#hes not a villain but like he's generally seen as “the bad guy”

[buckys-arm-and-rios-dagger]

In light of Agatha Coven of Chaos FINALLY getting a release date I just want to say that every Marvel villain should get a banger villain song.

[i-cant-cast-that-yet]

Y'know, I read a lot of Jiuyuan--or really just anything Shen Jiu in general, and Id like to pitch this idea to the class:

Disciple Shen Jiu who fuckin haaates men, right? Shen Jiu who goes to brothels to sleep bc he just can't around the other boys knowing full well how shit his reputation is bc of it but Fuck You he's gonna do what he has to to get some fucking rest on this shit ass peak of pretentious rich-kids who wouldn't know the tip of their sword from the hilt unless it was jammed in their throats--

Disciple Shen Jiu who's seen just about every flavor of man in the streets both from his nights with his jiejie's and from his time with the Qiu and the slavers, and loathes them with a passion and is, shamefully in his mind, afraid of them.

Standoffish, rude, holier than thou, venom spitting queen with a cruel streak a thinly veiled mile wide, Shen Jiu. A scum villain in the making.

Enter Disciple Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan, in all his millennial transmigrator glory. Hikkikomori ass lame ass chokes on a meatbun and fucking croaks after reading a porn harem web novel for the fucking plot (cough-lbh-cough) Shen Yuan.

This rando ass dude with Shen Jiu's family name--no they aren't related stop asking, Shen Yuan why do you look grossed out do you wanna fight??--

Shen Yuan who doesn't get close to any of his shijie's, bc "Oh they're all gonna be in Bingge's harem at some point, I don't wanna steal the protagonists wives!!"

Shen Yuan, a shut-in nerd in his early to mid 20s, who also shirks any of his shixiong's attention for other reasons. He's not big on sports in the first place, and as cool as swords are they're fucking heavy!!! Where's the training montage skip button, system!?!? All this (ugh) comraderie...he just wants to stay in the library and pretend the scrolls are as interesting as zhongdian was, okay?

Shen Jiu, who sees these avoidant traits in a boy with his name and a face that looks like his and assumes Shen Yuan has the same traumas as him.

He hates men, Shen Yuan included for both the happenstance of his birth and also because he's an idiot, but now he's seeing more of him reflected in this dude and it itches.

Maybe he bullies Shen Yuan like he does Binghe. Maybe Shen Yuan, who isn't actually a teenager in his own head like lbh was and fucking hates the scum villain (he called for castration in one life and he'll do it again!! This life gave him cultivation and a sword, he'll get creative if he has to) fights back.

Puts all that time in the forums to good use and verbally eviscerates the guy. Hits on several sore topics all at once and if it wasn't for the very public scene being caused Shen Jiu might have killed this upstart instead of just throwing a punch and jumping him like he currently is.

And listen. Fighting between peaks is typical. The Qing Jing peak lord of the time could care less if Shen Jiu fights the Liu kid from Bai Zhan--there's history between the peaks as it is. But the two Shens beefing so publically?? That's bad for Qing Jing's image.

Shen Jiu might be hated, but Shen Yuan is adored by several key figures across the sect and this Shizun can't tell if the brat did it on purpose or not but it's troublesome either way. Shen Jiu is here on Zhangmen-shixiong's head disciples request, so she can't get rid of either of them.

So she strategizes. It's like her whole thing.

Qing Jing peak lord-jie sticks the Shen's in the xianxia equivalent of the get along shirt. She makes them go on missions together, do chores together, etc. They'll either snap and kill one another or become friends. She wins either way.

It's bad at first. Blood is drawn, fans are thrown and broken over heads. They're too alike and too different and Shen Jiu sees himself in this kid but also every rich boy who wastes their own potential and privilege that they can't realize they were blessed with and he haaates it. Shen Yuan is pissed bc this ass is cruel and awful but so fucking sympathetic once he's spent enough time around the guy to put some pieces together. Bro loves a problematic blorbo and Binghe was a lot of things in pidw, but the product of Shen Jiu's projection is chief among them and Shen Yuan is getting a whole lot of it right now and it puts a lot into perspective.

...................

This is getting away from me now. It's late. Maybe I'll pick this up later.

[bunnwich]

Bunbun, how do you think Leona got his scar??

How Leona Got His Scar and Other Thoughts

So this is for sure something I’ve thought about a lot and how Leona’s Scar relates to him as a character. I get that it's very likely he was simply given a scar by Yana to mirror his Great Seven counterpart of Scar...but you guys know I love to create my own lore. I personally find the little information we do get on Leona’s scar interesting. In one of Leona's chats, Ruggie asks Leona where he got his Scar and notes that The King of Beasts also has a scar on his left eye.

Of course, Leona, being Leona, brushes off the question and says he doesn't remember, but logically, we know it would be silly for someone to forget how such a prominent injury was received. And as far as we know, he doesn't have any other scars besides this one. 

So, he’s avoiding the truth. Either so the writers can be cheeky about it all, since Scar’s scar origins have had many recons. OR, if you wanna look deeper, maybe there is an implication that Leona prefers not to talk about it because the memory is upsetting. So, he brushes it off with a smirk.

Since I love angst, I prefer the latter. But, let's put a pin in that for a sec.

I think an interesting aspect to all this is that in the Magical Archives (I believe) it's mentioned that scars are something to be proud of in Sunset Savanna, which always kinda puzzled me.

We know that Twisted Wonderland has a skewed perception of the respective Disney villains, but it's still an interesting choice.

In the Lion King lore, a scar is essentially a bad omen. After Scar's death, two characters, Kion and Kovu, are condemned to others viewing them negatively. It's treated as a "Mark of Evil" in the Lion Guard show and even used as a symbol of Kion's deteriorating mental health. There is a symbol found on the ground that they refer to as a “Mark of Evil" where Scar's spirit manifested. TBH, even the treatment of Scar himself borders on ableism and the fact that people refer to him BY his disfigurement is kinda wild.

(Lion Guard wiki)

Since we kinda get conflicting lore from TLK and Twisted Wonderland on how scars are viewed...this really made me think about how it affects Leona. 

I like to believe the view of scars is nuanced in the Sunset Savanna. Maybe now with the younger generations, there is a different attitude regarding scars and they no big deal. Maybe because of the King of Beasts more positive influence, they just are seen as a more "heroic" thing in general. 

But, going back to Leona-

I think with what we know of his backstory a chunk of his people view him as this “bad omen” already due to his unique magic. And maybe after Leona received his “mark,” at some point as a child, some folks (maybe older ones) became even more apt to view him as a cursed prince. In Leona’s overblot flashback, we see how the servants in the palace fear and gossip about him.

Since we don't know the full truth of it, since the writers love to deprive us of Leona lore… My headcanon is this- When he and Falena were young, someone went to attack Falena and because the guard’s attention was so focused on the direct heir, Leona was hurt in the crossfire. Not only this, Leona has quite an adverse reaction to being attacked (perhaps for the first time physically as I also HC he was a weak child) However, he was still a child with a powerful Unique Magic, one he maybe couldn't control well at the time. So he attacks the attacker, who was maybe even just another child playing rough or perhaps just a rowdy peasant? Either way, this doesn't end well, he perhaps fatally injures the attacker and is punished for it. And so, begins the series complexes he has as the grumpy Lion we know now.

The desire for him to always be in control and be proficient at magic and magical defense.

His cynicism confirmed. Being reminded again of his place in life. Being only viewed as "a spare heir" compared to his brother. An unnecessary piece.

The disconnection he feels with his family and their disapproval of him and his actions.

Perhaps, this is why Leona is so good at defensive magic (like he mentions to Riddle who failed to collar him at first in Chapter 2.) Maybe this is why he chose to take up sports and self-defense, to protect himself from others despite preferring his intellect to fight. We know he at some point learns from Kifaji how to wrestle in the Catch the Tail Tournament. All this to say, I believe whatever happened is something traumatic for Leona and linked to his insecurities as a person. (Kinda like in many of Scar's backstories) I get into that a bit in this fic I wrote of Yuu comforting Leona. I just find it interesting to think about how the memory of receiving his Scar has affected him as he got older. While cocky and good at acting nonchalant, I do believe, deep down Leona feels uneasy about others' commenting about it or touching it.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts, as per usual! Thanks for asking I enjoyed yapping!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do you have any RSA headcanons? Love your blog btw ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

Thank you, thank you 💞

A popularish speculation I've seen regarding RSA is that the school and the people associated with it aren't actually as squeaky clean as they appear and actually have a very sinister side to them. While I do think this is an interesting idea to explore, I genuinely don't think this is canon. (Think about what that would do for Vil and Neige's conflict in book 5; by making Neige a "villain", it strips book 5 of its nuance and would position Vil as the one in clearly in the right.) So when I talk about my headcanons, I will NOT be considering that fan theory.

I'll be honest though 💦 I don't think about RSA a ton, so I have way fewer ideas and the ones I do have aren't super fleshed out. Here's a handful:

There are also 7 dorms at RSA, each mirroring the Great Seven-inspired ones at NRC and upholding different values. For example, Ignihyde's equivalent might feature the Son of the Thunder God (Hercules) or the Thunder God (Zeus) himself, and maybe they value courage/bravery or the strength of one’s heart.

Cooperation and friendship is promoted and integrated in many aspects of campus life. For example, a lot of courses involve group projects and it's part of RSA athletic club culture to do group chants before a sporting match.

... The staff at RSA actually give a shit and intervene quickly if trouble arises among their students, LOL (as opposed to NRC staff, who either scold + assign punishment or just leave the students to resolve the problems on their own).

The students are such good sports... Like, they'll go up and offer hugs and handshakes to the NRC students (who only stare at them with expressions twisting from disgust).

The Seven Dwarves and Neige are almost always seen together. Everyone knows they're the bestest of friends!

Neige is influential in his own dorm due to his status as a celebrity, even if he doesn't hold a formal title.

Chenya is also infamous around campus. He's known as a lax, easygoing guy that speaks in tongues and pulls the occasional prank.

Chenya's dorm leader is constantly daydreaming and getting lost; because of this, it's usually one of his duties to find them and lead them home. Yes, I have a twisted Alice OC that I barely talk about and I am giving them a cameo here--

When RSA students visit NRC, they are greeted with hate and get chased off campus. When NRC students visit RSA, they're welcomed warmly and even offered snacks. Big contrast between them.

Getting hired as staff at RSA is extremely competitive (this is somewhat confirmed in Trein's Strict Suit vignettes).

Most students love to sing and dance. Stepping onto RSA campus feels like walking into a Disney live action musical (but like... a GOOD Disney live action musical). The Theatre Club also boasts a high membership.

The campus newspaper has a section dedicated to naming a Good Samaritan of the edition, as many of its student body engage in charity work or are just generally nice.

Like NRC, there are black sheep amid the students. I like to imagine these are usually students inspired by Disney characters that have bad intentions but present themselves as good people (such as twist villains).

