#bite sized meta

[thesorcerersshadow]

merlin’s first instinct, after JUST watching a man get executed for magic, is still to help gaius & catch him with his magic—again! on instinct! it’s so obvious he doesn’t even think about it! and so many people attribute this (often jokingly, but still) to stupidity or carelessness. but i wish we could speak more to the fact that compassion is merlin’s first instinct, at his core—and it may get dulled over time & he may become more cynical, but it’s never entirely gone, either.

[fumifooms]

I don’t like minimizing the importance and gravity of Laios and Toshiro’s fight into just being a childish squabble, even if to a degree it is framed that way, because to both of them it has a lot of personal significance and emotional weight and runs very deep to their characters… The fight isn’t nothing it’s a LOT, they made up but it’s not something easy to express and to get over for either of them which makes it all the more meaningful! I’m on both sides but there very much are sides, there’s no "they’re both having a ball, Toshiro and Laios hand in hand yay" side to the fight, that comes after

The fight with Toshiro WAS very scary to Laios, almost existentially so, but it’s moreso the "I thought I’d made a friend!!" bit and my god. My god actually

Like it’s not "just" about oh his friend liking him less than he thought, THAT IS SO MUCH. It’s a bond he thought he had being a lie it’s all the time and moments spent together either being a lie from his perspective or marred now looking back. It’s not only being upset at Toshiro for lying but upset at himself that he’s so easy to fool, it’s being upset that there’s something so wrong with you that you can’t even tell if your "close buddy" even actually likes you or not, it’s like. Holding my head. He can’t trust his own vision of events that happened do you see. There’s always this film of distrust that it could be a lie that should be there when he interacts with people there’s always this sense of cloak and dagger to expect backstabs out of nowhere because you CAN’T see it coming you CAN’T you CAN’T there’s something about you which makes it impossible so you CAN’T-

He’s so scared of not being able to read people. He knows it’s a weak spot he has, he’s always known. All of these bits are centered around social expectations and betrayals, the assumption that he doesn’t belong either in society or with other humans.

And Laios’ level of awareness is actually sort of complex to analyze, but it’s there, there’s how out of him and Falin he was the one sensitive to the ~aura of hatred~ he felt from the townspeople, there’s of course his nightmares whispering to him about the mocking looks, and how yeah actually he realizes that his gold stripper coworker was taking advantage of him. There’s of course the Winged Lion speech about his trauma and how he fundamentally mistrusts/dislikes humans to some deep seated degree, this distrust that he still keeps under control always. There’s how pre-canon he often wanted to suggest eating monsters but never worked up the courage to bring it up with the others. There’s how he gets across as stoic when he isn’t being enthusiastic…… We don’t know how aware and wary he is exactly in the moment but we do know he has some anxiety around social stuff, and looking back he does notice and aughh augh, the sense you have to hide yourself to not get hurt and be on your guard and shit and.

When you don’t know what to look out for and when to look out for it, the general ‘common sense’ of not always trusting people or noticing when someone’s messing with you becomes hypervigilance in social settings

"Man they really know what you hate huh". Being socially unaware literally plagues him, he knows, he knows it so well.

It’s so quick that it’s almost hard to digest how literal and blatant Laios summoning his monster to crush all the people who’ve hurt him is. His literal go-to coping mechanism for comfort in his literal monster-induced emotionally intense nightmares, saving him by taking away the upsetting element (the humans)

"Monsters are his coping fantasy, where they can whisk him away from humanity, all the hurt it’s caused him and its arbitrary rules" with the subtlety of a brick. Monsters are his comfort safe zone "because they kill humans" yes but no it’s because he pits them as the guardians against humans who to him are in the role of the agressors. To him they represent freedom from the shackles of what it means to be part of humanity, a fundamentally social species

[tealvenetianmask]

I've been noticing four kinds of takes on Stolas and privilege:

The correct one: Stolas has privilege because of the status he has in society. He can walk right into a club that's always booked way in advance without a reservation. He's never had to worry about money or his physical safety and doesn't know what that's like. He can get a one on one meeting with the King of Lust and ask for a rare and powerful item to give to his man. He was raised to take his privilege for granted. This does not mean he hasn't suffered or hasn't been made to feel small or weak by other people. It also does not mean that Blitz can't hurt him. He ALSO LACKS PRIVILEGE as a queer neurodivergent man forced to conform to a traditional role. These things are not contradictory. I repeat. Both can be true, and THEY ARE. That's what intersectionality is. He's a good person, and he's gradually becoming more aware of his own privilege, starting with his relationship with Blitz.

Well meaning/maybe a bit uninformed: Stolas can't have privilege because he's a victim of domestic and familial abuse.

Shit: Stolas has privilege and isn't aware of it, and that means he's a bad person.

Even shitter, like, are we even watching the same show? Stolas is maliciously using his privilege to abuse Blitz.

[jesncin]

Sorry to bother but Constantine was called anti-Asian slurs? When did that happen?

(In ref to this post: https://www.tumblr.com/jesncin/760203443590905856/not-to-throw-shade-but-it-is-a-tiny-thing-i-feel?source=share)

In og Vertigo Hellblazer like I said! Issue #5 specifically. cw for anti-Asian slur below.

Every content warning ever for this issue (war crimes, SA, slurs, etc.) so proceed with caution. I personally needed a break from reading after this one since it hit too close to home.

