#and there's brotherhood which i haven't read

[jewishcissiekj]

fuck it I'm posting the Asajj canon recommendations in a bit

[moldybonessmell]

"Deadpool and Wolverine": queercoding analysis of Poolverine in the movie

// SPOILERS

//Disclaimer: This is NOT a hate post to Vanessa/Wade shipp, but if you ship them, this post is probably not for you.

I've seen a few queerbaiting allegations and, frankly, don't agree with them. Now I'll explain why.

Starting with the fact that movie begins as a typical reasoning for a character to get a new love interest: we find out Wade and Vanessa broke up after roughly 7-8 years together.

Either we don't know (or I just don't remember lol) for how long they've been separate, but it was enough time for Vanessa to get in a new relationship.

And we know that the reason for this breakup is the core differences between the two. In the previous movie they wanted to get a child and Wade's entire motivation was based around Vanessa. In this movie tho, it seems like even if Wade is still not completely over breakup, he seems to be compliant with the fact they are not together anymore. You would expect Wade to go and do something silly to Nessa's new guy, but he doesn't. He respects her decidion.

Wade has more of an existentioal crisis than just hurting from the breakup. So I would assume he's not over because he feels like he messed up and keeps giving sad puppy eyes holding on this romantic relationship with Vanessa. Tho they are still soulmates and friends no matter what.

I don't know about you, but for me this exposition doesn't look like a foreshadowing of Vanessa and Wade getting back together. Vanessa is happy and self-actualised on her own, even if Wade is not.

I don't see Wade trying to change as an act of trying to get back with Vanessa. He reacts like this because his family member pointed out his flaws.

Secondly, the only other "hints" for a relationship between Wade and Vanessa is him remembering how they kissed and in the end Vanessa holding Wade's hand. Which, let me point out, is not a typical trope to show characters are back together. You know what's typical? A KISS! Which never happened btw.

Not to be this person, but we all know Disney/Marvel haven't got the balls to show a canon queer relationship. So the only "hints" for Vanessa/Wade seem to either read as platonic, or purely as an attempt of Disney to be like !look! female love interest!.

Now, other important part. If you really think about it, referencing the first part of the post, the movie follows an enemies-to lovers romantic movie formula:

(optional) breakup with previous partner;

annoyance first (previous deadpool movies);

admiration upon actual meeting (even if Wade acts cocky, when you listen to him telling the story about how his universe's Logan saved Laura, you can clearly see he adores the hero, who, as we know, is relatively similar throughout multiverse. Wade knows this Logan has the same morals as other ones, hearing how he regrets not being able to help his x-men);

"having to" go on an adventure/quest together even tho they are annoyed at each other;

enemies bickering and fighting because they have differences (which are actually similarities between the two which drive them insane when they see this mirroring);

the breaking point and confrontation (the Logan monologue in the car scene);

*the close proximity tention* hate fucking as a spicy way to get over the argument (in the car scene they are shown to fight just for the sake of letting out steam);

the cold period when characters ignore each other because they are still pissed (when Laura got the two to her base);

getting over it and working together, trusting that the other got their back;

saving the world with the power of love brotherhood with romantic soundtrack on;

both staying alive and having a heart-to-heart conversation;

one wants to leave, but the other stops them (usually it would be followed up with a kiss but oh well);

officially meeting a parental figure of one of the characters and moving in together as in an established relationship.

I don't think I'm delusional if I say I haven't seen brotherhood media (ones without queerbaiting or actual siblings) that would follow this formula. But I did see romantic storylines.

All in all, Wade and Logan go through a development and establishment of a relationship. And I'm not even talking about the obvious "one being there when other lost everything and giving them a new family and home".

In the movie there are so many romantic tropes of these CANONICALLY QUEER CHARACTERS, which make it safe to assume that queercoding is in fact happening. I would argue about it if both of them were straight in the source material, but this is the best and most important part, they are not :)

And this is why "Deadpool & Wolverine" is actually a romcom. Thank you for reading!

[000marie198]

Are there any sonic au’s you would recommend? I am trying to find more to get into so would love to know if you have any favourites out there :D

Hello! Oh there are so many! :D I definitely have some favorites and some which aren't favs but are pretty great.

Putting these under the cut because there are so many! And there's definitely more cool AUs that I haven't seen or haven't saved.

Anyways, please enjoy my personal selection:

Seven Years Too Soon by NightFuchia. Basically what if a much younger Sonic accidentally set Shadow free from Prison Island. It has awesome characterization and happens to be one of my favorite stories. The rest of Team Sonic is also present

Brotherhood's Twist by @/drawloverlala even though I don't think it counts entirely as Au but it still sort of does. Unbreakable Bond ageswitch due to Zeti's meddling.

Passion's @sonic-tangled-au . I love it! So very much. The lore and backstories are so good.

Noonui's World Restored in Imbalanced Chaos au. Extremely engaging and good. Has a bunch of world building and fun concepts and lore.

Sonic's Super Totally Awesome Mixtape, though it seems to be discontinued, I'm not sure. It's pretty good so far! Takes place in the movie verse.

@brainworms-all-night-long is working on a Dreamtale Au which I'm hyped for. The tag in use is 'dreamtale and sonic tomfoolery'.

@/the-starlight-project comic is pretty good too. Mystery! And emotions. So many emotions ough.

And there's @the-emerald-isle-au by @0vergrowngraveyard . Very intriguing. 👀

Please do check out the Pandora Au by @/starrjoy. It's great!

The Fair Folk by Irritable_Fabulamancer, this fic is one of my favorites! Team Sonic as Fae my beloved! I love fae AUs.

On that note, if you're alright wanting to read a Fae!AU which is pretty much a sonadow fic, there is also I don't believe in fairy tales [but I believe in you and me]. Fantasy and Fae! Satbk inspired, another one that had me hooked.

My Arms Are Blue by thekyuubivixen and its unofficial, fan-continuation (My Arms Are Blue! Final Four Edition) by PlaystationPassenger. The story doesn't completely count as an AU but I'm recommending them anyway cuz they're really really good and has that watching your own show from different dimension trope. It's also hilarious and fun.

Burning Arrow, Wildfire Heart by Taranea is SatSR novelisation AU with Sonic's other friends present too, it's pretty fun. Not very accurate regarding the desert but it's a good read and I come back to reread it often. Must read in my opinion. Just don't dare use it as guide for desert travel or you'll be shriveled up in the sand somewhere

This fic. Read it, I will not elaborate this one. Just trust me :]

And don't miss out on @shadofiredragon's Legends Never Die fic. It's a future fic! And an awesome one. I won't spoil much but it is so good. She also has lots of fun AUs in the works.

Down the Foxhole series by MoonlitNightin. Sonic Prime AU series which is great! Tails' pov. The Shatterverses have their own Sonics. Engaging and great.

Feel free to check out @/Son1c's 10verse and other AUs. Those are some pretty great ones. Love the different lore and variants given to the Shatterverses in 10verse.

Spirit of the Wind by TrenchCoatGecko. Satbk inspired fantasy au. Sonamy, has focus on magic and lore and other characters as well.

If you'd like some Forces angst with Unbreakable Bond focus, please do read Illusionary are your arms around me by @nixoon-again. The feels will kill you /pos

Chaos Barren by but_why_not. I forgot to add this earlier (this is an edited addition). Takes place in the Blue Devils AU, great story!

