#did not like the cat woman character assassination

[tim-drake-scholar]

Sorry but Tim referring to Bruce as “dad” kills me bc I think he’s like 18/19 here so he’s only been legally adopted for a couple years or so? They really are all siblings and they really are a family! I love that Damian looks so confused about physical affection!!

[deadsetobsessions]

Once more the hallucinations hit, and once more I am here writing it out.

My brain is fucking terrifying and I want out, so bad. This came to me in the form of a nightmare.

Also, please don’t take the timeline into consideration, because I have no idea what’s going on. Again, nightmares and dreams tend to not have the best coherency when it comes to plot and timelines. The reincarnation doesn’t have a name, I was too busy feeling terrified. Shit in parentheses was how I experienced the nightmare. Everything else is just me adding sprinkle sprinkle.

——

Ra’s al Ghul.

Talia al Ghul.

Two names that she had been aware of, in the peripherals of her hyper fixation. Two characters meant to enhance the story of the Dark Knight. Side characters, on a good day. Perhaps, a main antagonist on a better day.

On a bad day?

Main characters. Real, living people. Real, living, breathing assassins.

Unfortunately, they’re her new family. One she remembered coming into, bathed in a pool of blood and screams.

She was not a baby.

She is now, a baby. The first of Talia al Ghul’s children. The eldest, once Damian al Ghul was born.

Swaddled in emerald green and gold silks, she was presented to a man with silver streaked hair and a receding hairline. He too, was robed in green and golds.

“A daughter, Talia?” He rumbled, the smooth Arabic flowing out of his mouth failing to hide the acrid disappointment. The child, past the haze of confusion of suddenly being deported from her own adult body into one of a helpless child, felt a stirring of irritation. It’s good she learned the language, because now she knew exactly how Ra’s felt about her. The child grumbled a displeased sound. Not that she would have ignored the fact that her grandfather was Ra’s al Ghul. (He smelled like moth eaten fabric and blood- but I think that was because my cat accidentally scratched me.)

“My apologies, father.”

“Do not tell the young detective of this. Had it been a son, perhaps things would have been different. No, a daughter would only hinder him.”

Talia bowed, hands tightening on her daughter. “May I raise her, father?”

“A resource is still a resource. Go ahead, Talia.”

“Yes, father.” Talia took the dismissal and bowed before leaving.

On her way back to the room with the reincarnation’s crib, Talia al Ghul stroked her daughter’s head.

“I wish you were born a boy, my daughter. I am sorry my beloved will never know of you.”

The reincarnation looked at her new mother. She’s young, the woman-child realized. A teenager.

“You’ll have to be useful, my daughter. Your grandfather is not so kind as to keep the useless. I… do not wish for your death,” her mother muttered.

Great. She got new life and it’s already in danger.

——

She learned to swing a knife. Swords. She learned and devoured the teachings. She learned to be useful.

But then they asked her to take the life of a man who did her no wrong.

Her baby blues clashed with her grandfather’s Lazarus green.

She was still young. A child.

“No.”

“No?”

“He did no wrong.”

“He failed, granddaughter.” Ra’s smiled down at her, patronizing. Cruel. “Perhaps you possess your father’s heart, and you are foolishly sentimental, as women and children tend to be. But in the end, you are an al Ghul and you will obey. Plunge in your blade and I will reward you.”

The reincarnation looked at the man kneeling in front of her, resignation and a hint of pity in what little she could see of his face.

She’s already died before. What did she have to be afraid of?

“No.”

They tried to beat the weakness out of her. It didn’t work.

——

The reincarnation stared at the mirror, left alone in an opulent cage of gold and emeralds and precious stones that meant little to her now.

Her hands traced her back, small fingers finding purchase in soft skin. Her mouth opened fruitlessly, noise refusing to escape. She still felt the burning magic, the brand her own blood had carved into her skin and soul because she refused to kill. The chains her grandfather had shackled around her with magic and cruel amusement.

She had killed him, in the end. Obey, or be punished. Her body had moved without her permission, the reincarnation a prisoner in a body that refused to do as she commanded. The knife swung, a life taken, her hands dipped in red.

She learned a valuable lesson that day.

There were things worse than death.

“This is an order, granddaughter.”

The Magic had flared a searing heat at her neck, forcing her to kneel on broken legs. Ra’s loomed above, authority in his voice. She was bound to obey, regardless.

“You will never speak another word of affection, you will never speak another word to anyone unless I allow it. Perhaps this will teach you of your folly, and your place in this world.”

The loss of her freedom and the fear that came with it was a bitter and devastating lesson.

——

Ra’s al Ghul was so much worse than what little she knew of him.

She was right to be afraid for herself.

Her mother had worried, when she’d withdrawn and refused to speak to her. Even if she could, the reincarnation would not have wanted to. The reincarnation had felt furious, back then, when she thought of Talia. Her mother who refused to protect her. Her mother, who claimed she loved her but refused to see the chains Ra’s wrapped around her neck. She who plied the reincarnation with a supportive hand but forced her into the fighting pits.

But, as the reincarnation stumbled out on bruised and used legs from Ra’s al Ghul’s meeting chambers where he had allowed his business partners to partake in her, she realized that Ra’s was a monster in a human’s body and her mother was a victim of his making.

The lesson Ra’s taught her that day was that if she was not useful, if she did not kill, he would take what was left of her and make use of her.

Hate flared in her heart, and the beginning of Ra’s downfall began the day he let her go from the chambers alive. Injured, but alive. Injured and violated, but alive and furious.

——

She carved her hate and rage and helplessness and fear in the bodies of the people he bid her to kill. Her silenced screams were expressed in the way she splattered blood, the way she covered herself in it. A killing machine first, a stress reliever second, and a child… wasn’t on the list of things she was allowed to be.

His enemies were felled, one after another. He gave her his approval, something she detested.

But still, she continued, bodies racking upwards, tens turning to hundreds, hundreds edging into thousands.

The red in her ledger became ichor and guilt. Her language became violence and obedience.

“You have become a sharp tool, granddaughter.”

She was a genius, after all. And now, she could not disobey. A blade that Ra’s believed will never point towards him. She kneeled. She obeyed.

“Thank you, grandfather.” Her words were only allowed to come out- without searing, terrible pain- when she was thanking him. She tried not to do it as often as he wanted. He thought he broke her when he read the obedience she carved into her body language.

But she never bowed. Never. Not to him. Never.

——

“My weapon could learn much from your granddaughter,” David Cain sat across from Ra’s, wine in their stupid goblets. How she detested the green and blacks he’s seen fit to dress her with. She’s dressed provocatively, not of her own choice. She doesn’t have much of those- doesn’t have much in ways of choices- these days.

She was twelve, and Ra’s al Ghul deserved to die.

“Her combat is a higher form of what my daughter has achieved. How did you do it?”

When Ra’s began to reply, she slipped away.

She found the girl. She found… the cage- the black box- the child was placed in. The child flinched from her when she opened the metal box, fear only easing as the reincarnation kept her body language neutral and kind. (It was pitch black, and about the size of like, a closet. No light. Only from whatever door the box had.) (Cass’ hands hurt from banging on the walls to be let out)

David Cain’s daughter, her mind whispered, the memories of another life once more making itself known.

“Cassandra.” She whispered, regretting it immediately when pain wracked her body. She fell to her knees as the punishment for disobeying an order slammed into her.

The girl looked at her in concern, but did not move closer. The reincarnation stared at this girl and saw a reflection of herself.

David Cain would be here for a month. She will free Cassandra in those days.

——

The weapon stared at the girl in front of her, kneeling in pain.

She did not understand.

-

The girl came back. Water. Food. Kind.

The weapon felt warm. The girl was quiet. No sounds. Good. The weapon knew the girl understood. The weapon thinks that the girl is a weapon too.

-

The girl comes back, again. This time, she makes a sound. It hurt her, but she did it again. The weapon understands when the girl points at herself and repeats the sound. The sound means the girl. The girl expects something from the weapon.

The weapon makes the sound, flinching to see if the owner will come to punish it. The girl purposefully sits, relaxed but vigilant… and protective. Of the weapon?

The weapon relaxed. It repeated the sound, pointing at the girl.

The girl smiles, in pain. But approval. The weapon feels- the weapon is warm, like under the blanket. Approval.

The girl teaches her to make sounds but the weapon communicates without it. It does not like the sounds, does not need them, but the girl seems to think it’s important.

The weapon likes the girl, so the weapon learns. They still understand through no sounds, through reading each other.

-

The girl comes back, silently. Secretly. The weapon does not notify the owner. The weapon feels- does not want to.

The girl- the girl with the sound- she says a different sound. Her body tells the weapon that it’s important, this sound.

And when the girl points at herself and says her own sound, then points at the weapon and says that new sound again, the weapon begins to understand.

The girl had given the weapon her own sound.

“Cass—n- ra.”

“Cass,” the girl said, and Cassandra understood.

“Cass.” Cassandra pointed to herself.

-

The owner wanted- wanted Cassandra to end a life. Cassandra watched the owner kill and gesture to the dead thing.

Cassandra did not want to.

When Cassandra is placed back into the pitch black box, she waited for the girl.

The girl came.

“Don’t want.” Cassandra clung to her, reading the welcome and the sadness in the girl’s body. Cassandra tucked her face into the girl’s shoulder. She is cold. The girl is warm.

The girl hugged her back. The girl understood. Sadness hardened into lines of determination. Cassandra felt… light. Felt hope.

-

Cassandra slipped away from the place, water in her pack for the dessert and money to run from the country. The girl stayed behind, seeing her off. The girl tells her to never come back.

Cassandra did not want to leave the girl behind, but the girl could not go.

“Be free, Cass.” The girl had whispered through the pain. “For the both of us.”

——

Her grandfather knew. He allowed David Cain to break her, not kill because she was of use to him still, as a lesson. She found that she hated his lessons. But, she hated his attention more.

And still, she could not regret. How could she, when Cass trusted her with what fragile hope she had?

So, she lets him beat her, and provokes him with smirks and fearless eyes because the longer he’s focused on her, the more time Cass has to run.

Then, he gets too angry, and insults Ra’s, whose eyes grew cold. Her grandfather gestured and while she usually hated the command that followed that gesture, she could not feel that hatred now.

She got back up, legs broken and arms twisted once more, and attacked David Cain.

Ra’s would not follow Cass. Not when she was not his business to deal with, and not when David Carin’s fury amused him so.

David Cain would not follow Cass. Not while she still drew breath. The reincarnation stood, and threw herself at one of the best assassins of the century.

She tore his throat out with nothing but her teeth. She felt, for once, not like a monster. Not even when Ra’s nodded in approval and ordered for David Cain’s broken body to be cleaned up.

——

She’s been granted a mission in New Jersey, once her months of discipline- of torture- ended. She does not get ordered to find Cassandra. She’s fourteen now, and as silent as ever. Her mother had adjusted to her silence by then- long ago, actually, taking it as a quirk her daughter had developed. She hadn’t been a terribly vocal child, after all. Talia praised her for being useful even as a woman- the self degradation something the reincarnation had no doubt Ra’s had insidiously trained into Talia- and for being loyal to Ra’s.

Sometimes, she hates Talia for being- for-

Never mind. She couldn’t afford to hate anyone else.

