#get to da vanishing point

[superman86to99]

Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #2 (May 1994)

At last, we find out Doomsday's secret origin! And then kinda wish we didn't, because it's pretty gnarly. In fact, this might be the most disturbing character origin in all of DC Comics, including Vertigo and that "Dark Multiverse" thing they were doing a while back.

But, before getting to Doomsday, Superman has to deal with the mess he left in Apokolips last issue. Thanks to Doomsday's rampage, the Cyborg Superman has taken over the planet and plans to turn it into a new Warworld so he can take it around the universe, conquering other worlds. Yes, he wants to turn the worst planet in existence even worse.

The Cyborg has easily taken care of Darkseid's Parademons by transmitting a frequency that melts their brains. But where's Darkseid himself? He was last seen taking a good beating from Doomsday, and when Superman runs into him, he's... not in great shape.

"DARKSEID IS. TIRED."

Superman is briefly tempted to leave Darkseid to die, but he ends up dragging him to safety and using the Mother Box he borrowed last issue to heal him, because Superman gonna Superman. Just when Superman is lamenting the fact that he doesn't have enough time to go back to Earth for help, Waverider shows up... only to instantly remind Superman that he can't help, due to his sacred vow as a protector of the timestream.

Superman, however, basically tells Waverider to nut up or shut up and use his temporal powers to give him helpful information about Doomsday. Waverider finally succumbs to Superman's bullying and shows him a vision of a "distant planet" circa 250,000 years ago. The planet seems to be uninhabited except for some spiky monsters who kill anything in their sight and a group of scientists inside a reinforced dome. The leader of the scientists is an alien called Bertron who is obsessed with creating "the ultimate form of life" by any means necessary. Including, we soon find out, baby murder.

Following Bertron's orders, the scientists launch an alien baby into the hostile atmosphere and just sit by and watch while the spiky monsters tear it apart in seconds. Then, they scare the monsters away with their weapons, send someone out there to scoop up whatever's left of the baby, clone a new infant from that DNA, and repeat the whole process.

After 20 years of doing that every day, the baby has evolved to the point that it now takes minutes to be torn apart instead of seconds. Also, it's now considerably uglier.

Within 30 years, some of the scientists are starting to show reservations about working at the baby murdering factory, but the progress is undeniable. By now, the baby (more like a large bald dude) is able to survive in the hostile environment indefinitely and actually fights back against the spiky monsters... who kill him every time anyway, but still. Progress!

An indeterminate number of decades pass, and the "baby" has turned into a big, hulking creature that Bertron calls "The Ultimate." The minutes of survival have stretched into full years as the Ultimate walks across the planet hunting the spiky monsters until none are left. Bertron is ecstatic that his creation has finally become an unkillable killing machine. So... what now? Well, suffer an ironic death at its hands, of course, because it turns out Doomsday remembers the thousands of deaths Bertron put him through.

According to Waverider's narration, Doomsday might have wiped out all life in that planet if he hadn't stumbled upon Bertron's supply ship. He ended up bouncing through the universe like a murderous ping pong ball, until he reached a planet called Calaton, whose royal family had gained metahuman abilities through the amazing power of inbreeding (that's not a joke about royal families, that's in the comic!).

After years of being unable to stop Doomsday, Calaton's royals gave up their lives to form an energy being called the Radiant, who looks like Silver Surfer but powered by cousin porking (miraculously, he seems to have all his limbs). It took a week of fighting and an explosion that destroyed a fifth of Calaton, but the Radiant finally managed to kill Doomsday. Unfortunately, the Calatonians have a strange custom that says they can't destroy the bodies of planet-killing aliens and must instead dress them up in gimp suits...

...and launch them into space, which is how Doomsday ended up crashing into Earth in that capsule he finally escaped in Man of Steel #18. This concludes Waverider's presentation.

Back in the present, Darkseid wakes up from his healing nap just in time to recognize that the Cyborg has launched some missiles at Apokolips' food pens to starve the population, because that's what he'd do too. Superman doesn't feel great about teaming up with Darkseid, but he'd feel even worse if innocents died, so he slows down the missiles while Darkseid gets rid of them with his Omega Beams. Darkseid tries to Omega Beam the Cyborg away, too, but he actually survives the blast (that's two people who CAN "withstand the unsurpassed force of the Omega Beams" in as many issues).

Although the Omega Beam hurt him, the Cyborg uses surrounding machinery to repair himself and, while at it, become a giant mecha. Superman hits him with the full force of his heat vision...

...but once again, eye lasers prove ineffective against the Cyborg, since he just rebuilds himself again, even bigger this time. Darkseid, however, claims he was still recuperating from Doomsday's beating before, but he's in tip-top shape now -- and proves it by hitting Giant Mecha-Cyborg with the REAL strength of the Omega Beams, completely disintegrating him. Sorry for doubting you, eye lasers.

With the Cyborg out of the picture, Darkseid thanks Superman for his help by telling him to get off his planet and go chase Doomsday wherever he is. Deesad reveals where he teleported Doomsday to last issue: Calaton, the planet where they already beat him once, figuring they can just do it again -- but Waverider points out that it's exactly the opposite. Because of Bertron and his gang of baby killers, whenever something kills Doomsday, he evolves to surpass it... which means Superman has no chance against him, either.

Everyone present agrees that Superman is pretty much screwed, but Superman says he doesn't care... while his inner narration shows the opposite. In fact, he's terrified, but he's still going after Doomsday to stop him or re-die trying. TO BE CONCLUDED!

Beard-Watch:

It's coming back! You know a Superman story is getting intense when he hasn't had time to shave in a while.

Don Sparrow points out that Superman's "tough guy stubble" seems to come out of nowhere after Waverider's flashback sequence, but I can think of two explanations for that: A) Superman was affected by some minor chronal energy that caused him to age extra fast, at least around the face, or B) that was a long-ass flashback sequence.

Plotline-Watch:

Okay, disregard what I said last time about this miniseries being hard to place in the continuity: Superman explicitly says he's "stronger" and "better" before blasting the Cyborg with his heat vision, so this is definitely happening during the "super-charged powers" storyline. The only hitch is that this is supposed to be taking place during the period when Superman was constantly breaking things and shooting off his heat vision without meaning to, and there's nothing like that here, but that's for the best because 1) that stuff got pretty annoying and 2) minis like this work better if they're not that tied to the ongoing plotlines. No one wants to see five pages of Jimmy Olsen trying to renew his driving license in the middle of a Doomsday fight.

One reason Waverider decides to get off his ass and help out is that he remembers the time he had to watch Superman get beaten to death without doing anything, so he kinda owed it to him. That happened in The Legacy of Superman #1.

There are a couple of references to Armageddon 2001, the 1991 crossover that introduced Waverider: he mentions he was an "activist" before he became a golden being with a flaming head (he even vandalized a statue of Monarch, his original timeline's super-dictator) and when he shows Doomsday's origin to Superman, we see the same psychedelic effect shown in Armageddon whenever he'd touch a superhero to snoop into their future.

What isn't referenced is the time Superman lived in Apokolips for a while, first as an amnesiac anti-Darkseid revolutionary and then as his mind-controlled "son" (in 1987's Legends crossover), but that's understandable since all those memories were wiped from his mind at the end of that storyline.

Did Darkseid really kill the Cyborg, as Superman seems to think? Nah. We'll find out what really happened soon enough.

Waverider's narration claims that, after Doomsday left that unnamed planet where he was created, the natives found Bertron's lab and became obsessed with genetic experimentation, "sending them down the path of a unique and disastrous future." On that note, Don Sparrow says: "I love the detail on page 27, explaining that had he stayed, Doomsday would have killed the entire planet. It’s like, who cares about some random planet?" Yeah, why are they giving us so much detail about that place?! Weird.

Patreon-Watch:

Our latest Patreon-exclusive article was about Steel Annual #1, an Elseworlds story set during the Civil War that, coincidentally, also features dead kids as a major plot point (Superman writers were in a dark mood in 1994, huh). Read that and more by joining Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Sam, Bol, and Gaetano Barreca at https://www.patreon.com/superman86to99!

Also join me in reading more from Don Sparrow, after the jump...

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

On one hand, the concept of each of the covers just being a step by step sequence of the two main characters streaking into battle has a certain power and simplicity. But on the other hand, there’s little to differentiate them (particularly these first two) and it can feel a bit repetitive.  Another detraction is that the computer generated background on the last issue looked like a wall of flame, but shifting the colour to green just looks like a tie-dye pattern, which doesn’t make sense for the story. Still:  Great drawings of both characters.

The first few pages are another good showcase of Jurgens’ unique very tall panel layout, and while it’s mostly exposition (helped a lot by the gradient colour background representing the timestream) there are a few interesting, if odd details about Vanishing Point.  First, what the hell is that pediment on the window of Vanishing point?  It looks a little like Legion villain Validus, but not perfectly so.  Secondly, it’s so eccentric that the time viewer Waverider looks at here is an animated piece of parchment, complete with feather quill pen.

Further along the silhouetted image of an injured Darkseid is very cool.  The colouring is a real star throughout, but I particularly like the gold rim lighting on the red metal of the Cyborg’s face.

As we see Doomsday’s origins, it’s interesting to see how Bertron ages.  He looks like a malevolent E.T.!

The image revealing Doomsday’s final form is a classic, even if he’s starkers.  They also can’t seem to keep his physiognomy straight—if he’s solid mass with no organs, why does he need a belly button?  The ink spatters indicating his killing blow of Bertron are a restrained way of showing something gory is happening.

Calaton looks a lot like the fake Krypton from Adventures of Superman #500, though there’s a lot of nice design that went into a fairly short section of the book.  It’s funny that a story featuring Hank Henshaw, himself an alternate take on Mister Fantastic, would birth the Radiant, who visually is virtually indistinguishable from The Silver Surfer, who also made his debut in Fantastic Four comics. [Max: Ha! They should have brought Inbred Silver Surfer back for the Superman/Fantastic Four crossover featuring the Cyborg...]

Explaining the containment suit and metallic block where we first find Doomsday is a nice touch. 

We talked in a previous review about how Image-comics-inspired the colouring is on this mini-series, but how badass Superman looks throughout is also vaguely reminiscent of Image titles at the time.  The cross-hatching and tough guy stubble appearing (quite suddenly—he had none before his Waverider trance!) makes Superman look pretty tough-as-nails. However later in the book as Superman flies off to confront the Cyborg, his face shows so much concentration he begins to look vaguely like Manny Pacquiao—so you know it’s gonna be a good fight!  

