#so that was a fun nostalgic thing to do!!

[patchouii]

Some post-fall Hannigram headcanons of mine, just for fun:

. Hannibal used to celebrate holidays, he enjoyed the festivities, having holiday parties as a surgeon. Eventually, the loneliness of who he was and how he lived soured them. Will makes him want to have simple fun celebrating again.

. While running from cops somewhere, Will grabs a motorcycle, and Hannibal finds out he can drive cars or motorcycles like a maniac— growing up in the middle of nowhere with a dad who’s a mechanic can do that.

. Due to the changes in air pressure from cold, wet weather putting stress on deep scarring, whenever it rains hard where they are, Will’s stomach scar aches in a mimicry of the rainy night of its making.

. Post-fall, Hannibal avoids eye contact, Will tries to initiate it. Hannibal worries that with Will’s new self-possessedness, he will glean even the things he hides from himself and leave. Will reassures him, of course.

. Will asks Hannibal to give him sparring lessons. Now that he’s more willing to delve into his empathy more, he can predict Hannibal’s moves sometimes because he knows him so well. Hannibal finds it annoying, Will finds it hilarious.

. Hannibal owns several properties around the world, and they hop from place to place over the years to avoid being tracked. He has villas in Cuba and Italy and a small private island his family owned.

. Sometimes they feel nostalgic for the time spent on Hannibal’s boat after the fall and want to exist in a world all their own, so they take the boat out and live off the water for a while. Will enjoys the ocean fishing a lot.

. They're both missing their appendixes, unnecessary vestigial organs that are fine to remove. They had the other operate on them and cut it out to share for dinner. Hannibal coached a very nervous Will on how to cut his out for months.

[unintentionaloracle]

Ulterior Motives [Fic]

And now for something a little different! I got hit with a steel chair of inspiration while working on something else and now here we are.

Summary: A heated exchange about The Rock's proposition leads to Drew making Cody his own... spicier proposition. But it's just for mutual gain...right?

(Note: There's also mentions of past Candy (and suggested one-sided/unrequited current Candy))

Drew stormed after Cody as the latter went to his tour bus. He stopped him before he could enter, trapping him against its garishly ad-laden body with one arm. Looking at it almost answered Drew's question for him as he glared down at Cody:

“Are you seriously considering selling your damn soul to The Rock?”

Cody's blue eyes met Drew's own with defiance. “Like I said, it's not off the table, yet. I still need to think about it.”

“Still need to think about it!?” Drew parroted. “The Golden Boy’s really considering taking the easy way with his championship reign?” Drew poked Cody's title belt. “Whenever I wear the championship, I fight tooth and nail to defend it. You have to damn near kill me, play dirty, or both to pry it off me.”

“Really? Are you pissed about me potentially insulting the honor of the championship? Or are you pissed at the idea that if you win the Elimination Chamber, you'll have to deal with whatever being “The Rock's Champion” entails?”

Drew clenched his fists. The thought of being screwed over by Roman's extended family yet again, let alone when he got to the main event of WrestleMania, had crossed his mind. And yet, it wasn't the main thing bothering him.

“That isn't you, Cody. At least, not anymore. You're the man who fought hard to get to where you are. Now you want to do things the easy way!?”

“I AM TIRED, DREW!” Cody shouted. It made Drew almost shrink to Cody's height.

“I’ve had to deal with The Bloodline at every corner. Been tricked. Dealt with spoiled brats. Watched as people–my friends–suffered on my behalf to get and keep me where I am. Had a once dear friend betray and nearly kill me. And now? For the first time in a long time, I’m alone! Jey's got his own story to finish. Sami...hurts to think about. Seth is...well, he's Seth. And Randy...I don't know when he’ll be back. So forgive me if buckling to a higher power sounds tempting, Chosen One.”

Drew twitched at both his former moniker and the mention of Randy. Cody looked genuinely distressed after listing his woes. Something inside the Scotsman, something he long thought dormant, bubbled for the first time. Cody turned to try and leave, only for Drew to fully pin him to the wall. “Having The Rock's hand up your ass like his puppet sure as hell won't fix that. Things are hard? Then why not just quit again like last time?”

Drew could tell he pushed another button, and got his mind off his troubles. Cody, however, seemed ungrateful for the tough “love”. “Forgive me if I'm not eager to take career advice from the man well on his way to getting fired twice.” He sniped back.

Normally, a comment like that would get someone a one way ticket to Claymore Country. But when Cody did it here, away from prying eyes, it was almost fun. Being alone was also nostalgic, whether he wanted to admit it or not. It even gave him...ideas...

