#i like how she mostly uses canon armor except for the mask which is like fuckin. 4 different headpieces mashed together

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

about to beat the game with this character so figured it was about time i shared her. estrel, golden order scion and D's apprentice/adoptive daughter. more about her under the cut because. oh boy this girl's got lore.

one day D came by the Bestial Sanctum to collect his incantations paycheck and gurranq just. had a kid. and he was like "...fuck it, i could use some backup anyway" and the rest is history

current working theory is that she came up from the deep siofra well? but this is all a big question mark.

D is the one who gave her the name estrel, to reflect her new surface life as a hunter of death (and because i fucking love elden ring's thing with characters having multiple names). uldin is her original name, but sees very little use nowadays

she's a golden order fundamentalist but she'll also employ bestial (of course) and dragon cult, erdtree and two fingers incantations, and also some misc. sorceries when the need arises. no fire or black flame until after farum azula, and no dragon communion/bloodflame/etc ever.

she wasn't actually that interested in lordship at first, until it became clear that pursuing it was the only way to change the state of the world and permanently free those who live in death. for most of the game her goal is just to weed deathroot

...well, until D dies. then she's out for revenge. she does kill fia; it doesn't feel as good as she'd hoped, but at least she's dead.

she also lands herself in ranni's entourage, but isn't aware at the time of her role in the night of black knives. when she does find out, she leaves ranni's service for a while

the whole game is kind of a crisis of conscience for her, honestly. it takes fia's death, and seeing the death-prince in person, for her to finally determine that she will do whatever it takes to stand before the elden ring and fix what she's come to see as a deep sickness at the heart of the golden order—the rune of death being only mostly sealed, an age where none can truly die.

(those who live in death, tarnished reincarnation—it's all the same. souls are trapped in a twilight, becoming sickened by death without the release and return it should rightly bring. the sun needs to set on the golden prince, so that they may break through the night to a new dawn.)

other misc npc questlines: nepheli (childhood friends at the roundtable), rogier (tries to help him behind D's back, regrets it), sellen (aids her), corhyn and goldmask (eventually gets the mending rune of perfect order)

[doveofmourning]

While I'm thinking about it this is my ranking of every ghostface! (I'm counting anyone who did at least one on screen kill while wearing the mask!)

Billy Loomis: truly the OG and the man with the plan. I'm a lesbian and I also know I SHOULDN'T be thirsty for him but there's something about how deranged he is while still thinking things through so well that kinda does it for me!

Amber Freeman: oh my god she's an idiot but she's just like me for real!!! Probably my favorite sequel ghostface honestly. Plus she killed that man??? Who we all thought was unkillable????? Soooo...

Stu Macher: did you really think he'd be any lower? He was impulsive and kinda ruined the plan but he had the spirit.

Charlie Walker: fucking moron who got played hard but his kills were enjoyable and also if I'm being real estrogen would have saved her. Literally put down the knife and transition instead, Jill isn't going to love you bbg.

Sam Carpenter: Only one kill but you know damn well she wanted more and honestly the ability to have done it, IN THE MASK, with the hallucinations begging her to do more, and still stop once it wasn't self defense? Yeah okay queen you're an icon.

Danny Johnson: technically a spinoff character but I'll include him since he wore the mask and used the name!! I love Danny but also he's a creep and doesn't really feel emotionally like ghostface to me. But he's cool ig!! I'd watch a movie with him in it.

Jill Roberts: Look she's a bitch but her plan was GOOD. Honestly it's only plot armor that made her lose. She planned it well and I'm impressed with her even if she's sick and twisted.

Sydney Prescott: Barely counts tbqh but also she did do it so I'll give it to her just for being a badass, since everyone below this is at least kind of disappointing.

Jason Carvey: second best opening kill in the franchise, VERY slightly beating out the opening kill for Scream 2. I'm sad we never really got to know him and I do think he should have had a chance in that fight.

Quinn Bailey: All 3 of the main Scream 6 ghostface killers kinda suck but she sucks the least, mostly for that fight scene with Gale! She kicked ass there and I'll give her the point for it.

Ethan Bailey: He still sucks and is bland as a character but had two VERY cool sequences. (The ladder sequence which was the kill that made me saddest and most uncomfortable and the train sequence.) Bland though.

Debbie Loomis: didn't even really get her hands dirty except the once and then it was one of the best characters in the franchise so I do hate her a bit for that but also her plan was well orchestrated and her fall guy was well picked.

Jamal Elliot: Look I don't like the TV Series at all but honestly he had a good arc and a good motive and some okay kills given it was for TV. Would I have preferred him in movie? Definitely. Was he even close to the worst killer on this list? Nope!

Micky Altieri: I do not believe this guy exists tbqh. He is so deeply unbelievable as a character that he ruins the immersion for me. Some good kills but his motivation and characterization flip makes no sense.

Roman Bridger: Why would he be higher tbh. None of his plans worked even with as Machiavellian as he's supposed to look, his retcon is stupid and takes the weight away from previous movies, he's incompetent and also like why would you get involved in a film franchise about the crimes you caused to be committed? I feel like it's so sloppy and the person masterminding ghostface can't be sloppy. Also the kills in this movie suck.

Detective Bailey: Boring character, twist visible from miles away, I did not trust him even from the poster, and his motivation makes him despicable. Hate him.

Beth: Literally a caricature of a ghostface killer. She would be at the very bottom if I didn't hate Richie with the passion of a billion burning suns.

Richie Kirsch: literal actual pedophile. Like canonically. He groomed a 16 year old lesbian (maybe she's bi in the final cut?? I know in the original script she was explicitly a lesbian but maybe they changed it to make Richie look less bad idk) into doing this and I'm glad he's dead actually.

[batarella]

The Commander - Part 5 (Arkham Knight x Reader)

ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS ABOARD THE SMUT TRAIN. YA’LL NASTIES NEED A BREAK FROM ALL THE SMUT. TODAY I PRESENT SOME ACTION, ANGST, MORE BACKSTORY, AND FLUFFFFFFFFFF

WORDS: 3034 (yeah they’re getting longer) WARNINGS: A LIL BIT OF FLUFF AT THE END. MOSTLY ANGST.

MASTERLIST

THE COMMANDER - MASTERLIST

-----

The Arkham Knight couldn’t be human. He only ever spoke in the fewest words. And when he did, it was either in the coldest indifference, annoyance, or anger. Mostly in anger. His identity, his past, what he liked and didn’t liked, no one knew about.

In fact, the Commander seen the most about him out of everyone the Knight meets in the Militia. And she doesn’t even know if he had a real name. He was only addressed to as the Knight, and his anger had been built up since he was very young, the Commander deduced. His remarks came out of him like it was in his nature to be an asshole at times. But she could tell it had evolved overtime. Like something brought out the worst of him and now he was this dark, cynical entity no one can touch.

Though she wasn’t any different, basically torn out of her mother’s womb and brought to a firing range.

Gotham City was never kind to her. And her to Gotham. They’d reached the top of a medium rise apartment building, one that stood directly across some kind of event that had people flocking to the edges of the street. The Arkham Knight hid his armor under a large red hoodie, making him look bigger than he already was. He had his hood on over a cap, so no one could see his face. Beside him was Militia Commander Y/N. She had on a bomber jacket and some loose cargo pants to hide her own suit.

They eyed the GCPD police car parked just outside the event grounds, and about three policemen scattered about to maintain its order. One of them was leaning against the hood of the car. The second one, a very heavy man, was standing right in front of the crowd at the stage. The third was at the farthest, making rounds around the perimeter.

The Knight watched the three move, blurring out the cheering crowd and the noises they made. The Commander waited, patiently.

The Arkham Knight’s voice was course. “Go.”

She moved fast, leaping from the top of the roof down its rusty fire escape. Her feet landed from ladder to ladder until it splashed onto a puddle left over from last night’s rain. Commander Y/N made her way down the crowd, keeping her head low as she practically disappeared.

She could only fire from this distance. The Commander had three shots, and a special gun that wrapped around her wrist. All she had to do was press the button on her thumb, and it would fire just as good as any pistol.

Except this one fired more than just bullets, and it was more silent than even a whisper.

One on the car to her right, one at the stage in front, and one at the far back.

At the corner of her eye, she saw the Knight behind the crowd, his hood covering more than half his face. His eyes were on her, waiting.

He nodded.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

She raised her arm, staring to pull her hair to a tie. It pointed right at her right and she fired.

One.

She turned, so casually it was like the sun had just caught her eyes. Her arm facing behind her, she fired again.

Two.

Then her hair was in a ponytail, she smoothed it, then brought her arms to her front. Just narrowly missing a passerby, she fired.

Three.

Done. She caught the Knight’s eye. Three trackers landed right at the three policemen’s communication devices peeking just outside their pockets. It was too small to even make out, but the Knight’s hacking device lit up, and they were online.

He toyed with the device, small enough to fit his pocket. The Knight looked like he was just using his phone, even when it wasn’t a good idea to do so in such a crowd. Commander Y/N kept on the lookout, but none of the policemen seem to be bothered.

Hurry up. The Knight continued to fidget. Y/N squeezed on her wrist gun, ready to fire at any threat. A full minute had passed and the Knight threw his head back. He nodded at her. They’d done it.

They hacked GCPD.

Just those three trackers were enough to trace the full source of any communication network GCPD had used. When the night comes, they’ll be ahead of these men by a mile.

Though GCPD was never the real threat.

Commander Y/N nodded back and walked toward the Knight. He handed her the hacking device, which was lit in green.

“Send it to intelligence when we’re back.”

“Yes sir,” she said, stuffing it into her pocket.

Then the Knight looked behind her, at the crowd and the stage in front. The noise had grown louder and a man, the billionaire Bruce Wayne walked to the podium, a bright smile on his handsome face as he spoke.

“Come on,” she said to the Knight. “Slade’s sent the first of our Diamondbacks.”

It took a while for him to look away, though the Knight didn’t look like he wanted to stick around to any more of the festivities. She walked right beside him, her hands relaxed to her side while the Knight kept his deep in his pockets. The sky looked just about as gloomy as the Knight’s expression, and it was freezing. No one looked at them as they turned into an alleyway.

“Just this one?”

“If you’re satisfied with it, another batch arrives tomorrow.”

Then they turned for an abandoned entrance into Gotham’s subway system. It was covered in wooden planks. The Knight tore it off with his bare hands. They jumped in, trying to ignore the smell, as they walked deeper into the tunnels. They were met with a closed gate, and a large circular scanner right at the center. The Knight pressed his palm against it and the gate opened.

The walked father in, the Knight took off his hoodie, then his pants, then he brought out his visor and placed it over his head. “We’re calling Slade.”

The Commander unzipped her jacket, then her loose pants took off to reveal the tighter one in her suit. It was even colder under the tunnels, but she didn’t falter. She followed closely by the Knight’s side, jumping over the old subway station’s portals down to the railway.

Just as they were met with a large figure covered by a dirty white cloth, the Knight pulled out a device from his bag.

It didn’t take long for Slade to answer. He was a holograph, his clothed mask floating above the screen laid flat with the Knight’s hand.

“Where is it?”

“Right here,” The Knight pointed the device to the covered drone. “Commander.”

Commander Y/N jumped to the railway and pulled the cloth off, revealing the finally finished, ready to deploy Diamondback Drone.

“She’s a good lookin’ piece of boom, wouldn’t you say?” Slade’s voice echoed into the tunnels. “Commander Y/N, why don’t you go test it out?”

She climbed up its side. “Were the steering and thrust issues worked out?” said the Knight.

“Nope.”

“Slade, I told you maneuverability and speed are key if these are going to have a chance against his weaponry.”

“Commander, fire at the wall.”

The Commander grabbed hold of its missile launcher and fired.

And it was more like a bomb than a missile, and several shots of it. It tore off what was left of the abandoned cement, spreading its fire around the railway and leaving large holes big enough for a man to crawl in on its walls.

Commander Y/N didn’t look flustered. She wiped the flash of sweat off her forehead and turned to the Knight, who stared intently at the destroyed walls. “Say the word, and I’ll send out a hundred of these. More than enough to take the bastard down.

“More than enough to send your demons free,” Slade said. The Knight seemed preoccupied, and he didn’t flinch when the Commander jumped off the tank.

“Commander Y/N,” Slade said as she approached the Knight’s side. “I’m about to start the final phase of our men’s training.”

“Final phase?”

“I have my standards, you have yours. The way you train these men are different from mine. It shouldn’t take more than a week.”

Commander Y/N nodded, surprised Slade didn’t have to insult her when they’d constantly have to fight over the Knight’s graces when it comes to their preferences.

“Make sure they’re ready for anything he has to throw at us, Slade,” he said to the hologram. Then Slade was gone, and the tunnel seemed emptier with the fires burning out.

The Commander placed her hand on the drone’s side. “It fired three rounds at a time, and its fast. Exactly like the Rattler but it will be harder to deflect.”

“Will that be enough?”

She goes to the front, inspects the damage and looks into the holes. She reaches in, but the missiles have reached too far back. “It should be. This ones’ harder to destroy than all our Rattler drones. Three sensor arrays and a more durable shield over its optics.”

The Knight turned to her as she went on.

“But it doesn’t lock onto its target. The Cobra drones would be a better investment. Even if we had half the number of Rattlers, the Cobras won't have Batman driving around any of the streets without having to encounter one or two.”

“We have enough of those.”

“Never enough to cover even one of the islands by themselves, especially when no 60 mm canon can penetrate its shell. These ones have a larger target right at its sensors.”

The Knight stood directly in front of the drone’s sensor array, with the Commander, running her hands on the right side.

“How old are you?”

The Commander stopped, but didn’t allow herself to flinch. She looked at the Knight puzzlingly and narrowed her eyebrows.

“You know just as much as Slade does.”

“More,” she interrupted. “I know more.”

“Answer my question.”

“What difference does it make?” The Commander sighed, as she circled the tank, keeping her hand to its side. The Knight kept his distance, but followed her. His robotic voice made his questions seem more threatening than personal. She was at the other side, to the left of the drone, when she spoke.

“Twenty-one.”

The Knight came up to the corner, and the Commander reached the front. She turned again and avoided the look on his visor.

“How old were you when you knew how to fire a tank?”

She kept her voice low. This was worse than being screamed at. “Fifteen.”

The Knight didn’t show his surprise, but his silence spoke the volumes for him. “Who trained you?”

“My uncle.”

“When did he start training you?”

“When did this become an interrogation?”

The Knight stopped, and so did the Commander. The stood at either sides of the drone, right at its hood. She stared at him, and he stared back.

“I want to know how you were bred into… this.”

“I fired my first gun when I was five and hit my first target with a rifle when I was seven.” Her voice was expressionless, like he had told these to herself more than to anyone else.

“Your uncle was quite the mercenary.”

“Oh, he was the best,” she said. “But he killed his first target at twenty-two. I was sixteen.”

That… didn’t impress him as much as it saddened him.

“I didn’t have any business being a child. He turned me into this… machine,” she brought her hands to the hood of the tank. “One that just can't miss a single target even if I wanted to.”

“And you turned to sex to air it out.”

The Commander looked up, almost glaring at him. Why the fuck was he asking these questions.

“I’ve only had it a few times,” she said, walking to his side. Then she leaned in, even closer to the Knight. He had his head slightly turned to her when she spoke. “I’ve had it with you the most.”

The Knight didn’t say anything when she walked by him and headed for the exit, grabbing her own bag from the floor. The Knight quietly followed, getting his clothes back out and stuffing his visor inside before they stepped out the subway station.

“We have about three hours,” she told him as they walked down the sidewalk. The noises sank in and she spoke louder. “Then we head for the Batcave before he goes out for patrol, which should be around 10.”

The Knight placed his cap on his head, then pulled his hoodie up. They turned to a corner, back to where the rally had taken place, except the people had left and the sun had started to set. They walked to their motorcycles. “We can wait it out in the cave.”

The Knight approached his bike, but watched as Y/N grabbed her helmet and started the engine. “Wait.”

Commander Y/N stopped.

He took his out his comms, fidgeted with the device and held the earpiece to his ear. It took a while, then the person on the other line answered.

“Slade,” he said. “I’ll have to spend another night in Gotham.”

He turned around, walking farther away so she wouldn’t be staring at him while he talked.

“I’ll be back in less than 48 hours. And it’s a go on the Diamondback, but have more Cobra Drones as well.”

She heard Slade’s voice for a moment. “As much as you can,” the Knight finished. He turned off his comms, then went for his bike.

“Follow me,” he said, taking his hat off and putting on his helmet.

They drove off, and they were going further and further away from where their target supposedly is. The bikes buzzed through, her driving closely at his tail until they’d reached a street littered with no more than five people.

And the buildings were abandoned, boarded up the front entrance. The Commander saw a few homeless men by the alleys, but it didn’t even look like thugs frequented the area. She followed him as they parked their bikes near a dumpster at the back of the building.

“Where are we?”

“We need to go up the fire exit.” The Knight pulled down the ladder. “I used to live here.”

“Go up the third floor, then go in through the window. Stay there. I’ll come back.”

The Commander was still so confused, even as the Knight had started his bike again and drove off.

Xxxxxx

His place was… small.

It must have been years, because there was enough dust to on the surfaces to cause tears in her eyes. Timidly, she sat on the bed. There was only one. Twin size. Pushed up against the wall. He had a desk adjacent to it, and on the other side, the window she came in through. Other than the cramped up bathroom and a closet, that was practically it in his apartment.

But the Knight was still so young. She estimated this place to have been abandoned for five to seven years. If that was the case, he should have been in his early teens, living alone without a parent. Was she right?

She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Minutes later, she heard the ladders of the fire exit screech. The Knight walked in.

He was holding two pizza boxes.

“Dinner,” he said. “Bottoms up.”

The commander suddenly felt the surge in her stomach. She’d forgotten to eat. She stood, opened a box and helped herself with a slice.

“Why are we here?”

The Knight ignored her and went to the bathroom. It took a while, probably because he had to clean it before even using it. When he stepped out, he looked less bulky. His armor was placed inside his duffel bag which he placed on the floor, before grabbing a slice from the box and digging in.

It was… unusual. To say the least. Y/N’s almost never seen the Knight talk outside the subject of the militia, let alone eat. He leaned his back against the desk, looking at her as he took a big bite. They ate quietly, not even taking a seat when they finished through the two boxes before the sun had fully set.

She slumped back on the bed. “We should head out by now.”

The Knight closed the boxes and threw them in the trash. Then he leaned on the desk, arms over his chest. He didn’t look at her.

“We’re staying here for the night, then we head for the cave tomorrow at dusk.”

“What are we supposed to do by then?”

The Knight licked his lips.

“I know you don’t sleep,” he said. “Back in the barracks.”

“Yes I do.”

“You sleep almost an hour a day,” he cocked his jaw. “Every single day.”

The Commander couldn’t even fathom his concern. This was all too much. “I’m fine.”

“You have tonight, and the whole day tomorrow. I won't wake you up. You sleep as much as you can. When we go back to South America you’ll never catch a break.”

She grew silent and licked her teeth.

“Where will you sleep?”

The Knight stood from the desk, went to his closet and fished out a sheet and a pillow. “I’ll be fine on the floor.”

Fucking hell.

His concern just made her all the more uncomfortable. Just yesterday, you couldn’t tell the man apart from an AI robot.

And the night grew darker. She laid on her back, the sheet dusted off shielding her off from the cold. The Knight faced away from her and laid flat on the carpet. His chest rose a steady beat. But he was awake.

“Can you tell me your name?” she asked. “And how old you are?”

He was startled, but he didn’t turn to look at her. An answer wasn’t the least bit expected. Never from him. But surprisingly, she heard his voice, low enough for it to be easily missed.

“Twenty-two.”

And that was all he said. She turned facing the wall and closed her eyes.

 I LOVE YOU ALL. LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU CAN. I’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS

-----

THE COMMANDER - MASTERLIST

-----

  Taglist: @sarcasmismyfirstlove @damned-queen-of-gotham @idkmanicantenglish @wunderstell @birdy-bat-riya @get-loki @everyday-imfangirling @comic-nerd-dc @multifandoms916 @icequeen208 @offendedfishnoises @egdolan @xemiefx @arkhamtoddler @elsenthal @mythicbitchx @supremehaunter

[peppersonironi]

Batfam Avengers Crossover Chapter Two: Meeting

Chapter Two, folks! Finally some batfam appearances.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences 

Category: Gen 

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types 

Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Natasha Romanov & Damian Wayne, Clint Barton & Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tim Drake & Duke Thomas, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd, 

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Justice League (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Alfred the Cat (DCU), Bat-Cow (DCU), Goliath (DCU), Selina Kyle’s Cat Isis, Kate Kane (DCU), Duke Thomas, 

Additional Tags: Batbrothers (DCU), Avengers Meet The Batfam, MCU/Batfam crossover, Crossover, no beta we die like robins, rated T for Jason’s language, I bleeped it out though. Just to be safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, canon? What’s canon?, Deaf Clint Barton,Deaf Character, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Happy Batfamily (DCU), Birdflash and joyfire are implied/referenced,

Summary: Avengers enter the cave, and meet the batfam!

Notes: In sorry if this chapter is a bit boring, I tried to keep it light. (I know the techie stuff that I glossed over bored even me) But now that I’m done with the first introductory chapters, I can move to some - hopefully - more fun scenarios!

“Woah.” Peter looked around at the giant cavern that the Green Lantern guy had flown them into. His ring had formed some kind of platform to carry them, and Peter was still theorizing how it worked.

They had flown toward the city - named Gotham apparently - following the mysterious “Batman”. Then reached a waterfall, which had a huge mechanical door system that parted the water. They had gone through a long pathway lit up on the edges before emerging in the cave.

It was huge, with multiple platforms built into the rock. Peter first found himself on one that was clearly meant for vehicles, as there were multiple motorcycles parked beside where Batman’s car stopped. There were other levels that held gym equipment, a sparring ring, weapons stations, and some sort of lab. There was weird memorabilia too. Peter spotted a giant penny, dinosaur, and a Joker playing card. A few more levels had cases for suits, not unlike that which Mr. Stark had. Though some of the suits were strange. One was clearly bloody and ripped. One of the most prominent platforms held a huge computer with a dominating black chair.

However, Peter could have sworn it was playing … The Dinosaur Game? That was weird.

Batman got out of his car the way he had before and made his way over toward the Avengers, where they had been set down by Green Lantern. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, a very loud voice called out in the cave, startling everyone except the Batman.

“Bruce! Where the F*** is my AK-47?!”

The Hulk, who had since transformed back into Bruce Banner, frowned in confusion.

No one got the chance to question it, however, because a young man in a skin tight black bodysuit swung from another level, and was now hanging upside down from a support beam near Batman. He had a blue bird on his chest, Peter thought it looked a bit like an eagle. He also had on a black domino mask.

“Hey B!” He said cheerily. “ I should probably warn you that Hood is on a rampage ‘cause he can’t find his gun. And also Robin is threatening everyone as per usual. ” The Dark Knight sighed. “What about Red Robin, Spoiler, and Oracle? ”

The new comer grinned. “Dinosaur Game Championship. Oracle is in the lead.”

There was a sudden shout of disapproval from where the apparent game seemed to be held.

“And Signal?”

“Taking weapons stock while muttering about how insane we all are.” He shook his head. “He seems to forget he’s one of us, and therefore crazy by association.”

The Dark Knight sighed once more, this time with his fingers on the bridge of his nose. “Thank you Nightwing. Would you tell Red Hood that his AK-47 is in the Med Bay where he left it when he was doing his stitches? And tell everyone to meet in the conference room in uniform. Code 27G.”

Nightwings eyes - well, lenses - widened. He glanced at the Avengers. “Huh. Sure can do B.”

He swung up from his perch, flipped onto the platform above him - Peter was pretty impressed at how casually he did so - and ran off, seemingly melting into the shadows.

