#but not before she gets to see ha ra destroyed first

[bluedandylyon]

Rewatch Rambles (tm)

Season 1

PRINCESS PROM PRINCESS PROM WE'RE GOING TO PRINCESS PROM

(pt 1. Listen, u don't understand. I wrote SEVEN pages of notes while watching this episode dude)

The way this show deals with propaganda, I stg. Phrases like this make Scorpia's defection hit so much harder. The way the Horde just fed complete lies to this really sweet and kind person to destroy her self-esteem and prevent her from looking deeper into the colonization of her home that took place.

The destruction of the Scorpioni people's culture and home is horrible. Scorpia desperately holds on to the propaganda that her family just "handed over" the land to Hordak to deal with the cognitive dissonance of being part of the Horde. It breaks my heart every time.

RAH just the way that Catra has internalized Adora’s abandonment and compartmentalized that She-ra and Adora are two different people to cope with her abandonment bc she is so angry at Adora but she loves her and the only way those two can co-exist is if she turns She-ra into a different person than Adora and dump all of the anger she feels towards She-ra. 

And also this phrase

Is so sad because it just goes to show that Catra fully believes Adora asked her to come with her as an afterthought after meeting Bow and Glimmer and thinking they’re better friends bc they “fit in”.

She thinks Adora is embarrassed of their past connection and again, it stems from the “you are kind of disrespectful”, at least the sentiment behind that statement. To Catra, Adora sees her as inferior and a person who is so disobedient and socially weird, that that’s why she gets mistreated and doesn’t get what she wants, cuz she doesn’t “fit in”. 

The way I fucking LOVE extremely neurodivergent Adora planning for the ball, I love her so much. It feels like that thing I do where I practice what I’m going to say to a person and like possible conversation topics before a hang-out but cranked to 300. 

The way Adora is so freaking uncomfortable throughout the makeover sequence bc she only feels safe in her clothes. It’s so transmasc coded,  being forced into dresses and feeling like it’s ur only choice and like,,, disappointing ur female friends when you’re not into makeup and dresses and nails AURGH. I know Adora is comfy with dresses later, in the future vision, but I just relate to her discomfort on very femme presenting clothes in the early szns a lot. 

This transition from Adora’s room to the FZ using Catra putting on her jacket is so GOOD.

Also holy shit she's so hot, suit Catra HELP ME. Listen they don't call me the Masc Catra CEO for nothing, I will go FERAL over her during all of these rambles. U signed up for this.

I gotta admit that Catra did go thru gay panic looking at Scorpia in that dress.

I mean, same. Scorpia is fucking ripped and she WORKS that dress.

Also maybe I’m reading too much into it but this transition of Scorpia walking to grab Catra’s hand into Adora ready for the ball could symbolize that Catra is only thinking of how jealous Adora is going to be? Like she’s grabbing Scorpia’s hand but she’s really thinking about Adora and how she’s going to get a rise out of her. 

This frame just symbolizes Adora’s coping mechanism since she left the Horde so well. She’s just leaned completely into She-Ra and feels completely dependent on her bc she will just break down with so many emotions if she takes like a single second to process all that’s happened to her.

Huh, you know what? I'm pretty sure this is the first episode in the series so far where Adora doesn't turn into She-Ra throughout the whole run.

I love Entrapta just being so completely sure of herself here and loving her own company, I would be talking about “the social experiment” with her for hours lol.

This really shows how much of a show Catra is putting on. She looks around for Adora and then grabs Scorpia's pincer. Her #1 goal tonight is make Adora jealous. Kidnap her friends for her master plan is a close second.

This whole transition is peak, when she notices Catra entering the ball right after saying that is RAH. It's a good wake-up call, that at the end of the day she did leave Catra behind, even if she tried to get her to come with. Idk, I just like that she is made aware of the loose ends in her past. That even though she is starting to fit in with the alliance and crafting a new identity for herself, she shouldn't forget where she comes from and the relationships she left behind.

Especially because this is the first ep that highlights Catra and Glimmer’s parallel struggles with fitting in and dealing with their abandonment issues. They actually deal with it very similarly, trying to get a rise out of the person they love by showing "they’re so much better off without them".

Bow doesn’t really rise to the bait bc he’s much more emotionally mature and secure, but Adora totally falls for it bc,,,, she doesn’t really know how to deal with most emotions. 

This is Glimmer’s first time really seeing Catradora interacting and I love her confused ass face like “why is Adora being really intense with this specific horde soldier rn” also Catra’s mlep is 10/10

The way Adora IMMEDIATELY falls for Catra’s bait. like, it’s actually kind of embarrassing for her how fast she folds shkdjshsaj there is NOTHING in that party except for Catra as soon as she arrives.

Also the special Adora smirk, love to see it.

literally SO unnecessarily sensual. She did NOT have to caress the pole like that. Girlie is working overtime.

I am also obsessed with thinking that Catra made the lil paper ahead of time and even put in a little doodle. My blorbo doesn’t mess around, she clocks IN to her shift as #1 ex situationship menace.

Also arghhh as a person with abandonment issues, I feel this fucking episode so hard with Glimmer. I know Bow is frustrated and annoyed, which is so fair but it’s also kinda mean how he doesn’t take a second to validate her feelings of fear of him moving on from their friendship.

Like Glimmer's feelings are valid as hell. When you are used to having a best friend u do everything with, that dynamic changing without any warning is scary! Especially if you struggle with feelings of inferiority.

I just LOVE the parallels between glimbow and catradora in this ep. And I like how glimbow’s way of communicating is slightly better but it’s still unhealthy and invalidating vs Catradora’s,,,,, not communicating at all

Bow straight up ate with this line tho.

I'm gonna save the dance for pt 2 bc I have 5 pictures left on this post and y'all know there's gonna be a LOT of dance screencaps.

[caffeinatedvigilantewriter]

Soulmark AU again

So in this AU, Dani was born to look 8 (I never understood why she looked 12 but whatever. Danny was 14 in this AU) and Damian arrived at Gotham when he was 10.

Dani traveled the world for around a year before she meet Damian when they were 9. Damian is with the League at that time

Obviously, they are soulmates. You can decide their mark.

As per League custom, any heir must kill or destroy any distractions.

And that includes Soulmates (because Ra’s is an ass)

So, Damian’s first solo mission, he has to track down his soulmate and kill her.

But when it was time, he couldn’t do it.

He let her go, telling her to never contact or try to find him, and he would do the same. Dani leave, very angry (Poor Baby bat didn’t think he had another option)

He burned the body of a dead deer, and told his mother that he scattered Danielle’s ashes in the river.

Years go by, Damian moves to Gotham, and never mentions Danielle to his family. He didn’t even tell them that he knew who they were. He was ashamed 9f what he tried to do. Even if he didn’t manage to succeed.

When they’re both 16-17, Damian comes across Danielle in Gotham (she doesn’t know he was there. She never tried to look for him)

And because she was left dry by her soulmate when she was 9, she’s kind of bitter.

So she leaves, but she told him he would have to deal with her presence because she and her older brother are in Gotham for the foreseeable future.

Damian sees this as a golden chance to get her forgiveness and gain her trust.

The only way for that to happen is if his family doesn’t meddle. The only ways that’ll happen is if they doing know.

So Damian never tells them.

Dani doesn’t tell Damian she’s a ghost, nor why she and Dante are in Gotham (GIW got a hold on Danny and he’s healing in the GZ)

Dani attends Gotham Academy with Valds money. And she and Damian share a couple of classes. Meanwhile, the GIW is in Gotham searching for the High Princess and High Prince. Siblings of the King.

Shenanigans include

-Damian and Jason becoming a regular at the bookstore Dani works at, but they come at different times.

-Steph and Cass are on a date when they run into Damian and Dani, also on a date. It quickly becomes a double date.

-Alfred and Clockwork are old friends and Alfred is either a ghost or extremely liminal.

-Titus and Cujo friendship.

-Wiggles the dragon. I recently found out he existed and live him already

-Bruce getting shot while on Patrol and the closest place was Dani’s and Dante’s apartment

-Peopel can sense when their soulmate is about to die/get extremely hurt. Dani senses Damian is in danger and kills(?) (at least gravely injured) his attacker

-Sam visiting Gotham and strangling the Joker with Undergrowth powers

BONUS!!

Each member of the Royal family needs their own Knight (typically their soulmate/lover of choosing. Sometimes not)

Dante decides to have Fright Knight as his Knight (as soulmates or friends you chose)

Danny has Sam and Tucker, so he’s extra safe.

Dani has Damian.

The reason this is funny is maybe there’s a trademark summoning scene and maybe the knight shows up with the royal member, or maybe they show up first to scout if it’s safe.

So there’s a summoning and Damian pops in the middle of the circle looking confused

If he didn’t know he was Dani’s knight, even better.

[tropicalcryptid]

Ok so She-Ra pulled such a great hat trick with Hordak's characterization, and I LOVE it

One of my favorite things about 2018 She-Ra is Hordak's story and development (and Entrapdak cough but that's not the point of this particular post), and the cleverest thing is that so much of it is actually being set up and told to us in seasons 1 and 2 before we even realize that that's what's happening.

When we first see Hordak in the show, he's giving "generic evil overlord" vibes. Garden-variety baddie. Maybe a little more reasonable than some and clearly capable of long-term thinking, but that just serves to make him intimidating. Everything about him--the way he runs his empire, his armor, his color scheme, his minion, his Villainous Eye Makeup(TM), even his name--are all projecting to the audience "yup, Acme Bad Guy here. Move right along."

But then, backstory. And everything snaps into focus. Not only is it one of the first big oh SHIT moments of the show, where we suddenly zoom out and realize that there is SO much more going on than we realized--it's also the start of the audience seeing Hordak as a character rather than an archetype. Suddenly we realize that he's not conquering Etheria because he wants power, or hates happiness and sparkles, or whatever--he's doing it out of a desperate attempt to prove his worth to his brother/creator/god. This moment where Hordak lets Entrapta in is also the moment the show lets us in on what makes our favorite spacebat tick.

