#so darla coded…

[wolfsbanesparks]

Hey y'all!

I'm back with another oneshot! This one was written for @pantheonofcoffee as a part of @dcufans4palestine

Summary: Billy wasn't entirely sure how he'd managed it, but somehow he’d convinced just about everyone— his teachers, classmates, employers, and even the entire Justice League—that he was a single father of six rather than a semi-homeless preteen.

Oddly enough that might end up being a good thing

[im-not-buying-it-ether]

Headcanons that can and will make up how I write the Marvelous Bats AU I’m trying to actually write

Everyone has a minor upgrade or addition on the powers they have. Eugene has his technokinesis, Pedro is physically stronger than Billy even though they have the same blessing, Darla is faster, Freddy has some minor telekinesis and is better at flying in practice, and Mary’s courage is infectious to the degree of getting people out of being scared frozen in an emergency and getting them to rescue themselves and have the bravery to help others along the way.

Billy and Mary are still twins, she’s adopted by the Bromfields and Billy is newly fostered by the Vasquez’s but they all work and spend time together as a family unit despite the separate home lives

Billy knows how to make portals anywhere with doors, the place just needs to have a door. (He has tried getting the Batcave that way but apparently the car doors of the Batmobile don’t count)

Yes all the Bats know the Marvels identity’s and vice versa, the rest of the League? Nope. Just think Batman mellowed out in his crusade to learn Caps identity

Yes Bruce wanted to adopt Billy, Billy said screw that and Jason pointed out how bad of an idea it would be to have a kid named Batson in the public eye of Gotham. “The Joker can and will try to make a bad joke out of the kid Bruce.” “Yeah Batman, you want me to die in a robin costume of all things?” Bruce just stayed silent for a moment and almost started crying (it’s was only a week later Jason took a good look at the kid and realized Billy is a mini him and Bruce probably didn’t like the Robin comment)

Damian, Darla, and Jon are the true kid hero trinity. Their mission? Chaos

Freddy just about passed out when he met Barbra, the super amazing Batgirl is the super cool lady behind the monitor that’s one of freaking Batman’s most essential teammates? Oh the feeling of finally seeing a super like himself

Tim met Billy and Mary’s parents through his own when he was little, the 3 of them had a very long discussion about cool archeology stuff for a good few hours

Because his hero form is his “full potential” and is very big Pedro asked Jason to help him get from how he is now to his hero form, seeing as his body type was closest. Now they work out together every Tuesday and Friday (school and vigilante work permitting) half of it is actually working out and the other is building Pedros confidence

Batman and Captain Marvel make a point to block and argue heavily against any other Marvel joining the League, Billy is the only one until the rest of the family does meet the age requirement they have. Billy does the heavy lifting expected of the actual Champion of Magic and his siblings enjoy the small town hero life and look out for Fawcett and the Rock when he’s off world, Mary is the defacto leader when he’s gone.

Like how every Bat has their designated Super and sometimes Wonder, they all have a Marvel they hang out with more than others. Mary and Dick hang out and bond over being the unfortunate voice of reason siblings, Darla is the childish influence making Damian act more his age and love doing it. Billy and Bruce are the respective “heads of the family” and Bruce checks in a lot on how Billy’s life is going with the occasional leadership tip thrown in to help with hero work. Jason tutors Pedro when they’re both visiting, if they cross paths on the job they’ll talk sports a lot. Freddy and Eugene talk a lot about strategy’s, games, gadgets, and superpowers with Barbra and Tim.

Tawny and Alfred are golfing buddies, they also build miniatures of flag ships together and talk about their weird family of supers over tea

Eugene has hacked the Bat-computer on multiple occasions, each time to make an edit to any files Bruce makes of the family, mostly something childish like adding “the amazing” or “the super awesome” before their hero names in the files. But one hack he did was into his contingency plans files, which nearly gave Bruce a heart attack thinking there was going to be another accident that would almost kill his friends.

The hack was the change of “Further research needed to figure out a strategy for neutralization, for now the best strategy is to trick or force them into using their trigger phrase to de-transform before incapacitating them” to “let their siblings deal with the situation”

The Justice League’s first introduction to Captain Marvel was during a “Superman is being affected by Red Kryptonite” situation. By the time they caught up to him in Fawcett their resident hero was helping the man up and panicking over how much he hurt him trying to wrestle the Kryptonite off him, they offered him a seat with them by the end of the week after satellite imaging showed that he led Superman into the air after he knocked down a building and delt with him without further damage and Superman’s account that he broke his arm and bruised multiple ribs trying to stop him. Billy was 9 at the time and only had his powers a few months at that time so he had no idea how much he needed to reel his strength in and was panicking too much to properly do so either way in that fight.

Damian was jealous that Billy got into the league so young and Bruce still won’t let him on despite his capabilities but realizes Billy only got so far because of a lie of omission and one event where he severely harmed Superman, he’d call his father an idiot if he hadn’t tried to keep an eye on such a worrying individual

The Vasquez’s know their kids visit the Wayne’s every other day, as do the Bromfields, but only Vic and Rosa know about the superhero part of it all. The Bromfields just think Mary is visiting a girl friend and having sleepovers every so often, they aren’t entirely wrong since she does hang out with Cass and Stephenie but they don’t need to know her whole superhero life. It’s framed as a mentorship so that their kids can do their best with the powers given to them with a healthy amount of encouragement in still being kids and attending school, it’s mostly just the two families spending time with eachother though.

Black Adam used to antagonize the Marvel Family but after a fight with Billy 1v1 he saw he was a child and stopped trying to actively kill him, he’s now their weird uncle figure who pops by to show them some fighting moves and try to tell Billy to stop being the champion until he’s older.