An awkward silence followed, with the Avengers all huddling protectively together. Peter really wanted to explore - that T-Rex looked awesome - but he saw the worried look on Mr. Stark’s face. This was an unfamiliar situation. They must be cautious.

A moment later Peter had had enough of caution. “Excuse me sir, is that a dinosaur?”

The Dark Knight turned toward Peter and glared. Out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw Mr. Stark tense up. But a split second later the glare softened. “Yes. Animatronic. From one of my early … endeavors.”

Peter grinned under his mask. “Cool!”

Batman lifted his head, and began walking on a path up. “Come, I’ll show you where we can talk.”

*****

They entered a meeting room that was off to the side of the cave. There was already a group present. They were clumped loosely in a corner, boredom and intrigue apparent on their faces. They all stood to attention when Batman walked into the room, all except for Nightwing from earlier. He was currently in a handstand in the center of the conference table, shifting from one hand to the other. He collapsed onto the table at the sight of the arrivals, before quickly jumping to his feet and saluting with an embarrassed grin on his face. Batman rolled his eyes and they all went back to what they were doing, except Nightwing who slumped into a chair.

The group of teeneagers were dressed in more skin-tight suits. Peter was slightly taken aback by how young they were. The smallest seemed to be around ten - perhaps he was this “Robin” mentioned earlier - and the oldest in his early twenties. Most seemed to be about his own age though, in their mid teens. It felt weird to not be the only kid.

The closest was a young man sitting in one of the chairs with his feet on the table. He seemed to be taller than Nightwing, with a broader chest. He wore gray cargo pants, some sort of utility belt, an armored shirt with a red bat on it, a leather jacket, and a red helmet that looked a lot like Tony’s. Peter could already imagine the copyright complaints from their resident billionaire. The man also had gun holsters on each leg, and was stroking a - newly returned - AK-47 in his arms.

The first teenager had black bottoms and red top with a black and gold “X” over his chest, joined by some symbol that looked vaguely like an “R”. He also had a black cape and smooth cowl. He was standing in the corner, leaning against a wall with a tablet and mug of coffee in hand.

A teenage girl stood beside the teen, dressed in a mostly purple with hints-of-black bodysuit and a purple hooded cape. She wore a full black mask over her face, with only white lenses. It was a bit freaky, but she was mostly non-threatening, due to her easygoing posture and laugh, which was directed at the teen with the cowl.

The kid was dressed in black leggings, green boots and gloves, a red and yellow tunic with an “R” on it, black and yellow hooded cape, and green domino mask. Though the strangest thing about him was the huge Katana he was sharpening while sitting at the table. He also had an unimpressed glare on his face. Peter decided that he and Helmet-Guy were the scariest in the room. Aside from Batman.

Another teenaged boy had a tired look on what Peter could see of his face, as he looked slightly disapprovingly at his companions. He stood in more heavily plated bright yellow and black armor with a bat symbol on it. He had a utility belt, and a helmet which looked to be shaped like a bat.

What was with these people and bats?

Peter didn’t get to ask, as at that moment a new person joined the group. Flying down a ramp was a red headed young woman in a wheelchair. She expertly slowed to a stop in front of Batman, who had not yet entered the room. Peter noticed that she had hastily applied a black domino mask, leaving a pair of glasses in her lap, along with a laptop.

“Sorry I’m late B, I forgot where I had put my extra mask. These things keep disappearing!” She said the last part while glaring at the kids.

“It’s fine, Oracle. Now that we’re all here-” He paused, then looked around at the group. “Where’s Black Bat?”

“Handling a Robbery downtown. She’s finishing up. ETA 20 minutes.”

Batman nodded. “Very well, we’ll continue without her, she won’t mind.”

He entered the room, ushering everyone else to do so as well. With a quick glare, all the kids sat down. The Avengers joined them, as there were plenty of seats. The only one who did not sit was Batman.

He spoke once everyone was ready, mainly directing his words to the kids. Peter briefly wondered what it would be like to actually be respected like that, but shook off the thought. Batman quickly and efficiently summarizes the events, including several readings of the energy sources, which only the red and black teen seemed to understand as he nodded along, looking fascinated. Once he was done, Batman turned to the Avengers. “Names. No need to share personal identities if you are uncomfortable. Though since we are from different earths, I doubt it would matter.”

“Everyone already knows our identities on our earth,” Mr. Stark said, receiving several weird looks from the teens. “So it’s not a problem for us.” He removed his face plate. “Tony Stark, I’m Iron man in the suit, which I built myself.” He gestures to Steve Rogers next.

“Captain America, Steve Rogers. Our resident super soldier and senior citizen.” Steve frowned at the last comment.

“Bruce Banner,” Mr. Stark said next, “Alter ego is the Hulk. Anger Issues and Gamma radiation galore.”

Red Robin perked up. “Cool! How did-” He was cut off by a glare from Batman.

“This is Thor Odinson, named… well, Thor. God of lightning, has a hammer. You can call him Sparky Sparky Boom Man.” A pause. “Yeah, maybe just stick with Thor.”

“Clint Barton, codename Hawkeye. Our long distance weapons specialist.” Mr. Stark gestured to Clint’s bow for good measure. The kids giggled and whispered something to each other that sounded like ‘Green Arrow knockoff ’, though Peter didn’t get it.

“Black Widow, Natasha Romanov. Intelligence expert, and ex-assassin.” This got a bunch of whispers from the kids.

Peter was the last to be introduced. He pulled off his mask while Mr. Stark said “The kid’s Peter Parker, our rookie, also known as Siderman ”

“You sure it’s Spiderman,” Helmet-Guy said.

Peter glared. “Yes.”

“Red Hood,” Batman said, frowning. “No antagonizing the interdimensional visitors.”

Red Hood just shrugged and went back to stroking his gun.

The Avengers just sat around awkwardly. The Woman jabbed her elbow into Superman’s ribs, which got him talking.

“Oh… It’s only fair we introduce ourselves, since it isn’t really official earlier.” This time it was Superman who spoke. “I’m Superman, known as Kal-El, a kryptonian. Human name is Clark Kent.”

Huh, he didn’t look like an alien.

“Here we have Wonder Woman, an amazon, demigoddess, and princess. Secret Identity is Diana Prince.” He gestured to the woman, who, despite just being called a princess, looked very threatening indeed.

“Martian Manhunter, a martian known as J’onn J'onzz. Civilian name is John Jones. Yes, quite original.” The Martian nodded in greeting, and Peter was seriously freaking out. A real martian!? Cool!

“Flash, a speedster also known as Barry Allen.” The man pulled back his cowl as Superman spoke.

“S’up?” He asked with a smile.

“And Hal Jordan, one of the Green Lanterns.”

“The best Green Lantern.”

Batman grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “keep telling yourself that.”

Superman turned to Batman, but before he could, the Dark Knight spoke. “I can do it myself Clark.” He lifted his hand and removed his cowl to reveal a handsome man in his early to mid thirties with black hair and blue eyes. “Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne.”

He turned toward the kids. “These are my kids, as well as partners.”

He started with Nightwing. “Nightwing, aka Richard Grayson. My eldest.” Richard grinned and removed his domino mask. He too had blue eyes.

“Call me Dick,” he said.

“Red Hood, aka Jason Todd, my second eldest.” Jason pressed some button or something on his helmet and took it off to reveal… a domino mask. After a quick glare from Bruce, he sighed and took it off. Revealing black hair and blue eyes.

“Red Robin,” there was a soft ‘yum’ that came from the corner, though Peter couldn’t tell who said it. “Aka Tim Drake.” Tim pulled his cowl back and grinned. He had black hair and blue eyes.

“Over there is Signal, aka Duke Thomas, my ward.” The teen took off his helmet, revealing yet another black-haired kid. Though Duke was clearly african american, and had brown eyes.

“Next is Robin aka Damian Wayne, my youngest.” Damian sneered as if he were above everyone around him.

“Spoiler, aka Stephanie Brown, is a family friend.” Stephanie waved.

“I’m also his ex,” Stephanie said, jutting her thumb at Tim.

Tim groaned. “When will you stop introducing yourself like that?”

“When it stops getting under your skin.”

Tim sank back in his chair and flung an arm over his eyes.

Batman sighed once more. “Oracle, aka Barbara Gordan. Also a family friend, and our tech specialist.” Baraba nodded in recognition. “Now that introductions are out of the way, we must discuss how you got here, and how you’ll get back.”

Everyone nodded and began the discussion. Mr. Stark started off the explanation, going over Anagnorisis, the compound, the gun that they got hit with, and how they ended up in the crater.

The other adults - mainly Batman - popped in, talking about the calculations for such an interdimensional jump. Peter listened intently, as he found it utterly fascinating, but didn’t add anything. Then Tim spoke, listing off a series of numbers and variables, that were received with nods. Peter was a bit jealous that he spoke so easily. So Peter decided to add something later on, a small comment about energy sources. When he did, the conversation stopped. Peter thought he was dead meat for interrupting, but then Bruce - Wayne, not Banner - spoke.

“The kid’s smart.”

Mr. Stark smiled proudly.

A moment later the conversation continued. They went on for almost a half hour, and even Peter was getting a bit bored. He could tell the other kids were too. The girls seemed to have gotten back to their Dinosaur Game championship, and there were small cheers and groans coming from their corner every so often. Jason and Damian had yet to set aside their weapons, though they had begun a small conversation too quiet for Peter to hear. The only people who seemed to be paying attention were Dick and Tim, though Dick clearly didn’t understand half the words that were being tossed around.

The adults seemed to be disinterested as well, namely Barry and Hal, who were in the middle of a thumb war. When they inevitably got too loud, Batman sent a glare their way. The other members of the Justice League seemed to only be listening out of courtesy. As were Thor and Clint. Natasha seemed to be focussed more on the kids. She had a small frown on her face, as if something about them bothered her.

Everyone paid attention when Batman spoke next, however. “It should take at least a week to charge up the energy sources and prepare a device to send you home.”

Peter perked up. “That’s not that long. Have you dealt with interdimensional travel in the past?”

Several of the kids groaned. “Don’t remind me,” Stephanie said.

“Worst twenty-six hours of my life!” Dick agreed.

Then Jason spoke, and Peter was speechless.

“It was almost as bad as that time I died. Now that wasn’t a fun evening.”

“You died?” Natasha said, clearly confused and worried.

“I’m better now,” he said as if referring to a common cold. Jason had a small smirk on his face as he shrugged.

“Back to the discussion at hand,” Batman said, glaring at Jason. “Yes, Peter, we have dealt with the multiverse before. It should be fairly simple to locate your dimension and send you back. The only problem is powering the device. It requires Superman flying out to the sun and placing the energy core inside to fuel it. It needs to remain there for over a week.”

“You can fly to the sun?” Mr. Stark asked. “How do you survive?”

Clark shrugged. “I have impenetrable skin, and a very high melting point.”

No one questioned this, though Peter was quite intrigued.

“Where will they stay?” Dick asked, which caused a sudden silence.

“Does the Watchtower have enough rooms available?” Barry asked.

“What’s the Watchtower?” Peter asked.

“Our space station,” Diana answered, much to Peter’s delight, “and no, we have those visiting Green Lanterns, remember? Hal has been grousing about it all this week.”

“I was not!” Hal said, then sighed. “Okay, maybe I was, but that’s beside the point. What about your farmhouse, Clark?”

Clark shook his head. “Under renovation. Speaking of which I need to head over there after this. Lois will have a cow if I’m late.”

There was silence after that, as everyone was thinking. Then Stephanie got a - slightly evil, Peter thought - smile on her face. “What about the Manor? God knows we have enough space.”

“You don’t even live here!” Tim said.

Bruce glared at Stephanie for a bit then sighed. “The Manor would work. Though why anyone would want to stay with you rabble rousers is beyond my understanding.”

Jason snorted. “Says the guy who adopted us all willingingly.”

Batman grumbled, but was saved from replying as a sudden noise came from the door.

The meeting room had a wide glass window next to the exit - which was open - so Peter had a good view of the sleek black motorcycle that entered the cave, upon which rode a figure dressed all in black. The motorcycle was parked and yet another costumed teen - this time a girl - strolled toward the conference room.

She was dressed in head to toe black, in the form of a skin tight suit. She also had a yellow utility belt, and outline of a bat on her chest. She wore a black cape and cowl which had pointed ears and covered her whole face. There seemed to be some form of stitching across her mouth, which was quite creepy.

She walked forward and entered the room quickly. Bruce smiled upon seeing her.

“Ah, Black Bat. How was the robbery?”

She motioned with her hands in a way that Peter didn’t understand. It seemed vaguely like that sign language which he’d seen Clint use.

Whatever it was, Batman seemed to understand. “Very good. These are our visitors. Code 27G. They’ll be staying at the manor till we can send them back.”

Black Bat reached up and took off her cowl revealing an asian girl around eighteen year old with a black bob. “Good,” she said. “Names?”

“We’re allowing them. Over there we have Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker, and Bruce Banner.”

“Bruce?” She asked with a smirk.

Batman sighed. “Yes.” He turned to the group. “This is my Daughter Cassandra Cain. Alias is Black Bat.”

Everyone muttered small hellos, except Jason who said something with the word “favorite” in it. Cassandra didn’t seem bothered by the lack of enthusiasm. She just smiled and walked over to Damian.

“Seat. Mine.” She spoke simply.

Peter thought the kid would just sneer, but instead he quickly moved over. He could have sworn the kid looked scared. Perhaps the kid was all bark and no bite.

“Well, if that’s all, I really should be going,” Clark Kent said as he rose from the table. “Good luck with staying at the manor. See ya kids.”

“Bye Uncle Supes,” The kids chorused

“I should be going as well,” Barry said. I’m needed at the station.”

Soon the rest of the league left, and the Avengers were left alone with the bats and birds.

[sacrificim]

huge thank you to @asterites for plotting this out with me!! and by which i mean she was the mastermind and i’m so grateful if your heart breaks blame her <3

     once upon a time there was a boy and a girl, two twins who hailed from the nation governed by the eyes of eternity. orphaned and all alone in the world, with not but one another for company. even when hunger stuck, or the winds blew harsh, as long as the children had each other there was hope that all would be okay.

     yet this was no fairy tale, and there was no happily ever after.

     the twins, oh how they loathed the orphanage that was meant to be their home. oh how they fled at the slightest opportunity. it was on one such eve that the duo took off. "we can live in the woods!” the boy thus cried, the more frivolous of the pair. “there will be berries and apples to keep our bellies full, and we can make shelter from sticks!" the girl agreed, and so did they run. far from their village, far into the wilderness. to frolic and play and build their lives anew.

     alas, their dream came crashing down with a scream.

     halua? where had she gone? down, emil discovered. down between a crack in what was the very earth itself. small, easy to miss, and even easier to devour a child small as them.

     halua! he had only meant to reach his hand in, only meant to grab and pull for surely she could not be far. till he, too, slipped between the cracks. the dirt beneath his hands giving way, and plummeting the boy into blinding darkness.

     down, down did they fall. into a world he never knew existed. never could have imagined, even with the eyes of a child. dark, terrifying, thrumming with a primordial power he could not explain yet was alive all around him. but, where was his sister? where did she go? where were they?

     all those and more probed the child's head, but no answer would ever come.

     emil and halua, what unfortunate children. they both fell into the abyss, but halua? she was never found. no one was, the boy all alone for the first time in his short life.

     his time in the abyss is but a faded memory for him, time having become a meaningless construct in the land below. surrounded by beasts the likes of which he'd never seen. how did he survive, and for how long? how did he escape? not even he knows, but the boy that emerged from its depths was not the same one who fell in. not physically. for emil's body? it was corrupted. flesh rendered from bone; one arm now skeletal in nature, as was the entirety of his form from the mid-torso down. tainted in ways he had yet to understand.

     he tried to hide it, tried to ignore his plight ( for despite the grisly sight it was painless, a problem for another day ) in favor of seeking the sister he could never find. but he could not keep it hidden forever, and one day his luck ran out.

     enter the fatui. snezhnaya. a doctor he'd come to know uncomfortably well. out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say, except he had simply traded one fire for another.

     corrupted by the abyss, he was a fascinating case. despite his protests. despite prayer after prayer to seven gods who never came. what was left of his body became an experiment to study - to test the limits of. a little of this, a little of that. infused with something he learned to be dubbed archon residue, but what precisely it was mattered little compared to how it made him feel.

     geo. cryo. a volatile combination swirled within. he became a walking bomb of unstable energy, ticking on, waiting to self-destruct. not if, but when. who had caused his share of destruction, but was always kept in check.

     that is, until he escaped.

                                                             extra below the cut

in this verse emil is a ten year old that is similar to collei from the manga, injected with archon residue and now a deadly force of raw power. two elements, fused into one unstable source. it is not killing him, as it was her, thanks to his corrupted form. but the two powers are liable to expand, and be set off. corrupted even further by the abyssal thrum within him. he is dangerous, and he fears that. fears his abilities, and will thus refuse to use them if he can help it. and he can't always help it.

though volatile, there is something keeping his power in check. a suit of armor, and a "mask" of stone. the one thing he is grateful for and took with him during his escape. the armor fills out his skeletal limbs, making then appear fuller, human. and, thankfully, are easy enough to hide beneath loose fitting clothes. the mask, on the other hand… the sight of it unsettles him, but he keeps it near. wearing it when away from villages, where the public might see. or when his power flares and craves release.

the premise is also inspired by the image shown below. and, if the opportunity arose, this au does have the possibility of leading emil to take on a fully abyssal form - mostly comparable to the floating, entirely skeletal emil we know from canon. just an extra touch of angst to keep on the backburner for when the time comes.

he has harmed people, unwillingly. accidentally. leaving behind petrified innocents that he wishes he knew how to save, but does not know if they are even still alive inside.

emil travels. on one hand to look for his missing sister, and on the other hand for the safety of himself and others. staying in one place for too long scares him, feeling as if he might put people at risk - or risk himself being found by either fatui or someone who has seen his handiwork. even so, emil can't help venturing into towns every now and then… to continue his search, yes, but he is also a young child who has never been on his own like this before. the life of a recluse not one he knows how to live.

he is still the same optimistic emil of canon, who delights in making others happy, and wishes ever so to not be alone.

and finally, where is halua? well...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[fancyfade]

Batfam Height - core members and batfam height - everyone else by Fade31415

This has been in my WIPs for months, but I’m finally done! Technically I’m not sure if everyone here is “officially” batfam, since I view Renee as more of an independent agent but I’ve heard her be listed as Batfam and I wanted to draw her. so :P

okay so this is going to be a super long post, so the decisions for why I drew who with what is just going to double as an image description, since I’m not sure it makes sense to write [image: barbara gordon wearing her armored new 52 batgirl costume end image] and then follow it with “I decided to draw the Batgirl version of babs in her new 52 costume because I liked it better because of the armoring.

anyway: everyone’s heights and outfit decisions under the cut!

Alfred Pennyworth: (first Alfred is present day, balding and 65, second Alfred is when he just met Bruce, with a full head of black hair). Alfred is 6'0" like it says he is on his wiki page. He’s got his regular butler outfit, which seems to be a suit with those  two hanging down things on the back? IDK what its called.

Cassandra Cain/Batgirl: Cass is 5'5" like it says she is in the back of Batgirl: To the Death. I combined her Batgirl and Orphan suit because I love the lightly armored aesthetic on Orphan, but I also prefer her as Batgirl. Her civilian outfit is just an outfit she wears in I think the start of Batgirl: To the Death? A crop top and black pants basically.

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Bruce is 5'7" which is NOT canon, but I put him a little short in my headcanon. This isn't for any real reason but last time I drew him not tall I got a whiny fanboy complaining he wasn't physically intimidating enough, so I'm specifically not changing it because of that I still do try to draw him with like... actual muscles so he can do stuff, because he's a very physical character. His outfits are just batman outfit and then the regular suit he wears all the time. Nothing exciting there.

Dick Grayson/ Nightwing/ Agent 37: Dick is 5'10" like it says he is on the wiki. He's got his nightwing rebirth costume for the superhero version, which is mostly all black with slight blue accents and fairly skin tight, cuz that costume was just beautiful, though I did add a little bit of armoring like he has in teh animated movies for practicality. Then he has his Grayson outfit for his 'civilian' clothes (even though it's not really civilian clothes  I like how it looks). Khaki pants a gray T shirt and some pouches for spy stuff. He’s also got his escrimas in both forms, cuz signature weapon.

Barbara Gordon/Oracle/ Batgirl: Babs is 5'11" like it says she is in the back of Batgirl: To the Death. Even though she never got magicured in my headcanon, I drew her new 52 batgirl outfit because i like the armored aesthetic better. Her civlian clothing is just the skirt and black turtleneck she wears in BTAS. Her Oracle outfits are a tanktop (so we can see her buff arms) and then my favorite outfit she wore in the comics (jeans and a leather jacket). She has buffer arms and thinner legs as Oracle, because she is using her arms way more than her legs.

Damian Wayne/Robin: I drew Damian once at 10 years old, when he just started being Robin, and then at 13, like he is in the present. I chose his Batman and Robin (2011) costume over the 2009 one, because i liked how it looked better, and Robin: Son of Batman costume over Rebirth because Robin Son of Batman is my FAVORITE costume for him. both costumes have a red tunic and black pants, the batman and robin 2011 one has a yellow cape and black hood but the son of batman one has a black cape with gold trim. He's 4'6" at 10 years old and 4'11" at 13. His civilian clothing is a simple suit at 10 and the yellow sweatervest he wears in Robin Son of Batman #6 at 13.

Onyx Adams: Onyx is 5'9" like her wiki entry says. Her civilian outfit is the monk outfit (a long loose orange robe). Her superhero outfit is what she seems to fight in, which is just a crop top and black pants.

Kate Kane/ Batwoman: Kate is 5'11" like her wiki entry says, and I let her be a little broader around the shoulders and hips after seeing a broader Batwoman drawing I really liked. She's wearing her rebirth costume, mostly black with a red bat symbol and red trim, and got her rebirth short hair on her civilian outfit. her civilian outfit is black pants, a black vest, and a button up white no sleeve shirt.

Stephanie Brown/Batgirl: Stephanie Brown is 5'5" like her wiki entry says. I can't remember why I put her in her Batgirl costume instead of her Spoiler costume (maybe because I haven't drawn her as Batgirl before?) Either way, her Batgirl costume is black with purple trim. her civilian outfit is jeans, a purple shirt, and a leather jacket, which I think I saw her wearing in one of her batgirl issues but it’s been a while.

Tim Drake/ Red Robin: He is 5′6″ like his wiki entry says, though that might have been referencing when he was younger because it also listed his weight as 125 pounds. But I figured some guys are allowed to be short :P he has his first red robin costume (black pants, red tunic, cowl that covers his face except for his mouth and chin like batman’s) and his civilian outfit is just jeans and a white button up shirt.

Duke Thomas/Signal: I couldn't find Duke's height on the wiki so I guessed and put him at 5'9". He’s a little lean cuz he’s 16 and still growing. his superhero outfit is his bright yellow and black signal outfit with the motorcycle helmet with bat ears. His civilian clothing is an outfit he wore in Robin War (jeans, red shoes, a red hoodie).

Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael: Jean-Paul is 6'2" like his wiki entry says. In Batman: the Sword of Azrael, he seemed to be drawn leaner before becoming Azrael and buffer afterwards, so maybe his Azrael training/programming gave him guns? IDK that's why I drew both a thin version and a buff version in the civilian clothes, which are a white T shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.

Azrael outfit only gets the buff version though. I combined the 90s outfit and his new 52 outfit because... I'm gonna be real I LOVE his 90s outfit, even though it is very 90s. But I also had a hard time drawing it in my style, which is why I borrowed some from new 52. so he’s got golden boots like in new 52, but otherwise red, mostly skintight outfit, a golden chestplate, large shoulderpads and large gauntlets, like in the 90s. with his cool wrist sword. obviously.