Baby Tails shenanigans by @myymi . Tails got turned into itty bitty infant kit. (And also check @0vergrowngraveyard 'baby tails' tag for more little gremlin scenarios)

Myla is also working on @tails-and-the-ink-machine au

Feral au by Oneshot_bravo. Little short stories or drabbles taking place in Unleashed but the werehog is feral yet keeps his memories. Very lighthearted and fun and cute

Three or more foxes form a skulk by @/chiropter36 . Post Prime au fic, loved it! Go read.

Also, @donelywell 'roadtrip! sonic au' and 'Casino Nights Au'

Haven't yet started reading The Fox's Burrow by @/space-gutz but I'm planning to. Recommending it either way cuz I feel like it's gonna be good. Unbreakable Bond but ageswaped au.

@/sonicchaoscontrol comic. Another in-progress au which is also quite intriguing. Sonic jumps through a portal and exits in future where the planet is a mess. The mystery of what and how it all happened and what's going on slowly unfolds.

The Buzzsaw Dillemma by redpenship. I haven't personally read it myself but I've heard many good things about it, especially it's world building.

Incomplete and won't be updated anymore but if you haven't read them yet, DO NOT miss out on Ghosts of the Future and The Murder of Me fancomics by Evan Stanley (spiritsonic) and Gigi Deutrix (gigi-D) respectively. They're a must read. Both are available on DeviantArt.

The Heart of a Monster comic, @/the-heart-of-a-monster. It's in progress and updates regularly. Unleashed retelling, really really good with some extra lore and everyone involved.

Sometimes the Picket Fence isn’t Perfect and Sharp Edges (Sonic Prime AU) series by @/skimmingthesurfaces. I'm holding off the first one to read later, like that one book you've been saving so I'm not sure if it completely counts as an AU, still putting it in recs, and the second one is intriguing so far. I have heard a lot of good thing about the Picket Fence series.

Dark Boom by Smash50. The entirety of Team Dark in the Sonic Boom universe. Alongside it, there's also Boomtober by the same author.

It Always Snows by the 24th by Selendred had me hooked even though it's a oneshot. Great au and would love to see it explored more.

No One said I Wish by SylWritesStuff. One of my fav stories from the Sonic Platonic Fairytale Week event. It's really funny.

Sonic Phantom Forces (SPF) au comic. Sonic Forces au, blue boy gets taken away but not in the way you think, pretty cool story so far. It's in-progress and available on both Tumblr and DeviantArt. @/spfau

If Black Doom tried to be a better father by Tirainy. Don't take this one seriously. It's pure comedy and I love every second of it. Shadow is having a time for sure XD.

Silent Talkers by @brainworms-all-night-long. Takes place in the Prime Bros verse, feels intensified, all the good ones. A must read, trust me.

And speaking of the Prime Bros AU (in which all Shatterverse foxes also got adopted by Sonic and are now brothers), feel free to scroll through the 'prime bros' tag here. So many awesome posts for this particular au by everyone!

There's so many more, cool ones, epic ones. I haven't saved all and I'm probably forgetting some great ones too so I'm leaving this open for others to add. If y'all have more cool AUs, plz add to these (I wanna check em out too)

....

And now a few from the Fanfiction.net site because it doesn't have much audience compared to AO3 and there are some actual gems hidden there;

Premonition by thekiyuubivixen (not entirely an au but it feels like one due to the unique ability Sonic gains)

The Sonic Project by SconnieSA. Rated M but it's a pretty awesome AU and the rating is due to more serious themes and uncensored language in some parts. Highly recommending this one

Survivor's Resolve by DC111. Not entirely an AU but I must rec this fic it's so good and doea havs some AU vibes.

Sonic the Hedgehog: Attorney of Law by thedraconicwerewolf. Ace Attorney type AU with Sonic and Tails as main characters. Not too adventurous but very very fun and interesting and still managed to keep Sonic in character. Though it has a sequel started, I only rec the main story, not the sequal as it seems to be abandoned and isn't needed to be read like them cliffhanger stories.

beLIEve by Meow21. I have only read snippets from this, waiting for this story to continue but it seems to be discontinued. Felt like an epic story too and deserves to be recommended.

Sonic and the Golden Journey. Sonic gets thrown in another storybook, this time it's a children's classic fairytale. Short but very comedic and fun. Go read it.

Tales of a Samurai. I am begging you to read this one, please it's so good. Also by Taranea.

Wonderful and it's sequal Sanctuary by Inflamore for some Unbreakable Bond angst. (Kindly ignore the obliviousness of earlier ff.net for not knowing the meaning of certain symbols, there's nothing of the sort in story, trust me.)

Regrets by MazzyBooks. A high school au of sorts. Sonic centric with some heavy angst. I'm not kidding about the angst part, trust me. It had me hooked from the first chapter though and I believe it deserves a rec.

You need the cracks (to let the light shine through) by king.needlemouse. Istg this is the most underrated thing I've ever come across, it's one of my absolute favorite fics which I can never forget. Do read it.

Within this Nightmare by sonicfan1990. Sonic get transported to an alternate universe which has gone post apocalyptic and his counterpart in that universe has been dead. Pretty great story, lots of angst and everything.

And that's all I could remember and have saved for now. I'm leaving this open to more AU recs (yes even self plugs are welcome) so if you know any I missed, plz feel free to add. I hope you enjoy all these great AUs!

Thanks for the ask!

[ghouly-boiiiii]

Does Max give anyone else major twist villain vibes???

Okay I haven't talked about Max much yet, but I think it's kinda wild to see people talking about him like he's just this sweet innocent cinnamon roll when my read on his character was the COMPLETE opposite.

I mean yes, he does seem very sweet. He's very soft spoken. Naive in a way like Lucy, but not as much. Kinda vulnerable. Got a killer smile. And some of the moments with him and Lucy are super cute and adorable. But damn if he doesn't have a DARK side!

Like I've heard people say that Max is stupid or that Aaron Moten's acting is bad, but hell no. Aaron Moten sold me on his acting during the interrogation scene. Max was scared shitless and I FELT that. I think Max was meant to be played as a character who lacks understanding about certain things and seems disconnected from people due to both being brought up in basically a cult and having an inherent lack of empathy.

You think about the fact that he admitted he wanted Dane to get hurt, someone who's supposed to be his best friend. How he coldly sat there and watched Titus die. And before that stood there and watched him get mauled by a bear, almost like he was fascinated by it and wanted to see what was gonna happen. The fact that he tried to kill Thaddeus the moment he became a threat, even though the two of them had appeared to have bonded and developed a genuine friendship. And let's not forget he was willing to let all of Vault 4 get plunged into darkness just so he could keep playing with his power armor.

Max wants to be a knight, he wants to be a hero. And I think he tells himself he wants it for the right reasons, but I think what he REALLY wants is power and recognition. Which is really what every (okay maybe not every, but a lot) good villain wants, right? Because at the end of the day Max wants what Max wants. He's selfish, even though he doesn't think he is.

And sure, he's nice to Lucy. And he went balls to the wall to save her when he thought Vault 4 was gonna execute her. But she's a pretty girl who helped him and offered him a safe home. When she gave him the proposition that if she helped him bring back the head, he would have the Brotherhood lend her some knights to save her dad, he KNEW he couldn't make that promise. But he made the deal anyway. So he doesn't REALLY care about her or what she wants.

And that blank stare he gets when he gets mad? ACTUALLY terrifying. The guy's got serious psychopath vibes. Literal anti-social personality disorder, if you ask me. In fact the first thing I thought about when Max let Titus die is this kids going to end up going to the dark side lol.