“Ya know, if you're so stressed and lonely, I have a better solution. Not that you'll ever let me...”

“Try me,” Cody bit back.

Drew smirked. Now it was fun. “Alright, but remember: you asked for this,” he said, chuckling in a low rumble. He cupped Cody's face, his palms fitting his cheekbones nicely, and gave him a kiss for the first time in a decade and a half. It was meant to be quick...

...were it not for Cody grabbing him as soon as he pulled away and sending his lips crashing back into his, trying to press himself to Drew as close as he could.

Damn, you really are wound up tight if just a kiss has you like this... Drew thought, a little amused and pleased with himself. Still, who was he to deny the poor man? He pressed Cody against the bus, reasserting control as his hands drifted to the back of Cody's neck and his hip. Drew escalated the kiss to a make out, enjoying a soft sigh from Cody before shutting up that oh-so-noble mouth of his.

It was a far cry from years ago, their short fling where they (mostly he) fumbled around like awkward teenagers when they held the tag titles. They were practically boys back then, compared to now. Drew pulled Cody's leg up to his hip, hand drifting down his thigh as he tried to send a message: Drew McIntyre was more than a man now, and one hell of a lover. Especially compared to the ex he'd been in the shadow of back then.

A thought crossed Drew's mind. He broke the kiss briefly, letting his hand drift back up Cody's thigh. “Is your pet Viper gonna throw a hissy fit when he finds out about me kissing his precious little Nightmare?” he purred.

Cody panted. “He shouldn't. Me and Randy are just friends now. It's not his concern.”

Could've fooled me, Drew thought, the way he looks at you.

“Good. I don't like sharing,” he said, about to dive back in. Cody stopped him with a hand to his face, lowering his leg.

“What's your game here, McIntyre? What's in it for you?” Cody said, raising an eyebrow.

Drew removed Cody's hand from his face and placed it on his chest, making Cody blush (despite Cody moving it from Drew's leather jacket to his bare chest on his own accord). His free hand rested against the side of the bus above Cody's head as the other went to Cody's waist.

“If you don't take Rock's deal, I'll be your stress toy. I'll screw all the tension right out of you on the regular,” he moved the hand above Cody and opted to hold Cody's chin, causing him to get that cute confused look on his face whenever anyone touched him affectionately. “I’ll take care of you. No soul required, and the people keep their champion. I might even get to prevent another Seth or Roman from happening, so it's better for everyone, really,”

He then leaned into Cody's ear. “Just give me one night to show you what you'd be getting, so you can “think about it”. What do you say, Champ?” He whispered, making Cody visibly shiver.

Cody said nothing at first, then pushed Drew away gently. He started to go for the bus door again, not looking at him. When he hit the steps, he spoke up. “Well?”

“Well what?” Drew asked.

Cody turned around, loosening his tie before unbuttoning his vest and shirt. “Are we doing this or what?” Cody said before pulling Drew towards him by his belt buckle.

Drew grinned wolfishly. He scooped up Cody and threw him over his shoulder, giving him a quick swat to the rear before entering the bus and closing the door behind them. He found Cody's bed and threw Cody down on it. The American Nightmare looked up at The Scottish Warrior with a mixture of annoyance and arousal.

Drew licked his lips at the gorgeous sight before climbing on top of him, eager to claim his prize and get to work.

---

When they finished, Cody was trembling, lying limp on his belly as he caught his breath. Drew smiled, leaning into his ear as he rubbed Cody's back. “Ah, poor Cody. So neglected. Going so long without a good railing. And with an ass like that, too...”

Cody just continued to pant.

“You know, if you became Rock’s or corporate’s or The Bloodline’s or whoever's little sugar baby, I doubt they'd let you have any release. Let alone twice. They'd just take what they want and leave you to take care of yourself...” He surveyed Cody's prone, naked frame. “A damn tragedy, because they'll be missing out on this beautiful sight.” He said, kissing Cody's neck tattoo on its lips. (He still thought it was stupid, but he was high on afterglow and enjoying his “victory lap”. Besides, a little extra seduction couldn't hurt.)

Cody still didn't respond. Drew might've broken his brain with his dick. One more thing for him to smug about.

“And don't get me started on aftercare. I said I'd take care of you and I meant it. Hell, I'll even stay the night and cuddle you if you want it. Do you want that, Cody?” He asked, running his fingers through his short, bottle blond hair.

