#i think between the two of them jon has it worse

[best-magnus-archives-character]

Why do you think voting for Jon means being ok with how he treated Tim?

(major tma spoilers ahead)

i think the podcast does a very good job explaining that Jon distrusts and stalks his coworkers because 1. he just found out his predecessor was killed by someone In The Institute, not a monster like he had expected and 2. The presence of the NotThem literally gives him paranoia. like idk if maybe i misunderstood smth but to me it was clear the NotThem was a huge influence on his mental state at the time. Now is that an excuse? No, nor am i saying it is. In fact Jon himself feels guilt when he realizes what he did (or at least it seems to me like he does). And about the work power imbalance- I don't see how tumblr being "the pro worker website" would affect how individuals see a fictional character, but I do think its a disservice to your own point when you point out work dynamics when clearly the main problem was the betrayal of trust due to their friendship. You should google what gaslighting means, by the way. They are coworkers, yes, but they are also friends, maybe that's a wild concept to you but it happens in real life too. And that's what Tim's pissed about. Yes, Jon was able to do what he did because he's their boss, but the problem is the betrayal, and the "cause" for Tim's depression is the PTSD after the Jane Prentiss situation, not Jon. Jon adds salt to the wound, because the person who went through the worst of it with him and should understand how Tim feels doesn't trust him for similarly no good reason. Then he's depressed because of Sasha, and he doesnt have his friends anymore because Jon betrayed his trust and Martin is, from Tim's perspective, taking Jon's side. He's not depressed because of Jon although I'll happily admit Jon did not help at all.

That said, Tim lived a good life before what happened to Danny. He was even fine again for a bit before joining the Archives. His depression arc is painful, but he's not the only one struggling, and I don't think that's enough to say he's more mistreated. Tim gets the ending he wants, and it's as heartbreaking as it is cathartic. He suffers, yes. And it's fine if you think he has it worse than Jon, but to get mad at people for voting Jon because you think Jon is the monster who made Tim suffer seems like taking this a bit too seriously to me???

I mean just look at the whole story. I'd argue that anyone who lives ends up suffering more than the characters who die, simply because they're present for more bad things.

Jon's parents died when he was a child and he was raised by a grandma that mostly tolerated him. Then we have the Mr. Spider incident (whether that's worse than what happened to Tim and Danny is entirely up to personal opinion, I think the way Tim lost Danny is a much sadder story, but Jon seeing that as a child might've left a deeper scar)

It also marked him in a very literal sense, that his entire life from then on was controlled both by The Web and, while he works for the institute, by Jonah. His choices mean nothing in the end and everything he does ends badly. They all go through the Prentiss situation. Tim suffers from Jon's betrayal, and Jon suffers with his paranoia and the constant certainty that he will be killed by his own friends. They all suffer the loss of Sasha, Jon tries to make it right by breaking the table and almost dies. He leaves the man who saved him alone in a room for a moment and the guy dies, he comes back to a corpse. He gets kidnapped multiple times, goes into a coma, comes back into the whole situation that is season 4, where everybody hates him because he's slowly turning into a monster even if it's not a conscious choice (did he ever have one?). The one person who doesn't hate him is avoiding him (Martin). He saves Daisy and even that doesn't make Basira trust him again. He finds a friend in Daisy, someone who literally tried to kill him before, and then Post-Change he has to witness what she's become, and she doesn't even recognize him, only Basira (which makes perfect sense, but I find the scene in which he confesses that made him sad to be heartbreaking). He's also constantly Seeing everyone suffer through an apocalypse he was forced to cause, including the children in Callum's domain.

Then he finds out his whole life he was a puppet, and when he tries to break free of the strings and do what he thinks is right (there was no right answer in the finale, whether you agree with Jon or not, the whole point is that there's no right answer) that's immediately taken away from him and we all know how that ended for him and Martin.

And then, there's people in the fandom who constantly demonize him for his mistakes, while as far as I've seen Tim is a widely beloved character, I'm sure there's Tim haters out there too, you seem to have encountered some from the way you said people blame Tim, I personally never encountered any. So maybe our perspectives on this one will just be opposites because of personal experience, I guess.

Anyway, I genuinely think Jon checks the boxes for both mistreated by the narrative and mistreated by the fandom. And maybe Tim does too! This isn't even Jon propaganda honestly. I'd be fine with either of them moving forward. They both suffer a lot and it's heartbreaking. This Tim propaganda just really rubbed me the wrong way and I wanted to say something. The fact that Jon does carry some responsibility to Tim's pain doesn't exclude Jon's own suffering, so I don't really get your point. And I don't see what you gain by acting like its a moral mistake to vote Jon?

Then again maybe I'm the one who took it too seriously, I don't know.

(sorry for rambling on your post, op)

Round 1: Right Side - Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives) vs. Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives)

[ipleadbritney]

hi! for the build a fic can I please request landoscar, 5, S, 𓆌?

OK SORRY ANON FOR GETTING TO THIS SO LATE I WAS WAITING FOR INSPIRATION TO STRIKE AND I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE STRUCK TWICE SO THIS IS FIRST OF THEM

build a fic post here

rest up, champs

Jon had predicted the second Lando crossed the line first, the moment the championship was theirs and no one else's, that it would be a very long 48 hours.

It was. He just doesn't remember most of them.

He ignores the dull ache at the back of his head as he makes his way up to the penthouse suites of the Hilton. He's hiding behind a pair of sunglasses he nicked from one of the mechanics who crashed in his room, too drunk to find his own room probably two doors down.

The place is crawling with McLaren staff. Jon should greet them, but all he can muster up is a nod and vague grunts about the weather, yeah, and how's it going, champ? Everyone is as smacked as he is though, so they're just nodding at each other in the hallways.

Jon doesn't drink on race weekends, but it's not every week you win a championship. If he's this bad, how is Lando?

Well, according to his garbled texts sent near-midday:

dont knoe eher i am

bef me pleae

get me

Last Jon saw of Lando at the club, he was singing Spanish songs to Carlos and dragging whoever was closest to him to the dance floor. Carlos knew how to handle Lando. But then Carlos bursted into a passionate speech about Ferrari and families, and at that point, it was Lando taking care of Carlos.

This isn't Jon and Lando's first rodeo. Lando's location is turned on, and despite a panicked five-minute call where Lando was convinced he was in danger, in some stranger's bed, gone back to somebody else's hotel suite, they've now established he's safe. Safe-ish. Lando ended the call with a yelp and a quick goodbye.

Nothing he hadn't done before, so. Alright.

Jon steps out of the elevator, following the tiny blip on his phone indicating where Lando is. Lando's not even far from his original room.

Someone calls out Jon's name. He turns. It's Kim, Oscar's physio. Oscar's former physio, Jon supposes. Abu Dhabi's his last race, and what a last race it was.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Kim says. They clasp each other's free hands, both holding bags in the other. Jon has his “Lando-pack”. Kim also has, what seems to be, hangover supplies.

“Oh, well, you know.”

Kim grins. “Yeah, I know.”

“Oscar has never really, uh, has he?”

They fall into step together. From what Lando tells Jon, Oscar's post-race celebrations usually include a drink or two, a nap in between, then a board game on the way back. Very different from Lando's.

“Not like this. Can't fault him,” Kim says.

“Letting him off the hook?”

“Hook's gone, mate. If he didn't go out, I would have dragged him. Mark's sent me to check up on the kid.”

Jon laughs, agreeing. Oscar's race had been fucked, but his season. Jesus Christ. His season was electric.

Jon consults his phone. Lando's stranger's suite should be somewhere around—

Jon and Kim stop at the same door.

“Oh,” Kim says.

Jon's headache thumps louder. “Is this..”

Kim shows him a keycard. “It's Oscar's room, yes. He booked a new one sometime at dawn.”

Fuck.

Jon pushes his glasses up, scratching his eyebrows. “So. Lando and Oscar.”

He's not sure what he wants to find out on the other side of the door, or what he doesn't. Jon knows Lando, but he doesn't know Oscar. Worse, he doesn't know how Lando and Oscar mix.

Kim nods, face equally serious. “Honestly, I just hope there was no bodily harm done.”

“Yeah, bodily harm sucks.” Lando's nose scar has faded now, but the immediate days after had been more hellish than they should've been.

“One way to find out.” Kim takes a deep breath and knocks to some beat, probably their own little knock code. He swipes the keycard.

Jon sends Lando a quick text, Kim and I are here. That's enough warning, right?

Tentatively, they push the door open and step into the room. The entrance wasn't trashed. A good sign. Maybe Oscar balanced out the highs Lando felt, bringing him back down. That would be nice.

“—Christ, fucking, just throw it on.”

