#and to me that is far more worth calling out than people shipping them

[ingravinoveritas]

missdeliadali replied to your post "It's SO wholesome how, when hugging Michael,...”

What a great analysis! Thank you! I couldn't agree more.

Aww, thank YOU (and everyone else who's commented on this post) for these kinds words. I truly do appreciate it so much.

It seems surreal that I wrote this post two years ago, and yet that whole night was so powerful that it still resonates even now. Reading back what I wrote, I think what comes to mind is a lot of the discourse I've seen from the anti-RPF crowd, particularly the sentiment "It's lowkey homophobic to say two men can't be close friends/flirty without being in a relationship with each other."

But to my mind, what's actually true is exactly the opposite. That it's lowkey homophobic to say two men can't be close friends and be in love. We often hear the refrain of "The person you're in love with should be your best friend," and aren't Michael and David best friends? Why, then, would it be such a bad thing for them to be in love?

I feel like so many younger fans in particular seem to think monogamy is the be-all, end-all, but that's not how love or relationships work. Attraction doesn't stop just because you're in a relationship or married to someone, or because you have kids with someone. And David in particular I feel like has shown he has the capacity to love more than one person at a time--different to, yet not less than how he loves Georgia. Georgia herself has supported and even encouraged the shipping of Michael and David (even calling Michael David's "other wife"). Michael and David themselves have had countless opportunities over the last four years to snuff out the fires of speculation...but they never have.* Not once.

There are so many terrible things in this world--war, famine, hatred, abuse, violence--but two best friends falling in love shouldn't be one of them...

*If anything, Michael has done the complete opposite, fanning the flames repeatedly while cackling maniacally...

[ingravinoveritas]

Fandom policing and telling people what they can and cannot post on their own blogs is more of a problem that RPF shipping could ever be. This rabid insistence on not talking about this or not talking about that is also FAR more of a reflection of fans' discomfort with these topics than anything Michael or David have ever said. I would urge the people who make posts like the one in the screenshot to realize you do not speak for Michael and David any more than those of us who ship them do, and that it might be helpful to look at the things Michael and David have actually said and done over the last four years.

Ending this with a screenshot of this comment that is as relevant now as it was three years ago:

People are allowed to post whatever they like on their own blog but this example of gatekeeping virtue-signaling really chaps my ass. I don’t recall getting any memo *checks notes* announcing that someone has been assigned boss of the GO fandom in order to pass judgement on fellow fans based on who they ship. I’ve written about this before, so I’ll just add the link here:

[stubz]

late shift

Shuttle for Mars is departing now. Please keep hands, feet, tails, and other appendages clear of the yellow line.

‘Nice, finally get off work on time for once! Man is it empty, way less busy than the 5:45 one…

Are they sleeping? Please tell me they’re sleeping…’

“Snnrk…”

‘Oh good they are, oooh lots of empty seats next to them! Nice.’

The young human sits across the large figure and looks around.

‘Wonder why everyone else is sitting so far away from this guy? He’s not that much scarier than a Alteauh…OH! He’s an Orc! An actual Orc, oh this is so cool! Wait. Calm down, control yourself. Orc’s are people too, not some exotic animal in a zoo….he’s sooo cool looking tho!’

The human smiles and takes out their headphones and listens to some music and take in the view they see through the shuttle’s windows. From time to time they peek at the orc, can’t helping themselves from people-watching him.

Like what most humans imagined, he was huge. Easily more than 7 feet tall, with large calloused hands bigger than their head. He had large tusks but unlike the stereotypes he was well trimmed with well relatively kept hair. It would have neater had there not been dust in it. The orc wore dirty cloths and work boots. Beside them what looked like a tool box and bag.

‘Must be a construction worker or works in a trade’ they mused

‘Poor guy, he’s gotta be exhausted to sleep here. At least he gets to go home now.’

The shuttle shakes and with it so does the sleeping giant. Rocking side to side.

'That's not good.' They nervously slide off their headphones.

The turbulence increases until the sleeping orc leans too far and starts fall face first off his seat.

“OH SHIT!” Diving to their knees they manage to catch his head and shoulders.

“Mm?”

“You okay?” Damn he's heavy!

“Mmm…sorry.” Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he slowly got back into his seat, the turbulence now gone.

“No worries, I just didn’t want you to hit your head.”

“Heh, wouldn't be the first time I’ve done it.”

after rubbing his eyes a bit more and a crack of the neck he looks at them, brain finally working to some degree.

“…wait. You caught me?”

“Uh-huh”

“But you’re so small! Are you hurt?”

“You're not the first sleeping giant I’ve caught. I’m alright.”

“I am so sorry for that. I just finished working a 12 hour shift fixing the 1st and 3rd engine rooms and couldn’t help myself from dozing off.”

They whistle. “12 hours? No wonder you’re tired! If I were you I’d be in a coma.”

“Ah but surely you have a difficult job yourself. How else would you be able to catch me?”

“No, nothing like yours! I just work at a youngling centre.”

“The one on the ship?”

“That’s the one.”

“...YOUR ONE OF THE BRAVE WARRIORS WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN??!”

“…you’ve heard of us?”

“Every orc and warrior worth their blade knows of your valiant deeds!! Tell me, what is your name??”

“Kim, uh and you are?”

“Fenrir. It is truly an honor to meet someone of your bravery and intelligence."

"Likewise! I've heard that the orc species are a true warrior race."

For the rest of the trip the two talked. Kim sharing how her and Max built such a safe room in the centre, which lead to the two realizing how similar each other's planets are.

"You have wind whirlpools as well? I thought they only existed on Bantor!"

"Well we call them hurricanes and tornadoes but yeah. Do you guys have hail?"

"Not where I grew up but nearby farther up they get a week or two of light hail showers during the fall. What about animals? Do you have reptiles bigger than an adult with large teeth and live in rivers? We call them darthrang."

"Oh we call them crocodiles!"

"Amazing! To think that your species live in a world much like mine!"

When the shuttle finally reached it's destination the two went their separate ways. A few days later they meet again, this time on the later shuttle. They sit and talk and create a routine of sorts where they became each others travelling companion for the trip to Mars.

One day however, Fenrir stopped coming. The human was saddened as she enjoyed his company but was soon surprised when seeing him at the centre.

"Kim! I've been transferred to stay on the ship so I won't be taking the shuttle to Mars anymore."

"Oh...well, as you know I only go home at the end of the week so maybe we can hang out now. Like eat lunch together or have a drink after work...or something like that!"

"Actually we'll be seeing each other everyday now. But if you don't get sick of me then yes, lets each lunch together."

"Great! But why will I be seeing you everyday?"

"Because after telling my family about you and the centre they've enrolled my nieces and nephews and younger siblings here...and I offered to drop them off and pick them up."

It was then that Kim noticed the dozen of orc children hiding behind Fenrir. The tallest and what looked the eldest of them stepped forward.

"Hello, I am Athea, uncle Fenrir said your one of the ones who saved the centre."

"Yes, my name is Kim. It's great to meet you AtheaaAA!" The orc girl pulled the human into a tight hug, lifting the adult woman off of her feet.

"Thank you for saving Nova." she mumbled into her chest.

'Ah, the Captain's daughter' Kim thought. "I was just doing what any teacher would do."

After a moment the human was put down and lead the children into the centre. The day went well. Fenrir's young family members were quickly won over by the humans, first with the saving of the centre, then with how they understood how wonderful their planet was rather than terrifying or deadly.

They were also greatly intrigued by how such a small species could survive in a planet that was thought to only be habitable to orcs.

"How can you carry us?" asked Thor, one of Fenrir's youngest brothers. "We're much bigger than a human child."

"Yeah but your not bigger than my cousins who are teenagers. Also just last month I had like 10 kids climbing on me. Two were tighalaxes."

"Your joking!"

...

"It that tumpon?!"

"Hm? We call it maafe, but it's also known as peanut stew, do you want some? It doesn't have any meat in it though."

"Guys Max has tumpon!! Can you tell Fenrir where we can buy the ingredients?"

"Of course. Finally I'll finish what gran gave me without having to gain 10 pounds."

And thus the first day ended on a high note! Now if only Kim could figure out why the children looked at her and nodded while talking to Fenrir...

So this based off of a post by @llamagoddessofficial about humans meeting actual space orcs. Sadly I can't find the actual post. but yeah, here u go, space orc and human meet cute

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Kaz and Wylan’s potential to become each other

Wow, you guys were a lot more excited about this than I was expecting! I made a post briefly mentioning this idea and it got way more attention that I was expecting, so as promised here is my explanation and I’ve tagged people who asked for it at the end :)

*WARNING: CONSTANT SPOILERS AHEAD*

Ok so the driving forcing of this comparison is rooted in the similarities of their characters and their backstories. Both of them lost a close family member, were abused by men with power over them, and experienced a form of ‘rebirth’ by nearly drowning in the Ketterdam canals. They also both experience disability; Kaz using a cane for a broken leg that didn’t heal correctly, and Wylan having severe dyslexia that prevented him from learning to read. A key difference that separates them, and arguably is a representation of the difference in the way their experiences have shaped their personalities as well, is that Kaz’s disability is a direct result of his chasing after vengeance, whereas Wylan’s disability was used as an excuse for his father to abuse him for what we as the reader see to be a minimum of eight years. (I’m assuming this because he is 16 in the book and was 8 when his mother ‘died’, which is the point that he describes he father to have “given up on him”)

I’m gonna quickly hop to parallels between Kaz and Pekka Rollins, bare with me I promise it’s relevant, which are quickly established as a key part of the novels. When Inej compares them, Kaz’s reply is “I don’t sell girls, I don’t con helpless kids out of their money” to which she gently responds “look at the floor of the Crow Club, Kaz”. Aside from this being the heartbreaking line that it is, it also does a very good job of highlighting their similarities and a similarity that they share with Jan Van Eck. When they meet the merch at the end of the first book they meet on an island called Vellgeluk, which is described as being popular with smugglers and slavers like those who kidnapped Inej. The other Crows are surprised Van Eck knows about Vellgeluk, but Kaz simply says “maybe he isn’t the upstanding merch he appears to be”. Great subtle foreshadowing for his double cross, and great establishment of the link between these three characters. In fact, Van Eck and Kaz echo each other more than you might think. Just as Kaz states “Greed bows to me, it is my servant and my lever”, Van Eck says “Yes, Chaos will come. And I will be it’s master”. In their first meeting, Van Eck accuses Kaz of murder and gambling with people’s lives, and in return Kaz points out that 1 in 5 of Van Eck’s ships will never return because they will sink or “fall prey to pirates”, so they are both doing the same thing, and that they both have the same motivations for this bloodshed: “profit”.

