#joker outfit edition.... 3!!!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dalekofchaos · 3 years

Note

What would you say are the biggest mistakes Mass Effect 3 made?

Okay this is going to be a long one, but these would be the biggest mistakes ME3 ever made in my opinion

Choosing Cerberus over The Reapers. The thing that annoyed me most about ME3 is the fact that Harbinger is not the main threat. The Illusive Man is. Harbinger has been built up as the big bad since ME2. "YOU HAVE FAILED. WE WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY." He says as he discards the Collectors. Then his speech to Shepard as the base blows up. "Human, you've changed nothing. Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction. You will surrender your potential against the growing void. We return, and you will rise. We are the harbinger of your perfection. We will bring your species into harmony with our own. Your species will be raised to a new existence. We are the beginning, you will be the end. Prepare for our domination. Prepare for our coming." Then in Arrival, he came pretty damn close to unleashing quick subjugation and harvest upon an unprepared galaxy. Upon Shepard foiling his plans. "Shepard. You have become an annoyance. You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds. This seems a victory to you. A star system sacrificed. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall. Your leaders will beg to serve us. Know this as you die in vain: Your time will come. Your species will fall. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival." The perfect final villain right? Unfortunately, Cerberus was more focused on than The Reapers. My problem with Cerberus and no Harbinger is Too many Cerberus, too few Reaper forces in plot. We fight Cerberus more often than the reapers. Hardly any boss fight and the one with Reaper Destroyer on Rannoch was more an interactive movie than fight. During the Horizon mission in Mass Effect 2, Harbinger was solidified as the Big Bad. It was menacing and ominous, with just the right amount of annoying. It taunted us throughout the game, telling us how insignificant we were, and how our actions were pointless. It was willing to posses drones through the Collector General to fight us personally, and when we killed the host, it tossed them aside. Harbinger even gave the typical “You haven’t seen the last of me!” villain rant. It made any fire fight frustrating, and that made me want to kill it even more; I hated Harbinger. Many games fail to do that. Harbinger was an enemy which I looked forward to defeating. I had the desire to annihilate. In Mass Effect 3, I got a codex entry and a cameo. Harbinger just swoops in at the last second and blows my friends and I to hell(and lets the Normandy save them), then flies off. Personally, I would have loved to hear Harbinger’s menacing monologue, it drove me on. I would have felt a deeper motivation to take the fight back to Earth if it told me how much destruction the Reapers were causing, how many lives were lost. I felt cheated when I got to the final mission, only to suddenly realize it was largely absent from the game. Harbinger has been replaced. Replaced by the Illusive Man and Kai Leng. The former is an old acquaintance, albeit one now controlled by the Reapers. The latter is a space ninja from a terrible book. What would've been amazing is if Harbinger IS the Catalyst. Harbinger taunts and haunts Shepard throughout the game He uses the memory of that child to haunt Shepard as a symbol of humanity lost. After Shepard activates the Crucible. Harbinger appears. He explains to why and how The Reapers were made. the AI Leviathan created to solve the equation is Harbinger all along, Harbinger manipulated The Leviathan into giving it Reaper form and birth at first it did what it commanded and what they asked of it was to look at the dark energy building up which back then was only an anomaly that Leviathan was concerned with but then the first harvest began and Harbinger and The Reapers were born. Funny enough, Leviathan reminds me so much of FMA:Brotherhood. The Intelligence tricked Leviathan to create the Reaper is very similar to how the Dwarf in the flask became Father. So what I think should have happened is it would've been revealed that Harbinger is the AI that convinced the Leviathan that harvest was the only way to survive and justifies the harvests not because organics and synthetics can't coexist, but because of the dark matter crisis. Throughout the game we would have more confrontations with Harbinger. Have him "ASSUME CONTROL" during fights. Give us a voiced confrontation between Shepard and Harbinger. Make it clear that Harbinger chose The Illusive Man and convinced him of together they could uplift and empower humanity over the lesser races. The Illusive Man is to Harbinger, as what Saren was for Soverign. Then the Crucible will grant us the choice to Destroy or Control The Reapers or Harvest this cycle to survive the Dark Matter crisis. You could either. Destroy Harbinger and The Reapers, while the united races would discover a way to stop the dark matter problem. Give in to Harbinger to harvest humanity to save the galaxy. Control The Reapers to stop the harvesting and to work together to stop the dark matter crisis.

Choosing to have a smaller crew than ME2 and focusing solely on the ME1 characters and screwing over or ignoring the ME2 crew, especially romancing Jack, Miranda and Thane. If it were up to me, this is what my ideal ME3 line up would be Ashley/Kaidan EDI Garrus Liara Tali Javik Jack Miranda Thane(EA forgot about him and simply chose to kill him off, I think Thane could’ve rejoined the crew and even had a mission where we find a cure for Thane and Kolyat) Grunt Mordin(you'll see how later) Legion(You'll see later) Balak or any Batarian Squadmember. Ideally it would be someone who survived the Bahak system or even a Batarian freedom fighter who puts his people’s survival over the pride and prejudices of the Hegemony. His sole goal is to liberate Khar'shan and save his people. But for a more memorable person, Balak would be the squad member. I would make killing Balak not an option. The last high ranking officer in the Hegemony. Instead of causing deaths on the Citadel, he seeks Shepard out. It’s an enemy of my enemy is my friend. Over time, Balak would show remorse for his past actions as a terrorist and for the Hegemony’s past. Shepard and Balak learns to overcome their differences and see each other as friend and works together to destroy the Reapers. We would get a Priority Khar’shan where we could liberate the planet and the Batarians would be in a fighting force.

Keeping James alive. I like James, but he added absolutely nothing to the game. We already had an Alliance character. Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko. James should have been the Jenkins/Wilson of the game. He should have died in the crash to take out Eva and Ashley/Kaidan should have been with us from beginning to end. James is a character we barely know. We’ve waited a long ass time to see Ashley/Kaidan and it was downright disappointing that neither Ashley nor Kaidan did not get to interact with Garrus on Priority Palaven and Wrex during Priority S’Urkesh.

Mirandafying Ashley Williams. Mirandafying Ashley Williams for Mass Effect 3 was shallow and unnecessary. Wearing loose and long hair and skimpy clothing? Ashley Williams is a by the books soldier. She would not look like this. She would not grow her hair or let it down like this. I mean, it’s not that they changed her face so much, but they just tried too hard with the makeup, hair and outfit. Ashley didn’t need to be model-sexy and run around in heels and showing cleavage. She was already sexy as hell in her own way. All they needed to do was give her the Alliance Crewmen outfit as her casual look and the Phoenix Armor and the current Alliance type armor she was given in ME3, as well as a unique Spectre armor. It's not just the shallow Mirandafying. It's the fact that Ashley has little to no interactions. Ashley barely has any interactions in the game. Compared to Kaidan, Ashley is not interactable. I don't like that Ashley barely has any interactions and just feels...hollow. Ashley should have crew moments with Joker, Adams, Ashley at the monument mourning those who died with the original Normandy, Liara, Tali and Garrus. Was it so much to ask for simple interactions? And really, Ashley in the first game had a personality, Ashley in ME3 feels hollow.

Choosing Diana Allers over Emily Wong and Khalisah al-Jilani. Emily and Khalisah are two reporters we actually know and respect. They earned their place on the Normandy. Emily reported on crime and traffic controllers. Khalisah gave us hard hitting questions and actually cared about reporting on what the fuck was going on in the galaxy. They earned their place on the Normandy as far as I'm concerned. Compare that to Diana Allers. What has Diana Allers done to deserve a spot on the Normandy? Nothing. They created the Battlespace to make her seem like a hip and cool Alliance News Correspondent. Allers looked, weird and she just comes off as annoying and she's a waste of space on the Normandy when we could've had a whole new or returning squad member. God, I WISH Javik could throw her out the fucking airlock. You had TWO perfectly great reporter characters and you did jackshit for any of them. Just so you could have an excuse to hire Jessica Chobot.

Not letting us see Tali's face on Rannoch. Legendary Edition fixed the mistake by finally showing us Tali's face, but it's still exclusive to Shali romancers. What should have happened was we see Tali's face when she unmasks on Rannoch. If we don't romance her, she unmasks and gives us a smile. If we romance her we see her face and kiss her. Something simple like that. It would've been great to see

Not having the ME2 squad members join in on the Citadel DLC. I mean for fuck's sake, it's like they want us to know "fuck you, ME1 squadmembers only" Again, why? Why wasn’t Jack, Miranda, Grunt, Samara, Jacob, Zaeed and Kasumi not added? If we romanced Jack or Miranda, why didn't they come to save us when we were being hunted? Why not REALLY making it feel like Team Hammerhead by actually adding the ME2 Squad members to the Citadel DLC before the party? There was no reason why you couldn't include the ME2 squad members in the Citadel DLC

Making Cerberus the villains instead of uneasy allies, when The Batarians were the perfect allies for The Reapers. This might just be me but I think Cerberus should have been on our side in ME3 and The Batarians should have been fighting for The Reapers. Makes sense Cerberus has just been a rouge organization doing what the job no matter what the cost(even if the cost is atrocities) and instead of indoctrinating themselves they could of studied it to make themselves immune to indoctrination and The Illusive Man's goal was to use any means necessary in order to destroy The Reapers. I also like the idea that you know you can't trust him, but he does get results. The Council and The Alliance are desperate, so they accept a partnership with Cerberus. The Batarians have always held a grudge against The Alliance, The Council and would have wanted revenge for Bahak/ Viper Nebula. The fact that there are no consequences for what we had to do in Arrival from The Batarians just doesn't make any sense and you'd think this would give The Batarians the motive to turn to The Reapers. Hell in the Terra Nova DLC in Mass Effect 1 it seemed to me that Balak was already indoctrinated and Balak’s revelation of the “Batarian rebellion” makes it seem like they would be the perfect tools for The Reapers. Balak will be the new Saren figure. If you killed Balak, then The Reapers would just bring him back. The first act of war for the Batarians was the destruction of the Viper Nebula, so their retaliation was killing Udina. Prior to the Reaper invasion of Earth, Udina would go to Omega to make peace talks with Aria. The Batarians attack and gain control of Omega, Aria is ousted(but saved by General Petrovsky) and Udina is executed live for the galaxy to see. Because of Udina's execution and Anderson leading the resistance on Earth. The Illusive Man is now the Human Councilor. Miranda and Kai Leng would be squad members. Depending on if you gave TIM the Collector Base or destroyed it, he will either keep you in the dark or help you at every turn. Just think of the Cerberus War Assets Cerberus Scientists General Oleg Petrovsky Collector Base Cerberus Fighters Cerberus Phantoms Cerberus Engineers Project Phoenix We would get a big mission to deal with the Batarians, Priority:Khar'shan. If you do not deal with the Batarians, there will be major casualties. However half of the Batarian forces are not indoctrinated and just want to end the mistakes of their government and live. Balak wants to kill the rebellion of his people. Ironic. Somehow Balak has placed enough bombs on the planet to destroy everyone who is resisting Reaper indoctrination. We can either. Talk Balak out of it. Telling him to resist and fight for your people(which WOULD gain Balak as an ally) or talk Balak into killing himself. Or the true Renegade option is to kill Balak and order a strike that wipes out the Batarian forces, but sacrificing the Batarian Rebellion. By the time we get to Priority Earth everyone is on the same page and united against the true threat, The Reapers. And it is Harbinger who is the final boss

Not having Maelon be there with Mordin in ME3. This isn't really a problem, but I had a thought. If we spared Maelon and kept Maelon's data for the cure. Maelon should have been on board to help Mordin with the cure. If we warn Mordin and Maelon about the sabotage, then Maelon would choose to sacrifice himself to save Mordin. And after that, Mordin would choose to join Shepard's crew.

Legion's "death" is pointless. He....is software. He could easily copy and paste The Reaper code without sacrificing himself in the same manner when he was broadcasting the Reaper signal to all Geth. Or he could've disseminated himself after he made a copy and transfer that copy over to his platform. I just get the feeling that they didn't want to keep Mordin, Thane or Legion alive....for reasons.

