#cause silas is super important to me

[sprnkles]

FINALLY i have found the PERFECT faceclaim for silas

[babylyctor]

can John actually control time or am i making things up? trying to reach a conclusion via tumblr posting

so as a theory this is 75% vibes. however there’s some things in the books that give me pause, and i wanted to put together all those bits and see if there’s something there. i’m not totally on board with this idea because it seems too complex to leave entirely to the last book, and i don’t know how it could fit with the rest of the narrative (or do i?) but in any case i keep thinking about it so here’s this way too long post. spoliers for everything

first, this fucking suspicious sentence that’s one of the first things John tells Harrow (Chapter 2, HtN)

"I would let you come back, bit by bit, until you felt entirely ready to wake up. I can’t. I mastered Death, Harrowhark; I wish I’d done the smarter thing and mastered Time. I have to ask you to get ready soon, and so I am going to show you something I hope might … trigger your readiness.”

so this sounds like a really dull complaint on this immortal god’s part but also i don’t trust a single thing out of this man’s mouth, and this would be the exact kind of private joke he would make if he had actually mastered Time (capitalized) too. Also the context in which it’s said, talking about Harrow coming back from her coma, regaigning consciousness, awakening... you get it, oddly relevant theme wise.

then there’s the whole Soup Moment (Chapter 25, HtN), in which John seems to actually stop time maybe? i have doubts about this so lets see what our narrator tells us;

And God said, “Stop.”

The world slowed down. Augustine and Mercymorn stopped, arrested in the act of half-rising from their seats. Ianthe stopped, left arm paused, outflung, to shield her face. You stopped, sitting upright in your chair: your bones somehow rigid and still, and your flesh chilly and rigid around those bones. The shrapnel spray from the Saint of Duty did not stop, [...] But what remained of him stopped too, half man, half rupture—his prurient details hot and white, naked insides clothed with the sinus-drying burst of the power of God.

so here John freezes all the lyctors in place, they’re still conscious, or at least Harrow is, but they have their range of movement almost totally restricted. this is not like Mercy pinching Harrow’s dorsal nerve to paralyze her, this is a completely different feeling, maybe John’s thalergetic powers? it would make sense, all the lyctors are living bodies, they have thalergy and Johs is able to manipulate that, presumably. the bits of Gideon OG cascading down the table don’t stop but that might be John selectively using his powers, or it might be that that’s no longer living flesh.

so we’re saying this could just be John’s super special thalergy magic and nothing else. the first problem though is that technically he shouldn’t be able to use it against his lyctors without touching them, thanks to lyctoral invisibility. in fact when he explodes Mercy’s chest (rip in peace queen) he expressely reaches out and touches her to do so, because presumably he needs to make contact with a body in order to use magic against it, same as Mercy. so that’s a caveat, then there are these descriptions from the same Soup Moment;

You stared down the table at him: at the blank, remote faces of your two nominal teachers—at the frozen ivory stillness of Ianthe, her hair now whitish pink—at space outside the window, where the asteroids themselves seemed to hang in tranquilized arrest.

The Emperor of the Nine Houses stood. The spell, whatever it had been, dropped like a white sun setting.

These seem to imply certain ambiguity. John’s God and all that but i don’t think thalergetic magic should be able to affect asteroids, lifeless space rocks. of course it says they “seem” to hang in tranquilized arrest, not that they are really unmoving, but i think it’s a suggestive sentence all the same, and i’m suspicious of every word Muir writes. The second quote, specifically the highlighted part, is also a bit frustrating. It seems to imply that John isn’t exactly doing magic as we know it, but something else. If it was Harrow narrating we could go further with it, but since it’s Gideon we could simply attribute it to her lack of knowledge and familiarity with magic. However, two sentences after that we don’t have that problem;

The construct gamely clamberign our of the Saint of Duty dwindled to a powder of pink dust. The shard you had been driving up the cervical vertebrae to the base of the spine [...] simply disappeared: destroyed or removed, you could not tell.

This is still Gideon narrating but in this case she’s specifically telling us that Harrow doesn’t understand what John just did, it’s not magic Harrow is familiar with. There’s also the contrast between what we know is a normal process of destroying a construct - reducing it to dust -  vs this mysterious disappearance, that doesn’t really fit into what we know so far about the way thanergy/thalergy work.

so far, nothing conclusive, we know John is really powerful, but we don’t know exactly how, where his power comes from or what it can do. Then there’s the moment he unexplodes himself (Chapter 52, HtN);

White light.

It bleached the insides of your nose and the back of your throat. It hurt coming out your ears. It bled out your eyeballs. It wasn’t a flash of light, more … a suddenness; when it was gone—as though it hadn’t even existed, but had been a luminous hallucination—time stopped.

That light took colour from the room—everyone was a slow-motion cavalcade of greys, of eyes caught widening, of mouths parting in stone-shaded articulations of shock.

It happened in an instant. It happened over a myriad. A wet red construct knitted itself back together, [...]

again that white light that has been associated with thalergy magic and again all these references to time slowing down, stopping or just behaving in strange ways in general. again lots of ambiguity, this could be a thalergy based power - the ability to hold living bodies in stasis, and therefore make everyone feel like time has slowed down - or it could be that John is actually affecting time, maybe even reversing it (?) since he literally un-exploded himself, after Mercy put all her millenia of expertise into atomizing him and reducing him to almost nothing.

is that even explicable with regular thanergy/thalergy based magic? i’m not sure, a regular necro could never do that, a lyctor couldn’t do that. So if John isn’t just an overpowered lyctor what’s the difference exactly? i mean, how do his powers manifest differently from those of every other necromancer we know?

the other person we’ve seen using powerful thalergy magic is Silas. Whenever he siphoned, Gideon describes a similar vacuum sensation to the one that John’s magic also provokes, as well as white light;

As he faded, the pale Silas incandesced. He glowed with an irradiated shimmer, iridescent white, and the air began to taste of thunder. (Chapter 17, GtN)

Gideon felt an internal tug, like a blanket being pulled off in the cold. (Chapter 17, GtN)

Silas clambered to his knees, clasped his fingers together, and the feeling of suction popped the pressure in both of Gideon’s ears. (Chapter 34, GtN)

Silas is nowhere near as powerful as John but siphoning - thalergy based magic, condemned by God - still causes that suction effect and is marked by white light and lightning, just like John’s magic. However, there’s no mention of a time altering effect, no slowing down, no freezing in place, and seeing how both kinds of magic are similarly coded otherwise i find this difference suspicious.

To end this somewhere, two quotes, first, this thing Harrow tells Ortus when they both discuss what it must be like to be a lyctor (Chapter 5, HtN);

“Nigenad, what would be the tragedy in living for a myriad? Ten thousand years to learn everything there is to know [...] What is the tragedy of time?”

honestly to me that sounds like Muir making Harrow say things she will regret later. of course it could be about any of the numerous tragedies in Harrow life but still, gave me pause, specially because it kinda echoes John’s earlier sentiment, wishing he had mastered Time.

finally, a quote that might be totally meaningless and completely off base in this theory or it could round it up perfectly, i haven’t decided yet;

[...] ; yet you prayed all the while knowing Ianthe’s facility for tergiversation would have given the whole universe pause. (Chapter 36, HtN)

we know Ianthe is a girlboss and gaslighting is her thing. However, isn’t this sentence a bit too dramatic to describe Ianthe? doesn’t it sound kinda ominous to you? it definitely does to me, and although it might totally be my Ianthe bias wanting her to play an important part, who is Ianthe hanging out with lately? exactly John God “Jod” the Emperor.

in conclusion, i haven’t reached any conclusion. but i still think there’s something off with John’s powers beyond what we’ve been told, which isn’t much really, and i think there’s something going on with Time within the narrative (that’s another whole post though), and i think these two things are most probably related. but i can’t say i’m 100% sure of any of it. this was fun though. if you made it here thank you so much you’re the best <3

[basiccortez]

The way I was waiting for you to ask for names cause I didn't wanna overstep!!!! Anyways here's my suggestions ☺️

Sam: Since he's having twins I think it would be cute if they coordinated the names like Jake and Josh are so that being said here are my suggestions: Silas Ezekiel and Sage Evangeline; Silas means wood and Sage is well sage lol and his hippie ass would love that. The middle names are simply because I think they sound sick as fuck

Or Joni and Jacob; music is super important to Sam and like Joni Mitchell is one of his favorite artist. Jake literally taught Sam how to play bass and I feel like he looks up to him alot

Jake: Okay first of all #girldad Jake makes me want to explode. I feel like he's the type to give a daughter either a traditionally male name or a very gender neutral name my top picks are: James, Stevie, Rowen, or River.

I literally cannot think of middle names but I think they'd pair well with like classic feminine names like Alexandra

I would do Josh and Danny except I am literally horrendous at coming up with boys names so I'll just use astrology lmao. They're both earth signs so they'll probably be a bit more traditional with names. However, Josh being a Taurus will probably lean more towards artistic names with personal sentimental meaning, where Danny would probably lean more towards using family names (I believe Danny is named after his father so I fully can see him continuing that tradition). That being said I also think Josh is the type to name his kid either after himself or his family (like using his dad's name for a middle name ya know).

*my brain when y'all send name suggestions: WRITE THAT DOWN! WRITE THAT DOWN!

I love the name suggestions, because my mind draws a blank every damn time (I would be awful at naming my child lol. "I name thee, Frankenstein".)

BUT, I love those names for Sam's twins. I originally had Sam's twins as two girls, so Sage was on my list. I also had Marigold and Clove cause I thought they were pretty. For boys tho. . . I've drawn a blank.

And yes #girldadJake has officially happened. I think I have a name picked out for Jake's baby, but I end up changing it like once a week, lol. But I still love Zeppelin, Maverick and Hera. But I also love Stevie and River now

PLS SEND IN NAME RECOMMENDATIONS:) they make me happy

[chessdaze]

NRC VS TWI - BATTLE OF THE BANDS STORY 2

Part four- Familiar Faces Part five- A new tour guide Part six- A plot twist?!

PART FOUR: Familiar Faces

Silas: Let me show you the rest of the booths.

[LOCATION: TWI BOOTHS]

Grim: There’s so much more! My hands are too full with food though-

Yuu: Whose fault is that?

???: Why don’t you give some of it over here? Shishishishi--

Grim: Wha! My hand is moving on it’s own!

???: Thanks buddy.

Grim: You!!! Ruggie Bucchi!

Ruggie: Thanks for the food! [ munch ]

Grim: Whaaa my food.

Yuu: You have so much more in your arms still.

???: Havin’ fun Ruggie?

Silas: Oh, Ozan!

Ozan: Yo Silas.

Ruggie: Of course, Grim was just nice enough to share some of his food with me.

Ozan: Oh how nice of him.

Grim: Hey! What’s with this sharing thing?! You stole it! What are you even doing here?!

Ruggie: Easy Easy now~ This event is open to the public after all. My buddy Ozan told me about it. It’s the perfect place for cheap food and entertainment~

Yuu: Cheap? That reminds me I don’t know how much all this costs. Crowley didn’t mention any kind of field trip costs.

Ozan: Oh yeah, it only costs 500 madol to buy a ticket - since they’re donation based you can spend more if you want but you can also just spend the bare minimum and get access to everything. I figured Ruggie would like that kind of deal.

Ruggie: It’s great! I’m totally trying all the food. Hey Grim, wanna share some more?

Grim: No!!

Silas: It’s as Ozan said, the minimum for a ticket is 500 madol then you can pay more based on if you want to donate to the grand prize / charity or not. You can even suggest charities to donate to aswell since not all the groups come with a specific charity in mind. It’s great advertisement and just good fun for a good cause.

Yuu: That’s great.

Grim: Yeah, perfect - except for the part where people steal your food!

Yuu: What- where did all your food go, grim?

Grim: That hyena and monkey took it all!

Silas: I apologize for Ozan, he’s one of my friends too and he’s still….adjusting to normal life. He used to be an orphan living on the streets until the headmasters took him in. He’s their adopted son, Ozan Bell.

Grim: Wait! That monkey guy was like, super important?! And he stole my food anyways?!

Silas: Like I said, he used to live on the streets so old habits die hard, I guess. I’ll buy you some more food later Grim.

Grim: Really?

Silas: Of course

Yuu: You might regret th- ah!

???: Sorry.

Grim: What is with people here?! First the thieves then someone bumps into you and just walks away!

Yuu: It’s fine, she apologized.

Silas: Shall we go look at some of the business booths?

Riddle: Oh? What’s this? Yuu and Grim are here too?

Yuu: Riddle! Oh and everyone too.

Deuce: Hey Yuu!

Trey: It’s nice to see you.

Ace: What are you doing here?

Yuu: I’m taking pictures for the school. Are you here to support Cater?

Riddle: We are. Crowley gave permission for students to attend.Oh, who is this with you?

Silas: I’m Silas Rosamund, I’ve been acting as Yuu’s guide. I’m helping take pictures on the three wishes side.

Riddle: I see, it’s nice to meet you.

Silas: Likewise. I was about to show Yuu and Grim around the booths, if you’re all friends I can show you them together, if you’d like. The show isn’t starting for a while longer.

Ace: Sounds good to me.

Deuce: Thank you, Rosamund-kun.

PART FIVE: A new tour guide

Riddle: Hm? Is that-?

Ace: Whoa! What’s going on over there? Street dancing?

Silas: Oh! I was told this might happen. Sometimes dance groups come by this event too. It’s an event all about music, even if the main event is about bands specifically.

Riddle: That explains it.

Trey: Explains what- Oh! I see now.

Grim: What? What?!

Riddle: Jamil is in that dance circle.

Deuce: Oh! You’re right! I do see Jamil-senpai. He’s a great dancer isn’t he?

Silas: He is! I’m going to go take a picture. Come on Yuu, you should too.

Yuu: Right!

[Camera Flashes]

Jamil: Hm? Oh, it’s you.

Riddle: hello Jamil.

Jamil: Heartslabyul aswell - I’ve seen so many NRC students already.

Deuce: That dance was so cool - wait, who else did you see?

Grim: Well that Ruggie stole my food! Again!

Ace: Ha, sounds like it was your fault, again.

Jamil: I saw Jack-kun and Epel-kun from Savanaclaw and Pomefiore. I heard rumors that Malleus is supposed to show up aswell.

Yuu:Really?

Trey: One can only assume he’s going to be coming to support Lilia. I wonder if it’ll cause a stir, though…

Grim: Why are you here though, Jamil?