Cody nodded.

“Alright, want to get started?”

Cody shook his head. “Not yet.” He finally managed to rasp.

Drew chuckled. “Alright. I'll let you enjoy the afterglow a little longer. I'm gonna go use your shower because, honestly? I think I've earned it.”

Cody nodded. Drew smirked, then leaned over and kissed Cody on the cheek before excusing himself to the shower.

He didn't take long. Apparently, despite having a shower on his bus apparently being a luxury, Cody's sponsorship did not include a decent shower in his bus. The height was manageable enough, despite the cramped space, but the water pressure and temperature were abysmal! How did Cody live like this on the road?

If this goes on, that'll be something I want to talk about... He thought with a chuckle as he exited the shower, toweling off and wrapping one around his hips as he took another to his hair. Of course it was going to go on. He was Drew bloody McIntyre! He just satisfied the hell out of Cody!

He glanced at the mirror, leaning against the sink the best he could in the small space. (Note to self: maybe also insist on doing it at a hotel instead of the tour bus.) Drew smirked and winked at himself as he removed the towel from his head, some of his dark locks falling in his face. Yeah, the locker room had better thank Big D for his—

His thought was cut off by another, intrusive one. Cody's question from earlier: “What's in it for you?”

Drew brushed his hair back with his hand. It was such a dumb question! Lots of things! Keeping the playing field level come WrestleMania! Taking something from the damn Bloodline for once! The satisfaction that, whether he won or not (somehow), he’d been hitting that and probably would after! If word got out, it was something to hold over the locker room's head! To once again prove he was better than Randy! The sex in general!

Seeing Cody in the state he was in now, knowing it was all his. Hearing him desperately moan his na–

He gripped the sink. Where'd that come from?

This thing with Cody was transactional, nothing more. A mutual means to an end. Why pretend it wouldn't be? He shook it off and made his way back to Cody. “Alright, let's take care of–”

Cody had apparently dozed off, clinging to his pillow. It was almost cute, really. Drew smiled and climbed into Cody's bed (he'd given him permission, after all). “Alright, you're the boss, Cody...”

Cody rolled over to Drew, placing his hand on Drew’s chest. Drew adjusted himself and Cody accordingly to get comfortable. Somehow, they ended up with Cody's head on his chest, as well. Drew held him in his arms. Cody ran his fingers through Drew's chest hair a little, briefly surfacing from the throes of his exhaustion.

“Thank you, Drew...” He said sleepily, before succumbing to sleep again.

Something warm sparked in Drew. He rubbed his back gently and kissed the top of his head. “You're welcome, Cody...” He said, softly.

Sleep wasn't going to come as easily to Drew that night, however.

There was a nagging thought in the back of his head.

The feeling that somehow, some way, there might be more in this for McIntyre than a means to an end and ego.

And he dreaded that thought.

[sumeriandeathsquad]

"Kiss out of habit" but it's platonic bucks. Matty comforting nicky after a nightmare (nightmares are bullshit, can you tell me had one?) [Mouse]

Osaka.

Matt wakes up and it’s almost dark. All the lights in their room had been off when they went to sleep, the only light filtering through the window from the outside. The room is nice - much nicer than anything they were able to afford years ago - but it’s two queen beds in a suite instead of two suites, the kind of hotel mishap that they would’ve done an ungracious funny Instagram skit about a year ago, when they were in the real throes of doing something different and worse so that Matt stopped nearly hating the thing they both love so much.

He won’t post about this today though. It meant more to them both than he realised, coming back to Japan, until they were here and the sights and sounds and spending time with Masa of it all hit them like a truck. So the hotel messed up and they’ll take it quietly because it’s kind of fun, kind of nostalgic, calls back to so many years ago when they couldn’t even afford two single beds and instead crammed into a tiny double together - all over the world, not just Japan.

In the gloom, though, the almost dark, he wakes up with the sense of something wrong. He rubs his eyes and he can see Nick’s back on the far edge of the other bed, his finer details swallowed up by the lamp light that halos him. He’s sat on the edge, hunched, hands on his face. His hair’s come out of the looped ponytail he usually sleeps in, the hairtie stuck halfway down instead.

“Sweetheart?” Matt’s too nearly forty to bolt upright; the scratchy sleepy concern will have to do. Nick’s Nicky and sweetie and honey when Matt remembers that he’s an, the older, oldest brother. The first thing he thinks is: “You sick?”