On top of that, we've also seen him bonding with Entrapta and opening up to this person that he respects and trusts...probably the only person he's ever respected or trusted apart from Prime. And she's Etherian--someone of a lower species, someone he's supposed to subjugate, someone who he has been raised and trained and programmed and mind-controlled into believing is below him in every way.

But instead she's brilliant and creative and mesmerizing. She's not afraid of him, and she's fascinated with his work. For the first time since being abandoned by Prime, Hordak finally has someone that he can talk to, who is on his level and both understands and cares about the science! (because he is a giant nerd). She's kind to him, a mere defect. And it just sends his whole worldview into a spin, and that's all before--

Bam, mans is a goner. Entrapta's "Imperfections are beautiful" comment punches right through all the toxic bs that Hordak has been steeped in his entire life. You can see on his face here--I think it's the moment Hordak fell in love with Entrapta, but this is also the face of a spacebat reevaluating his entire worldview. If Entrapta, who is amazing, believes something different from Prime...what does that mean? If Entrapta, who is brilliant, believes that he is worth something, and that she herself is a failure...

Well. We know what happens after that, and how Hordak begins to doubt, and eventually fights back against Prime (and remembers his love for Entrapta after TWO mind wipes help my heart ack). But we also get to see what life in the Galactic Horde looks like: the only life Hordak ever knew before coming to Etheria.

It's not nice.

It's really not nice.

Prime operates in a very specific way, and we learn a lot about it in season 5. Prime expects complete obedience, devotion and worship from his clones. He allows no individuality from his subjects, not even a name. Failure or deviations are punished, mind-wiped, or destroyed. We even learn from Wrong Hordak that facial expressions are considered a privilege reserved for Prime (apart from, presumably, expressions of rapture caused by being around Prime).

And once we learn all of this, suddenly thinking about season 1 Hordak becomes very interesting indeed. The time we spend with the Galactic Horde and Prime throws absolutely everything that we know about Hordak into a whole new context. Now all those traits that made him a generic villain are actually hugely effective characterization! And what that characterization is telling us is that Hordak had already moved much farther away from Prime than we (or, probably, he) had realized, even long before he met Entrapta.

Horde Prime does not allow his underlings to have names, personalities, or any differences of appearance. Not only does Hordak allow this among his own troops, he chose a name for himself as well! Season 5 tells us that his very name is an act of blasphemy against his god. And yet Hordak took one for himself, and that name is part of the core identity he is able to hold on to when rebelling against Prime.

Horde Prime cast Hordak out when he showed signs of physical imperfections. Hordak not only keeps Imp (who is by all appearances a failed clone or similar experiment) around, he treats Imp more gently than we see him treat anybody or anything before Entrapta. Imp is not simply "generic evil guy's minion," he is proof of Hordak's capacity for compassion, and evidence that Hordak cannot bring himself to cast aside "defects" as easily as Prime. Considering where Hordak came from, Imp's existence is a huge, flashing neon sign telling the audience this guy here is better than the hell that molded him, and we don't even realize it until 4 seasons after it's been shown to us!

Very cool, ND.

There's more, though. Hordak's red and black color scheme? His dark eye makeup and lipstick? Very Evil Overlord chic. But nope! Actually these are actually expressions of individuality on a level that Hordak knows would be abhorrent to Prime!

Reading between the lines, I see this as Hordak desperately trying to reconcile two diametrically opposed beliefs in his head: (1) devotion to Prime, whose approval he desperately craves, and (2) maintaining some degree of unique personhood, of Hordak, from which to draw strength. Because a failed, defective clone cannot survive on a hostile world, cut off from the hivemind and from Prime's light. A failed clone cannot create an empire to offer Prime as tribute, nor build a spacetime portal from scraps and memory to call Prime back. A failed clone cannot create cybernetic armor to keep his hurting, weakened body alive; to force himself to keep going no matter what, to fight through the pain and the doubt by sheer force of will.

But maybe Hordak can.

And so there it is. Hordak had plenty of time to gain and explore his individuality while separated from Prime, but I think the reason he did it so effectively (while still deluding himself that Prime would forgive him for these little sins, if only Hordak could prove his value) is because he had to.

Wrong Hordak gained his individuality surrounded by kind, quirky people who took care of him; Hordak was ripped from the hivemind by Prime himself and had to fight for his survival against all odds. And that produced a dangerous and damaging foe for Etheria. But it also produced the one clone with the strength of will to defy Prime himself.

This is long and rambling, but ultimately my point is that 1) I love Hordak, and 2) I love love love love that the show was so clever about his characterization. We learn so much about him and how much progress he's already made in breaking from his psycho abusive cult upbringing, and we don't even recognize it until the show wants us to. Hordak had come so far, all on his own, before he met Entrapta. She just helped push him over the edge and finally realize (at least consciously) that Prime's worldview might not be the correct one.

Idk, I just don't know if I've ever seen all the trappings of Basic 80's Villain(TM) so successfully subverted, where looking back 4 seasons later is actually a smack in the face with the "effective character building" stick. Amazing.

[bie-tch]

Very rough outline of my monstrosity au. I call it Odyssey!Kai. Yes it's an epic the musical pun. I'm very happy with it

Oooo been thinking about this for a hot minute. Was in my drafts for longer.

The imperium arc goes different too, Lloyd getting afraid at seeing Wyldfyre, her being fire adjacent and all, and thinking Kai is dead since she has his "fire" powers. After they get back to the Monastery, Zane actually becomes Wyldfyres mentor. The reason is that he finds her endearing and sees himself in her (not knowing who you are or where you came from). I have concept art rotting in my gallery, but it's not done yet sowy.

In this one, Kai doesn't find the bounty. Nya does. So she finds Lloyd first and traverses the merged lands for information. This, of course, creates irreparable damage to our boy. He does not go home early this time.

S2 has 4 major changes. Wyldfyre is slightly calmer, Lloyd has visions of both the bloodmoon and a mysterious figure cloaked in fur and blood (that he can't help but feel pain for, he doesn't know why), Nya learns dragon rising technique first, and Cole gets sacrificed instead of Kai. Besides that, mostly the same. Maybe they struggle a bit with the Ras showdown, but it ends the exact same way with Nokt free.

S2 p2 has the most differences. For one, Geo and the finders live with the ninja now. He feels guilty for letting Cole 'die' like that, so he's thrown himself into training. He's doing well, and the finders are having fun with arin, sora, and wyldfyre. The monastery is definitely more full, but the ninja still feel the absences of Kai, Cole, and Jay.

Next, Cole isn't doing that bad in the ns. He's got bonzle, he can use his powers to shape the space since it's technically rock, and enough stories to last a lifetime. He's fine.

Zane and Wyldfyre bond more. He tells her stories and videos about Kai and how they'd get along, and she is ecstatic. Another fire user, how exciting!

Arin and sora are still looking for his parents. Still find the matriarch dead.

Meanwhile, Kai has all but lost it. He isn't insane, but his morals have all but been destroyed. The only thing he cares about is getting back to his family and anything and anyone that has come in between that has now died or burned to death. The guardian dragon and fire knight mech are his permanent companions, and they respect his decision to change his values. One can not survive being in the land of the monsters without becoming one themselves, anyway.

The tournament of sources plays out the exact same. If you're wondering about frak, zane took up Cole's role in the og series. When Jay and Nya fight, he actually comes very close to winning. Nya can't bring herself to hurt him, since this time she doesn't have her brother to kinda fill his void. Jay is about to eliminate her until a fire ball the size of a car chucks Jay into the nearest wall.

Nya and the rest of the ninja are horrified because, duh, and she rushes to his side. Jay is unconscious, and she looks to where the fireball came from. Everyone is so in shock that they don't even recognize that it was a fire ball. Except Wyldfyre, then Zane. He tries to tell Lloyd, but there a crowd blocking his way.

All Nya sees are security bots wrangling a hooded figure, but they're being dismantled by the second in a flurry of slashes. Also, it doesn't help that there are two giants (mech and dragon) just looking down at him saying something she can't hear. She can only make out a subtle, "Do you want them to see you like this?" Before the stranger flinches and finally calms down. He allows himself to be arrested.

When the source dragons send out those little messages for each elemental master, Kai actually gets one since he hasn't encountered ras yet. The messenger dragon leads him out of the realm of monsters, but it's still pretty far. He gets there, but it takes a day or two. Or three. That's why he's late.

Roby comes forward, and he is just upset. Absolutely annoyed. He says something about wanting to see the face of the perpetrator, and that sends Kai into another frenzy. He doesn't want his family to him like that. He fails this time, though, and his hat and mask are pulled off.

You can guess what happens next.

Roby is actually happy with the change of events, calling it an epic plot-twist, but the ninja?

The reunion is short-lived, as he's wrung away for interfering with a match. The ninja tried to get to him, but doing so could get them disqualified, so they bite their lips and accept it unwillingly. Not knowing what to do with the mech and dragon, they just give it to the ninja. Both parties accept.

All I have so far wowowowowow

[dclovesdanny]

DC XDP prompt

OK, I made a similar prompt to this one for dead on Main earlier, but I want to slightly change it up

Demon twins AU where Danny was sent to the Fenton by Talia, so that Ra’s could not kill him. He and Damian both believed the other two be dead until about age 16, when they meet due to the justice league summoning Danny.

They did the whole reconciliation thing, but the world ended up going into chaos. The GIW destroyed part of the portal, damaging Danny’s grave, and causing him to go into something similar to shock, severely weakening his powers. The league of assassins also made a mess of things, and now Danny and Damian are the only members of the family who are still able to fight. Damian has just sustained a massive injury on his side, and Danny is getting sick the longer he goes without good ectoplasm, becoming almost feral.

