#like buried in him if that makes sense

[carpthecarp]

Who else up thinking about the fact that Dick Grayson gave up Robin only for Bruce to hand the name down to a new boy. The name that his mother had given him, and the colors that he was raised in were given to someone else. And while it was upsetting at first, he came to love this boy, his brother, and he was proud of the new Robin. And then Robin died and Dick had to go to his little brothers grave knowing that he had died with Dicks name and Dicks colors.

And Dick Grayson, one of the kindest character in DC, was so angry that he broke the number one rule and killed someone with no remorse. And then Bruce brought his brothers killer back to life, to prevent Dick from going down a dark path. Again, he couldnt protect his little brother.

[starry-bi-sky]

Hello Starry! I just had a thought about your Danyal al Ghul AU, and didn't have anyone else to share it with, so here we go:

If in this universe Bruce is Jewish, and Danny knows this(probably from a google search), he may wear a Star of David necklace to have a piece of his father with him at all times, since he knows he will never get to meet him. Or maybe the necklace sits in a box under a floorboard, because he can't stand the constant reminder of the father he'll never get to have. Maybe he observes Sam and her family celebrate Jewish holidays, or he learns how to by himself, but uses the time to mourn, instead of celebrate.

Anyways, hope all is well, and thank you for sharing your writing!

AAHHHH??? YOUR BRAIN??? Thank you!! I love sharing my writing, it soothes my need for attention lol. lmao, even. (Also how did you know i was thinking of my danyal al ghul au today -- i have an unfinished draft that i was thinking of delving into after my work meeting) also aahh!!!!!!!! im so happy that you wanted to share your thoughts with me about it <333

But dude BOTH of these ideas are soo?? GOOD and ANGSTY. I love angsty. Danny would for sure know if Bruce was Jewish, lil guy did an obsessive amount of research on his dad the moment he got his hands on a computer and figured out how they worked. Danny has like, a three inch thick folder almost on his father alone. Anything he could get his hands on, he's got it. That thickness is almost exclusively from his first like, six months in Amity Park. He keeps it in a box in his closet, along with his growing-folder on Damian and his achievements as Damian Wayne. He pages through it when he's feeling like mourning.

First off: him wearing a Star of David necklace to feel connected to Bruce. That is SO sad and I love it so much. He bought it with an allowance he'd been given when he first started living with the Fentons, he keeps it tucked under his shirt so nobody even knows he has it. Sam and Tucker don't until it slips out while he's hanging out with them and when they ask him about it, Danny very reluctantly tells them that his father is Jewish. When he's distracted, nervous, or sad, he fidgets with it. How this looks is that he looks like he's kinda rubbing his chest, like ungrasping and grasping something.

Second Off: him keeping it in a box under the floorboards. That is also so, so good. He's got it in the box along with a few other things that remind him of his father and Damian and his mother. He takes it out when he's feeling particularly lonely and homesick, it's a feeling that never really goes away even after five years of living in Amity Park. It's like a longing for something you'll never see again, but isn't that just how grief works? i can just imagine him sitting against the bed, late at night and back from patrol. He's still in his ghost form, his katana laid on the ground next to him, and his almost bird-like cape pooling down beside him as he cups the necklace in his hand like he's cradling an egg. Maybe he's bleeding from somewhere, and he's telling the necklace about patrol, murmured soft in Arabic.

When he finds out Sam is Jewish he probably, after much consideration, asks if he can observe their holidays -- after all, researching Jewish holidays only does so much. Sam agrees when he explains why, much to her parents chagrin, and he sometimes tags along. But once he gets an understanding of how they go, he starts doing it on his own. Somewhat. He celebrates with Sam for most of it, and then has some time to himself where he celebrates it on his own. So it's a little bit of both.

^^^ which brings me to thinking about my danyal snippet here where Sam is at a Wayne gala and tears into her parents over Danny in front of Bruce. And it's making me think of, with this idea in mind, Sam in a moment of emotional impulsivity, saying "I know that he wears a Star of David because his father is Jewish and he wants to be closer to him, because he loves him so very fucking much." And while saying that, briefly makes direct eye contact with Bruce as a way to tell him "I know you're his fucking dad. Look at the son you have left behind."