Jason Todd/ Red Hood: I was actually conflicted as to whether include Jason because my all time favorite appearance for him (after his intro, when he whacks batman on the stomach with a tire iron) is the Red Hood movie, where he is decidedly not batfam and rather an enemy. But lots of people count him as Batfam and he’s an ally in the current continuity, so I drew him. Jason is 6'0" like his wiki entry says. He's just got an outfit inspired by his under the red hood movie outfit - black cargo pants, brown leather jacket. his civilian clothing has a grey T shirt and his red hood outfit has a black chestpiece with a red bat symbol and a red face covering helmet.

Helena Bertinelli/Huntress/Matron: Helena is 5'11" like her wiki entry says. She’s got her dark purple hooded Rebirth costume, and her tiny crossbow. I drew her as she appears in Grayson for the "civilian" version (black shirt with a white cross on it, reddish pants), to match the Agent 37 Dick on the other chart.

Renee Montoya/ the Question: Renee is 5'8" like her wiki entry says. She was very inspired by how Cully Hamner draws him in Pipelines, because I love Cully Hamner's art (reffed her outfits here: link). her civilian outfit is a white crop top and blue work out pants, and her question outfit is a leather jacket, black t shirt, fedora, and jeans. she’s holding a nunchaku in both.

Renee is a member I'm not sure "counts" as Batfam, because i view her more as an independent agent, but I've heard some people count her in it and I wanted to draw her anyway

Luke Fox/ Batwing: Luke Fox is 5'10" cuz i messed up and made him 1 inch too short (his wiki entry says 5'11"). He's got the blue polo he wears in Batman: Bad Blood in his civilian clothes, even though I consider comics Luke to be more "canon", but I couldn't think of what to draw him in from Comics luke's civlian outfits  His batwing outfit is comics luke's batwing outfit as well -- all black and armored, covering every inch of his body, with the blue bat symbol and shiny blue eyes. 

David Zavimbe/ Batwing: I like Luke, but David will always be the Batwing of my heart :P David is 5'8". It didn't say his height on the wiki so I had to guess, and I guess I let him not be super tall because there are already a ton of tall people in the Batfam. His civilian outfit is the uniform he wears in his day job (police officer), kind of green almost army looking clothes, and a black hat, and his batwing outfit is his first batwing outfit from the comics -- dark grey armor, domino-esque mask that has giant wing motifs coming from it, etc.

[witcher-ot3]

Sims 4 (Im)Perfect Strangers Characters

Okay, probably no one cares, but hey, may as well share. So, I’ve been making some folks from (Im)Perfect Strangers, and I figured hey, maybe someone else cares enough to want to see lmao

Triss So, obviously we know what Triss looks like in canon. But because I started with Netflix!Triss, my version is a bit of a combination of game and netflix canon. Also, because I have the mods that make it possible, yes she has hairy legs and arms and no, she is not ashamed of it. Idk if her eyes are quite so noticeable, but I like the idea that mages feel ever so slightly Off to lay folk.

Adda the White Adda the White is Foltest’s daughter niece and in my version of things, she was raised by the Priestesses of Melitele with Triss and Roche looking in on her/mentoring her over the years. She’s had pretty limited contact with Foltest himself. She wears the traditional headcovering of the Priestesses (aka a hijab). She also has sharper than normal teeth, a lingering result of the striga curse, along with slightly heightened senses.

In her priestess garb, I think she looks a bit like this:

Anais La Valette Yeah okay, she has a game model, but the Witcher 2 kid models are creepy. SO, Anais, as we know, is a rowdy, rambunctious kid. She likes fighting and rough playing and she is not afraid of demanding what she wants. Loudly. 

Boussy La Valette Unlike his sister, Boussy is more of an introvert. He likes his own company, but mostly, he likes to keep busy doing something that makes him think. (I doing my best to portray him as autistic, btw). He also does not believe in casual clothing. If you’re gonna get dressed, you should put effort into it, that’s his philosophy. He probably learned to tie his own bowtie at like 7 just so he could wear it without other people getting in his space to tie it.

Rinn Originally created by the wonderful @franzwantscoffee​, Rinn is our favorite Scoia’tael spy. She’s pretty young as elves go - well, most of the Scoia’tael are, honestly, but Rinn is around teens/early twenties in the human equivalent. She wears clothing that helps her blend into the forest and is so good at sneaking that it takes inhuman senses to be able to detect her when she doesn’t want to be seen.

Sylvar Amongst the Scoia’tael, no one has worse scars that Sylvar. He typically wears a red mask over the lower half of his face to help cover them, but the burn scars he bears are extensive. He joined the Scoia’tael after the house his mother and he lived in amongst humans was set on fire - with them inside. He managed to escape, but his mother did not. Only elven medicine was able to save him and help him regain mobility after the incident. Because of this, Sylvar, unsurprisingly, does not trust humans. He wants to believe in the Free Pontar Valley, but it’s difficult when trying to sleep with humans in the vicinity leads to nightmares and panic attacks.

Taredd Taredd is remarkably short amongst elves, to the point that he was often teased about being a dwarven bastard. He does not enjoy reminders of his height (which, of course, means that Sylvar has to remind him every so often, just because). Anxious and clever, he took a page out of Cedric’s book and self-medicates with alcohol to keep his mind from being too overwhelmingly busy. He’s probably the best tracker in the Scoia’tael.

Maeral Maeral is punk as hell, the cleverest commander in Iorveth’s Scoia’tael, and an all around badass. Her squad is all women and to be honest, she doesn’t have much time for men. Iorveth is an exception because he lets her utterly destroy him at chess. She trusts him unequivocally, but her team is also a strike force. They’re the ones who go in first, the ones who play the distraction, the ones most likely to die. She trusts Iorveth because he trusts her to do what she needs to on the ground to bring as many of their people home as possible.

Imadia Imadia is old, even for elves, and unlike most elves humans have seen, she shows signs of her age. That’s how old she is. She is also old enough to take no shit whatsoever and she likes a nice pop of color in life. Things are bleak enough without wearing drab and depressing clothing. Besides, as a medic, she is typically removed from the fight and doesn’t have to scrounge for “gently used” armor like the rest of the Scoia’tael. In addition to serving as Iorveth’s medic, Imadia and Iorveth have known each other since before the Conjunction of the Spheres. When he attended the elven university equivalent, she was his thesis advisor. His faith in her advise has survived since then, and even though her biting tongue might bruise his ego, when he’s in over his head, she is the first person he goes to.

Kythaela (also known as Ky) Ky is a very upbeat and bright person, rarely ever seen without a beaming smile. She came to the Scoia’tael with her father, Ayluin, but he eventually turned traitor, trying to sell the Scoia’tael out to the Temerian guard. When he was discovered, he fled, and Ky attacked him in anger. In the scuffle, Ky managed to stab her father through the heart - and then broke down crying under the weight of everything. That was how Iorveth found her and came to believe in her innocence. Of everyone in the Scoia’tael, Kythaela and Rinn are probably the closest. They’re of a similar age and despite their very different demeanors, they make a terrifying and effective team. Ky is part of Maeral’s all-women unit.

SPOILERS FOR (IM)PERFECT STRANGERS!!

Zeda In Between Two Fools Chapter 4, we discover that Kythaela is pregnant with a dwarf’s child. Epic sex ed fail in the Scoia’tael, btw. Zeda hasn’t actually been born yet in what I’ve written so far, BUT he’s going to play a significant role in the future. As a half-dwarf/half-elven child, this baby is TINY and came out with a full head of hair. I think as he grows up, he’ll also probably grow body hair, unlike elves, because dwarves are very, very hairy because I say so.

Because this was super fun, are there any characters that y’all would like to see visualized? Maybe I’ll do Luka next...

[viktor-noctis]

Harvest Moon

Anakin Skywalker wanted to kill everyone in the room. And then himself.

Even if they didn’t know who he was, because the chance they might find out was too terrifying to consider.

But they hadn’t. He knew they hadn’t. Because if they had, they would all have died of laughter before he could slice them into little pieces with his lightsaber. Which he didn’t have.

This night just keeps getting better and better.

He had completed well over two-hundred missions since he joined the Jedi Order, from escorting diplomats, brokering peace between nations, and fighting on battlefields the galaxy over. He had traversed forests full of dangerous, man-eating flora, ice cloaked mountains with beasts that could rip one apart in seconds, and even desserts. Full of sand. Which he believed was far eviler than the worms waiting beneath the surface of the dunes, ready to swallow one whole, or any of the previous threats combined. He would take any of them, all of them, even a dustbowl, over his current assignment.

On paper, it looked standard: use secured invitation to get inside of a party of ambassadors, senators, and potential members of the Separatists. Easy. Sneak past heavily armored centurion guards wielding plasma canons and ion missiles that may or may not have heat seeker technology embedded in them. Interesting, without a weapon, but not impossible. Find information regarding the movements of enemy shipments, containing stolen kyber crystals, and potential hostages of their side. Somewhat difficult… If one didn’t possess an encrypted pass code, capable of rapid copying the necessary data in record time. All-in-all, the usual kind of Jedi mission that included a bit of espionage on the side.

Except the teeny, tiny, minute detail of the invitation being formatted for a Lady Skylar Erie.

A woman from a small, noble house on Naboo. She was twenty-two years old, six feet tall exactly, and didn’t speak due to a childhood incident. Her hair was a light brown with touches of golden blond, possessing eyes the color of dark turquoise gems, and skin bronzed by the sun. Lady Skyler had full, dark lips, now shaded to a deep crimson, and high cheekbones. Her shoulders were broad, her legs long, and –

“Luckily,” the stylist had smiled at him in the mirror, “handsome young men make beautiful women.” Obi-Wan didn’t look like he agreed with that statement. His arms were crossed, eyes wide beneath his furrowed brow, and lips pursed within his beard… which he was stroking. Which meant he was looking for something comforting to say. Anakin was almost curious what sort of backwards, reorganized Yoda-phrase he would use, no doubt intended to distract him from that fact that he made a passable woman in a pinch. His former master opened and closed his mouth several times, forming nothing, and eventually just let a burst of air out behind his sealed lips. Which was probably the wisest thing he could have done.

The dress was another monstrous affair. The fact that Padma had been the one to gift the pattern to the tailor made him want to jump off the nearest bridge. Because that meant it was from Naboo, which was notorious for having so many hard to navigate layers, it was like trying to solve a puzzle maze. He’d overheat and die. Either that, or it would be a flowing slip of silk that would immediately give away the fact he was a man, and he could already see the billboard tagline all over the tabloid side of the holonet.

A form fitted, off the shoulder, obsidian gown arrived. There was a deep cerulean, satin sash that wrapped around the top, no doubt to hide his lack of cleavage, and draped down to curl over the low arches of his hips, falling down his buttocks like a tail. The entire thing was accented with ivory stones across the top, coiling in abstract patterns down his ribs, growing smaller till they faded at his thighs. Made from the finest silks, the whole thing had been custom fitted for him a week before.

“It’s a shame you want to destroy it.” Obi-Wan’s voice held six feet worth of lamentation that Anakin was ready to bury him in. “It’s rather beautiful.” One look from Anakin had shut him up for the entire evening. He had his word that when they made it back to the Temple, he was allowed to slice it to pieces with his saber until it was nothing but a smoldering, crumpled ruin of unidentifiable cloth and cracked stones. He was also not to take a single holo of him in it, no matter how much Senator Amidala plead or bargained.

However, he had quickly realized that the most dangerous part of his mission didn’t entail trying not to fall flat on his face while wearing three inch heels (how Padme managed the ‘dagger stilettoes’ that were over five he would never know, but he was going to bow down on his knees the next time he saw her), nor glaring at the men who gave his backside leering glances (he just about managed not to Force push that last one’s face straight into the buffet table), or even punching the last piece of kriffing, snorg-birthed, moose-goose snot brained –

I hate this, I hate this, I hatethis, IhatethisIhatethisIhatethis –

He almost tore his dress. Again.

No, the most dangerous part of his mission was none of the above. It was navigating the toxic snake pit filled with people he knew almost nothing about. Oh, some of them he had seen, certainly: thieves, murderers, drug dealers, and slave traders. They were up to their ears in nothing but filth and injustice, the lowest of the low, scum that he had to smile and play nice with like a mute, pretty girl with only three brain cells to her name would.

Anakin’s face hadn’t stopped burning the whole evening. He only prayed his embarrassment couldn’t melt away the layers of foundation and contour applied to his features. She’d even combed and fixed his hair, plating the strands into a short braid with ribbon that matched his dress, and flowers that curled into the elaborate cuffs around his ears. He hated the jewelry almost as much as the gown… the dainty chains in his lobes had snow drops on the ends, bearing sapphires so deep they appeared onyx. The choker around his neck was emblazoned with them as well, with diamonds that offset the ones on the dress.

He had to wear gloves. To cover up his mechanical arm, as if it were something to be ashamed of. Anakin managed to contain a growl, keeping his fan close to the lower portion of his face. He didn’t dare lower it, least someone find his jaw too strong, his neck too thick.

How can anyone believe this? Maybe everyone around him thought it was just as ludicrous, just as impossible that Anakin Skywalker liked to spend his Tuesday evenings dressed as a woman, strutting around some of the worst moss-pit vipers in the galaxy. He swallowed what remained of his pride.

Get the information. Get out. You’ve done this a thousand times before. Never like this he hadn’t.

He had the advantage of his height at least, his gaze straying over the facades in attendance, knowing his mark would favor a more private location. The mask they had given him was just insult to injury… It covered everything above his cheekbones, wrapping over the bridge of his nose. Carved from delicate ivory, with swirls and coils painted on in black at the top, fading to midnight blue around his eyes, and then a rich silver at the edges. The top of the brow split in a mane of feathers, mimicking the shades already present. According to Obi-Wan, it was meant to represent a delicate, blue bird found on a planet covered mostly in water in the furthermost reaches.

Anakin almost felt relieved when he saw his target in the throng of dignitaries. His mask wasn’t strapped on like his own was, dangling from his right hand, while his left arm remained occupied by a Togruta girl with red skin and yellow horns. He really did not need to be thinking of Ahsoka right now. What would she say if she could see him? She’d never stop talking about it. She’d probably sneak a holo or two just to save for future blackmailing purposes, because what sane Padawan would pass up the opportunity to have a picture of their Master all dressed up for the ball?

The man in question, with more gold than white or black in his mouth, was one Fren Pollock. After obtaining a hard-won pardon from the Republic – something that made Anakin’s teeth grind – he had somehow acquired a governorship on a small lunar colony. Drugs, munitions, and people, nothing was beneath him. Anakin found himself reveling in the notion of bringing him down, of dismantling his little empire into the dust, and taking all of his accomplices with him.

“Woah there, blondie.” A bodyguard. One of four. No armor, no weapons, as was the standard, per the request of the hosts.

[ I’m really terrible at writing scum bags, but Fren allows Anakin closer, only to drug him. Someone intervenes, of course, but after unmasking Anakin things go from bad to worse. Also, Dooku wears a Loth-wolf mask. - ]

“I believe the young Lady has had enough.” Anakin’s stomach dropped. He couldn’t breathe. His next whimper was stifled against a hard chest. Hands, warm and solid, one on his wrist, and the other on his back. Protective, almost tender, they held him steady against the taller man.

 The chuckle that emanated from the Count tightened around his chest. The air left him, slipping free in a low, hoarse whimper. Dooku just laughed harder. Anakin didn’t dare raise his head to see the slice of his grin through his cheeks.

“My, my, this evening is just full of surprises.” Dooku’s sneer rippled through his already weak knees. They shuddered beneath him, leaving him to sway dangerously. “I didn’t expect to find you here, Skywalker, but considering this turn of events, I’m rather glad I did.” Red and blue. Anakin’s teeth clenched, jaw ringing with the pain, straight into his temples. He should jerk forward, smash his head into Dooku’s nose. Crimson and azure. Their sabers should clash, they always had, easy and familiar. Darkness and light, trading breath and edge, till one consumed the other. Mars and Venus. Planetoids too far to know, yet the tales of them were wreathed in the fantastical. The coin flipped, came down in a shower of sparks that were the shades of stars.

Dooku tasted like something bitter and yet sweet. It reminded Anakin of the grapes Padme had given him while they were visiting Alderaan, off a vine five years old. She said they were native to the planet, that they would keep the same fruits without dropping them for hundreds of years, but when they were plucked clean… they died. Those same plants were the reason the planet was known for its wine. She had challenged him to taste as many as he could, all the way up to the first century. They made his nose wrinkle, his vision darkening as his eyes squinted, then misted with tears he blinked away. He didn’t even get to twenty.

He still had the gift… the one Bail Organa had given him. He had winked at him, saying something about how even Jedi needed to have fun every once in a while. The crystal, ruby embossed bottle was hidden somewhere under his bunk, protected by his worn, old Padawan robes. He still didn’t know how a beverage made from fruit as old as Yoda was supposed to be a good.

“What are you doing?!” His head throbbed. His parted lips trembled, prickling with something he couldn’t name. Anakin’s cheeks were still burning, but a new heat had been added from the friction of the Count’s beard. Dooku’s hand gripped his bicep, the muscle throbbing beneath his hard palm. Anakin could feel the bruises forming, the pulse of blood beneath the surface. He’d torn away, smashing him into the wall, and he had… he had kissed Count Dooku, a known Sith Lord, and leader of the Separatist Systems Alliance. A tremble lanced through him, clinging to his muscles, till he felt as if he were going to shake straight out of his skin.

Anakin’s head twisted, turning away from Dooku, but his body wouldn’t follow as easily. His tongue clung to the roof of his mouth, thick with the ichor of whatever had been in his drink. He swallowed it back, trying to free himself of the Count’s hand with a sluggish, surly throw of his shoulder. He stumbled instead, pivoting dangerously close to the wall, but durasteel bands took hold of his waist. His body jerked, a whimper exiting his lungs as they compressed. The darkness crept into his vision, stifling him in the heat and musk of whoever held him.

“What have you done?” Far away, harsh and whispered. The syllables grated against his scorching ears. His throat ached with the sound that left him, high-pitched and terrible. His mouth contacted something solid and warm and smooth. He couldn’t help but rub his face into the warmth of that broad shoulder. Whoever held him smelled like heat and spice.

Padme and Obi-Wan sat across from him, laughing as his face twisted. He had grown up a poor boy on Tatooine, you didn’t just waste food, no matter how much you didn’t like it. Which meant swallowing down whatever you were given, which meant he was willing to try anything once. Even the boiled bark of a strange planet. It was not the taste, but the brittle texture on his tongue. Citrus and tang, almost metallic in its bite, sliding down his throat with the same viscosity of honey, and the viciousness of alcohol.

That was the smell that surrounded him now, sharp and distinct. There was something overtop, layered on to smooth the undercurrent of that wild, intoxicating aroma. Anakin almost thought it was… roses. Yes, roses. Extravagant and sweet, enough to hide the Loth-wolf’s true scent.

[ Dooku makes a strategic retreat, taking Anakin with him back to his room… Mistake. The drug is in him now, and inhibition is taking a nosedive straight into hell. He puts Anakin in his room, where he struggles out of the dress, tearing off the jewelry, and rubs at his face. The Count returns after a thunderous crash, effectively shattering every bottle in his private bar. Not good… He returns to the room, submerged in darkness, standing at the end of the bed… ]

Anakin trembled beneath his own pride.

The moonlight splayed over his shoulders, weaving through his white hair, curving over the hard edges of the right side of his face. His eyes, cheeks, lips, chin, his entire face lost to the shadows. Anakin could see nothing of him, but he could imagine the furrow of his brow, the pull of his mouth into that familiar sneer. Or would his cheeks ripple with a snarl? He almost wished he could see him, the revulsion of his features, the cruel amusement preferable to the void that stared back at him.

He could feel something though, intangible as the Force, but as palpable as its presence. Dooku’s gaze. Those hard, dark orbs, piercing his bunched shoulders, his heaving chest, the tremble of his stomach.

He lost.

“Please…”

[ And this is as far as I got because I’m terrible. I’m not tagging this much either, because its a WIP. ]

[jcmorrigan]

Right, since you asked me questions about my f/o, I'll fire some at you now! 1. Favourite place to go with them 2. How do you care for them when they are ill and vice versa 3. Had any playful arguments that you look at and go 'what were we doing??' I'll slide these over here and be on my way ;3

All right! So, as a reminder, I have three (3) romantic f/o’s - XR from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Tony Dracon from Gargoyles, and Giovanni Potage from Epithet Erased. And for this exercise, I am going to answer all three questions FOR ALL THREE OF THEM! (If you’re following me for something other than selfship and you don’t wanna see me ramble for three pages, please block the tag “selfship” now)

1. FAVORITE PLACE TO GO!

I hadn’t realized until I thought about it, but it always seems to come back to a rooftop in the city. You think I like city lights or something? I do. I love city lights. I love cities.

Anyway, with XR, I decided right away that our favorite planet is Trade World, seedy underbelly and all. We can kill time there forever (and probably waste all our money on stuff that isn’t important). I haven’t written it yet, but one of the ideas I had for writing us was that after the big love confession, we’d have our first date on a rooftop restaurant there and watch the lights come on as the sun set, at which point I very sappily draw a connection between my love of city lights and XR’s eyes.

As for Giovanni, I have this whole oneshot about our first kiss that revolves around us trying to find the most perfect and fittingly dramatic place for it, and I ended up putting us on a rooftop at the edge of town where the Sweet Jazz skyline would be our background in all its luminescent glory. I imagine we’d go back up to that building again and again to talk about things if we’re not chilling at home or a base of operations. Just watching the night.

Then for Tony? I admittedly hadn’t given it too much thought, but I immediately got an image of us on, guess what, a rooftop, but of a skyscraper in downtown NYC. Now, Gio and I had to break onto ours by scaling the fire escape ladders; Tony would bust locks and we’d just take the stairs up from the inside. And that’s where we slow-dance when we want to be alone. Bring up a whole portable stereo and a mix of the schmaltziest love rock-ballads (think, like, REO Speedwagon or Journey). Come to think of it, I actually don’t know whether he’s made the connection that the Gargoyles operate out of the Eyrie, so we would definitely look at the freaking castle above the clouds and go “Next target” without knowing the law and order of the town that plagues our existence roosts there.

I’m also working on an AU that is compliant with my “Taking Back the Crown” crossover universe, and in that one, I’m thinking I’d be polyamorous with all three. While I haven’t picked a favorite spot, I do know that particular s/i would live in Twilight Town, and since Final Fantasy is piecemeal AU’d into KH logic (whereas none of those three are from canon KH worlds but it’s an easy crossover gateway so their worlds would just be intact), I actually have this design that Rabanastre from FFXII would be the capital of the nation Twilight Town is in and a few hours’ train ride away, and the four of us just LOVE heading over there and probably scaling some rooftops.

2. CARING FOR THE SICK!

Let’s start with me, in general. I’m a huge hypochondriac. I fear germs. I’m not really that good at taking care of sick friends/family, but for a romantic partner, I’d try to step up my game. I’d be on call. Now, if they were just ordinary sick, I might see if they’d be okay staying home while I got work done, with the caveat that I have my phone on me and can answer whenever. They’re stricken with debilitating nausea and can’t leave the bed? I’ll play hooky. But I’ll try to keep a reasonable distance whenever possible (chatting with them from across the room, where I am planted in a chair that is far away from the bed) and use a surgical mask and gloves whenever approaching. Yes, that may sound heartless, but I still wanna be available to bring them whatever they need, just with my armor on. And I’m not me unless I’m a raging hypochondriac who thinks she’s coming down with what her boyfriend’s got every five seconds. The exception, of course, is XR, who I envision would get sick as a visual gag of having a ���computer virus” and exhibit all the symptoms of a head cold without actually being contagious.

