#he's a bit of a joker but he's a bit poetic too

[partystoragechest]

A story of romance, drama, and politics which neither Trevelyan nor Cullen wish to be in.

Canon divergent fic in which Josephine solves the matter of post-Wicked Hearts attention by inviting invites four noblewomen to compete for Cullen's affections. In this epilogue, Giles finds her way home.

(Masterpost. Beginning. Previous entry. Touledy's Epilogue. Erridge's Epilogue. End. Words: 2,393. Rating: all audiences.)

Epilogue: Giles

Inquisition troops marched through field and farmland, nothing more than a movement north, bound for the Waking Sea and Free Marches beyond.

That was the story Jader had been told; that was the story Jader had believed. With the assent of its rulers, such movement was permitted. They had no idea that, amongst those simple-looking soldiers, the missing daughter of Samient walked.

The site of her ‘disappearance’ would have been discovered, by now. The Duke’s guard would be crawling all over it, like so many ants upon a fresh carcass. The Inquisition would be all apology, offering whatever help they could—but the blame would ultimately lie with her father. He hadn’t sent her with a guard, the other nobles would say. What could he expect?

Giles felt the guilt of it strongly. Every step she took, she questioned whether this was the right path. But she reminded herself, of what waited at its end. This would be worth it.

“Almost there,” Loranil told her. “If the others have already arrived, then we’ll be meeting at the docks. All right?”

Giles nodded. “Thank you,” she replied. “Thank you for doing this.”

Loranil smiled. “Not the sort of mission I expected when I joined the Inquisition—but I don’t mind it. I think it’s more pleasant than most of the soldiers have had, anyway.”

That much was true. They’d exchanged stories with Giles on their way, usually whilst bedding down for the night. She only believed half of them. No way had Troubridge fought a giant and lived to tell the tale, let alone done so without being raised in rank!

Though it did put her own situation in comparison. There had been no giant-killing on their journey, thank the Maker. In fact, their greatest danger was this. Jader. The last of Orlais she would see, the most likely place for her to be recognised. Best keep the helmet on tight.

But it served its purpose well enough. They walked the streets of the city with no resistance. Guards nodded them through, residents stopped to watch them walk by. A child stared with such wonder, it was as if the Inquisitor was the one striding past instead.

And thus, unhindered, they made it to the docks—a bustling shipyard, adorned with grand vessels, ready to sail the Waking Sea. The abundance of Orlesian heard throughout the city melted away, and left instead was a mixture of tongues, flying between sailors of varying origin.

With a quiet word of confirmation to the dockmaster, the Captain of Giles’ retinue led them where they needed to go. A ship, moored on the third dock to the right. That was where the other Inquisition had gathered.

Giles’ heart pounded against her chest. They rounded a corner, saw a group of soldiers scattered across crates and barrels, leaning and sitting and talking and relaxing. She halted in her tracks. Her eyes scanned the face of each and every single one. Until—

All went quiet. A soldier stood.

“Giles?”

He took the helm from his head, and revealed the man beneath. Vichy. Her Vichy.

She had feared this moment greatly. That the war might’ve changed him, that he might be beyond recognition. But every fear fell away, when she saw him.

It was the smiling face she knew; the deep brown skin and muscled arms; the same rich black hair—though his curls and coils had been cut shorter than she recalled. It didn’t matter. It was him.

“Vichy,” she breathed.

Her feet took off running before she had even realised it. He was ready for her, arms open. She collided with him, embrace so powerful that her helm was knocked from her head, to skitter across the ground.

It didn’t matter. It was him.

“I’m so sorry,” she wept, clutching him tighter than she ever had before. “This was my fault.”

“Don’t you worry,” he whispered, “it’s my fault, really.”

“How? How could any of this be your fault?”

“Well, a bastard son of an elf can’t really meddle with the Duke’s daughter and expect to get away with it, can he? You’re trouble, Giles. Beautiful trouble.”

She smiled. If there was any greater proof that this was her Vichy, it was this—for he never could take a single situation seriously. She was glad that that had not been taken from him. It was that very attitude that had her broken in the first place.

“My father should never have done this to you,” she told him. For, as much as she adored it, this was no time for his jokes.

“I chose to go,” he replied, kissing the tears from her cheek. “Besides, with what the Inquisition lot have told me about the Commander, I think you got the worse end of the deal. I have every respect for the man, given what he’s done for us—but Creators, he sounds boring.”

Giles chuckled. “His presence made me miss yours all the more. We should have run.”

He held her close, serious for the first time in his life: “No. I would have agreed to anything your father offered, to keep you safe.”

“But every moment without you I have been in danger of myself.”

She felt Vichy’s head shake, against hers. “Come now, none of that. I’m here. I’m here.”

He was. If only to prove it, if only to know it was real, if only to make it complete—she kissed him. Any lingering doubts fled, in the wake of that kiss. She had made the right decision.

An unfortunately public one, for a cheer went up—a few of the soldiers, who were swiftly reprimanded by their Captain—and Giles was suddenly reminded that they were not alone.

Vichy laughed at them. “All right, pay up!” he called. “Whoever said she wouldn’t show, you owe me a crown!”

Giles chuckled. With the distraction, she could part to find her helm—though she did not have to look for long. It was already discovered, in the hands of Loranil, who’d prevented it from rolling away.

“Best get this back on,” he said, handing it over, “we’re not in the Free Marches yet.”

***

They arrived in the Marches days later, to rendezvous with the Inquisition base in Kirkwall. The majority of the retinue would sequester themselves within; few were permitted to travel on to Sumara.

The Clan was last traced to Planascene Forest, where it had shrouded itself since the troubles of the Breach. Inquisition scouts had confirmed its location, and offered warning: more Inquisition were bound, to return a lost daughter.

The Clan had given no reply—except to say that they were waiting.

That sense of anticipation was felt throughout Planascene. Ancient trees shadowed the path, so that daylight could barely break through. Swaying leaves atop the canopy never quite settled into silence.

Giles felt watched. As if the Creators themselves now weighed her worth. What if they rejected her?

Such concern was halted, by the touch of a hand slipping into her own. Vichy.

“Chanter to E-4,” he whispered, with a smile.

Oh. Not a valid opening move. Unless…

“Are you referring to our game from the boat?” asked Giles.

They’d had to pass the time over the Waking Sea somehow, and they always did their best talking over a game of chess. Lucky for them, the skipper had a board.

“I am,” said Vichy. “I was about to win, and the fact of our journey’s end was quite convenient for you, I’d say.”

“Empress to E-4, capture,” Giles replied, quite in disagreement.

Vichy chuckled anyway. Giles did not truly think that he had restarted the game for his own glory. No, it made for a perfect distraction, and she was grateful for it.

It also served as a reminder. No matter what happened in the next few hours, she had him. They had each other. That was enough. That was more than enough.

Trees gave way to boulder-like stone, too purposefully-carved to be merely natural—likely some kind of ruins. The largest of its old columns towered over them, defiant in its continued existence. Loranil, treading carefully, raised his hands. To the stones, he called out, in Elven:

“Hold! We are friends!”

Movement, atop the ruins. A pair of elves, dressed in the leather of hunters, and carrying bows as tall as their bodies, made themselves known.

They asked something of Loranil, to which he gave a hasty answer. Though they seemed unsure, one withdrew, and disappeared beyond the ruins.

“I’ve asked for their Keeper,” Loranil explained to Giles. His eyes passed to the soldiers behind her. “Keep your weapons sheathed,” he warned.

The soldiers nodded, even stepping a pace back. The hunter who’d remained watched them, carefully.

It was some time—a half-hour at least—before the other finally returned, to their perch. Yet, more movement came with them. Out, from betwixt the ruins, emerged an elven man. He was of middle age, at least, with pale skin and paler hair. The robes he wore were unmistakably elaborate, the staff he bore thrumming with magic. The attire of a Keeper.

Though Giles did not understand it, he asked something of her. Loranil stepped in:

“Yes, this is the woman. Her mother was of your Clan.”

The Keeper switched to common tongue. “And what is your name?” he asked.

“Giles. Giles Samient,” she told him. “It was my mother’s wish that I would one day return to her Clan.”

“Have you any proof?”

Giles stammmered, “What?”

The Keeper gestured to his hunters. “I understand your hopes—but I must exercise caution. I cannot allow outsiders into the Clan without proof that you are, indeed, of Sumara.”

Giles hurried to unclasp the pendant from her neck. “This,” she said, holding the halla-horn out, “this was my mother’s.”

The Keeper, with a nod, permitted Loranil to retrieve the pendant from her—though he seemed as reluctant to take it as she was to let it go. Every step it retreated from her felt like another claw piercing her heart, threatening to tear it out.

But the pendant was safely delivered, and the Keeper regarded it with a curious eye.

“I was First to our previous Keeper, when we settled near Samient. Both your mother and father were friends of mine,” he revealed, meeting Giles’ gaze, “but I do not recognise this trinket.”

Panic struck her face—yet he went on:

“However, there is one who may. Excuse me for a moment.”

The Keeper withdrew into the ruins. The hunters remained, watching. The wait, this time, was even longer. Vichy and Loranil did their best to console Giles’ worry, but with every passing minute, it grew. It felt as though the longer they waited, the lesser her chances became—

Rustling, beyond the ruins. The crack of a twig, underfoot. Someone was coming.

The Keeper re-emerged, accompanied by another. An older woman. Her skin was tan, a little lighter than Samient’s—but her hair was the same shade of reddish-brown, greying at the scalp.

The pendant was in her hand, now, the chain dangling from her tightly-curled fingers. Her frail eyes darted between the gathered visitors—until they settled on Giles.

A string of Elven spilled from the woman’s mouth, as she stumbled forward. There was only one word Giles recognised.

“Terana.”

Giles’ breath caught. Her father had spoken her mother’s name only three times her whole life—each time more pained than the last. But this woman’s single utterance bore more pain than all his put together.

The woman came face-to-face with her, eyes searching Giles’. More words she didn’t understand. Giles called to Loranil:

“What did she say?”

Almost speechless, Loranil answered: “She asks if you are Terana. Her daughter.”

Her—? Giles shook her head. “What do you mean?”

Tears welled in the woman’s eyes, as she raised her hands to cradle Giles’ face.

“I think,” Loranil breathed, “this is your grandmother.”

The woman rubbed her thumbs over Giles’ pointed ears, and turned back to the Keeper. She said something; sobbed it, screamed it.

“Your companion is correct,” the Keeper said to Giles, a smile forming across his face. “This is Terana’s mother. And she says you are her granddaughter.”

Giles met her grandmother’s gaze. Words she had never expected. Her grandmother.

She saw, in her face, a reflection of her own. In every curve and feature, there was something of her that they shared. She was so beautiful. Even their tears fell the same.

“My granddaughter,” she whispered, “at last, Ghila’nain has guided you home.”

Her hands withdrew, and she threaded the necklace around Giles’ neck, sealing the clasp herself.

“I gave this to your mother, so that one day, she could come home. That is the last you have of her,” she said, wiping a tear from Giles’ cheek, “and you are the last I have of her.”

Crumbling, collapsing, Giles fell into her embrace. She hoped it was something like holding her mother would have been. She hoped her mother knew. She hoped she could feel it too.

But her grandmother noted Vichy beside them, and curiosity drew her to part. She asked of Giles:

“Who is this?”

“This is Vichy,” Giles explained, “we are betrothed.”

Her grandmother took his hands, and squeezed them. “You brought her home. Which Clan are you from?”

“None, I’m afraid,” answered Vichy. “An alienage. But my mother—she was born in a Clan.”

“Good. Good, strong boy.” She patted his hand. “Then you are home.”

“Ma serannas,” he said, before adding to Giles: “I think she likes me.”

Giles gave a little laugh. “Good.”

Her grandmother took her hand once more, and led her toward the Keeper. The hunters above relaxed their bows, standing to attention, rather than to guard.

“I present my granddaughter,” she said.

The Keeper nodded. “Andaran atish’an, Giles. Welcome to your Clan. In fact”—he looked to Vichy, and Loranil, and their little retinue—“let me extend my welcome to you all. You have returned to us a daughter of Sumara. We must celebrate.”

He extended an arm towards the gap in the ruins. The hunters drew back; Loranil and the soldiers took the invitation. Giles, one hand taken by her grandmother, threaded her other through Vichy’s.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Giles smiled. “Better. I am home.”

[wakeywakeyjakey]

Obsessed with the duality of potential Batjokes dynamics. When it comes to the vulnerability and accepting feelings piece, both routes of the one who has trouble accepting it + the one who accepts it easily are so sweet.

