#he was to some extent trying by keeping the kids out of the fight

[hmsmilkbone]

massive jjk spoilers, especially if you're anime only.

man. I hate that Nanami never worked through his trauma. I mean, obviously that's the par for the course for every adult sorcerer we've seen, outside of MAYBE Yaga. But Nanami refusing to marry so long as he's a sorcerer. Saying no one would care if he was gone. His depression and ptsd had him cornered, and he coped by cutting himself off from anyone and everyone that loved him.

Gojo, Yuuji, and Nobara would be hard to keep at arm's length, and I can see how Nanami would struggle to cut himself away from them. I feel strongly that he would have lived if he hadn't experienced the reconnection to his ideals via Gojo introducing him to Yuuji (as well as the baker he visited on his lunch break.)

I hate that the trauma keeps being inflicted on him and others as they struggle through what could have been avoided. As much as it seemed Nanami was at peace in Gojo's hallucination (afterlife? In between space?), I think he was just so depressed and exhausted, and it hurts my heart to no end that he died there.

No payoff. He fights and fights and fights, and for what? His character arc had so much potential. Death is certainly A TYPE of conclusion for a character, but it feels so lazy. For Nanami to have pushed himself to find optimism for the future as well as care and concern for others despite the odds, and have it reward with suffering and death. Idk. I really cannot fathom what the thought process is. He would have been down and out of the fight easily.

I have considered if maybe he was killed because his passive suicidal tendencies were easier for him to stomach if they took the form of self-sacrifice, but I don't know. I'm not sure that question will ever be answered, and I know it hurt him so much that Yuuji had to see him die. Just so unfortunate all around. His growth was not realized in a meaningful way, and it is very upsetting.

[nathaslosthershit]

Tensions Fall (Teen Dad!Oscar AU)

(part 2 to Tensions rise, also apart of this AU although these two fics can be read separately)

A/N: 7 weeks since the once happy couple have actually talked. 7 weeks since they shared a bed, but with their two toddlers starting camp for the first time, maybe they can try and mend their problems.

Warnings: Parental separation, a super mean mom like the ones I have to deal with at work, angst WITH A HAPPY ENDING

May 28, 2024

It had been 7 weeks since the fight in Suzuka that effectively ended Oscar and Honey’s relationship. It had been 7 weeks since Oscar had taken a leave of absence from racing in order to try and make amends with his family. He still trained everyday, he still worked with McLaren and did Sim Racing, he just never attended any of the Grand Prixs. 

It had also been 7 weeks since Honey and Oscar had shared a bed. 

Since that night she left their room, she had stayed in her kids’ hotel room till they got home. She then packed her things and moved into the guest bedroom. Things had been far from amicable between the two parents. In the beginning, Oscar had done all he could to try and make up with Honey but when she continued to give him the cold shoulder, he had given up and reciprocated her attitude. The children, about to turn 4 years old, didn’t know the full extent of what was happening at home. They knew that when they would go to their parents’ room in the morning, only Dad would be there, but this was easily explained away when Honey told them that Oscar snored too loudly and it kept her up at night.

They had of course also noticed how different their parents had acted towards each other, and how often their father was home now, but they just didn’t question it because at the end of the day, they were too young to begin to understand, and they still had two parents who loved them as much as they could.

Since the fight though, it was clear Oscar was making much more of an effort to take his kids out to do activities. At first it was nice, Honey got some time alone, something she rarely got anymore, but the more Oscar took over planning activities, the more she began to hate being alone. After three, almost four, years of being around her kids almost 24/7, the silence started to eat away at her. And in turn, her kids started to miss their mom more. 

Finally though, Honey had put her foot down, after a long conversation, ending in a fight, Oscar had agreed to more full family activities, even if it meant having to pretend with Honey that they were still the happy and perfect family. 

While their kids loved going to the park as a family, any parent around could see that the two parents watching their twins on the bench were fighting but trying so hard to conceal their whispered harsh words behind smiles. 

With the twins' fourth birthday coming up on June 8th, Oscar and Honey had been stressing on how they were going to plan their birthday while they couldn’t get through a conversation without being at each other's throats. They also had the kids’ first day of camp coming up May 29, a day that may seem insignificant to most parents, but as the kids had never been to preschool, nor a daycare, camp was their first introduction into that whole system. It was a big step for everyone.

Honey had been trying to prepare the kids the best she could for their first day at camp. She knew they didn't fully grasp the concept and she was nervous about leaving them alone, scared they would feel abandoned as child-care with non-familial adults wasn’t something they had experienced with their mother being a stay at home mom, only ever enlisting help from grandparents, cousins, and even ‘honorary uncles’ such as Logan and Lando. She had to keep telling herself that in the end, they will at least have each other. 

Oscar and Honey decided to make a day of it. Camp wasn’t until 9, so the pair took the very excited Hudson and Frances out to breakfast where the 3 year olds managed to cover themselves head to toe in maple syrup and chocolate from their pancakes, causing them to have to rush home to change, thus leading the family to a late arrival to the preschool building that the camp was held in. 

“We are so sorry, oh my goodness!” Honey said to one of the two teachers who were clearly waiting for them outside the door to the classroom.

“We decided to take these two to breakfast and they got more food on their clothes than they did in their mouths. Which reminds me, I added two extra changes of clothes to their bag in case they need it.” Oscar added, causing Honey to shoot him a glare that was luckily not seen by the younger of the teachers, as the younger teacher was too busy ogling at Oscar to notice. It was her that added the clothes to their bag, it was also her idea, he was being petty by taking credit.

After a few moments of silence as they waited for the woman’s reply, she managed to snap herself out of whatever daydream she was concocting only minutes after meeting the young father in front of her to reply with a quick, “No problem! We know how these kids can be.”

The older woman next to her clearly could sense her coworker was a little two focused on one of the parents and pointedly urged her to take their bags to their cubbies while she sorted the family out, which Honey was grateful for. She may have not been with Oscar anymore but that lady didn’t know it and had no right to eye fuck him in front of her and her children of all people. 

“Why don’t you all say goodbye out here, we are just about to start morning meeting with the other kids.” The older woman said as she stepped to the side to give the family privacy, thought she was close enough to hear all they would say.

Oscar and Honey both felt tears begin to form as they squatted down in front of their kids. 

“Alright, Mommy and Daddy have to go now, but you both are going to stay here and make some new friends. I know this is new and might be a little scary but if you guys get through today, we can all go get ice cream later. How does that sound?” Honey asked, nervous one of her kids was going to break down in tears at any moment. 

“Okay! Bye Mommy, bye Daddy!” Frances yelled as she ran through the open door to the classroom, clearly ready to get started.

Oscar and Honey weren’t necessarily shocked at what their very clearly extroverted daughter had just done, but they still had expected a little bit of pushback from her. They could see the older woman by the door laughing softly to herself at that interaction. 

Their son, Hudson, was less enthusiastic. He didn’t cry, which they had fully expected him to, but he gave them crushingly tight hugs, or as crushing as he could manage, and a quick kiss on the cheek before following after his sister.

Wiping away tears, they both stood up and laughed once they looked at each other's faces, realizing they were both far more of a mess than their kids.

“Wow, maybe we should have been giving ourselves pep talks for weeks instead of them” Oscar joked. Honey laughed, it was the first normal interaction they had had in what felt like forever. 

The older woman, still by the door, quickly joined in, “Oh don’t worry, we find parents are usually the ones with the most trouble at dropoff, but that moment they find you both after a day of camp or school, you will feel just how much they missed and love you. Plus you two are young, you’ve got plenty of more time to make more of those babies. You have grown yourself a real sweet family by the looks of it. Relax for a few hours! Enjoy the time off, maybe even add to your family.” The woman said, laughing, as she closed the door.

“Did she really just suggest we go make more babies?” Honey asked in disbelief.

“I think she did, yeah.” Oscar answered, just as confused as she was. 

The air felt light as they both walked to their car, relishing in how nice it was that they weren’t arguing, realizing how miserable they had been.

But that didn’t last long. 

“Come on, Oscar, you can’t be that dense! She was so clearly eye fucking you!” Honey argued. The conversation in the car had been light for a few minutes until Honey made a comment about the younger teacher and unintentionally started an argument.

“She was not! And if she was, who cares? We aren’t together anymore, you can’t get jealous over something as trivial as someone who thinks I am attractive. Sometime in the future I will get a partner so you better learn to stop being jealous.” Oscar yelled. He didn’t mean it of course, he knew even if he and Honey never got back together, he would remain single. She was the only one for him.

But what he had said, wording it in a way that made Honey fully think about their situation really tore her apart. Yes, they were separated, but she never felt like they were fully broken up. And from what he said, it sounded like he planned on moving on much faster than she ever would.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, she decided to not dignify his comments with a response. Once exiting the car, she swiftly went to the guest room she had been staying in since the separation and slammed the door.

After a few minutes in the car, Oscar had mustered up the courage to apologize, knowing what he did was uncouth. Hearing her cries as he walked up to her door made him stop just short of knocking, deciding maybe it was better to give her a bit of time for now and come up with a way to make it up later.

After two hours of contemplation, Oscar had decided to get a lunch reservation at her favorite restaurant that always had a live band playing. It was impossible to get a day of reservations but with a bit of bribing, he had managed to pull it off. What was also nice about the band was that they could sit and eat silently without any awkward silence. If they were going to fight, they didn’t need to speak. 

She wasn’t crying when he knocked on her door, having managed to seemingly get all her emotions out in the two hours by herself, then clean up to look presentable for pick up. But now she felt empty, like a shell of a person in a house with a man who once loved her to pieces but now seemed to despise her, and no kids because they were away at camp. 

“Come in.” Was all she said.

“I um, I got us a reservation to your favorite place. I understand if you aren’t up for going- or if you’d like to go alone, but I did kind of bribe them so one of us at least has to go, I fear.” Oscar muttered out fast, clearly sensing the awkward energy between them, not knowing whether they were going to ignore the fight or not.

