#fuck this took me over an hour to write

[lovesickeros]

☆ even the gods bleed [ pt 4 ]

{☆} characters arlecchino, furina, lyney {☆} notes cult au, imposter au, multi-chapter, gender neutral reader {☆} warnings blood {☆} word count 3.7k {☆} previous [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]

Fontaine was bathed in darkness, not even the moon daring to illuminate where the common man fears to walk. The streets were bleak and empty save for the constant, rhythmic ticking and clanking of machines marching on endlessly, dauntlessly wading where even the bravest dared not to venture. Not even the sharp click of the Gardes boots followed the occasional hisses of steam as they walked the barren streets.

It was haunting, and it'd been like that for days now. It showed little signs of stalling in the slightest, too. Every inch of Fontaine was practically crawling with Gardemeks– like a swarm of rats skittering about.

Arlecchino had secluded herself in the Hotel Bouffes d'ete for days at this point, waiting– biding her time. Her nails clicked against the wood as she tapped at the table in a stilted rhythm, the subtle click of the clock mixing into the clanking outside, weaving in and out of earshot as the patrols slipped by. She reached forward after a moment of thought, reaching for the white king.

She leaned back against the chaise, tilting her head just enough to catch a glimpse of a patrol of Gardemeks as they vanished behind the rows and rows of buildings. It wasn't enough to keep her attention for long, however, her features twisting in disinterest as she glanced back to the chessboard– and the letter neatly resting beside it. The seal was unmistakable and a sobering sight, demanding her attention– the soft hues of blue etched into the shape of a dragon stared back at her in a way that almost unsettled her.

She had already parsed through it's contents hundreds of times, but she was met with only vague, flowing script that only served to irritate her more then anything– it filled the page top to bottom yet managed to say nothing at all. Her hand reached out again, but instead of reaching for the letter she plucked the black rook from the board, setting it down with a soft click.

Arlecchino had all the time in the world to sit back and observe her prey, but all that time would be useless if she lacked the information to act.

And he was quite tight fisted about it, evidentially. None of her inquiries or attempts to decipher any potential codes in the letter left her empty handed. She could not act without even knowing the reason for his summons– it was almost worded like a personal affair rather then one would expect for a foreign diplomat. In truth, she'd expected a scalding report on her operatives, but it lacked any mention of anything of the sort.

She was no stranger to people masking hostility behind pretty words and compliments, not that it was ever unwarranted per se– the Fatui did not create connections through honesty and genuine kindness. They have strong armed more then their fair share of people into cooperation to the point distrust is all the Fatui are met with outside of Snezhnaya. Every word was meant to conceal the deceit, every action meant to conceal the price later paid.

So she had been..skeptical of the letter, to put it lightly. She doubted the Iudex of all people would offer a hand to the Fatui without a price attached– a trap, perhaps, meant to lure in the most powerful piece left on the board. Her eyes narrowed, reaching for a white rook and moving it to the right.

Or he was hiding something. Something that he simply couldn't risk getting out to anyone, not even the Divine themself. A tempting prize, whatever it was.

..A dangerous prize, too.

She'd considered burning the letter and forgetting it all together– the risk was great, and she couldn't risk getting caught up by whoever else the Iudex may have on his side of the board. But she could hardly pass up the challenge and the prize that he fought so hard to keep from prying eyes and ears. Even her agents came back empty handed each time. She lazily picked up a black rook, sliding the white pawn aside.

"Lyney," Arlecchino drawled, crossing one leg over the other and turning her gaze to the door as it slowly creaked open. The pale visage of Lyney stepped through, though his siblings were noticeably absent. The weariness that weighed down on his shoulders was apparent in the slightest furrow of his brows and the subtle creak of leather as he clenched his fists behind his back. "Father." He choked out, the title dragged out by the sharp inhale and shaky exhale.

He looked out of breath, she noted.

The silence that lingered after the small exchange was punctuated only by the click of another chess piece being moved. She sets aside the black rook, letting it sit among the dozen other pieces that had been wiped off the board. She can see the conviction glinting beneath the fog of exhaustion, but if he would utilize it was another matter all together.

He had seemed to make his choice quickly, at the very least.

"Our contacts and operatives within the Fortress of Meropide have gone silent– all we have is their final confirmed missive.." His voice is confident, but it is rigid as the words spill from his lips. He takes a sharp step forward, unfolding his arms from behind his back and opening his hands– the small, water stained and messily folded note catches her eye, plucking it from his palms with a half hearted interest. "They believe the Duke left the Fortress of Meropide..and that he may be coming to the Court of Fontaine."

Her eyes narrow dangerously, nearly crumpling the thin paper in her hands– yet just as quickly, she collects herself.

But she cannot get rid of the bitter taste on her tongue, lingering as she sets down the note and slides it to the side, her lips pursed into a thin line.

So the Iudex had shown one of his pieces..she tightly grasps a black rook, tipping over the white rook, letting it roll against the board.

If the Duke was involved, things were much more complicated then she expected– he would be a problem, she was certain. She couldn't blame the lamb for fearing the wolf, either. Whether her agents had been killed or captured by the man mattered little. He had his ways, and he was a force that could instill fear in even them.

Which meant the possibility that her operation was already compromised was far too real.

What had the Iudex so concerned he had gone through the trouble of bringing in the Duke and herself? The Fatui was one thing, but to specifically request one of it's Harbingers..

The Prophecy? The thought had her clenching her fist, but..no. If it were to rear it's head now, the Iudex could simply not afford to waste time on his contacts deciphering his nonsensical script– If the prophecy were to be the issue, there time would be limited to mere minutes in the worst of cases. Which meant it was worth biding his time in order to ensure absolute secrecy.

So if not the prophecy, then what?

Her next moves were..limited. She was already walking on eggshells considering her position and the reputations of the Fatui– especially with a Harbinger in the midst. If they caught wind of her operations, they'd weed out her operatives and be on guards for any snakes that lingered in their garden.

She reached for the chessboard again, picking up one of the white rooks from the board with a scowl. The sharp click as she sets down the white rook and sets aside the black pawn draws a shaky inhale from Lyney as she moves another black pawn, the dull click of the pieces drowning out the distant clinking of machines.

..A draw, perhaps.

The pieces were all falling into place– the players of this game were slowly being revealed. Whether she could secure her victory..she was unsure.

She wasn't even sure who her opponent was. Only that the Iudex himself was but another piece in their game.

Arlecchino reached for the board again, yet this time she hesitated. Perhaps she could still swipe the win from beneath them, if she played her cards right.

She would simply have to capture the king– or, if need be, let it end on a draw. Either way, she would not concede. She could not afford to concede. Down to the last piece, she would drag out this match until she was in a position to force their hand into the outcome she desired.

She stood slowly, picking up the king piece and observing it for only the briefest of moments before she set it down on the table, taking measured steps around the table and across the room. She was hunting a much more dangerous quarry today– it would be no simple runaway traitor this time.

"Do you remember the directive?" She inquired coldly, her hand lingering on the door for that long, tense moment. "..Yes, Father." Lyney faltered, taking a hesitant step back and bowing at the waist. "Then do not stray."

All that was left was the silence and click of the door shutting behind her as she disappeared down the hall, her boots clicking harshly against the floorboards. The rest of the agents knew better then to linger in her path as she stepped down into the lobby, adjusting the cuffs of her sleeves. She barely even acknowledged the Fatui agent standing at the ready by the heavyset doors, their gloves hands held out with her cloak held loosely in their palms. She quickly snagged it from them, tugging it over her board shoulders and clasping it around her throat.

With a quick tug, she brought the hood up over her head to conceal her sharp features, lifting her hand and placing a neatly folded note within their waiting hands. She had only one chance to make the right moves and secure her victory– no matter the cost.

Each piece had it's purpose.

Oft, that purpose was a bloody and horrible end– but for the grand goal of the Fatui built on the backs of the dead, it was an honor.

She didn't bother speaking a word as she dismissed them with a wave of her hand, pushing open the heavyset doors and stepping out into the barren, damp streets. The rhythmic clink and whir of Gardemeks was still distant– she needed to move. Her boots clicked and splashed in the rain soaked stone of the streets as she slithered between the buildings, ducking through the openings in the patrols.

It was almost too easy.

She tilted her head back, taking in the towering Palais Mermonia with a scowl, her hands clenched into fists. The final moves were being played– the king was within her reach, yet she felt no more confident then when she began.

The air carried a sense of unease, thick and heavy, filling her lungs until she felt her breath still in her chest– listening to the empty, bleak night that seemed so..quiet.

She'd done her fair share of research, had more then her fair share of her agents try to peer into the Iudex's office or the Archon's supposedly hidden chambers, but every attempt was a failure. She had to give them credit, they were quite elusive when they wished to be. Though now she only thought about it bitterly– this was all a risky gamble, in the end, and only time would tell if it paid off.

With minimal effort, she'd managed to pull herself to the flat, tiled roof, eyeing the massive tower peaking out of the center cautiously. At least here the wandering patrols down below weren't likely to notice her..she could hear them passing by the spot she'd been in only a few minutes ago, just beneath her. She pulled the hood further over her face, peering through the sheer darkness of the night for any oddities, but it was almost impossible to see in the dark.

