#joker/original female character

[gotham25052]

Dark Waters Part 8

As the social fabric of Gotham begins to fray and the Joker's intrusion into her life escalates, Anna struggles to maintain control. But is she threatened by the Joker or by something within herself?

Contents: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 9 Part 10

Overall fic warnings: Explicit violence and explicit sexual content.

Chapter warnings: 18+, NSFW, blood, violence, sexual content

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Author's note: Uh oh…

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I think everyone reading is well aware, but I do just want to mention the obvious, that this is a fictional, fantasy story, with the spotlight on two very flawed characters. If you find some kind of wormhole or magic passageway to the fictional world of Gotham and find the Joker there, do whatever you want! But in this world, no level of violence is ok in a relationship. So that's just my little reality check. I'm sure you don't need to hear it, but I'm just making sure.

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Now, let's go through the wardrobe and get back to the story. :)

(I am changing it up a little this week and sharing a very short chapter, compared to the usual overwhelmingly long one, lol).

The Joker came to see Annie often now. Sometimes he came and took her immediately, entering the apartment and bringing her into his embrace so quickly she could feel the cool night air clinging to his purple jacket. At other times he would come in, eat whatever he found on the counter, and talk to her about something he'd seen that day, or lightly interrogate her about her experiences in Gotham.

Sooner or later, they always ended up in each other's arms. He seemed to study her, learning every little reaction from the surfaces of her body. His attention was an unusual luxury, a precious thing that she treasured. But as a person used to finding protection in hiding from the outside world, she was also a little unnerved by his level of understanding of her thoughts and desires.

He was more difficult to understand - so much of him was hidden from her. But anything she noticed that made him call out or catch his breath, she would remember it for him. There was always the possibility he was leading her in the wrong direction on purpose, with his gift for deceit, but generally she felt that he was very straightforward with physical intimacy, almost as if it made more sense to him than other everyday interactions. Maybe because it was more direct, more genuine, more natural.

As the time passed, Annie seemed to adjust to her new reality, balancing out some of the habits of her old self and the newfound freedom she felt when she was with him. He was able to coax her into speaking more often, and she took on the daily tasks that were required to provide life's necessities.

After their first nights together, he had quickly overhauled her limited wardrobe. He must have waited until she was sleeping and then removed every scrap of clothing from her closet. In their place in the morning she found a hodgepodge collection of short skirts, heels, and strappy things - halter tops and backless shirts. Her new underwear seemed to provide decoration more than concealment. Though he wouldn't tell her anything about it, she strongly suspected that his friend Genevieve was somehow behind the choice of clothes. Annie was really quite lost with it all but obediently wore whatever she found there. She had her jacket for going outside, so it didn't matter too much to her what she wore inside. And he seemed to delight in it, finding a hundred ways to take the scant clothing off of her when he visited.

On the day it happened, he walked into the apartment with a distracted look and drew out his knife, alarming her. He extended his arm into the air and then brought the knife down into the cheap countertop, puncturing the poorly made plastic laminate. The force of it caused his hand to slide down the blade, giving him a terrible cut over his palm. He didn't cry out but simply pulled up his arm and looked at the blood oozing from the wound, until she brought a towel and wrapped it around his hand.

She had a hard time staying calm and figuring out what to say, but she finally came out with a shaky "What happened?" as she held the towel firmly over the cut. He looked up at her and then dug into his pocket, bringing out a roughly torn piece of newspaper. She unfolded it as best she could with her free hand and read through the beginning of the article.

The Gotham Gazette Vol LXVIII, No. 23

Mayor Harvey Dent finally scored a victory against the infamous Joker today when the largest arms seizure in Gotham history resulted in the confiscation of six freight cars worth of weapons this morning. Everything from ordinary pistols to military-grade weapons and grenades were found.

Since the food crisis and supply chain disruptions, a nationwide shortage of weapons has been an issue for police and criminals alike, so this large-scale seizure puts the odds back in favor of the Gotham authorities…

She sat by him that evening, making sure his hand stopped bleeding and quietly comforting him, knowing it must have been a devastating blow by his unusual silence. Secretly she hoped that fewer weapons might mean less violence - his obsession with fighting the authorities and tearing down the rules of society was not a passion she shared. But in a world where the backbone of the community - the police, the government, and the law - had largely abandoned her, she didn't feel any sense of guilt or a moral dilemma in comforting him after his loss. This was something about her conservative rural upbringing that did stay with her. The focus on one's own family and the disregard for the outside world, for good or for ill, made her well-suited to be the Joker's companion. Although the hesitation of the women of her isolated community to question the men's actions had often infuriated Annie when she was growing up, that habit had also ingrained itself into her personality and probably contributed to her acceptance of his position as the head of Gotham's criminal empire.

The next day they were on the bed and he was absentmindedly stroking her cheek with his fingertips. She moved to get up and he pulled her back immediately, returning her to exactly the same position, and he continued his repetitive caress. She was probably wise to decide to simply stay where he placed her. He did this more and more often after the weapons raid, seemingly distracted, his eyes focused far away. Sometimes while he was sleeping she washed his shirt and pants by hand, hanging them up to dry in the shower, to maintain some level of cleanliness, as he seemed to be letting himself go much more than usual. But his energy and passion for Annie, if anything, grew stronger, and it felt like he must be escaping from the frustrations of his days in her embrace.

Now he entered the apartment like any other day, but she soon noticed that something was off. He was preoccupied, agitated. He hung up the purple jacket and took off the gloves deliberately, with much more care than usual. She wondered if there was some new development in the shortage of firearms. She had heard his men talking in low voices about their growing weakness in the face of the police and the rival gangs of Gotham.

But when he walked toward her with his jaw clenched and his mouth curved into a subtle smile, she knew that it must be about her.

"It turns out that my kitten has been very bad," he began ominously. "I found out she wasn't the only one who wanted to leave her Church. There were others, but they didn't get out. Kitten did. She left them all behind without a backward glance." He said it in a sing-song voice that contrasted with his menacing expression. "How did she do that?" He wagged his finger at her, a half smile raising one side of his messily painted mouth.

"You know, it's so unusual for someone to be able to escape from the Church. And a woman leaving, no one ever heard of it before you, Annie."

As soon as he had mentioned her past, she stood unmoving, not appearing to even breath. She just stared at him with wide eyes. "I was suspicious early on, when you first told me about it, and I sent one of my men up there to your little town to investigate you. I almost forgot about it, but he got back to me today."

He came closer, close enough for her to feel his breath on her face. "I can't find anything else out about you and your deal. It looks like all the officers and lawyers who worked with you ran away or seem to have been assassinated by your little organization up there," he said, tilting his head to look at her with a sidelong stare.

"I have a theory. I think maybe she spread her sweet little legs for that upstate DA." He put his knee between her legs suddenly, forcing them apart, almost making her fall. "Why don't you tell me about it?" He paused, regarding her terrified face.

"I don't mind, you know. You understand what it takes to survive. I respect that. He was a young man - but maybe not as pretty as Mayor Dent, hmm? Was he a nice lay?"

When he was met with only silence again, he moved over to hiss into her ear, "Tell me about it."

Her mind was racing. She wanted to forget all about that time, and to have him bring it up now brought back her pain, her guilt after taking the deal and leaving the others trapped there.

"Yes, he was a nice lay," she said, the words feeling foreign in her mouth.

He had been running a hand through his disheveled hair but paused immediately when he heard her words. There was a shift in the room. She felt like a hiding animal whose camouflage had suddenly disappeared.

"He was a nice lay? Oh kitten, you're lying," he said, rolling the words slowly in his mouth so they fell with a deadly weight.

He nodded his head, stepping back and surveying her with his merciless eyes. He drew his arm back and slapped her, hard. She hadn't had time to shield herself, and the blow landed squarely on the side of her face. The sound of it echoed in the sparse room. She collapsed to the floor, holding her mouth and tasting blood.

He took a step toward her and grabbed her hair, intertwining it messily in his fingers and using it to pull her to her feet. She cried out from the sudden pain. She still had her eyes closed, trying to keep her head from spinning after the sudden impact of the slap, when she heard the sound of the blade extending from the knife. Her eyes snapped open and her focus stayed on it as he dragged the flat of the cold metal blade lightly over her shoulder and settled the sharp point in the hollow where her neck met her chest.

"Your heart is beating so fast, kitten - I can see it here."

He had miscalculated if he thought a threat of force like the knife was something that would make her share her secret. But maybe he wasn't threatening her as much as he just wanted to see the sharp blade on the soft skin of her neck. Maybe he didn't really know what he wanted at that moment.

In the flurry of thoughts running through her mind, she suddenly realized that holding something away from him like this gave her a rush of pleasure. He knew everything about her: how she thought, the dynamics of her body, what every touch would do to her. But here was something he didn't know.

