#and shadow. shadow is not a son he's an experiment he's a lab animal he's a test subject he's the key to A CURE which may very much get

[arrow-avis-art]

Dr Robotnik and his weird cat son. + some bonus Maria doodles. They r important to me.

Random headcanons under the cut bc I think too much abt them.

I like to think when Shadow was fresh outta the tube he hadn't figured out everything yet, and tended to have pretty animal responses for the first few days/weeks. That then shifted into more appropriate human behaviour, with occasional moments where he'd rip Gerald's slippers to shreds for fun.

He ends up getting some pretty strong separation anxiety, considering he's a lab rat who has to go through god knows what experiments on a daily basis, and will just cling to Maria (or Gerald if she's not around) leaving lil claw marks in their clothes. They soon start filing down his claws, Maria takes the chance to make it into something fun for him, and they have little girls night manicures :]

It took him a long time to actually talk, being selectively mute for most of the time aboard the ARK. Even when his "sentient" behaviours come in, he still makes a lot of growls and purrs to show his feelings rather than saying things. When he does start to speak, his favourite word is Maria, surprising no one.

[gravebirds0dmnk]

MY RANT ABOUT

Damian Wayne!!!

(part 1)

Let’s talk about Damian Wayne, the biological son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, grandson to Ra’s al Ghul, a kid who was raised by the League of Assassins and then abruptly dropped into Gotham like a pint-sized wrecking ball. Damian didn’t just walk into the Bat-Family -he kicked down the door, insulted everyone in the room, and declared himself the best Robin before anyone could finish their coffee.

And that’s the thing: he’s not wrong. But we’ll get to that.

People love to hate Damian Wayne. He’s “arrogant,” “rude,” “violent,” “disrespectful.”

Yes - that’s the entire point. Damian is a walking nature-vs-nurture experiment gone rogue. Imagine being raised in a world where killing is standard operating procedure, then being told, "Hey, kid, here’s your dad, the most morally rigid vigilante in existence. No more murder. Also, you're twelve. Try fitting in with these older siblings who all had tragic childhoods and came out emotionally repressed instead of homicidal."

What did anyone expect? Of course Damian was going to be a tiny terror. That’s how he was built.

But people don’t seem to want to let him grow past that. That’s where the real problem lies. They see the early "I’m better than you because I was trained by the League" Damian and freeze-frame him there forever. They ignore the development, the pain, the earnest effort to be more than what he was made to be.

Damian Wayne is a twelve-year-old with the weight of two legacies crushing him. On one side: the Bat - justice, discipline, self-sacrifice. On the other: the Demon - power, domination, control. He didn’t ask for this life. He didn’t get to grow up on movie nights and pizza with Alfred. He was built in a lab of expectations and blood. And then he was dropped into a family that didn’t trust him, because they had no reason to. Imagine how isolating that is.

But despite all of it - the trauma, the conditioning, the sheer amount of emotional dysfunction - he tries. Damian genuinely tries to be better. He goes from "I’ll kill criminals because it’s efficient" to "I can be a hero, and not just my father’s shadow."

He bonds with Dick Grayson in one of the best Batman & Robin runs ever,

he grows as a leader in the Teen Titans, and he earns his place - not because he’s Bruce’s son, but because he fights for it.

And yet, the fandom still treats him like the bad seed. The brat. The mistake.

Let’s talk about that word - “brat.” People throw it around because Damian has an ego, but when Tim acts like a smug genius, or Jason has a chip on his shoulder, or Dick gets a little high and mighty, they’re “complicated.” Damian is branded irredeemable. Why? Because he’s loud about his trauma? Because he doesn't bottle it up in classic Bat-fashion?

People hate that Damian says he’s the best but if you’d been trained since birth to be a perfect weapon and you actually could beat 90% of people in the room, wouldn’t you be a little confident too? Let’s be real Damian could drop someone twice his size and not break a sweat, but he also loves animals, paints, and had a freaking pet cow named Bat-Cow. He’s weird, intense, and has more depth than half of Gotham’s rogues gallery combined.

He doesn’t just represent “what if Batman had a biological son.” He’s the embodiment of legacy, destiny, and defiance. He’s the kid who was told what to be, and chose something else.

So yes, Damian Wayne is difficult. Yes, he’s abrasive. But so was every other Robin when they were introduced. The difference is, we gave them the space to grow. Damian deserves that too.

Let the boy grow. Let him mess up and learn and try again. He’s twelve, for crying out loud. He’s not the brat people make him out to be. He’s a survivor. A fighter. A Wayne.

And frankly? He’s the most interesting damn Robin we’ve had in decades, as much as he's hailed as the heir to both the Bat and the Demon, sometimes he feels more like the heir to chaotic writing decisions and wasted potential.

the fucking clones.

What is it with the League of Assassins and clone factories? Damian's backstory already sounds like a rejected Metal Gear Solid plot. First, we get The Heretic - a beefed-up adult clone of Damian who kills him (yes, kills the 10-year-old version of him)

, and then has the nerve to try and be a “better” version of him by being even more of a brainwashed sociopath. let’s not forget the literal clone army of failed Damian duplicates from Super Sons and Robin: Son of Batman.

These storylines could be tragic and poignant if they weren’t treated like edgelord spice tossed in whenever a writer wants to remind us that Damian's life is "dark and twisted" (as if we could forget). The clone arcs are often just shorthand for “Damian has trauma” without doing the actual emotional work.

why do SOME writers write him as a dumbfuck?

Sometimes Damian is portrayed as a tactical genius who speaks 14 languages and can outthink Ra’s al Ghul before breakfast. Other times, he's a literal moron who charges into a trap that Tim Drake would've spotted from a mile away while blindfolded. You can't have it both ways. He’s either a child prodigy or he’s an impulsive brat. And the thing is - he can be both, if written well. But often, writers just swing between extremes: “arrogant genius” one day, “idiot in a cape” the next.

his bitch ass adopted siblings.

Damian’s relationships with his siblings are the most fascinating and most abused part of his character. His bond with Dick Grayson? Absolute gold - when done right. Dick is the only one who treated him like a kid and a brother instead of a problem to be managed. But let’s look at the others:

Tim Drake: The rivalry with Tim is valid. Damian sees Tim as the Robin he needs to replace to be accepted. But writers constantly reduce it to petty hatred when there’s so much deeper story potential. Damian has insecurity around Tim because Tim was Robin by choice, not birth. That eats at him. But instead of nuance, we get “Damian calls Tim names and tries to stab him (again).”

Jason Todd: This relationship should be compelling! They're both violent, emotionally stunted products of trauma with a “screw Batman” streak. But writers barely touch it or just make them snarky and antagonistic, wasting the gold mine of storytelling there.

Cass and Steph? You’d think Damian would admire Cass’s skill or at least respect Steph’s audacity, but nah — they’re often relegated to cameos, if that. Missed opportunity. Always.

Forced love interests.

Damian Wayne is twelve to fourteen years old in most of his appearances. And yet we’ve had writers try to force teenage romance arcs with Emiko Queen, Djinn from Teen Titans, and even hinted stuff with Maps Mizoguchi. And it’s always awkward.

Look, Damian is emotionally stunted. He doesn’t even know how to have friends, let alone romantic relationships. These “love” arcs feel like writers trying to shove him into the typical young-hero mold — except Damian isn’t normal. He doesn’t need a love interest right now. He needs therapy, a stable environment, and a break from being written like a tiny James Bond with a sword.

Who even is he atp?

Damian is one of the most inconsistently written characters in modern DC comics. Is he;

A cold-blooded killer trying to reform?

A snarky, self-loathing child prodigy?

A guilt-ridden heir trying to live up to his father’s shadow?

A Teen Titans leader who makes ethically horrifying decisions?

Or a comedic, adorable little brother in Super Sons?

The answer is: all of them, depending on the writer, the phase of the moon, and whether or not DC remembered that continuity exists. There's no solid foundation anymore. He goes from helping animals and crying over Alfred’s death to creating prisons for criminals before they commit crimes (yes, that was real). Like… pick a lane.

IN CONCLUSION:

Damian Wayne is a character bursting with potential, yet often written as a caricature of himself - either the hyper-violent League assassin or the snarky “baby genius” with no emotional depth. And it's a shame, because when he's written with actual care, he's one of the most interesting, vulnerable, human characters DC has. But too often, he's just a plot device, a lightning rod for conflict, or worse — a symbol of edgy storytelling with none of the payoff.

The clones, the weird romances, the uneven sibling dynamics — all of it could be compelling, if they stopped treating Damian like a ticking time bomb and started treating him like the child he still is, who never got the chance to just be a kid.

And maybe , just maybe , let him grow instead of rebooting him back to the same arrogant starting point every other year.

Listen. I didn’t think DC had the guts to give Damian Wayne a real love interest that made sense, but they actually nailed it with Flatline.

Flatline (aka Nika) is a Russian teenage reaper girl, trained by Lord Death Man, who literally kills Damian in their first interaction at the Lazarus Tournament. That’s right - the first time they meet, she rips his heart out.

A classic Bat-romance if there ever was one.

But here’s the thing: their dynamic works because for once, Damian is in a relationship with someone who is like him. Nika isn’t a civilian. She’s not a princess-in-a-tower type. She’s deadly, clever, morbidly funny, and has her own trauma stew to simmer in. She understands what it means to be trained to kill, what it’s like to live in the shadow of a master manipulator, and - this is important - she doesn’t judge Damian for who he was.

They flirt, they fight, and they have actual chemistry. And even more importantly: Nika sees Damian’s potential. She likes that he’s trying to become better. She doesn’t infantilize him, doesn’t try to “fix” him, and absolutely calls him out when he’s being dramatic (which he always is).

They’re goth murder babies in love. It's adorable. It’s deadly. It’s surprisingly tender.

Also: the fact that Damian openly blushed when she flirted with him?? After years of acting like a cold-blooded monk?? That was character growth, baby. Let him be a teenager. Let him have weird assassin girlfriends who wear skull makeup and call him out on his nonsense.

That relationship gave him depth. Vulnerability. Normality, in the most abnormal way possible.

The cursed ship. Damij*n

Now we pivot — HARD — into the chaotic, emotionally devastating, soul-bonded bros or maybe soulmates?? ship that is DamiJon (Damian Wayne x Jon Kent).

Let’s be real: Super Sons was lightning in a bottle. Damian and Jon had instant chemistry, not just as teammates but as characters that completed each other. The edgy, bitter, emotionally repressed assassin kid and the sunshine-filled, awkward, farm boy alien. It’s Batman and Superman, but in middle school. And it worked.

Jon brought out Damian’s humanity. Kinda.

Damian helped Jon grow a spine.

They bantered like siblings but supported each other like best friends.

Their road trip in Super Sons of Tomorrow? ICONIC.

Their team name was "The Super Sons." Like. Come on.

Now. The DamiJon ship could have stayed platonic - and for many people, it does. That’s valid. But for a huge part of the fandom, something clicked: this was Damian’s most emotionally honest relationship. He let his walls down around Jon in a way he didn’t even do with Dick or Bruce.

And then... DC aged Jon up, yeeted him into space, and basically nuked the best dynamic they had in years.

Instead of letting this amazing slow-burn grow into a genuine teenage relationship -or even just a long-term partnership -they forced them apart. Damian went full “brooding alone in the rain,” and Jon? Jon got stuck with awkward adult Superman stories and none of the vulnerability that made him great. I guess.

So the fandom stepped in.

DamiJon fanfiction took over. Why? Because people recognized the undeniable emotional gravity between these two. The way Jon looked at Damian like he mattered. The way Damian saw Jon as a safe place to be a kid. And yeah -whether you ship it romantically or just as friendship - they were each other’s person. A little.

And DC fumbled it.

Badly.

DAMIAN’S LOVE LIFE: WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Flatline: The only canon love interest that actually feels earned and meaningful. The kind of person Damian can have a messy, weird, supportive relationship with. I will go down with that ship.

DamiJon: The emotional bond that broke the internet. A tragic will-they-won’t-they that got derailed by editorial nonsense, but lives on stronger in fan works than most canon DC couples.

Other Attempts (looking at you, Djinn/Emiko): Forced. Rushed. Hollow. No emotional core. Just there to check a box that “Damian has hormones. ”

Damian Wayne, rebellious and guilt-ridden post-Alfred's death, runs off to an island death tournament to punch through his trauma and maybe actually die. Sounds metal, right?

And yeah, on paper? This arc should have slapped.

A secret tournament of assassins?

Damian coping with grief and purpose?

Internal conflict about his mother, his father's legacy, and his own morality?

Literal Lazarus pits boiling under the surface?

Peak edgy teen drama.

Great setup for character growth.

A sleek excuse to throw in new and old assassins, monsters, and obscure DC weirdos.

But the execution?

Wobbly. Rushed. Confused. Repetitive.

DC fumbled it like it was the final Lazarus Pit and they spilled it in a sewer.

Rules are like a video game

Let’s talk about the structure of this whole thing.

You get three lives.

You can die.

You get revived by Lazarus magic.

If you die more than three times, you're out.

But also maybe not because some people still showed up after that?

Uhhh. Okay.

So basically: it’s Mortal Kombat with extra chances.

Except the stakes feel fake, because death is temporary and everyone knows it. So we lose the tension, and instead we just get shock value kills that go, “Oh no! Damian died-wait, nvm, he’s back.”

And then... they just let actual children participate in this deathmatch?

No one — not even Bruce, the most paranoid helicopter parent alive — thought maybe “assassin death island” needed to be shut down?

Character arc is great but..?

Damian Wayne deserved this arc. After City of Bane and Alfred’s death, he needed a storyline that let him explore guilt, identity, shame, and grief. And for a while, it looked like that’s what we were getting.

He’s trying to prove something. He runs from home. He wants to know who he is when he's not Robin. All good stuff.

But the story rushed it. Damian went from:

“I don’t deserve to live”

to

“I beat the Lazarus demon in my head and now I’m fine”

in like, five issues. Maybe 7.

That’s not healing. That’s narrative whiplash.

Worse, we finally get inside Damian’s trauma -the guilt over Alfred, the resentment toward Bruce, the confusion about Talia - and then we speed-run emotional recovery through a hallucination of his inner demon. Cool imagery. Half-baked execution.

This should’ve been a 30-issue psychological arc, not a slightly spiced tournament brawl with a feel-good ending and a hug.

Let’s be real: the best part of the Lazarus Tournament was Flatline. Mostly at least.

She was witty, violent, competent, and emotionally grounded.

She killed Damian with a flirty grin. ICONIC.

She called him out. Made him reflect. Gave him a mirror without being a “fixer.”

Flatline had the perfect amount of chaos and pathos to match Damian, and her presence added depth to the story that none of the other contestants really brought.

But of course... she gets sidelined quickly. Because DC can't let Damian have too much growth or happiness at once. Nooo, gotta reset that character arc soon, huh?

Lazarus guy

There’s this weird demon entity connected to the Lazarus pits that represents death, rebirth, rage, and temptation.

On paper? A perfect metaphor for Damian’s psyche.

In execution? It’s like:

“Hey Damian, fight this literal manifestation of your darkness! If you win, you’re healed!”

And he does. In ONE issue.

Even though the “inner demon” literally says things like “Embrace who you are!” and Damian goes, “NO, I AM MORE.”

Cool... but shallow.

Like, where’s the tension? Where’s the long, brutal journey of self-reconstruction? Where’s the weight of that trauma? This arc treated Damian’s grief like it could be solved by punching his subconscious in the face.

Lazarus Tournament..

The setup? 🔥 🔥 🔥

The aesthetic? 🔪 Yes please.

The character potential? Off the charts.

The actual story? …meh. Shiny on the outside, soft and half-cooked on the inside.

Damian deserved a story that let him bleed, break, and slowly rebuild.

Instead, he got anime fights, a quick therapy demon, and a new costume.

It wasn’t bad. It was just half the story it needed to be.