To word it delicately, I get the point of this story. That war is designed to dehumanize the enemy, and in this story the twist is this traumatized man recreating the same atrocities he did abroad at home on his own people. The fundamental problem for me is that having to compare The Other (Vietnamese people in this case) to white people in order to humanize them is an inherently flawed premise. You shouldn't have to sell empathy based on "well what if it were you" to care about someone different than you. It's a story designed with white people and readership in mind, essentially.

[spyridonya]

Once upon a time, not very long ago in terms of the planes, Raphael once fully supported his father during a coup under Baron Molikroth. Baron Molikroth was a sadistic pit fiend in appearance, gluttonous and obscene, who began a rebellion under Mephistopheles' nose. When sorting through the dead Archfiend's bastards, Raphael was defiant, refusing to join against his father's killer despite the tides of change. Many of his siblings found favor under Molikroth, but Raphael honored his oath.

In the decade that followed, those who served Baron Molikroth were killed by Molikroth's own hand. The coup and persona of the baron was planned by Mephistopheles who posed at Molikroth to find who was loyal and who was not. Raphael survived the purge than many of his siblings did not. Unlike his siblings, Raphael recognized exactly what was going on with the baron. It wasn't a sense of loyalty but knowing his father remarkably well.

He is his father's son, after all.

And then Daddy Mephistopheles went and started the Reckoning.

[inaconstantstateofchange]

Realmslore of the Day: Sharran Hairpieces

The haters have begged me not to put this information out into the world, but I'm dead inside and need to feel something, so I'm choosing chaos today.

A [Sharran] priest’s hair is sometimes natural, and sometimes a wig of the braided hair of many others, enspelled so the tresses can carry daggers, small lanterns, and other items of like size and weight, as well as catch and cling to things. These enchanted wigs are not strong enough to hold the wearer’s body weight, but they could, for example curl around a branch while maintaining hold of a lit lamp, so the cleric can part company with the wig and do something in the lamplight.¹

I'm not saying this is what's going on with Shadowheart's plait? But I'm not... not saying it.

¹ Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster's Forgotten Realms. 2012. p. 162.

[hekateinhell]

The Three Moods of Armand vis-à-vis Lestat's fledglings:

"I will fuck you up, I don't care if you're Lestat's baby... haven't you heard what I do to his children?"

"I will fuck you up, I don't care if you're Lestat's baby... haven't you heard what I do to his children?"

"I will fuck you up, I don't care if because you're Lestat's baby... haven't you heard what I do to his children?"

[chuckwon]

[taps mic]

is there still an interest level in spnwin meta anywhere

just curious

[ceaselessims]

i think that sometimes it's okay if a show that starts out as one thing, but as time goes on it morphs and finds its footing in another thing.

i've been seeing a lot of people say that the helluva boss mission shorts are "what the show should have stayed as" but imma be real, i don't think the show would have nearly as much traction if it did stay that way.

you can even see it in the show itself, the first 3 episodes (and the pilot) follow this Murder of The Week formula (Mrs Mayberry v Martha, Stolas hiring blitz as "security," and killing as many people as they can in spring break), but by the harvest moon festival, you can feel that the team behind it want to go more in depth into hell's politics and societial structure (more importantly: this is stuff that they can't/don't have time to explore in Hazbin Hotel)

to me, season one is kind of laying the ground work for how Blitz feels about each of the people in his life (bc vivzie has said the show is about blitz's relationships and how hell operates), and season 2 is mostly about him reconciling with learning to romantically love someone/let someone in, learning to trust.

I understand if people prefer the episodic style, but for me, i like that they went in the other direction. I like the swinging tone and drama and romance, bc tbf i think the relationship drama is really only going to be the focus of /this season/ And (i might be wrong!) i think s3 will be about his relationship with Loona.

ANYWAY! i loved monsterfucker super fan more than *slurs* penguins and im eating every single bit of content up

edit to add a little more bc i'm seeing it a LOT:

i'm seeing more and more of this criticism rn and i think it's worth mentioning that the show simply doesn't have time/money to be both a murder of the week AND have a long form meta plot. they have found their groove in the meta plot about how hell's society functions and blitz's personal relationships.

this isn't a serialized cartoon under a major studio that can pump out an episode every week and afford to have long form "filler" episodes like most popular animated shows. it's a little engine that could chugging along making the best art and tell the best story it can.

"go back to what the show used to be!" girl idk if you watched the show but the IMP hit episodes (with an exception to Murder Family, my beloved) are like THE weakest,,,. no hate to you if you like them but you're wishing for more stuff like CHERUB and Unhappy Campers,,,,

point is: the hits really REALLY fit with the short form stuff bc the team has to condense it into a bite sized bit, which is why they're now a whole separate thing!!

cool if that's all you want the show to be, but if it didn't expand we wouldn't have episodes like Oops or Ozzie's.

[primnroses]

— An insight about summons: Katsuyu, the slug of the Shikkotsu Forest

The information presented in this post has been checked and revised. My aim is not to hate or to discredit any of the characters mentioned. Please read about me for further information.

This post will contain evidence in picture format directly from the manga Naruto (1999 - 2014) created by Masashi Kishimoto and published by Shueisha in 1999. I will also use information from the official databooks of Naruto.

This informative post will analyze the concept of animal summons in the world of Naruto and highlight Katsuyu’s unique abilities throughout the series providing evidence. This meta will also mention other animal summons from the Three-Way Deadlock. I will not use information present in the novels because there is none.

This meta is crossposted in AO3.

I give my permission to use or share this thread with informative purposes as long as you credit me.

I do not support the anime or the work of Studio Pierrot in regards to Naruto because I consider it over exaggerated and beyond biased. Furthermore, these fillers include some actions that these characters are unable to do in the canon according to official sources and they also generate unnecessary debate.

