#and they never address it in canon

[radioactivespiderblood]

The Flash: Why should I listen to you? You're like 10!

Robin: Why should I listen to the guy that's married to his sister!

The Justice League: WTF

The Flash: She's not my sister!

The Justice League: phew

The Flash: She's my foster sister!

The Justice League: That's barely any better!

Robin: I definitely would not date my foster sibling(s).

[bonefall]

So, your Clear Sky post is absolutely horrifying, but it was very needed, so thank you. What are your general thoughts on tackling his abuse for the AU? Like you've said, pretending he's a good guy is not the way to go, but are you planning on toning down *some* of the situations, just to give some of the cats a break? Clear Sky is a very realistic depiction of abusers, but that seems to come across even without victim number 25, yknow? I'm very curious about how you'd like to go about this.

My most recent big change was bringing Slash back into the fold, because I realized that it was actually a disservice to not address where DOTC's themes dip into Colonialism. It's a hard topic, and I'm still trying to work out the details, but I realized it was important.

With how BB!DOTC is such a MASSIVE overhaul, to properly address abuse and the ways it impacts you, ableism and its violence, and xenophobia broadly, a huge reworking of Slash belonged here too. He's one of the greatest examples of how badly WC demonizes non-Clanborn cats. I shouldn't dance around it.

That's what I need to do with Skystar.

MANY of his victims have happier endings than canon, though. Bumble is one of the most famous, bumped up into a major character and directly responsible for the formation of ThunderClan. Bright Storm is taking most of Gray Wing's roles. Birch and Alder are getting examined, with either a father who wants his kids back or Milkweed as the mate of Misty.

A lot of people will die because of him, even more will be hurt, but I see BB!DOTC as a story about victims and survivors.

Others might grab POVs here and there, but as a response to canon which I feel is Clear Sky's story told in many parts, I center this rewrite around Thunder Storm. The path of kindness he marches down, with love and with anger, and the people he helps.

So BB!Star Flower...

Previously I was playing her as ENTIRELY just manipulating Clear Sky. She was loyal to One Eye and trying to get at Skystar to bleed him dry for 8 lives to sacrifice; but connected to Thunderstar over recognizing him as a victim who deserves her idea of justice. So, she offers Thunderstar the final kill, so her father will be grateful to him and he'll get power AND the death of his abuser.

(When Thunderstar looks upon Skystar, pathetic and neutralized down to one life, he thinks about the collateral damage that will descend upon the forest if he accepts the deal. He decides that he has found the line between Justice and Justification. Of course he wants the power to make his enemies cower, protect his people, and eliminate Clear Sky so he never threatens them again; that's not the problem.

He can still do these things. He wouldn't NEED the power of a war god to do so.

But if One Eye returns, he will be endlessly hungry, ruthlessly dedicated to revenge, and set out to devour the whole forest. Everything would get worse, and even more people he loves would die. It's where his desire to destroy a monster would lead to him BECOMING one.)

Even on its face, it was previously missing an element. There's a step between "Starf decides to bring One Eye back" and "Starf offers Thunderstar the final kill" that was bare. This is the piece that was missing-- That she, herself, is trying to reach out to the only person who's ever really understood her.

But more importantly... I do feel this topic belongs here, in BB!DOTC. Abuse is a MAJOR theme. SKYSTAR is a monster already. He's harmed two wives in BB (Bright Storm and Falling Cry) and played toxic games with all three kits (Thunder Storm, Pale Sky, Tiger Sky).

And I'd avoid Star Flower being abused... why? Because it's uncomfortable to confront the pattern that Clear Sky displays? That in-canon, he tries to cut all his victims into the same ideal shape, from Storm to Thunder to Star Flower? ...it should be uncomfortable. Everything that I described in Clear Sky Is A Monster is rooted in the same desire for control, power, and punishment most abusive people share, he just happens to be a severe example.

Yes. That includes how he treats his child and romantic partners. The parallels that are drawn between Starf and Thunder are there because he wants power in the form of obedience. Starf replaces the son as a narrative award for his "growth" of not killing random people anymore for a while.

