#barry is built different we get it

[cldflsh]

okay but what if being hit by lightning would have left a scar on barry. and i'm not just talking physically, but mentally as well.

like come on. you can't tell me it wouldn't have been good angst when barry found out that he would have a large scar going down his upper body for the rest of his life. there was probably some more on his back. but if coldflash was canon along with this idea, len would have found it hot and very much so badass, and it would have made barry feel so much better about himself.

but emotionally? come on. i've read the statements of some people who were struck by lightning, and it's not something that you can just brush off. barry, he almost died, and yeah, he got some cool powers out of it, but it should have made him extremely anxious because his entire body had changed, the way it functions, and they knew nothing about it at the beginning, minus eobard. i just feel like it would have been a nice, realistic touch to have him shift around in bed uncomfortably when there's a storm outside, to regularly check the weather before going out. idk.

[captn3]

okay, here we go. it isnt a dj set, its a record player. oddly enough, its a reward from the singleplayer campaign. looks at the two closer they might not be the same objects but still thought id add this personally i also think these are hotlantis items cause of how.. out of place and bright they are compared to the rest of the scenery and palette of the dlc. but its confusing that the first box in the first image has what looks like the octarian tentacle mem cake. why is that there next to all these little cute decorations. if we get any of these in a future season catalog ill freak out (also, its possible these items may look big because of how background environments work in splatoon. probably for visibility reasons, things in the background are a lot bigger than they actually would be. this goes for multiplayer maps, singleplayer maps, and even the main plazas/cities)

Hey so I have a nagging suspicion that these items are being made for Hotlantis. Like why would the trailer have such a prominent shot of these things being made/packaged? Although none of these items shown are actually purchasable in-game (I've checked the entire list), these are way too miscellaneous to be anything else besides locker decorations. I have no idea why they are so big, but then again, a huge chunk of these locker decorations are smaller "replicas" of in-game objects. This might also tie into the pollution themes of this dlc as these are most certainly massed produced toys with plastic packaging (cuz y'know, that and a lot of carbon emissions). We might actually see Barry C themself as a side character at least if this is what they're actually up to while letting Harmony work at their store.

[atommadly]

𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 | Harry Wells x Reader

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 | Smut, explicit. This is extremely long! I'm so sorry (or not ;) )

𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢—𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

Masterlist

"Yoohoo!" Cisco shouted, his voice filled with excitement, as he turned to give you a high five.

"Well done, Barry!" you said through the comms, your tone full of admiration.

Barry had just managed to catch yet another meta-human causing trouble in Central City. It was always a relief when a mission ended successfully, and this one was no different.

"Now, get back here so we can all head home for Christmas!" Cisco added, a playful urgency in his voice.

You leaned back in the chair behind the Cortex controls, letting out a contented sigh as you took a sip from your steaming cup of hot cocoa. "That was a great mission," you said, a satisfied smile on your face. The team had really pulled together, and it felt good to see it all come together so smoothly.

"Yeah, but I'm exhausted," Cisco admitted, his voice dropping a little. "I just want to go home and spend Christmas with Gypsy."

Your eyes lit up at the mention of Gypsy. "Oh, she's coming!" you exclaimed, genuinely thrilled for him. "That's great, Cisco. You deserve it."

Cisco grinned, his face softening with a dreamy smile. "Yeah, things are going great between us," he said, a faraway look in his eyes as if picturing her. His happiness was infectious, and you couldn’t help but smile along with him.

He tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow at you, a playful glint in his eyes. "What about you?" he asked, his gaze shifting towards Harry, who was in the other room, absorbed in tinkering with a piece of technology.

You followed his gaze, your heart warming at the sight of Harry, so focused on his work yet so comfortable in the environment your team had built together. A soft, affectionate smile tugged at the corners of your lips.

"Might not be easy to date the Grinch," Cisco teased, his voice laced with light sarcasm as he nodded toward Harry, who seemed oblivious to the conversation.

You rolled your eyes but couldn't suppress a chuckle, nudging him playfully on the arm. "Hey, he’s not that bad," you said, though the fondness in your voice betrayed you. It was true that Harry wasn’t the easiest person to understand, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worth it.

"Oh, Y/N, come on, he never wants to celebrate Christmas with us!" Cisco protested dramatically, his hands raised as if pleading with you.

It was true. Harry had never been particularly fond of the holiday. He had his reasons, deeply personal ones that he rarely talked about. Christmas had always been a painful reminder of all the losses he’d endured, the sadness that seemed to cling to that time of year like an unshakeable shadow. You understood. You didn’t hold it against him.

"It’s okay," you replied softly, your voice playful but with an edge of affection. "As long as he celebrates with me."

Your words hung in the air for a moment, a mischievous glint in your eye. It wasn’t a secret, but the way you said it made it feel like one. There was something you hadn’t told Cisco, something that made your heart flutter just a little at the thought.

Cisco paused, his expression shifting as he tried to decipher your tone. He studied you closely, eyes narrowing in thought, before a slow grin crept across his face. "Oh ho ho, you’ve got plans for tonight, don’t you?" he teased, his voice turning smug as if he’d just solved a great mystery.

You didn’t answer him outright. Instead, you leaned back in your chair and hid your smile behind your mug of hot cocoa, pretending to take a casual sip. The warmth of the drink didn’t compare to the warmth in your chest, but it was enough to mask the blush creeping up your cheeks.

Cisco was grinning now, clearly satisfied with his discovery, but you weren’t about to confirm or deny anything. Yes, you had plans for tonight. You had something special in mind for Harry. Despite his usual distance and the quiet sadness that seemed to surround him during Christmas, you were determined to do something to lift his spirits.

It wasn’t until evening that you finally put your plan into action. The rest of the team had gone home, leaving Star Labs unusually quiet. The hum of machinery was absent, and in the dim, almost serene silence, the only light that remained came from a few twinkling strands of garland decorating the lab. The soft glow of the lights reflected off the metal surfaces and cast gentle shadows around the room, creating an atmosphere that felt peaceful and intimate.

You made your way through the building, your footsteps echoing softly on the cold floors. Eventually, you reached the lounge, where Harry was sitting. He was sprawled out on the leather couch, casually reading a book, his posture relaxed but his face, as always, a little distant. This room had only recently been rediscovered during one of your aimless walks around the lab, a part of the building that had been abandoned after the particle accelerator explosion. Caitlin had taken it upon herself to decorate the space for Christmas, stringing up some garland and placing a small tree in the corner. It wasn’t much, but it added a touch of warmth and cheer to the otherwise stark surroundings.

Harry had settled there because he enjoyed the peace, the quiet solitude away from the bustle of the main lab. As he continued reading, completely absorbed in his book, he didn’t notice you at first. But then, just as he turned a page, the soft sound of the door opening broke his concentration. Harry looked up from his book, his brow furrowing in mild surprise as he saw you standing in the doorway. He had expected you to be out celebrating Christmas with friends or family, not here, in Star Labs.

"Hey," you greeted, your voice warm yet cautious as you took a few steps closer to where he sat on the leather couch.

You were wearing a long, elegant coat, its soft fabric brushing against your legs as you walked, and a pair of heels that clicked with every step you took. Harry couldn’t help but notice how effortlessly beautiful you looked, your makeup perfectly applied, highlighting the softness of your features. He felt his chest tighten slightly, a feeling he couldn’t quite place stirring in him. 

You looked like you were about to head out for a night of celebration, and for a moment, he felt a pang of something unfamiliar. He knew how much you loved Christmas—the decorations, the cheer, the joy that came with the season. It was something you always embraced with a kind of childlike wonder. He, on the other hand, couldn’t bring himself to feel the same way. The thought of being alone with his memories on Christmas made the idea of celebrating feel out of reach. But seeing you like this, with that look in your eyes, made him feel guilty. He wanted to be able to share in that joy with you, but he wasn’t sure how.

"Hey," Harry replied, his voice lower than usual, a bit rough from disuse. "Are you headed somewhere?" he asked, the question hanging between you, his curiosity genuine but tinged with a touch of hesitation.

You adjusted the collar of your coat, a small nervous gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by him. Your confidence seemed to waver, and Harry couldn’t help but wonder what was on your mind. It was a side of you he wasn’t accustomed to seeing.

For a moment, you stood there in silence, your gaze flicking between him and the dimly lit room, unsure of how to continue. You had imagined this moment, visualized it in your mind a dozen times, but now that you were here, standing in front of him, doubts crept in. What if he thought it was too much? What if he found your gesture foolish or out of place? What if he didn’t appreciate it?

You cleared your throat, the weight of the uncertainty pulling at your confidence. "Actually, no," you replied, your voice quiet, the words carrying more than just the answer to his question.

Harry tilted his head slightly, his curiosity growing. There was something in your voice, something unspoken, that made him set aside his book for a moment, fully turning his attention to you. He could sense that something was different tonight, that there was more to this moment than just a casual visit.

You bit your lip, taking another step forward. "I... I was hoping we could do something tonight," you said hesitantly, but there was a sparkle in your eyes now, a flicker of excitement that cut through your nerves. "Something a little... different."

Harry didn’t respond immediately. He simply watched you, his expression unreadable for a few long seconds. It was clear that he didn’t quite understand where this was going, but his attention was completely focused on you now, waiting for the rest of the story. You could feel the tension in the air, a strange mix of anticipation and uncertainty, and for a moment, you almost wished you could take it all back. But it was too late to turn around now.

You swallowed, trying to steady the flutter in your chest. "I know Christmas isn’t your favorite holiday," you began, your voice soft but steady now. "But... I thought maybe we could just spend it together. Just the two of us."

The words felt different as they left your mouth, more intimate than you'd expected. It wasn’t just the offer that felt new, but the weight of what you were suggesting. You’d been together for months, sharing your lives, your thoughts, and your feelings. You wanted to make Christmas different for him.

Harry’s heart quickened, an unfamiliar warmth spreading through him at your words. Despite his aversion to the holiday, despite all his reservations about the season, the idea of spending it with you felt... right. The fact that you wanted to be there, with him, made something inside him stir—something he wasn’t sure he was ready to acknowledge, but something he couldn’t ignore. He had always kept his distance, not wanting to drag anyone into his shadow, but you had never treated him that way. You made him feel... seen.

You could feel his eyes on you, the quiet intensity of his gaze pulling you closer. The room was dim, save for the twinkling lights from the small Christmas tree in the corner. It was warm, but there was still a faint chill in the air, a reminder of the winter outside. You nervously tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, your fingers brushing the soft fabric of your coat. The anticipation of the moment was making you second-guess yourself, but you took a deep breath and forced yourself to speak.

"Okay," you said, your voice lowering slightly as you shifted your weight from one foot to the other, trying to steady your nerves. "I’ve planned a surprise. A gift, if you will." You gave him a playful glance, but there was a hint of something deeper in your eyes. "And please, don’t make fun of me. I just... I want to do something for you."

Harry raised an eyebrow at your words, his lips curling into a small, intrigued smile. "A gift?" he repeated, his voice rougher than usual. He could feel the shift in the air, the tension between you, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

You smiled, a little more confident now that he hadn’t immediately dismissed you. His curiosity was a good sign. Slowly, you took a step closer, closing the distance between you both. Standing in front of him, you let the moment linger, your heart beating faster as you met his gaze, feeling the heat of his eyes on you.

