#lee does when the custody battle

[pain-is-too-tired]

Leeluke divorce custody dispute is over Chris.

Meanwhile Chris is just like "???, when did this happen??"

The whole thing is just-

"You took the Stolls, you gonna take him too?!" "YOU MADE HIM SLEEP IN THE LABYRINTH." "ITS A GOOD EXCERCISE OF STRENGTH OF BOYS HIS AGE." "OH MY GODS, YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER. I CAN'T BELIEVE I MARRIED YOU."

[ssa-atlas-alvez]

What about something to do with reader previously fighting back against/killing an abusive parent and a case comes up with the bau which brings it all to life..?

Hiya, hope this is okay! I didn't go into too many sad emotions lol, but hopefully this is okay :)

Description: reader gets dragged back to his hometome, but reunites with his younger brother.

Warnings: child abuse, abuse, murder, alcohol mentions, assault, previous arrests, custody battles, death of a parent

“This week’s case my fine furry friends, you are all heading to Oregon. The homeland of the one and only (Y/N).” Penelope said, pointing the bippy at you. You give a small smile, not having the heart to tell her you were hoping to keep that particular cat in the bag. “So this unsub is targeting unsavory individuals, first, this man. Robert Davis, 42, father of three. Total slime ball, an abusive drunk who is particularly fond of driving under the influence.”

You all looked at the photos now on the board. “Now, up next, same thing. Derek Harris. Father, this time 53, abusive, drinks on occasion.”

“Okay, so he’s got a type.”

“How long between victims?”

“Only four days.”

“How long does he keep them alive?”

“Only a few hours, before he dumps them on the door of their house.”

“He dumps the bodies at their house?” You asked, frowning.

“Why?”

“It’s like a gift.” You theorised, “I know what he was doing so I took revenge for you.”

“Some gift.” Prentiss said, turning back to the file.

Not long after, you were all on the jet on your way to Oregon. The briefing didn’t take long, just a few rough ideas exchanged and Morgan asking if you were excited to go home, you were not. 

“Hotchner.” Hotch answered the phone before the end of the second ring. “You’re sure? Okay. We’ll make sure to send some agents there when we land. It’s alright, I’ll let him know. Thank you.” And with that, Hotch hung up again.

The air was a little tense, to say the least. “Another body turned up?” Rossi asked. Hotch just gave a nod.

“Already?” Reid’s eyebrows furrowed. You watched your boss closely for a few seconds.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Is all you ask.

“Yes.” Is his response. “The ME just identified him.”

“Who found him?”

“(Y/N)…”

“Hotch, who found him?”

“Your brother.”

You sighed, looking away. “He okay?”

“He’s alright. Paramedics checked him over, he’s at the station waiting for us to land.”

You give a small nod. “He’s okay?”

“He’s okay.” Hotch said, voice a little more gentle now. The team watched you cautiously, all concerned.

“Who was the latest victim?” Reid asked, frowning slightly.

“Er, Lee (L/N).”

“(L/N)?” Morgan asked, turning to face you.

“My dad.” You gave a small nod. 

“Which means we’re going to have to dive into your life,” Hotch explained, his face was his usual stern expression, but you could see the understanding in his eyes.

“I know.” You gave a small sigh. “I was arrested for assault when I was eighteen - I just broke his nose. No charges were pressed or anything.”

“What happened?” JJ asked.

“Er, I saw him hit my brother.” You gave a small nod. “And he didn’t press charges on the condition I moved out. So, I moved out. I tried fighting for custody but with that arrest, the courts weren’t having it.”

“They wouldn’t let you have custody?”

“Nope, not even with our medical records.” You gave an awkward shrug, “I tried multiple times, Declan ended up in the hospital once or twice. I lived in a small town, and everyone just… turned a blind eye to it.”

“That’s horrible…” JJ said. “They turned a blind eye? Just like that?”

“Yep. And then after the second custody battle and I was doing a food shop and I saw my dad hit Declan again. That time, I landed my dad in hospital.”

You were silent for the rest of the ride, preferring to sit inside your own head than interact with the outside world.

As soon as the jet landed, you, Spencer, and Hotch headed to the police station, the others dividing themselves between the different crime scenes. You follow the secretary’s vague motion to a room at the back of the station. It takes you thirty seconds after to realise she was in your grade in school. You purposefully ignored that and gave the door a light knock before opening the door. 

“Declan…” You had prepared for the worst. You were expecting him to hate you, you had left the day you turned eighteen. Granted, it wasn’t exactly a voluntary leave, but you still left.

“(Y/N),” Declan looks up, smiling a little when he sees you. His eyes are bloodshot.

“Hey.” You said softly, "How are you feeling?"

Declan gives a small shrug and you give a quiet sigh, taking a seat next to him on the couch. "Come here," You said, opening your arms. He stares at you for a moment before letting himself lean against you.

You wait until you've both calmed down before speaking again. “We need to talk, kid…”

“I know.” Declan gave a small tight lipped smile. You sit down next to him, sighing slightly as you did. “They don’t think you’re involved, do they?”

“Nah, I’ve got an alibi I cleared with my boss.”

Declan nods, “Good. So I’m assuming your team know?”

“Yep.” You sighed, turning to face him. “Look, Declan-”

“You don’t need to apologise.”

“Yes, I do. I left.”

The teen rolled his eyes, “You’re actually thick. You didn’t leave, dad basically kicked you out.”

“I should have fought to stay.” You argued.

“Yeah, and he would have killed you.” He said. “Besides, I was fine.”

“Were you?”

“Yeah. Most of the time dad was too caught up in his drinking to care.” Declan gave a small shrug. “So… what’s going to happen to me?”

“Well, if you want, I’ve got a spare room that I could let you have. I suppose.” You said, a small smile tugging at your lips. 

“Yeah, I guess. If I had too.” Declan grinned slightly. 

“Sounds good.” You gave a nod, “We can sort everything else out later. And, if you want - since our house is sort of a crime scene, you can bunk in my hotel room.”

“Perfect, free hotel room.” Declan smirked.

“Yeah, yeah.” You rolled your eyes. “I gotta go talk to my team, you okay in here?”

“Yes, old man. I’m fine.” 

You placed a hand on your chest dramatically as you left. 

“Everything okay?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah. I think so.” You said, giving your boss a small smile. “As well as it can be right now, anyway.”

“He seems resilient.”

“He is.” You gave a small nod. “You don’t mind if I stay for a while after the case to sort everything up here out, do you?”

Hotch shook his head, “Not at all. Take all the time you need.”

[discordiansamba]

everything happens in a blur.

lee thinks he's given his father the slip, but when he rounds the corner, the man is standing there, waiting for him. he opens his mouth to speak, but lee clamps his hands over his ears, refusing to listen. he has to have some kind of trigger phrase. maybe if he can't hear it-

but his father never gets the chance to speak.

lee watches, slightly dazed as a short battle unfolds on the streets of ba sing se. his father is a powerful earthbender, but he's no match for the likes of toph beifong and avatar aang. his father is defeated and restrained- and gagged, for good measure. lee slowly pulls his hands away from his ears, his heart pounding a mile a minute.

katara is next to him. she has a hand on his shoulder. she tells him it's going to be okay.

toph and avatar aang disappear somewhere with his father. katara and sokka take lee with them to the earth palace, and lead him into a room there. he's still kind of in a daze. katara sits him down on the bed, and envelops her hands with water. he leans into her touch, feeling the fog fall away from his mind.

he's exhausted. he falls asleep.

when he wakes up the next morning, he stares at the ceiling for a long moment. he's... still lee, but his head is clear now. katara just cleared away whatever his father did to him yesterday. he exhales, sitting up. his pack is on a table nearby. someone has left behind a kettle of water for tea, and some food.

he makes himself tea.

he eats the food left for him. he's still shaken by the events of yesterday, but... he thinks he's going to be okay now. his father's been taken into custody. he can't hurt him anymore. he had been horrifyingly close to doing something he didn't actually want to do, but at the same time...

...it's made him realize what he actually wants.

he finishes his cup of tea. he cleans himself up. he braids his hair. he gets dressed in fire nation red. there's a mirror in the room he's been given. lee stares at his reflection. he still thinks it doesn't suit him, but he's made up his mind. he doesn't know if everything his father told him was a lie. maybe some part of prince zuko really did want to become him. he might not be happy to get his mind back.

he'd been happy as lee.

he couldn't stay this way.

there's a pair of scissors in the bathroom. lee fetches it, then stands in front of the mirror. the first thing he does is cut his bangs short, so they fall just above his missing eyebrow. the second thing he does is grab his braid and cut it off. his hair is a scrappy, uneven mess when he's done, but his head feels lighter. his reflection in the mirror looks less like himself now-

-but it's a good thing this time.

he doesn't know prince zuko. he used to, but he's a stranger now. he loved being lee, in the end.

maybe he'd find things to love about prince zuko too.

[princess-of-the-corner]

In princess bee, what’s Zoe opinion of Chloe, did she try to find her, or she just faded into the back in Zoe perspective and how would the two of them reunite, how would that reunion go.

SO

Zoé doesn't know /everything/. Like she doesn't know the entirety of the Miracle Queen incident and the way Chloé shifted with that (I need to go in depth on this, but Chloé felt like both sides only saw her as a pawn but only worked with Hawkmoth because she felt it would keep her family safe and.... well.)

But Zoé does know a lot about Audrey's flavor of abuse, and she's seen Andre's 'parenting' in action enough to get an idea. So she gets why Chloé is Like That™ because she was similar and thinks that maybe, with some help Chloé could escape that.

She does try to reach out at first. But Chloé has her number and social medias blocked. And like hell would Audrey let her anywhere near after giving up custody to Andre(even though that lasted all of 5 seconds because he has no rights to Zoé lmao). She does talk to her own father about the situation, which... is a little bit more of a conversation because he previously was unaware of Audrey's.... nonsense. But anyway once that's hashed out she asks if he can do anything but.... He doesn't have any right to Chloé as it's not his kid, Audrey isn't really talking to him either(she's officially dumped Zoé so she no longer has a reason to keep contact). They think about trying for some legal case but.... Audrey is a rich bastard so she's a bit untouchable. Even if Mr. Lee is also rich af, it'd likely go nowhere and be stalled out for years.

Eventually Zoé does have to give up and move on.

Around the time Chloé turns 18 she decides to try again. Now that Chloé is a legal adult getting her away from Audrey would only involve convincing her rather than dealing with custody battles. But by this point Chloé has changed her name and fucked off away from Audrey and can't be immediately found. While Zoé could hire a private investigator to find her, she takes this as a sign that Chloé doesn't want to be found and just kinda. Hopes things worked out for the best.

When Chloé comes back to Paris, Zoé is.... hesitant. She hopes that Chloé is better, but has no idea if she is or not. And even if she is better, she's not sure how Chloé would react to her. After all, Andre tossed her aside in favor of Zoé. Even if Zoé left him immediately, she has to wonder about the resentment. Not to mention resentment for everything else, as she was a 'you but better' replacement in everyone's lives.

So it's a while before she works up the courage to go see her.

[kudosmyhero]

The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #54: Disaster!

