#context can't save some of you

[skymantle]

not shipping something subtextual? alright whatever

not shipping it because a wildly popular INACCURATE fan theory says the characters are related? annoying.

not shipping it because you believe (falsely) that they're related + claiming there's no subtext when the crux of the series is the relationship? DIE.

[cisthoughtcrime]

.

[licorishh]

WHAT THE CRAP IS THIS

WHAT IN THE FLYING FREAKING FRICKIN' EVERLOVING CRAP IS THIS, ACTUALLY

[necrotic-nephilim]

Any ships you don’t like in the batfam fandom that is popular?

OOOH this is such a fun question because I have quite a few

StephCass - i'll be honest this is one of those ships where the fandom ruined it for me. because 2000s StephCass is an elite dynamic, they care for each other so deeply. but the fandom has been intent on defanging and purifying this ship. i don't know *why* but StephCass seems most popular with the anti-Batcest crowd who get very mad if you compare it to ships they deem Batcest. i have an entire meta commentary on this in my drafts I'll likely never post discussing why the only reason StephCass gets the pass for not being Batcest ties directly into misogyny (because the women of the Batfam need to exist as love interests first, not family members so Steph was never going to truly get to exist as a "full" Batfam member so long as she could remain a viable love interest for Tim, and the same can apply to Babs, Helena, and even Cass in some cases) and that just sours me to it. like if i want yuri in Batfam i think there are far more interesting/fucked up ships for Steph like Babs/Steph or Helena/Steph. and when it comes to what i'd actually like to see in canon, i don't want to see Steph relegated to love interest of a Batfamily member, even if it's queer. let her date and exist outside of Gotham the way every other Batfam member gets to, DC *please*.

Bruce/Selina - i can't fully articulate why this ship isn't my thing, it just isn't. i think i just can't conceivably agree with Selina letting go of so many of her fundamental morals and beliefs for the sake of a man, even one she loves such as Bruce. ironically, i think that's one of the few things Gotham War got right about these two. the only canon love interest i like for Bruce is Zatanna and i mourn we'll never get much of that.

JayRoy - i will admit when i was newer to DC the first comics i picked up for Jason were all New-52 and i shipped this. but now that i'm a pre-Flashpoint truther and i've actually read well-written Roy Harper comics, i only see the flaws in this ship. ngl if ppl were actually fun and interesting with it, playing with the idea of Roy knowing Jason as Robin and still seeing him as just Dick's little brother who's gone a little mental, it *could* be fun. but this Red Hood & the Outlaws (2011) and Red Hood/Arsenal (2015) dynamic *butchers* the fuck out of Roy and strips him of everything interesting. and even as a Batfamily stan, my number one pet peeve is when other DC characters get *butchered* in a Batfamily character's book just for the sake of propping up the Bat as some kind of savior. free Roy Harper from this mans.

Bruce/Oliver - we could be here all day if i listed all the Bruce ships i don't like, but i figure this one has to be included. because oh my god either the people shipping this *really* don't understand Oliver Queen or they just hate his ass because why would you subject Oliver to this man. he can't *stand* Bruce. i really hate the popular BruOliie shipping dynamic of like "oh they were boarding school besties" because if you want that, you *should* like Bruce/Zatanna, not these two. Oliver just always gets butchered in these fics and i won't stand for it.

Tim/Bernard - the ESSAYS i could write on this ship and why i dislike it. the fucking *fear* DC (and most popular media tbh) has with depicting queer relationships as anything other than totally perfect and cute for fear of accusations of homophobia has stripped this ship of *any* real grit. Bernard is a non-character in Tim Drake: Robin, he exists to cheer Tim on and prop him up and just be The Boyfriend. we occasionally get glimpses of an interesting character with really interesting trauma and nothing is *done* with it bc at the end of the day, Tim and Bernard must be perfect and cute. what's fun about Tim is he is the *worst* boyfriend alive. that boy is *ass* at dating. all of his relationships are rich with conflict and yet the moment he dates a guy suddenly all of his flaws vanish? i hate it. i mourn what this could've been if we kept messy Tim Drake and had a Bernard who was actually informed by his trauma. DC please let gays be messy again. also of all of Tim's 90s/00s friends to bring back as a love interest, Bernard Dowd was just a *bizarre* fucking choice. Sebastian Ives was *right* there come on now.

Any Crossover Ship - look if crossovers are your cup of tea i'm happy for you but oh my god if i have to see that little green ghost boy or that ladybug girl in the Batfam one more time i think i may explode. i have a lot of thoughts on *why* i think specifically Danny Phantom and Miraculous Ladybug get crossed over as often as they do with the Batfam, but i don't think anyone wants to year that. my only exception to this is Jason/Bucky Barnes, but it *has* to be comics!Bucky. like. Judd Winick's Jason and Ed Brubaker's Bucky would hatefuck and that i wish to see it. any other crossover ship (especially the Peter Parker ones that seem to be rising in popularity) just do *not* do it for me.

honestly besides that i don't think i dislike many ships. (aside from being super opinionated on Bruce ships, but that's mostly bc ppl will use him to butcher the character they ship him with) there are some ships i'm neutral to because i simply do not know enough to have an opinion (like Dick/Wally). i guess the only Batcest ship i'm not particular to is Bruce/Damian, but I wouldn't say that one is popular nor would i say i dislike it, just that it's not my cup of tea. most Batcest ships click for me in one way or another because i like their Weird dnyamics. i guess i could also say i dislike most ships that have come out of Young Justice (tv) because. oh my *god* why were those group of characters put together on a team. it's baffling. but even then it's not disliking those ships, it's moreso disliking that show's depiction of those characters so. everything is really dependant on the canon context for me!

