#not even to mention the shit that’s going on in detective comics

[gullable-fool]

There is so much happening in Batman comics right now I’m gonna have an aneurism

[sheegons]

OKAY SO WHO ASKED FOR A POST THAT DETAILS DAMIANS CONNECTIONS TO MAGIC?.. nobody? oh okay.

(be forewarned, this is long)

now after ignoring batman 666, let's see what we have.

ROBIN: SON OF BATMAN (2015)

now, in robin: son of batman #1 It's confirmed that after his death in batman incorporated, damian went to hell. Hell is usually connected with the more magical side of the dc universe, but that's not it.

The entirety of the comic delves into damians connections to more mystical things. mythical swords and magical ancient towers, weird extinct bat-dragons, magical cults that want to destroy the whole world, etc etc.

this is easily regarded as one of damians best comics and having peak damian characterisation, so obviously Damian being magically inclined can easily work well with his character.

Now, after a barrel load of compliments, let's get to the extremely negative side of things.

TEEN TITANS (2016)

Damian's cloned brother has magic and that sentence is about as much as i care for this book. Moving on.

BATMAN (2016)

Again, dog shit damian characterisation, but here we go. Damian here actually shows an ability to use a binding spell and has a wand, making some sort of deal with a random demon, but a far cry from damian apparently selling his soul in batman 666. Moving on finally out of rebirth because that was a bad time for Damian's character.

ROBIN (2021)

Now we go back to the good. Apparently from the maternal part of damians family, magic is more commonplace. ra's even having a whole spell book to his name. Robin 2021 kinda toys with the ghul family and the lazarus pits magical and devilish side which isn't new... but it's new to involve damian!

In the final parts of this story, Damian's heart specifically is used as a plot device, lord deathman even dubbing it as "the bloodstream of the demon" and ruh (ra's' mother) uses it as a power source to fuel demon summonings, which started the Lazarus rain event.

TEEN TITANS DARK (Unreleased)

Back in early 2023 (i think) dc teased a sort of "teen titans dark" with damian, black alice and monkey prince. The "dark" moniker referencing Justice league dark, a magic team made up of magic users that solve magical bullshit. It's a good book, recommended read, i just thought I'd add this to the pile.

Detective comics/Knight terrors

Now, including these two together because they're about the same topic: Dreams.

damian is confirmed to have some sort of control over dreams and sleep, defeating demons that show up in his sleep, yet never actually disappear when he wakes up. He also has an ability to stay awake after a massive worldwide phenomenon causes everyone, even the dream masters that taught damian, to sleep and experience night terrors.

Dreams are, again, connected to the magical side of the dc universe. Now I'm not going to pretend like i actually read sandman to you, i can't lie on ramadan, so let's all give me a pass here for my lack of understanding of all that.

Batman and robin (2023)

In this, damian mentions a bit of off screen monster hunting with Frankenstein and lays a trap that lights someone on fire. I used to think this was some sort of hex but this artwork is extremely unclear, but since Frankenstein is mentioned and from my knowledge dc's Frankenstein is magic let's pretend this is some sort.

As an extra note: this guy definitely died. There's no way about it, he got lit on fire with nobody helping him. He's gone. Damian just killed a man.

Extra Extra notes:

talia using magic!

now, i haven't included these examples in the "the ghuls have magic" segment because uh...

(batman: the doom that came to Gotham/dc bombshells)

yeah...

Not only are these interpretations of talia EXTREMELY orientalist but also just generally out of character and could've been done with any randomly introduced characters.

For the unknowing white american people in the crowd: arabs actually don't only dress in revealing "belly dancer" outfits and lanterns. i know, shocking, we actually wear normal clothes.

And just to add again, there's a lot of stories that include ra's having magic, but I'm not the biggest ra's head (lol) so i didn't read them all, i implore u to do your own research because I'm not doing it.

this about wraps it up. thank you to the magic damian believers may we all win someday.

[afrowrites]

Norman F Rockwell

Black reader (plus size too!) x Homelander

Your a hardworking widow and single mother who works at vought in the graphics department, when a certain all American hero is intrigued by the sight of you, or maybe the scent of you...

Warnings: Stalking, Mentions of Death.

Wordcount: 1,891

Rating: Teen and up

A woman stands alone with her ten-year-old son weeping next to her, her stomach holds the last legacy of her husband. And as they lower him into the ground a rifle can be heard to signify a fallen soldier. And a single tear runs down the woman's face knowing she must stay strong.

“~[Your name]~, did you get the final layout for the Homeboy Kids’ book yet?” She asked as she turned towards her coworker's voice, “Oh yeah, I got them, they look pretty good with all things considered.” 

The woman smiled, proud of her co-workers' adherence to her notes.

“Well, that's good, because you have to present them to Ashley today.” The woman said, dropping a bomb and slipping out of her office.

“Wait, I have to do what?!” You half shout.

You frantically search your emails trying to figure out why today you had to present in less than… 

“Oh shit! I gotta do this in an hour!” 

You were wearing your comfiest business casual clothes but were not ready to entertain your boss today, and the email mentioned that others would be attending. ‘Probably those weirdo's in marketing.’  You thought to yourself. 

You stumble down the hallway towards Ashley's office, holding your layout tubes while trying to zip up the back of your skirt. Thank God you had an emergency “I didn't just have a baby” outfit and some heels. 

You fluff your afro up, put on some lipgloss, take a deep breath and open the door to walk into Ashley’s office.

You could see Ashley's permanent furrowed brow shift into a fake plastered smile she gave to all her employees when trying to save face.

“Good afternoon, miss {Your Name}. Have a seat, please”

“Sure” you answer, feeling a bit awkward.

Seth and Evan are engaged in a calm conversation, tucked away in the secluded corner of the room. Meanwhile, you're absorbed in organizing your layouts, your back to the entrance, when the sharp sound of a door swinging wide pierces the silence. Out of the periphery of your vision, you notice the room's occupants abruptly rise to their feet in a unified, almost military precision.

"Uh, Homelander, welcome," she greets with a strained smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes, her voice tinged with a detectable quiver betraying her anxiety. Indeed, the atmosphere has shifted palpably; a heavy cloak of tension settles over the room, making the air itself seem laden with foreboding.

“Ashley,” he notes her presence. Uninterested. 

“ Hey Seth, Evan, good to see you.” Now a hint of sarcastic enthusiasm sets in his voice.

He sets down into his chair, and as he sits he turns his head to you. He sniffs the air realizing something. Even before you'd know, he finds you leaking, and suddenly his interest in you increases tenfold and with a sudden interest in you he introduces himself.

“Why hello there,” his devilish grin and piercing blue eyes startle you, “you know it's a shame I never get to meet all the wonderful people here working at Vought, what's your name Ms…?”

“Rodriguez, although people just call me [your name].” You smile professionally. 

“Well Ms.Rodriguez,” he takes your hand in his, brushing your soft knuckles before planting a kiss on them. “I do hope to enjoy your presentation.” As he gave you a soft wink. 

You find his introduction performative but also slightly genuine.

The marketing guys gave their little spiel on how to market the homelander’s son, Ryan. 

You soon make a suggestion. “I believe that would go well with young adult males, but we aren't thinking of the bigger picture here. We know how Homelander is when it comes to women.” 

You see his jaw tighten, so you tread lightly when you continue.

“We’ve already seen the comic books, so how about we take a look at something more child-like for mothers, show the soft story about Homelander becoming a father raising a child all on his own, raising him to be a good American hero.” 

The market guys roll their eyes and scoff in protest, but before they can open their mouths you hear clapping.

“Wow that’s… well that's good,” To you he sounds almost genuine but his mind is still working on you. You breathe a sigh of relief at his approval. 

You mutter off a “thank you, sir.” And scurry back to your seat.

After muttering a quick, “Thank you, Sir.”, you scurry back to your seat.

“Well I think this has been a great meeting, thank you all for being here. I-” 

Homelander interrupts, “Ms.Rodriguez may I have a moment to ask you something?.” 

Stunned, you respond, “Oh-uh sure,” you give him a weak smile. 

“Great,” he grins a menacing grin. “Let's take a walk.”

It's quiet for the first few minutes, almost bone-chilling . He clears his throat to break the silence.

“So, Rodriguez. What do you do here?” He asks in a way that sounds like he's interested but also way too critical. 

“Well sir, I work in graphics and art, but I do most kid's artwork and stuff.” You chuckle nervously.

He nods at your answer, and he continues, “Well I think that is just super!” He still smells your body producing his favorite thing (well maybe second favorite thing). 

He continues the walk in silence until you guys reach your office, he scans around the room trying to find ways to see you more often. Until he sees, “Oh, you have a family,” you turn the picture towards him.

“Oh yeah, my babies,” you sigh at missing them. “Rafael and America.”

“Wow, what a name for such a cute baby,” he feigns interest because as stated before he's only interested in what's under your skirt.

“Yeah, their father named them.” You feel a sharp twist in your heart when mentioning your husband's name, Homelander sees this and with his well-learned acting exclaims, “Whatever he did to you I'll get him.” He places a hand on your shoulder as he jokes with you.

You look up at him with teary eyes before wiping them away. “Oh no it’s not that my husbands not with us anymore.” 

He feels indifferent to your plight, yet he pulls you in for a comforting hug. He smells like warm spices but underneath he smells metallic almost of blood. It’s unnerving.

He releases you from his grip, only to take a long look down and clear his throat. 

“Hmmm I think you might wanna…,” You look down horrified. You're leaking.

Standing at your threshold, the rich oakwood panels seem to reach out, inviting you into the warm embrace of home. Before your hand can grace the knocker, your mother-in-law materializes, her eyes alight with the joy of your arrival. "Hola mami!" Your greeting is tinged with fatigue, yet her presence ushers in comfort. "Hola, {insert Spanish nickname}, how was your day?" Her inquiry is simple, yet it's the undercurrent of genuine concern that touches you. "Well, Mami, to be honest, it was a bit perplexing..." you admit, the words trailing off as you grapple with the day's events.

Your exchange is gently fractured by the delightful pattern of small feet drumming against the floor, a familiar and heartwarming cadence. It's a sound that signals the arrival of one of the most precious joys in your life, a guiding light that brightens even your darkest days. The architect of your daily smiles, your cherished child, the ever-sweet Rafi, bounds toward you. This tiny being, the center of your universe, radiates unadulterated happiness, infusing your mornings with meaning and your heart with boundless love.

"Hey, Mamacita!," He says, 

"Hey there, Papito" you greet, the corners of your mouth turning up in a weary but warm smile. "You're not gonna guess who I bumped into today!"

His eyes sparkle with curiosity. "Who was it?"

"The one and only, most amazing superhero of all time!"

Glancing down, you notice he's clutching his beloved Homelander action figure, its edges frayed and colors faded from love and time. It was a gift from his dad. The sight fills you with a bittersweet mix of joy and a pang of sorrow, knowing the layers of memories it holds.

Sighing, you reply, “Well I met the one and only…”, pause for dramatic effect, “HOMELANDER!”  You see his gorgeous little eyes light up, you love to see your little guy happy. He jumps around the house as his grandma yells at him.

 “Papito! You're gonna wake the…,” she’s already too late. And as your second little bundle of joy starts to cry, your mother-in-law is about to get the spoon on Rafi, “Don’t worry mami, it’s fine I wanted to see my baby anyway.”  You smile at her as you trudge towards your baby's room. “Hey Meri, how’s my girl doing?” You coo at her. She has your husband’s beautiful green eyes, gorgeous fluffy curls and chubby cheeks. You hold her close to you, your heartbeat calms her down. You sit for a while ignoring the noise from the street corner thinking of when her father took you to New Mexico,��

(~Flashback~)

The evening air is warm and the breeze carries the simple romance of the night through the air. He cradles you in his soft loving arms as the stars pale in comparison to the sparkle of his eyes peering into your own.

