#but the hero's violent actions in this seem to be making partner more of a doormat and enabler for them

[perenlop]

pmd explorers of the spirit is like pmd2 no mercy run

[into-september]

"Buddy Daddies" IS better than Spy x Family, but it left me with questions

First and foremoest: who is the audience?

I'm wondering because the concept screams of either seinen or fujo, but the foucs is run-of-the-mill shounen. We're throwing our heroes into a situation where they're forced to ask prickly questions about their values and their life choices, and we've got them making the expected discoveries and the obvious choices from that, but no effort is made to dig into the real question:

Why do Kazuki and Rei choose each other?

There are two possible answers to that question: One is a life-changing backstory, and the other is gay. And the singular thing keeping "Buddy Daddies" from greatness is that it never answers.

They're partners because reasons. They're living together because something about couch-surfing idk. They met each other when they were both at rock-bottom crossroads, but did minimally to pick each other up from there. How much do they even know about each other? They certainly don't seem to be particularly invested in why the other has lost at life. As the story begins, they're hardly coming across as friends, and to what extent they end there, it's because of the way Miri influences them, separately.

As such, Miri herself is little more than a plot devices setting events in motion. Too young to be a focal consciousness in a story centred on adult questions, the story never dwells on her and the harrowing experiences she goes through with little more than laughing. She's repeatedly separated from three different parental figures and meets that with nothing but the joy of a reunion, because of course she's not the interesting figure here. That'd be the daddies.

By the end, Rei wants them to be a "real family", but why does that family include Kazuki? By all accounts, that was just some co-worker crashing at his place and who dragged in a kid who changed everything. The show never once questions whether their family will involve anyone more or less: it's Kazuki-papa and Rei-papa and Miri; no talk about any possible new mamas except for the very first and the very last scene, nothing said about why Kazuki and Rei take it for granted that the other wants to raise this child with him.

And the thing is, the thing is, the answer is RIGHT THERE. Kazuki obviously thinks he cannot have the family he wants thanks to his job, or doesn't deserve it thanks to the same; Rei has been raised into the same job, deprived of any kind of parental love and is repeatedly told to "cast off" that weakness. What stands between them and the thing they want (Miri) is their profession as hitmen, albeit from radically different angles for them both. But the show never has them question their life outside of society; only when they lose Miri over it do they truly acknowledge that raising a child is incompatible with being a professional murderer, and even then they never reflect on what their career choice says about what kind of people they are.

It's a gimmick and an easy ticket to action scenes, but it is never challenged. We don't know why Kazuki chose this path and why Rei never broke free before, and when they decide to leave it, it is with the same narrative shrug as their choosing to make a family with another guy who they by all accounts isn't involved with.

And it is frustrating because they show - particularly in its latter half - seems to be hanging on the cusp of diving into it, in connecting the threads between these two lonely men with their differently ruined lives, their different pursuits of a violent lifestyle and the way this would explain why they'd each come to step out of it because of one little girl.

Don't get me wrong - the show is cute and the finale is satisfying in nearly every way I'd expect it. It's just so close to being super memorable, rather than another action-comedy buddy show.

If you want a show where Koki Uchiyama voices a gangster princeling forced into the choice between loyalty to the clan and the sweetness promised by his found family, where the questions about choosing a life of murder are pursued to their ugly end and where twelve episodes are plenty and then some for explaining why these kids are choosing each other, then let me tell you about our lord and savior kunihiko ikuhara and the buttplug kappa magical boy anime

And that one is not afraid to say gay

[kariachi]

What's beneath the cut is very Gwen&Ben-negative. This is your warning,

So, last night my brain meandered over to the plethora of 'Devlin is Gwen's' works out there, more specifically the ones that try to fit that into an otherwise canon-compliant Ken 10. Annoys the piss out of me, personally, because I've seen more than a few say it's canon because Gwevin despite the information we get in the the show itself, but que sera sera. But my brain continued onward into 'what would we do'? If we were told 'Gwevin is canon, therefore Gwen is Devlin's mother, now rewrite Ken 10 with that in mind', what would we put out?

Regular readers of this blog, especially those who know my spiteful nature, may see where this is gonna go....

So, we start off, we're building off Gwen's shit in the sequels, where she's clearly of the opinion that it's fine to use violence against your partner when you're unhappy with them. I've said before that someone who pulls some of the shit she does as openly and in front of others as she does sure as fuck ain't a saint behind closed doors, and I've mentioned before that her actions seem to get bolder over time.

Piece one of the episode then- Gwen has continued on her 'totally not abuse because Kevin is sturdy and 'deserves' it' bullshit, primarily in 'small' but regular acts rather than big displays.

"Okay Achi," I hear you say, "but a big part of the plot of the episode is Devlin releasing his dad from the Null Void, he can't do that if his dad is at home getting knocked around." To which I say two things- 1) Kevin is openly a 'they hurt my loved ones I hurt them' sort of person; 2) people who knock around their partners are more likely to also knock around their children.

Piece two of the episode- After a point Gwen started in on Devlin and Kevin lost his fucking shit.

So we get two birds with one stone- Kevin is in the Null Void because the Tennysons essentially are the local law enforcement and nobody is going to side with the ex-con who got violent with his Good and Heroic wife no matter what his side of the story is. Devlin wants to get his father out because anyone who was on Kevin's side in the whole mess got cut out, his mom's abusing him, and the adults in his life aren't going to do anything about it unless he starts walking around with black eyes and shit to make it glaring obvious she's not just a overworked single mom doing what she can to to keep Kevin Levin's kid on the right track- boy yearns for the dad he knows is gonna take his side.

So we get our background and our Devlin motivation. But this is a Kenny-focused episode, so where are we getting our shit there?

We don't need time with Kenny and Devlin meeting and making friends, they're family they already know each other and are close, and we don't need the background 'hey it's my birthday' stuff. So, we focus more on Kenny growing as a person.

We start with Kenny and Devlin running around, being kids. This lets us 1) establish them as being close, 2) establish Kenny's desire to be a hero like Ben prior to things going wrong, 3) lay the groundwork for the smack of 'yeah no the shit Gwen does is abuse' later on (personally I'd go with a more straight-laced Devlin who very clearly doesn't want to get dragged into anything that might upset his mom, maybe have him torn whether getting involved in shit or not helping someone would be the wrong call), and 4) potentially allows us to give Devlin what at first seems like a morbid fascination with the Null Void, blamed on trauma in relation to his dad snapping and getting thrown in there as a result.

We take the time to establish Kenny and Devlin, their relationship, and also the time to establish Ben, where he is now, how his son looks up to him, and his relationship with the kids.

Relatively early in the episode we get to see Devlin free Kevin from the Null Void, who- rather than starting shit- grabs his kid and bolts.

The next morning there's phone calls about 'have you seen Devlin', people find out Kevin's free and has him, Ben and Gwen go off to get him while insisting Kenny stay behind because Kevin is dangerous.

Kenny, in proper child hero fashion, does not listen. His dear friend is in danger and he's going to help.

I'm picturing Kenny finding them first and trying to sneak Devlin off when Kevin isn't looking, only to be thoroughly confused when Devlin staunchly refuses to go back, telling Kenny to just go home before vanishing off with his dad again.

There's a lot of fighting and arguing once the adults clash. I've got two specific images in my head- one of Kevin telling Devlin to stay safely out of the way and getting even more pissed at Gwen when he doesn't even hesitate to listen because that's not healthy Levin behavior and he's met enough of them to know it's not healthy Tennyson behavior either, and one 'moment of brevity' case of Kenny trying to help in the fight only to 1) be very out-classed, Kevin's already holding his own against two seasoned heroes who know how he works Kenny is not gonna do anything, and 2) merely prompt the adults to start doing fucking bizarre maneuvers to fight around him while all three urge him to get out of the fucking line of fire.

But what hits Kenny, and that's the important part is hitting Kenny in all the character growth spots, is that the arguing is about Kevin taking Devlin, and Kevin's snapping against Gwen, but also involves a lot of Kevin accusing Gwen of abuse and Ben of enabling her, holding that up as the reason he did what he did, while Ben and Gwen's responses really just boil down to 'you are and were overreacting, you've gone too far, we had faith in and defended you and you tried to put the person who loves you most in traction'.

Then you add on him eventually abandoning the fight to try again with getting Devlin out of there and to safety and having him snap, not violently but emotionally, and confirm what Kevin's been saying. His mom has been abusing him, everybody seems to just ignore it or not notice, and he just wants to not deal with that anymore. He wants his dad, who he knows won't stand by and let it happen from prior experience, and he wants to be the fuck away from his mom.

And this right here is the exact point where Kenny learns and grows. He's been questioning since that first attempt to save Devlin what exactly is going on, he's been confused and concerned about the accusations being thrown around by the adults, and here is where he learns two important lessons and chooses the path he's going to take.

His dad isn't a paragon of heroics, the adults in his life can and will make bad decisions and do bad things, even if they're otherwise wonderful, and so he's going to have to align his own moral compass.

Being a hero isn't just about stopping crimes and fighting bad guys.

In the end, Kenny 'messes up', 'accidentally' giving the Levins a prime opportunity to escape, and the three of them all know it. Kevin ruffles his hair, Devlin and him exchange a quick hug, and then they're gone. Kenny doesn't know where, doesn't know if he'll ever see Devlin again, as he leaves with his dad and aunt he can only cross his fingers and hope they end up safe and happy.

End episode.

Now that I write it out, really I think this version would do better not as a one-off in Ben's show but as a season one finale or season two premiere in Kenny's. It would give a whole season in which to establish and build up Kenny and Devlin's bond, to lay the groundwork for the reveal of the truth about Devlin's homelife and for his freeing Kevin, to get Ben established on a pedestal, establish people's opinions on what goes on with Gwen and Devlin prior to the big episode.

(Gwen's staunch belief that she's just preventing Devlin from going down the wrong path like his dad did, especially after having 'failed' with Kevin himself, unable or unwilling to admit that she slipped passed that excuse and into 'and it's cathartic' years before Devlin was even born || Ben admitting wholeheartedly that Gwen can be rough with people, but insistence that what she does isn't abuse, only accentuated by feelings of regret and responsibility re: her being a single mother, since Kevin is his enemy, leading to him cutting her even more slack than he would anyway and making excuses involving how hard raising a superpowered kid alone is || Kenny, not entirely oblivious to what's going on but unknowing of the severity and, between his father's assurances that everything is fine and media's portrayal of abuse as a raised fist or neglect- neither of which he's seen- that what Devlin is dealing with is abuse at all || Devlin with his million conflicting feelings, loving his mother but- without the age, experience, and issues of his father- walking on eggshells at home, hating what he's going through, guilt because he knows other people's parents treat them worse, guilt because he knows his dad snapped out of a desire to protect him, a myriad of worth and confidence issues his mom just can't seem to figure out the source of, all heightening as the first season goes on and Kenny drags him into more trouble, increasing the odds of shit going poorly at home, until he finally can't take it-)

It would also give plenty of time following the episode to build off what Kenny's learned and see how it affects how he approaches heroing from then on. How he questions what the adults say, investigates things himself to make his own decisions. How he steps away from trying to help his dad in fighting bad guys in favor of keeping his eyes open for people in need of help that he may otherwise have overlooked.

Kenneth Tennyson, using his transformations to do shit like help in soup kitchens, no less a hero than his dad for it.