[sskk-manifesto]

:)

[waterfall-ambience]

do you think captain luna should try sending damien to new zealand

[radioconstructed]

⌖ HI, HEY, HELLO! IT’S ME, hi, I’m the problem, IT’S ME, SIMULCASTING LIVE ON AIR and LIVE ON CAMERA! I almost NEVER DO THAT! Are YOU tired of scam calls? I SURE AM! Let’s make these CLOWNS our little APRIL FOOLS! TUNE IN for WILD IMPROV, VOICE ACTING, SCAMMER MALDING, and COVERS OF THE SCAMMER PAYBACK SOUNDTRACK! ALL DAY!

[noxtivagus]

i love final fantasy.

[beeseverywhen]

I mean like. Not to bring the mood down but... you guys know that's because American media is everywhere right? Like the world is unable to avoid some version of American accent on a regular basis. Of course ppl find it easy to mimic. This is absolutely not restricted to ppl in the UK, its really common for ppl who learn English as a foreign language to have perfect 'American actor' accents (cause the reason everyone's so good at the American accent that's expected of them as actors is cause at large there's little distinction between regions in the 'Hollywood accent' that ends up on TV and films and stuff. You guys have massive regional differences in pronounceation, but what makes it on to TV (in 9/10 cases) is a very standardised version of American English.)

But yeah. It's not just actors lol. Most British ppl can speak in a passable american accent, as can loads and loads of people worldwide. I'm not saying this to be like 'you should feel guilty! 😡' but it does always stun me when Americans are unaware of the impact their country has worldwide on all versions of English (and even on use of native languages. Many countries are using English more and more over their native languages and dialects , and yeah, historical colonialism has had an impact there.)

But in the last few decades things have progressed way way faster and that, is thanks to the impact of anglo/american/ect lead capitalism. I'm in no way dismissing the impact the UK has on this, but in recent years, its the US that is largely pushing that train .While the UK and several English speaking commonwealth countries are very involved in this kind of capitalist imperialism, there's a reason that more and more people are speaking American English. Not one of the many UK dialects, not Australian English, or NZ English. Across the world more and more people are increasingly speaking in the same standardised american dialect that's in so much of the media you export. Hollywood based media, with that standardised accent/ dialect and the standardised 'normal american life', has a stranglehold on the world and I just find it crazy that a lot of you guys don't even know.

It's stupid stuff like. So many countries are importing american cars and are widening their roads/ changing town planning to account for it (this is less of a thing in the UK but I see it more and more when I travel). Its the food becoming avaliable everywhere. Its the influence that for profit healthcare has even on countries with socialised health systems. Its houses being built to account for American style appliances. Fashion trends. Worldwide, everything is slowly evolving to be closer and closer to this 'American standard' which honestly? I really don't think actually represents the lives of real American people either. You've been turned in to products, the system has taken an unrealistic snapshot of 'American life' and it's being sold to you all day in day out, but it's also being sold to the rest of us. It's being pushed on us all.

Kids in the UK go through phases of talking only in American accents. Anyone born later than the 90s is carrying round 2 sets of spelling and vocab, cause we're all so used to the American way, that you barely know which one you're using half of the time. In the UK we have always had really strong regional accents yeah, and dialects differ between areas that seem tiny to you guys, I know. But like. Those dialects are being lost cause all UK accents are evolving to become closer to this standardised american and yeah not great, but at least we share a language! US American society is largely rooted in the same foundations as UK society, largely we have the same flaws! But oh my god. What about the rest of the world.

It's global. This impact continues to be seen, steamrollering ahead, in places that had completely different starting points. UK culture isn't that dissimilar to that of the US, so we aren't losing nearly as much as cultures that had something completely different. So much is being lost.

Languages and dialects and everything else is just being wallpapered over so we all meet the same ideal of the 'American life' and it's not even real! It's just a product based on how ppl were actually living in the US, manipulated until it's the most marketable mould. You guys are victims of it as well but like. It's based on your culture so you don't lose as much if you conform to it. Just like how in the UK, if we conform, we lose more than US, but nowhere near as much as countries that had languages, dialects and cultures that were so so different to UK/US culture. The less like the US, your starting point, the more there is to lose.

And look. I said it to start with. I'm not having a go. That's not what this is. But you guys really need to be aware, you need to make an effort to understand the impact that this plastic Hollywood american culture is having on the rest of the world. You need to actively look for it, and make an effort to not pay in to it. Because when Americans see other cultures represented in media and say its not relatable, when you guys go on holiday and make no effort to learn local customs, and try and pay in dollars and spend your time abroad like you're still in America, when you see cultural differences and immediately argue that the American way is better and of course everyone should have giant cars and never dry laundry outdoors and live in American style homes, without any kind of critical thought. Just 'this is how we do it so why wouldn't everyone else do it this way. This is the only way. The American way is obviously best.' When you guys do that you are individually feeding in to this absolute bulldozing of cultures (including American ones!) to allow for better marketability.

It isn't any one individual American citizens fault that things are the way they are, and you guys are victims of the same system, but you need to have some self awareness when it comes to the fact that as individuals you are unknowingly, helping driving this forwards and as individuals, there are things you can do to limit your personal impact (and no arguing that you have no culture is not it!!! Being all self deprecating doesn't do shit. Take some responsibility and accept that individual Americans didn't create this system, but currently, individual Americans really are doing their bit to keep promoting it, to keep pushing it on the rest of the world.

And I've already rambled for an age so I'll stop here but I just want to make clear as an ending note here, that this really isn't about piling on Americans and being all 'boo it's all America's fault. They should apologise. Their culture isn't worth anything.' Not at all this is the opposite of that. The fact that millions of Americans have been convinced you have no culture, all while a mimicry of American culture is plastered on to the rest of the world, and while you as individuals are encouraged to help that happen, often without even realising what you're doing; is a crime. You've been wronged, as have we all.