She killed her targets early, determination and wistfulness urging her movements into sharp . Then, she made her way to Gotham and slipped into the city of darkness- where her father was.

She watched as he hid in the shadows almost as easily as she did. She watched as he flew and glided with the younger Robin. (He was younger than her by a year. She checked.) He was free. They were free.

She wished…

As she turned away, she saw a child tumbling from the edge of a roof. It was an instinct she’d thought Ra’s had managed to bury after the months he’d spent making sure she killed only children.

She hated him.

She caught him, swooping in and tucking him against her side as she plucked him from the air and plopped him back onto the crumbling roof of Gotham’s slums.

“Oh, thank you! So much- are you a vigilante?” The boy asked, looking at her masked face. It’s a good thing she wasn’t exactly dressed like a regular League operative.

She shook her head. Her eyes fell onto his camera, faint memories rising once more. She had an inkling-

“I’m- uh- Tim!” The boy introduced himself nervously, edging away from her silence. “Thank you for saving me…?”

She nodded. She pointed to the camera, tilting her head.

“Oh- you… want to see it?” He clutched his camera closer. Oh, he did have some sense of self preservation. She wondered why a seven year old was allowed to roam these streets… but she did worse at seven.

She held her hand up and back up. The boy hesitated, and then showed her the camera. “Uh- I took pictures of Robin and Batman!”

They sat on that roof for hours, and she let Tim Drake tell her stories about her father and his son. Ward. Son.

She could tell that Tim didn’t have anyone to listen to him.

She didn’t have long until she had to go back or risk severe punishment, but… she could make time for Tim, to listen to him.

She wondered if Cass managed to escape completely. She wondered if her sister all but in name and blood learned how to smile.

——

Tim had never had a friend before!

She listened to him! And gave him hugs the one time he was brave enough to ask! And she seemed to like Batman and Robin as much as he did! No one who didn’t like them would listen to his endless rambling otherwise, right? (Tim was super skinny, like ribs poking out skinny. He looked like a sickly Victorian child and he was kind of cold)

“And then, Robin went like this,” he pantomimed the awesome punch Dick Grayson did on a Joker goon. “And the guys got knocked out just like that!”

His new friend nodded, looking interested.

“Sorry, am I talking too much?” Tim asked anxiously. He didn’t want to make his friend hate him!

She shook her head, and gestured for him to continue.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded.

His new friend was so cool! She even taught him how to throw a punch and to fight!

——

When she had to leave, she prepared Tim for it.

“Do you have to go?”

She nodded and placed a hand on his head, ruffling his hair. Her other hand held a duffle bag with an assortment of weapons she carefully kept from him. (One of the blades still had guts on it, which, ew.)

“Try not to fall off anymore roofs, little photographer.” She said, smiling at his shocked look before leaping away.

“Wait, you can talk?!” He shouted at her back. She smiled a little wider.

——

“A son, this time.” Ra’s al Ghul’s voice echoed in his disgustingly flashy throne room. It rings of approval.

The reincarnation stood behind her mother, eyes cast downwards.

“Well done, Talia. I finally have a worthy heir.”

Damian al Ghul cooed.

The reincarnation was scared. But… she could not allow her younger brother to be trapped like she was. She’s fifteen now, a decade of slavery having worn her down and nearly broken her. But with her brother… no, she could not allow it.

She met her mother’s eyes and knew then that they agreed. Protect Damian, at all costs.

She ignored the sting of envy. So what her mother could not find it in herself to protect her daughter? So long as she protected Damian, it didn’t matter.

Maybe she didn’t matter. Maybe she wasn’t worth anything. Maybe- maybe- maybe.

She also ignored the seed of disgust she had for mother’s actions in conceiving Damian. She couldn’t do anything about it. Talia was also a victim.

A louder voice in her asked if she could really excuse that, when Talia had a choice and she chose to hurt and violate Bruce Wayne like that. She wondered if she could truly ever forgive Talia. She wondered if Bruce Wayne got therapy.

——

She stared at the tome in front of her, eyes blank. (Actually, she had no eyes. Like? Empty sockets, but then later she had eyes???)

The brand- the shackles- the chains could only be broken if Ra’s died. She wasn’t opposed to that. But if he died, so did she. She couldn’t even kill herself to get out, because the chains would be there even if she died. If she was revived- a high chance, thanks to the fucking pits- then the chains would still be there.

Perhaps… she could use the pits?

Her mind turned and turned.

——

“This is your ukht.” Her mother pointed at her. Damian stared up at her, and she melted. Her brother was too damn cute.

“Ukhti?”

She nodded as her mother smiled in joy. “Yes, habibi.”

She was better at hiding the pain, now. She was better at enduring it, too, that fucking burning feeling. She spoke more, but only to Damian.

It would not do for her brother to grow up not knowing how to receive verbal expressions of affection. Not like she did, in this life.

Still, it hurt to speak. But then, she had an idea, based on Cassandra.

She could not speak, but speaking wasn’t the only way of communication. She’ll teach Damian sign language- standard, as commanded- but also her own version. Yes, she could do it. It wouldn’t be hard.

She was a genius, after all, and creating languages wasn’t as hard as people seem to think.

——

Damian copied her, small fingers patting his hand four times.

She did it back to him. “I love you.” She tells him, with sounds and with motions.

He does it back, excitedly, because he had a secret with ukhti!

——

Sometimes, she dared not to touch Damian. She wants to ruffle his hair and give him hugs but the ichor on her hands reminds her to not get to greedy. She did not deserve it.

Not when her hands were stained with the lives of so many people.

——

Another mission.

She was twenty now, and not much closer to escaping her bonds. Though, once she hit her majority, Ra’s lost interest in her in that way. A blessing, even if she had to seduce his “business partners” into giving him better deals more often now.

She stops by Bludhaven. The Robin she watched so many years ago- six, by her count- had grown new wings and moved. She wanted to see if he could fly still.

He could. He flew as free- no, freer than his days as Robin.

She dipped away to complete her mission (nuclear weapon trading, really?) and swings back to see a spider trying to break the former Robin’s wings.

“No.” Nightwing whispered, staring upwards at the cloudy sky blankly. “Please, stop.”

She didn’t need to hear any more. She saw red, and dove feet first straight onto the spider’s head, knocking her out.

She picked up a near-catatonic Nightwing, and helped him to his apartment. She left Tarantula in the rain and felt zero guilt about it.

He changed mechanically, some kind of instinct keeping him from removing his domino, but it was a bit pointless considering she escorted him to his personal apartment.

She watched as Nightwing slipped into an exhausted sleep before leaving. She had a spider to squish, and traces to hide.

——

Dick wakes up, drained and exhausted. He… someone saved him.

He sees a scrawled note, handwriting impeccable enough to be a font, written with his pen. He picked it up from his table, and his eyes tiredly read the message.

“Don’t worry about Tarantula. Or your identity.”- A friend.

He remembered- the mask- the mask of the stranger that saved him vividly. He’d remember. And he’d thank them if they ever came back.

——

She was in charge of training assassins, these days. A year and a half later after Bludhaven, she was back in Nanda Parbat, and she’s devoured every magical tome she could get her hands on. They all say the same things.

Her assassins were trained well, and Ra’s praises her with more responsibilities as he followed the pit in his obsessions. Her mother began to splinter the group, not knowing that as Ra’s began his descent into madness, people looked towards her instead of Talia for leadership. They did not know that her unwavering presence by Ra’s side wasn’t voluntary but it is their true that she became his right hand out of pure skill. And flawless obedience, of course.

Then, someone new joins.

Someone with pit rage and empty eyes that goes rigid when she approaches.

Then again, most of the operatives freeze up when she walks towards them.

Her memories roar. A child.

He bowed, and her eyes followed the streak of white hair at the forefront of his skull.

She gestured at him to follow, and ignored the pitiful eyes the rest of the assassins gave to the kid- they act like her training was hard when she went easy on them (it was)- and led the kid towards the training rooms.

She knew who he was, even if her grandfather and mother didn’t think she knew.

Her… Bruce Wayne would probably appreciate his son being returned relatively sane.

But first, she had to beat the Pit out of him. Then, she could assign body guarding duties to him, in an attempt to protect him.

——

“Grandfather, I will take Damian’s punishment.”

“A whipping girl, granddaughter?” But he nodded anyways. He made Damian watch.

She kneeled and allowed the punishment. She couldn’t always protect him from Ra’s, but this she could do anytime. It’s not like she was unfamiliar with the torture. (The whip had barbs. Rusty. And they sprinkled salt.)

——

“I liked poetry….” Jason Todd tells her after a training session. “I think.”

“Sure. I’ll call you Grave, then.” Pain. But she was used to it.

He tilted his head, eyes going blank once more. She sighed. There went his memories again. (His eyes were blank and glazed. Like looking at someone you love and knowing they’re looking through you.)

——

“I would not trust her,” she says to the air, next to a Red Hood emerging from Talia al Ghul’s chambers. She could see it, the beginnings of Gotham’s new crime lord. But still, “Talia al Ghul is known for her lies.”

She pushed away from the wall. It was up to Grave if he listened. It was out of her hands now.

——

She’s twenty-five, and she’s helping Damian pack for his first meeting with Bruce Wayne.

“You must not tell him about me.” Because he’d come rushing here, and she had worked too hard to save Damian for her fool of a father to come and ruin all of that effort.

“I promise.” Her little brother said solemnly. Ukhti said it out loud, which meant it was important and she expected him to keep that promise.

The only other time he’d heard her speak was to tell him she loved him.

The reincarnation smiled and told him through their special sign language, to treat the current Robin with respect and to try his best to get the current Robin to pass down his title.

‘Robin is earned. They have different rules, over there. Try your best to learn those rules.’

Her brother was sheltered. She loved him, but he was spoilt and sheltered. Of course she was worried. Talia barely mothered him.

“I know. You do not have to remind me so often, ukhti.”

She smiled, and patted his head.

“Be safe,” she whispered. “I will miss you.”

Damian darted in for a hug. “Of course. Goodbye, sister. See you soon.”

She hoped not. It was hard enough to convince Ra’s that Damian would learn more under Bruce Wayne.

(She was locked in a small closet- like Cass- for about a week, because she brought up the idea first.)

——

She found it.

The answer to pit rage laid in an old, all but crumbling tome from Atlantis- answers “from a ghost.”

——

Bruce Wayne died. Months after Damian came to live with him. That- irritating- she sighed and worked with her mother to turn Ra’s al Ghul’s attention away from Gotham, lest he called Damian back in Bruce Wayne’s absence.

The little photographer caught grandfather’s attention. She stood vigil as he played chess with Ra’s. His interest in Damian wavered. Anticipation blurred in her veins.

She saved his friends. Her assassins. She let them go, telling them to wait for the little photographer’s plan. (Y’all miss girl had fucking bloody handprints on her pants like someone tried to grab it.)

The first few people who had an inking she might not be loyal to Ra’s… and it was them.

When her other assassins attacked Red Robin, she cut them down before they could touch him, helping him with a furious League of Spiders or whatever operative. She hated spiders.

“What…?”

“You’re a lot of trouble, little photographer.” She sighed. His jaw dropped.

“It’s you!”