Clockwork offers them a deal to go back, but their bodies will carry over all injuries, including Danny being half dead. They will also have to destroy the Lazarus pits, (in this AU, the pits are a natural portal that was forcibly anchored, making it very toxic ectoplasm, similar to mold and poison.) 

They accept, and Danny and Damian wake up. Danny wakes up alone in his room at 10 years old, and Damian wakes up in his bedroom first tonight he ever spent with the Wayne’s.

The problem, is that Jazz finds her brother crying in his bedroom, with lots of scars, and his eyes glowing green. She is trying to calm her adoptive brother down as he cries in her arms, but she can hear her parents downstairs talking about the portal flickering, and has a sinking feeling in her chest.

In Manor, Alfred has gone to wake up the new master Damian, only to find him staring out the window as he bandages an injury on his side that seems to have not been treated before. The angry boy from last night seems to be gone, and his place is a scared child, one who immediately goes into a defensive position when he notices someone entering, before calming when seeing it was only him.

[aclockworkreader]

all my arcane thoughts because i’m feeling entirely normal about this show:

the storytelling!! the foreshadowing!! the parallels!! the pure artistry!! arcane is a masterpiece!!

it has everything: trauma, found family, the corruption of power, complex sibling dynamics, queer relationships (sapphic rep!!), more trauma, social and political commentary, beautiful animation, and even more trauma!! it reminds me so much of so many of my favorite animated shows (avatar: the last airbender, she-ra, fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood) all mixed into one.

the animation was actually something that originally kept me from watching the show because i’m not a big fan of most 3d animation. but my GOD was it beautiful!!! the way they were able to mix art styles and switch between 3d and 2d worked so well! it was incredibly creative and artistic and i’ve never seen anything like it. the fight sequences were STUNNING and easily some of the best moments in the show. every frame was truly a work of art, i’m obsessed.

from the characters to the plot, every element of this show is so well written, it’s restored my faith in modern tv writing.

would absolutely recommend if you’re prepared to have your heart torn from your chest 💔

spoilers below with all my in depth thoughts

okay please bear with me, my brain is all over the place:

- JINX!! MY PRECIOUS JINX!! YOU DESERVED SO MUCH MORE!!! 😭😭 oh i knew it was coming and yet i still cried so much!!! she’s easily my favorite character. i support her in all her rights and wrongs (of which there are none actually, she had every right to do everything she did). all that’s keeping me sane is knowing she’s alive and well in another timeline 🥲 with ekko 🥲 dancing freely and engineering to her hearts content

- i also loved vi so so much. the prideful eldest sibling overwhelmed by the responsibility she feels to her family….yeah that hit hard. these sisters, doomed by the narrative, have DESTROYED me. all the parallels of their relationship throughout the show, down to vi grabbing jinx before she falls in the first vs last episode!! it’s all too much, i’ll never recover 😭

- my biggest complaint is that we didn’t get to explore vi’s grief after losing jinx. i know they jumped forward in time, so it seemed like she just kinda moved on and we didn’t get to see the aftermath of arguably the most traumatic thing she’s ever experienced?? watching her sister die and her father die (again) would have changed her forever so it felt a bit rushed to just….gloss over that.

- and i’m so sorry to the caitlyn stans but…..she’s not my favorite 😬 i don’t even dislike vi/cait as a ship, i just feel like caitlyn as a character is the least developed out of everyone on the show. and also her dictator arc was…something. i feel like we moved on from it so quickly that we didn’t have time to fully explore and address everything there.

- my other favorite character (second only to jinx) is ekko!! a true hero!! every fight scene he’s in is my favorite fight scene—he’s just SO GOOD 🤍 and what he does for jinx??? yeah, that was pure love

- the jinx/vi/isha/vander dynamic was easily my favorite part of the whole show. them as a family hurt me and healed me and UGH i cried so much 😭 isha and jinx too my GOD their whole relationship was so beautiful and jinx getting to be the older sister she never had 😭 i’m still crying over it!

- and sevika???? LOVE her. imagine being that right all the time….she has to be a capricorn.

- also mel!! she took some time to grow on me but i especially loved her arc in season 2! her as a mage is iconic and i wish we could have seen her use her magic more!

- oh and silco?? the most unexpected favorite. i didn’t expect to side with him so often, but that’s what makes him such a great villain. and the tears i shed when he told jinx “i never would have given you to them. not for anything”??? oh i SOBBED

- while i did love the jayce/viktor relationship by the end, i just find jayce to be so….boring, i’m sorry!! maybe upon rewatch i’ll feel more attached to him but (especially compared to nearly every other character) he’s so uninteresting. but the show needed some normie representation, so i’ll let him be.

- but viktor though!! yeah he was an incredible character. i called the plot twist of him being the mage who helped jayce pretty early on, so that wasn’t a surprise. but i did not expect him to have a full on jesus arc?? that was wilddd and i feel like i need more watches to fully process it all.

those are most of my thoughts for now. i’m just in awe of how wonderful this show is and surprised by how much i enjoyed it. i definitely need more time and more rewatches to say for certain if it’s an all time favorite, but it’s definitely up there 💙🩷

[seilnakyle]

heeyyy, I know you're busy, so feel free to answer this whenever you want/can. why don't you like gcs? i don't read their comics so I'm curious

Hiii thank you for asking 💗

There is so much, “Gotham City Sirens” has ruined the complexity of their relationships with Selina, prior to the New 52, and is pretty much an industry plant friendship/team that made everything less interesting and usually mischaracterizes or abuses Selina for it. The name and playboy esq covers are the only iconic thing about it, and for some unfortunate reason it’s created the false perception that Harley, Ivy and Selina were friends and had always been, when in reality, before the New 52, they were NEVER friends.

Catwoman's first interaction with Harley involved her slicing Selina’s throat, drugging her, and trying to get her to kill Jim Gordon. For no particular reason.

Catwoman (1993) #82

Catwoman (1993) #83

Of course during the original Hush, Poison Ivy brainwashes Catwoman and forces her to commit crimes for her which leads to Selina almost getting killed by Killer Croc, then Harley Quinn shoots her 😭

Hush #3

THIS is toxic yuri.

I don’t hate the concept of Catwoman occasionally teaming up with rouges, or being friendly with them, but Ivy and Selina had real moral conflict too. No matter how far back we go in Selina’s history, even as a villain, she isn’t down with hurting innocent people. Harley and Ivy have different morals.

One of the more interesting Poison Ivy/Catwoman stories is from Catwoman (1993) #57, set during No Man’s Land. Where we see that theres a lot about Ivy that Selina admires, but she still wont let her hurt Gotham.

I mean Is this not already far more interesting than the “bestie” dynamic??

Following this and Hush, their relationship was shown to be on bad terms in the beginning of GCS. The “partnership” between the sirens was always meant to be temporary because Poison Ivy and Catwoman didn’t trust each other and Selina had ulterior motives for teaming up in the first place. Not to mention this whole book is just “Catwoman gets tortured, drugged, brainwashed and betrayed” 😭

But for some reason people think it’s a peak concept and want them all to be bestie weed smoking girlfriends bc they don’t have any context except the name and sexy covers. Who needs complexity?

The abuse is non stop in Sirens. Harley and Ivy torture Selina over Batman’s identity

Gotham City Sirens (2009) #2

Then she get’s kidnapped and mentally abused AGAIN for Bruce’s identity by Shrike and an old student of Ra’s Al Ghul. Because of this, Talia manages to convince an extremely gullible Zatanna, who was already in trouble for messing with memories, that the CATWOMAN the greatest thief in the world, is too easy to capture and needs to have the identity of the only man she loves (who VOLUNTARILY told her mind u) forcibly taken from her.

No, Talia doesn’t actually gaf abt “protecting Bruce’s identity” all of a sudden. This is specifically about eliminating a romantic rival and using a member of the JL to do it. Stupid.

Hating Gotham Sirens truly isn’t enough I need Selina get a gun and kill all the bitches in this book 😭

It wasn’t enough that they already tried to destroy ALL of Selina’s decades of character development by saying she was only a good person because Zatanna “fixed” her, they have to go ahead and rip away her memories of Bruce. Even the retcon of the spell only working because of Selina’s already existing good potential makes me FURIOUS bc what do you MEAN “She just couldn’t?” Without the mind theft???

CATWOMAN STOLE THINGS! And was NEVER on an evil team. WHY is she in the same conversation as villains like DR LIGHT my god why the fuck would the justice league want to mind wipe a young thief from Gotham this shit is so stupid

Anyway Zatanna, goes through with it again….

Zatanna then finds a memory of Selina and Talia that leads her to discovering she’s been played. About time.

They scrap for a second and Zatanna zaps her like a bug, Talia breaks her nose, Zatanna punches her in the face, and then Talia randomly fires missiles at Selina 😭 I hate this book man

It exploded and we see Ivy and Harley pretend to care for a second before it’s revealed she’s alive.

Zatanna returns Selina’s memories. But also offers to wipe her mind of Bruce with her consent this time. Selina rejects the offer, and things end rough between the two of them. Selina should have at least been allowed to curse everyone out tbh

Near the end of the series, we get to a point of what I think a good representation of the Sirens relationships should be like. Harley and Selina bond briefly over betrayal and love and are friendly enough. Selina and Ivy have a contentious alliance that ultimately breaks down.

After everything she’s been through, Selina “betrays” her “friends” and has them put in Arkham. Ivy is pissed and breaks herself and Harley out to kill Selina for revenge. All of this culminates into Selina explaining that She is the only reason the Bat hasn’t dealt with them himself and shes done nothing but try to help them, and we get this moment where Selina herself explains why “Gotham sirens” never made sense and was NEVER gonna work.