#Mass Effect #Mass Effect Legendary Edition #Mass Effect 3 #Ashley Williams #Kaidan Alenko #Commander Shepard #Femshep #Harbinger #Miranda Lawson #Jacqueline Nought #Tali'Zorah #Garrus Vakarian #Urdnot Grunt #Mordin Solus #Thane Krios #Legion #Emily Wong #Khalisah al Jilani #Ka'hairal Balak

169 notes · View notes

givemeahug · 3 years

Text

in honor of those who need healing, but have lost their right to it in the eyes of others:

edit: WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME I DREW THE GUITAR IN THE WRONG DIRECTION FUCK ME

[ID: comic fanart of c!dream, c!techno, c!wilbur.

pg 1: they are posed menacingly towards viewer. pogtopia era wilbur lies on his back with a hand covering one eye and the other holding tnt. he has a joker's smile. techno wears a brown hog mask, a fur lined red cloak and armor and has glowing red eyes. dream wears a cracked mask and is cloaked in green with armor beneath. he points an axe towards you. text over image begins with "oft times, you'll find your monsters-"

pg 2: top panel has minecraft mobs standing in a dark cave. lower panel shows c!techno with his hog mask off and dressed in a relaxed blue tunic, helping preen c!philza's wing. the other side has c!wilbur dressed in a yellow sweater and sitting in grass, playing his guitar idly. below both is view of dream team from behind. c!dream is between george and sapnap, holding them close around the waists. sapnap pumps a fist in the air and has the other hand around dream's shoulder, while george leans into dream. text on page continues from last page, saying: "...are not true monsters, merely people."

pg 3: top section shows c!techno stalking towards c!quackity with glowing green cracks in his skin and pink hair flying behind. they are framed in smoke that leads down to background of lmanberg on fire, with foreground of c!wilbur, lying on the ground with dark eyes and a sad smile. ground color fades down to c!dream, dressed in a prison outfit. he's hunched over with long messy hair that hides his face in complete shadow, aside from a manic smile and wide eye peering through, with an open book in his lap. the pages are soaked in blood and his blood-stained hands are held in chains. text in page from top to bottom says, continuing from previous pages, "such awful, awful people." end ID]

#dream smp #technoblade #wilbursoot #dreamwastaken #dsmp fanart #c!dream #c!techno #c!wilbur #vilbur #im an artist i guess #you can tell i got lazy with the second pg #but i loved doing the first and third so whatever #blood tw #death tw #consistent art style where

34 notes · View notes

bryan360 · 2 years

Text

Here’s my note before I’ll get started….

(DON’T YOU EVER COPY FROM MINE OR MY FRIEND’S WORK, CHARACTERS, AND STUFF IF ONE OF YOU ARE IMPOSTERS WHO HAD HABITS OF PLAGIARISM! I WILL BLOCK YOU FROM MY BLOG IF I SEE YOUR POST WITH MINE OR MY FRIEND’S ORIGINAL WORK BEING EDITED ALL OVER! I’LL EVEN SHARE IT ONTO MY BLOG SO IF EVERYONE WILL SEE THAT YOU TRYING TO COPY MINE OR MY FRIEND’S THINGS FOR NO GOOD REASON WHATSOEVER! That will be all….I mean it.)

🎃Inktober of 2021 - Day 31: Party Time!!

Alright folks! This will be my last Inktober art share during this year's Halloween for a lifetime. While it's too bad if my family didn't have a time to celebrate to get some candy, but at least complete my Inktober art shares I've gotten so far from Day 4 to Day 31 was close enough to accomplished for. Thank goodness it was over when I'm hoping to get my other plans for next month and best I could go back to DeviantArt after a HUGE absent from my page account for so long. What that being said, let's get into my final Inktober that I actually got in progress in hours today. Let me tell ya that it wasn't easy when I'm trying to fit 4 or 5 characters in space. This one was a bit of challenge to make through hours to get it done before nighttime comes. Anyways, What better way to celebrate than throwing their biggest Halloween party bash for the rabbits family? Well, having the kids dressing as one of their closest friends from Philippines of course! So yeah. Thought this would make sense if they would be gladly to dress as them when still owning their friend's clothing not too long ago. So why not using them as their Halloween costumes this year? However, it'll have new masks of Spot, Riya, and Cude to put on their faces; after Maxwell managed to craft three without breaking a sweat from days ago. He's really good with crafting in art classes, by the way. Hope their friends will gonna like this to celebrate this year's Halloween with the rabbit kids and their parents for fun. Happy Halloween to everyone and for my P-Pal; @murumokirby360 ! By the way, sorry if I forgot to added from my Day 26 Inktober art post for Sam's appearance; mostly his fur color that I accidentally left off after finishing my progress. My bad for mistakes like it gets me every time. 😥 Maxwell (in his owned Spot Speedster's original clothing and handmade mask), May (in her owned Riya Speedster's original clothing and handmade mask), Sam (in his owned Dude's original clothing and handmade mask), Windy (in her Zero Suit Samus outfit), and Scottie (in his Funky Kong outfit) created by me; BryanVelasquez87 (Bryan360) Zero Suit Samus's outfit based on Super Smash Bros for 3DS/Wii U/Ultimate design; originally based on appearing from Metroid (1986) and Metroid: Zero Mission (2004) Nintendo ©️ Funky Kong's outfit based on originally from the Donkey Kong series; mostly its recent appearance from Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2018 Switch port) (2018) Nintendo ©️

Previous Posts Day 4: 🌈🧟‍♂️🥜Joy Zombie Brown - Link Here #1 Day 5: 🦇Kirby Lucy Loud - Link Here #2 Day 6: ☕️🕷Muffet - Link Here #3 Day 7: 👻 Ghost Pokémon Approaches - Link Here #4 Day 8: Noteson meets Casper - Link Here #5 Day 9: The Jellystone Kids - Link Here #6 Day 10: 🐻🧹Broomstick - Link Here #7 Day 11:🐰The Rabbit Addams in Love - Link Here #8 Day 12: 🍫🍭🍬Candy - Link Here #9 Day 13: 🦛🎃Halloween Town Heffy - Link Here #10 Day 14: 🐶🐻 🦆The Jellystone Kids (Second Redrawn) - Link Here #11 Day 15: 😱🐰Scary Bunny - Link Here #12 Day 16: Tanis - Link Here #13 Day 17: 👽Alien Sightings - Link Here #14 Day 18: 🥜🤡Brown’s Joker - Link Here #15 Day 19: 🦛🍎Apple Bobbing - Link Here #16 Day 20: 😴Nightmares - Link Here #17 Day 21: Pumpkin - Link Here #18 Day 22: Possess - Link Here #19 Day 23: Puppet - Link Here #20 Day 24: Detective - Link Here #21 Day 25: Computer - Link Here #22 Day 26:🐰🦊Wolf-I-Fied Maxwell and Sam - Link Here #23 Day 27: 🎥🎞Movies - Link Here #24 Day 28: 🧛 Vampire - Link Here #25

Day 29: Cereal - Link Here #26

Day 30: 🔥Flames - Link Here #27

7 notes · View notes

morganayenneferburnham · 2 years

Text

I posted 1,592 times in 2021

49 posts created (3%)

1543 posts reblogged (97%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 31.5 posts.

I added 855 tags in 2021

#0 - 145 posts

#911 fox - 136 posts

#evan ‘buck’ buckley - 90 posts

#eddie diaz - 89 posts

#shadow and bone - 80 posts

#kaz brekker - 74 posts

#six of crows - 69 posts

#evan buckley - 64 posts

#star trek discovery - 56 posts

#grishaverse - 52 posts

Longest Tag: 134 characters

#i don’t normally ask that people reblog things…but spreading the word is helpful so we can end the debate (that shouldn’t be a debate)

My Top Posts in 2021

I need Shadow and Bone season 2 to come out already because i’m dying to make a Long Live Zoyalai edit

54 notes • Posted 2021-11-17 01:15:45 GMT

okay, hear me out...

What if the boys weren’t wrong about playing the Orpheum being their unfinished business but they were just wrong about who they needed to play that show with?

What if their unfinished business was to play the Orpheum with BOBBY (Trevor) because that’s what they ALL wanted to do TOGETHER before they died...

Bobby was their best friend, he was their family and they were his.... 😭

Anyway if anyone needs me I’ll be sobbing about that theory in my bed for the foreseeable future

76 notes • Posted 2021-01-30 03:13:40 GMT

T-shirt (Jason Todd x Reader)

Summary: Y/N is Dick’s partner in the GCPD, but she’s been seeing Jason for a while behind his back even though there’s an active warrant for Red Hood’s arrest.

A/N: I’m not sure what genre this is. A bit of fluff, mostly angst? With a happy ending though. I’m sorry I couldn’t make up my mind, lol. My playlist is a mess, so I guess my writing is too.

Warnings: Innuendos and language, but I mean it’s Jason what are you expecting?

Word count: 2.2k

Jason didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky. Maybe life had finally realized how unfair it had been to him. Maybe she was life’s way to balance things out.

Jason didn’t know and, frankly, he didn’t care. All he knew was how much he loved her.

“You’re staring” Her sing-song voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Only because I am graced with a vision of the most beautiful woman to ever walk this earth wearing my T-shirt.” He replied playfully.

She laughed, her eyes glinting with amusement. She moved gracefully around the room only illuminated by the tv light.

“Well, your T-shirt’s a lot more comfortable than that dress.” She’d gestured to the discarded silky number she’d worn the previous night.

Jason stood up letting his feet carry him quickly to her side. Seeing her wearing his clothes drove him crazy. He was hoping to convince her to come back to bed with him.

“Anyway, I’m going to jump in the shower before I get back to the precinct.” She continued.

Well, there goes my plan, he thought bitterly. Unless…

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him, resting his chin on her delicate shoulder. He let his lips brush the shell of her ear. “Want company in there?”

She turned around in his arms and gently laid a hand on his chest. That was easy. “We both know we need to stop doing this, Jason. I should be arresting you. Not sleeping with you.”

Here they went again. They had been having this exact argument for three months now. Every time Jason thought they’d moved past it she’d bring it up again. They had never talked about their feelings, but Jason hoped there was more to it than their wild nights. “Is that really what you want, Y/N?”

“Does it matter? What would Dick say if he found out about –” she paused, gesturing between them “whatever this is? He asked who I was seeing, even commented on my outfit choice, you know? He’s my partner I can’t keep lying to him.”

‘Whatever this is’? That’s all it is to her? Jason had been hurt before, hell, he’d even been killed by the Joker, but nothing had ever felt quite like this. It was as if all the air had left his lungs and his heart was turning to dust in his chest.

He let his arms fall back to his side and took a step back. “Fine. Don’t forget to lock up on your way out.” He grabbed a hoodie and quickly pulled it over his head.

“You’re leaving? Jason, come on, don’t be ridiculous.” She was clearly just as exasperated as he was.

“I think it’s better for me to leave before you decide to arrest me. That’s your job, right? What would my dear brother say if he found out you had the opportunity to finally bring me in and you chose not to? Golden boy wouldn’t like you quite as much now, would he?” His voice sounded harsh to his own ears, but he was so tired of losing everything to his brother.

She was staring at him, shock evident on her beautiful face. Jason wanted to take it back. He shouldn’t have lost it on her like that.

“I wouldn’t arrest you, Jay, but keeping this up puts me in a difficult position, both with Dick and with the department.” Her voice held traces of desperation and pleading but Jason was too angry to understand what it truly meant.

Jason felt his jealousy bubble up in his chest. “You’re right, it’d be a lot easier for you to sleep with your partner. Only a bit of HR paperwork and everything would be set, wouldn’t it?”

“You know what, Jason? Maybe it would be easier. It’s not like Dick hasn’t hinted at it before.” She had practically been yelling at him. She lowered her voice and continued: “He’s nice enough, I suppose. Attractive too.” He’d never seen her like this; her expression ice-cold, her voice void of any emotion.

They stood, facing each other, unmoving, for what felt like an eternity. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to take it back, to apologize, to kiss her, to tell her he loved her, but her words hung in the air, forming an unbreakable barrier between them.

She finally turned away from him, but not before he had a chance to glimpse the tears welling in her eyes. He’d finally pushed her too far. She closed the bathroom door behind her. Jason heard a quiet sob escape her before he heard the rush of water hitting the shower tiles.

Jason knew he’d fucked up. Should he leave as he had intended? Or should he stay? He could try apologizing, though he doubted it’d do much good considering how far they’d taken things this time around.

“Fuck.” He threw the closest mug at the wall.

Why did he always push people away? He didn’t deserve her anyway. Maybe it was best to cut her from his life. She was right, after all. He was a liability for her. He kept her from doing her job.

He still hadn’t made a decision by the time she shut the water off. Was he going to make one last stand? Was he finally going to tell her how much she actually meant to him? Or was he simply going to cut his losses, like he’d done with every other person he’d ever loved, like he’d done with his family, like he’d done with his brother?

It was almost funny, he’d been scared of so many things in his life, he’d faced so many challenges, but somehow, he had never been more terrified than in this exact moment.

She stepped out of the bathroom, water dripping from her long hair onto an already damp spot on her work shirt.

“Y/N” She didn’t answer, she simply stood there, looking at him, obviously waiting for him to continue. Jason took a deep breath. “I took things too far.”

The only response he got from her was a quick nod.

Alright, he thought, I’m going to have to do better than this. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t mean what I said earlier. I know how important your job is. You and Dick are some of the best detectives in Gotham. I don’t want to put you in a tough spot, but I can’t just let you go either.”

“Is this what we’ve come to, Jason? You’re threatening me?” Her eyes were set ablaze with a fresh wave of anger.

“No! God, no! Fuck, I’m just… I’m not great with feelings. I just don’t know how to say it. I’m not threatening you. I would never hurt you, Y/N. You have to know that! I just – I don’t want to lose you.” He was desperate. How could he make her understand?

She seemed unsure, a puzzled expression painting her features. At least, she didn’t seem to fear or hate him anymore. It was a step in the right direction, he supposed.

A crazed chuckle escaped the back of his throat. Her eyebrows furrowed further. “Shit, this isn’t going well, is it?”