“I don't get—”

“Not meant to get it, I'm being kind. This is me being kind, Osco.”

“Don't have to be kind if someone was able to control himself last night."

He and Kim exchange looks. Jon's too optimistic, seems like. That didn't sound like Oscar balancing Lando out.

They both cough loudly.

“Fucking hell, wait!” comes Lando's voice, cracking, from the bedroom. Jon can just about see the door cracked open from here. They're lucky they managed to lock the front door.

Then there's a loud thump, like the sound of a body hitting carpeted floor, and sure enough, Lando's shriek follows.

Kim looks more concerned than Jon is. Jon doesn't want to be traumatized any further.

But he's here to take care of Lando, yes? Even at the cost of his sanity and the HR department's.

“Lando, mate, we're going in,” Jon announces, “because that didn't sound good and…”

He trails off, finding Lando on the floor scrambling to get up, sheets wrapped around him. The only thing he's got on, apparently.

On the bed, Oscar's in an oversized hoodie that's definitely Lando's. Jon would know. He was there when Lando bought them.

Lando's horrified, Oscar can barely prop himself up, and Jon's sorry Kim has to deal with this for his last race.

“I have extra clothes,” Jon says, as calm as he can be. With Lando, Jon doesn't go all what-have-you-done or has-no-one-ever-told-you-not-to-fuck-your-teammate before they've had breakfast.

A quick scan of the room and its two inhabitants, ignoring evidence of whatever they got up, tells Jon no one was needlessly and violently hurt. Consolation prize.

(Lando has marks all across his skin and blooming bruises on his neck.)

“Thanks, Jon. Appreciate it. Because I was, uh, we were, I gave my clothes to Osc because desen— disen—”

“Decency,” Oscar supplies.

“Yeah, decency,” Lando explains, hands waving around, “for Osc.”

The problem, Jon thinks with his headache flaring up to unprecedented levels, is precisely that. Oscar is now Osc. Osco. What's the other one? Oscinha?

Also, where's Oscar's clothes? They better not find an Ebay listing for it in the future.

“And you, Oscar? You alright there?” Kim asks. He's a safe distance away from the bed.

“Sleepy,” Oscar says. He yawns into the sleeves of Lando's hoodie.

Kim smiles. He's taking this better than Jon expected.

Jon helps Lando back onto the bed, which might be a mistake, considering Oscar moves closer to Lando, bumping his head against Lando's sides.

“Ow, there's like, I've got a thing there. Your fault, by the way.”

“Never gonna hurt you again, uh-huh, sorry,” Oscar mutters, his voice growing softer. He slumps into Lando's lap, eyes closed.

“Osc, you can't be sleeping right now. Don’t leave me hanging in front of Kim and Jon.”

“Exhausted,” Oscar says. “Your fault, by the way.”

Jon and Kim really shouldn't be here. They're both clearly safe, far from whatever worst case scenario could've happened. Even booked a different hotel room to avoid other McLaren staff, families and friends.

“Not in danger, yeah?” Jon jokes.

“He was in the bathroom when I woke up, didn't know,” Lando groans. His hand starts playing with Oscar's hair. He probably doesn't even notice it. “Am I, like, do we wake him up?”

Kim laughs. “No ‘we’ in this situation, I'm afraid. I don't want to get murdered. Let him sleep it off for another hour. We'll give you two some privacy, return with more supplies.”

Lando's face flushes. “Thanks. Appreciate it.”

“So you keep saying,” Jon teases. “Rest up, champs. You deserve it.”

Lando's face shifts, pure joy across his features. His eyes are bright, flickering to Oscar. “Yeah, yeah we do.”

[eruherdiriel]

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is how Jon knows what it's like to be burned. With his hand, he doesn't feel it in the moment but that's probably adrenaline more than anything else.

"You do not look well. How is your hand?" "Healing." Jon flexed his bandaged fingers to show him. He had burned himself more badly than he knew throwing the flaming drapes, and his right hand was swathed in silk halfway to the elbow. At the time he'd felt nothing; the agony had come after. His cracked red skin oozed fluid, and fearsome blood blisters rose between his fingers, big as roaches. "The maester says I'll have scars, but otherwise the hand should be as good as it was before." "A scarred hand is nothing. On the Wall, you'll be wearing gloves often as not." It was not the thought of scars that troubled Jon; it was the rest of it. Maester Aemon had given him milk of the poppy, yet even so, the pain had been hideous. At first it had felt as if his hand were still aflame, burning day and night. Only plunging it into basins of snow and shaved ice gave any relief at all. Jon thanked the gods that no one but Ghost saw him writhing on his bed, whimpering from the pain.

-AGOT, Jon VIII

And then there's the scene of his wound getting cauterized. Which, yeah, he's otherwise injured and just escaped the wildlings, experiencing a lot of physical pain and internal turmoil, etc., etc. Still:

Maester Aemon sniffed Jon's wound again. Then he put the bloody cloth back in the basin and said, "Donal, the hot knife, if you please. I shall need you to hold him still." I will not scream, Jon told himself when he saw the blade glowing red hot. But he broke that vow as well. Donal Noye held him down, while Clydas helped guide the maester's hand. Jon did not move, except to pound his fist against the table, again and again and again. The pain was so huge he felt small and weak and helpless inside it, a child whimpering in the dark. Ygritte, he thought, when the stench of burning flesh was in his nose and his own shriek echoing in her ears. Ygritte, I had to. For half a heartbeat the agony started to ebb. But then the iron touched him once again, and he fainted.

-ASOS, Jon VI

This doesn't even touch on how he feels about the R'hollor crew and stories of people intentionally being burned. Whether he's there when King's Landing burns or hears about it, he will be able to empathize with the people of the city. There will be survivors, some with burns like on his hand and some with way worse. There won't be enough milk of the poppy for everyone. There will be men, women, children, soldiers, civilians, and old people burned and screaming in pain. Before KL burns, Jon will have heard about the other places DT has been as well. They're not gonna be pals.

But there will be conflict in his interactions with DT. Jon fiddles with his hands when he's conflicted or distressed:

Jon's breath misted the air. If I lie to him, he'll know. He looked Mance Rayder in the eyes, opened and closed his burned hand. "I wear the cloak you gave me, Your Grace."

-ASOS, Jon II

Lots of examples from AGOT, when his hand is still freshly burned and in more pain:

"Grief and noise," Mormont grumbled. "That's all they're good for, ravens. Why I put up with that pestilential bird … if there was news of Lord Eddard, don't you think I would have sent for you? Bastard or no, you're still his blood. The message concerned Ser Barristan Selmy. It seems he's been removed from the Kingsguard. They gave his place to that black dog Clegane, and now Selmy's wanted for treason. The fools sent some watchmen to seize him, but he slew two of them and escaped." Mormont snorted, leaving no doubt of his view of men who'd send gold cloaks against a knight as renowed as Barristan the Bold. "We have white shadows in the woods and unquiet dead stalking our halls, and a boy sits the Iron Throne," he said in disgust. The raven laughed shrilly. "Boy, boy, boy, boy." Ser Barristan had been the Old Bear's best hope, Jon remembered; if he had fallen, what chance was there that Mormont's letter would be heeded? He curled his hand into a fist. Pain shot through his burned fingers. "What of my sisters?"

-AGOT, Jon VIII

When Jon had been Bran's age, he had dreamed of doing great deeds, as boys always did. The details of his feats changed with every dreaming, but quite often he imagined saving his father's life. Afterward Lord Eddard would declare that Jon had proved himself a true Stark, and place Ice in his hand. Even then he had known it was only a child's folly; no bastard could ever hope to wield a father's sword. Even the memory shamed him. What kind of man stole his own brother's birthright? I have no right to this, he thought, no more than to Ice. He twitched his burned fingers, feeling a throb of pain deep under the skin. "My lord, you honor me, but—"

-AGOT, Jon VIII

Jon raised the hood of his heavy cloak and gave the horse her head. Castle Black was silent and still as he rode out, with Ghost racing at his side. Men watched from the Wall behind him, he knew, but their eyes were turned north, not south. No one would see him go, no one but Sam Tarly, struggling back to his feet in the dust of the old stables. He hoped Sam hadn't hurt himself, falling like that. He was so heavy and so ungainly, it would be just like him to break a wrist or twist his ankle getting out of the way. "I warned him," Jon said aloud. "It was nothing to do with him, anyway." He flexed his burned hand as he rode, opening and closing the scarred fingers. They still pained him, but it felt good to have the wrappings off.