Her boots clicked softly against the tiles as she approached the tower jutting out from the Palais, her hand gliding along the smooth stone, pressing against odd indents or crevices. If it was for the Archon's chambers, she doubted they made it very difficult– she'd only met the woman once, but she doubted the Iudex make it all that complex just from a brief glance. And it surprised her little when one of the stones sunk into the wall, gears whirring as the walls split open to reveal a stairwell straight into an inky black hall. Only the barest hint of light peaked under the door at the bottom, but it's occupants must have heard her, considering it went out not a moment later.

She cautiously stepped down into the small crevice, her breath visible in the bitter cold air– her shoulders tensed at the subtle sound of muffled footsteps behind the door, her vision flaring with a molten heat between her shoulder blades as she reached for the worn handle of the door. The heat of her vision was enough to just barely heat the metal, her vision flaring like a quickly building inferno.

Arlecchino was prepared for a fight, if it came down to it.

The door creaked as she pressed against it, shoving it open with a grunt of effort and surveying the room with narrowed eyes and a biting remark on the tip of her tongue– the lavish opulence was expected, she supposed, but the lack of the towering figure of the Iudex was not.

Yet before she could get a word in or even take in her surroundings properly, the light flickered back on and she had to squeeze her eyes shut with a hiss at the sudden brightness. She could hear the door being shoved closed behind her, the hurried footsteps retreating just as quickly as her eyes adjusted to the light.

..This was a joke, wasn't it? It had to be.

She'd expected the Iudex, perhaps even the Duke if she'd been unlucky, not the Hydro Archon. She had half the mind to test her worth as an Archon then and there, her temper flaring like an uncontrollable blaze, barely kept at bay. It took all her self control to force herself to smile politely at the woman rather then snarl.

"Miss Furina," She sneered beneath her hood, x shaped pupils locked onto the startled, trembling Archon with thinly veiled contempt. "What a..pleasant surprise. You'll have to forgive my manners, I assumed I was meeting with the Iudex." She observed her body language carefully– the way her eyes darted about like a frightened rabbit seeking escape, the slightest tremble of her lips..

Arlecchino opened her mouth to offer another scathing remark, but her jaw audibly clicked shut as her entire body seemed to lock up. Even her vision went cold against her back, a chilling feeling creeping up her spine as someone, or something, crept up behind her. Their footsteps were almost silent, the slight rustling of their clothes the only thing she could hear over her heart pounding against her ribcage.

Arlecchino had always prided herself on being on the other end of that sensation– she was the monster, and her target was the prey frozen like a deer between the hunters crosshair.

It was a chilling feeling to have the dynamic shifted on it's head.

She couldn't even swallow, her jaw clenched so hard she could hear it creak as she tried to reason with her quickly splintering mind– a futile effort, her joints locking up almost painfully. Black spots were quickly swallowing her vision from the lack of air in her lungs, the sound of shuffling behind her barely audible over the ringing in her ears.

For a moment – a moment too long to have only lasted the seconds that it did, yet so quick it gave her whiplash – she thought she would hit the floor dead before she could even glimpse her assailant.

And then it was gone. She came crashing back into reality with a startled inhale, her lungs burning and her knees nearly buckling under her. The instinct to lash out and kill whoever had done it was intense, yet she couldn't bring herself to move even a finger– it would be so easy to twist around and ignite them with searing flames, but her feet were rooted in place.

She almost didn't notice the surprisingly gentle hands unclasping her cloak, tugging it off her shoulders, if not for the sheer intensity of the presence still lingering behind her. Her mind was still fractured, struggling to right itself after the ordeal, and it had her seething.

"..Are you certain you held back enough?" Furina croaked, the normally soft lilt raspy and almost hoarse. "Not– not that I doubt your capability, most Divine!"

Arlecchino felt her nails dig harshly into her palms, heat swelling beneath her skin– Divine? Had she lost her mind? The Divine was..

The Divine was upon their throne where they belonged. She'd seen them!

"Hm. Well, maybe? Sorry, I didn't think it'd affect you too." Their voice was sickeningly soft as they stepped around her like she wasn't even there, focusing their attention on the Archon who seemed more then delighted about it. "What gave you that impression, most Divine? Aha, I..was completely unaffected, as you can see! Perfectly fine."

Furina let out a small squeak when they pinched her cheek, but the almost affectionate smile that tugged at their lips revealed the lack of malice behind the action.

"You're a bad liar, Furina. You might want to sit down..please?" They didn't take her protests for an answer, gently pushing her to sit on the bed before abruptly turning to face Arlecchino once more, a forced smile on their lips. "Oh, good, you're..uh, not dead. That's good. I thought I fried your brain. Sorry?"

..Had she hit her head on the way here? The Divine should still be on their throne, yet she couldn't shake the weight of their stare– it felt tangible. She felt like she was standing face to face with the stars– galaxies and constellations bearing down upon her.

She grit her teeth and clenched her hands until she felt the sting of her nails against her palms, grounding herself in the pain through the sheer overwhelming nature of their existence.

"You.." She croaks, reaching out with a shaky hand and grabbing them by the collar of their shirt, lifting them up until their feet left the floor– she pays no mind to the startled protests of the Archon. Arlecchino would crush her like a bug before she even got the chance to intervene and they both knew it. "You shouldn't exist– you aren't them, and yet you..you're the imposter, aren't you?" Her grip tightens yet they face her without an ounce of fear, meeting her unyielding glare with a pondering look.

Arlecchino wanted to make them bleed just to see if she could, the urge to sink her teeth into skin welling up in her chest to the point she visibly snarled, her mask of politeness long . "You're the imposter." Her expression falls for a moment before she schools it into one of apathy, setting them back down and holding them there for a moment, finally releasing them after a tense moment. "Or you were supposed to be."

Hers brows furrow– she wants to demand answers, to throttle them for damning them to being nothing more then dolls for the supposed Divine to break at their whim, but none of the words come to her.

"..Why now? The current Divine has been in power for years, yet you descend now?" Her shoulders tensed, lips pursed into a thin line– it's impossible to ignore the truth that lay before her. The Divine is a fraud and this..imposter is the true Divine. How many years had they been in power, now? How many years were they waiting? Why did they wait? Was the suffering of Teyvat not enough? Was the blood that painted the steps of their stolen throne not enough?

She'd personally been on the wrong end of the Divine's wrath– she wonders..had they watched? Had they seen the cruel hand of their imposter and turned their back on Teyvat?

"I.." They hesitated. It made her seethe, her hands clenching into fists at her sides– her vision flickered, flames swelling within it's casing just to be smothered by the presence of the Divine. But once that spark had been lit, she refused to let it go out. "I didn't know."

The answer does not satisfy her. There is an itch beneath her skin that she cannot scratch, a fire that burns in her chest so hot it scorches even herself.

"And what about now? Are you content to cower like prey in the safety of the Palais Mermonia?" She snapped, taking a step forward, her brows furrowed and her glare intense– she can see the slightest bit of worry in their eyes. She revels in it. "Will you let them use your acolytes like pawns? How many more need to be broken on the steps to your throne before you act?"

Again, her vision flares and dims– it refuses to be used against the Divine that created it.

"Have you no answer?"

The room is silent. They do not speak and neither does she.

Even the world itself seems to quiet in the face of her accusations, fury boiling to the surface so hot it incinerated all it touched.

"I will kill them myself."

Their words are quiet, but they are not soft– there is a vindictive, searing anger that explodes out like dying stars within their eyes. The sight of constellations replaced by a void that would not be . The smell of ichor grows stronger– to the point she feels almost lightheaded.

"..I am aware that I have failed in preventing this, but I had no choice in the matter. Still," They muse, their voice like the tolling of bells. A solemn melody that stills the swelling fury burning in her chest, if only for a moment. "I will rectify it– I will tear down their throne of lies and let not even the earth tarnish itself by burying their corpse among it's soil."

They pause for a moment, holding out their hand– scarred and bandaged by the weapons of the devout, yet still they take upon the burden of dirtying their hands to save those who did not save them.

"Do you trust me, Arlecchino?"

Did she?

"Will you help me?"

She exhales heavily, meeting the starry iris' of the Divine with a scowl still tugging at her lips. Arlecchino trusted no one but herself.

"..Yes."