She crossed her arms, her eyes studying him closely. “No, it isn’t.” She admitted.

“I don’t want you to get with Dick. I don’t want to lose you to him.” Anger flared in her eyes again. “Or to anyone really.” He added quickly. “Not that I own you, of course! You aren’t anyone’s. I mean you are your own person and – ”

She cut him off with a laugh. “Wait. Jay, are you trying to tell me you acted like a complete idiot because you like me?”

“I – I mean, I wouldn’t say a complete idiot but… uhm, yes? And well I don’t like you. I think I might, kind of… you know?”

Boy, did he feel stupid right now. He’d faced countless villains and criminals on his own, even the joker! –okay, that one hadn’t gone exactly well but still – And now? He couldn’t even tell the woman he loved how he felt.

“No, Jaybird, I don’t think I know.” A playful smile tugged at her lips.

He felt his cheeks heat up, a blush spreading quickly over his face and neck. He might very well die from embarrassment, but at least she wasn’t mad anymore.

“I – Well, I – Fuck! I love you, Y/N.” He stammered. He couldn’t look at her. He couldn’t bear to see the rejection in her eyes. He knew that was what was inevitably coming his way. He didn’t deserve love. He didn’t deserve her.

“Hey, Jay.” She took a few steps forward, coming to a stop a few inches away from him. “Jay, look at me.” Her cool fingers rested on his chin, turning his head towards her. “Jason, please.” He tore his eyes from the floor, meeting her gentle gaze.

Hey, at least she was going to let him down easy, right?

“I love you, Jason Peter Todd.” She giggled softly, probably at his awestruck expression. “I guess we were both complete idiots. We’ve been arguing for months because we were too scared to share our feelings with each other.”

Jason couldn’t quite believe it. He had to be dreaming. Even if it was true, it didn’t solve their main problem. “But, what about arresting me? What about your job? What about Dick?”

“We’ll figure it out, Jay. Together.” She seemed to hesitate for a moment. “It doesn’t change anything about my job, but… Dick misses you, you know? He’s mentioned you quite a few times in the past few weeks. I don’t mean to overstep, and I certainly don’t mean to push you if you aren’t ready, but I don’t think he’d arrest you either if you were to reach out to him.”

Jason pondered this new information for a few seconds. Could it be? Could he really be happy with the woman he loved and start mending things with his brother? “You really think so?”

She smiled lovingly. “I do.”

“It would make it easier for you if you didn’t have to hide me from him, wouldn’t it?” She deserved the world. Surely, he could reach out to his brother. It’s not like he hadn’t thought about it before. Not that he would ever admit it, of course.

“It would, but you don’t have to do it for me. I want you to reach out only if and when you are ready, Jason. I’m not pressuring you and you don’t have to decide right this second.” She placed a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth.

He nodded. “I’ll consider it. Maybe I do miss him too… in a weird, unexpected way.”

“Until you decide, I won’t tell him anything. He can keep guessing about who I’m seeing. It keeps things interesting.” Her amused smile was contagious. Jason felt a smile of his own tugging at the corner of his lips.

He leaned in tentatively. They may have finally confessed their feelings, but the argument and harsh words they’d exchanged were still fresh in his mind. She closed the distance kissing him properly this time.

Jason could’ve sworn the earth had stopped spinning on its axis. It felt like time had completely stopped. It certainly wasn’t the first time they kissed, but it felt different this time. He could feel her love and passion with every subtle movement of her soft lips against his own.

Some sort of buzzing sound resonated in the distance, but he chose to ignore it. He never wanted to stop holding her, he never wanted to stop kissing her like this.

The incessant buzz of her phone forced them to pull away. A quick glance at the display informed them of just who wanted to reach her this badly.

“As much as I’d love staying here, with you, right now, I’m already late and you are going to have a surprise reunion with Dick if I don’t get to the precinct soon.” Her voice sounded breathy; her cheeks sported an adorable pink flush.

He groaned. He didn’t want her to go.

She planted one last kiss to his lips, slipping from his grasp.

“We’ll pick up from where we left off when I get home tonight.”

“Home? Does this mean you’re moving in?” Jason knew he was grinning like an idiot.

“If you want me to?” Why did she sound unsure? He’d be the biggest idiot on Earth if he let this opportunity go by.

“Of course, I want you to move in!” He spun her around a few times, holding her waist tightly, before pulling her into another passionate kiss.

She laughed, a beautiful melodic sound if he’d ever heard one. “Alright Jaybird. I really need you to put me down because I’m pretty sure Dick is going to file a missing person report if I keep ignoring his calls.”

He put her down gently, already missing the feeling of her body against his. “Fine, but you’re gonna have to make this up to me tonight.”

“Don’t worry, babe, I will.” She winked before running out the door, her jacket thrown over her arm, boots untied.

Jason smiled contentedly. It might never be easy for him, but he’d been right. She was life’s way of making it up to him. He sure as hell wasn’t going to fuck it up again.

113 notes • Posted 2021-10-28 22:24:50 GMT

How is my bisexual heart supposed to handle this?

301 notes • Posted 2021-05-26 16:38:21 GMT

Only Bought This Dress So You Could Take It Off

Dick Grayson x best friend!reader

18+ Minors DNI

Summary: After a Wayne Gala, Dick and Y/N get really drunk and finally give in to their feelings.

Warnings/content: Alcohol, Smut, drunken sex, choking, fingering, vaginal sex, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it!), dom/sub dynamics, Dom!Dick Grayson x sub!reader, brat tamer!Dick Grayson

A/N: So, this isn't at all how I planned on this fic going, but Dick Grayson just makes me completely crazy. I am a slut for Dick Grayson and I’m not sorry.

Hope you enjoy it!

Word count: 3.8k

Bruce Wayne’s galas were always elegant affairs where the elite of Gotham flaunted just how rich they really were. Y/N liked to get dolled up for the events, but there were only so many dances and meaningless conversations with rich assholes she could endure. She’d chosen to wear a particularly revealing dress knowing that men were a lot more generous when they were distracted by the sight of her body in a skintight backless dress. She had done her job; she’d spent the last two hours suffering the hungry stares and unwelcome touches of many trust fund babies and older rich men.

But enough was enough. She wanted out of this situation.

“Come on, Dick. If we go through the kitchen, we can even grab food and a few bottles.” Sure, convincing him would take a bit of effort, but it was well worth it if she could escape this miserable party to spend time with her annoyingly good-looking best friend. It was unfair how good he looked in his tux.

“Y/N, Bruce wants us at this party. We’re supposed to be charming a few investors.” He always played the role of Bruce’s obedient son to perfection… but she knew him too well.

“Trust me, you’ve already charmed every single woman in this room… probably half of the men too.” She laughed at his incredulous expression. “Anyway, I’m quite sure my dress has done the job for the very few who haven’t been charmed by your pretty face.”

His cheeks reddened slightly, his eyes traveling up and down her body. “It’s a –” He cleared his throat. “It’s a nice dress.” He sounded a bit flustered. Was he actually flustered because of her dress? If only… It was stupid really, he would’ve made a move by now if he was interested. This dress wasn’t going to make a difference… but she’d press the advantage just in case.

She took a step closer. She raised a hand to adjust his tie. “I know you, Dick Grayson. You want to leave just as much as I do.” She made sure to let her fingers seductively trail down his chest, looking up to him with pleading eyes.

He groaned. “You are impossible.”

An amused chuckle escaped her crimson-painted lips. “Maybe, but you love me anyway.”

The shadow of some unidentified emotion crossed his face, but it was gone too quickly for her to understand what it had meant.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go then.”

She knew she always won, he couldn’t say no to her, but it felt incredibly nice to have his hand slip into her own as they ducked through the ballroom door.

-----

She kicked her stilettos off her feet swiftly before sitting next to Dick on the carpeted floor of the dimly lit den.

The few platters of hors d’oeuvres, a bottle of champagne, and a bottle of tequila they’d stolen from the kitchen were spread out on the small wooden table in front of them. They had taken the necessary precautions so the caterers didn’t see them, but it wouldn’t take long for the Batman to figure it out.

She reached for the champagne, taking a sip before passing it to Dick. It was pleasantly quiet this far from the party. She let out a contented sigh when her head came to rest on Dick’s shoulder.

They sat in comfortable silence, eating a few bites between easy conversations, and passing the bottle back and forth for a while. Dick finally got up to put the empty bottle of champagne back on the table. He used to opportunity to make himself a bit more comfortable.

She watched as he pulled off his tux jacket, throwing it on the couch behind her, and loosened his tie. He was truly a sight to behold with his hair slightly out of place and the top button of his collar undone.

He was looking directly at her.

“Why do you let them touch you like that?” His question took her by surprise. She didn’t think he’d have noticed. How did he notice? Had he been watching her?

She considered his question carefully. She knew how it must look from his point of view. She was practically whoring herself out, at Bruce’s request, to con rich men out of their money. The fact that it was for charity didn’t make it much better.

“Well, it’s kind of why Bruce invites me to these things.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “It makes it easier for me to charm them. They are more generous if they are distracted by the prospect of getting me out of my clothes. They like feeling wanted by a beautiful woman. That lets me seduce them out of more of their money. It benefits whatever charity Bruce chose.”

He was staring directly at her as if searching her face for something. He didn’t seem satisfied by her answer.

“Bruce knows?” his tone was guarded but she knew him well enough to know he wasn’t happy.

“Of course, he does.” His brows furrowed further. “I don’t like it, Dick, but it’s for a good cause. I can take care of myself. I don’t need B’s protection. Anyway, I never let them get too handsy.”

He relaxed a bit sitting back in his place next to her, wrapping an arm around her bare shoulders.

“I know how capable you are, sweetheart, but I still don’t like seeing their hands all over you.”

She sighed, leaning in closer to him. “I’m glad we left the party. It’s been a while since we spent time together, just the two of us. It’s nice.”

Getting drunk with Dick after sneaking out of one of Bruce’s elaborate parties was nothing new. So why did it feel so different this time around?

----

Dick felt a pleasant warmth spread in his chest. She’s glad it’s just the two of us? He reached for the tequila and took a swig. Maybe if he got drunk enough, he’d forget how badly he wanted to kiss her. She just didn’t think of him that way. He couldn’t risk their friendship.

He should definitely say something though. She was probably waiting for an answer. “I can’t believe I let you convince me to abandon my post at the gala. Bruce is going to be so mad.”

She laughed softly, gesturing to the now-empty platters in front of them. “Don’t forget, Boy Wonder, I also turned you into a thief.”

Dick laughed. It was true not only had he deserted his post for her, but he’d also stolen from the kitchen. Bruce would be furious when he found out. Dick simply couldn’t bring himself to care, though. “You are a terrible influence, Angel.”

She pushed herself away from him. Shit, I fucked up, he thought nervously. She slowly turned her body towards him, leaning a bit closer now that she could see his face. She raised a graceful eyebrow. “If I truly am so terrible Mr. Grayson, why do you always go along with my plans?”

Dick’s first thought was that her tone had been flirtatious, but it couldn’t be right? She was just teasing him. They were friends, that’s what they did. He watched her take a sip of tequila, carefully crafting an answer.

Because I’m in love with you. Have been for years. I want to kiss you. I want to make you mine. I want to wake up next to you for the rest of my life.

His mind was reeling with all these answers. He couldn’t say it though. He couldn’t lose her. “That’s a good question. Isn’t it what friends do? Go along with each other’s crazy plans?”

He could’ve sworn he saw something resembling disappointment flash in her eyes. Was it because he had called her a friend? No, that was wishful thinking. It was ridiculous. They were friends. No matter how much he wished they could be more.

The smile she wore would’ve fooled anyone else, but Dick knew her too well. “Yeah, I guess they do.” She’d opted for an easy way out.

He closed his hand around hers to bring the tequila back to his lips. He watched her carefully. He was playing with fire, and he was bound to get burned. Her eyes had followed his movements, but they lingered on his lips long after he’d lowered the bottle.

She finally brought her eyes back to his. Her cheeks flushed when she realized he’d caught her staring. It was funny how adorable that made her. She looked absolutely gorgeous, her face nicely flushed, wearing bright red lipstick and this goddamned dress.

Dick could understand why the men at the ball had been so enthralled by her. He had wanted her for a long time. What she wore didn’t matter, whether it be her black vigilante suit, her training clothes or her pjs, she was beautiful. However, it had been incredibly difficult to control himself when he’d seen her in that dress. It was so tight that it practically looked like a second skin. It hugged all her curves perfectly. The neckline was ridiculously low, revealing quite a bit of cleavage. It was driving him completely crazy.

She still hadn’t moved. She was still facing him, her face quite close to his own. His hand was still gripping hers. He let his eyes wander down her body and back up to her plump lips.

Fuck. It was getting ridiculously hard not to kiss her. Not that it was the only thing getting hard, actually.

He couldn’t fight the urge any longer. He leaned in, cradling her cheek in his hand, and delicately pressed his lips to hers. Finally kissing her beautiful soft lips felt even better than he could’ve ever imagined.

The realization came crashing down. Oh shit, he was kissing his best friend… His very drunk best friend. He pulled back and dropped his hand like her skin was suddenly burning him.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, Y/N. I shouldn’t have – ” He never got to finish his apology. She had pulled him back into a passionate kiss.