Nick’s quiet, so something’s really wrong. Matt’s back complains about the mattress but he ignores it, pulling himself up and out of bed, pushing his hair (the bun’s kind of loose, it’s a pain in the ass) out of his face, pacing in his boxers around to Nick’s side of the bed and sitting down next to him. Nick looks at him, eyes hazy and face all uncertain, and under the beard he looks so little for a second, the same little guy who used to have nightmares back in Rancho Cucamonga because they thought the house was haunted. The familiarity is how Matt knows what’s wrong, too, and leans in, loops his arm around Nick’s shoulder. Nick leans into him with a frustrated groan.

“I didn’t think you still got nightmares.”

“I don’t,” Nick says, voice thick but petulant, a little muffled with his face smushed on Matt’s shoulder. He’s his little brother; he’s never gonna be too big to hold. “Not often.”

Matt pets his crummy ponytail gently. “You wanna talk about it?” Before Nick can say much, he adds, “I think you should talk about it,” because sometimes Nick doesn’t recognise instructions (or at least strong suggestions) if they’re couched in a question.

“I don’t remember much. It was just, you know. Coming back here has been pretty overwhelming. I had bad dreams before Tokyo, too. Nothin new.”

“Oh.” Matt frowns. He didn’t know. He wonders when Nick grew out of coming to tell him he had a nightmare, and realises they’re for real adults and kind of old. Things change sometimes, he guesses, but not without a little ache in his chest.

“Nostalgia’s one hell of a, uh… whatever.”

“Yeah.” Matt turns his head, finds the familiar spot: plants a kiss directly onto Nick’s forehead, in the middle of his hairline. He hasn’t given Nick the kind of actual, comforting kiss for a long time either, as habitual as it feels, and so he’s changed too, in a way. Nick’s kind of sweaty but Matt doesn’t mind. He’s never minded. His mouth muffled into Nick’s hair. “You’re okay.”

Nick hums. There’s a long silence where Matt can tell he’s thinking about something. Matt just waits. Then Nick says: “Am I too old to share with you?”

“What do you think? Come on.” Another kiss into his hairline, then, and a squeeze of his shoulder before he stands up, pulling Nick by the wrist to his bed. Nick’s sheets are going to be gross and sweaty from dreaming anyhow.

It’s old and familiar to pick a side, to get in and immediately steal one of now-Nick’s pillows, to flump down carelessly and watch Nick carefully as he lies down.

There’s a furrow that is slowly evening out in his brow. Nick looks at the ceiling, then, “Thanks.”

Matt knows Nick’s gonna get annoyed if he keeps looking. He turns over, leaves Nick with the warmth of his back. “Anytime.”

[karoiseka]

17) Sally

((a little late to posting since this week is also kicking my ass, but this one is very abstractly set in @nuclearanomaly 's bookshop au! I had an idea for a cross-over inside an AU, and here's how it turned out! lol))

Karo took the steps up to her apartment two at a time, pack slung across her shoulders.  She was already late, closing the store well after the scheduled time due to helping Hilda try out several of her new arrivals.  She was due a new instrument, and the latest song they were composing needed a particular sound out of the guitar. Karo had been helping Nastrond find the right sound, and the newest batch of instruments was looking promising for delivering what they wanted.  Very well worth every minute helping. 

She was, however, running late to her meetup with friends online as a result, despite messaging them earlier to let them know about her delay. It was rare enough that all of them were able to meet up and spend some time on the larger challenges in the game.  Opening the door, she almost danced through the one-room space, flitting to her computer to start turning it on, placing her pack by the door, and swinging into the kitchen to grab a drink and snack before sliding back into her computer chair, looping her headphones on.

It didn’t take long to get the game going, and the chat program running, the whole team already chatting away about their day and the things they were looking forward to in the next game update.  Karo left her mic muted as she ate her food while the loading screen greeted her before clicking her favorite and main toon.

Finally loaded in, the avatar on the screen leapt off the building, falling ever faster to the ground before suddenly shooting off into the sky, small black wings flapping.  A team invite came almost immediately after, her friends noticing she had arrived and she swapped zones via the in-game trains.  Grinning with glee, Karo set her toon to skimming the lake in flight while searching.

“You know, she’s only up once an hour because someone always finds her first,” the voice of Thancred in her headset reminded her that her “secret” hunt was not so secret due to the fact that they were all in a team and could see what zone she was in needlessly.

“Yeah, but I’m only one more tap away from the badge!”  Karo guided her toon over the water, casually dodging the various enemies on the shore while keeping an eagle-eye out for her target.  She had created a version of herself in the game, even using her full name as a character name for some reason, but if nothing else, it felt good to fly.