#sagau #genshin sagau #self aware genshin #genshin impact sagau #self aware genshin impact #fic tag #imposter au #genshin cult au #genshin impact cult au #arlecchino #lyney #furina #you do NOT wanna know what i got put thru writing this fic #trying 2 find out where arle was in the few times we DO see her and going down a rabbit hole of fuck fontaine and its layout actually! #I spent like 3 hours looking it up and checking in game it gives me a migraine thinking abt it. ew #anyway trying to write a really smart character is surprisingly difficult when ur as dumb as rocks #also used an actual chess match for this and gave myself an even worse migraine trying 2 make sure i didnt repeat moves or smth #furina doesnt get a spotlight yet just imagine her sitting in the corner trembling like a wet kitten you found on the side of the road #arlecchino goes thru a crisis more at 11 #shes a tired single dad shes isnt getting paid enough for this okay #hands u a fic over half the length of the other THREE PARTS #ehe :] #is arle actually on ur side??? is she gonna double cross u???? who knows!!!!! #shes unpredictable she might stab u for funsies #anyway im gonna go nap in a ditch now this took SO LONGGGGG OH MY G-D #also just think acolytes who arent buddy buddy w reader and even resent them is so tasty #bc how r they supposed 2 know reader was a human vibing 5 minutes before their got eebied 2 teyvat.. #reader gotta roll up their sleeves and get 2 WORK sometimes murder IS okay #they gotta fix some shit around here and that means committing several crimes all at once. sometimes more #a group can be g-d (just got here) their dragon (neuvi) their cat (archon) their dog (wrio) and their wolf (arle)

[wrenhavenriver]

honestly tho, imagine me earlier today, stuck in a brain-foggy out-of-body experience because of [gestures at last five days], opening tumblr to see dh3 rumors leaked. immediately upgraded the entire experience to Actual Living Fever Dream. will return to lucidity in 3-5 business weeks

#also my typing is completely fucked atm? #i've been doing touch typing from the age of like 8 and now i keep misjudging where all the rows are and just typing utter nonsense #then adding to it when i misjudge the fucken delete key too #had to write a semi-professional email this morning and it took me 3 hours because i kept falling asleep and/or writing gibberish #finally got discharged from the hospital this afternoon tho! just in time for me to freak out over finals #i really don't wanna take 'incompletes' for my classes so we're just gonna have to make it work #drdp // #just in case #medical //

[scattered-winter]

ok winter...it's my turn now: jaykyle. i am intrigued, and i'd like to know as much as is feasible to tell me. (it's killing me to send something this open-ended but i feel like i don't actually know enough about them to be more specific.)

TEEHEE <3333 SOOOO GLAD YOU ASKED BECAUSE I CARE THEM <33

jaykyle is a ship between two of my favorite dc characters, jason todd and kyle rayner. they're both sooo fascinating on their own AND as a pairing and I just <3333 this is gonna get long because 1) they both have very long and complicated stories that's gonna take a bit to unpack and 2) I love them <33 and I love to talk about them <333 a bit of forewarning, but comics storylines are RIDICULOUSLY complicated and pretty much every single character has more origins, timelines, and personalities than you can shake a stick at. in the comics fandom we take marie kondo's words to heart because if we tried to stick to What Canon Says, we would be running in circles all day because everything contradicts itself. everything is canon and nothing is canon and if it doesn't spark joy, it isn't true <3 I'll explain everything to the best of my ability but it's gonna get Real Complicated Real Fast

tw for death (child and otherwise)

jason todd (playlist) is part of the batfam (group of vigilantes associated with batman) and he's also part of the wayne family (by adoption). I looked everywhere for the panels to show how he was introduced because it's objectively the funniest way to introduce any character but alas, they have eluded me so I'll just tell you: he grew up in the poorer parts of gotham city with his parents, catherine and willis todd. willis got caught up in two-face's gang (because gotham city as a whole has a trend of eating its people alive/forcing them to do crime because they're desperate and have no choice etc etc) and ended up getting killed because of it, and catherine died of an illness, leaving jason to fend for himself on the streets.* he is brought into the story by jacking the tires off the BATMOBILE, and getting caught by batman himself. in response to this he hits batman with a tire iron, calls him a big boob, and runs away (and in the process making bruce laugh out loud in the same place his parents died which makes me SOO OUGHOUGHOUGHOUGH)

*catherine and willis both loved jason very much, but recent comics have portrayed willis as abusive/catherine as neglectful, which doesn't spark joy for me personally so I tend to ignore those ones and stick to the others where they were genuinely loving parents who fell on hard times.

the original robin, dick grayson, recently moved on from the mantle and went to live somewhere else,* so bruce adopted jason and started training him as the new robin. he was a very bright, very loving boy who enthusiastically went to school and read books and loved bruce so so much and bruce loved him because that was his KID.**

*I can't remember if he went to live with the titans or went to gotham's sister city, bludhaven; but in any case he ends up in bludhaven eventually and operates there as nightwing

**In more recent comics, jason's robin days are portrayed as him being brash and violent (new drinking game: take a shot every time a comic describes robin jason as "angry" or "reckless" smfh) and of course while being a vigilante involves violence, and being a well-rounded character, jason did indeed have moments of anger, I strongly dislike this way of thinking because it takes so much away from his character and you'll see what I mean by that in a minute.

however, the happy days weren't gonna last. jason discovered that catherine todd wasn't his biological mother, and he had found some evidence pointing to who his birth mother was. (I think it was a birth certificate that was partially damaged so he couldn't see the whole name but it's been a while since I've read the comic where that happens so don't quote me on that) but regardless of how he found out, jason set out to find his real mother. he'd narrowed down the list of possible mothers to a few different women, so he found them each in turn and ruled them out as he went. he ran away from home to go on his little self-discovery mission, and the only reason bruce didn't go after him was because the joker had a big scheme with a nuclear missile that kinda took precedence. but by pure happenstance, they ran into each other and decided to work together for both their goals (stopping joker AND finding jason's mom). eventually jason and bruce narrowed the list down to one woman: sheila haywood. they travelled to ethiopia to find her, and jason actually did, but moments after meeting her, sheila betrayed him and handed him over to the joker, who proceeded to beat jason within an inch of his life with a crowbar while sheila watched.

(batman: a death in the family)

he then tied up sheila and left them both to die in the warehouse because he rigged it with a bomb. jason, despite being betrayed by her literally minutes before, stopped to untie her to get her out instead of saving himself. but the bomb went off with them both inside, just in time for batman (who had been frantically rushing to the warehouse as soon as he heard that jason had been captured) to see the explosion <3

(batman: a death in the family)

and the thing that REALLY fucks me up is that even after everything she did to him, jason still used himself as a human shield to try and protect sheila. these two panels have literally caused me lasting damage

(batman: a death in the family)

this is also why the narrative of jason being reckless makes me so angry. he didn't die because he was a reckless idiot who rushed into danger without a thought, he died because he tried to save a woman who nearly got him killed. he died shielding her with his own body even though she betrayed him literally a few minutes earlier. some comic writers have rewritten the scene to take out sheila entirely, but that takes away a huge part of the story!!!! jason didn't die because he was reckless!! he died because he was trying to save someone!!!! I will literally fight people on that to my grave smh

bruce brought jason's body back to gotham and buried him, and was never really the same after that (but that's a topic for another ramble because this is about THE BOY <3)

this is where things get a little trippy <3 first thing you gotta know about comic books is that death is RARELY permanent. the exact details are lost on me since I tend to avoid the big crisis events (and the headache they give me) but basically superboy-prime punches the fabric of the universe and kinda .. breaks some things. and jason wakes up in his coffin (slightly zombified), six feet underground. after clawing his way out of his own fucking grave, jason gets hit by a fucking CAR and is then taken in by talia al ghul (one of bruce's past lovers, daughter of ra's al ghul [leader of the league of assassins]). talia put jason in something called a lazarus pit, which is basically a pool of green bubbly goo that can resurrect someone (ra's al ghul is hundreds of years old and keeps himself alive with the pits). jason came fully back to life and stayed with talia for a time, during which he travelled the world to be trained by some of the best/most notorious fighters and assassins all over the globe. at this point, he'd been dead for quite a while (a year AT LEAST) and so when he finds out that the joker is still fucking ALIVE, it's .... a shock, to say the least. it's a very complicated issue because batman's deepest-rooted rule is to Never Kill, and there were a lot of underlying circumstances preventing him from killing the joker right after jason's death (despite really, really wanting to) but the thing is. the joker just keeps killing and hurting people, and he gets put in arkham asylum, and escapes and kills more people, then gets put in arkham again, and it's just a vicious cycle where the joker just keeps hurting more and more people. and like. jason got murdered by the joker and the guy is still fucking alive and murdering more people. so he heads off to gotham with a huge plan to confront bruce and make him choose once and for all: kill the joker, or let jason die. this whole arc is my very favorite comic book of all time, batman: under the red hood <333 basically jason becomes a crime boss called red hood (which was the joker's old alias before he became...well, the joker) and plots CIRCLES around bruce, joker, and the other crime bosses. they're literally his pawns the entire time <3 but this all comes to a head when jason traps batman, the joker, and himself in a room where he finally reveals his identity to batman and gives him an ultimatum: kill the joker, or kill him. he had the whole place rigged with explosives so that no matter what bruce chose, they would still blow up (as a form of insurance? as a form of suicide? who knows!)