The image of the Cyborg shaking like a ragdoll upon the impact of the Omega beams is a great, electric effect.  The single panel the most similar to Image comics must be on page 43 where Superman’s eyes glow red before blasting the Cyborg’s rebuilt body away.  While the “eyes glow red because he’s mad” effect is done to death today, when this was published, it was rare enough to be pretty exciting.  Darkseid’s march, and dialogue is pretty awesome as he takes care of the threat of the Cyborg Superman.  In that way, this is an odd issue—Superman has almost no effect on the outcome.  It’s Waverider who fills Superman in on Doomsday’s origins, and it’s Darkseid who destroys the missiles, AND dispatches the Cyborg Superman.  I suppose none of that would be possible without Superman’s mercy, helping Darkseid heal, but Superman mostly stands around watching the action in this issue.  Lastly, Waverider on page 46 looks a lot like Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it’s fun to think of his thick Austrian accent trying to make its way around all the timestream techno-jargon Waverider spouts. [Max: "Get to da Vanishing Point!"]

SPEEDING BULLETS:

Wait, did the Cyborg just flat out kill Desaad?  I guess not, but it was a cool line. [Max: He's alive by the end of the issue, but wasn't there a story that revealed Darkseid is constantly killing and recreating Deesad? Maybe he did that off-panel.]

Do you agree with Superman’s hectoring Waverider about giving him information from his unique knowledge of the timestream?  Superman would have some trouble with the old Prime Directive if he were in Starfleet.

Kinda nuts that the female scientist waited THIRTY YEARS to voice her objection to killing an infant all day every day!  There’s a lot of unanswered questions about these scientists.  What are they paid?  Do they get time off? [Max: I always got the impression that these scientists were aliens too, but this time I noticed Bertron says "this world of yours" to them... So I guess they're meant to be [SPOILERS] Kryptonians, from a habitable part of the planet? Their clothes do match the wardrobe in the early parts of World of Krypton, especially that one lady's earrings. Knowing their race, they probably did it just for the love of science... and launching babies.]

I find myself interested in “the beasts” that Doomsday combats while he’s developing.  We’ve never seen them before, or since in any stories set on… that particular planet. [Max: Same here. I like their cartoonish look, too. DC Nation should have done some Roadrunner-type shorts featuring Baby Doomsday escaping the spiky monsters and dying in some wacky new way every week!]

Page 23 they kind of bury the lede, just casually mentioning that if killed, Doomsday revives, evolved past whatever killed it.  That’s a pretty insane power level.

Bertron getting murdered by his creation was actually a pretty good metaphor for Krypton’s scientific community—coldly experimenting for science’s sake, with no thought to the consequence they may face in the future.  More on that in the next issue.

What kind of food do the food pens hold?  Like grain and stuff? [Max: Didn't a Darkseid-themed cereal box show up as a variant cover recently? Yep, found it. It's probably that.]

Everyone--hero and villain--all telling Superman he will for sure lose to Doomsday has to be a knock to his confidence!

[martinmynster]

life could be dream ? well life could be nightmare too

[milliumizoomi]

do you think armando is the type to wanna pay for everything? like the man will literally not let you pay for anything while you’re with him even if you protest against it

𝐇𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄: 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐒

☆彡SUMMARY.; His money definitely talks but he doesn’t let yours do so much as whisper.

☆彡FEATURED.; ARMANDO x READER

☆彡TROPE.; ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP

☆彡FORMAT.; HEADCANON || DRABBLE

☆彡GENRE.; TOOTH ROTTING FLUFF

☆彡WARNINGS.; Google translated Spanish, Mature language, Armando being you’re resident sugar daddy

☆彡NOTES.; this was too funny and I loved writing thisssss,, tysm for the request and I hope yall enjoy!!😋💕

REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED🤍.

★ public service announcement

★ HE DON’T LET YOU PAY FOR SHIT

★ when you’re with him the only you gon need in that purse is ID and your phone

★ that’s it

★ if he catches you paying for anything, he’s taking the money from you and paying for it himself

★ don’t matter how much you wanna argue I promise you he not listening

★ the card in your purse? Confiscated.

★ the cash you have saved? It better stay saved.

★ I promise you this man is not playing with you at all when it comes to this

ミ★

It’s looking like the credit card you have ain’t good for nothing really.

You don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times you’ve been in this type of situation with your hardheaded ass boyfriend.

The both of you have been out all day. He wanted to spend the day with you since he barely gets to, with managing the mafia and all, so he decided to take you out. The only problem is…

You can’t look at anything for too long or he’s buying it.

AND, don’t ever say you’re buying anything cause he ain’t even entertaining that.

“Babe look at thissss!!” You pointed at beautiful white diamond anklet. You wanted it so badly because you knew it’d look gorgeous on you. So, you decided to get it. As Armando walked up to you, you were already talking to one of the sellers so they can retrieve the item for you.

“¿Qué le das a mamá?” He asked as he finally got near you.

“Esta tobillera aquí mismo... ¡es tan bonita!”

You practically skipped away to the cash register and started fishing for your card to pay.

Then your purse disappeared.

Just completely vanished.

You stood there for a moment, very confused, then you look over to see your boyfriend pushing your purse into his pocket and taking out his money to pay.

In cash.

The woman at the register was as wide eyed as you were watching this man casually count hundreds like they were ones.

“How much was it?” He asked.

“O-oh..! It’s $350 sir!” He handed her the money and all you could do was stand there and stare as he took the piece of jewelry.

“Come mama.”

He guided you, by resting his hand on your lower back, and took you to a nearby seat and told you to sit. When you did, he opened up the box with the anklet inside and took it off and began putting it on you.

All you could do is look at him.

When he was done, he stretched out your leg.

“Looks good mama..”

You smiled and agreed, thanking him.

“You don’t have to pay for me all the time you know.” Getting up, he pulls you up too and says, “yeah I do.. and don’t ever let me see you trying to pay for shit again? You hear me?” You couldn’t help the shiver that ran down you’re spine at his words, but you crack a small smile and nodded. “I’m gonna keep trying anyways but fineeeee..” He rolls his eyes at you and kisses you on the forehead and you both begin to walk out the store.

“Baby?” You call to him.

“Hm?”

“Can I have my purse back?”

“No.”

[GLOSSARY]

“¿Qué le das a mamá?” —“What you want mama?”

“Esta tobillera aquí mismo... ¡es tan bonita!” — “This anklet right here... it’s so pretty!”

ミ★

{TAGLIST} :: @armandosbabymama @ghettogirly @tinys0ftie @shurisgf @radioloom @butterflyybabe @dyttomori || if you’d like to be added to the taglist just let me know in comments or dms🤗💕.

ミ★

©2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED — MILLIUMIZOOMI. Do not modify, repost, plagiarize, translate or claim any work posted on this blog without my permission.

[dotster001]

To Prove a Point

Summary:Malleus x gn!reader. You get Mal an ice cream cake for his birthday.

A/N: Squishy boy. Squishy boy. Squishy boy!

"Ta da!" You sang, pointing at the three tiered cake on the table.

You watched your boyfriend stiffen, before he said with some effort.

"Child of man, I'm not…"

"It's an ice cream cake! And I know you don't like entire cakes, but I swear we will finish it together," you said, nuzzling your face into his shoulder.

"Also, I have put a bunch of candles next to the cakes, since I don't know how old you are, so you can put however many you need."

Malleus nodded and put a single candle on the cake, much to your disappointment. He always was able to expertly step around the "how old are you?" question but there was no way he could possibly….

"I've only put one, because you are the only one that matters."

He said it with the purest expression on his face, but you were positive Lilia had to have taught him that one. Oh well, you could try again later.

You lit the candle, and he blew it out. Then you gave each of you a slice of cake and began the mountainous task ahead of you.

                                  ….

You did make a reasonable dent. But four large slices of ice cream cake in, you were ready to die. You hadn't noticed that Malleus had stopped eating at some point to rest his head on his hand and watch you. So it startled you when he spoke up as you slowly moved another fork full to your mouth.

"Beloved, we don't have to continue. You need to rest," he hummed.

"No, no I'm fine, we're gonna finish this cake if it kills me!" You saw Malleus startle, and realized your mistake. "Sorry, that's a figure of speech, it won't actually kill me.  I just mean I'm determined to finish this cake."

His smile returned, and he tried again.

"All is well, we can stop and have someone else eat it or finish it some other day…"

"No! I'm trying to make a point!" You said, before the sugar crash started to hit and you laid your head down on the table with a groan.

"And what point is that?"

Maybe you were overly tired. Maybe the sugar really was starting to kill you. But you found your eyes watering as you looked up at him and whispered,

"I'm trying to prove that you don't have to be alone anymore."

His eyes went wide, and he appeared frozen for a moment. Until he vanished into green fireflies and rematerialized in your lap. He had told you before that was his favorite seat, because, despite how tall and powerful he was, he always felt safe there. And now, he was delicately tracing your face with both hands, like he was worried you would shatter into a million pieces.

"My treasure," he muttered, "I could never be lonely with you. You don't have to prove anything to me."

"But," you sniffled, and he pressed a finger to your lips.

"No, it's my birthday, so what I say goes. And I say the fact that you are here at all proves to me that I am no longer alone. That is all I will say on the matter. Now, let's put the cake away, and get you to bed."

"But I'm not sleepy! And we still have to go to the school sanctioned birthday party," you trailed off at the end and you immediately passed out.

You were startled awake by the flash of a camera. You attempted to jolt up, before realizing you were wrapped in a sleeping Malleus' arms and unable to move, and your eyes trailed over to Lilia holding an old fashioned camera, and giggling excitedly.

"No, no, Y/N, go back to sleep. It'll make for a cuter picture at your wedding."

"Huh?"

"Hush and enjoy your lover's embrace…"

"Lilia!" 

But he snapped his fingers and you were out like a light again.

That picture came up at every birthday, every party, every gathering, from then on out. Lilia, proud bat dad that he was, kept about thirty copies in his wallet, and despite how many you got rid of, there were always more. 

Nothing embarrassed you more though, then when, at Malleus' next birthday, it was the damned photo that was decorating the cake.

....

Tag list-@shytastemakerthing @stygianoir @leonia0 @lleoll @eccedentesiast-sapphic

[alastxrs]

Metal Heart Finally Melts.

𝐄𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐬 "𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧" 𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐝 𝐗 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐞!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲… @d-angel00

❝𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑!❞

The whole room was a complete mess and yet there stood a man shaking a lot, unable to find a blanket or jacket that was warm enough.

Y/N had decided to stay behind at the Kid Pirates hideout.

The weather in the new world was insane and he hated how it changed randomly. The (H/C) haired man could not handle the cold so he was trying to find something that could warm him up, yet there was nothing that could keep him warm.

A few of the crewmates that stayed with him were hiding from him assuming that he would take his rage out on them.

A sigh escaped his lips as he looked out the window to watch the snow continue to fall.

He leaned against the wall as he admired the snow falling from the sky.

How anyone could love this weather was insane.

