#im only used this many people in like the crisis crossovers

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Ah so,, Tim temporarily donned the Red Robin costume to hide a burn on the back of his head, and to fight the man (not Jason) who had been wearing it previously

[cosmicmordecai]

Batman vs Robin #1 Proves Why The General DCU Needs To Distance Itself From The World Of Batman

Its been a while since i’ve ever posted any kind of content relating directly to comic books but today’s issue of Batman vs Robin just was too much to be kept in silence. As much of a Batman fan I am, there’s also many things I favor in the DC Universe and its very irritating to be reminded of DC’s self-fulfilling prophecy.

(Spoilers ahead)

I'm just going to say it; Damian Wayne's issues with Batman are not compelling enough to have a possession storyline with him that includes wrecking up the entire mythos of the mystic side of DC Universe as a way to showcase the stakes involved with him being possessed and on the side of the Devil Nezha.

Firstly, I find it ridiculous there’s another storyline with Damian acting as an antagonist. Never mind the fact his heritage makes re-treading this murky territory and his fans are tired of it (some even find it racist) but my problem with him is that he’s Batman’s biological son so he’s gonna be pushing the bar. Of course he’s empowered far above Jakeem Thunder & Tim Hunter. Of course he thinks the literal most powerful mystic objects in DC are insufficient to taking down Batman. Of course Batman finds Damian to be a credible threat and not a 15 year old he can put in his place. Im tired of Damian (and by extension, Batman characters) getting into situations that narratively props their conflicts far moreso than general DCU character that hardly get to do shit.

Secondly, Nezha and Damian's actions (possessed or otherwise) having this wide of a effect on the DC Universe's magical verse is precisely the reason why Batman's world needs to stay in it's own corner. You have Justice League Dark and God's former agent of vegance all compromised and incapactiated to showcase the stakes Damian is involved in with Nezha. Why is this important you may ask?

If your defense for this is because Batman sells, well you're right. You want a cookie for an obvious answer? But here's the dealio: it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Batman's stories are the only time where DC has any REAL stakes on par with actual events like Dark Crisis. The mere fact that this story is taking place at the same time as Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths should tell you something. How can anything else sell if nothing really matters or Batman matters more? Thanks to a empowered/possessed Damian, the world of magic is turned upside down. It's one of the selling points of it being a big stake event for Batman. Now what is the Justice League Dark title having going on in their own corner? NOTHING BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE A TITLE. IT GOT REGULATED TO A BACKUP BEFORE JUSTICE LEAGUE GOT CANCELLED.

One also has to ask WHY the magic characters and Justice League Dark in particular? The answer is pretty simple: it's a easy way to make the event look large AND make people look good. Dark Crisis did the same thing where all the magic characters are already aware the Great Darkness was up to some shit and just hid away. Part of their role is to showcase the continually larger stake at hand while also hinting towards said Darkness perhaps being manipulated. Just like Dark Crisis, Batman vs Robin uses magic characters to show off just how powerful Nezha is and how much more powerful he has/can make Damian. Just look at how the Justice League Dark is incapacitated. Look at how Nezha resides in the Tower of Fate, implied to have beaten Doctor Fate in his own place of power and uses it as a makeshift base of operations and can offer artifacts that ordinarly serve as plot mcguffins themselves. Even titles like Flash are guilty of doing this, as there was a JLD crossover with them fighting Eclipso. Wally got to save the day after finding out the bad guy's plan because of SCIENCE (the current Doctor Fate literally had to get a bachelor of science but I guess magic characters are stupid outside magic), saved the JLD from possession, and was immune to Eclipso because God loved him and is proud of him (nevermind the fact a Muslim character was involved in the plot heavily).

It's writing and portrayals like this that gives Marvel Comics an edge. While I'm not saying they're not above pulling this off themselves, it's pretty notable that Marvel has various books covering different characters potentially getting coverage that can impact their future on the big screen that may not inheretly step on other character(s) while DC/Warner Bros have to rely on Batman-centric books and events to sell things because they find it difficult to capitalize on their own comic book characters for anything. My Flash example also showcases this idea that in order to elevate something, someone has to be pushed down is a common thought process and it seems the JLD are contendable targets for years to come.

You'll notice that in all this, I didn't focus on Damian much or Alfred or any of the plot-relevant details. That is the case because I'm not wanting to put full care into that even though I read this to see Alfred's return. Not everyone wants to care about what's happening in Batman's world. There are people yhat like to see other aspects of DC be respected and treated with care and some don't even want to be involved in Batman's stuff. But books like this is what we get when those who want to follow magical-related characters are somewhat interested in a crossover; disrespected.

I wrote this because despite this happening, people are praising the issue because Damian/Bruce conflict and Alfred and I'll be damned if I can't raise awareness on the nonsense happening in this book. It is things like this that has significant limited my purhcase of ongoing series. The only Bat-related book I support is Sword of Azrael. It is sad that my favorite titles like Aquaman and Justice League Dark no longer gets ongoings while Batman's stuff can keep going even in it's medicority to bad stories phase. I think DC Comics, as a whole, needs to start seriously respecting their non-Batman titles if they hope to captialize on anything else not Batman.

[fancyfade]

hotchocolatier replied to your post

How does this event happen??

Wait never mind, don’t want to give you a headache trying to explain one of the crazy crisis crossover events

no its ok i want to challenge myself by seeing if i can explain it

*spoilers for comics that came out 15 years ago to follow. also first im gonna summarize the comic, then what I believe the most relevant fallout/results of the comic are

under cut

realized this will be incomprehensible without explaining who’s whom so first i’ll have major players

Major players:

maxwell lord: Black King of checkmate (he has some authority basically) with powerful mind control abilities

Brother eye: spy satellite built by batman to keep an eye on the metahuman community

OMACs: People injected with nanobots that transform them into cyborgs capable of combatting metahumans. they have pre-programmed defenses agianst various metahumans and when they know who they are fighting they can be pretty effective

Alexander Luthor: lex luthor from earth 3 (earth 3 is basically the earth where the good guys are bad and the bad guys are good).

checkmate: a US government agency that has a bunch of spies and stuff? I haven’t read many checkmate comics sorry.

Locations:

Earth One (the earth most of hte comics take place on, the “main” earth)

Earth Two (the earth that allowed superheroes to age and have kids until 1986, when it was retconned out of existence due to crisis of infinite earths)

ok now to events

identity crisis - this event “kicks” off infinite crisis I guess.the main important events are it was revealed that dr light raped sue dibny and some justice league members (carter hall hawkman, barry allen flash, hal jordan green lantern, dinah lance black canary, oliver queen green arrow, zatanna, and someone I must have forgotten) were torn on what to do. some of them suggested re-writing dr light’s mind so he wasn’t a rapist anymore VIA zatanna’s magic powers. they voted and re-writing his mind won so zatanna did. batman stumbles in while zatanna is re-writing dr lights mind, is horrified and tries to stop them. they erase 10 minutes of batman’s memory to make him forget what he saw. they also revealed they wiped previous villains memories when the villains discovered their secret identities during a body swap episode. anyway in the main murder plot its revealed that jean loring (ray palmer atom’s ex wife) killed sue dibney on accident using atom’s shrinking belt. she was trying to scare everyone so they would reunite with their loved ones and just intending on fake kidnapping sue. however she accidentally gave her a stroke colliding into her at a quick speed while tiny. she then lit sue’s body on fire to cover up the cause of death

results of identity crisis: Death of sue dibny, death of captain boomerang, death of jack drake (tim drake’s dad). Villains who get their memories back are pissed off, the league is fractured (emotionally). Batman, feeling betrayed by the league and his own mind, creates brother eye, a spy satellite to keep track of metahuman activity and make sure nothing like what happened to him can happen again

society of supervillains - this isn’t a comic plotline, just a thing that was going on: sometime around this time, alexander luthor from earth 3 disguises himself as lex luthor to try to put together a society of every single supervillain on earth (except for the joker). even losers like roderic from hawkman are evidently invited. deathstroke, as what must be the world’s busiest man/ the society’s only spokesperson, seems to be going around in other comic titles trying to recruit people. he gives the new sabaac (gregor, the russian mobster) the power of the seven deadly sins so he can become a real lord of hell or something. he subcontracts out 3 dudes to black mask to try to convince him to throw in with the society. etc. IIRC he also killed catman’s lions but its been a while since i read the catman comic cuz it didn’t have characters i cared about in and it bad so i didnt re read it this time. calculator also works as the bad guy’s oracle here and orace also temporarily has control of lex luthor’s spy satellites, which calculator is supposed to get back from her (he fails). calculator works as an information broker for the bad guys

results of this society: Deathstroke shows up in some solo titles, some of the marvels are kidnapped or attempted kidnapped (mary marvel is freed by the outsiders). its mostly there to put a big threat for the heroes as far as I can tell.