Read Date: January 14, 2023 Cover Date: January 1968 ● Writer: Stan Lee ● Penciler: John Romita ● Inker: Mike Esposito ● Colorist: {uncredited} ● Letterer: Sam Rosen ● Editor: Stan Lee ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● picking up with Spidey having amnesia and being manipulated by Doc Ock ● (pg 2) Car 54, where are you? (I didn't realize I even had that memory! We're talking Nick-at-Nite in the 80s/early 90s playing reruns of old tv shows from the 50s and 60s. There was a show called Car 54, Where Are You? I just looked it up and realized one of the actors was Herman Munster, and that same actor was the old guy in the original Pet Sematary. 🤯 All of that from this little panel, which I have no doubt is an easter egg for that TV show)

● so the nullifier starts to overheat, so they take it back to Doc Ock's lab for him to check it over. he discovers a missing element--isotope 16--which is stored nearby at Ft. Tyson ● Ock tells Spidey to go there and get it ● (pg 7) meanwhile, Gwen and Harry go to Aunt May's to see if she's heard from Peter because no one has seen him in days. of course all this does is worry May, who is already upset over the "poor, misunderstood Dr. Octopus!" ● M.J. shows up with a newspaper saying Spidey has joined Doc Ock ● (pg 8) Captain Stacy--Gwen's dad. Gwen calls him to report Peter missing ● back to Spider-Man, who has just arrived at the base ● (pg 9) Spidey is surprised at his super strength but didn't bat an eye at climbing walls or swinging on webs 😂 ● Spider-Man drops the map Ock gave him as he makes his escape ● (pg 12) Col. Jameson and his squad follow the map back to Ock's lab ● Ock turning on Spidey now that he has his isotope 16 ● (pg 18) Col. Jameson uses the nullifier on Ock's tentacles ● (pg 19) Spidey still doesn't have his memories, but he realizes he can't be Ock's partner ● Ock is arrested. Col. Jameson tells Spidey that he's detained, too, but Spidey runs for it ● 👏👏👏

Synopsis: Struck with amnesia from his exposure to a Nullifier device, Spider-Man is convinced by Doctor Octopus that he is one of his henchmen. Spider-Man then assists them to commit crimes, which make headlines. Spider-Man however, doesn't feel right about what he's doing. Meanwhile, Peter Parker's absence has gotten all his friends and family worried as they have no clue where he could have gone.

Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus tries to get Spider-Man to unmask, but Spider-Man realizes that if they were really partners, Octopus would already know his secret identity. Spider-Man realizes that he's been tricked and battles Doctor Octopus. Meanwhile, the military has been tracking Spider-Man since his last theft netted Doctor Octopus' secret missile plans.

During the fight, John Jameson manages to immobilize Doctor Octopus with the nullifier. When Dr. Octopus tries to talk Spider-Man into helping him get free, Spider-Man declines. He tells Jameson that he doesn't remember who he is, but he knows for sure that he's no partner of Octopus. When Octopus is taken into custody, Jameson asks Spider-Man to come with them as well. Spider-Man refuses and flees. Later, Spider-Man takes a look his reflection in the window hoping that it will remind him of who he is, but only sees a stranger looking back at him.

(https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_56)

Fan Art: Spidey vs Doc Ock by Kenpudiosaki

Accompanying Podcast: ● Swinging Through Spider-Man - episode 54

● Let's Read Spider-Man - episode 34

[fosterguilt]

as i mentioned previously in my pinned post, i'll be canon diverging in some aspects to er's canon in my portrayal. for the most part, events happen as they usually would, however things that are changed are as followed:

since i, personally, ship alex with carter, he never romantically gets involved with a large portion of the girlfriends he canonically goes out with. i'll always work out the details of this out with anyone who writes carter with me.

the amanda lee storyline never happens. kerry weaver is chosen for chief of emergency medicine instead after much competition for the spot from other doctors who were also just as qualified to hold the spot.

carter doesn't try to meddle with lucy's adhd medication since it's not his business to do so.

carter doesn't have as much of an involvement in abby's affairs and neither does she in his.

jesse, benton's nephew, miraculously survives the injuries he sustains and doesn't die. malucci is still punched in the face by benton, though.

in the episode "secrets and lies", when carter reveals that he was taken advantage of by one of his family's maids when he was eleven year old, it's taken much more seriously than just an "oh, that happened" moment and it's something that he and alex talk about since she was involved in the case at the time.

although romano's arm couldn't be saved due to the loss of sensation and the advancing decay after it's severed by a helicopter rotor, he's given the utah arm that he originally wanted instead of the one with the claw so that he has more time to adjust to it. he's allowed to remain as chief of staff, and after he fully acclimates to the use of his prosthetic and can demonstrate that it won't be a hindrance during surgery, his surgery privileges are restored. because of how aggressively he's applied himself and has advanced the field of surgery, he's known as a pioneer in robotic surgery over the years.

this also means that romano isn't killed by the helicopter in "freefall", which means that the mass casualty event that ensues because of the helicopter never happens.

the congo storyline is just a tad different since alex volunteers to go along with carter and luka. carter remains strictly professional with kem throughout it.

sandy lopez survives her surgery after the abandoned warehouse fire, thus eliminating the custody battle between kerry and her family.

this post will be updated periodically as i continue my rewatch of er. right now, i'm on season 11, episode 14.

[convenientalias]

I Rate Kdramas I've Watched Based On How Much They Would Be Improved By the Addition of a Cat

only including kdramas I've finished, and remember well enough to judge.

If I'm forgetting existing cats, that's on me, but have you considered we could add more cats anyway? just a thought.

Beyond Evil--If Dong-sik owned a cat he could pet it whenever he was feeling angsty. If Ju-won owned a cat he would have cat fur on his clothes all the time and everyone would be like "perfectionist germophobe how??" Also, imagine the power struggle when it turns out that Dong-sik's cat actually Really Likes Ju-won, or vice versa. The chaos. The trauma. The UST. Idek if it's better to give just one a cat or both. Anyway, 10/10.

Circle: Two Worlds Connected--Rare show that would be made worse by a cat because it would probably die during the time skip, emotionally destroying me forever. It would be comforting to Kim Woo-jin in part one but ultimately not worth it. 0/10.

The Devil Judge--Already has a cat so this is irrelevant. I feel the cat could have been made more of but it is there and this is a good thing.

Extraordinary You--I like the concept of a cat slinking around in the background, and no one can tell if it is or is not affected by the author's intentions. But it's not especially needed. 2/10.

It's Okay to Not Be Okay--Ko Moon-young already has a whole character-softening arc going on. Adding a cat to it would be fun but it's not really necessary. On the other hand, imagine if she had a cat from the beginning that she fiercely loves, and it's just as temperamental as her, scrawny and black and full of scratches. Also it probably cameos in some of her picture books. I would Like To See It. 5/10.

The King: Eternal Monarch--I specifically want Jo Eun-sup to have a cat that really likes Jo Yeong. And Yeong to be shameless in liking it back. Like, does he say anything about it, no, but does he restrain himself from picking it up and petting it during a serious conversation, also no. Lee Gon thinks this is adorable but already knows Yeong likes cats so it's no surprise to him. Kang Sin-jae also thinks this is adorable and Hilarious and flirts with him about it. 10/10.

Mine--Any cat in Mine would probably be extremely spoiled and subject to a custody battle at some point, aka either a peacock fate or another point of contention between Hi-soo and Ji-yong. I think the latter would be more interesting than the former but imagine just a big fat cat lolling around in the background and everyone grumpily giving it scratches in the aftermath of yet another family argument. Actually I think the family of Seo-hyun and Jin-ho should own it, bc they both are lonely ppl and would appreciate a cat, and Soo-hyuk would get to hang out with it too. 7/10.

Mr. Sunshine--I feel the cat in this drama should be some sort of communal cat. Maybe the American Embassy has a cat, or maybe Kudo Hina's hotel does. Either way, Mr. Sunshine is so much about finding connections with strangers and building community and finding one's place, and a cat would not go amiss. It would help to build common ground between ppl, temporary truces (you can't tell me Dong-mae would kill Eugene or Hui-seong in front of the hotel cat! It wouldn't be Right!) and so on. Anyway I just want to see any of the leads with a cat in their lap. I say any but I mean Eugene. 10/10.

My Country the New Age--Seon-ho needs more connection and warmth in his life but I feel he can't really be trusted with a pet, and also this is the kind of show where if he happens to feed a stray now and again, eventually Nam Jeon's going to kill the stray just so Seon-ho will be more traumatized. Hwi could take care of a cat, but he doesn't really seem like a cat person to me; maybe Bang-won could have one? Bang-won, fan up, cat in lap, staring at someone imperiously. Not a bad image. 3/10 don't give it to Seon-ho, I'm sorry dude.

Psychopath Diary--Is there a cat in this show that Dong-sik and/or In-woo respects for being a predator?? I feel like there might be. If not, there should be. 8/10, it's only logical.

Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung--If Yi Rim had a cat, it could sit on top of him while he slept and ward off nightmares. But eh, I don't get the sense he's really a cat person, or Hae-ryung either. (Don't ask me how my catdar works, it's a tenuous art. I could be convinced.) 2/10.

Save Me--Guseonwon having a communal cat would feel very natural to me. Maybe the Holy Father or Apostle Jo would be stroking it all the time so it would seem like an evil accessory. But it would actually be a very good cat. I think it would kind of spook Sang-mi due to her associating it with the villains, but when Dong-chul infiltrates Guseonwon he really gets along with it, which is taken as another sign that he's got great disciple potential. 10/10.

White Christmas--It makes no sense for the school to have a cat bc Susin must be much too strict. However, if Kang Mi-reu or Yoon Su had been secretly hiding a cat in the dorms all along, it would be completely hilarious. Out of place in the serious scenes (which is most of them!) but hilarious. 6/10.

That's it, that's all my cat thoughts, good night.

[staranon95]

DinCobb Week Day 5: Sharing Cultures (SFW)

for @dincobbweek​ with a wedding!!

@astrangebird​ drew some fantastic art and i decided to write a piece about it. that’s that. that’s all of it.

AO3 Link

Wait For Me Here

“We should get married,” Din idly said one day when they were in bed, side by side to wait out the worst of the day’s heat.”

“Oh yeah?” Cobb asks. He’s on his stomach, pillowed on his arms. Din knows this without even having to look because he knows Cobb likes sleeping on his front, usually one leg tucked up a bit, sometimes one arm stretched out for Din as if he’s reaching for him in sleep.

“Think about it. We live together.”

“Mm.”

“We cook together.”

“Mmhm.”

“We fight together.”

“Mm.”

“And we have a child together.”

Cobb snorts. “Sharing custody of your child with a Jedi might be putting it a bit generous.”

“There are also the school kids.”

“’cause half the time I have to tell them not to get into shit they shouldn’t.”

“Still.”

“Still,” Cobb says and breathes in. Then he opens his eyes and Din turns on his side to face him. “Marriage, huh?”

“Mmhm. Unless if . . .”

“Unless?”

“I don’t know what marriage customs are like on Tatooine, and the ones I’ve been invited to were Tusken in nature.”

“Well, shoot, partner, I reckon we go just as hard with our wedding flair as them Tuskens do.”

“Is that so?”

Cobb nods tiredly against his arms and closes his eyes. “Two-day affair most of the time. Eat and drink late into the night, sleep a few hours, and then get up in the morning for the breakfast feast. Everyone comes out with everything. Real big community thing as well.”

“I, I might like to see that.”

“What about you Mandalorians though?” Cobb then shifts suddenly, rising up long enough to lie himself across Din’s chest and hold him close with a leg in between Din’s. “I know you’ve . . . I know it’s not easy for you.”

Din sighs. The fallout from the survivors of his clan is still fresh. At least they didn’t strip him of his armour, but he doesn’t think they see him as Mandalorian anymore. He saw to their relocation on Tatooine with Boba Fett’s help, and finally they can live without the fear of being seen or being caught. But they will not accept Din as one of their own, not anymore, not after he gave up the Darksaber, allowed his face to be seen, and nearly broke every Creed he had taken on as a young adult.

“Well, the weddings were mostly, they were short,” Din admits. “Usually it requires an exchange, especially if one member were coming from a different clan.”

“An exchange of what?”

“Equipment. Weapons or armour. I once saw someone approach the Armourer to ask her how to show them to make a knife for their betrothed. It’s meant to be personal to a degree. Either you got this weapon in battle or you’re offering up a piece of yourself, your beskar’gam.”

Cobb hums. “Sounds very official.”

“Marriage is a pact. You raise warriors. You grow the clan. You protect the clan.”

“Mm. I can work with that.”

Din smiles. “You’re a very agreeable partner.”

“I try.”

…

What starts out as a simple comment quickly turns into nearly a town wide event. Neither Din nor Cobb know how the secret got out. They were thinking, originally, a small affair with their closest associates. Boba is even willing to host at his palace, and Din is fine with that. But then word gets out, as it always does, that the Marshal and the Mandalorian are planning to get married, and now here they are, eating breakfast at Werlo’s cantina, getting approached by one of the mothers in town who’s there after dropping her kids off at the school, no doubt, casually talking like Din and Cobb know what’s going on.

