#but this dark ending would make so little sense no way the same writer who gave us the previous 426 chapters would write something like this

[haine-kleine]

Can people please stop using the 'atone' argument for the villains not getting a happy ending?

If Horikoshi wanted to make this story about atonement, then Grand Tortilla would have been dead long time ago instead of cheering on Shigaraki's murder and Allmight wouldn't be consoling Izuku saying it was fine to let Tomura die.

Enji says he will take all the public backlash on himself. He is already atoning! He had accepted that everything that Dabi did was a direct consequence of his actions and this is the only time in the last chapter the narrative pats him on the back by having Natsuo admit that he thought his otou-san (not Endeavour) was cool for the first time in his life.

The war happened because the heroes actively oppressed the minorities and kept the status quo until it all blew up in their faces. The second war arc didn't even give the heroes any serious consequences. Having the villains slaughtered and put in prison takes any logical meaning of the story away. It was the League who was punished in the second war arc: separated, silenced, severely injured, brain damaged, having lost their friends.

The heroes just going back to the status quo after defeating the minorities they have been ignoring all these years would make this story extremely depressing. It's time for the heroes to take responsibility and make amends, not demand that their victims atone for not being able to take it anymore and fighting back.

[mejaemin]

nonchalant - jeon wonwoo

wc: 0.9k

summary: clingy wonu /ᐠ - ˕ -マ

warnings: streamer!wonu, writer!reader, fluff, not proofread !!!

an: i can think of so many ways to make a pt.2 to this… will i? nope!

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the letters on your laptop’s keyboard are surely to start fading any time soon, but it’s worth it. especially right now. there’s yet to be a single time where you’ve felt this much inspiration in your entire career, so you refuse to let this go to waste. your eyes flicker to the notebook sitting next to you, information on the paper translating in your mind and being typed out into coherent sentences on the document.

you’re really proud of what you’ve written so far. you had your boyfriend read your unorganized thoughts you had set out for the plot and what not, and he thinks it’s good too. once your brain felt ready to start writing the real thing, your fingers were flying. you slipped your headphones on, essentially blocking out the entire world as you worked. you started when it was still light out, and you’ve only gotten up to use the bathroom, really. it’s dark now, and although he’s not working quite as hard, you can still sense your boyfriend moving around the house, making commentary as he pre records gaming content.

he’s left you alone so far. he’s not the type to nag you too much about taking care of yourself, especially when he’s already learnt his lesson about interrupting you when you have one of these moments of inspiration. not to mention he has times like this too, even if it was for something like a long term livestream. still, he treats you how he would want to be treated in the same situation. by that he means undisturbed… with the occasional interruption, of course. he likes to have his game time but if he isn’t filming he still wants to be with you.

your phone is on do not disturb, keeping wonwoo’s obnoxious friends and their instagram reel notifications from disturbing your work, so when a message notification dings through your headphones you know who it is.

won🖤: Are you almost done yet?

won🖤: I’ve finished recording.

you: no, sorry love :( i still have some left in me.

you: just a little more, okay?

won🖤: Just a little more. I try not to be that guy, but you really should stop soon. Eat something

you reacted with 👍

setting your phone down, you crack your knuckles with a sigh. you were reaching the end of your inspiration spark, so you really wanted to rush to get whatever you could in. it’s extremely rare that this happens, and you couldn’t stress it enough. you’ve got deadlines to meet, and for this to happen to you was literally perfect. you’re basically set, and might even be able to take a day off tomorrow.

you’ve gotten back onto your groove, putting the music on high while you work. you’re typing word after word, paragraph after paragraph flawlessly. everything you’ve been mapping out for weeks is finally coming to fruition, and it’s doing so perfectly. you’re so zoned in that you don’t notice when wonwoo comes in, only taking note of his presence when the weight shifts on the bed and his head lands on your shoulder.

you pause, pulling the headphones off your head. “do you need something?” you ask, hand instinctively coming to brush through his hair.

he looks up at you, and you’re sure he doesn’t notice the way he’s pouting. it’s rare that he’d be like that voluntarily. “how far are you? you’re almost done?”

“mm, i don’t think so.. sorry. i really need to make the most of this or else i’ll never get this finished.” you kiss the top of his head, and as soon as you put your hand back towards the keyboard he grabs it.

“you’ve been sitting here all day.”

“yeah, i noticed. but i’ll do just a little more, ‘kay?” you kiss his crown and return to work.

you finish the second to last plot point you had mapped out, and now you’re just revising what you done so far. even by your own standards you’ve done enough, and since wonwoo is indirectly begging you to spend time with him (in his own way) by clinging to your side, you suppose you can stop for now. it hasn’t even been that long and you can see him looking from his phone to you every three seconds. it’s cute really, how he’s trying so hard to be nonchalant about it when he wants to spend time with you so bad. every time he wants your attention, he sort of hovers around you and stares at you until you give it to him. he’ll never say it out loud, but he’s definitely going to be obvious about it in other ways.

you shut your computer and set it on the night stand, turning towards him fully. the corners of wonwoo’s mouth twitch as he tried to hold back his smile, but you know he’s happy that he’s won.

“you’re done now? are you gonna go back to work, or are you really done?” he asks, sitting up and readjusting his glasses.

you giggle at his cuteness, kissing his cheek. “yes, nonu. you’ve got my full, undivided attention now, ‘kay?”

he’s already up before you are, rambling about how excited he is to spend the rest of the night with you, even if it’s already late. he’s walking into the kitchen to make ramen for you, talking about eating it together while watching something, and then stopping to ponder about what to do after. you trail behind him, a smile on your face. your nonchalant, black cat boyfriend who uses very few words will throw it all out the window if it means getting your attention and keeping it for a good moment.

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[rebelscum218]

Among all the stuff the Ahsoka show gave us, the decision to directly draw comparison between Sabine Wren and Anakin Skywalker was one of the things that I have the most opinions about. On one hand, I detest this writing decision because of what it did to Sabine's character, but also, I think I could have gotten into it if it was much more deliberately done.

First of all, by putting Sabine in a series for Ahsoka Tano, her character has to be secondary to Ahsoka's, and written in a way that allows Ahsoka to tap into her issues and catalyses her development, which in season one was closure with Anakin. As a result, Sabine became the character that connects Ahsoka to Anakin, which requires a new set of circumstances and extra layers of story to explain her change. And due to the limited series format of the show, there is simply not enough screen time to show all of that, so it became stuff that's told through dialogue by Baylan Skoll and Huyang right before Sabine's pivotal moments. This made her character passive, since her story is being told to us by other characters, rather than seeing Sabine demonstrating it on screen or having the chance to express herself, which was always the case in Rebels.

Aside from that, what I find equally frustrating about the whole parallel situation is that it is both present and vague enough that it could be open to interpretation as to what the story is ultimately about. The message of Anakin's story is very clear: out of a selfish desire to save someone he loves, he made a deal with the devil and gave in to his worst instincts to gain the power he was promised, which made him more and more greedy and blinded, falling so far and so fast that he gets life-changing consequences that he has to face for the rest of his life, and that not only does he not get what he wants, but he has betrayed everyone he knows and lost everything but himself. As for Sabine's story in Ahsoka, we have the selfish desire and the deal with the devil, but she faces little to no consequences and was eventually framed as being correct, since they never would have found Ezra or able to send him home without her. There are multiple messages to take away from, which weakens the story.

If the writers truly intent to have Sabine be a mirror image of Anakin for Ahsoka's benefit, or to retell Anakin's story in a different lens, then I would have liked them to commit to it 100%, and let the story embody that very message. Have Sabine be eager and impatient and passionate just like Anakin instead of closed off and struggling; have Sabine feel a type of yearning or even romantic love for Ezra that became a selfish need, similar to what Anakin had felt with Padmé; have Sabine's choice be a deliberate character failing instead of framing it as the only choice or a decision she was fated to make; have the journey take a huge toll on her, requiring her to turn her back to people close to her like Hera and Ahsoka; and prolong her search for Ezra so that there's time for her to slide into hopelessness and despair, experiencing the loop of fear, anger, hate and suffering that defined Anakin's story; or maybe even make Baylan Skoll break his promise, because just as Sidious only used Anakin's desire to save Padmé to get what he wants, Baylan might as well do the same, because at the end, if there's anything Star Wars has taught us, is that choosing to give in to selfishness is a path to oblivion. Give her a big emotional breakdown and let her experience a rock bottom moment where she realizes she has nothing left, hating herself for what she's done, like that 'you burn in your own flame' moment in the Revenge of the Sith novel. (I'd even written a fic based on some of these thoughts.) But there was another character who draws strong parallels with Anakin Skywalker that made narrative sense: Ezra Bridger.

In Rebels, Ezra struggled with loss and his own darkness in a similar way that Anakin had, as well as harboring a desire to destroy the Sith and seek justice for what the Empire has done, which is exactly how Maul managed to manipulate him to pursue his own goals. He dangles the possibility of helping Obi-Wan to lure Ezra to Tatooine, where he is then used as bait to tempt Obi-Wan out of hiding. Alone, exhausted and suffering the consequences of his own actions, Ezra reaches a bottom moment in his journey.

A moment like this would be perfect for Sabine if they go down this route. You can even play with the idea that Sabine was trying too hard to be Ezra in his absence: doing his job as protector of Lothal, wanting to learn to be a Jedi to fill his role, and thus vulnerable to the same set of challenges, which would justify why a parallel to Anakin was necessary to her story. And because Ezra had gone through these same issues, he would be the perfect person to guide Sabine out of this mess. This way, you could simultaneously pull development out of both characters: Sabine to reckon with her emotions and own up to her mistakes, Ezra to pass on what he's learned and assume a role similar to Obi-Wan, who helped him realize that (and also happen to spend 10+ years in exile).

Of course, this ultimately does have to be Ahsoka Tano's show, and I always come back to the issue with Ahsoka's portrayal in relation to the necessity of Sabine's parallel with Anakin. The biggest limitation to Ahsoka's character in my opinion, was the fact that Anakin was written as her only pillar of support. In stories, you want your characters to have a wealth of interactions and a myriad of relationships that highlights the diversity of a person. In Clone Wars, Ahsoka had been paired up with Rex, Padmé, Plo Koon, Barriss Offee, Lux Bonteri, the Martez sisters etc, which brought out many different aspects in Ahsoka's personality that all helped define who she is, and in the Ahsoka show, there are again enough characters to do the same, yet even when she is interacting with Sabine, Hera, Huyang, Baylan or Thrawn, it is almost always about Anakin, which severely undermined her status as her own person.

Therefore, Sabine's parallel to Anakin further ties Ahsoka to him, and does not compliment her character in a meaningful way. And her biggest moment in the show where she seemingly grows past all of it (that 'live or die' moment that I find equally vague and frustrating) was something that's also given to her by Anakin. Combined with accepting Sabine's decision as 'the only choice', we are then meant to make the connection that Anakin also had no choice, and that he was predestined to fall, which in the end, this story decision only ended up benefiting Anakin's portrayal rather than Sabine or Ahsoka.

[misterbenzadrine]

♡ day 7: kenny payne ♡

oh em gee chat one week ! so we're in the final stretch starting with kennyyyy i'm gonna try not to yap too much this time since i went so overboard with devon :,(

so much like devon, kenny has been very special to me since he was introduced.

something that could be said for the whole younger cast is that the writers definitely crammed too many characters into the show halfway through and got stuck with a dozen half-baked characters BUT that doesn't mean they're not still cool, that just means the fandom gets to create personalities for them !

so kenny BEFORE his brainwashing was so cutie, his dr. scribblebottoms cosplay was precious, 100% convinced lia would've loved it if it was really her and not anthony.

one thing i notice a lot with kenny is people comparing him to hawk, and i do think he's a lot like if eli didn't have demetri. hawk gets his villain arc either way but how much would he have been able to take had he not had demetri by his side? how much sooner would he have snapped? that's kind of the answer with kenny.

obviously they aren't perfect parallels, and i personally associate kenny with demetri more, but they work bc this was probably the writers' main intention.

with demetri, eli's kind of content to let him do the talking and at least has someone who he can call a friend. in all the time we saw kenny as a new kid, lia seemed to be the only person that was nice to him (which is meant to parallel daniel obvi but still). and TECHNICALLY, since the writers hate me, demetri and eli were never romantic (i call bullshit but i can pretend to not see chemistry for this purpose) so kenny's only friend is also his crush which makes things all the more complicated in trying to talk to her and spend time with her bc he's nervous ! and flustered ! so he doesn't have that same support system that eli did (what little he had anyway) so it's a lot easier for him to do that 180 instead of the gradual one we saw with hawk. (this is also me rationalizing the speed run of kenny's arc for the sake of getting him in that cobra kai headspace by the end of the season but i digress)

i hope the writers give us more soft kenny moments, like the scenes he had in s6 so far are so cute and i love them. he deserves to be happy, petition for more scenes with shawn, would love for his parents to make one last cameo at the all-valley/sekai taikai

also his relationship with robby is so important to me and i hope we get a moment in this last part where they talk one last time (like i'm hoping for with devon/tory) THE KEENRY KIDS NEED TO HAVE ONE LAST HEART TO HEART WITH THEIR PARENTS

also the fact that he's canonically one of the best fighters (i genuinely think with more time and training, he's going to be the best fighter, even better than the core four) and he wasn't even training that long.