----

His lips still tasted of champagne and tequila. It really was intoxicating. She broke the kiss to catch her breath, resting her forehead against his. “Took you long enough, Boy Wonder.”

He let out the most adorable chuckle. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

They both had been incredibly stupid. How much time had they wasted pretending they were just friends? She leaned back to look at his infuriatingly gorgeous face. She let a flirtatious smile play on her lips. The loving expression on his face made her want him even more. “Anything else you’ve been wanting to do, Dick?”

A mischievous smirk appeared on his face. His hands landed on her hips, roughly pulling her on his lap. “It’d be much easier to show you, love.”

His lips were back on hers in an instant. He was an incredible kisser, but it was difficult to focus on his lips when his hands seemed to be everywhere, leaving a burning sensation in their wake every time they encountered her bare skin.

A gasp escaped her lips when he grabbed her ass firmly, pushing her up on his lap. She felt his hips buck forward in search of friction as her core brushed lightly against his hard length. She moaned into the kiss.

His lips left hers suddenly drawing a plaintive whimper from her.

“Don’t worry, Angel. I’m not going anywhere.” His voice was hoarse, full of desire.

She shivered when she felt his lips brush against her jaw lightly. He started pressing open-mouthed kisses down her throat. He was going to drive her completely mad. She needed more than he was giving her.

“Dick…” she breathed out. She couldn’t form a coherent sentence, but he seemed to get the message. His soft kisses turned rough. He nipped and sucked at her skin undoubtedly leaving dark purple marks she’d have a hard time covering in the morning. She couldn’t care less. She was incredibly turned on at the thought of being marked by him – of being his to mark.

One of his hands was fumbling with the clasp of her dress situated at the nape of her neck while the other one roughly cupped her breast through the silky fabric.

She rolled her hips against him, earning a deep groan from her best friend – or former best friend? best friend turned lover? Boyfriend? That’s something future them would have to figure out. All she cared about right now was getting him naked.

“No teasing.” He growled when she rolled her hips again. She couldn’t help the loud moan that escaped her lips as he wrapped his hand tightly around her throat.

He arched a questioning eyebrow at her, an amused smirk stretching his lips. “So, miss ‘strong independent woman’ likes being choked, hmm?”

She felt her cheeks heat up, but all she could do was whimper softly in response. His fingers flexed, digging deeper into her skin. He pulled her closer to him capturing her lips roughly again before releasing her throat. Both hands dropped to the zipper of her dress, pulling it down quickly.

“Take this godforsaken thing off, my love.” His warm breath caressed her skin with each pant he breathed out.

“I thought you liked my dress.” She said, getting up. She resented the loss of contact between them.

The playful smile he’d adorn grew more wicked. “I do, I just think it’ll look much better once it’s on the floor.”

She rolled her eyes but watched him intently as he pulled off his tie and started to unbutton his dress shirt.

“Come on, darling. I want to see you. All of you.” She felt her cheeks flush once again, but she complied. She let her dress fall at her feet, carefully stepping out of it once it reached the floor.

Dick had taken the opportunity to stand up as well, shrugging his shirt off. His defined abs and pecs made him look like he’d been sculpted by the Gods themselves.

She watched him carefully as he approached her. Her heart hammered frantically in her chest. Are we really doing this?

His hands found their way to her waist, pulling her harshly against him. “You look perfect, angel.” He breathed out against her neck.

A shiver traveled down her spine. His lips were attached to her shoulder while his hands explored her body. She didn’t think she’d be able to stand much longer, her legs were shaking under her weight.

Her hands reached for him, one holding tightly to his muscular shoulder, trying to hold herself up, while the other worked to rid him of his pants. Why do they have to be so fucking tight? I mean… great for his ass but Jesus Christ! I want them off. Now.

There was no getting around the issue. She couldn’t get them off while trying to hold herself up. So, she figured it’d be easier to just get him to take them off himself. She let her fingers brush against the strained fabric still covering his cock. A small grunt escaped the back of his throat.

“I thought I said no teasing?” He growled at her.

Alright, this might just work. “Oops, sorry, Sir.” She kept her voice innocent, but her eyes made it clear she was well aware of what she was doing to him. She brushed her fingers against him a bit more firmly. She felt his hips buck into her hand, searching for more friction.

Her legs finally gave out when he harshly bit down at the junction of her neck and shoulder. A pained gasp escaped her as her back hit the cushions. He’d used the distraction to his advantage and had thrown her on the couch.

“Didn’t know you were such a brat, Y/N. I guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson.” His voice was low, almost threatening.

Oh, she realized she might have misjudged the situation. She hadn’t thought he’d be quite so dominant. Well, she guessed it made sense. He didn’t really have control for part of his life. It was only logical he’d seek control in one area.

Fuck. She had never been more turned on in her life. She whimpered when his fingers trailed down her legs, dragging her lacy underwear at the same time.

He knelt back between her legs and examined her; a wicked grin plastered on his face. “Already so wet for me, baby.”

He pressed soft kisses on the inside of her thighs, his fingers rubbing small circles on her bare hips. He started nipping and sucking at her skin soothing the sting with his tongue.

“Dick” she pleaded. He was getting so close, but every time she thought he would finally reach her soaked core he’d kiss down her thigh and up the other one.

She felt him smirk against her skin. He looked up at her from between her thighs. It was probably the hottest thing she’d ever seen. “Didn’t I tell you I was going to teach you a lesson?”

“I’ll be good. I won’t tease you again. Please, Dick.”

He leaned back in, kissing her thigh again. “Di – Oh!” She felt his tongue slowly travel from her entrance to her clit. He circled her swollen nub with his tongue a few times, before leaning in closer and sucking on it. She felt her pleasure grow hot and tight in her lower abdomen.

She tried to keep her moans to a minimum. She knew there could be party-goers anywhere on the first floor, but it grew more difficult when Dick slipped two nimble fingers between her slick folds. He started pumping his fingers in and out of her at a steady pace he matched with his tongue.

Her fingers gripped his locks tightly, her brain too lost in pleasure to think of anything other than him. “Oh, oh my god, Dick!” She panted; her lungs were screaming for air. He kept going, sucking her clit harshly again. “Fuck I’m – I – Dick!”

He shushed her. “It’s okay, baby. Cum for me.” She came undone the moment his tongue made contact with her swollen clit, his fingers never stopping their curling motion as she climaxed.

She must have blacked out for a second because when she opened her eyes Dick was hovering over her, holding himself up a few centimeters from her face. He was caressing her cheek lovingly, letting his other hand rub her hip in soothing patterns.

“Welcome back, love.” He kissed her softly. The fact that she could taste herself on his lips made her desire spark again. She moaned into the kiss.

Dick pulled back, a low chuckle escaping the back of his throat. “Who knew you were so desperate to get fucked?”

He was infuriating. He wanted to mess with her? Fine, but she’d give him a taste of his own medicine. “I’ve been waiting for you to fuck me for years, Grayson. It took you long enough to understand that I almost gave up and went to Jason.”

He growled. His fingers wrapping tightly around her throat once again. “He’s not allowed to touch you. Ever. Do I make myself clear, Y/N?”

She knew mentioning his brother was risky, but what was the saying again? High risk, high reward? She felt the coil in her abdomen tighten as his grip tightened, reminding her he wanted an answer. “Y – Yes, Dick” She croaked.

He kissed her roughly, teasing her slick folds with the head of his cock. “You are mine.”

He finally slipped in, in one swift motion. She would’ve screamed loud enough for guests to hear if his strong hand hadn’t been restricting her airway.

They stayed like that for a moment. Dick’s grip on her throat had loosened slightly, but his hand still rested on her throat, reminding her he was in control. He kissed her lips softly as if he was apologizing for being so rough. She whined softly. She wanted him to move.

He pulled back slowly, his hips snapping quickly as he entered her again roughly. He set a brutal pace, drawing strangled moans from her.

“Fuck, Y/N, you’re so tight. You feel so good.” He breathed against her skin.

She knew she wouldn’t last very long. She felt the coil tighten again, almost ready to snap. Dick’s rough thrusts never faltered bringing her closer and closer to the edge.

She let out a particularly loud moan when Dick’s free hand snaked between their bodies to rub harsh circles against her swollen clit.

She tried screaming his name as she was pushed over the edge, but he swallowed the strangled sound into a passionate kiss. He kept his hand tightly wound around her throat to keep control over the volume of her release. Her entire body shook as he kept pummeling her into the couch cushions.

“Dick, please” she sobbed as he released his hold on her throat.

“Shh, it’s okay, baby. I know you have one more in you. Cum for me again, angel.” His voice was sweet, though his merciless pace didn’t falter.

Dick breathed out her name and let low deep grunts escape his throat repeatedly. She felt her third orgasm approach quickly, her overstimulated body in need of finding release once more.

Dick’s thrusts became erratic, frantic even. His finger found her clit again. She felt him twitch inside of her as thick ropes of cum painted her walls. The feeling of being filled with his warm seed brought her over the edge one more time.

He collapsed on top of her, both hands now resting on her waist. They both breathed heavily, chests pushing against each other with each intake of air. She felt completely fucked out. His heart was beating as frantically as her own.

She hissed when Dick finally pulled out. She could feel his cum seep out of her, undoubtedly onto the couch.

“Are you okay, love?” She appreciated the concern in his voice. God, she loved him so much.

She knew he’d left bruises all over her body, her lips were swollen, and she was starting to feel just how sore she’d be in the morning.

She smiled at him. “I’m more than okay, Dick. As much as I’d love to stay here with you… we should probably get dressed.” The puzzled look on his face drew a giggle from her. She added: “You know, before Bruce finds us?”

That snapped him out of his daze. “Oh, yeah, yes. Definitely. Maybe we should, uhm, go upstairs, uhm, to my room?”

He was so adorable she could barely believe he was the same man who’d just fucked her senseless. She winked at the man she loved. “Alright, lover boy, lead the way…”

364 notes • Posted 2021-10-13 21:51:39 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

2 notes · View notes

v3joker · 5 years

Photo

pride month!~

so my icon for the month is Phantom Ion+ with a pansexual flag since i’m pan~

for my personal use only

#game of dice #pride month #pride month 2019 #joker.png #joker's edits #since pride month is tomorrow #changing my icon now~ :3 #his cape blocks most of the yellow :')#but i love phantom ion+'s outfit too much #and i didn't wanna cut off too much of his outfit

0 notes

fordarkisthesuede · 3 years

Text

The Tolls of Justice: the Tarot, Name Meanings, and More!

Gentlepeople…

BEHOLD!

All the tarot-aligned hints! All the future foretellings! All the silly references! :) Everything you might have overlooked is here for you easy-to-read pleasure!

Naturally, there be spoilers a-plenty ahead for Batman the TellTale Series: The Tolls of Justice, so if you haven't read it (or maybe you're thinking about reading it, or this is your first time hearing about it), I'd advise waiting until you're done with each chapter to read through the sections. You can either click the link and be redirected to Ao3, or look through my tumblr tag #ttoj!

*One forwarding note: the tarot references build slowly in this story, and I only use the traditional Major & Minor Arcana. You'll see a lot of jokes and name-type references before we get to the tarot. I also simplified the numerics, but they're often displayed as roman numerals on cards, hint hint.

Prologue

gang member "Four Ears" - a very very off-the-collar reference to the line "Listen up, four-ears!" from J-Men Forever; in context, it was an off-shoot of the insult "four-eyes" but for music taste, also implying the person's taste was "square".

gang member "Muddy Nye" - his name can be boiled down to "muddy river". It works as an allusion to the messy, unclear case ahead of Bruce and the Batfam, but also as a hint to Clayface, who acted as Muddy in his first sighting of the story.

"Sunset" - a reference to everyone's favorite vampire series to pick on, the Twilight series; back when it was at the height of it's popularity, some drug dealers sold heroin marketed towards the crowd based off it's terrible and unfortunately iconic(?) line from Edward Cullen, "You're my own personal brand of heroin"…hence why the drug of choice BM is shipping here is heroin. Essentially, this plot setup is one big joke.

"FIGS" - a reference to POP! vinyls, hence the capitalized name and spiky word balloon on the packages.

"Gray Ghost [memorabilia]" - one of my (and everyone else's) favorite BtAS episodes, which proves definitively that Bruce Wayne | Batman is not only a Huge Nerd™, but also a massive collector of normal fandom things. (Do you think he troughs through blogs and fanwikis…? What am I saying, of course he does. He edits them.)

gang members "Jack Whendleham and Kirby Noltz" - nod to Jack Kirby, comic artist extraordinaire!

Ch.1: A Different Ceiling

[chapter title] - John does not wake up in Arkham at the start of the story, hence waking up to a different ceiling. He also hits different limitations on what he can do, so it's also a different kind of "ceiling". (Like the term "the glass ceiling", the invisible barrier a demographic hits in a hierarchy.)

St. Dymphna New Life Home - named after Saint Dymphna, the patron saint of mental illness. There's no "'s" at the end because I saw other clinics named after Saints didn't use the possessive form when referencing them.