“Anyways, if you get in zone when I find her,  you get credit too!”  The elusive monster was a hard find, and Karo had been looking for her for weeks.  She loved to collect the badges in game, and had long since collected all the exploration and lore badges she could get her hands on, and was slowly going through the various lists of enemies to dispatch.

“That’s all well and good, but I thought we were gathering for a Task Force!”  Alisaie was definitely ready to take on the larger challenge for the evening.  One of the newest Task Force’s had a badge that required no deaths and no temp powers to be used, and it was the hardest one out to date.  They had defeated it normally several times at this point, but it was time for the challenge.

“I’ll be there in just a moment, I wanna do one more lap,” dodging another mob of land-based enemies, Karo was glad flight was a fairly fast travel power as she swung her camera to and fro, looking for the elusive enemy.  With a sigh of defeat, she angled her character up just a little to head back to the train station to join the others in the proper zone to get the evening started, when she caught a thin tall neck out of the corner of her eye.

“She’s here!  I found Sally!!” Karo squeaked, diving down to the rare spawn, hovering near her happily.  Exclamations of disbelief poured in through her headset as one by one she saw each of her friends pop into the zone before heading to her marker.  Once everyone was there, a solemn thanks was given, before a single stroke encouraged the monster to retreat beneath the waves once more, the badge popping up on several screens at once.

“Okay, now that that’s done, can we please get on with the Task Force?” Alisaie’s toon was already back into the proper zone as the rest meandered, laughing, but headed to her to buckle down and try the next challenge that awaited them.

[ghostfiish]

Happy ten years to transcendence au and almost as long to Brian the organ duck! How time flies...

I haven't drawn anything for this au in ages but I did remake the 8tracks playlists on Spotify if anyone uses that. Before Brian shows up, imagine Dipper and Mabel are discussing songs to add to the answering machine playlist (which. that's. Did I mean hold music all this time? lol)

[silverwhittlingknife]

hi Silver! o/ because that fanart made me wonder - would you happen to know when/where Dick's stuffed elephant plush Zitka turns up in the comics?

GREETINGS CAM <3333 THAT ART WAS SO CUTE

Yeah, I think your instincts are right - it's a truly adorable bit of transformative fandom, but I'm 95% percent sure it's not comics canon. Barbara has canon plushies, but I don't think anyone else does.

I got kinda invested in the investigation (it's hard to prove a negative!) and I ended up typing out an entire History of Elinore/Zitka, so, uh, if you're curious, meet me below the cut for:

Where does Elinore / Zitka - the animal - appear in comics?

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

Where does Elinore / Zitka appear in comics?

We're gonna go in chronological order!

Dick's circus elephant friend was first created for practical reasons: in Batman 436, Marv Wolfman does a big expanded flashback to Dick's circus backstory as a way to subtly show us Tim before officially introducing him (so that we can have a technically-solvable mystery-of-Tim's-identity in LPoD). In this comic, there's an elephant named Elinore who loves Dick:

Aww. Such a cute elephant!

Batman 436 comes out in August 1989. New Titans 60 comes out a few months later, in November, and guess what? When Dick visits the circus, he is suddenly surprised by an unexpected blast from the past! It turns out that even though it's been years, Elinore still remembers him!

Here's the part where Elinore remembers Dick:

SUCH a cute elephant. I love her.

(Guess who else still remembers Dick even though it was so long ago. Guess which other character is about to be an unexpected blast from the past. Guess which character Elinore is directly paralleling guess guess guess sorry everything is about Dick and Tim in my mind but I can focus I swear)

Four years later, in 1993, Batman: The Animated Series retells Dick's origin story. They like and keep Wolfman's elephant, but they change her name to Zitka:

Wolfman doesn't return to the elephant beyond those two appearances, and a few years down the line, New Titans gets cancelled and Wolfman's not writing Dick anymore anyway. So the animal gets abandoned for a while, until Devin Grayson, a fan of both Wolfman and B:tAS, revives the Wolfman-era Titans team in JLA/Titans and then the ongoing series Titans 1999.

Grayson then brings back the elephant in a flashback to Dick's past in Titans 16 (Jun 2000), where she imports the B:tAS name. Sometimes I'm skeptical of TV-to-comics imports, but honestly, I endorse this one. You lose the alliteration, which is a shame, but IMO Zitka is a better elephant name than Elinore.

