#my favourite gremlin child

[inkedmoth]

skitter scuttle

[deadtiredghost]

It do be canon tho.

[palettepainter]

I've been looking/reading through my MHA posts and I've decided that if I come back to drawing art for the fandom, I'm just gonna focus on the silly, fun stuff.

As much as I love the stuff I've done with the bond between Higari and Hono, being in the Muppets fandom has taught me just how better it is for me mentally and emotionally to just focus on the fluffy, fun stuff. I may dabble into more serious topics occasionally, but all that stuff about Haiya's backstory before being adopted is now just additional stuff to his character, but it's not something I think I'm going to dive into beyond that he's adopted and no longer lives with his bio parents

It's just way more fun to think about Ectoplasm and Powerloader still being dorky and goofy like teens on a first date despite being married and in their forties, or imagining Chikara being a smug sister in law to Ecto after his marriage with Higari is official. Imagining Hono and Higari fixing all their issues and being bros again, with Hono carrying him under his arm just because he can and Higari wrestling him into a headlock because he can

I still love some angst, that's not going away, but from now on I think I'm gonna focus more on indulging in the stuff I wanna draw with my characters, not limited to just angst.

[sad--tree]

i swear 1 of these days ill finish reading It ...... last time i got uhhhh 80.642% of the way thru b4 i put it down and got distracted..... i restarted it a week ago n im just abt half way thru now...... 🤞🎈

[thatdeadaquarius]

I have a random idea for some sagau crack loosely based on my dynamic with my friend so Im giving it to you because I have been enjoying your sagau language stuff :D

Imagine there are two readers that are two different people. Like, not as in clones they are just two separate people that are rlly good friends on earth. They both really like genshin and play the game, and they both have self aware teyvat citizens. Reader 1 is a whale. They invest a l o t of money on the game, have all the characters, and all the characters have five star weapons. They are like the usual sagau reader you see. They have used up so much money on getting all of the characters, and I mean A L L of them, best weapons, constellations and put a lot of care into it. The place where they really get to show off is their knowledge and love for the lore, and are really invested into it and read all of the artifact descriptions and books. They know about primordial one, the four shining shades, random useless facts about items and often rant to reader 2 about their theories. Their quest bar is always empty because they did them to check out the lore of the game, and are always searching for more lore. They basically play everyday and are always reacting and talking to the characters out loud, unaware that they can hear them.

Meanwhile, Reader 2 is a f2p who is only interested in the archon quest lore and the lore of their fav characters. Because they are f2p, their options are limited so there is some blatant favoritism. They choose their fav character to save up for, and then pull for them. After they get the character they want, they will no longer pull and save up from there. Because of this, they only have like 5 five stars and only have zero five star weapon. Their favourite character is their main(*cough* wanderer *cough*), and unlike reader 1 who uses all of their characters regularly, reader 2 sticks to this character for most of their gameplay unless they need to use someone else. However, reader 2 takes almost an entire month to finish building a character, because they go overboard with the artifact stats. You would expect to normally have a 50 180 crit ratio, but reader 2’s dps characters always, and I mean ALWAYS have 50 200 crit ratio or more. Like, their main (it doesnt have to be wanderer but Im putting him here anyways) has 70 and 200 crit ratio, is crowned, full 4 pc best in slot, and is even crowned and faruzan only needs like 200 er but reader 2 gave them 300. (Im totally not putting this here because this is what I did/j) Reader 2 is also the type to never speak while gaming, so the first time they spoke everyone turned it into a national holiday to be celebrated. They also play a lot less than player 1. Player 1 plays everyday while player 2 plays for a month straight and then takes a long break to wait for the content to pile up.

So these two gremlin besties are always speaking with each other, and are always on coop. Whenever player 1 needs help making team comps or building characters, they just ask player 2 for help. And whenever player 2 needs help understanding the lore of the game, they ask player 1. But all I can think abt is the first time they cooped. Imagine player 1 was using childe and then when the coop starts, both childe and wanderer are very confused as to wtf is going on. Like, childe is confused because he sensed a strange aura coming form them like whenever someone gets controlled by reader 1, and wanderer is confused because reader 2 seemed so excited that they were talking, but its just childe? Reader 2 always skips childe’s banners.

Thats it lol, hope this wasnt too long.

Not long at all! Or more like, I like long asks so feel free to share! :D

IM SO SORRY ITS LIKE MONTHS LATER TO GET TO YOU I PROMISE I LOVE UR STUFF AND AM SUPER EXCITED TO SEE IT,

IM JUST SLOW AND GOOFY 😭😭

Said friends in genshin like: ^^^

this kinda inspires me/reminds me of @mists-reading-nook soldier/poet/king post, you should check xe stuff!! Gave me brainrot to this day tbh, like im imaging how that “3rd King style of worship” would look like even now lmao ive been down bad 😭

☆

Sun: 2 Readers! (as desc. above), (you/they/them)

Orbit: Headcanons-ish

Stars: wanderer/childe, mentions of others i forgot to focus on any one character or nation :/

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: mild cussing language, & Trigger Warnings: none known.

Please comment if I missed any. /gen

dual symbolism everywhere, obv you both thought “for the twins” but it just kept getting out of hand the more the game updated over the months lol

like shrines/temples/churches showing up more often in new countries/areas and always identifying the same 2 gods

obv the for-the-lore player picked up on it first, and by the time the trickle-down effect happened, where characters/NPCs were outright talking about these gods, the 2nd was asking the lore knower to explain lol

the 2 gods kept getting referred to by a few names, like “The Soldier and the Scholar” or “The Sage and the Warrior” or “The Keeper and the Pursuer” etc.

after awhile of comparing both of your games, you realize that some vision users/gods tend to use the soldier/warrior/pursuer titles more often when talking about one of you, and the other gets the sage/scholar/keeper more often

u both get excited, maybe its bc you chose diff travelers or some other reason, but when u try and post abt it or otherwise ask other players u get a lot of negatives/”hasnt happened for me”s??

u both just think the games glitched or some dev is playing a prank on you two maybe,

it gets weirder when u both realize the lore player be over here getting random gifts from all the characters in the mail all the time

and just as grinding players like “ :’( my favs don't like me?? but they have the best artifacts and maxed friendship levels..”

they get flooded with multiple gifts from their main characters, most of which benefit the grind tbh lmao (like a bunch of cheaper materials or crystals to level up artifacts/weapons or to ascend that character = no more slaughtering every samurai on sight for their handguards or collected a fuckton of those blue layered mushrooms for wanderer)

god u were both grateful to this glitch ngl, it saved a lot of dumb misc tasks and was just a nice touch

no but the amount of confusion inside the game from when u first started playing together, like each of ur games began with stuff abt 1 god, then as u co-oped moved onto 2 gods (like said at the beginning)

the lore player is blabbing away like you do, which begins to be heard by the other player’s game world

like it starts as whispers in battle, then all the time, then a quiet convo in the background all the time, until they can just hear u out of earshot esp word for word when they focus!! at first the vision-users/gods got all excited bc their god was speaking!! finally!!! until I'm sure they heard narration that didn't fit/it was there sometimes even when their god’s presence wasn't?/voice sounded “off” to them/didnt fit their god…??

ok ik u were joking abt the national holiday,,, but I’m not. 😈

THE FIRST WORDS 2ND SPOKE BEING IN A PROPHECY, REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS THEY SAY.

Player 1, playing as Childe, steals a singular (1) sweet flower from Player 2, who has Wanderer out:

P2: “I seriously hate you. Listen to what I’m saying, I can’t stand you.”

(Wanderer panicking that its abt him- Childe freezing bc he managed to piss off a god that feels as powerful as his own- the PROPHECY LMAO- )

P1: “… you miss me.”

(everyone else: 💥vine boom sound 💥😦😨😰???)

P2: “I hate you.”

P1: “You miss me and you love me, why must we fight??”

(everyone else: 💥vine boom again💥🤨🫠??…)

P2: “I hate you-”

P1: “-we gotta good thing going on, you and I, why must we tussle??”