AGAIN LIKE DEMETRI SAID cheap shot notwithstanding, but he's definitely fast and strong. and unlike demetri, he found a way to use his intelligence AND his speed to make him a really strong and incredible fighter that could for sure put up a good fight with any of the main six.

i personally don't love his dark era, it's really good from a character standpoint. like i stated before, he lacks that support system with his dad is serving, shawn is in juvie, his mom (if i remember correctly) is busy with work and obviously under a lot of stress without her oldest son and her husband. and he's the new kid at school that got ruthlessly picked on by anthony and his friends for pretty much no reason other than them being rich little jerks. and he's kind of a wimp, he's goofy, he likes spending his free time on dungeon lord, it made a lot of sense for terry to exploit that and for kenny to turn against robby in s5.

and his relationship with terry in general is so cool like i love that each sensei kind of has a favorite (kreese and silver through more...nefarious intentions) and i love that terry's is kenny bc like i said, the main intention with a lot of these characters is meant to parallel and emulate daniel and johnny. it's always brought back to daniel and johnny, that's like the number one rule of the ck writers room. TERRY exploits KENNY the same way he exploited DANIEL but instead of doing it for revenge on kenny, he does it for revenge on DANIEL. it's so perfect. it's the perfect full-circle moment. and it almost works too. terry, personally, is so truly evil and the fact that he molds kenny (and the other ck kids) into perfect child soldiers while ruining every aspect of daniel's life so he can target daniel and his kids is mind-blowingly wicked. tyring to elevate my hater game to terry silver level fr.

like i hate terry and kreese with a PASSION but lowkey terry did what kreese couldn't, and that deserves to be applauded bc yeah he had those kids not even really questioning things (mainly bc they're background extras) other than tory and devon. and he almost succeeded incredibly but he overlooked one tiny detail, the power of trauma-bonded gay teenagers (samtory, kiaz, and hawkmetri <3) if it weren't for the power of homosexuals the core six, daniel genuinely wouldn't have managed to overcome terry's mind games. johnny, chozen, and mike pushed him, sure, but that final kick at the flagship dojo wouldn't have happened without the kids breaking in and exposing silver. (i have a love-hate relationship with season five for this exact reason like why is it so complicated and evil but so basic? could i have written it better? probably not, but i can still criticize it)

but again personally i love his fighting and his softer moments, i hope we get like an epilogue of kenny and anthony being friends (lowkey ship kenthony too)

also the writers cooked SO HARD giving him the last name payne, they ate with that one little thing !!

!! headcanons !!

bc my fav characters are all the nerds, kenny's gotten a lot of overlap already between demetri, hawk, devon, and anthony; so for more hc, defo go check those lists out !! :3

kenny was obviously really close with his brother growing up; even when shawn made fun of his dorky stuff, he still knew all about it because kenny loved it

kenny doesn't know and never entirely will but a lot (if not all) of his presents when he was little were either bought or informed by shawn, since he knew him the best (robby like kind of knows about this but obviously never tells kenny)

daniel and johnny don't interact much with kenny at first, even after the sekai taikai, but amanda, robby, devon, and hawk keep pushing for him to get more acquainted with the rest of miyagi-do/the senseis and he eventually becomes just as cared for as everyone else

speaking of, amanda has basically adopted him and tory as her pseudo-children. (daniel has sam and robby, johnny has miguel and devon, chozen has hawk, amanda has tory and kenny)

while amanda isn't as big of a presence for kenny as she is for tory (since he still has his parents and his brother), she does frequently check in on him and invite his family to various events (which means so much to kenny's mom) (amanda and kenny's mom being besties, iktr)

he gets a few good months of bonding with hawk before he leaves for college (either he's moving away or he just takes time from the dojo because he's busy) and they both unintentionally help each other work through their complicated relationships with anthony and demetri (the unmentioned understanding of someone being your worst enemy and one of the people you care about most, mhmm)

there is one moment where they're joking around about nerdy stuff and hawk just stops like "dude you're so much like demetri, this is crazy" (meaning they have a lot of the same opinions and ideas on nerd crap) and kenny is personally so offended (hawk and demetri think this is the most hilarious thing ever)

while kenny never really talks to demetri one-on-one (mainly BECAUSE he's embarrassed he was compared to him), the few moments he does get alone with him are spent with demetri unintentionally showing him why mercy and pacifism are a better technique and strategy than force and violence. (these unintentional teachings are due to demetri's constant references to his favorite comics and game characters)

SPEAKING OF DEMETRI, while kenny doesn't seek him out, demetri (likely due to him being neurodivergent) doesn't seem fazed by this and often recommends different comics and games that remind him of kenny (he does this with everyone in the dojo but it makes kenny feel more comfortable in miyagi-do)

robby maintains a normal brotherly type of relationship with kenny and still sometimes talks to shawn (idk as of RIGHT NOW what the writers are gonna have robby do post-grad but whatever he's doing, he's keeping up with the paynes)

honestly, robby is second to shawn who kenny trusts the most. as he gets older, anthony and devon make their way behind robby.

he does develop a good friendship with anthony, hawk, and demetri through their dungeon lord obsession but is a little hesitant for a bit, since he's still a little embarrassed and uncomfortable being that vulnerable and nerdy again. after a while, he notices how dorky demetri is and how anthony and hawk don't judge him for it so he slowly opens up again.

he stays surprisingly close with anthony post-grad (either trauma-bonding, similar interests, or the fact that their moms are friends) and he'd probably even call anthony his best friend once they get to their 20s

gets along with miguel and hawk primarily bc of their music taste (do i mean kendrick lamar? obviously i mean kendrick lamar. but everything else too) (just hc all my favs as kendrick lamar fans bc i can)

PERSONALLY i think he'd win the next all-valley and anthony, like demetri, would be one of the semi-finalists (hawkmetri parallels~)

final thoughts: kenny my beloved, you really should be higher on this list if it weren't for my current obsession with other characters that have more screen time than you. if i'd made this last year, you'd be number three or four bookie. you deserve the world. 10000/10 valid crashout, you have done no wrong (shhh no wrong), and i'm glad you're FINALLY getting the recognition you deserve in miyagi-do, joining the team for one day and immediately propelling them out of elimination, you are the karate king ever. i wish we could get a spin-off of you and see how your skills progress the same way we saw the older kids but alas, this journey has been a long one together and i'm nevertheless proud of where you're signing off 🫡

[love-marimo]

okay, whew. lots of thoughts about how dark one piece can get…

so i've reached the part where hiyori publicly humiliated one of the corrupt individuals in flower city in front of all the people in the brothel for falling into the trap of greed and lust.

and wow

i just. it's so fucking dark. and it's like in your face and it gets under your skin kind of dark. the laughter of the courtesans, kyoshiro mocking and ordering his underlings to beat him up in front of everyone, and hiyori's "i spent it all" laced with no remorse at all… it's just so cruel. and rightfully so tbh, since it was displayed how the man caused so much trouble to innocent people just to fulfill his disgusting fantasy of objectifying hiyori and viewing her as a trophy he can have.

i know that hiyori's identity as komurasaki was for the agenda of bringing down orochi, but a royal ending up as an oiran makes me sick. im not saying this because sex workers disgust me (i dont. but im of the opinion that sex work can be very dangerous and it is such a difficult job. and also it caters to the objectification and commodification of their bodies, which i find to be extremely damaging.), but i find it to be really tragic.

but at the same time, there's no definite answer as to what really happened to hiyori growing up, nor if she slept with men as an oiran at all. it's kind of up in the air for us to decide. i think this is a smart decision on oda's end as a writer.

are we going to interpret it as close to reality, or are we going to use the bounds of fiction and say that hiyori was relatively safe growing up?

i mean, we can say that hiyori did sleep with men as an oiran in exchange for manipulating them to drain all of their money. but we can also say that hiyori just entertained them until they're not of use to her anymore.

idk but to me both scenarios make sense.

it's like with hancock and her sisters. we know that they were abused by celestial dragons, but to what extent? were they physically tortured or did something far more sinister happen to them? also the same with robin's life. she spent most of her life running away from powerful people, and most of them are men. we can never say for sure if she always got away unscathed.

i think oda puts these types of situations in the story to keep younger audiences from digging too much into it while teaching them to be aware of the dangers lurking in the society ー but for us who are older it will really make us think and it kind of serves as a reminder of how scary the world is.

anyway back to hiyori, im of the opinion that she didn't actually sleep with any men, but thinking about all the mind games that she played with them just makes me feel bad for her. i imagine she had to endure so much of that from a young age, all while dealing with the death of her parents and the fall of their empire. it's just too much for a little girl. and now she has to put up a front for the sake of rebellion. it's like all her life, up until the strawhats freeing wano, she never got to truly live as her own person.

it's pretty fucked up. i want to say that there are better ways to write hiyori's character but yeah, i can't really think of one that would have bigger impact than what she was in the story. that scene of her stating her name as a kozuki sends chills down my spine. i honestly don't get how people would just dismiss her as a 'whore' or an 'evil, manipulative cunt who doesn't care about the lives she'll ruin'. as if kaido and orochi weren't the root cause of it all.

i just love how deep the lore can get. there have been so many characters in the story of one piece and im just amazed at how oda can maximize their stories to the fullest potential of the specific arc that they belong to.

truly a work of a genius.

[sokkastyles]

I read that post you reblogged about Katara using bloodbending to heal Zuko during the final Agni Kai, and honestly I would have loved it if that happened too. I've mentioned before in a previous ask that I wish bloodbending had been explored more in the narrative, especially Katara's complicated feelings about bloodbending. This is going to sound a bit morbid, but I'm kind of wondering if, after the encounter with Hama, do you think Katara would be kind of hyperaware of the water flowing throughout her own body or anyone else's? Would she feel tempted to try bloodbending again? Even though the first time she had to do so was to prevent Aang and Sokka from hurting each other, so she bloodbent Hama, and she found the whole thing disturbing, there's a part of me that wonders if Katara would still have a bit of morbid curiosity about bloodbending anyways. I know this sounds like I want Katara's character to be a bit darker, but what I really want is for Katara to be allowed to have these thoughts or this type of curiosity without her being made to feel like she's a bad person for it. Idk if any of this made that much sense, but I'm curious to know, what are your thoughts?

Katara unconsciously being hyper aware of the water around her and in other people's bodies after Hama is something that has made itself into my fics. Because bending is depicted in atla as part of who the person is, and I think keeping a bender from bending is like keeping someone from being allowed to move their arms and legs.

And once Katara knows this ability exists, not just bloodbending but everything Hama taught her that goes with it, like how to find the water in everything, she will find it impossible to not have this completely alter her bending and how she sees the world.

And, like with firebending, it's not the bending itself that is bad, it's what you do with it.

I love zutara fics that include bloodbending, not just the dark ones, but something I've explored a little in my fics is how it makes her more aware of Zuko's body and heightens her physical connection with him.

Bloodbending can work as a metaphor for consent, because it's not that it's inherently evil to have that kind of knowledge of another person's body, but it's about consent and trust. I see no reason why bloodbending can't be used to heal the same way that medical knowledge can be used both to heal or to kill and torture. (I'm thinking of that particular analogy because I'm reading Gene Wolfe's Shadow of the Torturer currently).

