#she goes thru so much and yet STILL has so much good in her and that goodness shows even thru her indoctrination

[thedarkstrategist]

So I'm playing bg3, and I got an interaction with shadowheart I haven't gotten before. It's if she's already shown you the memory of her with the wolf and then she fails a save of 'fear of wolves'.

She says that it should come as no surprise that she's afraid of them but the interesting (and upsetting) part comes after.

She says, "The Mother Superior wasn't above using it against me. If I disobeyed, sometimes instead of a whipping, she'd threaten to drag me to a wolf den. Never failed to bring me back in line...Why is it always the bad memories I can still recall?"

Like. God man. I had a feeling Viconia wasn't above corporal punishment but to have Shadowheart confirm it? Breaks my damn heart. And ofc manipulating her with fear.

Also it makes me want to cry how she said the last line. Idk man this is why I can never do dj shadowheart. My hearts too soft. She has been through to much and deserves to be with her family and get to heal.

[assassinhomecreedstuck]

i cant believe ive played world of warcraft for 20 years

[malewifesband]

as big as the friend confession scene is i love this part best. laios is ofc still under the impression that kabru likes monster food and went thru this big effort to make something special for him and then kabru goes out of his way to be so warm and sweet, and frankly a bit flirtatious like i know he thinks that exit killed it

and hes kinda right bc laios cannot stop staring after him when he leaves and i cannot attribute all that to him being confused about what kabru meant by "dont forget me next time". like laios means it if he says something like "meeting you was the best part of this" those are not empty words even if hes under a false impression about kabru--i dont think its just that kabru shared his interest that has his attention either. i think its bc kabru really engaged with him. i dont think his opinion wouldve changed much if kabru said "nahhhh im good i wont eat a monster cool for you tho have fun" instead of saying he would try it

(and he really is trying the 'laugh at anything he says so he'll feel special' strat here huh.....)

and kabru despite being a stranger he helped get thru to shuro about falins resurrection

and he does it with a sensitivity and care that laios wishes he was capable of and he know it limits him as a leader

the thought laios keeps having about kabru isnt "wow he loves monsters too!" its "wow he is sooooo nice :3" which he is! at this stage he likes kabru bc he feels heard by him and kabru has qualities he knows he lacks but admires greatly and didnt make fun of him or call him weird for his interest in monsters

the way kabru acts and thinks about laios at this point feels allegorical to how people feel in new relationships. can i trust you? are you who you seem? if i tell you how ive been hurt, will you use this to hurt me or to protect me? i dont know yet, but i like you so far, so im going to show you the self that i think you'll like best. i want to impress you. i want you to trust me so maybe i can trust you

so much of dungeon meshi is about the way that we accidentally hurt our loved ones because we cant always understand them, or we dont know whats best for them when theyve been hurt in such complex ways, or because were too scared of being hurt again to tell them not to press into the bruise (see: chimera falin, falin giving up parts of her life to suit/protect marcille and laios bc she loves them, laios driving marcille deeper into the winged lions grip TWICE with his advice in the nightmares and again with the dungeon rabbits, everything chilchuck has ever done in his whole life, laios' father's everything also, and this is a labru post so ofc kabru lying about wanting to eat monsters to impress laios) i wouldnt be surprised if the allegory was intentional

anyways this part of their relationship budding into a toxic little flower theyll have to prune later is very cute to me and i really like reading it again knowing how they turn their relationship around later into one built on a mutual understanding and trust

[andreadesantis3806]

I see many people saying (or mixed opinions) saying Aemond's High Valyrian was weak, the grammers not correct, the pronounciation all wrong and stuff. But how so exactly?The show creators might be complete assholes towards the writing, but one thing they ARE good at, is creating the world of ASOIAF. And in no way they would let a character's actor get in front of the camera without a proper knowledge of what is written in the script, or having been verified by experts. Plus , con lang english romanizations exists. The actors just get a brief idea of how to drag and pronounce certain drag and rolls on the letters, rest are just memorized from what is written in the script.

It is why actors, during games in interviews are not able to answer what is the meaning of basic valyrian words such as ''Zaldrizes'' or ''Perzys'' etc. Cuz they spend much time on perfecting their roles and getting thru to learn an entire diff language. Romanizations are always written in the script, they just need to take the time to memorize and perfect their accents.

Yet people are coming and saying Aemond's HV sounds horrible, or stuff is not correct. But Where? He said what he was supposed to say, with perfectly emotions laced to it. Sometimes it is difficult to get grip on the theme you want to interlace within the language u are speaking; esp languages u r def reading memorized from script. So one needs to focus on the language itself, AS WELL AS the emotions they want to convey. Aemond sounded mocking, sarcastic and definitely intended to get on Aegon's nerves; thus his HV adapts that way as well. You will notice when he speaks HV, he very much sounds like his own self; that is Aemond's own soft, almost evil-siren-smooth tone he goes for as in Common Tongue. So considering it, the HV came out really well, breaking off and chaining back to a gentle flow.

Besides, the construct of the sentences and hard words were DELIBERATE. Aemond was taunting Aegon, knowing his brother cannot for the life of him piece two HV words tgthr. This complex constructions, now smhw seemed like mistakes to yall.

HV's accent does not roam around one singular one. We saw Dany's one being clear and frankly, HONESTLY not rolled and flowy enough. It was like she was pronouncing english words. But it was expected. Targaryens were nearly extinct and Dany learned her Val mixed with Essosi and Lyseni dialects. She even says ''Dracarys'' in a way it LOOKS like it should sound, whereas it actually shud lean heavily on ''Thra-ka-ris'', The way she had said to that Slave Trader holding Drogon.