(everyone else: 💥yet another vine boom💥 💀💀)

(the absolute deep anxiety/pure confusion as the two harbingers heads just ping pong back and forth towards the voices lmao)

u two scare the shit out of any characters u do this with lol

they do get used to it as u talk, and the characters even manage to interact (thru hacking magical shenanigans and discord)

to send thank you gifts to player 1 for getting player 2 to talk more lol

along with sending copies of any lore books that player 2 has gotten that player 1 hasn't!

and it becomes common/tradition to exchange gifts like this to thank or appreciate the other god, like player 1 characters sending thank you gift copies of rare materials or ascension stuff that player 1 had that player 2 didn't (esp making sure to send during resinless hours lmao)

overall, 10/10, whats better than 1 god that plays one way? 2 gods that compensate for each other and now u have 2x the worshippers

(i wonder how meeting alternate versions of themselves would go, bc id like to headcanon that each of ur behavior towards them/ur unique influence has changed them a bit comparing, like they arent carbon copies anymore, not like they used to be…)

☆

hey sorry for slowing down guys!!

i just feel bad its taken me forever to get to these asks, so i wanted to take what time i could lately and charge thru them so i could spam post lol

I've also been working on fics! so that's delayed things by a lot, bc fics take longer to “respond to” than short asks or replies

my poor bsd fic

Anyway thank you so much for sending this in!!! I'm so sorry i took forever to get to it, and i hope u enjoyed response/my brain shitting this out lol

have a good weekend!! :D

Safe Travels Anon!!

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily / @justinsomniachild / @nanithefuck / @questionotmystopit

@kiyomi-uchiha777

[kekaki-cupcakes]

EEE CONGRATS ON 250!! Can i req a WILFLOWER ✩°˖🫐 ⋆｡˚꩜ with leo valdez x child of hypnos!reader if thats okay? either way congrats and have a good one!!

leo my favourite latino elf <3 <3 <3

-he spotted you with your head in your arms over a breakfast of berries and knew there was no going back

-learnt to monitor how bad your nightmares had been so he didn't push the teasing and flirting on a bad day. he'd just be a bit quieter and let you decide how long the conversation was gonna last

-you're also dramatically fixing his terrible sleep schedule without even realising it

-low key grumpy softie x low key grumpy softie

-when you started dating he gave it a few weeks before he let you find out how incredibly clingy he actually is. Clovis and your siblings have a roster for who has to drag him out of your cabin and leave him moping on the front steps before lights out otherwise he'd find a way to hide under your fluffy bed like a little gremlin

-you guys have like the exact same music taste

-you make pillow forts and just nap together a lot. make hot chocolates. you also swap hoodies all the time. you'll go to his drawers to put the pile of stolen clothes back cause they don't smell like him anymore and he isn't there cause he's doing the same thing four cabins away

-go read this Leo x child of hypnos fic I wrote a while back Xx

-CHIHIRO

-he made sure there were lots of comfy spots in bunker 9 so you'd hang out there with him more. hung a few hammocks between saw machines

-ties your shoelaces for you when you don't notice they're undone

[professional-girlkisser]

Dubai loumand

tw: mention of s*icide and r*pe

I actually, unironically, like Dubai loumand. I looove the aesthetic, from the dark, corporate (?) clothing to the grey, post-apocalyptic, doomed house/ tomb. (one day i will have the words to articulate how much this aesthetic means to me 🤞🏽). Second, I love their fuckedupedness. Their brand of mess is my favourite brand! Third, I don't think Armand has as much control over Louis in Dubai as ppl think.

We see them making decisions together, e.g., what to do with the empty wall, how to handle Daniel/ the interview, etc. Armand doesn't keep Louis locked in the penthouse but he does make it so Louis doesn't want to leave. Or better yet, so Louis doesn't think it's safe to leave.

Armand vehemently opposes the interview but he still lets it happen. And then he hovers around to monitor it. That's how Armand exerts control in Dubai. His control is not total, it's around the edges. Like a parent building a sandbox for their child. This is why it's so fucked up. He's treating Louis like an owned, kept thing. But...I think he's doing it out of some good intention. Out of love (controversial ik).

Armand takes on (more) control of the relationship after the san fran incident. Its implied that before that he mostly let Louis do whatever he wanted - disappear for periods of time, fuck and kill loads of men, get high on drugs - but that incident was the worst of it. Louis tried to commit s*icide and Armand revealed his worst self (the gremlin). So he erased that memory as a fresh start but also to maintain a specific, positive image of himself for Louis (the nurse). I don't think he'd ever erased Louis' memories before this incident idk.

Anyway, Louis does have some independence in Dubai and he does imo voluntarily cede some control to Armand. And Armand is literally on suicide watch. Which is why he controls the env around Louis; to keep out any potential triggers (of which the interview is a HUGE one). We see this in 2x01 when Armand asks Louis to take a break. Louis refuses. Daniel thinks Armand is only asking bc he's hiding sth (which of course he is). Armand leaves them and then later Daniel is like yeah Armand was right, Louis should've taken that break. We also see it in 1x02 when Daniel asks (demands really) for the torn out diary pages detailing Claudia's r*pe (💔). Louis snaps and makes Daniel's hand shake violently. Armand rushes in and places a hand on Louis' shoulder to calm him down.

Throughout the interview, Armand is constantly doing damage control for Louis while making sure it's not too much for him. And Louis does the same thing when they get to Armand's part of the story. They're constantly exchanging soft touches and glances to calm each other down and it's soo fucking cute i could cry 😭

So to summarize, I don't think Armand's control is total or completely out of self interest. He's of course trying to preserve his own self-image as well as this facade of a happy/ functional marriage but I also think he's doing it out of a (*daniel voice*) fucked up idea about love.

[childotkw]

Self-rec time! What are your favorite five fics that you've written and why? After replying to this ask, feel free pass on to five other writers to spread the love. 💗

Oh god, this is like picking a favourite child 😅😅 but I'll rank them from most to least

1. Consuming Shadows

This was my first big story back, after I stopped writing for about six years. I was just testing the waters, having fun, and I wanted to play around with a ship I had only really just started consuming content for. It very quickly reignited my passion for writing, and it's blown up in such a way that I had never anticipated. I love the plot, I love the characters, I love Hadrian's progression from snarky but emotionally distant figure to a genuinely warm and loving friend, I love how well I managed to keep the threads of storylines and foreshadowing together, and I love the slow development of Hadrian and Tom's relationship in a way that's believable and does them both justice. The fact that so many people have resonated with it over the years has really left a mark on me, and I'll never forget all the things this story gave me.

2. you belong to me (i belong to you)

This one really was just my 'haha this is for the lolz' story. It was never meant to be popular or as big as it is. I was just fumbling around, wanting to write a cool time travel story, and then I came up with the Twist and it was no longer a joke 😂 I love the dynamics in it, I love Harry's general vibe, I love Orion and his chaos gremlin schtick. I'm still amazed that I came up with the plot twist (like, seriously, I don't think I can ever replicate that). And the fact that this story grew so popular and that so many people have enjoyed what started as my funny lil project overwhelms me in the best way.

3. The Lone Wolf Dies (But The Pack Survives)

In a lot of ways, this was a love letter to Regulus. I'd never really given him much thought as a character, but I fell in love with my interpretation of him. He's incredibly complex, and the future potential of the story really makes me excited.

4. ruination

Again, it's more the potential of this story that makes me love it. I wasn't super comfortable writing for asoiaf, and the fandom makes me...uneasy in a lot of ways. But I greatly enjoy all the ways this story could go. Lucerys intrigues me, and my interpretation of his character is especially fun to think about. I want to explore the slow but fundamental shift in a character, something that leads to them becoming almost unrecognisable. I love fantasy, and getting to play around in such an immersive world makes me giddy.

5. i don't owe you my forgiveness

It's only one chapter at the moment, but I really really really love the concept of soulmate rejection and the bitterness that is sown by Tom's hasty actions. The inherent power imbalance - originally in Tom's favour and then very dangerously in Harry's - is one dynamic I can't wait to sink my teeth into.

[thecruellestmonth]

Juni Ba is holding a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session on May 7 at 4 PM CEST (10 AM EST).

Some of his answers in his previous interviews about The Boy Wonder, a reimagining of Damian's story—

This is a standalone graphic novel (Black Label), meant to be accessible to readers with no prior comic knowledge. It is meant for ages 13+.

Damian is Ba's favorite Robin, and he finds him very relatable.

On Damian comic influences, Ba says Son of Batman and Super Sons were two of his favorite books. *CORRECTION: In the AMA, Ba makes it clear that he's referring to Robin: Son of Batman, not the Damian: Son of Batman series or the Son of Batman movie. Which makes a lot of sense for someone writing a fairy tale about Damian, but I was confused.

Other than Damian, Talia and Jason are the characters that Ba has been most excited to work with.