But Honey’s heart burst at the idea of him trying so hard to get into her favorite place. She always urged him to use his name to get into places, like Lando loved to do, but he was always too humble to do it, so it meant even more that he had this time. 

“That… sounds wonderful. Thank you, Oscar.” Was all she said as she started to tear up again but quickly turned so he wouldn’t see. “Let me get my stuff and I can meet you in the car.”

The energy in the car wasn’t light like it was before, but it also wasn’t heavy. A comfortable silence stayed between the two until it got too much for Honey and she burst out into tears, seemingly unprompted. 

“Darling, what's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Oscar asked, openly concerned for her well being for the first time in what felt like years.

“I c-can’t take it, Oscar! We used to have so much love for each other, god, you used to look at me like I hung the stars in the sky, now you can’t seem to look at me for more than a second without realizing how much you hate me now. Then after saying you are going to move on to someone else- you do this really sweet thing and I am- I am so confused and hurt and don’t know what to think or do!” Honey rambled, everything truly coming to the surface. Everything she thought, everything she felt, everything she had tried too hard to push down and pretend wasn’t there.

“Honey, I have never hated you for even a second,” was all Oscar was able to reply as he registered everything she had just said.

“What?”

“I don’t think I am capable of it. Truly. I have tried so hard to be the best I could be for you after the fight. I stopped racing, I planned more activities with the kids, but I couldn’t do anything right. I let rumors continue about you making me stop racing, which I wanted to stop but was told to leave alone. I took the kids to do activities and left you out too much. When you continued giving me the cold shoulder, I gave up when I should have kept fighting. I then tried to love you less, to make it hurt less, but I couldn’t, even if I acted like a dickhead to you. I am so sorry, Honey, and I would never in a million years be with someone else, even if you had an entire other family and were happily married. You are it for me, always have been, always will be.”

With all finally being said, the two went to lunch happier than they had been in weeks, ready to work on their relationship. It was surely not going to be easy, but how they had been these past two months had broken them enough that they were certainly willing to try. 

Near the end of the meal though, things once again got tense. These two couldn’t catch a break it seemed.

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, called Oscsar out of the blue and as the phone rang, Honey’s heart sank, awaiting Oscar’s reaction.

“Shit, I should get thi-” 

“It's okay. I promise.” Honey said, already feeling doubt beginning to creep in.

She couldn’t hear much of the conversation as Oscar quickly walked out the door to talk to Zak. He was also turned away from her so any chances of learning information by reading his facial expressions went out the window.

Finally, he returned to Honey biting her nails waiting for what he would say to her. She already started to panic thinking he could have to go to work, race again, and this vicious cycle would never end, that nothing would ever be right between them.

“What did he want?” She asked.

“Asked when I would be ready to come back to race. I said I didn’t have a date in mind. He told me to come in next week for a meeting on it, but I said I wouldn’t make a decision without talking to my family. I am not going to lose you all over this.” He reassured her. 

Honey smiled, doubt leaving as quickly as it had come. Until she herself got a phone call, this time from the camp her kids were at. Stressing that they had missed pick up, she realized after checking the clock that they still had an hour and a half. Confused once more, she answered the call.

Being told on your kids' first day away from you that there was an issue you needed to go deal with immediately, that you needed to fill out both incident and accident report forms wasn’t something that the young parents had envisioned for themselves. 

Rushing to the classroom, Oscar and Honey saw both of their kids crying in the hallway with the older teacher when they arrived, accompanied by another mother and her upset son. Concern laced their features as they took in both their kids, looking for any hints of injury on the two, but they seemed fine, apart from the crying.

“God, don’t tell me these two kids are the parents, no wonder this happened.” The other mother muttered under her breath. Before Oscar could question her, the older teacher spoke up.

“It seems there was a problem between the kids today.” She began, clearly trying to mediate the situation before it got ugly between the parents. “Mattias here stole a toy Hudson was playing with and pushed him over when he tried to get it back. In turn, Fraces bit the Mattias. It didn’t even leave a mark so I know it wasn’t hard, and both kids got a talking to as well as exchanged apologies, but it seems that they might need to go home early for the day to recuperate. We will certainly work on sharing and using our words tomorrow.”

Both Honey and Oscar were shocked. While Hudson was quiet and they had been worried it would make him a target in the future, and they knew their daughter was fiercely protective of her twin, they didn’t think she would result to biting.

“Wow, alright. You two, let's discuss this in the car, yeah?” Oscar said, ready to leave the place as he felt the wrath of the other parent glaring at him. “Really? You are just going to walk away without so much as an apology to me and my son? Unbelievable.” The mother scoffed. “This is why young people shouldn’t be parents. Clearly you two need to grow up just as much. I pray your already terrible daughter grows out of this and doesn't end up like you, spreading her legs too young and becoming up a teen mom because of it.”

Both Honey and Oscar were stunned. They had faced backlash before, sure, but never to their face, and never from someone so clearly in the wrong.

“Excuse me?” Honey asked.

“Oh, you heard me.” The mother replied.

“No, I don’t think I did, because what it sounded like was you were asking for an apology for something your kid started, because I am sure as hell my kids do not have sharing problems. Then when my three year old daughter retaliates to seeing her sweet and vulnerable brother being so blatantly bullied, even though she apologized, you believe you and your snot nosed brat deserve anything else. Guess what, we don’t owe you shit. And while you are so worried about how our kids will end up, why don’t you worry about your own child, who clearly takes after his bully of a mother. Grow up, asshole.” Honey retaliated. She shouldn’t have sworn in front of the kids but damn was it wonderful to see the look on that lady’s face. 

Oscar had never been more turned on by Honey in his life.

After the fight, the family of four got out of there as soon as they could, stopping for ice cream on the way home. They hardly scolded Frances more than a “If someone does something mean, you can’t bite them, use your words” to which she replied “Like Momma did with that lady?” 

The kids were playing quietly in their room once Oscar got alone time with Honey. 

“That was the sexiest thing I have ever seen.” He said, arms circling her waist.

“When I went full bitch mode on that lady?” She asked, laughing at the desire so evident in his eyes.

“When you stood up for your family, and cursed that dickhead out.” He replied as he started kissing her neck.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, I liked it too but in a different way than you did.” She laughed.

Laying on the bed, cuddling as they basked in the love they still had for each other. Oscar managed to ask the question that had been plaguing him for weeks.

“Honey, will you please move back in here and be with me again? I miss you too much.” Oscar pleaded.

“Fine, but you need to work on another proposal. It is only fair since this all kind of started because of you.”

“Deal, this time I will knock your socks off with my proposal, but first I intend on showing you just how much I missed you.” He said as he began to kiss her deeper and more passionately.

Life was starting to get much better. 

[brucewaynehater101]

I just want good angst about Bruce desperately trying to parent Tim but realizing he fucked it up

or Bruce realizing he kinda sees tim as a father figure in a weird way

or the bats all realizing how Tim’s been forced to mature quickly so he can take care of them, and he won’t stop trying to be the adult in situations even after the bats try to make it so he doesn’t have to

There are a few fics out there that center around Tim and Bruce's relationship after Bruce realizes how bad he treated Tim. "Grudge (I hold none)" by reinersbigtits. "Just How Much I Love You" by sElkieNight60. Honestly, a bunch of sElkieNight60 fics have Bruce trying to be a better parent. Their fic "Redraw Our Expectations" showcases Bruce trying to parent Tim and the teen finds that strange, weird, and restrictive. They chat about it.

I sadly haven't seen any fics where Bruce considers Tim to be his father. I have seen a few that describe Tim as his closest confidant or mental support, but none about the father hc/au :(

If you want some quick angst about Bruce seeing Tim as a father figure, here's an idea:

Bruce is ruminating on his kids. As he's going through his mental list of the kids (perhaps trying to remember where they all are), he realizes that it's an effort to add Tim to that list. At first, Bruce clocks it as the older man being a horrible parent to Tim or needing more time with his son. Bruce wants to fix this and sets out to do so. He tracks down Tim to spend some time with him.

Halfway through the hangout, Bruce starts to relax. They are both having a good time, chatting and laughing. It only changes when he notices Tim's subtle nods, his slight mannerisms that encourage Bruce to keep talking, and the scrunch at the corner of Tim's eyes that indicate he's proud. It's an errant thought of the older man, but one that rapidly changes his worldview.

Tim acts like Alfred.

Tim acts like a father to Bruce.

Tim has always acted like a father to Bruce.

What has Bruce done?

The comment about Tim continuing to be the "adult" or "mature one" in the situation because that's all he's known hurts. If you add that hc to the one where Tim is constantly told to "be the bigger person" when it comes to being insulted by his traumatized family members, that's painful.

Alright, let's build on this hc/au. I'm going to use subtle canon background clues to create a probable psychological assessment on Tim's behaviors. The reasonings are all hc.

Tim was emotionally neglected and abused by his parents (not nearly to the extent of fanon and his parents did love him, but that doesn't change their emotional distance or the harm Jack did after his coma). One could hc that, due to the limited time he spent with them before they left again, Tim tried to keep the peace when they were there. He wanted to spend the time with his parents not fighting, even if that meant choking down his own emotions/needs, placating his parents, and overall keeping a pleasant demeanor around them regardless of passive aggressive insults (looking at Jack here).

If his parents had marital issues, like fighting and insulting each other in front of Tim, the child might have tried to mend their fights and solve their issues in order to spend more time with happy parents. It's a helpful behavior that could've been praised by Jack and Janet, leading to Tim continuously uptaking a mediator role.

This would morph into a people pleasing attitude that heavily clashed with Tim's independence and lack of authority in his life. This is what enables him to be suited for kicking a depressed, angry Bruce into his healing arc (enables, but doesn't excuse Bruce's reliance on a child nor condone it). Tim would probably insert himself into Dick and Bruce's relationship.

