look from Damian back.

“Tt, what else would it be? Do you know many scaled people?” He asked archly.

Danny’s mind snapped directly to Dora and her asshole brother. Knew Tucker’s had gone to the same place a second later.

“More than you’d think,” he and Tucker said in unison, and they shared a grin. If there was one benefit to their fucked up ghost hunting years, it was shutting down smart ass remarks.

Damian only looked more annoyed at being corrected, and Tucker shrugged.

“I thought he mighta been a scientist and tried to fuse himself with a lizard or something, like in Spider-Man,” he elaborated, and Danny kinda hated how much their lives resembled superhero movies.

Not that he’d say that in a room full of bats.

Damian’s brows drew down even further and he sneered, displeasure evident, but Jason cut him off before he could speak.

“Before you make a comment about mad scientists I’m gonna remind you we live in a city with Viktor Fries,” he said dryly and Damian’s mouth snapped shut.

Big brother privileges.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Ellie had given Danny those?

Tucker gave Danny a confused look, and Danny just shrugged back. He didn’t pay much attention to Gotham’s various rogues; he didn’t want to tempt his Obsession.

Tim chimed in again, without actually looking at Tucker which was kinda impressive.

“Dr Freeze. He uses a lot of liquid nitrogen and freeze rays, he’s usually after money or diamonds to try and cure his wife,” he explained with a slight shrug.

Tucker made a confused noise.

“So… couldn’t Bruce just pay him off and keep him from bothering the city?” He asked carefully, glancing around the room.

Jason actually snorted a laugh at that, shaking his head.

“If he could, he would have. What Fries wants isn’t possible yet.”

Not possible for humans. Part of Danny perked up, wondering if Frostbite might have the answers… but no. It wasn’t his job to solve every problem in the world.

Bringing healthy humans to the Zone was iffy. An already sick woman… well, she might get hastened along her journey to the afterlife.

And this was a conversation he really wanted to keep away from, honestly. Gotham’s rogues weren’t his problem. Couldn’t be his problem.

Danny fought ghosts, unkillable entities who enjoyed missile attacks as sport. He wasn’t interested in learning how squishy human rogues were; it had been bad enough with his friends in the line of fire.

Mega pass on being the firing squad.

He almost reconsidered the trip tomorrow, but… he trusted Jason. Trusted Jason knew where he was coming from, and that neither of them wanted to trip Danny’s Obsession.

So he gave the big guy a smile and an elbow nudge, nodding for the door.

“Not that rogue chat isn’t fascinating, but you were taking me to bed?” He asked hopefully, and only realised what he’d said when Harley stuffed half her fist in her mouth to laugh.

—————

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @perfectwastelandcreation @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear @magic-pincushion @redamancyardor

#danny fenton dead and loving it #wip wednesday #chapter 12 #dp x dc #dead on main #never make a promise you can’t keep #lots to talk about here #funny and serious

[agirlwiththoughtsandnegativity]

Dear Reader (by Taylor Swift) Analysis. I suddenly got obsessed with this song so here’s an analysis of the whole thing. please read it took me like 30 minutes 🙏 warning: it’s a bit long

This whole song is extremely interesting. It is one of Taylor’s songs that addresses not only her fame, but also how she sees herself, and her flaws. It’s almost like anti hero, but somehow more self critical. At the conclusion of the song, we see Taylor is really trying to tell us that we shouldn’t be looking up to her, a flawed and broken person, but she is too famous and too perfect to the public. She “shines too bright” for us to look away now, and it is impossible to give up the fame at this point. 

Dear reader

If it feels like a trap, you're already in one

The song opens with the phrase “dear reader”, a pattern which continues throughout the rest of the song. We can only assume that this reader she is addressing is us, the fans. “If it feels like a trap, you’re already in one” it is unclear if Taylor is just starting off with giving us life advice here, or if this is addressing something relating to her.

This pattern follows for the rest of the verse, lines starting with “dear reader” and the ending with a piece of life advice:

Dear reader

Get out your map, pick somewhere and just run

Dear reader

Burn all the files, desert all your past lives

And if you don't recognize yourself

That means you did it right

Does this advice have to do with Taylor? We can perhaps relate the map line to Taylor disappearing after the feud in 2017, or perhaps running from the paparazzi and press. The second advice, about burning files and deserting past lives, could possibly be about Taylor reinventing herself during each era. “And if you don’t recognize yourself, that means you did it right” could relate to her most drastic changes, like going pop and her bad girl rebellious reinventing for the Reputation era. It could possibly be Taylor stating that these “transformations” or “eras” do make her feel different not only in her work, but in her personal life too. It’s possible Taylor is also stating that she has become so famous/popular that not only is the brand of Taylor Swift and her artwork getting reinvented, she herself must be too.