Ba did the art for the "Happy Birthday Damian" story in Truth & Justice; while the art was a test run for some design ideas he's using in The Boy Wonder, the actual story isn't necessarily indicative of his own writing style or his version of the characters.

Ba is a big fan of Darwyn Cooke. Justice League: The New Frontier thematically inspired him here, possibly more than particular Batman comics.

Ba is aware of the racism discussion regarding the al Ghuls, and he intends to humanize them.

Ba started writing in 2020 or 2021, and the story is being released now after a period of waiting.

"This is very much I guess a Juni Ba book that happens to feature Batman characters."

To start us off, what can you tell us about the story of your new series, The Boy Wonder?

I usually introduce it to people by saying it's the story of a child with a lot of hang ups and preconceived ideas, both about himself and his family members. Over the course of this coming of age fairy tale he starts to learn about them, and himself, and grow into a better person. And it really leans into the fairy tale aspect to push the allegory and the magic in this story!

Why does Damian appeal to you so much as both an artist and a writer?

I find him both tragic and adorable. He and I share some things and I think that's why my brain started coming up with a story about him all by itself. Writing wise there's a fertile ground to tell a really heartfelt story. And art wise, he's such a fun character to draw. It's like a cute little gremlin who's always frowning and judging everyone, which can often backfire on him in funny ways.

How much does Damian's past with Talia and Ra's al Ghul influence Damian and this story?

A lot! They raised him after all, so that upbringing influences a lot of what he does. But that includes Batman too, even if his influence is more recent. There's a looming presence of all the parental figures and the pressure of what they'd have wanted you to do, how they would have judged you.

Since we were talking about Damian’s mother, there have been questions surrounding characterization and stuff, especially for characters like the Al’Ghuls, whose stories unfortunately do have a lot of racist elements in their origins. Are you doing anything to combat or alleviate those concerns in your book?

Stories often dehumanize them, so I try to do the opposite. I think I have a very character-driven style of storytelling, and a lot of the time I try to give the point of view of as many people as I can in the story.

There are five issues. Three of them have the Robins, and then eventually we get to my 2nd favourite team up, which is with Talia and it’s done from her perspective. The main goal was to try to give her more of a voice, because you start this story with a kid who tells you “My parents are messed up,” he was essentially raised to kill people, but we see how she was raised too, and the faults that she can see in her father’s philosophy.

Ra’s gets a bit of that as well later on, but the main goal was, I want to make it so that when you start the story with Damian, he has a lot of preconceived ideas about both sides of his family, which make his relationships to everyone very difficult. Every adventure he has, he gets to understand things in a different light by the end of every story, and one of them was, “What is his relationship to his mom like?” And you get to see it from the mom’s point of view and understand that she loves her son, but there are a lot of complications that come from being raised by someone like Ra’s.

Beyond that, this is an older Talia, more mature and less sexualized than the usual I’d say. As for Ra’s, I can’t say much, but a lot of what you see of him at first is rooted in Damian’s childlike, heightened, and scared perception. Just like the rest, it gets explored later.

It sounds like the book will see Damian coming to terms with his place in the Robin lineage. How does he feel about his brothers?

This Damian would probably say they're usurpers, ingrates, failures and profiteers! It's pretty hard being raised as the center of all the attention, as well as a successor who's never quite enough for his grandfather, and then when thrown into the Bat family, he becomes what feels like the fifth wheel. The last and least appreciated son. So his whole arc will be about processing that.

Is there a character other than Damian that you’re particularly excited to be writing and/or drawing?

Jason and Talia, by a lot. I think because the core of it is this is a world of people who seem very perfect. Damian works as this kid who feels like he’s not good enough for that. But aside from him, there’s Jason, who’s really a well-intentioned, good hearted person who really bad stuff happened to, and he’s struggling to get out of the traumatic impact of that. And I think the story works really well in showing that.

Talia is kind of the same. It’s someone who has a very idealistic view of the world and wants to essentially, be allowed to shape the world into what she thinks it could be, but she has to be under the boot of someone else who is not very reputable, and it has impacted a lot of her life in ways that she did not intend, including her relationship to her son and that’s also probably why those two characters also get like an issue told from their perspective. I really wanted to show you the inside of their mind and dispel a lot of the prejudice that Damian has about the way they are.

I really love the way you visualize Damian and the other Robins expressing themselves with their eyes. What design elements of the character were you most excited to highlight to help show readers what Damian was feeling in a given moment?

I do love using the eyes to express! It’s a very efficient and visually compelling way to do it, but more so than that I use character design. Their shapes, their colors, they all are designed to convey something relative to the story at hand. For example Jason takes cues from Taxi Driver and the general feeling of alienation and being a drifter. It’s all to give a shorthand into how he feels, to then unpack that and give it context. Everything is story basically. Damian looks like a cute angry potato! And that’s all because despite how abrasive he can be, he has to remain endearing and you must see that it’s still a kid learning.

Well, since this is your own thing, I assume that must mean that you’re giving your own spin on these characters. Is there anything without spoilers that you can tease that is going to be different? Like if you’re a long time reader going into this you’re going to be surprised by it.

I’m someone who really likes a more fairy tale and magical side to storytelling. Something that I added a bunch of, I mean, they talk about demons in the solicits of the first issue. It’s both an allegorical thing and a very, real thing that the magical aspects of certain parts of that world have been pushed more.

The other big thing for me was Damian is the heart of the story, so everything is seen from his point of view. So Batman looks a lot more like a dad. Talia looks a lot more like a mom, and with every one of the Robins, I try to take a core concept of every one of them and push it to the forefront to contrast it to Damian. So like, I would say that the more fun part of it would be observing how Damian interacts with what’s essentially kind of a mirror put to himself every time. But overall the idea is a sort of cartoon-making logic, of taking the general elements in various iterations of a character, synthesizing them for the story, into something recognizable but digestible.

The Boy Wonder has this beautiful visual style - fairy tale, as you just said - despite some strong moments of violence. Why did you choose to tell the story this way?

Fairy tales are great for allegory, larger than life concepts and leaning into the magical. There's also a story reason I can't spoil but it makes for a great framing device.

[...] There are narrative reasons in the book that I can’t spoil, but overall I’d say it’s because it’s my favorite format, as well as a great way to really lean into the larger than life aspect, the allegorical, the magical. Fables often contain a nugget of a message or meaning, and this is a coming of age story, so it fits rather well.

The Boy Wonder is as much about Damian as it is his brothers. Has that story not been told enough — how similar and different Bruce’s kids really are — and did you draw on your relationship with siblings at all?

Pretty much no one I talk to in the larger world ever even knows that there are multiple Robins, let alone read their stories. So I’m glad to be making a book that’s easy to access for new readers, with no prior knowledge needed, that appeals on its own and can tell them a cool story about family and overcoming pressure. A story that works both for the ones who know these characters and want a self contained tale, and the ones who know nothing and just want a fun comic to read. The comic is Black Label, which usually skews older, but this is a tale I wanted accessible from mid teens to as old as you want.

And I did pull from experience! I have two siblings, my best friends all do as well, and the inner workings of how you view yourself and your family members depending on where you fit is interesting to me. It’s very much a tale of reckoning with your assumptions about your family, as well as the impact your parents had on you and your siblings.

What about Damian Wayne is so interesting to you? Do you think he gets a bad rap even now in the grander DC Universe?

Damian is simultaneously the most insufferable and most touching little boy to me. There’s a mix of adorable and deadly that I find amusing to watch, and satisfying to write. Plus I sympathize with him on a few backstory elements which are the cornerstone of the whole story.

As for his reputation, I think I’m glad there’s a reminder that being coarse and ill mannered can hide a good heart.

What are some of the benefits of putting this out as a DC Black Label book?

Mostly freedom! I got to tell the story I wanted. I didn't have to worry about continuity, and thus made what I like making: a self-contained adventure that anyone can appreciate as a comic, with or without any prior exposure to that world. Plus we got to have fun with the design of the issues!

Do you have a favorite Damian-starring story that you drew on for this book? Or maybe another Bat Family story instead/as well?

I think my two favorites were Son of Batman and Super Sons. I just vibed a lot with the fun adventurous tone. But most of my inspiration comes from outside superhero comics, or even outside comics as a whole. I didn’t even reread those two books I mentioned aside from when I needed to check phrasing. In that case I read those, and the early Damian stories just to absorb how he spoke.

But outside superhero stuff, were there any influences that were working on you as you were writing this story?