Please, take this into consideration.

Katsuyu, also known as Katsuyu of the Shikkotsu Forest, is a giant slug from the Shikkotsu Forest, a secret and legendary place from the Three Unexplored Sage Regions (仙人三大秘境, Sennin Sandai Hikyō). 

The Three Sage Unexplored Regions according to the Fourth databook.

She is the personal summon of the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, and later, her disciple Sakura Haruno; both women are probably the only people in the world that have been able to summon the slug.

Katsuyu possesses one of the most unique qualities and abilities among animal summons, most of which are still a mystery within the series. 

— WHAT IS A SUMMON AND ANIMAL SUMMONS?

A summon is the ability to invoke objects, weapons, people or animals. This action is carried out through a Summoning Technique (口寄せの術­, Kuchiyose no Jutsu), a special hand seal based jutsu to transport any element to the user’s location for a limited amount of time. 

A Summoning Technique is classified as a space-time ninjutsu and a C-Rank (chūnin level) difficulty jutsu. 

Summoning Technique according to the First databook.

Usually, in order to summon objects or weapons, users apply scrolls or special sealing techniques to contain the desired material. This is the case of Tenten, for example; she uses scrolls to seal multiple kunai, shuriken and any weapon of her choice, granting her the title of “Master of space-time ninjutsu”.

However, for animals and living creatures, this is different.

An animal summon is a technique that adds to the ninja’s ninjutsu repertoire, as a shinobi can take advantage of the animal’s abilities for battle or other purposes.

Before any animal can be summoned, the animal and the user must sign a contract with the species or the specific creature using their blood. In order to summon said animal, the user applies some of their blood, normally by biting their fingers, and channels their chakra to their hands thus invoking a sealing pattern that transports their summon to that same location. The amount of chakra used to summon the creatures determines the size and number of summons. 

The summoning contract of the Toads of Mount Myōboku, Naruto chapter 92.

In the case of the Three Unexplored Sage Regions, the summoning contracts vary. 

Naruto Uzumaki Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze sealed a contract with the toads of Mount Myōboku using their own blood, so when they perform a Summoning Technique, any available toad can offer their services to them. 

Orochimaru has his contract with the snakes of the Ryūchi Cave tattooed on his arms. The methods his disciple Sasuke Uchiha uses to summon snakes from the same location is unknown. 

Tsunade and Sakura Haruno do not have a physical contract, or at least it has never been revealed. However, by reading the manga, the contract with the Shikkotsu Forest might be through their Strength of a Hundred Seal, as it is only possible to summon Katsuyu if the summoner possesses this seal.

It is unknown if there is a blood contract involved, but it is likely that there is since the method of summoning is blood like his companions. 

Orochimaru's contract Naruto chapters 165 and 344.

— KATSUYU AND HER ABILITIES, WHAT MAKES HER SPECIAL?

Katsuyu is a very intriguing and interesting animal and the only one whose past has never been explored.

Summon’s habitats and the Three Unexplored Sage Regions are home to a single species of animals. 

The Ryūchi Cave is home to snakes such as the White Snake, Manda or Aoda, and Mount Myōboku is home to toads like Gamakichi, Gamamaru or Gamabunta.

But, unlike those, Katsuyu is the only organism living in the Shikkotsu Forest. She does not have any other slug companions. 

Following the same scheme as the rest of summons, Katsuyu resembles a real slug. 

She is white or ivory in color, with three turquoise stripes running on her head and sides that start on her head and end in her tail. 

One special feature about her appearance is that her true size has never been seen. Using one summoner, Katsuyu is bigger than the Hokage Residence, and using two summoners, Katsuyu is the size of the roots of the God Tree, which is just one tenth of her real size according to Tsunade. 

Katsuyu's size summoned by one person or two, Naruto chapters 422 and 650.

Her size changes depending on the amount of chakra used to summon her. She can appear as a small slug used to gather intel or help in supplementary tasks, or she can appear as a giant creature using one or two summoners. 

Small Katsuyu summoned to assist Headquarters Naruto chapter 561.

Her age is a true mystery. It is known that toads and snakes live many years and have descendants, such as Gamabunta and Gamakichi’s father and son relationship, or Aoda having great grandchildren; or certain summons retiring when they reach an age while their companions or children replace them. 

The Three Unexplored Sage Regions are legendary places known for many generations. 

Katsuyu, on the other hand, is the only inhabitant of the Shikkotsu Forest. She does not have descendants or companions in her home habitat. Her age or her true origins are a mystery. The first shinobi to discover her existence or previous masters before Sakura Haruno and Tsunade are also unknown.

The first and most important thing to point out is that Katsuyu can only be summoned by users of the Strength of a Hundred Seal. This seal is an extremely difficult jutsu to learn and achieve, so there have only been two summoners in history.

The reason for this is that Katsuyu is such an enormous animal that it requires an immense amount of chakra to summon, and that chakra is stored inside the seal. 

Tsunade and her disciple Sakura Haruno are the only beings able to summon Katsuyu Naruto chapter 650.

The primary skill Katsuyu has is the ability to divide herself in many fragments, hundreds or thousands of them in fact. This technique is called Slug Great Division (蛞蝓大分裂­, Katsuyu Daibunretsu) and it can be used for supplementary purposes, as well for battle. 

In a fight, thanks to her rapid ability to transform her body and divide herself, she can separate herself to nullify attacks by avoiding any strike at incredible speeds. She can do this as many times as she wants without exhaustion. Each of these fragments are also quite fast, able to throw themselves in front of people to shield them from danger.