And I think that would work really well thematically if they plan on giving The Ghoul a redemption arc beside it. There are so many parallels between Lucy and The Ghoul, and they have such a strong connection to the beginning when the bombs dropped. I get that Max is there to represent the Brotherhood and he's from Shady Sands, the town Hank destroyed, but it felt weird that he didn't seem to be AS important in the grand scheme of things compared to Cooper and Lucy.

But if Max turned out to be a badass twist villain to thematically contrast Cooper's redemption arc, while Lucy remains steadfast to her commitment to goodness and the golden rule I feel like that would really round it out. It would make sense if you consider a lot of people have pointed out that Lucy, Cooper and Max all seem to represent different play styles and different moral alignments. And I think it'd be pretty crazy if the writers of the show set out to make it seem like Ghoul is a bad guy and Max is a good guy, but then it ended up being the opposite.

I mean, there are definitely hints all over the show that The Ghoul isn't as bad as he may seem. And Max has already done some pretty messed up stuff, so I'd say the possibility is totally there, and I'd be here for it!

Who's with me???

[pokeberry5]

Hello, it's me again, still on my Tim dive. I wanted to know if there's any other comics you'd recommend! I've got Young Justice on the list but aside from that, nothing much. Doesn't have to be Tim specific though I have grown so fond of him. Thanks in advance!

hello again!

prefacing this with the fact that my recommendations are going to skew towards tim's earlier experiences and mostly bat-titles just because that's what i've managed to get through

i think you said last time that you'd already read robin 1991 which i love as a short and sweet introduction to tim's character

batman: contagion and batman: legacy -- LEGACY MY BELOVED I LOVE SO MUCH. contagion is the disaster pandemic storyline (which. yeah.) with legacy as the fallout/continuation, but i love it because it has so many almost whump fic moments. also catwoman-robin teamup and nightwing-robin-huntress teamup <333

batman: gotham knights: transference (which is batman: gotham knights #1-12) is a series of poignant character studies on the main characters associated with batman at the time (e.g. nightwing, robin, oracle, batgirl) and batman's thoughts on his relationships with them. i also really like the framing of the arc. you'll see. typical bruce repression fuckery.

huntress 1989 is a standalone mini-series introducing helena bertinelli. it's darker than what i usually enjoy, but i found it to be a tightly written story on trauma and self-actualization. what really made it stick with me is the (imo) suprisingly sensitive narrative and visual treatment of helena's childhood assault.

i haven't read it myself, but batgirl 2000 has been on my reading list for a long time. it's cassandra cain's title.

as some more random recs:

i recently read brotherhood of the fist which is a 5 part crossover centering around connor hawke with some banging dick & tim moments (green arrow 1988 #134, detective comics 1937 #723, robin 1993 #55, nightwing #23).

i'm very fond of the ridiculousness that is batman: failsafe (batman 2016 #125-130). i love jorge jiménez's art, i love sexy killer robot batman, and i do think it's an earnest exploration of how bruce conceptualizes and dichotomizes the role of his robins in his life. i also LOVE the noir/watercolor visuals of the accompanying I AM GUN mini.

i'm gonna toss in detective comics 2016 #1034-1046 which i read with absolutely no context for the sake of dan mora wet cat batman 👍 you too can be eminently confused :] but the art and writing is pretty solid!! i think it's like the bridge between infinite frontier and fear state.

[courtmartialme]

I have a question. Also, you're my favorite Royai artist (the characters as individuals and together). You've mentioned that you consider Riza autistic many times, but have you ever given your support for why you think that? I'm just curious what your thoughts are.

comparing to my own experience but it's common to see autistic people be taken as uninterested and rude for being unexpressive and blunt. so it's mainly about riza being presented as stoic and somewhat scary but gradually being shown she's very kind and fun and even makes bad jokes with a straight face (it's so moe........) but is bad at expressing that, which makes both other characters and viewers think she's always annoyed and no-fun when that's not true.. it's so important to me

she also barely understands other people's feelings and takes things too literally, or say things out loud you probably shouldn't

like at the hughes' funeral scene when roy says it's raining and riza's immediate reaction is to go "it's not??" LOL or when roy is coming up with problems as excuse to not fight ed in flame vs fullmetal and riza very promptly solves them...! it's all very Autism to me.. my mom works for arakawa and she told me it's true

basically:

(i haven't watched brotherhood in so long but i'm like 80% sure these panels i used are all scenes that didn't make it into the anime which is why i'm an avid brotherhood hater and you should read the manga)

[tmnt-tychou]

Alright! I am starting my fic for spooky season, since I have no idea how long this story is going to take. I saw "A Quiet Place: Day One" and was inspired. I wasn't sure which iteration I wanted so I'm using the Brotherhood boys. I felt like this was good neutral ground for any TMNT fan to enjoy. Turtles is turtles. For those familiar with the comic, this takes place before they beat the Shredder. They are 20 years old. If you haven't read the comic, there is no need to in order to understand anything going on in this story. But the comic is here if you want to to read it.

This is a female reader x turtles fic. Reader is referred to as "Name" and you can insert whichever name you like.

Don't Make a Sound

Part 1

April chopped vegetables in preparation for dinner, watching the New York skyline from her apartment window. It was mid afternoon. Her upstairs neighbor was playing music at a volume loud enough she could feel the base. She hoped it wouldn't wake Casey who was in the back bedroom sleeping. Her boyfriend worked nights and often her dinner was his breakfast. They would often pass like ships in the night but they were making it work.

The small kitchen window was open, letting in a breeze. April both heard and saw three military jets fly over the city. And they weren't the first she had seen in a very short amount of time. Was there an event going on today? Some government bigwig visiting the city? Maybe she would look into it later.

Then, there was...a boom. Not like an explosion. Like something very heavy hit the ground. Something big enough to be heard for miles. Then there were more. THUD. THUD. THUD. She saw something falling from the sky out the small window. Another thud.

This one was close enough that she felt the shock waves of the impact. It was enough to set off nearby car alarms. They began screaming their displeasure as April leaned her head out the window, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Were they under attack? There were thuds, but no explosions. What did that mean?

“What the unholy fuck is going on out there?” Casey demanded as he stumbled out from the hall. He was barefoot, dressed in sweat pants and a tank top. Bleary-eyed, hair a mess, he had enough presence to have a baseball bat in his hand.

“I don't know,” April said, still watching out the window. “Maybe we should check the news.” The last word came out of her mouth and there were suddenly things on the street below. Dark grayish, skin like burnt trees. Neither animal nor human, with no resemblance to either. Her brain could barely take in the bulbous heads and long four-legged limbs. She had never seen such a thing before in her life.

And they swarmed, attacking the...cars? The first thing they attacked where the cars. The ones screaming in alarm. Then there were screaming humans. On ground level, people cried out in fear and horror as they saw the creatures. Nightmares without faces. And whether the screams were cars or people, the nightmares lurched toward the sound and decimated the source. And, when the people looking out their windows began to scream, the monsters scaled the buildings at an alarming speed.

As she saw them effortlessly climb the building, racing toward her, April backed up away from the window. One of the creatures crawled right up to the kitchen window and then past it as she heard the shrill scream from her upstairs neighbor. There was the crash of a window and then, both the scream and the music they had been blaring were instantly silenced.

Something clicked for April in that second. Despite the horror of what was happening, her mind put it all together. Sound. They were attacking anything that made sound.