Like, I get that the show writers were trying to add complexity by showing the dark side of waterbending with Hama, but the thing is that while waterbending was always portrayed as good before, it was also portrayed in a very limited way. Katara is the last waterbender of her tribe, who had to learn on her own. "Some waterbending is bad, actually," isn't really a lesson she needed to learn, especially not from the only teacher she's ever had who can actually tell her about her own heritage. The unintended message is that Katara exploring a culture heritage that has been denied to her through war is bad, and it actually ends up limiting things instead of making them more complex. It's also another weird way the show dichotomizes combat waterbending and healing. Despite Katara gaining Pakku's respect, she is still getting the message from things like the Hama episode that using her bending for combat and not healing is wrong. The obvious solution is to make waterbending healing a form of bloodbending, and now that Netflix has made healing an actual learned bending form instead of something Katara is naturally good at, I have hope that this connection might actually be made. And this is a win win, because making healing a form of bloodbending actually achieves the complexity the original show was going for.

[bobbydagen24]

If you could make any changes you wanted to the finale what would they be?

Personally I'd remove the years long time jump and have the show at most jump ahead maybe 6 months or a single year

Just to the point where the immediate aftermath of the final battle has gone by but not to the point where these may as well be different characters

Given the amount of implied development they've undergone off screen that the show is basically teasing us that we'll never actually see ( because the writers chose to use what screen time they did have to show us other stuff instead )

and just end the show with the characters going to school showing them just living the normal mundane lives as regular kids aka what the hex squad was fighting for.

maybe show them all attending Grom together and that way we still get the big party to show all the characters saying goodbye

But the writers didn't need to ruin the ending for the sake of jerking off to fancy new character designs fanart is its own thing separate from the actual works someone higher up really needed to tell the owl crew that ffs.

Also I'd probably also give Hunter a final scene with Belos as ending their relationship on thanks to them just leaves a sour taste in my mouth tbh.

I wouldn't want Hunter to actually kill Belos or even witness his death as that would just be even more angst for him

But I would probably have him show up just as Belos is depowered and he's trying his little possessed by dark magic lie to Luz

maybe he tries to get Hunter to back him up saying that that he saw what the curse did to him and how it "" made him do bad things "" but same as Luz Hunter's just having none of it

and he turns around and walks away while Belos is calling his name maybe at first he's pleadingly calling after him only for him to eventually get angrier and shout his name but it makes no difference

and after he's left the rest of the scene plays out the same I just feel after the sad ending of thanks to them Hunter should have gotten a final chance to defy Belos and stand up to him.

and the final change I'd make is that I'd just have the Collector stick around in the end as I just feel it makes more sense for him and everyone else.

he's a god like being who still currently has the emotional intelligence of a kid and who has been manipulated and used by bad people in the past

keeping him around so they can continue to teach him right from wrong and help him grow just makes more sense to me than him going off on his own especially when he was terrified of ending up alone again like he was in the other realm so like why would he leave just as he was starting to find people he could actually trust?

anyway what changes would you make if given the chance?

[erisweekofficial]

Today we're highlighting @shadowsandlint, another wonderful Azris writer! SL has such a way with words, so much of it reads like poetry. You can't go wrong with any of her fics, but here are a few to start with.

If you need a place to start, try SL's favorite fic she's written (and our favorite too) Autumn Winds Across the Sea

What did Azriel say to Eris at the High Lord's meeting? Your Scars on My Pulse has all the answers!

If you want a cute Azris fic that'll make you feel warm and fuzzy, read O Holy Night! The Stars Are Brightly Shining.

Read on to learn to learn more about @shadowsandlint and if Eris is going to win a battle against Loki and Lestat!!!

Give us a name for one of Eris's Brothers!

I haven't named any of his brothers in my fics yet, but I would like for them to be in the same vein as Eris'. He is named after the Greek goddess of strife, and is one of Zeus' many children. So maybe Arcas, the hunter, or Horai, after the goddesses of seasons.

Give us a name for one of Eris's hounds!

I've named one of the hounds Erebos in Your Scars on My Pulse! In Greek mythology, Erebos is the personification of darkness, which I found fitting for a smoke hound.

What drew you to Eris Vanserra as a character?

The masks he wears. He has so many layers! When we first met him after under the mountain, I immediately got the sense that he was more than he seemed. He was too well thought out to only be a flat character, with little quirks and hints to a world beyond the surface. What is he hiding? We have gotten some answers, but I want SJM to answer it all!!

Do you think Eris had any childhood friends?

Yes, I think he did before he got old enough to fully understand his role and the expectations that came with it. But after he and those around him made that connection, I think those relationships might have ended up being only superficial friendliness, in order to not have any weaknesses to be used against him.

How does Eris deal with the expectations placed on him by his court and family?

He probably reminds himself of the end goal quite a lot, like a mantra, repeating that it'll all be worth it once Beron is dead and he can shed his wicked persona. And lots of alone time in the Autumn woods with his hounds. Doggie cuddles make everything better!

Eris v Loki v Lestat. Who is winning?

I fully believe we have not been shown the extent of Eris' powers yet (the incident with Feyre and Lucien on the run was too suspiciously easy for them), so he might have enough tricks up his sleeve to take home the victory. I mean, how did he find and capture Azriel? And this is before becoming High Lord, so we can only imagine how powerful he'll be then.

[cyandenial]

Last year I challenged myself with creating a tomarrymort kinktober series. It's been truly a challenge for me in many ways, since I was never a smut writer in the first place or even have that many kinks. But it was fun, and also a good exercise in getting outside the comfort zone. My idea is to see these guys through 31 separate adventures where they inevitably find each other no matter what their circumstances are. Which is also a perfect excuse to place them in all kinds of different AUs with various tropes and genres. Although, all too often I got too distracted with the storylines itself, trying to make sense of why and how they are in those situations. It's funny how sometimes it basically goes like: porn without plot -> porn with plot -> plot what porn.

(I know, it already took me much longer than anticipated... Currently, my draft for the whole series is 112k words, only 1/3 of it is posted, and another third is yet to be written properly. And I actually started writing way ahead, in January 2024, posting in October, now it's already April May 2025. At this point, I hope I can see this through at least until October this year, which I'm also not so sure about since I can't dedicate as much time to writing anymore.) But anyway, here is the link to the series and a breakdown of what has been posted so far.

don't wait to marry (mortal as we are)

1 To be Determined 1k words Warnings: N/A Kinks: Somnophilia, Free Use Description: Reincarnation after canon events AU. Minister for Magic Tom Riddle and his house husband Harry.

2 To be Promised 4k words Warnings: Underage (16, same age) Kinks: Feminization, Lingerie Description: Non-magical AU, Harry and Tom are betrothed, who grew up together.

3 To be Guarded 3k words Warnings: Underage (14), Violence Kinks: Crossdressing, Victorian AU. Description: Harry is a battle maid to a young master Tom (Black Butler inspired).

4 To be Entwined 5k words Warnings: Underage (14+, same age) Kinks: Pseudo-Incest Description: Harry and Tom grew up together in the orphanage believing they are brothers. It didn't stop them from being more intimately involved either.

5 To be Filled 5k words Warnings: N/A Kinks: ABO, Breeding, Moresome (horcruxes) Description: Voldemort wins AU. Dark Lord Voldemort would hate to leave his beloved Consort alone during the heat, but this is where his horcruxes prove to be useful in more ways than expected.

6 To be Imagined 7k words Warnings: N/A Kinks: Pole Dancing, Identity Porn Description: Non-magical AU. Tom is a pole dancer, Harry is a novelist, who is also married to Ginny, but it's a tomarry love story.

7 To be Dared 1k words Warnings: N/A Kinks: Stuck in a Closet, Semi-Public Description: Always a Female AU. Femslash. Seven Minutes in Heaven.

8 To be Watched 3k words Warnings: N/A Kinks: Exhibitionism & Voyeurism, NTR Description: Tom is obsessed with Harry, a famous Quidditch player. Harry is a closeted gay, married to Ginny. Things happen, but in the end, no one is unhappy.

9 To be Saved 5k words Warnings: N/A Kinks: Priest Kink, Feeding, Collaring, Praise Kink Description: Non-Magical AU. Tom is a priest, Harry is a little boy, but it's not that kind of a story.

10 To be Healed 15k words Warnings: Dub-Con Kinks: Medical Play, Mpreg, Free Use Description: Auror Harry gets admitted into a hospital due to an accident, Tom gets himself pregnant, accidentally on purpose. In his head the plan is flawless, but nothing ever goes normally when it comes to Harry Potter. ________

coming soon... Harry in captivity Soulmate AU Priest Harry more MPreg etc. etc.

[theonceandfuturequeenoftarts]

Thank you for the tag, @mosiva! ♡♡♡

"Self-rec time! What are your favorite five fics that you've written and why? After replying to this ask, feel free to pass on to five other writers to spread the love. 💗"

Four of these were easy choices and one was trickier, but in no particular order...

thrown into the nest (T, 10,565 words, WIP)

This fic possessed me. The first chapter took over my entire life for ten hours during which I came up with and wrote the whole thing -- I couldn't stop until it was done and posted. Two or three days later, the same thing happened with the second chapter. It's like I was exorcising demons into a doc file. It's also notable because maybe a week or two before I wrote it, I told a friend I would never write ABO fic. More fool me.

I love this fic because it drew together so many ace people -- I've never felt a greater sense of community than I did in the hours after this fic was posted, seeing the comments of people who saw themselves in Harry and Tom's experiences. It blew me away, and I felt so happy to have done justice to some small part of the ace experience. It was a different type of joy, and a bit more cathartic, to write compared to other fics of mine.

VII (M, 2,609 words)

I think I've said it before, but I honestly thought this would be one of those weird little fics that I wrote for myself and maybe five other people would like. It's grown beyond what I originally meant it to be, and while I really, really love the sequel too, this one holds my heart. It's disjointed and dark (for me), and it's one of the few that I've written that actually has Harry and Voldemort start out hating each other and move through it. (What can I say, I mainly write crack and fluff.) They're both feral and damaged and violent and cling to each other all the tighter for it by the end. I also like making the Unspeakables ethically (and morally) dubious and research-obsessed, and this was my first foray into that.

naïve melody (G, 2,904 words)

The Ferris wheel fic; another fic that I thought maybe five other people would enjoy. I'm still proud of the wistful tone it has, and some of the turns of phrase, despite the crack-tastic premise. It's sweet and silly and it makes me feel warm to re-read it. It might also be my favourite Voldemort characterisation of all the fics I've written.

engrave the silhouette of you (M, 10,480 words, WIP)

Look... I just like hurting them, okay? I used the "angst with a happy ending" tag because I need everyone (myself included) to know it's gonna be alright in the end. I have made myself a crying mess multiple times in the course of writing or plotting out this fic. This is very much a "how would the characters react in this situation if X happened?" fic that has grown legs. It's fun (and painful) to put myself in Harry and Voldemort's headspaces and then put us all through the emotional meat-grinder. But it's going to be fine. Eventually.

Capsized (M, 948 words)

Fun, not-previously-shared fact: this fic started out as a way for me to process my maladaptive daydreams and suicidal ideations through Harry. All of the things he imagines or considers are things that I have, as well. (This makes the one comment that says "MAKE HIM SUFFER YASSSS" really, really funny to me.) I wasn't sure if I would ever post it -- it took me five months to decide to do it, because it's extremely personal. But it felt good to put it all into words and make it... "pretty," I guess? It's probably as raw as I can make it while also trying to fit it into the HP world and have it be enjoyable to read.

(Honourable mention goes to Prompt-ober 2023, because it almost killed me to do it, but it was so much fun to write everyday for a month and have the same folks comment each day and chat with them throughout the month (I love you all ♡♡♡). However, that's like twenty-five different fics in one, so it doesn't count.)