Manda trapping Katsuyu but she escapes Naruto chapter 170 and Second databook.

She also has the ability to spit a sticky and elastic acid, a jutsu called Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid able to melt stones and vaporize everything it touches (probably senjutsu although never truly revealed). It is also very difficult to dodge due to its unpredictable nature. 

Slug acid, Naruto chapter 170 and Second databook.

Unlike Shadow Clones or other regular clones that are independent from each other and are not interconnected, what Katsuyu does is divide her own body in equal parts, so she is in as many places as she wants at once. She is one entity divided into many other independent and interconnected parts while remaining one single body. Each of her divisions behaves like their own person, so she can complete different tasks while also knowing what her other parts are doing in other places.

Being the summon of medical ninjas, Sakura Haruno and Tsunade take advantage of Katsuyu’s ability to divide herself in order to channel their healing chakra and treat as many people as necessary. 

With a technique called Immense Network Healing (蛞蝓・網療治夥­, Katsuyu: Mōryōjika), Katsuyu collects chakra from the Strength of a Hundred Seal to transform it into healing chakra and treat the injured. 

Using the Great Division and Immense Network Healing in tandem, Katsuyu has the ability to heal and protect everyone she makes contact with. Healing any kind of injury or absorbing people inside her in order to shield them from attacks or sudden explosions is her specialty. Her body is able to resist explosions and even Kurama's corrosive chakra.

Katsuyu divides her body and heals the Alliance Naruto chapter 634 and Fourth databook.

In fact, Katsuyu's power is not only limited to healing wounds, but regeneration too. One of her most impressive feats is the ability to maintain a patient in suspended animation, keeping them alive for as long as she possesses chakra from the seal in order to ensure their survival. 

Katsuyu was able to keep Tsunade alive despite having her body bisected, which on normal circumstances, would mean instant death. However, the slug's regenerative abilities allowed Tsunade to remain alive until she obtained a chakra boost from a third party. This fact is known as Tsunade does not really present the unique Uzumaki Clan ability to keep themselves alive for as long as possible.

Katsuyu kept Tsunade alive despite having her body cut in half, an impressive feat Naruto chapter 635.

This jutsu also acts as a sensing technique due to Katsuyu being connected to the chakra of the injured in order to heal them and her master. Katsuyu is able to relay Kakashi Hatake and Chōza Akimichi’s conditions to Tsunade through their connection, as the slug is connected to the Strength of a Hundred Seal; as well as being able to tell Sakura that Kurama’s chakra was still connected to the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Katsuyu can transmit the chakra levels and the condition of everyone she is in contact with Naruto chapter 427.

This way, Katsuyu was able to protect Konoha’s citizens from Pain’s Shinra Tensei and even survive Kurama’s toxic chakra. 

Able to be in many places at once, her ability to cover infinite distances while her parts remain interconnected allows her to fulfill communication and intel gathering roles. Being in many places and her clones being part of the same body, Katsuyu relays information to one person or multiple people, something she could do by attaching herself to someone’s shoulder and speaking. 

It was Katsuyu the one giving Naruto Uzumaki information about Pain and also told him that Nagato had revived Konoha citizens through the clones that stayed in the village, kept every villager informed about the situation and followed evacuation protocols when Naruto transformed into six tails, and told Tsunade everything that was happening in the battlefield thanks to having another body summoned by Sakura on the other side of the country, and vice versa.

Sakura instructing Katsuyu to evacuate the area through the multiple clones Naruto chapter 438.

This communication ability can cover immense ground at once because the communication is instant. It works similar to regular telepathy, but instead of hearing the other person's voice in their head, people are talking to Katsuyu, and Katsuyu in turn is actually talking to herself through her clones.

Katsuyu's clones on different parts of the Land of Lightning tell Tsunade and Sakura the events that have taken place on both ends Naruto chapters 635 and 647.

An animal summon can only perform at the top of their abilities for a limited amount of time, what is known as the summoning time limit. 

It is unknown exactly how long the invocation lasts, or whether it varies between animals. A summon will help its master before the jutsu runs out or the summon has exhausted its power. 

Gamakichi mentions the summoning time limit Naruto chapter 642.

However, for Katsuyu, this is not the case. 

The slug can be summoned for unlimited periods of time and several times a day, as seen when Katsuyu spent the Fourth Shinobi World War by Tsunade’s side in the Headquarters, primarily helping Shikaku Nara and participating in the planification of the troops, and later with the Five Kage against Madara and Sakura with the Allied Shinobi Forces.

This could be explained by the symbiotic bond Sakura and Tsunade share with Katsuyu through the Strength of a Hundred Seal. 

The seal stores unimaginable quantities of chakra inside, which are used by Katsuyu to perform healing on people. As long as Katsuyu has been transmitted every drop of chakra in the seal, she will continue her work, as seen when Tsunade gave the slug all the chakra inside her Byakugou to the point it disappeared but Katsuyu physically remained in Konoha until her services were no longer needed.

Tsunade's Byakugou disappears but Katsuyu still serves her purpose as a summon to evacuate Naruto chapter 430.

Still, like any other summon, Katsuyu can be exhausted from battle and disappear. When the Ten Tails absorbed the chakra of every shinobi in the battlefield as the Kurama Chakra Cloak, every Katsuyu fragment attached to them was also absorbed and vanished, but the main body remained intact protecting Sakura Haruno form the tree. 

Katsuyu's clones disappeared absorbed by the God Tree Naruto chapter 647.

— THE PERFECT SUMMON?