Tony is low-maintenance and insists he doesn’t need to be babied, so he’s not gonna even ask me for that much except company. Giovanni and XR are both absolutely complainers and going to whine at me every five minutes, which will inevitably make my heart melt.

As for when I’m sick…

XR loves playing “nurse” (kinda like I had him in this oneshot where I sprain my shoulder) and will get me everything I want. This is for somewhat selfish reasons so I will talk up how great of a boyfriend he is when I’m sick. Also, there’s a good chance that any medical supplies he brings me might be “borrowed without permission” from Star Command’s med bay. He WILL bring me illegal narcotics, and I WILL turn them down. He’ll also call in sick to work himself to take care of me - and also because it gives him an excuse to not turn in to work. We’ll likely end up binging shows cuddled up together if I’m not sleepy or too nauseous.

Tony isn’t all that attentive; he knows I’m a grown-up and can mostly handle myself. If I’m seriously incapacitated, he’ll watch over me, but in most cases, he’ll take off to get his own work done, same philosophy as me: call me if you need anything. He’s not gonna rush to bring me things, but he will do smaller gestures - brushing my hair back if I’m asleep before he leaves, etc. After business is taken care of, if I seem stable and not contagious, he’ll assist me in setting up on the couch with blankets aplenty on one end while he sits on the other, and really, all my f/o’s know that when I’m sick, I just wanna binge TV shows, so that’s what we do.

Giovanni freaks out. He also wants to get me everything I need, but he’s kinda not used to taking care of sick people, so he’ll be running around like a headless chicken asking me if I need various medical supplies that don’t at all apply to the kind of illness I have (such as a splint or a tourniquet). And soup. He will bring me so much soup. Hey, he’s good at making it, so I’m not gonna complain. He also does unfortunately think cuddling will make things better, and want to sit in bed next to me or kiss me for reassurance. I tell him over and over and over that that’s just gonna get him sick. Less than 24 hours later, he’s caught what I have, and I’m just “GEE, I WONDER HOW THAT HAPPENED.”

3. PETTY ARGUMENTS!

XR and I are built on petty arguments. He fulfills my fantasies of a relationship based on tsundere rivalry. We will find things to argue about for fun. This is how we get our kicks. I call him a dumbass, he calls me a narcissist, we don’t mean it (…mostly). He once caught me singing and dancing, thinking I was alone, and taped it and circulated it as a meme. He thinks it’s hilarious if I trip and fall. Conversely, I think it’s hilarious if he runs into things when he’s not looking where he’s going. I keep a running record of stupidest spelling mistakes he’s made and will trot them out whenever appropriate. At the end of the day, though, we set it all aside. Don’t let anyone know we’re actually nice to each other behind closed doors!

Tony and I basically argue about one petty thing: the fact that he CANNOT DRIVE. Is there canon precedent to this? Not really, except for the fact that his henchmen always seem to be driving the getaway car. But I have it in my head that the people in our operation who should be driving are me, Pal Joey, and Glasses. The person in our operation who should not be driving is Tony. Guess which one of the four asks most often to drive? Yeah. And sometimes he wears us down and we have to deal with him nearly killing us by driving 20 mph above the speed limit. IN DOWNTOWN NEW YORK. THE POLICE CHASE HASN’T EVEN STARTED. If there is one thing that is the subject of our married-couple spats, it is THIS.

Arguing with Giovanni is more of a minefield because we both have a habit of pretending we’re not sensitive about certain things until one of us rags on that certain thing and then it explodes. I have a oneshot idea, may or may not write it, in which he insults my “nerd glasses” like he always does with Sylvie, and I’m legitimately hurt but trying not to show it, so I engage in a rivalry argument with him that lasts all day, up until he jokingly says that I have delusions of grandeur and I just say “Well, at least I don’t think I’m qualified to be captain when I’m not” about myself when I realize that my lack of filter made it sound like I insinuated he wasn’t qualified to be captain, at which point he will actually start crying and insist to me that words hurt. Everything’s made better when we sit down and have an honest talk about what we said that hurt each other and then hug it out.

[fenharel-archived]

25 Dragon Age Questions       

tagged by @lelibela ♥♥♥ tagging: @denerim @flmeth @blckwall @clanventrues @thalasians @cireael @rkyloren @noonvraith @aloths and anyone who wants to talk a bit about da!!!! 01) Favourite game of the series? Inquisition. I’m just here to smooch Solas, ok.

02) How did you discover Dragon Age? It’s all @flmeth’s fault!!!!!! She once made a post about it here. :’/ (♥)

03) How many times you’ve played the games? TOO MANY TIMES. And that’s saying something, as someone who usually only plays a game once or twice lmao (I like trying out new things, ok!). I just checked and I apparently have 798 hours in Inquisition alone. Including DAO & DA2 I would estimate around 1400 hours, hm... wtf@me

04) Favourite race to play as? Elves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

05) Favourite class? Mage!!!!!!!! Rogues are cool too though I just really can’t do warriors tbh.

06) Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time? Depends! I have several characters in each game who make slightly different choices and I stick to them if I re-play them, or I just do something that I don’t ~consider canon~ just because I’m curious. So I’ve tried out most choices by now! Except for DA2, I always do the same in DA2.

07) Go-to adventuring group? DAO: Zevran, Morrigan, Alistair DA2: Anders, Varric, Fenris DAI: Solas, Dorian, Cole is my fave during main quests, but I really don’t have a solid “Go-to group” in DAI tbh. There is so much banter I don’t want to miss, you know! The companion that is always in my group is Solas lmao. :^)

08) Which of your characters did you put the most thought into? Oh boy idk. All of them? Feels weird picking only one. I mean I re-played Alvar the most so I guess her maybe? Idk

09) Favourite romance? *drum roll* SOLAS.

10) Have you read any of the comics/books? The books, yeah! Not all of them yet but I’m on it.

11) If you read them, which was your favourite book? So far the Masked Empire

12) Favourite DLCs? Trespasser. I would even say it’s my fave DLC throughout any game series? The emotional turmoil this one gives me is INSANE. The STORY. The SOUNDTRACK. THE ENDING.... @ everyone who follows me and still hasn’t played DAI & all it’s DLC’s in the Egg romance yet: It enhances your experience SO MUCh. It’s so GOOD. Trust me on this one.

13) Things that annoy you. I can’t smooch Solas casually. What the hell.

14) Orlais or Ferelden? Orlais..... is prettier?

15) Templars or mages? Mages.

16) If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one? It’s both for me! I have a big universe in my head where all of them have their roles and this is also the one I consider the most important, but I also have separate world states for each. It’s just easier sometimes depending on which OC I play.

17) What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc) Nymeria’s dog: Fang, Cari’s dog: Fluffy, Eleanor’s dog: Sinner. Oh, Cari is also able to summon a Skeleton buddy, I called him Klaus.

18) Have you installed any mods? Yyeeahhhh...

19) Did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden? Nymeria didn’t, but Cari thought it sounds interesting, at least the getting out of the tower part.

20) Hawke’s personality? Eleanor is mostly purple. But she uses blue and red ofc as well, depending on the occasion. (& Lynne is not a Hawke, but she used mostly red, with blues sometimes when she talked to her friends)

21) Did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition? Like making them all look the same? No.

22) If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change? Nymeria wouldn’t have made Shianni the Bann of the Alienage, since they killed her for it. Cari wouldn’t change a thing, she believes everything happens for a reason and that she wouldn’t be the person she is today if she would change something. Eleanor would go back and try to save her mother & sister, she would also stop Carver of joining her into the Deep Roads expedition, so that he wouldn’t have to be a Grey Warden now. Lynne would like to have given the DA2 clique a chance earlier, they are bffs now but it took her so long to get her armour off. Alvar keeps thinking about Crestwood and what she could have done or said differently. Falon regrets something that happend with him and his ex boyfriend. He would like to fix that.

23) Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon? So many, it’s more fun that way! I have three living Grey Wardens in DAO for example, instead of two, since both Cari & Nymeria get recruited. Or I also have Lynne, who is another member of the Kirkwall crew, without being a Hawke, etc.

24) Who did you leave in the Fade? In my current “canon” it’s Hawke :/. But since switching Cari to the Warden it should be Stroud. So that might change. If I’ll ever be able to let go of the angst. Also if Hawke doesn’t come back in DA4 I’ll do it in an instant.

25) Favourite mount? asjkdhkjsdhs “Pride of Arlathan” but honestly only because of it’s name. I don’t use mounts at all lmao.

[segadores-y-soldados]

Long Reasons Not to Trust Moira in Retribution

“One of the things we really like doing with Overwatch is playing with perspective.  We utilize perspective when we analyze or when we tell stories about characters, what they’re thinking, what their goals are.  And we have a lot of unreliable narrators.  We want people to pay careful attention to what characters think about in particular situations.  We want them to use their judgment and their knowledge of a character’s thoughts to come up with their own ideas about the universe.

“[...] The world needs heroes, but it also needs villains.  And we have a number of villainous characters in Overwatch.  And what’s important to us is that their internal motivations are not purely rooted in ‘being evil,’ despite how they might seem on the surface.  You know, as we reveal more about these characters, we want people to be able to empathize and understand their beliefs.  Because sometimes what makes a villain a villain is the extent to which they’re willing to go to reach their goals.  And one thing that we find most important when we’re talking about our villain characters is that there is nothing to say that a villain cannot be as charismatic - or more charismatic - or as likeable as a hero character.  Because like the old saying goes, ‘Every villain is the hero of their own story.’”

- Excerpts from Michael Chu’s GDC talk, “Thinking Globally: Building the Optimistic Future of Overwatch,” April 2017 (source)

“We stand on the brink of a breakthrough in human evolution.  I have dedicated my life to unraveling its secrets.  I take risks that others would consider to be ‘unwise,’ for I do not share their caution.  Overwatch held back the pace of scientific discovery for decades.  They believed my methods were too radical... too controversial...

“And they tried...to silence me.”

- Moira, Origin Story (source)

---------

It begins with an experiment.

It is thirty years in the future - approximately 2046-2047.  Facilities of the defunct company Omnica Corporation have suddenly gone back online.  In a moment of surreality, armies of robots are unleashed from these Omniums and begin to attack humanity the world over.

But national militaries struggle.  And fail.

And so, in a gamble for the fate of humankind -

They begin to experiment.

Some countries use cybernetic augmentation.  Some countries develop highly specialized armor.

Some countries take normal soldiers -

And “enhance” them.

And at least one of those soldiers -

Gets a little...too experimental.

(A lot more under the cut. I’m not joking. Turn back now.)

Part 1: Going Ghost

Finally.

After over a full year of back-and-forth and this-and-that, we finally have more significant and concrete context for Michael Chu’s (in)famous twitter discussion on Reaper:

(Source)

What Michael Chu and the fan were referencing was this section of Reaper’s official Hero Profile.

Specifically, the line “[Reaper] has fought in many armed conflicts in the last decades, showing no loyalty to any cause or organization.”

At the time, there was considerable confusion and frustration among fans at the implication that Gabriel Reyes - a major hero of the Omnic Crisis, an important founding member of the original Overwatch Strike Team, and the long-term commander of the Overwatch covert ops division, Blackwatch - had been “Reaper” for “decades” - well before the “fall” of Overwatch had begun.  This caused a lot of discussion about if “Reaper” was Gabriel Reyes’ codename, an alternate identity, a “titled persona” (like “Doomfist”, who we’ll get to later), or something else.  It also spawned questions about just how long Gabriel had possessed “Reaper’s” powers, abilities, and side effects, especially this part:

“It is possible that he is a byproduct of failed genetic alteration which forces his cells to simultaneously decay and regenerate at a hyper-accelerated rate.”

Because fans were also given information that seemed to conflict directly with this.

“Commander Reyes” looked...perfectly healthy.  Sure, he has several scars, and we all knew he had gone through the “Soldier Enhancement Program” with Jack Morrison, but otherwise, nothing about “Commander Reyes” seemed off.  We were told that gameplay and in-game content was not necessarily canon, but instead, “what if” scenarios about how characters would interact if they met each other after Winston’s Recall.

And Michael seemed to consistently confirm that only “certain characters” specifically knew about who Reaper was in the “present day” (post-Recall):

(Source)

And this, again, seemed in-line with the story we had been told up to this point: Jack Morrison, now Soldier: 76, and Ana Amari, now a bounty hunter known as “the Shrike”, recognized “Reaper” from their encounter in Giza, Egypt (in the “Old Soldiers” comic).

And yet something seemed...odd about Michael stating that the “decades” line in Reaper’s profile was intentional.

It seemed borderline implausible - even downright contradictory - that Gabriel could’ve had an “alter ego” persona of “Reaper” for decades, all while working closely with individuals like Jack and Ana.  How could he have kept it a secret?  If Gabriel had always been Reaper, why was Ana so surprised when she unmasked him in “Old Soldiers”?  If Gabriel had become “Reaper” early on in his life, why did he blame Jack Morrison and (likely) Overwatch for his present-day condition?

This only got more confusing with the release of Moira, where Moira is shown doing something to create a smoky, “Reaper-ish” effect on Gabriel:

And Moira’s whole thing is about “unlocking potential” in humanity, right?  So she “unlocked” the Reaper powers in Gabriel, right?

Except -

Interesting statements where made by the individuals on the Moira Blizzcon 2017 panel.

“She was recruited by Gabriel Reyes to be a member of Blackwatch.  And uh, during that time she had relationships with the Blackwatch crew - McCree, Genji - they all have their own sort of likes and dislikes for each other.  Reyes wanted someone could help advise him on, uh, some matters of genetics that he was, uh, interested in, shall we say.” - Michael Chu, 3:47 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=227)

And when Moira was released on the PTR, some changes occured in the Genetics Lab in the Oasis, Iraq map:

This folder appeared.

Moira’s reveal, Michael Chu’s statements, even Ana’s reaction in “Old Soldiers” suddenly started to make more sense.

Gabriel Reyes has been “Reaper” for decades -

It just depends on how you define what “Reaper” is.

“Reaper” is not just a mask and a persona -

“Reaper” is also an experimental medical condition.

Almost two full years ago, Michael Chu made a tweet that the characters people assumed were not aging correctly do, in fact, age - that is, Tracer, Mei, Mercy, Widowmaker, etc, age like normal people (for Tracer, this occurs as long as she has her chronal accelerator close by).

But someone asked a very simple question:

User: You missed an important one there - What about Reaper? Can he even still be considered alive in his state? Michael Chu: That’s a good question. ;)

(Source)

Initially, I personally interpreted this as Michael Chu answering the second question: “No, Reaper should not be considered ‘alive.’”  However, it is looking likely that Michael actually answered the first question - “Is Reaper aging normally?”

And the answer is...uncertain.

Reinhardt changes significately in the 20-25 years of the Crisis and Overwatch.  His hair is white by Uprising.  He is the oldest member of the original Strike Team, and would’ve been approximately 31 years old in the left skin, and about 54 years old in his Uprising Lieutenant skin.

Torbjörn does age as well, but the changes are less noticeable than Reinhardt’s: his hair is still mostly blonde, but he has lost an eye and his left arm.  In the left skin, Torb would be about 27 years old, and in the right Chief Engineer skin, he is about 50 years old.

Ana does age - her hair is completely grey by Uprising, and she has a number of wrinkles in her “Legacy” comic.  And by the present-day of Recall, her hair is completely white.  In her Horus skin, Ana is about 30 years old.  In Uprising, she is about 53 years old, and by the time of her sniper battle with Widowmaker, she is 53-54 years old.

Hmm.

In the SEP Soldier: 24 skin, Gabriel would be about 27-28 years old.

And since Retribution uses the Commander Reyes skin as his canon appearance at the time of the mission, he would be 50 years old during the mission.

(Source)

This is verified by double-checking McCree’s age.

(Source)

McCree’s age at Recall: 37 Difference between Retribution and Recall: 8 years. McCree’s age at Retribution: 29

So no, Overwatch did not make any mathematical mistakes on Gabriel’s age at Retribution.  He is 50 chronological years old.  He is one year older than Torbjörn, two years younger than Ana, and three years younger than Reinhardt.

He has gained several scars since SEP, yes.  He has changed his hairstyle, yes.  He appears to have a few “crow’s feet” around his eyes, yes.

But here he is when Fareeha is 11-12 years old (Source: “you have an eleven-to-twelve-year-old Pharah, you have McCree who’s just been recruited into Blackwatch, you have university student Mercy who’s visiting the Overwatch base”).

Pharah at Recall: 32 Pharah in photo: 11-12 Difference in years: 20 years Reinhardt in photo: 41 Ana in photo: 40 Torb in photo: 37 Gabriel at Recall: 58 years Gabriel’s age in photo: 38

Age in comic: 50 years old

Aging?  Yes, he does appear to be aging.

Correctly?

Very debatable.

In fact, the only other American “enhanced soldier” that we know of specifically has an interaction where Ana expresses that he’s actually “looking pretty good” for his age:

Ana: For a man of your years, you’re looking pretty good, Jack. Soldier: 76: Well, all that stuff they pumped into me has to be good for something.

Except

(Golden Era of Overwatch: approximately 10-25 years before Recall)

(Retribution: 8 years before Recall)

(Uprising: 7 years before Recall)

(Unmasked present-day)

Jack Morrison - who went through the same Soldier Enhancement Program as Gabriel Reyes - is aging considerably.

Jack is also younger than Gabriel.

Jack Morrison enlisted in the military because of the Crisis.  This means he is of draft age when the Crisis begins, between 18 and 25 years old.  An old article (source) states that he enlisted at 18, but the article appears to be retconned by Jack’s own statement in Uprising.  In the article, it says:

At eighteen, Morrison packed his bags and joined the military. He had planned to serve a brief stint in the armed forces and then return home to the family farm, but his work ethic and courage caught the eye of the military brass. Before long, he earned a coveted position in the government's controversial and still-classified (but widely acknowledged) "soldier enhancement program." Military scientists shaped Morrison and other inductees into the perfect soldiers, blessed with superhuman speed, strength, and agility.

Morrison and his fellow augmented soldiers would soon put their abilities to use with the advent of the Omnic Crisis. Across the globe, the omniums went rogue and churned out legions of militarized robots.

However, this order of events differs from Jack’s own account:

“I remember when the Crisis broke out across America. It’s why I enlisted, and why I signed up for the enhancement program.”

For the time being, I will use Uprising as the more updated source on Jack’s motivation and his age range during the Crisis, but as it stands, he is very likely younger than “SEP Soldier: 24″ at the time of his enlistment.

I love Jack Morrison, both as a character and as a playable hero.  But I will readily admit he’s not aging as gracefully as Gabriel Reyes by the time of Retribution.  Jack’s hair is a very, very faded blonde, during Retribution and Uprising, and he is likely younger than both Gabriel and Torbjörn.  He has heavy age lines on his face in the comics, and for his present-age unmasked skins in-game, he has the scars that now define his face and white hair.

He is likely only 48-53 years old at Recall.

Sure, you the reader are probably thinking of ways to exempt this, or to deny this discrepancy.  After all, Overwatch has characters like Mercy who is aging “normally” but still apparently looks very good for nearly-40 years old (contrast with Hanzo, who is a year older than Mercy and has grey hair).  You have Moira who is almost 50 but her hair is still a brilliant shade of red.

But Overwatch has made a concerted effort to show that the original Strike Team members are aging - some more heavily, some less.

And at least one appears to be aging significantly less.

I bring you back to Michael Chu’s statement on Moira’s recruitment into Blackwatch:

“She was recruited by Gabriel Reyes to be a member of Blackwatch.  And uh, during that time she had relationships with the Blackwatch crew - McCree, Genji - they all have their own sort of likes and dislikes for each other.  Reyes wanted someone could help advise him on, uh, some matters of genetics that he was, uh, interested in, shall we say.” - Michael Chu, 3:47 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=227)

This does not sound like a man who wanted to become Reaper.

This sounds like a man who needed help.

(Source)

This puts the comment made by Nesskain, the artist who made the official art for Uprising, Moira’s Origin video, and now the Retribution outro video, into context.  If Gabriel wanted Moira’s help to become “Reaper”, why would he be “scared” of what’s happening to him?

Unless that isn’t want he wanted.

“Repairing Degnerative Genetic Structures.”

Found in the present-day (after Recall) Oasis map (we’ll get to where and why in a (long) bit), but with a big sticky note that says “Draft” and has the Ministry of Genetics logo on it.

This is Moira’s present-day laboratory in Oasis, Iraq.

This is her research.

“He is a byproduct of a failed genetic alteration which forces his cells to slumltaneously decay and rengerate at a hyper-accelerated rate.”

Gabriel Reyes didn’t want to become “Reaper” because he has been “Reaper” for decades - he got his lifedrain and wraithing powers during the Crisis from the experimental Soldier Enhancement Program, he is probably not aging normally, and by the time of Moira’s recruitment, his health is probably destabilizing.  

His friends - even those younger than him - are aging past him.

Regardless of your feelings on the romantic angle of Gabriel and Jack, it is undeniable that Gabriel Reyes sits in the room of his injured agent, and thinks about:

A coffin with a dead Blackwatch agent in it, draped with an Overwatch flag that he and Jack placed on it

Rescuing Gérard Lacroix from the explosion in Rome

An aging Jack Morrison

And then he makes his decision to go arrest Antonio.

And when Moira appeared out of nowhere nearly 10 years before Recall:

She must have looked like a miracle worker to a man who wanted to be free from his “curse.”

However, Gabriel is likely at a bit of a moral and ethical crossroads here:

His “Reaper” abilities have allowed him to intervene in “armed conflicts,” likely when Overwatch could not do so in an official capacity.  In fact, none of the three agents with him in Retribution seem remotely surprised by his “Reaper powers” - he can Wraith, Shadowstep, and Death Blossom without a single quip or remark.

This puts a lot of things into perspective:

First, that characters like McCree and Reinhardt do not know specifically that Gabriel has “transformed” into the “Talon-backed mercenary called Reaper”, but that they would immediately recognize him if they encountered him in a “what if” scenario:

Reinhardt would recognize Gabriel.

(source)

Question: “Some time back you said that McCree and Reinhardt don’t know that Reaper is Reyes.  Do they not know because they’v enever met face--errm, mask-to-face, since the incident? I get the feeling that if McCree and Reaper met, McCree would know almost immediately who was under the mask, and Reinhardt would figure out if he fought Reaprt in battle (because his only quote, “Traitor!”, is triggered when he kills him).”

Michael: “To clarify about the Reaper/Reyes thing, yes it is because they have not met in the “current day” of Overwatch. The interactions in the game are meant to be what ifs. I do think that McCree would know that Reaper was Reyes if he encountered him.”

McCree would recognize his old Blackwatch commander.

It’s also a very subtle detail, but when Gabriel gets on the Blackwatch dropship to leave for Venice, he is not carrying any weapons.

This is in direct contrast to all three of the other characters, since McCree is shown with just gun only a few panels before, Genji is shown with his sword, and Moira with her two Biotic Grasp gloves.

(The last part of this is super important.)

The second thing is that this detail about “Gabriel has always been Reaper” puts a lot of the Overwatch-Blackwatch relationship into clearer view.

As exemplified by the comic, Jack Morrison is not only aware that Blackwatch does many things “off the book”, he actually personally understands why Gabriel conducts them, even if he can’t “officially sanction” them as the Overwatch Strike-Commander.

In fact, Jack would actually conduct a formal investigation to arrest Antonio.  It isn’t the arrest that either man has moral or ethical qualms with -

It’s the level of urgency that the arrest needs to be conducted with.

Jack cannot officially approve a Blackwatch mission to illegally defy sovereignty laws, but he can understand the urgent need for it - people are getting hurt and dying.  It’s only a matter of time before Talon attacks Blackwatch and Overwatch in a more serious fashion.