Now..

Let’s talk about:

Who the hell Respawn is (and how wild that reveal is),

Why Damian’s reaction to him is so important,

How DC fumbled something that could’ve been huge,

And why this was the most personal brotherhood Damian never got to explore.

WHO IS RESPAWN?

Short version? Respawn is Damian Wayne’s clone.

Longer version? Respawn is a clone made from both Damian’s and Deathstroke’s DNA - an artificial “son” created as a contingency weapon. Basically a knock-off who had all of Damian’s trauma amplified and none of the love or purpose that Damian eventually found.

He was:

Experimented on,

Raised in total isolation,

Told he was a tool,

Built to suffer.

And the absolute tragedy is:

He’s everything Damian could’ve become if Bruce, Alfred, Dick, and the others hadn’t intervened.

Respawn is Damian without a safety net. Without a home. Without even the illusion of choice.

Almost brothers

When Damian meets Respawn, it’s not just, “Oh look, a clone.”

It’s a straight-up identity crisis.

Here’s someone who:

Looks like him,

Fights like him,

Hurts like him -but never got the chance to be more. Because DC hates angsty siblings obviously.

And the moment that hits? Damian doesn’t reject him.

He doesn’t go into superiority mode or cold detachment.

He sees him.

“I have a brother?.”

BOOM. That line hits like a gut punch.

Because for someone as emotionally guarded and slow to trust as Damian?

To call someone brother means everything. That’s a label reserved for Dick, and maybe Jon or Tim on a good day.

He never says that lightly. And he gives it to Respawn - this clone, this weapon, this discarded version of himself -instantly. Because he recognizes the pain. He wants to fix him.

DC KILLS HIM OFF. OF COURSE.

And what does DC do with this deeply emotional, complex brotherhood?

They kill Respawn off immediately.

It is infuriating.

The emotional fallout is barely explored. Damian is angry and guilty, sure, but there’s no real aftermath. No time to grieve. No deep reflection. Just:

“Oh hey, your clone-brother is dead, anyway let’s move the plot forward.”

This is one of the biggest missed opportunities in Damian’s entire arc.

They could’ve explored:

Cloning ethics,

Legacy and personhood,

Damian’s desire to be more than just a weapon, reflected in someone who never got the chance.

Instead? Respawn is reduced to a plot tool to escalate the Shadow War storyline.

And you know what? That’s a crime.

I'm tired. I'll stop writing this now 💕

[fandomsilhouette08]

These kiddos has been through..so many redesigns, I hope I'm stickin to this one 🤧🤧🤧

My other kiddies -> Next -> Next

Re-re-reintroducing Blare and Blitz the hedgehog, twin daughter and son of The Blue Blur and The Ultimate Lifeform aka Project Sonadow

Meet Blare the Hedgehog <3

80% of Sonic's Speed & 20% of Shadow's chaos powers

Ambivert + Athletic + Into Anime

Is a vegetarian but will settle for a full day meal of cereal

Outdoorsy kid + loves reptiles & amphibians

Acts before thinking in thro in battle

Constantly is compared to Sonic, loved at first when she was a kid but hates it now

Meet Blitz the Hedgehog <3

80% of Shadow's chaos powers & 20% of Sonic's Speed

Introvert + Inventor

Actually cooks like his mama Shadow + Into birds

Online 24/7 + Into Western Animation

Thinks the acts + Precautious kid/ a lil paranoid

He has a need to prove himself, or in other words he doesn't want to be in either of his parents' shadows nor his sister's

Both of their shared interests <33

Once both of their inhibitor rings are off, their powers are shared equally 50/50 with addition to new shared abilities such as destroying living and non living being and creating sonic booms when going fast

Loves to read + watch telenovelas + play video games

Heavily sarcastic like both of their parents(mostly Shads) + speak fluent in spanish

Twins do have a skin care routine + Afraid of needles from the lab experiments with Eggman

Excellent fighters & are good with guns

Twins got figurines in their rooms for whatever their into

Both are into guys + Sweet tooth

Aanndd they can turn to squids (once rings are off)

[bttfjanaury]

janAUry 2025!!

my sincerest apologies for the lateness, but i have FINALLY made the list! explanations for the various aus will be listed below! the rules remain pretty much the same - please respect the aus creators!

medieval au by @bg-sparrow - Featuring Marty as Prince of the Hill and Doc as the Royal Alchemist

clara in the 80s au by @itsthemorph- That one fic I have where Clara makes it on the delorean and comes to the future with the gang and then kinda regrets it for a second

weredoc au by @kit-screams-into-the-future - after a mishap with a bit of einstein's DNA and the power of Science, doc finds himself with a bit of a problem, if "a bit" means "11-feet-tall and very hairy and also not exactly human". basically he just turned himself into a dog man. a big, wet, sad dog man. taking the term "dog person" to new heights, doc and marty now have to figure out how restore doc to his previous state of being without anyone else in hill valley suspecting a thing. which is easy at first (doc's always been a bit of a recluse, so it's not like this is any different) but, of course, when have things like this ever stayed easy for long when it comes to these two...

spy x family au by @izzy-draws05 - Based on the anime Spy X Family! (I recommend reading a plot summary to get more details!) Doc is a scientist working for a spy agency, who needs a fake family to complete a mission. He adopts Marty, who as a young kid, escaped a lab that gave him the power to read minds. Queue found family and slice of life shenanigans while Doc tries to complete his mission, and Marty tries to help without revealing his secret and what he knows.

ashen pines au by @rose-of-pollux - In 1971, the Cold War goes hot, and Hill Valley is incinerated in an attempt to get Doc, who has escaped; with him is a 3-year-old Marty McFly, the only survivor of his family, and now his adopted son.

trinity trilogy au by @daryfromthefuture - marty ends up stuck in the 1940s permanently due to a delorean malfunction. shenanigans ensue when he ends up in los alamos with his adopted father, the 29-year-old doc, when the latter is recruited for the manhattan project.

everything everywhere all at once au by @stillpreoccupiedwith1985 - Basically Marty is aware and can access all universes. Here is a link, https://www.tumblr.com/stillpreoccupiedwith1985/745704523820089344/as-promised-my-everything-everywhere-all-at-once

zombie au (! multiple versions by multiple creators! ask either @jayisnotdrawing or @mundancheemudomo for more context, i am too lazy to copy all of it in here at the moment lmao)

stuck in the 60s au by @bri-to-the-future - marty ends up in 1967 based on the first draft of bttf 2. remember the lsd

spiderman au by @styxbugg - marty is spiderman (see the doc for last year's challenge for context! in fact, i can say that for a lot of these)

frankenstein au by @jayisnotdrawing - marty dies in the train experiment in 1885, and doc revives him with science. angst ensues.

mermarty au by @itsthemorph - see last year's document!

stuck in 1885 au (this one specifically refers to @daryfromthefuture's "until i get home". i think) - see last year's document!

time circuits series by @bg-sparrow - see last year's document!

the shadow's gambit/spies au by @aceofthyme - Summary: Spies? Spies! Doc is a technical agent working for a spy organization, and Marty is his apprentice/a junior field agent. Longer Explanation: Doctor Emmett L. Brown is a member of a top secret organization dedicated to ensuring world peace. As an agent in the technical and scientific department, he spends most of his days buried in research or working on various inventions. He enjoys his work, and it pays well, but there’s one problem: every senior agent is expected to take on an apprentice, and Doc hasn’t yet. Were he not so indispensable to the agency, he suspects he would have been ‘released from service’ long ago. Regardless, he can’t risk losing his position—he needs the funding, after all, and he doesn’t have much else lined up. When a teen is brought in as a suspect relevant to a new case, Doc is able to clear the boy’s name thanks to the power of science. He finds himself taking a liking to the kid, though, seeing something there that reminds him of himself. Before he can think about it, he offers the boy the apprenticeship—and Marty McFly immediately says yes.

around the world in 80 days au by @daryfromthefuture - marty and doc take over the roles of passepartout and phileas fogg based on jules verne's novel. marty, orphaned, is employed as a servant at emmett brown's house, who, as a result of a bet, is going to travel around the world in 80s days. read "the perils and the promise" on ao3 if you want it as a whole, but there's also clara and hurt/comfort because doc is marty's first employer to actively care about him and all the stuff

jennifer in 1955 au by @carrotsofthepirabbean - With Marty out of the picture due to an incident in Hell Valley, Jennifer goes back to 1955 to retrieve the almanac and repair the timeline

marty & the pinheads au by @stillpreoccupiedwith1985 - Think of the 2001 movie Josie and the Pussycats, but with Marty and his band. Based on the fact in the movies they are just The Pinheads, but in the musical it is now Marty McFly and the Pinheads. In Josie and the Pussycats, they were just the Pussycats first. So tons of music industry corruption and Marty getting temporarily brainwashed into being a snobby rockstar.

nutcracker au by @stillpreoccupiedwith1985 - Says on the tin, the nutcracker. Doc is Drosselmeyer, Marty is his nephew/The Nutcracker, and Jennifer is Clara (from the ballet/story not Clara Clayton)

royalty au by @professorsaber - see last year's document!

it's like utopia! au by @jayisnotdrawing - instead of doc, marty disappears upon arriving in citizen valley. cue doc dealing with nerd marty while trying to repair the timeline.

fenrir au by @madscientists1mp - After an invention mishap, a terrible white wolf starts to terrorize Hill Valley... and it looks all too similar to Doc. Can Marty help his friend cure his bloodthirsty dark side? Will Clara find out about her husband's bone-breaking transformations? Will the Men in Black claim him for dissection? Tune in to find out!

vincent au by @whosmurphy - see last year's document!

once upon a time series by @bg-sparrow- see last year's document!

miitopia au by @daryfromthefuture - marty is cast as the hero in the video game miitopia, and the other bttf cast joins him over the course of the adventure. au post is here!

alien doc au by @alex-a-fans - see last year's document!

local legend au by @styxbugg - see last year's document!

steampunk au by @stillpreoccupiedwith1985 - Yet another stuck in 1885, but this time Jennifer is with them in 1885. After Doc married Clara, Marty and Jennifer tie the knot and move to Kansas City. While they are there they discover an underground advancement of technology, using steam. They go to learn more as a way to see if they can use this to help get back to 1985, while also navigating their life in 1885.

jennifer in 1885 au by @kit-screams-into-the-future - what it says on the tin! jennifer has stayed concious through their time travels and now has to work with marty to save doc's life in 1885. so basically part 3 but if jennifer was there. she gets to be a cowboy yeehaw

soulmate au by @daryfromthefuture - see last year's document

for the alternate ones ALSO see last year's document! i will link it once again:

thank you all for your wonderful submissions! i can't wait to see what you create :D

[random-stuff567]

Drew this for a Swap AU where Sonic was found at a young age and brought to the ARK to be studied as the naturally-born Ultimate Lifeform.

Despite his situation he finds himself managing to bond with many scientists and researchers on the ARK. And despite his continuous escape attempts along with millions worth of damage repairs, they find themselves endeared to him.

Still they couldn't let him keep destroying equipment whenever he feels like it, so they assigned him a minder. Brought from Mobius, a fellow hedgehog like him called Amy Rose, thinking that she'll be a calming influence on him. Which was a failure as she soon starts falling for him, and even helping him out in his escape attempts.

Unfortunately like in the main timeline, G.U.N still attacks after lab experiments went wild on the ARK, and they moved in to shut things down. Sonic watches many of the scientists he grew up with get gunned down, while trying to get an injured Amy to safety, placing her in a medical pod that puts her in suspended animation while her injuries are healed.

But while fighting off G.U.N, the damage done to the ARK caused the medical wing to explode and he watches in stunned horror, allowing him to be captured and placed in cryo freeze.

Unknown to him however, while he was distracted, G.U.N secured the medical wing and was transporting away the medical pod with Amy inside before Sonic’s fight with their other forces triggered a chain reaction that caused the explosion, leaving her pod drifting in space. Five decades passed and the pod sustaining itself with both solar and its emergency power source is drifted back into Mobius’ atmosphere, crash landing near a town where a certain rabbit mother and daughter finds her.

At the same time, miles away in a G.U.N facility, Sonic is awoken from cryo by a grown Ivo Robotnik, who he knew as a boy when growing up in the ARK. They were never close despite his best efforts, as a young Ivo seemed to despise him from the moment they met. Now, fifty years later, the now Doctor Ivo Robotnik asks if Sonic wants revenge against the people that took everything from them fifty years ago.

With nothing left to lose and only pain in his heart, Sonic agreed.

***

Meanwhile, almost twenty years ago on Earth, Gerald Robotnik succeeded in creating the Ultimate Lifeform, artificial and genetically superior to the one in the ARK which his son and daughter in law manages.

With the help of Black Arms DNA and Sonic's genetic material as a base, he succeeded in creating Shadow the Hedgehog without any need of a prototype.

Thanks to advancing medical treatment, Maria was able to extend her life by decades even though she had flares of pain and bad days still from her NID, but the progression of her disease is slowed until it is no longer fatal.

Shadow grows up on Mobius and grew a love for nature, and while he occasionally ventures out to see the world and bring back souvenirs and stories for Maria, he mostly stays by her side as a caretaker and lab assistant.

He does not have much friends outside of her, and Rouge, a child bat he came across on his adventures who is a young aspiring treasure hunter that wants to follow him around and be his sidekick simply because she thinks he is magnetically attracted to trouble which will therefore have the best chances of running into treasure.

Together they went on many adventures across the world, occasionally saving it from time to time against many dangers and mostly stopping Doctor Ivo Robotnik, or Doctor Eggman as Rouge calls him, from enslaving the world and turning them all into robots. For some odd reason, Eggman has a strange hatred for Shadow from the moment they met.

[shroomie-23]

Titan army week, Day 4 Immortals/Coffin

It was a nice day, Alabaster supposed. He had already fulfilled all his required guard duty shifts for the month, which left the next two weeks free, barring the daily tasks of training and supervising. 

If it was sunny he would’ve considered taking his siblings out for a picnic like they had been begging earlier. The weather however was overcast, with gray skies and the scent of rain heavy even inside Othrys’s thick stone walls. 

The potions room was full, with Carnelian and Flint having reserved it for the next three hours to do some big experiment involving the re-animation of small animals. Usually Alabaster was the one the watch and make sure none of the experiments manage to burn the entirety of the mountain down, but this time it was Jasper who volunteered to supervise. 

Seeing as he had nothing to do, Alabaster gradually gravitated towards his beloved, after all it had only been a couple days since Ethan had accepted his advances–and they had yet to separate for more than a few hours since. 

Ethan was walking through the long halls when Alabaster slid out of the shadows behind him, the son of Hecate moving forward to place his chin atop his lover’s shoulder. 

Ethan didn’t flinch—just letting out a breath like he’d been expecting this. His posture eased, and he reached up to brush his knuckles against the auburn hair poking again his jaw. 

Words came after a moment of comfortable quiet, his voice low and warm. “Somebody’s been lurking again, what happened to that experiment in the potions lab?”

Alabaster hummed quietly, leaning more weight onto the stout body in front of him. “Jasper’s watching for me this time.” 

Ethan quirked an eyebrow. “For real? I thought you said the twins were close to a breakthrough this time, your usually so hyped for those” 

The witch groaned and buried his face in his lover’s shoulder. “Yeah but Jasper seemed so excited to actually see some real Necromancy in action” 

The son of Nemesis lowered his hand and crossed his arms. “Why didn’t you both just supervise?” 

Alabaster didn’t wait to consider the option. ”Are you trying to send me away? Gods forbid I want to spend time with my lovely boyfriend.” 

Ethan chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Yeah whatever, I’m just not exactly on my way to do something fun.” 

The witch dramatically straightened. “Well I’m already here, so it’s fine.” 

The soldier shook his head fondly, but intertwined his fingers with his lover’s when prompted, tugging the other along to the heart of the mountain. 