So a lot of comics from the 60s and 70s, from France and Belgium.I have a thing for like 80s and 90s movies, including movies that I was not supposed to watch when I was a kid, so stuff that’s drama-oriented. The point of this book is, it’s basically a character study, mostly of Damian, but also Damian through his interactions with other people in his life. So, mostly the other Robins, but also his parents and more so his mother.

The events that happen are really just a setting for you to observe how the characters interact, and there’s a bunch of movies in the 80s that were really good at doing that and showing you a very flawed person and the way that they react to the world around them. So yeah, that’s more of a tone thing. The aesthetic aspect was really taken from 60s and 70s French and Belgian comics as well as very old sci-fi, fairy tales, and black and white photography.

What’s the process look like for you when you write and draw a comic?

Whoa. Let’s see. So the origin of every book is a little different, but usually I spend a year or two, maybe more just thinking about the story and putting ideas down and then once I have an idea of how every story step works into each other, I start storyboarding so there’s no script.

[...] I don’t write scripts because I prefer to have the storyboard of the thing already made, because that’s where I know if something is working or not. Then once the storyboard has been greenlit and all the corrections are done, the next step is drawing the final pages. I do the sketching on my tablet, and then I print that in blue lines and ink over that. It’s a recent thing, I started doing it the last few months. The Boy Wonder was made that way. [...]

[...] I mean, technically, I started writing it in 2020 or 2021. Yeah. I’ve been sitting on it for a while, and then I made a tweet about it and it got the attention of Chris Conroy, who basically runs Black Label. He just asked, like, “OK, sure. Show it to me. I want to see what that’s like.” Several months later, the book was greenlit by DC.

You talked about how Batman: The Animated Series is an inspiration for this. And also because it’s Damian, I assume that the Grant Morrison Batman stuff is also an inspiration in some ways. But what other Batman material were you inspired by, if any, when writing this book?

Well, I wasn’t so much using Batman as I was using other things. Like there’s a bunch of influences from a bunch of different places, but the superhero stuff was mostly influenced by Darwyn Cooke. So it wasn’t so much Batman as much as it was Cooke. Like the thought process I guess was, “What do I like about these characters? Like the concept of the superhero?” Because the idea came from me watching a documentary about The Dark Knight Returns and Frank Miller. They mentioned how he was given free reign to make the Batman book he wanted. I just had the thought of, “Yeah, that would be fun, having a superhero story where you can just do whatever you want. Like, it’s your personal take.”

I guess from then, my brain started imagining a story with Damian because he’s my favourite Robin and I have a lot in common with him in terms of his backstory. I think it was this sense of sympathy towards the kid and the story grew from wanting to talk about the feeling of “You’re not good enough to be a part of the group you’re in or the family you’re in.” So being a superhero was more of an allegory of, “I don’t feel good enough to be a part of those great people who seem so perfect.”

Then the Darwyn Cooke stuff came. He was probably the biggest superheroic influence, because he’s kind of the epitome of superhero storytelling to me. He makes all his stories very easy to understand, very accessible to someone who maybe has never opened or barely knows what that character is about. His storytelling is also strong on its own artistic terms and most of all, he has this great sense of making superheroes this idea of the ideal version of ourselves, like those people who, even if they have bad thoughts or flaws that they have to overcome, they always do the right thing and they represent the best in all of us, and there’s a sort of sense of joyful fun in the superhero stories that he does. He also can talk about very serious subjects through that at the same time. My favourite superhero comic is The New Frontier, and I kept reading it over and over again when I was rewriting the book just to look at how he was managing that balance of joyful, superheroic, and inspirational fun, and the more serious themes. So yeah, the biggest influence would probably be him.

When I was doing research for this, I noticed that this isn’t your first time with a Damian comic. It was the “Happy Birthday Damian” story for Truth and Justice. Even over there, there’s a lot of similarities in terms of the character design, and even to some degree, Damian’s own struggle with his family and all that. So did that story help inform or define where you wanted to go with the characters for this book?

Well, no actually because basically when they asked me to do that story, the way it happened was that I was originally approached for something else, and I said, “I don’t really want to do that, but I’ve been writing this Damian story just for myself. Would you like to take a look?” Truth and Justice was kind of a test like, “We already have this story written by Andrew Aydin, and the idea was, do you want to draw it? It’s kind of a test run.” So I just used the designs I had already made for my own book. The fact that the themes are very similar is kind of a coincidence and it was kind of funny actually. It was a good way to sort of try my hand at drawing these for the first time, get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. I would say my story is a lot more complex, and delves a lot more into the psychology of most of the characters.

This book is an anthology like you said, where it’s about Damian with all these characters. But in terms of the structure of the story, is there like a connection beyond that, like Monkey Meat is all about the corporation. So is there a connection like that in this story?

Yes. It’s a narrative cut into different, contained stories, basically. Because the idea is that Damian is on a quest to try and prove his worth by defeating an enemy, and it’s really more of a set up to allow for him to meet all the different characters that he does. But the goal is that every story progresses that main plot that he’s on and getting closer to the final showdown against the big enemy.

The whole point is this kid needs to grow up and understand the familial context that he was born into on both sides, like a lot of it is him learning how complicated his parents are, and the effect that they’ve had on the people around them and learning to move beyond the trauma and the more negative impact of being the son of a guy who dresses like a bat, or the descendant of a selfish egomaniac. The big plot of the thing is a young boy wants to prove his worth and every story is a step on that journey towards the final end.

For Damian, you said he’s your favourite Robin. You relate to him a lot, but was there anything beyond that that made you want to sit back and think, “Okay, this is the character that I want to give my own spin on?”

I love the concept of Robin. When I was a kid, that was probably the thing that I liked the most about the Batman world. The reason why Damian worked so well is that it was such a perfect way to also tackle the previous ones, so every one of them represents some aspect of what being a Robin is like, and you can use that as an allegory for being part of a group or family with a code and stuff. You can talk about being part of a group with specific ideas of how you should behave, what kind of things you should uphold as good.

Damian’s the runt of the family. He’s the kid who just showed up. He doesn’t really know these people. He has a lot of preconceived ideas and it was a good way for me to be able to also talk about the previous Robins through him. It’s not a meta commentary, it’s more like, “Why do you like these concepts? What speaks to you as a person when you watch those beacons of goodness do things?” Damian is kind of like the audience surrogate in discovering that aspect of things at the same time.

What’s Damian’s favourite sandwich?

Well, I’m going to try and focus on my version of Damian from The Boy Wonder specifically. That Damian, his favourite sandwich would probably be something made by the mystical creatures that serve his grandfather, who take care of the whole land that they live in. So it’ll probably be a sandwich made with vegetables and meat from supernatural sources, something that he would not be able to get in Gotham because no one even knows that this stuff exists.

I like the idea of how even his favourite food is inaccessible in the new place that he’s in, furthering the whole alienation that he’s experiencing.

If Damian had a favorite song, what would it be and why?

I’m now going to show my age and mention how my teen sister listens to these moody chill songs that sound like the softer version of the emo rock I listened to as a teen, so I’d say that style! (Don’t ask me to name them, I don’t know!)

A song from my angst phase? “Numb” by Linkin Park.

[redsea8me]

If Ratchwave/Soundchet had a child, what do you think they would look like? A mix of the two, looks more like one than the other?

okay so I genuinely got so excited to get to this ask bc one I LOVE talking about Soundchet in any capacity and also this was a free excuse to revisit some very old fankid designs I’ve made, and in my fair opinion both of them are little freaks

The big one is named Gremlin (ignore how I forgot the fins on her head in the full body pretend they’re there) and the smaller one is Hokum and they’re one of my favourite duos. Gremlin is the older sister and Hokum is the younger sibling

[hoperays-song]

One of my favourite genres has turned out to be “grumpy and tried morally grey character accidentally (and begrudgingly) adopts a kid who just keeps repeatedly out sassing them.”

Because it’s just fucking hysterical to watch this character go “ah, I am the most feared person in all- HEY! I SAID DON’T TOUCH THAT!!” And somehow still have a tiny little gremlin of a child running laps around them twenty minutes later.

[velvet-vox]

Notes of my final Murder Drones rewatch before ep 8

(These thoughts are uncollected and unrevised, proceed with lowered expectations)

Originally, I was about to make a three-part long post before episode eight comes out.

In the first part I would have analysed Cyn's character and showcased her possible depth and ties to N's character arc.

Then in the second part I compared the Doll, Cyn and J trio to Uzi, N and V, showing the parallels between each member of their respective squad, which would then lead to the final part.