[chaosandcrimson]

no way is that NADIA CALHOUN.. they’re a 30-year-old HUMAN notoriously known for being STRICT  &  CALLOUS but there are some people who have seen them being PRAGMATIC  &  TOUGH.  if you ask me, they remind me a lot of bruised knuckles, the roar of a motorcycle, and how the ground trembles during an explosion, but that could just be because they’re considered the DETERMINATOR around town. just keep an eye on them  &  see if their true colors shine through..

So, they killed Cassandra first 'cause she feared the worst And tried to tell the town So, they set my life in flames, I regret to say Do you believe me now?

OVERVIEW

Name: Nadia Ieisha Calhoun

FKA: Nadia Ieisha Dasai-Shehadi

Nickname(s): Calhoun (by associates), Dee (by friends)

DOB: April 11, 2094

Age: 30

FC: Pinar Deniz

Height: 6'0"

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Occupation: Unemployed / Odd Jobs / Activist

Relationship Status: Single (Closed)

[+] authoritative, pragmatic, tough [–] strict, callous, resentful

BIOGRAPHY

tw: death

Nadia was born to a no-nonsense sergeant, working for a private military contractor called Vanguard Security, and a mid-level corporate executive. Her mom was killed in action when Nadia was 2 years old.

When she was 4 years old, her father got remarried to the heiress of the Dasai fortune—the family who owns the largest of the Big Three corporations—which quickly elevated their position in the city. She was adopted by her stepmother and put in the line of succession, but her new stepbrother, who was slightly younger than her, wasn't exactly thrilled with being bumped down the list.

Luckily for him, Nadia ended up choosing to follow her biological mother's career path instead, joining the same private military contractor that she had worked for. As a soldier for Vanguard, she was outfitted with a number of top-tier cybernetic enhancements paid for entirely by the firm.

Her commanding presence and ability to remain calm under pressure lead to her reaching the same rank that her mom had attained before passing away.

It was also through work that she met her partner. The two eventually got engaged, because after seeing each other through literal life or death situations, it seemed only natural that they would agree to 'until death do us part'.

That turned out to be tragically prophetic when, on their actual wedding day, a known enemy combatant attacked their ceremony and her fiancé was killed. Their death was written off as a heroic sacrifice, which drove Nadia up the wall; she didn't want her partner to be a hero, she wanted them to be alive.

Still, something didn't add up. She investigated and discovered that her partner had been a whistleblower, leaking evidence of the firm's shady practices to a local resistance group, and that their death had been an inside job.

She ended up deserting her post and leaving Vanguard with the numerous cybernetic enhancements they had paid for, which they are definitely not happy about; her former employers very much want their property back.

Choosing to go by Calhoun, which would have been her married name, she now lives on the outskirts of society in order to stay off the grid. She has cut all contact with her very corporate family and does odd jobs to stay afloat.

Still filled with pain and rage and grief, she has recently gotten involved with the activists that her fiancé was leaking information to—specifically the more violent splinter group that has broken off from the main group.

MISC

Her middle name, Ieisha, means "she who lives"—which feels a little bit like a slap in the face given how she ended up where she is today.

She tries to avoid leaving the lower district, but when she does she makes sure to check in on her younger siblings, enough to confirm that they're safe.

[walker-extended-universe]

Walkerverse Hiatus Creations

Week 3- Favorite Episode

Walker: Independence submission- 1x04 Pax Romana

“Pax Romana” stands out to me for a number of reasons. Yes, one of those reasons is getting a drag musical performance from Katie Findlay. But there is so much more to this episode than that. I’m going to list a few reasons why this episode is (currently) my favorite on the WIndy roster

1. Lore Expansion:

This episode takes place during the Founder’s Day celebration, a day to commemorate when Independence was officially incorporated as a town. It’s a celebration enjoyed by those who are old enough to remember those days (like Francis Reyes) and the children and newcomers who reap the benefits. This setup is a good segue into the information we learn about the inner workings of the town, such as the Town Council who make decisions about the rules and budget of Independence.

2. Davidson Depth: 

This episode is also our first look into the complexity of Tom Davidson’s character and a peek at his backstory, all delivered through the delightful Aunt Teresa Davidson. For the first time, we’re left to wonder if Tom really is a cold-blooded killer who’s only out for himself. 

The most interesting tidbit we got was Teresa revealing that Tom was kept in an asylum and was dealing with mental health problems. Truthfully, this episode made me fall in love with him and I remain impressed with how Greg Hovanissen was able to go from “Scared little boy” with Aunt Teresa to “Calculated Businessman” with Kate

3. And Then There Were Four: 

Speaking of Kate, this is also the episode where Kate officially joined our merry band of heroes, though she wasn’t too happy about it. She’s more than happy to help Abby uncover the trouble that the Davidsons are causing but Hoyt and Calian are a liability. Abigail does defend them but Kate is still skeptical, especially of Hoyt. It’s not until she sees the Davidsons in action that she’s willing to go all-in with them.

4. There’s Something About Hagan: 

Which brings us to the most heartbreaking part of the episode- Hagan selling the hotel to protect Kate and lying to her about it. 

Over the past few episodes, we’ve seen Hagan and Kate banter with each other in a dynamic that more resembles equal partners than boss and employee. While we still don’t know what their history is with each other, exactly, we know that Hagan respects her enough to listen to her about his business and cares for her enough to sell it. 

Mark Sheppard said during a convention panel that Hagan sees Kate as a daughter-figure and that really shines through in this episode. I can only hope that the future holds a reconciliation between the two.

5. We Need to Talk About Kai

This episode also brought some surprising backstory for Kai with the inclusion of Amos Acorn. Though we knew that nothing and no one in Independence is quite what they seem, learning that Kai had such a violent past was a shock that added a whole different dimension to his character. This is a man that once killed for a woman he loved, a woman he tried to save, someone who is no longer in the picture. Between his attraction to Kate and his past coming back to haunt him later, there are so many different ways this reveal could take us.

6. Tom Davidson the Musical: 

Okay I can’t talk about why this episode is great and not gush about this bit.

After figuring out that Tom is gunning for a position on the Town Council, Kate devises a plan to do something to make him look bad at the Founder’s Day celebration in the hopes that if he has a poor reputation, then he won’t be allowed to join. The plan: a musical number calling out all of Tom’s faults in front of the whole town at Hagan’s show.

The fact that she was able to write a song (lyrics and melody) AND get costumes fitted AND put together choreography in what couldn’t have been more than 6 hours in is nothing less than incredible, especially for such a flawless performance. Katie Findlay has an amazing voice and they looked even better in the Tom Davidson cosplay. Kate was also in her element as an entertainer and worked the crowd like a pro.

We were even treated to this moment which has lived in my head rent free ever since:

Even though this performance didn’t have the desired effect, it was fun to watch and it’s a very catchy song that gets stuck in my head at least once a day. Bravo!

[thebestican]

Continuing an alphabetical look at favorite Silver Age artists of my youth, here's Murphy Anderson!

Anderson's line work, to me, defines the artwork of the Julius Schwartz-edited books of the time. Kane, Infantino, and Sekowsky may have drawn the bulk of those stories, but Anderson's cover and frequent inking jobs on both covers and stories of these artists' works gave the line a real pristine signature look.

Most of my Murphy Anderson comics were acquired -after- they were published, my first purchased book of his off the stands was the Batman issue cover-featuring the Joker's new assistant Gaggy. Since that image was just on this board a couple of days ago, I'm showcasing different aspects of Anderson's pencils and inks. Also trying to avoid things more widely-seen.

It seems Anderson's most frequently thought of, in the Silver Age, as the regular inker to Carmine Infantino, due to their partnership on the Adam Strange series in Mystery in Space. Here I'm offering one of their infrequent Flash jobs, from the Weather Wizard intro in Flash 110, January 1959. Although he did a lot of the cover inks on the Flash, it seems like Joe Giella was the most-frequent partner to Infantino on the title's stories. Anderson on the inside was always a treat.

2nd up: In an informal fan-poll at the time, Anderson was the fan's choice to draw the Justice League but they had to settle for his great work only on many of the book's covers, including the team's first issue shown here from July/August 1960.

3rd: One of his frequent covers to the science fiction anthology, Strange Adventures, issue 132 from September 1961.

4th: The Atomic Knights stories in Strange Adventures were some of Anderson's most fondly-remembered solo works, from stories by John Broome. Here's a page from a story in March 1962. DC had a nice omnibus of these stories a few years ago.

5th: Anderson also inked many of Gil Kane's stories, sometimes on Green Lantern -- including the one introducing the Guardians -- but most regularly on the first issues of the Silver Age Atom. This one's from Atom issue 11, February/March 1964.

6th: Schwartz and Fox tried a few more revivals of Golden Age heroes towards the late-middle of the Silver Age. Here's Showcase 55, dated March/April 1965, featuring Dr. Fate and Hourman but in this example reviving Monday's bad seed, Solomon Grundy.

7th: His other big regular series of solo work was his pencils and inks on the Gardner Fox Silver Age stories of Hawkman. Although it was quite different from the revival's opening pieces drawn by Joe Kubert, Anderson did a great job as shown on this page from issue 9, August/September 1965.

8th: Also from August/September 1965, a first try at a series feauring Starman and Black Canary in The Brave & The Bold 61. The Mist was the perfect villain for Anderson's style, I think.

9th: And here's a page from that same Starman/Black Canary team-up, just because.

10th: The final attempt at bringing back a dead Golden Ager to life, The Spectre, in Showcase 60, dated January/February 1966. Anderson is not what you'd normally think of for drawing a ghostly ghastly avenger character, but remember this incarnation was more of a weird-mystery do-gooder and a far cry from the violent spirit of Fleischer/Aparo's stories.

11th: Near the end of the Silver Age, Anderson started making his mark on some non-Schwartz books. In Action 393, dated October 1970, Anderson inks a complete Swan-drawn Superman story, and their team would become the signature look of the Man of Steel for the beginning of the Bronze Age.

To my eyes now, though I still enjoy reading the stories and checking out these pages, Anderson smoothed things out in a sometimes too-pleasing manner for Infantino, Kane, and Sekowsky. His partnership with Swan, I think, was his best match -- where he brought out the quality of the pencils without over-powering it with the Anderson style.

I remain completely impressed, however, with his own -complete- art jobs. Maybe more so than when I first encountered them. The Fox and Broome scripts called for such a wide variety of, well, a wide variety of pretty much everything. Anderson made it all look accurate and well-researched, even when it was giant dalmatians being ridden into battle by armored men of a post-apocalyptic era, a soul house in the jungles of Ecuador, or a bird alien dreaming of a catastrophic tomorrow.

[panderbearwolf]

.... I wanted to hit him. Maim him. Make him face his failure. Make him weep for each soul he let die. I hated him.

Still do, but that's beside the point.

But the people who are counting on us to save them come first.

I grit my teeth, got to work. After telling my handler that he had better send someone else for when I ended up snapping at this fucking shallow, self-absorbed fucking idiot.

"On your left", he called, instead of stepping up to take the hit.

"You're doing great." He called, ducking away to hide again.

The villain was clearly enraged at the hits he took--I wasn't holding back--and he went down after a few well-placed kicks to the back of his knees. After that, it was a few hard stomps to the back of his neck that knocked him down and out.

The feeling of avenging those I cared about wasn't a weight off, it was a weight intensified. Looking back, I saw the man starting to gloat while I was beaten half-bloody and exhausted.

Whatever. I don't fucking care. While I supervise the villain's unconscious body into an ambulance--I hadn't gone far enough to send him to the morgue, more's the pity--I felt that weight slam down on me as the ambulance drove off.

"Hey, superstar!" My handler's voice came from off and behind me, to the left.