omac project v1 blue beetle: Ted Kord (the second blue beetle) is investigating some missing kryptonite from his warehouse (100 lbs of it from when supergirl crashed down). the missing kryptonite was only stolen to cover up teh fact that the thieves ACTUALLY wanted something that wasn’t delivered yet (some... microwave or electromagnetic pulse thing? IT was used to deactivate some omacs nonlethally in a later plotline). ted starts trying to investigate what is going on, the resulting investigation winds up with booster gold being injured in an explosion that was meant for ted. eventually ted finds out that maxwell lord, the black king of checkmate has all of the superhero’s personal information and was spying on them via brother eye (the spy satellite batman made). he also create omacs (lord, not batman) to get rid of the metahumans of the world who he views as too much of a threat to be allowed to live. he tries to convince ted to join his cause because ted is not a meta, then shoots him in the head when he can’t. ted kord deletes some of hte files before he died

results of omac project v1 blue beetle: Ted kord dies. i think the fact that he deleted some files was  supposed to imply he messed up maxwell lord’s plan and they had to do something sooner than expected? But i cant remember

omac project v2 wonder woman kills maxwell lord: Sasha, who was a knight in checkmate working for maxwell lord, is clearly disapproving of what he does but too afraid to outright stand up to him because he has mind control. max stages a coup in checkmate and has jessica midnight (under mind control) shoot the other heads of checkmate (black queen, white king and black king). sasha just stands by and does nothing due to the aforementioned fear of just getting herself killed or mind controlled if she tries to stop him. when she and some other checkmate agents are tasked with disposing of blue beetle’s body, she sneaks out his goggles and mails them to bruce (marking them as from the bordeaux region in france so he’ll know they’re from her). she tries to meet bruce but then is kidnapped by omacs and taken back to maxwell lord. bruce lets the rest of the justice league know ted is dead and maxwell lord is responsible. obviously this is just part one because then its revealed that maxwell lord has been over the course of years subverting superman’s mind to prep him for brain control so he can force superman to do what he wants. he makes superman attack people and injure batman badly enough that it is dramatic but not so badly he doesn’t heal quick enough to be in the rest of the plots without commentary. he has superman attack wonder woman when wonder woman is coming after him for killing ted kord. wonder woman and superman fight. wonder woman winds up throwing her magic tiara thru superman’s neck to buy some time ot interrogate maxwell lord via lasso of truth. maxwell lord reveals that the only way to permanently end his influence over superman is to kill him (maxwell lord) so wonder woman does. superman, who just got released from brainwashing and is bleeding out from the throat and just saw his friend snap someone’s neck is understandably freaked out. its also revealed that brother eye recorded the whole thing and broadcast the image of wonder woman killing maxwell lord across the world

results of omac project v2: maxwell lord dies, the justice league gets fractureder than it was before due to wonder woman killing maxwell lord. sasha is captive of lord, the justice league knows what happened to ted now. wonder woman is distrusted and surrenders herself to the hague to face judgement for killing a man

the return of donna troy: Donna troy, who was presumed dead at the end of teen titans: graduation day plotline, is revealed to actually be alive and with the titans of new kronos (sp?). she remembers herself as a titan, so likea version of a goddess, and is helping them invade some world (mnemosyne? Minomyss? can’t remember) and killing a bunch of people. she only ahs flashbacks to her past on earth with the teen titans but not many. her sibling, one of the other orphaned kids with the titan seed powers, athyns, sends travelspheres to earth to try to recruit donna’s friends, the teen titans, to stop donna. after a lot of drama, the teen titans of earth + some outsiders (dick’s team after titans disbanded) help get donna back on the side of not invading a planet and she gets her memories back. it is revealed the titans of myth were invading the planet because inside the planet was some device that would let them switch to another universe and they knew this universe was going to end soon. donna winds up sending all of the titans to tartarus instead of a new universe to conquer. also a sun-eater is released somehow, but harmless due to being trapped in the planet’s core?

results of the return of donna troy: Donna is back (yay!), she is in charge of new kronus and can tell the world is going to end in the same way that the titans of myth could. she recruits some powerful heroes to help her go to the center of the universe and stop it.

omac project v3: stopping the omacs: sasha and jessica midnight are still in maxwell lord’s cell when omacs are attacking everywhere. they bust out, sasha gets almost killed but then turned into a robot lady who is kidn of omac-y. she can communicate with the other omacs via computer. the justice league and checkmate (under sasha) work together to stop the omacs. a bunch of superheroes lead the omacs to the middle of the desert to detonate an EMP generator to strip the omacs of their robot shells so that they can take them out without killing the hosts inside. meanwhile Sasha releases a virus to shut down as many Omacs as she can from her end. using this, the two gropus manage to disable but not kill most but not all of the omacs (unfortunately there were like 1.3 million or something omacs, so ‘most but not all’ still leaves a ton of omacs around)

results of omac project v3: 1.3 million omacs are reduced to 200k omacs.

rann thanagar war: the world rann popped into thanagar’s system for reasons the thanagarians THINK is the rannian’s fault. thanagar started drifting closer to the sun due to its orbit being destablized. rann offered refuge but a bunch of thanagarian cultists wanted ot start a war and bring back ominar synn (a god like creature capable of destroying souls and creating zombies) so they start a war, eased by the fact that many thanagarians blame rann for their current predicament. shayera thal (hawkwoman), adam strange, kendra saunders (hawkgirl), carter hall (hawkman) are here trying to stop the war and stop onimar synn. komandr (blackfire) is there trying to side with the thanagarians but not the rannians, adding fuel to the fire, because she wants to find a homeplanet for tamaraneans and wants the victor to share or something? IDK it was confusing.

results of rann thanagar war: Shayera thal is killed by blackfire, kendra, carter, adam strange are in space and ready to help donna when she asks for it.

days of vengeance: eclipso is released from their black diamond and wants a human host. they choose superman, try to possess him, blah blah, fight captain marvel. after that eclipso possesses jean loring, the atom’s ex wife, and as eclipso she seduces spectre, who has no human host and is thus vulnerable to seduction somehow. she convinces him that destroying all magic will destroy all evil so he goes about killing all magic users. a bunch of less famous magic superheroes team together to stop spectre and eclipso. nightshade teleports eclipso into orbit around the sun, thereby neutralizing eclipso’s powers since eclipso only works outside of sunlight. the team does a good job stopping spectre from killing magic users but does not stop spectre completley, leaving him to kill the wizard shazam

results of day of vengeance: eclipso is removed from play, the wizard shazam is killed which is necessary for another plotponit

infinite crisis: it is revealed that alexander luthor was responsible for a lot of this nonsense, including granting brother eye (batman’s spy satellite) sentience and making sure the OMACs are under his control, and making sure that jean loring because eclipso so she could seduce spectre into destroying magic because yo ucan’t actually destroy magic but TRYING to destroy magic destroyed centuries of magic development and warding leaving to a more “wild”, useable form of magic he needed to power his thingie.

anyway

in infinite crisis it is revealed that alexander luthor wanted to destroy the current universe and create an ideal world using parts of all the other universes and thats how this stuff came about. he teams up with superman and lois lane of earth two, who are the sole survivors of their universe who weren’t integrated into earth one, and superboy prime, who was the only superboy in his earth. it really makes no sense if you didn’t read the previous stuff. basically there are a few plotlines

the society of super villains needs to capture a marvel to power their machine (to access the raw magic that was released when spectre tried to destroy magic and the wizard died). they also need to capture kara (powergirl) because her being a survivor from another universe means she can help them unlock other universes or somethign?

superboy prime is hissy at superboy of earth one (kon el) because he doens’t “Deserve” being superboy and tries to kill him and succeeds in killing a bunch of other superheroes (also eventually superboy of earth one does die)

superman, batman, and wonder woman all angst about how wonder woman killed someone and batman created brother eye. eventually they get their shit together and superman and wonder woman start disaster helping and batman gets a team together to destroy brother eye. superman and wonder woman win over the heart of superman of earth two, superman and superman of earth two go fight superboy prime.