“What the fuck!” Casey's deep, male voice boomed behind her.

She turned to him, eyes wild and wide at the sound. As she ran to him, she heard the window crash behind her. As soon as he was close enough to touch, her hand was over his mouth. With her other hand, she ripped the bat from his grip and threw it back to the kitchen. *********

Casey saw the thing burst into their apartment. His first instinct was to fight; protect. But April came at him, causing him to pause. A hand to his mouth, he wanted to rip it off. But, it was April. Any instinct for violence always dissipated when she was near. And when she threw his bat, when he saw and heard it clatter and the monster instantly going for it, he got it. They were blind. They attacked sound. They decimated sound.

His bat was splinters when screams came from the hallway outside their door. Casey's protective instincts kicked in. His neighbors were in trouble. People he knew. Some he even liked. But the monster heard them, too. It crashed headfirst into their door like a charging bull, ripping it right off its hinges and out into the corridor. Though April desperately tried to hold him down, Casey stood and walked to the door. He had to do something. Anything.

He made it to the doorway, screams echoing from both ends of the hall. Then, gun shots rang out. He ducked at the sound, but wasn't surprised. It was New York, after all. One of the monsters raced past him toward the sound of the gunshots. Casey had a front row seat to the creature taking a direct hit with a bullet. There was no blood. The bullet couldn't pierce the hide. The creature screamed in rage, still charging, and the panicked man with the gun was suddenly down, a gaping wound in his chest. The monster already had moved on, blindly attacking the next noise. Most of it was people.

Casey backed into his apartment, pale. Feeling more useless than he had ever felt in his life. There was nothing he could do. If bullets didn't stop those things, then what hope did a brawler with a bat have against them? He had to focus on the things he could do. Like getting April to safety. And warning the guys.

There were too many monsters in the building now. Too many things making noise. But April had another idea. She went to the broken window above the fire escape with a blanket in her hand. Despite the chaos around them: the screams, the violence, she had the presence of mind to move slow and silent as she set the blanket over the broken window glass and carefully climbed out. She motioned for Casey to follow.

He knew they couldn't stay there. Getting underground was their best shot at surviving. Careful and slow, the two made their way down the rickety old fire escape, one careful step at a time. More of the creatures raced up the brick wall of the building for them, following the sounds of the screams. Casey lunged forward, pulling April out of the way as one tore its way upwards inches from her. It also tore up the fire escape as it went.

The metal ripped from where it was bolted to the wall. They swung out wide before the whole framework began to fall. Neither made a sound as they felt the metal give way and they were dropped. Casey grit his teeth as he grabbed April and jumped off, landing on the next platform below. They each remained there, tense and silent. There were so many other sounds around that they were invisible to these unearthly predators.

Carefully, they continued to climb down to ground level and silently slipped into the sewers, leaving the horror above them. *********

The turtle's lair was nearly soundproof and nearly impossible to find if one didn't know how to get to it. But even then, there was a horror that came with stepping into the lair. It was so full of sound. The TV was blaring. Splinter's tea pot whistled as the water was ready. In the back, the sound of Michelangelo playing his guitar. From the lab, Donatello also playing his own music at a robust volume. There was never not noise being made in the lair.

After creeping through the sewer at a snail's pace as to not make any noise, April nearly lost it at the sudden cacophony. She ran over and switched off the TV, interrupting Street Fighter.

“Hey!” Raphael barked, as he had been winnning. Similar protests came from Leonardo.

“No noise!” April hissed urgently at them. “We can't make any noise!”

She quickly ran off to the next source: Donatello's lab. There were a few clangs and bangs, and then the music was cut.

“April!” Donatello's voice called, but she had already run off again to rip the guitar from Michelangelo's hands.

“What the hell is she on?” Raphael asked no one in particular as a curious Splinter walked in.

“You guys don't know what's going on out there?” Casey asked in a breathy and very un-Casey-like whisper. He was silently panting.

“Case, you okay?” Raphael asked. Michelangelo was complaining at April in the background while she tried to shush him. “You're bleeding.”

Raphael touched his arm and Casey finally noticed the cut on his shoulder. It was from either the rusty fire escape or one of the monsters. He had been in fight or flight mode the entire time and hadn't even noticed. His entire attention had been on getting April somewhere safe.

“Woah, what happened to Casey?” Michelangelo suddenly blurted loudly and was immediately silenced by April as she tried to put both her hands over his mouth.

“Shut up! All of you shut up!” she hissed at everyone in the room. “There are things out there! They attack anything that makes sound! You guys are going to get us killed!”

But it was Splinter's serious motion for silence that ultimately caused all the turtles to stop making noise. April and Casey both told them about what was going on in the world above. The chaos, the death, the fear. All four turtles brought out their phones, searching the internet for proof of what was happening. As soon as screams began to play on the videos they found, Aprils snatched them up.

“No noise,” she hissed.

“The lair's practically soundproof,” Donatello insisted. “If we lock it down, it will be soundproof and impenetrable for...whatever these things are.”

“Then we lock it down,” Leonardo announced. “At least until we figure out what's going on and how to deal with it.”

“So we just hide while everyone in the city gets wiped out?” Raphael protested as he rather insistently made Casey sit on the couch. Splinter had already stepped away and come back with a first aid kit.

“Only until we figure out what this is and how to fight it.”

“Guys?” Michelangelo spoke up. “What about Name? She's still in the city.”

The color drained from Leonardo's face.

“Shit,” Raphael hissed. “We have to go get her.”

“Guys! You can't go out there,” April begged.

“They are ninja,” Splinter insisted. “They have been trained to be silent as a shadow. They will be safe.”

Donatello pulled out his phone and then cursed. “Her phone is off. I can't track it. She probably let the battery die again.”

“She'll either be at home or at work around this time,” Leonardo said. “We'll have to split up into teams and hope one of us finds her.”

“Okay,” Raphael agreed as the others nodded. “Who's going where?”

*******

How will the turtles split into teams? You can help decide by answering this poll.

And I'm hoping there will be more opportunities for the reader to decide as the story goes. Thanks everyone for reading and participating!

[geekgirles]

Somebody in the comment section pointed how Amalia is most likely apologising for waking her up again because, much like Grougalorasalar with Harebourg in chapter 11, she must have gone to her for help in season 5.

(Which means we will be getting more Dathura! YAY!!)

And to be honest, this would make perfect sense.

Season 5 is stated to take place shortly after the season 4 finale, during Yugo and Amalia's first days as a married couple, meaning they are most likely still getting used to their new roles as King and Queen of the Sadida and Eliatropes. With that in mind, it is entirely possible that Amalia, who had recently lost her entire family and therefore some much needed support, will go to Dathura for help. After all, Dathura is a Divine Doll, someone who, judging by Amalia's attitude around her, seems to be of great importance to the Sadida, and who, moreover, is hundreds of years old.

If anyone can help Amalia with their vast knowledge and experience, that is Dathura.

But most importantly, there is the issue with our new, returning villain.

The Kickstarter teaser heavily implied (if not outright confirmed) that Count Harebourg will once again take the mantle of Big Bad of season 5 (something I had called months ago, but that's a post for another day).

With that in mind, who better than Dathura to ask for help in dealing with him?

After all, they were both members of the Brotherhood of the Forgotten. And although I haven't read Ogrest, the direction the manga is taking so far heavily implies the two have known and possibly worked together for centuries. Probably for as long as Oropo manipulated Dathura into betraying Ogrest and Lacrima was replaced.