A cookie cutter is an effective tool because IT ONLY MAKES ONE SHAPE.

You know what's more uncomfortable? Reading canon!DOTC and seeing someone who hurt you reflected almost perfectly in the character the writers think did nothing wrong. Because of "good intentions" that were not there.

I will say though, just to be clear; I don't see a purpose in being more than PG-13 about serious topics for this project. I promise none of my intentions have changed. Nothing will be more graphic or gorey than canon WC-- just more intentional.

I'm keeping the sacrifice because it's dope. No one is taking this from me. Girl Moment: Killed her awful husband 8 times to count as 8 sacrifices and offered the last life to her buddy as a show of good will. How else do you make friends outside of high school

But I know now that Star Flower NEEDS to keep the canon fact she has very little agency, UNTIL that moment she snaps.

She's sacrificing one abuser to try and bring back a bigger, badder one, because in spite of everything, her father One Eye always made her feel safe. Even though he promised her off to Skystar, and expected her to be willing to die for him. She's followed every command, every order, past the death of his mortal vessel.

The first, and only, selfish choice she's ever made was in reaching out to Thunderstar to offer him the power of her father.

Thunderstar's Justice is a story about a Thunder Storm at the pinnacle of his arc, how the survivors of his Clan are settling into the new normal after the carnage of The First Battle, how Skystar's arrogance brings a violent god to the Forest... and the connection Thunderstar makes with the daughter of a monster.

[vivitalks]

i can't stop thinking about lydia's role in the nightmare-ception nightmare stiles has at the very beginning of season 3b. it's fair to assume that the nogitsune is, on some level, pulling the strings on this matryoshka of a dreamscape, possibly because it doesn't yet have the strength to control stiles while he's awake, but even if it's not the nogitsune, lydia's presence and behavior make no sense.

she's in the part of stiles's dream where he thinks he's awake, and other than wish fulfillment, there's no real reason why she would be there. and while she seems like just another part of the dream - manifested by stiles's subconscious - the way she acts suggests more than that. her presence is the first thing to tip stiles off that something is wrong. he thinks he's awake, but if he's awake, then why is lydia in his bed? maybe lydia was not, actually, supposed to be part of this dream at all.

the moment stiles realizes this, his door creaks open, distracting him from lydia and drawing his attention to the door - specifically, the idea that someone could "get in" if the door is open. if we run with the likely theory that the nogitsune has already entered stiles's mind by this point, then this is stiles's subconscious understanding to a certain degree that he could be in danger, but not yet aware that he already is.

but lydia knows. from the second stiles moves toward the door, lydia does her best to persuade him not to. first she tries to dismiss it ("just go back to sleep", "don't worry about it") and then to challenge his reasoning ("what if someone comes in?" "like who?") but by the time he's reaching for the door, lydia is full-on begging. she's panicking. she knows that (1) stiles isn't going to close the door, but walk through it and (2) there is something through the door that is incredibly dangerous.

and i keep wondering: if the nogitsune was already there, and on some level, however small, controlling the dream, then why the hell was lydia there? her entire role was to counteract the nightmare. she did everything she could to prevent stiles from opening that door. how did the nogitsune benefit from that?

now. i know this is a far-fetched theory. but hear me out: the lydia in stiles's dream was the real lydia. stiles and lydia were in the same dream - they just didn't know it.

essentially what i'm saying is lydia "dreamwalked" into stiles's mind without meaning to. i know there is no canon basis for this being a thing that can happen, but play in the space with me for a minute:

lydia is specifically singled out for her clairvoyant ability to predict danger and death, though it is often presented to her in an abstract fashion

she has been known to sometimes have these visions while she's asleep

there is a door open in stiles's mind, meaning theoretically anything with the capacity to enter a mind could enter stiles's mind, whether intentional or not (and we know that at this point, lydia lacks the ability to control her powers)

there is a connection between stiles and lydia - a tether - that linked them in a supernatural capacity at least once before (with the ice baths)

given the other supernatural concessions of the show, it's not that much of a stretch to propose that lydia could have unwittingly entered stiles's dream, perceived it as her own, picked up on the threat to stiles, and been inclined to protect him from it, without knowing exactly what "it" was.