It ends with Selina once again dying on the cross for them as she lets them get away after attacking her and distracts Batman. If these two are supposed to be Selina’s “weed smoking girlfriends” as fanon says, then she is in an abusive ass relationship 😭

And modern Sirens content? Poison Ivy has been so defanged, Harley is Harley, and god help any character written around her, and Selina get’s mischaracterized as a selfish woman only out for herself (hq show Selina) While dc tries to give the anti-hero “villain with a heart” treatment to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.

Now apparently they’re going on space adventures in the new siren book. We’ve already known Dc has lost the plot when writing for Harley, but what are Ivy and Selina doing in space?! Why do we have to pause Catwoman’s already struggling solo for this slop that absolutely no one will be reading for the story 😭 It benefits none of these characters and only serves to regress Ivy and Catwoman once actually compelling relationship more.

Gotham City Sirens, they can never make me like you.

[roses-and-revolutions]

I have another idea for a story, but I once again don't know what to write, so I'm building a skeleton.

It's a DC x DP x ML crossover. Damien, Marinette, and Danny are triplets born into the LoA. From birth, they were taught to not see each other as siblings but as rivals for Ra's attention. When they were five, they were dipped (more like dropped) into the pits for the first time. Danny never comes back out. The second time was when they were six. Damien and Marinette came back from a mission gravely injured. Marinette doesn't come back out. Damien becomes the sole heir.

As one can imagine, Danny and Marinette aren't dead but simply taken to where they were needed at the time. That being said, things for these two characters go mostly according to their respective shows after they integrate into society. With the exception that the two of them are more competent and don't fight like rabid raccoons. But things take a dark turn when they turn sixteen.

Marinette

. After finding out that his father is Hawkmoth, Adrien is unable to carry the weight of being the holder of the cat Miraculous, as he doesn't want to fight his father and gives it to Ladybug. He promptly moves to the States to further his modeling career. Marinette, unable to find someone else worthy to be the holder of the cat Miraculous, stores it away and becomes the sole hero of Paris (with occasional helpers). But because of this, her two lives get more intertwined, and she is forced into a corner where she has to choose between being Ladybuy or Marinette.

. But she doesn't get a chance as Hawkmoth is dethroned and replaced by an even greater threat. She is forced to take on the persona of LadyNoir. Her life crumbles as she tries her hardest to balance her life as a hero and a person. She tries to save everyone but someone always ends up getting hurt. Whether it be her as Marinette, clinging to what little of her life is left. Or her as LadyNoir, with no choice but to watch innocent civilians die because she couldn't think of a better plan that could've saved everyone.

. It gets to the point where she makes an unforgivable wish. But every wish has a cost. She only finds out the price when she is forced to stand behind an invisible wall and watch as her life replays before her eyes, the film slowly burning away till there's nothing left. She cries as she falls into an ocean of familiar Lazarus green.

Danny

. Danny's life is also crumbling around him as he struggles to separate his human life from his ghost half. But after becoming the Ghost King, things only became more complicated and even more dangerous as more ghosts started coming through the portal to challenge him for the crown. And while he would really love to give it away, the guys that kept fighting him for it are very clearly evil. So he has to keep fighting, winning, and solidifying his position as the King of the Infinite Realms. But with every win comes a newfound power. Power he doesn't want. Power that scares him.

. It gets to the point when Danny has to drop out of school. He wasn't even scoring double digits anymore so what was the sense of keeping him? But Danny couldn't stay home either, it was too dangerous as his ghost and human halves were slowly becoming one. And his parents' obsession was slowly becoming a threat to him. He thought he had the solution. He was going to shut down the portal and leave Amity Park.

. It was perfect really, as no ghost portal meant no ghost. And he couldn't be vivisected if neither the GIW nor his parents could catch him. He talked the plan over with team phantom and they reluctantly agreed. The ghost portal is destroyed, and Danny leaves Amity and files over Elmerton and a few other towns. But after flying for a while, Danny gets to a sort of border where nothing meets... NOTHING. On the other side was just an infinite void. Nothing.

. Danny slowly realizes that in this world, all he knew was Amity Park. He never actually traveled or went on field trips. Never went to visit extended family nor did any visit. No one 'new' ever came to Amity Park because they were all just nearby. He learned no relevant history besides Amity Park because there was nothing outside of Amity Park. When the realization had finally set in the world began to crumble into the void and it became a race against him and the void.

. Danny knew that he was fast but the void was faster, and before he knew it he was back in Amity. He was going to warn them and try to save as many people as he could. But saw something in their eyes. They already knew. Danny watched how teary eyes and big smiles, everyone and everything he loved crumbled into the void, fading into nothingness.

Scientists across the galaxy, the universe even, often theorize about how everything came to be. Well, it didn't start with a bang, that's for sure. 'Well then how did it start?' you might ask.

Well..., it started with some tears and a scream.

[lunalouli]

How I think reverse robin au would go:

_ damian being the oldest sibling who came first he and bruce don't talk so much but they start to fight each time they do he would love his sibling but he doesn't know how to show them he's bad a communication cause he live with b and Alfred and he doesn't stop talking formally. His vigilante name would be "shadow" and he would leave the Manor at the age of 17 to the sister city Blüdhaven he tries to be a good brother to his sibling even thought he doesn't know how to show it and he has a protective side, I 100% sur he would kill the joker after he know about tim death then he killed ra for manipulating his younger brother and those killing were also part of the fall of his relationship with his father.

_duke was the second to came to the Manor at the age of 7, damian and him didn't get a long at first cause damian keep distance but they turn to be the beautiful, he didn't know about his power fist but them when he did bruce made sur to make him feel welcome duke was younger than tim but he stayed in the Manor the most he was athe good sunshine brother who maintained a good relationship with his sibling and bruce, he became vigilant after turning 9 goes by "spoiler". Batman listened to him the most.

_Stephanie was already a vigilant when bruce took her in, she was a the sister that camed but never really adopted she stayed in the Manor alot and loved to annoyed bruce who she started calling him B she had a healthy sibling relationship with her brothers even if damin did look weird and mysterious she loved to annoyed but he never snaped at here, she become batgirl. Tim death destroyed here and Jason coming home did bring here some joy but she couldn't forget her BFF death.

_tim camed next at the age of 12 he was adopted after discovery batman and spoiler, he and damian didn't get a long at fist but after tim talking with duke and understanding damian personality he looked up on him and somehow they started get along . joker captured tim to make him joker Jr but tim ended dead due to the experience, when he woke up he find himself in the hand of the demon head who manipulated him to the perfect puppet until damian came and saved him, there he learnt about his older brother past them damian bring him back to Blüdhaven tim was mentally investable but damian did all he could to help him recover then he want back to Gotham and reunited with his family and met his new brother,

_rev!Jason and Jason joined the same way to the batfamily after tim death he bring joy to bruce and duke, he didn't meet damian when he camed to the Manor he just find out about him by asking whoms room in the end turn out he had an older brother who he didn't know about he was excited to meet him, he looked and strong cool in jason eyes, he was more them bruce and he got along with him with book where he first met him , then he met Tim who he used to looked up and he did all he could do to enter the Jr heart ♥

_cass arrived is the same, she camed and stayed, she stayed close to bruce at first then duke, she got along with here sibling quick and here brother cheried here, they know her past. Damian looked at his sibling care to cass he didn't understand but he didn't hated it it was nice seeing how they care to the little girl who she remained him of his past, she also choose to become a vigilante under the name of orphan she started speaking but preferred to use sight language.

_dick camed last at the age of 8 same as the original version he was the lovely beautiful sunshine Little brother who was dear to the batfam but his favorite was damian who he looked up to he was like a father to him he become robin.

_bruce in this rev had a good relationship with duke cass Jay and dick, steph and him used to be close befor Tim's death but after that she made a distance with him and started to get along a little but not as before, him and tim didn't get along after his return because of tim killing problems and tim refusing to come close. But him and damian relationship was too far from a good relationship he didn't trust damian to change and always scolded him for small mistake until damian left the Manor they Don't talk and after killing joker there was ni room off talking only yelling, they Don't talk when damian visit the Manor even in the diner table and bruce always tell damian to stay away from his sibling cause he scared that damian would hurt them

[didherodown]

Didherodown's Official Danny Phantom episode recommendations

(for the fan who has never seen the series but is in the phandom)

Ordered in sequence of release (taken from imdb, so take that as you will)

Very Important episodes will be noted like this Episodes I think are fun and kinda important like this

enjoy!

Season 1: Has a lot of groundwork for the show, lots of introductions to our cast of Ghosts

Mystery Meat - E1

Where it all started, establishes Sam and Tuckers rivalry over food, our first encounter with the Lunch Lady, and Danny’s first outing as a hero in general

Episodes 2-6 : feature introductions to Dora, Skulker, Technus, Point Dexter, and Desiree 

Bitter Reunions - E7

Our introduction to Vlad! Establishes Vlad vs Danny dynamic, Vlad's hate of Jack and his obsession with Maddie

Prisoners of Love - E8 is our intro to Walker

My Brothers Keeper - E9

Spectra makes her appearance! Shows a lot of Danny’s insecurities he has about being different, an outsider, ect.  And Jazz finds out Danny's identity!

Shades of Gray - E10 

Our first meeting of Valerie, and where her life gets ruined by Cujo!

Fanning the Flames - E11 is our intro to Ember

Maternal Instincts - E17 

Vlad is up to his scheming and tries to get both Danny and Maddie to join him and abandon Jack. (Introduces the Specter Deflector gadget, as well the the Plasmius Maximus)

The Million Dollar Ghost - E19

Vlad puts a bounty on Danny Phantom, making lots and lots of ghost hunters show up- including the GIW

Control Freaks - E20

Circus Gothica! The ringmaster- Freakshow- has a staff that he uses to control ghosts and Danny of course falls victim 

Season 2: Has a lot of bangers- and is very heavy in the Danny Lore AND where a lot of fannon comes from (ghost king, trans danny, pharaoh tuck, ect)

Reign Storm - E4

In which Pariah Dark is awoken and goes on a rampage, sucking Amity Park into the Ghost zone. With the other ghosts also terrified of the Ghost King, Danny might be the only who has a chance to stop him (ghost king danny anyone????)

