#people will be looking back at this point in history

[cogitoergoetc]

I think a lot of human behavior makes sense if you assume people are generally inclined towards punitive violence by default and will make up excuses to justify that after the fact. Because it's important to recognize "there might be a way to resolve this without harm but it is not the responsibility of the person being harmed to find that solution instead of harming back" is true and widely applicable, and there is some evidence picked out and lionized that punitive violence does sometimes actually fix the problem. But everyone inclined towards it anyway then have an opportunity to hook that inclination onto the idea "this is one of those times," and it's so hard to catch that kind of thought as it rips past unless you're looking for it, even as you're aware that the vast majority of times it's applied, it doesn't fix the problem, it causes new ones.

So we have people who have talked themselves around to the idea "direct and visible consequences for this decision will help these people not make that decision again." And the obvious problem is "these people", writing off other actual human beings as part of a monolith because the human brain likes shortcuts in more cases than just optical illusions.

I'm not saying that justifies any of it, because it is fucking awful to vocally fantasize about the suffering of real people as a baseline and there is a million miles of racist bullshit stacked on that. Don't fucking root for people to be displaced from their homes. It's never more complicated than that.

But... the underlying problem feels fixable. If pointing out that someone has arrived at a conclusion that's completely horrible was enough to stop it, most of human history would have gone differently.

It is not the responsibility of people currently subject to racist bullshit to try and socially engineer a stop to that bullshit instead of taking steps to protect themselves. But anything that can be mustered, should, I think. Conversely, though, "how can we channel, in a productive way, what might be a fundamental and irresistible human urge to punch someone else until that person believes the right things" is just a fucking minefield. I don't even trust the perceptions that led me up to that thought enough to try and take it further.

Complex fuckin' species, humans. Sponges don't have these problems.

if you're a white person taking pleasure in the idea that Trump voters of colour are experiencing racist violence from white trumpers because "they got what's coming to them" I don't think you're anti-racist at all, I think you were just waiting for an acceptable target, and you're also fucking weird.

Bad Person Deserves Punishment For Their Sins give me a fucking break and get yourself out of the fucking catholic church. you're all prison abolitionists until you see someone you don't like.

[pandapetals]

Shits and Giggles

You and Logan get drunk together and get caught by Xavier.

professor logan howlett x professor fem!reader - established relationship (y'all married), cute, fluff, teasing, no y/n used, no reader description, your an english professor, logan is a history professor - imagine days of future past logan with the white streaks in his hair

read on ao3 or find more parts for the series: here

“I’ve lost count of how many I’ve had,” you giggled, waving the half-empty beer bottle in your hand like it was some kind of trophy. The world felt a little off-kilter, the living room spinning just slightly as you leaned against Logan on the couch.

Logan, slouched back with his legs stretched out and another empty bottle at his feet, glanced over at you, his lips curling into a lopsided grin. “Sweetheart,” he slurred, his words tinged with a hiccup, “I think we both gave up on countin' somewhere between… hell, I don’t even know.”

You snorted, dissolving into another fit of laughter that made your shoulders shake. “Between 'hell' and 'I don’t even know,'” you echoed, the absurdity of it striking you as the funniest thing in the world. “That’s gotta be at least… five?”

Logan chuckled, shaking his head as he reached for another bottle on the coffee table, nearly knocking over a half-eaten bowl of pretzels in the process. “Five? Try ten,” he shot back, popping the cap off with a quick twist of his wrist. “You’re lightweight compared to me.” He took a swig, then glanced sideways at you, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Remember when you tried to out-drink me that one time?”

You burst into laughter again, nearly spilling your drink. “Oh my God, yes! I thought I could handle whiskey,” you said, still giggling as you shook your head. “And then I ended up singing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on the pool table.”

Logan snorted, his deep laugh rumbling in his chest. “Yeah, you were ‘Galileo’-ing so hard, I thought you were gonna fall off.” He pointed at you with the neck of his beer bottle, his grin widening. “I’ve never seen anyone get that passionate about Freddie Mercury.”

“Well,” you said, trying to compose yourself but failing as another hiccup escaped, “Freddie Mercury is worth the passion.”

You both dissolved into another round of laughter, so loud that the quiet mansion seemed to echo with it, the kind of laughter that left your sides hurting and tears forming at the corners of your eyes. It felt like the whole world had shrunk down to just the two of you—your private little universe of bad jokes and too many drinks.

Logan wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, still chuckling. “We gotta be the loudest drunks in history,” he murmured, his voice low and amused. “Pretty sure we just woke up half the neighborhood.”

“Hey, it’s not our fault the living room has such good acoustics,” you said, hiccuping again, then letting out a laugh that quickly turned into a snort. “Plus, if the mansion was really soundproof like Xavier claims, we’d be fine.”

As if on cue, Xavier wheeled in, looking every bit the stern headmaster despite the lateness of the hour. His brows were raised in a mixture of amusement and disapproval. “And what, may I ask, is the cause of all this ruckus?” he said, his voice calm but carrying that unmistakable tone of authority.

You clapped a hand over your mouth, trying—and failing—to stifle your laughter. “Professor!” you said, eyes wide as you tried to sit up straighter. “Uh, we were just… um…”

“Studying the effects of… alcohol on… something,” Logan added, attempting to sound serious but breaking into a grin halfway through the sentence. “Purely scientific. For… education.”

Xavier sighed, shaking his head as he looked between the two of you. “At this hour? In the middle of the living room?” His lips quirked slightly like he was fighting the urge to smile. “You do realize there are other people in this mansion who require sleep?”

You bit your lip, trying to look contrite but still giggling. “Sorry, Professor,” you said, though your voice wobbled with barely contained laughter. “We’ll keep it down. Pinky promise.” You held up your little finger as if to seal the deal.

Logan glanced at you, then back at Xavier, and without missing a beat, extended his own pinky in a solemn gesture. “Swear on it,” he said, the grin still tugging at his lips.

Xavier shook his head again, a hint of a smile breaking through his stern expression. “I suppose I’ll let it slide this time,” he said, turning his chair toward the door. “But if I hear another rendition of 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' you’ll be on kitchen duty for the rest of the month.”

As soon as he left the room, you and Logan exchanged a look before breaking into laughter all over again, doubling over as you clinked your bottles together. “Kitchen duty,” you gasped, wiping tears from your eyes. “I can’t even make toast without setting off the smoke alarm.”

Logan’s deep laughter echoed through the room once more as he reached over to pull you closer, his arm slipping around your shoulders. “Guess that’s one more reason to behave,” he said, his voice still rough with amusement. “But I gotta admit, darlin’, there’s nobody I’d rather get scolded with.”

You leaned into him, resting your head on his shoulder as the laughter finally started to die down, leaving a warm, fuzzy contentment in its wake. “Likewise,” you murmured, your voice softened by the alcohol and the comfort of his warmth. “We really are a bad influence on each other, huh?”

Logan chuckled, his fingers gently brushing through your hair. “Maybe,” he said quietly, “but I’d say we’re a damn good time.”

[snokoplasrn]

🚨 CALLING ALL PHANNIES 🚨

i am writing a letter to give to dan and phil on the last date of their us tour. in this letter i am planning to include a link to a playlist of songs their community associates with them. i want this to be something many people could have input on - a collaborative experience. i also want it to be something that both dan and phil and our community can look back at fondly! if you can think of a song that is relevant to dan and phil lore or history or has any association with them whatsoever please drop the name & artist and a little explanation in the replies or at https://ngl.link/updatedphan !

here's a little teaser of some of the songs in the playlist so far as a reference point!

[uss-edsall]

If there’s any two things that were extremely discouraging for my line of work (I’m a military historian who works in museums and archives) is like

This election has shown me that my entire line of work, functionally, exists solely so the average person can go ‘wow our ancestors were so brave fighting the Nazis’ (proceeds to never bother learning who the Nazis were or what they did, doesn’t give it any further thought past ‘great-grandfather was so cool’)

It immediately came to mind what a space race history professor last year said when asked a question like ‘do our politicians look back on all the stuff you’ve taught us when making decisions?’. He responded with “Oh, no, they’re the most ahistorical people I’ve ever met, if it’s older than five minutes it may as well have never happened”

The result of this me kinda lowkey going “what the fuck is the point of all this? Am I just doing nothing but contributing to academic circlejerks in ivory towers and armchair generals arguing while being steadily microwaved in fascist run discord servers?

[sitronsangbody]

Thank you for asking!

There are a lot of factors that go into this, including but not limited to (and in no particular order):

- not everyone has access to good nutrition. Some people can't afford fresh produce, some have no ability to store it, and some live in places where you plainly can't get a lot of foods (so-called food deserts). For some, it's low variety and heavily processed foods, or nothing.