It feels a little bit obvious that Bruce might be the one who struggles to accept it even once they’ve been established—but I like when it goes beyond just that good vs evil dichotomy. Bruce running from the love and vulnerability that Joker offers him is nuanced in that he doesn’t believe he actually deserves anything outside of his mission. His whole life, everything he’s allowed to want or desire, is capped by who Batman is and represents. Accepting love from Joker would mean that he’s more human than he wants to be, than he allows himself to be, even than he gets to experience when he’s fully Bruce Wayne. He can’t let himself do love. A big part of that is rooted in his childhood trauma and the idea that getting close to someone means you could lose them forever—which is only exacerbated by the lifestyle that Joker leads and the reality that Joker walks that line of life/death every single day (just like Bruce). It would be letting go of control, and we know he’s not exactly good at that. But also it’s because Joker sees him. All of him. He sees the most “ugly” side of Bruce that even the Batfam runs from and he embraces that side of him with open arms, with love. Letting Joker love him would mean that those parts of him are lovable too and he can’t allow himself to accept that either when it would be unleashing the side of him he keeps caged and doesn’t want to even acknowledge. Accepting Joker’s love would be finally letting go of his delusion dream of normalcy because then he’s accepting that the only person who truly sees and loves the real him is the Joker. Which makes him just as crazy as the clown.

I also really fucking love when Joker is the one who struggles to accept vulnerability and softness. So much of his experience of their relationship is based in the violence that he seeks and genuinely enjoys. Clearly the love and the flirting is so present on his end that it would almost seem obvious that he’s the one who easily accepts it. BUT there’s this nuance to it in that he can’t fully accept that those feelings are/might be returned deep down and, if they are and if Bruce wants to love him, then it means he would be opening himself up to being broken by love instead of fists, which is a type of breaking he can’t control. There’s inherent control in him accepting and goading being absolutely pummeled to a pulp. But being loved by someone who can withdraw their affections (rather than their fists) without warning is different. So once that control leaves his hands, I can see him being completely unnerved by the affection he previously doled out.

I also think he’s created this culture of love and flirting that feels so much like a joke (even when it’s genuine) that accepting that, when Bruce says it, it isn’t a joke would be a little bit life-shattering. He can’t laugh when there’s no punchline and certainly not when his co-star goes off-script. Not to mention the fact that it would mean accepting his humanity on some level. Joker has been called a monster, an aberration, a freak, his entire life and those are his core beliefs (albeit that he leans into, but they’re not good beliefs). So letting himself be loved and held and touched gently would go against everything he believes about himself and sometimes that’s just too much to bear. His game with Bruce used to affirm one of the only things he knew about himself—so once it leaves that territory and gets twisted into something that feels even more dangerous and unknown to him, I can easily see Joker being the one to run from it.

The sheer amount of potential and poetic duality that comes from Batjokes is something I don’t think I’ll ever get over. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[microwave-core]

Carmine Fluff Alphabet Thing

For all intents and purposes, this is pre-Kieran Joker Arc.

Activities- What does she like to do? How does she spend her free time?

Carmine’s favorite thing to do with you is just laze around. She likes to splay out on the couch, tangling her limbs in yours, as you chat mindlessly. Makes Kieran bring in food and drinks from the kitchen or the drug store down the road. He grumbles about it, but he gets to hang out with you for a bit after doing so (he looks up to you a lot). Other than that, she likes showing you the many sights and scenes of Kitakami, especially the Festival of Masks. She’s very proud of her home (except for the whole casting out Ogrepon when she did nothing wrong thing, but I digress).

Beauty- What does she admire physically and mentally?

Physically, she likes your eyes. It’s not in a “eyes are the window to the soul” poetic type of way, though. She just appreciates their color and shape. Also really likes thighs. In terms of personality, Carmine really values courage. Even if you’re on the shy side, you’ve got at least some in you to stand toe to toe with her. She also really admires the ability to admit when you’re wrong, as it’s something she struggles with herself.

Comfort- How would she help when you’re feeling down, having a panic attack, etc.?

To be honest, Carmine’s style of comfort is a bit unconventional. She helps you settle down normally enough-instructing you to take deep breaths, to talk things out, and to let her hold you closely-but then she starts threatening whoever did this to you. She will make sure these bastards never see the light of day for hurting you, regardless if they hurt you on purpose or not. It’s up to you to reel her in if you think she’s going too far, because her threats are far from empty.

Dreams- How does she picture her future?

Hmm… Honestly, I don’t know. I could see her wanting to stay in Kitakami, continuing to live in her hometown out of habit, but I could also see her branching out and going on a journey to bigger regions and cities. She’s very prideful, though. She won’t easily admit that she likes a certain town or city or region, instead playing up how things are back at home. She wants you to come with her, obviously. What’s the point of going on a journey alone when she has you to do things for her to rely on?

Equal- Is she more dominant or passive in the relationship?

Definitely on the dominant side. She’s used to dealing with Kieran, who’s too shy to stand up for himself. Taking the reins comes naturally to her. She wouldn’t try to order you around all the time or speak on your behalf, but it’s obvious that she seems in control. She’s very vocal about what she does and does not like, and has a hard time dealing with push back. That being said, she does try to think about your needs and wants and changes to accommodate them, but that does not come easily to her.

Fight- What’s it like to fight her? How easily does she forgive? 

Carmine is easily agitated, but she tries to keep her temper under wraps for your sake. She tends to get snippy with other people over small things, but she doesn’t want to be mad at her lovely girlfriend for something petty. That being said, when it’s a big fight, she’s a nightmare to deal with. She needs at least a week of space before she’s even willing to be on speaking terms again, and she complains about what happened during most of that time. Also has a hard time admitting her faults, which doesn’t make things any easier. She’ll come around eventually. 

Gratitude- How grateful is she in general? Is she aware of what you do for her?

She’s very grateful for all you do, but doesn’t always vocalize that fact. Carmine doesn’t outright order you around, but she does ask you to do things sometimes. Can you bring me this, could you run to the store and grab that, would you be able to fetch Kiki for me, stuff like that. She’ll thank you after the fact, but it doesn’t show the depths of her gratitude. 

Honesty- Does she keep secrets or hide things, or does she share everything?

Doesn’t usually hide things. You’re her closest confidant, so she has to reason to lie… Okay, there are certain things she doesn’t vocalize, like just how grateful she is for all you do, but she’s not normally going to lie. Unless she thought hiding something for the moment would be the best for you (just like how she hides meeting Ogrepon from Kieran), she’s going to be pretty honest.

Inspiration- Did you inspire her to change in some way?

You make Carmine want to be a nicer person, in a sense. She’s a bit prickly and snippy with people she doesn’t know or doesn’t like, but she doesn’t want to be like that with you. She really cares about you, and really wants to keep you around, so she tries her best to be kinder and softer with you, but not with anyone else… except maybe with Kieran. She also tries to boss him around less.

Jealousy- Does she get jealous easily? How does she deal with it?

Yes. Absolutely yes. She doesn’t like most other people, so she obviously doesn’t like when they’re around you. How dare they have the audacity to think they know you better then she does? Carmine knows you better than anyone, no questions asked! She also doesn’t really deal with it, she just holds you close and glares at her opposition. Doesn’t really acknowledge her jealous streak, but she doesn’t try to deny it, either.

Kiss- What’s she like as a kisser?

She’s above average, I guess. A bit rough with them, but puts just enough passion in to leave you wanting more. She tends to soften up a bit when you kiss her, pouting until you give her another, then another, the another, so on and so forth. She’s a bit greedy with your affection, honestly. She wants to be showered in your love.

Love Confession- How does she confess?

Carmine doesn’t confess. Or rather, she doesn’t want to. She’d much rather be confessed to. She’ll drop hints constantly, hoping that you’ll pick up on her feelings and just spill yours already. The more hints she drops, the more obvious they get. Should you take too long, she’ll confess in a rather aggressive manner, basically just telling you to kiss her already.

Marriage- Does she want to get married? Does she want kids?

I think Carmine wants to be married, but I don’t see her as a person who’d want kids. She’s more of an aunt figure in my mind, in a “when your double-income, no-kids, lesbian aunts show up to unleash the gift reckoning on christmas” way. Of course, she waits for you to propose, but will begrudgingly take up that mantle if you take too long. Her ideal wedding is a small one, just being surrounded by family. Listen, she’s a sap but she doesn’t want anyone to know.

Nicknames- What kinds of pet names does she use?

Typically just sticks with babe or baby. If she’s in a teasing mood, she’ll use an overly sweet nickname that makes other people cringe. Could also use a short form of your name if that’s applicable.

On Cloud Nine- What’s she like when in love? Is it obvious to others? How does she express her love?

She’s noticeably happier and softer when she sees, or even just thinks, about you, but she only smiles smugly when asked why she’s in such high spirits. Her main love language is acts of service. She usually just orders people around to do her bidding, so going out of her way to do things on your behalf means a lot coming from her.

PDA- Is she upfront about your relationship and affection? 

Very upfront. Carmine wants everyone around to know that you’re her girl, just so they know not to mess with you unless they want to deal with her wrath. Has no issue with being affectionate with other people around, but tries to hold back with Kieran. She’ll tease him if he thinks her affection towards you is embarrassing, telling him off for still believing in cooties, but she does tone things down. She cares about him, really, she’s just an older sister. It’s how it be.

Quirk- What’s an ability she has that’s beneficial in a relationship?

She won’t hesitate to fuck someone up. Now, I’m not saying you should indulge in her violent tendencies and sick her on those you don’t like as if she’s a vapid dog, but you could if you really wanted to. Just know that you’ll likely have to take some of the responsibility if she clocks someone unprovoked.

Romance- How romantic is she? What does she do to make you happy?

As previously stated, she tries to do things for you. Again, it’s not much, but it means a lot coming from her. She’s not super romantic, but she is pretty passionate. As much as she likes sitting back and basking in your love, she will at times turn the tables and instead shower you in affection, peppering you with light pecks, telling you how much she loves you after each and every one.

Support- How does she help you achieve your goals?

Carmine can, and will, weed out anyone standing in your way. Is someone harassing you, or scaring you off, or in general just bringing your spirit down and making your job harder? Sit down babe, Carmine’s just gonna have a little chat with them real quick. She doesn’t always resort to violence, sometimes threats are enough to scare them off, but she will use force if she has to. Again, you might need to step in before she takes things too far.

Thrill- Does she feel the need to try new things out to spice up your relationship, or does she prefer stability?

Honestly, I’m a bit conflicted here. I think she does spice things up in, um, plenty of ways if you catch my drift, but she doesn’t do anything too extreme to your relationship as a whole.

Understanding- How well does she know you?

Carmine knows a lot about you. It’s like she’s got a little memory bank in her brain just for you. She’s pretty perspective, too, and tries to keep them in mind. She’ll do normal things like pick up your favorite snacks and plan dates at your favorite locals, but then she’ll do things like claim no one can sit in a specific spot because that’s your favorite seat and you deserve to have it. 

Value- How important is your relationship to her?

Incredibly important. Honestly, Carmine doesn’t have too many close relationships outside of her family, so you mean so much to her. When she knows that things between you are getting serious, she genuinely sees you as a part of her family, and they think the same. Her grandparents love you and think you’re a great influence, and Kieran thinks you’re ridiculously cool. So don’t break her heart.

Wild Card- A random headcanon.

She absentmindedly plays with your hair when she’s not doing anything else. She’ll twirl it and untangle it and wrap it around her fingers. If it’s too short to play with, or if you’ve styled it in a way where she can’t, or shouldn’t, mess with it easily, she’ll settle for scratching gently at your scalp.

XOXO- Is she affectionate? 

Pretty affectionate. She likes to hold you closer, or lay her legs across your lap, or vice versa, or… or anything, really. Carmine just likes to be close, both in public and behind closed doors.

Yearning- How does she cope when missing you?

Perfectly fine, then not at all. If you’re gone for a while, she can deal with it. You can’t be around all the time, she gets that. She still has Kieran to hang around with, so she’s not lonely or anything. But when days turn to weeks, she suddenly breaks. She becomes incredibly dramatic, lamenting about how much she misses you, about how you’ve been gone for so long. Practically jumps you the next time you meet.

Zeal- Is she willing to go to great lengths for your relationship? If so, in what ways?

I already stated that she would deck a man for you in a heartbeat so I’d say she’s willing to do a lot. If someone is clearly bothering you, she won’t ask any questions, nor will she hesitate. If you're not uncomfortable or in distress when asking her to do something, though, she might complain about it. She’ll still do it, even if she doesn’t really want to, but she does ask to be compensated in affection.

[forbidding-souda]

Mod Souda!~ I have never requested fic before, this is entirely new territory so please forgive me if I misstep. ^_^; Could I please request HC's regarding Korekiyo x autistic S/O? I tried finding similar in the master list, alas I could not which is completely on me if I wasn't thorough enough.

A little afterword of gratitude also for your masterful works on Korekiyo in particular, the way you HC him is beautiful. He is my ultimate comfort character and your content is poignant for me. I also wish you the absolute best on finals and in life in general! (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)♡ I hope you are faring well. Thank you for all that you do here

Shinguuji Korekiyo with Autistic S/O

I've had this blog since quarantine so I can't even remember if I've written anything like this so I'm happy to write one for you regardless or not if it's a repeat.