If only for the emotional gut punch that can leave Bruce with. 🥰

Thank you for the ask! I had a lot of fun responding to it, have a fantastic evening/day/night.

[welcometogrouchland]

I miss them so bad (Dick and Damian)

[natelia-aldelliz]

Guys imagine, Roach died, before the creation of 141, but Soap is able to see his ghost. He was originally following Ghost around, really annoyed that he was using his death as an excuse to not get close to anyone, but when he found out Soap could see him and talk to him he started following him around instead.

And they get really close, like two peas in a pod, except they have to be discreet about it because no one else can see or hear Roach, and they'd think Soap was crazy if they saw him talking to no one.

They use that for shenanigans too: Roach will go follow someone else and report back to Soap, Gaz is genuinely starting to believe Soap has superpowers or something. It's really useful on missions as well, and Soap managed to successfully rescue team members thanks to Roach being able to move through walls and everything.

(Roach is not the only ghost Soap is able to see btw, just the only one he's talking to.)

And then Roach is witnessing his past lover trying really hard to not fall in love with Soap, and Soap trying really hard to not do anything about the love he already feels, and he has to try and convince Soap that he is dead. During that conversation he finds out that something else that keeps Soap from doing something is that he feels very confused about everything because he also has feeling for Roach.

So now Roach has to try and convince him that even if he was still alive he wouldn't have a problem with that. He's known for a while that he was polyamorous, but he hadn't really dared talking to Ghost about that because he thinks he's jealous and possessive.

And Soap is like "oh yeah, you want me to go say to Ghost 'don't worry about your dead lover that I'm not supposed to know, he's actually polyamorous and also in love with me, I know because his ghost told me!' ??? I'm sure he's gonna take that well!"

But Roach is nothing if not resourceful and he manages to put Soap in situations where he's forced to interact with Ghost, and eventually they kiss and their relationship is beginning to be something. They're not really sure what.

And Roach is sad, because he has to watch the two men he loves being in love without him, yes, but at least they're both happy, and it makes him feel a bit better. And then during a mission Ghost almost dies.

Because he was alone and Soap and Gaz were together, Roach was following Ghost this time, ready to fly to Soap in an instant if there was any problems. But there was and he didn't have time, so he instinctively grabbed the gun being pointed towards Ghost's head and moved it as the person was shooting, saving Ghost's life, giving him enough time to shoot the enemy himself.

But even as the threat is eliminated, Ghost is still looking up from where he's on the ground, staring right through him, looking shocked. No, not right through him, he realises when he moves to the side and Ghost's eyes follow him. He also realises that he grabbed the gun. He's never grabbed anything before, in all his years of being a ghost.

Then suddenly Ghost's eyes move wildly around, and he figures he disappeared from his view. He can still go through the walls, but he's kept the ability to grab stuff when he wants. It gives him a ton of new possibilities, to fuck with people and, of course, to touch Soap.

"I wish you were actually alive," Soap whispers to him, holding his hands against his face as he's falling asleep.

"What the fuck," comes Ghost's voice the next morning, waking both of them up - wait, since when could Roach sleep?

Soap doesn't understand immediately, because he's always been able to see Roach. But Ghost is standing in the door, looking straight at dead past lover.

Turns out Soap is a necromancer and he had no idea, though the whole 'I can see dead people' should probably have told him sooner that he wasn't normal... The more he wishes Roach is alive, the more he actually is. And they all end up happy and together. And Gaz is very happy to have won the bet that Soap indeed has superpowers.

The day Roach says, in a wondering voice, "I... I think I'm hungry" is the day they understand that something is really happening and he's actually coming back to life.

(Also, Soap has no control at all on his abilities, he has no idea what does what and why, he knows nothing. No one knows.)