The trickle of people slowed as they approached the throne room, silence leaking in through the walls along with a sense of seriousness. 

Currently Kronos was posted on the Princess Andromeda, which meant it was empty, sans the huge golden coffin resting in the very middle of the room. 

Alabaster stiffened after stepping through the door, the innate magic the sarcophagus oozed started to lap at him, invading his senses like a gentle wave–powerful and threatening in a way that didn’t require words. 

Ethan let go of his hand and continued on, kneeling by the ten foot casket. 

The room was freezing, prompting Alabaster to soon join his boyfriend on the floor, sides pressed against each other. 

The carvings were horrific to look at, but impossible to look away from, wars and massacres engraved in cold gold, evoking emotion with less than a glance. 

Despite that instinctual repellence Ethan continued on, tracing the depictions from the destruction of the Acropolis to World War one to Hiroshima. Alabaster huddled close behind, studying the images with a detached melancholy. 

Around them the room was littered with offerings, different incenses and trinkets left in hopes the titan would grant the worshipper his favor, 

Finally, after half an hour of relative silence and stillness, Ethan sat down, legs dangling just off the stone floor. Soon enough the witch followed, once again grabbing his lover’s hand to hold. 

Alabaster surveyed the room. “Do you think Kronos ever has nightmares?–about being cut up and trapped, do you think he dreams? Like we do?” 

Ethan blinked. “I don’t think Kronos can dream no, he’s nothing like us, not Kronos.” 

The witch met his gaze. “You think so?” 

The soldier confirmed. “Yeah, I think so. He gave life to the gods, didn’t he?” 

“But he’s nothing like the gods, he’s not supposed to be.” 

“Well he’s nothing like us either, so he must be like them.” 

A pause.

“I guess you must be right”  Alabaster nodded closer like he agreed. Or like he didn’t, but it didn’t matter.

Ethan’s thumb rubbed absently over his partner’s knuckles. “You ever think about how we ended up here? Not just the war. All of it. The gods, the titans. Their kids. Us.”

Alabaster leaned his head against Ethan’s shoulder again, eyes flicking toward the casket’s edge.

“All the time.”

“I used to think immortality was some prize, like the coolest power ever, something only deity’s possessed for a reason.” Ethan murmured, eyeing on a carving of a particularly brutal conquering 

“And now?”

“Now?” He sighed, leaning his cheek into Alabaster’s hair. “Now I think maybe death is one of the kindest gifts mortals ever received.” 

Alabaster didn’t argue. He thought of what Kronos had promised—what he was—and the weight of forever, damming even the luckiest of immortals. 

“The gods don’t care what happens to us–they never did” Ethan continued, voice gaining heat. “Not really. Not the way they pretend to. They come down from Olympus, give out quests, take a couple of kids for trophies, then vanish. ‘Minor gods’–our parents are left to wither away with no credit for their own power. That’s why we joined, isn’t it? That’s why we’re doing this”

Alabaster closed his eyes. “Yeah-yeah it is. The titans will lead us to victory, to a better tomorrow, for all of us” 

The son of Nemesis huffed bitterly. “Who’s to say they’re any better” 

The witch went rigid, squeezing his partner’s hand. “Because they have to be.” 

Ethan leaned back, glancing mournfully at the back of his partner’s head before pulling him closer. 

“Okay.”

Alabaster let himself be guided, melting into the warmth stone could not provide. 

The titans have to be better, he won’t let himself consider the possibility that they’re not. 

@titan-army-week

[letsdeconstructtogether]

Lab Rat

Chapter 1

Shadow was made to be the Ultimate Lifeform, he knows that very well. Its a major source of pride for him, the foundation of his very soul. His greatness radiates out of him just like the sublime light of the Buddha. He knows it, and he knows others know it too. He doesn't mind reminding them either.

Being the Ultimate Lifeform, however, has its ups and downs. He wasn't made to be paraded around, garlanded by fair maidens while the whole world worshipped his very form.

No, there was a cost, a purpose.

He is the Ultimate Lifeform because he was made to heal, to heal Maria, and maybe in a strange esoteric sense, the world itself.

His earliest memories were IV tubes. They never bothered to warm the saline before its administration so he felt a constant, inward chill that one could not escape, even with the thickest of blankets. The constant beeps of his heartbeat monitor echoed in the sterile room, his eyes strained against the humming fluorescent lights above.

He felt incredibly alone laying on the gurney, a loneliness that had rotted his bones. So alone, in fact, that he has forgotten that he was alone.

His visitors were robots who would visit to draw his blood or check his vitals. They never spoke with him, they only gave directions. If he didn't comply, they would simply wait. Since they were robots, they never ran out of patience.

One day, Shadow did not listen to a robot who was sent to retrieve a blood sample. The robot simply waited, repeating every couple of minutes, "Please reach out your right arm." Shadow turned his back to the robot as a sign of defiance.

The day drew to night and the light above dimmed automatically.

The robot waited.

"Please reach out your right arm."

"Please reach out your right arm."

"Please reach out your right arm."

"Please reach out your right arm."

"Please-" He complied.

Occasionally, Dr. Gerald Robotnik would come in.

Shadow wasn't a son to him, nor a friend, not even an acquaintance. He was simply a large lab rat. One that would glower at him with an unblinking intensity.

His glare would send a chill over Robotnik's skin. He wasn't used to his subjects being... aware. It is the difference between an ant and a crow. The ant sees you, the crow looks back at you. He saw a storm behind Shadow's eyes, an anger, a strength, and a resilience.

Robotnik wasn't used to this kind of test subject. He was used to the smaller ones, the ones that would squeal and squirm, those that he could easier submit to his lab experiments.

This one though, this one was strong. He once socked Robotnik in the mouth as he tried to restrain Shadow for another bone marrow harvest.

So, maybe not a lab rat, more like a lab rodent. A lab rodent he could collect data on, submit reports, and then win prizes. All of that was nice, earthly pleasures and all. But, what he really wanted, was to keep Maria alive.

Shadow's blood contained the promised antidote to her illness. He used the blood to develop a serum that would strengthen her immune system. He had to administer it daily however, or she would collapse into another life threatening bout.

To fund Maria's medicine, he signed a military contract with GUN. He agreed to develop the Biolizard as a bioweapon for GUN in exchange of a lofty budget, some of which he skimmed off for his personal project.

He also applied for research funds through his studies of Shadow's blood. Now, in every research proposal, you have to be quite detailed in your findings. However, Gerald wanted to keep Shadow a secret. He didn't want GUN to take Maria's only medicine away. Plus, how would he explain to the scientific community that he made a deal with the devil? Thus, Shadow was simply written into his papers as a 'genetically altered hedgehog', a simple caged animal the size of your palm. He was anything but that.

Just seeing Maria smile kept Gerald going with his schemes. He would allow her to grow into adulthood, yes, and he would see her married to her love. Yes, she will live, she must live. If only that hedgehog would comply!

-----

One day, after his daily blood letting, Shadow was doing his usual, slumping on his gurney, staring at his hands. They were large, firm, and nimble. Strong enough to break a wall, but gentle enough to hold and to love.

The door opened. Shadow whipped his head around to survey. This wasn't a part of the schedule.

A girl peeked into the room, astonished at her discovery. She then met eyes with Shadow. She gasped as her eyes widened, she didn't know he was here!

Shadow gasped as well, who was she?

She closed the door.

Shadow, sitting on the side of his gurney, kept his eyes on the door. Who was she? She was his size. Friend sized? Or enemy sized? His fists clenched as anxiety took over.

-----

Time passed, Gerald came by to take notes on Shadow's recovery from a recent surgery, then promptly left.

More time passed. Time passed until time was no longer a concept. He simply, was.

Close to bed time, Shadow started to tuck himself in. Another day was out. The sheets could only give him so much warmth...

Maybe he should escape. But, he didn't know what was outside that door. All of his operations occurred in this room.

He eats here. He bathes here. He breathes here, sleeps here, cries here, screams here, punches here, lives here, is here, am here, we're here, where's there? Outside, out there, in the open, what is out there? He wonders, he ponders, he's asunder.

Restless and a mess.

The next day, Shadow spurred change to Gerald's mind during a visit.

Rather than his usual game of glaring, he spoke.

He subtly asked, "Can I go?"

Gerald's world broke in that moment.

He started to realize Shadow was more than a lab rodent. The hedgehog just spoke to him! But you know, then again, he did make a deal with the devil. So, like, nothing is beyond the realm of possibilities... But the hedgehog spoke!

Gerald explained to him that this was his home and that he was to stay. Shadow simply accepted this, he didn't know better. Feeling pity for the hedgehog, Gerald, along with introducing meatloaf to his palette.

This was at the detriment of his data. Lab rat kibble was heavily standardized, meatloaf with mashed potatoes introduced a whole plethora of variables.

However, Gerald couldn't bear to it, to look Shadow in his eyes while feeding him dog food. He knew Shadow deserved at least some dignity.

He also placed posters of landscapes on the plaster walls. To give Shadow something to look at other than blank walls.

That was a mistake. Because now, Shadow knew that there were places other than this room... Places with lush grass, sweeping sands, rivers, mountains, and valleys... And that girl confirmed it, she had to have come from somewhere.

Before, he imagined that Robotnik and the robots would enter and exit a nebulous void space that existed beyond the door. But with a little imagination, maybe, just maybe, beyond that door, they were going to Italian beaches, or the Costa Rican rainforests. And that girl, that girl lived amongst them.

He wants to go too. Maybe that girl will take him.

-----

Another day, Shadow stared at the field of grass on his wall, imagining himself in the image. Was the grass soft? Why was the ceiling blue, and the lamp looked weird. The door opened once more, again off-schedule.

His eyes darted to the door. The girl from before peeked again.

Shadow leapt from his bed, he couldn't let her go again. Not without a word.

"HEY!"

The girl shut the door out of fear.

"Let's talk!" He said as he dashed towards the door. He leaned his ear toward the door, looking for any signs of her presence. Did she go back to the beach?

The door opened once more. She leaned her head inside, then turned to Shadow, making eye contact. They looked back at each other for a bit. He studied her, she studied him as well. They had the same height, but also the same heart.

"H-Hi." She started.

"Hello." He replied, the robots always said hello to him.

She hesitated, eyes darting around the room, then back at him.

"Who are you?" She asked.

Who am I? He had no clue. He did not answer.

"What do you do with my grandfather? He's always in this section of the spaceship... Are you his friend?"

Shadow contemplated for a little. Spaceship? He lifted his arm then pointed toward his vein.

"He draws my blood and runs tests."

She winced.

"Oh I know how much that hurts."

"You do?!"

She nodded. "My grandfather also runs tests on me. Everyday! It's so much, but I have to. So, I see a lot of needles day to day."

She pulled her IV pole into the room.

"I understand, I really do understand." It was an understanding he felt deep in his bones.

She scanned the room once more.

"Well I'm Maria, it's very nice to meet you." She smiled.

Shadow stared back, soaking in the kindness that radiated from her. It felt unusual, and nice.

"Do you read?" She asked.

Shadow continued to stare back.

In her arm, she held a book. "I was just reading before I came by."

He looked at the book. The only books he saw were the ones Gerald wrote in.

"Can I see it?" He asked.

"Sure!" She handed it to him through the door.

He looked at the art on the front. It was of a man in uniform riding a horse to battle. Everything else... He had no clue about. Absolutely none.

Maria gestured for him to open the book. He flipped past the written portions toward the drawn illustrations. They showed cannons, flags, battle formations, and swords.

He was amazed, he admired the illustrations. He wanted to have a closer look.

"I love to look at them as well." She said.

Shadow looked at her, nodded, then looked back at the pictures.

"It's about the American Revolution. When America fought against Great Britain for independence." She continued.

Shadow looked her blankly. American Revolution? America? Great Britain?

"Independence?" He asked.

"Freedom." She replied.

"... Freedom?" He asked.

"Freedom means, to do as you wish, without constriction." She replied.

Another chain broke in his mind. He could be free, by fighting?

He continued to study its pages. The men had rifles, batons, drums... Where could he get those?

"I'll let you keep it." She said.

Shadow was very grateful for that.

"Thank you." He replied, the robots said that too.

"Well, I should head back. It was nice to meet you..." She pondered for a moment, "So, no name?"

Name?

"... Okay, well, we'll think of something. I'll see you again!" With that, she dragged her IV pole with her to the other side of the Space Ark.

Shadow poked his head out to catch a glimpse of outside. He saw a hallway lit with the same fluorescent lights as his room. Except for her, no one else was in the hallways.

"Okay, so, it's not a void." He thought

He felt it within, freedom. Like a light breeze, a light taste on his tongue of what was to come. He could peek outside as much as he wished. He hungered for more, for change, for love, and for freedom. Those men in the book, they understood what freedom meant, because they had to fight for it.

Shadow, well, was also ready to fight for it.

[lauraolar14]

I actually feel like your question help me clear up things in my lore, pooks🤭 ( the questions are ALWAYS welcome, btw 💋💋)

So, Miguel created the rapture by accident and was reluctant to even USE the rapture on anyone, because it wasn't safe (Let's say he tried it on small animals and all the experiments ended terrible for the poor creatures). BUT, Tyler being Tyler, he wanted to start HUMAN trials (as it always goes in science-related stories 🤔) but Miguel refused 🥰 so, ofc Tyler had to get rid of him, despite Miguel (yes😔) being his biological son. Bla bla bla, Tyler is like "You had potential, Miguel, too bad you wasted it" (😈😨😡) while Miguel is struggling to breathe on the floor after Tyler injected him with a rapture dose. (😔) Ya. Long story short, Miguel wakes up right before Tyler's men try to take his (supposedly dead) corpse and beats them up in a rush of adrenaline and runs away 😌 (I just thought of this scenario on the spot, lol, but it would make sense in, a way, I think)

Tyler DOES try to abuse the drug and use it for his own selfish desires, but Miguel stops him and ☠️ him (🤷🏻‍♀️) (HOW? My brain is still working on that :)))) Anyway, after this is over, Miguel basically steals ALL the rapture samples and destroys all the labs so people would never get their hands on such a drug again, and runs away for good. HE COULD, maybe, run away to Mexico? Or another country where he joins a mafia and ultimately becomes a mafia boss :3 but he's the catch, he's not a heartless man and he would NEVER hurt someone who didn't deserve it. 💋

9 years later 🤭 he comes back to Nueva York (or New York, in this AU) with one goal, to take over the new Alchemax himself but meets ✨LADY-SPIDER✨ A note: this Miguel is more the type to fight his battles in the shadows or in a more discreet manner (not really one for blowing things up to attract attention, although if he wanted to do that in order to catch a certain spider's attention 🤭 he definitely would). He does a lot of secret dealings and missions, mostly at night. MOST OF THE TIME he doesn't make mistakes (if he WANTS to get caught 🤭 for example, he will let himself get caught). He's the type to let himself get caught just to spend time with Lady-Spider and then burst out of the prison a day later and then do it all over again (😩) He's the type of commit crimes just to see Lady-Spider and fight with her (🤭)

Also 🤭🤭🤭 yes, he is stronger than the human average because of rapture. He also works out 🤭 (btw. HE IS A CLEAN MAN. HE HAS BODY HAIR BUT HE TAKES CARE OF IT) ...he doesn't mind getting dirty tho 🤭 once he finds out who Lady-Spider actually is and they ACTUALLY do it, he would be SO gentle 😩 knowing she actually doesn't have that strength, he would be so afraid not to hurt her 🥹

About the asks, I TOTALLY FORGOT THE ORDER OF THE DRAWINGS HAHA 😭🥹 You are such a sweetheart for thinking about the tiniest of details and answering them in order 🥹💋 making this small but meaningful effort 💕💕 I, personally, never paid attention to that and it never bothered me whatsoever :))) I LOVE seeing you answer N.C. art just as much as I LOVE seeing you answer other art I send 🤭💕 I LOVE seeing you answer ANYTHING I send you, so don't worry about it, pooks 🥰 You're a wonderful person! 🥹💕💋💋🍓

💕💕

Quick question. 🤭 How's For Better Or Worse going? 🥰 JUST ASKING- 😙

🤭

Hiii, Lara pooks!! 🥰 I’m finally answering this ask that’s also been in my inbox since December (I’m sorry).

