#i love trying to do a conspiracy board in my head of the events that went down in the bg re: Lyla bc it's so fascinating to piece together

[shidoukanae]

also now realizing there's a heavy possibility that the unknown event Daniel references where he asks Lyla "how are you going to find your happiness?" is the same event Helene references when she tells Lyla that Lyla "betrayed" her.

Coincidentally, that's probably the same event that allowed Helene to be manipulated by the Empress into turning against Lyla and might have been the cause of Daniel leaving Lyla (probably to find out how to awaken as a dragon so he could gain the power to take her away from her family faster? maybe even going so far as to try and compete w/ Paris for the throne if it means protecting Lyla?)

There's also a suspicious gap of time from when Helene was poisoned to when she told Lyla to get away from her that has been omitted. And considering baby Lyla cries about Helene not wanting to be with her anymore...and that same baby Lyla is seen hugging Daniel in the unexplored scene...Lyla what the fuck did you do to Helene to embitter her like this?

[libertyreads]

August TBR--

August is going to be the month of SciFi apparently. This is because I was given access to an ARC of the new Murderbot Diaries novella that comes out later this year. Which means I need to speed up my reread of this series. I’m also continuing with my reread of the Skyward series in preparation for the final book later this year. But I’m going to try to leave a lot of my reading open for the month so I can have less pressure on myself and the ability to mood read books from my physical TBR and the TBR I have with my library. Let’s get into the books I plan on reading.

1. Fence: Disarmed by Sarah Rees Brennan-- This was sadly the only book in Fence that I couldn’t find at my local library so I had to purchase it instead. This book is based on the comics from C.S. Pacat about a group of boys who fence at a boarding school. The comics were great on their own but I had such a good time reading the book that comes before this one. I am sad, however, that this is the last work about these characters that I have left to read.

2. Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson-- This is the first novella in the Skyward series. I’m rereading the entire series in order to prep for the final book coming out in November. This follows Spensa who wants to become a pilot for her country’s military but her father’s reputation as a coward holds her back. This comes after the first two books in the series so I won’t dive too far into the synopsis. I will say that this one follows a secondary character and keeps us in the loop of what’s happening while Spensa is being a badass.

3. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells-- This is the fourth book in the Murderbot Diaries. You all have heard me go on and on about this series so I’ll keep it short. We follow a SecUnit that has hacked their governor module. They can do anything they want now. But it seems like what they want to do is keep saving stupid humans and keep watching their serials. Murderbot is anxious and socially inept (but who am I to judge really?) and they also keep finding themselves falling head first into conspiracy after conspiracy.

4. Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells (Kindle)-- This is the only currently published Murderbot that I haven’t read yet. This is a 12 page story following Dr. Mensah and the events of Exit Strategy. A human perspective on Murderbot? I’m interested. It’s listed as #4.5 in the series so hopefully I didn’t NEED to have read this before the full length novel.

5. Network Effect by Martha Wells-- This is the only full length novel in the Murderbot Diaries and it’s still following our favorite SecUnit. If I remember rightly, this also has one of the most heartwarming scenes in the series in it. So I’m really looking forward to rereading. I’ll probably read this closer to the middle of the month while the other two will probably be read back to back.

6. The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood (Kindle)-- Csorwe has always known how and when she will die. She’ll climb the mountain, enter the Shrine, and become a sacrifice. But on the day of her foretold death, she is given a new fate from a powerful mage: to become the wizard’s sword-hand--stealing, spying, and killing to help him reclaim his seat of power in the homeland from which he was exiled. From the GoodReads: “Csorwe and the wizard will soon learn--gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.” Let’s freaking go my dudes. I love it. I hope the part about the gods is really about some gods who she has to defeat some how. I’m excited to throw some Fantasy in the mix with all this Sci-Fi.

7. Moorewood Family Rules by Helenkay Dimon (Library)-- I saw this one on my library app and I’m really hoping I can get a chance to read it this month. I keep seeing it pop up as available and then unavailable the next day so I’ll have to keep an eye on it. This one was pitched as Kives Out and Ocean’s 8 meets The Nest. This one is about a woman who returns home from prison to her dysfunctional con artist family and tries to get them to go legit. (Okay, is that ringing The Company You Keep bells for anyone else? Just me? Okay.) I’m excited to see where this one goes. It’s listed as both a Mystery and a Romance so that could be good, as long as it’s done well.

[sithwitch13]

Forbidden Door 6/30/24

Amanda and Negative One, I'm gonna cry

Ooh, Serpentico? I didn't know we were getting Serpentico!

Newly beltless Kyle Fletcher cheering himself up by destroying SNAKEMAN

Roddy, grabbing Gabe Kidd in an aggressive hug: "LOOK AT MY NEW FRIEND, ISN'T HE SO COOL, UNLIKE A CERTAIN BABY SEAL BOY"

KOR, chilling with the Conglomeration plus Ishii and Willow: "Sorry, did you say something? We were busy making friendship bracelets."

BARK-OFF

STAT TIME AND ALSO STOKELY AND MOMO WATANABE

WILLOW TIME AND ALSO TAM NAKANO

Forming a conspiracy board because Tam and Momo are wearing contrasting colors while Kris and Willow are wearing the same color.

Oh my god Toni's ringside outfit

YEAH MARIAH

And here's Mina to keep the love triangle going

LIJ, you are so adorable

Aww, Alex's face paint

Aaaaaa it's time

So is the crowdsurfing a reference to Cody, Punk, both, or neither? I'm good either way

Is it just me or does MJF not have his usual dogshit spray tan?

LOL Kenny's face blurred

Double LOL they called Okada the Best Bout Machine

Okay gremlins let's see how cunty you're feeling tonight

Reasonably, excellent

Oooh Okada is very shiny tonight

Dying at Nick and Okada doing Antics

God I love these horrible little scamps

Dragon vs Dragon time!

Ah, it's the time of the match where Danielson tries to give us all a heart attack

EVERYONE SHUT UP IT'S TIME FOR THE SAPPHIC LOVE TRIANGLE

Oh my god Toni lol

Mariah's beautiful face acting, she's so amazing and the absolute heart of this story

Mariah: "now kiss"

TEAM POLYCULE WINS

THE HORNINESS CONTINUES WITH OC VS ZSJ

Black Glasses Dark Jeans Orange

Thank you Tony Khan and Hiroshi Tanahashi for your gift of squirming men

Is my brain failing more than usual or was this supposed to be a Zero Hour match?

I have been informed it was always a main card match and now I am sad

Aww, yay for Hook

This is the most "whoever wins, I win" match of the night for me

Ladder matches always make me nervous since every time I try to use a ladder I injure myself

ELP nipple attack, congrats to us all!

OW FUCK JESUS

Don't mind me, I'm just sitting here screaming "PLEASE BE CAREFUL" every 30 seconds

:3

Stephanie's whole look is reminding me of Hela from Thor: Ragnarok and I'm here for it

I have no good occasion to do eye makeup like Mercedes' but I really really want to. Maybe just for sitting around and playing video games.

Holy shit Stephanie's dragon screw is brutal

BRITT

SHOW IN JAPAN I'M GOING TO DIE

Mox vs Naito time!

Oh good they didn't make Taz or Nigel leave when JR came in

Oh shit yes and the Death Rider theme

RED SHOES

Mox why are you not wearing the NJPW shorts

Please stop saying "tran-KWEE-low," it's pronounced "tran-KEE-loh"

Mox has two gears, Nigel: "violent" and "clumsy puppy"

Aww, grats Naito

MAIN EVENT, LET'S GO SWERVE

Garcia watching? HMMMM

I HAVE BEEN SHRIEKING THIS WHOLE TIME OH MY GOD

I may actually be dying

HEAD PATS AAAAA

SWERVE!!!!!!!!!

The forehead kiss

The tears

Fletcher comforting Ospreay

I love everything

[iceblastersdenofstuff]

Solo RPG Log #0 (Hex Girl II)

So! Fair note, when I was brainstorming names I kinda just let my mind wander. Little did I know my sister's binging of Steven Universe and memories of old scooby doo characters would jump out and insert themselves into my game :P

--

The game is set in 20X3 in a city on the west coast of the USA called Beach City. When I plotted up the city in a general sense, I rolled on Mythic's settlement description table, and ended up rolling the Impressive and Old descriptors. So, I decided to make it some long standing city with a history of tech innovation, making it have a bit of more advanced tech fitting of a typical superhero city, though of course as stated before I've made it clear that superheroes aren't exactly a common affair. No definitive number, but superpowers are uncommon enough that when you do see someone with them it's an event to remember -assuming you aren't living in the city where they operate of course.

My character -generated using the Mutants and Mastermind's 3e hero handbook generator bc while I love making characters, I wanted to get right into play- is a female-presenting non-binary super named Riley Ikaru(she/they), going by Hex Girl -and is the second to have said moniker. Her mentor is of course Hex Girl, more on her later.

While the name would indicate a lot of magic -and to be frank I might use my 'this is literally just me' powers and change that-, she's mainly focused on more psychic abilities, with telekinesis featuring heavily though they do sport magically halted aging and self-enchanted costumes.

Hex Girl I is as far as anyone is concerned 'effectively retired', though the generated NPC descriptors threw a wrench in that idea -rolling for appearance I got Athletic and professional, and disposition is Knowledgable and Disagreeable-, so I had a bit of thinking on it and had the thought that despite having mentored Riley, they were rather distant in terms of closeness, and nowadays while Riley is off doing whatever they do, she's at her hideout with what amounts to a giant conspiracy board of the various underworld elements, trying to figure out some hidden plan without really being able to put together what's going on.

The first and second session make more sense to lump together, so! I shall.

Riley was tasked with infiltrating and investigated a newly arrived corporation -whose CEO seemed to be quite interested in psionics and powers of the mind-, as there have been allegations of unethical experimentation. They successfully sneak in and even get to a storage room to get at some files, however they find a guard that seems to have been waiting for her, as they soon get into a fight.

I. Did not balance the fight well, so despite being half the power level -MnM rates PCs on a '15 points = 1 power level' basis, I made a PL 10 character- my modified street thug to have some psychic abilities forced a retreat after they activated an alarm.

So, without any proof and with the corporation now on high alert, Riley returns to Hex Girl's hideout to give the news, who after a few rolls, was none too pleased about the result and essentially threw Riley out while she tried to salvage whatever plan she had. I last left off with Riley heading out, so, next time I play, I'll be exploring that!

fun.

[ibmiller]

My own Top Ten Batgirls covers!

I have a feeling that one's favorite covers for this run will often reflect one's favorite character of the three Batgirls, and my selection is no different! A lot of these are favorites not just because I love the styles of the pieces, but the connections the cover artists have to past Batgirl runs.

To start off, three Honorable Mentions, drawn from the SIXTEEN variants provided for issue #1:

Honorable Mention

#3

Alex Garner's lovely digital rendering of the trio of Batgirls is just gorgeous. It's one of the #1 variants I ended up not getting, because I was already buying 5 copies of the first issue, and I try really hard to limit myself to only buying one copy of an issue. I broke my rule for this series, and I don't regret it, but I did try to have SOME self control.

Garner did a lovely run of covers for Gail Simone's Batgirl run in the n52, as well as a few covers for Batman Eternal, which is the connection that draws me to his work here.

Honorable Mention

#2

Kendrick Lim, who did a mask on and mask off version (mask off here). The faces are a TAD generic, which is why it didn't make it into my collection or my top ten, but Lim's Black Lantern Steph variant cover for Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night made me very tempted to add this one to the collection (I do have the Blackest Night variant!)

Honorable Mention

#1

This is cheating. But I love the connecting covers here, and Steph and Cass look so nice! I did end up getting this one (it was discounted with one of the other #1 variants I was getting, and didn't add to shipping, so...I was weak...)

And now to the main event!