[sirxaibs]

Bruce Wayne | Batman X Reader

ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ You’re Weird ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ

masterlist

Check it, Bruce sees you’re drowning and wants to make sure you’re ok. Gotham gazette has a few other ideas.

ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ Your fingers curled around the warm ceramic mug, the heat soothing your skin. “It’s weird,” you mused, glancing around at the clean streets, the laughter of children in a nearby park, the general lack of sirens. “Being here makes Gotham feel like a fever dream. Like I blinked and woke up in a world that doesn’t smell like wet concrete and cigarette smoke.”

The scent of freshly ground coffee beans swirled in the crisp Metropolis air, rich and inviting. You sat across from Bruce Wayne at a quiet café tucked on the corner of Hyperion Avenue, the kind of place that prided itself on being “low key millennial vibe,” though the exposed brick walls and imported furniture suggested otherwise. Still, it was a breath of fresh air from Gotham’s perpetual gloom.

Bruce smiled over the rim of his espresso, the smallest curve of his lips. “I told you Metropolis would be good for you. A different pace. Safer.”

“Definitely safer,” you nodded, chuckling softly. “Though a little… unnerving? Like it’s too perfect. No edge.”

“You miss the unnerving…ness?”

“I feel like Gotham just might have more personality?” You grinned, teasing. “Besides, there’s no challenge in writing about Metropolis. They treat their criminals like punchlines.”

Bruce looked at you then. That quiet intensity in his eyes, the one you always caught glimpses of in rare, unguarded moments. “You like the challenge. That’s what makes you different.”

You blinked, caught off guard. “Different?”

“Just different, you don’t have to think too hard on it”

You looked down, the compliment sinking into your chest a little deeper than you were prepared for. “ahhhh okok whatever mister cryptic. What are we doing in metropolis anyways? you havent even done any work while here”

A pause.

“thats true,” Bruce said softly. “Maybe I wanted to see what it’d be like. Sharing coffee somewhere bright for once.”

Your heart did a little pirouette in your chest. It was nothing nothing, right? Just a moment. A shared breath.

But before you could say anything, a familiar voice called out from the sidewalk.

“Bruce! Well, I’ll be damned!”

Bruce’s smile flattened like someone had stepped on it. You turned in your chair to see a tall man in glasses and a warm beige trench coat strolling up, the sun glinting off his dark hair. Clark Kent. You’d seen him in bylines, youre pretty sure youve seen him carrying a camera around. Mild mannered, curious, somehow always in the right place at the right time. And right now, he looked delighted.

“Clark,” Bruce greeted, standing only because etiquette demanded it. His handshake was brief. You noticed the way his jaw ticked as Clark’s gaze immediately shifted to you.

“And you must be the [Y/N] [L/N],” Clark said, eyes lighting up. “I’m a huge fan of your work.”

You blinked. “You… are?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely. That piece you did on Clayface? Incredible. All your stories go into so much depth and extremely captivating.”

You felt yourself flush. “That means a lot. It’s mice to meet you.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, his cup suddenly very uninteresting as he picked it up for a sip he didn’t take.

Clark pulled out the empty chair beside you and sat before you could protest. “Oh! Im Clark by the way! I’ve always believed there’s more to every story than just the ‘bad guy’ angle. But the way you frame it, like… you make people care. You make them wonder if these villains could’ve been something else in a different world.”

You smiled, glowing under the praise. “That’s exactly what I try to do. Gotham’s complicated. Everyone wants to point fingers, but no one wants to understand the systems that failed them.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Clark nodded. “You ever think of working in Metropolis?”

Bruce’s cup hit the table a little harder than necessary.

“I like Gotham,” you said, glancing at Bruce. “It’s home. And having a indepth understanding makes for good copy.”

Clark laughed. “Fair enough. Still, if you ever need a second pair of eyes or someone to bounce drafts off, I’d be happy to.”

Bruce cleared his throat.

You turned to see him leaning back in his chair, expression unreadable, but his fingers were drumming a silent rhythm on the armrest.

“So, Clark,” Bruce said coolly, “I’m sure the Daily Planet is keeping you busy.”

“Oh, always,” Clark chuckled. “But it’s not every day I bump into old friends… and get to meet such impressive company.”

You smiled politely, but you couldn’t miss the faint twitch in Bruce’s brow. For the first time since you’d met him, he looked rattled. It was almost adorable.

“So, Bruce,” you teased, turning your gaze back to him, “you were telling me about that time you nearly got arrested in Paris for what was it again?”

Bruce straightened. “It was a misunderstanding.”

Clark’s eyebrows rose, amused. “Arrested? Now this sounds like a story.”

“No,” Bruce said flatly.

You laughed and shook your head, the tension easing around the edges. But beneath the surface, you could feel it. Something had shifted. Bruce had invited you to Metropolis under the guise of research, but his eyes said more than that. His gaze lingered when Clark made you laugh, and his mouth set into a thin line every time you and Clark found common ground. You weren’t sure what to do with that yet. But you knew one thing for certain… You kind of liked it.

And Bruce? He looked like he was very much not enjoying sharing the spotlight not when it came to you. Especially not with someone like Clark Kent.

The conversation had drifted into the realm of old journalism war stories. Clark was on his third anecdote about chasing down Luthor’s motorcade on foot in attempt to get an interview completely glossing over how that was physically possible and you were laughing, your eyes crinkled with amusement.

Bruce, meanwhile, was over it.

He had tried. Really, he had. Tried to play nice, tried to keep the conversation moving without outright snarling, tried not to look like a man seconds away from flipping the café table over. But watching you laugh, that genuine, radiant smile that he didn’t get nearly enough of not when you were in Gotham, buried in crime reports and late night stakeouts and watching Clark soak it in like it was sunshine?

It was starting to itch beneath his skin. So, Bruce did what he did best. He weaponized polite.

“You know, Clark,” Bruce said, smoothly interrupting whatever story he was about to launch into next, “as fascinating as your insight is, I’m sure the Daily Planet is wondering where their star reporter has wandered off to.”

Clark blinked. “Oh I’ve got the rest of the day off. Lois has it covered.”

“Of course,” Bruce replied, tone light but laced with something sharper. “But I imagine someone like you never really stops working. Especially with… so many rooftops to jump between.”

There was a beat. Clark’s smile faltered for just a second, and you blinked, confused at the oddly specific phrasing.

Bruce leaned forward, resting an arm casually on the table, expression carved from cool stone. “Besides, I’m sure [Y/N] wouldn’t want to be distracted from the purpose of her visit. Research, remember?”

Clark chuckled, though this time it came out tight. “Right. I wouldn’t want to interrupt.”

You arched a brow. Something was going on between them something that felt like more than old friends catching up. A subtle chess game you weren’t meant to notice. But you did notice. Especially when Clark stood with an exaggerated sigh and adjusted his coat.

“Well,” he said, flashing you another warm smile, “it really was a pleasure meeting you, [Y/N]. Let’s chat sometime professional to professional.”

“Definitely,” you said, nodding.

He gave Bruce a weird glance. “Always a pleasure, Bruce.”

“Likewise,” Bruce said, not even pretending to mean it.

Once Clark was gone, Bruce leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly like the air was finally breathable again. His jaw relaxed. His shoulders dropped an inch. He reached for his espresso and finally took the sip he’d been pretending to take all afternoon.

You watched him with an amused smirk.

“Well, well,” you said, folding your arms over the table. “I wasn’t expecting Gotham’s golden boy to be so antsy.”

Bruce didn’t look at you right away, choosing instead to swirl the contents of his cup. “I’m not antsy.”

“You absolutely are,” you said, grinning now. “Clark was lovely, by the way. Very sweet. You could learn something from him.”

“I’d rather not,” Bruce said flatly.

You laughed, tilting your head at him. “rich boy your spoiledness is coming out.”

He finally met your eyes. There it was again that quiet, smoldering honesty buried beneath the billionaire’s mask.

“I just don’t like sharing good coffee,” he said coolly. “Especially when I invited you here.”

The silence that followed wasn’t awkward. It was electric.

You leaned in just a little, your voice softer now. “Then maybe you shouldn’t hide behind excuses like ‘research.’ Maybe next time, just say you want my attention.”

Bruce’s lips curved ever so slightly. Not a smirk, not quite a smile something just for you.

“ill hold you too it”

And this time, it was your heart doing pirouettes.

ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ

Wayne Tower loomed as it always did, cold steel and glass slicing through Gotham’s ashen sky like a blade. Rain tapped against the windows in soft percussion, blurring the gray city below, but Bruce barely registered it. He sat alone in his office, the lights low, his chair turned just slightly away from the sprawling skyline.

He hadn’t moved in the last ten minutes. Not since that morning paper landed on his desk.

The Gotham Gazette, bold font screaming at him like a damn siren:

“WAYNE WINES AND DINES MYSTERY REPORTER IN METROPOLIS”

Right beneath the headline was a photo of you laughing at something Clark said, sunlight catching in your hair, your posture turned comfortably toward Bruce. Another photo showed the two of you walking side by side, your elbow lightly brushing against his as you reached for your coffee. And, of course, the pièce de résistance: a wide shot of the table, Bruce leaning forward, looking at you like you were the only person in the world.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Goddammit,” he muttered.

It wasn’t the paparazzi he was used to them, expected them. It was Metropolis that caught him off guard. He thought, stupidly, that the clean air and cheerful streets made people less nosy. Less likely to shove a camera lens into his business.

Clearly, he had underestimated how rabid Gotham media could be. Even there, even with you.

And you.

You hadn’t brought it up. Hadn’t mentioned the paper or the photos or the wild headlines speculating you were Gotham’s newest It Girl, or that the elusive Bruce Wayne had finally found someone to tame him.

That was what was killing him. Not the photos. Not the gossip. Not even the implication that the two of you were something more. It was the not knowing how you felt about it.

Bruce rose from his desk, the chair scraping quietly behind him. He paced the room like a caged animal, the newspaper still clutched in one hand, wrinkled from how tightly he’d been gripping it.

He read the headline again and immediately hated himself for how warm it made him feel. Wayne Wines and Dines. He could hear your voice in his head, laughing. God, Bruce, that sounds like a sleazy rom com title.

He wanted you.

He wanted you in the most undignified, unbillionaire like way possible. Wanted to kiss you until the words stopped working in his brain. Wanted to sit next to you again in some sunshine drenched café and actually enjoy your laugh instead of being consumed by it.

He ran a hand through his hair, pacing faster now. He hated this. Hated that he was in a thousand meetings a week with CEOs and board members and city officials, but the second you walked into a room or in this case, a newspaper he felt like a goddamn teenage girl.

What if you didn’t want people thinking you were involved with him?

That’s what haunted him. Not the story. Not the photos. You. Would you hate it? Would you laugh it off? Would you roll your eyes and say, “God, Bruce, you’re so dramatic”?

Or worse would you tell him it was all a misunderstanding, that you didn’t see him that way? The thought made him pause mid step, one hand on the window frame, staring at his own reflection in the glass. His jaw was tense. His eyes darker than usual.