Jack trusts Gabriel to make “the final call,” but he does ask him if Gabriel’s “urgency” is...hasty - if the mad dash to bring Antonio in is worth the risk of Blackwatch getting caught.

Or worse.

But there is no question here of loyalty or trust.

Just one of safety.

This aligns with several of the interactions you can find in Retribution:

Moira: You did what needed to be done, Gabriel.  Don’t apologize. Gabriel: I never have, and I don’t intend to start now.  Someone has to be the one to get things done.

McCree: Is this what we’ve become, Gabriel? Gabriel: Blackwatch has always had one purpose: to do the real work of keeping the world safe.  I thought you had the stomach for it.  Looks like I was wrong.

Gabriel sees his role in Blackwatch as the “heavy lifter” of peace-keeping.  Overwatch does a wide variety of tasks: it possesses an engineering division, a medical division, an environmental division, and a science division, along with a number of “Strike Team” agents who can be fielded to intervene on a military, medical, or engineering emergency level as required or requested by a sovereign nation.  Overwatch is the kinder side of keeping peace.

Blackwatch is the shadow of it.

And in those shadows, “the Reaper” does what he needs to do to maintain Overwatch’s peace when its “heroes” cannot.

Even if he must be painted as a villain for it.

If Gabriel has been using his SEP-created “Reaper powers” to help defend Overwatch in “off the book” missions for decades (as Retribution shows) then his powers and abilities are likely an “open secret” within Blackwatch, and probably known to his closest friends and companions in Overwatch (for example, the original Strike Team).

And it helps him - it keeps him alive in the worst missions, he never needs to carry ammo or weapons, and (if he’s really that good) he doesn’t even need a combat medic with him because he can sustain his own healing processes with his lifedrain ability.  Sure, it’s not perfect - he gets scars, he’s aging a bit, and very likely, a fatal shot could kill him even with these powers - but it’s more than enough for him to do the “real work of keeping the world safe.”

And while it is not shown, it is implied that Jack Morrison knows this.

Intriguingly, a closer reading of “Old Soldiers” shows that Ana knows who Reaper is before she ever unmasks him:

Ana, thinking as she looks at Reaper: Damn...don’t have a clear shot. Ana, aloud to Reaper: Idiot, you’re always in the way!

(Ana mains rejoice - it’s canon that her own teammates block all her shots)

So yes, if Ana and Reinhardt know who Recall-era Reaper is without ever seeing his face -

It is pretty much impossible for Soldier: 76 - Jack Morrison, his oldest friend and companion - to not know.

In fact, Recall-era Soldier: 76 knows who Reaper is by voice alone.

So yeah

Gabriel is not exactly stealthy about this “alternate identity with a lot of cool ghost powers side effect” thing.

Now -

How much does Jack know about Moira?

To quote Michael Chu:

That’s a good question. ;)

---------

Part 2: The One Who Changes Fate

Reminder again about Moira’s hero profile.  What’s interesting is that we are...told this paper effectively ruined her career.

But that is not what Moira herself tells us:

“We stand on the brink of a breakthrough in human evolution.  I have dedicated my life to unraveling its secrets.  I take risks that others would consider to be ‘unwise,’ for I do not share their caution.  Overwatch held back the pace of scientific discovery for decades.  They believed my methods were too radical... too controversial...

“And they tried...to silence me.”

- Moira, Origin Story (source)

I see it bounced around that “Moira worked for Overwatch and then was shut down.”  This is not true.  Nowhere is it ever stated that she specifically worked for Overwatch.  When she brings up Overwatch in her Origins video, she is talking about how Overwatch held back generalized scientific advancement for years, not specifically hers.

However, she does imply that Overwatch shut down whatever lab she was running before she joined Blackwatch.

What’s super, super, super critical to remember is that every character in Overwatch is an unreliable narrator.

All of them.

All of them have a story to tell you.  All of them have a perspective to give.  Everything about them - every Hero Profile, every teaser, every Origin story, every comic - has a perspective to it.  They are not necessarily lying to you outright, but they are twisting truths to suit their purposes.

Here is the full quote on perspective, unreliable narrators, and “villains” from Michael Chu (bolded and italicized parts are mine, and do not reflect his actual speaking tone):

“Which brings me...to ‘Perspective.’  One of the things we really like doing with Overwatch is playing with perspective.  We utilize perspective when we analyze or when we tell stories about characters, what they’re thinking, what their goals are.  And we have a lot of unreliable narrators.  We want people to pay careful attention to what characters think about in particular situations.  We want them to use their judgment and their knowledge of a character’s thoughts to come up with their own ideas about the universe.  You know, I’m asked often - with characters like Sombra or Soldier: 76, you know, ‘Are they anti-heroes?  Are they villains?’  And I think, you know, you look at someone like Sombra, and it’s all about looking at, ‘What does she want?  What is she willing to do to get it?’

“And you have to remember that when she’s telling you something, she’s serving her own ends too.  So you know, you have to kinda make the decision for yourself.  And I think you can take a character like Soldier: 76 - like obviously, he has this mission that he is on that he believes is good, he seems to be sometimes willing to do things which are... maybe not super heroic, and so it makes him complicated.  We always have a lot of fun, uh - every once and awhile we’ll try and plot all the characters on like the traditional D’n’D alignment scale, and I think, you know, it’s fun exercise, but at the end of the day, I think what’s interesting about characters is that those alignments change depending on what situation you put them in, what’s important to them, and what decisions they have to make.

“[...] The world needs heroes, but it also needs villains.  And we have a number of villainous characters in Overwatch.  And what’s important to us is that their internal motivations are not purely rooted in ‘being evil,’ despite how they might seem on the surface.  You know, as we reveal more about these characters, we want people to be able to empathize and understand their beliefs.  Because sometimes what makes a villain a villain is the extent to which they’re willing to go to reach their goals.  And one thing that we find most important when we’re talking about our villain characters is that there is nothing to say that a villain cannot be as charismatic - or more charismatic - or as likeable as a hero character.  Because like the old saying goes, ‘Every villain is the hero of their own story.’”

(Source)

And this is what people need to understand about the story in Retribution - the comic, the teasers, and the actual canonically gameplay mode:

You do not have one unreliable narrator

You have four.

And it is your “job” - as outlined by the lead writer of Overwatch - to pay attention to which ones are giving you an “honest” perspective of the situation -

And which ones are masking their intentions and thoughts.

We want people to pay careful attention to what characters think about in particular situations.  We want them to use their judgment and their knowledge of a character’s thoughts to come up with their own ideas about the universe.

“Retribution” is not as cut-and-dry as “Uprising” (and even Uprising has some interesting “perspective” bits to it).

Comic: the Retribution comic is from Gabriel’s perspective.  We see him go through the events of the explosion in Rome, his discussion with Jack, and then his decision to bring three agents in an “off the book” mission to arrest Antonio.  Things to keep in mind: though you get dialogue from McCree, you do not actually see McCree’s thought process the way you see Gabriel’s.

Game: the Retribution game mode has a narrative shift to McCree’s perspective.  Both the Intro and the Outro are narrated by him.  He describes only the things he knew leading up to the mission, how he perceived the shooting of Antonio, and how he saw the fallout that resulted.  Something to remember is that McCree does not know that Jack Morrison was aware that Gabriel was going to attempt to arrest Antonio.

In fact, McCree actually brings this up in the game:

McCree: How are you gonna explain this to the Strike-Commander? Gabriel: You let me worry about what Jack needs to know. McCree: You know you can’t shoot him. Gabriel: No, but I could shoot you.

It is not that McCree is an untrustworthy narrator of the event -

He is just a limited, biased one.

And he does not know what Gabriel is thinking during the mission

Or what Moira is thinking.

And it is up to the player to attempt to interpret both.

As I wrote in Part 1, if you look at the “clues,” Gabriel has been struggling with his “Reaper” condition for some time.  Perhaps it is shifting into a new phase.  Perhaps it is growing unstable.  Perhaps he is afraid of his friends growing old without him.  

Perhaps he is afraid of being effectively immortal.

When Moira appears in the scientific community, we are told her hypothesis was initially well-received but could not be replicated, which caused doubt as to her testing methodology.

And what you are shown

is that Moira tested things on herself.

Human clinical trials for medicine and therapies are...strict.  Highly regulated in most countries (yes, obviously you can debate how effective those policies are “in reality”).  It is not as simple as jumping from testing on rabbits to testing on humans - qualifications and checks must be done.

I’ve had a lot of people ask, “Why would Moira want to side with Talon if Blackwatch supports her?”

And the very simple answer is

Moira does not want “relaxed” restrictions on her research.

Moira wants zero restrictions on her research.

Do I believe that Gabriel Reyes would let her conduct research on himself?

Yeah, of course he does.  You are literally shown that.

Does he let her do research on other people?

Or herself?

Again, very debatable.

We go back to this panel:

Moira has her Biotic Grasp, both healing and lifedrain.  This means she has already started research on Gabriel, and has manipulated his powers for herself.

And yes, the lifedrain ability, along with her Fade ability, are implied to be “improvements” on Reaper’s versions, because Moira has researched his biodata, repurposed them, and then reused them for herself:

Geoff Goodman: “It [Her Fade ability] has some similarities to Reaper’s wraith form…uh which is…it’s funny how that works out.” Michael Chu: “You know, we obviously - there’s a…there’s a close relationship between Moira and Reyes-slash-Reaper, and I think one of the fun things we were able to do is to sort of hint at some of those things in her, uh, abilities.” Geoff Goodman: “She’s helping Reaper out and is like, ‘You know, I think I could make this better, I have an idea.’” Michael Chu: “Professional relationship.” Geoff Goodman: “Ahaha, yes…good call.” Michael Chu: “You know what I’m talking about.” [Whole panel laughs] (source)

And she has managed to make an artificial, cloned, or recreated “lifedrain” work with Angela Ziegler’s healing technology:

Participant 3: Hey, guys. First off, thank you for this support hero. We really need that, and so my question is more of a lore question. So seeing Moira and her healing, and her siphoning powers, I am wondering if there is a connection between her powers and Zenyatta’s approach of how he heals and discords; or if it is going to be communicated in the future.

Michael: So there is a connection, but it is actually not a Zenyatta. It is actually more of a connection to Mercy. You know, they both work together obviously. Moira was part of Blackwatch. Mercy was a part of Overwatch, but she has definitely taken and modified some of the tech. In fact, there is some evidence on the Oasis map that sort of hints at some of that.

(source)

So we learn that Moira has no moral or ethical qualms about taking, using, and repurposing Gabriel’s “enhanced Reaper powers” from his biological data, and that she also has no moral or ethicla qualms about taking, using, and repurposing Angela’s nanobiology tech.

And Moira is not doing either of these things for financial gain, or political power, or even some sort of immortality.

She just wants to experiment in its purest form, unrestricted and unrestrained and untethered.

She does not want to stop with any moral or ethical boundaries.

And despite what people think -

I personally get the strong impression that even though Gabriel Reyes has few or limited personal morals about defending the world in the name of peace, he would not let Moira test Blackwatch or Overwatch agents in an unrestriction, unrestrained, uncontrolled manner.  

Himself?  Fine.  That’s a risk he has to take.

But if Moira were to harm his agents

Or cause Blackwatch and Overwatch to suffer

Or conduct “experiments” with those who matter most to him

He would wage war to prevent that.

So even though Moira works for Blackwatch, conducts trials on Gabriel, makes new inventions for herself and the organization -

She does not actually get what she really wants:

True, unliminted freedom to experiment.

Michael: Moira is a scientist. She is not so much interested in conquering the world, even though she has allied herself with people who might have proclivities in that direction. She is really just into the actual science. She wants to understand the fundamentals of human life, and how they can be manipulated. She is a geneticist, and that is her primary goal, and that is all she wants.  But the thing that makes her villainous is that she doesn’t quite have like some of the morals that the rest of us have. Yes, she is very flexible. She doesn’t want anything to get in the way of her science. So when someone tries to stop her from doing something, or tells her that she needs to take more time, she has no patience for that.

(source) (emphasis is mine, and does not reflect his actual tone)

A lot of people asked about this.  Many were confused by the statement I made that her Hero Profile implies she was working for Talon when she was in Blackwatch, but some math here can help us out:

2070: The Fall of Overwatch occurs, and Overwatch is officially disbanded.  This is 6 years before Recall.  

2068-ish: Retribution occurs.  This is 8 years before Recall.

When Moira is “invited to join the scientific collective” at Oasis after the disbandment of Overwatch, people in-universe were already wondering if she had ties to Talon:

“Yet some have whispered that the shadowy Talon organization had already been supporting her for years, aiding her experiments in exchange for utilzing the results for their own purposes.”

Again, the Hero Profile has a perspective.  It is not lying to you, but it isn’t entirely telling the truth either.  It is worded in a deliberate, vague way to make you think that Moira joins Talon after Overwatch is disbanded, but “for years” means that she could have been supported by Talon before the disbandment.

And remember -

Moira’s very own words are not trustworthy:

“We stand on the brink of a breakthrough in human evolution.  I have dedicated my life to unraveling its secrets.  I take risks that others would consider to be ‘unwise,’ for I do not share their caution.  Overwatch held back the pace of scientific discovery for decades.  They believed my methods were too radical... too controversial...

“And they tried...to silence me.

“...But there were others in the shadows, searching for ways to circumvent their rules.  Freed from my shackles, the pace of our research hastened -  together, we delved deeper into those areas forbidden by law, by morality...and by fear. “New patrons emerged who possessed an appetite for my discoveries.  And with this knowledge...what new world could we build?”

- Moira Origin story (source)

At no point -

Does Moira ever say that Blackwatch - that specific word for that specific division - recruited her to “circumvent” Overwatch.

And this is where perspective and unreliability come into play.

You are shown these images:

With that narrative -

To specifically make you think that Gabriel Reyes wanted Moira to help him overthrow Overwatch.

But this is in direct contrast with Gabriel’s own view of his role in Overwatch:

Moira: You did what needed to be done, Gabriel.  Don’t apologize. Gabriel: I never have, and I don’t intend to start now.  Someone has to be the one to get things done.

McCree: Is this what we’ve become, Gabriel? Gabriel: Blackwatch has always had one purpose: to do the real work of keeping the world safe.  I thought you had the stomach for it.  Looks like I was wrong.

Gabriel does circumvent rules -

In order to save and defend Overwatch.

He is the embodiment of “retribution” - a form of equalizing justice, a feeling of righteous revenge, a bringer of truth and revelations (just as his namesake “Gabriel” implies).

Yes, Gabriel Reyes is rogue, renegade, and reckless at times.  Yes, he has no problems with shooting a man in the face at point-blank range.  Yes, he would fight an entire army and city to get himself and three agents home alive.

But he does not do it for Talon.

Recall-era “Reaper” consistently leaves Talon agents to die.

(Retribution Gabriel refuses to leave anyone behind.)

Recall-era “Reaper” lets Sombra basically run amok and “throw” their missions.

(Retribution Gabriel reprimands and reminds McCree to stay focused.)

Recall-era “Reaper” fails to kill Winston not once, but twice.

(Retribution Gabriel kills several Talon Heavy Assault Tanks and other specialists without remorse.)

Recall-era “Reaper” works with Widowmaker, knowing full well that she is all that remains of Amélie Lacroix.

(And Retribution Gabriel stays by Gérard Lacroix’s hospital bed even when the doctors have said he’ll be okay.)

Recall-era “Reaper” fails to kill or even properly fight Soldier: 76 and Ana Amari.

(Retribution Gabriel literally starts this “retribution” mission to “do the real work of keeping” his friends and the world safe.)

What aligns both Gabriel Reyes and Moira O’Deorain with the “villains” of the Overwatch universe is not their actual, individual, distinct and separate motivations -

But their methods to get there.

And if intention matters to you, then they should be analyzed and judged for their actual, individual, distinct and separate motivations.

And here’s the kicker -

Maybe Moira actually does want to help Gabriel find a “cure” in her own way.

After all, in the Recall era, this paper exists:

But she also has her own perspective, her own motivations, and her own goals to achieve.

And what will she do to get to them?

Michael: So like we said before, she was recruited by Gabriel Reyes to be a member of Blackwatch, and during that time she had relationships with the Blackwatch crew: McCree, Genji… they all have their own sort of likes and dislikes for each other. Reyes wanted someone who could help advise him on some matters of genetics that he was interested in — shall we say.

Aaron: Very mysterious.

Michael: Very mysterious, yes. Almost maybe a connection there – yes, there is a connection there, obviously — and the other thing is that in the present day Moira has allied herself with Talon now that Overwatch is gone. When you think about Moira’s goals figuring out these building blocks of human evolution, and her need to like push forward science at any cost, that really it really meshes well with the goal of Talon; and so she has found new patrons like Doomfist.

(Source)

---------

Part 3: When You Come At The King

Previous essays: 

“Talon: Clawing to the Top” - an essay analyzing Akande’s ideology, and how Reaper and Sombra might be trying to infiltrate Talon to bring it out. Written before Moira was released.

“Overwatch: Companies and Corporations” - a write-up describing several of the major fictional companies in the Overwatch universe, and how many of them are interconnected, have ties to Talon, or are shady as all hell.  Written before Moira was released.

I’m not going to rewrite everything that took me two whole other posts to cover.  Not a chance.  This thing is already absurdly long and no one needs that.

A “brief” review instead:

After the Omnic Crisis, the world changed.  Different industries and companies fell by the wayside, and Overwatch rose in power as a peacekeeping force to ensure prosperity and safety as the transition from global reconstruction into a new era when humans and robots had to live together.

New technologies emerged at the forefront of all of this - cybernetics were a big one, and humans began integrating and using Omnic tech for themselves.  Medicine and energy sciences advanced in huge leaps and bounds, with many of them being lead by Overwatch’s different scientific divisions.

However, as we know from Moira’s perspective and Akande’s perspective, Overwatch also restricted the ways and areas in which these changes could progress.  In the present-day, Recall era, Soldier: 76 is one of two characters to be interested in LumériCo’s shady dealings, and Lúcio fights (and succeeds) in a major social and economic revolution against the Vishkar Corportation.  Lucheng reestablishes connections with the Horizon Lunar Colony, and what the public discovers is that a massive disaster occurred there, involving animal rights abuses, and the loss of an entire scientific team (maybe).  Mei awakens from her cyrofreeze slumber to discover that her entire Ecopoint team is dead, her survival is in jeopardy, and the data they developed about a changing ecosystem is at risk of being lost forever.  Helix Securities - the company that employs Pharah - clearly profited from the fall of Overwatch, as they run many of the old Watchpoints and bases, manage for-profit prisons, and even appear to be conducting some unethical studies against an imprisoned AI.

Almost every company and corporation in the Overwatch universe has ties to a very unethical, very shady concept or idea, or even has first-degree or second-degree connections to Talon.

And that is the point.

Akande’s hero profile (again, remember to question levels of reliability) tells us that there was an ideological conflict within Talon when he was recruited:

“While Adeyemi was content to profit from raids on Numbani, Ogundimu had a grander vision.”

This is big, because this “vision” is implied to be what draws him to Moira, and her to him.  Moira does not care about profits, she does not care about power in the literal sense of having an army or running a company.

Moira wants to see humanity reach its greatest and highest “potential.”

Which is exactly what Akande Ogundimu wants, except that he believes it can only be achieved through “conflict.”

But why would Moira - who has zero concerns about safety, rules, and regulations - be worried about that?

Would “conflict” ever stop her from her research?

Neither of them are interested in living under “Overwatch’s rule” - they both believe that Overwatch is stagnating social, technological, and scientific advances for humans and Omnics alike.

They both have a vested interest in seeing Overwatch’s “restrictions” fail and fall.

But there’s a small problem -

Akande is not in charge of Talon at the time of Retribution.

He’s not even the bearer of the “Doomfist” title.

His predecessor Akinjide is.

(Source)

And Akinjide is the one who has a direct association with Antonio.

This is reaffirmed in Retribution:

Genji: Who was Antonio? Gabriel: He’s an arms dealer, with some...other interests - more and less legitimate. McCree: ...Not anymore. McCree: Did Antonio have any associates? Gabriel: There’s the one who will probably take over for him - Vialli.  Don’t know too much about him.  Then Doomfist in Numbani, and an Omnic, who runs a casino in Monaco - uh, Maximilien or something.

(source)

Interestingly, of Antonio’s “known” associates, only one of them is still alive by the end of the “Masquerade” comic: Maximilien, who allies himself with Akande during the course of the comic.

Akande, as we know, was still just “a mercenary” at the time of Retribution.

But this is where limited perspectives and unreliable narrators come back into play:

McCree: Our target was dead, so I guess he got what was coming to him.  But still...it didn’t seem right.  But that wasn’t the end of our problems: for the first time, people knew we were out there.  New faces stepped up to fill the void in Talon.  And I can’t help but wonder...if that’s where it all started to go wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_Nv31B47o4

The ending narration - again, from McCree’s limited perspective - tells us that something “didn’t seem right” about the mission and how it played out.  Yes, Gabriel shot a man in the face, and McCree is obviously upset about that throughout the game because of it.

But McCree is also the one who wanted to shoot Antonio in the first place:

And this is where we start needing to use context clues, and put ourselves in two different perspectives - Gabriel’s and Moira’s - to try and understand what exactly happened in Retribution, and maybe start understanding why it happened.

Antonio is a major leader of Talon at the time of Retribution, just before the fall of Overwatch truly begins.

The official Blackwatch dossiers given out by Blizzard state that:

“The extent of his connection to European government officials, law enforcement agents, and businessmen is unknown.”

So while we know of three major associates - Vialli, the man who succeeds Antonio after this, Akinjide the second Doomfist, and Maximilien - we don’t know his other associates.  Blackwatch’s intel is incomplete.

However, part of the point of arresting Antonio was to try and get more information on Talon from him.

Gabriel: We’ll use what he knows to hit Talon harder next time. Trust me.

So we have our mission objective from the very start: go in, secret Antonio out, get him to a secure location, and get intel and info on the rest of Talon from him.

For Blackwatch, this is apparently fairly routine, to the point where neither Jack Morrison nor Jesse McCree questions the nature of it, just the necessity of the mission itself.  We see this return in Uprising, when Gabriel sends McCree on a mission to gather intel on Null Sector even when Blackwatch is suspended.  Ana Amari raises the question of why McCree is even out there, but Gabriel quickly jokes to defuse her.  When Jack pushes for more information, Gabriel tells him not to pry.

This is retroactively foreshadowed (past...shadowed??) by the voicelines in the Retribution trailer:

Jack: Alright, Gabriel.  Start from the beginning Gabriel: We arrived in the Venice safehouse and set up surveillance on the manor.  We executed our plan, under cover of darkness. ...You sure you want to hear about this, Jack? Jack: You haven’t left me much choice. Gabriel: What ever happened to ‘plausible deniability?’ Jack: Little late for that.  Tell me what actually happened. Gabriel: Haha, well, Jack - that’s one hell of a story.

(source)

In the Retribution trailer, Gabriel attempts to give Jack the opportunity to back down from this debriefing, implying that Jack should try to secure his own “plausible deniability” from his awareness of the situation (which Jack knew about, but did not know the details of).  Later, in Uprising, Gabriel does not even give that Jack that option, instead denying him more information from the outset (whether that is to truly protect Jack’s “plausible deniability” from another potential Blackwatch debacle, or for other reasons, it is not stated).

Why is this important?

Because it is strongly implied that Blackwatch walked into a trap.

This was meant to be a fairly routine “get in, grab, and get out” mission, but some interactions in Retribution imply that the Blackwatch team was misinformed.

Moira: I wouldn’t describe this as ‘light resistance’...quality intelligence we received. Genji: It makes no difference to me. Moira: ...How droll. McCree: Aww, even though we snuck that surveillance system into Antonio’s office, our intel’s a little spotty. Genji: Next time, you should leave it to me.  I can spy upon our enemies - unseen...and undetected.