[brother-emperors]

ascanio and louis xii

so

Milan Undone, Contested Sovereignties in the Italian Wars, John Gagné

extremely bold of louis xii to assume that ascanio, who has a reputation for conspiracy, wouldn't turn around and say 'fuck you,' after all of that™

(Ibid.)

it IS funny how men in power keep thinking they can put him on a leash like, pal. the odds are NOT in your favor

[sunscall]

dennis saying "we spend every waking minute together [with charlie and frank], it'll be good for us to keep our distance" as an excuse to not share a table with them during his monthly dinner with mac... as if he and mac aren't the ones who ACTUALLY see each other 24/7 since not only do they work together, but they also literally live together too. incredible.

[prouvaireafterdark]

a tiny point, but something I think is really important about Louis’ narration over Lestat’s love confession in the church scene is that at first we could have gotten the sense that Lestat is doing some kind of mind magic on Louis to make him forget the fact that he just punched his fist through a man’s head (which is still certainly possible I guess) to influence him to say yes.

but as he’s talking to Daniel, Louis doesn’t say he felt seen. he said, for the first time, he was seen. 

and I think that cuts to the heart of why Lestat’s seduction is so effective, why Louis falls so hard for him. because, yes, Lestat is manipulative, but what he’s saying is still heartfelt and sincere. he does actually have a keen sense of how Louis feels, of the weight and nature of his sorrows and frustrations, because he’s been paying attention. Lestat isn’t just making Louis feel seen. it isn’t a trick. Lestat sees him, truly, and he loves him for it. 

and maybe Lestat’s argument is carefully constructed and thoroughly reasoned, but I think in the end Louis is so sick of conforming to other people’s expectations of him, whether it’s the degrading, racist fucks he has to do business with or even his own demanding family, that the idea that someone sees who he really is, how he really feels, and isn’t left wanting is more than enough of a reason to sell his soul to the devil

[sieglinde-freud]

thinking about them and banging my head against the wall again whats new. they are making me so emo. god. what the fuck

[lionpars]

Genuinely though I can’t stand when people try and make javi a villain

[petorahs]

personal opinion i dont think akechi's a tsundere i feel like he's just inexperienced in receiving genuine deep intimate affection from someone he values. his first response was to turn away and run you'd be kinda hard pressed to see him flustered in any capacity actually. bro would literally rather die than be seen vulnerable 😭

[metanarrates]

Post structuralist anon here TYSM that was a very interesting perspective, I also don't know much abt post structuralism tbh, its a new thing I discovered while rereading Orv and looking at meta posts lol. Anyways you mentioned LHS in the post too 👀 can you elaborate cuz ngl it's kinda hard to think of any meta abt him. You don't have to answer this rn!

sure!

i was talking about how orv adults frequently have very gendered arcs, and lhs is a standout example imo. yjh and ysa have the more overtly Gendered Fictional Role stuff (male action hero and female heroine respectively) but lhs has a comparatively more grounded arc that deals with real life highly gendered stuff. his entire thing is that he's a soldier. and not just that he's a soldier, but that he was drafted and could not figure out a better place to exist outside the military. despite the military being a source of trauma for him, despite it crushing any individuality he could have, he still felt like he could not act as an agent of his own destiny without someone giving him orders. when you consider that in south korea the military draft is mandatory for men, that's a really highly gendered background!

[wolfpoets]

[attaches my izzy hands apologist pin to my vest] kind of fucked up that some find izzy Irredeemable when we have seen him do next to nothing violent or even particularly mean, whereas we know ed made fang shoot his dog and then shrugged at him while he cried about it and also, apparently, regularly forces people into autocannibalism for the smallest of transgressions. which is not hate towards ed! he is a pirate and this is typical pirate behavior, and if ed wasn't prone to violent behavior then that would make his path towards self acceptance and kindness weigh less than it does. but it does seem as if izzy has only ever been the enforcer of blackbeard-slash-ed's Rules and Regulations, and while ed seems happy to abandon all that and turn a new leaf because he fell in love, izzy is left with the harrowing memories of what he has done For Blackbeard, in blackbeard's name, and wondering what the fuck happened.