The Lucky Hotel - an oxymoron, really; the unluckiest place to get stuck at with it's seedy history, but also the place where John "gets lucky"…in a couple of different ways!

Stitched Up Alterations - a heavy nod to the wonderful batjokesy line from S2, "We're two threads in the same stitch". It's pretty deeply ingrained in fanon (and technically canon, if you go with The Dark Knight) that Joker makes his own clothes, hence Batman rarely finding him through his tailor. Since John's thrifty and clearly made his original Joker outfit(s), I piggybacked off it as a legit skill to give him. I mean, come on, the guy is always so stylish! And you're really going to look at me and say he didn't alter his thrifted shirts and vests to fit his sleek frame? Puh-leeease.

13th Street - 13 is a traditionally unlucky number in western culture; hence the "Lucky Hotel" there having a bloody history, along with a failed, closed casino nearby.

Corazón gang - okay, I admit…I'm still a weeb at heart. It's a One Piece reference. Corazon was one of the few post-timeskip new characters I really liked; his name is Spanish for "heart", and he sported a heart motif. Like the gang in this story, he also died before the start of the main storyline.

Ch. 2: Face Values

[chapter title] - A reference to the phrase "not taking things at face value", which is very evident in this story. Also doubles as a rather loose reference to the upcoming Tarot cards.

Sebastian Overfield - The name Sebastian means "from Sebaste", as is derived from the Greek word sebastos ("venerable", someone who has a lot of respect). Overfield of course is "over" and "field", implying the family is on a high hill overlooking/overseeing/maintaining a certain field. As Seb is a reverend, this name is well-fit for him.

orange rose [gift from John] - means "passion" in the language of flowers, and can allude to fascination; this can be taken platonically or romantically…but it's definitely romantic when it's coming from John.

blue iris [gift from John] - means "faith and hope" in the language of flowers, and sometimes are associated with royalty; an allusion to Batman/Bruce's overall symbolism in the eyes of Gotham…and John.

Chandis [ship, circa Prologue] - A reference to Chandi | Chandika, the Hindu deity; the short version of their story is that they are a demon slayer, known to be angry and passionate, wield multiple weapons, and ride a lion. And who was on the ship? Hmm…

Ch. 3: Ink Trails

[chapter title] - A reference to the Alterations' claim slip John finds, which ends up leading back to the Court of Owls. It doubles as a reference to the mask tattoo/clue on Ian 'Nito'.

Faith Ackart - "Ackart" is a variant of "ackhart", derived from "ekkehard", which we can say roughly means "brave/hardy". The name "faith" and "hardy" together is another very subtle clue for the audience towards the villains' motives. (Well, I say that, but it was really more of a joke-clue for me to giggle at. And it makes a good reporter name!)

Lou Monger - the guy's a fish monger…with the last name Monger. It's-a joke! ;D

Ian 'Nito' Coggs - first mentioned without his real last name, but "Ian Coggs, Nito", is a pun on the word "incognito"…which is what Clayface is here.

FriendBook/Chirp/bloggr/uBox - takes on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube respectively. (This started back in my 'Season 3' story, At the Brink of Midnight, though I've since learned that bloggr was a real thing. :T) The 'uBox' is meant to be a play on 'jumping box'/'the box' as other terms for TV, like 'the tube'.

"whole tomato of pins" - the supposed history of tomato-shaped pincushions is that tomatoes placed on mantels repelled evil spirits and guaranteed prosperity, but I really wanted to just allude to the common pin-cushion shape. (My mom once had a whole little basket of strawberry shaped pin-cushions. I remember "borrowing" them a lot as a kid to play with. And then "losing" them.)

"sock and buskin masks" - these are a reference to the "comedic sock" and "tragic buskin (i.e. boot)" of the Greek comedy-tragedy theatre masks. I figured something like them would be a good logo for the "false faces", as BM is obsessed with masks. It also doubles as a natural callback to the "your relationship with x has changed" feature of TT games.

Ch. 4: Suite of Cups

[chapter title] - the first chapter to be a reference to the Tarot, in specific the Minor Arcana of Cups; rather than specifying the card at play outright, this title is a pun on the aforementioned arcana "suite", as the main location of events this chapter are in a casino's hotel suite. One can interpret many Cups cards at play here, but...

○ Specifically, in the Casino's suite/crime scene, there are 8 visible seats, but 7 cups on the table. The 7 of Cups refers to choices, fantasy, and illusion, an indicates there are multiple opportunities or many paths you can take, but they should be chosen carefully; when reversed, it can mean confusion, diversion, and temptation, and indicate a lack of choice or failure to choose.

○ The upright version is definitely in play, with the overall root of TellTale games being choices, and some "the player" makes this chapter will move your relationships with Tiffany and John in different ways, which can strengthen your relationships with them. If "the player" has chosen to be a more violent Batman, the way the Talon - and later, the Court - treats Batman is different.

○ The Reversed reading can be interpreted for the Court's complete disregard for the mere notion of choice.

Bauta - a Venetian carnival mask, meant to represent 'anonymous decisions' via it's original design of protecting identities. It's quite common in carnivals.

Melpomene-Thalia - the Venetian masks for comedy and tragedy, a la 'sock and buskin', the masks used as a general symbol for theatre. You can practically taste the irony, given who's shown wearing it...

Volto - a Venetian mask, meant to represent 'anonymity, quiet exit' for it's blank face. It's also known as the "Citizen Mask" because of it's worn by the common folk (in comparison to the more elaborate masks).

The Lot [casino] - named for "drawing lots", like drawing straws or matches to pick a person to do a task (usually with the shortest straw having to do the task, but it varies). This is both a pun on the fact that it's a casino - where you try your luck at gambling - and corresponds with the theme of foretelling the future that's woven throughout much of the story.

The Wednesday Nighters gang - this doesn't mean anything in particular. I'm a big fan of Midsomer Murders, and there's an episode ("Death in a Chocolate Box") where it references a few dirty cops who frequently took the Friday night shift at a station for episode-plot-reasons, who called themselves The Friday Nighters. It's an off-shoot reference to it, hence the corrupt cops on the gang in this story. :)

[John's voicemail] - Another BtAS episode I love is "the terrible secret of Bruce Wayne". In particular, I loved Joker's voicemail when Dr. Strange calls in ("Boy, do YOU have the wrong number!") and I wanted to do something like that. But, y'know, way less murdery.

"F85H4ND" - l33t-written "Fate's Hand", for…well, the hand of fate, supposedly guiding you through life/events. Another correspondent to the foretelling the future theme.

Michael Hodgson - not all of the names I pick for characters mean anything. Sometimes their names are just loose references to things I like. This is a silly mish-mashup of the original hosts of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Michael [Nelson] and [Joel] Hodgeson. (Joel was the first host + show creator, and Mike was the second host who closed out the original series run.)

"40F5WRD5" [Batcomputer archive] - l33t for the 4 of Swords, a card in the Minor Arcana for rest and restoration; since the archives and file names are randomly generated when not prompted otherwise with manual input, an otherworldly force seems to be saying 'get some damn sleep Bruce'.

[John's ringtone] - I know, TT always has everyone's phone on silent. I don't care. Bruce's ringtone for John is "Mack the Knife", a song about a violent mobster, played on a carnival organ. Chosen because 1) John probably loves that song, 2) I thought it was funny that it has the line "the shark bites - with his teeth, dear - when he shows them pearly whites" and how well that goes with John's A+ dental care... 3) TeamFourStar made jokes in their BtTTS S2 playthrough about having "a special ringtone whenever John calls [them]"…why would I not carry that through? They did get me to where we are now, you know. ;)

Ryde - the in-game stand-in for Lyft, the not-a-taxi service.

Ch. 5: The Wheel Still Spins on the Upturned Chariot

[chapter title] - a reference to 2 tarot cards in the Major Arcana. 1) "The Wheel"/"The Wheel of Fortune", which is a sign for continuous cycles, inevitable fate, and usually indicates good fortune and pre-destiny when the card is presented upright. When reversed, it can signify bad luck and an unfavorable fate. 2) "The Chariot", symbolizing a path forward to success, confidence, and overcoming obstacles; when reversed, it's stands for recklessness and lack of direction/control. 3) As the Chariot is upside down, John's original plans have been upended and everything goes out of his control in a chaotic situation. He’s essentially "not at the driver’s seat" for a little while. "The player" decides which direction to take the wheel in - either letting him lash out violently and send him on more solitary and dangerous path, or satisfy his need for stability by embracing his new relationships. The Chariot is always upturned here, but whether the wheel spins forward or backward is up to "the player's" decisions.

511 N. Blade Street - this one's a bit messy. 511 = V I I, or VII in roman numerals, which =7. The tarot cards are traditionally numbered in roman numerals. North, for pointing upright, and "blade" is synonymous with "sword". So it’s the "7 of Swords", in the upright position – referring to deception and trickery, which is of course what's going on in regards to who Ian 'Nito' Coggs really is…

Apt 1005 - even muddier, but this is referring to the 10 of Swords, which is for betrayal and backstabbing, hinting at the true motives of "Ian" | Clayface. 10-0-5, so 10 and the l33t for "OS" = 10-o-S.

900 Wanda Way - Both a pun on the phrase “wander away” and the 9 of Wands in the Minor Arcana, which alludes to pushing forward to achieve victory. A good allusion for a clinic, me-thought.

400 Wanda Way - The 4 of Wands in the Minor Arcana stands for community, another good allusion for a clinic.

Karen McCarthy - named after the most stereotypically uptight narcissistic asshole the masses have agreed to call 'Karen', and both McCarthyism and another famous lady with the surname McCarthy. Because I wanted you to know the second you see her name that she is *horrible*. (Funny, though, there's 2 senators named McCarthy that are pieces of shit and one infamous quasi-celeb who's the face of the anti-vax scene. Is it just a cursed family name?)

Ch. 6: The Tips of Our Swords

[chapter title] - Refers to the 4 of Swords card in the Minor Arcana, as the "swords" are alluding to the four active members in the Batfam - Bruce, John, Tiffany, and Iman - who work together on the case[s]; you can infer this title to a presentation not unlike the Musketeers joining swords to affirm themselves as a team, as they all gather together. The reversed reading of the card is for restlessness/stress in Bruce's case, and the clear signal of the universe to tell him to relax, and the reading when presented right-side up is for the break it gives to "the player", with the homey atmosphere of the Batfam spending time together. Either reading is completely valid here.

○ BUT, as Alfred is a non-active member of the Batfam, we could also say that 5 of Swords is also at play, right-side-up for the fighting and resentment with Alfred, and John's hinted budding conflict with him; and 5 reversed for Bruce's attempts at making up with Tiffany. If one illustrated the gathering of our four heroes joining swords like the musketeers over a breakfast table, then Alfred would be sitting drinking tea, standing as a symbol of the Ace of Cups, signifying new emotions or stirrings of feelings.

○ If we stretch the metaphor eeeven further, the title can also be a loose reference to the Sword of Damocles; threats always hang above the heads of powerful people, and in this case the looming threat of Black Mask and the mysterious assassin, ever-present in Batman's world…

Dr. Brandi September - literally "Sword" and "Seventh Month", alluding to the 7 of Swords, hinting to deception and manipulation at play.

"I was tired of the soup du jour" - a shameless Devo reference; a tiring of the routine/everyday. "I'm tired of the soup du jour - I want to end this prophylactic tour - ain't nobody around me - understands my potato - I'm only a spud boy - lookin' for a real tomato" - DEVO, "Mr DNA/Smart Patrol".

Motel 11, Augury Road - "augury" is another word for crows; as a gathering of crows can be a method of fortune-telling, this a reference to a gathering of 11 crows, which when seen is supposed to be indicative of disguising or revealing secrets.

Ch. 7: Drawing the Strings

[chapter title] - meant to allude to John aligning the strings connecting the people and crimes together, like an old-fashioned way of mapping clues; can be interpreted as these crime-strings on the proverbial board being drawn closer together, marking the center of the "web" as the Court of Owls

Frieda Baast - Frieda, an allusion to the Norse goddess Freya, who rode on a chariot driven by cats, and Baast, the Egyptian goddess who had the form of a cat. It makes it really obvious who was staying at the Motel 11, huh?

room 14 [Selina Kyle's motel room] - a reference to the 14th tarot card, "Temperance", which when upright is meant for choosing the middle path between choices. This is meant to reference Selina herself, currently at a secret, personal crossroads and being in "the middle"; John can influence her hidden choice by either making her think about what her potential job's employers are really aligning themselves with, or taunting her into how she can't leave her old life behind. (Whether John is violent or not doesn't completely impact her choice, but it does impact how they interact later if Selina winds up in the hands of our villains.)

Oracle, Spoiler, Batgirl, Spectrum - Batman's had a lot of non-Robin sidekicks in comics, including Batgirl (originally Barbara Gordon), Oracle (Barbara Gordon, post-Batgirl-forced-retirement and computer hacker extraordinaire), and Spoiler (Stephanie Brown, who "spoiled" crimes). As a fan of Ao3/tumblr's @fractualized 's own Telltale Bat-verse fics (the "Release John Doe" series), I added in the reference to "Spectrum", which Tiffany became in lieu of "Robin". A wink from one fan-writer to another! ;)

"I'm steppin' out, my dear - to breathe an atmosphere […] - that simply reeks […] with class" - John's singing a classic Fred Astaire hit, "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails".