Y/N wrapped his arms tightly around himself, shivering still because the cold had managed to get into the building. He hated winter. The cold bit into his skin, and no matter how many layers he wore, he never felt warm enough. Each gust of icy wind made him curse the season even more.

He wondered when their Captain, Eustass Kidd, would return since he was the only one who made him feel warm.

𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄....

Eustass Kidd stretched his arm while he walked off of his ship.

The red-haired man was just happy to get that mission over and done with, now he could actually relax and spend some time with Y/N since he had left his partner on the island to make sure nothing happened.

He turns his head to one of the crewmates that stayed behind. "Aye! Where is Y/N?!" he asked.

The other man pointed in the direction of his quarters and he made his way over towards his lover.

He expected the man to have welcomed him back.

It pissed him off that he wasn't greated by Y/N, his partner usually always waited at the docks for him to return back to the island they claimed.

Yet once Eustass Kidd opened the door, all angry feelings vanished.

There, Y/N L/N stood, with his arms crossed and against the window while looking at the snow that was falling from the sky.

The man looked absolutely radiant from where he stood.

The one thing that had caught his attention was the shivers that he saw.

If he was cold, why wouldn't the idiot wear a blanket?

'You blasted fool!' He thought to himself as he shook his head before he walked over to the other man. 'Get a blanket or something! Do you really need me to hold you to feel warm?!'

When the (H/C) haired man turned his head to see his lover and a bright smile formed on his lips.

"Babe! When did you get back? I-"

A gasp was let out of his lips when he was picked up immediately when they were close by his metal arm, the red-haired man moved the two of them over to their couch wanting his partner to relax.

A blush formed on his cheeks as Y/N wrapped an arm around his neck. "Baby, did you have a good-"

The other man was cut when he sat down on the couch and placed the slightly smaller/taller man on his lap before moving his arm around the other's waist.

Eustass Kidd made sure to keep his lover close to him before closing his eyes.

A small smile formed on the other man's lips before he laid his head on his shoulder. "Thanks, Jaggy."

"You know I hate that name, I do something nice and this is how you treat me?!"

"I don't know, I like the nickname."

"Stick to calling me babes or baby or anything other than that."

A grin formed on Y/N's cheeks as he leaned closer to his face. "Anything you say? How bout Da-" he was cut off with lips but before he could kiss back, the other man pulled away.

A sigh escaped Eustass Kidd as he shook his head. "Keep that one for the bedroom, fine! Stick to Strawhat's stupid name for me."

The (H/C) haired man began kissing the other man's face.

A small blush was on his boyfriend's cheek and he loved seeing it.

"Wanna know how much I missed you?"

"Yes babe~! Show me!"

[alice-angel12x]

Born of Unkown Stardust

Ch. 4

summary: The angles formed the world and all mortal life from dust. One day from the unknown the angels came across bizarre dust, that seemed to have a will of its own. It refused to be molded and shaped to the angel's will. So they cast it aside, till a certain angel got his creative hands on it.

(bittersweet story) (platonic) Lucifer x (???) Reader x Sera

<-Part 3/ Part 5 ->

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Yuu Cried out as pure energy flowed from them like a roaring river. The vortex thrashed and trashed everything in the room, as Yuu let everything flow. Sera watched in worry as the energy started to get stronger with no signs of stopping. The roof above the child threatened to give way, so without a thought Sera rushed to Yuu.

She quickly wrapped her arms around the crying child. But the energy rushing out of Yuu burned her skin as she held the child close. The energy was hot?... Cold? All she could tell was that hurt like Hell.

(Song You'll be in my heart)

"Come stop your crying It will be alright Just take my hand Hold it tight I will protect you From all around you" Sera sang, straining through the pain.

Yuu's thrashing started to slow a bit. Sera slowly and gently held the child's hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"I will be here Don't you cry

For one so small You seem so strong My arms will hold you Keep you safe and warm," Sera continued as the flow of energy started to weaken, very slowly.

"This bond between us Can't be broken I will be here don't you cry," She sang as Yuu slowly curled up close to her.

"Cause you'll be in my heart Yes, you'll be in my heart From this day on Now and forever more," As The angel sang, Yuu's cries became soft whimpers as the cortex finally vanished.

"You'll be in my heart No matter what they say You'll be here in my heart Always," Sera sang as she looked at the destruction around the room. She slowly walked out of the room to Yuu's room to tuck them in.

"Always," She finished as she gently tucked the blanket over Yuu. With that, she quietly turns to leave.

"Don't leave. Don't leave," Yuu whimpered in their sleep.

Sera paused for a moment and looked at the door. Yet her heart wouldn't allow her to go, not after what she saw. So with a sigh, Sera sat down in a comfy chair in the room and slowly drifted to sleep.

_________________________________________________

Crash!!!

Sera gasped awake at the sound of crashing plates. She looks over to Yuu's bed to see it is empty. She quickly rushed down to the kitchen to see. Yuu... Making Pancakes? How were they making pancakes? They're a child!

"Ah Sorry, Ms.Sera! I was making SorryCakes. But some pans fell over," Yuu said as they cleaned up the spilled dishes.

"Sorrycakes?" Sera asked with a confused chuckle.

"Sorry Pancakes. Cause I of that," Yuu said as they pointed to Sera's burns on her arms and torso.

"Oh, Well apology accepted Yuu," Sera said as she used her magic to clean the mess around the kitchen. "Did Lucifer teach you how to make pancakes?"

"I watched him, so I copied what he did. I got better at it when I had to cook for myself... When he left me...Alone," Yuu said as they placed the plate in front of Sera.

"Thank you," Sera smiles and takes a few bits out of the food. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know. I think sad...Angry? I don't know, I just... I just want me Da," Yuu said weakly. "Was what Da did really that bad?"

"I'm afraid so. He has let Roo take hold of Earth and now her influence will reign over humanity forever," Sera explained.

"Why is that a bad thing? It only affects humans, and not us," Yuu pointed out.

"If only it were that simple. Humans are mortal and don't live forever like you and I. Originally when they passed on, their souls would join us in heaven. However now that sin has entered Earth, we can't accept bad souls into our realm," Sera explained.

"Bad souls?" Yuu asked.

"Humans who in life have done bad things, committing sin," Sera said slowly, trying the best she could to explain to the child.

"So if souls don't sin, and stay good. They can come to heaven?" Yuu asked slowly.

"Or at least lived a not-to-sinful life," Sera nodded.

"So If... If I help humans not be bad... And not sin. Can Da come back?" Yuu asked with slight hope.

Sera sighed sadly as she could see the gears turning in Yuu's head.

"I'm not really sure if it is possible. Lucifer's banishment was decided by the vote of the elder council," Sera tried to explain. But she could already see the gears turn in the young child's head.

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60 Years Later

Suddenly a grand bell rang. A Human soul has arrived in heaven.

"What's that?" Yuu asked.

"The first human soul has arrived in heaven. Come, let go welcome them," Ser smiles as she holds her hand to Yuu.

"Okay," Yuu said nervously as they held Sera's hand.

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The angels of all ranks stood at the pearly gates, all excited as they welcomed this first human. I've never seen them so excited before. Sera parted the crowd as I followed closely behind her to see this human.

And there he was standing in the middle of the crowd, who looked on in awe. Yet The human seemed really freaked out as he looked around frantically.

"Abel! Abel!" The human man cried out. "Where's my Son?! Where Is Eve!?"

"Son? Where is his family?" I asked Mother Sera.

"Wait right here okay," She said gently as she flys over the Human.

I watched as Sera spoke to the human, who was tiny compared to her. As She spoke to him, at first, he was upset and yelling. When suddenly he wasn't, he was quiet and sad. Only to quickly fly off somewhere, and no one followed. I hope he is okay.

So, Silently I followed this human. He flew off to some distant cloud to sit in silence. Slowly I inched my way closer and closer when he suddenly turned. Quickly spotted me.

“What? What are you? You don’t looks like the others,” Adam questioned.

“I’m… Huh… I don’t really know. My Dad created me,” I answered honestly.

“Why are you here?” Adam asked sharply.

“W-why are you sad. Is it because your family isn’t here?” I asked softly.

“There not, and it’s all because of that Bi-… S-Snake of a women’s fault,” Adam stumbled as he looked at me.

I wonder what he was going to say, and who is the snake Women?

“E-Eve?” I asked slowly.

“No! Lilith! I knew she was up to no good. I should have listened to my gut, and sent her away when she came back,” Adam said in anger as he passed back and forth.

"What did Lilith do?" I asked.

"She tricked my wife, and know she is condemned forever. When Eve out of anyone should be up here. Lilith and her stupid Angel lover screwed her over. Just to get back at me," Adam said bitterly.

'wait angel lover? Can't be right?' Then I remembered something, from the last night I saw Da. He was working on something. Saying that "she" believed in his dreams. And hidden behind his arm was a small red fruit, crafted and embued with magic.

"Did Lilith use a red fruit of some kind?" I asked slowly.

"Yeah an Apple," Adam confirmed but paused as he stopped to look at me. "Why do you ask?"

"That was my Da. I saw him working on it. But he promised me he wouldn't cause trouble! He promised," I said weakly. That promise is nothing known.

Adam just sighed in frustration as he randomly tousled my hair. He simply sits down and stares into the distance.

"Looks like you were also screwed over by Lilith. She screwed me out of being with my wife, Screwed Eve out of getting into heaven, and you out of a Father," Adam said simply as we sat in silence.

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"Yuu! Yuu where did you go!" Sera called out as she searched for them.

As she looked around she spotted them, Adam looked up to see her. He turned to Yuu to turn their attention to Sera. The seraphim smiled in relief as she opened her arms as Yuu floated into her embrance.

"Thank you Adam for finding them," Sera nodded.

"No problem," He said plainly as he walked off.

As Sera carried Yuu away, she noticed that Yuu was still deep in thought. Very troubled thoughts.

"What's on your mind Yuu?" Sera asked.

"Adam said that Da was Lilith's lover... What is a lover?" Yuu asked.

Sera stuttered a bit as she quickly came up with a child-friendly explanation.

"Lovers is something that happens between two adults. When they love each other very much, they want to spend the rest of their lives together. And eventually, start a family all their own," Sera explained.

Yuu remained silent for a bit as they mulled over the information. When Yuu slowly asked again.

"So... Da loved Lilith more? And that's why he chose not to keep his promise?" Yuu asked, their eyes began to water. "Did... Did Da no longer want me? To be with me?"

Sera gasped as he held the poor child and they began to cry.

"Was it cause I couldn't make the world we said we'd make fast enough? I tried, I really Tried! I worked so hard," Yuu said as the tears started to roll down Yuu's cheeks.