- a number of medical conditions cause weight gain and/or make weight loss even more difficult than it already is, this is easily googleable stuff if you're interested

- mental illness and especially eating disorders obviously influence people's food intake. No one chooses to have an ED. The most common ED is binge eating disorder, and the majority of people with EDs are in the overweight category. Anxiety and the accompanying hormones has also been shown to affect fat storage around the stomach. How we feel over time impacts our bodies a lot.

- some people can't cook for themselves. Maybe they have chronic pain or disabilities that make it impossible, maybe they just don't have the time or energy between work.

- let's not forget kids. Children often have little to no say in what they eat. They don't choose their meals, and some don't choose the amount - some get less than they're hungry for, and some are expected to clear their plate even if they're full.

These are things that are important to keep in mind re: the choices people may not have when it comes to their nutrition and the limits to individual control. But also:

- some people gain weight as they become adults simply because their metabolism changes and that's their normal body now

- some people just are fat, they're fat as kids and as teens and as adults. This is true for every society where the population isn't perpetually starving.

Finally, it's important to know the following:

- being fat is not inherently bad for you. Not all fat people have health problems related to their fatness, and as such there's no medical reason for them to try to change their bodies.

- intentional weight loss is very complex and very difficult, and statistically unlikely to maintain. The human body is programmed to retain energy, not shed it. Most people who lose substantial amounts of weight gain it back within a few years. Dieting comes with a lot of health risks and abysmal odds of success, yet it's still so often sold as the obvious right choice for anyone who's fat.

- even if you could look at someone's lifelong history with food and exercise and establish that they're objectively to "blame" for their fatness (which is of course not how life works), so what? That doesn't make it okay to discriminate against them, bully them, or overstep their boundaries. Nor does it mean that they can definitely lose the weight if they just choose to.

If you should decide to really dive into this issue, I recommend the book "what we don't talk about when we talk about fat" by Aubrey Gordon as a starting point 🙂

A core feature of anti-fatness is the "you did this to yourself"-view. People are very invested in the idea that size is within everyone's control. It's soothing to believe that all fat people are a small series of good choices away from becoming thin and staying that way, and that thin people are success stories by virtue of existing.

Any time we speak up about discrimination and fatphobia, someone inevitably plays that card. Trolls will say "eat a salad, pig" and well-meaning health nuts will gently explain what calories are. In either case, we're met with a "you know, you can stop this at any time." Why, if nobody was fat, thin people wouldn't need to examine their biases! It sure would be an easier time for everyone if we weren't so Around and Bulliable!

[hyukakisses]

— emo soobin as leviathan from obey me!

pairings: emo soobin x fem reader

plot: random soobin as leviathan from obey headcanons

warnings: perv soobin, loser soobin, red flag soobin, virgin soobin and virgin reader, cursing, faint smut, tsundere-to-yandere soobin, strangers to lovers troupe, bratty sun reader, service top soobin

soobin was absolutely seething in anger when he found out lord diavolo was responsible for the human exchange student committee. the emo demon boy hated humans or normies as he likes to call them.

soobin just didn’t understand the hype behind humans. the indigo-colored haired male thought they were disgusting. worse than angels, another type of creature he hated.

the tall boy kinda hoped that one of the humans that was apart of the human exchange committee would at least be a pretty girl; soobin longed for a player two :( he felt so lonely watching his brothers all have their girlfriends and all he had was his pet odi. his only friend.

when soobin was told that he needed to show you around RAD, he was not happy.. i mean why him out of all people? soobin was not known to socialize or be friendly.

with a whiny grumble soobin drags his long legs out of the comfort of his room; already annoyed for the day. he just hoped this tour would be over quickly.

soobin would be lying if he said you were ugly, the boy was mesmerized with how you nodded with a pretty smile at his detailed explanations about his favorite girl group kara and his favorite anime character ruri-chan when he should have been going on about the history of the devildom.

“is your hair naturally like that?” your delicate fingers point to soobins head, the emo boy smiled at how you didn’t reach to grab it without asking. “yeah it is” “oh that’s cool! back in the human realm everyone is either born with blonde or brunette. you have really pretty hair” you blush feeling butterflies in your stomach.

“so do you have any more questions?” soobin looked at you, hoping you didn’t. “actually i was wondering maybe when i’m settle in my room we could hang out?” your voice was soft like honey, soobin paused in his tracks. “what? i think you’re getting me confused with yeonjun. what do you mean you want to hang out with me?”

from that day on, soobin had to pinch himself around you, afraid that a pretty human girl like you hanging out with him was some type of dream.

soobin hated how easily and quickly it was to lose his aloof and tsundere act around you, he hated how quickly he was able to gain romantic feelings for you.

soobin liked how you invited yourself over to his room, most people would find his otaku activities weird and boring but you found them fun. you didn’t mind being locked away in soobin’s bedroom, snuggled up in his bedsheets watching bunny girl senpai over and over again.

“why have you been avoiding me?” after not seeing soobin for nearly a week you decided to march up in his room demanding an answer. “i-i haven’t..” “yes.. yes you have! you’ve been ignoring my texts and just been on league of legends all week!” you screech making soobin curse internally, the boy has been ignoring you. “i thought things were going so well!” you sat on the tall boy’s bed itching closer to his laying body. “they have been” soobin felt his heart thump at how close you were approaching. “so why are you avoiding me?” your chin rests on soobin’s chest. “do you not think i’m pretty enough for your time and attention anymore? is there someone else?” soobin couldn’t stop staring at your pink lips wondering what your lip gloss tasted like. “binnie? hello? are you even listening-“ you let out a yelp in surprise at your friend shutting you up with a kiss. your body melting against soobin’s, you pout pulling away. “you know, if you wanted to be my boyfriend you could have just said so”

soobin wasn’t big with words, he preferred just listening to you talk your ear off. nodding dumbly at your words with sparkling eyes wondering if you’d be that talkative if he was eating you out- “binnie? you’re still listening to me right?” “hmm? oh yeah you’re talking about wanting to go blonde together”

you also didn’t mind being his personal guinea pig when it came to cosplay. you really enjoyed all the special attention and praises you got for staying still without complaining.

soobin also liked how you’d actually listened to kara with and for him, your favorite song being honey and his favorite song being secretly secretly

the two of you rarely argued unless it was over something stupid like who was better tommy february 6 or tommy heavenly 6? you both couldn’t choose however.

soobin was definitely a service top, as soon as you both got together you were always demanding soobin to your whim. not that your now boyfriend minded. he liked how you were always bratty and bossy. “binnie can we match? i know its pink but it’s pretty” “tie my shoes mister!” “do you mind applying my lipgloss for me?” “princess orders binnie!”

“baby please?” soobin’s large hands loop under your inner thighs, his eyes looking up at you pleadingly as his glossy lips itch closer to your pretty pussy. “m’ sleepy binnie..” a small whine slips your lips, feeling yourself drift to sleep. “you don’t have to do anything baby! just p-please let me a small taste? please?” soobin begs pathetic making you huff. “fine”

a/n: ugh i love soobin

[achaotichuman]

ACOTAR Rant

Have y'all missed these? I have. The rambling juice machine is running again apparently.

Okay, so I just saw a post @an6elic-d3vil made about the scene in Frozen where Elsa freezes Anna's heart reminding them of Tamlin's outburst in the study in ACOMAF, and it triggered a very very long rant about this. You can find the original post here, I didn't want to hijack it with my senseless rambling.

Also, side note, I think I've gone into some detail about what I'm going on about here before. I don't think I've ever made a full explanation of my line of thinking. But just to preface, if I get a singular comment or reblog calling me an abuse apologist, a victim blamer or a misogynist, you will not be acknowledged and you will be blocked.

Anyway, onto the rant.

Honestly, this is the best example of what happened between Tamlin and Feyre. No one blames Elsa for harming Anna, despite her finally accessing full power, no one would expect her to have full control over them, she had lived in fear of them her entire life. She saw herself as a monster who could hurt or potentially kill Anna, and when eventually pushed to her absolute breaking point, she exploded. Anna wasn't at fault either, but later on, it's clear she recognized that Elsa wasn't in full control, and that what she had done was not an example of her true character but a reaction she had no control over.

It's the same situation with Feyre, minus how Anna handled the situation, Tamlin had just gotten back the full extent of his powers, whilst still under immense stress. He canonically did not want the High lord's magic, and viewed himself as a monster who could hurt or potentially kill those around him. He lived in fear of himself, and when eventually pushed to his absolute breaking point, he exploded. It was a natural reaction that he had no control over whatsoever. Feyre was not at fault for it either, but unlike Anna, Feyre actively went out of her way to attribute this outburst to Tamlin's true character, when it was obviously a reaction that he actively regretted.