Tagging @liquidluckandstuff, @i-dream-of-libraries, @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger, @aglassroseneverfades, and @hikarimeroperiddle

No pressure, do it if it will be a fun distraction! ♡♡♡

(Note: I recently locked my account to registered users only because of an AI scraper targetting Ao3. If you don't have an account and would like to read any of the above, just send me a message and I'll provide a file ♡)

[goodluckclove]

Author Ask Tag?!

hey @goldfinchwrites tagged me in a thing! cool! thanks, man! i'll use this as an opportunity to share a little bit about one of two projects i plan to work on starting in march while I wait for migration patterns to be beta'd. i'm playing around with an episodic radio show-style series that i'm calling sunderland forever.

What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?

so sunderland forever centers around the end of the world, seen through multiple, perhaps unconnected individuals. starting in portland, oregon, reality has started burning away. it started with a small black hole hanging in midair, seen in an abandoned lot near the columbia river. but it's slowly growing. and there are rumors of additional "cue marks" as some call them being found in other parts of the city. places that touch the cue mark as it expands are suddenly wiped from memory, even if they haven't yet been fully eaten by the void. the same goes for people - maybe.

there's nothing anyone can do. no one's really reacting in a way that makes sense. it's more mundane than anyone would ever expect from the end of the world.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

smart writer answer: I was fascinated by what I've read so far of Christopher Brown's A Natural History of Empty Lots. Portland is a city with it's fair share of abandoned structures - some spent years in limbo before suddenly being vanished into vacant concrete and gravel seemingly overnight.

We also have a lot of living things we either struggle to understand or choose to push aside entirely. Sunderland, a semi-industrial neighborhood in Portland, has been home to an RV Safe space for unhoused individuals to get their vehicles off the street and congregate for easier access to crucial services. This park, built to be temporary, is set to close at the end of March to give space for the Bureau of Transportation to store maintenance equipment. Despite plans for a new RV park opening nearby, the entire situation reads as an odd reshuffling of a very prominent problem.

You wouldn't think it would be so easy to avoid a 25k-square foot building, much less a growing population of human beings. And yet it happens so often. So it's an intriguing concept to explore what it looks like when reality starts taking over the forgotten, much like how nature takes back an abandoned structure. What does that look like, and what - if anything - changes when the forgotten is no longer our decision?

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?

honest writer answer: i've missed writing scripts and this seems like a cool way to get back into that. you can also do more with radio plays, despite the obvious limitations. this concept is like kind of satire and it's potentially more timely than i'd prefer. but i'd still be aiming for a sort of dark absurdism akin to eugene ionesco's play rhinoceros.

uh but no one's trying to achieve anything. if they do try it might not really work. that's kind of the point. reality is literally burning away in a way so unfathomable that most people eventually have to shift focus and keep on going to work and taking care of their children or whatever.

i don't have a lesson. i don't have anything i'm trying to prove. it just seems like a cool concept to explore.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

chapters = episodes

episode length = maybe like twenty minutes? definitely one-act length.

answer = who fucking knows

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

original concept! it'll probably be on soundcloud or something. maybe my patreon. wherever i post it it'll be free.

When did you start writing?

writing anything? twelve. i wrote a 10k novella. wrote my first novel at thirteen. wrote and produced my first script at sixteen. published at - eighteen, i think?

wrote this? i haven't. i'm still percolating and reading to develop different concepts. i have till end of february to finish migration patterns and then i can switch gears.

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

write a lot. don't be afraid of failure. you're going to fail, that's part of the thing. failure in art doesn't look the same as it does in life unless your failure is also an act of public bigotry or literal crime. write a lot. like, write something right now. be indulgent and weird and too into your material. get comfortable with a silent reception because in original fiction you're going to have a lot of it and it's fine. enjoy what you do. also take breaks and live life so you can enjoy that too.

uh i'll tag some cool folks that are also wonderful writers you should groove on!

@mushroommanchanterelle (his lore drops on penumbra lately have been legit wild)

@xarrixii (flash/burn is fantastic it has been such a wonderful confusion having to engage with a serial that isn't finished yet)

@afyerarchive

@holfelderwrites124

@fenmere

(i know there are more of you but i'm trying to think of people i'm pretty confident have active projects. if you have one also just get in on this you are tagged too! tag you're it!!)

[pocketmolly]

I love how present Damian is in all of the crisis/events in dc! Like this man is not just Batman's sidekick and it shows I mean of course he won't have the same plot importance as dc trinity or whatever but this guy is shockingly relevant in almost every event (at least in the new52)

1. Dark Knights Metal

The teen titans go to the challengers mountain in Gotham and Damian somehow fucks off from his team (cannon fodder tbh) and ends up inside. There, he meets Green Arrow, Harley, Killer Croc and Nightwing and they fight their way into the (almost?) center. Damian kills dark robin and only through this do the good guys gain the knowledge that enemies can be killed by Nth metal which leads to their eventual victory. (Gotham Resistance)

2. Shadow War

This event kind of centers around Ra's Al Ghul, Talia Al Ghul and Slade after the Robin (2021) so it makes sense why Damian is a major character in it, basically Batman and Robin just kinda hop around trying to stop Talia and Slade from murdering each other. Anyway Damian has a humongous part in the conclusion where he manages to defeat the bad guy himself and Mary Sues his mother into not killing the guy who murdered Ra's. Also this event is kinda goofy where it ends in sunshine and rainbows (Slade is still alive and sets up Dark Crisis) (Ra's comes back as a ghost).

3. Dark Crisis

Dark Crisis gives Damian his little one shot where they portray him as both 12 years old and 34 years old. Anywho, Damian quickly says 'fuck you' to both Jon and Nightwing and goes on his own adventure where his team frees Justice Incarnate (which is the JL of the multiverse) and somehow unlock Dr Light's powers which she uses to stabilise the multiverse??? And don't let the team accomplishments fool you because Damian hacks into a cosmic tuning fork in an ape dimension to find the source of the Darkness??? (Please read Dark Crisis: The Dark Army, it is so good!!)

4. Lazarus Planet

Even the name of this event screams Damian... This event also starts off in Robin (2021) and is the biggest crossover Damian is at the center of. He starts off as a main antagonist where it's mostly a batfam event. Then, at the climax of the event, Damian is converted back to the hero's side when it becomes an international event. He's basically the main strategist and leader in fighting the god, King Fire Bull. There are a bunch of one-shots where heroes are struggling with new or a lack of powers which is why I say it's Damian's first big crossover event, additionally the entire batfam kind of revolves around him, being literally at his beck and call. The ending is also super sweet where Damian rallies the people of Gotham to revive Batman but he also kind of decided to kill Batman in the first place so that's not so sweet. I think this event, though not extremely well written, gives us a taste of what Damian would be like leading the JL (idk if it was plot convenience but everyone just agreed to following orders from a 15 year old) alongside Nightwing and Jon.

5. Night Terrors

In this Damian is revealed to have control over his dreams (which is crazy btw) and he goes to some monk to learn how to resist sleep? Anyway, while the other heroes are snoozing, Damian gets to team up with Deadman, Sandman and his father's unconscious body. It's the classic superhero story where he swoops in to rescue the two and they get the nightmare stone or something. Truthfully, I'm not too sure why they chose Damian specifically to play this role because I'm pretty sure any other hero would have been an okay substitute but I will never complain about Damian content.

This is just off the top of my head and I'm aware Beast World did happen but that event definitely needs its own post because I just absolutely adore it. Anyway, writers have been pushing for Damian to become a major character in DC and I really really hope he gets to be beside Nightwing and Jon when they inevitably (DC will never let them) take over.

[lil-ms-darkness]

Distance and Doughnuts - Goldilocks Fem!Reader x Bigby Wolf [Part Five]

A/N: Okay, finally part five is out. Whoo boy, this was meant to be out so much sooner. First it was the end of December, then it was beginning of January, then the 11th of January, and I swear this was arguably the hardest chapter to write. Between writers block, work, and more personal life events, the universe was determined to delay this part. But I managed to get it done. Better late than never, oh and one of my darling readers asked me about the rating of this story, so from now on I will be including a rating just above the page break so if any of you would like to know what kind of contents will be contained, there will be a rating as well as any content warnings.

Part six will have some backstory/flashbacks, so look forward to that. Until then, happy reading!

𝕷𝖎𝖑 𝕸𝖘 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘 🥀

Rating: Mature (MINORS DNI)

Content Warnings: Sexual themes, implied arousal, dead bodies, murder investigation

The room is dark, only a pale moonlight peers through the window pane as she opens the curtains. 

It's not her apartment in New York, not her treehouse in the homelands, it's somewhere she's never been before. A vast garden of trees and the smell of the woods creeps through the glass. It's home. A home she's never been to before or yet. 

Arms wrap around her middle- strong, hairy, large hands resting on her belly. She thought she was alone, but she isn't afraid. She doesn't know who it is, but at the same time she does. His chest presses against her back and she leans back into him, her eyes falling closed as she relaxes. He lets out a low sound, something like a mix between a growl and a groan. It's delicious.

One of his hands raises to cup her jaw and turns her face towards her right shoulder. His fingers tighten against her skin, and she lets out a quiet gasp. His breath fans against her exposed throat as his other hand wanders over her body. 

She lets out a soft gasp as the tip of his tongue grazes her throat, feeling herself throbbing already. His hand moves higher, ghosting over her left breast, but he doesn't touch her. He lets her jaw go and she turns with his help to look into his face. Despite the moonlight that reflects his face, she can't make out who he is. His face is a puddle of rippling water and smoke, only blurry lemon yellow eyes peek down at her. She sees stained teeth appear in the strange visage before he lunges for her. 

Her eyes open quickly and she blinks away the sleep. Her heart is racing in her chest and she looks around. It's not her apartment and it smells like cigarettes and wet dog. She crinkles her nose before a voice catches her attention. 

"Bad dream?"

The Sheriff

Was it a bad dream? She can't remember. But the sticky feeling in her underwear suggests otherwise.

She looks over at him at the table against the far wall, a little further down from the TV set. He's not looking at her, focusing on his file on the table. 

She realizes she's in his recliner, a blanket over her. When had she fallen asleep? She blushes at the thought of him laying her in his recliner and covering her with a blanket. 

"I don't really remember. It's...kinda blurry." She rubs her eyes, "may I use your restroom?"

"You don't have to ask." He motions loosely towards an open door. 

She nods, "right, sorry. Thank you." she makes her way into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. As she pulls down her pants and panties, she blushes at the mess. Grabbing some toilet paper, she gets to cleaning it up. 

And that's when an even more embarrassing realization hits her- Bigby is a wolf. A werewolf, now. He's used his sense of smell to track down many things, connect dots, find her. There's no way he didn't smell this. Her face is red and burning as she flushes the evidence, her mind racing with thoughts of what he might be thinking. He hadn't reacted to it, hadn't shown any kind of reaction. Maybe he didn't smell it? But what if he's-?

Does it matter? It's normal. Animals do it, humans do it, Fables do it. Hell, even Mr. Toad has a son. Unless TJ was the product of magic, he had to- oh jeez, why is she even thinking about that?!

It's normal. Bigby doesn't care, so why does she? Is it because she's worried about his perception of her? Because she wants him to like her?

She looks at her reflection.

That's silly. She washes her hands and pushes the thoughts back, walking out into the apartment.

Bigby’s attention doesn’t leave the file, a few pages littered about. As he jots down notes on a notepad, she moves closer, noticing the square of his shoulders, the wrinkles between his thick brows, and the cigarette that hangs from his lips. She stands beside him and glances at the papers beside him. It’s names she recognizes, The Woodsman, Amelia Star, FlyCatcher, Riding, there's more, and she realizes it’s a suspect list. 

Other pages with various information, suspect statements, and, based on the near calligraphy cursive, follow ups that look like it was penned in by Snow. She can see his notes, and the scrawly thick writing has piqued her interests, as if she’s reading his mind on a page.

“Wow.” she murmurs as he grabs the ashtray near the notepad, moving it to the other side, away from her, before plucking the cigarette between his fingers, flicking the ash into the tray with rehearsed ease. 

“What?” he asks, “disagree with something?” 

“No, it’s just interesting to see how you think,” she answers, looking through the notes and files. “It’s amazing how you can keep track of everything. You don’t get overwhelmed?”