-AGOT, Jon IX

Not until he was well beyond the village did Jon slow again. By then both he and the mare were damp with sweat. He dismounted, shivering, his burned hand aching. A bank of melting snow lay under the trees, bright in the moonlight, water trickling off to form small shallow pools. Jon squatted and brought his hands together, cupping the runoff between his fingers. The snowmelt was icy cold. He drank, and splashed some on his face, until his cheeks tingled. His fingers were throbbing worse than they had in days, and his head was pounding too. I am doing the right thing, he told himself, so why do I feel so bad?

-AGOT, Jon IX

[satinoflowers]

Hey! What are your thoughts on Satin being a Reach lord’s bastard? I think GRRM kinda left it open for himself, but there’s seeds of being a lord’s son for sure. Or do you have other theories?

Thank you so much for the ask!! <333

Textually theres a decent amount of suggestion to me that satin is a lord's son. He uses the formally educated "my lord" instead of the common "m'lord" when addressing jon, which rly stands out to me as grrm seems to be consistent with this. Satin is a crackshot with a crossbow despite minimal training, and i like the reddit user muflonlesli's point about tyrion's line about "i never thought to feed the fire, that had always been a servant's task" in regards to satin not being as diligent with lighting jon's. That one always stuck with me because as fanficable that that character trait is within satin, in the context of the chapter it does seem a strange bit of coloring to add. Satin is proved diligent, so by pointing out his negligence in that aspect i think grrm is purposefully and specifically hilighting it.

One of my favorite hints to him having the surname flowers (which is an incredible reach and is so so sodelusional of me. I mean seriously take this with a pound of salt) is the line from acok, dany iv where she has the vision with the "sweet-scented blue flower growing from a chink in a wall of ice"... hear me out, instead of having blue roses be represntative of lyanna, think of them as being a symbol of love within lyanna's line. If r+l=j and satin SPECIFICALLY has a line about the "sweet-scented oil" being registered by jon in the godswood on an icy day,, satin is the sweet smelling blue FLOWER (bastard surname in the reach) and jon is courting him just as rhaegar courted lyanna. And if u think about it. Jon does need a nyssa nyssa so like how far of a reach would it be to say that by comparing jon+rhaegar and their need for a cute person to fulfill a prophecy,, u get sweet smelling satin flowers???🤪🤪🤪

Realistically i dont think theres much of anything to be gained by having him be a lord's bastard, though. It serves as explanation for his mannerisms and character traits for sure (theres also the littlefinger's spy theory but again i dont see the need for him to have one that far from kl and having nothing to do w the current events in his story. Maybe he is a jonsa stan idk) but... the only addition would be to his role within the story on a meta level, if grrm is hinting at a parallel between satinjon and another pairing of characters, which is rife with opportunity for sure.

One more thing to add would be that since empathizing with and aiding those in marginalized groups/ different walks of life from jon's own is so vital within his story (including satin being a prostitute), having satin be a fellow bastard in a much worse position than jon would be a decent addition. Does that set jon up for empathizing with those whose bastard-ry leaves them in positions in which they must make (in jons judgement) immoral choices? In satins case, prostitution, but in aegon vi blackfyre's case? If satin is as important to jons story as i hope he'll be, then a conversation/ philosophic monologue in a jon pov about discrimination being different across class division with those two could be poignant in regards to jons development and future actions.

[apollo-likes-writing]

June of Doom Day One - "Help Me."

Characters: Bruce Wayne/Batman, Clark Kent/Superman, Alfred Pennyworth, Ra's Al-Ghul (mentioned), Tim Drake/Red Robin, Damian Wayne/Robin, Stephanie Brown/Spoiler, Dick Grayson/Nightwing

Summary: Bruce has always been stubborn, much to the dismay of those around him. It's only when he has no other option that he actually decides to ask for assistance.

Word count: 1603

Tags: Light angst, light gore, injuries, depictions/recountance of injuries and violence, medicine/medical terminology.

Author's Note: In comparison to other angst fics I've written, this one is incredibly tame. Call it the calm before the storm for this challenge lol. Enjoy! As always, feel free to like, comment, and reblog. It helps me out a bunch.

@juneofdoom

Masterlist | Day Two

The Dark Knight is revered across the world as being untouchable. Unbeatable. The stuff of legend that you tell your kids about so they will behave. “You better be good, or the Batman will come and get you in the night!” It works a treat. There are some people in the world who don’t even think He exists. They believe it’s clever CGI or paid trauma actors or a talented cosplayer (as to what they’re cosplaying is up for debate, for obvious reasons). Like on of those fake movies where people on social media work together in their thousands to gaslight people into thinking they exist when they don’t. It’s not true, of course. Batman is as human as any other person on Earth (except for the large variety of aliens that also call Earth home, but that’s another thing to ignore). He is human. He has skin and lungs and teeth and a tongue; and with such things comes vulnerability. The Dark Knight is not untouchable, and he certainly isn’t unbeatable. 

Especially considering the state he is currently in. 

It is well-known throughout the hero community that Ra’s Al-Ghul is not a man to be messed with. Whenever his name pops up on mission briefs it is always given to the more capable heroes in the Watchtower. Usually the Big Three: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, and today was no different. When the small-time hero of somewhere unimportant came shuffling over to his office to timidly poke his head through the door, Batman was surprisingly quite understanding. 

“That must have been a formatting error. I’ll handle it, don’t worry. Ra’s Al-Ghul isn’t a villain for the regular hero. Thank you for bringing this to me, Jerry.” 

How on earth he knew the man’s name was between him and the gods. He scampered off and out of Batman’s office before he got the chance to ask, his own fear getting the best of him. How heroic. 

Now, while Bruce is clutching his side and using his cape as an impromptu bandage across his torso, he wishes that Clark and Diana were not on their respective breaks. 

“The kids are on school break. I’m going to take them to visit Ma and Pa for the weekend. Shout if you need me, Bruce.” 

“My sisters in Themyscira have requested my presence for a ceremony of some kind. It is apparently important, so I will be back in about a week.” 

He can’t blame them, of course. Superhero work is tough, and everyone is in need of a break now and again. Jon and Kon are important to Clark, as are his own children to Bruce, so he understands. And the surprise birthday party for Diana has been in the works for months. Being the only naturally born Themysciran, it is a ceremony worth celebrating for the Amazons, so Bruce can’t fault them either. He just wishes their departures could have been spaced out a little more so he wouldn’t have to deal with Ra’s alone. 

Now, in the middle of god-knows-where in some North African country, he is alone. Crippled by some sort of Lazarus Pit magic that was blasted across his thigh and various sword-related wounds dotted around his torso and legs. He’s been in worse situations, but he’s also certainly been in better as well. With Alfred piloting the Batwing from the safety of the Batcave, he’s got about four hours until it arrives, and he can be brought back to his own domain. Back to safety. He hesitates at the idea of calling for help from Clark. The man has his own priorities, and it’s been an incessantly long time since he’s had time alone with his family without the stress of hero work. 

However, some priorities overrule others. 

“Clark, help me,” he whispers, voice cracking and hoarse after hours of fighting and sustaining injuries. As he treks away from the arena where Ra’s and Bruce fought (some secluded spot in the middle of a dessert - Bruce would personally guess Ethiopia due to the landmarks surrounding him, but he has been wrong before and wouldn’t be surprised if he was at this moment as well) and with the fact that Ra’s has been defeated in mind and handed into the local authority, he pushes forward. Every step through sand dunes feels as if he’s walking through treacle, and he can’t help but struggle with his own body as he reaches the crest of a particularly large mountain of sand. In the distance, the sparkling lights of a large city twinkle at him with the promise of assistance, but he highly doubts he’ll get there before he collapses to dehydration or his injuries. He’s already exhausted the little water he had in his utility belt and the bandages in it have already been used to patch up wounds of the highest severity. The strange green magic that Ra’s used on him made the material of his trousers stick to his left leg painfully, so he had to cut the cotton-Kevlar material off.  

So, there he is: trudging in the middle of some desert in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night - dehydrated, injured, and miserable with his incoming support not available for another several hours and half of his costume in disrepair. He can’t help feeling a little irritable towards his comrades for this, even if he is completely aware that it isn’t their fault. He was the one who deemed it too dangerous for his children to come with him to combat the Demon’s Head and made the incredibly intelligent decision to go alone. Even Alfred had urged him to go with one of his more mature children, but his fear of losing them after what happened to Jason put the rational part of his brain on autopilot in favour of the worried parent in him to disagree with every alternative. He can just hope that either his family or Clark finds him before it’s too late. 

That’s the last thought he has before he collapses, face first, into the sand. 