The Ultimate Enemy - E6

Danny cheats on a test, which we find out actually will end the world. Our introduction to Clockwork and the Eyeball Guys(™). And of course, Danny’s future evil self- Dan !!

King Tuck - E7

Where Tucker gets influenced by Hotep-Ra (origin of the Pharaoh Tucker fannon)

Identity Crisis - E8

Where we learn that simply splitting Danny from his ghost half is not an option, his ghost half is indeed half of him

Flirting with Disaster - E11

Where Danny and Valerie are dating. In this episode her original ghost fighting suit is destroyed and Technus makes her a new version- leading to lots of fannon about Valerie being a little more ghost than she thought

Kindred Spirits - E14

Cloning! Danielle! AHHHHHHH!!!! (trans Danny? All but confirmed /hj)

Reality Trip - E17

Where Freakshow is searching for the stones of the Reality Gauntlet (very reminiscent of the Infinity Gauntlet from Marvel)

Season 3: Often the most criticized of the three seasons, the show was canceled in this season. BUT THERE IS SO MUCH IMPORTANT LORE IN THIS ONE LETS GO

Infinite Realms - E2

Our first meeting with Frostbite! Also tells us a lot about how natural portals work AND the introduction of blood blossoms

Torrent of Terror - E4

Introduces Vortex, also Danny's mood affects the weather for a good part of this episode

Urban Jungle - E6

Undergrowth has taken over amity, making Sam his “Queen” because of her love and care of plants. THIS IS WHERE WE FIRST SEE DANNY’S ICE POWERS! AND WE LEARN ABOUT CORES! YES REALLY ONLY 6 EPISODES FROM THE END

Boxed Up Fury - E8

The Box ghost, upset at not being taken seriously- steals Pandora's Box, and well, that goes about as good as you imagine it going

D-Stablized - E11

Dani is literally dissolving into ectoplasm, and Danny has to find a way to save her before she destabilizes all the way. (Introduces Ecto Dejecto- a fanfic staple)

Now this is just my personal list- based on 20 years of being in this fandom (holy shit how can it be that long????)

Thanks for reading :)

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

so i was rereading the transcript to Launch (the episode where the princesses are trying to locate glimmer) and i want to talk about two things i hated about this episode (apart from.. the obvious):

1. i don’t like that the crew’s idea of an autistic person is “has a special interest” and “doesn’t value human life”.

now i get it. neurodivergent people can have trouble reading the room or responding in a way that people expect us to. but we can still recognize a serious situation (especially one where someone is hurt or in need of help) when we see it.

entrapta has always been kind of absentminded, but i feel like in this episode, they made her act like too much of an airhead. she seems to be on the high-functioning end of the spectrum, so i don’t understand the point of making it seem like she can never take anything seriously. she’s rambling about science and space, she’s climbing over tents, knocking shit over, it’s just strange to add in “comedic” bits like this in an episode that’s supposed to be serious. in general, this episode was far too lighthearted than it had any right to be, but entrapta was the worst part of it.

i just feel like she’s portrayed as more of a silly caricature of an autistic person, rather than an actual autistic person. a lot of this is played for laughs as well like “haha look at entrapta, she’s such an idiot, she only cares about science!” and it just feels insulting. we’ve seen entrapta show concern and compassion before, albeit in her own way, like when hordak wasn’t feeling well. so why would she act like this in a situation where someone’s life is at stake?

my problem lies with the writers and not entrapta herself, because it seems like they pick and choose when to make entrapta more empathetic and relatable, and when to make her act like a robot who doesn’t value human life. it’s just weird.

(this is all based on my general knowledge about neurodivergent people and my own personal experience with autism, so if i said something wrong here, feel free to correct me!)

2. the princesses aren’t mad at entrapta because she joined the horde and built weapons that were used to hurt thousands of innocent people, no no no, they were mad that she betrayed them specifically.

it’s all about “us”. not “our people” or “innocent civilians”, just.. “us”. because they’re the only ones affected by the ongoing war, right? everyone else on etheria is completely safe and sound, the princesses suffered the most because their ego was a bit damaged by what entrapta did. sure.

and let’s not forget this:

fucking rich of perfuma to say that they’re supposed to be entrapta’s friends, when SHE’S the one who leashed entrapta and dehumanized her.

and this is the first and only time they mention the kingdoms. which, btw, i may be nitpicking but “destroyed kingdoms” is a very light way to put it. it makes it seem like the horde was just destroying lands and buildings and not, you know, killing or grievously harming very real people. and again, this is all about THEM in the end, they’re acting like the kingdoms were their property, and not a civilisation of real people with real lives.

it’s a subtle way to avoid addressing the real impact of war, because how would we redeem our beloved catra if we acknowledge that she probably slaughtered hundreds of innocent civilians who were just trying to live their lives?

(also i find it funny that the 12 year old is the only one who even attempts to acknowledge the civilians, while the “adults” of the group whine about themselves.)

i’ve said this a million times before but i just don’t understand the idea of writing about war, and then acting like it only affects the people who are fighting it. this was a show written by adults, right? i’m seriously beginning to question it.

and like i said in a previous post, they did not have to make a she-ra reboot. they did not have to write about war. no one forced them to. if you’re choosing to write about a specific topic in a show that is marketed to the general public, especially children, it is your duty to do your research on it and address it accordingly. you don’t even have to do research to understand that war impacts everyone, not just the oppressors and the royalty. that’s just common knowledge. or did these people skip their history classes?

[humanoiddisaster]

Pink Paint

'Jason travels to Star City to get some business done but when he notices a familiar face he abandons his schedule just so he can sleep better at night. His soft spot for kids ends up with him faking a new identity, becoming a tutor (a glorified babysitter, really) and meeting a certain ginger with a stupid smile.' Warning for a very brief mention of past assault (Jason and Talia), fake identities, mentions of firearms, suspected child abuse and a brief disconnection from reality. Also any and all possible warnings for DC and Jason Todd content.

This one is overall about taking care of a chaotic child (Lian) and is part of my series but can be read as a stand alone one shot, I think.

Star City 2024

Jade Nguyen, also known as Cheshire, has been on his watch for the past few weeks. Her activity wasn't anything abnormal considering her connection to the League of Assassin's but something didn't let Jason sleep at night.

Back in the day when he was still in the League, there was a situation where she came with a child. A newborn. He doesn't remember much, he still didn't remember who he was at the time, but he does remember feeling uneasy. It concerned him, to know that another child might be getting indoctrinated into being a ruthless assassin, but the second he saw Jade again after all these years it's not like he could just storm down to the nearest League base and rip it to shreds to find one little girl.

Not with Ra's around, not when Talia's touch was still so vivid in his memory.

Plus, Jade was in Star City, with the little girl following her every other day. He didn't need to go looking for League's hideout.

He watched Jade carefully, picked up on every single thing she did with and without the child, and waited for a single sign that would justify his intervention.

As dangerous as it was, being in Star City while the Bat was slowly destroying all of Hood's hard work, he just had to make sure.

He watched Jade from afar, highly aware of her experience as an assassin, observing as she was doing something on her phone right before entering a grocery store, holding the small hand of presumably her child.

When she disappeared from his view he took the time to hack into her phone and see just what the hell she was up to, only to be faced with an ad.

'Looking for a tutor to home school my daughter once a week'

Well. That was a find. Was it true that Jade wanted to find a tutor, or maybe it was a trap to kidnap someone to indoctrinate them?

It was Red Hood's job to prevent that from happening. At least that's what he told himself, not willing to accept his weakness when seeing a child in danger. He got up and took a few steps back, deciding that testing his luck today wasn't a good idea. He couldn't observe Jade 24/7, first off, his time in Star City was limited, he still belonged to Gotham and his business here was only temporary, second, Jade might not sense him now but it would only be a matter of time until she figured out something was wrong.

It was time to take care of business anyway.

His hand went to his hip, to the holster of his gun. He grabbed the handle, ran his thumb down the base, took a step towards his new destination and took his weapon out, loading it with a loud click

Jason didn't know what he got himself into. He ran a hand through his hair, checking everything one more time.

His clothes were clean, beige pants with a blue button up, the most basic of the looks he could get himself to put together. No bruises or scars were visible on his exposed skin, there was also no dirt or blood under his fingernails. He was practically defenseless as his weapons weren't part of his wardrobe today, to ensure the kid's safety, his bag was filled with books instead. Most importantly, he forced himself to paint the white streak of his hair to match his natural colour.

Jade wouldn't recognize him, no one in the League saw his face besides Talia, Ra's and Damian, but he had to be extra safe which meant getting rid of anything that might connect 'Jay' to Jason.

'Jay', the persona Jason created for this one task, to check up on the kid and hopefully get rid of his constant guilt whenever he thought about her. He wished he didn't care so much, but then if that were to become true, would he really be Jason?

He left his safehouse, trying his best to stay calm. If Jade figured out it was him it would be fine, he would be able to take her down no problem, but the child? The last thing Hood wanted was to expose the little girl to violence this early.

He prepared for his road before which meant that his destination was only about 10 to 20 minutes away from his safehouse. When he arrived at the address he took a deep breath before gently knocking on the door. He waited, forcing his mind and body to stay calm, not wanting to give off any suspicious signs.

Soon enough, a tall, young woman opened the door. Her smile was charming but her eyes lingered on him a bit too long.

"You must be Jay. Come on in, Lian has been so excited to meet you." Jason followed her into the apartment, a soft, silent sigh of relief on his lips.