Tamlin then tried to reign in his magic, despite still being under immense stress, and having to deal with power that was out of control. He tried to be better, but unlike Anna with Elsa, who tried to help Elsa, Feyre sabotaged his attempts and purposefully pushed him to the point that he would lose control of his magic, and then put herself in harms way so that she could ruin his reputation.

When you look at it how it is and not through the eyes of Feyre's biased POV, what Feyre did to Tamlin when she returned to the Spring Court, is far more sinister.

Was Feyre being harmed by Tamlin's outburst of magic the first time her fault? No, of course not.

Was Feyre being harmed by Tamlin's outburst of magic the second time, when she manipulated him into having an attack, and then went out of her way to ensure he harmed her so that she could ruin his reputation and therefore destabilize the Court, her fault? HMMMMM....

Not to mention that throughout that scene, at least from my shitty memory, Tamlin was aware that he was slowly reaching his breaking point, and telling, practically pleading with Feyre, to stop, so that he didn't hurt her by accident.

Hmm, an orchestrated pattern of behavior, in this case preying on your partner's fear and high-functioning anxiety that is driven by their intense trauma, that centers around forcing a reaction out of them so that you can maintain power and control over how other people perceive them for your own personal gain? Sounds a lot like...

On a side note, I'm also kind of done with the continued rhetoric that Feyre should have 'just gone after Tamlin' and left the rest of the Spring Court alone. Because, honest to God, explain to me why she is justified in abusing Tamlin.

"He locked her up." She was attempting to follow him onto dangerous territory, despite being untrained, in a new body, and having a history of running into dangerous situations and winding up needing to saved. Even when it came to Amarantha, Feyre DIED. She has never succeeded once in protecting herself on her own when in a highly dangerous situation, she always ended up needing someone beside her or to rescue her.

"He was controlling her." He had a few sentries ensure that she would not be in harm's way. They had Amarantha's big boss coming at them and Feyre just killed one of his biggest assets, you don't think that Tamlin wouldn't be smart enough to know that Hybern would have his eyes set on Feyre?

Should Tamlin have helped Feyre in training her new powers? Yes. Did his fear of losing Feyre again blind him to what she actually needed? Also yes. But I implore you to refer to the Elsa and Anna example above. Now, that's a little bit different, Elsa was the one locking herself away, but the principle remains. Elsa controlled Anna in not allowing her to marry Hans, hiding information that caused the entire plot of the movie, and wound up harming Anna significantly because of this. But the important thing to note is that, Elsa didn't know any better. How could she have known that Anna would be able to handle this information when it literally almost killed them as kids? Plus, no one would ever say Elsa wasn't entirely correct in telling Anna she could not marry Hans, she did know better in that regard. Why would Tamlin want to involve Feyre in more magic, when she literally died a few months ago after getting too involved with Fae? And why would Tamlin not know better than Feyre when it came to her following him on a dangerous mission, he has been in these situations before, and knows more about them.

Feyre was traumatized and needed a space that Tamlin could not give her, but Tamlin needed a space that Feyre couldn't give him either. They didn't help each other, they weren't physically able to, and neither were in a mental state in which they could successfully care for the other. And that is neither of their fault. But I again ask you, why is that a reason that Feyre should be allowed to abuse Tamlin as 'punishment'?

I have absolutely strayed from the original point I wanted to make, but I'm sort of glad I did. I've never considered Elsa and Anna as a possible example of Feyre and Tamlin's relationship and yet, it's almost a perfect reflection. Trauma will change the way people think, and when panicked people lose their rationale. Tamlin should have done things differently, and later on, when he saw how his actions led to Feyre ending up in the Night Court, he actively tried to be better.

If any of you have anything to add, please do. I think there is also something to be said about the power imbalance between Feyre and Tamlin, but I think it's also similar to that of Elsa and Anna, where Elsa is Queen and Anna is the Princess.

Also, obviously, Feyre's fucked up perception of Tamlin is driven by SJM trying to break up Feylin to make Feysand happen, so a lot of things that Tamlin does are just... very random? They happen not because, Tamlin as a character would do that, but because SJM is trying to make Tamlin a horrible person. Which she is failing to do, because all of these things happen off screen, e.i killing the sentries who were on duty when Morrigan kidnapped Feyre, giving Lucien a black eyes and a split lip, etc. We don't see the very random acts of cruelty on screen, and if we do see acts of cruelty, they tend to be for a good reason. For example, the wraiths that had nothing to give for the Tithe, and Tamlin being like "Well you give something, or you're gonna be hunted down." This happens because, one- everyone has to do it, no exceptions are ever made, and two- what each person has is calculated and their taxes are all equal to the amount they have, which is extremely fair tbh.

So, yeah, this is my very long post of why Feyre is actually a really shitty character and what she did to Tamlin and the Spring Court was not a #girlyboss move, but actually a "You abused your ex for funzies" move.

[nile-the-empathy-cleric]

I'm a huge fan of your work, your writing is so beautiful, and the way you add your own personal love of art is just; it's genuinely amazing. I was wondering if you have any paintings that you think each of your favorite characters would represent or maybe even what u see when u look at them. ❤️🖼🎨🖌

Oh boy do I love this ask! Firstly, than you 🥺 you're too kind 💕

Second I have so many paintings that spring to mind for various characters! Immediately off the bat my brain went right to Lestat and how his presence and aesthetic (especially in 1920s New Orleans) gave gigantic J.C. Leyendecker vibes.

(left) The Sleuth J.C. Leyendecker, ca. 1906 and (right) Arrow Shirt Collar Ad, 1916. By J.C. Leyendecker For Arrow Shirt Collars, 1916

The way Leyendecker plays with shadow, light, and color to project an air of seduction and power is just *chef's kiss.* He is a master at depicting an idealized masculinity that still has a level of vulnerability. I don't think it's just the styling/ fashion of the men in Leyendecker's illustrations that remind me of Lestat, but the features as well. J.C. gives them this attitude of nonchalance but there's something deeply concerned with appearances underneath. Is that not Lestat?

For Claudia there are a couple. First (not a painting but a sculpture) is Degas' The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. I look at this piece and think of the history of ballet and the connotations of ballet at the time Degas was working. In France at the time ballerinas were highly taken advantage of and exploited. The exploitation was sexual in nature and simultaneously adultified and infantilized. They were highly fetishized. It's very sad and tragic and it reminds me of Claudia. The Little Dancer has an almost defiant energy to her, like there is a sense of pride and restraint, something dignified despite her lesser social standing.

I also see something of Claudia in this piece: Girl in Pink Dress, ca. 1927 by Laura Wheeler Waring. I also think this girl embodies the qualities of both Bailey and Delainey's Claudias–– there's simultaneously an innocence and maturity. I see something similar in Isabella, (aka Young Woman with a Fan), 1906 by Simon Maris and I just think it's neat to see art of Black people done by a white person from the early 1900s that isn't fetishizing or racist (don't look at J.C. Leyendecker's art of Black people, yikes!)

For Louis, my first thought was Derek Fordjour's STRWMN, 2020. It gives NOLA Louis to me in terms of style, but also the colorful and fun energy has the vibes of his little journey of gay self-discovery in Paris. I also see Louis in Lois Mailou Jones' Negro Youth, 1929. It mirrors depressed Louis for me. There is something very fragile in his expression, but you can tell he's trying to be strong, much like Louis.

As for Armand? Well, the number one is Botticelli's Saint Sebastian (it just has an uncanny resemblance to Assad) and the metaphor is too apt to not point out. The other that immediately make me think of Armand is The Abduction of Ganymede by Correggio. It's less the painting and more the myth it's based on, but out of all the Ganymede paintings, Correggio's is my favorite.

And Daniel is just like... any Nan Goldin photo, but I'll pick Heart-shaped bruise, 1980. I don't think I need to give my thoughts here 😂

Thank you again for such a fun ask! I appreciate every message I get from anons and mutuals alike 🥰

[*Edit: Being transparent––I went back and corrected a mistake I made in the original because I don't want an inaccurate/ racist post going around, even after a correction in the reblogs if people aren't seeing the original. I accidentally implied that Laura Wheeler Waring was white. I meant the statement about Simon Maris, who was a Dutch portrait artist. Laura Wheeler Waring was a prominent Black artist. Lesson to self: do not write deeply thoughtful posts at 1 am while you have a fever.]