— 

He’s in and out of consciousness for a long time. When he’s got half a mind to take in his surroundings, Bruce notices that he is travelling. Rapidly. When he blinks, he’s in a vehicle, then lying down on something, then surrounded by darkness. He hears voices too, but they’re often mixed and warped together until he can’t discern whose is whose. Eventually, the soft timbre of Alfred reaches him, followed by the worried voice of his eldest son. It’s then when he realises he’s back in the Batcave and safe, so he closes his eyes again and stays like that for a while; not particularly in the mood for waking up. 

When he properly regains consciousness, he’s met with a pounding headache and a sharp ache overwhelming his legs and chest. Bruce opens his eyes and is immediately blinded by the bright LED of a medical light glaring down on him. He squints into it and brings his arm up to cover his eyes with a groan, and the room, which he didn’t realise was occupied by others, suddenly went silent.  

“Bruce? You’re awake!” That was the voice of his third son. 

“It was about time, Father. How was Grandfather?” That was his youngest. 

“Stop pestering him! Let him get his bearings before you overwhelm him with questions.” His eldest daughter. 

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t overwhelm me with questions at all. At least, not yet,” Bruce grumbles, attempting to sit up without triggering a massive headache and failing miserably. He slumps back on the hospital cot, closing his eyes. He feels a cool and damp fabric being placed on his forehead, realising that Alfred is busy doing his medical ministrations as he always does. 

“You gave us quite the scare, Master Bruce. I hope this acts as a lesson to not fight the League of Assassins without correct backup,” the butler states. Bruce sighs, the act causing pain to shoot through his ribcage. Ah, so he broke them.  

“I won, didn’t I?” he states, attempting humour. The joke falls flat in the now silent room and the man represses the urge to sigh a second time. 

“We all know that’s not the point here, Bruce.” His eldest son, Dick, steps forward and stands next to the cot where his father lies. “You gave Clark quite the scare.” 

That’s what gets Bruce to open his eyes. 

“He’s here?” 

“He’s upstairs in the Manor. He wanted to give you space.” 

He can’t suppress the sigh this time and it turns into a wince. 

“Damn it. Can you bring him down here? I want to apologise for keeping him from his family.” 

“Visiting hours are closed for a few hours,” Alfred states bluntly and shoots a poignant glare behind him at the several others in the room. They all look away, shuffling around awkwardly. “Unfortunately, your stubbornness is apparently hereditary.” He turns to face them all. “Children, Master Bruce is awake. You can come back later when he’s in a better state of mind and body.” As if on cue, Bruce groans in pain after a failed attempt to move his legs into a more comfortable position. 

“Right- yeah. Sorry, Alf. We’ll go.” Dick begins to turn away but stops himself halfway to the door. Once the others have left, he gives a meaningful look to his father.  

“Stop thinking you have to do everything alone, Bruce. You have friends. Act like it.” 

With that, he leaves, leaving the Dark Knight in the care of his butler and his own thoughts.

--

Will be posted on Ao3 later on :)

[devine-fem]

As someone who likes Damijon as both platonic and romantic…I don’t understand the obsession of certain antis bring up whole age gap thing when it comes to Damian and Jon. It’s getting really old and pissing me off at this point.

I can’t recall a fandom I’ve been in where antis kept bringing up an age gap between two characters.

Idk if I’m talking out of my ass but it sounds like as if antis think the fandom puts Damijon in sexual situations 24/7 when that’s not the case.

Jfc no one is forcing you to ship them if you don’t (it’s not even canon!) but don’t go around accusing the fandom as p*d*s just to make a point. ( I know in fandoms there some weirdos too but it doesn’t make up a whole)

Let the Damijon fandom enjoy whatever crumbles they are getting right now…because it’s really just crumbles at this point.

If those antis also consist of those who are our rival ships (they know who they are) like yall are getting canon content rn from DC if you’re upset with the quality of it speak with your wallet idk…???

Sorry for the rant it’s just for the most part Damijon fandom has been pretty chill (excluding Twitter that’s another can of worms) and I hate the accusations parts of the fandom love to make.

Yeah… people don’t talk about how Jon had to be 11 to Damian’s 13 before he left for space because they only read super sons, they never really look at any other source or think about their ages as more than that because tom taylor said out his mouth that they were 3 years apart when dissing the ship BUT he admits himself to not know their exact ages and that it could be a 2 year age gap.

So I just think of it as two years, and with two years I don’t really care because personally even in my youth I’ve been with people who are two years older with no issue because age alone doesn’t determine whether or not someone is taking advantage of you for obvious reasons. Age gaps are not tangible things, to some people what you consider weird is normal to someone else.

Then there’s the fact that neither Jon or Damian have birthdays. Damian was aged up for teen titans which people don’t seem to care about. Among other things like how Jon and Damian are the same age in most other universes… did you know that? Also, people like to say theres a maturity gap but forget that Damian was the immature one that picked fights. Plus, when characters grow up beside each other then it’s less ‘weird’ cause then they are expierencing similar traumas. It’s probably lots smaller then we think.

When I talk about them with a three year age gap then its probably platonic but sometimes romantic, two years then its sometimes platonic or romantic, one year, platonic or romantic and I stay between these because their age can slightly change their dynamic. It’s for fun, its exploring their platonic dynamic if it had elements of romance to it. Its interchangeable to me but for the most parts its two.

They are barbies that I play with at my own free will. They are not real people, they may imitate life but they do not infact replicate it.

So yeah… when they are young I only ever have really seen or interacted with media where J and D have not done more than maybe peck. Its just supposed to be cute and sweet.

Do people not understand the concept of the fact Jon and Damian should not be getting into a serious relationship while they are young or else it would go horribly wrong? Do they not understand that a lot of the ships appeal in the childhood friends TO lovers factor?

It kind of bothers me to be having to put the fact that I l hate Jonjay and like Daminika in my bio so people can get a feel for the type of person I am. And “rival” ships? there’s no rivalry, I don’t feel threatened by other peoples ships at all… especially if they’re canon… unless its like jonjay where the origin of the ship is inherently problematic, substanceless and built on character assassination… but we hate damijon and praise THAT? We say that damijon is worse than that? I’m sorry but jonjay to jon kent is jayroy to roy harper to me.

Twitter is very strange, very very strange people on that app to which this morning I had to uninstall because I KNEW that they would feel threatened by damijons today and hate profusely in response to it.

Although, you guys gotta put that age gap shit to bed…

Dami look 14 here to you? If Damijons are the ones who don’t read comics then how do we know that they are well in their 20s and 30s here. They are both consenting adults in main continuity that can do as they please here. You simply cannot say anything. No arguement can be supported now because now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

There was no point in hate the age gap really in the first place since time was always gonna heal it anyway???

But part of me kind of understands hating it if you experience fandom through twitter which is not a fandom app at all. Damijon stans are annoying and gross on twitter, I get it but not everyone is inherently horrible for obvious reasons.

[jackoshadows]

Readers: In canon, in the text of the books, Sansa and her friend Jeyne Poole bully and mock her little sister as being ugly, hairy and horse faced and wishing Arya was a bastard like Jon due to her appearance and behaviour and this is canonically one of the reasons for why Arya has low self-esteem and self-worth. For ex. Arya is surprised when Ned tells her she looks like Lyanna because Lyanna is beautiful while it’s been repeatedly drummed into Arya’s head that she is ugly.

Sansa stans: Why are people hating on a 11 year old more than rapists and murderers!! Why are they hating on her more than Ramsay Snow?! Why are they calling her a villain?! why are they saying she is worse than a child murderer!! How can she be worse than the Mountain?!! When Tywin exists how are they saying Sansa is more evil....

I fucking dare these people to find examples and highlight all the posts which say that Sansa is worse than rapists and murderers. Name and shame. Point out these posts! Let everyone know who it is who thinks that Sansa is worse than rapists and murderers because she bullied her little sister. Surely there must be many of these posts on the tags considering so many Sansa stans keep complaining about it. So link to them, post screenshots.

The lying and gaslighting, hypocrisy and double standards is what’s destroyed any semblance of proper discourse for these books. 

Are we no longer allowed to criticize characters and point out their flaws in this fandom? Is Sansa somehow exempt from criticism? Most of the main characters in this book are children, from Jon Snow to Rickon Stark. Daenerys is a child and yet she is not exempt from the ten thousand essays critiquing every aspect of her character arc. Robb Stark was a child and we critique his mistakes in leadership and behaviour. Jon Snow is a child and gets critiqued for his sexism and bullying. And yet none of this criticism triggers people so much as Sansa being called out on her bullying and classism. 

And the worst part is I truly would like to stop talking about Sansa if her stans didn’t show up on the Jon and Arya tags with their shite nonsense, rewriting relationships and downplaying bullying, sexism and classism. There’s only so much blocking one can do. 