Here's Dick with the newly-christened Zitka in Titans 16:

Grayson also briefly references the elephant in Gotham Knights 20 and - in a final angsty callback - in Nightwing 88 (Feb 2004), where Zitka tries futilely to comfort Dick in the midst of his trauma conga line:

... And... honestly, I think that's it for comic appearances? The two Wolfman comics plus the three Grayson comics.

Both Wolfman and Grayson are writing multiple titles - Batman, New Titans, Titans, Gotham Knights, and Nightwing between the two of them, spanning a big chunk of Dick's post-Crisis canon - and both writers use the elephant for heartwarming moments of nostalgia, which means if you're doing a post-Crisis readthrough for Dick, Elinore/Zitka feels memorable. But I don't think she actually shows up that much.

For post-2011, I am not as well-informed - throwing this out to the dash? anyone know? - but I feel like Zitka the heartwarming symbol of Dick's heartwarming circus past is, uh, thematically very at odds with the Court of Owls evil!circus vibes, so my instinct is that this story element was almost certainly dropped in the reboot.

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

In WFA, yes; in main comics continuity, no. Technically, I have not read every comic ever published, so I could be wrong!! But I don't think so.

Below, find my rambling reasoning on the tonal vibes of pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, and post-2011, and why this particular story element doesn't seem right to me for the first two.

Pre-Crisis (...okay, mostly the Silver Age): stuffed animal, yes or no?

tl;dr no, requires too much background knowledge on the part of the reader, plus the elephant wasn't a thing until later

Elinore doesn't get created until post-Crisis, but also just generally, pre-Crisis callbacks are more along the lines of this reference in Batman 129 (published in 1960), where, wow, Batman and Robin are hunting jewel thieves - and it turns out Robin recognized this strongman! BUT HOW?!

The comic goes on to recap Dick's entire origin story in flashback, on the assumption that you may not know it.

(BTW, if you'd like to know more about Haly's Circus throughout the years, nightwingology has a great post here summarizing a lot of fun plotlines and characters!)

Basically: Silver Age comics are very self-consciously episodic and kid-friendly; they're not generally gonna do overly-elaborate callbacks because they don't know what comics their kid readers may have randomly picked up or remember.

By the time of post-Crisis, comic books were being written for an adult audience buying from the direct market, i.e. readers who are collecting whole runs & don't need or want Dick's origin story to be recapped to us in full every time it's referenced. That's why in post-Crisis, we get stuff like "hey, neat, this particular soda brand is getting mentioned in several different books!!" or "in order to understand this story arc, buy SIXTEEN DIFFERENT COMICS in FIVE DIFFERENT RUNS and read them ALL ACCORDING TO A NUMBERED ORDER and also you better be following the individual plotlines and recognize these five minor characters who we don't bother to introduce!! Good luck!!" But the elaborate post-Crisis plotlines - and subtler worldbuilding like a stuffed animal callback to Dick's backstory - don't make a lot of story sense UNLESS you're imagining your readers as completionist adult fans.

So IMO a stuffed animal wouldn't be a pre-Crisis thing unless it was The Episodic Story Of the Week, and I don't think a stuffed animal is action-adventure-y enough for the fast-paced storytelling of the Silver Age. (Unless it, like, came to life and tried to eat you or something.)

Post-Crisis: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr: no, Dick's a manly tough guy, he's not gonna have a stuffed animal, that'd be lame, like something Tim might do

Part of the edgy grimdark adult vibes in 80s/90s comics is that some characters who used to be kinda silly & goofy & lighthearted - like Batman and Robin - get reimagined as Serious and Angsty and Edgy in a Tough Cool Manly Brooding Way. This massively affects characterization for Bruce, Dick, and Bruce and Dick's relationship.

(I obviously love this change & love the tense Bruce-and-Dick interactions, but plenty of fans of the earlier fluffy comics really disliked the edgy retcons of Miller / Wolfman / Starlin / et al.)

The upshot is that post-Crisis is a period when you could have a recurring reference like a stuffed elephant, but you wouldn't have a stuffed elephant, not for Dick. I think a toy like that would be too cutesy / childish / effeminate to give a male character in post-Crisis, unless you were poking fun at him.

Now, you could probably let Tim have a stuffed animal, because Tim is sometimes cool but also sometimes a tryhard loser who is faking being cool and not entirely pulling it off (see e.g. the Robin comic where he practices tough-guy faces in the mirror, or the Teen Titans comic where Conner discovers his cringy Enya CD, or when he's fanboying over Connor and it's awkward, etc etc.). A stuffed animal would be deeply embarrassing, and you'd have to be careful to compensate by having Tim do something cool afterward - but Tim's character concept allows for "he's kind of a loser sometimes."