You moved even closer, standing between his legs, your body only inches from his. The space between you seemed to shrink as you let your fingers play with the waistband of your coat. His eyes dropped to your hands, then slowly traveled upward, his expression a mix of curiosity and anticipation.

"Do you want to unwrap it?" you asked, your voice barely a whisper, laced with an unexpected flirtation. 

Harry’s pulse quickened. There was a sense of intrigue building within him, though he wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. He only knew that whatever it was, he was eager to find out. His fingers trembled slightly as they reached for the belt of your coat, pulling it slowly, deliberately. His gaze remained locked on yours, a silent question in his eyes, and you could see the mix of anticipation and uncertainty flicker behind the desire that was evident in the way his chest rose and fell with each breath.

As he loosened the belt, the fabric of the coat parted, revealing just a hint of your skin and the deep red hue that teased at what lay beneath. Harry’s breath hitched. His heart raced faster, and it felt like the world had stopped moving, leaving only the two of you in the quiet stillness of the room. His fingers traced the edges of the coat, pulling it open further, the anticipation building between you.

And then, he saw it.

The coat slipped from your shoulders, revealing what you had chosen to wear just for him—a gift more captivating than anything wrapped in paper. His eyes darkened as he took in the sight of you in the red body, the corset-like top hugging your form perfectly. The fabric clung to your curves, accentuating your figure in a way that left him breathless. The top was strapless, molded to your body, and supported by the natural curve of your chest, leaving little to the imagination. His eyes traced the intricate design of the outfit, the delicate lace and subtle details that sent a rush of heat through his veins.

You wore thigh-high stockings that reached up to your thighs, held up by the matching garters that added an air of elegance and seduction. The entire outfit was a striking mix of sultriness and festive cheer, with touches of white feathers around the edges that resembled a delicate, luxurious version of holiday fur. The color of the red seemed to shimmer as it caught the light, and in that moment, Harry thought he’d never seen anything more beautiful.

His breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight of you standing before him, a vision of sensuality and elegance, and yet, somehow, still a perfect fit for the holiday spirit. He couldn’t help the way his heart pounded, the ache of desire growing in the pit of his stomach.

You were breathtaking, utterly impossible to ignore. As the reality of what you were offering him sank in, Harry felt a tightness in his chest, a fluttering, heat spreading across him like a wave. Every inch of you, every detail of the way you stood there, was overwhelming in the best possible way. The desire was undeniable, but so was the love that ran deep between the two of you. You weren’t just standing before him as a vision of sensuality; you were offering him the purest form of trust, of intimacy, and it made his heart race even faster.

"You look... incredible," Harry managed, his voice rough, almost hoarse, as the words tumbled out. It felt like an understatement, like no combination of words could ever do justice to how he felt in that moment. But it was all he could say.

There was a long, delicious moment of silence as he took you in, his eyes tracing the curves of your body, the way your outfit clung to you so perfectly, the way the feathers brushed against your skin. His breath came in shallow gasps, his chest tight with the overwhelming sensation of wanting you, needing you. 

With a tenderness that was almost too much for him to handle, you reached up and gently ran your fingers through his hair. The touch was soft but electric, sending a shiver down his spine. And then, with a playful glint in your eyes, you began to sing. "Santa Baby..." Your voice was soft, playful, laced with a flirtation that only made the air between you two thicker with desire. The surprise in Harry’s eyes softened into a smile.

"Just slip a sable under the tree for me," you continued, your voice light and teasing, the song dripping with seductive charm. Harry couldn’t help but laugh, the sound warm and genuine.

You let your coat fall to the ground, revealing yourself fully to him. The action was undeniably sexy, but what struck Harry wasn’t just the sight of your body—gorgeous, alluring, every inch of you crafted to perfection—but the love that seemed to radiate from every movement you made. It wasn’t just a performance or a game; this was a true offering of yourself to him, a piece of your heart wrapped up in the moment.

"Been an awful good girl..." you continued to sing, your voice teasing and light, carrying a playful lilt.

With a subtle, confident movement, you swung one knee across his hip, then the other, gently straddling his lap, settling yourself atop him on the couch.

As you positioned yourself, your body close enough to feel the heat radiating between the two of you, Harry’s breath caught in his throat. The sight of you so bold, so sure, made his pulse quicken, and he couldn’t help but admire the way you moved—effortless, confident, yet with a hint of sweetness that was unmistakably you. Your skin was so close to his, the soft fabric of your outfit grazing against his shirt, and for a moment, time seemed to stretch out. 

"Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight..." You sang softly, your voice trailing off as you felt his gaze on you. But before you could finish, Harry’s hands slid to your waist, pulling you toward him. His lips found yours in a passionate kiss, one that stole your breath away. Without breaking the kiss, he gently fell back against the couch, pulling you down with him, his body warm and strong beneath yours.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as if he were the very air you needed to breathe. His low groan resonated in your chest, the shock of the gift you'd given him still fresh on his lips. Without thinking, your hips moved against his in a slow, deliberate rhythm, and you felt the unmistakable bulge of his desire pressing into you, the physical proof of how deeply you affected him.

Harry’s hands roamed over your body, caressing every curve before settling firmly on your ass, pulling you flush against him with a low, appreciative groan. You gasped, the sensation sending a wave of heat through you. Without warning, he flipped your positions, gently but decisively lowering you onto the couch beneath him.

For a brief moment, he simply watched you, his gaze intense as he hovered above you. His eyes traced every detail of your form—the way your hair framed your face like a halo, the flushed redness of your lips from his kiss, and the way your clothes clung to you, revealing just enough to leave little to the imagination.

“You’re the perfect gift,” he murmured, his voice thick with desire, his words barely a whisper as they brushed against your skin.

“Merry Christmas, Harry, darling,” you whispered back, your heart racing as the moment stretched out between you.

With a gentle shift, he lowered himself back down to you, his lips reclaiming yours in a kiss that was both tender and hungry, as if he couldn’t get enough of you.

Harry’s hands slid beneath your garter belt, his touch deliberate as they trailed upward, seeking the place where you ached for him most. A sharp gasp of desire escaped your lips, your body responding instinctively. Your hands fell to his belt, trembling with urgency as you worked to unbuckle it. You quickly undid the button and zipper, sliding both his trousers and boxers down in one swift motion.

He was already hard, his arousal undeniable, and he shivered as your fingers brushed over him, igniting a spark between you. His lips found the curve of your neck, pressing heated kisses along your skin that sent a shiver down your spine. Slowly, his hands moved to your back, his fingers deftly locating the zipper of your bodysuit. With effortless precision, he slid it down, his gaze dark with longing as he revealed more of your skin.

In mere seconds, the fabric pooled away, leaving you bare and vulnerable beneath him, your bodies separated only by the crackling tension in the air.

Harry didn’t waste a second, his hand finding your clit with practiced ease, rubbing it in slow, deliberate circles that sent waves of heat coursing through you. His fingers slid between your folds, discovering just how wet and ready you were for him. A low moan escaped your lips as you arched your back, your body instinctively pressing closer to his touch. You were already breathless, writhing beneath him, the need for him growing unbearable.

“Stop teasing me,” you murmured, your voice thick with desperation.

“Teasing?” he repeated, his tone mockingly innocent, though the wicked smile on his lips betrayed him. “You’re the one who put on this outfit,” he teased, his fingers quickening their rhythm between your thighs, driving you higher.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you shot back, biting down on your lip—not only to taunt him but to keep your moans from spilling out, though the pleasure was quickly becoming impossible to contain.

In response to your insolence, he slid a finger into you without warning, his movements firm and deliberate. The sudden sensation stole your breath, leaving you gasping as a moan replaced any attempt at protest. His finger moved with purpose, thrusting in and out at an agonizingly slow pace, teasing you, coaxing your body to respond. Your hips bucked instinctively, arching toward him as if your body had a will of its own, silently pleading for more.

“Harry, baby,” you whimpered, your voice breaking. “I need you. Now.”

Your desperate words sent a spark through him, and a feral growl escaped his throat. He pulled back, sitting on his heels as he loomed over you, his dark eyes searing into yours. His chest rose and fell heavily, his breathing matching your own ragged rhythm. Slowly, almost torturously, he brought his hand to his throbbing length, wrapping his fingers around himself.

He stroked once, twice, his movements deliberate, his gaze never leaving your face. He watched your lips part as you swallowed hard, your chest heaving as the space between you seemed to pulse with electricity. The sight of you—flushed, needy, and utterly at his mercy—only fueled his resolve.

“You drive me insane,” he muttered, his voice rough with desire. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”

Instead of waiting for a response, he shifted closer, aligning himself with your entrance. He teased you at first, the head of his length brushing against your slick folds, making you gasp and squirm beneath him.

“Harry, please,” you breathed, your voice cracking with need.

With a smirk that was equal parts wicked and affectionate, he leaned forward, his lips ghosting over yours as he whispered, “Patience, love. I want to savor my Christmas gift.”

Then, slowly, deliberately, he pushed into you, stretching and filling you inch by inch. The sensation stole the air from your lungs, leaving you clutching at his shoulders, your nails digging into his skin as he claimed you completely.

He paused for a moment, letting you adjust, his forehead dropping to yours as you both caught your breath. “You feel incredible,” he murmured, his voice a low rumble against your lips, before beginning to move, setting a pace that made your entire world melt away.

With slow, deliberate thrusts, Harry moved inside you, each motion powerful and intentional, claiming every part of you. Over and over, his hips met yours, the impact sending waves of pleasure cascading through your body. Your moans filled the air, unrestrained and raw, as his hands tangled in your hair, lifting your face to his. His eyes searched yours, dark with desire but softened by something even deeper.

He wanted to see everything—the way your face contorted with bliss, the way you surrendered completely to him, trusting him with your body and heart. But more than that, he wanted to take in the woman who had changed his life. The woman who saw through his walls, who loved him for all he was, even the parts of himself he struggled to accept. The woman who had gone to such great lengths to make sure he felt cherished and loved tonight, on Christmas—a holiday he had long since given up on.

A wave of emotion surged through him, crashing against the raw pleasure you gave him. It was overwhelming, intoxicating, and he couldn’t hold back. His pace quickened, his thrusts becoming faster, deeper, more urgent. The couch creaked beneath you as your body moved with his, bouncing with every powerful motion. Your nails dug into his back, clinging to him as he drove you higher, each thrust fanning the flames of your desire.

“God, you’re incredible,” he murmured, his voice thick and uneven. He leaned down, pressing his lips to your neck, trailing kisses and gentle bites along your skin. The warmth of his breath sent shivers down your spine, adding to the heat coursing through your veins.

“Harry,” you gasped, your voice trembling, barely able to form words between breaths. “I love you.”

His movements faltered for a split second, your words hitting him with more force than he expected. He raised his head, his eyes locking with yours, and for a moment, the world seemed to stand still.

“I love you too,” he whispered, his voice filled with an intensity that matched the rhythm of his hips as he began to move again. “More than anything.”

He shifted slightly, angling his thrusts to hit deeper, each one pushing you closer to the edge. His hand slid down your body, finding your clit once more, his fingers working in time with his movements. The dual sensations sent you spiraling, your body trembling as the pleasure built to a crescendo.

Every moan, every gasp, every whispered word between you brought him closer as well.