“No,” he writes another note down, acknowledging that there is a possibility that Riding could have lied about Flycatcher being with her, and that [Y/N] alerting her to his suspicions may have created an issue. She frowns to herself, unsure whether he’s intentionally writing the note as she’s reading so she will see it, or maybe she’s reading too far into it. Neither option makes her feel better. 

The pit in her stomach expanding and the need to leave arising, to avoid her mistakes screaming to life. Should she apologize? Should she leave it alone? 

“[Y/N],” she blinks and looks over at him, finding pools of detachment searching her face, “what is it?”

She shakes her head in confusion, “did I say something?”

“Your face.”

“Right. You’re a Detective,” she hesitates, knowing she can’t lie to him, but she doesn’t know how to approach the subject, either. She looks away from his debilitating eyes, but can feel his eyes linger as he waits. She half expected him to ignore her and go back to reading. She awkwardly points to his handwriting.

There’s a moment of silence, and she assumes he’s reading it. The feeling of uneasiness grows, she doesn’t dare to check, words fumbling out of her mouth. “I did it, again. I really didn’t mean to, I just thought…no, it doesn’t matter.” She wants to hide in her hair, wants to explain that she was certain that telling Red why she’d brought Bigby, was the right decision. If her friend felt [Y/N] had betrayed her, would she say anything the Sheriff would have needed? Somehow, she knows he’d find a way to get the information.

“You know why it’s an issue, right?” Why did he sound so…calm?

“Because she could lie, and I’m biased in trusting her.”

“Well, yes, but if she’s the one doing it, which I have no solid evidence that denies her involvement, aside from…” he moves one page and she can see the note from the Mundies’ body. She shakes her head in confusion, looking over at him. He takes the chance to explain, “at her apartment, the shopping list. The handwriting doesn’t match. If that was her handwriting in the notepad, then she either changed her handwriting to deliberately throw me off the trail, or it isn’t her.” [Y/N]’s eyes widen, he takes another drag from his cigarette before he stops her, “that doesn’t mean she’s no longer a suspect, [Y/N], it just means it’s less likely. But,” he shifts and stands to look at her, “I mean it, do not do that again. Because if she is the killer, you just gave her reason to cover her tracks and make it harder for me to solve this case.”

She nods and looks down. She fidgets a bit and looks around his home, trying to find any way to make the tension disappear.

“Sheriff, why do you live in such a dump?”

He snorts and looks at her, “it’s small, but I don’t get visitors, so it makes no difference.”

“Do you even have a bed?” she follows behind him as he makes his way into the small kitchen.

“Don’t need one. Got my recliner.”

“That I slept in last night, so where did you sleep?” 

Silence

“Sheriff, you did sleep, right?” 

“Are you hungry, or what?”

Her brows knit in confusion, “What?”

“Hungry. You know, eating food? Are you hungry?”

“I mean, a little bit, but that’s not-” 

“I’ll make us something if you sit down and don’t break anything.” 

She folds her arms, but she doesn’t miss the smirk on his face. Asshole but she smiles a bit, unable to help herself.

“There’s not much to break,” she walks back to sit down on his recliner. On the other side of the wall, she can hear him rummaging through his fridge and his cabinets. She looks out the window, leaning back in his chair. With a quiet sigh, she relaxes into the worn leather, running a hand over the arm. The thought that this is where Bigby sleeps both gives her a sense of safety as well as melancholy. She wonders if it’s really that comfortable for him. Sure, he can lean back, but really, what does that do? It doesn’t make much of a change. 

She hears the sizzle of eggs, the scent filling her nose. She remembers how she’d make eggs for herself alone in her kitchenette before her shifts at the Trip Trap, what felt like an eternity ago. As she recalls the fond memories, her eyes widen slightly in realization.

MY ORDERS! HOLLY!

“Sheriff, I need to go home. I have orders I need to get ready.”

“I’m still in the middle of an investigation and need to keep an eye on you,” he calls from the kitchen.

“Okay, so let’s relocate to my apartment, you can do your Detective thing while I complete my orders, and after that I need to go in for my shift at the Trip Trap.”

“I’m not welcome at the bar,” he comes around to be able to see her for a moment, folding his arms.

She huffs, “please, Sheriff? I still need to make money in order to keep up with my payments, and I need to be able to save for my Bed and Breakfast. Every cent helps.”

He examines her eyes, and shakes his head, “What happens if someone were to break into your apartment?”

“While we’re there? You arrest them.”

“If someone is breaking in, [Y/N], it’s not to snoop around. They won’t just lay down and let me arrest ‘em.” He walks back into the kitchen to move the food around the pan, preventing it from burning before he comes back.

“Then let Woody come with me, something. But I’m not willing to sacrifice my means of making ends meet because you’re as stubborn as a…mule doesn’t quite fit, but wolf doesn’t make sense. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What difference will it make where you look at those folders?” His expression is even, unphased, and she sighs, her shoulders slumping. “Please, Bigby?”

His steady gaze meets her pleading expression, wrinkles between her brows more pronounced and the gleam in her eyes hit him like a silver bullet in the heart.

“Are you giving me puppy eyes?”

“Depends,” she juts out her bottom lip a bit, “is it working?”

“Hardly.” He walks back into the kitchen, and this time, he stays in there. She frowns and slumps into the recliner, suddenly feeling very antsy.

Bigby comes into the living room again, carrying two plates of eggs and sausage in his hands. He offers her one plate and, as she takes it, she murmurs a soft thanks. He walks over to the table, lowering himself to sit and starts to eat in silence. As he looks at the files, his mind drifts from conversation to conversation he’s had with each of the suspects. He doesn’t believe Riding is guilty, but that holds no weight. He can’t risk Fabletown or its citizens on a feeling, he needs solid evidence. But what evidence could he use? 

The crunch of sausage and the taste of the fatty flavor erupting on his taste buds is pleasant as he scours the papers for anything he hadn’t seen before. He has to go see Riding again, and Flycatcher. If he can see them at the same time, he stands a small chance at getting inconsistencies. Even so, [Y/N] gave them the chance to establish their alibi’s. He lets out a small huff of annoyance and a soft graze on his hip catches his attention. 

He looks over, finding [Y/N] sitting on the ground beside him, plate of food in her lap as she eats.

“What’re you doing?”

She looks up at him with her warm eyes and shrugs, “just felt weird being on my own in your home.”

“You were less than five feet away.”

“And?” 

He snorts, but it’s not in annoyance much to his own surprise. He uses his foot to push the other chair out, “at least sit on a chair.”

She hesitates for a moment before she pushes herself up to move and sit in the chair, “it’s really good, by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“The eggs and the sausage,” she reiterates, “thank you for making breakfast.” He can’t help but smile, just the slightest bit at that.

“Well, it’s not as good as yours, but it works.” There is another silence, a comfortable one, but Bigby can tell she has something she wants to say. “You have something you want to say?”

She looks over at him, then looks at her almost empty plate. “I think you already know what it is.”

“Say it anyway.”

“I need to go and complete my orders, and go in for my shift at the Trip Trap tonight. What can I do for you to let me go?” 

He sighs and scrubs a hand over his face, “it’s not a matter of me letting you go, you’re your own person, but there are dangers and it’s my job to make sure that the Mundie victim stays the only victim. They glamoured her to look like you for a reason.”

“I know, which means we have no way of knowing whether I’m a target or not, but I can’t fulfill my orders here. The smoke will get into the fabric and will stink everything up.” 

He looks over at her, as she pushes the last piece of sausage around her plate with her fork. Just like he takes his role as Sheriff seriously, she takes her job as bartender and entrepreneur seriously. He can't blame her for that, but he still has to find a way to keep her safe.

“Maybe having your own time will be best, and I’ll continue investigating in the meantime.” [Y/N]’s eyes light up at his words, “but that doesn’t mean you are free to be reckless, you need to have Holly or Grendel walk you home from your shift every night, and to work every morning. Or, you call them while you take a taxi. When you’re home, you keep the music low so you can hear, doors and windows stay closed and locked, and the Business Office stays on speed dial.”

“Of course, I promise,” she reaches out without thinking, her hand covering his. He can see her cheeks flush for just a moment before she pulls her hand away, “sorry, I just got excited. Want me to wash the dishes?”

“No, just put it in the sink. We’ll catch a taxi and we’ll drop you off at your apartment, then I’ll continue on to see Amelia Star.”

“Again?”

“Yes, I have some follow up questions.”

[Y/N] adjusts her emerald dress as she carefully steps down the concrete steps to the entrance of the Trip Trap. She just barely had enough time to finish most of her orders and leave them to cool and set while she went to shower and get ready for her shift. The last four orders should be easy to complete, and she still has two dozen more muffins to make for one of the other orders, but at least she got the most urgent ones out of the way. 

The bar is a quiet hum of soft, familiar voices and, as she rounds the corner to get a full view of the bar, Holly lifts her gaze from the glass she was drying and freezes. Her eyes wide, muscles tense. Gren notices from his spot at the bar and looks over his shoulder, his normally pissed expression softens in equal surprise, and relief. 

“Hey, guys, what’s wrong? You act like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

Holly lowers the glass to the counter and walks around, “[Y/N]? But, the Sheriff told us you were…” 

[Y/N]’s eyes widen as she realizes she forgot to call, “OH! Holly I’m so sorry, it was,” Bigby’s words fluttered in her mind, “it wasn’t really me. After everything happened, the Sheriff came by my apartment and I stayed with him so he could make sure I wasn’t really going to be killed. I completely forgot to call you, I’m so sorry.”

She doesn’t miss Gren’s face sour, “you just forgot to call, leaving us to mourn you? That’s a hell of a way to show your appreciation.”

[Y/N] frowns, but knows Gren is right, nor is he trying to be mean. She looks over at Holly again, stepping up and tenderly takes the troll’s hand, “I really did mean to call, there was just so much happening. I had to convince the Sheriff to let me come here alone for my shift.” 

Holly’s brows furrow and her nose scrunch at the idea of Bigby stepping foot in her bar. Even if it was to make sure her friend is safe. What a shitty situation.

“Just,” the silver haired woman starts with a sigh, “get to work. There’s a table over there that I haven’t had a chance to clean yet.” 

[Y/N] frowns, but nods as she walks around the bar to set her bag on one of the shelves underneath. She heads over to the table with mugs and a small saucer with squeezed lime wedges. She gathers the items, acutely aware of eyes on her. A lump forms in her throat, and she halfheartedly reassures herself that giving them their space will make things go back to the way they were.

“[Y/N],” Holly calls, and the blonde pauses in mopping the floor to look over at her. The troll approaches, stopping just in front of her, and [Y/N] feels her throat tighten in worry. “I’m glad to see you’re safe.” The blonde lets out the breath she’d been holding.

“I don’t know if I’m safe, but I’m alive.” 

Holly nods, “just try to keep me more in the loop, I don’t need to plan another funeral.” 

[Y/N] frowns but nods in understanding, leaning the mop handle against the pool table, gently wrapping her arms around her boss and friends slender waist, hugging her tightly. It feels so nice to feel familiarity again, after what felt like years. Holly hugs her back, and Gren rolls his eyes at the sappy display, keen on pretending he isn’t just as relieved to see their friend breathing.

[Y/N]’s feet ache from standing in heels all day, and she can’t wait to get home and rub her aching feet. All of her orders have been completed, and as she gathers the trash, she feels her muscles relax. Almost done, then I can get out of here She wonders if she has enough ingredients leftover to make herself some doughnuts. If she does, she could probably save some for the Sheriff, too.

She wonders how he is doing, it had been three days since she had heard from him. Three long days, and she found herself missing his company, no matter how distant he could be. Hoisting the trash bag over her shoulder, she makes her way to the back door wondering how his days had gone. She finds her mind returning to the dream she had in his recliner, how the hands felt so real and pleasantly warm. 

As she opens the door to the dark alleyway behind the bar, the asphalt is shiny like inky pools from the damp New York rain. Making her way to the large dumpster, she feels the light sprinkle of the rain on her skin, the humidity hanging in the air like a wool blanket, and for a split second she lets out a sigh of dread, knowing her hair is going to be insufferable. 

As she lifts the lid, she thinks back about the Sheriff’s hands, the dream fluttering to life again. How could so many people be afraid of him? He’s aloof, and kind of mean at times, but she can’t imagine him hurting anyone. 