But Dick isn't!! In post-Crisis, Dick's a tough / impressive / "cool guy" character, the kind of guy anyone would want to be, even in the flashbacks where he's Robin, and even in the stories where he's more lighthearted than angsty. It'd be kinda lame for Dick to have a stuffed elephant, so he wouldn't. I feel like Dick would be more likely to poke fun at it if someone had one, like when he's making fun of Wally for liking the Hardy Boys. Dick could have a Batman action figure, at most, and if he had one he would have it ironically.

Basically: in post-Crisis, a male character hugging a stuffed elephant feels more likely to be a punchline to me, not something poignant. (Even with Tim, Tim could have an embarrassing stuffed animal, but he couldn't hug it when sad - that's too far. Maybe Booster Gold might do this. Probably he wouldn't, but spiritually, he would. Sorry Booster ilu! <3)

Instead, Dick instinctively deals with his inner turmoil like the TORTURED ACTION HERO he is: by punching things and brooding and yelling and joining the mob and sleeping on rooftops and going on obsessive secret missions and acquiring Angsty Stubble!! Just like Batman!

(Technically I don't know if Bruce ever joined the mob but you know he would.)

Anyway as you know this is my favorite continuity and I am poking fun affectionately, but uh, yeah sdfsfdsfs. No stuffed animals.

Post-2011 / Infinite Frontier / Wayne Family Adventures: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr it's in WFA! Probably not anywhere else, but it could be.

Post-2011 stuff tends to be cutesier overall, most of all in the current Infinite Frontier era. So I don't feel like this would be tonally out-of-line with IF comics. Taylor tends to go for more meme-y references rather than fanfic references, though.

So the obvious best fit is WFA, which is aiming for a rough approximation of Silver Age family-friendly vibes - wholesome, episodic plots, Teaching Good Moral Lessons For The Youth, etc. - plus lots of Easter eggs for fanfic readers and some comic references.

And look, here we are:

Aww.

Whew - that's everything I could find!

Anyway as you can probably tell, I LOVE the elephant, so this was a very entertaining rabbit hole to go down, thank you <3

[marimbles]

i miss carpisuns sometimes </3

[solarwynd]

why am I just now finding out tiffany unfollowed jimin and I heard it first from a fuckass kth😒

kinda sad because I really liked them working together but I get it, no point in continuing the contract when it he be gone for almost 2 years😓

I didn’t know either. Jimin getting Tiffany (and Dior) over Taehyung must still really have them fucked up bad if they were posted up in their follows just waiting on something like this to happen. lmao

I don’t find it sad though. I mean it’s just a follow. The mega campaigns they gave him still happened. He was still chosen specifically to represent the brand and Jimin did it very well.

[puppppppppy]

if escape rooms as team building exercises became popular im not sure if id be more excited or terrified

[torchickentacos]

do you have any pokeani fic recs for the classic vibe (read: the content is unhinged and wild)

Referencing this post- long reply but I give a few pointers in these fics' direction at the end!

I'm gonna be so honest anon, I'm not sure I want to actively rec some of them 😭 A lot of them are very of-their-time (usually 2007-2013) and, while HILARIOUS, often contain things that I really don't want to 'recommend' (homophobia, sexism, a lot of slutshaming, some REALLY out of pocket stuff that is not properly warned for, etc). OBVIOUSLY I am not reccing the yikes of things so much as the rest of it (the hilarious unhinged side), but the current fandomscape leans bad-faith and assumey and I'm just not keen to fuck around and find out tbh. Ye olde fic reccing takes a level of understanding of other time periods and attitudes and customs in fandom and on FFN that I'm... not sure that all of tumblr is always very good at tbh lol. If you guys really want me to and if we can all understand that it was a different time and that enjoyment of batshit insane fics does not equal agreement with everything said or depicted in them, then come back and I'll consider it again. But for now, I'm MORE than happy to tell you guys the best ways to find them on your own lmao. It's not hard once you get it down, and anything I'd rec, I've found through this method.

First off, FFN's search system is just frustrating imo. Between a less-than-intuitive UI and people not bothering to tag characters and ships and genres properly, using it the same way you'd filter stuff on Ao3 is a fool's errand (unless you're doing it by word count/completed/etc, which is objective and automatically tallied I think). You're better off using key words. I usually ignore the filters. The only thing I filter by is fandom at the start page (all of Pokemon is under 'games' in FFN and I don't bother narrowing it down to animeverse personally due to aforementioned mistagging or an entire lack thereof).