And America is not the problem. The problem is imperialism and it didn't start with you guys. It started in Europe, and Europeans, particularly British ppl, have a responsibility to push back and be self aware, take some fucking responsibility and not inadvertently keep feeding in to that system, just as you guys do. The US didn't start the fire, imperialist capitalism is a fire that started burning long before the United States was even considered, but its on all of us, to do what we can to not feed that fire. And right now? You guys are the face of it.

This idea of what America is, is the face of imperialistic capitalism, and that means that even if you don't mean to, you guys are feeding that fire more so than the rest of us. You're responsible for spreading it, more so than the rest of us. And if you don't step up and take responsibility, accept that you're gonna get it wrong sometimes and you need to try to do better; if we don't all do that. There will be nothing left. They'll paper over it all, the lives of real Americans just as much as those in Scotland and India and the Netherlands, and 100 other cultures, that are at risk, thanks to this fire, that's currently, largely coming from America.

So yeah. It's absolutely not just on you guys and ppl who act like there's no racism or wealth divide in Europe or anywhere else for that matter are complete idiots, however, this Americanisation of the world (and I hesitate to call it that. Because its not a representation of real American lives. Its simply wearing an American face.) Its real. It's happening.

And we don't tell you about it to make you feel guilty (those of us who aren't dicks at least) ,we are telling you. We are kicking up a fuss. Because it isn't fair. It's not right and while individual Americans ignore that and refuse to take responsibility where they can (small apples. We aren't asking for you to call a violent revolution in our names. Just take some time to learn about the rest of the world. Stop assuming America is always right and examine your biases. When you find them. Stop personally pushing them.) , while that is happening, as individuals, you are contributing to this. It's not even altruism. This system is hurting Americans too. It's hurting us all. All we ask is that you do what you can to not personally contribute, and keep an open mind, be aware. That's all any of us can do.

when a british actor does an american accent everyone’s like “i didn’t even know they were british until they were on colbert.” but when americans do a british accent everyone’s like “they’re supposed to be from east cocksford but their glottal e’s are north dicksford. shameful.”

[reinemichele]

Okay we're making this quick and short, and then we can be detailed later

I switched antidepressants at the end of December, and it turns out I am allergic to the new one. I am allergic to a Lot of things, some of which aren't seasonal (like I mentioned being allergic to mold the other day... every day I wake up,) so I don't just have allergies in spring, it's 365 days a year.

So earlier in January when I was having hives and itchy, watery eyes, I assumed it was the ush, took benadryl (benadryl my friend benadryl), and moved on. But, towards January 20th, I started having trouble swallowing pills, struggling to breathe, and my throat/tongue felt swollen.

My mom's allergic to 2 medications, so I know what anaphylaxis is like. Hives are relatively harmless, your throat closing up is not. Any reasonable person would go to the ER, but...

I've been there before, and it was basically what these reviews are saying. A wait time of 7+ hours despite visibly empty rooms, pain dismissed, staff that treats you like you're dog shit on their shoe. I have to be actively dying to go in there willingly again.

I had a follow-up appointment for January 30th, but as the days progressed, the anaphylaxis got worse, and it was taking longer for benadryl to help. When it had been 5 hours after I took benadryl and I was still struggling to breathe, I knew that I needed to just stop taking it.

I don't know if it was because of me being allergic to it, but... these withdrawals are the worst I've ever experienced. I don't want to list all the symptoms, but it's been Very Supremely Bad. At first I was worried about bursting into tears in the lobby, but I've barely been able to hold down food or sleep, so I got worried that I would be too weak to walk/stand up. I felt bad doing it, but I rescheduled the appointment, and it's tomorrow. So like, I'll be fine, over the last week the withdrawal symptoms have lessened in severity, I made it through the worst part of it in one piece even though it was a little scary

I wasn't sure when I wanted to talk about this, if at all, because I don't like being vulnerable and I kinda just wanted to pretend nothing was going on and continue posting silly things, but . this morning I decided to post about it today . because . last night I went bananas about sound horizon, and I realized it was like that one meme that's like "sorry I stopped posting about (x), I'm on mood stabilizers now"

Like, I'm kinda forced to stop taking my antidepressant, and I revert to my 12 yr old self and start cage-trilogy posting non-stop 😭

(I'm mostly joking, part of me not being as active a la/urant was that:

We didn't get any new music from 2015-2023 (2021 if you count the prologue of ema, but that's still Six Years . do you know what the average shelf life of a kp/op song is? Like, at most 9 months. If people really like it, they'll start calling a song "timeless" after that point. If people don't like it, suddenly it's overplayed, overhyped, etc. When kp/op groups go more than 1 year without new music, people start accusing the management of mistreating the members 😭 We waited 6 years! And we've been waiting for the 8th album since 2010, in 2015 we got the 9th album, and this latest one is "8.5 or 9.5th" . I've been waiting for the album about timeloops/reincarnations for 14 years 😭😭😭 I know this sounds deranged but please every day I wake up)

Those ex-friends of mine I met through SH so I took a step back from listening as obsessively so I wouldn't associate my bad feelings with music I loved

Regular fandom burnout

The 9th album caused a huge schism in the fandom that caused a lot of hostility & stopped people from being as... "innocently" creative, less fanedits and theories and ask games/challenges about it. I think that's understandable to a certain point since it was 2015, but you can clearly see that everyone's afraid of putting posts in the tag, or asking others questions, etc. There were definitely things we didn't need to keep from 2008-2010 era fandom, like reposting fanart or talking about how much they hate (woman performer) for being on stage with (male performer), but the stiffness and hostility is really sad.

