#i don't want to steal my brother's inheritance

[eimearkuopio]

I think every finite life has wheat and chaff. The moments that must happen for us to become our truest selves, the observations around which the spline is fitted in this specific iteration that defines the underlying truth in a close enough approximation that we can identify the infinite self (but I believe every butterfly was once many, many caterpillars, and dying in a cocoon only means being born a cocoon the next time around).

Maybe we have more people with disabilities for a few reasons. Maybe because we have already built a better world than the one we inherited, generation after generation after generation. Mine is the first generation to have it worse than their parents in so many ways; to have too much circus and not enough bread. Maybe our parents' generation doesn't understand that if they cling to the reins because they fear the children they raised won't care for them, or will care as little as they cared for their own parents, they are doing us and themselves a disservice.

My Nana and I are very alike. I have already identified and sought and received treatment for ailments she suffered from her whole life, and she was brainwashed into believing that her suffering was the price of her reward in the next life. She applied that principle to everyone she knew and loved. As long as she thought she was suffering the most, she didn't care how much she hurt other people, and she didn't want to understand better or do better. The treatments I need for my physical limitations may shorten my lifespan; but they also nearly made me kill myself at 28, and I suffered (AND CAUSED OTHERS TO SUFFER IN SPITE OF MY BEST EFFORTS) my entire life until maybe a month ago. I don't know if I am cured, but I know that I finally have a treatment that works for me. I think it will work for some of you.

Do no harm, but take no shit. I had to be wounded and to heal so that I could learn what was truly intolerable. Nana couldn't tolerate things either, but she never resolved the contradictions. She just came up with her iterations of the solutions.

My mother's younger sister died this summer. I didn't know her as well as some of my other relatives. We bonded a lot last summer. She wasn't part of the Church as it currently stands, and that is a tragedy, because she was the greatest livestock guardian sheepdog I have ever known. More feral than me, but that's because I have Nana's blood to temper Grandma's. Sometimes when you cross two breeds, you get the best of both worlds. Sometimes when you breed two species, you can get offspring, but it's sterile. I don't want to live in a zoo. I want to be free. I know that I will always be apart from the world, but I still want to be in it. I want to live before I die, and I want the same thing for all of you, and I think He did, too. I think that's why He sacrificed Himself.

Put down your cross. Please. He didn't want you to be crucified. That's why He let you crucify Him: so you could finally learn how to stop fighting each other. I don't think He expected you to take this long to really get the message, but it's not too late. He is a patient God.

[hood-ex]

Tim catching strays when you could leave it at Jason stealing from Dick.. Don’t get mad don’t want to get in a fight but you have to admit Tim never stole any thing when robin was inherited with Dick’s blessing. if you ask the average comic reader the Robin they grew up with, it’s Tim. When the people see robin panties it’s Dick or Jason. Tim was thee pants robin. THEE bo staff wielder.

Tim doesn’t steal, he inherits. If there was a successor to nightwing we both know it would be Tim that inherits it with Dick’s full blessing. He would put respect on the name same he did for robin and Dick would always be proud. That isn’t stealing.

I fw your Dick takes but the stan arguments need to go except when Jason is involved mad agree. They’re brothers, they share mantles and costumes and traits. They add something to robin in their own runs, but stealing isn’t part of it.

Oh I didn't say Tim stole from Dick. I said that Tim and Jason stans think Dick stole from Tim and Jason. Tis a difference aslkdja. It's not my beef, it's the Tim and Jason stans who have beef. If that makes sense. The only way I'll have beef is if a Tim or Jason stan specifically says, "This is only a Tim or Jason thing," when Dick clearly displays the attributes as well or displayed them before Jason and Tim were even created. Taking things away from Dick to only give them to Tim and Jason is what I don't like.

[thetombedspirit]

Jurassic World: Camp Fam - Next Generation

I was board, so I made a next gen for the Nublar Six, based on my personal headcanons and ships so if you don't like Benrius and Kenlynn, then please don't come at me. This is all just in good fun.

Enjoy!

Emily Bowman (Benrius)

Emily was nine-years old when her parents were unfortunately killed in a freak dinosaur attack, leaving her orphaned. Darius and Ben responded to the call and took her into their care. She stayed with them for a little while whilst Social Services began sorting out her situation, wherein during that time, Emily gotten to get to know Darius and Ben and what they do; how they locate dinosaurs, care for them, and ship them off to private island habitats funded by Dr Mae Turner and Mantah Corp, now under Kenji’s full jurisdiction. She even began to conquer her fear after making friends with a Maiasaura she named Ursa.

She was eventually put into a foster home, but the conditions were poor, so she decided to run away and return to the Sanctuary, via stealing the mum’s credit card to book a plane ticket.

Darius and Ben were shocked to see Emily and horrified to hear about the living conditions. After sending her to bed, they had a long talk about how they had once talked about adopting and raising a family, agreeing they both adored Emily and didn’t want her to go. So they gave Emily the good news the next morning that they would adopt her into the family and she said yes.

Fun Fact: Ursa the Maiasaura is a direct nod to concept dinosaurs that would eventually become Bumpy, as Maiasaura was one of the many plausible candidates.

2. Julia and Xavier Kon (Kenlynn)

Despite their ups and downs, concerning Brooklynn’s line of work and Kenji's inheritance of Manta Corp, Brooklynn tries extra hard to live in the moment and not take her time with her family and friends for granted and Kenji works hard to ensure that the Kon family name is redeemed through his work. Regardless of their hardships, they work well together and support each other through their struggles.

Julia Kon is the more extraverted of the duo. She takes after her father, enjoys skating, archery and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, preferring physical activities to staying coped up indoors all day. Her brother Xavier is more closed off then his sister. Younger by two years, he prefers technology and hacking to climbing and being outdoors.

Despite their differences, two things they have in common is their love for their family and their association with dinosaurs. Namely the herd of Parasaurolophus living by their father’s climbing camp. Every month, Kenji would take the family camping at the cliffs and the kids would play with the baby Parasaurolophuses. One in particular took a real shine to the children; Brooklynn affectionately named her Nightlight, due to how Xavier would snuggle her tightly due to his fear of the dark when they went camping.

Fun Fact: Julia and Xavier are named after Brooklynn and Kenji's original concepts for Camp Cretaceous, Jules and Xi respectively. Also, Kenji and Ben used to have different roles, with Ben being the strong, athletic character while Kenji (at this point in time, Xi) was the shy, nerdy type. They since swapped roles, with Ben becoming the shy one and Xi taking the role of the rich kid and was renamed Kenji.

3. Katie Gutierrez-Fadoula (Yasammy)

When Sammy and Yaz got married and talked about starting a family, they realized there were some complications: Sammy's encounter with the Scorpios Rex damaged her reproductive organs and left her unable to carry a child to term, and Yaz was uncomfortable with the idea of ordering a doner. So in the end, they agreed to adopt.

Katie loves her moms and her life at the ranch. She enjoys spending time with Angel and Rebel, who they were able to rescue and keep on the ranch (best cattle dogs Sammy ever had), tending to the cows, chickens and the stray Pachycephalosaurus that had been hanging around the ranch lately, who she has named Bonehead. She came out to her mums as trans when she was 13 and they wholeheartedly support her through her transition.

Fun Fact: Katie is a sorta merge of Sammy and Yaz's concepts. Sammy was originally meant to be male and Yaz's name was originally Katie.

Anyway, those are my versions of the next generation of Camp Fam. I hope you like them and again, this is just all in good fun; I'm not trying to start any shipping wars.

Take care peoples.

[otdiaftg]

The King's Men - Chapter Twelve

Day: Friday, March 8th / 9th* Time: 10:30 PM EST

"Hello?" "Hello, Junior. Do you remember me?" Neil's heart lurches to a sick halt. It isn't his father or Riko, but he would know this voice anywhere. It is Lola Malcolm, one of his father's closest people and one of the two who'd tried teaching Neil how to wield a knife so many years ago. She'd been in and out of their house so many times Neil had thought for a while she lived there with them. She poses as Nathan's personal assistant, but her job is to get rid of the bodies Nathan's circle create. She is worth her weight in gold. Not a single one has ever turned up again. Neil tilts the phone away from his ear and takes a long, slow breath. It doesn't help. His lungs are full of shards of ice, chilling him to the bone and cutting him up from the inside out. It is an age before Neil finds his voice again and he can't keep a thick edge from it. "I didn't give you this number, Lola." "So you do remember me," she says. "Now you see, that's bad, because if you remember me, you remember who you are and where your place is." "I made my own place." "You don't have that right." She gives him a beat to respond, but Neil has nothing. "Are you listening? It is time to go. If you make this difficult for us, you will regret it for the rest of your very short life. Do you understand?" Neil wants to be sick. Lola trashed bodies; she didn't often make them. That was what the rest of Nathan's people were for. Neil remembered faces better than he remembered names, but he can guess who Lola has brought with her. Lola's business partner of choice is her brother Romero, and where Romero goes Jackson is never far behind. The three are Nathan's inner circle. They answer only to Nathan's right-hand man DiMaccio and Nathan himself. Neil could have tried outrunning one of them. He won't make it past three. For a moment he is so scared he can't breathe, but fast on the heels of fright is an irrational and wild anger. He is halfway to winning Andrew's trust, a weekend from his first vacation, and one month from semifinals. There are only four matches left in championships. Neil is so close to everything he wants and Lola is here to steal it away. "Put a hand on me and you'll regret it," Neil says. "Oh, what's this?" Lola says, entertained. "Has the baby finally inherited a spine? Your father will be glad to hear it." "My—" Neil chokes on it. "He is in Seattle. You'll never get me that far." "He is in Baltimore," she corrects him. "His parole hearing was on your birthday. They had to notify his family when his case came up. You must have missed the memo, being dead and all, so I'll fill you in. They made a final decision last week, and the feds swung it so he'd get released back to Maryland this morning. They're hoping being back in familiar territory will make him careless." Neil can hear the savage smile in her words. "Don't worry, kid. They'll never know you stopped by. I'll make sure of it." Neil blinks and see's that zero on his eyelids. He is out of time. For a moment Neil feels the weight of Andrew's mouth against his. He digs his fingers into his lower lip and tries to breathe around them.