"Oh, Yuu. It is not your fault. Lucifer loves you very much. But the love he felt for Lilith blinded him from realizing he had someone important home. He left you alone for days on end for Lilith. That was selfish of him," Sera comforted Yuu. "If only he slowed down to see how much. How far and beyond you went for him, to make a world for him."

Yuu hugged Sera tightly, their little arms wrapping around Sera's neck.

"Now, let's get lunch," Sera smiles.

"PANCAKES!" Yuu says as they try to wipe all the tears away.

"Pancakes? Didn't you have enough pancakes for a lifetime," Sera chuckled.

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Meanwhile in Hell

Lucifer was able to create a safe castle within hell for himself and Lilith. Lilith slept soundly on the soft king-size bed that she shared with Lucifer. Sadly as the new queen slept peacefully, the king on the other hand was haunted. He thrashes and turns on his bed as falls into a dream.

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Tags:

@@littleladydemon  , @corvid007, @ellaprime7, @just-here-reading, @kyo-kyo1

[powerpuffobsession]

Am I the only one who feels that Hazbin Hotel's overall vibe is far too naive and upbeat for an adult cartoon about hell and redemption of sinners?

I feel like before writing this cartoon, Vivzie and the other writers should have made a trip to unfortunate areas of the world and watch how the lifestyle there rolls. Because hell is said to be a place of misery, where there is no trust and a lot of hate, both internal and external... Adam is an object of pure unfiltered hartred (both from writers and fandom) because he dares to live in heaven, such a safe and friendly-natured place...

And yet the sinners who happen to be main characters act more like school kids on a field trip (even more carefree than those, lol) - their selfish and sinful motives are so artificial and are brought up only when these characters need to look like a victim, not like criminals who somehow deserved a place in hell

Obviously, it's a manipulative trope to put them in a better light than Heaven and Adam (who is forever silenced by the writers and not allowed to voice any thoughts and reflections other than "hurr durr murder I luuuv murdering and being evil because that's what I was since I was born, even though Lilith and Eve, born literally the same way as me, were innocent victims from the get go, and no logical explanation for that will be provided whatsoever - men bad, women good")

In the light of all that, the sinners are too eager to trust each other and form "da epic powar of friendship" mlp-sonic-style

In a society built on terror, anarchy and survival instincts, no one would ever bother wasting vital power on noticing someone's problems and helping them out. Everyone is focused on their own problems and desires, and that's what drives them to act. Well, the exception may be family members, and even that varies

That's why Husk's intent to comfort Angel after the later attacks him over nothing at the bar, looks really fake, considering the setting. At first I thought that "loser baby" where Husk insults Angel, was some sort of revenge and Husk laughing in the spider's face. But no, it actually turned out to be a comforting song that started their friendship. Husk literally had no motivation to want to help Angel, because he was annoyed by him all the time prior. If there was some kind of basis for their bonding, I would have believed it. But not like this.

And Angel had no reason to actually like that sort of comfort. I get it when your best friend or a family member cheers you up in a harsh way - you know them. And even when coming from people you trust that can hurt. Now imagine a complete stranger doing that to you. That's actually something that shouldn't be done - trying to playfully insult or jester a person you haven't communicated with for a long enough time to gain their trust. And to make this even more strange, Angel at first reacts negatively, but then suddenly snaps to liking that disrespectful way of comforting for no reason at all.

And why did Angel even vent his problems to Husk, a stranger bartender who he'd hurt before. Wasn't he actually afraid of being laughed at and of Husk using his trauma to spread gossip around or something?

Next, Sir Pentious. In the pilot (which is officially part of canon, mind you), he already felt like a joke sunday cartoon villain, but at least he had some edge to him that made him look like a sinner with some dark history. In the series however, he gets nerfed the very moment he steps into the hotel to the point where it's painful to look at

His tendency to abuse his henchmen, his physopathic demeanor, his hartred for Cherri (instead of embarrassing attempts to get blue balled by her), his sincere power hunger - where did all that go? Vanished in a blink of an eye. All that's left of a promising snake demon is a pile of fanservice. So morally unchallenging and harmless that a viewer theoretically simply cannot resist loving him

Well i'm kind disappointed. We don't even know in what way Sir Pentious had to improve, because the plot never focused on his past, his life goals, whatever made him want to lead turf wars and whatever awful things he did in life, what was the point where he started degrading... none of that. He just became a better person after one "sorry song" and acted perfectly innocent ever since and didnt put any effort into getting ready to sacrifice himself for other main characters

The sacrifice... to me it's baffling how fast the sinners, over the course of just 6 months, actually became Charlie's family figures and risked their lives for her hotel. Such pure child-cartoon-styled power of friendship, built in hell, with the aid of a princess who cant even think through her project of helping sinners without bringing them more trouble... realistically, Charlie would have had to fight angels alone (how convenient it is that no main characters died in that chaotic brawl, right?)

And Charlie herself is far too naiive and soft-natured for someone who is free to walk along the streets of hell looking at all the muder, rape and othe horrible stuff that's happening there. Given that she's 200, Charlie had more than enough time to built up her street smarts and guts and learn to be more practical and mindful, instead of staying with the mind of a 12 year old who needs other characters to do everything for her (Lucifer, Vaggie, Alastor) and then get praised for THEIR efforts. That's hell's royalty and our main character?

Aaand since sinners are portrayed as Charlie's "people" (as if they are a nationality), sweet babies who all deserve redemption and are called innocent by Emily (I can't believe how dumb the writers made angels be) - the true essence of exterminatons is never focused on. Adam and his exterminator army are seen in the wrong, like some kind of monsters who terrorize poor souls. However, think about this - child molesters, rapists, torturers, bullies, nazists, actual racists etc died in those exterminations. Doesnt that seem like something a lot of us would want? To have scum like this disappear as revenge for people they have hurt/driven to suicide?

Exterminations are not really an act of racism, bigotry or something like that. They are an excecution of criminals, which a lot of sinners are.

But the black and white writing is trying to conceal that rather prominent highlight of the rotten part of Charlie's plan (not all sinners deserve mercy or redemption). All that was needed was to make exterminators these icky "villains" who luuuv killing and are never willing to listen

All in all, a cartoon that has an ambitious premise that should be driven by psychological reasearch/analysis and dark serious themes... makes me roll my eyes with its cliche use of "power of friendship" and " strictly good main characters, strictly bad villains" tropes. Too bad such beautiful animation was wasted on such juvenile writing that never had any effort put into it

There shouldn't even be any villains or heroes in a setting like this. Allow the lead roles (sinners in hell) do something actually questionable and be unlikable, don't coddle the viewer in fear of making them even the slightest bit uncomfortable. Allow those, who opposes sinmers, have personalities and reasons, not cliche sociopathy for sociopathy's sake to cause forced sympathy for the main characters

Pristine "safe" writing should not have a place in adult cartoons. Or else they will stay a product that'd rather be watched by 7-14 year olds instead of adults (I can't picture a single adult over 22 who would unironically call hazbin hotel a show that tackles realistic issues in an observant way)

[melbatron5000]

Missing scenes?

Please, go insane with me. Again.

I'm still digging through the chiastic structure looking for Clues, and BOY HOWDY am I finding them.

Number one, I'm pretty certain I found TWO middle points.

There's one spot where the current show as it is meets up and extends out from. And another spot that isn't, but which I think is the True Middle. And I'll tell you what, I came at it a little bass-ackwards, and somehow accidentally wound up with the True Middle before I came across what I've been calling the Fool's Middle.

Okay. Great. Yay me. When I first found the Fool's Middle, I thought it must be the True Middle, and I'd been messing up this whole while. Except, I've been finding some very clear matches in some odd spots to the "right" of the middle, if we lay the story out in a left-to-right order. That shouldn't be. Chiastic structure is a mirror. Matches should be on opposite sides of the middle. But my assumed middle is working out MUCH better than the middle that actually falls in the center.

What the what.

Unless we're missing scenes.

Which brings me to find number two.

Several people have suggested that the scenes might be out of order, given the vehemence that Crowley shouts this at the demons before they attack the ball. I thought so too, and I figured the chiastic structure breakdown would show me what order they belong in.

Well, almost.

As I busily sorted through looking for mirror parallels, I started to notice that there's one chunk that has no real matches on the other side of the middle. Not the Fool's Middle, and not the True Middle. No real echoes, either.

The Resurrectionists minisode.

The present-day scenes that are interspersed with the Resurrectionists flashbacks have parallels. Just not any moments from the actual flashbacks themselves.

I figured I must just be blind, and decided to comb through that particular bit more thoroughly.

Here's the first thing I found:

Note 138: "We do a miracle so no one knows it's him, now no one knows it's him. Nice one, us." Hand-written note: "It's definitely Gabriel."

Note 134: Crowley brings Aziraphale to see the Gabriel statue in the 1700s. (1827, I know. They're notes, bear with me.) Hand-written note: "It's definitely Gabriel." "We do a miracle so no one knows it's him."

Okay, awesome, so there ARE mirror parallels in the Resurrectionists minisode. When Aziraphale says "it's definitely Gabriel" mirrors when no one knows it's Gabriel. Cool. No missing scenes. Yeah?

Oh, no. Not so freaking fast. Here's the next thing I found:

Note 160: Wee Morag is shot. (By the grave gun.) Hand-written note: "You are out of order!"

Note 161: "YOU ARE OUT OF ORDER!" Hand-written note: this is pretty much where the mirror of the Resurrectionists minisode should go.

Yeah. You'd think Wee Morag getting shot would have a solid mirror, right? But it doesn't. Unless you count Crowley yelling about demons -- or something -- being out of order. Hmmmm . . .

Okay, let's keep digging.

Note 171: Crowley vanishes down a hole. Handwritten note: Something's wrong -- like a hangover.

Note 170: Something's wrong, go to my friend. Hand-written note: Crowley vanishes down the hole to Hell.

Hot damn. Here we go.

Believe me when I felt a little bit like Aziraphale reading that his cocoa doth grow cold. A tad like Crowley was yelling right at me. At least, for a moment.

I can't find any other mirrors for Resurrectionists. I've looked. I'm not seeing anything.

Crowley can tell something isn't right. Something else is meant to be happening now, not a demon attack. And to him, it feels like a hangover -- that laudanum hangover, that ended in him getting sucked to Hell.

In the book, we learn that Crowley has a fine time trying to describe helicopters to Leonardo Da Vinci. In the Resurrectionists minisode, he tells Mr. Dalrymple he might want to wash his hands.

I don't think Crowley can see the future. In season 1, when Aziraphale asks him how the end of the world is going to go, he says rather irritably that he's never done it before, it's not like they let you go round again until you get it right. I don't think Crowley knows precisely what's wrong or what's meant to be happening when he feels that hangover mirror -- but his talent is time, and through that sense, he can tell whatever's happening isn't right.