Unlike his parents, Dick and Bruce probably weren't happy an unrelated kid was mediating their relationship or getting in the middle of their arguments. Because of their contant rejection to Tim's efforts, the kid's behavior could morph into a more subtle and subterfuge manner. This comes in handy when Jason and Damian come around (because they for sure would not listen to Tim's advice).

Tim, because he's spent his entire life managing other people's emotions for them, would understand where Damian and Jason are coming from as they hurt him. It is painful, and he may hold some resentment towards them (and a frozen anger), but he's used to yanking back his emotions and shoving them into an overfilled box. That's the easy part.

What's burdensome for him is the family. After realizing the lengths Tim goes to in order to ensure their bonds stay strong, they keep pressuring Tim to release some of his responsibilities. They want the relationships to be more equal.

Tim can't, though. If he lets go of his tight grip on holding the family together, he'll have to face that box of emotions he shoved down. He'll have to work through all the pain, anger, betrayal, grief, and desolation all of his family members gave him. If he accepts that he shouldn't be taking on so much emotional labor, he would have to face that he shouldn't have been subjected to so much abuse (from the Drakes or the Waynes).

Tim can't do that without falling apart.

He can't keep his hold on the family's support beams either.

It's not healthy nor productive for Tim to keep his position. Without releasing the pressure from his back, Tim will collapse and take the Waynes with him. He's too scared to let go, though. Will he survive the break? Will he have a place with the Waynes if he's not holding them up?

[starless-nightz]

Okay so I saw whose Daughter of Hestia headcanons (my compliments to the chef) and I also saw you write angst... see where I'm going?

So, might I request headcanons for the child of Hestia getting injured after a battle and just how that might impact the people at camp/morale

Not sure if this makes sense, so sorry about that, but thank you.

Child of Hestia getting injured in battle

note -> Glad you liked the HCs! Yes i do write angst, it just happens that either no one ever requests it or i dont have any idea for the requests.

warnings -> none.

content includes -> angst, the campers are pissed, reader is heavily injured.

The entire camp is shocked when you get hurt. As Hestia's only child, you're the one everyone associates with warmth, safety, and tranquility—so it's profoundly unnerving to see you hurt. It's like there has been a crack in the very foundation of their house, and it sends them reeling to the very core of their bones.

The campfire is chillier without you. Even at the infirmary recovering, your presence is missed. The usual comfort lingering around the campfire ebbs and the gatherings by the fire are not the same. Campers draw closer to the fire but are sans the warmth they're so used to because of the absence of your quiet, calming energy.

Campers take it personally, at least the ones that know you well. The more battle-hardened demigods—the children of Ares and Athena among others—find themselves feeling an anger, rare and deep, toward whatever got to you. To them, you are this sort of symbol of the gentler side of camp life, and seeing you get hurt as some sort of attack on the very heart of what they are fighting so hard for.

Hermes' cabin is affected the most. Although they are normally known to be a playful bunch of kids playing pranks and pulling all sorts of mischievous antics, they're subdued when you're injured. They miss your soft laughter and how you always offered to help clean up after one of their more chaotic moments. They band together to make sure your cabin is looked after while recovering, as means to repay some of the comfort you've given to them in return.

The mood in the infirmary is grim, yet determined. Will Solace, the healer of the camp, treats you with extreme care; after all, your well-being means the world to the camp. He's stern and intent, rarely leaving his post, ensuring that you are receiving all the best possible care. The Apollo kids put in an all-out effort to heal you, aware that it will make a great deal of difference to the morale of others.

Your closest friends refuse to leave your side: duty-operated, that is, they get shifts sitting beside your bed, trying to keep things light-hearted, telling stories, or making quiet jokes. You know that deep inside they're worried, yet they know you will not like seeing their anxiety, and so they try maintaining the usual cast of characters for your benefit, even when it's hard to camouflage worry in their eyes.

Camp activities are much more subdued now. Training sessions and sparring matches are nowhere near as energetic, and even capture the flag is a little more subdued, less peppered with shouts and playful competitiveness. There's a sense among the campers that they should be more careful, like the idea of someone like you getting injured has made them all realize that they're vulnerable.

The other campers make up for your lack, though: Demeter children care for the garden you were always in charge of, the kids from Aphrodite make common places of the camp cozy to the possible extent, and so on and so forth. Everyone tries their best at keeping the spirits up at the camp while you are recovering, but they really do miss your personal touch.

People find themselves visiting the hearth more often, looking to the proximity of the fire somehow reuniting them with you as you are out of commission. They will sit at the flames, muttering their apprehensions with crackling wood, thus hoping it be heard by Hestia herself for your recovery.

Nico di Angelo is particularly distressed by your hurt. He's not foreign to loss, but he has always looked upon you as a sort of anchor-someone who reminded him of peaceful things in life. The thought of losing you is a fear he doesn't want to admit to himself, and he'll be haunting the infirmary more often than he'd like, just to make sure you are still all right.

Your recovery means normalcy returns very grudgingly. As you get well enough to start your work, the energy in camp starts to return in homeopathic doses. When you're finally ready to join the others around the fire, there's celebration: full of treats and stories as campers press close to the flames now, as if to make up for lost time. You stand for a more complete warmer experience with the feeling that one weight has been removed from everyone's shoulder.

Your injury leaves an indelible mark on the camp. After you have regained your health, demigods are more cautious in battles and less often take superfluous risks in them, as they are more aware of the price for that. At the same time, your recovery becomes a beacon of resilience and the campers feel a deeper bonding knowing they've been through a rough time together.

[dantakeyoman]

pls part 2 to neteyam defending you 🫡🤍 but this time i'd love a continuation to motherly neytiri tending to reader!! and her hinting at the fact she had seen them and their son share a kiss after trying to find out all the commotion once hearing overprotective jake lose his cool at ao'nung!

Jake Is Pissed At Ao'nung, and Neytiri Talks To You About Your Kiss With Neteyam After All the Commotion (SFW)

Part 2 of "Neteyam Defending You"

CW: my dude Jake goes crazy, starts talking really freely to the Olo'eyktan, Neytiri is so nice and caring, best wing-woman ever, jake x reader (platonic; father-daughter-ish)

"What the hell is the matter with you, boy?! I oughta fight you right now!" Jake shouted as his eyebrows furrowed, the boy doing his best to try and understand the angry, English words.

Jake always switched to English when he was mad.

It was instinct, and English had more expressive cuss words than Na'vi anyway.

"Mawhey, My Jake," Neytiri whispered, quietly stepping in front of her husband and resting her hands on his chest, her eyes flicking to the crowd of village people that started to form.

"Please. The people are watching."

The entire Sully family stood behind you and Jake, on one side of the walkway, while Ao'nung, his friends, and the rest of the Metkayina stood on the other.

It looked as if both sides were warring.

"Let 'em watch. This shit needs to be dealt with," Jake growled, carefully moving her out the way and getting ready to scream at Ao'nung some more.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Tonowari asked calmly, him and Ronal breaking through the crowd and stepping to the front.

His tone was calm, but you could see on his face that he was clearly angered with the fact that his on was injured, and the outsiders shouting at him.

"The problem here? I'll show you the problem," Jake whipped his head over to you, giving a firm nod.

You nodded back with a sigh, stepping in the middle of the clan divide and lifting your arms, putting all of your injuries on display.

The Metkayina gasped, and Neteyam had to be held back by Lo'ak and Kiri.

He hadn't realized the extent of the damage when he was carrying you, but looking at it now, he should've hit Ao'nung twice as hard.

You had hand-shaped bruises all over your arms, and one on your ankle from Ao'nung's demonstration.

Your face had a large bruise on it's right cheek, and a bloody nose from being dropped on your face.

And the statement piece of it all, the nasty, pillow-sized bruise on your side, which was leaking blood from Ao'nung's toenails.

"Your words. Treat these Forest people like brothers and sisters. I don't see this shit as very familial," Jake spat, pointing roughly at Rotxo.

"That little shit managed to squeal about everything done to (y/n). The grabbing! The kicking! THE KIDS DROPPED HER ON HER FACE FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"

Your breath hitched, silently thanking Eywa that the Metkayina did not have good English.

Ronal and Tonowari quickly turning to their son in anger, their gaze practically burning holes into the boy.

"Is this true?" the two hissed, no longer masking their rage.

And the look of absolute fear on his face was the icing on the cake.

It almost made you feel sorry for him.

....Almost.

"ANSWER!" Tonowari shouted.

"YES! It's true!" He admitted, hanging his head.

The entire crowd gasped, and Tsireya did her best to hold back tears as she looked at your injured form.

You were a very nice girl, and an incredible friend. You didn't deserve this in the slightest.

She could not believe her brother for doing such a horrible thing.

"My kids come back to me nearly everyday talking about how this kid is constantly harassing them-." "He calls us all freaks," Tuk sadly chimed, glassy eyed as she tucked her face into her mother's side, Neytiri taking deep, full breaths to keep her composure.

"But for the sake of peace, I let it slide. Well all that stops tonight! I want it to be made perfectly clear that if your son, or ANY of his little friends so much as lift a finger to ANY of my children, they will have to answer to me!" Jake finalized, resting a hand on your shoulder at the word children.

It almost brought you to tears.

You felt so loved, and protected, and safe. It me your heart swell with joy.

"Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Rotxo and the other boys frantically agreed, terrified that, not only did they witness Toruk Makto's anger, but were the direct cause of it.

Everyone turned to Ao'nung to hear his response, but he stayed silent, dazed.

"SPEAK, BOY!" Tonowari shouted once again, pushing the boy forward with his staff.

"Understood!" he cried, turning his gaze down to the floor.

"Good," Jake huffed, un-puffing his chest.

"You have brought shame to this family. Go to the marui. You are grounded," Tonowari glared at his son, pointing his staff back to their home.

Ao'nung nodded, quickly turning around and speed-walking over, Tsireya following behind, ashamed.