#10

David Marquez, variant cover for the final issue of the series. Marquez captures the love and personalities of the Batgirls here so well. A very bittersweet cover, for me, because I simultaneously have an "end of the series" association with it, but also the existence of this cover (Marquez posted that he was commissioned to do 4 covers when the first three were announced) meant that the series wasn't ending at #18. Right now, it serves as the icon for the Stephanie Brown discord server (I was changing it every month to one of the cover images of Steph), and I don't have the heart to change it yet. Plus, no new images have displaced it in my heart!

#9

I limited myself to just one Rian Gonzales cover, even though they're ALL adorable. This one is very funny to me because of the dino licking his lips to eat the giant chocolate coin, so that pushed it over the top for me. I didn't actually buy any Rian Gonzales covers in floppy format, because I don't like the incentive structure, but I DID buy all three trades to make sure I got all of the covers, even though I also bought every issue.

#8

Jorge Corona drew every main cover for the series, and all of them were energetic and interesting! I didn't buy every one, because sometimes the variants were just a bit more appealing to me, but this one actually got me to buy both the main cover and the Michael Cho varient, so it has to make the list! I just adore the composition and stylized fear toxin.

#7

Maybe I just like Jorge Corona drawing big head covers? But really, the combination of Steph's gloriously golden hair, the conspiracy board behind her, and her childhood crayon drawing ripped in half is a powerful image, which perfectly forshadows the powerful story inside.

#6

MIchael Cho is one of my favorite cover artists (and he does some good interiors, too!), and I was just thrilled that he did three covers for this series. Steph's flaring hair is amazing (and reminds me of her days as Robin), and the background and poses are just wonderful!

#5

Artgerm got his start drawing Batgirl covers for Stephanie Brown, so it's only fitting he draw one for this series. Though it's a bit more muted in colors (as are many of Artgerm's covers these days) than his early 2010s work, it's exquisitely rendered, as expected for him, and mirrors one of my most cherished comics in my collection:

#4

Corona's Bat Girl Summer cover is just so hilarious and also cool I had to include it! The sunglasses, and swim tube unicorn (mirroring Cass's fluffy robe!), the yellow summer sky against the city - it's details and attitude galore!

#3

The Top Three starts with Batgirl of Burnside artist Babs Tarr, turning in a simply hilarious and touching homage to the classic Batman and Robin cover in all pink and black! With her own lettering, the piece simply explodes with Tarr's cheerful cute energy that made that series so visually iconic. I was so pleased Tarr contributed to this series, and this is definitely in my collection!

#2

Joshua Middleton contributed some of the most beautiful covers to Batgirl during the Rebirth run, so like Tarr's contribution, I was very hopeful that he would do a piece for this run. And his exclusive variant for issue 1 was definitely worth it! Steph on this cover still serves as my discord and most online forum avatars right now, and has for a few years now! I just love his use of light and face choices!

#1

2022 was Stephanie Brown's 30th anniversary. Despite co-starring in a series, she did NOT get a single celebration cover just for her to mark that special milestone. Yes, yes I am still salty about it. HOWEVER, I was moved almost beyond words by this cover by Paulina Ganucheau, which I count as an unofficial 30th Anniversary special. It is a redraw of the iconic first meeting of Stephanie Brown and Tim Drake (replaced by Cass here because it's a Batgirls title :) ) by the iconic artist Tom Lyle in Detective Comics #648. Ganucheau chose to honor her friend and professor Lyle in this contribution, part of the 90s Rewind line of covers that dropped that month. I treasure it greatly, as it clearly came from the heart.

My 10 Favorite Batgirls covers

You know something we never talk about much is some of the stunning covers Batgirls had (would you believe the series had over seventy-two different covers for a nineteen-issue run + Annual).

That's-- A LOT.

What happens when you get regular and virgin #1 covers that were available in other shops. Now these are my own preferences. I mean, to say the least, Batgirls covers never missed really. These are just my favs.

So are ten of my favorites plus a few honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention #1:

Batgirls #16 International Women's Day Variant by Lynne Yoshi. I just love the way everyone is framed in this with Babs being "the Batgirl" but in a past B&W motif while Cass/Steph are the present Batgirls being juxtaposed in color.

Honorable Mention #2:

Batgirls #12 90s variant by Paulina Ganucheau. I love the homage here the splashy page homage with a nice role reversal with Cass subbing for Tim here. My favorite Steph-centric cover.

#10

Batgirls #13 1:25 variant by Rian Gonzales. Her final one for the series, and man did she go out with a banger. Love the Powerpuff Girls homage with most of the supporting cast (Kyle, Maps, and Alyssa) with random Kon and Kate appearances.

#9

Batgirls #3 variant by Kim Jacinto. Jacinto would do a few variants for the series too, and this is my favorite one of them. Love that each had a fluidity with them but that up-close claw of Cass coming at ya is why this one is my favorite of Jacinto's Batgirls covers.

#8

Batgirls #1 the Glass Cabinet Hobbies variant by Dan Mora. This is one of those "store" exclusive variants, and probably my favorite Batgirls cover Mora did on the series.

I love the poses Cass/Steph have here, along with Bab's silhouette. I just LOVE the yellow dips down and to the right even making a rather striking cover. If anything negative I wish Babs was bigger and Dick was taken out of this cover altogether. Still love Bruce on the right though.

#7

#7 Batgirls #1 (though I forget which store had this exclusive) variant by Babs Tarr. If there's one thing I do enjoy about Burnside Batgirl it is the way Tarr drew Steph in it. Just captured that fun attitude perfectly. Also, love the first "official" drawing of her Cass.

I also love the homage to a famous Batman cover but the personalities of each Batgirl stand out in this one. Plus the pink just makes this one stand out and be so striking.

#6

Batgirls #14 variant 1:25 cover by Dan Hipp. Again, the pink is a nice striking contrast but Hipp one-ups it with the little details sprinkled throughout this cover. The easter eggs sprinkled in are PERFECTION here. Probably the best "layered" cover with so much behind it.

#5

#5 Batgirls #18 AAPI variant cover by Crystal Kung. The second of the two AAPI covers Cass got in the series, I love the colors in this one along with the pose Kung gives Cass here. There's that gremlin nature of Cass I love here.

Along with just the wash the background gets further back. I also love the secondary color Kung gives Cass's cape to make it stand out more.

#4

#4 Batgirls #17 cover by Jorge Corona. My favorite cover of the series with all three Batgirls in them. I love how Corona gets the personalities of the three in here while also the starry background along with the Clocktower. Sooo good.

#3

Batgirls #6 1:25 variant by Rian Gonzales. My favorite Gonzales cover of the series. I love the watercolors Gonzales does the most here. Just the wash of Gotham City in the background with Cass/Steph lying in the pool. Also Haley on the little batmobile float. SOOOOOOO CUTE!!!

#2

Batgirls #14 cover by Jorge Corona. The best issue of the entire series and the peak for me of Corona as well with his covers.

Just the somber mood of the cover sets the tone alone. I also LOVE the way Corona has Cass and Steph's capes here. The way each pop sells it all.

So if that's my #2, what can be my #1?

Well... something that just uplifts me anytime I look at it. Something you'd probably not truly expect.

#1

Batgirls #6 AAPI Heritage Month variant by Audrey Mok. There's just something every time that I look at this cover that fills me with a warm glee.

I adore Mok's use of Cass here and the way the traffic around her lights a part of her up. I adore the pose as well that mid-grapple swing too.

I love the "mini story" this one tells too. Just everything about this cover is perfection to me.

So there are my favorite Batgirls covers. This was tough! 😅What are your favorite Batgirls covers? Please share and comment on which ones are yours, or if you share the same as I do!

[frodo-with-glasses]

2, 3, 4 and 8 for Merry and Pippin, please! Just discovered your blog, and oh boy, I wish I'd done it sooner!

Aww, hello, Anon! Welcome to the party! It's good to have you on board. :-D

2. "My favorite scene of them"

I answered this one here! TL;DR: I love the entire Treebeard chapter—mostly because Treebeard 8-D—but specifically I love the part where they've just escaped from the orcs and Merry is like, "Great work, Pip! But you can't keep stealing all the glory. I'm gonna take over from here, because I know for a fact you're an IdiotTM who doesn't look at MapsTM and you're just gonna get us lost." It's a fantastic microcosm of their friendship, and how they trust each other implicitly and can still banter and roast each other even in harrowing situations.

3. "A random headcanon I have of them"

Merry's favorite color is green. Sure, it's not a terribly unique opinion, but that's fine; he's not trying to be special. Besides, green is a good color—the color of growing things, of fresh food, of the rolling hills and valleys of the Shire—and after he gets to Rohan, and sees the green in their standards and the rippling oceans of grass, that opinion is only even more firmly cemented in his mind.

Pippin's favorite color is purple. Why? "Because it's the best color," he says.

4. "My favorite thing about them"

I answered this one here! TL;DR: I love how low-pressure their friendship is. Merry and Pippin just hang out because they like hanging out. Sure, they're on a dangerous Quest and all that, but they'd be spending time together anyway even if there were no Quest, so they might as well. The company just makes the Quest more pleasant!

8. "Who I think is the crazier one"

Oh, easy! It's Pippin.

In the movies, it might be a close match, but in the books there's no mistaking it. Merry is the level-headed one, the Plan Guy, the one who organizes Conspiracies and looks at the maps in Rivendell in his spare time so that he'll be able to navigate unfamiliar lands in the event they happen to lose their guides (which, as it all turns out, they do).

Meanwhile, Pippin is young and impulsive and inquisitive and dumb and prone to doing things like looking into the Clearly Evil Giant Marble of Doom even after this has been established as a Bad Idea, and dropping a rock down the well shaft in Moria just to see when it hits the bottom.

Pippin is the definition of "you were too busy wondering if you could to even stop to consider if you should", and that makes him the crazier one.

FRIENDSHIP ASK GAME!

[preemshots]

the definitive post of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JOHNNY SILVERHAND’S BODY?

AKA the post of HERE’S WHY I WANT TO BELIEVE WE ARE GONNA GET JOHNNY’S BODY BACK IN DLC. 

buckle up, gamers. it's time for some lore. this is a very long post. 

warning: this will contain a million spoilers. both for details of multiple game endings, a wee bit of the “where’s johnny” comic, and the cyberpunk RED book. if you want a sparknotes version this is the post for you. my main source here is the cyberpunk RED book as well as as some references to the cyberpunk 2077 world book to cross examine the lore. 

i have no idea if someone has made this post before or what anybody else has been finding in their own lore diving. this is just me documenting my own findings from the sources i’ve been using.

it would be disingenuous not to preface this with the ways in which cyberpunk 2077's telling of the arasaka assault differ from the version told in the TTRPG books. the books =/= the game. pondsmith acknowledges in the intro of RED that this is a bridge between the old cyberpunk world and the new world of cyberpunk 2077. 

we also know that johnny's an unreliable narrator and his memories presented to V are often different than real events. but on top of that we don't know if the reason why many elements are changed is simply CDPR editing/adjusting/condensing the storyline for their own canon, or if it's due to johnny's construct being manipulated by outside influences such as arasaka.

some of the main differences you need to know from cyberpunk RED canon:

in 2023 johnny doesn't bring the nukes to arasaka tower. he's solely there to free alt.

johnny and rogue and their team from the atlantis/the aldecaldos are actually hired by morgan blackhand. 

morgan blackhand is the one who plants the nuke, unbeknownst to many members of the team. 

morgan blackhand promptly disappears after this event and no one knows if he's alive or dead. (claire confirms this fact to jackie and v before the heist in 2077 canon)

johnny's silver cybernetic arm is its own character, separate from himself. it seems to have a mind of its own and johnny interacts with it and/or is influenced by it.

when he, spider murphy, rogue, thompson, shaitan, and a team of los lobos from the aldecaldos (who are there in place of santiago, as he’s busy as the leader of the aldecaldos at this point) are attacked by adam smasher, johnny and his arm actively choose to draw smasher's fire in a deliberately suicidal move. smasher downs him instantly, but the distraction is enough to also save his friends.

spider murphy shoves a mysterious chip in johnny's dying head as they escape that alt had downloaded to her a long time ago.

johnny's body is later "rumoured" to have been retrieved from the rubble by a full-body borg groupie that was a first responder to the ground zero of AHQ and then hidden away in a nearby garage.