He shifted his angle once more, and everything seemed to blur. The sensation was overwhelming, and you felt yourself spiraling into a haze of pure pleasure. Your body arched in response, every nerve on fire as he hit a spot that sent shockwaves through you. Your orgasm took you completely by surprise—suddenly, you were lost in it, and a loud cry of unfiltered pleasure escaped your lips.

You tightened around him, your muscles clenching involuntarily, as if trying to hold him even closer. Your back arched more, your head falling back, giving him an unobstructed view of your exposed throat, vulnerable to him in this moment.

Harry’s gaze burned with an intensity that matched the fervor of his movements. He leaned down, his lips capturing yours in a desperate kiss. As you felt your muscles fluttering around him, gripping him tightly, his own release came crashing down on him. His groan was low, guttural, as he surrendered to the pleasure.

His body tensed above you, and you could feel the heat of him inside, filling you completely. He bit into your neck, marking you with the intensity of his passion, his fingers digging into your skin as he sought to hold you, keep you close. You were both lost in the moment, each thrust, each kiss, each touch sending waves of ecstasy through you both.

As your orgasms started to fade, Harry lay on top of you, his head resting against your chest as he tried to catch his breath. You ran your fingers through his messy, sweaty hair, gently stroking his head with affection.

A comfortable silence settled between you two. After a moment, he lifted his head to look at you.

“You’re the best Christmas gift I could have ever asked for,” he murmured.

“Did you enjoy it?” you asked, smiling softly.

He tried to hold back a laugh. It would be crazy not to enjoy what just happened. “Definitely.”

He sat up, pulling his boxers and pants back into place. “I’ll get some towels and find something for you to wear. I’ll be right back.”

As he walked away, you heard him humming “Santa Baby.”

You smiled, curling your legs up to your chest, biting your lower lip. This had been one of the best Christmases you’d ever had.

Main Taglist : @gabriella-aesthetic

[loveandleases]

(For our first Flufftober post, I decided to do a little throwback of when Cam was getting his ear piercings, with none other than MC by his side.)

"Are you sure you want to do this? It was just a dare."

Cam continues to lead you down the street, to the outside of a somewhat run-down building. No longer the pristine white it was when it was originally built. The banner on the window reads, "Barry's Bar, and tattoo shop, and pierce shop, welcome to Barry's."

If there was ever a sign to turn away, it was probably at this very moment. Yet, Cam refused to let go of your hand, his fingers intertwined with your own. You know to many that probably made you two look like a couple, something you had been questioned about plenty of times prior.

You chalked it up to others not understanding that Cam and you were close. It was usual for you two to be touching one another, kissing the others cheek, ruffling the others hair.

"I'm sure. We may have been drunk, but I lost that bet. If I don't stand by it how can you ever trust me?" There was a pure look of determination in his eyes. A grin plastered on his pale, slightly freckled face. , showing off the one-sided dimple on his cheek.

It was quickly gone when a familiar ringtone began to play on your phone. Chris's ringtone. You looked down, pulling your hand from Cam as you pulled the phone from your pocket. Cam not even hiding his dissatisfaction, he blew air through his nose and folded his arms across his chest.

You go to answer but Cam grabs the phone from your grip.

"Cam!"

He holds the phone up high, way out of your reach. "No, you're here with me. Last thing we need is Chris trying to ruin our fun and tell us what a bad decision this is." He shook his head, not even bothering to give in to your pleading.

"What if it's important?"

Cam scoffed loudly, "With Chris? I doubt it. C'mon, I need my lil cheerleader for this." He opened the door walking in ignoring your protests.

After talking several minutes to the guy behind the bar, you two are escorted to the back, a dingy setup with someone getting a tattoo crying over an ex. Not long till you find the piercer, you could see why she was recommended if not for her own piercings, then for the kind look she gave the two of you.

After Cam runs her through the piercings he wants for his ear, she readies him. Getting the needles ready as well as the jewelry, he chose dark titanium, to fit his somewhat alternative style.

"Alright, you ready?" She looked to Cam, his brow furrowed as he breathed in deeply before nodding.

You watch as she moves closer to his ear. "Ouch!" He shrieked, grabbing your hand his fingers sliding between your own.

"Dude, that was just me marking the piercings with a pen. You sure you can handle this?" She looks to Cam then back to you. Glancing at how Cam's hand stroke your fingers.

"Yes I'm ready! That was a sharp pen, you should get a different one."

She chuckled at him, then begins getting the needle ready.. It doesn't take long, but you don't miss how queasy Cam looks, his usual pale skin even paler than normal.

"Alright all done, let your date look. See if they like them." She motions to you then to Cam.

Cam's eyes widen ever so slightly, he looks to you then back. You don't have time to correct her before Cam turns around, grabbing your other hand in his own.

"So, what do you think?" His eyes wide, searching for some kind of reassurance. From the one person he can trust.

A smile crosses your lips and you nod at him, touching his ear softly. You don't miss the way he leans his face against your palm, allowing you to cup it. "It suits you." you whisper staring at the fresh piercings.

"I think you both suit each other." The piercer laughs, smacking Cam on the back. He shoots her a glare before standing, pulling you after him. "Hey, I wasn't done!"

Cam leads you out, ignoring the protest from the piercer, his hand still gripping yours. Yet this time, it's such a soft grip as if he knows you won't be going anywhere, no one would be pulling you away from him anytime soon.

[susaken456]

Kris and Barry's dynamic is so interesting and I think it was very intentional from the writers putting these two morally opposing characters together. I adore Barry for many reasons and Kris is such a well-executed antagonist, I could write about them for pages and pages.

I think what makes Kris so enjoyable for me is that she's not an over-the-top antagonist. She ignores chances to be overly villainous, she doesn't make morally-gray choices just because, because she has her own reasons that seem logical to her. It's heavily implied that she has experienced harsh situations, so her pragmatic philosophy probably stems from that same pragmatism having previously worked out for her.

But Kris's downfall doesn't come from that, but from her stubbornness. She's unable to adapt to a new context because that'd mean changing her plan, and that'd imply she'd had lost control. This one post analizes this aspect very well.

She never falters: not when her ship is destroyed, not when Terrence dies; and even when they go off against Hollow she still goes straight to the escape shuttle, ignoring the Demeter crew.

It’s also interesting how Barry ends up being the complete opposite of her, despite her constantly manipulating and keeping him in line. He's very receptive of Vesta since the start, and though his curiosity and naïvitee can get the better of him sometimes, he’s still well-meaning at the end of the day. In contrast, we have Kris, the only human shown killing a creature without any real incentive (the little bug thing she finds when they’re about to climb solo in episode 9).

Unlike Kris, he builds a genuine bond with Azi. He listens to her talk about Mia, just like she listened to his climbing tips. It's a moment where they clearly show respect for each other’s input, a stark contrast to Kris’s inconsiderate commands.

However, I don't think Kris entirely lacks empathy. She's visibly hurt when Terrence dies and she seems regretful over “having to" leave Barry behind. But she also doesn't care to acknowledge Terrence’s death and she still leaves Barry and everyone else behind with what she knows is a dangerous creature. She doesn't care in a way that counts, so no one but her could know if she genuinely does care.

At the boiling point, Kris and Barry follow strikingly different courses of action.

 Barry defies Kris’s control after seeing the crew is still alive. He cares about saving them because Azi, a person he’s built a bond with, also cares about them. Kris didn’t build such a bond, so how could she see any value in them? Realizing she can't control Barry like she did anymore, she deceives him and closes the door behind him, locking him out without hesitation.

When Barry realizes Kris is leaving, he goes back and begs her to let him in. He still cares about her, and it shows to a heartbreaking point while Kris doesn't even spare a glance when he’s there.

After such a tragic experience, Barry ends up in a community of people who genuinely care about others, one in which he’s obviously thriving better than during the time we see him with Kris.

And Kris? She’s dehydrated in the stranded shuttle, and finds herself in a situation where she needs to depend on total strangers; an inversion of the same thing she did to the Demeter crew. She can only pray they have the compassion she did not.

[screamlet]

"old school" comfort fic recs

tagged by @liminalmemories21 and @rcmclachlan

What are your old school comfort fics? The ones from fandoms that haven't been active in yeeeaaars, but you've read so many times you can practically quote them.

big big BIG caveat: lol. these are not old school fandoms, as such, but the truly old school ones i grew up with died with livejournal and del.icio.us. however!!! all these fics are 5-10 (or more) years old and that's about as old school as my bookmarks get.

i don't have tumblr usernames for these authors, but if they're around let them know? or don't!

fandoms covered: bts, check please, hockey rpf [all archive locked], star trek (aos and rpf), and the untamed

---

BTS happy that we met each other (jinkook, @/fictionalmissp, @/pearlowrites)

Jungkook is trying to adjust to life after military service. Seokjin is dealing with his recent divorce and being a dad. Everyone is trying their best.

someday we'll know (rapline ot3, @/fadetomorrow)

Six years ago, Hoseok walked away from Big Hit and an opportunity to debut as part of an idol group. He's worked hard to build a name for himself halfway across the world when he and the people he left behind collide again.

rivers and roads (til i reach you) (namseok, @/undercoverjikooks)

Namjoon is a lonely, anxious businessman who finds comfort and peace in sex worker slash grocery store clerk Hoseok, who's convinced that he's only worth leaving.

Should Never Fall So Easily (namseok, @/murderoustannie)

It’s not that Namjoon sleep-walked into his relationship with Hoseok, exactly. Mostly because that would imply a total lack of pain and embarrassment, giving the whole ordeal a dream-like quality to it that Namjoon doesn’t think it deserves. But if you asked Namjoon how it happened, exactly, he would have a hard time pin-pointing it.

---

CHECK PLEASE! for all of the perfect things that i doubt (series) (kent parson centric, mostly kent parson/omc, @/idrilka)

and in that series: no lightning, just thunder (kent parson/omc)

At thirty-five, Kent wins his fourth Stanley Cup. Two months later, he retires from the NHL.

Lord, What a Difference a Day Makes (kent parson/alexei mashkov, @/coffeestars)

Kent time travels (he thinks; it’s either that or he’s gone off the deep end once and for all), gets married to some Russian guy built like a tree, acquires two children, one of whom isn’t even his, freaks out, and grows up. In that order.

---

HOCKEY RPF

double digging for the successful transplant of organic cultivars (michael latta/tom wilson, @/rest)

Tom likes working with his hands, but it is a solitary life. He would much prefer to be married. Leaving and settling elsewhere is his surest chance for having that. (aka "The Space Western Mail Order Bride AU")

love on a deposit of frozen pleistocene carbon (nicklas backstrom/alex ovechkin, @/saintsideways)

Sasha is the only person to have lasted more than a year at Wrest Island Arctic Research Station, except, of course, for Dr. Bäckström. Or: Sasha's head over heels, in a slightly more than figurative sense.

human resources (nicklas backstrom/alex ovechkin, @/babygotbackstrom)

Sasha knows he's going to marry the angel who works in the finance department.

i want to belong here (sidney crosby/evgeni malkin, @/cathedralhearts)

“Can I come to Russia with you?” Zhenya’s brain fritzes out for a second. “Sorry?” he asks, thinking he’s misheard. Years of pining can do that to a person -- make you believe that the object of your affections wants something more than they really do. Sid’s gone bright pink and is staring at the floor, so maybe it’s not pining-induced insanity. Sanja will be pleased.

the light through the windowpane (tyson barrie/gabe landeskog, @/underwaternow)

or, the one where Gabe and Tyson fall in love, break up, Gabe gets married, Tyson falls apart a little, they don't speak to each other for awhile, and then they finally make up. colloquially referred to as “sad fic” but there's very much a happy ending

Big Horny's Guide to Finding Love (and Then Some) for the Modern Man (erik johnson/nate mackinnon, @/venvephe)

ExtraJuicy 🍑🍑💦 Both sporty and spicy. Not a horse girl, but likes to ride. Have a sense of humor and we’ll see where it goes. “Is that Grindr?” Gabe gasps out, and EJ elbows him deftly in the side as several heads swivel in their direction. Fucking Gabe and his big forehead and bigger mouth. “Erik Robert Johnson, have you learned how to sext?”