He hadn’t felt this unsure of himself in years. Batman never hesitated. But Bruce Wayne? He was a mess. He looked back at the paper. Back at you.

Back at the way you looked when you laughed, when your eyes crinkled, when you let your guard down just enough for him to wonder what it’d be like to really have you.

He sighed, resting his forehead against the glass.

“Get it together.”

ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ

it started out very simple. He became fascinated with you. It had been one of those Gotham nights long, bone tired, the kind of quiet that was never actually silent. Just… tired. The flicker of neon through you ur tiny apartment windows painted the walls in restless color, but inside, it was dim, peaceful.

You were curled up on the couch, oversized hoodie swallowing your form, mug of something warm and sweet nestled in your hands. Bruce sat across from you in an armchair, undone just enough to tell you he wasn’t working anymore tie loosened, cuffs rolled. He was watching you. He always watched you. Not in a creepy way but in fascination.

“You ever get that feeling like everything’s just… pressing in all at once?” you asked, voice quieter than usual.

Bruce blinked. “All the time.”

You gave him a weak smile. “Right. Stupid question.”

“It’s not stupid,” he said immediately. “You’ve been burning the candle at both ends. I’ve noticed.”

You looked away, exhaling through your nose. “Yeah, well. Work’s getting heavy. Not just deadlines or research like, the stories themselves. I think its hard knowing so much about someone’s hurt. Its addicting I cant stop. I know I’m good at telling those stories. I know it matters. But lately, I feel like I’m drowning in it.”

Bruce didn’t respond right away. You weren’t sure you wanted him to not with solutions. You pressed the edge of your mug to your lips, then lowered it without drinking. “And Gotham never stops, you know? Never lets you breathe. I love it. But sometimes, I think it’s eating me alive.”

The silence between you stretched. Then Bruce leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, voice gentle.

“I’m going on a trip.”

You blinked. “What?”

“Business,” he clarified. “Metropolis. Just a few days. Meetings, some board schmoozing. Normally I wouldn’t bring anyone but” He paused, almost like it hurt to admit. “I don’t want to go alone. And I think you need a break.”

Your eyebrows lifted. “You… want me to come with you?”

He nodded once, deliberately. “You need sunlight. Coffee that isn’t brewed by a street vendor in the Narrows. Air that doesn’t taste like exhaust. And I think…” He hesitated again, then met your eyes. “I think it’d be good for both of us.”

You stared at him. “You’re sure this is a work trip?”

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Mostly.”

You snorted softly, your lips twitching upward. “What, you trying to whisk me away like some overworked intern in a workplace romance?”

“Do you want to be whisked?” he asked, and you knew he was being dry, but the way his eyes softened made it an excellent argument.

You set your mug down, heart thudding a little faster than you were ready for. “Okay.”

He tilted his head.

“I’ll go,” you said, quieter now. “To Metropolis. Maybe a change of pace will help.”

His gaze lingered. “Good.”

You nodded, your smile ghosting. “Good.”

the city outside could rage and howl all it wanted but inside your apartment it was quiet.

ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ

There was no such thing as privacy in the Gotham Gazette bullpen. Not when your desk was sandwiched between the copy editor who played music a little too loud and the sports columnist who smelled like energy drinks and cheap cologne. Not when cubicles had walls barely higher than your shoulders. And definitely not when you’d just come back from a suspiciously timed “business trip” with Gotham’s most eligible bachelor.

You hadn’t even set your bag down before the vultures descended.

“So?” came a voice before you even logged into your computer.

You blinked. “So… what?”

“Oh, come on,” groaned Jamie from Features, leaning over your cubicle wall like a hungry hyena. “You and Bruce Wayne disappear to Metropolis for a weekend, and you come back looking relaxed. In Gotham. What did he do, buy you a new nervous system?”

You rolled your eyes. “It was a work trip. You know those things some of us actually do?”

“Honey, you haven’t even opened your email,” Jamie said. “I opened your email. You’re in the email. You’re trending.”

You stopped, staring at him. “What?”

“You haven’t seen the photos?” asked Liz from Editorial, practically hopping in place as she slid around the corner, tablet in hand. “You two at the hotel. At the gala. At the rooftop bar. Looking suspiciously cozy. Very hands on.”

Your blood ran cold. “There were photographers?”

“Babe, there are always photographers. Bruce Wayne doesn’t sneeze without a hundred flashbulbs going off,” Liz said, flipping the tablet around so you could see the image in question.

And there it was.

You and Bruce, laughing at something you couldn’t remember now. His hand was on the small of your back. Yours lingered on his arm like it belonged there. The skyline glittered behind you like it was painted in.

It looked… intimate. Too intimate.

“Great,” you muttered, dragging a hand down your face. “That’s just great.”

“You’re front page gossip,” Jamie sang. “You made Page Six, babe! That’s legacy status!”

You slumped into your chair, praying for spontaneous combustion.

But the hits kept coming.

“Did he fly you out first class or private?”

“Is he as brooding behind closed doors as he is on TV?”

“Do you think he’s going to propose?”

“Oh my God, please shut up!” you snapped.

That earned a few snickers, but also a hush. You didn’t snap often. You never snapped. Which was why every nosy reporter in hearing range immediately began whispering twice as loud.

You opened your inbox to find a stack of notifications you didn’t want: tabloid alerts, social media mentions, subject lines like BRUCE WAYNE: WHO’S THE GIRL? and MYSTERY WRITER GETS WAYNE’S ATTENTION.

Someone even sent a meme of the two of you photoshopped in wedding attire. Wedding attire.

You nearly threw your monitor out the window.

And to make matters worse someone literally just took a picture of you. You turned so fast your chair creaked.

“Did you just?”

“Noooo,” muttered one of the interns, tucking their phone away and walking very quickly in the opposite direction.

You buried your face in your hands, groaning. “This is a nightmare.”

Liz leaned closer. “Okay, but like… is anything happening?”

You peeked at her through your fingers. “Do you really think Bruce Wayne would date someone whose cubicle doesn’t even have walls?”

Liz paused. “You make a fair point. Still. You’d be the first tabloid rumor I’d actually root for.”

You sighed. It was hard to tell if that made you feel better or worse.

The truth? You didn’t know what was happening between you and Bruce. Not really. There had been stolen glances. Quiet words. An almost moment by the elevator that hadn’t turned into a kiss only because you’d chickened out.

And now this circus.

You opened a blank document, willing yourself to work.

But your mind wasn’t on the story. It was on Bruce on how quiet he’d gone since the trip. On how he hadn’t returned your last message.

You were halfway through typing a sentence that didn’t make sense when the crowd got worse.

“I swear, if another person breathes in my direction”

“Hey, superstar!”

You winced.

It was this random guy from Politics loud, nosy, and the worst kind of gossip. He strutted into the bullpen like he owned it, carrying a mug that read ‘World’s Best Journalist’ (he bought it for himself, no one doubted it). Behind him trailed two junior reporters and someone from the digital team, all of them making a beeline for your desk.

“I’m not doing this,” you muttered under your breath.

“Come on, just a few words!” Mark leaned against the edge of your cubicle, grinning like the devil himself. “You know the public’s eating it up Wayne’s mystery date turns out to be a journalist?”

“I didn’t agree to be anyone’s date.”

“That’s not what the pictures say,” someone behind him chimed in.

“I hate the pictures,” you snapped. “And I hate this office.”

“You say that every Monday,” Liz said, now openly eating popcorn like this was her entertainment for the day.

Mark held up a recorder. “I’m just saying, give me the exclusive before the others twist your words. I can paint you as the brilliant writer who stole Gotham’s most eligible bachelor.”

“I didn’t steal anything.”

“Fine, borrowed.”

You stared at him. “Mark, put that recorder down or I’ll throw it in your coffee.”

“I’ll fish it out,” he said without hesitation.

“Oh my God”

Before you could finish, two interns popped up on either side of you like synchronized jack in the boxes.

“Do you like him?”

“What was he like off camera?”

“Did he smell rich?”

“Can you get him to donate to our fundraiser?”

“I’m stopping all of you right there” you said, spinning in your chair and standing, your hands up in surrender. “I’m not answering questions. I’m not giving an exclusive. And I’m not I repeat, not dating Bruce Wayne.”

“But you went with him to Metropolis”

“And it was work! Professional! Boring!”

Liz muttered, “You don’t look like someone who had a boring weekend.”

You grabbed your half finished coffee and nearly spilled it as you tried to retreat.

Mark followed. “Look, I get it, privacy and all, but you’re sitting on a gold mine. Just one quote. Something classy. Like ‘He’s not what I expected’ or ‘Billionaires they’re just like us.’”

You whipped around so fast Mark almost tripped over himself.

“If I give you a quote, will you leave me alone?”

He perked up instantly. “Depends on the quote.”

You leaned in, voice low.

“Here it is: ‘I’d rather be trapped in Arkham with the Joker than give you an interview.’ Print that, Mark.”

The entire bullpen howled. Even Liz nearly choked on her popcorn. Mark gave a dramatic sigh. “Fine. No quote. But if he shows up at the office, I’m interviewing him.”

You sat back down, muttering to yourself. “Not unless I strangle him first.”

And then, as if on cue because the universe had a sense of humor you did not appreciate your phone buzzed.

One name. One message.

Bruce Wayne: “Are you free for lunch?”

You groaned. Loudly.

Liz leaned over again, peeking at your screen. “So…nothing happened eh?”

Your phone buzzed again before you could finish your dramatic groan.

Bruce Wayne: “Already here. Back entrance.”

Your heart did a little flip.

You looked up. Mark was still hovering. Liz was now showing your photo to someone from the tech team, pointing directly at your face and whispering like you were a zoo animal. Someone in the far corner had definitely just snapped another picture of you, and the interns were forming a human wall.

You slid your phone into your pocket, stood up quietly, grabbed your jacket, and turned to Liz. “Tell them I died.”

Liz blinked. “Wait, wha”

You were already moving. Fast. Ducking behind cubicles, practically army crawling past the coffee station, then booking it down the hallway like a fugitive. when you finally slipped out the back entrance of the Gotham Gazette into the cool alley behind the building, there he was.

Bruce Wayne.

Leaning against a sleek black car, sleeves rolled up, looking wildly out of place in the grime of downtown Gotham. He looked up the moment the door opened, concern flickering across his features the second he saw your expression.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

You crossed your arms. “You didn’t have to come all the way here. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,” he said gently. “You looked like you are going to strangle someone.”

You rolled your eyes. “That was just Mark.”

“Should I be worried about Mark?”

“Only if you want to see a grown man cry because I didn’t give him a quote about your cologne.”

Bruce huffed a quiet laugh and opened the passenger door for you. You hesitated.

“This isn’t a ‘kidnap the journalist’ situation, right?”

“Not unless you want it to be,” he said, the corners of his mouth twitching.

You shot him a look, but the tension eased just a bit. You slid into the seat.

