#even though that doesn't fit the timeline either

[raayllum]

@starryarose He is, but nothing else about that photo lines up timeline wise because he has his full star piece and isn't fallen yet, but we know that's not true because his piece is gone 100 years after Leola dies (and even when his chest piece does glow in 2x09, it looks different) and that's a thousand plus years before this photo is taking place. The S1 intro in particular lies to us about most things, especially visually (the egg being destroyed; how/where the humans attacked Thunder, as though in a group; and Ziard's whole dark magic thing with none of the reasoning or right timeline, as he didn't invent dark magic either). The intro also implies that Thunder was the dragon king for a lot longer than he was, that he was the sole dragon monarch, and that he's the only one who guarded the border (which is fine, cause that's all that matters at this point in the story). So I usually chalk Aaravos' appearance there up to "easter egg but doesn't fit in the timeline" which is also on brand for him, tbh

What Is Up With Humans, and a Brief History of Xadia

Because season seven gave us two important pieces of the puzzle and while we still don't have a full picture, I'm at least willing to try to assemble them. Let's go.

Elves and Dragons or First Elves vs Dragons

Previously to season 6, I'd speculated that the Archdragons and the First elves were peers. This was due to certain similar language used to describe them ("Oh Zubeia, your heavenly majesty" / "our adversary was literally a being from the heavens") as well as association: "In the name of the dragons and the First Elves" (4x03). It also provided an interesting contrast of the 'most powerful' elves and dragons being allied with one another, whereas the other elves were more subservient to the dragons (acting as the Dragonguard, bringing gifts, elements of worship) if not also enforcing their will over them (the Drake riders).

And it seemed, thanks to season 6, that this was straightforwardly confirmed. The Archdragons, even the draconic monarchy, worked alongside the Cosmic Council to maintain the Cosmic Order, per Leola's execution utilizing the Dragon Prince, Anak Araw, as a witness for something the Council hadn't even, perhaps, directly seen as it happened. Continuing into season seven, this association was maintained without any real hiccups. Aaravos states that "the dragons and the elves, all the arrogant fools blinded by the searing light of their own self-righteousness. They stand high, and they will fall hard" (7x01).

There's a little inclination that maybe things weren't always peaceful between the First Elves and Archdragons, given that the bite of the latter can destroy the mortal vessel of the former, but we don't have any conflict confirmed until we get to 7x07, and then boy do we.

3,000 years ago, we know of at least one battle between an archdragon and a first elf. We also know that Laurelion was battling the creature in their mortal form, hence why it could be (temporarily) destroyed, even if we don't know how long it'd take for their stars to re-align. We also don't know what they were fighting over. Perhaps who'd have control over the Earth, or Laurelion, protecting humanity from a destructive Archdragon — except...

Humans (see those consistently five fingers?) forged the Nova Blade, uniquely made to kill First Elves' mortal forms. Whatever conflict was happening, humans were ultimately more on the Archdragons' side than the Stars', and utilized what would become a basis for dark magic later — using a magical creature's body part — to forge a sword of great power.

It casts this line from Ziard in a new light, to say the least, whether it was genuine or just snide snark either way:

(More on Elarion and timeline things in a bit.)

We don't know, of course, whether Laurelion and Shiruakh's battle was unique and singular and individual, the beginning or culmination of a long drawn out conflict, or if other Archdragons and First Elves were battling one another. Just because humans were creating something to take down Startouch elves doesn't mean they were on the dragons' side either, or what magical (or non-magical) status they had at the time, 3000 years ago. But we do know, at one point since then and before Elarion a thousand years later, the First Elves and Archdragons came together to create and enforce the Cosmic Order, as Aaravos states:

To create a system that worked for them as a unit, and worked against humans. And while an oppressive system doesn't need a ('justified') reason to oppress beyond "having people on the bottom means you get to stay on top" this is where we get into the meta-narrative of it all.

Season Six: Revealing the Hand of God

The meta-narrative, or metafiction, is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. The pulling back of the curtain, or when stories emphasize storytelling (think Hamilton following a character who's constantly worried about if, or how, his story will be told... while you are actively watching it be told.) Think of how different ATLA would be, for example, if we knew directly how the Avatar was chosen, and therefore got into the ethicals of some grand being putting a burden uniquely on the shoulders of a young child, compared to "this is just the story's worldbuilding, and we don't know how it's chosen."

Or, in other words, TDP's writers creating a purposefully unfair magical system in which to explore the conflicts that system would create (because stories are often thought experiments) but with no one in-universe to blame for that system. It just is. Or, I should say, it just was.

Putting characters in your story who Chose who got magic, or who didn't (and the consequences of it) when those choices were fundamentally Unfair, creates someone that we, the audience, and the characters, can blame for that unfair system. There is someone to be angry at. There is someone to hold accountable. The Cosmic Council decided, for whatever reason, to give magic, or create beings (elves) that had magic, and to have beings who not only don't, but cannot and should not have magic. And it was consciously decided, by people who exist within the story and within the narrative, not just by the outside hand of god creators, that humans would not.

Was this punishment for crafting the Nova Blade, and the humans (or magic-less elves?) who did side with the First Elves against the archdragons were given magic and became the primal elves (everyone but the stars)? But if that's the case, why and how did the First Elves and Archdragons — the latter previously possibly being allies of the humans — become united against humans? Did the Archdragons throw humans under the bus when the dust settled? Were the Archdragons angry at humans for, presumably, crafting the Scale of Shiruakh into a weapon as well? (We know that First Elves rarely take mortal form; was it different Before, and Nova Blade happy wielding humans gave them the incentive to stay more up into the heavens?)

We also know that pre-Fall of Elarion, the humans thought that the Stars would save them from the dragons...:

Elarion, fading bloom, afraid to wilt and dim and die, she searched the dark for but a spark and caught the dragons’ hungry eye. Elarion, frightened waif, reached bone-white branches to the night, the stars she asked their light to cast and stop the dragons’ fiery might.1

It happened long ago, when humans had only just learned to hold fire in their hands without burning. They nurtured their precious primal flames secretly—in the dark of night, beneath shadows and shrouds—as cultivating its glow drew the eyes and ire of monsters. Eventually, for the audacity of their fire, they were hunted, and—though they looked to the stars for salvation—the stars, too, looked down upon them with disdain. [...] It cannot be, wept others. The stars would not betray us!2

The dragons directly, not the Stars, had become the enemy of humans over primal magic usage, even though humans made the Nova Blade, and even though the dragons had once been allies, making it seem like an 180 switch happened in the interim. And we do know (although this could've been Leola) that eventually the stars did help humans, even if they did so without caring:

And so the humans learned to wait. They stared into the inky black above, patiently waiting for the stars to share their knowledge, their guidance, their brilliant light—and one day, the heavens finally reached for them. Held them. Blessed them. The humans rejoiced. We are saved, they cried. The stars have finally answered us! We were right to be patient—we were right to wait!3

It makes me wonder whether the Archdragons at the time made the decision for humans to not have magic, and the Stars agreed to enforce it, or whether it was the opposite / mutual.

Moving on: whatever the agreement between them was, one thing held fast of consciously choosing to deprive humans of primal magic, and then doing their best to maintain that deprivation.

Then it all changed, and an Order that hinged so completely on humans not having (primal) magic, at having humans at the bottom of the hierarchy, that it was irreparably broken, seemingly, by just a tiny taste of it, passing from Leola to her human friends.

This act, however motivated, is the beginning of the end. The start of the long slow spiral to chaos. (6x09) / So it is only fitting that I deliver their fear, the Great Unravelling, in Leola's name. (7x06)

My first part of the over arching theory I'm working towards, then, is that the Cosmic Order was made to keep elves and dragons and even archdragons in line, yes, but primarily to keep humans in line.

But why? What is it about humans that make them so unique, or dangerous, that they need to be 'supervised'? Well, I think it went further than

More Than Primal Magic

We know thanks to Callum and other sources (Ripples) that humans can connect to arcanums, and can connect to more than one, with Aaravos being our only example of an elf having more than one arcanum. It begs the question of, if Callum could do it, if there was any truly stopping from humans from acquiring it due to their nature (i.e. cuddlemonkeys like Stella are also born without arcanums, and then connect due to their environmental factors). But that's a post for another day, and I think that "humans connecting to primal magic" is only part of what scared the Cosmic Council.

And what I'm about to propose is, admittedly, both a simplistic and complicated answer for what was so special about humans. (It is also somewhat inspired by a HTTYD fanfic called "Hitchups" I read 11 years ago as a worldbuilding concept, so go figure). However, the more I turned it over in my head, the more I felt like it best reflected what we've seen throughout the series so far, so here it is.

Humans are dangerous because they have Imagination.

And I know on first glance that seems and sounds stupid, but bear with me. Humans, specifically, seem to have more the ability in-universe to imagine new, better, possibilities than we see from the elves and dragons, without prompting in the same manner. Whether it's the human gazing upon the new Sea of the Cast Out...