"Well If that isn't nice to hear- I wish all my students would share that sentiment" He hummed, mentioning the students that he definitely did not have. He did drop out of school after. You know. Dying. They both let out a soft giggle as Jason put down his things while Jade walked them into the living room where she motioned for them to sit down.

"What experience does Lian have? Was she schooled previously?" He asked as casually as he could while Jade nodded.

"A little bit from me when I am not working, but she learns all sorts of things from her babysitter. I do think she would greatly benefit seeing someone who actually knows what they are doing once in a while, it's going to be a good addition to her education" Jade was calm but visibly tired. 'Jay' nodded along her words with a sympathetic smile.

"I'll finish my coffee and be out. Later on the babysitter should come, you are free after that" Jade sipped on her coffee as Jason looked out the window. It was around 4 or 5 PM so he would have a few hours to examine the house and talk with Lian.

"Of course the whole apartment is to your disposition. I am sure my daughter will help you if you need to find anything" Her voice was cautious and Jason knew that the place was probably filled with cameras, or that Jade herself would be watching this whole time from a building across, after all Jade wouldn't just trust a stranger that responded to an ad online, right? Not with her daughter at least.

They filled the silence with small talk, information about Jay's experience, what Jade expects of him, nothing memorable as Jason completely turned off from the conversation. When the assassin did finish her coffee she said her loud goodbye and left while Jason looked towards the direction where Jade shouted.

"Hi" A quiet voice came from the other room, a small child hiding behind the doorframe, curious. Jason smiled gently in her direction, staying where he was to give her space, just in case.

"Hi… My name is Jay, and I'll be your teacher. Kind of." He tried to stay casual as his eyes scanned through the room. Even in the weird, overly yellow light he should be able to spot a camera lense, but he just couldn't find anything from a glance.

"I am Lian!" The girl finally walked up to him, smiling as she immediately hugged his leg, clinging onto him. Jason quite quickly, gently, returned the gesture with a bit of a shock. Was that her way of asking for help? Was she going to ask him to take her away to safety? Or maybe she was just an affectionate child?

"It's nice to meet you Lian, what would you like to learn today?" He sent her a gentle smile, keeping in mind that Jade insisted on letting her daughter be the one to choose the topics. Something about her child having the opportunity to choose what she wants to learn, getting her to make her own decisions, Jason really didn't think too hard about what Jade said in that moment.

"I was hoping maybe we could read together and paint?" Her request was polite, with a toothy smile at the end.

"Sure, sounds good. Do you want to stay here or go to your room?" He asked to which the girl grabbed his hand and started walking with him towards the room she came from.

The room had a blue and a pink wall, littered with decorations, stickers and artwork. There was a comfortable bed, a desk, a lot of toys all over the place, and it seemed like there were no hidden cameras here either.

It was a normal child's room, which somehow concerned Hood more than if it was filled with torture devices. Could Jade really just be a good mom?

Lian grabbed a book and sat down on her bed, with Jason following right after her. Lian took his bigger hand into her smaller one and put it down on the page, smiling up at him.

"I will motion for you to read at my speed okay?" She asked with her big eyes as Jason just nodded.

She wasn't afraid of touch. After checking her over once again, she didn't have any bruises or cuts either. The drawings in her room were also pretty normal, no dead bodies, no blood, nothing that could imply she was being mistreated.

Maybe it was wrong of him to immediately assume that a criminal couldn't love and take care of their child. He didn't want to give up just yet, not that he wanted the girl to be mistreated, but he had to truly make sure. He had to be sure, otherwise he would have another thing to add to the list of things that kept him up at night.

Lian slowly moved Jason's finger over the page and he started reading. Lian was focused but he couldn't get himself to even register his own words, trying to find a single discrepancy, a single thing that was out of place. As if finding it would lead him to unravel the secret and be able to save the child.

But was there really something to protect Lian from?

They went through a few pages, maybe a whole chapter, Jason was too deep in his thoughts to really know, a thing he kind of learned when he wasn't in control of his body back when he was in the League, he kind of could just make his body do one thing and keep his mind completely disconnected from it.

"I wanna paint now" Lian whispered suddenly, looking up at Jason as she held his finger on the dot at the end of the last sentence.

"Uh. Sure." He said quietly and got up, watching as Lian got up to start cleaning the room, making space on the floor. Jason was standing still, not sure just what exactly he was supposed to do. Lian looked up at him while he stayed quiet. She then giggled, grabbing his hand once again before she walked them to some cupboards.

"Paints are there, so I don't take them too often" She said, pointing at one of them. Jason carefully opened it and took out the supplies, sitting down with her and watching as she prepared everything.

What kind of tutoring even was this? He was just a glorified babysitter, why would Jade hire someone if the other person taking care of Lian could literally do the same thing?

"Uh- aren't we supposed to be learning?" He asked quietly, watching as Lian turned to him with a frown.

"Or we could have fun and I can tell mom you are an awesome teacher?" They stared at each other until Jason sighed. Who was he to actually try and teach the girl anything? He dropped out of school.

"Fine" He said with an exhausted sigh and watched as Lian happily opened the box with art supplies, setting things where she believed they belonged.

"Sit" Lian demanded, pointing at a place on the floor and Jason followed her instruction, sitting down and watching as Lian took his hand and- ew.

He felt the moist, thick paint cover his hand as Lian chose his palm to be her palette. A wave of disgust over the feeling of said paint washed over him but he stayed quiet, aware that it was a better move to just let it happen.

"So Jay, what kind of hobby do you have?" Lian asked, her eyes glued to the paper she was working on.

"I am an artist of course" She said, pointing at the splotches of paint all over the floor and then the drawings on the walls.

Jason didn't think his character this far through. He swallowed his spit as Lian waited for an answer, trying to quickly come up with something. What could a teacher be into…

"Books?" He said unsure, the child looking at him sceptically.

"You are asking me?" She pointed out while Jason stayed quiet, trying to figure out a better lie. Well, with Lian looking at him like that he just panicked.

"I- uh- well- metal is cool. Like. Metal parts. Music too. I just take scraps of metal and put them together sometimes" He finally responded awkwardly, watching as Lian's eyes sparkled.

"That's so cool" Her voice dragged out the 'o' as she went back to her work.

"Is this the only kind of 'education' you are getting?" Jason finally asked, deciding that maybe he could get some information in the meantime.

"Will tries his best to make me learn stuff but mom says I don't have to worry about it yet" Lian pulled a second piece of paper and let out a noise of disapproval, painting some squiggly lines on it and 'comparing' it to the circles and square-ish shapes on the first paper.

Jason stayed careful, talking to Lian with hope of getting more information. Somewhere along the way they trailed off from their main topics, somewhere either he or Lian said a bad joke and at some point he completely forgot what his mission here was.

Art was a messy interest, so of course it didn't take long for Lian's face and hands to be covered in paint. Whether because the brush fell out of her small palm or because she decided her fingers were a better tool didn't matter much, what did matter was that at some point she became a walking hazard and if Jade found pink and blue fingerprints all over the house she probably wouldn't be too happy.

Lian's and Jason's laughter echoed through the room as he grabbed a cloth and ran it under warm water for a few seconds.

"Alright, come here, we can't have you running around with paint all over your face" He said, leaning down as the girl came closer. Gently, he whipped away at her cheek with the cloth, taking off the paint as Lian still couldn't contain all her giggles. She seemed like such a happy child, reacting well to touch, affectionate, not at all violent or scared.

Maybe Jade was a good mom. Maybe she didn't want her daughter involved with the league. Jason would still come a few more times, just to make sure, but for now he knew the little girl was safe.

While he was still contemplating he heard the front door open. He immediately looked in that direction, his body automatically getting ready as he took a step to stand in front of Lian in case of an emergency, while seeing as a man in probably his mid twenties walked in. He stared at Jason like a deer in a headlight as they both stared at eachother.

The man was tall with broad shoulders covered by the black coat he was wearing. His hair was that vibrant natural ginger, shoulder length and covered by bits and pieces of snow. His eyes were somewhere between lime and chartreuse, a soft stubble on his chin and lips turned into a bit of a frown, slightly open as he seemed both confused and deep in his thoughts.

It was Lian, running through the living room to hug into his leg that snapped both of them out of their trance.

There was something. Something in the other man that created a spark inside Jason, something alongside recognition, nostalgia and a deep melancholic unease he couldn't quite put into words yet.

"Will! Will! I've learned so much cool stuff today!!!" Lian was loud, giggling once more as the man sent her a soft smile

"Aww, and here I hoped I'd still be your favourite teacher" Will pouted, his expression overexadurated as Lian laughed

"Don't worry, I am pretty sure it'll take a bit more time before I claim that spot" Jason responded as they once more looked at eachother. They were quiet again, but only for a few seconds as Will spoke up.

"Name's William, but people call me Will. I take care of that little Princess every other day but Jade definitely didn't tell me she had someone else set up for today. You uh- you her boyfriend?" Will was soft spoken but behind his eyes there was definitely a gaze of someone who was analyzing Jason and his every move.

"I am Jay and uh- no, not really. I am just here to teach her a thing or two every now and then. Today's my first day actually" Jason stepped closer, cautious over the body language of the taller man.

"Neat. I uh- I bet that I am supposed to relieve you of your duties then?" Now it was Will who took a step closer. It felt like there was a tension between them, a secret language as they both treated each other like a wild animal that would be easy to spook away, or a predator waiting to attack. There was no hostility between them, but clearly neither of them trusted the other.

"I suppose" Jay replied quietly, watching as Lian suddenly frowned

"Nooo! But we could have played together! Can't you stay just a few more minutes??? Pleeeease?" Lian made her eyes big and innocent, like a puppy asking you to throw them a stick one more time. Who was Jason to say no? He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before giving the girl one more look and giving up on rejecting the offer.

"Alright, but only 15 more minutes, no more" He said in a bit of a stern voice as the girl jumped up happily and held onto Will's hand, dragging him over to the doll house while Jason followed.