Not one, not two, but THREE works! I’m honored! May I say that the first one made me giggle because of how sassy he is? “Ya. The only problem? It’s a shitty plan!” I love this sassy mafia man! Also, God, he looks so good while telling whoever he’s talking to about their bad plan.

Okay, so when I first saw this ask, the second drawing on the bottom half of the first panel got me like??? 👀👀 Because I had noticed the green eyes in the previous ask from the half of the drawing comparing 25yr old and 35yr old Miguel. When I first saw the first ask, I thought maybe you were playing around with the eye color (green), and then you dropped this ask and I was like, “WAIT! This is actually a thing” when I saw that this Miguel has green eyes. And now you’ve revealed that he discovered rapture (in the latest ask you’ve sent, which I have yet to answer. I’m so behind with notifications🫠), so now I have questions that hopefully you’ll answer in future art! So, 25-year-old Miguel was working at a lab and he discovered rapture… And that’s why now in his mafia era, Miguel has green eyes! Did he take it willingly, or did something go wrong? And if he did take it willingly, why? How did he go from a geneticist to a mafia don? I have questions, Lara, and I hope we learn more in the future! 😭 🙏🏼

Also, I love the second panel so much! I love how I can tell 35-year-old Miguel looks so much more mature, not only by the white streaks of hair, but also in his face lines. Mwah! I loved that detail, and I need 35-year-old Miguel in my life, like yesterday, please!

I’m not gonna lie, the last panel had me barki- I mean, screaming! The way he’s sitting there, so powerful and handsome? Bout to ask if his lap is taken, or if I may take a seat. 😩 The hair? Sir, please, let me just run my fingers through it! Also! I hadn’t noticed mans has a scar on his eyebrow?! It’s only because of this colored drawing that I realize it’s a scar, and not like, something he decided to do to his eyebrow for himself (you know how some people specifically shave a line off?). Now I’m curious how he got it! Was it Kira? 🤭 Also, the way the light makes his eyes look so pretty?? I wanna gaze into them forever. 🥺

Aughhhh, Lara! Your art! You’re always cooking, and I thank you for that and also for continuing to share your OC and variant Miguel’s lore. It always inspires me to work more on my own, but I never do lol. 💀Maybe in the future! But, thank you once again for sharing your art with me! 🥹 I’m going to hopefully answer the rest of your asks this week. I was hoping to answer more this weekend, but I started feeling under the weather on Saturday. Anyway, feeling alright now, so I should be able to answer my asks and catch up.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, pooks!💖

Alondra❤️

[didilysims]

Pine Lake Farewell: Ruben

Silas became a highly successful business-sim, yet was always bitter that he had never made it into Science. He built a lab in his basement, but never had as much time to pursue it as a hobby as he would have liked, due to his other commitments with career, family business, and army of children.

Sarah was also in business, but quit to focus on raising her children. With her staying home full-time, Silas saw no need for a Servo anymore, and had Tik-Tok dismantled.

Nathaniel the animal lover spent most of his free time over at Auntie Sophronia’s and eventually took a job as her assistant until taking over the shelter as an adult. He and Erika Swain had mutual crushes but never acted on them, and he wound up dating Francesca Jane Worthington-Rai instead.

Sebastian grew up quietly in the shadow of his much friendlier brother, and was quite happy for Nate to get all the attention. Somehow he caught the eye of the far more outgoing Elise Frost, and the unlikely pair are going strong. Silas wishes his son would find somesim more prestigious like his brother did, but isn’t excessively vocal about the situation.

Roderick grew up to be very business-minded and plans to study economics. Although the family business is promised to his sister, he doesn’t mind, and is excited at the prospect of starting something new to build from the ground up.

Josephine is the tinkerer and most interested in machines, much like her grandmother, Jane. She also inherited her great-uncle’s athleticism, though and an interest in history learns her toward exercising in martial arts and ancient weaponry. She found the scrap-pile of the family’s erstwhile Servo and has been trying to figure out how to put him back together.

Uncle Josh died peacefully at the seniors home, mercifully before seeing Tik-Tok disassembled. He was mourned by friends and family, but especially his girlfriend Eowyn.

Martin lived slightly longer than his older brother, making sure to visit his grandchildren regularly, and be sure that they were all taking their vitamins and a healthy dose of comfort soup during flu season.

Cordelia moved into a suite of her own and turned to serial dating to—in her words—make up for lost time and experiences. She suffered a major demotion at work, followed shortly by a breakdown and general feeling of unfulfillment. She took a vacation to Takemizu Village and met a mysterious old man who advised her to discover herself first. Coming home, she swore off dating for one season and saw a therapist. That season led her to find out more about who she was on her own, which led to another season of singleness and self-awareness...although she did adopt a puppy to keep her company. She moved to the city and found a new position at a bigger publishing house, eventually working her way up to senior editor. She occasionally called up her siblings to say hello but never visited Pine Lake again.

Sophronia happily remained at the animal shelter all her life. Even when her nephew took over running the place, she worked part-time to make sure every furry, feathered, and finned friend got plenty of love and attention. Dating somesim new remained her number one source of off-hour fun, and even in her old age she managed to find plenty of first-datees. She occasionally visited her daughter, when remembering her existence, and always laughed when William tried to lecture her.

[twinhood-2dot0]

A Shallow Dive Into: Batman’s Rogues Gallery Part 2

Here, part 2. The first one somehow got 7 likes??? I barely even put any effort into it. This one is also gonna be pretty low effort :P I started writing another post yesterday and I wrote 1360 words and I’m only like only a ⅓ finished??? And I kinda spent the whole day watching an anime start to finish 💀.Anyways, let’s get into some more that I missed.

The Al Ghul’s

Ra’s al Ghul (Raysh-Al-Ghool or, Raas-Al-Ghool. Even DC writers can’t agree, although I’m more accustomed to Raysh, I think that was how it was pronounced in the DCAU and the Arkham games. It’s Arabic for “Head of the demon”) is a man born around 700-450 years ago, who discovered the powers of the Lazarus pit, which has the power to bring people back from the dead and used it to prolong his life. (Yeah, this how pretty much most of the dead Batfam characters came back to life. Jason Todd, Kate Kane (Batwoman), who died for like one issue a few meters away from a Lazarus pit, Riddler, as mentioned before, when he got cancer and took a dip in the pit and figured out Batman’s identity.) Ra’s al Ghul, in his long life, played a part in like a lot of historical moments, and later comes to resent humanity and becomes an environmentalist. I’m not very familiar with the character unfortunately, with all of my experience being the Batman Begins version, the kinda weird role he played in Arkham City, and JLA: Tower of Babel where he takes down the entire Justice League using Batman’s countermeasures for his own allies, and the Injustice series, which I don’t remember much of except that he has like a nature sanctuary with various critically endangered species and he was besties with Animal Man.

Talia al Ghul is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, on-and-off love interest for Batman, and mother of Batman’s biological son, and also on-and-off ally of Ra’s al Ghul. She also played a part in Jason Todd’s resurrection and consequent training.

Ra’s also has one other daughter, Nyssa, but I honestly didn’t even know she existed until I played Arkham Knight. She has much less appearances than her sister.

Lady Shiva, while not a member of the family, has relations to the League of Shadows, so I thought I’d group them together. Lady Shiva is among the best martial artists in the DCU, able to best even Batman. She’s also the mother of Cassandra Cain, the other best fighter, although more so because of her procognitive abilities. 

Man-Bat

Wow, the realisticness makes him so much scarier.

Dr. Kirk Langstrom is a zoologist cursed with deafness, and in an effort to cure his deafness, creates a serum with the help of bat DNA but it goes horribly wrong and is turned into a giant bat. In recent publications, he’s more of a sympathetic villain acting more on primal rage than malice. His interpretation in Arkham Knight was done really well. Although Arkham Knight is not a horror game, there’s a ton of jumpscares. While just gliding and grappling to different buildings, the player may be randomly met with the shrieking face of the Man-Bat, and you have to go to his lab and piece together what he has done and create an antidote.

Mr. Freeze

Dr. Victor Fries’s (pronounced “Frees”. Yeah, DC names are often very on the nose, just look at E. Nygma and Harleen Quinzel.) wife Nora Fries is afflicted with a terminal illness, and is cryogenically preserved by her husband in hopes that a cure might one day be discovered. While working, he’s trapped in an accident that made him unable to survive outside of sub-zero environments, forcing him to wear a cryogenic suit, and he turns to crime to find a cure.

Mr. Freeze was originally just another bank robber with a freeze ray, but Paul Dini changed his origin story to the current iteration in an Emmy Award winning episode of Batman: The Animated Series titled “Heart Of Ice”. Scott Snyder, as much as I loved his stories, controversially retconned this in the New 52 reboot and made Fries a man who got obsessed with a cryogenically preserved woman named Nora Fields.

The Court Of Owls

A newer addition to the Batman mythos, appearing first in Scott Snyder’s Court Of Owls and City Of Owls arcs that kicked off the New 52 Batman series. The Court Of Owls are Gotham’s own Illuminati. A secret society made of the wealthiest and most powerful citizens of Gotham, they have existed for centuries, controlling the city from behind the shadows, along with the help of immortal assassins named the Talons.

Batmen of The Dark Multiverse

Scott Snyder’s 2017 crossover event named Dark Nights: Metal introduced us to the Dark Multiverse, a multiverse where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, and is doomed to destruction. We’re introduced to the Batmen (and Batwoman) of The Dark Multiverse, who are all different versions of Batman with some drastic changes.

Joker 

A fan favorite, and the leader of the Batmen, is The Batman Who Laughs. This Batman gave into the urge of killing Joker, after he killed all his rogues, thousands of Gotham citizens and Jim Gordon, and is infected with a version of the Joker toxin that turns him insane, making him a Joker with the brain and physicality of Batman. He tricked the Batfamily and killed them all, and hid in his Batcave for a week, emerging to kill the Justice League, and he turned Damian into a mini-Joker and recruited the children affected by the Joker toxin as his “Rabid Robins”. This guy is freaking horrifying in all of the stories he appeared in.

Superman

The Superman of Earth -1 goes on a killing spree, even killing Lois Lane, leading Batman to decide to use lethal force. After his attempts with a Kryptonite spear doesn’t work out, he ingested a version of the Doomsday Virus (Doomsday is the monster that killed Superman in The Death Of Superman, the virus causes people to develop features like it.) aiding him in killing Superman, but after his victory, the virus spread and he could only watch helplessly as it destroyed his world.

The Flash

After all of the Batfam dies, Batman is compelled to take extreme measures, and tries to get The Flash to give him access to the Speed Force too, and when he refused, he used all the weapons employed by his Rogue’s Gallery to defeat him, chained him to the Batmobile (merged with the Cosmic Treadmill, it’s a treadmill that Flash uses to time travel accurately and stuff), and drove both of them into the Speed Force, absorbing The Flash and his powers, with Barry forced to watch as Batman murders each of his villains.

Aqua(wo)man

In a universe where everyone is gender-swapped, Bryce Wayne’s lover Sylvester Kyle (bleugh) is killed by metahumans, and starts killing every metahuman. After killing all of them on land, she meets Aquawoman, and peace negotiations turn into a conflict, and then she steals her trident, and kills her with her own weapon, and in retaliation, the Atlanteans drown Gotham City and a large part of the world, leading her to perform surgery on herself to give herself Aquawoman’s powers and designed an underwater army called the “Dead Waters''. Does that qualify as a navy?

Okay, there are a few more, like Cyborg Alfred Batmobile Batman, Ares Batman, Killed all of Green Lantern corps as a kid with a Green Lantern ring Batman, but I’m lazy, sorry. Maybe next time, cya, I gotta go finish Chainsaw Man.

[mtjester]

So, back on the BNHA Steampunk AU bullshit train, here’s what I’m thinking:

Basic premise: Midoriya is an poor, unacknowledged engineering/inventor prodigy who lives in the mountains on the outskirts of a small town, working usually as a sheep herder for the town’s wealthy landowning family (the Bakugous) while he tinkers with his stuff. One day, an airship crashes on a nearby peak, and Midoriya find a sole survivor -- Yagi Toshinori (All Might). He and his mother don’t know who he is, but they rush him back to their house and take care of his wounds. He remains in a coma for a while. Midoriya finds an odd contraption near Toshinori, and he starts to tinker with it. He begins to unlock its potential. Toshinori eventually wakes up, sees Midoriya’s progress with the odd contraption and therefore his potential, and invites him to join him at U.A. Academy of Sciences in the Big City.

Once there, Midoriya finds Bakugou, the son of the wealthy landowners in his small town, whom Midoriya knew well growing up. Toshinori goes to attend to his own business, Bakugou begrudgingly shows Midoriya around, and it comes to everyone’s attention over time that some nefarious Science is happening in the criminal underground. Human experiments, a la Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Where science doesn’t have answers, horrendous experiments take place to find out. What’s the goal? Immortality? The Ultimate Human Weapon? A new step in human evolution?

Midoriya and Bakugou along with others in the academy who seek to uphold the honor of Science for Good go to join Captain Aizawa’s airship in the hopes of catching the perpetrators of the Evil Science.

Character Stuff under the cut!

The Academy:

Midoriya: He grew up in a small town setting and is overwhelmed by Big City Life. The contraption he finds near Toshinori is the AU’s version of OFA, and it’s a multipurpose machine that can meld to the body, enhance strength, increase mobility, shoot out tethers, etc. Toshinori was only able to unlock the first of these abilities in his tinkering. Now Midoriya, an otherwise underwhelming guy, is a force to be reckoned with.

Bakugou: The only son of a wealthy land-owning family in the same small town Midoriya came from, Bakugou was used to be being a big fish in a small pond. Now the pond his very large, and he’s the same size. He pursues his studies in explosives at the academy, and he has little clue how much of his research is directly responsible for fueling the Empire’s war machine. If he did, he would be horrified. He is adamant that the future will not be Steam but Diesel. He’s putting his stocks in the combustion engine.

Ochako: Ochako is going to be the first person in space! Supposedly. She’s working with all of her colleagues to create a rocket ship that will break through the Earth’s atmosphere, and she spends a lot of her time training for zero gravity in a gyroscope. She is studying gravity and magnetism. When asked how either works, she replies confidently, “I have no idea!”

Todoroki: Todoroki is the youngest son of a prestigious family in the city. His father is captain of one of the airships and has been on multiple expeditions into the Unknown. Todoroki himself is working on thermodynamics at the academy. He is rather fond of steam technology and has his doubts about the rise of diesel. He is considered one of the more successful and promising up-and-coming researchers there at the moment.

Iida: Iida is working on combustion engines and works closely with both Todoroki and Bakugou. He agrees with Bakugou that the future will be Diesel. Like both of them, he is from a well-to-do family, which boasts a long line of pilots. He has trained from a young age to be a pilot as well and has a natural knack for it, but he’s actually rather air-sick. He prefers to stay on land and work on moving vehicles faster more effectively.

Momo: Momo is from a prominent family and knows everything. She has read the entire library, so the rumors say. Her studies focus on the nature of matter, and her research has been inspired by everything from ancient books on alchemy to the most contemporary experiments. She hopes to create an Everything Machine. She is another of the more successful and promising up-and-coming researchers.

Denki: Denki is involved, not surprisingly, with the newer technology of electricity. He is attempting to harness its power more successfully and to figure out new ways to create bigger currents. Like Ochako, he doesn’t actually know what’s going on most of the time, and his experiments are trial-and-error.

Jirou: Jirou works with sound, and she has revolutionized the gramophone industry with her work. She is also working on devices that can pick up sound from miles away. On the side, she does jazz. 