[cloudxgears]

I like to think that the way Jinx reacts to seeing Vi in the enforcer uniform is less about what happened to their parents and more about how her Vi never would have done that and realising the Vi she understood and who was familiar and safe and recognisable to her is gone for good. Because obviously no one in the Undercity likes enforcers or their topside oppressors, but Jinx is never once shown with the same vehement hatred of enforcers that young Vi had.

I think this is just about Vi. It's about Jinx's disappointment towards the big sister she spent her life looking up to, and her shock that Vi's life experiences were that bad that they've led her to lose any character and principles she used to have.

I really don't think Jinx ever cared as much about gaining freedom for Zaun and revenge on Piltover as young-Vi and Silco did. Jinx' world was always quite insular. She focused on her special interest and developing her talent, making bombs and weapons, to enable her survival, improve her self-esteem and to try to help the ones she loves. Everything she did was about proving she could survive after coming from nothing and being the kicked puppy, and to prove herself to the ones she admires.

The whole point of the teaparty scene was about deciding who to trust and who to choose and if it had happened differently she would have gone off with Vi and done what it took to make Vi keep loving her and if that meant not using the bomb she wouldn't have done it.

She isn't exactly driven by revenge like pre-teaparty Vi and post-Cassandra Cait, or by wanting dignity and wider respect like Silco and young-Vi. She's driven by loyalty and her desire to be valued and seen by those she loves, and she has no one left to be loyal to, Silco is dead and her Vi isn't there anymore, so she's dead inside.

Having her own daughter to care for (and probably losing her) is what will make her want to become a symbol and put the fire in her to truly want revenge for the first time.

But that moment in the smog seeing Vi in uniform below her is the moment the teaparty and watching Jinx use the bomb on the council building was for Vi. It's Jinx' first moment realising Vi isn't safe for her anymore and has become a total stranger. That's when she's confronted by understanding that she'll never get her Vi back again and she doesn't have the history or connection to this new woman anymore to be able to understand her. It's the first time realising the memory of the Vi she has loved and hated and held on to all this time has been extinguished by this imposter.

And she naturally has a total panic attack at the loss.

It gives you more understanding of Vi's internal feelings about Jinx. Vi doesn't show her reactions in the same big way Jinx does. She had to be Powder's parental figure as a kid and she desired to follow in Vander's footsteps and become a leader one day, so she had to constantly maintain a positive and strong front and suppress anything else. She always made sure whenever Powder looked up at her to project, 'Everything is going to be fine, because I will make it so, don't worry :)' because she was a great big sister.

And then she was locked in prison for 7+ years where she couldn't afford to show weakness or have obvious breakdowns. Also I like how her coping mechanism is shown by her general attitude to be optimism, and even in somewhere as desolate as Stillwater it's easy to imagine her against all odds fighting to maintain a can-do attitude and having a mantra of 'It will be fine and I'll get out of this one day because I have to', and that mindset takes a lot of suppressing too.

So she implodes rather than explodes in a way that's difficult for an observer to notice or understand. Which is why her S2 actions so far look so wack to most people.

The moment in the smog and the panic attack after is the first time Jinx is having the same big realisation Vi had to her during Season 1, realising that is not her safety or the big sister she can look up to anymore. It's losing a part of herself that Jinx admits at the end of S1 has kept her alive all these years.

[makorragal-312]

Here's how the BuckTommy break-up should've went down...

Tommy reveals that him and Abby were previously engaged and Buck become visibly bothered at the mention of her When Tommy presses him on it, he tells him about his history with her and how she just left him in LA without bothering to formally break-up with him, along with him finding out she was engaged when they encountered each other at the train emergency.

But Tommy being Tommy ends up cracking a couple of jokes at Buck's expense and is relatively insensitive about how Abby's ghosting impacted Buck, leaving Buck hurt and a bit embarrassed as Tommy leaves him to pay the bill.

Then, he can go to see Maddie at work where he vents to her about what happened. Then they can have the whole scene with Joss giving his advice.

BUT, instead of listening solely to Josh, Buck goes to see Hen.

Buck tells her about what happened and she is immediately sympathetic. He ends up telling her that he never expected Tommy to be so insensitive about what he went through with Abby and how it didn't seem to be like him, only for Hen to make a slight jab about how that's exactly what Tommy is like. Buck is immediately alarmed and ends up pressing Hen to tell him more until she finally caves. She tells him about the way Tommy treated her when she first came to the 118 and how he did the same thing to Chim. She even decides to go as far as to make him privy to the conversation she and Karen had with Tommy at the medal ceremony.

Buck, obviously, is stunned and horrified at what he learned and immediately leaves the Wilson household.

Once he's back home, he spends the whole time running through his entire relationship with Tommy from the first kiss up to now. And while he can think back to a couple of good moments, the moments that come back up the most are the bad ones.

Him leaving Buck behind at the restaurant.

Him devouring cupcakes while Eddie's getting his heart shattered.

How pessimistic he was at the medal ceremony reception.

How he practically admitted he and his coworkers were laughing at him getting his shoulder relocated.

Him not bothering to indulge his research.

How he practically called him ugly because of his boils and didn't even attempt to kiss him.

Every single comment he made on how hot he was and not a single one about his interests, likes, or him as a person.

And as of late, him making jokes about him being ghosted.

All instances where he felt stomped on while his partner was going on like nothing happened.

The same way that Abby did when he learned she ghosted him and came back in his life with a whole new fiance.

After that, Buck calls Tommy to meet him at his place.

Later that night, Tommy comes over and Buck lays out everything on the table. He tells him about how hard and lowkey embarrassing it was to tell him about how he was also seeing Abby and how the relationship ended and how he didn't appreciate how Tommy reacted to it. Tommy tries to deflect and say that he was only being funny, but Buck pushes back. He brings up all of the times he hurt him and how it surprised him to know that he's done the same to so many people.

Tommy ends up asking where he got that from and Buck says nothing. But after a few seconds, he asks if Hen or Chim told him something and Buck gets furious. He scolds Tommy for being so bigoted towards them and how it made no sense for him to treat them like that when he was a gay man. Tommy tries to make an excuse about him being in the closet and going along with Gerrard to protect himself, but Buck immediately shuts it down.

The two of them continue to have a back and forth and it isn't until Tommy tells him to "grow up" that Buck stops arguing, a look of finality flashing across his face. He ends up telling Tommy point blank that he really liked him and how he made him realize a part of himself that he never knew existed, but he couldn't be with someone so dismissive and so capable of hurting other people with no regard for their feelings.

Tommy immediately laughs it up and asks Buck if he's actually breaking up with him. And Buck says yes with no hesitation.

Seeing that he's serious, Tommy heads to the door but not before commenting on how he thought Buck was cute and how they could have some fun out of it, but he was wrong. He opens the door and says "See you around, Evan."

And Buck, with a look of seriousness and resigned hurt, simply says.

"My name is Buck. If you actually cared to know me, you'd know that."

And Tommy simply shrugs and leaves.

[lemotmo]

He counts Buck as part of his joy 🩶

Q. I will admit that I misread the ship I attached myself too but I think you all are doing the same thing. Eddie and Buck have barely spoken this season let alone appear to be close to figuring out life changing feelings for one another. I think you all are playing yourselves as well. Just a heads up. And call backs are inevitably going to be repeated given how long the show has been on. These callbacks are coincidental nothing more.

A. Most of their dialogue for the season so far was in episode 5 so I'll agree that their conversations have been minimal for them, but that was very clearly an intentional choice and we got the answer as to why in episode 6. Eddie has been denying himself things that bring him joy. Eddie has been punishing himself. There is a long established history of Eddie enjoying and being endeared by Buck's ramblings. Eddie likes to listen to Buck talk. That is a canon fact. And while they haven't had that much dialogue the show has still made a point of giving them at least one scene together in every episode. We have also seen Eddie looking at and too Buck numerous times. These have almost certainly now been intentional choices. Eddie doesn't want to allow himself his normal with Buck but he's still letting himself look at Buck. Some part of Eddie KNOWS. I think a growing number of people believe that.

And yes calls will be repeated to an extent but they're not 'accidentally' only repeating Buck and Eddie calls. That's a deliberate writing choice. We just don't know why yet. To me it still feels like he's trying to redo the season 5 he wanted without outright repeating it episode for episode. The season has been too similar to 5 so far to be a coincidence. And I don't think anyone is close to admitting or acknowledging anything yet. I think we'll get some kind of cliffhanger with one of them in the mid season finale and a think or nod to the other realizing it or acknowledging something in that moment but I think the first part of 8b will be used as a build up. Episode 118 looks more and more likely every day. And the break will absolutely be promoted using them and what might happen. Their follow numbers, streaming numbers and trending numbers all increased following episode 5. The show clearly has a plan. We haven't misread anything, anon.

Thank you Nonny!