Part 3 is my defacto theory on how certain elements of episode 8 would have played out, with J as a main focus in it, due to her being the V parallel, but then, as the day passed, I realised something:

I'm an analyst, not a theorist, and while it could be fun to make a theory on episode 8 to see how right and wrong I was in retrospect, it's not an activity that I'm particularly fond of, plus, while my opinions on Cyn have changed with time (I'm going to get there), the reason why I kind of like her now completely hinges upon head canons that hopefully are going to be confirmed, because otherwise, my opinion on the character could get even worse than what it once was.

One of the main reasons as to why I wanted to realise this project was to see if I could get invested into Cyn in the same way I got more invested into Rebecca with the analysis I've made on her, but why bother doing that when I'm sure episode 8 is (hopefully) going to fill me in on her character?

I'm not finding the time nor willpower that I wished that I had to complete any projects lately, and due to my constant need for perfectionism (need that it's being deliberately ignored in the writing of this post), I just keep shooting myself in the feet.

Anyway, let's just skip the intro and directly segway to the important stuff:

Uzi:

Uzi is a complicated character for me. She was my favourite character in the Pilot and dropped down massively after that, and I never understood why: I came up with a bunch of explanations for myself, such as "her development isn't engaging" and "she doesn't get challenged in interesting ways that isn't just plain torture" and "she's the most enigmatic character in the show, her actions don't make any sense to me", and I was particularly sure of that last one, not in the sense that Uzi was evil all along, but in the sense that Uzi was being written as a twist villain in the same way Goultard from Wakfu had been coded as such before the third season of that series revealed us why;

But this last rewatch finally made me understand what my problem with her was.

Aside from the rushed development, which is something the entire series struggles with, I've realised that there's an extremely subtle layer of complexity to pilot Uzi that her show's self lacks: see, despite Uzi acting like a gremlin at various points in the pilot, one thing that really surprised me about how Uzi was initially characterised is that, aside from her moments of emotional impulsivity, Uzi... is actually relatively chill?

The best way I could describe it is that serie's Uzi to me is a child to take care of; I would act nice, kind, patient to ep 1 through 7 Uzi just to get on her good side so that she wouldn't bother me as much as she bothers her peers, hopefully helping her grow up as an individual and stop acting so horribly, and help her find someone else who appreciates her for who she is, so that I wouldn't have to deal with her any longer, while pilot Uzi is someone I would genuinely like to spend time with as she's secretly a pretty chill gal, even if I would still be afraid of her, just like the rest of her classmates.

The pilot makes it extremely clear that Uzi's angsty teen persona is just that: a facade. It's not the real her. This added a layer of intrigue to Uzi in the pilot, where it felt like there was so much more to her than what we were shown at first;

But nope. The rest of the show comes out and Uzi is just that: a wild, emotionally unstable teenage gremlin-girl, who isn't even at the centre of the story despite all of the screen time that she has.

I always thought that Liam didn't want me to sympathise with Uzi, as I thought his modus operandi was "Make the character interesting, don't make them sympathetic" but as the show went along and it fell down even further into a classical good versus evil plotline (something that requires is own post), it kind of became harder to shrug off how genuinely unlikable she is to me. I like N a lot, and I kinda like V whenever her fans are nowhere to be seen, but I don't really sympathise with either of them, I just find them to be engaging.

I like the Murder Drones cast because they are interesting characters, not because they are good people. Yet, from the way Uzi is written, it feels like I'm supposed to consider her the hero, when in reality, she feels more like an unwilling plumber forced to take out the clog (Absolute Solver) unwillingly.

(Also Doll is a much better foil to Pilot Uzi than she is to canon show Uzi, but that's a discussion for another time)

But that's enough of that. Let's talk about the episodes:

Episode 1 through 3:

I plan to do an in-depth ranking of all 8 episodes of Murder Drones once the ending comes out, so consider these my rapid fire opinions on each and every single one of them.

The pilot is the best aged episode of Murder Drones to me even if a lot of its elements have been decanonised, and it could as well end up becoming my favourite episode of the show when it's all said and done.

Episode 2 is as weak as ever, but one thing that always bothered me about this episode is the ending where Uzi just decides to go back into the colony with Khan.

Now, it's no secret that Murder Drone's everything is extremely rushed, but for most of its runtime, this episode gave me the impression that Murder Drones was going to be a slow burn, long running mystery series, only for the ending to come along and leave me dumbfounded by what the pacing of the show was going to turn into.

Heartbeat is also the only episode where my opinion hasn't changed since first watching it. I thought it was mid at first, and I still consider it to be so.

My thoughts on it are a little bit more complicated than that, but I'm reserving them for the future.

You can slice it however you want, but episode 3 has aged HORRIBLY, it's not even in my top 5 best episodes anymore, and yes, it's exactly because of the focus character of this episode turning out the way she did in episode 7.

Say whatever you want, but to me, the third episode is not an Uzi episode, it's not an N episode, it's barely a V and Lizzy episode and partially a Nuzi episode, and it's certainly not a Khan episode.

For the most part, The Promening is a Doll episode; she's the character the episode is wasting most of its runtime on, introducing her, her parents, making her a mysterious threat; in comparison, the Nuzi and V stuff is mostly secondary, and could have definitely been developed further if the episode didn't have someone else as it's main focus.

Doll:

I never wanted Doll to survive the season; I never wanted her to live, I never wanted her to die, I never wanted her to be redeemed, nor did I want her to stay evil till the end; all I ever wanted, was for Doll to be well-written, and as it stands, I don't think Doll does enough or is explored sufficiently as a character to justify her relevance or existence, especially since a lot of other characters could benefit from some extra screen time, and while a lot of people might think that just bringing her back to life would fix some of her problems, I don't think they really understand all of the underlying issues that come with such a choice:

If Doll were ever to come back, she for sure would get a redemption arc, because what else is there to do? She lost all of her screen presence, she's no longer even remotely threatening, her story is so divorced from our current one to be straight up disposable, a lot of people see her as just a joke after the seventh episode, and in general, she's no longer a credible villain to see on screen.

And yet, I don't think a redemption arc would work for Doll at this point. Her character wasn't built up enough aside from being mysterious for the sake of it, I don't think a redemption arc would work, because it would require too much time for it to work, and time is the one thing Murder Drones always lacked, what makes you think a second season, let alone one episode would even fix?

I'm pretty pessimistic about episode 8, unless it's all one giant ruse and there is, in fact, a second season. The math just doesn't add up, episode 8 can't possibly be a satisfying conclusion or an unsatisfying conclusion done right, I fear it will be one giant clusterf##k.

Cabin Fever, Intermission, and Home:

Episode 4 is about as good as I remember it to be, and aside from noticing a couple of new details useful for my analyses, I don't have much to say about it.

I got the chance to watch @ghoulinfuschia 's Murder Drones Intermission together with the other episodes this time around, so now I finally have the chance to praise it a little bit.

Murder Drones Intermission is a fan made episode of Murder Drones set between episode four and five, made entirely by a crew of fans.

It's an amazing product for what it's worth and by how it was made, and while it's not perfect and I consider it far from possibly being canon, it does fill in nicely into the show's timeline, and improves a lot on some of the weakest story beats of the series. It was definitely a nice break from me while rewatching all of the episodes, and I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who wants to check it out.

It's pretty ironic how episode 7 retroactively managed to worsen episode 3 and improve episode 5, but that's genuinely how I feel about Home now:

I'm about to be real with you, Tessa being dead all along was the only tid bit of major character's death that wasn't wasted, as now that I know why Tessa's wasn't the episode's protagonist, I'm much more accepting of the way in which episode 5 played out; it's clear that Liam never wanted us to get attached to Tessa beyond any simple "she's a nice, abused, teenage girl that treats N nicely" type of feeling, also the tradeoff for her death and humanity apparent extinction was well worth it in my opinion, which is something I can't say for V or... her.

But now it's finally time to talk about the actual main character of this episode:

Cyn:

I'm about to say something that I've never thought I would end up saying for real:

Did you know, that Cyn, is an actually interesting character in her own right?

I never did.

Quite frankly, I kind of heavily hated Cyn up until some time ago.

To me, at the start, Cyn was just a cool visual threat that would have hopefully been fleshed out in the future, but then, not only is she still remaining just a one note villain at this point of the show's runtime (aka the "finale"), but she also ended up killing a far more nuanced and slightly more fleshed out antagonist, while also not really doing anything to fulfill the compelling character void left by the aforementioned character.