Jake scoffed at the display, before turning to you with a softened face. "Now you. Are you okay? Wanna go get patched up?"

"Yes, sir," you nodded with a smile, quietly wincing from the pain of your bruised cheek.

"If you would accept, I could heal your daughter for you," Ronal stepped forward, apologetically bowing.

"I believe your family has done enough for tonight. I will handle this," Neytiri glared, stepping in front of you.

Ronal clenched her jaw, but nodded, turning around to follow her husband home.

"Come, child," Neytiri smiled at you, carefully taking your hand and leading you to the marui, Tuk and Kiri following close behind.

They entered, and the boys tried coming in after, but Neytiri stopped them.

"We must talk. Alone," Neytiri knowingly looked up at Jake, who nodded.

"That's alright. I gotta talk to these two, anyway," he agreed, resting his hands on the brothers' shoulders and leading them to a more secluded part of the island.

When Neytiri turned around, you were already sitting down, Kiri preparing the salves for your bruises.

She walked over and sat criss-crossed in front of you, picking up a special leaf to clean off your blood.

"My (y/n), are you alright?" she calmly asked, lightly swiping the blood from your nose.

"Yes. It looks worse than it feels. Truly," you assured, the loud wince you let out when Kiri touched a bruise quickly debunking your statement.

Neytiri sighed, carefully lifting your arm to wipe the blood from your side.

She needed to lift your spirits.

"You know," she started, a smile growing on her lips. "You and Neteyam remind me of me and his father when we were young."

You practically choked on the air you were breathing, the coughing fit you were sent into not feeling the best on your ribs.

Though it seemed like perfect entertainment for Kiri and Tuk, whose uproarious laughter could be heard from the next marui.

"I am serious," Neytiri politely laughed, halting her swipes on your side with a smile so you could catch your breath.

"He may not act like it, but your father used to be just as reckless as Lo'ak, maybe a little more."

"Really?!" Tuk asked, amazed.

"No way," Kiri scoffed with a smile.

Out of all the times he had scolded that boy, he was just as bad.

"But he was strong. He had a strong heart. No fear. Almost never hesitating to fight if needed," Neytiri continued, starting to smooth the salve over your rib.

"I see this in Neteyam."

She glanced up from her work, looking you in the eyes.

"For me, I was always calm. I wasn't as quick to fight as he, but I was still strong, and determined."

She looked back down.

"I see this in you."

Your cheeks turned a dark blue hue, despite the splashes of purple and red alredy there.

"The Great Mother knows all, and I feel she did not make this resemblance for no reason."

Was she saying what you think she's saying?

"Neytiri, what are you-?" "I am saying you and Neteyam have my blessing," she smiled.

Your breath hitched.

"Oh! I didn't....we weren't.....I wasn't-!" "No sense in denying it, (y/n). The whole clan saw you swapping spit with the boy as you came over," Kiri shrugged with a smile, teasingly poking you in the cheek, wary of your injuries.

You groaned, hiding your face in your hands, embarrassed.

"Oh, stop," Neytiri chuckled, tucking a stray braid behind your ear. "I think it is cute."

bonus !!

Jake sat down on the sandy shore, Neteyam and Lo'ak sitting on either side of him, concerned.

"You two listen, and listen good," he started seriously, his tone leaving no room for games.

The two nodded, and the man continued.

"I want you two to watch that Ao'nung kid, and his little group of friends, too. Be nice for the sake of peace, but keep your heads on a swivel. If they say anything to your sisters or (y/n), you tell me, I'll sort it out."

Jake did a quick perimeter check, making sure no one was listening in.

"But if any of those little shits so much as touch a hair on their head, I give both of you full permission to beat the living shit out of each and every one of them. Don't worry about the repercussions, I'll take the heat. But that's gonna be the new protocol from now on."

The two boys nodded firmly, giving their father a serious look.

"Understood," Neteyam agreed.

He was glad his dad was giving him permission, but to be honest, he was going to end up doing this anyway.

Today, he made a silent oath that he was never going to let you get hurt on his watch ever again.

"Alright," Lo'ak smirked, cracking his knuckles with his fist.

"And as for you," Jake started up again, turning to Neteyam.

The boy gulped, bracing himself for a scolding of some sort.

"Who taught you how to kiss like that?" his father smiled, giving his son a proud pat on the back.

"Oh, yeah! Those two were going at it! They were like-." Lo'ak jumped up from his seat, hugging himself and making kissing noises.

"Aye!" Neteyam waved off with a smile, that familiar heat rising to his cheeks.

Jake chuckled at his boys' antics, throwing his arms around each one and pulling them into a hug.

This was what a family was for. Protecting one another, caring for one another, healing one another.

Jake had no doubt in his mind that his family was, and truly is, his fortress.

[aziraphale-is-a-cat]

Okay okay okay I know I'm on a bit of a sad kick but danny turning into a literal phantom.

Something happens at school, maybe the GIW shoots him in science after he finally got to passing, and it's the straw that breaks the camel's back, danny just snaps and goes full poltergeist. Transformation sequence, fucking magical girl's his way to a new, hellish form.

He takes over the school, no in or out and just starts attacking anybody trying to "free" the students. In his head he's just trying to keep them safe from outside harm but to everyone else this is a hostage situation from a new, extremely violent ghost.

Everyone on the outside is desperately trying to find phantom and get the kids out while everyone on the inside is trying to calm danny down because he is having a panic attack.

Eventually after an hour the justice league gets called and they try to handle the situation but ghosts are made of emotion to some extent, and Danny's having a lot of them which powers him up while being extremely erratic he's not easy to control or even keep track of for long. His intangibility and invisibility ads a new, untouchable layer to an otherwise already kinda op powerset that the league haven't ever had to fight All at once before.

While the justice league is busy trying to neutralize Danny, the students have banded together to try to break through the barrier and calm danny down. They go through Danny's backpack for scraps of fenton tech and fucking just straight up mug the GIW agents, and tucker Jerry rigs something to deactivate the force field.

During a lull in the fighting, when Danny's got the JL on the defensive, they flood out the front door and crowd danny while he desperately tries to mother hen them away from the justice league who he still blindly perceives as a threat. The JL freak out at the civillian to threat contact but slowly come to a horrifying realization as danny calms down with his friends and classmates that they've been trying to beat up a teen hero in a mental crisis and he shifts back into phantom and eventually human danny while sobbing about how he just wanted to keep everyone safe.

[apollodarling-writes]

Could I request some headcanons for Hisoka? Sfw/fluff. The reader is a child (killua and gon's age, and travels with them) and somehow got attached to him. Even though gon and killua find him super creepy and don't trust him, y/n doesn't find him off-putting at all and wants to hang out with him. Like at heavens arena, instead of being disgusted at his little show he put on, she was amazed he could do such things. Reader doesn't have a dad so he kind of takes that role in her eyes. She thinks he's really cool and follows him around when he's in the area. Reader is also training as an assassin (not quite as good as killua though) so she doesn't find his desire for killing scary. I just want some cute hc's between hisoka and his little admirer :)) fem or gn pronouns.

hisoka with a child! reader hcs

cws : fluff, sfw, father-figure hisoka, murder mentions, reader is an assassin in training, hisoka trains reader, it’s been a lil bit since i’ve watched hxh so it miiight be ooc, disorganized thought process.

— killua and gon would be very, very confused at the fact that you don’t find hisoka creepy. they would both try to reason with you, but wouldn’t hold it against you if you stand your ground on the subject. although, they might be a little concerned for your wellbeing.

— hisoka would have already noticed that you favor him for than the other two, and would be more than a little flattered.

— hisoka strikes me at the tough love type of father figure. while he would dote on you, he would also make it very clear that he expects good things from you.

— hisoka would make sure you’re well fed and would go out of his way to protect you.

— i definitely see hisoka being similar to illumi in terms of the extent of his protectiveness. at some point, even killua and gon would have noticed his presence around you at all times, whether or not you knew it.

— when you ask hisoka to train you so you can protect yourself better, he would smile and tell you that he can protect you just fine. if you insist, he’ll teach you, but when he’s training you, he won’t go easy on you.

— hisoka absolutely adores you. he won’t go out of his way to hide blatant murder from you, but when he sees the way your eyes sparkle after he kills someone, his chest swells with pride.

— in all honesty, i can see hisoka making you a mini-him. not exactly forcing his own ideals onto you, but planting those seeds.

— when you tell hisoka that you think of him as a father figure, his gaze would soften almost unnoticeably and pat your head with a smile.

— hisoka would change a bit after that, he’d be a bit gentler with you, even more attentive and protective, and would make sure that he has eyes on you in some form at all times. you’re his kid, so he doesn’t want to lose you.

— when hisoka is participating in heavens arena, he won’t ascend a level unless you do. he will purposefully sabotage himself just so he can be sure that you’re safe.

— before hisoka’s fight with kastro, he’ll search for you in the crowd and give you an extravagant bow to see you smile.

— during his fight, he’ll do his best to keep an eye on you so he knows you’re not in any trouble.

— hisoka will play card games with you all day long if you’ll let him. he loves seeing you pout when he beats you, but also loves seeing you smile pridefully when he lets you win. also, expect a lot of card towers.

— hisoka will teach you nen once he deems you well versed in combat. he probably won’t let you take the hunter exam unless you really want to, just because he doesn’t want anything to happen to you.

— all in all, a (kinda) creepy dad that dotes on you :DD

[nightmare-foundation]

Honestly it lowkey annoys me whenever people say that Michael has 'very little personality' outside of hunting down his father.