He used his grip on her hair to tilt her head up to face him. A slow smile formed on her lips. She had some scrap of her life that was hidden - it seemed to give her a small amount of control, and that little bit was intoxicating to her.

"I thought I just found a little fallen angel there on the ballroom floor, but you're much more than that, aren't you?" he said, regarding her strange smile and the remoteness of her icy stare. "I should have known, with the way you looked at me. Those sparkling eyes. You couldn't stop looking at me, could you?"

He retracted the knife and turned his hand to let it drop to the floor. Holding her head steady with his grip on her hair, he pressed his lips to hers. The movement of his tongue mingled with the blood in her mouth in a luxurious warmth as she returned his kiss. Her dizziness after the jolting slap only made it more mesmerizing - she felt she was floating. He drug his hand around her hips to the front of her thighs and pushed up the short skirt she was wearing.

The shock of what had happened made her feel unsteady, but her body adapted to him, listened to him.

"Ok, I'll let you keep your secrets, kitten," he murmured in her ear. She leaned on him for support and he held her securely.

"I'm feeling so generous today," he said, a lustful tremor beginning to show itself in his voice. He let go of her hair and she heard the gentle ting of his belt buckle hitting the long watch chain. He brought his hands behind her and pulled her close.

Author's note: [spoilers!] Don't be mad! Forgive me, remember he is the Joker. You have to give him a little bit of a break, Dent took away all his toys.

It is probably a little bit messed up that if I could ask Heath Ledger's Joker to say any of the lines of the story so far, it would be "Oh kitten, you're lying." :)

This is fanfic, so of course I don't own any characters from The Dark Knight (Joker, Batman, etc.). The main female character is original.

[teejaywyatt1]

✨Chapter 7 of Heat of the Moment will drop on Thursday, November 9th at 2:30PM EST.✨

[missfortuneisblue]

Alice’s Blue Roses tattoos

[cheeseandbretboy]

JOKER (2019) AND JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX (2024) SPOILERS !!!

still trying to sift through my thoughts but i liked joker 2. i dont get how the ratings are so bad?? were people expecting a romance???? a fun movie? i mean even i was surprised by the depressing end but im really glad it happened because thats what joker 2019 was about too. arthur was never the actual 'joker' we see in dc films, and we knew that. his whole story is tragic but a lot of people missed that in the first movie. the second speaks on that to humanise arthur (even though thats what they literally tried to do in the first one?? didnt work i guess) and shame those who use him as a symbol for misogyny and incel stuff. i think what most people are mad about is how hes not as 'villainy' as the other jokers BUT AGAIN he was never the true joker and im confused as to how people missed that !! personally i loved how it shows that even after he's secured himself the identity of joker he's still repeatedly exploited as he was before that, and he has to come to terms with it. harleys character was really surprising for me because usually she's the one being manipulated by joker- in this case it was the other way around. especially interesting was how joker was the one who sung 'bewitched' about harley (the original song is sung about a man, so they had to change he/him to she/her) and the scene of joker and harley's show where she continues singing 'to love somebody' without looking at him, instead basking in the attention the audience gives her. people were expecting a twisted sexy romance between them but instead we were given something really uncomfortable and unnerving- like that sex scene. her character also gives insight into parasocial relationships and how weird and dangerous they can get. she never really knew arthur- she knew joker. the film starts with us finally happy that he 'for once in his life, has someone who needs him' and ends with us absolutely distraught. in the first movie, he says stuff like 'you dont listen' and 'i never knew i existed' and STILL after becoming an infamous killer, getting a show about him, EVERYONE talking about him, he's still not seen. there are just so many things the film points out about its fanbase (incels, parasocial relationships, identity, the glamourisation/sexualisation of violence, columbiners, exploitation etc etc) and i guess people don't like that. they want capitalism=bad, 'men have it so bad', and mm gore! which is fair- i loved it too- but it doesnt hurt to delve into the identity of 'joker' (whatever that is) and how that influences its viewers. its quite meta i like it a lot. they didnt care that the ratings would be awful because they had to speak on what the first movie did to people

oh also the intertextuality is just amazing. the songs are great, like i mentioned before with changing the female and male roles with 'bewitched', and even though i absolutely hate musicals this really worked fo rme. i think it's because musicals often have songs smack bam in the middle of realistic scenes and the singing just ruins it for me- but in joker 2 they're more often a part of arthur's fantasies so it was actually better. i wasnt sure about the musical element at first but after rewatching joker for like the 1000th time i realised how much its intertwined in the first movie- we just never really paid attention to it. the end of 'gonna build a mountain' was amazing (you have to pay attention to the lyrics), 'the joker' was great, and the few instances of violence we see from arthur while hes singing is really entertaining i love it sm. i keep mentioning 'betwitched' but i love it. 'she is cold, i agree, she can laugh, and i love it' ahh. i loved the intertextuality with nolan's the dark knight. a lot of people hate it, but i think people should be more flexible with inspiration and interweaving similar but different stories into films. just because it follows a similar story doesnt mean that it should either perfectly fit the mould of nolan's batman, but neither does it mean they should abandon it altogether either. harvey dent really surprised me, and even though he was a pretty minor character i loved the few references to nolan's batman they give (like his gory face after the explosion at court being a possible villain origin story). most obvious is the end though, where arthur is gutted by that inmate who admires him. the use of the joke was amazing and i was really surprised by how he got stabbed. you can see in this moment that arthur has been relieved of his identity of 'joker' and can finally rest as himself, just a mentally ill guy with a history of tragic abuse. when lee and his fans betray him (the real life ones too hilariously) we realise no one truly saw or loved him, and he couldn't deal with that. so, the identity of joker was passed on to that inmate- "ah, what a fine young son to take my place"- while he cuts a glasgow smile into his face. in felt this was sort of missing from joker 2019, so im really glad they used ledger's joker as inspiration for this inmate.

there's a lot more to talk about, ESPECIALLY gary's reappearance which im so so glad about, it really fleshed out his character. when he walked up to the stand, you can see people whispering and laughing at him- arthur never made fun of him. it really helps to make people question what constitutes a bad person. sure, these people didn't kill 6 people, but how easy would it be for them just not to laugh? it showed arthur's empathy, and how uncomfortable he was with admitting to it when trying to paint himself as the joker. "you were the only one who was nice to me" was said by arthur in the first movie when he kills randal and gary says something similar to him during court.

anyways wow that was great people are mad the 2nd movie is as depressing as the first (if not more). at the end ofthe first, arthur has a whole revolution loving him, and we did the same. at the end of the second we realise we never truly knew him, but exploited his character.

[absolutebl]

Hello! I discovered your blog relatively recently so forgive me if you’ve already done this but would you consider compiling a list of all the times crossdressing has been done in bl? Whether as a plot-device, for comedy, for serious reasons, just all the times crossdressing as a trope has appeared.

In a similar vein if you wanted to explore it I’d also be interested in the breadth of trans rep in bl/queer shows and movies in Asian media and if that ever blends into the crossdressing (maybe also drag would be interesting to throw into the mix as well?). Also just an exploration of Queer Femme characters that are not made fun of or villainized by the narrative would be cool! Basically just exploring femme queer aspects in bl in all its good, bad, and I’m sure sometimes ugly forms!

Hi, welcome! Ooo, crossdressing. Frankly I can't think of many and I don't have great recall on this one so I will have to ask the feed.

BL's With Crossdressing

Meet You At The Blossom (China 2024) - major plot point

Nobleman Ryus Wedding (Korea 2021) - historical, entire premise

Kieta Hatsukoi AKA My Love Mix-Up! (Japan 2021)

Love Stage (Japan 2020) - major plot point (better executed in the anime version)

Love Stage (Thailand 2022) - major plot point better executed than either Japanese version

About Youth (Taiwan 2022)

I Told Sunset About You (Thailand 2020)

Jack & Joker (Thailand 2024)

My Bromance the movie (Thailand 2014)

My Love Mix-up (Thailand 2023)

I Am Your King (Thailand 2017) - this is Mark Siwat's first BL, and yeah, he's the one cross dressing (he plays the femme rich boy in Jack & Joker)

The Sign (Thailand 2024) - historical costume for the girl of the past being played by a boy is a gender mix of female/male attire, it's very clever

YYY (Thailand 2022)

I feel like Gun has crossdressed in one of his. Theory of Love maybe?

Mr Cinderella (Vietnam 2022)

My Sky (Vietnam 2017) - trigger warning

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam 2021) - major plot point

Moots et al...... other (older?) BLs with cross dressing?

Others worth noting

Either the representation or the BL is in question, or it's not exactly crossdressing it's something else. Still, some obscure ones just in case.