“Marshal! Have you decided on a date yet?”

Cobb blinks and looks to Din before looking at the woman. “Excuse me?”

“For the wedding! Gaia said you and the Mandalorian were planning to marry.”

Din chokes on his caf.

“Um, well.” Cobb reaches out to pat Din’s hand. “We were planning a small ceremony.”

“Nonsense! I know you’re both busy men. We can handle all the logistics for you. All you and your fiancé need to do is show up to the day!”

“Well, Lee, thank you for the offer,” Cobb says, and Din can see he’s trying to be polite about it, but Din knows Cobb has a hard time turning down any of the favours the townspeople show him.

“It’s my pleasure, Marshal. It’s been some time since we’ve had cause to celebrate! We’ll be in touch!”

“Yeah, Lee. See you.”

Once she’s gone, Cobb looks to Din, and Din tries to smother his smile behind his hand.

“Hey, this is your town too,” Cobb says.

“I know. I guess a small ceremony is no longer in the works.”

“They were going to find out one way or another.”

…

From how Cobb explained it, Din thought he had a good idea of what entailed a Tatooine wedding from the settler-slave population. Good food, good drinks, good company.

“Have you thought about a house yet?”

Din looks to Jo as he’s elbow deep in a speeder. “What?”

“You know,” she says like Din should know. “A house.”

“Why would I—”

“Oh. You don’t know. Right.” She pops her lips. “It’s a Tatooine thing. ‘specially for freed slaves and poor settlers. It’s a thing of pride to be able to provide a place like a home. I know my dad worked hard to get an apartment for me and my ma while he also worked to get our manumission. Tiny one bedroom place ‘til I moved out here. But he was very proud of that place when he had it. Point is—what are you bringing to the table, Din?”

Din blinks and reaches for a towel to wipe sweat from his brow. “I hadn’t thought of anything.”

“Let me give you the one up ‘cause I know the Marshal won’t be asking’ for it himself.” She slides down from her perch on a workbench to lean over the speeder. “Man needs himself a proper house. And I’m talking a proper house. Most of the buildings here are temporary. They’re not built for long term which is why they require so much maintenance. Houses underground are the way to be. They take a while, sure, but when you’ve got a village.”

He frowns. “I thought that was for raising children.”

“Villages are for everything here, Din. If you want to give him something good, really show you love him, come find me when you’ve got free time. I’m pretty sure I can help you out with that issue.”

She then leaves and Din tries to return to his work at hand, but he’s stuck on the thought of a house. Of building a house for him and Cobb and for Grogu when he and his Jedi visit. Where they can host friends and not feel too crammed in Cobb’s home as it is. Where they can actually bring their lives and interests together in one shared space. A shared unit.

Cobb enters the garage looking like he’s dressed up to head into town, and Din stands to greet him. “Hey, darlin’!” He kisses Din on the cheek. Din wrinkles his nose.

“I’m dirty.”

“We’ve been worse to each other. Now. I’m headin’ into town for a bit. Told Jo to hold down the fort and you’re here for back up.”

Din nods. “You don’t want me coming with you?”

“Baby, I know you don’t like to travel to Mos Eisley. Take it easy. I’ll be back shortly after dinner.”

“Okay.”

He helps Cobb push out his speeder onto the main street of Mos Pelgo and kisses him once more before Cobb pulls his scarf up over his mouth and nose and pulls his goggles down over his eyes and offers Din a two fingered salute and then he’s off.

Din trudges down the street towards where Jo is leaning against the wall of the cantina. “So. A house.”

She nods. “Come on. Let’s talk logistics.”

…

In what they originally wanted to be a quick and short wedding turns into a several month-long affair as Mos Pelgo comes out in spades to support their Marshal and Mandalorian in tying the knot. They plan for food and for drinks. They send out invites to the local Tuskens, who also seem enthused that Din is getting married. They think it a good match, and well, at least Din has their approval.

The building of the Marshal’s new house is quietly under wraps. All Cobb knows is that a new house is being built, but he thinks it for one of the families in town, even comes by to watch Din at work in the staked-out pit, helping to dig down and remove sand until they come to the more compacted ground that they can put stabilizers against and hold in place before they’re pouring the plaster and concrete for the walls.

Whenever Din has a spare moment, he plans with Jo for the interior. A nice open kitchen. A large room for the both of them with an en-suite bathroom. There is not only one guest room but two. One that will largely be Grogu’s when he’s here to stay, and also one for the Jedi if he plans on staying the night. Sometimes he does.

Then there’s the living room, circular in design that could hold a dozen people comfortably, and knowing Cobb, he’ll like the opportunity to entertain more. Din thinks it’s perfect, and he finds as he puts the work into making a home, he realizes he’s looking forward to it not just for Cobb’s promised happiness, but also his own. He can’t remember the last time he’s actually had a proper home like this. Not since Aq Vetina anyway.

“You’re in a good mood,” Cobb says that night when they’re finishing the dishes after dinner.

Din shrugs. “Just happy I guess.”

“Good.” Cobb kisses him quickly on the cheek. “You deserve to be.”

…

One of the next steps for the wedding is the clothes themselves. For Cobb it means he’s getting a robe made for himself. White, flowing fabric with a fancy gold trim around the hems. It’s a standard piece of Tatooine marriages, and Din feels himself sort of bereft that he doesn’t have something similar.

So he plans a visit to Boba’s because they have a shared lineage, and Din can’t exactly walk up to where his old tribe is and ask, “Can any of you help me dress for my wedding? Even though you see me as dar’manda and probably wouldn’t accept my marriage to an outsider?”

Best not to think of it.

He rides with Cobb to the palace, but Cobb isn’t planning on staying.

“I got business in town,” he says. “Might be a while. You okay staying here tonight?”

“Of course.”

“’kay. Kiss.”

He tilts up for Din to lean down and kiss him before waving him off. Then Din heads towards the palace and is let in by the guards.

It’s one of Boba’s work days, meaning he’s not seeing court, which means he’s pouring drinks for him, Fennec, and Din to enjoy. He always serves the strong stuff, which makes Din’s throat burn, but he’s getting used to it.

“So how is it anyway?” Boba asks, reclined on one of the sofa’s where Fennec can press her feet against his thigh.

“Going well,” Din says, keeping his eyes on the dark liquor in his glass. “The house is coming along.”

“You still haven’t told him yet?” Fennec asks.

Din shakes his head. “I want to keep it a surprise for him.”

“Sounds like you got it bad.”

“And you don’t?”

Fennec chuckles and Boba smiles amusedly.

“Fennec’s not exactly my queen here,” Boba says.

“That’s right. I’m an empress.”

“Still. A house sounds like a good idea. Putting down roots. Settling in.”

“It’s about time,” Din says, taking a sip. He smacks his lips. “But it’s getting close to the day and . . . the seamstress offered to tailor me something, but I was hoping for something more—”

“Familiar?” Boba offers. Din nods.

“I think you can help with that,” Fennec says. “Despite what he might say, Boba’s become a real fashion snob.”

“It’s not fashion when you have to wear it to impress people who won’t take you seriously otherwise. The battle armour doesn’t always work.”

“Sure,” she says. “We’ll go with that.”

“I’ll see what I got.”

They eventually move to Boba and Fennec’s shared private quarters where Din can examine the clothing in front of a mirror.

“If you’re looking for something more Mandalorian,” Boba says from within his closet. “I’d suggest the lavalava. Especially if you’re aiming for tradition.”

“Bring out the blue one if you have it,” Fennec says.

Boba returns holding what Din first sees as a skirt, but recognizes the design of it when he was first living in the Fighting Corps’ barracks as a child. It’s meant to be a more formal piece of Mandalorian wear for more casual settings if one didn’t want to dress up in full battle armour. It’s meant to just sit on the hips.

Boba gets him to try it on right there. “You’d probably just wear a light pair of leggings underneath,” he says.

“Oh, and then,” Fennec says, rising to her feet and entering the closet. She returns with a lighter blue cloak and a red sash. “Tie it off with this sash here.” She wraps it around his waist. “And then the cloak like this.” She lets it sit on one shoulder and brings the two ends together to pin at his other shoulder. “You know, I might have a broach that could fit this. Din, hold this for me. I’ll be right back.”

He does as he’s told and looks at himself in the mirror.

“Not bad,” Boba says. “Colour suits you.”

Din turns a bit to admire himself in the mirror. He looks at Boba in the reflection and asks, with his stomach fluttering, “Have you spoken to the clan?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Last week I think.”

Din hums.

“They’ve settled in just fine. Getting along with the Tuskens just fine, but seems like they got more in common than they do the settlers.”

Din nods. “I had a feeling they would.”

“Have you . . .”

“Not since they relocated.”

Boba hums.

“Here we go,” Fennec says, coming back into the room with a silver brooch—in the shape of a Mythosaur skull.

“I didn’t know you had that, cyar,” Boba says.

“It was a gift from a long time ago. Guy who gave it to me certainly wasn’t Mandalorian, but I think it’s best to return it to someone it should actually belong to.” She fixes the brooch to the cloak and then turns Din to face the mirror directly. “There. Now you look ready to get married.”

Din runs his fingers through his hair. He might want to get it cut before the wedding, but he knows Cobb likes it when it’s longer and it holds its waves more. He should at least shave. The uneven scruff on his jaw isn’t all that appealing to himself.

“Stars, it’s going to be a mad house on the day of,” Boba says. “Seems like we’ll have to bring the good stuff, Fennec.”

“You’re telling me.”

…

In the days leading up to the wedding, Din sees to the final touches of the house, ensuring the furniture is in place with room for more when they make the final move. He plans on surprising Cobb that day.

They have a good celebration the night before at the cantina, drinks on the house, and then, in Tatooine fashion, the couple are separated the night before. Din is headed off by Boba and Fennec to Din’s new house, and Cobb is dragged away by his deputy Jo to his house.

“Rest up, vod,” Boba says. “You got a long day ahead of you.”

The next morning, Fennec helps him get ready for the day, making sure his hair is just right, and the cloak is sitting on his shoulders just so. Boba is there in his armour, and Din feels a sour note in his stomach that he’s not wearing any of his. He wouldn’t feel right after his expulsion from the clan.

“You still want the Mandalorian vows?” Boba asks.

Din nods. “If you can.”

“I’d be honored, vod.”

And then he’s led out with his friends on either side of him down the main street with everyone and then some—Tuskens, out of town friends, some of Boba’s closer associates—have come out in full force down the street as it’s been fully decorated for the day.

The ceremony itself is held at one end of the town where an arch of bone from bantha horns has been carved as a gift from the Tuskens. And that’s when Din sees him—Cobb, dressed in white with gold trim and with the hood up over his head, a red sash at his waist as if to match Din’s without even knowing. His back remains turned as Din walks up the aisle towards the arch and then he’s standing next to Cobb, shoulder to shoulder, with Cobb’s lifelong friend and impromptu wedding officiator Issa-Or standing before them. Din keeps his eyes forward for now, waiting for the right moment to face his soon-to-be husband head on.

“Now, I know ya’ll have come out and taken time off of your busy schedules,” Issa-Or says. “And we don’t have much time to dilly-dally like they did in the nicer districts in Mos Eisley and the rest. Time wasn’t a luxury for people like us, so we had to make do. Which is why we’re here to see that Cobb Vanth, Marshal here in Mos Pelgo, spends the rest of his days married to none other than a Mandalorian! Someone he chose to let into his life, his home, and share the rest of his time in this mortal coil with.”

Din feels himself blushing, feels a smile breaking out over his face.

“Cobb?”

He sees Cobb lift his head.

“Why don’t you take a look at your man?”

He feels Cobb reach for his hand and Din gently turns with a little prodding. And as he turns, he sees Cobb pushing back his hood, and Din feels as if he could cry at the sight of him.

He sees Cobb’s lower lip tremble before he smiles, as bright as Tatooine’s suns themselves. “Din.” Cobb lifts Din’s hand and holds it between both of his own. Then Cobb laughs despite himself. “First time I’ve been without words in a while.”