Aoyama: Aoyama is working on light technology. He envisions a future when a beam of light can be used to cut through anything. Nobody puts much confidence in his experiments, and he’s often forgotten. He gravitates to Midoriya, the new guy, for this reason. Midoriya doesn’t brush him off, and he often shows up to help Midoriya off, acting more like a lab assistant than a researcher in his own right.

Sero: Sero is one of many standby engineers who help the researchers out. His preferred tool of the trade is his own tape (patent pending). It is surprisingly effective.

Mina: Mina is another standby engineer with a penchant for welding and chemicals. She is an aspiring chemist, but nobody will agree to help her with her research because of the haphazard way she handles caustic chemicals. Nevertheless, she is well-liked and popular.

Satou: Satou is a standby engineer whose brawn comes in handy. He is an academy favorite because he spends the time he’s not working creating lovely baked goods. In fact, most researchers call for his help last, since they would secretly rather he be baking sweets.

The Experiments:

Tsuyu: Tsuyu was rescued from a freak show, and the freak show discovery is the first step to uncovering the Bad Science. She is the result of a genetic modification experiment. She doesn’t remember what it’s like to not be frog-like, and she doesn’t really mind. But she is grateful to not be in a freak show anymore, and she’ll cooperate with the investigation to the best of her abilities! She becomes Ochako’s lab assistant.

Shoji: He was rescued from the freak show at the same time as Tsuyu. Like her, he doesn’t remember much of his previous life. He remembers more of the facility than Tsuyu does, and his recollection is a big help in the investigation.

Koda: He was rescued from the freak show at the same time as Tsuyu and Shoji. For a long time, he only speaks to animals. If he remembers much, he won’t (or can’t) communicate to the investigation team.

Hagakure: Another freak show rescue. She’s invisible. Sometimes the investigation team forgets she’s there. She’s quick to remind them, and she’s ready to put her sneaky abilities to good use!

Tokoyami: Tokoyami remembers his time in the facilities well. The experiments haunt him. He doesn’t remember the escape from the facility where he was “created” because Dark Shadow did most of the heavy lifting. He has been in the shadows, working as a vigilante for a while now. When the call goes out for people willing to help with the investigation, he shows up, ready to join Aizawa’s crew.

Kirishima: Kirishima and Ojirou are not found until later, when the investigation team uncovers an illegal underground fighting ring. Kirishima’s skin is tough as rock, and he can take a beating. He also has incredibly sharp teeth, and he has been outfitted with a muzzle for that reason. He doesn’t usually bite, but the harsh world of human fighting has made him somewhat more snappy. He does remember the facilities, but he would prefer not to. It seems that whatever the Evildoers were attempting to accomplish with their experiments came a bit closer to fruition through Tokoyami and Kirishima.

Ojirou: Ojirou, like Kirishima, was rescued from the underground fighting operation. Ojirou’s powerful tail gives him an advantage over his opponents, and the martial arts skills from his life before the facilities also give him a good edge. He survives the fighting operation with more of a level head than Kirishima, thanks to his previous training. It spares him the muzzle. 

This is already a lot, so maybe I’ll just stop at the 1-A group for now!

[messinwitheddie]

Wee need more on Loralei. Please share with us Loralei stuff! Howd she meet Dib? What's her dream job? Childhood memories? Share with us your Human OC!

Lorelai and Reg are my only two human ocs. I'm not as confident with my human oxs as I am my Irkens.

She comes across as a "bitchy ex" in the few times I've explored her character; which is really an injustice to her. She's not a bitch. She just has a lower tolerance for bs than most and bs has been steadily dumped at her feet her whole life.

Her design I've struggled with for a while, but I love drawing her. (Excuse her twists; lack of drawing skills on my part. I'm trying ^^;)

Lorelai von Verminstrasser

Granddaughter of Countess von Verminstrasser; the de- louser. Daughter/ youngest child of Prof. Arnd von Verminstrasser, (German super-scientists/ heir to the V.V. genetics lab/ nature reserve located somewhere in the depths of the Black Forrest) and Prof. Youmna Abdelsalam; (a master architect/ architectural history major from Cairo.)

There's a lot of fan lore behind Lorelai's character involving the von Verminstrasser family; which in my au, is an old, wealthy family of scientists/zoologist/biologists/ cryptid hunters dating back to the 12th century. In modern years their research has been less focused on hunting and more about documenting/ preservation.

Lorelai grew up on her family's nature reserve. She was homeschooled until she was 15. Her parents are loving and encouraging, but also can be eccentric, strict and often hold her to high standards; especially concerning her grades. Growing up, her family heavily involved her in their research/ experiments. Countess often included Lorelai on cryptid hunts. She was taught a long list of wilderness survival skills, an in depth understanding of animal biology/ behavior and unlimited access to von Verminstrasser tech.

Despite consistent displays of competency; she often found herself in the shadow of her older brother/ cousins.

She met Dib on the swollen eyeball network under the name “agent Khonsu" when they were 13. She originally only joined to troll her older brother, who often trolled the SE message boards. She and Dib never exchanged personal information beyond that of their SE names. She came across a lot of nonsense among the organizations, but was intrigued by what seemed legitimate. She and Dib had many heated debates. Their biggest argument was actually not over Zim, but over her theory that prof. Membrane was an alien or cryptid... and over who built the pyramids, but mostly her "Prof M. is an alien theory).

She and Dib met in person when she was 14. She had joined her parents and “oma" Countess to a trip to America. Her father was to assist Prof. Membrane on a major project/ guest appear on his show.

Lorelai seized the opportunity to gather evidence on her theory. She managed to infiltrate Dib's house and explore Prof. Membrane's personal lab.

Her theory was disproven upon further investigation. She immediately apologized for her accusations/ intrusion, which Dib reluctantly accepted. She admitted to him that her theory about the professor was faulty, but she desperately wanted a way to be noticed; on the SE network and by her family. She found a kindred spirit in Dib. They became close friends and continued to discuss (more civilly) paranormal science with him in the SE message boards. She later helped Dib infiltrate Zim's base one last time before he left Earth.

The two dated via video chat and the occasional visit until they were 19. With her family's blessing, Lorelai transferred colleges/ moved to Dib's city to live with him/ earn her degree (s).

The two of them went on a world paranormal hunt when they were twenty (behind their parents' backs). Their son, Reg was born soon after.

Lorelai has many fond memories exploring her family's nature reserve as a child. Some of her fondest memories are exploring haunted/ or paranormal sites with Dib. She loves rock climbing, hiking and tracking animals.

Now that she has had opportunities to explore who she is as a separate entity from her family and a world outside the V.V nature reserve, she would eventually like to take on the responsibility of running it/ protecting it. (She cannot trust it to her brother and cousins who have little interest in maintaining the reserve.)

Since her breakup with Dib she has returned to her ancestral home to help manage the facility. Her biggest goal as of late (beyond furthering her studies/ being a good mother to Reg) is to prove the existence of the Wolptertinger.

I glossed over so much and there's still so much text.

I realized after going through my tags I've spelled this poor oc's name wrong since the beginning. ><

[kikithegeek]

An Amateur Review of Ridley Pearson’s Super Sons

Please be aware: This will contain some spoilers for the Super Sons graphic novels written by Ridley Pearson. If you do not wish to be spoiled on plot or character development, please stop reading this and come back once you’ve read through the books yourselves. Otherwise, enjoy this amateur review.

INTRODUCTION

As someone who grew up reading comics from Marvel, DC, IDW, and Archie, it was always fun when legacy characters were introduced or focused on. Characters that were students or the children of characters that my parents grew up with always felt nice to me, and even relatable when they were introduced or shown to be growing up in a similar or the same time period as my friends and I. Taking this into account, it’s no wonder that by the time I was in high school, some of my favorite comics involved Damian Wayne/Robin and Jonathan Kent/Superboy. Yes, I was definitely older than them by the time their series came in, but some of the problems they faced, even the small ones, seemed familiar to my own. Problems such as Jon’s reluctance of moving away from Hamilton County to Metropolis where he’d be leaving behind people he’s known for years into what is essentially a foreign environment for him, or both characters having to live up to the examples their parents have set; something I’m sure many of us can relate to as children are always compared to their parents or successful family members. The growing friendship between them was always a highlight no matter what type of adventure they were on.

In 2019, Ridley Pearson and Ile Gonzalez released the first book in their 3-part series starring Jon and Damian in a sort of rebooted universe. Fan feedback at the time was mixed, with some fans unhappy and others just happy they were getting more content featuring their favorite duo. Personally, I wasn’t paying attention all that much; I was in the middle of college and my focus had drifted away from comic books that year to focus on my studies, but with the recent pandemic and more time to read I’ve fallen back into the rabbit hole of super heroes and villains. I remember there being an outcry against the books when the previews began to be released, but after they did release and finished their run, I didn’t hear anything. No one really actively talked about what the books were about and most of what I heard seemed to come from people who read a handful of pages, if at all, and then never finished it. So, I decided to put my two cents in and read them. I’ll be looking at them as someone who has been a fan of their main-like counterparts for years, and as someone who also acknowledges that this isn’t canon to it and is an alternate universe (or alternate Earth in the cases of the DC comics multiverse), if anything to look at it from a neutral perspective.  

It should be noted that this isn’t the first time I’ve read through Ridley Pearson’s work. In middle school and even through high school, I couldn’t get enough of Kingdom Keepers and Peter and the Starcatcher, even getting tickets to see the touring cast of the latter’s theater adaptation when they came to my state. I’ve read a few interviews on his work with the Super Sons before going into the books themselves, and he doesn’t neglect to say that this series isn’t connected to the normal DC canon (whatever that is these days; any comic book reader knows that reboots, especially for DC in the last decade, usually happen quite a bit). Okay, that’s probably a given, and it makes things easier considering the main target demographic are kids aged 10-14. There’s a lot of content to go over when it comes to everything connected to Damian and Jon, even more so for Batman and Superman, so this makes it less difficult for kids who don’t have much experience with DC outside of the occasional tv show and movie to get into it.

But what about the story itself?

THE STORY

(The majority of the story spoilers are beyond this point since I summarize the books. This is your last spoiler warning.)

The story itself takes place in an alternate future. America is called Coleumbria and the global climate crisis has gotten to the point where it’s a race to find a way to stop the rising temperatures and constant flooding. While Batman and Superman spearhead the projects set to stabilize and then reverse the Earth’s temperature, their sons are moved from Metropolis to a city called Wyndemer with other refugees looking to find somewhere safe from the floods. This causes tensions in the city to heighten as refugees, called “flood runners”, are harassed by locals. Without going too in-depth into the books (otherwise, we’d be here all day), I’m going to summarize them. Certain characters and events might be omitted, but hey, at least it gives you a reason to read them even if I tell you what they’re about.

The first book introduces us to this crisis and shows us how this world’s Jon (who still goes by Superboy in this) and Damian (who is going by Batkid) meet. While there’s some animosity between them at first, with Jon having a not-too-hidden bias against Bruce Wayne, the two eventually start to work together when they realize their individual investigations are connected. Jon and his classmate, Tilly, have been looking into a mysterious illness that’s hospitalized Jon’s mother among many others, and Damian has been investigating sabotages against Wayne Tech dams. They also meet a girl named Candace who is trying to uncover a mystery that’s plagued her since her mom’s passing. After finding clues at a food company called Sage Foods, the group is attacked and manages to escape after Jon is told their attackers were sent by a woman named Arvyc. After finding out that Candace and Damian had set Jon up earlier in the book to be attacked by a few gang members, the group have a short fight before they go to the train station to stop Arvyc’s gang.

The second book opens with the boys helping Candace make it to a boat while escaping a group of girls called The Four Fingers. While they didn’t have as much of a presence in the previous book, had been shown as adversaries of Candace’s. Continuing into their investigations into the virus, Jon and Tilly learn that it was man-made as Candace’s visions lead her toward Coleumbria’s capital. The Four Fingers, meanwhile, are adamant about finding Candace, so they’ve taken to stalking her friends, until they realize they’re “dead ends”, so they choose to follow their own leads. It is revealed that The Four Fingers and Candace all have powers that connects them to certain species of animals; with Candace, she has a connection to birds and she states her grandmother was the same. Tilly comes up with her own vigilante persona, Puppet Girl, and stays behind in Wyndemer as Damian and Jon leave to go to Cinapolis to find the virus’s source. However, the boys get captured and Tilly decides she needs to help them. Candace in the meantime has found an anointing oil her mother had left clues for her to find, which is the key to the throne of Landis, the country she and The Four Fingers come from. It ends with the Super Sons and Tilly saving Candace and helping her get on a boat back to Landis while Arvyc escapes from prison.

The third and final book opens with Jon, Damian, and Tilly trying to track Arvyc down and it’s obvious that they’ve been at this for some time now, but they soon become the hunted. Candace makes it back to Landis and finds one of the rebels her mom had led before she was arrested. As Candace continues on her journey, Jon, Damian, and Tilly are sent by Batman to a LexCorp lab to retrieve a virus sample, only to find it isn’t there. They decide to go to Landis since The Four Fingers were heading there with the virus (and Candace had gone with intentions to stop them), but Tilly needs to stay behind again. The boys and Candace continue their respective journeys through Landis, however a man who’s been pulling the strings from the shadows for the last two books, Sir Reale, has decided to send Arvyc after them along with Talia. Talia and Arvyc attack the boys who manage to outsmart them for the moment, and are reunited with Candace who has been tracking the virus with two warriors named Kizuka and Archer. Tilly, back in Coleumbia, is sent out to retrieve Damian and Jon by Bruce’s assistant, Patience. After meeting up with Tilly, the group find a lab where The Four Fingers have been preparing vials of the virus in order to release it via bombs, and a battle ensues where they learn that sunlight can kill the virus and that Talia is Damian’s mother. Learning that they couldn’t stop all of the shipments, the group gathers the people of the local town to help them in storming the factory. They succeed in killing the remaining virus, save for a vial to be used to create a cure. With Superman’s mission a success and Batman working on a cure, the book ends with Candace being crowned the new Empress of Landis, Jon’s mother waking up, and Batman making Damian Robin.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE STORY

All in all, the story was okay. Personally, I felt like it was rushed in some places, such as how we’re brought from one character or scene to the next with little to no transition or breathing space. The endings were also kind of abrupt, which I feel really brought down the ending for the final book. We don’t really linger on whether or not Superman’s efforts to reverse global worming worked or have a moment where Jon and his dad are able to reunite with Lois. I was also disappointed to see they didn’t go anywhere with the whole “Talia is revealed to be Damian’s mother he had never met before and barely knew anything about” sub plot they had going in book three. People who know me know that the League of Assassins and any character associated with them are among my favorite villains in the Batman mythos, and to see it be brought in only for it to not have anything done with it was disappointing. Heck, you could have taken Talia out of it and the story would have been the same minus Damian being momentarily shaken before getting back to business. At the very least, an ending scene where Bruce confirms she’s his mother would have been nice enough closure for it. This might have been due to there being a page limit (each book was roughly 151 pages long) which lead to things being cut out, but it’s still disappointing nonetheless, especially since I did find myself enjoying parts that had pacing problems.

Pacing and unresolved plotlines aside, some of the things I did enjoy though involved Candace’s story arc. She’s one of the characters made for this series, and watching her figure out her past and come into her own with her powers was really enjoyable. I also felt like small snippets of character interactions between the boys, Candace, and Tilly were really well written. They actually felt like kids.

THE CHARACTERS

Since there are a lot of characters in this series, I’m only going to focus on the four main characters since we’re with them the entire time.