By equating criticism of a child for bullying to murderers and rapists it’s Sansa Stans themselves who are making a connection between the two. No one else does it. A mention of a 11 year old being a bully suddenly conjures up rapists and murderers for her stans. Truly bizarre behaviour.

Like literally:

Jon Snow was a bully

Everyone: Ok

Sansa was a bully

Everyone: OMG why are haters saying she is worse than Ramsay Snow?! 😭

[dancingacrossthemilkyway]

cupping their cheeks and giving them a peck on the nose or lips - graveyard watch

It’s still a relatively new thing, whatever it is that is happening between them. Jon’s not stupid; he knows what’s going on, even if he doesn’t know if he’s ready to label it quite yet. The thing is…

It seems too convenient. Too good to be true. Jon doesn’t get nice things. No, Jon gets Leitners and burns, scars and worms and promotions that don’t make sense. Jon gets accused of murder, of manipulation, of having power that he doesn’t understand. Jon gets talked over and ignored and treated like garbage.

So how is he to believe that this man - this handsome, patient, laid-back man - has an actual interest in him?

“You’re thinking too much.” The voice is a baritone, speaking slowly but firmly as Oliver finishes his rounds with the plants decorating his flat. Jon furrows his brows and opens his mouth to protest, only to have Oliver raise an eyebrow and smirk at him. “You’re making the face again.”

“I- wha,” Jon sputters, scrubbing a hand over his face as Oliver chuckles and heads into the kitchen where the coffee is brewing. “I do not make a face.”

“You do. It looks something like this.” Oliver leans his hip against the counter and rests an elbow lazily on the old top as looks at Jon. He wrinkles his nose slightly and purses his lips, almost tilting them down, and scrunching his eyebrows just so to get a small crease between them. “It’s cute. I’d like it, if it didn’t usually mean you’re talking yourself out of something.”

“I, you - I’m not cute!” Another thing Jon doesn’t know quite how to accept is how casual Oliver is with compliments. They appear to be sincere ones, too, without any strings or expectations attached. Wrong, because Jon is hardly the cute type, but sincere nonetheless. 

“Yes, you are.” Oliver reaches into a cupboard to pull down two old mugs from the top shelf with an ease Jon envies. “But that’s not the point right now. What’re you thinking about?”

Jon immediately looks away. How does one admit they’re stuck struggling to believe that they’re worthy of someone’s attention? That the affection bestowed upon them makes them fearful that they’re somehow tricking someone into loving a version of them that doesn’t exist? He knows that it’s easy to tell he has poor self-esteem and even worse self-worth; Oliver had said as much when they’d first met in person. That should, in theory, make it easier to bring this up, shouldn’t it? 

But if he admits that he’s struggling, then he admits that he’s failing. Failing to be what Oliver needs him to be, failing to be a halfway decent partner in this relationship. And Oliver deserves so much more.

Warm hands cup Jon’s face suddenly, bringing him out of his mind to find Oliver crouching in front of him. “Hey,” Oliver says, nearly a whisper with how close they are. Concern is etched among the wrinkles of his face, affection laced in the words he speaks. “What’s wrong?”

Jon swallows. “What if…” he starts and god, he wants to duck his face to avoid seeing how Oliver reacts to him. He won’t. Oliver’s grasp is loose to allow him the freedom to do so, but he won’t. Even if he’s failing at every other aspect of this relationship, he will at least give Oliver this. “What if I’m not… good enough?”

Oliver’s eyes search his face for a long moment. “Good enough for?” he prompts after a second, even though Jon’s fairly certain he knows what Jon’s referring to.

Jon sighs, long and sad. “You.”

“Mmm.” Oliver rocks forward and places a soft kiss on Jon’s forehead, lingering long enough to ensure the skin continues to tingle after he pulls away. “It’s that kind of day, huh. Let me get the coffee and then why don’t we curl up under a blanket. Are there any documentaries you’d like to watch, or should I put on whatever catches my attention?”

Jon can’t explain it, can’t put into words why this reaction calms him more than if Oliver were to attempt to reassure him that he is good enough. He can’t put a lot of things into words, actually, about his turbulent emotions and how Oliver somehow manages to be a steady anchor through it. It doesn’t need to be verbalized, he supposes; that’s no what matters. Oliver reaches behind Jon to tug down the blanket he owns that is sinfully soft (one that Jon became obsessed with the first time he touched it) and drapes it over Jon’s shoulders. 

Clearing his throat, Jon pulls it tighter around himself. “A, uh. A documentary would be lovely.”

Oliver nods and hands him the remote. “Here. I’ll be right back out with drinks. Stay out of that head for me for a few minutes, okay?”

Jon chuckles. “Yeah. I’ll try.”

———

Prompt list

[northeasternwind]

Considering writing a short Frogwares Games/Canon (or more likely Granada since then I don't have to deal with Watson's marriage I'M SORRY MARY I JUST LIKE SIMPLICITY) crossover isekai thing where the wave at the end of The Awakened dumps frogwares!boys into a parallel dimension and now Canon Holmes and Watson have to sit here and watch going oh god. We're fathers now

Canon!Holmes: I think a trip to the Diogenes is in order here

Frogwares!Holmes: a trip to the what

Canon!Holmes: WHAT DO YOU MEAN A TRIP TO THE WHAT oh god it's worse than I thought

Poor Sherlock and Watson get to deal with their Cthulhu trauma by obtaining two middle-aged fathers. For literally zero reason I love the fanon that Holmes's father is the one who taught him to box, so he learns that Frogwares!Holmes can't box, immediately deduces half his tragic backstory, goes oh my god you poor child and then realizes holy shit I have an intellectual equal and I can teach him boxing.

Frogwares!Holmes is traumatized but maybe beating up his "older brother" will help. LMFAO.

My idea here is to posit that the fanon "eldest brother Sherrinford" does exist but died stillborn in Frogwares verse, causing the Holmes couple to wait a little longer between babies and making them more demonstrably affectionate toward the sons they did have. Canon Mycroft is as chill as he is because his parents were SUPER detached and he wasn't expected to inherit the estate, so Canon Holmes learns that Frogwares!Sherrinford and the Diogenes club don't exist and puts it all together like HEAD IN HANDS

(Meanwhile canon Watson can say FOR GOD'S SAKE DON'T GIVE HIM ANY DRUGS HE DOESN'T CONSENT TO, IT'S HARD ENOUGH KEEPING HIM AWAY FROM THE ONES HE DOES even though I suspect Frogwares!Holmes has a rather different relation with medicine in general OOP)

I haven't even STARTED on Jon yet, lordt

[atopvisenyashill]

🔥16, 24, 25 for the violence ask game

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

i mean the entire “dany will be the uncontested queen of westeros” boring bland been done a hundred times before ntm it’s not ~breaking the wheel~ she would essentially just be aegon the unlikely if he had dragons and we know that despite egg being a good goose at heart he wasn’t a particularly effective king! dany coming into her crown while everyone applauds does not engage with a single theme in this series. dany FAILING to get the crown? now that’s compelling!!!

for a slightly less “you talk that one to death” take, and probably a more cancelable one but i don’t think there has been any child on child bullying happening in this series. luke & jace think aemond is In On The Joke they have no idea that they’re hurting his feelings that much (which imo is clear when jace & aemond have that little missed moment at laena’s funeral! now that he knows aemond is bothered by the teasing bc jace, a bastard, is laughing at aemond, a true born targaryen, jace feels bad about it and aemond sees he feels bad about it and almost reaches for him!) and to me, that’s not bullying that’s children just not understanding boundaries yet. similarly, i don’t think sansa bullies arya; i think arya gives as good as she gets, and i also don’t think sansa is saying anything with malice. she makes those snide remarks about arya bc septa mordane does, and because sansa wants arya to be a “proper lady” so they can do proper lady stuff together. she’s very explicitly put out by arya running off with micah because she wanted to hang out!! arya and sansa both feel isolated at winterfell in their own ways bc they’re kids and a lot of kids feel like they don’t fit in - look at jon & theon too!

