#i have a lot of thoughts like this for many chapters

[creature-phases]

In the in universe batfamily fandom there’s a relatively famous (infamous?) subgenre of fic known as the “Billionaire Bats AU” that has the Wayne family as the Bat family.

It spawns from a fic of the same name that first came out shortly after Tim started publicly appearing as Robin and is running to this day (though uploads are far less frequent)

When it first got popular there was a small amount of time where Bruce thought Tim was writing it because it got a little too many things right. Though he is able to rule that out after he finds the actual author who’s just some 14 year old girl.

The fandom gets into a lot of arguments about it:

“Barbara Gordon is a random choice for being the former batgirl I mean seriously? Just cause they both have red hair doesn’t make it make sense”

“Guys RPF is icky knock it off”

“It actually makes more sense if Batman is a time traveling Dick Grayson from a bad future”

“I’m sorry I can’t get past having Tim Drake as Red Robin have you seen the guy?? The wind could knock him over”

“Bruce is really ooc here”

“I don’t like the retcon that Tim Drake was one of the Robins”

One controversial take was when the fic introduced Clark Kent as Superman because the author is a BruClark shipper and was pushing her agenda since “Superbat is basically canon” so them being the same people made it more realistic.

Bruce keeps an eye on it just in case and it has resulted in Tim and Steph having to explain so much slang to him.

“What is an OTP? Why do people keep asking for a ‘Bruce whump’ chapter??”

[extraordinarilyextreme]

on 妖 yao (and 慕声 Mu Sheng) in 永夜星河 Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (2024)

crossposted from a twitter thread!

there are SO many things i love about YYXH, but something i really appreciate is their portrayal of 妖 yao.

in ep. 10, Mu Sheng says, “人心有七窍，妖心只有一窍。所以大多数妖物的品行都简单执拗。” / "Human hearts have seven apertures [are complex and calculating]; but yao hearts have only one [are simple]. That's why the conduct of most yao creatures is uncomplicated and obstinate."

窍 / apertures (openings; orifices) are where the human body is connected to the outside world. as such, 七窍 seven orifices usually refers to the eyes (2), nose (2 nostrils), ears (2), and mouth (1). BUT...

in the context of the heart, it more often alludes to the virtuous character of 比干 Prince Bigan from the Ming dynasty novel 《封神演义》 Investiture of the Gods.

there, it was said that 圣人之心有七窍 / the hearts of saints [good men] have seven apertures...

...so, of course, the righteous and smart Bigan was rumored to possess a 七窍玲珑心 / lit. delicate seven aperture heart.

Bigan's story didn't end well (his heart was cut out by order of the infamous King Zhou of Shang), but 七窍玲珑 still means "clever and quick-witted."

now... 窍 can mean "opening"—but another way to say so could be 眼 / eye (or, "hole"). that is, we can draw a near-equivalency between 七窍玲珑心 / lit. seven-chambered heart and 多心眼 / lit. many heart's eyes; an overabundance of concern...

in particular, 多心眼 (or to say that someone 心眼多) not only implies wit and sharpness (i.e., "having a lot of thoughts"), but also some level of cunning and shrewdness. that is, to be "mindful of many things" means one is "considering of many things" and "calculating."

hence, returning to Mu Sheng's explanation: humans are crafty, always thinking of a hundred other variables and planning another hundred steps ahead. (that's why humans betray and deceive and hurt one another...)

but yao are simple.

yao don't have so many of these excess considerations. if they are hungry, they will seek to feed. if they are hurt, they will fight back. if they are scared, they will hide. if they are cared for, they will respond with equal gentleness.

in other words: yao are not human.

and this distinction is what made so many classic xianxias and yao-centric stories so compelling (think 白素贞 Bai Suzhen from the romance folktale 白蛇传 White Snake Legend).

to discuss our beloved 慕声 Mu Sheng as an example: it can be easy to say he has a jiejie-complex or is almost yandere-like about 慕瑶 Mu Yao, but we have to remember that as half-yao, he doesn't operate on the same frame of reference as humans. Mu Yao is the one person who has been consistently kind to him since he was young, and so he will reciprocate that kindness to (human standards of) extremity. likewise, when our cutie-pie 凌妙妙 Ling Miaomiao regards him with kindness, Mu Sheng will feel inclined to answer that with affections a hundred or a thousand times stronger.

though he grew up among humans, Mu Sheng's yao half should not be forgotten. humans may be fickle in their feelings; but yao (in general) will not be. once they have found someone worth their affections, they will love fiercely and to a terrifying degree. you can also understand it as yao not necessarily posessing the same understanding of 分寸 / "propriety" that humans do.

so, again, yao are not human—and that is why their stories have always been so compelling to us. we place limits on our conduct and behavior for a variety of socially-imposed and learned reasons, but yao as an imperfect reflection of our human selves allow us to live out our "fantasies" of extremity.

i think the new era of xianxias have largely traded that yao-human distinction for other things, like eye-catching CGI, flowy costumes, and the three lives, three worlds formula—which are, of course, not inherently bad.

YYXH itself is part of this new chapter of storytelling/the genre of xianxias after all (esp. given its existence as a 古偶), but that is ultimately precisely why it stands out so much to me.

is it the first or only xianxia in recent years to show that yao are nuanced? that yao are neither all good nor all bad? — of course not!

but i think it is undoubtedly among the very, very few in recent years that has successfully portrayed just what it is that makes yao so uniquely compelling. and that is due in large part to both strong writers (who also did 《苍兰诀》 Love Between Fairy and Devil) and strong actors.

in short, YYXH feels like a labor of love. love for the original 《黑莲花攻略手册》 novel; love for the xianxia genre; love for storytelling, in an era driven by capitalistic cash-grabs and the ruthlessness of c-ent.

the reality of that is up for debate, but as one individual viewer, i want to say that this drama has made me very happy. it is both respectful of and pays homage to the yao of classic xianxias.

and to be able to share and enjoy that cultural artefact—something that is so uniquely and immutably Chinese—with others, is something that brings me a lot of joy. ✨

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Mystery of love

Previously / Next chapter

a/n thank you for reading peeps! It really means a lot to me. I love writing this story so much, oddly I find so much comfort in it. 🫧

summary: when two lost souls meet at their mutual friend’s party sparks fly, the question is if whatever they feel can actually bloom into something more? But that’s the mystery of love.

warning: none?, burnout

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Noah barely slept that night. You had cried in his arms till the first blips of sun snuck through the open window. Neither of you had paid it any attention last night and now Noah was blinded by the light stealing those precious couple of hours of sleep he could have gotten. It felt foreign to him at first. Yes, he had partners before but he couldn’t recall holding them while they cried. It was mostly slamming doors and half-hearted apologies. This felt so raw. As you quivered in his embrace. Clinging to him as if he was your only lifeline. He hoped that you couldn’t feel his heart hammering because he was clueless. Suddenly aware that he didn’t know what it meant to actually comfort someone. Someone you truly cared for.

When you had finally rung yourself out, falling asleep with your face hidden in the crook of his neck, Noah had just wrapped his arms even tighter around you. Nuzzling his face against the side of your head. He breathed in the scent of your shampoo. Letting the familiar scent lull him. He thought he could find peace then but every single twitch of your body had his eyes shooting open. Every sound in the corridor outside the apartment complex made his muscles tense. You were scared that were your own words. But of what? That night events? Your ex in general?

Noah wondered how much of your darkness matched his. How many demons did you battle on a daily? And was it because of them that Noah felt this pull to you? As if your souls had met prior and now after recognizing one another, refused to get lost again. So Noah drifted in and out of sleep. With either you or his mind-drawn nightmares pulling him back into consciousness.