Jamil: I am still Kalim’s aide, I have to be close by. Plus, his little brother is here aswell - someone could take advantage of the situation.

Riddle: Yet you are here dancing?

Jamil: That’s - Zeki told me to enjoy the festivities while I could.

Silas: Well, he’s right. We likely won’t have another one of these for awhile. So please, enjoy yourself.

Jamil: Thank you. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to dance some more.

Ace: Why does he have to be so cool. I could be that cool.

Deuce: In your dreams, maybe.

Ace: Hey!

Riddle: Enough you two! We’re representing NRC here so be more aware of your position.

Ace and Deuce:  Yes dorm-leader.

Silas: Your friends are very lively.

Yuu: Almost too lively.

Silas: Well I have an idea, how about we get some photos of the other NRC students? You'll need more to work with than just the event itself - that’s what the head of our newspaper club said.

Yuu: Won’t you need photos too?

Silas: You can’t take two steps here without seeing a Three Wishes student, I’ll be fine taking pictures anywhere. I also got some pictures from earlier in the week during the set up for the event and everything too.

Trey: Sounds like you’re prepared.

Silas: Well, it was all thanks to the head of the newspaper club. Maybe we’ll see them around and I can introduce you. For now, why don’t we find those NRC students?

Deuce: Oh! I spotted Jack! I can see his ears over the crowd.

Grim: Yeah he’s kind of hard to miss.

Jack: Hm? Oh, Yuu and Heartslabyul.

Epel: H-Hello everyone.

Deuce: Hey Jack-kun, hey Epel-kun. Did you come to enjoy the concert?

Jack: Ruggie-senpai told the dorm about it and I thought I’d come see what was going on.

Ace: What about you Epel? This doesn’t strike me as your kind of scene.

Epel: You tryin’ to start somethin’? [coughs] I mean, I actually really like music, ever since the VDC I’ve been looking more into it - and I found out this event was happening online.

Silas: Oh, through our website?

Epel: That’s right!

Silas: That’s good, the music club was worried that the website might be a dud, but I’m glad it brought you here.

Trey: Was the music club in charge of making that?

Silas: Yup. The Music club did alot of the preparations for the event - Dearly-san works closely with the music club since he used to be a professional musician, so he helped them out too.

Grim: A professional musician?! That guy?

Silas: I know, seems wild right? To go from musician to headmaster, but it’s true.

Riddle: This school sure is interesting.  

Silas: Right, before we forget why we came here, let’s take some pictures!

[Camera Flash]

???: Working hard I see, Silas-kun!

Silas: Oh! Jaiden-senpai.

Jaiden: Hey! You’ve got a pretty big group here, and all NRC students? Cool.

Silas: Everyone allow me to introduce you, this is Jaiden Rush - he’s one of the dorm representatives of the Nightingale dorm. Actually Rue is one of the others.

Jaiden: Nice t’ meetcha!

Ace: So this guy is the same rank as Riddle?

Deuce: Never would have guessed.

Jaiden: The volunteering class are helping work the booths, so I can take over the tour if you were giving one, Silas.

Silas: Oh, I couldn’t possibly- Jaiden: Hey, listen to your seniors, yeah? You worry about the pictures.

Riddle: It is fine Silas, thank you for your company so far. You three need to keep to the task at hand.

Silas: in that case, let me take a picture of you all with Jaiden

[Camera Flashes]

PART SIX: A plot twist?!

Silas: Well we’ve taken a few photos around here, why don’t we head backstage again?

Grim: Sounds good to me! Let me just grab some more food--

Yuu: No.

Grim: Wha!! Stop pulling me!

[LOCATION: TWI THEATER, BACKSTAGE LEFT WING]

Silas: Oh! Hey Li Jie, hey Zeki, taking a break?

Li Jie: Hey Silas! And yeah, we are.

Silas: Great, Yuu mind if we take a break here too? I also am supposed to be asking questions around the three wishes students. Do you two mind?

Li Jie: Course not!

Zeki: Whatever.

Yuu: Go ahead, I could use a break.

Silas: Great! I’ll get us all a snack then we can get started.

[awhile later]

Silas: Okay, so Li Jie, you’re close with Mingyu - a member of AMBUSH. Were you surprised to hear she was entering the competition? There wasn’t word of AMBUSH on campus until the event started advertising, after all.

Li Jie: I’ve known about it for awhile! Me and Mingyu are besties after all, heh. But I’m not surprised in the slightest. Mingyu has always loved music! Wished she could sing but you know, sometimes it be like that.

Grim: Be like what?

Silas: That’s… a long story let’s save it for another time. Do you think AMBUSH has what it takes to win?

Li Jie: Absolutely. With Mingyu on their side, it’ll be hard to lose!

Silas: And what about you Zeki?

Zeki: What about me?

Silas: Do you think AMBUSH has a chance of winning or do you think your brother’s group will win?

Zeki: I’ve never heard them perform before, either of them, so I can’t really say. I hope NRC doesn’t win though.

Grim: Hey! Why not?!

Zeki: Because they’re the top dogs as far as schools go - you guys and RSA. I was looking forward to a competition where they didn’t completely stomp out the competition but here we are, at another ‘waiting for NRC or RSA to win’ event.

Silas: There could be a surprise upset!

Zeki: Not likely. But if anyone might be able to pull it off - it’s Kunal.

Grim: Who?

Zeki: He’s a member of AMBUSH, I think he’s the leader? Anyways he’s also the dorm representative for my dorm. He’s an annoying guy who barely knows how to communicate but he’s stupidly stubborn - so he could just brute force it and scare people into voting for them if nothing else.

Grim: Sc-scare people?

Zeki: Let’s just say you’ll know him when you see him. Not a hard guy to miss.  Still, didn’t think he would be the kinda guy in a band. I wonder what instrument he plays.

Silas: He’s not that scary, but I agree. I wonder what Kunal-senpai will be playing.

Silas: Thanks for the answers you two, I got them recorded onto my phone and i’ll hand that off to the newspaper club later when they start writing the article about this event.  

Li Jie: For sure, happy to help!

Silas: Let’s stop by the NRC dressing room for you two. They should be ready by now for a few questions or photos for you too.

Yuu: Good idea! Bye Li Jie, Zeki

Li Jie: See ya!

Zeki: Hmph.

[LOCATION: TWI THEATER, BACKSTAGE RIGHT WING]

???: Oh Silas, there you are.

Silas: Quinn-senpai!

Quinn: No need to be so surprised. I’m checking on everyone in the newspaper club and those volunteering.

Grim: Who is this guy?! They’re so...fancy.

Quinn: Ha, thank you for the compliment. I’m Quinn Neander, I’m the head of the newspaper club and a third year student at Three Wishes Institute. Any pronouns are fine.

Yuu: It’s nice to meet you.

Grim: This guys aura is something else.

Quin: Hm, so, Silas?

Silas: Oh! I’m doing fine. I was about to walk with Yuu back to the NRC dressing room so they can take some pictures of them.

Quinn: Excellent, I’ll tag along with you, I need to interview them anyways.

Silas: Great, let’s all go over together then.

???: Whisper whisper

Quinn: Hm? Hold on.

Silas: What is it?

???: Whisper, whisper.

Quinn: With me you two, I smell a story.

Grim: Since when were you in charge?!

Yuu: Let’s just go with them.

[LOCATION: TWI THEATER, CONTROL AREA]

Grim: Wh-Whoa, who is that big guy?

Silas: That’s Kunal-senpai, Zeki mentioned him.

Grim: Well he was right about him being scary!

Quinn: Quiet.

Kunal: I’m sorry but I really don’t know.

Reed: Well, this is a disaster.

Amelia: I can pull from my savings if it comes to th--

Reed: No way! We’re saving that for our wedding.

Amelia: But if it’s to replace the donation money--

Quinn: If I may

Kunal, Amelia, and Reed: !!!

Kunal: You. How much did you hear.

Silas: only a small amount but-

Quinn: Did something happen to the donations?

Amelia and Reed: …….

Kunal: ….it’s been stolen.

Silas, Yuu, and Quinn: !

Grim: WHAT?

[voidselfshipp]

God im just thinking about how much I love my aunt/uncle/auncle vica Crawford so ill just Gush about them :)

Like,they are just amazing???, they love taking care of me,and Yeah they May seem brash to other people about everything,but they are not good with feelings.

Inside the house they are a loving parental figure,making sure im okay,asking me if I want anything and help me on bad mental health days.

So here are some headcannons of em, and maybe ill do some for their partner illa, and their son Silas.

Also vica is agender they use they/them/theirs pronouns please do not misgender them or I will block you.

(Ok to rb)

Vica is not good with pda,period.

Years of being in the void have ruined their communication skills with other humans except me.

Vica may be brash,and seem rude, they May be a bit too Straight forward but its just how they learnt to survive in the void.

Theyve been in survivor mode most of their life after the Last Dawn Of Terra (a very important war between two gods in my story) vica isnt in tune in their emotions,if they do so they know that theyll have to deal with unresolved trauma.

Vica is good at Spotting liars, partially cause of their status as the oldest demon in my story.

Besides their chaotic nature they are however very understanding.

They are still empathetic and Will understand when I cant get out of bed.

"Dont worry luv, ill make cup of tea and illa Will bring ya pastries, youll be 'back on your bullshit' as you youngster say,in no time.

I tell them whats bothering me, and they always have an advice "its painfull to cut people you no longer need in your life, but I promise ya youll be fine we'll manage this togheter "

Is very overprotective, theyll follow me around in any form,crow,cat,wolf any form is enough as long as they can Keep me company.

Their demeanor changes when they transform

Vica gets snapier when in crow form, not to me but outsiders and Will peck anyone who comes closer.

Always on the lookout for shiny things for me.

Will convince other crows to guard me when they cant come with me.

Rests on my shoulder all the time

(yes I know this is sailor moons cat shhh)

When in cat form we have a relationshipp like gigi and kiki from Kikis delivery service.

They get super clingy always around and begs me to Carry them around.

Sassy x3000000 always snapping comments in english when nobody is watching.

Trying to find cute things to give to icaro.

(This GIF is 100% them and icaro)

They get super protective around me,always making sure Im okay.

They also ask for treats.

Vica likes to howl to annoy me but I got uses to it.

When we get back to the cottage they have with icaro whenever I stay over we go up the stairs and I sit by my bed near a Windows where we watch the rain , vivas face on my lap,illa brings Us tea and we spend the rest of the day like that.

And talking about illa.

They are such a softie for illa.

Illa is the top everyone.

Their dynamic is tall!sassy brut x smol!kind brit.

Dont let them fool you illa can be scary when angry and vica knows this.

Do not try them.

You Will regret it.

I have to bear their constant love quips.

"You look splendid today dearest"

" oh why thank you vica,youre the light of my life"

They are based off azirphale and crowley, thats all you guys need to know.

Overall vica Crawford (pronounced CROWford) is one of my fave ocs and comfort characters, I love them and they are a great familial figure to have in my life.

Tysm for Reading.

[thecomicsnexus]

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1-6 NOVEMBER 2011 - APRIL 2012 BY GEOFF JOHNS, JIM LEE, SCOTT WILLIAMS, ALEX SINCLAIR, HI-FI DESIGN, GABE ELTAEB, SANDRA HOPE, MARK IRWIN, JOE WEEMS, TONY AVIÑA AND MATT BANNING

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Batman is pursuing one of Darkseid's Parademons across the rooftops of Gotham, while the Gotham police pursue and fire upon both of them from helicopters. Batman blinds the police in the helicopters with smoke bombs, then stops the Parademon and is attempting to interrogate it when it lets out a burst of flame, forcing Batman to release it. As Batman and the Parademon face off again, Green Lantern interrupts the fight by slamming a fire-engine construct into the Parademon. The Gotham police continue firing on Batman, Green Lantern, and the Parademon, but their fire is blocked by Green Lantern's shield constructs. As Batman and Green Lantern talk, the Parademon recovers and destroys the police helicopters, but Green Lantern creates bat constructs which hold up the helicopters and prevent the heroes from getting injured. As they follow the Parademon into the streets of Gotham, Batman suggests that Green Lantern return to Coast City, since "Gotham's mine. Coast City is yours." Green Lantern responds by saying that the entire space sector is his and he was alerted to an "unauthorized extraterrestrial presence" in Gotham.

Batman and Green Lantern move underground in pursuit of the Parademon. Green Lantern asks Batman whether he has any powers. Batman replies "No.", to which Green Lantern replies, "Hold on a second, you're not just some guy in a bat costume, are you? Are you freaking kidding me?!". Batman then holds up Green Lantern's power ring and asks him how it works, upsetting Green Lantern who asks if Batman would really want to pick a fight with someone who can create anything he can think of. Batman says that he'd be worried if he thought Green Lantern could think.

Batman then points out the Parademon attaching a Mother Box to a sewer wall. With a shout of "For Darkseid!", the Parademon blows itself up, attempting to kill Batman and Green Lantern in the blast, but Green Lantern creates a (literal) safe construct to save them. When Green Lantern attempts to scan the box, the ring can't identify it, which Green Lantern says is impossible since the Guardians know everything. Batman says the box looks like some kind of "alien computer", and the two agree to go to Metropolis to ask the known extra-terrestrial Superman about it.

Meanwhile, at a high school football game, wide receiver Vic Stone impresses several college recruits. After the game, the scouts all want to talk to Vic. In the meantime, a despondent Vic is on the phone telling his father (or his father's voicemail) that his coach won't let the scouts talk to him without his dad there, and that they won the game (not that his dad would ask). After he hangs up, Vic, along with most of the team, runs outside to excited shouts as Batman and Green Lantern fly overhead in a jet construct. One of his teammates asks Vic if his dad studies super-humans, and he says that while he does, he never talks to him about them.

After landing in Metropolis, Batman criticizes the jet construct as being too visible while he and Green Lantern look for Superman. Green Lantern's ring leads them right to him, at which point Green Lantern encases Batman in a cage construct and tells him that he can also handle it. A moment later, Superman, using super-speed, knocks Green Lantern through the cage construct and into a pair of parked cars, apparently knocking him unconscious. As Batman begins to rise up from the ground, Superman looks at him and says "I don't handle easy. So...what can you do?"

At the crime lab of the Central City Police Department, Barry Allen is arguing with Director Singh because the latter ordered him to leave a case. The reason is because their chief wants them all working on the "Flash case": They must find out everything about the vigilante named "the Flash", including his secret identity. Of course, the CCPD is unaware that Barry Allen is the Flash.