N like- on the surface, that seems true, but like. If you look deeper, that's... not really true?? Because there's a LOT that actually speaks to his character, but you have to be willing to catch onto the connections his character has

Like, for example, Michael has a very straightforward way of speaking. He's dry and sarcastic ("They thought I was you... [laugh]"), has a foreshortened sense of the future (the drawing of a gravestone in the security logbook), not to mention the dialogue of foxybro in fnaf 4. He doesn't beat around the bush, but he's bitter and dry and sarcastic. Even as an old man, his anger and cynicism towards Freddy's shows in his drawings, but he has a sense of humor (the exotic butters and casual bongos referenced in the logbook, not to mention the silly drawings), plus he's sentimental (as said before, exotic butters and casual bongos). Not to mention he's stubborn as shit, given he keeps coming back to Freddy's, even after 30 whole years.

A lot of people also really like to write Michael off as being stupid, for... some reason. The games really say otherwise; the fact that he tampers with the animatronics regularly, figured out what his father did and what happened to Elizabeth in less than a week, freed the dead kids, helped make FFPS and ran a business, likely Also made the fnaf 3 location too, knew what was gonna happen to him in SL (pretty clear given the fact you can ignore Baby's directions on the last night), can manage several animatronics at once throughout an entire night...

Michael is very clearly Really Fucking Smart. Smart enough that I'm willing to bet that was one of the reasons why William sent him to the SL bunker. Michael is FAR from an idiot, and the FNAF movie even proves this further! He's SCARILY smart!

There's a lot more too; him using a red foxy mask speaks a lot to his character too. Red is often used to denote everything from passion to anger (yknow, 'seeing red' being a term for when you're blind with rage), and he wears it the entire time he bullies CC. It's not just a literal mask, it's figurative too; Michael puts up a mask of anger, he pretends to be this scary bully. The cruelty isn't real, Michael is just the scapegoat and he's acting out (very very common).

Also, Michael is 100% who you play as in fnaf 4 based on the movement, and who rubs away in Midnight Motorist. CC is the type of kid to freeze up, curl up into a ball and cry when he's scared, as seen several times in fnaf 4. It wouldn't make sense for him to suddenly turn around and start running around, or fighting back. It's very Michael to run around, constantly looking around, or to break out and run away.

Another note on Michael's character is that he's associated with Foxy. The Funtimes are clearly modeled after the Aftons (Ballora and Baby are, why wouldn't the rest match CC (Freddy) and Michael (Foxy)?), and using that we can gleam some parts of Michael from FT Foxy (since William clearly was trying to mock and make fun of him with the angsty teen voice). FT Foxy is a performer; he's dramatic, he's vicious, attacking even when he 'shouldn't', and wants his stage solely to himself.

This fits Michael; Michael put on an act of viciousness and cruelty, always attacking when you least expected it. So it makes sense that Michael, too, is a performer, and FFPS hammers this in using the business bear. Again, the mask represents Michael acting, pretending, and it wouldn't be the first time an Afton would pretend (William, Elizabeth, and to an extent, CC). The rest of the Aftons are also theatrical and dramatic, so again, this tracks. He's also represented as one of those hand puppets in the ffps alleyway poster, something used to ACT.

And again, with Foxy, we can gleam that Michael likely is also a sort of 'leader' figure, since Foxy has been depicted as not just a pirate captain, but also as a Ringleader. This also tracks, not just bc the Aftons have a circus theme, but Michael is the eldest of his siblings, and thus the de facto 'leader'. He's the first to act, to put things into motion when everything 'ends'. Foxy is also, well, a fox, which are depicted as cunning and intelligent, which only lends credence to Michael being intelligent.

It's also implied that Michael... doesn't really care about people who Aren't his family?? Whether that's by blood or not, he doesn't care abt others who isn't his family. This is implied by the fact that he only cared about freeing Elizabeth, showing absolutely No care about the Funtimes despite them clearly being sentient. Not to mention the lawsuits he regularly gets in FFPS, or the state Fazbears Frights is in in fnaf 3. And, judging by Henry's final speech, he and Michael just. Don't seem to talk At All. At the very least they definitely don't communicate since Henry assumed Michael wanted to die (which is left Very Ambiguous).

Honestly this doesn't even BEGIN to get into everything that the Glitchtrap Michael theory says about his character that also hammer in all of these traits Even Further.

And like. Michael is SOOO much like William when you put all of this into perspective. Like, they are SIMILAR similar, but differ in ways that are important. Michael is a performer, an actor, he doesn't care about anyone outside of his family, he's stubborn as fuck, he's smart as hell, he's sarcastic and dry, etc.

He has SO. MUCH. CHARACTER. You just have to dig a little- this is ALL gleamed from the games and Security Logbook. There's more if you believe he's Glitchtrap- which he very likely is.

Just... it's nuts. He's such an intriguing character, he's not perfect and he's morally gray, yet people love to dumb him down to "hehe sad uwu arsonist zombie boy who's also Stupid"

Please just let Michael be a problematic old man (he was born in the 60s ffs, he's almost in his 60s by the time ffps rolls around).

[northstarscowboyhat]

We know how the justice family, Martlet, and Dalv are doing, but how is AXIS MODEL 014 and the Steamworks in general holding up? I headcanon that Axis repaired most of the Steamworks; fixing the malfunctioning robots, building Guardener some legs, and, kinda, putting Steamworks into a functional state. Though Axis repairing Steamworks to that extent may be a stretch.

If, ever, Clover’s identity is leaked to the Royal Guard, I imagine the, supposedly, dilapidated and rusting Steamworks would be a perfect hiding spot. Imagine the gang’s reaction to seeing the Steamworks almost back in its prime. What if the Royal Guard try to grab Clover while he is hiding in the Steamworks, and Axis and the robots fight off a Royal Guard invasion? Imagine a fight between Axis and Undyne!

I'll admit a lot of my Steamworks thoughts are hard to articulate because they require backgrounds which I am not fond of LOL. Axis does manage to fix up the Steamworks to a more presentable and habitable place! He assumes a proper leadership role and fixes up the dangerous parts, as well as learns to repair his fellow robots!

Ceroba visits him on occasion to see how he does, and gives him access to Chujin's old research and work so Axis can better learn how to care for the robots in the Steamworks. Other than Ceroba, though, none of the gang really visits him, as Axis likes to keep to himself.

As for fighting Undyne and the Royal Guard.... Axis has other priorities LOL. Axis and Clover kind of get on each other's nerves a lot when they're older. He'll let Clover and Frisk duck into the Steamworks to wait out any potential Royal Guards finding them if need be, but otherwise? He'd rather chill with his beloved partner. Maybe if push came to shove he'd step up since that is Ceroba's kid!

[the-artist-grimm]

Hi, I have just discovered your AU and I like the design, also the name made curious about what's the AU about

(Note this Lore Post is HIGHLY Outdated!!!! See the masterpost for current lore!)

Thank you! And for the ‘Crimson Angel AU’ think of it as translating to ‘Blood-Soaked Angel AU’, since I think that’s more of a better visual/description, but crimson just sounds prettier for an actual title.  This is gonna be a little long for more-in-depth lore dump so see the READ MORE for well, more! And my apologies for the rambles that have slowly taken over my brain, it's a little chaotic but the basic gist of it XD

(Note Anthea goes by she/they and I alternate between the two so if that causes reading issues let me know)

In this case, the ‘Blood-Soaked Angel’ is my lamb, Anthea, who starts off the story as being a seemingly kind, friendly, and optimistic person just wanting to help, but is really just someone who is trying to understand why they lived when their family and people did not, and just going with self-sacrifice and self-destruction as the only way to ‘prove’ they deserved to live. 

Got a mini backstory comic here with some explanations, though TLDR Anthea already had this sense of being responsible for keeping everyone else’s spirits up after losing their father, and when heretics destroyed the rest of their family/village at age 12 and they survived by the shear luck of just being out on a routine supply run, they feel as if they don’t deserve it. 

From there Anthea bottled everything up and wandered the forests for a bit until being found and taken in by Ratau, who taught her not only how to fight but also told her stories of his time as vessel, of which any involving The One Who Waits were the most interesting. A lonely, bitter, and kinda angry god of death, despite  his appearance, kept and appeared to care for the two young kits by his side. TOWW sounded different from the other bishops Anthea had only ever known to be violent, and thus she began to worship him as a sort of comfort-since thinking a gentler god greeted her family and would one day greet her was a better thought than the horror they must’ve faced prior to death. She lived day to day just pretending everything was fine, being a good kid, and helping out around the shack, while internally treating every moment like borrowed time, thinking she had to keep being useful to everyone else. (Ratau knew she had people-pleasing issues but didn’t realize the extent for a long, long time) 

Cut to Anthea being 26, and after she and Ratau were heading back one afternoon after some errand or visit were ambushed by heretics who managed to injure Ratau when they tried to escape, and though they got away, they were pursued. Thinking she’d lived on borrowed time long enough and wanting to prevent another person she loved from dying, Anthea took advantage of Ratau’s injury keeping him from stopping her and drew the heretics away, being captured as a result. 

Bishops, execution, Anthea gets the shock of hearing that they’re the final lamb prior to sacrifice, then suddenly they’re waking up in the gateway to the god they’ve worshiped for years, and he’s just as Ratau described. A lonely, bitter god with two young kits (I place Aym and Baal as teens since it leads to some interesting moments), by his side. Yet where that’s all Ratau saw, Anthea also saw the chains. The wounds bleeding an endless stream of ichor. The way TOWW struggled prior to their approach, how his voice and smile were strained. This god they’d built up as this better to the bishops is trapped and painfully so, and when offered the chance to help him, Anthea jumps at it. They must’ve lived for SOMETHING, must be the last for some greater purpose because there were so many other lambs who ‘deserved’ to live more, so if it’s for this prophecy then so be it. 

Game plays out, Anthea begins to see past the bitterness/anger Nariender puts up to see someone genuinely hurt by those he cared about and struggling to trust after while also seeing he’s not exactly perfect, whilst Nariender in turn starts to call Anthea out on the whole self-sacrificial stick as them just trying to die to make themself feel better instead of just facing the fact that they lived, others died, and that’s all there is to say. Slowly the two become friends, got an idea for example that Anthea starts to use the crown to show Nariender what he’s missed in the world as a means of comforting him/helping him remember not all was as bad as he recalls (aka they’re unintentional dates lol), Anthea also starts befriending the twins since they remind them of their own brothers which gains more Nariender friendship points at someone making his kids happy, and that friendship slowly turns to a genuine love from both sides. 