Wait For Me at Udagawachou AKA Udagawachou de Matteteyo (Japan 2015) - may be triggering involves body dysmorphia and fetishization of trans identity, but if you can you should watch this

Spring of Crush (Korea 2022) - this is a bromance

Rainbow Prince (Pinoy 2022)

DNA Says Love You (Taiwan 2022)

Great Men Academy (Thailand 2019)

3 Will Be Free (Thailand 2019)

Love Sick 2024 (Thailand) - made an aggressively male character from the original into a newly out 3rd gender/trans character in the new version, very intentional modernization choice, fascinating. Directly addresses dead naming among other things in the few scenes she has.

Saneha Stories series from Thailand

You should follow Cooheart on IG he does some fantastic gender bending and crossdressing styles. He's the fashion icon gift that keeps on giving.

Thai BL has tons of representation and use of characters/actors of Thai third gender, a lot of which is for comedy. Rarely if ever in BL more like Diary of the Tootsies. I would say my favorite and most beloved 3rd G rep is in The Sign. But that is is different than what you asked for.

Femme rep I have talked about before, most specifically in the context of Daisy in Secret Crush On You......

More Queer Lens & Thai BL 

BL Linguistics & Queer Identity I Am Gay versus I Like Men 

Husband Wife Language in Thai BL (SOTUS, TharnType + a lot of 2022 BL) 

Thai BL Lacks Representation of Butch & Transgender Men (and why this has to do with Thailand's 3rd Gender) 

Thai Military Service & Thai BL

Hope that helps.

(source)

[supercritters]

How about Harley Quinn?

Harleen Quinzel - Harley Quinn

I know Harley is traditionally associated with hyenas, but I've never been able to see her as any kind of large and tough creature. She's always seemed a little fragile to me - and though she's grown past that characterization in comics, I still wanted to capture that aspect of her character

Plus, in the supercritters AU the Joker is a kookaburra, so I liked her being a bird to match with him. And shrikes are also famously known as the "butcherbird" - they're carnivorous birds that often impale their prey onto spikes. So pretty fitting, still

Her pattern is based on the female red-backed shrike, as they display sexual dimorphism, so if you look up a picture of the bird it may look different

I chose a red-backed shrike mainly to match her color scheme

And speaking of that scheme, I'm not particularly fond of the modern Harley Quinn costume so I decided to draw the original one. In general I'm not really a Harley Quinn fan but that's just because I tend to dislike the "mad clown" brand villain (think Joker, Green Goblin, etc.)

[aquamine-amarine]

Why is it that Western fans are so fucking miserable and feel the need to lie and spread misinformation without providing any evidence to back up their claims? This is such a bullshit claim not based on reality. Because this is NOT what I've seen when it comes to how the series is viewed in Japan. It's actually really popular. Their ratings are just fine, they're not crying for help at all. Why do people feel the need to lie when it's so easy to prove them wrong?

I have been posting Peach-Pit news for 10+ years and I saw first hand the reactions from Japanese fans when the reprints were first announced back in 2021. The first two volumes were released on March 1st, 2021. They sold out so fast they had to reprint them. And then they had to reprint them AGAIN in April 2021.

I recently bought another set of the reprints, let's look at the reprint information on the last page:

Volume 1 was reprinted 6 times, most recently on November 21st, 2024.

Volume 2 was reprinted 5 times, most recently on July 17th, 2024.

Volume 3 was reprinted 5 times, most recently on November 21st, 2024.

Volume 4 was reprinted 5 times, most recently on November 21st, 2024.

Volume 5 was reprinted 5 times, most recently on November 21st, 2024.

Volume 6 was reprinted 4 times, most recently on July 17th, 2024.

...according to the copies I have. My volume 2 and 6 do have the obis around the cover advertising the sequel, so it makes sense that those came from the July 2024 reprints. Those volumes were also most likely reprinted in November 2024 with the others, Animate just sent me a mix and I didn't get the newest version of those.

As for the first volume of Jewel Joker, the regular and special editions were released on February 13th, 2025. They announced a reprint of both editions 4 days later on February 17th, 2025. That is the OPPOSITE of a cry for help. That means the series is doing really well, because they have to keep reprinting the volumes. And it's highly likely it's going to keep getting special treatment just like the original series did, with the rest of the volumes getting a regular AND special edition.

The September 2024 Issue of Nakayoshi, which included the first chapter of Jewel Joker, sold out really fast. Animate cancelled my order for the issue because they ran out, even though I had pre-ordered it. Third party sellers on Amazon Japan were selling the issues for a much higher price because everyone wanted the issue and furoku. Nakayoshi had to offer the September 2024 Issue for free digitally for a limited time so people could actually read it.

Since the first chapter, it has been featured on the cover of Nakayoshi 5 times, and has had 4 color title pages. Each title page has the words 大人気 (very popular) on it. There are only 8 chapters so far and it's already so popular. Every month when a new issue comes out and Nakayoshi's X account makes a post for every manga that is in the issue that particular month, Shugo Chara!'s posts always have the highest likes and views.

There has been a constant, nonstop stream of merchandise, goods, popup shops, and collaboration cafes since the reprints came out in 2021. The Animate cafe collaboration back in March was huge. The X post announcing it has 3 millions views and 26k likes. When mail order for the goods was made available, some of the goods were sold out within 2 hours! Amu's acrylic stand sold out first, by the way. Ikuto's acrylic stand sold out the next day.

That is NOT a series struggling with ratings. With or without Ikuto, the series was doing just fine. It's probably the most popular series in Nakayoshi right now. Because Japanese fans actually like the series for the plot too, not just the pretty boys. There are a lot of Japanese fans that are huge fans of the female characters as well.

It was inevitable that Ikuto was going to come back sooner or later because he's one of the main characters and also Amu's love interest. They're the main canon couple. You wouldn't have Sailor Moon without Mamoru or Cardcaptor Sakura without Syaoran. The love interest HAS to be there. Even though romance is not the main point in these manga (the actual plot is) these boys are still there. They HAVE to be there.

The merchandise and other goods have made it very obvious that Amuto is absolutely canon at this point. There are Cocollabo and Animate goods where it's just the two of them, and Palcy has been advertising their relationship as "fated to be attracted to each other". This is an official Kodansha app. I've also seen things on Peach-Pit's pixiv Fanbox that just make it more obvious too, I just can't share them because they're behind a paywall and they said not to talk about pixiv Fanbox contents outside of pixiv. They're only okay with sharing articles that are listed as "All Users". Which means you can view the articles without paying for a plan and without having a pixiv account.

Honestly, the only people who are salty about Ikuto's return are probably Tadamu fans that are still in denial about Amuto being canon. That's the simplest answer. It has absolutely nothing to do with ratings. They don't like Ikuto so they're annoyed he's back, and they're just pretending it's some other reason because they're dishonest. I'd respect them more if they just told the truth.

The Asian fandoms (I mainly lurk among Japanese, Korean, and Chinese fans) are all in a euphoric haze that they've been in since the Nakayoshi cover was first revealed, and when chapter 8 came out on Thursday they were freaking out all day. One fan described it as a "lethal dose of Amuto". lol The Japanese fandom is overjoyed with chapter 8, and thankfully their opinion is the only one that matters because they're the ones actually buying the issues and volumes as well as going to popup shops and collaboration cafes. It doesn't matter what Western fans think, because apart from a few people like myself and some others, most of them aren't supporting the series in any way. I buy direct from the source using Buyee and Tenso.

There's a reason Amu and Ikuto are ALWAYS featured in every new set of illustrations Peach-Pit releases. They're always there, and the rest of the characters chosen are usually a mix of Tadase, Utau, and/or Nadeshiko/Nagihiko. I think Peach-Pit is just really happy that they can finally go all in on Amuto and they wanted to advertise it as much as they could. That's why the cover was released a week early, why they've been so giddy talking about the chapter. As I said before, they've said things on their pixiv Fanbox that have confirmed some of my suspicions. Also the notes in the artbooks:

万里: グランドフィナーレですね. 白い服の2人とブーケ…, というのは最初から決まってました. 12巻でバージョンちがいを描きましたよ. Banri: It’s the grand finale. Two people wearing white clothes and a bouquet​… that was decided from the beginning. The Volume 12 version is drawn differently.

This was canon since day 1. It's what they've always wanted to do, and they're so happy that they can finally do it.

Also, X is NOT a "hellspace", it is an extremely effective social media platform. Another ignorant opinion not based on reality. I know I'm dealing with literal children when you people feel the need to insert politics into a hobby discussion where it is not needed, wanted, or in any way relevant to the conversation. A smart entrepreneur will use every social media platform they can to advertise themselves. It's common sense. And today X is THE best place to do it.

When the series was first serialized in Nakayoshi, social media - especially X - was not as widespread as it is today. If you wanted to see comments by the manga artists, you were limited to comments they made in the issues, comments in the published volumes, or you tracked down their personal website and hoped it had a blog section (Peach-Pit's old website did). They occasionally had autograph sessions, and Peach-Pit also replies to fan letters and they send postcards out during summer and winter. Advertising each series was also limited, probably to just each magazine's websites, the manga artist's blog, and bookstores like Animate.

