#for damages done to the city. it’s actually an interesting debate

[feralweapon]

i was literally going to post on that munday photo “do you think matt murdock would let me work at his firm looking like this?”

i forgot that bitch can’t see. i’ll just tell him it says ‘Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys At Law’ he won’t know.

he also can’t get mad at my text post because he can’t see the screen (i’m kidding please don’t take my bullying of matt seriously.)

edit: i like to bully men apparently?

[snootsrottmntcollection]

HC for Donnie Helping Reader Out with Astronomy Stuff (platonic)

Author’s Note: An indulgent little snippet. I’m rather interested in astronomy, and over the break I was given the privilege of taking the school telescope home with me to try out. I have no clue what I was thinking, since I’ve never operated a telescope before and I’m a total amateur. Last night, I spent hours trying to figure the thing out with a friend, however the instructions were worthless, and the Internet wasn’t helpful either. So, instead of wallowing in my terrible mood, I shall write!

Keep in mind that I live in the middle of nowhere, and seeing the stars is easy where I am because there is so little light pollution. I’ve also lived right next to a big city before, and the stars were essentially non-existent. If you want to look at the stars through a telescope, do your research! And because it’s very important, NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN THROUGH A TELESCOPE. Permanent eye damage will ensue.

Before he arrived, you already set everything up the way you thought it was supposed to be. The instructions told you to let the telescope cool down to the outside temperature, so you did.

It wasn’t just cold though; you were shivering from head to toe. Hot beverages have been made. And coffee, especially coffee. Stargazing is best done in the early hours of the morning after all.

The instruction manuals were all unorganized and open on the table. Preparation was a nightmare within a nightmare. Reading through everything was difficult, to say the least.

The filters and other attachments were still packed in their boxes. You have no idea when or how to use them, since nothing about color filters had been mentioned before.

The only thing keeping you away from a crime is your music taste.

He begged you to let him try out the telescope. Saying yes was the obviously correct choice.

Bouncing off the walls, absolutely insane, buzzing with excitement-

You had to pull yourself together and hush up about his bad boy image. So, so much self-control.

Donnie is so happy that he doesn’t have to wait for the telescope to cool down. He’s very appreciative of the drinks as well.

However,…

“I should have brought my heat lamp with me…”

“That would’ve defeated the whole idea of me putting it outside to cool off.”

“Dramatic sigh. Correct.”

This dude entirely disregards the manuals.

Walks away like they mean nothing to him. Which they don’t.

“Are you sure you don’t want to look through those?”

“Trash! It’s more like advertisement than instruction anyways.”

“Amen to that. I spent three hours looking up the terms they used.”

“That’s just a skill issue, and one that I do not have!”

Despite your apparent skill issue, he’s surprisingly patient when it comes to explaining what each little piece does and why it’s built in. His expertise was sadly not enough, as few pieces made him scrunch up his face in confusion.

The look of disappointment on his face as you finally convince him to look at the instruction manuals is comedy gold. It took you several minutes to stop laughing.

He didn’t want to look at the manuals anymore.

Donnie was quick to find decent explanations online, hidden in some wacky corner of the web that you were mildly suspicious of.

Whatever he read apparently did the trick.

You can actually see things now. And the filters are used for something important! You honestly just played around with them a bit, and took pictures on your phone. A totally violet Donnie wasn’t something you thought you needed, yet here you were.

You can confidently say you’ve seen Venus and Mars through a telescope.

Donnie even helped you find some constellations in the vast night sky. In a very meticulous and mathematical way, but hey, at least Gemini was fun to find.

You get to talking about the Andromeda galaxy for so long that your drinks partially froze over.

Taking everything back inside was so much easier with a helping hand.

Donnie decided to stay the night, meaning musicals and intense debates over miniscule junk.

You appreciate his company, even if astronomy wasn’t involved.

The two of you start getting ready for bed after the neighbors complained about your karaoke session.

“Regrets are for the weak.”

“I’m so weak dude, I can’t even.”

“Then cower.”

Best goodnight words in the history of goodnight words.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it!

[localwebslingers]

It didn't feel great, getting the response that he did but Peter understood why that was the one he was given. Harry didn't remember things, and trusting someone while he didn't wasn't anything easy to be asked for. Not for anyone, Peter wasn't sure how he would respond to it either if the positions were reversed. He could tell the response was cautious, not completely honest and definitely uncertain, and it still stung but he wasn't about to hold the reaction against Harry either. It wasn't quite starting over from scratch, it was just several steps back and needing to slowly work their way back up again. Even if it took time, even a lot of it, that was something that could be done.

The pause for that didn't last long, Peter managing an "Okay." before it broke again with another question. He couldn't get into much detail about it, both because Harry had already mentioned not wanting to talk about what had happened at the moment and saying too much detail would raise questions. Like how Peter knew about some things and what it actually meant. Plenty about it had already been in the news though, and broadcast over the radio or on podcasts from what he'd gathered.

"It's okay." he assured, "There was some building damage in a few places with everything that happened that's still being repaired, but most of that's finished up by now. Sounded like one or two of the subway tunnels were pretty banged up that's taking the longest to get fixed up, but that shouldn't be too much longer. Going by the news reports. The...residue, that was left behind has been cleared up too, within the first day or two, actually." he wasn't sure what else to call the parent nests of symbiotes that had been around the city in the wake of what had happened. Honestly the idea of a symbiote nest came with a long list of reasons to be concerned and he definitely offered to help out with them. It seemed to have been appreciated but ultimately turned down.

He was quiet for a moment, debating before speaking again, "There were some people effected by the residue too, around town. From what I've heard, and read, and been told by people I trust to know what they're talking about," primarily the two Spider-Men and MJ when he actually happened to see them in those first few days, or while happening to be visiting Harry at the same time before, "everyone who was has made a full recovery. So, I would say the city is doing pretty well right now. By New York standards." which meant there would probably be a breakout or an increase in criminal underworld activity in the next week or so. In terms of attempted symbiote takeover though? The city was doing a lot better.

Personally, he wasn't sure for how long the city would be free of them but that was a concern Peter had been keeping to himself, "...I can take some pictures of the city to bring for you tomorrow if you want? Maybe something with a slightly more interesting view than walls and computers." he teased lightly with a small smile.

|| @inhcritance ||

It was welcome, that Peter didn't deny it. And strong suspicions made sense, because Harry had come to have a set of expectations about his situation and he'd gone against all of them... and all in all, that felt like a familiar tread, in a way. That had happened in the past, and he didn't think it was a bad thing.

And then there came that since. That moment of silence, that moment of thought, and Harry wished he hadn't learned what silence meant, in the middle of a conversation. That he didn't think of secrets, and even more information kept from him, and promises he knew were not able to be kept because that was his father, wasn't it?

But right then, for all he tried to be reasonable, his father was one fourth of the people he'd met. Quite a big percentage of one's sample size for interaction... and also someone given to meeting his gaze, as he promised, and there was something in him that did not mind eye contact but did bristle at it at the same time. Something primal that perceived as a threat, and the instincts began to whisper even more loudly as Harry breathed, and tried not to hunch over himself, and instead tried to listen.

Because he too had hoped, for a long yet brief moment, there and gone just as fast, that Peter would be able to get closer. That it might be an option, because Harry remembered the warmth of human touch like one remembered a dream... but that was not an option, and that could not matter, and in the end all he had were promises.

Promises he wished he could trust, because Peter's words were reasonable, as Harry listened and couldn't keep a frown off his face. Because it did make sense, and he could imagine many reasons why they had secrets.

He also knew that while he knew he'd trusted Peter at some point, all he had were brief memories, and sensations, and that was not enough to trust, not really, not honestly, and not while knowing he was at such a big disadvantage. Because his father had asked him for his trust, while ignoring his every message, and that was easy to deal with. Someone asking him for trust and for understanding and offering it back was so much scarier to deal with.

He was so tired of navigating blind, but he wasn't sure he could take an offered hand.

"I can work with that." He sighed, in the end. And it was not honest, it was too guarded, but it was the best he was going to get and he was tired of it.

And then, after a moment, because he didn't want to let the silence drape over them or his hesitation to be even clearer, he spoke again.

"What's the state of the city, out there?" He asked Peter.

Had it at least recovered from... whatever that had happened to him? Or whatever he'd done, he suspected.

@localwebslingers

[deciphertheriddler]

Regarding Riddler's morals, the movie and my interpretation: the post

(Under read more cause this is a big boy)

I (and I think this is a more or less common take, as far as the people I have talked about) don't personally like much the flood plot in the end of the movie. I get why it's done, and what it's supposed to symbolize - and it's not like I can think of a better way to end the movie with the intended messages without making it bigger.

I debated on whether or not I would consider it canon on this blog. I'm leaning on accepting it, just because I don't want to mess up with how that would affect other characters, and It's honestly easier to just stick to canon. I'm used to my muses suffering the "poor canon narrative choices" syndrome, and I can deal with that lol. But not without giving it my two cents.

The reason I don't like that arc of the movie is because... It doesn't fit very well into Riddler's narrative. He had specific targets. Even Batman tells Gordon he "wouldn't have to worry, he's innocent". If that's true and in all the movie, we're supposed to see the gray morality of the characters, Riddler making such a harsh decision to just eliminate the whole city, very unsatisfying and pointless (to his goals).

Sure, he could have changed his mind, after talking with his followers and getting egged on by their anger. It would be actually very interesting to see how that relationship would play, if the community he created actually impacted on him and his plan, other than the help they provided. But, well. It's not shown in the movie. And I get it, the movie is long AF, and we're not supposed to ever think the villain somehow had a point in all of this.

There's also the thing where I know that Riddler was written so he could be interpreted as real life in.ce.l shooters and white supr.emacis.m, but they kind of lost it when they gave him an actual target that wasn't just, you know, random anger redirected at people who did nothing at all. The ending was basically the scene where they go with the concept in the right way, and while I can understand it, it's basically a reading you can do outside of the movie. ON THE MOVIE ITSELF, you can have a different interpretation of how things went. And my opinion comes from a non usa point of view, which should be clear because. It does make a difference.

WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID - I'm not here to discuss the movie or how it was written, or what you should get from all this (you're free to interpret it in your own way).

What matters to this blog is:

Riddler is a killer and dangerous, but he has a method for his madness which are:

Killing people who had done wrong to others (corruption mostly, but abusers and other sorts of criminals may be counted, but basically everyone who makes the life of others miserable)

People who tried to harm him first or personally wronged him (hi, batman/bruce)

Collateral damage to his schemes. Because. He is canonically very bad at keeping in mind what are the consequences of his actions.

Other than that, I won't ever write him as making a plan to harm locals or even lower pieces in the great scheme of things. He doesn't... Want to get rid of the city. Or control it. Any insinuation of that, unless properly plotted out or referring to a specific comic arc (which I won't use Dano!Riddler for on most of them, anyway), will be considered metagaming. I won't block you for that, but you will be warned to not do it again.

Unburied Verse has the same morals, but he's less of a direct murder. Just mostly as collateral damage to his traps.

[plus-size-reader]

Bedtime Stories

Digger Harkness x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 2046 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Getting a call from Belle Reve for a reason you would never expect

——————————————————————————————————

You sighed, entering the cold, clinical building again, not even bothering to address anything else other than what you’d come here for. 

Frankly, you weren’t happy about having to be here. 

While you agreed for the benefit of everyone involved, you were sure that if Amanda had only listened to you in the beginning, you wouldn’t be standing here right now. 

She had made the decision to avoid all of your professional advice, including him in her little circus anyway. 

It was wholly unprofessional.

If she had only listened to you at the start of this, none of you would be in this position, having to fret over some unruly inmate or horrific threat. 

You were on sabbatical.

After all the work you’d done at Belle Reve in the time you’d been there, you deserved a break. It was hard work that took a huge toll on someone after years and years of constant exposure, having to process the most psychologically damaged that society had to offer. 

As much as you enjoyed being a psychiatrist, it wasn’t the sort of career that was carefree and easy to do.It took a lot out of you, and some time off was sure to do you some good.

You had been working in Gotham City for years at this point, and you were really good at what you did. 

The least the city owed you was a few weeks off the clock, but of course, that was too much to ask. From the second you opened your eyes this morning, your vacation was already over. 

Your phone was buzzing on the side table by your bed, alerting you to the fact that Colonel Rick Flag was attempting to contact you. It wasn’t altogether strange, as you had spoken in the past, but it wasn’t commonplace either. 