So, what key words do I use? When looking for that specific brand of insane campy 2000s kitschy wild unhinged stuff, I usually default to searches like "PS CS IS" (poke contest ikari, there's a lotta stuff in there, sometimes there's ORS/LGS/OS/ES/AS etc and you won't always know the acronym and it's just a surprise tbh) or trope related searches like "Assassin" or "High school" or "Vampire" other words you might find in a summary. You can also search by character names (in the search bar and not in the actual filters, which are not reliable in my experience). I'd say to go for tropes and AUs as far as keywords go. I'd ALSO say to not filter by completed, because that'll filter out a lot of two-week-passion-projects that someone dropped as soon as it got flamed, and there's some fun ones in there.

That's about it, but if you find one good fic then it's worth checking the rest of what the writer has. A lot of them have a bunch of unfinished fics and there's some hidden gems. Have a good time reading, and the search is half the fun! Come back with any funny lines you find if you want :)

[crescentmoonrider]

j. jakedirk kissy?

dorks

sorry for the wait !! it was 3am where i am when you sent this, so i was eepy, and then i had to take a day to recuperate

hairy Jake with the shitty teenage attempted beard.... glasses getting in the way, noses getting crushed.... ah, young love~

i missed them, thank you for getting me the opportunity to draw them again !

[moe-broey]

Textpost redraw that only works in a modern setting, so. I gave them silly outfits (and a little bit of lore!)

Some zoom ins on the illusts!

And Lore

Moe is like. A SHUT-IN shut-in. So in any modern setting that isn't "Hey wanna visit my hometown for a sec (events so far have followed canon at least loosely)", it would have to meet Alfonse under Extremely Specific Circumstances.

And finally! Textpost under cut!

[severedscales]

a question to both! favorite and least favorite thing to do in the garden (or just in the garden in general)?

ABOUT: FAVORITE THINGS

I love running! Or any physical activity, really. Being unoccupied makes me feel restless, and when I sit on my own for too long it feels like static slowly starts eating at my brain. That's why I prefer being out and about! I've been told that my physical aptitude is suprisingly high, so I've got lots of energy to spend. Going around and playing with my friends is always fun, but the game I love playing most is racing! Especially with Mentha and Ambrosia! Whenever I play with the others, I usually end up tiring them out, but Mentha and Ambrosia seem to have energy that lasts hours. I even end up tiring out before Mentha does! He's got insane stamina.

Uhh, also, there's this weird thing I do... I forget what it's called, but I like running and jumping across a bunch of stuff! Like roofs! And tables! Trees, sometimes! I don't get to do it a lot because everyone coaxes me down before I get scolded. But it's fun! What's it called again... parkour? Kinda funny sounding.

Least favorite thing, though...

Hope this doesn't make me sound stupid or anything, but some of my classes really exhaust me. Especially the ones that force you to remember a ton of stuff. Seriously, I'm already grasping at straws as is. I end up falling behind on projects that are due on a later date, it's hard for me to comply unless it's needed at that very moment. Whenever I need to do something, I have to do it right away or else I'll just end up forgetting it. I don't want to bother anyone else by asking for help or reminders. They're already so occupied with their own junk.

...I don't really want to ask him, either. He's been helping me get adjusted, but I feel like he just barely tolerates me. Can't even look me in the eye. Fine, then. This is me trying to be less of a burden.

I don't have 'favorite' things. Unnecessary, irrelevant. All I'm allowed to have is work and practice. My guardian communicates with me frequently, and the madame is quite demanding. She sends me new paperwork at the start of every week, to be completed and returned strictly on the deadline. As such, I am constantly occupied. Recreation and fondness are things that I cannot afford... or deserve.

As for least favorite things... great heavens, where do I even begin. Everything, I suppose. The list is far too extensive to elaborate. I'm afraid we'd be here all day.

[readingwriter92]

rewatching the night of the doctor eight times in a row single handedly making me want to listen to all the mcgann BFAs bc good lord i'm obsessed.

I gotta look around bc genuinely i kinda do want some like. before he joins the time war era shit. It just- the line alone of like. "I'm one of the good ones" "Who can tell the difference anymore" shit like FUCKKK

[ox1-lovesick]

hi

[natjennie]

I got sucked into a youtube rabbit hole and guyssss I miss ballet.....