Art used with permission by Aymmidumps. Thank you @aymmidumps!

*Due to the Leap Year, I have opted to highlight the day rather than the date to keep the events in occurrence to the 2007 year. I will continue to mark both days accordingly.

[theeggoman]

Being "Too White" Is A Myth.

Sometimes I worry that I'm just a white person pretending to be Latino (because when you're mixed race you're always thinking that you're not enough) but then I remember how every single person in my foster home including the adults referred to me as a "Wetback" or a "Beaner" or a "Fat Mexican" or an "Alien" instead of simply calling me by my white sounding first name because to white people, you will never be enough. It doesn't matter how much or how little white blood you have, in America if you're mixed with a single drop of anything that isn't white, you're not and will never be white.

I wasn't white when I was being tackled and forced down naked on the floor by the police at 12, I wasn't white when I was put in ESL at 8 even though english is my first language, I wasn't white when Christian religious leaders were explaining how I was cursed with the Mark of Cain to have a "skin of blackness" and being Latino made me inherently evil, I wasn't white when I was being sexually assaulted at 5 because I was "naturally promiscuous" and "born looking older" and "asking for it," I wasn't white when I was tackled by boarder patrol in south Texas and detained over night in a holding facility until my grandparents could come get me out, I wasn't white when my friend's mom took me bra shopping and insisted she had to be in the dressing room while I changed to make sure I didn't steal anything, I wasn't white when the doctor wrote my fucking race on my birth certificate while I was being pushed out of my Mexican mother who had to spend hours dealing with the racist medical staff who refused to let my white father into the delivery room because they didn't believe I was his child.

And now I get on tik tok and see people accusing mixed race children of being "white washed." They say we don't experience racism because we're "white passing." They tell us we're grasping for straws and we're stealing from our own fucking culture. They say we're "spicy white," that our blood is diluted, that we're not real.

Are we not real in the same way that our country did not legally recognize our white parents until the 1960's? Are we not real in the same way that we were legally declared bastards who couldn't inherit our own father's last name, his property, his money, our childhood homes? Not real in the way we weren't permitted to attend our white parent's funerals by their white family members? Not real in the way we weren't issued fucking social security cards? Were we not real when our parents couldn't "really" legally get married? Were we not real when our POC parent was shot dead for daring to fall in love with a white person? Were we not real when were named after our POC grandmothers? Were we not real when our White grandmothers cried at our birth and asked why we had to come out "so dark?"

Am I not real when I light the candles on my Ofrenda on November 1st and 2nd, when I bring fresh carnations and Pan Dulce for my brother because he was too young to have a favorite candy for me to put at his grave? Am I not real when I spend 6 hours slow cooking bone broth for Birria after removing all the seeds from the Guajillo chilis so my white friends don't die? Am I not real when I translate for a single mom who wants to use the library printer? Am I not real when I braid my curls? When I wash the Serepa? When I run from owls?

And am I not real when I jam out to country music? When I go camping with my friends? When I celebrate Christmas before Three Kings Day? Am I not real when I choose to embrace both sides of my culture? When I put my foot down and decide I am not half of anything, I am entirely both?

I don't care if you think I'm too white. Don't put your insecurities on me just because you don't wanna learn Spanish.

[traffic-light-eyes]

lloyd hcs? i wanna hear them ALL

Oh boyyyy here we go. I think my LONG Lloyd headcanon post is still one of my top posts, so you can check that out there. I already know this is gonna take a while, so strap in. Dunno if I'll get to all of them or not because I still need content for the future, though.

He's a hungry kid. Always hungry. They don't know if he's having some belated puberty thing where he's hungry 24/7 365 or if it's just his heritage, but he's just. Starving. He gets shy about it, though, even when he knows that his friends would never belittle him because of it. He'll just shyly and slowly push his plate towards Zane and look at him with his big puppy eyes and a pout and Zane can do nothing but give him what he wants (you're spoiling him, Zane. - What would you do in that situation, Cole? He looked horribly pathetic, and I couldn’t do anything but give him another slice of pie.)

He is either chronically online or he has 0 knowledge of the internet. No in-between. For chronically online, his vocabulary mostly consists of tiktok references, and you can definitely hear Zane crying in the distance because he doesn't know what Lloyd is saying. For 0 knowledge of the internet, Jay and Kai make jokes and references to tiktok/reddit/Twitter/etc. and when Lloyd doesn't understand (and subsequently tilts his head like the adorable dragoni he is), you can hear Jay crying in the distance and the soft shushing voice from Nya as she tries to calm him down.

He will steal all shiny things. Shiny rock on the ground? Yoink. Jay left a particularly sparkly bolt on his desk? Well, it's Lloyd's now. Loose change on the counter? He'll take the shiny ones, thanks. He doesn't use the money. He just owns it. When Garmadon came back and saw his stash of sparkly things, he was like, "Ah, so you did inherit some of my genetics. I was getting a bit worried."

Contrary to popular belief, he doesn't own many plushies. Just one. It's a little stuffed tiger with half-off eyes and practically tearing at the seams. Kai won it in a claw machine for him back when he was a kid, and he will not part with it nor have any alterations to it no matter what. It's his and it has survived all the fires in the monastery, the crashes of the bounty, and the angry throws at the wall when Lloyd is mad (he immediately picks it back up and cries for throwing it). He remembers each mark, each missing patch of fur, every scratch on it stupid beaded eyes, and he treasures it. Because his brother got it for him.

He bought Jay a Hatsune Miku body pillow.

He's not a very good gift-giver, actually. If it was December, and he was tasked with some white elephant something he would perish at the spot. So, to combat that, he buys trinkets and things that remind him of his friends or things that he thinks that they'd like, and during the holiday or birthday, all he has to do is stuff it in a bag and put a bow on it. During the missions where they miss the holiday/birthday or if they're not close to his stash of presents, he gets really upset because he can't show them how much he loves them because nothing nothing can compare to the year of scouring shops and finding that cute little spoon engraved with Zane's initials that he found in a thrift store.

More of the gift giving: he's bad at showing affection or just verbally saying that he loves his friends, so he does the neurodivergent thing of just. Giving them pretty rocks or, like, soda tabs. Cole was horribly touched by the rocks, and now he has a shelf full of Lloyd rocks. Sometimes, to calm down, Lloyd and Cole paint the rocks. There's a cute collection of ninja look-alike rocks sitting next to their photos. When Lloyd was younger and everyone started gunning for his affection, Kai got a bunch of jars and wrote everyone's names on them. The person with the most soda tabs by the end of the year would have won the "Lloyd's favorite" award. The thing is, though, they never stopped doing it. When Pixal joined the crew, she was surprised to find herself a jar with her name on it with a purple soda tab.

Speaking of Pixal- a little after she joined, she realized that Lloyd had not finished school. When she had asked about it, she was told Wu was teaching him. She searched more to find out exactly what he was being taught. Lo and behold, it was exclusively ninja things or ancient, ancient history. And much to Lloyd's annoyance, she immediately stormed up to him and got him learning some algebra. She was not going to let him live his life without schooling. When she realized that he was having a lot of trouble with high school mathematics (because she had assumed that he was in the highschool age), she slyly went lower and lower in the education scale just to see where he left off. She was horrified to find he had not exceeded 5th grade math. No more than 5 minutes after his daily lesson, all of them (save Lloyd) had a nice, long conversation about his age and his schooling. She made it her life duty that Lloyd became one of the smartest gosh darned people in Ninjago.

On a lighter note, Jay and Nya sometimes have robot battles for fun. But. Not aggressive or combat related. They make robots do silly tasks like planting a flower or making a sandwich. They always make Lloyd judge who did it better because he has 0 clue the mechanics behind it, and he doesn't pick favorites. (Even if he's not trying to be his father anymore, he loves stirring up chaos by making each of them never truly beat each other by a lot)

He had a lisp as a kid. He didn't know it at the time, but it was because his mouth was unfamiliar with his sharp teeth. It makes him speak funny. For a while, he just didn't speak at all because he was embarrassed when the other darkleys kids made fun of him. He toughened out, though, and sat in his room, reading out loud to himself (occasionally with his kind roommate and friend Brad helping him) to correct his speech. To this day, he sometimes messes up words because he doesn't have proper speech therapy. But it's just another cute Lloyd thing to the team.

Mkay. I only did a few for just in case someone else asks for Lloyd stuff

[1989stanz]

Well, two days ago I promised a fanfic to you all, so it is here! It's a inheritance games fanfiction and I hope you enjoy it. I accept any type of criticism, but just don't offend me. Thank you! @aaal-iz-well @myster3y @myfairkatiecat @riddles-n-games@aria-1105 @formulalina15

Prologue:

Jameson lost a 911 and has to deal with his penance.