The wisest of the humans looked upon the water. His own reflection smiled back at him, and he dared to imagine what such power would feel like in his own hands, should he be allowed to hold it. Imagine, he thought, if I were more than what I am.

or Harrow's urgings to Callum, a son who already dreamed of peace even without knowing of the living dragon egg (which is what Rayla and Zubeia needed to get to the same place):

Callum, who believes that primal magic for himself is possible, even when every elf around him disagrees, and then he's right. Or Rayla's reflections on Callum, yes, but humans at large, as though elves struggle routinely with doing the same (and they do, constantly harkening back to the past otherwise):

The human kicked dirt at her, and Rayla scraped at her eyes, angry—infuriated, even. Humans were frustrating. Humans were clever. Humans could do anything, they could be anything, they could take their own fates and change them—4

Rayla, who offers up her gift of sacrifice to Rex Igneous to be the same like everything before, and it's only through Ezran's thought process and Barius' invention that it turns into anything else. Anything new, or successful.

Or the Orphan Queen, who alone sees through Aaravos' eyes, and then manages to convince everyone else who loved him that he's a traitor, who saw the possibility no one else were able to consider. Or the Jailer, who was tasked with creating the prison as opposed to just a primal elf mage, like one couldn't.

REX IGNEOUS: Long ago, it was a human who saw through the Fallen Star's schemes, and helped Xadia put an end to them. (4x08) AKIYU: I was visited by a human mage who called herself the Jailer. The Archdragons had given the Jailer a daunting task to design a magical prison that could hold a Startouch elf. She needed my powers to craft the prison itself. [...] The puzzle is the real prison, she told me with a proud smile. (5x05)

In this, the humans taught me another lesson.5 [...] Aaravos thinks that if he cared for the idea [of birthdays], he’d like to remember the taste of a smooth red fruit a human had plucked from a tree for him, once. It had been so crisp, and so sweet.6

And this idea — that while elves can, humans are better at introducing New Ideas, is not a new one either. Although we see Rayla, Janai, and other Xadian creatures think of ideas/plans, they are usually still operating within the means of what they Know to be possible—to use illusions as a Moonshadow elf, to cut Amaya's line off, to use their lightning abilities or strength—as opposed to what is half-started or unlikely (the bulk of Callum's magic in season 1, and again in 3x09). And we see this best through the way that humans, 9/10, are the ones who introduce Breaking the Cycle to Xadian creatures. We see this with not-so-great ideas as well: humans do the thing, and Xadians eventually copy them.

Now, some of this is an oversimplification, of course. Dragons and elves do introduce some new ideas to human characters, teach them magic/spells, and take new ideas from one another. Callum is usually more optimistic and likely to see a new spin on things than Rayla, for example, but Rayla is the one who sees Esmeray as something other than a monster. Most of the time, though, when elves or dragons are influencing human characters though, it is through revealing information (the scale necklace; Esmeray and Luna Tenebris; that Aaravos can possess people; Terry with Aaravos' plans, etc), not necessarily inventing new perspectives.

Meanwhile, humans reveal information a good deal of the time too: Ezran discovers and shares that the egg wasn't destroyed at all; Callum finds the truth of whether Rayla's parents ran away; the Orphan Queen, as noted, revealed Aaravos' treachery; and Corvus can tell that something is up with that island (7x01).

Elves, meanwhile, tend to be much more... follower-esque. Runaan does not kill unless he is ordered to ("and then Callum will decide if you live or die"). Karim believes in Janai as queen, and treats her as such, and even when he is pushing for his own rule, it is doing so in subsequent open service to Sol Regem and then Aaravos as greater authorities ("What would you have me do? Where would you have me go?" / "You pushed me to this, sister"). The elves who don't, or aren't, usually have more human influence on their lives: Amaya and Ezran with Janai; Callum, Ezran, and Amaya with Rayla, etc.

But the stars kept from them one secret still: that their first lesson—patience—was not a gift of the stars at all. You see, patience is a lesson the humans taught themselves. [...] But I have heard the lesson of the humans. I know patience well.

And this imagination to dream, build, create, to forge, to pursue with determination, makes them less predictable. They don't have arcanums: they don't have anything they intrinsically 'know' to shape them the way elves and magical creatures, and so they can know nothing; they can know anything, and that makes them much harder to control and look over, even for those who are Timeblind (as the Cosmic Council likely is). Especially since, per the apple, it seems that yes maybe Aaravos shared the gift of magic with humans by his own admission, and maybe helped to develop dark magic... but I do wonder if humans invented it, regardless. What Startouch elf would need self-eating, after all?

As a final point for this section: even Aaravos giving humans magic wasn't his idea. Humans likely saw Leola do primal magic and learned from it themselves > to her giving them enough to make a significant difference. Then Aaravos took what had already happened, then twisted and did it again. Moreover, Aaravos plots and plans and relies on people's predictability in order to manipulate them; he may hate the Cosmic Council, but he's still fundamentally acting like them, enforcing pre-determined destinies onto other characters, Sir Sparklepuff, Sol Regem, Viren, and his other pawns chief among them.

If humans are unique among Xadia for reasons beyond magic, then them rejecting the destiny of the stars, Aaravos included, is the ultimate way to write their own destiny and rewrite the system to be truly equitable (hi Callum with Aaravos' key and a literal leaning book of destiny?) and I think that's pretty cool.

A Detour: Aaravos' De-Powering

Back on the note of "the Cosmic Order and Council we see presented in S6 is not the way things always were" from before, I want to talk about Aaravos' de-powering. Specifically, both of them. Again, we tread into speculation territory here (because when do we not when it comes to the deep lore) but bear with me.

In the pre-S6 posters of him and his cube/book, Aaravos wears the same crown as the rest of the Cosmic Council. We don't know enough about Startouch elves to know if they all wear them, or just the Cosmic Council, or if every Startouch elf besides Aaravos is on the council anyway, with his classic bangles and even fancier outfit.

But by the time we see Aaravos in S6, he doesn't have his crown. This could be something he relinquished by choice, a side effect of residing on earth (though he has no trouble going to the 'council' room for lack of a better term), or otherwise stripped from him. This could be what made him less powerful than the rest of the council.

We know that the Cosmic Council didn't leave right away after primal magic was given, either. It was only when Elarion had grown from a fledging to a thriving city thanks to primal magic, and the dragons seemingly took issue, that the Stars left and Aaravos remained. We don't know why for either choice, beyond Aaravos wanting to stay and 'help' humanity (ie. get closer to the Great Unravelling):

Elarion, unworthy whelp, Wept as the stars turned black the sky, They donned their masks They turned their backs, And left Elarion to die. Elarion, dying husk, did wilt and whimper in the dark, ‘till the last star Reached from afar His touch: a blaze, a gift, a spark.

But as @kradogsrats pointed out, perhaps the Cosmic Council left because they were afraid. We see time and time again that fear, when listened to, is a turning point for people leaving: Soren ("I don't want to do this. I'm afraid"), Rayla (afraid of what Viren might do to the world and Callum), Lissa ("she was afraid, she said no"), Terry (of becoming someone he's not), and of more isolationist behaviour. Janai becomes demanding in 6x02 ("Take your masks off, I want to see what you are truly feeling. You are... afraid?"), asks Karim "what are you so afraid of?" in 4x02, to which he responds with permanent integration. And others who overrule fear — "Of course he was afraid, but you had a job to do!" / "It won't follow because it's afraid of me" — being antagonistic because of it.

Aaravos — who the other First Elves at least trusted — doing / becoming something awful, which causes them to turn and run. Maybe they're more de-powered than we think (we are assuming, after all, that they're at the full height of their abilities and can kill him, neither of which may be necessarily true). Aaravos states in 'Patience' that "I have not seen the stars in centuries. But when I see them again—when the stars are forced to look upon me, their dark brother" and the Epic of the Void poem in Tales of Xadia ponders:

Where do the fabled Great Ones hide? What secrets have you locked inside? [...] Of Starfolk, fabled, fallen, found— Once everywhere, now none around. Is all we are to know of thee Consumed by Dark, or cast to Sea? So bound to Earth, are we denied The touch of Stars? Have our Gods died? Where do the fabled Great Ones hide?

So, seemingly, there was the removal of Aaravos from the council, then something that made him be 'Fallen,' and that includes why he can't just access the First Elves wherever they are now the way he could before. With all this in mind, onto the 'conclusion'.

So What's the Point?

Quick timeline run down:

5,000 years ago: First Elves and 'ordinary' elves are separate. There are Archdragons and humans. Only First elves and archdragons, presumably, have magic.

3000 years ago: Laurelion and Shiruakh have their battle. More fighting between the archdragons and first elves may be ongoing. Humans forge the Nova Blade and presumably the scale armour.

Between 3000 and 2000 years ago: Primal elves are made distinctive. Aaravos is higher up in Startouch 'society'? First elves are more regularly walking around on the mortal plain. Aaravos has his first de-powering. Leola gives humans magic and is executed. Anak Araw is the Dragon Prince and Aaravos' goal of vengeance is born.

2000 years ago: Elarion is thriving under primal magic with humanity. Dragons (and possibly first elves) don't like it. The First Elves leave (ish). Sometime in the next 800 years Aaravos robs the Starscraper, taking a singular staff and a quasar diamond and gives humanity dark magic.

1200 years ago: Sol Regem is Dragon King. The Staff of Ziard is gifted, sowing chaos. Stand off with Ziard happens.