......... unsure if that helped clarify anything sorry

[facepalming-since-chernobyl]

hello! can you explain to me what’s s5 all about? And why so many people in the fandom (most from scs i’ve noticed so far) don’t like it? this is the same person who’s new to the fandom, im starting to watch it, but i wanna be spoiled already what the summary is. if it’s okay!

In s5 Lena aka Lobotomizer, because she "felt betrayed by Kara and was in a dark place" planned Non Nocere project aka reprogramming everybody (aliens and humans) to not lie, without their notice OR consent. She, basically, decided she could play a God and change people on her whim, because she was sad Kara didn't tell her a secret. Instead, you know, going to talk to Kara or visiting a psychologist like every normal person does.

She played Kara for the half of the season wanting to use and manipulate her to get what she wanted. In the middle of the season she trapped Kara in the kryptonite cage in the Fortress of Solitude, screams she was not a villain ans should have not been treated like one (while basically torturing Kara with kryptonite, lol), stole Myriad to lobotomize humanity but failed in the end.

Then Crisis crossover happened and fucked everything, basically they marged all the Earths into one (all the heroes from other shows are on the same Earth now) and changed past a lot (for example Lex is seen as a hero, Kara's friend from Midvale didn't die etc) but only some of the Superfriends knew that. Basically everything what have happened before 5B is questionable now - no one knows is something happened in the old time line or not.

5B is about Lobotomizer Lena cooperating with Lex who, of course played her. Because he played her, she realized lobotomizing whole humanity is not a good idea (not because making people puppets is bad, but because Lex was playing her). So she went to Kara and admitted she was wrong, but really didn't apologize for all what she has done and she done a lot. Along they faced ... some threat. Leviathan? Other bad guys? Don't remember.

The season ended earlier than planned because of the Covid.

Scs don't like this season because it basically fucked up EVERY slight chance for Lobotomizer being romantic intereset for Kara, they would just never admit it.

Why scs hate this season?

Basically, it showed how horrible, narrow-minded, grudgeful, spiteful, merciless and vindictive Lena is. She acted like a sociopath in a lot of the scenes and intended to hurt Kara every way imaginable and she achived it - while playing the victim all the time.

Also, s5 and so far s6 show that she is incapableof learning on her own mistakes and doesn't understand basic human ethics. Things are wrong not because she hurts people, but because it didn't work or could screw her.

Scs in s5 waited for "Kara fighting for Lena's soul", while it was moe about Kara learning that she is NOT responsible for Lena's horrible decisions and she had the rights to keep her secret and tell Lena when she was ready for that. But Lena violated it all and acted like a villain. Also Kara called her a cillain on some point, so you know, they arer pissed about it.

And this is what pisses them off mostly. S5 erased any chance for romantic SC. Writers, producers and for sure Mel herself won't allow for Kara to end with a person who abused her the mosy horrible way. As the were repeating since the beginning - Kara and Lena are friends. And this is even more than Lena deserves.

Oh, they also added William Day (Dey....?) - a potential love interest for Kara, they even went for a date, and scs lost their shit - they send really abusive shit to the actor who plays him etc.

Did I forget about something, guys?

[mybrothershands]

MBH/Dumpling Crossover 4/4

By myself and @diddlesanddoodles , edited by @thundering-susurrus

Saen was making quick work of his remaining peeled pumpkin, and Yale was pleased to have the whole pan filled and sizzling. The earthenware dish was stacked high enough, he felt, to warrant bringing it down to Kol and Quinn so they could get the first couple of the pies baking. Bart and Avery would have gotten the first few of the rocs onto the spits, and he was sure a few more would be chucked into one of the other ovens. If they timed it just right, just as one pie was finished baking, the next would be ready to put in, the goal being that all of the pies would be baked just as the last of the rocs finished off.

But the timing would be tight.

Ka did not seem to notice the change in pace, as he was focusing on the little stone he had brought up to his face to inspect. It looked much like a grain of rice between his fingers, but he lauded the girl's find nonetheless. "Kind of marbled and sparkly, isn't it?" he said, offering it back to Nenani.

Anything she might have said was drowned out by Cairo. From his vantage point on the table, he could very nearly bark directly into Ka's ear when he was bent down. So he did. "Ka!"

The giant flinched and looked up. "What is it now?"

Cairo simply pointed at the two pies Yale had brought over earlier. "Eat," he ordered.

"I have to get this done--"

"Don't argue with me! It could be hours before you get done," he said, still pointing.

Ka sighed and, making sure Nenani had taken the stone, reached for his satchel and rummaged around. Upon finding a spoon, he set the pack aside and reached to take one of the meat pies. "Demanding," he grumbled.

Yale turned to Saen, holding out the dish filled with cooked pumpkin. “Go run this to Quinn will ye?”

Wiping his hands on his apron, Saen rounded the table and claimed the dish from Yale before turning to hurry towards the archway.

“You’ve already got half of them done,” Nenani said, looking at the largely reduced pile of gourds. “How many pies do you need to make?”

“I think Quinn’s aimin’ fer about six,” Yale replied. “They’re pretty large ones, so they’ll be enough fer the top table, but the main attraction is sure to be the roasts.”

Just as Saen made it to the bottom of the stairs and into the kitchen proper, a loud voice bellowed from within. “IS THAT ALL YE THREE HAVE MANAGED?”

Yale froze, sighed, and mentally prepared himself for a tongue lashing. Even before Farris reached the top of the steps, he was continuing on with his tirade. “YE TELLIN’ ME THIS LOT CAN GET ALL THESE DAMN BIRDS DISPATCHED, PLUCKED, AND ROASTIN’ IN THE SAME TIME IT TAKES THREE OF YE TO PEEL AND FRY A SINGLE PLATE OF FUCKIN’ PUMPKIN?”

When he reached the landing, he stood with his arms akimbo and glowered fiercely at Yale and Ka. His face was already turning red, a single vein in his forehead throbbing with ire.

Ka nearly choked on his spoon, he jumped so hard. He pushed the pie back onto the table, a single scoop taken from it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” he mumbled to himself as he tried to cut the pumpkin with the handle of the knife. The giant quickly spun the knife around. Within seconds he had gutted and broken down the pumpkin in his lap, and was reaching for another when another voice started barking commands.

"What did I just say? You need to eat something," Cairo said. In response, Ka shook his head, but did not speak. "Boy, you're twice his size. Stand up for yourself."

Still, the giant did not speak and kept his focus on peeling the next pumpkin.

Farris marched with purposeful strides towards them, his gaze set upon Ka. But at the last moments, as he reached them, he turned to Yale. “What in the seven hells are ye all doin’ out here that it takes ye thing long to get me some damn fried gourds, boy?”

“Sorry boss,” Yale replied mechanically. “We’re nearly done.”

“What’s the holdup then? Did ye forget we’re in a bit of a crisis here? Or ye feel like explainin’ to Master Donal why luncheon is late?” Farris demanded and shifted his ire towards Ka. He made note of the human man on the table, looking as irritable as Farris felt. He paid him no mind and focused instead on the giant peeling a pumpkin. And at a surprising speed, too. Farris would have been tempted to be impressed if the situation was different. Then he noted the still-uneaten pies and glowered at Ka.

“Well no wonder yer slower than the fuckin’ solstice,” Farris barked. “Ye still haven’t finished off them pies? The Dumplin’ eats faster than you. Scarf ‘em down and get to it!”