I'd like to point out the obvious and say that jason was NOT in a great state of mind during this whole thing. like. this post highlights it very well imo, but tl:dr jason didn't really...make a plan for after the showdown. it was clear that he had a single goal in mind, which was facing off with bruce and the joker once and for all, and it was also clear how it would end because he knew deep down that bruce would never kill the joker. so he knew he would die going into it but he didn't really care. he did in fact die at the end of under the red hood, since he was originally meant to be a one-off character, but he was so popular that dc sorta erased his death at the end of utrh and established him as a main batfam player.

jason's post-resurrection characterization is REALLY inconsistent, but really at his core, he's deeply traumatized and angry, and his driving motivation is to save gotham in what he deems is the "right" way: killing criminals so that they're no longer a problem. which, considering how many times supervillains break out of arkham and wreak havoc, isn't really that far of a stretch. but because of batman's firm moral stance on killing, the two have a very .... complicated relationship. but regardless jason has one of the coolest designs in the entire batfam in my opinion <3

(batman: three jokers)

(red hood and the outlaws) (I hate this comic for what it did to the other characters but the art was pretty at least)

sometimes he's drawn with a white streak in his hair (a side effect of the lazarus pit) which is one of my FAVORITE looks for him <33 and he's a regular contender for my icon because he's my blorbo bingus blob boy <3333

BUT ANYWAY <333 ON TO KYLE <333

disclaimer: I haven't been reading kyle's comics as long as I have jason's (jason was my gateway character who first got me into comics in the first place so I had a lot more time to really dig into his comics and characterization) and there's a lot of info about each character that's kind of...absorbed over time. because there's so many different stories and comics about each character, it's hard to find everything they appear in, and since I haven't been reading kyle for as long, I don't consider myself an expert on him in any way but I'll do my best to talk about him because he's my favorite green lantern <3

(playlist) in order to explain kyle, first I need to explain hal jordan. he's the Original green lantern (meaning when you think of the dc superhero green lantern, he's probably the one who comes to mind despite there being more lanterns than I can count. he's the most well-known by FAR) but basically, the green lanterns are an intergalactic military/police force led by the guardians (a bunch of really tiny blue guys). they use green power rings that are fueled by willpower, and so only someone with a lot of willpower (specifically, the will to "overcome great fear") can be a green lantern. (there's a ring for every color on the spectrum, but that's another ramble for another day). hal jordan had been losing faith in the lantern corps for a long time, but the last straw was when his hometown, coast city, was destroyed. hal basically went into a massive grief spiral and tried to bring back the entire city and didn't have enough power to do that, so he took on the name parallax and murdered pretty much the entire corps, and most of the guardians to absorb the main green power source to get enough power to Resurrect The City. but one guardian managed to escape to earth, where he found kyle rayner and gave him the last green power ring.

being practically the only green lantern left, kyle had to defeat parallax and restore the corps practically by himself. and the thing about kyle is that he's the GOOFIEST guy on the planet (affectionate). upon finding out that he's now a superhero he proceeds to immediately go tell his ex-girlfriend about it (alex <333) and they have a photoshoot of him in his suit. I fucking love them <333

but alas!!! happy days don't last <3 kyle leaves alex alone for literally only a few minutes to go be a hero, and while he's gone, one of green lantern's biggest enemies breaks into her apartment and murders her. kyle comes back to find her dead body stuffed inside the fridge (fun fact: that's actually where the term "fridging" came from <3) and he proceeds to. torture and almost kill the guy who did it. we love an unhinged icon <3

(green lantern #55)

it's been a while since I've read his origin comic, but kyle eventually defeats parallax. further down the line, he becomes a white lantern (mega-powerful because it has the powers of all the colors in the spectrum, not just green) and in my personal favorite comic, also becomes ion (basically the living embodiment of green lantern power. also basically a god) and tbh it's his BEST look of all time

(ion: guardian of the universe)

like I said, I don't really have as clear of an idea of kyle's timeline since there's a few gaps in my reading, but the essentials is that he literally can't keep a girlfriend because they keep dying, and he continuously gets the power of a literal god and is so humble and heroic about it that it never goes to his head. but he also consistently tortures and kills without really showing any remorse whatsoever <33 he has the range <33

BUT. AT LAST. WE GET TO JAYKYLE. THE THING YOU ASKED ABOUT IN THE FIRST PLACE. there's only ONE comic that I know of where they actually interact on-panel, and that's countdown presents: the search for ray palmer. it's tied in with countdown to final crisis, which is one of the biggest dc events of all time, and I haven't read it and probably never will because the big crises always give me SUCH a headache to try and understand </3 but I HAVE read search for ray palmer because <3 of them <3

essentially it's a story where the atom (ray palmer) gets lost in the multiverse and so 3 people who are already kind of...Outside the Mainstream Timeline embark on a multiverse journey to find him. those 3 people? jason todd, kyle rayner, and donna troy. jason is only alive because the timeline shattered, kyle was literally a time-and-reality-altering god not just once, but multiple times, and donna troy has also died and come back and like. is the only comics character with Self Awareness (remember when I said every comic book character has a gazillion different origins and reboots? donna remembers ALL of them <3) and so all three of them are affectionately referred to as "cosmic mistakes" because. they're literally irregularities in the cosmic timestream. and I love them for it <3

the reason I'm a jaykyle truther is because. they're so fucking funny in that comic. they argue in pretty much every single panel they share, but their internal monologues are....very, very homoeretic.

(kyle, about jason) (countdown: search for ray palmer: wildstorm)

(jason, about kyle) (countdown to final crisis #33)

and honestly, it's about how fucked up they would be together. they would tear each other apart and also tear apart everyone else and it would be a horrible time for everyone involved <3 there are ships for cute cuddles and then there are ships for fucking killing each other and jaykyle is the second one <3333

#i kind of. ran out of steam by the time it came to talk about jaykyle which is. funny. given that it's what you Asked about #but listen. they're so so messed up. it compels me <3 #i wrote a lot of fic for them and tbh i didnt really lean into the fucked up-ness of their relationship as i could have <3 #but like. they do care about each other in their own ways but they're both so headstrong and almost...Too different that it wouldn't last #like. jason is Very repressed. my mans is batman's kid he's learned from the best when it comes to Not Feeling Emotions #and kyle has literally mastered the entire emotional spectrum to the extent that he could wield the white ring. #you have one guy who's ruled by his emotions because he can't express/truly feel them on one end #and you have a guy who's ruled by his emotions because he wears his heart on his sleeve and follows his heart with everything he does #and factor in how they're both so stubborn? and how they're both so damaged and traumatized in their own ways?? #they're a disaster <3 #anyway. i lomve them <3 #tysm for asking this literally took me hours to write but it was the BEST few hours of my life #typing with the biggest goofiest look on my face <3 #jaykyle #leo 🌻 #jason todd #kyle rayner #fun fact! for a while i was one of the top jaykyle blogs <33 #probably not anymore since my 911 blogging has kinda taken over my dc blogging for the moment #but still. for a while there i was winning <3 #there are also quite a few mutuals of mine who definitely could have explained this better but alas. #very very glad you came to me with this it made my day <3333333

[leomonae]

Chapters: 8/8 Fandom: Baldur's Gate (Video Games) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Astarion/Tav (Baldur's Gate) Characters: Astarion (Baldur's Gate), Tav (Baldur's Gate) Additional Tags: Act 3 (Baldur's Gate 3), POV First Person, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Expanded Scenes, Angst, Developing Relationship, Vampire Spawn Astarion (Baldur's Gate), Relationship Negotiation Series: Part 3 of Swallowed Up In Victory Summary:

Tav and Astarion, before, during, and after the confrontation with Cazador.

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion x tav #my writing #hyperfixation ahoy #first person pov #probably just the one more fic to go in this series for the aftermath of raphael #but as always we shall have to see #god that just took me two hours to fix all the fucked up formatting from copying over as rich text

[izzy-b-hands]

#text post #kudos of the last anon in my inbox today... figured I'd ask #apparently it's upsetting and not actually useful to many to have me post the links per this anon #so i figure I'll ask and see if anyone wants to give their opinion #ngl my writing confidence took a shotgun blast to the face last night #hence no day 13 or today's fic posted yet #i was also up till four worrying over my writing and finances hence this v late poll #bc my dumbass just woke up half an hour ago at one #tumblr polls #who am i even typing this for like i KNOW the answer bc no one interacts with my link posts #but other writers do it to some success so i thought that was always the way to go #maybe not tho i guess #what the fuck do i know lmao

[faebriel]

Hi! Just read the hadestown au piece and I just wanted to say it was so gorgeous and heartbreaking at the same time.

I was wondering if you could say a little more about the au? Maybe some stuff about how everything plays out following where the fic ends (I know how Hadestown ends, just mean in the au terms) and obviously the walk out of the underworld (and Wilbur’s reaction)

O/

hi anon!! first of all i am so SO glad you enjoyed the fic <3 thank you so much, and thank you for the question as well!!

as for the rest of the au - well, the recap in the notes kind of summarises the first part. and niki finds wilbur, and fights schlatt, and gets dumped outside the walls, and goes to sleep.

the person who finds her, actually, is ranboo - for someone so goddamn lanky they're not bad at finding their way around hadestown unnoticed, and they've heard about niki from techno and phil back in the pit. he's the one who wakes her up. niki is still despairing and angry when she wakes, and turns to go - but ranboo, hopefully, asks her if she's the person techno and phil told them about, if she is the crack in the wall.

and niki is furious and hurting, still, but she doesn't entirely have the stomach to leave when ranboo is staring at her like this -> 🥺

so she follows him as far as the fighter's pit. and passes more people who recognise her, and whisper, and stare - people who heard about her the same way ranboo did, or people who saw That Fucking Display on the railway. not only did she care for the strangers here, but she stood up to schlatt (emotionally and physically lol). not only was she brave, but she was kind, too. and when guards pass, people offer to hide her. and people wish her well on her journey.