Anthea plans to keep her feelings hidden until after Narinder’s free, though secretly starts to work on an engagement present to confess by leaving the crown at the temple and going to the Lonely Shack at night. (the engagement also meant to be a symbolic ‘hey you don’t have to feel the same but just know I’ll be with you from now on I won’t leave you’). Is also Anthea finally taking steps to live life for herself and move on to something that makes her happy. Meanwhile Narinder has no idea what these feelings he’s having are-just that this weirdly kind, cheerful, but also melancholic and frustratingly self-sacrificial lamb makes his heart race, and is now for some reason being a little distant. He’s been trying to figure out how to return to the world above without sacrificing Anthea, but now has whatever this is distracting him, and thus has the crown follow one night, only hears part of Anthea discussing/being teased about planning a proposal but not who said proposal is for, and being unused to jealousy but very used to being cast aside and betrayed gets angry/scared/heartbroken and decides to just go through with the sacrifice anyway since it’s easier than trying to figure out why he’s feeling like this. 

Endgame battle hits, during which Anthea feels very confused/hurt by his order to sacrifice themself, as just the other day here was their dearest friend lightly scolding them for willingly dying just to visit. They try to reason with him and Narinder doesn’t want to hear it, so he orders the twins to fight Anthea which neither are willing but are forced, and Anthea has no choice but to kill both since Nariender refuses to hear reason. The anger, grief, guilt, and heartbreak they’ve bottled up finally boils over as red wings appear on their back like they briefly do in-game when the lamb refuses (this all started when I saw the scene in-game and thought the visual/symbolism was really cool), and they fight and defeat Nariender. 

When back at the compound Nariender’s just lashing out and cursing Anthea on the dais because he’s angry and hurt at her betraying him until Anthea just calmly tells him why he was spared-she loved him. Nariender finally looks at her and is hit with the realization that this lamb who’d always looked at him so warmly with adoration is now giving him the most blank, lifeless expression as she tells him he’s free to do as he pleases before leaving. And he now realizes that because he didn’t stop and think things through and instead let anger take the focus he completely neglected to realize that here was someone who loved him-who loved him even as they learned of his faults, saw his lowest, ect, and he just threw it all away over a misunderstanding he could've EASILY just asked about. He even sacrificed his guards (read sons) just because that was somehow easier than talking. Which begs the question, who else loved him? Who else did he miss? Was his imprisonment really all on the bishops, or was he also to blame? Whilst Anthea’s now stuck with a godhood she didn’t want, two more loved ones dead, and a broken heart. 

The two gotta learn where to go from here, the now blood-soaked ‘angel’ who’s begun to realize just how much giving pieces of yourself hurts, and a fallen god who’s begun to realize things aren’t as black and white as he thought. They get better! Eventually...

Might try making a fic, might just keep this as drabbles and rambles along with art, but right now I’m having fun making fanart/aus for the first time instead of just watching from the sidelines, so I hope you enjoy the ride. But for now enjoy some angsty doodles :D

[anxiousnerdwritings]

Spider-Man!Reader x Gotham City ??!? like the poor reader just being a kid when they’re exposed to some sort of radioactive spider by one of the Joker’s schemes and begins being the friendly, neighbourhood superhero. some of the baddest of the baddest have watched this kid help old people cross the street or carry groceries home or help kids out with the most miscellaneous things and just declared them “off hands” in some sort of weird immunity thing as they just let him do his thing whilst taking turns watching over him. one time the Joker tried fucking with him and he ended up being jumped by life fifteen bad guys and one good guy all because they knew something was wrong when he didn’t show up for school.

All the big baddies and heroes alike know the Reader’s true identity but they keep their mouths shut and just leave them be like they aren’t any the wiser and totally haven’t stalked the shit out of the poor kid in their extremely invasive way of keeping an eye on them.

I love the idea of the villains going out of their way to tell their respective heroes about the Reader and getting them to take the Reader on as a sidekick. This way they can ensure their darling is in good and capable hands while also getting the best training possible to become an even better hero then they already are. Like, I could see all of the rogues (excluding Joker) pulling up on Batman along with a very nervous and shy Reader, telling Batman that he needs to take this kid under his wing. This totally backfires on them though and Batman and the batfamily grow extremely attached to the Reader.

Also, I totally see the big baddies taking it easy on the Reader whenever they have to fight (that is if the villain even decides to ‘fight’ the Reader), even Deathstroke is pretty chill and holds back on them to an extent. Although, the reactions to the Reader being able to hold their own no matter who they’re up against is great though, the amount of pride and

No doubt that other villains and heroes outside of Gotham come to learn about the Reader. Especially the fact that their apparently ‘hands-off’ to any and all villains. It definitely results in other big baddies testing the limits regarding the Reader and being the one to actually get to them. Meanwhile, other heroes are definitely forming their own attachments for the Reader. Especially Clark and Diana, they definitely want to steal the Reader from Bruce and the batfamily.

I could totally see the Reader given how pure and just overall optimistic and hopeful they are being able to convert quite a few villains into becoming more good than bad or full on rehabilitating them. Whether the villain is actually rehabilitated is debatable and depends on the specific baddie but at least they’re trying to go along with it for the Reader’s sake.

God forbid anyone hurts the Reader or worse, they will come to regret the day they were born if any of the heroes and villains have anything to do about it. It’s one thing for them to do something to the Reader, the baddies have an agreed on line they don’t cross no matter what regarding fighting the Reader but anyone who does cross that line, whether on accident or not, is in for a real painful experience they’ll never forget.

[darkcircles4lyfe]

To Build Something Else

Whenever I read a fanfiction that takes place in the future where the hero kids continue their schooling as normal and emerge as pro heroes into the existing system, I always kinda view it as like, “AU where things weren’t as bad” or “AU where everyone is still pretending that this is the way things should be” or “AU where good and evil are morally uncomplicated.” I’m not trying to call anybody out—I’ll still read and enjoy these sometimes—but that’s how I’ve always looked at it. I’m starting to notice other people feeling it too. I’ve read fics where they point out how redundant and unfair it is to go back to being students after saving the world (remember how many pros straight up quit and left a bunch of kids to keep fighting?). I’ve seen people acknowledge how trauma will affect their ability to keep going. Perhaps the trickiest thing to wrap our heads around is how the villains will fit into it all if not through death, punishment, or imprisonment. What about all the other trappings of society? The heavily regulated quirk use, the government-funded pros aiding police control and contributing to cover-ups that maintain the illusion of peace. Hero idolization, quirk counseling, civilian helplessness. Judging a person’s worth or character based on their quirk…

It would sound too obvious and cheesy to simply point out that society isn’t “just the way things are,” that change is possible. We all know this, and yet we struggle to pinpoint exactly where to aim our sights, find the source, make any meaningful progress. The other day I read some articles from my university’s student newspaper around 1970, and it made me feel sick wondering if progress is really an illusion. Fact is, it’s easy to intellectually deconstruct society, but very difficult to imagine how to build something else.

In this fictional world, heroes have offered a mythical vision of safety and triumph. When All Might arrived, everything was going to be okay. But let’s not forget how this story began: with a moment where All Might paused, like a bystander, and in his place, a desperate civilian kid hurtled forward without any common sense. If you ask me, it wasn’t that Izuku was so good and pure and selfless, it was that he disregarded everything.

And so the person who “saves the world” (if we can even reduce it to such a concept) is not the person who puts everyone at ease and makes crowds cheer. It’s the person who makes everyone hold their breath, with a feeling in the air like the pressure changed, and it smells like rain. It is natural to be worried about the future. It’s honest. It means you can see what’s really going on. Hero society has never felt this exposed, but the people are held back from the edge of despair because there is also so much potential brewing. Electricity about to strike. The world will NOT go back to the way it was, no matter what. That much is certain. But what if we still live to see the dawn? What then? What if one person’s courage to break the mold makes all the difference?

I’m not just talking about Izuku, you know. I’m talking about Horikoshi.

To an extent, I’ve given up on predicting how exactly things will play out, because if nothing else, I can tell he’s planning something big—so big, I can’t quite picture it. I’m watching and waiting for the one person who can. I just know where he’s coming from. I think about how he’s never come this far before because his other stories were snuffed out. I know he used to struggle to see the future of his career. I relate to his stubbornly rebellious resolve to do what he wants anyway. To keep dreaming. I know that emotional sincerity is his specialty. And now he’s even directly breaking the fourth wall, having characters talk about what’s supposed to happen in comic books. Gradually, almost imperceptibly at first, we’ve been shown how something else can happen. He’s not done yet.

[thechekhov]

Dungeon Meshi Quick Reacts

CH. 34 Cockatrice

He's doing his best.

L...Laios no..... LaioS NO

I respect Kui-san so much for the work she puts into not only the Senshi pantyshots but also affirming the fact that Marcille and Laios are in no way sexually interested in one another whatever.

I suppose it itches BECAUSE it's healing but also.... w...why does it look infected?

...did.... did Senshi consent to being a test subject? He looks a bit nervous 😂

FIRMLY GRASP IT.

(Marcille has no time for your internalized homophobia)

Oh??? Is there old-party drama that we're about to be privy to? I'm listening reading.

In a storytelling sense, this is very clever. Chillchuck is clearly drawing parallels (unknowingly, I assume?) between Laios and Kirby(?). That guy is.... In Control of his party in a sense, and clearly has earned their trust as a leader. But he trusts himself a little bit too much for it to result in an unhealthy feedback loop of 'I'm always right, these other people think so too!'