You had only dealt with one another on a few occasions, in the deciding meetings and calls over the so-called Suicide Squad. 

In the early days of discussion and the decision making, they wanted to consult you to make sure it would be safe. 

Which, for the record, you knew that it wasn’t. 

The eclectic group of ‘bad guys’ Amanda Waller had decided on were impossible to control and unpredictable. There would be no way to make sure they wouldn’t go off the rails. 

Though, when it came down to it, there was nothing you could do to stop them even though it was obviously foolish. In the grand scheme of things, you were a shrink, and nothing more.

They didn’t have to listen to you. 

Not that they actually acted as if you were so low on their priorities list, as evidenced by your standing here now. 

“Flag? What is it?” you hummed, not bothering with formalities or meaningless pleasantries. You had always found those sorts of things to be pointless, especially in a place like this. 

Whatever it was he needed from you, it wasn’t small talk or to check in with you. 

Naturally you assumed something terrible had happened, and in Gotham City, that wasn’t too bad a bet to make. 

There was always something on fire. 

...And that wasn’t necessarily wrong today either. 

Flag hadn’t given you a ton of information on the phone before you arrived this morning, but you knew enough to make your guesses. 

What Waller had proposed was more or less releasing a ticking time bomb into the public and while it seemed to have gone off without a hitch at first, you were sure that this had something to do with it. 

It had to. 

The members of the ‘Suicide squad’ were the biggest thing to happen to Belle Reve since it opened, and if they needed to call you back from your break, it was surely about that. 

You weren’t an idiot, even if they sometimes acted as if you were. 

All you could do was hope that whatever it was, you would be able to go back to your nice relaxing leave before too long.

A few hours weren’t going to kill you. 

“Captain Boomerang is acting out, causing problems for the guards, and refuses to eat” he allowed, getting down to the purpose of this meeting just as quickly as you had, confirming what you already knew. 

If it was going to be any one of your patients, you weren’t shocked it was him. 

Digger Harkness had been a patient of yours since you began working here, one you explicitly advised Amanda Waller to avoid recruiting. You knew better than anyone that he didn’t play well with others. 

He was prone to violent outbursts, childish behavior and overall insubordination. All in all, she couldn't have picked a worse adjusted, combative individual. 

Unfortunately for you, you weren’t surprised he would be the one to pull you away from all your rest and relaxation. 

“As I’m sure you’re aware, that’s going to be a problem”  

You were painfully aware. 

While most of the other inmates involved in the foolish adventure Captain Waller manned had been cooperative about their reincarceration, there was nothing they could do to buy his silence. 

More than anything, he wanted his freedom and a coffee machine and some supervised visits wasn’t going to cut it. She’d given him a taste of freedom and you knew that he wasn’t going to adjust well to being back in a cell. 

Really, you didn’t know a single person that would. 

Of course he was acting out. 

What you were less sure of was why they thought you would be able to do anything about it. There was nothing you could say or do that was going to be any different whatever they had already tried. 

“And what do you want me to do? Read him bedtime stories? I seem to recall telling you all to leave him locked up” you huffed, sort of upset that he would ever suggest it. 

You didn’t want to clean up the mess they’d made when you had been telling them from day one that it was a bad idea. However, you knew no matter how much you argued, you’d be doing it anyway. 

There wasn’t anyone else that Digger would listen to, even you understood that. 

“He’s been asking for you since they brought him back” Flag shrugged, not interested in anything more than getting the rest of the higher ups off his back. They had sort of put him in charge of this after everything. 

He treated the inmates as equals, and in general, they acted better under his watchful eye. 

With the ever growing exception of Digger, who Flag still referred to as ‘Captain Boomerang’ something you couldn’t have been more tired of. Something like that would only further feed into his delusions of how important and grand he was. 

Besides, it was incredibly immature. 

“Fine, I’ll talk to him, but no guards. If there are guards, he won’t even talk to me” you suggested, knowing that he wouldn’t dare lay a hand on you. 

No matter how desperate Digger was, you both understood that he’d have no chance of getting out in this lifetime if he killed you. So, it was a safe bet that if they wanted any kind of result, they had to do what you said. 

If they had any other options, they wouldn’t have called you out of your much deserved vacation. Clearly, You were their only hope if they wanted him to stop being such a huge pain in the ass.

“No guards, if you’re sure?” Flag agreed finally, hoping that you would be able to do something about him. 

The man in front of you was already on the verge of putting a bullet through the former’s skull, which wouldn't look good for him. Even if it would be easier than having to listen to him. 

If only it would be as easy for you as just having to decide on whether or not you needed guards. 

Dealing with Digger was never that simple. 

~

The sound was practically deafening as you approached his cell, that constant yelling and cackling you could have done without hearing today. 

He’d gotten bad. 

In the time since you’d last seen him, he was going downhill, no doubt brought on by the small taste of freedom he’d been granted at the hands of Agent Waller. She had given him just enough for him to spiral. 

Which meant that this visit was going to be even more unpredictable than normal. 

“You know you can’t keep me locked up here forever, eventually, I’m gonna get out!” he rambled on, throwing out as many empty threats as he could, as soon as he could think them up. 

It wasn’t like he had anything to lose. 

Though, constantly threatening to break out of a maximum security prison wasn’t necessarily the healthiest coping mechanism he could have chosen.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that” you called, just far enough away from the small slat in the cell door for him to see who it was who’d come to see him, not that he had to see your face to know. 

Digger would have recognized that voice anywhere. 

He hadn’t had the privilege of seeing too many people since his incarceration, and he certainly wasn’t going to forget a face as pretty as yours.

“I didn’t know you were coming to see me today, sweetface” he countered, immediately changing his approach now that he knew you weren’t just some nameless guard coming to spit insults at him. 

That was normally what they did in response to his tantrums. Though, if that was what brought you here, he definitely didn’t regret being such a royal prick about it. 

He’d missed you. 

He hadn’t been expecting a visitor, as Flag assumed this would be handled better as a surprise, but he knew it was you nonetheless. 

You were his favorite shrink, if nothing else, something Digger told you frequently on your weekly visits. It was a pleasant surprise, even just getting to hear you. 

“You didn’t give the guards much choice. Flag here was gonna have you hosed down until you stopped your yammering” you sighed, finally closing the space between where you were standing and his cell door. 

You could only imagine how tired both Flagg and the guards were of the Aussie’s mindless small talk and babbling. 

“Hello Digger” you greeted, looking between him and the armed guard at your side, still heavily debating this whole thing. 

Looking him in the face was different from speaking to him from across the room, where he couldn’t see you. Now, there was no telling how much further he would push this. 

You knew how much Digger liked to flirt with you, tossing compliments and remarks at you like he wasn’t a noted criminal. Every week, he always had some other romantic and likely vulgar thing to tell you.

It was hardly appropriate, given your standing, but it wasn’t as if it could be avoided, especially now. 

You hadn’t seen him in months, and there was no telling what sort of state he was in. 

Though, you knew that If you wanted results, he responded much better to honey than vinegar. 

“There she is. How’re you doing beautiful?” he cooed, once he got a good look at you through the bars of his cell. You looked just as stunning as you had last time he’d seen you, if not better.

Clearly, even the few days you’d gotten away had done you good. 

You ignored him for a moment, turning your attention back to the guard. Whatever it was they thought you’d be able to do to convince Duggar to stop being insufferable, you knew he wasn’t going to talk to you with a guard around. 

It just wasn’t his style. 

“You can go ahead and take a break. I’ll call if I need anything” you decided, you knew Digger well enough to know you weren’t going to get anywhere with the guards supervision. 

This was just going to go much smoother if you didn’t have to worry about anyone else being involved. 

The man looked unsure for a moment before nodding, deciding that ultimately it wasn't his job to babysit you and whatever happened, it wasn’t his problem either. 

[srbachchan]

DAY 4815

Jalsa, Mumbai                  May 4/5,  2021                  Tue/Wed  2:34 AM

... the lamentations for the loss of the text that was written and then disappeared last night , has been lost too .. they were in reference to years and thoughts of the years gone by .. of times and some remembrances in , as one of my readers of the Blog  put it, in kgb mode .. secretive , non understandable , like most secret services of all nations .. 🤣

If they come back to me in that refrain I shall reconsider .. else they go down with me .. some matters and minds should .. their relevance shall be naught .. for they hold hands with them that either have left , or were never interested in the first place .. they could have had value for the self .. but that would be a most selfish exercise .. un exercice égoïste .. eine egoistische Übung .. تمرين أناني  tamriyn 'anani .. эгоистичное упражнение .. 

... but the mind is a relentless tortoise winding its limitations of speed and destination in its sincerity .. unlike the hare .. determined to nose the tape .. and for some peculiar reason the refer to the previous strikes in the silence of the early morn now .. as the slightest of vibrations on the shutters behind , alert you to the cctv .. they be blank, but not the desire .. ehh hrhh .. not desire .. such a vacant word .. supposed to say it all but never does .. maybe it does for others , maybe not .. but there .. 

.. so in the last we were at -

“Leave it , leave it mrB .. you behave like those fact formative early years of self independence when the evening parties were spent in ‘bring your bottle, bring your girl’ and sit aside and debate .. the ‘adda’ of the times which exists in its maturity to date .. and those that resented the thought minds of mere talk for the sake of talk would sneer and snigger , as they danced to the …

GONE .. again .. an entire page of writing as I posted a picture ..

Shall  not remember to write again .. it is so damaging .. to destroy and steal my process and think  .. TUMBLr .. 😡”

yes .. those that resented the thought minds of mere talk for the sake of talk would sneer and snigger, as they danced to the .. 👆🏾 .. 👇🏿

strains of the popular at the time Pat the Boone, Cliffy baby , and often the holding the traditional waist and hands in ballroom fashion would be freed by the ‘rock of the jailhouse ‘ in the ‘lis Presl shakin all over his blue suede shoes .. Bobby the Darin the sweetheart of the school and the Humperdinck .. maturing on with great swoons and screams to the mop headed at HDN .. the ‘night so hard’ .. and the yaay ya of loves me yayaya .. till the sudden surprise of the wood in Norway .. the Norwegian .. the indian instrument , the haridwaar, the meditational spell of bearded gurus who swore to walk on water and sank at Juhu beaches .. to submarines painted ‘yellow’ .. and the livings of the evenings in the raj infested cultural left overs still predominant to make the burra sahib and the burra din existence in the prominence of the blue decorated  Park by the street of a million jams on one .. sundays at trincasjam, pam crain and the Louis Banks of the Fox that was Blue .. mocambo not the ‘gambo’, ??? moulin rouge ..  and the solo drum hours of the drummer  .. as you ended up in the high end hoteliere Grand and drove back intoxicated with the first era feel of INDEPENDent SELF .. drove walked taxied or trammed to the million residences changed due paucity and capacity of the earning - the clac of the tons with 8 the high gates of the friendly family at Tolly , the chowrings shared with the other in adjoining , and closer to the new rd the Pore of the A .. the NEW of the pore  ending up the pgied  highest towered , peering at the late night highlights of the neighbourhood .. in gasping views , through parted curtains .. 

Left .. left it ..

So .. thoughts and time devoted to the wants and needs for the others .. in distress and in saviour mode for help .. something collected , some on the way , some delivered , some in operation .. BUT ..

.. lots to be done .. 

.. this we give in the times of trouble .. the 3rd .. the 3rd wave be in preparedness already and there is the planning in the city at least of the eventuality in the coming few months ..

.. each nano second come the suggestions and research and opinions and statistics of the fraternity , and nothing remains authentic for more than a nano second for the reverse or the opposite come about immediately ridiculing the first .. belief and follow is shattered .. is the T and FB and insta follow the true follow , or manufactured .. every theory has a theory to a theory of another .. 

.. never has there been uninterested doubt of one from the other .. believe one and the disbelieve comes hammering through .. say one and unsay the other in immediacy .. 

SO .. hehe  .. (I use the SO with so much dignity and respect) .. ok away .. simplify the narration mrB .. 

RIGHT .. that sound alright ?

RIGHT .. in these conditions then I share thought with the Ef each day .. DAY .. speak to them as one .. as one that sits before me in isolation .. I see them before me .. at my writing location .. up late , up from days work , up after leaving household or office and read .. my rubbish that I pour out .. 

BUT .. if I were to ask of a job duty .. a service to be rendered .. naaah .. service and job are wrong .. if I shared and asked for it to be shared further .. would you .. ?