“Go,” she cut him off. “Blow this place up. I left a surprise for you outside.”

——

“Owens?! Z?!” Tim trembled, exhaustion and shock and wonder hitting him at once.

“Heya, boss!” Z chirped. Owens helped Tim up while Z helped Tam. Pry walked around them, looking out for further threats. “The nightmare trainer let us go. She knew you, I think.”

Tim smiles, all shark teeth and zero hero. (In the background, the song zero to hero from Hercules 2, played in reverse.) “Tell me more.”

——

Damian grunted, bracing himself for the magical creature’s attack.

“Robin!” His father barked out, panicked. Damian hoped he’d survive-

Shhhlk!

He looked up and there stood his ukht. She bounded forwards, using the odd fauna of the magical plane to bolster her movements as she sliced the creatures apart with her swords, magic humming brightly as she cut through them… and the magicians attacking them.

“What- what are you doing here?” He asked. She greeted him, three fingers curled over her shoulder.

‘My question is,’ she signed. ‘Why were you here without a magical weapon.’

Damian sighed as father stepped in between them.

“Who are you.”

“Batman. Cease your excessive worry. I trust her with my life,” Damian snapped. He stepped around a shocked Batman, looked him in the eyes, and unsheathed his katana. He handed it over to his ukht, who took it with amusement.

‘See?’ His eyes seemed to say. Father tensed when his sister unsheathed her own blade and handed it to him.

‘Are you here for a specific reason?’ His sister signed to him.

“Uh, you gonna introduce us, little man?”

Damian sent the Flash a derisive look and ignored him.

“We’re looking for a magician. He set a squadron of demons loose into D.C. last night. He has a tower.” Damian added.

“Robin,” Father growled. “Who is this.” Damian shot him a look and turned back to his sister.

The reincarnation tilted her head. ‘Tower… it’ll have to be that way.’

“Could you take us there?” Damian asked. Truthfully, he could find the way himself. But he wanted more time around his ukht. She nodded and Damian straightened.

“I feel like we should be concerned that Robin’s friend just murdered a bunch of people.”

His sister glanced back and ignored them.

“Silence, incompetents. Speak another word against her, and Batman’s no killing rule will be applied creatively.” He hissed. (The fucking surroundings hissed with him y’all what the fuck)

He turned when his sister ruffled his hair (Superman muttered a super shocked “what the fuck.”) and Damian allowed it. He had missed his sister.

——

[skippingthroughfields]

these days a lot of romance in books, TV, and film leave me a bit cold, which sucks as a lover of romance. there has to be something ~interesting there for me. I've been watching the day of the jackal and it's pretty entertaining so far. but the one thing I haven't quite been able to wrap my head around is jackal's love for his wife, nuria. the show clearly wants us to believe he truly loves her, even if he can't shed his assassin skin and lies like crazy to her. he spies on her. he dreams about her. he thinks about her constantly. even more so than the baby which I (and the show apparently) regularly forget exists.

the chemistry between eddie redmayne and ursula corbero isn't necessarily the issue even though it is middling. ursula certainly does the best with what she's got, which isn't much. but I always struggle when shows place us in an established marriage or relationship and tells the audience how much the two characters love each other, without really being convincing of why they go to the lengths they do because of this love. the jackal is a sociopath with a hundred different faces (though we spend quite a bit of time with him in his true face). he has no qualms whatsoever about killing innocent people to accomplish his objectives. that's established within 20 minutes of the very first episode. so what does it take for this murderer-for-hire to fall in love? why should we be so convinced of this cold-blooded killer's love for his wife? what is it about her that made him fall in love? and vice versa? the show doesn't even try to make us second guess this love. on some level, I'd be obsessed with a suave killer brought to his knees by a woman to the point where he starts a family with her. the deception, the two separate lives, the cat and mouse of it all. but everything about them is spectacularly bland.

throughout the series nuria is constantly questioning who she fell in love with. but who did she fall in love with? in episode 7 we get flashbacks of their first meeting, at a restaurant where jackal is a regular and where nuria works as a waitress. she's hot and vivacious and effortlessly charming. he's a mysterious loner who seems sweet. jackal takes a shine to her and later asks her on a date, to which she immediately says yes. and that's it. that's pretty much all of the flavorless context we have for their relationship. we're simply supposed to believe they fell in love with each other. she doesn't even make him work for the date. there's no push and pull there. she's not even a calculating golddigger or anything, just completely guileless. our favorite sociopath fell in love because she's just that charming? our charming waitress falls for this boring and rich-looking foreigner and that's it? and then we're told that she's completely trusting of him up until the ~turning point. ok. I don't believe the show is trying to pull wool over our eyes. they very much want us to believe there's love there. but there's just nothing convincing me of why these two characters love each other. this failmarriage is of no interest to me.

otoh, the connection jackal has with zina is compelling and sexy. this mysterious corporate shark archetype of a woman who dared to meet an assassin in person. who went to bat for this assassin even when her bosses were not convinced he was the man for their goals. who broke into this assassin's temporary lodgings and withstood his menacing energy. who wasn't afraid to yell and put pressure on this scary assassin. I'd be more obsessed if the actress was better at acting and there was actual chemistry between her and eddie. alas.

otooh, there is ALSO serious messy romantic potential with bianca. also a sociopathic liar. also a married woman (who we're also supposed to believe loves her husband. lol.) with a child. a woman who will do anything to catch jackal. a woman who has no qualms about using innocent people who get killed in the process (even if she does feel some degree of guilt about it). like the parallels are allll there. but she's black and we all know how that goes. in another series jackal would be intrigued and also as obsessed with this mi6 agent who somehow always finds him. sigh.

[chikkv]

After completing Dragon Age The Veilguard, I decided to make a top of my favorite characters of the entire DA series.

Dragon age origins:

Zevran. A skilled assassin from Antiva. But he wasn't much of a burglar)

Wynn. Well, what would I do without this miracle healer?

Alistair. There must be at least someone normal in the team.

Dragon age II:

Anders. This cat person got into my soul back in the DLC. Magicians and cats are a combo!

Merrill. You can't offend such cuties.

Fenris. A sullen, unsociable meanie who, if you get to know him better, turns out to be a "cinnamon bun"? We'll take you to the party!

Dragon Age: Inquisition:

Cassandra. This woman is like a stone wall. And he will stop the horse at a gallop, and enter the burning hut. My main tank is in the party.

Dorian. There are always magicians in my party! Always!

Iron Bull. Yes, I just did not dare to refuse him to join the campaign :D

Dragon Age The Veilguard:

Emmrich. A cheerful necromancer with sad eyes? I'm taking him along with Manfred! I think his storyline is the best in The Veilguard.

Luсanis. An obsessive coffee drinker? Well, I'm used to my companions being funny.

Harding. I liked this hardworking bee back in the Inquisition. I remember how much I wanted her to be a companion.

And the most important companion who accompanied me from DA2. A character thanks to whom we know the true story without embellishment) Varrick! This dwarf falls in love with himself from his first appearance. His charisma and Bianca hit right on the spot.

[asexualbookbird]

It sure has been a Year huh. Ups and downs this month, as life happens. Saw friends I haven't seen in years, went into the city and met new friends, tried new foods, saw some birds, tried new crafts, read new books.

The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Hm! Interesting! Didn't hate it, but something feels missing? Almost like it could've benefited from being at the very least a short novel. It needed more. I also have qualms at this being pitched as sapphic when there is no romance at all and the main character talks a lot about being betrayed by her last romance with a man. One mention of Woman With Hot Thighs. Not mad I read it, might even read it again.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming ⭐️⭐️ ‐ I'll be honest, one star is Mean but I had a lot more fun reading Fourth Wing and that was two stars. The tone is what dragged this one down for me. It reads like YA, but it's very much not. I do not believe for a second the MC is 24, she doesn't act like it at all. The sex scenes. Are there. I could make an entire post about the book ending on them having penetrative PiV sex. Part of my grievances are me not liking the genre, but I truly think this just isn't that good. Plenty of people on the internet write better more filthy works for free. Why was this sitting unassumingly on the library shelf.

*amended to two stars if this is indeed satire

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P Djèlí Clark ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Fine. Not much to say because it was Completely Average. Not mad I read it, but don't wish to repeat the experience. I think maybe Clark isn't an author for me, as I recall feeling similarly about A Master of Djinn. It's not so much that the characters or world feel flat, but something definitely feels missing. It was silly and lighthearted and gory and I did like that though!

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Another hit from Sarah Beth Durst. I see your Themes. I see your Tropes. Kindness. Found family. Accepting help. All personal attacks on me. Adorable, fun, some sort of cross between T Kingfisher and Becky Chambers, I didn't want it to end, and now have a name for my spider plant. It also seems like I need to get my spider plant a friend.

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo ⭐️⭐️ - I have very mixed feelings about this that are really summarized as This Wasn't For Me. I like the idea that yeah you're a monster but someone loves you anyway. I like using the monster to punish those who called you one. I think there's some very specific midwestern religious trauma that I'm missing to really Get It, though. On top of that, while I recognize the themes and significance in the age gap, a 30 year old going after an 18 year old icks me out. I'd still recommend it with very very heavy reservations.

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal ⭐⭐ - Going to be honest, I just finished this and I'm already moving on. The writing was fine and I'm not put off of the author entirely, but I never felt wowed. I was annoyed more than anything. I didn't love any of the characters, but I didn't really hate anyone either. The amount of people Tesla let pet her service dog drove me nuts. The ending felt slapped together. It never really felt cohesive. I feel vindicated reading that fans of her other books also were unimpressed with this. I wouldn't steer people away from it, but I didn't have a lot of fun.

I'm tentatively excited for February. I have art ideas I'd like to get started on, I am working on a craft thing that I might be able to profit a bit off of, I'm flat out ignoring the world, book club is approaching. I'm looking for good things in the world, and I will find them. That is a threat.

[exalted-dawn-drabbles]

Happy DAWC, how does this sound for a prompt? Talenna "Rook" Ethera x Lucanis Dellamorte and "Don't tell me this is the first time you've visited a woman's bedchamber unannounced." from the 8 little talons list sound? Happy Writing Mythalsknickers

HEHEHEHE THANK YOU FOR THE PROMPT! I took this one and combined it with the other 8 Little Talons prompt I got from @wishforhome and had a lot of fun with it XD hope you both enjoy!

for @dadrunkwriting Veilguard Content ahoy!

Rated T (maybe M?): for non-explicit tits out and a bit of teasing on Tal's part XD Very, very minor DA4 character and romance spoilers, ~1k words

An Assassin's Pride | By Exalted_Dawn

Talenna could just barely catch a corner of his reflection from the angle of her standing mirror. A flash of dark hair. A hint of equally dark clothing. Quiet as quiet but unfortunately for him, still not invisible. It was a shame– he’d gone through all that effort to enter her rooms unseen. 

With a huff of laughter, she continued to shed her top. 

“You know,” she began, her voice loud enough to carry to the adjoining room. “If you wished to catch me undressed, Lucanis, you could have simply asked.” 

Behind her, there was a sudden and sharp cacophony of metal against stone and the sound of something shattering, followed closely after by a hissed curse in Antivan. Talenna grinned. It must truly be an off night for him, then. 