Never take advice from someone who's falling apart

Never take advice from someone who's falling apart

(You should find another)

Directly after giving us lots of advice, Taylor follows it up by saying “never take advice from someone who’s falling apart”. Is this her telling us to forget all the advice she has just shared, to not listen to not trust it? Or should we not even listen to this advice either? I believe this is Taylor sharing that she feels like she cannot give us advice or be a role model because she is not doing well. She is saying not to base ourselves off of her, not to listen to things she says because she is falling apart, yet we all believe her to be perfectly fine. It is contradicting to put this right after her advice, but I believe that is the point. At the end, Taylor says “you should find another” this is the beginning of a later line “you should find another guiding light, but I shine so bright”. Not only is it the beginning of that line, I think it can also be read as it’s own line. The fans should find another idol, role model, favourite, etc. because she is falling apart.

Dear reader

Bend when you can, snap when you have to

Dear reader

You don't have to answer, just 'cause they asked you

Again, after telling us not to listen to her advice, she gives us advice again. It is hard to decipher this, but I think the deeper meaning could be she so desperately wants to be giving us this good advice, but feels hypocritical because she is falling apart. “Bend when you can, snap when you have to” she is telling us to compromise, to only give in when we really, really need to. “You don’t have to answer just cause they asked you.” Don’t give everyone everything they want or ask for. This follows the same train of thought as bending when you can and snapping when you have to.

(You should find another)

Taylor throws this line in there again. Could it be said that it’s almost like her interrupting herself, reminding us (and her) not to listen to this advice? It could also be noted that this advice does not seem to be bad advice, depending on your opinion/situation you apply it to I suppose, but perhaps Taylor believes she is not qualified to tell it.

Dear reader

The greatest of luxuries is your secrets

Dear reader

When you aim at the devil make sure you don't miss

“The greatest of luxuries is your secrets” Taylor would know this better than anyone. When you have her kind of fame, can you really have secrets? In her own words, celebrities get their secrets splashed in the news front page. 

“When you aim at the devil, make sure you don’t miss.” Perhaps Taylor is saying that you’re sure someone is the devil before you shoot, that they are enemy instead of friend. Or maybe she’s saying to make sure you are strong enough to make that shot before you attempt it. Is she inferring to a personal experience of hers? I couldn’t be sure, especially depending on which interpretation of it we’re talking about.

Never take advice from someone who's falling apart

Never take advice from someone who's falling apart

Again, after her advice she tells us to not trust this advice, to not take it from her. 

So I wander through these nights

I prefer hiding in plain sight

Now we launch into the bridge, which I think is one of the most telling and personal parts of the song. “I prefer hiding in plain sight” Taylor is perfect to us, we don’t say she is falling apart, yet here she is telling it to us directly, and yet so many would still take her advice. Even after releasing songs like “My tears ricchoet” or “this is me trying” or “mirrorball” many still see her as perfect and unflawed. She is hiding this in plain sight.

My fourth drink in my hand

These desperate prayers of a cursed man

“My fourth drink in my hand” is very very very very interesting because many fans have been worried about Taylor’s alcohol consumption for awhile. She mentions drinking a lot more on recent albums, lots more pictures of her holding wine being released, and if I’m not mistaken her saying at the eras tour that she was “borderline alcoholic” during the pandemic. This line seems to be Taylor admitting to relying on drink to escape her mind, to forget that she is falling apart. The second line could be a bit confusing. Who is this “cursed man” that is praying, and what are they praying for? Is this a character in Taylor’s life, or could this “cursed man” just be Taylor herself?

Spilling out to you for free

But darling, darling, please

You wouldn't take my word for it

If you knew who was talking

“Spilling out to you for free” Taylor shares her songs and lyrics with us for free, all her deepest feelings public and on the radio. “But darling, darling, please. You wouldn’t take my word for it if you knew who was talking” Taylor almost seems to be begging now, for us to see she is not perfect and not the person we should be listening to this advice from. “If you knew who was talking” If we knew who she really was, we wouldn’t look up to her or trust her words.

If you knew where I was walking

To a house, not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there

“If you knew where I was walking” again, if we really knew Taylor past how she presents herself, we would not feel the same way about her. “To a house, not a home, all alone cause nobody’s there.” Is this a literal house, Taylor feeling lonely in her big mansion, or is it metaphorical? Could this perhaps relate to what is discussed in “Tolerate It”, saying the man she is in a relationship isn’t putting effort into it, isn’t paying attention to her, and so she feels alone? Or could it perhaps refer to her mind, where she feels lonely and like no one gets her? Or is she too famous now to have any real friends?

Where I pace in my pen and

My friends found friends who care

No one sees when you lose

When you're playing solitaire

“Where I pace in my pen” Some people pace to think, but Taylor writes songs to think. That is her method of seeing her thoughts more clearly. “My friends found friends who care” Is Taylor saying here that she is a bad friend? Or does she have bad friends? Perhaps we could also read from this that Taylor gets so caught up in her work it can seem to others in her life that she doesn’t care about them. We already know she is constantly working and writing songs. “No one sees when you lose when you’re playing solitaire” we can guess at the fact that fame and constant attention from the press could make Taylor feel isolated. She feels as if she is “playing solitaire” and so no one sees her losses, including us, blinded by the image she wants us to see.