Now consider how often Wylan echoes Kaz, and therefore whether he echoes his father as well. They both have exceptional memories, Kaz’s being photographic/eidetic and Wylan being able to put words to music in his head to remember pages worth of infomation - this is even emphasised by Kaz being able to count cards when he gambles, saying “he could keep track of the game for up to three decks” and Jesper asking Wylan if he’d be able to apply “that trick to counting cards” to which he replies “probably. But I won’t”. They also both have impressive intellects, which could have placed them far higher up in the world than they’ve found themselves if it weren’t for cruel circumstances - Van Eck even comments on this, saying it angers him that Kaz has so much potential but does nothing with it. Then there’s their tendency to avoid being vulnerable. I think we too often overlook the fact that no-one knows Jan Van Eck hired two men to kill his son, not even Jesper, and that not even Inej knows what happened to Kaz on the Reaper’s Barge. Jesper believes that Wylan left his house as a result of his father’s abuse but that it was still his choice, and Inej has no information beyond “Pekka Rollins killed my brother” and the explanation of the con when Kaz faces off with Rollins in Crooked Kingdom. I genuinely believe that the biggest thing separating them is where they place blame for their situations. Kaz blames Pekka Rollins. Wylan actually blames himself.

Arguably, although he catalysed the events, if Rollins hadn’t conned Kaz and Jordie they still would have suffered in an almost identical way: they would both contract the Queen’s Lady Plague, they wouldn’t have enough money for both medicine and boarding, and Jordie would die. In that scenario Kaz would have still been left penniless and alone with nowhere to go, but he wouldn’t have had anyone to blame. In fact, he may have died as well because it’s really his drive for vengeance that makes him strive for survival. When he’s on the Reaper’s Barge he wonders if it’s worth trying to survive because there’s nothing waiting for him in the city, but then he realises that the chance of revenge is waiting for him, and that thought drives him to stay alive every day that follows. Without Rollins, Kaz probably would have blamed himself for Jordie’s death, and I’m backing that up with the singular moment when he’s first attacked by parem-high tide makers and has a brief “boy’s fear” that they are ghosts. He thinks, for a split second, that a ghost has come to kill him and what does he say? He says “Jordie had come for vengeance at last”. This is chapter three. We have no idea who Jordie is. With the limited information we had at the time and what we’d just seen happen to Big Bolliger, I assumed it was someone in Kaz’s gang that he had backstabbed and who has died because of what he did. But no. This single line leads me to wholeheartedly believe that Kaz blames Rollins, who realistically was only a small part of his suffering, quite so vividly to emotionally avoid blaming himself.

Wylan blames himself until around chapters 14 to 16 of Crooked Kingdom. His experiences with mental, emotional, and physical abuse have actively convinced him that his so-called ‘inadequacies’ caused a change in his father’s behaviour. But Wylan not being able to read didn’t magically turn Van Eck from a lucky family man into someone willing to try “specialists, tonics, beatings, [and] hypnotism” against his child. The fact is that Van Eck, like many abusers, is masterfully manipulative in everything he does. Wylan describes seeing his parents’ marriage as a happy one, but he also says “the argued all the time, sometimes about me. But I remember them laughing a lot too”. He’s quick to defend their relationship as if it isn’t supposed to be marred by argument and he lays blame on himself by suggesting that he was the root of their unhappiness. He also says that around Alys, Jan Van Eck becomes who he once was around Marya; a kinder, gentler man. I don’t think we’re meant to assume that he’s acting any differently with Alys in private right now, but I do think we’re meant to assume that he would have done down the line if he hadn’t been arrested (and presumably she filed for divorce). In chapter 14 of Crooked Kingdom, Wylan learns that his mother is still alive but that his father had her committed and declared insane so he could use it as grounds for divorce and marry Alys instead. And you know what happens? Wylan blames himself. He says, verbatim, to Jesper: “You don’t understand. It’s my fault”. He explains that Van Eck did this so he could have a “real heir”; because Marya produced a “faulty” child he needed a new woman to give him the child he wanted. That’s a messed up thing to think on so many levels, but Wylan doesn’t blame Van Eck because he is still being conditioned by his abuse. He and Kaz experienced different kinds of abuse, and Kaz wasn’t conditioned to blame anyone but his abuser, so that’s what he does. When Wylan does begin to blame Van Eck, he is immediately taken in by this same idea of revenge. Kaz says “you were angry. I needed you righteous” when explaining why he sent Wylan to St Hilde blind in chapter 16. Wylan was angry with his father before, but he wasn’t actively seeking vengeance. Now that he has a cause, someone other than himself to fight for? He tells Kaz “well, now you have me”.

Both of them have this potential to be fuelled by revenge or self-hatred, and although they go about it in different ways and lean towards different sides of the scale they are both balancing between those two extremes for the entire duology. Their past experiences have, and their future experiences could, tip them further either way but right now they are almost playing with the line.

Thank you so much if you’ve bothered to read this far, sorry for the long post but you did ask for an essay, so there you go. Tagging the people who asked - @kazooyay @mikasimaginairyworld @sunseeking-cyptid @moonlit-aura @alexplutoplanet @gandalfsmallnaturals @livsarthaven @goodomenstrack23 @origami-butterfly @flower-biatch @bookworm010307 @thesunniest @wherela @space-ace-thoughts @sixofbabycrows @antisocial-burrito

Sorry if I missed anyone!!!

[flagellant]

Hello, I am a friend of the person who originally politely disagreed with you on the dungeon meshi post and we are both genuinely sad that this has turned into someone else sending you weird anon hate about fart sniffing 😭 I truly think it's a conversation worth having with you that your post did come off lesbophobic to me, a lesbian. Like yes we know the other relationships are important too but no one ever compares yaoi ships like this. Like do labru shippers also deserve to be criticized this way? Just my two cents! Sorry about the anon hate tho.

Weird how if you want to have a conversation you keep coming on Anon rather than just, yknow. DMing me or something.

That's cool, I've also had plenty of lesbians tell me that no, it didn't, so this is on you.

People absolutely compare yaoi ships like this. I literally do it in my first post where I point out that fandom brainrot in this manner for mslash ship is far more prevalent and widespread.

Yes, labru shippers who choose to hyperfocus on their relationship to the extent that they completely ignore and misunderstand the work as a whole do deserve to be criticized.

Thanks I guess but I am sincerely unconvinced you're not just sockpuppets or whatever and this whole thing is rapidly approaching an unentertaining boredom. I blocked "your friend" because they were boring but entitled to their opinion and had nothing to say to them. Genuine apologies if you're legit! I just have literally zero evidence at hand to believe otherwise right now.

Also, frankly, calling me a lesbophobe to all their friends is not exactly conducive to having a conversation with me. Just say boo you hate my pussy instead.

[sleeplesssmoll]

do you have any headcanons on how vertin's emotions manifest?

like how she experiences certain things and how that looks on the outside to the people around her

i've been thinking about angry vertin lately and how she'd react if something REALLY upset her

to me she strikes me as someone who would not yell or exhibit her anger very clearly (unless the receiving party is someone she hates, say, arcana, like how she snapped at her in chapter 5), but she doesn't repress it too much around those she cares about, just sorta indirectly saying "i do not wish to talk right now" in a slightly snappy way

The Trails (in Atlas) throughout Reverse 1999 paint a picture of an emotional person who has perfected hiding her feelings. With that said, I do HC Vertin as someone who perceives her own emotions differently from others.

For example, while many of us get "caught up in the moment", Vertin is the type to always take a step back and think "Is this worth getting angry about?"

As the only known person (so far) with guaranteed Storm Immunity, this changes the way she sees things. In her mind, she can lose her allies and friends at any time. It's why she is is generous as well as flexible with their demands. She tried to get Regulus A SHIP and her dialogue/Wilderness interactions show she'd rather go with the flow than argue. Oliver Fog even says she has a "conciliatory" nature.

Vertin is a big picture thinker. Regardless of her current anger, she loves her friends. Anger is temporary but relationships are long lasting if nurtured. Therefore acting on her anger isn't worth it because it's unproductive and she could hurt them. Instead, she focuses on working things out.

Going off of that, She considers hurtful words and shouting go against what she she wants to be: a safe haven for her friends. Her anger manifests more as disappointment or as regret for having to go through these painful feelings with whoever she is arguing with. I think in the worst case scenario, she'll excuse herself before she reaches her boiling point because she doesn't want to snap.

However, if you turn your back to storm off in a huff, she'll call after you and this is where the masks slips. It's not anger you'll hear, it's fear. Fear that you'll leave before you two can fix what's broken between you. She won't chase you because she'll assume you need time to cool off but she'll be on edge until you return.

Sometimes, people mistake this as her not taking them seriously because she doesn't get "passionate" (super angry) about things, but she's seeing things from a different point of view. With that said, she is stern when she has to be and won't back down from doing what she deems as the appropriate course of action. She will always hear others voices on the matter though (and her friends seem to trust so that makes things easier).

On the other hand, if Vertin does something she's quick to try and make amends.

And if we really think about, hasn't Vertin always asked people how they feel, how they're doing, and so on? By being proactive, she can eliminate a lot of tension before it blooms into conflict by addressing it. On the receiving end, Vertin would feel very hurt if she couldn't make things up to you.

1. She failed to make things right.

2. She is causing pain (negative emotions in general) in someone.

3. She isn't sure what to do and might back off (or shut down) completely out of fear of making things worse. It's the lesser of two evils to let you go as a happier person than to stick around you and make you angrier. If it gets to that point, good luck trying to approach her. She'll be one step ahead of you, always gone before you can speak to her. Stealth is one of her specialties and it'll be like trying to catch a cat who wants to be as far from you as possible.