“what about aegon” what aegon does to aemond (and what aemond eventually does to aegon) is not “bullying” it’s way worse than that! bullying is like…when children see an “outsider” and isolate them with physical or verbal manipulation. what’s going on with those two is like out and out abusive family dynamics that’s not the same. “what about the driftmark brawl” i don’t know how to tell you that when an argument between children escalates to actual physical harm, it has left the realm of bullying and gone into “a fucking problem” 😭

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

objectively the most rancid is whenever anyone makes a single comparison involving arya & lyanna that isn’t comparing them to each other. sorry but “my favorite teenager is hotter than your favorite teenager” and “comparing these two practical toddlers to their parents is misogyny bc *fart noises*” is genuinely insane.

and for another less obvious take, i think there’s this weird discourse that pops up around kingsguard characters where people will just fully buy into the concepts of like, chivalry and courtly love being the ideal and say shit like “aemon is the best knight ever bc he died trying to save his evil brother” buddy if my lover OR brother died saving trump or even like, pritzker (who i genuinely like as a governor!) i would carve “died a loser” on their gravestone. why is it so virtuous to die for a bad man?? for a politician???? aegon was raping naerys practically NIGHTLY, let that bitch die!!!!!!! or the semi recent discourse about how arthur gerold and oswell were ~only protecting jon and lyanna~ or people unironically being like “jaime is a bad person for killing aerys” like how do you read affc and come away with this take.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

“bran/rhaenyra are boring” first of all if you got into the high fantasy series and are upset when characters are invested in the fantasy elements of their world, idk what to say but you played yourself. second of all mfers will say they only like the political story line but when rhaenyra talks about her birthright or bran uses magic to jack the throne suddenly it’s “we’ve already done this story before it’s boring”

[paper--machete]

idk if you did this before but ummm rank all qotsa albums including them crooked vultures

I'll do you one better! I'll include the desert sessions 11+12 cus imo it's too thoroughly produced to not include

10. lullabies to paralyze

no hate on lullabies but honestly the whole vibe of the record is just sooooo 2005. in my head has to be their worst song just because of how embarassing that chorus is and also there's just a lot of fluff, even the deep cuts on this album feel like throwaway tracks (which I would even say about my favorite songs on the album, tangled up in plaid and broken box). the whole album just feels like a radio-friendly attempt to prove they still had their edge after Nick was kicked out

favorite songs: tangled up in plaid, little sister, i never came, the blood is love, broken box

9. villains

villains gets too much hate. people always point to Mark Ronson for ruining the album but honestly I'm glad we live in the alternate timeline where qotsa made a pop album. the way you used to do is awesome (ESPECIALLY the live version), domesticated animals is awesome, un-reborn again is one of their best songs. hideaway has always sucked tho and I hate the ending of the evil has landed because it just sounds like they were trying to do 3s and 7s again for some reason (with the slide guitars and Josh going "way-ee-ay") but otherwise also one of their best songs. also I wanna mention that Jon Theodore is at his best on this album, you can really hear his background in prog shine through on certain songs

favorite songs: the way you used to do, domesticated animals, fortress, un-reborn again, the evil has landed

8. desert sessions 11+12

first and foremost noses in roses forever is one of the best songs jho has ever written. DS11/12 basically feels like josh decided he wanted to do his own Gorillaz style collaborative project thanks to the increased production values and honestly it just makes me want another desert sessions release just like it.... which contradicts the other thing I wanted to say which is that there's really no album that sounds like 11/12 out there. nowhere else will you hear a song like chic tweetz because any other album would’ve left it on the cutting room floor for being too stupid. i love it

also I wanna say that i think crucifire is for royal blood what ultralight beam was for chance the rapper lmao

favorite songs: noses in roses forever, chic tweetz, easier said than done

7. in times new roman

damn I'm surprised the recency bias isn't getting to me on this one lmao. ITNR has a lot of really good songs on it but put together into an album it really feels like they’re just treading old ground. (I was originally gonna write a review of it when it came out titled “new dog, old tricks”). despite this there’s a lot of great stuff, paper machete and emotion sickness are two of my fav qotsa songs and straight jacket fitting might be their best closer? idk. this would be higher if it didn’t just feel like a “more of the same” type album

favorite songs: paper machete, negative space, made to parade, emotion sickness

6. self-titled

this placement hurts so much because like a year and a half ago this wouldve been #2 😭 anyway i love the self titled so much because it sounds so different from the rest of their discography… you can hear alot of the leftover kyuss influence in the heavier songs and riff writing, plus what other album is gonna try some crazy shit like walkin on the sidewalks or hispanic impressions? (btw hispanic impressions is their most underrated song) also the expanded edition is better for having spiders and vinegaroons but worse for having droids

favorite songs: regular john, avon, how to handle a rope, hispanic impressions, you can’t quit me baby

5. songs for the deaf

i’ve always had beef with songs for the deaf…. i’ve always felt like the best songs on it are so good that they make the lesser songs seem worse in comparison. like another love song is great but when it’s sandwiched between god is in the radio and song for the deaf its like. well obviously this is one of the weaker songs on the album. anyway it’s still good, being the other nick-era qotsa album you can really hear the collaboration between the band’s all-star lineup across the whole thing

favorite songs: hanging tree, go with the flow, god is in the radio, song for the deaf, mosquito song

4. them crooked vultures 

TCV is just a really, really solid album. the sequencing is great, the songs are all great, the musicians are all at their A game, ESPECIALLY josh as it’s not an unpopular opinion to say this album is where he really started tapping into his skills as a vocalist. while i consider TCV to be the honorary bonus qotsa album, i feel like it also manages to stand on its own thanks to the creative contributions of dave grohl and john paul jones.

favorite songs: mind eraser no chaser, dead end friends, bandoliers, warsaw, spinning in daffodils

3.5. over the years and through the woods

maybe I'm biased cus qotsa brainworms but the dvd of this is the best concert film/album I've ever heard. there's a perfect balance between songs being played as they are on the record and songs having things tweaked or even reworked entirely, which is something i’m picky about when it comes to concerts (i saw jack white two years ago and he changed waaaaay too many songs :P) also there’s a lot of neat little bonus things in the set, like an early version of make it wit chu, another desert sessions track (covered in punk’s blood) and of course the live performance of fun machine which is a top 3 song for them and always will be

favorite songs: feel good hit of the summer, avon, little sister, you can’t quit me baby, the fun machine took a shit and died

3. rated R

rated R is a perfect album! i think its greatest strength is its sequencing tbh, it succeeds at both giving the impression of it being a concept album (while not necessarily conforming to the concept) as well as having a super diverse tracklist where no two songs sound alike. also characteristic of nick-era qotsa, i love how rated R isn’t afraid to have short songs or long songs, though unlike on songs for the deaf the short/long songs here feel like they don’t sacrifice length for substance relative to other songs. 

favorite songs: feel good hit of the summer, leg of lamb, auto pilot, better living through chemistry, i think i lost my headache

2. era vulgaris

there is no album that sounds like era vulgaris. why does misfit love sound like that? why does battery acid sound like that? WHY DOES I’M DESIGNER SOUND LIKE THAT??? it’s so fucking weird and rich with ideas, there isn’t a single moment on era vulgaris where the band isn’t trying something new. even my least favorite songs on here have something new and unique to offer while also being the most fucked up little beast creature thing youve ever heard.

favorite songs: turnin on the screw, i’m designer, into the hollow, 3’s and 7’s, run pig run

1. ...like clockwork

i’m an artsy kid, i like artsy albums, and i love like clockwork for how mature it is. every song feels like a statement, an emotion concentrated into a 4-minute masterpiece. while the lows on here are lower for me than on other albums, they still make important contributions to the album experience as a whole (not to mention the highs soar, i appear missing and fairweather friends are top 5 material for them. I appear missing might even be top 1 tbh.) i’m out of things to say so uhhh yeah like clockwork is my favorite :)

favorite songs: i sat by the ocean, the vampyre of time and memory, fairweather friends, i appear missing

[f1-disaster-bi]

Now I’m just having more Party au thoughts 🙈

How would Party au Lando handle this F1 season? All the highs and the lows and the expectations and pressure of finally having a good car. Finally winning in Miami and the celebrations afterwards. The contact with Max in Austria and anger afterwards followed by the fear of losing that friendship. The disappointment of losing Silverstone when he was so close and blaming himself. Daniel’s season not being great and the threat of him not being on the grid anymore and being close every weekend to support Lando…

Anon, you and me both right now! I actually just a message to Birb with a whole idea for a little Party au drabble/prompt based on this past weekend.....

I may also be thinking about Koa meeting Leo and Roscoe 👀

This season would definetly be stressful for both Lando and Daniel in different ways.

Lando might have the pressure of his first win off his shoulders but he also now has the pressure of being in a top car and being able to fight for wins. People have turned from talking about him having no wins to fixating on every little mistake, talking about him as if he will never win again, a one hit wonder, and Lando, at first, adjusts to the pressure saying he has already proven himself. He does go back to having a meeting every two weeks with his therapist instead of the monthly meeting that they've dropped down to, and that helps.

It's the triple header that has him really struggling because he catches that cough that won't go away. He's sick and he's tired. He's trying to be the partner Daniel needs and encouraging Daniel to keep up with his own therapist, and being a comfort to him but by the end of Austria Lando is struggling. A lot of what he said in the media came from him worrying about Max and their friendship but also Max's sobriety and his own because for the first time in about a year, Lando want's to drink. He wants to leave the paddock and go buy a bottle of vodka and sit in the dark and drink and that scares him so he's just a bit of a wreck, Luckily, he flies home with Alex and Daniel, and they help distract him and Lando goes straight to a meeting the next day and meets up with his sponsor and does what he can to stop a relapse, and he tells Daniel that he scared himself.