Hot take: the fandom's portrayal of Cyn as this unbelievably silly creature of pure autism ruined her character, as well as the general discourse surrounding her.

To me, mass murderers should only be blorbified once their first major focus arc in a story has been concluded. It's why I'm fine with the blorbification of characters such as Qilby and William Afton, and I'm not with Cyn.

The thing about blorbifying is that, you are actively distorting canon for your weird fantasies, which is something that I'm fine with, but only once said characters have received their narrative catharsis.

I don't really view Cyn as a serious or heinous threat at this point in time, and that's all due to how much the fanbase ended up babyfying her to no end, giving her the Jax treatment with the main difference being that Jax has had is funny blorbo illusion already shattered, while Cyn still has it at this point in the show's runtime where she should be at her most evil and intimidating yet.

But that's enough of that; as I've already stated, now that we know that adult Tessa was Cyn all along... Cyn has just become such an interesting character to me, not for the mystery and creepiness surrounding her, but for the ways in which she could end up paralleling N.

... If that's actually what's going to happen.

It all hinges upon Cyn actually being worth the hype and the rushed developments, because otherwise, she could go from being my third favourite character to my absolute least favourite.

Episode 6 and 7:

I appreciate the Jurassic Park section of this episode for being a break from everything going on and for setting up the plot twist in the following episode.

Although her section bores me a little bit, I'm just gonna come out and say it: Alice is in my opinion the best humanoid antagonist in the entirety of Murder Drones, and unless that changes in episode 8 (which I doubt, sorry Cyn but I don't have a lot of faith in you), I'll make an entire post dedicated to her detailing why that's the case.

As for who or what I think is the overall best antagonist of the show...

It's the Sentinels, and it's not even close.

I'm still as emotionless as ever when it comes to V's demise. I believe it was stupid, but there are more passionate V fans to talk about it.

And last but not least, I can finally agree with what everyone else has said: Mass Destruction is the best episode of Murder Drones, and for me, it's all due to how genuinely funny it is.

I've become pretty apathetic to Murder Drone's horror elements due to how excessively prevalent and misused they are throughout the course of the series, so now the comedy actually hits harder, and this episode is extremely funny and comedic, even Doll's death is now hilarious to me, even if for other reasons, and the pacing finally feels appropriate now that the show has completely given up being a mystery adventure and fully embraced the end of the world battle shenanigans.

The episode did feel too fast paced when I first saw it at release, but it was mostly because of how slow the previous episodes were, now after a while the pacing finally feels normal, even if the episode is just bombarding me with lore left and right.

Ah.

.

.....

We're doomed.

[breiji]

My favourite clown dad and his adopted gremlin child🥹💗

[raina-at]

Date

There’s a few things in life theoretical knowledge can’t prepare you for. On top of the list, or very near it, is the actual experience of raising a child. The daily, hourly experience of living with a child isn’t comparable to anything else, and it can’t be properly described in words.

Sherlock loves Rosie to distraction. But, it has to be said, if there was a world championship of accidental cockblocking, she would medal without breaking a sweat. 

That adorable, wonderful, funny, smart little girl can ruin the mood so quickly Sherlock would honestly be impressed if he wasn’t simultaneously so frustrated he can barely see straight.

John lovingly calls her the world’s most effective chastity belt, and Sherlock agrees wholeheartedly.

Sherlock thinks this might be the reason most couples wait a few years before having children. 

Unfortunately, he and John never did anything in the right order. They fell in love pretty much on sight, then spent ten years being stupid. In between Sherlock pretend died, then (almost) died for real, John got married, had a kid, the wife died, John moved back in, Sherlock became a second father, and then, finally, they started shagging. 

Only they never had a sex holiday, because they have a Gremlin they can’t inflict on anyone for a week to just bugger off and shag each other’s brains out. Not yet, anyway. Molly’s offered, but their schedules have not aligned yet. Sherlock hopes it will happen soon.

The last few weeks were especially harrowing. Sherlock was in Cardiff for a week for a boring case, and when he came back, he was busily snogging John against the refrigerator when Rosie came down from her room and vomited all over the sitting room carpet. 

If there’s anything that kills the mood faster than a vomiting four-year-old, Sherlock never wants to encounter it.

Of course they both got sick as well, and for the better part of a week, even the thought of anyone touching any part of Sherlock that wasn’t his forehead or his hand was frankly revolting.

Then Rosie dislocated her shoulder and had to stay home from daycare for a solid week. They were both so exhausted every evening that whoever had bedtime duty that night routinely fell asleep in Rosie’s bed before Rosie did. 

But now. 

Now Rosie’s at Molly’s. They had a lovely date night, with dinner at Angelo’s and a walk through Regent’s Park in the moonshine, and Sherlock is a tiny bit tipsy from the wine and from banked arousal. He’s got John backed against the sitting room door, and they’re snogging leisurely. John’s hands have found their way into his clothes, one hand is caressing his arse, the other trailing up his spine. 

“The things I want to do to you,” John mutters, grinning at Sherlock, wicked and full of promise.

“Oh, I have a list as well,” Sherlock replies, biting at John’s throat.

John moans, letting his head fall back against the door, exposing more of his skin to Sherlock’s hungry mouth. “I hope getting me out of my clothes before I go completely crazy is on that list,” he breathes, the hand on Sherlock’s arse pulling their hips together. He’s got a leg slung around Sherlock’s and is dreamily rubbing his erection against Sherlock’s thigh. 

“In a minute,” Sherlock mutters, going back to biting at John’s neck. John smells delicious there, like fresh air and a bit of sweat and his cologne.

The door to 221 opens, closes and someone ascends the stairs.

Sherlock sighs. “Fuck off, Lestrade,” he yells through the closed door.

John giggles a bit, hiding his face in Sherlock’s shirt. Sherlock smiles. That’s his favourite thing in the world, a happy, aroused, giggly John Watson, all his to do with as he pleases. He kisses the laugh from John’s lips.

There’s a knock at the door. Right behind John’s shoulder blades. 

“He said fuck off, Lestrade,” John says, freeing his lips briefly from Sherlock’s before diving right back again for another deep, dirty, single-minded kiss. 

“Listen, chaps, I get it, but the Lambeth strangler’s resurfaced. We need to move on this now.”

Sherlock draws back from the kiss. “How do you know it’s him?” he asks, holding John in place as he makes a move to withdraw his hands from their various places on Sherlock’s person. 

“Red string, candles, the works. It’s the same man, Sherlock. It’s not a copycat, we’re sure.”

Sherlock sighs. They’ve been after the strangler for years. Sherlock has never had the opportunity to see a fresh crime scene. 

“It’s okay,” John says, quietly, so Lestrade won’t hear through the door. “I understand. This is important.”

Sherlock meets John’s eyes. John looks disappointed, but he knows ending a date with chasing a serial killer is as traditional for them as sex is for other couples.

The case is alluring. Surely at least an eight. It’s important.

But so is John.

“Lestrade,” Sherlock says, leaning in and nosing along John’s neck while speaking, “walk away now, no questions asked, and give us one hour, no questions asked, and I’ll take the next five cases you’re offering, no questions asked.”

There’s a noticeable pause, then Lestrade says, quietly, “One hour.”

They hear him walk down the stairs and the door to 221 closes behind him.

“Delaying a serial killer crime scene for a whole hour, for me?” John mutters, grinning at Sherlock, bright and happy. “Now I know you love me.”

“Some people need a lot of convincing,” Sherlock mutters, sinking his teeth into John’s neck.

“Take me to bed,” John says, winding his hands into Sherlock’s hair. “And convince me some more.”

Here. Fluff and sexytimes like I promised!

Thank you so much @calaisreno for the tag and the prompt.

Tagging a few people: @jrow @keirgreeneyes @helloliriels @meetinginsamarra @lisbeth-kk @khorazir @discordantwords @thetimemoves @the-reading-lemon @7-percent and anyone else who wants to play.

Also, I'm collecting all my ficlets on AO3 here.

[thefrogdalorian]

Dincember Day 20: Celebration

Word Count: 2789 Rating: General Summary: To show Din how much he means to you, you decide to make a special gesture in celebration of him by cooking him a traditional Mandalorian feast. Despite having your heart set on a perfect evening, a certain green child has other ideas... Content Warnings: None! Author's Note: I was so excited to write this one! I love me some emotional hurt/comfort almost as much as I love writing Grogu as a little chaos gremlin. Cooking important meals can be stressful at any time of year but especially around the holiday season, shoutout to anyone who has cooking duties this year!