Black Adam is closer to the movie version solely for the purposes of expanding the family size, he looks like his classic comic self but has to shift in morals and backstory he had in the movie

The fight happened in a empty patch of dessert outside Khandaq when Billy was 11, no one on the League knows why they suddenly stopped fighting or why Cap officiated the guys wedding but their happy he figured something out so his city didn’t get torn up every month by their fights anymore.

The hero names and nicknames for the Marvel family are as follows

Billy Batson —> Captain Marvel (Cap, the Captain)

Mary Bromfield —> Mary Marvel (Mary)

Freddy Freeman —> Lieutenant Marvel (Lieu, Captain Marvel Jr. (by one annoying reporter))

Pedro Peña —> General Marvel (The jolly green giant, Greenie)

Eugene Choi —> Chief Marvel (Chief, Master Chief (self proclaimed, never used))

Darla Dudley —> Ms./Princess Marvel (Ms., Missy Marvel, Missy (Used for professional purposes) Princess (Used every other time as her choice of code name))

Adriana Tomaz —> Isis (/got the amulet of Isis as a wedding gift from Darla from the Rock, she didn’t know what it was but is happy she got cool powers with the rest of the family/)

Amon Tomaz —> Horus (/name changed from comics to coincide with the change in family dynamic between him and Adriana from siblings to parent/child/)

Theo —> Black Adam/Khem Adam

Shout out to @thefantasmarex for reminding me how much I love these two families together

[twoheadedfawnn]

so in that pic I’m obviously angelus, luna is dru, are you spike 🤔 and darla is just our wife

exactly u get me 🤭☝️

[helps-the-writing-brain-go]

Dad-Coded Billy

Consider, if Billy had been dad-coded even before he'd gotten his powers.

He's the eldest (he's 12) of the street kids.

He ends up gathering the Shazamily over time, either abandoned, lost or having run from home and he keeps them safe and out of CPS hands.

Eldest child syndrome (i.e. parentification) except he's done it to himself.

He tries so hard to keep them fed and clothed and with some semblance of a roof over their heads.

He buys clothes from the thrift store in bulk, gets coats sized for adults so they can bundle up more, steals leftovers and has them take turns at the local fridge to get them canned foods, fights off bullies and other people for the right to live in condemned buildings for them all.

The older kids had a couple years of school and he teaches them to read. They frequent the library a lot and use public toilets to wash up.

It isn't perfect, but they've survived this long.

The one that nearly broke the camel's back was Darla, a toddler (about 2ish?) who got really sick. Billy debating so hard on whether to willingly bring them to CPS if only to get her help because winter is closing in and he's SO scared she'll die.

But he PROMISED.

He ends up getting his powers when he ran into the subway after stealing from the local pharmacy.

Honestly he nearly refused because this kid has been in survival mode for so long and his entire focus is on keeping his family alive and possibly giving them a better life.

And then the Wizard promises him magic and spells to help them if he accepts the duty and like a man signing up for the army Billy agrees for their sake.

He's a little more closed off to the JL maybe? He has more regular hours compared to his Canon counterpart bc his focus is still on his family.

They call him big brother, but after he'd gotten even bigger, they accept the truth they'd always had subconsciously, that they actually consider Billy their dad.

[cosmicpoutine]

leaving a lil rant here :]

I love Tim and his ships sm. Me personally, I only really ship TimKon. Those two are perfect for eachother and have so much clear queer coding that it’s crazy, and they have dialogue that’s just. gay shaped.

I also get TimBart, I don’t ship it romantically but I get why people do!! Tim and Bart are close as well, and the balance they get between ‘depressed tired wet cat’ and ‘living breathing embodiment of adhd’ is great.

I also get TimBartKon, they’re a trio. They are always a trio, so many people like to bring up how TimKon has so much coding and one of the big examples they use is when Tim tried to clone Kon. You know who else he tried to clone? Bart.

The only Tim ship I don’t get is TimBern, or any ship involving those two. When Bernard first appears, he’s Tim’s bully. He actively makes fun of tim and puts him down and then that character is forgotten about until Tim comes out as bi, then they just rework his character and go “haha guys this is his boyfriend not bully ygs are crazy” and just forget about all the bad stuff Bernard did? Reworking a character is great and all but, it just feels a bit weird and out of place for me. There’s always going to be that certain toxicity for TimBern, at least for me.

homie... bully??? im flabbergasted- im speechless- im jason todd (dead)

okay, im gonna start off by saying you have all the right to not ship them, and im not here to defend timbern as a ship. im here to defend BERNARD DOWD.

first thing bernard does is give tim advice about teachers, and he clearly says they're gonna be good friends.

if bernard was a bully, tim wouldn't hang around him so much. besides, i hate it when people place tim as a helpless little boy who would get bullied. he has put himself in situations where he looks weak on purpose to keep his identity safe, but he's not a victim at all. tim is a social butterfly because he's really good at masking and reading people.

not to mention, both bernard and darla push tim a lot because they're trying to get him to open up and be closer to them, but he keeps pushing them away. tim is a professional liar.

and when tim has to quit robin and start hanging out with normal people, he invites bernard over.

and bernard is acting relatively normal, and he wants to play video games and talk about how hot tim's stepmom is.

bernard is a normal teenager who has no idea one of his friends is the hero he's so obsessed with. he even shows concern for robin dying and makes up an entire conspiracy theory about batman havin a robin orphanage. you can tell he's afraid of robin being gone for real because at this point they haven't seen robin in months bc tim retired.

i dont know what about all of these interactions gave you the vibe that he's a bully because all i see is a normal teenager teasing his friends and being jealous tim gets more bitches.

im not saying that bernard was never mean or weird around tim, but he definitely wasn't actively bullying tim.

bernard is obnoxious and cocky, yes. but thats just because they wrote him as a real person. he's the school's chameleon, maybe even a little bit of a loser, too. he knows everyone but keeps a safe distance so that he doesn't get pushed into a box. im not sure if, at this point, he was already in a cult or being indoctrinated, but when we see his parents and the dowd home in tim drake: robin that just doesn't look right.

also homie talk about "forgetting all the bad things bernard did" (which in my opinion is none but okay lets follow that logic) everyone forget about all the bad things batman did to tim, he was not a kind and loving mentor, he was cruel to both tim and steph. we forget that batman was kind of an asshole to damien in the beginning. all those things are forgotten for the sake of the batfam.

in conclusion: we're just so used to the idea that superheroes can only ever form strong friendship bonds by having near death experiences together that we forget that the secret identifies exist and that the people who know them by their legal name also means a lot to them. after all, these people are the reason why they're heroes.