here comes the political lore that makes my eyes cross, so hopefully this accurately summarizes it: the 4th corporate war begins to end. arasaka is ultimately blamed by the NUSA government to have nuked themselves in a political move to protect their secrets and promptly banished from the USA. arasaka denies this all the way back to japan, then eventually returns to “liberate” night city in the unification wars.

but what the public doesn't know is that kei, saburo's oldest son, had actually hidden an EVEN BIGGER MORE DEVASTATING NUKE at the bottom of the tower to, well, do exactly what they were being accused of doing, even though blackhand was the one who actually dropped the smaller nuke on them. and luckily the bigger one didn’t go off.

arasaka tries to find their nuke in the rubble so they don't get in even bigger trouble, only to discover that it was moved and hidden away to... surprise! a nearby garage.

to compare with 2077:

in RED: we have no johnny loading the nukes into the elevator. no johnny being carried off the premises. no meeting saburo. no johnny getting soulkilled.

in 2077: there's a parallel moment to RED's version of events right after johnny uploads "liberator" from alt's old cyberdeck with spider's help into the arasaka mainframe in saburo's office. adam smasher comes for him as he's trying to escape, knocking him off the second floor of the atrium into the rock garden below.

visually this is the same atrium we always meet alt in in cyberspace and also where V meets johnny for the first time. hmmm. meaningful, perhaps.

not unlike what happens in RED, johnny unloads a clip into smasher at that point, but from there the scene instantly cuts to him running to the roof attempting to board the AV with rogue, where smasher shoots him down again. it’s possible johnny actually died to smasher in the atrium and we have some fabricated memories going on. 

either way, in 2077, we lose the character beat of johnny dying for his friends, and the current-day general consensus from rogue and others is that he’s perpetually a selfish asshole with ulterior motives. 

and, just to wrap up the politics of it all: morgan blackhand is rumoured to have been secretly hired by the militech-backed NUSA government to help end the 4th corporate war by... you guessed it! nuking arasaka.

HERE'S WHERE JOHNNY'S BODY ENDS UP IN CYBERPUNK RED (SPARKNOTES VERSION):

RED ends with a story called "black dog" set in 2045. black dog is the last song johnny recorded right before the assault on arasaka tower, but the final copy is a bootleg copy of the song and only a fraction.

we're introduced to a fun group of cybernetic-enhanced characters that represent the classes in the TTRPG and based on/designed by real people in collaboration with CDPR.

this group includes trace santiago, santiago's son, who is a media that is curious about the mystery surrounding the circumstances around his father and the arasaka bombing. 

just connecting lore here: if you talk to saul at the aldecaldo camp in 2077, he confirms that santiago was killed for his involvement with johnny and the bombing, something that rogue and johnny reference when they talk about their now-dead crew from the afterlife, and in chippin in, santiago is a friend that johnny lists as someone he had disappointed.

the group sets off to find any info about black dog, and meet up with a full conversion chrome woman named samantha in a garage who is blatantly a johnny silverhand fangirl. trace discovers she has a history with johnny, having rescued him from a studio fire at some point in 2015 and speculates she could have been a groupie also.

she mysteriously has a more complete recording of black dog, though not perfect, and offers to trade it for a service: she wants the group to transport a large crate to a facility in new mexico, asking them not to open it.

shit goes down. evidently everyone in night city wants to kill them for this package once it starts moving. eventually they open it. it's the arasaka nuke that had been hidden and never went off, emblazoned with warnings.

trace inquires about the circumstances surrounding the arasaka assault with an older member of the lobos who had been present with rogue and johnny. the man mentions that it was weird, because morgan blackhand organized the whole thing and then ran off immediately with a mysterious bag that we now know contained the nuke. 

michiko arasaka intercepts the gang, explaining the situation around the bigger nuke, that other factions in arasaka want to utilize it for their own goals (presumably hanako and yorinobu) and her father's legacy, that she feels responsible for. she escorts them to new mexico so that the nuke can be dismantled once and for all.

they meet up with a woman named angel in new mexico that takes the crate from them, at a facility that specializes in nuclear material. she gives the group the full recording of "black dog". the group leaves successful.

this woman is also a johnny silverhand stan. once alone, she calls up samantha, who says, "i promised i would get him to you in the end" and reveals that she had already gutted/dismantled the original nuke and discarded the material into the bay.

angel opens the "nuke" to reveal a hidden cryochamber, and greets the face of the person inside with, "hello, my love."

i mean, holy shit. okay! so that’s DEFINITELY johnny’s body. cool!

now let’s go into all the references to this story in the actual game of cyberpunk 2077 that SUGGEST we are going to pursue this story AND johnny's body since it’s such a HOT FUCKING TOPIC. 

and i know many of the following can just be considered easter eggs. but my personal interpretation of this game is that it has a really delightful way of intentionally glossing over important story details—and not by ONLY putting them in shards (which people tend to dislike because lol reading) but by also hiding them in plain sight, constantly deferring to V's own ignorance, distracting us with shallower, shinier things, encouraging us to actually play as the fool hero of this story. 

so here's the fun list of ��””evidence”””:

this one’s a reach, but fun. in the initial arasaka assault flashback in 2023: we can interact with the groupies at kerry's show as johnny. samantha doesn't appear to be present, but the first person and groupie you can encounter in the flashback has a passing resemblance to angel in that she has a cybernetic arm.

in chippin' in, where we go to johnny's "grave" in the oil fields: if we are to take the 2077 retelling of events as truth, the story could instead be pretty easily be changed that samantha procured his body from there.

mike pondsmith, who wrote these stories and created the TTRPG can be heard on the radio narrating various conspiracy theories. and sure, these can just be easter eggs, intended to reference the differences between the TTRPG lore and the game, so take it with a grain of salt:

johnny. bro. tell him it was morgan blackhand

to top it all off, mike also directly references the actual WORSE nuke arasaka had hid in another arasaka conspiracy: 

SPOILERS FOR GAME ENDINGS AHEAD.

in the rogue ending of the game we discover rogue has a son. it's possible her son is trace (edit: nvm NOT LIKELY, since in RED’s black dog story rogue is listed separately from santiago’s mom in conversation) OR possibly one of the other characters. she tells her son to "pull over and look at the stars" or something along those lines. maybe just details, so that screams nomad to me.

rogue also has a photo of herself and johnny with mike pondsmith in her apartment/office in the afterlife. i initially read this as a delightful cameo but it also can mean mike the CHARACTER knew johnny and rogue, and rogue therefore has some kind of relationship to him and these conspiracies on the radio. and why the fuck not make him a full on character? we have a smattering of streamers and personalities already integrated into quests in the game. the creator of all this should be no exception. fuck it! 

rogue and johnny constantly dance around this accusation of her “selling out”. it’s repeated over and over that she and adam smasher worked for "the same people". i'm beginning to wonder if this wasn't meant to imply only arasaka since smasher mysteriously disappeared after the AHQ assault in 2023 and returned to SOMETIMES take jobs from arasaka... but possibly morgan blackhand and/or by extension, the NUSA or any other greater influences. (like nightcorp? we still don’t know where all this shit with nightcorp/the peralezes/sandra dorsett’s discovery about their research into mind control is gonna go) this also doesn’t account for the multiple factions inside arasaka with VERY different motives. 

morgan blackhand and adam smasher are rivals in the TTRPG, a role that appears to be at least partially filled by johnny instead in 2077. in relation to the arasaka factions, it’s worth nothing that smasher specifically works for yorinobu as his bodyguard at the beginning of the game, in part i assume because yorinobu is avoiding working with arasaka security details as he stole the relic and is plotting against his father. he is then promoted to head of security by yorinobu when yorinobu assumes power. 

in the ending as you work your way through arasaka tower with rogue and shaitan and johnny, rogue remarks:

michiko at this point in 2077 is the leader of the more “liberal” faction within arasaka, so it’s possible we’re seeing that while rogue and smasher work for the same people/family, they couldn’t be more different. 

you can also encounter rogue more than once on the phone fighting with wakako, who has apparently crossed her. wakako also seems to have her own ulterior motives and works mainly with the arasaka-backed tyger claws. she notably gives v/takemura the parade security info for “play it safe” without asking for anything in return, enabling hanako’s kidnapping. my theory is that yorinobu intentionally leaked the parade info to her to give away to put hanako in danger or at least continue to destabilize arasaka. 

in the takemura/devil ending of the game, there is a point where violence breaks out at the arasaka board room meeting when yorinobu-allied security open fire on them. one of the only people that survives along with hanako is michiko arasaka, who was at odds with hanako’s decisions, but  very involved in the preceding discussion.

and now for is my favorite detail! in the afterlife AT ALL POINTS IN THE GAME (but it can only really be inspected in the rogue ending when we are allowed behind the bar), we can find a photo of the squad that transported johnny's body from samantha to angel on the shelf below johnny's tequila, of them hanging out in front of the afterlife sign:  

this implies rogue has some relationship with them, and sentimentality, if we're to judge by the placement. she maybe even took the picture. i don't know, it's charming, it could be all easter eggs. who fucking knows.

either way, rogue and these kids both have in common that they worked with or at least interacted with michiko arasaka. 

and you know what my final evidence is? more wishful thinking! black dog plays on the radio in game. we got a full recorded version of it by refused. if not an oversight, i go ahead and take it to mean the final version was finally released to the public by those kids that were looking for it. 

i haven’t the slightest idea how this is gonna wrap up in future DLC. who has johnny’s body now in 2077, decades after it was dropped off in mexico? what is the truth?? where the fuck is morgan blackhand?? from the devil ending, we know that arasaka stole jackie’s body and put his soul into mikoshi, so the idea that they would just toss johnny’s corpse has always been laughable. the “where’s johnny?” promotional comic was even about thompson unsuccessfully trying to find johnny’s body. i know i am biased here but i cannot fathom all this talk about johnny’s body ending off with us NOT finding it, whether it’s just to bury it, shove johnny’s engram back in it, make out with it, or WHATEVER.

if you made it through this slog, congrats. thanks for reading! 

[river-bottom-nightmare]

bruce wayne week day 2: gala rated T, no archive warnings apply, tagged: past bruce wayne/harvey dent, implied/referenced violence, brief suicide mention

how was it, bruce thought to himself, that he could withstand torture both physcial and mental without any lasting damage, but the one thing that had him trembling and ready to crawl out of his own skin was an itchy suit?

he’d grown out of them, was the thing. when he was young, alfred had ensured that he’d always dressed properly for any occasion, be that a wedding or charity event or board meeting. before that, his parents—well. they had made sure bruce was presentable enough for their friends to pinch bruce's cheeks instead of awkwardly patting his shoulder.

but now, newly returned to gotham with a thousand new scars and a hardened grip, bruce realized he had lost his tolerance for finely pressed and ironed fabric. none of his old suits had come remotely close to fitting him, and alfred had manhandled him in front of a mirror to take measurements, sending them off to his favourite tailor. bruce thought he'd cried out all the tears his body had left to give the day he came home, hugging alfred's frail body far too tight, but his eyes still managed to get all hot and uncomfortable when alfred's fingers hesitantly mapped the broad expanse of his shoulders, trying so hard to ignore the slashes, the stabs, the burn marks, the brands.

his shoes were too loose, the pointed style apparently a new trend in the gotham elite. bruce and alfred had worked on a pair of dress shoes together, ones that wouldn't fall off the minute bruce moved at anything more intense than a brisk walk, but bruce still longed for the comfort of his thick-soled boots.

those same shoes were tapping on the ground, making far too much noise, but bruce forced himself to take a breath and let the flower-scented artificial spray calm him down. logically, it made no sense at all, but bruce had always placed gotham on pause in his mind. he'd expected to come back older and harder and fiercer to find gotham exactly the same, waiting patiently just for him.

instead, bella revero had cut her hair and dyed it blonde, and was wearing a long, flowing, glittering pantsuit instead of a long, flowing, glittering gown. tom thompson's hair was a healthy salt and pepper when bruce left, but now the man was two tufts away from being completely bald. thicky-applied makeup somehow accentuated wrinkles instead of hiding them, no manner of well-cut suits could hide a growing potbelly, none of the waiters that had given bruce snacks and orange juice were working anymore, and most everyone bruce remembered being roughly his age had moved far, far away from this wretched hole of a city.

there were times when bruce slapped himself upside the head for the absolutely moronic decision to come back to gotham and announce ta-daaa! not dead! he should have just been batman and let bruce wayne's useless name and dishonored legacy be swallowed up by gotham.

footsteps behind him. bruce had tuned out most of his training, knowing that it would only hinder him as brucie wayne, only make him look suspicious. but he'd kept a basic background awareness, unable to turn that off, and these thuds were heading right for him. bruce tensed, his false smile probably turning brittle, two seconds away from whirling around and grabbing his attacker's arm so hard, the bone would shatter.

a heavy hand slammed down onto his shoulder, but right before bruce made a move, a voice spoke right next to his ear, smooth and low and capable of making his entire body relax without any input from him whatsoever.