Not to mention, as far as we know, Harebourg has no way of knowing Amalia would welcome Dathura into her kingdom, meaning he shouldn't know she and Yugo actually have an ally who can help them find him or predict his next move.

Each passing day, I'm looking more and more forward to season 5!

[zephyra-in-the-house]

Okay HI. I came across your tumblr earlier this week by complete coincidence, and you’re the author to Second Chances!!! I LOVE YOU. I just read chapter 25 Friday night and I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you have a Shadowpeach playlist, or any other songs you associate with them? I’ve been listening to Honeybee by the Steam Powered Giraffes since Friday morning and I am in love with the song!! Sorry if this doesn’t make any sense, I just got WiFi back from the hurricane, so yeah 😭 thank you in advance!!

YESSSS!!!!!

Dude Honeybee is such a good song man it hits me right in the feels every time~

And I do actually have playlists associated with Second Chances!! I've already made one public so far which is this one:

This first one is from Macaque's Perspective (for the most part). It goes through the entire timeline of him falling in love with Wukong all the way to their fallout during the brotherhood and so on and so forth. It's currently sitting at 218 songs which is 13hrs+ of listening time- and counting.

I haven't made the other one public yet because it didn't have many songs but I do have another one that is completely from Wukong's perspective which is here:

This one is still being added onto and organized but the storyline is starting to come together very slowly. It's sitting at 97 songs and 6hrs of listening time at the moment.

I hope you guys enjoy!

[gartenofbanny]

I believe Mammon is basic and boring as a Sin and Antagonist in Helluva Boss. But in a series where a portion of the villains are just one-note, Mammon is a really really special case to me.

Mammon is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and Helluva Boss tends to put their own unique twist regarding them for better or for worse. It really just depends on your preference.

Lucifer, despite being the Prince of Pride, loves his daughter Charlie and his wife, Lilith, presumably putting his family first before himself. Asmodeus, despite being the Sin of Lust, is in a healthy relationship with a Demon that isn't a succubus. Lastly, Beelzebub who, despite being the Sin of Gluttony, was worried about Blitzo's emotional state after he downed an entire gallon of the alcoholic beverage she likely made. Despite embodying sins, these characters moreso embody the more positive aspect of them, which again is for better or worse depending on your preference.

And then there's Mammon. He's the Sin of Greed, and for some reason, he's the only Sin who embodies the Sinful aspect of greediness. Asmodeus proclaims that Mammon has always been like this since the "start of Hell" meaning he has always been a greedy asshole and will always be a greedy asshole because that's what he is.

Excuse my french, but what a lazy ass character Mammon is.

The reason I've really decided to make this post is because a friend sent me a scene from Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I haven't watched the anime, but this scene, in particular, really opened my eyes to how the Greediness isn't just about money. How Greed like the other sins have Virtues to them.

Now I'm not expecting Helluva Boss to have FMA: Brotherhood level of writing, but I will ask this. If Vivziepop is able to portray the sin of Lust and Gluttony in complex or somewhat redeemable lights, then why not do so for the Sin of Greed?

This series took the most basic understanding of Greed and just made an antagonist out of it, and that's really why Mammon feels very basic to me. It doesn't feel as if much thought was put into him compared to Asmodeus and Beelzebub.

Mammon is evil because he's greedy and he wants money, so he exploits his cash clown for cash. Now, if he was the only antagonist like that, I wouldn't care, but Stella and Crimson are two villains in Helluva Boss who have basic ass motives with no cause behind them. Stella is a dick to Stolas and wants to abuse him just because. Crimson is a bad father towards Moxxie and treats him like shit..just because (I thought mafias were all about family)

How can I take Mammon as a serious villain when he's just like Crimson and Stella? Well, at least in terms of voice acting and design, he's unique, but in terms of character motivation and writing. Mammon isn't it.

However, critics and fans alike, if you think otherwise, I'd love to read them.

Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I hope you all have a nice day! ❤️

[jewishcissiekj]

so far in my journeys i've encountered like 11 recurring x-men tropes/staples : -Magneto attacks with his brotherhood and all that (the original) -The Blob -Cerebro -young mutant girl narrowly escapes capture by the bad guys and is subsequently (unofficially) adopted by wolverine -the fucking scott-jean-logan love triangle -mutant cure oh noooo -Senator Kelly -a dam brakes -sbaretooth and wolverine fight in a snowy environment -Professor Xavier run off! whatever shall the team do -Cherik.

probably will add more as i go it's just funny to me how i watch/read one thing and this thing happens or shows up then i watch/read another thing and the same thing happens or shows up. yeah i guess that's how adaptations work but it's a very interesting experience

[nukanobody]

Funny Familiarity

For context: I posted a head-canon a few days ago, on how Danse actually ended up in the brotherhood of steel as a synth despite not being sent as a spy but instead is listed as "missing". It's probable he ran away from the institute where the railroad helped him escape, with Deacon knowing about the case.

I'm so obsessed with this idea now so read below for any thoughts or further hc's i had when making this. Or ask me anything about this hc i am going cray cray. sorry if this is ooc i'm bad at characters.

ty to @ericadrawsstuff for your addon btw!! it fueled me to draw this haha

For Danse, I don't believe he was a courser but maybe a failed experimental synth/synth meant for manual labor? The institute would probably be in a panic if a courser with a courser chip went awol, they'd probably take notice if the same missing courser became the poster boy of the people whose trying to destroy them.

Danse stayed in the railroad for a bit, like maybe 5 months? Formed a somewhat close bond with Deacon who was "Debbie" at the time.

Deacon loves collecting sunglasses, was toying with the idea of being a woman when he found novelty heart sunglasses. I see him as identifying as male but really flexible when it comes to presenting himself.

Obsessed with the idea that despite being reset/memories wiped synths may carry flaws or mannerisms. In Danse's case his fierce loyalty and self sacrifice are his major flaws, pre-wipe he didn't want to be a danger to the railroad and felt he needed to be wiped, post-blind betrayal he felt like he was a danger to the brotherhood and needed to be killed.

Deacon's a good liar sometimes, but in the cases where Danse says something against synths his hands clench and has to lean on a wall to catch his breath while the sides of him fight in his head. The first side is the railroad agent who has huge empathy for M7-97 and knows that if his identity is revealed it'll absolutely ruin him and get maimed by the brotherhood, the other side of him is absolutely disgusted by Danse and wants to put him in his place, the 3rd just thinks it'll be funny.

I depicted Nora as how I'd imagine she'd be. A woman from a pre-war era being dropped in a wasteland, it's kind of a culture shock for her and she has a savior complex, she assumes that everyone just needs to sit down and talk. Her main goal is to somehow "unite" the commonwealth, she's joined all the factions and some of her companions are kind of peeved about it. In the comic she introduced Deacon to Danse thinking they could have a civil conversation where Deacon could steer him to a better mindset (she sees Danse as a kid who got into the wrong crowd, despite being a fully grown man)

okay jesus, this took like 3 days of non stop drawing for me to do. Whoever designed power Armour i pray for your downfall what the hell. Sorry if it looks bad i study software so I haven't gotten the chance to draw in like, 7 months. Can you tell which pose I was able to find refs for and not the rest? lol

I ship them now too, i've been researching them and I love their dynamic and damn if the plot "Person A knew Person B before Person B forgot them and became a different person" doesn't hit like a ton of bricks.