Thus why he demands of the demons -- what are you doing here? What are any of you doing here? And then tells them, you are OUT OF ORDER!

The demon attack has plenty of parallels, it is supposed to happen -- but it's not meant to happen just yet. It's too soon. We need the Resurrectionist parallels first. Once we have those, the Fool's Middle falls away, and the True Middle takes its rightful place.

Now, my big question: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MISSING SCENES?

I'm NOT a fan of "The Magic Trick You Didn't See" theory. I don't think the Metatron has Dicky Bird to do with re-writing the Book of Life, which, by the way, we have no evidence of one way or the other even functioning as described. We have three different characters tell us two different things about it, and we never see it in action. Also, the only things that are missing and that has Crowley out-of-sorts are the Resurrectionist parallels. We're missing a couple of scenes that should match those. Just a few things. But important things, I should think.

Who took them? What events now suddenly didn't happen? And why were they taken?

Listen to me, I'm so wrapped up in this I'm writing like this is just fact. These are my thoughts. The chiastic structure has yielded some awesome stuff, stuff I think is really true. Is this true? Do I have this right? I don't know, and I've certainly been wrong about stuff before. But I do think I'm on to something here.

Also, now that I think of it for a moment, those are maybe not the right questions. DID someone take the missing scenes? Or did time jump forward past them? If time did just skip ahead -- hello, book shop clock -- why did it do that? And why can Crowley tell it did it this time, but isn't concerned about the other times? We all know about the book shop clock jumping ahead during the kiss scene, but the damn thing jumps ahead almost every time it's in a shot. Always ahead, though, never back. There are a lot of references to time, so I think it's important somehow.

[theside-b]

We really are living the Era of hustling gays on the BL-sphere. But who would’ve thought that Hwang Da Seul would be the one bringing duplicitous characters to KBLs?

The first half of the show plays all the expected beats from the director-writer: somber mood, grounded and realistic approach, intimate shots and this cold and harsh atmosphere, but I must say that when it comes to the craft this might be her best yet. Da Seul has technically never been better, the framing, angles, close-up shots, lighting, volume, you can tell she is doing the absolute most with very little she is given. The contrast between this and Where Your Eyes Lingers is striking, it’s amazing seeing how much she evolved since then.

Story wise, this is also a different one. Because while the first part could easily be taken as To My Star 2 depressed cousin the second half devolves into something entirely new and unique.

The moment Dohoe and Juyeong meet again something feels off, and not just because Dohoe vanished for twelve years. Yes, there is baggage between them, one dragging the past around and the other wanting nothing to do with it, but there is something more lurking around. Hints of what could be happening are slowly dropped along the way, other turns come without warning, the story being told here is still a novelty for KBLs.

Korean dramas as whole tend to depict perfect characters whose biggest flaws can be overcome or erased with the power of love. It’s not the case here. If anything, it’s the power of love that detonates the boys’ relationship and shows a different side of Dohoe that most didn’t see it coming when the series started. Juyeong was predictable for most of the run — the revelation that he knew everything about the scam was a nice curveball — and while we all expected Dohoe to change, seeing him take a dark turn was a (delicious) surprise.

He doesn’t make excuses, he has an evil side: Scamming his way to place where nobody bothers to look into his past, the series shows the many moments where he could’ve easily taken a different path, the openings to come clean with Juyeong, dragging Hyeon Ho with him and not letting go while knowing that he is just stringing him along. He could’ve cleared the mess he created, but as we know, he is committed to what he sets his mind to, it all boils down to him running from the past. None of that would’ve worked on the hands of a lesser actor; Nu Rim (in his first protagonist) and Seon (in his acting debut) are together another Da Seul staple: Couple oozing chemistry.

Whenever they meet in the first half the mood lifts, when they see each other in the second part the pressure rises and when Hyeon Ho is with them the tension skyrockets. Again, Da Seul has never been better behind the camera, she gets everything from them, every single emotion. But the show is not without it’s faults. My biggest gripe is with the time-jump, the twelve years gap felt like made mostly for shock value, could’ve been easily trimmed down, because such long spam of time required quite the suspension of disbelief in order for me to buy certain aspects and plot points. The show also tries to handle one particular storyline that doesn’t quite land for me.

Juyeong and Dahoe’s father relationship is very interesting. Abuser and victim find common ground and something changes, but we don’t see how that happens or how it come to happen, not fully. We get an idea, but that’s about it. Many saw it as some sort of redemption for the father. Personally, I didn’t read like that, there was no redemption for him, he was like that, violent, uncompassionate, desensitized and egoistical to the bitter end, the one element that left me curious was if he was really okay with having Juyeong as his son-in-law, they allude to this, the old bastard implies as much, but it’s left implicit, and then he dies. Oh well.

There is also the plot with the kid and the abusive parents. It was interesting having Dohoe dealing with that, but there is just so much happening that this particular storyline felt like an afterthought, so much so that it took me a bit by surprise when it resurfaced in the final moments.

That said, this one goes down the books as another solid entry in Da Seul’s filmography. That woman is always ready to put viewers through the wringer, and they will be happy to let her do so.

[gay-dorito-dust]

Hey! Could I request headcanons of blue beetle dating someone who's a fan of blue beetle but doesn't know it's Jaime?

Thank you! c:

I honestly didn’t know where to take this, so if this seems crap then that’s the case. 🦦🪲

Would ironically use the words ‘he’s a lot closer then you think.’ Whenever you rant talk about wanting to meet Blue Beetle much to your chagrin as you thought that this was just Jaime taking the piss. (Affectionately)

However this would be his attempt at subtlety in regards to disclosing his identity, however this would only happen when Jaime feels as though everything in his heroic life has calmed down enough for him to tell you of his secondary life without having imminent fear of the dangers he could possibly be unknowingly throwing you headfirst into without realising it.

Yet even if everything seemed safe, Jaime is still reluctant in letting you know, he just wants to keep you safe and sound and let him deal with the ass kicking; After all it came with the territory of being a protector in prioritising the well-being of others to the detriment of your own.

Jaime would use this to his advantage by keeping an eye on you when he knows you have to go somewhere on your lonesome. It’s not stalking, defiantly not, how could it when all he wants is to make sure your making it from point A to point B as safe as you could be on your journey there.

No street anywhere is safe at night so Jaime acts as your silent guardian…well as silent as one can if he wasn’t having a back and forth with Khaji-Da on whether or not what he was doing is considered stalking.

Khaji-Da: so you’re stalking them?

Jaime: no I *sight* I’m just making sure they’re okay, that’s they’re safe form a distance. It’s not creepy at all! Is it wrong to make sure that my partner is okay at night?!

Khaji-Da: …given what you’ve told me, have you ever considered the possibility that you might be the primary source of their unrest?

Jaime: …

Khaji-Da: they’re walking down the street and all of a sudden they’re getting a gut feeling that they’re being observed, they look over their should and to their horror, they catch sight of a silhouetted figure of disproportionate proportions watching them from afar; your partner is naturally going to fear us more then anything that’s potentially lurking in the alleyways Jaime Reyes.

Jaime: …you know I hate it when you make a good points-

He’s probably saved you as Blue Beetle once or twice and each time Jaime had to fight the need to hold you in his arms as tightly as he possibly could, in hopes it would ease the worry that continued to batter him on the inside even long after he got you to safety. Which fucking sucked but while Blue Beetle the superhero might not be able to hold you without raising a few brows, but Jaime Reyes, your beloved partner, certainly could.

So you often found it conspicuous that the very second Blue Beetle vanished, Jaime would appear not long afterwards but all of that was thrown away when you were then brought into his warm embrace as he whispered soft words into your ears as he walks you to his, where you’d both would later fall asleep from exhaustion.

You’d figure it out sooner or later because Jaime would probably have gotten so use to Khaji-Da that often times the thought scarab in his back would accidentally slip his mind, leaving you to find out by accident when seeing him change shirts or whether he comes out and tell you about it himself, before then proceeding to show you the scarab in his back as certain points of your relationship started to make sense now you had context as to why that was.

Either way Jaime would get to a point where he didn’t want to keep it as a secret from you anymore as it never feels right to him in keeping you in the dark.

So after you are made aware of his identity, Jaime would then just straight up teases you for essentially falling for him all over again but would make up for it by taking you somewhere and showing off his capabilities to the point khaji-Da would probably think this was some weird human courting ritual they aren’t aware of.

Anyway Jaime has always found his inner strength from the people he loves and since that you were one of those people who gave him that strength alongside his family, he felt even more invincible.

[adamnablelittledevil]

Reacting to The Vampire Lestat - Part V (with a bit of spoilers and maybe important quotes?)

Armand!

YAY!

Okay, what the hell is happening?

??????

Seriously, WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?

Am I lost because I'm reading the Brazilian Portuguese version and maybe it's not properly translated?

*Downloads an English PDF copy* Yeah, this isn't much better and it looks like it was poorly transcript.

I'm still not sure I'm following...

Well

Whatever

I still like this anyway?

Also, I can see I'll have to read at least this book twice anyway. Maybe more or even the whole chronicles.

Because since Armand showed up I'm DEVOURING this and I can see myself maybe missing a few details... I'll need to read it slower and savor it in the future. I also assume that knowing more of the lore will give me perspective on a future read.

Armand is never boring.

Still my favorite character. :) Let's hope nothing ever ruins that. :) /hj

Not one Lesmand/Armandstat interaction is wasted tbh, I don't care if they're vibing or hating each other's guts, they're always A MOMENT™.

Let's hope nothing ever ruins that. :) /hj

They also have some pretty valid and intriguing conversations, really.

The impression I get is that they want to stay close, but deep down know it's better not to because they're so messed-up and would be even more messed-up as friends or else (and maybe it's the or at least one of the reasons why they attract each other?), but there's some frustration in that acknowledgement too. Like, doing something because you should is not the same as doing it because you want to and... Well.

I mean, there's more I could say, but this is the short version of how I generally feel about them lol.

Can't wait to see all of this on season 3.

Assad is right, I want Armand to be unhinged too. So glad we're on the same page about all thigs Armand ever and that the spirit of Armand posses Assad on a daily basis so he can play him 100% the way I imagine him. SMILING THROUGH IT ALL, CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS MY LIFE RN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm also ready for more Lestat (Armand's version) and finally some Armand (Lestat's version). Let the battle begin. I wonder who will be more insufferable.

Little bit of Armand's back story. :/ I wanna put him in a bubble.

I don't really think I'll be interested in Marius, tbh.

Anyway... He's not here yet.

Gabrielle jumps from roofs like Cat Woman and Armand quickly and silently vanishes from places like Batman. I hope we keep the Gotham-esque vibes of these scenes. I think it's super cool tbh.

I also love seeing Armand talking to people telepathically? Feels so much deeper and kind of poetic, idk. Not to mention is such a cool concept. I hope the show explores more of that.