Haha .. I see many hands raised .. screaming all at once  “of course .. how can you ever think we would not .. I mean how can you even ask such a question ..” 

etc., etc., etc ... 

So I shall ask you .. to .. to .. 

 Forget it ..

Good  night .. 

surprisingly I felt sleepy by 8 pm and went to sleep in my tracks .. got up by 11 .. and now after the repeats of the postponed IPL , am just not wanting to get back to bed .. 

.. there shall be consternation and scoldings and high voices .. and expressed, exasperated dismay  .. which I shall of course bear with shielded smile .. but they be right as do you in the many here  .. 

.. you know the distraction is not the rarity of slumber .. its slumber itself .. it has different manifestations now .. a dimension that cannot be explained .. 

earlier it was hit the pillow and the dreams or the sleep went on the ON mode immediately .. 

NOW .. there is a process, which if not followed pesters the life out of you .. what to think of when the pillow be hit so as to induce the sleep .. that ladies and gentlemen of the jury takes about the time you normally need for the completion of the hours for rest .. so in the end you actually never sleep sleep as such .. you comprehend .. ?

no .. you did not .. OK .. 

Fine .. 

GN .. thats good night .. said in all sincerity .. but may it be known that for some its too late to express it and for some that wait it shall be a limited night .. and for me the goodness just leaped out of the window ..

O heavens the morning bird chirps now begin .. its 3:41 a of the M .. soon it shall be 4 .. then 5 .. thats like morning ..

so ..

Good Morning ALL ..

Amitabh Bachchan

[cienie-isengardu]

Oops, I’m month late with my reply, sorry for that 😂

You make a good point about Bi-Han’s mindset that ends justify the means and the possibility of his hunger for power to grow with passing time.  However, as much as I can agree that at some point Bi-Han may turn his attention to weaponizing Tarkat illness, I’m still not convinced that at the current (post MK1) moment, he would be willing to do so. Right now his modus operandi seems to rely on stealth, secrecy, blackmail and working in shadows when it comes to Mileena’s regime - something that allows him to control and influence the situation without putting himself or his people in direct danger. His agents in Outworld infiltrated the capital city, he gained critical knowledge about his enemy (Mileena’s sickness, Tanya’s forbidden feelings for empress) yet despite the ongoing conflict with the Royal Family, he is not really set to conquer Outworld by killing everyone on his way. In all fairness, I’m not even sure if he is truly that interested in Outworld beside it being part of his alliance with other characters, because as much as Sub-Zero would like the change of authority to someone more friendly to him and his cause, he still suggested an alliance to Mileena  

Sub-Zero: We would both benefit from an alliance. Mileena: You expect trust after what you've done?

something she understandably turned down. 

Maybe it is just me, but the same as with Liu Kang, I feel Bi-Han is willing to agree to a truce with his current enemies, if Lin Kuei’s safety and independence will be guaranteed. Which is why I don’t see Sub-Zero invested into using Tarkat, because A) he wants overthrown Mileena’s regime but he isn’t interested in anarchy and chaos as was seen in intros with Havik and B) a biological weapon, once unleashed, is not something a person can control which is an opposite of his current modus operandi and C) there is always a chance such a weapon could be used against him and Lin Kuei. Like yes, right now Earthrealmers aren’t  susceptible to illness (though if cryomancers and their descendants are also safe from it or not is up to debate), however there are enough characters with magic, necromancy and science knowledge to mutate it and turn against Earthrealm to think twice if such bio-hazard is worth using. Sure, Bi-Han’s goal may change overtime and his favorite methods thrown away for the more damaging one but as was seen in Bi-Han’s ending, having a powerful weapon - current version of C.I. project - does not mean he plans to use it first and then making demands and more keep it as a tool of intimidation to be used only if people will oppose him.

We've invested much time in this endeavor, and we are beginning to see results. Once again proving the depths of Sektor's genius. When we are done, all of Earthrealm will honor our desires and heed our demands. If not, they will face the Lin Kuei's wrath." 

Which admittedly I feel his mindset is not yet fully of the conquer, the way old timeline Shao Kahn was for example. But then again, it all may change with passing time and having a biological weapon is enough of an intimidation tool even if a person doesn’t truly plan to use it. 

Though again, there is also a chance that Sub-Zero is actually eliminating the threat of such a weapon by trying to eliminate the source - a.k.a. Tarkat illness (sick people) to make sure Shang Tsung, Quan Chi or anyone else won’t weaponize it in the first place and thus gain advantage over Lin Kuei?

Also, a side note, isn’t it interesting that Lin Kuei seems to be more than just warriors (soldiers) doing Liu Kang’s bidding and could be as well his network spy through centuries, considering how Bi-Han and his brothers rely so much on stealth and operating in shadows and both of their fraction infiltrated Mileena’s capital city?

Kuai Liang is a liar

We need to talk about a Kuai Liang intro I've recently discovered that honestly left me flabbergasted. I have no idea how I didn't come across this intro earlier or why no one else ever talked about it, but the more you look into Kuai Liang's dialogues, the worse it gets. Blatant ableism towards Kenshi, arrogance and disrespect towards his own allies and now this...

Baraka: I wouldn't wish Tarkat upon my worst enemy. Scorpion: Then help me stop Bi-Han from weaponizing it.

What is this? Just what on earth is he talking about here?

Bi-Han never intended to weaponize Tarkat. He wants it extinguished. Not once in the story mode does Bi-Han talk about or show any interest in Tarkat or the Tarkatans, it's not mentioned in his tower ending or any of his intro dialogues with other characters. What Bi-Han wants is an army similar to Shang Tsung's dragon army, so he can take control of a part of Earthrealm. To achieve this, he started the Cyber initiative.

What does any of that have to do with Tarkat? Bi-Han has no need for it. In fact, he made it very obvious what he thinks of those infected with Tarkat.

I looked at every line Bi-Han said in the game that mentions Tarkat as well as all his dialogues with Baraka and Mileena, the two characters that are infected with it.

Sub-Zero: Expect no compassion, freak. Baraka: Such a cold heart, Sub-Zero.

Sub-Zero: Your kind should be exterminated. Baraka: Disease does not make us disposable.

Sub-Zero: Your affliction is divine punishment. Baraka: Actually, it is fate's cruel joke.

Sub-Zero: If your subjects learn your secret -- Mileena: You dare threaten me, Bi-Han?!

What we learn from these dialogues is that Bi-Han wants Tarkat and Tarkatans gone. He thinks their affliction is some kind of punishment, he seems appalled by it, not interested in it. He tries to use Mileena's condition against her only as a method of extortion, but other than that, Bi-Han does not care about Tarkat in the slightest.

Kuai Liang is lying. He's lying to Baraka to turn him against Bi-Han.

How bad can the "bad guy" be if the supposed "good guy" has to lie to make him look worse?

Shang Tsung is the one trying to weaponize Tarkat and yes, Bi-Han was Shang Tsung's ally, but he stopped working with him and told Liu Kang he wasn't aware of Shang Tsung's experiments.

This isn't even the first time Kuai Liang was lying to one of his allies.

Scorpion: Liu Kang's revelation has shaken my faith in him. Raiden: Understandable, given what he chose to hide. Reptile: Am I right to put faith in Liu Kang? Scorpion: He's always proven worthy of mine.

You might remember this dialogue from the second part of my character analysis for Kuai Liang, in which I already talked about how much of a two-faced character he is.

Truth is, Kuai Liang, just like Bi-Han, doesn't hesitate to lie to others when there's an advantage to gain for him. This yet again proves that Kuai Liang has no honor. I don't know how much lower this character can sink and that's not even including the story dlc events. Kuai Liang is a disgrace to the Scorpion mantle. Hanzo might have been a flawed character, but I don't recall him lying and manipulating others to get his way.

[haleigh-sloth]

what do you think about the development of bakugou and deku’s relationship so far? or just about bakugou’s character development in general?

i’ve seen pretty mixed reactions to bakugou’s character development. there are some that are happy with it, there are some that are extremely critical, and i’ve even seen some people compare him to endeavor.

when i first started mha, i didn’t like bakugou at all, but he’s changed a lot since the first chapter. i personally like his development, but i still think that there’s quite a bit way to go. bakugou has atoned through his actions, but he has yet to verbally apologize.

(sorry if you’re not interested in this topic, i just like hearing people’s opinions on it.)

Any of the main characters I'm cool with talking about. It's the side ones I truly don't care to talk about lol.

So Bakugo---whenever I FIRST started BNHA (before Shigaraki's intro) I was super invested in seeing a friendship develop between him and Midoriya because I'm a sucker for enemies to friends. Idk why I just am. Not too long after starting it though it quickly became obvious that they'd become friends so I wasn't as invested. It was too obvious, and then at that point I had completely shifted my focus to the League. So I just kinda took whatever happened with Bakugo and was cool with it. But as far as forming an opinion on his character and everything that's happened so far, and addressing some of the stuff you said about Endeavor, yeah I have some thoughts.

I actually ranted a bit about what I think of Bakugo's arc here, and I'll just go ahead and throw in what I said since I was about to repeat myself. Also forgive my harsh words toward Bakguo he's on my list of favorites despite how many times I call him a piece of shit lmao:

To be honest Bakugo's arc is one of the best, in my opinion. It kinda hit that break through point in the war arc where he made a sacrifice for Midoriya, and now we need to see how it carries out from here.

But the thing about Bakugo is that he's supposed to be a POS. Like seriously he sucks. At first. Nobody in real life would ever put up with a person like that lol. But this is a manga where behaviors are majorly exaggerated for comedy (his explosive anger) and for dramatic effect (his anger toward Midoriya for literally no reason other than personal insecurities), and the people in BNHA-verse are willing to put up with said behavior. Anyway--the reason I think his arc was handled really well is because:

He's a POS person who was actually punished in-story over and over and over again. Rightfully so. He's an asshole who bullies Midoriya for being quirkless. And then he gets captured by a villain, which leads to a lot of city damage and him feeling humiliated because he had to be saved by--you name it--Midoriya. Then once again his pride causes him to lose the first match at UA. Then he wins the sports festival in a way he never ever wanted.* Then because of his asinine behavior at the sports festival the villains genuinely think he's better off with them because it seems like he's being held back by society (he was in chains after all--big yike) and he gets kidnapped. Him getting kidnapped leads to All Might retiring while trying to save him. Then he fails the licensing exam and falls behind his other classmates. He finally starts to show some progress and stops getting punished by the story right around the second Deku vs. Kacchaan fight. That's when he starts actually improving. Somewhat.

*So about the Bakugo being compared to Endeavor--I've seen two attitudes toward it. Some people think it's a horrible comparison and gross and just whatever. And other people, like myself, see that comparison as quite fair, and deliberate on the author's part.

It doesn't take much reading comprehension to see that Bakugo is desperately in need of a change, because he's at risk of becoming--well--bad.

But the thing is, he was never EVER at risk of becoming a villain. That was never going to be an issue. He was at risk of becoming a much worse person and embodying more and more of Endeavor's negative qualities. Bakugo wants to be number 1. He wants to be number 1 for the wrong reasons. This is not up for debate. Citing what I said above--he was willing to go to extraordinary lengths to win matches at school not for the sake of being a better hero, but for the sake of making him feel better about himself. It's an insecurity thing, and he needed to work on it. And he has. But before he progressed at all--he had to face narrative punishment over and over again.

Bakugo and Endeavor are similar on purpose and they're compared in-story for a reason. People can separate Endeavor from the rest of the narrative all they want but he's a character just like everyone else, and there are intentional parallels and foils in place for him. Similarities between the two:

They both want to be number 1--for the wrong reasons.

They want to go about it the wrong way. Endeavor using his children to live vicariously through, Bakugo trying to get rid of Midoriya by bullying him into not applying to UA because he feels threatened by him. Bakugo continuing to go after Midoriya for his own personal reasons, when it doesn't benefit his development as a hero.

They physically and emotionally hurt others for their ambitions. And look, I'm not putting bullying on the level of abuse by any means. But they both hurt others for their own selfish reasons. They do, and that's a similarity between the two.

They want to feel better about themselves and so they don't want their egos hurt. As it was pointed out to me today by the genius @redphlox, while we were floating in a river in Somewhere, Texas--they were both granted top positions in a way that hurt their egos. Bakugo at the sports festival, Endeavor with the hero billboard charts.