Turning, I took him in. Suit--standard issue--and a fairly nice blue-and-gold tie that I planned on stealing the first second I could.

"What do you want?"

"We have a press conference to attend. And before you argue, hear me out. Say what you haven't said." Shock flooded me.

"You...knew? About what he did to me?"

"Yes."

"And you still put me here as a partner??"

"Yes."

"What the actual fuck were you..."

"That you'd finally be able to confront him in front of witnesses. In front of the entire world. This villain has been out and murdering people for years. So why didn't this hero do anything?"

I shrug, watching him in the distance as he schmoozed and worked the small crowd around him. "I don't know."

"Neither do I. And I"m tired of him letting this one go. Confront him. When the camera's on. I haven't ever run across anyone from the towns that the villain slaughtered before. You're the first. I have your back--and so does the agency. Ask him, on air."

I feel a smile as the weight sinks in, comfortable. The anger and rage simmering in my skin as I watch. It gives me a second wind--a desperately needed second wind, given how I'm feeling physically-- and I limp joyfully into the room where cameras and microphones and reporters congregate.

The wince that almost everyone makes when I limp in--and to a chair sat directly in front of the cameras. My "partner" takes me in slowly.

"Shouldn't you be getting medical attention, my dear?"

The sound of his voice makes me want to punch him, but my body's aches hold me back.

"I will, after this." I sank into the chair, biting my tongue as hte ache and sprains and pain made itself known. Any sound, and I'd likely be forced out of the room to go for medical help. Sound thought, normally. Not right now.

Blood filled my mouth.

The cameras flickered on.

The questions were simple--who, what, how, when, where, why.

Easy enough.

Then:

"Miss, you look incredibly injured. Why is it you're so hurt?" "My partner."

The answer is enough to have him squirming.

"He wasn't able to get to you?"

"He didn't help. Just called out a few warnings, but mostly left the fighting to me."

"That seems unfair." The swarm turns to him.

He's no slouch, though.

"I'm a bit older than my partner here! I was trying to establish a pattern of attack, something for us to use. However, it wasn't necessary! My partner took them out, albeit in a more violent way then I think was strictly called for."

It's a smart move. To call me a brute. And it's not entirely untrue. The cameras swing back to me.

"Now that he mentions it, that was a ruthless take down. Can you account for your actions?"

It's a fair question, and request. And I'm not a coward, who hid my actions.

"You're right, I was vicious. And I shouldn't have done so. But I know what power that man wields. What it can do. And I wanted to stop him before he could decimate another town while this man did nothing. I wanted every civilian to live, this time."

This catches his attention, his head jerking to look at me. I can see him from the corner of my eye open his mouth, but I start to steamroll.

"I was in a town like this one, and I was the only one to survive. The villain is famed for his ability to kill. So much so, that our strongest hero--" I gesture to my 'partner' who's rapidly becoming pale--"was assigned to deal with him. I always wondered why he remained free and able to do what he did, given that one of our best heroes was on the case."

There are rumblings--soft ones--as I continue and turn to my "partner."

"I'm willing to account for myself. Can you do the same and look a victim of your inaction in the eyes?"

All eyes swung once again to him, but didn't stay there long as I took a deep breath--and couldn't.

A wheeze escaped my mouth and I realized that the high of confront him--and the adrenaline masking my pain--had faded and left me gasping.

Within seconds, my handler had gotten me out and scooped me away to a hospital.

"Did...I... get him? Or start the fall?"

My handler nods, keeping my hand warm as I'm rushed to the hospital. "It was enough. We've had a few information inquiries. His handler has started to do defense. But having a survivor was clearly not something they ever thought would happen. People are pulling away from him. He's going down."

The walls--the anger that had mutated my spine to a solid stainless steel--started to come down. The weight was still there. I doubted it would ever go away. But it settled into a lesser monster in the back of my mind, for now. It could be used. When needed.

I let the medical professionals begin their work.

As a child a hero stood by as your family was slaughtered, too afraid to intervene. Now as an adult you are a hero yourself. One day the government assigns you a partner to take down a villain, the exact one who killed your family and your partner is the hero who allowed it to happen.

[enchantedbrew]

۞ Kaoru Rindo Info ۞

Name: Kaoru Rindo

Age: 42

Gender/Pronouns: M | He/him/his

Orientation: Biromantic bisexual

Height: 5'10 (180 cm)

Notable Physical Features: N/A

Trigger Warnings: Violent content, anxiety/depression, dark themes, nsfw/nsft

Likes: Enchante’s coffee, sentai hero action films, non-humans (secretly), cooking, entertaining guests, driving in his car

Dislikes: Overtime, threats of non-humans, the GPM higher ups, instant coffee, unnecessary risk

Appearance:

TLDR: Kaoru Rindo is a friendly but distant individual that staunchly protects those he cares about. While he keeps his friends at arm’s length, he will care for and guide them whenever he is needed. He tends to work long nights for his employer, GPM, which often includes gathering information or combating non-human threats.

Background: Kaoru Rindo was the eldest child of two siblings who found his responsibility early in looking after his younger sister. This became more so after his parents passed away and Shizuku was left in his care. Kaoru lived his life much like any normal human would all up until he discovered non-humans and became curious about them. Thus, he enlisted into the Government Paranormalism Measures organization and began to study the creatures. Shortly after, his sister Shizuku would follow him into the organization, though in a slightly different field. Brother and sister worked side by side, in intelligence and research and development respectively, until his sister befell a tragedy that stripped her human self away and turned her into a non-human. Unable to land the killing blow on his own family, Rindo left Shizuku in her partner’s care and continued to serve GPM beside him, choosing not to speak of his sister or the incident again afterwards.

Abilities: As a member of the Intelligence Division of GPM, Rindo possesses a number of combat skills, such as hand-to-hand combat. He primarily uses a gun and a knife in battle, though not always at the same time. Rindo also has extended knowledge with use concerning the databases of GPM, non-human expertise, and technological information. While his knowledge in these areas by far doesn’t surpass his friend and co-worker Mikado, he is at least knowledgeable enough to be useful on the field. Additionally, being part of the Intelligence Division of GPM means Rindo also possessive extensive skill in surveillance, collections of data and information, and reconnaissance.

Personality: Rindo is a mature and kind individual, often putting others well ahead of himself and giving his all to protect those people from harm or information which might put them in harms way. He is a chivalrous and caring individual, even if he does sometimes enjoy picking on his friends. Rindo is also a hard-worker, often spending long nights with his work at GPM or simply sleeping over in the office. Though he will do everything he can to help those people he cares about, Rindo also often does his best to hide his true feelings in any given situation and wears a mask of collected composure. He is a friendly but distant individual.

Relationships: Rindo has a fairly friendly disposition, and he can make friends with anyone that gives him the space to do so, even non-humans. That being said, Rindo doesn’t go out of his way to make deep connections, and he’s satisfied with casual, surface-level friendships. He tries to keep most people at a distance to avoid getting them involved with the non-human world and whatever GPM happens to be up to. Somehow this doesn’t make him seem like a cold or distant person, as he still works hard to help and protect his friends, even distant ones.

Hobbies: Rindo has given up almost all of his hobbies to dedicate himself to the work GPM has issued him and to protecting humans from non-human incidents, but in what little off-time Rindo does have he enjoys joyrides in his car most of all. Aside from that, while it is a hobby that he’s put aside for his work, Rindo also deeply enjoys cooking and partaking in delicious food.

[iamafanofcartoons]

Adam Taurus and how he was never ruined to begin with

A lot of people on social media have claimed that Adam Taurus was “Retconned” into being an abusive ex, and that he was “meant to be” a freedom fighter and an anti-hero.

In this post, we’ll look into Adam’s actions and words throughout the show, and discuss instead how Miles and Kerry remained consistent with Adam’s character.

In the black trailer we see Adam working Blake. Right now this doesn't really imply anything on their relationship .Just that they are working together. The initial plan seems to just be to steal the cargo on the train. When Adam says he will set the charges Blake shows concern about civilian passengers and crew being caught in the explosion. Adam says "What about them?" This shows he doesn't care about any bystanders as long as he finishes what he is set out to do. At this point we still don't know what that is. It also shows that Blake had no clue about the explosives. If the plan was to always blow up the train then Blake wouldn't need to express concern for passengers if she knew it was always going to be demolished. Adam also used Blake as a distraction for him to destroy the spider tank which we never see again.

In volume one I don't believe Adam is even mentioned. I could be wrong. Blake just talks about the WF but not Adam himself. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

In volume two Blake mentions how Adam started the trend of wearing Grimm masks to 'dawn the faces of monsters that some people make them out to be.' Then she talks about him at the campfire and actually name drops him here. She explains how his vision of a perfect world isn't the perfect world for others. This shows where Blake started to distrust him and puts Adam in the perception of possibly being misunderstood in his goals. Then she drops the line of 'When I found out my oldest partner had turned into a monster I ran!'. At this point Adam has did some very ill moral things according to Blake. The train heist was the last straw when he was willing to kill people there who had nothing to do with faunus oppression. Then we finally see Adam at the very end of the volume. Here he shows no remorse for any of his brothers in arms and simply states that the group will continue to listen to him. This paints his goal as fighting for faunus rights extremely questionable.

In volume 3 we have a flashback to when Cinder tries to recruit him. At first he refuses to work for any human regardless of what they could offer him. We learn this is before the train heist were Blake runs. Then we see after the heist where Adam says not to worry about Blake and that they need to return to Mistral. Most likely to report back to Sienna about the train heist. At this point he only lost control of Blake but is still in control of the WF Vale branch. He isn't obsessed with her. Cinder then returns after getting half the maiden power and decimates his camp. She then offer's him dust and lien in payment for his services. Adam does not turn down her offer. He is now compromising his own convictions by working with a human he refused earlier. If he was truly the revolutionary that a lot of people paint him as at this point then he would have fought Cinder and never partner with her. It doesn't matter that he would have been outmatched he would have died a martyr with his convictions intact. Later on the volume Blake talks about Adam again, not naming him this time. Saying that she got close to him and how he slowly changed and how he kept making excuses for getting more and more violent. This is where the abuse starts to become more apparent. Just because Blake called Adam a mentor in V2 does not mean she also wasn't romantically involved with him. Being one doesn't make the other impossible. She also trusts her team a lot more to divulge something incredibly personal to her. Then we have the fall of Beacon. Adam was not hunting down Blake. They just happened to run into each other. Adams goal was never to hunt down Blake, but when she showed up he took the opportunity. Adam lays on thick how much her betrayal actually hurt him. And declares that he will take that pain and direct back at Blake buy killing everything she loves and holds dear. Then Yang attacks and loses her arm because lost her cool and launched and extremely telegraphed attack that Adam took advantage of. Blake used her semblance to escape with Yang and  Adam continued to kill the people around him, and some Grimm, since that is what he was paid for. He was less of a revolutionary here and more of a mercenary for Cinder in my opinion.

So, from what I've seen Adam's character didn't really change. We hear what Adam said he was for, but then we see him act differently by ignoring his convictions to his cause and pulling in people that would help him kill humans, or blow up more schools. From here on he craved more control and since Sienna didn't agree with how the WF should proceed he decided to take over. Nothing about this character screams 'ruined' character to me. He wanted the Belladonnas killed because they were getting in his way. He killed Sienna for getting in his way.

Blake took away his control and his image. He chased her for revenge. He wanted to make her suffer for his loss. “Why can’t you leave me alone?” was more of him saying “Why do you keep standing in my way?”