Wait, as she drops the trash into the dumpster, dropping the lid closed, turning to walk to the bar, she wonders to herself, is he a virgin?

The toe of her heel hits something and she falls forward, stumbling and barely managing to catch herself, but the heel of her shoe slips on the asphalt and she falls, trying to use the fat of her thigh and her forearms to catch herself. She grunts as she lands and pushes herself up, looking over to see what she tripped over. A massive pale and calloused hand lays on the ground in the damp puddle. 

Her mouth dries and she shakily crawls closer, reaching into her dress pocket to pull out her phone. Turning on the flashlight, she raises it to the space beside and behind the dumpster, her eyes widen and tears well up in fear. Her heart falls into her stomach and she screams out in sadness, fear, and disbelief as she looks at Woody’s body stuffed haphazardly behind the dumpster. Three large slashes across his chest as if some animal had cut him open. 

As her tears fall, she screams again, more like a howl this time./

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

So, after spending a few weeks recovering from a mild-ish concussion and some whiplash from the waffle maker hitting me in the head, one of my coworkers brought strep throat to school with them and I caught a mild strain of it. I recovered the week before my birthday, thankfully. Two days after my birthday, however, I got sick from one of my relatives, and I'm almost entirely back to feeling normal again. My drive to write is pretty high now, which is nice after suffering the worst bout of writer's block I've ever had.

Also, I got the chance to read the new Sunrise on the Reaping book while I was down for the count, and I just feel like screaming and crying and throwing myself down the rabbit hole of yet another Hunger Games AU.

Not happening... yet.

However, I do know when, who, and what it would cover when I choose to do so, which is great. If you care to join me in the rabbit hole at least a little bit, I'll put a bit of what I've got for it so far down below, but for now, here's a not-so-short update on my current stories.

Same Trailer, Different Park:

I am currently on page 29 of the next part of STDP. I've been working on it off and on, but seem to have found a sticking point, so that's an issue I'll get around to once my drive to write the next segment of The End Is Near has come and gone. I will say, though, that there are quite a few things I'm excited about in this chapter. I won't say too much because then I'd spoil the whole thing, but some keywords will be entertaining for you to try to deep dive on, I suppose.

Populer... lar.

Osborne.

Mercedes.

That last one is one that I've been working on for quite some time and probably will only make sense if you go way back in my posts to—I don't know—July 22, 2022. There is one thing that hints at it—only one. 😉

The End Is Near:

I keep going back to this one because of how the last season ended, but I'm only on page 22. I will say, I have a lot planned because, from the second chapter onward, I go almost completely off the rails from the original source material because I have different characters and plot points than the show. The first chapter followed pretty closely, but from here on, there are only occasional mentions of events from the show because my characters and their families are vastly different from the ones in the show. However, I'll give you a brief character comparison and maybe a blurb or two.

Riven = Maddie. The main character who somehow ends up in the afterlife with no recollection of their death. They're trying to remember how they died, but all they get are small flashbacks of the day they reportedly went missing.

Kona = Charley. Both nineties kids who are very sweet and kind to those they care about, but aren't afraid to speak their mind. Their deaths are different - Charley died of anaphylaxis and Kona of drowning. Kona died in December of 1994 at only 14.

Juliet = Wally. Our fabulous 80s babes! Wally died during a football game and Juliet died from a falling stage light, but both give off the same jock-ish vibes with their neon Spandex (Juliet) and letterman jacket (Wally). They both were known at the time to be a bit mean to others for their reputation's sake, but Juliet was more a Heather MacNamara than a Heather Chandler, if you get what I mean. Juliet died in March of 1989 at 18.

Makana = Rhonda. Rhonda is much more on the dark academia side of the sixties than Mick is. Though Mick loves her music and poetry, she is less dark than Rhonda is, though her humor can, at times, be on the darker side. Rhonda was strangled by her guidance counselor in Spring of 1963, whereas Mick was strangled by her boyfriend in January of 1968. Both were killed for the same reason - leaving their hometown to attend college. Mick had been accepted to Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Ethan = Dawn. Dawn and Ethan are from 1972 and 1973, respectively. Everyone assumes Ethan died because of drugs because of the decade (like they did to Dawn in the show), but his actual cause of death was something innocent. He was at the school, helping his band set up for a fundraising concert over the summer. Someone came through while he was setting up speakers and knocked his drink over, spilling it onto a plug without him knowing. The speaker started glitching and the volume started spazzing out, so he tried to change the frequency, only to electrocute himself. He doesn't care what the others say about his death as he knows the truth about what happened and doesn't like blaming his death on others. He just enjoys the fact that he has an endless supply of blunts in the afterlife.

Butchy = Janet. Butchy died on April 14, 1956. Fell down a flight of stairs and broke his neck. They're not totally similar, but close. I will say, though, Butchy definitely had a thing going on between himself and Mick. That's all you get for now.

Mr. Fletcher = Mr. Martin. Mr. Fletcher died on May 4, 1956, in an explosion in the automotive wing of the vocational building. Only one character of mine fits this role, and it'll be fun to explore.

-----

Blurb 1 - The Teacher's Lounge:

Feeling a foot nudge his thigh, Riven twisted onto his back to find Makana sitting on the back of the couch with a book in her hand, watching as teachers filled the room. “Wake up, Tootsie Roll. This is the best time of the day.”

Groaning as he stretched, sat up, and looked around at the teachers, Riven asked, “What’s happening?”

Dog-earing her book - an action Vivien would’ve had her head for - Makana said, “This is the lounge - the one place in this hell-hole where these underpaid sad sacks let their guards down and say whatever they want about whoever they want. We get to hear the drama, the gossip, who they think is dating or cheating, and most importantly, who in this room is boning who.”

Riven made a face of clear disgust as Makana bounced off of the couch and he muttered, “Gross. Why on earth would I want to know that? They’re all in their forties or close to it. That would be like asking my dad.”

“It’s like a soap opera, actually. It’s sort of entertaining,” Makana said. As she sauntered over to Vivien’s dad and leaned close, she muttered, “Kona thinks I’m insane, but there’s no way this guy is half as nice as he seems outside of school hours.”

“He is,” Riven argued quickly. “That’s my second dad. He’s a genuinely nice man.”

Glancing between Riven and one of the female teachers, Makana said, “Some of the other teachers thought he was banging Ms. Dodds two years ago. If he’s cheating on your dad-”

Riven quickly shook his head, then winced at the way the movement made his head spin. “Not like that,” he said. “He’s my best friend’s dad. He’s not dating my dad, he’s just… he’s like another dad to me.”

“Oh, boo,” Makana sighed, almost sounding disappointed by the lack of drama in Riven’s statement. Turning back to Mr. O’Brian, she said, “Anyway, there’s no way he didn’t get a hair transplant or something. His forehead was three inches higher last year.”

Sending the brunette a look, Riven asked, “You measured his forehead?”

Makana chortled, “Hun, I followed him to the lavatory, that’s not all I’ve measured.”

“I can’t believe you’d actually do that,” Riven muttered, shuddering at the thought.

Stepping away from the teacher, Makana shrugged, “Not the worst thing I’ve seen or done in my afterlife. Besides, Ms. Dodds said he was packing, and she wasn’t wrong.” Making her way past Riven, she glanced down at him and smirked, “Don’t be discouraged, though. You’re not so bad yourself.”

Instinctively covering his lap with a pillow as Makana headed toward the coffee machine, Riven tried to pretend his face wasn’t flushed with embarrassment as Makana grabbed a cinnamon roll from the counter and began eating it, perching herself on the edge of the counter and listening to the teachers chatter. Were the other ghosts so… snoopy? He sure hoped not. One was bad enough.

-----

Blurb 2 - Movie Night:

Grabbing a handful of what little popcorn remained in the bowl and tossing it at his twin, Oliver groaned, “Boo!”

Tossing a few kernels back at her brother, Abby scoffed, “I’ll castrate you in your sleep.”

“I don’t even know what that means,” Oliver retorted, tossing a mini peanut butter cup at Abby.

“Good,” Abby smirked, reeling back a handful of gummy sharks.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Vivien laughed, stopping the food fight as she latched onto her siblings’ wrists. “First of all, you guys are going to make my bed look like the floor of the Pizzaplex movie theater after a new Marvel movie release. Second, don’t throw the gummy sharks; that’s animal abuse.”

Oliver, the human vacuum, began picking up pieces of popcorn from the bed and tossing them into his mouth as he muttered, “Sorry.”

Watching her brother pick up shreds of popcorn, Abby sat back against the headboard beside Vivien, toying with the gummy sharks in her hand as she asked, “Is it still considered animal abuse if I’m hitting another animal?”

“Abs,” Vivien said with an amused yet still slightly reprimanding tone in her voice. “Be nice.”

“Look at him,” Abby said, gesturing to their brother as he shoveled the remaining popcorn into his mouth. “He’s practically a raccoon. Scouring for any morsel of food in every room.”

Letting out a soft snort, Vivien elbowed Abby and whispered, “Just be grateful he didn’t eat you in the womb.”

Choking on one of her snacks as she barked out a laugh, Abby covered her mouth with her hand and sent Vivien an accusatory look. Vivien merely smirked as Abby eventually grinned and said, “Maybe he’s like Kirby. He gains HP every time he eats something.”

Snagging one of the gummy sharks from Abby’s hand, Vivien took a bite of its tail and sighed, “At least I won’t have to worry about creepy crawlies in my bed. He never misses a crumb.”

Shrugging, Abby placed the rest of her gummies in the bag they came in, rolling it up tightly and setting it on the nightstand as Oliver put away the laptop and remarked, “I’ll have you know, I think being compared to Kirby is a compliment.”

“You would,” Abby teased as she pulled back the blankets and settled under the covers.

-----

Now, if you've hung around this long, I thank you for your dedication and interest! I got distracted by a bag of Doritos while writing this, so honestly, you're better than I am! As I mentioned at the start of this long-winded post, I have a bit of a Glory and Gore/Scattered Screams prequel idea.

In one of the two stories (I believe I was more detailed in Scattered Screams), I mention that Mack and Brady were victors and what their arenas had been like. I've decided to expand that to also include Lela and Butchy's stories. My original outline was pretty... simplistic. It was a basic, bullet-point note on my phone that had little to no hearty information. Revising this wasn't difficult, but figuring out their timeline further on was, for some reason.

Just a quick note before we jump in:

The 25th Hunger Games (the first quarter quell) was made so that those reaped were voted on by district members. There were (presumably) no volunteers allowed. President Snow said in Catching Fire, "On the twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes that who would represent it."

Anyway, by my calculations of their birthdays and ages, Brady and Mack would have been born the years of the 23rd and 24th Hunger Games, respectively. Brady was born the 30th of September, putting him at 12 almost 13 for his first reaping, and 18 nearly 19 for his last eligible year. Mack, however was born the 19th of March, making her in the same age bracket as Brady due to their birthdays.

Keeping true to the storyline of Mack being raised by her grandpa, Mack's mom, at 18, is reaped for the 25th Hunger Games. She begs for someone to volunteer because she needs to take care of her baby, but nobody does. She is still sent into the arena and ends up second overall, dying after an hours-long fight with the only other tribute remaining, a seventeen-year-old Career from 2.

Fifteen years later, Mack is a young programmer at a factory that makes programs that eventually become the tools the Gamemakers use to control the arena. Being younger than everyone else in her unit, she works alongside some of the people who grew up with her mother, something she takes great pride in. They tell her stories of her mother and how excited she was to be a mother.

When the reaping comes, Mack is relatively unbothered. She has very few slips in the bowl, nobody she cares enough for to volunteer, and has always followed the rules per her grandpa's instructions. However, as we all know, she is reaped. Despite her family's legacy, as her mother's death looms over her family's name, Mack is not volunteered for.

Two years later, one of the boys on her team of programmers, a guy she vaguely remembers from school - Brady - volunteers to take the place of his younger brother (I swear I wrote that he has siblings, but I can't remember their names anymore lmao). Although Brady seems to know more about Mack than she does about him, her way of mentoring him actually seems to work.

When he's thrust into the arena, she sends him reassurances alongside his sponsor gifts. Naturally, when he wins, she advocates for him to be left unchanged by the Capitol surgeons, and they gradually end up falling in love and having Mick.