While Lian stood in front of the toy Will and Jason sat down next to eachother awkwardly, their shoulders practically touching as the girl insisted they 'had to be closer so they can all play together'. Jason set up an alarm on his phone, just in case he got lost in his thoughts and forgot what time it was, before Lian angrily took his device away.

She gave them both two dolls, placing one in each of their hands as Will sighed, making Jason rise his eyebrow.

"I have to play the landlord" The man whispered, causing even more confusion for Jason. How and- why would a 5 year old know what a landlord is?

"You get to play the baby and the policeman" Lian exclaimed while Jason looked at his two dolls. One was a small cat, which he assumed was the 'baby', while the other was a tall doll with a drawn mustache. He blinked a few times, realising he has no idea what to do.

"Just go with the flow" Will said as if reading his thoughts. He started, as if to show Jason how it's done, by using an overly exadurated voice as he played his second doll, 'Stacy'. Lian played with one tall blonde doll and a second one that was a normal sized cat. The dolls started talking to eachother about all sorts of things before the 'landlord' came with the 'policeman' to evict them.

Jason was confused, but felt a tiny smile on his lips at how stupid the whole story was.

And the picture of someone finding out that the Red Hood spent his friday evening playing with doll, talking about topics the 5 year old shouldn't be able to understand.

At some point his phone buzzed as it announced that the 15 minutes were up. Lian groaned as their laughter died down.

"Nooo come on! Just a few more minutes!" She asked once more. Jason was about to argue, or maybe agree again, before Will stepped in.

"Hey- look princess, Jay already stayed overtime and he has to get back home. You'll get to play with him again another time okay? Say goodbye now" His voice was one of care but had that parental feel to it. Slightly scolding, but more to bring awareness than to punish the child.

"Alright… Bye Jay, I'll miss you. I hope we see each other again" Lian said as Jason just smiled, feeling his heart warm up

"It's okay, I am sure we will. It was a pleasure to meet you Lian, thank you for today" He got up and Will followed, probably to close the door behind him.

Before a hand touched his shoulder he turned around, once more staring into the green eyes of the ginger. They were quiet again, before he spoke up.

"Thanks for staying longer. It means the world to her" He said quietly as Jason hummed

"No problem, really. Thanks for standing up for me, I probably wouldn't be able to say no" They both exchanged a soft giggle but as Jason was about to turn again his arm was grabbed. He had to physically stop his reflexes as he turned to look at the man again.

"Wait- you have paint on your face" Will's smile was dorky as he licked his thumb and gently put it over Jason's chin, rubbing the paint off, leaving his finger smudged with an off shade of pink. They both stared at each other again, a soft blush over their cheeks as they giggled

"Man- I am so sorry- I swear I spend too much time with Lian. Didn't mean to be weird" They exchanged a playful look as Jason leaned over the door frame.

"It's fine, I get it. Believe it or not, it's not the weirdest thing that happened to me on the first day that I met someone" He thought about how Bruce adopted him, knowing him for only a few minutes. Maybe it was the charming smile, or maybe the bags under Will's eyes, but Jason didn't mind. Rather, 'Jay' didn't mind. Jason had to go back to Gotham, back to Red Hood, so maybe a moment of 'normalcy' was acceptable every now and then.

When he finally left the apartment he had to mentally prepare himself for the upcoming 12 hour ride back to Gotham. He was already lucky enough that he had business in Star City, otherwise these trips would be more than bothersome. Not that they weren't already, but he got committed to helping the child a few more times, just in case, before he could decide that the investigation was done. Then he would close up the business he had with Star City's underworld and could fully focus on Gotham again.

============= Whoop! I think this one is a bit shorter than the last one. This is still happening in the same universe, just at a different time ;)

If you are confused and rading this, Roy uses the name 'Will', wasn't able to fit the clone story from YJ into my timeline but it's a little reference.

If anyone plans to read the whole thing then here, I am gonna share a thing or two since I am *still* waiting for my new AO3 Account.

The story will be written in 3 different perspectives that will connect. One will be from the early days, one in the 'current' days of Jason and Roy in their fake identities and one will be from a 'future' perspective which was briefly mentioned at the start of last 'chapter'.

Jason has both the autopsy scar (althought he got it in a different way) and the 'J' from the arkham series, he covers it up for the 'Jay' thing tho. I also planned out how the lazarus pit works and why it revived him but didn't heal these things.

I know it's waaay too confusing so when I am done and move onto the other part of the story (yes, I have this story planned for almost each and every character) I am proboably going to make a single collection with edited parts so it's all in order.

[aalghul]

read boywonder and exploded died (in a bad way)

talia... what have they done to you... what do they always do to you... ‘there is no honour in assassin’s work’ talia... where are u... the apple of my eye, i adore her sm very close to sending pipebombs to GM everyday waow...

watching people talk about how good this was for talia feels like chewing glass. boy wonder was clearly written by someone who has not read anything involving talia prior to grant morrison and doesn't care about her outside of whatever can justify her becoming an abusive backstory for damian.

boy wonder completely disrespects her struggle during the time when she was so conflicted because she wanted to be loyal to her father but wasn't sure if she believed in him entirely anymore. the struggle existed because talia knew she would not abide by nor aid him if she did not agree with him. because talia has her own moral compass and beliefs that she follows. juni ba disregards this very important part of her journey to instead make her an entirely different character apparently did not disagree with ra's at any point before her own son was threatened (going as far as making her uncaring towards damian's former caretaker to show us how twisted her way of thinking is. mind you, this is supposedly the same talia who cried the first time she accidentally killed someone and has risked her life to help strangers, the JLA, jason todd, etc). she has to be turned into a different person just because boy wonder needs her to be framed as a somewhat sympathetic villain who gets what she deserves by having her son leave her for a better family. her "happy ending" is knowing that damian's other family is making him happy, which she never could because the story deems her incapable of that.

along these lines is another thing i found insulting: juni ba insinuating that talia's love for bruce may have been caused by talia wanting to please her father, who wanted bruce as an heir. when in reality, ra's only took notice of bruce after talia fell in love with bruce. it was because talia was outspoken enough in front of her father to bring up bruce that ra's cared about him at all. it was because talia had been off in cairo studying medicine that she had been caught up in a scheme that took her to bruce. all of those were her own choices, and juni ba wants us to question whether any of it was real because he doesn't believe talia has ever had agency. all because he himself clearly has never read talia outside of recent comics.

related to the above: juni ba insists talia wanted to be the heir to the league of assassins. pre-GM talia has never expressed this. she's never even implied it. from everything we've seen, it's pretty clear she would never want to nor would she able to stomach so much death. because it's canon that talia's heart hurts for everyone she sees killed. but, again, juni ba does not care about this whatsoever because his story is about damian and the bats. talia's characterization is always acceptable collateral damage when it comes to damian and the bats.

the more I think about it, the more I hate juni ba's misinterpretation of her. people so readily accept things like boy wonder and WFA when it comes to talia because they know so little about the most foundational parts of her character and it's really upsetting that big projects will continue to give such ooc stories as the best case scenario for talia. this is equivalent to someone writing a story where bruce decided to not take in dick or jason because the mission's more important than one kid. that would make bruce a different and less compelling character, right? that's exactly what happened to talia here (and in wfa and in everything GM wrote and in pretty much every story written since then). these are very integral parts of her character. if boy wonder as a story can't function without talia being so thoroughly destroyed? it was never a story worth telling (and it really isn't. because it's truly not a good story at all, which makes talia being wrecked for it even worse).

it makes me so angry because things like this are exactly why people don't see talia the same way they see selina or bruce or any other character ever! she continues to be pushed into the role of the harmful past who can only atone for her mistakes by now becoming an obsolete observer.

[haemosexuality]

im rewatching she-ra and naturally im gonna want to write about it a lot. starting by breaking down the catradora conflict origin story scene from s01e02 the sword part 2

people have said this before but the most important thing to keep in mind here is how different their understanding of whats going on is. theyre both approaching this with completely different views and so they misunderstand what the other means.

Adora: There's no time. We have to put a stop this.

Catra: What? Why?

Adora: Because this is a civilian town. Look around! These aren't insurgents. They're innocent people.

Catra: Yeah, sure. Innocent people who kidnapped a Horde officer. Now come on, let's get you back to the Fright Zone. Shadow Weaver is freaking out. [laughing] It'd be funny if she weren't such a terrible person.

so immediately theres two things i wanna say about this part, about how catra reacts to stuff. first off, something we learn about catra throughout the whole show and especially in the portal-alternative-reality, is that shes big on Pretending Nothing Is Wrong. whenever shes feeling upset or angry about something, she will start joking around and acting like shes just totally super chill guys, dw ("Ugh, whatever. It's not like I even care. I just wanna get out of this dump at some point before I dieee of boredom). Shes acting like that in this scene. Adora was missing for hours, shadow weaver was breathing down her neck and threatening her, she was already worried adora might have left at this point. she cant let adora know how worried she was tho, so shes all jokes and fast paced conversation. To Adora, tho, it just looks like catra doesnt care, like she doesnt understand the gravity of the situation.

and the other thing is that honestly? I dont think catra does care. about the town, i mean. i think catra was ready for war in a way adora never was. theyre both seeing combat for the first time here, and adora hates it. training for war is completely different than being in the battlefield, and adora couldnt handle it. face to face with it she couldnt tolerate seeing people suffering and dying, houses being burned down, a whole village destroyed. when the horde brainwashed adora into thinking they were only doing the necessary to save etheria, she completely and fully believed it, and when faced with the reality of the horde she immediately realized how wrong that was. Catra, tho, could not care less. she never believed in what the horde said, she knew full well what the horde did, so this isnt a surprise for her. and i do think shes naturally a bit sadistic, or at least growing up among the violence of the horde made her so. either way, shes seeing battle here for the first time and shes completely fine with it. doesnt even spare it all a second glance. why would she care about these people she never met if the most important thing in the world is right here in front of her? (i think even if adora hadnt left that night and went into the battlefield as a force captain, she wouldve ended up deserting. she cant stand seeing people suffer and she cant stand not saving them. shes too good, too selfless for that. catra isnt.) (also she is so ready to kill at all times. she loves violence. i once saw someone say how shadow weaver thought adora was the "cutthroat, ruthless warrior" when that was actually catra and they were totally right)

adora is also trying something futile here, she doesnt need to explain to catra that the horde is bad and hurts innocent ppl because catra has known that all her life

Adora: Catra, no. I can't go back. Not until the Horde leaves this town alone. You have to help me.