[raisedbythetv89]

Ok ooooook OK SO.

Spike was literally made for Buffy because he was made for and by Drusilla, and Buffy and Dru are the same person:

Innocent, kind-hearted young girls, with special gifts that cause them to carry more guilt/burden than others and they are used/abused/traumatized by angelus/angel, then neglected and abandoned, with Spike being there to pick up the pieces and nurture, care for, and love them the best he can to help them move past their angel trauma (which is actually an impossible task with Drusilla because of the sire aspect but isn’t with Buffy)

WHICH is why I believe William’s first act as a vampire was to try and save his mother. He was literally created to be Dru’s knight. Not only her protector but her healer. Which is why his first instinct when it should be all about blood lust is instead, to heal his mother who he still loves even as a vampire. I mean even Dru, a certified nutcase, is like you wanna do WHAT?!?! When Spike tells her his plan to save his mom😹

This is also why I believe angel trying to mold Spike into his image never really took or rather Spike was able to break free from it. Angel was created by darla for the intent of death, torment and destruction.

Spike was created to care for and love Dru. Which required an OBSCENE amount of patience, determination, humility, and love of a challenge. Which is why he was so intrigued by slayers, another seemingly impossible task - but the joy/fun was in the TRYING, the thrill of the unknown and the unpredictability of it all. Which are all the traits he needed to be there for both Dru and Buffy while also ensuring he never gives up on them as long as they want him there, and then some lol.

IM FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS

Because also this is soooooo not where I planned on going with this but “I was made to love you” episode title is now drawing in the connection of, is this why Spike didn’t initially see the problem with the Buffy-Bot until he saw the reaction of Buffy herself who often acts as his moral compass as he relearns what is “good” after 100+ years living by vamp code because him AS A HUMAN, in his vulnerable, dejected and devastated state was killed and made into a vampire for the sole purpose of loving and caring for Drusilla selflessly, without regard for himself, much like the bots were!! So why would he see the harm in creating something like that for himself when no one was going to die in the process and it meant he could stop fixating in the real buffy? Both of which to a vamp who’s only been trying to live by human morals again for like 14 episodes vs 120 years with NO help just trial and erroring his way through becoming a white hat which his starting point is “I would like credit for not taking advantage of bleeding disaster victims” and “what do you mean building a shrine to show how deep my devotion is and chaining you up, offering to kill my ex, and forcing you to talk to me and admit your feelings aren’t the way to do this??” 😹😹😹 like he gets it so wrong, it’s comical in season 5 because he truly is so earnest about all of it because while yes it is all for a chance with Buffy, he genuinely wants to be better for her so he can earn that chance. As he says to Riley “a fellas gotta try” after saying he doesn’t think he has a chance with her.

He was an Eleanore who desperately needed his Chidi. Which Buffy is his moral compass but she ends up being a “let them fail/push them into the deep end” kind of guide. So he makes A LOT of mistakes along the way as many of us often do in general but especially those of us who were raised by abusive parents; who in our adulthood, have to learn to discern what is healthy vs abusive to be a good person to both yourself and others and be in actual healthy relationships with boundaries and respect with zero practical experience or good instincts to go on.

NONE of this excuses any harm that Spike causes at all. That is not the point of this to say “oh he didn’t really do bad”, no he did. Spike caused a lot of harm but this perspective that I’ve finally been able to put into words is why none of the harm ends up being a deal breaker for me and many spuffys because it puts his choices in the right perspective which is not that of a human even though he looks like one a lot of the time.

Spike pre-soul, making the mistakes he makes isn’t the same as a human or a vamp with a human soul making the mistakes because he doesn’t have his human soul motivating and informing the decisions he makes. It really mimics different cultures in a lot of ways as anya really demonstrates during her wedding with all her talk of demon culture and tradition (and her own struggles to assimilate into the human world again and she HAS a human soul and xander to help her) and the initiative being VERY n*zi coded and Riley being called a bigot because he is ignorant to much of demonology. So un-souled spike has a more potential for forgiveness of his mistakes than human soul havers because he is always genuinely TRYING to do right by Buffy even when he gets it horribly wrong. And the characters in the show always hold him accountable and make him feel TERRIBLE for the mistakes he makes.

Why does he have such potential for forgiveness you ask? The best example is to think of the concept of someone trying to assimilate themselves into a new culture. We can’t expect them to blend right in perfectly and get all the culture norms right, right away (again -anya-but also a real life example - when I travel in Italy and catch up with friends there I STILL always stumble and forget they’re always gonna go in for a double cheek kiss greeting - pre covid anyway - and I KNOW it’s a thing but if I’m out of practice it takes me a while to start greeting people that way again and it makes for some AWKWARD ENCOUNTERS until I get it down😹). It takes time, and normally guidance and patience from others that spike honestly doesn’t often have except in the form of being yelled at or beat up until he gets his soul. But his willingness to TRY anyways despite failure, rejection, ridicule and cruelty. How can I not love him?? He is me, I am him!! I was also met with so much unhelpful criticism and cruelty when I was just trying to learn and do a good job.

Both as someone who is autistic and didn’t know it for a lot of life; I too felt like I was blundering through without a guide or a rule book and I was sure I was making mistakes because people would get upset but I had NO help identifying what exactly I did wrong or what to do instead. So I knew I was messing up but had to keep guessing and trying anyway and getting it wrong again and again!