Could they have gone a different route with him? Sure. But the same could be said for every other character. Since shopkeeper isn't some Vale underground info broker who uses a dust shop as as front I guess he could be a 'ruined' character to since that is also very interesting. People need to let people have their opinions. Some people don't like how Adam turned out, and that's fine. Other's like how he was a foil to Blake and then to Yang. That's fine too. But don't attack people for liking/not liking the other's opinion. And don't attack the writers saying they can't write a good character. They just didn't write what you wanted in character. This does not make them bad writers. It just means they didn't write something that you prefer. Everything is subjective. That's the nuance of story telling. Some people will enjoy the story shown while others won't. Doesn't make the story bad. It just means it didn't appeal to one of the groups.

Also: Semblances.

Adam’s Semblance says so much about him as a person, and the difference between him and Yang as people.

Moonslice allows Adam to store energy by blocking attacks with his blade, then release it in a powerful attack. This is contrasted with Yang’s Burn, which lets her accumulate power when she takes hits and use it to enhance her strength and speed.

They’re similar Semblances, but Adam’s is much narrower in scope and purpose. The only use Moonslice has is as a direct attack, while Yang’s has allowed her to protect herself and others—she’s even used it to intercept an attack meant for someone else. Moonslice also requires Adam to have a weapon to gather and release his Semblance through.

Because, for Adam, all that power matters for is as a weapon, something to hurt others. That is his only desire, and that is reflected in his Semblance.

But even more telling is the fact that—unlike Yang, who has to personally take life’s blows in order to grow stronger—it’s Adam’s weapon that takes the hits for the sake of his attack instead of him. Adam derives power from the punishment his weapon receives.

…in other words, it perfectly reflects how Adam appropriated the oppression and abuse the Faunus have suffered for the sake of his desire to hurt others.

They didn’t ruin his character, he was always that way, people just head-canoned him into their edgy abused/neglected power fantasy character and were upset when he ended up going to the logical conclusion of his character arc.

That's always what his character was. An obsessive self entitled maniac that felt that he deserves the world because he suffered, and everyone else was in the wrong.

He was always that character and wasn’t poorly written for that type of character. He was rather realistic actually. If you wanted him to be a different type of character that's fine if you're writing a fanfic, but this is always how his character was.

I believe in keeping with RWBY's preference for subverting tropes, Adam is an Ill-intentioned extremist version of the "White Male Savior" typically common in anime, tv shows, and movies.

Side note? Adam cut off Yang’s arm

Why do people keep saying that Yang had no reason to fight Adam compared to Weiss, when A) Blake was Yang’s partner, B) Yang lost an arm due to Adam, and C) Adam and Yang had similar yet different semblances?

Let’s go further.

Yang and Adam both go through a lot of suffering. However Yang uses her suffering as experience to try to help Blake grow as a person in volume 2 chapter 6. We see in the Adam short that Adam tries using his pain to manipulate and gaslight Blake.

Yang’s semblance is like a Guardian, meant to protect others or be used to help others. Adam’s semblance is more like an Abuser’s power to take somebody’s attempt to defend themselves and use it to hurt them or others.

Yang and Adam are both elements of Anger. But Yang reflects it through her words, causing many critics to hate her for having any mood that isn’t positive 100% of the time. Adam’s anger is reflected in his attacks on people, which seem to be defended by critics as being “a kicked dog?” I’m sorry, I have to go through more notes from what I’ve seen of Adam Apologists.

Anyway, moving forward. Yang is shown repeatedly being concerned about others wellbeing, even those she has no relationship to. Nora is repeatedly shown doing the same, even calling out Ironwood on his sociopathy and disregard for anyone that he cannot use or intends to sacrifice. I bring up Ironwood because Adam ALSO uses and sacrifices other people to achieve his goals, and both love to talk about “The greater good” as an excuse for their actions. Adam showing no regard for his followers who die at Mount Glenn or Beacon, telling Cinder they will still support her if he tells them to. Yang in multiple volumes is shown to be willing to put herself out there for others faunus or human.

Adam is shown being a Faunus Supremacist, or at least wanting to wipe out humans. Yang literally calls out a racist in V8 pointing out how the Faunus were doing more for Mantle than Ironwood ever did, showing people that despite Ironwood’s propaganda broadcasts, they did not need Atlas so much as Atlas needed Mantle.

Also , regarding design?

Yang’s style of character is one that becomes increasingly conservative, less sexualized...which amusingly causes a lot of people to claim she’s “no longer fun”...I personally didn’t realize that a female character’s purpose is apparently to be “lewded or waifu’d”. As she becomes less interested in men, more mature, she represents a female character who is both complex and more interesting to write in LGBT settings. Furthermore, as we see in “Turning Red” its honestly refreshing for female main characters to be allowed to be moody...something that is considered either bad writing or “no longer fun” if a woman is angry....Honestly I feel sympathy for the writers of Turning Red...all that magnificent work they put into their characters, the story, everything...and people went all out in review-bombing them...I suppose this is why we can’t have nice things. One last note is that Yang is also a person who doesn’t let the bad in the world stop her from being idealistic or compassionate to others. That’s a very mature mindset to have, not to mention the whole standing up to the law when doing the right thing is different from obeying a law that may be bad for others.

As for Adam. There’s no other way to say this. He is “abused neglected male reader” material. He is the straight white male, angry at the world, wielding a sword, claiming to be giving the world the justice it deserves. He’s even got the weeboo Katana! Adam Taurus is a teenage male fanfic writer’s fantasy. The fact that his “enemies” or more specifically the people he hurts often are women is also something worth noting. (Blake, Yang, Sienna)...as is his complex of being oppressed or harmed by said women...he’s basically perfect revenge fantasy protagonist material. Which is why so many fanfic writers who focus on him try to make him into a hero and the women opposing him into villains. 

One final example of the foils....While both characters prefer to fight over talk? Yang shows restraint multiple times, and prefers to still offer people the chance to walk away. Adam repeatedly is shown to be stubborn and embrace violence first to the point of chasing anyone who’s “Wronged” him, to where Yang and Blake had to put him down. 

Its interesting...A lot of people got furious that Yang and Blake killed Adam, but NOT that Adam was trying to kill them...Apparently Adam cutting off Yang’s arm is ignored or laughed at, but Yang and Blake killing Adam is considered first-degree murder, not self-defense?

I still wanna know why , despite Blake trying to reform the White Fang members like Ilia and preach pacifism over violence....why do people keep calling Blake a terrorist who is “just as bad as Adam” or “responsible for just as many deaths as Adam?”

I will never understand people trying to justify the actions of male antagonists or portray them as victims when the people facing them are female protagonists who are idealists rather than cynical.

[subpar-ghoulfriend]

Home

yandere!EraserMic x Reader

Mic skips a couple of steps and brings their darling home earlier than planned.

18+ only

tw: mention of blood, kidnapping, restraints

Hizashi felt panic bubble up his throat as he aggressively ran his fingers through his hair. This wasn't good, he wasn't good. He fumbled around trying to pull out his phone so he could message Shota.

-Sho, when are you getting home???

Probably in a few hours...-

why-

Shaking, the blonde continued:

-I brought her home

Hizashi was convinced he'd burn a whole in the rug with his pacing. Staring at his phone screen it looked like Shota was responding, then it stopped, started, stopped, and started. Finally after what felt like forever he got a simple reply:

I'll be home in 15 -

---

"Mic, what did you do?" Aizawa sighed. The grumpy man intended to scold his partner but he couldn't bring himself to do so when Mic was so close to a full on panic attack.

"She agreed to meet up with her ex, he was talking about getting back together and I panicked."

Aizawa sighed; he understood where his partner was coming from. Even though Hazashi had abandoned their plan to wait, he was no longer surprised by Mic's actions. There was an understanding between the pair as the atmosphere softened.

Mic lead him down the basement stairs, instead of using the overhead light there was already a dull glow from nightlight that allowed the Pro Heroes to see well enough. On the bed in front of them the comforter rose and fell along with the breath of their darling.

"She should be asleep for another hour or two," Mic whispered. "I only cuffed one wrist to the bed, I figured without her quirk she won't be too troublesome."

Aizawa lovingly rolled his eyes. His partner was such a softy. Nodding in agreement he moved the blanket aside to see the clunky metal quirk-cancelling cuff encircling her ankle. The two had plenty of equipment from their jobs that allowed them to make a "safe" space for their girl.

The couple had stumbled across you on accident; you worked at the new cat cafe that opened near their home. The two quickly became regulars and you snagged their hearts when you recognized them as cafe regulars. They went every Sunday, you had their orders memorized and even told them which cats seemed to miss them the most. Hizashi fell hard and fast. It wasn't until Aizawa found you crying in the ally after one of your shifts that your fate was sealed. You told him that one of the cats ran out of the cafe earlier that day got hit by a car. Learning about the death of a cat wasn't the only thing breaking his heart.

When he got home that evening he told Hizashi. They both agreed that you needed to be protected, shielded from the pain of reality, and never subjected to cat-death-by-car ever again. Essentially they baby proofed their home for you. Anything dangerous (from silverware to chemicals) was locked away. Eraserhead installed cameras throughout the house that streamed to both of their phones. The windows were locked and shatter resistant and they even installed a top of the line security system.

Then came the stalking, both kept tabs on you - in their minds they both casual about it. Aizawa even visited you (broke in) one night to bug your phone. This was how the learned about your ex. The breakup was amicable enough that you two occasionally checked in on each other. After all, you had been together from middle school all the way through your teens. The two of you just wanted and were ready for different things.

---

Sure enough, two hours later they could hear your faint scream travel up from the basement. Mic had taken care of the acoustics, of course. He made sure that not a peep could be heard from outside of the house; even before you were in the picture this was in place for his quirk. Between each floor of their house he also added sound minimizing flooring and installation. They needed to be able to hear you but also maintain their sanity.

"M-mr. Yamada? Mr Aizawa?"

Your wide eyes were filled to the brim with tears. As Mic sat on the edge of the bed you withdrew as far as you could from him.

Aizawa seemed more conscientious of your space; instead he knelt in front of the bed so he was at least on your level.

He was the first to speak, "There's no need to scream, y/n, you're safe here. It's just Zashi and I."

The tears finally spilled over. You tried asking them to let you go, that you wouldn't say anything. You told them you had work this evening (even if you didn't) and that they'd know something was wrong if you didn't show up. What made it worse was that the men just kept nodding, taking in every plea you made.

Finally Mic cut you off, "You don't have to worry about work anymore, me and Sho are gonna take care of you, it'll be great. We won't have to wait a whole week to spend time together."

"You can't," You hiccupped, "this is illegal. Once they find out you'll be in trouble."

It was as if they didn't hear you. Mic just kept rambling about what you three could do together and how perfect everything was and how you'd love living with them.

Aizawa on the other hand sighed and indicated to Mic that he should get off the bed. "It's a lot to take in right now, new environments can be scary. You should get some more rest, Zashi gave you a pretty strong sedative."

That explained the pounding in your head. You didn't bother to keep yelling as the ascended the stairs. Instead you focused on not crying. You kept telling yourself that now wasn't the time for tears. You needed to get away from your abductors. You had never been in handcuffs before, you tried pulling against the bed frame in hopes that something would give way. As you expected, nothing really happened. The cuff was secured tightly around your wrist and with every pull came a dull pain in your hand. There wasn't anything useful within your reach.

After crying on the bed for what felt like an eternity you were all out of tears. You thought back to a movie you saw last summer, this detective was cuffed to a furnace and he pulled his hand free. However, that guy definitely lost the flesh on his hand and probably broke something. Your stomach churned at the thought. Then your mind wandered to terrible things the men could do to you. What if they were cannibals? Or wanted to sell your organs on the black market? Weighing the pros and cons you began to pull violently away from the bedpost. The metal dug into your skin and you couldn't help but scream. Hopefully your captors wouldn't come until you were free. There was a small window at the very top of the adjacent wall maybe you could squeeze through.