So what about pure, raw, rage? It's interesting you bring up Arcana! When they first put on the friendship-bracelets (?), it was Vertin who triggered them with her anger/killing intent.

Arcana only triggered the bracelet when she sent her followers to attack Vertin's crew.

Arcana's attitude toward Vertin is not a front, but a genuine fascination. She doesn't "hate" Vertin while Vertin is ready to pull a Green Oranges on her. Sure Vertin raised her voice and whatever at Arcana, but that's the type of things we expect from a normal argument.

Vertin was ready to kill this woman. If Vertin starts displaying "normal" signs of anger, that is not normal.

She's that meme that goes "looks like a cinnamon roll but can kill you".

[tennessoui]

hi kit i swear to god someone sent in 35 from the prompt list for 'one of them is trying to get the other off of drugs' but someone must have deleted the ask from your ask box.

oh no! who could have done such a thing. after i already wrote 3k for this prompt and everything!

(but in seriousness i KNOW someone sent me that prompt i just can't find it rn!!! but i enjoyed writing this so much it really literally could be the first chapter of a multi-chapter fic......we'll see)

(also this is what i wrote for the same prompt from a few years ago)

35. one of them is trying to get the other off of drugs

(3k) (warning: non con drugging/attempted date rape drugs used -not by main characters)

Obi-Wan’s got a heavy mind most days. Heavy heart too, but it’s been a while since he checked in with that part of himself. Mind’s easier.

Right now, he’s mostly annoyed at the cantina crowd, but that’s a most days thing too. After all, the cantina’s in the middle of the spaceport, best watering hole around. Only watering hole around, really, and it gets him all sorts of people walking through his doors.

Some days, he really wishes Linell’s hadn’t closed, mostly so he could send the roughest looking folk that way instead. He doesn’t care much if smugglers decide to get wasted at a bar before hopping in the cockpit of their ships, but he doesn’t necessarily want it to happen at his cantina.

Mostly because when smugglers get drunk, they get rowdy. They get dangerous. They get handsy.

And Obi-Wan’s not under any sort of illusion here, he knows what sort of cantina he runs, knows the crowd it attracts, knows no one’s ever gonna bring their youngling past the doors—knows that no Jedi is ever going to stop in for a drink. 

But that doesn’t mean he’s going to allow for that sort of ruckus. The Temple raised him better than that, for whatever that’s worth. They instilled a pretty solid understanding of morality in him at a young age; then the AgriCorps gave him an appreciation of organization and tidiness that even after two decades away from it all, he hasn’t managed to shake.

It makes for bad business anyway, to allow the rougher-looking crowd to linger in the back corner, swat at the passing serving girl, call out harassments to other customers. And perhaps this wasn’t the life Obi-Wan thought he’d have, but it’s the life he does have. And he’s in no mood for his cantina to go under as well because of morons like Chak Tuuel getting too drunk and causing a scene.

It was easier four years ago, Obi-Wan has to admit. It was easier to keep a tight hold on his cantina when he could openly use the Force to pull patrons off of each other, push one back to his chair and spirit the other to the far side of the room. It was easier when all it took to convince a pirate that he’d be better switching to water was a well-placed Force command.

But the rise of the Empire saw the criminalization of Force users, even ones who can’t be called Jedi, like Obi-Wan.

It’s been bad for business, the Empire has. That’s the only thing Obi-Wan cares about, the only reason he has to hold such hatred in his heart for the emperor. It has nothing to do with the massacre of the Jedi, the fall of the Temple. It’s because it’s bad for business. That’s all.

Now he has to be ten times more discerning about who he lets into his cantina because he has to actually reason with them now. On more than one occasion in the past four years, since the Fall of the Temple, he’s chopped off a patron’s hand. Arm. Whatever. 

That’s also bad for business in general, though it’s not as if he can actually get into much trouble for it, considering he owns this cantina. And it’s the Outer Rim. Anything goes.

His eyes survey the cantina as his hands busy themselves making a drink for a rather quiet patron at the bar. Most likely a businessman of some sort, given how often Obi-Wan’s seen him come in and out.

It’s rather late in the night, as much as there is a night at the spaceport. The cantina’s full of the usual sorts, and the place is loud. There’s a group of five men in the back, dressed like smugglers. Obi-Wan has been watering down their drinks for the last two rounds, but they’ve yet to notice. Their eyes are ravenous as they look around them. Most of them are big, all are human. There’s one small one amongst the pack, and it’s him that Obi-Wan’s eyes stick to.

There’s something about him. Maybe it’s the way he holds himself, tense and with his shoulder hunched. Maybe it’s because of how smaller he is than the companions he’s chosen. Maybe it’s because he’s so pretty.

Even from all the way across the cantina, Obi-Wan knows the boy is pretty, can see his pale pink lips and dark golden curly hair. He doesn’t look like the sort of person who tends towards the crowds of pirates and smugglers that populate the back corners of Obi-Wan’s cantina. He looks out of place, misplaced. 

Sith’s hells, Obi-Wan probably looks more like a smuggler than this boy. Even the scar across his face, through his eyebrow and trailing down his cheek does little to make the boy look dangerous. Even his outfit—a black cloak on top of other, darker clothes—cannot make him look as dangerous as the men around him.

But they had come in as a pack, the boy in the middle of them. It had been the boy who had talked with the serving girl, Challa, who sat them. It had been him who’d ordered the first round of drinks.

The Force is screaming, a loud reverberation of a warning filling up his head and making the beginnings of his headache twenty times worse.

If someone dies tonight in Obi-Wan’s cantina, Obi-Wan is going to make Challa fill out the flimsiwork. It would be what she deserves for allowing this crowd in.

A moment before Obi-Wan looks away, the boy looks up from his drink and catches him staring. His face freezes as it is, held tight as he looks at Obi-Wan looking at him. For a strange moment, it looks like his eyes flash gold before they fall away, attention grabbed by the kid next to him.

Obi-Wan’s own attention is claimed a moment later.

“Whatcha looking at, boss?” the second bartender on shift asks, resting their arms on the counter beside him. “You look mighty disgruntled.”

“So you thought adding yourself to the situation would help,” he says automatically, caustically as he turns away from the group to stare at his employee. “Naturally.” “Naturally,” Saak agrees with a pointy smile. “I’m a saint.”

“Hm,” Obi-Wan says, even though he quite likes working with the twi’lek. These days, Obi-Wan keeps much close to his chest—especially his affection.

“That’s not an answer to my question,” Saak points out, looking back out at the cantina. “Who’s caught your eye? Because me and the crew in the back have a bet going about if you’re ever going to take someone home.” “I don’t mix business and pleasure,” Obi-Wan says, eyes staying resolutely away from the boy’s table.

“See, that’s part of the bet,” Saak says, easy as anything. “We don’t think you have pleasure.”

Obi-Wan frowns and turns to look at them fully. “What.”

Saak shrugs. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile once, and I’ve worked here for three years. You don’t come out with us after work, you throw out every comm sequence customers leave you-–and trust me, I know there’s been a lot, you never mention anyone at home. In your personal life.”

“I enjoy a healthy amount of privacy,” Obi-Wan snaps, clenching his fists tight on the towel between his hands before he carefully tosses his irritation into the Force.

He understands almost immediately that his anger isn’t even at Saak for prying or at his employees for gossiping.

It’s because he knows Saak is right. Not about—well, not about abstaining from sex, as Obi-Wan gets a rather sizable amount of sex at any given time. But about the distance. The lack of pleasure. Even the sex doesn’t light him up the way it did when he was seventeen, fresh from leaving the Agricorps and setting out across the stars. A consequence of age probably.

“Hey,” Saak’s tone changes, turning from cajoling employee into something much more concerned. “That table in the back, look—I don’t think that guy is doing alright.”

Obi-Wan snaps out of his thoughts instantly and looks at where Saak’s gesturing.

He knows before he even sees them that it’s that Force forsaken table in the back.

And Saak’s right, shit.

The boy Obi-Wan had been staring at looks—looks rough suddenly. His head is reclining back onto the body of the man beside him, eyes half-lidded. He’s flushed a flattering red, lips parted and stained an even darker color.

He could just be feeling the effects of the alcohol he’s been consuming for the past hour now, but it’s the way his companions look at him that has Obi-Wan rounding the bar and crossing the cantina. They look hungry. Eager. Anticipatory.

In the Force, the boy’s muted presence has become fuzzy. Muted.

Of course the moment Obi-Wan turns his gaze away from the group, they drug the boy. It suddenly seems so inevitable that it’s almost funny. Of course this was going to happen. 

“What did you give him,” he demands as he reaches the table. The anger licking at his chest is new. Useful. Righteous. 

One of the smugglers, the one next to the boy, tosses him a sleazy grin, wrapping his arm around the boy’s shoulder. “No need to kick us out, mister,” he says. “We were just leaving.”

“Yes, you were,” Obi-Wan nods sharply. “Without him.”

The smuggler’s grin slides off his face. “He came with us.”

“You drugged him!” 

The boy in question looks up at Obi-Wan as much as he can with his eyes half-way to shut. “Oh,” he says. “That’s what it is.”

His voice is slow and deep. A byproduct of the drug?

He blinks at him in syrupy slowness, and his eyes are tawny. Why had Obi-Wan thought they were blue from across the cantina? They shine golden now.

Something about his eyes, his face, the way he’s looking at Obi-Wan makes his thin sense of control snap. “You will leave now,” he commands, Force reverberating through the words, so strong that the smugglers stand to attention immediately, repeating the order mindlessly. 

Even the boy struggles to obey, pushing up on his feet in drunken surety. 

“Not you,” Obi-Wan snaps. The boy sits back down like his strings have been cut, a sigh of relief at the release.

It’s entirely too orgasmic to be appropriate. 

And the way the boy looks up at him is entirely too trusting for someone who’s just been drugged by his companions. 

“I hope you have another form of transportation off here,” Obi-Wan says with a sigh. “I imagine you will not want to travel with them tomorrow.” “I’ll kill ‘em,” the boy mumbles, letting his head fall back.