The second one is very important because the question that needs to be asked is:

Did Blackwatch somehow miss intel from Antonio’s office?

...Or did Antonio know his office was bugged?

The first one is important because the Blackwatch team only anticipated “light resistance” in Venice from Antonio’s henchmen, and yet every other line is about how “an entire army” has showed up to stop the four-person team.

And Talon doesn’t just bring out a bunch of “low-level grunts”

But instead include a myriad of “specialist” killers.

...Seems like an awful lot for just four people.

...Unless they already knew that one of them -

Is exceptionally hard to kill.

Someone who knows exactly what he is capable of.

Someone who has no qualms about “reusing” research and repurposing it into new and innovative ways.

Someone who has no fears about testing on themselves.

Or testing on other people.

And someone who so dearly wants the freedom that would come with the removal of Blackwatch, which does all the “real work” of keeping the world safe, and the eventual fall of Overwatch, which is its guiding light.

---------

Part 4: Profit vs. Progress

We know that in the present day (Recall era), Talon has fallen into being little more than a glorified, profit-making and profit-securing army for various individuals.  Vialli, the man who replaced Antonio, is one of them, and he’s currently a sort of “de facto” leader in Akande’s absence.

It is outright stated in “Masquerade” that Vialli has a vested interest in “keeping the status quo” of the no-Overwatch world.  He doesn’t want to rock the boat or disrupt profits, so he uses Talon for...smaller ideals.  Money.  Control.  Power.

Talon is the antithesis of Overwatch.

If Overwatch’s concern was balancing peace and stability vs sovereignty and freedom, then Talon’s concern is the opposite: balancing war and violence vs profitability and comfort.  If Overwatch had a relatively cohesive and well-working leadership that cooperated on a massive scale for 20-25 years, Talon has a petty, politicking, conniving group of leaders that all want more power and more control.  People in Talon barely last five or six years in the top positions, let alone several decades.  People form alliances, break them the moment the tide shifts, switch to work with other people, send people to jail, blackmail each other, and literally throw each other off cliffs.

(don’t worry, we’re coming back to this scene later)

Why would this be any different with Antonio in charge?

Antonio: ...Good evening, Commander Reyes.  Ha, how will this look on the news?  Overwatch unlawfully abducting a respected businessman?  Even if you take me now, my friends would have me released within the week.  All these...theatrics have been a waste of our time.

Antonio identifies himself as a “businessman” - not as something noble like a Commander -

(“...saw far greater potential in Ogundimu, with his intelligence and his ability to inspire as a commander.”)

- Or a brilliant Scientist in pursuit of ultimate truths:

We know that Antonio kept “alliances” with Akinjide, who was “content to profit from raids on Numbani.”  Both men are effectively posited as individuals with interests in keep Talon much smaller in scope.  They didn’t want Blackwatch or Overwatch around, of course, but engaging in something like a global war?

No, they were content just to reap the rewards of dismantling Overwatch: more profits, more money, fewer investigations by Overwatch and Blackwatch, none of that “sillly peacekeeping organization” nonsense nipping at their heels.

But obviously

Akande wasn’t interested in “maintaining the status quo.”

Not in the present day, when he breaks out of prison -

And not when Antonio was in charge either.

Akande was going to help humanity progress with an army of new “enhanced” soldiers.

And what better way to gather results on their efficacy

Than by pitting them against an “old” enhanced soldier?

---------

Part 5: She Who Cuts Fate

Since this has been a long ride, let’s go over the basics again:

Retribution was meant to be an “off the books” “snatch and grab” mission to secure Antonio, bring him to a safe location, and get information from him.  A select number of people know it is even happening:

Gabriel Reyes, Blackwatch Commander

Jesse McCree, seasoned Blackwatch agent

Genji Shimada, a “new-ish” cyborg agent

Moira O’Deorain, another “new-ish” agent specializing in combat medicine

the Pilot, who only drops them off and then picks them up

Jack Morrison, Overwatch Strike-Commander, who knows the mission is happening but not the details

Jack Morrison and the Pilot are effectively in semi-darkness on the mission: they both know that Gabriel has chosen to conduct it, but they do not know any more than that.  The Pilot drops them off, and then picks up them up when she gets the emergency signal.

As the player plays the mode, and attempts harder difficulty levels, more information is revealed.  Blackwatch was required to go “under cover” at times (with McCree posing as a waiter...and then getting fired from that cover job), and even managed to sneak a surveillance device into Antonio’s office.

McCree: Aww, even though we snuck that surveillance system into Antonio’s office, our intel’s a little spotty. Genji: Next time, you should leave it to me.  I can spy upon our enemies - unseen...and undetected.

When Gabriel thinks they have enough intel, they make their move on Antonio’s manor, slip in, and enter his office.

And what they discover -

Not only is Antonio not surprised to see them -

He’s been anticipating them.

(seriously, can this scene get any more “I’ve been expecting you, Mr. Bonds”??)

Antonio: ...Good evening, Commander Reyes.  Ha, how will this look on the news?  Overwatch unlawfully abducting a respected businessman?  Even if you take me now, my friends would have me released within the week.  All these...theatrics have been a waste of our time.

I know some people took the “theatrics” line to imply that Gabriel is already a Talon mercenary, but that’s not what Antonio is saying.  He’s telling Gabriel that the “show” of Overwatch (Blackwatch) arresting him, “parading” him through Venice, and then eventually releasing him will do nothing -

It won’t stop him personally.

It won’t stop Talon.

And it won’t help Overwatch “keep the world safe.”

Gabriel gives a small little laugh as the “real truth” of Antonio’s words sink in.

And the framing of these moments is so important.

Before anyone goes “you’re overthinking it”, someone animated this.

Someone framed this.

These are not actors, they’re not real people.  They cannot alter or rework a scene the way a real person can.  These are animated models.  Someone deliberately chose to frame these moments with Moira clear but out of focus in the background, patiently watching for Gabriel’s “reaction” (yet another result, perhaps?).  Someone animated Gabriel sighing/laughing, animated him thinking it over, animated him looking down as he processes “the real meaning” of Antonio’s words -

And a split second before Gabriel makes his full decision -

Even Antonio “figures it out.”

They’ve both been had.

Someone has pushed both of them together, to this moment, where one or both of them will die.  Antonio was used as simple bait to rile Gabriel up and draw out crucial Blackwatch members from the security of an Overwatch base (where the combined strength of Overwatch and Blackwatch would protect them).

And the person who did it doesn’t care which one lives and which one dies -

Because any result of her “experiment” is fascinating to her.

So Gabriel decides, right then and there:

One - he’s not going to be the one to die here.

Two - he’s not going to be the one to get his entire team killed.

Three - he’d rather take his chances fighting his way out of the city than surrender (if you pay attention to the Talon troopers, many of them say “No prisoners”).

Four - consequences be damned, they have to get the hell out just to even experience the “consequences.”

And Moira O’Deorain could not be more intrigued by the turn of events.

A Talon leader, who was a likely major obstacle for her ideological goals, is now dead.

But way more intriguing than that -

Is the fact that McCree freaks out.

An unforeseen “side effect” is the schism of doubt and feeling of betrayal that McCree has with his Commander.

Perhaps she did not anticipate this...bonus.

If you’re still here and still interested, the next question many people asked is “How does Gabriel even know it’s her?”

Remember, only four people knew this was happening this night, this method, in this moment - the four people still alive in the room.  

What happens throughout the rest of the mission is the slow but steady piecing together of missing information:

Evidence 1: The Talon Sniper has Wraith/Shadowstep

As shown in the first cutscene, the first Talon Sniper materializes “seemingly from nowhere”, along with a cloud of black and red smoke.  This is almost identical to Gabriel’s Shadowstep, a canon ability that has appeared in multiple shorts and at least two comics.

However, it is an ability that not even Gabriel Reyes himself has the technological knowledge or skill to reproduce.

But let me hit this nail again:

Someone else clearly does have that knowledge and skill.

Geoff Goodman: “It [Her Fade ability] has some similarities to Reaper’s wraith form…uh which is…it’s funny how that works out.” Michael Chu: “You know, we obviously - there’s a…there’s a close relationship between Moira and Reyes-slash-Reaper, and I think one of the fun things we were able to do is to sort of hint at some of those things in her, uh, abilities.” Geoff Goodman: “She’s helping Reaper out and is like, ‘You know, I think I could make this better, I have an idea.’” Michael Chu: “Professional relationship.” Geoff Goodman: “Ahaha, yes…good call.” Michael Chu: “You know what I’m talking about.” [Whole panel laughs]

And she has used it on herself.

Evidence 2: Genji has no goddamn idea what’s happening

Genji: Who was Antonio? Gabriel: He’s an arms dealer, with some...other interests - more and less legitimate. McCree: ...Not anymore.

Genji doesn’t even know who their target is.

They brought him along, in near-total intel darkness, just to kill people.

Genji also reveals a deep hatred for Talon and all criminals, and also expresses that Talon once approached his father, Sojiro Shimada, to recruit him.

Genji: Talon once tried to recruit my father. Gabriel: He didn’t take them up on their offer? Genji: He did not find them to his liking.  Their aims did not...coincide with his own.

(Source)

Despite everything that has happened to Genji, the ninja appears to have immense respect for his father.  And his father had an implied fondness for his second son, giving him the nickname of “Sparrow.”

Evidence 3: Moira is a smug little punk the entire mission

Almost all of Moira’s interactions throughout the mission have her either belittling the other characters, dishing out pithy remarks, or egging people (mostly Gabriel) on.

Moira: You did what needed to be done, Gabriel.  Don’t apologize. Gabriel: I never have, and I don’t intend to start now.  Someone has to be the one to get things done.

McCree: Better to kill them now than wait for another surprise attack! Moira, to herself: ...ha, ironic.

Moira: I wouldn’t describe this as ‘light resistance’...quality intelligence we received. Genji: It makes no difference to me. Moira: ...How droll.

Gabriel: Enough art! Let’s get out of here. McCree: Never had the eye for it anyways. Moira, muttering: ...philistines.

However, the most important interactions are the ones about the masquerade:

Moira: Pity we’ll miss the masquerade - I have the perfect costume. Reyes: Didn’t think that would be your scene. Moira: There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me…

(source)

And another one where McCree almost suspects something:

McCree: ...You seem awfully calm. Moira: I take it all in my stride.

Evidence 4: Retrospective...prospective...introspection??

I don’t even know what you want to call this but basically:

Retribution occurs before Uprising.

Blackwatch gets suspended because of this mission that went awry.

But what’s interesting is that three of the four playable Blackwatch characters are still active in Overwatch, even with the suspension.

McCree is still there.

Genji is still there.

And most of all:

Gabriel Reyes is still there.

So even though Retribution goes sideways real fast -

The man in charge of it is still present in Overwatch a year later.

Which means that this moment

Isn’t what McCree’s narration implies it to be.

Gabriel is getting chewed out, absolutely.  But a mission with bad press happens to intelligence agencies the world over all the time.

And why would Gérard Lacroix be present for a “You got us bad PR, now I’ve got to do damage control” meeting?

This meeting is not about “How did you mess this mission up?”

This meeting is about:

“How did a Talon agent infiltrate and sell out Blackwatch?”

“How did she get our technology?”

“Why didn’t Gabriel do a better background check on her?”

The really depressing speculation?

Gabriel Reyes has been living with his “Reaper” condition for nearly 25 years by the time of Retribution.

He thinks about his friends, companions, and agents dying as he lives on, alone, without them.

A man who is normally so careful, so cautious saw someone who could change his fate for the first time in nearly twenty years -

And he was willing to let her do whatever she needed to do

To “cure him.”

But Moira saw an opportunity to strike a blow against the organization that “tried to silence her”

And she took it.

Anything in the name of science, anything in the pursuit of truth.

“Because sometimes what makes a villain a villain is the extent to which they’re willing to go to reach their goals.  And one thing that we find most important when we’re talking about our villain characters is that there is nothing to say that a villain cannot be as charismatic - or more charismatic - or as likeable as a hero character.  Because like the old saying goes, ‘Every villain is the hero of their own story.’”

---------

Part 6: The Masquerade

It is not a coincidence that both Moira and Gabriel have interactions discussing the masquerade of Carnevale.

Moira: first interaction

Moira: Pity we’ll miss the masquerade - I have the perfect costume. Reyes: Didn’t think that would be your scene. Moira: There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me…

(source)

Moira: second version

Moira: Pity we’ll miss the masquerade - I have the perfect costume. Reyes: Didn’t think that would be your scene. Moira: You’re not the only one who likes to dress up.

Gabriel version:

Gabriel: It’s not exactly Carnevale McCree: You serious? Gabriel: I was looking forward to the masquerade! McCree: Fair enough.

McCree, who also mentions Carnevale at one point, does not actually specifically mention “masquerade.”

This is important for two reasons:

The first: “Reaper” is a major character in the present-day Doomfist comic, “Masquerade,” where Akande kills Vialli (who Gabriel still does not recognize by sight) and then returns to the Talon council.

And as the vast majority of my followers know me for:

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/172826364335/segadores-y-soldados-yall-keep-saying-that

“Masquerade” is the comic where I went from “Reaper could be trying to infiltrate Talon” to “The literary parallels to ‘The Masque of Red Death’ are too substantial to ignore.”

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/163200042035/death-becomes-you

The second:

“Masquerade” was Moira’s first canon appearance in the entire story of Overwatch - all the shorts, all the comics, all the side materials.

So yeah, both references are not just cute little cheeky remarks, but foreshadoing for the later events of the comic.

And why does this matter in Retribution?

Because Gabriel immediately switches from “Blackwatch Commander Reyes” to “sarcastic, nonchalant, rogue Reaper” in an instant.

And it is not due to a shift in motivations -

But because he now has to keep himself and two agents alive without alerting Moira that he’s onto her.

I personally believe that yes, Gabriel’s standard personality is sarcastic and humorous in general, but there are moments when he pushes things to an...unusual extreme.  He almost seems to amp up McCree’s anger, making casual jokes and remarks about the “army” they’re facing (“yeah, they’ve really rolled out the red carpet,” “It’s not exactly Carnevale,” “I still think we should’ve gone as the band.”), joking about the art gallery, the restaurant at the end, the whole thing.  McCree often responds with what sounds like raw, real anger -

But it also gives Moira a...target for her attention.

Gabriel: What’s keeping our ride - we can’t wait forever! McCree: Something tells me that the army of bad guys convergin’ on our position isn’t helping. Moira: McCree’s instincts are - as ever - unimpeachable.

Gabriel Reyes has to play a delicate game here: he cannot alert Moira that he knows what’s happening, and he has to convince her to think that she’s “getting to him”.  He cannot make McCree mad enough that McCree lashes out “too hard,” and he cannot be obvious enough to McCree to give away that Moira has compromised them.

Though he also makes attempts to soothe McCree’s anger at different turns:

McCree: We didn’t have to go to all this trouble if we were just gonna kill Antonio. Reyes: It wasn’t how I drew it up. McCree: …Coulda fooled me.

(source)

If you pay close attention, there’s actually a few instances where Gabriel almost slips or falters.

Gabriel, to Genji: You know your brother would’ve made a good agent. Genji: (no response) Gabriel: touchy subject

(source)

Gabriel: Am I the only one who feels hungry? Moira: That could be an unforeseen side effect... Gabriel: ...I was making a joke.

(source)

In the first interaction, Gabriel attempts to crack a (rather inappropriate) joke to Genji, but unlike McCree, Genji’s anger is silent and cold.  Gabriel attempts to diffuse the situation by quickly dropping it.

In the second, he attempts to make a joke about the restuarant, perhaps hoping to rile McCree up for another wisecracking one-liner or even some more frustrated remarks, but instead he grabs Moira’s attention, as she is suddenly intrigued by his “condition.”  Gabriel passes it off with a casual “it was just a joke” remark.

“But why would he even do that?  Why not shoot Moira?”

Because Moira is the only person in the entire city who will attempt to keep McCree and Genji alive.

Gabriel can heal himself in small doses, and he could probably flee with some sort of wraith form, but if he kills Moira or tips her off, McCree and Genji will die.  They have no other healer, no one knows where they are located, and no help is coming unless the Pilot picks up their distress signal.

And then they have to make it to the extraction point after fighting effectively everyone in the city.

“Could they have stealthed their way back out?”

Possibly.  It’s hard to say: if he had asked Genji or Moira to kill Antonio, Moira might had figured out what Gabriel was thinking.  Or Antonio could’ve triggered the alert.  But an element of surprise - as risky as it was - was all Gabriel had in his sleeve in the moment with Antonio.

“Okay, but why not shoot her at the end?”

Really?

A better question is:

“Why is Gabriel Reyes still working with her?”

And the likely answer is pretty plain.

Something - like, I dunno, an explosion - made Gabriel’s “Reaper” condition worse.  His skin has turned ash grey.  His unmasked appearance - whatever it is - horrifies someone who has known him for 30 years.

If he is not faking his anger with Jack Morrison, he is furious that Jack and Overwatch let this happen to him, though we don’t know specifically what would cause such a radical shift in his motivations (Jack would have to do something that really upsets Gabriel to lose Gabriel’s loyalty).

But Gabriel also probably has very little choice in cooperating with Moira in the present day.

On Oasis, Reaper and Sombra have a very specific interaction:

Sombra: So what are we doing here, boss? Reaper: I need to pay a visit to a friend.

And again - I don’t know if Reaper means this genuinely or sarcastically.  I don’t know what the specific details of his present-day working relationship with Moira are.  I don’t know if she is coercing him into working for Talon, if she is holding up his “cure” as his “reward” for cooperating with her, if he genuinely supports Talon, or if he’s actively using his effective immortality to bring Talon down.

But it makes this moment

All the more heartbreaking.

Gabriel Reyes had a brief moment of hope that someone could finally cure him -

And that was shattered.

This does not look like the debriefing of a defiant, angry, bitter man.

This looks like someone who has realized that he jeopardized everything and everyone he has ever loved to be free from a “deal with Death” he made 25 years ago to help save the world.

Call me an apologist if you must, but let me remind you:

“You know, as we reveal more about these characters, we want people to be able to empathize and understand their beliefs.  Because sometimes what makes a villain a villain is the extent to which they’re willing to go to reach their goals.  And one thing that we find most important when we’re talking about our villain characters is that there is nothing to say that a villain cannot be as charismatic - or more charismatic - or as likeable as a hero character.  Because like the old saying goes, ‘Every villain is the hero of their own story.’”

But if Gabriel Reyes is going to suffer

Then the people who made it worse are going to suffer that exponentially.

And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

And if he has to wear a mask to do it

And he has to infiltrate them

And he has to pick factions

And play the “bad guy”

Then he will.

It isn’t that consquences don’t matter - 

But when you are Death Incarnate

They seem so much less important than correcting Fate -

And significantly less important than delivering retribution. ---------

If you want them:

Additional readings: “Talon: Clawing to the Top”: an early analysis of Reaper and Sombra working together to bring down Talon.  Parts of it are amended in the second essay, “Death Becomes You”.

“Death Becomes You”: an analysis of “Masquerade” as through a reading of “The Masque of the Red Death.”  Written a full nine months before the events of Retribution, and about four months before Moira was revealed. “Step Into My Parlor”: an analysis on Widowmaker’s relationship with Reaper and Sombra, and if she knows they are “up to something”

“Moira: A Fate Fulfilled”: a discussion on how fan theories reshaped Reaper’s story, and possibly helped create the character of Moira “Everything you want to know about Reaper and Soldier: 76″: a write-up on the different eras and contexts for the relationship between Reaper and Soldier: 76, and how Overwatch and Blackwatch worked together before the fall. Has a discussion on shipping. “A History of Healing (and Harming)”: an analysis of how the different “healing” mechanisms in the Overwatch universe are interconnected and why. “Overwatch: Companies and Corporations”: a write-up on the different fictional organizations in Overwatch, and how many of them are suspicious as all hell.

[vvakarians]

DA 20 Questions

Tagged by @goblin-deity ! Thank you fam! If anyone wants to be tagged consider yourself tagged!

1. Favorite game of the series

Inquisition! It’s the one I started with! It’s an amazing and beautiful game. 

2. How did you discover Dragon Age? 

There was a cosplayer I used to follow here on tumblr that cosplayed as this character named Dorian, and then they cosplayed as Fenris. I looked into both characters because I really liked the designs. From there I checked out the game from the library and fell in love with DAI!

3. How many times have you played the games?

I’ve played DAI too many times to count, I can probably count on my pc, which is a handful of times, otherwise on my ps4 at least 25. DA2 I’ve completed exactly twice, played it four times. DA:O I’ve completed exactly once, but played multiple times, like three times I think.

4. Favorite race to play as?

Elves or qunari!

5. Favorite class?

I absolutely love mages, always have. In DAI I play as a necromancer or knight enchanter, in DA2 I play as a blood mage or a spirit healer. I have a harder time playing as one in Origins, but I usually play as a blood mage or an arcane warrior. Other than that I play as a Double Handed Warrior, usually a Reaver or some other scary subclass lmao.

6. Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions?

In general I usually make the same choices kind of? Mostly because I can’t push myself to ally with the templars. I do edit my canons outside of the actual games, like Calliope allies with the Mages but they do end up saving the templars as well, just after they get to Skyhold. Artemaeus, my city elf who was adopted by the Dalish, sided with the mages but left the templars to fend for themselves (save for Barris who did not deserve to die). Honi, my Adaar, sided with the mages and conscripted the templars, she was pretty harsh on them but decided that both sides could benefit from coming together. In general I haven’t changed my stance on the Grey Wardens, it wasn’t their fault that Clarel had a moment of weakness in being manipulated and I couldn’t find my Inquisitors justifying anger towards them enough to banish them. With Halamshiral I can’t in any way place Celene on the throne, it’s just my personal thing. After reading Masked Empire I said nah. But if ya like her that’s cool. I don’t usually have someone drink from the Well, I considered it with Callie, but I felt that shit could go down from a Solas perspective and I was not about that angst. 

7. Go to adventuring party?

1st World State: Tauriel Mahariel /Ophelia Hawke/ Calliope Lavellan

DAO: Alistair/Zevran or Leliana/Morrigan or Wynne 

DA2 (When I need Anders): Anders/ Aveline/ interchangeable rogue

DA2 (When I need Fenris): Fenris/ Sebastian or Varric / Merrill

DAI (Base Game): Solas/ Sera or Cole/ Iron Bull

DAI (Hakkon): Dorian/ Iron Bull/ Sera or Cole

DAI (Descent): Vivienne/ Iron Bull/ Sera

DAI (Trespasser): Dorian /Iron Bull / Interchangeable rogue

2nd World State: Aviel Tabris / Valentyne Hawke / Honi Adaar

DAO: Alistair / Leliana or Zevran / Wynne

DA2: Anders (or Merrill)/ Isabela / Fenris (or Aveline)

DAI: Dorian (or Vivienne) / Sera / Iron Bull (or Blackwall)

3rd World State: Mah’Vir Surana / Sparrow Hawke / Artemaeus Lavellan

DAO: Zevran / Morrigan / Alistair (or Sten)

DA2: Fenris / Merrill (or Anders) / Interchangeable Rogue

DAI: Dorian (or Solas) / Cole or Sera / Cassandra

8. Which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

Calliope 100%, I put most of the thought into my first world state characters. Tauriel was the easiest to make and her canon hasn’t changed much, same with Ophelia, but all three of my heroes were well, well thought out. I’ve had four or five years of making them under my belt.

9. Favorite romance?

For angst, absolutely Solas. You can’t get much more angsty than that. Other than that my most favorite romance is Fenris’, he’s a character that I love greatly and as a sexual abuse survivor with PTSD I related to him a lot lmao. 

10. Have you read any of the comics/books?

I have all of the books except for Last/First Flight (?), I’m currently reading Masked Empire. I also have the World of Thedas Volume...2? And I have the first Magekiller comic.