Silverstone is the nail in the coffin and Lando is just really struggling but he isn't hiding it. He's honest with his friends and Daniel, with his sponsor and therapist, with Jon. He doesn't try to go it alone and that is what saves him from a possible relapse.

Daniel is also struggling throughout all this with negative thoughts and the media speaking shit about him. He knows he might lose his seat. He knows the car isn't the best and that he's struggling to prove being on the grid when RB have drivers waiting in the wings to be called up so he's trying to fight for his seat and to stay on the grid. Mentally, it's draining, and it only gets worse when he sees Lando going into the triple header looking like he's struggling because he's always worried about Lando in the same way Lando worries about Daniel.

Before that, he was able to be there to support Daniel and his worries about his season, but after the triple header both of them are a little raw and know they need to be there for each other without hurting themselves in the process. Luckily, they have a great couples therapist that they see every so often to help them navigate things like this so they know how to support each other without sacrificing their own needs. They spend a lot of time just comforting each other physically rather than verbally. Lots of soft touches and hugs, lots of cuddles and sweet kisses, hands on shoulder/thighs/backs, just being present for the other to lean on. They do talk as well but they find the physical comfort helps them both.

They spend most of the break between Silverstone and Hungary just hiding away together. Just taking time to heal, to get their heads right and reconnect with each other and disconect with the world for a bit until they're both feeling better.

It's still a struggle, but they have each other's backs and they work together to make sure they're both okay

[findafight]

i like stonathan and fics where they're friends but i also feel like the cheating goes from bad to worse in those fics. like if they become friends after it's not quite so bad but then i do feel like there's more of an argument for jonathan having a moral/good friend obligation to tell steve what actually happened. but in fics where they're friends pre s2 it's honestly kind of evil of jonathan to do that then just let nancy lie and never say anything himself. i've seen both cases in fics and it always really bothers me.

ya like. i sort of see it as, if they're friends/interact friendly, maybe Jonathan thinks Nancy told Steve? It's not the best start to a relationship, and maybe they just don't talk about it really (they seem to avoid their issues together) So I see Jonathan, if they were friends, being super awkward about it and avoiding Steve(who wants to be around their girlfriend's ex that she cheated on with you?), but not realizing Nancy hadn't told Steve what happened. so that's how it slips out, if Jon talks to Steve after to apologize? and it causes more issues between the three of them and probably causes issues between Jonathan and Nancy too.

but if they are friends/friendly and Jonathan knows Nancy didn't confess.... gross and nasty and bad and on the verge of unforgivable for Steve. It's Nancy's responsibility but you're right there's some kind of obligation/morality in either encouraging her to tell Steve or doing it for her. Because if they were to try to form platonic relationships with Steve, the betrayal would be that much worse if he found out later.

Stonathan AND Stancy either romantic or platonic both require Steve to know what happened. Idk I think it'd fuck Steve up if he were to become Jon's friend post S2 only to find out later Nancy cheated with him. There's be a lot of confusing emotions and betrayal.

At this point in canon no one has told him and no one seems to feel at all guilty about it (because canon doesn't believe Steve was cheated on, even though getting together with someone less than two days after breaking up with your almost year long partner is still pretty hurtful). Nancy and Jonathan seemingly sometimes make fun of Steve behind his back (something I've only really done with friends exes who we don't see anymore, not someone who you still see pretty regularly. Nancy still at the very least sees around town but possibly more with him giving Dustin/max rides?) that scene with them at hop's cabin where Nancy says Steve has grown up doesn't seem like it's 'someome we both know does stuff that annoys us but it is kinda funny' complaining and more 'lets laugh about your stupid ex we don't like' (which is fine to do, just. Maybe I wouldn't do it about a guy who saved my and my sibling's lives separately at least twice that I'd see because he's still friends with my sibling's friends...) It's not like STEVE was the one that broke NANCY'S heart.

At this point I don't think the monster hunting trio will be able to have a good friendship, just because it would be too lopsided with Nancy and Jon not respecting Steve, Steve and Nancy having too much history, and Steve and Jon not liking each other.

[rise-my-angel]

The thing with R/L shippers and their annoying push back when anyone brings up the super dark undertones of that relationship is that they have convinced themselves the show depiction of R/L is more or less what will happen in the books/is GRRM's intent. Which is hilarious because the people who ship R/L are almost always Dany/targ stans who think Dany breaking bad, being the final villain, and Jon/the Starks being antagonistic to her and taking her down was complete Benioff and Weiss fanfic. Which...lmao...I have a bridge to sell them.

In general, I've noticed this with the remaining book fandom, there is very much an undertone in their 'theories' and 'speculations' of 'everything I liked in the last four seasons of GOT totally came from GRRM and will totally happen in the books, and everything I didn't like was total fanfic, not Martin's intention at all, and will not happen.' Which, once again lmaooo and good luck with that!

Side note, the show depiction of R/L was hilarious. The writers had to magic away Rhaegar's marriage in one of the dumbest plot points on that show, and then attempted to magic away Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon's existence/deaths. They also had to magic away Rickard and Brandon's existence/deaths. Gave zero explanation as to why and how and what happened between R/L. The writers really made R and L into two sociopaths who they wanted viewers to romanticize, but only the opposite ended up happening. The absolute dragging they received from the fandom was INSANE lmao.

Anyway, I think the lack of any development of R and L by the writers to the point where Jon didn't even state how he felt about their relationship might indicate that the book version Benioff and Weiss were told was problematic and they just didn't want to open up that can of worms. But instead their writing choices made R and L even more hated and worse than I think GRRM intended. Just the most hilarious writing choices.

The fact that where the first substantial introduction to the nuances of this plot was scrapped entirely tells me that Benioff and Weiss had no idea what kind of character they wanted Rhaegar to be. We don't truly see anything of the Tower of Joy until late in season 6 in some half baked Bran Greensight vision. But if they did it properly, that Tower of Joy scene should have been all the way in season 1.

Open episode 6 of season 1 with the Tower of Joy flashback as it is depicted in the books. Then slowly transition into Ned waking up in bed after his fight in the street with Jaime Lannister. That is how early in the books the seeds of that mystery were planted, but they never even begun to tackle it until the end of season 6.

Which is bizarre, beacuse they actually shot themselves in the foot already. Show Robert is so much more nuanced of a character in his book counterpart. The way he talks about Rhaegar and the way he lements a genuine heartache over Lyanna is so much more dynamic then what we got from book Robert.

What I could critizise from the books, should have been fixed in the show. They proved they could. They turned what is a pretty black and white unlikeable character in Robert to someone who is as problematic as he is tragic. He is so much more human and that should have been the perfect set up happening at the same time Ned is beginning to experience his traumatic dreams and flashbacks about Lyannas death.

That despite Roberts heartbreak, there is something so much darker then Ned is letting on that is now spiralling him into having consistent trauma reactions over it.

If this were a love story, why would Ned twenty years later be so utterly haunted by it in a way he had long since pushed down?

Also the annulment is...I don't have words for how impossible it is.

I'd literally have to make a whole separate post to explain why that annulment subplot literally could never have happened.

And like, Jon had no reaction because they did not care about using it properly. The revelation of who Jons mother is has always been about Jons personal journey with identity, and making sense the parts of his father he never understood and the sacrifices he made to protect him. It's supposed to be about Jon realizing he was never the bastard who accidentally ruined his fathers honour. It's about Jon realizing he had a mother who loved him and watched over him in their home his entire life, and that Ned Stark chose Jon to be his son all on his own.

It's about Jon learning his mother died loving him feircly begging to keep him safe, and that Jon wasn't Neds son by accident. He was Neds son by choice out of love.

But they only used it to fuel half baked drama about the Iron Throne because at that point all Jon was there to do, was act as an accesory on Danys arm. He was no longer his own character by then so of course he has no reaction. He wasn't told because it was meant to impact him. Jons secret was revealed soley to add drama to Dany's narrative.

R+L=J was never meant to be about Jon's Targaryean side. It was meant to be about Jon learning he had a mother who died protecting him, and that Ned chose to ruin his own reputation because he decided to raise and love Jon as his own.

It was supposed to be about Jon learning who his mother is, why she isn't here, and how that heals all of the hurt left behind that Jon didn't understand about Ned.

It was never supposed to be about Rhaegar or the Targaryeans.