and before you say "banshees can only predict death, not any danger," that has generally held true for lydia...but with one notable exception, which happens later on in this season: she finds nogitsune!stiles unconscious in the parking garage, after the nogitsune slices his stomach open. he's not dead, and we know he's not dying because deaton says he seems to be healing. something about the connection that exists between lydia and stiles enables her to predict any kind of threat to him, not just the imminently fatal kind.

so: stiles has a nightmare where lydia is inexplicably there, the only part of the nightmare that isn't nightmarish. and at the same time, lydia has a dream that has all the makings of a banshee vision, and responds accordingly: by trying her best to protect her friend, pleading with him not to go near the door, because she can tell there's something bad behind the door. they had the same dream. they were both there. lydia, somehow, entered through the same open door the nogitsune used to get into stiles's mind, and, thinking the stiles in her dream was a premonition of danger coming to him, did her level best to keep him safe, unaware that this was the real stiles, and the danger was already here.

[noxemma]

Dean Winchester is Saved!

Today is 16 years since Cas raised Dean from Hell, since that profound bond was formed, since Cas realized that Dean didn’t think he deserved to be saved.

Lazarus Rising changed my DNA in the best way possible. It was the beginning of a love story that has rotted my brain for years. And this episode specifically prompted me to write my first fic that was more than a thousand words and wasn’t inspired by a prompt.

Almost two years ago I made this note which started me writing and posting nearly 11k solely about an alternate Lazarus Rising where we see the profound bond form and the interaction of Cas and Dean in Hell, where Dean’s been torturing souls.

Anyway if that sounds interesting I put the link and a snippet of the fic below. Happy Lazarus Rising, Destiel Beginning, Dean is Saved Day!

Before Lazarus Rose

Summary: What if Cas and Dean met and formed this amazing bond (profound perhaps) before the iconic meeting in 4x01 but had their memory of it wiped? OR What happened in Hell when Castiel rescued Dean and why doesn't Dean remember it?

Dean

Pain. Never-ending pain is all Dean has known for the last thirty years. Even the few times he’s been allowed to fall asleep, to fall unconscious, he’s had nightmares.   His body and mind are so broken, so fractured, that his dreams are as well. He sees blue light and screams for someone, anyone, to help him. He begs and pleads for someone to save him until his voice gives out.

Doesn’t matter whether you are in Hell or topside, dreams don’t do a damn thing, Dean thinks blearily. He flinches against the chains in his flesh as Alastair draws near. “What shall we try today, hmm?” Alastair pulls out several knives, observing each one before settling on a small paring knife. “I think this will do. You know a smaller blade will take longer, take more effort; it’s … intimate.”

Alastair continues to teach as he slowly carves Dean’s skin from muscle, as he slowly cuts out organs. The commentary, Dean quickly decides, is worse than the physical pain. The pain blurs together, but the tricks of torture bury themself in his mind. He can look at Alastair’s rack of tools and remember what each one is best used for, how much pain each imparts on different areas of the body, and how long each takes to decimate a soul. While his own body is rejuvenated each day, the thirty years of knowledge continues to fester like his soul.

When he’s finally reduced to a mere consciousness tethered to a soul, Alastair whispers into the bits of blood and bone that used to be him. “Well? I’ll put down my blade if you pick one up.” It’s all too much. Too much pain, too much cruel knowledge. He’s not strong enough, he’s never been strong enough.

“Going once …”

How long can he actually hold out for anyway? Isn’t the end inevitable? After thirty years of pleading into the void, he has to accept the truth. No help is coming. “Going twice …” Even if he was rescued, his soul is already black and tarnished. He’s already in Hell with no hope of getting out. He was already broken before he arrived.