Along the way, during their trips to deliver supplies to District 6, Mick meets a boy a year older than her who happens to be Butchy, her future husband.

Now, I do have a lot more to go with, especially with Butchy and Lela's games, but I won't go too off the rails right now as I kind of want to get back to writing STDP.

Butchy had volunteered to save Miles when Miles was fifteen and Butchy was sixteen. Mick, knowing this, freaked the fuck out and asked her parents to help protect him in the arena (a casino). Butchy doesn't know this, but the pair saved him at the cost of their own tribute.

Lela, on the other hand, won at 14. Like her brother, she volunteered for a friend. After scoring only a four, she went to the arena (an abandoned castle) and managed to hide out until she was one of the last two tributes. Given her appearance in my AUs, she clearly won.

So, yeah, I have a bit of a thing planned, and it will tie them all together in the end, but for now, this idea will remain on the back burner until I have some more of my current stories done. I'm stuck between this and a WandaVision/Agatha All Along AU for Halloween, but we'll see if either of those ends up happening.

Anyway, this has been a longwinded post and I hope you enjoyed this little sliver of me getting back into writing again after taking such an extended break!

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

A little Comic History and Important Question

Can you take the event out of the character and still call them the same character? 

There are some characters that are defined by their origins. 

Some are defined by the time in which they were created. 

Others still were defined by a single moment in their history in which a writer gave them a story that has become their very core. 

In the world of DC, Batman is defined by his origins. It is a story that DC has played with time and time again in various "What if" timelines and multi-world events. 

Is it possible to have Batman without the death of his parents? DC argues that this is impossible. 

Would Superman still be the same if he hadn't been raised by humble farmers in America with a strong sense of justice? (See Superman Red Son). 

Can you take WWII out of Captain America and still have him be the same American Poster boy? 

Is it possible to remove Vietnam from Frank Castle and still come up with The Punisher? What about the death of his family? 

Can you take the Jewish out of Magneto and still have him be the same Mutant Revolutionist? 

Taking a step back, we turn to the very origins of comics as we know them: 

Superman. 

Created in 1938 by the children of immigrants who fled countries that wanted them dead. Children that grew up with stories of ‘the old country’ and a distinct feeling of being powerless. 

Just a year later, we have Batman emerging in 1939. 

Even in America, Anti-semitism made it impossible to seek out jobs of ‘honor’. 

Comics had been created far before Superman first took his first step. Small funnies that appeared in little blurbs and papers that people scoffed at and considered unworthy of spending time or money on. Most of which were written and drawn by Jewish people who had no other career options than to seek out jobs in publishing and entertainment industries. 

So what was so special about the late 1930s? 

Take another step back. WWI ended in 1918. It did not bring the great peace and prosperity that everyone thought it would. There was a brief flicker of economic boom in the winning countries, but by 1929 the Great Depression had hit hard. 

Famin, inflation, and antisemitism was on the rise. Mass immigration to America in hopes of survival. Stories of those left behind were sent to the families settling in the New country. 

Letters filled with violence, poverty, and death were making their way to the Jewish Immigrants. 

You see, the Nazi party started in 1920. Many saw it as the savior of Germany and even people in America saw the Nazi party as something to stand behind with visions of greatness and superiority. 

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were the children of immigrants who read the letters of family left behind in Europe. Envisioning someone that would stand up for the little guy and fight fascism and Nazi beliefs, they created Superman. 

Superman didn’t start with great super powered monsters and villains. He started fighting neighborhood bullies. He broke up gangsters and terrible Slumlords. He took down corrupt politicians and eventual villains like Lex Luthor.

Bob Kane and Bill Finger were not far behind in the creation of Batman. A man who fought for justice and revenge. A man seeking to make sense of the loss of his family. While Batman wasn’t as dark and grim in the original days as he is now, he was still seen as a step further than Superman. A caped crusader of justice that used more violence than Superman tended to. 

Siegel and Shuster started a comic book publishing company that let Jewish writers have jobs as well as tell their stories in their own way. 

World War II broke out officially in 1939 and more and more comics started to focus on stories that spoke out against what was happening in Europe. 

William Eisner created "The Spirit" in 1940. If you aren’t familiar with either of those names boy howdy…. William Eisner, as in “The Eisner Awards”  are awarded for creative achievement in American Comic books. The most prestigious and significant awards in the industry. 

The Spirit was created out of Eisner’s heavily Jewish upbringing and often told stories that came out of his difficult upbringing in the slum-like conditions and severe antisemitism of New York at the time. 

By this time, WWII was in full swing, and despite what we are all taught to think, everyone knew what the Nazi were doing to the Jewish people at this point (just not to what extent). Stories of camps and death had leaked out and Jewish Immigrants lived in terror as they feared for the lives of their families left behind. 

America entered the war in December of 1941… Officially. I say officially because, as all my fellow history buffs know, we were secretly involved in it far before then. 

Propaganda had snuck into the comic book industry before America entered the war. 

In 1941 we saw the creation of Captain America by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Two names that came like a comet to the comic industry. We also saw the creation of Wonder Woman in 1941 (And you should look up that story because WHAT A RIDE THAT IS, but I’m not going to get into that today). 

Captain America was created as a direct response to what was happening in the world, the Nazi uprising, and the failure of America to step up and away from Antisemitism. 

There are a lot of stories about how Captain America is based out of Jewish culture and old stories. That Captain America is the Golem. There certainly are a lot of reasons for this. 

The Jewish Golem was created as a creature made to protect the Jewish people from those that wanted to kill them. The Hebrew word “Emet”, which means “Truth” is written on his forehead. Looking at Captain America, with a giant “A” on his forehead, it is very easy to argue that the A is the Hebrew Aleph letter and hearing him say he fights for Truth, Justice, and The American Way (The American Way part was added after we joined the war for propaganda purposes) is a fantastic argument for why he is the Golem. 

There is also a fantastic write up someone did on how Captain America acts as a Golem when he was first written and even powers down back when his mission is completed. If you are interested, I’ll direct you to that book if you give me a hot minute to find it in my stash. 

There is also an argument I’ve heard on how the shield is NOT exactly the American symbol that it has become in modern times. But that of The Magen David (AKA: The Star of David and symbol of Judaism and Jewish Identity) really means "Shield of David". A symbol of G-d’s protection. 

So we’re in the war, the golden age of comics, the rise of big names and even bigger heroes. 

What happens when the war ends? 

Well, the kids grow up. The comic industry is booming, comic books are becoming a thing, the Sunday papers now have the funny papers, and people that studied under the big shots are now old enough to start creating their own thing. 

In 1939 Marvel Comics was originally a run of comics with superhero features published under Timely Comics, founded by Martin Goodman. 

The Human Torch was the first on the cover. The original Human Torch. Not Johnny Storm. 

Oh… and Namor The Sub-Mariner, an anti-hero and FIRST Mutant. Created by Bill Everett who also helped co-create Daredevil with Stan Lee later on. 

What’s that in the background? Oh… Just a Nazi flag so he can beat up all the Nazi. 

Namor returns in 1962 in Fantastic Four #4. 

With the war over, Comics and war time heroes and propaganda was falling out of fashion. 

Horror, Westerns, Romance titles, and various other Men's Adventure tales were now in fashion. 

Marvel Comics was dropped as a title in the 1950s. 

That didn't stop a small group of Jews from deciding to try their own at creating a comic company. 

In 1961 Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko started up Marvel Comics and published "Journey into Mystery", which was a more science fiction approach to comics. (Steve Ditko would go on to work with Stan Lee to create Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. ) 

Over in DC land, they had The Flash, Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and the forming team of the Justice League of America to settle out their roster. 

Stan Lee famously decided that he needed to change how Superheroes were presented. He wanted the common man to see himself in these heroes. 

He wasn't writing for the child audiences that were commonly seen as the target. He wanted to write to the adult reader that was looking to see themselves as the hero. 

It started in 1961 with the First Family: The Fantastic Four. 

Striking gold with characters that argued, held grudges, didn't keep secret identities, and often acted petty and selfish, Stan Lee kept his focus on the adult reader. 

The Amazing Spider-Man was published in 1963. 

So what was happening in America in the 60s that made people seek out flawed characters and deep characterization? 

Well, take a step back into the 50s. What’s going on? WWII ended in 1945, after all! How about a very little talked about war known as the Korean War 1950-1953. America’s first failure that was hushed up and pushed aside. 

Not to mention that the Vietnam War started in 1955 and lasted till 1975. 

1947 was the start of the longest lasting standoff known as "The Cold War” that didn’t end until 1989. 

The world had changed and the culture had changed drastically. 

In the world of [rival DC Comics'] Superman comic books, communism did not exist. Superman rarely crossed national borders or involved himself in political disputes. From 1962 to 1965, there were more communists [in Marvel Comics] than on the subscription list of Pravda. Communist agents attack Ant-Man in his laboratory, red henchmen jump the Fantastic Four on the moon, and Viet Cong guerrillas take potshots at Iron Man. - Comic historian Mike Benton. 

So how do the comics keep up with world events? How do they stay relevant? 

Go back and look at all those dates. Notice anything? I’m going to throw a lot of dates at you here: 

Iron Man: 1962 (Original title under Tales of Suspense then given his own title in 1968) 

Doctor Strange: 1963

Spider-Man: 1963

DareDevil: 1964

Lots of young men going off to war and looking for escape. Let’s focus on one I mentioned at the start of all this.

The Punisher was created in 1974. Right at the end of Vietnam when the soldiers were coming home, America had lost, and no one wanted to see the soldiers as heroes. 

The Punisher was created in a Spider-Man comic originally as a sort of anti-hero Assassin and occasional foe to Spider-Man. 

In 1986 he was given a mini series then just a year later "War Journal" was released as the first Punisher series. Followed by War Zone and Punisher Armory. 

You see, there was a Marvel comic run series called "The 'NAM" that came out in 1986 that told the perspective of soldiers involved in the war. It was popular for some time and the Punisher even appeared in it a few times. 

Over the years, Marvel has not known what to do with the Punisher. They lost interest in him in 1995 and canceled the series. 

Here’s the thing, America has been at war almost constantly since the Korean war. Sure, they aren’t big names like Korea, Vietnam, and so on… But Heck, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bosnia, Serbia, Gulf War… the names just go on and on. 

The comics lost the narrative on how to handle soldiers coming back with no way to deal with their trauma. They lost sight of what made the Punisher so interesting and so broken. 

They changed his story and relaunched right with the Punisher being the leader of an organized crime family. The number of times they ended and relaunched the Punisher in the late 90s is a little silly when you look at it. 

In 2000, Garth Ennis got hold of him and relaunched The Punisher under "Marvel Knights". By 2004, Ennis was given Marvel's first Mature print "MAX" where he kept the story of the Punisher going. 

His look was modified to keep up with modern standards. The superhero aspect was removed from MAX and we got just a gritty, realistic look at an anti-hero. 

But here's the issue: How do you keep the Punisher current? Vietnam ain't getting any younger. 

They have him joining other wars too. He's serving time in the CIA, he's a spy in the KGB, he's in the Middle East, the Balkans, the IRA.... 

In non-MAX titles, they realized that Frank Castle was no spring chicken. They killed him off and had him born again as a younger version. That way they could keep his Vietnam background but still be young. 

But this hasn't stopped the talk about how to keep his trauma and his war relevant to the readers of today. Do they take away his war? 

In one of the movies, he was made a veteran of the Gulf War. 

They've even taken it a step further in more current runs where they take Frank Castle out of the role fully and give it to someone else who takes up the mantle of "Punisher". But is it still the same character? 

Is someone not from the Vietnam war era still capable of being THE Punisher? 

I'm going to take a quote right from Wiki for this one: 

"The Punisher's backstory initially introduced him as a veteran of the Vietnam War. In this capacity, he appeared in the comic book 'The 'Nam', about the conflict. However, this dated the character as the years passed and the war was increasingly in the past. Greg Rucka retconned it to the War on Terror, instead, in 2011." 

