#And some angst OBVIOUSLY

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

i vote that next year instead of reading Dracula we do a Jeeves & Wooster Book Club. those two never got the rabid tumblr shipping fandom they deserved (disqualified for the sheer technicality of being published a century too soon). we must correct this injustice

[technically-human]

St. Hilarion's ghost story

[aingeal98]

More Jason and Cass thoughts (sorry but also not sorry) but if I was magically given full control over DC and could write what I'd want obviously I'd make Cass Batman but I've been thinking of what sort of reaction and role Jason would have in response. I think I'd write his version of "Congrats on the new job!" as a test, involving the Joker and civilians and gangs and Red Hood and a ton of explosives. Bruce failed me, and now he's given up. You're his successor, let's see how you handle this dilemma that freaked him out so badly he threw a batarang into my throat rather than let me avenge my own death in front of him.

So obviously Cass will overcome the traps and the puzzles. That's the fun part to show how competent both of them are and sprinkle in little character moments as we go. But then we reach the emotional crux of the matter, probably laid out as some sort of saw trap because it's Jason. Here I am, a victim of murder. You say nobody dies tonight but I did, and I want the man who did it dead. Not only did Batman fail to avenge me but he failed to stop the Joker from going on to create even more victims. What right do you have to stop me from getting justice for myself? What right does this man have to life after what he's taken from me and from countless others? I'm not trying to kill a random stranger, I'm specifically demanding justice for my own death that I never got while I was gone.

There are two ways this could go. The straightforward route if I knew my time on this run was limited would probably be a pyrrhic victory like the ones Cass's og series was so fond of. Just like Bruce in utrh, she acts on instinct and saves the Joker (and Jason this time) . A win technically, but she fails the test. Jason is once again vindicated but with nothing to show for it. The story ends with Cass sending the Joker back to jail and going back to the batcave, where the old Robin costume looms judgementally, highlighting her failure. It would be the most fitting end given their character molds, all tragedy and conviction and unstoppable force meets immovable object etc.

However... I think the option I prefer would be a little different. Cass levelling with Jason, a killer talking to a murder victim. She has no right to stop Jason from getting justice, she has no love for the Joker but she knows any death she allows to happen like this would devastate her, just like that death row inmate long ago she tried to break out but ended up letting go once the family of the victim talked to her and demanded justice. I think... In this specific situation, she'd just be honest. Morally she has no right sure. Personally she just really really doesn't want anyone to die. Give her one chance, please. Let her try it her way. Not demanding, not lecturing or insisting, just... Please. Don't do this. Let me try another way.

And then what? Jason asks.

In the end a deal is struck. Cass will take the Joker and lock him up, ensuring he never harms anyone again while also trying to rehabilitate him. But the second she fails and he gets free, Jason kills him and she won't stand in his way. It's the kind of deal that leaves both of them mildly disgusted and dissatisfied with themselves, neither of them naturally creatures of compromise when it comes to this specific topic. But Cass is willing to do anything to avoid death and Jason did not expect the new Bat to be so... Flexible? Kind of? Of course maybe she won't actually hold up her end of the deal and when the Joker gets loose she'll try and stop Jason from killing him and he'll get his miserable vindication, but right now this is something strange and new and he's mildly confused and curious about where it will go. He doesn't believe in her ability to contain the Joker forever but he's willing to let her try because her reaction to that future failure interests him. She's given him a sword of damocles to hang above her head and he didn't ask for it or expect it. It's the type of power he never thought the Bat would just... Hand to him.

The conflict ends with neither of them fully winning or losing. They both don't really know what to feel about this.