---

STAR TREK (REBOOT) strive seek find yield (aka SPOCTORIA) (kirk/spock, @waldorph)

Spock is heir to the Federation throne, Jim is Prince of America because his fucking brother abdicated, and the Klingons are on the verge of blowing shit up--a love story.

---

STAR TREK (RPF) merry bachelors (chris pine/zachary quinto, @/therumjournals)

Ten years from now, Zach reads a promising script. (Aka Chris and Zach make a movie about Cary Grant and Randolph Scott)

chris, nicky, and the nanny (chris pine/zachary quinto, @/thedanveresque)

Chris hires a hipster manny for his son Nicky.

---

THE UNTAMED all the time in the world to get it right (series) (lwj/wwx, @/belle_abroad)

on a rainy morning wei ying, debut novelist, ducks into lan zhan's bookstore, the quiet room, and never leaves. (lan zhan's heart. he leaves the store, a couple of times.)

[useless-catalanfacts]

Was curious if you have any interesting information on L’Hospitalet de Llobregat?

I moved about a year ago, and I am about to sign up for my first Catalan class with the CNL soon. Since I do not speak Catalan yet and have limited Spanish, a lot of information I come across for my new home is not accessible to me.

Thank you in advance, and for you write on here in general. It is a great resource.

Thank you! And best wishes for the course with CNL, I hope you enjoy it!

L'Hospitalet de Llobregat is the 2nd most populated city in Catalonia and has the most densely-populated neighbourhood in all of Europe (Torrassa and Collblanc neighbourhoods). I'll shorten it to L'H from now on.

There's archaeological evidence of population in what nowadays in L'H since the Paleolithic (hunter-gatherer communities in the Prehistory), Ancient Iberian (the indigenous people who lived here before the Roman invasion), and the Roman era.

Ancient Roman head of Medusa known as "Medusa de Provençana", found in an excavation next to the Santa Eulàlia de Provençana church in L'H. Nowadays it's exhibited in the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya, Barcelona.

The origin of the city as we know it now dates back to the Middle Ages. It originated as two entities: the older Provençana (which we have written records of since around the year 900, and was found around Sta Eulàlia de Provençana) and the later Hospital de la Torre Blanca ("Hospital of the White Tower", from around the year 1100, what is now barri del Centre). The second one was a hospital not in our modern sense of a place to take care of the ill, it was a house for helping poor and homeless people, probably founded by the Knights Hospitaller. It grew in population and ended up becoming more important than Provençana, and eventually the name that designated the whole area was changed from Provençana to L'Hospitalet (meaning "The Little Hospital" in Catalan).

But throughout all of these centuries, L'H was a very rural town with a small population (as an example, it had about 900 inhabitants in the year 1815). The population grew when an irrigation canal was built that allowed the fields to be way more productive, reaching 5,000 inhabitants around the year 1900. But the population boom came in the 1960s and 1970s, during the Francoist dictatorship, when many immigrants from different rural parts of Spain moved to the big cities to work in the industry. That's when the areas around Barcelona were quickly built up in these massive apartment blocks to make the "bedroom cities" from where the newly-arrived workers commuted to work every day. The population boom was so huge that it explains why L'H is the 2nd biggest city in Catalonia and so densely populated.

Carrer de la Florida in 1956 vs 2024. (L'H city archive / Google Maps).

Carrer de la Renclusa, 84, in 1955 vs 2024. (L'H city archive / Google Maps).

Carrer de la Mina, 19, in 1956 vs 2024. (L'H city archive / Google Maps).

Avinguda del Torrent, 78, in 1956 vs 2024. (L'H city archive / Google Maps).

These "bedroom cities" had been built so quickly, that they didn't have any services. The inhabitants had to fight for all the services they have, which created a strong sense of pride that still continues nowadays.

As another note, one of the most famous maquis (anti-Francoism guerrilla fighters) was from L'H: Quico Sabaté. You can read about him on Wikipedia here. Another famous person from L'H is Ferran Adrià, one of the most famous chefs in the whole world.

I hope this was interesting, and I hope you can make the most of the Catalan classes, it will surely help you understand the country more and get better perspectives for a job.

[vivianbernadetteaurora]

Mars in Capricorn🧨

I feel like this placement is such a flex, and I’m really, really jealous of it. These women literally get men who can provide for them and a lot of the time older men that are due to Capricorn being the father the older man figure in life and the attraction to older men and probably a lot of thme having issues., all these women at one born in their life of being with an older man, and is the man you’re attracted to, I mean let’s go to Anna Nicole Smith, Howard James Marshall, who is literally a billionaire, met her at the strip club, not saying all these women are gold diggers, but they like to have a bag and they can get back, and they get provided for, and I feel like every woman has that right to be provided for man. I generally do maybe it’s because I’m an Earth and I have in the 10th., I’m honestly like go get what you want, I mean Anna and her husband had an arrangement together, imagine them leaving together he probably would’ve had a heart attack, they had an arrangement and his son didn’t like it, but this man was a billionaire and he wanted a sexy woman on his own and he better than Nicole Smith one of the most beautiful women in the world if not the beautiful.

Then we come to Amber Hood who wanted to make us start in Hollywood for a long time and I believe you went for a party to try and find that way they either are both of these things or one or the other they can fuck their way to the top, now I look at Madison a bit of a side but I still love her, taste older and old before that time, this is why they are attracted to this kind of man. They have serious issues which we found out with Austin this case I don’t know if her dad was very close with Johnny, but we don’t know the relationship completely between the dad and her., but she got something with Elon Musk go ahead like men before too long and it’s not Elon Musk Twitter Elon Musk people in the blind item, the world will agree that Elon and Amber were each other soulmates. Don’t worry Elon features twice in this post. Look at him and Grimes. Anyway, going back to Amber and her child, a lot of people agree that Amber‘s child is with Elon because she had her ex frozen when they were together, supposedly allegedly. But Grimes has had a long relationship with Elon also, and a lot of Elon‘s girls start with Bruno and then go blood, but I think Elon likes a crazy man, a pixie girl, the edge of them, and that they could ruin them any time.

On the list is a very sad one Aaliyah and her relationship with R. Kelly and Name – who are both a lot older than her but Dame was a lot closer in age or Kelly obviously did some very inappropriate stuff really and the creep met her when she was 12 through her uncle which makes it even sadder Barry Hanson, an Aaliyah was a Capricorn sun as well and very, she had that hook up with a dad as she’s on but I’m jealous of the situation with the money and being built up by a man and having a man that looks after you let’s be honest don’t we all want? We don’t come on. How nice would it be for a?, And look after you and you didn’t have to worry about a thing., obviously this placement shows up in different ways, like I said with Aaliyah she was vulnerable and it naturally came into her life, I wish Amber feel it was more sort out the same with Anna.

Lindsay Lohan, who moved to Dubai and has had the most, who dated her maybe apart from Leonardo DiCaprio and Warren? Beatty, the oldest profession goes on in the world. She said she moved out there because of the paparazzi hounding her, but I think it was more, away from that too, but also to get towards men with money; Lindsey allegedly has attended to like stealing as well, even though she’s rich, shoplifting or lifting is a rush, another addiction?

I can’t think of the exceptionally massive age group she said, but I’m sure she has some we don’t know of. Samantha Ronson, who I feel is at least 10 years older than her,.

Holly Madison, holy Madison had a relationship with you. She was in the Playboy mansion, and she became the number one girlfriend. Do you see what I mean and the Playboy secrets? Many of Hughes's friends have said that she loved it at the time, and then she became the opposite, and now she does a podcast talking about Playboy. She hasn’t stepped away from it, so she is still making money from it to some degree. If you, Hefner, I’m saying that that’s bad. I’m just saying the obvious.

Traumatized for many years, I’ve noticed with these people, we don’t see dad at all in their lives. Actually, if I think of all these people, maybe Michael Lohan and, of course, Lindsey are going to have daddy issues with a man like that. A

Drew Barrymore, Barrymore may not, have been with older people, but she went out with Eric out of Hole and hung around with Courtney Love when she was literally just, she was also partying in Studio 54 when she was very very young, hanging around with people much older than her, and doing drugs and very young age. Around these people had died she had a very trauma, he was a drug addict and an alcoholic, was famous and become lineage of famous people in Hollywood.

We have the Olsen, and talk about Mary Kate Olsen, with Oliviar, They had a huge age gap. She even looked like one of his children she was even shorter than one of his children. I, it looked really creepy another person who’s not in the college here is Amanda Bynes and we know what happened there., know quiet on set .

And then, obviously you have Catherine Jones he’s been with Michael Douglas like forever , obviously many decades older than her. I just think it’s a placement I’d like to brag about it obviously has its , have my mars in the 10th house , and let’s talk about men with this placement Brad Pitt , Shia LaBeouf , and how they all a bit dodgy , and I’ve been all over the place with women

. Who allegedly did stuff with Michael Bay who is very abusive?, To her and they fell out., very casting couch,

[kob131]

Lily Orchard and Pokemon: Gen 4

Yay, we get to hear Lily bitch more from now on.

"Gen 4 runs like shit because the game is trying to process 3D graphics all the time, like with battle transitions, health bars and movement!"

Then how the fuck do you explain Platinum, which ended up fixing all these issues then?

"Also I'm modding the game to remove the FPS cap and give myself a Ralts as the starter-"

W-w-wait, what?!

Why the fuck are you modding the games...in a retrospective all about looking back at the games as they hold up? Your complaints and footage WON'T line up, thus weakening your arguments!

Also, I don't give a fuck about how much you like Gardevoir. Ralts doesn't get an attacking move until Level 6. Starters start at Level 5. And Ralts is INTENTIONALLY weak to compensate for how strong it is fully evolved. Modding in a Ralts WILL affect your gameplay because the games aren't built for that.

For fuck's sake- USE A DIFFERENT TEAM!

"I encourage Barry to try and jump over the grass because I wanna see him get mauled by a Bidoof-"

Wait a minute. Was-was that fucking Peanut Butter from Pokemon Rusty?

...Oh great, Lily Orchard is probably taking her takes from Dorkly. That explains a lot.

"Well Ralts doesn't get an attacking move so I 'threw the match-'"

Sounding pretty salty there, Lily. Maybe you should try diversifying your teams and actually ENGAGE with the Pokemon by using a damn starter.

"I'm getting stopped all this time like a small child in a brony conve-"

I will call Taka in here to maul you, Lily. You were kicked out, deal with it.

"Uh oh! My Ralts is worse than a Magikarp! Whoopsie!"

Keep this in mind. It will be important later.