Disclaimer:

All characters are from Jennifer Lynn Barnes's book The inheritance games. None of them are mine! Mentions of Nash Hawthorne, Jameson Hawthorne, Alexander Hawthorne, Grayson Hawthorne, Avery Grambs, Gigi Grayson and Maxine Liu. There's some cursing and mentions of murder, but nothing serious. The author didn't deep dive in these two delicate topics. No spoilers and no smut!

English is not my first language! So I apologize for any mistakes.

(P.S.: I'm always open for fanfic suggestions.)

Words count: 1.7K (sorry for being so long. I just couldn't help it 😭)

Jameson was never the type of person you could call “phone addicted.” He didn't spend much time scrolling because he was always busy with his brothers, a riddle, or doing something that the police would certainly arrest him for it. As a result, charging his phone wasn't something that occupied his mind, that's why his phone died often. That's what happened on this day. He was in a phone call with Xander when suddenly his phone went dead. Letting out a sigh, he opened the bedroom he shared with Avery to search for his charger. The room was quite a mess, with clothes on the floor, in the bed and hanging lazily around a chair. It reflected the owners' minds: messy as hell, but still comfortable somehow. There was a colored cube on the floor he accidentally stepped on and kicked away as he continued looking inside a drawer.“Where is it?”, he thought.“I know it's here. I remember the last time I used it and I put it in this drawer. . .” Before he could properly finish his inner monologue, he felt IT before he heard or saw it. He felt it strong and passionately inside of him, and deep inside he just knew what it was. Someone was approaching—HER. He felt her presence almost all the time when she was around. His heart would just stop as a true and genuine felling he had never felt before her took over his entire body and soul. It was exaggerating to describe it this way, but every single thing he felt and thought about her was exaggerating. “Jamie?”, Avery spoke and, oh, he loved her voice, specially when she said the nickname his brothers gave to him. Nobody else beside them had the right to call him this was, but her? Just listening to his nickname set his blood and entire body on fire. Hungry. He was hungry for everything, even for her—specially for her. “Heiress?”, he finally turned around and his heart pounded faster when he finally looked at her and realized why she called him. Her eyes were gleaming—they were always so bright when they stared at Jameson's eyes—, a challenge that he couldn't back down on her face. He clearly wouldn't back down from anything she proposed. “Jamie.” Avery knew he loved when she said it, so she usually did it when she wanted his whole attention to her, and god-damn, she was wearing one of his shirts. She had never done it before, but it looked way better on her. She looked beautiful, he thought to himself. And he FELT how Avery had an enormous effect on him. Forget hungry. He was starving just for a piece of her.

Smirking, he said, “So, now you steal my shirts?”, his green eyes glowing more than ever.

“Only when I want to catch you off guard, like now”, her eyes told what she didn't: Avery was enjoying what she was doing to him. Of course she did, he was acting like a damn dog. They stared at each other and did not break eye contact as she walked up to him and pressed her lips to his. The kiss wasn't soft or slow. It was breathtaking, and when she pulled away, he wanted more. Forget the charger, it could wait, but his hunger could not. And probably the 911 call he received from one of his brothers could too.

Grayson would never admit, but he was terrible. Not physically, Grayson Hawthorne was at no time physically terrible. He always makes to sure to be looking good. But mentally? His mind and feelings were so awful that just “terrible” wasn't an appropriate answer. He was drowning in work—again—, swimming like crazy and doing anything that was humanly possible to stop his brain from echoing a name. Her name. So that's why he was standing again at the place Emily had died, so-and-so far from the ground. He had no equipment and wondered—again— what would happen if he jumped. Of course, it was just a thought, Grayson wasn't going to jump, but just the adrenaline that he felt with this thought kept his entire head quiet. Her name wasn't there for a moment. But moments didn't last forever, so that's why he decided to finally go back to the house.

Once he arrived, his whole body ached for something. Escapism. Her name was there again, and he knew a way to stop it. Grayson quickly took some turns around the house, and before he could even think about it, he was in the cellar. Without realizing, his hands grabbed a Tequila, took off the cover and his nose caught the smell of the liquid. Eve. Eve. Eve. Eve. He took a swing. Eve. Eve. Eve. He took another swing, this time longer than the other one, and… Nothing. It was calm. And he took more long swings. He hardly allowed himself alcohol, but in that occasion he drank it like his life depended on it. 

Halfway through the bottle, one thought broke through his shields: “You need someone”. That hit him, hard. But for one second he stopped taking swings and recognized the obvious: he was broken, drowning, but he didn't have to be alone. He had his brothers and Avery and, somehow, that was everything. Eve couldn't touch this, it was totally his and only his. His family. That's what they were. So he picked his phone from his pocket and only sent one message for each of his brothers: 911.

Nash and Xander appeared in a heartbeat and, for reasons he couldn't tell, his heart overflowed with love. He felt it warm and quiet on his chest for the first time in a very long time. Nash was the first one to look at him, raising one of his eyebrows, “So what's the deal, little brother?”. Xander whispered in Nash's ear, “He seems drunk to you too, or did the explosion I caused today already affecting me?” Grayson almost raised an eyebrow when he heard his words. That would explain his clothes that seemed to be set on fire. Instead, he chose to analyze the room he requested their presence. The gaming area was an enormous place full of all kind of games, physical games—like bowling—or just games that required thinking, like chess. Being more specific, Hawthorne chess.

After four rounds of Hawthorne chess and three Grayson's victories later, strip bowling was the chosen game, and he found out in the worst way possible that strip bowling wasn't for him. Nash didn't have his boots and his socks. Since his brothers demanded when they first played strip bowling that Nash's cowboy hat wasn't a piece of clothing, he was shirtless but had his cowboy hat on. Xander didn't have shoes and socks anymore, and Grayson…was winning. He didn't wear a coat, shoes, socks, and his shirt. But he was happy to be with his brothers…or at least two of them. Grayson turned away as soon as he noticed that Jameson wasn't there and asked, “Where's Jameson?” 

“Probably doing something very dangerous and assuming risks that could get him to have a meeting with God!”, Xander replied with a smile. Nash frowned his eyebrows, “I called him like 10 times, and he didn't pick up.” Wasting no more time, Grayson reached for the phone in his pocket and called Oren. The bodyguard picked up immediately. “Any problem?”, he asked, his voice calm and powerful and useless for someone like Grayson, who knew the word “power” like the back of his hand. “Where's Jameson? Is he in danger?”. He could hear the way the bodyguard shrugged. “No danger in sight, if you don't consider sleeping in Avery's bedroom a dangerous thing to do.” Jameson was sleeping, and it was almost offensive that he lost a 911, but then he realized. Jameson lost a 911, and he was going to pay for it like Grayson did. He smiled and turn off the phone call. “As much as I love to see you smile, I can tell where this is going”, Nash replied. Xander was amused, his eyes as bright as the sun. “So Jameson really lost a 911?”. They didn't answer, but instead the rest of the evening was wasted between plans and more plans for his penance.

1:00 am

Jameson noticed that he lost a 911 call, and he knew his brothers would come after him with a wicked plan. Surprised wasn't an adjective to describe his emotions when Xander appeared out of nowhere at night and started to play a trumpet. But furious and about to end Xander were appropriate words. “STOP!”, he yelled through gritted teeth, trying to cover his ears with a pillow. Nash put a hand on his little brother shoulder to stop him. “Enough, Xan. Enough.” Grayson was behind him, and Jameson could swear he almost smiled. Reluctant, he got up from the bed. “It's time for my penance.” It wasn't a question, and nobody corrected him. Instead, he just received a devilish smile from Nash. It was going to be a very, very long night. 

1:30 am

Max was spending the Christmas holiday at the Hawthorne house in her own wing, where his brothers dropped him. She smiled, a big and bright smiled that he almost feared. Almost. “Hello, little duck.” He snorted. “Not sure about being a duck.” She meant dick, but he chose to ignore it. “However. Just sit in this chair and let me do my magic.” He sat, and she covered his face in a really white foundation, drawing a smile with her makeup pencil, covering his cheeks a really shiny red. “I think I know what you're doing, but I better be wrong.” Max smirked, and he decided that smirking didn't look good on her. Actually, it was never a good thing when someone who wasn't him smirked. “I can't tell you. Xander made me promise.” 

“I think so.” And he let her finish, putting a blue wig on his head, covering his hair. Thrilled, she picked a small mirror on the desk, showing his reflection to him. “Do you like it?”. He was right indeed. Xander had asked his girlfriend for a clown makeup for him. She gave him a card with an address written on it as he left her wing. He was going to kill Xander. Suffocated, precisely. With his own damn wig. Opening the card, there was an address that he did not recognize:

Flower Boulevard Street, 89

P.S.: Gigi must drive.

2:00 am 

Gigi knew how to drive a car. Of course she did. At least that was what she told him before breaking all the traffic laws. Jameson wasn't a fan of laws and endless rules, but after this 30 minutes painful ride and almost dying more times than he could count, he was a new fan of the traffic law, apparently. She stopped in front of a building, some pop music blasting on the radio, his face so white that it looked like he was a ghost. After a few minutes of searching for his soul that clearly was lost along the way, his eyes analyzed the construction. He had thought about the worst places that his brothers would have chosen as a location for the evening, but a big and luxury hospital didn't cross his mind, not even once. But there he was, standing in full clown clothes in the hospital parking. Gigi grabbed his arm. “What are you waiting for? I thought you liked a challenge.” He did, and that's why he entered the construction.