The thing is, the second Cass let's Jason kill the Joker she's hanging up the mantle. She's staking the Bat on this, because it's always go big or go home with her when it comes to saving others, even someone like the Joker. In this magical universe where I have unlimited power, Cass would lock the Joker in a secret bunker and have Leslie Thompkins talk to him daily, mostly because I think her pacifism speeches and debates in the comics would make a fun contrast to the Joker's evil sadism. (But what about his rights? Doesn't he deserve a trial and to be held in a regular prison? I'm going to be honest I think Cass would be very comfortable bending the rules on this specific situation. Morally questionable but I'd have fun with it. She's going to let Leslie treat Joker like her personal pet project to save his soul because yes she wants him to change but also she's got a city to save every night so go crazy Leslie, have fun.)

And the Batman series would continue with Cass as the lead, new challenges and new antagonists and every twenty issues or so for the first hundred we'll cut back to the Joker briefly if his chats with Leslie can help highlight some thematic element of the current arc. But bit by bit he'd slowly fade away onto oblivion, maybe getting referenced every hundred issues or so until eventually no one remembers or cares about him because there's so much else going on. Meanwhile Jason's got a good thing going as Red Hood, primarily based in Park Row and a tentative ally on the occasion when their vigilante work aligns. Unlike Joker he's a much more frequent character in the comics, and after say 10 years (this is my magical fantasy universe Cass's batman run is going to last for a very long time alright) when people think of DC characters they think of Red Hood long before they think of the Joker.

Is any of this realistic? Right now of course not. It's why I'd go with the pyrrhic victory if I actually got the chance, because it would be the best way to tell the story in the larger context of the Bat narrative. But it's my fantasy DC editor and writer daydream and I'm going to dream big. They're never going to be normal happy siblings, their personal demons will never fully let them be free and the looming possibility of losing everything they currently have narrative wise if Bruce comes back as Batman will always be there. But it's maybe the closest to peace they'll ever get. Unsatisfying and tame compromise that probably violates several laws and ethical codes but whatever. Cass has never read the Geneva convention and Jason's not going to shed tears over the Joker. Let him die relevancy wise if not physically.

[hisbucky]

*Buck on a video call with Chris in Texas* Eddie, sadly: Can you tell Chris I love him for me? He still won't pick up my calls. Buck: Of course, Eddie. Chris, your dad loves you very much and he's going to buy us the newest Star Wars Lego set. Eddie: Wait, that's not — Chris: New Lego set?! I'll be back home next week! Eddie: ...Huh? Buck: You're welcome.

[insignificant457]

There is a nebulous jordie lives au which lives entirely in my head in which jordie recovers from the plague while Kaz is still sick. He gets up to find them food and water only to return and discover Kaz is nowhere to be found. Still recovering from the fever, he searches the barrel for days before he finally sees Kaz wandering down the staves in a sort of fugue state, soaked to the bone with a haunted look in his eyes.

Kaz won’t tell him what happened, but jordie knows it’s bad because his baby brother flinches every time he touches him, and soon enough he’s started wearing gloves, even in the height of summer.

Soon, they discover kazs gift for cards, and it keeps them fed and clothed, if not much else. Kaz is angry at jordie for losing the money, refuses to let him make any decisions. Jordie is beholden to his angry traumatized little brother because he can’t deny that he failed them the first time around.

Kaz is offered a place in his pick of the gangs, but the only one willing to take both him and his tag along older brother is the dregs. Jordie dies a little bit inside when they join up, when they take the tattoo side by side, but he’s not sure they’ll survive another winter on the streets.

And the plot of SoC generally goes on from there. Jordie tags along on the ice court, he and Jesper test kazs patience at every turn, he’s constantly offering unsolicited annoying older brother advice about Inej.

This lends itself to a really interesting exploration of Kaz and jordies relationship, what holds brothers together in the face of incredible trauma, the skewed power dynamic of Kaz becoming the breadwinner for them both at the age of nine, etc etc. But mostly, this au is a vessel for the sailing of the ultimate crack ship, which is of course, jordie/alys Van Eck.

[psychicdisaster]

I think one of the reasons why I love God Troubles Me is because it's a story about a woman living with two male gods and... there's zero implied romance? Like, absolutely none. Su Moting is never treated any differently for being a woman, and their friendship is never weirdly tainted by forced romance because she is a woman. It's something I rarely see with anime (I don't watch many donghua) so it's so refreshing to see strong friendships between men and women.