“Sure, kid,” Obi-Wan tells him. He looks like he couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone kill a man, but he’s also not entirely sure the boy would appreciate him pointing that out. He looks like a kid who’s decided to try and play outlaw.

This is what happens to kids who try to play outlaw, he thinks dispassionately.

“Not a kid,” the kid says.

“Sure, kid.” He’ll need water. Obi-Wan grabs at his chin and forces his eyes up. His pupils are so dilated it’s hard to even see what color his irises are. Paired with the flushed cheeks, the poor coordination, and the slurred but cohesive speech, Obi-Wan’s pretty sure he knows what sort of spice they used on the poor kid. 

And the comedown is legendary for how rough it is.

Obi-Wan barely resists the urge to sigh. It’s even harder to resist the urge to scream.

He hates the men who laced the boy’s drink. He hates Challa for letting the group of men into his cantina, thereby making this his problem. He hates Vynny for crashing his speeder and forcing Obi-Wan to cover his shift while he recuperates from the loss of both legs.

And he hates the fucking ghost of the Jedi Order for instilling in him the importance of doing the right thing.

“You’re coming home with me,” he says, unable to stop himself from sighing.

The boy blinks at him. “If you touch me, I’ll kill you too,” he warns, but his eyes are still much too trusting. “Slowly.” “Noted,” Obi-Wan snaps, reaching down to fish the boy out of the booth. “And when you’re sober again, you’re going to be paying for the entire tab you and your lot racked up.”

The boy pouts, even as he allows Obi-Wan to drag him to his feet. “What if I let you touch me instead?” “I don’t want to touch you,” Obi-Wan says. “I want the credits.” The boy giggles and presses his face against his neck. Obi-Wan waves to Saak behind the bar, gesturing to the boy and then to the doors, trying to convey I’m going home to take care of this absolute youngling because I am a better person than you and you need to take care of my cantina and lock up behind you and no, this does not count as taking a customer home with me.

Saak gives him two thumbs up, so Obi-Wan is hoping that means the message has been received. It had better be received.

“What’s your name, kid?” he asks as he navigates out of the cantina. Thank the Force, his own cruiser is close. The boy is heavier and bigger than he’d looked amongst the rest of his group. Firmer and more weighted with muscle. And Obi-Wan is no waif, but he doesn’t care to lug around a man who is actually, well. Taller than him.

“Vader,” the boy mumbles, nuzzling into Obi-Wan’s touch. “Why do you feel so good?”

“It’s the spice they gave you,” Obi-Wan mutters. “Makes touch feel good, makes you…want.”

“Oh,” Vader says, rubbing his face against Obi-Wan’s neck like a cat. “I don’t want it.” “Me neither, kid,” he assures him, propping him up against the side of his ship so he can unlock it and key in the code to have the ramp descend.

“Good,” Vader says. “Keep touching me.”

Obi-Wan bites his lip so he doesn’t tell the kid that he doesn’t take commands, not even from imperious little boys who sound as if they’re very used to being obeyed.

It adds more evidence to his theory that Vader is some spoiled rich kid looking to rebel.

“What were you even doing with them?” He mutters as he drops Vader into the seldom-used co-pilot seat of his ship. “Not the sort you’d want to hang around with, are they?” “Bellion,” Vader replies loosely, waving a weak hand. “As’ —assign—assignm’nt.”

It takes through takeoff for Obi-Wan to realize what he’s said. “The Rebellion? You were on an assignment for the rebellion?” Vader makes a noise and turns his head to look at him, eyes almost shut. “Bellion,” he agrees, before promptly passing out.

“Huh,” Obi-Wan says.

Of course he knew that there was a rebellion against the empire, that they were building in both power and numbers as the years grew. He’d even flirted with the notion of joining it himself, but he’d always stepped back. The rebellion was too close to the Jedi. And the Jedi had made it clear that they did not want him.

Why would the rebellion be any different?

When he’s entered hyperspace, he looks over at the boy who has turned his head away from him, exposing the long lines of his neck.

He really is quite beautiful, for better or for worse.

The boy shifts, restless. He pushes himself further into the seat, leaning back and spreading his legs. Obi-Wan would wonder what he’s dreaming about, but before he can, the boy’s cloak shifts.

And there, on his hip. The handle of a lightsaber.

Obi-Wan is moving before he can help it, stepping over to Vader’s side of the ship quietly, eyes glued to the ‘saber.

It’s been so long since he’s seen one. He never got to hold his own. Never made one himself.

But here is one now, on Vader’s hip. Vader is a Jedi. A Jedi! 

It is part greed, part agony, and part disbelief that makes Obi-Wan reach his hand out and carefully detach the blade from Vader’s belt.

The boy does not even notice, except to push his hip up further at the ghost of Obi-Wan’s touch.

It’s a heavy weight in Obi-Wan’s hand, and he takes a moment to just—look at it. It’s darker than he would have crafted his own, sturdier and longer too, as if Vader wields it with two hands. He probably does—Obi-Wan still remembers his forms, remembers each stance down to the footwork. Vader has the body to be a formidable Djem’So user. Or Atari. Obi-Wan had favored the latter when he was an Initiate. 

Vader is a Jedi. Perhaps—perhaps in the morning, after the spice is out of his system, he can tell Obi-Wan about the Temple in its final days. Surely he was not there, Obi-Wan doesn’t know how anyone could have survived the massacre, but he must know. He does not truly look so young that he would have been an Initiate. He must have been a Knight.

Perhaps Obi-Wan will tell him about being raised there. He can share in his pain, if only a little bit. After all, Obi-Wan spent thirteen years of his life at the Temple. The Jedi will always hold a part of his heart. He has never before wanted to admit that, but now—Vader is a Jedi. He would understand. 

Obi-Wan’s mouth is dry as he drops his gaze back to the saber.

He wants suddenly, terribly, to flick it on. To hear the buzz of the ions of the blade. To see the color of Vader’s kyber crystal. He wants to take pleasure from the sight of it, the enduring symbol of it, of the Order.

He knows he should not. He knows he has no right to it. If he were meant to hold a lightsaber, his life would have worked out in thirteen thousand different ways. 

But—Vader is asleep.

And no one would have to know.

If just for a second, Obi-Wan allowed himself to give into his want.

He flicks it on and then almost drops it from the sheer surprise he feels as it powers to life in his hands.  Because the blade is not green. It isn’t blue. It isn’t even purple, like he remembers Master Windu’s being.

It is a sickly looking red.

It is not a blade of a Jedi.

Obi-Wan flicks it off and tucks it back onto Vader's belt. Then he sits down in the pilot's chair once more, head spinning and heart racing.

And he directs the ship to drop out of hyperspace to his homeplanet anyway because---well. What else can he do? He'd promised to take the boy home and see him off the spice.

The fact that the boy is---is a Sith does not change anything. It cannot.

[buddiebeginz]

The bt fandom is absolutely having a melt down of scary proportions

They had and posted a 4 hour Oliver stark Lashing video meeting just absolutely saying the most disgusting and horrible things about him because of last night and for not liking Lou

They are going through all of the pages Ryan follows on Instagram and looking for any post they can say is problematic and saying Ryan personally thinks and believes it and is responsible for them just because he follows the page.

They have been dragging Kenny’s name over some Paris convention that removed Lou’s name from a poll after learning about the issues he’s caused. And dragging Ryan into it even though the entire convention had nothing to do with 911. It was about swat.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Aisha is their next target at this rate.

I wish I could say I'm surprised by any of this but I'm not. I honestly think it's going to get worse with some of them once they realize B/T isn't going to be the big endgame ship they thought it was and even more so when they realize Buddie is happening.

I really think our fandom needs to try our best to distance ourselves from them. I'm talking about the more fanatical abusive people in their fandom. We really need to stop engaging with them. It just makes our fandom look bad and they're not worth the effort. They want to be pissed off because they saw Buck kiss a guy twice and think that meant they were soulmates let them but don't fall for the bait when they say something offensive online. I've been really guilty of that myself even making posts with their content trying to show how bad they've been but it's only been giving them attention so I'm trying to refocus on what matters.

I genuinely feel like this is going to be the season Buddie goes canon. I mean I don't know for certain 100% (I don't work for the show) but everything seems to be lining up that way. It's a really exciting time for our fandom and our ship and the show and we all should be focused on that and not some ship that won't even matter all that much soon.

---

Oh also about Ryan.

Putting this under the cut cause it got long.

The B*mmy's can say whatever the want about him but what happened was his ex fiance used the n word in some old tweets. When they were brought up and she was called out (after Ryan was on 911) he tried to defend her. But later issued multiple apologies :

At the time Oliver and Aisha were clearly upset about this because both of them put out tweets and there's other stuff that was going on behind the scenes to indicate Ryan had a falling out with them. But he's clearly worked to repair the damage because since then he's been a guest at Aisha's wedding and has spent a lot of time with the cast outside of work.

As for him being anti-vaxx or Republican, as those are other things the B*mmy's try to claim about him, I'm not even sure where they get some of that from. I think one of it was because he shared something about Covid from Joe Rogan (during Covid) but a lot of people were scared and confused during that time and there was tons of misinformation going around. The idea that celebrities are immune to that just because they're rich and famous is just ignorant. Also show me where he's shared other vaccine and or health related misinformation because sharing one thing during a really confusing time doesn't make him an antivaxxer.

Also during Covid no one could film on the show without getting vaccinated (this is why Rockmond Dunbar was fired he refused). And since Ryan was a big part of s3 and s4 he clearly was vaccinated. If Ryan was as staunchly antivaxx as B*mmy's make him out to be he would have left the show before getting vaccinated. He's a more well known actor than Rockmond he could have found work elsewhere.

They try to use accounts he's following on insta as proof he's far right but I haven't seen any that are blatantly far right. We also don't know when he started following these accounts or who followed them. His ex could have used his account to follow people when they were still together. I'm also following a ton of accounts on my insta that I don't even remember or interact with anymore this could be the case for Ryan since to my knowledge they haven't found likes by him just that he's following.