Back at the fight between Superman and Batman, the Man of Steel points out that Batman's utility belt is empty, leaving him without any means of defense against him, as nothing Batman used so far on him has worked. Superman charges against Batman and crushes him against a wall. He then starts interrogating the Dark Knight, demanding to know where the mysterious boxes that have been appearing over the last few days come from and what are they for. Green Lantern gets up while people run away from him and gets ready for a second chance against Superman. While the latter is choking Batman, Green Lantern attacks Superman, while Batman tries to stop them both. Lantern captures Superman in chains made by his ring, but Superman points out the absurdity of doing so and easily frees himself by breaking them. He then starts attacking both Green Lantern and Batman, constantly punching Green Lantern's constructs. After Lantern creates a shield construct to protect himself and Batman, he gets the idea of calling a friend who may be faster than Superman: Barry Allen, the Flash. Barry gets surprised by the fact that Hal is with Batman and is fighting Superman. At first Barry refuses to help Hal, since the last time Green Lantern and the Flash were seen together they destroyed the Museum of Natural History while stopping Gorilla Grodd. Since the situation against Superman is getting critical with Lantern's shield giving way, Barry is convinced to help Hal, gets on his Flash costume and starts attacking Superman. At first he only teases him by easily avoiding his attacks, until Superman manages to hit him.

Batman quickly intervenes and stops the fight, explaining to Superman that they had nothing to do with the invading Parademons, and Green Lantern and him were also attacked by them. While Batman explains that the reason why they looked for him was because he was also an alien and could better explain the nature of the boxes and the Parademons, the Flash starts cleaning up and repairing the site of the fight, but they get interrupted by the forces of the government, so they quickly go into hiding in the sewers, convincing Superman to go with them.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, at the S.T.A.R. Labs Super-Human study center, Silas Stone and his team are studying the mysterious box from Superman's battle earlier that morning. While doing so, Silas gets informed of the arrival of his son Victor, to which he reacts frustratingly annoyed. Victor explains to his annoyed father that he has great chances of lots of full scholarships. His father answers that he is already paying him his school, so he doesn't need a scholarship. While Victor tries to explain to his father how important sports are to him, Silas points out how pointless is to take interest in sports in a world full of super-humans that have abilities over the finest of regular humans, thus rendering any effort to be a great sportsman obsolete. Victor then wants to confirm whether his father really isn't going to come to one of his games, to which his father confirms. Meanwhile, the four heroes have hidden themselves at an abandoned printing press, the only safe place Superman knows at Metropolis. Green Lantern suggests to Flash that they better get rid of Batman and Superman, because they would only be a burden. Flash refuses because they need someone to help them figure out the nature of the boxes. While they are examining the box, both their own and the box at S.T.A.R. Labs start reacting strangely, opening a Boom Tube that teleports a swarm of Parademons in both places and start tearing Victor apart.

In Washington D.C., military personnel, including Colonel Steve Trevor, are observing TV reports of crowds protesting against Wonder Woman because she is a pagan, and because she, like the other super-powered humans, is perceived as dangerous. Apparently, Diana had previously been with them at their office in the Pentagon, and Trevor asks where she has gone. He is told that she was watching the TV news; and when she spotted a report about a winged monster terrorizing people in downtown D.C., she took off. Efforts to detain her were futile because of her raw power.

Wonder Woman is walking in D.C. as a crowd gathers and gapes at her. The crowd remains silent out of fear, until a young girl seems unafraid and introduces herself. Wonder Woman and her new friend enjoy an ice-cream break together. Steve Trevor arrives and tries to talk Diana into returning with him to the Pentagon. Diana resists, saying that she wants to fight the forces of darkness that are lurking nearby.

Suddenly they are startled to see one of Darkseid's minions, making the same pinging sound as before. Several of the aliens swoop down to attack Wonder Woman. Diana is pleased that the battle has come to her, and beams with excitement.

At S.T.A.R. Labs in Detroit, the winged monsters are terrorizing the workers. One of the monsters snatches and abducts Professor Ivo. Dr. Silas Stone is cradling his son Vic, who was seriously hurt in the explosion last issue and appears to be near death. Dr. Stone defiantly says that he once watched his wife die, and will not let his son die too.

In Metropolis, at the site of the abandoned Daily Planet printing press, we see lots and lots of the winged monsters causing more terror. We are told that portals are opening up across the world; and that the armies of demons are pouring out through the portals. Someone exclaims that this is "judgment day". Superman, Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern are fighting the monsters; but there are now so many of them. Flash, listening to radio broadcasts in his earpiece as he battles, indicates that the attacks are happening all over the world, and that the populace is blaming the super-heroes.

The heroes talk as they fight. Batman and Green Lantern continue to bicker. Flash is surprised to hear that Batman has no powers. Batman wants to step back and regroup because there are just too many of the monsters. He prefers having a strategy instead of just using brute force. Superman is having good success fighting many of the baddies at once, using a nearby 18-wheeler truck as a weapon to pulverize the monsters.

Back in Detroit, we follow Dr. Stone and his co-workers as they enter a secure medical room at S.T.A.R. Labs, carrying Victor as they go. Dr. Stone implores his son to hang on.

Green Lantern is amazed to see Superman swing an 18-wheeler "like a baseball bat". Superman and Batman observe that the winged monsters are abducting many people now; carrying them away rather than hurting them. Batman wonders what their motive is. Several of the monsters chant "For Darkseid" like before. As the nascent Justice League continues to battle the creatures, Wonder Woman joins the battle. She shouts "Back to Hades" as she barrels into the swarm of monsters, swinging her sword. The other heroes are impressed with her display of strength and fighting prowess. They seem to be impressed by her beauty as well.

In Detroit, Vic Stone, barely alive, goes into cardiac arrest as his father works feverishly to save him using experimental technology. As they activate nanites to help with the integration of the new bio-technology, Vic starts spouting binary code. Subsequently, we hear a message from Vic's machinery indicating that he is now online.

Wonder Woman explains that she followed the winged monsters, which led her to the other super-heroes. She saw their battle in progress, and decided to help. The winged monsters are circling above a body of water, and then start again making the pinging sounds, which usually indicates that an explosion or other dramatic event is imminent. A waterspout appears rather explosively, and then a large and mysterious object emerges from the ocean. The object appears to be a conveyance of some kind, like a spaceship or watercraft. But it may be something else entirely. The heroes wonder aloud what it is.

Suddenly Aquaman rises from the water, saying the monsters and their giant mysterious object were visible in the water as well. Aquaman wants to know which one of the heroes is in charge; and suggests that he would be a good choice.

Victor finally comes to in the red room of S.T.A.R. Labs and notices his now cyborg body and is confused. All of a sudden a group of Parademons bursts in and attacks the group, and Victor uses his newly discovered sonic cannon to destroy them, and then see's himself in a mirror, to which he is taken aback. He then jumps out of a hole in the roof, blaming his father for his new body. Meanwhile the Justice League examines Aquaman's intentions and skills. After getting a demonstration they hold off the Parademons while also fighting the military who have been told to engage all non-humans including superheroes. After debating how to handle the men shooting at them they find themselves in front of a delirious Vic Stone who tries to warn them of an already approaching Darkseid who has now appeared in front of them.

The heroes are recovering from the violent explosion caused by Darkseid upon his arrival in the last issue. Flash is the first to regain consciousness, and is horrified to see Darkseid destroy a military jet and its passenger with his Omega Beam. Superman awakes next, and Darkseid targets the two of them with another Omega Beam. Flash grabs Superman and begins to carry him to safety at super-speed, urging him to move it. When the heroes split up, the twin beams split up also, each beam targeting one of the heroes. As an evasive maneuver, Flash vibrates and passes through one of the demon-bots, causing the beam to destroy that robot instead of the Scarlet Speedster. As Flash catches his breath after this exhausting but successful maneuver, he looks up to see that Superman is not quite so lucky. Taking the full brunt of the Omega Beam, Superman is knocked out, although not destroyed; and is seen being carried away by one of the winged demon-bots. The other heroes are regaining consciousness now, as Flash shares the horrible news that Superman has been abducted. The heroes discuss interrogating Darkseid to find out why Superman was taken. Green Lantern springs into action and attacks Darkseid. His constructs are not effective against the god of Apokolips; but GL courageously keeps trying even while being on the receiving end of several vicious blows from Darkseid. When Green Lantern shows his determination to continue the battle, Darkseid lifts Hal by his right forearm and applies crushing force, causing the arm to break in a couple of places. Darkseid sends him flying with another punch, and then walks away as Hal struggles to recover and persist against all odds.

Batman attempts to deter Green Lantern from going up against Darkseid in his badly injured condition. Batman wants to gather the rest of the team and form a strategy. He criticizes Green Lantern for wanting to carry on the fight with a broken arm. In response, GL fashions a moveable cast with his ring, and says he is prepared to die if necessary.

Batman continues to ask Green Lantern why he is driven to press on in this futile attack. Batman implies that he understands Green Lantern well because they are very much alike. After Green Lantern rejects this notion, Batman pulls a very surprising maneuver. He removes his mask, introduces himself as Bruce Wayne, and tells a short version of his origin; explaining that he was driven to train for a life of fighting crime after witnessing the brutal death of his parents at the hand of a mugger when Bruce was ten years old.

Bruce asks Hal to regroup with the other heroes, keep them alive, and keep Darkseid busy until Batman returns. When Green Lantern asks where he is going, Batman responds that he is going to rescue Superman.

Batman stands in the open in plain sight with his arms outstretched in an apparently submissive gesture. It does not take long for one of the flying demon-bots to swoop down and carry Batman away.

Green Lantern does regroup with the other heroes, and helps pull them out of the rubble. He shares his plan, that they should go as a group and follow Darkseid, who was last seen heading into the city on foot. GL explains that the heroes should stay out of sight for the moment. When they find Darkseid, Green Lantern will act as a distraction to lure him out, so that the other heroes can attack. This was precisely the plan proposed by Aquaman last issue. Green Lantern gives Cyborg the option to stay behind, since he has not yet officially declared himself as a superhero, but Vic is eager to join the battle. The heroes head towards the heart of Metropolis, to meet up with Darkseid.

We follow Batman as he is carried to another portal created by a Boom Tube. As Batman steps through, he finds himself in an unlikely place; peering out over a hellish landscape. It appears that Batman has been transported to Darkseid's home world, Apokolips.

In the middle of the parademon assault, a writer named David is trying to save his family, wishing for some help. His prayer is seemingly answered by a set of green fireworks on the horizon. The fireworks are part of the Justice League's plan to fight Darkseid.

On Apokolips, Bruce Wayne sneaks through the building he is in, finding a pair of superbeings discussing the invasion of the Multiverse in search of Darkseid's daughter, who was apparently kidnapped. The superbeings have Superman tied down before them, and they plan to clone him as part of the next generation of parademons.

On Earth, Cyborg uses his new machinery to tap into he Mother Box network. By saying the word, he is able to suddenly overload the system, causing teleport holes to appear all over the area - and on Apokolips. This shocks the two beings torturing Superman, and Batman uses the moment to free Superman, before the two escape back to Earth through the Boom Tubes. They try to trap Darkseid on the other side of a Boom Tube, but he grabs Superman. With seconds to spare, Cyborg works out how to shut down the network, seemingly killing Darkseid. The world is saved.

In the immediate aftermath, a crowd gathers around. The group thinks they are to be stoned, but instead they are cheered, hailed as the world's greatest superhumans. Writing after the fact, Graves acknowledges the wording was off. The group were the world's greatest super heroes. At a subsequent awards ceremony, the U.S. President gives a speech about how this team of heroes saved the world. Green Lantern is about to break ranks and say it was a one-time deal, but Batman stops him, pointing out that official sanction will get the GCPD off his back, the Air Force off Green Lantern's and the Army off Superman's. The President receives a message from an aide, to say there has been a disaster, and the group is needed. The Flash announces that they have a name, and tells the President to call them the "Super Seven." The rest of the team hates this.

A writer named David Graves writes a book about them later, coining the term "super heroes." In his book, Graves calls this team the "Justice League." The book is titled "Gods Among Us" and the cover depicts them fighting a starfish-monster (Starro).

In London, a man with the shadow of a devil meets a man with glowing blue eyes. They discuss the fact that since the Justice League started, similar beings have become active: Green Arrow, Hawkman, Zatanna. The second man muses that if these are super heroes, then people like himself would be called super villains. As he lights a cigarette, we see he has a monstrous-looking lapel pin.

On a street in the rain, a man has been murdered. The Woman in Purple is there, trying to investigate. As she walks away, she is accosted by the Phantom Stranger, who tells her that she was wrong to alter the timeline as she did, and that he is to take her in. The Woman in Purple says that she is done being passive, and shoots the Phantom Stranger in the head. He recovers instantly, and the Woman in Purple says it was a warning shot. She will do what she will do.

REVIEW

I usually tag some reviews as “Post modern age”. There is no such thing. But to me, the era of the relaunches needed to be separated from the common Modern Age of comics. And while the New 52 is the clear beginning of it... I also put Spider-man post “one more day” under the same tag.

The New 52 had a purpose that is very clear in this story. Tell new stories with these characters and do not be afraid of changing them to make those stories work. Love it or hate it, you have to respect the determination of blending three universes. This worked pretty well during the first six month of publishing, but “creative differences” became a major problem for DC that still plagues them until these days. It’s a mess.

But the initial idea is great. When you read this story, you have to remember this is a fresh start. So it doesn’t really matter if Superman is more violent and talks aggressive, or if Aquaman is too cocky (well, maybe that didn’t change so much). This is the first time you are meeting these characters, and this story sets up a few other arcs (that we feel even after Rebirth).

This story inspired two movies: Justice League and Justice League: War. Scenes from this story can also be seen in Wonder Woman. This is no coincidence, as Geoff Johns was also involved at some point in those projects.

Perhaps the biggest difference is Wonder Woman here against the one on her own title. There is something missing from this Wonder Woman, that compassion that makes her different.

As a result of the approach, these characters are way more violent than they used to be a month before.

The art starts very well and then begins to change in terms of quality. If you look at the credits, several inkers and color separators were involved in half back of the arc, so I guess that explains it. It still looks amazing... but it could be better.