He climbed in next to you. The car was quiet. Luxuriously quiet, compared to the zoo you’d just escaped. It smelled like leather and some subtle, expensive cologne that did make you want to punch Mark for being right.

Bruce glanced over at you. “I really just wanted to check in. I didn’t mean to… make your day worse.”

“You didn’t,” you said, voice softer than expected. “It’s not you. It’s them. People. Eyes. Phones. I feel like I can’t move without being… watched.”

“I know the feeling.”

You turned slightly to look at him. There was something in his tone that made you pause like he meant it more than most.

“You get used to it,” he added. “Eventually.”

You didn’t respond right away. The silence wasn’t awkward, though. It was still, almost warm.

“I didn’t expect you to actually check in,” you admitted after a moment. “Most people would’ve just texted a thumbs up and disappeared.”

He looked at you then, eyes searching. “I’m not most people.”

You were about to respond, something snarky on your tongue to break the intensity but then it happened.

Click.

It was faint, but unmistakable. A camera shutter. Right outside the alley.

Your head fell back against the seat with a loud groan.

Bruce sighed. “is it ok for you to be out of work?.”

“I told Liz to say I died,” you muttered.

“Not sure that’s going to help now.”

You closed your eyes. “God, I’m going to be on some gossip site by noon.”

He hesitated, then reached over and gently touched your hand where it rested on your knee. Just a soft brush of fingers.

“You want me to drive around for a bit?” he asked. “No press. No phones. Just quiet.”

You looked down at where his hand had been, the ghost of the touch lingering.

“…Yeah,” you said quietly. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

And with no more words, he pulled the car out of the alley, away from the flashing camera, and into a city that for once felt just a little quieter.

ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ

The city passed in a blur of gray and gold as Bruce drove. He didn’t put on music. He didn’t speak. He just let the silence stretch, calm and easy, giving you room to breathe. The engine was barely a hum beneath your feet, and the windows were tinted enough that no one could see you inside. For once, you weren’t on display.

You leaned back against the seat, letting your eyes drift toward the city you loved and cursed in equal measure.

“I used to think about leaving,” you said finally, your voice barely above the sound of tires on pavement. “When I was younger. Before I really understood Gotham. Before I knew I couldn’t.”

Bruce glanced over at you. “Why couldn’t you?”

You smiled faintly. “Because people like us don’t get to run. Not when we know how broken the system is. Not when we can do something about it. We stay. We try.”

He didn’t answer right away. You saw his grip tighten slightly on the steering wheel, like he understood more than you knew.

Then, casually almost too casually he said, “And what if you weren’t trying alone?”

You blinked, turning your head toward him. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I mean… all of well… this. The gossip. The whispers. The headlines. What if it didn’t have to be something to run from? What if it wasn’t such a bad idea?”

You blinked again.

It took you a second to process what he was saying. Then your heart stuttered. Oh.

“Bruce,” you said slowly, cautiously, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

He faltered. You didn’t need to see his face to feel it. The way his jaw tightened just a fraction. The way the next turn came a little too fast.

And maybe that was what made you soften.

“I would,” you added quietly. “God, I would. I would love it. So much.”

You felt him glance your way again.

“But my whole life… I believed I needed to tell people’s stories. I thought I was supposed to keep myself out of them. Be the one behind the scenes. Not the subject.”

You looked down at your hands in your lap. “I don’t know if I’m ready to be in the public eye like that. I don’t know how to be that kind of person.”

Another beat of silence.

Then his voice, low and steady: “I can be quiet.”

You looked up.

He kept his eyes on the road, but his voice stayed soft, sincere. “I don’t need headlines. I don’t need public. I just need you. However you’ll let me have you.”

It was a crazy thing, the way your heart reacted. Quick and eager and warm. You swallowed down the lump in your throat, caught between laughing and crying.

“That’s not fair,” you whispered.

“I know,” he said.

The car slowed to a red light. He finally turned to look at you, and the honesty in his gaze hit you like a punch to the ribs. There was no pressure. No expectations. Just him, offering.

“I can wait,” he said. “I’ve waited longer for less.”

You didn’t know what to say.

So you reached out and put your hand over his on the gearshift, quiet and certain.

“I’ll get there,” you said.

You watched his profile as the light turned green again. Something about him had shifted softer now, more open. You’d never seen Bruce Wayne so weird. The suit was stripped away, even if the one he wore now was more expensive than your rent.

And then, slowly, a grin curled at the edge of your lips as a realization hit.

“Oh my god,” you said, trying not to laugh. “You were jealous.”

His brows lifted, but he didn’t deny it.

You let out a small laugh, more delighted than you expected. “Clark. That’s what that was about, wasn’t it? You were so sulky that I was talking to him”

Bruce didn’t answer.

“You’re such a child,” you said, but it was affectionate. “Sulking in your tower, giving moody interviews, and then crashing the Gotham Gazette like a bat out of hell…. wait a second…”

You turned in your seat, narrowing your eyes at him. “You’re weird. You vanish without notice. And God you could be Batman with how weird you are.”

Silence.

Your laugh trailed off. You stared at him.

“…Wait.”

Bruce didn’t look at you.

He didn’t say anything.

“Bruce?” Your voice dropped into something halfway between suspicion and awe. “You aren’t Batman. Right?”

Still nothing.

You squinted. “Oh my god.”

“Let’s not do this here,” he said finally, quietly.

You opened your mouth to fire off something a question, a scream, anything but he cut in, almost abruptly.

“Why don’t you write about heroes?”

You blinked at the sudden change in tone. “What?”

“In your pieces,” he clarified. “You always follow the criminals. The corruption. Why not write about the ones stopping it?”

You leaned back in your seat, chewing on the thought. “Because that’s not my job.”

“That sounds like a choice.”

“It is,” you said honestly. “Heroes don’t need a microphone. It feels like they feed off it. They’re already being celebrated, idolized, plastered across news stations and cereal boxes. But the ones slipping between the cracks the ones getting hurt, the ones no one’s looking at they need a voice. The ones who don’t make it out. The ones who get silenced.”

You paused, watching the streets pass.

“The heroes are doing the saving. I’m doing the remembering.”

He didn’t interrupt. So you kept going.

“And besides,” you added, your voice softening, “most of the heroes I’ve met… they don’t feel real. They feel like gods pretending to be human. Or humans pretending to be something else.”

Another beat passed.

“But Batman…” you murmured.

Bruce’s hand flexed on the steering wheel.

“I don’t know. He feels different. Gritty. Angry. Sad. The city chews him up and spits him out just like the rest of us, but he stays. Every night, he stays. I think…” you trailed off, trying to find the words.

“I think Batman might be the only hero I really like.”

You looked over at him.

“He feels the most human.”

And that’s when Bruce Wayne flawless billionaire, effortless playboy, Gotham’s golden son turned his head just slightly. The streetlights hit his jaw, shadowing his eyes. And in the flicker of the red glow, he looked haunted.

Bruce turned down a quiet side street, one that wound along Gotham’s upper overlook, where the city glittered like it belonged to someone else. He didn’t say a word as he parked the car.

The engine cut off. The silence wrapped around you like a heavy coat.

You turned to him, half expecting a denial. A smirk. Something to backpedal the idea that he might actually be.

“I’m not going to deny it,” he said quietly. “Not to you.”

Your breath caught.

He looked over at you, eyes tired but so present not a billionaire mask, not a cowl, just a man. And you could see it now, clear as the sky wasn’t: the bruised silence, the late nights, the way he disappeared.

“I meant what I said,” he added, voice low. “I love the way you… make a difference.”

Your brows rose, skeptical. “By being a little shit to the richest man in Gotham?”

He let out a breath of a laugh. “Yeah. Exactly that.”

You opened your mouth to protest, but he kept going.

“The way you dig in, ask the questions no one wants to answer. The way you walk into a room like you don’t care if you don’t belong like you’re going to own it anyway. You’re stubborn.”

You raised a brow. “You’re doing a terrible job at complimenting me.”

Bruce half smiled, glancing down, then back up. There was a flush of pink at his neck, almost like embarrassment.

“And since that gala,” he continued, “when you showed up in a dress that didnt match you at all and tried to sneak out after five minutes…” He exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down his face. “I don’t know. I saw you and… I felt it.”

“Felt what?” you asked quietly.

“That pull. That connection.” He stumbled a little, like the word sat wrong in his mouth. “I’m not good at… this.”

“No shit.”

“I mean it,” he said, tone a little sharper. “I don’t talk about things. I work. I disappear. I do what I have to. And maybe it’s selfish, but I just”

His jaw tensed. You could see him trying to make the words work.

“I want to,” he said finally. “I want to try. With you.”

You sat there, frozen, heart thudding like thunder against your ribs. The man next to you was Batman. And somehow, more terrifyingly, he was Bruce. Vulnerable. Honest. Looking at you like you were the only person in the city worth telling the truth to.

The silence stretched long between you. The kind that didn’t beg to be filled.

You stared ahead for a while, letting the lights of Gotham blur at the edges of your vision. Your heart hadn’t calmed down since the moment he parked the car, and now it was beating so loud you were almost sure he could hear it.

Finally, you tilted your head toward him, the corner of your mouth tugging up.

“So… as much as you basically just called me a little shit…” you murmured, trying to ease the tension with a smirk. “I’ll try. With you.”

His eyes flicked up to yours, something soft blooming there.

You added, quieter now, “But it has to be secret. Just let me keep some part of me mine.”

There was no hesitation.

Bruce reached out slowly, his hand closing gently over yours like he was afraid you’d pull away. And then, without a word, he brought your hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to your knuckles.

It was soft. Earnest. You swallowed thickly, eyes locked on his. Something warm and unfamiliar settled in your chest.

“…You really are weird, you know that?” you said, voice barely above a whisper.

He didn’t let go. And he didn’t disagree.

You: “Bruce, you’re emotionally constipated.”

Bruce: “That is absolutely not true.”

You: “Then say one feeling.”

Bruce: ”…Vengeance.”

You: ”…Try again, but like, a normal human.”

Bruce: ”…Mild affection…?”

You: ”…You’re lucky you’re rich and weirdly hot.”

[tropicalcryptid]

Ok so She-Ra pulled such a great hat trick with Hordak's characterization, and I LOVE it

One of my favorite things about 2018 She-Ra is Hordak's story and development (and Entrapdak cough but that's not the point of this particular post), and the cleverest thing is that so much of it is actually being set up and told to us in seasons 1 and 2 before we even realize that that's what's happening.

When we first see Hordak in the show, he's giving "generic evil overlord" vibes. Garden-variety baddie. Maybe a little more reasonable than some and clearly capable of long-term thinking, but that just serves to make him intimidating. Everything about him--the way he runs his empire, his armor, his color scheme, his minion, his Villainous Eye Makeup(TM), even his name--are all projecting to the audience "yup, Acme Bad Guy here. Move right along."