One of the accounts in particular they're using as a gotcha for Ryan is this one:

Ryan is following them but I haven't seen any posts of theirs he's liked. It looks like an account about home schooling and living off the land but they do have at least one transphobic post I've seen (about pronouns). Here's the thing though immediately when you look at the front page of their account they aren't marketing themselves as anti lgbtq. Ryan is not responsible for what they're posting. And given all of their other content he likely started following them for one reason and didn't know about their more transphobic views. It's also unrealistic to assume that a busy actor is on social media 24/7 monitoring every single thing that the accounts they follow are posting. If that was an obvious alt-right anti trans account I could understand but it's just not the gotcha B*mmy's are trying to make it out to be.

I'm not excusing that account or their transphobia btw. And I don't think anyone should be following them just that there is nuance to a conversation like this. B/T stans try to say Ryan following this account is the same as Lou having posted an obvious racist post about Nicki Minaj's skin color is the same thing. It's not.

It's pretty hypocritical of them to say we should excuse Lou's old insta posts but yet we're going to hate on Ryan for accounts he's following but isn't even interacting with.

And again I don't know where B/T stans are getting that Ryan is a Republican. He's repeatedly posted anti Trump stuff:

This is from 2016 ☝️and it's because Trump has repeatedly talked about deporting Mexican people.

And like everyone has the right to see feel however they want about what Ryan said in the past (especially bipoc people). But knowing that Ryan is no longer with his ex who I think wasn't the best influence in his life. Seeing him take accountability for what he said and did. Seeing the cast forgive him. That's all enough for me to continue to be a fan of his.

B*mmy stans don't have to like him but they don't get to keep attacking him for stuff he's done in the past. Lou on the other hand has never apologized for his insta stuff even when called out about them. You'll also never get me to believe he was hacked when he responded with that spitting on blind children thing on twitter. Plus him minimizing T*mmy's racism and homophobia down to teasing.

If Ryan was still doing messed up stuff I'd call him out too and expect others to do the same. The problem with B/T stans is no matter what Lou does they'll defend him. It's part of why they attack Ryan. They want to get the attention off of Lou. But they can't sit there and say how dare you defend a racist and then defend every single thing Lou did even just this year.

Sorry this got so long anon. I've just been seeing people (one account in particular) attacking Ryan on twitter recently and I'm so over it. If you made it down this far I love you forever. ❤️

[absolutebl]

Hi, I recently discovered BL and have been very interested in reading about it. And even if I don't agree with every one of your takes, you seem very knowledgeable, so I've been reading your blog on and off since yesterday.

Anyway, I was curious about your opinion on The Shipper, but I looked at the tags, and it seems like you didn't watch it. May I ask why? I get it's not quite BL, instead being BL adjacent, but I think it's one of GMMTV's best productions, so I'm really curious about what made you avoid it.

The Shipper

I did end up watching some of it (which in me terms means I skipped through it to the BL bits and then watched the last few eps to find out how they landed the damn ship).

Ultimately, I simply don't consider The Shipper BL. I try to stay on target with this blog. So while I may watch other QL, GL, Kdramas, survivor shows, Kpop thingies, and so forth, 90% of the time I stick to BL here.

Other more personal reasons?

I also hugely dislike shipping culture. Too close to stalker and parasocial relationships. It's not something I was ever into, even as a teen. Taking on reality with fanfic wigs me tf out. I have close friends who have had stalker issues both as "normal" people and as the quasi-famous.

It's one of the reasons I rarely report on actor news or relationships or drama here. Unless it directly impacts production, it's none of my damn business. If I did so, this could probubly become a much bigger blog, but also a much more toxic one. I do this for fun, not profit.

The branding of pairs interests me intellectually, from a marketing and publicity perspective, but nothing beyond that.

You may note, if you delve further into this blog, that I lurch hard away from JBL in particular when it dabbles in idolatry, sasang, and stalker behaviors (unless it's playing in the dirt with them, like My Beautiful Man did). Even if done gently and comedically, I tend to get switched off from the whole show. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a trigger, but I am viscerally upset by it, not entertained.

IMHO BL is for entertainment first. The only thing worse than being upset by a show is being bored with it.

The way Thai BL represents female shippers in particular, especially in the context of a BL (which tend to have very few positively represented women on the main), often smacks of misogyny and punching down humor. I simply don't enjoy that. Feminist critical theory from my uni days always bubbles up in my head and won't be put aside.

And finally... I pretty much loathe the body swap trope. It is probably one of my least favorite fiction tropes. I have no idea why, I just really don't like it.

I make an exception for Great Men Academy but even that I have only watch once with no plans for a rewatch, and it's another one that I would hesitate to call BL.

Still, if you love The Shipper I would HIGHLY recommend tracking down Great Men Academy, I think you would find it well worth your time.

[moongothic]

You remember how in Ms Goldenweek's cover story, we get to see how the former Baroque Works agents have all beated up the other cellmates they had (not just in the mens' cells but also womens')

The way Daz is sitting on top of one of the prisoners, as if he was sitting on a throne or something, it definitely makes it look like he at least participated in the fight that took place, right

It just makes me wonder, did Crocodile himself participate in the cell fight, or did Daz handle it all on his own?

Like even with the Seastone cuffs Crocodile's hook alone should give him the most unfair advantage in a prison fight imaginable, so you'd think he'd be more than capable of defending himself if he felt like it. But also, considdering he didn't feel like even escaping prison... was he even in the mood for a fight? Like I don't think Crocodile would just allow some random, weak-ass pirates to beat his ass without a fight, but also... I can't help but to wonder... (Look you tell me what kind of a mental state Crocodile was in after his 4 year long plan to take over a country was foiled by a kid in flip flops)

Is it possible Daz took out all those other prisoners by himself (without Crocodile nor Mr 4 assisting him), either to make sure his boss didn't have to waste his strenght on them, or... did he maybe deal with the other prisoners to... protect Crocodile? Like the former would be straight forward manly man anime loyalty, nothing worth making a deepdive for, this is One Piece we get the trope. But isn't the latter option also plausible? 'Cause. Like. Daz was loyal enough to Crocodile to willingly go to Impel Fucking Down with his former boss whom he had only known for like a day or two at this point (I mean IDK how long it took for the BW members to get shipped to this Marine Base from Alabasta but you know what I mean). If some random criminals wanted to pick a fight with Crocodile in prison and he just seemed like he didn't feel like dealing with it, if Daz's was down to go to Impel Down with Croc, then would he not be willing to defend the man too??

Regardless, it just raises the question of... why? Why did Daz choose stay with Crocodile, despite Baroque Works failing so hard? Why did he choose to become loyal to such a cruel, horrible man?

Sad thing is, because we don't really know much about Daz, there isn't actually that much to go off-of to properly speculate here. But we do know Daz once dreamt of becoming a superhero! The irony of course being that not only he became a terrifying murder man, but also that he seems to lack that "superhero quality" of being... easily approachable, friendly, warm? Like he is a man of steel, but he's not The Man of Steel, you get me? But Daz's dream does tell us something interesting though; that deep inside, even if he doesn't show it at all, he might like the idea of being a hero? Like the concept of being a hero and saving people may have appealed to him, right? Because that's what being a hero is about, the heroic ideals of upholding peace and justice (and looking cool while doing it)

And arguably that idea still appeals to Daz. Even if he's frowning, deep inside he was enjoying the superhero costume Ms Goldenweek created, even if he can't admit it.

But in One Piece, the idea of being a "hero of justice" has quite different connotations than in our world. After all, the Marines are meant to embody that very idea, just in a far less cool, romantic way. We know the World Government is extremely corrupt, we know of the atrocities the Marines have and are willing to commit in the name of their so-called "justice".

So while it's entirely plausible Daz might've fallen "out of love" with his dream simply because his life just... lead him down a different path, and he didn't seem to have the right personality for it anyways... Knowing the WG, isn't it also possible Daz could have become kind of... jaded, knowing the "real life heroes" of his world aren't that cool, and don't actually stand for the ideals he may have looked up to?

And then he finds himself working for a man who seemingly wants to overthrow that very same corrupt Government?

[sevensoulmates]

https://www.tumblr.com/sevensoulmates/747688986447953923/do-you-think-if-the-fan-response-is-positive

Not the anon who sent this but my only real concern for this is Tim mentioning in one of his interviews people needing to understand he can’t and doesn’t make decisions as if he’s in a vacuum. He has to make them with outside forces based on ratings views, the network. And if they had to pull hard to get what we’ve gotten so far with the network, and they see the omg we love Buck Tommy. Long live Buck Tommy responses, they might decide is it really worth it fighting the network for the rest of buddie when the fans seem ok to just get that instead.

I'm gonna be honest, I think they got the green light for buddie as soon as they made the deal to switch to ABC. Most everyone knows about buddie, like it or not, and I find it unlikely that buddie was not at least a minimal part of discussions when they switched to ABC.

Especially if it's true that this plot was originally considered for Eddie. If they've been having discussions about making both Buck and Eddie queer, then I think these discussions have been had long before the season started airing, long before ANYONE knew about Tommy coming back let alone being a love interest.

I'm so sorry but ABC would have to all be living under a rock if they don't know that MM pairings are popular and profitable. Yeah, they'd lose the homophobic audience, but they already gained so much more just by having Buck be bi. I find it hard to believe that they haven't already discussed buddie and decided that going there would gain them SO MUCH more clout and money. Imagine being the first TV show to not just make 1 Masc Male MC be canonically bi, but to make 2 come out. And not only that, but one of the first for a show of this length and background to make the pairing canon. If they thought the press and accolade and wave from bi Buck was a lot, it would be even bigger after that. At the end of the day, ABC wants money, and buddie is profitable. It is more profitable than Bucktommy. There's no way they aren't aware of this.

So, no. As much as we like Tommy, I don't think he stands a chance of being endgame (unless something unpredictable were to happen like say Oli or Ryan leave the show which I DO NOT I REPEAT I DO NOT BELIEVE WOULD HAPPEN). As much as it seems like to us a lot of people are "jumping ship", most of us actually just like them as a stepping stone to buddie. Or we're multi-shippers.