Hai guys I don't have my edited sprites anymore bc I deleted them awhile ago so here's normal souda. Also if this is ass then my bad

hashtag actually autistic btw for anyone reading, i think it's right to share that when I write these ofc

okay mod souda behavior here where I say random stuff before each story but I'm watching impractical jokers rn and I don't know how some people watch this because the secondhand embarrassment is insane I literaly have to look away PLZZZ. This took an hour to write because half way through I started watching impractical joker clips on youtube (while the show is playing on the tv)

-Mod Souda

♥ He isn't a stickler about your interests. A good thing about being with him is that he won't make fun of you for anything you enjoy, no matter if he enjoys it himself or not. He'll never ask you to turn a movie off or to stop talking about something. He knows more than anybody else how isolating it can feel when somebody refuses to try and tolerate other people's passions; he would never put you down.

♥ He's naturally off-putting. If you experience people considering you off-putting then don't feel alone because Shinguuji is considered off-putting as well. He brushes off the negative things people thinks when it comes to himself, but when it comes to you and the negativity you face, it's hard for him to conceal how irritated he gets.

♥ I know some people have hyperfixations of like medieval torture methods so imagine how much he'd love that.

♥ ^ You also have the chance to teach him about really niche things, that's pretty sweet.

♥ ^ But I imagine that with some topics, he's gonna try and teach you about your own hyperfixation and it's gonna get annoying.

♥ He loves ur reactions to things. He gets so gushy-gushy and poetic. He likes finding what words make you smile, which ones make you laugh and which ones make you want to roll your eyes.

You stared back at him for a few seconds. He held an intense, filling gaze. The two of you were sitting on a park bench, facing the trees and enjoying the sounds of the birds. In between the conversation, there were moments of silence. Usually, he'd break them with small, unrelated sentences, but he's been quiet. "Korekiyo," you said quietly, a bit worried to startle him. To you, he was either in deep thought or, more humorously, sleeping with his eyes open. It took you to say it louder before he turned away. "My apologies," he smiled with a tilt of his head. His hair cascaded down his shoulder. His eyes went to the green leaves dancing in the wind. "We sit here in such a beautiful place, so lively. Most people would give their life away to view a sight like this." With no response, you just stared at him more, already knowing what he was going to say. He looked at you. "I've been all around the world and so I do not wish to waste my time looking at something I've seen before. You, however, do not come close to any of the beauties our world gives to us." "You love me so much, don't you?" You gave him a smile while his yellow eyes developed a look of interest: "You say that but do not realize that jests can be true words, too."

♥ If you need your alone time, he isn't going to stop you because he likes his, too. He knows that obviously you can be infatuated with somebody while also finding comfort in solitude.

♥ ^ And with that, he also has his own boundaries when it comes to where he goes whenever he wants solitude. He likes reading his books and analyzing his artifacts, all of which takes place in his study.

♥ ^ Yeah and don't touch his stuff because he is very protective of his collections. Therefore, he'd also never mess with something you own.

♥ If you're the type of person to have stuffed animals, and especially make them talk, he isn't going to pick up on that very quickly as means of a thing people still do. He'll give a history lesson as to 'ah yes, i've learned about this form of imagination within cultures of story telling, oral adventures'.

♥ Most of the time, he'll put your comfort over his.

♥ He'll stay up with you whenever you have trouble sleeping and are fully awake at 2am, no matter the cost. He is going to make sure that you know he is always there for you. He always has things to do.

♥ If you need help falling asleep, he'll do things like sing to you and let you watch videos in bed, whatever will make you most comfortable.

♥ He got some crazy eye contact btw I just want to put that out there.

[damiansgrayson]

Dick kills for the second time, Jason finds out about the first. (ficlet)

Amy Rohrbach is the one to give him permission when she hands him back his badge and gun. The one to say, “As a police officer…you have more options.”

Her words run through Dick’s mind as he goes to follow up with the reporter; the one who is dead only minutes later by a bullet through the head as glass flies everywhere and Desmond crashes through the window. Dick’s on his feet in minutes, already attacking, trying not to scream in rage as the words fall out. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you.”

Part demand, part secret plea.

“There isn’t one, Nightwing. Not one. That’s the best part.”

Mass murderer. Domestic terrorist. The former residents of his building on floors one through three probably died instantly when the bomb went off. But four and five... the floors fell through on them. They were crushed, trapped, they died of internal injuries and smoke inhalation. And floor six... they burned. 

Roland continues, knowing he's finding weaknesses Dick refuses to give into. “Nor is there a single good reason for me to harm a hair on your head. The essential truth of your nature is that you could take every beating I could dish out. You might even enjoy them. You have absolutely no regard for your personal safety. But the people around you, well! That’s a different matter, isn’t it?

“I’ll take out the people you care about- hell even strangers you stand next to on the street. You won’t be able to shake someone’s hand without marking them for death.”

After his parents, Dick knows all too well about the mark of death. 

“Do you like being alone, Dick? I’ll make sure you can’t save any of them. I’ll make sure you relive over and over your failure to save your relationship, your circus, the residents of your building, Ms Michaels- that’s how I'll take you apart. Loved one by loved one. Innocent by innocent. It will never stop. I can keep this up forever. Every loved one, every stranger.”

He's right. It never stops. Dirty cops are one thing, but then there's the attorney generals, the judges, the jails that never seem to hold. It never stops. 

Punching harder, kicking stronger-- it’s all useless with someone like Blockbuster, who can take the beating without crumpling like most, but Dick continues. Rage flows through him in a messy way, the kind Bruce would say gets people killed, and he’d be right. Dick’s all but seeing red, trying to control himself and failing, trying to picture anything but the people he’d failed to save.

“And you’ll let me do it, won’t you? Just so you don’t tarnish your own moral righteousness. Just like Batman.”

One moment Roland is waxing poetic on threats; the next, he’s choking on his own blood as a wingding rips its way through his throat. 

Moral righteousness be damned, Dick can't forgive himself if he lets himself become locked in a deadly battle with his own form of the Joker. He still runs to the roof and retches before collapsing to his knees. He's failed. Bruce will never look at Dick the same way again. 

What else could he do? 

In a fugue state, he calls Amy about the body. She comes up with some alibi. He hands back the gun and badge and disappears before she can argue. 

-

Back in a hotel room as he gets ready to leave Bludhaven for a bit, he stops. Outside the window of the fire escape he hears someone, blinds closed and obscuring vision. Heavy step, large build. Sound of uniform. Doesn't want to be quiet. Not afraid. Dick readies himself. 

“Hello Dickard." 

Only one person uses the most irritating, immature forms of nicknames for him. “Go back to Gotham, Jason.”

Cursing Babs for tattling to his brother may not help the situation, but it's easier than getting a smug Jason to leave once the window is broken into and he climbs in. She trusted Jason more than others under Bruce's shadow had when he returned. Maybe it was shared hatred of the Joker- the way he'd killed Jason and killed Barbara's old life. Bodily traumatized by him in ways few of the other heroes had been. 

There's a million reasons he's here, but if comfort or concern was one of them, the last person he'd tell would be Dick. “Or what, you’ll kill me?”

“Fuck off,” Dick snarls, misplacing his guilt inside of anger. If he didn't hate himself so damn much, it might feel good. 

Of course the tone goes ignored, just as the words, and Jason launches into, “Remember how I told all of you that sometimes lethal force is necessary and all I got in return was lectures on morality?”

Dick ignores him.

“Remember how the second you wore the cowl you had me arrested because you ‘weren’t a hypocrite like Bruce’?” Dick hadn't so much had him arrested as hadn't stopped Gordon from doing it, but the point was moot. 

“Are you done?” 

“Is your fragile sense of self still intact?”

If it was anyone but him asking, Dick might have answered honestly. “It’s fine.”

“Seems too fine.” Jason says. “Guess I should have expected as much from a cop.”

The words feel like sandpaper on the gaping wound that is Dick’s guilt and before he can help it, he’s stupidly asking, “Are you saying I should have let him live?”

“That fucker?” Jason scoffs. “Of course not.”

“I’m not proud of it.” He says, as if that makes things better. As if a man wasn't dead, however monstrous, and Dick wasn't a killer, however once described  righteous. “I’m not proud of it, but it’s done. It’s not like the Joker.” 

Bruce wasn’t there to fix it. 

Jason stills in a way Dick doesn’t catch on to until the shaky tenor in his voice gives his anger away. “What do you mean ‘not like the Joker’?”

Years have passed and somehow Dick hadn’t realized it was still secret-- had he expected Tim to say something? Alfred? Or the Joker himself? It seems stupid to not have known Jason was never told but he’s the last one to want to admit how much more of a hypocrite he was this same night. “Nothing.”

“No, what? Not like the Joker killing me?” Jason irrationally demands, always jumping to the conclusion that no one loves him properly. “This time people you actually cared about were in danger?”

“No.” Dick huffs, glaring and admitting with a flat tone, “Not like when I killed the Joker.”

“The Joker is alive.”

Dick hates the mixed feelings that come up every time he thinks on those four words. “He wasn’t for about three minutes.”

“What, hit him wrong with your escrima stick?” 

“No.”

“I deserve to know. It’s him. If KGBeast-”

“Get out, Jason.”

“Not until you fess up.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

Within the minute it takes for Jason to draw the gun, shoot it, and Dick to leap out of the way, his temper is already unleashing again. “What the fuck.”

“Please, if I thought you couldn’t dodge, I would shoot you. Now tell me.”

Despite knowing that he's allowing Jason's psychological manipulation to win, his anger overrides pride as he spits out, “I beat him to death with my own hands.”

Jason stands, gun lowering minutely. “Why?”

“He made it look like he had killed Tim.”

“That was enough? After all these years?” Jason challenged, unbelieving. “You’re not that stupid.”

“He took a crack about your death in the middle of it.” Dick looks away, not wanting to see Jason’s expression. "You had only been dead a few months."

Jason, for once, is more silent than he's ever been around Dick when not nose deep in a classic novel. 

“Bruce revived him.” Dick said, heading off the next logical question. “He didn’t want a death on my conscience.” Another death at least, Dick laments to himself.

There's a stillness to Jason's quiet fury as he says, “Bruce belongs in Arkham with him.”

Thinking of how he himself had  allowed Zucco to be riddled with bullets, or how he had manipulated lightning into frying Creighton, Dick can't help but mutter, “All of us do.”

“Would you do it again? Kill him?”

What was the Joker’s current murder count? Every death he saw in the reports was a death that Dick felt differently than before. Small, perhaps a bit broken, he confesses, “Yeah. Yeah, I probably would. But that’s not a good thing.” 

Right?

Jason cracks. “I hate him, Dick." He knows it's Bruce. "He doesn’t give a shit about anyone other than the clown who leaves carnage in his wake, doesn't care how many people die, or get paralyzed- we're just toy soldiers. He's a fucking monster for bringing him back to life. You know that, right? Why do you all act like I'm the crazy one to suggest we put him seven hundred feet under?”

“You’re not crazy.”

“Then why is he still alive?”

Thinking of mitigating potential damage, even if he has no place doing so, Dick asks, “Are you still asking about the Joker?”

Surprisingly, Jason doesn’t shoot Dick for the remark. He wouldn’t have blamed him if anger arose, but instead the man shakes his head, looking out the window for a moment. “It’s not that easy.”

“You don't actually want Bruce dead,” he says. “Sometimes I worry you need the reminder.” 

Jason scoffs. “Hypocrite.”

“I know.” Dick sighs. After a moment, he goes back to the original question about the Joker. “I don’t have a new answer for you."

“Don’t let Bruce stop you next time.”

He deflects. “Don’t shoot up the manor on your way home.”

“No promises.”

“Alfred will shoot back,” Dick points out, although it's not like either would actually harm the other. 

“You going to hide out?”

Dick can't face their mentor. His adopted father, rather. Alfred might calm Bruce down, Babs might do a good job of distracting him, but the confrontation will happen regardless and Dick's too broken to let it happen now, however much of a coward it makes him. “I’m riding out to Donna’s in a bit.”

“At least Diana believes true justice can cost a life.” Triton, Maxwell Lord, Ares… names from the League files that Bruce keeps on its members. Diana tries peace before all else, though. Jason's spent too much time around Artemis if he thinks otherwise. 

Thinking about Wonder Woman only makes him think of Superman, though. There's no League member close to Bruce on the list of people he wants to fail less, and just the thought makes him feel sick to his stomach. 

He has to refocus. It's done. 

Jason’s demeanor toward Dick has shifted, and while there’s some chaos and upset brewing around Bruce, he’s at least postponed his anger at Dick. “If no one else tells you but me; you did the right thing.”

"This isn't some bonding moment, Jason!" Dick growls, yelling again. "I'm not this person!"

Jason rolls his eyes. "Delude yourself all you want. Just answer one question." 

Dick waits, even if he knows better. 

"If you hadn't been taught by Bruce, would you still be holding onto that no kill rule-," Ever one to cross a line to make a point; Jason finishes, "-Or would Zucco have died by your own hands too?"

"I know better than to be jury, judge, and executioner by now." Dick says. At least I should.

"Bludhaven isn't different enough from Gotham for you to actually believe the American justice system works. Even if it did, jails here don't hold either. How many people do you think he would have killed next?" 

Unsure who he’s arguing for anymore, he replies, "I can't prove that he would have."

"You're not that naive, no matter how much you want to be Superman's fanboy."