Even if his body was exhausted there was something so special about feeling your body's warmth against his chest. So much different to the empty and cold bed that he was used to. You had shifted in your sleep, turning to your side. Noah’s he had no choice but to turn with you, spooning you as you slept. Your intertwined hands resting against the plush sheets and something fluffy… Noah lifted his head to find Marsh curled in a ball on top of your interlocked palms.

A slight smile spread onto Noah’s face as he moved his thumb up and down to scratch the fuzzy belly, causing the cat to sprawl out in satisfaction. He wanted to freeze moments like this. They were so rare and fragile that Noah was afraid to take a deeper breath, in case of disturbing the peace. Of chasing the blissful feeling away. But the bubble got busted as his phone rang, through the quiet space.

Cursing under his breath Noah reached back, trying to find the phone, digging through the sheets, only to be met with your slightly open eyes, glancing at him, “Go back to sleep”, he muttered, brushing his palm over his forehead as he sat up, climbing out of bed.

“Hello”, his tone was slightly breathless as he closed the door to your bedroom moments later. “Noah the meeting starts in 30min”, Jolly’s voice, an unimpressed one, greeted him on the other side. “Shit”, Noah grunted, rubbing a hand over his face. He had forgotten all about it. “Shit indeed”, Jolly sighed, Noah knew that he wasn’t angry with him. The whole situation was fucked and quite frankly he hadn’t made it easy for everyone. “Do you want me to cancel?”, Jolly asked, “Cause…”, “Postpone it or give them my phone I’ll talk to them”, Noah pleaded, pinching the bridge of his nose. A slight sound of the door opening made him turn back. “Go”, you muttered, tired face looking up at him. “No”, Noah shook his head. “Just give them my phone, Jolly, I’ll talk with them and… I’ll come by the studio today. We’ll finalize it all”, he promised. There was a brief pause before Jolly sighed again, “Matt will send you the contact info”. Noah nodded even if Jolly couldn’t see him, eyes locking with you as you watched him.

It felt as if someone had hit you on the back of your head but you guessed that’s what crying for hours would do to a person. You didn’t remember the last time you cried like this. Let alone cry in front of someone else. But no matter how much you had wanted to push Noah away, you couldn’t seem to find the strength to do it last night. So now you anxiously stirred your tea as you listened to him arguing over the phone. You had only exchanged brief words before you had let him go into the bedroom to take the call. He had missed a meeting because he was here. You were already messing up his life. You had grown to be a burden…

Your thoughts got cut off by Noah letting out a frustrated growl, before no doubt throwing his phone onto the bed. You pressed Marsh closer to your chest, giving his head heaps of kisses, before the door swung open. “That sounded intense”, you muse watching as Noah stepped into the kitchen, shaking his head. “The tour cancelation goes live on Friday but…”, he huffed throwing his head back with a sigh. “But”, you urged, letting Marsh sit on the stool on the other side, leaning against the table. “They want us to do one last show so I could make sure that I’m incapable of continuing the tour”, Noah flexed his jaw, wrapping his arms around himself. “That’s bullshit”, you grunted. “We have contractual obligations”, he explained, pressing his fingers to his temples. “It’s your health we’re talking about”, you argued back, stepping closer to him, fingers reaching for his tensed shoulders as you let your hands work the knots. “I can do one more show”, Noah sighed, hands reaching out for your waist as he spread his legs so you can stand in between them, “I just know that it will be bad vocally…”, it didn’t take a genius to hear the anxiety in his voice. And the fact that something he loved was now causing him so much distress made your heart ache.

“Okay”, you muttered, reaching up to hook a finger beneath his chin, turning his face up to meet yours, “We’ll do that show and then prioritize you. Get you back onto your feet”, you stated firmly with a slight nod. You would deliver proper meals to him yourself if you had to, force him to lay in bed. “I should be looking after you this morning”, Noah sighed, pressing his head into your stomach before pulling back up to look at you. “You shouldn’t, I’m fine”, you shook your head, “you on the other hand…”, letting your words trail off you just looked at him for a moment. “I thought I looked handsome”, Noah wiggled his eyebrows, making you smile slightly, “You would, if you took care of yourself”, you mused threading your fingers through his hair. Noah chuckled slightly before clearing his throat, “How are you?”, you knew that just like the last time he was choosing to acknowledge the inevitable. You appreciated it but the thought of being in the same vulnerable position made your bones quiver. “Thank you for staying”, you muttered instead, squeezing his hands. “If you can’t tell I’m hard to get rid of”, Noah shrugged, reaching out to push a strand of hair away from your face. “Guess we have some things in common after all”, you mused, before turning away from him to grab Noah a cup of his own.

You had barely found time to eat or for a matter of fact human, over the next few days. Work was a good distraction that you welcomed with open arms. With Friday’s concert approaching Noah had grown distant too. And for the first time longer gaps between his replies had filled your stomach with dread. You knew he was busy and quite frankly you were glad that he was putting all of his focus into the show ahead.

Matt forwarded you an email with a pass to the backrooms. One you had quickly refused to take. That was Noah’s world. Interlinking them would make it real. Whatever was brewing between you both would get real. Because you had spent quite some time thinking of how his arms felt wrapped around your body. The fact that the smell of him lingered in your bed. Or that you had slept hugging the pillow he slept on just to bring yourself some comfort.

“You’re not listening”, Dolores's voice made you blink a couple of times. “I wasn’t, I’m sorry”, you shook your head, turning to the next list of new arrivals. “No boy in a black car?”, she put her walking stick to the side, gesturing towards the window. “No, he’s busy”, you chuckled softly, “But I’ll send your best wishes to him”, you mused, throwing her a smile. “As if he wants wishes from me”, she scoffed, “You’ve been leaving in his car ever since though”, her words made you halt.

“Are you spying on me, Dolores?”, you teased her. “No, I just have good glasses and a window to the street”, she shrugged, making you shake your head. She watched you for a moment as if contemplating her next words, “You got your spark back”, Dolores clasped her hands together, “He’s a good influence on you”, “Ma’am your free pass on keeping me company doesn’t come with an insight into my love life”, you pointed out, turning to reach for the next box. “I never referred to it as a love life, you said it yourself, hun”, a mischievous smile spread across her face as if she had just caught you red-handed.

Your phone pinged something that also never happened because you always kept it on silent. But since you haven’t heard from Noah since last night you had left the sound on.

Noah: Thinking of you. This shit sucks.

Your heart both fluttered and broke as you read the message.

Y/N 🤍: Dolores says hi. You got this.

You quickly typed out. Smiling at the sight of the three bubbles pending.

Noah: are you ignoring the fact that I miss you?

Y/N 🤍: nope…

Noah: good, I’ll miss us for both of us.

Throwing your head back you tried to fight your smile. “Love life it seems to be”, Dolores mused making you shake your head, “I won’t admit to any of it”, “You don’t have to, darling, it shows”, reaching over the counter, Dolores squeezed your hand, before returning to look out the window.

Noah was slowly sinking again. The noises were too loud. His clothes made him feel as if he was suffocating. Not to mention the mask that seemed to suck all the oxygen out. It was a crippling feeling. Watching the rest of the band being solid and ready to go and him barely dragging along.

“How are you holding up?”, Nick slapped Noah’s shoulder. Noah slowly lifted his head. “I’m fine”, he muttered, knowing full well that they all saw through him. He wasn’t an easy person to be around lately. But he just couldn’t do it anymore. “Are we going through with this or are we opting out?”, Matt asked also stepping into the room. “We’re here aren’t we?”, Noah bit back, throwing his head back.