Then when HOTD came out, it is set in a time where Targaryen dynasty was flourishing and thus the Valyrian culture amongst them was heavy; all having Dragon Keepers and their own fam members to guide them thru. They all have different accents you will notice, Milly as young Rhaenyra has one that flows naturally and multiples words chain into the other which often cannot be understood when matching with the written romanizations. She pronounces her ''J''s like ''h'' or at times a mildly heavy ''g''. Daemon's one is, tbh one of the best and he rolls his accent perfectly, although still leaning on a heavier side. Emma's one is more similar to Matt's too. All actors are given even a small amount of freedom in how they speak HV in their terms; and the accent varies. It gives a look into the character they are playing. Everyone learns the language in the same way, but they adapt it to a form comfortable in their own mouth and goes with it. Bcz that is what Valyrians are supposed to be, they are not fixed to one single form; they are open to everything. It is at the end of the day the language sinking into your character, as a part of who you are.

So Aemond's HV was good. Not only that, but brilliant as he is supposed to be, as a person who trained to immaculacy all his life. He managed to not sound robotic in a language Ewan barely knows and tried to pour the theme aimed for and how Aemond would talk in Common Tongue in the HV. Besides, if u match it with romanizations in the script you will find that not a single one of his words are incorrect. His rolls on the ''Y'' and ''a''s are fascinating and somehow suits just right for character.

So do not come at him yall, he would not speak if it was not approved by the showrunners, or that he does not roll the accent or forms the sentences in ways that you feel it is incorrect. The showrunners are fools, but they are not THAT big of fools to not review the foreign language speaking with respectable experts.

Even if they ARE fools in this regard too and somehow overlooked certain things, do not blame aemond or Ewan. It is the producers own doing. But i doubt the latter will be the case knowing how concentrated Condal tends to be on small details.

[acheronist]

I am reading The Goldfinch. I'm where he just started hanging out at the furniture/antiques place regularly. It's written well, it's holding my inerest, but I don't yet see what all the fuss is about. So not as a criticism but in an effort to appreciate something I might be missing, why is it a book you love?

well.

donna tartt is one of my favorite authors anyways. I think she's a spectacular freak and her storytelling skills are exceptionally good and i've read as much of her work as i can possibly get my little hands on!

but for tgf specifically, the narrative being soooo so so centered on personal emphasis & meaning being bestowed upon specific artworks despite them being very unpersonal objects (after they get out of the artist's hands, that is,) in stark comparison to the way that art that can belong to/be seen/be consumed any random fucking person alive in the modern age has been the only existential buoy in my life for a very very very long time. in my lowest times, instead of killing myself i go stand in art museums and think about how much love and creativity is innate in humanity despite times of crisis and war and disease and all of the fucking agonies and everything going wrong and having no control over it. ha ha. it's always been a balm to me, to remember that there is goodness and love preserved in artwork, and that artwork is tougher and longer-lasting than you'd initially think, and that it's always there waiting for me to come back to it and see it in a different emotional state to find new meanings in it. this is the same as how theo thinks about the painting thru different times in his life!! going from needing it desperately as a connection to his mom, obsessively as a comfort, and then reviling it for being a representation of his life's biggest trauma and yet still tending to it and caring for it, to the heartache of losing it and the relief of retrieving it with the one person who genuinely loves him as an act of devotion and apology for a previous betrayal....all while navigating how systems in power are neglectful and uncaring and capitalistic. it's all just So Much To Me.....

and I know the middle chapters where theo just goes on and on about the intricacies of antique forgery aren't as fun and sexy as the vegas chapters with boris (underage drug abuse and gay sex WHEEEEEE) OR the actual criminal chapters at the end (mysterious borderline-noir criminal heist slash subtextual romcom), but they're soooo so poignant to me. because in my own little life, curating the art and music around me and finding beauty and importance and symbolism in these subtle things is a vital central axis that i need to have, much like i need a nice bed or a good meal or a glass of clean water. much of how i cope and navigate the world is very deeply focused around art & art analysis, and I think the only other book i've read that articulated that sort of feeling quite as eloquently would be john berger's way of seeing, which is an academic and analytical text. but i just love fiction so much, so to have tgf as the extremely emotional fiction option to go along w my nonfiction art thesis books that are tonally very prim and objective and well organized..... DELICIOUS. i love it. and i love a fictive narrative built upon tragedy. i love works that call back to each other in conversation, and stories that cannot exist without the foundation of Something Else Existing A Millennia Prior. i love comparing works and establishing what makes them similar or different but how they approach the same themes. and i love to see characters (THEO. boris. pippa. hobie. andy.) that i can identify with who struggle with similiar problems i have, because it makes it easier for me to get thru my own life. this isn't groundbreaking reasoning though, that's just how every human alive consumes art and content. of course we look for ourselves in fiction. of course we as individuals want to find things that we relate to.

and also in a purely self-indulgence way, I also looooooove it when media is unbearably long and i can get completely entranced and study it closely and always be able to find new details that throw the whole story into a completely new light, which I think tgf does very well because it's almost 900 pages LMAO. every time i reread it there's a new nuanced angle for me to think about actions and thoughts leading into consequences and i just eat that up every single time.......

but despite all of this i do recognize that tgf is not everyone's cup of tea. like it's genuinely one of the most meaningful texts in my heart but i completely understand how it can be long, and boring, and melodramatic, and a bit insane, and convoluted, and pompous, and not worth the time to get from cover to cover.

but it is worth the time. to me.

[adriancatrin]

Best Zukka fic recs and/or Azula centric fics (bonus points for both!) I'm desperate for more content.