“Y’know (y/n), I was just thinking,” “Oh that’s never good.” You snicker to yourself.

“Hey, that hurts.” He pretends to get shot in the chest. “Whatever,” You roll your eyes 

“Well, what I was going to say was, what if we get married…” He sheepishly says that last part.

“Um well, to be honest, I want to, after all, little Rafi-,” He interrupts. “Or Meri, I plan on having ten beautiful girls, well eleven because of you.’

You laugh a hearty laugh. “Yeah right, let’s just focus on the first one, but yeah I wanna be married.”

“Okay great because I have this ring in a box and I didn’t know who I was gonna give it to.” He yawns sarcastically. 

You wide-eyed stare at him for a little, until it sinks in. You sit up and push his shoulders to the ground. “Oh my God!” You kiss his face all over.

“Hey mami, watch the baby. They ain’t finished yet.” He chuckles “I love you, baby.” he smiles with his gorgeous lips. 

“I love you too, papito.” You lean in for a kiss all while smiling into his lips.  And while you once again fall in love, your favorite song plays.

~Como la flor, Con tanto amor, Me Diste tu~

“Se Marchitó, Me marcho hoy,” You sing to the bittersweet words of Selena, “ Yo sé perder, Pero a-a-ay, cómo me duele, A-a-ay, cómo me duele.” 

The smells of your cooking penetrate the room and seep out of your window into the cold air of a New York night, the warmth and love from your kitchen emanating from your apartment.

Unfortunately for you, a certain pair of eyes enjoyed your little performance, and the ethnic food smelled to him albeit too much spice for his taste, he could still feel a distant mother’s love through those smells.

And when you decided to close the window, he took that as a challenge to get into your life and ruin it. 

[rei-ismyname]

Uncanny X-Men #4 FROM THE ASHES

Just going with raw thoughts here. Spoilers, of course.

Yikes

- We keep flashing back to the whirlwind romance of Sarah and Charles.

- I assume up there is its end.

- Either she's also a psychic or has some power stealing ability. Chuck was shown under Cerebro last issue and she tore off after the Outliers. So either she needed to know how to use it or she borrowed Chuck/Philip's telepathy. More on this.

- The pregnancy. They've been together a month which is not 'too soon' to know, assuming they had sex immediately, at least with 2024 knowledge. We know Chuck fought in the Korean War 1950-53 after Oxford so this is 1949 at the earliest, but who knows with comic book time. Not sure what pregnancy detection was like back then, though there's not much wiggle room to say definitively from a missed period.

- Neither baby trap nor woman scorned are especially great beats to use for a rounded villain, and I feel like they're trying hard to rehabilitate Chuck, so having him run out on a baby mama would not be a positive move.

- I'm getting the impression she's either a mutant or a supernatural being of some kind. 'I knew in that instant' makes the most sense to me if that's true.

When we last left the homeless team Logan had left for the same reason he always does - he feels like he shouldn't be around people. Me too buddy. It's getting a bit old to me he's just dealt with this in his solo which is implied to be a flashback/take place before Uncanny.

- Rogue 'knows' he's in trouble and exactly where he is. They act like it's a mystery but it's pretty obvious Chuck is behind this, or a psychic. Law of narrative economy says Chuck.

She's right.

- Are either of those true? I honestly can't remember early Rogue that well.

- I have to assume we're toning down his healing factor this era. Good good, though he should be acting differently.

Rogue doesn't have final girl instincts, that's for sure. I know comic books need fights but teams also need leaders. Rogue is not looking all that competent. Her leadership kinda needs to be shown to us and new readers.

- Rogue hits harder than Logan but he's a lot more durable and lethal. You have a teleporter. Just leave!

- Going with my earlier mutant/supernatural being theory, she's really got a one track mind. 'Motherhood' is not much of a personality. Bit surprising from Gail Simone tbh.

- Krakoa mention! Pretty sure Kurt is referring to the WHR Krakoa AKA we're not seeing it anytime soon. Kurt and Logan were the two biggest skeptics of Krakoa with Logan never trusting it so I'm just going to say this is straight up out of character. Kurt might say it to someone else but definitely not to Logan. Sigh.

Are these folks actually stressed here? He's survived a lot worse casually.

There she goes sniffing the 'childlessness' on Rogue. It's feeling kinda gross and uncomfortable to me at this point. Even a cisnorm tradwife demon or whatever surely has other interests.

- Same goes for Kurt. We know he likes God, despite coming off a huge crisis of faith on Krakoa. Dude has other interests. After that priest misfire in #1 I'd like something else. Personality. 4 issues feels like enough to say that Gail Simone doesn't know how to write Nightcrawler. This is basic shit and maybe she should have used a new character. She clearly wants the Rogue book but the familial relationship with Kurt is recent and not strong.

She's saying a lot without giving us much here, except the implication of magic.

- 10 has some magical significance, such as association with death and rebirth, the universe, perfection and power, transformation and divinity in humans.

- They're already out from Charles' thumb. Some impressive topographic knowledge there though.

- Okay then.

- Brian is Charles' father's name. It wouldn't surprise me if that was significant here. I don't want it to be, but...

- I might be missing something here but aside from vibes this asks more questions than it answers. Confirms the supernatural being theory, though this looks like a death/trauma rebirth as opposed to 'born that way.' Maybe she was chosen.

- Surprisingly candid though.

Get fucked Jubilee. You're not the last X-Men. Delusional.

- Logan has a healing factor. He doesn't really need Jubilee.

- Uh huh. Eldritch knights? I don't know and Gail doesn't want to tell us right now. That's fine.

-These 'X-men' are planning a raid on Graymalkin but they're looking like they'd struggle raiding a pantry. Cyclops has a point here, and considering the assessment of the kids was 'they don't fight as a team, they just attack' that applies to everyone here.

- I bet the Eye of Agamotto gets used next issue. That's a Chekhov's Gun that needs to go off and Gambit won't pull his weight much otherwise tbh. Seems unlikely Rogue is winning that fight solo and the team pulling together as a team using all resources would be a nice W for them. A sorely needed one.

- I feel like this had pacing issues more than anything. The Rogue fight was a bit repetitive and nobody is using their head. If we get a second wind into a win next issue that's not going to feel earned or satisfying. Characters should make mistakes. They've been punished for them, now we need to see a regroup and display of what makes them a team. What makes Rogue a leader and what makes them X-Men.

- When they fought the Outliers in issue two they were inexplicably losing and then they just won. I don't want that again. Tension has been established and a promise made - several promises even - we need to stop treading water and pay that off.

- A bit meh overall for the flagship book, but I have my biases. What did you think?

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

the 80s and early 90s are a really interesting stretch of Batman history where the Riddler is like, an uncontested iconic part of the rogues gallery and and the wider Batman mythos but hardly ever actually Does Anything. like he shows up in all the group shots and whatnot and pretty frequently gets offhand mentions like this in Detective Comics #630

but it seems like hardly anyone actually wants to do anything with him aside from Peter Milligan going absolutely off his shits in Dark City and deciding that what the Riddler really wants is to summon a giant bat demon previously called up by a cult that Thomas Jefferson belonged to. which was, you know. certainly a story!

this is going absolutely nowhere and I have nothing concrete to draw from this, I just think it's interesting! and I wonder how much the legacy of the 1966 Batman series and Frank Gorshin's extremely memorable performance lead to this sense that the Riddler definitely should be included with the likes of Catwoman, Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, etc, even if he's not actually getting a lot of play in the comics proper, kind of keeping him afloat as a character until he started picking up more narrative steam.

idk man it's just so interesting to see how these characters shift and change through the years!

[clingyduoapologist]

CLINGYDUOAPOLOGIST'S TOP 5 FAVORITE DSMP FAN-COMICS OF ALL TIME

OK NOW this is just a list of some of my personal faves, ones that make me literally feral so

Cheating a bit here but first off honorable mention to Boneless (?) by @thelostmoongazer

Idrk why i remember this one so fondly but it's really cute and always gets a chuckle out of me when I remember it, certified banger 👏

ALRIGHT ON WITH THE OFFICIAL LIST

5: A TIE BECAUSE I GENUINELY CAN'T TELL WHICH I PREFER BETWEEN Au in which Wilbur and Ghostbur merged when Wilbur was revived. AND Dreams I can’t remember both by @moldyhay

ugjughugh honestly i consider the ghostbur merging au more canon than the "limbo forever" stuff just because it makes so much sense to me and y'know what it's 2023 wilbur soot can't say shit to me @sootings fuck you

As for Dreams I can't remember like what else is there to say besides get me that fucking ccrime vaccine stat i don't have much time left

4: The Fox and the Grapes by @space-robinhood

Okay I am not the biggest c!fundy girlie but like COME ON, the way the fable just fits so perfectly, the art, the emotion in every facial expression, the fucking photo of fundy as a baby like I lose my fucking mind every single time I read this comic.

3: mentorly advice by @minecraftsz

Legitimately this was probably my fave dsmp comic for a while. "Shitpost that makes you cry if you think about it too hard about it" is a very specific and difficult-to-master niche of art and minecraftsz has written a dissertation on it in the form of this short comic.

2: friend sweater :) by @kettitrium

I go feral every time this comic comes on my dash like, the way it showcases c!tommy's personality so well, being resourceful, a bitch, and so painfully sentimental, it's brilliant. And the art itself is also gorgeous. Of all these comics, this one probably has my favorite art style.

1: Tommy by @space-robinhood

Like, what can I even say about this one? I literally almost tore my hair out just reading it while trying to copy the link to paste it here. Such a simple, small conversation, but one that manages to carry such a haunting theme of the loss of innocence. The final shot of Tommy standing with his back to the readers, his general's coat slightly tattered, a bow in his hands, it's such a poignant summary of his character, one that I will literally never be able to get over, probably ever. Go read it, then reblog it so I can read it again.

-

AND THERE IT IS my extremely based and awesome picks for some incredible fanworks. I see so many people regretting their time in the fandom recently, and I just wanted to share some of the awesome stuff we were able to do also i may have just wanted to compile all of these is one place so i don't have to do detective work to find them but shhh SO go forth and read and like and REBLOG and enjoy :D

[himejoshiangels]

batgirl 2000 reread pt 2!!!

Back 2 batgirl..Cass has to have some of the worst daddy issues in the whole family and that's saying so much like between Bruce and Cain she deserves billions of dollars in compensation for all the all the way fucked up and over shit they put her through that she doesn't even have the capacity to work through yet

also this little interaction made me smile, average bat conversation

obsessed w how they integrate cass into the Bruce wayne: murderer storyline. We're operating fully from cass's perspective here and the whole thing is formatted like any other case she's taken on. we get exposition as cass investigates but there's a feeling of uneasiness as she paces the manor. she fully doesn't know who this guy is but we do. we do.

truly one of the most iconic ways anyones ever figured out his identity. she knows him so deeply that she's able to recognize the pure unbridled determination and fury in his eyes just from a picture

Cassandra cain truly stays unmatched, the "I'll kill you" "not tonight" panel hits just as hard as when I first read it. I need a physical copy of this shit NEOWWW. also cass's ability to recognize that Shiva is just as suicidal as she is, that in fighting each other their both fulfilling the others death wish..like we know she isn't going to kill her from the start but it makes the decision all the more powerful

EEEK she's so cutest patootest..she's a detective

cass if projecting onto every case she dealt with was a job..

srsly tho the whole alpha arc thing was sooo good especially when it came to cass's immovable belief that even people with the most diabolical histories are capable of change, are worth saving

ermmm..the lawyers are advising me not to discuss the stephcass drama issue at this current time..thank you

idk how I missed the political commentary the first time but issue 43 got it. FAWK AMERICA

I love this comic I LOVE THIS COMIC!!! I love love love when Cass has a conversation that leads her to experiment which leads her to self discovery. oh my god. truly baffled and disgusted as she discovers gender roles, she just like me fr

THIS^^^^^^ is so, it's such a good way of broadcasting cass's insecurities and emotions to the audience. unlike a lot of characters cass rarely ever says what she's feeling, even when asked she'll often lie. it's either that or a lack of self awareness/means of communication when it comes to her own emotions. BUT this also shows that cass is aware of the complex interpersonal dynamics and drama around her. Usually these things are just implied like when Cass wordlessly punches the shit out of dick for making babs cry, but this is one of the first times in the comic where these things that cass had been feeling and hearing are told instead of shown [which is pretty 50/50 considering the kinda jarring writer switch but I think this specifically was a cool choice]

Cass has a tendency to avoid emotional topics centered around her all together but at the climax of this arc she's forced to confront very conflicting views of her identity, social pressures, and her own insecurities.

this part got to me BAD

Cass's pure and utter devastation in response to Bruce attempting to fire her (I say attempt bcs that shit barely lasted a day) is so gutwrenching. batgirl was the first name she ever had, the first identity as a human being she'd ever had. Not to mention her suicidal-perfectionism. For Batman of all people to say those things to her, not only does she not have anything outside of batgirl (partially BECAUSE of him) but she's literally as close to perfect as it gets, matter a fact bruce literally calls her perfect. To be accused of jeopardizing the mission, despite that she might be the only person who values it just as much as bruce does..No wonder she shatters into a billion pieces when he does that to her. she has nothing else to be if she's not batgirl.