1000 years ago: Luna Tenebris is the Dragon Queen. Humanity is exiled to the west under the Judgement of the Half Moon, potentially after poaching all the unicorns. The Mage Wars happen, with the Staff passing through many hands, with Xadia not stepping in to stop any of it.

300 years ago: Luna Tenebris is murdered, throwing the archdragons into a succession crisis. Queen Aditi mysteriously vanishes (aka is eaten by Aaravos) before she can resolve it. The Mage Wars end (?) possibly because of Aaravos' imprisonment thanks to the Orphan Queen. She acquires the Key of Aaravos and passes it down her new royal line; the Jailer presumably keeps the staff and passes it down her occupational line of high mage of Katolis.

The one wiggling thought is that Ziard states that "One of the great ones" gave him the staff in 3x01, implying that more than just Aaravos are still around, but Sol Regem being pissed does imply that he knew it was Aaravos directly. Speaking of Sol Regem, I get the sense that he knew more than he was letting on, given that he tattled on Leola, hated humans but grew much more bitter as he progressed towards modern day (no more offers of mercy or bargaining), and his distaste for Aaravos despite not being involved in imprisoning him with the other Archdragons. The fact that he has the bleakest view on Xadia ("You think I can reign and fix what is broken in Xadia? No one can save it") and is the one Archdragon we know was canonically old enough to be contemporaries with the First Elves does not help matters, either.

I suppose what this all amounts to is that, with both the Archdragons and humanity (allied or not), First Elves faced a lot more conflict on the mortal plain than maybe first considered, before things evened out to something more stable and reverent. Humans were made to be distinct from primal elves on purpose, but in a flawed manner (i.e. they can connect to arcanums Anyway), possibly in a way that inspired Aaravos to do the same if he wasn't inherently connected (which is perhaps what his book used to be as a conduit). First Elves might've left because they were freaking terrified, and not necessarily just indifferent.

Meanwhile, the more you look at humans, the more they're beautiful freaks of nature within Xadia, and while they've undoubtedly done fucked up things in pursuit of magic and power/protection, we know Aaravos stoked the Mage Wars, and it also wouldn't surprise me if certain facts (like the unicorn extinction) was the responsibility of other parties in Xadia in congruence, rather than just on their shoulders. Unreliable narrators and all that + even when they were present, the Cosmic Council seemingly wasn't doing much, relying on Sol Regem both to report to them and to serve as a witness, and then doing fuck all about Aaravos when shit actually hit the fan. Maybe Aaravos and his quasi-human army hyped on primal magic freaked them out.

Uh. Thoughts?

[skyward-nerd]

Okay so I'm almost done with Mad Men. There's only one episode left. All I have to say is WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH THE CREDITS IN THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE WHAT THE FUCK HOW DID THEY DO THAT THE TIMELINE DOESN'T ADD UP WHAT THE FUCK???

[mrs-monaghan]

Tbh I'm a jikooker, but I find it incredibly difficult to fit a healthy long-term relationship into the same timeline as all of jimin's solo work. It's not the pronouns or taking one lyric very literally, its the entire thing, plus comments from him and his producers. To me, you'd have to do some serious olympic level mental gymnastics to make that make sense. I don't doubt that jikook have a special bond, I've definitely seen things between them that definitely look like sexual attraction to me and things that surpass friendship boundaries, but I can't in good faith say that they're together in some official long-term way if I actually listen to jimin and his work.

I've seen some jikookers think they broke up for a while, but I have to question if those people have ever been through a breakup because the little bit of distance/separation/awkwardness we did see from them during chapter 2 is nothing compared to the type of tension that would be there if a relationship that intimate and intertwined had separated, especially considering the dark feelings jimin was feeling. He wouldn't have been cutely commenting on jungkook's lives and jungkook wouldn't have been asking to hang-out or getting excited to see jimin in his comments.

Idk, I'm sure someone could twist everything a certain way and only take certain things at face-value and then make everything else abstract, etc. to make the case that they are together, but I don't really see it. You look at face-off, alone, and just his general dark feelings during Face, then look at the creation of Muse and how him and his producers said he couldn't relate to the love-dovey beginning songs, which is how they ended up making Who (despite the fact that jikookers try to distance him from the song since he doesn't have writing credits even though he sat in the recording room telling them what he wanted and saying it felt like reading his diary). I think jimin could have very well gone through a pretty awful breakup along with the inner turmoil he was going through post-covid, but I don't think it was with jungkook if he did. I still enjoy jikook's bond either way at the end of the day, but yeah I don't really get how anyone can take an honest look at jimin's work and his words and think he was in a long-term healthy love-of-his-life relationship during that time or into chapter 2.

Not trying to change your opinion or anything, honestly I don't really see it discussed much in jikooker spaces (besides bad-faith stuff like tkkers stirring up shit over pronouns in lyrics which is just dumb) and when it is, some jikookers are pretty pick-and-choose about what they deem to be true to jimin's feelings and what isn't. Which I get being nuanced, but sometimes it does feel like a "well this fits my beliefs so clearly this is true to jimin and this doesn't so it means nothing because he didn't write it" or whatever. I honestly get annoyed with the bad-faith arguers because it prevents being able to have actual discussions about some of this stuff in our little jikooker corner of tumblr. Like "he said her, he's clearly straight! he danced with a girl, straight!" stfu.

I don't have much to say to you anon. Not really. Not anything that hasn't been said anyway. Which you've seen and decided its jkkrs doing mental gymnastics. "I'm a Jikooker but..." its never a great way to start a sentence. It just gives major insecure jkkr vibes which i just 😬😬😬😬😬😬😬 you either believe in them or you don't. There is no if, and or buts.

I will leave you with this; over the years, antis and (insecure) jkkrs alike have always found a way to conclude Jkk aren't as close anymore or they broke up or some other bullshit. But what happens everytime Jikook resurface and we see them together again?

NOTHING HAS CHANGED!!!

Nothing ever changes with these 2! They come back closer, more in sync, happier, more in love and their relationship more established than ever. This happens every👏🏽damn👏🏽time👏🏽 Everytime!

Then the insecure jkkrs will be like "jkk is real" again.

And then we will go without content for a while and once again we are back here with the jkk aren't as close argument. Once again. It is an exhausting cycle that I refuse to be a part of.

You can try and nit pick various reasons as to why Jikook aren't in an established rlship, but I will chose to focus on reasons why they are definitely 130000000% in a relationship. Like the fact that they are enlisted together rn, the fact that they could have done AYS with other members but chose eo. Or the fact that Jimin wrote his name on JK's chest with sunscreen and I dont even want to imagine how he did that. What position they were in that would justify people calling them brothers 😂

You do you anon. I'mma just be over here enjoying Jimin promote the hell out of his favourite JK song.

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Look at him so proud of his man 🥺🥺

[radiance1]

Danny owns a ship.

A giant, wonderous piece of technology he is even! He made his ship from scratch!

Well, with a bit of help here and there from his parents, mom with the blueprints, him and his sister with design, and his dad showing how to fit certain pieces with each other that he couldn't do himself.

All of that resulting in the birth of his son, Tempest!

He did wonders on open water, a great ship all around that really only need him and him alone, usually at the very least. If he wasn't inviting a few friends on board, that is.

His ship was also fitted with some very good tech, wouldn't be of Fenton design if it weren't! Ghost shields, ectoplasmic canons, an engine running off of ectoplasm, etc, etc.

After he well outlived his friends and family (discounting Vlad, but that fruitloop would never die on his own anyway) he decided to sail Tempest into various waters, and by various, he meant various. Tempest, a ship unbound by time and able to sail along the timestream as long as he doesn't accidently fuck things up, lest Clockwork get on his ass about that.

It took a while of pleading for him to even agree to allow him to sail a ship as advanced as Tempest into the past, but he managed to do so. On an agreement that he would sail over to changes in time and fix them, which he does, and in the future it's pretty rad he won't lie.

Of course, then everything got kinda fucked up. You see, he was going back to his timeline via the timestream, and was going to drop by Vlad's place to drop off a few of his more recent spoils-

And yes, he dumps various things from his adventures on Vlad, least he could do after that whole trying to get with his mom and kill his dad thing. The dude's chill now, or as chill as he can get anyway, and has quite the interest in appraising the stuff he drops off, so a win-win for both of them honestly. Also, he uses the guy and his resources to upgrade Tempest here and there.

-When he uh, he well. He kinda, fucked up. Now you see, it wasn't his and it obviously wasn't the fault of Tempest either, but something outside the timestream (That Clockwork told him specifically not to look at) dragged his attention for a mite too long and suddenly he wasn't in the timestream at all.

Okay, so maybe it was his fault.

So now he was outside his dimension's timestream, and oh boy was trying to get back to it far harder than he was expecting. No wonder Clockwork constantly told him to be careful and pay full attention to navigating the timestream.

And he kinda, lost his...

He isn't a Master of Time like Clockwork is, though he does hold a good knowledge of the timestream he isn't as capable as Clockwork. So now he's lost navigating... wherever the hell he is, and is kinda hoping Clockwork would realize and find him.

He does manage to get back on a timestream though. He doesn't recognize it, but hell he only recognizes his because it was the only one he's ever entered so far. So he pops off to the present time of this timestream, and thinks that hey, yea, this definitely isn't his timeline.