But when I realized I was like genuinely Coping with my Mental Illness the same way that I did at 13, too young to be on antidepressants and birth control... listening to the most fucked up, sad songs ever, I was like... that is funny as hell

[whathorselegs]

Haven't been able to get these words out of my head. The fact they are the last thing he says. At first, I was just like "Okay, that's a very Kunikida thing to say" but then I put them into context of what just happened.

He'd been impaled and was desperately trying to use his last moments to allow Tanazaki time to escape. He knew he wasn't living after this, so as per his ideals he was going to fight until his last breath to save another life. If he can die in-service of helping someone else survive, that's enough for Kunikida.

And then he hears Atsushi shout his name. Atsushi ran up from behind Amenogozen, Kunikida probably saw him coming as well. He gripped the sword in his chest with the last of his strength to aid Atsushi in whatever way he could.

And Atsushi chose to save Tanizaki. The very thing he'd been trying to do just seconds before.

That why I think he'd smiling here, that's why I think he says his ideals will live on. Not in some abstract way, but in a direct reference to Atsushi, because he was Atsushi's mentor too. From day one, Atsushi has been seeking guidance from Kunikida, even when he didn't know how to give it.

One of the first pieces of advice Kunikida gives Atsushi is to "start thinking what you can do."

And it has been something he's been trying to figure out ever since. What can he do to help those who need it? To be worthy of living?

Both Atsushi and Kunikida want to save people. Both of them have been struggling on how to achieve that this whole time. Saving people isn't just a single action to Kunikida, it's sacrifice, it's taking on a burden, it's knowing you're tied to this person afterwards.

It's knowing you can't always save everyone no matter how much you want to. It's prioritizing saving who can and living with that.

Kunikida knew he couldn't be saved, but he hoped Tanizaki could. When Atsushi chose to leave him and save Tanizaki he following in Kunikida's footsteps.

His ideals will live on, in Atsushi.

[ochibrochi]

spontaneous magic manifestation was NOT mentioned in the parenting handbook 😬

I know this isn’t how magic in dc works, but the fact that Damian’s ancestry includes some pretty powerful magic users is… INTERESTING 🤔? Drabble under the cut!

I wanna preface that I'M NOT SAYIN' that Damian should/does have magic powers, but there’s still so much unexplored potential with Damian's character, and the thought that he has a dormant adeptness in magic is somewhat compelling to me. Most importantly it would FREAK! BRUCE! OUT!!!!! What is this, magic puberty 😭??

By DC laws, anyone has the ability to learn magic, but it is also possible to be an innate ability. The Al Ghuls are no strangers to the occult-- Ra's has had increasingly been portrayed as a magic user, and the recent establishment of his mother being a sorceress/witch?? Even Talia dabbled in a bit of magic, I think. There is a catch that their power is suggested to be due to Lazarus exposure, but for arguments sake let's say the Al Ghul lineage is inherently proficient in magic (and Lazarus exposure simply enhances it).

I can't recall "magic" being a part of Damian's training/upbringing (I'm still slowly catching-up on Damian comics so apologies if I miss any canon examples of magic use). Not sure why Talia wouldn't want her little "heir to an ancient assassin empire baby" to learn magic, but it would at least give reason to Damian not knowing about his magic potential, or lack of interest in it.

Through the power of pseudo storytelling, what if Damian's encounter with Mother Soul could have triggered a manifestation of magic that was once dormant; like a pressure cooker waiting to explode with energy when it hasn't been given a safe outlet.

I've yet to read a satisfying arc where Damian truly gets to contemplate his Al Ghul roots outside of "dad is good guy, mum is bad guy". Damian's initial character growth stems from him running away from, and renouncing his association with the League (i.e. "I'm nothing like you, mother and grandfather!").

The most recent thing I've read was Robin (2021), and whilst Damian is much more cordial with his mother, there's still an emotional distance and sense of distrust/resentment (for good reason, even if the context was some cartoonishly evil writing). But there is a silver-lining that they still appear to be fond of each other, in a melancholy kind of way.

Realizing he's "genetically" primed for magic would be especially confronting to Damian. There's no denying his Al Ghul blood, forcing him to confront a facet of himself he can no longer ignore or reject. A family that he likely has to approach for help/guidance.

Damian is put in a position of acknowledging this power could be used for good, to be stronger, to fight crime, balancing it with the implication that what he possesses could be rooted in dark magic (Lazarus enchantment).

If he decides to embrace it, would that be too much of an endorsement of the Al Ghul's dark occultism? Can he separate the two ideas? What if he can't control it? What if he accidentally hurts someone? What if has the ability to save someone where his other skills fall short?

Ideally, I'd love for this hypothetical story to lead into Damian exploring his Al Ghul heritage more intimately, historically, and spiritually (à la RSoB: Year of Redemption adventures). Another little coming-of-age self discovery journey.

I have my own little personal thoughts on what Damian decides to do with his magic powers, but I'd like to leave that open to interpretation... By the end of it I hope that he will at least find some forgiveness over resentment, and a balance between accepting that side of his family a little easier. It is finally a sense of inner peace :)

Any thoughts? Did I get any characterisation wrong? Let's talk over on my DC blog @arkhamochi! I'm currently trying to read all Damian-centric comics until I catch up with the current run. I'm hungry for discussion and analysis!!!!!!

[tritoch]

the other thing I find very funny about trying to write a canon compliant wol is taking all the wolship hints extremely seriously.

I don't really wolship because I'm just fundamentally not that kind of fan. But I know for those who are, the sheer number of romance hints FFXIV throws at you can be overwhelming to parse in a context where you have a preferred/intended wolship, particularly if you're not attracted to the gender the hints are coming from in the first place (a particular tip of the hat to wlw fans navigating the g'raha of it all). I've seen plenty of people write around them or write them out or be like "no aymeric was for real inviting my wol to a nice platonic zero-subtext dinner," and God bless all of you.