Now the publishing companies and magazines all have an X account, and the manga artists being published in the magazine have one as well. Peach-Pit only created their X in 2011, and Nakayoshi created theirs in 2014. That was after SC! ended in 2010. Some also have a pixiv Fanbox.

Social media makes it much easier to advertise each series, and you'd be stupid not to. You couldn't do this before and now you can, so you should absolutely use this to your advantage. Their goal is to get more readers and to make money, and I don't fault them for that. They need money in order to live. I thought this stupid website supported artists? Of course SC! has an easier time since it already has an established fanbase (the same could also be said of CCS Clear Card when it was running in Nakayoshi).

Speaking of CCS, I don't think it was a coincidence that the issue announcing SC!'s sequel (the November 2023 Issue) came two issues before CCS Clear Card ended (the January 2024 Issue). I believe they did this on purpose. Their cash cow was ending and they needed to make sure people stuck around for the next cash cow, so they wanted CCS readers to see the news about SC!'s sequel. Because if anyone is desperate for ratings, it isn't Peach-Pit - it's Nakayoshi.

Recent issues of Nakayoshi are very thin, nothing like the thick phone book-like issues I have from 2006 during SC!'s first serialization. I think the magazine is struggling, which is why they keep giving sequels to their most popular classic manga to bring back old readers. In a list of Japanese manga magazines by circulation as of June 2023, Ciao is #10, Ribon is #12, and Nakayoshi is #23. CCS Clear Card would later end in the January 2024 Issue which was released on December 1st, 2023. I'm really interested to see the current numbers and how SC!'s sequel might have effected the amount of copies they printed. Clearly they didn't print enough copies of the September 2024 Issue which had the first chapter of Jewel Joker in it. Did they fix this by making sure to print more copies? Doesn't look like it, because the May 2025 Issue appears to be sold out in some stores already. Animate's online store says they only have a few left.

In 2019, Nakayoshi published an artbook to celebrate their 65th anniversary. The manga artists were listed in order of publication - with Peach-Pit being listed last. An indirect admission by Nakayoshi that SC! was one of the last good manga to run in the magazine and there hadn't been any new hits between SC! ending in 2010 and 2019 when the artbook was published. Not even Ema Tooyama was featured in the artbook, and she's had numerous Nakayoshi manga throughout the years.

It's Nakayoshi's 70th anniversary this year and they've barely celebrated it. They released a card set furoku in the January 2025 Issue featuring art from popular manga, but that's about it. No word about any special campaigns or exhibitions. Will they release another artbook just like that one, to include popular manga from 2019 to 2025? I wish they would do something.

Alright, this is long enough. Leave it to the miserable Western fandom to ruin the good mood I've been in since chapter 8 came out. I'm going back to Japanese X, they're not fucking miserable.

[swamiiyasssss]

Dragonfly In Red

Jason Todd x Vigilante!OfficeSiren!Reader

This Hood would never have thought he'd fell in love with a goddamn suit. Tall, dark and gorgeous, she was the wildest of his dreams. A dragonfly amongst the birds, the bats, standing out too much for his own liking.

The suit's got secrets; He intends to take it all for his own.

Dragonfly In Red by yasswami Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), Batman: Arkham - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Batman: Arkham (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Jason Todd/Reader, Jason Todd/Original Female Character(s), Jason Todd/Original Character(s), minor Luke Fox/Reader Characters: Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Titus | Damian Wayne's Dog, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Stephanie Brown, Joker (DCU), Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Lucius Fox, Luke Fox, Arkham Asylum Inmates, Arkham Asylum Staff (DCU), Riddler (Batman 1966), Jim Gordon Additional Tags: Slow To Update, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Episode: s01e09 Enemies and Lovers, Lazy Sex, Hate Sex, NSFW, Smut, Angst, Heavy Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Death, Canonical Character Death, Vigilantism, Vigilante Reader, Blood and Violence, Psychological Horror, Psychological Torture, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Sex, Emotional Manipulation, Explicit Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Blood and Injury, Blood Kink, Blood As Lube, Recreational Drug Use, Bondage and Discipline, Chair Bondage, Non-Sexual Bondage, Body Horror, Body Worship, Corporate core, Office Sex, Police Officer Dick Grayson, Restraints, Angry Sex, Angry Kissing, Fake Character Death, Survivor Guilt, Power Imbalance, Power Play, Office SIREN reader, suits & bandages, whump, can u notice i got a thing for blood aha

Jason bares his teeth. “ I find a dragonfly, ensnared in my trap.”

Red Hood/You. Dark & Explicit Themes. Mind the Tags.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Every Storm Clears Eventually

by RIN_The_Bandit After one too many issues bombard him, Tim snaps while searching for Bruce. He dirties his hands and stumbles upon a new way to bring his father back, Chronomancy. Except, Tim never expected the spell to send him back twelve years? But he's smart, and he might not have the Bats as backup anymore, but he'll make this timeline better than before. Though, he never expected Constantine to get involved, or for the Bats to remember. Words: 37896, Chapters: 21/21, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Other Characters: Tim Drake (DCU), Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Kon-El | Conner Kent, Bart Allen, Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character(s) Relationships: Batfamily Members & Tim Drake (DCU), Tim Drake & Original Character(s), Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent, Bart Allen & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Tim Drake-centric (DCU), Tim Drake Angst (DCU), Tim Drake Needs a Hug (DCU), Tim Drake Gets a Hug (DCU), Good Parent Bruce Wayne, Good Sibling Dick Grayson, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Good Sibling Damian Wayne, Tim Drake is Joker Jr., Tim Drake is Red Robin (DCU), Time Travel Fix-It, Chronic Illness, Tim Drake Has Self-Worth Issues, His parents are still dead, Tim Drake Deserves Happiness, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, no beta we die like tim's parents via https://ift.tt/mH7kgVB

[gar77717]

Harley Quinn's designs are terrible and here's why

I swear people do not understand how to properly write Harley Quinn I have been hyperfixated on her for a very long time at this point and I have only read one single comic where I think she's written well and even then in that comic it doesn't really feel like Harley Quinn It's just a well-written character.

there's so many issues regarding sexualization and infantilization with her but I think it's easiest to just focus on her character design, originally she was based off of jesters and playing cards I think this is an intriguing design and it's pretty good especially compared to some of her newer looks but I'll get to that later. her original design makes sense both in costume and outside of it. she's a jester not a clown which inherently differentiates her from the joker sure they're very similar but still fundamentally different. her being a jester isn't the connecting factor to the joker though it's the playing cards specifically 3 of diamonds. That's what tells you that they're on the same team while also showing that he is considered to be more important than her. her original design is a full body suit with a headpiece and a mask. Back when the animated show was released I believe pretty much all of Batman's female villains had kind of a femme fatale thing going on they were supposed to be attractive and even still this is probably Harley's least revealing outfit. as for her out of costume look, honestly I've never quite liked the pigtails but this is where I think it looks best mostly just because it has an actual purpose one to easily put on her headpiece and two because she's a gymnast so it makes sense to tie her hair up. All of these things that I'm praising about her original design are almost completely destroyed later on

One of the main reasons that Harley Quinn's design changed so fundamentally is because of a little old game called vampire the masquerade bloodlines and specifically the character Jeanette. Harley Quinn is basically just Jeanette now both in personality and design, and don't get me wrong I think Jeanette is a fun character I also think Harley Quinn is a very fun character but they are not the same goddamn person and they shouldn't be because they have very different lives one is a literal vampire.

ever since vampire the masquerade bloodlines Harlequin has drastically changed to some extent for the better but in a lot of aspects for the worst especially when it comes to her character design. let's start off with the first thing I hate her long hair it doesn't make sense obviously we know that she likes to have her hair up even before she wore the pigtails she wore her hair up, So tell me why I see designs for her all the time where she's wearing two loose pigtails that do nothing to keep the goddamn hair out of her face also there's no reason for her to even have pigtails anymore because we've just thrown away the jester design I guess. except there is a reason infantilization here's where we get into the nitty gritty Harley Quinn has always been portrayed as somewhat childish and that's not good because I don't think we should be conflating mentally ill with being childish or dumb Harley is actually an extremely intelligent person you can be intelligent and mentally ill and very chaotic and not be childlike. I do understand to A certain extent it's meant to show her in a better light make it obvious that she's being manipulated by the joker, that he's in the position of power but you don't have to be a child to be manipulated and abused. what Harley exhibits around the joker and the way she acts is a fawn response it's appeasement to try and calm the situation down, It doesn't mean that she's childish or stupid it means that she's doing the best she can to get control over the situation she might act dumb sometimes but it's only an act to again appease her abuser and hopefully avoid him becoming more aggressive. I'm not even going to get into right now how this ties into her relationship with ivy but let's just say I'm not very happy about how it's being written.

next is the sexualization of her character. This one is a bit more controversial I think because a lot of people see it as that idea of her owning her own sexuality, but when the character is being written by a male writer that's kind of a moot point, Even when considering that maybe it's not about sexualizing her you have to ask the question why else would her character design have shifted this much now instead of wearing a full bodysuit she's wearing A two-piece that doesn't cover much and that's fine character can totally wear that but I'm of the opinion that a character's design should have a purpose it should show who they are and I don't get how Harley Quinn's current design is it all relevant to who she is as a person or her motivations and goals. there's the argument that it's because she's trying to separate herself from the joker okay well there an easy way to do that without completely destroying her brand image and it's getting rid of the card theming and keeping the Jester theming. she needs a design that actually means something both to the bigger picture of the story and to her as a character. also I feel like Harley Quinn being so heavily sexualized especially after breaking up with the joker just plays into so many fucking stereotypes, about women, about gay people it's all just a mess.