[fantasies-fairytales-n-fics]

Code Blue Ch. 47- Punch Drunk Love

Summary: It's one step forward and two steps back for Lee and Jo. The same can be said for Jo and Craig, only their encounter "lands" on a more comical note. Jo wants to play detective. Dave receives a message from beyond the grave.

*Chapter Warnings* language, angst, mentions of murder, drinking, intoxication, ghost child

Chapter characters: Lee, Josie, Craig, David, Jacob

Chapter word count: 6,699

Stories Stories Stories Masterlist

Salem, Massachusetts

March 21, 2023

An hour had passed since Lee had left you in the boathouse after his regretful blowup. As he sat in his lake house bedroom, staring blankly out the window at the gray sky morning, he could hear the muffled voices of you, Britt and Jason downstairs and then all went quiet, except for the creaking of his door opening.

He closed his eyes and lowered his head in sadness when he felt you softly sit down on the opposite side of the bed. As your movement ceased and you began to speak, a subtle breeze laced with the biting scent of your intoxicating vampire perfume flowed straight to Lee's nose, causing his heart to palpitate as he eagerly inhaled it.

"Jason and Britt are gone, just as you wanted. I think I should go too as soon as the laundry finishes."

Lee turned his head to the side and could see that you were sitting with your back to him.

"I'm sorry about your brother."

"What for? You were right Lee. He and Britt shouldn't be here. It was my stupid idea to bring him here to help Britt."

"It was both of our ideas Jo and it was for the best. Now he can take care of the woman he loves and leave us out of it. I don't want any part of this shit anymore Jo."

"I can agree with you there. Neither do I."

Your weary tone spoke a frightening volume to Lee.

"Does that include me...Jo?"

Your soft voice became hesitant and shaky as you still wouldn't turn to face him.

"I...I don't know what to do anymore Lee. All these secrets are like an incurable cancer and every time I believe it's in remission because you tell me it is, the secrets metastasize and honestly, I don't know if that is even the worst part anymore because we both just accused each other of killing Elizabeth."

"Yep." Lee softly and sorrowfully agreed as he nodded, then turned to face your backside.

"The only difference is, I stood by you and tried to protect you over it by disposing of the blatant evidence I found in my car, but you...you allowed Luke to put doubts in your mind with his circumstantial bullshit and you turned on me. You're the only one who's ever truly known the real me and yet you actually believed I was capable of doing something so repulsive, that I am some monster."

You finally turned to face him with an anxious tone.

"Lee...I am sorry. I know in my heart you didn't hurt Liz and yes, I stupidly let Luke twist my thoughts. God, it's just that lately, your behavior has been so erratic and even violent and you won't tell me why!"

"What..so I'm not allowed to be human and have emotions that happen to include anger?? Everything that has been going on is why Jo and we all react differently to stress, you know that. The day you tried to justifiably attack Landy's sister, THAT was violent but I didn't believe that could make you a murderer. Look at the violent shit Luke has done. He deserved that vase to the head. And Carpenter deserved my fist in his face and Gordon deserved his ass handed to him."

"I get all of that. I do. Can't you put yourself in my shoes just for a minute about Liz though? You cut her seatbelt to mess with her and kept that from me and when you had finally learned the truth that she was responsible for Jacob's death, you and my brother plotted right in front of me about taking her out and framing Ethan and you refused to help her when she was brought to the ER. And now I find out you were off living some double life with Luke that involved blowing up terrorists and god knows what else. What was I supposed to believe?"

"Me Jo. You were supposed to believe me. You just said you believe in your heart that I didn't do it, so which is it Jo? Are you with me or are you against me because it's feeling a lot like you're still against me and if that's the case, then why are you even here?? Jesus Jo...what I did for you, you haven't even said a word about that. Ethan's clearly been watching us. He snuck in here before he killed Liz and took my car, my knife and your clothes, then after he took care of her, he planted everything, all in hopes of framing you because we both know he wants you away from me and yes Jo, at first I believed you had done it, but ONLY due to having some blackout break in reality from your pills and all that wine."

"Something still don't seem right Lee. Why didn't he just kill me then? Wouldn't that have been the easiest and fastest way to get me out of your life and.."

"Jo, stop, god, don't say this shit. Just the thought of him being in this house and anywhere near you......"

Lee paused and rubbed his palms over his face, releasing a stressed sigh, then continued.

"Besides the most important reason, that being that he knew I would come and kill him without hesitation...he still needed to cover his ass in her death because he knew he would be a number one suspect. We weren't supposed to find it Jo. I'm willing to bet Ethan was going to drop an anonymous tip to the police about the evidence and I honestly thought that was why Luke was here, so now, I'm also feeling something isn't right because no one has showed up. Regardless Jo, I risked everything for you, my career, my freedom, because that would all be gone if it were found out I destroyed all the evidence and I DID it to make it all go away for you and like some stupid school boy, I actually thought you'd be impressed."

"What I am is scared Lee. I understand why you did what you did and I DO appreciate it, I promise you, but you have still got to get rid of that knife. He killed her with it and it can be matched up to her wounds."

"I'll take care of it. It will never be found."

"And then what Lee? We just go on with our lives as if nothing ever happened? I mean, first of all, Luke is never going to give up. It's his job now and...."

Lee sarcastically snickered. "It's just his way to feel like he's a good person."

"God Lee, I just don't get it. When he came back for Landy, you and he seemed like really great friends, but with what I just overheard between you and my brother, how is that if Luke supposably set you up as you put it?"

Lee shook his head in frustration. "There's no supposably about it Jo. He did what he did and we were both just trying to move on from it, from that life. I just wanted to forget it and then he just shows back up here as if nothing ever happened and his presence brings back all those bad memories and all those feelings of having to be on guard every second. None of that life was ever supposed to involve you. I didn't hide it from you to be sneaky or deceitful. I'm not that person anymore and I don't want to be, but he brings it out of me and not only that, but I'm not oblivious to his desire of you either. I just want him to go back to where he came from and stay there, in the past. You and I were finally getting it right and he swoops in and fucks our forever all up and now here we are, yet once again. And I know Jo, I know that everything happening is not all because of him. I know it's me too and god, I am trying so hard to be the man you want me to be and that you deserve after all you have been through in the past, but all I have done is drag you through hell and let you down over and over again. You're this angel of light and I'm nothing but a devil of darkness."

Lee's voice had become choked up and if there was one thing that tugged at your heart strings, it was seeing him cry.

"Please don't speak about yourself that way." you compassionately said as you scooted over to him and rubbed his back.

"You're not evil baby. You just feel cornered and like no one is on your side and I cannot apologize enough for ever thinking you could have hurt Liz. All that murder plot talk with Jason was nothing but anger. Your fears had just been validated that she was responsible for Jacob's death and as far as not wanting to help her at the hospital is quite understandable. I overreacted about all that Lee. I know in my heart what a compassionate and kind person you are. It's one of the many reasons I fell for you, so fast and so damn hard. And as far as myself, I am certainly no angel. I have a dark side. You've seen it, especially around Megan. She brings something out of me just like Luke does to you. I don't want to be that person either so I get it. Now you though, you had every reason to believe I could have done it and what you did to protect me, the sacrifices you were willing to make, means everything to me. That is FAR from letting me down. I'm so sorry for how I reacted. So you know, I...I would have done the same for you...without hesitation."

You slid your hand down his bare arm and laced your fingers into his. Lee softly sighed and tried to smile as he then placed his other hand over the union.

"I look at you Jo and I...I just love you and it terrifies me. It terrifies me what I would do for you. I did not wait for you. I didn't even know you were coming. When you walked into my life, I didn't know it was you because I didn't know there WAS a you. You were never a list, a goal, an expectation, a dream, ok maybe you were a dream. You were a surprise, a gift, an adventure, a new beginning to a story I thought I would never have and I am scared to death of losing you and that you won't love me anymore if you know all of the things I've done. I'm scared of a world without you."

"You know I feel the same way about you Lee. It's patience and trust that I am running out of, not love. But...is love enough? Even for us? You keep lying to me and do understand why, but it doesn't make it right. Like you said, your past didn't have anything to do with me and I agree, but when it affects me, it does. It's affecting us Lee. I've looked past your secrets and forgiven you twice now and yet, here we are again. Lord knows I'm not strong enough to stay away from you. I've tried... but I'll have to find the strength Lee, because I won't do this anymore. I don't want to leave you, especially now with all of this and also with tomorrow being the one month anniversary of your father's passing and your birthday being four days away, but it's the third time now of being side swiped by your secrets and it's certainly no fucking charm. We have to trust each other. You have to trust ME and tell me what happened between you and Luke since it involves Peter...and it involves who you were and I want...I deserve to know all of you. Remember that time we danced in your other house and you looked right into my eyes and sang that song, All of Me, to me? You said you give me all of you. I thought you meant it. It's all or nothing Lee. Release this weight and let me help you carry it."

Lee kissed your hand and softly sighed as he gently rested his forehead on yours and gave you a tender eskimo kiss, then brought his sapphire eyes to yours.

"Of course I meant it. Let me show you. Let me make love to you. I need you Jo."

His warm, sweet breath over your mouth was driving you mad with desire and all you wanted to do was press your lips to his and tear his clothes off. Being this close to him was dangerous. You would always become puddy for him to shape and mold you just the way he wanted. You were a puppet on his strings. You were simply spellbound. Lee had healed all the hardships you endured before him, bringing you a peace you had never known and just a simple kiss to his bewitching lips, that alone had the power to render every part of you helpless, sucking your mind, body and soul right into his....but you couldn't give in to him. Not this time. As his lips lowered to yours, you regained control by softly but very reluctantly pushing him back before it was too late.

"Lee, please. No. Sex is not going to make this better or make this go away. Stop deflecting and tell me what happened."

Lee released an obvious sigh of frustration as he closed his eyes and lightly pursed his lips.

"I want to tell you baby. I do. I...I've just never spoken about it to anyone. As I said, I was just trying to bury it and move on. I certainly did not expect this to ever come up, especially now. Feeling cornered is an understatement. There's so much happening. SO much to deal with already. Can't we just do this another time Jo? I will tell you, I prom..."

You pulled your hand from his and stood right up in a huff.