When Tim was talking about having to work around the network and actors, that seemed more to me about past seasons, and why buck/eddie being queer hasn't happened until now, and about the fact that so much of the story had to be switched around in this current season due to outside forces such as actors being unavailable, the network wanting the bachelor call earlier, etc.

But the concept of buddie and the approval for them going there I think has been a done deal for a while.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

At this point, I feel like Lukanette and Adrigami would have worked better as the endgame ships.

Luka's calm presence balances Marinette's anxiety. They're always working towards a common creative goal.

Adrien encourages Kagami to rebel and have fun like he did while Kagami encourages Adrien to be more assertive.

I think you'd probably hate Lukanette and Adrigami if they got as much focus as the love square. The little we saw of them really didn't paint them as meaningfully healthier.

Lukanette painted Luka as an overly indulgent and overly passive pushover who was written more like a mentor than a boyfriend. I was straight up uncomfortable with how fine he was with being a clear rebound. The scene where the kwamis sent him pictures of the Adrien posters in Marinette's room right before their date made me want to grab him by the shoulders and shout, "She is not ready to date you yet! Don't settle like this!"

He could clearly communicate the issues he eventually had with the obvious lying, so he's not a total pushover, but I think Marinette needs someone a little less chill and indulgent and Luka needs someone a little more self aware who is willing to push him a bit.

That's actually why I like Lukagami if I must pick a canon pairing for him. I could totally see Kagami blowing up at him for being so passive whereas Marinette would likely remain oblivious to the passivity. Something like that scene from Risk where Kagami blew up on Adrien:

Kagami: (angrily) Adrien, I saw you on TV this morning, and I know that you don't want to leave. Once again, you let your father decide for you! (harshly) How long are you going to remain his puppet, Adrien? Adrien: (shocked) But... my cousin is gonna talk to him, and- Kagami: (annoyed) This just keeps getting better. You're letting your COUSIN do things for you now? Who's pulling the strings of your life? Your cousin? Your father? Me, when we were together? It's never YOU! You're only good at doing what people tell you to do! Dare to cut your strings, Adrien! (stops and contemplates for a moment, then genuinely apologizes for her harsh manner) ...Forgive me if I hurt you. (hangs up sadly)

This sort of tough love seems like the kind of thing Luka would take to heart, but not be hurt by because he's so chill. On the other hand, I think it's a terrible match for Adrien as he's a pretty sensitive guy with a lot of self worth issues, which is why I don't like Adrigami. Their brief relationship was mostly Kagami steamrolling him and I don't see that changing any time soon. For all of Marinette's flaws, at the very least she never pushed Adrien to be something he wasn't and she does tend to be very gentle with people when she knows they're hurting, which is the kind of support Adrien probably needs. The tough love approach is a really terrible approach for most people. I mean, do you really think stuff like the above exchange would be positive for Adrien's mental health in the long run? At least Luka would communicate if Kagami's approach was hurting him. Adrien would just take it and say nothing like he always does.

Of course, this is all based on what the show did and I don't think a single relationship in the show comes across all that well. The best by far is Ivan and Mylène and even there we still got an episode where it's revealed that Ivan's planning to do nothing but be a house husband when discussing what to study in lycée which was certainly a choice the writers made for a 14-year-old boy and his 14-year-old girlfriend... I don't mind that they've talked about the idea, it is possible to end up happily married to someone you got together with at a young age, but maybe don't imply that your characters are planning to start popping out babies as soon as they turn 18 or even sooner? Because that's how that line comes across in the context when it's given.

In summary, I wouldn't call Lukanette or Adrigami a NOTP, I think there's probably versions of the ships I'd genuinely like (especially Lukanette*), I just don't see them as superior to the love square and I'm mainly in this fandom for the identity shenanigans. You don't get more identity shenanigans than the love square unless you completely rewrite the show's base concept, so I don't have any interest in looking at alternative pairings for Adrien or Martinette. Every pairing the show gave us needs work and, for all its flaws, I do think the love square works fine if you actually let them have character arcs. Their main issue is communication and that's about it. It's a similar issue to why Marinette tends to come across so poorly. She's the main character, so the bad writing effects her more than any other character. The love square is the main ship, so we get the most bad writing about it.

*I actually tried to read Lukanette stuff when I first came to the fandom because I liked his character, but everything I tried was using Lukanette to salt on Adrien and hard pass.

[makosworld]

Double Team!

diluc x f!reader x kaeya

A/N: dedicated to my love for them. not shipping kaeya x diluc in this btw. hope you enjoy ;)

Notes/warnings: non descriptive smut, separate smut with each

You are but a measly worker at Dawn Winery.

“Hey, you bitch, get over here and take this barrel upstairs,” some random higher up worker calls to you. Obliging you carry the barrel upstairs, however, it’s slightly blocking your vision and you take a wrong turn.

…

Placing down the barrel, you find yourself in an unfamiliar hallway. Looking around you decide to go back the direction you came from. Bending down to pick up the barrel you hear footsteps coming up behind you. You turn to see a man with beautiful blue hair cascading down his shoulder, as he speaks. “I wasn’t aware there was going to be a guest up here, Diluc?” Turning you spot another man. This one, Diluc, has fiery red hair falling elegantly down his back. He stares at you a moment too long before looking back to Kaeya who has a sly glint in his eye.

“Funnily enough, Kaeya, I wasn’t aware either. Who are you, miss?” He asks, looking you up and down.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, sir. I think I took a wrong turn, because I couldn’t see around this huge barrel and then-” Coming closer, Kaeya puts a thumb over your lips. Your rambling comes to a stop in a second and you’re left looking at him incredulously. He's staring at you. “W-what..”

“Can we keep her? She’s far cuter than you Diluc.”

“WHAT!”

“Kaeya, please sto-“

“Relax, both of you. I was merely joking.”

“I’m sorry, for my.. brother. Please, come have a drink, with me.” He offers placing a hand on your lower back, in attempts to guide you along with him. The offer to be alone with your boss, in his office...

“Sir… really it was no big deal, and plus I can’t just leave the wine barrel in the hallw-” You get cut off again.

“That’s why Kaeya will be doing that for us, right dear brother?” Diluc looks at him with a cocky grin, tempting him to refuse.

…

You. Diluc. Alone. In his office. Placing his grape juice glass down he asks, “So, clearly you work for my winery; are you new to the company? Apologies for not knowing. I used to hire people myself, but the company has really grown and I can’t seem to find time for it.” He says looking at you remorse in his expression.

You place down your glass, as well, and lean over denying his worries, “Oh, of course it’s nothing to apologize over, I’m sure your very busy. I doubt you would remember me, anyways, I’m but a measly low ranking worker.” Surprised at your insistence and the position you’ve placed yourself in, your upper body leaning against his wooden desk he stops for a second and stares at you. Eyes roaming your frame.

“I think you’re worth far more than you give yourself credit for.. oh, it seems I didn’t catch your name..?” Giving him your name he hums, and repeats it; the sounds rolling of his tongue smoothly. It sounded so beautiful from his mouth, his lips and tongue… You move to pick up your glass, but your hands are moist with sweat (is it getting hotter in here?) and the glass slips from your grip. You startle and the glass falls onto your lap and the liquid onto your shirt, making it sheer. Diluc raises, and pushes your chair back to sit in between your legs on the ground. His hands grabbing onto your thighs.

“Are you alright?” Face filled with worry he finds the glass hasn’t broken and you’re not hurt. Relaxing he picks it off your lap and places it onto the table.

“I’m fine Diluc, don’t wor-“ And you, never being able to catch a break, are cut off once again.

“No, no, come with me,” taking your hand he leads you to his private bedroom. It’s clean, doesn’t seem like he uses it much other than for sleeping. He leads you to his bed, prompting you to sit. “Remove your shirt, please.”

“W..what..”

“Ahm- you���ll need a change, because your shirt is ruined, I mean.” He rummages through a drawer before pulling out a shirt. “This should do, right?” Thanking him, you unbutton your shirt while he looks away. Then, the door slams open and in walks Kaeya.

“Finally, found you, guys. What have you two been…” His face lights up with surprise seeing your shirt halfway down your arms. Surprised you try and put it back on.

“Wow, did Diluc actually seduce someone?” Kaeya teases moving his way closer to you. “I really didn’t appreciate having to leave you and my brother alone-“

“You say that as though you are someone to be trusted alone with,” Diluc cuts Kaeya’s accusations off with his own.

“Well, if I was alone with her I would’ve made a move much faster than you, after all I’m not such a coward. In fact, watch this…”

…

You’re on Kaeya lap. Your shirt is laying somewhere on the floor. Kaeya’s fingers tease along your sides leaving a burning feeling where they touched your skin. After fighting off his outer accessories and clothes he’s left with only his pants. His hands travel along your skin and with a suspicious amount of precision he clicks and slides off your bra in one fluid motion. He continues roaming his hands across your torso, when he lifts your face to meet his. He kisses you slowly and as you begin to melt into the kiss he rubs a finger over your chest. When you let out a gasp, he slides his tongue into your mouth. His tongue explores your mouth and you can feel him smirking against your lips. Parting for air his mouth moves down to your neck leaving wet kisses and bruises in it’s wake, and his mouth lowers to your chest. His movements force a whimper out of your mouth. You begin to fumble with his belt before removing it completely.

…

He's got you laid against the bed. Hovering over you, “You sure this is okay, love?” At your conformation, he moves his fingers to your mouth, signaling for you to open it. His fingers are warm, and as you run your tongue along them and suck, he lets out a groan. His fingers, wet with your spit, move down…

…

Kaeya moves his hips at a fast pace, his head in your neck, muffling his moans of your name. You grip the sheets as his name tumbles out of your lips. The burning feeling comes closer with every one of his thrusts until.. “..k-kaeya.. I’m..”

…

Diluc shifts in his seat after watching the scene in front of him unfold. He’s already striped himself to his underwear and is noticeably erect. Kaeya kisses your hand and bides you a good time, leaving you with Diluc.