Yep, yep and yep. I don't think anything is coincidental on a TV-show. Everything has meaning. They only have a short amount of time to tell a full story, so a lot of the signs are there, but they're in the background or a part of the decor or clothing.

And when you watch the show long enough, you start to notice patterns and little subtle nudges and hints.

I will most certainly be rewatching 8a during hiatus and see if I can pick up on the little things I might have missed and that haven't been discussed yet.

I agree, the show clearly has a plan.

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[gendrie]

arya/gendry and ned/catelyn are not frequently considered alongside each other, but i think theres a surprising amount that they have in common as pairings. all four characters have explicit connections to one another within the story too.

obviously, arya has a relationship with both of her parents. that makes the fact that gendry has interacted with both of them all the more compelling to me. arya has a deep appreciation for her parent's marriage. she is the only stark child we see deeply value the love between ned and catelyn. it wasn't the most flashy, but it was a very successful and loving partnership between two people. especially by westeros standards.

GENDRY AND NED

Ned nodded. He decided that he liked Tobho Mott, master armorer. "If the day ever comes when Gendry would rather wield a sword than forge one, send him to me. He has the look of a warrior." (Eddard, AGOT)

when gendry met ned he was his typical outspoken, rude self, but this didnt bother ned in the slightest. by the end of the scene ned is trying to recruit gendry into his household. he promises on robert's deathbed to look out for his friends children thinking of gendry and the others. he did not get a chance to guard the bastards but arya looked out for gendry while they were together.

arya and gendry have a couple conversations about ned too. gendry isnt overly impressed but it shows a familiarity between the two. he knows her family history.

GENDRY AND CATELYN/LADY STONEHEART

"M'lady means for you to answer for your crimes." "M'lady." The wine was making her head spin. It was hard to think. "Stoneheart. Is that who you mean?" Lord Randyll had spoken of her, back at Maidenpool. "Lady Stoneheart." "Some call her that. Some call her other things. The Silent Sister. Mother Merciless. The Hangwoman." (Brienne, AFFC)

arya really wanted gendry to come home with her. she says she will tell her mother how he helped her, but gendry brushes this gesture off. he did not want to serve her family, but thats exactly what ends up happening. gendry was there when they found catelyn's body in the river and beric gave her his last life. now, he serves lady stoneheart and seems to have no issues doing so. he appears to be loyal to what remains of catelyn stark.

RIVERRUN

And one day fifteen years ago, this second father had become a brother as well, as he and Ned stood together in the sept at Riverrun to wed two sisters, the daughters of Lord Hoster Tully. (AGOT) You could have made swords at Riverrun for my brother, she thought, but what she said was, "If you want to be some stupid outlaw knight and get hanged, why should I care? I'll be at Riverrun, ransomed, with my brother." (ASOS)

ned and catelyn were married at riverrun; her childhood home and the same castle arya was trying to reach with gendry. i wouldn't rule the two of them actually getting there at some point as i think its likely the bwb will try to take riverrun in twow.

BROTHEL SCENES

“A brothel,” [Ned] said as he seized Littlefinger by the shoulder and spun him around. “You’ve brought me all this way to take me to a brothel.” “Your wife is inside,” Littlefinger said. It was the final insult. “Brandon was too kind to you,” Ned said as he slammed the small man back against a wall and shoved his dagger up under the little pointed chin beard. (AGOT) “I bet this is a brothel,” [Arya] whispered to Gendry. “You don’t even know what a brothel is.” “I do so,” she insisted. “It’s like an inn, with girls.” He was turning red again. “What are you doing here, then?” he demanded. “A brothel’s no fit place for no bloody highborn lady, everybody knows that.” […] Gendry put a heavy hand on the old man’s shoulder, and squeezed. “Leave her be.” (ASOS)

not your average scene setting for an asoiaf pairing, but both end up in brothels together. ned has one of his most aggressive outbursts when littlefinger suggests catelyn is a whore and gendry steps in to defend arya when she is mistaken for one too

MY LADY/M'LADY

Inside, Catelyn was waiting. She cried out when she saw him, ran to him, and embraced him fiercely. "My lady," Ned whispered in wonderment. (AGOT) "If you start calling me m'lady, even Hot Pie is going to notice. And you better keep on pissing the same way too." "As m'lady commands." (ACOK)

self explanatory but catelyn is ned's lady. gendry calls arya m'lady both in deference and anger.

AN OUTSIDER

He slid Ice back into its sheath. "You did not come here to tell me crib tales. I know how little you like this place. What is it, my lady?" Catelyn took her husband's hand. (AGOT)

"No," the old man said. "Northmen, they were. Savages who worship trees. They wanted the Kingslayer, they said." Arya heard him, and chewed her lip. She could feel Gendry looking at her. It made her angry and ashamed. (ASOS)

gendry is a southerner like catelyn so neither is fully comfortable with the faith of the old gods. its a cross cultural barrier both relationships share.

WEIRWOODS

Catelyn found her husband beneath the weirwood, seated on a moss-covered stone. The greatsword Ice was across his lap, and he was cleaning the blade in those waters black as night. A thousand years of humus lay thick upon the godswood floor, swallowing the sound of her feet, but the red eyes of the weirwood seemed to follow her as she came. "Ned," she called softly. He lifted his head to look at her. "Catelyn," he said. (AGOT) The next day they rode to a place called High Heart, a hill so lofty that from atop it Arya felt as though she could see half the world. Around its brow stood a ring of huge pale stumps, all that remained of a circle of once-mighty weirwoods. Arya and Gendry walked around the hill to count them. There were thirty-one, some so wide that she could have used them for a bed. (ASOS)

arya/gendry and catelyn/ned have scenes among the weirwoods or whats left of them. gendry becomes a knight of the hollow hill too.

HIS FURY

"They say your friend Robert has fathered a dozen bastards himself." "And none of them has ever been seen at court!" Ned blazed. "The Lannister woman has seen to that. How can you be so damnably cruel, Catelyn? He is only a boy. He—" His fury was on him. "That's right," he said angrily. "I'm too bloody lowborn to be kin to m'lady high." Arya was taken aback by the fury in his voice. "That's not the way I meant it." "Yes it is."

they fight! i really do think they strike a similar cord too. arya and catelyn feel comfortable arguing with them and ned and gendry do get angry but thats a normal aspect of all relationships

IN THE BUFF

So when they had finished, Ned rolled off and climbed from her bed, as he had a thousand times before. He crossed the room, pulled back the heavy tapestries, and threw open the high narrow windows one by one, letting the night air into the chamber. The wind swirled around him as he stood facing the dark, naked and empty-handed. Catelyn pulled the furs to her chin and watched him. (AGOT) For a moment she did not think he understood, but then he slid out from under the blankets. Naked, he padded across the room, shrugged into a loose roughspun tunic, and climbed down from the loft after her. (ACOK)

no comment

BEAUTIFUL

[...] Catelyn replied, watching the sword as he stroked it. She could see the rippling deep within the steel, where the metal had been folded back on itself a hundred times in the forging. Catelyn had no love for swords, but she could not deny that Ice had its own beauty. (AGOT) Then he'd go off to polish his helm. It was a beautiful helm, rounded and curved, with a slit visor and two great metal bull's horns. Arya would watch him polish the metal with an oilcloth, shining it so bright you could see the flames of the cookfire reflected in the steel. Yet he never actually put it on his head. (ACOK)

arya staring at gendry here is a solid indicator that she's developing feelings for him and the catelyn/ned scene supports that.

HONORS????

"Robert came all this way to see you, to bring you these great honors, you cannot throw them back in his face." "Honors?" Ned laughed bitterly. "In his eyes, yes," she said. "And in yours?" "And in mine," she blazed, angry now. Why couldn't he see? (AGOT) "Winterfell," she said at once. "I'd tell Mother how you helped me, and you could stay—" "Would m'lady permit? Could I shoe your horses for you, and make swords for your lordly brothers?" Sometimes he made her so angry. "You stop that!" (ACOK)

more arguing but in a distinctly old married couple sort of way. catelyn and arya are actually taking similar stances here, but ned and gendry rudely brush them off.

im not saying these were intentional on grrms part (at last not all of them) but i do think its highlights the romantic subtext between arya/gendry and that the similarities to ned/catelyn could certainly suggest some longevity to their relationship.

[pomefioredove]

Hi, I saw that the requests were closed, but I wanted to share with you one of my thoughts, maybe even an idea. This looks more like an AU, but let's imagine that Maleanor is alive and her son brings his partner to meet her. How do you think she would react to the fact that her son's partner is a human? Considering that she hates humans, it would hardly be a happy meeting, but for the sake of her son, I think she would try to find a compromise. Of course, on my part, this would be a romanticization of the character, but I would like to think that after some time, she will treat her son's partner like her own child.