But it's really funny to imagine them all as all-too-real but unreciprocated or perhaps unreciprocatable. The sheer scale of it is comedy. Spoilers for all of FFXIV follow.

Oh God, the Lord Speaker wants to have dinner, just the two of us, at his family estate and not a government building. I hope he doesn't bring up his crush on me. Thal's balls he's about to bring it up—oh thank God there's an emergency. Oh no someone got hurt! Oh no it's the teenage girl with a crush on me.

Your life is a cosmic joke. You watch the Sultana get poisoned and all your friends probably die to save your life and it's kind of all your fault in some ways, I mean at the very least you should've spoken up when they gave the teenager a private army, and then the teenage boy speaks up and is like, "hey, I guess we have at least one ally. What about if we go visit that guy who is really obviously down unbelievably bad for you and wants to lick the sweat off of you." and you have to be like, yeah, Alphinaud. Great idea. Let's do it. I'll call him.

(brief interlude: also haurchefant's DEATH hits so good if you don't reciprocate. It's okay. He gets it. You're going through a lot and even if you had time to sort through your feelings maybe you're just not into him. That would be okay! You can love someone, or the idea of someone, without needing it to be romantically reciprocated. That's chivalric, even. Knightly. So he won't ask you to lie to him and say you love him as he lies dying in your arms. He's not so low as all that. But could you smile for him as you used to? That true hero's smile of yours. And you do, and he dies. And you both know he died for a lie, in a way, or a flight of fancy. And he's okay with that. Are you? Should you be? Should he?)

Then you're into Stormblood and it's like wow, okay. That last part was all high fantasy, of course there were loyal knights and elegant princes. But this is war. Imperialism. Grim business, surely there's no way—oh no BOTH handsome young revolutionary leaders seem to have a special interest in you?! And so does the Crown Prince of the Empire? Come on, man. I should get to do the whole horrors of war thing without having to also deal with this. Gaius sucked and it was weird that he let his foster daughter run around being openly obsessed with him but at least he never made it my problem.

You can't even get away from it across dimensions. Shadowbringers is a horror story about going on a teambuilding camping trip with your work colleagues for some reason except they all suddenly got really hot and they keep touching you affectionately on the shoulder and being like "I care for you and your happiness. Truly." And also you're being stalked for the whole camping trip by two old men who are obsessed with you. The false climax of the story is that the one old man tries to betray you and give a dramatic monologue about how he loves you but the two of you are doomed by the narrative and then the other old man shoots him in the back like "no actually its MY turn to betray them and give a dramatic monologue about how our love is doomed by the narrative." Then the real climax is old man #1 backstabbing old man #2 in the middle of said monologue before old man #2 dies and gives ANOTHER wistful monologue about his doomed love. Then for the patches they're like okay so we have this even CRAZIER old man who's gonna strike when you're weak and give a dramatic monolo—

and that's without even getting into the literal soulmate ghost only you can see

my warrior of light never felt more betrayed than in that scene where Y'shtola is like "haha Alisaie and G'raha have crushes on the warrior of light." Like I thought we were COOL, Y'shtola! I work here! This situation is already in such a delicate balance! Right when I got here I met Alisaie's "friend from work" who was like oh haha so YOU'RE the one she can't stop talking about and we never followed up on that because the woman died horrifically like five minutes later right in front of us! Then when Vauthry got away and we had to do all that shit with the dwarves, G'raha kept pausing every ten minutes to be like oooooh I'm so old I'm gonna die soon...at least I got to spend some time with some people who are really important to me...in fact here's what I'd tell the person who's most important to me...actually u know them really well haha. And I just had to sit there and be like wow, dude, crazy.

even in the face of apocalypse you still gotta go back in time like 12,000 years and there's somewhere there who makes you sit and listen to his story which is that the purpose of his whole godlike immortal life was to be in a throuple with you and old man #2 from the camping trip. and you just gotta sit there the whole time knowing you/your past life is the one who broke up the throuple over politics. He's like come help me harangue the old man into streaking in public, he'll do it if you ask.

then you meet and fight and kill God and you gotta turn to the team and be like hey sorry guys can you give me a sec. I'm gonna call God by her real name because we met one time for like four days and after that the promise of meeting me again was one of the things that sustained her through her millennia of suffering. Not like that but like. Idk. Just gimme a sec!

It's a relief when you finally get to Lahabrea and he's like actually I still don't fuck with your vibe. Like thank GOD.

And my WoL is very obviously dad-shaped so Dawntrail had a very specific energy for me but I understand that for plenty of people your deepening rapport with Wuk Lamat had a romantic subtext (same for Koana depending on how you read a few of his lines). And personally I think it's the height of comedy to be like, noooo, babe, your highness, I know you and your brother the king are in love with me and want me to stick around and support you emotionally through this governmental transition haha. But it's just...the cursed wineglass, babe. I GOTTA go figure out what's up with this cursed wineglass.

It's a running gag in some of the more optional content that people are like "you have an unreasonable number of hobbies and side gigs" to the WoL from time to time. But if every time you tried picking up a new hobby some new elf started baring their soul to you, you too would be like Hey Jessie (or sometimes Krile or Tataru), my good friend who is one of the only people in my life who knows what professional ethics and work-life boundaries are, any chance you need muscle on a gig on the other side of the world? Ideally with only Cid and his ex so all libidinal energy in the room is directed towards machinery or someone who isn't me?

ironically one of the only places you get a break from psychosexual obsession is the nier content

[gothwineaunts]

Well hello there, readers!!

So, I have been lurking on our socials and in the webtoon comments of Nevermore's finale episode and have picked up some very subtle hints that y'all want to know when we're going to drop Season 2. Firstly I do want to let all the smarties who guessed we'd come back on Halloween based on our Ulalume quote know that they were onto something. When we originally left that hint for you, we were indeed planning to return in late October, but some unforeseen setbacks over the summer pushed our production schedule back. Still, I wanted to say congratulations for getting the hint right! We were impressed so many of you figured it out.