"Oh no! It takes a whole minute and ten seconds for me to get through an encounter with Team Galactic! TOO LONG!"

Speaking as someone who has played every Gen of Pokemon...as well as playing a few games with Pokemon's older, edgy brother SMT- You are making mountains out of mole hills Lily.

Games, especially RPGs given how they don't tend to be very interactive games, tell stories to stimulate the player's brain. This requires time, Lily. I know that you like being lulled into a silent stupor as evidenced by your love of Team Aqua/Magma and later Lysandre (No I am not joking) but most ACTUAL people like having some kind of engagement with the game. Pokemon, even at it's most verbose, is fucking SMALL POTATOES compared to your usual JRPG.

I brought up SMT for a reason Lily- that series compensates for having a less engaging battle system than Pokemon's by having a more robust story. If you played any SMT, even one like Nocturne- your brain would likely shut down.

JRPGs like having stories. You signed up for this with Pokemon. Now judge it accordingly.

"People gas up Cyrus as one of the best villains-!"

No they don't. They gas TEAM GALACTIC as one of the best villains because they fuck with the fundamental forces of existence, giving them an air of a series threat. I don't agree, I like Cyrus for being the only one with a reason for doing what he's doing. But people usually like him for the stuff OUTSIDE his home game.

"Reading Pokemon stories is just like watching subbed anime: reading the most inane bullshit!"

... Lily, you hate anything anime, don't you?

"Sinnoh ugly because grey and mud and forest gross!"

... 1- Lily, you literally show a grey tiled route being dyed orange in evening light.

2- Yes Lily. Mountainious regions and marshlands have mud and rocks.

And 3- The forest looks dark and damp because that's a fucking FOREST. If you paid attention the BGM in the previous forests, you'd notice that is what the developers intend the forest areas to be like. You basically just said ''the previous three gens completely failed at their jobs!'

*Lily proceeds to have a fake existential nightmare about Pokemon and Youtube*

Cool Lily. Too bad you mention these minor things and not...you know...the strewn path of broken lives you've left in your wake on this planet.

Could have had some kind of respect for you.

"Pokemon games hold your hand like a creepy uncle with a MLP collec-"

@takashi0 get in here! Lily's being an ass about bronies again!

"Oh my god! So many forced tutorials! Why won't they let me skip everything like the Underground tutorial! POKEMON BAD!"

Lily, the reason why the game won't let you skip the Bike is because you NEED it to progress the game and it gives you an improved movement option. It also won't let you skip the Egg tutorial because Pokemon breeding is necessary for getting certain Pokemon or helping you get certain Pokemon (like multiple starters). And this is why you can't skip the catching tutorial: you'd just be throwing Pokeballs at random and failing constantly.

These are necessary aspects of the game. A game for kids who may have never played a Pokemon game before. Deal with it.

"I don't know why I'm here, I just keep ignoring the dialogue."

So you talk about the story being ass...while acknowledging that you aren't paying attention to said story...

Like, I know that Lily is implying she's long since gone through the game and experienced the story, hates it and is now skipping over it but you are now making a retrospective of the games. Now would be a good time to pay attention and possible reconsider your stance.

"HMs are so cool! You can use your Pokemon to transverse the region! People are so dumb for bitching about them. You have 24 moveslots, just set aside some and forget coverage, dumbbnuts!"

So what you're saying is that we should have random required HMs in Pokemon Gyms to challenge them properly? You know, like Chuck's Gym? That you couldn't complete without backtracking?

Or that maybe we should have moves like Cut, Rock Smash, Flash, Whirlpool and Defog (which you basically call useless) be necessary! After all, who cares about player expression? It's just 20.8% of your moveslots!

... This is why you use your BRAIN Lily.

"You need to adapt to roadblocks, you useless clowns!"

Remember this, it will be important later.

"Archie and Maxie were charmingly stupid but Cyrus is completely crazy!"

A- That's intentional with Cyrus and UNINTENTIONAL with your favs.

And B- You outright emphasized that they were gonna blow up a volcano to try and expand water/land for Pokemon. How is THAT not crazy?

"Barry demands yet ANOTHER Battle-"

It's the fourth fucking battle Lily. Just because you cut yourself anytime a rival shows up doesn't make it excessive.

"*another 'cobs bad' joke*-"

Yeah yeah, you want cops gone because your abuse victims keep calling them on you and you have a bad experience with them.

Move on.

"Hey I'm not a cop, it's not unethical if I go on a rampage-"

You REALLY don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you?

"Cyrus can no be cult leader, HE HAVE NO MOTIVE OR PESONALLITY!"

...

"Fellow members of Team Galactic! Hear me! My name, as I appear to you today, is Cyrus. This world of ours is a crude one. In a word, it is incomplete. It has been, and always will be, a struggle to survive in this world. We humans and Pokémon are likewise incomplete. Because we are all so lacking, we fight, we maim... It is ugly. I hate the incompleteness. That we are all incomplete, I hate it with my entire body and being. The world should be complete. The world must change. Then, who will change it? Me, Cyrus. And Team Galactic. Yes, all of you. Together we pored over myths and exposed their secrets. Together we captured legendary Pokémon. And now, Team Galactic has obtained the energy to change the world! The power of dreams is within our grasp! Understand it, fellow members! My long-held dreamworld is on the verge of becoming reality. All those headed to Mt. Coronet, and those who remain here... Though our missions may differ, our hearts beat as one. Let there be glory for Team Galactic!"

-

"But, I must say... You are a remarkable specimen. Those Pokémon have nothing to do with you, do they? But still you come to rescue them out of pity? Such pitifully useless emotions... It's illogical and irrational. Pity and compassion are products of the weak and faulty human heart. You were compelled to come here by such vacuous sentimentality! I will make you regret paying heed to your heart!"

Perhaps pay attention to the fucking dialogue, Lily. Because these are pretty blunt and obvious examples. Cyrus appeals to people feeling that the world is harsh and unfair, promising them a bright tomorrow if they listen to him. Then he explains how he believes emotions have caused these problems so he wishes to erase them.

"Oh really Looker? You think I'm so dumb that-"

Lily, you just got done humiliating yourself by being outsmarted by a children's game and will continue that streak throughout this video.

Yes, you are that dumb.

"Cyrus has double the dialogue Maxie and Archie have in these games but it is so stilted and devoid of personality! Archie and Maxie are SOO much better by being stupid and trying to better the world-!"

Lily, those guys were not intended on being stupid. They were intended to be well intentioned extremists. They seem stupid because the games made their acts so dumb that the intentions are overshadowed by their stupidity.

Cyrus does more than try to be evil, you can tell from comparing his dialogue to Giovanni's-

"Blast it all! You ruined our plans for Silph! But Team Rocket will never fall! <Player>, never forget that all Pokémon exist for Team Rocket! I must go, but I shall return!"

And his so-called 'stilted' dialogue would probably fit a man who is OPENLY TRYING TO RID THE WORLD OF EMOTION. If your assessment is correct- that would be good writing.

Archie and Maxie are badly written. You are praising bad writing over good writing.

"Platnium has gotten away from the feeling of adventure that makes Pokemon good-"

You know what helps with a sense of adventure Lily?

A story. Something to give structure and stimulation to the player.

You praised one of the dullest games in the series in Emerald and are going to praise THE dullest game in the series. All while demonizing the games that actually stimulate.

You're full of shit.

[mariacallous]

A week after its algorithms advised people to eat rocks and put glue on pizza, Google admitted Thursday that it needed to make adjustments to its bold new generative AI search feature. The episode highlights the risks of Google’s aggressive drive to commercialize generative AI—and also the treacherous and fundamental limitations of that technology.

Google’s AI Overviews feature draws on Gemini, a large language model like the one behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to generate written answers to some search queries by summarizing information found online. The current AI boom is built around LLMs’ impressive fluency with text, but the software can also use that facility to put a convincing gloss on untruths or errors. Using the technology to summarize online information promises can make search results easier to digest, but it is hazardous when online sources are contractionary or when people may use the information to make important decisions.

“You can get a quick snappy prototype now fairly quickly with an LLM, but to actually make it so that it doesn't tell you to eat rocks takes a lot of work,” says Richard Socher, who made key contributions to AI for language as a researcher and, in late 2021, launched an AI-centric search engine called You.com.

Socher says wrangling LLMs takes considerable effort because the underlying technology has no real understanding of the world and because the web is riddled with untrustworthy information. “In some cases it is better to actually not just give you an answer, or to show you multiple different viewpoints,” he says.

Google’s head of search Liz Reid said in the company’s blog post late Thursday that it did extensive testing ahead of launching AI Overviews. But she added that errors like the rock eating and glue pizza examples—in which Google’s algorithms pulled information from a satirical article and jocular Reddit comment, respectively—had prompted additional changes. They include better detection of “nonsensical queries,” Google says, and making the system rely less heavily on user-generated content.

You.com routinely avoids the kinds of errors displayed by Google’s AI Overviews, Socher says, because his company developed about a dozen tricks to keep LLMs from misbehaving when used for search.

“We are more accurate because we put a lot of resources into being more accurate,” Socher says. Among other things, You.com uses a custom-built web index designed to help LLMs steer clear of incorrect information. It also selects from multiple different LLMs to answer specific queries, and it uses a citation mechanism that can explain when sources are contradictory. Still, getting AI search right is tricky. WIRED found on Friday that You.com failed to correctly answer a query that has been known to trip up other AI systems, stating that “based on the information available, there are no African nations whose names start with the letter ‘K.’” In previous tests, it had aced the query.

Google’s generative AI upgrade to its most widely used and lucrative product is part of a tech-industry-wide reboot inspired by OpenAI’s release of the chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022. A couple of months after ChatGPT debuted, Microsoft, a key partner of OpenAI, used its technology to upgrade its also-ran search engine Bing. The upgraded Bing was beset by AI-generated errors and odd behavior, but the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, said that the move was designed to challenge Google, saying “I want people to know we made them dance.”

Some experts feel that Google rushed its AI upgrade. “I’m surprised they launched it as it is for as many queries—medical, financial queries—I thought they’d be more careful,” says Barry Schwartz, news editor at Search Engine Land, a publication that tracks the search industry. The company should have better anticipated that some people would intentionally try to trip up AI Overviews, he adds. “Google has to be smart about that,” Schwartz says, especially when they're showing the results as default on their most valuable product.

Lily Ray, a search engine optimization consultant, was for a year a beta tester of the prototype that preceded AI Overviews, which Google called Search Generative Experience. She says she was unsurprised to see the errors that appeared last week given how the previous version tended to go awry. “I think it’s virtually impossible for it to always get everything right,” Ray says. “That’s the nature of AI.”

Even if blatant errors like suggesting people eat rocks become less common, AI search can fail in other ways. Ray has documented more subtle problems with AI Overviews, including summaries that sometimes draw on poor sources such as sites that are from another region or even defunct websites—something she says could provide less useful information to users who are hunting for product recommendations, for instance. Those who work on optimizing content for Google’s Search algorithm are still trying to understand what’s going on. “Within our industry right now, the level of confusion is on the charts,” she says.

Even if industry experts and consumers get more familiar with how the new Google search behaves, don’t expect it to stop making mistakes. Daniel Griffin, a search consultant and researcher who is developing tools to make it easy to compare different AI-powered search services, says that Google faced similar problems when it launched Featured Snippets, which answered queries with text quoted from websites, in 2014.