Dick waits a minute, and Jason doesn’t fill the silence, before finally admitting, "I couldn't let myself become Bruce. I couldn't create my own joker."

"Stop, you're going to make me have to respect you."

Quiet fills the space again.

“Just promise me you’ll go back to Gotham and stay out of the Nightwing costume.” It wouldn't be the first costume of his that Jason has taken, after all. 

“Oh, come on, this would be the perfect time for him to start using guns." Jason’s grinning.

As much as Dick wouldn’t mind punching him, he only rolls his eyes. “Have fun finding a place to fit them."

“I’m sure there’s room where you keep the fake butt padding, but fine. I can’t fit in your tiny suit anyway, some of us have muscles.”

“Some of us didn’t cheat by using the Lazarus pit." 

“Whatever you have to tell yourself."

“See you around." 

[kdrama-movies-more]

Hii, I hope it's ok to message you. I just read your tags in my post about jihwan taking a hit for his dad and I agree 100% with Ko Yang Hee should've done it. The built up was perfect and like the prosecution said 'it's the kind of thing that only ends with one of them dead.' Ko Yang Hee should have had finished the job imo.

Chief Oh was kinda wrong about the 'one of the two...'

There is no way- no way the laws of their world would have allowed Yang-hee to actually succeed in his stabdeavor even if he had stabbed the correct guy...

It only ends with Yang-hee dead...(It might be my extreme grudge over Mapi but I fully believe if this was going to have a bad ending exactly two people were destined to die: Jae-soo and Yang-hee)

Also the poetic way Yang-hee should try to kill his boss should be pufferfish poison...

Sorry life got lifing and I forgot about completing this ask 😔

Another reason the Kitty boss can't have killed him for a neat and clean and definite ending is because then he'd be breaking Ji-hwan even more than he already pushed him and things go to where theres no turning back. Also because oddly enough everyone did want him to kill the dad... Also...I got perplexed by that implic...like, the prosecution anticipated this whole internal strife leading to murder scenario? While their prev observation was supposed to be exposition, the dynamic of Seo Tae-pyeong and Yang-hee seems different than it is another thing.

The whole build-up part of it is where things stand. For Yang-hee, he delivers on every count even if his attempts are foiled and I'm still in the mindset rooting his right to crime. Gang-gils is in being done with Yang-hee. But the dad...

The purpose was served- its a very simple drama and they went with everyone's got at least one thing that keeps them redeemable and human and bid they get a chance even if they currently lack the will to change kind of ending. Instead of the usual drama psychopaths...

Its just...the dad ended up...underwhelming? I don't know how to put it but it ends up a shonen manga in a way, made too powerful a final villain and incidentally defeated in spirit. Dad was some mirror to Seo Ji-hwan but the final storyline just didn't land because there wasn't...enough? (More of it is dad and Yang-hee's strife) They should have used either flashbacks or something more than kites, debts and minor clues set up in the previous episodes I feel. I didn't like the dad and I figure the why was because of how he got depicted via his underlings(even when gang bosses are psychopaths the underlings don't seem so frightened nor so done with them. Theres zero respect other than the weasel who also resents him in the same breath). And also I didn't like him because he nerfed Ji-hwan. Ji-hwan was active against Yang-hee but with dad he turned...flaky?

And while theres something about Ji-hwan overcoming his dad's hold on him thats just...that*. From the beginning Ji-hwan gave me Batman vibes so Yang-hee is Joker if Joker were Buggy the Clown or Spandam... Yang-hee otherwise is very much Ted Chang and Lee Mu-bae combined while Gang-gil is his Sun-hee and much of the drug part of the drama follows things similar to Extreme Job. Basically Ji-hwan and Yang-hee have this deep toxic undefined dynamic that never ends. Deep down Ji-hwan can't really get rid of that dark side of him. It comes out whenever he and Yang-hee cross paths and nothing is actually resolved because the father is overall irrelevant aside from being a bogeyman and Yang-hee too, even if in prison doesn't mean there won't be another trigger that'll test Ji-hwan's steel resolve. Its normally that one expects characters to grow or change or resolve by the end but most of them are already in the ongoing journey or fully 'grown' so its different but some of what I consider Ji-hwan's flaws are lauded or overlooked instead of seen as requiring change...felt a bit, unresolved.

Even for Gang-gil his resolution was a tad underwhelming. Maybe some scenes were cut because I'm a bit confused. Overall too I usually make timelines from the background stuff but here I'm thoroughly confused because some things aren't real and some don't add up and I don't know if that is deliberate or oversight and much of what I am puzzled by turns out to be modified to go a different direction from the source LN(even LN Go Yang-hee makes more sense being more serious about ganglife and the loss of it). Anyway, maybe Gang-gil is just passive. As are the non-housemate Thirsty Deer board members... in the LN Yang-hee is supposedly this vile career criminal but here he and Gang-gil divvied up the gang crimes between them... And nobody even of the older Bulldogs showed any active will or want to change...

*I'd been looking up the light novel and manhwa and the one consistent statement regarding the ending is "Ji-hwan and Eun-ha who faced a lot of issues from their families cut ties with their families, get married and have their own happiness in the end"

I don't know if the one in prison is orig Yang-hee or the dad (description makes Yang-hee sound like the sole irascible villain; some prosecutor equivalent is apparently the other crazy one). Ji-hwan's maternal grandfather is talked of but nothing much is mentioned of his father than him having had Ji-hwan kidnapped at 13 and being obsessed with turning him into his successor. In anycase the bad guys get punished in the end so they'd both either be in prison or dead either way.

[spacedykez]

20 looking awfully looks interesting for a story prompt thing if you're still doing them ;)

20. found you / cannot trust you

"You're playing a dangerous game," Parrot says. Clown turns to where the man is standing behind him, head tilted sideways.

"What?"

"Working with him?" Parrot continues. "I would have thought you'd choose a more... predictable partner."

Clown contemplates the answer. Perhaps teaming with Branzy seems foolish from an outside perspective, but Clown knows what he's doing. And he can't deny there's a little voice in his head that enjoys seeing Branzy squirm in front of him.

Maybe it seems unwise, but Clown knows what he's doing. Even if no one else understands that. He shrugs in response and begins to walk of.

"Clown!" Parrot calls after him, demanding. Clown looks back at where Parrot stands, hand on the hilt of his sword. Parrot looks like he's about to say something else, but he changes his mind at the last minute. "Be careful."

Parrot is right, in the end, and Clown thinks back on it as he stands, costume torn, in front of a cackling Branzy.

Branzy's well-kept outfit is dirtied and torn. Blood, both his and others' (although mostly others') stains the white cloth of his shirt the color of the redstone he'd used to kill half the server.

He'd nearly killed Clown, too. But for some sick reason of his own, Branzy had saved him from dying, in the end. Neither of them mentioned it.

Branzy turns to Clown, eerily similar to how Parrot had, that day he'd forewarned this happening. A wide, joker-like smile is painted across his face, which is freckled with more tiny droplets of blood.

Clown doesn't think about how adorable they look. It's not worth dwelling on.

"Oh, Clownpierce," Branzy laughs. He's almost more intimidating now than he was when he'd betrayed them, looking like a wild animal with his clothes so disheveled.

Clown's traitorous eyes drift towards the spot where a gaping hole in Branzy's shirt leaves exposed skin. He's lucky no one can see it under the mask.

"It's just us, again," Branzy continues. "At the end of it all!" His voice rises in pitch wildly. Clown lets him talk. Perhaps he'll reveal some information Clown can use, or leave himself open to attack.

"Isn't that poetic?"

Perhaps, a bit. Clown doesn't take time to think about it. He's focusing on his target like a tiger stalking its prey, waiting for an opening to strike.

Branzy turns and Clown lunges, sword stabbing straight through his back and turning the violet of his shirt a dark red- Clown's color.

Even if he's betrayed Clown, Branzy is his. Branzy will always be his.

No one else is quite as fun to play with, after all.

[dawnstruck]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks....

I'm probably super late to answer, but this is such an interesting question. The following list is in no particular order; I'll also mostly disregard what I think of the franchises in general, any shipping stuff, and whether or not I think the character was done justice in canon. With many series, I kept reading/watching beyond what I truly enjoyed, because I adored the characters. A good story is important, but I won't truly get invested unless there is a person or dynamic I wholeheartedly love. Also, this got way longer and more poetic than I intended.

Levi Ackermann (Attack on Titan): Love him. Love him to bits. Love that he is technically an overpowered character, but so fallible. Always falling short in a lot of way, often unable to save those he loves. Still trying to do what's right, trying to make the world a better place. He is so full of hurt, and love. I love how everything about him is a contradiction; he is tiny but Humanity's Strongest, a literal son of a whore and the commander's right hand man, a thug with a potty mouth and a cleaning fetish. Levi cares and he cares so deeply. He is such an iconic character

2. Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist, particuarly 2003): Another tiny boi. Full of genius and heart and grief and rage. Edward is intriguing because he learned a really hard lesson when he was just a child. The story literally opens with him making the biggest mistake of his life, and then follows him trying to make amends. I love how is a spunky teen, and a major in a corrupt military, and a big brother, and a prodigy. A loud protagonist like him could easily have been a caricature, but instead he has a lot of facets and depths, and seeing him grow was a delight.

3. Ronan Lynch (The Raven Cycle & The Dream Trilogy): Ronan. Ronan, Ronan, Ronan who is capable of the most fanciful dreams and the most garish nightmares. Whose greatest gift is the worst burden anyone can possibly imagine. He is so tough and so vulnerable. Ronan is bruised knuckles and black boots and sprawling tattoos; he is Sunday mess and hand cream and raven chicks hand-reared in his palm. Ronan grows an entire forest out of a dead language, he would die for his family and friends, and kill for them, too. He prays and dreams and does not talk about his feelings. Ronan is barbed wire: he hurts and he protects, and sometimes he gets all tangled up in himself, only few people dare get close enough to try and unravel him again.

4. Dean Winchester (Supernatural): Hurt boi #4 because they are my favorite flavor. I love that he had to grow up way too quickly. From the beginning of the series, he was such an interesting juxtaposition, hyper-masculine but also geeky, a maternal figure to his brother and a failure in his own eyes, chosen by God and hunted by Hell. He went through so much and still always tried to put other people first. Self-destructive to a fault, insanely quotable, stupidly handsome, and beautifully 3-dimensional.

5. Tanaka Ryounosuke (Haikyuu!!): The joker, the idiot, the loudmouth, the perv even. The backbone of Karasuno that never breaks. Tanaka has such beautiful contrasts in him. He could be such a one-note character (if haikuu had any one-note characters), but instead he is what the team desperately needs. Where everyone else has their moments of weakness and despair, Tanaka is so reliable on the court, which makes the one match where he hits a wall feel so daunting. I love that he messes around a lot but, ultimately, he is always there, from the very beginning. I love his posturing and how he is ultimately just a boy from a small town. I love that he gets the girl. I also love that Saeko is his sister, but she didn't quite make it onto this list.

6. Fa Mulan (Disney, animated original, ofc): Mulan was my crush and my rolemodel and my pre-teen bisexual awakening. She embodied genderfluidity in a way that was way ahead of its time. Mulan is soft and feminine and caring, she is tomboyish and klutzy and wicked-smart, she is strong and manly and suited for war. Mulan's decision to join the army was not born out of a need to run away or prove her worth or to kill the Huns. She did it out of love, to protect her father, her family, her country. She knowingly put herself in grave danger, either by dying on the battlefield or by being found out. To me, the moment she is pulls herself up the pole to get the arrow is one of the most iconic in film history; that shit shaped me. She also managed to bag Shang, and boy, was he the other half of my sexual awakening.

7. the Unicorn/Lady Amalthea (The Last Unicorn): The whimsical fairy tale setting allows for such interesting story setting. The idea that she is the last of her kind, that she didn't even know because she was living in her eternal forest, that she left the sanctity of her home to look for the others, with no idea what she would find... I love that she, too, is ultimately a terrible and ancient thing, much like the harpy. I love her arrogance and ignorance, her wisdom and naivety. I love that she is turned into a human and hates it, and hates it more when she falls for Prince Lear. I love that she has to be brave and fight to save the other unicorns, that she succeeds but is forever changed. She is the last unicorn, and the first that learns to love. It's such a bittersweet ending, such a painful parting, and cherishes it nevertheless.

8. Brienne of Tarth (A Song of Ice and Fire): A tall woman. An ugly woman. A woman who is ugly and stays ugly, who grows strong because and in spite of it. The world has been so terrible to Brienne, many times over, but still she chooses to be kind. She devotes herself to Renly because he danced with her once, to Caitlyn because she showed her kindness, to Jaime even because he finally looked and truly saw her. I love how, especially in the books, we get to see a lot of Brienne through Jaime's eyes, how she grows more beautiful and precious the more he gets to know her. Brienne does not have to change for a man to love her; a man is changed because he loves her. Brienne is valor and strength and hard work through and through. She is a knight and she is a woman and neither has been a easily won.

9. Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter): Do I even need to say anything? McGonagall, especially as portrayed by Dame Maggie Smith, is an icon. She is a badass. She cares for her students, even if she doesn't openly show it. She is easily the best teacher at Hogwarts, for quite a number of reasons. She is loyal and good and true. She does not pull her punches. She's witty and visceral and the kind of grounded mature character that HP needed, without turning into a caricature like some of the others. Many of the most memorably moments from HP canon, imo, involve McGonagall. From her welcoming the first-years over her feud with Umbridge to her stepping up against Snape and finally desperately calling Harry's name when she believes him dead. I was never a true Potterhead, but God, do I adore her.

10. Stiles Stilinski (Teen Wolf): The sidekick that was the protagonist to most. Dylan O'Brien brought so much to the table here. Stiles is the everyman amidst a sea of monsters, and yet he is the true force to be reckoned with. Stiles was the heart of the show and the brain. He was the snark and the ace up their sleeves. I love my quiet, tormented boys, but I also love my loud-mouthed idiots who are actually crucial for the group to succeed. I stopped watching TW a long time ago, but I still often think about Stiles.

Some honorable mentions:

Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Keith (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

Sailor Mars/Rei (Sailor Moon)

Madame Adelaide (Aristocats)

Elle Woods (Legally Blonde the Musical)

Thor (MCU)

Spock (Star Trek)

Newt Scamander (Fantastic Beasts)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (How to Train Your Dragon)

[mirrorshards]

I loved the dynamics between Stan and Kyle in the special. They were once super close and it all got fucked up and you can see Kyle would just put it aside if legit sorry was said but Stan is way too deep in his head and been through too much shit to deal with it. I also loved every Kyle / Cartman interaction. I need to know what happens next. Also Token was hella hot as he deserved.

yeah I agree! ever since ass burgers style's friendship has been on a decline.

there's a progression in some episodes where you can really see it- like in the ziplining episode stan is constantly trying to get kyle's attention and kyle not giving it, in faith hilling kyle actively chooses cartman's side. then you have ginger cow which is a whole thing kyle keeps stan out of and stan wanting to help how he can (he is being a bit rude about it i wont deny), and console wars where kyle, once again, chooses cartman's side. and this is where it finally shows - stan is grounded and talks to kyle through the door and says "you completely betrayed the last bit of friendship we still had". this is the one time kyle feels bad about it and tries to make it up to stan, but it's gone again by go fund yourself. and this continues in less obvious ways into season 23, where in mexican joker it's said stan got pissed at cartman calling ICE on kyle that he called ICE on cartman, and then in band in china stan writes another song for kyle because he misses him (and hates the farm). he's so worried he'll never see kyle again and then he's so excited when kyle is back but kyle doesn't even greet him with a simple "hi", he barely even looks at him before they get roped into the whole shabang. more key information is that kyle has never visited stan on the farm (despite the others + kyle's parents did go there), and in the pandemic special was busier being amazed by cartman's act of kindness to stan rather than stan just spilling his guts to them in public.

so all in all I was happy to see stan finally getting fed up with it in the vaccination special and wanting to break it up. not cuz I don't like them as friends - I do, a LOT. I just think this is important progress that needs to be made in order for them to patch things up.. and in post-covid you see they haven't even talked in 40 fucking years and CLEARLY haven't patched up anything. and they're so petty to each other and only tolerate each other's presence and it stings but it's so good. I love how stiff they were. I love how it was framed that kyle cares the most rn about retrieving their friendship because, he cared the least when it broke apart. kyle remained stuck in that same spot, reminiscing while cartman and kenny moved on and stan ran away from his past.

anyway, yeah I love how closed off to literally everything stan has become- my friend mentioned he probably doesn't trust anyone anymore and that's probably true since he's practially married to an AI 😭 I would gain great happiness from seeing him come around or give a hand in fixing their past. not only for the style friendship but for all of them... 🥺 (also my kyman/stenny agenda)

kyle and cartman were a whole other level of perfect and I can go off about them as well sdfjshfs but i already went off on this so I'll spare you.

token being hot is like. the best thing ever. I never mention him and barely ever draw him but he's one of those characters i'm super fond of and I always said he deserves better, he's the best guy in sp, etc. seeing him growing up to be a cop, a proper man who keeps it and everyone around him together and to top it all off he's HOT - now that's just poetic justice. god bless token

[luffysbasement]

didn't realize my last one was that long. Geez (this one is also fucking long, bare with me)

I feel like ever since elementary, all our teachers liked to talk about how the opposite of love isn't hate (there was even a text during 6th? grade about this whole thing.)

Tbh I haven't looked much into lore so I only know the gist of it(I'm such shit, but I know I will have literally no time to study if I get invested in the dsmp) so there may be wild guesses here and there down below.

The way Quackity's expressions ranged from stoic to a weirdly kind smile to aggressively scary and ruthless, it's all just so.. *gestures wildly with hands because I have no words* ..angsty. The grip on Dream's hair like he wants him to listen carefully but he is losing all patience and sanity and sympathy for Dream. The crazed look from Quackity(his last block) is just so cold and bitter and kind of filled with self-pity, like he's been there before (I actually don't know if that's the case lmao) it's the look from textbook villians(I know he's not one) when they become insane and starts spilling all that they know in the most poisonous way possible.

Also, again, last block giving me chills. Sapnap's glare and George just walking away with absolutely no care and no desire to turn around sums it up beautifully. Good work, really really beautiful.

-✗

putting this on read more bc i will be ranting LMAO. buckle in, this will be long.

thank you!! :] i absolutely love seeing people see how i organized the colors and panels to be the way they are. and the expressions as well, i had fun making those!

i really like this one bc its short but it goes pretty deep into the lore. i had to think about the flow of the panels and the colors and poses of the comic since its only 3 pages and i dont have much to tell the message aside from those things asgssdfgh

i originally saw the concept (opposite of love isnt hate) from a tiktok HAHAH i dont think weve ever tackled that in literature or anywhere at school unfortunately :(( im a big fan of metaphorical/poetic statements too. tho its technically logical, but weve been so used to hate being described as the opposite of love that its just mind-boggling for me to hear that lol

i actually understand you lol im currently done with school at the present moment but a few months ago i barely even posted, even more drawn anything bc i was so busy with school. since youre still not done, good luck with that!!

but oh lord am i a hoe (a WH**E) for lore.

ive thought of this for a long time now but i just had to urge to get to drawing it when my twt tl starting going deep into c!dream's lore.

i just ABSOLUTELY love lore revolving around the dt. (maybe because im more attached to them whoops)

its just so fascinating to think about. (everything onwards is /rp and /character) also, you said youre not that caught up with lore so if you dont get these things or dont wanna bother/get spoiled, you can just ignore it lol i just really needed to rant about his character thats all, needed to get it off my chest phew

dream from the start had a plan: make everyone on the server hate him and build a prison for someone so strong it'll be needed. for me there is no way he was talking about tommy or techno then. no way.

he definitely had a fall to corruption. what he did with tommy during exile, that one is inexcusable ofc but the other things??? destroying the community house, siding with techno during his arrest, even destroying a whole ass country (this one might just be him reaching his limit against lmanberg, being the first and basically only country to defy him sm and stuff)

its weird and interesting in a way. what he did, the destruction, telling everyone he has no more attachments, not even sapnap and george, putting george on the throne then dethroning him not long after-- all these things just seems like it's part of his plan you know???

but like, what for? why? what does he want? earlier in the smp, he just wanted to build a home for them, one that will grow and be beautiful (theres a certain tiktok edit of this one, i am going to cry) he was such a good guy in the earlier days, he just wanted to take care of the server and take on the responsibilities expected of him but it just all... fell?

but even then, from the start, i cant help but think that he was already alone. sure, he had sapnap and george and the others but after everything: after sapnap was so quick to jump on tommy's side after ONE thing that dream said in the heat of the moment to threaten tommy (the 'i dont care about anything' bit), not trying to clear it up with dream and with george being so quick to side with other people's statement (dream dethroned him bc he hates him, etc) than dream's own (to protect george), its just so sad. not to mention even before everything, those two formed new nations without dream before; while dream was fighting for his own alone, they didn't really care enough. they did this again, with kinoko kingdom but tbf, the destruction of the community house felt like the end of the greater dream smp.

its just... sad and tragic, his whole character. his life is like the joker, baby. BAHAHAHA

anywaaaays

sorry about that, the c!dream apologist in me needed to breathe

glad you think its beautiful hehe <3

[moonlit-imagines]

Next of Kin (Part 2)

Birds of Prey x Sionis-Zsasz!reader

warnings:

a/n: HDTVTVRBEHS IM SO SORRY I COMPLETELY ABANDONED THAT STORY OH MY GOD im gonna be honest with you guys. its not good. i forgot the original ending i wanted.

prompt:

prologue part 1

“Boss?” You heard a henchman wake you from your slumber in your own room. Opening your eyes to complete darkness, you tried not to lose your temper.

“What the hell do you want?” You asked with a huff.

“Right, uh, you told us to tell you when we had a location on those ‘Birds of Prey’ or whatever...we do.” You ripped your sleeping mask off of your eyes and bolted out from under the satin covers.

“You do?! Where? Tell me now!” You shouted while scrambling across the room to get yourself ready for this spur of the moment fight. The blue robe you wore dropped to the ground just before you pulled on a pair of pants and continued. You had to look good for this special occasion.

“A old factory, I guess. ACE or some shit.” He shrugged, looking away respectfully as you got your clothes on.

“ACE Chemicals?” You pulled the shoulder holster over your arms and covered it with a jacket, waiting for the oaf to confirm.

“Uh, I think so.” He was basically useless, an alarm clock at best. You swiped your weapons from your nightstand and pushed past him, ready to end a few lives. It was an eye for two eyes kind of situation.

“Should I call for backup?” He followed behind you as weapons were shoved into all sorts of pockets on your person, so you did what any reasonable person would do and shot him in the foot, the sweet sound of a yelp calmed your shaky nerves.

“Did I say we should call for backup? No, so don’t ask.” He dropped to the floor as he clutched onto his injured appendage, but you just kept on walking. This was personal, you were the only one who could avenge Dad and Papa Vic.

Now you were jogging to the car and stepping on the gas the moment you sat in the driver’s seat. There was no time to lose, no time at all. It was a bit relaxing to hear Britney Spears on the radio as you cut off traffic over and over again. There was a moment of contemplation when someone honked their horn at you, and I mean contemplation of murder. You were going to murder the person honking at you.

But you didn’t have time to stop. Who knows how long those little Birds would be at the factory and how long it’d be until you caught them again. So upon arrival, you ran to the trunk and pulled out the Thompson, your lovely little submachine gun.

With that rested over your shoulder, you left the car running and walked straight into the factory. There was no telling what they were doing here, but damn all the dangers of walking into a severely damaged chemical plant. You wanted your revenge, even if you didn’t make it out of here alive. Ideally, yes, you’d live the rest of your days sleeping peacefully knowing that you put your parent’s killers down, but as long as they were gone, you’d be fine with whatever may happen.

“This is officially the final step to my breakup! This is where I became ‘Harley Quinn.’” You heard a familiar annoying voice echo through the abandoned building.

“This place is starting to creep me out...” Another voice muttered, the voice of a singer. Someone who you and your family trusted until she stabbed you each in the back. God, your blood was boiling just thinking about having relations to these cruel women. But luckily for you, you were about to return a favor.

There’s one little detail I left out, you have been carrying a single hand grenade on your person since you learned about your Dad’s cause of death. It was the perfect revenge. In your head, at least. You yanked the ring with your teeth, you just had to give it a try! But grenades don’t work like that, that’s just a trope in media to made it look badass, as if a giant explosion isn’t badass enough. So you pulled the ring with all your might, this time with your fingers, and popped the pin out. The girls had yet to notice your presence, but that was about to change.

Timing was everything here: you had to give yourself time to escape, but you couldn’t give them time to escape. Maybe ypu should have thought this through before pulling the pin.

Fuck it, toss! The Birds were standing on the grates of the second floor, so there was an alerting clink when the bomb landed.

“Oh, shit!” Harley screamed and bolted. “Run for it!” As they scattered in all different directions, you spectated in excitement. The one that killed Papa Vic, the Crossbow Killer, hopped off the platform and landed on the concrete rubble below, then the sudden force of the explosion pushed them every which way. You, too, actually.

“What the hell? Who’s here?!” Canary cried as she checked her face for cuts, finding blood on her hands. Each of you was covered in dirt and grime, blood and bruises.

“Everyone okay?” The cop asked her company and heard a bundle of groans from the pack, could be worse?

Oh, it could be worse...especially once you revealed yourself to the little ragtags.

“Hi there!” You introduced. “A few of you remember me, huh? Hey, Harley, Miss Lance.” You waved with a pistol in your hand and Papa Vic’s sharp gift in the other.

“‘Course you’re here for revenge.” Harley blew a raspberry as she crossed her arms, but the rest of the group just stared at you. “You’re dads started it.”

“Wait, they were together?” Cass asked the wrong question at the wrong time.

“Shut up, kid. Love you.” Harley pushed the child out of the way and stepped forward. “So ya wanna get back at us, huh? Got it all planned out? Ya don’t have the discipline, sweetie. That’s what did your dads in.”