Because there was a fuck ton of heroes, supervillains, magic, you name it, its here.

So, what was one eternally young-looking captain the Tempest, a time sailing ship, to do?

Explore of course!

[demon-country]

The fact that I have already seen a good number of people complaining about how mean Stolas was supposedly being to Blitz in his song and thinking that he legitimately believes that Bliz is a wretched little worm that he owns is just. Utterly baffling. I'm genuinely unsure how anyone could miss the fact that it was an act. It was all a ruse he threw together on the fly in an effort to protect Blitz, wherein he pretended to be a big, bad, masterclass manipulator who was just using Blitz as his pawn.

For anyone who doubts it, here's the truth straight from the song writer's mouth:

This is literally the same exact ploy he pulled in Truth Seekers. He came in at the last minute and put on a big show to convince the people threatening Blitz and the rest of I.M.P that he was a big, scary demon who was so much more powerful than them (which he is) and practically owned them as his minions used to carry out his evil deeds (which he doesn't).

Though, perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised, since pretty much everyone I've seen talk about that scene fails to realize that that and his "who dares threaten my impish little plaything?" and "what's the matter, demon hunter? Never seen a real demon before?" comments were nothing but an act and he didn't actually believe any of it, too.

In Mastermind, he was trying to make sure that all of the blame would be put on himself, so that, as shown above, they would give Blitz the same treatment the others got when Blitz claimed they had nothing to do with it and were just following his orders.

In Truth Seekers, he was trying to intimidate the humans and make them so scared he wouldn't need to resort to violence to stop them. Why else would he put on that whole horror movie display and announce himself and his relationship with Blitz at all, if his entire goal was anything other than to incapacitate them with fear? If all he wanted was to get I.M.P out, he could have quickly and easily killed them without saying a word. Calling Blitz his plaything and saying that he was a real demon served to a) establish that he was the kind of person who had playthings, because that's the kind of cruel, domineering creature that most humans expect demons to be, and b) further intimidate them by implying that he was exponentially more powerful than the demons who just decimated their whole entire team.

He didn't mean any of it either time (except for when he called Blitz an idiot, maybe); those weren't things he actually believed. Why would he legitimately think of Blitz as his plaything and someone he owns when in both cases it was far enough in the timeline that he was already in love with Blitz and wanted a real, genuine romantic relationship with him and not just the fleeting taste of one he got while restrained by the full moon deal?

Those were classist/racist things to say, of course, and that was the point. That was language he deliberately used because it fit the persona he was using to appear villainous. Where he went wrong the first time and how his actual internalized racism came into play was in how he didn't for even one single second think about how those statements would look to the members of I.M.P, because he'd never once had to think about the fact they must get those kinds of demeaning comments all the time and had no way of knowing that he was faking. Calling them "little creatures" while he was scolding them probably wasn't part of the act though, and he didn't realize that it was classist/racist to say those things at all, regardless of intent, so he never apologized or reassured them that he didn't actually believe Blitz was his plaything or that they weren't real demons.

But with the power of hindsight and a more omniscient view of the characters that we get later on, it's so clear to see that all of these comments were only said as part of his theatrical portrayals of a villain, rather than things he truly believes, because he doesn't talk like that after Ozzie's when he realized just how much he had unintentionally been hurting Blitz. Don't fall for his ruse, guys, especially not when it's as blatantly obvious as it was in Mastermind.

[daenysx]

Can you please write about Aemond doing Alyssa’s bedtime routine and them really loving the time together?

thank you for requesting ♡ i hope you enjoy

modern!aemond targaryen x fem!reader

aelyx targaryen was born three weeks ago today.

he's a lovely baby, you can't keep your eyes off him. you need to spend the majority of your time with him, of course, but he's not hard to take care of, not at all. aemond says he resembles you, it's a bit hard to believe when he shares your husband's hair and his eyes.

the thing with having two kids, which didn't take any time to figure out for both you and aemond, is that you need to divide your time and attention perfectly to not upset either of them. aelyx is still so little and he needs you to be with him all the time. with alyssa though, you are still trying to spend time with her no matter how tired you are. she's three years old and she misses you, she doesn't understand there will be changes in your routines now that there's a new member in your small family.

thankfully, you have a hero who never gets tired. that's what he says at least. aemond made himself a perfect timeline to spend his awake hours for his work, you, his girl, and his new baby. you know he actually took his time to plan most of the stuff; meal times, sleeping times, shopping times, how to run the office from home. he's trying to help alyssa get used to the new routines by being with her most of the time. she loves all the attention she gets from daddy, of course.

her favorite time is bedtime. she always liked sleeping, ever since she was born. now, she has her own bed, it's a perfect fit for her. she likes the soft, blue blanket and having all of her fluffy toys on it.

"time to brush our teeth." aemond comes into her room. "come on, princess."

"lyx?" she asks, always curious of her brother.

"he's sleeping." her dad answers. "mommy will put him in his cradle and she'll come to us, okay?"

aemond helps her brush her teeth with the strawberry flavored toothpaste that's specially for kids. it's not really brushing, of course, but you want her to get used to it. she plays with water just a little bit before her dad picks her up to carry her to the bed.

she's nicely tucked in by aemond when you walk inside the room. you give her a smile, her eyes immediately lighten up to seeing you. "hi, baby." you say, touching her hair. "did you brush your teeth?"

alyssa nods. she's tired, aemond took her to the park today. you kiss her soft cheeks, her tiny hands. she kisses you back as you bid her good night.

"i'm gonna clean up the kitchen, my love." you say when you meet aemond by her door.

"i'll meet you there." he says with a slow kiss on your forehead. "she won't take long to fall asleep." he says with a smirk.

"daddy, story!"

"i'm here." he sits down on the floor, right next to alyssa's bed. it's low so he can reach to her if he wants.

"so, which story shall we read tonight?"

"rapunzel!" it's her new favorite.

"rapunzel, it is."

she has her teddy bear next to her, snuggling close to the fluffy toy as she listens to aemond. his voice has always been soothing but when her tiny body is tired and her eyes are droopy, she falls asleep even sooner, when he just gets to the middle of the story.

aemond still finishes reading it, though. he waits until he's sure she's sleeping. the faint sounds from kitchen can be heard now that both kids are asleep. he needs to help you, but he can't help having a selfish minute watching his girl. she's perfect. he can't believe she's his.

he fixes her blanket, her pillow, her teddy bear. he brushes kisses on her cheeks and her forehead. she lifts her head in her sleep, her lips touching his cheek. that's good enough for a good night kiss, aemond thinks. he leaves the room.

"i'm almost done." you say when you see him standing by the kitchen door.

"let me do the rest." he insists. the rest of the work is done by two minutes.

"do you have any energy left for a cup of tea?" you tease, arms around his waist. you miss him in all these chaotic days.

"i prefer going to bed with you." aemond answers. "now."

"yes, please." you say. he holds your hand, leads you to bedroom. slow steps inside, you make sure the bed doesn't squeak as you lay down. when aemond gets in with you, you drift off. he kisses you good night.

[fancyfade]

2009 era Damian reading

As I've been doing my 2009 era Damian reading, I'm trying to condense the good stuff and bad stuff, and things I believe are relevant for his character. These are in addition to what I assume is obvious (Batman and Robin 2009, the comic where he has a starring role).

Battle for the Cowl: this has how Damian becomes Robin. It's not necessarily good. Daniels really does not understand Damian, especially this early in his writing, but it does have some important context for things going down b/c Damian helps Squire save Tim's life, and we can see Dick viewing training Damian as something he is responsible for.

Secret Origins (2014) #4: This is a much more in character Damian becoming Robin, though fit for a condensed new 52 timeline that leaves some stuff out (like Damian's rocky intro with Bruce).

Batman #688 (Long Shadows part 1): Winick seems one of the early writers who does a Damian as he lines up with later characterization (views himself more as a professional assassin), so I think this one's good.

Batman: streets of Gotham #1-6: damian makes some minor appearances here.

Batgirl #5-7: Always take Damian's guest-starring stuff with a grain of salt, as often times writers just go with "how would an obnoxious 10 year old boy act here" without understanding he's a specific kind of obnoxious 10 year old boy... that said I do like some of his interactions with Steph, and I think it's incredibly important that we see Damian defends his competence based on his training, not on his blood.

Like he'll sometimes justify why he belongs based on his blood (which like... no one acts like they want him around), but he isn't going around saying "I'm better than you b/c I'm batman's son". he was trained intensely since birth (and that's why he should say he's better than you :P)

Batman #692-697: not a ton of Damian in this, and it is Daniel's writing, but he's a little better than he was in Battle for the Cowl. We see Dick training Damian some.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #7, #10-#11: love this plotline for him. Good show of competence and characterization.

Blackest night: batman: More focused on Tim and Dick, and Tomasi sucks at writing Babs, but at there is some Damian content that I remember enjoying.

Red Robin #11-15: as long as you read this one with your brain turned on, it's good for explaining some Tim and Damian stuff. Sadly some fans are like "woooo arrogant 10 year old gets beat up". Nicieza makes some missteps (frames Tim's thinking around Damian as coldly logical, when it is anything but and he is reacting from a place of emotion), but one can ignore those.