Where there are similarities, there are also differences. Bakugo learned from his punishments. He gradually changed and made progress and improved as a person. Kind of. He's still an asshole but as stated above he had a huge turning point in the war arc when he went all sacrificial on us*. I'm hoping that we'll see him start viewing the villains differently now that he's back in the picture and it's bound to be a topic of discussion with Midoriya. I don't know what Bakugo's end game is but I think we're gonna see him grow more empathic as time goes on.

*Another prediction planted in my head by @/redphlox is that Bakugo getting skewered to save Midoriya might mirror the same way Endeavor sacrifices himself to save his son. Again, I don't think he'll die but I think we'll get a "GASP WILL HE DIE??" moment.

Sooooo yeah I'm pretty cool with Bakugo's character arc so far. It all depends on how it plays out from here. I think we'll see a lot of him and Midoriya working together. I think he'll help save Shigaraki's body, while Midoriya saves his heart and soul. I think it'll be a team effort between the two to get the job done. And I think he'll be a great member of the main group in the final battle. I'm excited to see how he's used in the story from here on out.

[kitkatopinions]

The only way I can see RWBY recovering in quality is if the island arc in volume 9 ends with seemingly days passing in the island world and a time skip in Remnant. The world of Remnant and their friends have moved on from the loss of RWBYJ in Atlas and have been dealing with Salem for 3 years or so. Gives the world time to heal from the damage RWBY+ caused in Atlas and with the broadcast and realize how much they fucked up following Ruby Rose blindly. Solves the age gap debates of Rosegarden if that's the ship they want to go with for Ruby and Oscar. Let's Sun move on from Blake organically and allows Blake to come to terms with any romantic feelings she had for him and how that chance is long gone. An opportunity for Salem to take control in a way that might not have been possible were it not for RWBY+'s actions in Atlas. Shows that the protagonists can fuck up and suffer consequences.

Ahhh, see, I specifically don't want a time skip because I think it likely will be a way to remove the affects of a bunch of the stuff that I want pay off for. You say that having the world have time to heal from RWBY + actions would be a good way to show the consequences, but I disagree with that. I think that'd actually be the quickest way to make Ruby's actions not matter and not seem important. Having her forced to see the full effects of her actions as the suffering is unfolding in front of her would be a way to get her to actually see for herself that maybe she's made some massive mistakes.

Can I paint a picture for you?

Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Jaune get back from the island quickly, only a day having gone by for the people in Remnant. The refugees have just arrived in Vacuo, they lost tons of people trying to get through the desert, everyone is staggering with exhaustion as they move through the Vacuo streets, parents carrying their sobbing children, there are people throwing rocks at Winter and people trying to beg her to save them because they saw her fly through the gates and guessed that she was magic, there's sirens over a comm system in the city, trying to alert everyone to remain calm that's been going on for the hours it's taken to try and get everyone in and calm-ish in the first place. On top of that, the gates are flooded with guards working around the clock to keep Grimm out of the city, some of the exhausted Atlas hunters have gone there as well, Ren and Fiona and Team SSSN are desperately defending the last few hundred stragglers as they arrive. Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake, and Jaune are shocked, dismayed, they manage to get to the Academy where Nora is there with Oscar and Theodore, Theodore trying to get in contact with the Vacuo council in clear distress. Oscar tells them that everything has gone wrong, that everyone is panicking, that Vacuo was already struggling with keeping the Grimm away from the city when Ruby's message came, and with the addition of the refugees, the Grimm are coming in by the hundreds - by the thousands - almost more than the Vacuo authorities can fight back. Ruby is so confused, she'd been trying to reunite the world! But she just brought panic instead, and she now has to contend with that while seeing the immediate aftermath. She knows Qrow is missing, she tries calling him on her scroll, hoping she just missed him among the refugees. She and Yang are going crazy with worry, they think he might've been stuck in Atlas, he might be hurt, he might be dead, he might get captured by Salem, and they both have to face that. Being assigned by Theodore to help get refugees to the homes they've been temporarily assigned to squeeze into, Ruby is confronted by grieving families who lost everything, parents who tell her their daughter was one of the Atlas soldiers who died fighting on the front lines at Atlas, a couple with four kids spit at her and refuse her help because to them, her broadcast felt like a death sentence for Atlas while she called for hope for the rest of the world like they didn't matter. As she's traveling, Ruby runs into Neon and Flynt. They're angry and bitter too, coldly telling her that Ivori and Kobalt died in the fight against Salem. Ruby leaves that encounter wiping away tears. She wants to break down, but then gets assigned her next family to move and has to push it down and get back to work trying to do her job. Meanwhile Weiss has to deal with a brother who still clearly needs someone to help and take care of him when their relationship is somewhat rocky. Nora and Ren have to have distance and sort through what they want in their relationship and we see that and the immediate affects of their breakup. Salem has two Relics and Ruby has to explain that to Ozpin and maybe admit some mistakes and apologize while it's still relevant enough to matter to him. Emerald sees the affects of a lot of what she's done and has to contend with the fact that Mercury will be in Vacuo and she has to choose whether to try and help him or fight him instead. Mercury and Tyrian have to react in real time to the fact that the Atlas plans went completely sideways and now there's tons of people from Atlas here ruining whatever plans they have for Vacuo. Team RWBY work with Team SSSN while his and Blake's relationship is still clearly going to matter to him and he wants to continue where they left things and she has to explain her shift in feelings. Oscar is still contending with the fact that he and Oz are going to merge someday, asking questions about that. Salem must regroup now with so few people, and Cinder is going to have to try and keep up her lies in real time. Neo (if she survived the

island) is going to actually have to either get scrapped as a character or grow beyond her motivation of just wanting revenge. Winter is dealing with powers that are still new (remember, Maidens being 'new' is supposed to mean something) and having her whole world crash around her, while also maybe finally interacting with the family members outside of Weiss who have just had their entire way of life gone and now must adjust to sudden poverty. Qrow, Robyn, and the Ace Ops might have a storyline where they deal with what just happened themselves, maybe launching rescue for some of the people who didn't make it through the portals (like Pietro and Maria.)

These are all really important things that we should be expecting pay off for that should get focus and development. Ren and Nora's relationship problems, Oscar dealing with merging with Oz, how Cinder is going to regroup now, what will happen with Mercury, what the Schnees will do now they've suddenly lost everything, how Emerald is going to go on from her 'side switching,' how Qrow and Robyn reacted and where they'll go from here, whether or not Vacuo can even take in refugees, what the people think of RWBY and what consequences they've had to go through, and especially RWBY seeing the aftermath of the things instead of being allowed to just move on to the next thing and write it off as a victory like they did with Haven... All of that is something that we're likely to miss if we have a big time skip.

What I really don't want is for everyone to get back to the world after three to five years have passed only to see that it's doing pretty okay right now. Vacuo thriving with the Grimm population under control, and everything a little crowded, but most of the Atlas population settled in their new homes at this point, many of the important relationships of the side cast have been solved off screen and Maria, Pietro, and Qrow are already in Vacuo and have already adjusted to their various losses (both real for Pietro and believed for Qrow,) while (like you suggested,) Sun has just moved on from his dead former love interest he never got closure with that he promised to see again, because it has been years, and BlackSun fans like me see him in some relationship with someone he's never had any growth at all with (or maybe Neptune, which is... the preferable option over someone Sun's never actually talked to before.) Now Ruby doesn't see that her choices have caused major problems, instead she sees a city doing fine and if anyone is angry at her for causing them problems three to five years ago, they're mean. She's been supposedly dead for years and that person is just fine now! How can they yell at her? Now she doesn't see people suffering and Grimm flooding, she sees that her plan worked out in the long run, everyone just needed to hold on and have faith. She doesn't see a giant economic crash and families uprooted and soldiers dead and Pietro's reaction to the death of his daughter and people panicking over Salem... Ruby sees people talking about Salem as common knowledge, amassing troops to go after her now that the 'hard times' have started to pass, and she's validated. She knew it would turn out, she knew if she just believed, things would start working out!

I don't think the writers could save this show with a time skip, I think they'd just use it as a way to jump past the immediate affects of Ruby and her group's actions and avoid organic growth and problem solving while 'not being unrealistic' about it. If they brought RWBYJ back to Remnant within days, weeks, or even months, people expect real repercussions for the things that happened in the previous couple of seasons. They won't be able to just pretend none of it happened - or they might, but then most people will (hopefully) realize that's stupid.

So their choices are 1. just waving everything away and pretending there aren't any consequences to actions, 2. bring RWBYJ back in days, weeks, or months and address and deal with problems in a way that feels natural, 3. have a time skip so they can bypass the affects and consequences and avoid giving pay off for much of the things that fans have been expecting and waiting around for.

[reap-the-game]

yevgeny-tehp​:

His intent wasn’t to do any lasting damage. Instead, he wanted to cause just enough that the hyur got the point and either gave him the gil or would run off, proverbial tail between his legs, to the people he did owe money to. Either option would get Yev paid and then he could be on his way. In truth, he would rather not add being responsible for payment to his list of tasks tonight. He kept his ears out for any sounds of people passing, listening over the sounds of his target whimpering and screaming. Hm, that strike had been a bit too hard. The cracking sound coming from the man’s arm made him think he might have been more aggressive than necessary. Oh well. One more for good measure did it and there was a litany of promises to pay. He debated going for a classic break at the kneecaps, but ultimately decided against it. An arm and wrist were good enough. As the pleading died down slightly, he heard steps and then a pause. Was someone watching? Glancing back for just a moment, he saw- Huh, now that was unexpected. Yev had met a scarce few viera since leaving his home, not that he sought them out. His ears twitched once, the purple tips appearing black in the darkness. Suddenly, a lump hit his chest and he looked down just in time to catch a bag of gil. From the weight, he guessed there was about half of the necessary payment there. With a huff, he threw it back. “Get the rest and pay by morning.” He wasn’t going to be the one responsible for transporting money. The hyur made a few more sounds between affirmative words before running off, clutching his arm. With that done, Yev turned toward the other viera. Would this one say anything to authorities? He couldn’t have his work jeopardized. A slight smile settled on his face. “If you haven’t run off yet, I’m going to guess you don’t care that much.”

Roughing someone up for payment? That was what it sounded like, but Gia’s expression changed none despite the Hyur’s obvious pain and injuries. Whatever the poor sod had done to deserve treatment like that... None of his business, and it wasn’t as if he was a stranger to work like this. It looked like work, anyway, considering his fellow Viera didn’t actually take the payment he was offered. If he had been the one who was owed, surely he would have taken it? While not the kind of jobs Gia usually took, being an upstanding adventurer and all... Well, sometimes he wasn’t quite that. He didn’t wish to sully his name entirely, but frankly speaking he was more interested in making a living than making sure everything he did was tidily on the correct side of the law. His expression saw no shift even when he watched the Hyur scurry away, hopefully cowed into paying whoever had sent a mercenary after him. The next stage if he didn’t do that might not be as pleasant for him. Gia expected broken bones would be the least of his worries at that point. He turned his attention back to the other Viera when he was addressed, giving just a shrug to the guess that was made. “It’s Limsa,” was all he said, as if that was explanation enough. To him, it was. He would have acted no different anywhere, but in Limsa Lominsa especially, this was hardly an uncommon occurrence and nothing worth making a fuss about. Most likely he’d be the next person in trouble if he tried to do that. But really, sometimes it felt you could hardly turn a corner without someone getting mugged or kidnapped or what have you right in front of you. How utterly tiresome would it have gotten to care about each and every incident? Lacking the care for that, what Gia didn’t lack care for was meeting another representative of his race, although if he had to guess, he would have called this one a Veena rather than a Rava. That didn’t make enough of a difference to him. A Viera was a Viera. “I’m Gia,” he introduced himself without hesitation, a bright smile taking over his face. “You don’t see Viera often in these parts. What brings you to the city, if you don’t mind?” Amicable, perhaps a little too trusting... Or was it calculated? Who knew, but the Rava of them certainly showed no signs of discomfort with the situation, merely a measure of happy eagerness.

[luki-fanfic]

Helluva Boss 5: The Harvest Moon Festival

Huh, Helluva Boss usually drops by mid month. Wonder why this episode is taking so long to put toget-

*Episode airs*

0_0

Oh. That’s why.