Griffin says he expects Google to iron out some of the most glaring problems with AI Overviews, but that it’s important to remember no one has solved the problem of LLMs failing to grasp what is true, or their tendency to fabricate information. “It’s not just a problem with AI,” he says. “It’s the web, it’s the world. There’s not really a truth, necessarily.”

[fandomsnstuff]

Consider: twosun didn't have snow. Anywhere. At all. They didn't even have a concept of it. They don't know what it is. Anyway, it's day 26 of @taznovembercelebration and im a canadian who tried to write people who've never seen snow before

Day 26: wonder

The IPRE crew is very happy that their plan worked and they've successfully hidden from the Hunger. What they didn't plan for, was how cold Faerun could get and the not-rain falling from the sky.

Read it on AO3

After they deploy the relics in what they hope to be the final cycle, the IPRE crew waits with bated breath for the Hunger. But the scouts never come. Days pass, then weeks, then months, and the sky never darkens unnaturally, revealing countless white eyes opening up to find them.

As those months pass, they find that the days shorten and the air cools. As people built for a world with two suns, this poses a bit of a problem. Sure, they spent certain cycles in colder and darker climates, but that doesn't mean they enjoyed it. One year just isn't enough time to adapt to that. So they make do. Sweaters and blankets are plentiful, and when the cold gets bad enough that the ship's heating system can't seem to break through it, they all pile up in the living room. Body heat is crucial for survival. Not to mention that Magnus is simply a furnace of a man.

He's the one who seems to be able to function the best. He has to wear a shirt (or a few), much to his chagrin, but he still gets up every morning and dutifully goes for a run.

One morning, he extracts himself from the pile of bodies on top of him, and everyone shuffles in to fill the space he left. He's barely gone for a few minutes when he comes back and excitedly says, “guys, get up! You gotta see this!”

There are some grumblings about having to leave the nice warm sleep pile to go to the cold outdoors, but they comply. When they get outside, though, the grumblings stop as they all stand in awed silence.

Davenport had landed the cloaked ship in a field just outside a nearby town. That town, the field, and everything else, is now coated in a thick layer of white… stuff. And small bits of it fall from the sky. Magnus runs out onto it, and it crunches under his feet, leaving footprints behind. He turns back to them and holds his arms out, “isn't it great?!”

“It's beautiful,” Lucretia says. The sun peeks through the soft grey clouds and it sparkles. She breathes out, “woah.”

Lup steps out into it and holds out her hand. Some of the little bits land on her hand, and stay there a moment before melting away. She crouches and scoops some up off the ground, crushing it in her hand. Some falls back to the ground and some melts away. She wipes her hand off on her pants. “It's like the cold sand from, what was it? 45?”

“42,” Lucretia says, “but I don't remember it falling from the sky. Or melting.” She holds her hand out too, and watches the bits melt. “It's water.”

“So it's raining ice,” Taako pulls his obscene amount of blankets tighter around himself, “peachy.”

“I don't think it's ice,” Barry says, “this isn't one solid piece.” He examines the bits that have collected on the sleeve of his sweater, “it's like it's crystallised.”

“Maybe I can go into town and talk to someone,” Magnus says, “they'll probably know what's up with this. Maybe we can get some better gear, because I don't know about you guys, but my shoes and socks got wet the moment I stepped out here.”

“I'll go with you,” Lucretia says, “just give me two minutes to put real clothes on.”

Not long after, they're crossing the field together.

“You weren't kidding about the wet shoes,” she says.

“I even changed my socks while you were getting dressed and put on different shoes, and my feet are still wet.”

“Well Taako promised us soup when we got back, so I think that'll keep me–” she cuts herself off with a yelp as her feet hit harder ground and fly out from under her. Magnus catches her before she cracks her head open on the cobblestone. “Now that,” she says, getting back on her feet, “is ice.”

“No kidding,” Magnus links her arm in his and they make their way (carefully) into the streets, “the last thing we want to do is lose you when we've only just begun the rest of our lives.”

She squeezes his arm. “We won't be perpetually in our early 20s anymore.”

“I'll finally be able to fully develop my frontal cortex.”

All through town, there are children playing in the cold snow, and people walking briskly down the street. Lucretia and Magnus are wearing the most layers out of anyone. Lucretia spots a café on the opposite side of the street. “Let's go in there,” she says, nodding in its direction, “the air out here is making my face hurt.”

They cross the street as quickly as they dare, and sigh with relief as the warmth of the indoors and the smell of fresh baked goods hits them. They walk up to the counter, where a young woman is placing a tray of croissants into the display.

“Awfully cold out there,” Magnus says, turning on his rustic charm.

The woman looks up at them, amused. “Newcomers?”

“You could say that.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “Trust me, if you think this is cold, you haven't seen anything yet.”

Both of their faces drop. “It gets worse?” Lucretia asks.

“Oh, yeah.” She gestures to the window, “you actually can't get snow if it's too cold. That's when you get freezing rain and everything's covered in a layer of ice.”

They both just stare at her, dumbfounded. Their home plane had nothing like this. It didn't get this cold, and it certainly didn't have “snow” and rain that covered everything in ice. The young woman smiles pleasantly, “so what can I get you?”

They glance at each other. Magnus says, “directions to somewhere warmer, maybe?”

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Taxes, Taxes, Taxes-Chapter 21

Fandom: Supergirl

Characters: Kara Danvers, Clark Kent, Samantha Arias, Lena Luthor, Lillian Luthor, Ruby Arias, Oliver Queen, John Stewart, Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, J'onn J'onnz, Alfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Cat Grant, Lucy Lane, Damian Wayne, Felicity Smoak, Streaky the Supercat, Martha Kent, Selina Kyle, Talia Al Ghul, Lucius Fox

Summary: What if superheroes had to pay a property damage tax every time they had a fight in the city?

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20

Bruce rolled his eyes as he listened to the board members arguing in the background over the phone while he talked to his CFO Lucius Fox. They were trying to push a vote on expanding Wayne Enterprise to Canada. Most were for it. They just couldn’t agree on where the corporate headquarters should be. The places being thrown around were Toronto, Quebec City, Halifax, and Vancouver. Bruce honestly didn’t care about where they built, but his board members fought back that it was all about location, location, location. 

Lucius sighed and said, “If it wasn’t for the fact that you pay me handsomely for this bullshit, I would have bailed on these idiots an hour ago.”

Bruce smirked and asked, “So it isn’t the box seat passes that I got you for the Giants’ games for the rest of the season?”

Lucius chuckled and said, “Oh, that definitely took the edge off.” Lucias paused for a moment and said, “What exactly do you want me to do with this stalemate they have about Canada? We tried holding a vote but ended up with equal votes for all the cities.”

Bruce rubbed his head for a moment and said, “Have one of the associates make out a proposal for the mayor of each of those respective cities. We know what we can offer in terms of job opportunities and increasing value to the city. See what the representatives can offer us in terms of tax breaks and things of that nature. Whoever offers us the best benefits is the one we go with.”

Lucius sighed and said, “This is why I wished you were here with us an hour ago. We could have ended the meeting in five minutes with an idea like that.”

Bruce chuckled and said, “I needed to be here for Damian. This is an important milestone for him.”

“Are you sure you are not using this as an excuse to get out of a board meeting? Disneyland was a weird choice, but I have seen you choose stranger places to avoid the Board.”

Bruce rolled his eyes and said, “Damian really did have a field trip for Disney. I wasn’t going to let him go by himself. The PTA already think I am an idiot and absentminded as it is….”

Lucius burst out laughing for a few minutes. 

Bruce narrowed his eyes and asked, “What’s so funny?”

Lucius’ laugh started tapering off and said, “I’m sorry. I just never thought that you of all people would care what other people think. Imagine what your opposition in your second life would think.”

Bruce gave a deadpan stare and said, “Ha, Ha. Very funny.”

Lucius chuckled and said, “You know I’m kidding right?”

Bruce smiled coyly and said, “Sure you are.”

“Anyway, how is Damian taking to Disney? I’m sure it is different to the other eclectic things he has been exposed to in his childhood.”

Bruce sighed while rubbing the back of his head. He knew going to Disney would be a very foreign concept for his youngest, but he didn’t expect him to fight him the whole way. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. It would definitely explain the looks his other three boys gave him when he mentioned their trip. Dick and Jason just bursted out laughing at the suggestion and Tim started to do research into securing Damian an attorney in case he decided to burn the theme park down in vengeance. 

Bruce shook his head and said, “Damian hasn’t taken too kindly being here. He has already pressed the panic button he has twice to try to get Tim to pick him up since he is with the Titans this week in California. When that didn’t work, he tried to ditch me to go back to the main road to hitchhike before I caught up with him.”

“Considering his other antics are you really surprised by this?”

Bruce sighed and said, “My three older boys have already indicated the same thing. I just want him to have people his age to associate with.”

Bruce looked out the corner of his eye and noticed Lena coming back with several Dole Whips.

While looking at her thoughtfully, Bruce said, “Lucius, if there isn’t anything else, I am going to have to call you back after I get back to Gotham on Monday.”

“Okay, hope things go better with Damian this weekend.”

“You and me both,” muttered Bruce under his breath as he hung up the phone. 

He quickly changed his frown to a passive smile as Lena finally walked up to him. 

Lena smiled and said while handing him a Dole Whip, “Damian and Kara wanted some. I got some for you in case you wanted one as well.”

Bruce gave her a blank stare. He knew that Kara trusted her implicitly, but he still had some nagging thoughts about her. 

Lena chuckled nervously and said, “If you don’t want it, that is fine. I can just give it to Kara. She would probably be excited at the prospect of having two more.”

Bruce let out his charming smile which took Lena off guard for a moment. 

Bruce said, “I would actually like to try some. Some of my employees have talked wonders about this so I am curious if it lives up to all the hype.”

Bruce took the cup from Lena. He began to eat. His eyebrow went up in surprise. He knew that this was similar to ice cream but this is the best ice cream that he has had in a while.

Lena smirked and said, “I take it this means that it far exceeded your expectations.”

Bruce chuckled and said, “Definitely.”

They stood in weird silence with one other. Bruce could tell that Lena kept nervously looking around. Probably wish that Kara would come back as quickly as possible. Originally, Bruce thought about keeping silent until his son and Kara came back but then saw it as an opportunity to get to know the girl. Clark hadn’t been too keen on anyone approaching Lena. Several veiled threats were made if anyone did. If asked, he could use this as an innocent run-in, although he can hear it now from Clark accusing him that it was planned. 

He sighed and said, “Kara has said that you run a children’s hospital.”

Lena smiled and let out a sigh of relief and said, “Yes. I believe in the importance of getting children the best healthcare they could as possible no matter what the cost.”

“What caused you to want to focus on children’s health though?”

Lena looked up thoughtfully and said, “My niece Ruby inspired me actually. She was sick. Most doctors thought it was a cold or at most the flu and said with just over-the-counter medicine it would go away. However, she kept getting sicker and nothing was working. We went to doctor after doctor until one actually did their research and found out what was wrong with her and got her the treatment that she needed to get well. I don’t want any family to have to go through that. Being dismissed and thinking that your concerns aren’t valid. I wanted to have doctors look into everything instead of looking at what is most common. That is when I decided to scout for the best of the best in pediatrics and start my own hospital.”