And as someone raised by an emotionally distant/abusive narcissist, navigating healthy relationships became even MORE difficult and I made a lot of bad choices along the way that landed me in some awful relationships much like what spike and Buffy devolve into towards the end of season 6 because both of them are up stream without a paddle when it comes to healthy relationships, healthy coping mechanisms, and communication. They know pain, avoidance, fighting, torment, and ecstasy from always living in extremes and life or death situations (notice Buffy struggles the most in the season with no threat of the apocalypse until the last two episodes - season 6 - which is SO common for people with trauma, you really fall apart when things are low stakes)

It’s why the tenderness and gentleness of season 7 means SO MUCH. Both of them experiencing these tiny pockets of true peace with each other after everything they’ve been through individually and together. Experiencing true peace like we see from them is one of the hardest things to accomplish if you have severe trauma.

I’m always really happy when I can digest these complex themes enough to communicate why I love them so much and why they’re so important to me. The fact that this show had so much in-fighting amongst the writers and misogynists trying to make spike pathetic and accidentally making him one of the most complex characters, plus episodes based specifically on neurodivergent/queer peoples’ traumatic coming of age experiences because the parallels are SO strong there no way they’re not lol. This all means I can probably spend the rest of my life dissecting the layers of this show and learning about myself in the process and always find something new 🙃🙃🙃 and clearly I love all aspects of spuffy so god damn much as they each embody a big part of my life experiences in so many beautiful yet tragic ways.

[ssa-atlas-alvez]

Darla (BAU x cowboy!reader)

Warnings: n/a

A/N: Okay so this kinda sets the scene for another fic hopefully coming out today. This takes place like a few weeks after Mama’s boy.

Taglist: @xweirdo101x @xdark-acadamiax @ara-a-bird @heidss @chubbyboyinflannel @pendragon-writes @migwayne @bigolgay @technikerin23 @supercriminalbean @honestlycasualarcade @caffeine-mess @1s3v3n1 @oddmiles @kevyeen @stealing-kneecaps @criminalskies  

You didn’t know what exactly it was, you just knew that you had woken up with a strong realisation. You were had fallen for her. And you had fallen hard. 

“What's up with you?” Emily asked as you gave her a dopey smile.

“What?”

“You’re not a morning person and you’re practically skipping,” Garcia grinned.

“I am in awe of a woman…”

“Oh my god, you're already smitten.” She snorted.

“I have never met a woman like her…” You said with a sigh, "She's somethin' out of a fairy tale ‘m tellin’ ya, she’s just... she’s stunning,"

“What's her name?” JJ asked, joining the pair of you. 

“Darla,” You said with a sigh, you watch in confusion as JJ’s smile drops momentarily before she disguises it.

“Darla? You mean the vampire from Buffy?” Emily asked. You sighed, they had already seen through your code name. JJ breathes out a small sigh of relief, before she realises that you’re still ‘in awe’ of someone and it’s not her. 

“Okay, so it's a code name. But she's beautiful.”

“What does she look like?” Garcia grins, sipping her tea. 

“I’m not giving anything away,” You laugh as they all groan loudly at you, Garcia throwing a pen in your direction. 

It had been a few hours since your conversation with the three of them about your quote unquote crush. 

“Garcia, can I ask a favour?” You asked as you walked into her office. 

“What can I do you for?”

“Can I tell you something?” You asked, “I just need to talk to someone about this...”

“...Okay?”

“You can’t tell anyone-” You said, “Not a single soul- Not even Morgan-”

“Not even Morgan?”

“No one, please,”

“Okay, okay, fine, but the suspense is killing me, what is it?”

“You know my um... I don’t want to say crush, but...”

“Darla?”

“Yeah, Darla, you know her, she’s on the team-”

“Oh my god is JJ Darla!?”

“Yeah, but you can’t tell a soul-”

“Oh my god! This is so exciting!” Garcia exclaimed.

“Well don’t get your hopes up, if I eventually tell her she might tell me to stay away from her,” You laugh nervously. 

“Are you seriously that blind?!” Garcia groaned loudly, “You’re both so stupid! With all the love in the world, you’re an idiot,”

“We’re friends, I’m not gonna to take a risk and ruin that,” Garcia lets out a loud groan.

“Fine!” She huffs, “Take away my biggest ship, why don’t you!”

“What?“

“Nevermind,” She says with a huff, “But trust me, she likes you too.”

“I’m not gonna do anything that might ruin our friendship,” You shrugged slightly with a blush, “I just wanted to tell some and... well... you’re my best friend.”

You blush harder when Garcia grins and pulls you in for a tight hug, “You’re mine too! Also, I’ve been thinking about taking up baking,”

“I approve and therefore must be your taste tester,”

“Deal.”

[angelthemanspanker]

Darla in BTVS is hilariously Palpatine-coded to Buffy's Luke to me. Or not even Palpatine bc that implies big schemer so maybe more The Emperor-coded. like what the fuck do you mean that my evil henchman masterpiece with no facial expressions who has served me for most of his life since I destroyed/created him is betraying me for a cute blond hes known for like fifteen minutes. And Darla and the Emperor are both such hilariously big deals in their respective universes like Darla created probably the most infamous pack of vampires in history, lived to like 400, untouched by slayers and vampire hunters, and the Emperor did All That (All That = Every single nefarious plot in the entire Star Wars saga) and didnt face a single consequence until he was on Life Alert. And then they meet the Great Hero Of Their Story and the Hero's like could you shut the fuck up whoever you are I'm trying to redeem your manservant. For personal reasons. And Big Bad is like um put some respect on my name and Anyway They Start Blastin These Blonde Bitches. hey manservant why are you standing so close behind me. a stake and/or bottomless pit you say. okay well I'm gonna come back at least once. just to spite you.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, October 2

Happy Buffy Resurrection Day to all who celebrate!