Darkseid barely speaks in this story, but we learn his motivations thanks to that scene with Desaad and Steppenwolf, mentioning Darkseid’s daughter. This arc will bookend this title (will be explored during “Darkseid War”).

Cyborg debuts as the 7th member with this story (displacing Martian Manhunter to Stormwatch). To be honest, the logic for this is still an enigma to me. I understand why Martian Manhunter wasn’t popular, but Cyborg wasn’t that great either. My guess is that he gained popularity through the titans animated shows, but this created a hole into the Titans history after the New 52. The Titans are the real losers of this relaunch, in general. If diversity was the concern, I would have gone for another woman (as Diana is the only female hero), or perhaps someone with a different color (like Vixen, Doctor Light II, etc). Ultimately, the usefulness of Cyborg in the context of the group is that he can teleport them. That’s his main asset. I respect it, but I am still not convinced.

I give this story a technical score of 10

[pangtasias-atelier]

Birthright Lunatic is done!!

It's still honestly a decent game until near the end where the writing just kinda amps up its faults.

Gameplay wise, the beginning of the game was immensely fun. The maps are decent but midgame to endgame had a bunch of maps that were just so open and threw a bunch of enemies at you and called it a day. Which is never my favorite map design. Cause it's just a numbers game at that point more than anything.

I know Conquest lunatic is gonna be hell, but I really wanna see it for myself. My favorite map design ever, or at least way up there, is probably Shadow Dragon's final map on HM5. Like, there's so much going on and the forces you to hurry up. And if you take too long, then your units get trapped in reinforcement hell or you use a door key to escape but then your entire group has to deal with those reinforcements. It's just a really fun map lol especially since everyone's forced into like 4 groups at first.

But back to Birthright, the whole exp vaccum that happens cause the bulk of the group joins in a span of 3/4 chapters is kinda fun? It's a mess, but it's different than most FE games. So jointime isn't that important. But it's still kinda a mess with bases being super more important. Though they've always been important.

Gameplay is fun and the balance, minus Ryoma, is pretty great. Honestly, Ryoma just has amazing bases and growths, but what really helps him is Raijinto and it shows how busted 1-2 range weapons just are and it creates a niche for him that was basically destroyed in Fates with the nerfs to javelins, hand axes etc.

Daggers/shurikens are definitely the absolute MVP of this game and they're so fun to use and pretty broken. They basically are either killing the enemy, or softening them up so that anyone else can do it which is so helpful. Bows were made amazing by giving them amazing might and also the nerfs to ranged melee weapons. Magic, isn't bad but all the mages are kinda bad, so it's a shame. Especially since Corrin doesn't have access to magic since forced Hoshidan Noble. Though reclassing would help that

Melee weapons as a whole feel great but the Hoshidan weapons lack the effects that the Nohr weapons have so it made them feel a bit lacking. Plus with how ridiculous stat pumped enemies are late game, ranged is the way to go which melee classes struggle with since no doubling.

Overall, as a base of Gameplay, fates is just so ridiculously fun that it's by far the best aspect of the game. Even with its annoying maps and enemies at times.

Also, endgame is dumb in how you can't save in between ch27 and endgame. (Also endgame from gameFAQs ugh)

But the story, it's just good at best and laughable at worst. The over the top killing that amounts to nowhere is just ridiculous. And then there's also the sheer lack of worldbuilding. WE DON'T EVEN KNOW THE NAME OF THE CONTINENT!!!! And things only come up when they're relevant before getting ignored forever again after their short relevance.

And I know, I know, Conquest is gonna be absolutely fucking worse in its writing. Cause j still remember. I forget the exact chapter, but Xander's Justice is an illusion line that happens as Garon is literally slaughtering innocents is just so dumb and grating and bleh it makes me mad just remembering it.

Also, I have a lot more to say about Fates than FE6 cause FE6 is just decent all around. Like it doesn't do anything superb, hell it's pretty much Archanea electric boogaloo, and it doesn't do anything dumb. It's just standard fantasy rpg stuff. But fates just drops the ball in story while simultaneously having the most fun in gameplay. (Which might be why I dislike 3H gameplay but that's another story)

The only real fix for fates I could say is like, stop exxagerating the war, make it way more ambiguously gray (though lbr Nohr literally started the war which is why the whole joining them is just ugh) and more worldbuilding. Which is just all generalizations cause it's not just a few minor nitpicks, it's the entire thought process behind the game that was just kinda flawed.

But anyways!

TLDR; I have a lot of thoughts about every FE game ajndjsn. So liek if you're curious, just ask.

Lunatic Birthright is done, I had a blast and it's ups and downs. Endgame team was:

M!Corrin

Azura

Ryoma

Hinoka

Takumi

Sakura

Kaze

Silas

Saizo

Orochi

Oboro

Rinkah

Kaden

Scarlet

Shura

Izana

[forthemultiverse]

Could Halo Be A Mole?

Young Justice Season One has given me serious trust issues – and Season Two didn’t do anything to fix that: Kaldur, Jaime, Lex at the end of the season, etc, but anyway, I just don’t buy Terra as being this season’s big betrayal. The Judas Contract is so well known at this point that even if they didn’t show us, we would’ve all know she was with Slade. Dr Jace is a pretty good candidate for a later betrayal, but that wasn’t subtle either; the fact she was technically working with Bedlam at the start of the season, taking Halo's DNA, wanting to be with the kids so much, and the mentioning of her lost child.

I started to think about the Young Justice on Apokolips story in the comics, and, well Greta Hayes has a biggish role, yet in Earth-16, she's be shown as just a ghost. Obviously, the show isn’t comics accurate and they could completely leave this aspect of the story out, but that didn’t stop me from falling down a research rabbit hole, and now, I reckon Halo could potentially be the twist betrayal of the Season following a storyline that takes moments from Greta’s.

There were a few things that drew me to Halo when thinking about a mole,

S3E1 – she let the assassins in, she’s shocked and taken captive which implies it’s an accident, but the guy who actually killed them was a suicide killer. Bedlam used him then killed him and she could be in the same situation. The Wiki said she had a job and was just afraid of the guards, which is why she was hiding but I do not buy that. It looked like she was trying to steal something in that scene.

Her memory problems, why create a character with no memories and then have those memories mean literally nothing? I’m waiting for them all to come back and for there to be some big bombshell in them.

The New Genesis/Apokolips connection formed by making her part Motherbox

The comment Silas Stone made about how technology can be neither good nor bad, it’s the user that’s responsible (I’ll come back to this point).

The Scene in Triptych after Halo goes Dues Ex Machina white and gets Brion back off Shade, well, the way Forager says ‘Halo happened’ wasn’t happy, it sounded like he was concerned/scared, like there was a ‘…’ at the end of the sentence. Brion and Halo smiled at each other which caused Forager to smile too, but considering he’s the one from New Genesis, if he’s worried, I’m going to be a little worried too.

Conner literally says, ‘we can’t let a girl in with no memories, she might be brainwashed or soemthing and we don’t want another Red Arrow situation’

Finally, more of a random thought I had, The Judas Contract has; a Markovian Royal, a relationship, and betrayal, so, what if, instead of the royal betraying the person who’s romantically interested in them (Terra and Gar), it’s the royal that gets betrayed by his girlfriend (Brion and Halo). It fits well since Perdita/Gardita is there and there doesn’t seem to be a reason to break them up. After working out those things, I started to research things that could be similar between Greta/Secret and Halo – by the way, I’m gonna refer to her as Halo because…well her ‘human’ name changes.

Some Similarities: Can’t remember their lives before their superhero ones, rescued by then joined teams, have powers connected to life and death, and have been separated from their powers at the end of their stories before (or well, Halo’s become two beings, one human and one super)

Not relevant to the story but I thought it was a nice coincidence: Greta went by Suzie because when the YJ girls were talking about getting her a name, Cissie suggests using one of hers (Suzanne) and on Earth-16, she gets dubbed Violet by Brion and then takes Harper from Will Harper – they both get their names from their new friends.

Now, details from the YJ Darkseid comic story: The team ended up on Apokolips (due to some things to do with fighting on earth) and Tower of Babel had just happened which lead to mistrust in Tim, who was the leader at the time. 

While The Team is mentally tortured, Greta is taken to speak to Darkseid, who reveals her backstory and real name. He offers to be her mentor. The team escape with the help of an army of Lobo's, she doesn't tell them anything other than her real name.    

Later on, the team says no to rescuing her dad (he killed her brother so’s in jail) She does it anyway and goes into a fit of rage, vanishes to accept Darkseid's offer.

The team prepare to go against her as she starts absorbing life (I think that's what she does, I can't remember, she's doing something bad that I'm pretty sure is killing a lot of things) Tim talks her down and appeals to the good in her. She breaks down crying and fixes everything she did.

Darkseid punishes her by taking away all her powers and immortality, not realising that being normal is all Greta ever wanted to be.

Not sure where in the timeline this bit is: Greta's dad is possessed by her brother when she saves him, and he chucks them both into a fire, seemingly killing them both, and I think that's when Greta goes to Apokolips and the team are told to take her betrayal as a lesson by their mentor (Snapper Carr - the guys who’s at M’gann and Conners house all the time)

Season Three is about the Anti-Life Equation and Meta-Human Trafficking, so this type of betrayal storyline doesn’t have to happen, but like I said earlier, trust issues, so hear me out. I don’t think Halo is secretly evil or anything, but you have to consider the Motherbox of it all, because that is connected to the Anti-Life Equation, and being part Motherbox is going to have some kind of effect on Halo’s character arc/morals.

Things To Know About Motherboxes

New Genesis-based, and though the people who created them are known, their true nature and origin aren’t.

Provide user with unconditional love, to the point they self-destruct when the owner dies (NOT MAKING THIS BIT UP) and can only be made by beings of New Genesis and Apokolips

Who is the owner Halo’s Motherbox since she’s died multiple times and it’s not blown up. A few people have Motherboxes – like Orion (Darkseid’s son) who is the defender of New Genesis, and in the past, DS has switched his box to try and control him.

Coming back to that Silas comment, tech isn’t good or evil, it’s the user, well who is her user???

A Motherbox saved Darkseid after he was defeated by Doomsday

Get their powers from life-giving sources

Fatherboxes: Apokolips based, can bring people under Darkseid’s influence, get their power from the Anti-Life Equation

 So, Victor keeps going bad because of the Fatherbox, but the Motherbox makes him good? Surely that could be a two-way thing, and Motherboxes could go bad?

And here’s what I think could happen in Season Three B,

We’ve been shown Bart going through an enemy boom tube in the trailer, and considering Granny Goodness is a Darkseid Agent, we can predict that he ends up on Apokolips (I could go into detail about Bart’s fear of dying that caused him to retire for a bit in the comics but not relevant). If he, and the meta’s with him, need rescuing, Halo could end up on Apokolips too. While others are captured, she comes face to face with Darkseid, who gives her memories of her old life and offers her a place on his side. Whether she says yes or no doesn’t really matter, because she can now be crashing into an identity crisis or having to fight ‘Halo’/Motherbox for control of her body. Her Motherbox could also be corrupted by Darkseid during this conversation, something slipped on her arm, in a drink, just his mind entering the boxes.

Darkseid could be using her Motherbox to spy on the team without Halo even knowing, all Roy Season One, or she could just eventually give in and let the Motherbox take control of her. Once losing control she becomes a minion of Darkseid and the team now need to find a way to separate her.

(Angst on how people feel as not everyone realises she’s being controlled at first and just thinks he betrayed them)

To separate Halo from the Motherbox, it could go very Greta like, the team get a breakthrough with her and Darkseid punishes her by stripping the Motherbox side of her, leaving her normal. I’d kinda like that? Maybe? Because she’d get to be happy and live a normal life, she could still return to the Team eventually, using technology like Rockets (Yes I lowkey want Rocket to get to mentor someone just so she can be back in the story a little lol)

Another option is Dr Helga Jace. I already mentioned that she seemed shady, and she really does, she gets even shadier when you research her.

CW Black Lightning has her as a character: involved with illegal experiments, lost rights to see her child, made an anti-ageing serum for Tobias Whale (remember when I mentioned him in Halo research earlier?? – he’s with Intergang by the way, the people who had a Fatherbox in Season Two)

Prime Earth: she’s neither good or evil, appeared in Suicide Squad comics, the team that Halo joined.

New Earth: Royal Markovian Scientist, secretly a member of the Manhunter Cult, installed a psychic control on Metamorpho  before using him to attack the Outsiders, helped Halo get her memories back.

Now, that mention of psychic control made me think back to Halo in Prime Earth…she was being mind controlled by the Kobra Cult…huh. The reason she got free of the mind control was because a scientist double-crossed the Kobra Cult. HUH.

And Tobias Whale…a Black Lightning villain…who hired Syonide to kill Halo and her parents…

Pause to explain why this little bit is important, sorry for all the info dumping, Syonide isn’t some super prominent assassin in the DC Universe, but she killed Violet Harper, her parents, and she was sent to kill a Russian Scientist that Phantom Lady was protecting (I promise this could actually be relevant). Obviously, Dr Jace isn’t Russian, she’s Markovian, but considering that scientist doesn’t even have a name, I don’t think it’s that much of a problem if she took his place. Reason why this could actually be important, one it connects another scientist to Halo, but also, Phantom Lady was going to lose, Syonide had teamed up with Merlyn to kill this person, and WALLY WEST FLASH saved them.

So, I think Dr Jace is shady, research points that she probably is, but after she’s revealed to have still been dabbling in meta-human experiments, she could bargain with the Team. They need her as an insider to save Halo. She double-crossed the bad guys to get Halo back in control of herself (like the scientist who did it in the Kobra Cult story) and when Darkseid comes to get her, the Team, specifically Dick, Artemis, and Conner, are in charge of protecting her, they start to get a little overwhelmed and started talking about how much easier it used to be and how much they miss their old team, and boom, Wally has a lightning rod to come back from the speed force to help them. Happy Reunion and Halo’s no longer evil. Wooo. That last bit’s just a hope because I miss Wally, but I stand by Dr Jace being key to helping the team while still being morally grey. Plus, if she gets Halo back to normal pretty quickly, Halo could then be a spy for the team, a way to get one over on Darkseid.

Terra gets her Slade plot, but it could play out as an upward arc: she’s betraying them of her own choice and regrets it so bad once she gets to know everyone. She comes to their side, everyone thinks they’re in the clear because they’ve got the mole! Then Halo’s revealed to be with Darkseid. It would be such a good twist and the set-up is there.