I’ll admit it, my interest in HB was waning. Episode 3 and 4 honestly didn’t do much to keep me interested. Spring Broken had a lot of plot and writing issues, and I felt the concept could have been better executed. C.H.E.R.U.B was more solid, but did have some issues, and just wasn’t that fun to watch.

Harvest Moon on the other hand? Oh boy, now there’s an episode. I am, if you’ll pardon the pun, back on this horse. World building, the action scenes, incredible animation, relationship development of the bad kind, more worlds, interesting characters! It gives us so much to work with.

Spoilers abound, so read carefully.

That said, I will start this with my biggest complaint – and it’s one I’ve had for several episodes, but this one really rammed it home due to the ‘sneak peak’ clip we had of the opening. In the black and white boards, the swearing was limited, and honestly the writing was pretty witty. Then we got the finished product – certain lines were missing, and several words had been replaced with random swearing. Considering what the scene was, it felt like the finished product was a step down – I really wish the scriptwriters would realise random swearing isn’t always funny, and they’ve given proof that their writing is snappy as is.

Anyway...onto the actual episode. We learn that I.M.P seems to be building up their business as Blitzø has 15 clients looking for a kill. Considering he had to do a sale to get a multiple kill, and the other episodes show him basically going out straight after getting the job, they’re clearly building up a name for themselves.

This is further shown with the arrival of Striker, who compliments his decision to go into business for himself, since most Imps don’t. This is new information, since we’ve seen Wally attempt to start his own business – although clearly it wasn’t going well – but if Striker is to be believed, most companies in Hell, even Imp City, don’t have Imps as the owners. Maybe it’s a financial capital thing, maybe it’s partially Hell’s racism, or maybe Imps just generally prefer to follow, which Striker seems to allude later. It’s hard to say with the information we’ve got at this point, but it does put I.M.P in a slightly different light – and probably explains why Blitzø is fairly incompetent when it comes to running the whole thing. He has literally no one to ask or use as an example, and the society he lives in generally assumes he’s going to fail by the nature of him being an Imp.

In fact, even though Blitzø owns I.M.P, he is still completely dependent on Stolas and his Grimoire. Without it, I.M.P is screwed – the reason they’re even at the Harvest Festival is because they can’t work. And that’s what Striker tells him in the final act. Their society has made sure that he can never truly be successful on his own merit, no matter how hard he tries.

I’ve seen some debate on whether what Striker told Blitzø was true or just an attempt to let his guard down. It’s hard to say, because Striker says and does some very conflicting things, but I’m going to believe it was genuine. Why?

He lets Millie and Moxxie live to have leverage over him. He does insult Blitzø to their faces, but why would he need leverage once his job was done?

When Moxxie learns the truth, he doesn’t even try to talk him round, just kill him. Millie is also tossed to the side – possibly because neither of them are ‘superior.' Blitzø gets a full on speech about their superiority and how much he respects him, even if he’s hiding a knife in his tail for if he can’t talk him round.

When he has Blitzø on the ground at his mercy, he doesn’t mock him. Instead, he tells him he genuinely thought they’d be a good team. He had the advantage, but doesn’t take the chance to continue the insult.

Like most Imps, Striker seems to dislike the demon royalty, but at the end of the day, is also working for one (and can I say that twist was brilliantly well done? It made SO much sense but I honestly didn’t see it coming). What is his end goal? Is he envious that Blitzø has some kind of power of Stolas while he has to be obedient? Is he aiming to kill Stella once Stolas is down? Maybe opening an assassination business to take out anything Overlord and above? We just don’t know.

And with that, we’ll step off this train of thought to speak about something else very important in this episode. Stolas. Specifically his relationship with Blitzø, and precisely how wrong it is.

I admit it, I future-shipped them, especially thanks to the Instagram (which become a bit of a bait and switch when the insta-accounts were declared ‘non-canon’). I acknowledged that the relationship was problematic and needed some serious work on both sides before it could really be a functioning relationship, but this episode hammered home exactly how much needs to happen in a way the other episodes didn’t. The pilot and Murder Family treated Stolas as a gag, and then Loo Loo Land made us all care about him and his actions. But Harvest Moon showed the other side of it, and I'm not sure the ship can realistically recover.

Stolas considers Imps as inferior, to a ridiculous degree, and Blitzø is no exception. He has absolutely no respect for Blitzø, and holds all the power in the relationship. We saw this a little in the previous episodes, but they were either alone, or Blitzø was working for him, and surrounded by people aware of the relationship. His actions could be somewhat explained away.

In Harvest Moon, Stolas proves he treats Blitzø this way even in public. Blitzø has very obvious issues regarding his name, so Stolas persistently using a nickname and treating him the way he does around people who aren’t aware, says a lot about how much Stolas doesn’t care about Blitzø’s opinions. Even if Blitzø does have some feelings for him – which I do suspect due to his panicked attempt to explain it as transactional. If he didn’t care, he would probably find it easier to explain. At the same time though, he’d be happier if he could get the book without the monthly visits, because what he has with Stolas isn’t a relationship, no matter what Stolas tries to pretend. Any feelings Blitzø develops puts him even further under his control.

Part of me wonders if the relationship evolved between the pilot and the first episode in planning, and that’s why we have such a disconnect between the Insta relationship and the canon one. I’m really hoping the series addresses it in the future.

Finally, lets talk about that final reveal. Stella has hired a hitman to kill Stolas – even armed him with two angel-tech guns.

(Which, also finally gives us confirmation that Imps/Hellhounds/Succubi can die from conventional weapons, but the higher ranked native demons need angel weaponry to off them).

Stella is also confident enough to scream it over the dinner table. Stolas either doesn’t care, or isn’t paying attention – if he doesn’t care, if definitely puts his motives regarding the original invite up in the air, but if he isn’t paying attention? Then it’s another point in the anti-Stolas tab.

That said, this scenario does ask a question. Why don’t these two divorce? Stolas is clearly not in love any more, and living together clearly isn’t doing Octavia’s mental health any favours if she’s literally hiding behind her music rather than interact with her parents. He should be the first to offer a divorce, but he hasn’t brought it up. And if he hasn’t, maybe the reason Stella hasn’t is because they can’t?

It’s generally assumed that the two of them have an arranged marriage, and that Stella’s anger at his relationship with Blitzø is due to his status more than the cheating. But then wouldn’t it make more sense to hire a hitman to kill Blitzø rather than Stolas? Choosing to kill Stolas, even if it would hurt Octavia, suggests it’s the only option left to her.

I’m guessing we’ll (finally) get some Stella development next time Striker appears, and get an idea of what makes her tick. But for now, I suspect the two of them regularly had lovers on the side, but kept it discreet until this point. Stolas refusing to keep his relationship with Blitzø quiet is causing untold damage to their name and status. Stella wants rid of a man who not only doesn’t love her (if he ever did), but is constantly humiliating her for not hiding his much lower class lover (which we know by this episode he doesn’t even attempt), and since the rules of Hell for demons of their status doesn’t allow divorce (or perhaps their arrangement doesn’t), assassination it is.

Hell, maybe the plan was to kill Stolas, and frame Blitzø for it. Striker clearly knew about their relationship before they met (which should have been a red flag now that I thing about it), so Stella probably mentioned him. It would also put the recruiting on another level, if Striker actually did get Blitzø involved at the final moment and teamed up.

Oh, and as a final amendment? If that angel-gun that Striker left behind is not now in the hands of I.M.P and becomes a key piece when Asmodeus, Mammon and the real Fizzarolli show up? I will be very disappointed.

[esotericakit]

Fancy ranting about why you love kit snicket?👀 tbh I never found her character that compelling but I’m extreme open to changes of opinion hhh? pls feel free to ignore this hhgkkgkg

oh my god i’m so sorry i’ve been super busy I only just saw this but ahhh I love this question ((also sorry if some of thisk doesn’t make sense, i just got off a 7 hour bus ride and I am sleep deprived)). also a tw here for some discussions of painful stuff like death, loss, grief, implications of suicidal thoughts (nothing graphic)

okay so that’s valid bc she doesn’t get a lot to work with in tpp BUUUUUT what you do get is very rich. so basically it’s all tied in with vfd and what they’ve done to the sugarbowl gen. every member of the sugarbowl gen has been ripped from their family extremely young and recruited into this organisation, forced into life threatening situations, kept from loved ones for long periods of time (like kit and lemony in atwq) and have sort of convinced themselves, to varying degrees, that it’s important because the organisation is important. with lemony, he’s disillusioned and disappears after heartbreak. with beatrice and bertrand, they decide to pull away and leave. with jacques, he buries himself so deeply into his work with vfd so that he doesn’t have to reckon with what they did to him. and then you have kit.

with kit, I think she isn’t as sold to vfd as jacques and can still be somewhat critical of it, but also recognises that she’s trapped and always will be at their beck and call, and it’s not easy to break out from this illusion of the mighty organisation she’s a part of. she’s a quick thinker, she’s a mechanic, she’s resilient, she’s quick-witted, she’s as good a volunteer as they come, and so they exploit that and use her gifts (like building the queequeg and having her make the poison darts). for the most part, she buys into vfd’s bullshit, but i think it’s a sort of defence mechanism where she knows that resistance is going to be harder than compliance, so she puts her head down and does the work.

and this leads her to do things that she maybe wouldn’t have done of her own free will, like aiding in the murder of olaf’s parents. we don’t know exactly what kit and olaf’s relationship was like, but from what’s given in their interaction in te, i think they were young sweethearts, i think kit did genuinely care for him, and i think that it was vfd that ordered the murder, and not beatrice and bertrand, as many people have implied. so, by giving beatrice and bertrand the darts, she chooses the organisation over her relationship, and it can’t have been an easy choice. this then re-ignites the schism, olaf becomes a firestarter and kit has to watch as her brother is framed by olaf for crimes he didn’t commit.

and then lemony dies, or so she thinks. i’m of the mind that kit never learns that her brother is actually alive, and dies thinking she lost him. and we know that family is one of the most important things to the snickets; “we snickets look out for their own”, and I imagine kit going beside herself trying to find ways to protect lemony from all the attacks, the frame jobs, the rumours, only to have it be too late, and she’s lost her brother forever.

and so she’s left there, mourning lemony, and all she has left of her family is jacques. and she loves jacques but his first priority is vfd, it’ll always be vfd. she has beatrice and bertrand, but they’ll leave to the island soon, and they’ll leave vfd after that, and be largely out of her life for good.

she starts building the queequeg and at last, her vfd work seems to be doing some good. she meets ink, monty’s latest discovery, and at last, it seems that other members of vfd are doing some good. and then she hears about the medusoid mycelium, and the illusion of vfd cracks a little bit more. she desperately tries to stop gregor from creating the mycelium, only for that to fail. another loss.

then, we don’t know the nature of kit and dewey’s relationship so again, going off what we have with the fact that she is pregnant when we meet her and that dewey’s last word is “kit”, not to mention the way that she explicitly asked about dewey’s wellbeing when she meets the baudelaires on the island, the implication is heavily that she and dewey are romantically involved. and I think she found a lot of solace in dewey. dewey, in his own way, had lost a lot, from his parents to his brother (joining the firestartera), to his own identity, all to vfd, and he understood where she was coming from in terms of being disillusioned but also being trapped.

and then the baudelaire fire happens, and it’s very clear to everyone that olaf was involved (whether he actually was or not is a different debate). so this is now 3 people who kit has loved that olaf has had a hand in their deaths. someone she loved killing other people she loved, and it’s the most painful thing.

we don’t know where kit is for the events of asoue, but regardless, she has to hear how other associates and friends have died or been killed at the hands of olaf, and each one hurts more than the last, because she can’t stop or slow down how many people she’s losing, and I think there’s an element of not being able to help but blame herself for his actions, because if she hadn’t helped kill his parents, maybe he wouldn’t be doing this.

and then jacques dies, and it’s the biggest blow yet. she just lost the last member of her family she had left, and she can’t cope, she stays in bed and decides that, despite dewey, despite her child, she’ll never leave her bed again.

what does make her leave, however, is vfd business; the message from quigley. she knows that she can’t even take the time to mourn her brother, she has to keep moving, and the pressure to carry the whole “good” side of vfd, to continue what her brother started, is on her shoulders, and that’s immense.

