I love that we collectively decided that Merlin's nickname is Merls.
Like, how would that even happen? I doubt Arthur calls him that. Arthur calls him Merlin like he calls Gwen Guinevere.
So, I'm thinking like, what if Arthur overheard Gwaine say Merls (of course it's Gwaine) and hears Merlin giggle adorably at it. So he thinks 'maybe I should try that too.'
There is an awkward phase when Arthur just - can't say it. He stops saying Merlins name entirely for a couple days only, except for when he has to call him from afar and there he has to use the full name because he's too embarrassed to use something so fond in public.
So, one day, they are just in Arthur's room and Arthur hypes himself up like, NOW!: "Could you go and ask Geoffrey for that book I asked him for yesterday? Thanks, Merls."
Merlin freezes.
Arthur is sporting a slight flush but doesn't acknowledge it.
Merlin stares at him. "What did you just call me?" He doesn't giggle or flush like he did with Gwaine.
Arthur panics. "Is that not what they call you now? I thought it was a thing now." Which it was. It caught on.
Merlin glares at him. "Har har, very funny. You don't have to be so rude about it!" And then he stomps off, leaving Arthur completely irritated behind.
...
Several days later, Arthur has talked to Guinevere, to the cook, to servants and overheard Gwaine calling Merlin Merls again.
Arthur is frustrated, so he gives up. "What's wrong with you?"
Merlin doesn't look at him. "Nothings wrong."
"you're mad at me! Why? Because I called you Merls? Everyone calls you that, GWAINE gets to call you that!"
"yeah, but you're not everyone!"
"why, because I'm your boss? I know we can't really be friends but I thought -" Arthur bites his lip.
Oh.
That's what this was about, wasn't it? That he was Merlin's boss and they weren't friends and nothing could change-
"Of course we're friends, you dollophead. You're the only one who thinks we're not." Merlin suddenly softens. "You weren't making fun of me, were you? Were you attempting to get closer to me? Act more like a friend? With a nickname?"
Arthur sputters. "Don't be stupid, Merlin-"
"There. That's it." Merlin grins. "THATs what you call me, Arthur. No one says my name quite like that. So don't try to be something you're not. It's honestly unnerving."
Arthur flushes a little: "and why were you blushing when Gwaine calls you that?"
"That's because -" Arthur realizes too late that he'd just given himself away. But apart from an elevated heartbeat, he can't really regret it. Merlin's face has gone tomato red.
This is soooo great. Magneto calls squirrel girl radio show and all he talks about is Charles🤣
Hi, I'm the unbeatable squirrel girl and I'm in your corner
Charles?
You can totally hear that squirrel saying "oh no" not this guy again.
I need a cup of sugar, Charles.
Sir, we're not–
These are clearly students of yours Charles so I know your listening...
The fact that he is never willing to listen to someone else's words or consider the possibility of making a mistake and only speaks his own words is sooooo magneto.🤣🤣🤣
It's Erik
Oh like you need to say🤣🤣🤣. Everyone in New York already knows who you are.
you see, brownies are in baking for Victor's birthday, they're more sugar than they are flour; should've called himself sweettooth Charles, hahaha. Anyway my "pentriguns" low
I don't know which part of this sentence I should focus more? The fact that Magneto is baking brownies for Sabertooth's birthday, the fact that Sabertooth likes sugar, or that Charles knows about it? Does that mean Logan is also invited? Oh God that would be great.
Also... Magneto makes dad jokes! And he laughs at them himslef? He's not even funny🤣 who told this man that he is funny? Charles I assume.
He is also very fond of saying Charles's name. For no reason at all.
That word "pentrigun" I can't quite understand what he is saying. English is not my first language, so I don't get that word properly. But whatever it is he doesn't have it and expects Charles to give it to him.
He is supposed to be your nemesis Erik, why would you ask him about "pentrigun"?
We are not Charles's students Erik. And even if he was listening I don't think Charles can–
ofcourse he can't you fool! But Jean can. Charles, listen to me, have Jean float a cup of sugar across tawn and let me know if you like to come over and watching that Dazzler rockumentry. I have better internet now Charles, I made them give me more gigs.
The citizens of New York look above their heads and see that a cup of sugar is coming from Westchester. 🤣🤣
Charles goes to Erik's house so they can watch documentary together. 🥹🥹
Does that mean Magneto went to the telecommunications company and threatened them to give him more internet? 🤣🤣🤣 Can you imagine it? "Give more gigs to this internet line, otherwise I will fry all these telecommunication cables or I will drop this atomic bomb on your heads" *Magneto said menacingly*
It's all because he didn't have a good internet last time so Charles left him early. 🤣 He's now mad!
And now is threating time:
refuse me and there shall be war between us, Charles. I will not be denied again!
Okay call me back.