As for the updated launch of season two? While I don't have a specific date to share yet, I can tell you it'll be in January.

I know, I know. Trust me, I wish it was sooner too. I can't tell you how much Flynn and I miss updating weekly. Y'all make creating this series so exciting for us with your energy and excitement and creativity!! The talent I've seen in this community is off the charts. We feel unspeakably lucky to have readers like you along for the ride, and can't wait for you to see the episodes we've been working on.

If you're new to Flynn and I, it might not be common knowledge that we always do the absolute most all the time, compulsively, without stopping ever (save us, ahahhaa). And let me assure you that the opening episodes of season two? Are very most. A lot of most. Super long. Really, extra pretty. I wish I could post them now but I think webtoon might um. Be upset with me if I did that, so. Just trust me, ok? One thing I can share in th emeantime is some of the S2 character concepts. A few characters are getting minor glow ups. See if you can spot the differences!

Okay, well! We'll see you in January!! Or before, if you hang around our socials. I mean we're not disappearing. We'll be here, just. Plodding along on buffer in the background. If you're dying to spoil yourselves with wip streams you can hit up our patreon but I almost wouldn't recommend it on account of. You'll be so confused, at this point. Lmfao. Like. Wow, it would be a really weird time to join a wip stream with no context. This sounds like a shameless plug but I'm being serious when I say it's probably best you don't hop in at this particular moment?? But I mean. I'm not a cop. I'm just your weird goth wine aunt. 🍷

Cheers, Kit Trace

[necrotic-nephilim]

as much as I love the common "Tim worships/stalks Jason" trope in TimJay fanfiction because it's Good and making Tim a weird little freak is Fun, I think the underutilized dynamic is where Jason is the one weirdly obsessed with Tim and makes it Tim's problem.

Like, the moment Jason is confronted with the information that a third Robin exists, the first thing he does is cover his wall with pictures of Tim so he can just obsess and torture himself over it. That is the behavior of a man who is Unwell over Tim's existence and I love it.

red hood: lost days #4

And as much as a shitshow as The Titans Tower Incident™ is characterization-wise (though I think it has far more merit in depicting Jason's character than people give it credit for but I digress-) there's something very fun about the fact that even after kicking his ass, Jason respects Tim and is impressed by him.

teen titans (2003) #29

And on top of that, Jason can't seem to stop trying to ask Jason to Tim to work with him in some capacity.

robin (1993) #177

batman: battle for the cowl #2

While Battle for the Cowl is an exceptionally bad comic, especially for its characterization of Jason and the "be my Robin" bit is taken deeply out of context, I do think it's interesting how obsessed Jason is with believing that Tim is extremely competent, only held back by being "brainwashed by Bruce". (hence him leaving Tim for dead later on in the comic.) Jason seeing a darker side of Tim and wanting to bring that out of Tim, wanting to see what Tim could be if he let go of his loyalty to Bruce is so fun to me, tbh.

And in Robin #177, Jason seems genuinely upset Tim doesn't want to work with him. Jason sees such a raw potential in Tim and is obsessed with it, constantly wanting Tim to work for him and see Tim be the type of person Jason is. And despite Tim rejecting him, Jason doesn't shoot to kill Tim. I just cannot get over the fanfic potential of Jason obsessing over Tim, tracking him and seeing what he's capable of and what he could be capable of. Wanting to make Tim see things the way he does. To Tim it's corruption, to Jason it's freedom. Tim trying to 'save' Jason is fun and all, but Jason trying to corrupt Tim? That's even more fun to me. Watching that power struggle between them, Tim unable to get Jason off his heels as Jason gets more and more possessive and bold with each attempt.

And when Jason sees Tim successfully get Gotham back under control after a gang war, he's impressed. He praises Tim, even. And then Tim just. Breaks him out of prison.

robin (1993) #182

The way they're constantly trying to see something in the other that isn't there, hoping the other will come around? That is the most fucked up hate/love dynamic ever. Jason keeps coming back to Tim, keeps trying to find ways to get Tim onto his side. They're always chasing each other. And I think Jason would be the one to confess love first, the one to do anything to make Tim his. And when you consider after all of this, Tim has his Red Robin arc and is at his lowest, getting the closest he ever gets to considering murder? I think it'd be so fun to see Jason take advantage of that and worm his way back into Tim's life and finally push Tim over the edge.

[hotchner-edu]

Candied Hearts | Aaron Hotchner

Synopsis: You and Aaron have a no-strings-attached relationship, but things change after Aaron suffers an injury while on a case.

Pairing: BAU!Aaron Hotchner x Younger (Of Age) F!Reader

Warnings: sugar baby arrangement kinda, allusions to smut (heh), fluff, jack doesn't exist in this universe (sorry)

"Aaron?" Your voice comes out thick with sleep, eyes still closed as you slowly rouse. The man in question stands frozen at the foot of his bed, having accidentally dropped a binder on the floor just moments before.

"Yeah, sorry for waking you." He says softly and walks over to rub your back as you roll to lay on your stomach.

"What time is it?" You practically slur out as you sink back against his pillows.

Aaron smiles fondly, one that you can't see, and smooths down your hair. "Too early for you to be up."

"Going to work?" You crack an eye open to peer up at him as he stands by the bed, hand trailing down to your spine. Shivering at the touch, your mind flashes back to the events of the night prior.

He hums and nods, leaning down to kiss your forehead. "I'll be away for a couple of days. Are you sore?"

"I'm all good, agent." You tease quietly and smile tiredly. "Go save some lives."