[lameow-l]

so wait… furina is the name of the archon role that “furina” had to play

wouldn’t make more sense narrative wise to give her a name of her own?? like scara gets his own epic chapter about him ridding himself of his past and adopting a new name then proceed to ignore said name in favor of “hat guy” but the actress playing “furina” doesn’t get to be known for her own name?

like people of fontain (partly maybe) know the truth so why not let her free? let her enjoy the simple human life she so so longed for? even the other furina wouldn’t want this

[gilmores-glorious-blog]

i finished ghosts!! it was so good but also i’m pressing charges for them having the emotional montage of the found family with sam’s voiceover and then immediately having one of the ghosts get sucked off >:(

[first-blight]

i have to say, though, as much as i like reading about the astarion romance and absorbing it passively via tumblr posts, as of yet i'm far more intrigued by the dynamic astarion and my durge character have going on when they don't romance astarion and when they thought he was a nuisance (derogatory) up until late act 2/early act 3. it adds such good layers imo...

because, well, they aren't doing it for any benefit, they don't love him more or differently than the others—quite the opposite, actually. he's probably the least favourite party member for quite some time, and yet they do all these things for him. they put up with him despite disagreeing all the fucking time; they don't mind his...clumsy vampire reveal; they protect him from (i.e. don't rat him out to) the monster hunter; they let him feed on them—and don't chase him away after he accidentally kills them the first time—repeatedly, even when that means they're woozy for the day; they walk him through the whole raphael quest, only sometimes stepping in to be a guiding hand but otherwise letting astarion make his own decisions; they promise to come along to fight cazador; they promise to try and steer the ritual in astarion's favour; ...

they do all of that, again, not because they love astarion in a more significant way (though i don't think romantic relationships are by default more significant than platonic ones but i digress), not because he's somehow special to them. and, again, he only became a nuisance (affectionate) after late act 2, early act 3. their relationship was at a whopping 0 or -1 for a LONG time. so them doing all these things for him still, despite the bumpy relationship they have, feels so significant to me.

and from what i passively absorb about astarion's charatcer, it must be utter whiplash to experience! imagine the guy who can't stand a single opinion you have, who you also can't be fucked to care about beyond your alliance of convenience, repeatedly risks their own skin for you and goes out of their way to help you in various ways, asking for nothing in return—when you fully expect someone who doesn't even like you to ask for something, literally just anything in return. who does that??? are they mad??? of course, you begrudgingly also risk your skin for them once in a while, but usually only in immediate battle—where you obviously have to mind your allies. but they keep defending you in dialogue and refusing to rat you out when they have every reason to do so.

after 200 years with cazador, it seems such far away a notion, so utterly impossible that someone does something for/with him just because they respect his autonomy and personhood. not because they value him as an asset but simply because he exists. what the hell

[suddenfossilfightersheadcanons]

Frontier Branch Leaders, pt. 3: Drake and Liu Ren

Pt. 1: Background Information

Pt. 2: Sean

Drake

-I stated in an earlier post on this blog that he's 27. Please forget that. He's probably on the cusp of 39 (circa 2015, at the beginning of Frontier).

-Originally from Sweden; moved to Copenhagen a few years before Frontier started.

-Absolutely hates the sensation that occurs when he enters his ancestral battle trance. To him, it's as being possessed, not to mention being utterly exhausting. Starting in his teens, he'd often have periods of abruptly losing control of this trance, and lashing out, sometimes violently, against tormentors and, in worse cases, family. Violet's interest in mysticism allowed her to help him work out what was going on, and slowly learn to detect when a wave of possession was imminent.

-Loves his Ankylo BO because he needn't fear injuring it during one of his trances. He feels most comfortable around padded and armoured vivosaurs.

-For a long time, he tried, desperately, to minimise the length of time he had to spend around children and, by extension, the youngest of the Wardens. He's terrified of hurting people accidentally. Moreover, he finds most people too loud, too much, too extraverted to deal with.

-Has a surprisingly excellent relationship with Sean, who quickly worked out that Drake was intensely sensitive to Sean's typical loudness. As such, Sean usually drops his volume around Drake, and where possible, emails or texts him, instead of talking, on bad days. When Drake's overloaded trying to handle the caseload that comes with managing not only Europe, but also cases in Africa, Sean will often offer to take over some of Drake's more menial duties. Drake, in return, bakes for him, and brings him odd fossil trinkets and weird rocks.

-Despite how much he hates loud people, he loves Scandinavian death metal.