[funky-fox-fics]

Prompt: wing

please note that this story takes place in my pc/bs au, so you might not understand this if you haven't read that yet!

Impulse’s hands clench and unclench as he stares at Skizz’s wing.

The thing about binaries that nobody tells you about (which, to be fair, no one tells binaries about anything but this is one of those things that nobody even hints at) is that he can sort of… see himself panicking? Like, part of him—a more lucid part, a part that’s not currently panicking—slips from his own racing thoughts to the refuge of Skizz’s mind, and he watches himself staring at Skizz’s wing, and he watches his mind flow fast and faster like a river running over broken rocks, and he stares at Skizz’s wing and he stares at himself and he thinks—

Dippledop, Skizz whispers, cutting through the chatter in his mind. Laggy rabbit, remember? It’ll be fine. We’re literally linked together, so if you do mess up—

I don’t want to mess up in the first place, Impulse says, or maybe the chatter in Impulse’s mind says. He’s not quite sure.

He’s purring, the soothing kind, the kind that he does when his thoughts are racing like this. His heart is shuddering in his chest. His hands are trembling. His mind races like a river. He can see himself through Skizz’s thoughts, filtered through a lens of Dippledop you are going to be fine, if you seriously can’t do this just say the word and I’ll do it myself, it’s not even that big of a deal—

We need this, Impulse insists, like he’s insisted for the last few days. His hands clench and unclench. We’re together now. We have to make up for this. We missed so much, we have to make up for this, I—I left you behind and I didn’t preen you at all and—

The thing about preening is this: usually, it’s romantic. Yes, sometimes families do it—mostly to help kids who can’t reach certain spots, or for older people who don’t have as much of the flexibility—but in romance movies that star avians, the equivalent to a kissing scene is a preening scene, the scene where you know the couple’s together and the couple knows they’re together and they’re preening each other and they’re together. Friends don’t usually preen, is all. If a friend asks to preen you, that’s usually a romantic advance.

(Skizz shifts uncomfortably. The air is cool on his skin. Impulse is shivering.)

The thing about binaries is this: it’s not romantic. It’s not familial, or platonic, or whatever other kinds of attraction they’ve come up with when he’s not looking. It’s something else—something that transcends any sort of label anyone wants to put on their relationship, something that feels like a brotherhood and a friendship and a romance all at once, and then none at once, and it’s… it’s being someone else, and yourself, and being two bodies at once. Two minds. Whole and separate, all at once.

And the thing about the media—the thing about those avian romance movies, the thing about what everyone thinks about preening—the media's focused on the twin terror trope than on what binary relationships are like to a binary. Binary communities are more focused on how to survive in a world that wants you and your other half dead. And besides that, not all binaries have an avian half. Being a binary can happen to anyone. There's probably lots of binaries out there who don't have avian halves, and that's okay.

It just...

Impulse remembers what it was like before. Before he'd ever heard of Hermitcraft—before their careful unity had been shattered. He remembers getting together every four days to preen Skizz. He remembers it being like second nature. He remembers the sort of trance that settled over the both of them, a calm euphoria shared between the bond. A lot like swirling together, except Impulse would still be working away at Skizz's wings, and he'd be purring, and Skizz would be making these quiet chirpy noises in the back of his throat, and it had felt...

It feels like he's been robbed, a little. He has been robbed—it's absolutely stupid that they can't be binaries in public, it's stupid that only, what, three other people know their secret and they can't tell anyone else because they've already nearly been cleaved and nearly been fused, and he can't go through that again, and if they tell anyone—his mind is racing, he remembers Grian, he remembers nearly being fixed, he remembers being cleaved, he remembers—

Dippledop, Skizz says, sharing some calmness with him. Impulse exhales, shuddering. For a moment Skizz tries to formulate a thought, tries to put his emotions into neat words. It fails, and then suddenly there's a song of trust-kindness-patience-reassurance-trust flowing alongside the river of fear-not good enough-wrong-anxiety, drowning it out.

Impulse unsheathes his claws, places it on Skizz’s wing. Skizz shivers.

This is his first time doing it in... what, ten years? So long. For full birds, it's a daily task, but for a hybrid, it's twice weekly. And more often than not, avians preen with partners, and Impulse thinks—

Impulse thinks about how many years he hadn’t preened Skizz’s wings. Impulse thinks about Skizz doing it alone. Impulse thinks about Skizz being all alone, thinks about binary violence, thinks about being alone himself. Impulse thinks about time, and wasting it, and about all he’s missed by forgetting Skizz.

I’m sorry, Impulse says, and it comes out in a rush—an apology, an elegy, everything, everything he keeps on trying to say, and Skizz is waiting to get his wings preened and he hasn’t preened Skizz’s wings in ten years and Skizz is waiting and he didn’t—he wasted all that time, all gone, he’s never getting that back—I’m sorry, I’m sorry Skizz, I should have done this sooner, I…

Skizz taps off his thoughts, quiet and gentle. Best time to plant a tree is ten years ago, he whispers at the back of his mind, a cascade of trust-warm-patient-ready falling over the two of them and enveloping them both in its embrace. Second best time is today.

Impulse remembers those long, lovely days at the beginning of their world. Impulse remembers these long, lovely days at the beginning of Season Ten. Impulse remembers speaking with Skizz in low voices about a future they could have, a future they should have, a future they'd make with their own hands and keep with their own swords. Impulse remembers drifting off to sleep with Skizz after preening, soft warmth still floating through the bond. 

Impulse thinks about this future—the future they’d dreamed of, the future they have, accepted and warm and kind and bright, so bright, so full of promise. Impulse thinks about them here, safe and soft. 

The media’s stupid anyway, always getting caught up in endings. 

He prefers beginnings much more.

Impulse finally begins to preen Skizz, slow and steady, and he begins to tug out each frayed feather, one by one by one.

[zahri-melitor]

I read two more issues, to get past the Robins fight, and...still so conflicted.

I can see exactly how, if Damian is your ultimate blorbo and you read for Damian, this story is doing exactly what you want it to do and reflecting back beloved stories.

Issue 5 is explicitly set up as a parallel to War of the Robins from Batman and Robin 2011, and even ends with Damian getting an 'I love you and here have a trophy' speech from Dick, to tie Damian back to Alfred and Dick and the layers of care in the family.

It acknowledges Damian's menagerie and comments that the last thing Damian did before leaving was check in on them. It has Goliath show up and save Damian's life.

It has intense Robin: Son of Batman vibes and the whole repeat of the 'finding yourself on an isolated tropical island and redeeming yourself'.

(I expect the whole Respawn thing to play out with very much the exact themes of how R:SOB dealt with Damian's clones once Damian clues in)

But I keep waiting for payoffs that just aren't happening.

Rose slopes off to call for help for Damian, and then Dick, Jason, Tim and Steph turn up and I'm like "oh! Rose went and called Dick, because she's looking out for Damian on the island in the same way that Dick looked out for Rose while he was training her as Ravager and in a bad place where she was hanging on every one of Slade's words and determined she needed to prove herself as worthy of her father...oh. She called Jason".

And look, I know that there's an underlying push for decades now that Jason and Rose do have a bunch of things in common and would work well together (and also hinting at whether or not they're romantically involved), but a lot of that is inferred off panel stuff while Dick was literally Rose's teacher. If you want themes of 'you don't have to be what your family expect of you' why on earth wouldn't you openly reference that?!?