"what the actual hell are you doing here, you motherfucker?"

"harvey," bruce sighed, turning around to give the man a relieved smile. "thank god. i thought i'd have to go through this all by myself. you didn't tell me you were coming?"

harvey's mouth pulled into a painful grin, one that didn't look the least bit friendly, and there was a bulging vein on his temple, a nervous tick that bruce knew he didn't have before.

"you alright there, harv? you're looking a little—," bruce gestured vaguely to harvey's face, "—red."

harvey's grip on bruce's shoulder tightened, fingers digging into muscle and sending painful twinges up bruce's shoulder, and bruce tried not to show his surprise. he was two seconds from shoving off harvey's hand himself, but just decided to grit and bear it. harvey wouldn't ever hurt him.

"you have been gone," harvey said, enunciating every word, "for years. i didn't know where you were. i didn't know if you were ever coming back. then i hear that you're home from a goddamn newspaper, and you just showed up to this party without telling anyone."

"i was on the guest list," bruce pointed out, automatically putting up a simplified version of his brucie wayne facade. he widened his eyes, putting a little cluelessness into the fluttering of his eyelashes, just enough to keep his cover in case anyone was recording him, just enough so harvey believes him.

"what the fuck are you doing with your eyes," harvey said flatly.

so apparently harvey knew him better than he thought.

"look, harv, i was gonna call you, i really was—"

"i thought you were dead," harvey hissed, and his best friends eyes have more lines on them than bruce remembered and he doesn't have to tip his head up just to see harvey laugh anymore and there's too much broken love in harvey's voice for them to be standing in between a gilded trash can and a spiked bowl of punch.

"harvey,,," bruce started, not knowing exactly where to go from there. he'd taught himself to prepare for any possible attack, any possible conspiracy or unmasking or targeted hit, but he'd completely forgot about his own friend. he'd forgotten he had a friend.

luckily or unluckily, harvey interrupted him before he had the chance to fumble his words. "i thought you were dead, i thought my best friend had finally fucking followed through with what i tried so hard for years to stop."

it hit bruce like a punch to the gut. he wasn't aware harvey had ever been trying.

"and now,,, what? you're just fine? you're dressed like a poser and your hair's all neat and trimmed and you're smiling at people like the only thing you care about is getting into their pants. plus, that's the fourth glass you've had tonight."

"we're already an hour in," bruce replied automatically.

"we're only an hour in," harvey said.

there was a pause. not an uncomfortable one, because it had been years since him and harvey were ever uncomfortable with each other. it was like harvey couldn't decide whether or not to reach out and strangle bruce for worrying him or break down for hurting him or hug him for coming back home.

bruce couldn't tell him. harvey worked too closely with commissioner gordon; daring bruce to steal mary jane from the principal's stash and shotgunning it out of his mouth was leagues away from keeping the secret that bruce was a dangerous, trained vigilante from everyone he knew.

"it's okay, harvey," bruce said, his voice completely sincere for the first time this night. "i found other ways to cope."

"i don't like those other ways," harvey sneered, eyes the glass in bruce's hand.

"other ways," bruce said. "you don't have to worry. i'm fine."

the photographer for the gotham gazette had snapped a picture of him entering, and no one would notice if he left now. bruce wayne couldn't be beating up pedophiles in the narrows if bruce wayne was getting drunk at a high-class gala. he'd planned to leave three hours in, a respectable amount of time, but meeting harvey had thrown him off balance.

he brushed past harvey, heading towards the butler's exit in the back of the ballroom. "enjoy the party!" he called behind him as he left, eyes wide again, clueless and fluttering and oh-so blind to the devastated way harvey watched him leave.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @catxsnow @pricetagofficial @bikoncon @maplumebleue-blog-blog @sundownridge @thatsthewhump @xatanna-troy @red-hood-redemption @capricorn-stark @batshit-birds @comics-observer @buticaaba @brucewayneweek

[unseelie-grimalkin]

OK I do not mean to interrupt your amazing Flannán posting but one of your tags mentioned orphaned Keagan and I am SNATCHED?! Would you mind elaborating 👀 (P.S. thank you for the Flan content, you are doing the Dagda's work 🙏)

Thank you! Flannán mac Lugh lives in my head, paying rent with serotonin, so there will be more Flan-posting (also I sincerely love the Dagda and have before I got into this game. The Dagda is gender goals)

So like. Here is the short, light version of what I call the Keagan Conspiracy Board (I have conspiracy boards for all the ROs in my head, Flannán is simply the one I have actually written and able to share)

To me, Keagan is an orphaned street kid. His biological parents are a non-factor in his life: they caused him to happen and then, for whatever reason you wish to supply, they’re not there. He lived his childhood on the streets, relying on himself and connections made with other street rats. This is a lot of where his charisma and his quick wit is born, to me, because he shows this specific kind of intelligence that you get when you’re worrying about survival day to day. He’s good at reading specific details and gutting people for them, because to most people those details are just normal every day life, but to him, he’s had those details be life and death. This is why he’s particularly sensitive and observant of staff members and treating them well: he had an urchin’s eye view to see them from the bottom up and he can use that well now that he is working from the top down.

Also if he was noble-born, Aífe would have known they grew up in the same area, because her life being groomed as the princess’s handmaiden would have required her to know every single eligible bachelor/bachelorette of the nobility. That’s like. Nobility Fluff 101, to me. And she didn’t know him until he quite literally snuck up on her during Events of Their Past. Keagan would also flex his noble heritage if he had any, because he is a smug cat-peacock griffon. He is what I like to call Pragmatic Smug (which sounds like an alignment, I know): he can and will brag if it serves a purpose (even if that purpose doesn’t seem obvious to you, he knows the purpose and that’s enough for him). The perfect opportunity to do so presented itself with the Seelie courtiers at the end of his chapter in the demo, but he doesn’t make that flex, instead defaulting to their mutual relationship with Aífe in a professional sense and vaguely (but cheerfully) implying they might be trying to kill her and He Knows Things About That. He knows the dirty secrets, he is a happy pig rolling through the mud of secrets (as much as he would DESPISE my use of that metaphor).

The way he flexes wealth at the MC in the demo (and it is at MC, not Daonna, like. I think it would be folly to believe Keagan’s front that he thinks MC is Daonna. He knows MC isn’t Daonna. He alludes to such in the tailor shop if you get sassy with him [the exact line eludes me, but the spirit of it being “you seem to have grown a sense of humor during your expedition, Daonna”]). So he sees MC, a starving peasant who looks exactly like Daonna and he’s intellectually attached to this combination sad meow meow and puzzle box because like. How does Daonna have someone who looks exactly like them? Local Keagans, addicted to secrets and the understanding thereof, are dying to know. So, I think he uses what he remembers of his history as a street kid to play to MC’s potential weaknesses: unlike Flannán, he doesn’t openly acknowledge MC starving and remark on what that must mean (and he must know what that means), but he does something nice for them: he gets them new clothes. He specifically gets MC beautiful clothes (ones he must know are beyond MC’s budget just from the rags MC wears coming in, even if MC picks the simple tunic and trousers) because I think he knows from a deeply personal place how much clothes help someone in poverty. He wants MC to turn to him and trust him, I think largely because he’s intellectually invested in the mystery of it all, and he can’t solve the mystery of MC doesn’t return to him and open up. He’s presenting himself as someone who subtly understands poverty to be their generous benefactor, if for nothing else than to have answers. Because like. This is his ONLY lead on Daonna now. This weird Daonna-look-alike. He’s gonna figure this the fuck out, by all that’s above and below, because this is what he does.

And he got good at it by growing up on the streets. Because you get really good at reading people when you have to rely on people acting a certain way so you can pickpocket them for a meal that day.

[isolationstreet]

2, 13, and 32 for the TTRPG Questions

this is going to get extremely long since i love going on tangents about arnoud so im going to leave it under the cut

2. Does your OC have a theme?

other than the superficial he's a extremely goth dhampir spy who talks to ghosts? absolutely there's several different big themes/ motifs going on both with Arnoud and the campaign in general

the main over arching theme being legacy which is why our dm titled it the legacy campaign everyone of the characters both in the party and npcs a like have fairly big connections and ideas surrounding legacies and Arnoud is far from an exception so i'll break it down into smaller themes

There's the legacy of disease. he's chronically ill and physically quite weak due to inheriting the illness that killed his mother when he was a kid. He later also inherited the disease of vampirism from his sire Cecily who's kinda his new mother, but also his lover, and also his most hated enemy, and his strongest ally. Their dynamic is extremely fucked up and unhealthy tbh.

then there's the legacy of death. his parents worshiped the god of decay Cadavris and owned and operated a funeral parlor right next to a cemetery. He also worships Cadavris.

When he was in his early 20s his mother was raised as a skeleton which really set him on the path to hating necromancy and undeath. Which lead to him trying to fight the cabal and the nest both of which are organizations ran by the BBEG Vael von Karza who is an epic level 4000 year old vampire lord necromancer demigod. Cecily, his sire is a high ranking member of the nest who forced him into undeath.

Before he learned to control his thirst for blood he accidently killed and ate his dad. Driven by guilt he sought out an apprenticeship as a mortician to serve the multi purpose of honoring his parent's primary profession, honoring his god, and also he has easy access to fresh enough blood that he doesn't need to hurt living people.

since he's spent so much of his life focused on the dead have started and due to a combination of him being a phantom rogue and having the gathering whispers dark gift the ghosts of two other dhampir who were also spies sired by cecily and were killed around 6 months ago and ended up attached to him.

the last big theme is the legacy of the mind, secrets, and memory.

there's another running motif both with through out the campaign of mind/body/and soul. our druidlock is the soul , connects to the soul, our paladin is the body, and arnoud is the mind.

He basically lives in his own head. Before he became a mortician and cecily's personal pet spy he was a private investigator and he puts those skills to use as the party's primary sleuth. He developed an ability after meeting the party where can unlock and manifest certain memory echoes of secret plot relevant past events. Which i do have a theory on why he can do that but i haven't thought of way to prove it in game yet.

There was also a conversation that arnoud had with cecily last session where she talked about how she understands the importance of the legacy of secrets. It's something she learned from her family and she imparted onto him. Arnoud is someone with a lot of secrets and he quite regularly withholds a ton of information from both cecily and the party.

Honestly i have a mini conspiracy board in my head dedicated to connections between arnoud, cecily, adamarus bloodrune. who the demigod of shadows, and taun saun lau who is the god of secrets and memory.

and when it comes to memory besides the echoes. ive been laying the groundwork for a while to eventually multiclass him into grave cleric and honestly tending to monuments of the dead is such a perfect way to protect and honor memory.