she reunites with techno, and, god damn - look around. techno really does think that with the people behind them, with quackity behind them (he could recognise a god's handiwork anywhere, and niki's guitar is so obviously mended by godly hands), they might actually have a chance at tearing schlatt down long enough to escape to freedom. forever free from governments what have you. and niki is bitter about wilbur, but she is still twice as furious with schlatt - so sure. gather the people, free the end. beat him at his own game. they charge the centre of the city

meanwhile, quackity and schlatt are getting into an absolute shitfit about this whole thing. ohhhh you're betraying me for some stupid mortal country why don't you like MY country huh WELL maybe if you weren't so AWFUL TO ME i would LIKE SPENDING TIME WITH YOU etc etc etc. and quackity looks outside and he hears the distant sound of guitar and he's like oh. oh, shit. oh, thank god. they actually did it

while all this is happening, wilbur is continuing his no good very bad afterlife on the railway line, right in the centre of the city. wilbur is not really great with manual labour to begin with, if we're totally honest - he can build a house, or an office, but it's not how he likes to spend his time, and especially not in a place so grey and featureless and devoid of feeling or, well, life. and he's feeling quite horrible about the fact that not only do his friends mourn him, just as he hoped they might not, but niki came all the way down here for him. and she got hurt, because of him. it's a nightmare, but one in which he has signed over absolutely any power he had to affect the outcome.

phil finds him. security is getting kind of lax around hadestown. they talk about life, and death, and getting demoted from being the messenger between those two worlds because you got a bit too mouthy with the boss. it kind of puts things into perspective.

wilbur still doesn't regret sending niki away, because he knows he's trapped, but he regrets pretty much every other wasted second.

fortunately for him, niki is currently swept up in the crowd making its way straight to the heart of hadestown. techno is living up every second. oh, he has missed revolutionary action. techno is the righteous anger, ranboo is the soft-spoken follow-up, and niki is both. oh, wow, the four of them really make a charming matched set, don't they. almost like a syndicate okay i'm not gonna be coy look it's the syndicate

they make it to the heart. schlatt's really not happy. but man, he's in the mood to emotionally crush some hippies so - you want to sing and dance your way through my country? quackity sure thinks that little anthem you lot keep twittering on about is something special. so sing a song for me! make me laugh! make me WEEP! go on, if you think you're so special. sing it.

so niki sings the anthem.

okay. niki plays the anthem, and she sings it too, but she's one person and she hates this much scrutiny and her voice is failing even as she sings - and then, a voice pipes up from the crowd, someone who already knows all the words.

and wilbur sings it like he believes it, too. and in that moment, niki (tells herself) that she forgives every awful thing that happened between them since he took that train.

the melody is not hard to pick up. two voices become a dozen, become a hundred. (techno hums obligingly because okay, he doesn't love the symbol of the revolution being a country's anthem, but these things are kind of hard to change once they get rolling and he can sit most of these people down for a class on anarchism later - )

and schlatt gets emotional over this for three whole seconds. oh, three seconds is enough for wilbur and niki to reunite with more hugging and more tears and more apologies this time, and for quackity to reminisce about their pasts, and for him to think more about his country than he has in the last thousand years combined. and then he hates niki even more for it. oh, he respects the hustle. but also he despises the hustle.

so, fine: you want to get out of hadestown so badly, then? well. let's not make it easy for you. here is the age-old catch - wilbur can leave. but niki must walk ahead, and cannot look behind until the two of them have returned to the mortal world.

oh, he adds, and, wilbur - of course, if you change your mind, you're welcome back in hadestown. shit, you might have just earned yourself a promotion back here. if spring is coming again, i might just need someone to help lead down here.

and wilbur scoffs, as if i could ever do that!

and niki holds her breath beside him.

because leading hadestown - a domain over a country of citizens who cannot starve, and cannot die. without having to worry about mortal things ever again. isn't that exactly what wilbur would want? and he already left for less. he already left her for less.

so hadestown gathers. oh, yeah, they're coming too - they heard l'manberg's anthem, of course (or some of them heard techno's anarchist diatribes against governments and are quite excited to lead a life without rulers. it depends). there is niki, there is wilbur behind her, and she walks for a while and he walks for a while and they all walk for a while, and after that while niki calls out to him, but there is no response.

brief pandemonium.

schlatt's rigged it, you see - niki can't see wilbur. but now she can't hear him, either. can't let them go without one last trick. the crowd will have to guide her instead.

Niki takes a trembling step forward. "Got eyes on him, Niki," Techno calls from behind. A quiet laugh ripples through the crowd.

so they keep walking.

and walking...

and eventually, the crowd falls silent too. and doubt comes in.

it's been hours - beyond hours, beyond days - and niki hasn't heard a thing. there is no music, no bubbling of voices behind her, no shuffling of feet. for all she knows, wilbur turned back and left. for all she knows, everyone else gave up and followed him. why wouldn't they? they don't know where they're going. she barely knows where she's going. right back into the cold, and dark, right at the edge of winter - and who is she to lead them? niki isn't a god, or a muse's son, or a president or a tyrant - she's a baker, for gods' sake. her best friend died and her heart is still broken because of it. is that the kind of person who can lead a country's worth of people out of hadestown? it can't be. it can't be.

and none of that matters, because who cares who would and wouldn't follow her out of hadestown - wilbur wouldn't. he couldn't. he couldn't even follow her home when the alternative was literally dying. of course he would take up schlatt's offer. it's perfect for him. he already made his choice. he already chose his side. and he didn't choose her.

Niki staggers over the next crest, outlined in the bronze and gold of sunrise - painting a sharp, bright glow round every stray strand of hair, round the guitar scuffed and restrung across her back, round the shape of her trembling fists, pressing themselves tight against her sides. And she stops. "Does she look okay to you?" Technoblade mumbles, at Phil's shoulder. "It's a long walk," Phil responds. He is entirely too quiet for Wilbur's liking. Technoblade looks just as displeased with the answer as he is, and turns to Wilbur. "She normally good at walking?" She doesn't look well. She shakes - Niki, solid, steadfast in Wilbur's eye, never trembles. Her shoulders sink, and for a moment that rends his heart from his chest, Wilbur thinks she might be crying, and he's driving his nails into the flesh of his palms in matching fists before he can stop himself (because there is nothing he can do, silent, even if it's the exactly what Niki would scold him for). But all he hears are sharp, laboured breaths. Her boots rest at the edge of shadow. Niki stares down at them, edges blurring and warping, the sunlight crawling towards the tips of her toes - so, so close. She sang the song. Spring is almost here. She is almost home. But she can't bear walking home alone. Is he there? is all she can think. Is he - And she turns.

not to break the immersion, but - in hadestown, orpheus cannot bring himself to trust hades, and thus he turns. here is a bit different. niki doesn't trust schlatt, but she turns because she can't bring herself to trust wilbur anymore.

the crowd surges forward into the sunlight. surrounded by the flood of people, all niki can do is stare at wilbur - who, mere steps behind her, looks just as exhausted and filthy and heartbroken as she does.

and then he's gone.

-

i could never really decide how i wanted this fic to end.

the foundation is there. the people of hadestown swarm past niki, into the sunlight. quackity steps off the train. niki sinks to her knees, and phil puts a hand on her back, and techno and ranboo stand there hovering beside her because something really bad just happened and they don't know what to say.

tommy, tubbo, fundy and jack emerge from the ravine, shouting in glee as the crowd reveals itself as friend, not foe. tommy searches desperately for niki in the crowd. finally, he finds her, knelt on the ground. he knows before she turns to him, face streaked with tears. tubbo follows, and then shakes himself out of whatever grief-induced stupor his brain is trying to slip into - president of l'manberg, he turns to the nearest gangly teenager and starts ordering him around with piles of quilts for the country's newest residents. fundy and jack crowd around niki, and niki holds them as close as she can.

many ex-residents of hadestown settle into the ravine - the very one that niki spent hours carving rooms and gardens and homes into, in that slim space of time between losing l'manberg and losing wilbur. the others wander. i don't think niki stays. i think she fumbles around the ravine for a while, helping people settle in, but she doesn't feeling like she's really doing much. she's made a minister of the new government, but she can't bring herself to care.

i could never decide if i wanted l'manberg to go down with wilbur. it was already besieged enough without setting two godly anarchists (and their bffls) on it. and this time, i really do think niki would be the one to turn away. it wouldn't be surprising if it didn't survive another winter.

it feels a little cruel, but orpheus' story is cruel, too. do wilbur and niki meet decades later, in a peaceful afterlife? i don't know that either. i'll leave that part for you to figure out.

and here's a link to the fic if anyone missed it 🌹

#can you fucking tell when i decided to write out the ending instead of like. explaining the ending #ANYWAY. thank you anon this fic is a real special one for me. had it cooking since 2021 #i'm really glad you liked it. i like it too #anon #my fics #yeah this is copping a srb in the morning by the way. writing it out took like over an hour

[yuribalisms]

I hope rats chew away at the electrical wires in all the management’s houses and cause electrical fires and they all explode