You should find another guiding light

Guiding light

But I shine so bright

You should find another guiding light

Guiding light

But I shine so bright x2

You should find another

She ends the song in her telling us this full line “you should find another guiding light but I shine so bright” which she repeats a few times. She is saying you should find someone else to look up to, another idol, but at the same time she knows how famous she is, how impossible it is to look away from her. How she is plastered across every tabloid and newspaper and piece of media, on billboards and on the radio. And she knows how strong her “perfect” image is. How easy it is for her fans to see her as that. She is saying she shouldn’t be the guiding light, she is falling apart and is not qualified for it, but oh how she seems like she is.

The song ends on the line that has been going in and out the whole song. “You should find another”. This is the message she has really been trying to share all of the song. The message is that we should find another. We shouldn’t be Taylor’s fans, shouldn’t idolize her, shouldn’t follow her advice or look up to her, because she is falling apart and a flawed person who pretends to be perfect. At the end of the song, it almost seems like she is begging us (the reader) to understand this, and the thing is, we probably still don’t.

Dear reader, thanks for reading this, especially if you read it all the way through lol. I hope it made sense and was entertaining, not just me rambling, I really did try my best.

#I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT XX #HOPEFULLY I SOUND SMART AND NOT STUPID #writing #taylor swift #the eras tour #swifties #midnights #dear reader #my writing #taylor swift eras tour #lyric analysis #songs #ttpd #ts ttpd #ts11

[coffeexafterxmidnight]

I have no idea what I'm doing but uh

Hi people in the Overwatch fandom! Let me introduce you to my omnic doctor OC!

Jillian "Jill" Herrera-Cortez - Caretaker

"Don't you worry, I'm the best mechanic in Mexico City."

A young woman with bright gray eyes, long black hair held up in a high ponytail, and freckled medium brown skin. She’s on the chubby side, but agile, with legs built for sprinting and calloused hands. She’s also short - 5’2, not counting the ponytail or boots. She prefers casual clothes - hoodies, t-shirts, overalls and jumpsuits left with the tops tied around her waist and the legs cut off at various lengths. Jill always keeps her safety goggles and collapsible toolkit on her - never know when an emergency will happen.

(forgive the somewhat outdated and inaccurate picrew, I can't draw.)

Jill is a talented mechanic who runs a dubiously legal Omnic clinic in Mexico City. Compassionate to a fault, she works hard to take care of those who come through her doors. She's not afraid to take risks, and her reckless behavior has gotten her hurt many times, but she keeps getting back up again because she believes she's needed. All she wants, in her heart, is to be like her childhood hero Mercy. She'd be a perfect fit for Overwatch... Which is probably why I tend to play her being kidnapped by Talon or Null Sector and forced to work for them instead, haha

Full backstory, written first person POV, under the cut:

Truth is, I try not to think about it. It’s easier to keep a secret, if it’s not always on the tip of your tongue. Maybe I’m the only person who thinks it’s a secret - I mean, who didn’t lose loved ones during the Omnic Crisis? But if I keep it to myself - tell my patients that my parents died in a car accident, if I really have to - then, maybe they’ll be more inclined to trust me. It wasn’t their fault what happened. I don’t hate them. Nobody should hate them.

When I was eight, I got in trouble at the orphanage for it, but by the time I was thirteen, I’d gotten good at it. How could I not? Didn’t matter how the nuns punished me, I wasn’t going to stand by and watch people hurt other people. And standing up for the Omnics never worked, so… I did other things. Misdirection, hiding the victims wherever I could, even the occasional dirty trick. But it wasn’t enough. I don’t see how no one understands - the Omnics are people. I feel more in tune with them than any human. When I was a child, I saw it so clearly. I was looked at the same way they were.

Nobody wanted me either.

I broke the law a lot, to get what I needed. They don’t just leave Omnic blueprints lying around online. At first I felt guilty, and scared. I wondered what would happen to the people around me if I got caught. Seems a bit silly now, doesn’t it? But I wanted to do more. I wanted to help. So I moved away when I was 16, set up a home in a rundown building, and put it back together. I fixed things for humans - still do! - and I bartered, and I negotiated, and I begged for what I needed. I stole. I survived. And nobody seemed to notice, when the Omnics slipped in through the door in the back, or when they came back out. Well, maybe one of my neighbors did, but she never said anything.

And the word got out. That I was kind. That I was safe. That I was good. That I was the best damn mechanic in Mexico City. That’s what I tell my patients, whenever I see them. I haven’t lost any of them, not a single one. Call that a miracle.

It was never just one powerful, traumatic moment. It was a thousand little cuts that led me here. And don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate humans. I can’t imagine hating such a vast, amazing quantity of life. There’s nothing wrong with being human. There’s nothing wrong with being Omnic.

Even now I just don’t understand why my remaining family never took me home. I had two older sisters, three uncles, an aunt, all of them I found after I grew up. I reached out to my siblings… never heard from them. I reached out to one of my uncles. He blocked me. I’m starting to think there’s a reason I’ve been thrown out of the family, and it’s not because of my clinic. What were my parents doing before the Crisis? I have no idea. All their records were destroyed, just like so many others…

I tell myself it’s okay to be alone, that I don’t need them. I wish I could lie to myself as easily as I do everyone else.

#overwatch #overwatch oc #overwatch original character #this is low-key terrifying to do i hope i don't regret this 😅

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

What's this? Another Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow post?? But it's 2024! Surely, there's nothing new to uncover with regards to this seminal work of sequential storytelling...right?!?!?