Cut to Buffy's grave. Zoom in on the ground, which is already churned up from the motorcycles riding over it. Suddenly a hand bursts out from below, then another hand, then Buffy's head and shoulders. She gasps for air, pulls herself up onto the grass, lies there panting. She looks around at the dark forest, very fearfully. Buffy slowly gets to her feet, turns and stares at the headstone with her name on it. She frowns in confusion, then her eyes widen in shock as she gets it.

~~The Bargaining~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

BtVS Triple Drabble: Angry And Hurt by badly_knitted (Willow, Buffy, PG)

Chaperones by apachefirecat (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Crouching on the Knife Handle by vampbrat (Darla/The Master, E)

You’re the Beach, I’m the Wave by Hecate (Buffy/Faith, G)

it's chemistry (but not ours) by ripslayer (Willow, Root, Person of Interest xover, T)

the perils of locker room showers by TechnicolorRevel (Willow/Faith, E)

(not) good enough by howtowords (Darla/Drusilla, G)

They'd done well, all things considered. Joan had managed to stay upright and stern-looking ... by hiddenbysuccubi (Buffy/Spike, unrated)

Chaperones by Apache Firecat (Buffy/Spike, PG)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Green Shards Underfoot - ch. 1-5 by acs (Dawn, multi xover, T)

After Midnight - ch. 1 by JennaRiley (Angel, Cordelia, Gunn, others, T)

Painting Flowers - ch. 1 by crowncitydreams (Buffy/Angel, Willow/Oz, T)

Unholy Matrimony - ch. 9 by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Degradation of Duality [Series Part 2] - ch. 54 by Ragini (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

As the World Falls Down - ch. 1-39 by lovetvfan (Buffy, Highlander xover, FR21) COMPLETE!

Breaking the Code - ch. 4 by Buffyworldbuilder (Dawn, Buffy, Illyria, FR7)

Exorcise - ch. 1 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG)

A Sword in the Man - ch. 8 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Dear Journal - ch. 9 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, R) COMPLETE!

[Images, Audio & Video]

Icons: 🎨 Icon Pack #13 - Sunstroke (9 icons) by veronyxk84 (Buffy, worksafe)

Artwork: more cangel memes bc i enjoy the power being able to draw gives me by artsying-ifer (Angel, Cordelia, worksafe)

Artwork: Cringetober day 2: tsundere by nivvledoodles (Spike, worksafe)

Artwork and fic rec: “Four hundred and seventy-six days.” Buffy said quietly. by flyora (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Artwork and fic rec: "You got a little fight in you, watcher," she purred. by flyora (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Moodboard: A dragon!Giles/Buffy moodboard for one of my Kinktober fics. by unendingwanderlust (worksafe)

Moodboard: “I’m the thing that monsters have nightmares about.”  Buffy Summers by ourworldofwonders (worksafe)

Moodboard: bi they/them nb trans girl buffy summers by courtillyy (worksafe)

Moodboard: bi demisexual buffy summers by courtillyy (worksafe)

Edit: [For a while, it was love, wasn't it?] —sue zhao by dogmetaphors (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: btvs 3x20 / ats 1x08 by ptieuca (Buffy/Angel, worksafe)

Gifset: ATS 1.22 | BTVS 3.18 by coffygifs (Cordelia, Buffy, worksafe)

Gifset: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997 - 2003) ⏤ 1.01, 2.09, 2.14, 3.08 by andremichaux (Buffy, Cordelia, Oz, Jenny, Spike, worksafe)

Fanvid: spike’s inner monologue be like by slugessence (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Fanvid: Spike and Buffy || Hunter by Angel (Buffy/Spike)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Season 6 hits too close to home by enrichyournerdpower

Update on this post [first time watcher] by Specialist-Orchid-80

season 7 of buffy is so perfectly set up to investigate the true nature of evil by pinesorneedles

angel the series is the funniest tv show on earth actually. i'm only on episode 7... by notdamien

PODCAST: Episode 76: Expecting (w/ Katie Kaisershot) by Gym Was Cancelled: A Buffy Podcast

[Recs & In Search Of]

[Bangel gifset] iwry2023 most fluffy fic: blush by aboutafox recced by iwillrememberyoumarathon

[Community Announcements]

Big congratulations to MamaBewear on getting BINGO!! by Fanged Four Family Bingo 2024

Updated commission info! [Spuffy] by lilibethdrawsreylo

[Fandom Discussions]

I was always frustrated by how Willow's relationship with magic was addressed in seasons 6 and 7. [commentary in the tags] by thequeenofsastiel

btvs characters and whether or not they ... [NSFW topic] by lesbianmarrow

I cannot believe Buffy was going to kill Faith to feed her to Angel. by lajeunefilleenfeu

I've been doing a year of refusing to chalk anything in BTVS as bad writing or fan service. [Xander, Riley, and Faith thoughts] by desicat-writer

[parallels with Agatha All Along and Tara in the Family episode] by a-couple-of-notes

Meme: [btvs characters plus things i found on my internet travels] by hal-1500

POLL: Best BTVS Season 1 Episode? by gh-0-stcup

POLL: Have you seen Faith's six episodes on Angel the series (aka ATS)? by elizadushkudaily

POLL: AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals [Buffy/Faith vs Harley Quinn couple] by ao3femslashtop100-tournament