In terms of who is on this island and is one of Dick's rogue's gallery:

Raptor

Double Dare (both Margot and Aliki)

Lady Vic

Brutale

Nite-Wing (seriously why is Tad here)

Blue Shrike is apparently Shrike's brother???

Is this going to get acknowledged? That a solid chunk of Dick's enemies are here and fighting Damian? That's like half the competition!

Also while I was looking all of this up apparently the Richard Dragon they're talking about is the son of actual Richard Dragon, who apparently got killed in a flashback or something in Green Arrow #32 during n52 and who apparently in that universe worked for the League of Assassins (oh god I am now tearing my hair out, RICHARD IS NOT LINKED TO THE LEAGUE. HE WAS TRAINED BY THE O-SENSEI. STOP DOING THIS TO ALL THE MARTIAL ARTISTS). Huh. Bet that doesn't stick. Richard's too important thematically any time someone wants to write a Question book to be left randomly dead.

And then there's the whole situation that there is a Tengu on this island. I just went down the rabbit hole and this is an import of the Titans villain who is just a Japanese goblin, NOT the Tengu mask that Shiva hands out to people who are trained by her and fighting somewhat under her banner (as seen in Knightsend and in the Circle of Six in Richard Dragon). Which is honestly a waste; if I were going to resurrect a Tengu for this plot, the Shiva and Richard Dragon aligned mask is far more thematic!

And plus, Silver Monkey? Silver Monkey is heavily linked to both Connor's Green Arrow stories, and Shiva (as Paper Monkey), and Deathstroke. It's War of the Dragons and Cult of the Monkey Fist and Brotherhood of the Fist. It's about death and resurrection (as Shiva almost kills Connor and Tim uses his marker with Shiva to save Connor’s life from the time he saved HER life). Is this going to be acknowledged? Because that's where I'd be playing the references by bringing in Silver Monkey.

And look I haven't seen what payoffs we get for Connor yet and there are definitely a bunch of opportunities built in; on top of Silver Monkey you have Constantine Drakon, who's defeated Connor before. Plus there's Artemis Crock, who in DC Comics comics terms isn't linked at all to Connor (she's JSA and Infinity Inc and was in the YJ98 Zandian Olympics team) but obviously has been used for archer purposes in tv and cartoon adaptions.

I keep seeing all these potential stories set up and wondering if there is going to be any pay off on them. I hope so. But also so far the story has slipped around those payoffs unless it's a direct reference to a Damian story.

Also Ra's al Ghul playing the hermit sensei meditating and in touch with the universe on a nearby island is the funniest nonsense possible. Ra's? RA'S? Taking time out to go meditate on the state of the universe? Just so he's conveniently in a place to give Sage Advice to Damian about what personal values he should work on? Pull the other one.

[unironicallytes]

Sujamma Sundas

[This week Sujamma has been brushing up on his literacy. It's hard being a humble Nix-Hound. Reading doesn't come naturally to him, but he's doing his best! This week Sujamma is hoping you will help him learn to read!

Post a favorite scene, favorite sentence, favorite dialogue, favorite anything from any fic you've written! If you haven't written any fic, feel free to share your ideas. If you don't have any, recommend a friend's fic!]

Thank ye kindly for the tag @dirty-bosmer! 𝐵𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃'𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒜𝓀𝒶𝓉𝑜𝓈𝒽 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝓎𝑒

Tagging: @orfeoarte @ulanxxxs @thegrunkiest @areggo and anyone who wants to join!

I'll be pulling from my Oblivion Dark Brotherhood fic Dear Brother. But my favorite snippet comes from chapters and years ahead of where the story currently sits. It's a spoilery af scene which may or may not occur exactly as written, because it was only meant to be practice for how it might look, then I got carried away and now I love it. Here, Lucien and Zathiril have to deal with the fact that their actions have consequences. (Zathiril's dialogue is formatted the way that it is due to using an enchanted amulet as a speaking aid - it projects his thoughts into the surrounding space as an imitation of his voice.)

[Mercy??] Finally, I whirled on him, eyes flashing with rage. Soft-bellied coward that he was, he jerked his face away to hide beneath hood’s shadow. He asked me to face him, yet he quailed at my justified anger? Pathetic! My heart and I agreed, for it leapt into my throat, though it could not scream alongside me from behind a dam of scars. Only its rattling breath hissed out beneath enchanted, metallic cry. [Mercy woulda stayed yer hand long enough to listen to me! Lyin’ bastard, root-gnawin’, bark-borin’ beetle of a man - ye did it to save yerself an’ yerself alone!] “I had no choice!” he shot back. “None of us knew what Mathieu had done to you, and he’d conspired for the Hand to turn on me, too–” [Oh! Did they now! Served ye right, then - fat lot o’ good it did ye to throw me to the senche after all, eh?] At some point I'd stood from my chair, hands balled into shaking fists, but I didn't recall exactly when. Others in the Sanctuary were likely to overhear this fight over long-dead matters between two long-dead men, and I didn’t care a lick. My piece was to be said. My fangs were to seek blood from the bloodless. [How did it feel, then? To scream for yer Family’s ear as they fell upon ye anyway?] Lucien struggled weakly in my jaws. “I … cannot speak on this–” [Did ye protest long when they accused ye, or did they stifle yer cries? Did they call ye a filthy liar, or a traitorous snake?] “I – they–... ” My teeth sank deeper still. [Go’an, I’m dyin’ to hear! Tell me, did ye weep like a pup as I did? Did ye look into the face of yer brother and beg as I did?] “Zathiril …” I thrashed and ripped and tore, and he let me. [How did it feel when ye realized ye were all alone?] A killing blow. Lucien hung his head, wordless. A tear visibly hung from where it trailed down to his chin. It should have sated me to push a selfish worm like him to this brink, but no relief came with my fire’s dousing. There was only the empty twist of my guts as the words echoed and skipped across stone.

[mllemaenad]

Not that you are by any means the worst offender in this regard, but it rubs me ghe wrong way how much leniency the NCR gets when it comes to considering the effects of their actions, and perhaps more importantly, their intentions.

Groups like Caesar's Legion, The Brotherhood of Steel, House's factions, The Unity, The Enclave, and The Institute are treated as villains if anyone is even indireehurt because of them.

If two human surface-dwellers kill each other in Diamond City, people blame the Institute.

If the White Legs emulate Twisted Hair cultural traditions without fully understanding them, Ulysses blames the Legion.

And yet... the NCR is treated by fans as well-intentioned and good-natured despite the harm they cause. The situation in Nipton was the fault of the NCR. Its corrupt Mayor was from the NCR. The Powder Gangers were only in the Mojave because the NCR moved them there.

Vulpes set up his lottery (not that I'm saying it was a perfect solution) to address a problem that had gotten out of hand, a problem downstream of the NCR... and yet most fan discussions blame the Legion for what happened in Nipton.

ThevNCR seems to get a pass because people see their goals as noble... but their goals are to recreate the exact conditions that caused the Great War!

We see the exact same phenomena in pre-war terminals as we do in contemporary NCR. A government more obsessed with maintaining its own power than solving problems, a corrupt justice system that favours the wealthy, an obsession with democracy that makes decisions slow and bureaucratic, and a rapacious desire for resources that leads to expansion and conflict eith other factions.

Why is Caesar condemned for his ego, and his shortsigtedness, but Kimball is not?

Why is Roger Maxon blamed for creating an organisation that has hurt people, but not Aradesh?

Why is Justin Ayo blamed for his secrecy and lack of trust, but not Colonel Moore?