Katsuyu is very different from the rest of summons. 

From the immeasurable amount of chakra it requires to summon her, to her multiple multitasking and supplementary abilities and her mysterious origins, Katsuyu might be the perfect summon and the strongest animal summon of Naruto and Boruto.

Her ability to divide herself in thousands of fragments, a body and chemical composition resistant to blasts that can reshape her own state, no summoning time limit, outstanding healing and regeneration factor, the unlimited wide range communication she offers, acidic attacks, useful to gather intel by herself and turn small enough to offer battle assistant, and a sensory connection with her master and other people she is attached to. 

Katsuyu is the ultimate creature.

Without a doubt, the most essential ally in desperate times. A valuable help in case a village is being attacked by powerful enemies that threaten to destroy everything around them, Katsuyu is the only weapon able to protect thousands of people from any attack and offer assistance while in contact with her master and everyone she is with.

Thanks to her, every Konoha villager that had not been killed by the Pain Paths previously could survive the Shinra Tensei explosion that destroyed Konoha, which later allowed the surviving shinobi to handle evacuations, as well as allow Naruto to obtain intel about Pain and Nagato or be told that Konoha's villagers were revived.

Katsuyu is an unrivalled intel summon Naruto chapters 431 and 449.

She was also the main link of communication between the Headquarters and the two different fronts of the war, Five Kage and Allied Shinobi Forces, and the reason why the Five Kage survived the fight despite their fatal injuries.

Lastly, it was also Katsuyu who protected the Allied Shinobi Forces against the roots of the God Tree, saving a large portion of the shinobi from death, and later offered a healing area for their future fight against the Kanzeon Lotus King.

— CURRENT WHEREABOUTS.

Ever since the death of Madara Uchiha, Katsuyu has not been summoned again.

With no threats to the destruction of Konoha or the need to establish connections between battlefields, Katsuyu was not summoned in the Blank Period. 

In Boruto, Katsuyu’s debut is strictly linked to Sakura’s appearances: if Sakura does not appear, neither does the slug. This is something that is hard to fathom considering that the village has been exposed to explosions, invasions and multiple deceased shinobi ever since the start that could be prevented by Katsuyu like previous times.

Katsuyu appeared in the anime arc “Kawaki and Himawari in the Academy” where the students had to put on a play about the Sannin and Kawaki dressed as Katsuyu.

Kawaki representing Katsuyu in Boruto episode 267.

-

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

I don't think Kate Bishop could beat Bruce Wayne, but I don't think she could not beat Bruce Wayne, you know?

So the Young Avengers and the West Coast Avengers wind up in Gotham because of some universe-ending bullshit, they've been settled for a month or so when Batman and Co. come knocking because No Metas in Gotham.

And Kate is SO Done. No metas? You're going to kick out half of this group of INTERDIMENSIONAL REFUGEES, by the way, because of some arbitrary rule YOU made???? Ok ok ok cool. Well then she's going to beat your ass Mr. Bat-man.

And look. This is low stakes/no stakes for Bruce. He mostly just wants to see what they'll do, wants to try and get a read on their abilities. Some of them might want to move to other cities, he might be willing to facilitate that. For Kate this is VERY high stakes. She's 100% serious. No weapons, just hand to hand? That work for you Bat-man?

Meanwhile one of the older batboys is like, look. Please chill. You're not going to win in a fight against him, we can figure something out--

"I said I would beat his ass. I didn't say I'd win. You can beat someone's ass without winning," Kate says while removing an improbable number of weapons from her person. Tim is in love. Steph is in love. Tommy is taking bets. Jason is trying to figure out who to ask about her ring size because he's going to propose. Bruce has already called Alfred about the adoption papers. Clint is like "must be a Tuesday."

Bruce cracks two of her ribs and she breaks his nose. Kate flips him over her shoulder at some point. Bruce throws her through a wall. Billy helps Jason pick an engagement ring. The batkids are all cheering for Kate. Damian texts Jon who texts Connor who texts Clark that Ma Kent is going to need to start setting like five extra places at family dinners. Clark texts his mother "are you interested in giving Bruce a run for his money with adoption? So far we've got two daughters for you and two new sons. Might be more." America is absolutely going to lift Clark over her head btw. She never wanted an older brother but she's got one now. Clint and Dick pick each others pockets and somehow wind up trading circus stories. They are now ride or die.

Kate gets Bruce in a chokehold. Bruce lands a solid kidney punch. Bruce gets Kate pinned. Kate bites him. Bruce is getting the adoption papers expedited, no he doesn't care that she's a grown ass woman. That's his child now. Damian steals Lucky while they're all distracted. This is why no one visits Gotham

[thesorcerersshadow]

never over the fact that when merlin couldn’t convince gwen to come back home to camelot, he sent her to ealdor - to his childhood home, to safety, to his mother - instead.

[unleashedsonic]

@kirbyoctournament

( second image by @/miniiieevee )

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

meet atlas, a friendly and excitable puffball from the planet sectra star! atlas is a puffball with incredible strength, who wields an axe about five times his size. he loves a good adventure and friendly competition, earning himself a bit of a cocky streak. it's all in good fun to him, though! of course, if his loved ones get hurt, that's a different story entirely.

after landing on the planet's surface as a baby, he was taken in by the bug-like inhabitants and raised as one of their own. during his young teenage years, atlas was chosen as the wielder for the sacred sword galaxia, and spent most of his years afterwards saving others and going on heroic missions with her.

but after years and years of fighting, years and years of losing loved ones, atlas came to realize he wasn't built for it. galaxia, who had never cared about her prior wielders, had watched atlas grow up and developed a fondness for them. she told them to leave her elsewhere for a new wielder to find, because she didn't want them to end up like her older wielders. after doing so, atlas returned home and took up the position of forge master alongside a close friend of his, and began creating weapons for the queen of sectra star's army and himself.