Catra: What are you saying?

Adora: I’m saying, this is wrong. They've been lying to us, manipulating us. Hordak, Shadow Weaver, all of them.

Catra: Duh! Did ya just figure that out? Manipulation is Shadow Weaver's whole thing. She's been messing with our heads since we were kids.

(the captions in the pics are slightly wrong, nvm that.) everything i said before. adora just realized all of this, while catra has always known, probably because the abuse adora suffered was more manipulation-and-brainwashing, while shadow weaver always made clear to catra that she didnt give a shit about her, so she suffered physical abuse with little attempt to convince her this was fine.

the "what are you saying?" is one of the things that show how different their perspective is. adora is talking about going against the horde and helping the town, while catra immediately gets more personal. what do you mean? are you saying that you might leave the horde? leave me?

Adora: How could you possibly be okay with that?

adora means, how could you be ok with the horde lying about its actions, and killing innocent people? how could you be ok with the horde raising us to do the same? and catra hears, how could you be ok with shadow weaver and hordak abusing us?

Catra: Because, it doesn't matter what they do. The two of us look out for each other. And soon we'll be calling the shots. Now come on, can we go home already?

catra replies: because, i love you. because you have my back and i have yours. because nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other, remember? and soon enough, we'll be powerful enough that they cant hurt us anymore. Adora hears, because i dont care about these people dying, the only thing thats important is you and i. and anyways, soon its gonna be Us killing them, isnt that good? lets go back home to the evil murder place.

Adora: I'm not going home, Catra. I can't. Not after everything I've seen. Come with me. You don't have to go back there. We can fix this.

adora says: im starting to realize now how wrong i was about everything. we're not the good guys, and i cant stand for that. i cant stand around and watch people get hurt. i cant stand around and watch you get hurt. lets leave, together, and have a better life, please. lets do the right thing.

Catra: Are you kidding? You've known these people for, what, a couple of hours? And now you're just gonna throw everything away for them?

catra hears, shes willing to leave me. after everything i did for her, all that i took, all of these years of us being together, she would still leave me. she would break our promise. she would leave me behind.

and then she straight up electrocutes adora. ok

she says it was a reflex, but i dont know if i believe her. i dont think she likes hurting adora (not physically. not by this point, anyways), but i do think that shes the type to lash out when upset and immediately regret it, then feel guily about it. which just makes her more upset. :(

Catra: Oh, man. That was a lot stronger than I thought. Are you okay?

Adora: Why are you doing this?

Catra: Because you left me! And if I don't bring you back, Shadow Weaver’s gonna have my head. So, enough with your weird little identity crisis and let's go home already. Or do I need to zap you again?

thats the last time they talk. adora gets teleported away by glimmer, and when they see each other again, its clear that they both made their choice.

the moment adora showed catra she was willing to leave her, there was no coming back for them. because catra would never get over that. she'd spend all her life in that hellscape, putting up with abuse and bullying and probably so much more we dont get to see, because of the promise adora made her. and, in her eyes, adora was ready to leave her on the first opportunity that came up. that hurt. that broke her. and that released something really ugly inside of her.

cue in 2,5 years of homoerotic rivalry and trauma. ok post over if you read this i hope you liked it <3 bye

[taddymason]

Hi, I'm huge fan of your creations, and I have a bunch of questions, but for now, I just have a question about your Dad Jay AU, that just crossed my mind. (You can ignore this, if you want to)

If, completely hypothetically, Jay got all his memories back, would his behavior change in any way? If so, would his personality that we know right now, change completely? Would he have different humor and a different way of handling things? And would his behavior towards Kaida change, if so, how would this affect their father-daughter relationship? Would Kaida or Jay distance themselves from the other? (Okay, that one goes way too far, but still.) I'm just pretty curious of how Jay, hypothetically, regaining his memories, would change the relationships and opinions he currently has and the general story.

I love this question so much, thanks for asking

So, what's important is that yes, getting all his memories back would affect him but it would still be impossible for him to go back to being the person he was before the merge. In the same way that none of the ninjas are exactly who they were before the merge, but since they believe that all of Jay's changes are from his amnesia, they think that getting his memories back would basically be a reset to who he was pre-merge. It's a mix of a lot of factors like living in the administration, becoming a father, everything that happened with Ras, destroying his soul, that have changed his attitude and how he handles things now.

I think that getting all his memories back, actually being aware of everything that he and the ninjas have been through together, what he and Nya have been through together would not completely eliminate the tension that exists between them because if anything it would make him feel even more guilty about everything that happened. The fight with them in the first arc, shooting Cole and almost killing him, etc, if Jay is already having problems with that, having their memories of them would make him feel terrible.

I can imagine him having a complete breakdown in an attempt to reconcile all his actions as he starts to remember things.

Like even if he apologized to them for that, he still wouldn't feel entirely safe to return to the team, much less get close to Nya. Yes, of course, it would make him less distrustful about their intentions because at this point he still believes that they might want him just for his powers (aka, again just as a weapon) and having their memories would make him know that's not true.

And in general as a person I do see him being less prone to make the most explosive decision although that would still happen anyway. Being aware of his past mistakes would not completely prevent him from repeating them but he would be more willing to try to reconcile with the ninjas eventually and to solve the consequences of his actions.

While I don't think he and Kaida would grow apart, it would change their relationship because he would actually, yk, strive to be a role model for being a better person instead of sticking to his "moral compass" of only worrying about things that make him feel guilty and then doing the same thing again. Overall, his worst mistake as a parent is that he doesn't teach Kaida any meaningful ways to be a better person but instead just sticks to "do as I say, not as I do" and expects her to actually do it while they're still in an environment where that behavior just doesn't work. So, that would certainly change, something that would be weird for Kaida to adjust to at first.

I also see Jay being more open with her than he was before, even when he would still have a hard time talking about his past. Other than that, I don't think there would be much of a change other than that and that this moral shift would be something Kaida would be conflicted about at first, because even with his memories she would still be his first priority. Just that he would be aware that he has another base of support to count on and they can start to get out of this "them against the others" mentality.

And additionally; I don't think his humor changes much tbh. That guy would still be making dad jokes anyway. I DO think a lot of the other changes, like the way he chooses to dress, aren't so much related to amnesia as they are to Jay changing as a person after several years as well as his tastes.

[starres-stuff]

Day 27: Memory FFXIV Write 2024

Memory: something remembered from the past; a recollection.

An entry from the journal of Viviane Jienuex-Vimaroix

Someone asked me today at the bakery as I was packaging their order if I had a favorite memory. It is not a question that a stranger normally asks to make small talk and at the time I was not certain how I would answer it. So I told them I did not. The customer was an Au Ra, who grew up in Thavnair, her Father one of the Radiant Hosts, she shook her head at me and insisted we all have a favorite memory, to recall it we have to tap into life's flow. 

It was not a strange concept for me, I had been told before that time and memory flowed like a river both moving to one point where it became part of something else, and that would become part of something else. The eternal passage of life. That was what it was called or as Doshaine had called it one night, The Way. 

Still, I could not think of one singular memory that I would deem my all-time favorite, and even after this mysterious Raen left my bakery I could not get the question out of my head. It lingered there as I packaged other orders and was there as we did the baking for the morning. It followed me home as I walked through the Beds and into the garden Kovalt has cultivated with love and understanding. Through dinner, I heard that question again and eventually, it begged me to sit with my journal to think. Still, there was no favorite to find there were just so many that I had recalled since I was asked the question. 

After our visitor was gone, Xixa had turned to me and told me that the Spinner sent the Raen to test my growth, that she was a voice who knew well the tapestry and how it flowed into the next chapter of life. It was not the first time I had been tested on my faith and growth but it has been the hardest to date. The longer that I sit with these thoughts and this question, I come to the realization that no, I do not have a single favorite memory, it is not that simple and it is quite impossible as memories are forged with every person we know and every place we had ever been. 

Our memories are special to us whether they are good or bad. They let us monitor our growth and see our changes. They remind us of what did not work for us and what we should do more of. Every significant event in our lives, large or not, becomes part of our flow and for me, I had no singular favorite memory as they were all special to me. They helped shape who I have become today. 

There are more dangerous things that dwell in the flow as well and fight to keep us from going forward. Stagnation, lack of trust, and anger just to name a few. They are the traps left in our memories to halt our growth. They become lenses we look through when we look at others and as soon as we see them that is when we push people away. We use those things to build walls around our hearts and minds to stay safe. We were fooled once and never again. Then slowly we begin to treat that person as we were treated until the day comes that we have transformed them into ourselves at the height of our hurt. 

It is such a complex thing, memory. It can build hopes or destroy our dreams depending on what we do with it. We can seek tomorrow with an open heart and mind, or we can become trapped in the past and relive it with people who do not deserve our scorn but do deserve our love. They deserve that place in the flow uninterrupted by our fears. 

If I see the Raen again, I will have an answer for her. No, I don't have a singular favorite memory, I have many. This includes meeting her for she brought to my mind all these rich thoughts, and through doing so pointed out to me my flaws. To go forward I can no longer look back to the darkness behind me or worry about what the future has in store. I must dwell here in the present and now. It is where the adventure truly is after all. 

V.J.V