Well...kinda. XD

BEHOLD! Another Tom King podcast interview, wherein he discusses Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and mostly confirms stuff we already knew, but! BUT! He does drop some new bits of info!

Right then. LET'S GO!

My usual disclaimer applies, recommend listening to the interview firsthand to get a more objective perspective.

But if you're cool with my (INCREDIBLY BIASED! ALWAYS! ALWAYS BIASED WITH THIS BOOK!) summary, then ONWARDS WE GO.

(And when I say 'biased summary' what I mean is that I will be including the bits that make me want to run a victory lap because my readings were SPOT HECKIN' ON, ALL YE NAYSAYERS!*)

Ahem. Anyways.

So I'm going to start off with some new-ish info (at least, it's new-ish to me. XD) The interviewers had asked about the title, specifically in regards to Zor-El's dialogue in issue six (I believe it's the portion where Zor is explaining to Kara why he's going to save her, and says something like, "tomorrow will come soon enough...and you will be a woman looking back on the many decades of your life..." hence 'Woman of Tomorrow') and whether that was planned from the outset, or if that part came about organically as he was writing it.

King said he'd originally written a completely different script for issue six (which we did know) but FUN NEW FACTOID TIME: Zor-El/Kara's origin (initially) weren't included in issue six like, at all. It therefore would not have come up at any point within the mini-series, had they gone with that first script.

But editorial hated it (King agreed with their conclusion, and another fun fact, we'll get to see said script in the backmatter for the new deluxe edition, YAY) and when King asked if there was anything in it that they liked, they said the tiny flashback to Kara's time on Argo was good.

SO. King then decided to expand that/incorporate her origin, because that would be 'easy', and this was back during his crazy COVID writing schedule.

(Folks will perhaps recall that he wrote issue seven in like...a day. What we did not know was that he rewrote issue six in that same week.)

And then it ended up being everyone's favorite issue so yaaaaay for editors! Unsung heroes of comics!

They are also comics' greatest villains but that's a discussion for another day!

Evely's art was mentioned at this point and King was like, 'I had to go back and make the writing more beautiful/esoteric to match what she was putting out.'

Also we stan a comic writer who lets his artists take as long as they need on art. (Though as he's mentioned before, Evely was able to turn in the art quickly on this book, which is heckin' WILD to me, have you SEEN that woman's pencils and inkwork??!??!?!??!?!)

They touched on the True Grit comparisons, only relevant/new bits there are that King feels it's the perfect novel (agree) and that the John Wayne version is terrible (also correct) and the Cohen Brothers' version is great (right again.)

Another bit we already knew: It was an editor who was responsible for the suggestion that Kara should be Rooster, not Mattie. (I think in the past he credited this to Jamie Rich, but this time he said he couldn't remember if it was Rich or Brittany Holzherr, and said they could fight over the credit if they want. XD)

Either way, THANK YOU, WHOEVER YOU ARE, b/c the alternative pitch, with Kara as Mattie and Lobo as Rooster, sounded awful.

Instead King went with, 'Kara will learn from the young naïf, and teach the young naïf.'

(Much better.)

MORE NEW, FUN TRIVIA!!!!

King said they had the first issue completely drawn, colored, and lettered--basically ready to go, and DC said, 'we can't publish this because Supergirl doesn't drink.'

King called Jim Lee, trying to make his case, that she was twenty-one, it was legal, it was a totally normal/human thing to do, and Lee was like, 'but we can't.'

King: Could I do it with Superman? Lee: Yeah.

Essentially it was a lot of tiptoeing around stuff like, 'girls can't get drunk and whatnot' coupled with 'Supergirl can't do that because she's perfect and pure.'

But! Lee ultimately was like, 'okay, you can leave the scene in, but you can't say she's drunk.'

So if you go back and read the actual dialogue/narration, there's no explicit language confirming that kara is three sheets to the wind.

(Which is so, so ridiculous to me because the art makes it very, very clear that she is. XD LOOPHOLES!)

King and the interviewers pointed out that this real world editorial incident ironically tied into one of the metanarratives of the character, that being the pressure placed on Kara, which Clark doesn't have to deal with.

Art imitating life etc. etc. XD

Feel like I've heard this bit in other interviews but it's sweet so it bears repeating: the green sun planet's name is based on King's nickname for his daughter, and she was the one who came up with the idea of a 'green sun planet' during a discussion at dinner one night.

So shifting gears a bit, the rest of the podcast focused specifically on various plot points that the interviewers wanted to discuss/had questions about; it's basically King offering his insights as the writer. And I really, really appreciate this, for reasons I'll get to further down. Now then, more summarizing!

One of the interviewers brought up a sticking point he had with the book: the execution of the Brigand in issue four. Ruthye says to Supergirl that she thought she would save him. To which Supergirl replies: Did you?

King explained that Ruthye and Kara are on opposite journeys in this book. In issue one, Kara is on the side of 'I don't kill, heroes never kill' and Ruthye is on the opposite side, 'Krem killed my father, I have to kill him.' At the end of the book, they are once again on opposite sides, but they've switched.