(digging thru my bookmarks) hoo boy ok let's see

i'm gonna put a cut because this might be long!! idk what all of the zukka 'classics' you've read so i just included 'em if they're my faves. list is in no particular order, pls heed warnings/tags on AO3 as some include potentially triggering content ~

like the sun inside of you by ofherlionheart: Zuko is sixteen years old when he’s handed a crown, a throne, and a hundred-year ancestral legacy of colonial imperialism. He’s not scared of the work; he’s scared of being consumed by the responsibilities and burdens he’s claimed. What Zuko doesn’t quite realize, yet, is that he’s not alone in this. Still in progress, one chapter left to go. Very slow-burn Zukka, and some great Azula stuff

To Cleave These Roots We've Made by Erisenyo: Sokka and Zuko have been roommates and best friends through college and graduation, through first jobs and new jobs and promotions, through friends getting married and sisters being pregnant and everything in between. But that all ends in four days. Four days to pack up an apartment. Four days before Zuko goes to law school and Sokka stays behind. Four days to untangle two lives that Sokka and Zuko have spent ten years weaving together. Can you call it a divorce, if you were never actually together in the first place? I don't remember Azula's involvement in this, but gosh darn it's a good one

i won't stumble as i follow down this path (cause words that are spoken are just other things to have) by jublis: It takes Zuko one year to visit his sister again. Featuring birthday weeks, struggling with your own goodness, and a future. Pretty sure this is a Zukki, ft. Azula very heavily

Destiny in the details by salytierra: Sokka heard that story before. Of course he did, the turning point of Zuko's destiny, the single bravest and most noble (or stupid) thing he's ever done. He retold the thoughts that went through his head back then, the repercussions... but he left out a single detail. And it's that detail that changes everything.  I need to see his soulmark. Sokka thinks, heart hammering in his chest. Fantastic post-canon soulmate AU. Azula's not in it, though

Divine Intervention by AggressiveStress: Sokka has had a lot of dates but they never stick around and he doesn’t know why. Literally everyone else knows why. Honestly I don't remember much about this one I just know I really liked it hahaha

Maybe I Don't Want Heaven by inkfingers_mcgee: Zuko does not realize that he wants to break up with Mai until she says, “We need to talk about us,” with an unmistakable finality, and the candles around his meditation mat don’t even flicker. // Five years after ascending the throne, Zuko reaches yet another crossroads of self. Sokka helps him through it. Mai incites national legislative reform. Azula is listed as a character in this one but I don't remember her role. The fic is great though. slow burn in case u haven't caught onto the trend of my fave fics yet haha

Of Tea and Turtle Ducks (and the Turtle Duck Guy) by Erisenyo: Sokka is nothing if not enthusiastic about his interests--Learning. Campus traditions. The campus turtle ducks. The guy who's watching the ducks so intently this year.  Zuko is nothing if not intense about duck watching. (It's not really about the ducks.) (Is it ever?) No Azula again but gosh darn it this fic is so cute. (expect more erisenyo on this list whoops)

this ultraviolet morning light by GallifreyanFairytale: sokka and zuko break up, make up, go undercover, thwart a rebellion, watch the sunrise, and change the course of fire nation history. not necessarily in that order. I don't remember the level of Azula's involvement in this fic, but I do remember she's in recovery and Zuko thinks about her a fair amount.

Empty Bodies, Empty Smiles by attackfish: Zuko sorts through the wreckage of his childhood and comes across a doll given to his sister. Not a shipping fic, just a character study of sorts of Azula as a child. It's... very sad, but incredibly nuanced in its understanding of her as a very unhappy and unfortunately disturbed child

Will We Last the Night by CSHfic/VSfic: Chief Arnook never assigns Sokka to protect Princess Yue, so he goes to fight the Fire Nation with the other men. When the moon dies, and the ocean spirit takes its revenge, Sokka is caught standing on the deck of a Fire Nation ship. Sokka should have drowned… and he would have drowned, if not for a certain Fire Nation raft fleeing the North Pole. An enemies-to-lovers season 2 rewrite, where Sokka is separated from the gaang during the Siege of the North, and travels the Earth Kingdom with Zuko instead Azula is just S2 Azula w/o redemption I believe, but my goodness the Zukka is just so. SO sweet

Burning Bright by Erisenyo: On a particularly hopeless night, Zuko sends out a messenger hawk to nowhere. He didn’t realize that his messenger hawk is deeply committed to completing the job. And that Sokka happens to be traveling straight through nowhere, at the time. I'm currently rereading this series for the umpteenth time, it's amazing, highly recommend, Azula is hyper intriguing in it too w/ a very complicated relationship with Zuko

All's Fair by Lovely_Elbow_Leech: Book one ends with two major diffrences: 1. Sokka went on the mission with Hahn (it did not go well) 2. Zhao survives the North Pole and that proves unfortunate for everybody (except Zhao, obviously)  Imprisoned on Zhao’s war ship, Sokka and Zuko have to work together to survive. They are not very enthusiastic about this prospect.  And they argue. A lot. Another of my top faves. Book 2 is in progress

Real Slow by surveycorpsjean: “I see.” Zuko closes the scroll. “Is the Water Tribe sending a replacement?" “Uh yeah,” Sokka gestures to himself dramatically. “You’re looking at him.” No Azula I believe but heckin' slow burn

this is a gift (it comes with a price) by WitchofEndor: There is a ghost on the Wani. But the crew have grown used to - even fond of - Prince Zuko. And no matter how many times General Iroh tries to gently explain the boy’s predicament, tries to suggest that he might attempt to move on, Prince Zuko can always be found watching the sea. There is a prisoner in the palace. Not Zukka, but the relationships in it are fantastic, including Azula and Zuko.