Also, when he stops blocking his thoughts and let's someone peek at his thoughts it feels intimate? And not necessarily romantic or anything like that, but just like, "hey, this is a little piece of my soul, I'm sharing it with you". Or maybe I'm too romantic and trying to find the beauty in everything lol.

But then he finally speaks out loud and it feels deeper and more meaningful as well? I don't know. Maybe I'm becoming insane.

Lestat went like 3 pages without mentioning Armand's beauty. I'm proud of him.

Nevermind, now he is mentioning it 50 times per sentence. Even more than he did before. It's like he regretted it and it's making up for lost time lmao.

Some of the words Lestat has used to describe Armand so far: beautiful, sublime, ethereal, exquisite, perfect, soft, saint, angel (there's more, but it's been so many synonyms for beautiful I can't remember... still, you get the point). Not to mention comparing him to a Caravaggio and Da Vinci paintings.

I feel like he'll run out of words to describe him pretty soon.

I guess we all feel pretty (not) normal about Armand.

This is also ruining it for me, because if someone doesn't describe me as "irresistibly beautiful" then what is even the point, really...

And it's not like they're a couple or anything, SO??? STOP!!!

They're not lovers, they're not friends, they're not enemies, they're a fourth and more sinister thing that not even them can classify, let alone my mere mortal self.

Anyway, I hope Lestat will be even more annoying describing Louis. He set the bar too high now.

I wonder if Louis appears (for a significant amount of time) on this book.

I hope so, but I don't know.

"But I was so glad it was finished. So glad that we could go on. Yet I held to the bars for a long time just looking at the distant woods, and the dim glow far beyond that the city made upon the lowering clouds. And the grief I felt was not only for the loss of him, it was for Nicki, and for Paris, and for myself." This is sad...

"So let him be your patron saint if you need it" LMFAOOOOOO.

Is Gabrielle wrong, though?

NO, SHE ISN'T!

Just have fun with your immortality instead of going on an uncertain quest to find Marius? Stop being stupid???

You'll probably just find danger or disappointment. Or both.

LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF REASON, LESTAT!

"And the sense of grief came back to me, the realization that we were really going, that it was finished with Nicolas and finished with the Children of Darkness and their leader, and I wouldn't see Paris again, or anything familiar to me, for years and years. And for all my desire to be free, I wanted to weep." So, he finally starts making a life for himself away from his abusive family. Then, he is forcefully turned into a vampire, has to live this double life with mortals, without ever being able to be completely open, honest and have real, deep relationships with them. Later, he turns Gabrielle, Nicki, meets Armand and the other of his kind, but they're all so troubled or with completely different interests... And it's clear as a day that they can't stay together anymore, he's slowly coming to the realization he's losing everything and everyone he knows and will soon be alone again... I'm (not) fine.

Also, this is so BPD-coded of him. He's had these pretty sad and traumatic moments, but he never allowed himself to feel those emotions for too long, he always found stuff to distract himself with, tried to see the "the good side" of things, embrace them, be positive instead etc, but you can only ignore it so much until it becomes such a big problem you can't possibly avoid anymore. And then the emotion hits 9483958345x harder than it would have if you processed things properly and had better coping mechanisms. Like, I get him, but OMG. Get him some vampire therapist.

Btw, Armand feels pretty BPD-coded too.

I also heard somewhere that Armand is a Scorpio?

And Lestat is another BPD Scorpio...

That would explain A LOT actually lmao.

End of "The Vampire Armand" chapter and they're parting ways.

So I guess I'll just rot and die, then?

Or...

...Armand will return in the worst possible way lmao.

I tried to find a gif of 2x05 saying "everything is fine!" to represent how I'm feeling right now, but failed, so consider it done anyway. Everything is (not) fine!

[soleminisanction]

The thing I keep coming back to, now that I've wrapped up the first part of "Batgirl, Repentant" and am starting to outline the second, is how much the book's hyper-focus on Steph hamstrings the story I think they're trying to tell.

I say I think because obviously I can't read the writers' minds so for all I know they taped the random lip service about hope and justice and fighting for the little guys onto the Stephanie-love-fest in a half-assed response to criticism, but I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that when the first arc ends with:

And that gets followed up two issues later with Steph telling Damian:

I want to take them at their word that that's what they're going for. But it's not the story they tell at all because, for all the lip service paid, there's not a single plot point that actually backs those themes up. Every single narrative element is instead 100% oriented around Stephanie, her feelings, her desires, and her ambitions, none of which involve helping or protecting other people.

Batgirl's first appearance in issue 1 isn't about bringing hope or protecting anybody, it's about, "Ooooh, who is this mysterious new Batgirl who's such a badass but looked down on by The Man for being a little chaotic? Ta-da, it's Stephanie Brown!!"

When she talks about promises being made to her mom (by which of course I mean lies, she's just lying to her mother) or the supposed "promise" she didn't actually make to Tim Drake, it's all framed as unreasonable expectations that other people are piling onto Steph's shoulders, without so much as a second thought for how the person she supposedly made these promises to might feel.

When Cass leaves her the Batgirl costume, it's not with requests to carry on the legacy or protect Gotham in her absence or even to look out for Barbara, it's all about Cass's relationship with Bruce (as though that was ever her motivation!) and then "Now the fight is yours, Stephanie" while she vanishes into the rain in her underwear. Like Batgirl is a toy she's letting Steph have her fair turn with now that she doesn't want to play anymore.

When Steph thinks about the symbolism of the Bat and of Batgirl, it's not about how it can be a symbol of hope and protection in the darkness of Gotham, it's about how it makes her feel powerful. Even when she worries about messing up it's framed as, "Nothing I do ever ends well" and "It's just a matter of time before I get caught," not concerns about the harm her previous attempts that "didn't end well" wound up doing to other people.

And despite the fact that there's a riot going on in the next few pages, she's not inspired to go out and help with that, but to assist a single dumbass cop who got in over his head.

And then again when Babs shows up to chew her out in the next issue, it's all about Steph and her safety. "You already died" this and "You have a death wish" that. Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, only gets to talk about the symbolism of Batgirl as it relates to Stephanie Brown -- "Wearing that Bat on your chest might scare off the smaller thugs, but you're literally asking, no, begging for attention from more dangerous criminals. You're a mark for anyone who wants to make theirs."

Again, even the fact that she fucked up in the past and hurt people is framed around Steph -- "The last time you tried being helpful, you accidentally brought Gotham to its knees." And while Steph pays lip service to "doing this instead of sleeping" because she "thinks it's right," she doesn't ever elaborate on what exactly is "the right thing" she thinks she's doing, and it's not like she's gone out to protect people. You can't even argue, like you maybe could with the street race, that she's doing a flashy display to show ordinary people there's someone on their side -- she's beating up random goons in an isolated chop-shop.

Then of course there's the fact that nothing about Scarecrow's whole Thrill plot makes any sense because he's not being written with any kind of coherent villain motivation, it's all just being done to set up moments for Steph. Why do some of his goons decide to spike the punch at a random college party and then run away at just the right moment to make themselves look as suspicious as possible? Because Stephanie's going to be there and they need to hook her into that plot.

And when Steph argues with Babs later about why they should work together to solve this case, does she express concern about her classmates or her university, or even point out that Barbara isn't working with an on-the-street agent like she has in the past and hey, maybe you'd be a little less stressed if you had someone to share the load?

Nope. It's just "I'm just as much a part of it now as you are!"

To say nothing of my eternal, teeth-grinding frustration over Barbara's characterization. "I'm only being so hard on her because I'm jealous that she's Batgirl and I'm not anymore." Fuck all the way off, Bryan Q. Miller.

This whole thing is so bad that when you get to the climax of this arc -- when they've tracked Scarecrow and his goons to their creepy hospital lair -- the stakes aren't that anyone is in danger, or that there's any chance that Scarecrow might be able to escape in the next five minutes before the police arrive. In fact, if Steph's actual motivation was to make sure Scarecrow saw justice, it would've been a better strategy for her to stay outside watching the exits so she could jump him if he tried to make a run for it.

But she doesn't do that. Because the actual stakes for the climax of the first arc are that if she doesn't swing in and beat the shit out of Scarecrow right the fuck now, the police will beat her to it and then Stephanie won't get the credit for saving the day.

They even try to clumsily raise the stakes by implying that Scarecrow works for Black Mask, a plot point that goes absolutely nowhere because -- whoopsie -- Black Mask is dead at this point and has been since before Steph came back to life. He only ever showed up again as a Black Lantern in Blackest Night, at which point Ivy fed him to a plant.

(They did not fix this in the trade paperback version BTW, I checked)

There's some effort to turn Steph's fight with Scarecrow into something more by having him spout some weird nonsense about how he's controlling people with drugs because, "Nobody truly has a choice little girl" while she represents free will fighting back against attempts to take it away, but that's seriously hamstrung by the fact that writing is all over the place.

Like, at the start of Steph's big dramatic speech, she's all but arguing against the concept of free will, echoing an earlier classroom discussion I've bitched about before, saying that people (by which of course she actually means herself) stay when things get tough "Because we don't know how to do anything else."

But on the very next page she poses the question again and answers it with... frankly complete nonsense.

Because the point isn't actually 'control vs. free will', the whole thing -- all of the forced, misunderstood philosophy that fills out this entire arc -- is actually just repeating the same question Babs was asking earlier, this time in metaphor -- why does Stephanie keep throwing herself into danger, why doesn't she just quit?

And her answers, apparently, are, "because this is who I want to be" and "because I don't know how do anything else." Neither of which spare even a passing thought for anyone but herself, which is kind of a problem if you're trying to present Batgirl's mission statement as bringing hope to the people around her.

Then there's the bit about "facing your worst self," which refers to slightly before this, when Scarecrow drugs Steph with Thrill (a move that makes no sense in-universe because again, Scarecrow is only here to set up set pieces for Stephanie and has zero internal logic of his own). What Steph sees during that sequence is her ex-boyfriend and previous identity tearing her down and telling her that she's not good enough to be a superhero, which implies that her 'worst self' is self-doubt, or possibly "letting other people make you doubt yourself." Again -- all about her, with other people framed as nothing but obstacles to her happiness.

And just to remind you-- she has no actual reason to be here. She's not "saving the city," the city is not under threat. She's not doing anything heroic by throwing herself into this fight. She's only doing this because she wanted the credit for saving the day. That's the only stake the story ever establishes.

It's like there's this standing assumption that she must obviously want to be superhero for selfless reasons, therefore they don't need to bring that up ever and can just focus on how much she wants to be one and how noble it is that she's willing to fight through pain and hardship to be one.