He chuckles and nods. "Alright. Get some more sleep." He whispers to you before standing straight again and getting ready to leave. When you hear the front door shut, a vibration from your phone causes you to sit up slowly and grab it from the nightstand.

Glaring back up at you is an email from your university with a receipt thanking you for your tuition payment. Huffing softly in disbelief, you shoot a quick text to Aaron, knowing he was the culprit.

'I thought we agreed that it wasn't necessary?'

He doesn't reply until twenty minutes later when you've managed to lug yourself out of his warm bed to brush your teeth.

Of course, even without any context to your message, Aaron knows exactly what you're talking about.

'I wanted to'

You raise an eyebrow, unimpressed, and shake your head, typing back quickly as you swipe your toothbrush from the medicine cabinet.

'Thank you, be safe <3'

'Always. Have a good day.'

You suppress a smile as you place your phone down on the sink, beginning to brush your teeth. As you stare at your reflection, you attempt to ignore the way the moment feels all too domestic, a faint whiff of his signature cologne dancing around the bathroom.

In hindsight, you wishing him good luck was probably a jinx.

Or at least, that's all you were thinking when you had gotten the phone call that Aaron was in the hospital for a pretty bad head injury, getting banged up in the process of chasing their suspect.

It had been two days since you last saw Aaron, and only a few hours since he last called you to send you money for lunch despite your protests. So you hadn't bargained on hearing that he was involved in an accident serious enough to leave him hospitalized.

You had initially been sent into a blind panic as the man on the other side of the phone asked if it were possible for you to fly out since Aaron kept asking for you.

That's how you knew it must have been bad.

Aaron was the type to suffer in silence as to not burden others, so if he was asking for you enough that someone had to call you— it must have been really bad.

The moment you land, you're rushing to the hospital without even dropping off your bags. Your taxi driver had wordlessly slammed on the gas when he saw your pallid face, only asking for directions when you were already halfway out of the airport drop-off.

You practically fly through the hospital once you get there, weaving around nurses and patients as you make your way to the front desk.

"For Aaron Hotchner." You say breathlessly, ignoring the incredulous looks you were getting.

The nurse receptionist quickly types on her computer, not batting an eye at your disheveled appearance. "ID, please?"

You quickly grab your wallet and slide your ID for her to check and note down.

"Aaron Hotchner is on the second floor, room 206. Here's a visitor badge, please keep it on the entire time you're here." The woman says politely, handing you back your ID and a visitor badge sticker.

"Thank you." You rush out before quickly making your way to the elevator, a fog of dust practically erupting behind you from how quickly you race away.

When you manage to locate Aaron's room, you see a couple of people already hovering by the door, peering inside. Suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious, you pat down your clothes a little before stepping forward.

"Sorry... is this Aaron Hotchner's room?" Your voice comes out a bit meek as the three unfamiliar faces suddenly turn to you. Their eyes flicker around your face and stature almost imperceptibly, a brief pause occupies the air between you all as they assess you.

"Yes, it is. I'm Derek Morgan. We spoke on the phone I believe." The man is quick to introduce himself, extending a hand forward for you to shake.

"Oh, yes, hi. I'm glad you called." You shake his hand and smile a bit nervously. "I'm Y/N."

"Thank you for coming so quickly. Are you a friend of Hotch's?" One of the women speak up, eyes gleaming in curiosity. You gaze at her dark hair and sharp features and you couldn't help but notice how attractive Aaron's work friends were.

Perhaps it made dealing with suspects easier?

"Oh, yes. I'm a friend." You reply softly, knowing it must be a strange picture for them to digest since you were a bit younger and looked completely unfamiliar to them. "Is Aaron okay?"

"He'll make a full recovery, he just got a pretty bad concussion and whiplash from the crash." The blonde woman explains, stepping aside so you could make your way into the room.

Your brows furrow in worry. "Oh... thank you."

As you step in, your eyes immediately find Aaron's figure on the hospital bed, sitting up but looking a bit dazed. There's another blonde woman doting on him, hovering by his bedside and holding some balloons.

"You cannot do that again, sir! Do you know how terrifying it is that the one time I come with you guys, you nearly get flung through your windshield?" The woman says in exasperation, shaking her head as if trying to escape the mental images her words conjured.

You just stand there for a moment, not wanting to interrupt the moment, but Aaron glances toward the doorway and sees you.

"Honey..." his voice is barely audible, and you can see the relief in his eyes.

The woman spins around with an expression of utter shock (and delight?) before grinning brightly, a complete switch from her worry while fretting over Aaron just moments prior. "Hi! You must be Hotch's friend! I'm Penelope."

You go in for a hand shake but she opens her arms and you wordlessly oblige, charmed by her already. "I'm Y/N, it's nice to meet you. Is he doing alright? I heard he was asking for me."

Before she can answer, Aaron speaks up again. "Sweetheart, come here."

Penelope catches on to her boss' fond tone and a smile tugs at her lips. "I'll leave you both to it then!"

She's hurries out of the room without another word, closing the door to give you both privacy.

"Aaron, are you okay?" You immediately ask, walking toward his bedside and reaching to gently cup his cheek.

His hands moves up to rest on yours and he nods. "I'm okay... just needed you here."

You can tell he's a bit high on pain medication at the moment and you chuckle. "Yeah, I was surprised when Derek called me. They really did not hold back with the pain meds, huh? I suppose that's good, otherwise you'd probably have a hard time even talking to me right now."

"I'm fine." He grumbles, clumsily reaching for your other hand.

Watching him grasp your hand gently, your face softens a bit and you sit on the edge of his bed. "How long have you been up? You should get some sleep, Aaron. Your body needs to heal." You say gently, leaving no room for argument.

He stares at you with a small frown, probably not even realizing how tired he really was. "You just got here though..."

"And I'll still be here when you wake up. You need to listen to your body."