 While Mighty Oaks Do Fall by WitchofEndor: The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple. This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake. Wacky crazy fic. There's something funky fresh happening with Azula, but it's an in-progress fic so. who knows where it'll go

I probably don't need to include The Art of Burning but it's in my fave bookmarks so. Same for Blue

Also in retrospect I have a lot of issues with this fic, but here's my post-canon Zukka w/ Azula redemption fic: New Heights

[lavellane]

please tell us more about your second worldstate!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 i'm so intrigued by your ocs and i saw you mentioning playing amell currently

thank u for asking omg !!!! i have 3 worldstates loosely planned out which is a Lot for me since i have a tendency to get deeply (perhaps pathologically) attached to one worldstate and one pc lol. but im being brave abt it !

worldstate 1 is my canon worldstate, and the overarching theme for it is self-mythology/loss of personhood. i wont go into detail since i yap enough abt them already lol but i have elspeth (warrior f!cousland romancing alistair) cillian (a rogue m!hawke romancing anders) and ashara (a mage f!lavellan romancing/redeeming solas) all going into datv head first. my canon datv pc will likely be an elven archer f!rook romancing either davrin or taash hehe <3

second worldstate is all mages and obv thats the main theme i wanna have fun with

lucander amell (he/him, blood mage and spirit healer, romances morrigan) unassuming, distant, and polite and also kind of unnerving. used to being seen as a bad guy and is willing to act accordingly, but otherwise is a pretty decent, honorable man. does morrigan's ritual, kills the archdemon, leaves alistair a grey warden. doesn't become warden commander in awakening bc he goes into hiding from the wardens before they can ask too many questions abt the ritual and why hes still alive. he tracks down morrigan in the hopes of protecting her, and then stays with her and their son after that.

cecilia hawke (she/her, spirit healer mage, romances fenris) a blue!hawke who's sweet and motherly and soft spoken and has an enormous guilt complex/self hate for being a mage lol. carver joins the templars, and she later sides with them in act 3 and kills anders which </3 anyways. she survives here lies the abyss in dai and hopefully goes on to attend biweekly couples therapy with fenris <3

thomasin trevelyan (SOFTEST of launches on that name) (she/her, knight enchanter mage, romances cullen. maybe.) socially adept, politically cunning, with a love for the game and a desire to regain her place within the trevelyan family nobility. sides with the mages, doesn't drink from the well, negotiates a truce between celene/gaspard/briala, pardons the wardens, redeems solas, disbands the inquisition post trespasser. shes a good girl and she's got her head on straight!

might do a qunari f!rook mage to romance taash or davrin for datv! we'll see !

lastly my third worldstate places value on the eluvians so its very elfy or at least elf-adjacent. and also the lineage of ameridan > garahel > maherial and so on. i just think its neat . still VERY much underdeveloped tho so no names yet

f!mahariel, she/her, an archer who romances leliana (prev tamlen :c) who dies killing the archdemon

half elven f!hawke mage, romancing merrill!! she sides with the mages but probably still kills anders :( shaking my head in disgust so u can tell i do not approve of this choice ..........

an m!trevelyan warrior romancing ?????????????? IDK. cass maybe. this is going to be exclusively a 'piss off solas' speedrun so hes siding with the templars, putting gaspard on the throne, doing war crimes, etc. wont be redeeming him i fear </3

i hate to say it. i HATE to say it. but if there's a way for me to make a solasmancing rook for datv i Will find a way in this worldstate for the comedic effect of antagonizing my m!trev. even if its just thru headcanons exclusively lol

[jackals-ships]

longer post now that i have a chance for the dog ghb first meeting + some relationship stuff that i am realizing is closeish 2 the original but Listen. Vibes;

still fiddling with the bg information bc gestures at the hemospectrum humans wouldn't y'know. Fit There being not trolls but id put them at ~at/below rustbloods in most regards for this timeline just 4 ease

bc of that Dog as Jackal worked primarily in information and infiltration, very much a "got lucky and noticed" type of deal. since bc of the above point a lot of trolls will just kinda gloss over Some Dude in the bg (TO be fair that is universal) + even more so if ur like. shorter than tit height,

ends up getting noticed by HIC who's kinda amused by the whole situation + like me goes :3c y'know what would be REEL funny?

enter jackals no good very bad awful day bc what do you mean the empress wants to talk??

one fear

opening the door and seeing A Fucking Clown

many fear. the fears are in there having a fear orgy

especially once they realize it's not just A Clown it's THE Fucking Clown?? HELLO?

internal monologue is just "what would hurt less me killing myself or him killing me" "probably myself right??" "should I run? no he's Fuck Off Huge"

vibrating at speeds known only to shrimp. b4 this they've Never interacted with these two. hilariously they DID bump into The Orphaner once ("bump" they saw him and wisely scampered The Other Way)

HIC: :3c hey you wanna work for the church ".......what." HIC: it's a yes or no question guppy ".....y. yeah?" HIC: okay cool hey clownfish have ur new boy

im looking at him he's looking at me we're looking at each other + WHAT?

she didn't tell Bachus (goes <3 @almostourgalaxy 4 letting me borrow the names) before hand so he's also "....what?"

i AM a sucker for heart (diamond,) eyes at first sight but it seems more fitting that he's initially "??? NO???" (jackal doing the dog whale eye at the clown bc YOU TOLD HER NO???)

there's a lot of back and forth arguing that boils down to "you're taking them and you're NOT killing them yourself neither is anyone in the church On Purpose" "this is so stupid" "Do It Anyways"

jackal.exe has shut down. the first like 2 weeks they are Not With It! it's legitimately shocking they DIDN'T die by accident

i think the 👀 huh happens when jackal is finally more Themself and he walks in on them throwing hands with another new recruit over smthin stupid

just the combo of them being bloodied and obviously Reckless As Hell he's just "god FUCKING damn it okay"

jackal is now dangling from bachus's hand like a ferret. they've now discovered that having him pet their entire face Is Kinda Soothing. Huh. Neat

immediately back to many fear dot png once they realize WHOMST is holding them by basically the scruff

the relationship is a lot more slow burn bc jackal is Constantly skittering out of his reach, it's like trying to get a feral kitten to stop hissing at you

im deciding still on How They Get Together Properly but i DO know that half the church is contemplating locking them in a room together bc he keeps making sad damp eyes at them and there is only so much everyone can take,

also at least in this regard they are 100% a roach of a man. there is NO way they should've made it thru any training. And Fucking Yet !!!