The searing pain became too much and you stopped to collect yourself. There were already gashes along the base of your wrist and blood coated the handcuffs. You stifled a cry as you resumed your work. You let out a blood-curdling scream when you felt a pop. Instead of freedom, you felt even more trapped. Your thumb looks wrong and looked like it was caught half way in the handcuff and halfway out. Movies make everything seem so much easier.

Light poured in as the door to the basement opened. Panicking you concealed the evidence under the blanket. Both of your hands and parts of your clothes were painted with blood.

"Hey kitten," Aizawa cooed. "We brought you some water. Are you feeling any better."

It was Mic who noticed first. You flinched as his hands cupped your face, his thumb ran along your cheek and you felt something slick.

His voice was rushed and panicked, "Sweet girl, this is blood. Shota come here, y/n is bleeding."

The blonde man handles your face and neck trying to find the source of the bleeding.

You pulled the blanket tighter, "I'm okay, please let me go."

Then Aizawa noticed the specks of blood on the sheets. He tugged at the blankets until you couldn't hold on any more. You were really only holding on with one good hand. You couldn't recall seeing that much emotion on his face in the past.

"Mic go get the first aid kit, now," Eraser's voice was strained and quiet but it sent the other man scattering up the stairs. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the cuff. Instinctively your cradled the hand to your chest, crying for the umph-teenth time that day. The scruffy man pulled you on to his lap, cradling your head to his chest like you would a child.

"You're okay, Mic's gonna get the first aid kit and we're gonna get you all taken care of."

When it came to flight or fight involving direct confrontation, you chose the third option: freeze. You focus on your breathing as the man continued to soothe you. You could hear Mic nearly throw himself down the stairs as he made his was back to your side.

Mic was gentle with your wound, after cleaning the blood off the cuts were visibly deep but not as bad as it seemed. Aizawa told him that it looked like your thumb was dislocated and that he would fix it once the bleeding stopped.

As Hizashi continued to apply pressure you were able to hear him sniffling as he held back tears of his own. Aizawa reached over to comfort Mic as he continued his fawning over you, "You're safe, everything's okay now. We should've known that you would get scared, all by yourself down here. We won't leave you alone again, especially while you're adjusting to your new home."

[trainingdummyrabbit]

my beasts!!! my mysterydungeon beasts!!

this is team relic!! ft Milady the Hisuian Sneasel as the Hero, and Azrah the Hisuian Zorua as the Partner! ^_^

Milady is a bit quiet and stoic, tending to hold a more composed air about her whenever she acts. She proceeds in a very calculated manner, always considering as many outcomes as she can before making a decision. Despite this, in battle she's shockingly reckless, oftentimes taking the forefront even when she doesn't need to. She tends to only account for herself in combat-- meaning she tries to carry the brunt of the load on her own, almost as though she forgets she has teammates. Against her more rational outlook, she's very very stubborn when it comes to jumping to action.

Even so, past her stony demeanor is a bit of an awkwardness. A lot of what comes across as flippancy or composure is simple confusion. She honestly isn't very good at "friendly small talk." ...or any talk at all, really. She's very blunt and to-the-point, simply because she values honesty. If she doesn't know how to react to a situation, chances are she will simply nod with a hum or not respond at all and leave. She gets uncomfortable with that expectancy, and simply chooses to Not Deal With It, and simply do the bear minimum. Act the part.

...which is kind of how she ended up getting tied up in an exploration team with Azrah.

Azrah (or Azzy, for shorthand,) has a very small presence, tending to opt for Curt and Polite in interacting with others, almost as though he's walking on eggshells the entire time. Considerate to a fault, he has a hard time making decisions, causing him to be very softspoken and cowardly. He really does dream big though! Even if dreams like that aren't really for pokemon like him.

Teaming up with Milady was honestly a bit of a split second decision. He thought she'd surely turn him down-- she was so cool and strong, after all! Maybe she was already part of a team or something-- but she didn't. (She had no idea what she was doing or where she was going, but felt a bit too awkward to say anything else after the fact... she didn't really mind anyhow, so... whatever.) A lot of their first interactions were Azrah checking in on her when she was quiet, and Milady deciding what to do and where to go. A bit awkward at first, but they found themselves getting along pretty well pretty fast despite it all. They just kind of... clicked into place, after a while.

There's more, but um, it's very much PMD spoiler territory and that might be important to some folks so. Post Length and Spoiler Warning Readmore Cut ! Woe!!

Azrah's insecurities run a bit deeper than he tends to let on. His nervousness isn't necessarily just due to his meek nature-- though it is at least a part of it-- but it also has a lot to do with Himself as an individual. Hisuian Zoroark are well known for their rather capricious and vicious nature. They're known for their Malice, after all. It very much sets a precedent for him-- one that he doesn't want to uphold. It's why he keeps his emotions in such a tight lock-- he doesn't want to get angry and lash out at others, so he talks himself out of feeling that anger at all. Doesn't speak up for himself when others talk over him.

He believes his instinctual defensiveness is a personal flaw and something to be repressed-- he doesn't want to be dangerous and violent like Zoroark of his kind tend to be, and overcompensates by muffling it as much as possible. He's the type to cry if he ever gets mad enough to yell. In suppressing that defense mechanism, he kinda becomes a huge pushover and a bit of a doormat... but its better than being a Bad Pokemon.

Milady, of course, is our resident Human-Turned-Pokemon amnesiac. She holds her composure more often than not, but she's deceptively anxious. Not having access to your memories doesn't seem to quell your body's habits, and it's something she is very fully aware of. She's constantly filled with a quiet sense of stress and anxiety, quietly building in pressure as she goes. She had something important, and she can’t find it. It’s frustrating. She’s frustrated. Confused and lost in a world that doesn’t quite belong to her, with ingrained knowledge of things about herself and the way the world Should work, but the image of it just out of reach. Her awkwardness isn't just in her nature.

She knows she should keep her level-headed attitude (but why?) and she has an image to upkeep (to whom?) but... but.

Milady tends to overprepare. Always checking over and over, making absolutely certain everything is in order for every worst-case scenario under the sun and then some. But when things really do get dangerous, she gets... admittedly very overbearing. She hates not knowing what to do-- hates not being able to control a situation. And when she can't... she runs. She stops thinking completely, almost unwittingly, like the flip of a switch. Some sort of measure her body remembers, but she does not.

She'd lost something once. It takes her a long time to piece it together, but it couldn't be anything else. It's a lingering sense of guilt that she can't shake, the desire-- the need-- to be better than she is. Reach her limits and pass them. (Maybe then they'd forgive her.)

Azrah mostly tends to let Milady handle things more often than not to avoid getting in the way. At the end of the Fogbound Expedition though, he does step up a bit more when she starts showing signs of getting overwhelmed. He was nervous at first, but he does want to help. It was nice when she looked back and encouraged him too...

The "Groudon" fight is the first time Milady and Azzy fully sync up as a team, minding each others blind spots and giving them cover-- working around each other to keep the other safe, rather than tiptoeing circles around invisible boundaries. Milady does not run, and Azzy does not hesitate. It's at this point that Azzy accepts his place as part of the team-- Milady needs him as much as he does to her, and wants to live up to that. As well, Milady starts to be able to relinquish a bit of her need for control, trusting Azzy to be on the same level rather than taking up everything herself.

It's what starts allowing them to accept what they had as Theirs, rather than just something that they happened to stumble into.

All these things start tangling together as things go along-- Azzy's grudge with Grovyle and looking up to Dusknoir; Dusknoir being someone he aspired to be as a "Good Pokemon" despite his scary reputation as a Ghost Type, mixing with his stubborn worldview of Grovyle as one of the Bad Ones, unable to accept it even after they learn the truth in the future. All the while, Milady's past begins resurfacing, bringing out parts of her she wishes to keep buried-- mixed with the volatility of trying to keep Azrah safe and retaining her visage of a Good Leader. Everything just causes them to stick closer and closer together as everything unravels-- which makes things deeply complicated towards the end of the game.

Milady's entire life revolved around her own life being temporary. As a Human, it was simply the truth of things. She'd never had to think too hard about any future-- in fact, even now she actively tried not to. Even when the deadline reared its head, she continued to not think about it. She couldn't. The entire world was weighing on them, after all. It was what she was meant to do from the start, there was no room for regrets. But when the time came to finally say goodbye, it was only hearing Azrah call out to her that she realized. She wanted to live.

It was funny. Both of her lives spent with complete disregard to herself, to what she could be, what she could have-- and it was only when she no longer had the choice that she'd wondered. What if she wanted more?

But a good leader always saves face. So...

wait.. have i never talked abt azrah and milady over here... do you guys know about my beasts.... do u want to hear abt my beasts

[selfawarejester]

So, someone requested a fic where Blue Team rescues a Child!Reader from a war zone, but unfortunately Tumblr ate the ask. If you’re the one who requested it, please enjoy!

EDIT: found a screenshot! @simp-for-fictional-men-only, hope you like this!

Blue Team x Child!Reader (Halo)

It’s been a long “day”, even by Spartan standards.

Blue Team had been trying to repel Covenant forces on an Outer Colonies planet for over a week… but it hadn’t been enough. Command had called an evacuation, and after destroying a base to help the efforts, Blue Team had been ordered to help with final evacuation calls in the nearest town.

On the Pelican ride to town, there was a brief moment where they thought it was a waste of resources to send Spartans for an evacuation op, especially because the other Spartan teams were still doing the best they could to strike back at the Covenant; not necessarily to stop them anymore, just to hold them back long enough for the civilians to escape and maybe a little revenge. The events of the week, coupled with the guilt of their brothers and sisters still risking their lives, weighed on them heavily.

But at the end of the day, they’re glad they did: they found a group in the Rec center, a dozen people in the boroughs, twenty in an apartment complex — the Marines wouldn’t have been able to lift most of the wreckage that blocked them from escaping.

By the time they’d gotten to the outskirts of town, Blue Team had been left alone to sweep through the dead town. Chief considered just going to meet up with the Marines — surely, they could match the pace of the overloaded Troop Transports — and this area was just dilapidated factories and shady looking establishments that had long since been stampeded.

But a need to fulfil his task to completion stayed his hand… and thank god it did.

At first, it was just soft sniffles that sounded from the inside of the rundown factory. Chief and Kelly, who’d partnered up to search this side of the district, thought it was one of the many Jackals that had been posted in the previous sector wandering, or a Grunt that had been left behind after the Jackals had entertained themselves (in which case, they should probably put the thing out of its misery), so they go inside.

Chief goes first, moving carefully through the debris so as to not dislodge the wreckage, or disturb the corpses of the few soldiers and more civilians. He retrieves their dog tags, securing them in one of the compartments of the MJOLNIR, and Kelly follows, stepping where he does.

Slowly, the sound becomes louder and louder, wheezing and snotty sobbing. Definitely an injured Grunt, he thinks. It’s coming from under a slab of concrete propped up against a wall. Kelly flanks to the right, while Chief goes to the left. He signals that he’ll lift it on the count of three, and grips the edge of the slab. When the slab gets tossed aside, Kelly raises her shotgun, pointing directly at the small figure.

You shriek and bury your head in your knees, pulled up to your chest. You couldn’t believe that after all the gross, awful things you’d had to sit through, holed up in this corner, you were just going to die.