Climbing off the bed still wobbly you almost trip, but he shoots up to steady you. You push him back into his rooms desk chair, and climb onto his lap. You lean into him and begin kissing him a little sloppily. Grinding down onto him he lets out a whimper. Giving you access to his mouth, you slip in your tongue and feel around his mouth. He suddenly sucks on your tongue making you groan into the kiss. Detaching from his mouth you help him remove his underwear and get in between his legs, on the ground. Grabbing him in your hand your mouth lowers.

…

He's close. Diluc grips onto your hair like his life depends on it. Whimpers of your name fall from his lips like a prayer, as you move your mouth up and down his length. He comes undone into your mouth, and you swallow as best you can. Some dribbles out from the corner of your lips, and his finger moves to wipe it away.

…

You’ve gotten yourselves properly cleaned up with a bath and a fresh pair of Diluc’s sleeping clothes, and now you lay between both him and Kaeya on his bed. They hold you from each side as you alternate between who’s chest to squeeze your face into. You quickly drift off to sleep, comfortable and happy.

[apatheticlexicographer]

i'm about to get mauled ALIVE for saying this but here goes:

i think m'leven's relationship should be based on a mutually requited crush. both the implications it would have on their personal development as characters and the message it would send to the audience would be substantially more impactful, healthy, and progressive than if they only dated out of obligation. in fact, the thematic message of their relationship SIMPLY DOESN'T MAKE SENSE without a foundation of genuine romantic attraction.

still with me??? okay, good.

when shows deal with romance they tend to fall into the categories of either having pretty much every character shipped with every other character at some point, or of having the endgame ships be the most obviously pushed from the start. byler has definitely been built up from the start, but the majority of the show's audience didn't consider it as an option for canon until s4, when they started making it blatant. hell, a lot of people didn't even realize WILL was queer until s3 (again, when the show started to place heavy emphasis on it), and even then a lot of people thought he might be ace rather than gay.

mike and el, on the other hand, were practically the show's flagship couple for the first 2 seasons at least. it wasn't until s3 that their popularity started to dip and their relationship began to receive a lot more criticism. which makes sense, considering they hadn't actually been IN said relationship in the previous seasons. they had a couple of romantic interactions, sure, but we didn't see how they would interact *as a couple*. people obviously couldn't predict how their dynamic would actually pan out!!! that isn't to say that the negative aspects of their relationship were a bait-and switch, though: red flags were visible since at least s2, but they were far from being the focal point and a lot of shippers interpreted them as being cute (like el's jealousy over max).

having a show acknowledge the fact that the first person you get a crush on (because correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty sure they're canonically each other's first crush???) isn't necessarily your ~soulmate~ is a great thing. even better when they go a step further, and play with the concept!!! the text of stranger things doesn't actually push m'leven as a paragon of romantic love. if you listen to what the other characters say about their (romantic) relationship, their opinions are entirely neutral/negative???

lucas teases mike about his crush in s1, but calls him hopeless in s3. hopper is out of line with how agressively he acts about their relationship, but the resolution of that character arc for him is about him acknowledging that he's been overbearing and accepting that he needs to let el grow up, and NOT some hammy realization that "what they have is true love, i was wrong to interfere!!!" max thinks their clinginess is sweet at first in s3, but she isn't very close with either of them. once she and el start to bond AND SHE LEARNS THAT EL HAS NO EXPERIENCE WITH ROMANTIC ATTRACTION OUTSIDE OF MIKE she encourages el to assert her own self-worth and dump him. [which... actually mirrors the progression of opinions in a lot of audience members??? 🤔🤔]

and those are just a few examples!!! i won't go on an exhaustive list, because honestly we'd be here all day.

furthermore, m'leven's steady downward trajectory is not the only instance of the show basically dunking on the trite expectation that a character's first love interest is automatically their happily-ever-after, AND the recurring motif that any relationships a character explores before their endgame ship are wrong because the alternate love interest is Bad.

dustin has his first crush (onscreen, anyway) on max in s2, but ends the season happy despite his sadness over rejection and later gets together with a girl who's basically his perfect match. in s3, robin confides to steve about how she was so far gone for tammy that she would cry into her pillow. in s4 she's able to laugh over just how bad her singing is without denying it, and is tentatively flirting with vickie. joyce was genuinely really happy with bob, but after having time to heal from the tragedy of what happened to him she's ready to move on with hopper.

again, not an exhaustive list. why??? because outside of m'leven, the only relationships where the characters ARE each other's first love interest are: lumax, whose entire arc together is about growing up as a couple (you know, the exact arc m'leven shippers pin on mike and el, as if it would make sense for 2 couples to have the same format and message...); stancy, which is only one prong of Love Triangle Hell and the controversy around it speaks for itself; and TED AND KAREN. WHO ARE POINTED OUT EXPLICITLY BY THE TEXT OF THE SHOW IN S1 NO LESS, TO BE AN EXAMPLE OF A WORST TIMELINE FUTURE THAT CHARACTERS DO NOT WANT TO REPEAT.

but if you're reading this, you already know all of that.

the point i'm trying to make is that stranger things shows a consistent palette of themes across all the relationships it portrays. i've obviously been going over the romantic ones, but this applies at least as much to the plationic bonds as well. those themes are of GROWING AND MATURING, of SHIFTING DYNAMICS, and of BECOMING SECURE IN YOUR PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE.

i'm sorry but to present a pair of characters with apparent mutual feelings; to elaborate on how dysfunctional their relationship is; and to ultimately reveal to the audience that actually they were both just confused, they never had feelings for one another in the first place and that's why their relationship didn't work out; sends an extremely mediocre message, to put it nicely. all the characters learn from that lived experience is "don't date people you don't have feelings for, and if you were unsure about how real those feelings were... get good???" meanwhile, all the audience learns from that VIEWED experience is "if the relationship doesn't work, it's because the people involved don't like each other enough." if byler goes on to be canon and is immediately much healthier, that only enforces that shitty message. in that situation the only reason THEIR relationship works while mike and el's didn't is that they actually have feelings for one another!!!

from a show which has explored complex arcs and messages with *LITERALLY EVERY OTHER RELATIONSHIP* they touch on, this would be beyond disappointing. particularly as the central message for the arc of 2 of the mainest main characters in the whole show!!!

on the other hand, to present a pair of young characters at the start of the show and flag them as having an obvious mutual crush; to allow them to explore that crush as a serious prospect; to have them realize that their relationship is dysfunctional; and to have them move on as friends; sends???

a great???

fucking???

message???

they both get to progress and move on as more enriched people than they would have been without their time in a relationship, and that is fucking wonderful.

el has a deeper understanding of romantic interactions based on actual lived experience and not just TV shows. she's able to develop into her fledgeling sense of identity more securely with the knowledge that relationships can change, and that's okay. not everything has to be forever.

mike understands how to process and manage his own feelings much better, and is equipped with a firsthand understanding of how a relationship can become emotionally dysfunctional without proper communication, making him ready to enter a new, healthier relationship. he has displayed the same overprotective behaviours towards will as he has to el, but he's begun to learn how to manage them so that he doesn't stifle his partner. after previously failing to communicate his feelings to both el and will in s3 when he fought with them, he's been making a deliberate point of doing so in s4. this didn't work with el when he tried to open up about his own experience with bullying, but it DID work with will when he admitted to his failings in balancing relationships.

are either of them finished in their personal arcs??? no, of course not!!! they're not even fifteen!!! but they have both grown as people, not in spite of their romantic relationship, but BECAUSE of it. you don't change as you grow up, so much as you start to understand yourself better. but self-discovery and subsequent self-acceptance CANNOT come without self-explaration.

it's okay to try things out, and it's okay if they don't end up being right for you.

meanwhile, the broader message about relationships that this imparts on the audience is an extremely important one. one which gets overlooked continually by storytellers in every industry. one which the show itself has brushed on, but not explored in depth.

one which fandom, in particular, likes to ignore.

ATTRACTION ≠ COMPATIBILITY

(...and that's okay!!!)

[blackbutlerfandomnerddomain]

SO I WANT TO SAY THIS BEFORE I FORGET!!

I noticed how each chapter of Twisted Wonderland's manga series based off each game and their chapter with each Yuu/MC/the reader and viewer is different in a way of what would help contrast the focus of the story.

Examples being Enma Yuuken is strong and obvious extremally masculine there fore "strong" in looks than Riddle who's "strong" in the sense of brains and magic as he literally bulldoze across any set back to be the top of his school to a degree of being Housewarden a mere weeks since joining as a new student vs. this one guy who has no magic and only seemingly became a student regardless of background or magic history and is able to make plenty of friends when he can't think of anyone outside of Trey and Cater and Chenya to call his friend, maybe even doubt if they even see him as his friend.

Then we have Yuuka Hirasaka who is confident, kind, loyal, and brave as shit, proving her point by risking her safety for a animal in the road. Leona, try as he might, wouldn't even give a chance to prove he can do that because everyone already doesn't expect much from him, or at least that's what he said. He's confident for a different reason, also if you remember how things run back in the Sunset Savannah you'd argue Leona feels extra bitter and more in need to try and prove worth more cause he grew up not only looked down on by his magic and potion in the royal line but also is honestly scared of the women around him. He's more confused with Yuuka especially since she doesn't show much fear to him

Next we have Mito Yuuta who I love the most so far due to what may come. Azul is confident and arrant as a show off little shield cause of his own self insecurities especially his image, specially his body and it's weight. He was relentlessly picked on by everyone besides his mother mainly due to his weight which from that level of trauma he's willing to work hard to become the smartest, the strongest, the most respected, and hottest out of spite not cause he generally feels that he wants to, to him he needed to. And it's obviously still stuck on him enough to not take pictures regardless how much money he would make and even making Yuu(soon Mito) to break into something dangerous and steal the only picture of his childhood he was unable to hide in the mind set of destroying it, regardless if he thought it would work or not. Meanwhile Mito Yuuta is a big guy who's okay and proud of his shape and eating habits and kind of like the ones before he him he actually has people who want to his friend vs. the unknown certainty that Jade and Floyd aren't technically his friends, they openly claim him as entertainment and if he got boring they'd leave him.