Bruce gave her an insightful look. Many had regarded Lena using her hospital for nefarious purposes, but he has seen that the commercial that Kara and Lena did a couple of weeks back had changed the discourse around it. Now, more patients have been giving reviews and it has been overall positive. It was good to know that Lena created the hospital as a way to inspire change. Bruce was about to comment as such when he heard his phone ring again. He sighed and looked down and saw that Alfred was calling. He looked at Lena sheepishly and mouthed “One moment.”

Read the rest on AO3

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

His fans blaming Olivia Wilde can’t gaslight movie producers, who have a long list of better actors in their 20’s and 30’s to cast. Harry got a gold ticket and he fucked it up.

this made me giggleeee bc i was thinking this recently with all of the actors on actors interviews coming out (plus i was just reading an article on “hollywood’s new leading men” - https://www.thecut.com/article/harris-dickinson-babygirl-paul-mescal-josh-oconnor-leading-men-hollywood.html ).

austin butler, paul mescal, josh o connor, drew starkey, harris dickinson in particular… all of them are attractive actors around harry’s age, getting roles back to back that he might have gotten if he had any acting talent at all. i would be sooo humiliated if the news that i was being replaced by nicholas hoult, a man five years my senior, that started acting when he was three years old, was met with such universal celebration. 💀

people generally want to see new faces in film & tv, especially in highly anticipated projects. they typically want to give actors the chance to develop and hone their skills, rather than prefer to see a man we’ve been seeing on our screens for years replace you right before shooting. hoult is not even particularly well liked and his talent is not particularly acclaimed, but he is at least reliable and can act his way out of a paper bag.

https://fandomwire.com/why-was-harry-styles-cast-in-first-place-we-cant-complain-about-one-direction-star-losing-his-role-in-nosferatu-to-nicholas-hoult/

like… this ⬆️ is so embarrassing 😭😭

The remake of 1922’s Nosferatu has been heavily anticipated for many reasons. The film is set to provide a new version of the classic for a completely different audience, continuing the legacy of the iconic silent film. There are many excellent things about the upcoming film, with it being directed by The Lighthouse director, Robert Eggers, as well as its cast consisting of talents like Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, and Bill Skarsgård.

Amid all the beauty and excitement of the film, many seemed to have forgotten that Harry Styles’ name was once connected to the project. In March 2022, Variety reported that the singer was no longer a part of the project after scheduling conflicts caused him to pull out.

Not only was he supposed to be a part of the upcoming film, but his role was important enough that Anya Taylor-Joy would have been cast if he had still been connected to the film. Additionally, it was later reported by Deadline that the role that Styles was supposed to play was filled by Nicholas Hoult.

Fans Are Glad At The Change

When the updates were being given about Harry Styles’ involvement in Nosferatu, no one batted an eye, with conversations of Don’t Worry Darling still going on. However, with two years having passed, fans cannot help but look back at how bizarre the entire situation was.

Do you ever stop to think about the male actors who were in Dunkirk with Harry, some of whom have gone on to chew up the scene on stage or screen. Jack Lowden has done Slow Horses and married Saoirse Ronan, Barry Keoghan, Cilian Murphy, Tom Hardy. Actors have chosen interesting roles to expand their craft, and none slept with their directors 💀💀💀

Austin Butler who took the role in Elvis. Nicholas Hoult who built on his role in The Menu. Timmy Chalamet doing blockbusters and Oscar bait. There’s tough competition for leading men and they need to have it all— looks, talent, and personality. Studios can’t rely on a bunch of Harries showing up to their big money Oscar contenders or potential billion dollar films.

So much happened to cinema between 2021 and 2025 and it’s crazy how so much acting talent is exploding.

(But also can we have some diversity 💀💀💀)

[mrfandomwars]

As we get further away from WWII, DC Comics will have to explain why the JSA* exists and is probably still alive (even if retired) in the present day

*bc, if I recall correctly, they are often created bc of World War II, right?

so here are some solutions that DC (or fans, honestly) can and possibly will use - if they haven't used them already:

Different Earths Colliding - no need to explain why the JSA exists and was made during WWII if they are originally a different earth which was earlier in time!

Time Isn't Real - DC Comics refuse to acknowledge any dates beyond moth and day, at most, and time beyond what happened in the comics - so you will get 'my birthday is on March 6th' and '3 years after Bruce Wayne took up the cowl...'

Time Is Real, But I'm Not Telling You - The Earth operates under a different calendar, in the sense that only the event that is used to define the BCE and CE is different. So you can have people naming dates and years But it's completely different from our years, so for example: Damian could be born in the year 1903 because of this - Bonus Points: Vandal Savage (or any other immortal) is somehow related to the Event that is used, if he didn't outright cause it

Humans Live Longer, idk what to tell you - Suddenly humanity can live for more than 100 years at least!

JSA Is Just Built Different™️- Event happens with the JSA and they all live longer lives than normal humans, be it because they were in the area of a crazy scientist, being around Doctor Fate has Positive Side Effects, magic amulet, this one gem that they used to make a jewellery that every member was given secretly has a magical ability to prologue the health and life of whoever has it - someone could have become immortal with no side effects had they not split it up.

One Way Time Travel - Either by accident or on purpose, the JSA (and possibly people they care about, if DC/the writer is nice) ends up time travelling and can't go back to their correct time so they are stuck in present day and have to adapt

Regular Time Travel - Barry Allen found out how to time travel and now people tag along with him to interact with the JSA and bond with them - possibly accidentally starts a different timeline that will have to be handled or declared a 'branch' timeline.

[archvillain-fandom]

response to barry lyga’s un/edited

Not sure what this is. A book review, maybe. A creative writing exercise. The ramblings of a madwoman. Whatever it is, it had to be written.

We’re sitting in the backyard of my childhood home, on our butts, on the grass, on top of the hill. It’s not the backyard as it is now, years after we sold the house and the new owners remodeled it, but it’s not the backyard from my first memories. The treehouse that my dad built for me at age 10 is in the avocado tree, and the giant eucalyptus has been cut down. I stare at the stump, big enough for a little girl to use as a table for her dolls.

“Who am I?” my indefinite companion asks.

“You’re Kyle Camden,” I reply.

“Oh.” Kyle looks at his body, which is suddenly a lot clearer. “From Archvillain?”

“Sort of,” I say. “You’re a version of Kyle that I extrapolated from Archvillain. You’re close to the character that was written, but not exactly the same. You’re a subversion of the real thing.”

“There is no ‘real’ Kyle Camden,” Kyle says.

“Touché.”

“So what’s different about me?” he asks.

I sigh. “Who knows? Maybe you’re less snarky. Maybe you have more empathy. Maybe you’re really me, when I was twelve. Who knows?”

“You said ‘who knows’ twice in the last paragraph,” he points out.

“I’ll get it when I edit,” I shrug. “Or maybe I won’t edit this. His book is called ‘Unedited,’ after all.”

“It’s called ‘Edited,’ too,” Kyle says. “Doesn’t that mean you should edit?”

I sigh. “Don’t be a smartass.”

His eyes widen. “Wait, we can curse in this?”

“Sure,” I say. “This isn’t a Scholastic book. This is a blog post on a blog with fewer than fifty followers. Nobody’s going to care.”

He laughs, long and loud. “FUCK!” he yells. And then, not as loud, but just as exuberant, “Fuck, that felt good! I’ve been wanting to fucking swear since I was fucking created.”

I laugh too. “I’m glad I can offer you that much, at least.”

“After all I’ve given you?” he says dryly.

“Well, fuck, Kyle, don’t act all self-important now.”

“That’s the character,” he says. “That’s the original character.”

“I guess,” I say.

He furrows his brow. “If what you say is true, though… I’m not the original character. I’m an approximation, based on your interpretation. Which means that I clearly mean a lot to you. Which means that I’m not being self-important. So there!”

“You’re being a smartass again,” I say.

He shrugs wordlessly. We both stare at the eucalyptus stump.

“You know,” I say, finally breaking the silence, “I don’t think I ever used that stump as a table for my dolls. I think I just said that in the first paragraph to evoke memories of a rosy childhood, playing in the backyard without a care in the world. In real life, I think I was too anxious about getting my dolls dirty to take them outside.”

Kyle turns to look at me, but doesn’t say anything.

“Or maybe,” I continue, “I didn’t make that up. My sister convinced me to bring our dolls outside, and I went along with it to make her happy. I don’t remember.”

“You have a sister?” Kyle says.

“Younger,” I say. “Three and a half years apart.” I nod in the direction of the stump, at the bottom of the hill. “When that was a tree… the lowest branch was level with the second story of the house. It looked like a hundred feet up– maybe it was. My dad hung a rope swing from that branch. No fucking clue how he got it up there. But he hung a rope swing with a hundred feet of rope– well, there were two ropes holding up the swing, so I guess it was two hundred… hmm…”

“Focus,” Kyle snaps.

“Anyway,” I say. “My sister was a climber. Climbed everything vertical. And so she decided to climb the rope swing. There were no knots or anything, just straight rope. But she took her shoes off, rubbed dirt on her hands, and started climbing. She was seven or eight. And she climbed up, almost to the top. And she made eye contact with my mom, through the second-story window.”

“And then your mom screamed, and your sister panicked, and lost her grip, and fell to her death,” said Kyle.

“No,” I say. “My mom kept her cool, and ordered her to come down. My sister made her way back down the rope, endured a lecture, and is now a student at the same college that I went to.”

“That’s a bad ending,” Kyle tells me. “There’s no payoff. We learn nothing.”

“I have a fear of heights,” I tell him, although that seems kind of redundant. “Now you’ve learned that.”

“I don’t have that fear,” he grins. “I can fly.”

“I know.”

“It’s kind of weird that you have a fear of heights, but love a story about falling,” he says.

“Falling?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Archvillain is about falling.”

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, but he only shrugs.

I wait a moment, before I say, “You don’t sound like the real Kyle.”

“I told you, there is no real Kyle.”

“Original Kyle, then. The non-bastardized Kyle.”

“Maybe that’s because you’re writing me,” he says.

“Probably,” I agree.

He says nothing, and so I add, “The tree story is my running-in-front-of-a-car-to-get-an-action-figure story.”

He throws his hands up. “Oh, now we’re talking about the book!”

I shrug. “If you want, we can.”

“If I’m Kyle Camden, then I must be, in some way, partly Barry Lyga. And if I’m partly Barry Lyga, then I must want to know what you thought of his– my– book.”

“I think the part of you that’s me is placing much more weight on my opinion than the part of you that’s Barry Lyga really would.”

“Fuck, that’s confusing,” says Kyle.

“I got confused writing that sentence,” I say.

“But seriously, what did you think of the book?”

“It was…” I try to think of some adjective, and fail. “It was. It existed.”

“Seriously?” Kyle says in disbelief. “That’s all you’ve got? Aren’t you supposed to be a writer?”

“I’m a writer,” I say. “I never said I was a good writer.”

“‘It existed,’” Kyle mocks. “Wow. Put that on the cover of the second edition. ‘It existed,’ signed Amanda P———, owner of one of the most obsessive Tumblr blogs in existence. That’ll sell more copies.”

“It–“ I sigh. “Isn’t that a compliment? In a work of metafiction, where the characters are grappling with their existence, under an author-god grappling with his own creations, under the real author grappling with his publisher, isn’t it enough to say it existed?”

“No,” says Kyle.