I think more about the logistics of malleyuu than I'd care to admit. even without Maleanor in the picture, there are many influential nobles and senators(?) in Briar Valley who would surely be opposed to Malleus choosing a human

while fae/human relationships aren't "forbidden" or even that uncommon at this point in history from what we know about Sebek, this is the future king of Briar Valley we're talking about. I can't imagine that having a human queen/king/monarch etc after thousands of years of a pure fae lineage wouldn't be a problem. at least for some. it would cause considerable unrest amongst the older fae, and most of the senate would object to it. but Malleus is... Malleus. it's an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object, and would cause political unrest no matter what. even if Yuu is perfect, even if Lilia takes their side, even if Malleus throws a temper tantrum that kicks off overblot 2.0...

tradition in a place like Briar Valley is... kind of important. in canon it's stated over and over again that Briar Valley is extremely old-fashioned and traditional, to the point where basic technology isn't available to most of the population (can I assume that most don't have electricity or running water, too?). I wouldn't be surprised if there's some ancient laws preventing humans marrying into the royal bloodline that would have to be overturned just so malleyuu could happen

I'm sure not everyone would have a problem with it, like I said, fae/human marriages aren't a taboo (thank god), but there will be a lot of fae who would. not only is Yuu non-royal, a commoner, but also a human, and a human who can't perform magic. not only will Yuu die long, long before Malleus does, but there's a chance their children, if they're able to have them, won't inherit any magic (is this a problem? well, not to me, and not to malleyuu, but to the senate and people of Briar Valley, I cannot doubt it would be)

but like I said, Malleus is Malleus. he's like a toddler, stubborn and selfish, he loves his toys and doesn't want to share them. if he truly falls in love with Yuu, and they love him back, there's surely nothing anyone could do to prevent him from marrying them. I dare say he'd sooner step down as heir to the throne than to give them up. he'd at least threaten to

this is like, period-drama type civil unrest. marie antoinette type civil unrest. the political and social ramifications of malleyuu are the most interesting part of their dynamic to me tbh!

as for Maleanor? I love her. and she would 100% be against malleyuu for the listed reasons. unstoppable force vs immovable object, again. but she also loves her son, and I do think she would warm up to Yuu eventually, just... with that lingering sense of dread

[yall-batman-fanfic]

A Promise Across Time | Bruce Wayne/Batman x Magician!Reader ft Justice League Dark [Part 3/3]

Synopsis: With his memories back, Bruce and Vivian plan to escape their cell before she gets burned at the stake and hanged for his crimes. Constantine comes to the rescue with a reckless plan.

Note: Mentions and descriptions of sexual acts are in this chapter.

“Enjoy that last embrace,” the soldier banged on their cell door, sneering at them. 

Bruce and Vivian got up from the slab they were at and faced the soldier who interrupted their reunion.

“By sunset you,” he pointed at Bruce who held Vivian in his arms protectively. “Will hang for your crimes, and you, witch,” he spat at her direction, Bruce was about to attack him but Vivian held him at his place. “Will burn at the stake.”

The soldier left soon after and Vivian sighed. “I love reading about history but I hate living it. But I do love the fashion.”

Bruce laughed and squeezed her hand. “We need to get out of here.”

“Really? What gave you the idea your hanging or my dinner date to a fucking barbeque?” 

“Can't you teleport us out of here?”

“I need to know the location. Its coordinates, its surroundings. But what I know is modern Gotham not 18th century Gotham. The last thing we need is to find ourselves in the middle of a war room with people with more guns.”

Bruce looked around the cell to find something to use as a weapon or break. He went to the small window and shook its bars. He pulled back with all his strength but can't remove it. Seeing his frustration, Vivian reminded him of her magic and removed the bars herself. She was about to jump up to see the outside but Bruce wrapped his arms around her legs and carried her up. Vivian looked out the small window.

“What do you see?” He asked.

“An alleyway. And a lot of people are shitting and – John?”

“John Constantine?” Bruce asked.

Vivian pulled back from the window as John’s face appeared there.

“I see you have already cleared the Bats’ jogged memory,” said Constantine. “And without burning him, congratulations. You just graduated from being an amateur in magic. Again.”

Vivian got down from Bruce's hold and said, “Get your ass in here Constantine so we can use the Eye of Chronos and we can get out of here before my appointment at town square.”

“Oh, yeah, I saw them making the stake earlier. And the gallows too. They placed it right across each other. Who knew an execution can be romantic.”

“Constantine,” Bruce scolded him.

“Calm down.” John disappeared from the window and appeared inside the cell with them. “Cozy, some rat droppings are there and human bile… anyway we can't use the Eye now.”

“What do you mean?” Vivian was panicking.

“I might have sat on it when we landed here – don't worry, I already fixed the bloody thing. It just needs to get more power.”

“How long?” Bruce asked.

“A couple of hours. That's why –” He stopped them both before they could speak. “-- I made arrangements. There's a ship at the docks. We can make a run for it and be at sea, far from Gotham or any English ship and wait for the Eye to work again and carry three passengers back.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Vivian asked.

“An explosion to get all of the soldiers here and far from the docks. Which, I'm sure you can handle, Vee. A hint, the square is far enough, and can get everyone panicking here and not there.”

“I know where the square is,” Vivian summoned the seals again and cast the incantation. As planned, an explosion happened at the square. John checked the window and saw the flames and smoke that transformed to a large bat, scaring people around them. Screams were heard and the stampede to get to their homes. 

“Now, we wait for your guards to come in and apprehend you,” John said. “Won't be long now.”

It did not take long for their door to be kicked down and a swarm of soldiers came in with bayonets pointed at them, some questioning where John came from, and other screaming for Vivian to stop the witchcraft she was doing at the square. Bruce and John had Vivian between them, away from the bayonets and the soldiers’ grasp.

“John, we need to go,” Vivian said to him.

“Not yet, this isn't all of them,” John whispered.

More and more soldiers started to be aggressive and Bruce had to disarm a man who came at them and took the weapon. 

“John!”

“Alright, brace yourselves,” John opened a portal below them and all three of them fell from the floor and into the sea. Splashing into the salt water, Vivian struggled to get back up with the weight of her dress, rushing to her rescue, Bruce removed the heavy layers of her dress and carried her to the surface where they both gasped for air.

“You said there was a ship!” Bruce told Constantine.

“There was!” John looked around. “There it is. Bastards sailed off earlier than they're supposed to!”

“I'll do it!” Vivian summoned a portal and moved it past them, and one moment they were in the water, the next they were on the docks of the ship with men startled and pointing their weapons at them. 

“Witch! Witch!” They cried out as they glared at Vivian.

“I'm getting tired of being called that,” she spat out salt water. She then moved her hand and the ropes of the ship started to move, capturing all of the men on the ship and tossed them out to sea. “Don't worry, if they can swim, they can reach the shore,” Vivian told Bruce as she got up from the ground. Another wave of a hand and they all were dry. 

“Now, we need to get away from here before those men you mercifully threw off board tell the others with faster ships what happened and they chase us,” said John. He summoned his magical seals and had every element of the ship move. The removing the sails from their secured lines, the helm being stirred, and to support his work Vivian summoned the wind to push them away from the port and further to international waters. 

They did not stop until they saw Gotham as just mountains and torches lighting it. 

Tired, both John and Vivian laid on the deck, panting. Approaching them, Bruce sat beside Vivian and offered them both a plate of food – bread, fruit, and bacon. He cooked the bacon just right. 

“Finally,” said John. “You made yourself useful.”

Batman glared at him but that glare faltered as Vivian placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, my love,” she said to him and took a bite off the bacon.

Unable to hold it any longer, Bruce had her face him so he could place a kiss on her lips. He just swallowed salt water earlier, it was enough to wash away whatever he vomited earlier. John let out a loud cough, breaking their kiss.

“If you want to go all lovey-dovey, do it inside,” John pointed to the door. “We still have time to kill for the Eye of Chronos to fix itself, and for you to recharge. So don't tire her out, Bats.”

Sighing, Vivian patted Bruce's cheek and got up, bringing him with her, but before they went inside, Vivian leaned down and placed a kiss on John's cheek and hugged him. “Thank you, John,” she said.

“No problem, love… now go be with your husband,” he squeezed her hand and lets her go.

~*~

The captain's quarters was spacious with it holding the books, records, maps, the table where he conducts his business, and his very own bed at the corner. Vivian set their plate on the table and went through the captains’ things, and when she found what she was looking for she said, “aha!” She held out the bottle of scotch from the drawer.