“Quiet!” You shouted with a haunting similarity to Roman. “Listen, I don’t need to kill all of you. I’d really love to, but I won’t.” You explained as you paced around shifting bricks. “Harley and the crossbow girl are who I really want. I thought about offing the songbird for being a narc, but if she flies away now, maybe I’ll let her go.”

“My name is Huntress.” The girl in distasteful purple makeup growled, you just had to laugh.

“I don’t give a shit what your name is, I just care how you die.” You held the blade out for her to see. “Stab my Papa through the neck, I do the same. It’s only fitting I use the knife he gave me to do it. Poetic, huh?”

“I wasn’t even the one that killed him! Technically it was the kid, tell ‘em!” Said the Joker’s ex-lady.

“Wow, thanks for throwing me under the bus!” Cassandra threw her hands up and you pointed your bedazzled gun at Harley’s chest. “Shit, look out!”

“It might not be a grenade, but it still goes ‘boom.’” You slowly tightened your finger around the trigger, but ducked and missed when a brick came flying towards you, courtesy of Little Miss Trouble.

“Fuck’s sake!” You screamed and came running towards the other target, who flipped you over her back, causing you to land on yours. I can’t even describe the noise you made.

“I had been planning to kill Victor Zsasz for years, alright? I had every right to do so.” She went off for the team to witness. “He murdered my entire family in front of me when I was a child! Do you know what it’s like to be an orphan?!” Huntress’s voice was sharp and rough, there was a slim chance that she’d be taking any more shit today.

“Yes, you idiot.” You glared up at her while she planted a foot on either side of your torso, aiming an arrow at your head. “I was adopted by Roman and Vic after they found me on the street.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that they took everything from me.” The others simply watched the show, how could they not? Helena’s stone-cold voice was chilling.

“And what do you think you did to me?” You asked with and unsteady tone. “I’m a goddamn orphan again!” You caught the back of her knee and escaped her reach for just a moment as you leveled the field by drawing your weapon once more. “I had it good before you came in and ruined it all.”

“Your fathers were the scum of the Earth, the world’s better without them.” It was a wonder how none of her team had hopped in yet, but it worked out for you. “If you thought they deserved to live, you would’ve shot me by now.”

“She’s got a point, y/n/n.” Harley chimed in, throwing you right off your rhythm. Leaving it to the psychiatrist to evaluate you during something like this. “Remember our nights at the club? I saw how controlling Romy was over ya. An’ how Vicky kept secrets. An’ how they put ya into some really uncomfortable situations an’ whatnot. I dunno what when on behind closed doors, but...admit it, y/n, it wasn’t as perfect as ya make it out ta be.”

“They did their best.” You watched each face turn to pity you, it broke you all over again. “Fuck! Fuck you guys!” You dropped your guard and pouted at how easily manipulated you could be.

“That’s more like it.” Renee chuckled as Dinah walked past her. Dinah had seen just as much as Harley, that’s why she went right up to you and took you in her arms.

“You should stick with us for a while. I promise we aren’t that bad.”

taglist: @locke-writes // @captainshazamerica // @ravenmoore14 // @thisetaernallove //

[youngjustus]

Duke Thomas!

First impression:

i LOVED his costume - both the robin and signal costumes. that’s probably a superficial first impression, but comics are a visual medium, and the signal costume is seriously one of my favourite costumes in comics ever. chef’s kiss, a+ right there.

Impression now:

i really love duke! he’s an excellent addition to the batman family, and he’s in a cool, unique spot when compared to the others being a metahuman and all. i love that meme that’s like “son-meta allowed” wrt bruce’s inherent distrust of powered beings.

i also love his leadership abilities, and that he’s artistic and nerdy.

ALSO him being called gotham’s daytime protector is so poetic wtf

Favorite moment:

i really enjoyed all of batman and the signal and i wished it was longer!

Idea for a story:

PLEASEEEEEE do more stuff with his powers. no more joker shit, no more harley quinn - detective comics comics, please just do more character focused stuff that’s smaller and more self contained. more relationship development with the other kids, too.

Unpopular opinion:

lark was a cute superhero name. i wish they kept that as his name instead of the signal.

Favorite relationship:

bruce and cass for sure! like i said above i really want batfamily stuff that isn’t dumb, gimmicky drama and/or part of some large gotham-is-being-destroyed comic event.

Favorite headcanon:

he’s a big pokemon fan, and a little bit of a film snob.

[incoherentbabblings]

What are your favourite comics anyway?

Oh! Oh! Oh! Okay. Full disclaimer. We’re going for what comics I re-read over and over again. Are these comics...good? Eh. Are they bad? No, I don’t think so. Some were meh to wow! when first released that time has either been kinder or harsher to, but I don’t think I have a series or a run or a title which is I like which is like... hot guilty garbage. Though, of course, feel free to disagree. There are some authors on here which people will not want to touch with a barge pole, and I totally understand and encourage not touching them if you don’t want to.

Having said that, here are my favourite popcorn comics (largely Titans and Batfam because I am... basic): 

The Flash (2016) issues 39-45 + Annual #1

Having said that, Flash time first. People think Williamson is a real hit or miss writer and I do agree, but I think this whole arc is one big hit. It’s frantic in its energy, I love Gorilla Grodd as a villain, I love the modern Flashfam trying to help, I love how Wally coming in to help totally turns the tide and the mood. I love how everyone looks at Wally like… this guys is powerful, more powerful than any other speedster… but also noting there’s something very fragile about him. I didn’t include Flash War in this because I’m still waiting for the payoff for that angst regarding Wally, but this arc… mwah. Wallace Rudolph West being vindicated as the greatest Flash (whilst allowing Barry to be flawed and to lead his family)? Yes please. Also I love Carmine’s art. I gather it’s hit and miss for some folk but I love the line work. Also Carlos D’Anda’s issue (come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack draw Dick and Roy again your work has gotten so much cuter this past decade) is a beauty too. Big ol’ eyes.

 (Under the cut ‘cause this is LONG)

Batman Dark Victory

One of two Loeb stories for me. And yeah sure Long Halloween is objectively better but…jelly bean

Also, angry traumatised Dick smacking a dying man with a stick. What a legend.

Gates of Gotham

Cass! Damian! Dick!Bats! Tim! A mystery villain! World building for Gotham! Stuff exploding! Batfam banter! Trevor McCarthy art! This bizarre panel of Jim Gordon holding Tim’s hand like he’s checking the time?

It’s one of the last ‘pure’ Batman stories before the reboot – Bat Inc aside – so it’s how I like to read the Batfam’s relationship by the end of that universe. Everyone’s a lot more content, proud Dad Bruce, happy and settled Dick and Damian, Cassandra returning home, Tim chopping off the emo hair… it’s all good.

Grayson (particularly #5)

I know why people can’t stand it. The circumstances leading up to it are bog awful. Opinions on Tom King’s writing has only grown more spliced with time. The (sex) jokes are too on the nose and hit too close to home for many. The cheesecake art is too stilted for some. But! Issue #5 is my favourite single issue story. Ever. You never have thought boxes in this series, because everyone is lying, but you aren’t told when. You never know how genuine Dick is being at any given moment, until it is just him and the baby. I love how single-minded it allows him to be. I love how he flat out lies and manipulates to protect that little girl, whilst also caring for Helena. About how seriously he takes his job of protecting Bruce and his family (and that’s why he’s even doing the stupid spy thing in the first place). And maaaaybe it’s unrealistic that Dick could outlast Midnighter crossing the desert, but screw it. Bruce can be better than metahumans all the time. Let Dick get an issue to be so to. Saving a little girl who is probably going to grow up to be akin to Superwoman. Just because he’s given himself that responsibility. He’s going to double cross twenty groups at the same time and come out clean as a whistle. And he’ll cross a desert with a newborn to do it.

Light of my fricking life.

Infinite Crisis

I…I like that things go boom. John’s is very good for that. Also, the Nightwing and Batman moments howowheheheheheheeeeeeee. Almost wish Bruce had shot Alexander. I wonder what would have happened?

(Brief side note: Graphic Audio’s adaptation of this is great fun. I dropped a bowl of cereal at the part of Superboy Prime versus the Titans. Cassie’s scream when Pantha’s head got punched off was a bit…intense. The No Man’s Land one is very good too if you have cash to burn - the voice actors are the same in both and Nightwing’s voice actor has this lisp and I don’t know man... I love it. He’s now the voice in my head for Dick).

Titans/JLA and The Titans (1999) issues 1-25

The Titans are now known I think for not being a very proactive hero group. Books struggle with balancing team dynamics versus plot, and this one is no exception. I know people don’t want to touch Devin Grayson’s stuff with a barge pole. My justification for this is flimsy I accept that, however, the JLA/Titans comic was the very first comic I read when I was like six or seven. I was rummaging through my brother’s room as a nosy kid does and this was at the top of his pile. Thank god for the little info boxes as each Titan was captured/referenced. I fell in love with Kory, I fell in love with Dick, I fell in love with Donna (oh Donna…) and then I tumbled down a hole and pretended I hadn’t until about six years ago. So that’s nice. So yes, this one is one hundred percent nostalgia based. 

But honestly, Linkara did a retrospective on this event comic and series years ago, and his reasons for loving it are the same as mine really, so go watch those if you have like five hours to kill. When Devin leaves the comic remains strong for just a moment then... absolutely plummets off a cliff. So I really wouldn’t bother with the second half of the series but hey. You do you.

Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders

More Geoff John’s explosions. My first comic that got bought for me. My brother walked in to the shop and said: “I need a comic for my sister where Starfire gets a good showing” and the men went… ah yes.

Eleven-year old me was like EXPLOSIONSSSSS but also was intrigued by Kory and Dick’s bedtime convos (perhaps…I was a bit under the age bracket for this book - Kory gets a good showing huh?) but uh. Anyway. Also this is when I was thoroughly enamoured with Roy. This crossover is typical Winnick and John’s angsty angst with overly poetic narration and tropey tropes which, combined with what came before and what was to come for the Outsiders, can make both series such a slog to get through, but in isolation, I think it’s a real fun crossover which gave everyone a bit of time to shine and some real fan-ficcy moments (very self-indulgent, and I love that in a comic).

Teen Titans: Year One

I love Amy Wolfram and I love Karl Kerschel. It’s a good intro to those five characters with cute stories. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Batman is demonstrably a major prick in this, even after de-brainwashing, so it’s obviously going with the ‘Dick is only half as functioning as he is thanks to Roy, Wally, Garth and Donna’, which I can get behind 100% depending on what story they are trying to tell, but it’s just… it’s still sad to read. I just think the art is brilliant at giving each of the five very clear characteristics just from their body language, and you know immediately what each character dynamic is like with another.

Batman Hush

The other Loeb story. Again, it has what I like in a Batman story. A mystery, the family, appearances of villains, flashbacks and brooding, fighting, Jim Lee’s Nightwing being hunky… Ahem. It’s a fun read I think. Also, I really like Loeb’s Bruce? I don’t think people talk about it much. But he’s really chatty in his own head. And he’s witty and dry and funny. I like that! Also, Babs is such a backbone of this story. I adore that. She’s treated well here, I think.

Black Mirror

I flipping love this arc. I love it. I love the two contrasting but deeply disturbing in different manner art styles, I love the mystery, I love Babs role in the story, I love Tim’s little appearances and the banter with Dick, I love the weird villains and the terrifying ones, and how you think one is one of the two only to be revealed to be the other or both. I love Dick’s investigation and how he goes about it differently to Bruce. I love Dick’s relationship with Jim, I love the flipping reference to the vultures and owls seemingly following Dick (a whole reboot before Snyder got to tell that story), I love the monologue about how James thinks Dick is weird and weak for his compassion and love, when really that’s his greatest strength, I love Jim wanting so hard to believe James is trying against Babs’s cynicism, but also does try to get an unbiased opinion of someone who is proven good at reading people (Dick) and does what he needs to when his son is actively harming people, I love that ambiguous ending and the questionable science, I even love the Joker’s one (1) scene with Dick. I love this line,

I love Snyder at his best. When he’s good…mwah. Great.

…And yeah. That’s my story.