“We can opt-out, make this the time we announce the cancellation”, Matt reasoned but Noah knew that he couldn’t. With fans already standing by the stage. Singing bits of their songs. Standing outside the stadium all night to see them. Robbing them of this felt low. Even if he doubted that they would thank him for his lackluster performance.

Matt let out a sigh, “I’m pulling my last card out, after this I have nothing to offer”, he stated, stepping out of the room. Noah frowned slightly, trying to understand what exactly he meant before the doors swung back open and it felt as if someone directly forced a handful of air into his lungs. He met your eyes across the room. Before his gaze fell onto the bad omens shirt you had on. “Don’t get used to this, I was forced into it”, you grunted, pinching the black material. And for the first time in days a genuine smile spread across Noah’s lips, “Might take a picture to remember this moment”, he mused, watching as you waved to the rest of his team, introducing yourself to people you hadn’t yet met. “Use force to make him reasonable”, Matt muttered, squeezing your shoulder, you simply tapped onto his chest before he motioned for everyone else to leave. You just stood there, right by the door as everyone walked out. Eyes on Noah the whole time.

Only when the doors clicked shut did you step forward, erasing the distance between you two. “I wasn’t expecting you here”, he muttered, hands instantly reaching for your waist, something he found himself doing often as of late. “Yeah, since you didn’t invite me”, you teased. “I don’t want you to see a mediocre show and form an opinion about me”, Noah shrugged.

“No self-degradation, I do enough of that for both of us”, you pinched his chin between your fingers, pulling his head up, “I’m failing people, Y/n”, Noah grunted pulling away. “No, you’re failing yourself but that’s a topic for another day”, you sighed, “I’m not here to argue”. “I’m sorry”, Noah sighed, pulling you closer, head hanging low. Your fingers once again brushed through his silky hair as you offered him the same thing he had offered you. Silence. Silence to be filled with thoughts nagging. To reach out.

“I’m just so tired. I don’t feel alive some days”, he admitted with a shake of his head, “I want to do so much but fuck… sometimes getting out of bed is a task itself”. You could see it too. He was like a functioning addict. Slowly breaking down but still slipping through others' eyes. “You need to stop before your body shuts off, Noah”, you urged him, cupping his face. He instantly turned his head to the side kissing the inside of your palm. “Can you wait for me here?”, he asked, voice so small, you had to bite the inside of your cheek. “I’ll be right here”, you promised, leaning in to press your forehead against his.

“I’m so fucking happy that we met in that awful party”, Noah sighed, making you chuckle, “I’m not too keen that you stole Dolores’s heart, however”. Noah snorted, shaking his head, “Don’t be jealous, everyone in your life seems to love me”. “Now you’re just being full of yourself”, you rolled your eyes but deep down felt this wave of relief watching him slowly coming to life. “Ask Marsh, he’s also on my side”, Noah shrugged. “Stealing my cat is a low blow, Sebastian”, you jabbed a finger into his chest, meeting his eyes, that seemed to have gone alive the same way yours did when you two were together. “I intend to steal more than just your cat”, Noah muttered, sending a shiver down your spine. “Not looking for a boyfriend remember?”, you pointed out, “Yeah, and I’m still not offering to be one… yet”, he shrugged.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

@broken0mens @supersquirrel1996 @lma1986 @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard @private-vampire @mayaslifeinabox

[ranticore]

I've often seen people ask you for drawing advice(which yes absolutely!) but what kind of writing advice could you give someone who wants to start? (or just narratives as a whole)

Ok my biggest advice and the thing I always spend most time on when editing is that u should tell the audience way less than you think you should tell them. Provide information sure but don't draw connections and don't hold a reader's hand. Like for example one minute ago I was reading over a paragraph with the final two sentences (paraphrased): "The word 'faery' didn't quite make it out of his mouth [in reference to himself]. He'd never thought of himself in those terms" and my editing comment was to nix that last sentence entirely because it's just saying out loud what the previous sentence is telling us, like holding ur hand and pointing at it saying "hey this is what that last sentence meant btw". it's easy to end up with a lot of that but you need to go back and cut all of those out. think about a reader drawing their own judgements, how much more engaging it is

Other random stuff I've picked up over the years

Kerb your worldbuilders disease ur writing a story not an encyclopaedia

Read your paragraph aloud to identify repetitive or weirdly structured sentences

There should be a clear causal chain running the length of the narrative - x happened because of y, which happened because of z, and so on. No matter how many links in the chain you should know it start to finish

Written media gives you an unlimited time budget, a reader can take as long as they like with it. You don't have to make it quick and snappy. You get to show & explore things that visual media can't, so take advantage of it. Also ditch every piece of writing advice which is like "trim all the fat and also imagine camera angles and scene cuts like it's a movie" because it's not a movie and you aren't constrained into a short runtime.

First draft is rough it's supposed to be rough just write it

It's impossible to write dialogue that nobody would ever say.. easy to scoff and think "nobody talks like this" but they do

I can't in good conscience advise everybody do this but the slush draft (draft 0 as it were) of stbh was narrated entirely in first person by the pov character in each chapter, with the framing device that they were explaining their actions to a judgemental third party. This was just done for fun before any other world building or even plot it was just to get the characters right first & to sort out how they would attempt to justify their actions, when they'd try to make themselves sound better (or worse), and just their voice in general. It ended up being absolutely invaluable

[aihoshiino]

chapter 165 thoughts

Aqua Hoshigan Status: It's Officially Hoshinover

Chapters Until The Story Ends Without The 143 Kiss Being Addressed Or Acknowledged: 1

damn i guess they really did just kill his ass

I'm gonna be so real with you gamers, I kind of don't have a lot to say about this one either lol. Which I acknowledge sounds completely wild given the Everything that happens in it, but most of my meat and potatoes analysis in these reviews comes from breaking down characterization and we're flying through everything at such breakneck pace that we're barely getting any characterization.

It continues to drive me bugfuck insane that Ai is completely absent from this finale despite the importance of 15 Year Lie. Its imagery is plastered all over but whenever we return to it, we just see Aqua. Not only that, but Gotanda is the one who insists on pushing the movie through for Aqua. 15YL as a story about Ai's true self and her tragedy is now officially taking a backseat to being about Aqua's tragic death and legacy. It was already bad enough that we spent so much time in the Movie Arc not actually focusing on Ai to the extent that, as everyone pointed out, based on what we saw on-page it was basically a Sad Kamiki Movie, but this really is just pissing right in the wound at this point lmao.

The funeral scene also serves as the final nail in the coffin for any Secretly Alive Aqua copes, which is kind of a relief. I still don't like how Aqua's death played out, but I think dragging it out for four chapters then going "sorry you thought i was /srs when i was just /jk" would have been infinitely more insulting. I don't like this ending, but I can respect that Akasaka seems to be sticking to his guns on it, even if we still do have like a whole chapter left for him to whip around and go "I WAS /JK ALL ALONG!!!!" but I don't see it happening.

Anyway, yeah! The funeral! Uh. Is it gonna sound weird if I say I felt kind of like… grossed out reading this the first time? Like, I really don't know how else to explain the visceral "why the fuck is the author making me read this" reaction I had to it. I think it's just because Kana is so fucking distraught here and the drama is just so hammy and so over the top that it feels kind of… ech. I dunno. I just really didn't vibe.