He.Will.Not.Be.Denied.Again! What are you doing Charles? Don't you see/hear he is waiting for you? Go to him! Call him back!
Poor Doreen. 🤣🤣🤣 she and her friends were forcibly caught between the dramas of these two old men.
Honestly, I'm kinda into this Erik/Charles dinamic.
Everybody is my child. Everybody is.
Are thay friends, are thay enemies, mabye it's a ferenemy's thing maby it's more that a ferenemy's thing...
Did she just....? Did Marvel just...? In a cannon product...? Even the Squirrel Girl understood this from behind the radio! That they are more than that!!!!
Why are you doing this to us MARVEL?!!!!!!
Okay this was all😊 tell me what you think.
Part 1 here!
Podcast: Marvel's Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show. (The Sinister Six Are No More) 13:38
Note: Sorry for the late post. I posted way ahead on twitter on the same day the chapter dropped.
Yeah I am…ecstatic about this chapter. It’s like the anime was playing in my head and for some reason Yuki Hayashi’s MHA OST was playing at the background during the turning point of the chapter lol. So yes this is added to my fave chap list 🙂↕️
We finally got a POV of Chika Takiishi! I am not sure if this means that Chika has Face Blindnesss. A condition where you struggle to recognize faces or can’t interpret facial expressions and cues. It can explain the push for him not to connect with people. Or it’s just solely, like he said, he has no interest in people.
But then people like Ume and Endo came along and kept shoving themselves in Chika’s path. Ume was seen as a nobody at first, a common boulder in his path. But with how they constantly insisting being in their path, Umemiya eventually became a goal to reach; a challenge to overcome. And Chika found enjoyment in that.
The fact Chika says “these THINGS called HUMANS” He completely disassociates himself as that. It also explains why he held this stoic face for most of his pages, not a single different emotion until he faces Ume. I guess he really does see himself as what Endo does—A god.
But I think it's not only because he chooses to be this way. If he really has a condition, he is sort of forced to choose not to care, and not to give so much effort in connecting with people.
Chika looks sad that the fight is over. Before all this started, he was walking around with Endo in search of enjoyment for the past 2 years. His world has shifted ever since he met Umemiya…or since Ume kept bothering him.
Now the leader is down. What now?
You don't even need to understand Endo's reaction alone. As someone who chose to disconnect from any human interaction, Chika finally said Umemiya’s name!
Callback to what Kotoha said: "Calling someone’s name is looking at someone properly and accepting them" Chika acknowledges Ume; thankful even that he had this much fun after a long time. He even surely respects him.
This was an unexpected reaction from Sakura. When we thought he had retracted from Ume, he actually held onto the hope of the leader he knew & the words he embedded in him. Ume didn’t do anything horrific yet that makes Sakura completely lose trust. He continues to believe, not taking Endo’s previous words of past Umemiya completely to heart (last chapter).
Perhaps Sakura and Umemiya will have a chat about that after all of this is over.
Sakura echoed the words Umemiya told him that day at the Ori rooftop (what is it with Wind Breaker and rooftops?). The words that Umemiya swore by.
The same words that snapped Sakura back into shape when fighting Endo. The same thing that’ll happen back to Umemiya.
AND HERE'S THE FREAKIN' CALLBACK!! FULL CIRCLE MOMENT!!! I’M SCREAMING.
We got our Umemiya back!
The facial expressions say a lot of things. Sakura's face is saying it's about time Umemiya is in his senses. He knew their leader wouldn't be defeated that easily. While Umemiya's face is saying how could he forget the words he swore by in front of his kouhai? And now, he is throwing those words back to him in the face. At the same time, he's glad Sakura is there and believes in him.
Imagine though Sakura said all that and Ume didn’t move. That’ll be funny. I actually thought Sakura would be mad when he said those words. I expected anger because he would have Endo's chitchat of Umemiya to his head, and would be internally conflicted. So he would want Umemiya to prove him wrong; that he's not like that.
But I guess calm was chosen to show how much faith Sakura has for the leader. That he was not easily swayed by Endo's words.
Y’all…Umemiya really freakin prettified the heck out of Chika. He first cutiefied Choji and now this? Look at how Chika's eyes are lit up. He looks more HUMAN. Less stoic. We’re getting more emotions out of him. It’s like he’s been set free.
(Not gonna lie, Umemiya looks pretty good despite all the blood, cuts, dirt and sweat.)
Umemiya admitted Chika truly got to him; he triggered his rage and blinded him, which led to his initial downfall. Since there never was a clear winner in their fights, Umemiya reminds himself that Chika was doing this just so he can finally be defeated.
I think Umemiya is not only saying this to clarify with Chika, but also to himself. He won't be blinded by his emotional impulses again.
If Ume and Chika were left alone on the rooftop, Ume would lose.