“Should you be drinking?” Bruce asked.

“I deserve one after a very long day,” she told him as she opened the bottle and gulped a couple of times. “That's more than enough.” She went to take a bite from the bacon and bread. Casting spells was starving work and she just realized that she hasn't eaten since they went to the Watchtower too! She definitely needed food now. 

But how can she eat when Bruce started kissing her. He trailed his lips from the exposed part of her shoulder and up to her neck where he knew made her moan.

“I missed you,” he said against her skin. He purposely bit on that spot making her moan. “I missed touching you like this. I miss feeling you. Tasting you…” his hand was pulling up her skirts until he felt the skin of her thigh and he rubbed her there and was slowly hiking up to his goal.

“God, Vivian,” He breathed out as he brushed fingers at sex and slowly moved between her folds where she was already wet. “Don't be loud, Constantine is just outside… and these have thin walls.”

Vivian turned to him and said, “I don't care,” she kissed his lips. “I miss my husband and I want you now.” Holding his free hand, she led him to her breast where the ribbon was loose and he could reach inside. She moaned into his lips as he pushed his fingers in her. 

“I don't know how I survived centuries without you,” Bruce kissed jaw line. “Without this.”

Vivian laughed. He was right on centuries but she doubts that was literally how long he's been celibate. Still, considering they can't have a week without making love or fucking one another, a month was long for them. Though she didn't want to, Vivian pulled his hand away from her sex she could face him. She brushed her fingers across his beard, seeing some of the strands were white, and how it was unkempt. She missed looking into those eyes.

“I'm sure you want to know what's happening at home,” she said with a smile. “Things are a mess in Gotham since they found out Batman was gone, but Dick is leading them to get everything back in order –”

“I don't want to talk about Gotham right now. I care for our family but right now, while we're trapped here in this ship, at this time, let me be with you, Viv. Let me be a husband first,” Bruce leaned on her forehead. “Let me touch my wife who I have missed so much and have hurt by leaving her.”

“It wasn't your fault.”

“But you had to go through all of it.”

“Casualties of the job.”

“Incompetence,” Bruce kissed her. “I'm not just Batman anymore, Viv. I'm a father. I'm your husband, and I have my vows to you that even death can't break.” 

He skillfully pulled the strings that held her corset and removed it from her entirely, followed by the bralette, and the skirts and underwear, leaving her naked before him. He brushed his fingers on the red marks left by the corset, tracing them until they stopped before it could mark her breasts.

Under her gaze, he took off his clothes and threw each one of them to the floor. Both naked, Bruce and Vivian looked at each other's bodies, familiarizing themselves of anything that has changed during their time apart. Nothing has changed but for some new scars he got. 

Unable to hold himself anymore, Bruce lifted her off the ground, sweeping her off her feet and making Vivian laugh. He laid her on the captain's bed and hovered over her body. He took his time memorizing her face again before leaning down to kiss her lips and her neck.

Her body felt like it was on fire in all the right places as his mouth moved from her collarbone, to her chest, and to her breast. She dug her fingers to his back, earning a grunt of pleasure from him, as he ran his tongue across her nipple. 

“Bruce!” She moaned out his name as she felt him press himself on her sex. He would only brush against her over and over but never giving what has been building inside at the pit of her stomach. She arched her back a bit more to brush against him again, this earned a smile from him.

“Please,” she breathed, grasping to his lower back to emphasize the need. “Bruce, please.”

Bruce dragged his tongue up her belly and to her breast again, taking his time there, and then trailed kisses on her face. And as he nestled at the crook of her neck, she felt him smile as Bruce thrust into her in a long, powerful stroke — and bit down on her to hide his loud moan.

But she didn't. 

He stayed there for a moment, overwhelmed with feeling her again until Vivian started moving her hips then he began to move with her. Setting a lazy, smooth pace as he looked up to her for a kiss. His pace increased as his kisses became fierce, his tongue tangled with hers. When it wasn't enough, he pulled away from her lips and held her thighs, pinning her down to the bed as he moved deeper, harder. 

Their moans and grunts, and the creaking of the bed overpowered the sound of the ship rocking with the waves of the sea. Neither cared as they were too preoccupied reuniting with one another. 

He came into her, spasm after spasm filled her inside, and the feeling of him also triggered her climax. But this wasn't enough. They've made love as husband and wife, this time Bruce wanted to fuck her. Pulling out, making them both moan and their mixed essence coming out, he whispered to Vivian his desire and with a nod she turned her back on him and got on all fours, her arms bracing against the wall.

Bruce held her hips and aligned his erection to her again and pushed deep, deeper than he could earlier. Vivian let out an incoherent moan as he hit that deep spot and held his hand on her hips. When he didn't move she pushed back, making her hum in pleasure as she felt him pressing to that area. 

Seeing her need, Bruce pulled back and began this wilder pace. Going deeper than he did earlier to feel more of her, getting wilder in this frenzy of pleasure. He has shown to her earlier how much he missed her, now he'll show what she brings out of him. This animal who craves her euphoric touch and taste that would only come out in their bedroom.

“I can feel you get harder inside me,” she moaned. “You can go harder, I want all of you.’

Bruce leaned down and kissed her back as he moved her legs wider giving him more room to dive deeper into her, pushing to the hilt.

“Yes!” Vivian gasped.

At this point all rational thinking was gone. This was their purest form and it felt great to do something like this again. Reaching her ear, Bruce whispered, “Hold onto the wall,” before pulling her back against him and guiding her hands to the wooden surface in front of them, and found another way to hit another spot that made her moan louder and clench around him.

His hands roamed all over her body – flicking her clit, squeezing her breast, biting her shoulder.

He suddenly took himself out of her, and before she could protest, he had her lying down again, facing him – their initial position – and he gently pushed inside and out in a slow pace, letting Vivian feel every movement to trigger her climax again. 

“I love you, Vivian,” he said as he made love to her again. “I love you.”

Panting, Vivian reached for his face and brushed his hair back as she said, “I love you, Bruce — ah! I think –”

Bruce smiled and kissed her. “Let go, my love. Just let go.”

She whispered his name as she came, and he came with a strangled moan and buried himself deep in her. Filling her up with his climax. He was about to make a move to pull out, but Vivian grasped him by his bottom and told him to stay. Kissing her again, he laid there with her, side by side, and their legs tangled as he held her tight until they fell asleep.

~*~

Exiting the captain's quarters, with Bruce wearing the same clothes he had while Vivian wearing the captain's clothes she found in the closet, the two were greeted by a grumpy John Constantine who had breakfast on the deck floor and was drinking a bottle of scotch. When Vivian went to get a piece of bacon, Constantin slapped her hands away.

“John,” she said.

“Wash you fucking hands before you even touch one of these,” John told her. “Aye, I heard all of it. You both didn't seem to care didn't you? I got the whole audio show out here. Not even the fucking waves helped or that demon I called to play a song could drown out your sound. Bunch animals you two are.”

“Sorry,” she winced. “I cleaned up. Hands are clean too, may I?”

John gestured to the food but his frown was still there. When Bruce sat down, he eyed the man up and down and said, “I told you not to tire her out last night.”

“I didn't,” said Bruce as he handed Vivian a piece of bread and bacon. “What now?”

“We go home. I don't know about you two, but I miss the modern age where walls are thick to keep certain things in the bedroom,” he got out the Eye of Chronos. “If you please, Vivian?”

“I'm still eating,” Vivian told him.

“You can eat when we get home. Have Alfred make you a proper feast for the three of us.”

Sighing, Vivian dusted her hands and got up. Following her lead were the two men who prepared themselves for the journey. “Into the light, I command thee.” She summoned her Phoenix form, then called for the seals of time to her arm. They placed the alignments in their proper order and this time, Vivian used her locket as an anchor to get them back. 

~*~

Vivian groaned at the harsh landing. At first it was on soft ground, this time it was cold metal. Getting up, she found herself on the floor of the Watchtower meeting room where the Justice League were gathered to discuss a concern – maybe – but all looked at them as they recovered from their harsh landing.

“Are you alright?” Bruce came to her side immediately to help her up.

“Peachy,” Vivian muttered.

“We'll work on the landing next time,” John told her as he remained lying on the floor. “So, that's it then. I'll be off – back to my normal life,” he got up, and corrected his clothes. “If you need me, call her first,” he pointed at Vivian. “See you around, Vee!”

“Constantine, wait!” Superman called for him but the Englishman was gone. Turning to Batman and Vivian, Superman greeted his old friends with an embrace and said, “I'm glad you're both back.”

“How's Gotham?” Bruce asked immediately.

“Well, Nightwing's got everything under control. You – Vivian and John were only gone for a couple of hours. The sun is just about to come up in Gotham.”