But then, backstory. And everything snaps into focus. Not only is it one of the first big oh SHIT moments of the show, where we suddenly zoom out and realize that there is SO much more going on than we realized--it's also the start of the audience seeing Hordak as a character rather than an archetype. Suddenly we realize that he's not conquering Etheria because he wants power, or hates happiness and sparkles, or whatever--he's doing it out of a desperate attempt to prove his worth to his brother/creator/god. This moment where Hordak lets Entrapta in is also the moment the show lets us in on what makes our favorite spacebat tick.

On top of that, we've also seen him bonding with Entrapta and opening up to this person that he respects and trusts...probably the only person he's ever respected or trusted apart from Prime. And she's Etherian--someone of a lower species, someone he's supposed to subjugate, someone who he has been raised and trained and programmed and mind-controlled into believing is below him in every way.

But instead she's brilliant and creative and mesmerizing. She's not afraid of him, and she's fascinated with his work. For the first time since being abandoned by Prime, Hordak finally has someone that he can talk to, who is on his level and both understands and cares about the science! (because he is a giant nerd). She's kind to him, a mere defect. And it just sends his whole worldview into a spin, and that's all before--

Bam, mans is a goner. Entrapta's "Imperfections are beautiful" comment punches right through all the toxic bs that Hordak has been steeped in his entire life. You can see on his face here--I think it's the moment Hordak fell in love with Entrapta, but this is also the face of a spacebat reevaluating his entire worldview. If Entrapta, who is amazing, believes something different from Prime...what does that mean? If Entrapta, who is brilliant, believes that he is worth something, and that she herself is a failure...

Well. We know what happens after that, and how Hordak begins to doubt, and eventually fights back against Prime (and remembers his love for Entrapta after TWO mind wipes help my heart ack). But we also get to see what life in the Galactic Horde looks like: the only life Hordak ever knew before coming to Etheria.

It's not nice.

It's really not nice.

Prime operates in a very specific way, and we learn a lot about it in season 5. Prime expects complete obedience, devotion and worship from his clones. He allows no individuality from his subjects, not even a name. Failure or deviations are punished, mind-wiped, or destroyed. We even learn from Wrong Hordak that facial expressions are considered a privilege reserved for Prime (apart from, presumably, expressions of rapture caused by being around Prime).

And once we learn all of this, suddenly thinking about season 1 Hordak becomes very interesting indeed. The time we spend with the Galactic Horde and Prime throws absolutely everything that we know about Hordak into a whole new context. Now all those traits that made him a generic villain are actually hugely effective characterization! And what that characterization is telling us is that Hordak had already moved much farther away from Prime than we (or, probably, he) had realized, even long before he met Entrapta.

Horde Prime does not allow his underlings to have names, personalities, or any differences of appearance. Not only does Hordak allow this among his own troops, he chose a name for himself as well! Season 5 tells us that his very name is an act of blasphemy against his god. And yet Hordak took one for himself, and that name is part of the core identity he is able to hold on to when rebelling against Prime.

Horde Prime cast Hordak out when he showed signs of physical imperfections. Hordak not only keeps Imp (who is by all appearances a failed clone or similar experiment) around, he treats Imp more gently than we see him treat anybody or anything before Entrapta. Imp is not simply "generic evil guy's minion," he is proof of Hordak's capacity for compassion, and evidence that Hordak cannot bring himself to cast aside "defects" as easily as Prime. Considering where Hordak came from, Imp's existence is a huge, flashing neon sign telling the audience this guy here is better than the hell that molded him, and we don't even realize it until 4 seasons after it's been shown to us!

Very cool, ND.

There's more, though. Hordak's red and black color scheme? His dark eye makeup and lipstick? Very Evil Overlord chic. But nope! Actually these are actually expressions of individuality on a level that Hordak knows would be abhorrent to Prime!

Reading between the lines, I see this as Hordak desperately trying to reconcile two diametrically opposed beliefs in his head: (1) devotion to Prime, whose approval he desperately craves, and (2) maintaining some degree of unique personhood, of Hordak, from which to draw strength. Because a failed, defective clone cannot survive on a hostile world, cut off from the hivemind and from Prime's light. A failed clone cannot create an empire to offer Prime as tribute, nor build a spacetime portal from scraps and memory to call Prime back. A failed clone cannot create cybernetic armor to keep his hurting, weakened body alive; to force himself to keep going no matter what, to fight through the pain and the doubt by sheer force of will.

But maybe Hordak can.

And so there it is. Hordak had plenty of time to gain and explore his individuality while separated from Prime, but I think the reason he did it so effectively (while still deluding himself that Prime would forgive him for these little sins, if only Hordak could prove his value) is because he had to.

Wrong Hordak gained his individuality surrounded by kind, quirky people who took care of him; Hordak was ripped from the hivemind by Prime himself and had to fight for his survival against all odds. And that produced a dangerous and damaging foe for Etheria. But it also produced the one clone with the strength of will to defy Prime himself.

This is long and rambling, but ultimately my point is that 1) I love Hordak, and 2) I love love love love that the show was so clever about his characterization. We learn so much about him and how much progress he's already made in breaking from his psycho abusive cult upbringing, and we don't even recognize it until the show wants us to. Hordak had come so far, all on his own, before he met Entrapta. She just helped push him over the edge and finally realize (at least consciously) that Prime's worldview might not be the correct one.

Idk, I just don't know if I've ever seen all the trappings of Basic 80's Villain(TM) so successfully subverted, where looking back 4 seasons later is actually a smack in the face with the "effective character building" stick. Amazing.

[mockerycrow]

Talk About Sensitivity In The COD Fandom **Important.**

THIS IS NOT A DEBATE POST. DO NOT BOTHER.

Hey, everyone. After the reveal of Makarov in the trailer (as well as general concern), I think a chat about sensitivity is important. Since the trailer’s release, I have seen a major increase in simping for Makarov posts as well as genuine romanticization of Russia and/or Russian Soldiers. First, I want to talk about the romanticization of Russia and/or Russian soldiers because it’s seriously getting out of hand. I need you guys to realize that Russia is an ultranationalist country and yes, maybe not everyone who lives there believes what their government does, but it’s important to know a big portion of their population does. I have seen multiple posts and edits of this man right here (pictures below).

THIS GUY IS NOT SOMEONE YOU SHOULD LIKE, AND PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE DOES NOT LIKE YOU. This is one of the most popular Russian Soldiers amongst the internet due to the way he wears a mask, gear, has an accent, and is buff. He makes videos teaching soldiers how to kill people—innocent people in Ukraine who are just trying to survive. I have seen people straight up ignore when someone tells them what this man has done, so let me put it this way—he does not like you. He wants you dead. He is racist, a homophobe, transphobe, antisemitic, etc. He absolutely hates The West, and he does not like you unless you are a cis, straight, white 100% Russian. Even if you’re a woman, he DOES NOT LIKE YOU. If you American, HE DOES NOT WANT YOU ALIVE.

[This part is not targeted; just a general statement.] Second; there is a serious problem with how you guys address Makarov as a character. There is absolutely no problem enjoying him as a villain because I do too, but you guys have to realize that Makarov is an ultranationalist—which is exactly what Russia is right now, an ultranationalist terrorist state. “But he’s fictional, it doesn’t matter! it’s not that deep!” It actually is that deep. I keep seeing content for Makarov and I can’t force anyone to stop making “fluffy fics”, but I need y’all to have some fucking decency towards victims and people affected by the war. I know people who are affected by the war who feel ill seeing posts painting Makarov in a good light. If you are going to write Makarov, do NOT romanticize him as a character—do NOT paint him a decent or good light, because you can’t. Write him like the bastard he is. And no, this isn’t a “let people write what they wanna write” situation. You can do that, but please be expected to be judged and blocked by me and many others. Makarov is quite literally the characterization of everything that is wrong with Russia, and what HAS been wrong with Russia. Makarov is not a bad boy, a rebel, etc, he’s a fucking terrorist. Please be for real. “But the military in general is bad, so why does it matter specifically around Makarov?” Please see above my previous reasons. Thanks.

The overall message of this point is to be fucking respectful. There are actual people dying and slaughtered for no reason other than ruined pride and a lot of Ukrainian folk seek comfort and distractions in the internet and their fandoms. This ruins it for them and quite frankly, sometimes how Makarov is being written? It’s completely insensitive. Anyway, below are a few links where you can directly support the efforts and the people of Ukraine. Peace and love, and please write with critical thinking.

[yannisdesk]

On Arcane & Antivillains

One thing I really enjoy about Arcane is how it handles antivillains.

For one, most of the characters (main ones) would actually fall into the category of antivillain at one point, or in the case of our two protagonists, become one. Arcane is arguably ripe with them.

An antivillain is essentially the opposite of an antihero. Simplified, antiheros do good things out of selfish or questionable motives, antivillains do things that are objectively bad or evil, but for noble reasons or for a greater cause. Another term for them is "sympathetic villain" however that term is too vague (there are villains out there who are sympathetic, but are none the less traditionally evil and therefore do not qualify as antivillains), and "antivillain" is a much better term mirror to "antihero." A common thread I've noticed among antivillain characters is some level of a Machiavellian approach to achieving their goals - the ends justify the means type of philosophy is something you'll always find characters that fit this category. At the very least, they dabble with it. In their eyes their actions are always justified because they're fighting for a good cause.

To put things into perspective, I'll use two examples. Harley Quinn shifts around, but she is frequently an antihero, take her depiction in both Suicide Squad movies. She does take down bad guys, however she's not doing so out of a sense of altruism, but to get a reduced prison sentence. Very cut-and-dry example of antiheroism.

On the flip side you have Magneto. Now from what I've seen (I've dabbled in the comics, but haven't dived in all the way) in the comics he gets very dark with the antihuman action. But in the Xmen movies, he definitely does some down right villainous stuff, but his intention remains the same - he wants mutants to live in a world free of bigotry and he's willing to do anything necessary to achieve that, including committing atrocities.

Now if this sounds very confusing to you and you swear you've heard these terms interchangeably or that you can think of several characters that are labeled as type A when they should be type B or vice versa, that's pretty normal. These aren't archetypical heroes and villains we're talking about, so it can be hard to categorize them, and honestly most characters in general will go back and forth or shift at one point or another, so all you need to know is that those definitions are the ones we're working with in this post.

Here are the characters from Arcane that I think suit this label, and others that I think will.

Disclaimer: this is not me hating on the characters. I love all of these characters for this layer to their character. This is not a "oh, look, this character is bad actually," post. If anything, consider it a celebration of their gray morality and how well its explored in the show.

Silco

Duh. Silco is objectively pretty evil. Setting up a drug empire that destroys your own people, getting in-cahoots with corrupt cops, killing kids, and aiding in destroying a young girl's mental health is multiple levels of foul. However, for him, all of this was part of an elaborate plan to liberate Zaun, which is being aggressively oppressed by Piltover. They were necessary sacrifices made to the cause, and worth it because it will bring forth better days for him and his people. Now obviously, a lot of his actions definitely have to do with his own ego, however the only time Zaun isn't prioritized is when it comes to Jinx, who is like a daughter to him, and even that realization comes to smack in the face late in his arc.