“Can’t say I’m not disappointed, Dean. You have such potential. We could have had a good thi-”

“I’ll do it.” Dean knows he should feel something. He should feel remorse or relief, but all he feels is resignation. This was always the end he was bound for. His body returns to him as Alastair grins and, for the first time in 360 months, Dean is able to step off the rack. For the first time in 10,950 days, Dean’s body and soul are his to control. There is still pain, still bits of Hell stuck in his soul, but this small bit of freedom and control is enough to ignore it. Dean grabs the paring knife and begins. Something in him fractures beyond repair at the first drop of blood. He knows that whatever goodness was in him is gone. Each soul after tears away more of him and replaces it with something dark and unfamiliar beneath his skin. He still thinks he deserved those thirty years of pain, but it gets easier as the years go on. Soul-deep exhaustion and numbness replace the pain with each piece of himself that he carves away. Eventually, he stops counting the souls, he stops counting the days too. He starts believing that the souls deserve it, they are in Hell after all. He even begins to enjoy it. After all he’s endured in life and death, it feels good to finally be the one to deal out some pain instead of constantly being on the receiving end.

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

Zelda actively fought against Ganon for a century and used the minimal energy she had to watch over Link

Like that girl is so dedicated and her unwavering faith in Link is just so so precious

[snaxewhisper]

I don't have a title for this but it's regarding whether Noé will or will not drink Vanitas blood

I'm sure most people in the case study of Vanitas fandom have agreed on the fact that Noé will, most likely, drink Vanitas blood before he will inevitably die. This short post is just me stating "evidence" regarding the matter.

So, as we all know, Vanitas does not want Noé to drink his blood because he is an archiviste. Makes sense. Besides the fact that it's to keep Vanitas mysterious in general, he himself has stated in an extra chapter (they were discussing the Birthdays of the main cast) that he does not like such information to be revealed to strangers, if I remember correctly. Now, I know that Noé and Vanitas are far from strangers, but it's Vanitas we are talking about here, come on.

Now, I know that in some animanga it's just an artistic choice to have the characters speak about the present as if it's the past, but Mochijun never does something without a reason behind it. So far, I think there have been three occasions where Noé spoke in past tense (of which I only have screenshots of two of them.)

Number one:

the first chapter. It is revealed that Noé will kill Vanitas, but it spoken about as if it happened in the past. Now I know, artistic choice, but hold on.

Number two:

In chapter eleven (I think??) It happened again. Noé is talking about Vanitas passing.

What I am trying to get at, is that the whole story of case study of Vanitas is portrayed from Noé's point of view and it only (or mostly) contains scenes where Noé was present. Except for a few scenes with domi and flashbacks of Vanitas past. Now what do the two of them have in common based on this post? Both are the people Noé has drank or will drink the blood of.

Dominique is obvious and Vanitas just makes sense.

Maybe during Vanitas's "dying breath", Noé thought of what jean-jacques said here

and wanted to remember Vani as best as he could, not wanting to forget him but also wanting to understand him, even (or especially) after his passing.

Or Vanitas thought about it and, deep down, wanted someone to remember his story. The complete story.

Now Imagine Vanitas in Noés arms, slowly dying (maybe bleeding out), Noé viewing Vani's memories and during Vanitas dying breath, Noé whisper his real name. Damn now I made myself sad.

So yea, that's about it I think?? I know this is all pretty obvious, but I still wanted to get it out of my system. Also, I apologize for any grammar mistakes or language errors, it is the middle of the night and english is not my native language.

[thedanceronthestreets]

The fact that we're now officially no longer delusional for thinking trent might be in love with ted... i need to go lie down

[ravenalla]

Thinking about how Din’s parents never got to see how much of an impact their humble son from Aq Ventia would have on the rest of the galaxy, the warrior he grew into, the violence he became capable of, the sympathy and respect he shows to people in spite of it, infamous figures he has made both allies and enemies of, feats such as saving entire villages from raiders and dragons, tracking down the last known remnants of mythical Jedi, helping to take back an entire planet from Imperial forces, and bringing a grandson into their family who they would have loved but will never meet. They’ll never get to know any of that, they could only pray that their death meant their tiny son got to live a happy and fulfilling life. And what gets me is it’ll be the same cycle for Din and Grogu, where Din will have to leave him long before he should, and he’ll never get to see the type of person Grogu grows up to be or what he’ll accomplish but he knows he’d be damn proud regardless. All he can do is hope pieces of himself will be left behind for his son to remember him by.