[shalomniscient]

woke up having mavu thoughts....................... i hate this fucking game (aq spoilers utc)

she sacrificed herself 500 years ago to power the sacred flame and got resurrected like AT LEAST under 20ish years ago……….. god what must it have been like waking up so many years into the future? did she immediately start searching for scraps of her family? records, accounts, fuck; maybe even descendants? imagine finding nothing, no proof the people you loved most in this world beyond anything even existed. i'd end it all. there was barely any info on her sister which is why whenever she talks about her it's always "i think" or "with reasonable confidence".......... IM SO………………… I HATE THIS STUPID BAKA GAME ACTUALLY ??? doesn't help the fact that she had to BURN that picture like what if i sobbed. like what if i tore my hair out lay on the floor and sobbed

[ghost-bxrd]

Prompt:

Calvin Rose finds a catatonic teenager roaming the streets and… well, the poor kid looks dead on his feet, and it’s raining cats and dogs, he can’t just leave him there.

And, it’s fine. He’s just passing through (can’t risk more with the Court still at large) and will be back on the road come morning. And he’ll sleep easier knowing he kept the kid from certain death.

So, really, how the hell did he end up with the very same kid riding shotgun and nagging him to turn up the radio to Phoebe Bridgers?

[polutrope]

I think it's GREAT that so many people are realising they don't want children.

AND please remember there are still plenty of people who do, and that it's actually hard to have children for (I think it's fair to say) almost everyone, for many reasons. Biological -- at any age btw, but aging doesn't help; social -- you do actually need two people for it, even if they never meet; financial (not least if your only options look like the 'parents who never meet' route just mentioned); psychological; emotional; etc, etc.

I'm frustrated with this sense that, like, not wanting children is this widely relatable feeling with a faint (or not so faint) air of superiority about it. Which I realise is in part a pendulum swing from thousands of years of history where the complete opposite was true. But I happen to be alive at this stage of the pendulum swing and this attitude is not relatable to me, it is not to a lot of people, and wanting to have children is as valid a desire as not wanting to. It is not insane, or stupid, or selfish, or any of those things. It's so incredibly rational and reasonable to want to reproduce!! And it sucks to be surrounded by a culture where it doesn't feel safe to even admit to wanting children never mind talk about the struggles of not being able to.

[pekoeboo]

was thinking about Codename: IRIS again and felt like drawing a few Khalan expressions based on that story's version of him. I haven't really put as much work into this AU as I would like to, but every so often I'm reminded of it and feel the need to kinda revisit it a bit.

I rarely ever post anything from it tho because I can't seem to finish any art that I draw for it, so this is kind of a rarity. but I feel like these sketches turned out okay and I had to share ;o;;

please do not repost. also on deviantart

[anghraine]

Speaking of "The City on the Edge of Forever," I've been thinking about how my femslash Spirk AU winds out through the canon TOS episodes, interacts with gender expectations of the show, etc, and am mentally organizing episodes by how drastically affected they'd be.

I'm also thinking of S'paak hiding her ears beneath a beanie in 1930 :P

[crunchsomebones]

I fear that anything I write about the transmasculine experience will pale in comparison to a song written by cisgender heterosexual man Will Wood. like he got it. he wrote it all down. how tf did he do that was he possessed

[dustykneed]

pietà (*major spoilers for st:id! death cw!*) full image below additional spacer.

i like to think that aos bones has an interesting relationship with parenthood...

especially pertaining to his relationship with jim. not that he sees jim as his son, necessarily (i don't think they're deliberately portrayed that way in canon, nor do i headcanon them like that, but honestly fandom is fun because we all have fun in our sandbox, so if anyone happens to see them that way, neat!)