Meanwhile, although Laios isn't actively trying to steer the group, they DO trust him to care about their safety, to an extent, and retain their own goals and judgements about certain other things. In fact, it's arguably BECAUSE they all trust each other to be better judges of character that they keep one another in check, so to speak.

The tea is SIZZLING. The girls are fighiiiing

So. Natural energy points. You're basically using energy of unknown origin to fuel spells instead of tapping into what is available readily.

But that sounds like maybe you'd have some. Hm. Questionable side effects? From adding ingredients into the mix which you can neither understand nor fully control.

......of course............of course it was.

👁👁

it's got business to attend do, presumably. Also, which floor are you guys on? Are you still in that ancient city?

IS THAT A THING?????

Maybe that would have been good to.... lead with.......

.........IS THIS WHAT FALIN IS CAPABLE OF?? IS THIS WHAT SHE USES TO COMMUNICATE WITH SPIRITS? Maybe they ARE both talented, but Laios just never bothered to tap into this.

I'm sure it's fine. Hang on, didn't they fight this before once already?

AH right, that was the basilisk. My bad.

I don't. So this'll be a double surprise for me!

I aLmost thought this was it!!! Marcille don't fuck with me like this!

"I'M MARCILLE AND I DON'T LOOK AT THE EXPLOSIONS I, MYSELF, CREATE!!"

You can't not love her.

NOOOO ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!

This is NOT the time to be a zombie movie deuteragonist

wh--i THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A CHANCE FOR HIM TO DO MORE HEALING MAGIC

.........I guess that's. a good point but. Laios. Buddy.

I have nothing to say here. This is peak DnD behavior.

...hang on they never took her out of the pot? 😂

..how proud you are of them?

....................yeah alright I guess that works too.

For a second there I thought maybe her petrified hair was gonna snap off and she'd get a haircut.

[fivelasanctum]

~♥ They would have loved each other no matter what~♥ Essay Part 1

So a large portion on the fandom believes it was the 7 years stuck together that allowed them to fall for each other. It did help since they were each others only company but their were signs of attraction since the beginning with these two. ♥ Lila from the start was always amused by his quick witted retorts. Outside of being called "Crazy lady". She would always smile gleefully when he would insult and banter with her. Both characters had the best one liners. "You are an open book for very dumb children" - lila She even tried to give him props for a clever snark at Diego.

♥ Five being Five could see through her with his level of perceptiveness. I'm sure that comes into play as the years go by both before and after being stuck in the subway. Hopefully could tell she loved him despite her barbed tongue in her effort to push away and lash out. Lying to a certain extent and being in denial is true to her character to cope. Think his ability to read her also showed he was better suited for her and her needs. Aware of her unhappiness with Diego in season 4. Probably why at that time in the series, he couldn't easily say no to her. Knowing she desperately needed more of a purpose and freedom, outside of taking care of the kids that...while important was still not planned at all. Once Kids are thrown in the mix, one is more trapped in the relationship. ♥ Despite the mistrust he harbors for her at the start, their is a certain level of respect. With his "knowing what you are doing" comment before booting her from their group. He also respects her intellect given their shared backgrounds. Immediately seeking her out in season 3. He perked up when he heard lila returned. This was before he was in chaos problem solver mode. When Klaus mentioned not liking her, Five was quick to speak up for her to say she was family. Even though she wasn't raised with them. He harbored guilt over his hand in taking away her family when she was a child. So in his own way, was trying to give her a place with theirs. Diego first opened that door of course with their connection. Given Five is pretty much the patriarch of their family, his words to secure her place in it held more weight. Something Klaus acknowledged later in the season. Viktor essentially told lila to stay out of it, that she wasn't part of the family and this time Klaus stood up for her. Backing up what his brother told him before.

♥ They always had chemistry. Even when they tried to kill each other in season 2. The legendary bath fight scene was still charged with that energy. Such animosity but hard to not see the battle was fueled with euphemisms. Lila naked while fighting him close quarters. The choking scene she appeared to get too into for a moment. Perhaps that fetish is one the writers enjoy. Klaus was also into suffocation lol

The struggle Five had to fight her but the need to try to kill was dulled. He wanted or needed to work with her. The only person he felt would be able to keep up with him in terms of fighting abilities, background with knowing the inner workings of time and both being clever. Unlike their conflicts before, he was on the defensive. Trying to not hurt her too much. Whereas with lila, she was trying to shiv him but it felt like she was in 'crazy lady' mode and this was more her violent greeting. She had unresolved issues with him having killed her parents. They later discuss it and the turbulent storm of emotion when regarding him seemed to have calmed. He had brutal honesty with her. Mentioning how he rolled back time. While it saved his siblings lives...he gave her her life back as well. Even tried to give some love advice for her to grasp some happiness (in his own way) He mentioned them working together, bonded by hatred. To which it looked like she rolled her eyes. Don't think she shared that sentiment anymore. She had a softer tone when she offered her hand to him. Five had a small smirk appear but quickly covered him up with a neutral expression. Funny how even in those earlier episodes, it didn't take much for her to lead him by the hand in numerous situations.

♥ Foreshadowing when Five and lila walked out of the room together, following her bath and their fight. Diego was starting to jump to conclusions despite Five's younger form of 15/16. Five shrugged it off but lila just smiled. Enjoying the insinuation as well Diego's jealousy. Often times it's been the three of them when the group has had to separate for sub storylines or just even among their group of characters.

Another point of foreshadowing was during their mini adventure together to the now destroyed commission. Discussed they weren't well suited to retiring and domestic life. Yet as we know, they later make a home together in their Greenhouse even if it was brief. ♥ As they investigated the commission, Lila showed multiple times how intelligent she was. Even before they landed there. Was her brainstormed idea to combine their powers with the briefcase to be successful. She found the manual for five to go over which led them to the operations bunker. While her analogy was unconventional...she understood the first time five mentioned the grandfather paradox and the kugelblitz. ♥ Their adventure with going to the commission together felt like a test drive in how they would work together later in the storyline with all those apocalypse worlds they would end up in. Even when Lila was playful and tried to do the jinx game to lighten that old man up. While they are reflections of each other with suffering at the hands of The Handler, their understanding of time and being assassins. They both have their own means of coping in order to not let others too close. As lila said, 'Easier to mindfuck someone instead of being truly vulnerable to be rejected.' Or something along those lines. Five shied away from human touch for quite some time. Wouldn't let his own brother reach out to him. In the original script even rejected Vanya with a hug. Someone whom, according to the actor was their crush when they were younger. Similarly to the luther/allison crushing when Five was his natural age of 13. He would snark and pushed others from him, blinking away both when he was tired of a situation or if someone wanted to appeal to his softer side. It was lila with the hand holding to jump start the briefcase that was his first form of voluntary contact. When they crash landed back in their regular time, they tried to push each other off after lila realized she was holding on to him. Lila realized after their excursion that it was 'time to give up old grudges'. Yes this applied to Diego with getting back together with him but also connected to Five since it was in talking to him that made her realize, she should try again with Diego. Looming end of the world and all. She saw how emotionally wrecked Five was with being faced with the culmination of his powerlessness. Wasting his life trying to save his family and the world. Only to throw in the towel, giving up and dying alone with that five's life's work being destroyed (The commission) Lila learned about the level of stress he was under with trying to divert apocalypses. As his rage started to swell, the frustration with being locked in a younger body with hormones and just wanting to retire and buy the sports car of his choice. She clearly had an expression of pity and sadness. Heart bleeding for him where she even gently defended old founder Five from original five's venting wrath. "Take it easy on him, Five." - Lila After Founder five does perishes...lila is hesitant to leave Five alone. Wanting to at least keep him company. Five's own defense mechanisms kicked him, wanting to be alone. This is true to his character up until the end of the series. Being an old man who has been through countless horrors - he doesn't talk about the feelings that matter. Didn't want lila to see him in a sad, emotional state. Wanting solitude to mourn himself and rather keep how he feels quiet. "Buried deep." Something to note is that Lila is the only one to have seen him at his worse. Century old, aged, dismembered and dying. Only she and Luther have actively seen his true age reflected on a physical body. Yet despite knowing this she still found him attractive and was able to love him. That it wasn't simply because he was in an attractive body. Think that adds another layer to their friendship that later develops into something more.

♥ Not sure if I'm reading too much into it but when they had worked on combining their powers, or rather intensifying Five's...it seemed like it was more intimate with the level of trust. I'm not sure since obviously it required a great amount of focus to channel his time travelling abilities into the briefcase. What stuck out to me was Lila's "let me in!" Five: "I can't! It's too much!" Opening himself and his powers to accept her own mimicking wavelength obviously appeared to be a struggle. It's a short scene but could have involved more than what was on the surface with simply powering up. Curious about everyone's thoughts on this in particular. She has supported and worked on getting Five out of his shell since season 3 and into the 4th one. Being the catalyst to pull him into situations and push him to accomplish what he feels he is unable to. Leading him onto the subway to investigate and have some fun. She called him out earlier with getting his heart pumping from end of the world scenarios. Klaus did the the same thing multiple times. Being called a 'chaos junkie'. When Five had no confidence in his blink abilities, it was lila that pushed him to get 'back on that horse'. Even with powering up the briefcase, when he was yelling he couldn't do it...she said to not 'Bitch out on me now!' Said he hated her in the moment but showed she is what he needs. ♥ After the timeskip of 6 years, think they did grow closer. Hard to tell since all we really know of Five's life is that he had joined the CIA in that time. She was observant enough to see how he was cautious about using his powers. Both wanting some excitement for herself to remind her of how she was. Before a dysfunctional marriage and draining homelife made her probably feel like a husk of her former self. She also saw that the usual confident Five was unsure of himself, pushing him to face it. Practice makes perfect maybe? lol *Credit to Fivelila for the gifs*

Once they had lived their other life in the subway, he still lacked confidence with using his ability. Outside of it taking them back to their isolated world of the subway system. It was only when Lila implored him and told him that she needs him that he was able to use his ability like the old days. Blinking them to semi safety inside the building. Not only that but he was able to blink their whole group there. Found that extremely romantic. Despite feeling hurt from their argument in 4.05 he had so much love for her to accomplish what he deemed impossible till that point. ♥ Looping back to season 3: He finally felt more comfortable with touching. After they felt they were successful in sealing up the Kugelblitz, they celebrated with drinking and dancing. Lila chose to mostly dance with five. You can see them have a kind of tug of war. Being an old man just wanting to be separated from the group to have his drinks. Lila was having none of that. You can see through the course of their dancing, five breaking down his shell temporarily to enjoy her persistence with wanting him to let his hair down and have fun. He actively does dance with her after all her effort. Quite adorable. I do recommend watching the behind the scenes footage/extended scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmd4fYNlr4A&t=651s

They also dance together at Luther's wedding. Suffice to say they are friends by this point.