[theokusgallery]

There aren't enough toxic sunflower AUs. I need to make another one. I have so many ideas

[silverhalla]

alright time for my two cents about it

imo not officially addressing some of the big world-shaping decisions from the prior games is the right move? even a non-central decision like sacrificing the chargers or not recruiting a companion splinters the game - if every world state gets to be the canon world state, where all of the decisions are referenced and included and neatly lined up, how do you continue to build a cohesive narrative? the more decisions you import, the more the state of the world continues to branch. at a certain point I think you have to make a choice - either embrace the idea that no two players will ever create the same thedas so there can never be one central world state for the series as a whole, or leave the bulk of those choices offscreen. if it isn’t being addressed onscreen, to either canonize a certain choice or to redact it, you’re walking a fine line where you can have both player freedom and a cohesive story.

I personally just think that at a certain point, addressing every decision a player has ever made is going to make the world smaller, not bigger. how far can all those branching narratives splinter before they run out of story to safely tell without doubling back on prior player choices? why would they even want to take that chance?

[theshadowrealmitself]

DP angst: Dani gets revealed and accepted by the Fentons, even when it comes out that she’s a half ghost, but Danny’s still scared to come out to his parents because they’ve never favored him as much as they obviously favor Dani

[theonlyadawong]

ada fans must free themselves from the idea that liking ada means shipping a.eon.

[astralleywright]

people will come up with any excuse to hate imodna. i was here when "imodna has a toxic power dynamic because laudna is old enough to be her mom" was a legitimate complaint. a singular someone could headcanon laudna as chinese and draw her in hanfu and the usual suspects would say "ugh those imodnas think that all asian women are magical witches!"

yeah, this is unfortunately just kind of a thing with big ships, and especially big f/f ships, and especially in the cr fandom, where ppl use 5 year old drama to excuse treating a large portion of the queer women and f/f shippers in the fandom with open suspicion and disdain. not at all helped by the fact that imodna are actually interesting continue to have conflict and complexity after getting together instead of just being like. fluff and sex jokes. like some other cr relationships.

[birdricks]

just remembered the pheonixperson fight [walking into the ocean]

[radioactive-mouse]

i intend to treat this as canon btw

[fluffypotatey]

S7 😭 I can't imagine waiting that long. Personally, the progression makes sense to me considering they kept going through HUGE events. Like first Wukong was literally POSSESSED. And Macky, instead of ditching, protected the kid and faced him head on 🫡 And Wukong as a person, honestly can NOT hold grudges against his former friends/enemies. He feels BAD for what he does to them, and misses them tons. Like with DBK! He outright says "I honestly missed that guy" whatever Macky did to him couldn't have been any crazier than DBK wrecking the city, forced to be contained, or fighting the Brotherhood. Especially because Wukong loved Macky 10 times more. Then he got blasted with a thousand suns of nostalgia and regrets in a scroll until his spirit was crushed and Macky's own down bad behavior started coming out because he is ALSO a pathetic loser who misses having actual connections with people. Especially if their name is Wukong because holding rage inside is just a poison expecting the other person to get burned. They were still bickering and fighting in S5 but with development! With attempted restraint and cooldowns! And then Wukong went through A Horrible No Good Time yet again like what is there to possibly argue about then when there's so many regrets you have and the WORLD IS LITERALLY ENDING AS WE DON'T SPEAK. So hold hands, and hope that communicates everything. There is no more room for teasing and avoiding each other at that point and pretending to be annoyed so you don't have to touch that ol pandora's box of feelings. COMPLETELY against your desire for slow burn, I fully hope they hug in S6 and both of them cry and we finally confirm what happened. The writers cannot get away with teasing us like this pLEASE- the most redacted of snippets ;-;

i just think slow burns are neat, anon. and shadowpeach fits that bill. i will not mind at all if their relationship progresses faster than my assumptions bc a lot of them were made under the impression that the relationship food i wanted would be met with heavy hesitance by a Western show own by a giant toy company who cares more about profit than anything 🤷🏻‍♀️

and yet here we are! the train chugging at full speed when i expected a 3 hour delay that is typical in the entertainment station