I don't have the perfect solution for what her character design should look like but I definitely have a few ideas, for one short hair I've seen some amazing fucking artwork of her with short hair and it always looks amazing, It gives her this level of separation from the joker and her constant appeasement of him, and honestly It doesn't make her look any less like Harley Quinn, A really fun idea could be a buzz cut with patterns Dyed into it. as for her outfit like I said I feel like she really needs to maintain that jester design but that doesn't necessarily mean that she has to have that full bodysuit it could be more abstract than that and I'd love to see some punk elements mixed in with that jester theming. I mean she's an ex-villain anarchist with a love for chaos and an ecoterrorist girlfriend she's punk as hell. LET MY GIRL BE PUNK

[gotham25052]

Dark Waters Part 1

Part 1 summary: Anna moved to Gotham to disappear, but an encounter with the Joker takes away her anonymity and throws her life into disarray.

Contents: Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

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Notes: I'll be posting new chapters each week. [Edit 12/8 - going to have to go for a 2-week posting schedule instead of every week] I've had so much fun writing, hoping that maybe a few others out there will enjoy reading!

Overall fic warnings: Explicit violence and explicit sexual content.

Chapter warnings: Some violence, heavy themes including contemplation of death, major invasion of personal space

She immediately dropped the tray upon hearing the gunshot - it reverberated in the large ballroom, which had excellent acoustics. She was on the far side of the room, away from the activity, yet she had a good view of the group as they walked in.

Her heart seemed to stop, seeing the man in the lead. It wasn't hard to tell who he was, with the white face paint, black eyes, and jarring red lips. It was the Joker, the face she had seen in the newspapers and televised clips, striking fear into the heart of Gotham with his antics and erratic crime spree.

This was a world that was far removed from her everyday routine of work and survival. The gray hues of her sparse apartment in lower Gotham, the days and nights spent carrying dishes, washing, cooking - the debt she owed weighing her down and keeping her on the edges of life in the city. The physical toll of working constantly in a fast-paced kitchen gave her a kind of alertness that wasn't based on rest but instead on pure adrenaline and necessity, giving her the ability to perform well but also an unrelenting fatigue that plagued her.

She wondered why of all days, today she had been assigned to serving the guests instead of working the line in the kitchen. Since Bruce Wayne, the host of the event, was known as quite a ladies man, she had wondered if perhaps the catering manager wanted more women to be serving at this high-class event. Her simple ponytail and sparse makeup helped her dissolve into the background, but her striking, somewhat unsettling blue eyes may have influenced the manager's decision to add her to the service staff.

But in this moment, she forgot everything. Watching this man was utterly terrifying and also strangely captivating. She couldn't take her eyes off him. It was as if a streak of violent color was splashed onto her horizon. She hadn't noticed his bizarrely red lips in the grainy security footage that ran in news clips, but now when he was on full display, he seemed like a lightning bolt in red traveling across the white ballroom floor. She wasn't alone - the stunned crowd were all seemingly mesmerized by his shocking appearance and the turn the evening had taken. But as he drew near to each group, they looked away, afraid to make eye contact with this man and his goons. She watched until she could no longer see what was happening from her vantage point. The crowd seemed excited and she heard murmurs of 'Batman' - had he shown up to fight the Joker?

She could hear a shot and breaking glass, and then a deadly silence fell around her. The crowd seemed to be pressed down by renewed fear. Was the Joker still here? Was Batman gone? Her mind was reeling in confusion, her thoughts slowed by panic.

Despite herself, she couldn't help looking over to see what was happening. The tall figure in the purple jacket soon reappeared, his goons surrounding him, taunting the crowd. He had appeared frustrated before, but now he looked perfectly composed and at ease. He strode through the ballroom where most people now cowered to the floor, but others seemed stunned and unable to move from their original positions. He was almost to the elevator when he stopped abruptly and turned his head - toward her. Was this possible? Somehow he caught her gaze from far away, and now he was looking straight at her. It was as if he had somehow felt her eyes and seen her thoughts. And now he was turning to walk to her precise location. She thought she must be in some kind of nightmare - it didn't make sense, why would he be striding toward her instead of leaving the building? The police would be on their way.

And still, she couldn't break eye contact. She was like the prey frozen in front of the predator - somehow she was fascinated seeing her inevitable demise walking toward her.

She was nobody, why was he focusing on her?

His strides were unrelenting, breaking the space between them into smaller pieces until he stook right in front of her, far too quickly. He loomed large above her petite frame, looking so much taller up-close. She had the odd sensation that he was a protective figure, simply because her head was level with his shoulders - as if he were an older brother or a father. But looking up at him, she was shocked out of her temporary illusion. It was clear he was the Joker, the gaudy paint brighter and messier the closer he came. Her eyes met his again and for a moment she was lost - flecks of green and brown seemed to be dancing there, shifting all the time, like a fire was kindling in the darkness. She quickly snapped out of her trance and backed up to the wall to make a feeble attempt at escaping, her fear causing her to collapse to the floor when she could no longer move backward. She was like a prisoner on execution day, losing her ability to stand and walk to the gallows. She could hear others around her backing away, relieved that they weren't the ones singled out.

He simply came in closer, pulled her back to a standing position with one hand, and pressed his body up to hers, easily pinning her to the wall. One thing was certain, no one was going to make a daring attempt to rescue her. She was a non-VIP, a young woman in a cheap catering uniform - she would be a low priority for Batman and the police, even if they did manage to arrive. Her mind was still teetering on the horror of upcoming death and utter confusion as to why he had come to her. As someone who blended into the background, perhaps her one strength was her invisibility, and that was lost now. Time seemed to stop for her. She could feel the buttons on his vest, the rough texture of his jacket. She could smell him, feel him breathing calmly. As someone who lived a solitary life in the city, she was overwhelmed by this strange sudden intimacy, her senses overloaded. She tried to comprehend the fact that she likely only had moments left to live.

He wordlessly took his knife from his pocket and had it shining beside her lips in the next moment. But he turned away, his attention taken by his henchmen signaling that the police were closing in on the building. In that split second, something changed for her. She didn't want to be carved up in front of a crowd, and if he was going to kill her, she preferred for him to just do it and be done. She accepted her fate, and a strange calm enveloped her. She held up her free hand and gently guided his with the knife to her throat, away from her face. Something in the misery of her life, her deep fatigue, and her strange fascination with this wild animal in front of her led her to accept the end. He felt her body relax and turned back toward her, tilting his head slightly as if he was watching some unusual natural phenomenon.

She was surprised that he allowed her to move his hand downward until it rested on her neck. He seemed almost curious to see what would happen. He still hadn't said a word to her, nor her to him, but he looked into her eyes again and she felt that he could see the bleakness of her past and her struggle to survive in Gotham - as if he knew every thought. But somehow he could see this and yet no warmth, no empathy clouded his eyes. She could still see the uninterrupted flames there in his gaze. He seemed to take it all in with one unfeeling blink. A slight smile flickered on the edges of his bubbled cheeks.

He broke the silence. "Did you know, we are the only ones here?" Before she could think of any way to respond or even process his strange statement, he had loosened his grip slightly and with one hand, pulled a vial out of his pocket. He reached backwards to grab a napkin from a nearby table and soaked it with the vial's contents. It smelled terrible, like alcohol and gasoline mixed. Her terror came back with a rush as she realized this had something to do with her. She had prepared herself for death; she wasn't prepared for the unknown that could happen now. She squirmed between his body and the wall, but he easily resecured her so she could barely move. He placed the soaking cloth up to carefully cover her mouth and nose. Despite his men rushing around him, preparing to escape, he looked into her eyes, observing the fear behind them like a scientist watching an experiment, his expression blank. She was afraid of what would happen if she breathed, afraid of losing control.

She kept her gaze fixed on his eyes, still fascinated despite the lack of comfort there.