Link to read on AO3 | My Dincember Masterlist

The level of care that Din showed towards you never failed to make you feel like the luckiest person in the entire galaxy, that you were the person he had chosen to spend his life with. You were very fortunate that his formidable array of skills meant that he had accumulated enough credits to spoil you in so many different ways; from vacations in cabins to the most beautiful snowy spots to celebrate Life Day, to the small gifts and food he sometimes he brought home for you and even the fire pit that he had constructed outside of your cabin… you never wanted for anything. 

While it was nice to want for nothing and know that Din would always be able to take care of you in that sense, it was far from the main reason that you loved him and were so grateful to be his life partner. Your gratitude ran deeper than simply materialism. You loved Din because he was so attentive to your every need, as well as Grogu's. You almost couldn’t believe his generosity and kindness, that the warmth of the man underneath the armour was such a stark contrast to the hard, Beskar-clad warrior that he was known to so much of the galaxy as. 

You did your best to make sure that he never doubted your gratitude by thanking him over and over, to which he would always respond that it was no less than what should be done for a loved one and by reminding you constantly how much he loved you. You knew that Din did not conduct himself in such a caring way because he sought praise or thanks because for him it was just the right thing to do. Din Djarin was a man who cared passionately about the well-being of his loved ones; you knew he would go to the ends of the galaxy, if needed, to ensure your happiness.

In your mind, that was all the more reason to do something special for Din, to let him know how grateful you were and how much you loved him. There were so many options to celebrate your favourite Mandalorian, but finding something you knew he would enjoy required careful thought. You could obviously buy him something, but he really was not a materialistic person. His most precious items were his armour and weapons, you did not know enough about them to shop for something that would be to his taste. While your knowledge of beskar’gam and weapons remained limited, you had done your own research into Mandalorian culture and had your own understanding of things that were important to them. That research, combined with tidbits Din told you about Mandalorian culture, meant that you knew how important food was in their way of life. Food was a pivotal part of Mandalorian culture because it fuelled the warriors and gave them strength in battle.

With that in mind, you eventually settled on the idea of cooking Din a meal to show him how appreciative you were of everything he did for your little Clan. A plan formed in your head, involving the High Magistrate of Nevarro, Greef Karga, to distract Din for a few hours while you prepared the feast. You had thoroughly researched the dishes you would serve: a spicy Mandalorian casserole called Tiingilar followed by something sweet afterwards, you would bake a batch of Uj’alayi. Both dishes were staples of Mandalorian cuisine; you had no doubt that Din would be thrilled with your efforts to treat him to something special.

You knew that for much of his life, Din had not had the privilege of sharing a meal with his loved ones, given his upbringing and the Creed he had sworn. There were many lonely mealtimes where his tribe would scatter and eat their food in private, secluded from each other to uphold their vow to never reveal their face in front of another living being. Since he had met you, though, and begun taking his helmet off in your presence, Din had come to know the simple pleasure of sharing a meal with his family, with the people he loved. He had also learned to savour food, rather than merely inhaling it before he moved onto the next job.

A meal would be the perfect way to not only celebrate how much Din meant to you but also how far he had come as a person since you had met him. You were sure it would be an incredible evening, full of laughter and good food. 

“Grogu!” You barked at the child who was levitating a knife, “Put that down!” 

You had been running around the kitchen like a headless tip-yip for the entire day to prepare the celebratory feast for Din. But unfortunately, there was a little green child who was determined to thwart your plans. Every time your back was turned momentarily, Grogu was wreaking havoc in the kitchen. Whether it was levitating utensils with the Force to get your attention because he was bored that you were neglecting him or stealing ingredients that rested on the counters, the child was behaving like an absolute menace. 

Usually you loved Grogu’s personality; his cheekiness and abilities with the Force always brightened your day. But not today. You were stressed out, fearing that you had taken on too much. Hiding your plan for the surprise meal and the ingredients you had purchased the previous day from Din had been incredibly difficult. You hated lying to him; you believed you were terrible at it, as though he knew you so well that he would undoubtedly sense your dishonesty. 

But Din had left for the appointment that Greef Karga had scheduled with him. Unbeknownst to Din, the appointment was made at your request as part of a wider plot. Ostensibly, Greef wanted to update Din on the latest news on Nevarro but in actuality, it was a ruse to get Din away from the cabin so you could prepare the feast. You thought that keeping Grogu here would give Din some time away from looking after his son and the chance to catch up with the man who was probably his closest friend on this planet. Grogu could be quite demanding, as you were discovering for yourself. Perhaps deciding to have him around while you attempted to prepare this feast had been overly optimistic on your part, you had underestimated just how little Grogu could be trusted around food.

Things had started off well, the Uj cakes had been baked and left in the conservator to cool. You had allowed Grogu to clean the bowls and spoons you had used and the child had wasted no time licking every last remnant of the sweet, sticky mixture. That had kept him satisfied for a while. Until you had come to prepare the main dish: a spicy casserole called Tiingilar that you were sure Din would love. You had just finished chopping the vegetables when Grogu had decided that levitating a knife was a sharp idea. You were growing increasingly exasperated with him but trying not to show it. After all, you suspected that he just missed his father. The two never liked to be parted for any prolonged period, their bond was so strong. After everything they had been through together, you completely understood the anxiety that came whenever they were parted.

Grogu seemed to listen after you admonished him about the knife though; he was surprisingly well-behaved while you finished preparing the Tiingilar. You gave a deep sigh of relief as you completed the final step, pouring the mixture of meat and vegetables into the dish, ready for baking.

“Almost there, buddy,” You said aloud to yourself as much as to Grogu once the Tiingilar was finally cooking.

With the Tiingilar finally in the nano-wave cooker, your next step was to change out of the clothes you had been wearing, now sweaty and stained thanks to the exertion of cooking. You knew that Din would be back soon. you wanted to look presentable for him, despite the frazzled mess that you currently felt like. 

You picked out one of your favourite outfits that Din had complimented you on before and appreciated your appearance in the mirror. Now slightly more presentable, you turned your attention to setting the table for you and Din, complete with flowers and candles to really make it feel like a special evening. 

You were just putting the finishing touches to the table, when you heard the unmistakable sound of Din’s speedbike approaching the cabin. At almost the exact same moment, the nano-cooker chimed to indicate that the Tiingilar was finished and you practically skipped to the kitchen to retrieve it, feeling incredibly proud that you had timed everything to perfection. Din was going to walk through the door to a steaming hot portion of one of his favourite foods from childhood.

You removed the Tiingilar from the nano-cooker, placing it on the side as you rushed back to greet Din.

“Cyare?” Din called, after entering the cabin. “What’s all this?” He questioned, gesturing towards the table laid specially for your feast. His helmet was tucked under his arm and his eyebrows were raised, clearly stunned at the scene before him. 

“It’s for you, Din. I wanted to do something to celebrate you and show you how thankful I am for all you do for me and Grogu,” You smiled, loving how genuinely surprised he seemed at the sight. “I made you a couple of dishes that I think you’ll like. You can change into something more comfortable while I dish them up, if you’d like,” You offered with a smile.

“That’s…that’s so kind of you,” Din smiled, appearing genuinely moved at the effort you had gone to for him. Din closed the distance between you, bringing his arms around your waist as he leaned in to kiss your forehead softly. “Thank you, cyare,” He whispered.

Then Din disappeared off to your room to change from his beskar’gam into something less appropriate for battle to enjoy the meal in, while you walked back into the kitchen to dish the Tiingilar up. Or, at least, that’s what you intended to do. It seemed that a little green menace had other ideas, though.

“GROGU!” You bellowed at the mischievous child, sitting on the counter next to what had been, just moments before, a delicious portion of Tiingilar. “THAT WASN’T ALL FOR YOU!”

“Muh?” Grogu replied questioningly, his ears drooping downwards. He looked up at you with innocent brown eyes, his face and hands completely covered in the meal you had spent all day preparing. 

“What’s wrong?” Din asked softly from the doorway. You turned to him in slow motion, waiting to gauge his reaction once he realised the extent of his son’s treachery. It did not take him long to piece together the situation, though. 

You expected Din to bellow and perhaps wag a finger at the little green menace in the distinctively fatherlike manner that you had witnessed so many times. But instead of that, you watched as Din’s face crumpled up and he began to laugh. With his eyes shut and hand flying up to his stomach to attempt to contain his belly laughs, it was a heartwarming sight to see him so joyful. 

“Din, I’m so sorry,” You offered, despite his apparently positive reaction to this development, you still felt terrible. 