13. What is their alignment? What would THEY say their alignment is? Does it matter to them?

that's a good but difficult question he's certainly chaotic the #1 way to piss him off that isn't necromancy is trying to tell him what to do. Between his childhood with his well meaning but over protective father, to growing up in an extremely corrupt political system that is behind the scenes being run by the BBEG, to the his current life that is dominated by his abusive sire, arnoud and authority figures do not mix in the slightest.

on his sheet i currently have it listed 'chaotic good?????' the question marks being the big qualifier. He exists kinda on the border of good and neutral. He certainly has good intentions and wants to do good and has never intentionally hurt anyone. However he's also impulsive and stubborn, and regularly fails to either consider or care about the smaller scale repercussions of how his actions impact individuals rather than his big picture ideas.

one time he intentionally let an evil witch escape her prison with a bunch of kids she was mind controlling without confronting them because he didn't want to waste the energy dealing with them while he was attempting to acquire the evil artifact that literally killed the god of murder.

another example is last session while talking to cecily she asked him whether or not her two missing agents, aka his new ghost friends were still alive. he'd already said a few things that made her unhappy already in that conversation, she's been questioning his loyalty to her for a while, and he's always been honest with her, so of course he told her the truth they were killed by the artifact they were sent to fetch 6 months ago. cecily being cecily of course said something along the lines of 'how tragic i'll make sure their parents never have to mourn their loss' fully implying shes going to murder their parents and then finished up with 'people who reveal the secrets of others can not be trusted' both for how i my ghost friends are dead and also the inital reasons she was pissed because i the party fucked up and accidently revealed to the bbeg that we had the evil artifact, and also because i told her some of the bbeg's plans to further drive a wedge between her and the bbeg. But she probably would have been just as pissed off if tried to lie to her just now i got extra innocent people killed in a meager attempt to save face.

tldr he wants to be good and tries to be good but is to much of a guilt ridden fuck up to be firmly in the good category i like to give him leeway by saying he's good because he has pure intentions but also has made mistakes and certainly would never consider himself to be good.

32. If they suddenly lost their class and had to pick a new one, what would they choose? What would YOU choose for them

it would be a copout to say grave cleric because even though hes pure phantom rogue right now i fully intend to multiclass into it later. if that was off the table he would probably pick spirit bard since hes already a bit of a ghost magnet and cares about the dead but even though we already have a warlock in the party i would probably still pick pact of the undead warlock with cecily as his patron since shes basically his patron anyway but instead of giving him eldritch blast she give currently only gives him a thrist for blood and massive amounts of trauma.

[juniaships]

Odelloyd (Yodel shipping)

Since @minecraftninjerkid expressed interest I wrote a particularly long post about Odette and Lloyd Garmadon's relationship. It's basically set in my AU of the while Ninjago canon. It's pretty angsty in some parts, and honestly I love this couple because it's a story of two individuals who learn to trust and like TALK with each other and work out their issues together! Plus I feel like if Lloyd needed another love interest within canon it should be someone who can match his energy, a strong young lady who works side by side with him!

Harumi is still the princess but now she has a LADY IN WAITING!! YAYAY

Mostly because she needed a morality pet in some way but also a foil to show if Harumi hadn't been so consumed by personal demons

Odette was a homeless orphan living on the streets with her sister; often stealing from food carts to feed themselves

One night Odette made the mistake of stealing from one of the SOG and they catch her and bring her to their base

Instead of being mad Harumi was impressed by her thieving skills and decided to recruit her. Odette didn't want to at first but then she had second thoughts thinking the extra money could help her and baby sis

So Harumi brings her back and manages to convince the Emperor and Empress to hire Odette as a lady in waiting & decoy if Harumi needed to sneak out to do her business Odette is So instead of it being Harumi it's Odette who stays and befriends the ninja

Odette had NO IDEA her friend plotted to blow up the palace - with her still inside - not great thinking there o' Quiet One

She also had no idea how AWESOME Lloyd is on a motorcycle: "Sweet moves grasshopper!"

They stop at several places gathering clues on the location on the final mask leaving a lot of time for Lloyd and odette to bond; for the first time in forever Odette starts to enjoy life again

The Ninja take Odette in and decide to search for the final mask. Odette does what she can to help out (and find info) getting close to them and my OCs

Lloyd even buys her a gift: a lotus shaped hairpin to replace the one she lost in the palace fight

The jungle incident happens; Lloyd and Odette separates for a while and she comes across the real princess who had stalked the group the whole time undercover

But she's afraid that her big secret might come out everywhere she goes she's often looking over her shoulder

Odette starts to really enjoy the Ninja's company and all her perceived notions about them fade; but she still had to find Harumi to try to talk her out of her plot

Odette meets up with Lloyd inside the caves and they look for the final mask. Finally they see it and Lloyd grabs it, happy that they found the masks before the gang did but notices Odette isn't feeling the same

She's tells Harumi that they're all making a HUGE mistake with the Masks; Harumi of course refuses and orders her to stick to the plan or else

He asks her what's wrong and that's when Odette becomes hysterical and begs Lloyd to destroy the mask or run

Lloyd doesn't know whay she's talking about and tries to calm her down suddenly they hear some sarcastic clapping and in steps in Harumi. Dressed in full Royal Garb

Lloyd is confused and doesn't understand looking back and forth between the newly revealed Princess and the one next to him

Harumi reveals that she is - was - the real princess and that Odette was acting as her decoy to spy on the ninja. She hadn't count on Lloyd catching feelings for Odette which made it all the more sweeter

Odette pleas with Lloyd claiming that while she was ordered to spy, her feelings for him and his friends were genuine. Lloyd coldly brushes he brushes her off and calls her a liar and demands Harumi why she planned all this. The Princess explains that the Ninja failed to save her family from the Great Devourer & that it was Lloyd himself who unleashed such monster on the city killing her parents and several civilians

Harumi also revealed that she had the Emperor and Empress assassinated as punishment for their inaction during that event, and subsequent failure in treating her like a person. "They didn't want a daughter they wanted a Princess."

Harumi takes out her knife and begins attacking Lloyd; Odette watches helplessly as they fight and in the ensuing chaos Harumi knicks Lloyd and orders Odette to return to their group

The Ninja wait by the docks and discovers Odette and the real princess together. They're shocked to see two Princesses; the real Harumi admits her plan knowing they wouldn't last for long to do anything to stop her. An Angry Kai yells at Odette for selling them out

Then the monster attack happens because it is drawn to the mask's essence; Lloyd saves Odette from being crushed, she tries to use the brief chance to explain but he still brush her off

The SOG board their ship and leaves; Odette wallows in guilt Harumi snarky asks her if she really thinks the Ninja are her friends. Odette shakes her head no and looks out the window praying for them to be alright

Back at the city the SOG takes Misako (and Cole's gf Rhenée) hostage to draw Lloyd out. Odette is no longer in her casual clothes but in SOG attire; at the ritual she pretends to be clumsy hoping to stall the ritual long enough

Rhenée asks Odette if she's willing to risk her soul for the terrible actions of other, hoping that Odette can make the right choice. This makes her think about her placement in the SOG

Suddenly the ninja crashes the party just in time and battles the gang. Odette frees Rhenee and Misako and allows herself to be apprehended

Outside she's sitting in the police van when Lloyd walks by and she begs him to hear her out. He wants to listen but is furious with her for betraying them and cuts her off

The ninja head to a bar to celebrate their victory; Lloyd has an honest talk with his mother about Harumi and vows to never trust again. Rhenée says that while Odette lied to them she notices that she's very different from the rest of the SOG

At the jailhouse Odette is sobbing at having lost everything - her friends, her life, and maybe even her sister. She takes out the lotus pin and is about to throw it way when she hears some commotion outside. Apparently the ritual brought back a monster. Fearing for her sister's safety she uses the pin to unlock her cell and sneaks out

Lloyd is too occupied with protecting Baby Wu to fight off Harumi; before she knocks him off Odette arrives & saves him and the baby

In the chaos the Monster arrives and tries to crush them all, Odette gives Lloyd enough time to escape but she falls to her supposed death in the process

Once the battle is over the four original ninjas are nowhere to be seen and are presumed dead

They find out Odette disappeared also, and believe her to he dead too

Harumi and her gang express joy at their enemies demise; and the gang no longer recognize Odette as their own seeing her as a traitor. Deep down Harumi feels a tiny bit pain over the loss of her only real friend but quickly sets that aside to prepare one last scheme

Lloyd grieves Odette's loss regretting they never had the chance to really TALK about what happened between them.

Unknown to everyone, the ninja and Odette were transported to the First Realm

Seasons 9&10 ramps up the angst

Cole is the first one who demands to hear her explanation. Odette explains her backstory and says whole none of it justifies her lies she has now become aware of her actions and is willing to help the ninja FOR REAL FOR REAL

The ninja do NOT want Odette anywhere near them after her betrayal and for a while shuns her.

Zane is the second one; his relationship with former merc Jetta he understands a bit what it's like to choose bad things for survive

Jay and Kai takes the longest: Jay because he's paranoid that Odette may just be evil and insane as Harumi; Kai because he is very protective of Lloyd (who he sees as a younger brother, and even had begun to saw Odette as another sister) and furious that she'd hurt him and their whole team like that

This leads to a series of trials for Odette to prove that she's willing to atone; she actually finds the last dragon's nest and vows to protect it

Meanwhile in Ninjago the city started an underground resistance led by Lloyd and Nya; Lloyd took in Odette's sister to take care of her now that she is gone

Odette and the Ninja finds a way out of the first realm and arrives with their new dragons. Odette splits off to confront Harumi and sees her on top of a building...which is about to fall much to her horror

Lloyd witnesses the scene and shouts Odette's name; the building collapses and he sinks to his knees in fear

Everyone watches with baited breath and cheers as they see both girls and the dragon coming out of the smoke alive

Lloyd and Odette apologize to each other then go off with their friends to fight off the Oni invasion

Once everything is over & Harumi decides to turn a new leaf and surrenders, everyone gathers at the monastery to celebrate. Wu invites Odette and her sister a permanent home with them

After s10 they don't get back together that quickly. Lloyd still has trust issues as in canon and Odette feels like shit believing herself to tbe the cause. Lloyd says it's not her fault, he's simply fed up with random villains coming at him for the crime of being the Chosen One.™

Odette isn't exactly let off easy by the public; there's multiple conspiracies about her and stuff and some aren't exatly forgiving her for working with a group that killed the royal family and destroyed the city. In order to redeem herself in the eyes of the public Odette starts training to become a real Ninja, doing little side missions to help people even something as simple as helping little old ladies use an escalator. Lloyd supports her every step of the way, using his popularity "and natural charisma" to dispel any rumors about her.

[seeds-and-sins]

F**kin' Diabolical (Chapter One)

Master List

Pairing: Homelander / Original Female Character, Billy Butcher / Original Female Character

Rating: M (Strong language, sexual themes)

Decription: Carly Danvers is a reporter/radio show host/annoying little piece of- For reasons unknown to Vought, she decided to start a one man investigation on Vought's operation. Her efforts had been quite successful so far, so much so that Stillwell would have done anything to see the young girl dead. Turns out Stillwell didn't have to do anything at all, while one piece of evidence against Vought causes Danvers to fly too close to the sun. And Homelander flies after her.

Notes: Carly Danvers is basically a play on Kara Danvers, A.K.A. Supergirl. Except my own take on it.

The hard part wasn't getting in, any idiot would know that, the hard part was getting out. For as fortified as the building was, she didn't really need much to bypass the security. They were used to pretty girls strutting themselves into the building, either for the Deep, or for an expo. Which these reasons often explained such an occurrence, and in this case, an expo was scheduled for the next three hours, a gala afterwards, pretty girls were in high demand for these events.

Her taking a walk through the main lobby of the building didn't go unnoticed, but it was long ignored after she 'accidentally' stumbled into the nearest security guard, mumbling something about the bathroom. With her head down she entered a small crowd of businessmen and women, making their way into the elevator. She would soon get off on a different floor, nobody would ask questions as they moved higher up the building's ladder. Corporate on top, Heroes on top, lobby on the bottom, events and offices all in between; marketing, studios, etc.