Jonathan Kent is probably the one out of him and Damian who’s the closest to his original counterpart, and I don’t just mean in looks. While he doesn’t have as many powers as he’s come to have in the main DC canon, he does have some of the powers he has early on in his appearances, such as super speed, super hearing, x-ray vision, super strength, and being able to jump high/far. He’s a bit older here though, 12 instead of 10 making him closer to Damian’s age and allowing him to go to the same school as him and Tilly. He holds his dad’s lessons close and seems to be apprehensive about seriously hurting people, mainly in the beginning. Being older though, he’s a bit more mature than his counterpart was before he was aged up, and I feel that this version of Jon is a good blend between the two.

Damian Wayne on the other hand was given the most changes in terms of backstory and how he acts, which goes hand-in-hand. In the original continuity, he was raised by Talia and the League of Assassins, making him spoiled and a literal killer in the body of a child. Here, he was raised by Bruce (how or why, I don’t know. Talia wasn’t brought up until book 3 so I can only assume she gave him to Bruce as a baby and they agreed to never tell him for whatever reason) and Bruce refuses to let him be Robin, leaving Damian to become Batkid (which is a good reference to past incarnations of Batman’s son in older Elseworlds stories). He’s still arrogant and looks for a fight more than he should, but it doesn’t seem like he wants to kill. Beat up a guy who is already out of the fight, yes, but not kill. One thing people who’ve read the books will notice is I’ve been calling him Damian. Well, that’s out of habit; in this series he is pretty adamant about everyone calling him Ian. Why? Again, I don’t know, and part of me is bothered by it because we never find out why he hates his name. I can only assume Pearson had things planned that would explain this a bit more but had to cut them out due to page constraints.

Tilly is one of the characters made for this series, taking the name Puppet Girl as her secret idenity. She’s Jon’s friend and classmate, and is a computer expert, allowing for her to help the team from home until they need her to fly one of Bruce’s machines to them. She hangs around Jon a lot due to going to the same school and because both of them are interning for the Daily Planet. In all honesty, she reminds me of Kathy from before it’s revealed she has powers and is actually an alien since she acts as Jon’s best friend who isn’t Damian, as well as a girl who Jon might have a crush on or vice versa. The blond hair and the purple-pink outfit scheme doesn’t help.

Candace is our final main character and the second character made for this series. We meet her in the books before we meet Jon and Damian, and her story plays a huge role in the overall plot. Candace has been following a string of clues her mother left her shortly before her death, and we learn as the comic goes on that she’s meant to be the next Empress of her home country, Landis, but was forced to flee to Coleumbria when her family was usurped by a general. Over time, she unlocks her power to communicate and control birds, and later to control the weather. I found myself enjoying her story just as much, if not more than the plots that surrounded the title characters, which helps since her story is intertwined with theirs. If I had to compare her to an existing character in the DC canon, I’d say Wonder Woman due to her super human abilities and her being royalty.

THE ART

The art is also good, definitely better than what I can do. However, a complaint I do have is that the characters feel stiff and rigid. It might be the art style, but something felt off at times, mainly with the posing. Again, it’s still better than what I can do, but I feel like it could have been better. I did like how the backgrounds were vibrant and you could tell where the characters were just from a look, and the art is more detailed in general compared to other young reader graphic novels DC has been putting out. Art is pretty subjective, so I’m not going to go into this too much and a lot of these are my own opinions.

The art has come into debate as well, though not for the reasons I mentioned above. When previews for the first book started to be released, a lot of people were critical toward Candace and Damian, particularly toward their skin color. In the preview images, Candace was shown to have a blue-ish-gray tint (you can probably see why this didn’t go over well) and Damian was shown to be paler than Jon (Damian is shown in the original DC canon to be half Arabic and even though he was sometimes shown to have pale skin like Bruce’s, he was also shown to have a tanner complexion due to his mother’s side. Most fan interpretations as a result more often than not have him with tanned skin). After fan outcry, this was fixed with Candace getting a more natural skin tone and Damian’s being brought down to a darker shade than Jon’s. With Damian’s it’s more apparent in the second and third books since in the first one I did notices there were a few panels where his skin tone would be lighter than in others which makes me wonder if it was a last-minute recolor for the first book’s release.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All in all, I’d say it’s okay. It’s not great, it’s not bad; just okay. I honestly think that if Pearson and Gonzalez hadn’t been given a page limit then it could have been better since the pacing wouldn’t be as big of an issue and they would have been able to get through all of the mini arcs they had set up. They obviously wanted to tell a bigger story but were only given so much room to work with.

It’s obviously not for everyone, and it’s definitely not the Super Sons people like me have grown up with, but that’s okay. Some of the kids I used to babysit who fall into the range of “I’ve never really read DC comics and only ever saw a cartoon episode on TV” read these books too and they liked it. Same thing for the few kids who did have prior experience with the Super Sons. What dragged them in was the climate crisis and (for the ones who read them after the world went into a lockdown) the fact the characters were trying to find a cure for a virus that was similar to the flu. Yeah, and these were written way before 2020, so that’s actually an achievement on Pearson’s part.

You don’t have to like them; heck, I didn’t really have any interest in them because of the backlash from people like me until my friends started asking me to make this review. But maybe give them a chance. Find a kid in your family or friend group and see if they’d be interested, maybe you can read it together once the craziness of the last year’s calmed down.

[bigowlenergy]

heat + horror

next chapter of How to Raise the Dead!

x

Maddie stands at the door to the basement, hazmat tied down around her waist, staring into the green dark. To her left, the cicada scream en mass. The refrigerator hums at her back. The portal buzzes below. The cold air that swirls up the steps is incredible against the summer heatwave. Maddie. Wants to go down. Hesitates, still.

Danny is down there.

Maddie loves her son, but she loves her daughter, too, and knows better than to bother Jazz when she’s trying to finish a paper and watch the finale to her latest K-drama at the same time (again) and expect anything but getting snapped at and increasing her stress. The experience is just new, with Danny. He was always the relaxed one, but once it hit 80 degrees in the house, the basement became his domain, with the same low tolerance for interruption. With an extra edge of physical discomfort and medical concern. Maddie just doesn’t want to upset him further. It feels like she does that all too often, but Danny just won’t say anything when she does. It’s hard to understand him. She wants to, but he’s pulled so far away from them already...

“Hey, mom.” Jazz stands in the entryway, kicking her flip flops off, two bags of gas station ice slung over her shoulders. “He moved yet?” She asks.

“No, I don’t think so. I was just about to check,” Maddie offers, stepping in to take the second bag from Jazz. She’d stepped out to get some water. Hadn’t gone back. Condensation from the ice leaks down her shoulders, sticks her hair to her neck. Instant relief.

“Alright.” She says. “You coming down? It’s cold.”

And Maddie hesitates at the mouth of the threshold, for just a moment.

“Sounds nice,” She tells the stairs, hidden under the clanging of Jazz’s steps.

At the bottom, all she can see is the ring of lawnchairs and the little blow up kiddie pool that Jazz is dumping her bag of ice in. The clear vinyl tubing of the cheap outdoor furniture catches every refraction of green light from the open portal. An oversized alien dollhouse in Maddie’s lab. The smell of squeaky fresh plastic overwhelms the ectoplasm. The basement has always been climate controlled, and underground besides, so the downright frosty air that the open portal adds to the mix creates the strange atmosphere of a sauna in winter. Inverted.

But the chilliest thing by far is Danny.

Maddie finally gets a good look at him when Jazz collapses back into her own chair, sticking her feet into the pool with a great heaving sigh. Maddie appreciates her running to the store for them. It’s nearly 110 out. She goes to dump her part of the ice in and nearly fumbles to keep from pouring it straight over Danny’s head. He’s buried up to his chest, now. What she thought were odd shadows from the portal are actually his folded knees, the only other part not under ice. His eyes are glazed and dull, staring sightlessly into the green vortex, his head pillowed on the wet plastic rim of the pool. Soaked hair drawn back by one of Jazz’s headbands drips slowly onto the concrete floor. Maddie frowns at that. They specifically asked the kids to make sure nothing in the lab was exposed to water. Should have put a towel down.

She probably can’t blame Danny for lack of foresight. He doesn’t look good.

“Hi, sweetie,” Maddie whispers, tucking the ice in around his legs instead.

His blank expression doesn’t change as he belatedly mouths ‘hi’ back to her.

“Drink your slush,” Scolds Jazz, kicking at the ice idly. Danny’s buried hands slowly tip the half melted slushie toward his face. The straw rests in his mouth for a while, but Maddie’s fairly sure he doesn’t drink any. Her poor baby. Jazz had picked it up for him the first time she went to the store, nearly three hours ago.

Maddie pulls her hands from the ice and wipes them on her shirt. Goes to the monitoring station set up on the side of the portal. The nodes taped to Danny’s neck are probably the only things keeping him from fully submerging himself. His oxygen levels are lower than his usual terrifying baseline of 87%, hovering in the 84-86% range, and his heartrate is just short of clinical death. Most worryingly, his temperate is reading at nearly 80 - a deadly fever, considering his normal 71.3.

Maddie wishes they knew how to really help him. This feels strangely like a - not like a test, not really, but like something is being withheld from them. Like Danny knows what to do, but is still too scared to tell them. Like it’s something he doesn’t want them to know, another little secret on the pile. A tiny declaration of loss of trust.

Or he’s afraid of them knowing.

Not that he could tell them, right now. He’s been basically unresponsive to even the most drastic of stimuli since his internal temp hit 75 an hour ago. Jack had driven out for the lawn furniture around that time, helped wrangle Danny out of the bathtub and into the lab for better monitoring, then disappeared again a few minutes ago. Maddie has an inkling of what he’s up to, so she’ll just hold down the fort and see what happens.

But Danny. Looking at this array, she has the clinging idea that this would be easier for him if he was a ghost. But even now, he’s so hesitant about letting them see him. Has never, in word or deed, trusted them with that. It’s an open secret. What he is.

Who he is.

Jazz knows; Maddie knows she known for some time now. Maddie knows. Does Jack? Maddie knows. She tries to imagine that alien presence in this little family tableau. More green in the air. An extra buzz of static under the portal. White hair, dripping. Maddie knows, but it feels like she knows less than she did three weeks ago.

She’s seen Phantom with her own eyes. Seen him fly and fight and snarl like an animal. Seen him bounce and smile and joke. How does he do it? Maybe Maddie just isn’t ready for the perfect intersection of those things yet. Does - does Danny’s ghost leave his body?

Is Maddie really ready to face her sons’ corpse and his ghost at the same time?

Jazz splashes suddenly, feet shifting, head tipped back dramatically off the edge of her seat, hair in a huge bun, wearing her only pair of shorts. Little embroidered ghosts on the hem. Would he electrify the pool, if he changed?

Maddie sucks in a breath and drags her eyes back to the monitor. Maybe it would be better if he did. Actually. The shock might be what he needs to stabilize his heart. He’s obviously reliant on cold temperatures to facilitate stronger conductivity of his electrical impulse based neurology. Like any other ghost. He’s losing stability of consciousness. Unable to rely on the physical, chemical reaction based impulses of the li - of humans. Maddie’s trying not to think about it. She doesn’t want to think about it. The monitor won’t tell her anything else.

Danny, the ghost, Danny, her son, is suffering from mild destabilization and his human body is too close to brain dead to keep him from -

God, Maddie is glad she doesn’t know.

Jack, bless that man, saves her from her thoughts by clambering down the stairs.

“Icecream!” He calls, voice pitched less exuberantly loud than usual. In deference of the small lab space, empty of the usual noise of running machines, or in deference to Danny. Or her own nerves. Jack hands Jazz a pint of strawberry pistachio and a spoon, sets a bag near the pool and then appears at Maddie’s side. Kisses her cheek. Glances at the monitor.

“How’s he doing?” He asks, handing her her own pint and a fork. Pecan Caramel soymilk.

“Not much worse. But we don’t know beyond his baselines, so it could mean anything. Temperature’s been stable for the last twenty minutes.” Maddie digs out the first pecan she sees and keeps it in her mouth to cool her sensitive teeth. Offers nothing else. Jack can read the screen. If he arrives to the same conclusion, then they’ll talk about it upstairs. Away from the kids. Hopefully, Danny’s too busy barely existing to overhear, if it comes down to it.

Jack nods, bullshooter blue eyes sweeping over the monitor. One huge, extremely hot hand rests on her back, goes to rub soothingly, but Maddie shoos him with her fork.

“You’re cold!” He says delightedly, sticking his hands on the folds of her turned down hazmat. He spares her a smile, then snaps his attention back to the screen. Lingers on Danny’s oxygen levels. “Well,” Jack says, straightening up, “Let’s try to get his internal temperature down a bit, then. Come on, Danno!”

He unties the cloth bag and pulls out a full gallon of icecream. There is no room in the freezer for that.

“Okay, buddy, I got us a real treat, straight from the farmer’s market creamery, you know, the people with the ecto-infected cows we helped out last spring? Got us a discount! Anyway, it’s custom. Chocolate icecream, fudge pieces, cacao nibs, coconut shavings, sprinkles, cookie bits, and those little soft dough chunks -” He cuts off, leans in closer to the pool, watches Danny intensely for a few seconds. “Yep! Extra cookie pieces. Wanna try some?”

Jack sticks two spoons in the open gallon and sets it aside. Gently eases the mostly ignored red slushie out of Danny’s hands and passes it off to Jazz. She doesn’t hesitate to pour some of it over her icecream. Maddie shudders. Bites her pecan. Takes a seat.

Jack pulls a shop towel out of his shorts pocket and soaks it in the pool, then wipes his face with it before slinging it around his neck. Takes a tiny spoonful of the icecream and starts to set it in Danny’s direction.

“Just try a bit, Danno. I’ll let you drink dry ice again,” He cajoles. Maddie whips her head up to glare at him. Jazz shrieks with her mouth closed, prevented from yelling properly by a well timed frozen strawberry. Jack ignores them both. He’d better have a damn good reason and some damn good results.

He gets Danny to eat a little, at least. He’d refused dinner last night, and it’s almost 7 PM, now. After a while, Jack leans in again. All Maddie can hear from a bare few feet away is a quiet, wet little rasp.

Jack beams his most reassuring grin at their son. “Of course it’s got ectoplasm in it; it’s for you, Danny-boy!” He says. And. That might be the first time any of them have put it to words. Admitted it out loud. It should feel like a taboo broken, but somehow, it eases a little relief into the atmosphere. A confession they all share.

Then Jack frowns a bit. Eyebrows drawn down in concern when he says “Is it not enough?”

Danny shakes his head, a light tremble of motion. The wet plastic squeaks under his neck. Lies still. Jack sits back, looks up to Maddie. Jazz is leaned back in her seat, staring down at Danny with a sharp frown of disapproval on her face. A fierce set to her eyes that tells Maddie everything she needs to know.

“We’ll get you more, sweetie,” Maddie tests the waters carefully, kneeling down across from Jack, sets a hand on Danny’s drying hair, keeps Jazz in her sights. Danny closes his eyes and shakes his head again, turning further into her palm and sighing quietly. A low, tired sound of dismissal. Not for Maddie. Jazz looks away, guilt and worry plain on her face. Bites her lip. Lids her icecream and mumbles an excuse of a goodbye, looking a bit mutinous as she leaves.

Maddie has to wonder if she should step back from this. Let Jazz do whatever needs to be done that Danny is hiding from them. But she can’t. These are her children; they shouldn’t need to be providing something for themselves. It’s her duty to care for them.

But. She is also an ectobiologist. Knows damn well what ghosts need. Has done in-field observations on this sort of thing for at least a decade.

It’s not the amount of ectoplasm that matters. It’s the source.

They can’t provide what Danny needs from the lab.

Sure, they’ve never seen Phantom feeding, but he’s so rarely seen at all. Elusive. Non-normative behavior. Maybe -

An incomplete hypothesis has never sat well with her. Her son being miserably sick while she has the power to help him is not sitting any better.

“Danny,” She says firmly, gently taking his cold face in her hands and wincing at the mincing slowness of his pulse under his jaw. “Please, just tell us what’s wrong, honey.”