─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ─

nowadays, atlas resides on popstar with kirby and his friends, staying with his boyfriend meta knight and his crew in the battleship halberd.

but something lurks beneath the surface, crawling under the astral's skin. but i'm sure its nothing to worry about... right?

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

he is currently taking asks! don't be shy to send one, he doesn't bite!

wanna see what they've done so far? follow their adventures here!

[shortpplfedup]

Only Friends Character Rankings Episode 10

We're in the final act now, as Jojo n'em focus on 'Redemption'. Last week y'all tapped Nick as the most honest in reckoning with himself, and now it's everybody else's turn for a reckoning.

🔺1. Boeing (2)

You're totally his type. Like an upgraded version of me.

Walk in, fuck shit up, that's the Boeing way, and I am GAGGING for it. I don't have a clue who the target is or what his game is or exactly but he is playing it EXPERTLY. Is he trying to get Top back? Is he trying to get back at Top? Where does next week's Sand diversion fit in? DID HE AND MEW REVENGE FUCK I NEED TO KNOW?! (I ALSO NEED TO SEE!).

🔻2. Nick (1)

Don't we deserve each other?

Nikolai my stalker baby, why did my heart swell three sizes when you got your man? Honesty remains the best policy, and owning your own shit is a fast track to understanding and accepting others. Nick tried, he genuinely gave Daddy Dan an honest and fair chance, and it COULD have been something, but the heart wants what it wants and Nick's heart wants Boston. The look on his face when he saw his photo as Boston's lockscreen, the way he BAWLED when Boston admitted he missed him...peak romance I tell you.

🔺3. Boston (4)

I don't usually take good care of what I own.

I'm not really meta-ing about this show, but the PRECISION with which Jojo n'em sliced and diced the audience's slut-shaming ways via this character got me. I am INCANDESCENT on Boston's behalf that his so-called friends were so willing to believe Atom's nasty little lies. Because Boston might be a slut, and he might have gone a little Top crazy, and he might stir up some drama when he's feeling some typa way, but he's not a sexual predator, and HE DOESN'T LIE. And despite it all people who call themselves friends to him SHOULD know that. He shouldn't have fucked Atom yes, but Atom straight up asked to get fucked. Boston DOES have lessons to learn about controlling his impulses and filtering the things that come out of his mouth, but these hypocrites ain't the ones to teach him. I'm glad that Nick got over himself last week just in time to be there when Boston truly needed him, and I hope that if they decide to try a relationship that Nick keeps the letting-Boston-be-Boston energy he's discovered.

⭐4. Ray's Dad

Ray's Dad in his one prior appearance seemed like a man at the end of his rope, and I'm glad my thinking was borne out. This story keeps telling us that nobody is a monster, nobody is a villain, everybody is just a person, and Ray's dad is a person like all the rest of them: he cared about his wife, he's watched helplessly and increasingly angrily as his son went down the same path, but he didn't know how to get through to him because he's limited, as we all are, so he did a lot of the wrong thing. I don't think paying Sand to get Ray into rehab was the wrong thing though, that was the act of a desperate man. Him giving Ray the straight dope about how to treat people was a long overdue fatherly lesson. Has he been neglectful? Indubitably. But I'm rooting for him.

🔻5. Sand (3)

Do you think I’m a man with no dignity?

Sand is the beneficiary of me being salty about Mew and Ray joining the 'I saw Goodie Proctor with the devil' mini-mob, but I could have TOLD him that a man who continuously and repeatedly calls you a whore is going to believe the absolute worst about you when the chips are down. I'm lowkey mad he gave back the money, because Ray is gonna call him a whore whether or not he's getting paid. I know Sand lives for the drama sparkle Ray brings to his otherwise dull life, but come ON dude.

🔺6. Mew (7)

If you blow it again this time, I'll blame myself for being dumb enough to trust you.

Mew joining in the fun with Boeing is probably gonna bite him somehow but right now I am LIVINGGGGG. Mew keeping Top up at night staring at the ceiling on a regular basis is the only way I'm gonna truly enjoy them being together, because game recognising game is my favourite brand of toxic relationship. If these two spend the next 50 years trying to get one over on each other I will be so satisfied.

🔻7. Ray (5)

I'm not addicted to alcohol. I can stop whenever I want.

Ray spending the entire episode in various stages of denial, his irritation with the idea of rehab and refusal to take it seriously, that explosion that was ALWAYS coming at Sand, and his final, quiet realisation that he has a fucking problem and he needs to fix it to stop hurting the people around him was phenomenal television, anchored by a bravura performance by Khaotung. Ray is gonna have a lot of amends to make once he starts drying out, including saying everything he said to his therapist directly to Sand. Can he truly change? Let's see.

🔻8. Top (6)

I'm sure if he stops being mad at me, we can make it long-term.

I finally figured out why no matter what I'll NEVER like Top and he doesn't pass the vibe check: his instincts and reactions are to lie, hide and cheat when he doesn't feel on top of things. He and Boeing may not be fuckin', but whatever is going on there smells like deceit and mendacity, and he is DESPERATE to hide it from Mew. The look on his face when Boeing is around is exactly how he looked around Boston after that car. Give me an honest slut over whatever this is any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I keep saying that Mew is part of Top's self-actualization, and the way he talks about him with Boeing in this ep just adds fuel to my fire. Is that enough to sustain a long-lasting and successful relationship, absolutely, so many couples are JUST like this.