"Just breath," he said with some exasperation, exhaling forcefully on the word "breath." On his command her body gave up and finally took a desperate breath, and she immediately felt herself fading away. Her eyes went black even though she knew that they were still open, and as she lost consciousness, she felt the side of his face brush roughly against hers and heard him begin to whisper something in her ear.

"You…" But now she was gone, sliding into pure nothingness, her body collapsing to the floor as he took a calculated step back.

"Pour it out, let's go, let's go" the Joker called out loudly, his voice echoing off of the ballroom ceiling. A second wave of his men had entered the room, carrying what looked like gas cans, roughly painted in purple. They strode around the room, splashing the gasoline everywhere, adding an extra sheen to the shining marble floors. The scene was one of chaos as many partygoers struggled to find exits while others stood motionless, caught up in the unexpected shock of the events they saw unfolding around them.

"I'll take this one," the Joker said, loudly and gleefully, as he threw the unconscious woman roughly over his shoulder, her feet held in front and her head and arms swinging on his back as he took large strides toward the elevators. His companions had secured a way out for him in a stolen car that their allies in the police force would ignore. He paused for a brief moment and lunged out with his free hand to pull a sparkling ruby necklace off of a woman's neck as he passed by. "And may I have this, please?" he said with feigned politeness. She winced in pain from having the necklace snapped off her neck and cowered down to the floor, stunned. He swiftly pocketed it and picked up his shotgun.

"I bid you adieu," he said mockingly to those still watching the chaotic scene as he stepped onto the elevator. One of his companions lit a match and threw it onto the gasoline-slick floor.

His goons rushed around him to escape the building into their surrounding cars, while the Joker walked further on into a nearby alley. He unburdened himself of his human cargo and dropped her to the ground. He turned around, glancing at the building, now ablaze. He adjusted the position of her head slightly and quickly slipped the necklace into her uniform pocket. 'Take care' he said with a joyless grin as he ran to the car that had paused to pick him up nearby. The driver, one of his long-time companions, assumed the woman was probably dead, but his boss talking to unresponsive bodies was nothing new. He heard the boss humming as they peeled away and skidded through the streets of Gotham, to the part of the city where the Joker reigned supreme and no one would dare to interfere with him. The boundaries of that 'safe' zone for criminal activity were constantly expanding.

She woke up in a sea of black, not knowing where she was or what had happened. The first thing she could make out was the blurry orange glow above her. She blinked and slowly came back to herself. The glow came into focus and she heard the cracking flames - one of the upper floors of the building in front of her was burning vibrantly. Firefighters and police were running frantically on the road in front of the alley she found herself tucked away in. She was out of sight but perfectly positioned to watch the flames. Her body felt numb, like her arms and legs had yet to wake up, and she didn't want to enter the chaos of the bystanders and officials around the building's perimeter. She lay there motionless, the flames flickering on the sparkling surface of her eyes. She remembered the stories she had listened to as a child, about Sodom and Gomorrah.

"Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah —from the Lord out of the heavens…" She had shivered in fear as a child, thinking of the flaming rocks hurtling down to burn an entire city. In contrast, now the flickering flames seemed to spread warmth from her eyes to the rest of her body, as she slowly came back into consciousness. There was something almost beautiful about the way they hugged the stark edges of the building and licked the corners of the windows.

She jarred suddenly, realizing that the burning building in front of her was where she had been working, and everything came back to her. All the people in that room, had they escaped before this inferno? She felt like she couldn't breath as the details of the night returned - the group of men entering the room, the shots, the streak of red framed by white and black on his face - she remembered his face, so close to hers with its garish colors, the knife shining in front of her lips. Her strange decision to die quickly and his even more bizarre actions afterward. She remembered the horrible smell when he put the napkin to her face and the crushing pressure of his body.

She struggled to remember, had he put his face alongside hers, and whispered something in her ear, as her consciousness faded? Then it came to her, as if she was hearing it again, clearly enunciated and hissed into her ear, "You are the water, I am the ink." The strange words were somehow chilling, even though they made no sense to her, and she thought it was most likely that she had imagined it - maybe she had imagined everything? She instinctively put her hand up to the side of her face where she had felt his skin brush against hers. She brought her hand down, and in the intermittent light of the emergency vehicles and flashlight beams, she saw white and red makeup smears on her fingers. Her breath quickened in panic.

She forced her body to move and stood up unsteadily, her voice barely audible. "I think I need help. Something happened, please, can I talk to someone?" She pushed herself forward into the crowd of gathered onlookers and emergency personnel. She tried to direct her pleas to the officers she saw rushing by, pushing herself to say the words more audibly, "I think I need help." She was holding her hand with the makeup as if it was hurt - as if the colors had rendered it useless. An officer finally noticed her wondering confused in the crowd and seemed surprised when he saw her. He looked at her hand and touched her face. Pulling it back, he muttered, "It's just makeup." He motioned for an ambulance worker who was coming toward them to go back. "I don't know what you're up to, miss. Go home. We have lives to save here." He dismissed her pleading eyes and went back to directing the rescue operation and managing the crowds rushing up to watch the dancing flames.

She walked unsteadily to the train station, still holding her hand - she was far from her area of town, and she struggled to remember how to get home from here. Blue line, to L6, switch to the green line, 56th and Brooks. She mechanically switched trains and tapped her token on the gates, somewhat surprised she was able to complete the commute. She was relieved that it was early Sunday morning. This was the quietest time for Gotham's roads and transport. This was the one reprieve that went with her job - often she had to work through the early morning hours at late-night parties for Gotham's elite on Saturdays, but this quiet journey back to her apartment was a slight benefit that offset the exhaustion she felt every day after work. She made it up the stairs to her apartment and unlocked the door. She could often overhear fights and smell cigarette smoke in the hallways outside, but in the morning, it was sometimes calm like this. She just wanted to collapse into bed. The shadow of whatever drug she had inhaled hung in the back of her head, giving her a throbbing headache that was getting worse by the minute.

Her memories of the night seemed to be fading away, replaced by exhaustion and familiarity with her surroundings. The glimmers of luxury in the ballroom, the sudden ring of shots, that face… All seemed to be far away, in upper Gotham, where important people made important decisions. She wandered into the bathroom, thinking she should try to at least change her dirty clothes before climbing into bed. She stopped dead in front of the sink. In the mirror, she saw it, the white and black smear across the side of her face and a fat red streak from her cheek to her ear. She screamed and stumbled backward, her head striking the tile wall as she fell to the floor.

It was late in the day before she woke up. Despite the traumatic events she had been through, sleep had restored her somewhat. She realized that her work would begin in only a couple of hours, so she had to prepare to return to upper Gotham for another catered event. She decided to shower and eat something, replacing the rollercoaster of the night before with the regularity of her daily routine. It was a comforting thought, but also daunting. How would she work through the night cooking and washing dishes at the usual demanding pace with all that she had been through?

Luckily, she did have an alternate uniform to wear. She began to undress, but then felt that something was in her pocket. She didn't remember having anything in her pockets - what was this? She reached in, feeling the cold metal against her skin. She pulled out the ruby necklace, sparkling with a hundred shades of red, the gold links on the chain glittering in the fading sunlight from the window. It looked utterly foreign to this apartment, and in her hands - she had never held anything like it in her life. She had no memory of putting this necklace in her pocket, and noticed that the clasp on either end had been torn apart. She thought back through the events of the evening and her breath caught in her throat. Someone must have put it in her pocket, and it must have been the Joker's goons or the Joker himself. She sank down to the floor, disturbed and also finding herself in a new dilemma - should she take the necklace to the police? She saw how little they paid attention to her words the night before, and she worried that they would think she had stolen it herself. They might find it hard to believe she had innocently found it in her pocket. She would have to decide some other time - she needed to go to work now. She placed it awkwardly in a small bag in the closet, getting it out of sight to help clear her mind.

She couldn't return to normalcy. Every day she came back to her drab apartment with the faded carpet and wondered what to do with the broken necklace. She sometimes took it from the bag in her closet, turning the beautiful jewel so that it radiated like the sun, even in the cheap fluorescent lighting. Even though it reminded her of what had happened, seeing something so dazzling felt like a breath of fresh air in her suffocating life. She glanced at the pile of bills on the counter. She had to carefully calculate and juggle them, to pay some and leave others, so that she could keep the wheel turning and not lose her apartment.

Seeing the bills reminded her of the reason she was in this impossible situation. She remembered the court case with bitterness - the state had stepped in to help her dissolve her marriage and escape from the radical Christian sect her family had brought her up in, but in the end the legal costs all came back to her. She left her small town to seek solace in the anonymity of Gotham, but with nothing, and a pile of legal bills to settle. It was a miracle she had an apartment and a job at all. Even though she had read nearly every book in the small local library of her hometown, her closed upbringing left her with no formal education, not even a high school degree, making it nearly impossible to find work.

She sighed and collapsed onto the bed, thankful for at least the small comfort her home provided. She fell into a restless sleep.