#first we have homophobe Mctransphobe who has been walking around threatening to write up anyone out/visibly queer for random shit that no #one else gets written up for #not to mention we are severely understaffed and are getting in WAY more product in then we are supposed to so we can’t keep up #and we have no SPACE for new product because a couple weeks ago the management made us put out???? all our backstock???? #(and we TOLD them that would result in us not having space for new products when we got them but they didn’t FUCKING listen) #and when we told them we needed more space they said they would give us more space and then :)))))) #they FUCKING TOOK AWAY SPACE INSTEAD #and tonight FUCKING TONIGHT #we finally had enough staff to MAYBE start getting caught up #(at least to get to the point where there were not random carts and pallets filled with product all over the place) #and management came up to us and told us we ‘were working too close together and needed to separate’ #and when we attempted to explain we were working on putting out product that management demanded we put up #they said that didn’t matter we couldn’t work that close to each other because we would ‘waste time talking’ #except because of that half our staff is WASTING WHOLE HOURS OF A SHIFT ON SHIT THAT DOESNT NEED DONE BECAUSE THEY GOT MOVED SOMEWHERE ELSE #and I KNOW tomorrow when I come in they’re gonna yell at me for leaving product out in carts and on pallets 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃 #I hope you die I hope you explode I hope you never know happiness #I hope you stupid fucking homophobic transphobic racist ASSHOLES with CONTROL ISSUES and IQS IN THE NEGATIVES goddamn DIE #I cannot EXPRESS how much I FUCKING hate the management here #(they also ONLY put the visibly queer folks in my department and then mismanage us like this and threaten to write us up/fire us) #(it has officially become a pattern and I am going to LOSE my mind) #I hate this fucking job I hate this fucking company #(the general manager also told me during a meeting recently that staff wouldn’t be allowed to evacuate if there was a CO2 leak because the #building was big enough it should be ‘safe’) #I literally feel like I am going fucking insane #there is so much shit here that could honestly probably win lawsuits but no one who works here has the energy to genuinely fight back #because they overwork us to hell and back #I want to quit so bad but I know no where else is gonna pay me this much #(and that insane pay divide between here and anywhere else in town is the only way they ARE keeping staff) #UGH #kaz rambles

[prismaticutie]

If I think abt Ace Attorney too hard I will explode not only is this a threat but a promise

#I get SO FUCKING MAD that this game progressed past trilogy #Ion fucken CARE that Klav is on my kinlist bro FUCK THAT GUY ‼‼‼‼‼ #Literally the art style post ds era. Not worth it. Get out of my fucking sight #Ik aa4 was technically ds too but the sprites had a different vibe #I still like them honestly but I don't love Pollo as a character #He's just lame and annoying and boring. And kind of a prick #Tbf I never cared abt Penix Write until game 3 #But idk the characters in aa4 are just less memorable imo #Wasn't there supposed to be an entire other case for that game that was scrapped btw or am I mistaken #Regardless I did not like the deviation from the og cast BUT AT THE SAME TIME I UNDERSTAND WHY THEY DID IT #The og cast got their endings more or less. Their story was wrapped up. No need to drag it on #This was like a big thing I had to cope w when I finished the trilogy. I had to learn hoe to move on #It took several days no joke and I cried a lot #Tbf I was watching gameplay for the game for 10-12 hours a day for like 2-3 weeks straight #But I get so emotional over trilogy...then I think abt games 5 and 6 and it's like UGH #That art style is so upsetting to me (not bad on its own it just does not compare to the og sprites) that I refuse to watch the games #Dgs I can overlook and mmmaybe get into. I rly want to #Olmes is sposed to be on my kinlist #I just don't know anything abt him #But seriously. I cannot stand anything other than base trilogy bc the spritework for that game is a MASTERPIECE #Ask me what game has best graphics of all time I site that trilogy every day of the week #Go back and marvel at it. I'm p sure game 1 was on gba or smth too #Like dude. Those games look good yo #The remakes are ugly as fuck in comparison #I will never get over ittttt I can never cope #Compare 3d penix to his sprite. Yeah. Yeah #Ugh. Just the worst #But ugh I love that series sm... #Lumi'z #I HIT TAG LIMIT LOL

[brittlebutch]

Is The Accountant any good? I remember there being arguments about it when it first came out, but I’ve never actually seen it. I don’t wanna watch something that has bad representation, but since you just posted about it I figure I can ask: did the writers do their research?

I'll be upfront that I'm not wholly sure how well I can answer this question. Ultimately I think trying to watch things 'For Representation' is kind of a sunk-cost game, especially when it comes to something as diverse as Autism - I think at the end of the day what's considered 'good representation' and what's 'bad representation' is largely going to come down to Simply Personal Preference (with some notable exceptions like Music who shit the bed across the board). If I say I think the movie is fine, there's going to be a bunch of people who think it's dogshit and so on. These days I mostly try to judge things as A Story, not For Representation, does this make sense?

I will try to answer it though. Ultimately, I think The Accountant tells a decent story. I've watched this movie a few times and while I wouldn't list it as A Favorite of mine, I also enjoy watching it when I happen to come across it. A bare bones answer to your question 'did the writers do their research?' - Yes, I think they did. The details of this response have gotten away from me because I have a tendency to overexplain so I will be putting the rest of this under a cut!

TL;DR tho - Is it a good movie? I mean, I've watched it more than once, and I'm not someone who will sit through things I don't like. I think it does a decent enough job with its autistic character if you like the genre. The Accountant is a thriller that centers violence, which is why a lot of people do not like it, but that's The Story it's telling. If that kind of genre bothers you, you probably wouldn't enjoy this movie. WARNING though because the film does have scenes with bright flashing lights that may trigger photosensitivity in viewers.

The main character is autistic, and the movie does not shy away from this but also doesn't necessarily Dwell on it. It's brought up multiple times, but I don't think it's ever especially Emphasized? I would say it's treated like any other character trait. Chris's ability with math may be a savant-like skill, but mileage on this may vary wrt whether this bothers you (and also if the movie ever defines it like this? I think the synopsis does, but I can't remember if it's in the Script)

He's blunt and terse in social situations, but not outwardly/exaggeratedly rude or mean to others. While it feels fairly obvious he's discomfited by small talk, he makes an effort to navigate it in an effort to avoid being rude or offensive towards others - the tone of this feels more 'I want to avoid causing unnecessary conflict/hurt feelings' and less 'I have to Act Normal to get people to like me', Chris is very solitary and seems to like this, although he does have people he gets along with well. He has a flat affect and a monotone - although there are moments when he's more excited/relaxed and has more facial/tone variation. He seems to split pretty evenly on making (or faking) eye-contact and looking in fully other directions in conversations. He also stims most notably with a repetitive phrase he uses to help center/calm himself down. The actor portrays these traits in a way I would deem realistic - it's not exaggerated or caricature like/offensive, although I'm almost certain the actor himself is not autistic (which some people will take issue with).

I can't tell if his interactions with Dana are meant to be interpreted as somewhat romantic in nature? I think she comes close to kissing him once, but he gets distracted and ultimately seems to Like Her without necessarily being Interested in Her (at least to my interpretation). He does go out of his way to defend her - apparently out of character for him to some degree - but I can't tell how much of this is Romantic Undertones and how much is simply Injustice / the fact that they get along. Honestly, I kind of interpret Dana as autistic as well, and kind of view their interactions through that lens, but I can't say for sure that this was the story's Intent. This is worth noting only in as much as I wanted to mention autistic Dana lol - i don't identify myself as aro/ace but i'm also not particularly interested in Relationships, so I don't feel particularly compelled to comment on whether the inclusion or exclusion of romance involving autistic characters is Good or Bad.

The movie also features a character whose role is more or less to be The Spokesperson About Autism - the one who makes the most effort to actually Define it in film to the audience. This is the man who runs the institute where Chris almost got an education, who speaks to Chris's parents when he was a child and makes a brief reappearance at the end. He very explicitly states that autism is not some Scary Disorder that's Stealing Children (I believe both conversations center parents who speak derisively about having an autistic child and say they'd like to believe there's a Normal Kid inside their autistic one, and he explicitly dismisses this notion/attitude - "your son's not less than, he's different"). He also says that attempting to force autistic children to meet NT standards is not going to work - you have to work with them where they're at and accommodate them sufficiently, which is true and a very Healthy way to approach raising autistic children. I would consider this the most Easily Noted way the film shows how/what its writers researched - I would say Largely Positive.

He does mention learning eye-contact / nonverbal cues when talking about child-Chris's potential education, but I don't necessarily consider this an inherent Flaw, but also acknowledge that's Personal Interpretation. Worth noting that another character in this same scene is proof they aren't Forcing compliance or NT-standard communication (an aide is attempting to put another autistic child in shoes, and when she refuses by kicking them off and wiggling around, the aide stops and says 'okay, no shoes today' and takes the shoes and leaves), and a similar conversation at the end of the movie - set in the Present - does not include any mention of learning how to mask, and instead explicitly focuses on the importance of NT people learning how to effectively communicate with/understand autistic people rather than trying to force the inverse.

Chris does at one point define himself as 'high-functioning', I'm not sure whether the movie itself believes in this dichotomy. The guy who runs the Institute - the movie's literal Autism Spokesperson - does not seem to use or approve of them. Another autistic character in the film is not labeled in this way and is a clear subversion of this kind of dichotomy as well. Chris did not learn about autism from someone who actually Knows About autism, he learned about it from his dad who Primarily seemed to focus on teaching Chris how to mask/fight. Is this Good Rep? IDK - it's likely an NT viewer wouldn't pick up on this distinction, so I can't say for sure whether this is a Flaw or not.

The way Chris's sensory issues are handled Is a little sketch (his dad did not believe in accommodating him in any way - this often is portrayed by the film as child abuse - and taught him to deliberately overstimulate himself with bright flashing lights and loud music while doing DPT with a leg roller in an attempt to desensitize him, because "The real world is not sensory-friendly". I'm not Entirely sure whether the movie wants us to believe this works well or not - there are two notable scenes where Chris does this, one where he reaches his timer goal and one where he winds up melting down instead, so I'm not entirely certain what the audience takeaway is meant to be? Ultimately though, I don't think Chris's father is framed by the film as a Good Dad even though Chris loves him and believes him to be one. This might just be my interpretation and not the film's intention though - I have not sought out any BTS info for this movie.