But that's just not how it works? Maybe if you were still writing for the Golden Age when the storytelling was simpler and characterization was optional, but not in 2009. Part of the purpose of a solo book's first arc is to establish/re-establish the core hero's motivation and, if it's changed, explain how and why.

Just as a contemporary example -- Red Robin sends Tim Drake off on what's literally a personal quest and spends its first arc establishing how he's darker and more alone than he's ever been before... but it still opens with him rescuing a kidnapping victim, reaffirming that, whatever he's going through and whatever he has to do to accomplish his goal, he's still, at heart, a hero who will put his own needs aside to protect an innocent. That's also the role that Tam Fox essentially plays in the second arc, giving him someone to protect even when he's isolated from the normal push and pull of the DCU.

Whether you're approaching Batgirl (2009) as a new reader who's never met Steph before in your life, or as someone who read her previous material, there is nothing in this first arc, or those that follow, that establishes her motivation beyond, "I want to be Batgirl and I won't let anyone tell me no." She'll occasionally say she's being selfless and heroic, but it's not backed up by her actions or her thoughts.

Perhaps the most blatant self-contained example of this "It's all about Stephanie and obviously she's a perfectly selfless hero so we don't need to bother establishing it," mindset comes in the denouncement of the first arc. They recreate the vow in the dark -- not the most iconic scene in Batman history but still one that's well-known, a moment that goes all the way back to the first appearance of Robin, when Dick and Bruce vowed an "undying oath" to fight together against crime and corruption and never to swerve from the path of righteousness, symbolically committing themselves to act as a light in the darkness and protectors of the innocent.

Batgirl (2009) recreates this scene... by having Barbara vow to support Stephanie Brown and only Stephanie Brown in everything that she does "for as long as she wants it" so she "won't go out alone" and end up in a chair like Babs did. Meanwhile, Steph's response boils down to, "Oh yeah totes me too," because, according to the book, she doesn't need to take an oath, it's just completely self-evident that she's already made her right choice and will obviously continue to do the same forever and ever, no doubt about it.

Two extra little details scattered throughout:

Through the entire series, Steph is constantly doing this obnoxious humble-brag thing of, "I'm Stephanie Brown, and I'm just a normal girl tee-hee" over images of her doing badass Batgirl things that are obviously supposed to be ironic, and she always uses her full name. The trade paperback version is literally called, "Batgirl: Stephanie Brown" because there's nothing else to say about this story. Tim Drake: Robin didn't use his full name this much and it was actually in the title.

And that's not even getting into how often they waste entire pages on splash images of just... Stephanie. Not Stephanie doing anything special, just, Stephanie, and we're supposed to be very awed and impressed by her because she's Stephanie Brown and she's Batgirl now wowie wow wow.

That one tiny little caption box in the upper-left corner of the last page of the storyline? That's literally the first and only time that the concept of "Batgirl makes sure everyone gets home to see tomorrow" is ever mentioned.

This his is all just the first storyline. This same pattern continues on into the rest of the book, only getting worse as they add in other Batfamily member guest-stars for Steph to show up and prove wrong, and stock civilians who do nothing but shower her with praise and adoration. The tiny little sprinkles they offer up of, "Oh yeah I'm doing this to bring hope to the people of Gotham!!" just don't compare to deluge of "Steph gets to be Batgirl because she wants to be Batgirl, that makes her the coolest motherfucker on the planet, and if you disagree you must be sexist."

---

TL;DR (and sorry this got so long) -- Bryan Q. Miller et. al seem to be either under the impression (or want to give the impression) that they're telling the story of Stephanie Brown, the plucky young girl who never gave up on her dream of being a superhero no matter the haters or setbacks she faced, and how seeing her succeed despite being so average and relatable inspires other average people to have hope and fight for a better tomorrow.

But the story they actually tell is of Stephanie Brown, a teenage girl utterly obsessed with becoming a superhero to the exclusion of all else, including her own well-being, future, and relationships with her friends and family, apparently just because she likes the way it makes her feel, has no self-control and can't imagine herself doing anything else, who is applauded and cheered for this by everyone she meets, save for a small handful of haters who are just there to be proven wrong, beaten up, or both.

The first could've been a good-ish story -- ish, because it doesn't actually engage with Steph's previous characterization, but that's a different post -- but it's just not the story they told.

[professorthaddeus]

butterfly effects

The air has been saturated with a sharp, tangy sense of urgency ever since the freeway collapsed, but here in the back alleys by Conrad’s home, the cobbled streets are cold as ever, the walls dark and damp from the recent brainstorm. Justin pads along by his side, a comforting presence at his feet, and Conrad could almost pretend it’s just another day on the job, on the way to his paper route.

Except for one thing. The Fix’s hulking form lumbers ahead of him, his shoulders barely squeezing through the alleyways. In the shadows, he practically looks like a wall himself—solid, unyielding stone, brought to life to eliminate any obstacles ahead of him. No, ahead of all three of them. 

It’s been a long, long time since any grownup took an interest in Conrad. Now, there are five grownups looking out for him. Trying to save him. 

It’s a lot. 

Well, maybe that’s not fair. Mister F—the owner of Sugah’s has always paid attention to him. Even if their interactions weren’t the most pleasant on Conrad’s end, the club owner always remembered his name and cared where he was. Well. Cared if he was too close to Sugah’s, at least.

The Fix keeps glancing back at him to make sure he’s following. It’s funny—one look from someone so intimidating would usually send Conrad scrambling into corners to hide, but he doesn’t feel that itch under his skin tonight. That gaze, concerned and watchful, those giant hands swinging by The Fix’s sides, capable of so much violence but so much care, too… they’re so familiar. Echoes of bright points in a dark, forgotten place.

The next time The Fix looks back, Conrad clears his throat and tries to project his voice far enough to reach the henchman’s ears above. “Um, Mister The Fix?”

“Just The Fix is fine, kid.”

Conrad swallows. “Oh, okay. Um. Earlier, you wanted to know why I trusted you so quickly, right? I didn’t really know myself, then, but I think I’ve figured it out.” He scuffs his feet, the words faltering on his tongue as the memories come into focus.

“Oh?” The Fix is giving him an encouraging nod.

“I… I think I know you. From before we met recently, I mean. You used to come to Madame Loathing’s, didn’t you?”

The Fix blinks. “Yes, I did. I still do. But I don’t remember seeing you there.”

Conrad shrugs. “I usually kept to myself when I lived there. But you… you were impossible to miss.”  

The other children would always get so excited when their benefactor came to visit. Conrad stayed back, but he still caught the man’s endless patience as he listened to Ronnie ramble about snakes, as he watched Matilda practice her magic tricks. Still felt the draw of a grownup who really cared, a grownup who was kind.

“You used to nurture the wayward interests, didn’t you? You wanted to protect them so that they could grow.” Now that Conrad remembers, it seems so odd that he ever forgot. Then again, it’s been a long time since he ran away. And The Fix’s visits had gotten less and less frequent over the years. Conrad frowns. “But now… you just do whatever the DA tells you to do, and the DA only cares about the big guy’s job. What happened?”

“Hey now, nothing happened.” The Fix’s brow furrows. “I do what I do for the big guy, same as any other worker here, and after a while, he began to value ambition the most.”

“But you’re so strong. You could do so much good if you just—”

The Fix’s mouth twists into a grimace as he rolls a shoulder. It’s probably just in discomfort, and he doesn’t move forward, but Conrad still flinches back reflexively, and Justin rumbles a low growl in warning. The Fix’s eyes soften, the irritation vanishing from his face.

“People come after you a lot, don’t they?”

“Well… yeah. I get it, though. People don’t like a little kid telling them what they should do. Like I just did with you.” Conrad winces. “Sorry,” he mumbles.

“There’s nothing to apologize for.” The Fix shakes his head. “I’ll be honest, I’m not very comfortable with your mission to change the big guy’s mind. But you’re a part of the mind, too, and that’s your purpose. Maybe you have a point.”

“No, you don’t have to say that, I shouldn’t have—look, I’m not trying to blame you," Conrad stammers. "I can’t really talk, anyway. I know I’m kind of failing as the big guy’s moral conscience here—oh sorry, not that I’m saying you’re failing, but…” He sighs, shifting his weight. “Most people’s consciences talk to them a lot, and actually make a difference. I mean, even Justin’s always telling me I need to do more.”

“Wha—no, I told you one time that maybe we could be doing a little more than just switching the front page of the newspaper.”

“Oh, right.”

Justin nudges Conrad’s leg. “I know you do the best you can, and sometimes that’s all we can do,” he justifies.

Conrad’s eyes well up with a familiar emotion. He’s so lucky to have this dog by his side. “Justin, you’re my best friend.”

“You’re my best friend.”

The Fix kneels, interrupting Conrad’s move to give Justin a hug. Conrad is suddenly struck with an image of this mountain of a man crouching down in the entryway at Madame Loathing’s to let Jimmy the prospective gymnast clamber all over him. “I’m glad the two of you have each other; you’re both really good friends. But you don’t have to do this by yourselves anymore. I’d like to be your friend, too.”

Conrad flushes. “I… I appreciate that, Mister—I mean, The Fix.” He looks down, fiddling with the fraying strap of his bag. “But I still don’t know if I can do more, even with help. I’d like to, but the one time I tried and it actually worked, I—I got the big guy hurt real bad, and…” An innocent kid died. Ichabod. Conrad shudders, his shoulders curling in on himself. Things have been crazy, and it’s all his fault. The collapsed highway, the darkened switchboard, the eyes being closed… he might’ve gotten the big guy hurt again.

The Fix tilts his head, considering him intently in a way that makes Conrad want to squirm away. The Fix hums awkwardly. “You know, back in the 70s, there was this man named Edward Norton Lorenz who developed a hypothesis that contributed a lot to chaos theory. He theorized that Earth’s weather patterns are pretty much impossible to predict perfectly because, for example, the smallest changes in atmospheric pressure can build into storms, or a gust of wind can send clouds on a completely different path.”

Conrad looks to Justin for help, but his friend looks just as bewildered as he feels.

“What?”

The Fix sighs. “What I’m trying to say is, I think I was right. You’re important, Conrad—you’re the butterfly. And it’s okay if you feel like you can’t do too much right now.” He ventures a smile. Conrad gets a feeling The Fix doesn’t do that much. The smile’s a little lopsided, but it’s gentle. “Even the tiniest butterfly can make a big change with just a flap of its wings.”

Conrad’s eyes widen. His first instinct is to protest—history has shown him that he can’t affect anything. He doesn’t deserve to, anyway, after the harm he’s caused. But maybe that’s not exactly true. After all, because of Conrad—or at least, because The Fix saw Conrad, he went from blindly following the DA’s orders without considering the consequences to actively lying to his boss, giving voice to his old desire to protect.