Making no effort to cover herself, she strode out into the sitting room to investigate, and almost directly stepped into a puddle of sable-dark drink. Coffee, by the smell of it, but she could have guessed as much even without that. It was the clumps of brown, glazed pastry scattered amidst the spill that had her more perplexed. Chocolate? The flavor of the breading was harder to discern, given how much liquid it was soaking up. She supposed it didn’t matter– it was coffee-flavored now.

Lucanis was crouched, kneeling amongst the mess. Shards of violet glass were gathered in a cupped hand as he carefully sifted for more that lay broken up across the tile floor. His favorite coffee cup, it seemed. 

Her smile faltered, feeling slightly guilty to have surprised him. “Ir abelas– I didn’t intend to startle you. Do you need some help?” 

Lucanis sighed sharply. “No. Please, stand back. I haven’t yet gathered the rest of the glass, and-”

He froze, finally looking up at Talenna. So he hadn’t noticed then. 

“I… You are actually undressed,” he stated dumbly, his stare perhaps lower than was strictly proper. Two full seconds of this passed before true recognition set in. Lucanis blushed to his ears and then quickly averted his gaze. Much to her amusement, but with an efficiency that impressed, he cleared his throat and quickly added on, “That is to say, I wasn’t, ah, aware at first that you were here.” 

“I do enjoy defying people’s expectations,” she hummed, unable to fully hide her smirk. “Though, usually when a woman locks her door, it is to prevent this sort of compromising situation. Or is this the first time you've ever visited a woman's bedchamber unannounced?” 

It seemed that her comment was finally the thing that shook him from the rest of his shock. 

Scowling at her as a cat would a rain storm, he muttered another suitably frustrated curse and stood. With deft grace, he set the metal serving tray he’d brought here down on top of the nearest buffet and emptied the contents of his cupped palm out onto it. The broken glass chimed against the silver, falling in a neat little pile of gem-like purple that seemed to wink at her in the lamp light. 

She made a mental note to replace the cup later. 

“How did you even know I was here? I made certain I was not seen or heard as I entered.”

Talenna scoffed. “That’s the part you’re stuck on right now?”

“It’s offensive,” he huffed. “Professionally.” 

“Ah, is that it?” she snorted. 

“Of course.” 

“Then it was because I could feel you and Spite staring at me-” 

Lucanis grunted irritably at that. 

“-and I put wards on the door,” she finished smoothly, settling herself against the wall. Waiting to see how long it would take him to finally turn around and meet her eyes again.

He let her answer hang in the air for a moment– likely considering the workarounds of such a defense for the next time he attempted this, if she had to guess– before finally releasing the tension in his shoulders with a single, prolonged sigh.

“I swear to the Maker, you are going to walk me into an early pyre.” Seeming far more composed now, he turned back towards her, but it was with the weariness of someone who looked like they hadn’t slept in two days. This time, he kept his gaze firmly trained above her neckline. “If there were truly wards on your door, then why did you not stop me from entering?”

Her lips curled up in fox-sly satisfaction. “Perhaps I wanted you to see.”

“And if it was anyone else?” he responded flatly. 

She snickered. “Well why do you think I locked the door?” 

Talenna only allowed herself a single, delicious glimpse of his recognition of her trap, oh so carefully laid, before she spun away and retreated back into her bedroom. With an unceremonious sort of confidence, she continued undressing, first removing her leggings and then her smalls. She did not stop to check if he was still watching her, nor did she listen for the opening and closing of her door. 

Her invitation had been genuine after all– if he wished to join her, he was more than welcome. 

But seconds passed and he did not once move to stop or interrupt her as she changed into fresh sleepwear. Perhaps unsurprisingly, when she had finally finished righting herself, Talenna had turned to find the mess fully cleaned and herself alone in the room once more. Who could say how long Lucanis had stayed to watch, but he’d clearly made a point of leaving unseen. 

She snorted. 

And the team thought she was prideful. 

No matter. Knowing him, he would be back, likely with a way to flaunt her wards. He was not one to be outdone in these matters, both as an assassin and as a chef, and seeing as she hadn’t gotten to try the dessert he’d made, it was really only a matter of time. 

She could only hope that, next time, he didn’t drop the coffee.

[kerosene-saint]

fairly extensive and probably hard to follow gerard swarm tour outfits/costumes analysis relating to the new tour:

remember how in 2022 people had connected a few Gerard's outfits as sort of references to black parade? mainly the nurse outfit related to welcome to the black parade, the cheer dress possibly relating to the cheerleaders in the blood music video, Jehanne d'Arc being a reference to how gerard had a psychotic break kinda surrounding her during their stay at the paramour, and Jackie being a possible reference to the Kennedy assassination photo shoot he did with his wife (which was during the black parade era iirc).

not to mention a lot of the costumes he had were either of dead people or involved lots of blood (possibly dying?). and we all know how the black parade connects to death. exceptions to this are the wwwyf outfits (though you could argue they're very close to death), the cat and the bat maybe, the swan, both teachers, the one with the flower in his pocket, and any other outfits that don't look to be costumes of a sort.

outfits that contain the character being dead/possibly dead/in the process of dying OR covered in blood and otherwise injured: skeleton, ghost, meta man, Clown, OKC clown (shirt has bullet hole in face and drumhead said "big death energy"), Princess Diana, vampire, pool boy (becomes injured if we are to believe the shorts denote the same character), bloody tears (did we have a name for him??), the guy shot in the head with the like Hawaiian shirt ig, casino guy, Manson girl, swarm cape guy (looks to be dead or dying similar to the patient in black parade).

now we can also connect a few of gerard's outfits to the new tour the business woman/secretary (though she does not seem to be a secretary in the videos we have seen) and the red dictator-esc costume

I may have missed some or forgotten names of some it has been almost two years on some of them for me but this is mainly what I can see (no one has made a definitive list of every outfit/costume gerard wore for all swarm tour shows)

[pink-yuri]

Find polls here

Navigation/Masterlist:

&Dropout - OneShot - The protagonist is naturally irresistable to other girls .traeH - OneShot - A lonely/neglected protagonist is liked by a persistant girl 4:30am, at the coin laundromat - OneShot - The protagonist frequents a laundromat early in the morning, & often sees a beautiful woman there 5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love - OneShot - Enemies-To-Lovers with a witch & a witch hunter

A Cruel God - OneShot - Protagonist has a crush on a woman, and later sees her in a lesbian bar, however she also finds out that she isn't her type A Face You Shouldn’t Show - Ongoing / 10+ Chapters - The protagonist goes to a lesbian hookup bar for the first time & a regular takes an interest in her A Girl Who Longed to Be a ''Hero'' Aims to Be a ''Hero'' Even If She Falls Into Becoming a Vampire - Ongoing / 5+ Chapters - A lady knight teams up with a vampire to hunt other vampires to extinction, the vampire turns the knight & they vow to kill eachother last A Girl Who Wants to Receive a Blowjob - OneShot - A girl has a thought while eating ice pops with a friend Ada and Eyva - Oneshot (twoshot, including the epilogue) - Two rival mafia bosses are in love Adolescence of Utena - Movie - A Retelling/Sequel to 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' (details under RGU's entry) Akuma no Riddle - Anime (Complete / 13 Episodes)(There's a complete manga also but I've not read/posted about it, I have however heard the manga is gayer, especially the epilogue) - The protagonist enters a class made up of one 'target' (herself) and 12 assassins, 1 assassin defects to her side. Albino and Witch/Albino's Diary - Completed / 3-4 Chapters - A human girl falls in love with her supernatural adoptive mother Ayumi and Aika - Oneshot - A transgender woman breaks up with her partner, the relationship is rekindled as a lesbian one (From the Mermaid Line anthology)

Beauty and the Beast Girl - Completed / 50 Chapters - A lonely monster girl meets a blind girl, the two bond & fall in love Boyish Girl x Gyaru - Completed / 12 Chapters - Slice of Life, the series starts with the boyish girl and the gyaru already in a relationship

Cats and Cats Endless Night - Oneshot - Two women realise they're both bottoms (cats)(yes it's the source of the 'and they were both bottoms' image) Cheerful Amnesia - Completed / 53 Chapters - Slice of Life, a woman forgets the past 3 years of her life (including everything about her girlfriend), she was also the more 'assertive' one in the relationship, but has forgotten how to act like that Company and Private Life - Ongoing / 100+ Chapters - (Technically heterosexual) 2 coworkers accidentally meet in their personal time, one dressed as a goth, and one as a lolita (the lolita is technically a 'guy' but not to me <3) Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk - Ongoing / 80+ Chapters - Debatably yuri, debatably yaoi. The protagonist crossdresses as a girl, and falls for a girl (who is also a guy crossdressing) & vice versa

Dangerous Love -OneShot - A yandere flirts with the (female) POV character Delicious in Dungeon - Completed / 111 Chapters (Also an anime / 24 Episodes) - Fantasy/Adventure, not romance focussed and the yuri is non-canon Destiny of the Shrine Maiden - Anime / 12 Episodes, Manga / 14 Chapters - It's like a standard mecha anime if we ignored the male protagonist and let his love interest have a fucked up yandere gf Destroy It All And Love Me In Hell - Ongoing / 10+ Chapters - Straight A student is stressed + a truant classmate blackmails her into letting loose / acting out Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! - Ongoing / 10+ Chapters - A 'guy' is reincarnated as a female game character 'he' made, she rescues an elf who then accompanies her through a fantasy/adventure type story Dum & Dee - Oneshot - Two twins love one girl (From 'Double Your Pleasure - A Twin Yuri Anthology)

Executioner and Her Way of Life, The - Ongoing / 20+ Chapters (Anime / 12 Episodes) - An assassin who executes transmigrators encounters one that won't die/stay dead

Fed Up Office Lady Wants To Serve The Villainess, The - Ongoing / 15+ Chapters - The protagonist is summoned into the world of a game she likes by the villainess, as her familiar Futari Monologue - Ongoing / 40+ Chapters - 2 childhood friends separate & reunite after one of them becomes gloomy & the other a gyaru. Gyaru makes advances which the gloomy one mistakes initially for bullying

Gemini - Oneshot - Two twins love eachother (From 'Double Your Pleasure - A Twin Yuri Anthology) Goodbye, My Rose Garden - Completed / 17 Chapters - My personal favourite A period romance where a Japanese woman moves to England in search of an author, instead meets a (suicidal) noble woman Gun Gale Online - Completed / 27 Chapters - SpinOff of Sword Art Online but not featuring the main cast. The protagonist is a tall girl who wants to be small and cutesy (achieved via the game) & she yuri-ly befriends a girl in the game GUNBURED x SISTERS - Completed / 20 Chapters - A nun is tasked with hunting vampires, but decides to take one in as a pet Gushing Over Magical Girls - Ongoing / 50+ Chapters - A fan of magical girls is tricked into becoming a villain who fights against them, she gets a little overenthusiastic about the role

Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl - Completed / 18 Chapters - A handsome girl jokingly confesses to another girl who mistakes her for a boy & accepts the confession, the two fall in love (& obviously the handome girl confesses her that she's a girl eventually)