Something thumps upstairs. What is Jazz doing? Maddie had assumed she left the house. To get. Something. Bring something back? Get a ghost they know to help?

Maddie’s seen ghosts negotiate and willingly feed from each other. The statistically significant ratio of mutual encounter to violent attack was one of the things that tipped the scales for Maddie and Jack on whether ghosts have the capacity for civilized society or not.

If Danny has some sort of pact or agreement with a local ghost, then Maddie is intensely interested in learning every detail of it. As both his mother, and as an ectobiologist. Jazz probably has extensive notes.

Upstairs, something drags across the floor. Maddie jumps at the noise.

“I’ll go check,” Jack offers, glancing guiltily back to Danny before heading up the stairs.

Maddie turns her attention back to Danny and actually feels her heart skip a beat when she finds him staring up at her with dull, glazed eyes. His face too-still and eerie in the green light of the buzzing portal. It dyes him colors he shouldn’t be. She takes in a breath, and calms herself, confused by her own reaction. She’s been exposed to high levels of ectoplasm for nearly two decades. Maddie lost her innate terror-reaction to ectoentities years ago. This is completely unfamiliar to her.

But the way Danny’s too blank face flashes into guilt as he flinches and tries to pull away is not. It’s the same reaction as Jazz earlier.

Guilt. Something withheld. Upstairs, something drags against the wood floors again. Slow, deliberate.

“Danny -” She starts, concerned. He squeezes his eyes shut tight and turns away from her. Mouths something that she reads as sorry. A creak on the stairs. The lights flicker. Maddie jolts back in a crouch immediately, hand falling to where her weapons should be. One hand on Danny. Assuring his location. Her other hand closes on nothing. Of course not. Maddie doesn’t wear her weapons around Danny. Not any more. There’s nothing there. She forces herself into a more relaxed stance with some difficulty.

What could they have upstairs for this? Surely there’s not another ghost living in their house? Maddie would like to think that a second instance would be ridiculous. Maybe a hidden freezer of ectoplasmic samples? She looks down at the human ghost in her lab. Maybe he needs a rare type of ectoplasm, due to his unusual biology? His half human biology.

Half human. Needing ectoplasm and emotion, but also needing food. Maddie’s heart picks up uncomfortably, sits high in her throat. At the other end of the room is the wall safe with the Nightingale journals. The myths and accounts and legends of violent ghosts. Hunted for their danger to humanity. Their hunger. Maddie and Jack have long discounted or disproved those old folk tales.

But then again, they’d also disproved the existence of something like Danny.

“Danny -” She tries again, watching the way he’s turned away from her intently. Mouth pressed in a thin, unhappy line. Every ounce of him tense, entombed in ice.

Jack bounds down the stairs. Maddie jolts to her feet. He’s got the bulky old TV from the sitting room in his arms. Maddie’s heart is pounding, her mind blank.

“We’ve got the cure, Mads!” He cries. Jazz follows, carrying the DVD player and a stack of DVDs.

In the pool, Danny shudders strongly enough to stir the ice. Moans out “No,” loudly enough to be heard.

“Shut up, Danny.” Jazz says firmly. “You need this.”

Jack finishes plugging the makeshift entertainment center together. Jazz sets the DVDs down and sticks one in the player. Maddie’s seen every title on the pile, but doesn’t recognize them from anywhere in the house. All horror films, many classic. Monster movies. Slasher flicks. It’s so disingenuous from where her mind had been that she’s left frozen.

“They’re from Sam,” Jazz explains. “For when somebody runs out of juice.” She spares Danny an annoyed glare and hits play.

Oh. Oh. Maddie looks down at the miserable little ghost in the pool, her shadow cast long over his morose, guilty expression. He’s so pale. The colors from the TV flicker against the vinyl and ice and ectoplasm in surreal flashes. Some loud sound blares from the old speakers with more static than usual and Maddie jolts again. All her senses on high alert, an undercurrent of unnatural fear flooding her cerebellum. An artificially induced state of terror. The buzzing she’s been ignoring with all the ease of overexposure is Danny’s aura, set to 18 hz.

There hasn’t been a ghost attack in nearly a week. All the local specters retreating to the other side of the portal as the heat wave rages on theirs. Danny hasn’t been able to emphathically power himself in a week. Maybe longer.

Ghosts feed on fear.

He’s been overwhelmed with the heatwave, unable to patrol his territory, probably not physically fed in a while, and emotionally weakened. Of course he’s destabilizing.

Maddie lets out a breath of relief. This is something easily remedied, at least. She leans in and kisses Danny’s forehead. In apology. In absolution. Feels guilty for her distrust of him with such an irrational idea. Feels the rekindled instinctual hyperawareness of a ghost near to her vulnerable human throat. Ignores it. Helps Jack finish moving the chairs closer to the pool. Sets her icecream back on her lap. Settles in and lets herself overthink the timing of the next jumpscare. Watches her little ghost relax slowly as he draws strength from their shared, controlled fear. Wonders if he has a vomeronasal organ, with the way his mouth is a little open. If it helps with emphathic filtering, or if it’s psychosomatic. Wonders if he feels better. Fishes his hand out of the ice and holds it tight until he squeezes her back.

It’s been a while since they’ve had a family movie night.

[secret-engima]

*screeching* What do you reckon would generally happen if Verstael meet Cloud!Prompto?

*squints* Not to be obtuse but which one? Do you mean the Verstael of that verse or my good guy Besithia of Future’s Blurry?

Gonna assume you mean Cloud’s Besithia and like- ohhhh boy.

So first the only way they meet is if Besithia tried to have his goons capture Cloud after FINALLY poking his head out of his lab long enough to hear about Cor Leonis’s scrawny kid who can bench press a car and outrun a coeurl and goes “AH-HA” because he still remembers that missing lab baby that got stolen that had been showing the most fascinating reactions to the Scourge. So Besithia sends forth his goons and I ... don’t entirely see Cloud getting CAPTURED so much as surrounded while Besithia himself shows up to inspect the capture and to brag.

Prompto looks and hears Besithia going on a mad rant about finding his “wayward creation”. Hears Besithia talk about tests and diagnostics and further experiments in order to replicate his “wayward subject”. He hears and knows that this man is talking about him, is going to drag him back to the labs again and break-him-mold-him-carve-him-open-stitch-him-up-wrong-.

And

Prompto

F A L L S.

Aranea and Tifa might be the ones to find him if he was in Niflheim when this happened, or if Besithia deigned to fly all the way to Lucis, then its the Glaives who find him.

Lets go with the glaives.

The glaives find the aftermath and at first aren’t sure WHAT they’re seeing. The area is ... shredded. Toxic almost in the levels of destruction. There isn’t a single living plant or animal in the area, just husks of MT units torn apart and downed gunships and mecha suits. It’s a war zone, but not one of their making. They are alarmed.

Captain is FRANTIC. He is the only one to look around the field and figure it out first, to spot what is ... left of Besithia’s personal division and put the pieces together and he RUNS through the ruined field, frantically searching.

They find Cloud lying on the ground not far from ... what is left of Besithia. Cloud’s fusion sword is buried point first in the ground not far away, still slick with engine oil and blood and MT sludge. He’s not moving, and Captain gives a strangled cry as he skids to a stop on his knees next to Cloud.

Cloud’s okay. Physically. Nothing that a few elixirs (freely given by the glaive and Captain) won’t fix. But his eyes are open and vacant and his limbs are trembling faintly like he's too cold. Captain bundles up Cor’s son and they rush back to base with him, where they call Cor. It takes an entire day for Cloud to snap out of it, to crawl out of the haze of labs and running and sour mako and Zack-here-Zack-fighting-Zack-gone-gone-gone and register his real surroundings, sitting curled up tight against Seph’s side while Zack paces worriedly back and forth and Cor sits on Cloud’s other side holding his hand with a grim expression.

They notice he’s finally aware again and fuzz like crazy. Cor demands to know what happened, which Cloud manages to choke out ... most of the story.

Seph and Zack flinch in sympathy and understanding the moment he admits he lost track of what happened when he realized Besithia intended to take him back to the labs.

He goes home to Insomnia with them and spends a while there recovering, but there is a moment, quite and private, when it’s just Cor and his son, that Cloud admits- more to the window he’s staring out of then the father in the nearby chair, that he thought he’d feel ... better. For having killed him. He can’t touch him anymore. He doesn’t have to worry about the labs. Doesn’t have to flinch from the phantom lurking in the shadows of the room or the corner of the mirror anymore. 

And yet ... he still dreams of them.

He doesn’t think he’ll ever stop dreaming of them. The labs are inside him, and he doesn’t know ... how to pull them out.

Cor abandons his book and gently hugs his son without a word.

[maswartz]

RWBY: After Salem (concepts here are free for anyone to use, just give credit)

In the final battle with Salem the heroes combine the power Ruby’s silver eyes with that of all four maidens to purge her of the Grimm essence and manage to get her to admit that she’s moved on from her daughters deaths resulting in her losing her immortality. Aging thousands of years in seconds she was soon dust. However before her defeat Salem managed to unite the four relics. The Brothers had returned. Displeased by the conflict still existing they were about to judge humanity as irredeemable when the heroes convinced them that humanity was not that far gone. Listening to their argument the Brothers agreed that humanity was neither worthy of them returning nor did they deserve extermination. Thus they returned to the stars. Before leaving however the God of Darkness left a gift. One in every five hundred babies born after this day would have the gift of magic. In time the four maidens would create the Seasons Academy to teach these new magic users how to use their gifts. Magic users have weaker semblances so the scales are not too unbalanced. Magic users are given the title of Wizard or Witch and act like Huntsmen, protecting the people of Remnant from the always present danger of the Grimm. The Huntsmen Academies lowered the age requirements after Salem’s final plan involved destroying many of the minor academies. In the following years much has changed. One such change is that Menagerie is now an official kingdom. Technology has advanced at a rapid pace, trains using anti gravity technology connect most cities. As a result trips that would have taken days now take a matter of hours. Due to this more and more cities rise outside the kingdom borders. The heroes of team RWBY and JNOR and their allies have all begun new lives after the fall of Salem.