Sevika

I'd argue she's even more noble than most since she truly is rooted in the cause for Zaun. Not only is she willing to do some pretty bad things for the "greater-good", she's even willing to betray people who she views as unfit or incompetent. And what's even more telling is that she doesn't do this for power (which is arguably a part of Silco's prerogative). Sure, she's his #2, but he doesn't exactly show any favoritism. And Sevika seemingly isn't even trying to become the new leader of Zaun after Silco's death from the season 2 clips, but will support Jinx, despite the fact that she probably could dethrone her. She's no true blue hero, but she's not a megalomaniac either.

The Entire Council of Piltover (Minus Mel & Jayce)

As obnoxious as they are, none of them are mustache-twirling villains. As we see with characters like Sheriff Grayson (not a council member, but they share the same sentiment), they legitimately think they're protecting the city with their neglectful leadership and oppression of Zaunites. Yes, this includes Heimerdinger, who seemingly only started caring about Zaun once he was booted out of the council, so that places him firmly in antihero territory in my opinion.

Why did I exclude Mel and Jayce? Their plots are actually upward in terms of morality, especially Jayce who by the end is closer to being a traditional hero by prioritizing peace and progress over the status quo or war, and actively makes the first move of trying to right Piltover's wrongs. Mel's arc has also moved this direction as well, as she went from arguing that Jayce and Viktor should build Hextech weapons in case of war with the Zaunites, to fully embracing peace. You could argue that Mel wanting the weapons means she was at some point an antivillain, and I might agree, but as it stands, she's firmly in the clear.

So, why are the rest of the council still considered antivillains? Honestly, we just don't know much about their motivations to say. They ultimately did a good deed in voting for peace, but you know, one good deed doesn't wash-out the bad and vice versa. They're not even on thin ice for me, they're still fighting for the surface.

Marcus

Questioning your actions does not mean you can't be an antivillain, and Marcus is a good example of that. He's is kind of like Caitlyn if she were way less compassionate and very incompetent. Marcus does not think his actions are evil, according to show runners he only places Vi in Stillwater to protect her from Silco; he gets involved with Silco because he wants justice for the building explosion and it goes out of hand. That said, he also threw a child into a dangerous prison with no charges and with the intention of keeping her there for life, and worked with a kingpin who was actively antagonizing his own people while reaping benefits from an abusive system. So yeah, Marcus falls more into being an antivillain than full-blown villain, he's still firmly an antagonist though.

Ambessa

I know it's very popular in the fandom to call Ambessa a traditional bad-guy type of villain, but she is actually very nuanced. For one - she does not see her actions as evil, nor are her motivations behind doing them rooted in it. Ambessa, as she states in Mel's flashback, was raised in the Noxian way. Her grandfather literally made her search the dead bodies of the people they massacred when she was a youth, and she was indoctrinated to believe that this was in the best interest of her family and the Noxian people. By showing strength and ruthlessness, she's telling the rest of the world: "Stay away from House Medarda and Noxus." Hence, why Kino's death wrecks her, because she values herself over how effective she is at warding people off from messing with her family. Her main reason for getting involved with the war between Piltover and Zaun will 100% be because Mel's life was nearly lost due to Jinx's bomb, and this is coming straight off of her son's death mind you. So, while Ambessa may definitely be one of the most ruthless people on this list, she is not at Palpatine levels of evil yet, not by a long shot.

Jinx

You guys saw this coming, right? This barely needs an explanation. Jinx grew up in the Lanes, was a victim of Piltover's oppression multiple times throughout her youth, was willing to fight for their freedom as seen in episode 2, and in the end, that desire, along with her being adopted by Silco, manifested in her doing multiple acts of violence, including terrorism against Piltover, which frequently hurt people who weren't guilty of anything. (No, blowing up the building in episode 3 doesn't count as one of her evil deeds because it was an accident.) We understand completely why Jinx does what she does, even though it hurts to see her slip farther and farther into this mindset.

Vi

Way more subtle (for now) but I'd argue she's there come episodes 8 and 9. Hell, you could argue that her arc is about her sense of morality breaking down due to realizing how impossible the situation between Zaun and Piltover is, and embracing an "ends justifies the means" type mindset that Vander tried to sway her against back in episode 2. Wanting to stop a kingpin from using this new dangerous drug to destroy your city and sister? A noble cause, indeed. Not really caring that (or being passive over the fact that) children die in process because of their approximation to said bad guy? Yikes. [EDIT: Since we're on this topic: here's a link to where I explored this aspect of her character. I did this a while ago, but I thought it best to include it here too for added context). Now, I know what some of you are going to say - how is this any different from, say, Steve Rogers telling Wanda Maximoff that sometimes there's collateral damage when doing hero work? The difference is that Steve didn't argue that those people had it coming because they're associated with the bad guys/or in their way, which Vi does. That's some dangerous conviction right there, and we'll probably see that elaborated on in season 2 given that she's becoming an Enforcer which is a position that lends itself to abuse of power (and if it goes anyway like things do with her game counterpart, she will engage in police brutality and not see an issue with it, but given that Arcane's Vi is way more well, nuanced, than her game counterpart I don't think it will go on for long). While we're on the topic of Vi, according to her prison records, she had a notorious reputation while doing time to the point that I find it funny Silco didn't put 2-and-2 together that the girl with short pink hair beating the shit out of and attempting to murder all of his goons that went to Stillwater was possibly the same girl that wiped the floor with those same goons the night Vander died.

Potential Antivillains of Season 2:

These are characters that I predict will become antivillains at some point during season 2 based off of where their season 1 arc left and clues from season 2 teasers and clips. This is not me saying for sure this will happen, only a prediction. But if it does come true, I will gladly collect $5 per accurate plot point.

Viktor

Two words: glorious evolution.

We all love Viktor. We all love good-guy Viktor, and we will also more than likely love not-so-good-guy Viktor due to how complex that arc will be. If it will go anything like his game-lore (which I suspect it will) his noble intentions will never leave him, just simply evolve to include some less-than-heroic actions and justifications. He still wants to improve the undercity, and well, humanity overall, with hextech, motivated by the injustices he's been put through his own life and his illness, but he will go about it in some very unorthodox ways, and his arc in Arcane is about him confronting if he wants to "evolve" his morality for the sake of his ultimate goal, which is progress. Viktor would definitely agree with the sentiment expressed by Gloria Steinem (character depiction, not a real quote) in Mrs. America - "Revolutions are messy, people get left behind."

Caitlyn

I'm pretty sure she actually will become apart of the antivillain roster in season 2, but noting is for certain. Caitlyn is perhaps the saddest version of this there is, because we see where she starts out. She doesn't want to be like everyone else in her circle, she tries to break free and be better. She wants to do good by both Piltover and Zaun. She has hope, gentleness, and doesn't place herself above even those who occupy the lowest levels of Zaun. She puts herself, her status, and her life on the line to discover the truth, and comes out her time with Vi steadfast in wanting to help heal Zaun. She can be a little naive and ignorant, but she never does so with malicious or ill intent. She is the kindest person in Arcane.

But, given that her mother was killed in a terrorist attack set off by the new Head Zaunite in Charge, things will change. As we see, Caitlyn becomes a sheriff on the Enforcer squad, and now her goal is no longer to sow peace between Zaun and Piltover, it's to avenge her mother by assassinating Jinx. Of course, this will be due in part that Caitlyn thinks snuffing Jinx out will solve the problem, which will be ironic and hypocritical because she told Ekko that getting revenge on Silco won't solve anything in Zaun, but now that she's in the same predicament, the tables have turned and now diplomacy is off the table. She still has that hero-complex, as she lives by the lessons of Sheriff Grayson, but now it's with a twist. The idealistic Caitlyn who believed in giving peace a chance through reform is gone, and she now believes that there's little to no cost too great for her to achieve this, even if that (possibly - again season 2 hasn't come out yet, so we shall see) means hurting innocent Zaunites. And what's scary is that Caitlyn has the intelligence, dedication, talent, and efficiency to pull it off. Truthfully, I believe we won't just be getting Sheriff Caitlyn in season 2, but also Dictator Caitlyn.

[bridoesotherjunk]

Okay, so it's been a handful of days since I've seen Venom 3.. and I think I've finally got my thoughts together.

This review will have spoilers, so it will go under the cut.

these are all my opinions, so don't take my word as gospel or anything...

Anyone who knows me and my blog knows how much I've loved these movies since 2018, so to see me not ranting about the third Venom movie should be evidence enough how I feel.

I... don't feel like this was a satisfying conclusion to the Venom franchise. I really feel like there was so much more that could have been done, and should have been, instead of what we got.

I truly feel that introducing Knull into the story was a mistake. The first 2 films were so much smaller scale. Expanding all the way to the fucking symbiote god after only having done Carnage just felt like such a massive leap. And they really didn't do much with him anyway.

It felt like they included Knull because they were obligated to. Like Sony made them in order to have a weird spin off involving Knull trying to kill stuff. I don't know. He didn't do much besides tease future movies where he's the villain again. And that's kind of boring...

I will sound so narcissistic saying this, but I truly feel that the story I came up with, where the villains of Venom 3 are former Life Foundation employees angry at Eddie for ruining their lives, made way more sense. In terms of scale, you know? Much less "huge universal threat" and more of the small scale "threat to Eddie and Venom specifically" type story. Even Riot, being a threat to the Earth, was smaller scale than Knull. Knull is just too much. Too big. Too unfocused. It felt like too wide of a net. It felt generic, i hate to say it. It just felt like every other dumb ass gritty movie where the bad guy wants to destroy all life as we know it. (And quite frankly, he could have been taken out of the movie and not much would have changed. Venom and Eddie could have been hunted by the xenophages for any number of reasons.)

The part of the movie that I enjoyed most was the beginning. The part that felt like Venom. Where we saw Eddie and Venom working in sync to free those dogs. I loved that. I loved seeing how far the two of them have come and how well they work together. .. seeing their journey in a montage later? That felt... lackluster. After seeing them literally working together just an hour earlier in the movie, it felt kind of cheap. The way the story ended for these two didn't feel like a victory. It felt like the Avengers Endgame "well we gotta get rid of this character because their contract is up" situation.

The movie was definitely a fun time. I enjoyed myself watching it. But I was left feeling a sense of "That's it?" That I haven't felt since Avengers Endgame.

I'm happy that Tom Hardy got to do these movies. I absolutely will forever adore the first 2. They're fun, they're goofy, they're gay, and I love them. .. but this third one just... yeah. I'm disappointed.

I will always love Venom. That much is not going to change. I love these two gay losers and I'm so happy I got to have them in my life. They brought me so much joy, and so much brainrot, and I will miss the fuck out of them.