Of course, she was the last to exit. Stillwell's office was on the top floor, along with the board room, the helipad and the apartment style living quarters for the Seven. Carly wasn't by any means nervous, she had infiltrated Vought before and her failures didn't deter her from doing so. Her one drive, that Vought was a bunch of liars, that the Seven were as corrupt as anybody could be. She despised that they were lauded, hated that they got away with crimes normal individuals would otherwise not get away with. Supes had issues. She, as a reporter, wanted everyone to know. For years she had been slithering her way around Vought, capturing evidence, posting it online, getting eye witness testimonies, publishing it. She had grown a small base around the facts, that Vought wasn't all that great, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough. Her biggest accomplishment was just around the corner, a surprise interview with Madelyn Stillwell herself, a chance to finally get the answers she wanted.

She snuck her way out of the elevator as proud of herself as ever for making it this far, usually she was ransacked on her way through the double doors of the tower. She smugly made her way down the hall, taking glances at the obnoxious photo shots of the Seven hung up on the wall. She was so close too, if only she had been more vigilant. Even being vigilant though wouldn't have aided her mission.

Within seconds she was being slammed harshly up against the wall, a hand at her throat was all it really took. She kept herself calm, and unafraid, knowing that if she moved wrong the man before her could crack her neck with his pinky alone. His grin pierced her soul, and she soon returned it with her own grin, which only suited to make the Homelander more intrigued. His hands fell flat against the wall, on either side of her, barring her in with those thick sheets of muscle and superhuman power.

"Oh Carly, Carly," He taunted, one of his fingers brushing away the blonde strands that fell out before her face. She peered confidently into his steely gaze with her own brilliantly blue eyes. "Don't we have a restraining order on you?"

"Actually..." She piped in, with a tone as condescending as his own. She reached down into her jean pocket and retrieved a security card, from the guard she bumped into earlier. "I am not Carly today."

"Oh, of course," He chuckled, reaching down and inspecting the photo on the id. "Indeed, so you are Gary, is that correct?" He returned his hands to either side of her head, grinning at her, hoping to make her all the more inferior. But Carly's blood pressure never even so much as peaked and her heart rate was always the same as it had been before his presence was known. He never understood how she, compared to so many, remained so kempt under his sterling supervision. "A middle aged white man, that weighs over three hundred pounds?" She nodded her head, giggled a bit and he licked his lips.

"Exactly." Homelander rolled his eyes, haphazardly tossing the card over his shoulder.

"Seriously though, you shouldn't be here, its against the rules." His expression dropped into a stoic glare, but his eyes continued to intensely run up and down her body, almost hungry, hungry for something he could never have.

"When have you ever known me as someone who follows the rules?"

"That's a fair point." He nodded his head, "but seriously," He deadpanned. "I could kill you right now for trespassing, couldn't I? And it would be reasonable as you were the one breaking the law, wouldn't it?" She didn't react, which at times annoyed him, but he wouldn't give her the benefit of knowing that. He much rather preferred the playful banter to be honest, it made things so much more interesting for him.

"You aren't going to kill me, Homelander. It would look bad on Vought's part, wouldn't you agree?" She leaned in closer to his body, knowing she was playing with fire, hands pressing against the somewhat unrealistic pectoral muscles of his suit. "One of Vought's greatest enemies on the opposition, disappears after finding themselves in Vought's tower." Homelander glanced back and forth, up and down the hallway, as if he himself wouldn't hear the footsteps of an oncoming bystander from a mile away. "Oh, Homelander, does your dick cup need adjusting, or are you just happy to see me?"

"That's enough, citizen." He snarled between clenched teeth, shoving her back against the wall and she sighed her irritation with the whole situstion. She got so close to getting that interview, only a few steps away.

For a moment, she wondered why he was always so gentle with her. Obviously he was never slamming her up against the wall, or pushing her around at his fullest capacity, she was grateful for that. At the same time, it did hurt, he had left bruises on her arm before, he had nearly broken her wrist once. None of this was anything new, she had been between Homelander and a wall many times before. It seemed to be his favorite way of addressing her, but she could never tell. Homelander's intimidation tactics had stopped working months ago, so Stillwell had resorted to just discrediting Carly, ignoring her, but Carly was still determined.

"Urgh, I just wanted an interview with Stillwell."

"How did you even get in the building, huh?" He gave her some space, surprisingly, taking a step back and interlocking his hands behind his back. She crossed her arms and leaned on her hips, staring him down.

"How else do people enter this building? I walked in."

"Hmm, those fucking idiots." Homelander mumbled under his breath, making his way back towards the elevator. He expected her to follow close behind and she did. If she didn't it would be pointless, he would catch her and most likely carry her to the elevator as if she were a piece of paper.

"To be fair, they did suspect me at first but I'm just so pretty, ya'know?" He snorted at her remark and stopped at the elevator door, pressing the button and then tilting his head down over at her tiny self.

"Next time, it won't be so easy." The elevator dinged and the doors opened, Homelander smiled at her.

"I still will find a way, Homelander." She backpeddled into the elevator and he winked at her.

"I'm sure you will, Ms. Danvers, you always do."

"And you waiting for me on the other side, always makes it better, doesn't it?" He ignored that question as the doors closed shut, his smile falling into a grimace.

"Its not like that." He explained, turning to face an authoritative Ms.Stillwell, who had been patiently waiting for him to finish his conversation with Carly.

"Sure its not, no matter how many times I ask you to get rid of her, you let her go every goddamned time." Stillwell stomped past him, her perfume wafting into his super senses and he sighed.

"Fuck." The human had made him soft, that was a fact, and Stillwell knew it as well as he did.

"Hello! My lovely diabolical hero haters, my name is Carly Danvers and we are here for my favorite segment on the show, 'Not so Super Superheroes'." An applaud from a fake audience, a foghorn blasted out loud and she exploded with laughter. She adjusted the mic towards her, along the headseat on her head. "So anyways, I have this guy that's been trying to get on my radio show for legit months now. I was advised not to allow it, but he brings some interesting superhero fallacies to the table. Without further a due, I introduce Doctor Miles Porter. Miles, how are you doing today?"

"I'm doing good, Carly. Fantastic actually."

"That's good to hear, so are you an actual doctor, or what?"

"Yes, actually, I have a PhD in Chemistry."

"Wow, very interesting, and you are a hero hater just like us?"

"Actually no, but I had a recent falling out with my job under Vought so I decided nows a good time as any to become one."

"Oh, alrighty then, this is perfect timing by the way. I heard you know a little about this conspiracy with the blue dope, would you like to elaborate?"

"Well, its not 'blue dope', its a compound..."

"JESSICA! Get your ass in here, right now." Stillwell shouted, hands clenched into fists at her sides as the one named Miles Porter further explained the elements of Compound V over a Live radio station.

"Uh sure, doc, but with all due respect I don't believe in that mumbo jumbo. Do you Allen?"

Stillwell exhaled a breath of relief for a moment, taking the file on Miles Porter from Jessica's trembling hands.

"Nope, not one bit, Carly." Allen was Carly's partner in crime so to speak, they had been friends since childhood.

"I mean, there are notable studies on evolution that completely debunk the blue dope conspriacy."

"Those studies are falsified by Vought, they just want us to think that heroes are natural so they can continue to profit off of them. Do you really think that you are just gonna spout powers out right now?"

"No, that's a bunch of bs, doc, and you know it. Evolution doesn't work like that. I'm just saying, a few generations from now all of us might have super powers. Who knows?"

"You're supposed to be a hero hater!" The doctor exclaimed.

"Now you listen, and you listen well. I never said I hate heroes because they were birthed from some stupid conspiracy juice. I said I hate them because of the shit they do, they don't apply themselves to the law. We don't need heroes like that."

"Well, at least she isn't feeding into the Compound V, scandal." A voice sounded out from behind Stillwell, she physically flinched and then turned to face Homelander. She flattened her pencil skirt as she did so, then waltzed over to her desk, the radio still playing in the background.

"Her following is quite strong, not enough but strong, and just the fact that its being talked about is despicable."

"Homelander is cool though." Carly said, Stillwell rolled her eyes and Homelander grinned.

"Yeah, I knew she'd say something along those lines." Homelander chuckled, Carly was an amusing blood bag that's for sure. He knew one day he'd probably have to kill her, but for now he will let her live. Stillwell can't control every aspect of Homelander's decisions.

"Oh hell yeah, Homelander is cool." Allen agreed, Stillwell nodded to Jessica, who was standing idly off to the side, to turn the radio off.

"Let's ask some of our listeners what they think, we've got father of two, Joe here. Hey Joe, what do you think about the blue-"

"And that's a wrap for us today on, The Not So Super Superheroes segment, thanks to everyone for tuning in. Don't forget to say sassy and hate heroes." Carly harshly threw her headseat off her head as soon as the 'On Air' light flashed off.

"Geez, man, you got so angry." She snapped at Doctor Miles, sitting comfortably in the seat across from her.

"Look, I thought this show would have been a good platform to release such information."

"I'm a girl about facts, ask Allen." Allen scratched his matted beard and nodded his head, "You embarrassed me, doc, and I don't take that lightly." She stood up, grabbing her papers and then moved to leave the room. Allen followed, only for them both to be stopped at the door.

"Wait!" The Doctor scrambled to his feet with a sigh, "I will show you! I can show you!" No one could hear them on the other side, the room was fairly sound proof when nobody was on air. The other employees tidied up, went over takes and funny sounds to use in tomorrow's segment on the Deep and his fish friends.

"I thought you were fired." Allen's dull voice reminded, the Doctor nodded his head.

"I was, but I am sure they haven't changed my card access, yet. I can take you to one of their labs-"

"No, thanks dude, you're crazy," Allen answered, turning into Carly, who was still standing solid at the door. He narrowed his eyes at Carly's face, thoughtful, curious. "No, Carly."

"It wouldn't hurt, Allen. Besides, whether he's telling the truth or not, getting into one of Voughts labs, what a story that is."

"Yes, exactly," The doctor snorted nervously, "I can show you everything you want to see."

[todaydreambelieversfic]

Author Spotlight : Syntheticpoetry Day 2

Author @syntheticpoetry​ 

Share one of your strengths.

I like to think I'm pretty decent at writing dialogue.  It's definitely one of my favourite aspects of writing.  There are times I honestly just consider writing in the format of a screenplay sometimes because I find myself so focused on the proper dialogue of a scene.

Share one of your weaknesses.

Pacing.  I am honestly so disorganized sometimes and usually tend to write as I go with a very vague outline to follow along with. 

Which fic has been the hardest to write?

I have a lot of WIPs from a few years ago when I fell out of the fandom for awhile.  The one I am most determined to finish is the one that brought me back into the Glee fandom now— And the World Spins Madly On.  It's taken a lot for me not to just rush the storyline towards the happy ending I want and take a realistic approach towards it.

Which fic has been the easiest to write?

The pocketwatch AU I am working on with roxymusicandlayers has been the easiest one because we have each other to bounce ideas off of as opposed to me just banging my head against a desk.  So that has definitely been one of the easiest ones to actually outline so I can write it out because it's helped me to just start by writing out these random scenes for us to piece together.

Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

I would definitely say my passion.  I think I will always feel the need to write.  I would love to publish something one day.

Is there an episode or character or arc above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

While I am a huge Klaine fan, I definitely hyperfocus on Blaine a bit more.  The first Klaine break-up arc and the brief mention of Blaine's assault at the Sadie Hawkins dance have honestly been the biggest motivators behind a lot of my fics thus far.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Try not to go back to edit as you write.  I try to remind myself not to worry about what the first draft looks like, to just keep writing to get all my ideas out because I can always edit it afterwards.

What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Only write what you know.  I think half the fun of writing is the research into the unknown and trying your hand at something new.

If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Once this damn pocketwatch AU is done I would lean towards that one. 

What’s your process? Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines? What are the perfect writing conditions for you?

My brain is very disorganized, so my writing tends to be all over the place as well.  I usually try to write in order, but if a scene really stands out to me I will write it out and then try to work my way around what happens before and afterwards.  You know that meme from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where Charlie Day has the conspiracy theory board with strings connecting everything? That's kind of what my process feels like a lot of the time— pure chaos that I am trying to find some way to link together in a coherent manner.  As far as perfect writing conditions... it really depends when inspiration strikes.  If I have something really clear in my mind, then it doesn't matter where I am because I can tune out everything and focus on writing out that scene.  Otherwise, I tend to need absolute silence or some instrumental music in the background (Ramin Djwadi got me through a LOT).  