It’s too much. Justin presses against his legs, and Conrad worries at his lip, resisting the urge to curl up into a ball on the ground. There’s something fluttering inside him, an unfamiliar warmth settling tentatively alongside the ever-present whirlpool of guilt. It’s weird. It’s kind of nice.

The Fix stands, turning to face the industrial lights of Occipital Park in the distance. “Come on, we should probably get going to meet up with the others.” Conrad adjusts his bag and takes a deep breath, straightening his spine.

“Okay.”

The Fix is reaching out to offer him a hand. He takes it.

-----

also on ao3 (if you'd like to give your local fic writer some contraband dopamine kudos :p)

[gizkasparadise]

What is the worst, most technically inept drama that you secretly love? Tell us of the best badgood drama, the clunkiest dialogue, the most inexplicable casting, the hideously costumed yet most fun dramas, please.

🫥Anonymously yours🫥,

💜Purplehanfu😈💜🍇👾

dear complete stranger (<3),

man i love badgood dramas so much!!! i chose ones that are flatout objectively not good, but i was glued for them all. here's a few that are jumping out

triad princess (taiwan). it ends on a cliffhanger that will never be continued, the relationship building is non-existent, jasper liu basically plays himself yet still acts like he's doing a community service project, but omg it's cute and hit all the right notes for me. fave bonus is that one of the gangster henchmen falls in love with the FL's best friend, a shy boy who works at a mart and makes youtube covers

hold on, my lady (chinese). a bandit is offered a choice when she's caught during a heist: be executed or marry this aloof but beautiful but delicate son of the general. she chooses the latter, and hijinks ensue. made on a budget of pocket lint and just wacky, im going to rewatch this today, actually. fave bonus moment: the FL falls dramatically down and the ML breaks both his arms instantly when he tries to catch her

thumping spike & thumping spike 2 (korean). the two are barely related, but both deal with a competitive men's volleyball team! thumping spike 1 is about a washed up competitive female player going to coach a high school team to glory (just dont...think too critically about the age difference, there) and the second is COLLEGE EDITION with a love quadrangle between two identical twins, one of whom is a cheerleader for the team, the ace volleyball player who's too cool for school, and the WILDCARD volleyball player who gets mad when people call him gorilla. the second one is definitely worse than the first one, but neither are bringing home awards. i still watched them both in one sitting.

my heart twinkle twinkle (korean). this show is actually insane and a parade of toxic that i can never, in good conscience, ever rec to anyone. but gd did i watch the whole fucking thing. look at this fucking poster. this fucking poster looks like it was doused by a fake snow machine.

premise: Noble But Poor family has 3 daughters: the eldest, who is the caretaker; the middle who is Aloof and Ambitious; and the youngest who is A Fucking Menace. they are lead by their single father, who owns a fried chicken store

Rich but Dysfunctional family also has 3 children: the eldest, who is the only son and a fucking piece of work, the middle who is school colleagues with the other family's middle daughter and a hot mess who loves Da Club, and the youngest, who is clingy and gets into a ton of fights with the other family's youngest but is otherwise ok. they run AN EVIL FRIED CHICKEN FRANCHISE that is poisoning people through subpar ingredients!!

there's so much that's so wrong with this, im going to bullet point it from another post i made:

the entire premise is that there’s a fried chicken restaurant rivalry between two families but somehow there’s murder and slush funds and this guy who owns a string of fried chicken franchises named after himself (yeah) has direct access to seoul’s police commissioner at any given moment

one of the main actresses was involved in a scandal a little over halfway through production so they just….vanish her character/entire plotline like it never happened

the main male lead is toxic personified. him and li chengyin from goodbye my princess could co-author a dating strategy/forced-marriage-after-you-kill-your-girlfriend’s-head-of-household book because jesus christ. he literally screams that he hates women and he ends the drama (rightfully!!) in fucking prison

the second female lead disappears/creates a new identity and becomes a chicken chef student of the world. shes later in a love triangle between a single dad chicken shop interior designer and another vanilla guy

that's right, one guy’s job is he’s an architect for chicken restaurant interiors i cant

the main male lead leaves the main female lead’s father to die in a chicken-coop-themed arsony and then cha-cha slides into the son-in-law’s role during the father’s funeral and later MARRIES the female lead

the main male lead tells the female lead’s father’s grave that HE WON AND DAD LOST because the male lead is standing and the father’s in the dirt?!

a friend/almost!love interest of the second female lead dies tragically in a chicken delivery motorcycle chase????

it's the worst drama i've ever seen. i watched all of it.

kakafukaka (japanese)

this one is so gd weird and unappealing it somehow circled back around and became off-puttingly charming to me? so the premise is that there's a 20something year old woman whose life has gone to shit and she ends up in a sharehome with the most sexually dysfunctional bunch of people in the world. one of these is her ex, who tells her that she's the only one he can get a boner with (yeah) and asks her to help him get over his impotence in order to write his novel (yeah). if you read the whole show as kind of an exploration into sex without romance/love, it's as not bad, and there's something weirdly endearing about everyone--i really love the second female lead akari in particular. but it's not a good show, not by a long shot (MDL rating? 6.6), and the ship is dysfunctional at the very best. the ost somehow is great though?

speaking of trash dramas with great OSTs, love in sadness has some of my favorite songs:

okay that's enough for now!!!!

[genesisgijinka]

Do you have any tips for drawing backgrounds? Yours always look so nice

aww thank you! As for tips...

Tip #1:

Find references. I sketched the cover for chapter 4 three different times, because the first two didn't evoke the majesty of the Prism Tower in the way I wanted it to. And then I saw this

I think you can see how this translated into the cover

Tip #2:

Do studies. Be it from photos (your own or from a royalty free website like pixabay, but watch out for AI garbage bc the perspective is usually wrong) or from real life. It's not cheating, it's encouraged, and it's industry standard. Idc if you have photographic memory, get something from real life in front of your eyeballs and draw it. Try and keep your reference close to your drawing so that it's easier for your eyes to flick back and forth between the two. This is how you can train your eyes to really see what's going on in an image. Compare angles, shapes, sizes, and distances.

I use clip studio paint for Genesis, which has perspective rulers and they're super handy for speeding up the process (first image) and again, is not cheating. It's a tool to use in your arsenal. A little tricky to use, but once you get it down, it's fantastic. I also really recommend using other mediums, like a sketchbook and a sharpie (2nd image) or dinking around in Paint (3rd image). Limiting yourself in challenging ways is a great way to grow fast. Experimenting like this is also great for finding a style or technique that you click with

Tip #3:

Be aware of the cone of vision. This is a technical skill, but it's one of those things that you don't necessarily have to draw out every single time (tho I'd recommend doing it at least once to burn it into your memory better). If your drawing is looking wonky, the cone of vision being breached is a likely culprit. I'll link a video to someone who can explain how to do it better than I can.

Tip #4:

Learn how to draw things the same size in perspective. This is probably the thing I use the most. For example;

You have a tiled floor in a room. The lines going to the vanishing point are easy to do.

But how do you do the horizontal ones going across the floor?

Step 1: draw two horizontal lines, and put an X in one of them, going from corner to corner

Step 2: Going from the center of the X, trace a line back to the vanishing point

Step 3: from one corner, draw a line that goes through where that center line hits the tile edge

Step 4: at the end of this new line is where the next tile will start

Step 5: Rinse and repeat as needed

Ta-da! You now have tiles that are all the same size

This also works for vertical things like windows or telephone poles

One of the most useful applications I've found this trick for is making sure that everything is the right size. Sticking a person in a drawing is an instantly recognizable way to show scale

Whilst sketching the cover for ch 4, I'd accidentally made the doors way too small in the buildings in the back, so I slapped some people down to make sure they were the right height (This is in 3-point perspective, so the trick still works, regardless of if it's 1-, 2-, or 3-pt perspective owo b )

[dyrewrites]

Before Deluca -- be careful who you eat

Careful of footing, I kept light and quick, though not near as quick as he—nor as light, his footfalls unheard even by my ears. We had our target in seconds, with my arms to pin theirs and Lucient to keep a nail at their throat in case they fought.

They didn’t. Beyond a gasp for our fangs they said nothing and I should have noticed how their eyes shined. But I noticed only the heady sip of their blood.

And the gun.

With a distinct click of being readied, its scent was next to us, too close to us.

Aimed at Lucient’s head.

“It’s okay, Mar,” the neck we were in assured, giggling as we pulled away, “they’re just vampires.”

The gun was lowered, with a scoff, “then this would’ve been useless.”

“You don’t have to stop,” our prey said, smiling wide and white, her teeth far larger than expected—no fangs to speak of but they weren’t human either, ever so slightly pointed every one. Our expressions earned laughter, “really, you can take more, it’ll mess you up a bit, but not much.”

Her armed partner, another woman from what I could tell, added throaty laughter to the first, “my Bren here’s got the least maddening blood, but lot of you bitey types get drunk on us. Even had a few follow from the last town. Clingy things you can be.”

My love, was as far as I managed for confusion.

Lucient didn’t fare much better, I’ve no idea, treasure, but her blood sings so sweet...it begs me back.

Heady song it is, I agreed, as even the sip we had sparked in new ways, thrumming through my veins, vibrating along my skin and begging me to take more and more and more.

So more we took, and ‘Bren’ swooned for our gentler bites and deeper draw, “Mm, this one’s so warm and sweet, the other so sharp and cold...I might cling.”

Her swooning stretched to moans, hands finding our heads to hold us tighter—our own holds lost to the taste of her.

A stronger hand yanked hers free of us before it set itself on my shoulder, “alright, that’s enough, off the wife.”

Lucient was tugged away next and after licking what dripped off our own lips, we lost ourselves to the thrum of the blood and went for one another’s.

That blood took what desires we held, ever-present for our want of the other, and set them aflame. Memory whimpered of ichor in how it heated us, but what we supped was not near so numbing and greedy. Close to draining an inebriate, we were essentially drunk, only more so. All sensation sang with desire, enhancing all we felt, all we wanted—it was fortunate, for all involved, we wanted one another and not a bloodbath.

Inhibition did vanish in its embrace, however, as did decency. With no idea what we’d tasted, we were gifted more of their laughter—in purred giggles—as Lucient yanked me into bushes.

Now, dear reader, you would probably enjoy an account of our drunken roll in the dirt and rocks, and I would enjoy relaying it for you. Problem is I do not remember it.

I recall my love’s chill lips and icy fingers digging into my coat to shove me so sweetly into the grass...

→Before Deluca Taglist<-

// feel free to ask to be added or removed ^.- //

@watermeezer @starbuds-and-rosedust @thespacelizard

@your-absent-father @mr-orion @cowboybrunch @olliexwrites

@rowanmgrey-author @the-golden-comet @wyked-ao3 @leahnardo-da-veggie

@lychhiker-writes @aziz-reads