But when nothing happens for a solid five seconds, you chance a peek over your knees and gasp. S-117 and S-087 are emblazoned across the chests of the armored giants… Spartans.

Kelly and Chief exchange confused gazes, having no idea how to deal with children. The last ones they’d had any interaction with was the Castoffs on Netherop, but they were more feral gremlins than they had been children.

(Kelly and Fred still aren’t entirely sure that the whole incident wasn’t a heat-induced hallucination.)

John really doesn’t want to go through another episode like it, but on the other hand, it would be easier if you were pelting rocks at them.

Kelly, being the more personable of the two, kneels to your height (or as close as a Spartan could get) and softly calls. “You don’t have to be scared. We’re here to help.”

You knew that — they were Spartans! The greatest heroes Humanity ever possessed! You were just shocked that you were getting rescued by them.

“Y-you’re Spartans.” You whisper dumbly, but you couldn’t help it! How are you supposed to be cool when you grew up with Master Chief’s action figure on your nightstand. “Like Master Chief.”

You can’t see it, but John can sense Kelly’s smirk as she looks over at him and points. “Well, that’s the man himself.”

* Oh no. By the way your wet, moved eyes stare up at him, it seems you’re a fan.

OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!! You hope your pterodactyl screeching wasn’t external.

“Whoa.” This couldn’t be real. You’d passed out from exhaustion, and were dreaming all of this. That could be the only possibility!

John knows that this is the part where he says something witty or inspiring… but he really doesn’t know what to say, so he just awkwardly clears his throat. “Are you hurt?”

You shake your head violently, a burning need to not disappoint your childhood hero, and clamber up to your feet… only to wince and lean against the wall, something sticky on your leg.

Now that you’re standing, he can see the dried blood around your ankle. “Hold still!” All the softness is gone from Kelly’s tone as she works on bandaging you up, but you don’t mind, appreciating how careful she’s being.

Co-ordinating with Linda, who informs him that there are patrols scouting the areas — probably only to get any survivors, and not to catch them, but they should still move — and Fred, who tells him that the convoy is flying off-planet via Pelicans in half an hour, John makes some quick calculations.

With the pace you’d set, hobbling alongside Kelly, whimpering every time you put your weight on your left foot, it would take them at least an hour. Too long.

“Whoa…” The sound comes unbidden from Fred when Kelly emerges, with you clutching at her hip, all bloody and dirty. A pang of sympathy strikes as he looks around and realizes all that you must have seen. He was well aware that normal children weren’t nearly as resilient as he and his siblings had been.

“….” He stays silent as you arrive in front of him, staring up at him with slight apprehension, heart racing as he tries to think of something to say — and for some reason, he lands on an awkward, weirdly Southern-sounding. “Hey champ!”

John and Kelly both shoot him weird looks, and he wants to dig a hole and die, when they hear it.

A small giggle falls from your lips, tiny hands covering your mouth as you try not to laugh. Fred sighs in relief, but his anxiety returns when Kelly’s joking voice comes over the comms saying “Well, I guess we know who’s taking care of them.”

Linda drops out of nowhere, and nearly scares you to death as you shriek and bump into John, holding his leg tightly. You don’t really notice how he freezes, confused again.

“…sorry.” She doesn’t sound sorry, you think with a pout and drop from Chief’s leg, careful of your own busted ankle.

“That’s Linda, that’s Fred and I’m Kelly. You can just call him Chief. What’s your name?”

“Y-Y/N.”

“Alright. We won’t be able to make it if you’re walking, so you need to get on one of our backs.” Chief tells you, straight to business. “Which one of us do you feel comfortable with?”

He’s really hoping you pick Kelly or Fred. It wouldn’t exactly be a burden, you’re much tinier than the full grown people he’s had to carry out of a war zone, and you’re handling it much better as well, even though you’re barely ten years old.

“Um…” You look shyly up at Fred. “If you don’t really mind…”

*Aw. That’s… actually kind of sweet. Fred beckons you over, and hoists you up between his shoulders, giving you the rundown on what to do if people start shooting, and to hold on tight when he tells you to.

*You’re much more considerate than the freaked out VIPs he’s had to extract. But he still feels you twitch every time the wind causes something to clatter, so he decides to strike up conversation.

“So how did you wind up there?” It’s not until afterwards that he realizes that, unlike soldiers, civilians aren’t comfortable discussing stuff like that. But you answer that it was your dad’s factory, explaining that it was Bring Your Kid To Work Day.

The Spartans, specifically Kelly, asked you questions about it, having never heard of it themselves. After all, military settings rarely allowed such breaches of protocol.

You only trailed off as you got to the part where he told you to hide, and Fred lets it be.

When you finally get to the convoy, a nurse hurriedly tries to pull you away from the Spartans to help out, apologizing for not doing it sooner when Fred tells her it’s fine and that you can stay. After all, Kelly had fixed you up well, and you seemed terrified at the prospect of being left alone.

All that was left to do was fly up to the ship in outer orbit, with the rest of the survivors. Since there were such few Pelicans, everyone had been crammed into them, military and civilians alike. You’d simply wandered onto the one they’d been on, sandwiched between Chief and Fred.

Chief watches you picking at your shorts, and suddenly remembers the chocolate bar Sgt. Johnson keeps giving him - “you’re not yourself when you’re hungry, Chief” He’d snicker and then leave, Chief just standing there, not understanding the reference - but hey, chocolate was chocolate.

“Here. You did well.” Your eyes go wide, and for a second he thinks you’re going to refuse, but then you snatch it out of his hand and snarf it down. This is how it must feel to watch him eat.

“You’re going to like it up there.” Fred chimes in when your gaze starts getting distant again. “Space is really cool.”

In a twist of fate, you find one of your best friends when you arrive on the ship. Their parents promise to take care of you, and thank the Spartans.

When they start directing the survivors to their quarters, you hug every Spartan, even Linda… or their legs, since you couldn’t reach anything else. (Thankfully, you telegraph it pretty well, so they don’t accidentally smack you or something.)

John just stiffens and then nods, Fred pats you on the head awkwardly and shuffles away (he was very shocked by the affection), Kelly laughs and claps you on the shoulder, and Linda just hums and pets you on the head like a dog, walking away afterwards.

You go on to be a Marine yourself, finding yourself on the Halo campaign, where Chief and Cortana save you once more. You’re surprised he still remembers you.

You leave a bar of the same brand he gave you at his shrine, giving a heartfelt eulogy and catching up momentarily with the other members of Blue Team before you all leave again.

You almost faint when he shows up at Requiem, though. Don’t feel bad, as Lasky fanboys behind Chief for the whole campaign.

Palmer corrals you and Lasky into a break room to make fun of your behavior after it’s all over.

[britishassistant]

I love that Yuu's reasoning for getting involved in some of the super hero/villain as The Prefect is because they can tell when the villain is crossing the line. But is otherwise pretty chill (kinda) with them as a whole.

What I can imagine now is a RSA hero going a bit too far in their brand of justice. You've established that they can be pretty violent too and have their share of collateral damage.

Can you imagine a hero being too overzealous with defeating a villain, no death but serious injury to the villain or civilians? How furious The Prefect would be? How Yuu the Reporter would call them out as well?

Thank you for the ask, dear anon!

TW for injury in this one.

Royal Flush and the Card Guards were attempting to escape with Yuu under one arm and the famed Dodo’s Egg jewel under the other. They’re being relentlessly chased through a public park by one of their more intense RSA nemeses, the Champion.

He certainly lives up to his hero name, with his shining blond hair, gleaming vorpal sword, and power to do ten impossible things so long as he hasn’t had breakfast. However, his obsession with trying to cut down the “jabberwocky, jubjub birds and bandersnatches” with little regard for the surrounding area means objects and civilians are just as likely to fall under his blade as the clones Cater keeps desperately trying to distract him with.

It gets to the point where Trey has to actually put Yuu down and tell them to go run and hide somewhere safe until they’ve subdued the Champion and can make a safer escape. At least the reporter listens to him and follows his instructions.

Ace and Deuce try to hit the Champion, but he’s relentless, constantly dodging and batting away their attacks even when it should be impossible, cutting down Cater’s clones by the dozen in his single-minded pursuit of “the red queen”.

Royal Flush has his back turned, trying to usher away a crying child who has latched onto his leg in fright, separated from their parent in the chaos of the attacks. The superhero takes the chance to swing at the supervillain—!

Ace gets in the way.

Deuce is screaming. Cater is frozen in horror. Trey is frantically trying to get to his junior.

Royal Flush’s mouth is moving but he can’t speak, why can’t he speak, he needs to speak—

The Champion doesn’t even seem to take notice, about to walk over the fallen piece in his mission to defeat the now paralyzed jabberwocky—

Only for The Prefect to send him flying with a dropkick to the face.

It feels like everyone is only able to stare incomprehensibly at the Champion slumped dazed against the stump of a fallen tree, before turning their eyes back to the hero who apparently just attacked one of their own over a minion.

The Prefect stands over Ace, eyes blazing and furious beneath the fedora. The very air around them feels cold and dark with their palpable rage.

They bark out orders to the villains to staunch the bleeding, get Ace and the other injured civilians to the nearest hospital as fast as they can, not to worry about anything else but that.

They’ll take care of this miserable excuse for a “hero”.

The superhero begins to stutter, clutching his broken nose, desperately claiming he did nothing wrong, he was just trying to defeat the jabberwocky, you have to sacrifice a few of your own pawns in chess to be able to take the other side’s pieces and bring down the red queen, he did nothing wrong—

“If that’s what you think,” The Prefect says coldly, cracking their knuckles. “Then you really don’t deserve to go running around calling yourself a hero.”

Ace wakes up in his bed back in the lair, a stiffness in his side and a pounding headache.

There’s a lukewarm plate of cherry pie on his bedside table.

Deuce is sleeping with his head right on where Ace got injured. Cater’s curled up on the floor, flicking though his phone. Trey’s leaning against the armchair that Riddle is sitting in, eyes closed. Riddle’s fiddling with the edges of his costume and looking very small.

They all crowd around Ace once he demands someone pass him his pie, frantically trying to see if he’s feeling alright. Deuce does not help by accidentally leaning on his injury to try and check his temperature. Cater to pulls Deuce off and squirm in next to Ace to take a “He survived!🥳” selfie. Trey is passing him the pie and asking if he’d like it warmed up, commending Ace for his actions but sternly saying never to scare them like that again.

Riddle is quietly and guiltily fretting until Ace takes the opportunity to tease him and ask for permission to have the first slice of all of Trey’s strawberry tarts for the rest of time as payment for his “bravery”. Then he’s mostly huffy, but you can see in his eyes he’s overwhelmingly glad that his minion is now alright.

They tell Ace that the Prefect put the Champion in intensive care over what happened. Ace pretends that doesn’t make him feel a little warm and fuzzy inside, resolving to partner up with Yuuken on the next minion-reporter-and-cameraman game night to repay him for it.

“Ah, Yuu-chan’s special report on what happened is up!” Cater holds up his phone and fullscreens the video, and everyone nestles in around Ace to see.

It’s obvious from the first second that this report is not going to be like any of the normal ones.

Yuu is pissed.

The reporter’s eyes blaze with barely-restrained fury. Even through the phone screen, it feels like their anger is casting a chill over the room.

Looking at them now, it’s easy to see that they’re Dire Crowley’s biological child.

The reporter’s words are cutting to the quick, condemning all heroes who are “more concerned with showboating than with helping people”, listing off name after name after name of the people who had been needlessly injured or endangered by the heroes’ efforts to foil the supervillains’ schemes, of the properties that had been irreparably damaged and jobs lost. There are even the names of henchpeople mixed in there on the list of the injured, hidden well enough that it seems they’re just civilians like the rest.