I Married My Best Friend To Shut My Parents Up Completed / 4 Chapters - Pressured to find a man by her parents, a woman decides to marry her lesbian best friend to shut them up I See You Aizawa-San! - Ongoing / 10+ Chapters - Protagonist can see the ghost of a dead idol classmate, yuri elements are minor IMO I Suspect My Childhood Friend Is A Lesbian - Completed / 2 Chapters - Protagonist has a touchy-feely friend who she assumes is gay & hitting on her I'm in Love with the Villainess - Ongoing / 40+ Chapters (Anime / 12 Episodes) - A girl transmigrates into her favourite otome game, as the title suggests she is in love with the villainess I'm Not Cut Out To Be A Princess, So I'll Elope With The Villainess - Oneshot - Two women run away from their 'roles' to be together Inugami and Nekoyama - Ongoing / 70+ Chapters - Slice of Life about a dog girl who likes cats & a cat girl who likes dogs (& the 3rd wheel friend) Ipheion - OneShot - The protagonist is drafting a love letter, and her friend recruits her crush to help refine it

Killing Me! - Completed / 9 Chapters - Vampire x Vampire Hunter, technically enemies to lovers but it's more flirty than bloodthirsty Koi no Kaori - Collection of 6-7 OneShots (one is actually a TwoShot so) Kuro De Naku, Shiro De Nai - OneShot (Sequel to 'Uma de Ari, Shika de Aru' but I've tagged all posts re: them as both, bc yknow. theyre the same series) - 2 classmates reunite after they've both become teachers

Let Me Kidnap The Male Lead - Ongoing / 20+ Chapters - (Predominantly M/F) The protagonist kidnaps handsome men in the hopes of finding the male lead of the novel she's in. She catches the interest of the male lead, the female lead, and the (male) villain Liar Satsuki Can See Death - Completed / 83 Chapters - Not romance focussed, protagonist can see corpses 24 hours before the person dies, she amasses a small harem group of girls who believe/help her prevent deaths, actual yuri elements are honestly minimal Love Live Comic Anthology - µ's Sweet Memories - Completed / 10 Chapters - Disconnected oneshots about µ's Love Live! Sunshine!! - Ongoing / 15+ Chapters | (Anime - Completed / 26 Episodes + 1 Movie) - 9 girls join together to form an idol group, slice of life, yuri content is non-canon/implied Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club - Completed / 26 Episodes - A group of solo school idols share a club, slice of life, yuri is non-canon/implied Love/Death - Completed / 8 Chapters - 2 severely yandere girls are in love with eachother Loved By Twins - Oneshot - Two twins love one girl (From 'Double Your Pleasure - A Twin Yuri Anthology)

Madoka Magica - Anime / 12 Episodes - Not romance focussed, dark magical girl anime, while yuri elements are present it could be explained away as gal pals Mage and Demon Queen - Completed / 185 Chapters - The protagonist is a mage but instead of wanting to defeat the demon queen, she fell in love with her, the demon queen is a mildly violent tsundere (mild in that she won't do anything the mage won't recover from) The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady - Ongoing / 40+ Chapters - The protagonist is a princess who takes in the prince's discarded fiancee as a research assistant for her interest in magic Megumi and Aoi - Completed / 4 Chapters - 2 classmates bond over 'The Little Mermaid' story. The protagonist isn't sure what type of love she feels, the love interest knows what type & gets a beard (From the Mermaid Line anthology) Miss Savage Fang - Completed / 26 Chapters - A mercenary is reincarnated as the princess who brought the country to ruin, she has a gay thing going with the woman who killed (mercenary) her Mix and Melt Into One - Oneshot - Two twins love eachother and they both love/hate one non-related girl (From 'Double Your Pleasure - A Twin Yuri Anthology) My Friend's Abnormally Cute Sister - Ongoing / 10+ Chapters - The protagonist has a crush on her friend's little sister, however the sister is bit of a yandere who loves her own big sister (and hated the protagonist for being close to her)

Oniyuri-san and Himeyuri-san - OneShot - 2 Girls who fight in public but act lovey dovey in private Otherside Picnic - Ongoing / 70+ Chapters (Anime / 12 Episodes)(Novel / 9 Volumes) - The protagonist enjoys 'true' horror stories & finds her way into a world where they come true. She meets a girl in the 'otherside' and they decide to explore it together Our "Love" Is Disgusting - Ongoing / 2+ Chapters - The protagonist obsessively makes figures akin to the girl from her first (failed) sexual encounter, she meets a girl who wants to touch/lick figures

Promiscuous Relationship of the President and Vice President, The - Completed / 3 Chapters - 2 girls have a 'pure friendship', one asks the other out & it rapidly turns less 'pure'

Reemployment Life With an Unsociable Untalkative Magician - Ongoing / 20+ Chapters - HETEROSEXUAL - A true yuri fan sees yuri where none is intended - A woman works for a recluse male magician, they fall in love Revolutionary Girl Utena - Anime / 39 Episodes (There's a manga but all I know of that is they made Juri heterosexual) - The protagonist inadvertently engages in a duel with the prize being an engagement to another woman (it is SO much more than that but.. spoilers) Roll Over and Die - Ongoing / 20+ Chapters - The protagonist is cast aside by her adventuring team, at rock bottom she meets a girl she wants to protect & figures out how to be OP, has horror elements RWBY - Completed / 15 Chapters - Adaptation/Expansion upon the original RWBY cartoon - 4 girls are put together as a team to learn to fight the Grimm (disposable enemies) RWBY Official Manga Anthology - Ongoing / 80+ Chapters - Accompaniment to the series RWBY, disconnected one shots, only really worth reading if you're somewhat familiar with RWBY

Sailor Moon (Original Series) - Completed / 46 Episodes - The protagonist becomes a magical girl, there are yuri adjecent scenes, however the canon sailor moon lesbian couple don't make an appearance in this run Scarlet - Ongoing / 6+ Chapters - Werewolf & a vampire(?) do Ye Olde drug busts, fairly overtly horny Shitto na Watashi to Shikku na Aitsu - OneShot - An immortal girl confesses to a girl who then asks to stab her, she's a little out of her depth when the immortal agrees readily then doesn't die Soul Eater NOT! - Completed / 31 - A spinoff of Soul Eater, the protagonist can turn into a weapon but finds herself in a love triangle as she cant decide which girl she wants to wield her Stardust Telepath - Ongoing / 40+ Chapters - The protagonist doesn't fit in on Earth so she wants to build a rocket to meet aliens, coincidentally an alien (girl) lands on Earth with amnesia. The alien can use telepathy when their foreheads are touching. Story of the Demon Lord Who Wants to Yuri-Marry the Hero - Preview / 1 Chapter - The hero wants to defeat the demon lord, the demon lord wants to marry the hero Sugar Girl Drip - Ongoing / 8+ Chapters - An abused girl sees herself in another girl & ends up killing her(other girl's) abuser, they cover it up and the protagonist helps her become independent Sukeban & Tenkousei - Ongoing / 8+ Chapters - The protagonist asks a delinquent girl to say cutesy words because she finds it cute/amusing

That Girl Is Too Much - Completed / 7 Chapters - A popular girl is annoyed that an equally popular tomboy isn't giving her attention. Aforementioned tomboy is head over heels for her

When Arika Went Missing - Ongoing / 15+ Chapters - An idol goes missing under mysterious circumstances, her childhood friend decides investigate, yuri content is non-canon/implied

You Are My Angela - Completed / 3 Chapters - A young woman finds a human-looking angel & takes her home, though she's afraid the angel will leave her without warning You, As You Are - Oneshot - Butch protagonist meets an abused woman and they fall in love Yukari and Mayuko - Oneshot - Love interest insists on getting book recommendations from the protagonist despite not really enjoying any of them Yuri Espoir - Ongoing / 15+ Chapters - A girl is to be in an arranged marriage. Saddened that she's never been in a relationship with another girl, she decides to write yuri about strangers with a 'friend' Yuri Terrorism - Oneshot - The protagonists infiltrate their enemy by ways of yuri

Fan Doujins

Can We Hold Hands - Ai Miyashita x Rina Tennoji Honest Feelings - Setsuna Yuki x Kasumi Nakasu Kasumin’s Treat - Shizuku Osaka x Kasumi Nakasu Niji-chan Manga and Drawing Matome - Ai Miyashita x Setsuna Yuki SetsuKasu Pocky Game - Setsuna Yuki x Kasumi Nakasu Shiritori - Ai Miyashita x Rina Tennoji Valentine’s and Kasumi - Yuu Takasaki x Kasumi Nakasu

[yukiwhitetm]

DR Characters Assigned DC Roles

The main premise of this is that Shuichi Saihara as Robin 3 is both dating civilian Kokichi Oma as Bernard Dowd and flirting/being flirted with by his alter ego Stray. Shuichi has no idea Kokichi is Stray but Kokichi definitely knows Shuichi is Robin 3. What order do these events happen in? Who knows!

The Bats and Birds

Batman (The Bat): Kyoko Kirigiri

Agent A: Makoto Naegi

Robin 1, Nightwing: Kaede Akamatsu

Robin 2, Red Hood: Hajime Hinata

Robin 3, Red Robin: Shuichi Saihara

Spoiler, Robin 4, Batgirl (Batboy): Kaito Momota

Robin 5: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu

Batgirl, Oracle: Chiaki Nanami

Black Bat, Batgirl, Orphan: Maki Harukawa

Batwoman: Aoi Asahina

Signal: Yasuhiro Hagakure

The Cats

Catwoman: Celestia Ludenberg

Stray & Bernard Dowd: Kokichi Oma

The Rogues

Joker: Junko Enoshima

Punchline: Mukuro Ikusaba

Harley Quinn: Toko Fukawa

Poison Ivy: Komaru Naegi

Blackmask: Mondo Owada

Penguin: Kiyotaka Ishimaru

Scarecrow: Miu Iruma

Bane: Nekomaru Nidai

Mr. Freeze: Teruteru Hanamura

Riddler: Hifumi Yamada

Mad Hatter: Angie Yonaga

Deathstroke: Tsumugi Shirogane

The League of Assassins

Ra's al Ghul: Haiji Towa

Talia al Ghul: Korekiyo Shinguji

Prudence Wood: Peko Pekoyama

The Outlaws

Starfire: Sonia Nevermind

Arsenal: Nagito Komaeda

Bizarro: Ibuki Mioda

Teen Titans

Beast boy: Gundham Tanaka

Raven: Himiko Yumeno

Wonder girl: Tenko Chabashira

Superboy 1 a.k.a Conner Kent (Supergirl): Akane Owari

Kidflash: Mahiru Koizumi

Cyborg: K1b0

Aquaboy (Aquagirl): Hiyoko Saionji

Superboy 2 a.k.a. Jonathan Kent: Masaru Daimon

The Justice League

Superman (Superwoman): Sakura Ogami

Wonder Woman: Kirumi Tojo

Green Arrow: Byakuya Togami

Aquaman: Leon Kuwata

Martian Manhunter: Ultimate Imposter

Green Lantern: Kazuichi Soda

Captain Marvel: Nagisa Shingetsu

Flash: Chihiru Fujisaki

Zatanna: Sayaka Maizono

Black Canary: Mikan Tsumiki

Most of these characters have been assigned DC roles based on their personalities, regardless of gender (except for Superboy and Bizarro since they're clones of Superman so have to be the same gender as him)! I included some Rogues, League of Assassins, Outlaws, Teen Titans and Justice Leaguers because the Batfam interact with them a lot.