Today was one of her easier days - she got to go in early and work at the catering company's restaurant instead of staffing a late night event. She purposely took the train and bus so that she could walk by the water on her commute. She loved to see the waves splashing onto the rock seawall, and it was one of the few things that gave her some comfort in her lonely world. When she had a rare chance, she would stop here day or night to watch the ceaseless movement of the waves. The night had a special charm, when the city lights glinted off the water and she was almost hypnotized imagining the unseeable depths of the dark waves. But today it was early evening, and she needed to move on to be at work on time. She caught the bus as usual. The still heat in the city seemed oppressive, making everyone sweat on the unairconditioned bus. She managed to crack a window that stubbornly allowed in a languid breeze from outside. She looked up at the power lines - they were covered with blackbirds. There were so many, they seemed to be weighing down the wire so that it might finally succumb and break under their weight. An ominous feeling crept over her, like the birds were some kind of evil omen…

"Benton street! Benton street!" the bus driver yelled, and she realized she was about to miss her stop. She pulled the wire hurriedly and the bus screeched to a halt. The driver grunted in frustration as she left, closing the door and speeding away the second she was on the street.

She trudged on to the restaurant, now visible and cheerful with its lights inviting guests in to dine. She entered through the back door in the alleyway. She stored her things in the locker and quickly tied on her apron.

"Hey Annie," she heard, and noticed the kitchen staff were all gathered around a small television screen perched high on the kitchen wall. "The Joker's taken over the channel 9 news." Everyone watched with rapt attention, as they could see the Joker's goons herding staff away from the anchor desk, leaving the chief anchor there alone. Someone was moving the camera closer to the desk to zoom in. And then there he was, the Joker, appearing from behind the camera and pulling a chair up to the side of the counter opposite the stunned reporter.

"Well hello there, Mike," he said, seating himself as if he was being welcomed onto the show for an interview. The anchor sat stunned and silent.

"I came here today because I have some concerns about lower Gotham," he began. "I think the city needs to leave well enough alone. The mayor and police chief in their cozy offices in upper Gotham, they don't know what's going on down here. They try to enforce their idea of order with extra patrols and I think it's just not good for ordinary citizens, like you," he said with emphasis, bringing his hand up to point at the camera lens and looking straight into it like a deranged politician.

His tone changed, lighter and casual now, turning back to the anchor.

"You know, Mike, I've been studying the city and learning so many interesting things lately. Gotham has a population of nearly 10 million people, and most of them live in lower Gotham. And did you know, he paused and turned again to face the camera, his voice hanging in the air icily, "Did you know, there are over 16 thousand people named Anna in Gotham city? Isn't that… crazy?"

She collapsed into a nearby chair, putting her head into her hands, as everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"That's weird, why would he say that?" someone commented. Everyone seemed to dismiss it, but she remained sitting for some time, the weight of his words crushing the little sense of normalcy she had tried to weave around herself since the events in the ballroom. What did this mean? Was he trying to threaten her? Why? Why would he even spend one moment targeting her? Her mind spun in confusion and a headache began to throb between her temples.

"Uh, Annie, we need some help in the kitchen," a voice shouted. She hastily got up and walked to the sink, helping with the washing, dishes piled high in front of her.

My original ink drop video, sorry about the auto-focus. :)

Additional notes: This is fanfic, so of course I don't own any characters from The Dark Knight (Joker, Batman, etc.). The main female character is original. The plot quickly departs from that of the movie.

[missfortuneisblue]

Jax the Chihuahua!

Don’t let his cuteness fool you, he’s a twisted f*cking psychopath!

[mycrofts-umbrella]

Hiii! 28 fem here, I'm **not** replacing anyone, just looking for anyone who would be interested in more stories with me. I have more time to write so if you are 21+ please don't hesitate to send me a dm! Most random stuff but willing to do original characters as well! I love talking ooc, it helps keep me engaged and I love plotting and collaborating! Can do some days of rapid fire responses, other times it might take a few days. I know real life comes first and I will always be patient so no worries. Would love to hear from you!

Here are some of the fandoms with pairings/tropes I like:

**Spock/Kirk** - Wholesome sci-fi adventures, potential for shorter procedural missions, would ideally want to expand and write other members of the enterprise as needed (such as Bones, Sulu, Nyota, Chekov, Scotty, Nurse Chapel, etc.), would play/write either characters

**Charles/Erik** - Friends to Lovers to Enemies, would do either post xmen first class cherik or would do older versions of them, darker themes, I would prefer to write Erik in this because I don't think I can do the optimistic Charles justice, we need to plot further with this one cause I would be down for lots of ideas

**Deadpool/Spider-Man** - slooooooow burn to even get to friends then maybe 🌈, would mainly start as Deadpool and Spider-Man running into each other doing work/patrols in the city and mexican food, prefer to write as Deadpool but would be willing to write Peter

**Deadpool/Wolverine** - post movie, Logan has nightmares, differences in their timelines, Logan visits this universe's version of the X-Men. Would be open to writing either.

**Harry/Hermione** - my preference would be to start sometime during deathly hallows after Ron left and Harry and Hermione are still dealing with the Horcrux, and writing either is good with me

**Hannibal/Will** - MURDER HUSBANDS 4EVER, post fall, (or I also have very many ideas for this ship, oh man), I would loooove to play Will for once in my friggin life but I would also understand that your sweet soul could not handle Hannibal and I have experience writing hanni

**Lestat/Louis** - set season 2 finale, during the hurricane, sweet *sweet* depressing vampire cuddles while mourning our daughter crying blood, but I get that's a LOT to start so also start of s3 rockstat era, Louis doing Lestat's makeup, would write either, genuinely love these two, tho more experience writing Lestat

**Daniel/Armand** - devil's minion era, or post season 2 TV show devil's minion, Armand IS ALICE au(?), open to writing either (would also do a one shot for Daniel/Louis)

**Crowley/Aziraphale** - I prefer writing Crowley but that's cause I have a very specific view of him and his feelings for Aziraphale, however I do like writing Aziraphale too, post season 2, or lots of different ideas for this one too

**Joker/Akechi** - set p5r term 3, OR Akechi has a palace that they do after Sae’s palace and before Shido’s cause I think Akechi should get to do a patricide, or whenever joker sleeps and goes to the Velvet Room, Akechi is there or they know they are the two tricksters from the start and Joker starts in the metaverse with Akechi and Joker knows about Akechi’s murders but Akechi is his only family until he finally meets the phantom thieves and starts to pull away from Akechi and wants to turn him in

**Lucy/The Ghoul/Cooper Howard** - heterosexuals strike again, post season finale as they track down Kyle McLaughlin and figure out what is happening, would probably prefer to play The Ghoul but I would also like Lucy too so IDK not a hard preference actually

**Hughie/OC** - AU he leaves the boys and lives a normal life and is cherished for ONCE in his ridiculous existence, would be fine with either male or female OC just not starlight sorry Annie January you have a cool name but your powers kinda suck and ur personality is idk I just think him and Kimiko would have been cute 🥰

**Homelander/OC** - again I'm fine with male or female and would prefer to write the OC but am open to it. OC could be someone new joining The Seven or someone he somehow met during his childhood (maybe even Sage or Hughie)

**Tyrion Lannister/Daenerys Targaryen** - rewind a few seasons, take things slower then follow the journey to King's Landing and the Red Keep, maybe when they first met, would write either but have more experience as Daenerys. (Sidenote: I also ship Jorah/Dany and Tyrion/Varys so same thing)

**AU / Tropes** I like and would do with ANY of the ships and characters above or even OCs:

Soulmate AU

Hanahaki disease

Teammates/Roommates

Childhood best friends

Enemies-to-lovers

Coffeeshop (always - one exists in every fandom and ship)

Stockholm syndrome 🕊️

Powers OR (No Powers for fandoms that have supes, mutants, magic, etc. )

Amnesia where person A wakes up and doesn't remember person B but wrongly (rightly) assumes person B is their spouse/significant other or just memory loss of critical moments

If you're interested at all, my dms are open! Thank you! 🖤🫶🏼🩵

[ao3statistics]

This is self-made. Date: 30.07.2024

Honestly, the only result surprising me is the HQ/Bruce Wayne ship...

OFC = Original Female Character(s)

The Jokester: a hero on Earth-3, appearing in the comic series "Countdown" in 2007.

Ivy Pepper: Poison Ivy from the Gotham TV series (correct me if I'm wrong)

Jerome Valeska: a mass murderer from the Gotham TV series who seems weirdly similar to the Joker

Richard "Rick" Flag Jr.: field commander of the modern Task Force X, also known as the Suicide Squad

Arthur Fleck: Jokers (potential) real name in some media

I assume no guarantee or liability for the completeness, correctness and accuracy of this chart despite my best efforts.

Includes fanfictions in all languages available on Ao3, NOT English only.