There are a few laughs among the crowd.

“Darling, my love. First day I laid eyes on you, I knew I couldn’t let you go. And I am a richer man for having you. Even if I don’t got much but my name and my reputation and the good will of the people before us, I hope to give you everything you could ever need.” Then he raises Din’s hand and kisses the back of it tenderly.

“At this point, we’d say a done deal and have a feast,” Issa-Or says. “But as it is, Din is a Mandalorian, and we want to respect that part of him, so he comes with his own vows.”

She steps aside to let Boba come up.

“If you’ll both repeat after me,” he says. “We are one together.”

“Mhi solus tome,” Din says, quietly, only enough for Cobb and Boba to really hear.

He watches Cobb smiles, the pink curl of his tongue before he’s repeating in Basic. “We are one together.

“We are one when parted.”

“Mhi solus dhar’tome.”

“We are one when parted.”

“We share all.”

“Mhi me’dinui an.”

“We share all.”

“We shall raise warriors.”

“Mhi ba’juri verde.”

“We shall raise warriors.”

“Oya, vod,” Boba mutters.

And Din finds himself feeling bashful, and that’s when Cobb pulls him closer by his hands.

“Now I consider that we’re well and truly hitched now,” he says, and Din rushes in to cup his face and kiss his riduur in front of an adoring and loving crowd.

…

The rest of the day is pretty much a blur of being at Cobb’s side, being dragged away from Cobb, of Cobb being dragged away from him. Dance until his feet ache and he’s dizzy. More food than he’s used to. More drinks than he can tolerate, and falling asleep in a tent when he’s imbued too much with a pink cheeked Cobb next to him.

A few hours of sleep later and they’re back at it again for a more restful filled breakfast and relaxed conversation before finally, the festivities are over and people begin to head back to their business.

“Do you want to go home?” Din asks.

Cobb stretches and yawns, looking exhausted but content with his station in life. “You have read my mind.”

They walk down the street together, their clothes in a state of disarray before Din is leading him elsewhere.

“Babe, where . . .” Then it dawns on him and Din can’t help but smile. “No,” he says.

Din nods. “Come on. Let me show you to our home.”

Cobb is speechless when they enter the new partially buried house. He’s taken by how large it is, how high the ceilings are now, and how cool and inviting it is. Then he rushes forward to kiss Din and hold him close. “Oh, you are full of surprises.”

“Jo told me it’s a custom.”

“Well, not always a custom, but we pride ourselves on being able to provide.”

“Then let me provide for you.”

They kiss again, deeper this time until Cobb pulls back to rest their foreheads together. “Mm. As much as I’d like to christen this place, I’m bushwhacked.” Then he’s pulling Din into the bedroom where they collapse onto the bed as husbands, as riduurs.

…

“Hey, Din. You awake?”

Din stretches out on the bed and opens weary eyes to find Cobb kneeling on the ground next to the bed.

“What time’s it?” he asks.

“Afternoon-ish. Just went out to get some things from the old place, and, um, I guess now is as good a time as any to give this to you.” He sets a bundle of cloth knotted off with string on the bed before Din, and Din rises up on one elbow to look at it.

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Din says, tugging at the strings.

“Yeah, well.” Cobb rubs the back of his neck, a nervous tic of his. “I felt like I had to for this one.”

In the cloth is an ornate dagger with its own leather sheath. When Din pulls the blade, he’s mesmerized with how the blade shimmers. A single piece that looks like it’s been carved from onyx.

“Cobb, I—” Then he sees the mark in the hilt of it.

The mark of his tribe. The Mythosaur skull. On the other side is the mark of the mudhorn.

He looks up to Cobb. “Where did you get this?”

“Well, I, I went to your clan.”

Din breathes out and sits up in full with the dagger in his lap. Cobb comes to sit on the edge of the bed.

“When you told me about your customs, and seeing your armour just sitting in our wardrobe for months, I wanted, I wanted to confront your clan. I know things are rocky between you and them, but I went in there to just speak with them at first. Then next thing I know, I’m sitting on the ground drinking tea with your matriarch.”

Din closes his eyes for a moment.

“And I don’t tell her everything, I don’t ream her out or nothing. I know you hold her in high regard. But I told her I was intending on marrying you and I wanted to do it right by you. No one else. So, she said she’d show me how to make something. And each time I visited, she’d ask about you and I’d tell her that, oh, you were a guest speaker in the school today, or you had fixed the power generators. And she’d tell me my smithy skills were shit and tell me to begin again.”

Din laughs. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”

“Then she asked me why I wanted to marry you. And I told her I wanted to spend the rest of my days making you happy, giving you everything you could ever need. And she said, he deserves it.”

He lifts his head to look at Cobb. “She said that?”

Cobb nods. “I think she misses you. She won’t say it, but she does. I think it’s just taking some time for her and some of the others to come around to this new world order of theirs. But next time I go, I want you to come with me.”

Din nods. “Yes. Yes, I’d love that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He kisses Cobb several times and holds him close with the knife on the bed spread next to him.

They don’t plan the trip out to Din’s clan for some weeks yet. They have a house to settle into after all. But then one day, they’re setting out on Cobb’s speeder. This time Din is wearing his armour with the knife at his hip. And this time they are facing Din’s clan together as one.

[egcdeath]

birthdays with the boys

in honor of my own birthday, today i’ll be sharing with you what i think your birthday with many cevans characters would be like. enjoy! <3

steve rogers

he leaves his mission early and unannounced so when you wake up to the smell of pancakes in your house, and a man with breakfast in bed you almost jump out of your skin buuut you couldn’t be happier to see him

breakfast in bed is just the start of your bday because he goes ALL. OUT. 

as you finish up eating, he grabs a folded piece of paper with a wax seal on it and hands it to you

he tells you to open it once he leaves, gives you a wink, then goes

he planed a birthday scavenger hunt for you!!!

for the rest of the day, you travel around the city to a bunch of important places in your relationship, like your fav dates n stuff

at the midway point of the hunt, he meets you for a coffee and makes sure you’re still enjoying everything before he sends you off with the avenger’s company card and basically tells you to get something nice before finishing the hunt hehe

you do in fact get yourself something nice

at the end of the hunt, you end up at the compound where all of your friends and teammates are and you have a very nice birthday party

by the time that you and steve go home, you’re exhausted but wanna spend a lil more time savoring your birthday so steve suggests that the two of you watch that one cheesy rom com that you love (and he hates)

as you cuddle on the couch, popping the occasionaly popcorn kernel in your mouth, you cant help but to feel grateful that you have such an amazing boyfriend

ransom drysdale

his birthdays were always disregarded when he grew up, so he has a very extravagant celebration planned for you

we all know that he can make a pretty airtight and elaborate plan so you literally have zero idea of what he’s got up his sleeve

enter: a whole birthday week

(he sweet talked your boss into some time off  so thats one whole thing you don’t have to worry about)

day one is a whole spa and a shopping day

he can’t stand some of your friends but he invites them anyway bc he knows it’ll make you happy

he’s glaring at your friends while they giggle about some new louis vuitton purse and you’re thoroughly amused by it

you give him extra kisses that night as a reward for not instigating any fights that day (awww bf of the year am i right ladies?)

day two you guys do a museum hop and look at lots of art

ransom rolls his eyes at canvases that have a few drops of paint on them and are called modern art, you think this is hilarious

day three you have a picnic together in a park

ransom knows you have an affinity for charcuterie boards and attempts to make you one himself (and it’s not all that bad), along with a bunch of dainty little sandwiches

later that day, you go to a planetarium together

on your drive back home you have an interesting convo on the meaning of life

day 4 you take a pottery class together

ransom makes the most deformed bowl you’ve ever seen in your life

so naturally you put it up for display in your bedroom (so whenever you see it you can think of him)

day five is a first class flight to some luxurious villa in europe. most of day five is taken up on a plane

ransom lets you lay your head on him while you sleep, even though the position you’re in is making it astonishingly uncomfortable for him

day six you guys explore the city all day together

ransom makes sure not to complain about his aching legs (even though yours are getting sore too, and if he said something you would’ve done something about it!)

on your real birthday (day seven), ransom takes you out to a very nice dinner, and gives you a hand written letter detailing how much he loves and cares about you (because sometimes it’s hard for him to say his feelings)

you’re extremely flattered but have no idea how you’ll top this for his own birthday

andy barber

you and andy aren’t really huge on big gestures, so he does little things throughout the day

while you’re at work, he makes a surprise stop by and brings you your favorite drink & lunch from your favorite food place

he sends a bouquet of flowers to your job as well

after work, he cooks for you then showers you in gifts

your favorite thing that he gets you is a little engraved necklace with yours and his initials on it

at the end of the day, he gives you a nice full body massage and somehow that was exactly what you needed.

maybe not the most extravagant birthday, but a good one nonetheless.

frank adler

you have a pretty chill birthday with him and mary

he brings you a cake that him and mary made/decorated together

it’s kind of hideous but you love it

you guys let mary skip class for just 1 (one) day but tell her to keep it a secret

you call the school and let her fake being sick in the background. it is a hoot

you all go to the zoo together 

you take tons of pictures

your personal favorite is one where mary and frank are posing with a giraffe

after the zoo, you go bowling

when you win, the sore losers that came with you claim they were letting you win since it was your birthday

you end your day at the beach, watching mary and her cat play in the sand in your peripheral vision while you and frank admire the sunset

ah, sweet, sweet domesticity

ari levinson

you go to an escape room to celebrate your birthday

it’s just you and ari, but you’re smart so you don’t expect it to be too difficult

🚨wrong🚨

you’re both so hard headed and stubborn that doing any of the tasks is like pulling teeth

eventually the building had to close, and you’ve only finished like... a few tasks in the hours you’ve been there

this was certainly not a bad birthday though, arguing with ari is one of your favorite pastimes

and this birthday certainly did not disappoint

jake jensen

you and the rest of your team decided to go to a little retro arcade for the first half of the night

you spent way more time than necessary watching jake attempt to beat the high score of some random game

after giving up on beating the highest score on a pac-man machine, jake decided to attempt to win you a prize on the claw machine

like, $20 and a few annoyed humans in line behind him later, it was still nothing

when jake finally gave up, the next person in line won the soft and plushy elephant you had your eye on

and while your back was turned, he may or may not have paid off its rightful owner in order to get it with you

it was too sweet of a gesture for you to even try to be annoyed with jake

a bit later, you decided to partake in a game of laser tag which was going on in the same building

this was fine and dandy buuuut

everyone on your team treated every mission (real or fictional) like the end of the world

this made for a few very interesting matches

jake nearly trampled a child more than one time

good thing everyone was required to sign a waiver before playing

a custody battle over which team got to have cougar seemed to be a consistent theme during the night

when you were on different teams, you couldn’t help but notice that jake was getting a little too much pleasure out of shooting you

it was fine because you were equally enthusiastic about shooting him

you were eventually booted from the game when an employee claimed you were all being too rough

at some point you lost the elephant

but luckily for you, you found it before you went home

you were going to keep that elephant forever

johnny storm

you were genuinely convinced that johnny forgot your birthday

he did not bring it up ONCE the whole day

you’re actually kind of hurt for a while and get all in your head

johnny gets the silent treatment 🙄 (but he deserves it)

you decide to stop moping and go out, since it issss your birthday

you do your makeup and put on a skimpy little dress

as you leave your room and start enter the communal portion of the baxter building, johnny stops you and checks you out

he’s like “where are you going????”

and you’re like “out 😐”

and he’s like “are you sure? 🤨”

and you’re like yes duh

then he gestures to the side really quickly and you’re kinda confused then a whole bunch of people pop out and start cheering for your birthday

you’re kinda embarrassed that you spent so much of the day moping but you quickly get over it because you love a good party

by the time that most of your guests are gone, you force johnny to take you out to the club

and of course you warn him not to ever pull a stunt like that again

lucas lee

he forgot it was your birthday

[schrodingersauthorii]

I have an Idea, but I cannot for the life of me get the words to go, so I'm going to make y'all suffer in Idea Hell with me.