and so that’s when we meet her in tpp, and she is a broken person. she has lost so many people, been put through so much, had her entire worldview and foundation turned upside down, and she’s still doing all of this work, putting her life on the line over and over again, for an organisation that has done nothing but take things from her and hurt her, but there’s absolutely nothing else she can do. she’s pregnant and she can’t allow herself to be happy or excited about that because she just doesn’t have it in her. all she knows is that she has to get through this as quickly as she can, losing as few people as she can. her conversation with the baudelaires is interesting too, and is so exemplary of how she’s mourning; she remembers little details about beatrice and bertrand (like the feathers on bea’s shawl) and reminisces about how much the children look like them, and you can tell that it’s extremely painful to go through

she then leaves the baudelaires and risks her life again trying to rescue the quagmires, and it’s unclear whether it was a success or not but regardless, when she finally pulls herself up onto that stupid book raft she insists on making, she’s so so so so tired. she’s in labour, she doesn’t know what’s happened at the hotel denouement, she doesn’t know whether she’ll return to the city and find more destruction or not. i think the only thing stopping her from giving up while on that raft is the thought of her child and dewey, so she holds on.

she washes up on the island and the baudelaires are there, which means they’re alive, so that’s something. but then she hears that dewey’s dead. that the hotel went up in flames. that all that’s waiting for her in the city is more pain and more loss. and that’s the final blow, that’s the moment that she knows that there is nothing can happen that can repair the damage created by what’s been taken from her. she refuses the apple, citing fear that it would harm the baby, but I think the truth is that she couldn’t bear to consider continuing her life after all that’s happened, even if it means sacrificing a life with her child.

and then olaf shows up and he rescues her from the raft and she’s suddenly face to face with the reason for so much of the loss she’s faced. it was him who killed so many of her associates, her friends, her brothers. and she doesn’t forgive him, because she knows she isn’t big enough to do that. we can also hypothesise about whether or not olaf could be the baby’s father (i like to headcanon that she doesn’t know either way but it’s either dewey’s or olaf’s, and the stress of that makes this moment even harder). but she also doesn’t have the energy to be angry at him. she knows these are her last moments, and she knows that olaf was a victim of vfd, just like she was. so she touches his tattoo and chooses instead to recite poetry, because it’s easier than being angry, it’s easier than hating him. he recites poetry back, and then dies. and despite the fact that he’s hurt her so much, she did care for him once, it’s one more person she’s lost, when she didn’t think she had anyone else to lose.

and then she gives birth to her daughter, using the last ounces of strength she has left. it’s a horrendously sad thing, because i think she could have had the capacity to love her daughter, to be a good mother, but the pain won out and she stopped being able to want to help herself, if that makes sense. so she gives her daughter life, the only thing she has left to give her, and then dies.

I think it’s so staggering to think about this person, who could have lived a life full of colour and fire, and see her completely beaten down to what she ended up as in tpp. she’s a prime example of what vfd does, she’s the last one standing of her generation, and the toll that takes on her is immense. i think the juxtaposition of her recklessness and her grief against the fact that she’s pregnant and about to become a mother is even more heartbreaking. she’s such a compelling character and so gorgeously written, even though what we see of her is so brief. she’s a person who so desperately wants autonomy and control over her situation, things she’ll never truly have, so she does reckless things that endanger her life, to get that control back and because she truly stops caring about her well-being.

and it’s a little comforting i guess? i tend to project onto kit a lot because of some of my own life experiences and losses and i understand where she comes from a lot of time time and it’s such a difficult place and my heart just hurts for her a lot

i’m sorry that this was so long, i got carried away lol thanks for the question though!!

[commonwealthoccurences]

What Doesn’t Kill You

CW: Pain, taking of medication, facial scar description

Word Count: 2,194

Prompt: Hurt/Comfort

Day: 5

Gage was perhaps the most difficult part of taking over the role of Overboss for Sole.

He was helpful, for the most part, in his signature gruff way, motivated by his own interests and wellbeing, for which they couldn’t blame him. He was well trained and well equipped, never seeming to get caught off guard in a fight, always quick to be on the defensive. He held his own with the raider gangs and their verbal abuse and the undermining words they threw at him. Gage, overall, was just fine.

Something about that bothered Sole. They had never met a plain person in the Commonwealth, for better or for worse. The trader that hoarded cats made a good cup of tea, the Diamond City school teacher could spin stories off the top of his head to rival Old World novels, and even Dogmeat seemed to hold a world of information in his big, brown eyes. And yet Gage kept to himself, kept quiet, and got the job done. That was it. It was dissatisfying, like an itch they couldn’t scratch; the more he brushed them off and held back, the more Sole desperately wanted to know. The more they wanted to earn their trust, and see his true personality, the person he kept locked away from the rest of the Commonwealth.

They weren’t obvious about it. Any outright questions were dodged or straight up ignored by Gage, so they’d long learned to be more tactical about their approach. Starting with small questions and working their way up. A casual conversation about preferring coffee or tea turning into a comment about sibling rivalry. And yet, as always, he was always one step ahead of them. He responded with a mere shrug when they brought up the difficulty of growing up with siblings. Simply twitched an eyebrow when they brought up a debate over which way of planting seeds was better, attempting to find out if he had previously been a farmer. Nothing.

They were desperate to know more about him, wanted to get inside his brain and unwind him from the inside. Eventually, they sat back and stopped asking questions, waiting for him to crack during the ensuing awkward silences. It was a waiting game to see who broke first.

It was an overcast day in the middle of July, the summer’s damp heat being threatened by an incoming group of storm clouds, cloaking the horizon’s sky dark gray, almost black. Gage and Sole were taking the day off for the most part, settling a few arguments between raiders and managing their plans for the future of Nuka World lounged in the Fizztop Grille. Gage’s boot-clad feet were propped up on an empty crate that once held bottles of Nuka Cola, his arms crossed behind his head, Sole laying across the couch across from him. “We should split the territory evenly so no one throws a tantrum.” They rolled a piece of mutfruit over their tongue before crushing it between their teeth with a spray of juice.

Gage watched them carefully, tensed as he attempted to ignore the pain that shot through his eye like lightning. It was sharp, spreading across his temple and forehead, and caused him to cringe. Stormy days never did good things to him.

Sole glanced up from the writing on the papers in front of them. “What’s wrong?” They swallowed the bit of mutfruit and sat up slightly to redirect their attention to Gage.

“What?” His voice was rough.

“You winced. What’s wrong?”

Gage rolled his eyes and got up, twisting his back into a stretch, and walked over to the kitchen area to grab a few Nuka Colas. On his way back to his seat he tossed one at Sole, not bothering to give them any warning for them to catch it, and settled back into his seat with a huff. They caught it on pure reflex and gave him a perturbed glare before they twisted the cap off. The ice cold bottle provided some relief from the pressing, wet heat that surrounded them at the top of the Grille. 

They sighed. “Really, Gage. What’s up with you? You’ve been off all day.”

“It’s nothin’, Boss. What were ya saying about the territory?”

Even as he continued through the sentence he clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth as he spit the words out. Sole caught their tongue between their teeth and narrowed their eyes at him, drumming their fingers against the cold glass of the Nuka Cola bottle, examining him carefully. Slowly, they eased upright and swung their legs off the couch to lean forward. He shook his head. “Seriously. ‘m just peachy, keep up with the business talk.”

Sole ignored him and eased themself to their feet, grasping their Cola and walking around the coffee table to stand in front of him. In the moment before they continued what they were doing he flinched again, hard, at the electric pain that shot through his eye. They pressed their lips together and nodded when his actions confirmed what they suspected and walked around to the back of his chair.

Carefully, they reached out and gently pressed the side of the Nuka Cola to his cheekbone and temple, sporting a crooked smile when he let out a quiet sigh of relief at the feeling. They smoothed a hand over the side of his neck and moved it down to rest on his shoulder lightly. Gage lost himself for a moment and tilted his head, leaning into the glass and subsequently their hand and closed his eyes. They trailed their fingers back up the skin of his neck and ran a fingertip across his jaw, then turned their hand to brush their knuckles over his cheek. He was drunk on the feeling momentarily, before he suddenly remembered himself. “What are ya doin’, Boss?” His voice was quiet, hesitant, like he didn’t even care enough to ask.

“Trying to get you to relax, at the very least.” Their voice had teasing undertones and he couldn’t help but huff out a laugh.

Breaking the moment, the pain flashed up again. They murmured sympathetically and ran a hand through his hair before pulling away. He started at the loss of contact, disappointed, despite the alarms that were blaring in his head. “I’ll be right back, don’t worry. Gonna get you some painkillers, alright? You’re taking the rest of the day off until this passes.”

“Storm’ll have t’ break.” 

Sole hummed in response and began rummaging through their belongings, looking for pain relievers Curie had gifted them before they left Sanctuary for good. Supposedly, they didn’t do much damage to the internal organs like other wasteland medications, and when they used them once to ease a gunshot wound, it had worked like a charm. Despite the fact that they tried not to show it until that moment, they had a soft spot for Gage, and seeing him in pain was the very last thing they wanted; he deserved nothing but the best.

They returned soon after finding the small, rattling bottle and tapped a couple of pills into their hand as they took the steps to shadow Gage. A clap of thunder echoed out as they held their hand out over his shoulder, tilting their cupped palm when he reached up to take the pills from them. He threw them in his mouth and tipped his head back to dry swallow them, sighing when they finally went down. He paused for a moment, weighing his options. “I’m gonna fuckin’ regret this, but do you care if I take my eyepatch off? ‘s really not helpin’ the pain.” 

Sole responded with a shrug. “Of course not.”

Gage hesitated with his hands poised over the offending metal, debating whether or not he was actually going to remove it. Politely, Sole averted their eyes so as not to put pressure on him, and returned to holding the Nuka Cola against his skin, though the initial ice-cold had faded into a light coolness, hardly keeping back the heat of the evening. The air was still thick with the promise of rain, the humidity choking, but hinting relief in the distant future. They closed their eyes and embraced the electrically charged atmosphere, acting oblivious to Gage’s movements as he unbuckled the leather strap that held his eyepatch on and turned to look at them.

It was something he didn’t reveal to anyone, his eye. Admitting weakness wasn’t exactly his thing, and that’s how he saw his marred eye, despite the way Sole would scold him for it, the scar jagged and harsh against the rest of his skin, his whited-out pupil. He preferred it hidden away, like the rest of his perceived weaknesses, but God was the pain killer whenever it decided to make a comeback, usually whenever a storm was moving in.

Sole’s eyes flickered open and they examined the rapidly darkening sky with a hum of approval, appreciating the way lightning flashed in the distance, barely visible against the horizon. He reached up and removed the soda from their grip, setting it on the table next to him before leaning back into their hand. This caught their attention and they looked down at him, smile brightening when they saw he’d felt comfortable enough to go through with removing his patch.

Their other hand moved up, slowly, to brush their thumb against the bottom of his scar, feather light. When he flinched they simply lowered their hand again to rest on his shoulder for a moment before they leaned down and brushed their nose against the skin just below his ear, tempted to leave a kiss behind, but terrified to overstep boundaries. After a moment of him holding his breath in suspense, they pulled away, their hand dragging across his shoulder as they left and moved to the front of the Fizztop Grille, and leaned against the wobbly railing.

A goddamn tease, as always. It seemed there was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that they were allowed to tease, to push buttons and tiptoe the line, as long as things didn’t affect their professionalism amongst the raider gangs. The day that the raiders sensed a weakness they’d latch on with sharp fangs and wouldn’t let go until the soft spot was ripped apart. 

Gage reached up and pressed his fingertips against his cheekbone just under his eye. The throbbing continued and he resisted the urge to knock his head against the table, inhaling sharply through his gritted teeth. This caught Sole’s attention and they turned away from the now-murky sky and raked their eyes over him in concern. “Lay down.” They instructed firmly, leaving no room for argument as they returned swiftly to stand next to the couch.

He eased himself out of the chair with an annoyed grimace and threw himself down on the couch. He regretted it instantly. Sure, Gage had no trouble making his displeasure at being ordered around known, though he was used to it, but maybe quick movements weren’t the best idea when it seemed his eye was trying to eject itself from his head. He rested his aching head against the arm of the couch and looked up at Sole with wary expectancy.

They tossed the long forgotten papers they’d been looking over earlier to the side and reached under the coffee table, fingers searching for something. Sole let out a pleased sound when they gripped a slick material and pulled, removing a book from the depths of the shelf and plopping their hips down next to Gage’s. “Move over.” They requested, a tad kinder in tone than their previous orders.