Yuu’s voice wavers only slightly when they say Ace’s name, jaw tightening and hands clenching into white-knuckled fists for a moment before forcibly relaxing. The fury in their eyes doesn’t waver for a moment.

Great Seven, it should be illegal for them to be this hot when they’re mad.

“We already have seven supervillains in this city who threaten our livelihoods with their mayhem daily. We must rely on our heroes to even stand a chance at having some normalcy, but how can we if they present more of a danger to us than the villains do?” Yuu finishes, eyes steely. “Either uphold the duty you claim to be fighting for, or be honest with the public about what your prioities really are.”

The video ends.

The faint sound of whooping erupts from the rest of the lair.

Deuce and Cater are cheering too, yelling that it’s about time someone called those prissy princes out on their hypocrisy. Ace laughs along with it slightly bashfully, scratching the back of his neck and trying to ignore the red in his cheeks. Trey is smiling so widely his cheeks hurt and Riddle is shaking his head at the commotion, but the small smirk on his face shows that he’ll let the ruckus slide this time.

It’s nice to have someone on their side, for once.

[aminiatureworld]

Musings of Thanatos

Characters: Zhongli, gn!reader

Word Count: 1,640

Warnings: Suicidal ideation, in depth conversation surrounding death

Premise: In which the reader doesn’t want to grow old.

Author’s Note: I’m going to reiterate that this is a fic talking about death and a character that, regardless of capacity, actively wishes to die young. I hope that for some people this fic can bring catharsis but if you aren’t sure that you can handle this then please don’t read it. I know that it can be like “lol I can read it” when the back half of your brain is screaming at you not to. This time you should listen to that part of your brain. I am not going to pretend that this doesn’t have the potential to be incredibly triggering. Not only if you experience suicidal ideation but if you’re afraid of death. I think it might cause a very visceral reaction.

And if you feel similarly to the reader then let me tell you, I understand. I can understand the future being completely terrifying, I can understand not wanting to stick around. But though I understand I still urge you to give the future a chance. Happiness might only come in glimpses now, but I promise it will come again in the future. There are moments in life that are euphoric, and everything except death can be changed.

That being said, I hope whoever’s reading this can find something out of this fic. Please enjoy

Zhongli

“Zhongli, do you ever wish you were mortal?”

The day was a lazy one in Liyue, the calm after the storm. Glaze lilies waved gently in the breeze. Soon they would show their petals, gently gracing the evening with their presence before once again closing their buds to the sun. Then again, these were only the glaze lilies that had managed to survive. The others has disappeared slowly, becoming more and more rare. You had only seen one real glaze lily once. It was gone after a day.

“I suppose I’ve never thought of it my love. I cannot really imagine a mortal life. I suppose it would have some advantages. Yet I think everything has their place in the world. I would make a poor mortal as I am now.”

“If you say so.”

“Why do you ask?”

He was beautiful, your lover. Even now, having seen the rise and fall of kingdoms, not a strand of hair on his head was shot through with grey. Of course time had wrought change on him; even from standing far away there was an aura about him that was somewhat untouchable. If fate had deemed to keep him statuesque, then surely it had also put the distant darkness into his eyes, had molded his features into a mask through which one could see a deity tired of seeing so much life. Nevertheless you had to envy him. For surely he wielded a stronger hand than you had been dealt.

“I don’t know. I just, it’s been on my mind.”

“What has been on your mind?”

“What it means to grow up. I mean, you’ve never experienced it. Not really, not the way we do. Growing up, it’s terrifying. You look at all the people walking down the street, the old people I mean. They’re all… wrinkly!”

You had to laugh, a bitter, sharp sort of sound. Indeed how they did look strange. Bones and muscles twisted like branches of a tree, knobs visible in the guise of liver spots and still joints. Their faces, how terrifying their faces were. You always found it odd when someone called an old person beautiful. You weren’t sure you had ever seen one who fit the definition. Rather, it was like looking upon an utterly different sort of people, a transformation that you knew one day you would have to undergo. When you emerged, it would be like a butterfly shifting back into a caterpillar. There would be no going back.

“Perhaps they are, but it is a sign of old age. Of wisdom. Humans who grow old, they are survivors.”

There was a hint of displeasure in Zhongli’s voice. Not that you could blame him. It was quite heretical to insult the old, surely even more so to one who would never experience such a thing. Then again, perhaps that was why he could act that way. He would never know.

“Maybe; but all the wisdom in the world couldn’t prepare me for growing old. I mean, who wants to be around an old person? Who wants to be an old person? You can’t do anything for yourself anymore, you’re basically a baby again. Except this time there’s nothing to look forward to.”

“My love, surely there are many things to look forward to in old age. The knowledge that one has gained, the ability to look back on the past. Those who you have grown to love will gather around you. Above all, when one has grown old one finally has been granted the privilege to rest, to think, to do what one wishes.”

“Is that why you gave up your gnosis?”

The wind rustled your hair slightly as you gazed at your partner. There was no reply to your question, but then again you weren’t expecting one. There were just some things too painful to speak of, some things that you couldn’t understand. Just as there were things your partner couldn’t understand, the things you were trying to explain to him now.

“Anyways, I’m not sure if any of those things are worth growing old for. Worth becoming immobile and forgetful and ill for. Honestly, I’m not sure if I ever would like to grow old.”

“Well you will one day, my love. Such is the nature of time.”

“Well I wish time would stop, or better yet that something would come and put me out of commission before then.”

Silence again. You had made an error, or perhaps you were simply seeing the natural reaction to your declaration. You loved Zhongli’s eyes, the way they glowed and shifted and reflected the light. They were almost dragon-like, not that you had ever seen a dragon before. Now, however, they seemed muddied, bogged down. It was as if you’d thrown muddy water on them, and now you were seeing the natural consequence.

“Do not speak that way.”

“Why not? It’s what I think.”

“Then I hope that you soon change your mind. Even if you cannot see the merit in growing older now, to react so… violently. It is alarming.”

“How would you know? It’s not like you’ll ever experience this, this fear. You’ll never wake up in the middle of the night, heart racing. You’ll never have to hear your mind scream in fear of ageing. You’ll never have to think about the years stretching in front of you, each a painful sentence of pain. You’ll never have to think about losing your mind to age.”

A pause. There was a frown slashed across your lover’s face. It looked entirely out of place.

“What would you want then, my love, if you could have it?”

“I would like to be young forever, like you.”

“Would you really? Would you want to see person after person die, while you can only watch? Would you like to exist isolated from those you love? My darling, even love is dangerous when you are destined to eternity. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of, of when the inevitable will happen. When I will once more wait for the end of eternity.”

“If I were like you, then you wouldn’t have to think of that.”

“If you were like me then you simply wouldn’t be as you are. Why is it that mortals are so much more prone to action, so much more emotional and bright and determined? It is their very mortality. Death is what creates authors and artists and the great heroes upon which we rely. A life without them, it would be a very drab world indeed.”

“So you want others to suffer for your own good?”

“Do you think that the way out is to ask for death my love? Truly? The death of a human is the death of a universe. Would you throw that universe away to be remember as young, whatever that may mean? Would you give up the ability to see, to feel, to think, to exist? My darling, if you truly think it is worth it then let me convince you otherwise.”

It was warm, the world. The world was burning up and you were stuck, staring into the eyes of the person you most loved.

“I don’t know.”

“Then don’t say these things, even in jest. I, I cannot understand it. It frightens me a great deal.”

“Why? I’m just, I don’t know. It shouldn’t bug you that much, I mean, I’m not about to go jumping into the sea or anything.”

“Today perhaps, and tomorrow too? If you truly were only saying these things in jest, would you be so firm in your questions and in your arguments?”

Too many questions, he was asking too many questions. They made your head swirl and throb as you tried to wrap your brain around them.

“I don’t know. I just, it, it scares me.”

“More than death? More than the annihilation of your senses and your thoughts? I realize that you are experiencing a fear that I myself will never carry. My burden and yours are opposites, they will never intersect, except perhaps to think about what the other will do when time eventually shows itself. Yet, my love, I cannot help but feel that, when that comes to pass, it will be better to have experienced age, to have experienced every phase of life, every moment that you possible can, than to be stuck in someone’s memory. We glorify the young dead, we do not remember them.”

It felt odd to crumple to his arguments, perhaps it was only momentary. He hadn’t explained anything particularly well, hadn’t been able to cross the divide between the two of you. Perhaps it was how awfully old he looked in that moment, how he seemed to age a thousand years, so much you could almost imagine him hunched over and grey and wrinkled. Maybe he did know more about age then you thought he did.

Besides, you couldn’t leave him, or Liyue. Not truly. And if that was only your survival instinct kicking in then it was doing a damn good job of it.

Slowly the roaring of the cicadas was replaced with a chorus of crickets. The glaze lilies turned their pale faces towards the light of the moon. Laying your head down in Zhongli’s lap you studied your lover’s face, trying to piece together the strange conversation that had soaked up all other conversation. As if reading your thoughts Zhongli’s eyes met you. Though a smile still refused to breach his expression, he leaned in to bring his hand to your cheek. You relished the warm of shared connection.

Maybe none of this would last the night, maybe tomorrow you would think the same thing you had before. But right now you very much wanted to stay. And right now was all that mattered.

[steampunk-epipen]

To add to this, just take a look at the live action film versions ALONE and you'll see massive differences.

Batman 66 was completely based on the Silver Age of Batman, a version of Batman that was meant to be more child friendly, more hopeful, more fun and wacky, goofier than thou, yet takes the concept of justice as seriously as any other version of himself.

then you have the Burton Batman. For many, this is THE Batman. I've heard it said that this Batman doesn't really have much of a personality except brooding and mysterious. Barely a character and more of a presence, which is honestly a really valid take on him. Batman is PART of Gotham, something you cannot and should not ever remove from the city, lest you face the wrath of the Bat.

then you have Schumacher's Kilmer Batman, who's a little serious in Batman Forever. Brooding, mysterious, but also incredibly INCREDIBLY DOWN BAD for Dr. Chase Meridian (who I will not talk about here). He is a deeply flawed, deeply troubled character who, based on the Schumacher cut, blames himself for the death of the Waynes—a trait of his that seems to carry over in other films.

Then comes in Schumacher's Clooney Batman, who was fun and goody and entertaining (seriously, let's all forgive Clooney at this point, please? He's been on an apology tour for years!). He was definitely a return to Adam West's style of humor, though not really done the same way. There was drama and tension and the burden of leadership that Bruce struggled with since he's always worked alone. Something many people don't seem to get is that Bruce, despite being a CEO, doesn't have very good leadership skills yet. Something made very clear with the amount of arguments he and Dick make. Snap decisions should be something he's good at, but not when he's balancing saving his partner, saving civilians, and catching criminals. The opening joke "this is why Superman works alone" is honestly a little clever in my eyes because of this—THAT IS EXACTLY WHY SUPERMAN WORKS ALONE! BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE CAN KEEP UP WITH HIM! (At least, that's what Clark would think).