but when you're a parent, and at the same time a parent friend, it's easy to take the path of least resistance when it comes to defining the undefinable relationship you have with this guy you can't seem to live without.

is he your captain? your best friend? your patient? a command prodigy and a tactical genius? a sight for sore eyes? your personal nuisance? the one and only person you can't seem to get rid of, who drags you places you hate and points out everything beautiful to you and beams like he won the lottery when you can't help but grin just a little, who brings the light back into places you forgot could be lit up like the dawn, who saw you at your worst while actively at his own worst, and plopped his fool ass down and decided you were worth fighting for?

and that's a lot of things. especially many when you're fighting tooth and nail to keep his scrap-happy ass intact and also keep an eye on a whole starshipful of people. it's a lot easier to stick to what you know-- whatever is the least risky, the safest option, one that could never possibly backfire and bite you in the ass. sometimes you forget he could see you as anything other than a parent (give or take the friend.) but parenthood goes hand in hand with grief. parenthood has its own set of burdens. but it's easy to put yourself in that box and pretend to forget about all the other boxes, collecting dust in the closet, and sometimes he prods at the closet door with something pleading in his eyes. you pretend not to see that, either.

...you don't take it well, when he dies.

[seventh-district]

“Why’s he call you Darlin’?”

on my knees begging my brain to stop trying to associate this song with Sam

[thereadingaddic7]

[fanmoose12]

Hange would not want this.

It's the only thing on Levi's mind, the one thing he keeps going back to, as he and the kids arrive at a grave that holds no body.

Armin and Mikasa kneel by it, with tears shining in their eyes, and leave a bouquet of sunflowers. Connie reaches out to touch the headstone with reverence, as though hoping that the feeling of cold marble can replace Hange's warmth that's been extinguished. Jean keeps close to the group, but turns his head away, his lips a tight line and eyes cast down to hide the tears brimming in their corners.

Levi watches the pain and sorrow on the kids' faces, his heart squeezing painfully at the sight of it, and hopes that his own expression does not betray the same emotions.

After all, Hange would not want this. They would not wish to see the people that they cared about in such pain, they would not want their memory to be forever tainted with sadness.

They would want to be remembered as vibrant, joyful, full of life, they'd want for people to smile when a thought of them crosses their minds.

They would not want to see tears or hear quiet, broken sobs, they'd want for people to laugh while sharing stories about them, they'd want to continue carrying that light that shone so brightly inside them, always, even in their darkest moments.

It's what Hange would want, Levi knows, because he knew them better than, perhaps, even himself.

So, although it's tempting - oh, so tempting, especially when nights are dark and cold, and all he craves, all he needs is a bit of light he'll never see nor feel again - to succumb to sorrow, he tries his best not to. It'd be easy, so easy to just let grief wash over him, bury himself in its familiar embrace, but then he'd wallow in that endless pit of misery for the rest of his days, and, Levi knows, because he knew Hange better than, perhaps, even himself, that they would not want him to live a life like that.

They gave away everything, after all, their life included, so that all of them could have a chance of surviving, of finding happiness.

So, Levi tries to, even though it's hard, seems nearly impossible without Hange's presence by his side.

But they still watch over him, he knows, because he asked them to, because he wants them to, and so each day Levi does his best to bury the pain of his heartbreak in a grave that holds no body, and soldiers on in a pursuit of a new purpose.

And each night, right before falling asleep, he makes sure to look up at the sky and give it the best smile that he can manage.

He hopes that Hange sees that smile, hopes that they're proud of it, and most of all - he hopes that that smile brings them joy, that it makes them happy, just like as happy as they always made Levi.

Hange wouldn't want him to be sad, Hange would want him to be happy, they’d want his life to be full of joy, and Levi does his best to find it, so that one day, when his and Hange's paths will undoubtedly cross again, he would be able to look in their eyes without a single regret. 

So that one day, when his and Hange’s paths will undoubtedly cross again, they’d be able to share a smile that for now, Levi can offer only to a vast, dark sky.