Batman #703: shows Damian's character pretty well in a default Batman and Robin adventure, and his relationship (or lackthereof) with Bruce and his dynamic with Dick and Alfred

Teen Titans #88-92 (including Red Robin #20 in a crossover plot): surprised by how well I liked this one. I think it portrays Damian pretty fairly, and we can see that he is trying hard, but hasn't been given a lot of support up until now (or even now, Dick kind of just drops him off with a bunch of older kids who all also have issues and are predisposed to disliking him XD). His dynamic with rose is fun and I think it is notable how quickly he does acquiesce to following Cassie's orders when she's like (at first) the only Teen Titan who is OK with him being there and assures him its not personal when she makes a comment he doesn't like.

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Batman and Robin: Has some nice Dick and Damian banter, showcases how they've worked together well

Batgirl #17: more damian and steph interactions.

I will probably add more (either editing this post or in a reblog) as I keep reading.

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you sentences for Jan behind the cut; mistaken identities and interdimensional refugees. ( + non-chrono link for mobile users )

The hour goes pretty quick, either way, and Kon mostly keeps the kids distracted, and even a little bit entertained. He’s a performer at heart anyway, so he figures it’s his responsibility. 

If it's not, he's gonna make it his responsibility, at least for the next hour. 

A lot of people clear out of the camp in that hour in erratic fits and spurts, with alternate versions of their families or friends or just themselves, and Kon feels a little better about the idea of clearing out himself. He'll keep an ear on the camp until it's all cleared out, for sure, but at least he thinks it should be okay to leave it. 

Jon needs–somebody, yeah, before something happens. Something always happens, when you're wearing the “S”. 

Or you just find something that you have to happen to. Like, ethically speaking or whatever.

Kon figures he can keep an eye on Jon until either they all get home or this reality's Superman notices he's got an extra kid around. Assuming he's got a Jon here to recognize the heartbeat of, anyway. He probably does, if Kon's around and recognizable in the tabloids. Like, the timeline should be to that point, is all. And obviously Lois is gonna be a thing, so–yeah, he's gotta have a Jon by now. Maybe actually an older one than this one, come to think, but it's not like Clark wouldn't recognize his heartbeat anyway. Perfect recall and all, and he's had Jon's heartbeat memorized all his life. 

Kon's pretty sure Clark still doesn't know his, but . . . 

Never mind. Not important. Stupid thing to think about. 

To care about. 

Kon swallows. Keeps grinning for the kids, keeps coming up with new games for them to play, and waves goodbye to each one who gets collected by an aid worker and taken to whoever’s come to take care of them. 

He wonders, again, if Ma and Pa would've come for him, if . . . 

Stupid. Really, really stupid. 

He wouldn't bother them with something that stupid anyway. He's a superhero. And he can take care of himself. He always has, hasn't he? 

He'll take care of himself here too, even if . . . 

Even if . . . 

Kon tries not to think about . . . Kara. About Karen. Or ���Paige”, or whatever she's going by now. 

If she's still alive to be going by it, anyway. 

If he isn't currently following in her footsteps, and won't ever see his reality again. Or her. Or . . . anyone he knows. 

People who look like them, sure. People who came from the same concept of a person as them. 

But not his own versions of them. 

Not the versions who he belongs to. 

He doesn't know what he'll do, if he can't get home this time. 

He doesn’t . . . 

He feels Rita approaching with his TTK–recognizes the shape of her body and the cut of her hair and the specific chip in the corner of her clipboard–and glances towards her, and is mildly surprised by who she’s with. It’s someone he definitely recognizes, but it’s not anyone he expected. At least not here and now, anyway. 

“Your ride’s here, sir!” Rita says, looking as relieved as every aid worker who’s come up with a local host for somebody. Well–understandably, he figures. 

“Hey, Rita. Hey, Alfie! No rest for the wicked, or just too many cooks in the kitchen again?” Kon greets with a grin, which is the easiest code phrase to use here that Tim gave him to start off with if he ever ran into an interdimensional Bat and the local Tim’s obviously gotta be the one who sent him, and Jon grabs onto his sleeve and blurts: “It’s dark this morning!” 

Okay, Kon doesn’t recognize that one, but it’s definitely a Bat-phrase too. Jon was not particularly smooth about making it smooth, for one thing. 

Alfred–impeccable as always in the full buttling uniform that Kon has maybe only seen him out of twice, and both of those times were blood-drenched emergency situations–smiles at them both without visibly reacting past that, though Kon hears his heartbeat spike in recognition. Since he was presumably expecting to see the pair of them, or at least him, Kon can only assume that’s code-phrase-related.

“Hello, Master Bruce,” Alfred says, smooth and pleasant, and Kon . . . blinks. “Please allow me to escort you and your young charge to the manor.” 

Wait.

What? 

“Uh,” Kon says slowly. “O . . . kay? Uh–thanks, Alfie.” 

“Of course, sir,” Alfred says, and his pleasant smile turns just a little less polite and a little more sincere. “Interdimensionally displaced or not, we’d hate to leave you out in the cold. No matter what time of night it is.” 

Well, “out in the cold” is what Tim told him to look for in response to “no rest for the wicked”, and he’s betting the “time of night” comment is meant for Jon from the way the kid perked up at hearing it, so . . . yeah, alright then. This is apparently just what’s happening now. 

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Hi I'm a big Classic Sans fan do you have any more HC from him interacting with all the other Skeletons?What do they all think of him?

Let's do a "What Sans thinks of all the other skeletons"!

Undertale Papyrus - His little (well not so little anymore) hero. Sans is so proud of how well his brother adapted to the Surface and he is so admirative of how he managed to completely give up the Royal Guard to become a nurse. That's so much more fitting for him and he is happy he's finally living his dream of helping people to the fullest. He's so good at his job, he couldn't be a prouder big brother.

Underswap Sans - They're close friends. Sans will never not find it funny how he's so much similar to his brother and somehow looks so disturbingly like himself. He admires Blue a lot for his bravery and strength. He wishes Papyrus could be that comfortable with how powerful his magic is sometimes. Maybe that would have happened too if Papyrus ended up being the big brother, who knows.

Underswap Papyrus - They're really close friends. Sans realized really fast that Honey is like him, but a little more shyer. He can't help but dragging him into his shenanigans because Honey transforms into some god of mischief when they're planning pranks together. They're a menace to society and they love it. They both have the same type of humor and they love hanging out together.

Underfell Sans - Red is so funny. To annoy, I mean. They have a cat-like relationship. Red is always suspicious when he's around and Sans can't help but mess with him whenever he can do so. He can't help it. Red is soooo easy to prank and the fact all his tries to get back to him fail is even more hilarious. Sans can never get bored of him.

Underfell Papyrus - He's not very comfortable with Edge. He can tell he went through complicated things, but Edge tends to use a little too much his past as an excuse for everything he's doing and Sans doesn't like that. Sometimes he is just mean to others for no valid reason. He prefers to avoid him.

Horrortale Sans - They have a complicated relationship. Sans has nothing against him, far from that, but Oak is resentful towards him. Sans knows it's not really his fault, and that Oak just sees a lot of his own past mistakes in him. He's a little bit his ghost of the past and Sans can perfectly understand why Oak doesn't like to hang out around him too much. He respects that and tries to stay out of his way to help him feel better. Who knows, maybe in a few years?

Horrortale Papyrus - It's still heartbreaking for Sans to think that whatever happened to Willow could have happened to his brother in another timeline. He can't fix what happened, but Sans is always nice to Willow and tries to make him feel comfortable when he's around. It's hard to ignore he is so much like his brother, even though Willow is so traumatized he's refusing to call himself Papyrus again. Sans hopes Willow knows he can be himself around him.

Horrorswap Sans - Sans can tell a lot of people misunderstands Nugget and think of him as insensitive. Even if he could never understand how he abandoned his brother in the end, he can perfectly understand all he sacrificed for his brother to not be killed, until he was not feeling anything anymore. Nugget has a lot more things in common with him than what he could be ok with. And sometimes, that scares him.

Horrorswap Papyrus - He feels terrible for Pumpkin, especially because he is so close to his Underswap counterpart. Sans can tell that whatever happened to him completely broke his spirit. But he can tell that people pitying him are not helping either. So he does what he does best and tries to bring back a little bit of Pumpkin's jokester side by dragging him into some shenanigans with Honey. He can tell Pumpkin loves being included and all his expression changes when he's having fun. He hopes he will get better eventually.

Horrorfell Sans & Papyrus - He doesn't know a lot about them and they're pretty secretive about their past. He can tell though they've been through a lot as Copper is a lot less receptive to humor than Red. He just tries to be nice to them, but kindness is obviously not what they need.

Swapfell Sans - He's not sure about Nox, he's hard to read. Sans can tell he got badly abused by someone. He was abused, he knows these things. But his universe is very, very different from his, and even if Sans is trying, it seems they haven't found a good way to communicate yet. Sans would like to know him better, as he can tell Nox is way more than that grumpy little man figure he's playing, but he's not sure how to help him talk. Sans has a feeling they are not that different though, the few things he learned about him are awfully similar to his own story.