2:15 am 

He managed to get lost inside the hospital, but that was way better than Gigi getting lost four times while driving 'cause she insisted on not using the GPS. After a few minutes, he founded his brothers. Unfortunately. “Wooow! He looks awfully amazing”, Xander shouted. “This isn't your best moment, little brother”, Nash laughed. Grayson just looked, without saying anything at first. Then he raised an eyebrow. “I think you lost something, Mr.Clown”, he told Jameson, pulling out leather pants from his hands. Not common leather pants, but THE leather pants. He was doomed.

2:25 am 

Out of all his brothers, Jameson was the leanest, but the leather pants still squeezed him really tight. It was almost painful, and he needed ten minutes to make them fit. “Comfortable?”, Grayson asked, enjoying this moment more than anything else. Jameson gave a Cheshire cat smiled, not giving him the satisfaction to see his discomfort. “More than ever, big brother.” Grayson smirked, and he wondered why everyone was suddenly smirking at him all the time. Nash leaned on the doorway, his cowboy hat hiding his smile. “Ready to put on a show, Jamie?” A show? What the actual fuc...”

“I have balloons!” Xander tossed three bags of balloons at Jameson's face, and he caught each one, his face marked with confusion. “Why do I need balloons?” 

“For the kids!”, Xander smiled, thriving. “There are some sad and unfortunate kids on this hospital that need some fun and joy in their lives, and you're going to bring fun and joy. That's what clowns do, isn't it, Mr.Clown?” 

He could feel the need to wash off all the makeup in the sink bathroom and take off his ridiculous clothes, including his fancy clown shirt. But he promised it to his brothers. Grayson had called and he didn't come. That was his penance. “Where are the kids?”, he asked. 

3:35 am

One hour and ten minutes later, Jameson was at the edge of a breaking down. Sure he could deal with one or two kids playing with his wig, trying to pull his clothes, licking his face when they thought he couldn't see, getting on the ceiling, screaming, crying, popping the balloons, trying to slap him, laughing and making jokes of him, swearing, running and so much more. But twenty? It seemed and felt like hell. He couldn't even judge the kids, 'cause little Jamie was worse than that kids. He looked at Nash after one of them spat on his face, “Please, Nash. Please stop this.” All three of them laughed, Xander more pleased with himself than ever. He had video every time a kid did something to him and threatened to send them to Avery. Jameson didn't even try to stop him, his little brother was going to show Avery one way or another. And he was mortified. “Please. It's been one hour. I can't handle more.” Jameson Hawthorne didn't beg, of course not. But he was about to get on his knees if Nash didn't look at him and decided that the poor boy had enough. “Alright, kids!” He shouted and all of them immediately stopped what they were doing, something that Jameson couldn't do. He felt jealous. “Form a line, so the clown can say goodbye to you all.” They said an audible “noooo”. Apparently, they liked to torture him. He went to say goodbye to every kid when they finally formed a line, some of their names carved on his brain as he passed. Brian. Yasmin. Joe. Kloe. Patrick. Pablo. Iago. . .

“Where's Iago?”, Kloe said, looking behind her. Jameson counted the kids and there were only 19 of them. Oh, hell. “Nash”, he looked at his oldest brother while he nodded, understanding what he meant with just one word. “Go there, Jamie. We'll stay here.” He took a glance at the kids. “So, how are we feeling about dancing?” They screamed in excitement. Jameson couldn't understand how he did it. 

4:05 

Where were this kid? Jameson had searched absolutely every god-damn room of the hospital, had warned the nurses, and they still had not found him. He couldn't help but remember when he disappeared as a kid. It didn't take a couple of minutes to find him, it took hours. Sometimes even days. He swallowed hard, thinking what would happen if Iago wasn't found. What if he was in danger? How would his parents react? What if he managed to get out of the hospital…

“Oh my god, Iago! Can you calm down for a second? You're going to spill my coffee all over the room.” He heard someone say in a room at the end of the hallway, stopping to look what was going on. Gigi trying to take Iago off of the ceiling with a cup of coffee in her hand. The scene was a one to be recorded, if Jameson wasn't freaking out. “Iago! Get off of there!”, he commanded, and surprisingly the kid seemed to hear. “I don't know”, Iago mumbled and he looked worried. Scared. That shattered Jameson's heart. He picked up the kid, careful to not let him fall or break the ceiling. “Thank you”, the infant wrapped his hands around his neck, not letting go. Gigi was very embarrassed. “I couldn't get him off, he didn't hear me.” Jameson was so confused on why she was still at the hospital, at 4 am, drinking coffee. But all he did was to shrug, “They don't hear me too.” And they walked back to his brothers only to found Nash dancing with them. God has favorites, he thought. 

8:00 am 

Ten minutes later they arrived at Hawthorne House and Jameson dropped dead on his bed. After taking off the makeup, clown clothes and the leather pant, obviously. But his body naturally woke him up at 7:45, and he couldn't get any sleep after that. And that's why he was on the roof when he heard steps. “You put out quite a show to the kids.” It was Grayson talking.“The hospital called, asking if you're going to visit again.” Not a chance in hell. He liked the kids—actually, loved them— but he couldn't handle them all at once. It was draining. Grayson knew it, that's why he was smirking, almost showing a smile. “You know”, Jameson started, “that I only didn't pick up because my phone had died?” It was basically his way of saying that, if he knew that Grayson was calling, that he needed him, he would appear in seconds. And he always would. Despite all the offenses, the teasing and the fights, Jameson would walk through hell for Grayson. He knew that, and Grayson would do the same. If all that it took to make him laugh, smile or to just take the weight off his shoulders a bit was to see Jameson dressed up as a clown, he would do it a hundred times. And he would do it over and over, no just because “that's what brothers do”, but because that's what you do when you love someone—you show them your love and loyalty. 911 wasn't just a simple code, it was meant to their brothers know how much they loved and appreciated each other, even though sometimes they have a hard time telling or showing it. Jameson knew the meaning behind this simple code, and it would kill him if Grayson thought that Jameson didn't care for his older brother. They all cared for each other, that's what made them the Hawthorne brothers. Not just the DNA because, when you grow up between the Hawthornes, you couldn't care less for biology. “I know,” Grayson replied, and his tone gave something else. Of course, I know, but I won't go deep into it right now, he seemed to say. So they just stood there, watching the sun and enjoying each other's company, without admitting it.

[ducktoonsfanart]

Duck Avenger (Paperinik-PKNA), Double Duck and Maui Mallard with his students (his nephews) and his girls - Superheroes, secret agents and ninjas - Quack Pack AU - Happy late 90th birthday Donald and happy late Father's Day - Duckverse - My version

I drew a new surprise for all Donald Duck fans as a superhero, secret agent and super ninja and super detective. This time all together in one drawing and it is related to the 90th birthday of my favorite duck, as well as related to Father's Day, since Donald Duck is the best parent to his nephews. Since it's dangerous for kids to go on dangerous adventures, I drew Donald's nephews as older teenagers more like the Quack Pack, although it's more my version of the Quack Pack. Anyway, for those who don't know, I drew individual drawings of Donald's nephews with one of Donald's secret egos where they are his students, and you can see more here: https://ducktoonsfanart.tumblr.com/post/683178923062870016/donald-duck-as-a-superhero-secret-agent

On June 9, in 1934 The Classic Short "The Wise Little Hen" was shown and Donald Duck appeared there for the first time. Donald Duck will become one of the main stars of not only Disney, but also cartoon films, comics and video games at all.

Yes, one of my plans is to write a fanfiction based on this where Donald's nephews go their separate ways, but inherit Donald's tracks and secret life through the discovery of Donald's secret identities. However, they can't do anything without their uncle, so they become their main assistants (sidekicks). Huey Duck because he likes espionage and girls, he would certainly become like Double Duck, a secret agent working for The Agency in Duckburg to fight against The Organization and he would be named Double Huey and he would be Double Duck's assistant. Although Dewey Duck tends more towards science, computing and astronomy, somehow he always tends towards calmness and to sense danger at great distances. He and his brothers like ninjas, but Dewey would be special about it and he would go on adventures with Detective Maui Mallard and learn martial arts the right way. Yes, Maui Mallard is just another name for Donald Duck. Dewey would become Maui Dewey Mallard and would be Maui Mallard's main assistant. And he would fight against the shaman and all those who want to steal the Shabuhm Shabuhm idol. Louie Duck, who likes sports and extreme travel, as well as a fan of comic books and superheroes, would certainly look up to Duck Avenger, i.e. Paperinik. He would be Duck Avenger's main sidekick, and his successor. He would be called the Green Avenger and he is certainly part of the T-Squad, but here he is more on a special level where he goes on dangerous adventures with Duck Avenger. Yes, fighting aliens, especially Evronians, as well as fighting The Organization from the future.

Of course, there are three Donalds as Double Duck, Maui Mallard and Duck Avenger (PKNA version), and they are accompanied by female companions, who are also Donald's best friends. Kay K (Arianna Adelaide Konnery) is Double Duck's best companion, Princess Hernae is Maui Mallard's best companion and Lyla Lay is Duck Avenger's (Paperinik) best companion. Yes, they can also be his girlfriends. And then there is Uno, that is, One, Uno Ducklair, an android computer duck who sets Duck Avenger's tasks and directs him to important missions and helps him in many troubles. And please don't tell Daisy about this. I certainly combined this from the comics Duck Avenger (Paperinik New Adventures), Double Duck, as well as the game Maui Mallard, and certainly from the Quack Pack series, but in my own way. Like uncle, like nephews.