Sat down, Ka was no taller than Farris, and he felt the full heat of his angry rant. He slouched and physically shrank back from the shouts. Try as he might, he could not gather his wits against this man, especially when he was right in his face. "I'm trying, sir," Ka said. It was a moment before the words really sank in, and he understood. "O-oh," he said a bit stupidly.

"Told you," Cairo jeered. His hackles were still pricked, however, and he never took his gaze off of Farris. He stood tense, as if he thought he could do something.

Ka used this as a cue to peel his attention from the angry giant. He returned his hands to the table and took up the pie. Setting the edge of the dish against his mouth, he scooped a quarter of its contents into one cheek. He repeated this action until he looked a bit like a squirrel, then bobbed his head in thanks. "It's good!" Ka said, or at least tried to.

Farris huffed and regarded Ka with an unimpressed frown. “Good, he says. Boy, this is the king’s kitchen. Of course it’s good. We don’t serve the pig shit doled out at common taverns.”

His eyes turned to Cairo, and he noted the tensed muscles and the near battle stance the human man took. Farris matched the man’s glare. “Ye have somethin’ to say to me?”

The human stood there a moment, as if reconsidering, but did not give up his ground. He glanced at Ka, who was still choking down the other half of the first pie, and then back to the smaller giant. He at last smoothed his brow and calmed his stance exactly two notches. "No," he decided. "As long as you keep your paws off him."

Farris snorted a short humorless laugh. “So long as he does the work I’m payin’ for, I ain’t have any reason to lay a finger on him.”

Yale suppressed a look that might have made it seemed as though he would like to contradict his boss’s assertion. But with his self-preservation instinct well-honed after years of working under Farris, Yale turned his back and concentrated his frying pan.

“But I will say this,” Farris continued, the muscles in his shoulders pulling tightly. He leaned down closer to Cairo, pressing further into the human’s space and narrowing his eyes minutely. “First rule of my kitchens, little man: my word is law. So if I say ye need a smack to the head, yer gonna get a smack to the head. Don’t care whose brother ye are or ain’t.”

Ka glanced from the fuming giant to Cairo and back again, his worry mounting. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "H-he's not really going to--I mean, he won't hurt him...will he?" he said to whoever could hear.

"Oh, is that so?" Cairo jeered, "think yourself a tough boy? Well do ye?" He could feel the giant's breath on his face now, yet glared up undeterred. He glanced down to where Nenani was milling around. He did not see her rock, but was fairly certain she still had it on her.

"Y'know what I think?" Cairo said. "I think you're a soft little bastard, that's what!"

And with that, Farris spun on his heels and marched back across the yard and down into the kitchen. Yale was left a little speechless and turned to look back between Cairo and Ka and then to Nenani. She was the only one of the three to share Yale’s shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but paused when he saw Farris emerge again from the kitchen with a familiar cocotte tucked under one arm. Yale dutifully turned his back to his boss and concentrated on the frying pumpkin. He tried very hard not to snicker.

Farris did not acknowledge anyone as he calmly sat the cocotte down onto the table and pulled off the lid. Down near his feet, Nenani was looking between Farris and Yale and when the younger cook caught her eye, he winked at her. But she only looked more confused.

And then it happened.

With a swiftness and speed few people would have assumed Farris capable of, he reached out and grabbed Cairo, pinning the man’s arms to his sides, and swiftly plopping him down into the open pot. The lid was clapped on with a bang and Farris leaned his arm on top, turning to level a calm stare at Ka.

“This mouthy brother ‘a yer’s just earned himself ten minutes,” he said. He turned to Yale. “Hand me that rock there. Not the hot one. Don’t wanna cook 'im.”

Yale bent down to retrieve one of rocks that had been used to create a barrier for the fire pit, choosing the one farthest from the flames. It was barely warm. He handed it to Farris, shooting a slightly apologetic glance at Ka. Farris placed it on the lid and turned back to Ka.

“Ten minutes.”

Ka sat there for a short while, shoulders tense and eyes glued on the pot. Only after Farris backed away did he begin to relax. He seemed to find some kind of solace in Nenani's presence as well, and how comparatively calm she looked.

Still, his brother was in a pot.

Slowly, he reached across the table, his long arm easily closing the distance, and pulled it towards himself. Inside, Cairo was pounding against the side like a swarm of angry bees, to the point that even Ka did not want to open the lid. With the crock safely within his embrace, he went back to his pie. "Ka!" came a muffled voice. "Can you even hear me, you dumb oaf?"

"I can hear you," he mumbled.

"Well get me out of here! What are you waiting for, you useless giant?"

"Don't call me that," he muttered. "And Mister Farris said not to." He stole a glance at the man in question before turning to Yale--a seemingly safer option. "Does he usually do this?"

There was a part of Yale that felt very badly for Ka. For someone so tall, he very much looked like a kicked puppy. Farris eyed him for a moment, a silent command, and though he tried to keep his composure, the mask slipped and Yale snorted an undignified laugh.

“He’s been known to do it from time to time,” he chuckled. “Bit of a last resort sort ‘a thing.”

Yale wasn’t the only one to pick up on Ka’s morose expression and posture. Nenani walked over to his leg and patted it reassuringly. “Don’t worry. It’s like time out.”

Yale laughed properly. “Mostly it’s the brat in there though.”

Farris snorted.

“Nah. Had to use the bigger one. That one there wouldn’t have fit in the one I use with Jae,” he said. Seeming satisfied enough that Ka would not spring his brother from the cocotte before his time was served, Farris gestured to the rest of the pumpkins. “I expect the rest done up quick and brought down. I won’t have luncheon be late and I certainly ain’t sendin’ up sub-par pies to the top tables. I’d have Donal so far up my ass over it, I’d be able to smell his damn cologne.”

Ka seemed a bit distracted by Yale's laugh, but Farris's voice was loud enough to break the spell. "O-Oh. Yessir. We'll get it done. Not to fear." Switching his pie to the other hand, Ka reached down towards Nenani. His hand was still hesitant, but not nearly as much as when he had first tried. "Thank you, little one," he whispered, scratching her upper back with two fingers.

In the next half hour, they had all the pumpkins peeled and fried with spices mixed in. Pie crusts were brought from the ovens inside, filled with the hot mixture, then spirited away. Once Cairo was allowed free, he seemed a bit somber and even bitter. Maybe time-out did not work as well on adults. Ka tucked him into the hood of his overcoat, leaving his hands free to set to work.

When the pies were all squared away, he got back to his feet rather slowly, as if afraid he might bump his head, but there was nothing above him but grey skies. He more or less followed Yale around like an oversized duckling until he found something else to do. That "something else" happened to be helping someone hang decorations. One of the little giants was on a ladder trying to hang an autumn wreath, but the ladder was not cooperating. When Ka came up behind him to hold it steady, he met the man nearly eye-to-eye. He had not meant to scare him so badly, honest he hadn't, but he soon found himself left alone with the decorations.

"How...do I do this?" he mumbled to himself. It had been a while since he had last seen Yale, and from what he could tell, he had better things to do than babysit a tenderfoot.

"It doesn't matter," came a coarse voice behind him. Cairo was nearly asleep in his makeshift hammock. "Just hang em any old place. Your guess is as good as theirs."

"But I want to make it look nice," Ka said, unraveling a leafy garland. "They probably have a place where they normally put everything."

"Put a wreath on your head, it should fit," said the human as he picked his teeth.

"No, Cairo."

Farris emerged from the kitchens tired, but satisfied. The food had gone up on time and without issue and so he would have one more day without another one of Donal’s reprimands. Not that Farris put much weight in them. He was simply sick of hearing them.

In his hand, he carried a small but weighted purse and strode across the courtyard towards Ka. But he paused when he saw the boy hanging a garland, a task given specifically to Gjerk. He turned on his heels to holler down into the kitchens.

“Gjerk, ye twig-armed ninny!” he bellowed. “What kind of lame legged lizard are ye to be pawnin’ off yer duties, eh?”

The bushel of bright orange hair peeked warily out from the stairwell. “Nothing sir! It’s just…well, he’s so much taller and…”

“And too polite tell ye to fuck off,” he barked. “Go see Bart and tell him ye just volunteered to scrub the privies.”