In my mind, Kyoko Kirigiri is together with Makoto Naegi and has been for the long term but her as the Bat and Celestia Ludenberg as Catwoman share some flirtatious banter.

Hajime Hinata as Robin 2 died and came back, and when he did he came back different. How much you want to lean into Jason Todd's backstory or Hajime Hinata's and whether you want to include Izuru Kamukuru is up to you.

Kaito Momota may or may not have had an unsuccessful romantic relationship with Shuichi when he was Spoiler and Shuichi was Robin 3. This can be prior to Shuichi meeting Kokichi or Robin 3 and Stray could have had some playful banter going on during this time (this works because Shuichi actually dates civilian Kokichi, which could be after he and Kaito break up). Kaito could be with Maki now!

Yes, this character assignment does mean that Masaru Daimon is Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu's best friend. Yes, that is hilarious.

I was running out of DR characters near the end so I started swapping some around to find suitable Justice Leaguers. Masaru was originally Captain Marvel but then that only left Kotoko Utsugi as an option for Superboy 2 and I thought Fuyuhiko would hate her. So, Masaru became Superboy 2 and Nagisa Shingetsu Captain Marvel. Byakuya Togami was originally assigned as Lucius Fox, the manager of WE, but I had to swap him to Green Arrow because he was just too perfect for that!

I hope you enjoyed! Please like, comment and reblog. Your support is much appreciated.

[utilitycaster]

Because I still have Midst's most recent episode on the brain, it really is a little frustrating to see how characters like Jonas Spahr are so frequently maligned over a single incident and characters like Liliana Temult are so frequently given infinite excuses. I say a little frustrating because I think by and large the respective fandoms of Midst and CR do find Jonas a flawed but ultimately sympathetic and heroic character, and Liliana a person who perhaps began with good intentions but has been so warped by years in a cult that she is now openly manipulating her daughter, so this is about a relatively small group. But it is very much an extant group.

I think for me the real hangup is that the reason the Jonas Spahr archetype (of which, for those who know CR and not Midst, Fjord is not quite the same but similar enough for this particular example; this post is definitely about him as well) receives criticism for being harsh towards, for lack of a better term, a wetter and sadder cat of a character. And how is that different from Liliana, who is at the very least staging a public shaming of her daughter? For all their methods, and for all their personal history, characters like Fjord and Spahr have never been terribly manipulative towards the sympathetic protagonists, just openly angry. And when they've been angry, it's always come out that they are consciously holding back from what was visited on them.

But Liliana. Liliana isn't trying to shield Imogen. She says she is, but she continues long after it stops working. She won't listen to the daughter she says she's doing this for; she treats a grown woman like the toddler she abandoned. I don't think Liliana means "did she know there were children in this music hall" because she told Imogen that last episode. She invoked that there were children here to try to excuse her own behavior. She knows Imogen knows about that. This is about the assassination attempt. She wants to know if her daughter knew this was coming. And the answer is that Imogen did, and she tried to stop Liliana, and she tried even to advocate for a more measured attempt with a group for which she lacked the built-up good will. Unlike Liliana leaning on her ultimately useless showy warnings and claiming she does this all for a greater good, Imogen didn't try to curry favor with her mother (nor should she have to; Liliana's the one who left). I doubt Liliana would have taken kindly to being captured, but Imogen still tried and didn't try to score points with her mother for it.

The response to Liliana when juxtaposed with the response to Spahr does feel like this trend, again of a small subset of people but certainly a subset often unaware of how to act reasonably online, that craves the most basic subversion and simultaneously fears and hates conviction in those characters who are not part of this childish "what if the BAD GUYS were RIGHT" group. Specifically they hate an individual conviction that allows one to break out of a larger ideology - one that Spahr has and Liliana clearly lacks.

I'll admit this is really more an observation - I don't have a thesis statement or true conclusion, at least not one I'm going to share widely - but it still sits so strangely that people will hate characters for a single harsh word to their favorite and then try to brush away the decades of harm Liliana has, ultimately, visited on Imogen. Did the word "Run" ever comfort her? It certainly didn't work. Did Liliana ever answer a direct question? At some point, when you're dealing with a fully functioning adult, you can't just say "I'm doing this for you" without their input and be taken seriously and yet Liliana does, repeatedly. At least with Spahr I believed the people who disliked him liked Phineas, but here, I don't think the people defending her care that much for Imogen except as Liliana does - a sweetly misguided morality pet whom they're doing this all for, hush, don't interrupt my noble sacrifice for you with your actual needs and wants. It feels like the campaign-long denial, within some of the fandom, of Imogen's agency, down to how people talk carefully around how the reason Bells Hells wasn't at the assassination is because Imogen chose not to be (and told the others they could not go either, and they respected this). I think we're reaching a point where those who have been so scornful of leadership are fighting against the fact that that is how Imogen is positioned: as leader and as a hero. Ironically, as we've learned from how they treat characters like Spahr, there's nothing they hate more than that.

[kitkatopinions]

TW: Sucide, toxic relationship, slavery, abuser and victim

My biggest pet peeve with stans regardless of the fandom they are in is always "you would've like female character if they were a man" No. Just stop.

If you want the biggest example of everyone hating on a male character even if they swap genders is none other than GOT Jeffrey.

That spoiled brat has no irredeemable qualities he's just a spoiled stuck up brat who everyone cheered when he died.

HOWEVER im not saying that there ISNT any misogyny towards female character/villains because no matter what fandom you are in there will be misogyny most towards fandom that has a large male fanbase (example Star Wars, Star Trek, Game of Thrones, Assassin's Creed, etc.)

Having a valid reason to hate a female character/villain is NOT misogyny. I hate Neo because the shows wants us to feel sorry for her because she didn't know what to do after Roman's death but are we forgetting an episode ago she DROVE RUBY TO SUCIDE USING PEOPLE SHE KNOW and then she redeemed herself by killing Cat?

FUCK THAT!

Regardless if Neo was a male anyone who drove someone to sucide will never be liked by me or anyone else.

Here's another one Leonora from Castlevanina is hated because she made Hector a slave and saw him as a pet yet she started to develop feelings for him the more time she spent with him. And many people are disgusted because 1) she enslaved Hector and then develop have feelings and 2) because of the obvious power imbalance/relationship of the abuser and victim.

If a character has a trait that triggers the audience or they don't like them for any actions then they can have a reason why they dislike not. I have many female characters that I hate with valid criticism just how much I hate male characters for that same reason.

Yeah, here's the thing, if I actually thought that anti-rwde posters were honestly concerned about misogyny, I would be very sympathetic.

Every single time a piece of media so much as passes the Bechdol test or has a woman that never wears a bikini, there are a bunch of misogynistic idiots and dudebros who hate it or those women. And in the modern day, only hardcore Trump supporters are out here out and out saying that they hate women and are misogynists and that's why they hate whatever it is they're ranting against. People do very much so use perfectly valid (or not so valid) "real criticisms" because they don't want to say the honest truth, or because they themselves wouldn't recognize their own misogyny. Recognizing that just because someone SAYS they hate a female character because of an action that they did doesn't mean they're not a misogynist is kind of important. The guys who harassed the actress of Rose Tico off of Twitter all hid behind 'valid reasons' for their criticism too.

But here's the thing:

1. It's important to be able to figure out what is and isn't actually a sign of misogyny. There's not a precise rule, but you can do things like see if the thing they hate is an exception or the rule, or see if they're hypocritical about their reasons, or see what kind of language people use. If they come around with "brat" "bitch" "cunt" for female characters, that's a red flag at best!! But yeah, ANY criticism of that kind of thing isn't automatically misogynistic. It's like yeah, a bunch of misogynists hated Taurial in the Hobbit because she's a woman and yes they disguised that by claiming it was for other reasons, but there ARE very valid criticisms and complaints about Taurial and you have to be willing to hear out those things instead if just blanket assigning 'misogyny.' Lots of things from Arcane to something as bad as Twilight has perfectly valid haters that are fine, and then also a bunch of misogynists that are going to pretend or really think they have valid reasons. Somone being unable to tell the two apart probably means that person is too close to the situation and too defensive, but these critics don't want to admit that maybe they're wrong.

2. If this was something like Steven Universe, then the defensiveness would make more sense. If it were a well written slow burn with a cast of characters with well rounded dynamics that the writers put work into and the show was about rebels trying to fight the system for a peaceful life and the show had never sexualized the women and there was hard-fought for groundbreaking queer rep and it was created by a Jewish bisexual non-binary woman, and there were mistakes and valid criticisms of the series, but also a lot of unjustified venom of nothing but bad-faith... Then we'd be having a different conversation. Instead it's a show about badge-carrying law enforcement officers, who fight the evil civil rights group from upsetting the status quo, in a show that has tons of things just 'happen off screen,' with a history of sexualizing some of the main female characters, that only recently confirmed any main character as queer years behind the curve, and that was created by and mostly written for by a bunch of straight cis men most of them having said or done misogynistic things. Anti-rwde posters like to pretend that there's no reason why a great completely non-problematic misunderstood stand-up show like RWBY made with love by the totally not at all a part of RT "CRWBY" should be hated, and therefore it must be because of misogyny, but they aren't living in reality.

3. Most anti-rwde posters actually don't really care about misogyny and they aren't actually basing this on - for lack of a better word - good faith. They don't care about Jaune harem fics or the fanarts of RWBY girls with giant breasts in bikinis, and they don't call out the writers or even RT for their bigotry, and they have quite literally Trump supporters that post anti-rwde stuff, but none of that matters. Instead they spend their time harassing a group of mostly queer women for *checks notes* criticizing a show written by mostly men.

So yeah. I've seen misogyny in rwde posters tbh, and I don't think that "I have valid reasons for disliking them" is always proof that there isn't misogyny at play, but the anti-rwde accusations are nothing, because not only are they blind to the flaws of the show and the writers and are unable to recognize the difference between misogyny and just criticism, but also they're only using these accusations as a screen anyway, because they only ever go after rwde posters with it and are unwilling to call out the blatant misogyny in the rest of the fandom, in the show, or in the writers room. I would take this seriously if I thought this was an actual concern of theirs, but it isn't. They don't actually care about misogyny, they just want their show to be above criticism.

(By the way, I've never seen Game of Thrones or Castlevania so I can't speak to it, and also I like Neo a lot lol. XD Personally for me, villains doing bad things doesn't typically blacklist them for me so long as they're entertaining.)

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Heart Killers day, woohoo!

Poor baby Bison, he just wants a break from murdering people so he can make out with a tattoo artist, we've all been there!

Oh Style, you nail the chaotic menace energy but you need to be smarter to humble Fadel.

Well you see Kant, in about a year this man is going to have a whole bunch of cats...

Ha, "pain excites me", casual way to bring up your kinks with your prospective boyfriend.

First in grandma glasses was not something I knew I needed until today.

I know Fadel has his reasons for being such a hard ass, but let Bison pet the kitty dammit!

Lol, this is giving me LITA flashbacks.

Oh, all my boys are such little idiots. But I love them all the same.

I love that Style has a whole collection of sports themed crop tops.