Full disclosure: this fic MUST be cracky. This 100% does not work unless you embrace the ridiculousness full heartedly, so start the Benny Hills Theme in your head

Basically, Lu Ten adopts Zuko, but way earlier than plausibly possible. Like, Lu Ten is 16 implausible.

The premise is that Lu Ten notices that Ozai is physically abusing Zuko, and ends up adopting him because he has hereditary Dumbass Disease and Fire Lord Azulon went 'this will be hilarious.'

I'm talking 'The Blue Spirit' levels of problem solving. All Lu Ten wanted was to get his Uncle to stop hurting his cousin, but he somehow ended up adopting Zuko instead. Maybe he challenged Ozai to an obscure Agni Kai meant to prove that a parent was unfit, and only found out it also automatic transfered custody after he won.

Iroh, the keeper of teenaged Lu Ten's single brain cell, is away, or he would have stopped this nonsense before it began. He gets a letter congratulating him on becoming a grandfather, and immediately tries to get Azulon to reverse this nonsense.

All Agni Kais are final, but as Zuko's legal father Lu Ten can disown him or remove him from the line of succession.

"HELLS no," Lu Ten says.

The Benny Hills music stops. Sike, we're realistically exploring the consequences of a crack premise for maximum angst.

This is, of course, a political NIGHTMARE. Lu Ten essentially declared war on Ozai, and Ozai has enough allies to make that *dangerous.*

The assassination attempts begin almost immediately.

Fire Lord Azulon is a big believer in survival of the fittest, and learning by doing. Either Lu Ten learns from the experience to become a stronger heir, or he dies and Iroh has to remarry like Azulon had always pushed him to. He is of absolutely no help, until Ozai tries to assassinate him too.

So Ozai is executed, and the remainder of his family banished.

So yeah, Lu Ten (and Zuko) SURE DID learn some lessons, and have the emotional (and physical) scars to prove it.

Everyone's traumatized, but life moves on. Eventually, much later than in canon, Lu Ten is ordered to join the Siege of Ba Sing Se. The only problem? He doesn't trust the court enough to leave Zuko alone at the palace.

So he hatches a Plan with a capital P. They'll pretend that they sent Zuko to Ember Island, but in reality bring him with them disguised as a Healer's apprentice.

This is a terrible idea, but the threat of leaving Zuko alone at the palace is great enough that Iroh reluctantly agrees.

Apprentice Lee is good at his job. That, more than anything, sells the illusion. Poor kid looks like he's thirteen, but he's definitely got the drive and discipline of a up and coming sixteen year old Healer's apprentice.

(Sixteen being the minimum age of recruitment for Healers, opposed to eighteen for soldiers.)

No wonder the Prince Iroh and Prince Lu Ten like him, what with his uncanny resemblance to the youngest Prince. You go kid, get that royal patronage!

Aaaand guess who rediscovers true fire healing after Lu Ten is mortally injured?

Lu Ten hypes the heck out of that propaganda, because he Learned from the Ozai experience, okay. Zuko's healing is a sign from Agni that they will soon win the war, and you wouldn't dare touch a *Divine Sign,* would you?

Zuko is very much into this healing thing, sign or no sign. He can heal people, so he's going to heal *all* the people, okay?

All the *fire nation soldiers,* Zuko. Right? RIGHT?

Remember when I said Lu Ten had hereditary Dumbass Disease? He's mostly outgrown it by now. Zuko? Not so much.

Guess what Fire Nation? You may have a fire healer, but the Earth Kingdom has a SPIRIT healer. One that's obviously competing with your healer: why else would he only show up at night around the same area as the fire prince?

Zuko has... questions, now. Questions 'the glory of the Fire Nation justifies the means' answers less and less.

And then the Avatar shows up.

Obviously, the ONLY WAY for this to go is for Zuko to get accidentally kidnapped as the Blue Spirit, and later willingly join with the Avatar to end the war at great emotional cost.

(Unfortunately for the royals, Lu Ten's propaganda worked a little too well. And... Lu Ten doesn't particularly want to continue the war anyway. Nor does Iroh. Not after Ba Sing Se.)

Fire Lord Azulon orders Zuko killed for treason. Fire Lord Azulon has a fatal stroke (just the last in a long line of recent, non-fatal ones, though very, very few people know that.) Fire Lord Iroh, in accordance with Agni's will, begins peace negotiations.

It's a long, uphill battle for reparations, but the war finally is over, and Zuko is welcomed back home. As are Ursa and Azula.

(There's no way that can possibly go wrong, right?)

[moon-rapunzel]

Charles Young

Don’t even ask how I came up with him because I don’t know. 

He is in Ravenclaw. Most of his friends are in Ravenclaw too. 

Friends with Colin Creevey, Janae Han (who I’ll talk about in another post), and Juliette Mill (who I’ll talk about too) and quite a few others and I will explain why. Same year as Colin Creevey. 

Seer. He can see the future and it really takes a toll on him. It’s not 100% in his control, sometimes he’ll see something randomly and might have a hard time differentiating if it’s real or not. It’s really draining for him, sometimes there are a few days in a month where he can barely get himself to open his eyes and it gets worse as he gets older. He hair starts graying in his teen years too. People have tried bribing him to get a vision out of him but he’s really firm that he won’t do them for anyone for their sake and his. 

His mother had him pretty early and his father left them before she found out she was going to have him and hence he took her last name and lived with her for most of his life. They did get back in touch with his father who didn’t put much of an effort to be a father to Charles and so his visits became less and less frequent. But his mother dies when Charles is nine and so his custody is given to his father. 

His father is a cold stern man who has a big role at the ministry. Many people avoided him at school because of this because they didn’t want him to rat them out and they were worried he was a snitch. His father was very busy. Charles would send him a letter every week telling him about things but his father would only reply once every few months and it would be a very dry reply. Charles stayed at Hogwarts for all of his holidays other than Summer holidays. 

Even his Holidays weren’t that great. His father was boring, he never really seemed to need fun. So Charles was left to his own devices. He got really creative with his time, usually sneaking out to go to a library then spending countless hours reading and learning. 

In his fourth year an alliance is formed between a lot of fourth years in all of the houses. They form a committee type of thing where they all sort of hang out and help each other. The relevant ones that I’m going to talk more about are Mira Pathak, Lily Moon, Janae Han, Francis Lee, Aarush Gandhi and there’s probably more but my memory is failing me right now.

He and Colin share a kiss in their sixth year a few months before the Battle of Hogwarts. And Charles has a really hard time when Colin dies. But he does eventually find someone and adopt 3 children. 

[scotianostra]

On July 7th 1575 the skirmish called “The Raid of the Redeswire”, took place between Scottish and English borderers.

Second mention of the day for Sir Walter Scott who wrote about this in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, an anthology of Border ballads. I will post the said ballad below.

The incident cited is sometimes as the last “battle” between Scottish and English forces, and it was the first reported conflict since 1547 at Pinkie Cleugh, a connection to another post today, it was during The Rough Wooing. Anyway this was a regular Warden’s meeting that got a wee bit out of hand.

The meeting was between John Carmichael, the Keeper of Liddesdale, and the English Middle March Warden, Sir John Forster, there would have been fines to be paid, men to be handed over to answer for their crimes, and paperwork to be exchanged. It is unlikely that either side had considered an all-out fight. Things seems to have gone well enough, until the case of one individual was raised. Carmichael demanded that he was handed over, Forster told Carmichael the man had taken leg bail, meaning had escaped from custody, which was not believed.

Insults were exchanged and then the entire meeting got out of hand when the English lost their tempers, and attacked, killing two men and wounding several others.

There are different versions of what happened next, one states that the Scottish Borderers were onto a hiding if it hadn’t been for the men of Jedburgh turning up shouting their slogan: “Stand firm and sure - Jethart’s here!”, Jethart was the old name for Jedburgh. The other version says that the skirmish seemed to have gone the Scots way due to the the fact that the English mainly fought with bows and swords, but the Scots were armed with firearms as well as more traditional weapons. Either way about two dozen English were killed, Forster and several other nobles were captured.

In the immediate aftermath the Scots decided to a wee bit Reiving, meaning, “plunder or rob”, and also made off with 300 cattle from local farms.

Forster and the other prisoners were delivered to James VI Regent, James Douglas, and held at Dalkeith Castle. Douglas said, for their own safety, but initially a ransom would have been in the minds of the Scots who captured them. Douglas wrote to the English monarch, Queen Elizabeth, who was none too pleased, but an amicable arrangement was made, neither side wanting the incident to lead into a full scale war.

Forster and the others had been treated with kindness and were released with gifts and an apology for being held. As part of the deal Carmichael was delivered to York to stand trial, but fair does to the English, he was acquitted as the court found that Forster had engaged in an unprovoked attack.

On the Cheviot Hills, near the place where the battle was fought a monument known as the Redeswire Stone was built in commemoration of the battle. It reads, “On this ridge, June 7th, 1575 was fought one of the last border raids, known as The Raid of the Redeswire”.

The battle is commemorated by the Jedburgh Reidswire common riding each year, this ride is the longest of the festival and is undertaken on two horses at a fast pace, watch the video above  for the arrival at Redeswire.

For those not familiar with the area, Redeswire is not far from the famous stop on the Scotland-England Border at Carter’s Bar.

The Raid of the Reidswire

   The seventh of July, the suith to say,     At the Reidswire the tryst was set;     Our Wardens they affixed the day,     And as they promised, so they met.     Alas! that day I’ll ne’er forgett!     Was sure sae feard and then sae faine—     They came theare justice for to gett,     Will never green to come again.

    Carmichael was our Warden then,     He caused the country to conveen;     And the Laird’s Wat, that worthie man,     Brought in that sirname weil beseen:     The Armestranges, that aye hae been     A hardie house, but not a hail,     The Elliots’ honnors to maintaine,     Brought down the lave o’ Liddesdale.

    Then Tividale came to wi’ speid;     The Sheriffe brought the Douglas down,     Wi’ Cranstane, Gladstain, good at need,     Baith Rewle water, and Hawick town.     Beanjeddart baldly made him boun,     Wi’ a’ the Trumbills, stronge and stout;     The Rutherfoords, with grit renown,     Convoyed the town of Jedbrugh out.

    Of other clans I cannot tell,     Because our warning was not wide.     Be this our folks hae tane the fell,     And planted down palliones their to bide.     We looked down the other side,     And saw come breasting ower the brae,     Wi’ Sir John Forster for their guyde,     Full fiftene hundred men and mae.

    It grieved him sair that day, I trow,     Wi’ Sir George Hinrome of Schipsydehouse;     Because we were not men enow,     They counted us not worth a louse.     Sir George was gentle, meek, and douse,     But he was hail and hett as fire;     And yet, for all his cracking crouse,     He rewd the raid o’ the Reidswire.

    To deal with proud men is but pain;     For either must ye fight or flee,     Or else no answer make again,     But play the beast, and let them be.     It was na wonder he was hie,     Had Tindaill, Reedsdaill, at his hand,     Wi’ Cukdaill, Gladsdaill on the lee,     And Hebsrime, and Northumberland.

    Yett was our meeting meek enough,     Begun wi’ merriment and mowes,     And at the brae, aboon the heugh,     The clark sate down to call the rowes.     And some for kyne, and some for ewes,     Called in of Dandrie, Hob, and Jock—     We saw come marching ower the knows,     Five hundred Fennicks in a flock.

    With jack and speir, and bowes all bent,     And warlike weapons at their will:     Although we were na weel content,     Yet, be my trouth, we feard no ill.     Some gaed to drink, and some stude still,     And some to cairds and dice them sped,     Till on ane Farnstein they fyled a bill,     And he was fugitive and fled.

    Carmichaell bade them speik out plainlie,     And cloke no cause for ill nor good;     The other answering him as vainlie,     Began to reckon kin and blood:     He raise, and raxed him where he stood,     And bade him match him with his marrows:     Then Tindaill heard them reasun rude,     And they loot off a flight of arrows.

   Then was there nought but bow and speir,     And every man pulled out a brand;     “A Schaftan and a Fenwick” thare:     Gude Symington was slain frae hand.     The Scotsmen cried on other to stand,     Frae time they saw John Robson slain—     What should they cry? the King’s command     Could cause no cowards turn again.