-Known to abuse the World Gate to conveniently escape people. ('Sorry I can't come to your birthday, friend. I'm in Chile right now.')

-Suffered significantly with OCD from childhood, being at his worst in his teens and mid-twenties. He waited for almost 15 years before finally seeking help. While he still has intrusive thoughts and compulsions, they're far better managed now. His social anxiety is also significantly better than it once was.

-Was diagnosed with autism at age 4. Will scream if someone enters his office unexpectedly.

-Has some of the same powers as Violet—however, while she can communicate with spirits and occasionally see the future, he can merely hear spirits and detect psychic energy, but can't actually manipulate them well. Generally, if he can hear his ancestors chattering, he knows his bloodthirsty side is about to take over.

-Blows off frustration by punching pillows. If he punches walls instead, he will leave cracks in the plaster.

-Speaks Swedish and Danish fluently, as well as German and English proficiently. Has a very, very strong accent.

-Visits Switzerland all too often for the sole sake of buying too much Toblerone. Violet can and will raid his supply if there's any left by the time he returns to Fossil Park Europe, so he has about three days to consume everything he buys before she can find him.

-INTP 6w5 sp/sx.

Liu Ren

-Originally from Shanxi. Swears he's forty-eight years old, but Drake and Violet both detect a particular spiritual energy coming from him that's far too immense for him to be a normal forty-something. Writes exclusively in traditional Chinese, never mind that simplified characters have been in use since well before the 80s. Moreover, he's clearly far smarter than he lets on. Violet and Drake are both absolutely certain he's at least a century old, and aren't entirely sure he's human.

-Writes his name as 劉仁, but Violet swears that certain Qing-dynasty documents by 劉陽磊, a mystic and self-proclaimed witch, give off the same energy as Liu Ren's own writings.

-Fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, six other Chinese dialects, English, and Portuguese.

-Tends to playfully rib Tria for her extremely strong Sichuan accent.

-Consumes obscene amounts of Sprite and Coca-Cola. Nobody knows how his teeth are still intact.

-When other Wardens get injured, he'll tell them to cheer up, and inevitably have a story of a similar injury. As such, he's been poisoned, burned, bruised, and broken over and over. Nobody knows how he's had time to suffer all these abuses, let alone recover.

-Drake and Sean both overtly dislike him. In part, it's that Fossil Park Asia has a longstanding rivalry with Fossil Park America, and that rivalry means that Sean tends to interpret Liu Ren's gestures as patronising, instead of circumspect, and Liu Ren thinks Sean to be green and overconfident. Drake's suspicions about Liu Ren's history remind him of his own supernatural tendencies, leading him to deeply distrust Liu Ren. Stryker is the only one at HQ who isn't concealing some kind of misgivings about Liu Ren, and even then, Stryker is notoriously unwilling to take orders. While Liu Ren has been there far longer than Stryker, and Stryker owes some success to Liu Ren, they exasperate each other.

-He's been in the job for over 25 years, and looked the same then as now. Though few people like him well, he's still impossible to boot from the position, as he's never actually done anything overtly wrong. Fossil Park America claim that he's overpowered and obsolete; Fossil Park Asia claim that he's done more for INTERFOL than Fossil Park America has in the last three decades combined. He's possibly the most experienced person in INTERFOL, and doesn't seem to be running out of momentum; as such, he's invaluable, even if he's incomparably ill-liked.

-Though he's not overtly frayed at the edges in the same way that many, many Wardens are, he can and will go very, very quiet if someone mentions anything to do with Cosmonium, and when he touches the stuff, he claims that it burns. Drake is starting to wonder if Liu Ren's apparent agelessness might have something to do with Cosmonium, and if there may be some awful incident at the heart of what drove him into contact with it.

-Occasionally takes partners for a night, but doesn't appear to be seeking companionship. Has a portrait of a wife in his office, but it's old-fashioned, in black-and-white, and nobody has ever met the woman herself. Mei Lian once worked up the courage to ask her name. Zha Youjing. When Mei Lian looked at the photo of Youjing and called her gorgeous, Liu Ren looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

-ENTP 3w4 sp/so.