[arceus-insanity]

The more I think about it the more I feel shortening the Pro heroes side to the heroes is misleading and disingenuous. Even if it is more intuitive

As myself and many of my mutuals have pointed out, the pros are incredibly hypocritical, corrupt and just plain bad/failing at being heroes. But they are great at the PRO part. The vast majority of them (including the students) feel like they only care about the pro part in practice

The most blatant examples are Endeavor and Bakugou, but they are far from the only ones

If Endeavor was focused on being a hero and not a pro he wouldn't have only cared about getting the number one spot, his focus would actually be on being the best hero he can be. Instead, we have the whole Todofamily shitshow of him buying his wife like livestock, making her pop out kids until he had his perfect quirk baby, neglecting his non-instant perfect quirk kids, and abusing all of them when he isn't neglecting them. He wouldn't be so eager to kill both villains and vigilantes (seen in the Vigilantes series, the nomu attack, and the high-end nomu fight) as well as being more mindful of how much property damage he causes. (I already have so many posts on this bastard, so I'll end this here)

Bakugou's goal in the whole series is to be the number one hero, not a good hero. As I have said with Endeavor many times before, it's not his behaviour that has truly changed, it's people's reactions to them (and it was already shit). He genuinely tried to kill Midoriya for getting into UA in the battle trials, and instead of being rightfully expelled, Midoriya after school, so not in the heat of the moment, tells him part of the One for All secret. He calls the Bakusquad, his supposed friends, demeaning names, same as everyone else. Everyone focuses on how he tells Midoriya to kill himself in the first episode, but later that same day he tells his 'friends' off for suggesting they go to a bar because if he gets caught he can't get into UA. So he had no problem telling someone to kill himself when there wasn't an obvious risk of it affecting him, but a bar where he could get caught suddenly cares. His first proposal for a hero name, and his full official hero name both contain the word Murder. He is violent, at best shouting, every time even the slightest thing doesn't go his way. Aizawa himself states (a guy who constantly praises him) says that the reason he won't join the villains is because he sees the heroes as the winners (chapter 86, and he reaffirms the goal of top hero for me as well)

We see Best Jeanist call outing Endeavor's abuse as airing dirty laundry, Hawks murdering Twice & calling for Toga Himiko's death as well, Gran Torino telling All Might & Deku to get rid of Shigaraki, Burnin outright saying she doesn't care if her boss is an abuser, cause he's good at his JOB. None of the pros who learn Lady Nagant was an assassin for the commission, care. Deku doesn't care when he sees two armed men attacking a woman for being visibly different, and that she had been denied entry from multiple shelters for that same reason, because oh, UA is an exception, so everything's ok, doesn't even help her get to the school, nor does All Might. Both Deku and Tentacole's arguments against villains are basically 'I suffered silently, and now I'm in the #1 Hero school! I'm going to inspire everyone to be nicer, just by being a (generic) hero (who will never rock the boat). So if you can't do that you're worse than your abusers and deserve it!'

I think Uraraka is the only one who is focusing at all at being a good hero, and not a pro, and she doesn't know how to fix any of this.

What the PRO heroes are is a combination of cops and influencers, who have all the corruption and toxicity of both

[thanatika]

thinking about how measly and thrush are afraid of daniil and artemy, and frame them as evil bad guys, because they're afraid of doctors. little kids are classically afraid of doctors in general, because they associate them with uncomfortable medical procedures, like vaccines and blood draws. but these two also just lost their grandfather, and it's likely that the last they saw of their granddad was him being attended to by a physician, who ultimately failed to preserve his life. it's only natural that two little kids would make a negative mental association from that.

the story in general, on the meta level of it all being a children's game, is about these two working through their fear of death by playing a morbid game after a funeral. but by portraying the two doctors as somewhat villainous figures, they're also attempting to cope with and assert control over the role of "the doctor" in their life — a figure that is ostensibly benevolent, but nevertheless holds total control, in their minds, over whether their sick loved ones live or die.

and beyond just portraying them as villains, they're also mocking them! daniil isn't just scary, he's "the scary clown", and characters in the game call him a laughingstock. artemy isn't just a violent ripper, he's also ugly — his face is "all bruised and messed up", as measly tells him, which is seen in the many comments made about artemy's ugliness throughout the game, mostly from children. portraying them as villains allows the children to express their fear and discomfort around this societal role; portraying them as these mockable figures allows them to assert power over it by bringing them down a peg — in the same way that a game where the goal is to stop an unstoppable plague is helping to ease their anxieties around death.

[delaware-lemme-smash]

Can you make a headcanon of Bakugo having a crush on a cool chill female senpai in the senior class? And possibly a super sweet love confession on her graduation day?

Aww, this is so cute! I hope you enjoy. ❤️✨

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki/DynaMight

Contents: f!reader, general fluff

Bakugou Katsuki/DynaMight

What do you mean? Bakugou is far too cool and tough to have something as pathetic as a crush. Him? Interested in some older girl who'll just look down at her nose at him? Yeah, right.

That's what Bakugou is telling himself the entire time he's scrolling through the UA Student Directory to find out the name of the cool-looking chick who stopped him on the way to the cafeteria to hand him a soda, telling him it was his cut of her winnings on a bet she placed on his second year Sports Festival finale match.

"I bet on you to win, of course. And you didn't get yourself muzzled this time. That's progress, dude. Keep winning for me, huh?"

"Wha—? Hah!? I didn't win for you!" he blusters, scarlet at the unexpected interaction.

Too late. You were already gone, waving casually as you headed off to wherever the hell you were going. Worse still, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero were all standing around, grinning at him like idiots.

Kaminari bats his eyelashes. "Keep winning for me too, Kacchan—" he exclaims in a breathy voice, before Bakugou shoves him in a supply closet and jams the door shut.

Bakugou keeps the soda, but doesn't drink it. It sits on his desk next to his laptop, so he can glare at it while he tries to find out who the hell you are. He's scrolling, scrolling past an infinite sea of faces until her face—your face—jumps out at him. He clicks to bring up your profile and scowls at your enlarged photo. You're a third year, technically his senpai.

"Tch. Old hag."

There's nothing haglike about your behaviour, though. You greet him casually in the hallways, sometimes mentioning if you've seen him on TV or heard about him causing more chaos, which seems to amuse you more than anything else.

"Did you really call that reporter a 'douche' live on air? He was kind of a jackass, huh? Thinking he was some hard-hitting journalist on what was meant to be a puff piece."

Bakugou's replies are usually surly and monosyllabic, but he does start to give you a "Yeah. Whatever. Bye." when you walk away. He waits until your back is turned to watch you go. He still hasn't opened the soda.

His friends rib him about his senpai girlfriend, ignoring his murderous glares and vehement denials. Eventually, he just tells them to shut the hell up and stops bothering to correct them.

He's looking for you in the halls after his latest villain takedown got caught on camera, and it pisses him off that he's seeking you out. He doesn't need your approval.

(Yes, he does.)

A knot of tension loosens between his shoulders when he hears your voice behind him. "Yo, DynaMight. Still giving out the bad guy beatdowns, I see."

"As if you should expect any less, idiot."

Despite how good he is at Pro Hero work, Bakugou isn't used to having a fan—he doesn't count that damn nerd—but it adds a weight to everything he does, when he thinks you might be watching.

Things come to a head the day you graduate from UA High School. Normally younger students wouldn't be at the ceremony, just the graduating class, but you spot a head of spiky blond hair loitering at the back.

Bakugou scowls at you when you approach, but you ignore that. His face is just kind of arranged that way. He thrusts something at you—a very familiar looking can of soda, now somewhat dented.

"Warm soda. My fave."

"Tch. Shut up." Bakugou points a finger at you. "You might be graduating, old lady, but don't you dare start looking down on me. I'm gonna win the Sports Festival again in third year, and then I'm gonna become the Number One Hero when I graduate. You better be watching."

You grin at him. "Oh, I will be."

There's a pause. He glares at you expectantly.

"Sooo..." you say. "You want my number or what?"

Bakugou immediately shoves his phone at you—his case is orange and red with a grenade pop socket—avoiding your gaze. "Whatever."

[brainwashedsmogbreathingprincess]

I have mixed feelings about Absolute batman. So far it's been my least favourite absolute story, which is sad because there are so many interesting decisions made within the universe but I can't find myself caring about any of them because the storyline just feels shit. Someone said that its a fun read because of the ridiculousness of the character in general, so that's the mindset I tried to read this new issue with. It kinda helped.

I like that this Bruce grew up with his rogues and also it answers the question if Bruce had friends/well rounded support system would he be better adjusted. The answer is no. Also "Selina would think it's hot," I like that they're them even here and them is freaky little weirdos

The fist (foot) of justice is gender and age blind. I don't know what that little fucker is, whether they're an actual child or even human. Does Bruce? Maybe, I doubt it though. This guy is just fucking devious look at that smile. Whats wrong with him, also has he seen the size of himself I don't care about the life jacket a child is not surviving that kick LOOK AT THE POWER AND DISTANCE JESUS

I don't know alot about year 1 Batman, I hear that there was less restraint and heavier violence and this is a different universe as well but I'm pretty sure he still has a no kill rule. And that's a bowling ball. To the head. Bruce

BRUCE! (How'd he move the direction the ears are pointing though, a win for the "they're like dog ears" community)

But what I did enjoy going in was getting to see a different Batman going against Black Mask of all people as his big bad. I mean he has a lot of villains and they always get ignored in elseworld stories for that other guy so I'm glad that he's not here cause I tell you, I could not read another story about the j-

Motherfucker.

[starlightwoofwoof]

🐞💜✨ Random DW x MLB AU Fun Facts, Featuring Random Doodles!!! YIPPEE [Part 1?? I think I’m gonna make this a series lol why not] ✨💜🐞

okay where do I start uhhhhhh let’s start with some fruitcake why not

🍓💖✨ Sprout, Cosmo, Dessert Despair and The Vine Guardian ✨💖🍓

I have now decided that Dessert and Guardian’s ship name is Protectivedessert :]

I feel like if they met, Dessert and Guardian would just hug each other for hours on end

Not sure which one of them is taller, but they might be the same height, idk-

If they are, Guardian is sulking and going limp in Dessert’s arms because he’s just that happy to see him 💖✨

I do feel like Guardian would trap Dessert and take care of him too much lol

I’m not sure about the specifics of Sprout’s akumatization, but I like to think it was because either he thought something bad happened to Cosmo and he got hurt or something bad did happen to Cosmo. Either way, it made Sprout feel terrible for not being able to help him

🦋💜✨ Allureium and Akumatization in general ✨💜🦋

about time I talked more about the main villain and his funky little powers!!