The younger giant’s face fell, and he looked as though he wished to protest, but the seething glare from Farris burnt up any objections and the tenderfoot sullenly turned away.

Farris huffed and turned back to where Ka was finishing up the decorations.

“Ye did good work today, lad. Much appreciated,” he said and held out the purse. “This is fer you.”

The giant paused in his work, hurriedly hooked the garland over the corner of the roof, and pulled his arms close to his body. "I'm sorry?" He avoided the man's eyes, glancing instead to where he had seen the boy called "Yerk" disappear. His brow worried as he clenched his jaw. He felt so bad for causing the boy such trouble. "This?" he asked when the pouch was impatiently placed in his right palm. It sounded like coin. "You...want me to take this somewhere? To get more groceries or something?" He felt Cairo shifting in the hood on his back and silently hoped he would keep his mouth shut, but it was not to be.

"What is it." he demanded.

"Coin," Ka murmured.

"I wasn't asking you," he said, tugging on a lock of his brother's hair.

At the human’s tone, Farris snorted. The urge to reintroduce the human back into the cocotte was strong. However, the trade of effort and reward was too far skewed from his favor, and so he allowed it to pass without further comment, except to answer Cairo’s initial question.

“Yer pay,” he said to the human before turning his eyes upwards to Ka. “Honest pay fer an honest day’s work. And my thanks.”

He had been perhaps a little more generous than he would have been normally, but if there was one thing his mother had instilled within him more than anything, it was to make sure no one under his roof ever went hungry. Ka had done the job of two men, and clearly he had not been getting enough to eat to sustain his considerable height. For all his mass, the boy was not much more than an overgrown sapling. A decent wind could blow him over.

The boy needed more than just food for the moment. He needed the coin to get more down the road.Farris only hoped that whichever road Ka was going down, they accepted Vhasshalan minted coins.

Shaking his head, the giant opened the purse and prodded the coins. They were strange to him, and small, but he didn't need a scale to tell this was a decent amount of money. He frowned at it, confused. Was there something he'd misunderstood? "But...you fed me." He met the man's eyes and instantly wished he had not--they were the kind that could cut. He returned his gaze to the sack in his palm. "It was good food, too. You don't have to do this," he offered the sack back.

Something thumped him in the back of his neck. "Just accept it, you stupid dog," Cairo growled fiercely. "I'll not have you go hungry over your own--mrrph!" he sputtered as an enormous hand clamped over his head and chest. It only took about three seconds before he bit down on his brother's finger, which was answered with a yelp."--your own sheepishness," he finished.

Farris eyed the pouch sitting in Ka’s open palm, appearing laughably small, and growled. His favor was a hard-won thing, and perhaps he had grown a little too used to folks understanding just what it meant for him to bestow it upon them. Ka was a stranger, though, and did not have a full grasp of the minutiae of the Vhasshalan kitchens or the way in which Farris ran them. If he ever put any real meat on his bones, the lad would be a right mountain. He had an honest spirit about him but was as meek and timid as a beaten pup.

“Yer gonna stash that purse in yer damn pocket, boy,” he told the much taller giant with a forceful jab of his finger. “And yer gonna heed that one’s words. Or so help me I’ll kick yer sorry arse from here to Garrish Hills.”

Ka felt a light tap on the back of his neck "Toldja so," Cairo barked almost immediately.

"Oh..." he backed away from the upheld finger and tucked the coin purse against his body. This man came only up to his waist, and yet his strength of person made him take a step back.

Farris's words were softer this time, though. He was used to judging Cairo's levels of harshness, and somehow this tone worked at the corners of his mouth. Someone was being kind to him, he realized after a time, and it made him feel warm inside. "Thank you sir," he smiled and, without thinking, got down on his knees in the grass and wrapped his arms around the little man. "Thank you."

As Ka’s long arms encased him tightly--Gods the boy was stronger than he looked--hot indignation roiled up from Farris’s chest, and his first instinct was to fling his arms out and push him away. But as he heard Ka’s words of thanks, he paused. Begrudgingly. And then he heard a telltale sound of his cooks snickering from the doorway.

“Alright,” Farris mumbled, wiggling experimentally to prompt the other to release him. But when it was obvious that Ka had either not heard him or chose to ignore him, he pushed against the taller giant’s chest and stepped back, effectively yanking himself from Ka’s grip. “Alright I said!”

Ka backed away hurriedly, nearly falling on his haunches. The only thing that kept him from doing so was the fact that Cairo was still resting in his hood, and if he fell all the way back...

"S-sorry, sir. Thank you." Ka said as he steadied himself. The man scared him more than he'd like to admit. Yet in the back of his mind, Farris reminded him a lot of Cairo, and Cairo would not want him to be skittish of him. Ka frowned. For once in his life, he was glad his brother was no bigger than he was.

"Get up and dust your pants off," the human grumbled, pulling a ringlet of Ka's hair. "We've gotta get a move on. Come on, he's not gonna bite you." To this, the giant shook his head to free his hair but did as he was told.

Ka did his best to meet Farris's eye but could only manage such for a single second. "Thank you again, sir," he said as he backed away a few paces, then seemed to falter in place. "Wait, I almost forgot." He reached in his pocket and extracted a single coin the size of a human’s head, with a diamond hole cut in the center. "I wanted to give this to the girl, but...I forgot. It isn't worth much, but she likes collecting stones so I thought..." he shook his head and placed it in the man's hand as he had done for him. "Sorry, I've got to go, erm. Tell her goodbye for me if I don't see her on my way out...uhm thank you," he said for the fifth time, finally waving before turning heel.

"Real smooth, bud," Cairo sniped. Ka shrugged and grumbled as he made his way to the gatehouse. They were good people and, he realized, he may miss them. Maybe they would have him back someday, if he could find his way. The giant looked down to his chest-pocket and the coin purse that rested there and resolved to save at least one as a keepsake.

[bigskydreaming]

How did you come up w/ the worldbuilding of By Lost Ways? Cause going by chapter 1 and your posts on the deck, it's fascinating and super well thought out!

LOL thanks! And yes I will be getting back to that now that I can like....actually enjoy feedback/comments from stuff I post instead of just posting and two seconds later be in crisis mode and completely forgetting I even just did that lol.

But in answer to your question, you know how there are novels like Fifty Shades of Grey and City of Bones that are basically fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, as some people call that? This is basically just the exact opposite. It was an original novel that was part of a bigger shared fantasy universe of mine called the Citadel, that I ended up not doing anything with because it had too many (superficial) similarities to another novel of mine, even though the latter was a sci-fi project. They actually werent that similar, just used a lot of the same aesthetics and tropes, like both had airships, etc, it was one of those things where they just FELT too similar when writing them, and that was causing complications in doing anything further with them so I decided to just let one go, and it happened to be the fantasy one, since I had a bunch of other projects in that same universe that I could shepherd various characters and elements over into.

But one thing I couldn’t ever really relocate was the idea of the Regents’ Deck, which was always a fave concept of mine, and then awhile back it occurred to me that the Batfam was actually really really easy to structure into the already existing framework of the Regents’ Deck and the overall world I’d built around it, and so I was like hey, Im not doing anything else with it, why not just make it a Batfam fanfic. So the story that resulted was a new thing, its not like I just swapped the names around, the plot of Hypotheticals of Being just didn’t work for a Batfam fic, at least not in any way that really engaged me, but it kinda just.....it was almost more like writing a crossover fusion of two fandoms, just one of them happened to be wholly of my own making, lolol. But basically like, the actual fanfic was just sorta like me writing another story in this same setting/lore that I’d already written one novel in, just with the Batfam characters instead.

As for the worldbuilding itself, in the initial form, like, worldbuilding is literally my favorite thing in the world lol, and also I happen to view as probably my biggest strength as a writer, so if there’s interest, I’d be down to do a post walking through kinda my whole ‘process’ there or whatever. Since I do have a certain approach I apply to pretty much everything I write, from fanfic to original projects, its just so ingrained its hard to kinda break it down into clear steps. But give me three things to use as a start point, and I’d be happy to kinda like, do a post ‘showing my work’ as I worldbuild around them.