It doesn't help that this is part of a much broader pattern in the back half of OnK of Aka getting us right up close into the gory details of a character's complete mental breakdown and suffering and then spend zero time or focus on their recovery. This happened with Ruby all over the Movie Arc and this many times and with this little runway to the end of the series, it just starts to feel exploitative, like a way to cheaply pull at our heartstrings without doing the work to build everyone back up after tearing them down.

also pre-emptively dreading all the fuel this is going to add to the fires of People Who Are Weird And Misogynistic About Kana but she could die saving innocent children from a burning building and people would find reasons to be shitty about her lmao

we really are not seeing ruby's reaction to finding out her brother was dead huh lol

I will say the one thing I didn't Actively Dislike about this chapter was Ruby, though. I was honestly starting to get pretty skeeved out with how many people were gleefully predicting or actively wishing for her immediate suicide purely for ship motivated reasons and I was also worrying that the story was going to pretend that Ruby doesn't like. Have a life and support system outside of Aqua. Yes, she should absolutely be affected by his death but this period of her shutting down only to drag herself back onto her feet that we seem to be getting feels way more in line with pre-Movie Arc flanderization Ruby and I'll take that W where I can get it.

god. I haven't even talked about Kamiki's supposed serial killer cult. I just don't have the strength. Like… that's self-evidently stupid, right? I don't need to explain to you why that's ridiculous and unbelievable? You don't need me to tell you why it's fucking crazy that we're getting this information about the alleged overarching antagonist of the series not only in the second-to-last chapter of the entire series but after he was already dead, right? We can just move on? Ok good. jesus christ.

FINAL CHAPTER NEXT WEEK…

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

I harp a lot on how I don't think the current episodic release structure for Arknights does it many favors in how it wants to tell its stories, and how it's story manifests for us, but there are some benefits to this type of long form structure, and it's moments that get better with hindsight. It's not impossible to do this in a more contained medium, as this is often a staple of the mystery genre of literature and film, but it is uncommonly employed in video games to great effect, with their contained stories often being played much more straight.

One of the benefits of releasing longer-form content is the ability to both make callbacks and to give additional details that change the meaning in earlier scenes. The most famous in Arknights, at least for me, is the scene in Wei's office in Chapter 2.

In it's original context, this is Wei Yenwu being aloof to the threat of Reunion, not even bothering to properly remember their leader's name. Once you learn though that Talulah is not just Reunion's leader but Wei Yenwu's niece, and suddenly the scene has new context. This is the scene I point to when I want to talk about how much of a slimeball Wei Yenwu is at this point in the story. This isn't him being aloof, this is Wei deliberately holding back information in order to manipulate for himself a better position. By not revealing his stakes, he wants to hold more power at the negotiation tables with Rhodes Island for Lungmen.

Of course he knows the name of the leader of Reunion, how could he not? How could he not remember letting Kaschey go and take her away, prioritizing Lungmen over the safety of his dead brother's daughter? But he's not going to show that to Rhodes Island, a bunch of strangers he intends to use in poor faith.

Now let's talk about a conversation in Chapter 10 you likely haven't thought about in quite some time!

That's right! We're here to talk about Nezzsalem's confrontation with Kal'tsit when she docks with Londinium. This is a really interesting scene that primarily serves initially to offer even more mystique to Kal'tsit and Theresa's assassination. After all, Kal'tsit and Nezzsalem knew each other, they even fought together at least once. The King of the Nachzehrer! He was there when Theresa was assassinated, and here he is now, inquiring about the death of the last pure Wendigo. None of this seems out of the question, but with some more time, it's possible to find this scene strange.

How did he know? Sure, the Nachzehrer thrives off of life and death, but they're more focused on war. The passing of lives to the Myriad Souls is the concern of the Banshees, not the Nachzehrer. Patriot is also not a Sarkaz hero, at least not directly, since he was a Patriot for Ursus, not Kazdel, and he was a supporter of Theresa at that. Given everything we know now, it's pretty unlikely that Patriot would have followed Theresis to Londinium. But it's still not completely out of the question. Babel reveals that the Military Council in its fledgling state knew about where he was.

This is a pretty small aside after Nezzsalem defeats Logos, but it managed to hit me like a brick, because the first thing I remembered was Nezzsalem confronting Kal'tsit about the death of Patriot. Patriot was not just a Wendigo to Nezzsalem, he was something of a son to him. Sure, he might not have been Nezzsalem's only student, but the Nachzehrer are not shown to be a particularly sentimental bunch pretty much ever, so the Sudaram going "Yeah. Your kid" is impactful here. Nezzsalem stands, having beaten Laqueramaline's son in combat, after Aefanyl had proven himself worthy of respect, as an old man thinking about his own son.

This reframes the conversation in Chapter 10. Nezzsalem knows Kal'tsit, it's implied he's known her for a very long time, and it's likely he's seen the different lives of Kal'tsit and likely knew of her involvement in the invasion of Kazdel a couple hundred years ago. So it's now also got that added element of the King of the Nachzehrer coming up to the landship and shaking Kal'tsit by the shoulders going "WHAT DID YOU DO". It provides new context for his anger. Kal'tsit was directly involved in the death of his foster son, just as she was directly involved previously in the destruction of Kazdel and one of the figures behind Babel.

It also adds some depth to Nezzsalem's acceptance. He died a warrior, maybe against one of the most fitting opponents upon all of Terra, and knowing that Patriot chose Kal'tsit quells that anger.

It's all neat. There's more that can be extrapolated from this, such as this providing something of an explanation for Patriot's military ability and potentially even his witchcraft, but those aren't as important or interesting to me. Chapter 14 is a story in a number of ways about the burden and threads of individuals who have lived an immensely long period of time, individuals who have found immortality in one way or another, and the ways that these lives ultimately intersect and weave with one another, and Patriot is another one of those patterns weaved through time.

[just-a-carrot]

Random updates on the manga...

After doing some research, I've decided I'll publish the first chapter on Webtoon when it's done. Tho it's not the best for manga-style, it seems to be the most popular, so I thought it would be easiest for people to read.

As a result, I've slighted tweaked the format to be juuuust a bit taller and with larger text so it reads well on mobile/in the app (I did a lot of tweaking and testing for my first pages dhfjdjdj)

Also as a result, I'm gonna have to tone down Genzou's mouth 🤣 Because with high profanity level it said it would automatically label it as mature and I don't want that since it would be only the language doing so (and apparently on Webtoon mature-rated comics get almost no visibility)

I have 17 pages done so far! And haven't even made it to the 4 pages I've already done so it's technically 21 lol (tho I'll need to tweak those a bit to match my new format)

I'll probably divide the first chapter into 3 episodes and publish them all at once since it seems to be recommended that you launch a comic with 3 episodes (which is probably ok anyway as it will likely be a bit long otherwise as one single episode)

I've been listening to nonstop rock Western music playlists on YouTube LOL

I'm going to get so good at drawing horses and horse-related paraphernalia after this (and dogs apparently)

I'm pleasantly surprised by how my BGs have been turning out; they feel soft yet immersive in a way that fits the vibe, and they also don't take me forever and a day to do

Iggy looks so cute in some panels I want to cry

Genzou looks so cute in some panels I almost ascend to another plane

No matter what becomes of this, this has been great for my art. I'm drawing so many new poses and angles and compositions and it's been both challenging and fun. It's a lot of stuff I think will help my future VN work, as well

I mentioned in an ask reply the other day already but I have roles in mind for both Orlam and Gidget already in future chapters if I do continue it, and there will also be a variety of smaller cameos for some other chars, too

Overall, I'm still having fun and can't stop drawing LOL I'm excited every day to work on it and finish more pages 💕

[yukiwhitetm]

5 Tim Drake-centric Must Reads

I like Tim Drake-centric fanfictions for two main reasons, although Dick Grayson is actually my favourite Robin. Firstly, Tim reminds me a lot of Peter Parker (a genius, photographer, teenage superhero with a billionaire superhero mentor who is also a father-figure to them), who is probably my favourite superhero of all time. Secondly, the big thing I love about the Batman fandom is the Bat Family (aka BatFam). I adore the sibling relationship between the characters, always just want to them be close brothers/sisters. That is why my Batman fic recommendations are Tim Drake-centric. Because during and after Tim's time as Robin we have a larger BatFam. It's the family element.