"Steve [Wacker, editor on the project] and I went round and round on this, but ultimately, he wanted to make Frank younger because if he fought in Vietnam, he's in his 70s, and I get more mileage out of him being in his early 40s. I don't think that takes anything away from his origin. In the Marvel Universe, the conflict matters only because he was asked to go and serve his country, and he did. When he returned, the society he was essentially defending betrayed him and murdered his wife and children in front of him. The conflict matters less than the fact that he gave his service, and this was the reward. In that broad brush vague Marvel Universe sense there's always 'the war' whatever it was. If that put him in the Middle East rather than South East Asia, I think that matters less for the purposes of the Marvel Universe."

Why all this about the Punisher? Because it matters and here’s why: 

Magneto was created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. 

--- In a 2008 interview, Stan Lee said he "did not think of Magneto as a bad guy. He just wanted to strike back at the people who were so bigoted and racist...he was trying to defend the mutants, and because society was not treating them fairly he was going to teach society a lesson. He was a danger of course...but I never thought of him as a villain." ---

We didn't find out Magneto's background until 1981, in which he was portrayed as a Holocaust survivor.

Much later in 2008, "Magneto Testament" we got his full history. 

It is in this comic that Magneto is finally fully defined. A comic in which real life stories from Holocaust survivors are used to create this man that was never supposed to be a hero or a villain. 

Now, I haven't always appreciated the story lines in the X-men comics (things get so hard to follow sometimes. The shenanigans and who is dating who is just beyond me), but I have always appreciated the overall narrative and have always felt the conversation started by the first X-men comic and carried on in Magneto Testament was an important one that has ALWAYS been relevant. 

But the number of times they have tried to redefine Magneto's story is baffling. 

And the question has risen again: How do they keep Magneto relevant? 

As I write this, WWII ended about 79 years ago. Which would solidly put Magneto in his late 80s. Maybe early 90s. 

If they have an issue with the Punisher being in his 70s, how do they feel about a 90 year old man fighting Wolverine? 

And I’ve heard further talk of people contesting his Holocaust background. How do they update that? If you can take the Vietnam out of The Punisher, how do you take the Holocaust out of Magneto? 

Is their solution just to not have him be Jewish at all? Do they find someone else to be Magneto? Do they just reboot him fully? 

In an industry created by Jewish voices speaking out against antisemitism and hatred, why is there such a push to take the Jew out of comics?

It is easy enough to google "List of Jewish Comic book characters".

Which is exactly what I did.

Considering how much wikipedia is being editited right now and erasing things, I was honestly curious to see what I would get.

You get your classics:

(Marc what are you doing?)

(Billy, I don't think that's Kosher? Is that Kosher? Can you light two candles at once? Can you use lightning? What if the lightning is generated by a person? Where's this argument in the Talmud? I bet someone somewhere argued about it.)

The Thing (Ben Grimm), who is the first one everyone thinks of.

Doc Samson, who Marvel often forgets exists despite the fact that he is amazing and I Love him.

Iceman, Legion (really? How many?), Magneto, Moon Knight (This counts as at least 3….maybe 4….5 on a bad day?), Sasquatch (Oooohh yeahhhh), Kitty Pryde (the most out spoken one next to Ben Grimm), Songbird (Huh), and Wiccan (I love him and it warms my heart to see him being shown properly). There are a few other random figures in the background now and then, but those are the big ones in Marvel.

DC?

(This is just sad)

Kate Kane (Neat!), Hal Jordan (OG!), Harley Quinn (Of course), Phantom Stranger, Ragman (A moon knight DC response), and some random ones.

Thing is… This list used to be longer. I know it used to be longer. And I feel like it has left off quite a few big names from other comic publishers too….

This Wikki article was edited recently and I fear not for good.

So how many characters do we find debating are Jewish? I know Moon Knight is often being debated for various stupid reasons. But the character is Jewish. And I appreciate the writer that makes a point to state this (McKay for the win!)

But at what point does Marvel start to question how much longer they can hang onto the most blatantly and important Jewish character? When does Marvel start to push Magneto out? When is he too old? When is his story too obscure? When does he stop being relevant?

I fear for the next 10 years. 20 years. 50 years.

Don't forget where comics came from. Don't forget where characters come from. Don't try to take away what makes the character the character and continue to call it that.

I don't know how to end this. I don't have any answers. Sometimes characters need updates. Sometimes you see the obvious racism and make it go away. But do you erase it fully or do you acknowledge it was there, it was a mistake, and do your best to fix it? Can you do that with the past too? "Yeah, Frank was in Nam. Sure, that would make him in his 70s, but we aren't here to talk about how old he is. We're here to read about how broken of a man he is and how he will now hunt down justice."

[zuko-always-lies]

Rating my list of Azula AUs by how much they appeal/are interesting to me now

It's a long list, and some of these ideas are actually quite old, so I thought it would be worth giving each AU idea a rating out of 10. Note that some of these aren't my ideas and I intend no disrespect to anyone. I just want to rate how interested I would be in a story if someone used the AU idea as a basis.

Better parenting Ursa (8/10)-Would be a banger.

Azula raises Katara AU (and continued) and more (9/10)-I've never seen anything quite like this and would be very interesting.

Azula and Katara get friendly postwar and talk about their brothers. (7/10)-Good idea for a short story?

Mai is significantly older than Azula and Ty Lee AU (Older “sister” Mai) (4/10)-Could be interesting but honestly I find canon Azula-Mai's dynamic plenty interesting on its own.

Jin works at Iroh’s teashop but finds out about his past (5/10)-Perhaps worth a shot.

Zuko tells Azula about the Spirit Water (5/10)-Too close to canon?

Ursa and Ozai get along better, and it’s not a good thing AU (4/10)-A little dark for my tastes.

Imperialist Lu Ten survives the war and tries to regain his throne afterwards (9/10)-Now that would be incredible. Lots and lots drama and lots of lighting fandom takes on fire.

Zuko finds out more about his nation AU. (5/10) Somewhat interesting.

Revolutionary Azula takes over Ba Sing Se AU. (2/10) In retrospect it feels a bit too imperialist in tone.

Three different AU ideas in one (4/10) None of them are really that great.

Favoritism in the royal family is a little different (5/10) moderately interesting.

What if Zuko had a nonbending twin sister (who he doesn’t get along with). (10/10) The Zola AU. One of the most interesting and subversive ideas I've had.

Zuko’s daughter changes how he sees Azula (7/10). Could be worth a short story.

Zuko and Ursa try to isolate Azula (“for her own good”) (9/10). Brilliant dark AU, very subversive of fandom expectations.

Ozai gets exiled and the Gaang stupidly ally with him (6/10). Could be entertaining.

Earth Kingdom ends up with custody of Azula postwar and support her bid for the Fire Nation throne when Zuko starts another war with them. (10/10). Pure, wonderful chaos and Team Avatar are really in a bind.

The Gaang tries to figure out why Zuko joined them. (3/10). Might make a good short story.

Dangerous Ladies find Ursa in Book 2. (10/10). Ursa setting canon of fire is always worth it.

Azula and Toph fake dating (1/10). Not that interested in Tophzula.

Zuko/“world leaders” try to force Aang to take away Azula’s bending and he’s very much not OK with it. (4/10). Not too interesting.

Azula is thrown away to the NWT postwar as a trinket and Chief Arnook adopts her. (9/10). Wonderful idea for how to get a fire sibling adopted by the water tribes and have it make sense.

Comics! Ursa’s letter about Zuko being a bastard gets out. (2/10). Too associated with the comics.

Zuko and Katara lie about what happened during the Agni Kai (4/10). Shrug.

An exiled Azula finds Fire Imperialist! Ursa postwar. (10/10) Absolute banger of an idea, although quite dark. Azula and Ursa unite to overthrow Zuko.

Aang has to save Azula from being executed by Zuko (5/10) OKish

Zuko’s defection during DoBS goes very badly for Mai (4/10)

Zuko joins the Gaang at Ba Sing Se, but it ends poorly (10/10) let's make the writers of all those bad Zvtara fics suffer!

Zuko killed Azula during the Agni Kai, and now he has to deal with the consequences. (6/10). Dark/

AU idea where Zuko keeps Azula permanently imprisoned in bad and torturous conditions postwar, and Izumi finds out about when she’s relatively young, and draws exactly the sort of conclusions about her parents that you would expect. Not to mention being terrified that she might be treated the same way if she missteps… (7/10). Could be interesting.

Ozai never declares Zuko and Iroh traitors (7/10). Clever idea, would destroy canon as we know it.

Iroh-Azula roleswap au (9/10). Would be absolutely incredible.

Zuko asks Azula for help with his firebending. (5/10). I really don't like the fire siblings having a good relationship very much at this point.

Zuko wants Azula to like him but doesn’t get why she doesn’t like him (postwar) (8/10). Good idea for a shorter fic.

Katara has an arranged marriage with Zuko and Azula tries to get into the good graces of her sister in law (7/10). Might be interesting.

“Katara is supposed to have an arranged marriage with Zuko, but she falls in love with Azula instead.” (10/10). No explanation needed.

Another take on Zvtara (arranged marriage) and Maizula. (6/10). Good idea but maybe a little boring.

Azula-Katara AU idea (or: Katara runs into an Azula who has changed a lot in some ways and not very much in others) (7/10). Never could quite gets this to work.

Zuko is actually Ikem’s son (2/10). Enough about the comics!

Firelord Azula ends her brother’s exile 3/10. Nothing particularly interesting.

Azula raises Izumi (it’s complicated) (8/10) Really would be worth engaging with.

“AU idea: Azula commits suicide out of despair, and just about everyone is convinced that Zuko had her murdered or at the very least “encouraged” her to do it.” (3/10). More Zuko angst.

Dangerous Ladies get banished/declared traitors and Azula basically gives up. Mai has to step up her place. (9/10), would be a very interesting look at Mai.

I have to say, “Zuko has to deal with finding out that Ursa very much isn’t who he believed she was” remains excellent fanfic fodder. (8/10). Ursa for the win!

“AU idea: Ursa is more aware of Ozai’s abuse and potential for abuse than in canon, so, right after her exile, she seeks out Iroh and charges him with protecting both of her children.” 6/10. I don't find like Iroh enough to really like an idea which had him be so central.

Firelord Iroh treats Azula in a really screwed up way. 9/10, very dark but could have great payoff.

“AU where Azula dies during the latter stages of the war or right after it, and Mai is the only person who ever morns her as a person, not as a politically convenient symbol (Ty Lee runs away from her complex feelings on Azula as much as she can).” 7/10, could be a good oneshot

Dark idea (5/10).

“Since so much of the fandom is convinced that Azula is Zuko’s older sister, I need an AU where this is true and Zuko is just as throne-obsessed as canon and spends all his time trying to usurp his older sister.” (1/10). Not really an idea which stands on its own.

“AU where Ozai has a heart attack and dies right after the fire siblings return to the Fire Nation, and Zuko and Azula have to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, the Gaang are plotting to overthrow them and bring the war to a close once and for all…” 8/10. Could be a banger.

King Kuai adopts Azula as his heir 7/10. Interesting idea

Things get complicated, darkly (Azula exiled postwar AU) 6/10. A little convoluted.

What if Zuko tried to be a good brother 5/10. Zuko is boring.

“I really need an AU where Lu Ten returns and is pissed over Ozai’s usurpation, so he kills Ozai, seizes the throne, and continues the war. Of course, Iroh ends up supporting his actual son in all of this, and the conflict in the Fire Nation ends up boiling down to Zuko and Azula vs. Lu Ten and Iroh as the situation spirals toward civil war, at the same time the 100 years war continues.” 8/10. Nice chaotic edge.

“Maizula AU where Mai married Zuko, but he died not long after Izumi was born, and Azula and Mai are secretly carrying out a relationship while raising Izumi and ruling the Fire Nation as her regents.” 8/10. Maizula for the win. Could work as a short story.

Azula joins the Gaang with a twist… 7/10.

“The chaos which would result if Lu Ten showed up alive again in Book 1 and launched a rebellion against Ozai in pursuit of “his” throne.” (5/10). Less interesting than the other Lu Ten ideas.

Ursa opposes Firelord Zuko 7/10. More good Ursa content!

Iroh tries to kill Azula during “The Chase” (5/10). OKish.

Mai and Ty Lee on trial for “war crimes”“ and Azula has to save them 9/10, would be wonder with a great Maizulee dynamic.