The three things thing is kinda key for me, as I dont know entirely where it comes from or why I started doing it, I just noticed somewhere along the line that every fully formed project or world I create that I’m actually happy with, like....can always be traced back to three initial ideas I threw together. I’m not exactly sure why three is the magic number for me, it just kinda is.

For example, the world and initial story for this one grew out of these three seeds: Mother Sky, a Tarot Deck, and airships. Those were the three elements that popped into my head as wanting to do something with, and that I combined to come up with this world. (Mother Sky being like.....so I was thinking about all the various takes we have on Mother Earth, and I was wondering what would a world look like that viewed the Sky in the same way, like potentially if it was a fantasy sky-set civilization instead of land-bound).

So the basics of the world all grew out of just those three ideas, and then it was easy enough to flesh out by leaning on a lot of already existing worldbuilding for my broader Citadel mythology, to create the exact specifics of the plot/conflict. Not really relevant to the fanfic version now, as the focus on that stuff is most of what was cut when adapting it to Batfam, since I still have lots of Citadel stuff not related to this one particular project.

Like the basic idea behind the Citadel is that in this fantasy universe, the universe itself has a kind of rudimentary sentience, that constantly seeks out a kind of partner or symbiosis with sentient beings to kinda...drive its power. Like, its aware enough to know that it wants to grow and change and evolve, but relies on the imagination and creativity of sentient beings to do that. So it centralizes its powers of creation in a form that appears to most sentient beings as a kind of fortress or citadel, a seat of power, and anyone who enters it and assumes control over it, in effect becomes god. Able to reshape the universe and create anew according to their whims. And sometimes there’s just one person who stumbles across the Citadel, sometimes a pair or a trio, sometimes a full pantheon, with various individuals assuming sovereignty over set Rooms within the Citadel, and the forces those Rooms command (like gaining the Armory makes one a god of war, the Library a god of knowledge, etc, etc). 

But for all their power, the various residents of the Citadel rarely ever glean on to the fact that the Citadel is kinda ‘alive’ in and of itself, and the true power behind all the power they wield. And the one thing the Citadel detests is stagnancy. So whenever a god or gods or pantheon becomes complacent, stops USING the power of the Citadel as a force for change, stop driving the engines of creation to beget something new and instead just become content to kinda enjoy what they’ve made or reshaped things INTO.....that’s when the Citadel basically takes back its power and reappears as a temptation on the horizon for new seekers to find and ascend to godhood.

Anyway, the point being there’s been an endless cycle of the Citadel changing hands and everything that comes with it, up until what’s basically the beginning of this broader universe.....the ‘last’ residents of the Citadel are a full-fledged pantheon who were so destructive in their attempts to seize more and more control of the Citadel for just themselves or their allies, that they were basically destroying their entire world without any single one of them having control of enough of the Citadel that they could prevent this. Until one of them, Seshan, finally gained control of the Throne Room, the heart of creation, and using its power she basically locked all the other gods in their respective Rooms and broke the entire Citadel into pieces, flinging the others away into the void of uncreation. So for the thousands upon thousands of years since then, the various other gods have been able to create using just the power of their own Rooms, and move between each others’ various worlds, but are denied access to the Throne Room or the world it rests on, the world of their own creation.....and without it, none of them can put the Citadel back together and assume full control of it.

Or, y’know, restart the cycle of creation and destruction. Something the Citadel itself, unbeknowst to any of them, is really not happy about.

So you’ve got some gods who are content with things the way they are and happy being the only god in town in their respective worlds, you have others who are trying to use their worlds to one by one conquer the others’ and thus gain control of their Rooms, trying to gather enough power to kinda just force their way back through the locked doors to the Throne Room, and then you’ve got others who basically have been using eternity to settle old scores and grudges.

The latter happened to be the backstory for the setting for what became By Lost Ways - hence why it wasn’t too hard to pull these particular elements out and shift them to other settings. The original Mother Sky, the creator of this world, is in the Citadel-verse named Eriu, and she’s the supreme nature goddess of earth, sea and sky, being one of the most powerful of the deities with control of three separate Rooms. She used the Aviary to make this particular world, hence its magic being connected to and stemming from feathers, etc. The Dark One, the original Joker of the Regents’ Deck, is Dian, who controls the Pit and the Locked Room, and as such is the God of Temptation and Emptiness, Hunger and Corruption.

(Dian’s machinations back during the Holy Wars basically shattered the mind of Eriu’s lover, Indech, as Dian tried to manipulate him into gaining control of one of the most dangerous Rooms in the Citadel and use him as a proxy without risking himself. It half worked, as Indech gained control of the Room that made him the new God of Chaos, but in the process turned from the somewhat naive, gullible scholar Dian had been counting on him being, to someone just completely detached from anything other than his own interests - which were now fueled by the primal powers of chaos and his new worldview/conviction that nothing he did mattered and thus he could do anything free of consequence. Indech’s as distant and unreachable to Eriu as anyone else, and she’s had a vendetta against Dian ever since....which often takes the form of a merciless nature goddess rampaging through the worlds of Dian’s creation, heedless of the damage she leaves in her wake, as the more millennia pass, the more disassociated the gods become from their own origins. Some have even bought into their own hype and forgotten that they aren’t the only gods out there or even the first).

But anyway, that’s the story of how the worldbuilding for By Lost Ways came to be, lol, though for specifics on like, the actual process as opposed to the big picture stuff, just send me three things and I’ll walk through things from the start to whatever results.

For the record, I want to make clear I’ve been writing stuff in my Citadel ‘verse since I was fifteen, so any similarities to Brandon Sanderson’s shared universe are not incidental, but they’re also not me ripping him off - rather, I’m fairly certain we were both influenced in our worldbuilding/big picture stuff by the same novels when we were growing up. Like, its not that I’m above ripping other people off, its just that I want credit to go where its due. I ripped off Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and a little Michael Moorcock and some Zelazny. LOLOL.

[corisanna]

First/Last WIP Challenge

tagged by @avtorsola

I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY LOL

The rules: post the first/last line of a wip then tag as many people as there are words. (yeah im not gonna do *that* idk who to tag; do it if you want)

As N Approaches Infinity

Bleach/Madoka Magica crossover. If you follow me, you are probably aware of it LOL.

First: A peaceful spring had descended upon Karakura Town.

Last (unpublished): Madoka and bloodlust didn't belong in the same sentence.

Of Icebergs and Waterlines

(I will resume this someday I swearrrrrrr) a fix-it fic to make the Diamond Dust Rebellion movie fit into Bleach canon by re-framing the apparent lore-breaking bullshit as a misunderstanding of what really happened; Kusaka turned into a lovely guy as I wrote and destroying him is gonna be painful; the only thing I’ve written with Aizen in it if you wanna see how I write him and a headcanon I have for him

First: The day Tōshirō Histugaya met Sōjirō Kusaka started normally enough for a day at Shin'ō Academy.

Last (unpublished): And that sparked a feeling [Kusaka] wanted to suppress because he had a hunch it could end badly: He wanted to improve even more just to spite them all.

untitled Animorphs/Hunger Games crossover

inspired by “The Spoils” and others

(in which human!Ax, human!Elfangor, and Loren become the secret root of District Two resistance after Tobias gets summoned to slaughter even though he isn’t a Career; Max gets broken of Capitol propaganda as Ax was broken of Andalite propaganda)

First: There are a lot of things that Maximilian didn't understand until his best friend-- technically his nephew, despite their close ages-- was Reaped for the Hunger Games.

Last: Max thought this was an endearing but major shortcoming when he was a teenager, but years later he would look back and see that Tobias had been more aware of the state of their world than Max had ever been before his friend's Reaping.

untitled cracky Archer fic in which Archer accidentally discovers that Jeopardy! is a CIA conspiracy

First: Sterling Archer blearily rolled out of bed, wandered around his penthouse calling for Woodhouse for awhile, and eventually gave up.

Last: “Add Randy McRandall to the list.”

untitled cracky Madoka Magica / Archer crossover

in which newbie magical girl Moemura is robbing the yakuza for weapons and runs into Archer and Lana (secretly a magical girl who made it to adulthood by using mundane weapons) on a mission. Shenanigans/training/Homura regretting her life choices ensues.