🔺9. Cheum (12)

Find your own way to graduate. And we will forget we were once friends with you.

OOH this girl pisses me off. Having finally decided to mind the business that pays her, mostly because she's annoyed Atom seems to prefer talking to Boston than talking to her, she's all too willing to believe Atom's lies about Boston and run up pointing her j'accuse finger. I genuinely can't get over how UGLY that scene at Boston's was, how Cheum pulled out some of the same shit that gets levelled at queer men, promiscuous or not, and threw it all at Boston. When she said she didn't believe that Atom was the aggressor because he likes girls, that hit me in the fucking chest. Boston must have done something to Atom. He must have coerced him, blackmailed him, forced him, right? It's so grotesque.

🔻10. Atom (9)

Getting my heart broken by a girl won't kill me.

Speaking of grotesque, what a nasty bit of business this was. Hurt people hurt people, that's kind of the whole ethos of this show, and the lies Atom told were designed to ruin Boston's life like he feels Boston ruined his by GIVING HIM EXACTLY WHAT HE ASKED FOR. I very much doubt Atom is gonna stop at Cheum too, he's out to destroy, and spreading around this kind of shit about somebody who's already judged for being 1) queer and 2) promiscuous is absolutely destructive. This shit was the vilest thing anybody has done on this show by a country mile.

[alittledoseofchaos]

Come Again?

Part of the 'Marvelous Miracles (Please Disregard the Ghosts)' AU

It was an early, drowsy morning in Wayne Manor. Limited sunlight flittered through the manor's windows. A few chirps came from outside, while Titus' barks harmonized along. Alfred had errands, so Bruce stood by the coffee machine as he read the morning paper. There was a faint crash sound from somewhere in the manor. Like I said, a drowsy morning in Wayne manor.

Briefly looking up, Bruce noticed one of their most recent visitors walking in to kitchen. Despite the faint eyebags under them, his blue eyes sparkled with mischief. His black hair was messy and his mouth pulled back in a giant grin. Bruce could practically hear the incoming puns. For a single moment, Bruce is younger and staring at his recently acquired ward, Dick Grayson. Joyful warmth fights against ice-cold fear for one, nostalgic moment.

His reminiscing was cut short by the boy calling out.

"Morning, B." He smiles as he is brought back to the present. This is Danny, not Dick. Sometimes that can be a hard thing for Bruce to remember. Though similar, the two boys were not the same person.

"How are you, Danny?"

"Oh, I'm in high spirits, like that of a shellfish mollusk." Danny chirped as he grabbed an apple. He took a large bite out of the apple as he floated through the floor. Bruce stared at where Danny had once stood.

They are definitely not the same person. Oh, who is he kidding, Danny is just as unhinged as Dick.

👻🦇🐞🕷🐈‍⬛👻🦇🐞🕷🐈‍⬛👻🦇🐞🕷🐈‍⬛👻🦇🐞

In a dark cave a figure sat at a large computer. The computer left an eerie glow across his face. He typed away quickly, and occasionally sipped from a green can. The person only glanced away once a figure floated through the ceiling. He continued to type as the being got closer.

"Yo, Tim! I heard you were down here all night. What gives?" Tim glanced over.

"Big case, lost track of time. Could you power down, you're too bright." He replied. He started to consider the case again. Maybe they used a secret entrance? No. Maybe they were phasers like Danny? But there aren't any metas on town other than Danny who can do that. So a new player?

A snap brought him out of his musings. He turned back to Danny.

"I swear, you and Mars get distracted at the fall of a cap."

"Yeah, mhmm... wait what?" Tim turned back, only to find Danny gone.

Why does his family get weirder with each addition?

👻🦇🐞🕷🐈‍⬛👻🦇🐞Later🕷🐈‍⬛👻🦇🐞🕷🐈‍⬛👻

Bookshelves lined the walls and began at the floor, reaching for the ceiling. Dim moonlight shone through the gigantic windows. Armchairs and footrests littered the room in all different sizes and colors. In fact, one of the bookcases that didn't quite reach the ceiling had various purple, pink and blue cushions on the very top. This was Danny's planned destination as he flopped onto one that had galaxy patterns embroidered on it. He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, where accurate constellations stared back.

Mentally tracing the patterns, he let the soft "who's" of owls flying about soothe his soul. He began to faintly "who" back as a pink cushion beside him shifted. He didn't acknowledge the person. Light humming flew out of the person. He felt his lips twitch when he realized the other person was swaying in in tandem with the owls' swoops.

"Nightmares?" Marinette asked. Her blue-grey eyes remained fixated on the owls flying around the bats. Her fingers dug into her skin. He furrowed his eyebrows. There was only one reason either of them would come up here this late.

"....What did you really want to ask?" He assumed that her fingers twitched, like they normally do when someone's a little too blunt, but he didn't bother checking. He heard her breathe in deeply.

"Do you think life would be easier if we were," She hesitated. The humming resumed as she tried to figure out what to say.

"...normal?" He provided.

"Yeah." Her voice was small, and he couldn't help remembering Ellie.

"Not really. Our lives would just be a different type of hard, but without eachother." He hummed thoughtfully, "lawn growth is constantly a better shade of jade on the contrary edge of the yard partition, and all that jazz."

For the first time that night, it was completely silent.

...

"Danny, what the heck does that mean?" Realization crossed his face as Marinette sat up straight. "I mean the first part made sense, but what was this about a yard?"