When deciding on whether to hand over 'scary grandpa' to the Sparrows both Lila and Five are on the same page in terms of their moral ambiguity. Lila seeing the logic of sacrificing one for the billions. Not caring about the rest of the world much. Prioritizing her loved ones. Five does try to save the world numerous times but if it came down to sacrificing his whole family in favor of it...at this point in the story, would have put his family first. Despite their stance on it, they still feel guilty about the choice made.

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Could I get a Hc for how the M6 would react to an Mc that has regeneration like an axolotl due to it being the fools body?

Like during the ending of the route or during a fight post route Mc loses a finger or an arm and as their recovering they notice it growing back and like a few weeks or a month later it's like they never lost it to begin with. Due to how they view themselves and the fools body making them look like how they ses themselves.

Similarly to how Lucio lost his arm so long ago his metal arm is just a part of him so when he took the fools body it come with the metal arm.

(Let me know if it's not a good Hc idea and I'll change it for a different one.)

The Arcana HCs: When MC can regenerate their limbs

Julian

His first thought is "I have to keep them away from Valdemar"

His second thought is more along the lines of a very intrigued medical scholar. He's dying to figure out exactly how this works - how does your body know what to form and where??

His third thought definitely bears his younger sister's influence, because it's the sleep-deprived, melodramatic theatre kid version of "twinsies!!!"

Yes, twinsies! Because now you're one of the only other people in the world who knows what it's like to have crazy regenerative abilities! (though, he gave his up, but still -)

Will chart the growth of the limb and regularly ask you if you got any new injuries that day (obviously he hopes the answer is no, but if it's yes he has multiple reasons to want to know now)

Occasionally thinks himself into an anxiety spiral worrying that he's treating you too much like a medical phenomenon and not enough like his beloved partner. A round of smooches will take care of that

Asra

Honestly? They're more relieved, than anything

He is uncomfortably aware of the level of responsibility he has for yoinking you back to this plane of existence and knowing that you have this safety net for physical injuries is very reassuring

That said, they're still very curious about just how far it goes (not that they'd ever try to find out)

May or may not add "lizard" to his list of pet names for you, because lizards are also cute and known for losing limbs and then regenerating them for self preservation reasons

May or may not study just enough of the magic involved to suggest trying to grow said limb to be ... different than the previous one. You could grow an arm of neon tentacles!

May or may not regularly use body paint to turn your slowly regenerating limb into some kind of illusion, like a large, funky looking hamster hanging onto your shoulder (with your permission)

They love you regardless of how many limbs you have

Nadia

To say that she is intrigued is an understatement. She is borderline obsessed with your slowly reappearing limb

Much of that has to do with her desire to provide for you and the duty she's given herself of making sure that you are taken care of

Plenty of that has to do with what an excellent excuse it is to initiate touch and general affection

But a good portion of that is because, while she can tell you're a unique case, it's the kind of ability that would do so much good if she could find a way to recreate it even a little bit

She's not going to ask you to do anything unreasonable, but she might suggest allowing lead researchers in the medical field to chart your progress and study it in case they find anything

On another note, she does love to make you feel and look your best. If you've lost an arm and your outfit has gloves, you'd best believe she's ordering a mini one for your tiny hand

Pulls out old baby jewelry to try on it while it's small

Muriel

He's not going to lie, he does find it just a little disturbing

He's not going to go as far as saying that it's unnatural (he knows of plenty of creatures who can do the same thing) but it's definitely not a normal thing for humans to do

It's far outweighed by his gratitude that you're able to heal from such difficult injuries to this extent. He likes your limbs :)

He's also terrified of accidentally ruining whatever unforeseen magical force is allowing your body to manifest itself back together

You're clearly already very good at losing limbs! He doesn't want to make you lose another one! What if it's like one of those budding flowers that's really sensitive to touch?

He doesn't want to find that out the hard way! What's he going to do if he reaches for your mini-hand and the rest of your mini-arm comes with it? Stick it back on??

The above freakout is happening on the inside. On the outside, he's avoiding that area of your body and being very protective of it

Portia

It goes without saying that she thinks this is pretty cool

First off, you lost a limb, which is badass by default, and now you're completely regrowing it on accident - that's amazing!

She does casually mention that she is curious about just how far your body can regenerate itself at one point, but that's just idle wondering unless it's something you want to look into too

Fascinated by your mini-limb while it's growing back

Comes up with a whole list of pet names for it (squishy, tiny, silly, mr peach, miss millie, The Growth ...) but she mostly sticks to referring to it as your baby

"Good morning MC! And good morning squishy! How's your baby growing?" (all this is said while she hands you your preferred morning beverage and rubs the affected limb like it's a belly)

Overall she's so adaptable that she kind of ... forgets that it's weird. At least, until someone else sees it for the first time

Then she'll tell them it's because her shrink ray missed

Lucio

Seriously?

No no no no no -- SERIOUSLY?!?!?

He's been living with a prosthetic limb (albeit a really cool one) for TWENTY YEARS NOW, and you just randomly start growing yours back just like that? JUST LIKE THAT?! NO!!!

He's not mad because he thinks you don't deserve it! You do deserve it! You saved the world without having to make a life full of criminal oopsies first, and you did it while you rehabilitated him!!

He's mad because even if he doesn't deserve it more than you do, he wants it more than you do! WHY DIDN'T THE ARCANA OFFER HIM HIS ARM BACK, HUH?!

(This is a very good point at which to tell him that you think the metal arm is attractive. He will quickly switch gears into crooning and flirting at you and rarely bring it up again)

He does often comment on its growth patterns, and has definitely made an innuendo or two about it for funsies

[artbyblastweave]

So I blew through Ultimate Marvel Team-Up in order to get context for when Daredevil starts sticking his horns back into the main Ultimate Spider-Man book, and what's really interesting to me is that Bendis's rendition of basically every non-Spider-Man cape who shows up in that gesture at what could have been an extremely cohesive Ultimate Marvel setting;

Hulk is very visibly classic Hulk in every respect, but with the added implication that he's currently neck-deep in a thriller-conspiracy uncover-the-truth kind of plot regarding the government experimentation with super-soldiers that's upstream of all of superhumanity in the Ultimate Universe. This idea was later binned, Banner was framed as neck-deep in spook shit and unlikely to try and defect from it in the way he was implied to be trying to do.

Iron Man's origin is changed so that he got abducted by rebels while attempting to sell weapons technology to a right-wing U.S-backed junta in Guatemala during the Reagan Admin, and moreover in direct retaliation for attempting to do that; this is upstream of his decision to stop selling weapons technology, and the two-shot where he teams up with Spider-Man involves Latveria attempting to steal the Iron Man Armor- with Tacit SHIELD Backing, because Nick Fury is willing to let Dr. Doom have that tech if it increases the chances of the U.S. Government eventually getting a crack at it. This extremely interesting cold war dynamic between stark and Fury also mostly got binned.

The Fantastic Four are nearly identical in function to their 616 counterparts, except that instead of a spaceflight they got their powers on a years-long expedition to the Negative Zone, having Challengers-of-the-Unknown style adventures, which both neatly resolves the datedness of the spaceflight origin and allows them to have their veteran hero status simultaneously with the idea that the heroic age is just starting out. The Negative zone was also mentioned to be the home dimension of the Skrulls, Kree, and possibly Galactus, neatly explaining why so many spaceborne threats keep making themselves earth's problem so specifically. Ultimate Fantastic Four was just good enough (And Bendis's two shot otherwise boring enough) that I can forgive the parts of this that they binned. I mean we got Marvel Zombies out of it, that's worth everything in the world

Ultimate Dr. Strange is interesting in that he's the son of the original Dr. Strange, whose origin, career and supporting cast are actually largely exactly the same but also linked to the IRL time period of Strange's debut, the early 60s through the early 80s. Stephen Strange Jr. is the inheritor of a legacy his disillusioned Mother Clea spent twenty one years trying to keep him well away from, rapidly attempting to learn the ropes under the apprenticeship of a long-suffering Wong and largely coming across as a scientologist-adjacent crank in the media. This is actually a really fun way to put Strange at the Metaphorical kids table with the rest of the aged-down heroes while also keeping him from breaking every story, and although Bendis did get to keep using him in this capacity it ultimately didn't amount to much because he got turbofucked during Ultimatum after only a couple of appearances.

Shang Chi is introduced in the middle of a Kung-Fu walking-the-earth situation, with Spider-Man haphazardly (and unsuccessfully) seeking him out for martial arts lessons when he realizes he's just leaning on his powers as a crutch in most fights. He offers him like 20 dollars

The broad outline of a lot of these ideas, and the political themes they were gesturing towards, survived their later delegation to other authors to some extent, but were corroded by Millar's cinematic bombast on The Ultimates in particular. I mourn the version of the Ultimate Universe where they just gave Bendis enough amphetamines to have him do all of it. At any rate you bet your ass that if I ever commit to trying to do some kind of fanmade unified Marvel Timeline I'd poach all of these