Eric, Jerome, Jeremiah, Jack [John's "Normal name" ideas] - As this story allows "the player" to pick a name for John to use in place of his own, you can pick between some classic and modern references to Joker's alternate personas over the years. Eric White Border (edit: goddang it that's what i get for looking at White Knight while writing this up and never double-checking), Joker's regular persona in the New 52 Batman comic line; Jerome or Jeremiah of the Gotham TV series, both of which are different aspects of Joker's personality through media, with a more modern gritty version in Jerome (think Heath Ledger's Joker) and a more modern take on Joker's sociopathy in Jeremiah; and last but not least Jack Napier, the first official name of Joker circa Tim Burton's Batman (1989), and the one most popularly used (BtAS and other comics throughout the years since use this name). "The player"'s choice doesn't impact the story or the way John acts, but it does give a surprise feature later. ;)

Matt Chaney - Aka, "Clayface", Matt has both new and old elements in his name alone. Matt, for Matt Hagen, the most well-known/used of the Clayface personas, and Chaney, for classic film actor Lon Chaney, AKA the man of a thousand faces. This Clayface is an aspiring actor who is psychologically dependent on Moddy to keep him handsome after a terrible car accident left his face marred. He uses his excellent makeup skills and acting to infiltrate the False Face Society, and double-plays them and the Court of Owls.

Root / MuSec - stand-ins for Vine and TikTok, respectively. "MuSec" is both a play on the word "musac" (the word for 'elevator music' and generic produced music you hear in fake stores and the like) and the mish-mash of the words "music" and "second", referencing the short length of the videos. "Root" was used in a prior story (At the Brink of Midnight), and acts as another "natural network" type name akin to Vine; though I do recognize "Vine" might have come along as part of the phrase "I heard it through the grape-vine". I have a feeling some Aussie fans might find the fake-Vine name funny...or just awkward.

Ch. 8: It Had to Be You

[chapter title] - A reference to the classic crooner song, "It Had to Be You"; specifically, the one that flows through the first scene is a cover done by Frank Sinatra, meant to align with other Bat-media's use of Sinatra where Joker and Batman are concerned. The Arkham games got his famous "Under My Skin", and another crooner's "Only You". Batjokes fans/content creators have also used "Strangers in the Night" for their relationship. I wanted to present one that would feel at-home in the TellTale universe regardless of what route you end up with, and what's more perfect than a song about finally discovering the love of your life? The song fits them to a tee, in my humble opinion…

Estella Art Gallery - Selina's art gallery, mentioned previously to have been the site of a Talon attack. "Estella" translates to "star", for the tarot card "The Star". When presented upright, it means hope and rebirth; this card can be presented after a disaster, such as an event like "The Tower". Normally, it can be interpreted as a card to show a phase where you have trust and faith in yourself and the universe. Selina was turning over a new leaf and enjoying her new life until the Owls found out who she was.

Mrs. Bollard - "bald-headed person"…this poor woman got her wig snatched as John stole Bruce from her on the dance floor. xD

"I knew today's horoscope was bullshit" - a nod to earlier, where Roman mentioned his horoscope when visiting Bruce; "a friend will help you out of a tight bind." Not that it was mentioned like that... still! I wonder what today's was? "You will be fortunate in your business endeavors"? Ha ha ha! But really, the horoscope is another nod to the theme of foretelling the future, as it's a popular method to try and see how your day, month, season, or year will be. Not that I know what sign Roman is… *thinking face*

[Achievement Unlocked: Batman Who Laughs] - John showing up in the Batman cowl was not only funny, but a direct nod to the Batman Who Laughs. The TT games had Batman comic titles often used as Achievements, so I figured I'd put in some…

[Achievement Unlocked: Batwoman Rises] - Iman helping the team out in the spare Batman suit is naturally a nod to Batwoman, and something I wanted to do for a while. ;D

Brighella - a Venetian mask taken from a play now used to depict a cunning and mischievous servant. Originally the mask was used to depict a greedy villain character.

The Two Gilded Cups - A restaurant in-story that references "The Two of Cups" tarot card, a card representing unity, partnership, and two becoming one. When upright, it's a card that can reference lovers or a new relationship; when reversed, it can represent broken communication, imbalance, or tension. As such, the couple who were seen at the restaurant - Sonja Townsend and her husband - are established lovers who work together for the Court of Owls, but those who were really there are Jackie Lant and Matt Chaney, who are in an imbalanced relationship. "Gilded" implies that "The Cups" are covered unnecessarily with gold - this is both in reference to Jackie and Matt's disguise of the Townsends and the truth about their relationship. Matt's lies are covering for his narcissism and selfishness, and ultimately is the only thing holding him and Jackie's relationship together.

Moddy - A fictional body modification clay-mud-putty that's a product of Janus Industries, this makeup is the favorite of Matt Chaney and the reason we can call him "Clayface". Like the traditional Clayface, Matt is in dire need to have his fix of the makeup, despite what it does to him - as John notes, it leaves a weird burn-like sensation, and since Matt has deep scar tissue he covers every minute of every day, it's made the skin damage worse.

"You’re really committed to drowning in that river" - A riff on the old joke "denial ("de Nile") isn't just a river in Egypt".

"Your words are honey in my ears, but my brain always turns it into bitter wax" - In Futurama, Fry has a silly line of “Sweet words! Sweet words that turn into bitter wax in my ears!”. It always had the potential to be a great metaphor if the words were twisted around! :) Plus, I mean, come on, this is a totally On Brand™ thing for John to say!

Ch. 9: Strength in Numbers

[chapter title] - Referencing the Strength card, for bravery, compassion, and inner strength; the title also doubles as a play on “different kinds of strengths”. Strength is the will the expose your truths. Strength is finding compassion to help others. Strength is staying true to your convictions in the face of opposition. We see all different kinds of strength on display here.

○ It can also a reference to the different partnerships going on, with Jackie joining the team (unofficially), Bruce and Tiffany going off to tackle the other half of our case, and John and Iman’s team-up. :)

"[John] could barely hear it over the tinny electronic whistling tune emitting from his own phone, telling him the person on the other end was a mystery" - this is referencing an old tumblr joke! Yes, John has the “It is a mystery” tone on his phone for unknown calls…complete with the little (:o) ghost icon.

CUP5K1NG [license plate] - Referring to the King of Cups card, a card portraying emotional balance and compassion. As it's not written as "K1NGCUP5", it implies it's a reversed card, signifying there's manipulation and instability at work. Even though Matt doesn't own the car this license plate belongs to, it's definitely tied to him since it's his getaway ride, and thus hints at what's to be revealed in his and Jackie's hotel room.

Aylin Street - the name "Alyin" translates into “moon halo; one that belongs to the moon”, thereby being a reference to the Moon card, representing mysteries and illusions. An investigation is afoot!

“Looks like I’ve got the red light, kiddo.” - In stage acts, the red light is to indicate to the performer their time on stage is up. Generally, it’s reserved for comedians who either overrun their time or are losing the audience. John's joking that he's been given the red light to exit stage left (but not persued by bear).

"What’s the ‘G’ for?” - Iman's 'Gotham Construction' jumpsuit has a G different from John's - it's shaped more like a gear. This is another Mystery Science Theater reference, in particular the logo for Gizmonic Institute, the company/labs that "employed" original host Joel and the mad scientist Dr. Forrester (and his assistant, TV's Frank), who started the experiments of forcing a guy and his robot friends to watch reeeally bad movies. The result was 12 (soon to be 13!) seasons of some guys making hilarious and very memorable jokes at said bad movies' expense. Does this reference mean that Bruce is just as huge a dork as I am, or does it mean that MST3K is real in this universe?! You make the call! ;D

○ …if you read 'What's the 'G' for?' in Invader Zim's voice, that's also valid. Especially if you followed it with “I dON’t know!” in GIR's. (There is no cringing here! We openly embrace our childhood silliness!)

MasterOfClayFace / #IdW3arThat [Matt Chaney's social media login] - naturally Matt is so far up on his high horse that he considers himself a master of clay work…and of course his nickname is ClayFace! His password is a joke in and out of canon, being a riff on Lemon Demon song: “A mask of my own face – I’d wear that” ~ Lemon Demon, “Mask of My Own Face” [Nature Tapes].

3055 [Jackie Lant's InstaPic followers] - According to research, the average Instagram following is about 1000, so Jackie is above average popularity. Anything above 10k is usually(?) celeb status. The number 3055 is meant to be broken up and turned partially into l33t, to make 3-O-S-S, or 3 of Sword[s]. The 3 of Swords card in the tarot signifies heartbreak and grief, stemming from betrayal, loneliness, and rejection. Jackie experienced all three of these heart-piercing swords during her return to Gotham, with Matt basically forcing her into isolation, betraying her trust, and rejecting her input and values in favor of his own; but she didn't really know it until the truth was exposed.

8055 [Matt Chaney's InstaPic followers] - similarly, Matt's follower count is meant to be 8-O-S-S, or the 8 of Swords card. It signifies self-victimization and imprisonment. In particular, the card shows a person restrained and trapped, but their helplessness is a show…they could choose to get out, if they got over themselves. Matt is incredibly selfish, so it comes as no surprise that he will play the victim card.

#OnlyInGotham - Another tumblr reference! I love the @hashtagonlyingotham blog! ( ^3^)

The Herold Rite's Theatre - A play on the word "Hierophant": Herold, like “herald (ruler/champion)” and Rites, like “sacred rites”. In the tarot, the Hierophant card represents following tradition and values, which for the Owls is their very core. This is basically a big ol' hint that Iman and John are heading into Owl territory, but also foreshadows the religious undercut of The Court and Reverend Sebastian Overfield's role.

"a familiar red-pyramid-and-floating-eyeball" [graffiti] - A reference to my icon! ;D You think I can't self-promo?

trading cards [found in theatre storage] - In the Theatre, John finds "old promotional trading cards for an old sci-fi film with big-brained aliens". This is a shameless and loving reference to Tim Burton's 1996 film Mars Attacks!, of which my AO3/tumblr icon and username is lifted - the movie was based on a series of Topps trading cards from the 1960's, and had it's own set of cards with movie scenes and behind-the-scenes pictures (and summaries of events) printed for the movie! They also used them as promotional tools, and if you get very lucky purchasing a copy of the old single-issue comic books from the 1995 Mars Attacks run from Image Comics, you can get a promo card.

https://bit.gt.gd/S3272019F?=RO - Originally "gd" stood for a derivative of Google Drive, but I can’t look at it and not see “get good”. The "S3272019F?" is meant to stand for "Started: March 27, 2019 Finished: ?". I can't believe I started uploading the story in March of 2019! Man, 2020 really messed with my sense of time…

Ch. 10: Tantara Bounces Off of Moonlit Walls

[chapter title] - "Tantara" is defined as "the blare of a trumpet or horn", as seen in the Judgement card, which stands for self-reflection as well as reckoning, and can indicate rebirth. There's of course another reference to the Moon card, for intuitions and the unconscious being. Then what are the "[Moonlit] Walls"? Well, they're the part of the only Major Arcana tarot card to represent a building - they are the walls of the Tower, symbolizing destruction and disaster. When all the cards' meanings are put all together, this alludes to a time of discovery among absolute disaster.

○ Expanded, the whole title is a reference to both forms of Judgement occurring – self-reflection and change are happening with Bruce and John as their mysteries and anxieties are finally put to rest: John is undergoing his final "rebirth", seeing his reality clearly in Arkham’s padded cell; Bruce seems to finally come to terms with working with Tiffany, as his fear of not being able to protect her comes through with her showing she's able take care of herself and prove she's a true asset to the team; and the Court of Owls finally comes to light, with Matt Chaney, the Talon Adam, and the Talon Sonja Townsend finally showing their real motivations.

○ We can also interpret the title as a reckoning coming for the Owls, who have long been obscuring the truth of their deeds and whose true motives have been murky. They've built their own tower of disaster with bricks of delusion, and judgement's horn is blaring a warning through their hallways…

"X-Sharp Manufacturing" - a reference to the 10 of Swords (hence the "sharp"), the tarot card for betrayal, backstabbing, and defeat. For Bruce, there is disaster here beyond his control that ends in a [temporary] defeat. For Roman Sionis, owner of the small factory as part of Janus Inc., he's unwittingly walked into his own betrayal.

"Merlin's Flower Arrangements" - Merlin, a famous wizard, is a reference to The Magician card, who defines “as above, so below”… And as John is taken to a secondary location, so is Bruce. :)

"La Luna Painting" - La Luna, aka The Moon; remember, shadows can play tricks on your eye, so something’s afoot here… Aka "HEY GUYS THIS TOTALLY ISN’T SUSPICIOUS OR ANYTHING NO SIR"

Yelsnia Theater - Yelsnia is…actually a name. But searching for it shows my true hint, as it's "Ainsley" backwards. "Ainsley" derives from Scottish words meaning “alone, solitary” or “hermitage”. This is a reference to the Hermit card – in this case, it's blatantly upside down, referring to loneliness, isolation, and a general disconnection with mankind. AKA, the path Matt is on.