"Don't you promise me anything! I don't believe your promises anymore Lee, because you break them, every single time. You swore to me you had told me everything, but then more dirty laundry always appears and to me, that is a lie...and now, you're making excuses and trying to fuck me to get out of telling me the truth. Putting it off is just making this worse. There's never a right time Lee. You just need to do it. You need to trust me. I'm not going to leave because of your past, but I WILL leave if you can't be honest. I am sorry you feel backed against a wall but it's now or never Lee. I love you more than anything in this world but I am so over this!!"

Lee stood up too and in his anger, he said something he shouldn't have.

"So, it's your way or the highway. Is that it?? Then just go if you want Jo. You would clearly be better off anyways. I said I would tell you and I meant it, but in my own time. I don't like being forced. I'm not ready. Take it or leave it."

"Wow. Well...ok then. Guess I'll leave it. Maybe I WILL be better off because CLEARLY you refuse to change or even try to. You know what? I'm done. I need to go see my mother, see if I still have an apartment and try to find Dave. I'll get my things later."

Lee watched in shock as you whirled out of the room and then he raced down the stairs behind you, pleading for you not to go, for he never thought you would choose that option.

"Jo wait!"

"Wait for what Lee?" you snapped as you tugged your leggings up and slipped your boots on. "You just told me to go."

"I didn't mean it like that. I said take it or leave it. I gave you a choice."

"And I chose! Just like you did."

You grabbed your purse, took out your keys and headed for the door, but not without Lee stepping in front of you.

"Yeah...and quite easily too. So that's just it?? Fuck forever? Jo don't do this. Please. Everything that you want to know, it's not just some quick and simple story to tell. It's dark, it's traumatizing and it's terrifying.

"THIS is dark, traumatizing and terrifying. I'm tired Lee. I'm so fucking tired. Even if you tell me now or tell me later, it will just be half of it, just like it always is, although you will swear to me that you told me everything and then I'll find out the rest later, not by you but by accident and I'm just over it. I don't want to do this anymore. I want a normal relationship and this is far from normal and it's a perfect example of why people put walls up. To protect ourselves and I stupidly let mine down for you. Not anymore. I'm rebuilding it. Now get out of my way Lee."

"Jo. Don't go. Please. Don't leave me. Let me fix this."

"You can't. I don't believe a word you say anymore. I don't believe I would even know what I know if it weren't for overhearing you because I don't believe you were ever going to tell me."

"Ok, that is not true. You don't even understand. I was going to tell you. I had to... or I would have never been able to ask...."

Lee paused with a hard sigh and desperate eyes that quickly wandered from yours.

"Ask? Ask what Lee??"

His hands went to his hips, his head lowered and his eyes closed.

"I...I can't...not yet. Not like this."

"Oh my god....I can't even right now. Goodbye Sam."

As you stormed past him and slammed the door shut behind you, Lee stood dazed and motionless, softly answering your question.

"Ask you to marry me."

You jogged down to the garage where your Monte Carlo was being concealed from the bar thugs and off you went, without a care if they found you. If they did, you would just tell them your car had been stolen and you just got it back. If they didn't believe you and tried something, then you'd give them an attitude adjustment on top of their heads with your Kubotan, Hank Williams Jr. style, just like you did to Luke which dropped the hunky herculean like a sack of potatoes.

For the entire twenty minute drive to your mom's in silence, your arms were locked straight on the wheel as you focused on your breathing so you wouldn't have a panic attack. Everything had escalated so quickly in only a few hours. One minute, you and Lee were dancing in the kitchen and sharing breakfast together, basking in the afterglow following a beautiful night of making love and the next, you couldn't get away from him fast enough. Did you overreact? Should you have stayed and let him speak? You tried this once before, leaving him, which that lasted a whole hot minute and it changed absolutely nothing, so how could you, would you, do it this time when all you wanted to do was turn around and run back into his arms?

The visit with your mom was nerve-racking in itself between trying to hide your emotions over Lee and her trying to hide hers over the horrific ordeal of finding a butchered and still breathing Elizabeth the evening prior and then there was your sister. Your mom informed you that Megan hadn't come home last night and wasn't answering her phone. Of course you couldn't have cared less and wished she'd never come back, but you still tried to make your mom feel better and reminded her that this was not out of the ordinary for Megan to do. It made you think of what Luke told you, that she had actually came to the police station of her own free will and told him that she believed Ethan took Blaise because he thinks he is her father. You had to wonder what would make her turn on him like that. Did she finally see what a dangerous piece of shit he was? Speaking of Blaise, it was now time to go see Craig and you dreaded that almost as much as you dreaded large bodies of water.

As you drove to your apartment, all you could think about was that poor little girl and prayed she was alright wherever she was. For her sake, for Craig's and even for yours, because you knew what Craig's reaction would be when he found out, if he didn't already know, that you knew Liz dropped Blaise off with Angel and you didn't tell him. You also knew he would believe you did it intentionally, which was in no way true whatsoever, to get back at him for not telling you Jason was alive. The guilt was unbearable. How could you have been so self absorbed?

You parked the car and tried calling Dave again before you went into the lion's den and once again, no answer, so you left another voicemail.

"Dave, seriously. Are you THAT mad at me?? If you are, then fine, I can deal with that but at least just text me and tell me you are alright, or text Britt if you don't want to talk to me ok? I'm so worried about you. There's things you need to know about Liz if you don't already and...I really need my friend right now. Ok...bye..."

As you got out of the car, you could hear the muffled sound of music coming from the complex and the only one who blared it like that was Craig when he was working in his art studio. Granted, it was a small complex with only four other tenants but If you could hear it, then so could they and you had to wonder how they could deal with it, BUT, at least his taste in music was right up your alley and when you entered the building, the artist's distinct voice could not be mistaken. You always loved a good David Bowie tune....and this one seemed rather fitting for what you walked in on. How relevant it was for you as well.

Upon nearing his wide open studio door, the strong odor of paint and sweet cigars stung your nose. You weren't sure what was worse as you walked in. The smell or the vision of him lying on a wheeled platform, desperately engrossed in smearing yellow paint over a giant canvas with his bare hands, silver rings on and all.

The closer you got as you walked up behind him undetected, it was clear that he was not only drunk as you glanced down at his glass of blood red wine and two empty wine bottles on the floor, but he was in a very deep state of despair. He appeared as if he had just rolled out of bed, although he didn't look as if he had even slept at all as your astonished eyes rolled over him from head to toe. His dark hair was wildly awry as was his normally groomed facial hair and his feet were as bare as his revealing bare bottomed butt crack which you highly doubted he gave two fucks about considering anyone could walk in just as you did.

You now had the problem of getting his attention without startling him, for you knew why he was in the condition he was in because the last time you had just walked in unannounced, you were accidentally almost struck with a can of blue paint due to his fit of rage, and right now, he looked like a ticking time bomb ready to explode. With all that taken into consideration, you decided to just pull the plug on the music and hope he didn't pull a gun on you this time as you tensed up from the thought.

Craig quickly sat up at the sound of silence, gave you a curious glance over and then the only thing he reached for was his paint covered glass that he picked up by the rim and drank from after asking you "what's up?"

"Hey." you softly answered. "Sorry to just barge in but...I...I have been trying to reach you. Are...are you alright?"

"Well now. Is that somewhat of a rhetorical question? Do I look alright? Unless you're here to tell me that you know where my daughter is, then that would be a big fat no. Fancy seeing you here just Josie. I thought you hated my guts?"

Judging by his well noted inebriated sarcasm, you could tell it was going to be a walk on egg shells type of conversation and you still weren't exactly sure if he knew that you knew Blaise had been right within his grasp before she vanished into thin air. You figured he would have instantly called you out if he knew, but Craig didn't seem to be the type that got straight to the point about things. You had the distinct feeling he was the type that liked to toy with people like a cat does with it's prey. An intimidation tactic per se and it was surely working, so you decided to just come clean and face his claws.

"No. I..I don't know where she is and I...I don't hate you. Not even a little bit but you may not like me so much. Craig I...about Blaise...I need to tell you something that I should have much sooner. I just...I didn't know...how to."

There was a brief silence as he peered up at you and you could see the curiosity growing in his dilated blues.

"Not even a little bit huh? Hmmph. Must be pretty bad, whatever you did, if you're worried about me not liking you after what I did to you. Alright then love, I'll bite. Is my curiosity going to kill the cat? You seem pretty skittish right now."

The fact that he basically just read your mind regarding the cat references made you gulp and then it just got worse when you couldn't find the words.

"Cat....got your tongue just Josie?"

"Ok, please just stop with the cat thing already."

"Mrrrow!! Feisty one are we?" he shot off as he grinned and raised his hand, making a swiping gesture with his fingers.

"Craig! Stop it and listen before I lose my nerve."

"Jeesh. I think you need this wine as bad as I do. Have a drink. It'll calm your nerves. There's another bottle in the fridge. Would you be a doll and fetch it for us?"

"It's....10 a.m. Craig."

"Yeah and your point is? There's no time restrictions for drinking in your own home and even if there were, I don't follow the rules. I make them. It's 5 o'clock all the time in my world."

"Fine. Whatever."

You went and got the wine and a clean glass for yourself and him too because you couldn't stand watching him put his lips on wet paint.

"Here. Wipe your hands off." you commanded as you handed him a towel and opened the wine.

"Yes mommy." he chuckled and did as you told him. "Now. Have a seat and let's hear it."

"I..I'd rather stand."

"Suit yourself then. Cheers."

Craig raised his glass and knocked it all back in three gulps, then gazed up at you with a happy grin as you took a nervous sip.

"What the hell was that? Only a mouse could get drunk on that. Come on now, down the hatch."

You felt like a mouse alright, caught in a mouse trap as your anxiety began to slowly choke you. Enough was enough. You downed the wine and blurted out what you did.

"Craig..I..I knew Blaise was at Angel's before she was taken and I should have told you but I didn't because I was dealing with Jason and some other things."

His reaction was just as you had expected it would be. Shock, which was written all over his exhausted face.

"Is that so?"

"Y..yes." you softly squeaked and then began rambling. "And I..I am SO SO sorry. I was at Lee's and I saw Liz drop her off and I..I did try to call you. I texted too but you didn't answer or reply and then some other things happened and I...I had to go meet Jason and then I..."

"And then you just forgot about my daughter?? Does that sound about right? Because she didn't go missing until 48 fucking hours later. Did you forget where I live too?? but suddenly, you remembered today??"

In his aggravation, Craig purposely picked up the paint covered glass and filled it to the rim with more wine, then took a hefty gulp.

"Craig, so much happened. Obviously, Liz was attacked and then later she died and.."

He cut you off again as his agitation increased.

"And yet I still did not hear from you until now and now that I have, all I hear are bullshit excuses."

"I mean, that's two fucking days Jo. You were certainly able to go meet Jason but not come here. Last time I checked, your brother is a big boy who can handle his own problems, which is exactly what he's selfishly doing after all I did for him, but a 4 year old child is helpless Jo! I'm sure you slept too right? All snuggy in your bed, playing doctor with the doctor, all the while that piece of shit Ethan was plotting to kidnap Blaise. I even tried to protect you from him, right after you slapped me stupid and told me you never wanted to see my face again. Eh, that don't even matter. What matters is Blaise and it could have been prevented if I HAD KNOWN that she was merely 50 fucking feet away from you and so here I am now, daughterless and drunk. You know what I've been doing in my spare time since I have exhausted all my resources in locating her? It's like she has fallen off the face of the earth."

Craig put on some old cheap flip flops and stood up, then pointed down at his painting.

"You see that? I did what you said to try. I used Blaise as some inspiration to try and cure this painter's block I've been dealing with for so long. Did you know she likes bees? So I attempted to paint her a giant fucking bumble bee for when I get her back, or should I say IF I get her back, no thanks to you and certainly none to that dunderheaded detective who shares Ethan's rancid blood. Audacious British fuck writing me into his little black book as a person of interest in Lizzie's death. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a monster, even if I was raised by one."