What If: Olivia wasn't around? by nightshade and many others

Free streaming (for Aussies) [and in USA] by November and famicommander

Discussion of 4.04 "Fear, Itself" updated by November

Discussion of 4.03 "The Harsh Light of Day" updated by November

Discussion of 4.01 "The Freshman" updated by November

First watch - some thoughts by Unlucky-Morning5474

If they did a revival, would they change anything? by NobodySpecialSCL

How would you portray Xander? [in a reboot] by Personal_Reward_60

I just realised something about Xander by BasementCatBill

Sarah and Joss [writing and acting and talent and professionalism] by Moon_Logic

How do you explain Angel's personality in season 1? by spectacleskeptic

How would Angel (Buffy/Angel) react to meeting Booth (Bones)? by Edkm90p

Gingerbread is scary to me by kai-enby

Unpopular opinion? [Fred on ATS] by BloatMyG0at

Do you think Eve was human? by DevilManRay

Fred feels like an Angel version of Willow from Buffy... by BabyBlueN7

Vampires degrees of bad by debujandobirds

Volviendo a ver la serie. 7° temporada. [Spike] by OneTap4588

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

VIDEO: movies should be scary, skincare shouldn't be. [skincare video with SMG] by Philosophy

PODCAST: Bonus Episode - Buffy Cast's Ultimate Survivor Island Showdown! by The Sunnydale Diaries

PUBLICATION: 8 Things I Learned Watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer For The First Time In 2024 by ScreenRant

PUBLICATION: Where Is Eliza Dushku Now? On a Bold Journey into Psychedelics by Boston Magazine

INSTAGRAM: [message to fans re psychedelic-assisted therapy article] by Eliza Dushku

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Join the editor team :)

[zahri-melitor]

New(ish) Comics:

Batman #147: I already went on about this but I have to point back to Bruce's conversation with Barry here. This is what the entire storyline is about. (also all the Batman-Justice League robots are so extremely Dark Nights Metal coded I've got to say)

I will get to #148 later.

Birds of Prey #9: ...is the implication here that Zealot and Ollie have been sleeping together? Does Dinah know? Does this mean there is the possibility of Dinah sleeping with other people? This is clearly the most important part of this issue. Edit: Apparently it's Cole Cash/Grifter, not Ollie. I am suffering from blond dude with beard assumptions. (and Dinah sleeping with people not Ollie assumptions, given the exciting panel right at the start that I thought was Babs and Dinah landing on top of each other and having hands in unmentionable places. Sadly this did not pan out)

Okay that said, Megaera popping out to talk to people using Sin's HAIR is the most Zinn-from-Monstress coded thing yet, and I've been getting the Zinn vibes for a while. Love the snark though.

Loved the Danny the Street shoutout, and the art is once again fabulous, particularly the way they've used colour.

Shazam! #11: The Darla and Hoppy investigation alliance going on is amazing. The fact that Hoppy is scared of Tawky Tawny is hilarious. Mary is desperately trying to stop worrying by controlling every variable possible. Freddy is still so excited about being allowed to drive. And Billy is having a break down.

The Boy Wonder #1: this is just a visual feast. I love the mythical feel of it, the story and art references. It's just a beautiful book, and exactly what I love to see from Black Label.

The Warlord #51: this week in the Lost Land of Skartaris the issue is literally reprinting The Warlord #1 to remind everyone of where the story started. Which I admit, after 50 issues and the First Issue Special it's fun to be reminded of back when Travis and Tara actually appeared on panel together regularly. In any case, after the two of them fall in love and frolic around together on their way to Shamballah, they get captured by slavers, Travis AND Tara both get chained up, and Mike Grell's bondage fetish and taste for crucifixion imagery becomes apparent to anyone unfamiliar.

The backup is Dragonsword, written by Paul Levitz, and I don't think I've ever actually read much that Levitz wrote rather than edited (the answer after a quick glance is 'a couple of Christmas stories'). Interesting to see him doing sword and sorcery rather than LOSH. Literally: this is about a knight with a talking chimpanzee for a squire, who goes out to blood a new sword by killing a dragon, only to find the dragon talking to him from his sword.

[yangxiaolongstan]

Nick Valentine, the magnificent Nicky V. I like Nick. I've done him once before and I don't remember much but I remember liking him. just the idea of this pre war detective brought back to life by the Institute and lost, stuck out of time like you is brilliant. one of the most genuinely creative and interesting concepts of any Fallout companion. but not perfect. so let's fix him.

I'm actually gonna start before Nick becomes a companion. Vault 114 is fun, I like how it establishes Nick as a brave guy who's willing to charge into a vault full of gangsters after a missing person. although I wish we could talk to Skinny Malone and end things peacefully before turning about a hundred men into carefully modeled red goo. I also think Nick, and all the other companions you get to meet before they become available to travel with, could gain affinity before you start traveling together. if you successfully get Darla to go home without violence and talk down Skinny Malone, that should earn you some credit with him. anyway, since I already killed Kellogg with Codsworth we're picking up Nick in his office afterwards. I like the different detective cases he's got, the mysterious stranger one is especially fun. he has nice insights in the case file quests but I wish he wouldn't just handhold you through them.

his affinity goes up pretty quick as long as you're decent. I think his morals are a good fit for his character as an old private eye. although he should like when you pick locks like Piper does.

first conversation works well. gives us a feel for who Nick is and his history. I think it's better for the first conversation to be exposition than the second. I do think it should tie into his position out of time and his disorientation in the post apocalypse more though.

Nick needs a lot more play with Kellogg. maybe have Kellogg's memories and personality help Nick figure out Eddie Winter, he needed that dangerous merc's brain to understand a vicious bastard like Winter. I'll talk more about the quest when we get there, but for now I just think it needs a connection to Kellogg to help tie Nick together a bit more. as is the Kellogg stuff feels kinda out of place

for the second conversation we get a bit more Nick exposition, he's programed with the original Nick Valentine's memories and doesn't know who he is in the post apocalypse. I really like his backstory like I said before. I might make the conversation more about how disoriented he still is rather than about how people helped him and he's trying to return the favor, but it's pretty good all the same.

I like the conversation between Nick and DiMa a lot. Nick being the start of the replacements, where DiMa is the starting point for synths not based on a person like the Coursers. also the idea that Nick was the first escapee.