    Up rose the Laird to red the cumber,     Which would not be for all his boast;—     What could we doe with sic a number?     Fyve thousand men into a host.     Then Henry Purdie proved his cost,     And very narrowlie had mischiefed him,     And there we had our Warden lost,     Wert not the grit God he reliev’d him.

    Another throw the breikes him bair,     Whill flatlies to the grund he fell:     Than thought I weel we had lost him there,     Into my stomach it struck a knell!     Yet up he raise, the treuth to tell ye,     And laid about him dints full dour,     His horsemen they raid sturdilie,     And stude about him in the stoure.

    Then raise the slogan with ane shout—     “Fy Tindaill, to it! Jedbrugh’s here!”     I trow he was not half sae stout,     But anis his stomach was asteir.     With gun and genzie, bow and speir,     Men might see mony a cracked crown;     But up amang the merchant geir,     They were as busie as we were down.

    The swallow taill frae tackles flew,     Five hundreth flain into the flight,     But we had pestelets enow,     And shot amang them as we might.     With help of God the game gade right,     Frae time the foremost of them fell;     Then over the know, without goodnight,     They ran with mony a shout and yell.

    But after they had turned backs,     Yet Tindaill men they turned again;     And had not been the merchant packs,     There had been mae of Scotland slain.     But Jesu! if the folks were fain     To put the bussing on their thies;     And so they fled, wi’ a’ their main,     Down ower the brae like clogged bees.

    Sir Francis Russell ta’en was their,     And hurt, as we hear men rehearse;     Proud Wallinton was wounded sair,     Albeit he be a Fennick fierce.     But if ye wald a souldier search,     Among them a’ were ta’en that night,     Was nane sae wordie to put in verse,     As Colingwood, that courteous knight.

    Young Henry, scaiped home, is hurt;     A souldier shot him with a bow:     Scotland has cause to mak great sturt,     For laiming of the Laird of Mow.     The Laird’s Wat did weel indeed,     His freinds stood stoutlie by himsel’,     With little Gladstain, gude in need,     For Gretein kend na gude be ill.

    The Sheriff wanted not gude will,     Howbeit he might not fight so fast;     Beanjeddart, Hundlie, and Hunthill,     Three, on they laid weel at the last.     Except the horsemen of the guard,     If I could put men to availe,     None stoutlier stood out for their laird,     Nor did the lads of Liddesdail.

    But little harness had we there;     But auld Badreule had on a jack,     And did right weel, I you declare,     With all his Trumbills at his back.     Gude Ederstane was not to lack,     Nor Kirktoun, Newtoun, noble men!     Thir’s all the specials I of speake,     By others that I could not ken.

    Who did invent that day of play,     We need not fear to find him soon;     For Sir John Forster, I dare well say,     Made us this noisome afternoon.     Not that I speak preceislie out,     That he supposed it would be perril;     But pride, and breaking out of feuid,     Garr’d Tindaill lads begin the quarrel.

[firstagent]

Since it popped up on the Podcast, how would you rank the sibling dynamics from healthy to trainwreck?

This is an innocent-sounding question until you go over the franchise and realize just how many sibling relationships there are in Digimon and that all but like three of them have elements that might raise eyebrows. In the interest of being comprehensive, this includes all named characters in any anime, manga, and game I’m familiar with, treating the reboot separately and including Survive because... (looks at Kaito and Miu’s bios) ...holy crap.

Sibling Relationship Rankings! (Healthy is Higher)

Joe & Shin Kido (Adventure): Shin understands Joe’s hang-ups and offers support to make his own choices without steering him in any specific direction, for or against the family. And Shuu exists too (depending on the language you’re watching in)

Juri & Masahiko Kato (Tamers): For all of the awkwardness and potential points of fracture in the family, Juri and Masahiko are very close. Fun Fact: She started carrying around her iconic hand puppet to amuse and entertain him!

Keito & Nozomi Tamada (Re:Arise): Even with very different personalities, Keito and Nozomi have a lot of respect for each other. Unlike some big brothers, he comes to a mature conclusion when he realizes she’ll be just fine with Pumpmon at her side.

Yamato Ishida & Takeru Takaishi (Adventure 2020): Yamato’s worry over Takeru only affects his reluctance to take on time-consuming side quests when he might be in danger. Far more chill about trusting Takeru with the rest of the team, he’s a motivation rather than a mental handicap.

Masaru & Chika Daimon (Savers): Perhaps a more controversial pick for the healthier side, but Masaru and Chika have a playful relationship that proves that Chika dishes out as much as anyone in the family. Given how much harm DATS and Digimon have done to the family, Masaru risks her love to keep them away from her.

Joe & Shin Kido (Adventure 2020): Shin’s still supportive and still encourages Joe to make choices for himself, but having that bugout bag ready to go raises some serious questions about that family and which side Shin’s really on.

Ai & Makoto (Tamers): Toddlers fight. It’s okay. They come together for Impmon’s sake and the fact that they’re the only duo in the franchise with mutual custody over a digivice has to say something about the strength of their relationship.

Nene & Kotone Amano (Xros Wars Manga): Nene’s tactics are still desperate but not quite as extreme as the anime, and it counts for so much that Kotone fights so hard for Nene once the tables are turned. And good lord that backstory...

Takuya & Shinya Kanbara (Frontier): There’s definitely a sense of Takuya lapsing into thinking Shinya encapsulates everything frustrating about having an older brother, but he gets over it.

Miyako Inoue + Three (Zero Two): Perfectly normal large household. And while wondering what it would be like to be an only child is something every youngest does... top of mind fantasy, Miyako? Really?

Jianliang & Shaochung Lee (Tamers): Speaking of four-packs... there’s no doubting how much they care about each other, but Jian’s occasional short fuse with Shaochung betrays his usual calm demeanor, and we never get a picture of the full family dynamic once Rinchei and Jaarin are included.

Daisuke & Jun Motomiya (Zero Two): Everyone likes to paint Jun and Daisuke as something uglier than it really is. As much as they annoy each other, it’s still a pretty conventional sibling dynamic and they’d still fight hard for the other... even if the feeling’s closer to obligation.

Koji Minamoto & Koichi Kimura (Frontier): There’s no questioning the bond they develop, but there’s no way Koji and Koichi go from “don’t know the other exists” to “ZOMG Twinzies!” without a ton of awkwardness and feeling each other out. They’ll get better, but from our standpoint this is where we start to drift into trainwreck territory.

Tomoki & Yutaka Himi (Frontier): Tomoki can spin it all he wants but Yutaka comes off as a real jerk. Not that some resentment isn’t a little justified given how much Tomoki is coddled, but taking it upon himself to be the bearer of tough love is still not cool.

Taichi & Hikari Yagami (Adventure 2020): Hikari has a blind faith that Taichi can save the day in any circumstance, up to and including international shipping crisis. Meanwhile Taichi sees Hikari lapsing between typical friendly eight year old to brainwashed robot and doesn’t find any problem with it.

Yamato Ishida & Takeru Takaishi (Adventure): Lessons in how not to be an overprotective big brother. Yamato freaks out at the slightest notion that Takeru might be exposed to danger, including his very presence in the Digital World. When you have a complete nervous breakdown realizing that little bro’s actually pretty capable on his own, it’s not about your relationship with him anymore.

Touma & Relena Norstein (Savers): There’s caring about a little sister, making her plight a central cause in your life, and then involving her in a chess match with a madman. There’s a lot to forgive here (they are raised in a family where your kneejerk reaction to Grandma is “I bet she supported the Nazis in World War II”), but everything about their relationship just makes you uncomfortable.

Kaito & Miu Shinonome (Survive): Maybe it’s not fair since their game is the franchise’s unicorn, but their bios have warning flags all over it. He’s overprotective, ready to fight at the slightest hardship, and she repays this attitude by being rebellious and weird and eager to pursue trouble. May end up being worse once the game actually comes out.

Rei & Hajime Katsura (Appmon): Another one where their backstory makes you sympathize with the lengths they go to in order to stay together, but risking the security of actual guardians to go it alone? Jesus. Even with their ride or die attitude, you still sense a bit of friction in their relationship, and so many of their hardships are their own doing. 

Nene & Yuu Amano (Xros Wars): There’s nothing seemingly wrong on the surface between Nene and Yuu, but that’s why their actions are so extreme. Yuu’s more than happy to treat her as an enemy general in his game, while Nene’s aligning herself with dark forces and causing real trouble to get him back. It’s all very loud and intense for a relationship that, without external influences, is just nice and cordial.

Yuuko & Yuugo Kamishiro (Cyber Sleuth): You can be anything you want on the internet! So why not take the identify of your big brother who was stricken with a mystery illness at a young age and lead a legion of hackers? And if you’re Yuugo, use your digital body to take control of that avatar! Nothing weird about any of this!

Ken & Osamu Ichijouji (Zero Two): Like Tomoki, Ken can come up with whatever rationale for Osamu’s abuse he wants, and Osamu at least had some kind moments, but there’s no denying that this family was a mess. And of course Ken’s reaction to Osamu’s death... could have been better.

Taichi & Hikari Yagami (Adventure): Hikari’s introduction to the series was intended to be a little creepy, and that just sets the tone. Her blind loyalty to Taichi is a primary point of emphasis through three series, and Taichi sometimes goes ballistic worrying about her... when not accidentally endangering her life. And that’s before she unleashes a world-destroying abomination at the mere suggestion that Taichi’s dead, and why telling him “what you’re doing is wrong and I kind of hate you for it” is a big moment for her, even though she’s wrong.

Neo & Rei Saiba (V-Tamer): There’s going a little overboard to keep your family together or save a sibling’s life, and then there’s aligning yourself with evil forces to avoid having to deal with your sister’s manageable disability. Call it being jaded or delusional, but when it drives your sister to attempt suicide there are definitely issues you two need to work through.

Erika & Ryuji Mishima (Cyber Sleuth Hackers Memory): Because aligning oneself with Arkadimon is always a fantastic idea. He’s overprotective, she manipulates him because of it, there’s resentment, there’s anger, and basically the entire game is spent watching these two outdo each other in terms of causing wanton destruction throughout the city and cyberspace.

Honorable Mention: Bagramon & DarkKnightmon (Xros Wars): The battle of who can stab the other in the back last.

Want to support my site and/or my work? Buy me a coffee!

[jknerd]

AAnA AU - Kanker Cousins

Full Name: Lead Kanker

Nickname(s): Lee-Boy (by Rolf), Bondage Fetish Perv (by Anny), Used Tampon Hair (by Kevin)

Age: 16-19

Gender: Male

Credits: Dominant/Leader of Kanker Cousins

Family: Beni Kanker (father), Martha Kanker (aunt), Lee Kanker (cousin), Marie Kanker (cousin), May (cousin), Marco Kanker (cousin-once removed; adoptive brother), Moon Kanker (cousin-once removed; adoptive brother), Butch (estranged uncle-in-law), Bubba (estranged step uncle-in-law), Rod (estranged step uncle-in-law)

Friends: None

Enemies: An Trio, Anny (sometimes), Nazz (love rival; one-sided), Kevin, Frank

Likes: Fitness sports, Anny (love interest), cooking fast foods

Dislikes: Being second best, Nazz (love rival), his hair being ruined or mocked

Character

Lead Kanker is son of Beni Kanker, nephew of Martha Kanker, cousin of Lee, and is the leader of Kanker Cousins. He is also Marco and Moon’s adoptive brother but he insisted to form their group name as Kanker Cousins when they ally with Lee and her sisters. Despite his position as leader among the Kanker Cousins trio, Marco and Moon aren’t his blind followers but their relationships are more brotherly in terms as they playfully bicker one another. According to Beni, Lead’s mother divorced with him for her lesbian lover, which caused Lead to resent her.

When introduced themselves as Kanker Cousins to Lee and her sisters, Lead suggested to give An Trio to himself and his adoptive brothers if they help Kanker sisters rule Culdesac. He is attracted to Anny as he is into “plus-sized” small girls and refuses to admit her attraction to Nazz. This often irritates Anny and Lee as his cousin is seen holding him back before he could do anything antagonistic to Nazz for personal reasons. However, Lead also enjoys in engaging at battle against other young gangsters as he is proven to be quite a fighter.