Let me know what you think of this theory! (Doubt anyone’s actually gonna read it all but I had to get it all down lmao)

Anyway: Here’s my insanity board though I doubt it’s good enough quality to really be read

[lettersandinkstains]

hi, sorry if this is annoying but i think i might be transgender (mtf) and i’m freaking out because i don’t know anything about how to transition or the identity and i was wonder if you have any advice or anything??? thanks a million

Anon, hello! You’re not being annoying at all! I’m sorry this is so late!! 

First things first, thank you for trusting me with this. And good for you for reaching out for answers! I’m not MtF, so my experiences are gonna be a little different but I’ll give you a run down of what I did, and list options for you and sorta just explain the identity. At the end, I’ll link the resources I can! Hopefully you’ll find this useful!

(Please be warned that this is going to be long ! Everything is itemized and broken down for hopefully an easy understanding and help!)

My Experience / What I Did

When I realized I was Definitely Not Cis, I was fairly into adulthood. She/Her pronouns made me want to die, but he/him felt like a puzzle piece that could fit, but not quite. 

I started talking to a therapist about it, and still continue to this day with talking to my new therapist about it. Over the course of the early sessions, I ended up being diagnosed with gender dysphoria, where there’s distress / discomfort between my assigned gender and my gender identity.

From there, on my old blog, I made a post asking for people to use ‘Silas’ and ‘they/them’ for my pronouns. And it just fit perfectly. I elated that I was being referred to correctly -- the pronouns and the name didn’t make me cringe and want to die.

That’s what I did.

What Is Transgender?

Transgender is the term for someone who does not identity as the gender they were assigned with at birth. They can be a trans man, a trans woman, non binary, genderfluid, etc.

The Steps To Take

Talk to a professional who is trained with and is supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community. While it’s not required per se, I very much recommend it. Talking to a professional is incredibly useful for many reasons:

You can get your thoughts and feelings out to a non biased party.

They can help navigate and help you figure out the steps to take.

It’s good to talk to someone! This person can become part of your support network!

Find a supportive community! There’s a thriving trans community on Tumblr, and elsewhere on the internet!

These people are the ones you can go to and talk and ask questions about being trans and transitioning. People’s experiences vary and everyone has different insight!

They will also be a support network for when you need it!

And it doesn’t always need to be online, you can search up local groups where you live, there should be something nearby. If not, that’s okay! Internet friends are real friends too!

I really love r/transpositive and r/asktransgender! Everyone on those two subreddits are so nice and incredible. r/lgbt is also really cool!

I don’t know any community blogs here on Tumblr since I follow only writeblr’s but someone is likely to know something.

I’ve also got an LGBT+ based writeblr discord if you wish to join a welcoming & incredible community! There are also non writing LGBTQIA+ discords! I’m in one for gaming, and r/lgbt’s mod’s run a discord as well called Spectrum. Highly recommend.

Play around with names & pronouns -- and you can also play around with styles too! You’re discovering yourself and your identity. Do what you feel is comfortable.

You can ask a close group of friends you know would be supportive of you to refer to you with she/her pronouns (or whatever pronouns you prefer!), and a name you would like to be called by!

It’s okay if you pick a name now and want to change it later! Names are an important part of your identity and you need to feel comfortable with it!

Dress in clothes that’s considered to be for women. You don’t have to do super femme if you don’t want to! Like, there is no wrong way to dress and present yourself! There’s butch, there’s femme, there’s an in between, etc.

After all, we don’t force cis women to dress super femme and model like (and doubt their gender identity and presentation), so we shouldn’t expect trans women to adhere to those standards either.

However there is nothing wrong with wanting to do! If that sundress makes you feel like a model, and make up makes you feel wonderful, go for it!! And if dressing in jeans, boots, and a t-shirt makes you feel happy, do that!! Dress in a style that makes you feel happy about yourself!

If anyone complains, punch them. Or Snip Snip.

HRT / Transitioning - Hormone Replacement Therapy. This is the act of taking hormones to develop secondary sex characteristics -- trans men take testosterone (T) and trans women take estrogen. Doctors will also sometimes prescribe another hormone to go with it.

If you decide to transition, estrogen will cause a development of breasts, softer skin, fat distribution will be more feminine, and you’ll also develop curves. Essentially, you’ll be going through the typical female puberty.

You don’t have to take hormones if you do not want to or are not ready yet! This is not a be all, end all situation! Take your time and do research on it and the effects it will have!

If anyone tells you that you have to take HRT to be a ~real trans person~, punch them. They have no right telling you what you should do with your body.

This also leads me back to point one: the professional will be able to help you figure this out and help be a support during the process.

Starting Transition

Depending on where you are and your age is what will be available to you.

Some countries do not allow those under the age of eighteen to transition. Some do with explicit parental consent. Be sure to research this as well.

I don’t know if this has changed since I was a youngin, but you would have typically needed a diagnosis if gender dysphoria* in order to get the doctor’s okay and prescription to start HRT. There are exceptions to everything.

This also may depend on local laws too, so check those out!

Depending on what you’re prescribed, you may take birth control, you may have to take shots, etc.

Where you get your hormones also largely depends on where you are too. Here in the United States, universities offer them at their on site clinics (mine does, anyways!), and some Planned Parenthood’s also prescribe hormones too! I can’t speak for other countries, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin looking for you.

HRT is also hella expensive in some places.

If you live in a country with universal health care, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem!

Coming Out -- Don’t come out unless you are ready & you are in a safe environment to do so!

This is basically LGBTQIA+ 101. If you are not safe to do so, do not do it. I know it sucks, but your safety is absolutely number one!

Everything is going to be okay. You are okay, there is nothing wrong with you.

There are certain groups of people who will tell you that your identity may be ~wrong~ or whatever arguments they can think of. Do your best to ignore them, and when you need to, vent to the people you trust.

Things To Check Out

YouTubers:uppercaseCHASE is a trans man who talks about trans issues and his own transition. He has an HRT 101 series that might be helpful! His expertise is FTM (Trans men) so there will be things that might not be as helpful. Educational videos, however!

arielle scarcella - while i do not like her very much and disagree with a lot of her beliefs, she’s a cis lesbian who has done videos in the past that’s educational about trans people -- and frequently has trans women on her channel where they talk about their experiences with HRT, as well as Gender Affirming Surgery if they’ve had it. (same goes for trans men!)

andrea chrysanthe is a trans woman who has documented her experience with transitioning and does life updates. She recently released a two part video that talks a lot about it. (warning: I haven’t watched all of her videos, and some look to be NSFW for at least talk of kink so be careful going in!)

melanie-ish is another trans woman youtuber! she talks about political issues as well as her own experience with transitioning and coming out. (warning: she hasn’t updated her channel in two years!)

PRINCESSJOULES is another trans woman who also documents her life as a trans woman! She also does make up tutorials, vlogging, and a lot of other things!

jammidodger is a trans man who talks about his experience with transitioning. he is by far one of my most favorite youtubers!

(if anyone else has any youtuber recommends, feel free to add on!)

trans resources -

leolines on etsy. they sell underwear for trans women -- a safer alternative to tucking. they also have binders! fairly inexpensive, and so many styles and designs!

the trevor project’s international center - the trevor project in general is absolutely amazing! they have a lot of resources on their website from phone numbers you can call if you’re feeling suicidal to groups and support groups! this link, if you are out of the united states and are looking for something, will give you a listing of international resources! 

transgender law center - legal services and advocacy for trans folks!

trans women of color collective - an advocacy group for trans women of color! they do a lot to help trans women of color! check them out, they’re super cool!

trans youth equality federation  - they provide support for family membes of trans youth, trans youth, and allies. as well as education!

gender spectrum - provides support for all trans youth, as well as education for families and educators!

I AM: trans people speak - a project that was made to raise awareness of about the diversity that exists within the transgender community.

glaad - resources - glaad is a well known organization for advocacy and education!

WHEW ANON that was a lot. Hopefully you made it through to the end, and hopefully it was helpful! I hope those links above help provide some use for you and figuring out what steps you want to take.

On that note, if anybody who has read this wants to add on, they are free to do so. The above is only advice, from one person whose experience is one of millions and still, different.

AND ANON, one more thing! If you wish to talk, you are so much welcome to DM me! They’re open for non mutuals :)!

Good luck on your journey, may it provide you happiness!

[darkspellmaster]

Steve Dayton and Garfield Logan Relationship...or...Why I’m about to defend Mento... Part 1

So I wanted to get this out of the way due to reading a few posts about Steve Dayton, aka, Mento, aka Gar’s adopted father, and his supposed treatment of Gar on the YJ Show. 

Now before I start I need to make one thing abundantly clear, Steve Dayton is not Silas Stone. Silas is a man who is obsessed with his work and most people can agree that he is an absentee father, regardless of how you may feel about Victor himself at this point. Steve on the other hand is active in Gar’s life and this is an important factor in this defense. 

So okay with that out of the way, let me begin. 

Gar and Steve have always had a slightly strained relationship, and that has not been helped by Rita's death, return, her manipulation by the Chief, and subsequent divorce from him even though she still loves him and he was working on getting better. 

You see Steve Dayton is a genius level Intellect, I would say Below Reed Richards but around or maybe a bit higher than Tony Stark. He, like Tony, came from a rich family and was an inventor of sorts, though I don’t know if that was part of his business or not. In order to impress Rita, Steve, who was already damn good at reading people’s body language and facial expressions to “know what they were thinking” wanted to impress her more, so he built a helmet that enhanced his own latent mental/psychic abilities and allowed him to fly, become intangible, control people with his mind, telekinesis, and telepathy (showing that he already had that ability but it needed to be amplified in this case to work. 

However the helmet also caused him issue, namely Paranoia and dementia, on top of some arrogant tendencies and a lot of self doubt at times. It made his own issues with Gar worse as Steve blamed Gar for Rita’s death, in the comics *Though over time this has been switched around a lot*, however, Steve genuinely loves Gar, though for him it’s hard to express those feelings to most people. Truth be told a lot of the blame issue stemmed from him going slightly insane thanks in part to John Constantine who used him to read a demon’s mind (and same said demon killed Zantanna’s daddy in the comics), so a lot of what Steve said at the time he honestly didn’t mean. 

Steve actively hunted down the Doom Patrol’s killer’s after their deaths, and attempted to, for a while, do justice to the team’s memory by creating a second version of the group known as Hybrid, which eventually disbanded. Steve later created a fake identity to frame DeathStroke for murder so that Gar and the others wouldn’t have to deal with Slade again. 

Raven cured him of his addiction to the helmet and helped him with the demonic brought on insanity and other issues the creature caused, causing Steve to throw away the helmet for a while. Eventually he puts it back on when he discovers that his wife and the rest of her team are alive and joined them again. During this time though he found out that the whole of Doom Patrol was created by Niles Calder, the Chief, who had set up all the accidents to turn the Doom Patrol team into “freaks” so that he could create a second set of Mystery men because...he wanted to. 

Steve throws away the helmet, and calls out the chief threatening the man that he would destroy him if he ever came near his wife or son (Yes that means Gar) again. He took on the role of the leader of the team, but things fell apart when stuff went down when Rita decided to split from Steve due to him reading her mind (though it’s odd as she never had that issue before) and later when an alien attacked, Calder had him use her body to stop them, causing her to spit with him for now. 

And that was roughly where the Doom patrol was left before the reboot in DC Comics. 

Now about Steve and Gar...

The thing about Steve that so many people tend to forget is that he does care about Gar, and one of the reason’s he comes off as a jerk (other than his own personal issues and arrogance at time -which has been tempered over the years) is that Gar is all he has left. 

When the Doom Patrol died, he and I believe Robotman, were the only ones that survived (or at least Robot man was able to be rebuilt). This meant that Steve was the sole parent to Gar, who was a very hyper and some what hard to handle kid in the first place. On top of that Steve was dealing with his own depression, something that doesn’t really get talked about a lot in comics in regard to the death of a loved one. 

Even after Rita’s death Steve tried to make sure that Gar had  a “Normal” life, going as far as to hire several tutors for Gar to be home schooled with, and also willingly including Terra into it. He keeps trying with Gar, even though the two can’t seem to see eye to eye, and yet Steve clearly loves his son. Even if that meant banning him from working with the Titans. 

The thing is a lot of people typically see this from Gar’s perspective, and tend to see Steve as being selfish and mean to his son. Banning him from joining with his friends. But, what people forget is that he lost his wife and his friends to super villains. Again, Gar is all he has and, even though it’s hard for him to say it, Steve loves Gar and always will despite their ups and downs as a family unit. 

Take for example the fact that Steve willingly works with Deathstroke, a man that hurt his son and also caused him pain as well in order to find and save Gar and his friends. 

This is a moment when we see Steve showing how far he’s willing to go as a father. He’s ready to do whatever he can to bring Gar and his friends back. 

Yet another moment earlier during events for Gar and his younger years, when a girl’s father is treating him like trash and he comes to the house to talk to Gar about not going to a dance with his daughter. 

Steve’s reaction, using his height and blocking Gar from the man...

It’s a polite way of telling him to screw off. 

Not to mention what happens during the dance and before hand in regard to Gar and the fall out. 

You see Rita and Steve manage to convince Mr. Jackson to let Gar go to the dance with his daughter. And this leads to this moment.

The thing is that Steve is complimenting him, he’s pointing out that he has a good looking son, and is proud of him for going out even though there’s issues going on there. The thing is that the duo, Rita and Steve, end up going to a dance of their own to feel “Young”...

And while there word get’s to them that Gar is in trouble during another issue. Which leads them rushing in to save their son, who is in a fight with the local bully at the high school. The result...the duo, their son and his date, look worse for wear but clearly please that they were able to handle this situation. 

One of the bigger issues with Gar and Steve is the fact that neither likes to face the idea of losing one another and yet they can’t seem to believe the others cares. Gar has always had a bit of a jealous streak on Steve because of the fact that he wasn’t sure about Rita caring about him after his mother’s death. And Steve has always felt that Rita preferred Gar to him, thus making him more unsure of himself as a husband. 

But when it came to the point where Steve was believed to be dying, thanks in no small part to John Constantine and getting him into trouble with demons, Steve couldn’t put that burden on Gar, so he grew angry and attacked Gar over it when Gar came to talk to him. On top of that Steve thinks that Gar can’t see him as his father, and believes that the only reason Gar acts like he cares is for the memory of Rita, which isn’t true, but Gar doesn’t know how to tell him that. 