There are several scenes that feature Chris as a child having violent/disruptive meltdowns - there can be mixed feelings about this. Some people might find them voyeuristic / a negative trait they're uncomfortable with. Chris's mom leaves because she cannot handle his meltdowns and Also because she resents Chris's father for not letting Chris stay at the institute to learn. Chris's father helps him through meltdowns via repeating a nursery rhyme and hugging him to his chest for the pressure (it Could arguably be read as restraining, but Chris is never Pinned Down to the Ground outside of an arrest scene, so I would consider it more DPT than 'abusive restraint'). I feel it's inauthentic to try avoiding the issue of meltdowns when it comes to portraying autism in media - they're a fact of life. My opinion on seeing NT actors portray them tends to vary. I would consider this a personal preference thing again - what are you willing to view/tolerate? His meltdowns Are, I believe, framed as wholly separate from his ability to fight/shoot though - they aren't conflated or linked. Chris's violence is, I think, wholly attributed to the way his father raised him, not something tied to him being autistic, he has a NT brother who shares the same use/level of violence.

Chris is a Morally Grey Character though - he does good things, he does bad things, the movie does not shy away from either, and some people take issue with this. [BTW when I say 'take issue with', I do not necessarily mean to deride this opinion or mock people who hold it. Simply pointing out where I have seen critique aimed.] Ultimately, this character trait is a feature of the Story and its Genre not in its attempt to Represent Autism - I think I've seen people critique this story by saying things like 'it's acting like he's a killer because he's autistic, as if all low-empathy people are killers, and that's Bad Representation because NT people will see it and think That's what defines autism' but this rings false to me on a variety of levels.

For one, Chris is not shown to have particularly low empathy. Even if he was low-empathy, Chris is shown to care deeply about a variety of other characters (these Are two different traits btw, 'empathy' and 'caring about other people' are not intrinsically linked) - so there's no basis to the claim that his Autism is what singles him out from other people as a reason he does or does not kill. Again, Chris's ability/willingness to fight is framed almost entirely as a result of the way his father raised him, not as having anything to do with him being autistic.

It's also, as I said, the GENRE.

One major reason I don't like categorizing things by Good/Bad Representation is because 'Representation' does not necessarily align with Telling A Story. If, in order to be Good Representation, a character Must be Morally Good, then this severely limits the amount of stories one can tell, and I'm someone who enjoys tragedies/horrors/complicated stories involving complicated/morally-gray characters. This is what I mean when I say Good/Bad Representation is largely a conversation of Preferences - I like it when I can see character I relate to in the kinds of stories I like to watch. Other people might try to claim that trying to include autistic characters in these stories is inherently Bad Representation because they're stories about 'Bad People'. Preference all the way down.

[ALSO because the notion of what traits make up 'good rep' and which are 'bad rep' is completely subjective, which I've talked about before. If someone says the film is Bad Rep because Chris is 'too blunt/un-emotive and that's a stereotype' I'm fundamentally going to disagree because I am a person who is blunt and has a flat affect, and so I would consider the inclusion of those traits (provided they aren't being actively Mocked by the material) good representation. It's always going to be a subjective conversation to some degree, there are no universally objective ways to rank/discuss the topic).]

Ultimately, I don't know how to end this because I did my tl;dr before I got this far. I wouldn't call it revolutionary representation and probably wouldn't ever really be like 'oh This is the film you want to watch to understand autism', because it's not really About autism. It's about a guy who works as an accountant for regular people AND criminals and who is extremely good at fighting to defend himself / seek revenge when he wants it. This guy also happens to be autistic. Does this make sense? I hope I've managed to answer your question somehow lmfao.

#FUCK i just realized i've spent over two hours answering this question OOPS #one thing about me is i LOVE writing essays about autism and autistic characters - good or bad - and this may be considered unfortunate #notably because in the time it took me to answer this you could have fully watched the movie i'm talking about OOPS sorry lol #edit: went back in and added a paragraph sorry. it's in brackets towards the end

[wearejericho]

requested starter from @parameddic 

    markus was the last person on earth to ask for help. he helped others — made a living out of it, in fact — but asking for help was something he could never bring himself to do. he was supposed to be the strong one. the problem solver. 

    it’s hard to say why markus was chosen as the victim for mugging. perhaps others were able to pick up on the fact that he was new to the area, or that he was ALONE. he tried to stay in shape, but he’d always had a slim figure. the perfect easy target.

    maybe he should have just let them take his wallet, his phone, his watch. but then he’d have to contact police, and markus trusted them a far as he could throw them. so he fought back. hard. or, he tried. but it was four against one. not only had they managed to steal everything but the clothes off his back, they’d left him in the empty parking lot. his arm was badly broken from being twisted behind his back. pieces of gravel stuck to the blood drying on his face. his left eye was beginning to swell up: it was hard to see. hard to move from the pain in his side where a crowbar had struck him.

    there was really no other option but to ask somebody for help. but how? his phone was gone. a car would pass every few minutes but they were going too fast to notice markus’ pleas for help. so he walks. he has to run into somebody EVENTUALLY. he walks over a mile before coming across a large building. it takes him a moment to piece together what exactly it is — a fire station. it seemed to good to be true. it’s another few minutes before he can make it up to the garage door. there’s a single gentleman in there, seemingly doing maintenance on the truck.

    ❝ excuse me. ❞ his voice is quiet. raspy. he’s been it hot weather before, but nothing like this. now he’s suffering from heat exhaustion, on top of the broken arm and bloodied face. ❝ excuse me? ❞ again, a little louder. wobbly knees finally give out from underneath him, sending him back onto the concrete. stay alert, markus. 

#sooo i'm still working on markus' human verse a TON but i wanted to write it for you so mwah ♥ #the writing on this is so terrible but it took me forever to decide what the fuck happened to him lolol it will improve #parameddic #why did i spend over half an hour writing this #mugging tw #assault tw #blood tw

[asgardian--angels]

what are some of your favorite rammstein songs? what album would you choose to recommend to others? if you're able to choose (i know it can be difficult to do with favorite bands, lol) i grew up only hearing one of their songs and your reblogs make me curious to branch out!

Hi there!! I'm always happy to talk about bands I love haha right now since I've yet to really become a part of the fandom and I only know one or two people irl that like the same music as me I feel like I've been shouting into the void lately so like, I am gratified to know someone's listening XD

I'm by no means a Rammstein expert as I'm fairly new to the fandom and the band overall (been listening for about a year), that's my disclaimer. But I've furiously been trying to catch up with their 30-odd years of history!

I'm guessing the song you know is probably Du Hast? That is the song that I grew up knowing as well and for a very long time was the only song I heard from them. It's a very... mainstream? song, I suppose, for their standards; catchy, simple lyrics that non-German speaking audiences can sing along to, pounding repetitive militaristic beat, great to introduce international audiences to this Neue Deutsche Härte genre that was quite distinct from American metal at the time (I moved over to European metal genres about five years ago after exhausting my interest in American metal, there really just seems to be a lot more creativity going on there). While it's a good song it's by no means my favorite nor representative of their level of technical skill nor lyrical poetry. Plus it was a fairly early song in their discography, and their sound has evolved multiple times since then, as all bands do.

It's definitely hard to choose favorites as I really love all of their albums and all of the various sounds the band has gone through. They continually reinvent themselves and remain relevant and fresh, and that sustained passion always comes through in their art. There's also like, songs-that-are-my-favorite and songs-I'd-recommend-to-new-listeners which aren't always the same. I have bolded my recommendations here so you don't need to sift through all this haha.

In my opinion, their overall best album is Liebe Ist Für Alle Da (2009). It is incredibly solid as a total package; their musically heaviest era I'd say, high production quality, long tracklist and they're all jams. Rammstein doesn't half-ass anything, but LIFAD is like a self-contained universe and the concerts that go along with that era had some of the coolest stage productions & costumes. 'Rammlied' and 'Ich Tu Dir Weh' are two iconic, classic songs from this album that I couldn't recommend enough. The latter is imo one of the best songs they've ever done and the music video is killer, and is an excellent representation of the sort of enchanting darkness mixed with beauty that characterizes so much of their appeal. It was the first song of theirs I learned all the words to, and the song that made me want to listen to more Rammstein. If anything, listen to that song first out of all of these recommendations! I hope it can do that for you too. It remains an absolutely mesmerizing song for me to this day. Rammlied is one of a number of songs they have about the relationship between band and fans, great for live performances but also just a fun heavy metal song to headbang to. The chant in the beginning is so good, I’ve got it on a t-shirt haha.

While I think that's the *best* album, my personal favorite is Mutter (2001). A solid collection of impactful songs that flow in tone very well. It just has a special place in my heart! 'Sonne' is a must-listen, also I think one of the most iconic songs they've ever done. You'll never be able to get it out of your head, and pretty easy to memorize lyrics too - it was the second full song I learned. 'Mein Herz Brennt' is a dark, intense, heavy-hitting ballad with a spine-tingling music video, a great example of one of their 'dark fairytale' type songs that are common in their work. Till Lindemann specializes in these sort of speak-singing melodies that weave a twisted children's bedtime story (others like this are Wiener Blut, Spieluhr, and Puppe, I highly recommend the latter). My personal favorite from that album besides Sonne is Adios.