As a leader, Ume has always carried on his own this weight of protecting his beloved town and found family. He makes sure everyone is happy. Because of that, he would suffer under that weight and lose his strength.
With Sakura there in that rooftop, at the top, Umemiya is reminded that he’s not alone in carrying this weight.
It doesn’t surprise me that Umemiya would ask that of Chika. It’s so him. He’s all about connecting through conversations. Whether through fights or sitting down & eating together. I believe for the longest time Ume wanted to get to know Chika more, other than have him join them in the first place.
Chika finally accepting a deal with Umemiya is huge. He never took any interest in the so called “humans”. With the way Chika LOOKS at Ume, he has already acknowledged, respects, and is thankful to Ume. And I’m sure he wants to have fun fighting him again.
Oh the way Umemiya says those words so confidently. We’re gonna have one hell of an amazing fight in the next chapters. This last page I believe has already told us who’ll win.
--
I believe we will have that talk of Chika and Ume; Chika will talk more about himself. And Ume and Sakura will have a chat as well later on when it's all over; more details of how Bofurin came to be.
Someone in twitter hopes the BBQ party is still on. And I imagine that Chika and Endo will be there. Wouldn't that be a spectacle? 😆 I don't think it's impossible, given how the manga is so far.
deciding to accumulate all of these into a singular post to make my life easier + so that I can have some more food for you all,,, anyways.
My. My son. Clementine my baby my sweet boy,,, Some of these ARE actually reposts but the first 2 are for sure not :3! (I think at least LMAO), enjoy this :3! I must go back to my hole /silly
I'm not including a situation where someone might be injured because in that case I'm thinking the bed goes to them by default or they are nominated for it. anyone who wants to be chatty goes to join the living room floor gang.
What are your thoughts and headcanons? Do you have thoughts on how the boys tend to approach assigning beds in inns? Who do the chain choose to sleep near when camping and why? What are their dynamics like when settling down for the night and getting ready for the day?
In "Mirror Vs Open Closet Door: Fight!" by Gintrinsic (here) Four refers to the chain's decision on how to split up between inn rooms as the "Link-per-room ratio" which I find very funny. He, Sky, and Time also talk about their thought process behind why they do or don't want to sleep in a room with some of the others which I find fun and interesting.
So! If you have thoughts and want to share them! *gestures to the post!*
au where bruce is attracted to his robins and batgirls. he tries not to think about it or act on it, but it's getting more difficult with every new member of his team he acquires. does anyone know? do the robins and batgirls notice his weird behavior? what do they do about it? do they ever find out the truth? who would think it's terrible and who would find it strangely hot/comforting/nice? does bruce ever act on his feelings?
for the ask game!
oh my GOD do i have thoughts for AUs like this, i love this shit so dearly, dirtybadwrong Bruce who's trying to keep a lid on it my beloved.
i think the fun of this AU is if characters would notice Bruce lusting for themselves vs would they notice Bruce lusting for a different Robin/Batgirl. like does Dick pick up on it when it's just him and Bruce? no, because it's just. him and Bruce. he and Bruce are weird and complicated and hold endless bounds of nuance. that's just How Bruce Is, and Dick is the "test run", in a sense. he knows Bruce is new to this whole sidekick/family thing and is giving Bruce grace for being rough around the edges. but when Bruce starts looking at Jason or Tim or Cass that way, that's when Dick starts to notice. it's never enough of a suspicion he feels justified to bring it up, but the thought lingers. he's hyperaware and grows less and less comfortable with leaving them alone with Bruce. it's a weird game of chicken, Dick and Bruce staring each other down when Bruce's touch lingers too long. each waiting for the other to say something first. if Bruce ever broke and actually acted on his feelings, Dick would be eaten alive by the guilt of knowing something was up, but never saying something until it was too late.
obviously, Cass would know. there's no world where Cass *doesn't* know, the nature of who and what she is would immediately clock it. but the issue is, Cass doesn't have a good framework of what family looks like. she doesn't really understand familial vs romantic love bc she has no firsthand experience of what a parent's love should even look like. so she never calls it out. she just watches. i'm a fan of Cass believing this is normal and believing she too can express and act on attraction that's vaguely incestuous. maybe it's with Babs, maybe it's with Dick or Tim or Bruce himself. but she recognizes this as Normal and Accepted within the Batfamily, so it severely fucks up her understanding of familial love and i just. man it's my favorite thing about Cass in Batcest honestly, is how you can play with her lack of experience with love, boundaries, and sexuality.