Gar on the other hand is always having issues with Steve in regard to caring about him and thinks that Steve doesn’t like or even love him. That he only did what he did was for Rita.While Rita was a big part of it at first, because Steve wasn’t ready for a kid at the time, he grew to love Gar as his own, but again Steve’s not good with expressing this to him. 

Even later in the Titans series Steve was still around, after Raven helped him, and wanting to help and protect Gar from the dangers out there that could take him away from him. At one point he and Pantra were talking in his mansion where Pantha was taking care of her baby. During this Steve learns that there was an emergency after asking where Gar was, and his response...

“Maybe I shoul...” indicating that he wants to go and help him. Again, Steve is not good at saying I love you, but when it comes to Gar’s safety, it’s always in his mind. 

Steve also has faith in his son and his team mates, as shown in his discussion with Maxwell Lord. 

Even going back farther, Steve openly defended Gar in court and with Rita’s help they were able to adopt him. 

By Rita posing as Gar they were able to get the case thrown out and were able to adopt Gar as their son. 

Steve eventually was able to outright spell it out for gar after a huge breakdown due to the influence of his helmet and issues with the said demons. This was during a point when Gar was trying to talk sense into a very dejected and sad Robotman who felt he’d screwed up. 

It’s a legit moment between them that stuck well into the next iteration of the comics. Even after the divorce between Rita and Steve, Gar kept a close connection to Steve because by that point the two had become more like father and son than anything else. 

It’s interesting to note that in Earth -1 Steve is in a relationship, or Married to, his S.T.A.R.S lab partner Richard, and Gar is his adopted son. In this iteration their relationship is far closer at the start and Gar sees Steve as his dad and vice versa. 

In part 2 of this (because I think this is going on a bit long) I want to cover the Young Justice version of their story and why I honestly think that Steve isn’t the Bad guy that Gar is making him out to be. 

[juniper-and-lamplight]

Updated December 25, 2018

A collection of my yearly Holiday Fic Countdown recs, listed alphabetically by fandom & author and linked to the original recs (so you can click through if you want to read my lengthy notes). Recs below the cut, and happy holidays!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine as cuddly as a cactus, hardlygolden, 1k, General audiences "'There is an elf. On my shelf,' Captain Holt pronounces. It’s entirely possible he sounds more aggrieved than usual - Jake can never tell." Original rec.

Cabin Pressure Christmas in Helsinki, Lucyemers, 2.3k, General audiences “Ms. Knapp-Schappey?” “Yes?” “I’ve been sent to fetch you”, she responds, all smiles. “Don’t be ridiculous! Do you know what time it is?” She continues, ignoring her protests,“To Christmas in Helsinki.” Original rec.

Check, Please! Winner Bakes It All, akaparalian, 3k, Teen and up, Bitty/Jack "There are some truly, uniquely incredible smells coming from the Haus kitchen; in fact, more even than that, there are baking smells coming from the Haus kitchen. This, in and of itself, is far from unusual three semesters into one Eric Bittle's tenure as the unofficial bakemeister of Samwell Hockey. In fact, on such a lovely Sunday afternoon in early December, it might even be expected. Really, there's no cause for alarm. Except for the fact that Bitty's not here." Original rec.

From Me To You, IBoatedHere, 4.1k, General audiences, Jack/Bitty "Jack finds the book by accident. Knitting For The Absolute Beginner." Original rec.

Love And All The Other Intangibles, IBoatedHere, 4.8k, General audiences, Jack/Bitty "Eric Bittle's fraught and opaque relationship with Christmas." Original rec.

Only gift that I need, by Signe_chan, 2.7k, Teen and up, Ransom/Holster "Ransom had kind of been expecting something in the mail, but when he got home, his post box was empty. It was weird. It was the first night of Hanukkah and Holster normally loved Hanukkah." Original rec.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Blood Is Thicker Than Water (But You Know What's Even Thicker? Cookie Dough. Tastes Better, Too.), DontOffendTheBees, 3k, Teen and up, Dirk/Todd "'Dirk… you know how to make cookies, right?' The detective glanced between Todd and the ingredients, brow furrowing. 'Actually, I was rather hoping you did…' Todd sighed. He was gonna need another beer. 'Let’s Google it.' In which Dirk and Todd ill-advisedly try to bake cheer-up cookies for Farah at 3am, and maybe confront some feelings in the process." Original rec. 

To Give Meaning, electricteatime, 2k, Teen and up, Dirk/Todd In which sometimes the meaning behind the gift is the most important thing of all, and sometimes Todd gets it all right (for a change.)"  Original rec.

all roads lead home, GabbyD, 3k, Gen "It’s the little things about Christmas that truly make it all feel like family. Or, how each character and group learns to cope with the events of the first season as they experience Christmas together for the first time." Original rec.

Baby, it's cold outside, HolisticPanda, 2k, Teen and up, Bart & Ken "Bart doesn't like the snow." Original rec.

Unimaginable (or, Six Different Flavors of Holiday-Themed Lip Balm), juniper_and_lamplight, 1.9k, M, Farah/Tina “She’s not the sort of person Farah would’ve expected to fall for, if she’d expected to fall for anyone, and just looking at her fills Farah's chest with a wild, buoyant tenderness, like her heart might actually be expanding. It’s the opposite of a panic attack, though it leaves her with the same dry mouth and racing pulse.” Am I reccing my own Christmas fic? YOU BET I AM.

If The Fates Allow, by lavellington, 6.9k, Teen and up, Dirk/Todd "Dirk was familiar with Christmas in theory but not practice. Todd and Farah were happy to go along for the ride." Original rec.

A Very Dirk Gently Christmas, thats_entirely_too_much_tuna, 20.5k, Teen and up, Dirk/Todd "'I’m going to teach you to love Christmas again, Todd,' Dirk informed him. 'I’ve decided.'" Original rec.

Mittens, yeaka, 1k, Teen and up, Panto/Silas "Silas attends the winter festival." Original rec.

Doctor Who & Torchwood The Education of Ianto Jones, Verasteine, 3k, Mature, Jack/Ianto  "Ianto Jones had grown up with a world view of straight couples. Now he knows different." Original rec.

Unsinkable, versaphile, 4k, Tenth Doctor/Jack "Post-Voyage of the Damned. The Doctor has nowhere to go, and ends up in Cardiff." Original rec.

Firefly Consecration, by fox1013, 3k, General audiences "We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty." Original rec.

Gilmore Girls Suggestions (And Mallomars), Mosca, 3.3k, Teen and up, Rory/Paris "Identity, chocolate, mother-daughter relations, and the importance of voting: scenes from the first 90 days." Original rec.

Good Omens How Crowley Saved Christmas, such_heights, 1k, General audiences, Crowley & Aziraphale "It was 1842, and Aziraphale really didn’t want to do it." Original rec.

Harry Potter God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, blamebrampton, 8k, General audiences, Harry/Draco   "Draco hasn't been seeking refuge in religion, just in London's most famous church. The fact that it's on the daily route of Britain's most famous Auror is total coincidence, he's really there for the music." Original rec.

Bitter Honey, Green Night, Faith Wood, 14k, Explicit, Harry/Draco "An inn, an Auror, a criminal, a mystery." Original rec.

As Souls from Bodies Steal, femmequixotic, 40k, Explicit, Harry/Draco “Hope may be found in the oddest of places, even in the bleakness of winter.” Original rec. 

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, firethesound, 12k, Mature, Harry/Draco "Sometimes Harry can't help but wonder why such strange shit always happens to him." Original rec.

All Our New Years, Frayach, 2k, Mature, Harry/Draco "It takes too many New Year's Eves without each other but eventually they get it right."  Original rec.

The Price We Pay for Wings, Frayach, read by raitala, 13k, 80min, Mature, Harry/Draco “Scorpius Draconis Eltanin Malfoy read the first book in the Alford Ocamy series over Christmas hols when he was eleven. Well, he didn’t so much “read” it as he devoured it.” Original rec.

Here’s the Pencil, Make It Work, ignatiustrout, 49k, Mature, Harry/Draco  "Harry thinks ‘Why is Malfoy working in a coffee shop in muggle London?’ is a much simpler question than, ‘Are you going to accept that auror offer and, if you don't, what will you do?'" Original rec.

An Act of Rebellion: Eight Nights of Hope, katmarajade, 1k, General audiences "During the Carrows' reign of terror, Anthony decides to bring his House together in a surprising way." Original rec.

Nine Regrettably Short Stories About Sirius Black and Things That Happened On or Around Christmas, librae, 3k, unrated, Remus/Sirius "The problem was, of course, that it was Christmastime. The problem, of course, being that Sirius had stolen them away in the night - or the daytime, if you wanted to be technical - all so they could have the inaugural Christmas feast in his flat, which was blaring white and freezing." Original rec.

Winter Like a Balm, Lomonaaeren, 2k, Teen and up, Ginny/Luna "The first winter after Fred's death, Ginny escapes into the Forbidden Forest with Luna and her unicorns." Original rec.

Let Nothing You Dismay, montparnasse, 19k, Mature, Remus/Sirius "There are a few things Sirius really didn't count on for Christmas of 1979. The extreme sexual confusion is one of them; Remus Lupin is approximately seventy-eight of the rest." Original rec.

Elucidation Practice, montparnasse, 21.3k, Mature, Remus/Sirius "Christmas, 1978. Remus, wrestling with the mighty problems of gift-giving on a budget, contemplates life, love, London in winter, and falling off the edge of the world with Sirius Black." Original rec. 

Christmas 1980, nightswatch, 4.9k, Teen and up, Remus/Sirius "Remus comes home from an Order mission on Christmas Eve. He's not so sure if Sirius actually wants to see him." Original rec.

Vector, by rageprufrock, 13k, Mature, Remus/Sirius "Mathematics: A quantity, such as velocity, completely specified by a magnitude and a direction. / 3. A force or influence." Original rec.

Six Christmases, thistle_verse, 4.8k, Mature, Harry/Draco "Care is a magic shaped by relation; it alters and winds its way through all spaces. It is always on the move, always changing its shape, and sometimes— it turned into love. Harry felt, finally, like all his various perspectives on Draco Malfoy over the years had clicked into place, simultaneous and one. He felt certain he could love this man through every view, from any side of before or after." Original rec.

Christmas at The Dog and Duck, writcraft, 9k, Explicit, Harry/Draco "Because life has a habit of conspiring against him, Harry finds himself on a weekend away with Malfoy. The fact he can’t forget that one, searing kiss is definitely going to be a problem." Original rec.

History Boys Driving Home For Christmas, surprisinglyOK,  6.4k, Teen and up, Scripps/Posner "This is just super fluffy romantic/family Christmas fun, in which David spends Christmas with the Scripps', and Don finally comes out to his parents." Original rec.

Marvel Maqqaba, Domenika Marzione, 1.8k, Gen "Chanukah in the SSR." Original rec.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Last night you told me: tomorrow, lbmisscharlie, 2k, Explicit, Phryne/Mac/Jack "'Come on, darling,' she says, feeling daring. This is the edge of something, something that has been building since the first time Phryne stomped into the City South Police Station. Perhaps since Mac linked arms with her on the docks of the port, gleeful to be reunited with her friend after many years absence. Things will be different tomorrow." Original rec.

Sherlock (BBC) People Are Basically Fond, apliddell, read by lockedinjohnlock, 5.1k, 36 min., General audiences, John/Sherlock "John and Sherlock throw another Christmas party, with a little surprise for their guests." Original rec. from tender stem hath sprung, astudyinrose, 6.1k, Explicit, Sherlock/John "A few days before Christmas, a sprig of mistletoe appears in 221B." Original rec.

Snowlight, axemeaboutaxinomancy, 1k, Explicit, Sherlock/John "A snowy interlude, with daemons by the window and humans on the sofa." Original rec.

In the Bleak Midwinter (A Canticle for Advent), CaitlinFairchild, 3k, Mature, Sherlock/John "In the autumn of 2014, Mary Watson shot Sherlock Holmes. This is what happened after." Original rec.

A Winter Walk, cathedral_carver, 3k, Teen and up, Sherlock/John "Time is the longest distance between two places." Original rec.

Lab Book, copperbadge, 5k, Explicit, Sherlock/John "'The likelihood of finding a cab on Christmas Eve is fast approaching nil.' 'So was the likelihood of you kissing me in the middle of the pavement, and yet.'" Original rec.

On the Table (Eventually John Watson's Favorite Christmas Story), emmgrant01, art by numberthescars, 18k, Explicit, Sherlock/John "Set after The Reichenbach Fall. Someone's leaving John strange little gifts in the weeks before Christmas. But who could it be? (A bit of fluff, a touch of angst, a dash of smut, some holiday cheer – enjoy!)" Original rec.

The December War, igrockspock,4k, Teen, John/Sherlock "Sherlock's never been good at Christmas." Original rec.

Winters Delights, Kate_Lear, 21k, Explicit, Sherlock/John "Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet the extended Holmes family." Original rec. 

Resolution, by lifeonmars, 2k, Teen and up, Sherlock/John "'Maybe one resolution isn't a bad idea.' New Year’s-related unashamed fluff with a bit of case geekery on the side." Original rec.

Points, lifeonmars, read by Lockedinjohnlock, 54k, 7 hrs, Explicit, Sherlock/John "'The little things are infinitely the most important.' -- A Case of Identity, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What if His Last Vow never happened? This fic picks up a few months after John and Mary's wedding, in an alternate universe where Magnussen doesn't exist, but Mary is still pregnant. Life continues -- just in a different direction. And slowly, Sherlock and John find their way to each other." Original rec.

Christmas Eve, 1939, lotherington, 2k, Explicit, Sherlock/John "They were in bed together, the Tiffany lamp alight in the corner, casting a gentle light across the room. The multicoloured pieces of glass that formed its shade glowed prettily in the dim and provided a welcome contrast from the pouring rain and darkness outside, concealed though it was by the blackout curtain. WWII AU. December, 1939. Sherlock and John share a lazy Christmas Eve at Baker Street in the midst of the 'Phoney War'." Original rec.

See Love Shine, Mazarin221b, 2k, Mature, Sherlock/John “The weight of time is pulling heavily on John’s heart of late. Short days and seemingly endless nights lend themselves to spending too much time pondering his future. Their future. John leans forward to press a kiss to Sherlock’s forehead. When Sherlock’s eyes blink open and he smiles sleepily, a half-formed idea that had been niggling at the back of John’s mind sharpens into a certainty.” Original rec. 