Literally tho all their albums are great, and I don't know your personal preferences for rock genres so you may like their earlier or later work better;

Their 90s work is more raw, less polished, as I think I could say for most bands that began in the 90s when these genres were fresh and members were young with a lot of angst and energy! Those albums, Herzeleid (1995) and Sehnsucht (1997), are absolutely worth listening to. I would recommend the songs 'Engel', 'Sehnsucht', and 'Du Riechst So Gut', to get a sense for how that era sounded. (Hardcore fans don't get on me here, I love all the songs from then, 'Laichzeit' and 'Eifersucht' are among my personal favs).

Then there are the two mid-2000s albums Reise, Reise (2004) and Rosenrot (2005), which again are just, high quality, solid pieces of work. You notice I say solid a lot here, and that's because everything that Rammstein produces is of high quality; they're true professionals who strive to perfection and I think they really put out their best in everything they do. Three classic songs from these albums are 'Mein Teil' (dark and intense, about a real life cannibalism case, music video does not mess around lmao), 'Rosenrot', and for funsies, 'Benzin' (one of their classic blow-shit-up songs you can't help but love). I think some of their deepest, most poetic songs are from these two albums. personal favs include Dalai Lama, Hilf Mir, and Ein Lied (the latter is probably my favorite song they've ever done, but it's by no means a hit or anything, just one of those quiet little 'when you're lonely we're here for you' melodies)

Their two new albums, Untitled (2019) and Zeit (2022) definitely move into a new musical era for them, and again demonstrate their dedication to consistent high production quality. I cannot recommend the song and video 'Deutschland' high enough - you absolutely must watch the video, preferably as your first listen of the song. It's more of a short film, and I think it changed me on a genetic level lmao. Deals with the conflicted feelings and politics of national pride in a country with blood on its hands, and the video is one of the most aesthetically stunning things I've ever seen. 'Zeit' is of a similar vein in terms of being the powerful ballad on the latest album, also with a great video, a very moving, sad song about the inevitability of loss and the passage of time. (again, I love everything on these albums too, I already mentioned Puppe, which is A++. Schwarz and Lügen have risen to the top on Zeit tbh, but that's between you and me).

I'm going to stop myself there, as I could just keep telling you to listen to everything they've ever done, but hopefully you will take that upon yourself at some point ;D Till has an incredible baritone voice with a fantastic range of styles that he knows how to use to full effect to weave moving tales that will stick with you. It got me off my ass to learn how to pronounce German! I hope you enjoy the recommendations, they're very much classic singles but still decent examples of their various eras.

#rammstein #it only took me two hours to write this LOL #do i ramble? yes. but im also just desperate to talk to people about my latest obsessions and i got no one here bruh #how long before the fandom absorbs me pls #i really can't say i like one era over another tbh they're all worthwhile in their own right #but fuck i do love mutter

[helmarok]

GIRL HELP

#team rocket #runaway daze #this took me like two hours tops #just so you guys know i never do rough drafts i just write it then read it over twice edit mistakes then hit post #i legit dont have the energy to put my whole pussy into it. not sorry #theres many content warnings please pay attention to those before you come at me #for like teenagers fucking or whatever #or the noncon shit which generally thats what youre gonna get when you read a fic on james lore #because the anime said this is what happened and its scary #btw to clarify i am a teenager i am not a creep i am a highschOOLER PLEAEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 😭 #ganfic

[breadmercury]

Why is my professor vagueposting about me on the class discussion board. Sir do u want these posts turned in at all or not. Wanting things turned in on time is completely fair but like. U understand I am turning them in now so I can get caught up, right. U understand that to turn things in on time I have to catch up on turning the things in that are late, right. U understand that no one who doesn't give a fuck at all about their assignments would be up posting discussion boards from like 11 PM-4 AM, right.

#breaducation #to be clear the discussion boards took pretty long to write. over an hour each. this was a few things turned in over the course of the hours #as i finished them #i did not have a metric fuckton of discussion posts due late #i just!!!! if he would at least have just emailed me about it then I could see he's talking to me specifically and be like 'ok' #but it was a classwide announcement and i can't tell how much of it is aimed at me and how much is aimed at other people #but the fact that he posted it like an hour after I stopped posting on that discussion board (around 5 am) is PRETTY FUCKING TELLING #that he was aiming it at least mostly at me #'giving timely feedback to your peers is important!' YES!!! I KNOW!!!!! that is why I'm turning these in now and not the last fucking day of #the semester. jesus. if u don't want them to have my feedback at all u can just say so!!! email me goddammit

[verystressedcollegestudent]

if there's one thing i hate more than slackers in group projects its goddamn hypocrites

#this guy did jack shit for two full weeks when we're building the damn prototype #but STILL brought up the fact that most of our team blew off a report till the last minute in the beginning of march #*prototypes don't work* “sEe tHis iS wHy wE nEedEd tO hAvE a cOnvErsaTioN aBouT MS3” #like hon you lost the rights to the “y'all need to contribute more” argument the moment you left me hanging for 2-3 FUCKING WEEKS #like excuuuuuse me you been prioritizing extra curriculars all week get off your high horse stop lecturing everyone else about contribution #he made maybe 3 contributions? maybe? #first he 3D modeled an adapter and sent it to someone else to print (couldn't even do THAT himself smh) #then he sent the gc a sketch of an idea i roughly proposed literally the NIGHT BEFORE as his own contribution (that I ENDED UP BUILDING #then he...screwed on a few pipe fittings and called it a project :) #would be a LOT less pissed if he didn't show up to One Thing outside weekly team meetings/class #then apologize for slacking off BUT then launch into a FUCKING SPEECH ABOUT HOW HIM BEING HERE PROVES HIS COMMITTMENT #all because he DOESN'T LIKE GETTING UP EARLY. like sir. sir i am rIGHT FUCKING HERE. i was up till 4-5am working on this stfu #we've been building for three weeks and he's come into work on stuff wo me there ONCE for an HOUR #for context id spent about fifteen hours in the shop alone working on the fucking thing that WEEK #like im trying to be understanding ik tech week is hell #but i took “stepping back” as “i only have a few hours here and there to be in the shop and will do the writeups” #NOT “won't show up outside meetings AND we're splitting slides and writeups 80/20” #like id been in the lab all fuckin day and notice we have an assignment due (missed a SINGLE meeting due to exam) #and i ask him if theres anything i can do (and im thinking like look it over maybe add a spec or two) #and this fucker has the AUDACITY to ask me to write the full four paragraph summary cause he #*checks notes* copy-pasted some specs from milestone 3 so of COURSE its only fair that despite the fact I've been in the lab ALL DAY #that i write the four fuckin paragraphs too #course we're troubleshooting and he's like “did you clean the pump? did you disassemble it and rinse it?” like yes??? #i did EVERYTHING i could think of before i even bothered texting you cause i know you're fucking useless #and then he raises fifteen different concerns which while valid would have been NICE TO HEAR WHEN I SENT YOU MY INITIAL DESIGNS #y'know BEFORE i spent over fifteen hours of my free time building this damn thing #with slackers i just pick up the work and move on with my life this idiot is trying to gaslight me into thinking that he contributed fairly #when i heard “i need to step back due to play stuff” i thought we'd be splitting it like 65:35 NOT FUCKING 95:5 #and now hes probably going to give ME a poor peer review because I've been passive aggressive with him in the few meetings he showed up to #like i got shit going on too? how the fuck does he expect me to respond to being abandoned to do this shit myself

[reblog-house]

Pearlscar came, changed my life, was buried, and on the third day-

#i came up with this at 11 pm and i still find it hilarious #and by third day i mean like. over a month maybe #god it took me HALF AN HOUR to find out how long my break was #i hate you tumblr search #carime rambles #anyway i'm back on my bullshit. but i still wont say jack shit and i'll pretend like i didnt mention it by name haha what #why is admitting ships so fucking hard. punching the floor. wanted to vaguepost abt it instead but got the courage to mention it once (1). #probs won't again #me doodling (my own designs of) gemcyt (/and human) fusions of them like tralalalalaaaa #save me (please don't) #AND IT WAS ON MY MONTH BREAK THAT THE FANTASTIC FIC I'D BEEN DREAMING PEOPLE TO WRITE GOT PUBLISHED #i continued reading it this morning but bhghggfhgg and stopped. it's so good

[gio-cosmo]

Nahhh I thought the whole “If you stay on an app long enough it’ll faintly burn into your screen” thing was super uncommon or smth but I’ve been on my Pages app writing literally all day like 7:00 AM — 5:00 PM and it’s LITERALLY BURNT INTO MY SCREEN LMFAOOO ITS SO WEIRD

#it’s obviously very faint #and I’m sure it’ll go away once I shut my phone off for a while and let it rest #but it was so funny lmao I finally finished up my piece of writing #went to transport it into docs #and was like why the fuck is the pages app layout burnt into my phone screen rn 😭 #btw. in my defense. I took a two hour nap break #idek what came over me it was honestly bizarre #I haven’t written in so long and all of the sudden I just woke up and was like #“I have to write this and I have to write it NOW’’ #sitting for that long is CRAZZYYYY #what’s really crazy is the fact that I spent all that time on it and it’ll probs sit in my google docs collecting dust until the end of time #☺️ #although I did submit a request for an ao3 account so…..perhaps… #8 hours and I don’t even like the writing that much HELPPP #I need to go back and revise tbh #writing