Oh god, Style being so extra is hard to watch, but it is very Petruchio-accurate.

This woman is really selling the "I should have insisted on being paid more for this" energy

I do like that we see Fadel is normally quite polite with everyday people. I know that makes him a little less overall shrew-ish, but it also makes him feel a little more well-rounded to me.

Well, hello Dunk & Khaotung chemistry! Y'all are not helping my "let everyone kiss everyone" feelings.

Also adore that Style is just such a natural wingman.

Haha, the competitive bitchiness over Bison, delightful.

Bison: "Ah yes, men fighting over me, this is the natural order of things"

Kant! You can break someone's foot doing that!

Sir, how dare.

Oh these two are gonna kill me.

Also we're gonna get some filthy fics out of this setting, lol.

Oh god, not Bison showing off his sucking powers.

Ok, that line about the mother is a hint that she's probably not bio mom, but something else, right?

Lol, I already know people will be complaining about the dance scene, but I think it's hilarious. Also anyone who grew up with the American teen movies of the 90s knows random dance scenes sometimes just happen.

Please, Jojo, I'm already dead!

Haha, Fadel so wants to look. I love how Joong is playing this. Tiny little cracks starting to show!

I love how shameless Style is.

I like that Fadel is suspicious, because it is sus. He's not stupid. Also I know part of Style's coolness is that he doesn't know Fadel is an assassin, but I kind of think even if he did, he'd still be like this. Fadel is a strong dude with a hand on his throat. He is just that hard to shake. It's such good character work.

Uh, pushing it a little far there Style. But again, that is his character.

The animosity of one couple and the sweetness of the other are so interesting when you consider how both will be flipping at some point.

Damn, Kant, you need to pay this guy more if he willingly let you drop a bowling ball on his foot.

I mean, Fadel may technically be right about everything, but also where's the lie?

Nevermind, Fadel is not right about everything, definitely not gun safety. Stop waving it around!

I do wonder how much of the brothers' conflict comes down to an introvert/extrovert thing. They should watch Monster Next Door.

Ha, I have never seen a man looked so annoyed to be so turned on before. But holy shit, that scene. The pearl-clutchers are gonna be so mad!

Oh this is so much fun!

[epickiya722]

As antagonist who do you think is better between Sukuna, Kenjaku, or Toji? Why? How will you rank them?

Now, out of the three, Sukuna is my favorite. But to say who is the better antagonist? Yeah, I don't have a definite answer really.

Each of them severed/serves their role well as an antagonist to the other characters.

I'll start with Toji. He was more of an... "arc villain". He's not there for the whole plot, but he's still important to it and played a part to someone's arc and development. In this case, it was for Satoru, Suguru and Megumi.

All three of these characters were affected some way because of Toji.

Satoru and Suguru's relationship changed because Toji played a part. Had not Toji been assigned to assassinate Riko and succeeded, they would have went down a different path.

Megumi would probably have been a different kid if Toji had been present in his life.

Also, how he carries himself during his time in the story is amazing. I know, many people say the same thing, but Toji was some boring villain. This man's introduction was him in slides, sweatpants and a sweatshirt while smiling all devious. Dude is a deadbeat, yet got reasons. Not an excuse! He lost the woman he loved and that resorted him back to his old self. He sold Megumi to the Zenin clan because he believed if Megumi inherited the technique, which he did, he would have a better life than he did with the Zenin clan. Was it right? No, but it was to Toji at the time. He cares about Megumi to some extent because even with coming back to life and fighting his son, he had been acting on pure instinct. Yet, looking Megumi dead in his face is what snapped him out and once he learned Megumi chose to use "Fushiguro" as his surname, Toji with out a smile for his son.

During his time on screen, there hadn't been a moment that Toji wasn't entertaining. (Can't believe that's DIO BRANDO that voices Toji.)

Next, Kenjaku, they're like... the villain behind the villains. They're responsible for a lot of what happened to the others. Hell, their intellect is part of what kicked off the plot. If Kenjaku did not know how to make curse objects, Yuji would not have eaten Sukuna's finger. Kenjaku is a cunning, evil individual. Playful, manipulative, aloof. Yet, Kenjaku ain't no coward. Someone challenges them and Kenjaku is about it now.

How do they move in those robes the way that they do in fights? I don't know. (Yeah, that's a question I have for Suguru, too. Like, are those robes heavy or... nevermind.)

Like, Toji and Sukuna who I'll talk about later, Kenjaku doesn't bore me. While Toji is more of that bloodthirsty active kind of villain, Kenjaku reminds me of a villain that will sit in a big chair with a cat on the lap and monolgue. Then it's like when they get up, they show you why you should have your guard up and not take them lightly.

But the thing with Kenjaku is, they don't try to make others fear them or even follow their plans to be worshipped. They just do whatever they want. They're unhinged but not in a feral, loud way. It's more sly and unexpected because when you think Kenjaku has done something wild, here comes something even more wild.

There's also the fact that the mangaka took the classic tropes of the MC having an absentee father (parents in Yuji's case) and evil dad and played with them here a bit.

Oh, Kenjaku is someone's evil dad, alright. But they ain't Yuji's. Yuji's dad, we know Yuji has some recollection of him that he doesn't really remember much of, but the mom? Not so much. I wonder, Kenjaku, as to why that is. I know you know the answer!

Now, for Sukuna!

As I said, he's my favorite out of the three.

He is downright evil. I doubt there is a single drop of good in that demon's heart.

A while ago, I saw a video of a guy reacting to a post about which out of the selection of characters is the best inner demon and he said Sukuna (if I remember correctly). His reasoning is why I so. Kurama was a choice, too, that I remember. And with Kurama, he got better and got along with Naruto. That's good and all (I don't hate it), but when I see the word "demon", I think of "vile, evil, embodiment of pain and anguish".

That's what Sukuna is. He is a "good demon" for the simple fact that he just is evil. He doesn't care to get along with Yuji and vice versa. It's what I love about their dynamic. They stand on far sides of a field, opposing the other without the need or want to find some common ground.

Mahito was great as someone who made Yuji question his morals and his part in the battle curses and humans. But Sukuna? Yeah, he's the source of Yuji's suffering since the start.

Sukuna is sadistic, immoral, selfish. Dude immediately wanted to paint the streets red and not with paint when he was reincarnated.

Folks call him "Fraudkuna", but no. He's not a fraud. Sukuna ain't stupid. He has intellect that he does use. He grasps onto things quickly. He witness, he learns and applies. He's not faking anything. A fraud is someone who fakes. Sukuna doesn't do that.

Yeah, Gojo put in work, of course he did. He wasn't titled "the strongest" for nothing. Sukuna even acknowledges that.

That's also another thing with Sukuna that interest me. He's evil, but at least he'll give you your props if you impressed him. Which honestly, I rather not be praised because it seems if you're someone if he acknowledges as strong, you either die by his hand or possessed. Except for Yuji, who he hates with every fiber in his body and does not respect.

But that's fine, because Yuji ain't looking for it. (Yeah, those two are my favorite two. Funny, isn't it?)

Also, bonus points, but I also love Sukuna's nails (when he has them painted and long) and pink hair (which he apparently had in his OG form). And the tattoos are nice.

I just...

Toji, Kenjaku, and Sukuna all have so much we know about them, yet still don't know much about them.

How did Sukuna become the King of Curses exactly? What is Kenjaku's true form? Toji's history with Megumi's and Tsumiki's moms? So many other questions.

They're all human, but not too human.

Overall, yeah, all three of them play/played well as antagonists for me.

[blade-liger-4ever]

So, I've decided to start something.

Well, a series of somethings.

I've had some Star Wars AU ideas as of late, which I'm thinking of turning into little ficlets that will be posted on Tumblr. If I feel bold enough from my experiences here, I may transfer them over to my WordPress account, but time will tell on that front. In most of these fanfics (which hopefully won't be long - or not, we'll see), there are going to be featured a couple of OCs, as well as established character/OC relationship(s) over previously established pairings. Many of you will probably be discontent over this, however, I will do my best to explain these new pairings and why I was dissatisfied with the original love interest.

Before I get into that however, I will introduce one of these OCs, who was also inspired by the lost potential of one of Disney's most recent princesses.

Click below, and you shall see Starkiller/Galen Marek's AU love interest: Raya Karimi, descendant of the noble House of Zakuul.

Now, before we get going, let me say something: I do not hate Juno Eclipse. I did, however, find the connection between her and Galen...a little unsettling. I am not saying it was unhealthy or toxic, nor am I saying that Juno should have never been in the same room as Galen. That said, it seemed, at least in the second game for sure, that Galen was over-relying on her and putting too much of his needs/hopes on her for his own good. And no, I'm not agreeing with what the narrative said about Vader having control over Galen so long as she lived. I think what I'm trying to say is that, she ended up being a Living Emotional Crutch for him, and that trope - whether applied to a man or woman, in real life or in fiction - deeply unsettles me. The idea that someone needs another person in order to operate as a human being, or to be kept from totally falling apart...it doesn't sit well with me, and, I suppose, scares me. I don't want that for either of them, hence a new love interest for Galen.

Now, whether or not Juno lived after that final cutscene in Force Unleashed II, I confess, for the purposes of this AU...Juno does die. In the main Star Wars universe that I envision, she does live, but for the purposes of my story, it only makes sense that she is killed by either Darth Vader or Boba Fett. Galen can only do so much to protect her, and moreover, the likelihood of either of those villains killing her is extremely high. PROXY will, quite possibly, be at least salvageable here as well; I don't yet know if he will be a series of pieces that Galen and Raya and their other two crew members will have to put back together, or have his parts integrated into a separate unit. Considering I gave Raya a revamped HK-77 assassin/protocol droid as her muscle pre-meeting Galen (HK-77s are from Legends, by the way; look them up), PROXY's role may be redundant, in which case, some of his salvageable components would be used for HK.

She will also have a small, cat-dragon hybrid known as a felico. Her name is Tapi, and I'm trying to picture her as a traditional Asiatic/Japanese dragon, but one that is small enough that she can easily climb onto someone's shoulder. I picture the same body style, but with shorter whiskers, dexterous talon-like paws, feathered wings of proper proportion, and some fur that helps her with sneaking some items off bad guys, or just all the way around enhance her cuddliness. Color wise, she might be all black or shades of gray with bright green eyes.

Raya I envision as one of the few survivors of the noble family from Zakuul, with perhaps a smidgeon of Force-sensitivity. Her family had guarded artifacts from the Old Republic Era (the time of Revan in SW:KOTOR to SW:TOR, for reference), and so she was trained in the use of both melee and ranged weapons. She was an energetic child, and a prodigy when it came to most topics, although she worked exceptionally hard to get good at working with starship systems and repairs. The Empire eventually came to Zakuul for those same artifacts, around the time Raya was twelve or fourteen. The planet attempted to fight, and was soon overpowered; however, many managed to take off with the artifacts, hiding them away from Imperial eyes. Raya was captured after one battle, and after some time, forced to watch her father's public execution. This sent her into a blind rage, and before she knew it, the squadron that had been detaining her lay at her feet in pools of blood and missing limbs. Shaken by her own actions, she managed to escape, and spent the next six or eight years bouncing across the galaxy as a freelance agent for hire. However, Raya never worked with the Empire, and even though she made apparently shady deals, it was all in the effort to locate those missing artifacts, which she managed to hide with the aid of the hidden in plain sight Jedi Haja Estree.