"Craig, speaking of Cyrus, he happens to be one of the other problems we have been dealing with. Things that have nothing to even do with this. So much more has happened too and I don't expect you to understand that but I swear to you, I never meant for anything to happen to Blaise. Please...please believe me."

"I'll tell you what I believe. I believe you did this intentionally. What a great way to stick it to me for not telling you your brother was alive huh? Checkmate. You got me good Jo. Gold stars for you. Hit me right where it hurts the most. You're right. I don't like you so much anymore Miss March. I'll have your last months deposit ready for you in a few days and then I expect you out by the end of the month. Now get out of my sight. Good day."

"Craig come on. I would never put your child's life in danger just to get back at you or for any reason!"

As the acrimonious kiwi walked away, completely ignoring you, there was spillage of the yellow paint in his already cluttered pathway and the combination of flimsy flips flops worn by someone sober or tipsy, slick concrete and liquids do not mix.

Down he went as one foot slipped right out from under him and there he laid, stunned and flat out on his back with wine all over his face.

"Craig oh my god!" you gasped as you quickly but carefully made your way to him. "Are you alright??!!"

"There's that question again so I'll answer with the same answer. Do I look alright???" he snapped and attempted to get up, only to slip again and land on his butt.

"Here. Let me help you."

You reached down to him but he smacked your hand away.

"I might be a teeny bit sauced right now, but I'm not an invalid and if I were, I certainly wouldn't want or need any help from the likes of you Jo March."

"Fine." you huffed and then smirked at him. "Good luck then since you're now sitting in a giant smeared puddle of paint. I suppose if you crawl like the petulant child you're being, ass crack and all, you could make it out of your precarious predicament unscathed."

He glared up at you as he thought for a moment about demeaning himself even more than he already had by doing as you said.

"Fine." he also huffed and jerked his sticky hand out to you.

You took his hand and began to pull. As he pushed himself up with his other hand, his foot slipped out again and this time, he pulled you right down on top of his chiseled chest.

"Well now. Now who's in a precarious predicament Einstein? Now we're both covered in paint and not to mention fucked, just not in the way I would like." he boasted with a cheesy smirk as you both were nose to nose and damn near mouth to mouth. So close that his facial hair tickled your upper lip and his hot sweet wine breath made you drunk in a way that it shouldn't have as you and he stared into each other's eyes.

You quickly broke the trance he had you in and pushed your way up off of him.

"Come on Craig. Get up so I can leave. Now is clearly not the time to talk to you."

You reached down again, but made sure you were in a good stance to pull him up this time. Once he was securely on his feet, you handed him another towel to wipe the wine from his face and when he was finished, things became a bit awkward and silent for a moment as he fidgeted and fought having eye contact with you.

"I uh...I think I broke your glasses." you mumbled as you glanced at the black framed spectacles hanging from the frayed neckline of his knit shirt.

His head snapped down to look at them and then his defenses were right back up.

"Oh...well, no biggie. What's one more thing you've broken? I've got more, although... I don't have another daughter. I'm going to bed. See yourself out."

This time, Craig safely made his way back to his apartment entrance without a single glance back at you and then you quietly left. When you returned to your own apartment down the hall, you immediately took a long hot shower to decompress and cried your eyes out the entire time. Once you were finished, you sat down with a chilled bottled of wine you had in the fridge to try and calm your nerves. The conversation with Craig had went just as you imagined it in your head many times and he had every right to be angry with you. You should have went straight to him and met Jason later. Blaise would be safe and sound with Craig right now and you were the reason she was not, and for that, you were going to make it your mission to find her yourself and bring her home. You didn't have a cue as to how, but you were to try and make things right.

But of course, while trying to think about where to start, your mind betrayed you as all your thoughts went right back to Lee, but you knew they would once you were no longer distracted. How in the hell were you going to stay away from him this time if you couldn't even sit still without thinking of him??

The one glass of wine that early in the morning had caught up with you and made you somewhat sleepy and it wasn't long before you dozed off on the couch without even realizing it. Meanwhile, in a small town called Grandview, 15 miles from Salem, Dr. Dave had just returned home from a much needed getaway.

As he sat at his kitchen table, drinking a beer, reading your texts and listening to your voicemails, he contemplated calling you until he heard a noise in the living room. Dave lived alone and had no pets, so it was either his older but newly remodeled house still settling or....it was what is usually was. A ghost. And he had the gift to see and speak to them, although he would not call it a gift, but a curse and the only ones who knew were you and his sister Britt.

When he got to the living room doorway, there sat a little boy, about 5 years old with sandy blonde hair and big blue eyes, whom he had never seen before and he just looked at Dave until he spoke to him.

"Hey there. What's your name?"

"Jacob."

"Hello Jacob. I'm Dave."

"I know."

"Alright. Can you tell me why you're here?"

"She needs help."

"Who...needs help?"

"The girl at the train yard. I saw her. The bad man hurt her."

"The train yard??"

"Where mommy was hurt. Over there."

Jacob pointed out the window and Dave then realized he was referring to Train Town. It used to be a public attraction, about a mile away by a state park, but it was shut down many years ago and was now basically a train car graveyard.

"Who's your mommy Jacob?"

"Elizabeth. She died and rode the train."

Dave had to collect himself, for he now knew he was talking to Liz and your Lee's son.

"Ok. I heard about that. I am very sorry Jacob, but...who is the girl you said is hurt? Is she there now?"

"My new and favorite mommy's sister."

"You mean Josie? Her...sister?"

"Mmmhmm."

Dave sprung to his feet and called you, but got no answer so he called your mother Margaret and she confirmed that Megan had not been home since yesterday and that she could not reach her.

"Jacob, can you show me where she is at? It is a really big place."

"Yep. Last one there's a rotten egg!"

Jacob hopped out of his chair and ran out the front door and vanished like the typical fugacious ghost as Dave stood in a transient spell of shock. As his mind resumed focus, he then grabbed his medical bag, raced to his truck and sped off without a thought of the danger that could be waiting for him.

@redeemer46

[laufire]

I'm not replying to those posts because contrary to popular belief I'm not THAT much of a killjoy, I get that there's some degree of tongue-in-cheek, blah blah blah, but. just my two cents.

I'm seeing a lot of attention to jason & alfred's dynamic lately that's all "oh alfred HATES jason, thinks he's the worst, jason's the one that considers alfred family but alfred's classist ass hates him" and listen, by all means, insult alfred, I don't want this to come across as me looking like I give a fuck about how you talk about his character lol. he is not just classist but straight up praises feudal England as the "better days" ajskkdkd. but alfred was perfectly nice in his interactions during jason's time at the manor, telling bruce unprompted that he likes having the kid around, helping him with & praising him about school assignments... and there's "the delusions of alfred pennyworth" in gotham knights #34 aka that adorable, bittersweet story where alfred sees jason's ghost playfully mess around the house.

my point is that alfred is not a consistent character in the comics. you could say that about many people in detective comics comics but imo alfred is a particularly malleable character that functions more like a prop than an independent entity. I think you can unite all of those things into a compelling picture, if you cared to. that compelling picture is not gonna be "lol alfred hated jason and wanted that street urchin gone from minute one 🤮" like that's just... flat and banal. similar to the "lol tim hated robin!jason for replacing his Idol, Dick the True Robin, he hated jason and celebrated his death!!". it's just taken a fanon trend you don't like (alfred behaving grandfatherly with jason or being a Jason Understander, jason being "tim's robin" and all the titan's tower tropes that come with it. I get it, I find those boring as hell too), and going so far in the other direction in the name of "canon compliance" that you actually just land into a particularly baffling, irksome caricature that ignores canon just as much (not that I think it's going to take off, fic wise, just like I don't think "tim hates jason" has. because again, there's nothing there to pull from in a creative way, while the uwu fanon, like it or not, at least enables some level of inventiveness).

meanwhile, look. I don't incorporate whatever prime earth!jason does into my belief system as a general rule (unless it's good and I like it. that happens rarely), and either way at the current point I'm at there's very little to say about jason's view of alfred (which I'm sure will change when alfred is killed and gets canonised). there's that scene where he and tim shit talk his cooking only behind his back (waffles, iirc??), or one scene where alfred scolds jason for not seeing how much he was mourned or something, and then geoff johns tries to convince me it was alfred who put up jason's memorial case in the cave, as if there's a universe where that makes any goddamn sense. and to my knowledge, there's not even an equivalent to alfred's shitty inner monologue about kid!jason in UTRH, so those things don't even exist together (UTRH would have to exists in the first place lol).

regardless, focusing on new earth!jason, post-resurrection... I don't think he mentions alfred once. the very few times we get a peek into his mind (lost days) there's zero attention paid to alfred. he seeks out ways to connect with dick or tim (incredibly unhinged ways but, hey). and obviously bruce is the most important person in his world. but he never seeks out alfred, and jason was someone who reached out to people he wanted to connect with (again, in fucked up ways, we're not discussing that at the moment xDD).

I don't want to turn this into the reverse myself ("lol jason couldn't care less about alfred, it's alfred who has the messy feelings here"), which would be equally flat and banal. there's, again, a wide array of options to be taken with this information to put together a compelling dynamic. it's just that "jason holds alfred in the highest regard, over everyone else in the bat clan, and alfred thinks of him as nothing but a pest he's glad to be rid of from the get go" is not something that I see compatible with what I, personally, know and believe of canon.

[zero-to-zero-to-zero-again]

Pocket-Sized Sidekick (2)

Link To Part One

Word Count: 1,970

TW's: Fear, Fearplay (Intentional and Unintentional), Violence, Injury, Implications Of Past Abuse, Threats Of Violence

Characters: C!Ranboo, C!Technoblade, C!Dream, C!Philza, C!Wilbur

Summary: Ranboo finds himself in a totally relatable situation where he's been abducted by one of the scariest supervillains in existence.

Ranboo gets bullied in this one >:)

"...dunno, the freezer?"

"I'm not putting a person in our freezer."

"He probably wouldn't take up much room."

"Don't be an idiot. He'll get blood on my ice cream."

"Scratch the hero. Why don't we just put Will in the freezer?"

"Nobody's putting anyone in the freezer."

The world was a bokeh photo. Clarity was slowly afforded to Ranboo. His mind swam as he gradually pushed himself upright. The argument had become little more than background noise. The entirety of his focus was on the sharp pain coursing through his back in bolts.

"Did you even try to get his suit off? See what we're dealing with?"

"Yeah. Things got an airlock or something."

Airlock? His suit had an airlock on it. Nobody could get the thing off without popping his head off in the process. Maybe he should mention something to...to...

Who was talking?

He could have sworn one of the voices sounded familiar and yet he couldn't place it. Ranboo having memory problems? How entirely out of character. A weary groan leaked from his lips. Dream was going to give him an earful for this one.

His eyes slowly lifted to take in his surroundings. It seemed like a normal enough room. A sofa, a television, a couple windows...all of which seemed comically larger than the hero-in-training. Nausea churned Ranboo's stomach.

Three figures jarringly proportionate to their surroundings stood around in the kitchen. As soon as one with suspiciously pink hair started turning towards him, Ranboo pulled a Toy Story maneuver. He immediately went limp as a ragdoll, dropping flat down against the wood surface beneath him.

There was a long pause.

"He's awake," the Blood God's menacing voice rattled his very bones.

"How do you know?" someone else inquired.

"Will, unless you're going soft on me, he's awake."

Shit. Ranboo made every attempt to suppress whatever fear the Blood God was detecting from him but acknowledging it alone only seemed to make grow stronger. His skin was slick with sweat beneath the impossible heat of his suit. It was like being in a greenhouse. Or an oven.

"Little hero."

The gravely voice was a stark contrast to the sing-songy tone it was forcing.