Tim is the fun one for me. because my favorite flavor of BruTim is when Tim knows, as he agrees to be Robin, that there's a non-zero chance that Bruce is going to be Weird and agrees anyway because he's decided it's an acceptable risk. so Tim knows from the get-go because he's expecting it. if Bruce acts on his attraction, i think it's either with Tim or Cass first, because they're the most likely to confront him about it in a way that isn't entirely negative. Tim has accepted it's a possibility and Cass just seeks being loved and touched so. it leads to the first time someone's ever confronted Bruce about it. and the thing is, Bruce really doesn't like confrontation about his flaws. the first time Tim tries to imply he's okay with it, Bruce would lash out at the idea, tell Tim how inappropriate that is and benches Tim for a week. it'd probably take a united front from Cass and Tim to get Bruce to even *admit* to the attraction. still Bruce wouldn't allow it to happen and he brushes them off until finally, the dam breaks. it's fun if there's a cause like sex pollen, but i think it's *more* fun if it's just. a random fucking Tuesday and finally Bruce is at his limit. he has no real reason, there's nothing particularly different about that day's routine. he just sees Tim or Cass striping armor and sighs and gives in.
i don't think Steph, Jason, or Babs would notice until anything substantial happened. not because they're not wicked smart, but just because none of them were looking for it. Jason put Bruce on a pedestal when he was alive, and when he came back from the dead he wasn't close enough to be noticing Bruce's interpersonal dynamics outside of his narrow scope. Steph has no real framework for what healthy fatherhood looks like, so if Bruce's touches linger, if he stares too long, she just shrugs and assumes it's how it is. and Babs was just never quite close enough to Bruce to notice. if and when she notices, is when actual sexual things start to happen between Cass and Bruce. because Cass would see no reason to hide it. Babs would be pissed, but it'd be tricky to navigate. Cass would be an adult, even if she's only 18/19, so technically, she's old enough to be consenting. if nothing else, Bruce is a careful man. even when he breaks and gives in to his desires, he covers his tracks well. he makes sure he has enthusiastic consent and there's no legal recourse that could be taken. age of consent and all that. there's not much Babs can *do* other than try to tell Cass (and/or Tim) that this isn't normal or okay. not that it gets her anywhere, but god would she try.
by the time Duke comes along (if we venture out of the pre-Flashpoint era) i think it's a sort of. open secret, in the Batfamily. talked about in nothing but hushed whispers and knowing glances. at some point, they've all had sex with Bruce, caving all for different reasons. some more than others. Tim sees it as a duty, Cass sees it as a way of seeking comfort, Steph sees it as getting Bruce's approval for once, etc. it's never forced on them, but eventually, they all come to Bruce sooner or later. and that's the fun irony of it, i think. they try to convince the others not to, but would go to Bruce on their own well. because complicated reasons they can't put into words. sometimes, Bruce is just a messy man who doesn't realize how prized his Attention to for the rest of the Batfamily. that weird duality of not liking him, but also wanting desperately for him to like you. all of them have dealt with it, at some point. so for Duke, it takes a while for him to understand this... whole dynamic. it's Cass who tries to explain it to him, and he's a little horrified, a lot confused. especially when Bruce starts staring at him a little too long as well. i think he'd only want to watch first but well. they all cave eventually.
also fun bonus if we venture into the Dark Knight Returns universe for my bestest girl Carrie Kelley: there's such a like, "i'm fucking around and i'm finding out" vibe to Carrie. like Tim, she's very proactive in just. deciding she's going to be Robin and she's ready for whatever that entails. (IMO canon Carrie is closer to fanon Tim than canon Tim is but *that* deserves its own post-) like she takes one look at the old man that is Batman and goes yup. he's never fucking getting rid of me now. if Bruce started having weird feelings about her, i think she'd have *fun* with it. she's decided she's in it for the long haul and for whatever being Robin means so. she's almost teasing about it, seeing how hard she can push before Bruce snaps. since it's an older, gruffer Bruce, i think he'd express open annoyance at it first, almost a sort of banter about how Carrie behave. but of course he caves and Carrie leans into it, because there's a fun in having all of Bruce's attention to herself. in the main timeline, Bruce is pretty split with so many Robins and Batgirls, but during their era, it's *just* her and him and she's very proud she's got him all to herself.
my ideal Kira and Julian dynamic is the dynamic between an older sister and a younger brother in a 90s teen movie. Julian is the annoying nerdy little brother and Kira is the teen older sister going "get out of my room you little dweeb" and shoving him into lockers
sorry to be doing mcu throwback complaints again and EXTRA sorry for it to be about cacw and aou, sorry, i just am thinking again that if marvel had. in aou. committed to letting steve rogers see that captain america graffiti calling him a fascist with his own two eyes i would have forgiven many of their subsequent deeds and crimes
Jason faking his death is funny simply for the heart attack he gave to Bruce. His brothers knew he was faking, but not Bruce (I hope). Make the old man pay for all the time he faked his demise or disappeared without telling anyone.