1.

A Meditation on Railroading by eggmacguffin

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types  

Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen, Complete Work

13 Jan 2022

Tags:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne

Tim Drake, Jack Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne

Bad Parent Jack Drake, Child Abuse, Trains, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Crying, Gaslighting, Coming Out, Hurt/Comfort, Family

Summary:

When he ends up ditched in Atlanta after a fight with his dad, Tim decides to do the only sensible thing: Tell no one and make the 800 mile journey back to Gotham on his own.

Because the "call Batman when you're in trouble" rule only applies when he's Robin, right?

Language: English Words: 24,696 Chapters: 5/5

Yuki Note:

If you only ever read two Batman fanfictions, then let this be the second one (The Long Way Home being the first). This is an excellent representation of gaslighting, manipulation and mental and emotional child abuse (by Jack Drake to Tim Drake) and how it can effect an adolescent child. This is such a brilliant fanfiction – highly recommended!

2.

The Long Way Home by itsnatalie

Fandoms:Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics)  

Not Rated, Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Gen, Complete Work

25 Jun 2023

Tags:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne

Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Batfamily Members

Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Reconciliation, Hurt/Comfort, Lazarus Pit Madness (not current. Mentioned in the past)

Summary:

With Jason tentatively back in the Batfamily, things are going pretty well for him--except for the whole thing with Tim. But who gives a shit about Tim Drake?

But when Jason and Tim are pulled into a frightening race for their lives inside a labyrinth that's out to kill them, they may have to look past their differences just to stay alive. Maybe along the way, they'll discover they aren't as different as they thought, and family comes in many different forms.

Language: English Words: 111,685 Chapters: 13/13

Yuki Note:

This is one of the best fanfictions I have ever read. This is written so well that it could be a published novel. However, before reading this please be aware of the horror elements throughout the story as well as the canon typical injuries, near death experiences and past mentioned child abuse in here (not by Bruce). If you only ever read one Batman fanfiction, then let it be this one.

3.

Scientific Method by vogon_poet

Fandoms: DCU, Batman - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling  

General Audiences, Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Gen, Complete Work

04 Jul 2021

Tags:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Hermione Granger, Tim Drake & Severus Snape, Tim Drake & Fred & George Weasley, Tim Drake & Tom Riddle

Tim Drake, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts cast, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tom Riddle

Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, BAMF Tim Drake, Tim Drake is a Wizard, Tim Drake is Not Red Robin, Jack and Janet Drake's A+ Parenting, Slytherin Tim Drake, Everyone from Gotham is lowkey scary, Magical Theory, Bigotry & Prejudice, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Tim Drake looks like a cinammon roll and is a cinammon roll, but will hurt you if you're racist, Activist Hermione Granger

Summary:

It’s not like he’s surprised a magic school exists— that’s probably only a seven on the scale of “crazy things Tim Drake has seen”. No, Tim’s just surprised he’s enrolled.

Part 1 of Scientific Method

Language: English Words: 133,507 Chapters: 46/46

Yuki Note:

A really fun read! Ever wanted a brilliantly clever and magical Tim Drake who is also able to see the future? Well, then this one is for you! This story covers Tim’s first and second year (he skips a year so if I recall correctly he skips to third year after his first year) and is a Fix It Fic for A Death In The Family. There is also a sequel fic in the works. Recommended!

4.

cards on the table by wesslan

Fandoms:Batman - All Media Types  

Not Rated, Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Gen, Complete Work

10 Jan 2024

Tags:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake

Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Alfred Pennyworth

Not Canon Compliant, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Tim Drake is Not a Batfamily Member, Fortune Telling, Tarot, Found Family, Tim Drake-centric, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Doesn't he always, tim is a fortune teller, Tim Drake Joins the Batfamily Late, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Divination, tim drake is a hustler, author saw ghost (1990) and somehow here we are???, Absent Parents, Stalker Tim Drake, Underage Drinking, Stephanie Brown Appreciation, Murder and violence, just a little bit, Hypothermia, Light Angst, Lies, like so much lying, Unreliable Narrator

Summary:

Tim's parents faked their deaths and fled the country years ago, but neglected to take him with them. He spent some time on the streets, and now at 16, he makes a living as a fortune teller, stalking and hustling the shit out of Gotham's elite by telling them eerily accurate fortunes based on the information he gathers about them.

His life is peculiar but he wouldn't change a thing. When he gets booked for the big Wayne Halloween party, however, he finds himself getting all tangled up with the Waynes, and the more fortunes he tells, the tighter the snare becomes.

or: Tim just wanted to scam Gotham's elite, not end up on the Batfamily's watchlist. But it seems they just won't leave him alone..

Language: English Words: 69,788 Chapters: 30/30

Yuki Note:

This has been on a lot of BatFam rec lists lately and for good reason! This is a fantastic read, a very fun and smart idea of how Tim could join the BatFam late. I really like that this Tim is a bit more down and out whilst still remaining quintessentially him (I just think it’s great that he and Jason and Steph have more to relate to one another to). I am here for all the sibling content so I love this! Highly recommended!

OK. I am disabled and am becoming very fatigued so I’m only going to recommend one more in this post, however I have a full list of 72 Batman fandom recommendations on my AO3 account here. (Please note that three of these are JayTim, however that is under the caveat that they are set in AUs where they were never adopted brothers and are great fanfictions.)

5.

The Ruination Of Responsibility by Moxibustion (RyuuzaKochou)

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics)  

Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen, Complete Work

26 Apr 2020

Tags:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Barbara Gordon

Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Kon-El | Conner Kent, Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon

Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Past Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Pre-Tim Drake/Jason Todd, If You Squint - Freeform, Protective Dick Grayson, Protective Jason Todd, Reconciliation, Extravaganza Week At The Wayne Manor, Female Tim Drake, TW: Mention Of An Offscreen Past Sexual Assault, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Non-Linear Narrative, Hurt Tim Drake

Summary:

It's Extravaganza Week at the Manor. Anything you want, anything you can dream of, as long as it's fun, fun, fun!

Timianna Drake has a somewhat fabulously complicated relationship with fun.

Language: English Words: 89,433 Chapters: 23/23

Bookmarker's Tags: Minor Character Death, Suicide

Yuki Note (from original bookmark):

I was hesitant when I went into this story, mostly because of the gender change for Tim/Timi. I am not against gender changes in stories but I find they need a point, a purpose, a reason for the change. But there is a point to Timi being a woman in this story, as it deals with the challenges, discrimination and sexism that she has to deal with in the corporate and hero world.

I really enjoyed the corporate storyline since few stories actually deal with Timi's work and the challenges therein. The family storyline is great too and I love how everything comes to a head and forces Bruce and Dick to face their failures and finally, finally do something about them. Highly recommended!

P.S. Don't worry about the Pre-Jason/Tim tag on this story. There is literally no Jason/Tim at all, in fact they don't even interact any more than Tim interacts with Cass, Steph or Dick. This is 100% Jason&Tim, a close sibling bond.

Trigger Warning: This is presently not tagged on the story but should be. It is mentioned that a minor recurring character commits suicide in the story. You don't see it, it is only mentioned. To those who find suicide triggering, be aware of this.

Enjoy! And feel free to explore my full AO3 rec list here.