75% affinity baby! third conversation. starts on a very strong note, with Nick lamenting his disorientation, and even outright saying he's not a real person. it's interesting he doesn't actually think of himself as being Nick, but I think that needed to be set up a bit more in conversations 1 and 2. and his quest starts right after, kinda weird that it's not really part of the same conversation but it happens right after.

I think Eddie should have already been running his gang. it's just bizarre that he's been alive but doing nothing. I think he could be interesting as a kind of mastermind over the different triggerman gangs in the Commonwealth. the idea that the code to get to him is in all the different police holotapes is a bit contrived but it's also super fun. I might change it but it doesn't really need to be. I like the conversation between Nick and Eddie. it fits the wackier quests from other fallout games. the final meeting between an ancient ghoul crimelord and the robot recreation of his prewar detective nemesis sounds more like something from Old World Blues than Fallout 4. Nick desperately needs better pathfinding on the way to the place Jenny died, but I like what he says when he gets there.

the final conversation is good. Nick finally makes peace with who he is and has been and recommits himself to justice. I don't have much to say about it tbh. It's well done and mostly just the culmination of his quest. I'd include a romance option but that's just because I'm a nasty robotfucker.

all in all Nick was great. probably the best written companion so far. so I probably should do the worst next, fucking Strong. then maybe Preston.

Original fixing Fallout 4 companions post

Piper

Codsworth

MacCready

Strong

Preston

[hezekiahwakely]

As anticipated, here are my extensive red string notes from the pilot:

God knows how relevant any of this will turn out to be, but I'm nothing if not a collector of trivial information

Very long text beneath the cut:

Page 1

The Magnus Protocol Pilot 10/25/23

Characters (in order of appearance)

Alice Dyer -O.I.A.R. employee -Dated Sam in uni -Jokester -Training Sam -Gets along with Colin

Teddy Vaughn -Retiring from the O.I.A.R. after 4 (?) years -Going into insurance field

Colin Becher -O.I.A.R. IT Manager -Vegetarian 🥬 -On the hook of "his nibs" (boss, male) -Sensitive about FR3-d1 app development, communicates w/politicians, trying for 2 years -Only gets along w/Alice -Knows computers are listening -Jokes about being killed

Lena Kelley -O.I.A.R. Team/Department Manager -Authoritative, follows protocol -Doesn't think Gwen is qualified for management

Gwendolyn Bouchard -O.I.A.R. employee -Backlog of casework -Dislikes Lena, wants her job -Dedicated to detail -Accused of nepotism by Alice -Thinks current job is beneath her -"Not like most people." *static*

Samama Khalid (Sam) -New O.I.A.R. employee -Dated Alice in uni -Wanting to 'get back on his feet' -Familiar with TMI -Didn't know what the Incidents were before hire!!

Page 2

Pilot notes con. 10/25/23

Listening Tech - Turns on by itself 💡

Dated computers (O.I.A.R.)

"Manager's speakerphone" (Lena's)

CCTV (O.I.A.R. breakroom?)

Cell phone (Alice's)

*O.I.A.R. formed in 70s? Accor. to Alice*

*Response Department no longer exists*

Still in onboarding paperwork, "Response 121"

Sam ticked this box

Tech Specs

O.S. = Windows NT 4.0 (modified) -Extended support for this O.S. was ended Dec. 31, 2004 IRL -Runs on workstations connected by LAN -Similar GUI to 95; comes w/Internet Explorer

FR3-d1 -Custom research software circa mid-90s -Flags Incidents and creates a database -Can search private/protected sources (email) -Alice claims no one has understood its workings for 15 years -Written in German source code

*1 Year = Average Employee Stay*

Page 3

Pilot notes con. 10/25/23

Classification System

Used in FR3-d1's database

Structure: CATXRXXXXX-XXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX

CATXRX -> From reference table (CAT = Category?) First four digits -> Main subject of Incident DPHW (?) Next eight digits -> Date of Incident Last eight digits -> Current date

Example: CAT2RC1157-12052022-13012024* -First one we hear they file. "1157" is the "DPHW" for "dolls, watching."

*Jan. 13, 2024 is the date of Sam's onboarding/training (after Teddy's going-away party)

*as listed in transcript; in-show, it's quoted as 22102023, or Oct. 22, 2023

Page 4

Pilot notes (con.) 10/25/23

FR3-d1's Voice to Text/Text to Speech

Voices (named by Alice, which Gwen dislikes):

Neil = Alex

Chester = Jonny

(those two most common)

Augustus = ?

Neil's Incident

Occurs in "Cyberspace" via the transcript

"I'm so sorry. I should have listened. I just couldn't face the thought of the rest of my life never hearing him again, I had to try." First lines 😢

Email from Harriet Winstead to Darla Winstead, May 12, 2022

Recitations *can* be paused by pressing "space"!

Chester's Incident

Also occurs in "Cyberspace"

Topic: Magnus Institute Ruins.

On forum, user RedCanary, begins April 10, 2022. Explored 4/19-20/22.

Third floor gone. No old papers.

Suspicious, occult (?) graffiti, stains (!)

Took box with strange symbols (same as ones on walls/floors)

4/30/22 Posted image of gore/eyes, possibly of themself. Banned + did not return.

Page 5

Pilot notes con. 10/25/23

Early release video Case #: CAT1RA1353-03102023-22102024(listed as 202"3" on Patreon)

Video was posted 10/22/23.

Listed as "Incident" on Patreon.

According to transcript, the O.I.A.R. offices are located in Royal Mint Court.

Johson (sic) Smirke Building

Main building.

5 storeys, Grade 2 listed.

Designed by James Johnson, but constructed between 1807-1812 by Robert Smirke after Johnson died. To be used for mint.

Entrance lodge also built by Smirke, in front of building.