(I love the way King described it, that Ruthye becomes Supergirl, and saves Supergirl. More on this later.)

But specifically that part in issue four, where Kara doesn't step in, King confirmed that she's on that journey, she's going through that transition, but she hasn't crossed the line of, 'I'll kill him myself.' Rather, she's allowing the system to do what it will.

King also mentioned that this theme isn't especially new and has been examined in comics time and time again, of superheroes asserting their morality over governments, and how that spirals into fascism. He cited Kingdom Come, etc.

Further comments from King on Kara's character: she's conflicted, unlike Clark. Clark's soul and ideals are aligned one to one; Kara wants that. She loves those ideals and wants to uphold them, but she's not fully aligned like that because of what she's been through (read: She's Seen Some Things)

Loved this bit from King: "Supergirl's a little more human than Clark, in spite of being more alien."

King said DC probably would've let him have Supergirl kill Krem in the end, BUT (and it's a good 'but' tying into that earlier bit about Ruthye becoming Supergirl) he said that the theme of this book was 'what makes Supergirl awesome' (he admits this is kind of a dumb theme, but hard disagree, sir) and he liked that Kara's lessons to Ruthye are ultimately what saves her. Kara saves herself.

(STICK A PIN IN THAT ONE, FOLKS)

King once again stated, for the record, that Krem does not die in the end!

The two interviewers had differing interpretations, hence King needing to confirm. XD He even pulled out his script for issue eight, and the description does indeed say that Krem is unconscious, not dead.

And, AND, Evely even made this clearer in the art; the script didn't have Krem moving after Ruthye hit him, but Evely added Krem placing his hand on his head.

Another point the interviewers wanted to discuss: Ruthye writing that Supergirl had killed Krem.

King confirmed that this was to prevent the Brigands from retaliating against Ruthye, and instead focus on going after Supergirl.

In King's mind, Kara feels immense guilt that her father saved her over literally anyone else, so she spends her life taking on other people's pain, to make up for what she sees as taking someone else's spot on that ship.

The scene in issue seven, where Kara's falling through the atmosphere and pushes through in order to preserve the memories that she carries with her was inspired by events from King's life; his mother died unexpectedly, and when going through her things, realized that he was one of the only people who carried certain memories of his mother and grandparents; he described it as a kind of burden.

Last question from the interviewers: Why make Ruthye and unreliable narrator? Do we believe anything in this book, now?

King started off his answer by noting that he fought against using captions in his books for his entire career; by the time he started writing comics, caption boxes had sort of lost their vitality and had become the equivalent of thought balloons, which had long since fallen out of style.

But when he returned to them with Supergirl, he said, (and I have the full quote below)

King: "What I love about [captions] is that you can write things that contrast what's in the pictures, so that the captions can tell you a little bit of a different story than what you're seeing, and thereby enhance it--it's that idea of Ruthye being, she's narrating the story but we're seeing pictures of what's actually happening, creates an excellent sort of tension I think." (Bold mine)

And so, some THOUGHTS!

As always, I love learning new things about this comic. I wish this comic had a commentary track, with King (and Evely, Lopes, and Cowles!) talking about the creation/processes behind the book.

Next best thing is podcasts, I guess! XD

But IN ADDITION to fun, new information, as I mentioned at the outset, King has basically confirmed a bunch of stuff I mentioned in my deep dive posts.

To quote one of the interviews: "I was validated by Tom King!"

XD

This also debunks like. Every bad-faith criticism lobbed at the book. It's almost like a checklist of the month-to-month stuff I was seeing from those aforementioned naysayers, complaining on twitter that King had ruined Kara beyond repair.

They'll likely never listen to this podcast, but I wish they would! I think it would make them feel better. XD Like, hearing the insights on Kara/Ruthye/etc has just reminded me once again how good this book is, and how emotionally moving.

Like, again, I love the way King sums up how Kara and Ruthye work together in this book to shine a spotlight on Supergirl; Kara teaches Ruthye lessons, Ruthye becomes Supergirl thanks to those lessons, Ruthye then saves Kara, thus Kara saves herself.

(Which hey, I touched on in my issue eight post, way back when.)

(I'm also beyond thrilled that my assumption that the art is the true account while the narration boxes are Ruthye's recounting was CORRECT.)

(Which isn't to suggest this is a terribly deep, difficult to decipher text. I mean. It's a monthly comic book intended for mass consumption, starring popular IP--the writing isn't inaccessible by any means. XD But I just remember seeing SO MANY PEOPLE deliberately misreading these specific points as a way to Stay Mad, so I'm relieved that my glass half full interpretations wasn't just the result of desperate Evely Stan goggles, you know? XD)

TL;DR: I cannot heckin' WAIT for that big, beautiful hardcover coming out in July (IDK if I've posted about it here yet but Lopes said he recolored some stuff so you BETTER BELIEVE I'll be back on my Woman of Tomorrow nonsense this summer) and I'm also thrilled that this entire creative team has returned with a new creator owned title (EXPECT A POST ON THAT...AT SOME POINT???)