11. If you’ve read them, which was your favorite book? 

Masked Empire for sure, it’s because I love Felassan.

12. Favorite DLC’s?

Trespasser or Jaws of Hakkon, I absolutely love the stories in both. I’m also biased towards my favorite of the series/I love killing Dragons. And Veil Quartz, I love Veil Quartz.

13. Things that annoy you?

The fandom mostly. I fucking hate some of y’all shits. I hate the lack of rep too, they did fucking great in DA2 with almost every LI being bisexual. Could have done that with DAI with the straight LI’s but, shrugs. Other than that I don’t hate it much. 

14. Orlais or Ferelden?

Orlais, it has the Emerald Graves and I love big ass trees. 

15. Templars or mages?

Is that even a question? Mages

16.  If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

I have three separate world states, and then an AU with @trans-aloth . Calliope’s has at least 25 separate oc’s in it because I’m a fucking menace. Other than that they usually stay seperate. Alexx and I combined worldstates with Cianan and Callies for that AU. 

17. What did you name your pets?

I only have names for Calliopes world state pets, but I will def name the rest of the others when I play. 

Tauriel: Kili (mabari)

Cassiopeia: Ser Claws (mabari)

Merielle: Howl (mabari)

Serynn: Athena (mabari)

Fen’Asha: Pluto (mabari)

Ophelia: Willoughby (mabari)

Calliope: Bones (Deepstalker) , Enasalin (Dracolisk) 

18. Have you installed any mods? 

I did way back when I thought my computer could handle it. Still got all of them downloaded but I play primarily on my ps4 or ps3.

19. Did your Warden want to be a Grey Warden? 

Tauriel had accepted the fact that she needed to become a Warden and only was angry about it when Duncan said that it was no place for the children. She managed to convince him to let her take them however. Cassie did not want to become a Warden and fought it tooth and nail, but had nowhere else to go. Serynn had accepted it wholeheartedly, it wasn’t much of an issue. Merielle wanted to get out of the Circle but was difficult in taking the Ritual because she didn’t like the fatality rate. Fen’Asha was also in that same boat and at first saw it as another injustice. 

20. Hawke’s personality? 

Ophelia is a securely purple unless dealing with templars, then it’s Red through and through. Halcyon (their eldest sister) is a Red Hawke, Blue with her family, and Hero is a Blue Hawke, Red with templars.

21. Did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquistion? 

Yes! I usually do! I use a gold/red/black color scheme, so it involves a lot of fucking Dragon Bone. 

22. If your character could go back in time and change one thing what would it be?

Tauriel would have gone back and saved Tamlen. She would have insisted that they look for him and at the very least if they found him they would make him a Grey Warden too. If that wasn’t an option she’d make sure Evra and Krie didn’t get traumatized by the fact their father was killed by a mirror of all things. 

Ophelia would go back in time and watch their mother more closely, or perhaps ask Carver not to go to the Deep Roads with them. Leandra’s death was the hardest thing they ever had to go through aside from handing Carver over to the Grey Wardens. The estate just felt so empty without Leandra. 

Calliope would go back in time and save their best friend from being taken by the templars. But they also realize that things would have been vastly different or the both of them that way. And they also realize that they were pretty young when Isi was taken from the Clan, they wouldn’t have been able to do much. It’s just something that haunts them to this day. 

23. Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

Calliope is a mage and a warrior, SO I MEAN. Calliope’s home clan is also from Orlais and their mother is a former slave from Tevinter who then went to the Kirkwall Circle after being captured in the Free Marches.Other than that they end up with a First Enchanter that’s an oc of @trans-aloth ‘s. I also have an oc that ends up with Varric, because I have a distaste for the real life Bianca. Tauriel also ends up in a poly relationship with Cassiopeia and Alistair. Other than that, Alistair, Zevran, and several other people are trans. 

24. Who did you leave in the Fade?

Stroud, all three times.

25. Favorite mount?

Dracolisk’s or any of the Harts, I love ugly boys and giant elk.

[mellicose]

Mercier, lipstick, smut ! x

I’ve gotten a lot of Mercier requests, but I’m trepidatious to comply because of the mere existence of @lostinfic - her lovely, poetic, tender depictions of him are like canon to me. 

But, you requested, annony, and it’s about time I deliver. You asked for smut. This is very smutty. I hope it does your perception of Jean-Francois justice - 💖

He brushed the immaculate dark wool of his officer’s coat carefully.

She saw him over her shoulder, in the vanity mirror, as they prepared for the party. She put down her lip brush and watched him run a slim finger through the tassels of his epaulet with childish pleasure, although it didn’t fully register in his expression. But she knew. He didn’t do it for any other reason than the sensation. It made her heart warm.

He adjusted his collar and stood a bit straighter and stared at himself in full-length mirror by the window. His full lower lip poked out a bit. The man he saw now was not the man he felt like in his head. This man was a bit thinner, and a bit older than he imagined. It was a self-conscious thought, and one he wouldn’t ordinarily countenance, but time was a teacher. And much had changed.

His eyes focused on her reflection, but it took a second or two to realize she stared at him just as intently as he did at her.

“Chèrie,” he said softly, but his heart jumped. How long had she been looking? Could he assume that she couldn’t read his expressions yet? Women were far more clever than they let on. When he was younger and first married, he thought it maddening. But now, he knew that it was mostly for protection. He respected how even the most humble of women could hide herself far better behind the mask of her own face than a well-trained spy. 

“Jean,” she said. Her hair was out of the curlers but still in tight coils, as yet uncombed. Her black slip only accentuated the gleam of her shoulders. “You look so handsome,” she said. She walked up and hugged him from the back, wrapping her arms tight around his slim waist. Her forehead pressed between his shoulder blades.

“Viens ici,” he said, and pulled her to face him. Come here. He took her face in his hands. He caressed her powdered skin, and realized the flush on her cheeks was not artificial. Her warmth was deliciously suggestive. “I realize this is the first time you’ve seen me in full regalia. Do you like it?”

“Un peu.”  A little, she said, and shrugged playfully. “Qu’en penses-tu?” She wrapped her leg around his and pressed herself against him. He felt her heat even through the thick wool of his pants.

“What do I think? Your French is getting better,” he said. His hands moved to her neck. She sighed.

“I have an exceptional teacher,” she said. She fiddled with the uniform buckle at his waist and started to move rhythmically against him.

“This wool is so scratchy and stiff,” he said. “What do you get out of this?” he said, but his hands dropped to her waist and below, to grab her ass.

“It’s supposed to be, no? It’s like armor, after a fashion,” she said. She touched the medals on his chest. “You’ll have to tell me the stories behind these some day.”

He shook his head no. “They are not pleasant. And I think you’ve had far more than your share of cruel and ugly,” he said. After all she’d suffered, she didn’t like anyone telling her what to want and not want - especially a man. But Jean was different. He wasn’t just a man. He was more to her.

He squeezed, then pulled up her slip. He gasped, and she smiled when he realized she wore no underwear. She moved away, not wanting to stain the wool. He growled and moved his leg between hers, suddenly ravenous. He raked his fingers through her tight curls, making them riotous. He pressed her against the door and sucked on the firm skin of her neck, avoiding her scarlet painted mouth.

“Mon sauvage, I’ll ruin it,” she said, but she barely had any breath left. His hard cock pressed painfully against her hip.

“Je me’en fou,” he said, pressing harder. I don’t give a damn. The uniform buckle bit into her belly, and the medals poked at the tender skin of her breasts. He licked up her neck and grazed her earlobe with his teeth. “I love it when you call me that.”

“Are you anything less in my arms?” she said, and rubbed him over his pants.

“I can’t help it,” he said. His knee banged hollowly on the door as he lifted her higher to suck on her breasts through the silk of her slip. He tasted the bittersweetness of her perfume on the cloth, but almost immediately, her nipples hardened. He licked the hard nubs, then bit, knowing the cloth would lessen the bruise.

“Puta madre,” she hissed through her teeth in her native Spanish. Fucking hell. Only he could make her curse like that. He slid his hand between her legs and buried two fingers in her and pressed into the part of her that would made it pour on his pretty uniform. He lifted his eyes to look at her, and his lustful belligerence made her shiver.

“Careful,” she said, but she didn’t have the will to stop moving her hips to the rhythm of fingers. Her fingers dug into his back.

“Non,” he said simply, and slid another finger inside her. She cried out and curled into him. Her hand went underneath the front of his jacket and tried to unbutton his fly, but the tightness caused by his stiff cock made it difficult.

“It’ll stain,” she panted, and wished she had the strength to tear off the buttons. And it would stain, in a way that he would not be able to explain away to the laundry woman. She would know what was his, and what was hers, and which stain was them both, mixed together. It was the same scent and color on the steady supply of sheets in their twice weekly laundry packet. Her ruined underwear. His ruined shirts.

She made them all like new. But she knew, and unknown to them, it made her wistful for a time when such urgent passion ruled her as well.

“Fuck the party,” he said, and licked her lips. He tasted violets and wax, but underneath the perfume was her. He slid his tongue in her mouth. Her teeth were dry and cool from panting. “I will have you.”

She yipped when she succeeded in unbuttoning his waist. The rest of them were much easier, and she squeezed him through his underwear. He groaned.

“Would you have me soak your pants?” she said, stroking him. “Ruin your collar, and rust your medals with my wetness?”

He moaned gutterally and tugged down the spaghetti straps of her slip. “Ouiai,” he said.

He dropped to his knees and put his mouth where his fingers had been. She was tart and slick. His nose pressed into the silky hair on her mound and he took a deep breath of her. It was the best scent on earth - that musk made every cut and gunshot worth it. He found her clit in her throbbing softness and sucked, guided by her grasping fist in his hair.

She could live with that silky, eager tongue between her legs. She would walk around with the dumb smile of sated, sighing from orgasm to orgasm as she ran her errands-

She giggled, and it broke her reverie. Her eyes settled on the clock and she shivered.

“We have to go in 15 minutes, corazon,” she said. His tongue quickened on her swollen clit, but she knew she wasn’t close enough to finish in time. He needed to do his job, and she was resolved to help in every little way she could.

“Come here,” she said, pulling him to standing. His clean-shaven chin glistened with her. He tried to kiss her, but she pressed him to the door and fell to her knees. Precum already soaked his underwear. Tempted, she sucked and licked at the cotton, and felt fresh warmth as he blessed her with more.

He was much, much closer.

She pulled down his pants and he was hard and ready against her cheek.

“Je veux finir en tu coño.” I want to finish inside you he said, using the naughty word for cunt in her language. He too was an extraordinary student.

“No, mi bien. Vas a venir en mi boca sedienta*,” she said, and looked up at him as she took him in her fist and stroked him from base to tip. She wanted to see his expression when he worked out what she said. And it was worth it. His eyes darkened and he put his hands in her hair, pressing the top of her body to the door as his cock slid past her painted lips. He withdrew, but only to see it stained in scarlet wax.

“Shall I wipe it off?” she said, pulling up her slip.

“No,” he said, rubbing the slick, dark head of his cock on her lips. She ran her fingers through his silky pubic hair, releasing his scent. Her mouth watered. “I want to wear it on ma queue, all night.” He wanted to wear her lipstick on his cock.

“Yes,” she said, and put her hands on his hips and pulled him to her. His cock went deep in her mouth and nudged her throat. She trembled, then relaxed, and guided him to thrust into her.

He groaned and obeyed, his eyes rolling closed with the tight, slick heat of her mouth. Her tongue moved on the sensitive underside of it as he pumped slowly into her, and her hands moved from his hips to his ass. He was so deep in her mouth she couldn’t taste him as well as she wanted, but she felt his thick, throbbing flesh in her cunt. She didn’t know whether other women were the same, but her soft palate was a secret erogenous zone. Maybe it had to do with whom she sucked. Maybe not. All she knew is that as he cradled the back of her neck and rolled his hips into her mouth, she felt every inch in her pussy. Every fat, fragrant inch.

Now, she realized she could finish quick, with his cock in her throat and his slim, hairy thighs flexing against her chest. Her mouth flooded with saliva that dripped down her chin and and made his balls slick. She reached around his thigh and tickled him from behind, and they tightened against her chin. She had already sucked off his salt, but her pussy twitched around her surging finger at the thought of him filling her mouth.

She moaned hard into him and urged him on. He threw his head back and thrust into her throat. She reached up with a pussyslick hand to cup his balls. She had been touching herself as she sucked, and the wet heat of her fingers, coupled with the muscular velvet of her tongue, pushed him blissfully into orgasm. He tried to slide out of her mouth but she grabbed him and pressed him close, sucking and groaning as he emptied himself, spurt after spurt, into her hungry mouth.

But she kept going even after his cock gave up its prize. 

She sucked his still-hard shaft noisily, whimpering, with eyes closed as her hand moved eagerly between her legs. He tried to pull her up to finish her off but she dared to slap his hands away and kept going, panting, trembling, pink tongue swirling around the orgasm-sensitive tip of his cock to chase his taste. She was so beautiful with her cheeks mottled pink and her slip a wrinkled sweaty band around her waist. Her breasts bounced hard as she bobbed her head on his cock, and he wished his arms were longer so he could pinch her nipples. He could bend over, but he didn’t want to break her reverie.

Although his toes curled in his uncomfortable dress shoes, he grabbed her shoulders and fed her his cock again, caressing her sweaty curls.

“Take your time, ma chère,” he said. “C’est tout pour toi,” It’s all for you. He knew just what to say to inflame her. She moved one hand to his hip and squeezed, letting her lust saturate every cell in her body. Her cunt tightened around her fingers. She moaned, and he nudged himself into her mouth until her nose was deep in his damp pubic hair. Her soft palate stretched.

Oh, that was good.

But it was the feel of his hip muscles move so gracefully underneath her hand as he fucked her mouth that made her groan and buck her hips. Her head bumped the door as she came, and he withdrew and rubbed his saliva slick cock on her panting lips until her breathing slowed to normal.

She smiled up at him. “You’re still hard,” she said.

“It’ll be a bit before it goes down. You didn’t give me ton trésor,” he said pulling her up and cupping her hot mound. Her slip fell to the floor, and her enticing nudity and the exaggerated rose of her worn-off lipstick did nothing to help him calm down.

“I have to clean up and get ready,” she said, but she spread and pressed his hand harder against her.

“It’s 10 minutes if we want to arrive on time. But must we?” he said as he slid a finger in her still twitching cunt.

“Darling-”

“It’s not something I do often, but there is something to be said for being fashionably late, especially with a gorgeous, sated woman on my arm,” he said. He reached behind and and, due to her copious wetness, another finger slid easily in her ass.

“But I am finished,” she said, a bit dumbly.

“Oh no,” he said, his voice reduced to a growl by her twin heat. “Ma petite, tu en es loin.” You are nowhere near done he said, and withdrew his fingers to throw her on the bed.

*No, my love. You’re going to finish in my thirsty mouth.

[inawickedlittletown]

Walking The Wire (15/?)

Summary: Tony Stark always knew about Peter Parker. He didn’t know that Peter was going to get superpowers and become Spider-Man, but he always knew about Peter because Peter was his son.

This will span from pre-Iron Man up through the rest of the MCU (eventually including Infinity War) and will be for the most part canon compliant except where I’ve taken some liberties and interpreted canon a certain way.

Pairings: Pepper/Tony, Tony/Steve (endgame), Tony/Mary (past)

A/N: If you want me to tag you when I post new chapters let me know. This fic is also on AO3

I used Collider’s MCU timeline to stay canon and the title of this fic is an Imagine Dragons song that is just so fitting for Peter and Tony

Masterpost

Chapter Fourteen

They screwed up.

Ultron hadn’t been meant to become an evil artificially intelligent robot and yet that’s what happened. Tony didn’t know how it had gone wrong, or how it had ended up working at all, but he knew that he’d screwed up. He could also see that everyone blamed him. Even Bruce blamed him a little for pushing him to help him.

Then, Jarvis was dead.

His mask went up as he looked at what was left. Half formed pieces of code and no way to bring Jarvis back as he had been. Tony couldn’t even face to pull out another of his AI’s to get to work.

Pepper was gone and Jarvis was dead and most of the team couldn’t even look at him. The vision played in his mind in a taunting way too, reminding him of why Ultron had felt like the right thing to do.

By the time that they had gone after Klaue and Tony tried not to think about the last time he had seen that man, Tony had stopped trying to figure out exactly how things had gone wrong. He knew it was the scepter that had done it and corrupted his and Bruce’s work.  

“I really just don’t understand,” Ultron said as he fought Tony and threw him aside with a sweep of his hand, “humans are confusing. You create children and don’t let them evolve. Don’t even tell them you created them.”

Tony’s blood went cold. Ultron knew about Peter. He knew about Peter and he could just put the information out there into the world. He fought back as Ultron came at him again, but even his Iron Man suit didn’t seem to be enough because Ultron knew his every move and had studied his armor.

By the end of it, it had been for nothing because Ultron got away with the vibranium and aside from Clint, everyone was incapacitated. Hulk was on the loose and angry. Things were just getting worse and worse by the minute. Tony couldn’t let himself focus on the Peter of it all since there was no immediate fix for that. Instead he had a Hulk to catch.

Later, after they had gotten to the safehouse, or what had been code for Clint’s farm which had come with a wife and kids, Tony tried to keep busy and not think about it mostly because there wasn’t much that he could actually do aside from helping the others regroup and figure out what to do next.

He felt jarred, as if he had woken up after a long fever. It brought Steve back to his childhood and being a skinny kid that was one bad cold from just falling down dead. Somehow Clint had managed to get them back onto the quinjet even as thrown as they were. Natasha had been the quietest that Steve had ever seen her and he himself had only managed to get himself back together enough to help when Tony finally got the Hulk to change back but not without causing destruction in his wake.

Tony had gotten on his phone at once and Steve knew it was because he wanted people on the scene taking care of everything at once.

Logically, Steve knew that Wanda Maximoff was to blame with her magic or whatever the stone had given her, but it still did pain him to think about Peggy young again and waiting for him to have some sort of life that just wasn’t fighting.

They touched down somewhere unfamiliar and Steve watched Tony as the others got up and followed Clint. Something was bothering him and it was more than just Ultron. Still, Steve didn’t think that he could ask. He didn’t know that he could do it calmly without starting a fight.

It turned out that Clint’s “safehouse” was his own personal home and that he had a pregnant wife and two kids. It made Steve pause. Only Natasha seemed to be unsurprised. Tony just kept on quipping and Steve could tell that it was because he was trying to pretend that everything was fine. He almost reached out to him, but instead followed Thor outside and watched him leave without much explanation. He hoped that there would be a lead. Looking in at Clint’s home and family made Steve wistful. This was something that he could never have. The one and only person that had been an option for him had already lived out her life. She had kids and grandkids too. Hell, Natasha had been trying to set him up with her niece. Steve found that all kinds of weird once he’d found out that Sharon was actually related to Peggy.

Later, while he had been getting out his anger and angst out on some logs that needed chopping, Tony appeared and he was almost the last person that Steve wanted to see. He was still angry. It just -- Tony always just did things. He did things and didn’t think about them going wrong and he kept secrets and he had created a killer robot.

Tony started to chop some of the logs too, and Steve tried to keep the conversation light except that he couldn’t help but let his frustrations out. Tony seemed to think that he was fine and unaffected when that was the farthest thing from the truth. It was just that what he’d been shown felt so flimsy in comparison to the way Natasha had reacted or how it had set off the Hulk. Even Thor had been shaken as apparent by his need to run off. Steve just hoped that it would bring the answers he was seeking.

Tony’s justifications meant nothing to him, not when the result was Ultron and the whole team ending up off-kilter.

“He knows about Peter,” Tony said eventually after telling Steve his motivations were so everyone could go “home” as if he expected that they all wanted to settle down somewhere like Clint clearly had. Maybe Tony did with Pepper and Peter. Steve just knew that it would never be his life -- he would never be able to do it not with how much the world seemed to need them and because Steve didn’t know how he could.

“Ultron,” Tony said, “he knows that Peter is my son and it’s just a matter of time before he decides it’s time for the world to know. For Peter to know. I’m surprised that it isn’t out there already.”

Steve didn’t even get to respond before they were interrupted and Tony was pulled away to fix something. He was always fixing something, or trying to. He felt a little bit like a fraud as he cut the next log. Just like the others he kept his own secrets and told himself it was for the best. Maybe he needed to cut Tony some slack.

May followed the news closely when it came to The Avengers and in particular Tony Stark. So she was all over the videos and articles that came out of Johannesburg. The Hulk had gone wild for some reason and Iron Man had gone after him with too much destruction in their wake. She paid close attention over the next few days and was not entirely unsurprised when she heard that they had appeared in Sokovia, a small tiny country that until that moment May had not known existed.

She had watched the news while gripping her favorite mug as an entire country was taken into the sky.

By the time that it was all over and no one knew what kind of devastation had taken place, May had spilled most of the tea that had been meant to calm her onto the floor. It wasn’t until much later that all of The Avengers were accounted for that she could breathe easily.

Fearing for the life of Tony Stark more than once a year had never been May’s expectations of most of her adult life and yet that’s where she was. Ben thought she worried too much, but May knew that Peter would never forgive them if Tony died before he knew that man was his father. More and more she was tempted to tell him and let him and Tony meet and yet it was so hard to make that decision when Tony had been ignoring Peter for months and he was still in constant danger.

Chapter Sixteen

[shadowsong26fic]

Let’s Go Steal A Crossover: Part 1

No real plot here, this is mostly the background/backstory details.

Note/Disclaimer: this particular outline features an OC of mine and as a result is fairly self-indulgent. Because what else are crack outlines for?

That out of the way, here we go!

For the Leverage crew:

This is more or less in a S3 sort of environment--they may or may not be chasing Space Damien Moreau, but in terms of their team dynamic, etc., that’s where they are.

(Let’s be real, though, they are TOTALLY chasing Space Damien Moreau.)

(Who is, as in Leverage canon, very much a power-behind-the-throne kind of guy.)

(I.e., he is not a Moff or an Admiral or a planetary ruler or a sector governor or anything like that.)

(He just happens to have quite a few of them in his pocket.)

(He’s not affiliated with Black Sun or any of the Hutts or any other established syndicate, either. He’s his own thing.)

Nate--

He’s from a fairly prosperous Mid Rim world, went to a Core World university (probably either Coruscant or Alderaan).

The Clone Wars started right around when he graduated, if I’m parsing the timelines and ages right.

So, granted I’m making this up on the fly based on things I half-remembered, but while there are non-clone non-Jedi military officers, they’re mostly High Command types.

However, Nate does not have the background, experience, or connections for that kind of work.

He spends the War working for his home sector/planet's senator, as an investigator/learning about security/etc.

(How he manages to pull this off, despite his father’s legit Shady Past, is probably a Story in and of itself.)

Postwar, he goes into the private sector, working for an insurance company.

(Where he meets Sterling.)

(And Maggie.)

(And Sophie.)

Incidentally, while he doesn’t have the inside information to really disbelieve the late-stage propaganda, he’s a little Perturbed by exactly how quick and bloody the end of the war and the transition to the Empire was.

Something Is Not Right here, but he’s not sure exactly what, and is not yet so disillusioned to do anything about that doubt. But it remains, in the back of his mind, to resurface when everything falls apart.

This is, however, a large part of why he leaves public service.

From here, Nate’s backstory is more or less the same as in canon.

(I did toy with having Sam dead of Inquisitors instead for a while, but that would not translate right and, more importantly, is too mean to Maggie.)

(I love Maggie, have I mentioned that?)

Sophie--

What can one say about Space Sophie Devereaux.

...about as much as one can say about the canon version, honestly.

She’s Kuati, that much everyone knows for sure.

Whether she’s actually of the minor nobility is up for some debate.