Ranboo dared to open his eyes only to find an all too familiar boar skull towering over him. A shaky sigh slipped from the sidekick's lips. His head lolled to the side like an answer to the call of darkness lulling him straight back into the state of unconscious he'd only just escaped.

A reckless pressure on his side startled him wide awake.

"Aw, don't die yet. If you keel over before we start interrogating, I owe Will twenty bucks."

Interrogating?

He really was screwed. No doubt about it. The only real question was whether the stress or the villain would do him in first.

"You'll be out a Jackson if you keep poking him like that," someone else from the kitchen pointed out.

The pressure hastily retreated.

"What'd you find on this guy?" the Blood God inquired. He canted his head like a confused puppy. "He seems kinda spineless for a hero."

Ouch. Mentally, physically, emotionally. What ways hadn't this guy wounded Ranboo?

It wasn't like the villain was even wrong. In fact, if Ranboo miraculously made it out of this alive, he swore to himself that he'd resign right then and there. Turn in his badge and what little was left of his suit and beg for his server job back.

"Nope. Our mini-man here is a ghost," a heavily accented voice replied.

"Alright, Casper, I'm going to need you to take your helmet off so we can have a little chat," the Blood God stated. Ruby ringlets in hollow eye sockets kept Ranboo pinned in place. The bright eyes cast a warm glow against the beige bone material of the skull on the villain's head.

No way in fresh hell was he taking off his helmet. It may have been busted in by the foot of the villain he'd stumbled across in the alleyway but it was the only thing standing between him and the three villains in the room with him.

"What, d'ya want me to say please?" the Blood God drawled. He brandished the dagger from his hip, giving it a skillful twirl between his fingers. Without warning, the blade was buried in the wood mere inches from Ranboo's head. "Or are ya looking for some proper motivation?"

The sidekick's heart stuttered to a halt in his chest. Where he once found fear within the red eyes bearing down on him, he was bombarded solely with promises of death. Demise. Something worse. He didn't usually make a point of considering fates worse than death but it was impossible to ignore when they were looking you straight in the face.

It was like he was frozen but couldn't stop twitching all the same.

"I-I can't," Ranboo ground out between chattering teeth. He could hardly breathe.

"Why not?" the Blood God demanded.

"Dream'll kill me if I show you my face."

The broad man let out a dark chuckle.

"You're really more scared of that homeless Teletubby than you are of me?"

There was a pause. The ever-present grin on the villain's face faltered. He leaned back only a hair's width but even that much was a mercy.

"Wait, seriously?" he asked in bewilderment. Ranboo felt the urge to apologize. Scaring people was kind of his whole brand and while he was doing a bang-up job, nothing was more terrifying than the prospect of pissing off Dream.

Someone let out a hardy laugh from the kitchen. The Blood God shot a lethal glare in their direction.

"He's more scared of a smiley face in tights than he is of you!" they wheezed. "You fell off, Techno."

The Blood God reached forward without looking. Ranboo braced himself only to find the villain's fingers wrapped around the hilt of the dagger beside him. With disturbingly little effort, he pried the knife free of its wooden prison and threw it with inhuman grace.

With the sound of something shattering into pieces followed by an indignant squawk, the laughter ceased all at once.

"That was my favorite mug!"

The Blood God scoffed. "You say that about every mug I break."

"Stop breaking my mugs!"

"Stop making them such easy targets!"

"Oh you-"

"Uh-uh," a third voice-Phil, Ranboo presumed-interjected. "Take it outside."

"With pleasure," the Blood God snarled. He rose to his full, intimidating height. It was like he'd forgotten about Ranboo altogether. Not that he was complaining, of course. He cracked his knuckles as he strode off. Ranboo pitied whoever he was planning on squaring off against.

Two sets of footsteps retreated somewhere through the house. It wasn't until a door slammed shut that the chaos resumed, only this time it was far too muffled to make any of it out.

Ranboo was slow to push himself upright. Even so, pain zipped through his abdomen in reprimand. He drew in a hissing breath.

"Take it easy, mate," Phil prompted. He slowly came into view as he shuffled around the side of the sofa to kneel before the coffee table. Even without the costume, Ranboo easily recognized him. Only one villain in his memory bank had massive black wings like those.

Corvus.

"I want to help you but I can't really do that unless I see where you got hurt," Phil tried. He had a deceptively kind smile. When Ranboo didn't respond, he seemed to try a different approach. "The crows told me you seem to be having a bit of a glitch with your suit. Maybe I could help with that?"

Right. The crows. The whole reason this group of villains in particular seemed to have eyes everywhere was because they did. The crows were like little spies. Ranboo wasn't sure how it worked but somehow, the birds always got back to Corvus.

"Are you supposed to be...'good cop' or something?" Ranboo asked between pants.

Corvus chuckled.

"Something like that, I suppose. Look, I've been through this routine a dozen times. We take a hero, we get the info we can, the hero organization bargain for them, and we give them back with only a few strings attached. But I'd really rather not return a corpse because that would look pretty bad on us, wouldn't it? So just let me take a look, we'll get you patched up, and then you'll be on your way in no time."

So much of what Corvus said didn't make sense and yet, he made it sound like the most logical explanation he could convey. Was this gaslighting? This felt like gaslighting.

The sidekick sighed.

"Dream's not going to give you anything for me. There's plenty of recruits worth wasting the resources on but I'm not one of them."

The villain tilted his head in consideration.

"Is that so? Well, then I really should get working on those injuries if you're going to be staying a while," Corvus pointed out.

Ranboo drew in a deep breath. Weighing his options, there were only a few things within the realm of his capabilities. He could just lay there and wait for the bloodloss to pull him under, he could try to make a run for it, or he could take the suit off and pray that the villain was being genuine in their concern for his wellbeing.

None of them seemed to have an assuredly good outcome so he'd just have to go with the one that might give him the best chance of living.

He raised his hands under his helmet. The glove let out a weak chime as it connected to the mechanisms within. He drummed in a quick combinations of buttons and the lock reluctantly clicked out of place. With a deep breath, slowly raised his only method of protection up off his head.

With even more hesitation, he pulled his suit down around his ankles. He was just glad protocol called for them to wear clothes beneath the super suits. Otherwise he'd feel even more exposed than he did in that moment.

When he his gaze trailed back up to meet Corvus', he found the man gawking down at him with his hands clasped over his mouth. Did Ranboo really look that bad?

"How...how old are you?" Phil blurted. His tan complexion had faded to a sickly grey.

Ranboo chewed at his lower lip. Was he really meant to answer that? Then again, what harm would it do?

"Seventeen."

Something unreadable sparked to life in Phil's eyes.

"Does Dream know that?"

Ranboo's focus shifted elsewhere.

"I-I guess? He's the one that hired me."

Phil continued on staring for far too long before hooking his index fingers into his mouth. He let out a shrill whistle that nearly shattered Ranboo's eardrums. Right on command, a flutter of wings sounded overhead. A sleek, black bird claimed its perch on Phil's waiting arm.

"Go get Wilbur," Phil instructed.

The crow let out a caw before taking off in the direction the Blood God had gone off in.

Ranboo raked through his words with a fine-toothed comb in search of something he'd said that could have shocked Phil so badly but he came up with nothing. A not-so-convincing smile was plastered on the blonde man's face as he returned his attention to the tiny hero waiting on the coffee table.

"You just wait here, okay? Wilbur will take care of you. I just have to...er...grab the first aid kit."

The villain took off before Ranboo could even get another word in. He was left standing there wallowing in his own confusion. Ranboo had learned a thing or two about identifying a lie during his time working under Dream. The only real question that remained was:

Why was Phil lying to him?

[nikrei]

July Comics Round Up

Trying something new where I actually record this as I read and not all at once at the end of the month.

Hawk & Dove (14-28) (1990-1991)

V v good!! I love Dove she's my baby girl, and by the end of it Hawk was even starting to grow in me like a fungus. Also, thank gawd they stuck to their guns and never did a romance between Hawk and Dove, I really liked their love interests. (Also Babs shows up!!! Love love love) this finished up this run, it was pretty short. 100% recommended reading, especially if you are interested in the lords of chaos/order dynamics.

Doctor Fate (14-31) (1990-1991)

One thing I can say about DeMatteis's run is that despite all the weird "xtianity is the true religion" overtones, the insistence that the center of the universe, the greatest power behind everything, is pure unending joyful compassionate LOVE really gets to me. Could do without the overwhelming unsubtle proselytizing tho. Messner-Loebs follow-up is sooooo good tho holy shit, love love love the social commentary going on.

Starman (20-37) (1990-1991)

Will is such a good boy but he can be so dumb sometimes. Watching him learn and grow is very fun! This run strikes a good balance of drama humor and sincerity.

Doom Patrol (30-44) (1990-1991)

Excellent storytelling, and i got to meet Danny the Street!! Morrisons run is practically crossing itself over with the magnus archives they fit so well together. A little out of step with the rest of dc's mythology but that's sort of the point of it <3

Hellblazer (27-45) (1990-1991)

Most of 1990 I was thinking that John is really not doing a lot of magic stuff, just getting into wierd situations then 91 hit and bam, lung cancer soul selling arc! It was exciting to read after seeing it mentioned in so many places.

Swamp Thing (91-109) (1990-1991)

Okay Wheeler has me feeling all sorts of ways. Obviously his whole deal with planetary afterlifes has me going insane, but also he is so so wierd about christianity like his whole set up of the eden situation with angels that consult god, its all so awkward with established Swamp Thing mythos. Also, the Grey has been introduced and posites that fungus and decay are extraterrestrial life imposed on earth and I sort of hate it. Back in Moore's run, towards the beginning, all discussion of decay was as a part of ecosystems which is true! Having decay be an imposed malicious force is sooooooo dumb I hate it. Wheeler can tell a story but all his subject matter is sus as hell.

The Demon (1-16) (1990-1991)

Does not further my blood/etrigan agenda as much as I would like, but it is pretty fun. Also Klarion and Lobo showed up which was exciting

Batman (443-469) (1990-1991)

It's timbo's time to shine! They really are shilling hard for this kid, but I love him so its okay.

Detective Comics (612-637) (1990-1991)

Frustrating that Jason's name is anathema until tim shows up and then it's all victim blame-y bullshit to make tim look better.

Robin (1-5) (1991)

This is one of the first dc comics I read! So it was very exciting to come back to it with a better understanding of everything going on, especially more Shiva background. Also, new version of Ace the bathound showed up!

Legends of the Dark Knight (1-20) (1989-1991)

Some good stories but I am so tired of the clumsy mystic noble savage trope that these authors love to pull when they involve indigenous folk. Also, the more stories that happen that take up months the funnier i think it is that all of these have to be happening in the first the years of Bruce's career because Dick isn't there yet.

New Titans (65-80) (1990-1991)

Jumped back into the town just in time for my last favorite arc, Wildebeest Jericho, doing my precious baby boy wrong on every possible level. Good slade content yeah, but at what cost? And it gets all mucked up with the Armageddon 2001 event in a way that is just messy storytelling.

The Flash (34-54) (1990-1991)

Wally is my dumb little guy and he is living and learning and trying his best. I'm so glad that he has a full pit crew for his high powered racehorse disposition. Also he got a dog named mercury! So far this run has been a good mix of funny and sincere, action and drama. Deffo recommend.

Suicide Squad (37-57) (1990-1991)

Amanda Waller is really peak boss in these issues. She's softened up in some ways and gotten sharper in others. Very fun to see the squad do the freelance thing. And also BABS IS HERE!! (Oops I mean 'amy') I love her ahhhh

Captain Atom (37-57) (1990-1991)

Finished this one up, all in all it's a good run. Nathan is an interesting hero and there's a lot of themes about truth vs lies and the shitty nature of the us military, but also there are some very funny silly moments. Recommended!