I hope you like this idea and this drawing and if you want to support my ideas feel free to like and reblog this! Just don't use my same ideas without mentioning me. Thank you! And once again happy 90th birthday to the best duck as well as a happy belated father's day! It is certainly worth celebrating with the best versions of Donald Duck, as well as the relationship between the uncle and his nephews, as it was in the Quack Pack and in the comics, in the best way.

[l-e-i-n-t-h]

Ghost answering

Yeah, it doesn't come from an emotionally healthy boy to want to smash another boy's head with a rock, specially considering said boy is younger. It doesn't come from a boy educated to be a knight to punch girls, and robb one of them of her inheritance, the very day of their mother's funeral.

Jace, who was already in the floor, was in mortal danger if his brother didn't help him, so there's a false equivalency between one child picking up a rock and another drawing a knife. The intentions are not the same: one wanted to kill or seriously maim an already defeated boy; the other wanted to save his brother's life, not kill, so he didn't stab, he sliced upwards, probably aiming for the cheek, but failing.

I might be mistaken, but I don't remember Luke being smug about it, like "haha, I got my uncle's eye, I'm so great, hahahaha", but I do remember Aemond intimidating the boy about it repeatedly and I also remember him killing said boy. Of course there's an accidental element in both situations, but Aemond's oopsie happened when he was older than Luke was when he did his oopsie, and when he already believed he was kind of the first sword of the realm, so there is at least some grade of blame on him for wanting to terrorize a boy he already defeated diplomatically, and not pulling away the moment he saw the dragons were getting nervous. Not at the very moment Vhagar opened her jaws, but before that.

Aemond didn't apologize for punching the girls, for stealing the dragon and for the little joke of wanting to kill Jace. I don't see many reasons for Luke not apologizing for saving his brother's life.

Disclaimer again: I'm not judging anyone for having the hots for Aemond, he has an interesting face, and a complex personality. I would just suggest to stay close to the canon, but at the very end, WHATEVER, life is too short.

[twin-azure-dragon-wave]

The Complete History of Tenseiga - Part 1

Since Tenseiga is my favorite sword in Inuyasha, I've decided to write a multi-part series that takes a comprehensive look at it's role in the story. For the sake of simplicity, this is only going to look at the original manga, although I don't recall the anime adding much in the way of Tenseiga lore, so I don't think focusing on the manga is going to mean missing out on anything.

Now, it's impossible to talk about Tenseiga without talking about *sigh* Tessiaga. The stories of the two swords are unavoidably intertwined with each other (and we'll find just how intertwined at a much later point in the story) and both Sesshomaru and Tessaiga enter the series at the same time, so it only makes sense that we start out there.

When Sesshomaru is first introduced in the series, he is portrayed as having a single goal: to locate and obtain his father's heirloom sword, the Tessaiga.

Chapter 12-18

My preeeciooousssssssss.

This desire to have Tessaiga for himself, usually by trying to stealing it from Inuyasha, is the single-minded pursuit Sesshomaru follows throughout his first three appearances in the manga.

The backstory for this is that, despite being his father's eldest child and a powerful, full-blooded yokai, the Inu no Taisho never intended to pass the sword down to him. Rather, it's Inuyasha, his hanyo half-brother who winds up inheriting it. Much to Sesshomaru's dismay.

Personal space, bruh. It's called personal space.

Their father even went so far as to hide the Tessaiga (in a tomb initially only accessible via a black pearl hidden in Inuyasha's eye) but to put a spell on the sword that would keep Sesshomaru from being able to wield it.

Sunrise and RT: This origin story for Tessaiga is getting retconned and there's nothing you can do about it.

Taisho's refusal to bequeath his sword to Sesshomaru raises some questions his relationship with his older son. Denying Sesshomaru an inheritance he believes is rightly his suggests the idea that he was the un-favorite. That his father didn't consider him a worthy heir and wanted his younger brother Inuyasha to carry on his legacy instead.

Inuyasha: Although, honestly, some cash would've been nice too.

Chapter 125-126

It's not until Sesshomaru's third appearance (when he yet again initiates a fight with Inuyasha in an attempt to acquire Tessaiga) that we find out that Taisho did leave Sesshomaru an inheritance; a different sword, the Tenseiga.

Tenseiga, in kanji is 天生牙, which of course translates to:

Huh? Baby tooth? That doesn't seem right.

Oh, okay, there we go.

How dare Sesshomaru disrespect Baby Tooth like this.

Now, Sesshomaru has been depicted carrying a sword with him since his introduction, but this is the first time that the blade is acknowledged and given a name. Before this, there was never any explanation for why Sesshomaru wanted Tessaiga so badly when he apparently already had a sword of his own.

Rumiko Takahashi would reveal the reason for Tenseiga's delayed explanation on her Twitter account:

"When Sesshomaru first appears, he is carrying a sword, but at that point it hadn't been decided what kind of sword it was. Even in the fight with Inuyasha that followed, he didn't have the timing to draw it. Tenseiga was something I thought of later. I wanted to make a sword that is the complete opposite of Tessaiga and also of Sesshomaru, a sword that saves people. A sword that follows you even if you throw it away."

It's during this story that his father's swordsmith Totosai shows up in the story. Totosai not only forged Tessaiga and Tenseiga, but was entrusted by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's father with the duty of helping them hone and develop their respective weapons.

Alright, calm down there, potty mouth.

Sesshomaru's disinterest in Tenseiga is so thorough that even Jaken, despite being his constant companion, knows nothing about it or the fact that is was passed down from his father.

His grievance with his father's decision is made understandable when he reveals the swords true nature. He 'demonstrates' the sword on Jaken and shows that Tenseiga is a blade without the ability to cut or do any sort of damage.

Baby Tooth isn't cutting it. He needs a strong, healthy Adult Tooth.

The sword can't kill or be used as a weapon, so as far as Sesshomaru ( a character who only desires power and seeks Tessaiga as a means to increase his battle prowess and become the strongest demon in the land) is concerned, it's useless to him. Dead weight that he continues to carry around, according to Rumiko Takahashi, on the off chance that it might one day serve a purpose. Even if, at this point, whatever purpose that may be completely eludes him. For now.

Sesshomaru: And I LOVE Killing!

Totosai helpfully explains what exactly the deal with Tenseiga not being able to cut is.

Look at Mo-Mo being cute in the background. That's MY precious.

The reason that Tenseiga can't kill is because it's actually a sword of healing. It brings souls back from the dead and is said to be able to save 100 souls in a single swing. This would make Tenseiga the life-saving counterpart to Tessaiga (a sword that can destroy 100 yokai with a single swing.)

Kagome literally sweat-dropping at the idea of Sesshomaru caring about anyone other than himself.

However, the ability to make use of this restorative power requires having a heart that cherishes others. It requires compassion. Obviously this requirement would be a serious issue for Sesshomaru had he any desire to actually save lives, but at this juncture in his storyline he doesn't seem like someone who'd care to save even 1 soul, let alone 100.

It makes total sense that he'd view Tenseiga as worthless and that he'd have no clue why his father would leave it to him or how it could benefit him. It's also deeply ironic that Sesshomaru would be given a sword whose entire stated purpose is healing and restoring life considering his very name (often translated to things like "killing perfection" or "complete destruction of life" or other phrases relating to murder or death) references his nature as a merciless killer.

"Everyone read Sesshomaru to filth" party.

Given that so far Sesshomaru hasn't displayed a smidgen of the kind of compassionate qualities that Totosai described, it's no surprise Inuyasha would dismiss the idea that Sesshomaru would be able to use it.

This is the last we hear of Tenseiga for a couple chapters but it sets up what's about to come. We know what Tenseiga's purpose is, what it's capable of and are made aware of how unqualified and ill-suited Sesshomaru seemingly would be in regards to mastering it.

He's 0-3 against Inuyasha at this point. I would simply never show my face in public again.

Chapter 129

During his latest battle with his brother, Inuyasha attacks with him with his newly mastered Wind Scar technique. Sesshomaru seems done for—except a mysterious light appears around his body, apparently protecting him and preserving his life.

Tenseiga: I got you, king. Don't worry about it😙

Sesshomaru: Fuck off🤬

So here, we learn that Tenseiga has an additional power to reviving the dead: it can create a barrier around it's master's body and ward off attacks.

And the fact that Tenseiga saved Sesshomaru in this way is proof enough to Totosai that Sesshomaru is the sword's chosen master.

Now that we've been assured Tenseiga is 100% on Team Sesshomaru, it's clear that the only thing keeping it from reaching it's full potential is Sesshomaru himself. He's resisted the sword for as long as it's been in his possession, but what would it take for Sesshomaru to finally utilize it's powers?

We're about to find out.

Well, that's...ominous.

Continued in Part 2

[kanerallels]

Day two of @spectre-week is for our beloved Captain Hera and oh BOY did I just barely finish this fic in time. Had to scrap my old one, then finished this in a haze of panic yesterday. But I actually stand by this! (It is low key set in my Steve Miller Au but you don't need prior knowledge of it to read this. Just enjoy!)

Once upon a time, Hera Syndulla was an only child.

And then, quite suddenly, when she was six years old, she wasn’t any more. Her mother, Eleni, told her she was going to have a baby brother or sister and Hera, well, she was excited, if a little wary. She’d seen her friends playing with their siblings, though she’d also seen them bickering and stealing things from each other. 

But Eleni told her she was going to be an amazing big sister, and her father was glowing with pride and happiness, boasting to his friends and co-workers, and Hera decided it probably wouldn’t be so bad. At least she’d have someone to play starships with.