“Good,” Vivian groaned as she stretched her back. “Means I can still help in making breakfast for the kids. Before we go, here.” She conjured the parasite that Bruce threw up in the cell. “That's for you. If you'll excuse us, we'll be heading home now.”

“Batman, we need to discuss what happened to you,” said Wonder Woman.

“And protocol requires you to be in quarantine –”

“Trust me, I don't need quarantine,” said Bruce as he held Vivian's hand. “What I need is a bath – a long and hot bath, and time with my family.”

Clark smiled. “We'll call you if there's anything urgent. Cyborg, help Batman and the Phoenix to the Boomtube to get home.”

“No need, I got it,” Vivian opened a portal and both of them went in. Leaving the Justice League with dead parasites in animated suspension. 

“Are you sure we're not gonna try and send another invitation for her to join the League?” Hal asked.

“Don't bother,” Clark sighed.

~*~

“They should be back by now,” Jason muttered as they got up to the manor from the cave. 

“Jason, it's not that easy, you know,” said Tim as he pulled off his mask and cape. “Man, I hope breakfast is ready now.”

“It's time, Tim. They can get back earlier if they want.”

Dick sighed. “Both of you, stop it. We had a long night. Let's just wait for Vivian. Superman will tell us if something's wrong.”

“But how do they know that something is wrong, Grayson?” Damain questioned him.

“Because Vivian left a timer for us. If they're not back within twenty-four hours then there is something horribly wrong.”

Arriving at the kitchen, the Robins were greeted by Alfred setting the table with breakfast being mountains of pancakes, bacon and sausages, eggs, coffee, hot chocolate, whip cream, berries. Their mouths started watering at the sight of the feast before them.

“Any reason for the big breakfast, Alfred?” Duke asked.

“It's a celebration,” Vivian came out of the kitchen holding her favorite mug and following her was Bruce, clean shaved and wearing his usual shirt. “And I miss pancakes.”

In an instant, the Robins errupted in gasps and shouts as they called for them, “Bruce!”, “Vivian!”, “Ma!”, “You're back!” 

Damian was the first to embrace his father and then turned to Vivian and said, “You both got back.”

“I promised I would, didn't I?” She told him. She then stretched out her arm to Jason who waited for her to notice him and brought him to an embrace, and then Tim who was more than happy to see her again.

Bruce was mostly caught in Cassandra's tight hug but he managed to thank Dick for keeping everything together, and Duke who was standing there just happy to see them back.

“Let's eat,” Bruce told them.

Everyone went to their proper seats with Bruce at the head of the table and Vivian to his left, Alfred right across from him, and the rest finding their places. All seats were now occupied but for one. 

“Are we expecting someone?” Tim asked.

Right on cue, John Constantine appeared, dressed in his usual get up and took the place across Vivian. “I only came because she said there's real food,” he told them. “And I was tired with whatever it was they cooked at that time.”

“Guest first,” Vivian told him.

John had three pancakes, two sausages and bacon floating to his plate and had butter and syrup. “Do whatever you want, I'll be having my meal in peace.” He told them, and everyone took their piece. 

As they ate together as a family, a lot of questions were asked about their little adventure through time and what Bruce looked like as a pirate. All questions were answered but other details to the question of, “why did it take you so damn long to come back?” were avoided. By the end of their breakfast, the Robins went to their respective rooms and homes to get a good sleep before starting their day. 

Alone in the living room, Vivian sat with Ace on her lap, while John enjoyed the leather seat with his whiskey. Bruce was on the phone with Lucius Fox about settling things with the lawyers and to immediately announce his return with the fake story about his plane being found by Superman and he was immediately brought to the hospital and was given privacy.

As Bruce discussed with Alfred the things they needed to fix tomorrow – because today he wanted to stay with his family — Vivian called to John and said, “The Eye of Chronos was never broken, wasn't it?”

“My fat arse did flatten it,” He replied.

“But it never really needed a recharge. Right?”

John sighed and smiled. “You deserved it. The both of you. Before coming back to this.”

Vivian smiled and said, “Thank you, John. For everything.”

“Even for trying to kill you?” He joked.

“Yes… while it was still horrible what happened that night, if it didn't happen, I don't think I would have found this life. I wouldn't have found Bruce… so thank you.”

John smiled and raised his glass to her. “You're welcome, Vee.”

[thatnonameuser]

what type of yandere do you think skully would be? ...or would he be a darling 😈😈🔥🔥

So far because of the AU, I'm making him a yandere. But.. * Insert Crowley Voice Here *  For I am gracious, I’ll give you both. 

Skully is from a time where yandere behaviors weren’t exactly accepted. At that point, it was during the halfway point between acceptable and a criminal act. At that point in time, the courtship was built on affection and darlings during that time had the right to reject their yanderes. (Not without consequences, but that’s a story for another time.) 

As a result, Skully is a gentleman yandere. Polite, affectionate and obsessive, with the same amount of love he has for Halloween. 

As canon Skully is, he’s just looking for excuses to kiss you. But he slowly goes from kissing your hand like a suave gentleman, to kissing your cheek, your lips, neck, trying to make out with you, et cetera. The longer you’re around him, the less he’ll be able to restrain his originally well-tamed urges. 

In a way, he’s also a delusional yandere. Because of his affection, he perceives everything he’ll do as an act of love. Kidnapping you is just the start of a date, gifts with dubious and bloody history are acts of love, drugging and killing people is just removing possible threats to your relationship. 

One thing that’s in your favor though, Skully isn’t a big fan of change. And he’s still adjusting to the fact that all the yanderes of the present are so okay with things that once got people imprisoned or executed back in the day. So he’ll try to save you from them. If you end up staying with him, he’ll be very relaxed as a yandere, allowing you a lot of freedom. 

(One funny thought I had was all the boys accidentally accelerating the acceptance of yandere behaviors with how they behave towards you during the trip and Skully learning from it.)

Skully, as a darling, is much more relaxed about the yandere thing. Same rules about darling’s being able to reject yanderes in his day still apply. 

So his original resistance to deviate from his Halloween traditions is amplified by the strangeness of the other yanderes, because how could they be so calm with something so horrible, AND change the sanctity of Halloween?

If MC is also a darling, then let her breathe a sigh of relief. With how Skully gently kidnaps her, she might be chill and miss the friendship between the two when she inevitably has to leave.  

If MC is a yandere, then well that kidnapping may be a little rough. Specifically, they might be turned into a pumpkin after all, for Skully to feel safe enough to perform the rest of his plan.

(Regardless of which MC is, then Skully will end up doing the opposite of that first thought. In fact, Skully will end up delaying the acceptance of yandere behavior with the spread of the new and better Halloween.)

I hope this was good. I wasn't really sure about it for a bit.

[tuttle-did-it]

As someone who has worked on war and history in an academic setting, the rise of Trump all felt incredibly familiar to everything I've read and seen.

When Trump started shouting into the void, I said that he reminded me of Vollmer, the character Dennis Hopper played in The Twilight Zone episode, 'He's Alive.'

(First thing's first, please try to go watch this episode and then read the rest of this, because the episode was incredibly well done.)

Everyone told me that Trump was just a harmless clown-- that no one would really vote for him. That I was inventing absurdities just because I don't like Republicans and Trump. He's just a joke. He's a sexist, homophobic, racist, transphobic rapist. And no one would vote for him. We're too civilised for this, now. We've evolved as a species, and that will never happen again.

Everyone got a pretty clear reality when people did, enthusiastically, salivate over the idea of having a sexist, homophobic, racist, transphobic racist in power. And over the past few years, he's become enveloped in his own conspiracy theories and hatred. And I am still strongly reminded of Vollmer every time I see Trump speak.

For those who are not aware, the episode is about a tiny, useless little white man who craves power and adoration. (spoilers for a 61 year old show below.)

A man in the shadows teaches Vollmer how to capture the attentions and hatred of the white audiences and rise to power. The phantom is eventually revealed to be Adolph Hitler.

S4 E4, Episode aired Jan 24, 1963, Written by Rod Serling, directed by Stuart Rosenberg.

Rod Serling's Opening Monologue:

Key scene where the Phantom (Hitler) teaches Vollmer from the shadows. Tell me that Trump and the other Republicans have not learned these lessons just as well as Vollmer ever did.

Rod Serling's End Monologue:

All of this has happened before. All of this IS happening again. Make no mistake-- Trump is unstable, and doesn't know about half the lies that come out of his mouth every day. But if you think, for a second, that this man has your best interests in mind? You are going to get a very, very harsh dose of reality. But not before millions of people suffer at the hands of this monster, and will for many, many years to come.