[thealmightyemprex]

Top 10 Underrated films

Like Guilty Pleasures this was hard to catergorize,so I went with movies I love or like but arent talked about enough or people dismiss them 

Bedazzled (1967)

This is a comedy classic but you mention  the title Bedazzled people think of the remake(Which I havent seen so have no oppinion on it ) .This is one of my all time favorite comedies ,a buddy film about a fry cook named Stanley  and  his buddy George who will make all his dreams come true.....And George can do this cause he happens to be the Devil .Stanley has sold his soul for seven wishes that he can use to woo his crush MArgret ....But one must be careful what they wish for.The wish segments are all hilarious but the highlight of the film is Stanley and Georges weird friendship .And yes George is my favorite film interpertation of the Devil 

Death on the Nile

So I think this movie gets overshadowed by Murder on the Orient Express and the David Suchet TV series Poirot ,which is a shame cause this is a great murder mystery.Yes Peter Ustinov isnt the best Poirot but he is still fun and engaging ,and while what made Orient Express work was the style and directing ,the cast is what makes this film works.Oh Orient Express  had a great cast too,but this is more of a character focused story  and each actor here plays their role to perfection,with the highlights being Angela Lansbury as a drunken writer  and Mia Farrow who delivers one of my favorite performances ever,she is that good in this 

Willard(2003)

The story of a lonely man and his army of  rats Crispin Glover delivers one of his greatest performances ,this role was perfect for him .Its definately a weird film ,not for everybody,but if you love a good animal horror movie/character study this is one to check out 

The Abominable Dr Phibes

This is another unsusual film,because it has Vincent Price,an actor with a very distinct voice .....Giving a mostly silent performance  and when he does speak in ti is in a somewhat mechanical monotone way .Thats a hard thing to sell but honestly Phibes is one of Vincent Prices greatest roles ,and shows how good he can be even without his greatest strengths  .The plot revolves around Phibes disfigured from a car accident seeking  revenge on the surgeons who failed to save his beloved wife using the  10 plagues of Egypt.Add in a mechanical band ,bizarre death traps ,and Joseph Cotten from Citizen Kane  and you get an odd film ....And yet it is witty,poetic ,and a bit comic booky,Phibes has a supervillain vibe to him .I adore this film and if you are in the mood for a rther offbeat horror film this is one I reccomend.Plus it has in my oppinion the best death of any horror film 

Streets of Fire

A rock and roll western  set in an amalgamation of the 50′s and 80′s .....This filmis wild .Striking visuals ,great music ,Rick Moranis ,a sinister villain played by Willem DaFoe ,an awesome sidekick and a SLEDGEHAMMER DUEL .The thing that holds it back is the hero,who is going for kind of  a Robert Mitchum thing but comes across as a bit of a dick ,Everything else works though 

Ravenous

So this movie is a homoerotic horror comedy western about super powered cannibals .....Needless to say this films appeal is  very niche ,but those who love this fim REALLLY love it,and I’m among them .It has a fanbase but I call it underrated because it’s not an easy film to reccomend and it isnt widley known .This is a film that should not work but it really does ,and Robert Carlyle delivers one of the great villain performances 

Dragonheart

Yes Dennis Quaid is miscast but the rest of the film is great.Its a buddy movie about a knight and a dragon ,thats just fun .David Thewlis makes for a good villain and Sean Connery is perfectly cas as Draco the dragon.Also the ending ALWAYS makes me cry 

Arashi No Yoru Ni

An adorable film about the relationship between a wolf and a goat and the hardships they face.The ending goes on a little too long but dammit  THIS MOVIE IS ADORABLE ! ITS SO DARN CUTE AND IT MAKES ME CRY IT IS SO DARN SWEET 

Batman vs Dracula

When it comes to animated Batman movies this one gets lost in the shuffle which is a shames cause it is  good.What can I say I love horror and I love Batman .Also Vampire Joker is the stuff of nightmares 

Batman The Movie 

So....This is my favorite live action Batman movie......I am not kidding .It just flows the best of any Batman movie for me,Adam West is just how I picture the silver age Batman,and I love seeing all the villains hanging out 

@cinefantastiquemitho @filmcityworld1 @inevermetapenguinididntlike

[black-streak]

Waiting for the Worms - Bring the Boys Back Home

Part 11

Jason's time up until the blackout. Very few warnings for this bit... Umm, mention of guns and a touch of violence later? This part is a bit shorter than usual, especially in comparison to the last part.

CLOSED LIST. Tickets for the angst express are sold out!!! : @northernbluetongue @thethirdwheelfriend @shizukiryuu @theatreandcomicfreak @michellemagic @karategirl119 @moonlightstar64 @my-name-is-michell @mystery-5-5 @zalladane @queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm @miraculousdisapointment @dorkus-minimus @jardimazul @allthebooksandcrannies @g-arya @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @persephonescat @mycupisbroken @luciferge @18-fandoms-unite-08 @dawnwave16 @alwaysreblogneverpost @kris-pines04 @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @weird-pale-blonde-person @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @kokotaru @naclychilli @slytherinhquinn @clumsy-owl-4178 @ladybug-182 @darkthunder1589 @evil-elf16 @dast218 @lysslovsanime @emilytopaz @naoryllis @iloontjeboontje @thepeacetea @danielslilangel @finallyaniguana @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @vixen-uchiha @yuulxd @bleeding-heart-romantic @magic-inthe-stars @st0rmy-w1th1n

~---~

Explaining why 'Marinette' had a newfound interest in guns and weaponry had been difficult to say the least. Sure, she already took martial arts and Jason added kickboxing and trained with the team regularly, but her parents weren't aware of the latter and quite frankly, the team showed some confusion as well. Sure, Kagami already new fencing and regularly used a bow staff as she saw fit, but guns? That was something else. Jason always had an interest and refused to give up, especially with Bruce no longer able to restrict his training. Tikki, surprisingly enough, fully supported the decision while Plagg actually showed more caution. 

Nevertheless, with the excuse of wanting to know how to disarm and be able to disassemble a weapon in case someone were to attack him, Sabine reluctantly agreed to allow him to attend lessons and visit a shooting range. After figuring out the basics and quickly dropping the lessons as to not raise suspicion for the real reason he wanted to learn, Jason took Kaalki and borrowed Plagg so he could transport to isolated locations and use Tikki's creation magic to summon different models and learn them inside and out along with explosives that he took apart and put back together under the careful guidance of Plagg. When he was done, he let Tikki remove it from the world once more, undoing any damage he might've caused. 

With graduation in two weeks and Marinette's seventeenth birthday right after, Jason knew he had a few decisions ahead of him. 

Honestly, he just felt grateful Marinette skipped a grade when they were younger. He's not sure if he could take another year of living like this. The fight to stay normal, to stay under the radar and appear okay itched at his skin, reminding him at all times that it wasn't his. Back before the nightmares began, he almost settled into the routine, almost adjusted to the too smooth skin, the brush of hair between shoulder blades, the small stature and feminine voice he spoke in. Living as her almost came naturally. Sometimes he forgot Tom and Sabine weren't actually his parents and that his teammates didn't know the truth of who he was. Then the dreams started and horrific imagery flooded his mind every few nights and everything felt wrong again. Suddenly he couldn't forget where he was, who this body truly belonged to, the fact that he was meant to be dead, not finishing schooling. 

The methodical rhythm of disassembling and cleaning weapons eased the tension and grounded him in his worst moments. Maybe if he knew how every weapon worked and how to counter them, the constant attacks in his dreams wouldn't terrify him so much. While his dream self seemed to have no issue fighting back and taking out his unseen enemies, his brain couldn't keep up in his sleeping state and threw him into a breathless fit, shaking and panicking as he startled into wakefulness. The panic lessened since starting to learn, so he figured he just needed to learn more and adjust. Really he just wished the dreams would end.

His phone buzzed, startling him out of his contemplative state. Raising it up, he checked the caller ID before answering, the video chat opening up to show Marc.

"Hey, Marc, what's up?"

"Kagami said she needs you to transport back now, something about disappearing too much for your own good?" 

"She's one to talk. Alright, heading back now. Have somewhere in mind?"

"Chloe's suite. We're all gathered here," Marc said, shifting in place, more comfortable than they once were, but still shy by nature and unable to hide the edging nerves.

"Oh really? Maybe I should just head home then. Sounds like an intervention."

He watched as his friend jumped a bit, surprised eyes widening rapidly. Before they could even begin to speak, Jason chuckled, cutting them off.

"I'm opening the portal now. See you in a moment." 

Hanging up, he opened his bag and woke the sleeping kwami to transport them back to Paris. Upon arriving in Chloe's suite, said blonde launched herself at him, wrapping him up in a hug and swinging them about with the momentum.l, before immediately backing off before he could get annoyed, Kagami coming up from the side and gripping his sleeve in her own form of affectionate greeting. Marc and Juleka looked up from the couch and offered excited smiles.

"You're all entirely too happy. What's happening?"

"Your birthday is in three weeks," Juleka stated softly.

"You're finally hitting our age, oh fearless leader," Chloe drawled out.

"You say that as if you aren't already eighteen," he deadpanned back.

"Semantics."

"There are some highlights to graduating and be surrounded by legal adults," came from his side.

"Like?"

"Your parents agreeing to let you go on a trip with us, no real adults present. Happy Birthday, Marinette."

"What did you guys do?"

Marc spoke up here, "well, we were trying to think of what to give you and I remembered how much you use to talk about leaving Paris all the time and with how much you've been using Kaalki to escape, we figured you wanted out, especially now that Hawkmoth isn't necessarily holding us back anymore and your guardian training is complete. So then we had to think of where to go and what to do and maybe Chloe and I remembered back years ago, no matter how your list of places to go changed, one always stayed the same and-," they rambled in a spiral until Juleka landed a hand on their shoulder, cutting them off gently.

"We're going to Gotham," she offered.

He felt his pulse pick up and eyes widen, thoughts and emotions tearing through him too fast to hold on to.

"Mari? This is an excited reaction right? We can change plans if you no longer want to go," someone spoke. He had to stamp down his anger and tears, to reassure his teammates they hadn't done anything wrong.

"No no, I'm thrilled, I just never thought I'd be going there as an adult is all."

"Oh," Chloe flinched, putting two and two together first, having been the most present back when the connection broke and knowing something bad happened to Marinette's soulmate, "Mari, if it hurts to go there, we won't. I didn't realize," she trailed off.

"I want to."

"Are you sure? This trip is supposed to be a celebration for you."

"It'll give me closure. I want to go. Thank you or this," he forced a watery smile which ended with another hug from Chloe and soft smiles from the rest. They couldn't have realized what type of closure he sought out. Bruce, explaining why he thought it okay to let his soulmate pass on without a proper funeral, without any retribution or justice for their death. The Joker dead. Some people should not be allowed to live, he'd always believed that and the clown was one of those people. Sure, this would look like petty revenge, but how many others lost their soulmate to his hands? This was necessary. And his team had just given him the means to do so without raising suspicion. He felt a type of peace settle over him as he thanked them again for their thoughtful gift.

…

Two weeks came and went and suddenly they were graduates. Suddenly, her birthday was upon them and her parents presented a beautiful cake and invited all of their friends and family over to celebrate. Tom cried over his baby girl growing up and Jason teared up, knowing she never did. He hugged them twice as tight in apology, giving watery smiles mistaken for his realizing his own new status as an adult, if a young one. Gifts were given and promises were made and at the end of the day, it all hit like a whirlwind. She'd been dead for one week short of three years. On the anniversary of her death, he'd arrive in the place where it all began. That godforsaken hellhole of a city. It felt like poetic justice. He struggled to fall asleep that night.

…

His nightmare was more vivid that night. Throwing a blade at a barely seen threat, pinned beneath another, the streak of silver above him and downpour of blood. Moving out and up on instinct, and meeting terrified green eyes.

Moving down a path, a glance at the bodies in another. The woman from before, the other one with the jade eyes, among them. Twisting the kid out of sight and away from there. A dark tunnel. An abandoned building.

He woke then, bright blue and acidic green eyes watching him wearily from the other side of the room. Shoving it down, he shifted over and fell back asleep, use to these restless nights by now.

…

The airport was too bright and loud for this time in the morning. Their flight was at eight in the morning from Paris, meaning they would arrive in Gotham around ten in the morning. Time zones were annoying that way. All of them had stayed up the entirety of the night before and planned on sleeping for the duration of the flight as though that would help. Eight hours in a plane with only two hours difference in time was sure to throw them off no matter what.

Either way, they all boarded, tucked into their first class seats, courtesy of the rich kids, with blankets and reclined positions and went to sleep.

… 

Landing, going through customs, and retrieving their bags went smoothly enough, making it to their hotel rooms by ten thirty. Now they were regrouping, having dropped off their things and changed out of their airport clothing. The urge to pass out for another eight hours was tempting, but none of them had anything in their stomachs and food took president for now.

Picking their way into a coffee shop down the road, Jason ordered a latte and a slice of pumpkin bread and settled in a corner table, blocked off from most of the place. 

As the others slowly trickled over with their own findings, a tension slowly grew amongst the group. Amongst the entirety of the cafe actually. Looking around he couldn't catch sight of anything out of the normal. Surely none of the rogues would attack here. It was just a cafe, nothing worth holding up. Until he remembered where they were. On the very edge of where the penguin's territory usually landed. Right on the edge of where Scarecrow's usual haunts began. Glancing about more frantically to see why everything had fallen silent, the privacy of his corner table also blocking too much of the view, a scream picked up right as a cloud of smoke spread from the last table to their own. 

Stiffening up in preparation for what was to come, the breath knocked right out of him as a sharp yank came from the back of his head. No, his mind. Right as the cloud reached his face, he blacked out.

…

Coming to, he jumped up, dizzy and disoriented. The room spun and he immediately fell back into his seat when a movement in his peripheral caught his attention. His hand instinctively yanked a knife off the counter (counter?) and launched it towards the figure while he twisted to face them.

When the room stopped spinning, he caught sight of the boy standing in the doorway to what appeared to be a bedroom, jade green eyes trained on him as he carefully pried the knife out of the wall beside his head. Once it was freed and lowered in his grasp, he turned fully towards Jason, eyes hardened with a wary glint. Everything went still.