#long post #supergirl: woman of tomorrow #supergirl: woman of tomorrow spoilers #dc comics

[makshu]

About the new arc

Once I saw someone commenting that because this new arc (which I'll refer to as that for now) has a similar proposal to the PP arc, it made it a little stand out.

But I will show from my point of view why even with similar proposals they are completely different.

Think of a famous anime concept like, a somewhat outcast person who ends up discovering an incredible ability and becomes famous. Can you think of some animes with this proposal, right? My example is My Hero Academia and Haikyuu, they have the same proposal but they are completely different, one is a hero anime and the other a sports anime and so on.

It's the same thing with these arcs. Same proposal, "a new reality in which we want to escape" but different situations and reasons.

In the PP arc we have Hanako wanting to keep Yashiro safe from her death, asking Shijima to create a fictional world so she could live in a perfect reality. In this arc we have Yashiro and Kou wanting to escape the painting, but with the dilemma of being in a perfect reality and thinking that "maybe it's better here", but in the end we know that they work hard to get out of there. We have the presence of supernaturals such as Hanako, Mistuba and Shijima in this arc, they actively participate in the choices and dilemma, showing more of their motives and anxieties, in addition to this arc being an arc about a school mystery as well.

The situation is much simpler compared to now, as nothing was changed but created. Yashiro and Kou could easily get out of there by killing Hanako and Mitsuba, but they refused to do so (for obvious reasons) and that created a whole question of how they would get out of there. However, they knew that it was possible to leave, that the usual reality would be there when they left the painting, it would be like waking up from a dream. See? It's a much simpler situation to resolve if you put your feelings aside. PP arc becomes complex due to the characters' feelings, which makes them face this dilemma whether to get out of there or not. Without feelings and just the desire to leave, Yashiro and Kou wouldn't have thought twice about killing Hanako and Mitsuba (because they were both already dead, so they wouldn't die again).

Picture Perfect was an extreme solution to an unsolvable problem that could have been ended if feelings were put aside.

And again, in PP arc nothing was changed but created.

Now moving on to the new arc. The situation is much more complicated, reality has changed. The timeline was changed in the past to generate the present now. See how the problem gets much more complicated? Things were changed by a force majeure in a measure to return normality and ensure the stability of the world, and not a protective measure that was made using feelings.

This is something you shouldn't go out with, since now this is what you have. You shouldn't try to change things. The timeline has been changed and you should just accept it.

Since we know our protagonists don't want this and seem to have already made the decision to change things again, you don't get into a dilemma (at least not for now). Your problem now is how to change things. In PP arc the solution had been given but the decision was a problem, now the decision was taken but the solution was the problem.

They need to find out what the Clock Keepers changed and need to stop that change from happening. Now it would be about figuring out how to solve the problem and not the difficulty of making the decision.

In addition to the protagonists of the arcs not being all the same (PP arc: Yashiro, Kou, Hanako, Mistuba and Shijima; New arc: Yashiro, Teru, Akane and maybe Aoi (not sure about the twins for now)), the antagonists are not the same either (PP arc: Hanako and kinda Shijima; New arc: Maybe the twins and Clock Keepers). They are arcs with practically the same proposal but completely different executions and lines of thought.

And so, if you also thought the same as the person I mentioned at the beginning, I think you should think about this arc with a little more open mind. JSHK plays a lot with reality, and they using this concept again doesn't surprise me, but it excites me to see how even with the same proposal we will have very different situations.

And if you want a quick conclusion to all this, PP arc is about a creation and this new arc about a change.

#I think that's all I wanted to say #surprised that I managed to put my thoughts into words #amazing how one verb can change everything #I hope this all made sense and that I helped anyone who was apprehensive #thank you for reading #jshk #tbhk #jshk spoiler #jshk analysis #long post

[vaalthus]

Convergence Part 2 (spoilers)

Let's get into it.

Honestly, I fell in love with this full synchronization animation alone and I can see from the quality, as well as everything that comes after, is the reason why the release had to be delayed.

Truth be told, prior to this release, I was expecting Jaania's fully synchronized form to be quite the visual abomination. What with her soul being in tatters and the circumstances regarding Hesperrhodos' creation. So imagine my surprise to find a certain level of beauty in this form and it's one that perfectly encapsulates Jaania's character.

The way I see it, if Uaanta's transformation was the last stand of a hero offering up all her devotion and faith to her gods through her body and Remthalas' transformation was that of an eldritch monstrosity puppeteering its slave, then Jaania's transformation is that of a scarred woman, hence her face scar being highlighted in the transition, frantically control the order of the very world itself. Her many hands meant either guide or cut away whatever she deems fit in her eternal era of perfection.

I like how in spite of the noble intentions that's clearly driving her, these few lines really reveal the egotism that's mixed up in her reasoning. It's "her" perfect world we stand in the way in and it's our fault for wanting to stop her from a plan that could doom the very world she wants so desperately to protect. And that is reason enough determine that we don't have a future worth preserving.

I love how Draco tried to pull the same little attack on Jaania that they did to Voyna, but she just doesn't even react to it. Never change little fella.

The entire boss fight that ensues after this is truly something. Very thematically fitting in terms of Jaania's character while also somehow managing to be a step up above even the last one in part one. I'd say in spite of it being elevated to the complexity of the Inn at the Edge of Time, it still felt pretty manageable even as a Chaosweaver, so I get the thrill of kicking Jaania's butt as a weaver twice.