In other words there may be a chance other chapters would have a similar method with not just the design choice but personality design of future Yuus to contrast against the "flaws" of the chapter's "bad guys or villains"

I want Chapter 4 to be a girl, maybe make her beautiful in some way or have the personality of Jasmine from Aladdin that way the weird vibes of Chapter 4 being super hella romantic and even more ship baiting in any and all forms feel right, not to mention that scene of Jamil hypnotizing us in the kitchen DISNEY GIVE ME THAT AMAZING ART WORK OF JAMIL JUST LOOKING AT THIS GIRL AND MAKE ME AS CONFUSED IN MY SEXUALITY AND FEELINGS AS YOU DID WITH JASMINE AND ALADDIN WHEN I WAS 10 YEARS OLD!!!

I also think having Chapter 5's Yuu whatever gender (maybe male or masculine based cause there's a pattern it seems) but either make them somehow cuter than the ones before even if it's one trait or maybe give them something like a birthmark or scar of sorts that would somehow deem them "ugly" the their world but Vil would be lowkey obsessive of slowly as that was his character is, he's so obsessed proving he's beautiful and good and smart and strong to the point he obsessed over others and their flaws

Though with Chapter 6 I'm stuck on just cuz I want a sassy Meg type Yuu but also want a tall handsome muscular man who's like Hercules and everything Idia most likely would wish to be including with open mention of having great relationship with their family or maybe even them being an orphan

What are your guys' thoughts and opinions?

[schrijverr]

The Hearts of Gotham 5

Chapter 5 out of 7

Bruce makes the Justice League believe he has two hearts and is a manifestation of Gotham’s night to throw them off his secret identity, not trusting them. When the sound system breaks, he doesn’t come clean, but lies instead that he split into two to make Robin. From there it spirals as all the Robins make the lies grow and twist it in their own ways, until the truth comes out.

This fic is based on this post and inspired by Bouncing Baby Bat, or so the Justice League is led to believe... by EmpressGeek.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none

~~~~

Chapter 5: How Stephanie Used it to Fuck with Bruce

Steph wasn’t Robin for long enough to ever be introduced to the Justice League, something she takes great offense to. Tim had told her about it and she looked forward to it quite a bit, so she was disappointed when it never happened.

However, Steph has never been beneath causing problems for no reason to get what she wants. So, she is more than happy to temporarily take back her mantle so she can get to meet the Justice League anyway. Especially to prove her honor as a Robin.

Damian is already pretty far along in adjusting to his role as Robin and, while B might have banned him now, she knows that will change at some point. So she has to move before that happens if she wants to fuck with everyone.

B can’t complain though, she thinks, as a Robin she has a right to do this. Besides, it’s not like she’s going to blow their cover, in fact, she might strengthen in. B should be thanking her.

Thus, there is a pep in her step as she runs down the halls of the Watchtower for the first time, Tim in her ear telling her the route and her story planned out in her mind.

She enters a big room with a table, around which all the Justice League members are sitting. They all look up startled when she throws open the door, then turn to look at B, who is definitely sighing and fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Father,” she shrieks shrilly. She has never claimed B as anything close to a father figure, however, for the sake of fucking with him, she is more than happy to. And by the way multiple people whip their heads in his direction, it works. “Something is wrong.”

“What is it?” B asks, he doesn’t sound too concerned, likely already knowing she’s here to mess with him. Though due to his gruffness and distance, it doesn’t appear the others notice.

“I don’t know, but Gotham called me to go to you. I think the darkness is growing,” Steph exclaims dramatically.

“Wait, wait, wait, hold up. Father? Like father-father? What happened to B?” Green Lantern interrupts and over her com Tim tells her that that his name is Hal Jordan.

“Didn’t father tell you, Hal?” she asks innocently, making her eyes go wide.

“How- how do you know my name?” Hal asks, scooting away from her slightly.

“I know a lot of things father knows, silly. I came from him,” Steph laughs. “He’s father, because I physically clawed my way out of his body to shape my own. What did you think splitting into two meant?”

And now she truly knows she’s been hanging out with Tim too much, because she’s referencing conversations she’s never been a part of. However, it is worth it to see both Hal and a few other nearby heroes pale at her words.

“Stop being rude,” Wonder Woman tells them and Steph has to stop herself before she pinches her leg, because holy shit Wonder Woman is standing up for her. Wonder Woman is coming her way. She is talking to Wonder Woman! She loves women superheroes.

Wonder Woman smiles at her and extends her hand for Steph to shake: “It is nice to meet you, Robin. I am Diana.”

“Robin, nice to meet you,” Steph shakes her hand.

“If I may be so bold, you are not like the other Robins I met,” Wonder Woman says and Steph knows that she is going to lord that over the others for the rest of her life. Jason will cry when she tells him.

However, she has a bit she’s committed to (and B will probably leave her to the mercy of Alfred if she fucks this up for him), so she simply curtsies and says: “I came to be under a super moon, when Gotham’s night was bright, not just lively.”

“That is a special thing,” Wonder Woman tells her kindly. “It’s good to have a fellow sword sister in you, Robin.”

“Thank you,” Steph smiles brightly, wanting to bond with Wonder Woman more, but she is here with a purpose. So, she frowns: “Though I fear I might not be for long.” She taps a few time, hoping Tim has caught his cue as she suddenly clutches her stomach and cries out.

“Are you alright?” Wonder Woman asks in concern, catching her as she stumbles and tries to stay in character and not focus on the strong arms.

“Father,” she whimpers, holding a shaking arm out to B.

Tim luckily did catch his cue, because Superman lets out an alarmed sound and says: “Your second hearts are going crazy.”

In the time it took Superman to say that, B has jumped over the table to get to her, likely not wanting to risk her being serious. It is also clear that he’s decided to yes-and it, because he gently tells her: “Robin, I’m here,” as he cradles her in her arms, taking her from Wonder Woman (a fact Steph doesn’t mourn in the slightest, what are you talking about?).

With a weak voice, she says: “I- I think- I think Gotham is-” a cough “-sending me home. We- we’re going to turn into one again, father.”

To others there, it might look like B is worried, but Steph recognizes his annoyed face anywhere. She regularly gets him to make it after all.

She writhes in pain again and pitifully whimpers: “Take me home, father? I- I don’t want anyone to see that. Oh, it hurts. It hurts!”

“Batman, is she okay?” Superman worries, hovering over B’s shoulder.

Steph almost risks sending B a shit eating grin at that, but decides against it. Instead, she coughs again, using some slight of hand to smear liquid latex on her cheek that she rests against B’s chest when she’s done.

B is just assuring Superman that she will be fine, when she lets out a shriek: “It’s already starting! Father, please.”

And indeed, when she pulls her cheek, it is now attached to B, slivers of skin apparently attached to him. Superman startles back and Steph lets out a pained moan.

At that point, B decides that removing her from the situation is the best course of action to prevent her doing more damage. So, he swiftly picks her up bridal style and says: “I must go. A new Robin is coming.”

Without waiting for a reaction, he stalks out of the room and to the Zeta-Beam. Steph continues to let out pained noises all the way, until they’re stepping into the Cave.

Once there, she rips her face from B’s chest and hops out of his arms. Grinning: “That was fun, we should do it again sometimes.”

“Was that really necessary?” B sighs, finally able to let that out and pinch the bridge of his nose.

“No, but it was fun,” Tim says, twirling away from the Batcomputer to grin at them, the cameras in the Watchtower still on the screen. “I mean look at this.”

He pushes a few buttons and one of the videos rewinds, showing B sweeping out of the room, followed by a moment of silence. Then Flash says: “Did- Did Batman just take off, because he’s going into labor? Is he entitled to maternal leave?”

“Don’t be stupid, Barry,” Hal says. “She called him father, it would be paternal leave.”

“Same difference,” Flash pouts, before Tim pauses the video again.

Steph snorts out a loud laugh. She couldn’t have imagined this going that well. She just hoped to cause enough chaos and a weird enough situation that B would have to uncomfortably explain himself next time, but this is gold.

“Why would you do this to me?” B asks her in a suffering voice.

She doesn’t care, she just replies: “You’re lucky I went with father for the creepy factor, I definitely contemplated using daddy, old man.”

Despite it all, B takes a few seconds to count his blessings, deciding to give up. “Thanks,” he settles on, before leaving the Cave.

Once he’s gone, Steph says: “You can get a feed up next B goes up there, right?”

“Oh, yeah, totally,” Tim grins back.

Indeed, next time B goes up to the Watchtower a few days later, her and Tim are crowded around the screen again, watching it unfold. Snickering when everyone seems to be sending B ‘subtle’ glances and being generally unsure of what to say to him.

Superman is the first one to dare, tentatively asking: “Are- are you okay, Batman?”

“I am,” B grunts, obviously wanting to avoid further conversation.

Naturally, Superman doesn’t pick up on that and carefully adds: “And… is Robin?”

“He’s fine,” B says curtly.

“He?” Wonder Woman asks, joining her two friends. “What happened to the Robin we met last time?”

B now realizes the position Steph has forced him in and actually uses more words to answer: “She is no longer Robin. She became one with me, left Robin behind and broke free again as Spoiler.”

“Spoiler?”

“Yes, Spoiler,” B says and Steph get the feeling she made a mistake. “She is all the toxic parts, the pollution in the night skies of Gotham, coming together into one part. We have a lot of companies dumping stuff, it was bound to happen,” B explains, sending a covert look to the nearest camera, knowing that they’re watching him.

“Oh that fucker!” Steph pouts as Tim laughs at her, the traitor.

Superman and Wonder Woman both send him a look, but the three are interrupted by Flash, who comes speeding up to them, asking: “That looked painful? Is it like giving birth or something?”

“Flash!” Superman catechizes.

Meanwhile, B flushes bright red (can’t be seen with the cowl, but Steph knows, she has been embarrassing him for a long time now). With a pinched expression, he grits out: “It’s a complex and very private affair.”

Flash’s apology is drowned out by Steph’s cheer as she triumphantly exclaims: “Ha! Who’s vengeance now, B!”

~~

A/N:

I realize that I may be projecting my crush on Wonder Woman, however, I will not apologize for it, bc I have great taste <3