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

I've seen some people hold Arya responsible over what happened to her friend Mycah at the Trident incident because according to them "she should have known her place in society and the power a lady holds over commoners". I disagree with this notion on so many levels.

First of all, Arya is only nine years old during that incident . Even if you believe that she shouldn't befriend commoners (which in my opinion she's totally allowed to, and I'll express my thoughts on it later on) shouldn't you be less harsh on the judgement of such a little kid? Even if according to you "she doesn't know her place in society", she still have plenty of years before she reaches adulthood to find the so called place she is supposed to occupy as a lady in Westerosi society.

As I said earlier on, I do believe that Arya is totally justified in befriending people who belong in a different social class from her. That's isn't only my own personal belief as someone who is anti - classism and lives in 21st century, but this is also supported by the text.

From her first introduction we know that Arya likes to befriend all sort of people.

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played monsters-and-maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their children. Fat Tom used to call her "Arya Underfoot," because he said that was where she always was. She'd liked that a lot better than "Arya Horseface."

The above passage is from the second chapter of hers, before she left Winterfell. She loves Winterfell's small folk and is loved by them in return. She is even given the nickname " Arya Underfoot" because of that behavior of hers. So, it's no secret that she associates with commoners. It's impossible for her mother and her father not to know. And yet she's never scolded for that, and Arya is scolded over plenty things by her mother and the Septa but never about the people she chooses as her companions.

It makes sense that she's allowed to associate with these people, since Bran in his own POV also expresses fondness for people who belong to a lower class (and he's also never forbidden to associate with these people) and Ned, the Winterfell's own Lord, is known to dine with people who belong to a lower class. So, it's totally okay for Arya - and for any other child of his- to follow his example.

Also, post the Trident incident, Ned has a long and serious talk with Arya. If he believed that his daughter shouldn't befriend a boy from a below class, he would express this opinion of his to Arya. But he didn't, because he didn't find anything wrong with it

The only people who find wrong Arya associating with small folk are Sansa and the Lannisters/Baratheon. The first is the only person who actually shares her distaste for Arya's company in her own POV:

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody. This Mycah was the worst; a butcher's boy, thirteen and wild, he slept in the meat wagon and smelled of the slaughtering block. Just the sight of him was enough to make Sansa feel sick, but Arya seemed to prefer his company to hers.

But we shouldn't take Sansa's view as the norm for westerosi society and especially not for Winterfell's household since her own father is okay with associating with people that belong to a lower class than theirs.

I believe that since Sansa is introduced to us as a proper little lady, some people take her views as the absolute truth when it comes to westerosi etiquette But they forget that Sansa is also a little kid who doesn't fully understand or see eye to eye with her little sister and therefore it makes sense that she views Arya's actions in a more negative light than other characters do.

As for the Lannister-Baratheon loyal family, Cersei and Joffrey have a strong distain for small folk and believe in their own superiority - but they also believe in their superiority over their fellow noble people. I guess we could say that both suffer from superiority complex and have a distorted idea of the world, so I wouldn't hold their own views as the norm, either.

I'm not saying that there aren't other nobles who believe in their own superiority over commoners and would never befriend people from a lower class, because the books contain plenty of these type of characters. I'm just saying that this isn't the absolute truth to every single noble character, aside from Arya. The kids in Winterfell are allowed to befriend people from lower classes and so are the Martell kids in the Water Gardens.

And not every monarch values so little the life of their people that they would order a little boy to be killed just because their child and crown prince, threw a fit. Ask yourself the question: if Ned Stark was the King and Robb had terrorised a little boy who played with Arya/any other little noble kid, would Ned order Mycah's death? Or would he have a long talk with his heir on how he shouldn't treat his people as objects? Just because Cersei and Joffrey don't give a fuck for small folk ( and Robert could not be bothered to interfere) it doesn't mean that every monarch would react the same way they did.

Mycah died because of Cersei and Joffrey cruelty and Robert's indifference. Not because Arya befriended him.

[gottalovetumbler]

𝓓𝓪𝔂 7

𝓓𝓪𝔂 8

ⁿⁱᵏᵒˡᵃⁱ/ᵖʳⁱᶜᵉ ˣ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

Info: Fem!Reader, cussing, probably shit but I’m trying to get everyone introduced by day 10 so then I can start all the fun chapters so please bear with me

———👗 🛍️ ———

The next few days pass by in a blur. Lots of medicine induced sleep made it feel like a second in your life rather than 72 hours stuck in the same bed. The nurses were obviously upset with your trying to leave while not being discharged but they didn’t say much. At least not to you but you did hear some murmuring behinds closed doors between Gaz and them so maybe something was said. That’s didn’t matter much now seeing as you’re finally free to hobble your way back onto base.

You insisted you get yourself back alone after being discharged, much to the disappointment of your seven new and self identified “besties” as Soap said. They didn’t like the idea of you walking around alone and obviously injured but it was only a mile and half away so they couldn’t come up with any good reasons to stop you.

The walk back to the base was a welcome distraction, save for the stares you got of course. The hospital was practically in the bases backyard, separated by a Main Street sort of situation. Little shops lined the street with displays of different items catching your eyes as you passed.

Laughing families and cuddling couples surrounded you as you walked. It was 6pm on a Saturday so it’s not a surprising crowd. You watch a little girl with pigtails sprints into the local pet store, much to her parent’s dismay and chuckle as they chase her.

You pause your walk as you look across the street, an open sigh sits in the window of your favorite vintage clothing store. They typically close at 4 so you have no idea why they’re open now, but you aren’t going to question it.

Cool air snacks your face as you push the door open and greet the store owner. It takes a couple minutes to explain the unfortunate history behind your injuries but she eventually concedes when you tell her you just got out of the hospital and are doing a-ok.

When you ask, she lets you know that’s it’s the monthly family night where all the stores stay open so that military families can go and shop around together. Almost every store and restaurant stays open till 11pm so you’re told to go crazy and try-on as many things on as you want.

Twenty items later you finally check out, purchasing the two dresses, pants, and sweater that you liked. It’s nearing 10pm as you resume your way back home. Almost all the families with kids have already left for the night but there’s still some eating at the restaurants in the open air.

You can finally see the base past all the buildings as you stand, waiting for the signal to cross the road. It finally turns green and right as you’re about to cross and car screeches to a halt 5ft in-front of you. The glare melts off your face as you make eye contact with the driver of said car. Captain Price. And he looks pissed the fuck off.

The sounds of locks clicking and his glare tells you enough, so you climb into the back seat. He waits for you to buckle before driving off towards the base. Now that you’re in the car you also notice a man in the passenger seat, another new man. This man though, isn’t wearing a mask and looks quite nice.

‘We thought’ you wer’ dead.’

‘Why would I be dead? All I was doing was shoppin-‘

‘It’s almos’ 11 at nigh’ and you wer’ discharged at 5:30. So nearly 6 hour’ without any sign of you when the walk was less than 2 miles. Tha’s why.’

‘I was just shopping, maybe if someone tried to call me then I could have to you that Mr.Price. It’s not my fault non of your-‘

‘Ꭵ’Ꮄ ᎤᏬᎥᏖ ᏇᏂᎥᏝᏋ Ꭵ ᏇᏗᏕ ᏗᏂᏋᏗᎴ ᎥᎦ Ꭵ ᏇᏋᏒᏋ ᎩᎧᏬ ᏦᏒᏗᏕᎧᏖᏦᏗ. ᏁᎧ ᎷᏗᏖᏖᏋᏒ ᏇᏂᏗᏖ ᎩᎧᏬ ᏕᏗᎩ, ᎩᎧᏬ ᏇᎧᏁ’Ꮦ ᏇᎥᏁ.’