AND! AND AND AND Christopher Nolan's Batman! Ohhhh that's one Batman alright. Dark, brooding, mysterious, also incredibly down bad for Rachel Dawes. Difference? He wants out. He wants to be free. He actually wants to make a proper change to the city, saving it constantly, and he knew when to hang up the cape. His last bout as the Bat was only because the threat was too big for the police. Gordon HAD to have learned how to handle Scarecrow by now TDK. Gordon HAD to have struggled with Joker AND Two-face because that's how Long Halloween went with Holiday and Harvey—this was Bruce's detective arc (albeit done poorly. The man is mostly prepared for anything yet can't seem to focus on solving crimes. He's go to plan seems to be catching the criminal in the act and watching the news, a trait that seems to have been carried over from Batman Returns, as referenced in a few video essays I've seen). There was backstory, there was character, there was drama, there was internal conflict, there was STORY.

Then, we get Ben Affleck's Batman... Should I? I should... He's... he's great, honestly. I like him, except for the killing but yk Batman does the whole "I don't have to save you" on a few villains in the comics so whatever. But I like Batfleck. Batfleck is this Batman that you know is so jaded, so dark, so tired of everything. He's basically Old Man Bruce from Batman Beyond letting everything out and not caring anymore. Fear was the weapon and death was his friend. Imagine being the Batman that gave up? That was him. He was gruesome, violent, unrestrained with all the precision of Batman we've come to expect. It was after Superman died that he finally gave in and accepted that he's not alone. That there are other heroes. That Justice and the Good Fight will never end with more bloodshed. That hope should prevail.

Then, THEN! Let's talk about the new guy. The one, the only, Battinson. Battinson is certainly a young guy, following the plot line of Long Halloween and a few others. (I just wanna say, making Riddler's costume similar to Hush is just *chef's kiss*). This is different, it's like Ben's but also Bale's. Gruesome but soft. Tortured but levelled. Clever but arrogant. Battinson is 100% a YOUNG Batman and I love it so much. Discovering hope was such a perfect arc for him EXACTLY because, in Long Halloween, Bruce and Falcone had the same belief: "We Believe in Gotham City".

That's not even getting into TDKR, where he's an incredibly controversial figure already. There's much about Batman that just cannot be explained in one version alone. looking at his early version in 1939, when he was literally going up against gangsters, mad scientists, a literal vampire, and god knows what else.

simply put, I'm a massive Batman fan, sue me.

Y’know there’s something I’ve noticed. The reason why none of the Batman movies will ever be universally liked or agreed upon by fans is because Batman is such a character open for interpretation. There are so many different headcanons and fanons that makes it so difficult to please all the fans with just one interpretation of him. He is such a complex person that nobody can really agree if he’s in the right or wrong, he’s very controversial.

[ectonurites]

hey! how knowledgeable are you on stephanie brown? because i got in a bit of an argument with a dc fan on reddit who claims she's all these awful things, but im still relatively new to steph and i want to see what was true and what wasn't. link to screenie right here: https://ibb.co/vh6CYCJ

these may be matters of opinion, but even then, i'd like to know your take. i haven't read her firsthand often enough and i trust your judgement over this random redditor who seems to have some sort of blonde-woman related trauma left untapped.

I'm not necessarily the most knowledgable on her in the world, but I do know a decent amount because she's one of my absolute faves and I love her

But ohhhh boy that screenshot is a lot.

I will say that several of the things this person brings up are based in canon but are taken in the worst faith and framed in the way that makes her look as bad as possible, if that makes sense? It’s ripping things away from any context, because there's a very clear bias against her here.

I'll go through it point by point under the cut

First of all though before digging into this, I want to make it clear she was a 15 year old for the majority of the things this person is talking about. Like just pause for a second and remember she’s a 15 year old victim of abuse. That is something that I think factors into a lot of her behavior! Anyways, I kinda while doing this got into a ranty 'talking at you' format in response to the person who wrote all that, so don't take any of this as me yelling at you who asked the question/you anyone reading this.

"She always acted entitled" - Saying Steph is entitled is absolutely ridiculous to me. Stephanie grew up with a very unstable childhood due to her dad frequently being in prison and her mom dealing with a drug addiction, living in a lower class part of the city. Tim is entitled. I don’t mean that as like a bad thing about him, but he is based on his living situation, she is not. She has wanted life to be better for herself and her mom, and is determined about that, but she is not and does not act entitled.

(Secret Origins 80 Page Giant)

"and stubborn" - I will give you stubborn though, that one is true. She’s stubborn as hell! I don’t really see that as a bad thing though, pretty much every bat is stubborn?

"demanding that Batman and Robin accept her untrained ass" - Steph may have been untrained in fighting but she's shown to have exceptional gymnastics skills from the start, and at one point Bruce even says that with the right training she could be as good if not better than Tim (in Robin #88)! So like... her realizing she enjoys trying to be a hero after she tried it out to deal with her personal business, so she looks to the local experts… and is determined about it… how is that a bad thing? It’s also not like she walked up to them and said ‘im perfect as i am let me in’ what she wanted was a chance to be a hero. But she also wasn't even really looking for approval, either, not having Batman's blessing was never going to stop her. ("So excuse me if I don't jump when you bark, Batman." in Robin #16) Later when Bruce does bring her in to train (and she also gets to train with the BoP) she's excited! She’s stubborn about wanting to be in the hero business, but it’s not like she’s unwilling to work for it.

"advocating leaving criminals to die because they 'deserve it'" - She’s a 15 year old who grew up knowing firsthand how dangerous Gotham criminals can be because of her dad, of course off the bat when they’re in a dangerous situation where any of them could die (because that’s the context here, this is in Robin #35 where they’re trapped in some super dangerous snow) she thinks they shouldn’t go back for another criminal who just tried to kill them and should instead save themselves. But she also literally WITHIN THAT SAME ISSUE then says she realized she learned something after listening to Tim and trying to save the guy! In the same issue! Characters in a story aren’t supposed to be perfect from the start… they learn things along the way???

(Robin #35)

"trying to steal from the shops they just stopped from being burglarized" - She’s 15 and doesn’t have a ton of money. She was gonna take two sodas, and when Tim said not to do it she paid with very little fuss. They stopped people who were robbing the place at gunpoint for prescription drugs. If you can’t understand the difference in severity between those things like… I do not even know where to start. (this situation is in Robin #56 btw)

"forcing physical affection onto Tim despite his visible discomfort and repeated objections (not even stopping when he told her he had a girlfriend)" - This one I will give you because she did cross boundaries with all that! But I do also want to clarify that she didn't start coming onto him until after Tim kissed her first (in Robin #5) while not telling her he had a girlfriend. That doesn’t excuse her later actions but for the first issue that she’s coming onto him from her perspective he expressed interest and she was just returning it! She even specifically says 'Maybe I should pay you back for saving my life the same way you paid me' (in Robin #16) before kissing him. That first time she kissed him unprompted was under essentially the same circumstances he kissed her unprompted, and she literally did not know about Ariana until after the fact. From that point once she knew about Ari she definitely should have backed off and she didn’t, that’s a very fair thing to criticize about her as a character. But Tim lead her on first, and I feel a lot of people like to casually forget that when talking about this situation. The way this is phrased of ‘not even stopping when he told her-‘ implies she was repeatedly doing the bad behavior before he told her, which is not the case. She still did bad things here but don’t misrepresent the situation.

"And lashing out at Tim, her mother, and her classmates in violent fits of anger" - Every comic book character lashes out at other people for the sake of drama like, I dare you to come up with a well-known superhero character who hasn’t done shit like that to a partner/family/friends in a moment of high tension/stress?

"She treated the girls around her like they were stupid bitches" - frankly this ones a little too vague like, I'm not sure off the top of my head exactly what they're talking about? in that era right around her pregnancy and stuff I really don't recall her being mean with other girls? I could be forgetting something I guess but the closest I can think of is a bit after this period of time when she has the confrontation with Greta in Young Justice but that was Greta attacking her first, not the other way around.

"got insanely jealous if Tim so much as expressed concern about another girl" - Steph getting jealous and thinking Tim was cheating isn’t that crazy when STEPHANIE BASICALLY WAS THE OTHER GIRL DURING TIM’S LAST RELATIONSHIP? Tim has cheated a little bit before! Tim cheated on Ari with both Jubilee from Marvel (during a crossover thing where he even mentions Ari specifically so it’s not like this was out of continuity/a setting she wasn't an issue or something) and also with Steph. While most of the kissing between them was Steph coming onto Tim which I wouldn’t count as cheating on his end, he did still kiss her which I would count. Not to mention that the jealousy thing (I imagine they’re talking about the instance with Star, the girl who taught Tim to skateboard, this arc of stuff starts in Robin #80 and continues for a few issues) is happening during the time she’s dating him while she still doesn’t even know his real name. He literally has a whole other life she doesn’t know about, and is someone who has initiated romantic moments with other girls while in a relationship multiple times before! With that in mind I don’t think a 16 (she's def 16 by this point) year old girl being kinda paranoid about how he interacts with girls he might know in his civilian life is that unreasonable? The later big instance with jealousy is the Darla situation- where Steph sees Darla kiss him and gets mad about it (and doesn’t talk to him about it) and thats what prompts her to become Robin. The important thing to remember about Steph in this time frame is that DC decided she had to die and they wanted to make her Robin first to drum up more attention for that death. They were doing ooc things with her to set those pieces in motion, and that needs to be taken into account. I think her getting upset about seeing something like that isn’t even ooc, but her using it as motivation to become Robin and not even saying anything to him about it is. In the earlier instance where she’s upset/jealous about Star, she does communicate to him what’s going on at least a little bit on the rooftop after they’d saved her. She makes it clear the thing she was upset about is that she feels like she can’t trust him because she doesn’t really know him while he knows everything about her, and that’s why she thinks he’s cheating. Her reaction to the Darla thing is not in line with how earlier in canon Steph would have handled the same situation, because they wanted her to die and needed a way to explain her becoming Robin.

"and expressed that jealousy by accusing him of cheating and throwing things at him" - I just addressed the cheating stuff but the throwing things was fucking slapstick oh my god this is a comic book for kids/teens like. ah yes this is horrible abuse in this little funny montage of how Steph wants him to leave her alone because she’s mad at him and he refuses to give her space

(Robin #82)

I don’t think anyone at DC or even in fandom would/should try to argue she’s perfect, because she’s not! And I don’t want her to be because perfect characters are boring. Steph is flawed, Steph has been compared in canon to Robin-era Jason by Cass & Bruce

(Detective Comics #790)

And I think these highlight some of her very real flaws that are an interesting part of her character. These plus her stubbornness and determination are part of what makes her her.

And for fuck's sake the world was mean to her, and to act like it wasn’t is just blatantly ignoring a lot. A criminal father who made her life really difficult (‘when my dad was mad at me he’d lock me in the closet!’), that time she got kidnapped for two weeks and her mom had left her (a 15 year old) alone at home so long she didn't even find out it happened (in text Steph says Crystal was visiting friends, a lot of people interpret that as her mom possibly being in rehab for her addictions again), that whole thing about how one of her dad’s friends tried to sexually assault her as a child, also just how due to her dad's work sometimes criminals would be living in their house (Literally the fucking Riddler at one point!), the fact that we as an audience watched her get tortured for several days because a plan she tried to enact to prove herself backfired since Batman didn’t trust her with important information (something Selina even calls him out on in her internal narration), like… sorry but in what way is all that not the world being mean to her?

She was Robin, she dated Robin, she likes Eggplant (because purple would've looked stupid), and makes jokes. She’s also impulsive, headstrong and determined, and wants to prove to herself and others that she can be more than just the daughter of a shitty criminal, that she can actually be a force to do good in the world.

She’s a complex character, and nobody is required to like her, but to act like she doesn’t have a single redeeming trait is ridiculous. You could write a paragraph like that with the worst moments of basically any character and make them look like shit if that's what you were setting out to do.