Animal Man (23-40) (1990-1991)

Holy shit Morrison's run was so gooood, 4th wall breaking meta level shit I'm very into it. A very wierd follow-up after that, but it involved Animal Man positing multiverse theory that spit in the face of ordained dc canon (but aligns with my thoughts on the subject hell yeah) But yeah, Buddy is going thru the wars in this.

Green Arrow (29-50) (1990-1991)

They are really leaning into this whole "Ollie kills people now" thing. Also, Dinah continues to be a footnote in service to Ollie's story and I hope she leaves him soon. They aren't bad stories but I think Grell leans too hard into the 'Dark and Gritty.'

The Question (34-36) (1990)/Question Quarterly (1-5) (1990-1992)

If I had realized there were only three issues left on the og I would have just finished it up last time! Proud of Vic for leaving Hub City, truly the worst city in America. Conversely, also proud of Myra for staying and trying to fix things. As far as quarterly goes, I can't believe what they did to Jackie holy hell. Honestly, as far as the whole series goes, the downward spiral of Hub City is so extreme that it really is just a reflection of how everything is getting more uneccessarily dark and gritty on a meta level.

Action Comics (252-285) (1959-1962)

And I am officially back in the silver age!! I started 'Tec/Batman when Batgirl showed up so I figured I'd start Action/Superman when Supergirl showed up! Tbh silver age doesn't really do it for me, so I am skimming these just a bit sometimes, but it really is fun to see just how wacky things could get back then! Also, Clark is wayyy too mean to Kara!! She's always crying wanting to be adopted and have a loving family and he's like! Too bad! Be my secret weapon! Also, these comics have such a messed up idea of adoption and kids having to prove that they're worthy of being loved and the adults shopping around. Is that just what things were like?? Anyway in 285 she's revealed to the world! She has a loving family with the Danvers! It's everything I wanted!!

Superman (130-150) (1959-1962)

Started this at a point to be contemporary with AC. Silver age Clark is certainly a guy, I'm collecting panels of him eating weird things. Also, 60s Lois is the gal of all time absolutely. I sorta can't wait until socials mores move away from "women must want to be married, immediately." Also this current continuity has the Kent's having died before Clark moved to Metropolis, which is sorta wild.

Adventure Comics (247-280) (1958-1961)

The Superboy stuff is honestly really silly when you think of all this shit happening while Clark is a very narrow age range, but also they keep referring to things that happened in previous comics as happening a few years ago in universe. Time isn't real baybee! Anyway I started here because it was the first issue with the Legion! I didn't realize that I was getting Green Arrow and Aquaman backups until I started so that was a fun bonus, especially getting to read Garth's first appearance! Honestly I love that in this time period Arthur is sorta just a homeless loser who has nothing to do with Atlantis but is calling himself the king of the sea anyway.

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (40-58) (1959-1962)

Jimmy is the sokka of the group sorry I don't make the rules I just say the cursed truth.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane (1-28) (1958-1961)

This comic truly is gaslight gaslight girlboss. Aka 66% is Clark gaslighting Lois about superman and the other 34% is Lois being a v 50s/60s girlboss, I love her so much, but oh my gawd this time period goes hard on MARRIAGE. I will be honest the gender essentialism in this does get very annoying. Its in all of the comics but is most focused in this one because it's about Human-Woman Lois Lane.

World's Finest Comics (100-123) (1959-1962)

For the most part I'm not that into these because there's not much actual character interaction, its all just new fight with a new gimmick. This is especially obvious in the Green Arrow backups where they only have 6 pages and it's all to showcase the newest arrow. Didn't read any of the Tommy Tomorrow backups sorry my dude i do not know u i do not care.

Green Lantern (1-10) (1960-1962) + Showcase (22-24) (1959)

This is a lot of fun! I think I like silver age comics like GL and Flash better than batman or superman because they are new characters with no status quo to uphold. Hal can do a lot with his ring, like transmuting matter, that I'm pretty sure can't be done these days, which will be neat to watch develop.

Justice League of America (1-8) (1960-1962) + Brave and the Bold (28-30) (1960)

Fine!! I caved!! I let my terrible completionist nature get the better of me and I'm gonna read the first 75 of these that I skipped last time. Its sorta wild tho, because reading the solos of this time period you'd think that nobody is sharing the same world except superman and batman, and aquaman sometimes, but then there they are on the justice league! (No seriously, superman has been to at least two separate "mysterious Amazon islands" that have nothing to do with paradise island. And he's never made mention of knowing an amazon.)

So my recording as I go experiment has worked, which is honestly a really good thing because I would be really hard pressed to review the stuff from before my time jump right now, oops.

[ryuichirou]

Idk if vouyerism is your vibe but your HCs/ships/comics have been giving me thoughts (uhhh dubcon vouyerism thoughts below - just a warning if that's not someone's vibe lol)

I feel like Sebek might be kind of a vouyer (based on that one comic where he was spying on Malleus) and maybe he overhears Lilia with Malleus or Silver and tries to avoid detection and muffle his moans as he jacks off to the sound/sight of them (Lilia knows ofc - and probably Malleus too lol)

Perhaps Vil too (although more in the sense that he might watch Rook railing Epel when he isn't in the mood to be ruined by the hunter, maybe because he's got plans for the day after idk.) I can also see Rook getting overzealous and making even more of a mess out of Epel than usual. It scares the shit outta apple boy if your HCs are anything to go by

I remember something in-game mentioned how Kalim would use the security cameras around his home to spy on Jamil while they were growing up - Kalim would probably continue doing that right? Jamil and... Perhaps Azul (I can't remember if you ship him with anyone else haha) having sex in Jamil's room and Kalim is just watching through a camera he had installed in there and getting off on it idk

I think that's all I got. Hope you liked it, haha ( ・w・⁠)

Ohh Anon, these are fun 👀 I can kinda picture all three of these scenarios.

The Sebek one is just canon lol, it might even become a habit of his, a well-kept secret, that is actually not even a secret, because, just like you said, Lilia and Malleus could easily detect that he is here. Probably Silver too…

And poor Epel, he really is at this couple’s mercy lol, so it works well too.

If Kalim has cameras to spy on Jamil, it’s honestly hilarious, but also completely understandable – Jamil is gorgeous. He’d probably get quite confused when he sees Jamil with Azul, he had no idea these two were together, why didn’t Jamil tell him? Of course, that doesn’t mean he won’t get off, I mean come on…

[zeroducks-2]

Where did canon SladexTalia even come from? Were they always some sort of fuck buddies or is it a retcon? And what's going on with Talia's 'oooh I don't know who's Damian's father. maybe it's Bruce 😙 or maybe it's Slade😘hehe' *groan* that was so cringy. And why did she want to have a child with Slade? It was so sudden and came out of nowhere. I just can't get my head around it.

If you mean this

It comes from the fact that Christopher Priest is an absolute troll.

So basically Slade and Talia have a fling in Deathstroke Rebirth, the run written by Priest in 2016 (the same that gave us Slade sleeping with Joseph's fiancée and killing a dog for no reason, yeah that run is wild) and at some point Talia puts out there the notion that Damian might not be Bruce's son, but actually Slade’s (since apparently they used to have a fling back then too).

Now this is obviously a retcon, and it obviously makes no sense. If we go by the original version, Talia got pregnant while she and Bruce where together but she had a miscarriage - or so she told Bruce, because actually the child survived and Damian was born. Later on this was changed with the more famous, more spicy controversial version in which Talia drugged and raped Bruce to get herself impregnated (or to get Bruce's semen and grow Damian in vitro. Depends on the version).

In both cases there's no way the child can be anyone's but Bruce: in the first it's because she got preggered by him while they were having a relationship and it's a situation where she could have not been seeing anyone else (not even behind Bruce's back), and in the second case because why in the fudge should she have gone through all the trouble of drugging and raping the man only to NOT have a child with him and instead having it with Slade? Like WTF.

Also I recall that when Damian initially appeared, Bruce ran dna tests to make sure the boy was actually his, obviously. Imagine the world's greatest detective and the most paranoid man alive taking "btw this is your son bye" at face value.

So why the whole "Slade might be Damian's dad" thing? As I mentioned because Priest is a troll or so I'm inclined to believe. He really did not want to write Deathstroke Rebirth, and what way is there to piss fans off more than putting into question their beloved biological link between Batman and his bLoOd sOn (I love Damian but some fans and some DC writers alike tend to be a tiny little bit excessive over the whole "batman's son" thing, like calm down bro you're the ones pushing for a nuclear family dynamic for the whole "batfamily", but somehow at the same time Damian is Bruce's only "real" son like what the hell is wrong with you).

As my ex housemate once said, it would have been fucking funny if Slade was Damian's father in that timeline, even if it didn't make a lick of sense, just because everyone was losing their collective shit. But regardless if Priest did it to troll people, or if it was just a lame way to create some drama-driven plot, there was no way they were going to actually allow him to canonize it.

If there's anything about it in other comics beside Deathstroke Rebirth I am not familiar with them.

[sobeksewerrat]

you know…. I wouldn’t mind if you talked about Zipp in your rewrite idea that you mentioned 👉👈

...You will live to regret what you have just unleashed. Not only are you asking about terrible built up brainrot, you are also asking about my second favourite in the rewrite.

(P.S I am working off the movie and Make Your Mark here since my little sister refuses to watch Tell Your Tale and doesn't know about the comics and can barely even read, and I only watch MLP with her)

Anyways, LONG ANSWER INCOMING.

Before beginning with Zipp, I need to fix up some wordbuilding so bear with me!!

I won't go into full detail because that needs its own post but I will go basic overview of Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood.

So, in the movie Izzy mentions how unicorns thought all Earth Ponies were dumb asf. And we also saw Canterlogic tech to counter that.

Well, in my rewrite, earth ponies (being extremely paranoid about unicorns and pegasi and having no magic ever) advanced themselves and made a lot of technology basically to combat them. Eventually, the became the most advanced of the ponykinds, and they are the only place with WiFi and stuff (if I am forced to keep it).

For Bridlewood, I will lean HEAVILY into the superstitious stuff. I imagine unicorns will fall into stories about magic being evil and start living with nature and not really advance much due to the amount of fear generated by them losing the main thing that helped them everyday.

Now: Zephyr Heights. I don't like that it is in the clouds. I barely remember G4 (I was a little kid when it came out and I won't rewatch it). However, I remember vaguely that pegasi had a special type of magic that allowed them to walk on clouds and live on them.

Since G5 is a direct sequel where they have no magic- that literally wouldn't make any sense. Instead, they will live on the mountain in the movie and somewhat adapt to it.

And for how it is I want it to be a 70s and early 2000s mashup, because I think that would be cool (seriously no other reason sometimes you gotta pick aesthetics over logic, that or lean heavy into medieval royalty shit. nothing is set completely in stone with the worldbuilding)

Still sorta figuring out how the "only royals can fly" lie stuff will work out but whatever.

Anyway, ZEPHYRINA!! I love her omg.

-> Her Role as A Princess:

Definitely hates it. Not to borrow too much from Dash, but she is definitely a free spirit. Unlike her mother and sister, she doesn't like the spotlight and doesn't make many public appearancs, so the kingdom views her as a mysterious enigma, and she is the subject of MANY conspiracy theories (which are amped up to 1000 after their lie is exposed and the whole thing about working with other ponykinds to restore magic comes up).

She definitely reads all the conspiracies about her, out of pure curiosity and to see how accurate they are.

I sadly don't have this part fully fleshed out as I am conflicted between having her family permanently dethroned or not (on one hand, great drama. On the other, it wouldn't feel right not having Pipp as a princess) so moving on-

-> Detective Zipp Storm! (Also bit of backstory)

I am so excited to talk about this!! (I am an Ace attorney, Danganronpa, Detective Conan and Ahmed Khalid Tawfik fan, of course I am excited abt mystery)

[Pre-Make Your Mark/Movie]:

You know how Izzy got Sunny's lantern and that's why she went to Maretime Bay? Well, why the fuck doesn't Zipp get one too?