Swapfell Papyrus - Rus is a little too much for Sans to handle. He likes him, but he likes him better when he doesn't see him for long lol. He's a prankster, but at least he knows when things are going a bit too far. Rus doesn't. Sans can tell that's probably because he grew up by himself, and that he is a lot more of a sad clown than what he tries to pretend. Sans uses humor to deflect trauma, Rus does that too but makes it his whole identity, which is actually very concerning. It looks to Sans that Rus is screaming for help but that no one is noticing. So even if he is not a big fan of Rus, he tries to be nice to him to get him to confess. Rus needs someone to talk to.

Fellswap Gold Sans - Nah. He can tell when someone tries to manipulate him and he's definitely not fooled by Wine's little game of charm. Sans can feel he has a very high LV and it makes him uncomfortable. Unlike with Nox where he can tell the LV is mainly because he didn't have a choice, it's very clear to him that with his skills, Wine had a choice and clearly chose to hurt people anyway. He doesn't trust him and stays very cold around him. He doesn't want Wine to find things he can use against him or his brother.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - And that's a shame because, on the other hand, Sans loves Coffee. Coffee reminds him a lot of Papyrus in his teen years, except that it's clear no one helped to boost his confidence a little and he stayed in a perpetual state of anxiousness that got worse. He's messing with him a little, but that's never meant, mainly to try to make him laugh a little and relax. Sans can't help but be a little protective around him, even if he tries to hold back as Coffee is clearly lacking independence. He can tell Coffee is dying to do things by himself, and can perfectly do them by himself, but that without Wine's consent, he's lost. He's not sure why Wine kept him under a dome his whole life but that clearly didn't help his brother and actually made him scared of everything. Coffee definitely needs help, he's just not sure how he can help him.

Outertale Sans - Sans loves to hang out with Moon. They're very similar, which is weird sometimes, but Moon used to live in space, and for Sans that makes him the coolest monster to hang out with. He's always go full nerd mode when he's with Moon and keeps asking a thousand questions about his universe because he's just so curious. He would love to visit his world if he can.

Outertale Papyrus - He calls him his space brother, even though Sun and Papyrus are actually very different. Sans can tell that's because space was a lot more dangerous to grow up in than the Underground actually. Sun has hyper-fixations like his brother, but it's more of a hyper-fixation on security instead of very dangerous traps. He can still remember how poor Sun almost fainted when Papyrus showed him his very unsafe gauntlet of deadly terror.

Dancetale Sans - They're close friends. They're basically twins, except Rambo is actually not lazy and does sports lol. That's the only difference. Not all people know that though and their favorite game is to prank people by making them believe they're having Sans hallucinations. Sans everywhere. They could never get bored of that game.

Dancetale Papyrus - Salsa is so similar to his brother that it happened once or twice that he mistook him for his brother. For his defence though, Rumba made the same mistake with Papyrus too. If you don't know Salsa likes dancing instead of deadly puzzles, it's hard to tell the difference. They're wearing different scarves now so people stop making the mistake.

Dancefell Sans - He's even funnier to bully than Red because Rumba is very gullible. Sans plays some of his best pranks to Rumba because he always realizes long after it's done that Sans pranked him. Sans is living for those small moments of realization. The look on his face is priceless.

Dancefell Papyrus - He's not a big fan of Tango. He reminds him a little too much of Papyrus when he wanted to please everyone Underground. Except it's working for him, and now it's clear the guy is putting way too much pressure on himself. He's not sure when, but it's pretty clear for Sans that he's going to be overwhelmed at some point and that it's not going to be a good experience for him.

Farmtale Sans - Sans sees Sam as a sort of mentor figure. It's hard to explain. They're the same age but Sam has so much older Sans energy that Sans often comes to see him for advice. He's not the only one doing that, so maybe he gives this impression to a lot of people. Sam always has good words when he's feeling a little down and somehow always manages to remotivate him a little. He's also extremely patient and always happy to help. It's clearly one of Sans' best friends and Sans tries to be there for him too when he needs it, even if it seems nothing can break Sam's spirit. Sam even manages to convince him to work on the farm sometimes, that's how good he is.

Farmtale Papyrus - Sans loves Ben a lot. He's a very shy version of his brother but with the same spirit. Sans also guessed really fast that he's transgender, just like him, and that it's really recent. Sans is helping him to accept his new body better and is glad to give little tricks to help. He can tell people were not so nice to him when he changed and he wants to prove him not all people are like that actually.

Mafiatale Sans & Papyrus - He doesn't know them that much but he knows they both have high LV, even though they never lived Underground. Sans does not trust them. That Sans looks a little more too condescending and he doesn't know what's wrong with that Papyrus, silent and just staring at people like they're prey, but he doesn't like it.

Mafiafell Sans - Despite sharing a love for dogs, that's pretty much all they have in common lol. Sans mistook him for Red once but quickly figured out Fang has a lot less humor than Red when Fang immediately tried to kill him for mocking him. Sans learned his lesson and stayed out of his way now.

Mafiafell Papyrus - That's what happened when Papyrus never got out of his goth rebellious phase. Sans is glad he escaped that. It's also clear that this Papyrus got way too many privileges growing up and his condescending nature shows it. That's clearly his brother if he got enrolled young by the wrong people. He can't hate Torpedo, but he stays out of his way. His unstable LV is worrying though. That's clearly a ticking bomb that doesn't has any conscious of the consequences of too much LV.

Ink - Sans smelled problems the first time he met him and decided to not interact. He doesn't know what is the deal with that guy, but that can't be good.

Error - One day, Error told him that everyone was an anomaly but that he was ok. Sans is still not sure to that day if it was supposed to be a compliment or not.

Disbelief Papyrus - That's his second brother. Sans was wondering why Delta kept snooping around the house until he realized that's because of him. Delta was dying to talk to him and was too scared to do so because he had his own Papyrus. Learning how he lost his Sans was heartbreaking and Sans knew that all poor Delta wanted was to have his brother again. So Sans adopted him. He doesn't care if he has two Papyrus, all he saw was that his brother was in bad psychological distress and needed to be comforted. With time, Delta realizes by himself he's not his Sans, takes his time to grieve his brother, and starts loving him for who he is and to get better, that's all that matters for Sans. Sans considers him as family the same way Papyrus is and may have secretly promised on the tomb of Delta's Sans that he would take care of him so that other Sans can finally rest in peace.

Killer Sans - Killer wants nothing to do with him and made it very clear. That's good because Sans doesn't want to do anything with him either. He knows they're the same, he doesn't know how the hell he ended up with so much hatred and so much LV, but that can't be good. He's not sure he is ready to know the truth anyway.

Dustale Sans - Dune tried to kidnap Papyrus several times, and tried to kill him twice because he interfered. Sans is not sure what's his deal but he doesn't like him. He's not sure what happened to him, but Dune clearly crossed the line by pushing his magic limitations to the point LV became a part of his personality. You don't get to that point without trying to see how far you can go. You don't get to that point without wiping the whole Underground actually. Sans doesn't trust him the slightest and wants him to stay far away from his house.

[shiikiyun]

I think something i don't often see in discussions about Futa's character is how, if you really take a second, he's kind of a people pleaser

He isn't so in a way like what Mikoto got going on, he does want to be around people of the same interests as him, and you wouldn't think he'd care about anything but authenticity if you stayed with the way he behaves on milgram. It is only when you think about him -in- those social circles he manages to get into that you can see him tweaking lol

I think the closest to see this that we have in milgram itself is that one interaction with Kotoko in which she attempts to debate how prisons respect human rights. Any other time he expressed his opinion/stance on things he was aggressive and maybe condescending to the rest because they disagreed with him, but the second someone agreed? Whole demeanor changed. Suddenly he didn't have much to say anymore and he just parroted Kotoko's words back at her. Why. If he has such a strong personality and mindset, why was someone validating his point enough to shut down his otherwise very firm attitude?

Futa doesn't go as far as to manufacture his every word for it to cause a positive reaction on others from the get go, but he does seek validation all the same. He braces himself for rejection by being loud and obnoxious and harsh until he sees a positive reaction and then is when he does a complete 180 to keep the other person in that place of validation. He is simultaneously completely bad at it though, but I never said he was good at people pleasing. Which connects back to what i've said before about his inability to fit in. Even when he thinks he's doing it right and he sees himself getting validation by people he cares about (in the case of his crime, by mimicking his friendgroup's method of "bringing justice" by calling out someone online, that same friendgroup following along and reinforcing the idea that he was doing it right), he ultimately fails anyway and loses it all over again.

In the end, he's just extremely socially awkward and anxious. It isn't in his nature to reach anyone else's expectations even if he genuinely wants to, so he'll either do what he can within his parameters (mold himself for his friendgroup of people he deems similar to him) or he'll avoid trying altogether because he knows he'll fail (what we see in milgram!)

It also shows how his yearn for a support system (t2 qna + mu's birthday timeline convo) isn't particularly new from his current circumstances, or why the only person he could think of when asked who he would want to see right now was his mom (who left so long ago he barely remembers her). He has just never truly had people that genuinely cared for him no matter what he tried to do to make himself likeable.