[yangzhouman]

long post about batman beyond because i have feelings

batman beyond is so damn bleak in the obvious ways and yet it goes all the way thru. like it initially positions itself as a story about how “keeping it in the family” just ends up with dead family members and the only way out of being eaten by generational trauma is to abandon the family structure. what bruce and terry have at the start is loose and resistant to definition even when others try (”your keeper’s here” and “who else could take care of his affairs? he has no wife, no children.” / “me. i could do it.” / ) and when they (meaning terry and bruce) eventually label it as an employer/employee kinda thing it feels fresh. 

when you’re the best man for the job you can call your boss a bitch. and he’s not gonna be in your living room at the end of a stressful day. there’s distance. there’s employee rights. they both care deeply about their job and eventually about each other but there’s no guilt when the job gets in the way, because there’s nothing for it to get in the way of -- their relationship IS batman.

it feels un-familial EVEN WHEN the family metaphor gets pushed onto them. it’s important that bruce isn’t terry’s father; terry has a father that he loves, and bruce needs to come to terms with a more impersonal, wider guilt of being an ageing bat in a city that will never stop needing batman. when others do try to conceptualise whats going on with terry and bruce thru a family lens, it jars because that straight up isn’t the connection they have, and people can tell -- they’re just missing the context of both being batman.

it’s good! it’s really good! it turns batman on its head by looking at it as an ideological gap that people can slip into, rather than something that is handed down, man to boy, with a clear lineage and direction -- now it’s an analytical framework of vigilantism that is open to all who feel brave. widening batman up like this makes barbara’s relationship with bruce & batman a little more complex too, as she is distinctly not a wayne and does not see bruce as her father, but still stepped into a sort of shadow/partner role to the big bat (misogyny... she’s proto-terry in the context of batman beyond but why does terry get to be more? questions i know the answer to.)

imo batman beyond, when at its best, makes batman a possibility: a nebulous idea that centres around gotham and righteousness rather than an individual and his grief. it’s a way out for bruce in particular, who calls himself batman in his own head but has to come to terms with a new bat who has no debt with him in any way -- and he grows in that safe relationship. as an old man! he grows!

and then. and then. oh my god. oh my godddd dc falls to its old ways and terry becomes bruce’s biological son? he gets narutofied*? it is single-handedly the worst thing that has ever happened to me. there is no escape! batman is bruce wayne and can only be bruce wayne. it/he is a trap that absorbs anyone who comes near! batfam is a curse that infects and infects! i am putting up with it because i like batman beyond so much even with this. but god. what a letdown what a needless twist in a universe that already has MANY cloning stories and MANYYYYY biological heir stories

*this refers to uzumaki naruto from NARUTO who starts as a nameless orphan in a hostile world, but then discovers that he is actually the son of two very important people, which stands in opposition to the earlier story beats and makes him special in a way that i find very gross, as it cheapens the work that he has done as a character-in-story to carve out a place for himself in the narrative world, and shows a lack of commitment on the author’s part to challenging storytelling by relying on the tired shonen tropes of bloodline rights and inherited power as proof of character significance

[kuromi-hoemie]

rant about my day

waaaa ok so (⁠〒⁠﹏⁠〒⁠) today was really long bc for work we have to get a new office setup and ready for everyone to come back to it bc our old building has a lot going on, and bc it's on such short notice it's been a lot of hard work lately while also trying to stay on top of some of our other needs aaand

today i went in to work on the last of the networking stuff but it was So Much Work and I did like 3hrs overtime and was so over it and ready to go home, so i said bye to my manager bc girl was still there checking her emails (😭) and when i went to my car i saw it had been busted into and omfg.

i went back in and she was still there so i asked if we had a broom or something and explained what happened, and she took such good care of me ｡⁠:ﾟ⁠(⁠;⁠´⁠∩⁠`⁠;⁠)ﾟ⁠:⁠｡ ♡⁠ she stayed w me and helped me and idk it was A Lot bc i was past my limit and i started crying a bit and she offered to hold me and i got to sob in her arms for a while n it was rly nice bc i needed it so fucking bad... and someone from work lives like 3 minutes away and their son i happened to be talking w sometimes bc he's been helping w the move came thru w a shock vac and broom for us and me n my manager got the glass out and they taped some stuff over my window so i could cover it and she told me that my work was going to cover any costs (!!? 😭🙏🏾💕) for what goes into getting my window taken care of.

she told me to not leave yet and went around the corner for a bit and came back with $600 in cash and told me to keep her posted this weekend and let her know if i need more, and my friend's bf is a mechanic and offered to install the window for free if i buy the window itself and recommended a place for me to go get it and !!!!!!!!! i feel so taken care of!!!! i was SO so upset bc idk how much it costs to get my window fixed but i don't rly have the money for somethn like that bc i'm rent burdened at my current place and i'm beyond exhausted and really appreciate seeing everyone come together for me when i felt alone ;-;

my manager's a sweetie and let me take Monday off too and Tuesday if I'd like. I'll take the Monday for sure but augh.... Big Day (⁠´⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠.̫⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠`⁠) i haven't been this happy to be back in bed in a while.