"the looming pillar tower" [Arkham] - A blatant representation of The Tower. It stands for impending disaster and "an upheaval of a foundation of reality". Of course, this can be taken in two ways. 1) That John has overcome/avoided the disaster of another mental breakdown. 2) That John’s foundation of his delusions - that he’ll wake up in or get sent back to Arkham for his sickness - was wrong in a realistic sense, as he’s made serious progress in managing his emotional issues, and right in an unrealistic one, where the only way he could be sent back was through an outside force, i.e. the Owls.

10210475 [inmate number] - When separated for the numeric cipher, we get 10-21-4-7-5, or J-U-D-G-E

13051420 [inmate number] - When separated for the numeric cipher, we get 13-5-14-20, or M-E-N-T

○ When put together, the inmate numbers read "Judgement", the tarot card is shown here for John's choices and character arc on display throughout this chapter. When the card is reversed, it implies a lack of self-awareness, which we can also attribute to "the player's" choices for John if they make Bad Decisions. If you simply take the word "judgement" at face-value (without involving the tarot) it also works wonderfully, applying to John's entire situation as being a trial/judgement set by a higher force.

"The prince returned to the tower" dialogue [the prophetic cell mate] - Whether the person speaking is physical or not, John notes he can hear the scratching of pencil on paper within the cell, implying a person is writing their words down like a story… “The prince,” (John Doe, alias Joker, traditionally the ‘Clown Prince’ of Gotham) “having returned to the tower” (Arkham Asylum, the foundations of John's issues) “to reclaim his crown,” (assurance in himself and his reality; the completion of John's "self" with his final choices and becoming Vigilante!Joker for good) “trails after the fiend” (confronts the Talon Adam, alias Owl-man) “who's flying on wings of retribution” (core beliefs, perceived sense of justice). “The fiend’s wings are big, but the bones are brittle” (the Owl-man is imposing and persistent, but his physical "wings" are his weakness).

○ If you couple the Court of Owl's belief that G*d has written down the destinies of everyone in the world [as they are each born] with the knowledge that someone was writing down a short version of John's events at Arkham…hmmm.....

Room 11 [Iman's cell room] - The 11th card in the Major Arcana is "Justice". This can reference either 1) The just-desserts coming for Talon Adam/"The Owlman", or 2) The outcome of the player’s choice to take Iman with them or not.

11 minutes + 16 seconds [remaining time on bomb timer] - 11:16. 11/16, aka my birthday! :) I only wish I had finished Chapter 10 in time for the chapter's publishing year (2020), lol~

"Our Faith brings Perseverance, and Our Perseverance guides Justice, for Mercy to God." - The Court of Owls' beliefs circle around 3 principles bringing people closer to G*d: Faith, Perseverance, and Justice. Their belief hardens their persistence in their actions (as they are written and not guided by "Evil"), and their goals are ultimately to deliver justice where the human system failed and "Evil" prevailed in "escaping", hence the guiding of one principle to another. "Mercy to God" is what is granted by righting the injustices of the world; as G*d wrote your future down exactly, Evil can corrupt it, and once corrupted this does G*d a harmful injustice. The Court considers themselves close to G*d by "mercifully" stopping further corruption via eliminating "Evil" in all it's worldly forms…

Speaking of the 3 principles, our main Owls are meant to be "embodiments" of these in the story.

○ Talon Sonja Townsend represents Faith, driving home her belief in G*d's absolute destiny. She is corrupted by her own selfish goal of eliminating her son-in-law, but is also so by-the-book she does not think to look at the obvious double-standards of the Court, and doesn't think her underlying actions are guided by "Evil".

○ Talon Adam represents Perseverance, having fought Joker to unconsciousness, and was willing to blow up Arkham with himself still inside just to eliminate it; he is the most brainwashed, but the least corrupt in motivations, only striving to get what he feels is "justice". On the flip side of Adam is Talon Evan, who despite serious injury still appeared in Court and jumped at the chance to kill Joker and Batman, despite the Court's general appreciation of Batman; he is corrupt in personal selfishness, as he possesses no "real" faith in the Court's belief system and doesn't like others getting credit by stealing his targets.

§ ...it's also worth mentioning that the names for Adam and Evan are meant to be derivative of "Adam and Eve". In this way, it can also be seen as a parallel to The Lovers card, which one can attribute to Bruce and John. While Bruce + John are oddly harmonious and undeniably have a strong bond regardless of story paths, Adam + Evan are discontent rivals, with Adam "stealing" Evan's target and good graces with the Court, and Evan very pointedly beating up and kidnapping Batman (who Adam admires) to set up Batman's eventual Judgement.

○ Reverend Sebastian Overfield is the main representation of Justice, though he embodies all 3 principles. The Court’s belief is that their pursuit of justice – stopping Evil/chaos via deaths of criminals – overrides their own traditional sins. Because they are being helpful to G*d, granting Them mercy by righting the injustices of Evil and putting G*d’s Word back on the right path, they are in G*d’s favor. Therefore, as the leader of the Court and the one who organized everything by handing down "God's word", he is the carrier of Justice; without him, the Court would be nowhere and G*d would be shedding more tears over their ruined work…at least, in his mind. Naturally, he is the exact opposite of what justice should be. He is biased and unwavering in strict faith, as much a carrier of chaos as he doesn't want to be…

○ Of course, this is all also up to interpretation. One can interpret Adam as "justice", Evan as "perseverance", and Sebastian as the stand-in for "God", as he is the Court's ruler and is the sole person to hand down "the word of God".

"[…]if two people you normally count on for one reason or another" - Alfred made a subtle dig at John being Bruce's boy-toy. Ouch, Al'…

"[…]given it's your pet project, and all" - Even though Selina is talking about Arkham, she's making a dig at former-Arkham-resident John being Bruce's "pet", who in her eyes was Bruce's main reason for getting Arkham revitalized. :\ Man, everybody's picking on their relationship…

petrichor - The smell proceeding rain. Because it's not a climactic fight scene in Gotham city without rain.

Ch. 11: The Tolls of Justice

[chapter title] - Naturally referring to the Justice card of the tarot, this title is the same as the story title. Funnily enough, this is the 11th chapter, and the 11th card in the tarot deck. (I guarantee you I did not plan this bit… Funny how these things play out, ain't it?) The Justice card naturally stands for cause and effect, clarity, or truth; ultimately, it's a representation of karmic retribution, and what the Owls are in dire need of facing. The title overall is referring to both the [para]phrase "do not ask for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for thee" (in the original context: a grievance over death for all out of love for community/mankind, not just one person) and the "toll" - as in cost or damage - of enacting justice. What Bruce has put himself through to become and keep being Batman, the enactor of vengeance for all those wronged in the city of Gotham, and what ultimately the Court of Owls has sacrificed - either wittingly or unwittingly - in the name of justice. It also extends to John, who for the sake of "justice" is routinely stuck in Arkham, in one way or another, and has never had a conceivably just or fair life at all - thus paying the unwilling toll opposing Bruce and the Owls. We can also extend it to Tiffany, who is making good on her work with Bruce to "pay her toll" for her own crime, with her toll being seen in a positive light as Robin, compared to what life sentence she might have been paying otherwise.

[the sword in the pulpit] - a symbolic reference to The Justice card, as the Justice card in the major arcana often depicts a sword, either alone or in someone's hand. This can also be interpreted as a reference to the Ace of Swords in the minor arcana, which is normally pointing upwards, referring to victory, truth, or ideas; when flipped, as it would be when looking at the initial depiction of the sword as a "cross", it stands for lies and confusion. The sword in the story itself is a symbol of justice, and uses snakes as the stand-in for the forces of Evil, which are destroyed by the owl making up the handle and supposedly wielding the blade.

"the skull peeking out of the knight’s helmet" [card in the box on Reverend's desk] - A very clear reference to the Death card, famous in the tarot deck. It signifies change, inevitable cycles, and new beginnings/directions. Depending on the reading, it can be interpreted as an actual death, but more often than not it’s merely showing of a life change. As this is the Reverend’s deck, it seems the last card he drew was Death… The viewer can interpret this as a reading from the Reverend into the Arkham plot, where Death is representing John’s own changes, the end of Talon Adam’s latest “cycle”, or the actual deaths that had occurred (no matter how many there are in the end). The viewer can also read this as the Reverend trying to find his own fate, the fate of Roman Sionis for his trial, or Batman’s fate. All of them are quite valid, but I feel the most accurate interpretation is that the Rev' was trying to read the future of the Court of Owls.

○ …as mentioned above, the Death card is the most overt reference to the Tarot. This way, if someone didn't piece together the weird chapter titles, the specified numbers and number-letter strings, and/or the odd names of people and places, they'd be able to double-back and see them as clues. They are put there purely as a storytelling clue for the audience. As you can tell, the tarot references increased with each chapter…almost like someone is trying to get your attention…

[the framed painting] - a reference to The High Priestess, aka card II of the tarot. This card is indicative of intuition and looking within, and can signal to mysteries at hand or a higher power at work. The pillars on the card are (hilariously enough) marked with a B and J, and are in black and white, respectively. They stand for Boaz (Strength) and Jachin (Establishment), and are meant to represent the duality of nature, good/evil, masculine/femine, etc. Naturally, both pillars are equal. In this depiction, it is both relating to “the player’s” own duality, with the ability to be flexible as Bruce and John and have both good and bad decisions play through the story, and as a strong hint to a higher power being present.

8-9-6-3 [candle puzzle] - It takes a bit to work out by sorting through the alphabetic values to each number, but it doesn’t make a complete word. On ye olde phone keypad, 1 is always null in value, so it’s always unlit in the candle sequence, and since there are 4 other numbers present we know it doesn’t count as part of the string. (If there were only 3, you could guess a year from your notes.) My idea for the “game” specs of this part would be that the key-code would be somewhat randomized, either using a specific year (if Tiffany and/or Iman are not present, this is *always* the case, as you have to utilize your background notes and the candles by yourself), a few translated letter combinations just for fun, or an occasional number-card type combo, as presented here. (In some lucky scenarios, “the player” doesn’t have to solve the candle puzzle, since Tiffany can figure out the year by herself and just call you over when she opens the door. You still have the option of looking around, though!) In this case, the values are another tarot-themed hint, using the card number first: 8-w-n-d, for the 8 of Wands, which alludes to quick actions. AKA “Get ready for quick-time events!!!”

"looking more like the king on the throne than a judge" - Meant to allude to The Emperor card, the ultimate royal symbol in the major arcana and always depicted with a king. Traditionally this symbolizes power, authority, control, etc., but when reversed it alludes to overbearingness, arrogance, and chaos. For the Owls, they would likely see themselves as the upright depictions, even when presented upside down before the person doing their reading… And here is no better example, with the Reverend Overfield taking place as the ultimate authority over the Court.

"like [Sonja] had a say in commanding the room" - Alluding to The Empress, in conjunction with Rev’s position, this card alludes to femininity, motherhood, nurturing, creativity, and/or abundance. When reversed, it stands for neglect, creative blocks, overbearing, and/or uncaring. Sonja is a good example of an overbearing mother, trying to make decisions for her child because she thinks she knows best - thus fits the reversed reading well.

[Courtroom layout] - How curious is it that I haven't referenced The Devil when we have so many opportunities? That's because I strove to show this card rather than reference it overtly. The Devil card depicts El Diablo in the upper middle, lording over the card, with two souls chained to him at the bottom. The classic depiction shows a female demon-like human on one side and a male demon-like human on the other. As such, Rev. Sebastian sits on the high bench as the judge, overlooking the courtroom, and Sonja and Evan sit beneath him, one embedded on each side of the lower bench, sitting before him rather than beside him. Naturally, The Devil card represents temptation, manipulation, and materialism (though not necessarily of physical things). There is nothing more suited to The Devil card than the Reverend Sebastian Overfield and the Talons.

Circe | Cindy Peterson - Circe was the original Black Mask's downfall, or at least serious decent into who would be Black Mask. In her origin, she was a model who seduced Roman and ended up being blamed for his poor business choices, as he completely revolved Janus Inc.'s new direction around her image, somewhat at her insistence. Roman seemed to love her, but grew vengeful when she dumped him. She was named Circe, after the witch who lured men to their doom. In this story, she plays a much less active role but ultimately still serves as Roman's downfall, though in a very different way. : she does seem to care about Roman, going so far as to hide him on her yacht, not rat him out for his overt gang activities, and even leave Gotham with him for good to run from Batman despite not being in a relationship with him for long. But Bruce is able to spin this to his advantage, openly lying that she was working for him undercover and twisting Roman's affection for her into paranoid doubt, which he eventually lashed out with and ended up being caught because of. Circe never got a ~proper~ name in the original canon, so I dubbed her Cindy. The name "Cindy" can be boiled down to “person from Kynthos” and since Circe is Greek… Well, it fits well enough!

"[…]waltzing into the danger-zone without his wingman" - It’s Top Gun's “You can be my wingman anytime”, but with ALL the homoerotic implications!