His lips quirked up into a genuine smile and he turned to explain it to her. A playful glow filled his face as he explained.

"My english teacher back in Amity kept getting on my friends and I for using the same idioms all the time, so we decided to mix it up."

"So that was just a rare eniglish idiom?" She continued to stare at him in confusion, and a hint of exasperation. He laughed.

"Not exactly, we used the same idioms, but with synonyms instead. He thought it was funny at first, but quickly changed his mind. Guess it became a habit, huh?"

"So this is a case of you being weird, not the english language?" She stared at him for a second. His grin grew as he shrugged. A small, disbelieving laugh filled the silence.

"Sooo, what brought the sudden case of the gloomies?" He asked. Her smile dimmed and she turned to the windows again.

"I was thinking about home." His eyebrows furrowed in sympathy. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You miss Paris?"

"Yes... No? I don't know." He's caught off guard for a moment. She continued, "I do miss it, but I don't want to go back there. Atleast not to stay? I feel so relaxed here, but everytime I portal home, I feel this dread. Does that make me a bad daughter? A bad friend? That even after the rumors blow over I don't want to go back? I mean what kind of per-"

"Whoa, whoa. Secure your stallions, lady." He winced. Not the time. "You aren't a bad person for wanting to be in a place that make you feel safe, instead of one where you've fought for your life on multiple occasions. You need to remember that, okay?"

She opened her mouth to argue, but he covered it with his hand. He shook his head at her.

"I'm serious Mars! You have a right to want something better than that!" He slowly removed his hand, quickly returning it when it looked like she was going to argue. She grumbled something. He raised his eyebrow and slowly removed his hand.

"Alright! Alright!" She waved her arms infront of herself. Relief seeped into her veins. "Just stop with the terrible replacement idioms!"

Danny gasped.

"Terrible!? Says you! You use the most ridiculous replacement cusses!"

"It was an act of solidarity with Adrien!"

"And? 'What the gosh flippin darn?' is what you settled on?" She rolled here eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips.

"We have never said that!"

"Like 'What is the name of camembert cheese?' is much better." Her eyes narrowed. He stuck his tongue out in response. They stared at each other for a long moment.

"You want to help me make cookies?" She asked as she climbed down the book case.

"Heck yeah." He replied.

[kiscon]

K/S Gazette (Jan and Feb!)

First, a reminder: Early Bird Registration for KiScon is still open through Valentine's Day!

If you have not yet registered for KiScon and want that sweet sweet Early Bird Registration rate of $150, make sure you sign up within this window!

The price of in-person attending registration will go up on February 15th to $165. Registration will remain available at that price through the 31st of July. On August 1st the price will go up again to $180. All registration for the convention, both online and in person, takes place through Conline! Register here: https://kiscon.conline.club/ We have also produced a helpful Conline How-To pdf: https://kiscon.org/resources/Conline-How-To-2024.pdf

More information regarding registration, membership tiers, as well as scholarships, can be found in the previous issue of our newsletter, archived here. 2. Submissions for the 2024 KiScon Zine are open! Submissions for the 2024 KiScon Zine are open now through August 1st!

Our editor, @1lostone, is looking forward to working with you.

We are looking for new and never before seen art and writing (both fic and meta!) focusing on the relationship between Kirk and Spock.

For a full rundown of the submission guidelines and access to the submission form, please see the zine page on our website: https://kiscon.org/zine.html

The hard deadline for zine submissions is August 1st, 2024. 3. K/S Spring Fever is in full swing!

February finds you feeling frigid? Not to fret! K/S Spring Fever, our delightful springtime Kirk and Spock prompt fill fest will have you thoroughly warmed up in no time! The prompting phase of the fest has generated 120 glorious prompts, which now beckon to be filled.

You can view said prompts and find out more information about the event on the 2024 Collection Page on AO3. 4. K/S Bingo is also in full swing, and will be for the rest of the year!

If you are active in our KiScord Server you may already be aware, but 1lostone has put together a splendid, low-pressure K/S fannish creation event in the form of a bingo challenge!

The way it works is like this: 1. You fill out this Google form. 2. 1lostone, powerful Wrangler of the Bingo, will then generate for you a custom bingo card, and send it to you either via Direct Message on Discord or via e-mail. 3. You have until the end of the year to obtain the state known as bingo (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, blackout, Texas T – any way you like) by creating fanworks to fill the prompts upon thy bingo card. Don't forget to add your work to the AO3 collection: KiScon Bingo Challenge. 5. Curious what else is going on in online K/S fandom?

The lovely Thia has put together a handy dandy calendar of K/S and K/S adjacent fandom events, anniversaries, and deadlines for the year 2024! It lists the events in chronological order and has links to websites where you can find out more information on many of them listed at the bottom of the page. Neat!

You can view the calendar on Thia's website here.  6. Not enough K/S in your social media feed?

KiScon is now on both Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/kisconnews/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@kisconnews/).

Our lovely social media wranglers @cate-adams and @purpleenma are currently conducting and posting a fascinating fannish interview series, as well as KiScon and K/S fandom related news and updates in delightful bite-sized social media format. If you are active on either of these platforms, please consider giving us a follow!

And that's the news! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this.

We've said this before but we'll say it again: we love to hear from y'all! If you have a question or comment about anything discussed in the newsletter or maybe a piece of K/S news we've missed, such as a new zine coming out or an online fanwork creation fest or anything else you think might be worthy of note, please let us know! You can get in touch by replying directly to this e-mail. :-) Yours in K/S,

T’Lara & StarshipLillian