But I mean the second I saw they aged Lyanna up to the the oldest in the show I checked out. I knew they did that beczuse they couldn't portray a 14-15 year old girl marrying a 25+ year old man without the obvious implciations of at the very least, grooming a minor.

They knew this wasn't a romance, but that is too hard of a story to tell, a forbidden romance is so much easier. It was done only out of convience. They had to do something about that mystery, and so they took the easiest route and only ever mentioned it when it pertianed to adding drama to Dany's personal narrative.

[agentrouka-blog]

My favourite thing when anons want to stir trouble is that like, inevitably they have consistent misspelling habits which mean you know exactly who it is sending repeat asks. So unself-aware.

Anyway, I do think there is a balanced path between the text and what the author says. GRRM's comments about Sansa are about as light as they could come. I love when people want to ungenerously frame the debate as if she's tantamount to Tyrian or Daenerys, come on. Girl took a steak knife to see a drunken knight in the godswood. The most harm she's going to inflict is driving Jon crazy with the incest. I'm trying to be lighthearted here.

Anyway, Rouka, what's your opinion on author vs. text? How much is too much, relying on the former? On the other hand, with the Daenerys is a tragic hero fandom, there's a lot of outright twisting of the text. Does relying on the author's comments provide some clarity or just make the conversation harder, since one would want to reason based on the text? Thank you for your time and your graceful handling of us terrible anons 🥰

(The posts referenced: one and two)

(I'm chronically bad at recognizing these individuall spelling patterns. Unless they make it obvious, every anon is a newborn dawn to me.)

Hello and thank you!

For me, the actual text of the books should always be central when it comes to actually analyzing the books. (You know. Obviously.) Interviews can be nice, but should be absolutely optional to any of it. If you NEED an interview to support your position, you're not analyzing the text.

Perhaps I am biased because I can't be bothered to follow GRRM interviews, let alone dig up ancient ones - unless I am feeling especially motivated.

But also, most of the time we don't have a lot of good context for GRRM's quotes. How exactly a question was phrased, what direction the conversation went before it, how distracted or rushed was GRRM when answering, how likely is it he actually managed to get across exactly what he meant, and how easily can it get twisted around? Who edited and published it? Worse, did it go through a translation process?

Take the "Aragorn's Tax Policy" quote that still has people frothing at the mouth. People hear him mention Tolkien and lose all sense of nuance. No, he's not describing how his endgame king will be elected on his tax plan. He's giving context for parts of ADWD. That's it. Still people wail about what an evil hypocrite GRRM supposedly is because Bran was crowned king in the show without a single published treatise on his taxation policy.

Same with some commentary on the show, specifically Dany with Drogo. I've had people in my Inbox arguing for Rhaegar/Lyanna because GRRM is obviously okay with adult men preying on teenaged girls based on that interview. Which... you know, actually read Dany's chapters? Please?

The books, on the other hand, were not blathered out in a hurry. They are not a commentary on a text, they are the text. A labor of many hours of writing, editing, rewriting and more editing. They are complete and fully intentional in their form. They are the message.

So, while I admire how someone who knows what they are doing is able to create a brilliant body of supporting evidence on book content by compiling quotes in a meaningful way, often with good sources and context - looking at you here, @kellyvela - these lovely metas should never be considered necessary to understanding the text, and they should certainly neither replace nor supercede it. They augment the experience of it.

Knowing GRRM approved on the Meereenese Blot essays is nice.

But you don't need to know them, nor what GRRM thinks of them, in order to arrive at the same conclusion.

Knowing GRRM agrees with the statement that "Brienne is Sansa with a sword" is nice.

But you need never have heard of that quote in order to understand the similarities between these two idealistic, dutiful female characters.

He called Tyrion a villain, which is nice.

But you can arrive at that same conclusion by reading the books.

On the other hand, you can take one quote about the Key Five Characters from a decades-old outline that deviates from established plot in multiple significant instances, and then try and justify dismissing the importance of other characters. You just need to ignore the published text in order to do it!

So I just can't take that anon seriously when they gesture wildly at some quote about Sansa while ignoring the way it's entirely contradicted by the actual body of the text.

And if some members of the fandom have a habit of very selectively reading the text then this makes their analysis suspect, so what's really the point of arguing with someone who isn't really interested in analysis in the first place?

If "she burned a slave alive" or "she is ordering her servant to please her sexually" or "she condons torture even while she knows its useless" or "she ordered the murder of children" isn't going to convince them, an interview snippet isn't going to do it, either.

[horizon-verizon]

The fact that there are people who sincerely ship Nettles & Daemon, while bashing Daemyra for being grooming is... baffling. They would therefore find it normal / synonymous with great romance for a 49 year old man to have a romance with a 17 year old girl (I believe that George never positively represented this type of age difference) who does not uneducated and always lived on the street, how to stand, eat, dress, wash, etc. and who Norren would have father/daughter vibes... Like, wtf? That would just seem quite bizarre and unhealthy. Most find it as an excuse that Norren misinterpreted the relationship because he doesn't really know Daemon... No, but lol. Remember, we're talking about people claiming that Daemon groomed Rhaenyra. And these people claim to know the character of Daemon. 😂 Daemon is a gray character, there's no way I'm interpreting him as abusing Nettles, or even having a romantic relationship with her. Literally, what romance?! The things associated with them can be easily interpreted other than in a romantic and or sexual way, between the historical context and even simply the characters and their characterization as well as possible development. It amazes me that so many people are convinced that there is a great love story between these two, when there is not much about them in the end. We have the questionable testimony of Mushroom, the fact that they took baths, in the platonic section, and where Daemon actually teaches Nettles to wash, so well, people are free to necessarily see that as sexual, even if it's a little weird in my opinion... A lot of people argue that no, Nettles was old enough to know how to wash, so it wasn't platonic but uh... We're talking about the girl who lived alone and on the street all his life. How do you realistically want her to have a healthy lifestyle? And the fact that maybe, or not, they shared a bed. But even then, it's not enough to confirm if there was sex between them. And I'm not even talking about that moment when Caraxes breaks the windows when Nettles leaves and everyone sees the proof of an ultimate love when we don't know what Daemon has in mind at that moment. . I always saw Nettles leaving as a breaking point for Daemon after all the shit he's been through since the start of the war. Like, the extra drop that makes it implode. But I could never see them as romantic or sexual.

For me, the Nettles & Daemon relationship was both father/daughter, mentor/student, friends, companions/comrades in war.

They ship Daemon x Nettles because they hate Daemon or/and Rhaenyra for being Targs, having incest and dragons (meanwhile the Westerosi lords have the greenlight to marry first cousins), for being Alicent's enemy (meanwhile Alicent is a misogynist, power hungry person who targeted a 10 year old and never stopped), or for Rhaenyra's nonconformity to gendered codes of conduct within a feudal patriarchy (thinking her a betrayer to her house, a slut, ugly for her weight, refusal to treat her siblings as siblings [Alicent's fault], etc -- misogyny). Meanwhile they do not realize that they are supporting a feudal patriarchal mindset or that GRRM himself writes against patriarchy and bastardry's value through how after Rhaneyra women in Westeros like Jeyne Pool, Alys Karstark, Asha Greyjoy, and Cersei, even Targ women like Maerys, have it much worse than if Rhaenyra had been allowed to rule. I mean, Jon Snow! Have people forgotten that they love him?!

Most do not have knowledge of the nonprivacy medieval people would be used to. Or they do not care because they already believe that Daemon is the groomer and pedophile of the story despite:

a pedophile targets a child with the awareness, mind and knowledge that their target is a child (Daemon approaches Rhaenyra for her position and attractiveness; Rhaenyra was considered an adult by age 16 and inherited the actual right to rule Dragonstone like any other lord with their land and like every other noble girl she would have been married if her father had a mind to it....which he does, seeing as he marries her at 17 to Laenor, who was 20)

many examples of older men marrying younger girls in arranged marriages both in real life medieval history and in Westerosi history: Daenerys Targaryen [15] and Maron Martell [40]: Corlys [37] and Rhaenys [16]; Maegor I Targaryen [13] and Ceryse Hightower [23] --- which shows they know nothing of ASoIaF or how GRRM writes (he usually writes negatively of huge age gaps but he doesn't write negatively of age gaps in general and he always writes the gaps in context of their political circumstances)

so the thought of Daemon possibly not grooming a single girl or going after them for their recognized childhood is inconceivable to them.

Or they believe Mushroom when he says Daemon "taught" Rhaenyra lessons and had sex with her out on the rocks of the Blackwater Bay....meanwhile Mushroom also says that he was there at times with D and R, participating , that he has a huge penis (several times) AND he could never have been at those rocks to witness for himself what D and R were doing....please.