"the Degnah Club" - The Degnah Club can be inferred to be one of Roman Sionis’ clubs, or just one his False-Face Society visited on occasion, but the event that happened there is implied to have taken place before the start of the story. “Degnah” when written backwards is “hanged”, referencing the Hanged Man card. When upright, this card means sacrifice and selfless acts. When reversed, as very much implied here, it’s an unnecessary sacrifice. This is both a play on what Roman’s implying – which is likely a very violent event – being an “unnecessary sacrifice” as part of Matt Chaney’s greater scheme for the Court of Owls, and as an allusion to Matt’s fate, where his morals/good choices/old law-abiding life were thrown away for an inevitably failed pursuit.

"[Tiffany | Robin's] personal count of 13" - The 13th card in the tarot is Death, bringer of change and ender of cycles. It’s also a traditionally unlucky number. This number is the “body-count” of Tiffany’s run through the Court so far. Does it reference the end of the Court's latest cycle, or something else…?

Accompanying the Tarot, as mentioned earlier I also tied in other fortune-telling methods, with the counting of crows and reference to the zodiacal horoscope. I also threw in allusions to luck, with The Lucky Hotel and The Lot (in both name and the fact that it's a casino). This is all tied entirely around the concept of fate and being able to change it with the choices you have made or currently make as "the player". Luck itself has nothing to do with your choices and the fates you guide Bruce and John to, and it's not something "the player" can control - it's an illusion, with things seemingly lucky for our heroes having already been written in on purpose to lead to the next event. It's essentially a long, drawn-out joke.

Talons/Reverend's Owl Masks - I wanted the Talons to be set apart from the rest of the Court and have special owl faces. The Court's owl masks are as follows:

○ Talon Adam - Great Horned Owl; chosen for the owl's large size and hunting ability, as well as the protruding "horn" feathers mimicking Batman's cowl. This is the most common owl used in media. The "horns" are meant to clue the reader into the culprit early on. Adam's a Batman-fan, so he mimicked Bats' style.

○ Talon Sonja - Snowy Owl; chosen for the owl's fairly elegant feather pattern and Sonja's ~colder~ personality. Sonja had a masquerade one to show her "humane" side to prospective Owls, but always wears a full-faced mask for the rest of the Court.

○ Talon Evan - Barn Owl; chosen for it's ghost-like face and screeching call, and it's hunting skills. They sometimes are seen as bad omens. While Adam was a mysterious stalker, Evan is overtly dangerous upon appearance, in no due part to his temper.

○ Reverend Sebastian Overfield - Eastern Screech Owl; this owl is smaller than the other, but has similar "horn" feathers to the Great Horned, and a gray face. The "horns" are meant to be another a mirror to Batman, but can be considered another allusion to The Devil. It isn't the largest or flashiest owl of the bunch, but Sebastian has the most power of all the Court members.

[The "Justice" bell-toll] - traditionally, a church bell tolls to signify someone passing into death. In the Court/Church of Mercy's case, they use a bell rung at midnight to signify a complete "trial" and a carry-out of their own brand of "justice"…which also culminates in death. The "trial" shown in this chapter is a rarity, as the offenders are actually present to get a talking-to before their sentencing - generally, the Church will hold a mock-trial to decide the fates of the perpetrators…after some previous counseling with Talons and select older members. (Think of the Trial like a ceremonial conference for the majority of the time.)

Chapter 12: Ten Cheers to the World!

[title] - The act of cheering, aka toasting, is to raise a cup and drink towards someone or something in celebration or tribute. Here, it's referring to the tarot's Ten (X) of Cups, which is pretty much the best card you could pull in a reading - when upright, as it is here, it means celebration, fulfillment, and happiness! The World card is the final card in the Major Arcana, encapsulating completion, accomplishment, and harmony, all from inner and outer sources. It might seem redundant at first, but the Cups suite in the Minor Arcana is all in regards to emotions, relationships, and love; in comparison, the Major Arcana represents a journey from innocence and ignorance to wisdom and completion. So you have an emotional celebration with fulfilling relationships, and the story's path marked as complete in both a literal and figurative sense.

"An accident at Ace Chemicals" [Iman & John's convo] - Referencing the majority of Joker origins, wherein pre-Joker fell into the vat of chemicals at Ace Chemicals and survived, leading to a psychotic breakdown due to his changed appearance and/or the circumstances around to what led him to Ace Chemicals in the first place.

"the string of deaths in the Velestra mafia" [Iman & John's convo] - a ref to the former mafia/main antagonists in Batman: Mask of the Phantom that kept getting killed off one by one by the Phantom. Whether The Phantom exists in this world…we'll have to wait and see, I guess!

"an unrecoverable ‘data loss’ at the Agency" [Iman & John's convo] - not a reference to canon, but my own theory on a potential background for John being a former Agent…(see further below)

"Et tu, Peeps?" - a riff on "Et tu, Brute?", Julius Ceasar's last words as he was betrayed and stabbed to death.

"Maybe I was someone in the wrong place at the wrong time" / "someone at the right place at the wrong time" [John monologue] - Another reference to the most popular background choice, the Ace Chemical origin story, and it’s variations. Though probably lacking Batsy’s involvement, considering the timeframe…

"Maybe I was some experiment gone wrong" [John monologue] - A reference to a different author's Season 3 replacement fanfic, where John ended up being a genetically modified human/test tube baby. Unfortunately the work got deleted from Ao3??? And my bookmark is gone, so I can't name the fic… But I still remember you, Unknown Author!!! It was a fun story and I've never forgotten that twist!!!! \( >o< )/

"Maybe I was even an Agent, like you" [John monologue] - My own little theory as to why the Agency was so keen on getting him for the Suicide Squad – and why he was considered a dangerous part of the gang despite not doing too much of interest in Season 1 (even if you consider the theory that he was helping Lady Arkham get her chemicals/drugs) – was that he was part of the Agency somehow. Either an agent who screwed up on the job, a rogue agent that escaped death via Agency trap…or maybe a guy who knew too much! But it's a fun, fresh idea to bring to Joker's multi-choice past, right? (( ;w;)) <(please say yes)

hippocampus - The region(s) of the brain that primarily deals with memory.

[the photo] - I wanted to leave it up to the reader/"player" to decide what kind of pre-Arkham past the TellTale!Joker has… So whether you think the picture Iman has is a "real" photo of him or not is entirely up to you.

"[…]'you're the moon to my sun'" [John, 'paraphrasing' Bruce] - In Tarot terms, this is a reference to the Sun card, representing joy, success, and masculinity, as well as another reference to the Moon card. One can also interpret the Sun card as "success in overcoming your obstacles or fears". As the Moon card can represent inner fears and femininity, it's a fitting opposite for interpreting this romantic line. While Bruce doesn't exactly embody the "positivity" and "joy" that this card represents, he brings that feeling into John's life, and Bruce is more traditionally masculine in contrast to John. This is also an overt use of the phrase "[they're] the moon to their sun" - a romantic notion that one person, though the opposite to the other, is completely complementary, like a One True Love. TeamFourStar's playthrough of TellTale Batman: The Enemy Within had not one, but TWO mentions of the "moon to [their] sun" line, the second of which was referring to John and Bruce. This one's for you, fellas!!! ( ^3^)

○ Funnily enough, The Moon is a very broadly interpreted card. Sometimes it's not a good card to have because deception, manipulation, illusion, and mystery/confusion are all potentially at work in your life. Sometimes it's an excellent card, because it tells you examine your feelings to resolve a problem, or tells you that you aren't seeing the whole picture. The reversed of the card is often attributed to avoidance of one's problems and further confusion, but also clarity, truth, and the full view of what's going on. If John is the embodiment of The Moon in the upright position, then I say Bruce is that of the Reversed Moon…

"[…] two lovers against the world" - Another classic romantic phrase that can be turned into a Tarot reference. The original phrase is meaning two romantic partners are pitted against "the world"/external forces that threaten to tear them apart, but they are committed to each other regardless. You can't really pit cards against each other in a reading, but you can read Past-Present-Future. In which case, in story terms, The Fool is always the Past, The Lovers is the Present here, and The World is the Future. As mentioned earlier, The World represents harmony and completion - if reversed, it would mean incompletion and chaos. The Lovers card is representing a strong union being forged between two people, very often romantic in terms of the Tarot. The meaning is usually attributed to decisions in a relationship being made (whether to start a new one, or to deepen the one you have), but it can also represent people outright, as well as an indication that a new partnership/relationship is on the way. When reversed, Lovers represents disharmony, imbalance, or a loss of relationship. In our story, of course, our two lovers are representing the upright reading of the card in the Present, showing as a strong couple. As it's "against", it implies that The World is something that will be a challenge, so it's likely Reversed. Which is a pretty good representation of Gotham in general, isn't it? lol~

○ The Lovers can also be seen symbolically in chapters 8 and 9, when Bruce and John are laying opposite each other and linking pinkies/holding hands at the hotel. :)

○ John uses the romantic line regardless of whether he's a vigilante or not! If you didn't get the Best Ending, aka our Sleepover Ending, Bruce would wind up back in the parlor with John as usual, and once the rest of the fam are gone (if they were there at all), he uses it to describe themselves. In the villain route, Bruce and John converse in the Batmobile on the way back to Arkham, and John uses the line there, too. ;3c

○ Naturally, you don't really get this complete scene if "your" Bruce is with Selina in the vigilante route.

Ending Type - …it's not a tarot reference or anything specific. I just wanted to let you know that you can ONLY get the Sleepover Ending if you have Tiffany and John in Bruce's party on good terms with each other AND with Bruce.

○ You can drive Tiffy away from Bruce by saying she shouldn't be with them at the Court Battle, but also by generally not believing in her/being mean and giving a neutral reaction to her staying during Battle; she won't go back to the cave with Bruce, so you don't get a chance to speak to her directly afterwards as either character. (John can still have his conversation with her via text, and they can still end on the same terms.)

○ If you don't have vigilante!John, there's no one else to help lift the things, so Tiffy's idea is never brought up.

○ John is always simping desperate for Bruce's attention, so even if you don't treat him as well in a platonic relationship, he'll still be there for this Ending type. ;_;

○ If you have a Romanced!Selina in your party, Selina will join you in both Court Battle and the Ending as seen in this story. It'll either cause her to take Iman's place (if she is not present) or to have extra spot suddenly appear above the rest of the group. Like Tiffy, she overheats and needs more space too cool off.

§ You can also talk to her as John, and sort of makeup/say your part of the team now. (But John will still be somewhat jealous of the attention she gets.)

§ John doesn't get the emotional hug with Bruce if Selina is around - especially since she doesn't temporarily leave with Tiffany and Iman - but the conversation is almost the same.

§ Naturally you can talk to her as Bruce, too. I don't think on her options too much, but they'll likely talk about change and what it means to have this "job" and internalizing too much of their emotions/themselves.

§ If you and Selina are only friends, Selina can join you in the Court Battle, but will text you instead of sticking around.

1:06 A.M & [Clock time on Belltower in Chapter 11] - Bruce's sense of time is off, which is why he's surprised it's after 1AM and not closer to 2AM. (Can't blame him, he was unconscious for a while and a whole bunch of stuff happened.) I figured if Bruce broke out of his kidnapping ropes at 10PM sharp, and drove all the way to the GCPD, that's about 20-30 minutes in his supercharged car, if not a little less, plus with 5 minutes to escape proper. If we think GCPD is sort of a halfway point to Old Gotham/The Coventry district, it's another 15 minutes to there. So he'd arrive at the Church of Mercy before 11PM, and wait John for around another 10-15 minutes, including with all the investigating inside. The "trial" scene probably took another 10 minutes until Batman crashed it, and fight scenes seem long because of all the action going on, but by the time Bruce and co' leave, it's not 12AM yet. The bell-tower in the Church of Mercy is actually off by about 20 minutes… And what do you know, card XX (20) of the tarot's Major Arcana is Judgement, alluding to karma at work! It can also be attributed to a life change. ;D

"11:43:20PM" - this wasn't deliberately meant to allude to anything. It took the batfam about 2 minutes from the last toll to leave the church. Bells' tolling speed is varying between clocks and towers, but you can estimate about 30-45 seconds for a full twelve. If it rang at 11:40 exactly, then…ugh, this is sounding like math homework.

Epilogue:

[Still a WIP, so will be updated after it's uploaded! Shouldn't have much, though! Saay, isn't there a Major Arcana card missing? (9v9) I wonder what that iiiiis~]

So that was [just about] all of them! I had a lot of fun weaving them throughout the story this time, especially with the story's themes! AtBoM didn't have as nearly as many, so they weren't really worth mentioning before.

I hope this was helpful to those of you who were interested in diving beneath the surface of BtTTS: TToJ~!

#ttoj #ttoj reference guide #telltale batman #batman the telltale series #tarot cards #I made it a goal to use all the Major Arcana!#fortune-telling #it took me a month to compile this whole guide #I had notes scattered between my Word doc and google doc #hopefully this wasn't too hard to read #even if no one got any of these i'm satisfied!#they were really fun to write!!#edit: corrected Eric's last name (my bad)

16 notes · View notes