Time ticked by, and Eleni’s belly grew, and she spent more time sitting down than standing. When she got up, she groaned about her swollen ankles, but she was still happy. And so was Cham.

The day when the baby came was long, and hard. Hera hated the sound of her mother in pain, and she could tell her father did, too. He paced the length of their house again and again, and told her mother that they should go to a hospital, that she needed help.

But Eleni was insistent. She wanted a home birth, assisted by midwives, in Ryloth tradition. So Cham gritted his teeth and paced, and Hera stayed curled up in her favorite chair, wincing at every cry.

But the end came, and with it, joy, and a new baby brother. Hera sat on her mother’s bed as Cham cradled both Eleni and the new baby close, then took her little brother out to show him off to the relatives. Then she hugged her mother, who kissed her on the forehead.

“I’m fine,” she told Hera. “Just because it’s scary doesn’t mean it’s bad. Your brother is here, safe and sound.”

Hera was a little unsure about the first part— at first. But then, finally, when Cham was back, he gently put her brother in her arms. Their eyes met, wide, for the first time, and Cham said, “Hera, meet Devaar Syndulla. Your little brother.”

“He’s tiny,” Hera breathed, staring at him. His lekku were barely stubs, his skin a delicate shade of green, like she and her mother’s. His eyes were orange, though, like her father’s, and they held hers with a wondering confusion.

“You were at first, too,” Eleni said. “He’ll grow. But he’ll need a big sister to look after him.”

“I will,” Hera promised.

True to her word, Hera kept a close eye on Devaar— which everyone quickly shortened to Dev. Unfortunately, for the first several months, he didn’t do much interesting. Other than cry and sleep and eat.

But, in a way that was painstakingly slow, yet flew by, he grew. Soon he was crawling, and then Hera had a lot of work to do, helping her mother keep him out of trouble.

It only got worse when he learned to walk. Dev had inherited his parent’s propensity for trouble, according to Cham, who laughed proudly and swung him in the air, eliciting gurgles of laughter. He made bolts for the door and for the dangerous stairs, trying to grab hold of pointy things and sharp objects.

Hera got very good at distracting him, oftentimes with her toy starships. She kept her favorite (a VCX freighter) hidden on a shelf where he couldn’t chew on it or break it, but showed him how to fly around the gunships and the starfighters.

Some of them even matched the ones they began to see overhead, more and more. Hera’s father was clearly concerned about them— and one day, it came to a head. The Republic was at war, and Ryloth was caught in the middle.

Hera and her family had to go into hiding, which Dev did not appreciate. But the bombings were dangerous, and the Separatists hated Cham. The feeling was very mutual. Hera’s father spent most of his time away from them, fighting against the invaders and alongside the Jedi and Republic troops.

While she knew it was dangerous, Hera liked to watch the ships soaring overhead. There was a spot not too far from their hideout underground where she could see out of an old drainage tunnel, and she could watch the gunships passing. Sometimes— only when it was safe and her mother was napping— she brought the one year old Dev, carefully watching him to make sure he didn’t run off.

“I’ll be up there one day,” she whispered to him. “Flying, like them.”

Dev babbled something that sounded like encouragement, and Hera decided to take it as such.

After what felt like years, the bombs stopped, and Hera’s father came home, his eyes wearier than last time he’d been with them. They were safe, he said, from the Separatists. And he brought with him a company of clones, who helped Hera, Dev, her mother, and all the other refugees return home safely.

Home was a little worse for wear, but Eleni always liked a project. They started fixing things up, and Hera was just starting to wonder if life would be normal again.

And then, suddenly, it wasn’t.

Dev got sick.

It was just a cough that wouldn’t go away at first, paired with a runny nose. But then it got worse, until the cough sounded like it was tearing apart his lungs. A fever sprang to life, and Dev was wailing with pain.

They tried everything. Antibiotics, half a dozen Republic drugs and even more old remedies that Eleni’s mother had used on her. Nothing seemed to work. Dev got sicker, and sicker, his skin pale and his movements listless. Soon, he barely moved at all, and Hera could read the fear on her parent’s faces.

They thought her little brother was going to die.

He can’t, Hera thought, staring at Dev. She’d stuck by his bed since the fever started, watching over him. Giving him water and cooling him with wet cloths. To think that her little brother would just… be gone? He couldn’t be. The galaxy wouldn’t do something so cruel.

Please, she thought. I’ll do anything. We can’t lose Dev.

Her answer came two hours later, in the form of a knock at the door.

Cham and Eleni had prepared for the worse. They were crouched next to Dev’s bed, tears in Eleni’s eyes and helplessness in Cham’s. Neither of them looked up at the knock. But Hera did.

Getting up, she walked downstairs to the door, keeping her steps quiet so she wouldn’t disturb her parents. Pulling open the door, she started to tell whichever neighbor it was that they didn’t want visitors right now.

But it wasn’t a neighbor. It wasn’t anyone she’d ever met before.

The human woman was hooded and cloaked in white, but when she looked at Hera, Hera could tell she was smiling, even under the shadows. “Hello,” she said, her voice holding an unfamiliar accent. “You must be Hera. I’ve heard much about you.”

“Who are you?” Hera asked, confused. “Are you a friend of my father’s?”

“I’m afraid I’ve never had the pleasure. But the Force told me to come here. I’m here to help your brother.”

That was all Hera needed to hear. Wordlessly, she stepped aside, and the woman came inside.

Eleni didn’t move when they entered the bedroom, but Cham looked up at the sound of the woman’s arrival. Wariness flashed across his face, and he rose, making a barrier between his wife and child and the stranger. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“Forgive me for intruding,” the woman said, her voice soft and calm. “As I told your daughter, the Force sent me here. I believe—”

“She said she can help Dev,” Hera blurted out, and then Eleni looked up.

Gaze locking onto the woman, she rose and pushed past Cham. “Can you?” she asked, looking directly at their guest.

“I can.”

“Then please.” Eleni’s voice cracked. “Please. We cannot lose him.”

“I will do everything I can,” the woman promised.

She looked at Cham, seemingly questioning. Cham hesitated, then said, “You’re a Jedi?”

The woman seemed to hesitate briefly. “Not— exactly. But I promise, I am here to help your son. Let me try, and if you think I’m hurting him, you may remove me.”

Cham’s jaw worked, but he glanced at Eleni and Hera, then at the bed where his son lay. Then he nodded, moving to the side. “Do what you can.”

The woman was at Dev’s side in an instant, pushing back her cowl a little as she knelt. Moving to watching her, Hera saw her rest a hand, marked with geometric tattoos along the back, on Dev’s head.

“He is very weak,” she said. “But I can help. It will take a little while, so—”

“We’re not going anywhere,” Eleni said.

The woman’s smile was just visible. “Of course. You may wish to make some caf, though.”

Cham made a little, and they settled in to wait. Even Hera got a mug, and found she actually enjoyed it— with milk and a little sugar. They sat together and waited, watching and hoping desperately.

It didn’t seem like the woman was doing anything. She was just kneeling there, a hand resting on Dev’s forehead. She didn’t say anything or bring out any props. She just knelt, eyes closed, for a long time. So long that Hera was starting to nod off against her father when a noise cut through her sleepiness.

It was a cry. Dev’s voice.

Hera’s eyes flew open, and all three of them bolted to their feet as the woman rose. “He’ll be alright,” she told them, and Eleni burst into tears. “Give him some water and a little tea tonight. Tomorrow you can give him food.”

Cham, tears in his own eyes as he put an arm around Eleni, said, “How can we repay you?”

Shaking her head, the woman said, “No payment necessary.” Giving them a little bow, she headed down the stairs.

Cham and Eleni went immediately to Dev’s side, gathering him up in their arms. For a moment, Hera hesitated. Then she followed the woman.

Their mysterious guest had already made it out the door and a little ways down the street when Hera caught up with her. It was late, and three of the moons were full and bright above them.

“Wait!” Hera called out, and the woman stopped, turning to face her. Her cowl was lowered, and her face was kind, with bright blue eyes and dark tattoos.

Pausing, Hera struggled for words, then asked, “Why? Why did you help us?”

Smiling, the woman said, “Because you needed it. And because an old friend asked me to.”

“How?”

“The Force flows through all living things,” the woman told her. “I just gave it a little nudge in this case.”

Hera nodded slowly, wrapping her mind around the words. “And you’re… not a Jedi?”

“Admittedly, it is a little complicated,” the woman said thoughtfully. “I was, at one point. Perhaps I still am. But I think what’s most important is that your brother is still alive. Perhaps he’ll help the galaxy someday. And so, I think, will you, Hera Syndulla.”

She smiled, and turned, walking down the road. Soon, she was out of sight.

But Hera never forgot it. Forgot what the Jedi had done for her family. Especially not, years later, when she saw someone do the same thing, far above Gorse.

It wasn’t the first miraculous thing she’d seen, and it was far from the last. Her journey was just beginning.

[stealeroflemons]

eah plot hole fixer thing #27 because I'm stressed as hell and need a distraction

Okay so we've all been wondering how the hell the whole inheritance of destiny and kingdom management and nitty gritty details about certain elements of eah work. Well today I'm gonna dive in a little.

1.) How did the Evil Queen curse Sleeping Beuty to sleep for 100 years and steal Madame Thorn's destiny when all their kids are the same age?