Goodness Gives Extras, mydwynter, 39k, Explicit, Sherlock/John "Christmas time. Tis the season to settle down with a drink, some food and a present or two, and to enjoy the quiet relaxation of the holiday. Instead, there's a case that drags them all over, missing presents,disappointed kids, angry parents, and a freak snowfall. On top of that John has to deal with Sherlock, who is being even more of a prat than usual. He really shouldn't have expected anything different." Original rec.

Entanglement, orphan_account, 3k, General audiences, Sherlock/John "On Christmas Eve, snow covers London, John visits Harry, and Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson untangle some knots." Original rec.

Ghost Stories, SwissMiss, 22k, Mature, Sherlock/John "Sherlock's parents think he and John are a couple. They might be onto something." Original rec.

First Night Out, verity-burns, read by the author, 3k, 22min, Mature, Sherlock/John "As John recovers from the effects of a brutal kidnapping, he and Sherlock attend the Yarders' Christmas Party. There are... developments on the dance floor..." Original rec.

Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle) Also when 'tis cold and drear, garonne, 26k, Teen and up, Holmes/Watson "In the first months of their acquaintance, Holmes and Watson study each other from a distance, watching and wondering... Contains lunatic aristocratic poets, Christmas dinner, plenty of fog and snow, and other such stuff."  Original rec.

In the Shadow of the Past, garonne, read by hardboiledbaby, 6k, 45min, Mature, Holmes/Watson "Holmes would rather have avoided returning with Watson to the Alps, even years after the events at Reichenbach--from which he's not sure Watson has ever really recovered." Original rec.

The Holly and the Ivy series, MirithGriffin, 20k, Teen through Explicit, Holmes/Watson "Translator’s note: In 2010, a strange manuscript was discovered in a private country house long used as a hotel in Surrey. While working on plans for renovations, contractors discovered a dilapidated strongbox in the attic. The box contained, among other things, twenty yellowing sheets of paper covered from top to bottom in dancing stick figures. Upon further examination, the stick figures were revealed to be a form of code. Here is what the manuscript said." Original rec.

Splendid Night, Katie Forsythe, read by Heuristic Device, 14k, 90 min, Teen and up, Holmes/Watson A Christmas fic, set during and around The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, in which Watson gets ahold of the wrong end of the deductive stick and reacts in a histrionic and yet recognizably Watsonian fashion. Original rec.

Dwell Together Still, mistyzeo, 2k, Explicit, Holmes/Watson "Holmes and Watson celebrate the end of an important year." Original rec.

Glad With Our Carols, oldshrewsburyian, 1.6k, Gen, Holmes/Watson "Holmes loves music, Watson loves Holmes, and the author indulges her feelings about liturgical history and medieval music." Original rec.

Since First I Saw Your Face: First Christmas, Stavia_Scott_Grayson, 6k (this chapter), Mature, Holmes/Watson "During the Great Hiatus, Holmes, studying in Tibet, reflects on his first meeting with Dr John Watson." Original rec.

Waltzing & Wassailing, wordybirdy, 2k, Gen, Holmes/Watson "Should Holmes & Watson accept Mycroft's invitation to his New Year's Eve celebrations? What reservations could Holmes possibly have?" Original rec.

Star Wars Some Like It Hoth, fennecfawkes, 2k, Mature, Finn/Poe "Greetings from Hoth, where the climate isn't the kindest, but the company can't be beat." Original rec.

Supernatural Gone Away is the Bluebird, clockworkrobots, 1k, unrated, Dean/Castiel "'Well, perhaps I’ve been down here, with them, for too long,' Castiel admits to his sister as he drives. 'There’s seemingly nothing but chaos. But not all bad comes from it. Art. Hope. Love. Dreams.' 'But those are human things,' Hannah says, with unmasked confusion. She is not judging, just trying to understand. Castiel almost wants to smile. It's like looking in a mirror to the past. 'Yes.'" Original rec.

The Cold of Flesh and Stone, entangled_now, 9k, Explicit, Dean/Castiel "Maybe I'm sick of spending Christmas elbow deep inside something's intestines, or standing in a grave somewhere in the freezing cold waiting for bones to burn." Original rec.

Collateral Damage, komodobits, 7k, Explicit, Dean/Castiel "Castiel takes offense at being called awkward, and goes out of his way to prove Dean wrong." Original rec.

Softer and More Beautiful, by misslucyjane, 8k, Explicit, Dean/Castiel "Christmas is a human celebration, and Castiel is with a couple of humans." Original rec.

All the Neighbors Might Think, murron, 4k, Explicit, Dean/Castiel "It’s not like Dean needs company on Christmas Eve." Original rec.

One Cold Night, xylodemon, 16k, Explicit, Dean/Castiel "'Dean, are you all right?' 'Yeah. I'm just --' Dean shivers again. His teeth clack together. 'Jesus Christ, it's cold.'" Original rec.

The West Wing The DoD, by E.E. Beck, 2k, Teen and up "Sam had a plan. Sam had a secret plan. Takes place in the month following Noel." Original rec.

Fic bookmarks | Fic Recs Masterlist

[lorraine-lemieux]

August 607 - Ten Months Later

Stormglen Village.

A little cottage had come to serve as the home of Clemence Lemieux since the end of July. Her father, though disappointed, had kindly bankrolled the whole thing and given his daughter an allowance as she tried to make a life with the small child she’d brought into the world. The baby, only three weeks old now, lay sound asleep in a bassinet as Clemence quietly fixed herself a little super in the glow of the hearth. Light rain had begun to fall, its sound soothing her.

“Mommy,” a little girl, about five years of age and who was the carbon copy of Maria whined struggling to keep up as they trudged through squelching mud. “My legs are tired!” “Come here, my angel,” Maria soothed the young Venreena and scooped her up into her arms. The rain had been coming down in a steady shower, making her journey to the cottage she had been directed to by the Lord Lemieux... after much begging and pleading on her behalf. It finally came into view and she hastened her steps. “Mommy, where’s Daddy? Why can’t he come?” Maria sighed, still trying to come up with a way to explain to her daughter why she wouldn’t be seeing William anymore. “Daddy is back at home and he is very busy right now. You and I are going to pay someone a visit though! Isn’t that exciting?” She hitched Ven up further on her waist and came up to the door and gave it several knocks.

Clemence had no reason to be frightened by the knocking on her door, but she jumped anyway. Laughing at herself as she stood from prodding a few white hot coals at the bottom of the inferno that crackled and threw the charming cottage into relief.

She swept to the door, her simple dress billowing around her ankles and she threw it open with a look of confusion that quickly turned into realization. She stepped into the rain and attempted to hug the woman holding the toddler. "Maria!" She'd exclaimed, "Look at yer! Y'alright?"

Maria clutched her daughter close to her, knowing how absolutely pathetic she looked right now.

Both she and Venreena were dressed in traveling cloaks and their hoods pulled up and but Maria’s wouldn’t conceal the dark shadow of a bruise that was on her cheek. “Clemence,” She exhaled on a grateful breath that she had found the right place. Venreena turned her head to bury her face in Maria’s shoulder, playing shy. “No, I’m not. I didn’t know who else to turn to... I don’t know anyone else in Gilneas and when I went to your parents, they told me I could find you here.”

Clemence's keen gaze was quick to fix on the shadow across Maria's face. She released her, waving both in at once and shutting the door behind them once they were in. She made sure the lock the door as well. It's mechanism giving a tell-tale clickclack. She turned towards the fire where a tea kettle was being kept warm and pulled it off with the poker. "Sit," she said to Maria, as she gestured to the chair. "Yer safe 'ere."

Maria glanced over her shoulder, paranoid that she had been followed. “Thank you,” she answered before rushing in.” The woman looked around the cottage before turning back to Clemence. “I have to leave him, Clemence, I want to go home. I can’t take it anymore.” She places Venreena on her feet so she could sit down. Her shoulders slumped as she rested her elbows on her knees and covered her face with her hands.

"Ya should'a left 'im last fall," she said, sternly. But, she knew battered women didn't always have a choice. She frowned, "Yer left now... tha's what mattered. 'N ya go 'er out, eh?" She pointed at Venreena. A sudden thunderclap crashed over head and caused the infant to being a mewling cry. Clemence, red in the face suddenly, turned to tend to the tiny human child; picking it from the basket. She was small, pale, and had a peach-fuzz layer of red hair.

Venreena began wandering around the cottage, looking around at all the odds and ends. Meanwhile, Maria nodded though her hands still cradled her bruised face. “I know, and I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you that night. We— we were trying to get some investors, but now we’ve lost everything!” Red waves turned and looked at the baby that Clemence was now tending to. “Is she yours?”

Clemence looked fondly from the face of the child to Maria, offering her the tiniest grin. "Yes," she said, sheepishly, "Yes, she is."

“Baby!” Venreena squealed rushing to Clemence’s side and tugging on her skirt for attention. She pointed at the bundle she carried. “You has baby?”

“She’s beautiful.” Maria offered her a small smile though it disappeared quickly. Leaning back in her chair, she shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. I want to go home, but I don’t think they would want me back.”

Clemence's face turned upon Venreena's with a brilliant, kindly grin. She crouched slightly to show the girl the baby, who appeared to be waxing into the stages of no longer looking like an angry red potato. Her dark eyes were open and fixed with wonder on the face of her cousin. Clemence glanced at her, "Maria... I... I 'ave ter tell yer sumfink... and I don't know if it will 'elp or 'arm yer. But, it's important, right?

A gleeful squeal emitted from the toddler followed quickly by giggles. “Mommy! Look at baby! Look at baby!” She jumped up and down in excitement and then looked at Clemence. “Did the baby grow in your tummy? I came from Mommy’s tummy when I was a baby!”

Maria gave her daughter a sad smile and nodded. “Yes sweetie, I see her. She’s very small, isn’t she?” She then looked up at Clemence and lifted her dark red brows. “What is it?”

Clemence beamed, "Yes, she did," she said softly, her face contorting slightly at the ear-splitting squeal. But she laughed it off, because it made her own daughter smile. She offered Maria a little smile and said, "...I um... my daughter is... is your niece?"

Maria removed her cloak and stood up to move over to the fireplace, draping her rain soaked cloak over the fire grate. “Come here, Venreena,” Maria beckoned her over with the crooking of two fingers. The smaller redhead shuffled over to her mom and lifted her chin. They did this a lot. Maria took off Ven’s cloak and draped it next to her own. Her daughter was in nothing more than a homespun dress, looking very dingy and faded. Maria’s head snapped back to Clemence at the declaration. “My niece? What are you—“ Silas had been at the party, the reason she had run off from Clemence in the first place. “My brother?”

Clemence could only nod at the implication. "He doesn't know," she said, "We went back to find you.... but-- but you'd gone and he left shortly after."

“By the Tides,” she breathed out. “Clemence... Silas is married.” Then she gave a look of consideration. “Well at least he was when I left.”

Clemence sat slowly, her fingers smoothing the round cheeks of her daughter's angelic face gently. She looked at Maria, "...That could be w 'e 'asn't answered me letters," she said, quietly, "They keep ...gettin' sent back, i'n it? The bloomin' last one came wiv a letter from some bloke called Dietrich?"

Maria pulled Venreena into her lap, kissing the top of her head before nodding in acknowledgment. “That would be my father.“

Clemence frowned at her and shook her head, "Maybe I can write ter 'im and tell 'im yor 'ere and we can find a boat back 'ome for yor?"

Maria shrugged. “I don’t know what would be best at this point. All I know is I need to get Venreena away from William as far as possible.” The toddler looked up at her mother with wide amber eyes.

Clemence gave her a nod, "Okay, right, yer can stay 'ere as long as yer need," she said smiling, "And then, wen yor ready; I will go dahn ter the city and ask Daddy ter 'elp cop a boat ter 'ave yer 'ome, okay?" Her dark eyes redirected to the little girl with her and she offered her a little smile too, "Do yer lot want sumfink ter eat?"

Maria nodded. “Do have something I could write a letter with?” Before Clemence could even answer, Venreena jumped out of her mom’s lap. “SNACKS!”

"In the -- Yes, dahling, let's get yer a snack! It's in tha rolltop!" She said, gesturing at it, wedged into a corner of the room alongside a window overlooking the ocean. The same hand came to extend to Venreena, her fingers flexing to guide the little girl into the kitchen. Her own daughter was tucked back into the bassinet and gurgling softly to herself at the mobile that hung over head.

Venreena practically skipped while tugging on Clemence’s hand. “Snacks, snacks, snacks!” She sang with such innocent enthusiasm, forgetting why her Daddy wasn’t there.

Maria had stood and moved to the desk, and began writing a letter, she included a small picture of the little girl playing on the beach, pure joy plastered on her features. It may have been a cheap shot, but surely he would find it within himself to at least take Venreena in if not her. She could handle whatever this life handed her, she discovered that about herself. But a better life for Venreena was worth any sacrifice in the world.

Clemence giggled at the little one, swooping to pick the girl up and set her on her hip. She came to a cupboard and from within she had unearthed a self-made can of peach slices. “What’s your name?” She asked the child quietly while her mother wrote.

“PEACHES!” Venreena squealed seeing the fruit procured from the can. “Peaches are my favorite favorite!” Suddenly she went shy when asked her name. She looked up to Clemence with doe eyes before replying quietly, “Venreena.”

She beamed at the little girl, only fifteen years her junior and offered her one of the sweet pieces of fruit for herself; pincered between long fingers for her to take. "Venreena, I'm Clemence," she muttered, "And that baby in there? That's your cousin. That's Lorraine."

Venreena chewed on the peach slice, the sticky juice running over her small fist. “You Cwemence. Baby Lowwane.”

Clemence nodded, plucking a peach for her own enjoyment before she returned to the room where Maria sat. "All set?”

Maria finished sealing up the letter and nodded. “All set,” she confirmed.

Clemence offered her a smile. "I will go down to Gilneas City tomorrow and send it off," she said, beaming at the other woman.

(Collaborative RP with @venreenaholt )

[hamadynes]

You're ace, but are you aro? You seem to get really attached to specific boys! :P

Tbh I haven’t really come to a conclusion on that? I’ve had one actual crush in my entire life and that dissolved once I realized I’d actually have to DO stuff to make go anywhere and it didn’t seem worth it…

I feel like I… really like the idea of romance, but feel kinda meh about it when it has the potential to actually involve ME. More than anything, I just don’t want to go through life without a consistent person there to support me and generally that seems to only be likely if I find a significant other… which I’m not AGAINST, I just don’t? Care a ton and would be more than happy with “just” a best buddy. Does that make sense?