‘Accordin’ to Soap, she has a hard time understanding accents. Maybe-‘

‘That fucking narc! Who else did he tell about it? I was doing perfectly fucking fine when it was just Gaz and Chase that knew. Now it’s everyone’s fucking business?? What an assholse! I can’t bel-‘

‘ᎧᏦ ᏦᏒᏗᏕᎧᏖᏦᏗ, ᏂᏋ ፈᏝᏋᏗᏒᏝᎩ ᎴᎥᎴᏁ’Ꮦ ᏖᏋᏝᏝ ᏋᏉᏋᏒᎩᎧᏁᏋ ᏰᏋፈᏗᏬᏕᏋ ᏖᏂᎥᏕ ᎥᏕ ᏖᏂᏋ ᎦᎥᏒᏕᏖ Ꭵ’Ꮇ ᏂᏋᏗᏒᎥᏁᎶ ᎧᎦ ᎥᏖ.’

The glare you send him is deadly but it also says “what the fuck did you just say?”

‘Ꭵ ᏕᏗᎥᎴ, ҭᾄќἔ ᾄ в︎ʀἔᾄҭђ︎, ђ︎ἔ’ṩ ῥʀὄв︎ᾄв︎ł︎ẏ ὄᾗł︎ẏ ҭὄł︎ḋ ᾄ ғἔᾧ ῥἔὄῥł︎ἔ ṩὄ ḋὄᾗ’ҭ ᾧὄʀʀẏ ҭὄὄ м︎ὗƈђ︎. Ṃᾄẏв︎ἔ ҭʀẏ ҭὄᾗἷᾗʛ ḋὄᾧᾗ ҭђ︎ἔ ƈὗṩṩἷᾗʛ ᾧђ︎ἷł︎ἔ ẏὄὗ’ʀἔ ᾄҭ ἷҭ, м︎ᾄќἔṩ ẏὄὗ ł︎ὄὄќ ł︎ἷќἔ ᾄ ḋἔł︎ἷᾗqὗἔᾗҭ ᾧἷҭђ︎ ҭђ︎ἔ в︎ʀὗἷṩἔṩ ᾄᾗḋ ᾄł︎ł︎.’

‘Oh I fucking look like a delinquent do I? Welllll pardon me-‘

The radio goes up in volume as Price rolls his eyes. This 2 minute drive is starting to feel a hell of a lot longer.

———👗 🛍️ ———

Hope yall enjoy!

[atopvisenyashill]

When Ned pulls Catelyn up to her feet when she receives Lysa's letter, he leaves red marks on her skin. I forget how good Catelyn's chapters are especially compared to Ned's chapters.

OKAY SO i think i was conflating her memory of asking him about ashara & this, re: my hallucination tags 😭 they’re the same chapter i’m valid.

but YES okay so first of all NO NED WHACKINGS PLEASE REMEMBER I AM A NED STARK REGIME APOLOGIST I AM THE BARRISTAN SELMY BUT FOR NED OF THE STARK SUBFANDOM.

second of all tho YEAH i love how catelyn like doesn’t even shrug at the red marks, i think this gets across a) how anxious he is obviously, ned has started having ptsd flashbacks & he won’t stop till he bites it and b) how casually strong ned is and c) how usually in tune nedcat are.

i think because our introduction to ned and nedcat is ya know, not only the worst moments of their life (they both literally die) but also when ned specifically is probably at his lowest since the immediate years after the wars, it makes people forget how competent ned has been, like from a leadership standpoint. they all think he’s stupid (let me not start) but there’s a reason they’re trying to get his ass south to the politics of kl bc they KNOW they can beat him there, and the north is a very dangerous ally - slow moving maybe but they’re historically effective and ned is VERY effective at mobilizing the north.

and Catelyn has been his partner for over a decade!! those two are in SYNC. he doesn't even FLINCH when they say she took tyrion hostage, he backs her up 100% without conditions right away. i think when we get this letter reveal, and you really see their dynamic laid bare, you get this couple that's like. very balanced, very familiar with each other are a very intimate level (the soreness she talks about lol). catelyn frames so many of her thoughts as like "well ned would have done x" and the reason catelyn is so willing to see herself as this extension of ned is because he's good to her, he's smart like her, he's strong like her. ned is really drowning all throughout agot but I think catelyn is really in her element a lot of the time - she understands how this stuff works and she's good at it.

[darknessawaits28]

The Chronicles of The Mandalorian and Boba Fett~(love triangle) Chapter 1

Storyline: This is the story of a young warrior (y/n), that fought all across the galaxy, earning a name that brought fear to the ears of many. Life was as good as it can be, until the Empire took that away, giving her the heart of an ice spider. She had no choice but to go into hiding, after all, there was still a bounty to her head. So, she decided to do the simplest job that anyone could possibly do; bounty hunting. Though bounty hunting was a dangerous profession, something that she could obviously handle, but it could sometimes lead to unforsaken enemies and possible lovers. Well, who shall we meet on this journey? 

Warnings: Well, it can be fluffy at times but there are going to be scenes that might offend or be inappropriate to many. With that being said, this story contains; Fluff, Choking, oral sex (F receiving), Fingering, Sex, Doggy style, Blood, Violence, Cursing, masturbating etc. There is also notions of injections and medical stuff. There is a lot more stuff but Enjoy lovies!

(Note: This is not following the exact story of the star wars trilogy, it will have a lot of pieces from Mandalorian, Boba Fett, and maybe include already known characters)

(Second Note: I haven't continued this story in a while, I will have to watch back the films to remember most of the scenes so it will take me some time to continue writing, but stay tuned for updates!)

(On another note: Thank you lovies for all your love and support, hope you enjoy the story) :3

Chapter 1: The Beginning of a long journey

It was a long cold night, sounds of the cackling fire pressed against your inner ear as you sat upon the grassy meadows of Tython. Tears began to overwhelm you as you remembered the tragedy that happened on Coruscant, your parents and masters that trained you, slaughtered before your very eyes by the so called Empire. If your master was here, he would probably say, 'This is not the time to cry and act childish, you are in a world were you have to take care of yourself, not matter the cost.' A bit heartless, but he was right, a warrior like yourself could not just sit here and cry because you lost loved ones. We all loose loved ones eventually. You were a warrior, built to take any blow by any man, woman, or machine. That strength earned you the title of 'The blood seeker', a dark name that everyone knew, especially the Empire. Having two red light sabers can attract a lot of attention (another reason why you were called the blood seeker), but you belonged to no creed, no caste, not anything. You were neither Jedi nor Sith, you were just you, a simple girl using the force to protect the innocent and seek revenge when necessary. 

        As you thought about this, you pulled out a small journal, opening it to see the pictures of your family, friends, masters, it struck a nerve inside you; your sadness turning into burning hatred.

"I will kill them all....if its the last thing I do..." you mumbled under your breathe, standing to your two feet.

Slowly but surely you walked over to a woody tree, tugging at both your light sabers from your leg pouches, unsheathing them with a hum that echoed against your ears.

"They will suffer" you yelled as you chopped the tree, slashing it into pieces as if it were the enemy. "You took everything from me!" A another slash could be heard echoing. "I will kill your children!" A slash again. And again. And again, until there was nothing left to cut. You panted heavily as you stood before the tree that was no more, sheathing your lightsaber back into your pouches, closing it of course so that you wouldn't cut your leg off.

"I can't keep living on this planet alone, I have to find a something to do, maybe a job that can possibly lead me to the people that hurt my family" You thought, pacing back and forth. Yet, it hit you, "Hmm, how about Nevarro or Tatooine?" "They could possibly have jobs for me to do, or I could possibly just sign up at the nearest bounty hunting guild?" 