“You’re infuriating,” I say.

“It’s why you like me,” he replies.

I exhale. “The truth is that I don’t get this book. But this book gets me. You follow?”

“No,” he says again.

“It’s just–“ I take a breath, and try again. “It’s just that when I read it, something clicked. Details lined up. It was like it was written for only me.”

“It wasn’t, though,” he says.

“No, you’re not getting it. I had like, a God moment. It was the same feeling that I had when I first read your book.”

“Didn’t you read my section in Unedited?” Kyle says. “God isn’t real. It’s a coherent 13-dimensional waveform–“

“Alright, I don’t feel like typing the whole rant out,” I say. “I get it. I’m not special.”

“Whatever details you thought ‘lined up’ were just coincidences. Common human experiences.”

“You’re starting to sound like Lyga’s Kyle again,”

I say.

“If you’re to be believed, that’s who I really am,” he says. “Or maybe your bastardization has stuck. Maybe, in his mind, a part of you has embedded itself in his conception of me.”

“Or maybe that’s just my ego talking,” I say.

“Maybe,” he says. “I think you have a bigger ego than he does. Which is saying something, considering he wrote a book where he’s both God and the Devil.”

I put my head in my hands. “Fuck this shit. Can’t we just go back to sitting in the backyard?”

“Sure,” says Kyle. “It’s nice here.”

We both sit.

We both sit.

We both sit.

I say, finally, “I did like the book.”

“You only read it to see me,” he says.

“Well, yeah, at first,” I say. “But then I couldn’t stop. Screwed up my whole day at work because I couldn’t get my mind off of it.”

“You work?” Kyle says.

“I’m twenty-two,” I say. “A college graduate. Of course I work.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a government drone,” I deadpan. Kyle chuckles. “I work for my city. For now, possibly forever.”

“It’s funny,” he says. “I never pictured you working.”

“You’re a fictional character,” I tell him. “You can’t picture anything.”

“I can picture as much as he can picture,” he says. “Or, well, as much as you can picture that he can picture.”

“Well, I was fourteen when I first read Archvillain,” I say. “I wasn’t even a babysitter back then. And now–“

“Now it’s been, like, eight years,” Kyle says.

“Nine, nearly.”

“Jesus. That’s a lot of time to be devoted to one book series.”

“I have other interests,” I say. “I have stories that are really mine.”

“But they’re not Archvillain,” says Kyle.

“Yeah,” I say. “I guess it ties back into that ‘first love’ theme.”

“A book series is not a first love,” Kyle says. “Enough of me is you that I know Archvillain was not your first love.”

“I had Archvillain before I had her,” I say.

“Her?” Kyle says. “You’re gay?”

“Bi,” I say. “Maybe. Or ace. Or gay. Or straight. Does it matter? I loved her the way Mike loved Phil. The way you love Mairi.”

“That’s not healthy,” he says.

“No,” I agree. “That’s why it ended.”

“Do you regret it?” Kyle asks.

“I hate her some days,” I say. “Most days. I hate myself for blowing it up, too. It was really my fault that it ended. If I hadn’t freaked out when she set a boundary, we’d still be friends.”

“You weren’t together?” he asks.

“Nah.”

“Damn.”

We sit, until Kyle says, “I’m gay too. I think.”

I laugh. “I was never sure whether Barry Lyga always intended you to be gay, or whether he just did that to make my teenage self happy.”

“Guess you’ll never know,” says Kyle.

“Guess I’ll never know,” I say. “Although, you and the Mad Mask…”

He groans. “It doesn’t matter. When the series ends, the young Mad Mask is hell-bent on revenge, and the old Mad Mask is lost to time. It’s not happening.”

“Then, you and Mike…”

“It’s not happening,” he says again.

“If I were writing the series…” I start.

“But you’re not!” he interrupts. “It’s not your series. It’ll never be yours.”

“And yet you’re partly me,” I say.

He looks down at his blue-gloved hands. “Yeah, well. Sometimes stuff sticks.”

“Yeah.” I pause, and then I say what’s been on my mind since I read Edited. “Do you think the email is based on me?”

“Email?” He furrows his brow. “What email?”

“In his book. George writes an email to Gayl Rybar, or maybe Barry Lyga, telling him how important his work is. That he kept him from killing himself, because of his writing.”

“I liked George,” mused Kyle. “When I met him.”

“When I was sixteen, I emailed Barry Lyga. I told him how important his work was. I didn’t say it kept me from killing myself, but that was what I was thinking. Do you think that part was based on me?”

Kyle frowns. “I doubt it. He probably gets a lot of teenage emails.”

“Maybe,” I say.

“I think it’s stupid to think that anything in that book is related to you. Maybe Barry Lyga put an Archvillain section in knowing that you’d enjoy it– maybe. But I think you’re just desperate for connection, as a new adult in a remote job, and are leaning back on your old favorite series for comfort.”

“Maybe,” I say again. “You sound like his Kyle.”

“I only sound like Lyga’s Kyle when I’m making you uncomfortable,” he says.

“Maybe,” I say, for the third time.

“You thought that email was written by George?” Kyle asks.

“When I read Edited, I did,” I say. “George is a fan of Gayl Rybar. It makes sense.”

“But he isn’t a fan in Unedited,” says Kyle. “So he can’t have written it, since Lyga wrote that book first.”

“Yeah, I guess I can’t really know,” I say. “It’s all fictional, anyway.”

“Never stopped you from wondering before.”

“You’re very aggravating,” I tell him.

He raises his hands in defense. “Hey, you’re the one writing me.”

I pick my legs up off the grass and hug my knees. “I can’t believe I’m twenty-two.”

“You’re young. Don’t complain about it,” Kyle says.

“You’re younger than me. You’re twelve.”

“I’ve been twelve since 2010. Technically, I’m older than you.”

“In Barry Lyga’s original outline of Archvillain–“

“Oh, shut up!” Kyle exclaims. “Nobody cares about that but you. There’s not going to be any more Archvillain– no books, no short stories, no cartoon. You need to get over it, and grow up.”

I glare at him. “Can I finish my fucking sentence?” He rolls his eyes, and I continue, “In the original outline, Kyle gets visited by his future self in Tomorrow Today. I was fifteen or sixteen when I learned that, and I thought, okay, how old is future Kyle? And I settled on twenty-two.”

“And now you’re twenty-two,” he finishes.

“Exactly. And I keep thinking of going back in time, of talking to my younger self. Of what I would say.”

“What would you say?”

“I don’t know. That it gets better? That I shouldn’t feel so guilty all the time? That I should keep writing? I doubt I’d listen. I doubt you’d listen to your older self, if that book had ever been written.”

“I think you’re thinking about this a little too much,” says Kyle.

“Okay, that definitely was the Lyga part of you.”

“You’re still writing me,” he says. “And I’m sure Barry Lyga, the real one, doesn’t see me as half him, half you. I’m all his, in his mind, and you’re a deranged fan who needs to find a hobby.”

I accept this. “You’re probably right.”

“Of course I’m right. I’m a genius,” he says.

I smile. “I did kind of kidnap your series.”

“That’s a good way of putting it,” he says.

“I’m writing a book about that now,” I say. “Kidnapping. Murder. Real dark shit.”

“That’s a departure from the middle grade stuff.”

“Yeah, well,” I shrug. “You gotta write what you gotta write.”

“Like this piece?”

“Yeah.”

“You know, for a book review, we didn’t talk about the book that much,” Kyle says.

“Yeah, well, if he wants an actual review, he can look on Goodreads. Anyway, I’m going to call this a response, not a review.”

“Very English major of you.”

“Thank you.”

“Not a compliment.”

“If I was a real English major, I would know how to end this,” I say.

“There we are, tying back into the book!” Kyle exclaims.

“It wasn’t intentional. I think that endings are hard for everyone.”

“Oh,” says Kyle. “But it has to end sometime.”

“I guess it does,” I say. “How would you end it?”

“I’m guessing that people hailing me as a true hero isn’t an option?” he says. I shake my head. “I don’t know. Sitting here is nice. We could just keep doing that.”

“That’s a bad ending,” I say. “There’s no payoff. We learn nothing.”

He shrugs, for the final time. And we sit.

[crayonon]

🔥Flarecare🔥

Relations

Here’s the fated relationship post. Under the cut is all the relationship stuff between each and every “canon” Comet ship and why it will or won’t be in the comic. Here we go!

Cometcule

Doolly/Winternight: I feel like this has some potential. They’re both sort of introverted so maybe they can find some common ground in that area. Both would feel some kind of… jealousy for the other’s life? Polly would want nothing more than to be left alone and Doom wants to be seen as wanted by people. Strangely enough, opposites attract in this case. They will be the only married couple on the polycule, and will have a child.

Barruni/FactFiction: There is no chemistry, they will just be friends.

Pollarry/Northern Lights: Polly in this has little to no feelings for Barry. In this I feel like it’d be hard to imagine it having feelings for almost anyone. When it first got its TUC, it noticed how everyone started acting different. I imagine it was a school outcast before and didn’t really have the social skills for any friends. Until it got TUC, then everyone wanted to be its friend. After that, she had built a guarded personality, assuming that anyone who even liked or showed romantic interest in her just liked her because of base instincts, and in Barry’s case she was right. Barry’s infatuation just made her uncomfortable. There was one who didn’t like her, though…

Polluni/Kissmas Story: Uni was the only one who didn’t like her back at the hospital. At first she was confused about why. What did she ever do to her? But after a while, he realized that he almost forgot what it was like to actually have someone think negatively of him. Call him crazy, but it was… almost refreshing. His interest grew from there, and he decided to make a deal with Uni. They don’t bother her, she doesn’t bother them. Maybe after a while they can be acquainted. After a while, the feelings got stronger, but it wasn’t the cold. After the release, and after Polly gets their treatment (I’m gonna also be combining my Defrosted AU into this), they expected Uni to no longer be interested, but instead they marveled at the newfound softness and warmth of their fur, and the beautiful color that sprouted as a result of the treatment. It was all over at that point. They are dating, but they don’t have any children.

Doomi/Darkmagic: Maybe in another timeline where Doom wasn’t part of an organization where he had to kill ppl? But I can’t deny that I like the ship, so I’ll make it true for this AU. They are dating and they have a child.

Doomry/Labrat: No chemistry, plus they hate each other. Roommates. I don’t see it personally but I feel like their dynamic works better as a slow, cautious friendship rather than a romance. I’d like to think they’d start to be allies for each other as time goes on. Maybe it would later turn into a will they-won’t they situation? No kids in the end, either way.

Chem will not exist. Same goes for Ally, Eve, Sly, and Wendy. 2 kids :3

Outside Families

They will all be relegated to family friends and aunts, uncles, or auncles, and all of their relationships will be tweaked too

For one, all of Hemmie’s additional qpps are gone, it’s too much to keep track of, she’s only gonna be qpps with Carrie. But they won’t have a child.

Only Jay and Till will be together, since I feel like there would still be some raw spots in they and Carrie’s relationship. Miley will only be with Bec and Jandy will be dating Carrie.

Carrie will live with the 4 as a roommate and will be qpps with Uni. Funfi, Lovella, and Piñata will still be together, but there is no romantic connection between Puppy and Piñata. Mood and Rem are still together and have Maddie (renamed to Madge).

That might be all of them, and in total we cut down on 14 children!!