Here's my little fix-it theory. If you know anything about fae lore then you know there's a general rule not to step into faerie circles (made of mushrooms or flowers but most commonly mushrooms) because you will lose all sense of time and become a slave to the fae or become a blood bag to them. (at least that's one of the more common interpretations)

I think the Evil Queen is far older than we realize. I think she's hundreds of years old but has used magic to keep herself young. I also think destiny is more fluid than we realize and that being the next evil queen is dependent on if you have the heart for it.

Thirsting for power and glory, the Evil Queen stepped into a faerie ring not to become a blood bag, but to learn the secrets of the dark fae. Since time works differently in the fae realm, she managed to stay young enough to walk back into the mortal world with vast amounts of new knowledge.

Wanting to prove she had a dark enough heart to earn the title of Evil Queen, she stole the destiny of Madame Thorn, Faybelle's mom.

Then to escape Madame Thorn's wrath of a lost destiny, she hid in a different pocket of the fae realm

Seeing that she got a taste for cursing princesses to eternal sleep, she emerged in time to go to school to pick Snow White as her next target.

2.) How does ruling kingdoms work if destinies run on different timelines?

I think there's a reason why many characters in the eah canon universe have siblings that don't have concrete destinies.

Take Briar for example. Even if she were to sleep for 100 years after being cursed by Faybelle, she canonically has eight younger brothers who could rule the kingdom and produce heirs to rule while she slept through her 100 year timeline until she could take her place ont he throne with her supposed true love

Historically also, kingdoms rise and fall all the time. If Ashlynn is supposed to live in poverty and be abused by her step mother and step sisters, it would make sense if her kingdom fell or was conquered and that is what drove her family to poverty. Then if she marries say a random Charming (which is canon that there are multiple unrelated Charming families) who isn't bound by a destiny, she is following the story of marrying a handsome prince. Then, once they're married, that is the next Cinderella kingdom.

3.) What about the stories where they aren't supposed to grow up as royalty?

Think back to Briar again. In the more popular version of Sleeping Beauty, Aurora doesn't know she's a princess. all she knows is that she's been raised by faeries her whole life until she turned sixteen. She knows nothing of the curse she's placed under.

I believe that when many of the elder generations reach adulthood, they don't feel the need to take precautions for their children. They believe that their children must grow up knowing their fates so that when the time comes, it'll go down smoother.

4.) What's with the names?

"why would Apple be named Apple-" because Snow White is a narcissist. She has a fantastic life where she's famous, adored, rich, beautiful, and virtually untouchable. How did she get this life? Because she bit a fucking poisoned apple. She's naming her daughter after the very thing that acted as a gateway to her happiness. It's like when guys name their daughters after their ex-girlfriends because "if we didn't break up I wouldn't have the life I do now", that shit

Same with the Charmings! They all name their kids after admirable attributes because they want people to admire them. It's a word association. Like when girls are named Grace or Aria or literally any flower with an aesthetically pleasing name.

These are just a few of my own little fix-its and theories and shit. You don't have to agree with them or think they're correct, but ultimately, we're looking at the logistics of a kids show guys, I promise you not even the creators were looking this deep into it lol

[cleromancy]

i do think that insisting we should ~let~ jason get his own ~stuff~ instead of just ~stealing his big brother's~ (real actual opinion regarding jasons friendship with roy i had to see with my own two eyes) ... is coming from a very bland and ahistorical place wrt jason characterization.

like, not even going to start talking about brothers in blood bc im not going to ask you to take the "tentacle monster jason steals a nightwing suit and vores a guy" arc seriously for characterization choices...

but look, i really don't think it would be wrong to call jason the hand-me-down robin. for a while jason inherited what dick either left behind, or else walked behind him in his shadow. and looking at preboot jason specifically, post-resurrection jason has a complex relationship to the relics and symbols of the past--and what they mean to the tragedy of his life and death--where they simultaneously make him angry, he resents them, but also he actively surrounds himself with them at all times. it's part of his whole thing where he's purposely making himself a revenant; this is not something he's likely to give up doing as long as he's going by the name the red god damn hood.

anyway. robin. ...can i just say nuff said? whether its the copy-pasted circus background strawberry blond colorswap jason or how being robin gives him magic, robin was this whole thing for him, you might have heard about it. probably you can draw the connections yourself.

but as far as hand-me-down friendships go--this is, very explicitly in the text, the deal with jason!robin and donna in their very moving situation in new teen titans. she saw the uniform and wanted to react as though he were dick and look to him to lead, and at the time Jason's not at all offended, but he does have to establish that. he's not dick, which was what she was looking to him to be. and they do rekindle their relationship after jason is resurrected but ummmmm. it was in countdown lol. there was a lot going on in countdown.

anyway jason and *barbara* is significantly less on-the-page than jay and donna--btw all of this is preboot do not talk to me about post-reboot barbara. i am not joking--but he did fall into a friendship with her too, and what few interactions we do have from that time are both really cute and very reminiscent of robin-dickie and babsgirl. on top of that barbara was his tutor, and she was one of the (counting on my fingers) four. i believe. people at jason's funeral. shes notably absent *during* under the hood except for a conversation bruce and dick have about how she washed her hands of them lmao, and jason explicitly making a parallel btwn what the joker did to him and to her in the climax. after that i don't recall any incidents of her mentioning him or anything like that... not off the top of my head anyway.

anyway. there is also, of course, bruce. according to starlin, who we hate, something something bruce was lonely and missed dick so he scooped a new orphan off the street. whatever starlin. wolfman also toys with this idea but with significantly more nuance, leaning into the ways bruce might be different with a second war-- oh, excuse me, what was that?

yeah see bruce actually adopted this one

which is where the hand-me-down thing starts quivering trembling falling to pieces. it is, i think, a pretty fair reading of *whistles* the time period immediately before, up through, and after the crisis was redefining bruce and dicks history together to take it as... bruce was a lot less complicated with jason than he was with dick. not out of loving dick any less, because. well. bruces interpersonal issues have never stemmed from a deficit of love for the people he hurts, and lets down. and i do think thats a whole nother post, and its certainly not the only reading even just of the bits of canon im referencing right now, but for the sake of argument just suppose bruce was more consistent, and tbh *way* more of a dad, to robin-era jason than he was to dick.

but jason, i think, was too young to get that, without also the outside perspective that would let him see that bruce and dicks relationship wasnt *just* strained bc dick left. that actually maybe dick and bruces relationship was, fundamentally, a whole different animal than what jason had with bruce.

and we do have indications that jason saw dick as a perfect example he could never live up to (remember when i said i wasnt going to get into brothers in blood. Well i lied. its almost as gauche as it is outlandish). and as interesting as it is to consider how jasons perspective would have developed as he grew up if he had that stable loving relationship with bruce--and, imo, personally experienced it falling apart in real time the way dick did--thats not whats on the page. so, again, we have jason and these relationships and perspectives from before his death, frozen forever, and we have jason the revenant wreaking havoc on two relationships in particular--the one with bruce, and the one with dick--and, for the most part, leaving the others from before his death alone. (iirc, he pretty much stumbled into the thing with donna instead of seeking her out... don't actually take my word on that one though.) even alfred--and we do actually have interactions that support that they were pretty close, it's not just fanon; among other things theres a tear-jerker that culminates in alfred and jasons ghost having tea together--jason doesn't especially make any attempt to connect (or menace, as the case may be) except for the fucking rare first edition book thing, which was 100% about bruce anyway. god i love the fucking first edition book thing.

anyway. after his big bad master plan very literally blows up in his face, jason proceeds thereafter to rattle around the dc universe(s), deeply lonely and ever so fucking unwell, aimlessly menacing people, causing ruckuses, being a scoundrel, etc. also! murder. lots n lots of murder. he's a busy little bee. (for the record--anytime someone says jason tried to kill someone, go ahead and double check that for yourself. imo the only time A Wild Jason Attacked! and its actually ambiguous whether he expected them to survive--preboot--is battle for the cowl. generally speaking when jason puts his whole hoodussy into killing someone, he succeeds.) (battle for the cowl is also, for the record, one of the worst books detective comics comics has ever fucking shat out. worse than the tentacle monster jason vore arc, which is at least FUN. ----and also, i do think its worth noting that both possible victims of gun batman [large version, not to be confused with gun batman small version], tim and damian, are up and about pretty soon after what do look like potentially lethal injuries. and tim Jason does have pretty good reason to think died albeit from a wound that absolutely should not have killed him (but from jasons pov its like he hit tim with a batarang that shattered and killed him instantly which is. really funny). it's just like. we don't really know what was going thru tony daniels mind at the time. like *if* tony daniel had any thoughts at all, its entirely possible all he had between his ears writing/drawing it was lint and elevator music.) (this isnt even me being a jason apologist, this time anyway. i think if jason had killed tim for real that would have been high camp. battle for the cowl is just so goddamn badly written and stupid.)

anyway. no, i don't think what jason needs is to Stop Stealing Dick's Friends. i also think that "he was dicks first >:(" re roy is the dumbest argument ever to say as a person reading comics, but also extremely funny bc. well. dick would agree with you. dick would love it if jason got his own friends and left his (not jason's >:()(dick's)(dick's friends) alone. however like. dick grayson is not well. i know i distracted you by talking at length about what an absolute basket case jason is, but dick is also an insane person and prone to irrational jealousy and can not, and should not, get everything he wants. sorry dickie but the good news is: theyll still be your friends even if they're also jasons friends. and, given the fact that jason is extraordinarily prickly and difficult to get along with (on purpose), theyll probably even still like you better.

anyway look. what it boils down to is, post-resurrection jason as a character will always be defined by his own death. not only is it the central trauma of his life, he actively remade himself around it. and part of that is how he relates now as the self-made revenant to the hand-me-down pixie boots he used to fill. and you want him to completely stop doing this...why? because itd be "healthier"? what are you, a cop?

but no really like. yeah actually i do want jason to make some better choices, be on the stable side, be a fully developed antihero who poses a moral counterpoint to the bats, asks difficult questions, causes problems on purpose but not in a way where he's purposely burning down everything he loves, etc. i do want those things. but i think ripping him away from his past makes (...made...) him unrecognizable, and generic, and doesnt really take the character in an interesting direction that actually tracks with the character concept established in under the hood and developed (such as it was) in the *waves hands* aforementioned stories. according to ~me~ anyway, obviously when it comes to writing everyone can do what they want forever, unfortunately up to and including my enemy scott lobdell who i would dearly love to kill with a rock. for his crimes.

did i ever actually explain why i think its interesting & compelling for jason personally to keep throwing him at dicks friends? ...maybe not. but i did lay some groundwork and talk about one of my favorite boys. and in the end well roy is one of my other favorite boys so like. stream green arrow, vote worlds finest: teen titans, put your money where your mouth is and support our boy. (i am referring to roy obviously. jason can die in a ditch.)