Ruby and Oscar are married with four children. Ruby now runs a weapon repair and modification store with Nora while Oscar writes books about the past Ozes. Maria Pine-18 Lyme Pine-16 Sunny (M) and Luna (F) Pine-12 year old twins. They don’t possess magic or have silver eyes but their parents have made it very clear they love them all the same. Especially after they learned about Maria’s insecurities. Sunny and Luna have reached the phase where they want to be individuals instead of just one half of twins. Recently they unlocked their semblances. Sunny can sense aura and Luna can read body language. Based on Apollo and Artemis. Blake and Yang are married with two adopted children. Blake works to help Faunus equality across Remnant while Yang helps design and test new vehicles for the SDC. Tawny Belladonna-Xiao Long-18 Vivi Belladonna-Xiao Long-17 Weiss and Jaune are married with three children. Weiss took over SDC and is working to undo the damage done by her father while Jaune teaches combat at a local academy. Nichole Schnee-19 Maple Schnee- 13- Named in honor of Pyrrha. She inherited her mother’s singing voice and has a huge love of music. In fact she wants to enter the music industry rather than become a Huntress. To her relief her parents told her they’d support whatever decision she made. William Schnee- 10- A curious young boy with an interest in science. He loves touring the various SDC research labs with his mother. Ren and Nora are married with three children. Ren is the mayor of a rebuilt Kuroyuri while Nora runs a weapon repair and modification store with Ruby. Lie Balder-17 Lie Nezha-16 Lie Sif-15 The headmasters remain a part of Oscar’s inner circle however with the fall of Salem their mission is now to continue to guide all of Remnant into everlasting peace and preventing future disasters. Beacon- Glynda Goodwitch Haven- Ghira Belladonna, took over informally after the battle of Haven and made official around a year later. Shade- Otto Dune, A dog faunus, friend and ally of Professor Theodore, he took over after Theodore retired. Atlas- Robyn Hill, after the fall of Ironwood Robyn was placed in charge of Atlas Academy allowing her to lead a new generation away from the military and teach them how to act like proper Huntsmen. The current Maidens Spring- Raven Branwen- After the battle of Haven Raven lost everything, her tribe lost all respect for her, Taiyang rejected her, she had nowhere to go. Eventually she decided she needed to redeem herself and began spying on Salem’s forces delivering vital intel to the heroes. Summer- July Storms- When the heroes arrived in Vacuo they befriended sisters June and July Storms. They soon discovered that June was the Summer Maiden. During a battle with Cinder June stayed behind to buy the others time to escape. Once they were safe she called down a bolt of lightning to kill her before the powers could be stolen. Her sister was the last one in her thoughts so July gained the powers and has been the Summer Maiden ever since. Autumn- Emerald Sustrai- In a fit of rage Cinder revealed that she never truly cared for Emerald as anything more than a pawn. Broken Emerald fled Salem’s fortress with Mercury. They joined the heroes to save their own lives from Salem and Cinder’s wrath. During a battle Emerald used her semblance to distract Cinder long enough for Ruby and Jaune to kill her. Her last thoughts were of Emerald so the power of Autumn went to her. Winter- Penny Polendina- After the fall of Ironwood many Atlesian soldiers who were loyal to him and the ideal that “Atlas Will Prevail” deserted and formed an underground cell known as the Frozen Soldiers. Lead by Harriet now known as Snow Hare (the only Ace-Op who refused to surrender) they will stop at nothing to bring down the other Kingdoms. Penny has devoted much time and effort into stopping their plans. Beacon Staff Headmistress- Glynda Goodwitch- The first headmistress of Beacon. Once Beacon was rebuilt the decision to name her headmistress was unanimous.  History- Dr Bartholomew Oobleck- Still his energetic self always eager to share knowledge with anyone willing to learn. Grimm Studies- Peter Port- Still bombastic and passing on his wisdom and experience. Head of Security- Gordon Ryder- Gordon’s semblance allows him to create orbs of aura that act as his eyes and ears. He is capable of creating multiple orbs and has them placed around the boundaries of the campus. However while keeping track of them he often loses track of what’s happening around his own body. Origin- The Headless Horseman Combat Instructor- Paulina “Babe” Bunyan- A bull faunus, her semblance allows her to spot the weak point in things or people which allowed her to help her lumberjack father when she was a child. Origin- Paul Bunyan Airship Piloting- Skye Gale- When he was younger his hubris caused an airship crash that nearly killed him. After recovering he set forward to teach others to learn from his mistake. Origin- Icarus. Wilderness Survival - Forest Mann- The son of explorers who perished during a jungle expedition his semblance and basic wilderness training allowed him to survive. His semblance allows him to copy the traits of nearby animals. After making it back to civilization years later he began teaching others how to survive the wilderness. Origin- Mowgli/Tarzan Beacon Teams Fourth Year Team MNTY Maria Pine- Growing up Maria couldn’t help but feel like she was in the shadow of heroes and legends and as a result she grew insecure. Her desire to prove herself “worthy” eventually results in her being injured on a training mission. After that she admits her insecurity to her parents and her team who help her grow past it and see her own self worth. Like her father Maria can use magic. Appearance: 18 years old. 5ft 8in- Brown hair to shoulders Hazel eyes Outfit: Light red top with maroon corset. maroon shorts. Light red tights with green vine design, roses on knees. Maroon fingerless gloves up to elbows. Green vine design on gloves. Maroon boots. Half length version of Ruby’s cloak in maroon. Emblem: Three roses on a single stem, one white, one red and one maroon Emblem Location: Back of cloak Aura Color: Maroon Semblance: Stat Boost- Allows Maria to boost a single stat (speed, strength, stamina, etc) Weapon: Rose’s Thorn- Kusarigama with extending chain. Gun built into the end.  Partner: Nautica Waves Origin: Rose Red Nautica Waves- The daughter of fishermen she grew up on the water most of her life. Resourceful and daring, she won’t give up until all options have been exhausted. Appearance: 19 years old. 5ft 6in. Short dark blue hair. Blue eyes. Shark Faunus- Shark gills allowing her to breathe under water. Outfit: Teal wetsuit with wave pattern, armor plating on shoulders, elbows, knees, torso. Optional flippers. Emblem: A series of waves descending in size Emblem Location: Shoulder armor Aura Color: Teal Semblance: Hydrokinesis- Can control water as long as it’s in liquid form. Can even shape weapons out of it. The more water she controls the more aura it takes. Weapon: Ebb and Flow- Twin pistols modified to shoot water. Using her semblance she can boost the power of the water to the point it can cut through metal. Carries a dagger called Shark’s tooth as a back up. After a few missions begins using a harpoon as her main weapon to conserve on water. Partner: Maria Pine Origin: The Little Mermaid Theo Schwartz- Due to a less than stellar home situation he attempts to defuse tense situations with humor. He believes in being prepared and carries many tools and items in his hat including a set of throwing knives, tents, medical kits, food and water. Not to mention his team’s ammo. Appearance: 18 years old. 5ft 9in. Short black hair. Green eyes. Cat Faunus- Cat whiskers. Outfit: Black pants. White shirt with black dress coat. Red bow tie. Tall hat with red and white stripes. Emblem: A hand reaching into a hat Emblem Location: Back of coat Aura Color: Ebony Semblance: Hat Trick- A pocket dimension inside his hat where he can store and retrieve any inorganic item he wants. Weapon: Cat’s Cane-  A hook style cane with a built in grappling hook and gun. Partner: York Letterson Origin: The Cat in the Hat York Letterson- A firm believer in the phrase “Knowledge is power” York is almost always reading. He is eager to learn and teach as much as he can and often volunteers to tutor other students. When he has free time he can often be found in the library. Appearance: 18 years old. 5ft 5in. Long green hair reaching down his back. Often in twin ponytails. Green eyes. Outfit: Dark green pants. Light green button up top with a pocket on the upper left breast. Dark green armor over the shirt with light green pads on arms and legs. Pair of reading glasses. Emblem: A head of lettuce Emblem Location: Shirt pocket Aura Color: Green Semblance: Prehensile Hair- Can control and use his hair as weapons or extra arms. In a pinch can even shoot strands like darts. If the hair is cut it will regrow to normal length within days due to all the aura inside it. Weapon: Close Shave- A pair of blades with gun barrels in the tips. Blades can be combined into a scissors form. In scissors mode it can be thrown like a boomerang. Partner: Theo Schwartz Origin: Rapunzel Team NGHT Nichole Schnee- From a young age her parents made sure she knew that her name made her no more important and no better than anyone else. She is kind and generous and always looking for ways to help others with the Schnee fortune. She’s very aware there’s still plenty of damage to undo from her grandfather. In battle she will often target powerful or unique Grimm to add to her semblance. Appearance: 19 years old. 5ft 10in. Long light blue hair in double ponytails. Light blue eyes. Outfit: Light blue dress with white fur pattern trim. Dress ends little above knees. Blue and white stripped stockings. Light blue boots. White gloves. Armored breastplate, armor on lower arms and shins. All armor is ice themed. Emblem: Schnee snowflake with a sword resembling the sword part of Crocea Mors Emblem Location: Knee and elbow armor Aura Color: Light blue Semblance: Grimm Aspects- She summons pieces of Grimm to use herself. She can call on the wings of a Teryx or a Nevermore, the claws of a Sabyr, the armor of an Arms Gigas, punching power of a Beringel. Like normal summons if they receive enough damage they’ll dissipate. Weapon: Cyros- Icicle themed javelin that doubles as a rifle. The shield part of Crocea Mors. Partner: Guile Widows Origin: Christmas Elf Guile Widows- A cunning strategist who excels at using his enemies own actions against them. He prefers to lure targets into his webs and let them tire themselves out trying to escape. Appearance: 19 years old. 6ft. Black hair with eight dreadlocks, four on each side. Brown eyes. Outfit: Black cargo pants with a mild webbing pattern. Gray shirt with black straps from backpack forming an “X”. Fingerless gloves. Emblem: Eight eyes, top pair are farthest apart and bottom pair are closest together. Emblem Location: Bandana Aura Color: Black Semblance: Aura Webs- Webs that can catch, contain, or even act as nets. Weapon: Spider’s Bite- Twin curved swords with guns in the hilts. Partner: Nichole Schnee Origin: Anansi Hunter Python- Strict and serious he considers being a huntsman too serious to joke about. To his dismay his partner Tawny has made it his mission to get him to laugh at least once a day. Hunter is very reluctant to use his semblance due to its nature. However if lives are at stake he will do so with frightening effect. Appearance: 18 years old. 5ft 11in. Brown hair. Snake Faunus- Snake eyes, yellow with green pupils. Outfit: Green boots with a snake skin pattern. Yellow-green cargo pants. Yellow shirt under a green hoodie. Yellow-Green armor with scale pattern over hoodie. Emblem: Stylized snake head Emblem Location: Pockets of pants Aura Color: Yellow-Green Semblance: Hypnoeyes- Can command people to do things. Stronger commands require more aura and concentration and a command too far removed from what the subject would normally do will not be followed. When activated his eyes glow green. Requires full eye contact Weapon: Serpent Staff- Staff that can separate into chain linked segments. Can also shoot from the mouth of the serpent. Partner: Tawny Belladonna-Xiao Long Origin: Kaa Tawny Belladonna-Xiao Long- Adopted when he was 6 years old. Hyperactive, full of energy, eager to make new friends. Inherited Yang’s love of puns. Appearance: 18 years old. 6ft 2in Scruffy orange hair, brown eyes. Tiger Faunus- Tiger tail. Outfit: Orange sweatpants and orange top with baggy sleeves. Black patches stripe all along outfit. Armor on knees and elbows. Emblem: A tiger pouncing Emblem Location: Back of shirt Aura Color: Orange Semblance: Rebounce- Allows him to jump, leap, and bounce incredible heights and land from any height without injury. Weapon: Tora Tearors- Clawed gloves with guns built into the hand guards. Partner: Hunter Python Origin: Tigger Third Year Team VLET Vivi Belladonna Xiao-Long- Adopted when she was 5 years old. Very self conscious about her appearance after bullies at the orphanage convinced her that her birth parents abandoned her because she was ugly. Her mothers and brother spent years trying to get her to understand that she is beautiful on the inside and the outside. After being named a team leader she gradually gains self confidence. Appearance: 17 years old. 5ft 11in. Long dark black hair. Purple eyes. Outfit: Long purple robe with a hood she uses to cover herself up. After she gains self confidence she switches to a more streamlined version without a hood. Emblem: A pair of wings overlapping each other. Emblem Location: Back of robe Aura Color: Purple Semblance: Energy Ripple- Sends a burst of energy in a direction. Weapon: Tempura- Staff with fire dust on one end and ice dust on the other. When used with her semblance she can create waves of flame or frost. Partner: Terry Braun Origin: The ugly duckling Lie Balder- Though serious around most people when he’s with family and friends he opens up and loosens up. As a child his parents would call him their little Sunshine. Appearance: 17 years old. 5ft 9in Dark orange hair with a pink ribbon tied in it. Blue eyes. Outfit: Sleeveless green robe with golden sash. Magenta pants. Both have a sun pattern. Emblem: A stylized sun Emblem Location: Back of robe Aura Color: Golden Semblance: Light Burst- Absorbs natural light and discharges it. Depending on the amount of light stored it can stun or temporarily blind. Weaker grimm may even be destroyed by a strong enough burst. As he evolves his semblance he can direct the burst instead of releasing it in all directions. Even storing it in the form of light armor. Weapon: Stormbringer and Stormbreaker- Twin hook swords with guns built in. Partner: Alison Eirian Origin: Balder Alison Eirian- An optimist often lost in a daydream, her mind wanders easily. She enjoys seeing the bright side of even the darkest situation. However she does take her duties as a Huntress seriously. Tries to get Terry to smile more. Appearance: 18 years old. 5ft 10in Blonde hair in a ponytail, blue eyes. Outfit: Long cobalt dress with silver armor plating on the front. White stockings with blue shoes. Silver gloves. Emblem: A mirror Emblem Location: Back of gloves Aura Color: Cobalt Semblance: Reflection- Allows her to enter any reflective surface. Inside the reflection is totally silent. She can travel to other reflections as long as there’s no obstacles in the way. Weapon: Full Deck- sword that appears to be made of a deck of cards, shifts into gun mode. Also carries reflective cards to use as emergency reflections. Partner: Lie Balder Origin: Alice in Wonderland Terry Braun- Growing up on the streets led him to adopt a tough cynical persona. His new friends convince him that there’s more than one kind of strength. Very protective of those younger than him. Tries to get Alison to be more realistic. Appearance: 17 years old. 5ft 11 in.Scruffy brown hair. Brown eyes. Outfit: Brown boots, brown shorts. Brown t-shirt with torn vest. Emblem: A howling wolf Emblem Location: Back of vest Aura Color: Brown Semblance: Howling Wind- Can create powerful wind with his breath. Weapon: Howling Hatchets- Twin axes with guns built into the handles. Can combine to form a shotgun. Partner: Vivi Belladonna-Xiao Long Origin: The Big Bad Wolf Second Year Team JNGL Jim Peaches- Analytical and strategic he is highly skilled at coming up with plans that utilize the strengths of his teams. He has a fondness for insects and is known to talk to them when he thinks he’s alone. Appearance: 16 years old 5ft 5in. Short brown hair, pink eyes. Outfit: Tan pants with peach shirt. Tan shoes. Peach longcoat. Pink tie with insect designs (grasshopper, centipede, ladybug, spider, earthworm, glowworm) Emblem: A peach with a bite taken out of it Emblem Location: Belt buckle Aura Color: Peach Semblance: Peach Protection- Creates forcefields over himself. Can extend to include other people. With practice he learns to create smaller ones to throw as projectiles. Weapon: Peach Pit- Mace with detachable head. Gravity dust built in allows him to launch and recall the head. Partner: Lie Nezha Origin: James and the Giant Peach Lie Nezha- Eager and impatient he’s often the first to race into a battle. He enjoys moving fast and hitting hard. As a child his parents would call him their Moonbeam. Appearance: 16 years old. 5ft 6in. Short black hair. Pink eyes. Outfit: Amber sleeveless vest and dark orange cargo shorts. Armor plated elbow and knee pads. Orange goggles Emblem: A burning wheel Emblem Location: Knee pads Aura Color: Amber Semblance: Speed Rails- He creates rails of aura in the air to run on boosting his speed as he pleases. Only Nezha can interact with the rails, all others will simply pass through them. Weapon: Stormlillies- Twin chakram that turn into shurikens. Partner: Jim Peaches Origin: Nezha J.J Grayson- He is used to people mocking or underestimating him due to his weight and bulk. However he isn’t bothered by it because he knows it’s mostly muscle instead of fat. His teammates all find him awesome. He’s the powerhouse of his team and will put himself between them and danger if it keeps them safe. Likes to call Lyme “Sprout” Appearance: 16 years old. 6ft. Bulky build. Mostly muscle instead of fat. Short gray hair. Elephant Faunus- Elephant Ears. Outfit: Necklace with a black feather on it. Gray boots. Gray baggy shorts. Gray sweatshirt. Emblem: Elephant head Emblem Location: Front of sweatshirt Aura Color: Gray Semblance: Flight- Can fly as high or as fast as he wishes. Weapon: Stampede- Spear that turns into rifle, spear tip splits to reveal barrel. Partner: Lyme Pine Origin: Dumbo Lyme Pine- Calm and caring he enjoys nature in all its forms. A love of plants lead him to study botany, he can even use plants and herbs to create medicine in a pinch. He acts as his team’s medic. Likes to call J.J “Big Guy” Appearance: 16 years old - 5ft 3in. Short blackish hair, silver eyes. Slight tan from extended time outdoors. Outfit: Green overalls over a light green top. Brown gloves with floral pattern. Dark green boots. Emblem: A pinecone wrapped in vines Emblem Location: Front of overalls Aura Color: Lime Green Semblance: Aura Vines- Can create vines made out of his aura. These can be used for extending his reach or in combat. As his semblance grows he can add thorns to the vines. Weapon: Harvester- Pitchfork with guns built into the points. After running out of ammo during a training mission he has Harvester upgraded to a rail gun with two settings, small beam (the two middle prongs charge it) and large beam (all four prongs charge it) Partner: J.J Grayson Origin: Jack and the beanstalk First Year Team SNST Shiro Shishi- When Shiro was a child his uncle a crime boss named Kuro Shishi decided to cut loose ends. After personally stabbing Shiro’s father Kin Shishi in the back he sent a trio of assassins after Shiro, leaving the boy for dead. Fortunately a pair of drifters rescued the boy and helped him recover. The pair were retired huntsmen and they trained him until he was accepted to Beacon. Patterning himself after ancient warriors he read about as a boy Shiro is honorable, courageous, and a great leader in battle. He does however have a bad habit of starting inspirational speeches when they aren’t required. Appearance: 15 years old. 5ft 2in. White hair and golden eyes. Lion Faunus. Lion’s mane. Outfit: White samurai armor with golden accents. Armor has a lion theme. Emblem: A roaring lion head Emblem Location: Center of chest armor Aura Color: White Semblance: Power Roar- Creates an omnidirectional shockwave. Weapon: Lion’s Pride- A katana with a lion’s head on the hilt. Can shoot from the lion’s head. Partner: Lie Sif Origin: Kimba The White Lion/The Lion King Noah Rhythm- Growing up in a family of traveling musicians taught him two things, one was the importance of music, the second was how to ward off the creatures of Grimm. After arriving in a village for a show only to discover the villagers slaughtered by the Grimm he swore on the spot to become a huntsman. Appearance: 15 years old. 5ft 3in. Light purple hair and eyes. Outfit: Dark purple shoes. Light purple tunic. Purple cape. Light purple alpine hat with dark purple feather. Emblem: Flute surrounded by music notes Emblem Location: Back of cape. Aura Color: Light purple Semblance: Animal Melody- Can use music to communicate and command animals. No effect on faunus. His flute isn’t required to use his semblance but it amplifies it. Uses it to ask animals for intel when arriving in new places or to get a bird or squirrel to give Tomi a ride. Weapon: Pay the Piper- His flute shoots blasts of sound like Flynt’s trumpet Partner: Tomi Tumbleweed Origin: The Pied Piper Lie Sif- Curious and always eager to learn new things once she gains an interest in a subject she won’t stop until she knows everything about it. As a child her parents would call her their Shining Star. Appearance: 15 years old 5ft. Long light orange hair in ponytail to her left side. Blue eyes. Outfit: Dark pink dress with dark green accents. Armor on legs and along left arm and shoulder. Green quiver on back. Emblem: A green lily within a pink circle Emblem Location: Shoulder armor Aura Color: Magenta Semblance: Alliance- the more friends and allies fighting by her side the stronger her aura. She channels the extra aura into her arrows Weapon: Stormpiercer- A bow and arrow. The bow splits into twin daggers based on her grandfathers and her arrowheads are infused with dust. Partner: Shiro Shishi Origin: Sif Tomi Tumbleweed- The child of tailors they grew up helping their parents with the sewing. They love to keep up with latest fashions even if they know they could never afford any of them. Despite some initial confusion their team fully accepted the fact they’re non-binary. Appearance: 15 years old. 4ft 11in. Short blonde hair. Yellow eyes. Outfit: Tan shoes with yellow socks. Yellow shorts. Tan shirt with yellow suspenders. Emblem: A needle and thread Emblem Location: Buttons of suspenders Aura Color: Tan Semblance: Shrinking- They can shrink to a minimum of one inch high. Their strength remains the same as when they are full sized. Weapon: Needle point. A rapier that can shoot from the point. Partner: Noah Rhythm Origin: Tom Thumb/Thumbelina