Includes all fandoms connected to the name "Harleen Quinzel" and her alias "Harley Quinn".

Percentages were rounded up or rounded down to natural numbers for easier comprehension.

Poly ships were included.

More charts will follow. :)

Want to have a chart for different pairings, headcanons etc. in your favourite fandom? Send me an ask!

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Just started Medjed arc of P5R; here are my current thoughts on the characters I know so far:

Joker: Look, I know people say he's a "self-insert" but I really, really see a few very distinct personality traits in him. He's lost in thought a lot. He zones out. He's really goal-driven. He's clever. He's a risk-taker. He's wary of consequences. He takes a little while to trust people, especially adults. He's suspicious and easily annoyed. He's on your side. He wants to help. He's a snarky little shit. His compassion is as much his defiance as his bitter disdain. He's hesitant. He's confident. He's bluffing. His respect is earned. His assistance isn't. He's free. He's chained. He's larger than life. He's a dumbass dork of a teenager. Incredibly fun character to play as, 10/10. I love that you can actually see him becoming more confident as time goes on. His dialogue options also become sillier/snarkier/more teasing as he becomes closer with people. It's just fun. I have a lot more thoughts on him but I'm going to stop here. I'd love to do a bit of an analysis on him once I finish the game - I'd like to go back through his main story dialogue options and his idle and specific scene animations. Plus, they seriously popped off with his character design. There's so much I could say about that alone.

Ryuji: Ryuji, my beloved. I wish you were less horny in uncomfortable ways in some scenes - I think, as well as Atlus not knowing what teenage girls are like, they also have not... spoken to people raised by single mothers, or mothers who got out of an abusive relationship... but anyways, asides from that, I love Ryuji. I think his desire for popularity makes a lot of sense - he's only ever stood out in a bad way. He just wants to be liked, you know? And he doesn't think he's enough the way he is. He's trying his best. I need him to shut up so bad but also I hope he never shuts up, you know. He's genuinely so funny, and he's the most ride or die of anyone. Ryuji gets angry on everyone's behalf when they can't muster up their own anger yet. Everyone say thank you, Ryuji.

Morgana: I do not get the hate for this not-cat; he's so funny to me. He's becoming a little more aligned to the thieves' morality, which is probably for the best since at the beginning he was definitely down with accidental murder and totally open about his pragmatism. He actually encourages this in Joker. It's just funny. I love my emotional support not-cat bestie who sits in my desk at school then tells me to go strike shady deals with random people in back alleys. You can definitely see a change in Morgana though; he's becoming more excited about helping people for the sake of it (like Joker, he too has gained purpose), but he's also becoming more insecure.

Ann: She remains my favourite of the Thieves. If Ryuji is the original drive and Morgana the original method, then she is the original conviction. The strength to stand with victims. The desire to force those who hurt others to understand the feelings of said victims. She has the rawest fucking lines at the end of the Kamoshida arc. She loves Shiho so much, and I really feel like her and Joker are on the same page when it comes to things deeper than their surface level interests. Get you a friend like Ann fr. It's a shame that later scenes have her mostly just getting mad at the guys when they uhhh... act like horny guys towards her. Feels bad man, especially because I love the aspect of her character that wants to be more comfortable with her sexuality and have that be on her terms. <- That's really cool, actually! Why couldn't we do more with that...? As a note though, I seriously love her admiration towards female cartoon villains and that one mean girl model. I think that's so funny and also such a mood. I do not believe for one second that Ann is straight. I hope she becomes the sexy and confidant morally-ambiguous thief of her dreams, and also that she gets a girlfriend. It's what she deserves.

Yusuke: He's so dramatic. Do you expect me not to love him? I really loved his conflict during Madarame's arc - those revelations were absolutely brutal, and Yusuke really handled things well, all things considered. Again, like Ann, there were some raw lines in there. But then, of course, the slump on the other end, when the adrenaline wears off. That Yusuke's painting only showed the dark side of desire tells me that he is still grappling with the effects of all these reveals. He has a lot to process.

Makoto: I just think she's so cute. Her design is adorable. She's such a sweetheart. On the flip side though, while I don't find her as intimidating as the game seems to, I definitely would not want her mad at me. While, as I mentioned before, I found the lead up to her joining the thieves to be a little janky, the actual moment was great. I love that she has a support system now. She really needed that. I hope there are more scenes with her in group settings tbh. While I'm enjoying her one-on-one dynamics with Ryuji and Ann, I do feel like she doesn't really... gel with the group as well as, say, Yusuke did. I think they need to drag her out to more activities lol.

Sojiro: I still don't know yet? He seems like the tough love sort. I do enjoy getting to learn random coffee trivia from him, and it seems like he cares in a kind of gruff way. He also gets a lot of suspicious people coming by. Guess I'll find out more later.

Maruki: Again, I don't know much still. He's endearing and dorky. That salt bae thing still lives rent-free in my head. I feel his frustration with not being able to help more. I get it man. I will say though, the fact that we get to see scenes with the thieves and Maruki, with no Joker present, is... odd.

Kasumi: I... I don't know how to feel. She's too nice. She's too polite. All of her scenes are so weirdly convenient. I like her just fine, but there's something seriously off. I almost feel like she's an outlier on purpose, like she doesn't blend into the world. Unlike Maruki, who is new to Royal but blends into the story quite nicely, Kasumi really stands out, to the point it kind of feels like that was the intention. She is adorable, though, I won't deny that, and I do want her to succeed and all, I just... hm. I don't know how to feel about her.

Akechi: I could fix him (smack him upside the head). <- okay but seriously, he is so obviously suspicious, he so obviously knows about Joker, he's such a smarmy little shit. I would despise him irl, but he's absolutely the funniest character in the game right now. Everything he says has me either cackling or my jaw dropping at the fucking audacity. He's also really interesting to me. Love a character whose every line means three things rolled into one. He feels dangerous and weirdly endearing at the same time. What the hell is his problem (affectionate + derogatory).

Yoshida: YOSHIDA MY ABSOLUTE BELOVED. I love him so far. He's my favourite confidant right now. He just makes me so happy man I love him so much. Yoshida takes the hard road and he's got the conviction, but you need support from people to really turn your life around. Hey, that's kind of what the game is about, yeah?

Takemi: Oh I love her confidant so far. I don't know that she's one of my favourites, character-wise, but I was especially taken with her dedication to that medicine, and Joker's response to her saying that she doesn't suit everyone coming to her for medical help by countering her with an "it suits you". Very sweet. I'm getting close to finishing her confidant; I just need to level up charm.

Mishima: I'm almost done his confidant too! I actually enjoy Mishima's character. I feel like his downward spiral made a lot of sense, and I like that he's both helpful and made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I especially like that he's pulling himself out of that fame mentality by himself, without his heart being changed. We just gave his shadow something to think on.

Kawakami: Idk how I feel about this, but the perks are good. I'm curious about her though.

Sae: She seems dedicated to her job. Forming a confidant with her during the interrogation was something I did not expect and had me going "ohohoho". But man, some of the stuff she says to Makoto is way out of line... I'm glad she's at least aware as soon as it leaves her mouth, and I cannot imagine the constant stress and scrutiny she's under but... still. Girl. :/

Iwai: I'm going to properly start his confidant soon. He's cool. I feel like he's not nearly as scary as he makes himself out to be.

Ohya: Don't know much about her so far, but she's a disaster, and I will always enjoy a good disaster woman.

Lala: SHE'S PERFECT. I wish there was a mechanic where you could get advice from Lala-chan. She's looking out for everybody. She's good. :)

Chihaya: She told me I'm gonna die... :(

[pinkkop]

Day 57 - 15 Days BL Challenge (part 4)

Day 57 - Female/non-binary identifying actor you want to see more of in BL or GL

This list seems to have become a mix of my favourite female characters, and actors that I don't want to randomly meet and it's not super surprising 😅 Also I do feel like these actors tell you a lot about me and maybe even more than I realized when writing this list. Like @negrowhat said, I do seem to have a type 🤭

Ji Oh - Yu Na in Semantic Error

It's not often we get actor repeats in Korean, maybe because of the smaller volume of BLs being produced, but either way I want more of Ji Oh. She recently had a side character in Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born in which she definitely proved how talented she is, so pretty please, give me more of her in QLs.

Zorzo - Tiffy in Lovely Writer and Rose in Jack & Joker

I think this might be connected to Tiffy being one of my favourite characters 🫣 She's just really great and I really like what she brings to characters.

Lingling - Fahlada in The Secret of Us and Tawan in Only You (upcoming)

She's gorgeous and super talented and I can't wait for Only You!!

Silvy - The Warp Effect and in Laws of Attraction

Both Silvy herself and her characters are so unapologetically queer and I just love that! She's an amazing actor and singer and she adds some much need colour and nuance to the rainbow we see in QLs.

The original challenge is here, part two here, part three here, and four here.