First: “Hey, Lana. Lana. Look at this guy's stash,” Sterling Archer said with admiration.

Last: [more a note than a line but...] Krieger wants to analyze the shield’s storage but gets distracted by one of the bombs Homura pulls out of it. Says it's good for a beginner using the internet but... and ends up teaching her

self-indulgent, experimental untitled fic in which Hitsugaya died and disappeared in TYBW before Giselle got to him, and his reincarnation...

...went weird because of how messed up and traumatized his soul was at the time and he starts to be able to talk with Hyorinmaru when he’s around four; Hyorinmaru plays it cool with the kid but is internally like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NOT AGAIN; the shinigami notice him when he’s still little because of a Hollow attack; Urahara has a mental crisis due to handling this on top of putting 12th Division back together and blaming himself / his invention for causing it; kid’s parents are overwhelmed but determined to help

First: Above the rubble of Seireitei, a young man with a dragon at the center of his soul reveled in the victorious roar that echoed in his mind.

Last: Kisuke paused [the recording of the little boy talking] to let those words sink in. Into the gasps of horror and sympathy [from certain shinigami], he loudly declared, “I absolutely refuse to completely seal their power.”

Will any of these end up finished/published? Who knows?

[journeythrough-impossiblethings]

About this blog:

Independent Roleplay and Askblog for a multi-fandom, primarily Doctor Who and Star Trek-based OC (semi-OC for Doctor Who, and outright AU canon characters for some other fandoms) John Smith and variations of the character.

Wife:

Anna Elizabeth Winden Who-Smith

Sean Elizabeth Winden Who-Smith

Patience Who-Smith

( @manenimittliv / @pxtienceofxsxint  / @videofaciempraeteriti Archived: @videofaciemfuturae / @dominadiversis )

Formerly:  

@journeythroughimpossiblethings

@doctorattackeyebrows

@theclockisstrikingtwelve

Companion Blog to:

The Doctor: @doctorattackeyebrows Archived: @theclockisstrikingtwelve

Him - Eberron D&D-based OC: @thenamelessareforgedinwar

Omega/Erik, the Phantom of the Opera: @theabandonedroo / @princeofconjurers / @likeblacknessitself (archived: @princeofconjurers2)

My Erik’s Kids: @spawnsoftheoperaghost

Parent Blog of:

Tavin Bellamy “TB” Smith: @tavinwho

All of the other kids are on: @an-earthly-family

Basic Information:

Multi-fandom, multi-verse, primarily singleship

14+ years of roleplaying experience

9+ years of text-based online roleplaying experience.

4+ years of Tumblr roleplaying experience.

Mun and Muse are 21+

See the page “John’s Myth” for John’s About and Verses.

What I am willing to do:

Interactions with canon characters (characters from any canon, but John only has his own background for a certain few fandoms), crossovers (characters from any fandom John doesn’t have a background for, where he will most likely have either his Doctor Who or Star Trek background), OCs (characters created by the mun playing them, including multi-fandom OCs, fandomless OCs, or OCs from fandoms John is not a part of), AUs and canon-divergent (characters from any fandom that have been changed in one or more ways), multi-muse blogs (blogs that roleplay more than one character), and multiples (blogs that play the same character that I’ve already interacted with a different version of).

Willing to do ask memes, ask-threads, one-liners, gif or icon threads (though that one might not always be available since I’m on mobile a lot), semi-paras, paras, and multi-paras.

Violence and dark themes accepted. John is not a dark or particularly violent character (although he can get pretty existential crisis-y sometimes. Quite often. Especially in the Doctor Who verse).

IC, OOC, Anon, Personal Blog asks and M!A friendly

Willing to RP, plan or talk through IMs or asks.

What I won’t do:

Respond to inappropriate asks or anon hate

Smut. I use fade-to-black or morning-afters if it comes to that. John and his variations are asexual or at the very least on the asexual spectrum somewhere.

What you are allowed and encouraged to do:

Send me asks IC and OOC

Send me sentence starters

Send me anons IC and OOC

Send me M!As

Send me askmemes

Turn our askmemes into threads

Submit stuff to me

Tag me in starters and other things

Respond to my opens and IC posts

Plot through asks, submit, or IMs

IM me, send me an ask or submit to me just to talk

Warnings and Other Important Information:

Mun doesn’t have any triggers

I tag triggers with just the name of the trigger, no “tw” or anything (I tag it like “#death”), unless asked to tag it with something else

Mentions of: - War (the Time War, the Temporal Cold War, the Dominion War, the revolution in Les Mis, World War I, the Global Wizarding War, etc.) - Genocide, loss of entire planets and/or species (the Doctor, Kara Zor-El) - Death (see previous two, also the Doctor has caused the deaths of many beings and holds the guilt of that even if they’ve been to save people and stop bad guys, and that has been passed on to John, Merlin uses his magic to protect Arthur, which sometimes results in people’s deaths) - Violence (the Doctor tries to avoid it but still effectively does it, Kara tries not to use lethal violence but still uses violence, obviously the wars are violent, occasionally there could be violence on the starships for Jon, Merlin uses his magic to fight to protect Arthur) - Animal abuse and neglect (several versions help injured and abused animals)

John and variations have panic attacks some times

John frequently has existential crises

John and variations often have anxiety and social issues

Newt is probably on the autistic spectrum

All versions are pretty deeply introverted

There are a lot of bugs/insects, arachnids, other arthropods, worms, and other creatures people sometimes find unappealing and/or gross and/or have a fear of

I reserve the right to add to or modify these rules at any time.

[aratanaruu]

Tales of series, Guy x Luke, Luke

Oooh wow, all three? noice noice~ I’ll put it under a cut to spare your dashboards. Many thanks~! (Send me a fandom / character / ship and I’ll tell you...)

001 | Tales series...

Favorite character:I wonder... ~

Least Favorite character:I don’t think I have one. There are some characters I’m ehhh about (I’ll spare you from naming them) but that’s about it. If I had to choose... Van? He works as a villain well enough (manipulative, evil, disastrous, powerful, believable motivations) but holy hell does Abyss treat him as anything but a villain, which I loathe.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):In no particular order: Aschtalia, Rokunor, GuyLuke, Fluri, Soymilk

Character I find most attractive:Male: hint hint he is a very attractive guyFemale: okay afaik i am a straight girl..... but judith and teresa tho :eyes emoji:

Character I would marry::]

Character I would be best friends with:Tbh, I’m not sure which characters would get along with me. Perhaps it would be Anise, Jade, Magilou or Rokurou. The first three would make things a lot of fun, running around trolling everybody, and Rokurou sounds like a cool person to hang out with.

A random thought:Grand Chokmah is the most beautiful town / city / whatever in Tales.

An unpopular opinion:oh dear. Er. Tales in general? Hum... The overworlds could use some more work. I think it got better in Berseria, where the worlds had a lot more variety in their appearance, but I wish that things looked a lot more interesting than say... different types of fields / forests (Xillia. I swear, Xillia was like going to one town, then walking through some sort of grassy area to another town and repeat). I don’t know if this makes sense or if it’s unpopular at all. 

My Canon OTP:Prooobably Aschtalia, since that’s the only “canon” pairing I ship.

My Non-canon OTP:See above.

Most Badass Character:Jade. Eizen. Judith. Legretta. No explanation needed.

Most Epic Villain:If I want to be reaaally biased... Lady Teresa. I have a soft spot for the ice queen-types. I really like Shigure, most of the God-Generals and the Chimeriad, too. The Chimeriad were badass and very human, with admirable features. To me, they didn’t feel like a villain, just somebody with different ideals, which ties in well with Xillia’s final battle of ideals between Gaius and Jude/Milla.

Pairing I am not a fan of:Tbh there’s none that make me pppppbth at. There are no pairings that I don’t get or understand, even if I don’t ship them or like one+ characters in the ship.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):aha. Tear. Let’s go with Tear. 

Favourite Friendship:YES FRIENDSHIP FRIENDSHIP IS SO UNDERRATED AAAH. It’s gotta be Guy&Luke. I do ship them, but god first and foremost their friendship makes me want to die of happiness. Guy’s overwhelming support throughout the entire game?? The Aramis Springs scenes???? The Tower of Rem scenes??? The Curse Slot scenes???????????