(Yes, there was an equivalent of the King George Job)

She was in her early/mid-teens when the Clone War happened. Kuat itself seems to have been mostly untouched, but under heavy military guard because of the valuable shipyards.

She left Kuat three or four years postwar, and began creating her various aliases and legend.

(And occasionally working as an actress, of course.)

...yep, that’s pretty much what I have here.

Hardison--

Also pretty similar to his canon backstory, except that he’s slightly younger--probably closer to Jyn Erso’s age/two or three years older than the Skytwins.

Like Nate, he’s from the Mid Rim, but he’s from a planet that was heavily contested during the War.

(i.e., it ended up pretty bombed to hell)

(his parents died towards the end of the war, which is how he ended up with Nana)

His particular brand of invention/cleverness is particularly useful in a slowly-recovering warzone, though.

Parker--

Parker is actually from Coruscant.

The underlevels.

One of the kids who consistently slipped through the cracks, under both the Republic and the Empire.

Until Archie Leach found her.

And then unleashed her on the Galaxy.

And now, the fun part--Eliot!

Eliot is, in fact, a clone.

He was part of the so-called Last Batch; born (decanted?) about six months before the end of the war, so he never saw action during that conflict.

There were whispers, among the older cadets--the ones who were mature enough to hear echoes of a voice in their heads, who knew at least bits and pieces what the adult clones had done and why.

(The whispers are carefully, carefully encouraged by some of the adults who were able to fight through the compulsion. Not well enough, or fast enough, to save their Jedi, but damned if they wouldn’t protect their little brothers. Who will grow up to be men, not weapons. Which means that most of the Last Batch and varying proportions of the older cadets had their chips removed before leaving Kamino.)

(....and now I’m going to have to do something completely unrelated with the Last Batch and their relationships with their various older brothers at some point, aren’t they.)

Eliot, like most of his generation, goes into the Stormtrooper corps when he’s mature enough.

He stays in for a while--a good couple of years. He’s separated from his brothers, for the most part, but a few are with him. One by one, they die or desert--he covers for the ones who get away.

He’s the last. He bonded with a few of the non-clone troopers, and it isn’t until there’s no one in his unit he feels like he needs to stay for that he leaves.

(He promises himself, when he leaves that armor behind, that he’s not going to find himself in that situation again. He has only himself to look after now, and he is damn sure going to stay that way.)

He starts wandering, working as a bounty hunter/assassin for hire.

(He does have one brief, slightly surreal encounter with Boba Fett.)

(Who is Not Thrilled that one of the millions of men with his face is trying to do his job.)

Occasionally, he’s even hired by the Empire.

(Any jobs he does for them, he of course does from safely behind a mask.)

He spends some time on Mandalore, carefully connecting with his roots and finding plenty of work in that planet’s increasing unrest.

(There is a Story to tell here, I’m sure, possibly one involving Bo-Katan and/or Korkie Kryze...)

And, of course, he spends about six months working for Space Damien Moreau.

He occasionally, in his travels, has come across his brothers--ranging decommissioned Clone Wars vets, to older cadets, to others of the Last Batch.

He tends not to seek them out, though, and to avoid interacting when he can.

There’s too much baggage, positive and negative, with all his brothers of every generation.

Besides. He promised himself he wouldn’t put down roots with a unit or a team again.

Miscellania--

Their first job together runs much as in canon, and they settle in as a team and loosely follow the same overall storyline as in canon.

Nate knows damn well that Eliot is a clone, though he didn’t until they met in person.

(While he didn’t work directly with the GAR and never met any Jedi, he did meet several clone soldiers. It’s a hard face to forget, when you’ve seen it several times over the course of three years.)

Sophie figures it out, too--she met several soldiers assigned to guard the shipyards.

Their marks generally don’t figure it out, actually.

Not a lot is known about the Last Batch.

I mean, sure, if any of these industry/corporate titans actually thought things through, they’d remember that the clones were in production up through the very end of the war, so obviously something must have been done to the ones who were too young for combat at that point.

But, honestly, even if some part of you is aware/acknowledges that there are younger clones running around, are you really going to expect one to wander through your door pretending to be a chef/caterer or a pro baseball player or a country music star or an IT tech or...

(Parker and Hardison figure it out when one of their marks actually does identify Eliot as a clone.)

(They don’t particularly care, except Hardison remembers/learns about the rapid aging factor and starts using his downtime to try and find a fix for that.)

(When he’s not playing Space WoW, anyway.)

(Or helping Nate with whatever sketchy and underhanded Long-Term Scheme he’s got in mind right now.)

(They’re not on the black box yet, of course, but probably right now most of Hardison’s not-active-job time is spent on tracking Moreau.)

(He and Parker have probably been tossing ideas back and forth about robbing Kamino to try and find a fix, though...)

(Or at least the Last Batch’s records.)

(But that is a plot for another fic. And possibly one of the things they end up doing during the six-month break between S4 and S5.)

The Skytwins’ Team:

Here’s where the super self-indulgent part comes in.

So, this is technically an offshoot of an offshoot of Masks!Verse, which is a very near-canon AU (what I call an In Spite of a Nail AU) where Lavinia exists. Essentially, in Masks!Verse, nothing we see onscreen during the OT happens any differently, but there’s some Interesting Stuff happening elsewhere that sets up a different post-ROTJ timeline. Nothing at all changes until three years after ROTS, when Lavinia is born, and after that only things she’s Directly Involved In change, and most of that is internal Imperial power plays, at least through ROTJ.

(TFA more or less happens because I like it, but the road there is a little bit different and the canon I was operating from is locked there. I.e., due to what Lavinia and her daughter in this timeline end up doing, things go much more AU starting with the opening sequence of TLJ.)

Masks!verse, incidentally, is technically Lavinia’s core timeline, in that it’s the first one I created of the three base timelines I have for her (Masks, Precipice, and PT-generation), but that’s a whole separate conversation. It does probably explain why Masks!Verse has like a million variants/offshoots, though...

Anyway. Digression aside, this crossover actually draws from a Masks!Verse offshoot that I call the Lavinia Organa AU.

(You can probably guess where this is going.)

(It’s very much an Exactly What It Says On The Tin type thing.)

(And, honestly, could do with its own outline for the rewrite of ANH alone...)

But the Cliff Notes version:

When Lavinia is born/announced, Breha goes to Bail and says “we managed to successfully rescue/kidnap one Sith Lord’s baby daughter, we should rescue this one, too.”

They had never really decided on only having one kid, after all. Just at least one, and they wanted a daughter.

(It just ended up not happening in canon because of the need for secrecy/not wanting to complicate things and put Leia at risk.)

(I saw a meta post the other day that points out that Bail was clearly ready to take both Skytwins, but then Yoda said to separate them.)

(This may or may not have come up in primary Masks!Verse, incidentally, but there, they decided it was too risky and they had to focus on protecting the daughter they already had.)

(It’s arguable how much kidnapping was technically involved in adopting Leia. But they do just straight-up kidnap Lavinia. They also fudge some records and release carefully-timed photos and do not make any in-person appearances with her so they can claim she’s three months younger than she actually is.)

How do they pull this off? ...IDK, magic? Handwave for now, it is out of the scope of this project.

Leia and Lavinia grow up pretty close.

(Not that they never fight--they bicker constantly, especially in the years before Leia starts taking a more active role in the Rebellion and a more official role in Alderaan’s government.)

(Lavinia, at thirteen, isn’t really allowed to do much at that point, but she backs Leia in everything and helps a lot with the background research/legwork.)

A couple notable details: Bail and Breha decided pretty early on that they wanted to tell each of their daughters a shell of their bioparents’ stories, leaving out the key details but sticking more or less to the truth as best they could without putting their girls at risk.

So, Leia knows basically what she was told in canon--that her birth mother was a close friend of her parents, they didn’t know her birth father well, and both her bioparents died at the end of the Clone War.

That’s enough for her. She knows who her real parents are, and doesn’t especially care about her bioparents at this point. She has other things to worry about/deal with.

Lavinia is told that her birth mother died shortly after she was born, and her birth father was Not A Good Person and lost custody of her.

So, the thing about Lavinia--it’s less prominent in this AU because she had a functional childhood and parents who treated her like a person and not a spy/asset, but she’s very...the way she puts it in Precipice!Verse is that she doesn’t like walking into a room unprepared. And this shell of a story about her birth parents feels like the kind of thing that could bite her actual parents and her sister (and her) in the ass in a major way.

So, very quietly, around the time Leia starts working as an active Rebel agent, she starts digging into it, trying to identify her bioparents.

She doesn’t find any stories around her official age that match what her parents told her, and she doesn’t think they would lie.

But, she reasons, they might have skewed things or lied about her age to protect her from her biofather.

And then she learns Emperor Palpatine had a daughter, who died, who’s approximately the right age.

When she asks her parents about this, they don’t lie. They confirm it for her

(They would have done the same for Leia, if she had done the legwork and asked them point-blank, but like I said it’s not something she particularly cares about at this point.)

Lavinia then asks if she can tell Leia--they’ve actually been getting closer since Leia suddenly developed all these Adult Responsibilities, and the events of the Princess Leia novel happened.

This pretty much cements their relationship. While they still bicker a fair amount--they’re both pretty strong personalities, and not always compatible ones; Leia being a Soldier and Lavinia being a Spy, plus they’re teenage sisters who are fairly close in age--but they are Ride Or Die Full Stop from this point out.

By the time ANH actually rolls around, they’re both active Rebel agents--Lavinia works mostly with Intelligence and to a point with supply/other support forces, because she’s good at reading people and mapping interpersonal networks and figuring out who to approach, while Leia does more or less what she does in canon.

Again, the actually rewrite of ANH would be its own outline, so the important bits (with minimal detail in case I do end up doing this one properly at some point):

Lavinia and Leia are both on the Tantive.

Lavinia takes a shuttle/tender ship/something and separates, hoping to act as an additional decoy, that Vader will assume that the big ship is the Obvious Decoy and focus on her instead so Leia can get the plans to Kenobi safely.

Vader, of course, has the resources to track both of them so this doesn’t work.

Lavinia ends up tagging along on the Falcon and ending up on the Death Star with the others.

Everyone, including Obi-Wan, actually makes it off the station alive.

Lavinia was running around in the air vents for a while, and left behind a blood sample. On impulse, Vader runs it--he wants to identify all of Obi-Wan’s co-conspirators as quickly as possible and while there are no clear shots of her face on the surveillance footage he has, this is an available resource he can use.

Obi-Wan tells Luke and Leia who they are to each other (though sticks to the Certain Point Of View story about their biodad for the time being).

They have a moment of “...well, that explains a lot” and just accept it and move on.

So, at this point, there are some Key Secrets going on:

One, that Luke and Leia are the twin children, biologically, of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Naberrie Amidala.

People who know this: Obi-Wan, Luke, Leia, and Lavinia (they tell each other pretty much everything of this level of importance.)

Two, that Anakin Skywalker is now Darth Vader.

People who know this: Obi-Wan, Vader, Palpatine.

Three, that Lavinia Organa is Palpatine’s biological daughter.

People who know this: Lavinia, Leia, Vader, Mon Mothma (who they told in a “so this might be a Thing and we want to make sure Someone in High Command is prepared JUST IN CASE).

(They probably tell Luke before too much longer, but they do not share this detail with Obi-Wan.)

Right, so. Those are the Most Important Details for the purposes of understanding Let’s Go Steal A Crossover, I think.

Anyway, I’m drawing from this AU for two reasons:

(Or, three, if we include the fact that I Like It And I Can.)

First, it’s an easy way to get the Skytwins’ team connected/integrated with a minimum of Drama.

Second, because it’s kind of where the whole crossover concept came from. I was babbling at my very patient roommate about the Lavinia Organa AU (specifically about potential ESB/Cloud City plot points), and realized “lol, I could make a religion Leverage team out of this.”

“....WAIT I COULD MAKE A LEVERAGE TEAM OUT OF THIS!”

Here’s how it works:

Hitter: Leia. Who is a tiny ball of rage a lot of the time, and takes after both her bioparents in a large degree. She is definitely, definitely their combat specialist, even if she hasn’t really played that role in her previous work.

Hacker: Han. He’s the one who’s good at improvising tech, etc.

Grifter: Lando. Quick, act shocked.

Thief: Luke. Very different style from Parker, of course, but still.

Mastermind: Lavinia. Who, while not in any way going to use it as he did, inherited her biological father’s aptitude for strategy and manipulation.

The dynamic isn’t 100% the same, of course. For example, Lavinia may be the strategist, but Leia is more the team lead in the field. But it still lines up really great and then I started poking at the Leverage backstories above after the initial concept occurred to me and here we are.

Miscellania:

This crossover takes place in a vague “timelines mean nothing” sort of state. As I said before, the Leverage team is more or less in S3. We’ll say the Skytwins team is somewhere around ESB, though obviously the background leading them there is going to be Very Different.

The actual plot is going to start with The Two Live Crew Job In SPACE and go from there.

(Possibly getting more complicated, as we throw in Sterling and/or Vader and/or Obi-Wan and/or the Ghost crew.)

(In that last case, the Ghost crew never split up/Kanan never died/Ezra never went on a road trip with Thrawn and a bunch of space whales.)

And...that should cover it! Sometime this week (I’m hoping before Solo comes out), I’ll put up Part Two, which will cover the Actual Plot.

[inawickedlittletown]

Walking The Wire (120/155)

Summary: Tony Stark always knew about Peter Parker. He didn’t know that Peter was going to get superpowers and become Spider-Man, but he always knew about Peter because Peter was his son.

This will span from pre-Iron Man up through the rest of the MCU (eventually including Infinity War) and will be for the most part canon compliant except where I’ve taken some liberties and interpreted canon a certain way.

Pairings: Pepper/Tony, Tony/Steve (endgame), Tony/Mary (past)

A/N: If you want me to tag you when I post new chapters let me know. This fic is also on AO3

I used Collider’s MCU timeline to stay canon and the title of this fic is an Imagine Dragons song that is just so fitting for Peter and Tony

@findmeinthestarss

Masterpost

Chapter One Hundred Nineteen

Natasha could tell that Steve was a bit distracted and she didn’t blame him. She was a bit distracted too. Bruce was back. He was back and he was -- well, he was certainly different. Everything was a little different and Natasha was well aware that things between her and Bruce would never be what they once were, but she hated the awkwardness of it all. So mostly she’d been staying away -- keeping her distance and just worrying about Vision and the alien invasion that they were on the fringes on. It was easier to do that instead of thinking about what could have been and maybe what could have never worked in the first place.

There were carriers that were supposed to take them out onto the field. Everyone was getting ready and Natasha was just sort of waiting.

“Hey,” Steve said. “Ready?”

“Sure,” Natasha said. “How do you think Tony is fairing?” It kind of felt unfair to bring up Tony and she regretted as Steve’s face fell a little.

“He’s -- he’ll fight until the very end. I just -- I wish we could communicate. Know what’s happening -- know if Thanos got the Time Stone.”

He didn’t add that they both wanted -- more than anything -- to know if he and Peter were alive. Maybe not saying it was them trying to keep their hope alive.

“Bruce is getting into the Hulk-buster armor,” Steve said.

“He’s never been in one of Tony’s armors before,” Natasha said.

“Rhodey’s giving him some pointers,” Steve said with a shrug. “This is Bruce we’re talking about -- if anyone can do it, it’ll be him.”

It really was just too inconvenient that the Hulk was choosing this moment to not want to come out. From everything Natasha had heard on their way to Wakanda it wasn’t surprising. Bruce had left from Sokovia as the Hulk and he’d stayed that way while in space. If Thor hadn’t found him it was likely he’d still be the Hulk and in space.

“Come on,” Steve said and motioned towards the carriers, “we should get up there. I think they’re ready to go.”

Natasha nodded. She just hoped that Shuri would have enough time to get the stone out of Vision’s head while they held off the alien threat.  

“That’s a lot of possible futures,” Peter said.

Stephen glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Peter was sitting on the ground, mask off and his hair flopping on his forehead. There was certainly a resemblance to Stark there. It was the eyes and the way he formed expressions. He was so young.

“Yes,” Stephen said.

“So, you can do magic, then? I mean -- how does it work? Is it innate like powers or because of something like the stone?”

“It’s learned,” Stephen said and left it at that.

He didn’t like children. He liked teenagers even less. Although, he had to admit that Peter wasn’t all that bad and he could tell that Peter was only talking to him because he was trying to keep himself busy or from thinking about the upcoming fight. Really, Stephen would have preferred to be left alone and really think about everything he’d seen -- all the possible futures and how everything could oh so easily go wrong. He needed to consider what had to happen -- what needed to happen. The only way that they could actually win. It was going to be hard and it was going to hurt and looking at Peter made it that much harder.

Stark had been trying to compile a list of everyone’s skills to continue to form his plan and Stephen was glad to let him -- because a plan was fast forming and Stark really was the best one to figure that out for them. It was the way that things needed to pan out. Already, things were going the way they needed to and Stephen just had to make sure that they wouldn’t get off track.

The cape lifted up and touched Peter’s shoulder and Peter jumped. “Oh,” he said. “How does it do that?”

“It just does,” Stephen said.

Peter sort of squinted at him and looked like he was getting ready to another question when--

“Peter, come here,” Stark called and Stephen let out a sigh as Peter walked off.

He watched them for a while as they spoke. Stark had his arm around his son and the two of them were far enough away that Stephen couldn’t actually hear what they were talking about. Mostly though it made Stephen regret what was coming.

When Stark was done with Peter, he called all of them gather and it seemed that he had formulated a plan. Stark was trying to use all of their skills to their best benefit. It was smart. Stark wasn’t even hesitant to use his own son but then Peter was Spider-Man and he was stronger than everyone else probably and also quite agile. He was an asset. Stephen really didn’t like what was to come and yet -- and yet he also knew that it had to. It was for the best.

“He’ll come at any time,” Star Lord said, “he has the Space Stone.”

“And the Power Stone,” Stark added.

Star Lord nodded. It was Mantis that spoke next. “The Reality Stone too.”

He would have them all--

Aliens. It was -- Bucky really had no words. He’d been having a normal morning before T’Challa was suddenly giving him the gift of a new arm -- sleek and beautiful and carrying so much weight to it not because it was heavy but because of everything it represented. Shuri had promised him an arm back when she’d first seen him and Bucky had declined it even after she showed him a few different versions of what she was trying to design for him. Later on, Tony Stark had offered to make him one and Bucky had declined that too. Life had been simpler with just one arm.

Seeing Steve again even though the circumstances weren’t great was a nice change of pace for him -- Bucky hadn’t been expecting to see him until...well, until the wedding. It was easy for Bucky to read Steve and see all the anxiety that was just beneath the surface. Bucky had to admit that he was worried about Tony. He had a great deal of respect for him -- respect that had grown after Tony came to speak with him. More than that, though, Bucky knew how much he meant to Steve and what it would do to his best friend if Tony was lost.

“We got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line,” Colonel Rhodes said over comms. Bucky had noted that he too seemed to be anxious for word on Tony Stark. He was flying over all of them with Sam and sure enough he was right because Bucky spotted movement.

Bucky wasn’t surprised when Steve, Natasha, and T’Challa ran out to the edge and they all waited while the three of them spoke with the aliens. Bucky could sort of make them out. One of them was smaller than the other one but they both looked other-wordly. When the three of them returned, Bucky was sure nothing had come of the conversation. None of them expected it to.

“Did they surrender?” Bucky asked, anyway when Steve returned.

“Not exactly,” Steve said.

That was when the alien ships started to open up and Bucky didn’t know what he’d expected, but he hadn’t expected what came out to be like something out of a horror flick. He’d gotten acquainted with a lot of movies due to Shuri and some of the other occupants of Wakanda, and the huge grotesque creatures that bounded out of the alien ships looked like they belonged more to one of those movies than to the real world.

“What the hell,” Bucky said as the creatures actually ran against the barrier.

They were killing themselves trying to get in. It wasn’t at all what he’d expected to happen and they didn’t seem to care seeing as they just kept going for the barrier and eventually a few did get through and they ran on four legs towards them like rabid wolves out for a kill. Bucky lifted his gun like everyone else around him and pointed. He was good at this, at finding the target and firing. This was familiar ground as much as he might hate it.

“You seen the teeth on those things?” Sam said over the comms.

More and more were breaking through but there were lost limbs and other body parts all along the barrier. It was almost hard to watch and yet there were so many that it didn’t even seem to matter. Bucky had no idea how they were going to be able to take them. Probably having realized the same, War Machine flew over the creatures and dropped some bombs over the ones entering. It took out a lot, but it didn’t even make a dent on the numbers that the aliens had with them. He heard him warn Sam over the comms and then there was a bit more chatter until:

“Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us -- there’s nothing between them and Vision.”

None of them had thought about that, but the creatures were running to surrounded the barrier. Vision was the priority. Keeping him alive and destroying the stone. He looked towards Steve and it didn’t take Steve long to figure out what they had to do.

“Then we better keep them in front of us,” Steve said.

Steve had his Captain America face on all seriousness and bravery masking all the fear and the worry that he had to be feeling where it came to Tony and his time in space. Bucky hated that even he couldn’t really see through the mask and know what Steve was thinking -- time had changed Steve and had made him just that bit harder and if something happened to Tony and he never returned Bucky couldn’t imagine that Steve would ever be the same again.

Steve and T’Challa seemed to be of the same idea because T’Challa made the decision to open up a portion of the barrier which meant that now they really did have to fight the creatures.

“Wakanda Forever!” T’Challa yelled and then they started running. The barrier opened at T’Challa’s signal just as they were approaching it. And Steve and T’Challa ran ahead of everyone because they were so similar that of course they would. Bucky should have expected nothing less. He joined the fight as well, a part of him happy to do his part.

Bucky shot a couple down but physically fought others too. Around him it was chaos. The creatures just kept piling in and rushing at them and no matter how many got taken down there were more there to replace them. Even the Hulk-buster armor seemed to keep getting piled on by them which was almost a funny sight. It seemed like Bruce Banner still didn’t quite have the hang of the suit. It seemed neverending. They could only hope to hold them off long enough for the stone to be destroyed and none of them knew just how long that was going to take.

Time passed slowly and fast all at once and Bucky was doing what he could -- keeping as many of the alien creatures down and trying to help the others around him too. He knew some of these Wakandan warriors and they were all good men and women. But as good as they all were, they were outnumbered and Bucky could tell that things weren’t going well for everyone. Too many of the creatures came at each person and they seemed to only have one motive which was to kill.

One of the creatures lunged at him, throwing him on the ground and Bucky fought back until he had destroyed it and torn it apart but then there was another. He managed to grab his gun and he shot at a few more even getting shot didn’t stop them unless they were shot in the right place.

When the two aliens from earlier stepped inside the barrier things went from bad to worse. Where the creatures lacked in finesse, these aliens made up for it. They were powerful and strong and they came ready to fight. They had alien weapons too that weren’t going to make things any easier and Bucky was sure that they weren’t going to be able to keep holding on for much longer.

Of course, that’s when bring light fell from the sky and Bucky couldn’t imagine that it would be anything good. Lighting shot out across the sky which had been clear seconds before and all of Bucky’s worry faded when the lighting struck the creatures, killing them as it touched them and then the air cleared. He hadn’t been able to make it out, but it wasn’t just lightning but some sort of axe which flew around the field and then back to a trio that was made up of a racoon with a gun, a twig-tree looking thing, and a man that Bucky recognized as the God of Thunder. Thor.

They had a moment of respite where all of the creatures around them were on the ground and although more were coming, Bucky had a chance to look on at Thor. He was more impressive than Bucky had expected him to be.

“Bring me Thanos!” Thor yelled and then he turned and ran towards the barrier and he just seemed to lift up into the air. The sky around and above him crackled with lightning and the clouds turned dark and then the man -- no, the god -- dropped to the ground and slammed the axe and all the creatures around him fell.

Chapter One Hundred Twenty One