It's a double-standard. Others are blamed for trying something new, the NCR gets carte blanch to repeat old mistakes!

Hi, anonymous person.

So ... I've read this, and I've read it again, and again after that and ... I'm a little puzzled about what's bothering you. The NCR is broadly attempting to feed, clothe and house hundreds of thousands of people ... and fans tend to give them a little more leeway when they fuck up than they do, say, the Enclave, which is a fascist organisation bent on global genocide and this is ... bad?

Honestly not really seeing the problem there.

I've barely written anything about the NCR, and certainly not in depth character profiles of the people you bring up, so I'm not completely sure why this is directed at me. If you're saying that there are fans who refuse to acknowledge that the NCR has flaws ... well, I haven't met those people, but if you look for an opinion on the internet you'll probably find it, so I'm not going to try to claim they don't exist. I've seen people claim women don't play Fallout, which is kind of a problem, from where I'm sitting. :)

But. Well, okay.

It's a double-standard. Others are blamed for trying something new, the NCR gets carte blanch to repeat old mistakes!

Nobody's trying anything new. That's kind of the point here. War never changes. Just to do the main antagonists ...

Richard Grey/The Master is just doing eugenics with a sci-fi twist. He's going to forcibly convert everyone who can be into a super mutant, and prevent any remaining humans from breeding. One of the ways to beat him is to tell him that his "master race" is sterile. It's a horrifying plan.

The Enclave are American fascists. They believe that only their people are truly human and that everyone else should literally die.

Edward Sallow/Caesar is ... I mean he's just cosplaying as Caius Julius Caesar because he thinks it looks cool. That's an actual human being who lived, and who quite famously got stabbed to death. More historical precedent than you could shake a gladius at. Sallow got over excited when he read Caesar's Commentaries and decided he wanted to be Caesar. Presenting "doing ancient Rome" as new is ... certainly something, and particularly hilarious as a plan for a civilisation given the decades long clusterfuck that was the fall of the Roman Republic, plus fun subsequent imperial followups like "the year of the four emperors".

The Institute has just reintroduced slavery, only this time let's 3D print the people instead of abducting them so literally no one will care what we do to them! They also lean into the idea that they are the only real people, although they are not quite as committed to this as the Enclave.

What's new and exciting here that I should be willing to give a try? They're all old ideas, and ideas that seem to involve a lot of genocide, enslavement and general misery for anybody who isn't part of a specific in group.

Vulpes set up his lottery (not that I'm saying it was a perfect solution) to address a problem that had gotten out of hand, a problem downstream of the NCR… and yet most fan discussions blame the Legion for what happened in Nipton.

I ... what? Yeah, I'm going to disappoint you here. The massacre at Nipton was the Legion's fault because they were the ones who walked in there and, you know, massacred people. Mayor Steyn was absolutely engaging in a round of "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" and if anybody tries to argue that he was competent I will dispute that wholeheartedly. But there was only a massacre because the Legion actively set one up.

There's political corruption in Nipton, but the problem of the Legion is that they think a lottery that decides who gets beheaded, who gets crucified and who gets sold into slavery is some sort of solution to that problem, rather than an atrocity. That's why they're still the bad karma choice, even if the NCR is kind of fucking things up.

Also ... ha. I promise you imitating ancient Rome is not going to solve your political corruption problems. I mean ... I know Vulpes Inculta makes his little speech, but Rome never did solve the problem of profiteering governors and corrupt politicians. This is not a problem that is going to miraculously disappear under Legion rule. And the idea of Rome somehow getting rid of prostitution is just ... Honestly, Caesar's Legion would be hilarious if you didn't have to have these conversations standing next to people dying on crosses.

If two human surface-dwellers kill each other in Diamond City, people blame the Institute.

... Diamond City is run by the Institute, under the synth-replacement of Mayor McDonough. The leadership actively plays up the paranoia in the city by refusing to investigate disappearances. The particular scene you are describing is paired with one that occurs in Goodneighbor, where the neighborhood watch is able to accurately identify a synth infiltrator – because they are not Institute run.

It's also a feature of gameplay that an inhabitant of one of your settlements may be a synth infiltrator and become hostile to the other settlers. So I'm pretty sure people are blaming the Institute for things they're doing.

If the White Legs emulate Twisted Hair cultural traditions without fully understanding them, Ulysses blames the Legion.

... The Legion massacred Ulysses' people. They enslaved some and crucified the rest along the roadside, like Spartacus's army of old. That's why he's the only one left who understands what the braids mean. His reaction is somewhat unfair to the White Legs, yes, who had no way of knowing what they were doing was wrong ... but I can't see why blaming the Legion would be a problem. They did, in fact, exterminate his people.

ThevNCR seems to get a pass because people see their goals as noble… but their goals are to recreate the exact conditions that caused the Great War!

There's a line I like, that Deacon says in Fallout 4.

I never really much cared for the Minutemen. The idea sounds great. But you give small men big power and sometimes you'll pay for it. –Fallout 4, Deacon Miscellaneous Dialogue

In the context of Fallout 4, the Minutemen are the scrappy underdogs you root for. They're helping to rebuild the shattered settlements of the Commonwealth and they're a potential source of resistance against the Institute. But if you talk to Preston, you get hints of the politics and infighting that brought them down the first time. There's no reason that couldn't happen again. They could become a controlling and exploitative organisation.

Do I think that means you shouldn't work with them? No, of course not. You deal with the situation in front of you. You try to support the people who aim to make life better for everyone.

If we roll back around to the Commonwealth in Fallout 8 or something (assuming I haven't died of old age by then) and the Minutemen have become a military dictatorship ruling the people with an iron fist ... well, we go deal with the fucking Minutemen then.

Deacon's right about the threat, but if you don't take the chance on trusting people, you never build anything.

It's a thing in Fallout. War never changes. There are some truly evil, terrible ideas that turn up again and again and need to be slapped down. But there is no perfect Utopia on the other side of it. There are just communities banding together to try and make it work. What stops them from going bad? Nothing. It can always happen. You make the best choices you can in every story, given what you have to work with.

Or you do an evil playthrough. Your choice. Not my business.

The NCR is supposed to hurt. Watching them fail is supposed to hurt. It's no good if it doesn't hurt. No one cries when you blow up the Enclave. That's a job well done. You can't say good things about them.

The point of the NCR is that you can. They have some runs on the board! Democracy! Agriculture! Education! You want them to make it work. And yeah, it lets you ask much more interesting questions like: how many fuck ups do we let slide?

We don't need the Enclave, or the Legion, to fuck up to know they're bad news. Their goals are bad. We want them gone. But with the NCR ... how much bad are we okay with, to keep the good?

You haven't given me any examples to work with, so I can't reasonably speak to what fans say. But I don't think the games give them any sort of uncritical pass. Fallout New Vegas is ... absolutely about the problems of colonialism and aggressive expansionism. It's very clear that the NCR has not made good choices recently. The game gives you a lot of room to figure out what you want to do about that, and no answer is perfect.

It's only with regard to the Legion specifically that it's an obviously moral choice – and they level the playing field for you there. Both the Legion and the NCR have imperial pretensions, and those are not good. But since that specific thing is the same, well, we're supporting the people who aren't implementing mass slavery and treating women as "breeding stock", right?

If there are people who won't admit flaws in the NCR, well, yeah, I'd call them wrong. But I don't really think it's a double standard to favour a group that doesn't have "wouldn't it be great if we murdered everybody" as a core philosophy over one that does.