Following one lead on the edge of the Outer Rim/Wild Space from their efforts on Tanalorr, Raya comes across the remains of the Rogue Shadow on an unnamed planet, the owner of whom, Galen Marek, has resided in for almost a month. He's full of anger, but her stubbornness, humor, and clear disdain for the Empire manages to convince him that she is an ally and not an enemy. Working together, they leave the planet and attempt to return while being side-tracked by HK-77 picking up old, disconnected transmissions from something ancient - so ancient, in fact, that it could be a cache of artifacts from the time of Revan....

I hope you find this interesting, and if you want more, please feel free to check in for updates on it!

[shaakyhaands]

Hear Me Out:

Court of Darkness but MC is an investigative journalist.

Do we ever really get any details on what MC did on Earth?

Like no, deadass— we know she had an apartment and Robin. How is she paying rent? How is she buying cat food, or paying Robin’s vet bills?

I’m willing to bet the devs intentionally didn’t give us much detail about MC’s occupation, specifically so we the reader can ✨ project ✨ onto her.

That being said: let’s make up some occupations for her!

I think an investigative MC would be fun! She’s in a whole new dimension, there’s a ton to explore. Reality itself behaves differently, allowing magic! There’s an entire history of this world’s inhabitants! Wars, art, culture, food, philosophy, sciences, MAGIC! This would be fucking paradise for an exploratory personality.

Some headcanons:

MC always has questions. About everything. From the tangible and quantitative (“what is this?”) to the conceptual and abstract (“interesting. You seem to feel very strongly on this subject, am I reading that right? Can you tell me more? What influenced your judgement?”).

When she’s not peppering one of the consorts with questions about life in this world, she’s reading. What is she reading? Everything. Everything she can get her hands on. Especially books on history.

Speaking of reading and asking questions— MC bonds with Toa in her pursuits of knowledge. He helps her learn how to read and write (language barriers). While Guy, a man of action more than words, might get tired of MC’s incessant questions (and I really mean incessant, this isn’t shade at Guy. This MC is straight up annoying, never shuts up)— Toa has more patience.

Speaking of history— she studies historical events and the relationships between the kingdoms. Important players on the world stage, what they did, who they were cool with and who they pissed off and why. Why, why, why, MC is very interested in learning why things are the way they are.

So much so, she looks into events deeper than most native inhabitants would probably have any reason to. She wants to find the information not in the history books. She wants to know what actually happened— who pulled what strings, who is connected to who else and how did those connections play out, etc.

Through her research, MC learns about a lot of royals before they’re otherwise introduced. Not only does she learn of their existence (“Toa has a sister? Toa has three sisters? 👀”), but she, through the lens of various historical accounts (that she certainly cross referenced with each other), learns of their character. What they’ve done. And, reading between the lines, what some books failed to explain or navigated around, she’s able to get a better sense of their real personalities.

For example: Reading several accounts of her behaviour, if MC is piecing together the information correctly, than the picture her research is painting of Idina is a very, very cold one. Thinking about the implications makes MC shiver. To think this woman is related to Toa, it actually make too much sense.

Speaking of her research: MC definitely has the magical equivalent of a conspiracy theory pin board in her bedroom— one mapping out the connections between the kingdoms and powerful individuals.

This ^ This, but it’s MC, and the red string is connecting Idina to several assassinations untimely, very unfortunate and super totally accidental deaths of government officials. Toa is the person in the foreground.

“Okay, but why” you might be inclined to ask. “Why is MC asking all these questions, what’s the point”

The point is, she is an investigative journalist. So far, I’ve really emphasized the “investigative” part. But, my sweet summer child, there’s an entire second half of that title.

The point being, MC is recording all of the information she’s gathering.

The history, the art, the culture, the sciences, the magic— all of it. All of it, she is making an immaculate record of. How, you might ask? Well, you have some options:

Personally, I’m a huge fan of MCs who got transported with some of their earthly tech on their person. I have more than once gotten home and straight up passed out after a long day, still holding onto or wearing my daily gear. Let me put it this way: if they were able to bring her god damn cat with her, I see no reason why MC couldn’t bring, say, a backpack with her. Maybe a satchel, or a crossbody bag. If it was on or near her person when she fell asleep, I can imagine it getting caught up in the process.

Say this MC did have her bag with her. That means she has a myriad of technology potentially at her disposal. Laptop, tablet, camera. If you really want to lean into the “investigative reporter” side of things, she could even have an old school hand held tape recorder. At the very least, she definitely has a phone.

“Tech would die, though, how is she going to charge it” magic, babe. Via Roy’s consort path, we learned that inhabitants of the magical realm make magical weapons out of silversmithing. The reason Roy gives is that silver is a good conductor of electricity and magical energy:

(Please ignore the shit image quality, YouTube is being mean)

My point being, you understand the implications of this statement? People in Salagia know what electricity is. At least, on some level. So if MC just made one friend out of the S ranks, or Sherry, I’m sure they could come up with some way to keep any of MC’s earthly electronics permanently charged.

Outside of tech— remember how MC has to pretty much learn how to read and write? Because the Salagian language, it’s not English. In the American server, it’s hinted that the Salagain language is some derivative of Latin, and magic helps translate speech between MC and everyone else. In Toa’s path, MC can sort of read? But it’s not like speaking, and she pretty much has to relearn from the ground up (Warning: mild spoilers for Toa’s route, maybe?):

Point being: if MC can’t really read Salagian writing, then I doubt Salagians can read anything in MC’s native language (be that English, Japanese, or anything else).

So, theoretically speaking, MC could just write in her native language and no one would really be able to tell wtf she’s writing. Whose gonna teach them, her? Not if she doesn’t want them to know, she won’t.

So, to recap:

Our little investigative journalist MC is given the scoop of a fucking lifetime, being transported to a different universe.

With her tech, raw determination, and the help of some new friends, she gathers intel and writes up reports— be that literally writing, recording speech, or making video essays.

Photos, videos, any documentation she can make, she does.

The knowledge she gains enables her to move through this new world with a bit more discretion. She’s better able to navigate social settings (“everyone with blue eyes seems to hate me?… Oh yeah, the red, Avari, got it. I’ll just be cool, then”), and potentially avoid shady characters (“note to self: avoid Idina. Also, Toa needs therapy.”)

Maybe she discovers some cults earlier than she would otherwise?? 👀

And if/when she eventually gets back home, even if it’s just to visit friends, but not actually stay there— she will have the most epic story of all time. With supporting documents.

Other fun headcanons:

If this MC does pair up with a consort, everyone is like “… bro, your girl… she never stops asking questions” and her paramour is just like “fuck yeah, she doesn’t 😍”

“What are you writing” “a list of workers rights violations, I can’t believe unions are a foreign concept in this world.”

If an animal/creature shows up, MC is the first to jump to its defense. “It’s a siren!” “She’s part of an endangered species, you cretin!” “She can kill you! Aren’t you scared??” “So could tripping and falling over. Bottom line is, I’m not going to let you hurt her!”

“Do you not have kings in your world?” “I mean, they exist, but let me tell you about 1789 France…” *cue the radicalization of the S ranks*

Say a king shows up to the school for an event, oh BOY will she have Words. Not only would she ask a shit ton of questions, she will also have no fucking fear, because she has no respect for their title. “I read about this policy decision, what was this experience like for you?” Whatever prince is the associated son of the king is like “MC, please, I’m so scared for you, don’t incur his wrath”, while the king is just like “you know?… this person?.. this person is bold. To talk to me like this, the blatant lack of idol worship, almost bordering on disrespect, even… this is Different. New. Fun. I almost feel like a normal person, even.” And so, the king engages with all of her questions, much to their son’s potential dismay.

Anyways— god it feels good to get this enormous idea out of my brain and on a digital page. The Thought has been Purged, I am now free. Been a hot minute since I did some long form theorizing for CODVN, feels nice man. 😁

[mirayaslan]

 Oh, is that MIRAY ASLAN? I heard the THIRTY ONE year old is LOYAL. But don’t let that pretty face fool you, they are also CALCULATING. Makes sense seeing how they are a LEADER in the THE CRIMSONS.

pinterest. wanted connections

NAME: miray aslan

AGE: 31

DOB: 21st august

HOME: brooklyn, nyc

OCCUPATION: leader of the crimsons

GENDER: cis woman

SEXUALITY: bisexual & biromantic

prominent features: a large scar down her spine, a scar on the right side of her head under her hair

- 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚃𝚈

THEME SONG: six inch heels by beyonce

POSITIVE TRAITS: charming, sociable, confident, captivating, poised

NEGATIVE TRAITS: vainglorious, cold, loyal, stubborn, vain

MORAL ALIGNMENT: chaotic neutral

MBTI: estp

DEADLY SIN: lust

HEAVENLY VIRTUE: patience

LABEL: the vixen

CHARACTER PARALLELS: samantha jones (sex and the city), santana lopez (glee), ramona vega (hustlers), veronica lodge (riverdale), jennifer check (jennifer's body), maddy perez (euphoria), blair waldorf (gossip girl), haley dunphy (modern family), villanelle (killing eve)

- 𝙱𝙸𝙾

trigger warnings: suicide, death(like a lot of it)

Miray was born and raised in Manhattan by Murat and Leyla Aslan. Her father, Murat, was a head surgeon at the top hospital in New York, and her mother, Leyla, was the CEO and founder of a prominent fashion house. Throughout her childhood, Miray was given everything she could possibly want and more, living a life of comfort and luxury. She and her younger sister, Mina, were doted on in every way.

Tragedy struck when Miray was in her early teens and involved in a car crash. Although she survived with injuries, her parents did not. Miray tried to revive them at the scene for what felt like hours but it was no use, they were gone. For the first time in her life, something had not gone Miray's way, and instead of feeling sadness or anger, she felt lost.

It took her until she was seventeen to decide what she wanted in life, and she quickly realized that staying in Manhattan wasn't it. She moved to Brooklyn, where she found herself drawn into the Crimsons. Miray's charm, confidence, and ruthlessness quickly sent her up the ranks until she took over as the leader of the gang. This was 8 years ago.

In Brooklyn, with her gang behind her, Miray slowly started to feel invincible once again. However, her world was shattered when she walked into her childhood home in Manhattan to see her sister hanging in the middle of the living room having taken her own life.

Following Mina's death, Miray's life became a blur of violence, danger, and survival. Most people never managed to get close to her again. Her success within the gang and seemingly unshakable confidence masked an undercurrent of a predatory need for control. Once a girl who believed in goodness and happy endings, she had become cold, calculating, and unrelenting. All of this, of course, was hidden beneath a cheeky wink and a flirtatious attitude.

At some point, Miray had a child, a complete accident that she found out about too late to do anything about. She didn't want the baby at first but now mina is her world

A couple of years ago Miray got married to a Senator and they were madly in love. Their relationship was wild and fast they married after only six months of dating (because when you know you know). Tragedy stuck only two months later when Miray's husband was tragically assassinated, a crime the police and Miray are still investigating.

headcanons:

her little angel mina is currently 3 and will be turning 4 in august

Miray has a black cat named nyx