[quibbs126]

have you done elder faerie and dark cacao…

So I ended up getting on this because I saw an announcement for an eldercacao week, but it also means I got through this design, so here we are with Silver Clay Cookie

So Silver Clay here is supposed to be a weaponsmith, though she specializes in silver weapons. She's got a noticeable amount of silver in her dough, and it makes her have a particular attunement to metal, as well as being able to shape it out of clay. It makes her pretty important around the Faerie Kingdom

She's also a bit of a germophobe, and hates stains. They don't really get on her, but she's got a bit of a compulsive need to get rid of germs and such when she sees them. She also instinctively does not like the yeast creatures around the Faeriewood, for the same reasons (it's because silver is antibacterial)

She generally lives in the Faerie Kingdom, and is expected to take up the mantle of Guardian if something ever happens to Elder Faerie. She does visit the Dark Cacao Kingdom, but not often with the Licorice Sea being a barrier. The metal powers make her more important to the Faeries than the Dark Cacao Kingdom

She has a tendency to be rather high strung, and has inherited some of her father's (Dark Cacao's) traits of not really letting loose and relaxing. If you see her at a party outside of the start of it, it's because someone's keeping her there or because she's multitasking. It makes her odd among the Faeries, but she doesn't pay it much mind in favor of more work

She also doesn't really have wings, due to only being half Faerie. She says it doesn't bother her, but it always kind of has, at least in the back of her mind. She wonders if things would be better if she grew up and lived in the Dark Cacao Kingdom, but she usually shakes it off as it doesn't really matter, she's living in the Faerie Kingdom

Where she stands post Beast Yeast Episode 2, I don't really know. I haven't put much thought into where she fits in the timeline, since I don't know when Elder Faerie and Dark Cacao would have hypothetically met. That's also why there's no mention of Dark Choco here either

I don't think I have much else to say on her, so let's move on to design things

So I actually didn't spend much time on picking a name. Her name's Silver Clay because silver is associated with the Faerie Cookies, and I know someone used it in a chocolate knife once. Silver Choco was also a consideration, but I went against it because I feel like I give too many Cacao kids the name "Choco". That's about it

I probably could have come up with a better name if I had spent more time on it, but I didn't, so

Silver clay (idk I couldn't find a good picture of the clay itself):

To be honest, I don't really know what to put here

Her design's me trying to mix Elder Faerie and Dark Cacao design elements. Though I do also feel like she ended up being too plain at the end

I mean she is supposed to be a weaponsmith, with that being her primary role outside of her princess status, so I guess it works? But also I still feel like she's plain looking. Maybe she needs an alternate outfit

I'm gonna be honest, my main takeaway from Silver Clay is that she's underbaked. I did not spend much time at all fleshing out her concept, or in general the concept of an eldercacao kid. I didn't really even have a name and I went with the first idea that popped into my head. She has not been marinating

I feel like I feel this way with a lot of recent fankids. I guess I really don't have as much time to think about them as I did before, but in general I feel like I haven't been putting as much thought into them. And their designs just come out okay to me. But maybe I'm just being too hard on myself?

It doesn't really help that if I do wait, I get even more backup than I already do. Like, the 100+ unfinished requests will never be done. And even at this rate, it'll be forever until I finish one. This person's lucky I happened to have something force me to do this request

But yeah, I don't know. I guess Silver Clay isn't terrible, but she's undercooked in my opinion. I feel like I could have done better

But I hope you at least enjoy her

[matan4il]

You're such a hypocrite it is truly infuriating. You want people to condemn Hamas attacks on hospitals and kindergartens but your countries attacks on churches, hospitals, ambulances and refugee camps are ok?

Either both of them are bad or both of them are alright.

The way you start this ask makes it clear that you're incapable of hearing me out, so this reply isn't for you. It's for anyone else who might be confused.

Here's the timeline of events:

Oct 7: Over 3,000 terrorists break into Israel and rape, maim, kill and abduct over 1,400 civilians. Among their crimes, these terrorists kill paramedics in their ambulances, and shoot the tires of said ambulances so they can't be used to save lives.

Medical staff and tools targeting isn't widely condemned, nor reported by major news outlets. No outraged posts on Tumblr.

Oct 8: Barzilai hospital takes a direct hit from a Palestinian rocket fired from Gaza.

Hospital targeting isn't widely condemned, nor reported by major news outlets. No outraged posts on Tumblr.

Oct 11: Barzilai hospital takes a second and third direct hit from Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza.

Repeated hospital targeting isn't widely condemned, nor reported by major news outlets. No outraged posts on Tumblr.

Oct 17: Hamas reports an explosion at al Ahli hospital in Gaza, claims 500 people killed, and blames Israel instantly (even though it would be impossible to determine a number of fatalities that high within just 10 minutes of the explosion taking place, or to verify responsibility within that time frame).

Worldwide condemnations of Israel, every major news outlet adds this false Hamas report to their breaking news headlines and push notifications, and Tumblr fills with posts about Israel committing war crimes immediately.

But that very night, it turned out that the rocket was fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization. The rocket malfunctioned and hit the al Ahli hospital instead of Israel, and the next day it turned out the hospital wasn't even hit, it was the parking lot, the damage caused didn't fit an Israeli airstrike, and the damage also didn't fit a casualty figure of 500 people. In the following days, every independent check (including from institutes hostile to Israel) confirmed it was a PIJ rocket, not an Israeli airstrike.

No PIJ condemnations, nor reports by any major news outlets. Posts on Tumblr either ignore PIJ's culpability, or continue to insist that Israel is to blame, despite NO credible sources saying definitively so.

I know where the hypocrisy lies.

But the hypocrisy doesn't end there. Because what Israel and Hamas are doing with their own medical facilities is different.

Israel DOES NOT use its ambulances to hide soldiers and to transport weapons. It doesn't place its headquarters under the Barzilai hospital. There are no Israeli fighter jets being launched from its courtyard. That's why the Barzilai hospital maintains its protected status as a forbidden target during fighting. Because it is used strictly for civilian purposes.

In contrast, Hamas placed its headquarters under the Shifa hospital in Gaza. It has used ambulances to transport its armed terrorists. It's done so, because they KNOW that Israel normally doesn't strike medical facilities. Hamas terrorists have said so themselves. Here are two vids, the first about the use of hospitals by Hamas units, the second about the use of ambulances, and in both cases the reason given is that Hamas knows Israel wouldn't strike there:

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[nymph-ette111]

hiiiiiii!! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠) could you do a simon cof x sweet, feminine reader headcannons? made my own headcannons to share with you because ily and i love this prompt(⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠)

♡ i imagine reader and simon would go out, hes wearing the same crusty ass grey hoodie while shes dressed up all cute and pretty >.<

♡ he reeks of nicotine while she smells like neapolitan marshmallows<3 hes obsessed with her scent. he literally loves using her bodycare/haircare products over his 3 in 1 men shampoo (if he even showers that is) because he'd smell more like her.

♡ she shares absolutely everything of her purchases. she'd do little mini hauls to Simon, showcasing her new pink ballerina flats, sugarbunnies plushie she had to fight a war for in mercari, too faced chocolate bar palette, cute japanese stationary, and a lot of new clothes. Simon loves it. he loves seeing her happy. (may even buy her things he thinks she would love if he didn't have a smoking addiction<3)

♡ she doesnt only share that though she also loves talking his ears off about anything and everything<3 at first he was annoyed with her constant talking but when he spoke of it, she stopped talking so much and he got guilty and missed her overtalking. he tried to bring her spark back in talking and it worked

♡ shes compassionate and kind, understanding his struggles (but not condoning his actions) and helping him to get better. (he really wants to be saved by her but feels that he just cannot.)

♡ he really doesn't get why she's with him. Hes depressed, miserable, and difficult to be with. His low self esteem sometimes gets the best of him and he starts believing that he's not worthy of her, often leaving her on read, missing her calls, and ignoring her. (im sensing attachment issues) reader clutches w communication though :3

♡ they'd explore abandoned buildings. Simon's there to smoke blunts while readers there to get awesome fit pictures<3 they would go a long way travelling and reader the most practical girl you know has her feet hurt from walking on platforms. they either take lots of breaks or Simon just carries her on his back (unlikely)

♡ talk about taking fit pictures, Simon's technically her photographer. She has a blog where she posts fashion and besides the mirror pics, Simon's always the one taking the pictures. He's quite good at it too.

some of these headcannons probably won't work in his time but who cares(⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ) hope this prompt isnt that hard to write for..(⁠ᗒ⁠ᗩ⁠ᗕ⁠)you can always ignore if you want!! thankkkkkk you x3 xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxooxoxoxox

WARNINGS; MENTIONS OF SMOKING, MENTIONS OF DEPRESSION

AUTHOR'S NOTE; WHOEVER REQUESTED THIS JUST KNOW I LOVE YOU!!! probably inaccurate for both the character and the timeline... listen, I don't know what swedish people were up to in 2012 leave me alone. also not very happy with this, still trying to figure out how to write Simon :3

-he looks comically out of place in your room. just imagine a pastel pink room filled to the brim with cute plushies, shelves full of little trinkets and books, floral bedding and lace curtains. a wall full of movie posters, magazine pages, and little polaroids of your most treasured moments, and then there's a depressed smoke addict.

-you know those videos where it's a boyfriend sleeping in their girlfriend's girly room with a bunch of plushies on top of him? yeah, basically same situation.