[abcd-em]

OMG, Em!!! I read your thoughts on the Divorce AU on Twitter and we need this fic sooo badly! I hope you share it w us one day!!

This AU has consumed for thots for so long bc @spideymichelle introduced me to the idea through the film Celeste and Jesse forever - I could not get the PeterGwen & PeterMJ potential of it out my head

Like just imagine IMAGINE!!!

Peter & Gwen who got married a little too soon, a little too young. They've lived together for years but the Spider of it all (maybe her dad dies idk), the differences between them and then both slowly starting to outgrow that relationship gets too much and they get divorced.

(Alexa play Wendy by Maisie Peters)

There's no love lost. They still care about each other. They still live together for a little bit while Peter gets his life/money in order. They still have all the same friends as before. They've still got history. That's still the person they thought they'd be with forever and yet...

Eventually Gwen starts dating again. Properly. She's seeing someone consistently and Peter takes that to mean it's time he did too, huh? He and MJ meet on a dating app, theres sparks and there's potential but she's recently returned to the city, had to upend her life in a very similar way, knows the look of someone going thru it and goes 'him. I need him. That mess. I want it' but also knows they can't be anything rn so they stay friends

And it's delicious and slow burn and the idea of being around someone you thought would be your person forever but they're not anymore and that's OKAY even if it hurts. There's new people out there and new experiences and that transient part of life doesn't last forever and there's a complicated relationship between Gwen and MJ bc what they have in common when they first meet is also such a big point of contention between them. There's MJ menacing Peter constantly and that trust/feelings building between them

And like??? The identity reveal could be???

JUST WALK WITH ME AND IMAGINE IT!!!! It could be so so good!!!

If you've read An Age Old Classic there's actually a snippet from the WIP of this that existed in my drafts for so so so long in there bc I really couldn't let go of the idea

[harlowhockeystick]

happy new year from sYdney, aus! (Lmao i’m a loser who will never get over that)

i was scrolling thru ur sidney crosby stuff (bc this man has me GRIPPED I’m so embarrassed and obsessed) and I saw some of the teacher!reader stuff and I know most ppl default to like…teacher of young kids but please consider - high school teacher!reader

like yes reader is younger (I’m still thinking of ur age gap!sidney oh lord) but she’s been teaching high schoolers for nearly a decade now. so what if ur 36 and 180cm and a professional goon athlete on the ice. so what if ur shorter than literally all of sid’s teammates. hs teacher!reader has a presence and you WILL listen to her when she tells a room full of adrenaline fuelled hockey players to stop throwing their nasty underarmour clothing at each other for 5 seconds so you can all finish your damn gatorade and HYDRATE, evgeni, you think kidney stones are a joke, do you? or just giving someone the Teacher Look when they’re being a bit too sassy or just casually slotting in to help Dana in the equipment room.

dealing with the media? easy as pie - they’ve got nothing on private school parents who don’t understand why little johnny isn’t in the top class, he just needs to be challenged and extended, don’t you understand that’s why he doesn’t do anything in class, because he’s bored, he’s actually VERY capable! (sidney was shell shocked with a fear boner the first time he hears the tail end of your phone convo to a parent - “unfortunately mr x, i have yet to see any evidence of this, so our decision stands. Have a good day now :)”

the whole hockey schedule? oh lord, reader is a professional at timetable management, don’t you even worry. She’s an excellent coordinator (yes, a shared and colour coded google calendar for her and sidney’s relationship) she understands how both their schedules can be insane, but most importantly understands the importance of work-life balance and setting boundaries for yourself! she helps pull sidney out of his head, reminding him that it’s just as important to take care of himself if he wants to keep taking care of others. she reminds him that it’s okay to be a little bit selfish, and really, that it’s not actually selfish at all to admit to another person how tired and frustrated you are, or to talk about things from years past that you thought you’d gotten over, but no, really, you just buried it for the sake of your team and career.

the whole public persona/reputation vs privacy thing? she totally gets it and understands sidney’s need first privacy. hell, that’s why she so fucking tech savvy - she knows ALL the tips and tricks to keep her socials locked away from prying student and parent eyes. It sparks this sense of safety and security in sidney? like he knows for sure that his privacy is protected, and that he trusts reader so much not to accidentally or not take advantage of his fame and fortune?

uhhhh anyway sidney being in shock-scared-and-horny-awe at your absolute confidence, breadth of knowledge, and commanding yet calm presence despite your age and (comparatively) tiny size. sidney discovers he has a competency kink when you accidentally use your teacher voice on him bc he keeps trying to distract you with kisses and cuddles while ur trying to finish off some marking. like, you stare at him over the top of your glasses and go “sidney crosby, you’ve got two choices right now - you can sit down on the couch in silence and wait literally 10 minutes, or, if you want to continue as you are, one of us is going to sleep in the guest room tonight, so let’s make good choices now, eh?”

he sheepishly goes to the couch and waits for you to sit in his lap after u’re done so you can pepper his shy lil face with kisses, calling him a “ridiculous boy” with such fondness in ur voice it makes him giggle

omg stop i LOVE THIS!!!!!!!

[dailycass-cain]

Detective Comics #1069 has a SURPRISE appearance and yeah it caught me completely unaware of that sneaky sneak Ram V (okay he did hint this was coming). So let's get into this.