“Sorry? It’s not your fault!” Din smirked, “Grogu is the one who ate it, not you.”

“I should’ve been watching him…” You sighed frustratedly. 

“Look, don’t beat yourself up. It isn’t the first time something like this has happened,” Din reminded you and your mind instantly went back to the hot chocolate fiasco a few days prior. 

“I guess,” You nodded in agreement. “I’m just so frustrated because I spent all day making this kriffing Tiingilar!” You exclaimed.

“Wait… Tiingilar?” Din asked, a peculiar look suddenly sweeping across his features. 

“Yes, Din,” You affirmed. “I researched Mandalorian culture and tried to pick something you’d like,” You added quickly, panicking that you had somehow offended him.

But his response indicated that you had done nothing as the sort, as he dissolved into fits of laughter once again. 

“What is it?” You asked, fearing that you had missed some sort of joke along the way.

“Well, if you prepared it according to traditional recipes, I think Grogu eating our evening meal is the least of our worries,” Din said breathlessly. “It’s famously an incredibly spicy dish. It causes something we call hetikles in Mando’a, which means noseburn, to you.”

You frowned slightly, but then as you began to piece together the misery that the dish was surely about to bring to Grogu’s little body, your eyes widened in horror at first. But then, you started to smile too. “That’ll teach him,” You smirked.

As if on cue, a little sneeze sounded behind you. You twisted your head around and noticed the way Grogu's eyes seemed to have widened in horror. You gathered that he understood the extent of his predicament.

“There we go,” Din nodded, rushing over to scoop Grogu up, before the full extent of the Tiingilar’s power could make itself known.

“How is he?” You asked as Din returned from Grogu’s room where the errant child had eventually been taken to rest after several flagons of ice cold water and blue milk to aid his digestion of the spicy meal. 

“He’s alright now,” Din smiled. “The worst of it is over.”

“I’m sorry, Din. I really wanted this to be a nice, relaxing evening to celebrate how incredible you are. I didn’t expect it to turn into you having to help Grogu through that,” You sighed.

“Would you please stop apologising?” Din asked as he came to sit next to you on the couch. “Look, with a kid like Grogu, it happens. I appreciate the gesture and how much thought you put into preparing food that is culturally significant for me. Grogu eating the meal doesn’t diminish all the effort you put into it. I really appreciate it.”

“You deserve it, Din,” You smiled, as Din wrapped his arm around your shoulders tightly. “You deserve everything.”

“Thank you, cyare,” Din hummed, bringing you to him and kissing your temple softly.

But your mind was still turning over events, upset at how this evening had turned out. You felt awful about the whole thing. “At least he didn’t find the Uj’alayi,” You sighed, still utterly despondent despite Din’s words that this perfect evening you had planned had descended into such a catastrophe. 

“Cyare, it’s fine. I’ll hop on the speedbike and head back into town, pick something up from that stall we both like in the town centre,” Din offered. “Really, I’m not mad at all. And I’m looking forward to the Uj cakes! We can make Tiingilar together, another time. Plus I don’t think Grogu will ever want to eat another portion of it…” Din added, raising an eyebrow.

“Are you sure?” You asked, “I mean, you don’t mind going to town and you really aren’t disappointed?”

“You could never disappoint me,” Din said earnestly, with so much conviction in those brown eyes that it took your breath away. “I really don’t mind, I’m sure it will cheer both of us up. I don’t want all the effort you put into laying this table and making Uj’alayi to go to waste.”

“Okay, thank you Din,” You said appreciatively. “I’ll make you Tiingilar another time, I promise.”

“I can’t wait,” Din beamed at you. “Plus, if it’s any consolation, it smelled amazing,” Din shrugged and then winked at you.

As Din headed out of the door, dressed once again in his beskar’gam, to return to town and pick up a meal for the two of you to share, you were once again struck by an almost-overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Instead of turning the disappointment Din surely felt at not being able to enjoy a treasured dish into anger at you, he had made you laugh and feel better about the entire situation. It was just another reason that exemplified why you loved him so much and proved how much he deserved to be celebrated.

Although the reality had not gone entirely to plan and the lingering guilt that he deserved a perfect evening, you were thrilled that Din was still appreciative of the effort you had put into the evening, into honouring his culture. And really, the imperfections were pretty characteristic of the two of you and the way you spent your lives together. It may have been a clumsy way to celebrate your favourite Mandalorian, but nonetheless, it was still a celebration.

[besaya-glantaya]

While the previous exorcism was fairly sucessful, new brain gremlins appear with repeated rewatches. So, here's another incomplete list of my rambling thoughts and favourite moments from the Red White and Royal Blue movie:

1. Breaking doors down to get a wedding cake through - actually a thing that happened. Well, almost. Prince William and Kate Middleton's gigantic 8-tier wedding cake was so large a palace door had to be removed to allow it through. Apparently the Queen was "unimpressed".

2. Henry snubbing Alex in the reception line at the wedding is hilarious. Way to ensure Alex doesn't fixate on you for the whole party, Henry. A+ job.

3. Alex drunkly navigating the wedding reception, swiping drinks, petting rich people and hiding foul smelling canapés behind furniture. Adorably comedic.

4. HeNnrrYyy!

5. Aww. I wanna see pictures of Jonathan the Shih Tzu too.

6. Shaan's scathingly dry wit is everything - I can see why he's such a great match for Zahra.

7. "No-one is more mystified than I" is another phrase I am stealing for people who exist purely to vex me.

8. Shaan shoving Alex bodily through the low hanging branches of a chestnut tree to stand beside Henry for a photo op. That had to be at least partially improvised on location.

9. Dogs in jumpers. This must be some British thing that I have simply failed to notice. Is this a thing Americans associate with the UK?

10. The ridiculously small child's costume that Alex is wearing for the puppet show in the hospital.

11. Alex saying "WRONG!"

12. Henry, on the phone, opening with "Good God, man, what have you done?" Honestly, is there any other response when your crush sends you a picture of a caged turkey, in their bedroom, in the small hours of the morning?

13. Nora strutting into the NYE party in that head turning, jaw dropping, red outfit. Stunning.

14. Henry's face after Alex tells him he's going to do "very bad things to him". Every single fantasy he's ever had about him and Alex is flashing rapid-fire through his brain and he just... overloads a lil' bit. Error code 54 [NETWORK_BUSY].

15. The emotional connection between Alex and Henry when they are making love in Paris. The eye contact, the unspoken communication. Ugh. Hats off to all involved - especially Robbie Taylor, the movie's intimacy coordinator - for creating this scene.

16. Alex, talking about being someone his father never had: "You can't know what that means." Henry responding with a heartfelt "I'm learning". Just... yes. All the yes.

17. In the mood for love might be one of the swooniest movies of all time, but it's heartbreakingly sad. It's a doomed romance - two people who are irrevocably in love but can't be together, trapped as they are by the pressures of societal expectations and their own psychological barriers. That this is a version of romance that Henry holds dear is telling and painful to think about.

18. Alex's bloodshot eyes when he's laying on his bed with Nora, hugging that cushion for dear life, pining hard for Henry. Did they do that scene after another intense emotional one? Were there lots of other teary takes of that same scene? Did they rub onions in Taylor's eyes? I need to know.

19. I often think that the core of who we are as teenagers - our hopes, our desires, the things we cherish - are the beings we settle back into as older adults after we're done trying to fit in or live up to other people's expectations. One of Alex's greatest gifts is helping Henry to reach out and reclaim those seemingly distant hopes and dreams. To dance with the person he loves, in a place of beauty that brings him peace.

20. I love the Perfume Genius cover of "Can't help falling in love". It hits you squarely in the feels.

21. God, the casting of this movie was a stroke of genius. Taylor and Nicholas truly become Alex and Henry on screen.

22. On the private air-field: Henry's little overwhelmed smile when Alex squeezes him in the tightest hug and tells him, "I love you, I'll be as patient as you need."

23. Immediately after 22, Alex leaning in for a kiss goodbye but pulling back quickly as he reads Henry's discomfort. Alex might not always understand Henry's reasons but (if he's paying attention), he's so very good at reading Henry's needs and responding to them.

24. In the aftermath of the email leak, Alex has been "hanging in there" - he's had people supporting him, with agency over how to respond. But Henry is understandably not OK - he's been put back in his box, and the Firm has taken over in all matters. There's one scene where you can see Henry shrinking, literally making himself take up less space at the table.  Poor baby.

25. Zahra to the rescue. Truly the MVP.