As for the attachment… it’s mostly jokingly. If they were a real person I could date, I probably still wouldn’t. Characters like Ryuji, Alfonse, Chrom, Silas, and a few others just FEEL different to me cause they’re presented in games with an active dating sim aspect revolving around the avatar (“me”), but it usually boils down to me shipping them with my interpretation of the avatar rather than ME.

Ie: My idea of Kiran and Alfonse is that they have this crazy slow burn strangers-to-friends-to-lovers thing going on while both also refuse to DO anything cause they’re at war and there’s more important stuff to be done. So I ship Alfonse with my specific vision of Kiran, but Kiran as an avatar is technically me, yet also still a distinct character with a different life than mine… hence when I say things like “let me marry Alfonse” I’m more saying that jokingly as Kiran… sorry if that’s super convoluted but it makes sense in my brain…

TLDR; I’m probably Demi/Gray-romantic with a tendency to hardcore project my character preferences onto avatar characters, cause my faves MUST GET THE LOVE AND HAPPINESS THEY DESERVE DANGIT.

[50shadesofaley]

I recently stalked my ex

That one I spent more than 3 years of my life on. He looked happy, thankfully. He seemed in a good place, judging his posts and comments and responses to other people. That made me smile too.

It's actually so weird because I emailed and messaged him up a month or so ago. But I didn't even greet him on his birthday just 2 weeks ago. I felt mean because he greeted me on my birthday last April. But it's like I got this feeling that it's not necessary already. Like I feel that the more I interact with him, the more he'll think I'm not over him. Because it was always like that when we were 'together' and I would really hate it if he assumes that because he would then think that it's his ticket to go back. So why did I message him recently? I asked some very important questions a very awkward-weird one that I needed his opinion on and one I was just curious about. But that's just it. And I'm glad he didn't continue the conversation.

It's also weird because some of our friends still think that it's okay to message him and that I really should try to converse with him again but then I don't really see a reason why anymore. I haven't seen him in more than a year. I didn't even try to find him nor contact him in this one community event I know we're both in. And maybe I'd like to keep it that way? Bitter ba? Para saan pa kasi? Para maging friends? Kasi hindi naman na ako galit sa kanya, matagal na? Kasi matagal naman na 'yun in general? Baka kasi pwede ko mahingan ng favor sa future? Mag-mend ng broken pieces? Ah, kasi may pinagsamahan naman, sayang naman? Another chance? Aren't I friends with his siblings naman? Why can't I be friends with him? 'Cause we're brothers and sisters in community naman? 'Cause we're in community nga naman? Forgive and forget nga 'di ba?

Kaya sobrang naiintindihan ko si Kim Chui e. A lot of people think she's still bitter about Maja and Gerald when in fact she's moved on and happy with Xian already. Just because hindi na tulad ng dati yung relasyon niya with Maja and Gerald? E hindi naman niya kasalanan na hindi niya na kayang pagkatiwalaan yung dalawa e. So you can't really expect her to always be happy happy and jolly jolly kapag nababanggit sila kasi alam nating lahat kung gaano kasakit 'yung ginawa sa kanya. Kahit sabihin pang sobrang tagal na nun, may effect pa rin 'yun sa isang tao habang tumatanda siya.

It's because what he's done, and what has happened involving him took a toll on me personally, emotionally and mentally. And I'd be lying if I say that I completely forgot about it because sometimes it still haunts me. What I felt. What I endured. And I sometimes still remember that this person you trusted with your whole life and heart, has hurt you. Maybe not intentionally, but something he has confessed on and was aware of. Parang gets, oo hindi mo sinasadya pero alam mo 'yung nagawa mo at inaamin mo na nagawa mo 'yun.

But something else has happened, because when I did lurk on his likers and reactors, I saw his ex again on a recent post. And it made my face change. Because this was the same ex that he used to make me feel jealous of. Parang wow, up until now pala? I was surprised. And I remembered again how I felt when I saw that name.

Truth be told, I am happy. I've started to like and love other people after him. 2 men in my life already actually. But that's a different story.

I know you still think I'm not over. And maybe I'm not. But it's not in a sense that I'm still in love with him or that I want him back. No. I'm just not over the fact that I still remember what I've felt in those times of hardship in that relationship.

So why did I write this. Because these very days of last year, I was still super fresh from breaking up with him. From ending it all. From closing all doors involving him. These days of last year marked a freedom I longed and finally had. And now, a year later, I still remember.

It will still take more time for me to completely heal from all the hurt I've felt. Maybe 2 more years HAHAHA -- maybe the same duration of my journey with him? Who knows. What's important is I've learned a lot for the past four years. And I will bring all of this to my grave.

A year and a week later I still remember. I remember but I forgive.

[aida-gon]

About parabatai bond/curse LOS SPOILERS!!

Hello everyone! I would like to share with you my main theory about it and know what you think! Please tell me yours too, It would make me very happy!

I’ve been thinking about this for about a month and a half. I must confess that the first few days after reading I was inundated with the most absolute despair. The fear that this could really end in the worst possible way, in the style of Greek tragedies. Two lovers in the face of fatality, a terrible destiny in which death was hovering, and surely it would take a life or both. As things ended in LOS did not see any solution no way.

After the mourning phase, I was able to see things in a much more positive way (What do you want me to say, it’s in my nature to be optimistic ….

After doing a re-reading of LOS with more calm, because I feared that with the anxiety to know what was going to happen, I would have missed something important, I feel able to tell you my conclusions (which of course are only theories) and I hope to do it well enough, because sometimes I do not clarify myself.

For this, I must go first where it all began. The ceremony of the parabatai ritual. Emma and Julian at 14, two teenagers in love even though they didn’t know it then. They did not know, BUT THEY WERE. I emphasize it because I believe this fact is a key, and on it is based my theory. Because, and if being deeply in love removed the roots of the ritual and therefore created a type of different Parabatai bond?

Unfortunately, we have no reference to another ceremony actually, but we do know theirs by “THE FIRE TRIAL” within TfSHA. And in it, through Simon’s eyes, we could see a flash of something not quite normal, although we can’t know what. BUT DO WE ALL PERCEIVE IT, DON’T WE? And then it’s that CC somehow confirmed it by answering a question from a user. So, starting from this premise, tHe LOVE, the next question I ask myself is: and if the love they share is part of their bond as much as the rune and the spell? What if they were bonded from that moment in that exact way? And at this point, I’m going to a theory that convinced me a lot about parabatai curse and heavenly fire performed by @thorndale (A GREAT POST WITH A LOT OF RESEARCH WORK, SUBLIME) and I will summarize it: Their theory is that the Source of the power increase and causing the curse is THE HEAVENLY FIRE, and in a well argued way. The parabatai, being half human unable to handle the power of the angels, became mad, succumbing to the curse. In addition Cassandra has been leaving a series of images about heavenly fire in her wall on TDA in pinterest that leads me to think about this theory as possible. ROMANTIC LOVE + PARABATAI CEREMONY + CELESTIAL FIRE. It all made sense in my head but I did not know how to fit it. Then my dear @clockworkopera who is an excellent light conductor, made me wonder if the origin of power was good or evil. And guys, as I said , I’m an optimist. Nefilim magic is angelic in its nature and definition. Heavenly fire is the weapon of Heaven. Therefore, both are tools of good. The heavenly fire is also destructive, and has the virtue to burn the evil. Would not make sense then , that this was their salvation instead of their perdition? We assume that the increased powers involved between Emma and Julian is because they are cursed, because it’s what they have told us, because it is what the silent brothers know and the referent we have. But what if it isn’t so? Could it be that the curse is not well understood? We only have the story of Silas and Eloisa, and it might not be the same case. AND HERE IS WHERE THERE ARE TWO POSSIBILITIES FOR ME: A- The curse really exists, but it is possible that performing their parabatai ritual in love they were somehow immunized, and able to handle the power of heavenly fire without destroying them. Because, it is not the virtue of heavenly fire to burn the evil? “If there is more evil than good, the fire will destroy you, but if there is more good than evil, it will burn the evil ones while keeping the good” B- MY FAVORITE. AND WHAT IF THE CURSE IS NOT A CURSE ITSELF? What if the increased power of JEMMA (super runes, mind reading, ability to create heavenly fire) is part of what they are? What if LOVE turned them into a kind of super parabatai whose powers are increased when more closely is their contact? When more are they in love? And if that is precisely the purpose of their union? Then, may be the danger for them is being separated, not being together. Then the curse would not be such, but a blessing, a weapon for good. “Some loves are strong, like cords. They bind you. The Bible says love is as strong as death” “We are bound together, Emma, bound together — I breathe when you breathe, I bleed when you bleed, I’m yours and you’re mine, you’ve always been mine, and I have always, always belonged to you!” ALWAYS, not only 3 years ago… It was an idea of ​​@clockworkopera that the Clave could take advantage of that power, for another purpose. And it would make sense to why it is forbidden, but this already she will explain it. I hope I have explained myself correctly, because English is not my main language, so excuse me if there are a lot of mistakes 😊 I look forward to yours feedback’s !! Even if it’s to tell me I’m crazy! Last edit: I just can't believe I cut the tag of my dear @clockworkopera just fixed it

[bluegreenamber]

A New Story ch. 3

(AN: Yo, who's ready for chapter 3, the beginning of the end? I keep forgetting how much I love writing endings. Let's continue on with the vagueness O.o) Some years later The room was big. And familiar. It was the room they all met in, the one where everything began. It looked exactly the same as that day. Except for the locked doors and two people standing on a raised platform. The participants’ confusion grew as they watched one of their own join the pair on the platform. Maggie looked exactly the same as she had on that day. She hadn't aged at all. Her hair and clothes were the same. It was as if she had been frozen in time or they had all time traveled back to the past. She smiled graciously at them, seemingly oblivious to their confusion and even rising anger in some. Her voice was surprisingly strong, filling the whole room and commanding all of the attention. “Friends, I am sad to say that all of you will die today.” A moment of silence before chaos broke out. Mostly people trying to tell over each other, demanding answers. Others simply stood in silent shock, staring blankly at the platform. Maggie didn't lose her patient smile, waiting for everyone to calm themselves before speaking again. “I will get your questions later. Now I must give my explanation.” She took a deep breath as if to compose herself and then turned towards the duo next to her. “These two men are the founders and directors of the ANS.” She gestured to the darker haired one. “This is billionaire Christopher Bingbong, or Bing for short.” She gestured to the other one with the eyepatch. “This is billionaire Larry McGoldrick.” She took another deep breath, seeming to prepare herself for something. “He's also my father.” Fortunately, there was no loud outrage at the news. Just continued shock and confusion. And suspicion. “I know you all have questions. And I'm truly sorry for having to put you through this. But you chose this.” She paused. “Ask away.” It was Edd who was brave enough to speak first. “Why did you pretend to be our friend?” They could all hear the thinly veiled betrayal and distress in his voice. Maggie wore a pained expression. “To get closer to you. To make things easier. To watch you from a better perspective. Because I wanted to. I like getting to know the participants. Other reasons. It was necessary.” Silas crossed his arms. “Why do you still look like that?” “That… will be explained later. When we’re done with questions and ready to move on.” “W-what…” Jon almost stopped talking altogether when he felt everyone’s gaze on him. “What's going to happen to us?” “You will die. You will get your New Start.” Tom’s brows furrowed. “Wait, we already got our New Start. Why are we going to die now?” A thought that had been nagging at him for a while now surfaced. “Are you going to kill us?” She smiled. These were questions she had prepared for, ones she knew how to answer. “You say that as if you're disgusted with us, Tom. But isn't that what we've done already? We faked your death by killing copies of you. Isn't that the same thing?” “No. That's nowhere near the same thing. And you still haven't answered my other questions.” “Ahhh yes. You believe your New Start was when we faked your death and gave you a different life out there as a completely new person. But it wasn't. Your New Start, the new life you've all wanted, is death. Death for a cause. Death and rebirth. Isn't that the same thing we gave you years ago? Isn't that what you all wanted?” Her smile was dripping with mockery. “No.” The way Laurel’s strong, defiant voice cracked showed how hurt she really was under her mask of anger. “And you know it.” Maggie simply raised an amused eyebrow, as if Laurel’s pain was funny to her. “Any more questions?” They all had a million questions to ask, but none of them were important enough and/or the answers would probably take them nowhere in terms of understanding more. There was uncomfortable silence. Maggie clapped her hands together. “In that case, let's move on. We have things to do.” She turned and stepped off the platform, briskly walking towards one of the doors. The two wealthy men followed silently, and the participants figured that they should do so as well. The door opened to reveal a hallway none of the participants had seen before but that looked similar to the ones in the building that they had been in. Maggie led them to a seemingly random room and held the door open as she gestured them inside. Inside was a circle of chairs in the center of the otherwise bare room. At Maggie’s nod, all of them sat in a chair, the participants tense and confused while the directors were calm and indifferent. “Science is a wonderful thing, is it not?” Maggie asked, breaking the terse silence. She smiled even when no one answered. “Science can do wonderful, often unimaginable things. Science brought us all here together. Science is the reason we exist. Science is also the reason we cease to exist. “We live as long as we do because of science. Our lives are prolonged because of science. We look as we do because of science. We retain our youthful appearances and then lose it as we age because of science.” She looked at each of them in turn, receiving varied reactions. Her smile held a secret in it. “What if I told you that science can also prolong our life, our youth, our very age? Forever?” Shock and disbelief permeated the silence. “How?” Everyone turned their gaze Eduardo, whose expression was unreadable. Maggie laughed. “Finally! Someone actually asks an intelligent question! Well, I'll tell you. “Just like mass and energy, life cannot be created or destroyed. But what most don't know is that it can be transferred. It can be stolen from one and given to another.” She stopped, smirking as she waited for them to catch on. “W-what are you saying?” Tord had his fist clenched, struggling to contain some emotion. Whether it was fear or anger or something completely different was unknown to the others. Maggie seemed to give him her best impression of the Chesire cat. “I'm saying that I'm going to give you all your New Starts. By letting you live through me. Because I'm going to steal your lives and youth and use them to prolong my own. I’m going to be immortal.” (AN2: Vhat a twist. Not really. I'm sure that was super duper predictable heh)