Reluctantly, he complied, and shifted himself further against the back of the couch. Sole swung their legs up next to his, not quite as reclined, their shoulder at eye level for him. After a moment of fumbling they arranged themselves comfortably on the cushioned fabric and Sole began flipping through the pages, working their teeth against the inside of their cheek absentmindedly. They reigned victorious as they flipped to the first page of their book and wiggled slightly to emphasize their comfort. Just as they cleared their throat, Gage piped up. “Ya gonna read to me? Not twelve, ya know.” His voice was a grumble, masking the slight bashfulness in his tone.

“You sure as hell act like you are. Now shut up and go to sleep, you big baby.” Their voice had little bite despite their words.

He resigned himself to his fate and attempted to relax into the furniture, his head leaned against their shoulder as they began to read aloud. It wasn’t long before the pain medication kicked in, coaxing him into fully easing his weight against them, his eyes drifting closed. Their voice was a pleasant hum as he drifted off, just as the tension in the air broke and rain began to pour down. The night passed with the thundering drum of rain, Gage pressed into Sole’s side, their arm wrapped around his shoulders, book folded against their chest from when they fell asleep reading, head tilted back against the arm of the couch.

[paragonrobits]

saw a post about how people would hate the avengers for property damage and for... well, obvious reasons, Hulk came up. a LOT.

and the funny thing is, Hulk and property damage is actually a recurring theme in the actual comics; it’s not glossed over. Like, Hulk does not kill (in most adaptations, and particularly not when written properly); that’s a line he does not cross, consciously or not. But he does SMASH. He causes horrendous property damage; when Hulk events happen, entire cities have to be evacuated. He is like a hurricane combined with an earthquake, smashing right through everything in his way.

There’s no malice involved. But people have plenty of reasons not to like him.

But like, there’s REASONS Bruce Banner is an anxiety-ridden, chronically guilty wreck. All those lives ruined, all that property destroyed, all those debts weigh heavy on him. He’s never killed anyone, he knows. But people are still dead because of him.

He knows that Jackie Mcgee’s father was not the only person he indirectly got killed because he destroyed their house.

Now the flipside of this is Devil Hulk himself, in an issue of Juggernaut, gets captured by people who have lost stuff to the Hulk, and he tolerates it, with an amused manner that implies he thinks they’re all being whiners complaining about personal stuff and not giving a damn about the big picture. Apathetic people who are only interested in their personal losses or problems, and care nothing for anything happening outside themselves.

He sneers at them. “Yeah, yeah, have your say.” He gives a jab about how Juggernaut has done the same thing, and was in his faculties, while Hulk at the time had the mind of a child. But he’s openly contemptuous of them. An in-character Immortal Hulk, to those twitter users, would probably say something like: “CRY A LITTLE HARDER, YA BIG BABY. I GOT A TINY VIOLIN TO PLAY YA OFF.”

It’s a recurring motif that he has VERY little patience for people being self-involved like that, more concerned with their own problems than, say, the social injustices that led to Brian Banner being able to physically abuse his family for years. ‘Puny humans’, he says. Other Hulks comment that humans they actively like, who stand up to them and can offer reasoned arguments and debate without cowering every time he twitches, aren’t puny. They may be small and physically less powerful, but they’re not puny.

The conclusion to all of this is, interesting character notes aside, the Hulk is a monster. He does what he has do; he stops worse monsters, and he’s not malevolent, but he breaks everything around him.

It’s him being him. And there’s a reason Bruce Banner doesn’t like himself very much.

[lendmyboyfriendahand]

his valor was as a fire

Seven days after Fingolfin made his final charge, a figure was spotted walking south towards Ethel Sirion. Fingon tried not to get his hopes up, as Rochallor had returned riderless days before. Fingon knew that his father was dead, and now he was the high king, however reluctant.

The figure drew close enough to be recognized, and Fingon saw that the second part of that statement was less certain than he had thought.

Feanor was headed straight for the keep, four centuries after reportedly burning to death.

Fingon was tempted to just keep the gate closed and make his uncle camp outside the walls. But the patrol he had sent for word from downriver was expected in the next day, and he couldn’t see a way to let them in and keep Feanor out. So he ordered the gate opened, and Feanor escorted to the throne room. Fingon sat in the throne, as he had many times before when his father was traveling, though it was mostly to keep Feanor from sitting there himself.

Feanor was not the type to be cowed by the trappings of royalty. “You don’t waste time do you? It’s only been a week since Nolofinwe’s death and you proclaim yourself king of the Noldor.”

“You hardly waited longer after grandfather,” Fingon shot back automatically. “But what do you know of my father’s fate? No one saw him since he rode out; I am not even certain it was to his death rather than his capture.”

“He called a challenge to Morgoth, and Morgoth left Angband for the first time since he fled Valinor. Nolofinwe wounded him seven times, but in the end the result was as could be expected from taking on a Vala alone. Nolofinwe is dead.”

Fingon did not let himself break down. He could mourn later in private, but here he had to be the steadfast High King as he had been the Crown Prince when news of Aredhel’s death had arrived. “You speak as if you witnessed the fight. How, when all including your sons thought you long dead, and how were you not noticed by Morgoth?”

“The first answers the second. My spirit is bound to the Silmarils. As long as they were in Morgoth’s fell lands, all my strength was focused on defying his power. But when he stepped out to face Nolofinwe in battle, I was fully aware for the first time since my death. I admit I didn’t watch the fight particularly closely; I was more concerned with whether it would last long enough than if Nolofinwe used interesting tactics. I forged a new body from the light of my Silmarils shining onto the cliffs. By the time I was done, Morgoth was enraged and saw only battle and blood, with no attention for a barely breathing form halfway down a ravine. Once the fight was over I relearned how to walk, and this is the first city I came to.”

Fingon felt a headache developing. Feanor had just overturned a dozen different established theories about elven bodies and souls in less than a minute. That Feanor was an impostor, or had actually been imprisoned this whole time, would be by far a more possible assumption than that he was telling the truth - except that this was Feanor, who had captured light itself in a form that could be picked up and placed in your pocket. Building a working elven body from nothing but light and stone was probably not beyond him.

“Thank you for explaining that. Maybe we can get knew bodies for those whose have been damaged beyond repair.”

Feanor nodded graciously. “It would take time, but it might perhaps be done if I have the Silmarils. Now, onto more urgent matters. I am the high king of the Noldor, and you are in my seat.”

“No, it’s mine.” Fingon realized the words sounded childish even as he spoke, and elaborated, “Due to your crimes, Maedhros yielded the throne to my father, with myself as heir.”

“He might have, but I never did. Nolofinwe had little right to rule, and you have less. I am Finwe’s heir, and have been high king myself.”

“And I’m the heir of the latest king. You were gone for centuries- you can’t just  stroll back in and expect to govern people.”

“If my father were here, he would be High King Finwe, though he’s been dead just as long. I am getting impatient; move.”

“Grandfather never abandoned his people to starvation and death for disagreeing with him. That was when you forfeited the throne; Maedhros merely acknowledged it.”

“I had assumed that as all present had already concluded crossing the Ice was impossible, they would return to Tirion. That Nolofinwe was stubbornly foolish enough to march across a path he knew couldn’t be survived, that is his fault.”

“So you insult an entire kingdom that you wish to rule. Not to mention insulting my recently dead father in front of me! You’re an idiot, especially to believe that just because something was impossible for you means no one could do it.”

“I am stronger, smarter, and all around better than you.”

“Fine then! If you are truly the greatest of the Eldar, prove it. We will settle this matter with a duel.” Fingon said.

“A duel for the throne? What are we, some sort of barbarians?”

“I am doing this as a favor. Everyone in this city knows that I am king and will obey me, whatever you believe otherwise.”

“Fine then. What is the wager?”

“If I win, you acknowledge that I am the rightful king of the Noldor. If you win, I shall call a meeting of all the house of Finwe, including all seven of your sons, to announce your return and ask who they wish to rule in Beleriand.”

“The stakes are unequal, if you will not acknowledge my right in return.”

“From the beaches at Alqualonde to charging the gates of Angband, I have no reason to believe you are a competent ruler, and so I will not condemn our people to your leadership for the sake of my pride. Even if I wished to, I doubt Finrod and his brothers would agree. But you can debate precedent and birthright with us all if you wish, and if you have any skill with a blade.”

“Fine then. What rules? Shall we fight to the death, and you can rid yourself of me entirely? Or first blood so you don’t have to worry about your stomach turning as at Alqualonde?”

“That would go poorly, to tell Maedhros his father returned only for me to send him back to death. We shall fight until one yields or loses consciousness. The healers here are quite skilled, and we not slay each other by accident.”

“I accept. When shall the duel take place?”

“I leave that to you, as you have had a long journey to recover from.��

“I will recover faster if I am not scraping to a pretender. Lend me a sword and we shall solve this now.”

“Fine then. The practice yard is this way.”

___

Fingon put on his sword and helm, and such were found for Feanor as well. Then the duel began.

It was an easier fight than Fingon had expected. He remembered Feanor as the first to train to with the swords he forged, far more skillful than any of them. Feanor who was completely untouched at Alqualonde, who reportedly slew so many more orcs than the rest of his army, and so quickly, that he reached the gates of Angband while all his guard was miles behind.

But that was centuries ago. Feanor’s skill had not waned in his time as a body-less spirit, but neither had it grown.

Fingon’s had. Over four centuries of war, he had not been idle. He had fought orcs on the northern plains and spiders in the dread forest. He sparred with his soldiers, and with Maedhros Orcsbane, the best swordsman on the continent. Fingon had wounded the dragon Glaurung, such a mighty blow that Morgoth had put a price on his head greater than any other. 

Put simply, Fingon was a master at war, and Feanor had been a pioneer. The techniques Feanor used had been ingenious and unprecedented when he invented them, but the field had moved on. Now every soldier drilled those same innovations as fundamentals, and Fingon knew a dozen counters to all of them.

It was only a few minutes before Feanor was off-balance and out of room to dodge, bringing his blade up wildly to deflect a blow straight aimed squarely at his head.

Fingon pushed forward, and Feanor was pressed nearly against the wall of the arena.

Their blades were locked, and with a wrenching motion Fingon pulled his uncle’s sword away so it flew to the dirt. Fingon put one foot on the blade and help his own sword to Feanor’s throat, his left hand tangled in Feanor’s jerkin so that Feanor could not lean away.

“Do you yield?”

“Yes, I yield.” Feanor had a gleam in his eye and his throat was dry from more than dust. “I acknowledge that you are High King of Beleriand, and that I cannot command those who followed your father.”

“That is a very narrow acknowledgement, rather than the complete renunciation of power you promised.”

“I am still head of the house of Feanor, even if the house of Feanor admits that the house of Nolofinwe holds the throne. That is not yours to dispute whatever airs your father might have put on.”

Fingon nodded rather than dispute the point. He asked the servants to arrange a guest room for his uncle, and began composing letters to let the rest of the family know that against all odds, his father was dead but his uncle lived.

[mischiefandspirits]

Doppelgänger (17/19)

Previously on Doppelgänger ~ Masterlist ~ Next time on Doppelgänger

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were just 14 when they took a look inside the portal Danny’s parents had built. From there, everything changed. They woke up with white hair, green skin, and powers they could learn to control. They were hybrids, halfas.

They were the hero Doppelgänger.

{Reign Storm, Part 3}

“It’s like shooting skeleton fish in a barrel,” Doppelgänger chuckled as they flew up to Valerie’s side, blasting one of the skeleton’s harrowing her as their own crowd rushed into the football stadium after them.

“They don’t put up much of a fight, but there’s a lot of them,” she argued. “You going to duplicate?”

“Already did. We've got our own crowds.”

“It’d be nice if you could make yourself a crowd in return.”

“Sorry, we’re still working on making more than three of us.”

“Hello, son.”

Doppelgänger gave a long, drawn-out groan as Plasmius flew up to the two despite still firing on the skeletons. The older ghost tried to speak when they’d finished, only for the ghost kid to start right back up.

“Are you quite done?” Plasmius asked over the groaning.

Valerie turned to fire at him, but he dodged to the side. He stopped with Doppelgänger between her and him.

The younger ghost stopped their groaning to say, “You know, a human shield only works if the shield’s both bigger than you and someone that the person you’re hiding from won’t shoot. We are neither of those.”

“You’re also not human,” Valerie pointed out.

“I think that’s debatable, but we’ll add it to the list,” they said and fired a blast at Plasmius.

“Calm down, son! I didn't come here to fight you! You have other things to worry about!”