***

Check out Syntheticpoetry’s Fics

Just To Know You're Alive -  After getting back together Kurt learns about a new habit Blaine had picked up during their break-up. Trigger warning in place for mentions of self harm.

Tell Me I'm A Wreck -  Blaine suffers from severe claustrophobia. One day, he's shoved into a closet in the choir room and the entire Glee club discovers him in the middle of a panic attack. Blangst.

The Gentle Sin Is This -  It's Christmas Eve and Kurt receives a visit from Rory, his Christmas guardian angel, who shows him what happened the night Blaine cheated on him and some of the events leading up to it.

[drummergirl231-2]

A Recap on the Buzzards

Now that we officially know the Buzzards are the heads of F.O.W.L. as @astrodances​ speculated, I think it’s time we review their actions from the show so far (and of course  I have to add my own commentary afterwards).

“Woo-oo!”

Episode notes:

Bentley Buzzard informs Scrooge business is expanding in the Spoonerville and St. Canard markets.

Bentley informs Scrooge they are cutting funding to “unnecessary departments,” including Historical Research, Experimental Tech, and Deep Sea Exploration.

Scrooge, devoid of all enthusiasm, sarcastically replies, “Fantastic...”

DG notes:

In one of the earliest scenes in the show, we see Scrooge isn’t making the financial decisions in his own company. The Buzzards were cutting funding from departments for things he once cared about, and he raised no objections. Once he got his family back though, he also regained his enthusiasm for adventure and life in general, and those departments became necessary again. Within a few hours of meeting his great-nephews, he decided to take them on a deep sea exploration adventure, and I’m sure the Buzzards didn’t like that at all. They would have had to come up with a new strategy to maintain control of his company since his grief as a bereaved parent wasn’t enough anymore.

“The Great Dime Chase!”

Episode notes:

They call an unscheduled meeting with Scrooge shortly after his nephews move back in.

Bradford informs Scrooge that, as he knows, revenues are down in several international markets. He lists four of them and says, “We feel that...” before Gyro bursts in.

After Gyro’s spiel, Bradford asks him how he plans to ensure Li’l Bulb won’t achieve sentience and turn evil like all his other inventions. 

Li’l Bulb shakes his fist and runs a finger under his “throat,” to threaten Bradford. Bradford asks what it’s doing and Gyro says, “Waving. It likes you.”

Bradford shares a glance with each of his colleagues and then denies Gyro’s request for funding.

Scrooge tells Louie his board are the only people cheaper than he is, and he trusts them completely to make good financial decisions.

Bradford interrupts Scrooge and says they are calling the meeting “to discuss cutting your unnecessary spending here at the... money bin.”

The first cut they propose is on Scrooge’s $15,000,000 he’s spending on magical defense, to which Scrooge replies, “Do you have any idea how many vengeance curses I have on my head?!”

Bradford asks Scrooge how he can justify spending $5,000 on a velvet pillow for a dime.

Scrooge calls them “ya penny-pinching Buzzards!”

Scrooge says if they can find him 3,000 gallons of silver polish for cheaper, he’d love to hear about it. Bradford replies by saying this is getting them nowhere, and if Scrooge refuses to make cuts, they’ll be forced to fire bin employees to save money. 

Bradford says the obvious first choice is the archivist. Scrooge argues Quackfaster has kept his archives secure and orderly for 50 years. Bradford says, “Fine, Quackfaster stays.”

Bradford then says Gyro is “definitely unnecessary.” Scrooge argues Gyro is one of the most brilliant minds of their time.

 Scrooge sarcastically says if they’re going to fire all the employees, why not shut the whole bin down? And Bradford points out he does have a perfectly good office downtown before asking:

Scrooge tells the Buzzards if they fire his crazy employees, they’ll definitely seek revenge. Bradford asks for a vote: “All those in favor of keeping the bin and everyone in it far away from our offices?” The other two reply, “Aye.”

DG notes:

Isn’t it interesting that once Scrooge’s nephews moved back in, the Buzzards held an unscheduled meeting to try and get him to cut funding to his defenses and/or fire Quackfaster and Gyro? And possibly even shut down the money bin?

I’m sure the Buzzards knew exactly what they were doing in asking Scrooge to cut funding on magical defense. They knew there was something dangerous he was keeping locked up on an island somewhere. They also likely knew he had vengeance curses on his head and they wanted him defenseless. 

When they questioned him about the velvet pillow under the dime, it’s possible they were fishing for information about his dime, which we now know is more than just sentimental.

Then they tried to get him to fire Quackfaster, who keeps Scrooge’s records... even any existing records of the Spear of Selene. They probably figured since Scrooge’s family was back in his life, the event that drove them apart was bound to come up again, and if you’re familiar with this blog or @alliterative-albatross’, you’ll know we have reason to believe the Buzzards have something to hide when it comes to the incident. We believe they may have threatened Gyro to sabotage the rocket (and Gyro would have pretended to go along with their plans to buy himself time, but not actually plant real bombs on the rocket).

After they failed to convince Scrooge to fire Quackfaster, they tried to get Scrooge to fire Gyro, who built the Spear of Selene and would definitely have information to spill to the nephews if they came asking.

Then they tried to get the whole bin shut down, and deep inside Scrooge’s archives at the bin is the shrine he built in Della’s memory to process his grief in his own way.

Fortunately, with Scrooge’s family back in his life, we see a drastic change from the bored, depressed, broken, and submissive man he appeared to be in the pilot episode. With his family back, he has the strength to fight back against how the Buzzards want to run things. He said he trusted them completely to make good financial decisions - a sign they’ve had him under their thumb for years - but this was his first meeting post-reunion, and he’s not the doormat they’re used to anymore.

“Jaw$!”

Episode notes:

The Buzzards called to say Scrooge’s adventures were causing costly damages to Duckburg.

They also had Beakley pass along the message that they had set up a television interview for Scrooge with Roxanne Featherly to help boost his character.

DG notes:

Either they really did want Scrooge’s reputation to get a boost because that’d be good for the company and therefore good for them if they could regain control, or they knew Scrooge would make a fool of himself and they hoped he’d come to the conclusion again that he needed to listen to them.

“The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!”

Episode notes:

In Scrooge’s flashback of the events following Della’s disappearance, we see the Buzzards telling Scrooge his spending on the search for Della has far exceeded its budget and every other area of spending in the company. This is followed by a clip of his own private funds from the money bin draining drastically.

We see another clip of the bin draining again, followed by a clip of two of the Buzzards dragging a frantic Scrooge away from the control panel and out the door while the other stands in the background.

DG notes:

I’m willing to bet the Buzzards - while they had possibly hoped to get Scrooge killed with this rocket - found Della’s disappearance just as useful, if not more. If Scrooge had died on the rocket, that could have led to an investigation of what went wrong mechanically. But with Della lost in a cosmic storm, and with Scrooge believing she stole her own present for a test run (rather than knowing she discovered the conspiracy and was confident she could bust it on her own), the whole thing could look like a tragic accident... no one to blame but Della herself. And with Scrooge a broken and grieving man, he was easily manipulated.

The Buzzards would have known all they had to do was occasionally tell Scrooge he was spending far too much to look for Della when it was hopeless, knowing he wouldn’t listen to them, and only when Scrooge was “nearly bankrupt,” as Beakley said he was, would the Buzzards swoop in and put a stop to Scrooge’s search efforts, making them look like the heroes who saved his company and pulled him back from the brink of the abyss. From then on they had his trust and cooperation... until he reunited with his nephews.

“Last Christmas!”

Episode notes:

The Buzzards attended Scrooge’s first annual McDuck Enterprises Christmas Party in the 1960s.

Duckworth pushes present-day Scrooge toward the Buzzards to talk business. Scrooge asks them if they are enjoying the party and they huddle up to discuss the question for a moment before answering him in unison, “No.”

Bradford tells Scrooge with the economic downturn, having a Christmas that is both holly and jolly isn’t fiscally responsible. 

DG notes:

Calling a holly jolly Christmas fiscally irresponsible should have convinced more fans of their evilness. 

That aside, let’s look at the timeline a bit. This party took place after the events of the flashbacks in “The Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22!” Beakley was at the party, so she and Scrooge were already friends, so Scrooge had already worked as a freelance operative on a S.H.U.S.H. mission where they thwarted the F.O.W.L. agent, Black Heron.  When present-day Scrooge arrives at this Christmas party in the past, we find out it was the first one for McDuck Enterprises because he’d just started his company. The Buzzards, who have since been revealed as the heads of F.O.W.L., have been stationed in his company since it began because he was already an enemy of F.O.W.L.

“The 87 Cent Solution!”

Episode notes: 

They attended Scrooge’s staged funeral.

DG notes:

How much d’you wanna bet the whole time they were thinking, my gosh, the things we have to put up with to play the long game... 

“The Richest Duck in the World!”

Episode notes:

The Buzzards called a meeting after Louie spent $100,000,000 on an ottoman. Brandford asked him how exactly the ottoman benefits the company. 

Bradford tells Louie McDuck Enterprises is a business, not a bank account, and the money has to come from somewhere. Louie tells him to figure it out, since that’s what he pays him to do.

Bradford brings up the money spent on magical defense that he tried to have Scrooge cut in Season 1. He says it’s spent on a dark, mysterious island. Louie, not knowing what’s on the island, tells him to cut that. Bradford pulls a device with a single red button right out of his suit jacket and presses it, releasing the Bombie.

While on the island and trying to escape the Bombie, Louie calls Bradford and tells him to cut the funding to the McDuck satellite system immediately and drop them all on his location. Bradford asks him if he’s sure he knows what he’s doing, and he tells him he does. Bradford drops the satellites on the island and they explode. 

At the end of the episode, we find out the McDuck satellite system was a series of defense satellites, and once they went down, Lunaris was ready to invade.

DG notes:

Scrooge may have known all the ins and outs of McDuck Enterprises, but Louie did not. Scrooge knew that 15 million on magical defense was important and he knew why. Bradford probably also knew exactly what he was doing when he suggested cutting the funding to magical defense again, even though this time he didn’t bring up how much the company was spending on it and, if he had, Louie would have realized the 15 million wouldn’t have made up for the 100 million he just spent. It wasn’t about making up for the money he’d lost at all. They just wanted to get rid of Louie and get control of the company again, whether it was through becoming the heads of McDuck Enterprises themselves, or manipulating a grieving Scrooge again.

They also would have known those satellites were defense satellites, and while they’re evil, they’re not out to destroy the whole world (as Bradford later said in the finale, “...without the world, who would we larceny against?”). Bradford asked Louie if he knew what he was doing and while Louie said he did, of course he didn’t. (“The ducks almost cost us the world today...”)

“Moonvasion!”

Episode notes:

We find out the defense satellites were also useful for communication.

At the end of the episode, it is revealed the Buzzards are the head of F.O.W.L., and Bradford gives the following speech: “This has gone too far. The ducks almost cost us the world today, and without the world, who would we larceny against? The pieces are finally in place. Time to come out of the shadows, take control, and end Clan McDuck. If the McDuck family wants an adventure... we’ll give them their last.”

DG notes:

While I was certain the Buzzards were evil (we even had that IDW comic panel that proved they were trying to get rid of Scrooge), it still feels unreal that their evilness has been revealed in the show. #BlametheBuzzards2019 is officially valid.

There’s a lot to unpack and unravel when it comes to enemy spies being planted in Scrooge’s company from the beginning. Our new little conspiracy theorist Huey will have his hands full. 

And while Season 1 showed the parallels between Della and Dewey (their personalities, confidence, and love of adventure), and Season 2 showed the parallels between Della and Louie (seeing the angles and stressing out when their plans don’t go the way they thought), Season 3 will almost certainly show parallels between Della and Huey. And if Della did take the rocket because she tripped the wire while investigating a conspiracy, that would definitely parallel Huey’s search for answers. Seeing Huey try to bust a conspiracy on his own could be quite triggering for Della. She may try to stop him before he gets hurt.