Full Name: Marco Kanker

Nickname(s): Mar (by Lead and Moon), Halfa-Brother (by Marie)

Age: 16-19

Gender: Male

Credits: Middle of Kanker Cousins

Family: Unnamed mother (deceased), Bubba (father; estranged), Beni Kanker (“uncle”; adoptive father), Martha Kanker (maternal aunt), Marie Kanker (half-sister), Lee Kanker (“step-cousin”), May Kanker (“step-cousin”), Lead Kanker (“cousin”; adoptive brother), Moon Kanker (“cousin”; adoptive brother), Butch (estranged uncle-in-law), Rod (estranged uncle-in-law)

Friends: Eddrick (sometimes), Frank (sometimes)

Enemies: An Trio, Kevin (love-rival), Samuel, Jinny, Nate, Karen, Eddrick (sometimes), whoever caught Ann’s attention

Likes: Ann (love interest), sketching/painting, martial arts, pole-dancing, cooking

Dislikes: Kevin (love rival), Karen, Samuel, Jinny, anyone who looks down on Ann, his father, taken advantage of others

Characters

Marco Kanker is half-brother of Marie, adoptive brother of Lead and Moon, middle of Kanker Cousins, adoptive son of Beni Kanker. As his mother passed away when he was much younger, he and his father suffered poverty and all he had to do was helping his father with scams. But when he reached to teen years, Bubba forced him to go in “compensated dating” or prostitution with older people, regardless of their genders and sexualities until Beni paid large sum of cash to Bubba in exchange for the custody over Marco. Out of respect from surviving dysfunctional life, Lead and Moon never tell this to anyone. Although the habits die heard, he used this to rob away enemy gangsters’ money or subdue them in his trap to help Kanker Sisters and his adoptive brothers in taking over territories as he is also talented with martial arts.

Unlike Lead or Moon, Marco met Ann prior to their alliance with Kanker Sisters as the raven girl found him injured from his violent “partner’s” harassments and taken him back home to tend her wounds. Despite taking hints of prostitution he was doing, Ann wasn’t repulsed by it as he treat him as person. Hence, that becomes reason why he is in love with her. Among the Kanker Cousins, Marco is the most kinkiest individual due to lack of proper care from his parents he sometimes have no control to keep himself from speaking promiscuous remarks. However, unlike Kevin, he does not hold back from expressing affections to Ann proving he does care for her well-being in many occasions. This indicates he is a potential love rival for Kevin as both are seen competing for Double N’s love.

Full Name: Moon Kanker

Nickname(s): Weed Blonde (by Anny), Yuckiest Kanker (An), Less Motivated Kanker Youth (by Ann), Passive Abusive Kanker Boy (by Rolf)

Age: 16-19

Gender: Male

Credits: Burnout Kanker Cousin

Family: Unnamed Mother (estranged), Unnamed father (estranged), Rod (paternal uncle; deceased), Beni Kanker (uncle; adoptive father), Martha Kanker (maternal aunt), Lee Kanker (step-cousin), Marie Kanker (step-cousin), May Kanker (cousin), Lead Kanker (“cousin”; adoptive brother), Marco Kanker (“cousin”; adoptive brother)

Friends: None

Enemies: An Trio, An (sometimes), Rolf (Love rival; one-sided), Samuel, Jinny

Likes: Cooking, working alone, An (crush)

Dislikes: Rolf (love rival), Samuel

Character

Moon Kanker is adoptive brother of Lead and Marco, paternal cousin of May, adoptive son of Beni, nephew of Martha Kanker and is known as youngest of Kanker Cousins. According to Beni, Moon was abandoned by his parents due to their irresponsible tendencies as it was unplanned moment to be his parents. Spending more than 15 years in the orphanage treated as servant by the staffs, he encountered Beni Kanker who decided to adopt him. When introduced to Kanker Sisters, he was indifferent about having extended family and often finds May’s nice persona annoying.

When encountering An Trio, he was attracted to An due to her superhuman strength and her tomboyish feature. However, An doesn’t reciprocate his feelings as she is uncomfortable around his flirting, especially when he invades her personal space. Moon was highly jealous of Rolf as he is the only guy An approaches without fear, nor disgust while the immigrant boy disapproves of Moon’s rude and selfish advances towards her and is somehow confident that she prefers him over the young Kanker Cousin.

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Black Panther

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews, Where Today We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Where Today We Look At The Only Marvel Movie To Ever Be Nominated For An Oscar, Black Panther...

This Film Sees T'Challa Returning To Wakanda To Serve As His Country's New Leader. However, He Is Soon Challenged For The Throne By Factions Within His Own Country When 2 Foes Conspire To Destroy Wakanda...

Will Black Panther Be Able To Stop This New Threat?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Black Panther...

The Story Starts With A Father Telling His Son A Story

(Start At 0:09,End At 1:37)

We Cut To 1992, As King T'Chaka Visits His Brother, Prince N'Jobu (Played By Randall From This Is Us), Who Is Working Undercover In Oakland, California And It Is There That T'Chaka Accuses N'Jobu Of Assisting Black Market Arms Dealer Ulysses Klaw (Played By Gollum) In Stealing Vibranium From Wakanda...

N'Jobu Denies The Accusations But T'Chaka Reveals A Second Wakandan Undercover Agent In The Form Of N'Jobu's Partner Who Reveals Himself As Zuri To The King Confirms His Suspicions Of N'Jobu Being A Traitor To The Crown. So, As Punishment T'Chaka Tells N'Jobu That He Must Return To The Wakandan Council To Admit His Crimes...

However Before We See Anything Else, We Cut To Outside As An Invisible Plane Flies Off...

Fast Forwarding To The Present Day, Following The Death Of T'Chaka By The Hand Of Baron Zero...

(Yes, I'm Still Calling Him That For Those That Don't Know Or Remember Why, Read My Civil War Review)

As His Son, Prince T'Challa (Played By Chadwick Bozeman) Returns To Wakanda To Assume The Throne After Working With Okoye, The Leader Of The Dora Milaje (Played By Michonne) To Extract His Ex, Nakia (Played By Lupita Nyong'o) From An Undercover Assignment In Nigeria's Sambisa Forest...

(End At 4:27)

Returning To Wakanda Afterwards, T'Challa Reunites With His Mother, Queen Ramonda (Played By Angela Bassett) And His Sister, Princess Shuri (Played By Letitia Wright) Who Will Be Our Q For This Movie...

Meanwhile In London, Klaw And His Associate, Erik Stevens (Played By Adonis Creed) Steal A Vibranium Artifact From The Museum Of Great Britain. But Back In Wakanda The Ceremony Of T'Challa Begins

But First Before I Talk About It I Must Say That The Make Ups In This Scene Are Fantastic. I Mean, I've Seen Stuff Like This In Ripley's Believe It Or Not But Seeing It On The Screen Is Insane!...

Anyway, Giving T'Challa A Liquid That Removes His Enhanced Strength, T'Challa Formally Invites Anyone To Challenge His Claim As King In Ritual Combat. So, With That Said, M'Baku, The Leader Of The Mountain Dwelling Jabari Tribe (Played By Winston Duke) Steps Forward And Claims That He Is Not Worthy Of Being King...

Drinking A Fluid Derived From The Heart Shaped Herb, T'Challa Goes Into A Deep Sleep Where He Visits The Ancestral Plane Where He Reunites With A Vision Of His Father Who Tells Him That He Is A Good Man However He Warns Him That Hard Times Lie Ahead And That He Should Surround Himself With People He Trusts...

After Hearing This Bit Of Knowledge, T'Challa Wakes Up...

Spending Time With His Best Friend And Okoye's Husband, W'Kabi (Played By The Guy From Get Out) Afterward, They Learn From Okoye Through Their Communicators About The British Museum Attack By Klaw. After Losing His Parents At Klaw's Hands Years Ago, W'Kabi Urges The King To Find Klaw And Bring Him To Justice...

Before Travelling To Busan To Deal With Klaw With Okoye And Nakia, T'Challa Visits Shuri Who Gives Him Newly Upgraded Communicators, Remote Access Kimoyo Beads, And A Newly Upgrade Suit With Nanites That Absorb Any Damage That Fits Inside Of A Necklace...

And The Flash Thought Having A Suit In A Ring Was Cool?

Traveling To An Underground Casino In Busan Where Klaw Intends To Sell The Artifact To An Unknown Buyer, However When T'Challa Discovers That The Buyer Is CIA Agent Everett Ross (Played By Bilbo Baggins) Who Was Last Seen In Civil War, They're Forced To Sabatoge The Operation...

Oh, And We Get Our Stan Lee Cameo In This Scene...

Stan Lee Cameo!

Inciting A Shootout, Klaw Tries To Escape But T'Challa, Ross, Okoye, And Nakia Try To Intercept Him In A Car Chase...

(End At 4:36)

Forced To Hand Klaw Into The Custody Of The CIA, Klaw Is Interogated By Ross Who I'm Surprised Doesn't Play A Game Of Riddles With Him While Interrogating Him....

But Aside From That Hobbit Reference That I Put In, Klaw Is Rescued By Stevens, But During The Escape, Ross Gets Injured While Protect Nakia So Instead Of Going After Them, They Have No Choice But To Return To Wakanda To Use Their Technology To Save Ross...

While Shuri Heals Ross, He Tells W'Kabi About Losing Klaw, Feeling Betrayed By His Former Friend, W'Kabi Walks Away...

Meanwhile At An Airstrip, Stevens Kills Klaw, As T'Challa Talks With A Now Grown Up Zuri (Played By Saw Gerrera) About What Happened Years Ago With N'Jobu As Stevens Had A Ring That Matched His...

Zuri Explains To T'Challa That N'Jobu Planned To Share Wakanda's Technology With People Of African Descent Around The World To Help Them Conquer Their Oppressors. But Not Accepting This T'Chaka Arrested N'Jobu But When He Did N'Jobu Attacked Zuri And Forced T'Chaka To Kill Him...

Ordering Zuri To Lie About What Happened And To Say That N'Jobu Disappeared, They Left Behind N'Jobu's American Son, Erik In Order To Maintain The Lie...

Arriving With Klaw's Body In Wakanda, Stevens Demands To Speak To T'Challa And His Wakandan Council...

Talking To A Now Healed Ross About Stevens, He Tells T'Challa That He's A Former Black Ops Solider Who Joined A JSOC Ghost Unit And Has Adopted The Name Killmonger. Being Brought In To Talk With T'Challa And The Council, He Reveals His Identity As N'Jadaka, The Son Of Prince N'Jobu Before The Tribal Elders...

Challenging T'Challa For The Throne In Ritual Combat, They Decide That Killmonger Has A Legitimate Claim And The Ritual Combat Begins Once Again...

Asking Killmonger To Kill Him Instead Of T'Challa As He Caused His Father's Death, Zuri Is Killed By Killmonger, But Killnonger Doesn't Spare T'Challa Instead He Goes...

And Throws Him Over The Waterfall...

With T'Challa Presumed Dead, Killmonger Is Made King And Ingests The Heart Shaped Herb To Gain The Powers Of The Black Panther, After Having A Vision Of N'Jobu, Killmonger Awakens And Orders The Heart Shaped Herb To Be Incinerated But Luckily Nakia Gets Of Hold Of One Before He Does...

Supported By W'Kabi And His Army, Killmonger Enacts His Father's Plan To Have Wakandan Weapons Distributed To Wakandan Operatives Around The World...

Seeking The Aid Of The Jabari Tribe, Ramonda, Shuri, Ross And Nakia Learn That They Have Been Caring For A Comatose T'Challa Who They Rescued In Repayment For Sparing Their Leader M'Baku's Life...

Feeding It To T'Challa, He Returns To The Ancestral Plane, Where He Reunites With The Spirit Of His Father Who Tells His Son It's Time To Let Go And Join Him And The Ancestors....