“Okay, even if we were your kid -- which we aren’t because gross -- we’re nonbinary, so still not your son. So get lost. We have this under control!”

A blur of black barreled into them and rose up to reveal a knight in black armor atop a pegasus. The knight had Doppelgänger by the throat and pointed his sword at them. “You are the one who destroyed the King’s ring.”

“We’re not one, but we have destroyed a ring recently. Not sure if it was a king’s, though. Can we get a description?” Doppelgänger said before a swirl of comets wrapped around them and they disappeared.

Another swirl appeared behind the knight, leaving behind the ghost kid. They cheered and shot a blast that unseated the knight. “Yes, it worked. Still not as far as we’d meant to go, but we’ll take it.”

“If you would allow me to trai-” Plasmius started.

“Not interested. Now make yourself useful.” Doppelgänger pointed at the knight, who was pulling himself to his feet.

The knight’s eyes locked onto Valerie and narrowed. “You also carry the ring’s mark.”

She leveled her rifle at him, but a pair of blasts knocked him away before she could fire.

“Right on time,” Doppelgänger said as their two copies flew into the stadium. “Wait a second, is that the Fright Knight? Who? He’s the age-old spirit of Halloween.” The trio began to casually blast the knight back and forth across the field as they spoke together. “Legend has it that if his sword The Soul Shredder cuts through you, you get teleported to a dimension where you live out your worst fear. We read about him in the book we got for Halloween. Did the book have any way to defeat him? We think there was something about a pumpkin, but we can’t remember. We’ll go check.”

One of the ghost kids shot off, giving the knight a chance to finally dodge a blast. “Fools! All I wanted to do was retrieve those who destroyed the ring and return to Pariah's Keep, but now, you give me no choice.” He knelt and held up his sword, point down. “By the authority vested in me by my Lord and Liege…” The sword began to glow and he drove it into the ground, causing a wave of energy to roll outwards across the ground. “I claim this town now and forever under the banner of Lord Pariah, the King of All Ghosts!”

Energy shot up from the sword high into the air before rolling outwards to form a green dome across the city.

Both remaining Doppelgängers fired at the knight, but he ducked away. “The sword has sunk, your die now cast, The sword removed shall signal fast. Surrender your-”

He was cut off as a blast knocked him rolling across the ground.

“We hate rhymes. Did we find a pumpkin?”

The third Doppelgänger flew up with a smirk and pulled a fake jack-o'-lantern out of thin air.

“Found it in the boxes of old Halloween decorations like we said.”

They landed next to the sword and dropped the decoration at their feet.

“Gotta move fast. Cover us. Red, Plasmius, keep the skeleton’s back. We’ll handle tall, dark, and fashionable. Fashionable? Really? Yes, we love that aesthetic.”

Val nodded and pulled out her grenade launcher as the other two placed themselves between their third and the knight, but Plasmius’s attention was on the ghost kid.

“What are you planning?”

The ghost kid smirked and wrapped their hand around the sword’s grip.

“To cease the storm…”

“No,” the knight yelled, but the ghost kid’s copies kept him back.

“To end the fear…”

“Wait!” Plasmius yelled as the ghost kid began to draw the sword from the ground.

“The sword must sheathe…”

As soon as the blade left the ground, the energy feeding into the dome cut off and it began to crack. Instead of the sky being behind it, Valerie saw the endless green of the ghost zone.

“In pumpkin near!”

Doppelgänger sank the sword into the fake pumpkin and everything froze. Then the sky returned.

White and green light began to pour from the decoration as the dome shuddered then began to rise up and flow back into the sword in a reverse of how it had just formed.

“No, NO!” the knight shouted as a vortex formed above the sword and began to draw him in.

Valerie only had a second to feel victorious before the vortex began to pull at her as well. She lost her footing on her board, but the ghost kid flew in to help her. Two of them grabbed her and the last grabbed her board before they all flew to the bleachers and grabbed hold. Once she was sure she was safe, she looked over the field.

Plasmius had taken refuge on a goal post, but many of the skeletons were being sucked up. The knight was clawing at the ground, but soon lost his grip and disappeared into the swirling green. Once he was gone, the vortex slowed and dissipated while the pumpkin holding the sword -- now looking like an actual jack-o'-lantern, if purple with a green glow -- vanished in a flash.

“Well, that’s one down,” Doppelgänger said.

“You idiot! The sword was a signal!” Plasmius yelled, brushing himself off.

“Yeah, we heard. That’s why we got rid of it!”

“Not soon enough.”

The teens looked up to see a large ghost floating over them.

After a second, one of the ghost kids pointed at him.

“You know, we expected more from the King of All Ghosts. He’s just a guy. A tall guy, but still.”

Another nodded, looking disappointed.

“Yeah, what is this Odin wannabe nonsense? We thought we’d be facing some beautiful Lovecraftian horror. We feel ripped off.”

The third tilted their head.

“He’s not even that big. Like ten feet, maybe. The dragon made a more impressive sight, and she was literally just a fairytale princess. You’d think a king could do better.”

“Are you done ticking him off?” Valerie asked, watching Dark get angrier and angrier.

They shrugged. “We’re just saying. He doesn’t even have a crown.”

Then the one who’d tilted their head shot to the side, the one who’d nodded stepped in front of Valerie and raised a shield, and the one who’d pointed braced for impact as Dark sent a massive blast towards them.

The shield held, but the ghost kid was forced to a knee as they poured their strength into it and it shattered apart as soon as it wasn’t needed. Once it was down, Valerie could see that the one who’d taken the blast head-on had created a crater in the bleachers that they were pulling themself out of. Meanwhile, the one who’d avoided it was zipping around the field, keeping Dark’s attention. They fired upon the king while bobbing and weaving around the return fire.

It didn’t look like the attacks were doing much damage.

“That hurt,” they said as the one limped towards her and their kneeling copy turned to her. “You should get clear.”

“We should all fall back,” Plasmius said, appearing next to them.

“Even if we could, he’d destroy the town trying to chase us down. You can run if you want to,” they said then they shot towards the field.

One landed and held their hands out. Thick wires shot out of the ground and grabbed Dark’s legs, electrocuting him in the process. At the same time, the other ghost kid shot towards the fight. They engaged the king as the one that had been fighting him backed off. They reached to the side and plucked a pot holding a glowing spider-like plant out of nowhere. They chucked the plant at Dark’s head then re-engaged him as their copy pulled back to command the plant to wrap around the king’s eyes and neck.

“The boy has Chlorokinesis?” Plasmius said.

“You didn’t know that?” Valerie said, checking her rifle and calling her board to her.

“He’s never used it against me. He’s only even used the Technokinesis recently.”

“They’ve had both for as long as I’ve known them. They’ve tried to use it on me, but I’m usually too high for the plants and my gear’s protected against their control.”

“ENOUGH!”

The two looked up to see Dark snatch the plant-controlling ghost kid from the air and throw them. The other flying one tried to catch them, but they both ended up crashing to the ground. The third flew over to them as the king tore off the wires and burned away the plant.

“Our baby,” the ghost kid whined, one staring at the plant’s burning remains with fury.

“Surrender, children! You can't possibly win!”

“Surrender isn’t in our vocabulary. And we can’t possibly let you loose on our city.” The one that had been controlling the wires helped the one that had been thrown to their feet, letting them lean against them, as the other placed themself in front of the two. “Besides, we don't have to win. we just have to make sure that you lose.”

Dark scowled and shot a blast at them. The one in front summoned a shield, but it shattered almost immediately and the three took most of the blast.

Valerie leveled her rifle at Dark, but Plasmius yanked it away.

“Don’t be foolish, girl. He will kill you.”

“Like you care.

“Considering you’re my only help, I do. We need a plan.”

“Face it, children, it's over.”

Valerie turned back to the field to see Dark walking towards the trio as they slowly got up onto their knees.

“No,” they growled. “No!”

Shaking with pain, the trio looked up. 

Their goggles glowed with black energy and then three things happened at once.

The one on the left threw their head back and screamed. Black sonic waves tore through the field and slammed into the king.

The one in the middle doubled over, hands clawing at the ground as they keened. Thick black vines wove in and out of the ground in front of them until they could latch onto the king, wrapping around his arms and legs to tear deep gashes into his skin with their thorns.

The one on the right wrapped their arms around themselves and sobbed. Black tears flowed down their face and formed a void beneath them that stretched out underneath the king.

The vines held him still, the rings drained his power, and the void drew him in.

Dark thrashed against his bindings, but they held and he was soon consumed by the darkness.

The trio collapsed.

The field went silent, the vines shriveled into nothing, and the darkness faded.

Consciousness clearly fading, the trio latched hands and fell through the ground.

Oddly though, they didn’t seem to go intangible and Valerie swore she saw the faintest hint of a white-blue-purple light just before they completely disappeared.

Slowly, she turned to Plasmius to see him gaping at the now empty field. “Did you know they had that kind of power?”

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

Danny stared out at the stars as Blobena nuzzled up against his cheek.

“My everything hurts,” Tucker croaked, the first sound any of them had made since Danny had dropped them into the Space Fold then promptly passed out. He’s not sure how long they’ve been in there now, but he’s been awake for at least an hour and he knew the others woke before him.

“Sh!” Sam moaned.

It was quiet for a few moments, then Sam asked, “Danny. Why are your blobs in here? More importantly, why is one trying to eat my hair?”

With a sigh, Danny turned to see Sam and the blob in question. “I think Blobson likes the taste of your shampoo. He did the same thing to me two weeks ago when you let me shower at your place after the fight with Garbage Manster.”

“Wait, you seriously named them all? And with blob puns?” Tucker said, pinwheeling slowly near Sam’s feet. “I thought that was just a joke you and Valerie were telling.”

“We had a lot of time in that cage, okay?”

“Danny, get this thing off my hair or I’m smashing it.”

The boy pouted, but reached over to scoop up the blob. He set him on his shoulder next to Bloberick.

“Now again, what are they doing here?”

“In my defense, I just meant to hide them in here for a second because my mom was coming down the stairs and I didn’t have time to get them all back through the portal. I’ve tried to get them to leave, but they won’t.”

“You keep my ghost plants in here!” she huffed, gesturing to the quartet of pots holding plants she’d gathered from the ghost zone.

“They don’t bother them, promise!”

“Speaking of which, how dare you throw Arachne at that jerk!”

“Our ecto-beams weren’t doing much! I thought the poison on her fronds would help!”

“We can get you a new one, Sam,” Tucker said. “It’s not like it was sentient like Audrey II.”

“We can get you a new phone, Tucker,” she shot back. “It’s not like it’s sentient like Audrey II.”

“She’s as good as!” Tucker gasped, pulling his phone out to clutch it to his chest. “Talk to me, baby.”

“Hello, Tuck-man. The time is 9:34 p.m.”

Danny snickered. “Tuck-man.”

“Shut it, Danny Blobton,” Tucker said, grabbing one of the blobs floating near him and tossing it at Danny.

If anything, the blob seemed to be pleased by the action, even as it squished against his forehead. It gave a singing buzz and nuzzled further against him.

“Great, now Blobnessa is never going to let go.”

“Dude, you’ve got issues.”

“Wait, did your phone say it was after nine at night?” Sam asked, turning to Tucker.

“Yeah, it said… Oh man, how long have we been gone for?”

“My parents are probably tearing the town apart looking for me,” Danny groaned.

“Not to mention your girlfriend. I’m sure my parents are already blaming you. Crud, I’m going to have to wear their stupid dresses for a week if they’re ever going to let me see you again,” Sam said, grabbing Danny’s arm and tugging him to her.

“I swear, if my parents try to take me on one of those tech-free relaxation getaways because of this, I’m moving into the fold. Blobs or not,” Tucker muttered, hooking his ankle around Sam’s.

Danny gently shooed and brushed all the blobs off himself then turned all three of them invisible and dropped them onto the football field.

Thankfully no one was around so they turned visible and climbed to their feet.

“We’re going to need alibis,” Sam said.

“Got cornered by some skeletons in an abandoned building?” Tucker offered. “Only came out when we were sure it was safe, but then didn’t recognize where we were and stumbled about until we found somewhere familiar.”

“Sounds good enough for me,” Danny yawned. “Can either of you transform?”

They shook their heads.

“Guess we’re walking.”

They only made it a block before the Fenton RV came roaring up and a hysterical Maddie Fenton tackled Danny to the ground.