Honourable mention goes to: Sormik (even if you don’t ship, it’s hard not to see that they don’t care for each other), Vespy party, Rokurou & Magilou / Eizen, Abyss party.

Character I most identify with:Luke (Pre and post-Akz): (once) bratty and entitled, etc etc, “oh shit i’m screwing up” moment, a lotta up there issues, “who am i” existential crisis’ on the reg, redemption, raised questionably, long hair, trying their best, etc, etcMagilou: lmao what’s an emotion, trollish, whimsical, me? hiding everything under a mask?? it’s more likely than you think, ~magic~To a lesser extent: Jade / Judith

Character I wish I could be:Hmm... Judith? I’d love to be able to do all those backflips and I’m a sucker for spears / lances / glaives / the like. If not, then perhaps a mage-type character like Magilou. . . .

002 | GuyLuke...

When I started shipping them:About a month or so after I finished playing Abyss (so... August/Sept 2017?). It was mostly fanfiction and some fanart that dragged me into the ship. ngl tho I’m losing a bit of the love I once had for them. I think it’s because I’m busy being obsessed with other things, so dw, I’m sure I’ll get hit by a giant wave of GuyLuke feels in the future.

My thoughts:im... lov them........ this ship is so.... supportive...... they have so many issues but they’re working through it together. they’re both such lovable dumbasses. 

What makes me happy about them:Their trust in each other!! Their unwavering belief in each other!! Them being happy!!!!

What makes me sad about them:Sometimes I get the feel that it’s a bit one-sided? Guy is putting more into their relationship than Luke? Kinda got this feel in the game, but then again, Luke had a bunch of other relationships to balance but I do wish there was a bit more emphasis on Luke going out of his way for Guy. Or am I remembering the game wrong? what also makes me sad: oh i don’t know the fact that luke kinda dies like 7 times.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me:Hm... I don’t think there’s much. For the most part, what I’ve read is pretty decent.

Things I look for in fanfic:No preference.

My wishlist:Wishlist... for the ship? I don’t think I have much. Bamco is kind with the GuyLuke content, even if it’s not shippy. 

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:I’m fine with LukeTear. It is the canon ship after all, and I do slightly ship GuyTalia.

My happily ever after for them:let luke come back to life.... don’t make guy lose him again..........

003 | Luke...

How I feel about this character:One of my favourite characters of all time!!!! I love my boy. He’s got so many issues and he’s made so many mistakes but through all that, he perseveres and tries his best to make things right. Luke is such a (relatable) lost child, wondering who he is and what his place in the world is, and most of all, he feels so... human. He makes mistakes, he says the wrong thing, he struggles with say, saying the right things.... luke your redemption arc is one for the books

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: I’d say it’s just Guy.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: ...Guy :>. Honestly, it’s Luke & Abyss party. I love the mentor-student relationship with Jade, BigBro!Luke to Anise and Ion and the squabbling cousins-role with Natalia. Tbh Luke&Natalia is an underrated friendship I will fight someone over.

My unpopular opinion about this character: eheheheh. i have a lot.... but i don’t want to explain the logic behind ‘em. haaaaah.... to say one or not...? Hm, I’ll say this: Pre-Akz Luke is an asshole

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:i am a simple gal with simple needs: luke to kick van’s ass. i mean like, actually kick his ass for what that bastard did instead of ‘thank you’. i’m forever salty about that moment.

My crossover ship:None~!

Whew, this was a long one. Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaank you again~! I hope I delivered well.

[tmxmory]

(MIMOSA)’S RP PLOTTING CHEAT-SHEET

Want new-and-exciting plots for your character? Long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start? Fear not! Fill out this form and give your RP partners both present and future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted.

Be sure to tag the players whose characters YOU want more cues to interact with, and repost, don’t reblog! Feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. Template here.

Mun name: Maya OOC Contact: IMs && Inbox. Skype && Discord

Who the heck is my muse anyway:

Mimosa is a humanoid white blo.od c.ell, in fact a lymp.hocyte, type ( Me.mory T ce.ll ). She is 35. Pretty. Highly educated researcher who is fed up with her job && wants to make a new finding in order to win a prize at yearly research gala. Hard working && in theory that should be paid off but in reality... not so well.

Points of interest:

She is very thin, tall and purple. Out of her natural habitat, she catches attention just by her looks and body proportions. She doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. Even at her place she is being looked at in a funny way. Some might notice she walks fast, mostly for long legs. She speaks with strange, neutral way, almost like a news reporter, which correlates with high education and terminology she uses.

What they’ve been up to recently:

Mos works... takes it easy on the weekends but still actively pursuing for her plans. Keeping suspicious individuals by sight mean while taking care of the tasks given to her. The T c.ell is the corner stone of the secondary immunity response so her phone rings occasionally.

Mos has met quite few interesting individuals she has begun to hang out more ( which majority could count as body invaders, but not many of them are actually malicious. Still going for to hit the jackpot.

Where to find them:

Mos can be found all around the body. ( crossover / alien verses literally anywhere ) Traveling through lym.phn.odes which work for their unit stations. Her work spots vary depending on the task given. Her home is located near thigh, cheap neighbourhood. 4th floor of an old, gelatin flat opposite a club. Which is ideal from her perspective: catching sightings of suspicious movement.

Current plans:

Mos is making friends! Like really opening up a bit. She is getting rid off that negativity and fear of loss. Actually HANGING OUT with people more than the necessary. 

Mos getting to work with something big ( practically goes to desired but there are rps taking her slowly to that direction ).

Desired interactions:

I am very open when it comes to this. TBH. I am not expecting anything specific && relationships / enemies are born over discussion / rp. Always open for it! The crazier the better, that’s my experience.

I am always excited when Mos finds someone as horrible as she is to spend time with && I absolutely adore ships meanwhile I am super nervous to even go && tell if I find our muses matching. I love ships. I will always remember those fondly too.

I also love action. Puzzling plots. Friends or enemies, development. Tension in between muses. It is all highly welcomed!  I kinda love bigger arcs of action. I mean, she is researcher. All these chasing a criminal // interacting in trapped situations. Totally into some detective / thriller stuff too! Mun allows darker themes. 

Microscopic muses for body adventures. I also highly welcome crossovers! Nothing is impossible.

Offered interactions:

In the body, Mos finds everyone suspicious at the first sight. Strict looking && sounding woman, but still probably the most relaxed white c.ell there is. She plays it safe, but also the risky game. Putting her nose into your business if she has a slight suspicion. 

She is that calm, smart companion. Need help with a case? Perhaps with crosswords? No? She will toss you the answer anyway. ( If it’s body related; knowledge about external world sucks ). Mos gets along with other smart peeps && as the calm one for hyper active friends. She might appear hard, even snarky but she is highly protective towards people she cares about. No one messes with “mom”. 

Mos is looking for more. She lives early mid age crisis ( literally balancing between hope is lost / I can make my dreams come true ), meaning she is more adventurous and risk taking. She wants experiences. Thrills. She is interested in what external world is like... If anyone is tempting her for something daring, she most likely accepts. Unless, she will tempt your muse to join something mad.

Current open post/s:

I occasionally post very small IC comment posts people are ALWAYS welcomed to respond! Memes. Yes. Send memes! If you are shy to talk / want to break ice without ooc talk first, MEMES. Or go for starter call. But meme responses are the fastest way.

Anything else?:

Mun lives at Greenwich + 2:00. So yea. TIMEZONES. I’m fast asleep while dash is the most active so I usually miss memes && dash games. The most active time for me is when everyone is either asleep, school or working so I prefer plotting out things or just starting off something && writing replies on our own time. 

Tagging: ( I want to plot with many of you! but I only tag handful of people so if we are mutuals. YES. I want to rp with you. ) @pickanosis @worldoftheskeptic @wabbitseezon @hoopsheartthrob @txchyon @therealricksanchezpleasestandup @contagicn  @meanxgreenxteam @feelingheat @coughmediiciine @clawedevil && who ever wants!