-his sleep schedule is fucked up. either he pulls an all nighter or is passed out till 3 pm. when it's one of those times where Simon feels tired, you just let him sleep in your bed whilst you do whatever.

-it's also a great opportunity to gather the perfect pictures for black mailing.

-he just looks so stupid in your room I love him.

-doesn't care about your plushies but will learn to treat them nicely after you yelled at him for 15 minutes straight about how it's unacceptable to throw rilakkuma off the bed just so he could sit down.

-punches the plush when you aren't looking.

-he definitely gives you that pink hello kitty hoodie to wear. or he wears it instead so you two could match. that's probably your idea and he obliges because it's something you love and enjoy.

-really like the idea of him being your personal photographer. he's always the first to leave a like on whatever you post, especially if it's he who took the picture.

-doesn't know anyone besides you. his followings on social media just contain a bunch of his favorite bands and your account.

-a bit sad but I can see him borrowing your money (with permission) to buy cigarettes if his mother refuses to give him any. he wants to buy you stuff you might like but he's too busy spending it on his addiction :(

-he instead draws you your favorite characters so you can put it on the wall alongside your other pictures.

-has never been in the vicinity of a woman without being an awkward shit. moral of the story he doesn't know anything about girls. his knowledge of things is pretty vague, so please don't be surprised if you see him just poking around your vanity and asking a million different questions on what certain products do and why.

-his mother is very happy her son finally found a girlfriend. she approves of you and thinks you're an absolute sweetheart. always asks Simon when you will visit them again.

-you two definitely earn a few stares in public because how did such a sweet and pretty girl end up with a guy like Simon.

-it pisses him off endlessly but can't help his thoughts and feelings. thinks he doesn't deserve you or any of the kind shit you do for him.

-like nonnie said, he probably isn't the greatest boyfriend... there are times where he cancels your hang-outs without further explanation or simply doesn't acknowledge any of your calls and messages. he feels pretty shitty after it and apologizes for his behavior. you forgive him even though you both know he'll do it again.

-he is low-key obsessed with your smell, he smothers anything you have in the shower all over his body without caring what it's for, just simply reads the labels and puts it on... with big amounts. this man is making you go bankrupt. you could literally see the outline of his fingers left in the product..

-his camera is full of pictures of you, he likes looking at them when he feels down. which is pretty often.

-shows you all of his favorite places in Stockholm or even Kirkvile (where does this man live I don't get it) ones that aren't usually full of people, just overly adventurous teenagers from time to time. something tells you that you two have trespassed into private property multiple times but Simon doesn't want to answer that question clearly.

-ugh imagine clipping cute little hair clips into Simon's hair and he just lets you do whatever you want because if you're happy then he is happy and he wants to see you smile :(

-in exchange, you let him do corpse paint on your face.

[bblueraven-and-fandoms14]

Controversial take the AA and Narumitsu fandom are going to flame my ass whatever but as an avid Narumitsu shipper and Miles Edgeworth fan (he's my #1 favorite character of the franchise) I love bastard Phoenix but in the specific flavor of him cheating on Miles with Kristoph during the 7yg. Like. Because tbh Phoenix gets attached and loves (obsseses) over people so readily and easily that once he has very little to loose he decides to try and keep what he does have and he wants both. Why CAN'T he have both he wants both. Is it fair to Miles AND to Kristoph? No but life hasn't been fair to HIM either and it's selfish and he's a horrible partner, he feels guilty so so much, but he can't stop, he can't let go of either because he wants BOTH. He clings to both and refuses to let go. He has so much to give why can't he take a bit, too. Why can't he have them both!!!! Miles is his past and Kristoph could be part of his present and he refuses to let go of any of it. Then he fully learns was Kristoph is doing and plays the game and continues because, yeah he'll bring Kristoph down but he still wants both, even if it's not good for him. So he'll keep both as long as he can. Even if he's going to destroy one of them in the end. Once again life is not being fair and this must be Karma, for trying to grab too much, trying to hold too much in his hands. So if it's going to be over and by his own hands, he will keep indulging as long as he can.

Extra points Kristoph absolutely knows and seethes everytime Miles visits because Phoenix goes away during that time even though he ends up back with him once Miles leaves and why is Kristoph once again coming second? He hates Mile's ass (but he wonders what it is about that man. He is curious, in a morbid way. He wants a taste himself, just to see what of Miles is so good that Phoenix can't stop himself from eating from it even now).

Miles doesn't know at first but he starts suspecting and then he learns about it but he... doesn't say anything. He's a self respecting man, he SHOULD say something for his own self at the least but he. He thinks of everything that has happened. He sees how defeated Phoenix is. He remembers being defeted himself. He remembers he owes Phoenix half his life, really. He is so attached himself, and what would he do without Phoenix in his life? So he decides its fine, isn't it? Because it's partially Miles fault, too. He's not There. He's away too much, all the time, during Phoenix's time of need. And Phoenix is just a man. Just like him. And he wonders. He wishes he knew Kristoph more, and he's jealous and angry at him because Kristoph is dignified and not a bit weird in his likes and idiosyncrasies and perhaps that's the appeal, someone who isn't a bit odd and who is actually there. He remembers that one date he's ever been to, back in highschool. He remembers trying so hard to be likable. He remembers failing at it. He sees how easy it is for Kristoph to do what he couldn't and still can't. And he wonders how it is to taste that in a partner.

Anyways in the end I think they should all kiss idk 🧍🏻‍♀️ (there are two specific things I have consumed in this fandom that have built my hc's for Krisnix, Nrmts, and narumitskris during the 7yr gap and the fic specifically is /it/ like that's lowkey canon to me with some tweaks to fit canon timeline and events and characters).

*coughs* I rambled I just think all 3 could have the most interesting dynamic known to man YES including Miles/Kristoph can you imagine the chaos of that? It's Phoenix's worst and best dream come to life. I think Miles/Kristoph is supremely underrated actually. I think they should all fuck nasty and hate-filled. Thank you for coming to my....uh. Insanity.

(I also love the idea of Miles and Kristoph cat fighting over a man who CHEATS like girls get up omg [all 3 are deranged])

[unsoundedcomic]

Ma'am, conditional kindeness ain't real kindness. Showing kindeness when it furthers you own goals ain't kindness either.

Kindness is subjective though, since its execution is a reflection of one's morality, and morality is subjective (well, intersubjective). What Ilganyag finds kind doesn't have to be what you or I would find kind, and vice versa. She would argue that our own perceptions of morality are warped and biased by our mortality, and that we can't even fathom much less directly see the great harms we do with actions that we consider kind. Our personal timelines are too small to fit the vastness of our own echoing evils.

[lunatic-pudge]

Vampire P1 Dude Headcanons

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I had some request for what kind of mythological being the Mercs would be so my brain immediately thought of vampire Postal Dude. He isn't even apart of the TF2 timeline but oh well. I find Dude would be a vampire, though I am willing to hear people out on something like zombie Dude or werewolf Dude.

Using P1 Dude cause he fits the vampire thing really well. Any objections will be met with me ugly crying and asking why.

And if anyone wants, maybe I could write a little something something based off this when I have the time. Or if anyone wants to write their own fic, I'd love to read it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-So Dude as a vampire. Poor thing is STRUGGLING.

-He's a borderline agoraphobe (like me), so going out to feed is super hard for him. He's glad that he only can venture out at night. Daytime is scary

-So pale it's unbelievable. He doesn't even look real at times, it can be scary. He's so paranoid about any sunlight entering his home. He thinks even sunlight will infect him with the hate disease

-Super quiet. You'd think you'd be able to hear him walking around but it's like he's floating with how quiet he exists. He tends to scare you quite often with how silent he is. He doesn't mean to scare you and will make up for it with hugs and kisses

-Your blood is his favorite. But he understands that you kinda need it to live so he only takes your blood sparingly.

-He makes sure that when he takes blood from you, he's careful with it. He'll get you comfy, make sure drinks and snack are readily available for afterwards, constantly asking if you're okay with him feeding on you and to let him know if you don't want this. He can be a bit of a worried mess. Just reassure him that it's okay to feast

-His fangs are long and rather sharp, he eventually cuts himself on them at times by accident. So while it hurts to get bit, it's not too bad. It really is like going to the blood bank and donating some blood. It is a draining experience so by the time he's finished, you'll be rather exhausted. He'll gladly lay with you and make sure you're okay afterwards. He might fear that he took a little too much but he's just being paranoid. Dude knows to not take too much from you

-Loves walking around the local cemetery at night. He knows there won't be people around to bother you two

-Being with Dude means changing your sleep schedule. I'm sorry if you're a morning person. You will have to learn how to be a night owl with Dude. Once the sun comes up, he's locking himself away in his room and refusing to come out

-Loves watching you sleep. He finds it interesting watching you resting and how gentle your chest rises and falls. How he can tell when you're having good dreams or bad ones. He especially likes to play with your hair and give you little kisses on the cheeks while you sleep. Making a promise to kill anyone who wrongs you

-He usually bring his victims home. He'll have them knocked unconscious as to avoid too many problems. He'll drain them of their blood and save any of it for later. He'll skin and butcher them up and give the flesh to Champ. So be sure to avoid the "meat" in his fridge. Don't question why there's so much of it either. He makes sure his baby is taken care of