In addition, I feel like a lot of the pop up text and status effects that Jaania has, or gives, really cement my thoughts in that she is rather similar to Notha's character, but unlike Notha, who existed on the side of Doom/Chaos, Jaania is the epitome of Order and Destiny. Which makes her vision for Lore all the more terrifying when she shows us what a world of perfect order looks like to her because it's a complete nightmare for the Hero.

A frozen stagnant world, forever kept in stasis. One that keeps everyone from ever being hurt again but one that also keeps people from growing as they should in this world.

Fortunately, we once again prove we are more than a match for Jaania rejecting her delusion of control.

And honestly, this just as much of the sorry sight I expected to be. All that time and effort she put into the Rose, to trying, in her very misguided way, to protect everyone and everything and it's all down the drain. Her hair is almost completely white now, meaning her soul is on the very brink and the people that were sacrificed along the way have essentially been wasted.

One of these days I would like to take a further look into how the Hero views, well, heroism and how they've struggled with because it's an interesting sight.

I'm not sure what comes next for Jaania at this moment. She didn't die in her fight but it's clear her soul is not in good condition anymore. Even if she survives the trek back to surface, the Magesterium made it pretty clear they wanted her in their custody for judgement. Not only that, the judgement that remains back home in Greenguard for her actions and that of the Rose. Even if she's kept from any harsh punishment, where does she go from here? Will she sit in a wallow in misery? Try to atone for what she's done, provided she can be made to see the error of her ways? Perhaps Kara could help with that but beyond that I'm not sure what lies ahead for Jaania but I'm curious as to what comes next. I am satisfied with this conclusion.

However, there's that one little wrinkle to deal with.

THIS BUTTHEAD IS STILL BREATHING AND ABOUT TO DO THE THING!!!

....AND HE'S JACKED. I mean seriously I know the experiments made him strong as hell but good lord! I suppose it makes sense it would end this way though as our band, and even the hero, has no means of actually subduing or harming Akanthus and so it's a race to ensuring that bomb does not go off in the Mana Core as there is still no telling what it might do to the Core though my guess is still that it might corrupt it with doom energy.

As for Akanthus himself, I'm not sure. It's starting to feel like he might actually just straight up and try and bathe in the core itself to connect with it at this point. Either way, this is ending in a titan fight. >:)

We are soon to reach the end of this saga Loreians. Get ready.

#dragonfable #dragonfable spoilers #jaania #ah finally got to kick her ass #surprised Zvezdana didn't try and kill her #I still suspect her and some of other magesters to be a problem on what happens to Jaania next but I'm content to wait and see #Surprised Seppy still has his dragon amulet but I suppose he thought it could come in handy #Additionally I suspect we'll finally learn what makes Akanthus immune to magic and harm

[doofus-and-dragons]

As promised, I'm back on my httyd bullshit. Here's a list of things that don't make sense unless you watch the shows (idgaf if they're cannon or not, they should be for the background of small details!!!)

1. Grump.

Grump is Gobber's Hotburple in Httyd 2 and 3. But not in httyd 1. So this begs the question: Where and when did Gobber get Grump? The answer? Race to the Edge S3 E12, "Last Auction heros." Gobber and Snotlout go to Viggo's dragon auction undercover, and Grump is one of the dragons for sale. Without that episode, Grump is just a dragon they shoved into the second movie for shots and giggles.

2. Inferno

Inferno is a blade that Hiccup created himself that lights itself on fire using monstrous nightmare gel and can eject and ignite zippleback gas. To the casual watcher, he just showed up with it in the second movie. But Inferno is ALSO from rtte! Inferno's first form comes from S3 E9, "Tone Death." Hiccup then works further on it, but Inferno as we know it is actually based on a version of the blade that VIGGO GRIMBORN, the villain for most of RTTE, made.

3. The Deadly Nadder(? Looks like a nadder) plushie

Although this is a small detail that is only seen in the background of the later Httyd movies, it is still a detail that first appears within the SHOW'S cannon lore. According to S1 E17 of Riders of Berk, the toy was made by Valka when Hiccup was a baby. However, tiny Hiccup was so scared of the toy that he threw it in the ocean. Trader Johann managed to get ahold of it, and the episode was about the riders trying to save with mystery item because something happened to Johann's ship. I don't remember what. Something about smoldering smoke breaths, I think.

4. Skull Crusher

Skull Crush is Stoick the Vast's Rumblehorn in Httyd 2 and 3, who is later inherited by Eret, son of Eret upon Soick's death in Httyd 2. But again, where and when did Stoick get Shullcrusher? Because it seems like he just appeared. Well, I have that answer! Skull Crusher first appears in S1 E8, "Crushing It." In the episode, the gang is tormented by a Rumblehorn who keeps destroying their camp. Hiccup asks his Dad for help, and his Dad is able to train and befriend the wild dragon.