I've been following this tale off and on (I kind of want to read this more in trades because the wait is killing me every month for more issues. 😝

I'd rather read this all in one sitting). But I still find myself drawn to these issues making me get and read them cause THEY'RE SO GOOD!  This run feels like an under-the-radar thing.  It's got good Bruce, doing stuff with Gordon, Renee, Talia, Two-Face, and Mr. Freeze.

The character work is exceptional that writer Ram V is doing here. Weaving stuff from his own run on Catwoman while also tying other stuff.

Here we get that in spades this issue with Batman and Oracle talking about the lower levels of Gotham (which Ram V has been going to town on).

Now a new player has been added to this run.

I do like how Ram V goes back to the James Tynion IV way of treating Cass/Steph like agents Babs uses while she does Oracle things. It gives Babs a rest as Batgirl (allowing her to be Oracle), and allows when she does make those issues more special.

So yeah, we have Cass entering this run for the first time and yeah I'm hyped.  Because there are subtle little things Ram V is doing here besides just bringing her in.

Cass is only in it for a few panels but her presence is all over the back half of this issue. The setup for the next is sweet. Because you have Cass, Lian Harper, and a SURPRISE guest in these Warrens taking on the goons of the "Big Bad" of this run.

I doubt we'll get much but there could be some GREAT character interaction to be had here. You have Lian/Cass both daughters of murder moms. Like, this might be the first time the two could be meeting.

Then you have the SURPRISE guest who ties into well what modern Cass has been doing well with but not so much in Batgirls (yet) and that's bond with the "freaks" of Gotham.

We had that with Clayface in Tynion's Tec run. We had that with Wong doing that with Orca in their issue of DC: Doom & the Damned #1.  Now we might be getting that too.

I mean there's a chance Bruce might interject, but man there's so much character work to be had here, and the character's been put thru the ringer. I want this so bad next.

If not we got Cass/Lian vs the goons vs WILD CARD. No matter what, this'll be a very a fun read next issue.

Plus the back half art just slaps. There are multiple artists this issue and I'm at a loss for who drew this amazing Cass.

There's just a proper Batman-lite in the way Cass acts here in just the panels. I'm really hyped now about where she goes for this story.👊

[nightmargin]

I first found u thru ur CS art 10 yrs ago and been a fan since, so it was surreal to meet u in person at the con! Thankyou for the Makito doodle & for hearing out my 'feature request'! Also im glad u liked my bday gift art submit! Sry for all the Qs, but has Margin's plot changed much compared to the old DA chapters? Will the old songs still be used? I really liked 'The Day Aelita Conquered' (& others).Anyways thx again, ur OCs/art's been such a big part of my life! I hope Margin dev goes great!

It was so good to meet you!! I was over the moon about someone who actually knew Makito! :'D

Margin's old plot is more or less the same, just paced a lot differently now, (certain planned events happen a lot earlier, for example, and many details have been fleshed out)

Aelita (and her theme) will be in the game! She's a pretty big part of the story from week 2 onwards (she just doesn't show up in the demo we are currently making so I don't have much of her current art to show yet)

Thank you so much for liking my OCs and for your continued support throughout the years! ;v;

[ofgentleresolve]

◟ ✶ ┊ 𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐒.

super obvious from my end, but undoubtedly & always TOHRU HONDA from Fruits Basket <3 she is my daughter and i love her 5ever :'D

YONA from Akatsuki no Yona; my princess, my queen, i would gladly let her step on me MY GOD if you want epic character development for a female character and then just?? a lovable and complex cast of characters + found family?? this is the series to read. she is the moment, she is everything.

HERSHEL LAYTON from the Professor Layton series- he's the reason patrick even exists to begin with :'D but also his development over the course of the series is surprisingly so....gradually?? it's kind of getting to know an actual person in that you get to know more about him as time goes on and it's super effective, i wouldn't be writing on here if not for him &lt;3

MAYA FEY from Ace Attorney. she's been thru so much and yet?? she still manages to be the peppy had loveable sidekick to our favorite lawyer...truly an icon ( also baiting u to play ace attorney....you'll love it &lt;3 )

MR. DARCY from Pride & Prejudice. they call him a bad boy but if you actually read the text, he's a nerd. a nerd who also has his head in his ass too JFKLSJFSLKJ- i feel bad for elizabeth :'D

AN GO-EUN from Taxi Driver! honestly all of the cast is amazing so i actually had a hard time with picking just one....but her backstory and character development is SO GOOD....also that banter with kim dogi is *chef's kiss* that and i emphasize with being an admin assistant &lt;;/3

COMBEFERRE from Les Misérables. i know he's a minor character with barely any development but i do appreciate some of the fanon takes i've seen....that and i also got my alias from his name :DDD

AANG from Avatar the Last Airbender. aang is the kind of person i strive to be ( plus his aesthetic?? pretty base :D ) that and he's proof that you can be sweetheart and still be bad boi 😎

AKANE TSUNEMORI from Psycho Pass.

HATSUHARU SOHMA from Fruits Basket. sorry!! i know i already mentioned this fandom, but this series is SO PRESH to me...that and while i aspire to be like tohru, i do feel a strong to haru- it's gotta be an ox thing really :'D

Tagged by: @mythvoiced <3 <3 <3 Tagging: @bloodxhound, @eternasci, @irrwicht and you!! steal if you would like <3

[slocumjoe]

hey uhhh i went thru ur oc post history and u said gus set himself on fire?? pls context

I love this character because whenever someone asks about him I always have to take a deep breath and get comfortable and suck a breath in through my teeth. I treat him so poorly

More Gus lore, because that specific event is actually tied to the very first event that would fuck him up forever, so I can't really talk about it without going in depth.

This is explaining the core tenent of Augustijn's story, which is guilt and its dangers. Basically, where that constant guilt came from, and how it...turned out for him...