        With that in mind, you snuffed out the fire, heading towards the coinvent ship that you stole a long time ago from a degenerate man that wanted to fuck you as payment for this hunk of junk. "I guess we can start at Nevarro, hopefully this piece of shit can survive a hyper jump again, it was a while since I used it" you huffed, closing the hatch door before heading to the cock pit. As you strapped yourself in, you turned towards the stuffed bantha that your father gave you when you were just a little foundling, a soft smile appearing across your face. "I love you papa, and mama" you chuckled, turning back towards the controls.

As you began to press the same buttons you used before, the ship began to whir and purr, the engines turning on quicker than usual, "Okay please for the love of yoda, work!" You begged, as you began to lift off the ground, heading up to the sky of Tython. Once you entered the atmosphere, the ship began to shake, your heart nearly beating out of your chest, worried that this might be your last time alive. But, thankfully, the ship survived the entry into space and you got ready to make the jump to Nevarro.

"Lets knock some heads in!" was the last thing that escaped your lips as you jumped to the planet of Nevarro.

[lunarcloak]

Blue Lock Chapter 262: Visual Storytelling

Can we talk about the visual imagery this chapter?? Kaneshiro is always cooking but Nomura cooked extra hard this time with his own illustrative storytelling

An almost entirely white panel. Except for the black spot of Kaiser's hunched figure. Almost as if he's the stain on an otherwise perfect game from BM right now. (He's thrown off balance.)

Here, in the first picture, this is Isagi's view of where Kaiser is right now. On top of a puzzle piece— a symbol of Isagi's power, and also a symbol of how off kilter he is. The second picture is part of a larger paneling of how he's being left on the ground as Isagi runs past him in a flurry of puzzle pieces. Almost as if Isagi's kicking the pieces of his perfect puzzle astray, leaving him to rebuild them from scratch. (The theme of this chapter.)

You can tell he's only barely listening. Eyes are always a huge indicator of visual storytelling— i picked this up from looking at BSD panels for too long. Here there's virtually no pupils, smaller, wider eyeballs because he's not listening to Ness's words. They're going in one ear out the other. Because Ness's words are superficial— He's trying to help, he is, but that is desperately NOT what Kaiser needs right now. He needs to figure out how to FIX this. Not to retreat back into the safety of his cocoon so that he can pretend he's still the star on the field.

NOTICE HOW EVERYTHING IN THE SECOND PANEL CAN DIRECTLY BE RELATED TO ISAGI. The offer from Reale— what if Yoichi gets it instead of me? The throne in this team— what if Isagi takes that, too? Am I about to lose everything I worked to get myself? The whole world is watching my worst performance in years. I can't lose here. I can't be defeated here. Not here, of all places, in Blue Lock.

Negative colouring. The previous, prominent memory I have of this is when Rin went to his "flow" state. It's specifically to emphasise the "HUMAN" wording. It's usually used to showcase a very prominent moment, in this case it's Kaiser realising exactly what the core of his worry is right now. It isn't the defeat, not beating Isagi, not anything. At the moment, he's afraid of losing the very humanity he had thought he clawed himself into. To emphasise this, the black and white being reversed are to indicate that time almost freezes, completely changing his perspective and line of thought at that moment.

Less dramatic, still negatively scaled panel. Emphasising how he's really digging into his psyche here and going "Oh, I'm scared. I'm afraid of losing everything I've got for myself." The last time this happened was when his secret money stash was found— he didn't care as much then, because there was nothing to lose that he hadn't already lost. But now? Now, it matters a lot more. Because he's built himself up on an entirely shaky foundation. Note how he's also sliding below here, losing his footing, like he's lost the stable ground he thought he had.

The angle of this panel makes it look like he's climbing upwards, and he's just lost his grip on the wall before him, and is in the process of falling. It's extremely well done.

Plenty people have already pointed this one out— yeah Isagi's just reached a height that's similar to Noa's. The position Kaiser thought he used to have, but now he's not even on the staircase to victory and the treasure he thought he would attain soon is now inching towards his most challenging rival to date.

You will never see him this tired, this defeated, or this melancholic ever again. At this point, his eyes are no longer that wide, shocked stare of not seeing. Now he's comprehended his stance, and he's come back into himself.

Each petal is a memory, a visual representation of the crumbling of the rose he once held. It's gone now, there's no rose in his hand anymore (nothing for him to hold onto anymore). When you have no roses in hand, you grow a new bouquet. When you have nothing, there's nothing to lose if you go reaching for something to hold onto again.

But HERE, the petals can be interpreted in two ways— either he's being reformed from the petals of a new rose (blank petals, not representative ones). OR, you can interpret it as those very petals dissipating from his being, leaving him as this black, blank slate to rebuild himself. Zero— as in no colour, no petals, no gardens to flourish anymore. Only way to move now is up.

Also I'd like to draw your attention to the negative paneling again— inverted this time, the exact opposite of the previously conveyed emotion. Now he's the one in the black, working to redefine himself. He's already redefined the external aspects.

Your Zero— Your Beginning. I LOVE this page, even if it's a repeat. It conveys so much. Kaneshiro and Nomura are such a GOOD TEAM

A black hand clasps around the core memory— the memory of when he truly had only his football. He can't let that petal float away, that's one he wants to keep. That's the idea he wants to hold onto. He crushes the petal into his hand, assimilating it into his new beginning. That's the one he'll hold onto, to recraft the person that is Michael Kaiser.

[ningadudexx]

see you next year...

other comic below🐒

here is a messy comic i made a few weeks back that i dont like very much but i figured i should include it

TW: VIOLENCE

[lilybug-02]

Wait so how do you know for sure the sprite is Ralsei? No hate, I do believe you haha, but I too am a lore scientist and I wanna know your evidence. Does it show up in-game? I could definitely believe that I saw it in-game and forgot about it :P

YES. Finding legitimate sprites directly from Toby Fox games can be surprisingly difficult. There are so many fan-made character sprites, that it can be hard to differentiate from the real ones!

Guess how many are NOT fan-made? .....only one 🗿

...(please don't question why google is in italian)

Official Websites like Spriters Resource (Ralsei's Offical Sprite Sheet) are very helpful in this regard :)

They may even include unused file graphics. Like this unused face of Ralsei.

Sprite legitimacy is a big rabbit hole that I personally don't have enough knowlege on :( ((BUT OH MY GOSH The internet is notorious for reposting fan-spriteworks without sourcing. It can be really hard to find the original artist.))

It's also HILARIOUS how many people have redone Ralsei's sprite. It is quite obvious from my Ralsei poll and through his mass of fan-redesigns, that many people in the Deltarune community REALLY LOVE his Chapter 1 sprite more.

Ralsei sprite fan-art is amazing and I personally want to mod it into my game bc it looks so good. Below I have some really cool fan-sprites I found and the artists who made them!

Left (Ralsei Ch 2 redesign- metr0nix727), Middle (Ralsei based off Ch 1- larituca), Left (Full Ralsei Chapter 2 Sprite sheet with Hat- artist unknown**)

**this sprite sheet was submitted through Sprites Resource but I traced it back to TaxeisNotOkay, who I presume to be the original artist. I could not find any other information regarding the full sprite sheet, so feel free to correct or inform me if you find anything!

Looking back at Ralsei's Chapter 2 head sprites..... they just don't look as good as they could in my opinion. I dont like them :(...uhhh NO HATE OF COURSE!!..ahklasdkflansdf I'll go jump in this hole now.

[moeblob]

What if I straight up didn't explain myself? What if I just said trust me on this? Would you?