Basically, after Izzy recieves the lantern, she is beyond excited to have new pony friends! So, she makes her own lantern with its own letter and sends it off.

Only this letter reaches Zipp, who was sneaking out of the palace trying to practice a way to fly.

And that one letter leaves Zipp confused. She was sheltered her whole life thinking unicorns and earth ponies were evil and wanted to kill the pegasi and she was skeptical of the letter, even as a child.

She hid it away and would reread it every once in a while, thinking over the message inside about how she had friends in Bridlewood. She was sheltered and kept inside the Palace almost her whole life, she didn't really have any friends. The letter made her feel less lonely, somehow.

That tapped into her ever-growing curiosity and she wanted to research more about unicorns.

So Zipp would spend hours in the Royal library (which will definitely be bigger in my rewrite) digging up old books on Equestria before losing magic (since most newer ones were about her pegasi ancestors exclusively). Her main objectives were to find out more about the other ponykinds and to find a way to restore the pegasi's ability to fly and return to living on the clouds.

She would also stare at old murals and statues at stuff, analysing the shit out of them.

That's why she wouldn't be very scared of Sunny and Izzy when they wind up in Zephyr Heights (I am planning to keep the movie's general plot similar).

I wanna avoid spoiling too much of the movie and the series' plots and we're moving to "still unsure of this/planning" territory.

So we're gonna do this part with bullet points

Zipp definitely gets a design shift between the movie and make your mark. I am still planning out both of the designs (mainly as gijnkas cuz I can't draw horses)

Zipp and Misty's relationship will probably be the most fleshed out. They had so much potential. Zipp starts out being skeptical, starts trusting Misty a bit after realizing she's just awkward, they have a few heart-to-hearts, they become really close, then BAM! The reveal happens and Zipp is just feels absolutely betrayed and stupid and maybe cries a bit. And afterwards they start repairing their relationship bit by bit, but it takes a while since Zipp isn't really willing to go back to being close friends again.

I want Zipp to develop a stronger friendship with Sunny and Izzy, since they were both technically the reason she started breaking away from the prejudice against other ponies ingrained into her as a kid and made her feel less lonely. Zipp and Sunny could easily bond over research about Twilight and the old Mane Six and cross reference eachother.

For Zipp and Izzy, I imagine that Zipp would generally be very stressed all the time, and Izzy would always try to get her to relax a bit (and maybe get her to do craft projects with her). They just kinda hang out, yknow? Idk I just want more platonic fluff.

Pipp and Zipp's relationship- well, you'll see once I start posting about it 😈

Hitch and Zipp will probably have the same relationship in the show and movie, I can't really find any way to improve it, honest.

Anyways, I am so sorry this took so long to answer, nd sorry if the answer isn't satisfying I've just been very busy.

Hopefully I will get to talk more about it soon <3

@cringelordofchaos

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Do you think there's a connection between the 80s and 90s comics mostly only mentioning him offhand without actual appearances and modern comics like Twojar or One Bad Day making him more violent and increasingly taking away his gimmick ? Because I feel like it's two different approaches to the same idea of wanting to have a villain whose thing is being 'smart' on hold in case they want a story where Batman shows off his mental capabilities but not wanting to deal with everything else that comes with the character like the goofyness or having to come up with riddles that don't suck

oh man okay this is such an interesting question and I'm so excited to be able to revisit it when my reread gets into the 2000s and have more perspective to offer

for the time being I do think that it's fair to say that making the Riddler a central antagonist in a story is challenging because he has, like, a relatively narrow gimmick compared to a lot of other rogues and having to actually come up with riddles is a tall order that a lot of writers simply don't want to fuck with.

personally I think the best way to embrace this is to just acknowledge that the riddles are going to be balls to the wall stupid and let the audience understand that Batman is equally unhinged for being able to solve them at all. Batman '66 is frankly great at this, best exemplified in this scene from the movie that no other Batman adaptation has topped yet:

what are any of you talking about! you sound crazy! they are right though, and that's what living in Gotham does to a motherfucker.

for the record I think Batman Forever also actually does this really well without being quite as unhinged. the riddles are actually pretty solid and straightforward; Bruce solves them easily but the real challenge is in putting them together at the end to figure out who's actually behind everything. (it's Jim Carrey, serving cunt.) it's maybe the only part of the movie that actually shows any restraint at all, and I respect that.

the thing is that this approach kind of falls apart if you want to do a more grounded take on Batman that presents the Riddler as the legitimate threat despite being a man who on purpose calls himself the Riddler. I dog on Batman 2022 a lot but at least there you can (charitably) read Paul Dano's shitty little puzzles as being intentionally messy owing to the fact that his Riddler is, you know, a sopping wet miserable catholic redditor who's really just trying to kiss Batman. I do genuinely like that his master plan is incoherent enough that Bruce doesn't crack all of it and misses vital pieces, it's a nice spin on an inexperienced Batman + the complexity addiction that Riddler schemes are so known for.

and like, to be clear, I do still think that Riddler sucks, but other attempts to make him a serious antagonist are so much worse. you mentioned War of Jokes and Riddles and One Bad Day, the latter of which I do think is just. appallingly misguided on literally every imaginable front and betrays an embarrassing lack of understanding of what people actually like and find entertaining about the character in favor of scrubbing him down to a bog standard Hannibal Lecter-flavored evil genius serial killer manipulator.

which is a fine stock character, where would comic books be without easily recognizable bad guy archetypes, etc, but god, not the Riddler. where the fuck is the fun in that? he's just a silly little guy in a leotard. please, stop trying to make this guy scary.

for god's sake. he's just a baby.

anyway I get why it happens though and it's Marketing, and I think specifically the very online and instantaneous nature of fandom in the 21st century. detective comics comics needs people reading their comics and, maybe even more importantly, talking about their comics, and that means leaning really heavily on well-established characters the people give a shit about. most readers are going to be more interested, even passively, in the Riddler than Random Smart Guy Murderer #623, because he's been around for a long time and he's a very ingrained part of the lore.

but everything has to be a fucking event with high stakes now, again because attention is currency, so it can never just be, like, "oh no, the Riddler has Batman trapped in a giant hamster maze," it's the Riddler and the Joker beefing and also the Riddler murdering Kite-Man's son for ??? reasons ??? idk man look how fucked up he is! this guy's serious! he has a question mark scar on his chest! please take him seriously!

and also, back to the first point, it's frankly just easier to write a generic egomaniac smart guy than it is to come up with riddles that are even a little bit good or interesting enough to carry an entire plot. I bet Tom King really thought he was doing something when he settled down to write One Bad Day and decided that the riddles were actually just a fucking power inhibitor the Riddler was putting in place to stop his massive brainmeat from killing everybody he came in contact with, but I think it's actually the sign of Tom King being a lil punk bitch, actually. just admit you don't have the sauce to come up with a riddle and pass the gig onto someone else!

anyway this is why most of my favorite Riddler appearances have him in a supporting role rather than serving as a primary antagonist (think Batman: Unburied, King Tut's Tomb, the Long Halloween/Dark Victory/When In Rome triptych), and his best antagonist appearances have him working with WAY lower stakes that's mostly just trying to get Bruce to pay attention to him (Vol. 2 of the Batman Adventures and Strange Love Adventures 2022).

tl;dr stop trying to make me take this man seriously

[sick-bay]

A list of my favorite whumpees (and characters i want to see more whump of!)

Zuko (from ATLA) - back when I was a kid and watched the show on TV I didn't even know what whump was but I always loved that final fight against Azula (you know, the one where he gets hurt)

Ace (from One Piece) - he’s always been my favorite OP character and I like the found family trope he has going on so I like fics and stuff where the other crew members are taking care of him (pls don’t mention his d-word to me, i WILL cry. Actually, he's alive and well!!)

Todoroki (from BNHA) - he's my favorite character in BNHA and tbh he’s very whumpable (also I really enjoy fics where Aizawa ends up looking after him like the dad he is)

Jason Todd (DC) - i've seen like one batman movie ages ago and i have not read a single batman/outlaws/etc. comic and i do not really plan on changing that BUT i have been following the Wayne Family Adventures webtoon for the past 3 years for fun and i love it! jason is my favorite and i love it when the tough guys get sick/hurt and rendered helpless and vulnerable! there's lots of fics and i'm excited to read them all hehe

Hak (from Akatsuki no Yona) - he canonically gets hurt A LOT and I'm enjoying it. Big, strong, tough guys getting hurt is just chef’s kiss! (I wish there were more fics about it but the manga itself is feeding me quite well so I can’t really complain)

Kaito Kid (from Case Closed/Detective Conan and Magic Kaito 1412) - he's always been my favorite character in the anime and even though I don't keep up with the anime itself, I've watched all the episodes and movies he shows up in lol He's just so whumpable and I love it when when he gets hurt and Shinichi ends up saving him, even though they're rivals.

Vanitas (Vanitas no Carte) - I don’t actively seek out whump content like fics for him but I did enjoy that one episode where he got hurt and ended up with a fever and all that.

Zack Fair (from FF VII) - the kind of whumpee who's loud and cheerful but gets uncharacteristically quiet when he's hurt and/or sick imo! There really isn't enough whump fics about him... Especially not about mentor Angeal and mentee Zack...

Cloud (from FF VII) - another big, tough guy! Very whumpable as well (though there is surprisingly little whumpy fics (and I'm not a fan of psychological whumpy stuff, I prefer it physical with the characters getting bloody and all that <3))!

Noctis (from FF XV) - I only played the game a few months ago (no, we will not talk about the ending. It’s not real) but I've read whump fics and sickfics about him a few years ago already lol Again, I love the found family kinda trope (is it found family if they've all already known each other and have been close for years? Anyways, I love the bond the group has). There is a lot more Noctis whump content than there is Cloud or Zack whump content.)

Suguru Geto (from Jujutsu Kaisen) - HOW COULD I FORGET HIM??? Well probably because there is nowhere near enough whump/sickfic content for him… I am in desperate need for moreeeee!! Maybe the anime onlys will feed me once the new season is out and they'll get to know him… I am hoping that will happen…

Leon (from Resident Evil) - there is NOT enough whump content for Leon! That being said, I enjoy fics where he works together with the BSAA and everything goes to shit and he gets hurt <3 (In my mind he's besties with Claire, Chris and Jill even though canonically he's never even interacted with Jill as far as I'm aware of but that doesn’t matter to me!)

Ghost (from CoD) - honestly I played most CoD games way back when I was in middle school but I never paid much attention to the story itself lmao But because I played the previous games all those years ago I got the new one that was recently released (just because nostalgia, you know?) and it started this new found love for whumpy Ghost. There is NOT enough content of that though (please, I am literally begging, give me more Ghost whump). Another big (like literally, the guy is huge <3), strong dude that I like to see bloody and hurt.

d'Artagnan (from The Musketeers, like the movie or the show or the book idk, just d'Artagnan) - I've known about the Three Musketeers since I was a little girl idk everyone knows them I guess?? ('All for one and one for all!' and all that. It's just famous) but I've only watched that one movie a few years ago (the one with Logan Lerman). Anyways, I enjoy whump fics about him. Simply because he's the 'baby' of the group and the others are like mentors to him and more experienced and even though he's talented and he can hold his ground, I love it when he gets hurt and the others take care of him.

Legolas (from The Lord of the Rings) - I've always loved him. He's always been my favorite but for some strange reason I never thought about whumpee Legolas until like a year ago??? I absolutely love the bromance between him and Aragorn and Gimli and the idea of him talking in elvish with Aragorn when he's hurt and/or feverish is just so dear to me!