5. Hiccup's flight suit

In Httyd 2 and 3, Hiccup has/is trying to perfect a flight suit attached to his armor. Now, this could just be seen as Hiccup being a silly inventor off-screen, but it ACTUALLY shows up in Race to the Edge! S1 E12 "The Next Big Sting" actually opens with Hiccup trying out his first design for the flight suit. He does it many times, each time having to be saved by Toothless before he crashes into some form of rock/sea stack (much like in Httyd 2).

6. Hiccup's aging

I saw a post either on here or on tiktok the other day where someone was complaining about how different hiccup looked between 1 and 2. In 1, he's like...what...13?15? Where as He's about 20-21 ish by Httyd 2. To fans who don't obsess over something and consume all the media like I do, this would be a bit of a shock. I mean, you go from this:

Immediately to this:

Where as fans of the shows had this progression:

Much easier to swallow.

7. The Bewilderbeast

This is, again, something that could be choked up to the writers wanting more than just 7 species of dragons. HOWEVER, this dragon is actually the center point of the last few episodes of Race to the Edge. We learn a little bit about the dragon over the corse of the last season, which takes place just a year or two before Httyd 2.

9. VALKA HERSELF

I watched Race to the Edge long before I watched Httyd 2, so I had 0 clue the Hiccup's mom was still alive or what her mask looked like. But in the last bit of the last episode of race to the edge, guess what we see?

VALKA TAKING THE BEWILDERBEAST EGG.

In conclusion, these show's should be considered cannon to the HTTYD universe just as much as fucking Homecoming should or what ever. These are amazing and fill in so many continuity

#im very passionate about this #can you tell #i think the shows should be cannon #this isnt all but its all i could think of im tired #httyd #httyd rob #httyd dob #httyd rtte #httyd 2 #hiccup horrendous haddock lll #httyd stoick #stoick the vast #httyd gobber #gobber the belch #httyd valka #valka haddock #analysis #kind of #rambles #ramblings

[mikkokomori]

WOOHOO! Okay hopefully the food is good (things will be messy cuz I came up with this like… yesterday)

So you know how Sunny’s mom mentions Kel looks lonely and you should pay him a visit? There’s also an interaction with the jock at the park who says he didn’t know Kel lives in Faraway. Which leads me to think, maybe even if he’s outgoing, Kel doesn’t have a lot of friends. Close friends.

Let’s say Sunny and Mari play the duet. It’s perfect, and everyone’s happy. Kel is happy since now that they’ve played together, everyone can start hanging out again, going to picnics, all that stuff!

But both Mari and Sunny wish to do more recitals and start practicing more and more, so they stop hanging out as much. (I feel Mari would be the one who plans all the sleepovers, picnics, etc…)

Well that shouldn’t be a problem, right? Aubrey and Basil are always here to hang out! …Not. Basil’s grandma’s health is worsening (much faster than in canon) so Basil is spending as much time as he can with her. Aubrey also starts hanging out with him, and to keep his mind out of the unfortunate situation, she asks him to teach her the basics for gardening (which she eventually comes to enjoy as much as Basil!)

Oh… well that’s okay! He still has Hero! Except Hero starts taking college prep classes with Mari (his parents keep pushing him into becoming a doctor) and when he’s not busy he hangs out with Mari all the time. Since Mari and Sunny are always practicing, Hero wants to be with her any time they can.

Kel feels lonely, and the loneliness turns into sadness, and then anger. Maybe they shouldn’t have gifted Sunny the violin. If they hadn’t, everyone would still be hanging out together. If Mari didn’t play the piano, Sunny wouldn’t have picked up the violin and everything would be the same. If Mari wasn’t so busy, Hero wouldn’t be either.

If Mari…

One day Hero finally agrees to hang out with his little brother, but forgets he already had made plans with Mari (a sleepover? Study session? I’m not sure) and apologises to Kel. But Kel is at his limit. Does he mean nothing? It’s always Mari. Everyone just loves Mari, but what about him? They argue and Kel runs out of the house, straight into the road.

At the same time, Mari is on her way to their house, and hears some of their arguments (which btw was very heated and loud and in which she was mentioned a lot in). She sees Kel running, and also the car coming straight at them, unaware a kid is in the middle of the road.

Hero also notices and quickly rushes to push his brother to safety… only to be hit instead. Kel is left traumatized, crying and desperately trying to wake his brother up as the car speeds away. Mari shakily goes towards Kel, trying to pull him away from Hero’s mangled body, and reports the incident. While she waits for someone to answer her call, she feels two small hands grab her skirt. Kel clings to her and buries his head in her skirt, crying his lungs out. She breaks down and pulls him into a hug.

…

“Welcome to White Space.”

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING I’M SO SORRY IF ITS LONG ILL SEND THE REST IN ANOTHER ASK

I'M LOSINH MY FUCKIGJNFN MIIINNDNDDD NOOOO NOOOOOOOO MY BOYS MY BOOYOYDSSSSS KELLLL HEROOOOOOOO NOOO NOOOOOOOOO AAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MY SONSSSS AAAAAAAAAAAA

#I LOVE THIS HOLY SHIITTT BUT MY SOOONNNSSS #omori au #omori #omori kel #omori hero #omori mari #omori spoilers #omori sunny #omori basil #omori aubrey #navi is tired asks #miko panta #miko talks