"Marinette?"

[dented-nado]

“Alright, come here you.” With trinity if you’d be so inclined? 👀 💙💙💙💙

[I am absolutely inclined, I also wrote this from Clark’s perspective for the first time

Not fitting in, was a feeling Clark knew to be universally felt, at least from what he was told. So it was simultaneously one of the most common feelings, yet, by nature it implied meant you felt completely alone and out of place. There was a point in time when he was a child, before he knew he was an alien, before he knew he had powers where he’d say he had a pretty normal life.

But in another sense… while he was human looking in appearance, even back then, Clark felt out of place for other reasons. He remembered getting bullied by other boys often. He wasn’t sure what was so different about him. Later on, briefly, he thought his alien-ness was the reason, that somehow people knew he wasn’t from earth, didn’t belong, even if they didn’t know he was an alien specifically.

He remembered coming home trying to hide the fact he was crying because he had been picked on all day, then picked on because he got upset at being picked on, and feeling guilty about making his ma and pa look at him so sad and worried. His dad sat down with him one day, and Clark had asked that question that had to be hard for any parent.

“Why don’t the other kids like me? Is there something I did wrong?” Clark had asked solemnly right around the age of 8 as he rolled a toy car back and forth on the steps to try and distract himself from feeling upset still.

His pa had sighed, put a hand on his back and said “At some point those kids learned to seek out and pick on anything even a little bit different from them. I’m not sure if kids are… ‘just like that’ or they get it from their parents… but you need to know Clark there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s not your fault they keep singling you out.”

“How do I make them stop?” Clark asked with a little sniffle.

His pa was silent for a long moment as he took a deep thoughtful breath. “I don’t think you can make them stop. You can’t control how people treat you, as unfair as it is. But what’s important is you see its just that, unfair. Those kids have something else going on, that has nothing to do with you, so they just want to make you feel miserable and get a reaction out of you. So you know what the ultimate revenge against those kids trying to make you miserable is?”

Clark looked up at his dad curiously. “Throw eggs at them?”

Jonathan chuckled and shook his head. “No. How you get back at them is you don’t stop being kind. You’re a good kid Clark, don’t lose that, no matter how much words hurt, you don’t take them to heart because they aren’t true… and even if it’s still hard and stings now the best thing you can do is not let them take that kindness away from you. Because you know what happens if you let them take that away?”

Clark shook his head.

“You’ll end up just like them, and maybe you’ll end up hurting another kid just the same way they did you.” He said seriously.

“Oh…” Clark said thoughtfully, now rolling his car on his hand. “I don’t want to be mean like they are. If there’s another kid like me I want to be their friend, not hurt them.”

“That’s the spirit.” Jonathan said, hugging his son just as Martha came out to call them both to dinner.

—-

Years later, with all the fighting, all the enemies gained, Clark never ever forgot that. No matter how many times Lex Luthor pushed his buttons, or how damn hard it was sometimes to try so hard to save everyone and still be treated like a walking bomb that could go off and kill everyone at any second… he still held that message close to home.

It didn’t mean things didn’t hurt. It didn’t mean that sometimes harsh words and people trying to kill him didn’t… you know… sting to put it lightly. It had fought so hard to stay kind, stay open, be patient… he wasn’t going to stop after all that work he had already put in.

When he had first met Batman… well… having kryptonite brandished in his face even just as an explanation as to the fact the Joker was in metropolis with a ton of the stuff wasn’t exactly giving Clark a very good first impression. He thought Batman, that Bruce was going to be just plain mean. He was distrustful, antagonistic, and sure didn’t seem to be going around looking to make friends. So, Clark had closed off to him at first.

But then… well… he met Tim, the newest Robin at the time when Bruce had been kidnapped and mind controlled by Braniac, and suddenly… with Bruce raising a kid like that, Bruce being entirely an asshole plain and simple just didn’t make sense anymore.

Then they started the league and began working together. Clark liked… no loved the idea of working on a team, not just because of the potential for saving lives, but because he thought it’d be… nice to feel not so alone around a bunch of others who felt pretty odd and alone themselves. Even with Batman declaring himself 'not a full member’ at the start, he was clearly engaged. What at first had annoyed him was now… kind of funny, and a little charming. When Batman said “I work alone” he really meant something more like “I’m worried about my ability to work with a team, but at the same time I can’t help but want to support this”. When Batman would say “Would you all stop goofing off?” he deep down meant “if you keep this up, I’m going to start laughing and break character”.

He also grew close to Diana, who seemed to have the level-est and most patient mind out of all of them. Clark figured you would have to having lived so long and having lived through so much. It didn’t mean she couldn’t get annoyed or loose her temper a little bit if someone was doing something morally objectionable, lying out their ass to the literal goddess of truth, or treating a serious matter like it was nothing, but it did mean she was better than him or Bruce at being able to be fair and look at an issue from many sides or be able to see a deeper side to those others might have already dismissed or written off. It was…. well he admired it quite a lot, and he could tell by the way Bruce would sometimes smile or look at her… he admired her a lot too.

He had, been able to see himself getting close to Diana when he met her… but Bruce…

Bruce was constantly full of surprises. Even after knowing him for several years, it always felt like he was always discovering something new about him, or noticing something else. He’d always thought kindness and goodness was something worn on your sleeve but Bruce… Bruce probably had the kindest heart he had ever known, But he kept it locked away, encased in shadow, afraid of letting anyone see it, so he kept it guarded and close to him. Clark hadn’t seen it, at first, but once he did, it felt like seeing a bright shining star on a pitch-black night. Rare, precious, and beautiful.

Maybe that was overly poetic and sappy of him to think, but he didn’t care, it was what he thought.

Outside of just things that were part of Bruce himself that caught Clark off guard… he also didn’t expect that those piercing ice blue eyes would suddenly start to… do something to him. They were undoubtedly striking. While Diana’s eyes were fiery and intense and made him feel just as hot as being on fire, Bruce’s eyes seemed to stare deep into him, freeze his breathe and cause it to catch in his lungs, heart speeding up to compensate for not being able to breathe. Clark had nearly died of shock when he realized the first time those eyes had made him swoon.

He found himself looking and Bruce and Diana with not just admiration but… something else. Something he wasn’t yet sure how to speak. His mouth felt like sandpaper whenever he tried to say it, even when he and Bruce locked eyes and realized they had been feeling the same way, it took Diana… talented as ever at bringing the words that needed to be said out of people, for those words to finally be spoken between the three of them. He loved her for it, he loved the quiet way Bruce had confessed, when he had realized that Bruce’s hands would sometimes start trembling when he tried to be more open with how he felt since he was forcing himself to say things that were hard for him, things that scared him despite needing to say them. So he and Diana took his trembling hands in there’s and their trinity was fully formed without another word having to be said.

After that, even with battles, and angst, and drama that just seemed to follow them everywhere… there came the things that were just… domestic. It was fun, really, since Bruce especially hadn’t let himself do domestic or particularly romantic things for a while… he’d sometimes stumble around their relationship in some of the sweetest and most endearing ways. He loved when he and Diana would exchange looks because their bat did something adorable (even if said bat would never admit he was cute because he’s batman he’s supposed to be scary apparently). While Bruce’s “Brucie” persona was notoriously flirtatious, it seemed all the suaveness went out the window when he really had people he deeply cared about to flirt with.

At this point, Clark was utterly unsure of how he could ever not adored this man, and was so grateful to have him and Diana in his life, and that he had held true to his father’s advice from so long ago so he could be open to really seeing both of them.

—-

“For fucks sake Clark I can make popcorn, I’m not completely hopeless, you just put the bag in the microwave…” Bruce began carrying a bag of not-microwave-popcorn over to the microwave.

“Boo, that’s not the kind of popcorn you microwave though… you have to do it in a pot with vegetable oil.” Clark said following Bruce in circles around the kitchen as Bruce tried to stay a few steps away from him.

“It’s in a bag isn’t it?” Bruce protested, frowning. “I can handle popcorn.”

“Please let me just show you how to do it at least don’t put it in the microwave you will set it on fire.” Clark pleaded ignoring Diana trying not to start laughing at their antics as she sat at the counter.

Bruce grumbled and half hardheartedly threw the bag of popcorn on the counter. “fine. Show me your ways 'oh popcorn master’ ” Bruce said with an over-exaggerated bow.

Clark bowed right back “Right away your majesty, if you’ll please allow me escort you to the stove o’ prince of ye olde Gothhhh-ham”

Diana cracked up at Clark’s teasing putting one hand on her head as she watched Bruce turn red and cross his arms. “Alright, Alright, stop stroking my ego before I get a big head about it.” Bruce said with an eye-roll only barely holding back a little amused smile.

Clark laughed. “Fine if I have to.”

Diana stood as Clark put the pot on the stove, bringing the lazily tossed popcorn bag over as she joined Clark’s side with a smile, putting a hand on his back and letting it linger.

“Alright, come here you.” Clark beckoned Bruce who was still standing with his arms crossed on the other side of the counter.

Bruce let his arms drop to his sides and wandered over to stand by his boyfriend and girlfriend and pay attention to the popcorn lesson.

“Alright, you just put about this much oil…” Clark explained as he poured it into the pot. “Then about this much of the popcorn kernels… then we cover it, put on the medium heat and… we wait…”

Bruce looked at the covered bot then at Clark. “That’s it??”

“That’s it!” Clark chirped.

“…I could have done that.” Bruce grumbled.

Diana planted a kiss on Bruce’s cheek, leaving a light lipstick stain. “But it’s more fun together… don’t you think?”

“…Maybe.” Bruce mumbled in response, now fully starting to smile, which now had Clark giddy because god now he can see those cute little dimples Bruce has when he smiles

Clark laughed and cupped the back of Bruce’s head, pulling it forward a little so he could press a kiss to the top of his forehead and run his hand through his hair. “That’s 'yes, it I am having fun with you two’ in Bat-speak.”

“Bat-speak” Bruce mumbled, his ears turning a little red only to jump when the first “pop” came from the popcorn pop.

“This better be good popcorn for taking longer to make.” Bruce said, narrowing his eyes at the pot like he wanted to fight it.

“It takes longer but we’ll have a bigger batch quicker to last the three of us and the jumping beans through movie night. Especially since we’re watching pixar movies tonight, I’m going to be bawling my eyes out and eating my feelings.” Clark joked.

Bruce quirked an eyebrow at him “jumping beans???”

“Yeah… you know, the kiddos, since their beans and they do a lot of jumping when crime fighting.” Clark said very matter-of-fact-ly.

“kiddos… jumping beans…” Bruce ran his hand through his hair. “Don’t let Damian hear you calling him that or he’ll be obsessing over how he’s "clearly not a bean” for the next thirty minutes.“

Diana chuckled. "I suppose like father like son…”

Bruce looked over at her. “What is that supposed to mean? How so??”

Clark chuckled. “Babe you spent thirty minutes arguing with us last week on how…” Clark cleared his throat and put two fingers behind his head to mimic the bat-cowl and purposefully did a poor impression of Batman’s voice despite the fact he could mimic it perfectly if he wanted to. “I’m not cute where why would you even think that? What possibly could have made you think that I’m Batman.”

Diana laughed, throwing her head back at Clark’s impression of their bat that was turning redder by the second.

“Point taken.”

Once the popcorn was done, they poured it into one bowl for the three of them, and three for the bat-kids to sort out amongst themselves and went to the living room… or rather the watch-room because of course the manor had it’s own theater that Bruce had installed just for the kids that now came in handy for movie nights.

“About time, we thought we were going to have to start without you guys.” Dick quipped, getting up from his sprawled out position across the couch.

“You can’t rush art.” Clark told him, handing him one of the bowls, smiling over at Bruce who was handing Damian one of the bowls and Tim the other so they wouldn’t argue with each other over it. Tim set his down to share with Stephanie and Cass while it seemed Damian had quietly decided that that bowl was his and his alone as Bruce suspected might end up being the case.

Dick took a bite of the popcorn and nodded. “Your right, popcorn is a very delicate and fine art that isn’t to be trifled with.” He set the bowl on top of Jason’s head to further tease him no doubt for sitting on the floor.

“If you don’t move that bowl in the next five seconds I’m going to send it flying.” Jason said, which only made Dick crack up as he gingerly moved the bowl to sit beside Jason’s head on the couch instead.

Jason rolled his eyes and shook his head as he reached backwards to grab and handful of the popcorn.

Diana pulled Bruce’s current favorite red weighted blanket over the three of them as Clark and Bruce got settled in, Bruce sandwiched between him and Diana very comfortably with their own bowl now in his lap as they started the movie.

As it began Clark heard Bruce let out a quiet sigh and whisper. “This is nice… I like this…”

“Yeah… me too…” Clark whispered back, draping his arm behind Bruce’s shoulders, Diana doing the same as they sat together, surrounded by family, just having fun with each other.

Clark relaxed into the moment, fixing it in his memory as one of the many times he now felt completely and utterly safe and accepted… like he really belonged.

And he couldn’t be more grateful for it.