[mercutio-the-velaryon]

Hello stranger, I saw you asking about gen v supe names so I come bearing offerings:

For Marie, the best I've heard so far is Heartstring (which I think would work especially well if we're imagining vought's influence, and trying to push Marie as the new Starlight) I also like Heartstopper and Queen of Hearts, but I think those lean more towards villain names

For Emma, she could keep Cricket, but I like the idea of her picking something to do with her giant form, so: Giantess, or Colossa, or Titania

For Jordan, (now realistically vought would chew them up and give them the most cliche, cringy name possible, but ignoring that) my personal favorite is Pulse or Pulsar.

For Cate, I've seen Push as a good option, but I also like Siren, Whisper, or Piper (as in like the pied piper)

For Andre, I hate to say it but I think he'd just take up Polaris. Though I also think Magneta, (I know it sounds like magneto but TB universe doesn't know that) or Steel would work, I could also see Vulcan (the Roman god of metal) being cool but that might be too niche. (Metallo would be my first choice but it's been used sadly)

For Sam, tbh Sam's powers are pretty stock, so he could probably pick anything he wants. I could see him taking up something that follows the same format as his brother, so: _____ boy (ironically the first choice that I think would come to Sam's mind is superboy, but that is of course off limits, though personally, I'd find it hilarious) maybe Ultra Boy or Power Boy, or the Strong Man (who am I kidding these are all terrible, I've got nothing for Sam... Super Sam?)

Really though when you look at naming conventions (both in the boys and in superhero tradition overall) a lot of heroes' names don't have a ton to do with their powers and are either: highly generic (Superman, Mr. Fantastic, Captain Marvel, Wondee Woman etc) or have to do with a gimic that isn't necessarily related to their powers, so there's actually quite a bit of wiggle room, to just pick whatever sounds good.

Omggg these are great, I wanted to write an au set in the near future, where the cast had their superhero names so thank you for this if you would kindly allow me to steal these names for that purpose 👀👀

Heartstring is so good, it fits Marie so perfectly I gasped because yes exactly. I was thinking Emma should have a name change to kind of symbolise her regaining her autonomy from her mother with how she was forced to portray herself, I'm feeling Titania tbh. I really really like Pulse for Jordan simple effective love love love. Siren for Cate is insane cause not only does it encompass the nature of her powers but it also speaks to how she's used them, how she's lulled her friends into a false sense of security then caused them harm (wiped their memories) like yesssssssss. Ugh this is such a good listttt. Andre I think would change his name from the one he'd inherit from his dad, I was workshopping something like Silver Bandit, Heavy Metal or Ironclad (already in marvel lmao fml) or Steel Knight to pay homage to his rebel without a cause energy. I wanted just Steele but that's already a version of superman I think, John Irons I believe holds that mantle. I think even just Ultra would work as a name for Sam. Or maybe just The Boy like how Kimiko's The Female idk.

Thank you this is so helpful!!!!!

[raayllum]

puzzle house thoughts

Kpp'Ar "mysteriously disappeared" and now we know exactly how (thanks Viren)

There's a card game you can play with cards based after the six primal sources, it seems

Claudia (here) and Ezran (1x02) figuring out Kpp'Ar's puzzle stone doors

THRERE'S SOMETHING CALLED DARK LIGHT THAT'S LIGHT YOU CAN'T SEE AAH

moving hallways <3

Claudia (here) and Rayla (BH) having to adjust to abandonment/absence of multiple figures. Claudia leaving disaster wherever she goes...

"If he left a surprise for us... maybe he left a note or a letter too" just stab me and it'd hurt less

He really was a grandfather figure to them i Hate it here

solutions and puzzles and traps they're getting me real good about that goddamn cube thematically i'm so mad

"i'm... alive?" "yup, thanks to magic!" and here it begins

getting really strong long suffering big brother soren vibes

"But none of this is magic. It's just statues and machines"

claudia apologizing to the statue unicorn and giving its horn back Killed Me

"It wouldn't have smooshed you. It was a spike trap. It would have just stabbed you" [whispers softly] don't

NOT BABY CALLUM TALKING ABOUT HIS BIO DAD

"Nothing makes sense." "Oh. Yeah. I... I know how that feels. Um, you know, wh-when I lost my Dad, it was hard. I didn't... I don't want to think about it, but my Mom said that we have to grieve. That we should remember everything we love about the people we've lost. Keep them here" [hand over heart] "Not try to hide from it. It's okay to be sad."

Callum intentionally giving Claudia ideas in the library and not understanding her takeaways is now 2/2

Everyone who was like "dark mages would never baselessly steal and imprison sapient / sentient 'magical creatures' for dark mage uses" owes me like, a thousand dollars

"I thought I knew who he was. And then he disappeared" / "But I'm not evil. It's me. You know me"

NOT CLAUDIA IMMEDIATELY THINKING ABOUT THE GIANT'S FAMILY i hate it here

"Your heart is not darkened [...] I see sadness in you"

"Everyone is acting so weird! And wrong! And everything is broken! Soren was sick, and then Kpp'Ar disappeared, and then Soren got better but then Mom and Dad started arguing and then mom - she - she left."

"You will find a way. Like river through rock."

"Kpp'Ar wanted key for seeing. [I] am no key. I was keeper of the scroll. Is no key. [...] Maybe what broke [Kpp'Ar]. Puzzle [he] could not solve. Secret of the scroll is hidden in plain sight."

NOT THE SNAKE BRACELET BEING A GIFT FROM KPP'AR AND SOMETHING CLAUDIA USES TO UNDO CHAINS. AAAH

"I've been messing things up, and everyone's angry at me. What if they're right? What if I'm... not good?" "Most humans think I'm a monster. You help. You see me as person. Your heart? It will see."

"Find me again someday, Claudia. In a place less... dark."

"I just don't know what do with all this" feelings. inheritance callum vibes

"But I'll always be here for you, Claudia. I promise you that." "Thanks Dad. I'll be here, too."

[rise-my-angel]

Generally, what motivates you?

But on another note, I have attempted counting the names of all the children Reader and Jon have to name after people they've lost. So far it's five. No doubt that will increase though. Anyway I have some personal headcanons for them:

Obvious ones first:

Eddard and Lyanna: I don't really have additional things to say, just that them being little mini Reader and Jon is adorable.

Other ones I am suggesting

Robb: cue some in joke that Reader named a son after her dead ex, but this is a joke I imagine only Jon is allowed to make. Has a sort of half rivalry half admiration for his older brother (what over, I don't know really. I assume Eddard inherits his fathers fighting skills, in which case Robb also strongly looks up to Jon)

Rickon: I don't have much to say other than maybe he could be the twin of the next one but I have other headcanons I prefer to this.

Shireen: This one is my favourite. Bonus points if she's the youngest. She would be the baby. Hurt the baby and you will have a pack of half a dozen wolves ready to kill you. Another cute thought is her having a similar reading passion as her namesake. Her favourite phrase is "Do you have another book for me Uncle Sam, pwease?". Yes, Jon does half jokingly (not really) envy Sam for stealing his youngests attention in this regard. And yes, he does try winning her back by stockpiling a personal library for her. His excuse being "education".

You are on the right track I can tell you that. All those names are on the list for sure. If not the readers mind, they certainly are on Jons. The reader doesn't quite know how to say she would want a daughter to be named Shireen, but Jon already has that locked and loaded. He knows he's giving you another daughter so you can call her that (having little Lyanna is so cemented in his mind Jon doesnt even consider that it would be when you eventually have two daughters the second would be named, he already thinks of Lyanna in terms of shes already a sure thing)

Sam would love little Shireen. She is the epitome of young reader, tiny as hell even more then Lyanna was. So because shes so small she prefers to stay inside rather then out in the courtyard with her brothers fighting and she ends up with Sam a lot as he has her help with his work and read things out loud to him, to help her skills.

Robb I have plans for, that I haven't divuged so I won't say a lot but you are correct in that he'd have a very friendly rivalary with Eddard. Jon raises them though the way his father tried to raise he and Robb. That even though young Robb isnt expected to inherit anything, he trains and educates him to be Eddards right hand man, his closest advisor the way Ned once wished Jon could be for Robb.

Rickon, I'm curious what other headcanons you have about him because I'd love to hear more ideas!