He glances down at the bed and starts scooting over to one side. "You should rest too, then."

"What if I accidentally smack you in the neck while I'm asleep?" You ask with a raised brow, only being half serious.

"It's fine." Aaron mumbles and lifts up the blanket, his hospital gown and semi-delirious gaze making him look less and less like the collected man you were used to seeing.

Sliding into the vacant spot next to him, you have to caution him again about his own injuries when he tries to turn over to spoon you. "Goodness, Aaron. How high are you right now?" You stifle a laugh as he gives you an indignant glare.

"Okay, fine, fine. We can cuddle."

While Aaron is able to snooze after you both settle in, the cramped hospital bed and Aaron's light snores wake you up after an hour.

Instead of laying beside him as your right leg felt fuzzy from restricted blood flow, you slip out and decide to go grab a few things from the vending machine.

The floor you were on was quiet, your trek going undisturbed as you fish out what few bills are left in your wallet.

When you get back to his room, you nearly jump out of your skin when you see that Aaron is awake and sitting up, staring at you owlishly. "Oh my goodness!" You gasp out and hold a hand to your heart.

Aaron says your name softly, voice tinged in confusion. "You're here?"

"Yes?" Your tone matches his. "You don't remember me getting here? You were pretty high from the meds, so that's fair." You joke softly and close the door behind you.

"I remember bits and pieces... but I thought it was a dream." He says, slowly leaning back as he watches you walk toward him with a variety of snacks.

"Oh? Do you remember whining and begging me to spoon with you?" You tease and smile, opening up a cold water bottle for him to drink.

He rolls his eyes with a small smile and drinks some of the water. "I'm sorry you had to fly out here."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I didn't miss any classes or anything, but I had to cancel a date I had." You joke and shrug.

Aaron immediately frowns at this and his eyes avert to look out the window. "I'm sorry." He says softly.

"Huh?" You tilt your head and sit by his bedside again. "I was just kidding, Aaron. Who would I be going out on dates with? No one can pay for my tuition and my takeout like you can." Your teasing words draw a grunt out of him as his lip twitches, a smile threatening to appear on his face.

"Brat." His hand reaches to draw you closer.

"Old man." You retort and scoot closer to him. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Better now that you're here." He says quietly, wrapping his arm around your waist. Your nose scrunches at that and you smile in disbelief, spurring him to continue. "I'm being serious, y'know..."

As you gaze at him, his hand comes up to cup your cheek. "When they took me into the ambulance, I kept going in and out of consciousness. But I kept thinking about you... the night before I had to leave for this case, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"About what?"

Aaron draws in a deep breath and his thumb mindlessly sweeps across your cheek. "I think we should end our arrangement."

Your heart drops at his words and you laugh softly to hide your hurt. "You thought you were going to die and your last thoughts were that you should have broken it off with me first?"

His mouth parts a little in surprise before he shakes his head quickly and sputters a bit. "No, that's not, uh, that's not what I meant. It's just that for me, this—" he gently gestures between the both of you, "has turned into something deeper... and I wanted to end it so that we could start a real, closed relationship together."

"I mean, our relationship has never really been open." You say with a humored smile. While it was true that the arrangement wasn't exclusive, neither of you had ventured to start any connections with other people.

Aaron chuckles a little and nods, his hand dropping down to take ahold of yours. "I suppose you're right. I also wanted to talk to you about this because I know that having a romantic relationship together wasn't on the table for either of us when we started this... but I want you to know that I am in no way trying to steer you toward something that may be uncomfortable for you."

Taking a moment to collect your thoughts, you shrug a little and smile at him shyly. "I'm not uncomfortable... I think I want to give us a try too." You respond quietly.

"Really?" He breathes out. From the way his eyes flicker around your face, you can tell that there are a plethora of thoughts consuming him right now. "I... It's selfish of me to want you so wholly, sweetheart. With my work and my age, you deserve better."

"Aaron, if I wanted someone else do you think I would have stuck around this long? I mean I sure as hell wouldn't have gotten on the first flight here in a blind panic hoping you weren't dead." You retort, squeezing his hand as you try to mollify his insecurities. "Besides, who said being old doesn't look sexy on you?"

That elicits are an amused huff from him as he shakes his head. "You're probably the only person who thinks gray hairs and aching joints look good on me."

"Well that's just wrong, but even if that were true, my opinion is the only one that matters in this case." You smile cheekily and kiss him.

He kisses you back, slowly and meaningfully as your words sink in. Pulling back a little from your lips, he whisper softly. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Positive." You whisper back. "Now be quiet and let me make out with you."

Aaron's chuckle is deep and smooth as he smiles. "Yes, ma'am."

On the other side of the door to Aaron's room, his team are huddled together to try and peek into the door's little window.

"What are you people doing?" Rossi's voice suddenly rings out, painted in amusement at how ridiculous they looked. They all look back at the older man, eyes comically wide and resembling guilty children caught red-handed

"Trying to figure out who Hotch's mystery friend is." Derek answers, coolly stepping back as he plays off how his face was practically pressed against the glass.

"Oh? See anything of intrigue?" Dave asks with a small grin, tucking his hands in his pockets and pretending like he had no clue about you and Aaron.

Derek is about to answer, but he's interrupted before he can utter a single syllable.

"Uhh, guys, they're..." JJ says softly, drawing everyone's attention back to the glass. They see you both inside and they suddenly straighten up and step back.

Emily is the first to speak after a long pause. "Dinner, anyone?"

Penelope looks dazed and shakes her head. "Yes, and some new eyeballs please."

Rossi chuckles and begins walking toward the elevator, deciding to let Aaron fill them in later about his experience as a sugar daddy. He was just pleased that he was no longer going to be alone in the team's inescapable teasing about old men and their love lives.