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what the Buzzards have been up to and how the family will find out about it all.

[distapata]

Dearest Sandesh, Jalebi here :) your analysis are simply amazing so I thought of asking a head canon/thought on Agni! Based on what we discussed - do you have any ideas on how regret/redemption might come for Agni (especially re. Tara and Gunja)? Much love, Sandesh (don't feel compelled for detail answer!)

Jalebi !!!!

What a compliment !! This made me grin like an idiot, and blush too. And this coming from you, it is simply... Amazing. Thank you for the ask, and don't worry, I enjoy writing long, detailed answers, it is my favourite pastime. Much love, Jalebi, take care and I hope you are doing well ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Mainly, Agni has two...no, three issues. Holding people to high expectations and having low faith in the same people, self-centeredness and a lack of responsibility, a huge ego that makes him blind to everything that is happening around him. He also has a lot of unprocessed trauma from the incident of Tubri's death, and as a result,

he always holds others responsible for whatever bad things happen to the family. It is always someone betraying them, a conspiracy, so on and so forth. He never accepts or processes the situation, he looks for the person responsible for the event, blames them, insults them, tries to hurt them

his trust on people is quite fragile. One little mistake, one tiny detail not fitting into the story, and he paints them as the villain, connecting all previous events to the present disturbance and calling them an elaborate plan to hurt him and his family.

Another thing that has heavily contributed to how his personality has developed over time is the time spent away at the boarding school, most probably overseas. Be it twelve years or fifteen, that is a long time to stay away from his family, especially after the death of his little sister. I think, in a way, it served to chip away at his attachment towards his family, and being kept in the dark with respect to the family's declining wealth obviously did not help. He felt hurt, betrayed [for a guy like Agni, it was that he didn't deserve to know of his family, like he wasn't a part of it] and seeing Tara hold an important position in the family, family business and Shekhar's life gave way to bitter feelings for Tara. Traitor. Usurper.

And of course, only having to think of himself in his growing years, the time when people learn to notice the subtle clues, how to read the undercurrents of a situation or relationship, Agni missed out on some important life lessons. He never developed the habit of thinking about others, everything is, till date, always about him.

His trust. His love. His ego.

He knows his father is in coma, he knows that they might not be able to afford the hospital bills, the maintenance cost of the house, and other expenses. He knows everything. Yet, his focus is on his hare-brained scheme of trapping an innocent teenager and manipulating her. Not that he has a proper plan or a reason for this plan. It would not help their financial situation, nor is he trying to achieve that. He wants to separate Dhruba-Tara, and that's that. That's his goal.

That is his obsession.

For a regret/redemption track, two things need to happen. One, the truth about the family's financial condition should slap him in the face, and two, he needs to form an attachment towards someone. It can be either platonic or romantic, but he needs to have someone, whose feelings would touch him. He needs to look beyond himself. At the same time, he needs to stay AWAY from his family, he needs to be completely alone, so that he has the time and opportunity to think, something he wouldn't do otherwise.

Think about his actions. Reactions. Plans. And the lack of action to actually better his and his family's financial state. His lack of a moral compass.

He needs to grow a conscience (and a brain), in order to see where he went wrong, before he starts to fix the mess and redeem himself. Another thing he needs, is to be put in the position he hates so, so much. He needs to tagged a traitor, a Beimaan. Both in a case where he is to blame, and where he is innocent.

The first will, hopefully, lead to him assessing his past and present, the second will help him see past the obvious whenever things go sideways. Being labelled a traitor when he did nothing wrong will teach him how it feels to be perceived as a disloyal, ugly person. A taste of his own medicine would be good for him.

As of today, 28th July, the show puts him at the edge of the cliff. One push, and he will fall into the pit of darkness. I don't think a person as weak and stupid as Agni will be able to claw his way out. My ideal plan for him would be to throw him in a locked room and let him chip away at the walls confining him, brick by brick. He needs to suffer.

⏺️Some time at jail ⏺️Coming out to find his family under financial stress ⏺️For his family to point out his faults with a lot of screaming ⏺️For them to shun him and throw him out in the streets ⏺️And, perhaps, bring in Raj (either as the actual, planned usurper, or as the good son who took his parents with him). ⏺️Let Manju point out how he has failed them ⏺️Let Chandni tell him how he has failed her ⏺️He needs to be alone, with the knowledge of his family's financial issues and the Choudhuri name being dragged through the mud, and that he was responsible for it. ⏺️ Some time to think about his actions, for the guilt to hit him, for his eyes to open as he understands how far he had fallen, and which lines he had crossed, with Gunja, and with Tara.

⏺️⏺️AFTERWARDS, he can try to make ends meet, to take care of himself (he is terribly self-centered, it wouldn't be too hard for him), and to gather the resources to help his family. And he can find someone to bond with. A friend, a kid, a dog/cat. A platonic relationship, a do-over. ⏺️⏺️

He needs to heal himself in order to redeem himself. And then he needs to give them some space. Just temporarily removing him from Gunja's and Tara's lives would be a good mood. Then, once he has become a better person, he can apologise, try to help them (with their permission), and if they do not accept his apology, he should respect that, and stay away.

[butwhyduh]

If you are still doing the Friday smut requests can you do something like a pre-bitten peter sub?

I’m gonna assume you mean a universe where peter is an adult when he gets bit by the spider because I don’t write teenagers like that.

Peter Parker was nothing special. He took photos for a small local newspaper. Okay, calling it a newspaper was a bit much. It was a rag print that ran conspiracy theories for most of it. Last week the cover was “Queen of England: Lizard Lady.” But that (along with delivering pizzas on the weekend) paid his bills as he went to college.

The current photos he was sent to get was Captain America and Iron Man on a date. He didn’t think they were dating much less hitting fancy restaurants together. So a challenge. But if someone could find a photo of the Queen of England looking a little green he could find something romantic about the two superheroes.

Your desk was right across from his, much to your dismay. He constantly had paper and old coffee cups everywhere. Sometimes a pile of papers would slid on your desk. He’d show up late and you’d have to watch the drama as the editor would yell at him. Again.

But all in all he was a really nice guy. He would walk with you to your car when it got late despite the fact that he probably couldn’t win a fight if you paid him. It was the thought that count. It also helped that he had adorable brown eyes and curly brown hair with a sweet smile that would make anyone want treat him well.

Today he sat with his head in his arms on the desk. A literal red string covered bulletin board sat mocking him in the corner. He was nowhere near finding the proof of their love. He hasn’t even gotten a single snapshot of the two in the same area. He smelled like coffee and dispair.

“Hey,” you said softly. He quickly looked up and you jumped. “Sorry. I was just- Uh you- don’t take this the wrong way but... you look like you need a break.”

“Oh... uh maybe? I don’t know. I have to find this today or else I won’t get a check this week and then I’m homeless. You didn’t need to know that. Sorry,” he said turning red.

“Do you want help?” You offered.

“Aren’t you busy?” He asked. You looked at your finished article. Not exactly the height of journalism you had aspired to as a kid.

“No. I think I’ve got my article down. Not much research involved in “Installing Shower Grates Protect Woman From Sewer Gators.” It kinda wrote itself,” you said with a smile. “I also want to get out of here before they give me another assignment.”

“Yeah that makes sense,” he said with a laugh. You grabbed your bag and stood up. “Wait, where are you going?”

“To get your scoop. Come on,” you said. Peter quickly grabbed his backpack and followed. You hurried out the door and down the stairs before anyone could call you to do more work.

Ten minutes later you stood in front of the fire escape of a small 3 story building. Peter stood panting. His thin shoulders moving with effort of trying to keep up with you. He smiled embarrassed. You went to climb the ladder hanging from the fire escape.

“Wait. What are you doing?” He asked.

“Climbing up. There’s a Stark Benefit coming up and that’s your chance to get the shot if there is one. It starts in an hour. So we better hurry if we want you up on the roof before they get here,” you said pulling your self up a rung. “You coming?”

“Yeah, okay,” he said dancing around a little like he was psyching himself up. You rolled your eyes and climbed up to the roof. Peter struggled up the ladder before climbing as far from the roof as he could. He heaved out of breath.

“Come on if you want your shot,” you said laying on the ground near the edge. Across the street a fancy art building was decked out for an event. It looked like the event was to raise money for prosthetic limb research for children. Peter slowly crawled to edge. His face strained nervously.

“Not a fan of heights,” he admitted.

“I thought you got a picture of the Vulture downtown,” you said frowning. “That was quite a ways up.”

“Don’t tell anybody but I paid this punk in a red hoodie carrying a can of spray paint to do it. Bought him some street tacos for it,” Peter admitted. You laughed.

“I guess that works too. Well now you’ve got to get your shots up high today. Limos are arriving,” you said. Your attention was back on the building in front of you. Peter pulled out his camera to look. “Even if you don’t get your shot some other paper might buy the pics from this event.”

“Why can’t we be down there with those photographers?” He asked.

“You need an event badge and they won’t give one to a paper that called the Queen a lizard,” you reminded him.

Thirty minutes later and no Tony Stark or Steve Rogers, your energy was starting to deflate. And Peter shifted. A lot. He couldn’t seem to sit still. You ignored it hoping that the next car would hold them both. An hour later Peter was literally pacing.

A shiny new red sports car rumbled around the corner before stopping in front of the building. “Hey, I think it’s them. Or at least Stark.”

Peter quickly clambered beside you, almost dropping his camera in the process. You gave him a look before he fixed it. He took a few shots of the car before Tony Stark climbed out. He fixed his suit before opening the passenger door. The lovely Pepper Pots climbed out. Peter took a few shots. Rumors were common that the two were dating.

Out of the backseat popped a head before long limbs followed. Peter took photos as Captain America, Steve Rogers almost fell out of the backseat. You weren’t even sure how he fit back there. Peter quickly snapped shots of him glaring at Tony Stark before smiling at cameras. A driver got in the car and drove it off.

You gasped as Tony Stark pat Steve Rogers on the bottom before smiling for the cameras. “Did you get that?” You asked. Peter was grinning.

“Definitely. I can’t believe that’s real. I didn’t think- are they dating?” He asked surprised.

“Maybe? I mean, they’re really close,” you said. You suddenly realized how close Peter’s face was to yours. His freckles on his nose and cheek visibly beautiful in the early evening light.

“Thanks. I really need this,” he said.

“Yeah for rent, right?” You said with a smile.

Sigh. “Yeah, just don’t mention that to anyone please,” he said turning red.

“It’s cool. I work at the same paper as you. I’m not exactly rich,” you said pushing your hair behind your ear. Why did you do that? Are you flirting with him? He’s probably just being professional. No, he’s looking at your lips.

“I don’t wanna be weird but you’re really pretty,” he said before turning red again. You flushed and smiled.

“It’s the sunset really. Anyone looks good in-“

“No. I mean, you look pretty at work too,” he said. You looked at him for a beat before leaning in to kiss him. His thin fingers slid to hold your side. You pushed him to his back where he made a soft “oof” sound. You climbed on his lap and Peter pulled you closer by the hips. Your fingers curled in his hair.

You took advantage of the moment. You had a crush and who knew when something like this could happen again. You rubbed against him. The delicate material of your dress pants felt divine against his coarser pants. You felt him get hard under you. Your clit rubbed the tip of his cock through your clothes. You grinded against him while making out for a while.

A siren passing by made you jump. You pulled away and you both laughed. “It’s just an ambulance....And a second. I probably should follow it. It might be a lead...” you said getting up.

Peter sat up adjusting his pants to hide his erection. “Yeah. Okay. I need to get these photos developed. See you around?”

“Yeah for sure,” you said already climbing on the fire escape. “Call me.”

As you climbed down you texted your dad. “Thanks for that. The pat really sold it. I owe you.”

Headline the next day:

Ironman and Captain America: Secret Lovers Behind Pepper Pots Back

Will Stark Industry fall over this?