It turns out okay. Just...takes 200+ years, an apocalypse, a divorce, and his son dying! 🥳Yay🥳

Tw; Religious trauma, child abuse, suicide, drug use, cannibalism, mental illnesses, and yet another suicide attempt.

So, some background, Gus's mom, Emma, was a fanatic catholic and generally Bat Shit about religion. As you might imagine, this is the Direct Source of both Gus' questionable worldviews, traumas, and his biological inclination to uuuhhh bad Head Times.

Emma was raised mildly religious, but she...took to it too hard? Her family was not the cause of her obsession, Gus's grandparents and uncles/aunts over there actually cut her off at one point, because she was starting to worry them but reaching out led to her lashing out. So, they just...backed off. Emma herself was a simple, homebody woman, who wanted to be at home raising her kids, and tending her garden. She would have been this way even without the religious thing.

But Emma and her side of the family were prone to addiction, see? And religion became her point of fixation and obsession. This could have still been okay, if not for the church she went into. A catholic church in the Hague that was known by all for being kind of fucking out there, even by other hardcore Catholics. This was one she went into, and even her grandchild 240+ years later would feel the ripple of this decision.

Emma goes into church and gets gnarly ideas about how life works. Its a woman's duty to have kids and raise them, to be good to her husband and her house, to listen and obey her men. Sin is inevitable and everyone does it, only those that admit and accept punishment can get another chance at Paradise. God knows every action you take and he does not care for the context, he only cares about the action. There is no "well, but" under the Lord.

Emma has mental illness, some kind of depression and anxiety, so this Big Brother Watching And Judging fucked her up. Especially since her church, in particular, was physically abusive if you did not confess to anything during confession. They thought if you had nothing to confess, you were lying.

At this point, she's met and engaged to Theodore Reinier, a rich heir to a European manufacturing company. He's pretty, a gentleman, and best of all, rich, so she can have as big and luxurious a garden as she wants. She likes him. She does not love him. She's in her twenties and unmarried with no kids, and her poor family needs to be taken care of. So she marries him. Theodore is smart enough to see this for what it is, and kind enough to allow it. He lets his wife do her own thing and treats her as a friend, rather than a lover. She hates this, she wants to be a wife (she doesnt). She wants kids, he gives her one. Augustijn. This birth goes rough, and she's told no more children.

Theodore makes one rule; August goes to a different church, or he does not go at all. Theo really didn't like Emma's church and he certainly wasn't exposing his kid to that shit.

Emma pretends to agree and takes Gus to That Church. Theo doesn't attend, so he doesn't know this is happening until much later. Gus gets all the same nasty shit Emma does. Theo learns of this when he sees Gus covered in bruises from confession beatings. This puts a huge rift between him and Emma, and he pulls all the strings he can to have her church shut down.

Emma grows to resent and hate Theo and Augustijn for not being the perfect husband and child she deserves as a good, God fearing house wife. Augustijn is left to his nannies, Emma hides away in her private garden, fuming. Theodore tries to bond with his son, but Emma's poisoned that well.

Emma tells Augustijn about demons, to fear them. She specifically tells him about church grims, demons that hunt around churches in the form of a dog to drag sinners to hell. She says this as she's admiring her new obsidian dog statues for her garden.

Eventually, Emma goes yellow wallpaper and loses her mind, and is sent to therapy and put on medications. Augustijn loathes his father for his mother's state. Theodore just wants his friend and son okay. But Emma, as she's out in town, coming back from therapy, she stops at a friend's house while the friend isn't there, and hooks up with the woman's husband. Friend's husband was stern, strict with his wife, God fearing, and generally an obnoxious 50s ideal shithead husband. Everything Emma wanted. This wasn't out of nowhere, it was brewing in the background. She knew both of them from her old church.

Emma goes home, and finally having a reason for the guilt that's always plagued her, elects to acknowledge her sin. She drowns herself in the pond of her garden, stared down by three dark, ruby-eyed dogs, overseeing her passage into the afterlife. Her young son comes into the garden to meet his mother, after she's been gone all day, only to find her in a red pool. He looks up into the eyes of the dogs. He remembers nothing of this incident, blocking it out and having been too young to understand.

Years pass, and Augustijn turns to drugs as well, though his come from the darkest parts of the Hague, rather than a doctor. He turns to sex, to crime, to anything he thinks will either corrupt him so much he doesn't care, or will finally make his guilt feel justified. He wears his mother's cross necklace through it all, and sees her beloved dog with every sin.

Augustijn goes to America for college, to Harvard, studying to become a pastor himself. (This is maybe the most terrifying part of him, the fact that he almost got it). But he doesn't feel satisfied with it, has a moment of clarity and realizes he isn't fit to preach anything. The grim certainly doesn't think so. He instead follows his only friend, Isadora, into the military. The US government allowing their soldiers to do chems means his failed drug tests don't matter.

Augustijn becomes a sniper. He has always hurt people, excelled in it, but taking life frightens him, because he knows he has no right to decide who lives or dies, not like this. But he's in China, and he's told to kill. He does, and he's very good at it. His teammates marvel at just how scrappy and determined he is, like a weed, a mold.

The Biandukou Pass Incident occurs. He eats his entire team, trapped in a Chinese mountain range during a blizzard.

Delirious from almost two months of surviving on nothing but psycho and human flesh, Augustijn is let loose back into Boston, honorably discharged. His lingering hallucinations from his Daytripper addiction, mixed with psycho withdrawal, trauma, guilt, shame, the fear of God—everything culminates. He looks up and sees the figure that has haunted him since that one, awful day; the church grim, staring expectantly.

His mother drowned herself, so he thought it fitting if he set himself ablaze.