Page 6

Pilot - Public Release -TMAGP#001

Changes:

Sam's first incident number - today's date

CAT2RC1157-12052022-13012024 -> CAT2RC1157-12052022-09012024

Voice (first incident)

Neil -> *Norris*

Minor word/date changes in incidents.

Minor line read differences.

Descriptions of Incidents in new transcript:

Norris': CAT1RBC5257-12052022-09012024 Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]

Chester's: CAT23RAB2155-10042022-09012024 Transformation (Eyes) -/- Trespass [chat log]

[2bu]

That anon is so entitled, anyways now I wanna see your ocs

LMAO SURE!!! The ones I was referring to are Darla and Leena in the one post I reblogged! AS A TREAT i'll share my fave art of them (by xamag!)

While I do have the rest of my toyhouse private I'm always willing to give out codes and follow more ppl on there 👍🏽

[liam-summers]

When I see people say that Angel is so terrible because all he did was feel sorry for himself and didn’t do anything for 100 years after he got his soul back, and then in the same breathe they praise Sp*ke for becoming a “hero” immediately after getting a soul.

Side eye.

Did y’all miss the 3 seasons where Sp*ke literally could not commit murder due to having a behaviour modification chip implanted in his brain? Where he became obsessed with Buffy and weaseled his way into her life, her circle, and her mission (out of complete selfishness btw)? The part where when he got his soul back, he had a support system and a mission (Buffy’s mission because let’s be honest, the man can’t form an original thought if his life depended on it) waiting for him on a silver plater? Sp*ke had everything handed to him without any consequences and he didn’t even have the decency to feel sorry about anything he’d done and instead always shifted the blame onto anyone but himself, while expecting Buffy to give him credit for his grand gesture.

Angel literally had NO ONE. Not a single person was there to support him when he got his soul back. There was no one for him to model a moral code after because he had just spent 150 years being an evil soulless vampire. He tried to go back to Darla because that was all he knew but he couldn’t continue living that life of evil, so he left and then wandered the earth for almost a century because he didn’t know how to deal with his soul. The fact that he became depressed and self loathing is because he couldn’t reconcile what he had done when he didn’t have a soul but he didn’t know how to move forward from that. It’s not unreasonable to say that that kind of guilt is debilitating! It wasn’t until he saw and met Buffy that he was inspired to make the choice to start making positive change in the world. He learned how to be a hero from Buffy and then he took everything she taught him and made himself into a champion. Nothing was ever handed to Angel on a silver plater, he had to work for redemption and he’ll continue working until he’s dust in the wind because he quickly learned that there is no end to it and he can never make up for what he did.

Angel walked so Sp*ke could run, and it happened that way because of the unique timelines and circumstances surrounding their re-ensoulments. That doesn’t mean that Sp*ke is better than Angel…it means that their journeys were just different and the only common denominator is BUFFY.

and I think it’s pretty telling that most of Sp*ke’s post-soul development happened when he was with Angel, when he finally got his head out of Buffy’s ass and decided to take some responsibility and do good for the sake of doing good and not just to please the woman he was currently obsessed with.

[blusandbirds]

writing patterns: closing lines game

thanks @zannolin for tagging :)

rules: list the last lines of your last 10 fics and see if there are any patterns that indicate how you tend to end stories, basically!

A pretty good team, indeed. - chilling with that nerd shit

Mitch watches their backs and thinks maybe he's finally ready to get somewhere. - reinventing the wheel (to run myself over)

He still hasn’t been swimming since, but it’s summer again—the community pools will be open and Darla just bought a new swimsuit with a unicorn of all things on it—and Billy’s ready to try. - the worms and me

"Well," he says, squeezing her fingers in his. "Don't be." - you're making me uneasy (so maybe you can see me)

Demetri, like a good friend, just replies that Eli will be paying for his future hospital bills. - close to you

Maybe he'll just call her Sam. - hey princess

There’ll be hell to pay if anyone finds out. His superiors and Bueller will have his head, balls, and career for it. Still, he can’t quite bring himself to regret his decision. - keep me in a cool, dry place

It's the last thought he has before he falls asleep, and Mick can admit he doesn't mind it at all. - (anyway) don't be a stranger

"Bring it," he says. - anything in between

Robby’s lips close over his. No mercy. - see you later boy

this is fascinating because honestly i never know how to end my fics. i distinctly remember number 8 being a pain because as you can see i love an optimistic ending, but also i never want it to sound too cheesy. last lines either come to me immediately like 2 4 5 6 7 and 10 or i have to wrangle them out like all the others. i guess the patterns is that they all close with this idea of looking towards the future (with a few exceptions) i very rarely end on dialogue and both the fics that i did that with were actually ficlets i wrote for tumblr first.

this was fun! no pressure tagging @kermit-coded @many-gay-magpies @transvalkilmer and anybody else who wants!

[cosmicpoutine]

Sofia by clairo is so Louis grieve era timber coded especially if they both knew they felt at least something for eachother

NO BECAUSE HEAR ME OUT I've had this headcanon for ages that bernard told darla he felt something for a boy, she had no idea it was tim but was supportive of him bc we see her literally disgusted when her dad suggests her and bernard go out. "no we're just friends"

you also need to keep in mind this whole time tim is telling darla he has a girlfriend (he does) but he never introduces her, hence why bernard always jokes about steph not being real. so after darla kisses tim and he turns her down again she must've been like "this bitch for sure gay"

and lets be honest, when timbern first met they clicked so easily and tim immediately liked bernard and they got close so fast that even his dad already knew about bernard before they invited him over AND ALSO bruh they invited bernard and not darla?? jack must've been like "he lied about joining the football team he probably lied about liking girls"

so yes, that song fits so well.

there's a lot of songs i relate to timbern in this same concept but i never make playlists and my yj music is a mess rn bc I've been listening to cunty music in order to focus but i love music recs so if yall wanna drop your timbern songs I'd be thankful