Asking His Father Why Erik Was Left As An Orphan In The US When He Should Have Been With His People In Wakanda, T'Chaka Claims He Did What He Did For His People And Wakanda To Allow Them To Remain In Isolation. Rejecting This, T'Challa Tells Them That They Cannot Hide From The World Forever...

Telling His Father's Spirit That He Will Return To Stop The Monster His People Created From Sitting On The Throne, T'Challa Wakes Up And Returns To Wakanda To Stop Killmonger's Plan...

Returning To Mount Bashenga To Challenge Killmonger Who Dons A Black Panther Suit Of His Own, Shuri And Nakia Join The Dora Milaje And The Jabari In Battling W'Kabi And The Wakandan Army. Piloting A Remote Jet, Ross Shoots Down The Planes Carrying The Weapons Before They Can Leave The Country...

Confronted By Okoye, W'Kabi And His Army Stand Down As Killmonger Overpowers The Dora Milaje And Nearly Kills Shuri But T'Challa Saves His Sister And Tackles Killmonger Into The Great Mound, For One Last Battle...

(End At 2:39)

Showing Mercy, T'Challa Fullfills Killmonger's Childhood Wish Of Witnessing A Wakandan Sunset, Offering To Heal Him, Killmonger Prefers Choosing To Die A Free Man Than To Be Incarcerated So Removing The Dagger, He Dies...

Rejecting The Isolation Of Wakanda Like Past Kings Did, T'Challa Establishes An Embassy At The Apartment Complex Where N'Jobu Was Murdered And Appoints Shuri And Nakia To Run It Which Is Where Our Movie Ends...

We Get A Mid Credits Scene Where T'Challa Appears Before The United Nations In The Rebuilt Vienna International Centre To Reveal Wakanda's Resources To The World And To Come Out Of Isolation...

We Also Get A End Credits Scene That Sees Bucky Barnes Waking Up In Wakanda (In Time For The Next Movie) To Be Met By Shuri Who Begins To Help Him With His Recuperation From His Mental Programming

And That's Black Panther And It's A Good Movie...

While Not My Favorite Movie In The MCU It Wasn't Bad, I Liked The Story, The Characters Were Decently Written Chadwick Bozeman Is Better In This Movie Than Civil War Though He Still Goes In And Out Of That Mako Voice He Does That I Complained About In Civil War. The Bad Guy Wasn't That Bad I Absolutely Enjoyed The Movie And I Definitely See It..

Well, We're Finally Here As Next Week We Look At The First Part Of The End Of The Infinity Saga, Avengers: Infinity War! But Until Then This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[scripttorture]

Torture in Fiction: The Age of Shadows

My copy of The Age of Shadows says ‘Korean cinema at its best’ on the cover and I’m no expert on world cinema but I’m inclined to agree. It’s an incredible piece of film making. The period backdrops and costumes are lovingly recreated, rich and detailed. Every single actor is doing an incredible job and they’re putting their all into a story that’s both satisfying and surprising. The lighting and the way each scene is shot creates an amazing atmosphere.

This is a really high quality film. Personally I think it’s the best World War 2 movie I’ve seen.

But I’m not here to talk about how Western cinema often overlooks really good movies from other countries. I’m rating the depiction and use of torture, not the movie itself. I’m trying to take into account realism (regardless of fantasy or sci fi elements), presence of any apologist arguments, stereotypes and the narrative treatment of victims and torturers.

The Age of Shadows is set in Occupied Korea and it’s primarily about Lee Jung-chool.

Lee is a police officer and he’s a Korean. With the nation controlled by Japan and the Korean people oppressed many Koreans look on people like Lee as a traitor.

Lee’s sent after the Resistance. Police attempt to capture two Resistance members who are selling an antique to raise money for explosives. When this doesn’t work Lee takes the antique to a known Resistance sympathiser and antiques expert (Kim Woo-jin), attempting to track down the main group.

Kim knows that Lee’s a police captain and when Lee keeps showing up Kim takes the problem to the leader of his Resistance cell, Jung Che-san. Jung makes a rather daring decision, he suggests befriending Lee and trying to turn ‘the enemy’s spy into our own’.

The rest of the movie plays out as a cat and mouse game over Lee’s loyalty, with his true sympathies obscured until the very end of the film. Between the excellent script and Song Kang-ho’s brilliant turn as Lee it really does keep you on the edge of your seat.

There’s a lot of violence and action throughout the movie. It’s mostly fights and gun battles between Occupying and Resistance forces. However there are a couple of scenes that are legally torture and a few scenes that fits the pop culture conception of torture.

Part way through the film one of the Resistance members is captured alive and tortured, a woman called Yeon. Lee hasn’t really met her and has no strong emotional connection to her. At this point Lee is still playing both sides but he’s shot a fellow police officer, he is compromised and the last thing he said to Kim was that if they met again one of them would die.

Lee’s superior officer takes him to Yeon. She’s cuffed and tied to a wooden chair, messy, exhausted and has clearly been beaten. Lee’s boss asks Lee to question her in Korean and ask for Kim’s location. At first Yeon doesn’t answer and a policeman threatens to smash her feet with a hammer. Lee’s boss stops him and then takes a piece of glowing hot metal from the stove. He hands it to Lee and instructs Lee to burn her face. Yeon keeps screaming that she doesn’t know where Kim is.

Raids on Resistance safe houses follow, with most of the Resistance members shot dead. A few are captured alive and we see one, hung from his hands and burnt with hot metal while Lee watches. But Kim escapes and Lee later receives a message to meet Kim and bring false ID.

Lee goes and finds Kim with all the Resistance’s explosives. They release that Kim didn’t send the messenger. Kim flees through the woods and is captured alive but his pack contains potatoes. He’s tortured by Lee’s boss and asked the location of the explosives, he says they’re ‘under your feet’.

Later Lee is captured. He doesn’t have the explosives and while we don’t see it, it is heavily implied Lee is tortured as well.

The surviving Resistance members and Lee are brought before a Japanese court. Lee, with his voice breaking and tears streaming down his face, says he is a loyal member of the police force who was acting to the best of his ability trying to flush out the remaining Resistance members by taking the explosives. He denounces the Resistance and claims he was on the side of the police all along.

A month later Lee is released and we learn that Yeon starved herself to death in custody. Lee breaks down in tears when he finds out.

We see Lee at home, unresponsive and despondent. And then we get a flashback which changes everything. Before Kim and Lee separated Kim asked Lee to hide the explosives and denounce the Resistance, to play the loyal Japanese police officer one more time.

Lee recovers the explosives and plants them in the Police Bureau club on the night of a banquet. The last shot of the film is Kim smiling in his cell.

I’m giving it 10/10

The Good

The movie does a wonderful job of exploring what it takes to change hearts and minds. There’s an awful lot of time devoted to Jung and Kim socialising with Lee. They talk, they share meals, they drink together. And it really does create a sense of building strong relationships in a realistic way. I loved the way the movie really hinges on these building relationships.

While it’s showing realistic ways to change hearts and minds the movie also subverts and averts the idea of threats or force changing people’s beliefs. It does so repeatedly. There are Resistance ‘rats’ who betray the group but these characters aren’t tortured and don’t seem to be coerced.  They say they did it because they don’t think the Resistance can win.

The film also does a brilliant line in showing how far people will sometimes go to avoid compromising their beliefs. Within the first ten minutes we see a Resistance member commit suicide rather than be captured by the Japanese or the police.

The scene with Yeon is messy in a way torture scenes often aren’t. It is still prettied up, but it struck me as unusual that Yeon isn’t sexualised in this moment. That her pain and exhaustion is allowed to be ugly, to be messy. The scene is primarily framed as distressing. It’s rare in torture scenes generally and it’s rarer when the victim is a female character the story expects us to find attractive.

The police don’t get useful information from Yeon. In fact it’s unclear whether Yeon can give them the information they want; the place the Resistance were planning to meet changed multiple times before Yeon was captured. There’s a good chance she genuinely has no idea where Kim is. But the torturers keep asking the same question. The whole set up feels incredibly true to life, the pointless repetition from the torturers and the strong possibility the victim can’t give them what they want.

The police don’t get useful information from any of the Resistance members they capture and torture.

Yeon’s resistance is different to Kim’s but both are possible. Kim is allowed a little macho posturing, telling the police flatly that he will never tell them anything. Then he bites off his tongue.

Lee is visibly shaken by witnessing and participating in Yeon’s torture. His boss comments on it and we see his hands shake. Watching the movie again it’s very easy to read witnessing torture as the moment Lee definitely changes sides. His loneliness and distress are clear from the shots, the acting and the script. Torture has a realistic impact on him and it radicalises him.

The Japanese police say that torture works, that the Resistance will tell them everything eventually, and it is realistic to have torturers and torture apologists express these sentiments. It’s nice to see a story that has characters expressing these views without supporting them.

The torture methods we see clearly are in keeping with the time and place the story is set. The Japanese occupying forces did use hot metal to burn political prisoners in Korea, they did suspend prisoners from the wrists and they did use pincers to crush fingers. The torture scenes in this movie might be the most historically accurate ones I’ve ever seen.

The movie also shows a few scenes that are legally torture but are not treated the same way narratively. A Japanese police officer who works with Lee in the beginning of the movie is shown torturing his underlings by repeatedly slapping them. The attacks are frenzied and while we don’t see the effects on the victims we do see the effect on the character’s investigations- he seems to be taking most of his accurate information from Lee and is unable to obtain any on his own. This is realistic, torture impedes investigation.

This officer is also realistically framed as seeing himself in competition with Lee. Torturers do tend to frame their actions as competition and as chasing individual glory. The officer takes information from Lee and Lee’s sources but doesn’t offer any in return. He doesn’t communicate with Lee. He doesn’t obey the orders he has, which are to listen to and learn from Lee. And as a result we see him bungling multiple raids on the Resistance.

The Bad

Yeon is shown as being in a much worse state physically then the other Resistance members after torture. Despite the narrative implication that they’re treated the same way. This seems to suggest that the one female member of the group is the ‘weaker’ member. Her resolve and loyalty are not questioned, but her physical ability is. And there’s no evidence to suggest men are more likely to survive torture then women.

I think that while it’s positive that we see different sorts of resistance from Yeon and Kim but the choice of responses seem to be heavily gendered. It’s significant that Kim is the one who gets the good lines and spits defiance while Yeon screams that she doesn’t know.

Miscellaneous

The sheer volume of alcohol consumed in this movie is absolutely incredible. And it makes for some interesting scenes of various characters trying to act drunker then they are while trying to ply another character for information. The Resistance; never knowingly sober. In seriousness though- this is a rather old fashioned version of trying to drug the truth out of someone. And it’s portrayed as realistically unsuccessful.

Overall

I really do love this movie, it’s a great piece of storytelling and I think overall it uses violence and torture well.

Throughout this they support the plot, develop the characters and help build up the setting. It’s a movie with a lot of on screen deaths but despite that none of them seem cheap. The loss of life is to establish both the time period and the stakes for which the Resistance and the police are playing.

Torture, when it appears, is mostly about the strength and defiance of survivors. It’s distressing, it’s visceral. In Yeon’s case it’s framed as especially tragic, her death and suffering are needless. And it doesn’t work. If anything it undermines the police by deciding Lee’s wavering loyalty.

Torturers in the movie aren’t portrayed as competent investigators. They’re also not glamorised. Lee’s boss is an immaculate official but he’s also very clearly the bad guy and he’s never portrayed as ‘cool’. At best he’s a crafty enemy to outwit. The Japanese officer who is supposed to ‘assisting’ Lee is shown as brutal, unable to follow orders and incompetent. He’s a blustering bully who helps push Lee’s loyalty towards the Resistance by making the police force an uncomfortable place to be.

Witnessing and participating in torture is shown as affecting as well as pointless. And while the torture scenes are still prettied up in some ways they do look- well awful.

I think there are some sexist elements in the way victims are portrayed and I wish that could have been handled in a better way. But nonetheless, torture never ‘works’ here. Survivors are effected by what they go through but they’re not ‘broken’. They don’t change their strongly held beliefs.

And they keep going. Despite their pain.

This movie might not be everyone’s cup of tea but when it comes to torture and torture survivors it’s overwhelmingly positive.

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