The way Allureium manipulates the toons changes between who he’s talking to. If the victim is more likely to give in and accept his deal, he’s nicer to them and tries to convince them that he’s trying to help them. (Goob, Toodles, etc.) However, if they’re not willing to succumb so easily, Allureium will just straight up bully them into accepting 💀 (Rodger, Sprout and even Glisten, as seen in my comic about his akumatization-)

Not sure what you would call the dark transformation stuff that releases out of the possessed item after the victim accepts, but the miraculous wiki refers to it as ‘ether’ (I personally like to call it transformation goop lol)

btw if you didn’t know, to free the akuma victims, you have to break their possessed item. The victims usually don’t remember what happened during their time as a villain

Akumas can basically change your whole brain chemistry, like, a toon can go from being friends with someone to completely despising them

This doesn’t happen in the show, but I like to think that the akuma victims show different side effects, as shown in the AU introduction- (headaches and aches in general, nausea, passing out for hours or even DAYS after their defeat depending on how powerful they were, etc.)

The toons react differently to their possessions afterwards, obviously- mainly depending on how aggressive their villain side is (some of them just accept that it happened and moved on, some of them feel guilty after but feel better eventually, some of them have genuine trauma from it …… *cough* G L I S T E N *cough*, etc.)

… omg what if the transformation goop is ichor in this AU AND ALL THEIR AKUMA FORMS ARE THE TWISTEDS OH MY GO- (sorry getting ahead of myself lol, still gotta figure out the cartoon)

🖤❤️✨ Drama King and Dazzle ✨❤️🖤

figured I’d give these guys their own section because you guys seemed to really like them last time :3

Drama King has complete control over both of their legs, but Dazzle still has control over their right arm

Drama hates having to share his “rise to fame” with Dazzle (it’s like with what I said about the whole changing thing- Razzle would normally love his brother dearly, but as Drama, he doesn’t anymore)

I feel like despite Drama being giggly and laughing all the time, he has some big anger issues. Especially when Dazzle is “nagging” to him about how he shouldn’t do what he’s doing, and how much he misses Razzle. The true Razzle

Someone reblogged with an idea of how Razzle got corrupted because of multiple cancellations and rejections to just be apart of backstage work, and I love the idea- cause y’know, it makes sense (and it’s angsty lol)

Dazzle tried to make Razzle feel better about the whole situation they were in, but I feel like Dazzle wouldn’t be … great at comforting people-

🍭🌈✨ Extra Fun Facts ✨🌈🍭

extra fun facts I couldn’t really fit into a whole category lol (it’s mostly about Basserker and Hatred lol)

I feel like Basserker and Hatred’s ship name would either be Sharkbite or Sharkattack or something like that :3

Basserker has a great sense of smell, but his nose is very sensitive, booping it would probably make him jolt, even if he’s expecting it

Hatred’s arms are longer than they should be

I feel like Shrimpo didn’t accept Allureium’s deal for him (“I HATE BEING AKUMATIZED”) …… until Allureium promised violence-

I feel like I should mention Dandy, since he isn’t the main character anymore- Shelly replaced him for the main protagonist role in this AU lol

Dandy runs a little supermarket with help from Pebble, of course :]

okie I think that’s all I can think of for now!! 💙✨

[saltedsour]

Why the lens of NPD makes Blixer the funniest possible character.

NPD standing for, obviously, Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Lets get a few things out of the way. Mainly that I do not aim for this to be a demonising lens. Moreso a "hey if i was in this circle's situation id do the same". Villains being vain, narcissistic abusers is a very, very common trend, even in media that claims it is more progressive than it actually is. This isn't being written to show why Blixer is evil, but how he does everything.

Secondly. A crown on a narcissist is usually just an easy sign to go "this guy's a narcissist". Most clipart you see for "surviving narcissists" has one guy looking into the mirror, and the mirror self having a crown and being cool and evil and whatever. This sucks for obvious reasons (its a disorder. normal people have disorders, not evil kings?), but it is also a REALLY GOOD symbol to 'reclaim'. I personally love it.

Why is this circle so fucking angry?

A pretty frequent feature in the NPD package is when anything that feels like an attack on you is one. It's not an accident, that person was trying to sabotage you. In a JS&B lens, this helps explain two key moments.

Why Blixer didn't really enjoy the player at the start of the game (exploded, plus the lost chapter stuff). If you've been in a cave for one morbillion years or whatever, and someone just Dodges All Your Attacks and then walks away when you explode, it'd be pretty infuriating. Also why this guy beat up an innocent bystander. Fly high, flower.

Annihilate. This is actually the biggest one for me. Your whole little evil pink kingdom just got fucking destroyed, and then the person who did so takes a representation of your ego and just goes "hey this is mine now :-)". When NPD makes you maladaptively regulate self esteem AND you just got insulted (in your eyes) in every way possible, you might get a little upset. You might become a blood centipede monster. I would too.

He doesn't do that much bad stuff directly.

Most of the issues ingame seemingly happen from the giant industry + tower he spawned and the corruption in general. Other than beating the shit out of a guy (we don't care about them) in the opening cutscene, he really doesn't do all that much in person until the player appears.

Why? What is he doing? We all know this. He is playing guitar on top of the tower for most of the game. This is someone who finally got the ego boost / supply he needed and then had fun with his own hobbies. From the lens of "guy who feels like he needs to literally rule the world to be seen and understood."

But he still did all that shit.

He still corrupted the world though. Which was probably a bad thing. However. If all your AUs are going to make it so he originally felt isolation over the corruption, then I raise you this:

Being an absolute nobody is the worst feeling in the world.

And as soon as he took over the world and basically forced everyone to call him his king, then and only then did he just start having fun and #playing. A possible way to frame this is him being too stupid to effectively rule over the world, but I don't think thats fun.

If his main goal was to make it so he was the centre of attention AND that everyone was like him (pink (which is called bad in a fucking In-Game Tip)) then he would've basically won already in his own head by the time the game fully starts. And he can finally do regular people - shape - things. He did all that stuff, but clearly this geometric circle didn't really have any other option considering he got so pissed off he made the world evil and that's hard to come back from.

Also it's important to mention that during the moment where he actually kind of Takes Over The World he's definitely not thinking rationally after eating the tree of life.

I think he took the world takeover thing too seriously.

Or maybe not seriously enough. Depends on how you look at it.

This is me mostly making fun of this circle but can you imagine getting all this power, and the first thing you do is take over the world. That's normal. The second thing you do is make yourself a crown. Okay. The third thing you do is absolutely nothing else. He seems more focused on the image of a ruler than anything.

If everything went right, he would have even had a sign showing he was the actual final boss. Which becomes a funny meta example where that level isn't even the actual final boss and instead he (it's his tower's sign, after all) put all that work towards the image of a final boss rather than actually being one. Although this doesn't hold much weight when we consider that he became a cannon just to kill us, I think he tried pretty hard.

Why not just fix what you've done, Blixer?

Admitting you're wrong and also getting rid of the only thing keeping your ego afloat isn't easy. In fact, it's genuinely painful. If he managed to actually calm down after basically eating the energy equivalent of a hydrogen bomb, then it'd kind of be almost impossible to look at all you did and say "damn, I was wrong".

It's easier to actually know you did something wrong when the consequences hit you and you can't do anything else but accept what you did. Postgame fans write that down.

Him learning and growing to be a better person would be awesome if it's also from the lens of NPD.

If fucking Kuzco (of Disney fame) could do it he could too. NPD is a disorder and thus has disordering traits, but I do think working with this for the character kind of helps when it comes to improving it in postgame stories. He starts off with basically NO ways to work with what are life-shatteringly important needs, and does maladaptive things in order to help.

Anger? Lashing out at people that Slighted him. Being a vain little prick? Trying to keep himself on a pedestal before it crumbles underneath him. Turning yourself into a blood centipede nightmare monster? A reasonable* reaction in his perspective.

You can learn to care about people's thoughts even if you started off. Um. Taking over the world.

There's a lot more to NPD than being an evil person and abuser. Starting off with no empathy doesn't really mean a death sentence. You can have him learn helping others is Good Actually but still slip up. Imagine a beautiful world with a postgame Blixer who has friends now and still has NPD. Imagine. If he's still pink and "corrupted" while being good, you can understand a world where he can be narcissistic and still be good.

I can take you to that world 🕊️ 🌾 🌹 ☀️...

Finally: NPD is a comedic disorder

It's true. Sometimes the world feels like it breaks apart because you are being Unloved and potentially hated. Not EVERYONE likes you, and that makes the world feel like it's being torn apart at the seams. You go from feeling at the top of the world to feeling like shit.

And then as soon as you're back up and running you look back at that and go "hmm. maybe not as serious as i thought".

You can do so much with this. There's more to NPD than what the masses know. "guy who literally did all this to be cool to himself" is just an insanely funny concept to me. He could've just been at the club.

NPD isn't always about physical vanity unlike what clipart tells you. It's about Pretty Unsafe levels of self esteem (from high highs to low crashes), and him fitting the bill makes him feel like a more interesting character to me.

[radioactive-mouse]

chewing and growling and throwing up. thinking abt how monoma is So Jealous of midoriya bc he seems to have hitoshi’s attention LOCKED on him at all times and neito does not Understand because midoriya’s not Like Them, what the fuck, and like. ugh. UGH.

the way neito tries to connect with hitoshi initially is yes, about having a non combative quirk, but more than that it’s about how in order to stay in the ring with heroes and villains who are always going to have more raw power than them they have to be willing to fight dirty, and to be a hero sometimes they can’t always afford to act like one;

but also hitoshi. doesn’t fucking believe that ???? don’t get me wrong he knows he’s not going to win a Fair Fight with someone who can set him on fire with their mind or some shit and he IS willing to throw sand in a motherfuckers eyes to make that a fight he can win but. he is also a guy with an Extremely strong moral compass and stubborn dedication to the things he believes, and literally all he’s seen from neito up until this point is his vitriolic hatred towards class A and him generally being a jackass (apart from when he’s being like ✨oh shinsou you’re so cool im so glad we get to fight together let’s destroy these class A assholes together ok? :)✨ but also hitoshi doesn’t know how to deal with That either) and so hitoshi is like ? i’m not fucking like you at all? hello?

contrast this with how izuku talks about hitoshi before/after their match

(i’m struggling to find other screenshots bc i can’t fully pull up the manga rn but TRUST ME) a lot more of izuku’s praise and connection to hitoshi does lies with the fact that hitoshi is a very determined and dedicated person who IS a hero all the way down to his core, because izuku is ALSO obsessed with this mf. and i think that tether between them resonates with him a lot more than the way neito tried to reach out to him, because as much as hitoshi DOES still have a level of deep insecurity about being seen as evil or villainous, i think he sees acceptance of the shit that neito is spouting as giving in to that notion of like. well maybe i’m always going to be kind of a bad person but i’m doing good where i can. and that is Not what he wants. yknow what i mean.

neito and hitoshi were both already predisposed to starting “behind” their classmates due to their quirks, and are both desperately trying to prove (to themselves and to everyone else) that they can do this, that they deserve to be here, but the DIFFERENCE is that what hitoshi wants is to prove that he can be good and that people are wrong about him, neito wants to prove that he’s important. that he’s worth something, and worth something more than what he takes on from other people. and i think he’s made the mistake of assuming their motivations are identical when they simply Are Not.

anyway. naturally neito copes with this disconnect EXTREMELY WELL